Tuesday, February 15, 2011

Homeschool Kindergarten - A Blast from the Past!

The "clean sweep" has finally made it to our files!  It has been a long time coming, and we finally pulled out and dug through all the old files full of papers collected over the past couple of decades of marriage!!  Hooray!

I found this old letter--originally written on May 20, 1999, when my three oldest children were 5, 3, and 15 months respectively.  Talk about a blast from the past!  They are now almost 17, 15, 13, and there's an additional 10-year old sister in the mix!

The original letter was in response to a friend's query about how we were handling homeschool kindergarten without pre-fab curriculum.

What is chronicled here is so very different from how we ended up having to handle it the fourth time around! (EL had three older siblings who were in middle and high school as she came along--and we had begun serious lessons and co-op participation and the like--so her homeschool kindergarten was decidedly different from this!)

So, here it is, in my own words, so very many years and so very many seasons ago.  For whatever it is worth...

Dear Heather,
Please forgive the incongruity of this letter... these thoughts are only moderately organized in my mind, so they may come out disjointed and/or confusing.  Sorry!  Also, what I'm doing this year, curriculum-wise, is so bound up in what I've already done, that I feel like I'll just have to share that, and get to the actual materials at the end.  Take or leave whatever, whatever it's worth...

(Inserted thought, at the end of it all: I read over this note, once I finished it, to see if it made sense, and it all sounds remarkable and wonderful and organized.  I feel inadequate and intimidated next to my own description of myself!  So, know that these things don't always happen as smoothly and consistently as this straight description makes it seem!)

Thoughts about homeschooling, and feeling overwhelmed: Every day I wonder if I can do this thing, and if I'll mess up my kids, and if they'll learn what they need to, etc...  I have a teaching degree and I fear these things a ton, so know that those feelings are part of it, no matter how "qualified" or "unqualified" you may be in the world's eyes...

Thoughts about how I began "schooling" for little ones (and how it wasn't really "schooling" at first, at all): My goal, before I ever began any academic training, was to be relatively certain that the important character-training issues were well underway in my home.  Thus, our first years have focused on things like:

*Discipline (obedience, contradicting/backtalk, arguing, throwing fits, etc.): You need to be reasonably sure you can expect your child to respond to you in obedience IN LIFE before you expect him to respond obediently in a teaching setting.

* Bible training (stories, memory verses, crafts, application, etc.): My kids began memorizing "ABC verses" from the time they were two.  I have sort of fallen into the realization that, in addition to filling their minds with God's truth in His Word, this has led to many other wonderful "by-products."  It was great training in self-discipline--memorizing and practicing and retaining something requires great diligence and self-control.  Also, letter and phonics recognition that just sort of happened along the way... for example, as they memorized the verse that began with "A," I showed them a big and little A and taught them that "A says a" (as in the short vowel sound in cat)... same with all the letters.  By the end of the memory program, they recognized most all the letters and beginning phonics sounds (short vowels and hard consonants) and I hadn't had to sit down and teach them, per se.

* Sitting still and quiet in certain settings: I've also sort of "stumbled" into realizing the huge by-product blessing it has been to train them to be quiet and still when they need to be.  They remain with us in church and meetings, they can go to the ballet and the symphony and any place like that when someone wants to take them, and they are primed for sitting still and quiet for learning/schooling scenarios later.

* Praying together: We pray about anything, but I make a point to pray with them at times other than just meal time.  Also, we have a "quiet time" together in the mornings, where we read and discuss a short passage of Scripture together--currently, a part of a Psalm each day.  This will eventually turn into their own personal devotion time; I just want to train them early to work this into their days, so that they won't have as much struggle with it later as I do!  This time is separate from "Bible time," which is a fun family devotion time Daddy does in the evening, which involves a story and discussion and some singing.  It is also separate from "Bible cards," which is a time I go through some A Beka Bible Flash Cards with them each day.  I've borrowed these from a friend who owns all the sets, and they are wonderful.  We are working on slowly obtaining some of our own, as gift money and stuff comes in for the kids.  This is what we do in the afternoon just before "quiet play time" (for EV-5) and "rest time" (for PT-3), which may or may not include a nap.  They love these Bible cards.

* Household skills (chores, cooking, gardening, organizing, etc.);  This is just worked into our life routine, but it also seems to teach much self-discipline... EV(5) and PT(3) make their beds, dress themselves, help fold laundry and put it away, set the table, load and empty the dishwasher, help me make food and bake bread, etc.  We have taught (by example and by what we demand of them) that "everything has its place," and that you must put it back there when you're finished with it.  We've only allowed play with one thing at a time, after which you put that away before you get out another thing, etc.  There are a lot of baskets and boxes and such in our home, such that "all the Legos go here," and "all the sewing cards go here," etc.

* Safety skills (memorized name/address/phone, fire & water skills, go meet a fireman and policeman, etc.)

* Motor skills--large and small: This is accomplished for us by (LMS) playing outside, walks and/or bike rides, hopping, skipping, climbing, trampoline jumping, etc. (SMS) sewing cards, Barbie and paper dolls, Playmobil guys, colorforms, PlayDoh, holding a pencil properly when drawing, coloring in the lines, using scissors to cut on lines or around pictures, etc.

*Educational-minded games: Early on, this is things like colors, body parts, animals, shapes, etc.  Later it is things like puzzles, KingSize Uno, rock/paper/scissors, tic-tac-toe, letter bingo, "memory" games, CandyLand, magnets, etc.

* Reading aloud: This is huge, I think, as far as teaching a love of literature, exposure to English cadence and language rhythm, vocabulary expansion, etc.  We read "non-picture books" from very early on: daily, a page or two, of books like Beatrix Potter tales (Peter Rabbit, etc.), Pooh tales (the original ones), classic fairy tales, etc. Also, Richard Scarry-type books for vocabulary expansion and exposure to things I can't actually take them to see...

* Going places ("field trips"): kids' museum, zoo, beach, park, etc.

* Ministry and service: We try to keep our eyes and ears open to needs within the Body and meet them when we can.  I try to really involve the kids when this happens (making & taking a meal to someone, watching someone's children for them, cleaning someone's house for them, etc.)--especially is if disrupts our usual "school routine"--and explain as we go how we're serving the Lord and His church by doing this certain thing.

SO, all of that is what goes in to stuff before I ever begin teaching anything "academic," per se.  With EV(5), and now PT(3), what I've begun with, after all this is at least moderately established, is "reading instruction."  I feel pretty vulnerable and silly sharing this, because it is so casual and "unofficial" (in the curriculum sense), and it is stuff I've just created myself.  (This is nice because it is then FREE!)  I made flash cards first of all with all the capital and small letters and numerals 1-10.  (I'm sure to include a goofy-looking small A like is in most printed material, and I make the 4 look both ways they'll potentially see it, etc.)  We go through those daily (for however long their relative attention spans will handle, and building to more daily as they get more used to doing it) until I'm relatively sure they know the letters and basic phonetic sounds as described above.  This is a relatively short phase for me because of the Bible memory lessons they already had, but I'd stay at this stage as long as necessary until I was sure they had it.  If it was taking a long time and being really boring, I'd read a ton of ABC books together, too, to speed it along.  Put letter magnets on the fridge.  Play letter match puzzle games.  Anything to reinforce the letters (and, for me, the simple sound that goes with it).

Next I went to making flashcards with two-letter words that follow "pure simple phonics" rules (short vowel/hard consonant). [A says a, T says g, a-t, at] etc...

After that I went to three-letter words of the same phonetic make-up.  This step was a little slower with EV than with PT.  She spent a while saying, for example, "B-at" (a two-syllable thing involving a "B" sound followed by the word "at" but not getting how to blend it all together) or "B-ox" and the like.  Spending some time with opening blends will help if this is the case (ba-, be-, bi-, bo-, bu-, bl-, br-, etc.)  After they've mastered the three-letter words (with or without opening blends practice), I move onto four-letter pure phonics words and a few "sight words" (the, because, is, was, etc.).  Don't introduce too many sight words at once or they'll get confused.  Just one at a time until they have it.

After they've gotten the concept of all that, and can read all those flash cards fluently and quickly, they are more than ready to move on to "real books," and I've borrowed from a friend just the readers to the "Sing, Spell, Read, and Write" program.  This is a great phonics/reading program with a lot of "bells and whistles" (music, singing, rhymes, etc.) that costs a couple hundred bucks.  My friend bought just the readers for $18.  (And I borrow them, so far, which costs nothing, though I've been on the lookout for my own set!)  The readers progressively take you through each phonetic rule they should learn, so we just work through them from book one (which is all short A vowel words put into stories).  We also occasionally check out the "Bob" books from the library just because they're fun and something different for her to read.  At this point PT(3) is reading the flash cards (and asking to move on to the books!) and EV(5) is in book 9 of the readers.

I let them go through those "preschool skills" book you pick up at dollar stores and stuff, a lot.  They do things like mazes and dot-to-dots and tracing on the lines and that sort of thing.  Iivo's mother gives them lots of these, too, so we've utilized the fact that they are here, for "free," so to speak.

During this time, as far as "arithmetic" went, we did numeral recognition and quantity concepts with a number puzzle we have that pairs up 1-24 numbers with pieces that have that number of things pictured on them.  We also spent time counting and manipulating poker chips in "math-y" ways.  Nothing official, again...

I hung up a manuscript ABC border in my kids' bedrooms, and in the dining room (our "school room") and they've both just learned to make the letters by looking up and copying them.  I taught them first to write their names (that's all PT(3) can do, and a couple of other letters) and then EV(5) would just seems to practice writing letters as she drew and colored and played in that way.  I bought one of those rubber pencil-grip things that makes them hold their hand properly, from the teachers' store, and I make them use that when they draw.  I let them learn to make their letters on unlined paper, and this year EV and I will work for the first time on official "penmanship."  I bought an A Beka book called Writing with Phonics K4 for this purpose.  It reinforces the phonics instruction while teaching them proper spacing and alignment for writing letters on lined paper.  (You have to order the manuscript edition special, if you want them to learn to print, as A Beka is big on teaching cursive early and they have cursive editions as the standard.)  I also bought Writing with Phonics K5, which I will move on to whenever we finish the K4 book.  The only other official "curriculum-type thing" I bought for this coming year for EV were the A Beka books called Letters and Sounds K and Number Skills K Arithmetic.  I didn't (and wouldn't) buy any of the teacher's manuals unless you are just a big teacher's-manual-type person.  The books themselves are rather self-explanatory at this stage, and the money will be better spent later, on other curricula, in my opinion.  I plan to cover these "disposables" workbooks with contact paper to keep them looking fresh and new, as I think that keeps the kids careful and tidy with their books.  Of course, they write directly in the workbooks, and I think I'll save them as part of a "record" filed away for later.  I also save the best of their drawings and crafty things they create and put them in a file, "for posterity," and to document things should anyone ever want to see it.

As far as "science" and "social studies" go this year, I have a vague sense that I will try to incorporate these things in casual, fun, free ways.  I have a hands-on preschool science experiment book that we may plan to do one or two days a week.  I also have hung a map, and I think I'll read stories to the kids from various locations around the world, and then mark those locations on the map with a little circle representing the story somehow.  I plan to use the story as a springboard for studying the other culture somehow.  (For instance, the Madeleine books to study about France, the Peng books to study about China, etc.)

I myself have never attended a curriculum fair, nor do I plan to attend one this year.  (I did go to just the A Beka demonstration this year because I wanted to see the books hands-on and find out just what level I though EV was ready for--and you get free shipping if you order them there!  I thought I could handle one guy, in one room, full of only one curriculum! ;)  I find myself too overwhelmed in life by the whole homeschool concept, and I refuse to allow myself to freak out and get too stressed out over kindergarten!  From what I understand, curriculum fairs can be desperately overwhelming!  

We're just slowly plugging along with whatever we can do for pretty much close-to-free, and I'm not sweating how it "officially" lines up with someone's idea of kindergarten.  I have requested a copy of the SOLs ("Standards of Learning") from the local school board, just so I'll know what they think a kid should be learning at this stage, but I don't feel too hyper about trying to teach right to that.  As far as opinions I have about various curricula: these I've obtained by just "picking the brains" of several homeschool moms that I admire and respect.  I figure it is worth finding out, from a variety of people, what has worked and what hasn't, in their experience.  THAT is more valuable to me than trying to swim through 10,000 books at a huge fair where everyone is trying to convince me that their stuff is exactly what I need.  My personality can be overwhelmed by that, and I know that I could become "convinced" that I "needed" far more stuff than I actually do, or can afford--especially for kindergarten!!

There is a homeschool co-op at our church that I have found invaluable as far as providing several things I can't provide by myself at home: "official" accountability with other homeschool moms, structured social interactions for my kids with other kids, opportunities for a "literary magazine" of sorts and for "oral presentations," a chance to learn and say the pledge of allegiance, exposure for my kids to other teachers and teaching styles, and all those sorts of things that can't happen so well with only one or two kids at home (organized PE games, drama and acting stuff, etc.)  I'd recommend finding some such group in your area, if there is one...

So, there it is, the Laurie hodge podge of what I've done and hope to do with my little preschoolers by way of "schooling" them.  As, as you can tell, all of it is quite casual and unstructured.  (Our reading instruction, for example, often happens with all of us piled into our queen-sized bed!)  Each of these things doesn't happen each day, by any means, but at least one of these things happens each day.

I don't know if I've helped you at all, or it I've just confused you and made everything worse.  Whichever is the case, feel free to write at any time with any questions or comments, or to share any of your own experiences and suggestions.  My "schooling" is ever-evolving and ever-incorporating as I share with other moms.  In fact, for most of the ideas expressed here, I need to give credit to the many mothers I've "stolen" ideas from.  (Thanks to Karen McD., Elizabeth T., Kathy T., Cheri D.!)

Partners in this crazy adventure of motherhood and education,
Laurie


Sunday, February 13, 2011

Spring is coming!!



This is the sight that greeted me on the front walkway this morning on the way home from church!  The sunshine and surprisingly mild temperatures--together with the bright smile of this blossom--conspire to give me hope that spring is, in fact, just around the corner!

Saturday, February 12, 2011

An Evening of Song

Our family was blessed to attend the Virginia Opera performance of The Valkyrie on Saturday night, because two of my children were performing with their handbell choir before the show and during intermission.  Memorizing artists and pieces for "music appreciation" takes on a whole new meaning when you've seen the show from which the piece came!  (Hence, "Flight of the Valkyries" by Wagner will now forever live in the memory in a different way.)

Here is a little sampling of the delightful handbell music--captured poorly on my phone, but captured nonetheless.  My youngest EL is the feisty little one on the left end; my son PT is the very tall one on the far right of the screen in the second video.



Friday, February 11, 2011

The Heart of Love

I found this sitting on a chair in the study this morning.  Turns out it isn't for me.  Well, at least not officially.  The ten-year old has made it for her grandmother--originally for Valentine's Day--but "(she) doesn't want to fold it," so it is being saved as a gift for the next face-to-face visit.

But whether I was intended to be the original recipient or not, the Lord used it to bless me this morning.


"Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age," Matt. 28:20, KJV.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Snow Day!

I know I am truly an adult because snow days usually now bum me out. Yes, I remember the quiet hoping (before) and the elated joy (after) the announcement from the "powers that be" that school had officially been canceled. But when I have planned a day's activities for my students at the homeschool enrichment group, I am almost always disappointed not to meet and carry them out as scheduled.


Today, however, I confess that I was not bummed. This morning I was not the disappointed teacher cursing the white stuff under her breath. I was the recovering flu patient who was as thrilled as any student not to have to report to studies today. Another day of rest! An extra few days to play catch up!

Oh, thank you, ultimate Power of "powers that be," for this beautiful reminder of Your mercy. Your creativity. And Your amazing, amazing grace.

"Wash me, and I will be whiter than snow" (Psalm 51:7).


 
 A few of my favorite spots, patiently awaiting spring...
 

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Dads Understand

This was my daughter OG's favorite Superbowl commercial.  I love it, too!

So, I guess here's a little more free advertising for VW...

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

Tackling the Flu Naturally

I have not been sick in about five years.

Exactly to what I owe this blessing, I'm not sure, but I've enjoyed my long string of wellness very much!

For the past couple of days, however, I have been flat on my back in bed with a serious case of what I presume is the flu, which has been plaguing our community for the past month or so and which many of my friends, colleagues, and students have had.

I am so much better today that I feel compelled to share here what we did--there are three of us sick in our household right now--that has caused such a serious turn-around for us.

First, the progression of my sickness (if you're interested in knowing what it might look like early on so you don't miss it, like I did):

Two weekends ago I went to a movie night for our ASL club at a home with cats.  I am allergic to cats, but sometimes I can handle it, so we took separate cars and I decided to give it a go.  I stayed the entire time and paid the price for it for several days following with an irritated respiratory tract and difficult breathing.  However, it got better without my becoming terribly sick.  I assume that was simply the cat-ness.

This past weekend (Friday and Saturday), I again had difficulty breathing and a sore chest.  I assumed this was the result of some residual irritation of my respiratory tract from the cat-ness, made worse by some sanding I had been doing in the bathroom we're re-doing.  Looking back now, I assume that this was actually the start of this sickness.  Since I didn't recognize it as such, I did not do any of the usual "immune boosting" things we do when we feel like an illness might be coming on.

Sunday, I started with some other mild symptoms: fever of 100 or so, slight headache, coughing, irritated airway.  I did take it easy all day and took one dose of "immune stuff" (see below), but since I didn't feel all that bad and had few symptoms other than fever to indicate that I might be getting really sick, I failed miserably with the rules regarding staving off an illness naturally.  I stayed up late and watched the Superbowl.  I ate all the junky food we had planned to serve at the gathering we had canceled (chicken wings, Mexican dip, chips, soda).  I felt pretty bad by bedtime, so I took some Nyquil before bed and figured I'd "sleep it off."

Sunday night things took a serious turn for the worse.  I awoke with 102 degree fever; a deep, painful cough; a severe headache; aching in every joint and muscle in my body; a sore throat; a stuffy nose; dizziness; and eyes that hurt if I rubbed them.  I have not been so miserably sick in many, many years.  (I remember a stomach virus one particular Christmas during which I lay on the bathroom floor, unable to move, convinced I was going to die.  But not since then have I been that sick.)  It was a long, miserable day yesterday, and I felt absolutely awful.

I am rather shocked (and pleased) that today the fever is broken and I feel much, much better.  Since the friends who responded on Facebook told me to expect five days at least, and that I needed Tamiflu to get through it, I figured I'd share all the "wacky" natural things we did to knock this thing out fast.  Since I don't know which things helped and which didn't, and since I pulled out my entire knowledge of every natural remedy I'd ever heard of, I share here a pretty long list of "kooky" natural remedies.  Something worked!

Here's what we who were actually sick did: (For preventive measures, see below.)

* prayed  for healing
* stayed in bed all day resting/sleeping

* took "immune stuff" every hour or two all day (never on a totally empty stomach!):
- 1,000 mg vitamin C (I took 2,000 since I had a fever, and I never got diarrhea, the sign of too much)
- echinacea/goldenseal combination tablets
- garlic tablets
- acidophilus tablets
- zinc lozenges

* drank Vitamix shakes made with whatever whole fruits and vegetables we had:
- carrots & mixed greens
- strawberries, kiwis, pears, apples, cranberries, black currants
- homemade yogurt
- kombucha tea

* drank kefir and kefir d'uva
* drank hot tea (for me it was vanilla Sleepytime)

* ate chicken soup made with homemade chicken stock
* ate nothing else (especially no junk or sugar!)

* took a hot bath with Epsom salts and breathed deeply of the steam
* used the Neti pot
* covered our chests with Vicks Vapo-Rub

* gargled with Listerine mixture (half water, half blue Listerine)
* soaked inside of our ears with hydrogen peroxide

* took no drugs to lower the fever, since fever helps the immune system function better

I'm quite sure that many of you are totally wigged out by this list.  But I felt so absolutely terrible yesterday, and feel so much better today, that I felt compelled to share.  My friends who are trying Tamiflu and are still suffering after five days might just be miserable enough to try it!  I hope none of the rest of you need it, but I would highly recommend it if you find yourself coming down with it!

As for prevention, I'll let you know how it worked ultimately, but here's what the not-sick-yet members of our family are doing to try to stave it off:

* pray (for health, for wellness, for a strong immune system, for mercy)

* take "immune stuff" several times a day (never on an empty stomach!)
- 1,000 mg vitamin C
- garlic tablets
- acidophilus tablets
- zinc lozenges
- NOT echinachea/goldenseal, which your body develops a resistance to if taken too long

* eat only healthy food
* eat NO SUGAR, which suppresses the immune system significantly for several hours after consumption

* get plenty of sleep

I don't know if they'll successfully keep from getting it, but they are ahead of the game from me, who totally missed the symptoms when they were coming on.  I'll let you know!

Sunday, February 6, 2011

A Sting in My Nose

This is a very tender, pensive time for me in regards to a lost friendship in my life.  I haven't chosen to blog about it because I never really know who is reading what is written here, and I don't want to make any "relational waves."  I'm aware that many people I know, were they to read any of the many confused, convoluted thoughts and feelings I've had over the past several years, might figure out who and what I'm referencing--and I don't want to hurt anyone's feelings or make anyone upset.

Today, however, I read some words on my friend Rachel's blog that have really stirred a reaction in me.  The Lord is using my reaction to her words to reveal to me just how much I have not been able to move on in healing after this particular relational break.

Just what did my friend's blog say?  Taken out of context (she was referencing her emotionally-difficult-but-very-rewarding new job as an oncology nurse, which often makes her cry), her words were as follows:

"There is something redemptive and beautiful about the process of vulnerability, fear, compassion, love, and tears."

The reaction I had?  It is a familiar one... one I've repeated countless times over the years since the rejection of my other friend.  It is complicated, and it goes something like this: I read those words, and a spark of recognition fills my heart with agreement and joy, but it is immediately eclipsed by a wave of extreme hurt that pricks my throat and my gut, causing tears to spring to my eyes and a little pain to rise in the side of my nose.  This reaction--which always catches me off guard and which is extremely unwelcome, given my complete inability to do anything about the unresolved relational break--is almost immediately swallowed away into cynicism.  My dear friend self-protection, who has come to be my constant companion these last five years, swoops in to save me from the pain of that brokenness.

The only problem?  It doesn't work.  And so at that point I choose to loop back around to the initial fleeting feeling of agreement and joy.  I camp there, preaching the gospel to myself and reminding myself what I know to be true of grace... of God's amazing, immeasurable grace... of the grace of this One who will never leave me or forsake me, even when others do.  I also choose, by sheer force of my will and surrender to the truth,  against my feelings, to believe that grace is also possible in human beings; that my husband, and my children, and the other people in my life with whom I've chosen vulnerability and realness, really can and do accept me and love me, in spite of all my many flaws and the myriad of ways that I may (read: will) hurt and disappoint them.

I spend my days walking with God... trying to stay tender and soft and supple in my heart... striving to stay open and real and vulnerable in my other relationships, despite the fear of rejection that always threatens to show its ugly face and rob me of the joy of grace-filled relationship... despite how the cynicism has subtly and irrevocably infected my feelings about the church we both once attended, rendering me unable to sit there and listen to messages about practicing humility, modeling authenticity, demonstrating love...

In short, I know that this unexpected, unwelcome response to certain things (a friend's words in a blog post, a song on the radio, a message in a sermon) belies the healing that I assumed had taken place.  Yes, the frequency of this surprise response has gone down as time has passed.  Yes, the time spent in the different stages of the loop has shortened.  I have mistakenly assumed that this means healing has taken place.

But the truth of the matter is that healing has not taken place.  Restoration has not happened.  And so, sitting a pew or two apart, pretending this horrible relational abandonment and rejection never happened, listening to messages about grace and "real relationship"... well, the words ring hollow at best.

Just this past week it was my youngest daughter's Language Arts lesson which arose to surprise me with this little loop.  It was nearly three years ago that this very same lesson surprised me over this very same issue and prompted me to blog about it:

"It's very simple," Herkimer told her. "To turn an enemy into a friend, all you have to do is love him."

"Love him? Are you sure? That doesn't sound easy at all. That sounds terribly difficult to me," Annabelle said.

"Oh, it is difficult, " Herkimer agreed. "Probably one of the most difficult things in the world. But I said it was simple, not easy."

From
The Tale of Annabelle Hedgehog. Published by Lion Publishing, Batavia, Illinois. Copyright 1990 by Stephen Lawhead.

Still trying to figure it out, these many years later... this very simple, not-at-all-easy thing we're called to do.  And whenever the surprise cycle comes, I fall to my knees in my heart, silently thanking the Lord for His matchless, limitless grace, and "weep to the praise of the mercy I've found."  May I be continually transformed by His merciful Spirit to learn to love like He does, in spite of the reality of past hurts that leave a prick in my throat and a sting in my nose.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Lenore Doll

This is a toy my daughter saw on display today.  
On the box were the words,
"Lenore Doll: Adventures of a Cute Little Dead Girl."  
What in the world?!!