Tent Town #3

This week we had another successful Reading Tent Town!

(To read about the other times we've done this and find out what it's all about, click the tab at the top of the page.)

The most notable change this time for me was that Primus decided to be a reader instead of a participant.  Its very bittersweet for me to watch her grow up so fast and decide that she's "too old" for things like this.  She was a great reader, though.  I've been training her for a while to be a good storytime reader and am very proud of her.

 I love to hear the positive feedback from the families that come.  It seems like for most of the kids, it is a very enjoyable experience.  I really know we did good when I saw that 2 days later, one of the little girls was still wearing her card.

The most exciting part is to see the growth that some of the children, especially my own son, have had.  The first time we did this, I think Tertius spent most of his time wandering around and then playing inside the house.  The second time, he went to a few tents but not all.  This time, he listened to every single story and proudly got his card marked off.

Besides just growing and maturing, I think another thing that helped is that this time I made it sound like I wouldn't give the kids their treat at the end unless they could show me their filled up card.  There were a couple kids who came to me with an incomplete card and I was able to encourage them to go listen to last stories and then come back. 

This time we had 6 story tents (plus the first joint story) and 12 children.  Here are the books read: Before You Were Born, Handa's Surprise, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie (and the sequels were available as optional alternates), Leaf Man,  DinoFours: It's Snowing!, and various princess stories.  This time, to the delight of several of the children, Snow White and Rapunzel were back to read the princess themed stories.

Like before, we started all the kids off listening to one story all together.  But this time we decided to do a craft instead of making lunch.  Also, we didn't even set up the large tent this time; we just did it on my nice covered/enclosed patio.  To make sitting on the cold cement a little more comfortable, I had large foam squares for them. 

Grandma Cindy read, "Today I Feel Silly," a book about different feelings.  And then for the craft they made puppets displaying a feeling using these pre-cut people-colored face shapes from Lakeshore.

The treat/favor at the end was a juice box made to look like a book.  This was so easy and turned out cute!  I just cut a 9X12 construction paper into 4 equal pieces and that was the perfect size.  Then I hot glued the paper to the back and the side of the juice box.  Don't glue the front cover down.  It looks more fun this way.  And besides, the attached straw would be in the way.

The plan is to do the next one in January.  It will be interesting to see how it goes if we get rained out and are forced to do it inside!

A week where bookwork was set to the side...

This has been a crazy, busy week.

 I had to practice a musical number for church with a couple other ladies nearly everyday, I visited a friend in the hospital, we did another Tent Town (post coming soon) on Thursday so the backyard needed to be cleaned up, and I had a pomegranate-seeding party so the house needed to be cleaned and the pomegranates picked. The kids spent lots of time helping me and also playing while I did solo chores.

Most of our typical school work was definitely skipped this week.  I am so thankful that we homeschool so had the freedom to take a break from the normal routine and decide to focus on different priorities.

This week learning how to babysit (with Mom in the next room) and be responsible for younger siblings was more important than a math worksheet.

Learning how to select and pick the best ripe pomegranate was more important than a grammar lesson.

Working together with siblings and building an awesome train track was more important than a spelling test.

Learning how to hold a dustpan steady and sweep up the porch was more important than handwriting practice.

Learning the importance of service and mourning with those that mourn was more important than a history lesson.

Contributing to the upkeep of the home for the benefit of the whole family was more important than a book report.

Playing with a new friend (the son of one of the singers) and learning to respect his belongings and his house rules was more important than reading a chapter of a novel.


We did learn a lot this week, but I will also be glad to get back to our routine on Monday!

Halloween Costumes Made From Stuff We Already Have

 I have always enjoyed making my kids' Halloween Costumes.  I also enjoy being frugal.  So this year I am quite proud of the fact that I didn't have to purchase a single thing for the costumes.  We already had everything we needed!

Toothfairy

Leo and tutu were from her ballet recital.
Crown purchased at dollar store several months ago.
Tooth pictures cut from white felt.
Wings were hand-me-downs from a friend a few years ago.
Tooth bag was cut from a brown vest we had in the dress-up box (I have no idea where it came from!),  filled with marbles, and tied with a long ribbon (I keep all ribbons from gift boxes/bags.)

The Glitch.  Vanellope Von Schweetz.

Green hoodie borrowed from sister.  Not the correct style or color, but she doesn't mind.
Brown skirt also from sister.  I just tightened the waste and cut off the bottom and added a second layer (hard to tell from the picture.)
Green sweat pants with white ribbon hot-glued on.  Leggings would have been better but these work.  I just tightened the inside seams so they weren't as sloppy.

Starbursts and Tootsie Rolls hotglued to clips and bobby pins.
Licorice hair tie is made of red yarn twisted on itself a couple times.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle 

Yellow felt tummy hotglued on green longsleeve shirt.
Belt, elbow, and knee ties are strips from the aforementioned brown vest.
Orange eye-mask cut from a really old Girls Camp bandana.

Brown felt hotglued on back of shirt for shell.  It's stuffed with fiberfill that my sister-in-law gave me a couple years ago when she was de-cluttering.  It was useful last year for his storm cloud costume, too!
Hexagon pattern on shell was drawn with black sharpie.  The swirly design inside each section was done with chalk so it is extremely subtle.

Vampire (NOT the sparkly kind.)

White polo shirt and black pants.  Those black pants were used 3 years ago for Tertius' spider costume, too.
Cape made from an old black skirt of mine.
Blood dripping from the corners of his mouth will be created with a red Popsicle.