Successful First Day Back

Despite getting off to a late start, I think our first day back to school went pretty well. We didn't begin our workbook lessons until after 10am, and then we took a break until lunchtime. Then, while we ate lunch I read our Five in a Row story, The Rag Coat. The kids paid really good attention as I read; I think reading the story during mealtime seems to work well for my kids! I didn't have time to plan anything to go along with our story, so we just talked a little bit about some of the story elements. The kids spent some time coloring and playing on the computer after lunch while I did laundry and baked our snack for tea time.

Tea time was a lot of fun today. We read My First Columbus Day Book, since we didn't get a chance yesterday. I found this book at Half Price Books for only 50 cents! The kids again listened attentively while enjoying their yummy Pumpkin Cream Muffins. This is a really good recipe that I just tried for the first time today. I've posted the recipe at Mixing Bowls and Measuring Spoons.

After tea time, we made some fall/Halloween decorations. Inspired by Melissa's butterflies, we painted coffee filters in fall colors before our trip. Today, I was finally able to complete the craft by cutting leaf shapes out of black construction paper, cutting out the center of the leaves, and then attaching the coffee filters (cut to fit) to the back of the leaves. I think they turned out really great, and so did the boys' wonderful decorations!

Alex's bat, monster, and ghost

Alex's pumpkin

Nathan's pumpkin