zoe's fancy nancy tea parties book review

in this book fancy nancy shares all her tips on tea parties. first she talks about ensembles and etiquette like what to say to your hostess and where to put your napkin. nancy even tells you how to make things like food and place mats. for a doll tea party she uses a shoe box for the doll table, shells for bowls, toothpaste caps for cups, and a cookie for a cake. at the end of the book are invitations to tear out for your own tea party. this is the best fancy nancy book!

by zoe

Our homeschooling story, & some great books.

When Zoe was four years old she went to preschool. I don't remember the exact hours, but I know it started early in the morning and got out at least a couple hours after lunch. After school and on weekends Zoe watched TV. Constantly. When I tried to get her to do other things, like you know, play, she would cry or get "bored" or simply not know what to do with herself. Zoe was overstimulated. Only I didn't know it yet. So I perpetuated it.

Being overstimulated also affected Zoe's attitude. When she wasn't being entertained (by school or TV) she was fussy, cranky, and full of sass. To be honest with you, we didn't really like each other. She was constantly flip with me, and I was more than happy to avoid her by using the TV, AKA, they babysitter.

Then we took a family vacation the summer before Zoe began kindergarten. For a week we played at the beach, went for walks, and ate together as a family. Something strange started to happen to Zoe as the week progressed. She became sweeter and less overstimulated. She was calm. We got along. We didn't fight. We didn't have things to do, places to be, TV to watch.

I had a revelation. What if school and TV were wrong for her? What if Zoe could be nice like this all the time? I so badly wanted to have a good relationship with her. I had always fantasized about homeschooling when she was just a tiny baby. Only when problems arose had I dropped the idea. Maybe it was time to go back to it. At least to try.

And that's how we began homeschooling.

Now, I'm not saying we never watch TV anymore. We watch a little. But cutting drastically back on the habit was crucial for us.

It took a full year without school and TV before Zoe learned how to play. We spent most of that year reading together and being outside (and we still spend most of our time that way). I read to her with my finger, and she naturally followed my finger with her eyes, thus learning to read by sight. Well, she didn't learn to read in one year, but after two years of reading together that way she was reading on her own. There's even a book about it that I read back then. It's called, Teach a Child to Read With Children's Books.

From the time I began homeschooling her, Zoe was also very interested in writing. She wanted to write years before she could read. The Charlotte Mason homeschooling philosophy calls this "copywork." And Zoe was really into it. She still is.

Simply by being around her older sister, Ashley has experienced our joys in homeschooling too. The low stress environment. The ability to learn about what interests you most. Field trips. Being outside. Both girls spend most of the day reading (Zoe actually reading, and Ashley looking at books). Ashley often wants to do whatever Zoe is doing. And they both use Time4Learning.com for educational games for an hour or so a day.

One of their favorite times of day is definitely Andy's bedtime reading. They have been obsessed with Burgess books (I think they've read three or four now). Also Andy has been reading them this book, Colonial Living.

This book isn't about war. It's all about daily living in the colonial time.

The illustrations are great.

Zoe was crazy for the hair designs :-)

Here's a list of some of some of the Burgess books too, in case you're wondering:

The Adventures of Sammy Jay

The Adventures of Paddy the Beaver

Old Granny Fox

Old Man Coyote

The Burgess Bird Book for Children

♥, Kelly

Changing Education Paradigms, a great video

Art show this January at Red Frog Coffee!

My show is about to go up! Come on over to Red Frog and see it starting next weekend and all January long :-) The owner, my friend Emily, can make you an Americano (my favorite) and you can eat a gluten-free lemon poppy seed or pumpkin bread.

(click images to see larger version)

"Sanctuary," mixed media. Size: 2' x 2'

"Retro," mixed media. Size: 2' x 2'

Detail.

My mixed media collages are done on birch veneer and include watercolor, acrylic, graphite, paper, found objects, and Caran D'ache.

"Cherry," mixed media. Size: 2' x 2'

Detail.

"Little Bird," mixed media. Size: 2' x 2'

Detail.

"Blue Dress," mixed media. Size: 2' x 2'

Detail.

♥, Kelly

Dollhouse Before & After

When Zoe was two years old my parents bought her a Pottery Barn dollhouse with furniture and dolls.

Recently she became interested in playing with it again, but it didn't last very long.

Then the other day I looked at it and thought, "We should really decorate this dollhouse."

But first I decided to seriously clean out the girls bedroom. It was in major need of organization.

Organizing their bedroom took half the day. I had to take everything out, rearrange some furniture, dust, dust, dust, then bring everything back in (well, almost all of it came back). Now their bedroom is beautiful and they love it.

But on to the dollhouse decorating. First Ashley asked me to take her picture (below).

They were so busy enjoying their newly designed bedroom that I left them home (with Andy) and went to Hobby Lobby for pretty papers. The papers were half off and I got them all, plus a couple other things for later dollhouse projects, for only $10.

The trim was pale yellow, and I painted it white. I painted the bottom of all the walls white as well, to create the look of baseboards.

I used tracing paper to make templates of each wall. I cut the tracing paper templates out, then laid them on the decorative paper like a pattern. Then I cut the patterns and used kids glue to glue them to the walls and floors.

The top right room with green wallpaper and gingham floors is the bedroom.

The top left is the bathroom. I love the faux bathroom floor tile :-)

The kitchen/living room floor paper has a wood design, but Zoe thought it was too dark so I gave it a whitewash. Then Zoe painted and glittered a pinecone for a Christmas tree, and I picked up some twigs outside to make a fire in the fireplace. I found a photo of a real fire in a catalog and cut it into pieces for the flames. I also added some gold foil from a Chocolove bar behind the flames.

We have so much more to do, like the front door, curtains (I already cut the fabric, and they're next), and about a million other personal touches :-) I'll keep you posted.

♥, Kelly

Happy Thanksgiving 2010!

It's kind of ironic that my second cookbook just came out and we made all recipes from cookbook #1 for Thanksgiving today :-)

I'm thankful for all things, big and small. Like family and orange tulips.

And Ashley cooking with us! That's big! :-)

Zoe loves to mash potatoes almost as much as she loves to eat them.

Simple. Perfect. Grateful.

Yummy.

I forgot how sweet my pecan pie is since I only make it on holidays.

Tomorrow I'm going to make my vanilla ice cream and add some pecan pie at the end, Ben & Jerry's style. We'll call the ice cream flavor... pecan pie. ;-)

Wishing you love and blessings, Kelly

about the day-to-day

I love that Zoe and Ashley are asleep (snuggled up together in one bed) by 9:00 and sleep in till 8:00. I know a lot of that has to do with their low-sugar diet. It's much easier to sleep with you don't eat loads of sugar. But it's also because they don't have to get up for school in the morning.

I love that when they wake up they often sing (usually Ashley actually), and then get a book to lay in bed reading. What a thrill it is to peak in and see them laying on their backs, knees bent, reading and looking at books.

I love that they play harder than they study. There's plenty of time to study, and their years of playing as children is short in the grand scheme of things. I love how they make up stories and act them out—like non-stop theater in the house. They work on craft projects, drawing, cutting, glueing. Zoe is constantly writing, making books, signs, and little notes. Ashley asks me almost daily to help her write her name.

They sing and dance around, often in dress-up costumes and jewelry. They go outside and play with rocks, sticks, and chalk. They find bugs, and collect leaves. We go to museums, and to the playground with friends, and take long walks in the open space. Some of our best talks are on long walks. We sit in the coffee shop or outside at the coffee shop and read. Right now we're reading Betsy Tacy and Tib (love it).

Lately Zoe has been learning about the human body on Time4Learning. She'll ask me great questions when she's discovering something new like that. The other day she said, "Are there any animals that don't have bones?" We looked at pictures of jellyfish and sea anemone, which don't have bones, and she was utterly fascinated. I get such a kick out of seeing her excited to learn something.

In the evening Andy reads to them. Usually books from the AmblesideOnline book list. Such great books. Andy has taken it upon himself to teach history (since he's a bit of a history buff). Hearing about what people ate and how they lived in ancient and Medieval Europe is really interesting to the girls. They recently finished The Luttrell Village, a well illustrated book about a Medieval English village. They also read Life in a Medieval Village. It's more of a scholarly text, but Zoe really enjoyed it. Ashley listens, but falls asleep after a few pages :-) (she loves to sleep—making up for lost time, I always say). Next, Andy is really excited to begin Growing Up in the Viking Age.

The other day my friend and I were talking about living simply, and she said I would like

Living More With Less

. It came up when we were talking about Christmas presents. My friend and I both value having fewer (and less high-tech) things. We both made our children presents last Christmas, and the grandparents supported our less-is-more philosophy. My mom got on board with the hand-made love and got Zoe and Ashley hand-made play food from someone on Etsy. It's been nearly a year, and hardly a day goes by that they don't play with those felt cupcakes and cookies.

Zoe is just as into the giving aspect of Christmas, as she is into the receiving. She wants to know where we're going to donate money and why, and how we can help other people. She truly enjoys giving as much as getting, if not more. It makes my heart sing.

Just a little rant about how much I love my life. :-)

♥, Kelly