on saving...and spending.

I consider one of my more important jobs as a parent, along with instilling faith, values, creativity, and kindness into my children, to be instilling them with a bit of financial sense, especially where the value of a dollar is concerned. Unfortunately, when it comes to traveling to London, the value of a dollar isn't much! We have a few philosophies when it comes to travel and spending money, one being that all of the kids' spending money needs to be saved by them before we go, and another is that some part of their spending money should be earned. I'm amazed at how much less begging for every souvenir in sight happens when the money that will be spent is their own.

Since the money that the kids are saving won't be worth as much in pounds as it is in dollars, we are talking about the exchange rate and it's implications on their savings. Since there are about 5 weeks until our trip, we are already starting our chores for $1 program. We have a list of chores, each worth $1 with a max of $5 that can be earned each day. During the week, they really don't have time to earn more than $1-2, but they have been so excited about earning their spending money this week. You've never seen a boy clean a bathroom as happily as Paulie did this evening. Elizabeth spent most of Sunday afternoon emptying her dresser drawers, sorting out clothes that were too small, and neatly stacking her clothes back in each drawer.

The benefit to earning their own money and having control of spending their own money is best summed up by our trip to Ireland. Elizabeth earned the equivalent of 30 Euros before we left. Our first day in Ireland, we visited The Rock Shop at the Cliffs of Moher, where Elizabeth found a beautiful amethyst-and-quartz-studded dragonfly that, when added to the other few rocks she desired, totaled almost half of her saved Euros. I simply reminded her that all she had for spending money were those 30 Euros and when it was gone it was gone. She said that she remembered. After that initial day, she only purchased a few postcards and a photo of herself kissing the Blarney Stone. Elizabeth has always collected rocks, and she knew that rocks were going to be her big purchase. After that she just didn't really pay much attention to buying things. What a proud moment for me that at 7 she was aware of what she had to spend, what she wanted to spend it on, and when it was gone she was unconcerned with buying more "things".

what we're reading...

This, our most recent family read-aloud, is our second book with illustrations by Inga Moore. Our first, The Secret Garden, was thoroughly enjoyed by Elizabeth, so when I saw The Wind in the Willows with her illustrations, I nearly swooned at the thought of being able to share more of her ethereal illustrations along with a celebrated classic. I've always loved this animal-as-human tale with all their crazy hijinks. The kids have enjoyed this book and poured over the illustrations, often during times that we aren't reading together as a family. That's the mark of a good illustration, in my opinion.

Philip, who repeatedly enjoyed being read Bad Kitty a few years ago, was thrilled to find this chapter book at his book fair a few months ago. Part comic book, part chapter book, it's perfect for a fledgling reader that wants to be reading big kid books like his siblings. Big kitty's hilarious escapades are simply icing on the cake for Philip as he laughs his way through Bad Kitty's birthday.

Finn has been off and on in love with this board book classic for most of his life. Recently he has wanted to talk about the experiences of the caterpillar, especially in relationship with this finger puppet book. Why does he eat so much? Why does he put holes in his food? Why does he sleep in that house? Why does he wake up a butterfly? And on and on in typical 3 year old fashion. I take for granted sometimes the mysteries still unknown to this youngest member of our family.

I've tried several times to get Elizabeth interested in reading Roald Dahl. For some reason I just thought his style would really click with her. She's listened to a few of his books on cd, but otherwise refused to pick up one of his books on her own...until The Witches. Originally purchased for Paulie from a school book fair, she latched onto it almost immediately. I think it might have been the warning on the back of the book that the content was "a true story about REAL witches". She's been convinced for a few years that a real witch lives in the woods behind our house (thanks to Paul) so this book seemed particularly intriguing to her. So far she seems completely mesmerized. Will it lead to other Roald Dahl? I'll keep you posted.

Paulie bought this mystery novel with part of his Christmas money, strongly recommended by me because I thought it might give him some information or background on London that would prove helpful this spring. He seemed a bit hesitant to start the book, but once he did, he could hardly put it down. A fun mystery with lots of action and a bit of education is often hard to come by in books for middle grade kids so I'm glad he liked it. I also appreciate that the main character (and narrator) has Asperger's syndrome, and the book portrays a good view of what it would be like to think from that perspective. A well-rounded book and gripping mystery.

What are your kids reading right now?

happy weekending

{the view from my new crafting nook}

{Finn, waiting for dry pants}

learning about London

With the kids stuck at home for most of the week following our record snowfall, we spent some time learning about the city we will be spending our spring break touring: London! I really want the kids to have as full an experience they can, know as much as possible about the city, and be thrilled to finally get to see and do the activities and attractions we're learning about now.

Yesterday morning, after reading Katie in London, flipping through London with Kids, and watching Travel with Kids - London, the kids each wrote a journal entry pretending it was the end of our first day in London.

Elizabeth's journal entry:

I did lots of stuff on my first day in London. First, I went to the London Eye, a giant ferris wheel. It's so big I can see Big Ben by the river. It felt like I was in a escalator and I got that jumpy feeling in my stomach. Next, we went to Big Ben itself! I made clay with the dirt and built Small Ben. When the clock rang, it was super loud! I walked around the ground of Big Ben to admire the beauty. After that we had a picnic with grilled cheese and strawberries. When we had eaten the last strawberry, we headed home. That night I dream of the science museum we would visit tomorrow.

Next, I'd like to find some books more about the history of London, specifically around the Tower of London and the Houses of Parliament, to help the kids have some knowledge of the magnificent structures and understanding of the rich historical significance of everything they will see. I guess I'll be heading to the library on a quest. If anyone knows of any books along this theme, I'm open to suggestion.

**top photo from Google Maps, other photos from Wikipedia

WIP Wednesday & Feb nature table

I'm having trouble staying focused on one project at a time over here, not that I do that very well anyway. I'm almost finished with the back of this baby sweater for a new little one joining our extended family this spring. I love the soft creaminess of this organic cotton yarn by Mirasol. A white table is not the best place to photograph it, but it's truly lovely.

I've also been working on these, my first pair of socks. Well, I've actually mostly been ignoring them for the last week. All that tiny, yet beautiful, yarn and tiny needles just doesn't flow as well for me as other knitting. To top it off, and I've never had trouble with this when using DPNs before, but I have lines of looser stitches where my DPNs meet.

See...lines! Does anyone else have this problem or am I just sock-knitting inept?

On another note, I'm loving this Bust-The-Stash blanket. There's something about pulling out the remnants of all the hats, blankets and scarves that are keeping my family warm and threading them all together into a cozy, colorful blanket. Finn keeps asking if it's for him, but I'll likely just leave it downstairs on the sofa for everyone to share.

Our nature table received a little bit of an update this week, including our Hearts for Haiti.

The card seemed quite fitting considering the crazy winter weather we've been having for the last week. Our area is supposed to receive more ice/sleet/snow in a couple of days and the kids are going to school tomorrow (late) for the first time in almost a week!

Candlemas, part 2

For the second part of our Candlemas celebration, we made pancakes, a traditional Candlemas food, for breakfast.

Heart-y Banana Almond Butter Pancakes

2 bananas, mashed

1/4 cup almond butter

1 1/2 cups spelt flour (or whole wheat)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

2 eggs

3/4 - 1 cup milk

1 tsp baking soda

1 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Butter or coconut oil for pan

Mix all ingredients except soda and vinegar and blend well. Add soda and vinegar (the bubbling gives the pancakes their rise) last and cook immediately.

Then eat them by candlelight.

Later in the day, during the freezing rain, which we're thinking might indicate more winter is on it's way, we made Candlemas light-themed candles, full of shooting stars, suns, candelabras, and candles.

Happy Candlemas!

Candlemas, part 1

As of sundown this evening, Candlemas arrived. And what a sunset to usher in this mid-point between winter and spring. I barely made it outside as the sun was disappearing behind the trees, and the blue-violet reflection on our leftover snow was breathtaking.

We brought our special angel candleholder out just before sunset and let her candle to shine throughout our dinner hour.

Earlier in the day, we made these adorable yarn sheep and talked about Imbolc, the festival celebration of the mid-point between winter solstice and spring equinox. Imbolc actually refers to "ewe's milk" since the spring lambs are arriving around this time. (We hope to see some new lambs the weekend after next when we head to the yearly sheep-shearing at our favorite farm.)

Baaaaa!

We ended the day reading a brief story about Saint Brigid, who also has ties to Imbolc and Candlemas, as this is her feast day.

Lastly, we read this old English song about the weather on Candlemas:

If Candlemas be fair and bright,
Come winter, have another flight;
If Candlemas bring clouds and rain,
Go winter, and come not again.

Tradition dictated that if the sun cast a shadow on Candlemas day, more winter was on the way; if there was no shadow, winter was thought to be nearly over. This practice led to the folklore behind "Groundhog's Day," which falls on Candlemas. Considering the weather here lately, we're anxious to see what the weather will be like tomorrow!

snowed in

With 8+ inches of snow on the ground this weekend, our part of NC came to a screeching halt. We aren't quite sure what to do with that much snow down here (I heard rumor of more than one snowplow stuck in a snowdrift) so I'm giving you a pictorial walk through our snowed in experience.

While we were snowed in,

we snowboarded on sleds,

(and only wiped out a little),

checked on the poor, confused NC birdies,

admired our snow-covered field,

ate snow cream for breakfast,

made watercolor paper lanterns,

experimented with snow, salt, and food coloring,

and generally tried not to freeze to death!

Silent Saturday

low-key celebration

Elizabeth's 9th birthday was spent in low-key celebration. We started to realize after several straight years of post-birthday party meltdown (and occasionally even a Christmas night meltdown) that Elizabeth doesn't do well with structured 2 hour birthday party confines. She becomes so excited that she's beside herself and she plans in her head, many times over, exactly how everything is going to go and how everyone is going to behave/react/interact. Needless to say, this is a recipe for failure and distress on the part of the birthday girl. Not that she hasn't had some great parties, because she has, but becoming distraught, even at the end of a great time, just isn't worth it. So this year we suggested to Elizabeth that maybe a more low-key celebration would be better and she wholeheartedly agreed. Actually, "that's a good idea. I don't do birthday parties well" is what she said. Here's to self-awareness!

After picking Elizabeth up from school and taking her to Whole Foods to pick out her birthday dessert (she chose Ben & Jerry's Cake Batter ice cream), we headed home for a simple meal and some art time by candlelight.

Elizabeth was so wrapped up in her art...

that her ice cream turned to soup. And she said, "that's ok, I'm not really hungry anyway." (Talk about self-awareness! How many kids do you know who just leave their dessert barely touched...on a regular basis.)

Her main gift was a new bed and room rearrange. I was surprised at how much energy she absorbed and reflected during the room changes we did last weekend. Her old bed was falling apart, and we had ordered a new one anyway. But she practically glowed at her chance for a "new" room. She was also thrilled that we hung her favorite quilt, made by a dear family friend, over her new bed.

She's also having a small sleepover tomorrow evening with 2 close friends but no planned party. Of course, we *might* just have cupcakes for dessert and we *might* have a family game night, but that's not an official party, right?