Snow Days

Although it is almost the end of March, it still seems fitting to talk about snow since it snowed here just today.  We have had a lot of fun with snow this winter, but are now ready for spring to stop teasing us and come to stay.

We had snow days in Carmel with Aunt Olivia.

Olivia & Madeline's snowmen

Sledding down the driveway

"Snow-throwing"- Olivia throwing the girls into the snow

We spent a couple weeks on a snow unit.  I collected a bunch of books that we read together, some bought and some borrowed from the library, and we did some theme-related activities to go along with them.

Snowman Acrostic Poem

Snowflake ballerinas

Crystal snowflakes

Sugar cube igloos based on Jan Brett's The Three Snow Bears book

We also made some "snow" snacks: popcorn snowballs

The three big girls played in the snow almost every day.  Ella didn't care much for the snow...probably because she couldn't move very well in all her layers...so I was grateful that the big girls could get themselves ready and play in the backyard where I could see them from the window.  They built a lot of snowmen and did a lot of sledding down the back hill with the McCarthy kids.

The snow really was beautiful this winter (to look at from inside my warm house :).  I especially loved the beautiful crystal landscapes left by the ice storms.  When the sun hit the tree branches just right, the ice would shine like diamonds.

Although this tree was partially damaged by the ice, it looks like scenery out of the movie Frozen, don't you think?!

And here is Paul trying to take care of the broken branch after the snow had melted.  He said he wanted to make sure I was home when he went up into the tree in case he fell and I needed to call 911.  That was reassuring.

Sawing off the broken branch

I am so helpful....taking pictures from afar while he is in the tree

Pulling the branch the rest of the way down

Success!  And everyone in one piece...except the tree that is :)

Rose missed a couple days of school, which she was sad about, but since we homeschool, we didn't get behind on our school work.  My goal is to try to finish all their work for the year by the time the baby comes, so I was thankful to be able to stay on track those days.

Now that we have had our winter fun, bring on spring!

St. Joseph's Day

What a fun week!  Two big feast days just a couple days apart...and during Lent!  Today we celebrated the feast of St. Joseph.  During school, we read the little we know about St. Joseph in a few saint books and the girls did some copy work from one of the books.

Copy work

St. Joseph coloring page

On the way to and from gymnastics this afternoon, the girls listened to the Glory Story cd on St. Joseph.  These cds are great!  They really hold the girls attention with interesting details from the saints' lives and with the use of different voices...much like reading them a book.  They ask to listen to them again and again and I even learn from them!

We had to make some fun feast-related food, of course.  For dinner, I made lily sandwiches (idea found here)....at least to the best of my ability....out of white bread, peanut butter, and small pieces of banana :)  I tried to find a dessert that would correspond to St. Joseph, but we decided instead to just make sugar cookies into symbols that represented things in his life.

My little bakers

A J for Joseph, some tools, a shepherd's staff, & a white lily

The tools symbolize Joseph being a carpenter, the lily represents his purity, and the staff is a symbol of his fatherly authority.

"Dear St. Joseph, who took such good care of the baby Jesus and His Holy Mother Mary be our protector too.  Guide us on a path that is safe and sure and be with us all the way to heaven.  Amen."

Happy St. Joseph's Day!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

We started off our St. Patrick's Day celebration on Sunday morning with green mint chocolate chip pancakes topped with whipped cream.  Recipe here: Mint Chocolate Chip Pancakes.  They were like dessert for breakfast...soooo delicious!

This morning, the girls woke up looking for clues to a treasure hunt.  The past two or three years, I had done a treasure hunt for the girls to wake up to the morning of St. Patrick's Day and they didn't forget this year! They were up at 6:00 am (about an hour earlier than usual) ready to begin the hunt.  I found this year's hunt here: Treasure Hunt

It was green milk and Lucky Charms for breakfast...a once a year treat for my girls.

We even found green for everyone to wear.

Silly faces

During school, the girls watched a Veggietales clip on St. Patrick (found on YouTube) and did a few St. Patrick's Day themed activities in between their usual work, including dot-to-dot shamrocks, word searches, make your own leprechauns, and this quote for copy work:

"Good St. Patrick traveled far, to teach God's Holy Word and when he came to Erin's sod, a wondrous thing occurred. He plucked a shamrock from the earth and held it in His hand to symbolize the Trinity that all might understand. The first leaf for the Father, and the second for the Son, the third leaf for the Holy Spirit, all three of them in one."

Rose's leprechaun

In the afternoon, we made a rainbow treat with the leftover Lucky Charms from breakfast.  Recipe found here: Lucky Rainbow Chex Treat

This evening, since Paul was out of town (and it is tradition), we picked up a Little Caesars pizza and the girls watched the animated St. Patrick movie during dinner.

The dinner line-up

                                                        

Hope you all had a very Happy St. Patrick's Day as well!