Story Time

I had the idea tonight to do something crafty with Rachel tonight. I had hoped to do something more Christmas-y, but couldn't find any Christmas-y magazines, so I had to settle for a Newsweek and two old Consumer Reports. For the first story, we cut out and named some people (most of whom she didn't use) and then tried to find photos to match the story she was creating, with limited success. For the subsequent stories, I cut out a lot of photos ahead of time and let her use the photos to help determine the course of the story. She had a lot of fun with the glue stick (it goes on purple so you can see where you've applied glue) and I at times I had to encourage her to think more about the story.

I asked leading questions like

• What is their favorite color?
• What do they like?
• What don't they like?
• What's happening here?
• What happened next?

to get her to think. Since there was nothing but a blank sheet and some pictures, it forced her to really think. I think she had fun. Click any photo to enlarge. The bad handwriting is all mine.

How's That?

"Glo----o----o----o----o----oria, you make Chelsea stand away."

"Frosty the snowman, was a holly, jolly soul."

(And these are not one-time occurrences -- these are the correct way to sing it, and if you don't sing it this way, she'll correct you.)

Success!

Rachel still has a few pieces of her allowed 10 pieces of Halloween candy. She just had a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup and then we had this exchange:

Rachel: "Mommy, can I have a little bit of a Dot?"
Me: "You may have one Dot."

Rachel heads into the living room and says, "Grandma, I have a Dot! Success!"

Apparently something she picked up from the show Dragon Tales, but it was pretty cute that she used it appropriately.

Sixteen Questions

List some of the happiest people you know:
Emily, Jacob, Clifford my Favorite Friend Dog

Other words that mean "happy":
Abby and Emily and Jacob

How do you feel when you're happy?
(Rubbed balloon on face and hair and laughed)

What does "happy" mean?
I love you.

Are you happy today?
Yes. I love Emily. She's my big sister.

Have you ever had a problem?
No. "You've never had a problem?" No. I've never ever had a problem!

Have you ever felt lonely?
No. I haven't ever felt lonely in a long time.

What do you wish you were able to do?
Ballerina

Have you ever felt like crying?
No, no daddy. Yes. I felt like crying. "When?" When I watched Calliou. I was crying after Calliou went off. "How come?" Because I feel like it.

Does anything make you angry?
No.

What is as big as you?
Emily

What vegetable is like you?
Karen. The one on Veggie Tales. (Laura) "What kind is she?" She's a carrot. She's like me because she's a girl, daddy. She's a girl like me.

What if you lived in a castle?
I would be a princess.

What if you were a sneaker?
What is a sneaker daddy? "What if you were a shoe?" I would walk people.

What if you were a giant?
I would stomp the whole ground. (Stomping around.) I would shake the whole ground. What if I was a tree, daddy? (Repeated 3 times until I responded.) "What if you were a tree?" I would have fall leaves on me.

Showed her two pictures - a boy, smiling, in a small sailboat; a boy on a small island waving a flag and yelling.
He got lost and he loved it (pointed to first picture as she said "loved it"). He needed help because he was lost at an island and he didn't know how to get back to his family. Daddy, I need the pen. "Why?" I need to draw clouds behind his boat.