I read this book as a teen.  Reading it again last week felt like I was reconnecting with my old friend, Ms. Christie.  She was my favorite author for so many years.

While the plot twists and turns quite often, it is really not complex at all.  Sub-plots are virtually non-existant in this book where it seems they could have been created easily enough.  However, one redeeming quality of the book would be the thought provoking theme: unpunished murder.

My daughter read the book just before I did for our book club.  It brought back memories of theory after theory on the identity of the murderer, theories that changed almost with every page.  Abbie didn't guess and I don't think I ever did either.  Even this time, I forgot who exactly it was even though I remembered parts of the book. 

Could the lack of sub-plots be a result of flat characters?  Each person in the story acts exactly as one would expect of his "kind of person".  None of the characters seems to really be an individual beyond basic description.  Perhaps the story would have been  more complex if the characters had been more developed by the author. 

On the other hand, although the characters themselves generate little thought, the theme does trigger a review of the ethics involved in punishing murderers.  If the law is inadequate to reach certain murderers, does an individual have the moral right to mete out the penalty due?  I don't think so.  I don't think the Bible sanctions such actions. 

Agatha Christie has been declared the queen of the murder mystery genre and this book has been named among her best.  So, if a complex plot and well-developed characters are not an absolute necessity for you,  you might really enjoy the challenge to detect the criminal of this who-dunnit.  You might find yourself considering deeper topics than you would expect besides.

Hey, guess what!  I am so very happy to report that we have checklists once again.  Yeah, baby!  Here's what happened.

I think I said in a previous post that we are doing "contracts" each month.  The kids decide exactly what and how much they will do per day or per week depending on the activity.  That isn't without some encouragement from me on certain points but I never tell them they must do one thing or another.  They are usually much harder on themselves than I would be on them but that isn't the point of this post.  Once they sign their contract they are responsible to complete it with my help to keep them accountable.

The problem was that they got tired of trying to remember what they had to do for the day.  They jotted down what they did each day in a notebook.  So they could go to the notebook to figure out what they had done for the week but they would have to go to the contract to figure out what was left to do.  The process was cumbersome.

Enter the checklist.

I have Homeschool Tracker Plus on my computer which is a great tool for keeping records and planning.  The kids thought they would really like having their tasks from the contracts printed in a list-form each week. 

For my son I divided each group of tasks evenly throughout the week so he can tell if he is  on track for the week with just a glance.  For my daughters, who are older than he is, I just started on Monday for each group of tasks so that Monday and Tuesday have fairly long lists but from Wednesday on, the lists get progressively shorter.  All of them know that they do not have to do any task on a given day just because it is on that day's list.   For instance, they could do all of the geography tasks on Monday or Thursday.  Or they could do one task on Monday and the rest of the week's tasks on Wednesday.  The only requirement is that all the tasks are done by Friday and that is not my requirement because the tasks come from their own contracts.

Because they are the ones who set the educational goals for themselves, they work amazingly harder than if I were the one to set the same goals.  Now that we have checklists to streamline the process, our school time is that much more productive.   ...and I am the happiest clam of all to see those boxes checked off!

Elizabeth George has written another good one here.  I read A Woman After God's Heart several years ago and was challenged by it.  Then I read another of hers...can't remember the name at the moment...it was only a mediocre book.  This one on prayer is basic (because it is for "young women"?) but certainly helpful.

It has been a great place to start for preparing the Bible studies I have to lead this fall.  The girls' Bible study will springboard from Elizabeth George's book, although I will add some of my own material.  The ladies' Bible study will go from Elizabeth George's book, as well as, Praying Jesus' Way.  (I just read this paragraph again.  I am concerned my words make it sound like these books eclipse the Bible in our Bible study.  At least one lady in our group totally dislikes using any book besides the Bible.  I find the extra books help put the Biblical concepts in a teachable order for me.  Beyond that they are good resources for extra illustrations, quotes and discussion questions.)

Anyway, as with most any classes we teach the preparation for these Bible studies has impacted my prayer life for the (very much) better.  I think my favorite point from George's book is the following:  Learning to pray is not one of those things we can put on our to-do list and then, at the end of a prescribed amount of time, scratch that baby off the list.  Elizabeth George contemplated her own prayer life on the tenth anniversary of her salvation.  Twenty years later she admits, “And I want to tell to you right now—I am still learning how to pray!” 

Looking for a good book to read with your daughter?  I think this would be a great place to start looking.

Here is an entry originally started July 9, 2009.  I guess it's time to get it done:

How interesting to read an entire book about punctuation.  I know that doesn't sound interesting but the book was interesting enough to read the whole thing.  Actually, it seemed more like a book of funny anecdotes with some punctuation rules at the end of the chapters.  Come to think of it, that is exactly what it was.

Of course, each anecdote has to do with punctuation in some way and the author does spend a page here and there for a diatribe on the horrid use of punctuation these days.  However, I found myself giggling a number of times while trying to remember if I have done anything so ridiculous with punctuation.  My only complaint about the book was that once or twice the author seems a little too fanatical about punctuation.

Here is the anecdote from the title as it is printed on the back of the book: 

     A panda walks into a cafe.  He orders a sandwich, eats it, then draws a gun and fires two shots in the air.

     "Why?" asks the confused waiter, as the panda makes towards the exit.  The panda produces a badly punctuated wildlife manual and tosses it over his shoulder.

     "I'm a panda," he says, at the door.  "Look it up."

     The waiter turns to the relevant entry and, sure enough, finds and explanation.

     "Panda.  Large black-and-white bear-like mammal, native to China.  Eats, shoots and leaves."

If you like that one, read the book.  It's filled with more like it. (Excuse me while I check the punctuation in my writing...)

This trusting the process is difficult.  I want so badly to make a checklist for each child stating what worksheets to do today, tomorrow and all week.  I want to say, "Well, did you write your spelling words three times?...No?...Then you cannot be goofing off.  Get to work!"  It doesn't matter that they spent several hours reading good books and did their math, etc. 

I want a checklist.  (read that again imagining a whining, shout...now you understand)

My oldest has decided to do a subject or two per day.  This is a new plan as of this week.  So far so good but then, she did just start this week.   She also has a tendency to come up with new plans for just about every part of her life on pretty much a bi-weekly basis.  Well, I guess it's kind of like our doctor said when she was a baby, "Don't worry if she eats meat for ten days but won't touch veggies.  She'll soon enough eat only veggies and won't touch meat.  Small children have a tendency to eat what they need and they DON'T have to have every vitamin every day."  (that is a quasi-quote--as accurate as I can remember) So far, we have four healthy children raised with that philosophy.  I can see where it would transfer to education...

My son has finally found a book that he reads all the way to the dinner table.  Yessss.  (It's "The Sword in the Tree" by Clyde Bulla if you're wondering.)  Now, I haven't had nearly as hard of a time with him not doing other school stuff because he has his nose in that book.  What do I do when he finishes it tomorrow?

My middle daughter, well, she continues about the same as always.  She would rather read than do anything else.  However, she is continuing through "Life of Fred".  She lamented the other day that she has to go all the way to the calculus level to find out how Fred got his start in life.  If that is what it takes to get her to learn math, then I am thankful for Fred.

So that leaves me with the urge to make a checklist...I'm fighting it...

Today my oldest and I went on a nature walk that focused on fungi.  The rain and clouds parted just long enough for a beautiful hike on the trail and the hike was led by a very knowledgeable lady.  I continue to be amazed at the number of highly educated people in our little town.  Anyway, hopefully my daughter learned as much as I did on the hike.

We came home with three different kinds of edible mushrooms.  I would not have had the nerve to eat any of them if it had not been for the guide lady standing beside me telling me it would be ok.  I sauted them separately in butter and we each got a little taste.  The puffball was definitely the favorite with the admiral bolete and the flat-topped coral tied in second. 

Here are the facts (those I found interesting and can still remember):

• There are apparently three "kinds" of mushrooms: those with gills, those with pores and those with neither. 
• For some reason there haven't been enough people interested in mushrooms to have common names for the vast majority of them so you have to really work hard to remember all those latin names.  Or you could just call them "little brown mushrooms" and be right nearly every time. ;-) 
• The body of the mushroom is that white, spider-webby stuff, called mycelia, all along the rotting log or the white, fibrous stuff under the ground.  The mushroom itself is just the fruit.
• The cell walls of mushrooms are made of the same stuff as the exoskeletons of insects causing mushrooms to be classified separately from all other plants.
• Mushrooms along the roots of living trees live symbiotically with the tree!  The mushroom cannot provide itself food through photosynthesis but it can soak up the carbs that seep out as the tree sends them down to its root.  The mushroom, in turn, helps the development of the roots making the tree more stable and better able to grow.
• One gram of dirt can have several miles of the "body-threads", or mycelia, in it.

Here's the grand-daddy fact that made me really praise our wonderful Creator:  Spruce trees grow in direct sunlight but hemlock trees like to grow in their shade.  As the hemlocks grow, they cannot get as much photosynthesizing done because of that shade.  However, the spruces do utilize all that sunlight and send the energy all the way down to their roots.  Mushrooms waiting there soak up that energy for themselves but they also channel those carbs to the hemlock trees.  The extra nurtrients provided by the mushrooms make up for any shortfall the hemlocks may have.  Apparently a few years ago scientists thought that the mushrooms made a general contribution to the whole "area" for all the plants to enjoy.  But now they understand that the nutrients they share go specifically to the hemlocks!  Isn't God amazing to care for a specific species of tree?...and it all works like clockwork!  ("and it was very good")

Gee, it was fun...and educational...and awe-inspiring.

So far, September has been a wonderful month, Bill's parents were here and we celebrated their 40th anniversary before they left.  Bill and I went to a pastors retreat at the camp where we used to serve as missionaries.  Friends who have been out fishing are returning from the water.  Other friends who have worked rediculously crazy hours all summer are nearing the end of the "work season".

Of course, we are just gearing up with church and all the ministries that start in the fall.  In fact, those all start this week.  And school continues to gather momentum...

We tried schooltime "contracts" in the month of August which lasted for the month; and for September, we reviewed and renewed them.  I am pleased with the idea which came from the TJEd Home Companion and specifically from Diann Jepson.  The kids have been excited to choose exactly what they study and how much studying they will do each week. They actually get fairly ambitious in some subjects that I would not have guessed.  I do discuss their plans with them and I gently encourage them to stretch themselves but I have not had to require studying in any particular subject. (read: I ask questions and bite my tongue a bit)

Do they fulfill their contracts?  Well, the month of August was fairly well done.  My plan is to review daily  the journals they keep of their activities.  They are supposed to write the subject and how much/how long they worked on that subject.  My son gets off the hook a little since he is still working enough on his educational skills that I don't want to overtax him with record keeping on top of it.  He is only required to record the subject he studies.  I didn't get my daily reviews done as much as I had hoped in August and, so far, September has been crazy with visitors and travelling.  Hopefully, we will get down to brass tacks now.

We have had a good week or two of school so far.  Bill's parents arrived from Vermont last week so school is mostly a morning thing until they leave.  We are really enjoying their visit.

Tonight we drove to the Chilkoot River to view bears.  We certainly got a good show.  There were a sow and two large cubs as well as two other single bears, all brown bears.  They were picking fish out of the river like there's nothing to it.  Momma shared a couple but then insisted on eating her own catch after that so the babes were on their own.  Actually, they did well catching for themselves...I feel some moralizing coming on...I'm resisting.

We are half done with Europe in our geography course.  So far we have enjoyed several European foods: apple pancakes from Germany, runzas from Czechoslovakia and Champs from Ireland to name a few.  The 10 Days in Europe Game has really helped us learn what countries are in Europe and where they are.  For literature we are reading aloud the book: The Trapp Family Singers by Maria Augusta Trapp.  I will have to check back in to report what we get done in the second half of the unit.

Enthusiasm for robotics petered out for a bit.  The kids were having a terrible time with the sound sensor.  It only took a couple hours for Bill, his parents and myself to figure out what the thing was doing.  I guess we really needed a fifth grader (we have 4th, 6th and 9th).  Well, the sensor is fine it was understanding the programming that stumped us all.  We got it in the end and figured out another "problem" we were having, too.  hmmm...that moralizing feeling is coming back...I think I will end now and go to bed!

good night from Alaska.

The other night I was in bed wishing I were asleep when my thoughts randomly arrived on the subject of TJEd and how it all works with my kids.  Are you that kind of person?  I can start thinking about the firehydrant across the street...that reminds me of the time we lived in Chicago and someone opened the hydrant for kids to play in (highly illegal)...which reminds me of the house we lived in...our upstairs neighbor was Puerto Rican...some guy at a playground in Juneau was telling me about his vacation house in Puerto Rico...if I could have a vacation house it would be in the alps (I just wouldn't have the money to get there to use it!)...the alps...Heidi.  Firehydrant to Heidi.  Yep, that is my quirky brain.

But that is not the point of this post. 

I realized that TJEd is hard because we want methods and plans and checklists of which there are none.  And yet there are.  It is like a gardener who really gets into gardening.  Not just the stick-some-plants-in-the-ground-and-see-if-they-will-grow kind of gardener.  The TJEd parent(mentor) is like the gardener who studies every detail of the particular plants he is intending to grow. 

He figures out what he has to do and when to do it so that the plant will then do the work of producing fruit.  I must study my children.  I must figure out what it will take for them to get inspired to do the work of learning whatever it is I want them to learn. 

 He figures out what the plant needs and how to keep pests from interrupting the plant's work.   I must study my children some more.  I must figure out what tools I need to give them so that they can carry out their inspiration in the hard work of learning.  I must be discerning about the activities that distract from the goal.

The real gardener may experiment and stick a plant in the ground to see what happens, however, for the most part he has a plan for his garden.  TJEd can seem like unschooling in the worst sense of the word but it isn't.  I must have a plan, do the studying, and carry out all the checklist items I discover are needed to lead my children to the "fruit" of learning.

This is such a different paradigm from the authoritative stance where I say they are to learn thus-and-so and learn it now no matter if they care one bit about it or not.  Instead I am watching for cues, learning to cultivate interest, providing tools and opportunity as well as modeling the learning process. 

This is hard work.  I think I'll go to bed now.  I'm tired.  :-)  Hopefully, I will fall asleep without thinking about hats people wear in Iceland or something just as ridiculous at eleven at night.

Here we are again at the beginning.  Actually, the beginning was three weeks ago because we decided we want to take December off.  It hasn't been easy but we are getting through the last month of summer yet getting in our school-time.

We continue to implement TJEd a little more.  We are working on the "inspire, not require" element.  To begin with we made contracts where the kids listed things they wanted to study and then how much they agreed to work on each subject.   Of course, they very kindly included some things I suggested and I very kindly allowed some things I would not have chosen for them.  Carina is working on what she calls clothing design but then she is also working on fractions, decimals and percents.  Seth decided, on his own, that he should read a chapter per day from his book and practice subtraction facts.  They made some great decisions for this month's contracts. 

Now, the only difficulty is getting the enthusiasm they displayed when they created their contracts to continue on a daily basis.  I guess that is where the inspiration part comes in.  I'm still working on that.

As for our studies this year, we are working on world geography together for which we are using Trail Guide to World Geography to springboard our efforts.  We are also all doing some robotics using the Mindstorms products from Lego.   This spring we discovered Life of Fred books at the curriculum fair which seem to be just what we needed for Carina.  We continue with Math-U-See for Seth and Video Text Interactive for Abbie.  Atelier for Seth's art.  One Year Adventure Novel for Abbie's creative writing class. Carina will continue with Write@Home this year as she really enjoyed that program last year and I believe she did improve her writing last year. 

So, that's the beginning...

My parents and aunt/uncle arrived from what we Alaskans call "down south" for a long weekend here in Haines.  We enjoyed the wildlife park near here where we saw Alaskan animals and petted many of them, too.  Of course the next day was the 4th so we took in the parade and park activities.  Finally, on Monday we piled in the car (except for Abbie and Carina who stayed with friends) and began the long trek to Fairbanks. 

The most interesting part of the drive was an unfortunate one.  We drove through smoke blowing in from forest fires in the Nenana valley.  The eerie glow of orange in the sky, the inability to see well through the haze of smoke and the artificial darkness on an otherwise sunny day combined to silence almost every comment from all eight people in the car.

Boy howdy, was it hot up there.  Actually, our own little town had extreme weather while we were gone.  Friends reported 92 degrees at home while we saw a sign that said 98 degrees up there.   Apparently that 98 degree-temperature was a fifteen-year record. The heat was a certain reminder that we love, love, love living in a temperate climate.

While in the big city we played mini-golf inside at a place called Glow Putt.  What fun!  You can guess the scene, complete with glow-in-the-dark golf balls.   Now here is the surprise...I won!  That is officially the first time that I have ever won at that game.  The kids (we took the two youngers) were delighted with the swimming pool at the hotel.  Bill and I were delighted to have stores to shop in.  Yep, we hit Sam's club...a good 1 1/2 hours of Sam's club.  Then on our second and final evening we visited with friends and their baby.  We got to see their new house and they had recently discovered a bird nest built in the grass of their yard.  There were two hatchlings in it.  How wonderful of God to make some birds nest on the ground where even our three-year-old could see in that nest.

Now here is an interesting bit... We took some mail with us thinking how fun to send it from the post office in North Pole.  However, if you drive the main highway through that town (there's only one) you don't see the PO.  Did they do that on purpose?  I suppose they have enough burden with the letters to Santa every December.  Well, we were slightly disappointed.  Not disappointed enough to get off the main highway and search for it though.  By the time we passed through North Pole on Monday evening all we wanted in life was to FINALLY get to Fairbanks.  On Thursday, as we set out, it was entirely too early being about 6am when we drove back down the highway.

Even if we had not found wonderful deals on so many items we otherwise would have had to shop the internet to find, the store-time would have been worthwhile.  Here's why.  Seth bought himself a watch.  This is the boy who pretends he doesn't know anything academic until it slips out kind of sideways.  Anyway, he has had digital watches that I have purchased for him.  He wasn't so interested in telling time.  Now is a different story.  Somehow he decided he wanted a watch and the one he wanted to buy for himself  was an analog dial, no less.  On the way home he reported the time from his own watch every so often.  Relief.  He DID learn to tell time all those months ago.  Our youngest saw him with his watch and so had to borrow mommy's.  At each report of the time from Seth, Ellie also reported the digits from my digital watch.  Tee hee.

Animals had a small role in the whole trip, too.  We saw several moose, including two calves, a baby fox, many ground hogs and two or three pairs of swans.  Oh, and the swans had babies.  We couldn't see the babies too well.  They were just white spots beside the mommy and daddy swans as we whizzed by.  But we did see them.  What we didn't see was bear.  I was surprised at that because we saw plenty of bear sign along the road. Anyway, when we arrived home we found that the animal interest on our trip was not finished.  Two of the pet birds in our house escaped from their cage!  There they were sitting right on top of it as if they were innocently just hanging around.  They were stuck outside the cage for a good while, too, because as soon as we opened the door, they rushed the food bowl, eating side-by-side without squawking at each other.  The older girls had been by to feed and water them on Tuesday so, at most, they were stuck outside their cage for two days.  I am assuming it was less because they went for the food rather than the water.  This was their first escape --hopefully the last. 

This trip was our first as (most of) a family.  It is my parents' first to the interior of Alaska.  It is my aunt and uncle's first in Alaska at all.  (They are continuing in a giant loop around the state.) Hopefully, it won't be the last for any of us. 

Here is another delicious book.  I know what you're thinking - how could a western of all things be a 'delicious' book?  I am not a fan of westerns, not on TV, not in books.  However, this book was recommended on the George Wythe College (TJEd school) website so I decided to try it.  Boy am I glad I did.

There are several plots going on while the story weaves its way through subtle and not-so-subtle developments.  Also, the subject, simply by nature, seems to be more appealing to persons of both genders --there is a love story, a hanging, a shoot-out (of course), a man making himself better, a man making himself more evil, all the elements of a blockbuster hit.

I annotated as I read and one theme that popped up quite often was that of "equality".  What makes men equal?  unequal?  Does money, education, intelligence, or religious affiliation make the difference?

When I was done reading the book I found out that Owen Wister looked to Jane Austen's works as a model for his own.  I think he did quite well and just maybe, he even improved on the original.

What could I say that hasn't been said about this book? 

This was my second reading of the book and it went much more easily than the first time.  I am not sure if the A&E movie made it easier or if it was because I am older.  At any rate, there wasn't a single time when i was struggling to get through a page.

To me, some books are simply delicious.  P&P is one such book.

This is a truly hilarious book.  We have read Pyramid, Castle and Cathedral not to mention The New the Way Things Work by the same author.  All were great educationally and were enjoyable books but this one is more enjoyable than all the others put together.  Perhaps it is a little less educational.  It is definitely way sillier.

A man is walking across North America in the distant future, long after a sudden, tragic meteorological occurance buried the whole continent under many feet of...junk mail.  He falls into a motel but he interprets the place as a tomb and the many items in it and the adjoining bathroom as ceremonial items.  Truly hilarious.  My favorite is the "decorative tiles" on the ceiling which were carefully colored in random patterns (really, they were water stains!).

Clearly a classic.  I guess I can't say that until I have read it at least a second time but I am thinking that when I finish it the second time and perhaps the third or fourth time I will be able to confirm that this book is definitely a classic.  Here's a good way to put it, I hardly ever read a book a second time.  There are too many wonderful books out there to waste my time reading a book a second time.  However, I finished the book a week or so ago and I started it again yesterday.

Some thoughts I had:

• The main character is hit with a baseball in the eye.  In the hospital he realizes how he has taken his eyes, his health for granted.  I stopped to think of things that I take for granted.  However, as I read the list I wonder if those typical things (health, family, church, reading, sewing...) are really what I take for granted.  I mean, they came to mind immediately.  When I really think about it, I do appreciate all those things.  So what do I take for granted?  Can I realize those things without some sort of disaster?

• There seemed to be a parallel between the setting of the story during WWII and the American Jews themselves.  Hatred of Jews - WWII: hatred between American Jews - religious "war".

• True friendship is portrayed in the book.  Friendship is another word like "love" that we throw about so often in hyperbole that we rarely use it in the true fashion anymore.  Here is an interesting quote: " Two people who are friends are like two bodies with one soul."

• There was a time in Jewish history in Poland when the discussions of the rabbis was no longer connected to "the desperate needs of the masses of Jews."  The book points this out and denounces the scholars that became only interested in showing "how much they knew, how many texts they could manipulate" to argue minute points of the Talmud.  I can see how easily this can happen where education is elevated to the highest regard.  I am sure it happens among the scholarly in any field of study today.

• It seemed to me that the Torah was raised to the position of God.  Do they worship God or God's book?

• I liked how one character consistently referred to God as "the Master of the Universe".  It is good to remember that He is in control of everything at all times.

• Here is a quote I haven't processed yet:  "If a person has a contribution to make he must do it in public.  If learning is not made public it is a waste."  Can this be true?

Ok, I'm stopping.  These are just a few of my notes and I already have a couple new ones the second time around.  Clearly a classic.

We have just a couple things to do to finish our school year...still.  Talk about interruptions.  They have been good interruptions though.

A friend emailed that she and another lady would be kayaking from Juneau to Haines, could we be the safety contact for their trip.  Well, they arrived on a Wednesday.  This was a pretty big undertaking for them, by the way.  Juneau is 80 miles away and the Lyn canal can be treacherous waters.   Anyway we had a lovely time.  My friend, acquaintance really, is single but her friend is a homeschooler.  That friend is also exploring TJEd!  You can imagine long conversations we had.  We almost felt like we had a homeschool conference just between the two of us.  By the time they left on a Friday I felt like I had two friends rather than acquaintances.

We have had unusually warm weather and hardly a drop of rain...crazy for a temperate rainforest.  However, this did allow for lots of yard work.  Remember when everyone else was getting their gardens started.  Was that February?  Seems like it.  Well, our garden is finally in.  We put in three raised beds and terraced about 24 feet of the side of our yard.  Whew!  Sifting all the dirt for those things was a long job.  The whole thing was worth it all.  Today we got our first harvest...spinach from the plants I started inside.  I am quite certain the spinach from our yard is tastier, healthier, better-in-every-way than stuff from the store.  :-)

Then there was VBS.  My two older girls are old enough to be helpers.  Yikes!  We three helped in the preschool section of "Crocodile Dock".  On the first day my oldest asked if she had to go back.  On the last day the younger helper signed up for next year.  That makes me giggle.  The oldest stuck it out and did enjoy the experience.  I enjoyed it but I was glad for the last day.  Oh, the two youngest of my children did attend and did have a grand time at all the activities.  We are still singing all the songs (motions included as well).

Those were the major interruptions...I won't go into all the minor ones.  You might be bored already and that would put you over the edge.  :-)  In the end school will end. 

Today

• we made  a list of all the things we want to do before next Friday.  That is when school is officially over.  Yeah, baby!
•  
• we also dug up, well, a mountain of rocks from our two little garden beds.  It felt really good to be digging in the dirt.  We have a number of plants waiting to be transferred to the raised beds we are putting in.  Right now it is a matter of dirt to put in the raised beds.  Hopefully tomorrow...
•  
• was also Seth's first little league game.  His team won!  We had a wonderful time watching them all.  It was a good game too with each team being in the lead at various times. 
•  
• Abbie went with her public school friends to an eighth-grade promotion.  They make a big deal out of that here.  I guess that is becoming typical everywhere and you have to expect it when pre-schoolers have a graduation ceremony, too!  Anyway, Abbie was pretty excited as well as a little nervous to mingle with all the public school kids.
•  
• we ate watermelon for dessert.  Our first watermelon of the year.

I'd say today was a banner day.  Thank's, Lord, for such a beautiful, wonderful day!

The end-of-the-year bug hit again.  No, I am not talking about attentions wandering to outside or daydreams floating in at every turn.  I am talking about the mommy/teacher virus that infects me when I look at the number of school days left and compare that to the amount of material that I still wanted to cover this year. 

I plan the last few weeks hoping to get to those wonderful, lofty, noble (surely they are noble) goals.  The task list for each day is an arm's length long.  Do I realize that it is crazy, unreasonable when I am printing out the schedules?  Nope!  Do I remember the extra time we took to really delve into our subjects and study them thoroughly thus causing our supposed lateness?  Nope!  Do I remember that education is about teaching my kids to think rather than getting everything in?  Sadly, nope.

Ah well, at least I am realizing my error after only about a week of the unrealistic schedule.  I guess it takes that long for my brain to settle out of the frenzied state of "requirements" to remember what is important:

• learning is about thinking and applying what you have thought about
• checking off those lessons on the list does not mean we have achieved success
• relaxing and enjoying our school-time increases real learning exponentially

Maybe next year it will only take a couple days to get over the end-of-the-year bug.  Could I avoid infection completely?  By God's grace I could.  Hmmmm. 

The science fair project is completely done.  I think I am as glad as my son is to be done with it now.  I only did one science fair project when I was in school.  That one made me exhausted, too.  The sad part is not that I didn't get the best rating on my project but rather that I never understood where I had gone wrong.

Well, I think Seth did a pretty good job.  He came up with the idea for the whole thing completely on his own.  I read to him and took dictation from him.  He did all the work, including typing almost every word for the finished project.  He is participating in a cyber science fair where you do the complete project, take pictures, make a powerpoint presentation and submit that for judging.  We'll see what the judges think.

He started out knowing that he wanted to put water in cups and see how fast the water evaporates.  We studied a number of books about water.  He put a cup of water in several rooms, the refrigerator and the freezer.  Each day for two weeks he weighed the cups and took down the air temperature.  Then he did it all over again.

After it is all said and done I hope he realizes what he has accomplished.  He has done some serious thinking, he has shown endurance to complete the task, he has worked hard and made a nice display.   More than that I hope this will be like a "stone of rememberance."  I hope that as God calls him to greater things, Seth will know that God has given him the ability to think, to work and to complete the job.

I am proud of my son.  I am thankful to my God.

What a delightful find.  This was the last book published by Tolkein before he died.  The whole story arose out of his "failed" attempt to write an introduction to George MacDonald's Golden Key.  I say failed because he never did finish writing it but here is the reason why: he decided that people should be introduced to a fairy tale by the tale itself.

Anyway, this is a small book that is typical Tolkein as the story will delight young readers while older readers will find food-for-thought in its pages.  The ending is an interesting mix of sweetness and sadness, such as it should be in a story about "faery".