halloween photos

I just remembered that I have these pics from the Harvest Party we attended. Z is posing with Princess Jasmine, and L is posing with Pocahantas.

rain

Have you heard about how it rains a lot in Seattle? Of course you have. Well, it's true. Most days this fall it has rained at least a little. It's an adjustment. At least it's not very cold.

Well, I'm still here. I've been working 2 or 3 nights/week, this week more because of the holiday. It's been ok. I like the job, but life feels quite squeezed these days. Since I have a lot of things to do, I'm going to leave it at that and post again when I can get some pictures up. Hope you all are well and enjoy your Thanksgiving!

busy holidays

Well, I just got a job night stocking at a toy store for the holiday season. I haven't started yet, and I'm a little nervous how this will all work out. Though I am thankful to have found a job quickly. And I do like toys. Jomo and I are going to have to get pretty creative to get all the things done that are important to us, though I suspect that we'll lighten up our time spent on school, or just stop a little earlier than planned for the holidays. I'm also interested to see how plausible a part-time night job would be for me longer term. We'll find out soon I guess.

We have some cute Halloween photos, or rather "Harvest Party" photos of the kids, but I didn't have time to upload them today. So, coming soon. It was a good experience going to a party rather than trick-or-treating I thought. We don't have nearly as much candy (which is good for me since in the past I've eaten plenty of the kids' loot), and the experience was a bit more interesting what with the games and mazes and such. I have to say though, I was pretty stressed out trying to keep track of the three kids in the unfamiliar, slightly darkened church. And we were both there!

I've been really enjoying our Ambleside Online curriculum. It's surprisingly well-rounded when you actually include all the subjects. Right now we're studying some Raphael Sanzio paintings, learning a folk song called "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" (which makes me think of Michigan!), learning our second hymn, listening to some selections by composer Hamauzu (our own substitution), as well as all our literature, geography, history, and natural science readings which Z "narrates" or tells back to me in her own words. We are really enjoying this Charlotte Mason style of learning. One of our highlights is the book, "Understood Betsy," which started out a bit dull for Z I think, but last week she spontaneously wanted to write a letter to one of the characters in the book in response. I don't make her do things like that, but she was just so wrapped up in the story and wanted to give Aunt Harriet a piece of her mind. The other thing I'm enjoying is how Z is learning to compose using the styles of the different authors. In her narrations, she often includes a phrasing that she picked up from the reading that she wouldn't normally use. So I'm very encouraged with her progress and her enthusiasm.

L is plodding along. Some days he seems to really enjoy school, and other days not so much. His reading is getting stronger, and his math seems off the charts (though that's a biased opinion). I'm trying to figure out how to make the practice in math fun for him, rather than just boring repetition. But also there's probably a balance where we just need to move on to more challenging work.

That's all to report for now. Back to picking out library books!

Recent Pictures and Stuff

Just thought I'd update you on some goings on around here. This one below is just because she's cute!

And here's L showing off his kendo practice sword (I forget the official name). Notice his lightsabers in the background. He's a nut for swords.

Daddy has been taking S around on his bike. She really enjoys it and says "bike hat," referring to her helmet.

Z is such a wonderful big sister. She often takes care of S on the church playground when we're there on Sunday and for co-op. Here's she's showing S the ways of the swing.

Since Daddy's had more time lately, he's trying his hand at cooking. His sushi is terrific. L likes rolls with cucumber or egg in them.

Since Z learned how to ride a two-wheeler this summer, she's been itching to get out everyday to ride. She and Daddy sometimes go to the store, weather permitting. Isn't she getting big?

That's it for now!

Woohoo!

Great news everyone! Jomo passed the bar exam! We are thrilled that all his work has paid off, and now he can officially work as an attorney in the state of Washington. So now just to find that job. Jomo is actually tutoring while he job hunts, so we’re very thankful for that consistent source of income. And we’re enjoying having him home during the day. We’ve even shifted our main family meal to lunchtime.

School has been going well. I’m pretty happy with our curriculum choices this year. For L I’ve been mostly making it up as I go along (with the many resources I’ve collected at this point), which has been good for him. He’s not thrilled when workbooks come out, so I’m glad we’ve gone very light with those, but he really thrives on being able to be creative. Once he gets an idea in his head, watch out! He gets those wheels turning and talks my ear off about it, sometimes even into the next day. Lately he’s been pretty fixated on what he’s going to be when he grows up. Some recent ideas have been: musician (who writes his own music!), scientist, science teacher, archaeologist, science teacher who teaches about space, geology, and digging up things only, chef, apple tree grower, video game maker. I can’t think of any of the others right now. Jomo’s idea was to give him some paper to draw some of his ideas. (Mine was to go get books from the library about his ideas. Guess whose idea he likes better? See, this is how we balance each other in parenting J)

Z’s school is going well too. Ambleside Year 2 is proving to be challenging, even though I think her understanding is pretty advanced. The hardest part is being able to get it all in in a day thanks to little Miss S. She tends to climb all over me, sing her ABC’s loudly, or just cause general mayhem when I’m trying to read aloud to Z. So we’ve been trying different things to keep her busy. And often Z and I do our reading during rest time. But neither of us is too excited about that. Oh well, S won’t be this little for very long. I’m trying to treasure all the wonderful little things about being almost 2.

Another exciting thing is that a friend from church is giving our older two kids Japanese lessons once a week. Jomo has been teaching them for maybe a year or so, but what a great opportunity for them to learn and hear Japanese from a native speaker. Even I am trying to get in on learning their homework. Hajimemashite Dina desu. Yoroshiku onegai shimasu! (My name is Dina. Pleased to meet you!)

And lastly, we’ve joined a local homeschool co-op, which has proved to be very fun. L is taking Drama class (which he loves! I always knew he had dramatic talent!) and also a science class. And Z is taking Geography and a music/art history class. Both kids are making friends and really enjoying our days there. I’ve also had a great time at co-op and have met new people that I’ve enjoyed talking to each time.

new move

Ok, here's a quick update. We moved to an apartment where we were able to sign a month-to-month lease, and we're praying that Jomo finds a job quickly. We've started school again with the kids, which has been fun and hard, but is keeping us busy too. We've also started to get a bit more involved in our church. My mom just visited and we had a lot of fun. She also got us a new camera! Yay! So pictures will be coming soon. We don't have internet at home, so my postings will have to depend on my getting an outing to the coffee shop (which is what I'm doing right now!) And let's see. Oh, S had to get two stitches above her brow the other night after a jumping-on-the-couch crashing-into-the-side-table incident. Jomo took her in for a several hour wait in the ER, but she's fine and happy, and jumping again.

In all the important things, we're doing ok. I'm thankful for our health and all our blessings, and I'm trying to focus on that. However, we really need a job to work out soon. So again, please keep us in your prayers!

still here!

I know it's been a long time. We've been busy, busy, busy and having a good time mostly. Jomo finished his exam, and we celebrated afterward by having a great vacation week with a good friend who came to town. And most recently we went camping with family and are heading out tomorrow for more camping (though actually we'll be sleeping indoors so you probably can't really call it camping.)

In terms of all our future plans, everything is still up in the air. Jomo has started his job search which we're hoping will go quickly, of course. We found a possible apartment to move into temporarily while we figure out where we'll be long-term. So there's a good chance we'll be moving in a couple of weeks. And we'll start up school and possibly join a homeschool co-op, though again, that'll depend on the job situation. We are all looking forward to that time when life is more stable. L especially talks a lot about "when we move to our new home," though I know he's having a great time here. So we're good for now. (We think our camera might be broken so I'm not sure how many pictures we'll be able to post in the near future, I'm sorry to say.)

language arts, the early years

S has been talking more and more. She's become a lot more confident recently and is repeating everything. Mostly just single words, but some are very cute.

"ah-sigh" = outside

"Uh Ja" = Uncle John

"straaaww-zaw" = strawberries, her favorite fruit

"backpack" = backpack, her new favorite word. She actually has all the sounds right on this one, maybe because she practices it a lot.

"Abba, abba, abba, abba!" = Clean up, clean up, everybody everywhere! Not really sure why, but she's determined to sing it this way.

veggies

We've been enjoying our produce from this local CSA (community supported agriculture) program. We receive our medium-sized box of 10 or 12 different fruits and veggies every week, some grown on the farm itself, some grown in the pacific northwest, and a few things from a little farther away. So far it's encouraged us to be eating a lot more veggies and trying new things. Though this week I wasn't brave enough for dandelion greens so I substituted with english peas. And the trickiest part has been eating the ripest things quickly enough, although I am learning how to better store my produce. But it's exciting to log in every week and find out what new foods are available. And it's exciting to go pick up my box just down the street and see those colorful, just grown in the field fruits and veggies.

Here's an idea for getting the kids to eat more veggies. I read it in a book. Wash and cut up some raw vegetables and set it out a bit before dinner. Then point the kids to the plate when they whine "I'm hungry! When is dinner gonna be?" It's worked pretty well so far.

zoo and drum

We've been keeping very busy around here with lot's of fun field trips and adventures thanks to Aunt L and other family. Jomo and the kids joined an Okinawan drum group which subsequently performed two weeks later at the Mariners pre-game show. Very exciting. Unfortunately, I didn't take pictures during the performance, just video. Maybe someday I'll learn how to post those. Anyway, here are some pics from that and our zoo trip.

Waiting for the show with Oma and S.

S is ready to backpack all over the zoo. If only my back could last more than an hour!

Picnic at the zoo.

Posing with an eagle statue.

We're doing well. Jomo is studying hard and has less than two weeks until the bar exam. While we're having lot's of fun, it's also a stressful time. Please keep us in your prayers for the exam (July 28 - 30), for Jomo to find a job quickly, and for us to figure out where to live. Thanks!

fun

he can read!

I just started "phonics" as we call it with L this week ("reading" is on the schedule, meaning me reading aloud to him.)  He knew all his letter sounds really well already, thanks to the Leapfrog videos and listening to Z learn how to read.  The first thing he said when we sat down with our magnetic letters was, "Don't do 'cat' Mom, 'cause I already know that."  Sure enough, he knew that one and was able to easily blend many more CVC words.  So right now my job's pretty easy and L is pretty enthusiastic.  

I decided not to do Sing, Spell, Read, & Write with L like I did with Z.  Although it was a fun program, if I went through it again I would leave so much out, including the handwriting since we're using another program, and workbooks that review letter sounds (Z was pretty bored after a few days of letter sounds that she already knew), that I didn't think it would be worth it. So I got Ruth Beechick's litte $4 book called Home Start in Reading that gives the nuts and bolts of teaching children to read.  I also used Paperbackswap to collect together some McGuffey Eclectic Readers and I'm waiting for my Teacher's Guide (also written by Ruth Beechick) so that I have some lesson plans to go with them.  So hopefully that'll be all we need. So far so good, but we'll see.  And I always have the Sing Spell games that I can supplement with.  

No great pictures since the batteries in the camera are dead.  But we found the kids some used bikes and Z is finally learning how to ride one without training wheels.  So hopefully we'll snap some shots of that soon.  And that's about it for now!

we're here!

It's nice to finally be done with our trip.  Unfortunately there is still a lot on the to-do list, so I haven't felt as relieved and relaxed as I'd hoped.  But we're here.  We're staying with family this summer, and they have made us feel so welcomed.  I know it can't be easy for them to have five additional household members.  The kids have been enjoying all the board games and card games, that their aunt and uncle have been obliging them with at all odd hours.  There's also a great backyard for them to play in, a lake down the street with ducks to feed, and a beach on puget sound just a few miles away.  So they'll have a fun summer, I think.

Jomo is about to start his bar classes and studying, and we've just started school with the kids. L is learning to read, but he seems most excited about his new math book right now.  The hardest part, I think, is going to be the baby.  She's awake during our school hours, and we'll need to figure out the best ways to keep her entertained so that I can work one-on-one with the kids.  

Hopefully we'll start taking some pictures soon.  It's been beautiful here.  Not a drop of rain yet! 

progress

We're now in the Ann Arbor area.  From my mom's we drove to Lancaster to visit with some family, then to Columbus, OH to visit some friends who've recently moved there.  Next we drove up to the tip of the thumb in Michigan and enjoyed a few days with our some of our closest friends.  And now we're in Ann Arbor to see a few more friends and family before heading west on Saturday.  We're hanging in there.  The kids seem ok so far.  But we're pretty ready to be in Seattle now and to get settled.  The real driving is about to start.

all done

I'm very proud of Jomo who is now all done with law school.  Woohoo!  We've finished moving out of Maryland.  It was a rough week, and that's putting it lightly. And I'm finding it a little hard to fall asleep without the scratchings and screechings of  baby racoons inside the wall (eeew, i know!), but I'm glad to be finally on to this next step.  We're at my mom's for one more day before starting our long drive to Seattle.  We're sad to have to say good-bye to some good friends. It's generally a bittersweet time.  Still a lot of transition ahead and we're not really sure what the future will bring.  But there's a lot to be thankful for.  

I'm so glad that we were able to make good friends in D.C., especially after a difficult transition moving away from our life in Michigan.  I'm so glad that we got to live somewhat close to my mother and brother for a time.  I'm so glad that we'll get to see some old friends and some family on our drive across the country.  I'm happy for Jomo's mother that she'll be able to spend a lot of time with her grandkids in Seattle.  I'm really excited to be living in such a beautiful place as Washington state.  I'm thankful for Jomo's family who has already helped us so much, and continues to.  We've had very supportive family and friends that have really made this experience in school successful.  So thank you to all.

to do's

clean out fridge (done!)

bag up yard waste (done! and yuk!)

clean out trunk in yard (done!)

one big truckload to goodwill (done!)

make a pile of stuff that we still want to squeeze into the "relocube" (done!)

organize everything we need in the car for our journey (done)

clean out attic (done!)

clean cabinets (done!)

clean bathroom (done!)

patch up spots on the walls (done I think)

clean walls (done!)

clean floors (done!)

maybe mow the grass (done!)

ship boxes of linens and clothes (done!)

pay library fine/return books (done!)

finish up relocube and have them pick it up (done!)

change address (done!)

call utilities/cable to end service (done!)

return modem (done!)

finish sorting through last stuff (done!)

pack car (done!)

packing

We've been so busy packing.  I'm really ready to be done with it.  Jomo and I stayed up a good portion of the night sorting through boxes and baskets of random things that had no place to go. And we didn't even finish.  So today our "relocube" is coming and we're not as ready as we hoped. But oh well, I guess.  Not much else we can do but push through it.  And afterward we'll get to enjoy visiting with family and friends and driving across the country.  

i'm nuts

I wanted to update you a bit about some of my experiments with healthy eating/cooking.  In the midst of all of this transition, I've been trying to make more food from scratch, with whole grains and some fermenting as well.  Here's what happened.  You know I wanted to learn more about eating healthy foods, so I read this book, called 'Real Food: What to Eat and Why.'  I really liked it.  It was just what I was looking for, and it jives well with some of my own ideas. The basic premise is that 'real food,' or food that hasn't been manufactured in a lab or otherwise, is actually good for you.  Real butter for example.  It doesn't clog your arteries when the butter is made from grass-fed cow's milk. Of course it's there are a lot more specifics in the book.  Along with this book I've been trying out some recipes from 'Nourishing Traditions', which is top on my wish list now (I checked it out from the library).  It's been fun.  Here are some of the changes we've made:

All butter and olive oil for cooking/eating.

Trying to eats lot's of fruits/veggies, most of them organic.

Grass-fed cow's milk.

Some fermenting with whole wheat (fermenting, or soaking, is suppose to break down the phytic acids to be easier to digest, or something like that).

So far cage-free eggs, hopefully "pastured" eggs after we move

Limited pre-made foods.

The way we've been able to afford this is by not buying the several boxes of cereal, granola bars, and other snacks, cans of soup, cookies, refrigerated biscuits, etc. that we were buying.  We're also not a big milk-drinking family (grass-fed cow milk is uber expensive), and we keep meals pretty simple, not tons of different ingredients.  It's definitely more work, but I'm getting used to it, and it's worth it to me.  It's taking a bit of adjusting for the kids.  Z's not very fond of whole-wheat pancakes, and lately L wants very little to do with veggies.  But I have hope that as I learn, I can make things taste better.  

getting ready

Things are really moving quickly now.  On Saturday Jomo took apart all our furniture that can come apart (which is most of it really) so that it can fit better in our "relocube" which we are shipping to Seattle.  So now we're all sleeping in our sleeping bags on our mattresses on the floor and living out of a suitcase.  There's still lot's to do, lot's of little details, lot's of organizing and cleaning.  We've donated a LOT of stuff and there's even more to go.  

I'm looking forward to getting there and getting settled.  At times, when I'm not stressed, it's exciting to think of how everything will unfold.  Jomo has worked very hard to get to this point, and I'm very proud of the job he's done.  So here we go!

just cuz

Eating banana.

We've been doing a lot of this lately.

Big cheesy grin.

To the rescue!

family day

Z performed today with her Japanese dance troupe at Family Day, the opening ceremonies for the Cherry Blossom Festival.  She danced beautifully!  She worked very hard to learn all the dances, and we're very proud of her.  She has several more upcoming performances, and she seems to be enjoying herself.  Here are some pictures!

update

Sorry, still working on photos.  Hopefully soon.  This week I've been focusing on packing, and by that I mean spending a small amount of time packing during S' nap when I'm motivated enough. But Jomo has done some work too and we've gotten the school room basically done.  Now we have another bedroom completely filled with bins of stuff and piles of yard sale items.  So our tiny house just got smaller.  But it feels good to have an early start on packing.  Jomo reminded me about one of our moves (pre-children) in which we worked completely through the night, basically throwing stuff in boxes, bags or just loose in the truck, vacuuming at 6:00 am (sorry downstairs neighbors) to get out by our 8:00 am deadline.  Those were the days.  

The kids this week have decided that they want to save up some money for particular toys that they're pining away for.  This works out ok for me since I could use some extra help, but it's got me thinking a lot about chores and allowances and how we want to deal with those things as a family.  We've tried some different things in the past, and I think I have some new ideas about how to do it in the future, but right now it doesn't make sense to completely start something new.  But I hope that L especially will stick with it and see the fruits of his labor.

Another thing that's really sinking in is that toddlers are hard!  No wonder I despaired when L was that age.  I think I have (a little) more perspective this time around, and I'm trying to give myself a break when I'm out of energy at 4 in the afternoon and the house is a mess and dinner isn't made and everyone's getting hungry and crabby. I'm actually simultaneously really enjoying S and all the wonderful new things she does.  She gives Jomo and me kisses and hugs. She says "bye-bye" and "dada" with such exuberance.  She does some of Z's dances, sometimes quite well.  She tries to do everything the older kids do.  She's just adorable.  But boy, can she make a mess!  

I guess that's the update.  Oh, I also found these two great resources at the library that I'm really excited about.  One of them is an out-of-print book (at least I think so since I can only find it used upwards of $100 online!  for an essentially $10 book) that is exactly the sort of thing I was looking for.  So that's neat.  Ok, that's really it now!

  

michigan

Well, we had a lovely week visiting family and friends in Michigan.  The trip out was difficult as the baby only slept for two hours on the overnight train.  By the time of our arrival, I was in tears (from being so tired), but then we slept wonderfully all week (a byproduct of sharing a hotel room with small children).  I was grateful to be able to see our good friends who are leaving the country (today!) for a long time.  And we hope to go back in May on our way out to Seattle. Pictures coming soon:)

And now we're getting ready to move across the country.  We started doing some packing, and so our house is all out of sorts.  It's kind of nice to have a physical task to focus on, rather than just wondering what's to come in the future and feeling anxious about such big changes.  Only seven weeks left!

 

queen's or PLL

I'm down to making my final selections for next year.  We've just ordered our math materials for both kids, Developmental Math, which is self-teaching for children who can read, and I'm excited about that.  Z took a placement test and afterwards said, "Thank you Mom that we don't have to keep doing that math we've been doing!"  And we have a few more Ambleside Online books to order.  

I've figured most everything out EXCEPT language arts.  I'm slowly becoming convinced of Charlotte Mason's method of waiting until a child is a little older to study grammar, and of developing composition skills through narrations from good literature along with daily copywork (which is also good for spelling.)  But I don't quite trust myself as a teacher to get all these parts done well.  Also, since we're not sure how long we're going to homeschool (we're taking it one year at a time), I don't want the kids to be far off from where kids in public school would be.  All of this leads me to want to follow some sort of curriculum that plans it out for me.  At first I favored LLATL, and it actually looks quite good, but recently I realized that it would just add too much to an already full schedule.  So I've been looking at Queen's Language Lessons for the Very Young, and also Primary Language Lessons, by Emma Serl.  I know that I want to use Queen's at L's level (Language Lessons for Little Ones Volume 2), but for Z, I think I'm leaning more toward PLL.  Here are some differences: Queen's is consumable and costs $20.  It looks like a lot of fun, but I'm not crazy about the space given for copywork (for now I'm wanting to use HWT lined paper to keep letter sizes even).  So it's pricey to have to buy every year.  PLL is non-consumable, and the newer colorized version (it's a Catholic version, but I think we can work around that if need be) is similarly priced and lasts two years.  It's an old text, from 1911 or something like that, so it has an old-timey feel, but I feel more confident that the poems and copywork will be good quality literature. And it looks a bit more challenging, but not as fun.  It's hard not being able to peruse them.  I think it'll be fine either way, and that if I decide to try the other one the following year, it will be ok and not break the bank.  

What I'm most excited about with this style of Language program is curling up on the couch with L and his own special book (he likes when things are special just for him!) and reading poetry and looking at art and discussing them together.  And with Z, I know that she loves this kind of thing and she'll get lot's of practice composing (whether orally or written) her thoughts. I know I write about this stuff a lot, but I just love it!  It's fun to make plans and think about all the special times we'll have together.

On a different note, here are some pics from Z's recent Japanese dance practice.  She's learning a new dance with the "middle" aged girls (they are around 7-9).  S loves to watch the dancing, and she's even learning some of the moves at home.  It's pretty cute!

I don't really have a classy way to sign off.  "That's all!" or maybe "Cheers!"  I'll have to give it some thought.  Bye for now, I guess.

I'm excited because

L has been asking to learn to read.  Unfortunately, we can't start yet since we're just about to have a massive transition, including lot's of packing and travel.  But we're planning to have him start in June, when our next school session will be. (Jomo will be studying for the bar.)  But now I'm really looking forward to his kindergarten school year.  I've been going back and forth over different curricula ideas and think I've finally settle on Ordinary Parent's Guide for Teaching Reading.   It looks gentle and straight forward.  No spending half the year learning the sounds of the letters (which he already knows) until finally putting some of them together.  I'll probably also use BOB books to go along.  He also wants to make some of his own little books, and I was able to find a great deal on this Evan-moor resource.  And I'm thinking about a couple of history story books that sound fun.  I've already posted about science plans, and as I was just packing up some of our science books, I realized we have plenty of resources and won't need to order much of anything.  For math I want to try something new for both kids.  Z is finding math very boring and is looking forward to something different.  It's called Developmental Math, which I believe is considered a "mastery approach."  But the thing I like about (if I can remember back to when I picked it out) it is that it's very visual, intended to be used independently, and inexpensive.  So for L I think I'll order Book 2, since he really seems to "get" math, and just use it whenever he seems ready.  Until that time, I'll plan to use Family Math which I picked up at a thrift store for a couple of bucks.  Ok, enough!  I'm done.

haven't posted in a while

and I don't really know why.  I've just not been inspired to write anything.  Following my very wonderful week complete with a lovely nature walk was a pretty crummy week.  Bad attitudes, much stress, some very emotional times.  And that was mostly me.  Just one of those weeks, I guess.  But it wasn't all bad.  My mom took us out to lunch one day, which was a nice time.  Z had some beautiful moments of teachability over issues that have been difficult in the past for her. And after working with L about complaining about my food, today he really enjoyed tuna fish sandwiches (and asked for seconds!) after coming to the table with a sour expression. Little victories, I guess.  

I think better things are on the horizon.  Next week is our last "official" week of school until after we move (which we are planning to do at the very end of april.)  And I've decided to just wait on learning about Ancient Rome, which is sort of a relief.  So I won't be trying to cram the week full of stuff.  And we're going to Michigan soon to see family and friends, and we're really looking forward to that.  I'm also thinking about unplugging myself a bit, but I think I'll wait for the next post to discuss that.   Oh, and we got a video camera, but right now it has the memory card from our regular camera in it, so we haven't been taking a lot of pictures.  But we'll fix that soon and try to get some more pictures posted.  That's it for now!

chores

I try to have the kids do chores every weekday morning.  Sometimes I succeed and sometimes not.  The thing about young kids and chores is that often, it's not all that helpful.  It's easier and quicker to these things myself.  And I'm often tempted to do just that.  But by having the kids do daily chores, I'm training them to be disciplined, to think of others and serve, and to have important life skills.  And eventually, they will be able to take some of the household workload, which is something I think is part of being a family and a team, accomplishing our goals together. So while it's more work now, I'm trying to remember the pay-off.  And actually, I really think soon Z will be able to do laundry on her own, and many other chores.  But I'm thinking that within a couple of years Z will be washing and drying, and maybe L will be folding and putting away with just a little supervision.  And just maybe S won't be messing up all the piles! That will be wonderful.  

more science thoughts

So now I'm going to attempt to organize my thoughts about next year.  Today is science.  For Z we'll be doing the Burgess Animal Book for the first two-thirds of the year, and Holling C. Holling's Pagoo for the last part (according to AO).  Along with Burgess we'll be coloring in Peterson's Color-in Mammals book.  And I'm not sure what we'll do along with Pagoo.  Maybe just some field trips.  For L we'll be reading Christian Liberty Nature Reader K, which focuses on one animal for each letter of the alphabet.  And I think I'm going to get him an animal sticker book to go along with it.  Additionally we'll be taking nature walks once a week, hopefully even in bad weather (except maybe we'll stay closer to home), and I'm thinking along with that we may do the Outdoor Hour Challenge to give our nature studies some direction.  I think we'll also check out an outdoor experiment or activity type of book from the library to add in some scientific method type stuff.  So generally that would be two days/week of science, one day for nature study, and one day for animal study.  Then at other times we'll supplement with some books and activities that we have.

next year

Ok, again with next year's plans.  Here's my problem: I keep finding good looking curricula that I want to use.  Here's the other problem: I think we're already doing too much so that we don't have time to slow down and enjoy what we're doing.  The latest thing I found is this free life science curriculum that looks really good.  The problem is that I'm trying to do less for science so that we can do more nature study.  We had a wonderful nature walk yesterday at our local nature center.  The center has a really nice discovery room with lot's of books, puzzles, live animals, and activities.   Then we went on a short walk (with the baby in the kelty) and discovered moss, and came home and drew in our nature journals and looked up information about moss.  It was low-key.  No pressure to get something done at a certain time.  And the kids loved it.  I don't know why I have a hard time getting motivated to go, but I really want to do nature walks every week next year.  And Ambleside Online is pretty full, I'm discovering, so really I should probably just try to do that only.  Or at least with very minimal additions.  So I'm finding myself wanting to cram all this other good stuff in before we start Year 2 in the fall, but we're moving this summer.  And I don't know what it's going to look like for us while Jomo is studying for the bar, but I hope to spend a lot of time outdoors.  And I hope to catch up to where we should be in some of the AO books, like Island Story and Trial and Triumph.  So I probably shouldn't be adding much else to our summer plans.  Can you tell I'm trying to talk myself out of this science thing?  I don't think it's working though because I think we'll try it out now for a bit and see how it goes.  

back on top

My modern girls.

I actually woke up on time today.  I think I've discovered that getting out of bed at 6ish is one key to a good day.  This morning I dyed my hair, took a shower, had a quiet time, got school ready, made Jomo's lunch, and scrambled some eggs, all before 7:30 which is when the kids are allowed to come out of their room.  Now I feel like I actually have time to help them get ready and do their chores in the next hour or so.  And my baby girl is smiling again after her bad cold and ear infection.  So that's nice.  Though I think her cold helped me realize that it's just hard to get much done when the kids are up and about, especially S.  So instead of getting frustrated in the afternoons because all my grand plans of completely cleaning the house aren't coming to fruition, I think I should just sit down and hang out with them, and find other times to work on the house. Like in the morning, or before bed, or... (gulp) during rest time.  But it feels doable.

sick

We've had a busy week.  On Z's birthday she got sick and went to bed early.  She was sick the next day with fever and a bad cold.  Then S caught it.  And then I did.  Z was well enough on Saturday to do her birthday celebration.  We went to IHOP with Didi and our good friend and enjoyed some pancakes and later on presents and apple pie.  Then on Sunday, when I was really sick, Z had her first Japanese dance performance.  So Jomo took her and I was planning to stay home with the other two kids, but after I took some medicine I was feeling better and really didn't want to miss Z's performance.  So we took the long train ride and made it just in time to see her perform.  She did a great job! I was glad to be there, but by the end my medicine had worn off and I could hardly stand.  (And hopefully we didn't pass any of our germs on.)  Then yesterday I mostly stayed in bed all day. The kids were great and played their DS games and watched movies.  The baby took lots of naps.  Jomo made dinner and took care of the kids when he got home.  So today I'm feeling much better and trying catch up on housework.  It's amazing how messy it gets in just two days.  S is still sick with a bad cold, so she's pretty clingy. We're heading to the doctor in the morning to make sure her ears are clear.  But for now we're just trying to get back on track. 

saying good-bye to an old friend

So I've finally given up diet coke.  Actually, I'm writing this down in order to solidify my plan.  I've been meaning to cut it back for a very long time, but this time I didn't buy any at the store and I didn't even need to make a mid-week trip to some convenience store to get a fix.  Mostly because I've replaced it with coffee, so baby steps.  But I figure coffee's got to be better than all that artificial stuff.  This is motivated by my wanting to move our family towards more real food and less junk added in, like preservatives, high fructose corn syrup, fake sugars, and other chemicals. I'm no expert at this and don't want to blow things out of proportion, nor can we afford to buy everything organic.  So I'm moving slowly and just trying out some healthier options to see if we can make it work while I decide how important this really is to me.  I have to say I'm loving Trader Joe's since they have a lot of affordable options.  But this is putting a real dent lately in my ordering groceries online strategy for time/money savings.  So again, I guess I'll be slowly replacing some of our regular foods and intentionally not stressing about every little thing.  (So now that I've written this I'm really going to have to think before taking that next sip of D.C., though I've heard all sorts of neat things about the benefits of not drinking it, from weight loss, to more energy, to fewer sweet cravings.  That would be nice!)

Happy 7th Birthday!

saturday

Today is Saturday, and for my low-key, do-whatever-I-want time (it's scheduled in, but I haven't figured out what to call it yet), I loaded up the baby and went to the friends of the library bookstore to search the shelves.  It was great.  And I found some good things.  Then Jomo and I decided to do a little organizing/packing.  (We seem to be doing a lot of that these days!)  Well afterwards, I was tired, and since we have plans later, I was ready to bail on my promise to make cookies for Z's dance class tomorrow.  And as I was explaining this to her, her little face looking so disappointed just killed me.  So I strapped the baby onto my back (with my new kelty backback!) and got to work.  Well as I was hand-mixing my double batch of oatmeal cookies and wishing for a fancy stand-mixer, not that we have any room, I had a flashback to fourth grade. Remember how on the day of your birthday you could bring in a treat to share with the class? Well, that's what we always did anyways. I remember the night before my birthday my mom helping make these complicated layer brownies that I had my heart set on.  And I'm sure she was really tired after a long day at work, and it would have been so much easier to just make a mix and be done with it, but that was very special to me.  (So thanks, Mom!)  And with S tickling the back of my neck (until she started pulling on the little hairs at my nape, ouch!) I was feeling very content making these cookies.  I know that this is the kind of stuff I want to do with and for my kids, and this is the stuff I'll remember fondly someday. (Maybe they will too!)  And cleaning out my huge pot (remember it was a double batch?) didn't even seem that bad.

healthy pictures and history review

S is eating a banana in this picture.  And we got the kids these exercise clothes on clearance. Doesn't Z's hair look long?  Daddy and son match!

I wanted to give a little review of History Pockets: Ancient Civilizations.  We love this!  We've been having so much fun, but then, my kids really like crafts.  I've heard people criticize that it's too much coloring and busy work.  I can see that point, and if your kids don't like to color, they won't like this.  But, it's not just a bunch of coloring pages. (My kids wouldn't like that either.) There are word definitions, little paper crafts (like making a paper pyramid), maps with interactive parts, and more.  L can even do it, but I leave out the writing parts, or do it for him. For us this would probably be really nice spread out over the whole year, or half the year, but right now since we're reviewing what we've already learned, we're doing one pocket/week. Once we get to Greece we'll slow down.  I like this kind of project, as opposed to lapbooks, though they are similar, because all the work is done for me.  I just have to make copies and follow instructions. This is right on their level, the right size for their age, and it doesn't have to fit onto a specific page.  Also, it's reproducible, so I can use it again with S, or maybe with L in the next couple of years.  I wish there were History Pockets for the Middle Ages, but maybe we'll do Native Americans at some point next year.  So if you're going to use these, keep in mind that you'll need $5-10 for copies and lot's of construction paper. 

And yes, I was up in the middle of the night the other day. After changing a dirty diaper, I thought it would take me a long time to fall back asleep, and then I would wake up crabby and tired at 6:00.  So I just stayed up and enjoyed myself and got a good start on the day.  However, I did fall asleep at 8:00 last night and slept in until 7:00 this morning.  That felt good.  Thanks for reading!