Lots of Random

I shared this on facebook, but I thought I'd share it here too:

Today Nathan and I were talking about (of all things) the gender roles of women in other cultures (have I mentioned that this kid asks a lot of questions?).  He asked me for a specific example, and I, as usual, couldn't come up with something when put on the spot.  I told him, "I can't think of anything off the top of my head."

"Do you have anything at the bottom of your head?"

Hmmm....

*****

Paisley loves Brian's shoes.  She loves all of the shoes she finds, but she curls up and sleeps on top of Brian's with her mouth open, so that her tongue is against the inside.  Yum.


*****

I was totally craving mashed potatoes earlier this week, during my monthly bout of insanity.  So I made A TON.  And they're now sitting in the fridge, because my kids won't eat them unless under duress.  I think we'll be eating Shepherd's Pie tonight.

*****

I've ordered our literature supplies for the rest of the school year, and little by little, they're arriving.  New books!  And the one day that I didn't put the RING THE DOORBELL AND DIE!!! sticker out, the guy rang the doorbell.  I would get a plaque if it weren't that the schedule is not consistent throughout babyhood.

*****

Isaac and Paisley are sort of hysterical together.  Isaac is so strong willed, I haven't figured out how to enforce appropriate behavior with the pup.  Consequently, our day goes like this:

Isaac attacks Paisley.

Paisley attacks Isaac.

Isaac cries. 

I come to the rescue, separate the offending parties, calm everyone down.

Isaac attacks Paisley.

*****

Speaking of Isaac, he's calming down!!  Sort of.  This week, he discovered that the tops come off of the six inch gutter drain thingies.  Our toy car bucket has been reduced by about half.

I feel the need to note, though, that we cleaned out toys in a massive way last weekend.   So the toys now floating somewhere underground?  Those were the few we wanted to KEEP.

While I was on the phone lamenting the situation to a friend's voice mail (so that I would not lament the situation to my toddler at top volume), Isaac was pulling the keys off my computer keyboard.  So if you notice anyplace that an "r" is missing, it's because that one is broken and wobbly now. 

Also, I got the requisite Toddler With Lipstick All Over His Face Picture yesterday.  He was cute, I have one of each of the kids, and he didn't ruin the lipstick, though (like Brenna did for her picture), so I'm not holding that one against him.

*****

I think there's a huge benefit to having a puppy while having a toddler.  Bodily fluids are such a part of my daily existence, that another creature having accidents on the floor doesn't even phase me.

*****

So things are kind of busy around here, what with the new puppy and all, however, our floor has never been cleaner!  Since Paisley thinks anything left on the floor is hers by default, it all get picked up.  And put on a counter or table.  So if you come to my house, just stare at the floor, and you'll think I have this thing figured out!  But you might run screaming from the house if you happen to glance at any other surfaces.

Happy New Year, Y'all!

Future Plans

Me:  Can I keep you forever?

Brenna: And Daddy's gonna keep me forever, too.

Me:  I'm gonna keep all of you forever.

Brenna:  (Big smile)  But you might have a hard time keeping me when I'm a grown up.

Me: Oh?

Brenna:  I'm gonna live in the place with the "move it, move it".

Me:  Madagascar?  (we found it on the map this week)

Brenna:  Yes.  Then the place with the cinnamon.

Me:  Sri Lanka?  (from the book How to Make and Apple Pie and See the World)

Brenna:  Yes.

Me:  Well, thanks for letting me know.

Sorry I've been absent for a bit.  This last week has been fuller than most since the school year started.

The library we usually frequent is closed for long-overdue repairs, so I finally decided it was time to find another one.  I found one in mid-city on the library website, then I looked it up on Google, and we were off.  There was no library at the given location.  This has happened SO MANY TIMES since we moved here.  It doesn't matter that Google says it's there, CALL FIRST.  Another reason for a smart phone.  Those things are looking more and more like they're worth spending too much money on!  We did finally find one, and got some great books, so that was good.  It just took up the whole afternoon.

Speaking of books, our FIAR book this week is Who Owns the Sun? by Stacy Chbosky.

This book is amazing, beautiful, and very hard for me.  And not at all hard for my children, which is fine, but makes me wonder if, well, I'm doing something wrong.  Like if I were teaching it correctly, they would understand.  But really, they just can't comprehend it yet.

The story is about a boy who adores his strong, wise father and asks him, "who owns the [sun/stars/wind, etc.]?" and his father responds with a description of the beauty of each of these things, and the answer, "no one can own the sun." 

Then one day, the boy overhears the man his parents work for talking about his father.  He is full of pride at the complements to his dad's strength and work ethic until the man says, "I wish I owned ten more just like him."

The conversation the boy has with his father afterwards is heartbreaking.

Stacy Chbosky was 14 years old when she wrote it for a school competition. 

For obvious reasons, race and prejudice have been on my mind consistently since we moved here.  As I talk with my kids about differences, it would seem that they are truly unaware of skin color and the value people place on it.  I am so grateful.  So grateful.


Well, I'm kind of worn out just thinking about that, so I guess I'll be back tomorrow with the rest of what we've been up to around here.  

Reminiscing

This week we're reading A Pair of Red Clogs by Masako Matsuno.  It's the story of a grandmother reminiscing about a lesson learned in her childhood. 

As our activity, I asked the kids to narrate a memory to me.


Here is Nathan's special memory:

When my baby brother was born, I was four years old.  Beah was my baby brother's midwife.  When he was born, my dad went over and woke me up and when I got up, the breakfast I had was plain cheerios with sugar in them.

My dad was the one to catch my baby brother.

The other midwife that came helped Beah.

My baby brother's name is Isaac.

I got water for my mom.  Beah helped me get nice hot water from the kettle.

Nana came to our house when my baby brother was born.  Nana took care of me.

I was in my mom's room most of the time.  I wanted to catch my baby brother, but then I didn't want to .  So I watched Isaac come out of my mom's tummy.  It was in the middle of the night.

I was excited that I was gonna get a new baby brother!

Here is Brenna's special memory:

I went to Wahoo Wednesday.  We had tables there.  We sat at them and colored.

There were toys that you could sprinkle but they weren't real.  They were pretend food.  They were yellow.  It was cheese.

I asked Brenna if she remembered the shirt she wore to Wahoo Wednesday (our church's VBS) and she scrunched up her nose and said, "it's getting too big on me."

"What?"

"It's getting too big on me."

"Do you mean 'it's getting too small'?"

"No.  It's getting too big on me."

"Oh.  well do you want to write about that?"

"No."

Well, at least she's got her priorities straight.  It's all about the cheese.  Fake or otherwise.

A Perfect Fit, Part 2

On Saturday, I talked about my love for Five in a Row.  The freedom it's given us is just what our family needs.  However, so much more goes into a day of parenting/schooling around here.  FIAR makes up about 45 minutes of a full day that encompasses the things I love about homeschooling.

In the morning, our family works together to run a load of laundry and load/unload the dishwasher.  The kids each make their own beds (as a side note, for the first time in my life, it has become habit to make my bed as soon as I get out of it.  Yay for growth!) and put away all the books they read the night before.

Next, we sit down for a devotional time.  As I was trying to figure out what to do for devotionals shortly before school started, my friend Nina told me she was using a book called Leading Little Ones to God.

The title sounded vaguely familiar... last year, I was given a couple huge totes of homeschooling supplies and texts from an acquaintance back home.  I told Nina, "I think I have that!" and I did.  I hadn't spent any time at all looking at it, but for some reason, decided to bring it to New Orleans with us.  It's a wonderful book.  Each day has a short reading, a scripture passage, and a hymn.  Last week, our readings were

• Our hearts ask for God
• We cannot see God
• We see God's works
• God talked to people long ago
• God talks to us

When I saw these subjects, and all the rest presented in a very loving and simple way, I knew this would be perfect for Nathan.  He asks questions about these sorts of things all the time.  Another perfect fit!

After devotions, we do math.  One of the things that the commenters about FIAR mentioned was that you definitely need to supplement math and handwriting. 

For handwriting, I've chosen to have Nathan write letters to people, because sending mail is about the greatest thing EVER.  Every week, we'll write one letter (and Brenna draws a picture), and spend time the rest of the week working on the places that were hard.  I know that's sort of backwards, but it works for us!

The big math decision, I turned over to my mathematically inclined husband.  I narrowed it down to two programs, then told him to try to remember being a kid, and pick which one he would have liked to use.  As I am mathematically challenged, even studying the websites' descriptions of their teaching styles was confusing to me!  Brian chose Math-U-See, a program that has received raves from those who use it. 

Math-U-See comes with a video lesson, a teacher's text, a workbook, and colorful blocks to play work with.  While Nathan works on his lesson, Brenna builds with the blocks, occasionally stealing the ones he needs.  Good stuff.  Because math is so not my subject, the jury is still out on this part of our curriculum, but if it doesn't work well for us, people are selling these things on ebay for almost what we paid for them! 

So, then comes snack time, then FIAR, then lunch and rest time.  After rest time, we finish anything that we didn't complete before lunch, and the children have free play time.

Okay, now, all those of you who love me, please be gentle with the obvious-ness of this next part!  I am a work in progress!

One of the parts of our day I've come to love arrives at four o'clock.  We stop everything, and tidy all the major living areas of the house.  This includes picking up toys, sweeping, folding and putting away the clean laundry if we didn't finish that earlier.  We clear and set the table for dinner, make the kitchen ready for business, and make sure the clothes in the closets are actually on their hangers (it's sort of amazing how many things get taken off hangers in the search for something to wear!). 

The first day we implemented this, I almost cried.  I had set aside about 45 minutes in our schedule to attempt to tidy two rooms (the living room and playroom).  An hour and a half later, the progress was, well, almost noticeable.  But as we've made this our habit, the cleaning itself goes faster (which is why we're able to do more than just tidy two rooms), and the cleaning carries over to the next day.  It's sort of amazing to me!

So once we've tidied, the kids are free to do their thing until Daddy comes home, and everyone goes positively spazzy.  And the mama pours herself a glass of whine wine and hides for the rest of the night.

So that's our school day.  All in all, a perfect fit for us.  Next mission: figuring out when to do the grocery shopping!

A Perfect Fit, Part 1

I was a little late to the curriculum game.  As I'm a little late most places, I guess that's par for the course!  So it wasn't until June that I started seriously pondering what level of structure would be best for us.  Right around that time, my friend Rachel asked if I'd seen Five in a Row, as it seemed like it might be a good fit for me.  I hadn't, but as is my general method, I first went to their site, then googled "five in a row blog".  The descriptions I found were glowing.

Basically, with FIAR, we read the same book, a well-chosen piece of classical children's literature, every day for the week.  Then, each day we discuss/study/experiment with different aspects of the book.  This is referred to as a "unit study" in homeschooling (and probably elsewhere). The lessons are given in short paragraphs in the (inexpensive) curriculum book, and we do several a day.  It's very low-key, and I can do as many or as few lessons as I wish.

This week we read The Story about Ping, a book we've had on our shelf for a couple years.  My kids asked for it periodically, but it's never been a particular favorite. Friday, as Nathan brought the book to me for the fifth time, he declared, "Mom, this is my FAVORITE BOOK!"  I asked how he liked it after reading it five times in a row, and he replied, "I never knew what a WONDERFUL BOOK this was!"

Ping is about a little duck who lives on the Yangtze River in China.  His master has trained his ducks to hurry onto his boat by giving the last duck across the bridge a spank on the back.  One day, Ping has his head under the water when his master calls, and he quickly  realizes he will be the last on the boat.  To avoid the spank, Ping hides rather than go home.  The story that follows is about Ping's misadventures before he is reunited with his family aboard the boat.  Ultimately, he has to make a choice to either take the discipline he doesn't want or be separated again from his family.

So this is how our week broke down:

Monday:
We read the book, then talked about China and the Yangtze river (the third largest river in the world).  We located them on a map, talked about the size of the river, how many people live on/around it, and how Ping would feel when he was lost in such a huge place, surrounded by so many people. Then we talked about the clothes, food and boats of the human characters in the book.  Nathan colored and cut out a "story disk" and placed it on our wall map.

Tuesday:
We read the book, then talked about what makes a book "a classic", what fiction is, then talked about how repetition is used.  For example, Ping begins and ends with,

"Ping (lived) with his mother and his father and two sisters and three brothers and eleven aunts and seven uncles and forty-two cousins"

Also throughout, there is repetition of the phrase, "the wise-eyed boat on the Yangtze river."

Wednesday:
Such a fun day!  We read the book, then talked first about discernment, how things are sometimes not what they seem.  Sometimes they seem better than what they are; Ping followed some rice cake crumbs and was captured for a duck dinner.  Sometimes they are worse than what they are; Ping avoided a spank and was separated from his loved ones.

Then we talked about the pictures in the book, what they were made with (crayon and colored pencil in primary colors), the use of water in almost every picture as a unifying theme (of course I didn't use that term with Nathan and Brenna!) and then we sat at the table with our own colored pencils to experiment with drawing like the artist (layered colors, water, reflections and ripples).

By Nathan

By Brenna

Thursday:
We read the book, then counted out Pings family, then talked about ducks.

Friday:
We read the book, then experimented with things floating in a bowl of water (a major human character has a barrel tied to his back).  We talked about life vests and floaties, and why some things float and others don't.  Then we talked about reflections.  We read the poem "The Mirror" by A. A. Milne, and used a hand mirror to look at reflections.


Five in a Row has given my family amazing literature and structure combined with flexibility in a way that is perfect for us. I couldn't be happier.  Next week, we travel to Japan!

Poetry

I've never cared for poetry.  I don't really get it.  As a kid, I couldn't write it, and well... there just was no reason to try.  Except Shakespeare, because actually, I love the sonnets.

So it has come as a fun surprise to me to read kid's poetry.  I love it!  A.A. Milne is a favorite, sweet, personable.  And to be honest, one of my favorites was a bit of deja vu:

Spring Morning

Where am I going?  I don't quite know.
Down to the stream where the king-cups grow-
Up on the hill where the pine-trees blow-
Anywhere, anywhere.  I don't know.

Where am I going?  The clouds sail by,
Little ones, baby ones, over the sky.
Where am I going?  The shadows pass,
Little ones, baby ones, over the grass.

If you were a cloud, and sailed up there,
You'd sail on water as blue as air,
And you'd see me here in the fields and say:
"Doesn't the sky look green today?"

Where am I going?  The high rooks call:
"It's awful fun to be born at all."
Where am I going?  The ring-doves coo:
"We do have beautiful things to do."

If you were a bird, and lived on high,
You'd lean on the wind when the wind came by,
You'd say to the wind when it took you away:
"That's where I wanted to go today!"

Where am I going?  I don't quite know.
What does it matter where people go?
Down to the wood where the blue-bells grow-
Anywhere, anywhere.  I don't know.

The first time I read this to the kids it sounded very familiar.  I read it through again and realized where I've heard it before- one of my favorite movies as a kid: Kindergarten Cop.  As silly as it is, every time I read it now, I wonder what it is about this particular poem that the writer's of that movie wanted to share it.  It is definitely a read-aloud.  If you're not a fan of poetry yet, try reading it aloud.  It has the most beautiful rhythm.

So that's what I'm thinking about today.  Poetry, and starting back at the beginning to learn to love something.

Splash!

Rainbow Making

To make a rainbow,

light must learn to paint

with beads of water

mixed with air

just right,

and master every color 

row by row

to shape a bow.

It seems to take 

a lot of stormy tries

to watercolor-paint

on misty skies.

The Rundown

My kids are in such funny places right now (or maybe I'm just in a place to better appreciate their humor!).  I've really enjoyed watching them figure things out and put new ideas to use.

Nathan is starting to put together the things we've been learning all year.  The other day we were walking somewhere and Brenna decided to count our family members.  Apparently there are 17!  So after she performed this amazing feat (just last week she counted to ten for the first time) and I got all excited, Nathan decided to show off.  He counted to 100!  Then he did it again!

His imagination is working overtime.  A couple weeks ago for their date, Brian and Nathan went to see How to Train Your Dragon... dragons are pretty hot around here.  That week we got this awesome old book from the library:

It's a book of short stories that were originally published in 1899.  The stories are written in a style that you just don't hear anymore, and they take a good bit of time to read, but oh, they are fun!  Anyway, between the language and the length, I can't read an entire story straight through; so we've taken to reading until a really suspenseful part, then getting up and doing a task around the house, like unloading the dishwasher or picking up a room.  While this has been a great method for quickly getting things done with a good attitude (woohoo!) an unforeseen pleasure has been listening to Nathan process the stories aloud while he works.  There have been some very dangerous and thrilling battles played out in my boy's imagination!

*****

Isaac is my wild card.  I realized why youngest children are such clowns and people pleasers.  This kid ALWAYS has someone looking at him, and gets constant feedback on his behavior.

He started walking a couple weeks ago, so now he only stops when tied to a chair.  At the library this morning, I was ready to lay down on the floor and take a nap after about 40 minutes of chasing him through doors, up stairs, behind the librarian, around the stacks.  And every time I picked him up, he went into the full-body-writhe action.  It seems to me this is a skill that some kids really perfect more than others, in which they're throwing their weight and twisting so much that you have to put them back down because otherwise you'll drop 'em!

Isaac's other newfound passion is throwing things away.  At least once a day, usually twice, we'll mention/hold/be looking for something.  Then it goes missing.  An all-out search is underway, my frustration mounting because I just had it/where did you put it/it was right there! when it occurs to me look in the trash.  And there it is.  Shoes, dry erase markers, library cards, sippy cups, plates, silverware, etc.  All have been found in the trash.  Who knows what I haven't found.

*****

Brenna has been a joy to know lately.  She is suddenly putting ideas from different places and times together in stream-of-consciousness statements that leave Brian and me in stitches.

(Okay, I just have to note here that I wrote Brian and I first, then thought about it, and changed it to me, and it just doesn't feel right!  I'm a little stressed about that right now.  'Cause I'm a grammar nerd.)

Anyhoo, we cross a bridge every week on our way to church.  The bridge crosses the Mississippi River, right over where the cruise ships load, including a dinner cruise that we'd like to take sometime while we're here.  So in the past, Brenna's commented on the ship, or the bridge to church, or eating dinner on a boat, whatever.

Then last week as we drove across, she was all, "This is the bridge we go across to church on the river that goes over the ship where we're going to eat dinner in October when Nana and Papa come from California to visit us.  When is Aunt Jo's wedding?"

("Dis i da bidge we do atoss to tutch on da wibbuh dat does obuh da sip whe we doin' to eat dinnuh in Otobuh when Nana an Papa tum fum Towfonia to bisit us.  When is Aunt Do's weddin'?")


So as you can see, it's go-go-go all the time around here with these three.  Little brains and bodies are in motion from sunrise 'til we throw those little suckers in bed at night (and then the four or so times we get up for water/potty/blankie/teddy bear/pacifier/books/stop talking!  Last night Brian and I were calculating that in about ten years, maybe, we'll be able to sleep in.  Until then, we'll be on our toes!

Miscellany 12.20.09

I have about a million pictures on my camera, so my next few posts are going to be pic intensive!  I have one (count it... ONE) deep thought in my head, but I'm not sure how to articulate it, so that will be coming sooner or later.

Tonight at dinner, I served twice baked potatoes.  As some of you know, my two eldest children don't consider potatoes edible unless they are of the french fried variety.  Nathan asked me in his most polite voice, "Mom, could you never, ever make this ever again?"

Brian is dog tired after working from 4am to noon Saturday and Sunday.  I am thrilled for the two coming four day weekends.

I'm pretty sure Nathan's quilt will be done for Christmas.  Yay!!  It's weird to have a project that I've spent a year working on, but Brenna is eager for me to start on hers.  It will be pink and pupple (yes, I meant to do that).

We have an ornament graveyard going on the kitchen counter.  And none of them were broken by the baby.

An old friend brought a great book store, Better World Books to my attention. They have a 5 for $15 bargain bin with free shipping, so I just scrolled through books until I found five that I knew I wanted for the kids.  Only a couple of them are appropriate right now, but I got Sarah, Plain and Tall.  It's a short little book, and I decided to read it because I remember not really caring for it as a kid.  It's heart wrenching.  The story is about a widower who advertises for a wife in the newspaper, and his two children, as they prepare to welcome Sarah into their lives.  The most important criterion?  That she sing, because there has been no music in their house since their mother died.  It's got me thinking about emotional maturity and when it's appropriate to introduce negative emotions in a safe way.  I can't remember when I read it... probably around third or fourth grade.

We have only one meal's worth of turkey left from Thanksgiving, and I've decided that next year I'M NOT MAKING A TURKEY.  Blasphemy, I know.  But I've never particularly liked turkey, and having several meals of it after the big day, on top of the work of making it in the first place... just not worth it.  Besides, Thanksgiving is about the carbs anyway, right?

Okay, I think that's it.  My brain is sort of empty for the moment.  If you made it this far, thank you!

A Thanksgiving Thought by Bobbi Katz

The day I give thanks for having a nose

Is Thanksgiving Day, for do you suppose

That Thanksgiving dinner would taste as good

If you couldn't smell it? I don't think it would.

Could apple pies baking – turkey that's basting

Not be for smelling? Just be for tasting?

It's a cranberry-cinnamon-onion bouquet!

Be thankful for noses on Thanksgiving Day.

Two wonderful books that will be on my wishlist for next year: