First, I wanted to let you all know that I am taking a break from online stuff during the holiday. I'm not sure whether it will be a one or two week break since I seem to lose track of time over holidays. Have you ever noticed that there is some kind of break in the time/ space continuum when there is a holiday? This makes scheduling rather difficult. Anyway, this brings me to my second announcement. When I come back from the break, the blog will have a new home. It's new address is apollosacademy.blogspot.com. (Ugh. The link doesn't seem to be working consistently. If you cut and paste or plain-old type this address above, it should work. Make sure you keep the http:// thing in front... there is no www, however.)
When HomeschoolBlogger updated last weekend, there were some major glitches in the system. This was a great source of frustration for me since I had just posted the Carnival of Homeschooling, and the Carnival usually gets 1,000 to 2,000 hits a week. To try to alleviate some aggravation, I began a second blog and reposted the Carnival there. This was intended to be temporary, but as I played with the site, I liked some of the layouts and options there that I did not have here. Ultimately, I decided to move the blog to the new host. (That sounds like some kind of weird, sci-fi, alien thing, doesn't it?) I will keep this site open for awhile as Isave old posts and finalize the new site. I will also repost some old posts from here at the new site... mainly so I have them all in one location, but also to be able to share them with you.
One aspect of the new site that I like is that a blog can have multiple contributors, so hopefully Frodo will also contribute some posts. I would ultimately like the kids to be able to add posts or pictures that they would like to share, and the organization of the site would allow them to do so as unique authors.
I have been encouraged by how many people have requested to be alerted when I add new posts to my blog. I hope to have a subscription service up and running at the new site when I return in January. I'll let you know how to do that once it is set up.
I hope that you all have a wonderful Christmas and a glorious New Year!
On the way home from church yesterday, the kids and I were listening to a music mix CD that Frodo had made (Frodo was still at church waiting for Primo to finish her Christmas Play practice). The second song on the mix is U2 (smile) and B.B. King performing When Love Comes To Town. Terzo always sings along with music, but I never thought that Quarto payed much attention. Then, out of the blue, in a very blues-y, gravelly voice (but clear as a bell), Quarto belts along with the chorus, "But I did what I did before Love came to town!"
Since "Lucille" is taken, what would be a good name for a guitar?
(You should hear Terzo sing the second verse. He's pretty good, but it sounds odd coming out of the mouth of a six year old.)
I have discovered the soon-to-be-newest fad in exercise programs. Trust me, it will be sweeping the nation. And just think, I'm letting you in on the ground floor.
The program has 4 easy steps:
1. Crash your daughter's square dancing class during line dancing time. If you don't have a daughter in square dancing, go to your nearest county fair, retirement home, or township singles night.
2. Grab the nearest toddler and attach him firmly to your hip. (I cannot stress the word "firmly" enough.) It is helpful to bring your own toddler or to ask permission before grabbing a random toddler off the street. I was fortunate enough to have Quarto pulling on my jacket saying, "Dance with me, Mommy! Dance with me!" No coercion or permission needed.
3. Commence dancing the Cotton-Eyed Joe. (Hang on to that toddler. He can really throw himself into those spins!)
4. Collapse into a breathless heap as soon as the music ends while the toddler yells, "Again! Again!"
That's gotta be good for at least 1000 calories, right?
Oh, and to add some entertainment to your workout (if you can possibly increase the entertainment value of watching 50 kids, ages 7-17, trying to do the Cotton-Eyed Joe in a room designed to hold 50 people only if they stand very still), wear a knee-length, medium-weight jacket with a heavy wallet in one pocket and a cell phone and key ring in the other. Then, place yourself immediately in front of an uncoordinated 6-year-old. Watch the 6-year-old duck and sway to avoid being clocked by your wallet or keys while trying not to take his eyes off of your feet. Trust me... this makes the chest pounding, unladylike perspiring and complete loss of equilibrium totally worth it.
Our living room is small. We have always had small living rooms. Thus, we have developed a Christmas tradition of two trees. One in the living room (this is the "formal tree" with the pretty crystal, china and glass ornaments that looks all 'grown up' when it is decorated) and one in either the play room or the kids' bedroom (this one has the kids' ornaments, paper chains and popcorn strings). We had to replace our living room tree last year when our basement flooded and ruined our old tree that was stored down there. This year, we have to replace the kids' tree because it just plain-old broke.
I took Primo out to Wally World with me yesterday and went tree shopping. We looked through the trees on display then headed off down the aisle where the tree boxes are kept. There we found a boxed set of three "spruce" trees of various sizes (4', 3' and 2') that we hadn't seen in the display area... this should have been our first clue. We decided these would be cute in the playroom and would give each of the older kids thier own tree to decorate as they wished. Primo promptly offered that since her and Secondo's trees were bigger than Terzo's they would let Quarto put his ornaments on thier trees. Who could reject such harmony and Christmas spirit? We grabbed a box off the shelf, and Primo carried it to the checkout... this should have been my second clue.
As the kids were taking their baths last night, I decided to set up their trees as a surprise so that they could ooh and aah over them before bed then spend this afternoon after church decorating them. I opened the box and pulled out the first little tree. It had a very cute, wooden base... very rustic. I liked it already. I carefully unwrapped the cord to free the top then attempted to insert the top onto the lower section. This took a bit of muscle, but I got it on... and the tree looked terrible. Secondo comes in and squeels, "Yea! The trees!" After looking at it for a minute, she adds, "Maybe it will look better when you fluff it." So I begin fluffing. This tree refused to be fluffed. I thought maybe it was the tree, so I grabbed one of the smaller ones, muscled it together, and began to fluff... in vain. In the meantime, Primo had come in and asked to try the smallest tree. No amount of fluffing, bending, twisting, or grunting got those things to look like anything but pieces of wood with wire stuck with bits of green paper.
Aren't these the saddest excuses for Christmas trees you've ever seen?!
I don't have the patience or compassion level of Charlie Brown, but I do have a receipt. These sorry things are going back to the store tomorrow, and we will find a different tree for the kids.
I think that to find the "perfect" tree, I would have to use a real one, and although I would like a real tree, I have to face reality and admit that I am too lazy to water one. Plus, I have a three year old. If we had a real tree (especially one I wasn't watering), my house would look like Toddler Chainsaw Massacre. ("There are needles and sap everywhere! Oh, the humanity!") That said, I have to agree with the poet, Joyce Kilmer, only God can make a tree (especially one that looks good with Christmas lights and paper chains).
I will extol You, O LORD, for You have lifted me up, And have not let my enemies rejoice over me.
O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. O LORD, You have brought up my soul from Sheol; You have kept me alive,
that I would not go down to the pit. Sing praise to the LORD, you His godly ones, And give thanks to His holy name. For His anger is but for a moment, His favor is for a lifetime; Weeping may last for the night, But a shout of joy comes in the morning. Now as for me, I said in my prosperity, "I will never be moved." O LORD, by Your favor You have made my mountain
to stand strong; You hid Your face, I was dismayed. To You, O LORD, I called, And to the Lord I made supplication: "What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness? "Hear, O LORD, and be gracious to me; O LORD, be my helper." You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have loosed my sackcloth and girded me with gladness, That my soul may sing praise to You and not be silent O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.
These are all things I feel like I have been hit by in the last three days.
The whirlwind was Terzo's birthday party and was actually a good experience, not a bad one. Less like these destructive tornadoes and more like the twister in The Wizard of Oz that results in being surrounded by munchkins and just over an hour and a half of surrealism. I am always sorry to see the kids' birthday parties end because I have such a fun time planning them and watching them enjoy themselves. What a gift! Saturday, however, I felt myself fading quickly, and wrote it off to just being tired and went to bed early.
Enter Sunday morning and the 18-wheeler. I was so sick, I couldn't lift my head off of the pillow when Frodo tried to wake me for church. I slept until 11am then summoned up enough energy to slink downstairs, make some tea, take some medicine, then curl up on the sofa and go back to sleep.
This morning was an improvement. I only felt like I had been hit by a compact car (I can't decide whether it was a Chevy Nova or an AMC Gremlin, but it was defenitely an ugly compact car). Needless to say, I called a sick day today. I am still trying to figure out if I can count lessons in nursing and life skills. Primo dressed and took over potty training of Quarto, Secondo and Terzo got breakfast for everyone (all over the floor, but eventually everyone ate... not off the floor), and everyone very considerately kept thier death matches over toys and videos out of the living room where I was trying to nap.
Tomorrow I am hoping for a Mr. Bean mini-car day at worst. (Or maybe his nemesis car, it only has three wheels. Three wheels would feel less crummy than four, right?) As long as I can function to cover the three R's and get the kids to their respective Cub Scout and Keepers at Home meetings, I'll consider it a good day and count my blessings.
No, the banks aren't closed. There are no sales at the stores. The mail will still be delivered. But school is out. Well, our school is.
Today is a holiday because it is Terzo's birthday. He is six years old today, and in honor of the momentous occasion of his birth, classes were called off for the day, and Terzo was offered the opportunity to do whatever he wanted for the day. Now, we are getting ready for his party scheduled for tomorrow, so his choices were limited to something he could do at home, but within that realm, he had all the power. His sisters even did his morning chores for him (their idea, not mine) so that he could take time to choose what he wanted to do. He could decide what game we'd play, what movie we'd watch, what creation we'd make. So what did he choose? He chose to help me clean the refrigerator! And when he was done, he cleaned the kitchen floor (a rather practical and logical decision given all of the water he had spilled in the process of cleaning the fridge). When he had finished with the floor, he asked what else he could clean, and I told him that since it was time for lunch, he could pick a movie to watch and I would make lunch.
After eating, Terzo climbed into my lap (he's not too big for that, he decided) and we snuggled under a blanket and cried and cheered while Aslan, Peter, Edmund, Susan, and Lucy defeated the White Witch and brought peace to Narnia. About halfway through the movie, Terzo snuggled closer, sighed, and said, "Mom, I'm gonna snuggle you forever."
A couple weeks ago, I promised an update, so here it is.I hope it doesn’t disappoint. We have been having great fun, but someone else’s experiences read are never as exciting as one’s own experiences lived.
Actually, the main reason we have been scarce (especially ‘virtual me’) is that we found a school day routine that works really well for us, and I haven’t wanted to interfere with it by coming online during school hours.If we stay on track, school takes anywhere from 4 to 6 hours depending on the subjects we are studying that day.What about after school hours?Well, I have been trying not to do much housework while teaching, so I have to do housework during quiet times and after the kids go to bed.Thus, my screen time has been limited.
I thought this year would be more of a challenge because I am teaching three grades, kindergarten, third and fourth, and in many ways it is more of a challenge.However, I have always done better under pressure than I have when I have seemingly limitless time, so I think that has worked to my advantage this year.Primo and Secondo have many subjects that they can do together… history, chemistry, Latin, grammar, art, music, some math, and Bible.They do some math and spelling separately. Terzo joins them for Bible, art and music.
He even joined in our last Chemistry experiment (who can pass-up making marshmallow molecules?).The main focus with Terzo this year is learning to read, but he insisted on doing math, so I pulled out the first grade Saxon Math book, and he loves it.He also loves word finds, so I print out a new word find every time he learns a new phonics sound.(By the way, if you haven’t discovered Enchanted Learning, I highly recommend it.This is where I get Terzo’s word finds, and I have gotten art and science pages here as well.It is well worth the $20 annual fee to become a member and have access to additional pages and remove the advertising from printouts.)Keeping Quarto occupied has been a bit rough, and apparently including him in our studies can be hazardous to his health.
-graduate school classes and thesis writing for Frodo
-teaching weekly childbirth class for me (this includes making dinner for the couple I’m teaching… it is one of Frodo’s former students and his wife and we all have a wonderful time when they come)
Yes, we’ve been busy, but we have been learning and having fun doing it.Soccer is almost over, Frodo will graduate in December, and the couple I’m teaching will have their baby.Even as these things end, other things are waiting to take their places… skating lessons, holidays, applications to Doctoral programs.But some things will remain the same… Sunday will remain a day of rest, family meal time will be protected, and we will look at every experience as a chance to glorify God and learn, learn, learn.
Whenever our kids go bike riding or rollerblading or go tearing around on their scooters, we make them wear their helmets.At every checkup, the doctor asks our kids if they wear their helmets when on wheels or ride in a booster seat in the car.No one told me that helmets would be necessary in art class.
This past Tuesday, I had this elaborate art project all set up (I always have high hopes for art… I should know better).I had spent days cutting out pictures, words, letters, numbers, etc from magazines and had spent that morning getting out scissors, paper, fabric, glue, and every other craft item I could think of so that the kids could work on collages in the style of Romare Bearden.Quarto was going to join us, so I set up a little spot for him with some paper and crayons since he finds glue “yucky” (although tasty).Being a typical “I want it therefore I must have it NOW” two-year-old, he immediately climbed onto his chair and stood to reach for the crayon box before I could move it within his reach.As he thrust himself forward by pushing against the chair, the chair, obeying Newton’s Third Law of Motion, shot away from the table.That’s when the Law of Gravity took its cue, and Quarto plummeted to the floor.Unfortunately for Quarto’s forehead, Secondo had moved closer to him in an attempt to catch him and his head met the edge of her chair on the way down. Then there was silence.If you are a parent, you know exactly what I am talking about.That nanosecond where the world stops spinning and sound waves are held at bay while your heart sinks into your gut.Then came the scream.An ear-piercing scream that expresses a toddler’s shock clearer than any Shakespearean oration.A scream that says, “That chair just attacked me! Can you believe it?! Me! Of all people!”
Primo and I took turns holding a compress on Quarto’s head and gathering changes of clothes and making phone calls.I take pride that I live in a neighborhood where many moms stay home during the day, but wouldn’t you know it… none were home Tuesday afternoon!Instead, I had to set people’s imaginations reeling when I called Frodo’s school and told the secretary that there was an emergency at home and I needed Frodo to come home immediately.By the time Frodo got home, the bleeding was under control, the kitchen was cleaned up, Terzo was comforting Quarto, Primo was crying and saying how much she loved Quarto and didn’t want him to die, and Secondo was asking, “Mom, how come when I look at Quarto’s cut I get dizzy?Can you see his skull?”
The emergency room visit was amazingly fast.We were on our way home about an hour and a half after we arrived.Quarto was amazing.He only cried twice: 1) when the triage nurse removed the duct tape band aid Frodo had put over the cut which caused the bleeding to restart and 2) when the doctor gave him the shot of anesthetic.He winced at one point when the doctor moved the needle into his line of vision, and when she apologized, Quarto said, sniffling, “That’s okay.”Before the doctor could come stitch up Quarto, she had to give another little one stitches.I was panicking because she was screaming bloody murder, and I was afraid it was going to scare Quarto, but Quarto amazed me.Do you know what he did?He looked at me and said, “That baby crying.We pray her?”So while waiting for his own stitches, he and I were praying for the little girl to have peace and healing.I love my kids.
Quarto is doing fine.The cut was rather deep, so he needed two sub dermal stitches and four surface stitches.We’ve been calling him ‘Franken-Toddler’ and he shows his “tiches” to anyone who will look.His stitches don’t come out until the day after our family photo.I could reschedule the photo, I suppose, but why avoid a photo that will recall so many scary and wonderful memories for years to come?
All this because the poor boy wanted to hold the power of ‘Sunshine Yellow’ in the palm of his hand.
Today we had an impromptu field trip to a semi-local little zoo. (aka: the kids earned free tickets to said zoo in the library's summer reading program, and the tickets were only good during the month of September, but since we received them in July, I forgot about them until last night and today was the only day this week we could go before the tickets expired, so... we went.) The zoo's brochures read "picnics welcome", so I packed up a stunning picnic of peanut butter and jelly on whole wheat bread, individual bottles of 100% apple juice, pretzles, and chocolate chip cookies for us to enjoy while at the zoo. The zoo had these great little picnic areas set up throughout the park so that you could eat while overlooking various paddocks throughout the park. The kids decided that they wanted to eat the first portion of thier lunches (i.e. PBJs and apple juice) while keeping an eye out for the black bear... who seemed to be in nap time like 90% of the other animals.
When we finished eating, I asked the kids to put thier trash in the trash can. Everyone dutifully gathered up thier sandwich wrappers, napkins, and juice bottles and placed them in the trash. Secondo was the last one at the trash can and distractedly (she was afraid to take her eyes off of the bear paddock for fear of missing the bear) placed her trash in the can... or so I thought.
After I heard the trash door close, I noticed that Secondo was slowly spinning around and looking confused. She still had her juice bottle in her hand.
"Where's the recycling bin?"
"I don't think they have them, munchkin. Just put your bottle in the trash can and we'll go see if we can see the bear from the other side." (Bad granola mommy, I know.)
"But this is a zoo. They take care of animals. They should have recycling bins."
"You're right. They should. But they don't, so just..."
"I'm going to hold on to my bottle and put it in the recycling bin when we get home."
"Okay, but you have to carry it." (attempting to make up for my reduce - reuse - recycle lapse with a good dose of personal property responsibility training)
"I know." (Pensive pause.) "Mom?"
"Yes?"
"Can I write a letter to the zoo people when we get home? They really should get recycling bins."
"Um... well... sure. That's a good idea." (Said in my best "don't sound shocked, be encouraging" voice)
Apparently that training by example thing really works. (Except that Secondo has me beat. I only recycle when it's convenient, apparently. I was so tempted to make everyone fish their bottles out of the trash can and take them all home to recycle them to save face.)
You may be wondering, "Why is she so excited about that?" Well, if you are, you obviously haven't given birth to four children and/ or had abdominal surgery. Lucky me... I've had both! And that is why I have been wearing pants with elastic waistbands since I was pregnant with Quarto. But, no more! Welcome back buttons! You have been missed.
The kids and I were at our local "Generally A Dollar" store today. This store seems to always be going through changes, and none of it for the better... lots of employee turnover and a floorplan that changes so frequently I half expect to stumble across a Minotaur. Because of all this upheaval, it appears that the "powers that be" at headquarters decided to send a regional manager to the store to help them regroup and increase their efficiency.
While I was at the checkout, aforementioned regional manager approached the clerk waiting on me. In his hand was some retail-related gizmo. He stuck it in front of the clerk's face and asked, "Is this broke? Or just ain't workin'?"
If you want to learn about a topic, the best person to learn from is an expert - preferably one who is world-renown in his subject. Who wouldn't want to take art classes from Leonard DaVinchi, learn astronomy from Galileo, or receive golf lessons from Tiger Woods? Unfortunately, for many of us, learning any craft from such an expert, living or dead, is equally impossible. Fortunately, this is not the case in economics. Milton Friedman, Nobel Prize winner in Economics, has made his "Free To Choose" lectures (originally aired on PBS in the 1980's) free for the viewing. Don't miss this rare opportunity to sit under the tutelage of a master.
Note: I had some trouble with the audio, so you may need to fiddle with it a bit. Trust me, it is worth some fiddling!
Homeschooling 4 children, a dh who works full-time and goes to grad school part-time, writing, and taking care of a house are enough to keep any woman on her toes. She looks for those little things throughout her day to encourage her to keep going... evidence that all is not in vain (and that she can relax a bit because her children actually are learning something despite what seems like daily evidence to the contrary). One of those things for me is the rapidly increasing vocabulary of our 2-year-old, Quarto. As someone who loves words, dislikes "baby talk" and loves to talk, having children with large vocabularies is a great pick-me-up. True, Quarto's constant repeating of Terzo drives Terzo a little nuts, but all-in-all this rapid increase in speech has been a good thing... or so I thought.
It was cute when I would call Quarto over for a diaper change and he would call back, "Just a minute!"
Or when he would call out, "Can you pray with me?" after being in bed for an hour already or during a particularly strong "scary, terrible rain" (aka thunderstorm).
However, it ceased being cute when he began declaring, "Mom! I'm gonna throw up!" on a regular basis.
Now, to put you all at ease, the first few times he did this, I was a good parent and made sure he was provided with a bucket, that he had no fever and that he had plenty of bland food so as not to further aggrivate his delicate tummy. However, I began to notice that his declarations were not accomapnied by the typical physical signs of nausea. Quite the opposite. He would continue to run around and giggle and ask to play with cars or watch a movie or play outside. This phrase simply appears to be his "something to say when he doesn't know what else to say."
All parents know the high state of alert that the proclamation "I'm gonna throw up!" brings. You brace yourself for the wretch as you scramble to find a bucket and your brain plans how to clean whatever difficult-to-clean surface your child inevitably ends up targeting. Although my mind knows that Quarto is just repeating this phrase because he finds it an interesting phrase to utter (kind of like Frodo's need to use the word "phlegm" whenever the occasion arises because he loves the sound of the word and the chance just doesn't come up that often in typical daily conversation), I can't turn off this primitive reaction of reaching for a bucket and mentally replanning my day to accomodate a sick toddler.
I already feel like I have to be on my game on a daily basis without having the "kid alert" raised to red whenever my toddler is bored. Reprogramming appears to be in order. Here are the phrases I have decided to repeat randomly throughout the day with the hopes that Quarto will exchange one of them for his current favorite:
1. "Sweet baby gherkins!" (This is actually an exclamation that Frodo is attempting to introduce into the American lexicon. To be used when receiving a positive shock. For example: "Honey, we're going to have a baby." "Really?! Sweet baby gherkins!")
2. "The sea monkey stole my money." (from Finding Nemo. Strictly for the entertainment value.)
3. "Mom! I got a full scholarship to Harvard!" (Although still untrue, would successfully replace the instinctive dread elicited by the current phrase with a naturally joyous response.)
Frodo recently introduced me to the artist Feist. Her album Let It Die has quickly become a favorite... especially for road trips or as a gloomy day pick-me-up. I find myself drawn to the song Mushaboom, in particular. It has a wonderful, dreamy quality to it that I find easy to get lost in. I just may adopt this as my new theme song... it fits me so well. To listen, click the link below. The song's lyrics follow.
Helping the kids out of their coats
But wait the babies haven't been born oh oh oh
Unpacking the bags and settin' up
And planting lilacs and buttercups oh oh oh
But in the meantime I've got it hard
Second floor living without a yard
It may be years until the day
My dreams will match up with my pay
Old dirt road (mushaboom, mushaboom)
Knee deep snow (mushaboom, mushaboom)
Watchin' the fire as we grow... old (mushaboom, mushaboom)
I got a man to stick it out
And make a home from a rented house oh oh oh
And we'll collect the moments one by one
I guess that's how the future's done oh oh oh
How many acres how much light
Tucked in the woods and out of sight
Talk to the neighbours and tip my cap
On a little road barely on the map
Old dirt road (mushaboom, mushaboom)
Knee deep snow (mushaboom, mushaboom)
Watchin' the fire as we grow... old(mushaboom, mushaboom)
Old dirt road
Ramblin' rose (mushaboom, mushaboom)
Watchin' the fire as we grow (mushaboom, mushaboom)
Well I'm sold ...
Oh oh oh oh oh oh ...
Oh oh oh oh oh oh ...
To be honest, it was never really out of session, but I can't fit "Sitting At A Table And Doing Workbook Pages, Handwriting Practice, and Other Textbook Learning Has Now Re-Commenced" in the subject line.
Since life occurs year-round, learning occurs year-round here at Apollos Academy. This summer was full of swimming lessons, trips to the local pool, trips to the neighbor's pool, hiking, museum visits, festival fun, family film fests, 4H, reading, watching thunderstorms, working in the garden, baking (both food in the kitchen and ourselves in the heat), church picnics, vacation bible school, and just being. With all that fun and learning, you'd think the kids wouldn't want to settle down with books, would you? Well, that's where you'd be wrong.
I called the girls into the kitchen this afternoon (after 2.5 hours working in the 4H garden) and told them that it was time for math. Both Primo and Secondo said, "Yay! Math!" Yay? Math? After half an hour, I asked them to clean up their Cuisenaire Rods and hand me thier worksheets,
"Now?! I was having fun."
"Just a few more minutes. PLEEEEAAAASSSEEEE!"
I gave in. Who wouldn't? They're begging to do math for goodness sake. A couple minutes later I hear:
Primo - "Mom, come look at my computer bars."
Tutor - "Computer bars?"
P - "Yeah. You know, like the bars on your cell phone or when you're waiting for a thing that you clicked on to come up on the computer."
T - "You mean a download?"
P - "That's what I said."
Secondo - "Mom, look. I can make steps this way (places rods vertically) or this way (stacks rods horizontally) or if I mix them up like this (places rods of random heights in a line vertically) it looks like New York City!"
T - "Very cool!"
I finally convince them to put the rods away after reassuring them that we can play with the rods again tomorrow, and they quickly clean up then scatter. I call them back in mere minutes later. Secondo arrives first and sees me holding books in my hands. "Are we having a spelling quiz?" I confirm that we are, indeed. Secondo enthusiastically screams, "Primo! Come here! Spelling quizes!"
"Spelling quiz?! Woo hoo!" Primo yells as she runs to her spot at the table. " I like spelling."
The rest of this week will be more of the same mix of conventional and unconventional:
Tuesday: Deskwork, housework, and swimming (maybe some car washing)
Wednesday: Deskwork, library trip, and swimming exhibition for grandparents at the local pool
Thursday: field trip to the county fair to see the girls' displays, eat fattening foods, and take in everything the fair has to offer
Friday: deskwork and swimming
And thus begins our re-commencement of "Sitting At A Table And Doing Workbook Pages, Handwriting Practice, and Other Textbook Learning"... and then some.
Angel (Mom and teacher at Adulai' Academy Homeschool) had her surgery on Thursday moring. I spoke to her Friday evening and she sounded much better and is enjoying being with family to recouperate. Thank you all for your prayers.
You know the mother's curse "May you have children exactly like you." (Usually said to a child having a strong-willed, trouble-making period.) Sometimes the curse is restated "Wait until you have a child who (fill in annoying, embarrasing, toilsome, or destructive bahavior here)." Apparently, when I was about 10, my mother uttered this curse because today it was fulfilled.
When I was a kid, we spent a week every summer in a rental cottage in rural North Hero, Vermont on the shore of Lake Champlain. It was a long drive from Central New Jersey where I grew up... especially when sitting in the back of our little, brown Honda Civic with my sister and our fluffy, energetic Chow/ German Shepherd mix. Our visit every year coincided with the Champlain Valley Fair where we would go and ride carnival rides, watch tractor pulls, see farm animals and eat delicious but very unhealthy food. My sister and I often saved up quarters so that we could play the games of chance on the Midway and win cheap treasures that we could haul home to document our ring tossing or number picking prowess. Usually, we walked-away empty handed, but one year we captured the gold medal of the Midway... two live goldfish.
Winning two goldfish wouldn't appear on the surface to be that big of a deal. You take them home, dump them in a bowl, get some fish food and enjoy them until they move on to the big fishbowl in the sky. (Carnival-won goldfish aren't known for their life-expectancy.) However, when you win those goldfish while on vacation 8 hours from home, it becomes more problematic. This is how my mom got her new lettuce crisper. Who knew that Tupperware could be so versatile? Sometime while my sister and I took turns holding the temporary home of our new pets in our laps as we drove through New England or maybe while we were shopping for a tank, gravel, food and other fish paraphenalia, my mom must have muttered the "mother's curse" because today...
We went to our town's annual street fair. We started the celebration in the traditional fashion. We stopped for doughnuts and drinks to go at the grocery store then went to eat breakfast while waiting in line for the library's book sale to open. After buying two boxfuls of books (not our best haul, but some good buys nonetheless), we parked Buster (our new-to-us, fire engine-red Suburban) and proceeded to the fair. After walking the length of the main strip, getting faces painted and eating lunch, we told the kids that they could each pick two activities (depending on cost). Primo and Terzo opted immediately for the rides. Secondo wanted to play a game and win something. Quarto was content to take everything in from his position in the carrier on Frodo's back (not that he had much choice). Frodo got ride tickets for Primo and Terzo and waited with them while I took Secondo to find a game to play. Upon spying the inflatable clownfish on a booth (the international sign for "win a goldfish"), she made a bee-line for the booth. We paid for our basket of ping-pong balls, and Secondo went to work. After watching a few tosses followed by frustration at their not even reaching the table, I encouraged Secondo to throw underhand. The next few tosses reached the table, but bounced erratically due to the fact that they were amazingly misshapen. As I was pondering whether the deformed balls were purposefully left in the rotation because of their erratic tendencies, I watched as one of Secondo's balls collided with that thrown by a couple next to us. The deformities on the balls complimented each other in such a way that they locked together and dropped directly into the mouth of a markedly small goldfish bowl. "I won a fish!" Secondo screeched in my ear. Secondo carried her new charge, aptly christened "Goldie", with great pride and care as we made our way back to the rides then on to the car. This is why Frodo had to leave for his study time early today. So that he could pick up a fish bowl, food, and other fish paraphenalia.
I have added a new lesson to our summer schedule. A science unit on fish.
And I will not mutter the "mother's curse." I will simply end today's blog entry with this moral:
Be careful what you wish for. Your child might get it.
Angel, mom and teacher at Aduladi' Homeschool Academy, is facing emergency surgery. This is in the midst of other family health issues and other upheavals. Please pray for her health and for her family as they go through this time of physical, emotional and spiritual trial and join me in praising the One who promises eternal comfort and peace. May He be glorified in our suffering as we are sanctified through it. Praise be to God!
Update (as of Tuesday morning): Angel was released because the surgeon could not schedule her until Thursday. She is attempting to relax (with the aid of pain medication) until her surgery Thursday. Please continue praying.
