MommyCoddle

Searching for whales

Strange as it may sound, I've had whales on the brain for the last several months. I can't remember where it started, really.

I know I had this idea to start making whale shaped chalkboards, but that still hasn't panned out. Then I thought about carving whale shaped stamps, but that hasn't happened yet either. So when I stumbled across this book on making hand-print animal art and happened to turn to the whale page first, it pretty much seemed like a sign to me. Don't you think?

The girls and I made some prints on paper this winter but after going to a printing/textile workshop at the BMA this weekend, I was inspired to get the girls to do a little whale printing on some kitchen towels for me today. Sort of like poor man's screen printing.

The book is filled with some amazing instructions for making animals using all kinds of handprint techniques--only stamping certain fingers, just your palm, printing with your fist. Things I'd never even thought of.

But making the whale is pretty straightforward.

To start, stamp (or in this case we painted with a brush) your hand and fingers only. Not your thumb. (if you want more of a handprint look, don't let your children coat their entire hands and palm in paint. The girls coated their hands for these whales, which makes them much more filled in.)

After you have printed your hand on the paper, use your pointer finger to make the fin and tail.

Once the girls prints dried, I used a sharpie marker to outline the whale body and add an eye. Because Mary's was so dark, I used the end of the paintbrush to paint on the eye.

All in all, an extremely successful, easy project. And I have a little whale in my life made from my favorite little hands. The perfect combination.

five senses

I have to admit, I'm often a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants homeschooler. In fact, I remember being the same way when I was an elementary school teacher. Not so much that I'm not prepared, as much as I'm often struck with an idea when we're in the middle of something else, and I scramble to pull it together.

That happened this morning when we were reading a (very boring) thrifted Science textbook, while we waited for the mobile veterinarian to make a visit to our little farm. The first chapter talked about how we learn about the world around us and discussed using our five senses.

It gave me the idea to let the girls play a little blind-folded guessing game, using all their senses except sight, to figure out what all the items were on my mystery tray.

While they played in the other room, I wandered around the kitchen  looking for things that had texture and smell, sound, and even flavor. (I clued them in when they were safe to taste something. Though I did let them taste the clothespin, just for fun!)

I blindfolded both girls and sat them down at the kitchen table. We worked through the tray of objects and I had them whisper in my ear what they thought each item was. (Whispering was key, because Mary tends to just guess whatever Emma guesses. And I was anxious to see how well she'd do at this game.) 

They loved it and it was fun to see how well they did with their guessing, and what clued them in to what each object was.

Later this afternoon, while Emma was drawing at the dining room table, I gave her a few small circles and asked her to make some observations in each circle based upon her five senses. She was in "a mood" at the moment and gave me a head slumped down on the table, "when can I get back to what I want to do?" kind of effort, but I think I'll try it again tonight, when I'm in the kitchen making supper.

So now after all this, I'm not sure if my girls know more about their five senses, or more about how much fun it is to blindfold each other and make them stick their hands in unknown bowls of food.

Hopefully, a little something was learned along the way.

study buddy

My mother always used to tell us, "Make sure there are always people in your pictures. Or else they'll be very boring." So forgive me if these pictures bore you, but I can't stop photographing the tiny wonders of spring that are taking place all around our home.

Inspired by an activity on the Green Hour website, Emma and I have each "adopted" a bud on the Maple tree in the side yard, that we'll be watching for the next few weeks.

Today was the first day. We marked the buds with a piece of string, took a few pictures and drew some sketches of what our buds looked like.

After a dormant winter, it seems like changes are happening daily, so we'll be revisiting our buds regularly to take more pictures, drawings and observations.

(And for the sake of full disclosure, I just want to note that my dear children spent more time decorating the title of this chart than they did studying the buds. Isn't that the way it goes?)

I think it will be really neat to compare all the photographs once the leaves emerge. To see how these spindly, fragile red buds change and develop into broad maple leaves.

If I'm not careful, spring will creep up on me, and next thing I know I'll be looking at green leaves, and long grass, and flowering trees. Hopefully, this little project will help us savor the change of seasons a bit more.

digital scrapbooking with kids?

I have to confess, I've never thought of myself as the scrapbooking type. Too cutesy, maybe? Too many things to buy to get started? I'm not sure what exactly....

But when I discovered ali edward's blog, and saw some of the things she was creating, it started to stir a little interest in me. I thought, "I kind of like that. I want to do something like that!"

And then this summer when I went to lunch at my grandmother's and my dad mentioned, "Oh, your second cousin (once removed, or something) Katie is going to be at lunch today. And I think she's a blogger, too." and that "blog" turned out to be designer digitals, and she turned out to be the founder/designer/owner....well....a whole lot MORE interest was piqued.

And then Katie and I started talking and brainstorming....and then we started thinking about the fact that I homeschool...and then all of a sudden I couldn't stop thinking of all the ways I could use digital scrapbooking with the girls and with the things we were learning.

When they ached to do something on the computer, we could sit down together and do something a little more creative and interactive. And we could talk and create. And I could nonchalantly assess what they were learning and remembering....and....and.....

So, at this point there is a big gap between my ideas and my skills. But we're dipping our toes in the water around here. I've got lots of ideas, and I'm slowly bringing them together.

And with all the big egg news of late, it seemed like the obvious place to start.

I give you our first dip into the world of digital scrapbooking. For now, I see us creating pages that are reflective. A collection of daily journals, highlights, moments from our day, things we don't want to forget.

For these pages, I created the layout and the backgrounds. The girls dictated the text to me and chose some of the colors. And it was a lot of fun. Emma has been designing pages in her own journal, with pencil and paper. Things that she wants to turn into digital scrapbook pages. She's writing things down and drawing pictures and making plans.

I think this is going to be a lot of fun.

The details:
Background: Little Forest Friends Kit
Eggs! text: Wynken, Blynken and Nod Kit
Hanging Tags No. 1
Hinged Frames No. 3
Date Strips No.3
(chicken prints via google images with a litle tweaking)

Baking with Kids, (and the answer to a question many have asked)

My kitchen is getting crowded. There is a little girl in this house who is nudging me out in order to let her give the world of baking a try--solo baking.

And no, contrary to this first picture, it is not Elizabeth--who finds my ailing KitchenAid Mixer very mesmerizing. Rather, it is Emma.

So I've begun the search for some easy, starter recipes. Recipes that require a few ingredients and simple instructions. Eventually, I'd like to pull them all together into her own recipe box.

To help her have complete independence, I've been "illustrating" the recipes for her. Don't laugh at my crude drawings, please. At least Emma knows what they are!

This recipe is one of her favorites--Peanut Butter Kiss cookies--and she can make them completely on her own except for a little help with measuring the sticky peanut butter. It may be time to add a WonderCup to our kitchen supplies.

If you'd like a copy of Emma's recipe card, be my guest:::click to get the recipe card::. Meanwhile, I'd love to hear some of the simple recipes in your repertoire, or the recipes that your children enjoy making by themselves in the kitchen. I  love the idea of Emma being able to enjoy baking and preparing things by herself. I know she loves that rush which comes with doing something "so grown-up" all on her own and it also gives her a way to do something special for her family.

As our recipe collection grows, I'll do my best to share them here. And please, share yours as well. I'd love more to add to our bank of recipes. And it will give me a chance to work on my drawing skills. :)

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I also wanted to point you in the direction of Amy's blog, doobleh-vay. She asked me to take part in her "Inspire Me" series, sharing three things that inspire me, along with a few inspiring links. Be sure to stop by and  take a look. Amy is also behind the great etsy shop Little Alouette. She and her husband make beautiful wooden toys that are classic, simple and adorable. Thank you, Amy for including me in this series. It was good for me to take the time to put some of my inspiration into words.

Also, if you follow my Bushel and A Peck posts on babycenter you'll know that two weeks ago, I (bravely, I might add) wrote a post about some homeschooling frustrations. The post got a lot of comments--some well-meaning, off-base advice, some support, and some attack. Someone even told me that they thought homeschooling should be outlawed. Hmmmm...

Anyway, a number of people who left comments asked me to address why I homeschool. Honestly, I was pretty hesitant to share. In fact, I'm pretty hesitant to talk about homeschooling much at all on the babycenter blogs. I just don't want to hear all the negativity. (though there were a lot of supportive comments on my first homeschooling post.) But when I thought about it more, I decided to go ahead and share my reasons for homeschooling. It's easy to talk about it here on my personal blog--so many of you homeschool and those of you that don't, don't give negative reactions to the fact that I do. And I'm really, REALLY thankful for that. But in the end, I decided that these are MY REASONS for homeschooling, not some philosophy on how schooling should be handled for all children, not some mindset I'm trying to shove down the throats of anyone who will listen. There will always be nay-sayers and furrowed-brow onlookers. So, for those of you who have sent me emails in the past and asked for me to share my reasons for homeschooling you can check out my post, "A Bushel and A Peck: Week 22: Why I Homeschool."

when nothing is something

The other day, while I was making dinner, I handed Emma and Mary each a piece of thin wire. I told them to "sculpt" something while I worked on dinner. Emma immediately embraced the idea, wrapping it around knitting needles, fashioning birds and tree branches; while Mary struggled to make hers look like something.

"I can't make anything! I don't know what I'm doing!"

I told her that it doesn't have to be anything. It could be shapes, or a design or just bent in a bunch of different directions. And that sometimes nothing, is something.

I think it was a good little lesson for her--the middle child who always struggles to keep up with the things her older sister is doing. Who is frustrated when she can't write her letters like Emma, or draw a horse like Emma, or figure out a Math problem, like Emma.

With the notion that nothing can be something, she was freed up to create whatever she wanted, and seemed to let go of her limiting expectations.

I want my children to know that not every creative project has to look like something recognizable when it is "finished". That the process and the act of creating is just as enjoyable and important as the outcome.

A lot of ooohing and ahhhing over "nothing", from her Mama, also helped.

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I just started a new series of interviews over at Babycenter, where I'll be interviewing some creative mothers, asking about their craft, how they learned, how they incorporate their children into their creative projects. I'm not sure how many interviews I'll share, but I may be asking a few of you, to take part.

My first interview is Fabiola Perez-Sitko of Fig & Me.. Our virtual paths crossed just a few weeks ago, and now three of her beautiful dolls are hiding in my downstairs closet until Christmas morning. They are the girls' special present this year and their other gifts under the tree will be compliments to the dolls. We are keeping things simple and budget-friendly this year.

I also wanted to let you know that I am always looking for crafty tutorials or ideas to link to on the babycenter blog. I write a crafty feature each week and highlight lots of crafty finds around the web. If you are doing something that I need to know about, please shoot me an email or leave me a comment on this post. The babycenter blogs get A LOT of traffic, so it's a great way for you to let people know about your blog, as well, if you like.

Right now, I'm on the hunt for great holiday crafts, so please send me any and all links and I'll check them out! I have a crafty round-up post scheduled for the end of next week.

full inclusion

For the past few days Lori has been blogging about how important it is to include the "littles" in your learning. She says "letting your youngest children marinate in this atmosphere of engaged, excited learning is the best way to effortlessly raise relentless learners."

I figured I'd better show her how much Elizabeth likes to marinate in the learning that's going on around here.

a worthwhile detour

Who knew an impromptu trip to the pet store could work out so well for me?

This morning the girls and I were headed to the library so I could deal with some issues--my last large bag of library books, which I returned last week never showed up as "checked in" on my account. Thankfully, I know which librarian it was--the grumpy one with really strong perfume, I wrote a check to pay my fines, (Yes, I write checks sometimes to pay for our library fines. Just doing what I can to support the local library.) and I knew exactly which books I had returned.

But at some point along the drive, Emma asked if we could please go to the pet store. I get this request several times a week, and I always turn it down. But you know how sometimes, you say no so many times in a row, for no particular reason, that finally, you just have to say yes.

So I did my library business at the drive-in window and we detoured to the much longed-for pet store.

We wandered the aisles. I let the girls stand, faces plastered against all the cages and tanks. I answered questions, I said no to every request for dog treats and cat toys--I left my wallet in the car. And then finally, we left...three red-faced, weeping girls dragging along with me out to the parking lot.

You might be wondering how this could have possibly turned out well for me, but just wait. It gets better.

Elizabeth was crying because I had to peel her pudgy fingers off the cage bars of the gerbils. Emma was crying because she had already named, and grown emotionally invested with one honey-colored hamster, and dear Mary was crying because she just wanted another plecostomus.

At first, I began my mother diatribe about how "I was going to remember this next time they asked to visit the pet store." And, "you have four kittens, six chicks and five guineas to love and take care of at home.", etc. etc. None of it was doing any good. None of it was doing anything to stop the wailing in the back of the car.

But then my wheels started turning. I remembered that I was in the process of establishing a chore system with the girls and thinking about letting them begin to earn an allowance. So we spent the rest of the trip home discussing these new ideas.

I still don't have all the kinks worked out in my system yet, but all the girls heard was DO CHORES + EARN MONEY = BUY THE HAMSTER/PLECOSTOMUS MYSELF!!

The conversation in the car immediately took a turn. From Mary, "Mom I promise I will never make you angry again. Mom. I promise I will always clean up after myself, even when I don't really want to. Mom. What chores do you want me to finish when I get home? Mom. I promise you are the best mom I've ever heard of."

From Emma: "Mom, I'm going to make my bed, clean the whole downstairs, mop the kitchen floor, and clean Elizabeth's room when we get home. How much money do I need to get a hamster? I already have about sixty dollars, I think. (she has maybe, three.) I'm guessing by like next week, no the end of this week, I'll be going back to get my hamster."

We got home and they barreled out of the car. By the time Elizabeth and I got inside, they were tying aprons on each other, talking like Laura and Mary Ingalls, and heading upstairs to make their beds. I just stood back and let the magic happen. They made their beds, picked up laundry and brought it to the washing machine, picked up the bathroom floor, washed the windows in their room. Emma cleaned Elizabeth's room and laid out a diaper and PJs for naps. Mary picked up her toys in the hallway, and even carried things back downstairs to their proper place. (that never happens!)

It was like having a team of merry maids arrive in my home. It was a beautiful, beautiful thing. Brings a tear to my eye. Finally, when they began plans to clean out a closet I pulled back on the reins and brought them back into their room for a talk.

I told them how happy I was, and told them I would work on a system so that we could keep this kind of thing up, and yes, they'd be able to earn a little money in order to save up for their pets. I gave them each fifty cents for their enthusiasm and we called it a day.

I'll let you know when I figure out my system. But for now, I'm still enjoying the post-pet store high. We might just have to go back tomorrow.

BirdJam

It's pretty safe to say we're a bit bird crazy in this household. Nothing warms my heart more than hearing my daughter cry out from the backyard, "Mom! Quick! Put the guineas in their pen. I hear a Red-Shouldered Hawk!!!"

There is always a pair of binoculars on the cupboard in the mudroom--whether they are Dan's nice ones or Mary's purple plastic ones. And they often get swooped up and carried outside in a flurry of excitement over something calling in the trees. Almost nightly, my setting of the dinner table requires that I first push aside field guides that have been pilfered during breakfast and lunch.

Once your ears begin to recognize bird sounds, it really is amazing how much more you hear and notice when you are out doors. The birds that wake you in the morning are no longer a cacophony of  calls, but become Song Sparrows, House Finches and Nuthatches. It's like walking through life with cotton balls in your ears, and someone finally taking them out and revealing a whole world you only previously heard in muffled, muted tones.

And honestly, there's nothing better than seeing this awareness and consciousness of natural surroundings being passed on to my children. I love that their ears are alert, and their eyes are soft, looking for movement and color in the treetops.

Dan and I have gone through a lot of tapes and CDs of birdsong and calls, doing our best to learn as many birds as we can that are native to our area. And it isn't easy. You learn birds only by sound, but can't remember what they look like. Or you know their picture in a field guide, but can't remember what their call sounds like when you're in the field.

So when I heard about BirdJam on a birding podcast, I knew I had to try it. BirdJam is a program of "song files" that can be loaded onto your computer or better yet, your iPod, to learn your bird songs. Each song file brings up a photo of the bird, their name and their genus species. (if you're feeling really ambitious). It is the perfect combination, being able to listen to a song and call, while having the visual photograph in front of you as well.

And guess who's been stealing my ipod to listen to the "bird song CD"? My girls sit with the computer or my ipod and work their way through the songs, calling out the birds they recognize either by song or photo and they are able to put all their knowledge together.

Bird Jam comes in an adult version, too but we have the version for young birders. It is a companion to Bill Thompson's (editor of Bird Watcher's Digest) amazing Young Birder's Guide. (which he wrote with the help of his elementary-aged daughter Pheobe, and he says it is one of his proudest accomplishments of all his bird content writing. ) We have a lot of kid-friendly field guides, but this one is definitely the best. All the information for each bird is on one page and the photographs and facts about each bird are really interesting. I've learned something new about each bird I've looked up in the guide.

I get the chance to share a lot of good finds with you here on my blog, but I have to say, this goes down as one of my favorites. I hope I just made your holiday shopping a little bit easier because I know you bird loving friends will really enjoy this find. And sharing a love and appreciation for the natural world with children, is something I feel passionately about.

happy bird watching, listening and learning....

A place for everything...

I promise, I'm not going to talk about cleaning and organizing for the rest of the year, I'm just a girl on a mission at the moment. This weekend, I was once again confronted by the fact that I am very hindered by mess. This isn't to say I have a clean house, it's the daily struggle to get things in their place, put away, cleaned and dealt with that hinders all other aspects of my life, especially my ability to be ready for anything, ready to jump into a project or activity with my children. If my kitchen is messy, I don't want to bake cookies. If the living room is messy, I don't want to go in there and teach you how to knit. I have to clean first. It's pretty pathetic, I know. Especially when I feel like I'm never completely on top of the cleaning, so it is a daily struggle. 

This weekend, I spent a good chunk of Saturday morning cleaning and putting away things in the kitchen. Things that had been sitting out on the counters, things on the shelves, dishes that needed to be moved to a giveaway box, etc. And having a clean kitchen got me excited to be in there--I baked, I made a good dinner, I even broke out the dehydrator--something I've been wanting to experiment with for awhile now. (Dehydrated apples? Big time, yum. Before you know it, I'll be dehydrating their lunches and storing them in airtight bags.)

As I cleaned on Saturday, an old saying came to mind: "A place for everything. Everything in its place." It's our new family theme, I've decided. Our mantra. What we're talking about this week in school. What I'm reminding myself and my husband.

In the meantime, Emma and I embarked on a little experiment this afternoon. We wanted to figure out which would freeze faster--salt water or fresh water. Our discussion about fresh water (lakes, ponds, streams) and salt water (oceans) made me realize that Emma has never been to the ocean, though we live just a few hours away now. She tells me she'll never swim in the ocean--the sharks, the jelly fish, how deep it is, and now that she realizes it's full of saltwater, it's even more reason for her to turn up her nose. Just wait and see, Emma...

With the absence of two thermometers we had to modify our experiment and began checking our water samples in the freezer every ten minutes. It was a great excuse to use my new TimeTimer, which I love. The visual aspect of the countdown is so helpful for children. Especially my daughter, who needs to know how long until every next event in her near future. "How many more minutes until my riding lesson? How many more minutes until lunch? How many more minutes until Daddy gets home?" The concepts of minutes and hours and seconds have always been difficult for her to understand. But I'm thinking this nifty little timer will help with all that. Plus it's just plain fun to turn that big red dial and watch it disappear.

So the experiment was generally a success. The freshwater froze first. Elizabeth drank the saltwater and spit it out all over the kitchen floor. And tomorrow we're going to race to melt ice cubes with the salt shakers.

Sounds like a good time.

If I can just get the dinner dishes cleaned up. Kidding.

(kind of.)

The things I'd be blogging about if I could find three quiet minutes in a row

Preface: This post has absolutely no inspirational value. Unless of course you find inspiration in stories about chicken hawks, homeschooling pity-parties, and bits about my laundry. Sorry.

++The chicks have taken over the downstairs bathroom and the guineas are outside in a movable wire pen that sits on a grassy spot in the yard. Yesterday I heard them making a huge racket and since I was upstairs with a naked baby, I sent Emma outside to see what was happening until I could get out there. There on the ground beside the pen was a large Red-Tailed Hawk harassing the guineas and causing them to run laps around the inside of their pen in sheer terror. The hawk was absolutely resolute about the whole ordeal. Emma walked right up to him, with just the pen between them. He didn't fly until she really started flapping around and saying "very mean things to him".

I came out moments later after watching it all from the window, to see that he had simply flown to a small tree beside the pen, no doubt waiting for this annoyance of humans to disappear. So, being the quick-thinker that I am, I pulled the big oilcloth tablecloth off my picnic table(the beautiful one from Beth) and began flapping and slapping it around at him until he moved on....to a taller tree just over the guinea's cage. He hasn't been back, but I feel like I may be sending my poor guineas to their death the day they are allowed to roam free in the yard.

++Homeschooling Day 2 was "throw in the towel, put 'em on the bus to school" hard. The first day was marked by Emma saying, "Next year I'm going to real school" every five minutes until she finally asked if she was hurting my feelings. Day 2 was marked by grumpiness, bickering siblings, things being spilled, nothing being accomplished, slamming doors, tears (mine, theirs), naps for everyone, and babies falling off tables.

I suppose every year has its challenges--last year it was lack of space. This year it is Elizabeth. She is the most curious (that's me putting a rosy glow on it) of all my children, a climber, a get-into-everything child. Emma and I sit at a long bench at the dining room table and I spend the whole time removing her from top of the table, and putting her down on the floor. Elizabeth, no. Elizabeth, no. Elizabeth, no.

She brings us tiny counting chips in her mouth and spits them out in our hands. She bites the tops off of Emma's new crayons and brings us the leftover nub. She gives me "quiet" by going into the kitchen, sliding the chair over to the table, climbing up on the table and digging her chubby fists into the boxes of cereal, turning them upside down to get out more and "drinking" the glasses of orange juice left there by mistake. Drinking involves 25% of the juice down her front, 75% of the juice on my kitchen floor--which I now know has a nice little sweet spot smack in the middle where all the juice pools.

++I've had the same load of laundry on the clothes line for three days. This will be day 4 if it doesn't come down by midnight. Upon typing this, it occurred to me that the clothes pins and clothes will by now be taken over by a large population of spiders who find my clothes line the perfect foundation for web-building. The last time this happened the large red striped spider that I brushed (more like a spastic swat) off the clothesline showed up five minutes later on my right shoulder. I almost de-shirted in the yard, I was so freaked out that I didn't get him off. Great. 

++This one's good. Emily and I met for dinner Tuesday night outside Baltimore. We live so close to each other, I love it. You know how when you meet great people blogging and you say to yourself, "Why can't this person live near me? I know we'd be fast friends?" I'm lucky enough to say that I've met a kindred spirit in Emily. Before we knew it, we'd been sitting there so long we both were desperate for the bathroom and realized it was after ten o'clock. To which we left the restaurant and then spent even more time lingering in the parking lot. Next date? Dansko outlet and dinner at Thomas Run--children and husbands allowed.

++This one is also good. Lisa Leonard sent me two beautiful treasures in the mail recently. I was going to share them today, but I don't want to throw their beauty in with all this whining. But let me just preview it all by saying that I love it, I love it, I love it. And the other thing she sent is now going to be my standard issue baby gift--a simple, classic. Stay tuned.

I leave you (if you're still here) with some words of wisdom from my husband, who reminded me last night that things worth doing are usually worth quitting, too. I'm not throwing in the homeschooling towel yet. I liken it to my newborn analogy--those days after the blissful first days are sometimes crazy, you feel like you're losing your mind, how did I get myself into this, when will I ever find a moment's peace, etc. etc. And then the next thing you know, you've found your groove again, your rhythm, and you wonder how you'd ever live your life other than the way it is right now. You can't imagine it any other way. I'm looking forward to that time. I'm hoping it comes soon.

Thank you for listening, or rolling your eyes, or yawning and rubbing your eyes, but making it to this point.

I guess I found my three minutes.

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Momformation posts here & here, & here, & here

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Do I look ready?

I'm up early this morning before the girls. It feels very back-to-schoolish of me. But really, it is out of necessity. I don't really feel ready to start our homeschooling year this morning. But at the same time, with all the time in the world, would I ever feel completely ready? I felt the same way when I was a third grade teacher. Never quite ready.

But if I can just suck down this cup of coffee and get a five minute head start on the day, I think I'll feel pretty good.

I hear voices upstairs....thankfully, my children enjoy a lounge in bed most mornings before emerging.

Dan and I spent the day yesterday dealing with the monster in the corner that is my homeschooling/art cupboard--which had quickly become my, "I don't know where this goes, shove it in the blue cupboard"-cupboard. It is wonderful to have space this year to spread out all my stuff. Last year it was a constant struggle--toting around my "boat and tote" of books, figuring out how to stow away 500 counting bears....

But this cupboard is way more prepared than I am. But looking at it, could almost convince me that I'm ready. Almost.

And in honor of going back to school, how about a little Atom Collider Rap to start your morning? It's good to know you can be this smart, and still a pretty decent rapper.  When she gets into the whole "three dimensions that we live in" thing at the end, my brain starts to thump in my head. Apparently, when this Large Hadron Collider goes into operation on September 10, the things it uncovers will "rock you in the head." 

And last but not least, Emma has a little news she'd like to share with you:

Rhode Island Red from molly balint on Vimeo.

His name is Sunshine. His name is Sunshine. His name is Sunshine. Did you get that? Oh, and it's 2008. Come 2015, I'll be really glad she let me know that.

I hear voices.....Happy Tuesday, everyone!

first grade here we come

First grade here we come.

Last week was our first homeschooling review and it all went really well. In reality, it was approached more like a celebration of the year versus a check-up and evaluation. And it was really good for me, to be forced to take stock of all that we had done during our first year of "official" homeschooling.

I'll be honest, there were many days where I was ready to throw in the towel, many emails to a few friends begging for advice and encouragement, and days when I questioned if this was the right decision for our family. For me. For Emma.

I learned a lot this year, and I hope Emma did, too. I know Mary did, which is one of the amazing perks of homeschooling. How the little ones can come along for the ride and benefit so much from it. Mary's gone from glazing over when I talked about letters to making very successful attempts at spelling words and trying to read. She begs for school.

I feel like Emma and I reached a sweet spot early this spring. An understanding, perhaps. And I hope that will carry over to next year. I think the physical circumstances will be better next year, things that have made it a little difficult this year--the distractions of living here on the farm, a small apartment where it is hard to find her own spot to work without distraction...

And can I tell you how much relief I felt when a few weeks ago, driving in the car, Emma told me she wanted to be homeschooled again next year? It was a wave of reassurance washing over me. This is what she chooses. This is what she wants, too.

She was still awake when I got home from my review late Thursday night. I went into her room to kiss her goodnight and she nervously asked from under her quilts, "What did they say?" And I could tell she was hiding a very large, very proud smile under all those blankets as I told her how well everything went and how she'd soon be able to call herself a first grader. And that made her happy. And a wave of reassurance (and sleep) washed over her as well. I'm pretty sure of that.

(and what does this post have to do with the picture? absolutely nothing. but when you completely clean out your iphoto and put everything on an external hard drive like a responsible photographer/mother/blogger, you lose that easy-access to some of your old 'go to' pictures.
But this would be one of my grandmother's beautiful roses...and that rain? That would be the rain that arrived the moment my door slammed behind me as I stepped inside from hanging my laundry on the clothesline. Another rinse, perhaps? Or another rinse in acid rain, as my grandmother put it....)

morning has broken

Sweet, dear, curious-about-everything Elizabeth broke my favorite kitchen dish this morning. A wedding present that some of my favorite recipes go into--baked zucchini, a family-sized batch of apple crisp...it looks like they aren't making the exact color anymore. And right now I'm not sure I can justify replacing it. Silly sadness over a blue oval dish. Moving on...

There has been lots of other sweetness in my morning today. Catching this moment between sisters. They sat there for quite a long time. Emma doing such a good job of carrying on conversation with her sister's squeals, clapping, and warbled attempts at new words like kitty, dog and go. She is such a good big sister.



And then of course, we closed the door and broke her heart. Until we could distract her with her favorite food--strawberries. I've given up keeping her in clothes that aren't stained by smears of red strawberry fingers. She's definitely my daughter--the stained clothes part, and the love of the berry.
 

I can remember the house we used to go to when I was younger, to pick up strawberries every year--a white house, on a busy road with a huge field of strawberries. On the way home from picking, I'd scooch down in the back seat of our orange VW Bus and polish off a whole pint before our wheels were even back in the driveway. (And for the record, if someone showed up at my door with a VW bus, vanagon, eurovan...I'd trade in all the amenities, and bells and whistles of my current car for that VW, and never look back.)

In other news, life is busy. We are pushing to move in this weekend. I need to get over there and take some more pictures to share. Dan has made some good progress over the last week and a half--finishing our bedroom, painting floors...Sometimes, at random moments in the day I get these little, okay big, flutters of excitement in my stomach.

And other flutters of the nervous kind--I found out my homeschool review is coming up next week. I'm nervous. I admit it. But in a way, it's been affirming to start gathering things together from this year, reminding me that yes, we did make progress. It's also great incentive to get some stuff finished--like figuring out a way to sum up all this horse learning overload that we've been talking about all year...

Happy Wednesday, everyone. It is Wednesday, right? Oh, yes. It is. Of course, because Emma is already dressed for her 4:30 riding lesson.

my favorite cracker

Emma and I made these crackers together Friday afternoon. The recipe is from a back issue of Everyday Food. They were crazy-good and so simple, Emma was pretty much running the show after the first batch. Although the girl's a little heavy-handed with the salt. They were so good that I actually called up my sister and crunched on them over the phone to her, "Hear how crunchy and good they are?!!?" Actually, she may have called me first, but that last part is true. I did eat them into the phone.

The recipe is simple: Take a package of egg roll wrappers, (not what the recipe called for exactly, but what we had on hand), lightly brush both sides with olive oil and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Sprinkle with coarse salt and sesame seeds (or whatever floats your boat--fennel, rosemary??). Using another piece of parchment paper, cover the wrappers and press the seeds into them. (otherwise, they'll all slide off after they are done baking--lesson learned the hard way.) Cut them into whatever size you like. We used a pizza cutter and cut each square into four smaller squares. Bake them at 350 for about 6-8 minutes until they are golden brown.

Delicious. My next variation is to try them with cinnamon sugar. I think that would even be good with ice cream if you served the crackers warm. Oh stop. I can hardly look at these pictures. We've eaten the whole batch, and I'm already craving more.

In other news....

This is one of the perks of homeschooling and where we live--an impromptu trail ride early this morning for Emma. She had her half chaps, riding boots and helmet on in a flash and was waiting at the door.  School work shoved aside for some fresh air and exercise on horseback.

Another perk? fresh eggs. So fresh, the little feather was still sitting there inside the box.