Meet the Mini Halpins!

Day 6 in God's Creation: animals and man. I have so many crafty ideas for Day 6 floating around in my brain. How do I pick just one?

I finally settled on crafting a mini family to celebrate God making man in general and our fam specifically.

Nosy kept busy at his craft at the table with us.

During nap, I cut out zillions of ears, eyes, mouth shapes, and shoes for O to choose from so he could make each family member exactly how he wanted. I didn't get to take any pictures of the process (too busy fulfilling my role as O's assistant!), but here's the end result:

Some explanation may be necessary:

Daddy is tall and sporting a tie made from an outside treasure.

Mommy has pretty green hair, and no, that is not a rather bulbous nose. I am forming a perfect "O" with my mouth and singing a beautiful tune. I also have handmade shoes adorned with pictures of mice. Just what every girl dreams of!

Owie is also belting out a tune, complete with music notes trailing off into the air. His shoes are decorated with the number 5. Not sure why.

Tiny Noah is, well, tiny. He is also holding a green baseball. Noah gets so excited to see his mini self.

I knew O would love the craft. What I didn't expect was the great fun he has had playing with the mini family: reading to them, making them talk to each other and have adventures. So fun to watch!

As we crafted, we sang a little song I found on-line:
"God made me. God made me. God made everything, and God made me." (The tune is "Farmer in the Dell.") We substituted names and special things about each person just to stretch the song out ("God made Owen...with curly hair. God made Owen just this way."), and by the end, Noah was singing along too! Mostly just the, "ME!" but still. He has never sung before! Hooray for Nosy!

Posers

I am not usually a fan of posed pictures. They usually end up so stiff and unnatural looking. Plus, my photography skills are lacking. I do much better at snap, snapping away while my kids play. Later, after trashing dozens of photos, I am left with a few that capture my kids' personalities. But today, since I could recruit Jeremy's help, I tried for a few posed shots of the Brothers...

They've got a case of the giggles!

So grown up!

I love O's sweet face as he hugs Noah.

"I LOVE the hurricane!"

I heard this gleefully shouted from Owie as we headed out to play in the wind and sprinkles. Sadly, I know all too many unfortunate people do not share his sentiments, and our prayers go out to them, but we are enjoying the day.

Flying high!

Nosy's not as sure about this windy, rainy stuff.

Hop on board, O!

Now Noah's spirits are lifting!

No-nos is "leaving, on a jet plane..."

He cracks himself up!

Creation Craftiness

I promise, promise not to bore you with every craft we do here at The House of Halpin. Seriously, you only see a fraction of them. But as we continue to study the 7 days of Creation, we have done a few super cute, blog-worthy crafts.

Day 3: God created trees bearing seeds after their own kind

We crafted acorns out of brightly colored tissue paper!

They were so easy and cute, each sporting their own real acorn cap.

As soon as they were dry, Owie ran them right in to the resident tree in the playroom, where he knew they would feel right at home. Funny Boy!

Today we did Day 5: God created fish in the seas

I found this fish bowl idea on a great website that is surely worth checking out!

We cut out and decorated our bowls, painted baggies blue for water, added "rocks" and rosemary sprigs to make the bowls feel homey.

Finally, we introduced a few fortunate goldfish crackers to their new abode.

They turned out so cute!

Tomorrow is Day 6: God created man. I have another really cute idea that I am sure I will bore you with as well. We'll see how it turns out...

Clang, Clang, Clang Went the Trolley

O and I have been reading a great children's classic by Virginia Lee Burton about Maybelle the Cable Car, a cable car in San Fransisco. O loved hearing about this cable car's grand adventures...which led me to think about the trolley that runs in downtown Dallas. I have lived here my whole life and see the trolley pass by often, but never have I jumped on for a ride.

And so, after our great time at the library, we picked Jeremy up at work and embarked on the most touristy thing I have ever done in Dallas. We rode one of the McKinney Avenue Streetcars! It was by far the most fun, free, Dallas thing I have ever done!

We hopped on the streetcar at Cityplace. A round trip ride lasts 40 minutes, 20 minutes uptown and 20 minutes back again. For a long time, we were the only passengers, so we enjoyed some good conversation with our driver, Mark.

Our trolley car was an original Dallas car dating back to 1913, and it runs on original tracks that were laid in the 1800's! They dubbed it "The Green Dragon." Rather odd, since it is mostly red, but okay. During the period from the 1950's, when the cars were retired, until the 1980's, when they were restored, The Green Dragon was used as a hay barn.

All the windows were open, allowing in a wonderful breeze and the clear clang, clang of the trolley bell. I so enjoyed watching O "fly" his arm out the window, just soaking up the ride.

Nosy had a great time too, although I think the highlight for him was when I passed out the Curious George fruit snacks.

We loved having Daddy ride with us, although the reason he could ride was that he took the afternoon off to rest his poor sprained ankle. Right after the ride, I drove him home and ordered him to the couch to rest the remainder of the afternoon.

Mark, our reluctantly photographed trolley captain.

I would highly recommend this family fun-filled activity! What a memory we made!!

Resource

We started a great day yesterday with a trip downtown to First Baptist Church of Dallas. Did you know that any homeschooler, employee or resident of downtown Dallas, student, teacher (it seems as if pretty much anyone!) can be a member of the Truett Memorial Library?! I was thrilled! And although I only have preschoolers in our homeschool thus far, Ruthe the librarian was so excited for us to come explore her domain. So the Boys and I journeyed down there to check it out.

The first bit of adventure (after circling downtown many times to actually find the right door! Heard, "Daddy never gets lost," quite a bit!) was learning about parking meters. Super interesting, I know, but the little boys loved it!

I fell in love with the library right away: so cozy with countless volumes, old and new, and filled with that great library smell. And Ruthe...what a dear woman! She truly has a passion for books and for helping readers find what they need. She was crazy about my Boys and popped in a Boz movie to keep them happy, allowing me some undisturbed browse time. We were the only patrons while we were there, so I could take my time and not worry about the kids.

The library had so many wonderful books and DVDs and Bible studies available for checkout! I especially loved the children's and youth's sections, chock full of timeless classics and Christian biographies. I think I have found our resource library for years to come! What a blessing!

School of Halpin

A bit more on Preschool at The House of Halpin. Pictured are our "formal" school books for learning to write letters and numbers, do early math, and concepts such as same/different, sorting biggest to smallest, etc. We actually have several other workbooks for extra practice as well. I also included our AWANAs Cubbies handbook because we will incorporate the Scripture we are learning into our lessons as well. We have several early readers (Dick and Jane and the Bob Books) that O reads in almost daily. So these books, along with our forever rotating treasures from the library, nature walks, field trips, art exposure, and oodles of crafts make up our "curriculum" of sorts.

O and I are having so much fun learning together! Usually, we wait until Nosy's morning nap to gather around the kitchen table with our wonderful learning books and cup of coffee/smoothie. We work in our workbooks for 30-45 minutes. Next we practice Bible verses or read to each other. If we have a field trip or playdate, it is normally over the lunch hour, and then we head home for naps. We reserve craft time for after the Boys wake up from afternoon naps. The craft generally centers around a Bible theme with more verses to discuss while we create. What wonderful memories I am forming around my kitchen table, teaching my oldest heart knowledge and head knowledge.

I pray that I am instilling in him not only a passion for his Saviour and godly character traits, but also fostering a love for learning and creativity that will carry him through his whole life.

Changing It Up

Even tiny changes make the day so much more fun! This morning, we headed out front to eat breakfast picnic style, pj's (just the kids) and all. (The neighbors probably think I'm CRAZY!)

After breakfast was nothing but crumbs, we searched for treasures up and down the sidewalk. Pretty soon, O piped up. "Mommy, can we have an a-venture on the other side of the street?" It never would have crossed my mind! We always keep to our side of the street. Lo and behold, across the street is a whole new world just waiting to be explored. Through a child's eyes...

Little Rascal

Just look at this precious, sunshiny Boy. Wow is he giving me a run for my money. I end the day completely spent, an emotional mess, needing chocolate, lots of chocolate.

He's beautiful, isn't he? Absolutely darling. I could gobble him up! But does he have a temper. And a will of iron. And enough smarts to be t.r.o.u.b.l.e.

I pray for wisdom, strength, consistency, patience, and discernment. I do not want to squash my wonderful Boy, just shape him into a loving, teachable servant of our Lord. It's days like today that all I can do is pray, keep on loving him completely and make sure the Rod of Discipline is close at hand.

Man Cave

Evidently it is all the rage. I watch my fair share of House Hunters, so I'm in the know. Men these days seem to need a get-away, an escape from the rest of the house, a place of their own to decorate with manly paraphernalia, a chatter-free room in which to watch endless football and eat chips.

This will not be happening in The House of Halpin. We all happily share all areas of our home. However, I did find my Guys tucked away in a man cave of sorts this weekend.

Where are they exactly? Crunched up under the slide. After I had a great laugh, I examined what manly activity they were engaging in.

Preaching.
Yes, folks, preaching. Owie can preach an all-out sermon with the best of them. And he does it often and loudly. They took turns preaching heart-felt sermons all morning.

This is one man cave activity I will proudly support. And hey, if next time they want to throw a blanket over the slide and really "cave it up," that's great too, as long as they keep up this type of male bonding!

Free Spirit

Yep. That's my kid. The one in the crazy, mismatched pajamies that he picked out himself. Racing up and down the street. Bed head and all. Having the time of his life. I couldn't love him more.

Introspection

Owie and I were discussing the spelling of the word "car" while riding in the car.

Mommy: "Car is spelled 'c-a-r.'"

O, after giving it some thought, "Nooooo. It is 'c-O-r,' Mommy. 'O' says, 'aaaaah.'"

Mommy: "I know it is confusing, O, and it does sound like it should be 'c-o-r,' but it truly is spelled 'c-a-r.'"

I hear mumbling.

O: "I am going to ask myself..."

More mumbling, then

"Self, how do you spell 'car'?"

Louder now: "Myself said I was right! It is 'c-o-r'!"

Glad that at least O and himself can agree!

That's Gratitude for Ya'

My little Darling...

He added "Thank you" to his vocabulary to accompany the sign.

The cutest tiny, "Tu-tu," you'll ever hear!