Craft time

As I have said before, I am never going to win a prize for having done the most arts and crafts with my kids, but I always have it as a goal to try to do more in that area. It's a combination of not feeling very talented, not liking the mess that can come through doing such things, and also a dislike of clutter (where am I supposed to put all these things that have been created?) that lead to me not having a natural inclination towards these projects. I was reflecting this evening on the various crafts Nadia worked on today. She did some painting on a paint by number project. Yesterday I started a project with Nadia and Ian from Build a Bear workshop that I had bought at a yard sale a long time ago. It involved sewing and was advertised as being for ages 6+. I realize my sewing skills are not great, but it was a challenge for me to sew it. However we finished the project today! It was definitely beyond my seven year old although she was able to help with some of the sewing since it included a plastic needle. The mittens were definitely something she could sew. The stuffed animals were much harder. Thankfully the kit included clothes, which are "covering a multitude of sins" for me. Whew. Nadia and Ian really enjoyed filling them with stuffing. Ian claimed the dog, and Nadia claimed the bear. I also taught Nadia how to make a chain of paper dolls today, and she was coloring some of the ones we made. That was definitely an easier project than sewing two stuffed animals. There is a very good possibility our church is going to offer an art class for homeschoolers on Fridays  starting next month along with the gym class they have been offering since January. I am really hoping I can sign Nadia and Ian up for this art class, and that will decrease how much I feel I need to do at home with arts and crafts each week.

This week we have returned to our habit of walking to the playground. We haven't done it much this summer due to Annie rehearsals, tennis lessons, swimming lessons, etc. The only thing we had on our calendar during the day time from Monday through Friday this week was Oliver's doctor appointment on Monday. Nadia has been in shock at the notion that we are staying home for five days in a row, although they did have musical rehearsal tonight and will have a dress rehearsal on Friday night. Ian's running skills have really blossomed. When Nadia started riding her bike to the playground, he used to run to keep up with her a little and then would come back and put a hand on Oliver's stroller and walk beside me. Not any more. That boy can RUN the entire way to the playground, and in fact today for the first time he ran faster than Nadia could go on her bike. He beat her to the playground! Wow! I hope this helps him on the soccer field this fall. Being at home more has also made it easier to gradually ease back into the new school year. We had been doing piano and reading lately, but this week we've added spelling back into the daily routine as well. I think next week we're going to add one more subject back into the routine - either handwriting or math. I'm declaring August 24 to be our official first day of school.