Smitten with...

 my Noah... he's just a cutie:)

with the eight baby bunnies in my strawberry patch...

with my garden...

mama bunny helped herself to some lettuce last night...

Getting a fence!

Remember these mittens I am so smitten with?

One of my dearest and talented friends made me a pair!

Lovely surprises in the mail:)

Can't wait for winter!

Smitten with my estate sale $2 box of vintage crepe paper/flower making stuff,  full of goodies...

with this very old envelope inside my $2 box...

and inside the envelope 3 prefect condition Aunt Jemima rag dolls.

Noah is smitten with his rocker chair that I also bought at the estate sale.

He loves to sit in it when he reads.

Smitten with my Mother's day gifts from Autumn:)

Cute owl pillow!

mama squirrel with her three precious ones...

sweet little carnations, my favorite flowers...

a 1930's photo of the Dionne quints from Canada, (my mom is related to them.)

The one wearing the necklace is named Annette.

and my new Kindle from the boys:)

Reading: The Scarlet Letter... again.

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Hope everyone had a wonderful Mother's Day.

We went for a long walk along the river and had Chinese take-out for dinner:)

Such a nice day!

Pysanky Egg Class

 Sunday my friends Ann, Hanlie and myself took a Pysanky Egg class at the library. It was taught by our other dear friend Jozefa (all homeschooling mamas.) Jozefa is a wonderful artist and she had self taught herself the art of Pysanky Eggs years ago. She sells them now at art fairs and they are just amazing!

Jozefa referred to these eggs as her "crappy ones," we had to laugh at that! I would be so talented as to make these crappy eggs:)



The tool to apply the wax is called a kistka.

We had such a great time learning how to make Pysanky Eggs. It's very relaxing and therapeutic. I think the flickering candle has a calming effect.  Layering color and wax, color and wax. I had to really wrap my mind around the concept of one step at a time. Jozefa is a wonderful teacher.

Unfortunately my camera died and I didn't get a picture of my friends finished eggs, bummer... cause I really wanted to show you how great their eggs turned out.  

 Here's my egg... blurry and all. (believe me... it looks all blurry in real life too!) hey, I tried.

One side has what should be a chicken (?) or perhaps a quail and on the other side I decided to put a whimsical purple squirrel, a tribute to my beloved blog and our homeschool.

I also added some Pysanky symbols along the sides. Such as the star that means: eternal life and good fortune, a spiral that means: divinity or immortality (and to me it means my sweet friend Tara:) pine needles that mean: eternal youth and health, dots that represent stars in heaven and from sorrow comes unexpected blessings. I love the symbolisms:) oh yes... there are tiny hearts for love.

So now we're thinking we should check out The Polish Art Center and order some Pysanky Egg kits and keep at it. In about ten years my eggs might look as good as Jozefa's crappy ones:)



Just What We Needed... A box of cheer!

What a week!

We've been sick with the flu. Fevers, aches and a horrible mad cough.
Missing Noah's Fiber Art's class and most likely homeschool swimming on Friday will be out of the question. It's been through the whole family, thank goodness my mom was smart and had her flu shot this year. She's the only one who has escaped this nasty bug. Just when we're feeling so overwhelmed with this flu and life in general...
Goodness graces us this morning on the porch steps! A box of cheer from our dear blog friends in California. Oh so sweet and thoughtful of them. I love my blog friends and I love how they know us so well!

For me: a beautiful handmade photo frame and a smudging set of sage~mugwort~and cedar tucked inside a sweet little cloth bag. (I just love these, prefect gifts for me:)

For Noah: a beautiful San Fransisco Trolley car glass ornament for our tree, a sand dollar, a amethyst crystal, a wonderful Wizard book (that we'll save for our up coming train trip) a braided bracelet and the cutest little scrolls... prefect for wizard spells and secrets!

Thank you sweet Goose and Family, for cheering us up just when we needed it! Noah and I are very blessed to have you as friends~ May the Great Creator send many, many blessings your way!

Miigwetch Sharon!

Oh... the photos are fabulous!!!

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Noah dug right into all the wonderful books you sent for him. What a nice surprise! He's sick with a low grade fever today, so it's a prefect day to look at his new books and cuddle on the couch with mom.

Miigwetch ~ Thanks for sharing with us!

XOXOX

Gifty Goodness From a Good Friend...

A good friend once gifted another good friend with some homeschool goodies and in turn that good friend gifted us today! We received all this wonderful solar system and night sky books and puzzle in the mail today.
What a great surprise, Noah and I are Over the Moon with joy!
Thanks dear friend, we'll be sure to pass it along to another homeschooler when we are done with it. This will be a prefect start for science this fall!
~Many Blessings to both of my good friends!

Fort: Homestead

Noah and his friend Ian playing Revolutionary War 1775.

Guarding the fort.

Who goes there?

HOLD IT, RIGHT THERE!!!

Time for lunch!

Private Time...

I've decided to make my blog private. I've thought long and hard on this and I think this would be best. So in order to go private and invite my blog friends, I need email addresses. I will switch to private blog in a few days.
I have/ or found these friends e-mails:
Sharon, Ruth, Gwen, Molly, Tara, Carla, Docwitch, RunninL8, Tammy, Lisa at 5 orange potatoes, Amy B., Shona, Autumn, Bonnie, Denise, Tiff, Lisa Anne, Sandy, Sarah, Lisa, Marje, Jodi and Nita, Kel, Sara and Beth.

Here are the friends that I don't have e-mails for:
*****Update: I have everyone's e-mail now. Thank you everyone!!!****
If you ladies could e-mail me I can add you to the blog list.
Please, if there is anyone not listed here that would like to visit my blog send me your e-mail address and I will be happy to add you to the list.

My e-mail is momof3angels@sbcglobal.net
Thanks everyone, I appreciate each and every one of you!!!

Dear Ms. Bonnie...

Dear Ms. Bonnie, Thank you for the great whistle!

I will be sure to always wear it when I'm in the woods. It was very nice of you to make sure I'm safe when I'm hiking.

Thank you for being a super great teacher to me in preschool!

Love, Noah

Today was a day of gifts...

A gift from my friend/boss Bonnie. A "just because" gift. We named him Raindrop. I tried to post a video clip of him but it wouldn't up load. He's an animated squirrel and sings Raindrops are falling on my head. Sniffy didn't care for him very much, but we do! He so darn cute!!!

A lovely wooden bead bracelet a gift from one of our students, who's family spends the winters in Mexico. His father is a whale watching tour guide. They are back in Michigan, it's good to have him back. He is just a sweetheart!

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Also the most lovely gift from my husband today... some of the sweetest words he's ever spoken to me. Truly sent my heart soaring :)

Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Reading Treasure!

One of the mom's at our preschool is such a sweet person and a good friend. Her family is moving out of state soon. Her family loves to read and they have loads of books. They don't want to move too much stuff, so she brought over all of these books for Noah. Along with a bag full of Brain Quest. Noah dove right into them! This will keep him busy for awhile. Thank you Teresa and Harry for sharing with us. We will read them and find them a good home when we are finished with them. I'm going to miss you guys!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss and National Reading Day!

Green Eggs and Ham...one of our favorite Dr. Seuss stories!

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It's National Reading Day!

Noah and I are joining Tammy at Laugh, Live, Learn, Love for a day of reading and cuddling. Well...Noah and I are cuddling, you know. No other work today, just reading! (Noah's going to love this!) Enjoy the day and have fun reading!

The Winner of the Valentine Giveaway is....Tara!

We used a bowl instead of a hat. I let Noah reach in and chose a name.
~~Tara, I think I still have your address. I'll mail your Valentines on Monday.
Enjoy and I hope you have a wonderful Valentines day!
I kept about a dozen of my favorites and gave the rest to Autumn.
She saved her favorites and put the rest in her Etsy shop and sold six of them the first day.
Now why didn't I think of that?
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Click below, if you'd like to check out Autumn's shop.

Autumn's Etsy Shop

Big Sister, Little Sister

Autumn is a Big Sister in the Big Sister/Little Sister program. Her new little sister Tyronique is just a sweetheart. Autumn was taking her sledding tonight and stopped in to meet the family. Tyronique is younger than Noah but a head and a half taller than him! She loves to talk and just adores Autumn. She is a bit afraid of our cats... we'll work on that. I'm so proud of my girl, spending time with a young girl that needs a little extra one on one "girl" time. Autumn is just like that, she has a big heart!

"Come on Bella, pull!!!"

Holiday Cheer on the porch.

Today I found a box on the porch, YAY! my Holiday Cheer give-away from Tara. I was so excited. I never imagined the wonderful treasures inside. What a delight and a blessing!

A beautiful hand crafted mug, She wrote "no more ugly mugs." teehehe... I am so.... getting rid of some of those ugly mugs, cuz this baby is all I need! Isn't it beautiful?! The colors and the feel of this mug is wonderful. A box of Tara's favorite tea, a cute as heck felt heart for my tree. I'm pretty sure hand crafted by Tara herself. A cinnamon and milk chocolate bar (all mine!), a fun dice game called Lumps, that Noah and Brad are playing at this very moment. They are laughing and having a blast in there! Thank you Tara for your beautiful giving spirit, I will treasure these gifts always. Every cup of tea or coffee and every time I hang the heart on my tree I will think of you :) Okay, I'm off to make me a cup of tea!

**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~**~*~**~**

Added Note: Tara that had to be the BEST cup of tea I have ever had! I hope I can find this locally. I'm sure the beautiful mug makes it even better. The Best!!! Oh and I ate one row of chocolate and I moaned all the way through it. Cinnamon and chocolate are delicious together. Thanks again ;)

Boo!

May your day be filled with chills

and your night filled with frights...

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from all the ghouls at the Purple Squirrel
Happy Halloween everyone!

Colonial Writing and The Seventh Generation

Noah is studying about Colonial America. We took the feather that a friend sent him in the mail. (thanks friend!) and made a quill pen. We used water down black acrylic paint for the ink. Noah thought it was really cool to write like this but said it's much harder than he thought.

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We also read more about the Ojibwa Indians. The Ojibwa thought of themselves as part of the circle. They did not see themselves separate from the Earth. They always used natural things with the seventh generation in mind. It was an awesome moment when Noah realized that his ancestors seven generations ago was thinking of him; how they lived on the earth and the way they used nature would have an impact on his life on earth. Noah said he's going to always keep that in mind and think about his seventh generation from now.

A Cutie in the mail!

My New York City Prize came in the mail from Runnin18 at Mountain Pulse today...

How cute is this???

Look she lights up and turns colors!
We are having a blast with her...
Too much fun!!!! We even had a little science lesson about how it turns on by touching the 2 metal buttons on the bottom at the same time. Very cool!
We even enjoyed the packing!
Thanks Runni18, I will keep her right next to my Statue of Liberty pencil sharpener!

Awesome!

Off to Hogwarts again!

Noah is at Hogwarts again today. He met up with some old friends. Conjuring up some spelling, flying lessons, a game of Quidditch, and how to ward off the dark arts were a few things on the agenda today. We were joking about how the "One to Remain Nameless" made a red scar on Noah's cheek. No, not Voldemort... Harpo the evil kitten!

Thursday's Word: Daedal

Daedal/Ingenious and complex in design or function; intricate.
Finely or skillfully made or employed; artistic

Daedal Photography by Autumn. Model: Cassie as Marie Antoinette 2007

A daedal piece by Sharon at One Small Square