Little House Love

I’m kind of ashamed to admit it, but the kids and I are just now getting into the Little House book series. I’d long forgotten the quaint charm of the Ingalls family; we unanimously adore them.

The kids received the entire collection in the mail, this Christmas, and we just wrapped up the first installment. Unfortunately, we’ll have to wait another ten or so days to start the next book, as it is packed away in a box, awaiting our upcoming move.

We had our own pioneer moment the other evening (apart from my recent threat to go off the grid after shattering my iPhone), when the entire neighborhood lost power. The girls jumped at the chance to use the luminaries/lanterns we had crafted from aluminum cans– just like the one Laura carried for Ma the night she slapped the rear-end of a bear, thinking it was Sukey the cow.

lanterns

We hurriedly bundled up and went for a walk in the dark, to savor the moment and survey the extent of the outage on neighboring streets.

Our oldest was delighted to find that, despite lack of electricity, our piano still worked just fine. Smile.

bonnets

I found these darling pioneer sun-bonnets online and the girls have hardly taken them off.

bonnets2

Tending the chickens is cool again.

We are eagerly awaiting the next fresh snowfall (due this weekend), so we can try our hand at maple syrup candy. What remains on the ground is weeks old and quite dingy. In Montana one can afford to be a snow snob.

Reading aloud to the kids is probably the part of home-school that I enjoy most. My pupils never groan at the prospect of resting their pencils and cuddling up under a blanket on the couch. The girls obviously do daily independent reading, and regularly read aloud (often to their little brother), but  I don’t think being read to should be something kids outgrow.