We usually don't get snow like this around here, so when we do, we have to enjoy it while it lasts.
Gabe was dying to go out in the snow.
Once out, he just wanted to eat it.
He wasn't any more adventurous than standing in the snow.
This is the first time Olivia has really enjoyed the snow.
We got a little last year and she was fine just walking in it, but this year she wanted to make snowballs and throw snow on me and on Sarah.
Here's Rebecca and Baby E at 23 weeks along.
The idea for this study came from Olivia's great love to the "Bear" books by Karma Wilson. She can read the books along with me now. I would say she could read over half the words. It was very exciting for both her and I. We had a great time reading about animals and how they adapt to winter, when it is cold and food is scarce. We talked about hibernation, migration, and adaptation. We read about many animals but put the the ones she liked best on the cover.
We defined hibernation, migration, and adaptation. We looked at why animals need to do this. We talked about what happens to a hibernating animal and when they know to wake up. We talked about how bears are not considered true hibernators and what makes them different from other hibernating animals. We looked at some of the paths of a few migrating animals. Olivia likes to find places on the globe so this was exciting for her. We went over how animals prepare themselves in the fall time for the winter and then we touched on what they do as soon as they wake up in the spring time.
There were tons of books to read at the library. We also found some great websites online. One is a live camera watching a hibernating bear. We did some great activities like feeling our own heartbeats and breathing and then playing with a drum to simulate a hibernating animals heartbeat. We also pretended to hibernate and talked about what it would be like. Then we talked a little about how we, as humans deal with the colder winter weather.
As with our previous children, this one likes to keep its hand in front of its face. We did get this neat shot of the hand open, though, rather than a fist. 
She did some leaf rubbings and learned to identify the leaves most common in our yard/neighborhood. I set this lapbook up a bit different due to the size of the books and such that we put in it.
"Fall Is" is a minibook that she could read and then colored about fall. The "fall words" is a vocabulary worksheet that she had to identify the words and write out. I folded it aso that it will up full size to show her work. 
"Left and Right" and "Beginning Sounds" are also worksheets. Most things in the lapbook came from Enchanted Learing. After leaves and general signs of fall, we talked about apples. We went to an apple orchard (those pics are in a previous post) to pic apples. So we learned a little about them and then made some apple sauce with our apples. 
Olivia loves mazes.
Olivia's Thanksgiving Tree
She was dying to eat these as they sat in front of her. :)
Olivia's Turkey ("No daddy, they're chickens!") Cookies
Olivia's Little People First Thanksgiving Set
Olivia's Little People Mayflower set
The picks for the day
Gabe thought the big ones were a blast!
Olivia managed to find one that was very lumpy.
This is really how he sleeps most of the time. :)
