Potterings and Paper Play...

Our weekdays are feeling full and frantic at times... between swimming lessons, church group and my tutoring sessions, there are only two weekdays we come home from school and crash. They are needed by all of us. It's lovely to come home and know the evening stretches before us uninterrupted... and there are two little people eager to spend time with their big sister after a day apart...

Ava is our creative little person. She comes home, and wants to pick right up with drawing, writing, creating... she is such an eager little learner, and there's another little lady who follows suit. We have had fun enjoying traditional paper crafts these last couple of weeks. Paper dolls, paper chains and little paper books have been the activity of choice. I am finding them everywhere!

We rediscovered paper-chain dolls after reading "Milly-Molly-Mandy" last year... Ava loves them! A simple chain of paper-dolls can be turned into ballerinas, princesses, cowboys or little families. We have had great fun making all sorts of different designs, and they make the cutest little decorations afterwards! So simple, and cheap, but keep little girls happy for hours!

The other thing the children have been loving this week are little mini books. I folded up some paper into mini books during the children's quiet time on Tuesday and stuck them in a little basket on the side and they have been creating little books ever since! Stories, ABC books, and Ava has even turned one into her spellings book (which has made her super eager to practice them every day!) Heidi has been making a little bible and drawing "Joseph" and "Jesus" and "Angels" and writing the letter "H" all over it!

Ava made this gorgeous little "ABC" book for Jonas... With a letter and a picture on every page... It's beautifully done, she really is turning into quite the little artist. I wanted so much to take some photos, but she has taken that little book into school with her to show her class and it has not come home yet. It's definitely a keeper.

Yesterday she made another little book for her friend who is unwell. She wrote a lovely message in the front and then illustrated the rest of the book with little drawings and decorated it with some pretty stickers. It's nice to see her want to use her artistic skills for others, and it's a great way for her to be practicing her writing with absolutely no coercion on my part at all! I've no doubt more little blank paper books will be appearing on the side at regular intervals!

And that's how we've been whiling away our quieter afternoons...

... Now to stock up on paper!

Little Artists...

"Every child is an artist"

- Pablo Picasso -

Rainy days call for pots of paint, half-filled glasses of dusky water and colour-dabbed hands. Sheets of white are transformed into explosions of colour as little imaginations run wild with creativity. 

Our little girls love to paint... I have yet to meet a child who doesn't... And yet all too often it's me who puts the dampener on requests to use those little colour blocks...

"Not now, we don't have time!"

"It's too much mess to clear up..."

Well, last week I felt thoroughly rebuked... The girls sat and painted for over an hour creating little masterpieces and gentle chatter. They adored every moment and created some beautiful pieces of work...

Ava even asked me to pass our old, age-bound copy of "Heidi" to her, and asked me to read it as she painted. Before my eyes unfolded the scene I was reading as little hands flurried in colour to create majestic mountains, rich green meadows and little wooden cottages - the town of Maienfeld. We then placed the book on my cookbook stand and my big girl copied it out...

I love this piece of work... It is simple but so beautiful. 

Needless to say, I think we're going to be reaching for those colour pots a little more often!

Our Little Homeschool...

There's always been something about Homeschooling that's appealed to me... the thought of having my little brood around me all day, the thought of creating lesson plans and activities for my own little people, the thought of being able to teach them from a gospel world view. I love that thought... and I look at these amazing homeschoolers like Jodi Mockabee and Bethany Douglass and feel totally inspired.

And then I take a reality check!

Because much as I love the concept, much as I miss teaching, and much as I love how idyllic it looks on the Instagram feeds, I know the reality is hard core... no space during the day at all, full responsibility for your little people's  learning, and then the social side of things...

And I look at our little Ava at school, and know this has been exactly the right thing for her. That breaking free from the nest has been good for her; given her confidence, helped her understand that some people have different world views from her, helped her to gain independence and stand on her own two feet. And in some strange way, has helped her understand what it means to belong to a family, and brings her back to us all the more certain that this is exactly where she's meant to be.

But sometimes, when you have little children who would just love to be in school with their bigger siblings, you can't help but indulge!

Our little lady is counting down the days until she can go to big school...

She is eager to learn, and walks around the house saying "H for Heidi, A for Apple, G for Papa, S for Mama" .... it is so cute and utterly hilarious watching her little serious face repeating these little phrases utterly incorrectly!

But she is determined, and takes such delight in copying out her letters... I love the way she curls her little "H"...

It warms this Mama heart... and she's taken to asking if we can play "schools" most days...

There's one Mama here who is happy to oblige!