Our Little Academy

One of the crafts we did for school: tissue paper poms and doily snowflakes to take the place of our Christmas decor. I thought it looked a bit like Anthropologie.

Lim has been doing great with his schooling! He’s loving math and reading a ton. He just finished the first Mysterious Benedict Society book (400+ pages), and he’s ready for the next one. He has set a really difficult challenge for himself in violin – to finish Suzuki “Book 1″ by the end of this year (12 songs in 12 months). He’s doing really good with that so far.

Liam has also decided that he would like to be a chocolatier when he grows up, so we’ve been taking time on Fridays to learn about chocolate and make something chocolate.

Paul especially loves Fridays. He has been learning about the calendar and enjoying our daily reading time. He likes learning Spanish with Liam, crafts, and jumping rope (PE).

Brontë is growing like a weed and is still the happiest little baby I’ve ever seen. She sure loves her daddy.

Breaking News…

We’re homeschooling!

Liam is thrilled, and we’re all loving it!

Here’s what we’re reading:

Here’s some pictures of our recent “Art” lesson:

Paul’s Math Game I made up:

Extracurricular activities:

Advent 2009

Celebrating Advent

Advent Calendar – an activity for every day

Brontë at 3 months old

Heading to Huntsville

Cousins! Brontë and Tessa

Grandmommy with her two granddaughters

Sisters!

Aunt Christa with the boys

Reaves Brothers

2 Months Old

11 lbs, 11 oz.

Already moving into 3-6 month clothing!

She just keeps capturing our hearts with her sweet smiles and peaceful personality.

All in the name of science…

In order to cut down on some of the sugary treats accumulated during trick or treating, I had the boys select their favorite candy, and then we did some “science experiments” with the rest.

We put the candy in plain water, colored water, vinegar, and vinegar with baking soda (thinking the bubbling action might help dissolve quicker). We were surprised to see that the water dissolved the candy first – and that the outer shell of Skittles dissolved first.

Then we put the rest of the candy on wax paper on a cookie sheet in a 450* oven. The Skittles were the last to melt – you can still see the shells if you look closely. Even the Smarties melted before the Skittles. It was a fun project, and it made a fun window display, at least for a day.

A Hunter and A Pirate

For Halloween this year, Liam was a “hunter” and Paul was a pirate.

Someone asked Liam how he grew his beard so fast. He said “Well, I just didn’t shave.”

“Paul, are you a pirate?” “No, I’m just dressed like one.”

The Leaves Are Falling!

We visited a pumpkin farm while touring local farms, historic stone houses, and wineries.

David took this picture in a barn.

Brontë and me with Hollie, who has been living with us for the past few months.

It was a lovely fall day.

6 Weeks Old

Brontë is 6 weeks old and just now weighs as much as Liam did when he was born.

She’s finally growing into some of her cute stuff!

And she smiles.

Handsome Silly Boys