I just watched this on my cousin's blog and it is SO GREAT. Terribly moving. Of course I was crying by the end. It is quite long, but worth every minute - hang in for the very end.
He is Benjamin Zander - the music director of the Boston Philharmonic Orchestra.
There were stories read aloud, a game of FANCY bingo where when a winner called out "FANCY!!" we all broke into a rousing round of Fancy Nancy to the tune of "There was a farmer who had a dog...": "F. A. N. C. Y. N. A. N. C. Y.!!"
Afterwards, the girls all got Fancy Nancy binoculars in celebration of her new book about exploring insects Fancy Nancy: Explorer Extraordinaire!
(and anyone who thinks insects are gross are just IMMATURE. I guess I am...), sparkly stickers, some Fancy Punch, and yummy cookies. Mae even asked me if we could wash out her paper cup and save it because she loved it so much. Great fun having a little girl who can be a friend. I love spending time with her!
Our newest obsession is paper airplanes! They are SO much fun to make and Mr. H. LOVES to fly them. Who knew they were so technical?? We used to make them when I was a kid, but they were nothing like these.
This one is from this book:
The Klutz Book of Paper Airplanes. My parents got it for Mr. H. when Baby O. was born, and he is just discovering it 9 months later. There are LOTS of great planes in here, but I have to do the folding, it all has to be folded PERFECTLY, and that is too much for a 6 year old. This site has a lot of them, too.
The camo paper and camo dino landed inconspicuously in a bush!
The dry erase board on the right is our daily note that the kids read to us each morning. H's teacher had this in his classroom, and encouraged us to continue it to help with reading, days of the week, scheduling our day, etc.
They really love to do them, but just to ensure enthusiasm, we picked out all of these stickers to go in their sticker books. After each day's activity, they get to pick out a sticker (or five...). Their sticker books are just spiral bound sketch books that they can draw or paint in as well. (the bottom photo is Miss Mae looking through an entire book of LISA FRANK STICKERS!!!! Oh how I remember how my heart would pound at the thought of a new Lisa Frank sticker when I was young!
I can't tell you what a difference our little scheduling has made in our mornings! Everyone knows what to expect, and what will happen next. I REALLY hope we can hold on to this into the school year! I’ve been wanting to do this for years, and have never gotten around to it. Sunday's Oregonian had an article about the difference in prices for a bag of fruits and veggies from the farmer's market, a discount grocery chain, a local Wholefoods, a CSA or Community Supported Agriculture subscription.
You can find one near you here: Community Supported Agriculture – LocalHarvest
They concluded that of course the retail chain store was the cheapest, but you won’t get organic, and who KNOWS where your food is coming from. The farmers’ market and Wholefoods were basically the same price, but the lowest was the CSA! The food is coming straight from the farm – often picked that morning – and the money is going straight to the farmer. LOVE IT.
I’ve had friends who have done this over the years, and they’ve always loved getting the fresh surprise basket each week.
I’m making the call. Have you done this? Were you happy with your surprise grocery basket? What did you do with all of the LETTUCE in the spring??
Oh my do I want this book!!! This fall when it is cooler out, I'm going to felt again. I ADORE felting.
These are my $58 paper pinwheels. I have a knack for making things myself to save money and spending twice as much... In this case we could have bought pinwheels for about $1.00 a piece, but it was great fun making them! The $58 was not JUST for the pinwheels - I can't seem to stay on task in the craft store. We found great stickers and sticker books for our summer activities, and so many beautiful papers!
