Posted in My languages

It was not inevitable that I ended up studying languages.  Or maybe it was.

I grew up in a monolingual English-speaking family.  Both sides had been in the US since the time of the Revolutionary War (one part from 1640 or so), and my distant ancestors came from England and Ireland. So I have no heritage language, really.

As a young child, I loved looking at maps and making up songs about the countries I saw on them.  In second grade, we must have done a unit about other countries, because my teacher wrote phrases in different languages on the board.  I copied them down and kept that notebook for a long time.  I still remember that one phrase was "Takk for maten" (Norwegian for "Thanks for the meal").

As I got older, I loved writing stories and poems and noticing things about language.  I kept a list of adjectives that had two opposites; for example, the opposite of "light" can be either "heavy" or "dark."  I understood grammar and was good at it.

At the end of seventh grade, I had to choose either French or Spanish for the following school year.  Since my aunt had been a French teacher and all my older sisters had taken French, I chose French, figuring that if it ended up being hard for me, I would have lots of help available.  I'm sure that my French teachers, if they even remembered me, would tell you that I showed no special promise in French.

The summer between seventh and eighth grades, I had an interesting experience that is still affecting my life.  One night I had a dream about an unknown boy.  While thinking about the dream the next day, I heard a song on the radio.  It was Menudo's first single in English, called If You're Not Here.  That evening at the mall, I found their album and discovered that one of the boys in the group looked just like the boy in my dream.  I bought the album, of course!

I really started liking Menudo, and that was their only album in English so far.  So I started buying their Spanish albums.  I withstood some ridicule from my sisters for that, because they couldn't understand why I would want to listen to songs I couldn't understand.  For two years I listened to those Spanish albums, and then in my sophomore year of high school, I took both French 3 and Spanish 1.

Spanish was my favorite class, because I loved the language and because my next older sister took it with me.  We would study together for the tests, and due to that, I finished the year with a final average of 96.  I remember at one point telling my teacher that I had been listening to Menudo albums for several years, and she exclaimed, "That's why you have such a good accent!"  It was during that year that I realized that I really liked languages, and I wanted to take French 4, Spanish 2, and Italian 1 in my junior year (I would have preferred German, but Italian was the only other language my school offered) , but my school would not let me, so I ended up only taking Spanish.

I went to college early, after my junior year.  I didn't study any languages right away. I finished the credits I needed for high school and wasn't sure what to do next.  While looking at the college catalog, I became intrigued with the idea of majoring in International Business. So then I started studying German.  By this point, studying a language was not hard for me at all, and I excelled in German.  But the class was only offered Wednesday nights, and I decided I wanted to attend a Bible study group that night, so I didn't take the second semester.

By that time, I had realized that I wasn't really a businesswoman type, and under the influence of my father, had decided to major in math (I'm sure if my high school math teachers remember me, they would be hysterical about now.)  The normal progression of courses led to my taking calculus in the summer.  In case you didn't already know this, that's a bad idea.  Summer course plus bad teacher equalled Jeanne studying calculus all summer, trying to make it make sense.

One evening after a test, I drove the half hour home in tears.  I had done really badly on it. (As it ended up, I actually got an A, because he graded on a curve and everyone else had done really badly too.  I seem to recall that just finishing two problems on the test was an A.)  As I drove home, I thought, "I don't even really like math!"  So then I asked myself, "What do I like?"  And the answer was - languages.

I summoned up the courage to call my dad on the phone (even though I lived in the same house, I couldn't summon up THAT much courage!) and tell him that I needed a break from math and was going to concentrate on languages for a while.  I sat down with my college catalog and figured out that I could graduate the following May with an AA in Liberal Arts.  I contacted my German professor and asked for his permission to study the second semester material on my own and enroll in Intermediate German that fall, which he happily gave.  I enrolled in Intermediate Spanish, after three years of no formal Spanish.  And I was happy!

After graduating from the two-year college, I transferred to a four year college and continued studying both languages.  I ended up majoring in German and minoring in Spanish (a double major would have taken another semester) and deciding to go on to graduate school to get my doctoral degree and become a professor.  What happened after that is another story.  The point is that it wasn't until the summer of 1991 that I realized, at age 20, what had been written on the wall since I was a child.  I loved languages!

Posted in Me

Tonight I told my husband about the conclusion I had reached in this post that this year just ending was the hardest homeschooling year ever.  I told him, "I don't know what I was thinking.  I thought that this school year we would do tons of schoolwork, join activities, make friends, do a science coop, and basically be perfect homeschoolers, WHEN I HAD JUST HAD A BABY!"

He just rolled his eyes and said, "What am I going to do with you?"

This gap between my expectations and my reality is very hard to deal with, because I waste time feeling bad that I haven't met my incredibly unrealistic goals, and that energy could go toward actually working on them!  As an even more dramatic example, I could share the list of goals I made up for last summer.

Keep in mind that I was in my third trimester and had a four year old and two year old twins, and somehow I thought I was going to accomplish twenty-one goals in six different areas. In two months. Hugely pregnant. With my oldest preparing to leave for college.

I'm insane.  But I can only see it in retrospect!  How can I bring my expectations in line with what I can truly accomplish?  Maybe I don't understand goal-setting?

And I find myself, yet again, working on a schedule.  Is it a good idea? I don't know.  I just reread A Mother's Rule of Life and I noticed something I never had before, a critical couple of lines that I had overlooked.  "A Rule of Life is not just a schedule, not just a collection of activities organized into a set pattern for efficient repetition.  A Rule is an organization of everything that has to do with your vocation, based on a hierarchy of the priorities that define the vocation and done with the intent to please God.  It deals with the essential responsibilities of your state of life, organized to ensure their fulfillment.  The activities worked into the Rule are determined by the specific calling, charism, and apostolate of the person living the Rule." (emphasis added)

I think that before I was confused and thought that, because Holly Pierlot was a Catholic homeschooling mother, and because I was a Catholic homeschooling mother, my rule would look like hers, perhaps with minor variations.  I thought that her vocation was my vocation, but it's not.  *I* am called to do things she is not, and she is called to do things I am not.  At this point I almost wish she had not put her example in the book, and had put more examples of religious life in the book.

I started to realize that, even though all nuns have similar-looking vocations, the orders are different.  The Rules are different.    They have different callings and charisms.  Making my own rule is not just a matter of plugging my specifics into Holly's framework - *I* need to sit down and understand what *my* vocation is and how best to fulfill it.  I need to discern what *my* daily duties are. Then I need to develop self-discipline to do what God has called me to do. 

When I am goal-setting or schedule-making, I need to know that God has called me to do those things, not that I am making some crazy list of 21 things I'll never get to that He didn't want me to do anyway.

With some time constraints pressuring my husband and me, we thought hard, weighed the costs, and made a surprising decision.  Yes, we decided to get satellite TV.

Not what you were thinking, was it? ;-)

The time pressure was the digital conversion (not my age).  Since we are the King and Queen of Booneyville (or at least minor royalty like dukes and duchesses), we have only ever gotten about 8 channels and cable was not available.  NBC hardly ever came in.  Fox was usually the best, but not always.  Even though we have a digital-capable TV, the digital channels came in even worse or not at all.  So we were facing the prospect of no TV.

I've read all the arguments against TV and why families should get rid of it, but I don't agree with that for our family.  I have never really limited TV for my children and they all love to read, go outside, and are very good at entertaining themselves.  I remember laughing at the idea that children viewed TV passively back when Robert and I used to watch Power Rangers.  Every time there was a fight scene, he'd be flying around the room, punching and kicking and pretending to be a Power Ranger!

So while we don't watch huge amounts of TV, we didn't want to not have it.  I of course would die without football (well, maybe it just feels like it - is it football season yet????), and my husband loves 24.  The girls had just started watching "Nature" on PBS and were loving it.  And none of us really like watching TV on the computer.

We got an offer from our phone company to bundle together phone, Internet, and satellite TV, and it seemed like a good deal.  We had cancelled our long distance a long time ago and only used a calling card.  We live in a weird pocket where some numbers are local and some long distance.  For example, one friend living half an hour away is considered local, while another who lives a half hour away in a slightly different direction is considered long distance.  My husband's work number is long distance.  And at the time we cancelled it, the phone company was charging more for in-state long distance.

However, recently they started adding a fee for recharging the phone card, which made it less economical, and using the calling card is very complicated for our children, who are starting to want to make phone calls.  It requires dialing an 800 number, entering a 10 digit PIN, choosing options, and then dialing the number you're calling.  There are many ways to mess it up, and with our daughter's dyslexia, it just wasn't feasible anymore.

My husband called the phone company to confirm the price of the bundle, and we realized that altogether it wasn't much more than what we currently paid for phone, Internet, and long distance (like less than 20 dollars).  Plus I won't ever miss another Panthers game, I'll be able to watch Monday Night Football again, and I'll be able to watch a lot more college sports (including women's basketball, which they never show on regular TV)!

So for two weeks now, we have been in the world of twenty-first century TV!  My husband has been overdosing on WW2 military history, while I have been fascinated by HGTV.  I absolutely love using the DVR too! It's so easy to record shows and then there is always something on you want to watch.  And now I finally get to see all these shows that I have been hearing about for years.

Which brings me to my latest pet peeve.  FYI, total strangers who might run into me or some other person who has more than 2.2 children:  when I tell you how many children I have, I don't want to hear any mention of the Duggar family.  Seriously, for several years now, EVERYONE who meets me and finds out I have a lot of children starts talking about the Duggars.  I suppose it's better than complete and total shock and disgust that I have seven children.  I guess seven doesn't seem like so many compared to 18 (and counting).

I finally caught a glimpse of their show the other night.  It was St. Patrick's Day and they were having an entirely green (not to mention disgusting-looking) breakfast.  The father made a vulgar comment about the future color of his children's waste (I don't do vulgarity.)  The mom read some facts about St. Patrick to the family while they ate (shouting down the length of the table, it seemed).  I was a little bit shocked at their level of ignorance about him, but was happy that they didn't say anything disparaging of Catholicism.  And then, I really couldn't take it anymore.

I really don't understand why anyone would agree to have their lives videotaped like that, day after day.  And I also can't really understand why anyone would watch day after day.  So, honestly, I'm ready for the fascination with the Duggars to end.  And Jon and Kate as well!

I once read something that described the United States as a place where languages go to die (except English, of course).  Recently I came across an excerpt that shows that it has always been this way, even before the US was a country!

"Peter Kahn, a student of the Swedish biologist Karl Linneas, visited the English colonies in 1750.  He entered some observations into his journal on May 7.

In the morning we continued our journey from near Maurice River down to Cape May.  We had a Swedish guide along who was probably born of Swedish parents, and was married to a Swedish woman but who could not, himself, speak Swedish.  There are many such here of both sexes; for since English is the principal language in the land all people gradually get to speak that, and they become ashamed to talk in their own tongue, because they fear they may not in such a case be real English.  Consequently many Swedish women are married to English men, and although they can speak Swedish very well it is impossible to make them do so, and when they are spoken to in Swedish they always answer in English.  The same condition obtains among the men; so that it is easy to see that the Swedish language is doomed to extinction in America; and in fifty or sixty years' time there will not be many left who can understand Swedish, and still less of those who can converse in it."

And where did I find that extremely sad quote?  At my library I discovered a fascinating series of books called The American Family Albums.  This quote came from The Scandinavian-American Family Album.  There are several versions: Mexican, German, Irish, Cuban, African, Jewish, and possibly some others.  These books are chock full of old photographs, excerpts from journals and letters, and information about the old country, why the people emigrated to America, the effects they had on America, their customs and traditions, etc.  Check and see if your library has them!

Posted in Pictures

I haven't posted a cute picture of the baby in a while, so here it is! Enjoy!

Posted in Homeschooling

Within the last year, I noticed that my life had gotten busier.  My biggest clue was that I no longer inhaled all available reading material (well, ok, the 4 children under the age of five kind of clued me in too).  The magazine our power company sends each month? Left forgotten on the corner table.  The one from our insurance company?  Same fate.

After a while of this, I actually started to just throw them away unread when they arrived.  And I stopped picking up the free parenting magazine that is around and about.  I discovered that, as a mom of seven with one already grown, well, it didn't have a lot to teach me.  It seemed a waste to pick it up and leave it for months on - you guessed it - the corner table.

But last Monday at the library I saw the parenting magazine and decided to pick it up to glance through while I waited for my daughter.  I just finished reading it tonight and had to blog about one article.  I actually read this sentence out loud to my husband and asked him to guess what age child it was discussing: "Watching him mature this year and become more interested in the academic part and more independent at home and away from home, along with the fact that I know about all the services X County has to offer...I feel he is ready to make this jump."

My husband refused to guess, saying he didn't have any idea.  I then revealed that the quote was from a parent of a four year old, a rising kindergartner. Four!  As I read on, I was more and more appalled.  The sidebar story, about transitional kindergarten, had this "reassuring" quote: "The pace is quicker than a regular 4-year-old preschool classroom, but there are still hands-on activities." Still hands-on activities??

Another gem: "Understanding the academic rigors of kindergarten is crucial in helping determine if your child has the emotional and physical maturity to do well." Do the words "rigors" and "kindergarten" belong in the same sentence? Not even Susan Wise Bauer goes that far! And then there's a kindergarten teacher saying, "Ninety percent of kindergarten is academics." Ninety percent? So these children are spending five and a half hours a day on academics???

Ryan is just finishing up his kindergarten year.  He has had no problem with the academics even though he just turned five in September. I'm thankful that he's been able to learn here at home with me, playing math games for an hour if he feels like it, asking his older sisters to give him math problems to do, and asking me about advanced phonics rules that I have to look up to answer.  What he didn't have to deal with was: exhaustion from catching a bus before 7 AM, dealing with a lot of people he doesn't know all at once, being separated all day from his three little brothers (he doesn't even like to do speech therapy without them), or spending his entire day just to do what only takes us an hour to two hours depending on what we do that day.

With our state law, Alexander and Christopher, who will be four in October, wouldn't even be allowed to start kindergarten until two years later if they were going to school.  I'm thankful that I can start with them whenever I choose, when I see that they are ready.  Even with their speech delays, they both know most (if not all) of the sounds letters make and can count a bit.  They sit at the table while Ryan does his work and play with the math manipulatives, making shapes on the geoboards and cutting out triangles with scissors.  They watch Ryan do his phonics flash cards and use the Handwriting without Tears wooden pieces to create letters.  Alexander can also write some letters.  They do it at their own pace, whatever they feel like doing.  By the time we get to the "academic rigors" of kindergarten, they'll probably have learned it all by osmosis.

As for the independence part?  I think it's a bit premature to be discussing independence in a four year old.  Don't these people know how quickly children grow up?  What is the rush?  While it's true that some children of that age have managed to live when left on their own, that is certainly not the standard we want to have, is it?  I'm happy to have my children become independent when they feel ready, not when society dictates that they should be.  I'll keep doing my kindergarten at home, where I don't have to employ a specialist with a Ph.D. to tell me if they are ready for kindergarten.  And I probably won't pick that magazine up again for a while!

Regular readers of my blog know that the state of health care in this country is one of my major pet peeves.  I think it's a travesty that not all Americans are covered.  While I favor some type of universal health insurance, I know many other Americans don't, so I have come up with another idea.

One of the biggest worries that Americans have is that one illness or accident can wipe them out financially.  But even buying just a catastrophic policy is out of reach for many people.  And sometimes, even when you have health insurance, the things it doesn't cover or the copays, prescriptions and other costs associated with a prolonged illness make it hard to pay.

So my proposal is this: that the government come up with some sort of catastrophic coverage for all Americans, just so we can all sleep more easily knowing that we can't be wiped out because our son broke his arm.  At least that is a good start, right?

Then, we outlaw health insurance as it is known and practiced in this country and let individuals again pay doctors and hospitals directly.  Doctors would be free to charge on a sliding scale.  Families who were not paying hundreds of dollars per month for insurance could now afford to pay the bills.  More comfortably situated families could donate money toward others' health care expenses if they wished.  People would be free to work out payment plans with their health care providers.  Doctors would not have to spend time or money dealing with insurance companies.  Costs would come down because there wouldn't be one charge for those with insurance and one for those without.  Waste would be eliminated.  Most likely, our ridiculously high c-section rate would come down (Do we really believe that God made one third of American women defective???)

I think most people, even the working poor, could manage to pay for some kind of health care in this manner.  My husband and I now pay nearly ten percent of our net income for our health insurance.  Under my new plan, we would be free to save that money if we didn't need to go to the doctor or pay for our medical care out of pocket.  If something serious happened, we would be able to make some kind of monthly payment, and we would know that we could not be wiped out.

My husband says that if I were in charge and tried to implement this plan, the insurance companies and pharmaceutical companies would bump me off!  I'm curious what anyone else thinks about it - I haven't thought through all the details at this point.  Please leave a comment with your thoughts!

I recently read a book called Anticancer by a doctor who has had a brain tumor that is now in remission.  It was an interesting, readable book, and I encourage anyone with a family history of cancer to read it and possibly apply some of the things he discusses.  On the other hand, if you have had a relative die of cancer as I have, the book may make you second guess what happened.  "What if she had done this instead?"  "What if he had followed this diet instead of that one?" So please discern for yourselves if you think you can handle reading the book or not.

Since I have no family history (my relative that died was not a blood relative) of cancer and low risk of it myself, I read the book as more of a "What can I learn from a doctor who has been through this?" and "Are there any little changes I can make in my family's life to better protect them?"  While I cannot buy all organic meat, dairy, and produce right now, it is something I'd like to work toward in the future.  Through reading this book I decided to give green tea a chance and discovered that I don't actually hate it as I thought! And I can work on trying to help my family and myself all learn to be calm and centered. 

There is a part of the book where he profiles a client who literally could not hear his own thoughts.  When he was at home, he was checking his Blackberry for messages from the office.  When he was at the office, he was still connected to his family at home.  The author makes the point that, because of this, he was really in neither place.  He describes how this client would check his messages during chess games with his son, and reply while his son was thinking about a complicated move.

Last December and January, I posted about how I had realized that I didn't want to spend so much time on the Internet.  I have since stopped frequenting one message board and have cut down considerably on another.  I am not against message boards or online activity but I was finding that it was interfering in my life, in my thoughts and in my prayers.  There are some really valuable opportunities on the Internet - without it, I wouldn't have friends in Sweden and Scotland that I have never met in person.  I wouldn't have reconnected with some people through Facebook.  It does reduce distance, that's for sure.  In fact, when my oldest son went to Poland, it really was just like he was still 45 minutes away at college, because we still chatted on Facebook and emailed almost daily.

But then I started thinking - wait, shouldn't it be different?  If being in Poland is just like being in the US, why go to Poland?  I'm not picking on my son here (just in case he thinks I am!), I am just saying that there's real danger with current technology to not be where you are. I think I was falling into that.  Whether it's homeschooling moms using the Internet to escape the house for a while or teenagers constantly "being" with their friends, the potential impacts to one's life are huge.

In my life, I have chosen to be here, at my house, with my children, while I homeschool them.  Why then would I constantly "leave" the house to see what other people are doing?  The Internet does have a lot to offer, but it is a struggle not to let it take over your life.  Just this afternoon I messed up again and wasted time on here when I should have been working on my book.

With some of my birthday money I splurged and bought a new copy of the classic homeschooling book about classical homeschooling, The Well-Trained Mind.  I say "splurged" because I already own the first edition from ten years ago, and I wasn't sure I needed to buy the new one.  But then I decided that I wanted to see what revisions they have done and what recommendations they have now.  Anyway, I will blog about that later.

What really impressed me when reading WTM was the sheer amount of work that Jessie Wise and Susan Wise Bauer have accomplished in the 10 years since WTM first came out.  They began a publishing company. Jessie wrote The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading and the four levels of First Language Lessons.  SWB has been really busy, writing the four volumes of Story of the World, the History of the Ancient World, the History of the Medieval World (not yet published), the Art of the Public Grovel, the Well-Educated Mind, and the Writing With Ease series.  She had another child and completed her doctorate as well, while continuing to share the homeschooling responsibilities with her husband.  That's pretty impressive!  So when you are reading WTM now, they don't have to make do with the best curriculum they could find - they can recommend their own creations.

And it struck me, how much do I see SWB on her own message boards?  Not very often!  She is doing things that ten years from now will build on her list of accomplishments.  I want to do the same.

PS - I know titles are supposed to be underlined.  I'd rather go eat dinner!

Posted in Christianity

Recently I found out that some of my friends thought that the Immaculate Conception referred to Jesus.  So as a public service announcement, I thought I would blog about the topic of the Immaculate Conception a bit.

The phrase "Immaculate Conception" is talking about Mary, the Blessed Mother.  Mary was conceived without original sin, thus she was immaculately conceived.  Then God preserved her from sinning throughout her life.  Why? Go back to the Old Testament and read the specifications for the Ark of the Covenant.  If God would take that much care with the place where His Word was going to be, wouldn't He take just as much care with the place where the Word become Flesh would be?

Another thought is - if you could preserve your mother from original sin and from committing any sin, wouldn't you?  And at the end of her life, wouldn't you bring her body and soul to heaven right away if you could?  Thus we have the Assumption of Mary.

I'm sure you all think that, since I grew up Catholic, I've known this forever.  Actually, I specifically remember learning who the phrase "Immaculate Conception" referred to, and I still have the book I learned it from!  It's called Tests and Teasers from Reader's Digest.  I got it when I was about 10 years old.  Test # 86, called "The World's Cussedest Quiz" contains the relevant question, and I recall thinking, "Of course the Immaculate Conception means Jesus!" and then checking the answers.  Yes, I learned more about the Catholic faith from Reader's Digest than from my very lame CCD classes.  Moving on...

The doctrine of the Immaculate Conception was proclaimed in 1854, but that doesn't mean that people didn't believe it before that.  It's just that it was finally proclaimed as something that Catholics are supposed to believe to be Catholic.  Around the time that this issue was being discussed in Rome, a poor illiterate French girl began seeing apparitions of a lady in Lourdes, France.  Bernadette did not know who the lady was, but obeyed and asked the priest to have a chapel built there.  The priest told her to ask the lady who she was, and the reply Bernadette received was, "I am the Immaculate Conception."  These words had no meaning for Bernadette, but she relayed them to the priest and he told her that the words referred to the Blessed Mother.  He also then believed her story, knowing that she could not have known the phrase "Immaculate Conception."

Lourdes is probably the most famous of the Marian apparitions, and this seems as good a time as any to explain the Catholic view of apparitions.  No one is required to believe in them at all.  After extensive investigation, the most that will happen is that the apparition will be declared "worthy of belief."  That means that there are no doctrinal errors in the messages, and faithful Catholics can go ahead and believe it happened if they want.  The local bishop begins the investigation and makes his determination. 

And now is probably as good a time as any to explain that the supposed Medjugorje apparitions are unapproved and in my opinion, definitely NOT from heaven.  Unfortunately, some Catholic churches in the U.S. sponsor trips there.  One of my sisters went on a trip there a few years back and sent us some souvenirs.  A book on the "apparitions" was enclosed and I began reading it, only to be quite dismayed and put it down again.  We then decided to get rid of all the items from Medjugorje.  But now I've strayed pretty far from the topic of the Immaculate Conception, so I won't go into all that.  I hope I've cleared up some common "misconceptions"!

Posted in Homeschooling

Twelve years ago this month, we decided to homeschool our oldest child, who was finishing up first grade in the public school. Our second child was almost one year old.  Throughout our time of homeschooling, we have had many challenging things happen, like being homeless, having zero income,  having twins, or mom going out to work in the middle of every day. However, I have to say that this year really takes the cake:  I think that this homeschooling year has been the most challenging one ever.  Of course, typical me only realized this last night!

I tend to think of our years as starting August 1 and running until July 31.  Last August 3, Brogan was born.  The rest of August was certainly not dull - Robert left for college, the twins learned how to climb out of their cribs and therefore stopped napping, Gabrielle began twice a week tutoring for her dyslexia and dysgraphia, and both girls' ballet classes began.

As the year continued on, we added in some medical appointments for the baby's condition, bumped Gabrielle's tutoring up to three times a week, got through our "birthday season" (we have six family birthdays from the end of August to the beginning of November, four of them within two weeks!), Roger began working seven days a week, and we faced the fact that the twins were not speaking the way that they should. In November I participated in NaNoWriMo, writing 30,000 words of my as-yet-unfinished romance novel.

We got through speech evaluations and Christmas and made the unhappy decision that Gabrielle just could not take two dance classes this year.  In January we dealt with MUCHO stress helping Robert prepare for his semester in Poland (if you have not heard that whole story, consider yourself blessed!), while worrying about the twins not getting speech therapy because the first therapist had gone AWOL.  Oh, and in January I hurt my back, making it so I needed help caring for the baby and the twins, and for several weeks we were thinking I had something like rheumatoid arthritis. Thankfully, I don't.

In February we thought we could relax when Robert got on the plane to leave, only to have him get stranded in London a few days later. Oh, and then there was the almost-24-hour period when I had no clue where he was.  No, I did not sleep that night.  We got a new speech therapist, who evaluated Ryan and found that he was only at the second percentile for his age.  To make up for the sessions the twins missed when the first one disappeared, we bumped up therapy to three times a week, now including Ryan.  Yes, tutoring three times a week and therapy three times a week.

And so on and so forth.  I don't think we've had all eight of us at home healthy at the same time since January.  Roger and I both work seven days a week.  Church attendance has been hit or miss.  We've had to deal with twins' fascination for flushing toothbrushes down the toilet (the toilet doesn't like it, and I don't think the toothbrushes care for it either).  The baby, for some reason, decided he needed to add mobility to the mix.

Ballet is now over, but I have promised Gabrielle that starting in August she can take two classes a week.  Speech therapy and tutoring will continue through the summer.  I hope to sign Ryan up for a gymnastics class next year.  Robert will be home next month until the fall semester starts.  Ryan and the twins are improving. So I hope it doesn't seem like I am complaining.  I am reflecting, and with this reflection comes the understanding that, once again, I expected way too much out of myself this year.  Will I ever learn?  After thinking back over this year, I'm just relieved that we are all alive, somewhat healthy and mostly happy. And, yeah, we did some schoolwork along the way.  What more could I ask?

I was going to write a hard-hitting, deeply theoretical blog entry tonight, until I realized that my brain is shot and coherent thoughts are not to be found.  But since it's been a week since I blogged, I decided to share this.

Yesterday I had an actual conversation with Alexander and I found it very exciting.  It probably won't sound like much, but whatever.  At this point, I take what I can get from them.

I was lying on the sofa, drained from a week of dance rehearsals and other things, and he came into the room.  I waved to him and he waved back and said, "Hi, Mama!"  Then he turned around to leave the room (not sure why he came in to begin with) and I laughed.  He turned around and said, "What?!" just like the older children would have.  And I answered, "You just looked so cute when you waved and said, 'Hi, Mama'!"  He laughed too and then went back to playing in the other room.

I have a dream that someday soon we will be having MANY conversations that are just as sweet (and involve more words on his part!).

Gute Nacht!

Posted in Me

I've always liked to do calculations in my head, figuring out things like how many years I have been breastfeeding (10+, and a significant portion of that two children at a time), how many poems I will write if I continue at a certain pace (that was back in school in a particularly angst-ridden year, I guess), and how many years it will take to get in a better financial position (hopefully less than the total for nursing!).  Recently, however, I did some depressing calculations.

You all know that I have been, for the first time ever, keeping track of the books I read this year, aiming to read at least 52.  I never thought that would be a problem, and I have now finished 32 books this year, so I am ahead of the pace.  After my birthday two weeks ago, I started thinking though, "Wait a second...let's say when the children are a bit older I could read an average of two books per week...that's an average of 100 books a year...I'm nearly 40...my family is pretty long-lived...I mean, my great-grandfather lived to be 99, my grandfather almost 97...but that's no guarantee of anything...let's say I live to be 80...at 100 books a year, for forty more years...that's only 4000 more books!!!!!...how can that be?!"

I found that infinitely depressing. I'm sure there are more than 4000 books I want to read!  Guess I better read faster...

Posted in Homeschooling

Lately Ryan, who is 5, has been making connections between print and speech.  When we first started phonics, I thought he might have dyslexia because he was having so much trouble.  He still may, but I think his speech issues were interfering with his understanding of the sounds.  He had a lot of substitutions: /t/ for /k/, /d/ for /g/, and about 10 more, plus trouble with beginning blends.  He could not say either of the twins' names correctly.

After I realized that people were interpreting his version of "Christopher" as "Jennifer," I asked the speech therapist to work with him on pronouncing it correctly and he learned it pretty quickly.  Today during speech therapy, he spontaneously said, "Alexander" correctly too.  I was so stunned and happy!

Then later he was looking at some animal puzzles we had.  He knew right away that one animal was a crocodile, not an alligator, because it started with c.  Then he was looking at the giraffe and said, "Mommy, I don't know what this is, because it starts with a g, but g says /g/. "  So then I told him that g can make two sounds: /g/ and /j/.  He was amazed and then went through the entire alphabet (by memory) and made me tell him all the sounds the letters made.  It's been awhile since I did phonics, but I think I passed the test LOL! I also had to explain to him today that sometimes k is silent, like in "knee."  So I think we have now skipped a few lessons in Saxon Phonics!

It is always so exciting when they start to read!

Posted in German with the Kinder

I haven't posted an update on the children's language progress lately because there has really been nothing to say. They are doing much better in English though! However, recently two things happened in regards to German that I wanted to document.

Ryan has always really liked colors, and when we got a cool German book from Alphabet Garten called "Die Farben" it made its way to his room instead of being placed on the German shelf.  Gabrielle has recently been reading to him before bed, and apparently he had asked her to read that book several times.  Each time she told him, "That book is in German, and I can't read German."

One night, Gabrielle was busy and Ryan had to settle for a story from plain old mom.  While I sat in his room waiting for him to finish brushing his teeth, I picked up "Die Farben" and started looking through it.  He came back in and saw the book in my hand and his eyes lit up.  I could see the wheels turning in his mind.  "Can you read that book to me, Mommy?  Can you read German?"  So he finally got to understand the illustrations.  I read it to him in German, but explained some things in English.

Then, last week I said something to Brogan in German, and Ryan looked at me and asked me why I could speak Spanish.  I'm not sure if he thought the German was Spanish, or why he said that.  But anyway, I told him, "I can speak German and Spanish because I have studied them for a long time."  The children have been watching episodes of Liberty's Kids, and the character Henri is French, so Ryan said that French was a language too.  Then he asked me if I could speak French.  "Just a little tiny bit," I replied.

Today the speech therapist was here and brough some of her Spanish materials by mistake.  Ryan was trying to tell her that I could speak Spanish, but kept saying "English" instead so she didn't understand him.  She said, "I know your mom can speak German!"

So I guess you could say that we have made progress in that Ryan realizes that there are different languages.  Now, to actually teach him some German!  I'm hoping to actually do that one of these days...

Posted in 52 Books in 52 Weeks 2009

I am now officially halfway done my quest to read at least 52 books this year.  I know that I am way behind on blogging about all of them.  However, this book needs to be returned to the library ASAP, so I figured I would do it now and get it over with.

This is a wonderful, incredible book by Tim Seldin, who is president of the Montessori Foundation.  It is a gentle introduction to the Montessori method and what it's all about, but it's also more than that: it's the first parenting book I could ever fully agree with.  I love reading quotes like, "Each [baby] is a full and complete human being who is present in the room with us", "Children have so much to teach us about their needs and interests if we will only take the time to pay attention", and "We don't train children to use the toilet, we support them when they are ready."

There are lots of activities, and one could easily use the suggestions in this book to create a home preschool or kindergarten program.  Suggestions are laid out very simply and avoid the use of expensive Montessori materials.  Throughout the book are gorgeous photographs of children and their parents interacting, learning, growing, and enjoying life.  I highly recommend this book for anyone who has young children or is interested in Montessori and just wants a quick introduction.

Years ago my oldest child was involved in Odyssey of the Mind.  His team met at another homeschooler's house, and I hung out in their living room.  It was a veritable treasure trove because I discovered both The Well-Trained Mind and The Tightwad Gazette while browsing through their books! (And yes, if you invite me over, I will look through your books...I can't help it.  Brownies are always appreciated too!)

I took The Complete Tightwad Gazette out of the library so many times I finally told my husband I wanted it for my birthday.  I tend to reread it in the summer.  So last year I took some notes on the general principles that Amy applies. In no particular order, I now share them with you:

1. There are three ways to save money.  They are 1) buy it cheaper, 2) make it last longer, 3) use it less.  For example, when I buy coffee, I could always buy it on sale (1), reuse the grounds (2), or decide to drink coffee every other day instead of every day (3).

2. Keep track of what you are spending.

3. Keep your pantry stocked at the lowest possible prices.  Bulk buy.

4. Don't spend a lot on disposable things.  Spend your money on investment purchases.

5. Seek the minimum level in everything.  Do you really need a whole glass of milk, or will a half do?  Would one tablespoon of dishwasher detergent work just as well as two?

6. Learn new skills.

7. Consider the hourly wage an activity "earns" you.  If something takes 15 minutes and saves $5, your hourly wage is $20.  That is something worth doing.  If something takes an hour and saves you $1, well, then, it better be something you really enjoy doing!

8. Finally, how to do it all when you are very busy: Keep up with dishes and laundry and use containers to hold messes.

Everytime I pick up this book, I see something new.  Recently I looked up a recipe and found one for a Rice-a-Roni substitute.  I had never used that product before so I paid no attention, but I have since found a recipe that my daughters really like that uses it.  Now I can make it more cheaply!  It's really a book worth having, and Amy's clever writing style is funny too.  Just don't make the mistake I did and feel inadequate and guilty for years because you can't do everything the way Amy does it!

Posted in book reviews

Here is my son Robert's description of his Easter in Poland:

One of the things I had been most looking forward to with a semester in Poland was to observe the Easter holiday and see how it is done here. Being Catholic myself, one of the reasons I had chosen Poland was for the strong Catholic background of the country, and the presence of Catholic churches every block much like Baptist churches in North Carolina. 

As I have traveled all over this city, exploring the various regions, I have always been struck by the number of clergy, particularly nuns, that I have seen going about their business. How often does one see a nun in the traditional habit going through the checkout lane in the grocery store in the US? To me it has been refreshing, a place where religion can mix in public society without causing stares or insulting comments. There is nothing like running into a nun on the street to remind one to attend church on Sunday. 

Anyway, as Easter approached, I was looking more and more forward to attending Mass in the Cathedral of Wroclaw. I was also looking forward to finding some ham and making a brown sugar glaze over it as is traditional, but more on that in a few moments. 

I typically do not go grocery shopping until I run out of food - it saves money that way, to me. This way, none of my food goes bad, and I stretch my stipend as far as possible. That reminds me, someone needs to educate this country on how to make a proper pizza, but since I do not possess an oven, I guess it will not be me. 

I managed to have 'perfect' timing, running out of food on Holy Saturday. I figured 'No problem, I'll run out when I wake up Sunday morning and find something.' Well, it never occurred to me that being in such a prominently Catholic area, stores would be closed for Easter. Turns out every grocery store near Olowek was closed, and had been closed since Saturday, and would be closed until Tuesday. Momentarily stumped, and completely out of food, I was a little uncertain as to what exactly I was going to do in this situation. Finally, I reasoned I could survive on junk food for two days, and I went in to the petrol station next to Olowek to see what food I could find. Turns out gas stations in Poland are unlike gas stations in the US for what food staples are available, as I could only muster potato chips and ramen noodles - ramen noodles! I almost never eat ramen, let alone purchase it for myself, let alone eat it as my Easter dinner! So there I was, Easter Sunday, consuming potato chips and ramen noodles, listening to my mother tell me about the wonderful ham and brown sugar glaze, mashed potatoes, and black forest trifle she had made, and then listening to my girlfriend describe what her family was having - Italian beef, ham, cheesy potatoes, and the list goes on and on - my noodles paling in comparison between either family's repertoire. And of course, Monday I ate the same thing as the grocery stores were still closed. 

However, at least the Mass was excellent. It started exactly on time, at 18:30 hours (6:30pm), and was about as traditional as Mass can get. Those in attendance were of course dressed in their Easter finest, high-class formal clothing. I do not understand much of it, due to it being entirely in Polish, but still, it is always nice to see such a high level of reverence and respect displayed. Younger members of the congregation paused and allowed the elder members to approach the Communion line first, everything was conducted almost silently, the choir singing in the background, etc. As I was not sure what to expect from an Easter Mass in Europe, I cannot say if my expectations were met or not, but that I was completely satisfied with what I received.

Posted in Me

I got a really nice treat tonight!  I went to a meet-the-author event at a local bookstore.  Amy Tiemann has just released a new edition of her book Mojo Mom.  You can read my review of the first edition here, and stay tuned for a review of the new edition.  I am behind on my book reviews but will bump this up to the top, since I am really eager to read it.

I had a great time chatting with Amy and the other ladies who were there.  It's the first time since before Christmas that I did something fun for myself. Even though I was dealing with a baby boy who just wanted to get down and crawl, I felt myself recovering something I've lost over the last few weeks: a little of bit of focus, or maybe just feeling like it's ok to actually think (or, dare I use the word, mojo? ).  Throughout March and the first half of April, I've been really uninspired and frankly just plain tired.  There is always something going on, always someone who needs something, always someone who is upset about something, always things that I am about 5 days late doing.  I struggle and struggle to get it all done and then blithely think I can still add in something else. 

I've been working on my romance novel (which is a rather grandiose way of saying I printed out what I have so far and have been reading it in dribs and drabs trying to make it a cohesive story now that I know what it's about!), and then I find my mind wandering to other things I should do.  "Oh, I should try to sell something I already have!"  So I borrow Writer's Marker from the library, look at it twice, realize it's going to take some serious time to sit down and find compatible publishers, put it off until that mythical day that I will have serious time, and then have to return it because someone else has a hold on it.  That got far.

Amy was very encouraging tonight because she said that you can get a project done in only six to eight hours a week over time.  I had the thought earlier today that, instead of trying to write at night (which so far has not really happened, because I have about 2 hours of non-kid time to get done about 5 hours of what I want to do), I should write all day Saturday, just like I did on NaNoWriMo.  Yes, I'll be interrupted fifty million times a day - I actually had the thought during NaNoWriMo that I should keep track of all my interruptions and publish that as a novel, possibly a horror story? - anyway, there I go interrupting myself.  I do believe that ADD is real, I think you get it from your children. So, anyway, yes, I would be interrupted, but if I approached Saturdays with the mindset that it is writing day, and all the other stuff will just be there too, then I might actually get something done.  At this point, with a baby who cannot be left, and with my husband working 7 days a week, this is as good as it gets.

Thanks, Amy, for scheduling this at a great time so I could come!  Good luck with your book!  And I promise not to write any True Confessions, ever.

Posted in Christianity

We turned the cross white! 

Last night after the children were all in bed, I changed the words surrounding the cross from "Lent/Pray/Fast/Give/Sacrifice" to what you see here in the picture.  Mary said that she noticed the change while eating breakfast.  "Alleluia" caught her eye because it is like the name of the Redwall book Eulalia and she wondered why the title was on the wall!  Ryan noticed there were different words and asked Gabrielle to read them to him.  I had planned to start over next Lent with a new cross, but they said they want to keep this one and fill in all the little purple bits that are showing, so we will probably do that.

Happy Easter season, everyone!