brighthouse

Technology and Learning

2011-12-01T11:51:00.000-05:00

I have a sort of love - hate relationship with technology. I like to have access to it, I also very much like some parts of life void of it, or some time void of it. I think Ranald MacCaulay's 'Technology Sabbath' talk still rings in my ears somtimes. We don't have the latest/fanciest gadgets - there is no iAnything in our home right now, but we do have some useful gadgets and I try to look at them as tools. There are other pieces of technology and ways that technology is used in our home that I find distracting/disruptive and we try to keep within certain boundaries.

One thing I am very thankful for, however, is the amazing access we have through our cable internet connection and wireless network in our home to learn - espeically from videos. To see and meet people and connect with their ideas in a way that we would never be able to - even with the perfect book.

A couple of years ago I read Uncle Tungsten by Oliver Sacks and fell in love with this man and how his mind works and his passion for learning and creative thinking. The boys have seen his videos on Ted Talks and I've read to them excerpts from some of his books. When Jonathan takes Chemistry (hopefully next year) Uncle Tungsten will be required reading.

This morning while doing some reading about desks and workspaces because I've been thinking about these areas in our own home I happened across this video from another favorite use of technology around here (NPR on the radio, internet, mp3player, phone, etc.). A chance to see Oliver Sacks in his periodic table T-shirt sitting at his desk talking about how he works - "Yes, please!"

Evidently Science Friday did a whole series of these this year called Desktop Diaries.

For Sale Shelf

2011-11-16T09:26:00.000-05:00

I have a huge selection of books and magazines that I need to clear out. I don't want to take these items to Goodwill, and I'm not up for a yardsale or selling on eBay right now. So I thought I'd put a post up here - I'll make a bookmark for it to the right so it doesn't get lost admist other posts. Maybe some of you will want or could use some of these things -- I'lll be updating it a bit at a time.

A note about prices - all prices INCLUDE shipping, if you want more than one thing I'll discount not only shipping but also the prices depending on how many items you want. If there are several things you want email me with an offer. If you live local and are willing to pick up items or arrange a drop off, subtract $2 from the price. Email me at amberb@carolina.rr.com with inquiries or to make a purchase and I'll reply with instructions.

Right now I'm working on listing the BOXES of magazines that mom gave me - if you are interested in a particular magazine or issue email me because it may not be listed yet. There are all varities of knitting magazines and also back issues of Artist's magazine and Watercolor magazine!

NEEDLEWORK MAGAZINES
Knit 'n Style $6 each
Feb 2008
Mittens, Button Closures, Stephanie Pearl-McPhee
June 2008
Meg Swansen, Knitted Hems, Sock Wars III

Knitscene $6 each
Fall/Winter 2005
Bohemian - red hot folk, Crocheted circles, Fair Isle, PomPoms
Fall 2006
30 Wrap Styles, Fearless Felting, Cabling
Spring 2007
Intarsia, Edgings, Comfort Knits, Knits on the Town, Retro Specials
Fall 2008
Easy Sweaters, 12 Fall Essentials, Modern Medieval, Colorful Outerwear, Global Knits, Selling on Etsy
Fall 2010
Easy Lace Projects, Understanding Ribing, Learn to Fit your Foot - custom knit socks, metalic yarns, Hattah Fettig's super simple sweaters

PieceWork $10 each
March/April 2003
Mosaick Patchwork Quilting, 18 Color Knit Vest, Crewel Embroidery, Beaded Evening Bag
September/October 2008
Annual Quilt Issue, Jane Austen's Patchwork Coverlet, Native American Star Quilts, Knitting Traditions of Pioneer Women, Knit Edgings
November/December 2008
Nancy Bush's Norwegian Wedding Gloves, Zigzagging Rags to Rugs, Baby Soakers, Holiday Gift Issue
January/February 2009
Alice Starmore's Wee Baby Bonned, Andean Figure Purses, Knit a Sock in A Sock, Eleanor Roosevelt, Estonian Mitten, Portuguese Knitting
March/April 2009
Textiles for Historical Reenactment, Civil War Socks, Ewardian Monograms, 17th Century Undershirt, Smocked Baby Gown, Knitting During the Civil War
May/June 2009
Understanding Lace - Knots and Loops, Russian Lace Shawl, Chantilly Lace Tatting, Italian Needlelace
July/August 2009
Travel Issue, Tree of Life Mittens, New England Embroidered Quilt, Ceremonial Clooths, Gifts of the Sultan

Heigh - Ho, Heigh - Ho!

2011-10-29T15:33:00.000-04:00

Dear Nana,

Well, we pulled it off again - another year of homemade costumes! This year they did most everything themselves...I only had to make one thing - a beard for Nathan and help with his stuffing. (David made James's nametag!) We did buy some slime and an axe...shh...

Nathan has kept us all laughing - he loved his beard which I made while he was sleeping and kept trying it on him to make sure it fit. The boys taught him to sing heigh-ho, heigh, ho. He makes a good dwarf don't you think?

Joseph pretty much created his own costume with only a little help. He picked this hat and a holster out of his Daddy's closet and borrowed a bandana from Jonathan. I loaned him my poncho and he was very happy to be a real cowboy...

Not a great picture of Jesse - we were in a hurry to get to the parade and he forgot his magnifying glass, but he was Sherlock! Don't you love his idea of wearing two hats? (I'm sure you recognize the scarf.)

Professor bent made yet another appearance. I'm not sure who was responsible for the hairdo this time - Catherine or grandmom, but it was great. He had a testube full of slime. I think he's James's official alter-ego!

Jonathan was a big help in getting them ready and he and Catherine walked with them in the parade. Jonathan helped when they trick - or treated down mainstreet. He carried Nathan on his shoulders after a while because he got so tired. Wish you could have seen them in person. They had a great time in the parade and enjoyed everyone's encouragement for their creative costumes!

Here they are with Catherine. They had such a good time with her.

Now they are outside enjoying the beautiful sunshine and cold wind. The leaves smell so good!!

Love to you and Papa,

Amber and the Boys

Why haven't I blogged? (Well, not ALL my days have been like this...)

2011-09-21T20:16:00.000-04:00

6:30 am wake up. Eat a bowl of cereal because I'm starved. Go to Food Lion for another box of raisin bran because I know what kind of morning it's going to be and the needed pots and griddle are still dirty because of the kind of day yesterday was. I think about washing them using them and washing them again and grab the keys - Food Lion is just 3 minutes away! Call C to prepare her that I might not be able to carpool - Nathan has poison ivy around his eye. Home and urge boys out of pjs and in front of cereal. Time to start chores and lessons. Call the doctor because it's now 8:02. Wipe down the bathroom because guests are coming and Joseph is the one whose been cleaning it all week! Wipe down the cleared table, urge a couple of boys to finish chores and swap out laundry.

Take Nathan to Dr. for poison ivy around his eye, drop of his perscription at pharmacy. Drive home, sweep and steam mop floor while little ones color themselves red on the screened porch. Clean them up (sort-of - these markers are not washable). Start baking cookies and wiping down the kitchen between pans. Biology carpool guys arrive and I find them desks. Check the cookies - they are sticking to cookie sheet. Try to have a history tutorial while the littles have tears with one another upstairs. Suddenly realize it's time to leave for biology and no one has eaten lunch yet!

I stash the cookie batter in the fridge while they all dig out their lunch bags. The biology guys finish the crumbs of their lunch and cookies on the way to class (I'll grab the little ones a hamburger on the way to the library) and are walking up the drive way at 11:30 (that's when class starts). Drive to pick up steroids from pharmacy and have to wait 10 minutes even though it was supposed to have been ready in an hour. Give Nathan his steroids in the car. Wait a long time in another drive-through to buy the littles hamburgers to go with their bottled water that I keep in the car.

By the time we get across the street there is no time left for the library so I dry tears as we walk into Nathan's speech therapy appointment (he's still carrying his hamburger). The boys sit in the waiting room without their games and things to occupy them for an hour - all they have is the bag of library books they had planned to exchange for new ones. They wait by themselves as I go in with Nathan. They were very well mannered and patient in spite of it all and Jesse read the same book again, and then again. I give thanks that those tense sibling moments of the morning seem to have passed. And try not to worry that most of them are red at least in patches.

Nathan's appointment goes well in spite of the fact that his Benadryl makes him sleepy and I was told the steroid would make him hyper. The insurance company still hasn't responded to the claim forms the therapist filed so as soon as I get home I have to call them because it's been more than 4 weeks now. We are out of the office at exactly 1:30 which is what time biology is finished.

Drive to biology to pick up Jonathan and pick him up at the end of the driveway at 1:47. Drop Jonathan off at home so he can work on lab reports and grammar. He's learned that if he doesn't keep working after co-op and biology classes it's near impossible to get all of his work done even if he works at night and on the weekends.

We head to the library. Last night when planning Jesse's weekly assignments I look up the next book for his literature class. Of course it's the only one of a whole stack of books that he's reading that we don't have a copy of and he has to start his reading tomorrow in order to finish by Tuesday. We ordered it 3 weeks before co-op began but it's still back ordered. Thankfully, when I checked the library website they had a copy - but it was at the Matthews branch. I live in University - close to a 30 minute drive!! We hop on 485 and drive straight in to a blinding deluge. We arrive in Matthews where the truck dies three times while we're trying to get through the red lights. We make it to the library without getting totally soaked in spite of the fact that none of us have rain coats. I head straight to the bathroom. This pregnant Mommy can't remember the last time she went, but it was way too long ago.

Matthews library is lovely and we all settle in. They have great book selections and James loves their kids science section. At our library he always ask me to take him to the big science shelf (the adult section). We found some old favorites including Cranberry Thanksgiving before all the copies get checked out and an Alfie book that our library doesn't have a copy of. The boys are very cheerful - after their long day they got their library time after all. We sit around a table and I examine each of their piles, weeding inappropriate titles, and paring down the books till each of them are able to manage their own piles. I pass around library cards and they go to the desk and wait patiently in line while a real person checks out their books instead of a computer. We stack the books in the truck while they run up the ramp and around the Chamber of Commerce into the little red caboose. They each climb up into the high seats to look out the window and we pile in the truck amidst the books to head home. (It feels strange to have one son too old for all of this - old enough to be home alone writing a lab report!) The pace of the day is slowly beginning to wind down, but so am I!

I have peaches to slice and freeze but need to stop and get freezer bags. I decide to buy another roll of parchment that I have run out of before finishing the rest of the cookie batter so we don't have to deal with cookies that stick to the pan and burn. While I'm plannig my list at the store I look back at these boys who've been carted here and there ALL DAY. I make a quick call to Jonathan and he's made good progress so I drop them off at the driveway before heading to the store alone. They joyfully splash inside happy to be home. While at the store I decide that the best plan for dinner is Stoffer's lasagna and pick up a loaf of french bread for toast. I make another mental note to try and get something else in the freezer besides meatloaf and carry the bags to the truck.

Jonathan hears me pull in the driveway and rounds up all the little ones to carry in the groceries and they put things away. It's so nice when they are thoughtful! Relief. Pop in the lasagna and it's 4:50 - just enough time to call the insurance company. They haven't received any claims and have no records of any of Nathan's visits to speech therapy so a call to his doctors office get's slated to first thing in the morning. They boys are watching Richard Scarry and I sit down to check my email while lasagna is in the oven. There are lots and lots. Sigh. I put up my feet and just 'Do the Next Thing'.

I call about a van that David sent me a Craigslist post to check into. It's big enough and actually within our budget and looks like it's in good condition. There aren't many details. So I call and Hector answers. He uses it as a work truck. How many miles does it have? He bought it four years ago and hasn't had any problems with it. I ask again. It had almost 100,000 miles on it when he boutght it, but it runs great. He doesn't really want to sell it but he's going back to his home country. He asks why I need it then says he's taken out the seats but knows someone who has some in storage. He can drive it over to let us look at it - he's only a couple of miles away. I ask again, How many miles? He finally says 330,000! But they are all highway miles he says this several times and it still runs great - he drives it Chicago and back twice a week!! Oh, Hector, good luck selling that van!!

David is home before I know it and we've had dinner and talked. I'm again sitting with my feet up. As soon as the little ones go down for bed I think I'll start on some of the peaches. Now I think its time to try and squeeze in a couple of those library books amidst listening to Joseph's very first whistles! One more mental note to crank the truck early in the morning and try to locate the source of that vacuum leak that we hear under the hood. Then whether I can find it or not brave a call to C&S to ask Jeff if they can try just one more time to find it...

Morning Work

2011-06-17T10:07:00.000-04:00

I have not washed the dishes, made the bed, swept, done any laundry or any other 'work' and yet I have decided my morning work is done. The boys have been away since Tuesday - in the mountains with Grandmom and Grandad - and we have been working hard here on some large projects. I was ready this morning - my last morning in a silent house for awhile - for a different kind of work...

First thing before breakfast I decided it was harvest time. I have promised the boys some pickled beets, and these carrots are headed to the freezer. The last of the chard and the first of the veggies are being chopped into some stirfry for dinner tonight. We were so happy to pick the first eggplant we didn't wait for it to get any bigger!

After breakfast I picked another bountiful harvest meant to be a feast for the eyes only. I filled the container by the front door with a bit of everything blooming in the garden now. So this is my garden in miniature. (I wish my beds looked this full.)

The only thing not represented in this container are my Mama Williams's garlic. The boys and I love to watch it bloom every year. When the blossoms pop out of their skins they sit on top of the blooms like little hats. This is what they looked like a couple of weeks ago:

I brought them inside this morning because they were beginning to fall over:

I also planted some basil where the carrots were harvested - better late than never - and watered a few things from the rain barrell. I guess now it's time to do some of those other things...

Today's Harvest

2011-06-04T12:57:00.000-04:00

This is our first carrot success. This is a Nantes Short 'N Sweet variety. They are definately short - we'll let you know if they are sweet. Now to divide 3 small carrots 7 ways. It's a good thing there are plenty more growing - we have 3 successive plantings and this is the first of our 'early' crop planted way back in February! The boys want to pickle the beets, but these are going in the oven tonight.

Illustration Friday

2011-06-02T13:53:00.001-04:00

Once - long ago I posted an illustration here for Illustration Friday. Illustrating is something I am still interested in when there is time. ~~I don't know how long it's been~~ (2 and a half years I checked) since I made this first post. Anyway, I've done another, and made a special place to put them here incase there are more. I'll post a link here if any more are done...

Radish School

2011-05-20T20:04:00.000-04:00

This year in the garden we grew Radishes. Yesterday we finished up our meager harvest (our second picking). I had to pull them early because they were going to bolt. I thought I would share with you some lessons we have learned:

Lesson #1 Radishes are a cool weather crop, so if you live in Charlotte and even when you plant them in late February like we did, chances are they will bolt before the entire crop is ready. Then the already strong flavor will be unbearably strong! We've learned that the season for growing Radishes is from September to March, which in Charlotte translates to September to early to mid February. We'll try again in the fall...

Lesson #2 Radishes aren't just for displays of bravery. I remember feeling like I was proving something by eating Radishes when I was a kid! How many bites can you take? (If you pick them while young and tender and definately before they bolt they are not as strong). This year we planted a different variety than the familiar red skinned white fleshed Radish. We planted an heirloom variety called Watermelon which has a green skin and pink flesh. They do have a different flavor - still very much Radish, but something more somehow. So try different varieties - there are many!

Lesson #3 You can pickle Radishes. These were just a simple refrigerator pickle made with Apple Cider Vinegar in water with a bit of salt. They turned a lovely pink and the boys LOVE them. I'd like to try making some canned pickles this winter - perhaps a sweet variety, too. The hotness dissipates when you pickle them, but they still warm your tummy...

Lesson #4 You can COOK Radishes. This I'd never seen or heard before - I'd only ever eaten them raw and mostly as a salad garnish. They are excellent roasted and tomorrow evening my plan for the last of our harvest is to have them grilled using this recipe. You can even wash and chop the tops and prepare them just as you do other cooked greens. (That's on tomorrow's menu, too.)

Lesson #5 Radishes are a fairly quick crop. You can save space in the garden by planting them at the same time as another slower growing crop. We planted a row of carrots very close to either side of the Radishes. The Radishes were ready to harvest just as the carrots are really getting started, so when I pulled them out yesterday the carrots which were growing under the radish leaves now have plenty of room to grow!

Encouragement to buy more books...

2011-05-16T21:55:00.000-04:00

... like we really need more encouragement, right? When I visit my favorite haunts I most always come home with at least a few new titles. Lately I've found myself getting more and more selective - it's that problem of room on shelves AND room for shelves...

On my last jaunt to Book Buyers (LIKE them on facebook) I came home with quite a stack. Among them I found a very nicely illustrated copy of Bullfinch, a beautiful vintage illustrated edition of Hiawatha, and yet another copy of Mike Mulligan each of which went upstairs onto the boys personal shelves. I also found a gilded, illustrated copy of Tennyson - the complete writings. The cloth binding was a bit frayed and worn and I debated - it was $10. I don't often pay that much for a used book - the last time was for a first edition of Jonathan Edwards 'On Charity'. I didn't blink twice over the $15 price for that one, though - you can feel the type on the page where it was block printed.

When I came home I glanced through the Tennyson book, dipping into a few poems and then reluctantly placed it on the very short poetry shelf in our 'library'. I knew I should take the time to repair it before putting such a fragile binding on the shelf because the boys, well, they READ. Even the poetry books come down - this year even the three year old sat through ALL of Hiawatha.

Tonight we were reading Little Town On The Prairie. Chapter 12 - Snug for Winter - and there it was in illustrated text that stood out enough for me to notice it before I got to that paragraph - "Tennyson's Poems". So I stopped before I read the title of the book that Laura pulled out from the bottom drawer between the flannels and I directed Jonathan to the shelf and book without giving it away and he brought it over. The boys were captured. I read the description of the green cloth book with gold edges and scrolls on the cover - and it was very much like our copy.

When Laura opened up and began to read from Lotus Eaters Jesse had to know if our copy had that poem. We quickly found it and he followed along in our book as I read from Little Town. We finished the chapter and Laura was left wondering 'like what' because her self control would let her read no more after realizing that she had found a secret. Jesse found it great fun to keep reading the rest of the first verse to find out that it was a stream that Tennyson was talking about and it was 'like a downward smoke'. He had me continue reading and so we read the whole introduction of the poem.

He said, "It sounds like a marsh." I explained that a lotus is a flower that grows in the water much like a water lily (honestly I don't know much more than that). He commented that there were lots of things he didn't understand and we talked about having to sometimes read poetry over and over - and he finished my sentence - "until you get it!"
I have a feeling we'll be reading more Lotus Eaters soon. So next time my fingers waver over a title I hope to remind myself of this evening and the joys of having just the right book at just the right time and convince myself that there are enough pennies, and the shelves are long enough for more books, and their are still enough walls for more books.

Sure we could have looked it up electronically (and I love technology), but there was such delight in being able to pull off the shelf that shiny, green, gilded, scrolled copy before widening eyes! I'm not sure I would have been asked to read more Tennyson had it been from a computer screen.

Now I really do need to give this copy some TLC because now that it has been 'discovered' it's sure to get a lot of action. I look forward to the evenings to come to see how this book is woven into the story as we read.

Carolina or Dwarf Mudpuppy?

2011-04-22T00:37:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we found this little guy in the stream behind our property. We are fairly certain that he is a Mudpuppy - he does have four toes on his hind feet. We are pretty certain that he is a juvenille - he's very small - about 3.5 inches. He could be a Carolina Mudpuppy Necturus lewisi because his pattern is more contrasting than other species of mudpuppies. He doesn't have the heavily spotted pattern of that species, but the juveniles don't. Our guide says that juveniles of this species lack the median dark stripe of the juveniles of some other species of mudpuppies (we saw pictures of these and there is a definate dark stripe running down the spine which our little guy doesn't have). It also says that the dark spots form gradually in juveniles. How long are they juveniles? They don't reach maturity until 6 years of age and are thought to live as long as 18 years!

The main problem with this identification is that it is out of the range that my guide allows for this mudpuppy. It gives the range in the Neuse and Tar river basins which are quite a bit further east than Charlotte.

The only other Mudpuppy that fits the description of this little guy is the Dwarf Mudpuppy Necturus punctatus. Their range is quite a bit larger than lewisi, but it still doesn't reach as far west as Charlotte. The gills of our fellow do look more like the gills of punctatus, but the photo in our guide is not a great one. The other argument for this species is the size of the spots - it has smaller spots than lewisi, and also it is said to inhabit smaller streams than lewisi. Our stream is definately very small - in a hot dry summer it dries up except for the deepest pools.

In fact - there are no mudpuppies listed as having a range into Mecklenurg county in our guide. Do you think we've misidentified it? If you have thoughts, corrections, or insights leave a comment!

B-b-b-bird, Bird, Bird, B-bird's The Word

2011-01-27T23:43:00.000-05:00

Our family is participating in Project Feeder Watch as a part of a Field Observation Class that Jonathan is a part of. We are all enjoying this class and were just as excited as he was when he got his package in the mail yesterday. He's beginning his official count tomorrow. He's been unofficially counting and observing for some time. We have had some difficulties some days with estimating the number of birds in some flocks that have dropped by. Some flocks hang out in the crowns of the trees hopping around constantly (robins), some flocks have all clumped together as closely as possible on the same branches (finches), and some birds scatter along the ground moving as one - starlings.

I have gathered some resources to help (especially the younger boys) understand and practice estimation and also to help Jonathan and I to see how accurate we are. First up on the list is a book:

Greater Estimations by Bruce Goldstone (there is another book Great Estimations which was checked out)

There is a helpful video to practice with at the Canadian Museum of Nature website called How Many Birds Are There?

Two other good resources are Bird Counting 101 and Bird Counting 201.

On A New Note

2011-01-23T21:18:00.000-05:00

I thought I would share a site that I'm finding very helpful this year - Ricci Adams' Music Theory. I'm going through the lessons myself - broadening my understanding of written music, and gaining some familiarity with how chords and keys work. I can now with some effort work out the Bass Cleff. I will be sharing varrying lessons with the boys depending upon their age and existing knowledge. Check out the entire site - it's very thorough. There are even lessons for ear training and a pop up keyboard that you can play with your mouse.

Thumbkins

2010-12-08T22:13:00.000-05:00

At least that's what I call them! Aren't these weird looking things? My Joseph has been sucking his thumb since before he was born - he was sucking his thumb during his ultrasound! It's not really a problem, but our dentist has talked to him about it and asked him to try and stop. And Joseph wants to stop-especially in the winter time because his little mouth gets all chapped. So, I found this great pattern and knit him up a pair of these contraptions. They work like a charm. If he really wants to suck his thumb he pops it off, but if he does it unawares this lovely wool reminds him to keep his thumb out of his mouth. The important thing is he loves them. Wouldn't it be nice if we could help solve all our childrens problems so easily with a bit of knitting?

Reading Rascal

2010-12-08T22:02:00.000-05:00

Well, that's the name of the book he's reading, but it's an apt name for him, too. Jesse entered into fluency in the beginning of this year, and now I would say he's avid. He turned 8 in September and we had absolutely no reading lessons until the summer he turned 6. We made sure he knew his letters and their sounds and then I used The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading by Jessie Wise and Sara Buffington. I liked this book and will use it with James hopefully beginning this summer (he just turned 6). It is a good mix of phonics and sight words, it's easy to use and enjoyable for the child. It was recommended by my friend Kelly. Jesse is just now finishing the last several lessons of this book which teach mulitple syllable words and words with prefixes and suffixes. It's really teaching you how to read words you don't know. We took a long break from using the text when he reached what I called fluency and I just let him read and read and read. We picked a particular time of day and I gave him a time limit that he had to read and gradually increased the time to 30 minutes every day. He goes well past 30 minutes and sometimes even an hour without noticing now and some weeks ago I noticed has begun to read silently. I have kept a list of books that he has read and he likes seeing the list grow. Today he finished Friska, My Friend by Patricia St. John and asked if he could read Rascal by Sterling North. (He has his eyes on a whole shelf full of our classic books and has begun a list of those he wants to read). Jonathan recently finished reading this book for his Field Biology class and Jesse had heard several discussions about the book. I haven't read it, and wasn't certain how he would do - the text is smaller, more words per page, no pictures, etc. But he read the first chapter no problem and now I'll get to listen to this book all over again. He has begun reading some of his history books for himself, and tonight read our advent passage from Exodus without stumbling over 'Levite', 'bulrushes' or 'pharoah'. I would call him a reading Rascal indeed!

A 'Recipe' for Cindy

2010-12-08T21:34:00.000-05:00

Breakfasts around here are pretty simple - especially during the week. We usually alternate grits and oatmeal with a smattering of bacon, fresh and dried fruit, nuts, cheese, OJ and milk. Once a week we buy bagels from a local bakery and the leftovers are turned into pizzas at lunch time. Once a week or so we'll have a ration of muffins and less occasionally lately, pancakes. I think yogurt is on hold until warmer weather. Mostly it grits and oatmeal.

This morning was a muffin morning. At least I intended it so until I tried to find the egg carton in the fridge. It was bitter cold outside, I'm still in my pj's, David's getting ready for work with no time to spare and the bowl is full of dry ingredients ready for - EGGS!

I'm ever so thankful for neighbors that we know well enough to ring up in a pinch - even in the early morning. So I called my local general store and three eggs were hand delivered moments later. My neighbor Cindy came into the kitchen to say hello, looked into my mixing bowl and with a look of astonishment asked me just what was I putting in my muffins. I rattled off the list and she gasped, "And they will stay together with all of that in them? Won't they just fall apart?!" So I invited her to come back in twenty minutes and see for herself. She came with a cup of coffee and sat at the table with us. It was so nice to sit with her and visit, it's been too long, Cindy dear! And the muffins indeed did stay together and kept these boy bellies full and satisfied until lunch. Cindy asked me for the recipe and so I'll do my best, but let's just say it 'varies' frequently.

The basic recipe is a a Southern Living recipe called Slightly Sweet Muffins, and I make them even less sweet. In fact, I change everything about the recipe, but I look at it every time because it reminds me of what to put in. I triple their recipe to completely fill two large muffin tins and some mornings there are leftovers. I normally serve muffins with slices of sharp white cheddar cheese and OJ.

Brighthouse Slightly Sweet Muffins (don't triple this recipe unless you are feeding your whole soccer team)

4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (I use organic, sometimes I substitute some flour with oat bran or oat meal)
1 cup or less sugar (I use evaporated cane juice usually, but occasionally honey or mollasses)
6 t baking powder
1 1/2 t salt
3 eggs beaten
1 1/2 cup milk (I normally use buttermilk and always vary the amount of milk depending on what I've added to the muffins. If I add carrots and pineaple for instance it usually takes less than if I've added oatbran or oatmeal.)
3/4 oil (I almost alway use less oil and almost always olive oil - the flavor cooks out.)

I add all the dry ingredients into the bowl and mix, then I mix in all the 'stuff' that we put in and stir that in with the dry ingredients before adding the liguids. I add in all kinds of nuts and seeds, dried fruits, fresh fruits, and even whatever vegetable I can fit in - carrots, leftover baked sweet potatoes, etc. This morning it was carrots, raisins, walnuts, fresh apples and pumkin seeds. The apples were large chunks of Cameo with skins on which cook up really soft.

The recipe says to cook on 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Because I fill my tins so full and because I put in so much 'stuff' it normally takes longer - maybe 5-7 minutes longer? I normally set the timer for 20 minutes and then just judge accordingly when I peek in.

This is why I laughed when Cindy asked for the recipe. I told her I'd do my best - but like I said - it varies!

Halloween in Brevard

2010-10-30T16:01:00.002-04:00

We left for the hills on Friday evening so the boys could spend Halloween here. The younger four got all dressed up to walk in the downtown parade.

Meet Professor Bent. He's a little crazy from so much time in the lab:

How cute! What is he? Is he a traffic light? What does he have on his head? These are the comments Robot Joseph heard walking down the street.

Put out your cigarettes please!

Bzzz....bzzzz.....Yellow duct tape is great stuff. Nathan's looking for a flower!

Jesse seemed to have lost his head!

Today it happened...

2010-09-13T17:36:00.001-04:00

...I was cleaning of the counter before dinner and the light through the window changed. I love this time of year.

Learning Latin Changes the Way You Think

2010-09-10T23:03:00.000-04:00

Thanks to Bonnie, and Dr. George Grant I found this very cool Latin video course today. We watched a couple of clips, took the free downloads and may make a purchase later. Dwane Thomas seems to be a really great teacher and one part of his introductory lecture has stuck in my mind. One of his arguments for studying Latin is that it changes the way you think. He shares that the word for stuff in Latin is impediment and tells a short story about his little girl who can't leave the house without stuffing her purse full of impediments. He says it slows her down and slows down the whole family! A very fun lesson in Latin, but it strikes home because of the changes we have made around our home lately. We have spent a year getting rid of stuff. (How is it that we still have so much?!) Anyway, we have spent a lot of time choosing what we surround ourselves with and honestly, we still have a long way to go, but there are a few rooms in which things feel so nice.

In addition to these chages we have also stopped shopping for almost everything. This was part of a financial workout that we have put ourselves through over the past four to five months. When you only have a very small amount of money with which to buy something suddenly you begin to make very careful choices!

How are these two related? They were both in my mind today while I stood with the boys in the middle of the Meccca of Stuff - Walmart. I had decided to take them shopping!?! (Today we only had a morning lesson of school because Fridays are our coop days, but coop does not begin until next week.)

I haven't bought them anything in forever (exlcuding school books and I think I have bought the little ones a matchbox car each). Treats for the last few months have been fun food or perhaps new socks or underwear. Chewing gum and Happy Hour at Sonic have been a big hit. They have been fine with this and my wallet is happy, our budget is happy, and the first of our financial goals is almost met! But I had this urge to treat them out of the blue...

...we walked up and down every toy aisle except the Pink (that's what the boys call the doll isle) aisle. They enjoyed it, talked about what they liked or didn't, picked up some stuff, but didn't really ask for anything - amazing! I actually had a hard time deciding what to buy. What would be really fun? What could we use and enjoy together? (Our family dynamics have chaged so much without the TV.) We looked a long time at a Sorry! game but decided against it - it cost $15 and maybe I can find an older version that we like better cheaper. So what did we buy? We came home with two boxes of sidewalk chalk, a big jug of Magic Bubbles and a collection of bubble wands, a pack of Crazy 8's cards, a bag of big punch balloons, a new pack of ballpoint pens, two clear acrylic boxes for bug collections, and a cheap digital camera for James (see post below). They were the happiest kids, and with the exception of the camera I think I spent a grand total of $15 including tax. Again - amazing!

Do you review?

2010-09-10T22:24:00.000-04:00

Do you write reviews on Amazon? I've only written a couple. Tonight I posted a review of a cheap digital camera that I bought James today. There was only one review of it and it was a very poor review. I often find reviews very helpful and they do influence my purchases. If I see anything with 3 stars or less I read very carefully and often don't actually purchase the product. First I've included examples of three of his pictures (the boy in the striped shirt is our neighbor, Timothy) and following that is my review:

This picture was an interior shot. Obviously it is blurry. This was the clearest of his inside pictures. Honestly, though, neither he nor his subjects were very still at all.

I included this shot so you could see the amazing luminosity of the sky. Seriously, some of his shots outdoors were almost straight from a William Turner painting!

As far as clarity of picture goes, this one was hands down the best he took. So this camera is capable of clear, decent quality pictures, he just needs to master it.

Amazon Review OK, it was only $20!
I had to keep this in mind as we first started to use this camera. That's why I gave it a four out of 5 stars... after I got over my initial frustration/letdown it really isn't so bad. I purchased this camera at Walmart for $20. I bought it for my 5 year old because the kid proof camera we bought him (V-tech) took such horrid pictures and I want to see how long a real camera will survive with him before spending anymore money on one. AND of course I want it to be able to take reasonably nice pictures - because I want him to be able to look at his pictures, decide which ones are good and which ones aren't and adjust his photography based on his results. So based on those requirements it was worth the $20, but it's durability is still up in the air as he's only had it one day!
Straight out of the package I found it frustrating and not intuitive to figure out. I was ready to return it, honestly. But I finally found the user guide and got the first pictures off it, and my husband reminded me how little we paid for it. So I relented, gave it to the kid, he came back 5 minutes later with 30 pictures. I downloaded them and a couple were pretty good. I spent another 10 minutes trying to figure out how to delete the pictures and he took it back outside and came back in 10 minutes later with 30 pictures. Now we have a rhythm. He loves it. He can tell it isn't a little kid's camera and is actually treating it pretty well. He took it with him to bed and I'm sure will be snapping more pictures at first light.
The nitty gritty:
#1 If you buy this camera, be careful opening the package. There is a cd hidden inside the cardboard label - and they don't tell you it's there. This cd has the software that downloads the pictures from the camera and it has the user guide on it. I scratched ours when we opened it, but thankfully it still loaded.
#2 As far as I can tell you can only download pictures from this camera using the ViviCam software. This camera does not show up under the menu 'Your Computer' along with our drives and cd rom, etc. so the only way to access it is through this software.
#3 Downloading the pictures does NOT erase them from the camera. You must select the trashcan icon on the menu screen by pressing the shutter button. It will erase all of the images on the camera.
#4 Battery life actually seems ok so far. There is a tiny screw that holds the battery door closed. I love this because I gave it to my five year old! If the batteries go dead before you remove pictures, you lose the pictures. Likewise if you remove the batteries.
#5 This camera holds 30 pictures at full resolution - just enough to last a five year old about 15 minutes.
#6 This camera has no flash. It actually does pretty well indoors, but those shots seem a little more blurry. Shots outside have a very luminous sky.
#7 Picture quality varies, but with some practice you can get good pictures. Out of the 30 pictures my five year old typically has 3 that are decent which is not bad for a 5yo. You have to have good camera control and a subject that isn't moving too much, but even some of those shots are interesting.

Look Closely...

2010-09-08T00:29:00.000-04:00

...it is sometimes painful. Yes I know...

...but often beauty is the reward.

Look closer still...

...be still and breathe soft before this moment drifts away.

One moment is all it takes...

...for wonder...

...to unfurl in the palm of your hand.

Self Tutored Latin

2010-09-05T21:36:00.000-04:00

I thought I would share the work I did this weekend on putting together Jonathan's self tutored Latin class. First, the resources we will be using:

Because I have laid out this Latin course to encompass three years, we have time to begin slowly and carefully. The focus is on mastery. Jonathan has been successful at self tutoring when he has good resources and he has a routine (habit) laid out for him to follow.

The first several lessons of this course will be with me. I will introduce him to his materials and help him become familiar with each book and know what it's purpose is and when and how it will be used. Then I will lay out for him the study method that I am writing here.

Together we will go through the introduction in the Wheelock book. This covers the linguistic history of Latin, and it also divides Roman history into Ages based on it's literature. Jonathan is very familiar with Roman history, but not from first hand sources. This will give him a chance to see where the history he has read was first written - and that it was written in Latin! I'm sure he will enjoy this beginning because of his love for all things Roman.

The next step will be to go over all of the pronounciation guides in the beginning of the book. Dale Grote, professor at UNCC, emphasizes that Latin should be spoken. It is a spoken language and much of it's meaning is communicated in the way that it is spoken (pacing and accents). To help make sure he understands all of this there are wonderful audio files on The Official Wheelock website. (There are audiofiles associated with each chapter and all vocabulary words are pronounced. There is a separate companion cd which reads all of the sententiae, but we do not currently have a copy.)

Now he's ready to begin on his own. I want him to go slowly, narrating to me section by section what he is reading so I can be sure of his comprehension. As he becomes more familiar with the routine and the language I'm sure that his pacing will increase and we may not use all of the resources that are listed (Grote's could become more of a reference book, or he may not do all the work book pages for instance) it will just depend on how easily he make it his own.

1) He will begin by reading the first chapter of Grote's companion section by section and narrating each. Grote does a good job of explaining English grammar so that students can understand Latin grammar. Since Jonathan has not yet studied grammar on anything but a very basic level he will begin with this book and I will give him English grammar credit as well.

2) Once he has completed the Grote's chapter then he will read the whole Wheelock Chapter trying to understand as much as he can. (Narration here, too.) He won't be attempting to answer any questions yet. And I am asking him to read the Latin out loud - referring back to the pronunciation guide if he needs to. (Having the Companion cd would be a help here and we made add it to our resources later, but Jonathan has had an elementary introduction to Latin using Latina Christiana previously)

3) Next he will listen to the audio files of the vocabulary words for his chapter making sure that he is pronouncing each correctly. Once he's got the pronounciation down, he will neatly copy them into his Latin notebook making sure to say them out loud as he writes.

4) I want him to spend some time familiarizing himself with these words before doing any of these exercises since the exercises assume that you know the vocabulary. I don't think it would be as useful to flip back and forth looking up the words to do the exercises. There is a wonderful website I found, Quia by Laura Gibbs, which has flashcards for all of the Wheelock vocabulary complete with games of varying difficulty. ( For those who are really into Latin and want to read things like Aesop in Latin Laura Gibbs posted a link to a Latin blog on her site.) So Jonathan will take a day to play here, and the first few minutes of each days work from here on out will be a review of his vocabulary using his cards as needed.

5) I discovered on another Wheelock tutorial site that the best thing to do next is not the exercises at the end of the chapter, but to flip to the back of the book and do the Optional Self-Tutorial Exercises (OSTEs). They are easier than the exercises at the end of the chapter. This tutorial site recommending doing the OSTEs one day then begin the next day by checking your own work using Grote as a reference. After you've done as well as you can check your answers using the Key in the back of the book. On the day that Jonathan check's his answers the rest of his 30 minutes can be used to play a game on Quia.

6) Now he will work through the Chapter exercises in the Workbook, these may also take more than one day.

7) NOW it's time to do the chapter exercises. Not every chapter has a Practice and Review section, but if it does he will do them next and continue on to the Sententiae and the Readings at the end of the chapter. This may take him several days to complete at first. I requested a username and password from the Harper Collins publisher so that Jonathan can self check his work after each section. These answer keys have been removed from all websites because of student abuse, but if you are self tutoring or are a homeschooler you can fill out a questionaire and recieve a username and password to get access to the answer keys. (Look on the right hand column for the email address.)

8) I have scheduled a short break for him after all this work. He can have another day with the online games or exploring the Latin blog or finding and recording Latin phrases in his notebook.

9) The last step before moving on to the next chapter is to work from the book 38 stories. There is a story correlated with each Wheelock chapter with the exception of Chapters 1-3. Chapters 1-3 share the same story, Pandora's Box, which he will not attempt until he has completed chapter 3.

I don't know what to expect about how quickly he may move through this. I have scheduled 30 minutes four times a week. It may take him an entire month or more to get through the chapter one work and he may not read Pandora's box until Christmas. I may post an update later in the year if anyone is interested in how things are going.

When I am At Work

2010-08-27T13:55:00.000-04:00

Infrequently I have an opportunity to go to the bookstore by myself. It something I relish more than going to the library, but not quite as much as my used book haunts. Earlier this year I found myself on the second floor of a B&N across from the Amtrak station in Atlanta waiting out my last two hours for a train. (This was whole trip was a gift - an unexpected one that I hope to write about more this year.) In the stack of books I piled up beside me was Hand Made Home by Amanda Soule – I’m sure you all know her as SouleMama.

I exercised discipline, working to not just flip through the book looking at all the beautiful pictures, but to attend to her words…not so easy with such a beautiful book, but I managed to read the whole thing.

Amanda spoke of WORK in a way that gave me pause. She says, “When I am at work…” and means an activity – a state of mind. She is in the act of working. Now, we use work in our home in that way and I’m sure many of you, do too. We often use it in just the way she does, talking about the work of hands. But something about the frequency with which she used this phrase with this meaning (the work of the hands or of the heart and mind) seemed out of sync with how this word is often used. It stood in relief in my mind.

So often in our culture we think of work as a place. Every day (multiple times a day) in our home we use the phrase work as a destination. Daddy is going to work. Daddy is at work. Daddy is home from work. Work is a physical place– an architecture. In families where both parents work outside the home and both ‘go to work’ is it more so? How does the way we use the word WORK change our relationship with work? How does it change our value of WORK?

In the introduction of Handmade Home, Amanda wrote that in the act of making (and here I think of her phrase used elsewhere, ‘When I am at work’) she finds solace and is fully present. She says she is reminded that she can only do one stitch at a time and that in turn reminds her that she can take only one step and one breath at a time. On such a rare occasion of having a weekend to myself and because of the attitude with which I approached the use of this gift of time (a time to store up good things for later) my ears were wide open to these thoughts about pacing and work. I wrote in my notes a short passage that I plan to hang behind my desk for a while:

I can only breathe one breath at a time, think one thought at a time, walk one step at a time, read one word at a time, write one letter at a time, wash one dish at a time, do one stitch at a time.

If I pair these ideas with a Wendell Berry comment that Andrew Peterson shared in this blog post and I am ready to face this year’s work:

“But you can’t think about that while you’re doing it,” he said. “If you think about what you’re doing, then you’ve stopped doing it. If you stop writing your song and think ‘I’m writing a song,’ then you’re no longer writing a song. The bird,” he said, “has flown.”

2010-08-25T00:40:00.000-04:00

DAYTIME

NIGHTTIME

Proof positive that some things only work well in theory!

(Sleeping arrangements on our vacation - not every night was this creative. Part of Kelly's Proof of Life Series)

A Child's Geography

2010-08-25T00:20:00.002-04:00

This is our Geography nook that I carved out in the corner of our homeschool room. A new space for us this year, but I only purchased one new item, the rest I just pulled out from one of our shelves. I plan for us to use this space for is keeping track of current events going on in the world and having all the resources that the boys need to explore further on their own.

They've already been perusing all the books that I've pulled off the shelf...moving things seems to make them new again. The rest of our Holling C. Holling books have migrated elsewhere at the moment - they are in use! Here lives our constantly tangled 50 State Fandex Guide, and a rare tape that hasn't had the tape pulled out - 50 states songs. A sticker book for all of the flags of the world stands beside Van Loon, and Holling C. Holling (already mentioned) always leaves a gap on the shelf. A neat book I found about the geography of some famous authors sits waiting for me to pick it up. Some books that include parks and trails that we have visited and more that we would like to see keep company with a small picture book that explains how to use a map and lattitude and longitude, etc. And then of course the tattered National Geographics and our new purchase for the year the collegiate atlas.

Jonathan was a bit frustrated with his small student atlas last year, so David and I purchased this one at Highland Books in Brevard this summer -- our favorite indie bookstore.

Up top live some larger books and one special book that I don't want the younger ones to handle on their own (note the National Geographics in a previous picture).

They have once again become interested in our puzzle of North Carolina which I picked up at an antique store several years ago. Dare they learn all 100 counties of NC? I've caught them thumbing again through our back issues of National Geographic, and it makes me wonder if we should resubscribe...

I have put three books directly on the table to encourage their use:

One other book I have to show you - a Golden Book, How Our Alphabet Grew (the special one on the top shelf). This is a wonderful, beautiful book. I found this copy at a local used book store soon after our visit to the Alphabet Museum a few years ago. (If you haven't been to the Alphabet Museum yet, put it on your calendar now. If you don't live in the Charlotte area I think it's worth the drive - up to two hours or so. Definately worth it if your children are old enough to handle both the trip and a day of activities!)

This book is out of print, but there are more copies to be found online than when I first came across it. I would not recommend paying $20 to $30 for it, but if you see it a local book store for $5 snatch it up.

If you have read this far, you can now see my glaring green walls. Ten years ago when we first bought our home, this was a rebellion against white walls that I went through after having rented for a long time. (Repainting is on the list, but the requirement of moving a piano and countless shelves of books have ensured that it stays sunk at the bottom of the list thus far.)

If you can see past the green paint you will see a copy of the faces of the 33 Chilean miners who have been almost a half of a mile under the earth for near three weeks now. I will be sharing their story and this video with the boys in the morning. I hope to have lots of things pasted around our map over the course of the year, and some of them like this one will be reminders to pray.

Jonathan will be continuing his Mapping the World By Heart inspired geography study in our co-op this year. They begin the first term with Europe. And at home, once a week in our family hour, I will be sharing a short lesson from A Child's Geography.

Frequent short amounts of time, varied lessons, and lots of free time, resources, and space to explore. I want the boys to know that the world is large, but it is also small. I want them to know that geography is more than maps - it was created for all peoples in order that God might be glorified. Geography is alive!

Book Sneeze: I will gladly pay you Tuesday...

2010-08-01T23:03:00.001-04:00

…for a hamburger today. Neither a borrower nor a lender be. The borrower is slave to the lender. All of these sayings – humorous and not – ran through my mind as I set down to review Jack Cashill’s amusingly insightful book, “Popes & Bankers A Cultural History of Credit & Debt, From Aristotle to AIG”.

The premise of the book is that we look back to times gone before us as what Cashill calls a ‘debt-free Eden’, but there has never been such a place or time. Cashill takes you on a field trip through history revealing how the lenders, debtors, and prodigals have been viewed by various cultures and in different time periods. From the Psalms of David, to Dante’s Divine Comedy, to Shakespeare’s Merchants of Venice and even Daniel Defoe the historical morality of lending and prodigalism are scrutinized.

I found the title of this book intriguing and it only got more interesting as the pages turned. It is definitely and intellectual read, but is not at all dry. I thoroughly enjoyed all the literary and historical references but now I truly understand what ‘prodigal’ means.

Jonathan's Year

2010-07-24T23:51:00.001-04:00

My homeschooling philosophy is that of Charlotte Mason, but I have not been able to paint myself into any of the popular Mason curriculums that so many of my fellow homeschooling friends have. In the elementary years I have drawn heavily from Ambleside Online booklists, but I have not stocked my shelves from them exclusively. With the exception of one year we have also been involved in two wonderful aesthetic cooperatives with other like minded friends. Together we have studied picture study, composer study, nature study, recitation, Shakespeare and much more. During Jonathan's elementary years I have compiled a lot of good nuts to store away and dole out as needed for the younger ones. I have weeded out a lot of things, too, that I didn't think were of the highest quality or didn't fit into our family very well.

This year, however, we embark on a new adventure. Jonathan will be thirteen and by some reckonings (I've never really counted until now) in the 8th grade. His elementary years behind him, his high school years ahead, how is one to plan? The first thing that has guided my planning of this year is that I want very much to leave the last two years of Jonathan's studies pretty much up to him. If he wishes to take vocational courses, get a job, travel, take classes at a junior college, take advanced placement classes or whatever else he may dream up, then I need to prepare time for him to have the time to do that. That means I needed to provide him this year with some of his beginning HS studies so that he can begin earning those basic credits in English, Social Studies, and Foreign Language at least.

After having a taste of Spanish, French and Latin throughout his elementary education, Jonathan chose to study Latin over the next 2 - 3 years. He also chose an elective - Small Engine Repair to study with his Papaw. He will also continue in his Scouting Career - he's working on his First Class requirements. I've put together a list below of what his year will be like. What do you think?

Bible
Last year Jonathan read Mark, John, Acts and Romans. He is now beginning Exodus, but he's choosing his own readings, so I have no idea where he will go. He studied the book of Romans in an inductive style, but I have not given him a commentary before. I may do that this year.

Small Engine Repair
text: Small Gas Engine Repair by Paul Dempsey
He will read a chapter/section of the text and every other week go to his Papaw's shop to get hands on experience with what he has read.

Field Biology
text: ?
reading: Rascal by Sterling North, and ?
Our dear friend Beth will be teaching this science lab at our co-op this year. It's more than a lab - great discussions, great reading, guest speakers, field trips, microscope use, nature observation, and best of all Beth herself! In adittion to this great course, Carla is teaching an observation/nature study course with drawing and writing at co-op called The Private Eye.

Latin I
texts: Wheelock's Latin, Wheelock's Latin Companion, 38 Latin Stories
The goal here is slow and steady progress. The Companion book is for students who need to understand English Grammar before doing the Wheelock text itself. I worked throught part of Wheelock last year and I needed the companion! If he completes this entire course in 2-3 years including all the stories I will provide him with 3 Foreign Language credits. He will also be keeping a collection of Latin phrases and favorite Latin quotes.

History/Literature/Bible (world view)
text: Gileskirk Christendom audio files; 1066 the Year of the Conquest by David Howarth; The Shining Company by Rosemary Sutcliff; Sir Gawain and the Green Knight edited by Tolkien, and selections of many other literary pieces from the Middle Ages that I'm compiling in a notebook.
He will have 2 exams and 2 writing assignments. It is outside of the realm of the Middle Ages, but Jonathan will be reading A Diary of Ann Frank with me in co-op this year. He will also continue in his Book of Centuries once a week.

Algebra I
text: Jacob's Elementary Algebra
He works through his math on his own reading the book and checking his own answers asking for help only when he needs it. It depends on how much math he does in the next few years whether I will give him a credit for this one.

Geography
He will be finishing the second half of a two year geography program in our co-op this year. They will be studying and preparing maps for Africa, Asia, the Middle East, Indonesia, and Australia/New Zealand - I think... I'm not teaching it!

Church History
This is the second half of a course at our co-op, too taught by another dear friend, Carla. Jonathan has grown so much in this class and I'm looking forward to him finishing from the crusades to modern times.

Spelling
This and handwriting continue to be his weakest areas. We will continue using Sequential Spelling this year, but hope it will be the last with him. I'm giving him a break on copy work this year as he will be keeping a journal, but we will still do dictation once a week.

Writing
This is a fun intro to writing class that I'm teaching at co-op this year. It emphasizes getting words on paper and we will do brainstorming, narrative, and descriptive exercises. We'll listen to music, work with comics and more. The only homework will be keeping a journal. At home I would love him to continue posting on his blog once a week, but we will see.

Recitation
The goal is four pieces this year: the prologue to the Canterbury Tales in Middle English, the Band of Brothers speech from Henry V, 1 piece of Middle Ages poetry of his choosing, and one scripture selection.

Calligraphy
Instead of copywork this year, once a week he will spend about 15 minutes learning and practicing the art of calligraphy. I have not found a perfect resource, but am pulling from two or three books in our library. Rather than working with a quill pen at first he will be working with a brush pen doing larger letters. We'll see how it progresses. I will provide him with a nice small book to put in finished pieces. My goal for him is 3 pieces for the year and my hope is to improve his handwriting without extra copywork.

Handwork
Jonathan began carving a couple of months ago. I hope he continues in that somewhat this year. At camp this summer he took a class for his leatherworking merit badge and made a nice belt sheath for a pocket knife. He wants to more leatherwork which works out great since our neighbor is a cobbler with lots of leather scraps. His Papa also does leatherwork, and is a very talented tooler. We will see how he progresses in these over the year.

Piano
Jonathan has had one year of lessons from Simply Music and we love the program, but have taken a short break while we met a family financial goal. He has kept up his practices with that program and gone through the rest of the materials we had already purchased in that program. I have checked out a scales exercise book from the library which he is tutoring himself through. Hopefully we'll be able to begin lessons again sometime this year.

Free Reading
That looks like a pretty full schedule, but there is still lots of time to read! We are now about a month into our family experiment of living without a TV. The boys are reading much more than they ever did before. We'll see how far he gets into this list:

My Required Readings:
Sackett's Land by L'Amour
To the Far Blue Mountains by L'Amour
These are family favorites and To the Far Blue Mountains is a bit of the local culture and geography of home. Dad gave them to me to read before I left home, and soon Jonathan will be able to talk to his Papa about these books. It will give them another thing in common. Why don't more peope read Louis L'Amour anyway?

His Choices:
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (currently reading)

My Encouraged Choices:
The Door in the Wall by D'Angeli (middle ages)
Adam of the Road by Gray (middle ages)
The Light Princess by MacDonald (just want him to read more MacDonald)
Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan (I read aloud a few years ago, but would like him to read indepently)

Other books focused on the Middle Ages that he may be interested in:
The Once and Future King by White
The Robe by Douglass (I definately want him to read this book before he leaves home)
The Dragon and the Raven by Henty
Bonnie Prince Charlie by Henty
In Freedom's Cause by Henty
Tales of a Scottish Grandfather by Scott
The Talisman by Scott
Waverly by Scott
Ivanhoe by Scott (He might read this, too as he has already read Pyle)
Black Arrow by Stevenson (I have a feeling he'll read this)
Robinson Crusoe by DeFoe
King Arthru and His Knights by Mallory

As you can see, it is a lot to keep track of, but I have it all laid out in Simply Charlotte Mason's online scheduling program, so he can know what assignments he is supposed to complete each day and mark them off himself. This year he will be managing most of his work himself. Our job will be to encourage and exhort, hopefully in that order!

Daddy

2010-07-01T22:06:00.001-04:00

Momma once told me that I mostly remember the good times, and that everything looks rosier now than it really was. She said this while trying to make me feel better about a birthday cake I had decorated - it didn't look as good as the ones I remembered her making us. Truth is I remember the hard days, too. I do rememer the work, toil, disappointment, and brokeness that we all walked in, it's just that there was so much goodness. So much beauty woven in over a strong and steady warp that somehow it all still holds together. And I look at it. I weigh it and count it gain.

Memories. We laugh over the funny ones, but what to do with the sad ones? The memories of things that you tore without really meaning to? I distinctly remember cutting the rubber handle on my Daddy's brand new flashlight and also the spanking I got afterward. Momma had left her scissors on the table right next to it and I will never forget thinking, "I kow what it's like to cut paper, I know what it's like to cut cloth, I wonder what it's like to cut rubber?" Well, let me tell you, it wasn't too good!

But that was a small thing. Something really of no consequence. I rememer another day, a day in which I decided I wasn't a little girl any more. It was a day that was really no different than the day that had come before it. But that day I spoke a word that changed my relationship with Daddy. I called him Dad for the first time. I don't remember if I thought about it, worked myself up to it. It's silly to think I had to be brave enough to say it. What I do remember is the look on his face. He was mixing a bowl of peanutbutter, syrup and bananas and turned his head for a minute. He does that when he has no words.

I'm writing about Daddy because today is his birthday. We called him on the phone and sang and passed the phone all around while dinner sizzled on the grill. And I've thought about him all day, too, after reading of another blogger's father who farms. I have thought of her words about her father and how different my Daddy seems. He has never farmed on the same scale as her father. He was more concerned with putting food on our table and restoring and keeping the land as it should be kept. His intent from what I have seen was never really to make money and he would be the first to tell you that he never made any farming - he always put more into it than he got out of it. But that was just his money. It is not true of his love and of his life.

Daddy works hard still, but knows that the work will always be there. He knows when to stop. He taught us to rest, too. To play and have fun. We went on many adventures and explorations, started new projects, and enjoyed being with one another. When I was in high school and we had several horses he was always ready to take us for rides. I was in band, and did a few sports activities, had practices and games, and missed more of these excursions than I would choose to do now. The picture above is one I cropped from several pictures I have of the last long trip we made before I left for college. This was in Cataloochee, TN.

Happy Birthday, Daddy! I love you.

Seeing in the Dark

2010-07-01T15:04:00.000-04:00

Tuesday I found myself in the middle of a nearby field with Jonathan looking for a place where we couldn't see in the dark. We didn't want to be able to see in the dark because we wanted to SEE in the dark. It's really near impossible here in Charlotte where we color our days according to how much poison is in the air, but don't even realize that all those electronic lights we send out into the air are a form of pollution, too. It has been predicted that by the year 2025 there will be no truly dark places in America anymore. It's hard to imagine, but I think about this when I'm out in the woods and think how many miles is it to a road, a house? The answer is not far anymore. I think about this, too when I can't get away from noise - the sounds of cars or airplanes (I have made my peace with trains).

The above picture was Jonathan's guide as he begins his journey toward an astronomy merit badge. He's leaving for camp in just a couple of weeks and working on some prerequisites before he gets there. He has to note the changes at week long intervals of the planets in relation to one another.

As I sat in the grass growing heavy with the falling dew looking up into a sky that glowed all around the horizon from lights, flattening out the sky with only the brightest ojects visible, I remembered similar evenings close to thirty years ago. Can it really have been that long?

This was our neighbor, Arnie, who lived with his wife Harriet just over a mile up a dirt road (not gravel) from us. We spent many evenings together as I was growing up and I learned many things from him, one of which was a basic education in astronomy. I could name several constellations, stars, and find the visible planets. Arnie was a merchant marine who had lead a most adventerous life. Here he was teaching me to build a fire, lessons that were continued over the course of a whole summer, and practiced each summer afterward. He also taught us to play chess, poker, identify more mushrooms than Mom knew and more, but I digress.

At home the stars were visible, and on a clear night you could really see The Milky Way. Children who live here don't really understand what the sky is supposed to look like at night and it's difficult to get them interested in the sky becuase the wonder has been washed out. We began our forrays into star gazing a couple of years ago on blankets in the driveway, but Jonathan and I are now on the look out for darkspots. If you know of any nearby the University area let us know. If you are interested in local stargazing you might check out these links:

The Charlotte Amateur Astronomers

Sidewalk Astronomers

International Dark Sky Association

A Fine Pair

2010-06-30T21:34:00.000-04:00

For those of you who were there, this goes really well with Sunday's sermon. For those of you who weren't - you can eat the main course here before or after eating Ann's dessert.

How Do You Measure Friendship?

2010-06-27T22:44:00.001-04:00

Wendell Berry thinks we have an addiction to quantifying things - and I agree, but when you can literally stack up the evidence of friendship it becomes easy to fall prey to this kind of thinking. This is an introduction to a series of posts that I have been wanting to write for some time - posts of thankfulness for friendship - of friends. There will be no set schedule for this series, and my friends will appear in no particular order. I'd love to read posts on your blog about friendship and your friends. I've created a Mr. Linky that you can use to share your posts on Measuring Friendship:

(Photograph of MAIL from Bonnie)

Carving Out Time

2010-06-26T23:32:00.000-04:00

It is sometimes difficult to make sure there is time for handcrafts when you are schooling more than one and there are toddlers and preschoolers underfoot. Especially handcrafts that would interst an older boy. The time must be carved first and then add: a bulk box of balsa wood, Mommy's carving knife, a special glove just in case, and a few YouTube videos under the belt. He's carving!

A Pattern For Fun

2010-06-26T23:24:00.000-04:00

Do you have these at your house? I may have to try and acquire a new set here - with five patternmakers there never seem to be enough to go around...

Garden to Table

2010-06-26T22:13:00.003-04:00

At my house there is not enough patience for pretty photographs of food before we sit down to eat. Everyone is always hungry in the past tense - and afterwards if there are leftovers it certainly isn't pretty enough for a picture - so you'll just have to use your imagination!

Tonight's dinner was a mini feast. David grilled chicken which we marinated. The marinade included fresh rosemary from our garden and fresh garlic from the farmer's market. It was delicious. I bought the boys packs of drumsticks for the first time and they were a huge hit.

We had a salad leftover from last night, but tonight I garnished it with wild blackberries picked this morning with my neighbor Cindy. James and I made slaw from a farmer's market cabbage. It was mixed with my Nannie's pickle juice - it really makes the most delicious slaw. The other salad is my new summertime favorite - if I can wrangle enough cucumbers away from the boys to make it. You can see from the picture that it's a tough wrestle - they pick them and eat them in the middle of the garden peels and all. They don't even have a chance to make it to the table!! Next year I must plant more cucumbers, because there's no way I will have any excess this year to make pickles.

Cucumer Salad
This is inspired by a Southern Living recipe. Slice up your cukes. Stir them up with a couple of dollops of sour cream, some minced fresh chives, a sprinkle of lemon juice, and a dash of salt and pepper. Serve chilled.

We also had quinoa that I sauteed with onions before cooking, and the best fried okra that I have made to date. The cornmeal stuck to the okra and not the pan! The okra went straight from the garden to the pan in less than ten minutes. I coated it in buttermilk before rolling it in the cornmeal this time, but I think the biggest difference was that I fried it in lard from Grateful Growers. It looks as if we will have okra all summer, so I'm gearing up for more fried okra, some more relish like last year, and maybe some okra pickles. I may make a few bags of tomatoes and okra just for me because no one else here will eat those.

Everyone ate their fill and the leftovers - well, what little there are fits on one shelf in the fridge. It's a good thing there are still plenty of cukes and okra to come!

Father's Day

2010-06-21T23:25:00.000-04:00

I did not make a Father's Day post this year, but my mom did four on her blog. These are the men in my life.

Once Upon A Twice Down the Rabbit Hole

2010-06-19T22:59:00.001-04:00

Have you seen her? The girl in the white pinafore who just turned the corner before the rabbit hole? You know, that dream child, Alice? She seems to be everywhere lately. I have not seen the new movie yet, but I will when I can get it on video. I do generally like Johnny Depp movies.

The boys recently watched the 1972 version with Dudley Moore this week. They love Alice now, but we have not read the book yet. I read a fleamarket copy when I was a kid – I must have been eight? I thought some parts were hilarious, and some parts I just didn’t get. I can’t remember if I read the book first or watched the movie…I think in my mind they are all mixed up – the book and the movies I saw on TV as a kid. I saw both the Dudley Moore version and the later 1985 Sammy Davis, Jr. version.

But it’s not just Alice in all the media surrounding the movie – she seems to be popping up elsewhere, too. Just recently I read Once Upon A Twice by Denise Doyen to the boys. It was an instant hit and was so fun for me to read. It was story, poem, myth and creative word play all in one. In her dedication Doyen refers to Jabberwocky, Carroll’s nonsense poem in Alice in Wonderland, and her book has been dubbed Jabberwocky-esque. In summary it is the story of a young mouse, Jam, who proudly scorns the warning wisdom of his eldermice and nearly winds up – well you’ll just have to read it to see for yourself!

But beyond that it is richly textured with an exploration of language. It goes beyond rhyme and invents new words, but they are not nonsense in quite the same way as Jaberwocky. When Doyen writes that the mice scoutaprowl and runtunnel you know just what she means. And you should – she researched Victorian verse and entomology of words while working for months and yes even years on this book. I really wish that my little ones could see all of the fun going on here – words like prey-cautions - but even so they get it – half the fun of this book in the words. The rest of the fun by the way is in the illustrations by Barry Moser. Check it out at the library.

And so this is a really long way to say I have decided to read Alice In Wonderland again.

Rapt

2010-06-09T09:13:00.005-04:00

This morning all lessons were dropped as we watched with rapt attention...

I let the boys join the wrens on the porch once the little ones were safely out of the way...

We watched encouraging parents lure the fourth and last out of the safety of his nest with a nice beetle...

Been flying long?

This one even came to sit on my lap for awhile!

Just before they found their way out the open screen door I was able to get some shots so the boys could see the Carolina wren fledgling's new feathers, sharp claws and shiny eyes:

Every year this family of Carolina wrens build a nest in the wood carrier on our screened porch. We make sure to hang it in the same place after the season of carrying wood inside is passed. Last fall we finally fixed the screen on the porch, so we really didn't expect Mama Wren to visit us again. But she knew a good thing when she had found one! This nesting site is safe from all our neighbor's cats, and so determined was she, that she scooted under the screen door carrying little grasses and lacy leaves and eventually lots of worms and bugs with her mate.

This morning the fledglings found it difficult to find the way under the door so I finally had to open it for them. When they finally made it down off the deck the whole back yard came alive! There was a larger bird that chased an even larger bird away - it happened so quickly they were hard to identify. At the same time some robins made a big ruckus hopping away over in the grass and were all gathered around - almost like a distraction while the wren family all got settled in our wood pile.

As I type the boys are playing Cat's Bane in the backyard and the little fledglings are hid in the wood pile and brush pile in the back yard. Mamma and Daddy Wren are flying back and forth with beetles and their is much chirping going on. The rest of the yard has returned to normal. This day I won't mind if our Cooper's hawks don't come for a visit.

Discarded

2010-06-05T00:12:00.000-04:00

Some of you heard my thoughts about the situation with our local library system at our CMeLearn Two for Tea series. I spoke about my personal experience with libraries since I checked out my very first book from a Book Mobile program until my most recent interlibrary loan. I find myself frustrated with many things that I see in our library system now - I see a lot of waste. To date I have not given a donation to aid in the budget crisis. But we do use our library often so I am torn.

My home is filled with books that have these archaic cards inside the back cover from days when your books were checked out by a person. If you homeschool your shelves probably are filled with them, too. A couple of days ago I discovered they were being sold online as materials for scrapbookers, journalers, and collage artists. So I went through our shelves gathered up all we had, made a little label and listed them in our etsy shop. I'm donating all the money to PLCMC. Would you like to join me? Check your shelves and pass your cards on to me and I'll bundle and list them and keep your families name on the donation list.

Earthen Vessel Pottery

2010-06-02T17:41:00.001-04:00

Today I would like to share with you a short version of a story I wrote more about here. My dear friend Andrea is a new mother to a beautiful little boy, Caelin born on Mother's Day. I was fortunate enough to be there when he came into the world!

Several weeks before he was born I set up a blog in his honor called Time for Caelin. The short story is that Andrea is an art teacher whose wages are the sole income in her family for a few more months while her husband, Chris, is finishing up graduate school. She has the summer off, but would really like to use her annual leave days to stay home with Caelin until Chris graduates. You can read my entire post here and participate in this gift of time if you would like.

Andrea is a teacher, but she is also a wonderfully talented ceramic artist. For a few years now she has been making beautiful clay pendants. The one I have is my favorite necklace. I've given many of these as gifts - they are great! I have taken pictures of several and put them in our etsy shop, Beech Creek Naturals, to help contribute to the Time for Caelin funds. Take a look, buy one for yourself or a friend and buy the gift of time for Caelin!

James the Tiger

2010-05-29T22:59:00.000-04:00

In Use

2010-05-28T10:39:00.000-04:00

A couple of weeks ago Nannie heard me tell Mom that I had been looking for one of these for my kitchen. Looking for that familiar red in thrift store shelves. Yesterday when we went for a visit she had this on the counter for me. The REAL one - the one that Mamaw used for years...

Testing...One...Two...

2010-05-13T21:55:00.001-04:00

...not three yet for another two years - that's when James will be seven. Today both Jesse and Jonathan took the CAT test. I administered them here at home. Nannie kept the little ones so we could have quiet. Jesse sat at his desk and Jonathan at the dining table because I had to read Jesse's test to him. I would read Jonathan's directions, stay for the sample, set the timer and then go do a section of Jesse's test with him. They took a few breaks shooting hoops and eating popsicles, but we finished them all in one day.

I had heard some time ago that it was good to eat chocolate when you took a test and then a couple of weeks ago I heard that peppermint was shown to improve test scores. I covered both bases and gave the boys peppermint patties between test sections. Not that I'm worried about scores, but it did seem to give them more stamina and no one complained. Interestingly enough they were very excited about these tests and even thought they were fun!

Up until this year I have had the Woodcock Johnson administered so I wasn't sure how this would work, but I'm fairly certain we will use them or something similar again. None of these tests have ever told me anything I didn't know already about my children.

Jesse only missed three on his entire test.(Yes I checked them myself after they were finished and showed them what they missed and why. The rules said I couldn't coach them, or have them correct their answers, but it didn't say anything about teaching them where they went wrong.) It was fun watching him figure out how to do addition problems that were written in a form he had never seen before. He even surprised me with the section on money correctly adding up all the coins - we haven't done those sections of his math book yet. Maybe I don't need to?

The only math that Jonathan missed was a geometry question, and a couple of fraction problems (division), but he had some major issues with grammar. I knew that already. We spent this year working on his spelling - next year we will add grammar to that work - I have been delaying. He's chosen Latin to study as his language over the next few years so I think grammar and Latin will go well together. The only other problem he had with the language portion of the test was in the comprehension section. He missed all three questions that required him to correctly interpret a poem. He totally skipped over the meanings of the metaphors and similes and took the subject of the poem very literally. When I read it with him again afterwards he caught on quickly.

All is well and good, because poetry was something that I was going to begin exploring next year with him for literature. We've done a lot of recitation over the years, but not very much discussion about poems. It's a weakness of mine - one of impatience, but next year we begin. So I'll pull out the Key Curriculum fraction book for him next year, do poetry like we intended, and add in grammar. Geometry will wait another year - he'll be starting Algebra next year.

Really, it wasn't a bad way to spend a day!

Cost of Servanthood

2010-04-14T22:31:00.002-04:00

Truly selfless love and servanthood comes at a price. Sometimes that purchase is painful. More than we expected to give; more than we wanted to give... more than we thought we could afford. We often hold to a false hope of love and joy without sacrifice thinking we won't have to pay the price of self. I find this especially true in marriage.

This week David has been wearing a visible scar from a project he built for me. It's painful and beyond bringing him a bowl of saltwater to soak it in I can't fix it. But his blackened thumb has also been a reminder to me of his servanthood. His willingness to sacrifice himself in so many ways that aren't as visible. I don't see the scars and so sometimes don't notice. I remember, too, other hands callous worn, scarred and dirty with love - and I give thanks.

Here is the project:

This was as much of it as I could fit in the picture. It's a floor to ceiling storage shelf that runs the entire length of the garage. He measured my bins and maximized the amount of space so I could fit as many in as possible. He knows how much I dislike bookcases that waste space by not being able to adjust the height of the shelves to fit more books. He also knows how many boxes I had!

Here you can see the entire height of the shelf. There will be one shelf on the very top that's not tall enough for a bin where I can keep my canner, dish pan, vases and other odds and ends. Each bin has a number on all four sides so it doesn't matter which way you put it back you can always see the number. There is also an Excel spreadsheet that lists the items in each box. Need a pair of size 6 shoes? Just type "6 shoe" into the search box and it will tell you Box 7. I won't tell you exactly how many boxes I have - but most of them are necessary anyway. Several are for camping, two are full of shoes, one each for pants, shorts, t-shirts, dress shirts, long sleeves, sweatshirts and sweaters, winter coats, pjs and underwear. One for office supplies, Playmobil, Lincoln logs, Tinker Toys, dinosaurs, hotwheels. An entire box of puzzles, one of board games another of water guns. One of craft supplies and only one 'junk' box.

The boys have enjoyed the novelty this week. Since I don't have to unpile twenty boxes and open half to find something they want I am much more likely to say, "Yes!" I have just finished switching their closets over to summer clothes (just in time for a cold snap) and it was so much easier this year.

AND

It was no small act of servanthood from David's parents either. They kept the boys while I did all this and a few more smaller projects around the house. Thank you!

A Moment of Time In Pictures (mostly)

2010-04-13T22:09:00.000-04:00

He had laid that little paper box somewhere... did it drop out of his pocket when he was bent over working? He had me looking everywhere with him, me not knowing what I was looking for, a box of screws, a part of the carburetor? It was found eventually, "Right where I laid it..." on the fender of Old Red. Then he pulled out a dangling bit of history to show me. This was Papa's watch. Papa was his daddy, Willie Williams. My Daddy's Papa, and he had chosen this day to pass this bit of history on to Jonathan.

Look At Me, I Can Do It Myself!

2010-04-13T21:36:00.001-04:00

This scene almost made me want to put away my favorite bowl - the one that I knew was coming home the moment I saw it on the shelf in Karen's studio. It's the perfect shape, holds just the right amount of salad AND popcorn, spins nicely when I mix, and sits perfectly in the hands to be carried around - well by ALL of us!

(Part of Kelly's Proof of Life Series)

Watching them Grow

2010-03-22T22:44:00.000-04:00

Hard to believe this was a picture at our house last week. This day in particular seemed full of everyone changing and growing by leaps and bounds, but this passage was significant and I'm glad I got some good photos. David stood close by guiding and encouraging.

(Part of Kelly's Proof of Life Series)

Taking Advantage of Indecisiveness

2010-03-19T16:06:00.001-04:00

My oldest is sometimes indecisive, especially when choosing items for copywork, dictation, and written narration. When he does have something in mind I always defer to his choice, but when he quavers I often step in to choose something I want him to think about. Today indecision reigned and I dictated a passage from Wendell Berry - he happend to be on the table.

I am rereading parts of The Art of the Commonplace given by my friend Bonnie for my birthday. I had it open to the chapter "People, Land, and Community" and began a dictation that we will finish on Monday:

People are joined to the land by work. Land, work, people, and community are all comprehended in the idea of culture. These connections cannot be understood or described by information - so many resources to be tansformed by so many workers into so many products for so many consumers - because they are not quantitative. We can understand them only after we acknowledge that they should be harmonious - that a culture must be either shapely and saving or shapeless and destructive. To presume to describe land, work, people and community by information, by quantities, seems invariably to throw them into competition with one another. Work is then understood to exploit the land, the people expoit their work, the community to exploit its people. And then instead of land, work, people, and community we have the industrial categories of resources, labor, management, consumers, and government. We have exchanged harmony for an interminable fuss, and the work of culture for the timed and harried labor of an industrial economy.

Yes, there were lots of spelling challenges, grammar practice, and vocuabulary, but those are just dessert. The main course is one of ideas. On days with lots of interruptions and it seems the little ones sponge up all my attention I confess that I often think of how much he would have accomplished in a day at school. But on days like this, when opportunity has blossomed opened and a mind is ready for ideas - new food, I am so glad he is with me and I can plant. These ideas that are honest, yes even painful truth - ideas that are precious to me and that I cultivate are not only vacant in our industrialized schools, they are often exerminated.

Anyone seen the remote?

2010-03-15T13:21:00.001-04:00

This is an often repeated question here. It has been found in some pretty unusual places over the years. It's a universal remote, but unfortunately it doesn't do bathrooms.

(Part of Kelly's Proof of Life Series)

Book Sneeze: Nelson's Complete Book of Bible Maps and Charts

2010-03-04T22:30:00.002-05:00

Jonathan put this book to good use the very first day it arrived. He has been reading through the book of Acts and was finding himself a bit lost geographically as Paul went from city to city, port to port, etc. The maps in Nelson's book were easier to read than the ones in his study Bible and included notes that had verse references right on the map. He was very excited. I have since had the chance to peruse the rest of the book.

This book has been in print for over thirty years. This recent third edition includes many photographs of historical and geographical landmarks. The maps as I mentioned earlier are in full color and are very clean and easy to read. I do really like the notes and verse references that are printed in bubbles directly on the maps themselves. All of the charts and diagrams are in color as well which makes looking up a quick reference easier.

The entire book follows the order of the books of the Bible so if you are studying a particular book it is easy to locate information that can supplement your reading or study. It describes how books are grouped together (like the Pentateuch or the Gospels), provides timelines for the events that happen in each book, breaks the book into a structured outline, and then provides a summary of the book including maps, tables, diagrams and photographs. It also includes some information on scholarly agreement or disagreement of certain Biblical texts (like the dating of the Book of Job). For the average reader I think this would be a useful book if you don't already have a study Bible. For a teacher the biggest advantage is that all of the maps and charts are reproducible and are also available online from Thomas Nelson.

I think this book is mainly geared toward a teacher or Bible study leader, but the only real weakness I found was the index. There was not a discernable difference between the Index and the Table of Contents. So if a reader doesn't already know where in the Bible the city or event or whatever is located he will still need to use another Biblical reference book to find that information before being able to use this book.

ACHOO!!

2010-03-04T22:06:00.000-05:00

Excuse me - I must have caught a cold! So many people I know have been sneezing that it was probably ineveitable...I mean who could resist free books? My first review for Thomas Nelson will follow this post.

It's A Wonderful Life

2010-03-02T22:48:00.001-05:00

Searching for the words of Edwin Way Teale to read led me to find a great article in an old Life magazine (December 22, 1961). The article, 'The Enchanted Backyard' (p87) shows that Mom photographers snapping shots of their children exploring nature is not a recent interest. Crix's mom took some great pics and this mom wishes that her boys had the same range of space and variety of habitat that he had. Looks fun doesn't it? The article that mentions Teale is more of a photo essay, but you have to be paying attention because the page numbers are out of order. In fact this entire issue looks great. There is an article on wildlife with lots of great photos, one on making the most of being outside , one on trout fishing, and there is even an article that discusses the possibility of intentionally melting glaciers to deal with drought and irrigation. I wonder how well that would go over in today's 'climate'?

Update: A better article on Teale here.

This Morning Was for the Birds...

2010-02-27T22:01:00.000-05:00

...for the hawks and turkeys to be more specific. We had a mated pair of hawks in our back yard this morning. Normally they are across the street in our neighbors wooded lot, but this morning they came for a long visit to our lot. I have to do some research to figure out exactly which hawk we have.

Then on the way to bagels I had to pull off the road to keep from running in the ditch! A huge flock of turkeys - almost 20 in the parking lot of Verizon Wireless right near the road side. A big Tom was all puffed up and strutting his stuff - tail feathers fanned out, wings draped just so. He was so close! And where was my camera during either of these two sightings? Not where it should have been.

Sometimes

2010-02-26T13:25:00.000-05:00

my children say profound that give me pause. Today it was, "So, you could say that Jesus was really the beginning of the reformation."

Real Life Make Way for Ducklings

2010-02-24T22:58:00.001-05:00

Just a few words I've written

2010-02-24T22:02:00.000-05:00

from Wordle.

Line Your Nest

2010-02-19T07:54:00.000-05:00

Yet more lessons to be learned from ducks. Yesterday I read this penned by Ann.

A Lesson from Mrs. Mallard

2010-02-15T20:32:00.002-05:00

It must have been quite a while since I have read Make Way For Ducklings by Robert McCloskey, because there were several lines that I don't remember at all:

"Don't you worry," said Mrs. Mallard. "I know all about bringing up children." And she did. She taught them how to swim and dive. She taught them to walk in a line, to come when they were called, and to keep a safe distance from bikes and scooters and other things with wheels. When at last she felt perfectly satisfied with them, she said one morning: "Come along, children. Follow me." Before you could wink an eyelash Jack, Kack, Lack, Mack, Nack, Ouack, Pack, and Quack fell into line, just as they had been taught."

Maybe I need a few lessons from Mrs. Mallard?

Sun Dog

2010-02-12T20:29:00.000-05:00

I saw this on the way to meet David yesterday evening. If you scroll down to read the description by Jacob Hutter it is exactly what I saw. And Shakespeare - did he happen to write about everything? It is in Henry the VI.

I was driving down 485 toward Pineville looking straight into this magificent view - I just had to call a friend to share and she said she had seen one the day before the last snow. Hmmm...

Made Quiet

2010-02-01T09:43:00.002-05:00

This morning I sit by our window, soft sun beginning to warm my face hair. I love the light in these windows - the view I have not loved so much. On the second floor of our house they look directly into what I have unfondly dubbed The Fishbowl (our cul de sac). My eyes crave wide open spaces, looking that goes on and on with more than my eyes can take in. When I look out these windows my view is obstructed, hemmed in, peopled.

A big red sign at the end of the street stands tall. Taller almost than anything else. I have always seen it ugly. This morning I don't look at it. I read it STOP. So I do. I stop looking at the dirty frozen slush. Stop looking at the once clean ground now tracked and muddled. I search. Search for quiet spots. Spots yet untouched, still glistening and pure with beauty. I make my eyes linger there. Make myself quiet so I can see.

They boys are at the table. I bought this moment. Made this quiet with warmed cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs, a tangerine and slice of cheese. Milk to take it all in with. Now the day stretches before me. I see all that needs to be done. All that is behind, piled, soiled and misplaced. I close my eyes and see that red sign. Tell myself STOP. I search for quiet spots, corners and smiles still shining and new. Make myself quiet so I can see.

Photos: Moments the snow made quiet in my neighborhood this weekend.

Because It's Snowing...

2010-01-29T23:43:00.001-05:00

...and because I made only six posts for the entire year of 2009, I've put together our summer in pictures.

We started off with an early trip to the mountains to get up close and personal with a few wild creatures.

There was plenty of time to sit and ponder in the shade.

We came home just in time for one little boy to study up and take the place of his big brother who...

...crossed the bridge, leaving the trail of boyhood for the one that leads to manhood.

He was greeted on the other side by friends and fellow Scouts who gave him his first rank.

Two best friends sat beside each other...

...but were not able to say a word because of the noise and those big muffins on their ears.

Then, David and I left it all behind to head up, and up, and up.

We walked through fog and threats of rain and against everyone's weather advice.

We walked through the wild woods...

...to our five star accomodations.

We got up the next morning and went up, and up, and up.

Beautiful sights like this were our constant companions.

We finally reached the top.

We left a small token alongside that of fellow travelers...

...acknowledging that every step was worth it.

We hiked down, down, down and sat thankfully by the roadside for our limousine ride out. Happy Anniversary, David!

We went back to Nanna and Papa's where it's ok if you dump water on your brother's head.

Home again where the screened porch got a new do and was put to good use.

David somehow had time to win yet another woodworking competition. (This time he had to put together the prize himself.)

We got to see a Grand Champion Regatta Sailor in action. He won even against the Webelos.

This was our last trip to the mountains. One final trek to a favorite spot hand in hand.

We had taken an entire summer to enjoy all the perspectives of our family life together.

Those last hours I sat knitting by the creek wondering how...

...this...

...can so quickly turn into this. Meanwhile...

across the creek there were some great talks at Daddy's knee.

Did we have time to squeeze in one more hike before summer was gone?

Well, most of us did anyway!

We were home just in time to celebrate someone turning three...

...and getting this cool new bike.

And that was the end of our summer. It signed off with a double rainbow at the very end of the very last party.

In Case You Were Wondering...

2010-01-29T21:52:00.002-05:00

...what it's like inside the head of a seven year old boy - he says it feels like there's a ball in his brain bouncing all around. Considering the collection I pulled out of the dryer with his laundry today I believe it - a has been treasure map on a brown paper bag, at least a tablespoon of popcorn kernels that didn't pop, a matchbox car, candy wrappers, decapitated lego men, and a rock. I should know by now to check his pockets.

Sawdust in Keyboards

2010-01-26T12:57:00.000-05:00

Roy just emailed the class photo. David said most of these guys were fellow programmers!

What Remains

2010-01-26T09:06:00.002-05:00

Noise of boys on stairs, hallway airstrips, cars carried in boxes and t-shirt tails, raking of legos all seep under crack of door. I sit in a corner light glowing through shaded windows gathering quiet into my heart from far away places. Reading all too familiar words of a stranger. Thinking of a late night viewing pictures of places, days, people now passed yet saved by technological mystery. They were there before me unmoving though my whole being moved. I remember where I began, where I have been, where I am. I prepare quiet amongst storm of noise so I don't forget where I am going. Today is now the one that is passing. In the light can I make myself remember what so moved me in the dark? Those things that remain should rule this day.

A Windy Monday

2010-01-25T17:05:00.001-05:00

You may read that title with whichever windy you will - but it has been a windy Monday never the less! Blustery crept indoors when we came from out. In ears out mouths. Gritty words that stained as much as the mud trekked floors. Amidst potato chip mazes, drifts of laundry, banks of dishes and mountains of boots I am almost lost!

BUT we were outside for most of the day. We built a picnic table to hold snacks, sandwiches and lessons books. A table to spread feasts upon.

The Heart of Winter

2010-01-16T13:20:00.002-05:00

Winter is real this year.

All that labor we stacked up last year warms our days block by block. We've been cozy but inside - a lot. Too much. I dress the boys and send them out. Sometimes in the bitter cold only for ten minutes at a time a few times throughout the day. I have stayed in, excusing myself by working.

But today I went for a walk in the heart of winter. Even after a day of warmth and sun, the morning was still frozen. With a cursory glance and my daily rush to get back in by the hearth I see everything dead. Still. Bare. But this morning I looked closer to see already the fragile life of the coming year holding tight, waiting for warmth and long days.

The dried remains hang as a sign of what has been, but in the heart of winter I long for green.

New Year New Beginnings

2010-01-15T10:29:00.000-05:00

A Dovetailed Husband

2010-01-15T09:43:00.001-05:00

Today I give thanks as on many days for my husband. Ever faithful, ever encouraging, ever strengthening. He tells me he likes it when I write here. I like it when he makes things. Takes raw wood and works out his plan in it.

As a little girl at the end of each day I was wrapped in a hug of fresh sawn pine. I have seen hands that know wood, touch it, transform it and now those are the hands of my husband. It has been an unexpected gift that has grown and continues to grow. I am thankful.

So I gave David a gift - a gift of encouragement, a gift of strengthening. I sent him to The Woodwright School. Yes, THE Woodwright, Roy Underhill, the man I grew up watching on TV, telling stories, using tools, making things, talking with people, preserving traditions and teaching. David met one of my childhood heroes and savored every minute of it - staying behind to help sweep up and watching chisels being sharened under a microscope. We both hope he can go again. He says he learned so much, and I was in awe of the dovetails. Here's a picture:

But the best fitting dovetails are those that have been created in our hearts. They do need a bit of refinement for a tighter fit, but that is because of the grain of the wood, not the skills of the Master.

A Poem of Thanksgiving

2009-11-26T22:12:00.002-05:00

For Mom whose birthday card I did not write in this year. Sorry. And for Dad who has followed boots, walked in boots, and now leads boots.

Winter’s Table

Eyes crack open with the dawn.

The frost arrived this morning -
outside, breath hangs upon the air.

Boots trod over spent fields-
muscles, move stiff after labor.

The land rests empty -
Sabbath for field, beast and man.

Boots step across the foot log -
walk round the house before breakfast.

Hands crack open the cellar door.

Damp dirt floor still holds up sagging shelves -
jars of tomatoes, squash, and beans.

Potatoes and apples all safe in their bins -
a whole summer's work shut up tight…

waiting for winter's table.

Where's Jonathan?

2009-11-14T19:10:00.004-05:00

That's a question I've been hearing incessantly around here for two days. Now I can show them:

Jonathan is camping in Pageland, SC with his troop. Mr. Busse who you see here has been kind enough to welcome the scouts on his property for the weekend.

Jonathan is getting a bit of practice with ropes. Here he is tossing a rope at a target. Together the scouts also built a bridge across a ditch that they had to walk across with all of their gear.

Jonathan is also getting a bit more target practice - at watermelons and balloons floating on a pond. He's getting pretty comfortable shooting. This was one of Mr. Busse's guns. A .22 but not as acurate as Jonathan is used to shooting. The sights were about 6 inches too high so they were having to adjust their aim. I know he enjoyed the target practice, but is really ready to take a crack at a few fluffy tailed rodents.

He'll be home somtime tomorrow and all of the questions will stop as the little ones all listen to his stories. Jesse went with David to visit the campsite today. He came home really excited and can't wait to be a Boy Scout instead of a Cub Scout.

Overheard

2009-11-05T13:33:00.000-05:00

We're getting ready for winter here. Items on the list are: finish stacking and covering the wood, clean the chimney, get drapes for the sliding glass door (finally), cut some of my beautiful coleaus to root indoors through the winter, and find some white row cover material to protect the garden from frosts. It is supposed to frost tonight and again this weekend. I have lettuces, cabages that are about half grown, and mustard almost four inches high that we are going to try and overwinter. I called Renfrow Hardware a local store in Matthews to see if they have row cover fabric. While the man at the counter went to check their stock I overheard a conversation in the background:

A man's voice over much laughter, "I wouldn' have a TV! I stopped watchin' when I didn't get no reception from my antennae. I didn' watch much before 'n now I don' watch any." More laughter.

Renfrow's... I wonder if I like to go there so much because of the kind of people I run into there. A little glimpse of what home used to be like many years ago. Times change, sometimes some people don't. I like that.

LABOR Day

2009-09-07T22:28:00.013-04:00

This is what we did for fun on our holiday! David took these pictures from the deck after he just finished splitting the two hackberry trees. (Thanks Papaw for letting us borrow the wood splitter!) We still have a sweetgum and a sycamore from the back to split but they weren't as large as the sycamore in the front and the two hackberries.

Here you can see the amount of wood we have stacked. I'm guessing we have two times this much left to go - at least! And just in case you were wondering I was tireder than I looked.

As you can see it was a family affair. I did actually enjoy the day (and the previous week) of working in the wood. It brought back many memories. I grew up in a home solely heated with wood heat. So a significant task each year was to make sure we had enough wood for the winter. Putting the wood stove back into the fireplace was one of the first things we did after buying our house. And we haven't regretted it. We stay toasty warm all winter and don't hesitate to pull the electrical bill out of the mail box at all. We're still working on an economical way to keep cool in the summer - it's kind of tough with so many of our windows broken and unable to open!

Great Knitting Video Podcast

2009-08-16T21:20:00.002-04:00

Letsknit2gether

This particular episode is 2nd of two episodes at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival. If you watch the entire episode you can see the founder of Ravelry way back when they were only testing...

Workshop News

2009-06-24T06:13:00.002-04:00

I haven't posted in such a long time and I took even longer to try and decide how I should fill in the gap - what should be the first post after such a long time. Life has gone on even thought blogging hasn't. For a while I blogged in my head - Oh, I could write about that, this would be good to share, I want to post this picture, etc.

Now it has been so long that if I don't post I think I will be in danger of never posting again! So the latest news around here first and then maybe I'll post a few pics of some things that have happened in the past few months.

Once again we have workshop news - check out this post over at Rockler. You continue to amaze me, David.

Faithfulness

2008-12-31T08:21:00.002-05:00

It is always a little sad to me that one of the first three things each of the boys has learned is to say bye. It seems each one has learned more early than the last - it is practiced nearly every day - a chorus of cheerful byes and a frantic waving of hands and running to peek out the window or chase down the driveway as Daddy goes to work. Only rarely is it a sad goodbye for them. They can say goodbye this way - cheerfully, with all of themselves because he always comes back...

IF: Balloon

2008-12-03T23:37:00.003-05:00

I have been wanting to participate in Illustration Friday for a while. I used some of the kids watercolors and a box of Crayolas and a colored pencil or two. I'm really out of practice...

Cinderella or Cinderfella?

2008-12-03T08:19:00.006-05:00

We have no little girls here at our house, but then who could this have been sleeping among the ashes a few moments ago? This is a picture of how the boys have been feeling lately. James is actually ok this morning, just cold and sleepy he said. The fire was just started and not yet hot enough for him! Reminds me of me... Dad always said that I sat on top of the stove. If I could have figured out how I would have!

A Simple Dinner of Beans

2008-11-24T10:48:00.005-05:00

Around here we have several of those a month especially in the winter. I've found creative ways to stretch the leftovers into more meals - so beans are a pantry staple. Last market day I picked up bags of 'new' beans for us to try - pinks, reds, and canaries. It's a cold morning, I have a chicken thawing to roast for dinner and I thought I would put on a pot of beans just because.

And just because I'm in that kind of a mood - not accomplishing much other than laundry amid the sniffles and coughs and blankets being dragged around here I picked up Joy of Cooking. Am I ever going to use that Goodwill find or just leave it sitting on the shelf? I look up beans in the index and read:

ABOUT DRIED LEGUMES
Dried peas and beans, being rather on the dull side,
respond readily - like a good many dull people - to the right
contacts.

They are much more temperamental than one would
think. Their cooking time depends on the locality in which they were grown and
on their age - usually two unknowns for the cook; plus the type of water used in
cooking them...

All beans should be cooked until tender. One
test, provided you discard the beans you have tested, is to blow on a few of
them in a spoon. If the skins burst, they are sufficiently
cooked.

There are over 25 types of beans and peas available in
our stores. They include broad, black or turtle, cranberry, scarlet runner, red,
kidney, black-eyed peas or beans, edible soys, pinto, cowpeas or Mexican frijoles, chick-peas or garbanzos, and adzuki beans from which
oriental bean paste is made.

Each variety has, for the connoisseur, its own slightly different
but satisfyingly
hefty charm.

Where does one find all those varieties of beans and what are the other dozen or so that aren't listed? Anyway today I'm going to try and charm a pot of dull beans even though I have no idea where they were grown, how old they are, and I don't know what kind of water we have - just because. I do know where they will end up, though! And, bean connoisseurs? I'm sure they may be rare, but I imagine they aren't difficult to sniff out due to the 'hefty charm'!

For Beth and Carla

2008-11-23T09:18:00.001-05:00

You have this down!

Color Your Own Electoral College Map

2008-11-04T17:00:00.005-05:00

Sit Down and Be Counted

2008-11-04T16:30:00.002-05:00

I went to vote this morning and was treated to a nice relaxing sit rather than the long standing in line I expected. My neighbor Cindy and I were up and at 'em at 5:30 and made it to the polling station before 6am. We weren't the only one - we were about 30th or so in line! We each had a chair and something to keep our hands busy. I wonder if our made us more approachable for conversation - it seemed so because people were very interested in what we were doing. Cindy was sewing leather coin purses and I was working on a striped sock.

It was a very friendly crowd and a much more relaxed atmosphere than when I voted in the primary. When we were allowed into the school building we were ushered into the warm cafeteria, leaving our folding chairs by the front door, we were asked to sit at the tables instead of snaking through the hallway into the far side of the gymnasium. So most of us were sitting facing each other across a table while only a table or two at a time stood waiting to go into the gym. I estimate that there were over 300 people or so there before the polls were opened! The cafeteria was almost exactly full with hardly and empty stool yet no one standing. It was interesting, very intimate and many conversations were going on. We met with several other neighbors and I was reminded why I voted on election day rather than voting early. I like voting in the community I live and seeing my neighbors! AND I was home by 7:00am in time for David to leave for work on time. Poor guy he waited in line for four hours to vote early!

Some Things are Useful to Know...

2008-10-11T21:32:00.004-04:00

For some reason this evening we were talking about fishing, or maybe we were talking about worms (were we talking about leaves?) - who knows! The important thing is that a memory of going fishing with his grandad was triggered for David. It seems he had a favorite fishing spot where he always had an easy time catching bait. He had made a pile of leaves somewhere nearby and left them to compost. Anytime he wanted to go fishing he dug in the pile and caught the worms who had made their home there. He made sure to either add leaves to the pile or start a new pile before leaving. So if you have a favorite fishing hole and need a source of good bait, now is the perfect time to get started - the leaves are finally falling pretty steadily around here.

'08

2008-10-09T22:48:00.004-04:00

I don't think I ever plan to get very political here, but I betcha this year is a certainly an interesting one politically, no? In looking into the NC Governor race I came across the name of Michael Munger. Who's he? He's not quite a Joe Sixpack, but he is running for governor on the Libertarian ticket. I once made a joke about three years ago with David's Dad that I was a Libertarian at heart, and now they actually have someone on the ballot that I would be willing to vote for. Voting a Libertarian ticket has three or four implications that I have not yet worked out for myself, but for NC Governor Mr. Munger's platform looks very good - especially school vouchers, lifting the cap on charter schools, and annexation. Can he gather more than 4% of the vote? Probably not when most people I have talked with don't even realize that there's more than two people on the ticket. If you are interested in hearing more you can look up the NC Governor debate on YouTube - I think it was moderated by WTVI.

Has Anyone Noticed?

2008-09-25T09:04:00.005-04:00

It must be the end of an era! David passed on waiting in a terrible line to get gas today and went to work hoping he has enough to get home, or the morning rush will be over and he can get it later. The worst that could happen is that I drive to Pineville with a gas can, right? The rest of the world is discussing Wall St., and the words depression and recession are buzzing around our heads. The big debate seems to be about whether or not their will be a presedential debate this year. In all of this, did anyone notice that Mr. Rogers isn't on TV anymore?

We have been watching Mr. Rogers for years. I began watching in college even before kids. The little ones some time ago started saying, "Mr. Rogers is home!" or asking, "Is Mr. Rogers home?" if I forgot. Our first week back home from our summer trip we weren't too worried. We thought, "They have changed the schedule before." So we experimented with different channels and times, but we still couldn't find him. This morning I finally decided to check our local PBS schedules. He is on only a couple of stations and now only once a week - 6:30 am on Saturday mornings! Does this mean they are going to be selling DVDs of his episodes, or does this just mean that no one cares if Mr. Roger's is home anymore? I had this whole discussion when Fred Rogers died with the boys, and what the difference between a person and a TV character was. Now sadly I have to have another discussion. When Jesse asks if Mr. Rogers is home yet I'll have to answer, "No."

Would You Buy These Apples -

2008-09-23T21:27:00.004-04:00

- if they showed up in your local farmer's market? This year was a bumper crop for apples in my family's orchard, and one of I think the few years that their might have been enough to sell. My Dad didn't seem to think anyone would think they were pretty enough to buy, but I would have bought them from a local grower. I picked out these Blushing Goldens for my fruit bowl and think they are the most beautiful thing I've had in my bowl all year. These apples don't look like they came from a bag, and they don't taste like it either!

I Wonder...

2008-09-23T20:49:00.005-04:00

What happened to Mommy's green food coloring? It was on the counter just a moment ago...

Oh yeah, I remember!

Counting Down the Hours...

2008-09-23T16:12:00.004-04:00

Green Money Is No Longer Green

2008-09-20T08:47:00.006-04:00

So you think the current 'green' industry is a grassroots movement? I think we should think again. This morning I went to get our weekly dozen of sliced Bruegger's Bagels. I was asked if I would like one of the new gold presidential dollars instead of my normal buck in change. I thought the boys would like the novelty, so I took the bait. (Jonathan hasn't started collecting these yet, but he's just about finished his collection of Lincoln cents and state quarters and I'm not sure what's on his radar next.) Then the manager told me they had received a bunch of the coins from corporate, and it was a marketing campaign. She pointed to a large sticker on the counter touting the coins as 100% recyclable.

I came home and started poking around online. On the outreach page of the US Mint website I have found that the US Mint is trying to promote the coins through businesses that use dollar bills in their daily transactions (translation Bruegger's). About two years ago the director of the US Mint met with retailers explaining that they would gain business from coin collectors by circulating the coins. The US Mint is giving retailers free marketing materials for this campaign. The US Mint is promoting a 'grassroots' campaign for this effort. Grassroots!? How does the US government promote a grassroots campaign?

Evidently the first attempt using the 'collection' idea didn't take off, and now they are using the 'green' approach saying that paper dollars waste money and harm the environment. Charlotte, NC is one of four cities nationwide where this 'grassroots' effort is being implemented. The US Mint wants do eliminate the dollar bill, why?

The new 'gold' dollar is copper sandwiched between manganese brass plates. It's 88.5% copper. The penny is only 2.5% copper since 1982. Is paper money more 'green' than metal? Maybe but don't think this paper is made from trees, it's made from cotton rags and linen- sounds pretty 'green' doesn't it? Maybe the printing process is toxic, but more than anything the printing and distribution process is expensive. I think what the Treasury is trying to say is that the dollar is no longer worth the paper it's printed on. We seem to want to hold onto it, why? Have you picked up and held one of the new dollars? Does it feel like it's worth a dollar to you? And just in case you were wondering, it costs 6.2 cents to print a bill of any denomination.

There are lots of good arguments for overhauling our monetary system and they include eliminating the penny and using a $1 coin, it just irks me that the Treasury thinks that we are too ingnorant to understand these ideas, and so they think we can only be persuaded by pretty pictures and false motives.

In case you can't tell, this year we are adding economics and finance to the list of essential subjects at Brighthouse School. Its a new area for us to learn about and we're just beginning to understand ideas we should have understood long ago. If you are interested our other essential subjects are Math (which includes the idea of patterns and order), History, Literacy (being able to comprehend and express ideas, recognize and communicate arguments and persuasions), Geography, Nature Study and the sciences, and Handcraft (being able to do stuff).

Oh, and another useful tidbit you might like to know - the head of the US Mint, Edmund C. Moy is also on the board of Christianity Today.

Guilty Pleasures

2008-08-21T13:20:00.002-04:00

Is it a bad thing to enjoy the quiter pace and gentler rhythms when your little ones are not feeling well? They slept late, took a nap after breakfast, quietly ate chicken noodle soup, and slept some more. They move so quietly and are so still I wonder if these are the same little people who were non stop all day yesterday - in and out, around and about, over and under everything! As Papaw says tomorow we will see how they're perking!

There and Back Again

2008-08-21T13:14:00.002-04:00

As Jonathan is always quoting Bilbo, "It's a dangerous business, Frodo, going out of your door. If you don't watch your feet there's no knowing where you might be swept off to!" Since the last post we have been 'Home' to the mountains again - this time for three weeks. Perhaps you'll see more about our adventures and some pics - then again perhaps not!

Safely Home

2008-07-06T21:48:00.002-04:00

The drive home was a long one today. We stopped and ate our lunch in Balsam, the blueberries and blackberries we picked yesterday were delicious with our ham sandwiches. There was lots of traffic for the rest of the trip and for one fairly long part of the drive near Candler we were moving 10mph for a while. We drove through some nice showers in Asheville, but it had pretty much dried up by the time we made it to Shelby. Poor Nathan - he is just about traveled out, and he really let us know about it from about Shelby home. We stopped for a rest, we fed him, changed him, sang to him, nothing really mattered once he got back in his seat, but there was really nothing we could do - we had to keep driving. He's been fussy the whole evening!

Tomorrow is the Raingutter Regatta for Pack 94 - and I still have to unpack!

4 Months

2008-06-25T21:45:00.004-04:00

I didn't crop this one. The incidental props left by the big boys were too funny - Calvin and Hobbes and a fully loaded trebuchet that is set and all ready to fire! Nathan has a lot of fun to look forward to.

Way to Go 94!

2008-06-25T18:29:00.004-04:00

The boys spent a few hours this week going door to door to help their Pack support the Channel 9 Second Harvest Food Bank Food Drive. After it was all bagged and piled they were encouraged and excited - there was more than they thought as they collected can by can in the hot sun! And what troopers the little ones were being shuttled back and forth and fed frozen fig newtons and lots of icewater!

We made the delivery today and met a Boy Scout from Troop 49. Jonathan and Jesse met Sir Purr and helped sort the cans as they were being loaded into the truck. You can see a picture of them in the corner of Sir Purr's portrait on the Channel 9 website.

Three Months AND...

2008-06-01T20:42:00.003-04:00

...I rolled over!!!!

Just a note - the rocker that you see Nathan seated in was a gift from my Dad along with three others just like it. The quilt in this particular photo was a recent gift from Nathan's great, great Aunt Marie (my grandfather's sister). I went to visit her last weekend which was my first trip home in over six months. I don't think I've ever been away from home that long!

I found my Aunt Marie sitting in her living room quilting. It took her a little work to remember me then she said, "Oh, Amber Lynn!" She said she was working on some little quilts for the people in the 'Old Folks Home' - she's over 80 herself! She insited that I take a couple of quilts for the little ones, and of course I was honored I had just dropped by for a hug!

Alas Not So Merry...

2008-05-19T14:27:00.003-04:00

As you can see from the sidebar we FINALLY finished Robinhood! It was a merry read right up until the very end - and then the Epilogue. A friend gave us a copy of Otto of the Silver Hand, but we decided to go through Narnia first. Maybe we can make it through over the summer if we are all in the same place for long enough...

Baby Eye Candy

2008-05-08T17:06:00.002-04:00

Seen this a.m. in the waiting room of my doctor's office: a 3 or 4 month old infant in his stroller parked in front of Mom's feet. Baby was kicking and holding his feet and cooing - very content and occupied - watching Baby Einstein on a DVD attached to the stroller handle!!!

I think I had to consciously close my mouth...

A New Study

2008-05-07T09:59:00.003-04:00

A Stick Caterpillar
(found by Jonathan when he went to feed Job this morning)

and interesting excerpt here

Two Months

2008-04-23T22:30:00.002-04:00

David's New Shop

2008-03-30T12:43:00.003-04:00

David has finally been convinced to open up an Etsy Shop so that people who have requested to buy needles and such can browse a bit of his selection. He had is first sale on Friday even before we announced the shop was open to anyone we knew. He was very pleased that someone was looking for a nostepinne, did a search, pulled up his shop, liked what they saw and bought it!! Way to go sweetheart!

You can check out his shop here: Beech Creek Naturals and I'll probably put a link in the sidebar when I can.

My favorite photo

2008-03-30T12:39:00.002-04:00

Mom took this one of Nathan and his Papa...

Nathan Moments

2008-03-30T12:22:00.004-04:00

In a hat by Andrea.

Whew, the first bath is over!

First photo session with 5 boys... ok, this is a horrible picture of me (the others were worse), but it's the only one in which all of the boys were presentable... so this one won out.

Jesse very happy to be big enough to hold this little brother all by himself.

Joseph gets his first look.

One Month

2008-03-30T12:20:00.003-04:00