What is real?

Katy has been trying to sort out "real" stories from "pretend" ones lately, from Super Why on TV to Pilgrim's Progress to Flat Stanley and stories about kings and princesses. She will often ask us if something we are reading or watching on TV or a movie is "real." Today at lunch we were talking about these things, and she turned to me and asked, "Are we in a story?"

I just thought it was a cool question. I told her that, yes, we are in a story, just the most real one of all, and, even though we know the end in one respect, we are still having to find out how it goes each day. Pretty cool to think about, though, being in a story. We are in God's story, and He is the Author and Finisher of our faith. It was just a good reminder to me that it is so not about me, but it is all about the REAL story and the Author of that story!

Sharing Favorite Stories

It is so fun when I get to share some of my favorite books with the girls! Last night, I began reading to them from Pilgrims Progress (one simplified a bit for children), and they were hooked. They both sat listening to the first chapter, and then they had to know how he got his burden removed, so we read three more chapters. Katy especially was interested and asking lots of questions - Who put the burden there?, how did it come off?, is the king Jesus?.... So neat to have that opportunity to talk with them! So, they begged all afternoon to read more, and Matt got to sit down with them tonight while I finished making dinner. Here is a shot (believe it or not, Darsie did sit still for it yesterday, but she was still listening for the most part tonight).

Storytime

Liam was having a fussy moment, so Katy covered him with her special blanket and read Madeline to him. You can see that he is watching her intently and talking to her the whole time. He seems to really enjoy being read to (though he also seems to enjoy being the center of attention, so that may also play into it). Katy has this book completely memorized, word for word! She is so ready to read! (I hope this video works - I've never uploaded a video to the blog before!).

Mmmmmmmmm!!!

The girls got a cookbook in one of their Chick-fil-a kids meals, and it had a fun looking bread recipe in it, so we decided to try it for our family fun night last week. We made the dough (kneading for 10 minutes is a LOT harder and exhausting than it sounds like it should be!), and then the fun part began! We got to make fun bread, rolling the dough into funny shapes, making things like ladybugs, funny faces, and even Darsie's "house the wise man built on the rock" and "house the foolish man built on the sand" (can you tell what her most recent Sunday School lessons were about?). It was like playdough, only better, because then we got to let it rise and bake and eat it!! It was so yummy!! Here is a picture of the girls proudly displaying their creations. (I think we are going to have the kids make it on Thanksgiving next week!)

Porcupines...

The girls watched part of Homeward Bound yesterday during small group and asked about porcupines on the way home, since apparently the dog gets pricked by one in his nose during the movie. So, today we learned about porcupines. We watched YouTube videos (there are some great ones of baby porcupines!), colored pictures, read about them, and made our own. Here are the results!

Bubbles!!

We learned about bubbles and air today in our experiment time. Just wanted to show everyone the great bubbles the girls blew!

Darsie's New Skill!!

Tonight Darsie did her first real puzzle all by herself!! Very exciting! I'm so proud of her!

Darsie Wrote "Mommy" (almost)!!!

We have been covering a letter a week for preschool (with Darsie), and she has f, b and m pretty much down. The workbook we have has her say the word and tell what the beginning sound is for several of the exercises, and she is doing great (and retaining three weeks' worth of letters so far!). She is starting to try to write them, though her motor skills are not quite up to serious writing yet (I haven't really worked on the writing with her yet). Anyway, today, she was drawing at the table and asked me how to spell "mommy". She already had the first "m" written, and as I spelled the rest, she wrote down the letters. I had not looked at her paper yet, being in the other room, and I just figured she was scribbling like she usually does when trying to "write" like Katy does. Well, when I looked at the paper, there were "momm" clear as day and in order!!! She still has to work on the "y", but I loved it and had to share!!

Apples!

Since it is fall, we decided to go apple picking at Linvilla Orchards, near our house. Last year, we had a great time doing it with our playgroup, so we wanted Matt to experience the fun of apple picking (and eating as many as you want right off of the trees!). Well, it was not quite so fun this year, since it was hot and humid and very yellow-jackety. We still had a good time, but we definitely didn't pick many apples! Here are shots of the girls enjoying their finds!

Our Big Girl!!!!

Wow! Katy read her first book all by herself today!! She is so grown up!! She also wrote her first story, "Katy, Darsie and Liam went on a walk" and only needed help with the "i" in Liam and the "al" in walk!! Just had to share it!!