the path we travel...

Feeling quiet

2012-01-16T07:36:00.000-05:00

I'll be back. I am just feeling a little hermit-ish at the moment.

Epiphany

2012-01-07T08:25:00.001-05:00

That is not my cake, that is from the recipe blog. My cake wasn't quite so symmetrical and I don't own a pretty serving plate(note to self- buy pretty serving plate). It was tasty though and it made enough dough to throw half in the freezer for Shrove Tuesday.

We will be chalking the door tomorrow after Mass and then I will start to pack up the rest of the Christmas decorations. It's time to do some serious dusting!

Still celebrating (a little)

2012-01-03T14:25:00.000-05:00

Christmas is not quite over yet!

I did have Jim take the tree out, the pine needles make me crazy. I haven't made any progress in talking him into a fake tree for next year.

We brought our cranberries out to hang for the birds and the tree is in the burn pile.

The rest of our decorations are still up and our Three Wise Men are making their way to the nativity scene. I'm looking forward to Epiphany, with one last excuse for making a dessert.

Speaking of dessert...there is a cake in the oven for Jim's birthday and the boys are busy making him cards. He was home all last week up until yesterday and then had to go back to work on his birthday. We miss him already.

Drawing close

2011-12-20T17:09:00.000-05:00

Lighting four candles each night

and we are four days into the O Antiphons.
Directions for the poinsettia wreath over at Under Her Starry Mantle

Christmas is almost here!

This week we're reading

Weekend

2011-12-18T21:05:00.000-05:00

My silly cat thinks we have lost our minds. He is very confused about the tree in the living room.

But he seems to enjoy chewing on pine needles.

I will be pretty surprised it I wake up in the morning and find the cranberries still strung on the tree. He was trying to make off with them while I was threading them.

Speaking of silly (and messy) Jim thinks that below freezing December days are perfect for barbecue. Sean agrees.

And Christopher thinks that the curtains make good napkins.

He is pretty excited and a bit confused by the tree as well. "Look! Look! Lights! Tree!"
Too cute.

Wrap up 12/16

2011-12-16T08:05:00.000-05:00

I am so tempted to scrap our schedule and break a week early, but I am going to try to push through. I cannot wait to take a couple of weeks off from school.

Sean is on a minimum schedule already: reading, math, and memory work. James has wrapped up science for the break and has one more chapter in history to get through before the holidays. Latin and grammar are going extremely well. He is retaining what he is learning and enjoys his studies. A big relief, I am always worried when we try a new program.

A couple of books we read this week:

On St. Lucia Day, we listened to this podcast reading of Lucia, Saint of Light. I had planned to bake a braided bread, but realized at the last minute that we were missing a few ingredients. Maybe next year!

Week in Review 12/9/11

2011-12-09T09:50:00.000-05:00

This week we celebrated St. Nicholas Day. We have been adding ornaments to our Jesse tree every night.

I ~~copied a lot of~~ was very inspired by the ornaments here.

We are lighting two Advent candles every night now.

James is working on ratios in math and Sean has been working on fact families.

James is nearing the end of his life science unit. We are going to spend a couple of weeks reading from the library and then we'll move forward with physical science after the holiday break.

Sean has completed long vowels in his reading and will begin other vowel sounds next week. (oo, ou...)
I am thinking about adding more copywork because he finishes his copybook passage in a day or two. I may have him copy out some of the shorter poems he has memorized on the other week days.

Christopher has had an educational week as well. He learned how to climb out of his Pack n Play, and that his voice echoes when he shouts really loud in church. Needless to say, I am a little less excited than he is about these discoveries!

This weeks read alouds were the St. Nicholas book, another read through of Country Christmas Angels and

Last night we found out that karate nights are going to consolidate a bit which will give my husband two night a week to be home and spend some time with the boys.
They thought that was good news indeed.

Feast of St. Nicholas

2011-12-06T07:13:00.000-05:00

St. Nicholas of Myra
Saint Nicholas, bishop of Myra, is undoubtedly one of the most popular saints honored in the Western world. In the United States, his memory has survived in the unique personality of Saint Claus — the jolly, rotund, white-bearded gentleman who captivates children with promises of gifts on Christmas Eve. Considered primarily as the patron saint of children, Nicholas is also invoked by sailors, merchants, bakers, travelers and pawnbrokers, and with Saint Andrew is honored as the co-patron of Russia.

Yesterday we got ready for St. Nicholas with the Demi book

We listened to the Sabourins read The Real Santa and St. Nicholas Gets the Goods.

Before going to bed last night, the boys put their shoes out on the porch with carrot sticks for St. Nicholas' donkey. They woke up to this

They were so excited. I love that Playmobil sells a St. Nicholas.
I found the pictures for the coins over at Shower of Roses.
Happy St. Nicholas Day!

Week in Review 12/2/11

2011-12-02T07:00:00.007-05:00

It's amazing just how far off track a long weekend can throw you. We have had a slow week. We're working on the basics and focusing on the season.

Latin, math, language arts, religion for James. Sean has alternated his seat work with his recitation and reading this week. His memory work wasn't too intense so it has been a good week to be a bit more laid back. There has been a lot of play and general boy silliness.

James finished Robinson Crusoe and is enjoying The Wizard of Earthsea.

We started our Jesse Tree yesterday with Geraldine Mccaughrean's book. I will post a picture next week when it has a few more ornaments on it.

Our manger is out for the boys to fill with strips of cloth over the next few weeks to prepare for the Christ Child.

This week we have read

and we've started

{this moment}

2011-12-02T07:00:00.001-05:00

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
Join in at Soulemama

Advent

2011-11-28T07:36:00.000-05:00

This we are reading as a family

and this is for me

Advent begins a new Church year and this year, the new translation. The change in colors was breathtaking. Having the Advent wreath lit first during the Mass and then at home was beautiful. I am blessed to be able to take part in these traditions, and thankful to finally feel like I've found my way home.

A blessed Advent to you and yours.

Week in Review- Thanksgiving Week

2011-11-23T09:48:00.001-05:00

Our short week turned into an even shorter week thanks to this:

I told James he could take the day off if he shoveled the driveway.

He did after all, just have a birthday. A teenager, eek!

We did manage to get two solid days of school in.

Sean has decided that winter is as good time as any to learn how to ride his bike with no training wheels and Christopher has been up to his usual shenanigans.

Short week, short post. I am going to go make some pie.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Week in Review 11/11/11

2011-11-11T07:38:00.000-05:00

Today is Martinmas, Veterans' Day, and the day I can finally get my hands on the latest installment of the Elder Scrolls games, Skyrim.

I had a rough week with Sean and Christopher. They are showing no signs of adjusting to the time shift. This morning everyone was up at 4:45am. I have been holding them to their usual 7pm bedtime, but no one is getting enough sleep and there has been much crying, overreacting, and toddler destruction. I am ready to throw in the towel and move bedtime to 6:30 or even to 6.

Sean has moved on to subtraction. Math comes easily for him and he likes to play with numbers. This morning he crawled into bed with us and told me that 6+6=12. He went through all of the doubles from 2+2 up to 10+10. Then I asked him, "Since 3+3=6, what is 2+3?" He answered 5 without hesitation, so we then went through a bunch of doubles +/-1. I have heard of these children who actually like math, but this is my first experience with one. It should be interesting!

Christopher is starting to put words together: "Hi Mom", "Bye Dad", and "All done, apple".

In not so pleasant news, he has started making a strange grunt/growl noise when he is angry, something he has picked up from Sean, I'm sure.

James had a good week. We focused solely on Math Mammoth this week for math. He did well on his Latin quiz, and his new grammar book is getting the job done.

I am going to have to sit and go through his writing lessons with him before I turn him loose with them. It is written to the student, but 9 times out of 10, he comes back with a finished product that clearly shows that he did not read the directions. :-/ Once we go through what the lesson is actually asking and he redoes the assignment, it turns out well.

My cat has an affinity for catalogs and pieces of paper. This makes doing school work in the living room a bit difficult.

{this moment}

2011-11-11T07:13:00.000-05:00

Martinmas

2011-11-11T07:10:00.000-05:00

We made our Martinmas lanterns yesterday. I went for simple. I pre-cut strips of paper for them to paint and then wrapped them around mason jars once they were dry. We will light them this evening.

We had a lesson on primary colors and color mixing with the paints before we started.

Chris painted the table and his hair as well.

I raided Sean's action figures for St. Martin and the beggar and used a bit of fabric for the cloak torn in two.

Read the story of St. Martin here.
This afternoon we are baking horseshoe cookies.

James baked peanut butter cookies last night, so we'll have cookie overload. He has figured out a couple of recipes that we always have the ingredients on hand for (namely, brownies and peanut butter cookies) and he bakes them frequently.

Fr. Barron comments on the new translation of the Roman Missal

2011-11-10T07:50:00.000-05:00

Week in Review 11/4

2011-11-04T08:13:00.001-04:00

I've been de-Halloween-ing the house this week. I need to find more fall decorations. We decorate for Halloween and then take everything down until the Advent and Christmas decorations go up. I'd like something to bridge the gap.

Jim and I went out last night and I was naively surprised to find the outlet mall all decked out for Christmas. I won't lie and say that I wasn't happy to sip my gingerbread latte while I shopped, but the Christmas music in the stores felt ridiculously premature. I am slightly paralyzed at the thought of Christmas preparations this year, so for now I will stick to my list making and pretend that Advent does not actually begin at the end of this month.

James is almost finished with the geometry chapter in his math book. I would like to go back and cement a few concepts before we delve into the chapter on Algebra. Since the Math Mammoth books make so much sense to him, he'll be working through MM 6A and B, hopefully at a quicker pace. Once we get through that, I'll reevaluate and we'll either do an extra year of Prealgebra in the 8th grade, or move forward in the fall. I'll worry about that when we get there.

He started the Seton English book. He is only a few lessons into it so I really can't make any judgements about the program, but I can say that it is a beautiful book and he has enjoyed the few pages that he has done so far.

Since Halloween threw us for a loop this week, we didn't move forward in his writing or French programs. We'll pick those back up next week.

Sean finished the first chapter in his math book this week. He'll begin subtraction on Monday.

He also finished a section on long-e words in his phonics book (ee, ea, ie). Now it is on to the long-i sound.

He loves illustrating his copybook.

Christopher is copying his brothers and shouting his favorite three words, "Mom!" "No!" and the ever popular, "Mine!"

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T20:28:00.001-04:00

Gearing up for Halloween

2011-10-30T16:12:00.000-04:00

with a little surprise from Mother Nature

James is going as Jack of Blades from the game Fable. His costume of course included plenty of paper mache and spray paint. It's tradition.

Outside there's this:

and sadly this:

Week in review 10/28

2011-10-28T08:43:00.000-04:00

James is working on geometry in his math book. He will wrap BCM up in December, if all goes to plan, and we will move into Lial's Prealgebra. He is doing well and could possibly move directly into algebra, but I'd like to give a little more time.

Latin is going well and French is painful, no surprises there.

We had a major snag in our grammar program. He has been working through an unpublished text. I have printed out the sections as they have been proofed. But it is being put on hold indefinitely.I needed to make a quick decision on grammar for the rest of the year and settled on Seton English 7. It looks thorough, has diagramming, and my interactions with Seton's customer service so far has been very positive.

We have moved onto a life science chapter which is not James' favorite aspect of science. His history book is interesting and in depth. I've gotten over any guilt about using a textbook as opposed to living books at this point. He is learning a lot and it is just so much easier for me to pull together additional resources instead of an entire program.

He is reading Robinson Crusoe along with the study guide from Memoria Press. He had a rough go of it on the first day, but was soon accustomed to the writing style and is enjoying the book.

Sean had a decent week. Not much to report there. I am alternating between his Horizons book and his Math Mammoth book for a little variety.

Christopher is up to his usual antics:

Torturing the cat

and trying to rip my curtains down.

Week in review 10/21

2011-10-21T10:38:00.000-04:00

I decided to skip the percentages chapter in BCM altogether. James really needed to start back at the beginning. So now he is working on the measurement chapter and also working through the Math Mammoth Percents supplement. We did the same thing a couple of years ago while using Horizons and getting hung up on fractions. MM's explanations really click with him. Next week he'll do the Chap 7 review, test and cumulative review in BCM. That will only leave three chapters. I'm going to have him work through another prealgebra program during the second half of the year because I do not want to start algebra this year.

We now have the next ten weeks of grammar on the computer ready to print out, so we'll be able to move forward next week. WWS is going well, as is his vocab program.

Sean is racing through his Math Mammoth work at the rate of 2-3 pages a day. Some days he gets the wiggles and it takes him a bit longer. When that happens I usually sit and write out the numbers while he does the math, but it seems that is happening less and less.

He's still moving through his reading lessons without any trouble. It's like we made it over some giant hump and it is much easier for him now.

Sean loves his copybook, especially at the end of the week when he can illustrate his passage. I love that it is tied into his memory work. I'm glad we are using the Memoria guidebook because everything seems to flow together: his literature meshes with his science and social studies, and his writing and Bible study reinforces his memory work. I know I have said this before, but the amount of memorization he is capable of astounds me. The best part is that he loves doing it. Jim's parents came up for a visit this weekend and Sean recited all of his poetry, catechism questions, and other memory work for them. He was quite pleased with himself. ;-)

Christopher is talking more and more and I am heaving a big sigh of relief. Milk is now "milk" and not "guk", and he actually said "garage" yesterday while trying to get the garage door opener(which he is obsessed with). His favorite word is "book!" which he shouts while running after us with a book in his hand. He likes to turn the page before you finish reading it, but I'm thrilled that he loves to be read to.

Would you believe I haven't taken a single picture this weekend? I'll try to make up for it tomorrow at Sean's last soccer game of the season!

Pumpkins

2011-10-15T18:47:00.005-04:00

Apple picking

2011-10-15T18:19:00.006-04:00

{this moment}

2011-10-14T09:20:00.001-04:00

What we're reading 10/12

2011-10-12T13:21:00.004-04:00

We're in a Halloween mood. I'm reading

James is enjoying

and Sean's literature book this week isn't spooky, but still seasonal

He's also memorizing "In 1492". It's quite a bit longer than his usual poems, but he is doing well with it and I won't be surprised if he has it down by the end of the week.

Week in review 10/14

2011-10-12T12:51:00.008-04:00

James is learning about resources in science this week. We reached nuclear energy and everything spiraled into silliness.

F is for "fire," that burns down the whole town,; U is for "uranium", bombs!; N is for no survivors,

Ahem, sometimes it's hard to bring everyone back to focus.

He pulled off a perfect score on his ratios and proportions test and now we have sunk into the miserable depths of percentages. We will push through the chapter and if he is still floundering by the end, we will continue on in BCM while supplementing with Math Mammoth's Blue book on percent.

Sean is learning ai words. We have really hit a groove in reading. Although he is still mixing up his lower case d and b. I keep hoping that it will click as he writes more.

Math Mammoth is working well for him. I'm prepared to slow down if I see him hit a point of frustration, but it seems to be a good fit so far.

Christopher's sleep schedule has been slightly out of whack. He is giving me a tough time about going to bed and then sleeps fitfully throughout the night. While sleeping until 7am has been nice, I am waking up exhausted after being kicked and rolled over all night. I was kinda hoping we were past this. On the upside, he is starting to talk a little more. He shocked my neighbor the other day by shouting, "Fruck!" as a truck drove by. Milk is "Guk." Now he asks for "Guk!guk!guk!" all day long while he signs 'milk' with his hands.

The temps are starting to cool off and I am happy that fall is finally here. The boys come in happily at the end of the day for a warm bath, cider tea, and a movie before bed. Bliss.

A quick autumn wreath

2011-10-11T18:11:00.003-04:00

While cleaning out the coat closet to make room for warmer coats, I came across a few wire coat hangers.

In my backyard between some friendly apple trees and the curly willow, resides an evil, nasty Hawthorn tree. While burning brush this weekend, I managed to get the end of one of the thorns embedded in the tip of my finger. Ouch.

Despite its horrible spikes it does look pretty right now because it is loaded with orange berries, which I am told will stay throughout the winter. In about 15 minutes, I had myself an autumn wreath. I could have made it a bit fuller, but then it would not have been a 'quick' wreath. Anything that takes longer than 15-20 minutes these days is guaranteed to be interrupted and often shelved and forgotten. You will just have to take my word for it that it really doesn't look as Christmas-y in real life as it does in the photo with my eternally-Christmas wallpaper in the background.

Sunday at the fair

2011-10-09T16:13:00.003-04:00

Christopher was so funny with the animals. He kept using the high pitched sweet voice he uses only for animals and called all of the sheep "Kitty".

Sean was nervous about going on the ferris wheel. So we headed over to the kiddie rides instead. I was coming up behind him and his dad when I saw him climbing up into this ride. I had already seen that it went up and rotated and I knew he was going to hate it. I got there just a little too late to usher him off the ride before it started. I took this picture moments before he realized just what he was in for. He was a good sport about it, but he told me that he would not want to go on that ride again!

James was a bit more adventurous. We don't have a picture (Jim and my camera aren't on speaking terms), but I let him drag me onto some whirling flying contraption. It has been a long time since I've had my stomach feel like that.

Autumn leaves

2011-10-09T15:58:00.003-04:00

Beautiful weekend we're having

Week in review 10/3-10/7

2011-10-07T11:31:00.003-04:00

It is really beginning to feel like fall. I believe we had our first frost last night. I am feeling the urge to bake and to pull out the down comforter, the flannel sheets, and all of the winter clothes and coats. Never mind that it is going to reach the mid-80s this weekend. Such is life in New England.

It has been a good week. James is coasting through the ratios and proportions lessons in his math text. Latin this week was review. We're back on track with history and science. The next weeks of grammar will not be released until mid-late October, so I am spreading the lessons out a bit until we get the next batch. Writing is going well, though James will try to gloss over a step here and there if I don't stay on top of it.

Each of Sean's literature selections have been a big hit. I love that they are lined up with the seasons and holidays.

He has had no problem memorizing not only the recitation and Bible passage for the week, but the poems and his catechism questions as well. It will be a lot by the end of the year so I will have to get a system going to rotate through everything. Otherwise, recitation is going to take an hour every morning! The Simply Charlotte Mason site has a straightforward index card system that I'll most likely use.

While James has managed a full week, Sean and I have slacked off a bit the last two days. Sean and Chris and I finally had a sunny Thursday to walk over to story time and this morning was spent tearing apart the younger boys' bedroom and closet. I was delighted to find that Sean can fit into many of James's old size 6 clothes and Chris can wear all of the 24 month footie pajamas. We will still need to pick up some things for all three boys, but it will be far less than I had anticipated.

Like his big brother

2011-10-06T07:54:00.003-04:00

Christopher has starting lining up his toys(and apparently my kitchen utensils). Now that I am not concerned that this is some odd behavior like I was when Sean did this and this, it is rather amusing to come across his toys all in a row.

Baking

2011-10-06T07:02:00.003-04:00

Pumpkin bread

with a little help of course

A good way to chase off the morning chill

It is going to creep back up to the mid to upper 70s this weekend, so we will be able to postpone turning the heat on for a bit longer yet.

Week in Review 9/26-9/30

2011-09-30T07:00:00.001-04:00

The week started off with James crashing his bike. I'll spare you the photos, road rash is never pretty. He has missed a bunch of karate classes this week, but young men bounce back quickly. I'm sure he'll be back to normal next week.

We pushed science and history aside this week to focus on math. There was much eye rolling and time wasting so we decided to test through the first half of the book. Now we'll take a normal pace through the rest of the text. I have something else in mind for the second half of the year. ;-) Science and history will be back on the schedule next week.

Sean started Math Mammoth 1 this week. He, "Likes this so much better than that other math!"

So far, so good. I was worried that it would be too much writing, but he doesn't mind it. I have found that he will sit and stare at the wall more often than not with any of his table work. A race against the kitchen timer really helps to keep him focused and makes it a little more fun.
He had a huge leap in his reading this morning. That tricky silent e and the hard and soft sounds of g and c, it all just clicked at once. He and I were both thrilled.

We have started pulling together this year's Halloween costume. James is making claws and I have picked up two of the three masks we will need to paint.

And I have started picking away at the massive brush pile in the middle of the back yard. The kids were not as interested in the fire as I had thought they would be. Maybe I need to make marshmallows.

{this moment}

2011-09-29T17:10:00.002-04:00

Michaelmas

2011-09-29T07:00:00.003-04:00

We are waking up to Blackberry Cobbler.

Folklore in the British Isles suggests that Michaelmas day is the last day that blackberries can be picked. It is said that when St. Michael expelled Lucifer, the devil, from heaven, he fell from the skies and landed in a prickly blackberry bush. Satan cursed the fruit, scorched them with his fiery breath, and stamped and spat on them, so that they would be unfit for eating. A Traditional Irish proverb says:
On Michaelmas Day the devil puts his foot on the blackberries.
CatholicCulture.org

We'll be reading about the Archangels in:

We will see how the day plays out; we may make a dragon bread. And I may or may not take a picture, depending on the outcome. :p I imagine that the boys will be happy to slay dragons with the wooden swords today, with a little luck the rain will hold off and they can do it outside.

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and
snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen

Happy fall!

2011-09-23T16:22:00.002-04:00

Or not so happy as the case may be...

Fall means apples. We spent some time today discussing the five senses, tasting different types of apples, and making a chart.

What do you do with a bunch of slices apples you ask. Why you make pie of course!

It would look much more appetizing if we could manage to wait for it to cool enough to slice properly.

Week in review 9/19

2011-09-22T16:14:00.005-04:00

James is moving right along. A lot if what he is working on right now is review. The first unit in his science this year is earth science, which is what he studied last year. Math is review. Then again, most of math will be review and a shoring up of skills before we dabble in algebra later in the year. He is nearing the end of the Middle East section in geography, and is in the Roman Empire in his history text.

We are right on track with Latin. He likes the format of First Form. It is more work than Latin for Children was, but I see it leading to better retention in the future. The slight pronunciation difference is really not a big deal after all, I don't know why I agonized over it so much.

French, sigh, I now remember why I switched to Spanish. I will power through this and possibly next year, but this is definitely on my list of "things to be farmed out in the higher levels".

Sean started his copybook this week. I thought the first passage would be too long for him and planned to break it up over a few days, but he went ahead and wrote it out in one shot. He liked illustrating his work when he was done. I think the copybooks will make nice keepsakes.

Circle time is a lot of fun. It amazes me how quickly he picks up the little songs, poems and recitation questions. Christopher still madly scrambles to rip all of the velcro pieces off the board, but we'll get there (I hope).

I posted over the summer that we had set aside OPGTR and were using Hooked on Phonics. After a break, he has jumped right back into his regular reading book. We have finished silent-e words, and are ready to move on, no more frustration.

This morning I ordered Math Mammoth 1A. Sean is almost halfway through the Horizons K program and it is clear that he is ready for 1st grade math. I used MM for fraction practice with James and the explanations, especially for dividing fractions, were exceptionally clear. Looking through the 1st grade samples, I could see that this carried over to the full curriculum as well. The pages are a bit cluttered, and I fully plan on helping Sean with some of the writing and we'll be doing some of the work orally, but I think he is going to love it.

{this moment}

2011-09-22T16:11:00.004-04:00

We're reading

2011-09-21T12:36:00.003-04:00

I had been slowly but surely working through a study from Catholic Home Study Service. Between that and the start of the new school year, I haven't spent much time reading. Now that I have completed the study and we are getting into the groove of the new year, I am able to pick up

which was recommended here by justamouse. I have only managed to skim through and read the first chapter, but it is an attachment parenting book from a Catholic perspective and I'm sure I will glean much from it.

James is reading all of the G. A. Henty books that I have loaded onto the Kindle. He recently finished Beric the Briton as well. The stories seem to have great boy appeal.

Sean's literature selection this week is a lot of fun. We are planning on making pie at the end of the week. Who doesn't love apple pie!

Christopher is enjoying the silly rhymes in our Sandra Boynton books.
Especially

Raspberry lemon buttermilk scones

2011-09-20T08:34:00.001-04:00

Pinterest strikes again. These are amazing.

raspberry & lemon buttermilk scones

Soccer

2011-09-17T10:25:00.002-04:00

First practice. Our weekends just got a little bit busier.

Painting trees

2011-09-16T15:43:00.003-04:00

My watercolors have dried out. :-( So we watered down some acrylics and painted on wet paper. Not ideal. But the weather is. It has certainly warmed up since this morning.

Trees

2011-09-16T12:13:00.004-04:00

This week, Sean has been learning about trees, so today we took a walk up to the park with our field guide to identify some of the trees we've talked about.

He led the way with the map we made yesterday

Chris walked a good half a mile before he decided enough was enough

We came home and ate lunch and now the boys are all in their own spaces for a bit. This afternoon we are going to paint and I am hopeful that it will get just a bit warmer so we can do it outside. I wasn't quite ready for the cold to hit so suddenly!

{this moment}

2011-09-16T07:08:00.000-04:00

Week in review

2011-09-15T13:45:00.000-04:00

Another great week. This year, we have set the bar high and the kids are blowing me away.

Sean has an amazing memory, he is handling all of the recitation work in the MP K program and his catechism questions with ease. He has a real aptitude for math and is almost halfway through his Horizons K program. I'm not sure yet what we'll do when we finish. I may just slow it down with the Rightstart that I have sitting on a shelf. His literature has been a big hit. We had to renew last week's book from the library so he can read it again and again. He has the whole thing memorized. He's also in love with:

It was mine when I was little and it appears to be out of print now. It is a very cute story.

James is studying volcanoes and geysers. I finally found a use for that red food coloring I bought 2 years ago for Sean's firetruck cake fail.

We are studying science twice a week and history twice a week in large blocks, instead of shorter amounts of time 4-5 times a week. It is working well because we can really focus and get some hands in done too.

We are still in the honeymoon stage of the school year, but I am in love with the books we are using. And I have yet to hear a single complaint.

The weather has been gorgeous and we are soaking up every minute of the sunshine, knowing it won't be long before we are bundling up in the wind. So we've been out walking and enjoying some early peeks of the season change.

First week wrap up

2011-09-09T12:41:00.004-04:00

We had a fabulous first week of school!

I can't rave enough about the Memoria Press materials we are using. Although we are not using their phonics or math (simply because I already had that covered), the K curriculum guide is worth it's weight in gold.

The only thing I will probably change up is Sean's history. It is a bit over his head. I think we'll use the picture book recommendations and do the projects, but skip the readings from the teacher guide. His eyes glazed over with it. He did enjoy making wampum with salt dough. We are waiting for the paint to dry so the beads can be strung onto necklaces.

We are in for a beautiful weekend weather wise and I am looking forward to another smooth week.

First Day of School

2011-09-06T12:52:00.004-04:00

Typing this up during quiet/nap/reading time:
James and I still have math and French scheduled this afternoon, but Sean is done for the day and James should be finished by the time Chris wakes up from his nap.

I was worried about the logistics of school with two and a toddler, but if today is any indication, we are looking at the start of a successful school year. (Aren't I optimistic?!)

After breakfast and prayers, we managed to begin (on time no less) with circle time. I put together a calendar board. And yes, it would look better if I hung it on the wall, but I need to slip it out of sight during the day because Christopher can't keep his hands off of it.

We go over the calendar and have songs for the days of week, months of the year, and the weather. There are removable cards for the weather, days, and seasons. I realized after we started that the calendar printout for the month said 2010. :-/ I'll have to fix that! Luckily I have a card there with the correct year.

The cards on the right hand side are: the character card we are working on from We Choose Virtues, and our memory work from the Memoria Press K program. We also sang a couple of active songs to get out the wiggles before we sat down for some seat work.

Chris sat with us for awhile and colored, snacked, and did a few fine motor activities. Here he is dropping toothpicks into a spice shaker.

And feeding the frog pasta shapes.

Sean is learning about liquids, solids, and gasses this week. We melted crayons into liquid and then let it harden back into a solid. It was our first semi-fail of a science project this year(of which I am sure there will be many more) I used cheap crayons because I did not want to melt my nice beeswax crayons, and the consistency was never quite a liquid and the end result chunky. Not worried about it though, the rest of the lesson went well and he still had fun.

Once Sean finished up his seatwork we put on this weeks music selection, "William Tell Overture", and the little boys danced(ran) around the living room. We looked at and talked about the Mona Lisa, and then read The Important Book by Margaret Wise Brown. I love that these are laid out in the curriculum guide, along with the memory work and poetry.

Now off to finish the not so fun stuff with the oldest...

End of summer

2011-09-05T19:49:00.005-04:00

Labor Day weekend

It was much hotter this weekend than it had been all week.
Perfect for ice cream

and one last swim at the lake.

Sunday night was hot and stormy. Jim and I sat out on the porch to watch the lightning and talk and knit.

Then there were showers on and off today. Those couldn't keep us inside though!

Chris and I weeded the walkway,

and danced in the rain.

During nap time I did some final organizing for school tomorrow.

And then Jim grilled steaks out in the, by that time, downpour. We ate them by candlelight with green beans vinaigrette, potato salad, and homemade lemon-limeade in mason jars.

I'm ready, bring on the fall!

{this moment}

2011-09-02T11:35:00.002-04:00

Irene

2011-08-28T13:54:00.004-04:00

The storm up here has been nothing more than a windy, rainy, fall-ish day. We've had a little leaking in the porches and basement, but the most exciting part of the day has been the baby mouse that scuttled out from under the stove this morning.

So what to do on a rainy Sunday:

Well, there are always cereal boxes to fight over...

and booties to finish knitting. (never mind that they look like they golw in the dark, that is all the yarn I had on hand!)

Yep, knit. Me. Knit. I accomplished my goal of actually knitting something this summer. Let's ignore the fact that it is the very end of summer. Now I am impatiently waiting for my yarn to arrive so I can make something a little less...polyester. My friend sent me a box of knitting goodies to get me started and typed up a great beginner's guide. :-) Combined with a little nudge from another friend who is a new knitter whipping out some beautiful projects, I finally found the motivation to jump in.

This morning, I took a chance on the power and baked some sweet bread. We're having kale soup for dinner and they don't sell this bread in the grocery store like they did back home. It has been a guilty pleasure for years now and some meals just aren't complete without it.

And I finally managed to carve out some time to work on the Bible study that has been staring me down the past couple of weeks.

Chris down for a nap, all three of my bigger guys watching a movie, latte in hand...I need some more rainy days I think

{this moment}

2011-08-27T07:02:00.001-04:00

One more week

2011-08-24T19:40:00.004-04:00

Next week will be our last of this summer break. This has been an amazing summer. Moving to NH was scary for me. It is something we have talked about for such a long time and I didn't really think it would ever actually happen. My husband was sure that it would be the best thing for our family and, well..cough, cough..he was right.

Getting outside is as simple as, "Mom, I'm going outside." (Or me saying, "Aaagh, you boys need to go outside!") Before it was a big process because we had to go to the park.

Splitting the bigger boys' bedroom up has been a relief. James can happily keep his space spotless and well organized, and Sean can build his castles and leave them out to be played with the next day.

So here's us. At home. :-)

The boys doing what they do best, getting sweaty and dirty, and inflicting pain on one another:

This is the expression that has been on Sean's face the most of late. He. is. testing me.

Randomly added photo of my cat, just because I love him.

And this is what happens when the toddler is left alone with his dad for too long. Yep, bubble gum. Luckily he didn't like it and promptly spit it out and handed it back.

Looks like a rainy week for camp

2011-08-14T18:59:00.004-04:00

We brought James to camp today. It always seems to rain while he's there. But he was greeted with a big group hug by a bunch of old friends and I know he'll have a great week.

We will miss him this week!

5 years

2011-08-10T19:47:00.003-04:00

Happy Birthday Sean!

Tomorrow should be nicer (today was a rainy day) and we'll be taking out the Angry Birds piñata.

Toe Jam Puppet Band

2011-08-09T17:45:00.005-04:00

The Toe Jam Puppet Band is up in New Hampshire this weekend. They perform regularly back home, and we new we couldn't miss them when they came around up here.

The boys had so much fun. Even James, who tends to roll his eyes now when I suggest things like this. I thought Sean was going to explode he was laughing so hard. They have a great way of involving the kids in the show.

Physical punishment is not discipline, it is violence

2011-08-09T06:19:00.004-04:00

If my husband hit me, I would pack up the kids and I would leave. I would have the support of my family, my friends, and of the court system. If he complained to people that he felt "attacked" because I called his violence abusive, he would not have any sympathy.

So, why is it okay for a parent to hit their child, in the name of discipline? Why does a small, defenseless child not have the same support that I would if I was to be physically violated by someone bigger and stronger than me? And why is it not okay for us to talk about this? I can't say that violence against a child is never okay, because then I am "attacking" the parent inflicting this violence.

My children are not my property, anymore than I am my husband's property. My husband does not hit me because we have a deep mutual respect, because he loves me, and because it is just plain wrong. I do not hit my children because I respect them and want them to respect(not fear) me. Because I love them. And because it would be just plain wrong.

To discipline is to teach. What exactly is a child taught when being spanked, flicked, pinched, or bitten? Yes, I said bitten, because it seems that many recommend biting a child to teach them not to bite. I want to teach my children that violence is not acceptable with the sole exception of 'in the case of self defense'. And I'm sorry, but I do not need to use self defense methods when dealing with my 20 lb toddler. That is ridiculous.

As for "I Was Spanked And I'm Fine!"...that is just faulty logic.

Hitting is violence, whether it is hitting a spouse, another adult, or your own child.

"Almost everyone in Western societies agrees that it is morally wrong for people to settle arguments or impose their will on each other with blows. When a big kid hits a little kid on the playground, we call him a bully; five years later he punches a woman for her wallet and is called a mugger; later still, when he slugs a fellow worker who insults him, he is called a troublemaker, but when he becomes a father and hits his tiresome, disobedient or disrespectful child, we call him a disciplinarian. Why is this rung on a ladder of interpersonal violence regarded so differently from the rest?" - Penelope Leach

Some days

2011-08-03T10:16:00.004-04:00

I wonder if I maybe should have stayed in bed. :p

I seem to have brought a virus among us simply by sharing this hysterical link on Facebook. Didn't know you could pass a stomach bug through the internet, did you?

Sean is sick. I don't know what Christopher's issue is today but he has been slightly tyrannical. His new favorite game is 'hit Mommy' and apparently from the sounds behind me as I type, everyone else as well. A round of 'throwing fistfuls of oatmeal in the kitchen while mom tends to puking brother' was followed up with this:

When I said, "Guys, help me pick this up."
I actually heard one of my children say, "Why? Can't we just eat them off the floor?"

Nope my life isn't all joyful days of sewing and lounging at the beach.

Chocolate Peanut Butter Pretzel Cookies

2011-08-02T16:49:00.003-04:00

The name says it all. These are amazing.

The resident baker

His sidekick

and the results, yum

I came across these on Pinterest, recipe is here

Silly Monkeys

2011-07-30T18:56:00.001-04:00

Feelin' Fruity

2011-07-27T17:37:00.003-04:00

Citrusy to be precise

Dinner: Pollo Asado, courtesy of Pioneer Woman, who has far more photography talent than I. So if you want to look at food pictures that actually do the meal some justice, head over to her site.

Dessert: Lime Swirl Cheesecake Bars More work than I bargained for and they didn't come out as pretty as they should have due to having the wrong size pan and having to brown the top a bit to cook the middle.(excuses, excuses) But tasty, nonetheless.

Every Sunday

2011-07-24T19:10:00.003-04:00

Day at the beach, ice cream on the way home. It's become tradition.

Today was beautiful, low to mid eighties, sweet relief after a scorching week.

Confessions of a half-@ssed seamstress

2011-07-23T12:03:00.005-04:00

You know how people iron fabric before they use it in a project?

And they measure carefully?

And use rotary cutters, or a nice set of shears?

Yeaaaaah, I don't. At least when I am making something for myself. I have three pairs of kids scissors, and one pair of hair cutting scissors. When I sew I grab the larger pair of the kid scissors and I usually measure with my husband's tape measure from the junk drawer.

Oh the shame. I don't even pin unless it is absolutely necessary, mostly because someone has often run off with my pins.

That said, I finally made a valance for the third kitchen window. No pretty ruffles this time. I threw this together at the kitchen table while Sean and Chris sat at the other end eating peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. So brave!

Of course the cut was horribly uneven and I had to make up for it with the seam as I went, but since it is high enough that no one will really be looking closely, and I don't think it is too noticeable.

I held my breath while I hung it up and I was downright shocked when it came out straight along the bottom.

Lucky once again!

Now to replace that dreadful blind. I picked up new blinds for the living room last night. The kitchen is next. I'll have to do a before and after on the living room windows. Hunter green roller blinds anyone? Dreadful!

Just another day in paradise

2011-07-22T11:57:00.008-04:00

If your idea of paradise involves temperatures in the upper 90s that is! I'm not going to complain (aside from the complaining I've done on Facebook, hehe) because I know that I'm not alone in this heat wave.

This is our first summer without air conditioning. Ever. While I miss my central air, I know that this hot weather is fleeting and it could always be worse. Since I am neither pregnant nor nursing at the moment, I can always tell my kids to get off my lap! (lovingly of course) ;-)

So we're staying indoors with the fans, since it is much cooler in here than out there. My neighborhood has many young children and they are always running around outside, but the past couple of days it feels like a ghost town, except for the poor mailman. I don't know how he does it.

Staying hydrated with fruit and water

a cool tub or two

and playing in the sink

The heat is supposed to break on Sunday. Can't wait!

2011-07-17T07:17:00.002-04:00

because I love to come up with new and exciting ways to procrastinate...

http://pinterest.com/mrobyn/

Adventures in America

2011-07-15T12:51:00.003-04:00

I have purchased the PDF version of the new American history program at Elemental History.

The printed copies should be available later in the month. Since getting my Kindle, I would prefer to have my teacher guides in PDF and I can print out the student pages as we go.

Like many who follow the Well Trained Mind as an educational framework, I plan to start ancient history in the first grade with Sean. If we continue on a 4 year cycle, that means we will study American history, in the context of world history, in the 3rd and 4th grades.

At the Elemental site, the description for Adventures in America contains this:

"You may be planning to do a four year chronological history cycle beginning in first or second grade. However, you may not want to wait until your child is in third or fourth grade before they learn the stories of significant people in American history. This program will expose your student to these important people and their stories, and will provide a great foundation for more detailed studies in future years."

Yes please, sign us up.

Today I've had a chance (because I'd rather work on school planning than laundry) to skim through the program.

It is scheduled for three days a week, which will mesh nicely with our 2 day a week science program, published by the same company.

The first two days have readings, which are included in the teacher's guide. One day includes a coloring page and the other has instructions for a weekly craft. All of the materials are simple to get together and there is a supply list broken down by week in the back of the book.

The third day is for state study. There are coloring pages for each state and you need the book Smart about the Fifty States.

I think Sean is really going to enjoy this, especially the hands on activities, since I have been a bit remiss about that type of thing lately. I had already planned to have him memorize the 50 states and I think the book and coloring pages will make it much more interesting for him. Best of all, it is all laid out for me. All I'll have to do in advance is check the supply list before I go shopping for the week.

Gazpacho

2011-07-15T12:01:00.003-04:00

Along with pico de gallo, gazpacho has become a summer staple around here. I guess we really like tomatoes.

This is a simplified version of Jim's mom's recipe. It is cool and refreshing, perfect for the summer.

Gazpacho

3 tomatoes, cut into large chunks
3 cucumbers, peeled and cut into large chunks
1 green bell pepper, seeded and cut into quarters
1 clove garlic, minced (or you can cheat like I did this morning and use minced garlic from a jar)
2 cups chicken broth
1 (5.5 oz) can tomato juice
1 Tblsp olive oil
1/2 Tbsp wine vinegar
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 lemon, thinly sliced

Run the first three ingredients through the food processor until desired consistency (sometimes I make it really chunky, sometimes I like it much smoother.

Spoon into bowl and add remaining ingredients. Stir together and refrigerate.

You can add hot sauce. I'm a big fan of sriracha, but I add it to my own bowl, everyone else seems to think it's too spicy.

What we're reading

2011-07-13T07:21:00.005-04:00

James just finished

Right now he is reading an out of print book that his Uechi-ryu sensei lent him. The book came in a plastic bag because it is falling apart. I'd love to find a used copy, but I haven't seen anything in a reasonable price range yet.

Up next is The Odyssey along with a study guide from Garlic Press

I don't know where we're going from here. I had not planned to start Homer until later in the year, but he begged and pleaded and then devoured The Iliad. We might try The Aeneid if he loves The Odyssey as much.

Meanwhile, I am putting life on hold while I immerse myself back in Westeros, thanks to the new Song of Ice and Fire book that FINALLY come out yesterday.

When I come up for air, I have a couple of other books going as well, including one from Scott Hahn. I have read many of his titles and listened to a few of his audios. They have all been fantastic.

Sean loves this book about our new state. He's reading his Hooked on Phonics books to me everyday as well.

Finally, Christopher is obsessed with this DK book. He especially likes the page with food and the one with vehicles. Why am I not surprised?

Phonics

2011-07-09T10:12:00.003-04:00

Sean has been having phonics lessons for some time now. We started much younger than I really felt necessary, because he wanted to learn to read. I have known all along that we would most likely hit a wall at some point and sure enough, it finally happened. He is still capable of progressing through the lessons now that we have reached silent-e, long vowel words, but it is a chore.

I don't want school to be unpleasant for him, especially at age 4! So, we have put away our phonic primer and pulled out Hooked on Phonics. I bought the K-2nd grade set when it went on clearance as the new edition came out. I had borrowed the kit from the library when James was a beginning reader. We found the accompanying books engaging and they really helped his progress. I initially bought the program for Sean (and eventually Chris) just for the readers, but we have found it is perfect for review right now.

We've started back at CVC words and he is picking up fluency and confidence. When he's ready, we'll pick up Ordinary Parent's Guide... where we left off and I'm sure he will do great. Sometimes it pays to take a step back and a deep breath.

Smoothies revisited

2011-07-08T09:27:00.003-04:00

Spinach, frozen peaches, a banana, and a bit of milk to thin it down. When I find a good source of pastured eggs around here, I will throw a raw egg in it too. Really. I don't trust the eggs from the grocery store though.

My kids would be happy to have Kashi waffles or cereal every morning, but I'd rather them not wake up and tank up on straight carbs and sugar for breakfast. As it is, this is plenty of sugar for the morning and we alternate mornings between smoothies and eggs. Too bad it's so messy!

Smoothies, a little different today

2011-07-06T08:30:00.003-04:00

The kids love green smoothies and I often make them for breakfast with fruit, yogurt, and fresh spinach.

This morning, I decided to use up some leftover cooked veggies from the past couple of nights dinner. We had green beans, broccoli, and summer squash and zucchini. I was worried that the broccoli would taste too strong, but the banana covered it well. I threw in a handful of frozen blueberries, some yogurt and called it breakfast along with some hard boiled eggs. Yum.

Happy 4th of July!

2011-07-04T18:22:00.003-04:00

We had planned to drive up to the mountains today and see a parade, but I woke up and saw the forecast predicting temps close to 90. We opted for the beach instead.

I have always been a bit of a snob about the ocean being better and all that, but this is a really nice clear lake. I'm getting over my lakes are kind of icky thing. Although, I still haven't actually gone in yet...

Have I mentioned how much I love it here?

Fireworks!

2011-07-03T10:55:00.004-04:00

With no pictures of actual fireworks.

I thought Sean was going to lose his mind he was so excited. Christopher was a little less thrilled. They were close, closer than I've ever been to fireworks being shot off, so of course they were unbelievably loud. I climbed in the van with him and realized that we could still see the whole thing out the back window. Once it was muffled, he loved it. I took him out halfway through, thinking that he was over the initial shock, but he instantly freaked out again. James climbed back in the car with him and they watched the rest together.

We got to the park a bit early and the kids hung out at the playground and by the lake. Chris wanted to go for a swim in the worst way!

We did the typical 4th of July stuff, gorged on fried dough, listened to the band...

The fire trucks were the best part in Chris's opinion. They would turn on the lights for the kids and he was like a moth drawn to a flame. He would let out this crazy giggle and run back to the trucks the moment they lit up.

Today we had planned to head up to the lake, but it is cool and cloudy with thunderstorms predicted for the afternoon. Tomorrow is the actual 4th and Jim's and my wedding anniversary. We're going to try to make a parade and hit our favorite restaurant for dinner.

Happy and...not so much

2011-07-02T15:47:00.003-04:00

I'm happy that we found a swimming hole at the end of our street. The whole time I was there I was thinking that I should have brought my camera. When I got home, I realized I had it the whole time. :/

Sean was happy to go to the park this morning.

Christopher, not so much.

Mornings

2011-06-30T07:10:00.003-04:00

Sigh...I am just not a morning person. It isn't in my make up. I cannot open my eyes all the way, I cannot walk in a straight line, and I certainly cannot engage in conversation until I've had my coffee and a few minutes (okay more like a half hour...at least) to pull myself together (Okay, okay to check my email and my google reader)

Growing up, my mother was a morning person. You know one of those early risers that wake up all perky and smiley. She delighted in waking me up in the most happy, sunshiney way possible and then giggled as I bumbled around all morning and grunted responses.

Then I married a morning person, who also laughs at me as I squint and sigh. In fact, I have a habit of lying in bed until I hear the car pull out of the driveway so I can ~~avoid conversation~~ stay out of his way while he gets ready for work.

Lucky for me, my third child, the first one of my delightful offspring to wake every morning, is also not a morning person. He gets it, and is perfectly content to hang out on the couch with a blanket and a cup of milk to watch an episode of Sesame Street. By the time it is over, I am sufficiently caffeinated and ready to face the day.

Thanks Chris, you're the best.

Last of the rhubarb

2011-06-29T14:07:00.002-04:00

I bought extra rhubarb when I made pie, so I used it up today in Rhubarb Crisp Bars. I have decided that next year I must buy rhubarb in larger quantities and freeze it so it can be enjoyed longer through the summer.

Sean agrees.

Sunday

2011-06-26T13:01:00.005-04:00

The sun is out, all of the kids were well behaved in church this morning, and Jim is getting ready to throw a beer can chicken in the smoker. Perfect way to start the week.

The little boys have been having fun with the punching bag in the garage

and James is not so thrilled about mowing the lawn on a Sunday (but he'll get over it)

Kitchen curtains

2011-06-24T13:38:00.002-04:00

I haven't sewn a thing since Christopher has been born (at least, I don't remember sewing anything).

My kitchen has a busy wallpaper that is green and a shade of rose so close to cherry red that it might as well just be, well, cherry red. Finding curtains aside from plain white (the color of all of my cabinets) has been challenging and I decided the only way to solve my dilemma was to make my own.

I found an adorable strawberry covered sheet at Garden Laundry on Etsy and though it wasn't a perfect match, I knew it would make me happy. I will warn you that it you click on the link, you may very well decide to buy a bunch of vintage sheets "just because".

So with a little (cough, cough) help from Chris, I managed to once again wing a sewing project and pull off a couple of curtains. You would almost think I knew what I was doing.

Happy Father's Day

2011-06-19T18:17:00.005-04:00

Afternoon at the lake

naps on the beach

dinner in the park

and strawberry rhubarb pie when we got home. :-)

Sometime in the middle of the night...

2011-06-15T06:59:00.003-04:00

Sean: "Mom. Mom. Mom. Mooooom!"
I stumble out of bed and head into his room.
Me: "Do you want the light on?"
Sean: "mumble, mumble, Lego, mumble, red box"
Me: "Um, what?!"
Sean: "We need to get new hands for the lego guy in the red box."
Me: "What???"
Sean gets out of bed, obviously annoyed at me, and walks over to the red Lego box.
Sean: "WE. NEED. TO GET. NEW HANDS. FOR THE LEGO GUY. IN THE RED BOX!"
All the while he is jabbing his finger at the red box.
I'm beginning to realize he is slightly delusional.
Me: "Okay, why?"
Sean: "I ate them."
Me: "What?!" giggle
Sean: "I ATE THEM!"
Me: "When?" giggle, snort
Sean: "Just now, in the dark."
Me: "Um, okay pal. We'll get new hands for the Lego guy, just ah, don't do that again, okay? Do you want me to leave the light on?"
Sean: "Yeah, it's freaky in here."
Me: "You're telling me."

A letter to my cat

2011-06-10T06:17:00.002-04:00

Dear Otis,

I am happy that you like your new home and that you find the call of birds in the morning bracing.

*However* natural instincts astir or not, you are NOT a rooster. This is not a farm. I do not need to wake up at 5am. Nor does anyone else in this house. While I appreciate your excitement, I do not wish to join you in a game of 'scurry around the house' that early in the morning. I'm not up to a game of 'catch my feet under the blanket' if I happen to roll over because your incessant, very loud meow succeeded in waking me up. When I give in to the inevitable and make my way down to the bathroom, my motor skills aren't quite "there" yet. If you run ahead of me and then stop on the stairs to bat at my feet, it is highly likely that I will fall down those stairs. It won't be pretty.

Please exhibit a little self control. I will be happy to play with you after I finish my coffee.

With love,
Mom

Summer is here

2011-06-07T18:42:00.006-04:00

Well, not officially, but a heat wave is here for the next few days. and with it:

grilling. Trust me, he is happier about it than he looks

wrestling matches in the grass

bike rides

skinned knees and dirty feet

pico de gallo (twice this week, and it's only Tuesday)
I've been using half of a green bell pepper instead of jalapenos

and oh my, this blueberry lemon parfait

Home

2011-06-02T19:53:00.005-04:00

It is hard to stay focused on getting unpacked when it is so nice outside!

We are making ourselves at home in our yard...

...and out on the nearby trails.

It's going to be a great summer.

A little excitement in the middle of the night

2011-05-20T07:16:00.002-04:00

Really, I couldn't make this stuff up if I tried.

Around 2am, we had an unbelievable storm. A few loud peals of thunder woke me up. I was lying in bed, wondering how in the world the kids were sleeping through this when there was another crash that shook the building and set off the alarm system.

Now, we aren't talking a private home fire alarm. This thing is hardwired. It goes off in each apartment with an obnoxious noise accompanied by a flashing strobe light. I had no idea if the building had been struck and was on fire, or if it was just the shake that set the alarms off, but I wasn't about to take any chances.

I jumped out of bed, told Jim to grab the baby and headed into Sean and James' room. The kids stumbled out of bed, confused and afraid from the disorientating noise and flashing light. Jim handed me the baby so he could get dressed. The baby was soaked. :-/

I grabbed a fleece blanket off the couch and we stepped out into the hallway. The alarm in the hallway is deafening. It assaults your senses, complete overkill.

We headed down the stairs and walked out onto the porch.
"Wow", from James. It was pouring out. Sean was standing next to me in socks, Chris and I were barefoot. Jim was still in the apartment. My neighbors were all stumbling out into the hall.

There was another very close, very loud, very scary bolt of lightening, setting off a few car alarms. Sean and Chris panicked. At this point I was pretty confident that our home wasn't burning down so we stepped back inside.

Jim came down and we ushered the kids into the car. Sean was shaking like a leaf. Christopher was still in a soaking wet diaper and pajamas. I was still barefoot. It was approximately 2:10am.

We went for a ride, hoping the little boys would go back to sleep. Ha! Right. As we drove off, I remembered the cat. Um, oops. It's a good thing there wasn't an actual fire, he would have been toast. The rest of the ride, I kept thinking that our cat was going to have post traumatic stress from being left alone with that screaming noise and strobe light. I found him later hiding under Sean's bed. He is his normal happy self this morning.

Anyway, we went back about 15-20 minutes later. The rain had stopped and we expected the alarm to be off. Only it wasn't. The fire department comes when the alarm is triggered and they need a key to shut it off. No one could get in touch with the owner of the building and the fire department left (!) because they had received a distress call.

I went into the apartment, grabbed shoes for me and Sean, and dry pajamas and a diaper for Chris.

So that is why my children were running around outside in the parking lot, in the middle of the city, between 2-3 this morning.

We finally went in and wrapped the alarm up with a blanket and packing tape and went to bed. I think they finally got the alarm shut down at around 4:30 this morning.

Thank God we are moving!

Lilacs

2011-05-14T17:10:00.003-04:00

in the yard

and oh so much space in the kitchen

2 more weeks until we finish the move

Moving

2011-05-09T08:12:00.002-04:00

We will be moving over the next few weeks so my life is going to be pretty unphoto-worthy until we are settled in.

Easter Sunday

2011-04-24T18:53:00.002-04:00

It was a stunning day. We woke up for our annual Easter egg hunt with Mom's silly , rhyming clues, leading to the baskets that were hidden this year in the basement.

Church

Then food and family (and goats too) at Grammie's

Holy Week

2011-04-23T12:16:00.006-04:00

Paschal Candle
We used a kit from Adoremus Books, but I may try to design our own next year.

Hot Cross Buns on Good Friday

Our Lenten calendar is a printable from Catholic Icing

We've been reading:

Beautiful out of print book authored by L'Engle. I took a copy out from the library, but I would love to own it, if I can ever find a decent copy for less than $120 dollars that is.

And I've been reading:

I have mixed feelings about this one, it is wonderful for a day by day account of Holy Week and for putting elements of the Gospel of Mark into historical context. I disagree with some of the authors' conclusions, however. Thought provoking.

Just pictures

2011-04-16T08:40:00.001-04:00

Kindergarten

2011-04-04T07:34:00.000-04:00

I am so excited to do kindy over again. The younger grades are so fun when you compare them to the seriousness of the upper grammar level.

We have used an eclectic mix of Waldorf and Montessori in Sean's preschool, but now I'm moving into my tried and true; we'll begin a more classical program.

We are 30 lessons or so into Horizons K math program. I am hoping to stretch it out over the rest of this year and all of next by adding some of the Rightstart program that I have, along with the Kumon books.

We also use Kumon for basic skills. He especially loves cutting and the maze books.

We're currently on lesson 54 in Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading. We have been moving quickly up to this point, but I think we'll need to slow down a bit now. The consonant digraphs are trickier than the CVC and blending that we've done so far.

Since we are well into reading and math with our own programs, a complete curriculum package will not work for us, but I am going to use Memoria Press's Kindergarten Curriculum for copywork(handwriting and language lessons), memorization, Bible, poetry, art and music, and science and social studies.

This will be my first year officially teaching two, but I think that Sean's day will be short and James will be able to do a few subjects independently. It should go well.

What we're reading

2011-03-30T08:30:00.000-04:00

Christopher:

every night. :-)

Sean:

James:

Me:

2011-03-28T14:53:00.002-04:00

It's that time again...

2011-03-28T09:36:00.002-04:00

Planning for next year.

I'll admit that the planning is more fun than the actual teaching. I could very easily sit at this computer all day every day, checking out curriculum and making our plans for the fall.

Luckily, my children are not going to let that happen. Even though it feels like we are starting to wind down the year, we still have a couple of months left to power through. We need to stay focused now because soon the siren call of warm breezes will be beckoning us out the door and I know that getting these stir crazy boys outside will become more important than academics.

We are entering into uncharted territory this year with the beginning of junior high. We have two more years to get ourselves ready for high school (gulp).

Things tend to change between now and when I place the final order this summer, but I am feeling good about our plans so far. I am doing things a little differently this year and taking on a two-track history. James would study the Ancients every year so I am going to break our history studies into classical and modern studies, modeled largely after Highlands Latin School and with the help of some remarkable products and customer service over at Memoria Press.

For Christian studies, we'll be starting the quest level from Explorer's Bible Study and using The Book of the Ancient World by Dorothy Mills.

In classical studies, we'll be using another Dorothy Mills book, The Book of the Ancient Greeks, along with the Samuel Butler translation of The Iliad and The Odyssey. James has been looking forward to this for quite some time and I think he is finally ready.

Famous Men of Modern Times will be paired with The Story of the Thirteen Colonies by H.A. Guerber and Memoria's 200 Questions about American History for our modern history studies.

For English, I'm fairly positive that we'll continue on with Rod and Staff for grammar. I will be using Susan Wise Bauer's middle school writing and grammar for the younger boys, but James is ahead of their publishing schedule. I've decided to make the investment in IEW's TWSS and add to that the first volume of U.S. History Based Writing Lessons. We'll continue in the Vocabulary from Classical Roots series and I'm going to use Teaching the Classics and Figuratively Speaking to pull together our own literature studies.

We've been working through Saxon Math 7/6. (I never thought I would say that) with Art Reed's DVDs. We'll move into 8/7 sometime next year, hopefully in the first term, adding in the two new Life of Fred prealgebra books for some levity.

Science ...I have BJU 6 and all of the supples, so we'll be using the program next year. The more I see of BJU, the more I realize just how far their worldview is from my own, so despite their academic rigor, this will likely be the last BJU product we use.

Latin was a big decision this year. I have decided to switch over to First Form instead of Latin Alive! 1. The pronunciation is slightly different, though I don't think that matters much. We have enjoyed Latin for Children, but I think that First Form will be easier to use without the DVDs. James never wants to watch the ones that came with his LfC C, so I do not want to shell out for them next year only to have them sit unused. First Form will be all review, but I think it will be good for us before we forge ahead.

We will also begin a gentle introduction to French with First Start French I. I had really hoped James would choose Spanish, since his father and I at least have a basic understanding of the language, but he was adamant. This should be interesting.

Finally, we have logic. I am leaning toward Traditional Logic, but that is not a final decision, we may do something lighter for one more year.

I'll do a separate post for Sean. He is going to be a Kindergartner this year!

{this moment}

2011-03-04T12:15:00.003-05:00

You've come a long way baby

2011-02-15T07:47:00.001-05:00

Happy 1st Birthday to my little blessing.

Mid Year with K12

2011-01-27T15:24:00.002-05:00

I'm just going to pretend I didn't go without a blog post for over a month and jump right in with a school update.

Our overall experience with the Massachusetts Virtual Academy has been a positive one. James has a class online every Friday and he really enjoys the chance to participate and chat with his classmates. He also likes his teacher. I appreciate the fact that she has not been at all intrusive, something I was concerned about. I didn't sign up for this to feel like I had to answer to someone else for my child's education. I do have access to his teacher and a math teacher, but we have not needed to contact them for any extra help.

Having all of the lessons planned out with an online checklist on the K12 site is fabulous. I love that James can get up, log in, and get to work. I think I will look into planning software or set up my own assignment sheets next year in a similar fashion.

History, Literature, and Art have been huge hits this semester. I have already purchased the student and teacher pages for K12's World History B to use next year. We have never used a literature program with a reader before so it's a nice change, but not something I would do every year. They have been assigned a few novels in their entirety and James especially enjoyed Tom Sawyer. The suggested reading list is excellent.

Earth science has been okay. Not exactly mind-blowing, but it's getting done and he hasn't minded the course.

Vocab uses Vocabulary from Classical Roots, which we would have used on our own. It is really just the workbook and the answers are entered online. We will be moving to the next book in the series next year.

We're using a newer Dolciani text for Pre-algebra A. I don't love it. Halfway through the year and we have not encountered anything new. I am just having him take the online assesment every day and instead he works in the Horizons 6 book that I had already purchased for the year. This past week he started the second half of the program and also wrapped up Life of Fred: Fractions.

Grammar has been similar to math. I just picked up where we left off last year in Rod and Staff English because he wasn't learning anything new in the K12 grammar program. We're still adding in Latin and now he wants to learn Greek. We'll see where that takes us.

Overall it's been a good half of the year. I can't see us continuing in the virtual school next year. We're planning to move out of state so it won't be an option for us regardless. It has been nice to see that we are right on track and we will likely be using online classes in the future for individual courses.

Beeswax Candles

2010-12-16T16:08:00.005-05:00

This afternoon James and Sean rolled beeswax candles

while Christopher ransacked the Christmas tree.
It's beginning to look quite Charlie Brown-ish.

Enchanted Village

2010-12-14T17:28:00.003-05:00

A visit to Christopher's NICU nurses led to an impromptu stop at The Enchanted Village on the way home. I couldn't have planned it any better. No lines, and Chris was a little angel.

Putting up the tree

2010-11-29T07:48:00.002-05:00

We picked up our tree yesterday and last night Masusie and Papa came over for dinner, hot chocolate, and decorating.

For some reason, I did not think to bring out my camera once all day. I had a spacey kind of day, started cooking dinner, Corn Chowder, and soon realized that I had forgotten to pick up one crucial ingredient from the store. Yep, the corn.

Jim to the rescue of course, and in return, I had to make him marshmallows for the hot chocolate. We usually listen to Christmas carols while decorating, but it was after all, a Sunday during football season.

I will eventually get photos up, probably when I decide to torture myself with stringing popcorn and cranberries.

I'm delighted to be kicking off Advent. The Christmas season is my very favorite.

Dragon

2010-11-25T16:08:00.002-05:00

Chris meets Sally, the immortal lizard

I know what he's thinking, "Why can't we just a have a cat?"

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-25T16:05:00.001-05:00