Down on the farm.

We asked the kids what we should write about and they said: "More Snow!" We have had more lovely, beautiful snow this week. It is very fun to play in.

On Friday night we went to a local middle school's production of Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dream Coat. For a middle school, it was a fabulous performance. The actor who played Pharaoh really stole the show with his Elvis impersonation, very good for an eight grader. The kids absolutely loved it and we've been singing the songs ever since. Alison told the kids the story, read them the scriptures, and sang most of the songs before we went, so they were prepared. Rea really understood and enjoyed it. Sara seemed to have fun. Timmy bounced and clapped and sang along to all the songs. He also followed the plot somewhat; when the sons of Jacob came to Egypt, he looked up at us meaningfully and said "Nom nom?" meaning, "Now they'll get some food?"

We've been talking a lot about how much Timmy talks, but it's really mostly things like that. He has a lot of sounds that mean words and uses them in a way that shows that he is really communicating. For instance, this week Mommy said something about Daddy. He said, "Dada bye?" Mommy said, "Yes, Daddy went to work, but he'll be home soon." Timmy said, "Vroom." Mommy: "Yes, he'll drive home in a car." Timmy: "Nom Nom." Mommy: "Yes, and then we'll eat dinner." A very nice conversation, but not so many words as such.

On Thursday there was a Sandy board game design night meeting. We couldn't get a baby sitter, so I just went by myself. There were three people there, and we played two games. It was pretty fun (although it is always more fun with Alison). We came up with a cool new idea for Moar Moai, so the game is still apparently not finished.

This week has gone very well in our homeschool Montessori. The kids love it; they even asked for it on Saturday, when Alison wasn't going to do it. Alison is very impressed by how well the girls concentrate, especially on learning to sew. Rea has made a decorative cloth to go under a vase (for our flower arranging work, also a very popular one) and patched a hole in her pajama pants. Sara stitches decorative fabric to a white background to make hats for everyone in the family. Rea can now thread needles and put the fabric in an embroidery hoop; she only needs help knotting the thread (because she can only thread large-eyed needles, so it has to be a pretty big knot).

Rea is also adding and subtracting four-digit numbers. We call it "Kimochi Math" because we give each Kimochi (stuffed animal) a number and then add or subtract them (in a Montessori classroom this would be a group work). Rea finds it very exciting.

Alison is still working hard to make a few more math and language materials, but we are getting ever-closer to the goal of a fully stocked Montessori classroom. (It's not as much stuff as Alison thought at first, especially if you go with the AMI and not the AMS version.)

The hardest part of Montessori for Alison is the rule that everything must be cleaned up as soon as you are done using it. This is called "completing the work cycle" and teaches order (and keeps the house clean). Alison feels like they've been making good progress at this. During Montessori time we are getting better at putting things away as we go along and not having to do a big clean up at the end. With the toy library, kids are more likely to put their toys away when they're done with them. The result is that the Team Clean job of cleaning the kids' room and the front room has become very quick. The kids and one parent can usually do all of it and also the parents' room, 3D printer room, and bathroom before the other parent can get the dishes washed and the kitchen wiped and swept. Very impressive!

Alison is also proud of getting outside. They do Montessori every morning from 8 to 10:30 or so, and then go outside for at least a couple of hours. This week they went to Wheeler Farm, the zoo, a couple of parks (one with a local homeschooling group), and our own yard. It's been good for everyone.

Sara often complains that she is "too tired" to do things. This week she decided that if she twirls around, it gives her energy. So Alison suggested that when she's too tired to clean, she should spin around until she has the energy to do it. Surprisingly, this works very well.

Timmy has a new word: "EIO," which means, "Sing 'Old MacDonald Had a Farm' fifty million times!" He has very much enjoyed animal names and sounds this week. He got some books from the library with lots of pictures of animals and he loves to read them with Mommy, pointing to an animal and having her say its name and sound.

The girls also want us to mention that this week we made "fruity oaty bars" again. This time we added wheat flour, oats, milk, oil, sugar, baking powder, vanilla, and dried (cranberries, coconut, figs, dates, raisins, blueberries). We didn't measure anything, but they turned out really good. Perhaps we will make them again and try to record a recipe some time.

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