We plunged from the 90s to the 70s this week. I packed up the girls' summer clothes, got out their winter clothes, and made an inventory of what was needed. Two Halloween ghost costumes, 1 1/2 Ren Faire costumes, a few nightgowns and shirts -- shouldn't take me a week to sew up if I had any energy, but I'm bushed. I'll have to see what I can put off till later while I dust off the sewing machine.

Sunshine has been very interested in reading this week. She's doing daily lessons in her primer without making us go back and start at the beginning every day. She's also pulling out picture books and having me read them, then rereading the first two pages over and over again for hours. In a monotone. It's driving me nuts. I tell myself she's busy learning something and work to ignore it.

All the drawing has improved her handwriting. She did letter-writing exercises twice this week, but the third day it was like she had no idea how to form any letter at all. Maybe it's boredom, but I'm not sure. Two steps forward, one step back.

Brighteyes pulled out a crafts book and made her first diorama this week inside a cracker box. It was her first real experiment by herself with school glue. She didn't get glue all over anything and what she glued down is still stuck in place half a week later, so I'd say the experiment was a success.

She wants to make a hanging loom. We visited the hardware store and the craft store this week for parts, and I'm looking around for a cheap plastic hair pick for her to use as a weaver's comb. At the moment she's working on teaching her puppy how to shake hands.

This was supposed to have been the week we decorated the outside wall of the forge with "cave paintings". We spent the past two weeks reading up on the subject, and everyone was excited about it. Then Friday it threatened rain and I put it off. The girls were terribly upset, especially when the rain didn't come after all. We'll try to do it tomorrow. I'll try to post pictures when we're done.