This year, we are using a book called The Story of the World for our history lessons. In the first book, we are learning about Ancient Times, and it will take us two years to complete. The second book discusses the Middle Ages, the third Early Modern Times, and the final book is about the Modern Age. In addition, we are using a supplemental activity book called History Pockets - Ancient Civilizations. We used History Pockets for our American Indian study last year, and Amelya really enjoyed the work. The Story of the World also has a supplemental activity book, and we are trying to complete two activities per chapter.
Our first chapter answered the questions "what is history?" and "what is archeology?" Our activity was to complete an archeological dig. The girls had a great time digging in the garden soil to find lost "treasures," such as a tin tea cup, a broken pencil, a quarter, nickel, and pennies, and a plastic car. Amelya then had to determine what these items told us about the "civilization" they were from; i.e. the people knew how to use metal and plastic, they had a written language, and had a currency.
Our second chapter was about early nomads turned farmers in the fertile crescent of what is now Iraq (along the Tigris and Euphrates rivers). The task was to use found natural objects to build a shelter. Daddy helped with this one, and Amelya decided it could double as a fairy house! Next, we'll be creating "cave paintings" using acrylic paints and brown paper bags.
Stay tuned, as our next chapter involves farming along the Nile River in Egypt and how the farmers used it's annual flooding to maintain their crops!
We combined the girls birthday parties this year, which, we think, makes it easier for those of you who travel long distances (i.e. catch a plane) to be here to share with our girls!
We had a circus theme this year, and all of the kids had a BLAST! We played carnival games, and each kid received a medal. We had a bounce house, music, and a popcorn machine, which was a HUGE hit!! Our cupcakes were decorated with clown faces, tufts of cotton candy, and frosted animal crackers. Daddy manned the BBQ and turned out delicious hamburgers, hot dogs, and bratwursts! And, we had a tower of PB&J sandwiches sprinkled with rainbow Skittles, just for good measure! Our treat buckets were star pencil holders for the girls and popcorn holders for the boys, all stuffed with circus stickers, circus bookmarks to color, crayons, pencils, Smarties, Skittles brand special edition Carnival flavors gum, and a mini-bag of microwave popcorn.
We opened Norah's gifts first, and we were SO proud of our 5-year-old Molly who sat patiently the entire time, waiting for Norah to finish opening her gifts. Not once did she complain or ask when it would be her turn. She was so awesome!
Months ago, Amelya commissioned all of the "older" girls to put on a circus show at the beginning of the party. We had jugglers, comics, lions, hula-hoopers, and our neighbor even dressed up as a clown! They did a great job, and Molly and Norah really enjoyed the show!
We attended our first Joliet Jackhammer baseball game on July 19th. It was a lot of fun, and the stadium was small with a very hometown feel. While there, we put the girls' names into a drawing for "kid of the game" sponsored by a local bank. If selected, the child would be able to throw out the first pitch at a selected game and say "play ball" into the microphone for all to hear.
Well, guess who won the drawing? Yes, our very own, Norah Jane Fox! We practiced throwing the ball and saying "play ball" slowly and loudly, and she was very excited for her debut. The game was set for last night...
Upon our arrival, we were escorted to the field. However, apparently, there were other important groups scheduled for the evening, as there were five additional people (children and adults) scheduled to throw out the "first pitch." How exactly did that make sense? We're not sure. Anyway, in light of the extra pitchers, they opted to have Norah say "play ball," which the other folks did not have the privilege of doing. She could only throw the ball about five feet anyway, although her practice throws were very straight! She went out onto the field by herself with the announcer and did her job well; she earned a baseball and a "kid of the game" t-shirt!
Here are some pictures...the mascot, Jammer, came over for a special "hello!"
On Saturday, we decided to teach Molly how to ride her 12" bike without training wheels. In about 1.5 hours, she was starting, riding, and stopping on her own! Yesterday, we all went for a family bike ride, and Molly rode the entire way with virtually no help! We are so proud of her! We put her on Amelya's 16" bike, and although it was a tough reach, she was able to ride the larger bike! So, we'll pass the 12" inch on to Norah (with new handlebar streamers, of course) and get Molly a new 14" bike for her 5th birthday!
Here's her progression (the first clip is Amelya narrating and taping):
This year, we decided to road trip to Colorado to visit Aunt Lesley, Uncle Eric, Katie, and Abby. Since we've not been able to share a birthday with the girls, we thought Katie's July 3rd party would be a great opportunity to visit.
On the way to Colorado, we stopped at a Pony Express Station in Gothenburg, Nebraska for a little bit of history (and a potty break!). Once we arrived at Aunt Lesley's, we prepared for the birthday party, which was super fun. Aunt Lesley made an awesome pink poodle cake, and Uncle Sean hung his signature streamers! Then, we celebrated a cold 4th of July with fireworks at home. The girls had so much fun with the sparklers and watching Uncle Eric and Daddy set off the fireworks in the street.
On Monday, we all went the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. It was beautiful, and the weather was perfect - warm with a cool breeze. We talked to some rock climbers and were able to watch them scaling the rocks and rappelling down the face of the rock. Afterwards, we stopped at a farmers market in town to treat the girls to shaved ice. Then, we purchased some awesome garlic butter!
We were sad to leave after only four days, but we said our goodbyes and headed home on Wednesday. On the way out of Colorado, we stopped at Hammond's Candies, where they have been making handmade candy since 1920. Santa even special orders his candy canes from this shop! We took a tour of the factory, tasted some candy, and of course, purchased candy canes!
On our second day of driving, we planned to stop in Urbandale, Iowa to see the Living History Farms. What an awesome place! We saw a 1700 Ioway Indian farm, an 1850 pioneer farm, and a 1900 farm. Individuals at each farm were dressed in appropriate attire for the time period and were completing farm chores as they would have been done back in the day! They were full of information and gave demonstrations for Ioway Indian beading and farming, harvesting wheat, larding cast iron pans, laundry, tea time, feeding livestock, harnessing a horse to a buggy, washing dishes with rain water, and hanging laundry to dry outside.
After touring the farms, we took the tractor back to the 1875 town. We went into the schoolhouse, which the girls really enjoyed. They used slates for spelling words and looked through McGuffey readers. They also thought Momma sitting in the teachers' desk was pretty neat. We went into a broom shop and learned how they were made. Amelya was very interested in the cake testing brooms. Toothpicks were available, but they were expensive. So, they made small "brooms" for cake testing. They would simply pull a piece of straw out of the broom to test the cake, then toss it away.
The girls helped the blacksmith heat up metal in a fire, hammer it into a curve, hammer it straight, and then cool it off in a big bucket of water. We purchased lemon drops at the general store, ground cinnamon at the drug store, printed at the printing press, and cancelled a "check" at the bank! It was a great afternoon, and a great trip
