Uncategorized

porch stories

It’s coming. The real winter weather. So today we took advantage of our last spring-like day before the big freeze.
Nothing like pizza, pistachios and yogurt out on the porch. (complete with baby stroller and dog rumpus)
P1010009_5

Long after Mary and I had come in from lunch, Emma was busy at work with one of her birthday gifts.
P1010015_3

I love this next picture. I wasn’t sure if she was really catching birds with her binoculars. But when I saw her get these Canada Geese in her sights(the little dots in the top right corner), I knew she was….
P1010020_6

Then she carefully recorded everything she saw in her notebook, including Canda Geese, a Turkey Vulture, leaves, electric fence, pine trees, and a cat.
P1010024_5

Emma and Dan just started reading "Little House in the Big Woods" before bed each night. Of course Emma seems especially fascinated by all the hunting and detailed deer and pig-butchering scenes. She’s glued to the stories in those parts. Today, I overheard her calling Mary, "baby Carrie". So I have a little Ma Ingalls project planned for the two of us tomorrow. My grandmother, is my "Ma Ingalls" go-to–I’m borrowing some of her "tools" for tomorrow’s project. I’ll be sure to show some pictures.

I just overhead this conversation between Mary and Emma, sitting in front of the dollhouse. Actually, it wasn’t much of a coversation, more of a lecture from Emma’s doll, who wants to play at the dollhouse alone, to Mary’s doll:

"Are you listening to me? Look at yourself. We don’t look like each other. You’re made of wood. I’m made of rubber. So you can’t possibly live in this doll house."

I’m going to refrain from adding any type of interpretation to this pretend play.

It’s coming. The real winter weather. So today we took advantage of our last spring-like day before the big freeze.
Nothing like pizza, pistachios and yogurt out on the porch. (complete with baby stroller and dog rumpus)
P1010009_5

Long after Mary and I had come in from lunch, Emma was busy at work with one of her birthday gifts.
P1010015_3

I love this next picture. I wasn’t sure if she was really catching birds with her binoculars. But when I saw her get these Canada Geese in her sights(the little dots in the top right corner), I knew she was….
P1010020_6

Then she carefully recorded everything she saw in her notebook, including Canda Geese, a Turkey Vulture, leaves, electric fence, pine trees, and a cat.
P1010024_5

Emma and Dan just started reading "Little House in the Big Woods" before bed each night. Of course Emma seems especially fascinated by all the hunting and detailed deer and pig-butchering scenes. She’s glued to the stories in those parts. Today, I overheard her calling Mary, "baby Carrie". So I have a little Ma Ingalls project planned for the two of us tomorrow. My grandmother, is my "Ma Ingalls" go-to–I’m borrowing some of her "tools" for tomorrow’s project. I’ll be sure to show some pictures.

I just overhead this conversation between Mary and Emma, sitting in front of the dollhouse. Actually, it wasn’t much of a coversation, more of a lecture from Emma’s doll, who wants to play at the dollhouse alone, to Mary’s doll:

"Are you listening to me? Look at yourself. We don’t look like each other. You’re made of wood. I’m made of rubber. So you can’t possibly live in this doll house."

I’m going to refrain from adding any type of interpretation to this pretend play.

23 comments on “porch stories”

  1. We read all the little house books out loud to our boys when they were younger. Love them.

    Emma is doing a nature journal!! We did that for many years, and the kids learned so much!If we every get around to a phone call I can fill you in with all the details. It’s a super way to do science with them.

    Love the dog rumpus 🙂

  2. love it! Emma should read the “Doll People” when she is a bit older. It’s about doll’s living in a house that were made in different centuries…my daughter loved it!

  3. I love the little people conversation, they are so insightful in many ways. Little House in the Big Woods was every bit as enjoyable for me as for Emma, I couldn’t stop thinking about Carol Ingalls and would find me thinking of her even when I was going to bed at night. I am fascinated by that series.

  4. when we read the big woods book – i was so surpised at how detailed and…technical it was. still enjoyable, but man, i now know how to do all kinds of things! 🙂

  5. the little house books were my favorite as a child. i am anxiously awaiting the day when jane can read them…next year, i think.

    i love eavesdropping on my girls. they say the best things when they think no one else is listening!

  6. Very serious business bird watching and writing down observations! Too cute.

    I was so excited for my daughter to read the little house books, the first one I picked up for her, she loved it until the end. I think Jack the dog died and my daughter (who is very sensitive to these things) came running out of her room in tears saying she was never going to read those books again. Oh dear.

  7. oh how I love it! My dad read me all the Little House books when I was little, and I used to pretend my little brothers were Carrie. But I used to skip all the hunting parts–I prefered the baking/cooking stories, like when they poured hot molassas into the snow to make candy. Love you and see you soon! xo

  8. Every single thing about this post made me happy!!! I love the bird drawings – as I child I spent many, many hours drawing birds and I still remember how much I loved it!And the comment about the dolls house is cracking me up!

  9. Her notebook is amazing! That is absolutely marvellous. My children had notebooks for safari, and I wish I could get them more interested in our own backyard.

    Laura Ingalls has been a favourite since I was a little girl. So fascinating to think about how life was and is, and how things were done and made.

  10. I love kids and ‘binocliers’ (as Jack would say it). We were lucky enough to see a commet tonight that is in our skys for the next few days as it circles the sun!

  11. i always find it so interestingto see how the minds of childrenwork and what they take inand how they put it back outin their own versions…

    i always wanted to readlittle house on the prairieto my emma, but she just wouldnot get interested in it…sigh.i haven’t given up hope yet(even though she is eleven, heehee)

  12. Ha! I had to laugh out loud at the doll’s conversation! I love Emma’s drawings. Isn’t it neat to see them enjoying nature?? My kids have nature journals too and we try to keep track of everything we see around us. They aren’t quite to the drawing stage yet, and sometimes ask me to draw the bug or whatever. Yeah, okay. I’ll try…I think their drawings are much better than mine! Do you have the Handbook of Nature Study? By Anna Botsford Comstock? It is wonderful. So much information and lessons too. I am waiting for a lazy day to curl up on the couch with it and dig in. Hey, maybe today, even down here near the equator it is too cold to go out today! 😉

  13. are you listening? look at your self…

    i so remember getting binoculars from my grandma when i was young and i looooved them. keep warm molly, hot chocolate stat!

  14. As I read your post the photos of your daughters drawings really looked familiar to me, than I remembered last year while teaching my oldest daughter how to draw pictures more exact I went to the library after researching this book series.

    I still use it occasionally for homeschooling purposes but my 5 yr old just isn’t into drawing as much as my 7 yr old is.

    Check out “Draw, Write, Now” series for learning how to draw and than it teaches children how to write descriptive sentences to go along with it. I did end up purchasing two books here for at home since they weren’t at the library with the remaining series.

  15. I just discovered your blog! You must be so proud of the little dots on the side of the picture. I am amazed at the detail. I look forward to reading more.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.