A Charlotte Mason day

Yesterday was great!We got up,ate breakfast,did dishes,and let the fun begin!I started by sticking cloves in an orange to make a jack-o-lantern, and the kids took off on that.Then I cut 2 apples in half, one stem to blossom and one through the "equator".I got out some tempra paints and let the kids squeeze some in bowls-red,yellow,brown,green and orange-fall colors.Then showed them how to use the apples as stamps on construction paper.I soon had the (genius)idea to stick popsicle holders into the apples for handles:) Then,to use up our 10 year old spices (wedding gift:) I showed them how to sprinkle them onto the wet paint.It was a great success,Asher did 7 and Eli did 2 and Eve and Dyl each did 4.(They reported this to me.)During this time,Pearl nursed asleep and I got to talk on the phone.:) Normally this would be the end of the greatness,as I would feel compelled to make things get done.Not this day!We played poptropica,everyone did dishes without complaint,we looked at catalogs (Land of Nod)for ideas to make some quilts-a galaxy one for Asher and an anything on wheels one for Eli.Eve liked anything pink.Oh,and animals for Pearl.Dylan was doing dishes at the time.Asher read an entire picture book to Eli,even as Eli wandered a bit.:)Eli and I washed the spice jars to be repurposed as a spinning bead rack.I love hangin out with "my little bud".Pearl liked playing with them as we finnished and we played a game of trying to get all the jars in the spinner before she pulled them all out.A very tricky game!Later we made wheat pretzels from the LLL cookbook.A first for us.Simple,fun,boiled too long(fell apart) and cooked to long,but they made great dog treats!After that,I put Pearl in the backpack, and Eve and Pearl and I walked Dyl and her friend to the church for an activity.On the way home,Eve and I held hands and sang marching songs as she collected little bits of nature like she always does.She had harvested 6 crabapples and when we got home she minced them in the garlic mincer(her personal juicer)and there was no juice,just tiny red lines of pulp."That was not what I expected!" She told me.Fast forward to 4 am and we-Asher and Eve and I watched the meteor shower for about an hour.I saw 5, Asher thinks he saw one and I'm not sure if Eve saw any.It was fun to hang out, and after Eve went to bed,Asher and I stayed up and had hot chocolates and watched the sky and chatted until our eyes started playing sleepy tricks on us.:)WHAT A GREAT DAY!!!!Nature,art,reading,cooking from scratch...we covered science,math,reading and art and loved and absorbed every minute!The house stayed in order,we ate 3 meals,and I got to have individual time with each child and a little me time!