Cultivating Childhood

This week we've been intimately studying Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease .  We've learned firsthand what it feels like, how long it lasts, it's symptoms, and how to cope with it.  We even took a field trip to the pediatrician's office to find out more about our study.  Little Buddy has experienced the fevers, the mouth sores, and sleepless nights that often accompany the disease. Did you know... (adapted from the CDC website ) Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease is not related to Foot and Mouth Disease (aka Hoof and Mouth).  HFMD can only be caught by humans and FMD is only for animals. It is mainly a childhood disease. It can be recognized by mouth sores and rashes on the child's hands and feet.  (Little Buddy had a mild case so he didn't have a rash). It begins with a fever and poor appetite. The disease has no specific treatment. It just needs to run it's course. (We gave Little Buddy Children's Tylenol for his pain). It lasts approximately 7-10 days...

I'e been on a hunt at all the local thrift shops and at used book stores for quality books to use in Buddy and Button's education.  I've found some really great finds at good prices that I'm excited to use both now in the future. My growing collection of "pretty" books Recently, though, I discovered a few good versions of Mother Goose that I just couldn't resist picking up even though I already had a good collection of the rhymes.  Thus, my first giveaway is born! I'm giving away this copy of The Real Mother Goose  illustrated by Blanche Fisher Wright.  To enter, simply leave me a comment with your favorite nursery rhyme or children's book.  This giveaway will close on Saturday, March 26th.  (Please no entries outside the United States). Enjoy!

As I've been learning more about Charlotte Mason and her methods, I've been thinking especially about what she means by "Education is a Discipline."  As I was reading her thoughts on discipline from her Homeschooling series, I was particularly struck by the following quotation. Discipline is not Punishment ––What is discipline? Look at the word; there is no hint of punishment in it. A disciple is a follower, and discipline is the state of the follower; the learner, imitator. Mothers and fathers do not well to forget that their children are, by the very order of Nature, their disciples... How Disciples are Lured ––He who would draw disciples does not trust to force; but to these three things–– to the attraction of his doctrine, to the persuasion of his presentation, to the enthusiasm of his disciples ; so the parent has teachings of the perfect life which he knows how to present continually with winning force until the children are quickened with such zeal for virtue...

Tea time looks a bit different than when we first started a couple of weeks ago.  In all honesty, it really should not be called Tea Time any longer as there is no tea involved (unless it is for me) and the special tea cups have gone away.  Really, though, I expected as much.  Little Buddy enjoyed the novelty of the tea cups and saucers at the beginning, but the special-ness of them wore off.  He now prefers his sippy cup, but he knows that he can have the glass ones if he wants them (and wants to be careful). So, what are we doing now?  It's become part of our routine now that at 3 o'clock we have juice and cookies.  We sit around the table, enjoy our drinks, and have some special devotional time with our family.  Most of the time, daddy is able to take his short afternoon break at this time so he will read the boys a story from our Jesus Storybook Bible .  This doesn't take very long, so now we've added doing memory verses and hymns while we ...

Psalm 100 Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth! Serve the LORD with gladness! Come into his presence with singing! Know that the LORD, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name! For the LORD is good; his steadfast love endures forever, and his faithfulness to all generations.

We've been having a lot of rain here in the Pacific Northwest.  Yet, it is starting to get warmer, so we've been trying to spend more time outdoors.  This last week, we went to another local park and literally got lost in the woods.  Thankfully, I had enough bearings to know the general direction of the car, and we had fun discovering parts of the park that we had never seen before. The first thing we noticed was all the earthworms that had emerged and were all over the parking lot.  So wiggly and squirmy.  The boys liked looking at them and touching them, but they were so slimy we couldn't get a grip on them to pick them up. Do you see the earthworm? We hiked up through the woods and found a really fun trail that was literally a stream from the recent rain we had had that morning.  The boys LOVED wading through it.   We got caught in the rain soon after this, but it was such a great time.  They loved playing the mud, and just being bo...

We have a wonderful park near our house that has two beautiful ponds that is often frequented by ducks.  Little Buddy and Button love to go and watch them.  Little Buddy continues to gain interest in them, and I'm looking forward to teaching him more about the different kinds of ducks that frequent our home.  Button is finding it interesting that they say "Quack!" Button's View I love that this gorgeous pond is about a quarter mile from our home. Little Buddy's View Mama's view.  Like my new rainboots? I'll finish with a little movie with my boys enjoying the ducks...

In my recent move toward anonymity, I've decided to go back through my blog posts and change my boys' names from their real names to some nicknames.  Enjoy! Meet Little Buddy (or just Buddy for short): Meet Button:

We have had another wonderful, relaxing week since we've switched over to the Charlotte Mason method.  Mostly, I'm not so stressed about lesson planning!  And one blog post a week is much more manageable.  I know that once Little Buddy is older and actually in elementary school, I'll have to do more lesson planning, but until then I'm going to enjoy my newfound freedom. We have added some more things into our weekly routine.  One of these is our "Tea Time."  Tea time is at 3 o'clock, and for us consists of us getting out some glass(!) tea cups and drinking our preferred drink of choice.  Little Buddy usually drinks apple juice while mommy either has tea or coffee.  Button is usually asleep, but if awake he gets his own cup as well, but only water for the messy one!  Tea time also usually corresponds with my husband's mid-afternoon break, so he'll often join us for about ten minutes.  I also always have some yummy treat (usually cook...

My baby is already one and a half!  We recently had his 18 month check-up and found that he is in the 90th percentile for height and about 60th for weight.  His head, though... it is off the charts.  Where did he get such a head?  Some of his "new for him" clothes don't even fit him because we can't get them over his head.  He's a pretty good sport about it though. Button is officially weaned now.  There was no cutting back with this kid.  He liked his mommy almost too much, so finally about a month ago, we shut down the dairy bar.  It's made us all a lot happier.  He loves to eat though so that wasn't a problem.  =) Button is also starting to talk more.  He's really got the "b" sound down so everything that starts with a "b" is called "Ba" - whether it be a bus, ball, book, block, etc.  Everything sounds pretty much the same.  He loves to play a talking game with me where I say his name twice then he says "Ma M...