Little Update...

I'm so busy enjoying fall, I've not been writing here as much. ;OP I'll post a little here, though, for posterity.

The older two are digging the co-op they started this year, where they're learning: art, science, fables, science experiments and geography/culture; collectively. Honestly, I think they're enjoying some independence and hanging out with friends more than anything, which was my main goal. Everything else, at this point, is just gravy on the potatoes. Eva's mostly just hanging out with me, which is pretty much par for the course for a 2.5 year. (And, oh, HOW she's every bit of two and one half. ;oP)

(Above, they can be seen wearing their "Mom, we're humoring your idiosyncratic need to document things here. Take the fracking picture already" smiles. First day of co-op.)

We started "school" (mixture of unschool and classical education) in earnest this year. Our schedule is pretty flexible, with an emphasis on learning in context and completion of tasks and rhythms, so I'm enjoying it immensely. I think the girls are, too.

Today for school, the girls and I covered the following:

-beginning animal classification

-the letter "D" (for Nomi ;D)

-capitalization of proper nouns

-poem memorization (The Wind by Emily Dickinson..sorry to my brother, who finds her trite ;oP I'm using the Well Trained Mind curriculum for beginning grammar, and don't really care for their suggested poem selection, so I'm substituting my own. I need to scour sources for child-friendly, well-written short poems.)

-lizards, all sorts. Esther found the Komodo Dragon particularly repulsive, lol.

-follow-through and task completion

We made it through birthday season with relative ease...a big chocolate cake near a creek cabin for Nomi. In Oct, lunch out to eat and then movie night with butterbeer for Esther, per her request. (Now, we have 7yo, 5yo and 2.5yo residents in our little hobbit hole. Good times. )

The butterbeer was ridiculously decadent. Definitely one of those treats (like eggnog or rum cake) that you enjoy once a year, and then forget about for a while until the annual craving hits. :grin:

Here's the recipe we ended up using (it's the #1 recipe out of the five): http://wizardingworldpark.com/top-5-butterbeer-recipes/2010/08/20/

My younger two had dental surgery that was postponed until next Tuesday. Hurrah for another week of mama worry. -.-

Pregnancy #4 is humming along properly at 22.5/24.5 weeks (depending on who you ask), and my belly is already enormous by "normal" standards. That's how I fly, dawg. Diastasis recti will do that to you. I've got my eye on a few abdominal binders for after this kid's birth..still trying to make my decision.

I've been restocking my etsy store, MonkeyGrassStains, for the holidays. :O) I've got quite a bit more to add-oddly, I find the picture taking and posting the most time-consuming/daunting part of the process. :P

What else? My brain power is pretty much shot for the day. This entry is practically devoid of anything truly personal or meaningful, but that can be remedied eventually. More later. :O)