Here's what happens...

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...when you give your children liberty with the manipulatives:

I asked him to clean up the room. Instead, he noticed the nesting blocks, the base ten blocks and the alphabet blocks begging to be used in heretofore unimagined ways.

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And he got carried away with the challenge of mixing several different types to do something entirely unintended, particularly when encouraged by a younger sibling up way past her bedtime.
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Soon, he climbed on the furniture and used the ceiling for balance because this is a child who loves, loves, loves a challenge.
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I finally shooed them off to bed. The next morning, Nicholas, who had slept through it all, was totally enchanted. He woke Paddy and begged him to tweak it just a little more.
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The final tower was over seven feet tall. I ushered them all out of the room, downloaded another Christopherus audio inspiration , and cleaned the room myself, moving carefully around the tower all the while.

Celebrating St. Monica and St. Augustine

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We had a simple tea yesterday to celebrate the feasts of St. Monica and St. Augustine this week. Since it was Day 10 for my Amish Friendship bread, the baked goodie was decided for me. But when I learned of a crisis of chocolate proportions, I decided to bake it chocolate. It's a good variation, and I added mini chocolate chips, too, for good measure. I made two loaves to give away and saved two loaves for our tea. I left our two loaves to cool before tea time. That ninth child who lives in my house--the one named "Not Me"--tested the bread in advance of our tea. Tested quite a bit of bread it seems. Real life--I wonder if Martha Stewart deals with things like this in her test kitchen;-). For tea, I served African Rooibos with a little chai spice.
Player_pass_002Our craft was very simple and very meaningful. We followed Maggie's lead and made a prayer board in honor of St. Monica, super prayer warrior. We attached prayer intentions with sticky notes and we'll change them as we go. Mary Beth's board is pictured. Different children included different intentions. In the days surrounding St. Monica's feast, some real prayer needs have come my attention. And they are needs of mothers who understand the pain St. Monica felt before Augustine rested to his restless heart in God. She is such a valiant woman, such a model of faith in prayer for mothers and wives! I'm glad to have this visual reminder of St. Monica, St. Augustine, and the Holy Spirit who so dwelled in them.

Sunflower House

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Sunflower_07In these waning days of summer, our sunflower house is looking "well-loved." We set about last spring to create a sunflower house inspired by Sharon Lovejoy's book, Sunflower Houses and the darling picture book, Sunflower House by Eve Bunting. We planted two varieties of sunflowers (each a different height) and planted sweet corn with it. Inside, we planted a groundcover of clover (it got a little out of control, frankly). August_2007_029_2_2 My plan was to harvest the corn last Monday and make cornhusk dolls in time for Alice's The Beauty of Toymaking Fair, but the drought has really affected the corn and it's all much too small for harvest. So, we're just hanging out beneath the drooping sunnies, loving the last lingering days of summer sunshine. Shhh...don't tell anyone but I think the flower fairies and their friends are planning party to celebrate summer's end.