Of Wars, Watercolors, and Winnie the Pooh

It's here. Leaves turning and falling. New birds visiting for a short time at the feeder as they travel through. The smell of burning wood. An extra blanket and the window open only a crack.

The books are out and we're spending a little more time in. But not all of it!!

The time period in history we will be covering this year is roughly the gold rush through present day. That's a lot of years. That's a lot of wars! I'm thinking it will be a really great year, as there is nothing more exciting to study in a certain 11-year-old's mind than anything that has to do with wars. A.n.y.t.h.i.n.g. It borders on obsession.
We began our school year by taking a trip to the Charles Lindbergh house and museum in Little Falls. We've been here several times but it is a family favorite. It was just as good this time as it was the first time we came.


Before leaving home that morning, we had checked online to see if the museum at Fort Ripley was open. The site said it was open every day except for National Holidays. Since it was Labor Day, we assumed that it probably wasn't open. But since we were so close, Hubby decided we should just drive in anyway, "just in case". I'm so glad we did. When I mentioned to the lady at the counter that we almost didn't stop because of the website, she said, "Oh. You can't go by that." Guess not.
The museum was fabulous. We could have spent much, much, longer there than we did. I think that once our school year is over, a return trip may be in order.

Besides us, there was only one other visitor. She was a woman about my age, thin, with short,dark hair. She approached me between the exhibits and asked if the two boys were mine. She had a thick European accent. I answered yes. She told me to be sure to tell them all about this war (pointing to the WWll exhibits), to tell them just how terrible it was. Her words faltered  over the lump in her throat. She tried to gather herself back together. I gave her a quick hug and asked her where she was from.  She told me the Netherlands, and the boys came back from wherever they were when they heard us talking. She said that many, many people were buried there. Too many. She said she had adopted two families from the U.S. who had soldiers lost in her homeland. She comes here to visit them. She struggled through her words. She ended by patting my shoulder and nodding toward my two guys who were listening with wide eyes and said, "So tell them. Don't let them forget". I wish I had thought to ask her for a picture. I wish I would have had time to ask her some questions. But I am thankful for those brief moments that we almost missed!

And then it was time to crack the books.
Something we look forward to every year!

My but time does fly...



(What's the weather like at your house??)
The new watercolors seemed to be the most captivating thing we did the first week of school. It's fun to be creative with bright new colors... And so this short little activity turned into a long activity, and that's just the beauty of it!

We have times throughout the day for "read alouds", and I think our favorite so far is Winnie the Pooh. Who doesn't love the Silly Old Bear?  I think the funnest part for me has been not only that Sam is enjoying it, but also how much Joshua does. And it's different this time because Josh "gets" some of it now that of course he didn't when he was younger. One afternoon, he was doing the reading. One little funny thing turned into another and another and pretty soon he was doubled over and could barely get the words out. And this made me laugh because it was so funny to see him think this particular chapter was so funny. I'll share the part that was our good medicine for the day. It is from chapter lV titled 'In Which Eeyore Loses a Tail and Pooh Finds One':
       Owl lived at The Chestnuts, an old-world residence of great charm, which was grander than anybody else's, or seemed so to Bear, because it had both a knocker and a bell-pull. Underneath the knocker there was a notice which said:
          PLES RING IF AN RNSER IS REQIRD
     Underneath the bell-pull there was a notice which said:
          PLEZ CNOKE IF AN RNSR IS NOT REQID.
     These notices had been written by Christopher Robin, who was the only one in the Forest who could spell; for Owl, wise though he was in many ways, able to read and write and spell his own name WOL, yet somehow went all to pieces over delicate words like MEASLES and BUTTEREDTOAST.
     Winnie the Pooh read the two notices very carefully, first from left to right, and afterwards, in case he had missed some of it, from right to left.  Then, to make quite sure, he knocked and pulled the knocker, and he pulled and knocked the bell-rope, and he called out in a very loud voice, "Owl! I require an answer! It's Bear speaking." (they have a bit of conversation, and then...)
     "Well," said Owl, "the customary procedure in such cases is as follows."
     "What does Crustimoney Proseedcake mean?" said Pooh. "For I am a Bear of Very Little Brain, and long words Bother me."
     "It means the Thing to Do."
     "As long as it means that, I don't mind," said Pooh humbly.
And it snowballed from there. Fits of laughter. So good for the body and soul!!
 We have conversations about Heffalumps and Woozles, and "Tut-tut, looks like rain". It's all one big smile from beginning to end.
It's my favorite thing, the "couch" time when we all squeeze in close for a good read.

And it's nice that Joshua likes to read aloud. As a matter of fact, I rather think he likes it, looks forward to it--the sad parts when I choke up and have to relinquish the page. This does happen. And he takes over and reads like a champ.
And so begin these days.

Wishing you a beauty full fall!!