School's in session

We're having such fun with this season! Many mommy blogs inspire me - so much of this is copy cat flattery to those homeschooling and crafty mothers out and about in the world wide web.

Today's project: Handy apple trees. Lil Sis loved being able to participate {her tree is on the left}; our creative Big Sis' cherry/apple tree is on the right. We used hands/arms for the branches and trunk, sponges to make the leaves, and thumbprints for the apples.

{Thanks for the idea, Kiersten!}

I'm pretty busy with my calling with the Young Womens program at church; and everyone in the family is very supportive. Big Sis volunteered/was volunteered to make decorations for tomorrow's apple activity. {I support child labor in my house. hee hee!} Here they are, enjoying the apple harvest.


This little tree has all sorts of leaves. We had fun on a nature walk, gathering things to decorate it with. A pretend little owl lives inside. The owl's name is Arania {as everything in our house is named Arania right now - it's after one of Charlotte's baby spiders in Charlotte's Web}.

Big Sis made Lil Sis this fun color book out of a few stapled lunch sacks.

Each tab on the side is for a page of that color. I like her purple princess drawing.

This cute idea is brought to you by the Crafty Crow site.

"School" time is important ... but play time is SUPER important!

So I took the girls to feed the ducks at a community park. I had saved old bread for a while in the freezer, and we finally had a full bag. Off we went, expecting a lovely commune with nature and quacking cutie creatures.

Unfortunately,

we were met by the meanest guard geese ever:

Luckily, I had just talked to my bestie, D, about feeding ducks and she had relayed the tip of standing on a picnic table. I found a nearby bench and we all climbed on top. Meanwhile, the geese flapped their wings, hissed and tried to bite our ankles. I tried to kick the leader, the one on the left, in the face - several times. I screamed at them to leave us alone.

Nothing worked. They just kept hissing.

Does this look like a commune with nature?

I probably scarred her for life.

Lil didn't mind, as long as she could eat some bread.

In this pic, I'm thinking, "I think we're going to be in the sequel to the classic horror flick, 'Birds' -- it'll be called, 'Geese.'"

We were all alone in the park ... the geese totally could have eaten us and gotten away with it.