I can't seem to change the order of the pictures so we'll work backwards again!

It seems like I may have jumped the gun a little on thinking that we HAVE to become more structured or else they won't do anything. The last few weeks Anna AND Ella have been on a writing burst... they've written songs and stories and interviews and books! ALL without having to be asked or prompted! What a joy it was for me to go into their room and see them both writing on their beds!

But we HAVE started to do something a little more structured. It's still fairly easy going and Anna seems to love it so far, so we'll continue with it and see how it goes.

Ella has enjoyed making up stories about the One Eyed Monster. I have no idea where she got this idea, but supposedly it lives on her shoulder!

Here are a few of it's babies:



She took some of her cutting "work" and turned it into an One Eyed Monster! She taped this on her bed, but when it came time to go to sleep she made me move it because it scared her:)

Puzzle time! Anna is sticking to it a little more now... Ella's attention span is still pretty short.

My beautiful girls in their new matching dresses! This picture was taken today! Thanks Mei Mei!

We'll start with yesterday and work backwards.

Well, we are still getting over being sick and my decision to totally re-organize everything (again), in hopes that we will find something that works for our family.

Anna read to us from the book that GG and Mei Mei worked so hard on. GG wrote the stories, Mei Mei edited, inserted pictures and made the book. This book has made a resurgence. Anna reads it before bed each night, and Ella LOVED hearing the stories as Anna read it aloud. She read to us while I was folding laundry. She did a great job, read with such expression. She is really gifted at public speaking and drama. You would never suspect this by her personality, but it's true. I need to figure out ways to develop this in her.



From my recent trip to IKEA we had some leftover boxes... nothing more fun then that! Anna made a Bella Sara club house. I tried not to interfere too much and let her figure it out. I watched her plan, try things, figure out it wouldn't work and then re-plan. I wanted to get in there and help and each time I did we would get frustrated with each other. I decided to leave it up to her... she did a great job.

Of course, Ella wanted to make a rocket ship! She planned out the design and I did the cutting. She hoped that Romeo would be her co-pilot, but no such luck. He wanted nothing to do with the rocket ship.

Last week we took a field trip to Mosquito Lagoon. They had a chance to play on the beach for a while. It was beautiful miles of unspoiled beach... no hotels or cars in sight! There were not even any other people in sight! It was neat to be the first and only footprints in the sand. They discovered all kinds of shells and lots of Porteguese man-of-war. They noted the difference in the sand texture on this beach in comparison to the beach we usually go to... the sign said that this beach had "long grain sand." We talked about why it was so different and how people and cars effect the texture.

Our tour guide was a wonderful Christian and a real lover of history! It's amazing how people who love something can spark excitement in others. It's infectious! The kids were curious and thougthful. Homeschoolers are awesome! I really enjoyed talking to the guide and asking questions. There is so much I DIDN'T learn in school. SO MUCH! I realized that I know VERY little about FL history. Our little co-op has decided to study FL history next year together!

Tomorrow

Pictures coming tomorrow, Mom. I promise. Just too tired right now!