The Accidental Blogger

Sunday

2012-02-12T19:42:00.001-05:00

Late last week one of our co-op moms asked on the e-mail loop what we had planned for Valentines Day. Sigh.

I had in mind buying a few boxes of chocolates for my family at Walmart. Another slacker mom and I tried suggesting that the kids might have outgrown Valentines parties, but we were called out as Valentine grinches and shamed into participation.

So I bought Travis a box of Valentines to print names on (he Has outgrown the "valentines for the whole class" thing), and Katie made hers. With the glitter which I forgot to throw out after cleaning up last year's glitter mess. This year I didn't forget. But she had fun.

And we made cookies to share. That really was fun!

Here Katie is dipping cake balls (strawberry cake crumbled up and mixed with chocolate frosting) in coating chocolate...

and making cards (this picture is pre-glitter).

And here are our heart cookies. They are very good.

Balance (as in, Finding My)

2012-02-11T14:35:00.003-05:00

Which, I suppose, means that I am unbalanced. Only that is a bit farther than I want to take this. What I mean is, I have such a hard time finding time for everything I want to do. Unlike the rest of you out there, who do manage to get your stuff done, I keep getting these rinky-dink little 24 hour days, which are completely inadequate for my needs. As my kids are always telling me (though not about the length of my days), this is So not fair.

But anyway. I haven't blogged about a month. And while that hardly qualifies as a loss to the world (in fact, those who fret about the quantity of drivel on the internet would call it a blessing), it does mean that I have no record of all my children's (and cats') charming antics. And, my memory being what it is, that means I have No Idea what we've been up to.

School, mostly, I think. Actually, math. A very small amount of math dragged out over an unbelievably long amount of time. Epic math, as Travis would say ("Epic" is currently one of his words. Only when he uses it it does not mean a long narrative poem, but, rather, "cool." Only he doesn't say "cool." Because he says it isn't.). We started this year with a generic version of Chalkdust Algebra (Larson's Elementary Algebra with Houghton Mifflin dvds). I thought Travis was ready for this, but he kept making sloppy mistakes (lots of sloppy mistakes) and I finally decided he needed more practice with pre-algebra to get the hang of methodically working out multi-step problems (you probably already see where I was going wrong, but I didn't see it. Then.). So I bought Margaret Lial's Pre-Algebra and we started over. And the sloppy math continued. There were battles (you might call them Epic battles) over the importance of Showing Your Work. You might have thought that a student (not to name any names) who every day had to do his assignments over (and over. and over) because of sloppy mistakes would eventually realize the value of working each problem with methodical care. But you'd have been Wrong. We've been supplementing Lial with videos from Derek Owens's Lucid Education site, and in January I finally decided to drop Lial and try Derek Owens's books. And they have helped! So far math is taking much less time, which only makes sense, given the level of difficulty of the work and the amount of time Travis has now spent on this part of pre-algebra! And he is Still making sloppy mistakes and not showing his work. But, fortunately for him, Katie has now hit a rough spot in math and I've taken to starting my mornings with a couple strong screwdrivers and just don't care any more.

Not really. About the screwdrivers, that is. Or the not caring. I do. But somewhere around the beginning of this year I realized that I've neglected my Latin study so long that I've forgotten the little I learned, so I need to somehow catch up, so I can help Travis, who is really struggling with Third Form. Only the catching up seems sort of hopeless. I have angst, and I heartily disapprove of angst. Woe!

But I don't despair! Some things are going well. Katie is doing well at Latin, and both kids are progressing well with their writing! And writing is an important skill, right? Katie has gotten to where she reads her assignments, writes her papers with little or no input from me, and then types them! Happy, happy day! And Travis puts up a heck of a fight about doing the exercises in Lost Tools of Writing (he'll Do them, just with so little care and thought that he might as well Not), but his last paper was, in the end, fairly good. And our new science programs (Katie is doing Classic Science's Earth Science and Travis is doing Kolbe Academy's program using Holt's Earth Science book) are going well. Not incredible, but pretty good. And history, as always, is fun! We are almost through the Civil War (yay!), and it has been interesting. Very sad stuff, of course, but interesting! None of us much cares about the battle strategies, but Travis and I just finished an interesting video on Lincoln from the Teaching Company, and Katie has been reading and listening to Little Women (last night we watched the 1994 movie, and Katie Loved it but was dismayed that they ended it so early in the book). And, of course, reading lots of other stuff. Actually, having typed all this, I realize that mostly things are going quite well! I Knew there was a reason I should be blogging!

Finally, as I said at the beginning, I need to find more balance. We were all sitting on the couch last night, watching Little Women, and I realized that it might well have been the first time we'd all watched a show together this year. And I Like watching movies with my family! We haven't been playing enough games, either. And I miss blogging regularly (maybe not so much the blogging as the Having blogged and being able to look back on things. But you can't have one without the other, can you.) So I guess I'll work on spending less time anguishing over how to get my kids through math (not No time, just Less time!) and more time on enjoying my kids. They are pretty lovable kids, even if they Do stink at math!

Good Times!

2012-01-09T17:34:00.000-05:00

After a nice long holiday break, our home school co-op met again today! Much as we enjoyed not doing school, it was great to see our friends again.

Week 19 of Tapestry of Grace, which we studied last week and discussed in class today, was mainly focused on China and Japan (also Commodore Perry and Millard Fillmore). In honor of the Asian focus, one of our wonderful moms made stir fry for the whole group! It was delicious, and I found a new food I like -- edamame (soybeans)! Gosh they were good! Briefly I even thought that Travis and Katie liked this new delicious, nutritious food, but it turned out that they just ate the chicken and rice. Oh well.

We had a couple birthday girls to celebrate today, so stir fry was followed by cupcakes & brownies!

Here is Travis as a demure Japanese maiden. Yikes!

And Katie -- awwww! (actually, this picture makes me think of the scene in The Christmas Story, where Ralphie's little brother Randy is bundled up in so many coats he can't put his arms down. But Katie is just showing off her flowing sleeves!)

Must... Find........Our Groove!

2012-01-06T20:16:00.001-05:00

Ouch. We only took one full week off, but the "almost off" weeks before and after our break added up, and this week, when we Really needed to get back to school For Real, it was Hard. Well, for most of us...

Emma is very pleased to have Her People seated around The Table again.

As if math isn't bad enough (actually, sometimes I enjoy it. But Not the week we start back after a too-long break!), try grading math with a fat cat sitting on your answer key. You'd look grim too (though possibly not as dismal as I do in this very lovely picture -- thank you, Katie!).

Even she has forgotten, though, that we do Not bring toys to the school table.

Today was gorgeous and we knocked off early and went for a walk.

(Here Katie is doing the Wolf Rock howl!)

my parents don't howl. Fuddy duddies! (not really. About the Fuddy duddy thing. They really don't howl, even when I showed them what fun it is!)

These icicles made awesome swords!

So we didn't get it all done, but the first week of 2012 was okay!

The Year in Books: 2011

2011-12-31T11:57:00.000-05:00

I've read some wonderful books this year! And one really crummy book (Julie and Julia). A couple were repetitive and would have done better to be essays (Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners and The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains, and yes, I do know that that one started as an essay. But I didn't have the good sense to stick to the essay version!) and one of them alternated between lyrical and delightful and jaw-droppingly awful (Cross Creek). But over all it was a very good year of reading!

Just for variety, this year I am grouping the books by month in which I completed them. I am including fiction that I read aloud to the kids, but not the history books. My total for the year is 89, which is fine except that I would have preferred 90 because it is an even number. If it were raining today I'd be tempted to hole up and finish Daniel Deronda and have an attractively round total, but it isn't, so instead I plan to walk (while listening to We Two: Victoria and Albert, by Gillian Gill!) and also vacuum up the 2011 layer of dog and cat hair. So here we go....

January
Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader -- Anne Fadiman
Hogfather -- Terry Pratchett
Johnny Tremain -- Esther Forbes
Preacher's Boy -- Katherine Paterson
Don Quixote (Candlewick Illustrated Classics) -- Miguel de Cervantes
The Night Fairy -- Laura Amy Schlitz

February
At Large and At Small: Familiar Essays -- Anne Fadiman
Cranford -- Elizabeth Gaskell
Grace-Based Parenting -- Tim Kimmel
Finn Family Moomintroll -- Tove Jansson
For the Duration: The War Years: A 26 Fairmont Avenue Book -- Tomie dePaola
Homer Price -- Robert McCloskey

March
1776 -- David McCullough
The Middle Moffat -- Eleanor Estes
The Moffats -- Eleanor Estes

April
Telling God's Story: A Parents' Guide to Teaching the Bible -- Peter Enns
Rufus M. -- Eleanor Estes
The Moffat Museum -- Eleanor Estes

May
An Open Book: Chapters from a Reader's Life -- Michael Dirda
John Adams -- David McCullough
Julie and Julia: 365 Days, (etc.) -- Julie Powell
Leave it to Psmith -- P.G. Wodehouse
Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day -- Winifred Watson
Readings: Essays and Literary Entertainments -- Michael Dirda
Freddy Goes to Florida -- Walter R. Brooks
Wishing for Tomorrow: The Sequel to A Little Princess -- Hilary McKay

June
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century -- Barbara Tuchman
Book by Book: Notes on Reading and Life -- Michael Dirda
Cross Creek -- Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings
Good-bye Mr. Chips -- James Hilton
How to Live: Or A Life of Montaigne in One Question and Twenty Attempts at an Answer -- Sarah Bakewell
Loyalty -- Eric Felten
The Eyre Affair: A Thursday Next Novel -- Jasper Fforde
Three Men in a Boat (To Say Nothing of the Dog...) -- Jerome K. Jerome
Uncle Fred in the Springtime -- P.G. Wodehouse
The Penderwicks at Point Mouette -- Jeanne Birdsall

July
A House to Let -- Charles Dickens (etc.)
A Short History of Nearly Everything -- Bill Bryson (this was an abridged version)
Augustus Carp, Esq., Being the Autobiography of a Really Good Man -- Sir Henry Bashford
Barchester Towers -- Anthony Trollope
Heaven's Command: An Imperial Progress -- James Morris
The Polysyllabic Spree -- Nick Hornby
Comet in Moominland -- Tove Jansson
Seven Professors of the Far North -- John Fardell

August
English Society in the Eighteenth Century -- Roy Porter
Familyhood -- Paul Reiser
The Jolly Corner -- Henry James
The Leopard: A Novel -- Giuseppe Di Lampedusa
Linnets and Valerians -- Elizabeth Goudge
Little Britches: Father and I Were Ranchers -- Ralph Moody
Moominpapa's Memoirs -- Tove Jansoon

September
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother -- Amy Chua
Doctor Thorne -- Anthony Trollope
Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners -- Henrietta Webb
Parnassus on Wheels -- Christopher Morley
The Graveyard Book -- Neil Gaiman
The Help -- Kathryn Stockett
The Picture of Dorian Gray -- Oscar Wilde
Half Magic -- Edward Eager
Magic by the Lake -- Edward Eager

October
Ella Enchanted -- Gail Carson Levine
Framley Parsonage -- Anthony Trollope
Griftopia: Bubble Machines, Vampire Squids, and the Long Con That is Breaking America -- Matt Taibbi
Mort -- Terry Pratchett
Ruined by Reading: A Life in Books -- Lynne Sharon Schwartz
The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction -- Alan Jacobs
The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to Our Brains -- Nicholas Carr
Moominland Midwinter -- Tove Jansson
Moominsummer Madness -- Tove Jansson
The Once and Future King -- T.H. White

November
A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things That Really Matter -- William Deresiewicz
American Jesus -- Stephen Prothero
An Experiment in Criticism -- C.S. Lewis
Curious, If True -- Elizabeth Gaskell
French Lessons: Adventures with Knife, Fork, and Corkscrew -- Peter Mayle
High Tide in Tucson: Essays from Now or Never -- Barbara Kingsolver
Howards End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home -- Susan Hill
John for Everyone: Chapters 1-10 -- Tom Wright
Pax Britannica: Climax of an Empire -- Jan Morris
The Magic Apple Tree: A Country Year -- Susan Hill
The Willows -- Algernon Blackwood

December
Larklight: A Rousing Tale of Dauntless Pluck in the Farthest Reaches of Space -- Philip Reeve
The 13 Clocks -- James Thurber
The Making of Victorian Values: Decency and Dissent in Britain: 1789-1837 -- Ben Wilson
The Mating Season -- P.G. Wodehouse
Inkheart -- Cornelia Funke
Letters from Father Christmas -- J.R.R. Tolkien
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever -- Barbara Robinson
Wayfaring: Essays Pleasant and Unpleasant -- Alan Jacobs

There. In making the list I kept feeling that I was missing things, but then I realized that reading on the Kindle (which I love!) has led to my reading more Parts of books. I've read a Lot of sample chapters (amazing how many books sound interesting in reviews and yet prove, in their free "sample" chapter, to be completely uninteresting. I love this feature of the Kindle!), and also chunks of free books. I think there were one or two left of the M.R. James Ghost Stories collection, for instance, when I got distracted by something new. Still, those are most of the books I read in 2011. Onward!

Christmas, Relatives, Etc.!

2011-12-30T22:15:00.002-05:00

I would have Sworn that I posted Christmas pictures, but I guess that must have been Facebook. Phooey. Well, Christmas was FABULOUS. The best Ever, according to Travis! And it really was, too. Perfect. No disappointments for anyone, no missing batteries or misunderstandings. Just joy, gratitude, laughter, and love.

And then my brother came. With his family. ..... And it was Great!
His kids are growing up to be really Nice People, his girlfriend is just as Sweet as can be, and we had a wonderful week of visiting, eating, and hiking.

And one day we had my aunt and her husband here too! We talked books, homeschooling (they homeschooled Their kids, back before it was mainstream and easy!), etc., and went out to eat. We haven't seen them in a while, and it was So nice to get together! (And, of course, this is the first Christmas we've gotten to spend with my Parents. I wish it hadn't taken them so Long to realize they wanted to live nearby, but now that we have them here we are trying to make up for lost time (and games of Bananagrams!) and having loads of fun!)

(this is the closet Katie made for her American Girl clothes. It has drawers for shoes and jewelry!)

(Here we are holding my Yule Log. It turned out bigger than I expected, but tasty!)

(Katie rushing to her stocking, which had a chocolate filled "candy cane" in it. She didn't notice the bike for a while!)

(The cats Loved their catnip bag!)

This Nintendo 3DS was Travis's dream come true!

This "zipper purse" is the Coolest thing!

Sadly, these cookies are gone. They were Good!

The Transformer he'd been hoping for -- yay!!!

These Angry Birds are smooching!

Katie, painting her first oil paint portrait!

My dad and the kids on Wolf Rock.

Here are my mom and her sister, looking at photos together!

My brother gave us a doughnut maker! It makes yummy little doughnuts.

We brought the kitchen table into the dining room, and all eleven of us were able to sit down to dinner!

The kids' table.

My brother treated us to a cookout at Stone Mountain.

The kids at the Stone Mountain summit. The view is gorgeous!

And here is Katie, with the cake she made tonight for dessert. It was from her new Harry Potter Cookbook. A home-economics "A+"!

Whimsical Wednesday

2011-12-21T22:26:00.000-05:00

That sounds nicer than Wasted Wednesday, doesn't it? And really today wasn't wasted at all. Just not remotely productive. What I'd hoped we'd do today was decorate gingerbread early in the day and go caroling with the church in the late afternoon. But it drizzled all day and Ed has a horrible stomach bug and the kids didn't wake up until late, so we didn't do Any of those things.

But I read quite a bit of The Making of Victorian Values: Decency and Dissent in Britain: 1789-1837, which is very interesting, and I watched a lecture by Tracy Lee Simmons on classical education, which was also very good (and just what I needed to inspire me to put more effort into my Latin next term). And I made Bourbon Balls because I'd given all the first batch away and I needed some more. I added extra bourbon (for medicinal purposes, to kill any germs Ed might have tried to share), and they are really good, but afterwards I took a short nap.
I'm sure everyone has a good recipe for Bourbon Balls (mine is from The Joy of Cooking), but maybe not everyone has the recipe for Saltine Candy? I started making these last December (Amy, at The Foil Hat, started me on them -- blame her!). In case you don't, this Is a recipe you Need, so here it is...

(the picture isn't actually my Saltine Candy. But it looks just the same and mine is all gone.)

Saltine Toffee Candy
approximately one sleeve of Saltine crackers (enough to cover the bottom of your jelly roll pan)
1 cup butter (not margarine)
1 cup brown sugar

1 bag (about 2 cups) chocolate chips
some yummy, decorative topping thing

And this is how you make them...
Preheat your oven to 400 degrees

Cover the bottom of the jelly roll pan with Saltines (I have to break some in half to get to the edges -- you do want to get pretty close to the edges). (You don't have to worry about greasing the pan or lining with foil. With that cup of butter in there you won't have problems with these sticking to the pan!)

In a heavy saucepan, melt together 1 cup butter (that's 2 sticks) and 1 cup (packed down) brown sugar. Once they are melted together, bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 3 minutes.

Pour the sugar mixture evenly over the Saltines (I spread it around to make it more even, but you probably don't have to) and put it in the hot oven for 5 minutes.

Take it out of the oven and sprinkle evenly with chocolate chips. After about 5 minutes they will be nice and soft and you can spread them evenly over the toffee.

Now sprinkle with your crushed up peppermints, nuts, M&M's, or whatever tasty topping you found in the pantry. And wait for the toffee to cool completely before you break or cut it up. Gosh it's good!

Katie and Travis were lazy slobs with me today, but Katie did paint her salt dough ornaments from Monday!

And Travis made a Lord of the Rings "sitcom" video. Did you know that a trailer for The Hobbit has been released? Very exciting, although I am completely baffled by what Galadriel or Narsil are doing in the movie, and kind of appalled at the suggestion of a romantic moment between Galdriel and Gandalf (is Celeborn okay with this? Actually, if he is, I don't want to know.). And not even a glimpse of Smaug? But, still, we are happy there will be another Peter Jackson/Middle Earth movie. Here is the link.
But Jackson's movie won't be out until next December. Which is a long time from now. Travis and I have been talking lately about laugh tracks in sitcoms, and he thought it would be fun to add a laugh track to The Lord of the Rings. I thought it came out well.

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It's a Small Town

2011-12-19T22:29:00.001-05:00

I spent most of the weekend shopping (groceries, but I still had to fight Walmart holiday crowds, so it counts), baking, addressing cards. Also church and preparing to teach my co-op classes today. It was mostly good, but I am So, so ready for our holiday break (Travis still hasn't finished the assignments he has to have done before his break begins, but I'm sure he'll finish them tomorrow!)!

Friday afternoon our priest's wife came over and worked with Travis on perfecting the slide show he'd already put hours into for the Christmas pageant. When she left, she told him it looked great, and that, between the copy on her computer and the copy on Travis's computer, she knew things would go off without a hitch. Only apparently she changed her mind on Saturday, because when we got to church on Sunday, Travis dressed in his spiffy blazer, all proud and looking forward to running the "slide" show, we found that she'd had an older teenage boy re-do the whole thing on his computer. So he showed the pictures and Travis sat on the floor at the priest's wife's feet and pretended to be a member of her Sunday School class being told the Christmas Story (It was a story within a story thing. Very clever, but we didn't appreciate it as much as we would have if we hadn't been feeling bitter and angry.). The performance was well received and I was very proud of how well Travis handled his disappointment, but I was also angry with our normally wonderful "Mrs. Priest" for being such an idiot. Oh well!

Otherwise, though, the weekend was good. I got all the cookies/candy made, and Ed and Katie packed the ones that needed packing. We had enough stamps for my Christmas cards (yay!), and the dinner I cooked for my parents on Saturday night did not upset my dad's digestion (always an accomplishment!). And I finished reading Larklight in time to lead the discussion today, and was also ready to teach my writing class (we learned "refutation") and my logic class (the bifurcation fallacy). Not so shabby, eh?

Today was the last co-op meeting until January 9th (that sounds so far away!), and it was fun! The kids were all in holiday moods but still seemed to enjoy our lessons. Katie got to make salt dough crafts in one of her classes (thank goodness for crafty moms), and Travis played a quiz game in history that he really enjoyed. We bought pizzas (my kids get Really excited about purchased pizzas, which is, I guess, what happens when your father used to have his own pizza place and makes an excellent homemade pizza!) and some of the moms brought cookies and candy, so I guess it was like a Christmas party!

Anyway, to get to the point of my blog title, after my writing class I snuck out and went to the post office to mail my cards and packages. And there was No Line. No other customers at all, actually! I remember going to the post office in Florida before Christmas and waiting in line for an hour to mail packages, and here, the Monday before Christmas, I had the post office entirely to myself. You'll pardon me while I gloat for a minute?Okay, done gloating. So, on the way to the post office I had noticed that my return address labels were peeling off. The postal employee was calm and happy, and was quite delighted to put some scotch tape on my return labels to keep them from falling off. While he was taping them for me, he noticed Ed's name and address, pardoned himself for a moment, and went to the back and fetched a card from Ed's Aunt Bette, who had neglected to put a stamp on the envelope! Then our postal delivery guy, who was hanging around the post office (there is a reason we never have mail before 3:00 in the afternoon) saw me and brought out a couple packages. The shopping isn't great, but here are some very nice things about living in a small town! (And actually, our community has become too small to have its own post office, so our mailing address is that of the slightly larger community nearby, which makes it even more impressive when the postal guy recognizes a name and address and connects it with a card in the "undeliverable" heap!). Nothing like a friendly postal employee right before Christmas (one who doesn't stand a chance of receiving a cash "thank you") to restore your faith in the basic decency of mankind!

And, as a special Christmas bonus for you, here are a couple pictures of Emma which Travis took the other day...

Quite the little tub, isn't she?

A Fine Day Out!

2011-12-14T20:12:00.001-05:00

We did math this morning and then went to Stone Mountain with my parents for a hike and a picnic! Academically speaking, I called it P.E. and science. The kids thought we were playing hooky. Everyone was happy!

Here Katie is observing nature (lichens, right?).

This is one of my favorite pictures! Travis talked to my dad non-stop while we walked. From what I overheard, he covered Apple products, MineCraft, Lord of the Rings, MyLikes, Apple products (a lot of this!), Fox News, ESRB, Microsoft, Harry Potter, space, time travel, the moon, Mars, trees on the moon, future video games, Smeagol and Dobby, etc., etc.). Travis appreciated a new-ish, relatively tolerant audience for his obsessions.

Katie's gravity defying rock tower!

Katie points the way (while looking noble!).

Despite my instructions, the kids Did get their feet wet.

Katie is not wearing a life jacket here -- that is her jacket, slung around her neck and worn in the front (at least I wasn't carrying it!).

I promised the kids ice cream if they hiked (and there you thought they just loved nature and exercise!), but when we'd finished and stopped by the ice cream place we found that they were closed! Apparently the park doesn't have a huge lot of traffic in the middle of the week in December -- who'd have guessed?

So, after we got home, Ed went out for some groceries. Mostly ice cream -- wasn't that nice of him?

Piano Practice

2011-12-12T18:59:00.000-05:00

Holiday Stuff

2011-12-10T13:31:00.001-05:00

The decoration boxes have been opened and we are in Advent/Christmas mode here! Katie did most of the decorating this year -- my contribution to the Holiday Spirit is to remind the kids to practice their holiday piano pieces. Oh, and I've compiled a list of the cookies I'll make once I buy all the ingredients, ordered the cards, and done most of the shopping (still have some "purchase" buttons to hit, but at least I have a plan!). Not so shabby, really! And, of course, we are doing school. Last week in history was the war with Mexico (over Texas), and this week we learned about the Oregon Trail. To be honest, I find this period a little dull -- I enjoy the Victorians more -- but Travis is looking forward to the Civil War (I have No idea why, but friends of his are very interested, so I suppose that explains it.). Katie likes coloring Victorian gowns while I read aloud, but gets terribly upset when the settlers or Indians behave badly, which, unfortunately, they do with some regularity.

Last Sunday after church we got our tree! We had planned to go to our usual place, but during coffee hour a friend mentioned that a member of the congregation had a tree farm (we hadn't known) and was getting out of the business for health reasons. So we went to Joe's tree farm and Joe and his wife welcomed us warmly (they have to miss church on the big tree-selling weekends before Christmas), showed us around the place, and gave us the beautiful tree which Katie picked out! What a blessing!

(Here Katie is, with her Perfect tree!)

As I said, Katie did most of the decorating, and I think she did a great job!

(Do I look tired here? Evidently I was. When I was taking pictures off my camera today I came across this...

After decorating the tree we sat down to watch something educational. I was Not wearing a Santa hat when the show started, but the kids wanted to be sure I was warm. At least, that's the excuse they gave me!

And here is Katie doing science with Ed. Completing an electrical circuit is always exciting!

A Peek Behind the Curtain

2011-11-29T20:24:00.001-05:00

True confessions time! Nothing too sordid -- don't be afraid. Well, maybe a little! Anyway, the thing is, generally speaking I like to present a happy front here in Bloggy Land. My life is pretty great, and everyone has problems, and why dwell on them, right? But tonight I feel compelled to confess that my darling, Precious boy, one of the great joys of my life, has been....... Driving my Absolutely Crazy lately!

Today he was pushing my mom/teacher buttons with exquisite skill and glorying in his game as he made me ever more frantic. We had a good morning, but in the afternoon we did Bible study and then a very simple exercise in the poetry program we are currently going through. All he had to do was identify similes in sentences (he could do that) and write a few. Which should have been a no-brainer! The kid has been doing similes for years. Without any trouble at All. But now he is thirteen and Nothing is easy. Here are two of his "smilies"...
"A banana is like an orange."
"Katie is like a muffin."

I said, "These are no good." (I'm tactful like that.) "The point of a simile is that it illustrates some characteristic of one of the items being compared. You need to indicate in what way a banana is like an orange, and what quality your sister shares with a muffin."

And he argued. And argued.
According to Travis, all a simile needs is two things and the word "like" or "as." I showed him a million examples. He said that, logically speaking, all the examples in the world didn't prove that a simile had to indicate what quality was being compared. I don't know What I was thinking in buying that kid a Logic program. All he ever does is throw it back in my face.

I found him descriptions of similes which talked about how the comparison should vividly illustrate some quality of the item being described. He said fine, but none of my descriptions said that if a simile did Not do this that it was not in fact a simile.
We went round and round. It was not pretty. Finally he changed them. They are still completely worthless as similes (or anything else), but I was too tired to renew the battle.

So.....
Tonight I went to my Zumba class. It was fun, and I came back home relaxed and happy. I said to Travis as I came in the door, "I'll just take a quick shower and then we can watch that show you got from Netflix."

... "Show? What show?"

"You know," I said, innocently, "That movie you wanted to watch."

(Travis, voice dripping scorn) "That's not a show. A Show is a t.v. series. I got a Movie from Netflix."

The kid had clearly enjoyed our simile argument so much that he wanted to do it Again. The same day. I couldn't do it, though, and fled to my shower. And later carefully referred to the dvd that came in the mail as a Movie. This is what happens when you wait until you are old to have children. Or maybe it is just my kid (this is the same child who, when he was four or five, used to vehemently insist that his name was "Chravis", not "Travis." I remember having very frustrating arguments, and I Never won.).

Anyway, there it is. He is a good boy (mostly), and I love him dearly, and I've read that this argumentative thing is part of the maturation process, but I sure hope that tomorrow goes more smoothly!

(And, I have every intention that tomorrow, my strength restored, I will make him write me some Good similes. I Know he can!)

First Sunday of Advent

2011-11-27T19:38:00.001-05:00

Lots of fun today at church! Our family "catered" the coffee hour, and the reception of our goodies was most gratifying. It turned into an extended family project, as my mom baked and contributed a gorgeous, huge almond-y coffee cake and oatmeal cookies. I made a couple things, and then a friend (technically not family, but we're awfully fond of her!) at church volunteered a number of Other things (squash soup, nachos, and bread!), so we ended up with a very nice spread.

After "coffee" the actors for this year's pageant got suited up and we drove over to the farm of one of our members to take the Christmas Pageant pictures. I had the directorship of the pageant for the last two years, and both of them had to be postponed due to icy roads. This year our priest's wife is doing the thing, and she had the very clever (to me) idea of doing more of a "PowerPoint" pageant. Pictures are taken in advance, then presented by someone (I assume our director) who will pretend to be explaining the Christmas Story to a group of children gathered at the front of the church. I'm not sure what they'll show the pictures on (our church does not have a television or screen behind the altar), but that's not my problem! And the restful part is that, once the pictures are done, the whole thing is ready to go whenever needed, and no issues of flu or impassable roads need interfere. My pageants were pretty darned cute, but there was much nail-biting involved, and I think this method is definitely worth a try!

(Here our director explains The Plan)

This is the first time in four years (I think) that the kids haven't been Joseph and Mary. Katie recognized that it was time to share the glory, but it was not easy.

She made a very cute angel!

I think that jovial Episcopalian angels don't need to bother with the "Fear not!" bit.

Here Travis is holding the director's notes.

These are some sort of Scottish cows. Aren't they darling? And I'm told they are tasty, too.

This is the part of the story where the Three Wise (?) men are lost in the woods. The photographer (in purple, at the left) is encouraging them to all Point in the Same Direction when they point to the Star of Bethlehem. It took a while, but they Did eventually get it!

Our photographer had a hard time deciding which stall had the best light, but our intrepid angel/shepherd moving team got the manger arranged Just So.

The angels start with a calm serenade...

gradually pick up steam....

really start to feel that rhythm.

And this is the part where Mary tosses them out so that poor baby Jesus can get some sleep.

Guess not -- they must have promised to behave. And the wise men present their gifts.

Aside from poor Katie getting a bit tearful (the hay did not agree with her allergies), it went very well!

A lovely start to what I'm sure will be a beautiful Advent season!

Saturday

2011-11-26T18:49:00.001-05:00

My dad called this morning to ask if my descendants and I would like to go for a hike. The descendants declined, but I thought it was much too pretty a day to turn down a hike! And a picnic! So I did a quick bit of laundry & cleaning, left detailed instructions for how to deal with the bread, and left my crew to amuse themselves (which they are quite willing and able to do on a Saturday morning. In fact, some of them might have been secretly pleased to see me go, since I had been making obnoxious comments about grammar tests still needing to be taken.).
And we had a lovely time! My mom packed an Excellent lunch (the blueberry crumbcake was particularly nice), and the weather was beautiful for our walk.

(My dad is standing in front of a sign which states that the fence is there to keep enthusiastic sightseers from climbing onto the slippery rocks in the stream and being swept to a gory death over the 200 foot waterfall. We got there just as a family was watching their teenage daughter and schnauzer go over the fence to get a drink. Neither was swept to a gory death but still... what dopes!)

And then we went home and I had a go at getting a picture of the children suitable for Christmas cards.
Sigh...

A Good Nosh!

2011-11-25T17:43:00.001-05:00

...as Aunt Marge would say. Very good!

My parents joined us for Thanksgiving dinner, and my mom made the pumpkin and pecan pies, and the stuffing. I think that that is the ideal way to make a Thanksgiving meal, with everyone doing just part of the thing. We had a nice, restful morning, with Ed and the kids watching the Macy's parade on tv, and me Not watching the parade. What more could one ask?

My dad got the hang of Bananagrams and utterly trounced us in the after-meal games. Good thing we love him so much!

Today we did school, but in a leisurely sort of way.
Katie made this nice diagram of the solar system...

Travis read (he is enjoying Charles & Emma).

And we did math and some other stuff, but with a lighthearted attitude!

Travis took these pictures of the cats...

Aren't they cuddlesome?

Halloween, Christmas, etc.

2011-11-21T07:56:00.001-05:00

Okay. If I wait to post much longer I'll be posting Easter pictures along with the ones from Halloween. And even I can see that that's a little slacker-ish! But.... Well, no more excuses. Just a firm resolution to Do Better in the Future. I love my little blog, and it is so Nice to have a record of all the things I forget so quickly!

Did I mention that the kids carved their own pumpkins this year? Katie did all the knife work -- everything, actually, -- herself? They both still have the expected number of fingers, too!

And, the Big News, my parents have finally moved in, just around the corner! I haven't lived near my parents in twenty years, and I am So Happy! They stayed with us for the first two weeks in November, although, since they left each day at dawn and worked on their "new" house until dinner time, it hardly seemed like a visit, and they moved into their house on the 16th. And last night we had them over for Sunday dinner! I think they enjoy being able to enjoy us in moderate doses!

Their house is a little less than a mile away -- a pleasant walk!

And a silly picture...

Yesterday our church had its Advent wreath making activity. Once again I have two Lovely wreaths (dropping needles all over, but we'll pretend not to notice that!).

Heavens! It's November!

2011-11-12T10:04:00.001-05:00

We spent the last full week of October here...

We've been wanting to go for ages, and we had a Marvelous time!
We spent two days at the theme parks -- one at the Magic Kingdom and one at Animal Kingdom -- and went down to Vero Beach one afternoon to visit Ed's dad and brother. Travis barely remembered Disney, and of course Katie was only a baby when she went, and I think they were Just the right ages for this trip. They enjoyed Everything, and were able to go on the roller coasters without us. Travis left his moodiness at home, and we really had an Absolutely Perfect five days together.

They loved the peg-jumping game at IHOP (and the Breakfast!).

When we went a long time ago, Buzz Lightyear was Travis's Favorite ride. He still likes it!

Space Mountain. I've never been on it, and Ed and Travis say they don't feel like they'll try it again.

Katie wanted to go on Dumbo, and Travis was willing to go with her. My good boy!

Dole Whip! I remembered right where this was sold and have been looking forward to having one again.

I rode the race car with Katie. She is a Terrible driver.

Dumbo Dinosaurs -- who could resist?

The kids and I enjoyed the dinosaur ride. Ed didn't.

The safari was neat!

And there was much silliness!

I don't think these toads know that they live in The Happiest Place on Earth.

You can't really see it in the picture, but this tree is the "centerpiece" of Animal Kingdom and has animals carved all over the trunk. It really is neat!

The kids Loved Expedition Everest! I had thought I might ride it with them, but then I changed my mind. I was So Glad they could and Would ride it without me!

After Disney, we visited my Favorite Grocery Store. I miss Publix!

We got a good deal on a hotel through some thing on Expedia where you book a "mystery hotel" (they Do give you a list of amenities and an approximate location). It turned out to be a Radisson, and the kids really enjoyed the fancy pool and the game room! We got to talking with the fellow who owned the game room machines, and he let Ed and the kids "test" the equipment for him.

(Ed demonstrating his pinball skills)

There were very few people at the hotel, and the pool was, for the most part, all ours! The end of October seemed to be the Perfect time for Disney -- hardly any lines at all, and delightful weather.

Friday we went down to Vero and visited with Ed's dad and brother. We ordered pizza (a novelty for our kids, since in North Carolina we live outside the pizza delivery zone!) and had a nice afternoon/evening.

We had to get up at 4:00 in the morning to catch our 7:00 am flight on Saturday. Only the ticket agent printed our tickets wrong and we missed the flight anyway, so we caught the 8:30. Ed made up his sleep on the plane! It was a great trip!

Sweet Smile

2011-10-23T15:22:00.001-04:00

Travis got his braces off on Friday. Finally! And he still had teeth under all that metal, which, given his brushing technique, had been something of a question. But now his teeth are nice and straight (and we have an expensive retainer to fret over), and he has Forgotten How to Smile a Toothy Smile. I made him try anyway!

and this is my favorite...

that's my goofy kid!

He likes this one better!

And Katie has been drawing birds!
Cute birds...

and Mommy and Baby birds...

Happy Sunday!

Piano Practice

2011-10-22T16:56:00.000-04:00

Resolved

2011-10-22T09:53:00.000-04:00

Books, books, books! I Love books! Last December I posted this poem, along with the list of books I had read during the year...

Books to the ceiling,

Books to the sky,

My pile of books is a mile high.

How I love them! How I need them!

I'll have a long beard by the time I read them!

by Arnold Lobel

It is just So true (well, except about the beard. I don't think that is likely.) Recently, though, I have noticed what seems to be a small hitch in my reading "plans." Most of my reading is, very loosely speaking, of the self-educational sort, and I've been trying to keep roughly along with where the kids are reading in history. For instance, we will come up on Darwin in a few weeks, and I have Darwin, His Daughter, & Human Evolution by Randal Keynes and Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith, by Deborah Heiligman all ready to go. In fact, I need to hurry up with Charles and Emma, because I may assign it to Travis also. Only trouble is, I'm also finishing up Framley Parsonage by Trollope (and sorely tempted to immediately move on to The Small House at Allington) and Pax Britannica: Climax of an Empire, by Jan Morris, is all ready to go on my Sansa Fuze. (And, actually, I'm also in the middle of The Battle for God, by Karen Armstrong and An Experiment in Criticism, by C.S. Lewis) Stacked up on the desk and full of allure are biographies of Queen Victoria, Rudyard Kipling, Louisa May Alcott, Abraham Lincoln ..... You begin to see the problem? We finished the American Revolutionary period weeks ago, and I still have several books that I haven't yet read, and, to be completely honest, the same thing happened with the Middle Ages. My plans and my reading speed don't match. Sigh. And then, of course, I don't Really stick to my "assigned" reading. Last night I started Mort, by Terry Pratchett. I had to -- it is a Kindle library book, and I've been waiting for my turn to come up, and I've only got two weeks before the librarian presses a button and sucks it right back off my little Kindle. Technology giveth and technology taketh away!

So...

A while back, I noticed a book on Amazon called Howards End is on the Landing: A Year of Reading from Home, by Susan Hill. The book looked interesting (but not enough to pay for, until it gets down to that magic "$4 including shipping" price), but the real attraction is the title. A year of bookish abstinence. Now, of course, the idea looks much more appealing to me now than it would have a month ago because, for my birthday this month, my parents,Ed, and a generous aunt gave me all the books at the top of my Amazon list. I am satiated at the moment (and a lovely feeling it is, too!). Still, even recognizing that things will look much different in February, when I may toss all my good intentions to the wind, I am beginning a nine month moratorium on book buying. Nine months because by next August the kids will be starting in on the twentieth century in history (and literature), and I'm sure I will have to do a little reading up. Plus, I've counted up my Books to Be Read, and I think nine months is reasonable. Plus, a Year just sounds so Long and Daunting!

And now for the Qualifications and Exclusions! (Katie says this is the part where I ruin the whole plan by giving myself permission to Cheat.). Books for the kids don't count. Their educations require me to send money to Amazon, much as it may pain me. And library books don't either (not that That offers much temptation, given the quality of the libraries to which I have access). And I have to keep my Audible account (I committed to that when I got my "free" Kindle!). Librivox doesn't count either. And I'm still allowed free Kindle books from Amazon and to take advantage of the Kindle $1 and $2 book deals (most of those discounted books are vampire porn, but yesterday I got Latitude, by Dava Sobol for $2.99!). Oh, and I make exception for purchase if Thomas Cahill happens to come out with another in his Hinges of History series. Or if N.T. Wright comes out with something irresistible. But that is it! (Now, of course, if I am given a few books for Christmas, That would be quite permissible too!) I feel wonderfully virtuous already!

Poetry Friday

2011-10-14T16:38:00.002-04:00

Today the children were to write a four line poem, using either iambic, trochaic, dactylic, or anapestic feet and either tetrameter or pentameter. Here is Katie's...

The Doughnut Crisis

I have a doughnut big and round.

He weighs about a thousand pound.

He is a good and loving friend,

But sadly soon his days will end.

Perfect iambic tetrameter! (and it always pays to choose a subject you are passionate about!)

and Travis's...

his is more...ahh... psychedelic is the best I can come up with. But, it is also in iambic tetrameter, and that was what I required.

Quest for the Witch's Pants

The three shrimp drove the mustard car,

But then my pretzel did a dance,

Because it knew the singing jar,

Then two hams stole the witch's pants.

Recess

2011-10-13T16:49:00.001-04:00

After a rainy morning we have a lovely afternoon. There are still some school-y things to be done, but we needed some air.

(How many Pokemon can dance on the head of a pin?)

Old Bo. His hearing is gone and senility has set in, but he's still a pretty boy.

See, Daddy! I haven't killed the hydrangeas!

It's Fall!

2011-10-10T20:09:00.000-04:00

How did I miss this for so long? Only a couple days ago I realized that this perfectly good Flat Surface, within arm's length of my chair, was Meant to be a bookcase. (This may be tempting fate just a little, given our history of leaking windows, but who could resist?) Of course, if we have another earthquake, The Classical Tradition, which weighs six pounds (with its jacket on) will squash me flat. And then Ed can put something clever about "Crushed by her Aspirations" on my tombstone. The children will appreciate the irony, anyway.

In other news, I spotted one of the sure signs of fall this weekend...

An outhouse with convenient letter slots in the sides? That's what we thought too the first year we saw it. But no. Our neighbor's bathroom is still functioning. It is actually his deer blind! He takes it off to the woods when deer season starts, and it must be quite a good one, because he always comes back from his outings with lots of dead deer.

And speaking of dead deer...

Ha!!!! Got you, Daddy! Harry is So looking forward to your visit!!!

Sorry. Here are some flowers (well, pretty weeds, anyway!). Forgive me?

Fun and Games

2011-10-06T21:15:00.001-04:00

One of my birthday presents was the game Bananagrams, and we are having such fun playing it! For all my love of reading, I'm not particularly great at word games, and the kids regularly beat me. I will give up when I have, say, a "z" and a "q" left, but they pull out the dictionaries, rearrange their letters, and, more often than not, wind up using everything.

(Here Travis is using the rhyming dictionary to find words that end in "ig." I realize that dictionary use might not be considered quite kosher to some, but we are okay with it. As also with Latin words.)

Cake, candy, and books, books, books!!!

2011-10-05T17:50:00.005-04:00

I am So indulged!!!! Ed and the kids made me a delicious cake, and I was given heaps of lovely books, candy bars, and a very nice new shirt (thank you, Travis!). And, Travis snuck downstairs late last night, printed out today's school schedules (I didn't even know he knew how to use Homeschool Tracker), and did today's math and science, and part of composition! How is That for love?
I am indeed blessed!

Aren't they artistic?

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction was the first present I opened this morning. It has been sitting in my e-mail, tempting me, but I am a good girl and did not download it until my actual birthday!

I could hardly believe that Travis did school work late last night, when I thought he was sleeping. Why can't it be that painless every day?

Another wonderful birthday!

Lucky Me!

2011-10-01T17:14:00.000-04:00

The kids gave me an early birthday present today -- my Birthday Hike! They are not, generally speaking, keen hikers, but as a special treat, once a year, they will hike the Wolf Rock trail with me, without complaining. Actually, that has always been the goal, but in past years some whining has occurred. This year, however, they were both just as cheerful and energetic as anyone could wish! Not a single moan, and Travis carried the water jug most of the way.

It was kind of chilly, and very windy, but otherwise completely gorgeous!

We call this the Octopus Tree, because it has so many trunks. It marks approximately the halfway to Wolf Rock mark!

I haven't really got the hang of where one looks when taking a self-portrait. The kids are better at it!

Pictures just don't do the scenery justice. And did I mention how completely delightful it was, hiking with cheerful children?

And of course it wouldn't be a proper hike without ice cream after! (And I think my little darlings each bought me a birthday present -- the little Stone Mountain store is the only place around here we've found to buy Chunky bars. As soon as we got home they both rushed off and wrapped very Chunky bar-sized packages for me!)

I Blinked

2011-09-24T22:08:00.002-04:00

and the week was gone.

For some reason, this week just flew by. Travis had an orthodontist appointment (the braces are supposed to come off next month -- how exciting is that!), which ate up a lot of one day, and we spent Thursday afternoon at the library, helping set up for the book sale, but aside from that it was a normal week. But it seemed Very lacking in hours, somehow. What there Was was good, though.

We diagrammed sentences, read some history, wrote some papers, learned a little Latin, and so on. The usual. Travis's science experiment involved setting up a pendulum (demonstrating frequency, resonance, etc.), and it was pretty funny to watch. His weights were rubber balls, hanging by yarn and suspended between a couple of kitchen chairs. The balls kept getting loose, and when they didn't get loose the yarn got tangled. Thank goodness we have YouTube, to show us how all these experiments are supposed to work, in the hands of the Scientifically Competent, but we have fun, anyway!

Ed got me a present this week -- something I have long coveted but haven't been willing to pay full price for...

a Desk Apprentice. Our "local" store had it marked down dramatically from the regular price, and, given the chaos of our school table... Well, anyway, Now we are organized!
The kids had as much fun as I did loading it up with supplies, flashcards, Latin grammar charts, teacher guides, etc. And. Lord willing, I will Never again hear, "I can't find a pencil!"

I baked this cake

and it is delicious! It is one of those cakes that start with a mix and you add pudding mix, sour cream, chocolate chips, etc. Just the thing with a nice cup of coffee when one is feeling a bit low in the afternoon!

Oh! And I've been So excited about starting on this...

It is a program called Discovering Music and it teaches music history. It finally arrived on Thursday, and we will be adding it to the schedule starting next week, and I think the kids (and I) are going to Love it!

And, speaking of Watching, we watched this 2007 version of Jane Austen's Persuasion last night. I've seen Persuasion before, but I don't think I've seen this one. It was the movie Tapestry recommended for this week, and Katie and I enjoyed it very much, but I did wonder about the ending. If the Elliot property is entailed so that it will pass to the male heir (William Elliot), how could Captain Wentworth buy it for Anne as a wedding present? I am skeptical, but I guess I can just read the book for myself (and, from a dramatic point of view, I do agree that it was very satisfactory for Anne and Captain Wentworth to end up with the place, rather than any of Anne's dreadful family!).

We went to the Pumpkin Festival in Elkin today.

the tag says this is the State Record Watermelon

Isn't that the most pathetic looking excuse for a giant pumpkin you've ever seen? They All looked like that -- deflated balloons.

The kids ate "fair food." Teriaki chicken and ice cream.

It wasn't really dazzling, but at least it didn't rain, and it Was nice to just wander around together. The giant pumpkins were not what they've been in other years, but some friends of ours were playing bluegrass music and that was fun. It was a fine end to a fine week!

That Time of Year!

2011-09-16T08:33:00.000-04:00

I Love fall!!! And last night it was "open the windows and burrow under the blankets" weather, and this morning is deliciously cool. I'm wearing fuzzy socks and feeling domestic. Yesterday the kids and I went to Walmart and did the Big Monthly food shopping. It was more fun than it has been for many months. No chicken nuggets, no hot dogs, no catering to pickiness that I didn't nurture myself. This month's menu includes chicken stew and chili -- meals that a person would eat after she had spent the afternoon raking crisp, bright leaves or hiking in the woods (never mind that she will more likely have spent the afternoon trying to drum Fractions, Algebra, and Latin into her children's very stubborn heads!).

We just painted the entry "hall."
Doesn't that just say Fall? I LOVE it. The light isn't new (it was one of Ed's amazing bargain finds, though!), but it goes so nicely with the paint. The color is actually called "marigold," so it will be a good summer color as well. The entry is tiny, so it's not a lot of color, but every time I see it it makes me feel warm and happy!

Buy Our Product..... Or Else!

2011-09-15T11:16:00.000-04:00

This week in logic we are starting on the fallacies that appeal to the emotions, and first up is the Appeal to Fear (Argumentum Ad Baculum). Travis immediately remembered seeing an ad that he wanted to use as his example for the class. I think it is a good one!

And They Lived Happily...

2011-09-10T10:22:00.000-04:00

It has now been a week and (part of) a day since the delightful social worker took our little guests off to live with their aunt and uncle. It went Very smoothly. We had talked to the kids a lot about what was going to happen, and they had met and gotten on well with their relatives, so there was no anxiety. Quite a different transition from the way they dumped those screaming, hysterical (filthy, hungry) kids on our doorstep six months ago and took off so fast they left rubber on the drive. (Okay, possibly the rubber is an exaggeration, but otherwise accurate.) The only awkward moment was when the social worker asked our kids, standing on the porch, if they would miss the kids. Silence. Incredulous looks. Then Travis, so my kid, comes out with a completely lame "Uh, yeah. We'll miss 'em." Sure we will.
And to wrap up this story forever, the social worker dropped by yesterday (for the Last Time) to drop off a sweatshirt we had accidentally packed with Speedy's things and pick up a Special Olympics trophy he'd left. We chatted for a minute or two, and she says the kids are doing Beautifully in their new home. Aunt and Uncle love them, they love Aunt and Uncle, Aunt and Uncle remember to feed, bathe, put to bed, etc., so all is blissful. The end.

And now back to Me.

The past week was pretty rough. Katie was sick with a fever over the weekend, and by Monday I was feeling pretty limp. Co-op was Tuesday, thanks to the holiday weekend and some members of our group having things to do, and I dragged myself in and didn't breathe on anyone. Only Travis had read The Lady or the Tiger in preparation for writing class, but I hardly pouted at all. By Tuesday night I was Really sick. Wednesday, somewhat better, but still not great. Thursday I was definitely improved, and by Friday I was mostly recovered and able to fully appreciate how far behind the kids can get in a week where I'm not keeping up to speed on my nagging. Sigh. So we have some catching up to do this weekend. In addition, with the distractions/stress of the past six months we have let some attitudes and behaviors slide which now need to be addressed and worked on. Not just mine (when did I last do Latin?), but also both kids. Ed, as usual, is perfect. Onward!

We have been studying some good stuff lately. Travis is less intimidated than I am by the Larson's Algebra book and of course we have the darling Dana Mosely to show us the way. Katie is finally starting Singapore 4A. Alright there. We studied James Madison, the War of 1812, William Wilberforce, and William Wordsworth this week. All good stuff. And in science, both kids studied air pressure. The best experiments (meaning, the ones that Worked) were the ones illustrating Bernoulli's Principle, although watching Travis trying to get a siphon to work was pretty darn funny.

Now that's my kind of science experiment! Cut a strip of paper and blow over the top of it. And it flies Up. Just like the book says it will! But Why? That is the science-y part!

At first I didn't get what was Bernoulli-ish about this one. I mean, of Course the ball goes Up -- the air is blowing it. But it turns out that the clever bit is that it doesn't fly off across the room. Because the pressure is lower right under the ball, but higher off to the sides. So it Wants to sit on top of that low pressure place...
except when it doesn't!

Of course, with Travis and a blow dryer, it isn't going to be about science for long...

That's okay. While he is checking out his hair, Katie gets a turn with the ball trick.

Logic this week is Genetic Fallacies (and don't forget to study for the unit Test on Monday, Travis!), and Travis found this lively little gem to illustrate the type...

And the cats doze on...

The Home Stretch!

2011-08-30T12:17:00.000-04:00

Speedy and Sticky visited their aunt and uncle most of the weekend, and we played! It was so blissful to come down Saturday and Sunday mornings and not be Pounced On.

Sunday we had the Dedication of the Labyrinth at church. The kids and youth leaders have been working on building this labyrinth for the last couple months, and it actually came out very pretty. The pattern is defined by rocks (there are lots of those in the area) in a clearing under some trees, and there are little garden areas around it. To be honest, I thought the idea was kind of new agey and dopey when I first heard it, but during the dedication ceremony I could finally appreciate how it could put one in a more spiritual mood. And after church the "youth" (all the kids who come to church regularly, which isn't very many.) met at the Very lovely home of one of our members for a pool party!

We ate delicious food, drank wine, and admired the beautiful gardens (their roses are spectacular, but they did have a little bit of the virus which devoured my bushes). The kids swam the entire time, except when they were eating. They had a fantastic time. The priest's son fell on the concrete and bled profusely from a head wound, but fortunately our host is a retired physician, so he had fancy surgical Super Glue and patched him right up again. (A homeschool mom friend says she routinely uses regular Super Glue and it works fine too.) It was a perfect afternoon.

And then we came home and Speedy and Sticky returned. Sigh. They seem to have dedicated themselves to insuring that we will Really appreciate our return to our old "normal" when they leave on Friday afternoon. Really they needn't bother, but they are generous like that. They are playing "tag team" awful -- Speedy was unspeakable on Sunday evening, then Sticky took her turn, and so on. But we grit our teeth and smile and pretend that we Are endlessly patient. And I admire Ed, whose performance leaves mine in the dust. I married a saint.

And There Was Much Rejoicing!!!

2011-08-25T20:16:00.002-04:00

I did my first "video conference" class for Lost Tools of Writing this afternoon, and it was Awful. We've been having a Very hard time finding a video conference service where the students and I (and there are only four students, so it shouldn't be That hard) can all see and hear each other. Simultaneously, that is. We tried Google+ group chat, WizIQ, and Skype. Skype seemed the least bad, and for one brief moment we had everyone's cameras and audio working, so I paid for a year of video conferencing. Only now I suspect that that one moment was a fluke. Also, it turns out that the clever feature that allows me to show the kids my desktop (say, a Word or PDF document) doesn't work in video conference mode. Sigh. So I e-mailed documents and talked to the kids individually on the computer or phone, and they all Do know what they need to have ready for Monday. Fortunately, it was a Very easy lesson. But they won't All be so easy, and I don't know How I'm going to manage. I know it isn't important in the Greater Scheme of Things, but it is very bothersome to me.

However, we received such utterly Lovely news this afternoon that I cannot Possibly be in the dumps, no matter how uncooperative my Skype video service may be. While I was struggling with my class, our foster children's social worker called to tell us that the Very Appropriate aunt and uncle have overcome their doubts and are so eager to have full time care of Speedy and Sticky that social services has moved the transfer date up to Labor Day weekend! The relatives seem like very kind hearted, sympathetic people, and the children can hardly help being better off with family, who will have a better chance of understanding and coping with their peculiar behaviors than we do. They have made really significant progress in their health, speech, and behavior during their time with us, but we are Very ready for them to go off and make progress with other people now!

Back at the Ranch...

2011-08-19T13:50:00.000-04:00

We've had another good week here. Not that we've checked off everything on my checklists, but we've done a fair lot, and attitudes have been pretty good. That counts!

One part of my Plan to Make This a Great School Year has been the Exciting Breakfasts strategy. My kids are not Early and Enthusiastic Risers. And we need to start lessons at 8:30 in order to get everything (or close to everything) done. So they need to get up at 8:00. Which they don't want to do. So I've been enticing them out of bed with fresh muffins, cinnamon rolls, etc. This morning, thanks to the wonderful surprise gift received yesterday from my parents of Maple Syrup (Yum!!) we had pancakes. Mmmmm! Unfortunately, we can't really continue to use this motivation many more weeks, both for economic and dietary reasons, but I'm hoping that when we quit the fancy breakfasts the good getting-out-of-bed habits will continue.

Yesterday, when I picked Speedy up from kindergarten, his teacher carried him over to me (he has fully functional legs) and told me at length about how he had talked non-stop in class and dropped his apple. I made some remark to the effect that I was sure he would get the hang of kindergarten etiquette soon and wondered why in the heck they were giving him apples during class (the kid has one tooth, so it's not like he can Eat an apple, unless you cut it up small). And I thought that if his teacher wanted him to act like a Big Boy, perhaps she should stop carrying him around like a Baby. But I didn't think she would appreciate my input so I just smiled and looked sympathetic. But last night I was talking with my Zumba instuctor, who also has a kindergartener, and she explained that the "apple" was not a Real apple but, rather, a discipline technique. "Dropping your apple" indicates that you have been Bad. I think the school should have hand out a Key to Teacher Speak to the parents at the beginning of the year.

And.... speaking of Speedy (and Sticky!), they will have their first visit with their aunt and uncle this afternoon! The social worker called this morning to update us on the situation, and she just couldn't say enough about how Wonderful these people are. Responsible, orderly, sensible, loving, sympathetic, etc., etc. And even after she has explained to them repeatedly and at length about the challenges of working with these kids, they are Game! They really do sound absolutely perfect, and Speedy will be able to stay at the same school where, despite occasional apple dropping, his teachers really do seem to adore him. This afternoon's visit will just be a few hours, but by September they will have an overnight visit, and the social worker seems confident that they will be ready to leave us and move in with their new family well before October. Happy days!

For Logic this week, Travis was supposed to find for class an example of the ad Hominem Abusive fallacy. This is a fallacy that avoids addressing the real issue by instead insulting ones opponent. Travis found this gem, which I think is an excellent example of the type...

(Although I liked the one where the Mongolian goat herder is afraid McCain will bomb his goats, but, as Travis pointed out, that was a spoof. Not sure that matters, but it is his homework, not mine.)

And finally, Emma has finally found a more "cat-like" toy to steal from Katie's room and bring downstairs. Along with her usual haul of Barbie dolls, today she brought this...

A Great Start!

2011-08-15T21:17:00.000-04:00

We had our first co-op meeting today, and it was Marvelous! At least I thought it was, and my kids had a great time, so I'm assuming everyone else thought it was great too. We have the same five families we had last year, and though it is a small group, all our kids are Good kids and all our moms are hard working and dedicated. And Nice. Did I mention that I love our group?

Anyway, we've been busily reading for the past two weeks in preparation, and today the kids discussed Weeks 1 and 2 of Tapestry of Grace Year 3: The Nineteenth Century. Interesting stuff! We've been reading about Napoleon, John Adams, Lewis and Clark, etc. We watched the Ken Burns documentary on Lewis and Clark (absolutely Gorgeous, if a little slow for the kids' taste. Well, and Ed kept falling asleep. But there was not One car chase, so what would you expect?) And now we are watching the 1980 BBC Pride and Prejudice, which I haven't seen in ages and am really enjoying (Katie Loves it. Travis is kind of luke warm, but I watched Transformers for him, so he owes me Huge!)

They both labelled maps in geography, and Travis's group played a game involving latitude and longitude. Travis also did some good writing and art work for a display board on famous figures of the early nineteenth century. For literature (not history related), Katie's group discussed The Wizard of Oz, and Travis's did Anne of Green Gables (He loved the book! His new funny expression is "puffed sleeves," uttered at random intervals in a dreamy falsetto voice.) Katie started in on First Form Latin, and Travis started The Art of Argument, both of which will, I think, be especially fun done with a group (Travis has six more lessons in Second Form Latin and will start Third when he finishes). I am teaching The Art of Argument, and, despite some restlessness in my students today I think it is going to be a good class.

Katie's writing class is well organized, with a nice variety of types of writing planned., and my Lost Tools of Writing class, for the older group, was surprisingly enjoyable this morning. I have been sort of dreading it, as it is very different from anything I've taught before, but I think it really is broken up into manageable chunks. All the kids in my group benefited last year from the clear structure of IEW, but even though we only did IEW writing for part of last year they all became heartily sick of the "style" aspect of the program. LToW seems to handle style in a less formulaic way. Today we just talked about the various sorts of problems one might have with writing and how they all fall into three general categories (leaving out things like hand cramps and the Total Injustice of a person having to put pen to paper Ever), and I informed them that my Teacher's Manual promises that the Tools (the Lost ones) explained in this program will solve all their writing problems. Some of the kids looked a little skeptical about this, but they are willing to humor me and give the thing a go, which is really all I can ask.

Travis is starting Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry for the 29th, and I will be reading Little Britches to Katie, since I'm leading that discussion and it's just easier that way!
And here is a picture of some of the history books we're reading this week...

Doesn't that look like fun!

All Work and No Play...

2011-08-13T09:29:00.000-04:00

Okay, so that's not really a problem around here! We decided to end lessons early on Friday and go play at Stone Mountain State Park. I thought that, because the elementary school across the street from us is now in session, we would have the park to ourselves. As you can see in the video, that was Not the case. Fortunately, my children did not inherit my anti-social tendencies and they had a great time anyway!

Travis put the video together for me -- didn't he do a nice job? The stupid software that goes with my cute little Flip video camera won't even let me load the videos onto my computer anymore. Grrr! I'm lucky to have a clever boy.

Our Week in Pictures

2011-08-11T17:05:00.000-04:00

I'm probably speaking too soon, today being Thursday and all, but it has been a pretty good week here! The lessons have mostly gotten done with a minimum of drama and agony, the kids have gotten along as well as could reasonably be expected (my expectations having been tempered over the last few years), and even Ed and I have pretty much behaved ourselves. I haven't finished planning for the classes I'm going to teach on Monday, but that's what the weekend is for, right?

Here, Katie is doing an experiment that demonstrates Archimedes' Principle. The round ball of clay sinks, and my beautifully formed clay boat floats!

Until... someone makes an even fancier boat and creates waves which swamp my poor little craft.

Here we see the evil tempest creator, proudly pointing to my little boat, sunk to the bottom of the bowl.

And there was quite a lot of playing in the pool. Their favorite game is Shark. I'm not really clear on the rules, but one person is Shark and one is Victim, and there is a Lot of screaming.

And here is Emma. Such a dainty little head on an increasingly barrel like body.

There has been a lot of silliness today...

It turned into a Game Day. Here they are playing Preposition Tic-Tac-Toe.

And here the Famous People game.

The rules keep changing, but the most recent permutation is a lying game. One person supposedly reads three facts from the back of the person card. Only, one of them is made up. If the other player correctly states which is the made-up fact, he/she gets the card. Both kids tend to get carried away with their made-up facts, so the game is not actually all that challenging. But they are having fun and may be learning Something (how tell more plausible lies?), so I'm happy!

Nelson (the Brave!)

2011-08-08T20:51:00.001-04:00

I took a phone call this morning just after having set Katie to making history "flash cards" for Napoleon Bonaparte, John Adams, Ludwig van Beethoven, and Horatio Nelson. She wasn't any too certain about Nelson, as she hadn't heard of him before, but she soon warmed up to him and, as I was talking for a while, wrote a poem about him.

Nelson the Brave

Horatio Nelson was fearless and brave.

He fought Napoleon, that great knave.

Defeated French forces at the Battle of Nile,

And defeated the Spanish, where he lost his smile.

We've been studying poetry in Rod & Staff grammar (finishing the last couple lessons in the 3rd grade book), and she pointed out to me that this poem shows the AABB rhyme scheme. Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet, watch out!

Better Late...

2011-08-06T14:40:00.001-04:00

than never! We finally got around to a party for Travis's birthday! A month late, but who's counting? (Travis was, actually.)
After a week of hot, dry weather, any day of which would have been perfect for playing around at Widow Falls, Friday (party day) dawned overcast, with a rainy forecast (Why didn't I check the forecast? Don't know!). We decided to hope the weather would improve and went on with our plans...

Our friends, loyal souls that they are, all showed up despite the clouds. Travis got lovely gifts -- hair straightener (from a mom who knows hair and knows Travis, and chose the gift over the protests of her children. She knew Travis would think it was a great gift, and she was right!), sour candies (only as a present would he be allowed to have these!), and, always delightful, money. A month after the actual fact, Travis didn't really expect presents, and he was Very pleased!

The sandwiches, chips, and cakes were well received, and we -- kids, moms, and Ed -- all had a nice time.

Then we decided to go over to the falls...

where the rain began in earnest.

Max, the boxer, looked as woeful as a dog can look, huddled up with his mistress under her umbrella. His good dog loyalty, he says, does not extend to friends of the family, and he wanted to go home. We stayed long enough for the kids to slide down the rocks a few times, and Travis and some of his friends jumped off the half-way point on the falls, but eventually we all decided Max was right and packed up and went home. Mention was made of meeting up there again next week, in nicer weather. We'll see. At any rate, the kids had a good time, and Travis got his long awaited party!

Shifting Gears

2011-08-03T13:54:00.000-04:00

or trying to!

We're still feeling like summer, but trying (some of us harder than others) to get back into School Mode. It's hard. We've kept up doing some school all summer, but all of it in a pretty casual "well, I guess we can get to it tomorrow" sort of way. So, while we still know where to find our books and pencils (under that stack of towels and magazines), our work habits have gotten even slacker than usual. I'm afraid the transition is going to be painful!

On a happier note, the kids had their dental checkups today and both got "A's!" Or, at least, once the poor hygienists scraped through the plaque, the dentist found no cavities. That was nice. And they are nearly done with their second week of swimming lessons (third and Last year they will be taking lessons) and Travis has received praise for his back stroke, and Katie has finally gotten the idea of the American crawl (also know as freestyle, in case you were confused). Well, except that she comes to a dead stop and pops up to breathe. But we can work on that. Really the only reason we had them take lessons this year was out of pity for the lifeguards, who always tense up and occasionally comment when watching my darlings' unconventional, flailing dog-paddle technique. It's gotten them where they wanted to go, but not with Elegance. Now, we hope, they will be able to swim in such a way as not to draw the attention and concern of lifeguards and other helpful sorts.

Can you believe how Tall my little Travis has grown? Even without the banana suit (a movie prop -- he doesn't normally wear it) he is taller now than I am. Sniff.... Oh, and we have heard a rumor that our little foster guests may have suitable relatives who would like to take them in! Wouldn't that be lovely?

Poems, Books, etc.

2011-07-23T13:23:00.011-04:00

Our co-op moms had a meeting last week, and I realized that, despite my hopes, the summer will not last forever. Co-op starts up again mid-August (which seems so wrong, but we like to be done mid-May), and I haven't (or, hadn't on Monday!) done much planning for the classes I will lead. So I made a list of the Things I Need to Do, and started with the least strenuous. Choosing the poetry for the kids to memorize. This is actually a fun job, and I'd have done it weeks ago except that I completely forgot about it. Our history this year will cover the 19th century, which is just about as rich a period for poetry as you could ask for. And I'm including some poems about 19th century figures from A Book of Americans, by Rosemary an Stephen Vincent Benet. These are such fun (and Educational!) that I'm going to include three of them here...

Zachary Taylor (1784-1850)

Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet

Zachary Taylor was gallant and gruff,

A general rugged and heady,

He fought like a trump in the Mexican war

And his troops called him “Old Rough and Ready.”

For he didn’t much mind if their buttons weren’t shined

As long as no man was a quailer

And the Mexicans found that their best bit the ground

When faced by old Zachary Taylor.

Zachary Taylor was President T.

One very warm day in July,

When he called for a bowl of ripe cherries and milk,

With a greedy old gleam in his eye,

Now cherries and milk, when the weather is hot,

Make even the strongest turn paler

--And they proved more effective than Mexican shot

For they finished poor Zachary Taylor.

David Glassgow Farragut (1801-1870)

by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet

“Damn the torpedoes!”

Bold Farragut said,

“Damn the torpedoes!

Full speed ahead!”

And, lashed to his rigging

With never a squeal,

He led his fleet into

The Bay of Mobile.

The Southern forts thundered

With vigor and vim

But grapeshot and canister

Never touched him.

The waters were mined

With a death-dealing load,

But Farragut simply

Refused to explode.

And fought till the Southerners

Gave up the fray.

(He’d captured New Orleans

In much the same way.)

So remember, if ever

You face such a plight,

There’s a pretty good chance,

“Straight ahead!” will be right.

And while “damn,” as you know,

Is a word to eschew –

He knew when to say it –

So few people do.

Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright

by Rosemary and Stephen Vincent Benet

Said Orville Wright to Wilbur Wright,

These birds are very trying.

I’m sick of hearing them cheep-cheep

About the fun of flying.

A bird has feathers, it is true.

That much I freely grant.

But, must that stop us, W?”

Said Wilbur Wright, “It shan’t.”

And so they built a glider, first,

And then they built another.

--There never were two brothers more

Devoted to each other.

They ran a dusty little shop

For bicycle-repairing,

And bought each other soda-pop

And praised each other’s daring.

They glided here, they glided there,

They sometimes skinned their noses,

--For learning how to rule the air

Was not a bed of roses—

But each would murmur, afterward,

While patching up his bro.

“Are we discouraged, W?”

“Of course we are not, O!”

And finally, at Kitty Hawk

In Nineteen-Three (let’s cheer it!),

The first real airplane really flew

With Orville there to steer it!

--And kingdoms may forget their kings

And dogs forget their bites,

But, not till Man forgets his wings,

Will men forget the Wrights.

I also have "Pied Beauty," ""The Battle-Hymn of the Republic,""Ozymandias," "If--," "The Charge of the Light Brigade," "I Meant to Do My Work Today," "The Daffodils," "How Do I Love Thee?" "All Things Bright and Beautiful," "Jabberwocky," "The Lake Isle of Innisfree," "Invictus," "On a Portrait of Wordsworth by B.R. Haydon," "Oh Captain! My Captain!" "On First Looking Into Chapman's Homer," and "There Was a Little Girl" (who had a little curl!). I still want a Robert Frost, a R.L. Stevenson, an Emily Dickinson, a Christina Rossetti, a (short) Robert Browning, and maybe a snippet of Coleridge. A project for this afternoon!

Katie's first book for book discussion is The Wizard of Oz, and since she's been busily reading the Betsy-Tacy series, I thought it would be nice to get her the Wizard as an audio book (from Librivox). She thought it Was nice, and liked it so well that she went on to listen to the Marvelous Land of Oz and now (out of order) Ozma of Oz. Thursday night, we even watched The Wizard of Oz, which she'd never seen before (I guess we watched it once when Travis was smaller, as he remembered it). She liked the movie okay, but says it isn't as good as the book. Travis liked it too, but wondered what happened to Toto after they returned to Kansas, as the situation with Miss Gulch can hardly be said to have been resolved by the trip to Oz. He is so my kid!

You Embarrass Me So Much It Doesn't Matter Anyway

2011-07-21T12:04:00.000-04:00

Earlier today...
Travis: "Mom, why are you wearing that shirt?"
Me: "Why? What's wrong with it?"
Travis: "Oh, nothing."

Later, as we are preparing to leave the house...
Me: "So, what don't you like about my shirt?"
Travis: "Nothing."
Me: "I could change it, if you want. I don't want to embarrass you."
Travis: (voice dripping adolescent angst) "You embarrass me so much it doesn't matter anyway."

He is referring to an incident which occurred last week at the walking trail across the street. He was walking with me (because Ed insisted that he expose himself to at least a few minutes of fresh air), and I was teasing him and calling him, in a not-so-discreet voice, affectionate names such as "dear little sweetie lumpkin". And I gave him a hug. And it turned out that I did so within the hearing of a couple standing nearby, in the shade of a tree. I wasn't wearing my glasses and didn't see them until it was too late. Oops. He still hasn't forgiven me.
Of course, I think his huffiness is a bit rich, coming from the person who embarrassed me a few years back (okay, maybe ten years back) by running through the fully packed church hall at coffee hour with his trousers around his ankles. But there it is. Just because I am a kind and forgiving person, though, I changed my shirt before we left the house.

*And because I Do care, I cleared this post with Travis before publishing. He laughed and said he loves me. Now all is right with the world!

Pictures of a Happy Birthday

2011-07-08T20:03:00.000-04:00

Blogger insists on loading most of my pictures sideways, but you can see from the few pictures I can post that the boy had an excellent day! Between his grandparents, his parents, and his own savings he got the video camera of his dreams, his sister gave him pokemon cards, his godmother gave him a gift card with which he purchased an awesome Lego kit, and we also gave him a "yardarang" (like a boomerang, only it doesn't seem to come back. But the tv commercials were apparently very impressive!). He had the day off school, we went out for a lovely lunch, and Katie and I made him a cake to his exacting specifications. It was, according to Travis, a Very Good Birthday. Just what my Very Good Boy deserved!

He's Back

2011-07-05T10:55:00.000-04:00

and all is well!

We picked Travis up from camp on Saturday morning. He had honored my request and bathed on Friday, so he wasn't as "tanned" as last year, and he was un-nibbled by bears and in good spirits. And he claimed to have missed me -- what more could a mother ask?

On Sunday, Katie did the second Reading in church and did a beautiful job. I was So proud of her!

And yesterday was the Fourth! Speedy Loved the parade (Sticky was very sensibly appalled by the noise of the sirens of every emergency vehicle in the county and huddled in my lap the whole time, though she did finally cheer up and wave at people on floats) and collected loads of candy. There were fewer tractors and church floats than usual, but the procession was still amazingly long. There was the usual Fourth festival at the park across the street, with music, food, and games, and Travis and Katie ate fair food and Travis brought me my yearly barbecue sandwich. It was excellent. And they competed together in the games. They didn't win a thing (or even come close), but they had fun!

Katie, in the distance

Travis, sack racing

the balloon toss. The egg toss looked very similar, but the results were stickier.

the three-legged race

We had invited friends over for a cook out at 6:30 and fireworks at 9:00, but the weather turned very stormy and the fireworks ended up being cancelled. Some of the booths across the street were blown down, and the bands were rained out, but our friends are not fair-weather friends and showed up anyway, ready to celebrate! The weather improved enough for the kids to swim after dinner, and the adults talked and were silly and wore a few lampshades. The lack of fireworks was very disappointing, but it was still an excellent evening!

And today is Travis's birthday! He is not sure about being a teenager (and I am sure that I am not ready to be the mother of a teen), so I told him he can just enjoy his presents and we will ignore the age thing (it's what I do). I'm making him his favorite cake, and we're going out to lunch, so it is going to be a Wonderful day!

Missing My Boy

2011-06-28T17:27:00.001-04:00

We dropped Travis off at camp on Sunday. We think it is a good camp, with lots of responsible (if somewhat shaggy) counselors, safety guidelines, etc., etc. Otherwise, of course, we wouldn't have left him. But still... leaving my little (okay, not really so little... how about young and a bit erratic?) boy in the mountains in the middle of nowhere, three hours away! This is his third year, so I know he's having a fantastic time, but I miss him and I worry. Sigh.

Still, we keep pottering on here. I've done a lot of fun reading, nothing to do with lesson planning for next year at all. Tomorrow that all changes. Tomorrow I am going to buckle down and learn how to teach The Lost Tools of Writing, The Art of Argument, and Teaching the Classics: Worldview Supplement. And enter the rest of Katie's math lessons for this school year (no sense rushing these things) into Homeschool Tracker. Tomorrow I will be motivated and efficient!

Katie moped yesterday, but today she painted!

Still Gushing

2011-06-25T18:11:00.001-04:00

about my clever new device, that is!

I've been downloading sample chapters of books on my Amazon wish list. Free! Of course, the books that I'd be most likely to actually buy, the ones that have been out long enough that you can buy them for 1 cent (I only just noticed that there is no "cent" symbol on my keyboard!) plus shipping, don't have free chapters, but the sort of book that I might ask for as a birthday or Christmas present often do. And now I can try these out and see if I actually would like them. For instance, St. Lucy's Home for Girls Raised by Wolves has an intriguing title but turned out to be, not to put too fine a point on it, really icky. The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction, on the other hand, seemed quite good. Maybe a little too similar to some books by Michael Dirda I've read lately to want to read it right away, but a good choice for next year. Next up as samples I have The Quiche of Death, Jesus Wars, A Short History of Nearly Everything, Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, The Idea of America, and The Ladies of Grace Adieu,. This is better than having a good bookstore (or library, given my bad library book habits!) nearby, and out of all that list I'm sure there will be some winners! (Not that I'm actually short on reading matter, but one likes to be prepared!) Who knows? Maybe our little library will even have a few (ha ha!).

My Precious!!!

2011-06-22T22:51:00.001-04:00

Okay... "Precious" might be overstating the case (although my family does seem to become invisible when I turn it on!), and it isn't actually mine (I promised the kids that I would share), but I am Really enjoying our new Kindle! After several years of being tempted but being unable to justify such an extravagance when I also had a long and irrefutable list of reasons why I Didn't need an e-reader (not to mention the tall and irrefutable stacks of real books around the house, just waiting to be read), I found an offer too tempting to refuse! Amazon offered $100 discount with a year long subscription to Audible.com. And I have one of those! (I started it with a trial membership at the beginning of the year, intending to give it up after a couple months, but with the arrival of our foster kids audio books have become a practical necessity for me.) And that meant that I could have a Kindle for $14 (shipping included!)! Clearly it was destiny!

Ed has ordered me a clip on light for my new toy, so I might even be able to read in bed without waking him. And this afternoon I was reading my paper copy of Cross Creek on the deck while watching the kids in the pool when it started to sprinkle. At first I thought, "What a good thing I'm not reading on my Kindle -- a little rain won't hurt a Real book." And then it rained a bit more and I noticed that my pages were starting to get rather soggy (and I have had enough of soggy pages to last me a Lifetime!). So I went inside, put my Kindle in a ziplock, and happily read ghost stories in the rain!

Rainy Day

2011-06-19T16:15:00.000-04:00

Our new roof is Still not waterproof. And the company to whom we paid top dollar for a Really Good roof has changed their name and denies all responsibility. A week and a half ago, on the 8th, we had a very heavy rain and the water came pouring in down the wall behind my school room bookcases. The kids' history books suffered the most damage. I spent the next week blow drying books. They are all still usable, although I'm afraid they no longer have any resale value. Still, it could have been much worse. My second favorite study Bible is now about four times thicker than it was originally, which is saying something, but even that is still readable. But we can't get the roof to stop leaking, the ceiling is buckling, and all my lovely bookcases are sitting empty. Actually, we haven't had a hard rain since the last time Ed put sealant in some possible leaky spots, so maybe we've got it this time. I hope so!

Aside from the leaks, last week was terrific, though! Speedy and Sticky started daycare, which was marvelously restful for us and highly entertaining for them. And both of the churches where our kids have done Vacation Bible School in the past had VBS last week. Travis and Katie alternated between the Baptists-Next-Door and the Baptists-Down-the-Road where a homeschooling friend runs the VBS program. Speedy and Sticky stuck with the Baptists-Next-Door, where they were welcomed with open arms and treated with special kindness. They always have a firetruck-ride-around-the-community on their opening night, and the adults and children alike tried their best to encourage Speedy to ride. He didn't want to ride on the back with the other kids, so they invited him to ride in the cab and honk the horn. He wanted to ride, but he no sooner sat in the cab than he started screaming in terror. Poor kid. It was the hay ride all over again. He says he will ride the fire truck Next Time.

Oh, and my camera has died. I think it means it this time. Ed says he can fix it, and I think I might as well let him try!

Church Picnic

2011-06-05T21:46:00.000-04:00

Our church had its annual picnic-at-the-farm today, and it was a gorgeous day for it! The farm (I'm told that there are cows and horses somewhere, tucked tidily away out of sight) is lovely, with fabulous views and beautiful gardens. And the house is lovely too -- just what I would build if I had mountains of money and a sense of style. I can't imagine hostessing on such a scale, but the owner, a very sweet woman who used to lead our Bible study class, is a brave and generous woman!

Here you see Ed and Sticky in front of the temporary altar, after the service.Past those people behind the tables is where the band (fiddles, banjos, etc.) was playing. (Being Episcopalians, we don't normally have a band, but it's permissible, even preferable, for picnics!) Doesn't that look like a nice place for a church service?

It was pretty warm, but the priest kept his homily short and no one except Sticky complained. The food was excellent and plentiful, and there were games, activities, and a hay ride for the kids.

Poor little Speedy adores tractors and loved the idea of a hayride, but when it came to actually sitting in the tractor he got scared and bailed out. Afterwards he was sorry, and he says "next time" he'll do it. Aside from that, though, everyone had a great day.

Summer

2011-06-05T09:10:00.000-04:00

This is what I love about summer!

And this...

I just finished How to Live or A Life of Montaigne, by Sarah Bakewell. It was excellent! (and went well with A Distant Mirror, by Barbara Tuchman, which is on my mp3 player).

I think we went through half a gallon of bubble stuff, and I taught Speedy to keep his own ice pop pushed up the top of the plastic (a real accomplishment for him!).

Also...

my vanilla extract looks this dark, after one (or maybe two) months! Real vanilla! I put off making it for a year after my sweet mom bought me vanilla beans because all the pictures on the internet of homemade vanilla extract showed it in charming little vintage bottles and I kept thinking the right sort of bottles would materialize in my cupboards (and I tease Speedy for magical thinking!). You can see what I finally did. Not decorative, but very effective!

And, finally, Emma.

It is a wonder she can still get up on the chairs!

What Doesn't Kill Us...

2011-05-29T15:59:00.001-04:00

and all that.
Actually, we've been doing okay. Speedy and Sticky are still with us, and there doesn't seem to be much prospect of imminent reunification, but mostly they have settled into a routine of sorts. Sticky had her oral surgery this past Friday -- one tooth (a front one) pulled and six root canals. The porcelain fronts they put on the caps are very white and very large. Pretty awful looking, to be honest. Not much of an improvement, aesthetically speaking, over her pitiful little decayed teeth, but I'm sure much healthier. Anyway, aside from a little fussiness Friday, she has been quite cheerful about the whole thing (of course, she hasn't looked in a mirror!) Travis and Katie had their performance of Much Ado About Nothing on the 19th, and they were pretty wonderful (if I do say so myself!). Travis is supposedly making me a video to post, but for now all I have is cat pictures. Lots and lots of Cat Pictures!

Sorry, Daddy! I don't know what came over me.

In other news, Travis has grown a mustache...

It took several weeks, out of respect for our delicate well, but our pool is full and ready for action! The kids got in for the first time yesterday. Speedy has been asking many, many times every day, ever since we started filling the pool, When he would be able to swim. So, oddly enough, we thought he Wanted to swim. And he sort of did. Until he touched the water. At which point he started screaming, not stopping until he was out of the pool.

(Here you see him holding Katie with a death grip.)

The really funny thing was that, after the kids were dried off and back in the house, Speedy started talking animatedly about how much he Loved the pool, and asking eagerly when he'd be able to "swim" again. At church today, and during lunch and before his nap he talked about how much he loved swimming. This afternoon, though, when told that he could finally swim again, he burst into tears.

Speaking of tears, I'm feeling a bit tearful myself. Katie left Travis's bike across the street at the park last night, and Katie and Ed went over a few minutes ago to see if it was still there. It was, thank goodness, but so was/is Speedy and Sticky's mother. Supposedly watching a baseball game, but she saw Ed and he said "hi" to her and she told him that she had been watching Speedy follow him around the house. I'm sure she's perfectly nice and all (child neglect aside), but it makes me uncomfortable to know she is watching us.

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T15:08:00.000-04:00

Happy Mother's Day, to my beautiful, brilliant, amazing mother! What can I say? She is practically perfect.

We had a wonderful service at church today. The Rev. Patsy McGregor, who, with her husband, visited us about a year ago from Madagascar, gave a talk on how things are going in Madagascar and showed pictures of the sister church our church is building there. She also preached the sermon, and was excellent. Very inspirational, and just what I needed. And, a wonderful woman in our congregation encouraged me to leave Speedy and Sticky with her in the nursery during the service, so we got to listen and participate without distractions. What a gift! And Katie did the second lesson Reading and, despite my forgetting to give her the Reading (1st Peter 1:17-23) during the week, so she could practice, she did beautifully! My good girl.

We had our first week of practice for Much Ado About Nothing last week. I think it went very well. The kids mostly know their lines, so it is just a matter of getting them to deliver them properly, where to stand, and so on. Our director sees that "just a matter" as looming a little larger than I do, and they do have a way to go before they are audience worthy, but I think it will come together. Soon, we hope!

The parents of our little house guests finally get their day in court tomorrow, the last two court dates having been fully taken up with DSS presenting all their evidence. Despite a rather spectacular behavioral "fail" yesterday (Speedy, age 5, relieved his bladder in the corner of the living room, behind my recliner) they have generally been much nicer to have around lately than they were when they arrived. And both of their speech abilities have improved quite a bit. Fortunately, though, the judge will take a larger view of the matter than I can, having all the evidence and all, and I hope he will make a good decision regarding the disposition of the children. The social worker has dismissed with "We've tried that," all of our helpful ideas for getting the parents to remember to feed, wash, housebreak, and otherwise nurture their children, but perhaps the judge will think of something clever. Who knows. Anyway, prayers for the judge's wise decision would be appreciated!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T17:35:00.001-04:00

Things have been kind of silly around here lately!

We've been going along with school as closely to normal as possible, given the disruption of our two little guests. Not optimal performance, but not as awful as at first. And, having attended several school meetings for Speedy, plus one with a "therapy organizer" for Sticky, I am more grateful than ever that we homeschool. All these educators and social workers are good-hearted and dedicated, and our little foster kids need all the help they can get, but what a time consuming lot of silly rigamarole they go through!

Speedy turned five on the 12th, and Sticky turned two on the 14th. The candles in a dish of ice cream went over better than the brownie with candles (we let their parents have the glory and mess of cakes), but both were consumed, and my parents gave Speedy a copy of his favorite book and Sticky a stacking toy.

Mostly the kids have been working harder at getting their lessons done in our tighter schedule, but sometimes they sit back, feet on the table, and dawdle. And one can only say, "Get your feet off the table!" so many times before that red pen comes out.

and, of course, if Travis gets decorated toes, Katie wants them too...

Oh. And here is a bit of news for which I have no picture. But the Elkin Tribune, the Winston paper, Fox news, etc. do. Here is a link. Ed hit a chicken truck last Monday. He was coming back across the street after dropping Speedy off at pre-school. Aside from the chickens there were no injuries. You can click through the slide show if you are interested. The reporter showed up after they corralled the wandering, uninjured chickens, which was a shame since they gave a certain charm to an otherwise dismal scene. It was our anniversary, and it certainly was one of our more memorable ones.

And on to Happy things again...

Travis and Katie loaded plastic eggs with candy for our family egg hunt. (Which was pretty redundant, given that Speedy's and Sticky's parents gave them fully loaded Easter baskets on Thursday, and the Baptist church next door invited the kids to their egg hunt/party on Saturday, and our church had an egg hunt this morning. But it is Tradition so we did it.)

And then they colored some real eggs. This picture was taken before not one but Two cups of dye were knocked over.

And I made a bunny cake...

(I think this is a portrait of me, but I didn't ask...)

And we made it to Easter... Glorious, wonderful Easter!!! We actually Did take the kids to the service on Friday night, and of course this morning, but I'm sure S & S think we are celebrating National Chocolate Day. Oh well. The Good Friday service and today's were beautiful, and I think Travis and Katie are beginning to appreciate what we are really celebrating today.

Happy Easter!

Some Week

2011-04-09T16:16:00.001-04:00

It has been some week here. Really.

We took the kids bowling on Tuesday afternoon. A family at our church who own a bowling alley invited all the kids up for a treat. We kind of thought it would be a nice "good-bye" outing for our little foster kids. They had a great time, and ever since, J. has been asking at frequent intervals when we will go bowling again. Turned out, though, that we were wrong about the "good-bye" part of it.

The hearing was Thursday, and Ed thought he remembered the social worker saying their case would be heard at 9:00. We got all their laundry done and their toys gathered and waited for the call. And waited. Finally, at 4:45, the social worker returned our calls and told us that the judge had heard a couple hours testimony on the matter and would hear the rest on the 27th of the month, but that she was quite sure we could expect to have the children with us for a long time to come. So I had to figure out dinner for six on short notice (I realize a sensible person would have planned for six, but I really thought the judge would send them home.). Since we will have them for a while longer, I am rechristening them Sticky (toddler) and Speedy (preschooler) for blogging purposes.

And, for my mom, here are pictures of Katie in her new dress. It will be a great Easter dress!

Isn't she pretty?

and playing action hero...

Travis has found that Sticky is a fearsome swordswoman. Since he is armed only with a paper scabbard and she is ruthless, he always loses, much to her joy.

Yesterday, Travis, Katie, and I went to Fort Dobbs. They were having a greatly discounted student day, and, since we've been studing colonial history/American Revolution, seeing all the reenactments of life in the 1760s was really fascinating!
Here, an indian woman explains how she makes all the things her family needs, including clothing, medicine, and food.

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This fellow talked about indian warriors capturing prisoners and bring them back to the indian communities to either be killed, adopted, or made servants. He demonstrated the method for restraining prisoners thought to be flight risks.

And here we learned about pictograph stories of hunting expeditions.

And then we left the indian area and learned about colonial life. This craftsman explained out how he makes chairs. He had some beautiful chairs.

And this man makes various things from horns. Apparently rum flasks were very popular.

He also told us about his Plott Hound, which was resting in the back of the tent. The Plott Hound is the state dog of North Carolina.

This lady explained all about making linen out of flax, and also spinning wool. It really was very interesting. Katie found carding wool to be harder than she expected.

We saw blocks of indigo, but I was busy watching the linen demonstration & missed the explanation of exactly how it is made.

Travis got to practice making sparks with flint and steel.

They got to make powder rolls, though Travis was very disappointed to find out, after they finished, that the "gunpowder" was charcoal and the "musket ball" was a marble. He had had some ideas of what he might do with that gunpowder after he got home!

They saw musket balls being made...

And greatly admired the "tea and cocoa wagon" donkeys (English donkeys -- they bray with an accent).

This man had a cart full of 18th century musical instruments. We stayed at his station for quite a while -- he was very entertaining and talented.

And the kids got to join in a cricket match. They both managed hits but we didn't really understand the rules.

It was a lovely day.

Vistors

2011-04-02T10:34:00.000-04:00

April? But.....

We're still hosting two little foster children. All things considered, they are really pretty good, but there is a lot to consider and they are very high maintenance. Also very affectionate and sweet, though, which helps.

(The "four wheeler" hasn't had a working battery since Katie was little, but J. is obsessed with it anyway. That and the lawn mower.)

(Harry finds K. slightly more tolerable when she is contained in the book cart.)

(After several years of wishing and a long time of saving allowances and gifts, Katie bought herself an American Girl doll. She couldn't be more delighted with her, and I am so happy that at nine, she still loves playing with dolls!)

(K. beat the cats to the box!)

(They are twins!)

My parents left Thursday morning, after a week long visit. Our weather was only minimally superior to that they'd left in Maine, which was disappointing, but we had a good time anyway.

We had one nice day for a hike and went to Stone Mountain.

And we had a lot of cold, rainy days, suitable for game playing and chit chat. Our young guests found my parents marvelously entertaining and keep asking when they will be back!

They are intense Pictionary players.

Travis and Katie were resoundingly trounced, but did manage some funny pictures!

Keep Swimming!

2011-03-16T14:36:00.000-04:00

We're doing okay! Not getting everything done, by any means, but we're hitting the basics and I think we'll get better as the days go by and we find our new routine. The kids' case worker came for a visit yesterday (she was on vacation when they were taken into custody), and she seems nice. Young, and a little frazzled (how's that for the pot calling the kettle black? the "frazzled" part I mean of course, not the "young"), but nice. I guess we'll see. Anyway, there will be a hearing on April 7th where a judge will decide if there was just cause to remove the children from their home. The DSS workers seem very confident, and I suppose they know their stuff. The children appear terribly malnourished, and then there is the teeth (or lack of teeth). And the whole speech thing. And apparently the older siblings have some other serious issues, but I don't know what exactly. I hope the judge has all the information and can made the right choice -- we'll just focus on feeding and cuddling the kids while they're with us!

Speaking of feeding, Bo is enjoying that part of being a host dog!

The little boy gets a little rough and we have to keep reminding him not to push on Bo's back or hips (or pull his tail or squeeze his nose...), but the baby is gentle. They both drop lots of food, and when the food fails to fall completely off the chair, Bo is willing to help it down. Even Harry has been caught with his front paws on the high chair seat, doing his bit of the house cleaning. (Emma hides in the basement from the moment the children wake up until after they are in bed at night. She does not approve.)

And Katie's pack rat tendencies have finally come in handy! We still have loads of Little People, blocks, baby phones, etc., and I think they have all been hauled downstairs and spread generously around our living areas. Amazing how much Stuff we have. One of the treasures is this giant baby doll...

The baby loves it, but she does not want it to close its eyes, which, of course, it does every time it is horizontal. She hands it to us and indicates that it is to be held upright. Poor kid. What with watching a preschooler and toddler, it is all we can do to remain upright ourselves, and every time we are horizontal (and some times when we aren't) our eyes close too.

Travis is warming up to the children a little. He plays peek-a-boo with K., which she finds amusing.

Tired

2011-03-13T16:52:00.002-04:00

I had forgotten how exhausting small children are. Now I remember! Boy, am I tired.
Wednesday night (or, more accurately, Thursday morning) a CPS worker dropped two very unhappy small children off at our house (they had called at 5:30 to check if it would be okay, so I'm not blaming them). Actually, they are very nice children. The little girl is nearly two, and the little boy is almost five. Although they were sick and (understandably) woeful when we got them, they are generally in good spirits and in the past few day have gotten quite a bit less runny. Of course, with improved health, we have also seen a dramatic increase in their activity level. A very good thing, and they are no more naughty than one would expect, but watching them and managing the cooking, cleaning, and lesson stuff is more tiring than you might expect.

Today we took them to church. They declined the children's Sunday School and sat in on the adult class and were very well behaved. Unfortunately, they were then quite lively in the pew. We thought the little bags of crayons, stickers, and puppets that the church provides for the amusement of small children would keep them occupied, but our results were mixed. They did stay occupied, but sixteen toddler sized crayons being rolled down and tossed off a pew make a surprising lot of noise. Fortunately we have a patient, kind hearted congregation, and the only comments we heard were nice ones (I'm sure there were comments of the other sort, but since we didn't hear them, I'm not worrying!). If we still have them next Sunday we will be more thoughtful about the activity supplies (and we will not allow another chocolate coated granola bar in church -- it is a Very good thing the pews are wooden rather than upholstered).

Our Trip!

2011-03-06T16:59:00.000-05:00

Thursday morning, crack to dawn, we set out on our trip to Colonial Jamestown, Yorktown, and Williamsburg. The weather was colder than I would have liked (is it unreasonable to expect mid-70's temperatures in Virginia in early March?) but we missed the forecast rain and there were no crowds at all until Saturday afternoon, when we bumped into a few school groups. It was really marvelous! Having been studying the colonial period recently, we had the fun of "recognizing" the people, places, and events from our books. And the hotel's indoor pool was also pretty great!
Here is a slide show of the trip...

A Belated Happy Birthday

2011-03-02T14:02:00.001-05:00

Yesterday was Ed's birthday! I didn't forget to celebrate it, just to post a bloggy "happy birthday." Actually, Katie took care of the baking, and the kids and my parents gave him presents. I cooked a dinner he likes -- does that count?

Travis and Katie pooled their money and bought him a Tracfone (a cell phone). We had thought we could get by without a cell phone, and we could, but having the phone seems to reduce errand running, and with the cost of gas... Katie wanted the present to be a Real surprise, and was upset when her brother let the cat out of the bag (Travis is a terrible secret keeper), so we took the phone out of the box and replaced it with a Kit Kat. After Ed was surprised, Katie quickly handed him the wrapped phone, so he wouldn't have time to be disappointed!

And here the children are reciting The Road Not Taken, by Robert Frost. I keep telling them that they should try to look interested (or, at least, not bored senseless) while the other is speaking. Maybe watching themselves on the video will help!

Oh, and here is Travis's latest video...

Good Stuff

2011-02-19T09:46:00.000-05:00

It's been a pretty good week here. Even Ed's tooth is improved, though it gave him an awful time earlier in the week. After several academically abysmal weeks, things are looking up. Travis passed the Bridge in the middle of Fred (Pre-Algebra 2 with Economics) which he had been stuck at for what seemed like forever, and is on to lesson 22. I think Travis and I have got the hang of 3rd declension verb conjugation (present system only, thank you) in Latin, though I am having trouble translating sentences with prepositions. I had a scare with Travis's science this week, thinking that the math in the Prentice Hall Physical Science book was going to be too advanced for him, but I've looked again more carefully and I think we'll be fine (though I did go ahead and order the teacher's edition of his book, so I can read along with him, answers at the ready!). Katie has loved her science this week (NOEO Physics II) -- this week's "assignments" have just been readings and activities from Gizmos & Gadgets. We've made a catapult, a pendulum, and a marble slide. And they all worked!

The kids are memorizing Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken" now, but for Monday they did Rosemary & Stephen Vincent Benet's "Miles Standish" (if you follow the link, go a little over half way down the page and you'll see the poem). They did it better in front of the group on Monday, but this gives the idea...

And Katie's marble run...

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T20:09:00.000-05:00

Kind of late to post this, but it's been that sort of day. And I do sincerely hope you had/are having a day filled with chocolate and love! Or other nice things, I suppose. Our priest mentioned in his homily something about hunting the internet for the perfect valentine's gift, so I suppose some people don't think of today as National Chocolate Day. Anyway...

My mom sent up the Big Box of Valentine Making Stuff this year that I remember from my childhood. Early enough that the kids got to make cards with it too, because, unlike some people, she is organized. And here is proof that I let them play with it! Even the 1970s glitter, which was sprinkled with (fairly) tasteful delicacy on the cards, and slathered lavishly on the table, chairs, and floor. I had previously not appreciated what a wonderful invention Glitter Glue is -- there is a Nobel worthy invention!

Aside from being more sparkly than usual, things are going on as normal here. Ed began a spectacularly awful toothache over the weekend. Well, not really a toothache, as the pain is under a crown where the tooth was removed by root canal. So he arranged an emergency dentist visit this morning. The dentist gave him a prescription for an antibiotic and told him he will most likely need Another root canal in that tooth -- how strange is that?-- and that a root canal where the root has already been removed once (doesn't that sound improbable?) requires some sort of fancy dental surgeon. What fun! Poor Ed is quite wretched and has spent most of National Chocolate Day in bed. And because I do love him, I haven't yet eaten his chocolate.

And here, quite unrelated to teeth or chocolate, is Harry, on his High Horse.

and Emma, wearing a mob cap and cape. Katie made them for her (because we're studying the colonial period, don't you know?).

Disease and Diversion

2011-02-07T09:38:00.001-05:00

Well, a germ has done what the weather couldn't -- this week's co-op has been cancelled. I got the call this morning as I was getting into the shower. Last Monday we had one family out and one down by one child. By Wednesday afternoon, Katie and Travis were sick, and they have continued to be sick in variously icky ways, with remissions and relapses, since. With the exception of one lucky family, nearly all the other children in our group have also been sick this week. Travis just has a cough now (or, at least that was the case last night!), which the Triaminic stifles nicely, so I was planning to bring him today. Katie's fever zoomed up again last night, so she was definitely not coming. But, having apparently spent the past week viewing our Yahoo group messages comparing our children's hideous symptoms, our one mom with uninfected children sensibly (if belatedly) communicated to our group leader at midnight last night that she would not be bringing her children to co-op this week, and the decision was made to cancel. Which is really fine with me.

Illness has not improved Travis's already shaky history retention. "Jamestown" or "Plymouth Colony" are not the answer to every question about the founding of the original thirteen colonies, but those are Travis's "go to" answers. Actually, I don't even believe he thinks John Smith saved the day in every colony. I was noticing that he tosses out "John Smith" and "Plymouth" at me in the same way that Katie randomly offers "Split of the Roman Empire Under Emperor Diocletian" (after, say, "Alfred the Great") while we are doing our Veritas Press history cards, and it occurred to me that maybe we needed Tapestry history cards. (I know what you are thinking. If they give random answers with the Veritas cards, why would you think that more memory cards are the answer? But they actually do know the Veritas card sequence pretty well, and I don't think they have nearly as firm a grasp of Colonial facts and sequence of events. Plus, they like competing with each other with flash cards!)

I did all thirteen colonies, plus thirty-one others for people and events we've covered in the five weeks we've done so far of Unit 3 of Tapestry.

If nothing else, this should provide me with some variety in the wrong answers the kids give me to history questions. And maybe they'll remember some stuff. Making the cards up certainly was educational for me (for instance, I learned that there is a wide range of opinion on the internet over whether Nathaniel Bacon, of Bacon's Rebellion, was a hero or a murderous crook).

Tuesday

2011-02-01T17:57:00.000-05:00

We are missing all the snow, to the childrens' sorrow, but today has been all cold drizzle. The cold has gotten in my bones, and I can't drink enough hot tea to warm them (not for lack of trying, though). But enough moaning!
Here is Travis, playing "O Worship the King." I know when he plays things I know (which he often doesn't) because I can tell when he is playing wrong notes. There is at least one here, but mostly he got it right, if a little hesitant in places.

And I forgot to film the kids reciting "The Quality of Mercy" on Monday. They did better then, but this gives the idea...

Again, the quality is better if you put it to 720p.

Much Ado about Much Ado

2011-01-29T16:47:00.001-05:00

Our new play is here! Our new play is here! Our customized script for Much Ado About Nothing, done by Marieka Greene of KidsLoveShakespeare, looks wonderful! Katie says Ursula is the Best Role in the Play. Travis is happy with Claudio, and is looking forward to playing him with a mustache (I don't explain, I merely report). Their first rehearsal is May 9th, which gives us plenty of time to learn their lines. We love Shakespeare!

We finished the Martin Jenkins adaptation of Don Quixote this week. The kids would have been happy if it had gone on another 300 pages -- they loved it! I enjoyed it, and Chris Riddell's illustrations are fabulous, but I did think the adventures got a bit repetitive.

We finished Laura Schlitz's The Night Fairy in three nights. Katie loved it -- "It was fabulous!" Travis started out saying it was too young for him, but he hung on every word any way. Not sure what we'll read next.

Katie's Usborne Science Encyclopedia came this week, and we started NOEO Physics II. I think it is going to be fun -- plenty of experiments, and the material seems at Katie's level.

This is one of my favorite part of the curriculum...

Seven Young Scientists Club kits, with all the materials needed to do the various experiments! I am rotten at planning science out in advance, and with these we ought to be able to complete our experiments without being stymied by the One Missing Ingredient.
We read about Energy this week, and our experiment, from Gizmos & Gadgets, by Jill Frankel Hauser, which we did today because we didn't on Friday, involved observing the stored energy in a twisted up rubber band. I remember having rubber band powered airplanes as a child, and they always worked as advertised, so I thought this would be a no-brainer. Hmmmm....

I didn't really mean it when I said I hate science. I like science fine. It's troublesome experiments designed to illustrate really simple principles that I don't like. But the kids like them, and I like the kids so on we go.

*If you switch the picture quality, right to the left of the little YouTube sign, to 720, the quality is much better.

Winter Continues and So Do We!

2011-01-24T21:11:00.002-05:00

Katie's allergies were ferocious last week. She spent a day on the couch, comforted by her heater cat, and was off her game the other days. And Travis, whose allergies are quite mild, has been congested too. I don't think it can be pollen, so I suppose the blame must lie in my substandard dusting talents. Or maybe it is just the cold. I'm sure I'm allergic to cold.

Apropos of nothing, here is a link to a video someone shared on Facebook last week which I particularly liked:

Katie's Noeo science stuff came on Friday, all except the the Usborne Science Encyclopedia, which I ordered from Amazon, so I thought we'd be all set to start our new programs today. Katie did start, but when I tried to show Travis his assigned reading I realized that I must have ordered the wrong edition of Prentice Hall's Physical Science book. The curriculum guide suggested purchasing a used copy, as it would be so much cheaper (and it was -- $2.00, including shipping, instead of $137.72), but they failed to mention which edition their guide references. It's not the 2001 edition, anyway. So Travis will be doing science with Katie for a little while more while I figure out what to do. Phooey.

The kids had a good time at co-op today. They made tomahawks (just what they needed). Katie read one of the free verse type poems she wrote, on Native Americans, in a costume of her own devising (and Bobbi Brown Cocoa eye shadow smeared on her face because she thought she was too pale for a real native American. Of course, she ended up looking like a Native American raccoon, but it was attention grabbing anyway.)

Travis's group did creative writing for today. Mostly they wrote rambling stories that I had a hard time following and dread grading. It is all very well to tell someone they wrote a lousy research paper, but telling them their story is not good seems more harsh somehow. Oh well. Their new assignment is a very elementary literary criticism paper, and I think they ought to be able to do that pretty well.
Here is Travis reading The Three Little Grains of Salt and the Big Bad Pepper Corn....

Look at What the UPS Man Brought!

2011-01-19T20:11:00.001-05:00

New toys!

I've been putting off buying the science kit that goes with Travis's new science program, Awakening Wonder, but we are down to the last couple Brain lessons so I explained to Ed about science experiments and how hard it is to do them when you are missing that one critical, impossible-to-find item, and he, being the understanding fellow he is, said to go ahead and order the kit. I haven't gone through the actual stuff in the box yet, but the experiments book that came with it looks really good!
I've been gathering the books that go with the program for months, and now have all but two; one on Albert Einstein and one on Thomas Edison.

The course guide has a 34 week reading and activities schedule, materials list, note pages, lab sheets, periodic table pages, various graphic organizers, etc. I think Travis is going to enjoy the reading. Of course, he opened the Thames & Kosmos science experiment book and immediately picked out this project...

You can lead the boy to physics, but you can't make him..... think about particles and gravity and stuff! (okay, I don't know what physicists do. Maybe they do collide particles at high speeds to make caramels!)

Katie's physics stuff should come soon, so they'll both be able to start their new science next week -- I'm so excited!

Tuesday

2011-01-18T20:41:00.000-05:00

Despite world class level procrastination on all our parts, the children and I got our books read, our poem learned, our lessons done, and our book discussion planned, and got to go to the co-op meeting on Monday! We are finally through the Reformation and have started on Colonial history. Last week we read about Jamestown, and this week we are studying the Pilgrims, who are actually much more interesting to read about with the Reformation background. Katie's group ran out of time to make their corn husk dolls in class, so we made ours this afternoon. Actually, I was making dinner and Katie mostly made it on her own -- isn't she crafty?

Snow Tubing

2011-01-15T20:08:00.000-05:00

Today we went snow tubing with our church's youth group. Twelve people, six kids and six parents. It was great! Of course, we got lost to start with, and got quite a scenic tour of the Blowing Rock/Boone area. It is gorgeous, and we took a route that included a very long, twisting residential (with nice residences!) road with spectacular views. If Ed hadn't been driving the twisting road so fast, trying to meet the other two families at the agreed on time, I could have really enjoyed the drive. We looked at Sugar Mountain first, but were told that the tubing slopes were better at Hawk's Nest, so we went there. And the slopes were excellent!

The priest and his wife (have I mentioned how noble they are?) went tubing with the kids, and Ed and I and the other couple stayed in the nice warm sitting room/bar thingy and admired the views. Ed even bought me a beer to go with my view, so it was quite the occasion!
The kids slid for almost two hours and had a fantastic time.

They can hardly wait to do it again!

2011

2011-01-14T20:50:00.002-05:00

My mother has sweetly hinted, and I obey! I had had some vague idea of trying to post something (maybe a picture) every day this year, but maybe it was better to begin as I mean to go on. Actually, now that I've gotten off to such a slacker start, I've left myself plenty of room for improvement! Weekly or bi-weekly postings don't look bad, and if I manage three in a week it will seem positively stellar!

So. We'll been trying to get back into our school groove. Despite the short holiday we suffered some loss of brain momentum. Mostly mine. I was having such a nice time being On Holiday that I didn't do the lesson planning/notebook preparing for a new Tapestry unit stuff that I meant to do on my break, so I started back to school already behind. I hate that. Travis is a Huge procrastinator, and it drives me absolutely bonkers because I am one too and I know what a idiotic way it is to be. I finally got the kids' notebooks put together, the lessons planned, etc. but our new year didn't get off to the calm, idyllic start that I'd imagined (In my imagination, I am always calm and sweet, our house is spotless and lovely, and we move harmoniously through our lessons and our days. I have one heck of an imagination.).

This week things have pretty well fallen into place, and school has gone tolerably well. Katie is doing much better with multiplication and division, and is enjoying grammar. Her writing skills are really improving, though her penmanship is still not so good. A friend introduced us to Quizlet, and both Travis and Katie are having fun practicing their Latin vocabulary there. And they are loving our brain study. We are nearing the end of the book (I'm ordering their new science programs on Monday -- they'll both be doing physics, though with different books), and we've been learning about dreaming, which is interesting. Travis has been dragging his work out spectacularly and will once again be working all weekend in order to get his work done so he can go to co-op on Monday. He's finding the unit in Singapore Math (on speed) less impossible than the last, and we've finally gotten back to Fred this week. Fred is fun. We are currently stalled at Lessons 10 & 11 in Second Form Latin, and will probably be there another week while we learn our prepositions thoroughly. I finished reading Johnny Tremain around 1:00 am on Monday morning (I am leading the discussion for the older kids this coming Monday) -- what a great book! I'd forgotten how much I like it. Travis hasn't started reading it. If he isn't done on Monday he's not going (and I mean it!). Fortunately (for him) we'll be in the car for a few hours tomorrow, so maybe he'll get it read after all. How do you cure your children of faults that you can't cure in yourself? I need to start working on my discussion ideas for Johnny Tremain!

We still have snow and ice all over the ground. Well, except in the patches where it isn't. But the driveway is still icy, and last night Katie fell down on it and skinned her knee. Poor lamb. And today, going to Katie's piano lesson, I almost killed our car trying to drive up our teacher's very steep, icy driveway. I thought it was just snowy and didn't get up enough speed, and when smoke started coming out of under the hood I got scared and just parked it part way up, at a weird angle. Fortunately the emergency brake is a good one. And even more fortunately, a good, brave (noble!) friend who knows how to drive on ice was there for her daughter's lesson and turned the car around (without crashing into any trees, which is what I would have done), and got the car properly situated for me. Good thing we moved to North Carolina, rather than a really "up north" state -- I do Not like ice. Except in Dr. Pepper.

Oh, and I found out at piano that we have finally settled on a Shakespeare play for this spring (Katie's piano teacher is also our homeschool group play director. Small world.)! We will be doing Much Ado About Nothing! We recently watched the Kenneth Branagh version and loved it. (We briefly considered Pericles, but thought better of it.) Travis is going to be Claudio. He would have preferred Benedick but is resigned to secondary roles while the other boys have their turns at playing the leading man (and I will remember not to make any more comments about what a jerk Claudio is!). Katie is Ursula, and is not particularly resigned. She wanted Beatrice or, failing that, Hero. Our script is being customized for our homeschool group, though, (how cool is that!) and I have promised her (hoping that I am right!) that Ursula in our version is a Major role. At any rate, I'm glad and grateful that we're doing Shakespeare again this year, and it is a play that we really like.