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The kids are traveling home this morning, we have a turkey, and today’s plans include prepping two versions of Pioneer Woman’s exquisite cinnamon rolls for easy baking tomorrow morning (regular and allergy-friendly), as well as making both a pumpkin pie and (allergy-friendly) apple pie.
It must be Thanksgiving.
A dear friend read my blog last week and immediately offered fridge space for our turkey, which gave me the confidence to buy one. As it was, it somehow fit in the space we have available! Still, I’m grateful for the offer because without it, well… I think we may have had stirfry for Thanksgiving. Not that that’s bad at all! It just would have meant some disappointed traditionalists around my table tomorrow (and a very thrilled husband, if we’re being totally honest).
It’s been that kind of week— one where all the good things fall right into place and you enjoy the simple rhythms of life moment by moment. Daily tea has happened each afternoon. We even had enough leftover oatmeal from yesterday’s breakfast to male a batch of these muffins to nibble while enjoying a quiet moment. I used a combo of coconut sugar and applesauce as a sweetener, and added dried fruit and chopped walnuts for some more substance. They were a hit.
Also, Simon finished the first Treadwell reader this week! My husband chided me for calling them “Treadwell readers” when obviously they are Free and Treadwell readers, but I’ve never heard anyone in CM circles call them anything but Treadwells! I love these books for helping readers gain confidence. Aesop’s fables, folk tales, and poetry selections are so much more beautiful than most of what is offered up for children these days, not to mention challenging. The sentence structures and word choices are just head and shoulders above leveled reader sets. Simon enthusiastically started the second reader the same day he finished the first, so he obviously approves as well.
Speaking of reading, Jude has taken off! He is on lesson 30 in 100 EZ , and it is working like a charm. Gosh, I love that system. It really has been so straightforward and simple for most of my kids. (No, not for kiddos with learning considerations.) The most exciting part for me in teaching Jude has been his automatic acquisition of sight words! I’ve never had one pick them up quite so easily or without any real effort. He’s also enjoying spelling. I set up two or three Montessori-based spelling and writing invitations for him each week, and he thinks they are pretty much the greatest entertainment ever. Score!
Early on in the pandemic, when schools were shuttering and the rush of “what will happen to the school children?” was driving unprecedented access to resources suddenly made free, I signed up for an ABC Mouse subscription for Phin. It has ben a great addition to his drill routine! Because he constantly needs reinforcement of skills learned, games are a vital part of his school time. (Aren’t they for everyone?) ABC Mouse has given me an occasional additional tool in the toolbox, and while I don’t like to put screens in rotation for general learning, I do feel like this is filling a need for him and keeping him interested when some days the needed level of spiral review begins to run very dry.
And speaking of games, both John Mark and Birdie have suddenly had a huge resurgence of interest in N2K. I’ve switched it up a bit with some different dice options (like these, which have 12 sides), and let me tell you, the challenge was made fresh and they decided it was fun all over again. The bonus of those higher numbers is that they are working with more operations as they try to get down to the charted numbers, instead of just up. Highly recommended for mental math strategy practice.
And finally, as we continue scouring the loft space, we keep unearthing bins we had assumed were passed on… and finding more baby items! To my delight, we are totally good on diapering this little one. My stash is actually mostly intact, save some of my favorite wool longies I passed on to new homes. My stack of receiving blankets that serve as burp clothes? Found. The little collection of those sweet bamboo swaddles? Located. A handful of gender neutral newborn gowns and onesies? Got them. I even found the fabulous red moby wrap my friend Faith gave me with I was pregnant with Jude, as well as the trusty, well-faded ergo in which every child from Phin down has ridden. My toddler-sized Tula (a lifesaver with chunky Jude, and another gift from Faith) is headed back to me in January. We still have a high chair, and the crib we use as a co-sleeping sidecar for the first few years. I’m hoping to borrow a bouncer seat for the short window that’s an essential, and if this baby is like a couple I’ve had who like their naps in swings early on, I’ll ask around to borrow one of those as well. We need a new mattress, and carseat, but that’s it in terms of big purchases. Everything else— girl clothes, if they’re needed, crib sheets, other small bits and pieces— will come.
So it’s been a good week. A simple week, with no real news or events but the ones that make up the heartbeat of a family. I hope your Thanksgiving is the same: quiet, complete, and resplendent in the grace and mercy of days ordered by a loving God!