Amongst Lovely Things

Pinning It Down {6} Valentine Fun

2012-02-13T19:12:00.000-08:00

This is the sixth edition of Pinning It Down and Pam's hosting, so make sure you stop over, link up, and check out all the week's submissions.

First up: a simple tissue paper heart decoration. The girls each made a heart and then we taped them together back-to-back to make a 3D hanging. It turned out cute!

Wait a second. What's that heart hanging from? Is that a...a....a chandelier? A clean and sparkly chandelier? Could it be???

Oh my, yes. And how bee-yooooo-tiful that clean chandelier is, too! Not a speck of dust to be seen. ;) (A nesting pregnant lady is not be contended with. I wanted to clean that chandelier so badly I couldn't see straight. So I did. I refuse to tell you how I ended up retrieving the glass, though. My husband reads here, and I might get in a wee bit of trouble if I admit to climbing on the table in all of my very-pregnant-glory.)

(Oops. Too late.)

Be still my nesting pregnant heart. I could stare at that dust-free light fixture all day.

(I should probably tell you that I went on to clean every other light fixture on the main floor of the house, but then you might think I'm crazy, so I'll keep that part to myself.)

(Oops. -sigh- I never was very good at keeping secrets.)

What were we talking about? Oh right- pins! Okay, so I also pinned a valentine candy math activity. This was one of those things that I thought was a splendid idea. My kids? Very under-impressed. I think they can tell when I'm trying to entertain them into learning. They'd probably prefer to eat candy while doing a regular math page rather than doing a math-page-dressed-up-as-fun-just-because-it-entails-candy. They can smell edu-tainment a mile away, and they are never impressed by it.

Anyway, they played along, mostly because I was cajoling them by saying things like, "But this is for Pinning it Down! You've got to do it so I have something to blog about!" You see that I have my priorities in order.

We also tried our hand at these Raspberry Swirl Gluten-Free Valentine Cupcakes. The batter was so runny, Prim and I had our doubts that they would turn out- but they did! Tulip decorated them, and they were scrumptious.

And finally, remember that love message board I made Andy for my first Pinning It Down project? I decided they would make lovely Valentine's Day gifts for the kids, too. I can put them on their dressers and leave them a little note every so often.

I thrifted each of these frames and got the scrapbook paper on sale, so it ended up being a cheap cheap cheap gift.

Make sure you check out what everyone else is pinning down this week!

Hey Girl

2012-02-13T04:40:00.000-08:00

Because if I can't sleep in the middle of the night, I might as well be doing something productive. Wait... does this count as being productive? :)

(Another one of mine here. Tons of hilarious links at Ginny's.)

Hey Girl

2012-02-12T14:51:00.000-08:00

You've seen the Hey Girl websites that are making us all giggle uncontrollably, right? I mean, they're funny. And they feature Ryan Gosling, so... well, need I say more? ;)

Ginny's got a fun little link-up going. We're making our own Hey Girl photos, and we're using our even-better-than-Gosling guys to do it. Here's my contribution.Visit Ginny's site to see more. Hilarious!

Hmmm... yes

2012-02-12T08:53:00.000-08:00

Still here. Still pregnant. How in the world is that possible? This pregnancy I have been crazy-worried about preterm labor. I don't really know why, except that I know several ladies who did in fact go into preterm labor, plus I've had about a gazillion contractions the entire pregnancy. Still, it makes me feel silly to realize how much I worried over something that never came to pass. Must work on that. I'm sure there's a lesson for me there.

A friend told me that perhaps I haven't had my baby yet because God is trying to teach me patience. ME?! Why on earth would I, of all people, need to learn PATIENCE?

Okay fine, maybe I could use a little refresher course, but... God? Got it. Patience. Will definitely work on it. So could you please get things movin' now?

Shoot. I'm not helping matters, am I? ;)

At any rate, I have been pre-laboring for days, maybe a week, so I fully intend on having this baby soon. Like, today. If she'll cooperate, that is. ;) I've been dreaming about her, and to wake up and realize she's still tucked up inside makes my arms ache to hold her.

I've loaded Andy's iPod with labor tunes- this time around I opted for songs from L'Anguelus, Scripture Lullabies, and a wee bit of Celtic Woman. It's a rather beautiful collection of music, if I do say so myself.

(Remember this little peanut? Yup- she's a cutie. We met her family at the park the other day. The ice flats were definitely a hit- the kids loved to pretend they were ice skating. It wasn't deep ice, I promise.)

Have you seen Ginny's Hey Girl blog post? Oh my heck, I can't stop laughing over the submissions- #3 is especially funny. :) I totally want to play along- we'll see if I can rustle up the energy to put something together.

Tulip and a neighbor girl, digging through treasures

Okay, I think that's all I have to say. I just wanted to check in and let you all know that we're still waiting. That way I could garner sympathy and such- you know how I am. ;)

Happy Sunday!

Right Now

2012-02-09T21:21:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to write a post like this forever- quick, informal jottings about who everybody "is" right here, right now. A snapshot in time, if you will. If I can get a collection of these going, maybe one every few months, they will make a happy little collage of the little things I don't ever want to forget.

He:

Sleeps with a zillion stuffed animals. He calls them his pets. I don't even know how many there are, but he will notice if even one is missing from his bunch. (Apparently, they do battles after the lights go out; Doggy never loses, because Doggy is his favorite).
Opens the car door for me, almost always. Sometimes it's even accompanied by a very dignified sounding, "Madam?" :)
Carries heavy things for me, like library book bags and laundry baskets. Is constantly telling me "Don't bend over! You shouldn't do that with a baby in you!" And then he does it for me.
Lives to wrestle with Daddy. I think he'd rather wrestle Daddy than eat. Or play. Or watch Voltron. And that's sayin' something.
Kisses my tummy and talks sweetly to the baby. Now that the baby is head down, he kisses the bottom of my belly to make sure he's getting her head (because who wants to kiss a baby's bottom, right?) ;)
Asks to go to the library at least two or three times each week. Once a week is just not enough.

She:

Must draw. The urge will arise at the most surprising times; it consumes her.
Scrimped and saved all summer and fall to buy a statue of Our Lady of the Mystical Rose. Is that what most 8-year-olds save up for?
Would live on clam chowder, if I let her.
Still says "commercianals" instead of "commercials". Love that.
Has a killer British accent. Uses it profusely.
Loves her curls (wouldn't you?). :)

She:

Was recently selected among all the students at the piano studio to play the Signature Piece for the spring recital. We're so proud!
Devours stacks of books, loves mysteries, groans in (exquisite) frustration when a cliffhanger at the end of a chapter requires her to keep reading.
Has her own board on my Pinterest account. Clicks around and adds to it daily.
Is extremely inquisitive about all the different kinds of jobs in the world. Andy loves this.
Is keeping a journal for her new baby sister. So far, she's documented my morning sickness, my cravings, my complaints, and the naming-game-- all with adorable humor and wit. She plans to give the baby the journal when she's about 10 (that's how old Prim is now). Can you imagine what a delightful gift that will be?

Questions, Answered

2012-02-08T06:00:00.000-08:00

First, we're still Pinning It Down this week- don't miss out! Link up and check out all the cool projects we've been up to.

Next, from the email box:

1. Where do you get your headbands?
I love this question, and I get it quite a bit. I'm always always happy to refer readers to the Precocious Etsy Shop. I've purchased five headbands from there, and I wear one almost every day. They do cost more than one you could get at the store, but they are actually two headbands in one (they reverse), and they hold up very well. I'm still wearing those that I bought a couple years ago, and like I said- I wear them almost daily! Primrose got her first one for Christmas, and she loves it- they are way more comfortable than traditional headbands.

2. I saw your history booklist, but I'm wondering what else you use for history curriculum?
If you've seen the reading list, you've pretty much seen our history curriculum. :) That list will be added to as the year progresses- I only add books after we read them. I started the year using a new history curriculum and quickly learned that it wasn't worthwhile. We're better off reading our way chronologically through American history. How do I pick my selections? Mostly I'm pulling from Sonlight's recommendations and Jessica's excellent booklist. We're not reading everything on those lists- we just read whatever we can get at the public library (note: I'm cheap). Mostly we read aloud all together. Occasionally I give Primrose an additional reading assignment, but the girl reads voraciously as it is, so it seems a little silly to assign her extra at this point.

We are putting together simple notebooks as we go along (I'm talking very simple- please do not think gorgeous scrapbooky notebooks with stickers and artwork, beautiful maps and such. Think as simple as it comes.). I pull activities once in a while from History Pockets books (so far we've used ideas from Native Americans, Plymouth Colony, and Colonial America). Sometimes I print off a notebook page or a map, if I can find a cheap or free one online (and if I'm energetic enough to look!). Often the kids will narrate to me what we just read, and I'll either write it for them or type it out. Prim can write her own. They like to illustrate these narrations, and we've found a few Draw Write Now books helpful in that regard (especially books 2, 3, and 5).

We really don't do many hands-on projects. When we do get around to something hands-on, I document it thoroughly. Sheila told me to do that. While looking over her kids' (awesome) school notebooks from years past, I commented that they sure did a ton of projects! "Not really," she said, "But if you take a lot of pictures, then it seems like they did, and you don't feel so guilty about not doing them." Sheila, needless to say, is my kind of homeschooler. ;)

Anyway, at the beginning of the year I did manage to make Wampum beads with the kids, and I made sure my camera was handy to document the novelty of the experience. I printed those pictures out and stuck them in their notebooks. When they grow up and lament my lack of hands-on-project-mamability, I will show them proof. We DID make clay beads. Once. ;)

The simplicity of our history studies cannot be overstated. For the most part, all we do is read and discuss. The kids learn a tremendous amount this way, especially when the books are interesting and engaging. We only add written work when we feel like it (read: when I feel like it, lol)- usually just a couple times per month.

Anyway, because I'm pretty sure you are still visualizing something far more beautiful and complex than what we actually do (I know how you are!), I'm going to show you four pages from Tulip's book.

Nope- not a single fancy notebook page in sight. These are all just blank pieces of paper with pictures glued on, narrations recorded, or (in the third one down) a drawing Tulip copied right out of a Draw Write Now book and some information from our reading (narrated by her, written by me). Simple, simple, simple. No superstardom here, I promise! Our main focus is on the reading (because that's where I think the learning is at, but also because it fits my teaching style best).

3. When are you going to have your baby?

Okay, fine- this obviously isn't a question from my email, but I'm sure you're all just dying to know, right?

No? That's just me?

Well, we've made our guesses 'round these parts:

Andy: Feb 16th, between 2-3 am
Sarah: Feb 11th, 8-9 pm
Primrose: Feb 12th, 1-2 am
Tulip: Feb 15th, 2-3 am
Snapdragon: Feb 17th, 1-2 am

Clearly I am the most optimistic person in my family. What's all this 2 am business about???

Wanna make your own guess? Leave me a comment and tell me what your guess is for our day of reckoning. After the baby is born, I'll send a little somethin' to whoever guessed closest-- like, maybe... one of my favorite books from last year. Or something. (Hints: I'm due on Feb 17th; I've always delivered between 39-40 weeks, but I've never been late).

(Another hint: if you guess a day after my due date, I reserve the right to ban you from my blog. I'm just sayin'. I want me some baby, and I won't tolerate anyone who says I have to wait much longer to have her.) :)

4. What is the best way to make a gluten-free pregnant lady happy?
What, you don't believe this was a real question, either? Well, I'm going to tell you anyway.

Here's how you do it: knock on her door 10 days before her due date. Hand her a package containing various muffins, cookies, and a large bag of sandwich rolls- all homemade, all gluten free- and tell her to put them in the freezer for those first baby days. If you wanna really go overboard, slip a takeout menu and gift card to her favorite restaurant into there, too. She'll squeal when she opens it, because that restaurant is right next door to the hospital, which pretty much guarantees good post-delivery eatin'.

You will make her day, I promise. (Thank you a million times over, Sheila! You are the best!)

***

And now that I've answered all of your deepest, most meaningful questions about life, love and motherhood, I'll leave you to the rest of your day. See ya soon!

Pinning it Down {5} Avocado Chicken Salad

2012-02-06T20:44:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Pinning it Down Tuesday! Do you find yourself pinning projects to Pinterest, but rarely getting around to doing them? Do you need a bit of encouragement to make some of those projects come to life? Join Pam and me every Tuesday for the Pinning it Down link-up, where we're making a Pinterest project happen in our homes every week.

I'm not supposed to be Pinning this week- I'm supposed to be in labor! (Okay, not really- I'm only 38 weeks. But I want my baby! And I'm just not very patient when it comes to snuggly perfect little newborn babies).

I pinned this recipe for Avocado Chicken Salad two weeks ago and I've already made it three times. It's good. Very good. (Make sure you add lots of lime juice, and don't skimp on the green onions or avocados, either.) It makes a great lunch, and I'm betting it'll be on our summer dinner menu as well. It's naturally gluten- and dairy-free, which is always a bonus. Yum!

Are you ready to play along? Here's how our link-up works:

1. Choose a project from one of your Pinterest pinboards and make it happen. Blog a little about it. Remember, it doesn't have to be elaborate- we just want to see what you've been up to!

2. Make sure you link back here somewhere in your post so others can find us and play along. Feel free to grab our Pinning it Down graphic if you'd like to add it to your post. Also, don't forget proper pinning etiquette and try to include a link back the original idea whenever possible. We want to be sure that cool idea credit is given to the proper person.

3. Link up below. Make sure you're sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. You can add your link all the way through Friday, so if you haven't gotten a chance to work on any of your pins yet this week, you're not too late.

Last Daybook Before Baby... (I hope?)

2012-02-04T06:27:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
Flocks of robins are passing through, and the sun is staying awake longer each day. It may take awhile yet, but winter is definitely on its way out.

I am thankful for...

friends who text me at exactly the right moment, and say exactly the right thing.

I am thinking about...
our baby, somewhat obsessively.

Learning all the time...
We're a few weeks into our IEW materials (Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization, Primary Arts of Language, Teaching Writing: Structure & Style). So far, I love all of them. We're about ready now to take a baby-break. School can wait! It's time to shift our focus.

From the kitchen...
From my kitchen? Or Tomato Street's? I've had some mad Alfredo cravings lately, and Tomato Street has a gluten-free menu worth singing about.

I am creating...

a little person.

I am working on...
being nice. Because I'm really very tired, and it's hard to be nice when you're tired.

I am going...
to rest. I was planning on going for a hike today in hopes of starting labor, but a wiser mama than I has suggested that I'd be better off resting than hiking my way to the labor and delivery ward. I trust her.

I am hoping...
that labor starts soon. For three nights in a row, I've been contracting somewhat regularly for several hours. That's gotta mean that I'm close, right?

I am reading...
The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie, which is good writing, though not especially interesting as far as content. I'm not riveted, but McClure's writing style is witty and humorous, so I have no plans of putting it down anytime soon.

Also, I've finally updated and posted our reading lists.

I am praying for...
Your intentions. I've got a running list going, and I plan to plead Heaven on your behalf all through labor. Keep 'em coming. My labors are long- I'm going to need a lot more than I have so far! ;)

I am hearing...
quiet, heater, humidifier. I've taken to running the humidifier 24 hours a day in our main living space. We still aren't accustomed to the crazy dry climate here in Eastern Washington.

Around the house...
Apparently, one can over-nest. Or so my husband tells me. It happened last weekend, when I asked him to please climb up on the table and retrieve the glass from the dinette chandelier so that I could wash it. The look on his face was very... telling.

"No," he said, clearly resolved, "that's going a bit far."

Well I thought it was a perfectly reasonable request. I'm going to spend a lot of time sitting on our living room couch nursing, and that chandelier will be in prime view. It's looking a bit dusty, so why shouldn't I clean it? In fact, I must clean it. I must clean it right now.

He won. sigh. (This is a good thing. God gave me Andy to temper my irrational whims, especially when pregnant.)

I've resorted to tidying up virtual spaces, instead. I spent some time updating and cleaning up pages and posts and links here on the blog. Feels good. But that dusty chandelier is going to make me nuts, I'm sure of it. ;)

One of my favorite things...
Just Because We Can days. I wrote about our first one on my last daybook- basically, they're days where we ditch school to do something better, just because we can. This time we went to Michael's to buy some modeling clay, ate lunch at (where else?) Tomato Street, had ice cream, and then the kids spent the whole afternoon creating clay creatures. It was perfect.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Have a baby! Maybe? I hope?

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Oh! And by the way, if you come here Tuesday and can't find the Pinning it Down link-up, just go to Pam's. I'm hosting this week, but if I go into labor, then, well... I'll be busy with more important things. :)

Read Alouds 2011-2012

2012-02-03T20:37:00.001-08:00

I'm keeping track of read-aloud selections each school year. (Find other such booklists at my main reading page). This particular list runs from July 2011- June 2012 and continues to be added to. It includes our history and literature reading, although picture book read-alouds are not documented here (except for historical picture books. We read a lot of picture books; I'd never be able to keep up with a list of them!). I'm putting an * next to our very favorite selections.

Of course there is overlap in both history and literature, but I attempt to separate them for the sake of these lists. This year, we are reading our way chronologically through American history (Christopher Columbus through The Star Spangled Banner) , so the historical lists represent the order in which we are reading such selections.

Primrose's independent reading (assigned history reading and pleasure reading) is documented in a separate post.

Literature Read-Alouds
Trumpet of the Swan by E.B. White
*More Perfect Than the Moon by Patricia McClaughlan
The Bears on Hemlock Mountain by Alice Dalgliesh
*All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor

Audio Books
Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard Atwater
Indian in the Cupboard by Lynne Reid Banks
Justin Morgan Had a Horse by Marguerite Henry
The True Gift: A Christmas Story by Patricia MacLachlan
*Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink

Historical Read-Alouds
(Christopher Columbus through The Star Spangled Banner)
Columbus by D'Aulaire
America Begins by Alice Dalgliesh
Pocahontas by D'Aulaire
Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha by Amy Welborn
The Thanksgiving Story by Alice Dalgliesh
If You Sailed on the Mayflower in 1620 by Ann McGovern
Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims by Clyde Robert Bulla
*A Lion to Guard Us by Clyde Robert Bulla
Benamin Franklin by D'Alaire
*The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds
George Washington by D'Aulaire
A Picture Book of George Washington by David Adler
The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
If You Grew Up with George Washington by Ruth Belov Gross
*Toliver's Secret by Esther Brady
The Journey of the One and Only Declaration of Independence by Elizabeth St. George
A Picture Book of Thomas Jefferson by David Adler
*Thomas Jefferson: A Picture Book Biography by James Cross Giblin

Historical Audio Books
Kaya: An American Girl (the whole series)
Felicity: An American Girl (the whole series)

Historical Movies
(When I can't link to the movie, I link to the related book instead. We get all of these from our local public library)
What's the Big Idea, Ben Franklin? by Jean Fritz
Now and Ben by Gene Baretta
Benjamin Franklin- Animated Hero Classics
And Then What Happened, Paul Revere? by Jean Fritz
Miss Betty's American History Tours: George Washington's Hometown
George Washington- Animated Hero Classics
*Johnny Tremain
*Felicity: An American Girl Adventure

Mama's Reading List :: 2012

2012-02-03T19:56:00.000-08:00

Find all of my reading lists here.

This list represents my personal reading log for 2012. Please do not read it as a list of suggestions- some I would recommend, others not so much. The log runs from January through December, and continues to be added to through the year.

Fiction is in bold
Audio-books are in italics

1. Mamarazzi: Every Mom's Guide to Photographing Kids by Stacy Wasmuth
2. Peony in Love by Lisa See (I bailed after 200 pages)
3. The Core by Leigh Bortins
4. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
5. The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International (some, not all)
6. The Wilder Life: My Adventures in the Lost World of Little House on the Prairie by Wendy McClure
7. Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupdity: Get Out the Shovel- Why Everything You Know is Wrong by John Stossel

Five Friday Quick Takes... on Wednesday

2012-02-01T16:26:00.000-08:00

I'm cheating. Quick Takes are for Fridays, but
1.) I have some I want to post right this very minute, and
2.) Patience has never been my strongest virtue.

So there you go. I'm also cheating because there are supposed to be 7 of them, and I'm only posting 5. I do have more to say, of course, but I'll try to spare you from having to deal with all the inane thoughts and ideas swirling around my brain.

You're welcome. :)

I was going to start with something else, but I suspect I'm not the only one who lacks patience. Best put this first and foremost, right? A winner for the Bella Pop Online Photography Class giveaway! I had planned to use random.org to help me find the winner, but Primrose informed me that doing such a thing was extremely boring and that it is much more fun to draw a name out of a hat (or a thrifted punch bowl, as the case may be).

The winner is Melanie from Happy Catholic Home! Congratulations, Melanie! Shoot me an email (amongstlovelythings-at-gmail-dot-com) and I'll put you in touch with Brandy from Bella Pop. I hope you love the Point-and-Shoot Basics class!

A HUGE thanks goes to Brandy for sponsoring this super-wonderful giveaway. Be sure to check out her online classes and photography tips over at bellapop.com!

Thank you all for your words of encouragement about my ~~impending doom and misery~~ upcoming birth. I was at lunch with a girlfriend today and saw the most delicious newborn baby girl in a nearby booth. I thought I would DIE from envy for about a half a second, and then I remembered that I will be holding my own little one soon. Very soon! I am so ready to hold my baby. Your words of support about labor and delivery have been very encouraging to me. Two comments in particular really flew off the screen:

From Kimberlee:
As for Labor and Delivery - just three words - Be Not Afraid! I was thinking of your story about the St. Andrew novena: when you are tempted to fret about your upcoming rendezvous with pain just remember those words again - Hail and blessed be the hour and moment at which your sweet little girl will be born. It will be a blessed, joyful moment indeed.

Brilliant. Why didn't I think of that? That's a prayer I know well and can cling to.

And from Kim:
Grace, being what what it is, never comes before it's needed. It is so hard to trust that it will! But it always seems to show up for the big game right when I've needed it. As it will assuredly for you too!

Kim has had ten babies, so I think I can trust her. ;) Grace never comes a second before it's needed, and then it always, always comes in abundance. Must remember that.

A couple of you mentioned that it's helpful to keep a list of intentions handy, and to offer up each of those dastardly contractions for them. Great idea! So here we go: if you have an intention you'd like me to pray for during my labor, leave a comment or send me an email. I'll add them all to a great big list. Don't worry- my labors are looooooong, so I'll have plenty of time to get to them all-- well, until transition. Then I'll stop offering anything up and I'll switch to the scream-like-mad-and-try-not-to-die-of-agony mode, in which I'm pretty sure I won't be able to offer anything up.

Kidding!

(kind of)

Do leave me your intentions, though, friends. Might as well put that pain to good use!

This is Primrose cleaning a turkey. I simply must tell you what a treasure this child is.

The expression on her face will make perfect sense when you realize that I cannot stand handling raw poultry. Especially when it's still on the bone. I don't mean "I prefer not to deal with a big pink raw bird", I mean, "I'm keeling over the trash can trying not to lose my breakfast while I dig through the cavity and rinse off the meat." And that's when I'm not pregnant. I swear I'm not being dramatic! It's like a knee-jerk reaction. My eyes see raw poultry, my hands go to touch it, and my body and my psyche rebel. I just can't do it! It's like I'm frozen in my own body. Some people are afraid of heights, others of spiders or snakes. Apparently, I'm afraid of raw poultry. ;) God knew what he was doing when he waited till the pioneer days were over before creating me.

Anyway, I happened to marry a man who loves himself a good turkey. Poor bloke. He didn't realize his mistake when he married me. That's why God sent Primrose. And that's the real reason I homeschool Primrose- so she can do my dirty work for me. How could I possibly send her to school when there are turkeys to prepare around here? Who would reach in and pull out that slimy neck and the bag of ghastly innards?

(I'm kidding about that last part.)
(That's not really why I homeschool her.)
(Well, that's not the only reason I homeschool her.) ;)

She gutted it, she rinsed it, she buttered it, she salted it. And she is worth her weight in gold.

Threaded comments. Did you know that you can get those on blogger now? Yes, indeed. Here's my problem, though- in order to enable comment threading, I have to embed my comments (instead of using a pop-up window). I used to have my comments embedded, and I heard from a lot of folks that their comments weren't getting through. Horrors! What's a self-absorbed sanguine like myself to do? I need all the affirmation I can get!

(If you're wondering what threaded comments are, it's when you leave a comment and I have the option of responding right to your comment there in the combox. Threaded comments lend themselves better to conversations- so instead of me feeling like I'm talking at you, and you feeling like you're talking at me, we can.... discuss! In a friendlier, more conversational way.)

So I guess my question is- what do you like? Do you like threaded comments where we can have a "conversation", or do you like the speed and ease of the pop-up comment box? Do you come back to see if anyone has responded to your comment, or do you leave comments and then just move with your life? (I admit that's what I usually do on other people's blogs).

*~*~*

And that's it for me. My, that turned into a long post, didn't it? I've been sitting here for way too long- must go do something more productive. Like... hunt down chocolate. Or something.

Happy Wednesday!

Pinning it Down {4} Maternity Photos

2012-01-30T20:39:00.000-08:00

We're Pinning it Down at Pam's today, so make sure you head over to play along!

One of my more useful pinboards is the one I call Photography Inspiration. This is where I bookmark articles and tutorials that I'd like to read as well as photos that inspire me. I've seen a lot of couple maternity poses lately, so this last weekend I dragged Andy out into the winter chill to see if we could snap some of our own. (These two pins were my main source of inspiration.)

The first problem, of course, is that we didn't have a professional photographer to bring along with us. No worries! My oldest daughter is a wonder-child. :) I set the camera up on a tripod, composed the shot as best I could, and put her on shutter-clicking duty. I was mostly happy with our results. I did make a few mental notes (like: don't stop down so low! your photos are blurry!) and I think I could do a better job setting up the camera next time.

The second problem is that I don't look pregnant enough in these photos. I like to look HUGE, you know, so I wish I had picked a different color top. Who wants a slimming dark color when they're 9 months pregnant? Not me, thank you! ;)

Oh, right. We did get a little carried away. Sometimes we have a hard time taking ourselves seriously.

And it totally looks like he's taking me down in this last one, but I promise you he didn't. I, however, think this is the best picture of my bump out of the whole lot of them. And the view of Andy ain't so bad, either. ;)

If we can keep this baby in the oven for another week or so, I may just have to dig up more maternity poses and talk Andy into taking some more shots. It was really fun!

Why I'm No Homeschool Superstar

2012-01-28T21:01:00.000-08:00

Homeschool superstars. They're all over the blogosphere: wildly inspiring women with endless stores of energy and beautifully written lesson plans. Their kids make elaborate lapbooks, go on exciting field trips, are involved in oodles of extracurricular clubs and activities. Their blog posts are full of glitter and paint, cutting and pasting, and no end of ambitious mama-led activities that make most of us shut our browsers with a whimper, wondering how they manage to do more in a single week than we do in an entire year.

Even though I'm not one of them, I don't mind their glorious blogs. I don't think they should keep their thoughts to themselves or hide their family's lifestyle for fear that others will read them and then be consumed with self-doubt. If all that busyness works for them, why shouldn't they share the overflow? Why not give us a glimpse into their joy?

The other day, Kate got me thinking with her latest quick takes post, where she wrote:
I’m curious if there are any other homeschooling moms who are too tired (lazy?) to do lots of crafts and/or science experiments. Are my kids missing out? I’m clearly just looking for more affirmation (I’m a junkie for it, I’m afraid) that I’m not ruining my kids by not sending them to school where they’d be sure to build igloos with sugar cubes and do all sorts of cool stuff besides spend their days (and sometimes nights) reading books.

"Me!" I shouted into the screen. "I'm that too-lazy homeschool mom!!!"

But I don't really think it's laziness, not really. It's more like... "otherness". I'm too busy with other things to be spending all of my free time planning and carrying out elaborate homeschooling plans. There are babies to grow! Meals to prepare! Photographs to take! Books to be read! Shoot ladies, there's chocolate to be eaten, and one cannot eat sufficient quantities of chocolate if she's all wrapped up in being SuperHomeschooler of the Year.

Several years ago I was told by a lady that she could never homeschool because she wasn't a salt-dough-map-making kind of mom. Oh, but I am so not a salt-dough-map-making kind of mom. Nothing makes me groan so loud as to read, in a set of lesson plans, a complex set of instructions telling me how to mummify a chicken or create a raised relief depiction of Egypt.

I mean, it's just not going to happen. And truth be told, I'm not all that convinced that homeschooling mothers need to engage in such elaborate activities to make learning worthwhile. Mama needs to be peaceful and happy! I don't know about you, but I'm not very peaceful or happy when I'm running around like a madwoman, trying to find enough baking soda or vinegar for the next amazing science experiment.

I have become convinced that a peaceful and happy mother is the real key to successful homeschooling. Choosing excellent materials is important, of course. Establishing a healthy daily routine is enormously helpful. Developing an active social life is essential. We can read up on every curriculum on the market, listen to webcasts, devour articles, attend conferences, participate in co-ops or support groups, and otherwise get our ducks in a perfect little row, but none of this will have the same impact on the life of a homeschooling family as a peaceful and happy mother.

To become peaceful and happy, you've got to figure out what's true about you. What creates an environment where you can be thrive? How can you work with your own innate strengths and weaknesses so that your homeschool will be happy and humming, even if you never construct a sugar cube igloo or help your kids put together a single diorama?

Yes, there are oodles of blogs where crafty moms showcase all the incredibly wonderful things they are doing with their kids. Good for them! I don't mean that sarcastically at all, I really do mean, good for them. What a beautiful life they live! But if you aren't a crafty mama, if the thought of letting your five-year-old loose with a can of glitter and a bottle of glue makes you break out in hives, then shut your internet browser and quit looking at that lady's pictures long enough to figure out what would make your family thrive.

You don't have to be a homeschooling superstar to feel good about the kind of education your kids are getting. Just be yourself. Embrace who you are. A reading mama? A knitting mama? A super-social mama? A mama who's always whipping something tasty up in the kitchen or one who's constantly on the prowl for interesting places to visit? Figure out what drives you and then let your kids shine within that capacity. Trying to be something you're not, trying hard to provide your kids with the education that the blogger-next-door is giving hers will just burn you out and inspire you to quit the whole project entirely.

February is classic Burnout month (and if you find yourself in the throes of burnout, check out the Loveliness Fair we held a couple of years ago- there's loads of inspiration and encouragement there). This year, I'm not anywhere near burnout. Why? Grace, I would bet. But I also think there's something to the fact that I'm doing what works for me this year. We aren't doing elaborate science experiments, aren't making lapbooks, aren't enrolled in a hundred activities.

Instead, we're reading aloud a lot. The kids are doing as much independent work as possible, and we're using checklists. I gave up, for the most part, on complicated art projects. I opted not to use very much curriculum that required a lot of teacher-prep; in fact, I opted not to use curriculum that required very much teacher. We cut back to the basics, so that even though our coursework is more rigorous than it has ever been, the doing of "school" takes very little time. That leaves much more time for all the other living we love to do around here. And you know? Everyone is thriving.

I became a peaceful and happy homeschooling mama when I learned to be content with my own preferences, and no longer strove to be like the uber-blogging women whose strengths are different from my own.

That's why I'm not a Homeschool Superstar. Because superstardom isn't authentic to who I am and to how my family functions best. So instead? I'm just me. And that's just the kind of homeschooling mama I want to be.

500th Post ~ A Giveaway!

2012-01-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

Oh boy, do I have a treat for you!

This here is my 500th post, and I want you all to know how very grateful I am that you're here. Really and truly, your comments and emails make this whole bloggin' thing a treat. To show how much I appreciate you, I've got a sa-weet giveaway for ya.

Brandy of Bella Pop Photography is generously offering one of my lucky readers a free online photography class. That's right! She's opening up a slot to one of you, my awesome readers. The winner will get to choose one of these two classes:

(a $60 value)

(a $120 value)

Click on the image to learn more about each class.

There's something for everyone here! If you have a dSLR and want to learn how to rock it, then you'd best go for that super-value Shooting in Manual class (I'd be taking it myself if this little sweetie pie of a baby wasn't due any day now). If you have a point-and-shoot and want to learn how to take awesome pictures with it, choose Point & Shoot Creative Basics and learn how to maximize your camera's potential. You'll get to pick whether to take your class in February or March- so as soon as we've got a winner, I'll put you in touch in Brandy and you can work out the details.

How to enter? It's easy! All you've gotta do is leave a comment to let me know which class you'd like to take. One entry per person, please. (Sometimes blogger comments just don't cooperate, so if you're having trouble, shoot me an email and I'll make sure you're entered- amongstlovelythings {at} gmail {dot} com.) I'll announce a winner on Wednesday, February 1st.

Good luck! And hey- thank you for reading here. I really, really appreciate you! :)

Good News, Book News, and 499 Posts

2012-01-25T06:00:00.000-08:00

The Good News:
The baby flipped! And she did it all by herself, the little dear. I nearly leaped off the chair with joy when my doctor confirmed her proper position. (I say that, but it's a lie. There is no way I could leap anywhere at the moment. See picture for details.)

Getting fabulously large, if I do say so myself. :) I tell ya what, something about that big huge belly makes me feel like a million bucks.

I did finally get my hospital bag packed, and I had a bit of a meltdown while putting it together. It was impressive enough that Andy was scratching his head and asking (a bit apprehensively), "Um... are you... okay?" See, I was packing all those labor essentials into my bag, and it suddenly occurred to me that I have to give birth to this baby. And then it occurred to me (for about the 1,000th time) that I hate giving birth.

I know.

You are probably one of those lovely ladies who embraces the beautiful and highly spiritual nature of birth, one who waxes poetic about the amazing feat our bodies are capable of. I don't mean to be rude and shush you, but seriously. I've done this three times before. You can't really psyche me up for this. I just really, really hate giving birth. It hurts.

Anyway, I freaked out. But only a little. Okay, Andy would probably say it was more than a little, but you can never trust that guy. Always soooo dramatic, that one. ;)

I'm better now, I promise. :)

You can only freak out so much while packing cute little newborn sleepers into a suitcase, and then you realize how near you are to meeting your sweet baby. And that will quash the emotional hysterics, at least momentarily.

I am very eager to meet this baby.

The Book News:

I bailed on Peony in Love. I made myself read the first 200 pages, but then I couldn't stay with it. The story was not at all believable (it probably wasn't supposed to be, but I still didn't care for it). I started Still Alice, instead. So far it's very good. What else? Ah yes- I picked up Deconstructing Penguins and The Wilder Life, but haven't quite started either. I've also got Better Photo Basics sitting in my living room, waiting for a good perusal.

The kids and I finished reading All of a Kind Family by Sydney Taylor earlier this week. Delight! This was a fabulous, fabulous read aloud. Prim's reading the rest of the series on her own. I think we'll dip into a little Tumtum and Nutmeg next. I'm in the mood to read with wild and silly accents.

499 Posts:

Gasp! Imagine how many loads of laundry I must have neglected to write that many posts. But what is there to do about neglected laundry but properly celebrate? How 'bout you come back here Friday and we'll have a little giveaway for my 500th post? (Here's a hint: if you are learning the art of photography, you will very much like the giveaway. Don't miss it!)

Pssst.... you can still play along with this week's Pinning it Down. There are lots of links this week, and we're having loads of fun. The link widget will stay live through Friday, so be sure to link up if you have something to share.

Pinning it Down {3} Winter Trees

2012-01-23T19:59:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our third Pinning it Down Tuesday! Do you find yourself pinning projects to Pinterest, but rarely getting around to doing them? Do you need a bit of encouragement to make some of those projects come to life? Join Pam and me every Tuesday for the Pinning it Down link-up, where we're making a Pinterest project happen in our homes every week.

This week, the kids and I broke out the masking tape and watercolors to make winter trees from the Frugal Family Fun blog. It's been awhile since I've planned an art activity for the kids. They do their own art projects, but mama-led projects are one of those things that dropped off the priority list this pregnancy.

On Saturday afternoon I was feeling a bit worn out. Gah! I thought, I haven't even decided on a Pinning it Down project for this week! I scanned my pin boards, saw this craft and thought- not too messy, not too much work. I explained the project to the kids and then read aloud while they worked. It was such a sweet and peaceful way to spend a Saturday evening.

We all enjoyed the evening enormously, and now I have pretty artwork on display in the dining room to remind me that I'm not always the Laziest Pregnant Woman on the Planet. Often, perhaps. But not always. ;)

First, we used ripped up masking tape strips on heavy watercolor paper to form bare winter trees. We pushed the tape down really well.

We briefly discussed warm and cool colors, but mostly I just gave the kids each a tray of watercolors and let 'em at it. I encouraged them to paint all the way to the edges of their paper.

After the pictures dried completely, we carefully peeled off the tape. I was surprised at how easily it came off.

They came out well! The kids love having something to do with their hands while I read aloud.

Are you ready to play along? Here's how our link-up works:
1. Choose a project from one of your Pinterest pinboards and make it happen. Blog a little about it. Remember, it doesn't have to be elaborate- we just want to see what you've been up to!

2. Make sure you link back here somewhere in your post so others can find us and play along. Feel free to grab our Pinning it Down graphic if you'd like to add it to your post. Also, don't forget proper pinning etiquette and try to include a link back the original idea whenever possible. We want to be sure that cool idea credit is given to the proper person.

3. Link up below. Make sure you're sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. You can add your link all the way through Friday, so if you haven't gotten a chance to work on any of your pins yet this week, you're not too late.

Well, that was interesting

2012-01-20T23:33:00.000-08:00

I got it. The stomach bug, I mean. A woman who is 36 weeks along should not lose 6 lbs in 24 hours. (oops- that was TMI, wasn't it? But how would you ever feel properly sorry for me unless I told you all the grimy details?) Anyway, it was bad. And this on the heels of what happened earlier in the week, when Andy and I discovered (at 3 am, I might add) that Snap had gotten sick all over the house while sleepwalking. Oh yes. You can just picture him wandering the entire house, losing his cookies as he went and not waking up till the whole episode was over.

But my, you're glad I told you all that, aren't you? After all, you do come here for good visuals.

Right?

Hello??

Anybody still here???

Okay, fine. I'll stop. We'll discuss happier subjects.

First of all- Primrose! The girl is amazing. While I was wallowing in my misery for an entire day, she took it upon herself to run the household. I've long joked that Prim would do a better job running this house than I do, but yesterday she pretty much proved me right. I came out of my hovel for the first time at around 1:30 in the afternoon. She had fed the littles breakfast and lunch, cleaned the kitchen, overseen chores, had Tulip set up with her math, and was helping Snap with his poetry memorization. Yes, indeed- that girl is a wonder. All that and she never once flipped on the TV or Wii to keep those little people occupied. Impressive, don't you think?

And in other happy news, the children have spent hours these last few days playing in the snow.

This was taken seconds before Tulip smashed into the fence at the bottom of the hill. Whoops. (She was fine, I promise.)

And with that, I leave you to a January weekend. Stay warm and healthy, wherever you are. We'll be hibernating a bit longer. I don't mind- I've got Still Alice and a cup of herbal tea calling my name.

See you soon!

An Update on the Love Message Board

2012-01-18T06:00:00.000-08:00

If only to illustrate that love notes of the Married With Children variety are oh-so-much-more-interesting than those of the Dating variety. I mean, I couldn't have written this note when we were dating eleven years ago. The romance is mind-boggling, isn't it? ;)

Pinning it Down {2} Compassion Bags

2012-01-16T20:17:00.000-08:00

We're playing at Pam's today- so make sure you head over and let us know what Pinterest projects you've been Pinning Down.

***

The kids and I are studying the virtue of Compassion as part of the character education program we're using. Knowing that I wanted to integrate a hands-on project early into our learning, I remembered the Blessing Bags I pinned a couple of months ago.

The two main components of compassion are 1) sharing in the suffering of another, and 2) showing mercy. To meet this first goal of sharing the suffering of others, we discussed the folks we see so often by the side of the roadway, holding up signs and asking for money. We talked about what it would feel like not to have a warm, dry house or a hot dinner- not to have a bed or a car or even a regular bath. We talked about how such people may feel lonely or unloved, and how many of them want for the most basic needs that we take for granted.

Then we began considering how we could show mercy. We brainstormed a list of items to put in bags we could hand out to those we see by the roadways. We took a trip to the store to buy a variety of snacks and personal items, and got to work putting together what we are calling Compassion Bags.

The girls added simple handwritten messages to slip into each bag, and we loaded the bags into a box that we'll keep in our car. Next time we see someone holding up a sign asking for money or help, we won't just drive by. Instead, we'll unroll the window and hand them a little bit of compassion.

Sunday Night Daybook

2012-01-15T18:32:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
Gosh, it just doesn't feel like winter! It's cold, don't get me wrong, but there's no snow. Strange for a January in Spokane.

I am thankful for...

a renewed zest for homeschooling, right about when burnout usually hits. I'm not sure where this surge of inspiration is coming from (though I suspect it has a little somethin' to do with that Andrew Pudewa talk I attended in November).

I am thinking about...
"If there's a lesson here it's: get busy copying. That's not a popular notion today, not when we are all instructed to find our own way, admonished to be original and find our own voice at all costs! But it's sound advice. Traveling the paths of greatness, even in someone else's footprints, is a vital mean to acquiring skill...

You should never worry that rote exercises aimed at developing skills will suffocate creativity."

From Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit

Learning all the time...
We've spiffed up a few subjects that needed shaking up. P.A.C.E is awesome- we love it so far. I plan to post about our first virtue, Compassion, when we've finished it. For now, I'll just say that I am very impressed with the program.

We're also getting started with some materials from IEW. I got Teaching Writing: Structure & Style to use with the girls, and the plan is to start it next school year. Will I be able to wait that long? I don't know. I am so excited about using these materials! Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization gets underway this week, as does Snap's Primary Arts of Language. (I admit it- I got a little click happy at IEW. I couldn't restrain myself!)

From the kitchen...
Would you think less of me if I told you what I fed my family last week? Yes, yes, I think you would. Next question, please.

I am creating...

ten little fingers, ten little toes. We're in the final home stretch and I cannot wait to meet this baby.

I am working on...
People over tasks. People over tasks. People over tasks. (I need to remind myself of this a lot lately, it seems. The people in my life are more important than the tasks I want done around here!)

I am going...
need you ask?

Nowhere. :)

I am hoping...
that the baby has turned, but I don't really think she has. I'm determined not to worry because mothers far more seasoned than I assure me that I'm still early and have lots of time. It's just that patience isn't exactly my strongest virtue. Sigh.

I am reading...
shockingly little in the way of books. I've been reading the introductory portions of all those new IEW materials, and I got bitten by another nesting bug (ha! right after I told you that I was The Laziest Pregnant Woman on the Planet). So... I've been scrubbing blinds and cupboards instead of reading. Don't worry, it's just a phase. I'll be buried under a happy pile of books, neglecting laundry, dishes and dust very soon, I'm sure. :)

I'm currently halfway into:
Peony in Love by Lisa See
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International
The Core by Leigh Bortins (I don't love it. I think I've discovered that when it comes to Classical Education, I am much more attracted to the methods and suggestions of Laura Berquist and Andrew Pudewa than, say, Classical Conversations or The Well-Trained Mind. This is, I think, a helpful discovery- if only to streamline my own reading and planning.)

I am praying for...
Colleen.

I am hearing...
the audio files that came with my IEW materials. Nurturing Competent Communicators is an excellent and inspiring lecture. My favorite so far.

Around the house...
I spent hours and hours yesterday washing blinds, wiping out a few window tracks, and scrubbing down the fridge (why is pregnancy nesting so random? As if having dust-free blinds or clean window tracks is going to make a shred of a difference when that baby arrives! Whatever. The urge overtook me. I didn't fight it.).

Unfortunately, we've been hit by another stomach bug here. Actually, it's probably just the same stomach bug that Prim got last week. At any rate, I did all the laundry on Friday, and yet today I found myself running 7 more loads. That should tell you what kind of stomach bug it was (a gross one, in case you're not following me). The kids are now all on the mend, but Andy and I haven't gotten sick yet. Oh please, oh please, oh please.

One of my favorite things...
Just Because We Can days. A friend reminded me that every once in a while, we need to have a fun and spontaneous day in the middle of the week, Just Because We Can. Last week I surprised the kids right after morning chores with a trip to the bowling alley and Dairy Queen Blizzards for lunch (yep- I'm that kind of responsible when it comes to feeding my kids). The kids were all giggles and squeals of delight. Note to self: do this more often. Just Because We Can.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Not much. I'm hesitant to jump back into the world if we're still carrying around any germs. I think we'll hibernate and play with our new school stuff. Oh, and I have a doctor' appointment! I love appointments at my OB. :)

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Prim, bowling.

7 Quick Takes

2012-01-12T20:56:00.000-08:00

--- 1 ---

Our first Pinning It Down was a blast! Thank you to everyone who played along. I know some of you are hoping to join in on the fun next week- we'll be meeting at Pam's on Tuesday, so start browsing your pins to find a project. It's a very satisfying experience to complete a pin, isn't it?

--- 2 ---

I ordered the cutest diaper bag from Etsy. It's pretty and practical and plenty big for baby needs plus snacks for the big kids (and of course a book or two for Mama). I asked Prim to model it for me so I could show you. She, um, did.

Speaking of getting ready for the baby, I think we're pretty much set. We found a steal of a deal on a pack-n-play at Costco (thanks for that heads-up, Meghan), ordered our car seat, washed all the baby clothes and bedding, and laid out the baby's diapers neatly in a basket. Now all we need is the baby. :) (Okay, not really- she needs to cook for a few more weeks).

I'm really glad I got my nesting done early, because there isn't a nesting bug left in my body. As Andy puts it, my get-up-and-go already got-up-and-left. ;) I usually get a big energy surge somewhere in my third trimester. This time, notsomuch.

The only thing left undone is packing the hospital bag. Maybe I'll have Prim do it for me (she is, after all, the most reliable one in the household. Want something done? Want it done right? Ask Prim.)

--- 3 ---

Here's a cute picture of Snapdragon. Just because it's Friday. And just because he's cute. :)

--- 4 ---

I'm super excited about a new project I plan to jump into this year. Hannah planted the seed with her post about how she documented her family's year using Project Life.

I hate scrapbooking (really hate it), but there was a time when I tried very hard to like it. During that time, I made each of my three kids a 1st-year baby book. They love them. They pore over them for hours, oohing and aahing and eating up all those delicious photos of baby fat and happiness.

After I made those, I reverted to the ol' stick-the-photos-in-a-photo-album-and-call-it-good technique. I just couldn't deal with the mess or expense or time-consuming-ness that scrapbooking seemed to be. Paper crafting, it turned out, was not my thing.

After seeing what Hannah made using Project Life, I decided this might be my solution. It's back-to-basics scrapbooking that makes memory-keeping easy, doable, and yet still beautiful. It's a way for me to give my children the gift of printed pictures (because piles upon piles of photos hidden in my hard drive riddle me with guilt).

This year, I plan to make a paper scrapbook with the Amber kit for baby's first year (hooray! that means baby will have her own 1st-year baby book and I won't have to touch a glue stick or create a single scrapbook layout!), and then make digital books for our family albums. I am super excited to get started, and happy to have found a way to display photos that simplifies the process but still results in something beautiful.

--- 5 ---

Have you seen this hormone guide yet? Oh my- I was laughing pretty hard when I read it. Even Andy thought it was pretty funny. Especially the last part. I refuse to consider why that might be. ;)

--- 6 ---

I just loaded up on IEW materials- some for next year, some for now. I am ridiculously excited about starting Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization. Reading the introduction alone has me chomping at the bit. We're starting right away.

--- 7 ---

I stumbled across this old picture while organizing my desktop. My talented friend Julie took it back in 2007. I rather like it. :)

That's it for me today. For more quick takes, visit Conversion Diary!

Wordless Wednesday

2012-01-11T15:45:00.001-08:00

Pinning it Down {1} Love Message Board

2012-01-09T18:51:00.000-08:00

Welcome to our first Pinning it Down Tuesday! Do you find yourself pinning projects to Pinterest, but rarely getting around to doing them? Do you need a bit of encouragement to make some of those projects come to life? Join Pam and me every Tuesday for the Pinning it Down link-up, where we're making a Pinterest project happen in our homes every week.

This isn't a die-hard link-up. Feel free to participate once a week or once a month- whatever works for you. We're eager to make our Pinterest boards come to life in our homes, and we're hoping you'll find the motivation and encouragement here to do the same. It doesn't need to be an elaborate pin to link up here. Just pick something- anything- off those boards and do it!

For my first Pinning it Down project, I chose this pin, a love message board from Lianne at A Content Housewife. This was a super simple project. I chose a masculine 5x7 frame from the clearance rack at TJ Maxx, printed out the words "I love you because" onto a piece of scrapbook paper, and cut it to fit. I plan to keep this frame on Andy's nightstand, where I can use a fine-point dry erase marker to leave him messages on a regular basis. :)

This is one of those super-simple pins that I think will make a big difference. Who doesn't appreciate a love note for all the little stuff that usually goes unnoticed?

Are you ready to play along? Here's how our link-up works:

1. Choose a project from one of your Pinterest pinboards and make it happen. Blog a little about it. Remember, it doesn't have to be elaborate- we just want to see what you've been up to!

2. Make sure you link back here somewhere in your post so others can find us and play along. Feel free to grab our Pinning it Down graphic if you'd like to add it to your post.

3. Link up below. Make sure you're sending us to your actual post, and not to your general blog address. You can add your link all the way through Friday, so if you haven't gotten a chance to work on any of your pins yet this week, you're not too late.

Guest Post @ In The Heart of my Home

2012-01-08T18:42:00.000-08:00

Pam and I have a guest post up over at In the Heart of my Home today (where we can all be jealous of Elizabeth because she's in Disneyworld with her family). Go check out the post-we're gearing up for our first Pinning it Down link-up this Tuesday, January 10th. You still have plenty of time to choose a pin from your boards and join us in Tuesday's fun!

And... a random picture (naturally):

These are daffodils. They are growing on my windowsill in the dead cold of January. Strange, yes? Andy found them cold and neglected in the garage (I really did look for them last spring because I knew they were somewhere, but obviously I didn't look very hard). He noticed a few little shoots poking through despite the fact that it was 18 degrees out there. He brought them inside- Andy to the daffodil rescue, I guess. :) Do you think they'll bloom?

Oops

2012-01-07T21:22:00.000-08:00

If you read this blog through google reader, you're probably wondering what that half-baked post was about? The one that was live for about eight seconds, and didn't really make much sense?

Yeah.

Whoops.

I hit "publish" instead of "save". That one's not ready to post quite yet. Do me a favor, and pretend like it never happened. Here! I'll distract you!

Pretty blonde curls, anyone?

Or a pirate?

Or maybe, possibly, my two favorite guys?

(I have GOT to get a picture of that smokin' new goatee he's sporting, but I'm fairly sure he's going to shave it before I get the chance- darn it all.)

See you on the other side of the weekend!

"Mom! The baby flipped!"

2012-01-06T15:26:00.000-08:00

No, not mine, darn it anyway- but I'm working on it!

Last night Snap called to me, "Mom! The baby flipped!" and when I peeked into the living room to see what he was talking about, this is what I found.

He looks much cuter in that position than I do. ;)

Thanks for all your advice! My email is brimming with suggestions for getting this baby head-down, and I appreciate every one of your messages. Spinningbabies.com seems to be the winning website- no less than 6 or 7 of you mentioned it. Thanks to you, I've got my list of tips and tricks and I'm on a mission to get this breech little peanut into the right position.

Have a beautiful weekend, friends! You know what I'll be doing! ;)

First Daybook of the Year

2012-01-05T16:37:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
It's beautiful and blue and somewhere in the 40's- hardly even feels like winter. Did I ever tell you that we did indeed get a White Christmas? It started snowing (just a wee bit, but it was still beautiful) on Christmas Eve. Perfect. :)

I am thankful for...

our lazy Christmas week. I won't even tell you how late I slept in every day because I refuse to publicly incriminate myself. ;) The whole week was just bliss.

I am thinking about...
P.A.C.E. I bought it and I intend to use it during lunchtime with the kids. We need a break from our catechism studies (snore) (oops- did I just say that out loud?), and P.A.C.E. seems to be a winning combination of virtue training, read-alouds, memorization, Bible reading, and stories of the saints. Yes, please. We're starting next week.

Learning all the time...
I have every good intention of starting back up next week. This week didn't get off to a very, uh... schoolish start.

From the kitchen...
Beef stew in the crockpot tonight. I made a chinese lemon chicken dish the other night that totally rocks- I really need to post that recipe for you all. It's like P.F. Changs for about 1/8 of the cost.

I am creating...

altered school schedules for the kids. We're focusing only on the critical subjects until baby is born. We are way ahead of my original projections anyway (Prim even finished her entire 4th grade math year over the holidays), so we've got lots of freedom in the schedule. We're using it!

I am working on...
turning this baby. She's breech, and it would be oh-so-kind of her to flip on her own without the doctor's help.

I am going...
pretty much nowhere. Isn't that GREAT? :)

I am hoping...
that I can continue to put my feet up most of the time. I can't believe how much better I feel! Apparently when they say that your contractions will taper off if you rest a lot, they're right. What d'ya know? ;) The doctor said baby has a better chance of flipping the less I'm contracting, so that's a free pass to lay around on the couch all day and read, isn't it? I'm sure that's what he meant...

I am reading...
Peony in Love by Lisa See
The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding by La Leche League International

I am praying for...
the baby to turn all on her own- I'm kind of wimpy and don't exactly relish a doctor-assisted version.

I am hearing...
Caddie Woodlawn in the car with the kids. Would you believe I've never read it?

Around the house...
Good enough. It's just going to have to be good enough.

One of my favorite things...
Andy's new goatee. Oh my- it makes my heart go all pitter-pat. I thought I was a clean-shaven-man kinda girl, but I was wrong. He's all rugged and handsome these days. Maybe I'll sneak a picture and show you. :)

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Well, the week's almost out now, and really I plan to do a whole lot of nothing with what remains of it. Seems to be a running theme these days, doesn't it?

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Don't mess with this guy- he's on a mission. He's driving to Candy World, and nothing will stop him.

He's fierce.

He's ferocious.

He's fast.

(He's adorable!)

On Resolutions and Pinning Stuff Down

2012-01-03T14:12:00.000-08:00

Well! It's Tuesday! Andy's back at work (sigh), and the world seems to have gotten on with normal everyday living post-holidays. I'm not really there yet. I was feeling so good on our little stay-cation! So relaxed! I'm not ready to give that up. Plus, I'm just crazy tired. Unmotivated. Feeling, in general, very not let's-tackle-this-new-year-with-an-inspiring-list-of-resolutions-ish.

Oh, but I do have resolutions.

I resolve, this year, to have a baby. How's that? :) I bet I'll be more successful than all those folks who resolved to start going to the gym. ;)

This one's a bit harder- I resolve to complain less. I've been sort of whiny lately. You know how it is, right? Folks ask how I'm feeling these last trimester days and I don't really have anything serious to complain about, but find a way to go on about how my back hurts and these contractions are annoying and the heartburn is nonstop and I'm just so stinkin' tired... {Whine, whine, whine}. It annoys even me to hear myself say such things. So instead, I intend to respond with "I feel great!" Because? I get to have a baby next month, and life doesn't get much greater than that.

Anyway, it's been a while since I've updated my belly shots, so here's at it:

Coming along now, yes? The bigger that belly gets, the happier I am. :)

Let's see... what else was I going to chat with you about? Oh yes! Pinterest! You all know Pam, I hope? Well, she and I have decided that we need a way to motivate ourselves to do some of those great projects we've pinned on Pinterest. I mean, it's one thing to pin an idea, but it's a whole 'nother ball-o-wax to actually make one come to life.

Pam and I are hosting a weekly link-up. We're calling it Pinning it Down and we'll share hosting- one Tuesday here, the next at Pam's. All you have to do to play along is pick something you've pinned onto your boards, do it, blog a little somethin' about it, and link up. It will be fun to see some of those ideas come to life in all of our homes and on our blogs.

I will be totally real with you here- I'm a little self-conscious about starting a link-up. I fret about there being no participants. I mean, that would just be really lonely, and maybe (a wee bit) embarrassing. So do you think some of you could humor me (pretty please?) and play along? It will be fun! I promise! Our first Pinning it Down link-up will be right here next Tuesday, the 10th of January.

And that's it for me today. I'm off to tackle a load (or 5) of laundry, and maybe lose myself in a book for awhile. Wishing you a beautiful January Tuesday, friends!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T12:27:00.000-08:00

So how was your New Year's Eve?

We went to Mass. Came home and ate a finger food/veggie tray/chip & dip dinner. Made sugar cookies. Had a serious bowling showdown on the Wii, and sat down at the table for a game of Clue Jr. Then we finished out 2011 and rang in 2012 with some good ol' fashioned pots & pans banging on the back porch. (Wasn't that nice of us, Erin? We did it on the back porch so we wouldn't wake up your sweeties. :) Of course, it was so LOUD out there, that I assume it wouldn't have mattered. But it was a thought, huh?) It was the first time we let our kids stay up to ring in the New Year. They had a blast.

One of my favorite parts of the evening was when we sat down to fill out these forms that I found on Pinterest:

Here's a link so you can download the printable. We all filled one out- it was really fun (sometimes hilarious, sometimes enlightening) to find out what the kids relished most about 2011, and to see them set goals for themselves for 2012. Andy and I enjoyed filling them out, too.

I didn't get any pictures of our celebratin', so I'm posting some other random photos from the week instead.

Is there anything better than creating fashion designs with your sister, all snuggled up under an electric blanket?

Putting together his new legos with Daddy

Not really sure what Tulip is doing in this get-up. I'm never really sure what Tulip is up to, honestly. :) This is just so her. I had to post it.

We were supposed to travel over the mountains and visit family this last week, but I just couldn't do it. It would have been about 15 hours of driving all together, and I'm, like... I don't know... 8 and a half months pregnant (or something). So instead Andy took the week off and we lounged around at home. Bliss! My contractions have subsided considerably (not going away completely, but they are definitely fewer and further between) which I guess I'd better take as a hint that I need to slow down and relax if I want this baby to cook a while longer.

That means I'm not starting the New Year with a fire 'neath my feet, like I usually do. We're just going to ease into a quiet and slow January. Grow the baby. Read. Get a little done here and there as we can. It should be rather lovely.

In fact, it's after noon, and I'm still in my pajamas (we went to Mass last night, don't shake your finger at me!), and as soon as I post this, I'm off to the couch. There are books to be read, you know. (I'm reading Mamarazzi right now- it's awesome). I can't think of a better way to usher in the New Year.

Hope your First Day is lovely and bright!

Looking Back on 2011

2011-12-30T10:25:00.000-08:00

Oh, 2011. You have been a year of tremendous heartache and loss, and a year of unparalleled joy. A life-changing year. Landmark.

January was a quiet month. We did little, homey things- lots of baking and learning and reading. Andy had a birthday. There was snow.

February got us out of doors. We took some family hikes (and even got scared by our own shadows). We celebrated Valentine's Day!

In March, Lent began. Snapdragon started karate. We were still buried in snow.

April brought heartache unlike any I've ever known. My darling, spunky, 34-year-old sister-in -law died suddenly, leaving behind a precious son and a whole world of people who wracked with grief. Easter was so very, very hard.

May was a month of trying to make sense of the world. Our hearts flung wildly, begging for peace and struggling to figure out what life would look like in the face of such heart-bending loss.

Primrose was confirmed.

I flew to North Carolina to visit my precious nephew and Tonya's gravesite. And wept.

June. June brought promise. Hope. And unbounded grace. I discovered that the little miracle I had begged and begged and begged for was already growing inside me (JOY!). The girls danced in their ballet recital. Summer arrived to soothe our weary souls.

In July, I was sick, sick, sick and it was hot, hot, hot. We picked strawberries. I went to the lake with friends. Then we headed over the mountains to meet our newest little niece and nephew.

My morning sickness started waning a bit in August, and I began eating my body weight in Dairy Queen Blizzards. Snapdragon turned 6! We went camping with friends. Our garden bloomed. My dear Grandpa Curly, light of my life, went to be with Grandma in Heaven.

We went on our best-ever camping trip in September. We found out that our little bun-in-the-oven is a sweetie-pie girl. Andy spoiled me with a dSLR camera for my 30th birthday, and so began a new obsession with photography. The girls started Irish Dance (they love it). We went to Greenbluff. Lots.

In October, Tulip turned 8. We did the whole pumpkin/harvest thing. My sister and baby nephew came for an awesome week.We had a fun and hilarious Halloween. I ate bacon- pounds and pounds of bacon. And all was well.

In November, I wrote. I wrote about my biggest homeschooling mistake, and I wrote up my notes from the excellent seminar featuring Andrew Pudewa. I told you why I so love the St. Andrew Christmas Novena. My friends surprised me with a baby shower. We had a beautiful and blessed Thanksgiving, and Primrose turned double digits!

December came and went so quickly. We were surprised by the lack of snow. We waited on the birth of the Lord, and then we celebrated His Nativity with joy.

And now. Now we greet 2012, and I would be lying if I didn't confess to doing so with some trepidation. 2011 has brought surprises- some wonderful, of course- others devastating. But we confidently embrace the new year, knowing that it will be infused with grace in abundance.

There is always, always grace in abundance.

Happy New Year, friends.

2011 in Books

2011-12-28T21:21:00.000-08:00

It's time! This is one of my favorite posts of the year. I love looking back and considering all the books I've read. This year I read 60 (yowza). You can see other "year in books" posts by going to my Reading List page.

(Please keep in mind- when I say a book was excellent, I mean excellent for an adult to read. Some of these selections are just not appropriate for teens or younger folks.)

Who was the best new (to you) author you discovered this year?
I suppose Elin Hilderbrand. I read four of her books this year; there must be some reason I kept going back for more.

What was your favorite new (to you) series?
I don't read much series fiction, but I did read the latest in the No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency series: #12, The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party. It was great!

Book that made you cry?
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok. Those last pages did me in. I cried while reading Water for Elephants, too.

Book that made you laugh out loud?
Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson. The Major really won my heart, and I laughed a lot reading that one.

Book that totally changed your perspective on something?
Unplanned by Abby Johnson. This book helped me see that the the pro-choice movement is based on good intentions (flawed good intentions, no doubt- but it was good for me to remember that most people who believe in it often mean well). It also helped me understand that the best way to help people embrace LIFE and protect the unborn is through truth, compassion, and a whole lotta love.

Best homeschooling book?
This was the year of Laura Berquist for me. I loved both Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum and Teaching Tips & Techniques.

Worst book that you managed to finish?
I never finish lousy books. There are too many great titles out there- I don't waste my reading time on bad material. I did bail on a couple of books that just didn't grab my interest- The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie and Angelina's Bachelors come to mind.

Book with the best surprise plot twist?
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. Fabulous reading.

Most disappointing Book?
Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo. I know a lot of folks loved this book, but I couldn't get past the fact that Todd's son's experience confirmed every single one of their family's own denomination's views. It was just too coincidental (and a little too preachy) for me to actually believe it. And it wasn't very good writing, either.

Best book that was better than the movie?
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See. Fabulous book. Lame movie (I didn't even get halfway into the movie before I stopped it out of sheer boredom).

Best book that was also a great movie?
The Help by Kathryn Stockett. If you haven't read it, you must. If you haven't seen it, you should.

Most over-hyped book of the year?
Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua. Honestly, I think the goal in writing this one was to make a bunch of money by shocking the socks off Americans. Apparently, it worked. I wish it didn't.

Best young person's book of the year?
Wow, I really didn't read any juvenile fiction this year! Not to myself anyway.

Book you’ve been meaning to read for years and finally got to?
Our Town: A Play in Three Acts by Thornton Wilder. I'm glad I finally got to it!

Read aloud that the family enjoyed the most?
I'm skipping this one because I keep a separate booklist for what I read to my kids. You won't see read-alouds on the list I linked at the top of this post- I document our family reading in a different place at the end of each school year.

Best cookbook/knitting/gardening/or other household how-to?
I really liked Tami Kiser's Smart Martha's Catholic Guide for Busy Moms.

Best non-fiction?
I enjoyed Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit quite a lot, but I think the non-fiction I liked the most was A Love That Multiplies by Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar. It was so inspiring and uplifting.

Book you have recommended to the most people this year?
Both Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman and The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton. I'd read them again, no question.

Best religion/theology/doctrine/philosophy?
The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis.

My 5 favorite fiction titles this year:
Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
The Help by Kathryn Stockett

My 5 favorite non-fiction titles this year:
Canon EOS Rebel T3i for Dummies by Julie Adair King (This has been invaluable to me as I learn how to use my camera- I'm not done with it yet, though!)
A Love That Multiplies by Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar
Unplanned by Abby Johnson
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
Smart Martha's Catholic Guide for Busy Moms by Tami Kiser

Mama's Reading List :: 2011

2011-12-27T06:00:00.000-08:00

This post documents every book I read in 2011. Please don't consider it a list of recommendations. Some I would recommend, many I would not. Look for my "Year in Books" post on Thursday- that's where I'll give you the scoop on what was awesome (and what really just wasn't).

* = re-reads
Bold = fiction
Italics = audio books

1. The Secret Diary of Elisabeth Leseur: The Woman Whose Goodness Changed Her Husband From Athiest to Priest by Elisabeth Leseur
2. Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen
3. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet by Jamie Ford
4.* Holiness for Housewives by Hubert Van Zeller
5. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
6. The Forgotten Garden by Kate Morton
7. Unplanned by Abby Johnson
8. The House at Riverton by Kate Morton
9. *A Charlotte Mason Education by Catherine Levison
10. Help for the Harried Homeschooler by Christine Field
11. The Distant Hours by Kate Morton
12. *Haystack Full of Needles by Alice Gunther
13. The Weight of Glory by C.S. Lewis
14. Smart Martha's Catholic Guide for Busy Moms by Tami Kiser
15. The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
16. Fodor's Disneyland With Kids
17. Econoguide: Disneyland Resort
18. The Unofficial Guide to Disneyland
19. A Grief Observed by C.S. Lewis
20. Telling God's Story: A Parent's Guide to Teaching the Bible by Peter Enns
21. Confessions of a Happily Organized Family by Deniece Shoefield (most, but not all of it)
22. Major Pettigrew's Last Stand by Helen Simonson
23. The Four Temperaments by Fr. Conrad Hock
24. Mennonite in a Little Black Dress by Rhoda Janzen
25. Saving CeeCee Honeycutt by Beth Hoffman
26. The Help by Kathryn Stockett
27. Heaven is For Real by Todd Burpo
28. The Violets of March by Sarah Jio
29. The Paris Wife by Paula McLain
30. 10 Habits of Happy Mothers by Meg Meeker, M.D.
31. The Peach Keeper by Sarah Addison Allen
32. The Island by Elin Hilderbrand
33. The Midwife's Apprentice by Karen Cushman
34. Emily and Einstein by Linda Francis Lee
35. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother by Amy Chua (most, but not all of it- I can only handle so much Amy Chua)
36. A Summer Affair by Elin Hilderbrand
37. The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand
38. What Alice Forgot by Liane Moriarty
39. Silver Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
40. Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese
41. When Sparrows Fall by Meg Moseley
42. Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
43. A Little Way of Homeschooling by Suzie Andres
44. The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie Alan Bradley (only the first 100 pages, then I got bored)
45. Our Town: A Play in Three Acts by Thornton Wilder
46. The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith
47. The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything by James Martin (the first half)
48. Canon EOS Rebel T3i for Dummies by Julie Adair King (still working through it- it's awesome)
49. Angelina's Bachelors: A Novel with Food by Brian O'Reilly (first 160 pages only- yawn)
50. * Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum by Laura Berquist
51. Teaching Tips & Techniques by Laura Berquist
52. Don't Let The Kids Drink the Kool-Aid by Marybeth Hicks
53. Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
54. Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
55. The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
56. How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler (I started it, anyway- I'm not anywhere close to done)
57. The Imperfect Homeschooler's Guide to Homeschooling by Barbara Frank
58. Time for God by Jacques Philippe
59. A Love That Multiplies by Jim Bob & Michelle Duggar
60. A Thomas Jefferson Education Home Companion by Oliver DeMille, Diann Jeppson & Rachel DeMille

Christmas Through the Camera :: 2011

2011-12-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

My whole house looks about this way just now. Yours, too?

We had a lovely Christmas Eve & Christmas Day. Quiet. Happy. Just the way we like it. There were treats left out for Santa, new pajamas, a few rounds of Santa Bingo, and kids running full-speed for the Christmas Tree first thing this morning.

Prim's shocked and darling expression is because Santa left her a headband just like the kind Mama wears. (happy sigh)

Tulip gave her homemade Seussical hat to Snapdragon. He's playing with me by not smiling. He got goofy right after this (and he's been begging Tulip for that hat for awhile), but my shutter speed was set too slow and those pictures of his joy came out all fuzzy.

The big gift this year was a Wii. The kids kept saying that they "couldn't believe we now OWN a video game!" This in a house where there isn't a single television channel to be found. No wonder they were floored. :)

Oh, and Prim made me a hand sewn burp cloth for sweet baby pie. :) Isn't it lovely?

This is one of Tulip's crowning treasures- a little Chinese teapot from Aunt Tiffy & Uncle Jasper. Tulip went on and on about her teapot that was "really truly made in China! I can't believe I have something made in China!" Andy and I had to stifle our giggles. Dear one, everything is made in China. :) We didn't tell her that, of course. And truly, this is a treasure- it was carted home by Uncle & Auntie from the real-deal Shanghai Market.

I have warm feet (new wool socks!) and some excellent new reading, so I'm about as happy as it comes- even in spite of my epic dinner failure. (It was terrible.) (I mean, really terrible.) Nobody cared, though- the jello salad came out great, and I can't think of a better day to subsist on jello salad, can you? ;)

And now I'm off to share the rest of my Christmas evening with that handsome guy of mine. Hoping your day was beautiful in every way. Merriest Christmas, friends!

'Round Here

2011-12-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

A bit of what we're up to, this quiet week before Christmas:

Making--

The girls spent an afternoon converting a cardboard box into train rides for their little brother. Sweet. (Recognize the box, Tiff?)

Handmade gifts for one another-- but I can't show you any of those yet, now can I? The children have been busy- holing themselves away for short periods of time, emerging later with twinkling secrets in their eyes. The anticipation of Christmas is perfected in the face of a small child, I think.

Baking--

Being--

Because I assure you that even if we look busy, we aren't. Not at all. Photos can be so deceptive that way. No handmade gifts from me this year. Instead, I'm spending hours every day on the couch- a hot rice pack to relieve my back, a good book (or five) to nourish my soul, and perhaps a piece of fudge-- to feed the baby, of course. The baby must eat, too, right? I'd hate to hog all the sweets and fail to share any with the wee one. ;)

We're just waiting in joyful hope. This may be the quietest Christmas we've ever had, and I'm rather looking forward to it.

Peace on your final Advent days, friends!

December Chill

2011-12-20T21:08:00.000-08:00

Christmas Week Daybook

2011-12-19T10:51:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
The weather forecast says we might, just might, get a white Christmas after all! :)

I am thankful for...

wool socks. Am I the only person left on the planet to just finally discover that wool socks are like Clothing From the Gods? Hello, warm feet!

I am thinking about...
baby. No surprise there.

Learning all the time...
Primrose left a comment on my last daybook, letting you all know what she thinks of my brilliant idea for a "Math Month". The poor, overworked dear. ;) We're cruising along in math, history (Mama can read aloud just fine from the couch, see), and phonics. Everything else is on hold till after the holidays.

From the kitchen...
A bit of Christmas baking, I think. I've never been one of those whirling dervish Christmas baking Mamas. I just make a batch of cookies here or there when the mood strikes. This week we'll likely make some sugar cookies, fudge, and something with red & green m&ms. All gluten-free, of course. And only if we feel so inclined. I'm thinking the last week of Advent is not meant for rushing around all panicky-like.

I am creating...

Drawers stacked with darling, freshly laundered, itty bitty baby clothes. I have baby clothes coming out my ears, thanks to a very generous neighbor who gave me her entire layette, birth-12 months.

I am working on...
acting more emotionally stable than I feel. Pregnancy hormone surge, anyone? (You could probably pray for my husband, lol. He likely needs it these days!) :)

I am going...
to keep this week as a quiet one, so far as I can help it. I don't want to spend the last days of Advent rushing around like a maniac. I figure whatever I've gotten done is good enough. Christmas will come and the Holy Child will be born, no matter what else I get to (or don't). There is some wrapping to do, and a wee bit of baking, but we'll approach all of it at a relaxed pace. Crank up the holiday tunes! Whip up the hot cocoa! These days are meant for savoring.

I am hoping...
to carry this baby to full term. I've never gone into preterm labor before, so I have no idea why I'm so absolutely paranoid about it this time around. But I am. Paranoid, that is. I think it has to do with 4th-pregnancy contractions, which are constant and intense and way more of a hassle than they were in my first three pregnancies. Not that I'm complaining (or am I?).

I am reading...
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
And I'm trying to read the chapters in my Canon T3i for Dummies book about switching to manual settings on my camera, but somewhere between shutter speed and aperture and ISO my brain goes all fuzzy and then just shuts down.

I am praying for...
Jessica and Mary as they ~~get ready to welcome their babies into the world~~ spend their first days with new, healthy, Christmas babies.

I am hearing...
Primrose stirring up cider and cocoa in the kitchen. My kids are all still in bed. Not sleeping, mind you, but huddling under electric blankets. The furnace isn't working properly this morning, and the house won't reach a degree above 57. GAH. Prim's making hot drinks for all of them to sip under covers until we get the whole heater thing sorted out. I'm waiting to see if my efforts to get the furnace to do what it should will work. If not? I call ~~Andy~~ the man who always saves us when we need it.

Around the house...
Baby's nursery (which is really just a corner of our master bedroom) is pretty much set up. I stare and stare and stare at that empty crib, imagining what our little sweetie's pink body will look like all wrapped up and sleeping there. Oh- the anticipation of a new baby. Is there anything better?

One of my favorite things...
An entire month on the calendar, with hardly anything written on it. That's what January looks like. A little piano, a little Irish Dance, some enrichment activities and of course doctors' appointments. But on the whole the month looks very very slow and peaceful. That's just the way I like a January to be.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
A doctor's appointment for me
A bit of school
Cookie decorating with friends
Quiet, simple days leading up to Christmas

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Singing carols at a local nursing home with friends

Primrose on Piano

2011-12-17T19:29:00.000-08:00

7 December Quick Takes

2011-12-15T19:06:00.000-08:00

Andy was out of town earlier this week, so I took the kids out on a date. We saw Dolphin Tale at the cheap theater (Wednesday is dollar day!), and WOW- what a great movie. It was probably the best family movie I've seen in a long time. I mean, you really can't go wrong with Harry Connick Jr. The movie was inspiring and rather beautiful, (and even better, it's based on a true story). This is one that would be worth owning, I think.

Afterward, I took the kids to Red Robin and we split a couple of meals. Did you know that some Red Robin restaurants now offer gluten-free hamburger buns? I still prefer mine wrapped in lettuce, but I think it's great that they are making things even easier for GF folks (and the buns are pretty darn good).

Anyway, dinner and a movie for four = $32 (including the tip). Not bad, eh?

Snapdragon is convinced that our baby's name should be Joan of Arc. He will not be deterred. No other baby name will do, he's sure of it. "After all, we do want her to be brave, don't we, Mom?"

Right. That we do. But.

Lately I've been grumpy, grumpy, grumpy. Not really sure why. It started the other day when the doctors' office called and admitted to a scheduling error- could we please reschedule my appointment to next week?

I know, right? No big deal.

Don't tell that to my pregnancy hormones. It's just not right that this kind of thing sets me to crying. Not right, I tell you. And I know that, but I can't stop the tears from coming anyway. Why can't I be both pregnant AND rational? Is that really too much to ask? (I'm fairly sure my husband was on his knees begging Heaven this very question, lol).

Every once in a while, I get an email that makes me wonder if you all think I'm this chipper, happy thing all of the time. My husband would like me to dispel such fallacies. :) On Tuesday, Andy went to bed at 8pm- I'm pretty sure as a way to avoid his fire-breathing wife (though he wouldn't admit it). And the kids? They just dodged me whenever I walked into a room. I even overheard Primrose telling Snap that "Mom's not in the best mood today. I wouldn't push my luck if I were you." Sound advice from an older sister. :)

I tell you this only so you don't think I'm never a brat. Just keeping the air clear here.

4 (& 5...& 6- this is a long one!)

I'm currently reading Twyla Tharp's The Creative Habit. Have you read it? I'm finding it so interesting (even if she has some rather odd thoughts strewn about here and there- she's an artist, after all).

We usually think of creativity as what happens when we are free to follow our whimsical muse, when we operate without the confines of a schedule or boundaries, when we are allowed complete freedom to just CREATE. Tharp makes a convincing argument, however, that those who have truly harnessed creativity have nurtured it into a habit (meaning that being creative takes self-discipline, and you do it even when you don't feel like it). She writes that any true creative attempt must be equally matched with rigor and hard work.

This whole idea is really resonating with how my education philosophy has morphed over the years. I have seen my children become more creative as we have become more structured and disciplined. It's as though once the guide rails were laid, they were free to really open up to their creative abilities. When we were more free-form (in our Reggio, unschooly days) I thought I should focus my energy on setting up an ideal creative environment, but really I had given them a place to work without the tools needed to get them where they wanted to go (the tools being self-discipline and work ethic, ~~even~~ especially when the going gets tough).

From pages 8-9 of The Creative Habit (emphasis mine):

"Mozart was hardly some naive prodigy who sat down at the keyboard and, with God whispering in his ears, let the music flow from his fingertips. It's a nice image for selling tickets to movies, but whether or not God has kissed your brow, you will have to work. Without learning and preparation, you won't know how to harness the power of that kiss.

Nobody worked harder than Mozart... As Mozart himself wrote to a friend, 'People err who think my art comes easily to me. I assure you, dear friend, nobody has devoted so much time and thought to composition as I. There is not a famous master whose music I have not industriously studied through many times.'

Whatever scope and grandeur you attach to Mozart's musical gift, his so-called genius, his discipline and work ethic were its equal."

The best writers are the ones who sit down and do it at the same time every day, regardless of whether or not they feel like it. The best photographers are those that hone their art form even when they aren't feeling all that inspired. Perhaps the best learners are those who work through the (sometimes very arduous) learning process, even when the content doesn't make their heart sing.

I think Tharp also dispells the myth that true creatives are disorganized and whimsical, lacking a routine, a set of habits, or a structure. This makes me happy, because I want to harness my creativity, but I can tell you I'm just not going to get there without labeling my drawers and setting myself a schedule.

And a random photograph, because I can't bear to write a post anymore without adding at least one pretty picture. :)

December at the Davenport

2011-12-14T07:50:00.000-08:00

Mid-December Daybook

2011-12-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
I admit- we're feeling a little cheated in the snow department.

I am thankful for...

Early December sunsets. I know everybody else hates the early dark, but I love it. That 4:00 swirl of afternoon color makes me feel like all warm and cozy inside.

I am thinking about...
baby names. I'm wondering how hard I want to fight that first-letter thing. All of our other kids' (real life) names start with the same letter. We didn't do it on purpose, and I swore I wouldn't keep it up. The problem? My very favorite girl name starts with that same blasted letter. The question is how badly do I want to fight it?

Learning all the time...
I have officially declared it Math Month. This may or may not have to do with the fact that I don't have to teach the lessons. At all. (Teaching Textbooks, I adore you). My kids can do math for hours and I don't have to lift a finger. Isn't that just the utmost in homeschool laziness? Hey, I'm in my third trimester. I get to be lazy. :) And the kids are zooming through their math lessons, so it's win-win. Just don't ask them how they feel about it- they may not agree about the whole "win" thing. ;)

From the kitchen...
Turkey. We had a mini Thanksgiving re-do last weekend. Then Andy made the best-ever-in-the-whole-wide-world hot turkey sandwiches with the leftovers. Hot turkey warmed in a bit of gravy, bacon, melted swiss cheese, mayo-- all layered on Udi's GF bread. Dang. That's good stuff.

Tomorrow I'll make turkey soup, which is extremely penitential for me. I hate making turkey soup. With a passion. Something about boiling bird bones just makes me squeamish and green. I will do it because my husband loves turkey soup. And I will likely feel sorry for myself the entire time. ;)

I am creating...

Not a bit of Christmas crafting is happening here. Well, that's not entirely true- Tulip does her fair share of Christmas crafting every single day. I should say that no Mommy-directed crafting is happening. I have closets to organize! Baby clothes to sort! Crib bedding to launder! All my creative energy is going into getting ready for baby. And that's a happy way to spend it, I think.

I am working on...
moderation, which is not exactly my strong point. Today, I decided to tackle errands, so we went to the pharmacy, the dry cleaner, the bank, Costco, Target, and Michaels. Then I came home and did four loads of laundry and got all my Christmas cards ready to mail. And now I'm in labor. No, kidding. (I think.)

These days, I'm either lazy as heck or all-guns-blazing. Perhaps I ought to work on finding a healthier balance?

I am going...
to read Lucia, Saint of Light to the kids tomorrow. Today was the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe (one of my very favorites) and I didn't so much as acknowledge it unless you count a cursory mention of it at dinner and peppermint bark for dessert (nothing mexican about that, but it's chocolate, and chocolate is always fitting for feast days, right?). I don't have any plans for St. Lucy's feast tomorrow, but I do think I can pull off a read-aloud and some candlelight. That'll do this year, I think.

I am hoping...
to carry this baby to full term. I've never gone into preterm labor before, so I have no idea why I'm so absolutely paranoid about it this time around.

I am reading...
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See
The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp
Time for God by Jacques Philippe (because Jenny always has the best quotes from it)

I am praying for...
Jessica and Mary as they get ready to welcome their babies into the world.

I am hearing...
most days I hear Tulip, plunking the keys of Jolly Old St. Nicholas on the piano while singing the lyrics (off-key) at the top of her lungs. Hilarious.

Around the house...
I organized Snapdragon's closet this last weekend- that was a big undertaking. I realized I was constantly telling him to clean his room, but hadn't given him the tools to do it well. On Saturday morning I set up a little shelf in his closet, sorted all of his toys into plastic bins, and labeled the bins with photographs. Half of the toy bins are now stored up high, with lids attached. The other half are on the low shelves he can reach. If he wants to trade out any toys, it's one-up-for-one-down. That way there are never too many things out. I'm so happy with the results of this endeavor that I often sneak into his room, just to peek at his newly organized closet.

Next up is Tulip's room, and the prospect of that task makes me weak at the knees. Tulip likes to collect treasures. And according to Tulip, everything in God's world is a treasure. 'Nuff said.

One of my favorite things...
Fast internet. We graduated this last week from our slow-as-heck mobile wireless device to a much, much faster home network. Every time a new page loads, I happily think already! :)

A few plans for the rest of the week...
A doctor's appointment for me
Math!
A Christmas party this weekend
Prim's Christmas Casual piano recital

Here are some picture thought I am sharing with you...

From the parish carol-sing and tree lighting a week or so ago.

December Doings

2011-12-09T20:15:00.000-08:00

Happy Feast Day!

2011-12-08T17:50:00.000-08:00

You know what I love about being Catholic? I love that every time I turn around there's another reason to celebrate. The rest of the world celebrates birthdays and major holidays, but we Catholics are lavished with feasts! Our Church tells us to celebrate at every turn- and so we do. The liturgical calendar just radiates JOY.

Today is one of Tulip's favorite feasts (any Marian feast is a favorite of that girl). I might have been tempted to overlook a home celebration if it wasn't for her insistence. That's such a lovely way to be pesky, don't you think? To pester your mother about making a big deal of a feast day?

I couldn't go too big this year, though. Today's docket included a full day of enrichment classes for the kids, a haircut, three dental appointments, and of course Mass tonight. Yikes!

In the interest of simplicity, I opted for a simple blueberry muffin breakfast (blueberries for the Blessed Mother, dusted with powdered sugar to represent her sinlessness). I also dug up some Marian stickers I found at the dollar store ages ago. We lit a white candle, said a prayer from Children's Prayers to Mary, listened to Immaculate Mary by Gretchen Harris, and then were off to the races.

Aren't these linens just gorgeous? I found them last year at a thrift store for something like $2, and I knew they'd be perfect for our Marian feast day celebrations. Tulip adores them.

Even such a short and simple observance can shed a joyful, peaceful spirit over an otherwise busy day. I love that.

But don't think I have it all together or anything. We still haven't celebrated the feast of St. Nicholas, which was 2 days ago. I ordered wool socks for the kids' St. Nick surprises, and they haven't arrived yet. Lucky for me, my two little ones don't look at a calendar often enough to realize that we missed it. The oldest one takes a wink and a quiet "give me a few days" quite well, so we'll celebrate St. Nicholas whenever those cozy wool socks land on our doorstep. :)

More later friends- I'm off to tend to beef stroganoff bubbling on the stove and an evening Mass celebration.

Happy Feast of the Immaculate Conception!

New Photography Page

2011-12-05T08:30:00.000-08:00

I've added a new photography page to my site. You can see it by clicking here, or by using the Photography tab at the top of my blog's home page. Happy Monday!

First December Daybook

2011-12-04T09:43:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
It's cold but the sky is blue.

I am thankful for...
~ Prim reconnecting with a sweet friend from last year's dance studio.
~ A great birthday party for Primrose at Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3. That was tons of fun!
~ A husband who cleans the kitchen and goes grocery shopping, so Mama can put her feet up.

I am thinking about...
our baby. Constantly. I cannot wait to meet her.

Learning all the time...
Right. That. I hear that I'm supposed to be homeschooling my kids? Is that right? (cough) I had a bad week with pregnancy insomnia, see (like, really bad; up-till-five-in-the-morning-bad), so we haven't exactly gotten back into our groove since Thanksgiving. But (I think) I'm okay with it. After all, between my doctor, my husband, and all of you, I think I've finally become convinced that I am trying to do too much as I enter my final trimester of pregnancy. I'm scaling back all around, and I figure we'll get to as much as we get to, and we'll just finish our school year whenever it's done. No more cramming. This Mama can't do cramming of any kind anymore- of homeschooling or housework or running-around variety. This Mama needs to slow down.

From the kitchen...
Turkey, probably. Andy's a wee-bit obsessed with those "spend x amount of dollars, get a free turkey" coupons from Fred Meyer. Our chest freezer now houses three big birds, so I'm sure there'll be turkey in our future. I could take or leave the meat, it's the GRAVY I'm excited about. :) I'm thinking we'll do a Thanksgiving re-do next week. Lots of mashed potatoes. And tons of gravy.

I am creating...

I just finally took a look at Picnik for the first time. Usually I do quick crop and contrast photo edits in Picasa, but Kim told me to look at Picnik. I didn't think I'd like the post-processing aspect of photography, but I'm fairly sure I was wrong about that. Let me show you what I did with one of photos last night.

Out of the camera:

After editing in Picnik:

I have no idea what I'm doing, mind you. I haven't read anything about post-processing, so I'm sure I'm probably not utilizing the program to its utmost. Whatever. I'm having fun! In the above edit, I warmed up the temperature, boosted contrast, and added highlights.

I am working on...
natural ways of getting myself to fall asleep. The last two nights have been much, much better.

I am going...
to get a Christmas tree at Greenbluff after Mass today. The kids are very excited. We're also going to a Tree Lighting & Carol Sing at church. There's a soup & bread supper, and there's going to be a table of food and desserts dedicated gluten-free. Have I mentioned how much I love our parish?

I am hoping...
to create simple and sweet Christmas memories for my children. Nothing elaborate or over-the-top. Just warm, homey kind of memories.

I am reading...
Dreams of Joy by Lisa See. I just finished Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, which was so well done I had to pick up another by the same author. (Tiffany, have you read anything by Lisa See yet? You should!)

How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler (which I'm slowing down on because I think it's boring, but I am absolutely sure this has more to do with my intelligence level than with the content. I need to read this book. I must read this book. I will read this book.)

The Creative Habit by Twyla Tharp

I am praying for...
A friend who recently lost her husband to cancer. Heaven gained a great man. And for their children, who now forge on in life without Daddy. Oh Lord, comfort your people.

I am hearing...
the clean-up song, revised. My kids love this song by Laurie Berkner, but they've revised it a bit.

Clean it up! Clean it up!
You can make it fun to do
Mom and Dad will help you, too
(and here my kids add:) Wait a minute, that's not true!
Clean it up! Clean it up!
And put it away, put it away, put your things away.

And then they finish their chores practically convulsing in giggles, while I (apparently) lounge on the couch eating bon-bons and spouting orders. ;)

Around the house...
Oh, things just aren't as tidy as they used to be. But that's okay. I'm in a kind of survival mode- just prioritizing the things that make me most crazy (kitchen clean, laundry caught up, bathrooms not toxic) and letting the rest go.

One of my favorite things...
When my kids say funny things. Like when Tulip told me that she's having a hard time wrapping her brain around my being 30. "I just think of you as 29, Mom!"

Me too, kid. Me too. ;)

A few plans for the rest of the week...
School, as much or as little as we can get to without straining ourselves
Dental appointments for the kids
Normal dance/piano/co-op routines
Some Advent/Christmas fun, here and there

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you...

Ten! Double digits!! ACK!!!

Primrose and friends at Disney on Ice: Toy Story 3.

A Message from Tulip

2011-12-03T10:43:00.000-08:00

I found this message on the fridge this week. Tulip put it there. A good message for the beginning of Advent, don't you think?

(The words at the top read: Why run away For God is alwys with you. and he loves you.)

Tulip loves drawing crucifixes. I find them all over the house. She drew the one below a couple of months ago, and I put it up on the inside of our front door:

She's also been working on a cardboard creche. Here she is with her newly constructed manger. Since I took this picture, she's added some paper poinsettias, and the manger legs have succombed to gravity. I think Daddy needs to come to the rescue and help her out. Isn't she so darling, though?

And, lest you think my children are always creating holy and sacred objects, let me show you Snapdragon's latest drawing:

That's a pretty mean sword fight, if you ask me. That dude on the left won, obviously. But how could he not, with that over-the-head arm technique and the World's Longest Sword in hand?

(And if you happened to see this post when I first hit publish, just disregard everything I said about changing my comment platform. It was too frustrating! I couldn't figure out how to get it to upload to my site, so I gave up. For now, I'll just continue to rely on blogger's somewhat unreliable comment functionality.)

Okay- that's it! We've got a bustling birthday and Advent weekend ahead, so I'd best be off. Have a lovely 2nd weekend of Advent, friends!

Why I Love the St. Andrew Christmas Novena

2011-11-30T11:46:00.000-08:00

It's simple, really:

I don't really want to go into all the details here- some things are just too private and precious for the internet, you know? I will tell you that last year there was an ache in my heart that I was struggling to bear. A good and wise friend counseled me to pray the St. Andrew Christmas Novena for a miracle. I'm not used to praying for such radical miracles. But I prayed anyway.

With tears streaming down my face and a heart heavy as lead, I prayed every day for the gift of a miracle baby- the one I was rather certain I would never get to hold.

And now, just one year later, I'm washing itty bitty baby clothes and making room for a crib right next to my bed. Because our God? Is a God of miracles. And He loves to spoil His children.

My bubbling joy at this pregnancy overwhelms me every single day. And so we're celebrating today, November 30th, the Feast of St. Andrew and the beginning of the St. Andrew Christmas Novena. And we're celebrating in the best way possible.

With the Primary Food of Heaven, of course! Chocolate. :) And we're putting up these lovely prayer cards all over the house.

(These are gluten free K-Toos dipped in melted mint baking chips and rolled in Christmas sprinkles. They taste divine. I'm certain St. Andrew himself is indulging in such heavenly fare today! )

And I think that's it for today. I redecorated my blog for Christmas, so click through and take a peek if you're reading via RSS or feed-reader, and tell me what you think!

Happy Feast Day, friends!

The St. Andrew Christmas Novena

Thanksgiving Joy

2011-11-27T07:00:00.000-08:00

So, so much to be grateful for. Mostly though, just now, I am thankful for the love of this man.

The one who snuck over to my seat after the turkey was eaten, whispered "I'm thankful for you" into my ear, and kissed the top of my head. He's holding his (adorable) niece here. Come next Thanksgiving, he'll be holding our own little bundle of sweetness.

Thankful for that, too.

Blessings to you today, friends, on this first Sunday in Advent.

Snowy November Daybook

2011-11-21T15:10:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
This morning the sky opened up and snow fell in buckets. Now, we wait for rain. We're going to hit the 40's again, folks! That's downright warm! :)

I am thankful for...
kids who love the library. I think we came home with over 60 items today-- and we've likely got at least 30 others around the house that we weren't ready to return from last time. Oh, how we love the library. I tell the kids it's time for our weekly trip (though honestly we've been going more like twice a week lately), and they scurry to the car with glee. Anyway, I was poking my nose into the discard shelves today and when I looked up at the children's section, this is what I saw:

Be still my heart. Those are the cutest kids ever.

I am thinking about...
our baby. I wonder what she'll look like? What she'll smell like? If she'll have my eyes or his? Curls or waves? Any hair at all? (Yes, likely. All my babies have loads of hair right from the get-go.) Watching my friends love on their new babies just adds a joyful sweetness to our own anticipation.

Learning all the time...
Half days this week- I'm using the rest of my energy to tackle some projects around the house. The kids were ready for half days anyway- they've been working hard this year.

From the kitchen...
Batch cooking can officially commence! We got ourselves a chest freezer this weekend, and I've got plans to fill it up with frozen meals before baby arrives. I've got a whiteboard attached to the lid so that we can keep track of what's in there, and what should be eaten first. I am very, very happy about this. Very.

I am creating...

order. Slowly. I don't like how long it's taking me to get things crossed off my "must do before baby" list.

Problem #1: my energy level. It's lacking considerably.

Problem #2: contractions!

Because even when I feel like I have plenty of energy to get things done, I start working on a project and immediately start contracting. They're only Braxton-Hicks contractions, but my doctor says I need to watch them carefully. I have every intention of carrying this baby to at least 38 weeks, so as soon as the contractions start, I have to lay down, drink water, and ~~fret over all the things I won't be able to get done if I continue to move at the speed of a sloth~~ rest. This "laying around" and "letting things go" is not in my nature! I'm struggling!

And I'm certain God would like to use it as an opportunity to slow me down, make me aware of the grace in each moment, and call me to Himself. Which is great and all, but can't I do that later? Like, after I get the closets organized and the baby clothes all laundered? ;)

I am working on...
alternating work and rest. See above. (sigh)

I am going...
to set a pot of homemade minestrone to bubbling on the stove, to get a loaf of GF Honey Bread into the oven, and to work on Christmas gift lists; all of that just as soon as I post this daybook.

I am hoping...
to get the bulk of our Christmas shopping done in the next day or two. Which shouldn't be hard, since I'm just making lists and Andy's doing all the leg-work. It's so nice to have a good man around, isn't it? ;)

I am reading...
The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party by Alexander McCall Smith
How to Read a Book by Mortimer Adler

I am praying for...
Mark & Sarah, John & Katie, and all these new babies! Babies everywhere I turn!

I am hearing...
Nothing. The kids are downstairs watching Skylark.

Around the house...
I wrote this last week:

I'm learning to let things go. I just can't keep up like I used to. Babies do have their own special way of teaching us to slow down, don't they? This baby is starting my lesson before she even gets here.

Apparently, I still need some work in this department. Ha!

One of my favorite things...
Days like today. Banana muffins and coffee for breakfast, a bit of school, laying on the couch adding rows to Prim's crocheted scarf while she practices a new (tricky) piece on the piano, giant flakes of snow falling outside, a trip to the library, soup and bread for dinner. It's a good day.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Half days of school.
Nesting projects? I hope? :)
Thanksgiving!

Here are some picture thoughts I am sharing with you...

It took Snap all of about 10 seconds after getting out the sled to realize that standing up on it and using it as a snowboard is WAY more fun than sitting down and using it as a... well.... sled. This somewhat terrifies me. We aren't exactly "winter sports" people. Going to the slopes is not my idea of a fun day. And don't snowboarders, like, break legs and stuff? ;)

(Isn't he so cute, though?)

For Mark & Sarah

2011-11-20T10:12:00.000-08:00

Dear Mommy and Daddy,

I hear you've been busy. Well, I have too! While you were delivering and taking care of my new baby brother, I was doing a million other really important things. Things like...

Having a dance party...

Going to the Jumping Place...

Eating teddy bear pancakes...

Being a ballerina...

Playing games...

Going out into the snow...

Drawing with window markers...

Listening to stories...

And making art projects...

Now that all that really important work is done, I think I'm ready to come take care of my new brother. Thank you for taking care of him and his poop. I was rather concerned about that.

I love you!
The Bear

Four on Friday

2011-11-18T21:51:00.000-08:00

Yowza! It's been a busy week! I haven't had a spare minute to pop in here and say hello. Here's a teeny glimpse of what we've been up to- four things for a Friday night post.

1. Baking

Gluten-free blueberry muffins- I followed the recipe on the back of Pamela's Baking Mix. Well, I almost followed it- I added a bit of sugar. One can never have too much sugar- especially if it's sprinkled on top of the blueberry muffins. Yum.

Gluten free Cranberry Scones. Which really weren't that good, but I'm kind of proud of my photograph, so I'm showing you anyway. :)

2. Handwork

Just a wee bit of handwork. We got out the Knifty Knitter and have been leaving a work-in-progress on the coffee table for whoever comes along and picks it up. I like the Knifty Knitter because I don't actually have to know how to... well... knit. So it works for me! And the kids can do it largely on their own, which is great. I plan to stock up on cozy bulky baby yarns soon, and then I figure my own little child-labor factory can make a pile of baby hats by Valentine's Day. Perfect. :)

I'm also (kind of, half-heartedly) teaching Primrose how to crochet (which yes, I do know how to do. Not well, mind you. But that's beside the point). Anyway, we got this kit and started working on the scarf earlier this week. The biggest struggle seems to be figuring out a way for her little hands to hold all that stuff- the work, the hook, the working yarn... it's harder for her than I thought it would be.

3. Cheating

Because I just couldn't do it! I couldn't wait until after Thanksgiving to break out the Christmas tunes. It took more willpower than my poor little pregnant self could sustain. ;) And in those cups? Eggnog steamers. Heaven-ly, I tell you. But super easy to make at home (you know- warm the milk, use one of those foamer thingamajigs to make it bubbly, add a bit of eggnog, top with whip cream and nutmeg). Pretty good when you want a hot mug of creamy goodness but don't really want any caffeine.

I'm pretty sure I razzed my pregnant sister-in-law last year when she was drinking warm egg nog; I mean, it just sounded gross to me at the time. So, um... Ang? You were right! I was wrong! Warm eggnog is a pregnant lady's happy drink.

4. Spunk

This little cutie has been hangin' with us for the past couple of days; her mama delivered a new baby boy just this morning.

I forgot how much fun 2-almost-3 is! This girl is seriously hilarious. And full of spunk. She never takes off that yellow sparkly gown, and she bosses my kids around rather effectively. My kids? Aren't used to 2-almost-3. We haven't had any toddlers in this house for a while (way too long, if you ask me). So they pretty much indulge her every whim in the name of cuteness.

She's also gone rather sweet on both Andy and Snap, which is just adorable all on its own right. The way her eyes light up when Andy walks through the door! And then she wraps her arms around his neck and tells him she loves him so much. Andy? Doesn't quite know what to do with such doting. Perhaps I don't do it as often as I should. ;)

***

And that's it for me, for now. That spunky little thing in the yellow dress gets up a wee bit earlier than I'm used to (and that's not really saying much, because I just sleep an awful lot these days); I'd better hit the hay if I intend to keep up with her. :)

Have a great weekend- see you on the other side of Sunday!

Freedomship Education: Notes & Thoughts

2011-11-14T23:55:00.000-08:00

You asked for them. Here they are: my notes from Andrew Pudewa's talk on Freedomship Education.

Disclaimer #1: I wasn't going to post these because I have a feeling they will ruffle feathers I'd rather not ruffle.
Disclaimer #2: I am non-confrontational by nature, and I don't generally ruffle the feathers of kind folks as a matter of course.
Disclaimer #3: I cry easily. I'm just sayin'. Don't send me unkind emails for kicks. I don't take them well.

I'm not even adding any pretty pictures to soften this puppy up. It's just a heck of a lotta words. There's your forewarning. This isn't my usual blog fare. ;)

My notes ended up being a compilation of both Mr. Pudewa's thoughts and my own response to those ideas. I was going to try and sort out his ideas versus my responses, but it became messy and difficult to read. Some of it's his, some of it's mine. I'm not separating the two, so keep that in mind.

Okay, so one pretty picture. I couldn't help myself! :)

Ready, then?

Public Schools: How They Started & Why They Work Just Fine

Pudewa started the evening with a very enlightening synopsis of how American Public Education came to be. This was eye-opening to say the least (The Underground History of American Education by John Taylor Gatto is now officially on my to-read list).

The basic summary is this: public schools were started with a very clear agenda to, in the words of those at the helm of the movement, "control human behavior." Indeed, government-run schools were instituted to teach children to think a certain way (not to learn how to think, which was the goal that Classical education worked toward for thousands of years).

In fact, Pudewa made the audacious statement that the public school system is not at all broken. The schools are, in fact, doing exactly what they set out to do: provide a conveyor-belt style education that turns out people who will think a certain way, support the country's economy, and become avid consumers. When the public school system was founded (not so long ago, in fact), it aimed to teach poor people enough so that they could enter the work force. Not an ignoble goal, considering the circumstances of that time and era. But certainly outdated. And yet the standard has never changed.

Our public schools still operate on the conveyor-belt, grades-based education system that was put into place to support the Industrial Revolution. No wonder we aren't graduating students who can think independently, read well, and articulate/communicate thoughts effectively! The role that big coal companies and German psychologists played in how our schools came to be and how they continue to be run is certainly worth knowing, and it is chronicled in Gatto's Underground History.

Now, before you think that Pudewa was on a tirade against the public school system and all those who run it, let me assure you that he emphasized this important point: the vast majority of American schoolteachers are hard-working and altruistic. They love children enormously-- that is why they go into teaching. The problem with our educational system is not the teachers. It is the basic system.

But you can't fix a system that isn't broken. And it's not. The system is doing what it was put in place to do. The whole idea of taking mass quantities of children and passing them through a standardized set of lessons so that they will come out thinking a certain way is how our public education system was founded. Pudewa says, the next time you hear a politician saying we need "educational reform" because the public education system is "broken", you might consider this: a system that's doing what it was put into place to do is not in fact broken. It's actually rather effective.

If, on the other hand, it rubs you the wrong way to think that we graduate masses of students who cannot think independently (or think well at all), then you might consider that we are expecting the public schools to do something they weren't created to do.

I will take a moment here to note that I do believe children learn all kinds of things in a public school. They just aren't the things we want them to learn. But John Taylor Gatto can explain that better than I can, and you can read it rather quickly in his excellent and succinct Dumbing Us Down: The Hidden Curriculum of Compulsory Schooling.

The Aims of Childhood
There are three basic questions that cannot be asked or addressed in a public school. They are:

1. Who am I?
2. Why am I here?
3. What am I supposed to do with my life?

Asking these questions and seeking their answers is the crux of childhood formation. These are the questions we, as creatures made in the image of God, are created to ask. But the public schools cannot even begin to address these, because every one of them infers an absolute truth. Public schools are, Pudewa says, "temples of relativism."

You can choose what you want to believe.
You have your own truth.
Your truth is not better than my truth, and my truth is not better than hers.
There is not really any "truth" at all.
There is no such thing as bad music, or good music.
There is just music, and everyone has their own valid response to it.
There is no such thing as good literature.
There is just literature, and as long as you're reading something, you are reading literature.

I worked for several years in a large public library system, and I can assure you that the high school reading lists I saw while working there horrified me. Classics? Who needs classics? Chronicles of teenage angst, graphic novels, steampunk zombie stories, and stories of confused and exploratory same-sex relationships-- these have taken the place of Harper Lee and Shakespeare. If you don't believe me, go to your school district and ask to see their 11th and 12th grade reading lists. When the selections aren't outlandishly modernistic and immoral, they're absolutely stupid. The expectations set for our high school graduates is so abysmal it's embarrassing.

The Damage
A typical child spends upwards of 14,000 hours in a public school classroom. Now tell me, if my child is spending 14,000 of their most formative hours in a place where relativism is the basic model, how on earth can I expect her to hold on to her faith?

Pudewa says: you can go to church on Sundays, you can take your kids to Awanas on Wednesday nights, you can have lively and meaningful dinnertime conversations, but you cannot undo 14,000 hours of relativism that has been the basis for your children's formation in public school. No wonder, then, that the vast majority of Christian families see their kids walk away from their faith within the first year of college. Sure, their parents tried to give them a strong foundation - a good many even did a darn good job of it! But 14,000 hours of indoctrination in direct opposition to the faith is almost impossible to surmount. Indeed, for many families, it is impossible.

Even when our children's teachers are well-meaning folks with high moral standards, they are still operating within the framework of a system of ideas that are in direct opposition to the values of the family as part of the mandatory, ordinary curriculum. Even the best teachers have to follow protocol, and some of that protocol is getting wildly out of hand (gay history in the kindergarten curriculum, anyone?).

To think we can combat this at the dinner table is perhaps a little optimistic. The social and moral temperature in our schools today is truly frightening, and even if you have a good school run by faithful, moral teachers- it still operates on the guide rails of a public government system that aims to teach your children to think a certain way. And probably not in the way you want them to. That's worth considering.

Aside from the moral failures in our school is the astonishing fact that our students are not even being well educated in the basic subjects. Many schools, Pudewa says, don't require students to memorize math facts. History dates? Meh. The modernistic view in education is: you don't need to know it if you can find it out. Teach them how to FIND information, and then what they KNOW is not really that important. But this flies in the face of what thousands of years of educated people have believed; it's a modern idea that atrophies the brain.

Are you really educated if you know how to google something, but can't even tell me the year in which our country was founded? Is it really acceptable to us that our students spend their best waking hours in a classroom, but less than 35% of high schoolers read proficiently? Have we become so culturally illiterate that this doesn't alarm us?

True Education
Pudewa states, "It would be better to be illiterate and love God with all your heart than to be an atheist with a PhD. The last thing this world needs is another atheist with a PhD. The world doesn't need more clever people! It doesn't need more innovative technology! It needs people who are good, true, and beautiful."

True excellent teaching is, he says, is "the overflow of the soul's goodness, truth, and beauty." And such overflow cannot take place in a system where truth itself is not even acknowledged.

So what do we want for our children? Free men and women study the liberal arts so that they can remain free. We want, in essence, freedomship education. An education that teaches one how to think. Thinking can be done poorly or done well, but we can teach children how to do it well, and then they can think for themselves. That is what we desire for our children- so that they can hear the misconstrued arguments of people (who don't think well or rationally) and figure out why such logic is flawed. So that they can discern for themselves the wrongness or rightness of a given situation, argument, or piece of work using a logical and reasonable mind.

In order to become a passionate pursuer of knowledge, one has to go deep into the subjects. This is the kind of education we ought to offer our children- the opportunity to cover less bases, but to cover the ones they do well and deeply. To come out on the other side of their childhood learning experience with deep-seated knowledge about a few important things, instead of knowing very little about everything. So we provide for our children the opportunity to dig in to their learning- to go deep, to plunge in.

We teach them, when they are young, to master the basic skills so that they can use those skills to really learn in their later years. In this way, regardless of what bases we didn't really "cover", our children can confidently go forth into their adult lives with the ability to learn anything they want. Because we have produced children who know how to think, who are passionate pursuers of knowledge, and who have a basic idea of who they are, why they are here, and what they are to do with their life, we have given them a good, true, and beautiful education.

We do this in part by teaching them to ask questions- this is indeed teaching a child how to think. Consider: there is no time for classrooms of children to ask their own questions. Instead, a teacher tells the children what to think. The children go home and study it. They come back the next day, and the teacher asks questions (so you see that the teacher has done the thinking for the student). If the student gives the teacher the answers she wants, he gets an A. (This is how I graduated with nearly a 4.0 in both high school and college. I was very good at parroting back what teachers wanted to hear. I wasn't so good, unfortunately, at thinking for myself.) If the student gives the teacher the wrong answer, he fails. And so this kind of non-thinking guides the way our students are supposedly "learning" in schools. This is precisely why John Taylor Gatto argues that most of what we call education is not actually education at all, but mere "schooling."

An Excellent High School Education
Pudewa made an outrageous statement about high school: You can probably require your homeschooled child to do nothing for four years, he says, and they will still come out with a better education than the typical public high school graduate.

How can he state such things?

I recently read that the average homeschooled 8th grader performs about four grade levels ahead of her public school counterpart. So there you go! Even if she does nothing, she's probably still going to be on par with the public schoolers who have spent four solid years at the local high school.

But Pudewa wasn't advocating an unschooling approach to high school (a cursory look through the Institute for Excellence in Writing's high school offerings should prove this). What he was saying, I think, is that there are better uses for our high schoolers' time than what they otherwise get in a public school.

If they have become good strong thinkers with a strong foundation in basic skills, then our students are ready to tackle much meatier subject matter than the typical high school offers. They will be able to get an academically superior education in less time than they will in a classroom each day. This allows them to pursue their interests and abilities in ways that public schoolers could only dream of.

To become really good at something, you have to spend time on it! Homeschooling through high school allows this to become a reality, and Pudewa shared several stories of homeschoolers who have truly become great within their fields even before reaching adulthood. Indeed, great leaders throughout history became great leaders in part because they had time to do what was important them. We can support our own students with this gift of a truly excellent education paired with unscheduled time, and allow them to far surpass our expectations.

The perpetuation of adolescence is a relatively new invention- it's only in recent years that we consider an 18-year-old not really "grown up" yet. How many 25-year-olds do you know who are still exploring their options? Growing into themselves? Thinking about what they want to be when they grow up? You've heard the saying right? "30 Is The New 20!" And yet this idea would have been outlandish even 75 years ago.

We give our teenagers adult privileges without any adult responsibilities, and then we wonder why our 27-year-olds are just finally graduating with bachelors' degrees, can't hold down jobs, and still aren't ready to commit to a relationship of any kind. By keeping our kids in high school and having them spend their precious adolescent years taking classes where many of them learn quite little, we rob them of the opportunity to get a really great academic education, prepare for adulthood, learn valuable life skills, and pursue their interests to find out who they really are what they are meant to do with their lives.

All said, homeschooling is a great gift we can offer our children- not just as a way to do school better, but as a way to do better things than school. I thoroughly enjoyed Andrew Pudewa's seminar and I hope to see him speak again soon. I encourage you to check out his webpage to find out if he's coming to your area!

Six Things on Sunday

2011-11-13T09:08:00.000-08:00

1. Andrew Pudewa was amazing. His seminar on Freedomship Education was the most inspiring homeschooling talk I've ever attended. I came home so revved up and excited! I wanted to hug my kids BIG and ask them if they had any idea how lucky we are to be living this homeschooling life? I wanted to kiss my husband BIG and thank him for giving our family this amazing privilege.

Mr. Pudewa talked about how the American public school system came to be (eye-opening), the model it is based on (frightening), the aims of childhood (quite noble & lovely), what true education is (inspiring!) and in general made everyone in that room walk out at the end of the night feeling like homeschooling is the best thing we can be doing for our kids. He made some excellent points about why homeschooling in high school is actually where the big pay-off happens-- where there is the most to gain.

I remember the first time I read Dumbing Us Down by John Taylor Gatto. I wondered if anyone could read that book all the way through and still think that compulsory public schools were a good idea. That's pretty much how I felt after Thursday night's seminar, too. I had typed up my notes and was going to share them here, but honestly I just think I'll offend too many of my readers. ;) But if Andrew Pudewa is coming anywhere near you, let me encourage you to find a way to go hear him speak! He's fantastic!!! My only regret is not purchasing a ticket for the all-day mini conference he hosted Friday. I'm sure that would have been just as good, if not better.

Updated to add: I did get brave and post those notes. You can find them here--
Freedomship Education: Thoughts & Notes

2. Of course, on Friday, more interesting things were happening. My friend Katie had her sweet baby (rather early, but he's doing just fine, and he's perfect and precious to boot). Yesterday I went to get some loving in on her new bundle of sweetness and got so excited. I get to have one of those sweet little sprouts soon, too! :) Lucky, lucky me!

3. I think I'm in a reading slump. I have picked up and put down too many books lately! I get about 100 pages in and bail out of boredom. I don't think I'll finish Angelina's Bachelors after all. It's just a bit slow, in my opinion. I need some good, page-turning fiction! Or maybe I should be spending all my reading time learning more about photography and getting myself ready for birth. But both of those? Are hard. And a girl's gotta have some good fiction on hand at all times, you know. Any recommendations?

4. Snap's been saying some pretty funny things lately. The other day he kept sneaking up on me; I'd spin around, and then he'd roar with laughter and cry "Missed me! Missed me! Now you gotta kiss me!" And then I would. Kiss him, of course. Which is fabulous, really, because he let me (this does not happen frequently). He asked if I like it when he's in the mood to let me kiss him. Um? Yes. :) And then he told me that he was in the mood to kiss me for two reasons: partly because he loved me, but partly because my breath smelled better than his and he wanted his to smell good, too. Let's just hope he outgrows that logic by the time he's a bit older. I'm sure his girlfriend will appreciate that he have his own nice breath. But mamas? Don't mind a bit. ;)

5. Snow! We got our first bit of it. It fell quick and fast late yesterday, but it's already all melted. No matter- there's snow in the forecast every single day this week. I'm thinking today will entail a trip to the store for snow boots. Somewhere along the line, that item fell off my to-do list. Wouldn't it be a shame to have lots of pretty fluffy stuff and no boots to wear out into it?

6. Last week we were at the park, and I was taking pictures of the kids. Andy said he wanted to snap a couple pictures of me (that seems to be the only problem with becoming hooked on learning photography- you are always taking pictures, so you're never in any pictures. Well. Unless you have a baby bump. Then you just might take them of yourself obsessively. I mean, theoretically speaking. Of course.)

Anyway, he pried ~~my baby~~ the camera free from my hands and snapped a few shots. And he's pretty good at it! His eyes got all lit up! He said something along the lines of Oh! This is fun!

So I promptly confiscated my camera and shooed him away. :) I can't be fighting for time with the camera, see. I teach my children to share. But I never claimed to be good at it myself.

There's just a big problem with this first one: you can't see my baby bump! ;) You know me. That will never do.

Let's try again. This time I'll arch my back and make myself look very pregnant...

Ah. Much better. ;)

Now give the camera back, dear.

Dear?

Give. it. back.

Now.

Happy Sunday, friends!

November :: A Daybook

2011-11-09T21:58:00.000-08:00

Outside my window...
Dark, because it's late. I never write daybooks when it's late, but for whatever reason I feel like writing one now. So I am. Snow is in the forecast for this week and I think that would just be spectacular. We haven't lived here long enough to groan (like the locals usually do) when snow starts falling. :)

I am thankful for...
Tonya. She's been showing up in my dreams almost every single night. And I always wake with my heart warm- grateful for her, and my heart aching- missing her.

I am thinking about...
Photography. It's... hard. And really, really fun. I want to get better at it. A lot better. I think maybe I need Mamarazzi (thanks, Elizabeth, for the email and the link!). Do any of you know- is it worth buying?

Learning all the time...
We are cruising! I don't think we've ever been quite this productive in our homeschooling experience before. Must be those checklists. That, or my constant awareness that baby is definitely getting closer to her arrival. ;) Either way, the kids are happily learning each day. I'm amazed that the more academically rigorous we've become, the more the kids have taken to it (and they seem more creative/energetic in their free time to boot). Who knew?

From the kitchen...
I don't really want to talk about it, thanks anyway. (Who are we kidding? I always want to talk about it, whatever "it" may be, lol).

I tried to make this Apple Walnut Torte yesterday. In fact, I did make it (and it tasted pretty good), it's just that I practically started a kitchen fire in the process. And ruined a perfectly good pan. And had to scrub out the oven for a reeeeally long time. And I'm 26 weeks pregnant, so I wasn't very happy about that. (Stooping over a black oven for a long time is a wee bit hard these days. I'm just sayin'.)

So. No more apple walnut torte. It was good, but not good enough for the mess it caused (and I refuse to believe it was my fault, even though my friend's barely-teenage daughter made it with apparently no danger to home and hearth. But whatever.). :)

I am creating...

order. I spent hours in the storage room last weekend, sorting and organizing and hauling out bags of ~~cra~~ old stuff. Now I need to start on our bedroom, which has become a Place of Unimaginable Clutter and Chaos, and which will also serve as baby's little haven. Which is why it needs some major sprucing. (Well, I should probably do some major sprucing anyway, but the fact that we plan to set up baby's command center there is more motivating). The problem? My energy level is plummeting. This is due, I'm sure, to the fact that I'm only about 12 days away from my 3rd trimester (but who's counting?). I simply cannot run out of energy yet! I have THINGS TO DO before baby comes, dontcha know? Sigh.

I am working on...
putting my feet up on a regular basis. I have that oh-so-sanguine tendency to go a hundred miles an hour until I end up flat on my back. Then, it's hard to recover! By dinnertime, I'm toast. So I'm working on giving myself little breaks through the day. I feel much better come the witching hour (read: 5:00) when I do.

I am going...
thrifting tomorrow with a good friend. And then to hear Andrew Pudewa speak tomorrow evening. It's going to be a good day!

I am hoping...
for snow.

I am reading...
Still reading Angelina's Bachelors (because I can't seem to keep my eyes open long enough at night to get a decent amount of reading in). I also finished Laura Berquist's Teaching Tips and Techniques, which was really quite good and validated a lot of what I'm already doing. That's always helpful.

I am praying for...
this baby. And most especially for her mode-of-arrival, which quite honestly has me shakin' in my boots.

I am hearing...
Usually the timer, as the kids are constantly setting it to jockey for their position on the computer. The addiction? Math Missions. Apparently, it's that fun.

Around the house...
I'm learning to let things go. I just can't keep up like I used to. Babies do have their own special way of teaching us to slow down, don't they? This baby is starting my lesson before she even gets here.

One of my favorite things...
Listening to my girls play piano. Primrose has been playing for just over a year and is really quite good these days. Her music is lovely. Tulip began playing this last month as part of our new homeschool partnership-program. I'm amazed at how much she's learning; I think she is, too. :) There is just something so incredibly satisfying about hearing your children make beautiful music. Something satisfying, too, in watching your children become better than you at something. I'm rather enjoying it, myself.

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Thrifting and lunch tomorrow, with a friend.
Andrew Pudewa! Lucky me!
11-11-11. Are you doing anything fun?
A quiet weekend (happy sigh)

Here are some picture thoughts I am sharing with you...

Overheard

2011-11-07T13:46:00.000-08:00

Today during lunch- a rousing debate over whether it's better to be a boy or a girl. Admittedly, the little guy was outnumbered to begin with. The banter went back and forth for awhile. It was this exchange that gave me pause:

Primrose: If you're a boy, you can't ever get pregnant.

Snapdragon: (rolls his eyes) I don't want to be pregnant!

Primrose: But if you aren't pregnant, then you can't eat tons of chocolate and blame it on the baby.

Touché, little girly. I've taught you well. :)

A Surprise Baby Shower and My 25-Week Bump

2011-11-06T11:44:00.000-08:00

I got quite the surprise last night! My friends really pulled one over on me. I thought we were having an ordinary Mom's Night Out, but instead I walked into my very own surprise baby shower. Even better, it was a double shower for both my friend Katie and me. Double the bellies- double the fun!

I don't have many pictures to share with you - I thought it was an ordinary MNO, remember? I didn't bring my camera! I did get a picture of the diaper cake, though, after I got home. It was made by Natalie and Sheila. Isn't it awesome?

Made with receiving blankets, itty-bitty girly socks, tiny slippers, and a whole bunch of diapers. The prettiest, most practical baby-shower gift I can think of!

I got a slew of positively adorable baby clothes, but I'll wait to show you those until I have a little cutie-pie to zip into them. :) This statue, The Angel of Miracles, is one of my favorite gifts. My friend Mary gave it to me to celebrate the sweet little baby growing within me. Indeed, this child is our very own little miracle.

I'm trying to take pictures of my belly every three weeks, so it's time for an update. Prim says that I ought to confess to arching my back as far as possible for these pictures. I can't help it! I can't wait until I'm 38 weeks pregnant and absolutely huge. I just love all that baby hugeness. :)

Well, that's it for me today. The sun in shining and temps are warming up (meaning it's still below freezing, but not as cold as it was this morning-- 23 degrees!), and my camera is begging for a field trip this afternoon. Who am I to argue?

Have a lovely day, friends!

My Biggest Homeschooling Mistake: Over-thinking Methods & Philosophies

2011-11-02T21:20:00.000-07:00

The ladies over at Simple Homeschool are writing about their biggest homeschooling mistakes, and they've invited others to do the same. I'm jumping in and linking up. I've really enjoyed reading their posts!

We've only been homeschooling for a handful of years, and yet I feel like I've made lots of mistakes- choosing my "biggest" one was a bit of a challenge. Life is a journey, you know? We all grow and change, and we have to make mistakes to get us to a place where we really bloom. So far, I think my biggest is this: over-thinking educational philosophies and methods.

You know how many ways there are to homeschool, right? And how many books there are on each and every method? I've probably read almost all of them. Really. That's not an overstatement, and that, my friends, is a mistake. Don't get me wrong- I'm all for self-education, but there is such a thing as overdoing it. I overdid it. Big time.

Part of my mistake was not just the reading of educational philosophy (because that in itself is not such a bad thing); the mistake was in being easily swayed by so-called educational experts. For awhile there, I was unable to read a book on any method without feeling like I needed to change something in our homeschooling, even if everything was going fine. I neglected to do what worked and follow my instincts, in favor of following a particular model or educational pioneer.

I would pick up an Unschooling book and become overwhelmed with guilt that I might be "coercing" my children into learning something they probably didn't need to know. I would read Charlotte Mason and think I should be spending "hours in the out-of-doors" every day, regardless of the crummy weather. I'd read something Classical and decide I was doing my kids a giant disservice by failing to introduce them to latin declensions. The Moores told me I was likely teaching my kids to read too early; The Well Trained Mind said I was too late. The Waldorf folks told me computer-based learning should be avoided at all costs, and that workbooks were dull and useless. The Reggio proponents (who admittedly had me smitten for a good long while) encouraged me to follow my children's interests and let them steer the curriculum.

There are enough methods and philosophies out there to make a girl's head spin, but until recently, I never realized that we ought to do what works for us, fits our temperaments, and helps us achieve the goals we are working toward.

I read and read and read until I could tell you the ins-and-outs of every educational method under the sun, but I couldn't tell you what worked for my kids. Which is ridiculous, really, because I'm not teaching every child under the sun. And yet I knew more about how Reggio education came to be or how Charlotte Mason thought grammar should be taught than about what worked best for my own children. My nose was always stuck in a book; my face always turned toward a screen. I was so wrapped up in the how of teaching these children, that I wasn't really meeting the needs of my actual children.

It was only when I silenced the voices of educational gurus coming from the bookshelf and internet and really paid close attention to my own children that I found our groove. One does not need to be versed in educational methodology to teach well. One needs to love her child. Pay attention to him. Notice how he learns- what he understands easily, what hinders his understanding. If I had spent those hours watching my children and following my instincts instead of reading up on this or that educational philosophy, I would have reaped greater rewards far sooner. My children would have received a better education, and I would have been a happier, more-content homeschooling mother.

Just these last couple of years, I've started using curriculum programs that were a good fit for my kids' personalities and my own teaching style, regardless of what any educational method said about them. I ignored the advice calling out from the bookshelf and did what made sense to do. Turns out, we like things a bit schooly. I created checklists. My kids switched to computer-based math. I started using a scripted beginning reading program, and all three break out the workbooks on a daily basis.

Because I stopped being distracted by idealistic, romantic notions of educators who have never met my children, we flourished. Suddenly we were getting in a very solid academic education, and had plenty of free time to go on field trips, read for hours, converse about life, and pursue our own interests to boot.

Don't get me wrong- I'm not opposed to reading up on educational methods, or brushing up on a teaching skill here or there. I'm reading one right now, and I've got another in my to-be-read queue. The difference is that I'm no longer over-analyzing, and I'm not ditching methods that are already working well in our home just because an "expert" says I should. Reading homeschooling books should support the family's way of learning, instead of instilling doubt and stirring a pot that's already bubbling away rather happily.

I intend to live out the rest of our homeschooling journey without getting sidetracked by the pretty, shiny, romantic notions contained in homeschooling books. But that's like saying I won't make any more mistakes. I'm sure I will. So I'll post this now, mostly for myself. It will be a good reminder the next time a promising new homeschooling book lands in my mailbox.

(Check out more homeschooling mistakes at the Simple Homeschool Link-Up)

Halloween 2011

2011-10-31T22:39:00.000-07:00

A smashing success, I must say. The kids came home with way too much candy, but I'm sure baby-on-the-way will do her part and ensure its disposal in a timely manner. She's helpful that way. ;)

Last night, Tulip had a whole evening of Halloween fun planned for us. She set up a candy corn hunt, had us play "pin the nose on the witch", and gave us crafts to do (making witch hats and paper ghosts). We also bobbed for apples, which is much harder than it looks!

Tulip cheated and bobbed the apple out by its stem. Primrose cheated and used her hands. Snap wouldn't even try it (he has a thing with slobber- and there were people-mouths in that bowl, you know? So he wouldn't go within 10 feet of it, lol.)

Andy, though? Rocked it. :)

Swoon. :)

Anyway, then it was time to carve pumpkins- the most entertaining part of the evening, really, because this boy:

realized that his oldest sister thinks pumpkin guts are disgusting.

And so he took full advantage of the opportunity at hand. Of course.

How is a 6 year old boy to resist? OF COURSE he had to pretend to vomit them up. It's what any self-respecting boy-child would do.

And then he tried to share his pumpkin-gut-vomit with her. Because that's what brothers are for.

Tulip was busy including her American Girl Dolls in all the festivities:

It was fun! I never took pictures of the pumpkins after they were carved. Silly me. I must have been getting a head-start on disposing of that Halloween candy. ;)

And now we turn our attention to the Feast of All Saints. It's just one celebration after another around here!

Halloween Daybook

2011-10-30T14:50:00.000-07:00

Outside my window...
Cold, gray and rainy. But at least we don't have snow yet. I can't believe how many of you have snow already!

I am thankful for...
an awesome week with my sister. I miss her already. Miss kissing on those sweet baby cheeks, too.

I am thinking about...
Baby names. But don't tell Andy. The topic is still off limits (till Christmas, remember?).

Learning all the time...
We went (very) light on academics last week. We were too busy loving on baby sweetness to hit the books, really. This week we start our second term's work, and there is a lot to get to before baby arrives in February. Kim gave us the motivational boost that we needed, and now we're rolling up our sleeves and getting to work.

From the kitchen...
More oatmeal raisin cookies. Andy says they were the best GF cookies he's ever had, and I think I probably agree. I used the recipe from Gluten Free Mama's Best Baking Recipes.

I am creating...

well, NOT Halloween costumes. I am just not talented with a needle and thread, that's all there is to it. I tried hemming Tulip's costume yesterday, and it took me almost 2 full hours to finish the darn thing because I hemmed it all backwards and had to rip it out and start over. Last summer I was so set on learning to sew, and Elizabeth was a (very convincing) cheering section for me. But instead I found myself sick as can be, sewing together a little person in my womb instead of sitting in front of a sewing machine even once.

I was frustrated enough with yesterday's sewing/ripping/cussing/sewing experience that I might just have to sew vicariously through Elizabeth. I like the idea of learning to sew, but I find taking pictures to be much more fun. And we only have so many hours in a day to learn something new and have fun with it, right?

I am working on...
the giant laundry pile that has swallowed my living room. Must. Fold. Soon.

I am going...
to come up with a menu for Thanksgiving. I'm cooking this year!

I am hoping...
that little Miss Baby-on-the-way does indeed sleep at least a little after she arrives. I mean, at some point she's got to, right? Because if the gymnastics in my belly are any indication, this little one is going to keep me on my toes. Baby? Don't you ever SLEEP in there?

I am reading...
Ack! I'm suffering from literary withdrawals. I didn't get in nearly enough reading this last week. I picked up Angelina's Bachelors (because the subtitle is "A Novel with Food"- I love novels and I love food, so how can I go wrong with this choice?). I'm still working through The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything: A Spirituality for Real Life, and I've got Still Alice and The Saturday Big Tent Wedding Party in my to-be-read queue. This afternoon, I have every intention of reading the hours away, nose inserted.

I am praying for...
a sweet man in our parish who went to be with the Lord after a long battle with cancer. And for his even-sweeter wife, who must face life in his absence.

I am hearing...
Snap explaining a superhero episode to Tulip. He keeps using the word "protect" which just sounds so adorable coming from him, because he pronounces it "peetect." It's the good guys' job to peetect the world, you know. It's also a big brother's job to peetect his baby sister, and after watching my little fella with Baby Cousin this last week, I have no doubt that he will take that job very seriously. He will be a very, very good peetector.

Around the house...
An organizing frenzy. I'm attacking each corner in my house one at a time. I'm currently 1/3 of the way through the storage room (which is really just a mammoth project). Then I'll turn my attention to the family room, and then to our bedroom, where we'll set up baby's crib and central command.

One of my favorite things...
this quote, taken from Our Town by Thornton Wilder (okay, so I guess I did get some reading in last week, after all):

"I didn't realize. So all that was going on and we never noticed. Take me back-up the hill- to my grave. But first: Wait! One more look. Good-by, Good-by world. Good-by to clocks ticking...and Mama's sunflowers. And food and coffee. And new-ironed dresses and hot baths... and sleeping and waking up. Oh, earth, you're too wonderful for anybody to realize you. Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it?- every, every minute?"

(emphasis mine)

A few plans for the rest of the week...
Back to our normal school routine
Irish Dance, Piano lessons, homeschool partnership, homeschool co-op
Lots of time at home, reading

Here are some picture thoughts I am sharing with you...

Some pictures from our evening Halloween Carnival at Church:

No, that's not Satan standing next to the Cutest Pilgrim on Earth and my very own Blessed Virgin Mary. That's Darth Maul. Everyone at church thought he was the devil, though, so I made Andy run home and get his light saber. We may be a bit of a motley crew here, but I promise I wouldn't really let my son dress up as the devil for Halloween (even if he acts a bit like one on occasion). ;)

My little ~~devil~~ Darth Maul, waiting his turn before entering a ghoulish haunted house. Yes, this carnival was at church. We Catholics are so scandalous, aren't we? ;)

You know who those cute teenagers standing with Primrose are, don't you? Why, that's Cinnamon and Paprika! I wish they didn't come out so blurry. (Note to self: lay off the bokeh settings, dear. We want to actually SEE the people in our photos, don't we?)

The Blessed Virgin, getting a cross painted on her cheek. Such a sweetie-pie, that one.

And me! This is about as festive I get, folks. :)