"Control"

We have been noticing a couple of new phrases:

"I got it under the troll."---translation:   "I have it under control."

"I do it!"-----"I am going to do this by myself and leave me alone."

"Get cozy!"---- as she is invading the couch or other space we are sitting in she saddles up and wants to snuggle.

"Is it Anksgiving yet?"---I hope she can put the "Th" on this holiday because it does not sound too fun otherwise.

In other news, out of the blue and unsolicited, she asked if she could say grace at the table.   So, she sings a song:   "God our Father.   We thank you.   For our many blessings.   Amen."  in the sweetest angelic voice.   She has also put us on a prayer rotation and tells us who says grace at meal times.   Maybe we should give her a clipboard for Christmas so she can keep track....oh, wait, she has a mind like a trap and never forgets!

Gobble, Gobble

This week Sabrina brought home the famous turkey handprint picture!   I love the artwork she makes using her hand in paint.   At home we have another picture of her hands made to make flowers.   These become a marker of her growth.   She is rapidly growing up and I am trying to figure how we can slow down time and store these memories in our hearts.

Thanksgiving Crafts and Cyber Hug

This time of year and focusing on all we have to be thankful for is such a refreshing time.   Sabrina has been bringing home crafts that show they have been practicing with cutting and gluing to make a creative picture.   We have also been working on place settings.   After dinner, Sabrina clears the table and stacks plates to be loaded into dishwasher. 

The pilgrims--practice in coloring

Cutting around the cornucopia.

In the carpool lane Sabrina has been doing activities out of her Hidden Picture magazines.   We love these as they have coloring, drawing, shape, and word searches.   Yesterday's activity was to draw a dog you would like to hug...no surprise--Annie!   

Annie is Papa and Grandma's German Shepard.   Note that Sabrina really captured the ears and tail!    

Fort Blanket

This morning after taking Randy to work, Sabrina decided it was a blanket fort morning.  So on her trampoline she dragged her beanbag, several stuffed animals and then draped the safety bar of the trampoline with blankets.   Next, to part the blankets and climb inside.

The fort building this morning took me, Julie, back memory lane to Saturday mornings while growing up.  Saturday morning my brother and I would make forts out of bean bag chairs with umbrelllas.   On top of the unbrellas we would drape blankets and then climb inside.   We would watch Saturday morning cartoons or play with our dentist animal collections.  (The dentist used to give eraser animals for a good visit.   We used to keep these is boxes and play with them.   Specifically I remember my brother having a green dragon and I had an orange squirrel.)  Add peanut butter toast and a cup of cocoa and the memory is complete!

Soon after this photo was taken, Sabrina got up and dumped puzzles on the floor and then climbed underneath the trampoline (the basement of the fort?) and started playing with her dolls and stuffed animals.

Additional Physics Lesson and Numerical Order

This morning I remembered that I forgot one of the experiments our young scientist conducted at the park.   She conducted an experiment in momentum...with a bit of Newton's Laws of Motion.   The experiment, although she was just having fun, was to put three different stuffed animals on three different swings.   Her flat monkey (Mango to those of you who know him),  Hello Kitty lamb, and Lamby (an Easter lamb) were placed on the swings next to her.   Good thing we had the park to ourselves or this would not have been possible!   Mango was on the regular swing without safety restraints.   The other two were put on the baby swings which have sides to hold them into place.   Sabrina then pushed the swings and noted when the animal would fall off!   Because of Mango's design being flat with a small head, he was able to stay on the swing longer than the other two who fell out through the legholes rather quickly.   She also noted that if she grabbed the swings the animals would fall off because they were not holding on.

In other news, the counting still goes on!   We count things all day long.   Every morning in the carpool lane she counts the cars and then she says while pointing, " That one is first, that one is second, third, fourth, fifth, we are sixth....Mom I wanted to be eighth today!"   I just smile.   It was a miracle to be at school and be sixth.    As we waited in the carpool line, she would occasionally look up and tell me how many cars were behind us.    Then it was back to coloring and finding hidden pictures in her magazines!

Physics lessons from a four year old!

Today on the way home from pre-school, Sabrina burst out in tears for what appeared no reason.   I suggested we stop at the " Forbidden Park" and play for a few minutes.   What started as just a mom's effort to comfort an upset daughter turned into a physics demonstration.   Using momentum, Sabrina swung her legs in order to get power to climb up the platform without using the stairs.   From there she tried to do the monkey bars but she is not quite big enough for her arms to span the distance between the bars.    The next stunt was to climb what looks like a spider web, shake back and forth and then release on the backward motion and land like a spider on the ground, literally dropping four feet to her landing.  

The bars which remind me of a gymnasts "twirly" bars were the big demonstration stations.  Sabrina has grown a lot lately and now she can jump like supergirl and grasp the bar.   From there she swings her her legs, gathering enough momentum and then releases.   Her landings look like 10s to me!   This was a favorite activity for at least five minutes.   Then she discovered the smaller bar which she used to play on exclusively just a few months ago.   From this smaller bar she hooked her legs at the back of the knees and then released her hands so she could grab things.   Her item of choice was a stick which she then used to draw pictures in the dirt while hanging by her knees!  To release, she put her hands down in the dirt and then kicked her legs down to safety!   There are days when I really wish I had packed a camera.   It was simply amazing to watch her climb, twirl, swing and hang from all the structures in the park.  She was definitely a girl in motion who stays in motion unless mom makes her get in the car!

Our Christmas Tree

The fun this Fall has been to take scraps of former projects and piece them together to make our portable Christmas tree wall hanging.   At one point, I thought we would be traveling and would need to move the tree daily.    We would like to make some ornaments out of charms from different places to hang on the tree.   What we are wrestling with now is whether to attach buttons and hang the ornaments off the buttons or to take embroidery floss and tie the tree and hang ornaments from the ties.  

We love looking at our new wall hanging and thinking of the people in our lives:  family and friends.   It makes us feel like we are closer to home during the holiday season.

Artwork

Sabrina has really been making strides in her coloring and artwork.  This drawing is of Daddy (With the yellow) and Mommy (purple hair).   We are holding hands.

Cutting is one her favorite past times.   She loves cutting snowflakes and other folded projects.   Here she made square leaves to have falling off the tree.

Every week at school has a number and a letter of the week.   When seven was the featured number, she made seven ladybugs with seven spots each.   Mathematically, she shows different ways to show a sum of seven.   The dots could be added together and made into an addition problem to equal seven.

Sabrina loves this clown picture.   She was so proud of herself for coloring so brightly.

This is a portrait of her cousin who lives in Oregon.

When I grow up....

Our daughter wants to be a baker.   Who knew?   She dressed up as a baker for Halloween and now it is coming out in her school assignments.   Cute!

Historical Ft. King George Revolutionary Battle

Today was a great day to visit Historical Fort King George as there was a staged battle that was supposed to be a Revolutionary War battle.   However, we were told that this really did not happen at this site.   It was a great experience to see all dress in costume and the little village set up with people in character.

The battle...

Loud cannons!

Over the wall soldiers shot back.

An on looker..

The village had goats and yarn spinning

This lady was weaving a belt and Sabrina was very interested in the process.

Heating water on the fire.

A dining area.

Camp.

Goods for sale.

These soldiers were buried at the fort.   However, it is likely they died from disease...maybe mosquito spread malaria or yellow fever.

These goats were frightened during the battle.   Sabrina and others tried to calm them.

A soldier with his horse which Sabrina did get to pet.

Posing with a celebrity.

The camp.

A pirate and soldier.

The Indians known as the Guale were native to the coastal region.   This was a demonstration on different hunting techniques and tools.   

After loading the dart it was blown out and hit a tree.   These would have been used for hunting small animals like rabbits or squirrels.

This replica of the fort stands on the original location but was built fairly recently.

The height advantage and location helped the soldiers monitor the rivers.   The fort was originally built to slow down the Spanish if they were to invade from Spain.   The British feared an attack on Charleston which was an economic booming port at the time.   Georgia was originally set up as a buffer between Spanish Florida and British South Carolina..

Sabrina wanted to pretend she was teaching us about the map.

Randy's turn.

The sentry house on the wall.

Fire places would keep soldiers warm inside the fort.

The blacksmith.

Dinner!

The cooks.

Trying to move a small cannon. 

Indian goods for sale.