Monthly Archives: August 2011

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It’s still me

Do you like the change? I got a bee in my bonnet this morning and decided that I couldn’t stand the old look of the blog anymore and it was time for something new. I usually change my blog design in January with the new year, but the start of the new school year counts for that, I think. Anyway, out with the old, in with the new.

It seems like all I ever post about anymore is homeschool, but honestly, it’s what I’m thinking about 85% of the time. What do I think about the rest of the time? (Not what 100-85 is, that’s for sure.) I’m constantly going over our schedule, tweaking it, trying to sort out what would work better.

Today we added in a cooking class for the first time- it’s going to be an every other week kind of thing, and the girls had a really good time. They made cupcakes.

The teaching space is adorable, the teacher was nice, and the kids were all well behaved.

Then we went to sign the girls up for their dance/gymnastics classes (Z =gymnastics, Tiny=dance) and discovered that the class starts tomorrow instead of next week, like I thought. So that makes tomorrow a bit busier than I had planned. It’s a constant flux around here.

And now my biggest question is what to read. I’m in the middle of The Hundred Foot Journey by Richard C. Morais, the story of an Indian boy who moves with his restauranteur family from India to England to France. It’s filled with great descriptions of places and food, and I feel like I should be more invested in it than I am. Should I move on to something else? Like The Scarlet Pimpernel, the book I should be reading for book club? Probably. Will I? Who knows?

That’s all I’ve got for now, other than some quick personal messages to people I’m not sure check in on comments after they’ve made them :) :

Gina, it delights me to no end that you read my blog. Yours cracks me up on a regular basis, and I kind of feel like I know you, so it makes me happy to think that you kind of know me too.

Ana, oh, I miss you so much. I will send you an e-mail one of these days, it’s just that every time I go to start it I know it will become epic, and, well, I’m lazy. But I love you and think about you all the time.

Everyone else, I love you too, and thanks for reading. :) Leave me a comment and I’ll post something to you too! :)

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Would you like to see what we’ve been up to?

Otherwise known as, I found my camera cable!

Zoe made this picture for art, and came up with the idea all on her own. Well, the cutting and gluing was my idea, but the whole pirate awesomeness was all her.

The girls decided that they wanted to be Pippi Longstockings. So they each got pigtails (Tiny is holding hers out to the sides so they look like Pippi) and Z is riding Pippi’s horse. B asked her what the horse’s name was, and she said she didn’t know. He asked why, and she said it was because the horse never told Pippi what his name was. Touche! (A side note, Z looks very much like her cousin once (twice? I don’t know how this all works. My cousin’s daughter. Whatever that makes her) removed, Maggie, in this picture. )

We’ve been having a lot of tea party lunches around here lately. Why?  I don’t know.

The birthday party for the new baby. So much fun. :)

Z and her Papa at the history museum, learning all about how people used to wash clothes.

A quilt at the museum from 1886. All hand sewn and embroidered. SO pretty! It almost made me change my opinion on crazy quilts. Almost.

Z with the kind of sewing machine her Grandma learned to sew on at her Grandma’s house. This was a great museum to visit for gaining a sense of connection to the past.

This spider is living in our backyard. I’ve gotten a little obsessed trying to take a clear picture of it.  It’s apparently an orb-weaver spider or Araneus diadematus. ( I just figured that out. Yay Google.) Not dangerous to humans, which is good, seeing as kids have been playing under it for 3 days and I keep getting close to it to take pictures.  The kids also found a gorgeous green beetle (dead), which I have yet to take a picture of, but we kept it because it’s just so cool.  I think it’s a figeater beetle. (Don’t you LOVE the internet? So helpful!)

Anyway, just thought I’d share some pictures, mostly for my Auntie. (Love you, Auntie!)  More to come, I’m sure, since I’ve found my cable. But I’ll try to limit the spider pictures. :)

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Well, then!

If you look at the last post, the post from this morning, you’ll see that I had planned to go to Santa Cruz with the girls today. We had just started on our way when I got a text from one of my best friends telling me that she was pretty sure that she was going into labor. I texted back that we were on our way to Santa Cruz, and did she need me to stay around instead? At that point I just pulled into a parking lot and waited for her reply, and pretty soon her husband called to see if we could take their boys when we got back from Santa Cruz. I told them that I was turning around and heading back to my house, and that they should just bring the boys over.  An hour later, they still weren’t here, and I checked my phone to find a message that the contractions had gotten stronger and that they were just heading to the hospital. I called to find out where they were so that I could come get the boys, and discovered that they weren’t at the hospital- the baby was apparently in a hurry, and my friend gave birth at home, as they were heading out the door for the hospital! So her husband brought the boys over, and they spent the day with us. We made a cake to celebrate their new little baby sister’s birthday, and the kids played and played.

And while they played, I read a book. An entire, lovely book. It was The Weed that Strings the Hangman’s Bag by Alan Bradley- the 2nd in the Flavia de Luce books. (I wrote about the first a couple days ago.) These books are really very good. Solid mysteries, great complex characters, interesting diversions and misdirections. I just got the 3rd on my haunted Kindle, and will be starting it tonight. And finishing the book today puts me at 35 books finished so far this year, which is ahead of where I need to be for my goal of 50 by the end of the year.

Also, I had a realization today about homeschool. I think I’m overthinking it. (Ha! Imagine that!) But really, we homeschooled all last year, it just wasn’t official.  And Z learned a ton, and it worked just fine. The way we live, the things that we do, on the whole, are educational. We were going to go to the Natural History museum today, and when my mom commented that we’d be doing two field trips in one day I kind of laughed- I wasn’t thinking of it as a field trip, just as a fun thing to do. So I just need to take a breath and remember that I know what I’m doing. It will all work.

And just so I have them in an accessible place, some quotes that have struck me recently:

“Inspiration from outside one’s self is like the heat in an oven. It makes passable Bath buns. But inspiration from within is like a volcano: it changes the face of the world.” Flavia de Luce’s Aunt Felicity

“Work is love made visible. And if you cannot work with love but only with distaste, it is better that you should leave your work and sit at the gate of the temple and take alms of those who work with joy.” Khalil Gibran

“No heaven can come to us unless our hearts find rest in today. Take heaven!   No peace lies in the future which is not hidden in this present little instant. Take peace!    The gloom of the world is but a shadow. Behind it, yet within our reach is joy. There is radiance and glory in the darkness could we but see – and to see we have only to look. ” -Fra Giovanni

“We have a choice. We can seek for the bad in others. Or we can make peace and work to extend to others the understanding, fairness, and forgiveness we so desperately desire for ourselves. It is our choice; for whatever we seek, that we will certainly find.” Dieter Uchtdorf

“The secret: Do good work and then put it where people can see it.”

“The day you realize that you’ve always had, like Dorothy’s ruby slippers, the power to get where you want to be is sobering. It’s the day you grow up. You finally understand that the quality of your life, good and bad, has been in your hands all along. Now you have to make the choice to perceive that reality as a burden, or a gift.” – Lisa Duggan

And now I’m going to go read. Bye!

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At this moment

It’s 7:30 am.

It’s overcast and gorgeous outside. It’s supposed to get hot today, which will be lovely, but I love the cloudy mornings. I’m ready for fall to move in, I think.

Z is playing games on the floor. I have yet to figure out exactly what to do with this time between 7 (when Z wakes up, without fail, every day of her life) and whenever Tiny wakes up (anytime between 7 and 8:30). It’s hard to plan anything, because there’s no telling when I’ll have to stop what I’m doing because Tiny’s up.  So I end up letting Z play games, which she loves, and I just putz around on the computer. And write blog posts.

I’ve been reevaluating our whole schedule, now that we’ve been through almost 2 weeks of homeschooling- trying to sort out what’s working and what’s not, how we can plan things so that they go more smoothly. I realized that much of this process is the same as when you have your first child and beforehand you have everything all figured out. You’ve researched, you’ve pondered, you’ve prayed, you know your philosophy and approach, and you’re all set. And then the baby comes, and you have the realization that they have a personality too, and that has to be taken into account in the plan. So we’re shortening some things, lengthening others, adding outside time, combining other things.  It’s a work in process, and I don’t think that’s going to change. Homeschool is kind of a living entity, I’m realizing; a fluid, rather than a solid.  Some people would say it’s a gas, the air around everything they do- that’s not my approach, at least not right now. It might be later. I don’t know; I’m just rambling and talking as I type. It’s not an analogy I’ve thought through. Don’t judge me. (Heehee.)

I’m also trying to plan in friend time- for the girls and for me. Luckily the friends that I want to spend time with are the moms of the kids they want to spend time with, so it works out well.

Today I’m trying to decide what we’re doing after school today- going swimming with friends (this would be the obvious answer, but the pool isn’t heated, and unless its HOT outside, Tiny gets all shivery and whiny after about 1/2 hr. but Z still wants to swim, and drama ensues.) or go to Santa Cruz. I’m just in a Santa Cruz kind of mood today.

And after a brief hiatus, it’s been decided. After writing, math, and reading today, we’ll be heading over the hill to the Santa Cruz Natural History Museum.  Have I mentioned that I love homeschooling? :)

Have I also mentioned that I finished Othello the other night? I don’t think I did. I have a goal to read 5 Shakespeare plays this year – I haven’t read him in TOO long- and I read one earlier in the year, so it was time to get moving on that goal. I’ve read Othello before, but had forgotten how mean it is, the people in it are just nasty to Othello, and everyone except Desdemona is super quick to judge. Poor Desdemona.  She gets short shrift, both in the story and in character development- I’d like to see more about her.  Anyway, now I have to decide which play to read next. I’m thinking Macbeth.

OK, girls are up, got to go. What’s going on with you at this moment?

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At this moment

It’s 7:51.  Overcast and lovely, just like I like it.

Z is sitting on the floor playing with a calculator game on my phone. Tiny is in bed, I’m not sure if she’s asleep. She was awake about 15 minutes ago, upset that one of her socks had fallen off. “It’s not supposed to leave my bed!”, she fussed at me. I put it back on her foot and asked if she wanted to go back to sleep, and she said yes, so I backed away slowly, like you do with bears.

I’m thinking about my sweet friend Stephanie who is having a baby today. Pray for her, if you’re so inclined.

Also thinking about my brother-in-law (and sister) and their family, who have a funeral today (his grandmother). Keep them in your prayers too.

It’s our 6th day of school today. We’re doing our basics (reading, math, writing, the ubiquitous “life skills”) and science. Should be fun.

We’re also hitting the library today, and I have to get moving on a sewing project- a blanket for preschool. And I have to work on decluttering my house. Doesn’t it all sound thrilling? :)

I keep thinking about this post, as well as this quote from Lisa Duggan on the same site: “The day you realize that you’ve always had, like Dorothy’s ruby slippers, the power to get where you want to be is sobering.  It’s the day you grow up. You finally understand that the quality of your life, good and bad, has been in your hands all along. Now you have to make the choice to perceive that reality as a burden, or a gift.”  Though I joke about it’s thrillingness, I’m really grateful for this life I get to have, and the things  I get to do.

I’m also looking forward to reading today – I finished The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley over the weekend, and it was SO GOOD. Think a Miss Marple mystery- old England, big manor houses, little old lady traipsing around asking people questions and sleuthing out secrets- except that instead of a little old lady it’s an 11 year old girl who is obsessed with chemistry and poisons. Seriously, so good. The writing is fantastic, the voice really solid. I’m starting the sequel today. Perhaps it will be my reward for decluttering.

I also need to go get some new pants today- the pair I have on today are falling off (WOOHOO!). I’ve been working at losing the last of my 3 year old baby weight, and I recently amped up what I’ve been doing, and surprise surprise, it’s working! So yay for that!

Tiny just walked in, having dressed herself, in polka dot shorts and a long sleeved orange halloween shirt. She has apparently embraced the schizophrenic nature of the weather around here.

And now they’re clamoring for breakfast, after having decided that we need a panda and a zebra for a pet, and HOPSCOTCH!!  (It made as much sense here. I don’t know.)

What’s happening in your house at this moment?

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It is 7:16 am.

I’ve been up for an hour and a half. Well, that’s not strictly true. I woke up at 5:45, then laid in my bed for 15 minutest trying to decide what to do. Go back to sleep? (SO tempting. And rational. Who gets up at 5:45?) Get up and work out? I’ve been trying to get back into my workout routine and have been sleeping instead, so since I was awake I decided to haul myself out of bed and pay a visit to miss Jillian.

Miss Jillian is mean at 6 am. :) I did her 6 week 6 pack Level 2, which is really just uncalled for. But now I’m up and moving, which is a good thing.

Z is sitting on the floor playing Cootie, or “Cutie” as she calls it. She’s just playing with the bugs, rather than playing the game.  Tiny is asleep, and will hopefully sleep in for a while. I violated one of my huge self rules yesterday (Never wake a sleeping child, they will hate you and you will hate yourself) and woke her up at 8:30, and she was a big ol’ mess. So today she just gets to sleep.

It’s really pretty outside, overcast and lovely looking. I’ve realized that I’m really ready for fall, but seeing as it’s just starting to feel like  summer, I think we’ve got some time.

School has gone excellently this week, the girls are enjoying it, and we’re getting into a flow. I’m getting down my own procedures for tracking what we’re doing, and getting a better feel for how much time to allot to each subject, and how long Z’s tolerance for each subject is.  (Math? Unlimited. Writing? 7 minutes.)  Yesterday  we started learning how to sew, using yarn and plastic canvas. Whoever invented that stuff was brilliant. And whoever suggested it to me (my momma) is brilliant too. The girls loved it, and even Tiny was getting the hang of her needle going “up and down, up and down, up and down”. Today we’re doing our regular lessons and then going swimming for P.E. Bliss.

I’ve been working on a bunch of projects lately (and have a bunch more to do- goodness, the list is long!), would you like to see?

These are our school rules. We refer to them quite often.

A quilt for a friend’s baby.

A quilt for another friend’s baby. We had a “kid baby shower” for the new baby’s big brothers and their friends, and had each kid draw on a square. I think it turned out cute.

I’m part of a virtual quilting bee, and I got to be the first to host (to pick the pattern, send out fabric) and thus will be the first to have a completed quilt! I chose a “Confetti quilt” pattern- lots of little squares of fabric on a white background. These are the two sample squares I made up.  There’s supposed to be an element of “wonk” to it, so that it looks like confetti that just landed on the blanket. I’m not totally sold on the wonkiness, but trying new things is what the virtual bee is all about!

This little dolly is for the class I’m teaching at Super Saturday.

This is my Grandma. I didn’t make her, but isn’t she dang adorable? I ran across this picture this morning and just had to post it. I’m fairly certain that my girls get their feist from her.

And Tiny is awake. I’m off to get girls dressed, fed, and ready for school.

Oh, but first, it was my anniversary yesterday! 9 years of marriage, woohoo! We went to my favorite restaurant for dinner (SO GOOD!), I got a ridiculously expensive set of knives that I’ve been wanting, and I got B a new watch. And while I was at it, I got myself one too. I haven’t worn a watch in probably 5 years, but this one is worth breaking the trend.

The faces of the watches are actually super cool and flip over. I’ll take a picture of that later. :) I just like how mine looks like a bracelet when you flip the face over.  I’ve been really into bracelets lately (inspired by Mackin Ink (seriously, there are not words for how much I love her writing. And let’s be honest, I pretty much love her too. Is that weird? To have a girl crush on someone you don’t even know?) (And yes, I just did a parenthesis inside a parenthesis, and now I’m doing another one. You got something to say about that?) ) – I’ll have to take a picture of all my new ones sometime soon, but here’s a teaser:

And now the girls are playing, so I have half a minute to talk about books read recently:

Heathers by John Bowie: This is part of the Deep Focus series, where people write about their experiences with a film while analyzing it. (Kind of like the 33 1/2 series for music.) It was interesting, and a great read, but I wish he’d gone just a titch farther in his analysis. He did, however, confirm that Sherwood, Ohio was a nod to Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio, which was validating.

An Ideal Husband by Oscar Wilde: I love this play. Love it. I love the wit, love the incisiveness.

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman: Goodness sakes alive this book was good. Really really grab you and not let you go but in a really subtle sneaking up on you kind of way. It’s the story of an international newspaper and the people who work there, told in a series of interlinking short stories, and once I started reading it I just couldn’t stop. There’s an honesty to the stories that makes them compelling, and while they’re not action packed, there’s an underlying emotional tension that had me flipping through the pages like it was a thriller.  There are a couple of the stories that I just keep thinking about, and it’s been a couple of weeks since I finished it.  (Note: There is quite a bit of swearing, so be warned if that bothers you.)

And now it’s really time to go get moving. What’s happening at your house at this moment?