Now there’s a snappy title. It belongs to this stylish blogger who has lots to share.
Happy Thanksgiving
pay attention now….
there may be a quiz later ; )
Dh is not feelin’ the retro love as much as I am. He says he likes my ‘layers’ of farmgirl chic. He is all aout warmth. So with that in mind let me introduce you to Homestead in TX. This was my first exposure to shabby chic- the western edition. These images are not from the original store in the Hill Country but fun nevertheless.
Afghan season
I am finishing the crochet wrap I started when Brendan was a baby. (I got a little bored, what can I say) I think this is my next project. Love the colors and pattern. Actually I need to get working on the slipcovers too. 
Meet the Austin’s….
I swear when I read the books I picture this:
My 50s nostalgia rolls over into lit in a big way. I got a wild hair and found The Timber Trail Riders on amazon. I can’t wait to share them with my daughters. : ) I spent all my holidays and summers and many weekends at my grandparents’ stable. We didn’t have a vast library but being a bookworm I think I memorized most of the books on the shelves.
Did any of you have these? The Golden Book Encyclopedia set kept me occupied for a lot of hours. I picked up a set of my own when the boys were little.
I love old books.Sigh.
Speaking of which – its time to pull out An Austin Family Christmas.
Color me midcentury
Just wanted to say…
I mentioned in my last post that ‘a reader’ had sent me the link to her blog. That comment has been bothering me all day. Just sounds so pompous.
Here is what happened. I got a very sweet note from a very nice woman who happened to have visited here. She was kind enough to share the link to her new blog which was delightful. She is an art therapist and has some insightful thoughts about the role our creations play. Thoughts which, unbeknownst to her, have been turning over in my mind all week. I had hoped to share the link here but as I am using my son’s computer and reading webmail things occasionally disappear or get deleted. Like the link. And the email with which I could have retrieved the link. : /
So please accept my apology. Like I said – that just didn’t sound right to me.
Design detours
Had a weird thing happen the other night. I was wandering through Target waiting to get the kids from piano. I came across a tub of Christmas ornaments which could have walked right off my Gram’s tree. They were styrofoam balls wrapped in satin thread of jewel toned colors – aqua, pink, gold, lime. I nearly cried.
Maybe it is a midlife decorating crisis but I find that certain images from my childhood are especially meaningful to me as I grow older. It was the end of a golden age of homemaking. Days were spent in a a whirl of cooking and learning and household chores. Entertainment was what happened when relatives and friends dropped by, not when Survivor came on the screen. I miss that. I miss her. I miss the pared down decor that she was able to manage so expertly while I wallow in layers of ‘texture’. The shabby chic I was drawn to in magazines is more shabby than chic with a full house.
I find myself more and more often browsing through pages of Atomic Ranch and Ranchredo and Shimandsons. As one reader shared in her blog there is a plethora of mass produced items passing for handmade these days.(Please if you read this resend me your blog link!) It leaves me cold. I want to fill my spaces with things my children and I really have made. And I don’t want to copy a Victorian or Colonial or anything scheme. I want our home to tell OUR story in a simple graphic visually appealing way. Washable surfaces would be a major plus.
Long and short: I am getting very particular about what I am willing to share my home with and lug around. I want to pare down to that which is personally meaningful. There is an awful lot around me that doesn’t fit into that category. With that in mind I bought the ornaments with no idea what I will do with them yet. Somehow holding
that tub of colored spheres I was right back in front of that 60s era
tree and it really didnt matter. It took all the Dave Ramsey coaching I
could muster not to charge that retro white tree in the
Target display to hang them on. ; )
I know I am going somewhere with all this but not sure where we will end up yet. For now we will continue to purge and be selective and create and see where it takes us. And when I miss Gram I will look at those ornaments and smile.
Friday Funschool I
I is for American Indians (I apologize for missing links. Will upload later today.)
I template covered in indian corn or ink stamps
ASL I and Indian and ice cream (this week’s snack)
Number: 9 I love the number ladders Elizabeth and Katherine share at Serendipity! Lots of ways to make 9. There are 9 planets, 9 choirs of angels, and 9 days in a novena.
Lit:
If you have a round table you can make a poster board cone, set it atop the table and drape a sheet over to make a special story spot this week. If you are a really enthusiastic mom you will use an old sheet and let them make pictures on it. ; )
The Legend of the Bluebonnets
At least one Iktomi story
Corn is Maize – Aliki
Hiawatha – I love this version by Susan Jeffers. Then again I like most everything by Susan Jeffers!
Ten Little Rabbits
Tapenum’s Day
NC Wyeth’s Pilgrims (ties us to the holiday)
I is for Inside. Berenstain Bears explain Inside, Outside, Upside, Down.
And for Important. Margaret Wise Brown of Goodnight Moon fame wrote Another Important Book which highlights the great things about being different ages.
In is also for Inches. Leo Lionni’s Inch by Inch is the intro. Then print an inch ruler on green cardstock and fold accordian style along the inch marks. This becomes your ‘inchworm’ measure.
We also made an inch measurement manipulative game using craft sticks. On one make a 5in ruler with a sharpie marker. On five sticks make lines varying from one to five inches long. On five more sticks write the answers in words and numbers (one on each side). Player measures and matches sticks.
Coloring pages here.
Lots of fun preschool Indians ideas here. In particular we like:
Game: What Feather Is Missing:
Cut Indian feathers from assorted construction paper, or if you can get different colored "real" feathers, use these. Have the kids sit in a circle. Place four or more feathers in the middle of the circle. One of the children will hide his eyes, while another takes a feather away. The other child will try to guess which color is missing, and which child has the feather. Play this game until each child has a chance to guess the missing color.
We will have Indian corn on the sensory table/station. They can pick it off, grind it, whatnot.
We will make brown paper bag vests and cereal necklaces (lace "O" cereal onto string or ribbon) and feather headbands with cardstock. Of course you must face paint.
Lotto: Match cards with Indian pictograph pairs. I like this type of lotto using unfamiliar images. It requires much more attention to detail.
Saint: St Isaac Jogues and/or Isaac from the Bible. (Asher is finishing a coloring page for St Isaac and a Huron Indian for us – will upload later today)
Songs/fingerplays:
One little, two little, three little Indians
Four little, five little, six little Indians
Seven little, eight little, nine little Indians
Ten little Indian boys.
Ten little, nine little, eight little Indians
Seven little, six little, five little Indians
Four little, three little, two little Indians
One little Indian boy.
Five Little Indians
5 Little Indians running through a door
(raise 5 fingers)
One fell down and then there were 4
(lower 1 finger)
4 Little Indians climbing in a tree
(raise 4 fingers)
One fell down and then there were 3
(lower 1 finger) 3 little Indians stewing a pot of stew
(raise 3 fingers)
One went to play and then there were 2
(lower 1 finger)
2 little Indians playing in the sun
(raise 2 fingers)
One went inside and then there was 1
(lower 1 finger)
One little Indian left all alone.
Poem:
Indian Children
Where we walk to school each day
Indian children used to play
All about our native land,
Where the shops and houses stand.
And the trees were very tall,
And there were no streets at all,
Not a church and not a steeple
Only woods and Indian people.
Only wigwams on the ground,
And at night bears prowling round
What a different place to-day
Where we live and work and play!
Annette Wynne
Funschool – Letter pictures
Funschool is done on a shoestring budget around here. We use mostly what is on hand, online, or at the library. For that reason, while I was intrigued by the Waldorf letter stories plans I didn’t invest in any curricula this year. I do think you can learn to read just fine without them. Still, you wouldn’t believe the fun we have had since finding Curious George Learns the Alphabet by accident.
Background here – my kids have all loved Curious George. Long before he hit the big screen he was a favorite around here. My aunt gave Aidan a stuffed "Monkey George" 6yrs ago. He is now enjoying his third owner. Brendan never fails to pick a ‘hoo-hoo’ book (as in monkeys say: hoo hoo, ha ha) when Daddy sits down with them to read. During one of those sittings we worked through an anthology and ran across the alphabet story. I don’t know whose wheels were turning faster, Kieran’s or mine. He was all over making notebook pages of the letters. He would like to make them all. Tonight. : )
The letter pictures are all very sweet. Nothing objectionable and George figures into each scene. The featured letter is highlighted in color every time it appears in the explanatory story. The scanned pic is one of Kieran’s recreations.
So, can you learn to read without this activity? Yep. But, boy letter pictures make things fun and HA Rey makes it painless and simple and (cheap!)for the teacher.
Starry Sky Journal 
