Goodnight Moon...learning through play

Everyone pretending to go "night, night"


Kathlena giving all the dolls kisses goodnight.


Andrew is going to be such a good "Papa" one day. He was
so loving and gentle putting the "babies" down for the night.

He would talk to them and sing them a Hank the Cowdog
song to fall asleep by. Hmmm...influenced by his older brother's
love for Hank the Cowdog possibly?

We finished up Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown. What a precious book for Andrew and Kathlena. They are making some sweet memories together and taking abstract concepts and putting them into concrete practice. At over 2months home we have settled into our own night time routine but, this book helped us discuss and explore the concept of nighttime...especially the moon. I think this will be a special book for them both.
Both of them would ask for me to read their "Goodnight Moon" book to them.All week they would pretend play going through the night time routine of taking a bath, brushing teeth, turning on music, giving kisses and hugs and tucking them in their beds. I also found a board book at the children's museum called "Good Night Texas" which is so cute and is part of the Good Night Our World series by Adam Gamble.
One night as we were traveling home late from a friends house Andrew starts saying "stories, stories" and pointing out the window. He could see the stars(he calls them stories :)). It occurred to us that this is the first time he had been out this late to see the stars in the sky as we usually have him in bed before it is dark enough to see the stars and with all the trees around our house you have to go out braving texas size mosquitoes while standing in the road to see any stars or the moon. (of course we did do this one night so they could see the moon for real...and yes our mosquitoes are big enough to cast shadows in the moonlight) Every week it seems Andrew and Kathlena are learning and understanding a new concept. It is so much fun to walk along side them in their exploration of their new world. I wouldn't miss this for anything.

Andrew and Kathlena are also learning about government as Emily and J.Michael are doing a unit on Elections. We have been reading through Christianity and the Constitution by John Eidsmoe . A very well written and documented book on the founding fathers. My favorite part of this book is that it refutes the secular humanist and revisionist history that is taking place in our time point by point. It is easy to read, while quite detailed but, even Andrew is picking up on some things. He really likes to say "George Washington" with his strong Russian accent of rolling his "r's". We have also been listening to R. J. Rushdoony on George Washington and the Constitution. Wow! very meaty for us all. I highly recommend these resources for those who are interested in an accurate account of the lives of the founding Father's and the writing of the Constitution. We love to learn through audio books and messages...Andrew and Kathlena are learning about worldview issues right now that we will only know how much in the years to come. Audio books are great for weathering those stormy Texas summer days too.

This week we just started the Yellow Ball by Molly Bang...more of our adventures to come!