MonkeyMama

Teddy and his grand master a few weeks ago after his orange belt test:

so proud!

We are in full swing now--pumpkins are in and we are volunteering almost everyday to help sell.  I think this kind of work for Teddy is so important.  He is learning how to give his time to help raise money for our church.  The coolest thing is that we go in the morning when it is typically slow and we can bring schoolwork with us.  So we sit outside in the glorious sun, reading and drawing and learning math as we sip our coffee amongst the pumpkins!  It is wonderful!
Next week Teddy will begin fencing.  He expressed an interest in starting and they had room for him.  He is very excited and I am anxious to see how he likes it.  Mondays will be quite full now, but I think it will be worth it.

We are in full swing here--fall is probably my favorite time of the year.  The pumpkins are coming to church this afternoon and volunteering at the pumpkin patch will commence.  (I think this is Teddy's most favorite thing to do in the fall!)  We have decorated the house for Halloween, which of course Teddy has been begging for since August.  But it is finally done and I must say it looks cute.  I finally finished some projects I started several years ago but never got done--very proud of myself!

So now there are cookies to be made, apples to be picked, acorns to be felted, silks to be dyed and other field trips to be taken.  (And kittens to be loved on!)  We plan on soaking up as much fall as possible (if the weather ever cooperates!)

As far as formal school, Teddy is doing great.  We continue with all the usual stuff--Explode the Code, Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading, The Story of the World.  Teddy's reading is progressing well and he is loving all the great books our friend Melissa and her kids got Teddy for his birthday.  We are now reading aloud The Adventures of Bobby Raccoon.

The Adventures of Bobby Raccoon (Dover Children's Thrift Classics)

Thornton W. Burgess

This past weekend I took Teddy on his first camping trip in a tent.  We slept in the woods.  We pottied in the woods.  We ate in the woods.  It was FABULOUS!  Teddy got to shoot a beebee gun and tried his hand at archery.  He loved the bow and arrow the best, I think.  I am hoping to get some photos loaded soon of the experience.  It is something we will be doing again very soon.

Teddy and I have been studying impressionists for the past few months.  We have focused more on art lately as it is one of Teddy's most favorite things to do.  He spent a good part of the morning today drawing and then painting.  I was so surprised when he painted me a picture in the style of Claude Monet.  He painted the waterlillies and the Japanese footbridge in his garden at Giverney.  I was thrilled!!!  We also learned about primary, secondary, tertiary and analagous colors.  We are using lessons from a book called God and Christian Artists (very good!).  He is picking it up so easily!  Below is one of Teddy's most favorite books--has been for years.

A Picnic with Monet (Mini Masters)

Julie Merberg

Teddy has suddenly had an interest in earthquakes--he informs me daily as to what one should do if an earthquake should happen upon us.  Anyhoo . . . the timing could not be more perfect since we will begin studing earth science this year--yeah!  That worked out nicely.

Today was so beautiful!  We spent most of it outside doing schoolwork (gotta love that!) and playing with our new kitten.  Teddy loved it--I must say I did too.  It was topped off by a visit from grandma laden with lunch goodies.

An Egg Is Quiet

Dianna Hutts Aston

Teddy is starting to sketch from books--he really is doing well with it--the current project is from the book An Egg is Quiet--it is beautifully illustrated.  Teddy chose to sketch from the egg layers in the back of the book.

At church this past Sunday, I gave Teddy a dollar to put in the collection plate.  He gave it back to me when he left for children's church.  They did bring the kids back in for a baptism and then the offering.  As soon as Teddy saw me he said, "Momma, have they passed around the serving plate yet????"  So stinkin cute . . .that boy of mine!

Another one of our newest adventures . . . I think I have lost my marbles frankly!  Too much to do!  This is Teddy learning a bit of first aid in his scout group . . .

finishing first aid on the cubmaster

practicing on a friend