:: Yarn Along ::

Coming back from a little baby break and joining Ginny again this week.




Yes, that is snow you see in the background. We woke up this morning to about 3 inches. 3 inches is crazy for anytime of year in our part of the valley. In the second half of March...crazy, crazy-town! And on a day that we were all ready to start some kind of normal...we've had a new baby, a stomach virus and guests for almost the whole month of March. We are ready for some semblance of our old routine or at least the beginnings of a new routine. But it seems that we are destined for at least one more day of relaxing, hot chocolate, perhaps a little too much t.v. and list making/routine dreaming.

Back to the yarn along...

On the needles :: I've finished the sleeve for #3's sweater. Actually I finished it before #6 was born, then #5 came by and took out all the needles. I blame the child, Mr. Wiedz blames the knitter who doesn't seem to keep her knitting out of the reach of said 2 year old. I've got all the needles slipped back into place and nothing was lost, I'll be sure everything is up and high out of reach from now on. I'm out of yarn to continue working on that project...next month I'll order more (those KnitPick skeins are much smaller than I'm accustomed to).

Now that I know #6 is a girl (!) I cast on the Birdy Cardigan (ravelry link) in a sweet pink color. I was unwilling to cast on a project like a sweater for one gender or another knowing it would take me so long until I knew which one I would get to use. Of course I'm not getting loads of knitting time but I will say that the newborn stage does accommodate knitting while holding better than some later, wiggly ages.

I put that other green in the photo because I did knit up a pair of booties with it to give at a baby shower last weekend. I love the Pom-Pom Booties pattern from Vintage Knits for Modern Babies and it knits up so quick. I made a pair out of the same yarn before #6 was born and it took me one evening. Because of my new time constraints I gave myself all day to knit the second pair and was able to get them done.

On the nightstand :: I haven't picked up a book in weeks. I was trying to read a new book from the church library but didn't get into it enough to last into these blurry-eyed, not-getting-enough-sleep-as-it-is to stay up reading.

Oh Baby!

She's here!!! Born on Friday, March 9th at 7:14pm. All the interesting (if you're into that) details to come!

Rowing :: Another Celebrated Dancing Bear

"[A] heavy-footed brown bear whose heart is soft as butter," Boris is unhappily employed at the animal hospital. When he sees an ornate poster announcing that his friend Max, "the celebrated dancing bear," is about to tour St. Petersburg, his discontent overwhelms him and he can't control his tears, even as he bravely struggles to congratulate Boris. But Boris, too, is soft-hearted, and he sets about teaching Max to dance." - Reed Business Information


Another Celebrated Dancing Bear was such a sweet book to row. Both the boys enjoyed reading it each day and we had fun with the activities. I had more planned and of course a cooking/treat idea but the end of this pregnancy is causing a lot of those "extra" and "fun" activities to fall away.

Centers ::

We "rowed" this book during the beginning of February so a lot of my center activities were based on Valentine's Day. I found the idea for chocolate scented playdough from counting coconuts. It was a big hit! I found the measuring hearts on pinterest. They weren't used so much for measuring but there was a lot of color sorting done. I also made a red sensory bin (idea from counting coconuts, again) that got a lot of rotation. The boys seem to enjoy the sensory bins and since I don't have them down every week or even a whole week they are excited when it is down.

Seatwork ::

I love the stuff snake wrapped around his head and that he's wearing his
pilgrim badge we made awhile back. He's so awesome!

I found a lot of printables to go-along with this book at homeschool share. We talked about Russia's culture and things Russia is famous for; the ballet, the onion-dome buildings, the stacking dolls. We colored a flag and found Russia on our maps. I wanted to make bear claws for a snack or have a teddy bear tea party but both of those wonderful ideas never made it.

All About Reading and ABC Animals ::

We worked on Lesson 3 in All About Reading Level Pre-1 and did the Letter C from Carisa's ABC Animals. I'm really enjoying using these two programs and have noticed an improvement in both #3 and #4's letter recognition, sounds, reading, and awareness.

Links ::

Counting Coconuts - center play dough and sensory bin

1+1+1=1 - ABC Animals

Homeschool Share - printables (when I got the link it looks like they have changed their site layout. I haven't explored the new setup so I'm not sure if the printables I used are still there.)

Linking Up ::