Those of you who know me know that potatoes and I don't have a very good track record. I don't know what potato spirit I offended or how I offended it, but long have I been cursed when it comes to potatoes. Monday was no exception. I'll offer you my tale of woe, for your amusement and entertainment, after I tell you of my fleeting success.
First, what I found that Works for Me:
On Monday, I made these delicious barbeque ham slices. I really wanted some cheesy hash browns to go with them, but since I have a potato curse, haven't found a recipe that I can cook. So, feeling confident and adventurous, I decided to invent my own recipe.
What resulted was incontestably the worst kitchen failure I have ever had.
With the barbeque ham slices now ready to come out of the oven, I had no side dish. But, I did have a small sauce pan of delicious cheese sauce, so.....
I scrubbed and pricked five potatoes and started them in the microwave. I put some green beans on the stove. I turned off the oven so the ham didn't burn. I set the table, and tried to hide the evidence of my earlier failure.
About 20 minutes later, we were sitting down to a delicious dinner of bbq ham slices, baked potatoes with cheese sauce, green beans, and homemade biscuits (which just happened to be leftover from Sunday's cooking project.) Sweet, sweet success.
The Cheese Sauce that Worked:
3 or 4 thick slices of Velveeta cheese
2 or 3 tablespoons milk
couple dashes of paprika
seasoning salt to taste (or Mrs Dash for a low-sodium alternative)
Place the cheese and the milk in a small sauce pan. Cook on low heat while stirring to melt the cheese. Add seasonings and continue to stir. When sauce is smooth and warm, pour into pitcher for serving over baked potatoes.
Voila!
That's really the end of the useful information. For those of you who are wondering, no, the Jedi didn't eat the green beans. Neither did Sweetling. In fact, I asked Sweetling if I could give her some "delicious green beans." She gave me a look. The Jedi said, "Well, you could....if such a thing existed."
The potatoes that didn't work:
Notice this section doesn't get the large font size.
Potatoes have this terrible habit of refusing to cook for me. I mean it. I'm not making this up. Thus, I can't make shredded hash browns, because no matter what I do, I have shredded raw potatoes in a sauce that browning and scorching. I've tried oodles of recipes.
Over the weekend, Telephone took me to a wonderful bed and breakfast in Amish country. She bought a cookbook full of the recipes they serve and was reading it to me on our drive home. (Obviously, I was driving.) We had delicious cheesy hash brown potatoes for breakfast on Saturday, and lo, there was the recipe.
Of course, come Monday night, I didn't have the recipe, but I thought it called for so many cups of *cooked* shredded potatoes. I decided, I would beat my potato curse by shredding the raw potatoes and THEN boil them. Then, surely, it would just be a matter of dumping them into a colander before putting them back into a pot with some cheese sauce.
The resultant gray sludge of starch which I dumped into my colander was by far one of the grossest items ever to come off my stove.
But, I did have nice little saucepan of cheese sauce from the experiment.
I would say that I'm never ever trying to make hash browns again, but we all know that would be a lie.
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Why my house is cluttered
I linked my Hearty Hamburgers over on Work's for Me Wednesday on We are THAT Family. While I was there, I thought I'd check out other WFMW links. There were several good ones on decluttering and organizing and spring cleaning. But what link am I going to keep? Something useful? Silly Rabbit.
I found this. I totally want one. Maybe in a different color scheme though.
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
House Fire---Needs
I talked to my brother again tonight. (His house burned to the ground just a few days before Easter. Fortunately, no one was at home at the time, so everyone is safe.)
He found a house to rent in the same school district that the kids had been attending and was able to manage a deposit on it. My nieces are in high school, and my nephew is in junior high.
He says that lots of neighbors and the local churches have really come together to bring his family stuff. He says the kids are doing pretty good on clothing right now, and the red cross gave them a cash card which he used to buy things like underwear and shoes for all of them.
Here are the things he still needs:
towels
bowls (like for cereal)
cups
sheets and blankets (for twin, full, or queen mattresses)
drapes and curtains (unknown sizes)
small kitchen appliances (mixer, blender…he has a microwave and toaster)
bakeware (cookie sheets, mixing bowls, mixing spoons…pots and pans and cooking spatulas are covered)
If you have an extra of anything on the list, I’ll be meeting with him this Friday (April 16th). I might also be making a second trip up on the following weekend, but that’s not definite.
I think donations of non-perishable foods, household goods, and cleaning supplies would also be appreciated.
He said they don’t need any silverware and someone already donated plates to them.
He has beds for everyone, but could use some more sheets and blankets so that they have more than one set of sheets for each bed. The mattress sizes they have are 1 twin, 2 fulls, and 1 queen.)
He has a couch, an arm chair, a kitchen table and chair, and dressers for the kids. I didn’t think to ask if he needed any lamps. I asked him for his clothing size, and his girlfriend's clothing size, but he told me they were fine, and not to worry about it.
I know its short notice, but if you have anything you'd like to donate, please bring them with you to church tomorrow night.
Please continue to keep my brother and his family in your prayers!
Thank you so much!
He found a house to rent in the same school district that the kids had been attending and was able to manage a deposit on it. My nieces are in high school, and my nephew is in junior high.
He says that lots of neighbors and the local churches have really come together to bring his family stuff. He says the kids are doing pretty good on clothing right now, and the red cross gave them a cash card which he used to buy things like underwear and shoes for all of them.
Here are the things he still needs:
towels
bowls (like for cereal)
cups
sheets and blankets (for twin, full, or queen mattresses)
drapes and curtains (unknown sizes)
small kitchen appliances (mixer, blender…he has a microwave and toaster)
bakeware (cookie sheets, mixing bowls, mixing spoons…pots and pans and cooking spatulas are covered)
If you have an extra of anything on the list, I’ll be meeting with him this Friday (April 16th). I might also be making a second trip up on the following weekend, but that’s not definite.
I think donations of non-perishable foods, household goods, and cleaning supplies would also be appreciated.
He said they don’t need any silverware and someone already donated plates to them.
He has beds for everyone, but could use some more sheets and blankets so that they have more than one set of sheets for each bed. The mattress sizes they have are 1 twin, 2 fulls, and 1 queen.)
He has a couch, an arm chair, a kitchen table and chair, and dressers for the kids. I didn’t think to ask if he needed any lamps. I asked him for his clothing size, and his girlfriend's clothing size, but he told me they were fine, and not to worry about it.
I know its short notice, but if you have anything you'd like to donate, please bring them with you to church tomorrow night.
Please continue to keep my brother and his family in your prayers!
Thank you so much!
Saturday, April 10, 2010
Summer Reading List, and other ideas
You know how I am. If I don't make a note of this right now....I'll never find it again.
Cruising through others' weekly wrap-ups and I came across a list of books I'd like to track down to read over the summer.
ooo! And Paddle-to-the-Sea!
And French Toast Matzah. We went to our first family seder this past Saturday. It was really, really interesting and neat. I don't know if we'll be keeping full Passover next year, but I definitely want to repeat the Seder.
Cruising through others' weekly wrap-ups and I came across a list of books I'd like to track down to read over the summer.
ooo! And Paddle-to-the-Sea!
And French Toast Matzah. We went to our first family seder this past Saturday. It was really, really interesting and neat. I don't know if we'll be keeping full Passover next year, but I definitely want to repeat the Seder.
Weekly Wrap-Up: Gardening!
The good news is, my children do NOT hate gardening.
I decided that we were going to take an extra week of spring break to get some gardening done. I envisioned this time as a happy, wholesome, family bonding time. In the middle of Monday morning, after an hour or so cleaning up the dead material left through the winter, I realized the only thing I was accomplishing was to instill a lifelong dread of gardening in my children.
So, I broke the tasks up into smaller chunks, and made sure the kids got lots of breaks to play on the swingset. Everyone's mood was much improved. We got the garden cleaned up, weeded, and some of the soil turned over before lunch. After an afternoon of some housework and some free time, I made hearty hamburgers, fries, and zucchini chips for dinner. (If anyone has a great recipe for zucchini, I'd love to have it. Toa of Boy and I love zucchini, but I'm still looking for the perfect way to prepare it.)
Tuesday, we took a break from gardening and went to my women's small group. We also spent a couple hours working in our church's food pantry. We followed that up with a treat of lunch from Wendy's before hitting the library. That afternoon, a box of plants, which had been ordered back in February arrived. This spurred on my garden fever. (That evening, I smashed out the taillights in the van backing into a pole in the walmart parking lot. I also denting the bumper. The Jedi fixed the big smash in the bumper as soon as I got home. The next day he bought a new housing for the tail lights and replace that in less than ten minutes before our Wednesday night church activities. Today he's going to buy touch up paint to coverup the scratches I made all over the corner of the rear bumper.)
Wednesday it was back to the garden. But, as I told the kids, today was going to be much more fun. We did the hard work on Monday, so now we were ready to put the plants in. The kids had each picked out the plants they wanted when we placed our orders, so that helped them care more about the process. Toa of Boy is especially excited about his blueberry bush. (He was less thrilled to learn that it would be a couple before the 8 inch twig actually produced any blueberries.) Again, lots of swingset breaks happened.
The access path through the strawberry patch had been covered with weeds. So, after having the kids help me pull off the stepping stones to be piled on the side, I covered the path with cardboard, since I had a stack of boxes ready to be broken down in the garage. I put a layer of pine bark nuggets over the cardboard, and then placed my stepping stones back along the path. It looks really great and it should be a weed free solution for this year. The area on the right is where the strawberries are going, the wall along the garage has some tomato cages, and the corner on the left has some perennials (sedum autumn joy, purple coneflower, and hibiscus). In that corner I also planted five asparagus plants, and filled the front of that area in with a few more spinach plants.
I did the same thing for the corner that cuts from the patio to the mulched swingset area. (My daffodils are past their bloom already, boo hoo.)
After a lunch of noodles and stirfry veggies, Sweetling and I went back out to plant our square-foot vegetable garden. We don't have a lot of sun in our yard, so our veggie garden is a two foot deep strip underneath my bedroom window. In that tiny space, we have three zucchini bush plants, two cucumber vines, 16 carrots, 9 spinach plants, and 12 or 16 lettuce plants. We've used logs to edge the raised bed, and straight sticks to mark off our grid, cause both those materials were free from windfall from all the tress we have on our wooded slope. I did move the tomato cages to the side of the garage wall, cause they were too tall to fit nicely under my bedroom window, and last year I got tired of the view out my bedroom window being the top of ugly tomato cages. Before we put the seeds in, I dug in some leaf mulch, some peat moss, some compost, and a couple handfuls of bonemeal. Sweetling did a great job of measuring out how many seeds should go in each square and planting them to the correct depth. We left a little space near the edge of the vegetable garden for some marigolds in every square. I'm hoping the marigolds deter the snacking critters who were the primary beneficiaries of our vegetable garden last year.
Thursday, Tia smurf was over. We made a delicious lunch of rice, son-in-law eggs, and stirfry chicken and asparagus in a brown shallot sauce. And when I say "we", I mostly mean the smurf. I did the complicated tasks of chopping asparagus, defrosting chicken, and peeling the hardboiled eggs (with help from Toa of Boy.)
After our wonderful meal, we had an art day. We all painted paver stones, which will be used in our sundial we'll be making in the front yard in June. I'll post about that when we do it, so that I can include pictures of the process. We need 12 pavers all together, to mark the 12 hours of the day. We decided to paint each paver with something that would correspond with the 12 months of the year as well....even though our sundial will only roughly mark the time through the day, and has nothing to do with the calendar year. But it looks cool, and that's what's important.
We took Tia Smurf home, doing some measurements in her front yard for a planting design I promised her at Christmas. We had dinner, and then while Sweetling was at Tae Kwon Do, Toa and I engaged in another art project. We each got our sketchbooks, and I got my oil pastels and Toa got his crayons. Then we set a timer (we buy our timers at the dollar store). For 6 minutes, we each drew in our own sketchbook. At the end of 6 minutes, when the timer went off, we traded sketchbooks and each of us worked on the drawing the other person had started. Toa decided ahead of time that we would each be drawing gardens. So, after many many trades, we each had a bright colorful, fantastical garden in our sketchbooks. Each garden drawing was a combination of mediums and artists, so they each turned out really cool and unique.
On Friday, we had our friends the Incredibles over, so that Mrs. Incredible could go to the Cincinnati Home School Convention. Sweetling was an AWESOME babysitter for the boys. I sat at my computer downstairs and got us caught up on logging OHVA attendance, which hadn't been done since February. (Sweetling said, "that has nothing to do with you being you or anything.") Sweetling was the Queen of the Wii, and kept the boys entertained and monitored and under control. At one point, while the Equestrian was trying to get Sweetling past some big boss in a Mario game, I heard Sweetling tell the audience of little boys, "Ok, we're going to play the quiet game now....and whoever wins gets a Hershey kiss!"
The one instruction Mrs Incredible (aka Mango) gave me before leaving was to make sure Jack-Jack, who was not in a pull-up, stayed dry. I failed at that three times. But, I have access to a washer and dryer, so Mango never need know. No one tell her. It will be our little secret. (Really, I only failed once...the second time he just had trouble wiping himself and the underwear needed changed as a result. I also, cleaning him up, realized that friendship often means wiping the poopy bottom of your friend's child while he tells you all about the two lazers he has in his garage, one on each side of his garage, in fact. The third accident was just an aiming accident while he was at or on the toilett. See, I'm not completely irresponsible.)
That afternoon, we loaded the car seats into the van and went to Blockbuster. Before we left I gave a nice talk about how the democratic process and majority rule was going to come into play when it came time to select a movie. This talk proved usless, because there, bold as life, in the Blockbuster window, was a poster for the second Chipmunks movie. Consequently, we burst into Blockbuster with a whirlwind of five excited children who were all squealing "The Squeakquel!!!" Mercifully, the Squeakquel was close to the front door, so we were in and out of there before the employees could truly hate me.
Friday night, the Jedi decided we needed a family activity. It turns out that the family activity was taking the last of the gift cards the Jedi had received for Christmas and making the half hour drive to the nearest Cold Stone for ice cream. If we ever were in a position to buy a franchise, I'd want a Cold Stone Creamery. We tried to get Vaya to get a job at ColdStone, back when they were in a nearby mall, but Vaya knew we were just trying to take advantage of her for free ice cream, and she wasn't having any of it. I'm still scarred by her refusal.
After we got home, I finished up my awesome, awesome week by getting a school schedule together that I hope will be a decent hybrid of the k-12 curriculum we need to finish up this year and the new approach to schooling I want to initiate next year. I am as happy as I can be with the hybrid. (Thursdays are our co-op days, so they didn't need to go on the schedule. Tuesday morning we're at church for my women's group. Toa watches a movie and plays, and Sweetling can use the time as a study hall to do co-op work, or she can take her netbook and be online, or she can watch a movie with the other kids.)
Check out what others have done this week on Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
I decided that we were going to take an extra week of spring break to get some gardening done. I envisioned this time as a happy, wholesome, family bonding time. In the middle of Monday morning, after an hour or so cleaning up the dead material left through the winter, I realized the only thing I was accomplishing was to instill a lifelong dread of gardening in my children.
So, I broke the tasks up into smaller chunks, and made sure the kids got lots of breaks to play on the swingset. Everyone's mood was much improved. We got the garden cleaned up, weeded, and some of the soil turned over before lunch. After an afternoon of some housework and some free time, I made hearty hamburgers, fries, and zucchini chips for dinner. (If anyone has a great recipe for zucchini, I'd love to have it. Toa of Boy and I love zucchini, but I'm still looking for the perfect way to prepare it.)
Tuesday, we took a break from gardening and went to my women's small group. We also spent a couple hours working in our church's food pantry. We followed that up with a treat of lunch from Wendy's before hitting the library. That afternoon, a box of plants, which had been ordered back in February arrived. This spurred on my garden fever. (That evening, I smashed out the taillights in the van backing into a pole in the walmart parking lot. I also denting the bumper. The Jedi fixed the big smash in the bumper as soon as I got home. The next day he bought a new housing for the tail lights and replace that in less than ten minutes before our Wednesday night church activities. Today he's going to buy touch up paint to coverup the scratches I made all over the corner of the rear bumper.)
Wednesday it was back to the garden. But, as I told the kids, today was going to be much more fun. We did the hard work on Monday, so now we were ready to put the plants in. The kids had each picked out the plants they wanted when we placed our orders, so that helped them care more about the process. Toa of Boy is especially excited about his blueberry bush. (He was less thrilled to learn that it would be a couple before the 8 inch twig actually produced any blueberries.) Again, lots of swingset breaks happened.
After a lunch of noodles and stirfry veggies, Sweetling and I went back out to plant our square-foot vegetable garden. We don't have a lot of sun in our yard, so our veggie garden is a two foot deep strip underneath my bedroom window. In that tiny space, we have three zucchini bush plants, two cucumber vines, 16 carrots, 9 spinach plants, and 12 or 16 lettuce plants. We've used logs to edge the raised bed, and straight sticks to mark off our grid, cause both those materials were free from windfall from all the tress we have on our wooded slope. I did move the tomato cages to the side of the garage wall, cause they were too tall to fit nicely under my bedroom window, and last year I got tired of the view out my bedroom window being the top of ugly tomato cages. Before we put the seeds in, I dug in some leaf mulch, some peat moss, some compost, and a couple handfuls of bonemeal. Sweetling did a great job of measuring out how many seeds should go in each square and planting them to the correct depth. We left a little space near the edge of the vegetable garden for some marigolds in every square. I'm hoping the marigolds deter the snacking critters who were the primary beneficiaries of our vegetable garden last year.
Thursday, Tia smurf was over. We made a delicious lunch of rice, son-in-law eggs, and stirfry chicken and asparagus in a brown shallot sauce. And when I say "we", I mostly mean the smurf. I did the complicated tasks of chopping asparagus, defrosting chicken, and peeling the hardboiled eggs (with help from Toa of Boy.)
After our wonderful meal, we had an art day. We all painted paver stones, which will be used in our sundial we'll be making in the front yard in June. I'll post about that when we do it, so that I can include pictures of the process. We need 12 pavers all together, to mark the 12 hours of the day. We decided to paint each paver with something that would correspond with the 12 months of the year as well....even though our sundial will only roughly mark the time through the day, and has nothing to do with the calendar year. But it looks cool, and that's what's important.
We took Tia Smurf home, doing some measurements in her front yard for a planting design I promised her at Christmas. We had dinner, and then while Sweetling was at Tae Kwon Do, Toa and I engaged in another art project. We each got our sketchbooks, and I got my oil pastels and Toa got his crayons. Then we set a timer (we buy our timers at the dollar store). For 6 minutes, we each drew in our own sketchbook. At the end of 6 minutes, when the timer went off, we traded sketchbooks and each of us worked on the drawing the other person had started. Toa decided ahead of time that we would each be drawing gardens. So, after many many trades, we each had a bright colorful, fantastical garden in our sketchbooks. Each garden drawing was a combination of mediums and artists, so they each turned out really cool and unique.
On Friday, we had our friends the Incredibles over, so that Mrs. Incredible could go to the Cincinnati Home School Convention. Sweetling was an AWESOME babysitter for the boys. I sat at my computer downstairs and got us caught up on logging OHVA attendance, which hadn't been done since February. (Sweetling said, "that has nothing to do with you being you or anything.") Sweetling was the Queen of the Wii, and kept the boys entertained and monitored and under control. At one point, while the Equestrian was trying to get Sweetling past some big boss in a Mario game, I heard Sweetling tell the audience of little boys, "Ok, we're going to play the quiet game now....and whoever wins gets a Hershey kiss!"
The one instruction Mrs Incredible (aka Mango) gave me before leaving was to make sure Jack-Jack, who was not in a pull-up, stayed dry. I failed at that three times. But, I have access to a washer and dryer, so Mango never need know. No one tell her. It will be our little secret. (Really, I only failed once...the second time he just had trouble wiping himself and the underwear needed changed as a result. I also, cleaning him up, realized that friendship often means wiping the poopy bottom of your friend's child while he tells you all about the two lazers he has in his garage, one on each side of his garage, in fact. The third accident was just an aiming accident while he was at or on the toilett. See, I'm not completely irresponsible.)
That afternoon, we loaded the car seats into the van and went to Blockbuster. Before we left I gave a nice talk about how the democratic process and majority rule was going to come into play when it came time to select a movie. This talk proved usless, because there, bold as life, in the Blockbuster window, was a poster for the second Chipmunks movie. Consequently, we burst into Blockbuster with a whirlwind of five excited children who were all squealing "The Squeakquel!!!" Mercifully, the Squeakquel was close to the front door, so we were in and out of there before the employees could truly hate me.
After we got home, I finished up my awesome, awesome week by getting a school schedule together that I hope will be a decent hybrid of the k-12 curriculum we need to finish up this year and the new approach to schooling I want to initiate next year. I am as happy as I can be with the hybrid. (Thursdays are our co-op days, so they didn't need to go on the schedule. Tuesday morning we're at church for my women's group. Toa watches a movie and plays, and Sweetling can use the time as a study hall to do co-op work, or she can take her netbook and be online, or she can watch a movie with the other kids.)
Check out what others have done this week on Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Kindness Countdown: 13
I love these stories.
A friend of my husband's has fallen into hard times. He and his family are about to get evicted from their home, and many other things have decided to happen all at once. The situation is so bad that his church is not able to help them out. Since he's a landscaper/painter, we've hired him to so several things around our house. Instead of waiting for the job to be finished, we've decided to do a "pay as you go" system. Since he's a proud sort, I didn't want to embarrass him with obvious donations. Instead, I've been padding my payments with extra to help him out for the next month or so. I'm blessed to have a job that allows me to support my family, even though that means I'm away from home a lot, and I have enough to share without hesitation.To read the rest of the stories, click here.
I hope you get all 40 wishes!
WFMW: Hearty Hamburgers
Yes, this is a Works for Me Wednesday idea. Yes, I know it technically isn't Wednesday. See, if I wait till Wednesday to post this....I'll forget. So, I'm posting this now, when I'm thinking of it and have the chance, and then I'll McLinky it over on We Are THAT Family on, gasp, Wednesday. I'm sneaky that way.
Simple, delicious, very filling, recipe for hamburgers. This recipe makes about 6 substantial hamburgers. If you need more, the recipe is very easy to double.
Ingredients:
One to one and a half pounds ground meat (beef or turkey, your choice)
Half a box of stuffing (unprepared, any flavor, save the other half for another time)
One egg
Preparations:
Preheat your grill, or preheat the broiler in your oven. Meanwhile, in a bowl, with your hands, mix together the ground meat, the half box of stuffing, and an egg. Shape into patties about the size of your palm, and flatten slightly. This should make about 6 patties.
Cooking:
Grill, or, cook under the broiler in your oven. Broil a few inches from the heat. After 4-5 minutes, flip the burgers with a spatula. Broil another 4-5 minutes on the other side.
Use a spatula to move the burgers to a clean plate. Top with cheese, if desired. Serve on buns with your favorite toppings.
Simple, delicious, very filling, recipe for hamburgers. This recipe makes about 6 substantial hamburgers. If you need more, the recipe is very easy to double.
Ingredients:
One to one and a half pounds ground meat (beef or turkey, your choice)
Half a box of stuffing (unprepared, any flavor, save the other half for another time)
One egg
Preparations:
Preheat your grill, or preheat the broiler in your oven. Meanwhile, in a bowl, with your hands, mix together the ground meat, the half box of stuffing, and an egg. Shape into patties about the size of your palm, and flatten slightly. This should make about 6 patties.
Cooking:
Grill, or, cook under the broiler in your oven. Broil a few inches from the heat. After 4-5 minutes, flip the burgers with a spatula. Broil another 4-5 minutes on the other side.
Use a spatula to move the burgers to a clean plate. Top with cheese, if desired. Serve on buns with your favorite toppings.
Kindness Countdown: 12
You can see from the first sentence that the friend who send me this response to my birthday wishes is a woman after my own heart ;)
In other news, my sister is starting a blog to keep track of donations we've received, and items we still need for my brother. We haven't been able to get in touch with my brother since Easter. The last I had heard, he was still looking for a more permanent place for he and his family to stay. The cell phone reception in East Nowhere is pretty spotty, so its not unusual to not be able to get through to him. Having a call that actually connects to his cell is like winning the cell phone tower lottery.
Here are the kids' clothing and shoe sizes. We especially need clothes for the girl who is a size 5/6 (May) and the boy (Shay).
Shoe sizes-
Kay- 6 1/2 womens
May- 9 1/2 womens
Shay- 7 mens
Shirt sizes--
Kay-- XS/S womens
May-- M womens
Shay-- M/L mens
Pant sizes--
Kay-- 0,1 womens/juniors?
May-- 5,6 womens
Shay-- 28-30 mens
The blog should be up today, and I'll post a link to it as soon as I have it.
I didn't forget to do the random act of kindness I just forgot to email you when it was done. :) Well actually it was already planned before you gave me the card but I'll take what I can get.
For mine I "tried" to take the kids [of a pregnant friend who has been put on full bedrest] for the day. I figured the mom would need a break. I did successfully get to take the little girl but the little boy woke up that day with a fever so he stayed home with Mom and Dad. Anyway my kids and I took their little girl swimming at the Y, to play at our house and out to eat at McDonalds to play at their playland.
We also gave the family a giftcard to Outback. The idea was that they would get a quiet lunch away from the kids but since the little boy was sick I told them to just use it when they got the chance.
I'm also carrying around two bags of girl clothes that I have to give away to people at church. There are two families that usually go through the bags and divy them up. Oh and some company has decided that I had a baby, gee I don't remember that so I've also got formula that I plan to drop off at the church nursery for someone to take.
Hope you get the rest of your responses soon.
In other news, my sister is starting a blog to keep track of donations we've received, and items we still need for my brother. We haven't been able to get in touch with my brother since Easter. The last I had heard, he was still looking for a more permanent place for he and his family to stay. The cell phone reception in East Nowhere is pretty spotty, so its not unusual to not be able to get through to him. Having a call that actually connects to his cell is like winning the cell phone tower lottery.
Here are the kids' clothing and shoe sizes. We especially need clothes for the girl who is a size 5/6 (May) and the boy (Shay).
Shoe sizes-
Kay- 6 1/2 womens
May- 9 1/2 womens
Shay- 7 mens
Shirt sizes--
Kay-- XS/S womens
May-- M womens
Shay-- M/L mens
Pant sizes--
Kay-- 0,1 womens/juniors?
May-- 5,6 womens
Shay-- 28-30 mens
The blog should be up today, and I'll post a link to it as soon as I have it.
Thursday, April 08, 2010
Kindness Countdown: 10 and 11
No, I haven't lost count. I am repeating number 10 on purpose. The doer of a previously confidential reply gave me permission to post hers as long as I wasn't putting any names with it, which I haven't been :) I'm loving all my Birthday Wishes!
So, without further ado, number 10,
And number 11...
One of my girls from the seventh grade life group came up to me after youth group last night. She said she performed an act of kindness for me and she gave some clothes to Goodwill. Way to go my girl!
Someone else at church asked me if it was "too late" to do an act of kindness for my birthday. Of course not! I'd still like to receive 29 more responses :)
So, without further ado, number 10,
I have a friend going through a rough patch in her marriage. It was suggested to her that she do some random acts of kindness of her own for her husband - even when she's not feeling particularly kind towards him at the moment. Some days this is a struggle for her. In honor of your birthday I'm going to give her a copy of The Love Dare to help her with some creative ways to show love to him during this difficult time.
And number 11...
One of my girls from the seventh grade life group came up to me after youth group last night. She said she performed an act of kindness for me and she gave some clothes to Goodwill. Way to go my girl!
Someone else at church asked me if it was "too late" to do an act of kindness for my birthday. Of course not! I'd still like to receive 29 more responses :)
Entrepeneur
After Bible study on Tuesday monring, I try to check our church's small food pantry. If new food donations have come in, I shelve them. If any bags of food have been given away, I bag up some more food. (I try to keep a few bags on hand. Our pantry doesn't have specific hours, but occasionally persons will stop by the church asking for some help with groceries or someone on staff will become aware of a family in need. Either way, its nice for the staff to have bags of food that are already pre-packed. I try to ensure that each group of bags have a few meals that can be put together from the contents of the bag as well as a few pantry staples like peanut butter, jelly, and cereal.)
Usually, it only takes me ten to fifteen minutes to shelve donations and restock bags of food. I have a list of food items that go into each group of bags, so I can be efficient and consistant. This week, however, I walked into the little room that holds our food pantry and immediately noticed that there were several bags of new donations as well as one group of bags which had been given away. I stepped into the room and opened one of the cabinets, and thats when the smell hit me. Now, I don't have a very good sense of smell, so an odor has to be really strong for me to notice it as all. I also am not very good at precisely identifying the source or the type of smell. So, I couldn't tell what exactly might be making the odor, I just knew something smelled really bad. We don't have any means of refridgeration, so all our food items are canned or boxed non-perishables, still, something smelled really, really bad.
I began pulling boxed food out first, thinking something must have gotten wet and turned nasty. Terrible images started filling my head. I won't share any of them here. You're welcome. Not finding anything, I started checking experiation dates...which I didn't expect would lead anywhere, since I though another volunteer had told me she did that at Thanksgiving. Sadly, I began finding post dated food. I pulled it out, but still couldn't find the source of the odor.
Frustrated, I went to the office and got help. The women who came to help identified the smell from the hallway. It was the drain in the floor of the room, and had nothing to do with the food pantry at all. Some bleach was poured down the drain, which seemed to resolve that problem.
But by now, I had emptied a good portion of the cabinet, and had found a few past-dated food items. I decided to just continue to clean out the cabinet and to check all the sell-by dates. I brought Sweetling in to help, and had Toa of Boy take past-date items out to set them on a table in the little atrium area near the secondary entrance to the church.
As we were working, pastor walked by. I heard him asking Toa if Toa was setting up a store. Without missing a beat, Toa answered, "$4.99! Anything on the table, $4.99!" Pastor came up the back hall to find me and ask me about new shelving solutions. He also told me of the interchange between himself and Toa. As he was walking back out, he passed by Toa's table again. This time Toa offered to sell him anyting from the table for just a dollar an item.
It took us two hours, but we checked every item, reorganized the cabinet, shelved the new donations, and repackaged some bags of food. We placed a sign on Toa's table, which was beautifully organized and arranged to display his wares. We put a sign on the table, "past-date; please take." I can't put the past-date food in bags to give out as part of our food pantry ministry, but I didn't want to throw the food away either. But, as long as people know that the food was past its sell by date, and elected to take them anyway, then I can still use the food to be a blessing to someone.
It was well past our normal lunchtime by the time we were done. We still had some errands to run, and they had both been such a big help, so we splurged and went to Wendy's for lunch. We took our food to go, and ate on the lawn outside the library.
And thus, Toa's first entrepreneur enterprise came to a glorious end.
Usually, it only takes me ten to fifteen minutes to shelve donations and restock bags of food. I have a list of food items that go into each group of bags, so I can be efficient and consistant. This week, however, I walked into the little room that holds our food pantry and immediately noticed that there were several bags of new donations as well as one group of bags which had been given away. I stepped into the room and opened one of the cabinets, and thats when the smell hit me. Now, I don't have a very good sense of smell, so an odor has to be really strong for me to notice it as all. I also am not very good at precisely identifying the source or the type of smell. So, I couldn't tell what exactly might be making the odor, I just knew something smelled really bad. We don't have any means of refridgeration, so all our food items are canned or boxed non-perishables, still, something smelled really, really bad.
I began pulling boxed food out first, thinking something must have gotten wet and turned nasty. Terrible images started filling my head. I won't share any of them here. You're welcome. Not finding anything, I started checking experiation dates...which I didn't expect would lead anywhere, since I though another volunteer had told me she did that at Thanksgiving. Sadly, I began finding post dated food. I pulled it out, but still couldn't find the source of the odor.
Frustrated, I went to the office and got help. The women who came to help identified the smell from the hallway. It was the drain in the floor of the room, and had nothing to do with the food pantry at all. Some bleach was poured down the drain, which seemed to resolve that problem.
But by now, I had emptied a good portion of the cabinet, and had found a few past-dated food items. I decided to just continue to clean out the cabinet and to check all the sell-by dates. I brought Sweetling in to help, and had Toa of Boy take past-date items out to set them on a table in the little atrium area near the secondary entrance to the church.
As we were working, pastor walked by. I heard him asking Toa if Toa was setting up a store. Without missing a beat, Toa answered, "$4.99! Anything on the table, $4.99!" Pastor came up the back hall to find me and ask me about new shelving solutions. He also told me of the interchange between himself and Toa. As he was walking back out, he passed by Toa's table again. This time Toa offered to sell him anyting from the table for just a dollar an item.
It took us two hours, but we checked every item, reorganized the cabinet, shelved the new donations, and repackaged some bags of food. We placed a sign on Toa's table, which was beautifully organized and arranged to display his wares. We put a sign on the table, "past-date; please take." I can't put the past-date food in bags to give out as part of our food pantry ministry, but I didn't want to throw the food away either. But, as long as people know that the food was past its sell by date, and elected to take them anyway, then I can still use the food to be a blessing to someone.
It was well past our normal lunchtime by the time we were done. We still had some errands to run, and they had both been such a big help, so we splurged and went to Wendy's for lunch. We took our food to go, and ate on the lawn outside the library.
And thus, Toa's first entrepreneur enterprise came to a glorious end.
Monday, April 05, 2010
Kindness Countdown: 7, 8, 9, and 10
I've been letting some of these pile up in my inbox!
And...
And I had two more reports of acts of kindness, but I was asked to keep both of those completely confidential, so I will.
Update on my brother's house....the kids stayed with their grandma for a few days. They were supposed to go back to school today, but that can't quite happen till they have a new home. (Their grandma lives a little over an hour away from their school.) My brother met with the Red Cross, who gave him a 'cash card' good for purchasing food and some new clothing. He spent Easter weekend trying to find a new place to live, but said it was nearly impossible, because offices and whatnot are all closed for the Easter weekend. He was planning on doing a lot of legwork today to try to line up something.
Mama called and talked to the kids on Easter. We got a list of all their clothing sizes, which I'll be posting soon. I have one friend with teenage boys who is checking to see if they have anything that will fit my nephew. If, anyone else has something they can donate, that would be awesome. Once my brother gets a new place, they will be in need of household items as well (dishes, towels, blankets, etc). My sister might be working on a web-based list, so we can keep track of what they have been given, and what they still need.
Thank you for all your prayers and support!
First I like to say Happy Birthay big 40. I just wanted you to know how God had just placed on my heart to do something for someone Sunday; and just as I was walking out the door you give me you card about how you wanted to celebrate your 40th birthday. I was thinking that was right on time. God set me up ! God had me frame a poem he had me come across years ago, to let someone know how special they are in his sight and how much he loves them.
I pray you day is filled with lots of love and happiness.
And...
Here is the candle I am lighting for your cake. The act of encouragement I completed last week was for a co-workers daughter. Over the past year and a half this young lady has become homeless after being caught shop lifting in Western Hills with her 5 year old son and being fired from her job for erratic behavior. She was diagnosed with bipolar illness and her mom (my co-worker) has assumed custody of her 5 year old son.
She on a rare occasion will come to see her mom in the office and looks lost and forlorn. (As a teenager she experimented with lesbianism and sex outside marriage, been beat by her boyfriend, drugs, multiple school changes, etc) I have tried to reach out to her on the rare occasion I get to see her but was not successful before. (Her mom had told me she was depressed and disappointed with herself and felt unlovable.)
I received your card about a week ago. Last week it happened! I went into her mom's office to say hello and she started adoring the bracelet I had on. She told me the history of cats eye stones and why she likes them so much. I then said something like,,, You know what, please understand what I am saying, I love you and I want you to have this. You are special. She said, oh no, you must be kidding this cost too much. I had an opportunity to tell her that it didn't matter the cost, I wanted her to have it and when I feel like I should give someone something I do that. I told her she had a purpose for living and that she is loveable and I wanted to give her something that would bring a smile to her face. She starting smiling and couldn't believe that I was giving her this for no reason. I told her that I also had a matching necklace I would give to her mom to pass along. She hugged me and I told her to smile more often.
Later that week I have her mom the matching necklace. Her mom told me that she ( her daughter) is having a hard time believing she is loveable and this my giving allowed them to have a discussion about love.
I hope you enjoy this act of encouragement and kindness and on for your birthday.
I sure did!
And I had two more reports of acts of kindness, but I was asked to keep both of those completely confidential, so I will.
Update on my brother's house....the kids stayed with their grandma for a few days. They were supposed to go back to school today, but that can't quite happen till they have a new home. (Their grandma lives a little over an hour away from their school.) My brother met with the Red Cross, who gave him a 'cash card' good for purchasing food and some new clothing. He spent Easter weekend trying to find a new place to live, but said it was nearly impossible, because offices and whatnot are all closed for the Easter weekend. He was planning on doing a lot of legwork today to try to line up something.
Mama called and talked to the kids on Easter. We got a list of all their clothing sizes, which I'll be posting soon. I have one friend with teenage boys who is checking to see if they have anything that will fit my nephew. If, anyone else has something they can donate, that would be awesome. Once my brother gets a new place, they will be in need of household items as well (dishes, towels, blankets, etc). My sister might be working on a web-based list, so we can keep track of what they have been given, and what they still need.
Thank you for all your prayers and support!
Saturday, April 03, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up: House Fire
We got word Thursday night that my brother's house, in East Nowhere, Ohio, burnt to the ground. At the time in happened, my nieces and nephew were staying with their grandma's house during spring break, and my brother was out....so no one was at home and everyone is safe.
I had been looking forward to writing on my blog during the day on Friday. I had a lot of fun things from the week that I wanted to share. But when I first woke up on Friday and thought about writing, I wondered how I could write about things that seemed so trivial now.
We don't know yet if his home was insured at all. Even if it was insured, we aren't sure that the property was in his name, so the insurance money, if there is any, might not go to him. He works in construction, and work has been sparse to non-exixtant for him for many months now. I know this has been a devastating blow for him. Everything he and his family owned is gone and he doesn't have anything left in savings, and he might not get any insurance money to use to get back on his feet. I talked to him briefly on the phone Thursday night. It was so soon after the news had hit him, that he hadn't had time to process any of it yet.
My sister and I have both offered our houses if they need a place to stay. We're both ready to organize shopping expeditions to reoutfit the kids with clothes and such. I want to drive up there and *do* something... But it's not time for that yet. The Jedi, who is very wise, says my brother needs sometime to try to figure things out himself first. My sister was told the same thing from her husband. That didn't stop me from being awake at 1a.m. thinking about options. My sister was up looking at local house listings. Still, right now we need to sit tight and pray.
In light of all that, is a description of my week appropriate? Yes. Yes, I think it is. Last week, I was flippantly remarking that arson might be easier than spring-cleaning and decluttering. Reality has thrown that jest back in my face.
I am ever so grateful that my brother and his family are safe. And I need to remember to appreciate all that I have and to never take life, my home, my family, the time we have together, for granted.
This is what we did this week, because I need to remember to celebrate each day. This is indeed the day that the Lord has made, and I will always rejoice and be glad in it.
On Monday morning, we visited the new co-op we will be attending next year. We went so that the kids could get a feel for it, not becuase I had any doubts that this is what we would be doing. I just thought the kids needed the help to smooth the transition. The kids were totally fine with the transition; it was the Mommy who was shell-shocked.
On Monday afternoon, I was supposed to meet a friend down at the children's museum. BUT, I was overwhelmed with co-op, and I had a new refridgerator being delivered, and I completely FORGOT and stood my friend up. Instead, we went home and pulled everything out of the freezer to put in coolers. Everything that came out of the fridge went into double bagged paper grocery bags with a third paper bag snugged upside down on top of the bag to help insulate the fridge items. We had a two hour delivery window, and even after the fridge got there, we couldn't put anything back in the fridge or freezer till the Jedi got home and installed and then hooked up a new water line. So, I did what I could to try to keep my perishables cool for several hours. The delivery truck pulled up at the very start of the two hour window, and I still had stuff in the fridge. The kids came in and helped me get the last items out of the fridge while I went down and opened the door.
In short order, the old fridge was pulled out....and I discovered that at least one of the great dust storms of the 1930s had crawled underneath my old fridge to die. Seriously, it was that bad. I honestly needed a mask to clean up with, because the dust kicked up was so fine. I didn't have a mask, but oh I needed one. The delivery guy told me I had two minutes to clean before the new fridge came in. (I might have screamed when I first walked into the kitchen and saw the terrible dust carnage.)
After the new fridge was in, he showed me how to remove the bottom grill so that I could periodically vacuum under the fridge. He said the biggest cause of refridgerator death is dust build-up! I lived in appartments and rental homes all my life, and I had no idea. I'm sharing this, so that others might learn from my near-dust experience.
On Monday evening, after the Jedi had quickly installed a new water-line and got the new fridge situated and then reloaded the freezer for me....and after I had arranged and organized my new fridge....I went back to freaking out over co-op. After a long discussion with the Jedi, I called a friend and had another long discussion. I just didn't feel any peace over attending this new co-op. I went in with one set of expectations, and was completely thrown off kilter when certain aspects weren't at all what I expected. That night, the Jedi and I decided this new co-op wouldn't work for our family.
In the midst of this angst, all the bunnies in the house had to sit together on the couch for a bunny family portrait. Toby Bunny is a new addition to the family, you see, and it was imperitative that he meet all his new bunny brothers and sisters.
On Tuesday, we spent four hours at the park. Toby Bunny had to sit on the dashboard of the van so he could have a commanding view out the front wind shield. The weather is warm and sunny. Its beautiful enough out to make me almost want to go out and sunbathe in a string bikini. I won't, partly because I don't have a string bikini and partly because no one but the Jedi wants to see my forty-year old body in a string bikini. My neighborhood doesn't have many zoning ordinances, but I gaurantee you that the day I venture outside in a string bikini would be the day a petition drive would be launched.
On our way home from the park, we stopped at the library to drop off and check out books. We headed home for dinner, and then the Jedi and Sweetling had Tae Kwon Do. Toa and I were going back to the library for Tales for Tails, a program where kids can read stories to certified therapy dogs from Touch of Healing. Toa was pumped about this program.
At dinner, Toa was telling the Jedi about our plans. Said Toa, "Daddy, I'm going to read a book to a real dog."
"A real dog, Toa?" asks Daddy.
"Yeah, a real dog. I'm not talking about some fake dog, here. I'm talking about a real dog."
"So," teases Daddy, "not a unicorn then?"
"Daddy!" protests Toa, "Unicorns are not dogs!"
It turns out that reading books to dogs was every bit as wonderful as Toa of Boy imagined it would be. Toa read a total of six books to the dogs, and would have read more, had time permitted.
Also on Tuesday night, after more emails back and forth to a friend and another discussion with the Jedi, co-op was back on.
By Wednesday, I really needed to go grocery shopping. Yet, once again, I let myself get terribly behind in my couponing. It turns out I had seven weeks worth of coupon inserts from the Sunday papers. Luckily, I did have the foresight to mark the date I pulled from which I had pulled each circular. (I use a site called The Grocery Game to help me match up specific coupons with the sale items for my local stores.) Still, seven weeks worth of coupons lined up across my kitchen counter. Seven weeks worth of coupons, and a three page printout of my grocery list. This was going to take me hours. Hours....unless I recruited some child assistants. We made a scavenger hunt game out of looking for the specific coupons we needed. Using my grocery game list, I told each child what coupon they were looking for and which date of circular they could find it in. For every coupon they found, they got to mark an extra point on their chore list. Coupons got done in about half an hour, and we had a good time finding them.
Thursday was April Fools Day of course. Sweetling woke up wary of me. Around ten am, she said, "I can't believe you haven't tried anything for April Fools Day." I don't know where she would get the notion that her loving mother would try to pull something on April Fools Day. By lunch time, she seemed to have relaxed and let down her guard....which of course meant that the timing was perfect for me to pull a prank. While the children we're playing a game together, I went downstairs to "fold laundry". With me I smuggled a bowl, my kitchen scissors, and a bag of Starburst candy purchased just for this occasion. Behind closed doors I unwrapped orange Starbursts and snipped each piece into four cubes. I made a single layer of these small orange cubes in a bowl, and brought it back upstairs and took it into the kitchen with me, where I began preparing lunch.
Lunch that day was grilled cheese and ham sandwiches, strawberries, and cubed "carrots". After handwashing, the kids came into the kitchen asking what was for lunch. I told them. Toa of Boy poked at his "carrots".
"These are hard," he said.
"Of course," I said. "You don't like your carrots cooked."
Nothing else was said about the vegetables on the plates. Sweetling took her plate and dissappeared to her computer. Toa said his grace and began to eat his sandwich. I was fixing myself a salad to go with my sandwich and hadn't sat down at the table yet. Eventually, Toa tried a carrot. After chewing it doubiously, he observed, "Mommy, this is sweet." A moment later, "Mommy, is this candy?"
"April Fools!" I whispered, putting my finger to my lips. "Don't let Sweetling hear us. We don't want to spoil the surprise."
Toa ate the rest of his lunch while giggling almost silently. Score one for Mommy.
Some time later, Sweetling came out of her room. "Mommy, did you give us candy instead of vegetables?"
"April Fools!"
Sweetling cracked up. Score two for Mommy.
That night was when we received word about my brother's house. The latest news I've recieved was that my brother was meeting with a Red Cross worker yesterday (Friday.)
Photos from the last time we were up to see my brother at Christmas:
Me and My Bro
And Toa of Boy outside with his cousin, about to unwittingly terrify a young cow in an attempt to pet it.
I had been looking forward to writing on my blog during the day on Friday. I had a lot of fun things from the week that I wanted to share. But when I first woke up on Friday and thought about writing, I wondered how I could write about things that seemed so trivial now.
We don't know yet if his home was insured at all. Even if it was insured, we aren't sure that the property was in his name, so the insurance money, if there is any, might not go to him. He works in construction, and work has been sparse to non-exixtant for him for many months now. I know this has been a devastating blow for him. Everything he and his family owned is gone and he doesn't have anything left in savings, and he might not get any insurance money to use to get back on his feet. I talked to him briefly on the phone Thursday night. It was so soon after the news had hit him, that he hadn't had time to process any of it yet.
My sister and I have both offered our houses if they need a place to stay. We're both ready to organize shopping expeditions to reoutfit the kids with clothes and such. I want to drive up there and *do* something... But it's not time for that yet. The Jedi, who is very wise, says my brother needs sometime to try to figure things out himself first. My sister was told the same thing from her husband. That didn't stop me from being awake at 1a.m. thinking about options. My sister was up looking at local house listings. Still, right now we need to sit tight and pray.
In light of all that, is a description of my week appropriate? Yes. Yes, I think it is. Last week, I was flippantly remarking that arson might be easier than spring-cleaning and decluttering. Reality has thrown that jest back in my face.
I am ever so grateful that my brother and his family are safe. And I need to remember to appreciate all that I have and to never take life, my home, my family, the time we have together, for granted.
This is what we did this week, because I need to remember to celebrate each day. This is indeed the day that the Lord has made, and I will always rejoice and be glad in it.
On Monday morning, we visited the new co-op we will be attending next year. We went so that the kids could get a feel for it, not becuase I had any doubts that this is what we would be doing. I just thought the kids needed the help to smooth the transition. The kids were totally fine with the transition; it was the Mommy who was shell-shocked.
On Monday afternoon, I was supposed to meet a friend down at the children's museum. BUT, I was overwhelmed with co-op, and I had a new refridgerator being delivered, and I completely FORGOT and stood my friend up. Instead, we went home and pulled everything out of the freezer to put in coolers. Everything that came out of the fridge went into double bagged paper grocery bags with a third paper bag snugged upside down on top of the bag to help insulate the fridge items. We had a two hour delivery window, and even after the fridge got there, we couldn't put anything back in the fridge or freezer till the Jedi got home and installed and then hooked up a new water line. So, I did what I could to try to keep my perishables cool for several hours. The delivery truck pulled up at the very start of the two hour window, and I still had stuff in the fridge. The kids came in and helped me get the last items out of the fridge while I went down and opened the door.
In short order, the old fridge was pulled out....and I discovered that at least one of the great dust storms of the 1930s had crawled underneath my old fridge to die. Seriously, it was that bad. I honestly needed a mask to clean up with, because the dust kicked up was so fine. I didn't have a mask, but oh I needed one. The delivery guy told me I had two minutes to clean before the new fridge came in. (I might have screamed when I first walked into the kitchen and saw the terrible dust carnage.)
After the new fridge was in, he showed me how to remove the bottom grill so that I could periodically vacuum under the fridge. He said the biggest cause of refridgerator death is dust build-up! I lived in appartments and rental homes all my life, and I had no idea. I'm sharing this, so that others might learn from my near-dust experience.
On Monday evening, after the Jedi had quickly installed a new water-line and got the new fridge situated and then reloaded the freezer for me....and after I had arranged and organized my new fridge....I went back to freaking out over co-op. After a long discussion with the Jedi, I called a friend and had another long discussion. I just didn't feel any peace over attending this new co-op. I went in with one set of expectations, and was completely thrown off kilter when certain aspects weren't at all what I expected. That night, the Jedi and I decided this new co-op wouldn't work for our family.
In the midst of this angst, all the bunnies in the house had to sit together on the couch for a bunny family portrait. Toby Bunny is a new addition to the family, you see, and it was imperitative that he meet all his new bunny brothers and sisters.
On Tuesday, we spent four hours at the park. Toby Bunny had to sit on the dashboard of the van so he could have a commanding view out the front wind shield. The weather is warm and sunny. Its beautiful enough out to make me almost want to go out and sunbathe in a string bikini. I won't, partly because I don't have a string bikini and partly because no one but the Jedi wants to see my forty-year old body in a string bikini. My neighborhood doesn't have many zoning ordinances, but I gaurantee you that the day I venture outside in a string bikini would be the day a petition drive would be launched.
On our way home from the park, we stopped at the library to drop off and check out books. We headed home for dinner, and then the Jedi and Sweetling had Tae Kwon Do. Toa and I were going back to the library for Tales for Tails, a program where kids can read stories to certified therapy dogs from Touch of Healing. Toa was pumped about this program.
At dinner, Toa was telling the Jedi about our plans. Said Toa, "Daddy, I'm going to read a book to a real dog."
"A real dog, Toa?" asks Daddy.
"Yeah, a real dog. I'm not talking about some fake dog, here. I'm talking about a real dog."
"So," teases Daddy, "not a unicorn then?"
"Daddy!" protests Toa, "Unicorns are not dogs!"
It turns out that reading books to dogs was every bit as wonderful as Toa of Boy imagined it would be. Toa read a total of six books to the dogs, and would have read more, had time permitted.
Also on Tuesday night, after more emails back and forth to a friend and another discussion with the Jedi, co-op was back on.
By Wednesday, I really needed to go grocery shopping. Yet, once again, I let myself get terribly behind in my couponing. It turns out I had seven weeks worth of coupon inserts from the Sunday papers. Luckily, I did have the foresight to mark the date I pulled from which I had pulled each circular. (I use a site called The Grocery Game to help me match up specific coupons with the sale items for my local stores.) Still, seven weeks worth of coupons lined up across my kitchen counter. Seven weeks worth of coupons, and a three page printout of my grocery list. This was going to take me hours. Hours....unless I recruited some child assistants. We made a scavenger hunt game out of looking for the specific coupons we needed. Using my grocery game list, I told each child what coupon they were looking for and which date of circular they could find it in. For every coupon they found, they got to mark an extra point on their chore list. Coupons got done in about half an hour, and we had a good time finding them.
Thursday was April Fools Day of course. Sweetling woke up wary of me. Around ten am, she said, "I can't believe you haven't tried anything for April Fools Day." I don't know where she would get the notion that her loving mother would try to pull something on April Fools Day. By lunch time, she seemed to have relaxed and let down her guard....which of course meant that the timing was perfect for me to pull a prank. While the children we're playing a game together, I went downstairs to "fold laundry". With me I smuggled a bowl, my kitchen scissors, and a bag of Starburst candy purchased just for this occasion. Behind closed doors I unwrapped orange Starbursts and snipped each piece into four cubes. I made a single layer of these small orange cubes in a bowl, and brought it back upstairs and took it into the kitchen with me, where I began preparing lunch.
Lunch that day was grilled cheese and ham sandwiches, strawberries, and cubed "carrots". After handwashing, the kids came into the kitchen asking what was for lunch. I told them. Toa of Boy poked at his "carrots".
"These are hard," he said.
"Of course," I said. "You don't like your carrots cooked."
Nothing else was said about the vegetables on the plates. Sweetling took her plate and dissappeared to her computer. Toa said his grace and began to eat his sandwich. I was fixing myself a salad to go with my sandwich and hadn't sat down at the table yet. Eventually, Toa tried a carrot. After chewing it doubiously, he observed, "Mommy, this is sweet." A moment later, "Mommy, is this candy?"
"April Fools!" I whispered, putting my finger to my lips. "Don't let Sweetling hear us. We don't want to spoil the surprise."
Toa ate the rest of his lunch while giggling almost silently. Score one for Mommy.
Some time later, Sweetling came out of her room. "Mommy, did you give us candy instead of vegetables?"
"April Fools!"
Sweetling cracked up. Score two for Mommy.
That night was when we received word about my brother's house. The latest news I've recieved was that my brother was meeting with a Red Cross worker yesterday (Friday.)
Photos from the last time we were up to see my brother at Christmas:
Me and My Bro
All the cousins together
And Toa of Boy outside with his cousin, about to unwittingly terrify a young cow in an attempt to pet it. Please keep my brother's family in your prayers.
Friday, March 26, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up: The Shakedown is Coming
Confession: I'm not really sure I used "shakedown" in the proper context up there. I think I meant "shakeup". Up, down....it's not like they're antonyms or anything.
For most of the week, we did nothing interesting with our school. The realization of this only confirmed my decision to change curriculums.
Oh! We did do one cool writing project....that had nothing to do with our current curriculum....but it was awesome and both kids were very interested in it. I brought Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider home from the library last week and Toa of Boy and I read them together. This week, on the way home from the library, a spontaneous conversation began about these books. The kids and I started speculating on what other sorts of small creatures might keep a diary, and what they might write about. We talked about Diary of a Snail and Diary of a Squirrel (yay! said Mommy) and Diary of a Possum (which would include a lot of phrases about "hanging out being a possum".) The kids decided that they would like to write and illustrate their own Diary of a ______. So, in the school closet, I found an empty Draw and Write notebook for Toa, which he titled Diary of a Koopa, and he happily set to work. He decided he wanted to write one page a day. Each day, he'll think of something a koopa might have done that day, and then write a sentence or two and illustrate. I told him I thought this was a great plan. Sweetling, sadly, is still laboring under the yoke of k-12, and hasn't had a chance to start hers yet (which will be Diary of a Punie.)
Here's his first page:
Thursday was co-op of course. Some irresponsible Mrs. Crazy Teacher Lady (that would be me, if you're wondering), let the 6th graders go exploring on the wooded slope behind the school after we wrapped up comp early. That same person was teaching science. We defined the terms of an experiment (independent and dependent variables) and talked about the important components of a good experiments. Then we decided we need to try some of what we learned, so we did a quick, improvised hands on with paper airplanes. Which we then had to test outside, in the light drizzle. Back inside, the model which proved to fly the farthest was quickly made by all the students, and 8 sixth graders were flying airplanes down the long hall outside the cafeteria. This same Mrs. Crazy Teacher Lady let her first grader bring a giant bouncy ball into the cafeteria to play with before opening session...which of course became a giant, somewhat roudy game of monkey in the middle. Surprisingly, instead of a stern leccture from the leadership, Mrs Crazy Teacher Lady has been personally invited by the leadership to continue in this curriculum driven co-op despite the fact that our family wont be using the same curriculum.
Flattered as I am, and as much as I've really enjoyed this co-op, I had to decline the offer. Instead, I'll be teaching an Intro to French class for middle schoolers at another co-op. I turned in my class confirmation and description Wednesday night. "Students will learn and practice some simple French vocabulary. We will complete simple picture books or picture dictionaries as well as practice very basic conversations in class. We will also explore the art and culture of French speaking nations around the world. With each culture or country we examine, we will engage in one arts, craft, or “cooking” project. This will not be a “French 1” class, since we will not be studying grammar or learning conjugations of verbs."
As part of our new approach to schooling, I've made a rather radical change with how we do Toa's math. I've mentioned in a previous post that when his second grade math book came, he was super-excited. He started looking through it, and asked where the new stuff was. I had trouble finding it, cause so much of every unit in the book was review of first grade. We're not going through that page by page. Instead, I told Toa that he could pick any page he wanted each day and we do that page. He was thrilled and excited again. Wednesday he picked a page that had a concept he hadn't mastered. So, we'll spend a few days on that concept, and then he can go back to any page he wants. I think its going to be a good system. He'll learn what he needs and he'll have fun doing it.
On the topic of math, check out this cool math article a friend found and posted on facebook. Unschoolers will love it and say that this is what they've known all along....The Case for Teaching Less Math in School.
Lastly, on Thursday night, I announced that starting with tomorrow (Friday) we would be trying a full day of our new school approach. We did this last week too, wrapping up our day with a nature walk. My announcement was immediately met with concern that our nature walk might be rained out. I promised that if our nature walk was rained out, we would still do a nature study, maybe making some sketches and drawings of Ohio wildlife from photos. So far today our morning has gone great, and the day is bright and sunny....even if we did wake up to a quarter inch of snow and I had to chisel Mama's car door open so she could leave for work.
If you're interested, here's what our new Friday schedule looks like:
9:00-9:40 Bible (we read from Exodus in preparation for a Passover Seder we are going to next Saturday), Geography (today we read some interesting facts about Antartica from Sweetling's library book Ask Me Anything), and Memory Verse.
9:40-10:00 Sweetling--Vocabulary OR Journaling. // Toa of Boy: Sequential Spelling
10:00-10:30 Sweetling--K-12 Science. // Toa of Boy--Guided Reading
10:30-10:50 Independent Explorations--This time is set aside for each child to pursue a topic or a project that interests them. Today Sweetling read more from Ask Me Anything and Toa played some learning games on PBS kids. Mommy ignored the dishes in the sink and blogged.
10:50-11:20 Sweetling-Literature // Toa of Boy--Math (during which time Toa checked the clock and said, "We're on schedule, Mommy!" So, that tells you how rarely that has been happening the past few weeks.)
11:20-12:00 Sweetling-Algebra (we are now off schedule. Sweetling is still reading literature. I poked my head in her room, and there she was...sitting with her feet propped up on her desk, sucking on a green lollipop, reading from Classics for Young Readers. How do I interrupt that?) // Toa of Boy--watching Word World on PBS
12:00-1:00 Lunch and Recess Break
1:00-1:20 Read Aloud. We're currently reading from Winnie-the-Pooh.
1:20-1:40 Sweetling-K-12 History. // Toa of Boy--free choice.
1:50-3:00 Nature Walk or Study
3:00-3:20 Nature Logs--journaling or further research online
And truly, truly lastly---I've been so thrilled with the number and kinds of responses I'm getting to my Acts of Kindness birthday challenge. Check out the full collection so far.
For most of the week, we did nothing interesting with our school. The realization of this only confirmed my decision to change curriculums.
Oh! We did do one cool writing project....that had nothing to do with our current curriculum....but it was awesome and both kids were very interested in it. I brought Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Spider home from the library last week and Toa of Boy and I read them together. This week, on the way home from the library, a spontaneous conversation began about these books. The kids and I started speculating on what other sorts of small creatures might keep a diary, and what they might write about. We talked about Diary of a Snail and Diary of a Squirrel (yay! said Mommy) and Diary of a Possum (which would include a lot of phrases about "hanging out being a possum".) The kids decided that they would like to write and illustrate their own Diary of a ______. So, in the school closet, I found an empty Draw and Write notebook for Toa, which he titled Diary of a Koopa, and he happily set to work. He decided he wanted to write one page a day. Each day, he'll think of something a koopa might have done that day, and then write a sentence or two and illustrate. I told him I thought this was a great plan. Sweetling, sadly, is still laboring under the yoke of k-12, and hasn't had a chance to start hers yet (which will be Diary of a Punie.)
Here's his first page:
Thursday was co-op of course. Some irresponsible Mrs. Crazy Teacher Lady (that would be me, if you're wondering), let the 6th graders go exploring on the wooded slope behind the school after we wrapped up comp early. That same person was teaching science. We defined the terms of an experiment (independent and dependent variables) and talked about the important components of a good experiments. Then we decided we need to try some of what we learned, so we did a quick, improvised hands on with paper airplanes. Which we then had to test outside, in the light drizzle. Back inside, the model which proved to fly the farthest was quickly made by all the students, and 8 sixth graders were flying airplanes down the long hall outside the cafeteria. This same Mrs. Crazy Teacher Lady let her first grader bring a giant bouncy ball into the cafeteria to play with before opening session...which of course became a giant, somewhat roudy game of monkey in the middle. Surprisingly, instead of a stern leccture from the leadership, Mrs Crazy Teacher Lady has been personally invited by the leadership to continue in this curriculum driven co-op despite the fact that our family wont be using the same curriculum.
Flattered as I am, and as much as I've really enjoyed this co-op, I had to decline the offer. Instead, I'll be teaching an Intro to French class for middle schoolers at another co-op. I turned in my class confirmation and description Wednesday night. "Students will learn and practice some simple French vocabulary. We will complete simple picture books or picture dictionaries as well as practice very basic conversations in class. We will also explore the art and culture of French speaking nations around the world. With each culture or country we examine, we will engage in one arts, craft, or “cooking” project. This will not be a “French 1” class, since we will not be studying grammar or learning conjugations of verbs."
As part of our new approach to schooling, I've made a rather radical change with how we do Toa's math. I've mentioned in a previous post that when his second grade math book came, he was super-excited. He started looking through it, and asked where the new stuff was. I had trouble finding it, cause so much of every unit in the book was review of first grade. We're not going through that page by page. Instead, I told Toa that he could pick any page he wanted each day and we do that page. He was thrilled and excited again. Wednesday he picked a page that had a concept he hadn't mastered. So, we'll spend a few days on that concept, and then he can go back to any page he wants. I think its going to be a good system. He'll learn what he needs and he'll have fun doing it.
Lastly, on Thursday night, I announced that starting with tomorrow (Friday) we would be trying a full day of our new school approach. We did this last week too, wrapping up our day with a nature walk. My announcement was immediately met with concern that our nature walk might be rained out. I promised that if our nature walk was rained out, we would still do a nature study, maybe making some sketches and drawings of Ohio wildlife from photos. So far today our morning has gone great, and the day is bright and sunny....even if we did wake up to a quarter inch of snow and I had to chisel Mama's car door open so she could leave for work.
If you're interested, here's what our new Friday schedule looks like:
9:00-9:40 Bible (we read from Exodus in preparation for a Passover Seder we are going to next Saturday), Geography (today we read some interesting facts about Antartica from Sweetling's library book Ask Me Anything), and Memory Verse.
9:40-10:00 Sweetling--Vocabulary OR Journaling. // Toa of Boy: Sequential Spelling
10:00-10:30 Sweetling--K-12 Science. // Toa of Boy--Guided Reading
10:30-10:50 Independent Explorations--This time is set aside for each child to pursue a topic or a project that interests them. Today Sweetling read more from Ask Me Anything and Toa played some learning games on PBS kids. Mommy ignored the dishes in the sink and blogged.
10:50-11:20 Sweetling-Literature // Toa of Boy--Math (during which time Toa checked the clock and said, "We're on schedule, Mommy!" So, that tells you how rarely that has been happening the past few weeks.)
11:20-12:00 Sweetling-Algebra (we are now off schedule. Sweetling is still reading literature. I poked my head in her room, and there she was...sitting with her feet propped up on her desk, sucking on a green lollipop, reading from Classics for Young Readers. How do I interrupt that?) // Toa of Boy--watching Word World on PBS
12:00-1:00 Lunch and Recess Break
1:00-1:20 Read Aloud. We're currently reading from Winnie-the-Pooh.
1:20-1:40 Sweetling-K-12 History. // Toa of Boy--free choice.
1:50-3:00 Nature Walk or Study
3:00-3:20 Nature Logs--journaling or further research online
And truly, truly lastly---I've been so thrilled with the number and kinds of responses I'm getting to my Acts of Kindness birthday challenge. Check out the full collection so far.
Thursday, March 25, 2010
Kindness Countdown: 4,5, and 6
I had several replies over the past day or so :) I have a couple more sitting in my outlook inbox, but I'm having trouble accessing that on my netbook, so I'll have more to post tomorrow too!
The first was a friend who sent a care package to a missionary family who is currently in America for a brief time. She included clothes for the new baby and toy cars for the small boys.
The second was a friend who sent a bouquet of flowers to her sister, whom she isn't often in contact with. Her family only infrequently gets together or talks. She said there was a day recently, when she was thinking about her sister, so she sent her a text saying 'love ya, just wanted you to know that.' The sister replied that she had really needed to hear that on that day becuase she was home sick and feeling really miserable. So the friend who was relaying the story followed the brief text up with ordering a bouquet of flowers.
I had a fast food gift card in my purse today, but gave it to someone I ran across who seemed to be having a rough time financially. Happy birthday, this is a very cool idea!And these next two were told to me verbally, so I'm paraphrasing.
The first was a friend who sent a care package to a missionary family who is currently in America for a brief time. She included clothes for the new baby and toy cars for the small boys.
The second was a friend who sent a bouquet of flowers to her sister, whom she isn't often in contact with. Her family only infrequently gets together or talks. She said there was a day recently, when she was thinking about her sister, so she sent her a text saying 'love ya, just wanted you to know that.' The sister replied that she had really needed to hear that on that day becuase she was home sick and feeling really miserable. So the friend who was relaying the story followed the brief text up with ordering a bouquet of flowers.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Kindness Countdown: 3
Third story in response to my Birthday Wishes!
I wanted you to know that I invited a friend (who is an atheist) over for dinner on Easter Sunday with my family. She doesn’t have any family in the area, and I met her through another friend. I’m also visiting her at work today and taking her some candy. Please be praying for her….she is such a wonderful person and I pray that she experiences the love of Jesus!
This is a great idea! :)
HAPPY BIRTHDAY!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Kindness Countdown: 2
The second story to come in as a response to my Birthday Wishes.
I'm posting these anonymously, but can I love that the phrase "quid pro quo" is used so nonchalantly?
I won a "free" roller skating birthday party for 8 kids including drinks, pizza, rentals, etc. My first thought was "Hooray, BD party taken care of for next year." But I'm not particularly interested in going down that path with my girl and the kind of quid pro quo it entails to other parents. It would make an excellent kids outing so I'm planning to anonymously donate it to my church mom's group. So that the kids and moms there can connect and also provide their kids with a fun afternoon.
I'm posting these anonymously, but can I love that the phrase "quid pro quo" is used so nonchalantly?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Daybook: Daffodils!
FOR TODAY
Outside my window...There's so much work to be done in my garden that I'm almost wishing the snow would come back and cover it up again. Ok, not really. But, lots of work.
I am thinking...naptime. I'm listening to a smattering of news...but I'm not really thinking about it. I'm thinking about naptime. Maybe I should see if I can work the phrase "not really" into every section of my daybook today.
Squirrel story from Mama.....Mama says she was on her way to church this morning and was waiting her turn at a stop sign. She was thinking of me, and a little squirrel went scampering across the street. Because she was thinking of me, she said aloud (with her car windows up), "Well hello there little squirrel; Jesus loves you!" As soon as she said, "Jesus," the little squirrel turned around, sat up on his hind legs, and made eye contact with Mama. Mama says she was as surprised as the squirrel seemed to be. She kept talking to the squirrel, telling him all about how much Jesus loved him. The squirrel sat enraptured looking at Mama. Another car came up behind her, so she had to cut her testimony short and drive away. But, she wanted to share the story with me.
I am thankful for...a wonderful birthday, a wonderful family, a delicious chocolate cake, and friends who not only put up with, but who will participate in my crazy ideas.
From the learning rooms..... I have zero motivation to continue our current curriculum. Zero. I always have trouble being motivated to do school in the spring, but now that we are for sure using a different curriculum next year, my normally deficient motivation has decreased to zilch. Some other solution needs to be worked out for the rest of this year. Hmmmm....
From the kitchen...the Jedi is great, made me the chocolate cake! This was my birthday present from the family. Each person did parts of it. The bottom layer was a Ghiredelli dark chocolate brownie. This was topped with a layer of Hagendaas dark chocolate ice cream. Then a layer of dark chocolate cake, a layer of dark chocolate hot fudge, and another layer of dark chocolate cake. The final, top layer was a ganache made with Gheridelli chocolate. It was every bit as good and as decadant as it sounds.
I am wearing...church clothes still. In honor of my birthday, I wore the long, silver-grey embroidered dress which I wore to Vaya's wedding. I paired it with a long silver necklace with orange crystal beads and dangly silver earings with tiny orange crystal pendants. I got lots of compliments on my dress and jewelry today :)
I am creating...ONE WEEK until the children's Easter musical. ONE WEEK. And I'm noticing that I tend to overuse the effect of repeating a word or phrase as a sentence fragment for emphasis. When the writer notices the technique is being overused, its probably been ridden into the ground.
I am going...back to church at 5 for musical practice. A dear brother is there now working on the set. I wanted to go back and help him, but have been told that he is in the creative process and extra people there would be the opposite of helping. So, I am at home.
I am reading...just finished Graceling, an excellent fantasy book. Its been a long time since I've read an adult, or young adult, fiction book without picking it apart....but Graceling fits into that category. Believeable, well-developed characters, an unusual and original premise, a nicely flowing plot... if I had one criticism, it would be that the book wrapped up too quickly. I would have been happy with at least two or three more chapters.
I am hoping...for 40 responses to my birthday challenge!
I am hearing...birdsong from outside. The Jedi has turned the news off, since the principle vote isn't going to happen for another couple of hours at least. Downstairs, Toa has just finished sharpening a pencil. He is sitting at his school desk voluntarily spending his Sunday afternoon writing something!!! We don't know what he's writing, becaue it's private until he's ready to share. But I never thought I'd see the day when the boy's weekend activity of choice was writing!
Around the house... spring cleaning and decluttering or arson? Its a tough choice to make.
One of my favorite things...um....chocolate cake of course! And the daffodils with opened up just in time for my birthday are a close second!
Garden news.... the Jedi came home with four boxes of Pachysandra on Friday afternoon. His company is redoing their landscaping, and all that ground cover was just going to be ripped out. They asked if anyone wanted it, and the Jedi said yes! I'm thrilled! We planted it on the wooded slope of the backyard yesterday. I also discovered, while we were outside working, that giant piles of autumn leaves which are raked into piles for jumping in and then left all winter, will kill the grass. Go figure.
A few plans for the rest of the week:
Sunday: rehearsal
Monday: I'm trying to talk Telephone and Kindness into coming over for chocolate cake after Kindness gets off school.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: We need a curriculum solution for the rest of our school year. There are some things in our present curriculum which we must finish up....but surely some fun and enjoyment can be found in it?
Saturday: Dress rehearsal! and Junior High Girls outing to Living Cross.
Sunday: Rez the Rock who Rolled! Easter Musical
Here is picture for thought I am sharing... to be added after nap, when pictures are unloaded from the camera.
To view other daybooks, check out The Simple Woman's Daybook
Outside my window...There's so much work to be done in my garden that I'm almost wishing the snow would come back and cover it up again. Ok, not really. But, lots of work.
I am thinking...naptime. I'm listening to a smattering of news...but I'm not really thinking about it. I'm thinking about naptime. Maybe I should see if I can work the phrase "not really" into every section of my daybook today.
Squirrel story from Mama.....Mama says she was on her way to church this morning and was waiting her turn at a stop sign. She was thinking of me, and a little squirrel went scampering across the street. Because she was thinking of me, she said aloud (with her car windows up), "Well hello there little squirrel; Jesus loves you!" As soon as she said, "Jesus," the little squirrel turned around, sat up on his hind legs, and made eye contact with Mama. Mama says she was as surprised as the squirrel seemed to be. She kept talking to the squirrel, telling him all about how much Jesus loved him. The squirrel sat enraptured looking at Mama. Another car came up behind her, so she had to cut her testimony short and drive away. But, she wanted to share the story with me.
I am thankful for...a wonderful birthday, a wonderful family, a delicious chocolate cake, and friends who not only put up with, but who will participate in my crazy ideas.
From the learning rooms..... I have zero motivation to continue our current curriculum. Zero. I always have trouble being motivated to do school in the spring, but now that we are for sure using a different curriculum next year, my normally deficient motivation has decreased to zilch. Some other solution needs to be worked out for the rest of this year. Hmmmm....
From the kitchen...the Jedi is great, made me the chocolate cake! This was my birthday present from the family. Each person did parts of it. The bottom layer was a Ghiredelli dark chocolate brownie. This was topped with a layer of Hagendaas dark chocolate ice cream. Then a layer of dark chocolate cake, a layer of dark chocolate hot fudge, and another layer of dark chocolate cake. The final, top layer was a ganache made with Gheridelli chocolate. It was every bit as good and as decadant as it sounds.
I am wearing...church clothes still. In honor of my birthday, I wore the long, silver-grey embroidered dress which I wore to Vaya's wedding. I paired it with a long silver necklace with orange crystal beads and dangly silver earings with tiny orange crystal pendants. I got lots of compliments on my dress and jewelry today :)
I am creating...ONE WEEK until the children's Easter musical. ONE WEEK. And I'm noticing that I tend to overuse the effect of repeating a word or phrase as a sentence fragment for emphasis. When the writer notices the technique is being overused, its probably been ridden into the ground.
I am going...back to church at 5 for musical practice. A dear brother is there now working on the set. I wanted to go back and help him, but have been told that he is in the creative process and extra people there would be the opposite of helping. So, I am at home.
I am reading...just finished Graceling, an excellent fantasy book. Its been a long time since I've read an adult, or young adult, fiction book without picking it apart....but Graceling fits into that category. Believeable, well-developed characters, an unusual and original premise, a nicely flowing plot... if I had one criticism, it would be that the book wrapped up too quickly. I would have been happy with at least two or three more chapters.
I am hoping...for 40 responses to my birthday challenge!
I am hearing...birdsong from outside. The Jedi has turned the news off, since the principle vote isn't going to happen for another couple of hours at least. Downstairs, Toa has just finished sharpening a pencil. He is sitting at his school desk voluntarily spending his Sunday afternoon writing something!!! We don't know what he's writing, becaue it's private until he's ready to share. But I never thought I'd see the day when the boy's weekend activity of choice was writing!
Around the house... spring cleaning and decluttering or arson? Its a tough choice to make.
One of my favorite things...um....chocolate cake of course! And the daffodils with opened up just in time for my birthday are a close second!
Garden news.... the Jedi came home with four boxes of Pachysandra on Friday afternoon. His company is redoing their landscaping, and all that ground cover was just going to be ripped out. They asked if anyone wanted it, and the Jedi said yes! I'm thrilled! We planted it on the wooded slope of the backyard yesterday. I also discovered, while we were outside working, that giant piles of autumn leaves which are raked into piles for jumping in and then left all winter, will kill the grass. Go figure.
A few plans for the rest of the week:
Sunday: rehearsal
Monday: I'm trying to talk Telephone and Kindness into coming over for chocolate cake after Kindness gets off school.
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday: We need a curriculum solution for the rest of our school year. There are some things in our present curriculum which we must finish up....but surely some fun and enjoyment can be found in it?
Saturday: Dress rehearsal! and Junior High Girls outing to Living Cross.
Sunday: Rez the Rock who Rolled! Easter Musical
Here is picture for thought I am sharing... to be added after nap, when pictures are unloaded from the camera.
To view other daybooks, check out The Simple Woman's Daybook
Kindness Countdown: 1
YAY!
I got my first response on my birthday wishes! So worth being awake this early!
I got my first response on my birthday wishes! So worth being awake this early!
How about I tell you about an act of kindness my 20 mth old did for my 3 yr old today?...I also have "invitation" cards sitting in my purse, waiting to be passed out at church this morning :)
I was sitting on the couch. 3yr old was at the kitchen table and somehow managed to get his foot caught in the kitchen chair. He began to wail. Just as I was getting up from the couch, I noticed my 20mth old come running around the corner to see what all the commotion was about. He worriedly looked at his brother and then at me and realized that he could get to his brother faster than me. With a mad concerned dash, he rushed to his brother and began to tickle his foot that was sticking out of the chair spokes. It took his brother by such surprise that he jerked his foot free and started laughing hysterically. My 20mth old beamed with pride while getting hugs from both Mommy and big brother for being such a kind, helpful little guy.
Happy Birthday! May you have someone always available to turn your struggles into laughing opportunities.
Friday, March 19, 2010
Forty Birthday Wishes
I've known for a while now that I want to do something really special for my fortieth birthday. Originally, I thought I wanted to celebrate with forty friends. I still want to celebrate with forty friends, but I want it to look a little different. (In other words, I'm doing something non-conventional, I know that's so uncharacteristic of me.)
I'm turning forty. For my birthday, what I really, really want....is for forty friends to do an act of kindness or charity each, and then drop me a short note telling me about it. For my birthday, I'd really like forty short stories about small acts of kindness.
So, I'm humbly asking you, dear reader, please consider doing one tiny gesture of giving for someone to whom or for whom you otherwise might not. Then drop me just a brief note-- one or two sentences even, paper or electronic-- telling me about it. I'd love to collect the notes and maybe share them, anonymously, here on my blog to encourage others.
I'll try to pass out some cards about this at church on Sunday too. But since I have several friends who will read this whom I won't see at church---please consider this your formal invitation to participate!
I'm turning forty. For my birthday, what I really, really want....is for forty friends to do an act of kindness or charity each, and then drop me a short note telling me about it. For my birthday, I'd really like forty short stories about small acts of kindness.
So, I'm humbly asking you, dear reader, please consider doing one tiny gesture of giving for someone to whom or for whom you otherwise might not. Then drop me just a brief note-- one or two sentences even, paper or electronic-- telling me about it. I'd love to collect the notes and maybe share them, anonymously, here on my blog to encourage others.
I'll try to pass out some cards about this at church on Sunday too. But since I have several friends who will read this whom I won't see at church---please consider this your formal invitation to participate!
Weekly Wrap-Up: Charlotte Mason?
By Friday, I can remember what we did on Friday. Monday is ancient history. Ancient. So, my weekly-wrap ups are "what I did yesterday", at best ;)
Though, a note about Thursday before I forget. The 6th grade science teacher at co-op wound up having to pull out due to changing family school circumstances. So, a few of the other mothers, and myself, each picked a science unit to teach. I took the unit on our solar system and space.
When I was in 6th grade, in public schools, our teacher did this most phenomenal activity in regards to the solar system. He took us all outside and walked with us to the far end of the school grounds, past the athletic fields and all that. We started over there with a red playground ball to represent the sun. He explained that each of his strides was about equal to a yard, or maybe a meter, I don't know. But we paced off the scale distance to each of the planets. And we left a child holding a notecard with scaled representation of each planet at the appropriate distance. I think Jupiter might have had half a walnut glued to its notecard. But I distinctly remember how unbelievably far it was between the planets. How we walked all the way across the school yards, across the street, and into the park across the street. How we lost sight of the students left holding the sun and the inner planets (due to the topography of the park). It was amazing. Because as a child, you grow up seeing the whole solar system colorfully represented in a two page book spread or done with little hanging styrofoam balls in a mobile. I had no idea, none, of the vastness of our solar system.
So, I wanted to recreate something like that for the 6th graders at co-op. Obviously, we couldn't walk down Winton Road stringing out 6th graders behind us. But I remembered an activity I had done with the Tenderfoots at AHG a few years ago that I thought would work. Its a scale model of the distance between the planets using toilet paper as a measuring tape. Each square equals 10,000,000 miles. It was a beautiful sunny day. I had the kids partner up. Each pair wrote the names of the planets on popsicle sticks, stuck in modeling clay bases, to represent the location of the planets. (The planets themselves are too small to represent on the scale we were using. The sun on this scale is .4 inches in diameter and the earth 0.001 inches.) Each pair had a roll of toilet paper and a chart with the number of sheets between each planet, and we headed out.
We took up positions in the far corner of the parking lot, intending to go diagonally across the parking lot and down the driveway if need be. It was going fine until the first breeze hit us. Not to be deterred, I had the kids dig rocks and pebbles out of a nearby drainage ditch to weight down their toilett paper as they were unrolling it. Each pair managed to get though the inner planets before the first rip occurred. I got out the roll of tape I had brought. They were into the outer planets when I began hearing "We have to count out 90? Seriously?" But at this point the wind gusts became to strong for the great lengths of toilet paper unrolled across the parking lot. Entire solar systems tore and began tumbling away. Shoes were removed and used as ballasts, but it was to no avail. We had to admit defeat in the face of the wind.
Sweetling said, "This was a disaster, but it was awesome!"
I have pictures on my phone. Maybe the Jedi can help me get them from the phone to the blog.
Today I woke up and didn't feel like doing school. Yeah, don't be too shocked. We're transitioning to a new curriculum next year...My Father's World. I decided to try a more Charlotte Mason approach to schooling today. We read from the Bible together. Sweetling did another section of her algebra unit assessment and I did spelling with Toa of Boy. Then I gave Sweetling the freedom to write anything she wanted, and she happily disappeared into her room to work on a short story. She was smiling and bubbly and thrilled....and I haven't seen that out of Sweetling in regards to school in a long time. Toa and I sat on a comfy chair by the window and I read Curious George to him. Then we laid on the waterbed in Mommy and Daddy's room and he read Giggle Giggle Quack to me.
After lunch, we headed out to the park for a nature hike. I told them before we left that there goal was to find something we could learn about. Toa found ivy growing up trees which he investigated. We snuck up on the rustling sound in the underbrush and found a pair of robins. We saw a large black shelter box of some kind on a pole, and went to investigate what it might be a shelter box for (bats, we decided, since it had a slotted open bottom.)
A drainage pipe was discovered, and children each had to call to the other from the various ends of the pipe. On one side of the pipe, the natural stream had been filled in with large rock chunks, and we wondered why that was and left the walked on the rocks till we got back to the natural stream. We noticed interesting rocks and talked about their composition as we walked.
Back in the wooded section, soft moss was admired, a fallen log turned into a balancing beam, and new leaf buds examined.
No journaling or sketching was done, so I'm not sure that it qualifies exactly as a Charlotte Mason approved outing, but it was an excellent Friday afternoon!
Though, a note about Thursday before I forget. The 6th grade science teacher at co-op wound up having to pull out due to changing family school circumstances. So, a few of the other mothers, and myself, each picked a science unit to teach. I took the unit on our solar system and space.
When I was in 6th grade, in public schools, our teacher did this most phenomenal activity in regards to the solar system. He took us all outside and walked with us to the far end of the school grounds, past the athletic fields and all that. We started over there with a red playground ball to represent the sun. He explained that each of his strides was about equal to a yard, or maybe a meter, I don't know. But we paced off the scale distance to each of the planets. And we left a child holding a notecard with scaled representation of each planet at the appropriate distance. I think Jupiter might have had half a walnut glued to its notecard. But I distinctly remember how unbelievably far it was between the planets. How we walked all the way across the school yards, across the street, and into the park across the street. How we lost sight of the students left holding the sun and the inner planets (due to the topography of the park). It was amazing. Because as a child, you grow up seeing the whole solar system colorfully represented in a two page book spread or done with little hanging styrofoam balls in a mobile. I had no idea, none, of the vastness of our solar system.
So, I wanted to recreate something like that for the 6th graders at co-op. Obviously, we couldn't walk down Winton Road stringing out 6th graders behind us. But I remembered an activity I had done with the Tenderfoots at AHG a few years ago that I thought would work. Its a scale model of the distance between the planets using toilet paper as a measuring tape. Each square equals 10,000,000 miles. It was a beautiful sunny day. I had the kids partner up. Each pair wrote the names of the planets on popsicle sticks, stuck in modeling clay bases, to represent the location of the planets. (The planets themselves are too small to represent on the scale we were using. The sun on this scale is .4 inches in diameter and the earth 0.001 inches.) Each pair had a roll of toilet paper and a chart with the number of sheets between each planet, and we headed out.
We took up positions in the far corner of the parking lot, intending to go diagonally across the parking lot and down the driveway if need be. It was going fine until the first breeze hit us. Not to be deterred, I had the kids dig rocks and pebbles out of a nearby drainage ditch to weight down their toilett paper as they were unrolling it. Each pair managed to get though the inner planets before the first rip occurred. I got out the roll of tape I had brought. They were into the outer planets when I began hearing "We have to count out 90? Seriously?" But at this point the wind gusts became to strong for the great lengths of toilet paper unrolled across the parking lot. Entire solar systems tore and began tumbling away. Shoes were removed and used as ballasts, but it was to no avail. We had to admit defeat in the face of the wind.
Sweetling said, "This was a disaster, but it was awesome!"
I have pictures on my phone. Maybe the Jedi can help me get them from the phone to the blog.
Today I woke up and didn't feel like doing school. Yeah, don't be too shocked. We're transitioning to a new curriculum next year...My Father's World. I decided to try a more Charlotte Mason approach to schooling today. We read from the Bible together. Sweetling did another section of her algebra unit assessment and I did spelling with Toa of Boy. Then I gave Sweetling the freedom to write anything she wanted, and she happily disappeared into her room to work on a short story. She was smiling and bubbly and thrilled....and I haven't seen that out of Sweetling in regards to school in a long time. Toa and I sat on a comfy chair by the window and I read Curious George to him. Then we laid on the waterbed in Mommy and Daddy's room and he read Giggle Giggle Quack to me.
After lunch, we headed out to the park for a nature hike. I told them before we left that there goal was to find something we could learn about. Toa found ivy growing up trees which he investigated. We snuck up on the rustling sound in the underbrush and found a pair of robins. We saw a large black shelter box of some kind on a pole, and went to investigate what it might be a shelter box for (bats, we decided, since it had a slotted open bottom.)
A drainage pipe was discovered, and children each had to call to the other from the various ends of the pipe. On one side of the pipe, the natural stream had been filled in with large rock chunks, and we wondered why that was and left the walked on the rocks till we got back to the natural stream. We noticed interesting rocks and talked about their composition as we walked.
Back in the wooded section, soft moss was admired, a fallen log turned into a balancing beam, and new leaf buds examined.
No journaling or sketching was done, so I'm not sure that it qualifies exactly as a Charlotte Mason approved outing, but it was an excellent Friday afternoon!
Wednesday, March 17, 2010
WFMW: Leprechauns
Leprechauns are tricky little people that like to have a little fun. On St. Patrick's Day, they often play little tricks overnight. They like riddles and hide and seek type games, and often leave a tiny bit of candy or other small treat to be found by the children of the house.
One year, the Leprechauns at our house hid all the Webkinz. They left a small bag of cookies where the Webkinz usually snuggle. When it was discovered that the webkinz were missing, a house-wide hunt was mounted. Webkinz were found everywhere, peaking out from behind bookcases, hiding under throw cushions, in school desks, etc.
Another year, the Leprechauns left a trail of riddle notes. The first note was found on each child's school desk and told them where to look for the next note. Sweetling had riddles in rhyming couplets. Toa of Boy, who was just learning how to read, had one word hints like "tub". Some sweet treat was hidden at the end of the riddle trail.
This year, the Leprechauns absconded with the beloved Wii-motes. In the charger base, where the wii-motes usually sit, they left four miniature candy bars. Toa of Boy was, not surprisingly, the first to notice the disappearance. He came to find me asking what was going on with the Wii-motes and the candy.
I, of course, had no idea what he was talking about, so he grabbed my hand and led me to the living room. "I don't know," I confessed, surveying the scene of the 'crime.' "Maybe you should ask your sister."
He ran to Sweetling's room, knocking on the door and eventually leading her into the living room as well. Sweelting quickly assessed the situation and said, "Mommy, if this is some kind of April Fool's prank, then you are a little bit too early."
"Me?" replied the innocent Mommy. "I don't think so." Sweetling seemed puzzled. "What day is it?" I prompted.
(Meanwhile Toa of Boy was guessing, "Maybe Daddy. Daddy did it." Cause this is just the sort of thing the Jedi would do.)
Sweetling, still in her jammies, grinned. "Saint Patrick's Day."
"Leprechauns love to play tricks," I reminded her.
"So," she concluded as Toa began an excited hopping dance about leprechauns, "we need to find the leprechaun." Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. "And you are suspiciously wearing green and you are quite small."
I narrowly avoided capture by a small boy, and then a house-wide hunt was mounted to find the leprechauns and their stolen bunch of wii-motes. The Leprechauns, being small and sneaky, easily avoided capture, but the Wii-motes were indeed found hiding out in a silk flower arrangement.
(After wii-motes were returned and order was re-established, Toa of Boy came up to me to ask if leprechauns were real. I smiled and asked him what he thought. "No," replied, smiling and shaking his head. I confirmed that they weren't real, but that it was fun to pretend, wasn't it. Then he wanted to know where leprechauns lived, so we talked about Ireland. Sweetling came up with the hypothesis that perhaps a few leprechauns snuck into America in the trunks of the Irish immigrants.)
Check out some other "Works for Me Wednesday" ideas.
One year, the Leprechauns at our house hid all the Webkinz. They left a small bag of cookies where the Webkinz usually snuggle. When it was discovered that the webkinz were missing, a house-wide hunt was mounted. Webkinz were found everywhere, peaking out from behind bookcases, hiding under throw cushions, in school desks, etc.
Another year, the Leprechauns left a trail of riddle notes. The first note was found on each child's school desk and told them where to look for the next note. Sweetling had riddles in rhyming couplets. Toa of Boy, who was just learning how to read, had one word hints like "tub". Some sweet treat was hidden at the end of the riddle trail.
This year, the Leprechauns absconded with the beloved Wii-motes. In the charger base, where the wii-motes usually sit, they left four miniature candy bars. Toa of Boy was, not surprisingly, the first to notice the disappearance. He came to find me asking what was going on with the Wii-motes and the candy.
I, of course, had no idea what he was talking about, so he grabbed my hand and led me to the living room. "I don't know," I confessed, surveying the scene of the 'crime.' "Maybe you should ask your sister."
He ran to Sweetling's room, knocking on the door and eventually leading her into the living room as well. Sweelting quickly assessed the situation and said, "Mommy, if this is some kind of April Fool's prank, then you are a little bit too early."
"Me?" replied the innocent Mommy. "I don't think so." Sweetling seemed puzzled. "What day is it?" I prompted.
(Meanwhile Toa of Boy was guessing, "Maybe Daddy. Daddy did it." Cause this is just the sort of thing the Jedi would do.)
Sweetling, still in her jammies, grinned. "Saint Patrick's Day."
"Leprechauns love to play tricks," I reminded her.
"So," she concluded as Toa began an excited hopping dance about leprechauns, "we need to find the leprechaun." Her eyes narrowed as she studied me. "And you are suspiciously wearing green and you are quite small."
I narrowly avoided capture by a small boy, and then a house-wide hunt was mounted to find the leprechauns and their stolen bunch of wii-motes. The Leprechauns, being small and sneaky, easily avoided capture, but the Wii-motes were indeed found hiding out in a silk flower arrangement.
(After wii-motes were returned and order was re-established, Toa of Boy came up to me to ask if leprechauns were real. I smiled and asked him what he thought. "No," replied, smiling and shaking his head. I confirmed that they weren't real, but that it was fun to pretend, wasn't it. Then he wanted to know where leprechauns lived, so we talked about Ireland. Sweetling came up with the hypothesis that perhaps a few leprechauns snuck into America in the trunks of the Irish immigrants.)
Check out some other "Works for Me Wednesday" ideas.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Prime Directive
A new rule went into effect in our home today; there is to be no Wii between the hours of 9 and 3 on a school day. This is not a very popular rule. Toa of Boy almost perished through the long, terrible withdrawal. Yet, in the end he decided to use his free time to make a picture with his 3d paint set and build a complex lego spaceship.
He brought his lego spaceship into the kitchen to show me. He was describing wall the different decks and such and then said, "Guess what, Mommy? This ship doesn't have any guns."
"Really?" says his hippy-at-heart Mommy. "Is it an exploration vessel?"
"No, it has lazers!"
Of course.
The show and tell session then became a description of exactly how many ways this "gun-less" vessel could destroy other spacecraft.
He brought his lego spaceship into the kitchen to show me. He was describing wall the different decks and such and then said, "Guess what, Mommy? This ship doesn't have any guns."
"Really?" says his hippy-at-heart Mommy. "Is it an exploration vessel?"
"No, it has lazers!"
Of course.
The show and tell session then became a description of exactly how many ways this "gun-less" vessel could destroy other spacecraft.
Saturday, March 13, 2010
The Point
When we set out on this endeavor of homeschooling, it was my siblings, and not my own children that I was homeschooling and we had the following goals--
1. To allow each child to learn in a safe, encouraging environment.
2. To allow each child to learn at their own pace and in their own way.
3. To allow each child to develop their own unique interests and abilities.
I was a new homeschooler, and I was still fresh from the college with my teacher's degree, and I know I made mistakes. I also had the notion that I should "spurring" each child on to the potential I knew they had. And my biggest mistake was in "spurring" rather than encouraging.
Then Vaya and Sweetling were added to the mix. For Sweetling, a new goal was added, to provide an integrated Christian perspective through our daily life and through our choice of educational materials. Sounds dry when I say it like that. There's the educational pedagogy coming back out. For Vaya, the goal was to provide a living example of a healthy family and a wholesome environment for her to heal and grow.
Now, it's a decade has gone by since I first dove into this homeschooling ocean. And I'm re-evaluating what our goals are, and whether what we're doing everyday is in line with those goals or not. And I'm soliciting input from Sweetling and Toa to make sure their needs and desires are being met.
This is what I, and I think the Jedi, want to see from our homeschool:
An environment and curriculum that promotes our faith.
An environment and curriculum that promotes being conscientious of the needs of others and of taking specific actions towards those needs.
An environment and curriculum that promotes family unity and good friendships with others.
An environment and curriculum that allows each child to learn and grow at their own pace and in their own way.
An environment and curriculum that allows each child to learn and develop their unique, God-given gifts, abilities, and interests.
An environment and curriculum that is engaging and encourages the joy of exploration, experimentation, creativity, and discovery.
Here is what Sweetling said one evening when I asked her what she thought was most important about homeschooling--
1. That I am her teacher.
2. That she doesn't have to worry about "crazy" classmates. (A good friend is really going through an emotionally devastating time with a group of bullies in her school.)
A few days later, when the kids and I sat down after lunch one day and discussed homeschooling, a made a written list of their responses to the following questions.
What is the most important aspect of homeschooling to you?
Sweetling--
1. independent work
2. reading
3. history
Toa of Boy--
1. math
2. reading together
3. seeing his progress bar (tracked on the computer as part of the on-line lessons)
What do you think our goals of homeschooling should be? Why do you think we should choose to do homeschooling rather than be part of a traditional public or private school setting?
Toa of Boy--
1. We learn at our own pace.
2. We can be done with school earlier in the day.
3. For Mommy to be the teacher, "cause I love you."
Sweetling--
1. We can be together.
2. We learn at our own pace.
3. We have more control over the lessons.
i was encouraged by how much of what they thought important was also part of my internal, unvocalized homeschooling goals. But I am also challenged because while there are many ways in which our curriculum has served us well over the years, there are now a few too many ways in which it is falling short of what we want from our homeschooling curriculum. The Jedi also agrees that it has some issues, and has given his agreement that other options need to be investigated.
This past year has highlighted the good and the bad for us.
On the one hand, Sweetling is VERY independent. I'm proud of how independent and responsible she is. But I feel that school has ceased to be engaging and a rewarding process for her. Instead, she goes to her room with her to do list and emerges with her to do list complete. Kudos to her for independent completion, shame on the system and the Mommy that has smothered the joy of learning. Similarly, while Sweetling's very first response, when asked what was important to her, was that I was her teacher, in truth I have advocated that role to the computer and an outside, pre-set curriculum.
Likewise, both children expressed the importance of being and doing things together....yet our current curriculum not only does not encourage any family projects or creative fun, but is actually a roadblock to field trips, creative explorations, and co-operative learning. The work load for each child is large, and completely divorced from what each other is doing.
Academically and spiritually, I'm concerned that our curriculum is so rigorous in and of itself, that it doesn't allow for additional pursuits of knowledge. In order to play chess together and to learn chess strategies and solve chess puzzles, we have to try to make up our curriculum time for the time "lost" learning chess. Its another addition to an already long and demanding day. Likewise for learning Spanish, ASL, or studying the Bible in more depth and detail.
Finally, having been through the curriculum with Sweetling once, I knew that as the curriculum progressed, it would suit Toa of Boy's hands-on learning style less and less. To cap that off, we recently received his second grade math book, which he was oh so excited to get. His excitement turned to dismay as we flipped through the book and found the first half of it nearly identical to the first grade book we had just finished. "I already know this," he said, "where's the new stuff?" I had to hunt to find it.
Regrettably, I believe this marks the end of our long and thus far successful association with k-12 and participation in OHVA. Sweetling, when I first told her that I was looking at some new curriculums, tearfully told me that she liked k-12. And I agree. I still like k-12 and would recommend it to others. But it is simply no longer best meeting our needs as a family.
Even more regrettably, this also means that this will likely be our last year at our Cardinal's Nest Co-op, since that co-op is driven by the k-12 curriculum.
BUT, we spend an hour or two looking through the curriculum possibilities I had researched over the week, and had sent to the Jedi for his input. Both children are excited about My Father's World and think it looks like fun. I gave Sweetling a choice between three different math textbooks and we will go with the one she chooses. Likewise, we will go with the science curriculum she picks out for herself. And I'm getting her opinions and selections on literature and language arts as well. (Originally, she said that "Homeschooling gives us control over our lessons," then she ammended it and said, "well, it gives you control over our lessons." I want to give her back some control over her own lessons. She is mature enough and responsible enough to help determine the course of her education.)
The Happily Ever After ending is that tears and sniffles have turned to smiles of excitement. And, because I know the extraverted boy really needs to be around other children as much as possible, I'm already thick in the process of getting us hooked up with another co-op. Sweetling knows and likes several families and young ladies at this new co-op, so that will smooth the transition for her.
1. To allow each child to learn in a safe, encouraging environment.
2. To allow each child to learn at their own pace and in their own way.
3. To allow each child to develop their own unique interests and abilities.
I was a new homeschooler, and I was still fresh from the college with my teacher's degree, and I know I made mistakes. I also had the notion that I should "spurring" each child on to the potential I knew they had. And my biggest mistake was in "spurring" rather than encouraging.
Then Vaya and Sweetling were added to the mix. For Sweetling, a new goal was added, to provide an integrated Christian perspective through our daily life and through our choice of educational materials. Sounds dry when I say it like that. There's the educational pedagogy coming back out. For Vaya, the goal was to provide a living example of a healthy family and a wholesome environment for her to heal and grow.
Now, it's a decade has gone by since I first dove into this homeschooling ocean. And I'm re-evaluating what our goals are, and whether what we're doing everyday is in line with those goals or not. And I'm soliciting input from Sweetling and Toa to make sure their needs and desires are being met.
This is what I, and I think the Jedi, want to see from our homeschool:
An environment and curriculum that promotes our faith.
An environment and curriculum that promotes being conscientious of the needs of others and of taking specific actions towards those needs.
An environment and curriculum that promotes family unity and good friendships with others.
An environment and curriculum that allows each child to learn and grow at their own pace and in their own way.
An environment and curriculum that allows each child to learn and develop their unique, God-given gifts, abilities, and interests.
An environment and curriculum that is engaging and encourages the joy of exploration, experimentation, creativity, and discovery.
Here is what Sweetling said one evening when I asked her what she thought was most important about homeschooling--
1. That I am her teacher.
2. That she doesn't have to worry about "crazy" classmates. (A good friend is really going through an emotionally devastating time with a group of bullies in her school.)
A few days later, when the kids and I sat down after lunch one day and discussed homeschooling, a made a written list of their responses to the following questions.
What is the most important aspect of homeschooling to you?
Sweetling--
1. independent work
2. reading
3. history
Toa of Boy--
1. math
2. reading together
3. seeing his progress bar (tracked on the computer as part of the on-line lessons)
What do you think our goals of homeschooling should be? Why do you think we should choose to do homeschooling rather than be part of a traditional public or private school setting?
Toa of Boy--
1. We learn at our own pace.
2. We can be done with school earlier in the day.
3. For Mommy to be the teacher, "cause I love you."
Sweetling--
1. We can be together.
2. We learn at our own pace.
3. We have more control over the lessons.
i was encouraged by how much of what they thought important was also part of my internal, unvocalized homeschooling goals. But I am also challenged because while there are many ways in which our curriculum has served us well over the years, there are now a few too many ways in which it is falling short of what we want from our homeschooling curriculum. The Jedi also agrees that it has some issues, and has given his agreement that other options need to be investigated.
This past year has highlighted the good and the bad for us.
On the one hand, Sweetling is VERY independent. I'm proud of how independent and responsible she is. But I feel that school has ceased to be engaging and a rewarding process for her. Instead, she goes to her room with her to do list and emerges with her to do list complete. Kudos to her for independent completion, shame on the system and the Mommy that has smothered the joy of learning. Similarly, while Sweetling's very first response, when asked what was important to her, was that I was her teacher, in truth I have advocated that role to the computer and an outside, pre-set curriculum.
Likewise, both children expressed the importance of being and doing things together....yet our current curriculum not only does not encourage any family projects or creative fun, but is actually a roadblock to field trips, creative explorations, and co-operative learning. The work load for each child is large, and completely divorced from what each other is doing.
Academically and spiritually, I'm concerned that our curriculum is so rigorous in and of itself, that it doesn't allow for additional pursuits of knowledge. In order to play chess together and to learn chess strategies and solve chess puzzles, we have to try to make up our curriculum time for the time "lost" learning chess. Its another addition to an already long and demanding day. Likewise for learning Spanish, ASL, or studying the Bible in more depth and detail.
Finally, having been through the curriculum with Sweetling once, I knew that as the curriculum progressed, it would suit Toa of Boy's hands-on learning style less and less. To cap that off, we recently received his second grade math book, which he was oh so excited to get. His excitement turned to dismay as we flipped through the book and found the first half of it nearly identical to the first grade book we had just finished. "I already know this," he said, "where's the new stuff?" I had to hunt to find it.
Regrettably, I believe this marks the end of our long and thus far successful association with k-12 and participation in OHVA. Sweetling, when I first told her that I was looking at some new curriculums, tearfully told me that she liked k-12. And I agree. I still like k-12 and would recommend it to others. But it is simply no longer best meeting our needs as a family.
Even more regrettably, this also means that this will likely be our last year at our Cardinal's Nest Co-op, since that co-op is driven by the k-12 curriculum.
BUT, we spend an hour or two looking through the curriculum possibilities I had researched over the week, and had sent to the Jedi for his input. Both children are excited about My Father's World and think it looks like fun. I gave Sweetling a choice between three different math textbooks and we will go with the one she chooses. Likewise, we will go with the science curriculum she picks out for herself. And I'm getting her opinions and selections on literature and language arts as well. (Originally, she said that "Homeschooling gives us control over our lessons," then she ammended it and said, "well, it gives you control over our lessons." I want to give her back some control over her own lessons. She is mature enough and responsible enough to help determine the course of her education.)
The Happily Ever After ending is that tears and sniffles have turned to smiles of excitement. And, because I know the extraverted boy really needs to be around other children as much as possible, I'm already thick in the process of getting us hooked up with another co-op. Sweetling knows and likes several families and young ladies at this new co-op, so that will smooth the transition for her.
Friday, March 12, 2010
Weekly Wrap Up: It isn't February anymore
Now, every year sometime in February, I'm ready to scrap my curriculum, my approach to homeschooling, my hairstyle, the bulk of my wardrobe, our schedule for the week, the arrangement of furniture in the living room, and, well...I'm just ready to start chucking things to the scrap pile. However, in the past 7 years, we've persevered through my winter duldrums and we've been using the same curriculum since Sweetling was in Kindergarten.
That being said, its now March, and I'm definitely reconsidering my curriculum for next year. While our curriculum has served us well, its no longer meeting our needs as a family. Even the Jedi has said its time to look at other options, so I know its not just me and my winter blues.
My Weekly-Wrap Up is:
I've probably spent as much time looking over curriculum on the web as I have actually teaching this week. It's been a long time since I've had to pick out curriculum. I'd really appreciate feedback from any other homeschoolers who have experience with any of the curriculum I'm considering.
Here's what our needs are:
I have a Sweetling, who is going to be 12. She loves to work independently and is advanced in math and in reading. She is quiet and loves routines and structure. Her little brother, who is going to be 7, is nearly her polar opposite. He is very hands-on, action oriented, can't keep still, little chatterbox. Despite the differences in ages and temperment, they get along very well. I want something that provides us the opportunity to study, learn, and do some projects together as a family....while still providing Sweelting with the quiet, independent study time she needs.
I'm looking at My Father's World: Exploring Countries and Cultures as our base curriculum.
For math, I'm considering Singapore Math for both children, on their appropriate levels of course.
For language arts, I'm considering Writing Strands 1 and 5. I'll continue Sweetling in her Vocabulary from Classical Roots while Toa of Boy will strenthen his spelling and word recognition skills with Sequential Spelling. In addition to "book basket" books and weekly library trips, Sweetling will read and study two novels of her choice using Progeny Press Literature Study Guides.
Sweetling is also looking through some science curriculums to determine what she might like to study.
So, that has been my week. I'd love to hear, good or bad, from anyone who has experience with any of those curriculums!
That being said, its now March, and I'm definitely reconsidering my curriculum for next year. While our curriculum has served us well, its no longer meeting our needs as a family. Even the Jedi has said its time to look at other options, so I know its not just me and my winter blues.
My Weekly-Wrap Up is:
I've probably spent as much time looking over curriculum on the web as I have actually teaching this week. It's been a long time since I've had to pick out curriculum. I'd really appreciate feedback from any other homeschoolers who have experience with any of the curriculum I'm considering.
Here's what our needs are:
I have a Sweetling, who is going to be 12. She loves to work independently and is advanced in math and in reading. She is quiet and loves routines and structure. Her little brother, who is going to be 7, is nearly her polar opposite. He is very hands-on, action oriented, can't keep still, little chatterbox. Despite the differences in ages and temperment, they get along very well. I want something that provides us the opportunity to study, learn, and do some projects together as a family....while still providing Sweelting with the quiet, independent study time she needs.
I'm looking at My Father's World: Exploring Countries and Cultures as our base curriculum.
For math, I'm considering Singapore Math for both children, on their appropriate levels of course.
For language arts, I'm considering Writing Strands 1 and 5. I'll continue Sweetling in her Vocabulary from Classical Roots while Toa of Boy will strenthen his spelling and word recognition skills with Sequential Spelling. In addition to "book basket" books and weekly library trips, Sweetling will read and study two novels of her choice using Progeny Press Literature Study Guides.
Sweetling is also looking through some science curriculums to determine what she might like to study.
So, that has been my week. I'd love to hear, good or bad, from anyone who has experience with any of those curriculums!
Wednesday, March 03, 2010
Sisters
Despite the fact that my sister and I hold differing political views, differing religious views, and different tastes in clothes, fashion, and food, I love my relationship with my sister for the following reasons.
In the middle of the day, I can call her from Walmart (which she dislikes for ideological purposes), because I want advice on whether or not to purchase a $10 pair of grey cloth Mary Jane shoes. Rather than a lecture about child labor in China, my sister will enter into a serious discussion with me regarding the types and colors of socks I would need to purchase to go with my ten dollar shoes.
Similarly, I can call her after bringing home a five dollar black pleather jacket from the thrift shop. Not only is she all about the advice regarding a good hat choice, but she emails me a list of photo links of hats that will work with that jacket.
She understands the significance of the shape of the icicles hanging outside my kitchen window.
She laughs at my blog.
She loves my children and will listen to all my stories without tiring.
She can face-paint a cockateil based on a little girl's description that it "goes like this".
When Sarah Palin bombed during the vice-presidential debate, she said, "I'm so sorry," rather than, "I told you so."
She gets teary-eyed looking at a Chihuly.
She pretends that I'm a good garden designer.
When asked, "I'm reading a book about God; what's a fractal?" She's happy to launch into a detailed, but understandable, explanation of fractals without batting an eye.
Look, kids, art.
She understands that Eden Park is indeed thin space.
She joins me in my rant against Stephanie Meyer.
She doesn't join me on Team Jacob.
I can communicate with her in a look, and she grasps what I'm conveying.
She makes a phenomenal cup of hot cocoa.
When I say "virtual" instead of "vicarious", she doesn't correct me. She just uses the correct word in the correct context in her next sentence.
She taught herself how to be an excellent cook despite my attempts to mentor her in the kitchen when she was a teenager.
She doesn't care how many participles I leave dangling. At least to my face ;)
She spent an entire weekend stripping wall paper and spreading textured paint in a 5 x 7 space on very little sleep to help the Jedi surprise me with a redecorated bathroom.
For the Superbowl, she made little gormet appetizers that I can neither pronounce nor even google. (They were little date things stuffed with a cheese I can't name wrapped in a type of bacon and broiled.) For the same Superbowl, I reheated Skyline chili and scorched my attempt at caramelized popcorn.
She sends me links to cool dance videos. She doesn't get upset when it takes me forever to get around to watching them.
She sees the artistic merit of "rectangles of color".
She tells me about The Pioneer Woman.
She'll totally support me in my leap-without-looking scheme to take on the assignments at P.W. Photography. She'll probably volunteer to do them with me.
She totally supported me in my leap-without-looking scheme to participate in NaNo. She immediately volunteered to do it with me.
I'm sure as soon as I walk away from the computer, many more things will leap to mind. Just as I'm sure that I had a few other things in mind before I sat down at the computer, which now I can't recall. Still, it's a good sampling of the things I like about, so I'll stop fretting over it. Instead I'll fret over the extraordinarily loud crash which just happened upstairs.
In the middle of the day, I can call her from Walmart (which she dislikes for ideological purposes), because I want advice on whether or not to purchase a $10 pair of grey cloth Mary Jane shoes. Rather than a lecture about child labor in China, my sister will enter into a serious discussion with me regarding the types and colors of socks I would need to purchase to go with my ten dollar shoes.
Similarly, I can call her after bringing home a five dollar black pleather jacket from the thrift shop. Not only is she all about the advice regarding a good hat choice, but she emails me a list of photo links of hats that will work with that jacket.
She understands the significance of the shape of the icicles hanging outside my kitchen window.
She laughs at my blog.
She loves my children and will listen to all my stories without tiring.
She can face-paint a cockateil based on a little girl's description that it "goes like this".
When Sarah Palin bombed during the vice-presidential debate, she said, "I'm so sorry," rather than, "I told you so."
She gets teary-eyed looking at a Chihuly.
She pretends that I'm a good garden designer.
When asked, "I'm reading a book about God; what's a fractal?" She's happy to launch into a detailed, but understandable, explanation of fractals without batting an eye.
Look, kids, art.
She understands that Eden Park is indeed thin space.
She joins me in my rant against Stephanie Meyer.
She doesn't join me on Team Jacob.
I can communicate with her in a look, and she grasps what I'm conveying.
She makes a phenomenal cup of hot cocoa.
When I say "virtual" instead of "vicarious", she doesn't correct me. She just uses the correct word in the correct context in her next sentence.
She taught herself how to be an excellent cook despite my attempts to mentor her in the kitchen when she was a teenager.
She doesn't care how many participles I leave dangling. At least to my face ;)
She spent an entire weekend stripping wall paper and spreading textured paint in a 5 x 7 space on very little sleep to help the Jedi surprise me with a redecorated bathroom.
For the Superbowl, she made little gormet appetizers that I can neither pronounce nor even google. (They were little date things stuffed with a cheese I can't name wrapped in a type of bacon and broiled.) For the same Superbowl, I reheated Skyline chili and scorched my attempt at caramelized popcorn.
She sends me links to cool dance videos. She doesn't get upset when it takes me forever to get around to watching them.
She sees the artistic merit of "rectangles of color".
She tells me about The Pioneer Woman.
She'll totally support me in my leap-without-looking scheme to take on the assignments at P.W. Photography. She'll probably volunteer to do them with me.
She totally supported me in my leap-without-looking scheme to participate in NaNo. She immediately volunteered to do it with me.
I'm sure as soon as I walk away from the computer, many more things will leap to mind. Just as I'm sure that I had a few other things in mind before I sat down at the computer, which now I can't recall. Still, it's a good sampling of the things I like about, so I'll stop fretting over it. Instead I'll fret over the extraordinarily loud crash which just happened upstairs.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)