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Showing posts from March, 2022

Viewfinders

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The girls were "playing" with their view finders the other day. I can't remember the last time they pulled these from the bottom of their closet where toys are stored. Many years ago, Dwayne's mom gave us her old viewfinder with antique, unique inserts including one of photos from Queen Elizabeth's coronation. The viewfinder wasn't actually a toy for his mom; it was something her pediatrician prescribed her to exercise her eyes! We've added a newer viewfinder and some inserts with modern scenes like favorite Disney films. I am thankful that Adele can inspire Avril to embrace her childhood a little longer. The two still play so well together, and I'm thankful for moments like this. 

Avril Turns 13

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We celebrated Avril's birthday at Cheesecake Factory last night. That's where she and her older sister really like to go for their birthdays.  When I suggested going somewhere else for her birthday dinner, she started singing, "Traditioooon! Tradition!" from Fiddler on the Roof, so that settled any discussion.  After dinner, we walked over to the mall to let Avril pick out a gift from the Lego Store. She was given a reasonable budget for one kid, one gift.  But when she asked for input from her sisters, the girls all agreed they'd love a particular set, but it was over-budget for just one kid...  But Adele's birthday would be coming in a little over one week... So by cleverly offering to combine their birthday gifts into this one larger Lego set that they could share, they persuaded us to purchase something over-budget, but bigger, better, something they both really wanted, and best of all, we could avoid coming back to the mall again next week.  We took the d

Fresh Flowers

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I try to keep fresh flowers on our table. Their fragrances waft around us as we sit and complete our school work.  As the days go by, the flowers open more, and the sunlight plays through their textures and colors and provides constant interest and delight. I maintain that taking a minute to study the flowers isn't the same thing as giving in to distraction.  Admiring them seems to facilitate our ability to concentrate longer. It's a small expense, but I find it well worth the indulgence, especially if we have the necessity of sitting together in the same place inside for a while each day. 

Visit to The Met

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I snuck away after church and drove into the city to spend a few hours at the The Met alone. I listened to my favorite podcasts there and back. It was nice not to be interrupted with, "Mom! Look at this!" every thirty seconds. I could linger as long as I wanted at one painting without having to look up and keep track of three people scattered throughout the gallery. But interestingly, I did find that I also missed having my girls there to discuss things with. They actually help me see so much more and really multiply my joy. So the plan is to go back with them very soon. 

The City of God Reread

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 I finished the audio book of The City of God a few weeks ago. I was glad to be done, since some portions were a real slog. But then I found myself sad it was over and longing to hear Augustine's clear rhetoric again like a cool breeze, so I promptly started listening again from the beginning.  That led on to a desire to actually see and hold the text. I wanted to highlight certain quotes and track the argument with my eyes and fingers. So I purchased the tome. Now I am listening some, then reading some, listening to more, reading more.  I see that I am venturing into a different sort of reading these days, content to stay in the same books and linger over the same poems. For years, I just devoured content, taking what I could get quickly and moving on, saying to myself and others, "I've read that." But I am not sure that's reading. I would go so fast I often forgot what was said.  I'm dissatisfied with that sort of reading anymore, so I'm taking my time

Geometries

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We're taking more walks outside as the weather warms.  There's always enough to interest the eyes, even taking the same paths.  The other day, everything seemed a study in geometries.  

Beekeeping Update

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Our bees didn't make it through winter. It's not uncommon, but it's still a disappointment. I plan to process the wax and use it to make candles again. I am on the fence about trying again this year. If I do get another batch of bees to raise, I'll probably try the traditional Langstroth hive instead of the Layens I have now. 

Faces of History

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One of my favorite days of the year = Faces of History for Essentials students at Classical Conversations. Students write a final paper, dress up, and do a presentation about a person or character from the period of history we are studying. This year was ancient times. Adele was Persephone, Dread Goddess of the Underworld.

The Horror of Realization!

The horror of realization! We are, every one, another Job. And The Enemy is given leave To do whatsoever He wills.  Only He cannot kill us, When death would be a mercy. Barred out of Eden,  Barred into Gethsemane   We thirst!  I am mad with it, in fact. But The Master at every feast, The Devourer holds the only cup And the knife. These pains,  I confess, I see,  Are crafted so exquisitely  Fit to my every particularity Indeed, almost lovingly!  The Lord is not the only One  Counting the hairs on my head. My frame is not hidden from either of Them. There is no secret place!  How old was Our Christ when He perceived That His Body was every bread torn, That His Blood was every wine poured?  The Incarnate Word would comprehend  Every symbol so much sooner. Was He very young then  To be So terrified? He was a man in the garden, But did a mere boy have to stare  Into this decomposing maw? I, myself, seem far too old  To only just recognize  That Life is some portion of living Death. I faint

First Sign of Spring

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We saw a crocus on our walk the other day. It was a Norman Rockwell moment. So we mimicked his "First Sign of Spring" painting for fun.   

The Sublime

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I'm reading The Abolition of Man with The Literary Life podcast. A member of that group shared this video about Caspar David Friedrich. I'm reading Mere Christianity with my Challenge 4 class and I'm leisurely going through The Complete Poems of Keats  in my free time. All of these sources mention the sublime. So it's a concept I'm thinking of often. I've also made it a goal to take 100 walks this year. Sitting by this stream today after one of my walks, listening to it sing, seeing the light dance on the surface, feeling the spray of tiny water droplets on my skin... ahh! It was sublime . I have decided to take as many of those 100 walks outside as possible to give myself more opportunity for experiencing sublimity. 
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"I want to climb that rock wall and sit on that tree next time we come. Okay, Mom?"  The next time came, and she did. 

God Provides

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The girls have grown so much in the last few months that we had started to "run out" of enough clothes and shoes in their correct sizes and the right season. One was wearing jeans way too big which was better than wearing jeans that were way too tight.  Another was wearing tennis shoes with everything, because all the nicer shoes she had were too tight or else, far too large, etc. With three girls, we keep everything and pass clothes down, but stuff wears out and we may not have the right thing in the right size and season.  I said a quite prayer about it and told Dwayne, "We'll need to go shopping soon." It was only a few days later that a friend at church said she had clothes to give us. Her exchange student left many, many items when she moved. So the clothes came with her to church on Sunday and then they came home with us from there. We were able to keep the majority of what we were given; the items fit some one of the girls. And they are stylish, fashionab

Another Sort of Learning

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I'm giving this book to my Challenge 4 class when they graduate this year. I'm reading it now for something like the sixth time and I love it more than ever and I think it's just the thing for a group of young people who are going to college and starting their lives. I found Schall  in 2016 by following the notes in another book. What a treasure! 

Memory Master

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She wants to try for Memory Master this year, so almost daily, we sit down together and review two subjects worth of material, either geography and timeline, or Math and history, or English and Latin, some combination. When she has built up speed and endurance in a few weeks, we'll do all the subjects in one sitting, the official parent proof, and we'll see if she can move on to the other proofs. "Can we review memory work now?" she asks. So it's something we're doing together. No pressure. Just consistent practice. And we're both learning. Almost daily, too, something from the memory work comes up in a sermon or the news or another book and she looks over at me and smiles or shares the known fact with the family and that leads to instructive and enriching conversations. 

"We Give Our Children Our Best"

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I was actually physically pained to give Norah one of my two copies of Scott Crider's "Office of Assertion" today.  She's writing her Senior Thesis, said she felt she needed to be reminded how to write academic papers, needed to read an example essay.  Of course, Crider is just the thing, so I eagerly took my copies off the shelf and turned to her.  Naturally, she took a book and looked it over then asked a question she has asked at least a dozen times before in situations just like this one, "Can I just have this?"  Neither she nor I totally understood my hesitation this time.  This same thing has happened so many times before and I am usually happy to put the right book in her hands at the right time. I thought I lived to do so.   "...Yes." I said, finally.  But this time, it was obviously only by a force of the will that I got the word out.  "Mom, you have two," she said.  But then she must have recognized what was going on inside me.

Mancala

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The girls wanted to learn how to play with their dad's old mancala board, so I found a how-to video on You Tube for them to watch. (I had totally forgotten how to play and their dad wasn't home to ask at the time.) Apparently, the youngest won every game they played! I love what these girls have in each other. They play at least one game of chess every single day and many other games besides throughout the week! 

Science Fair Update

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The results were recounted and Avril actually tied for first place at this year's Science Fair!  Note: There was an error in calculations during the bustle on the night of the fair and it wasn't caught until later. Her tutor wanted to make it right and make sure the tie was officially recognized.  Since the whole project was recorded here start to finish, I felt like Avril deserved for me to come here and correct the record for posterity.  She got first place and tied with her closest friend, which is probably the part she enjoys the most.  The other first place project was outstanding, so it is an honor to be ranked up there with that project and the young lady who did it.  Too, her classmates chose her project as the class favorite, which is a special honor.  Her tutor gave out other special recognitions for various reasons and Avril was given "Most Organized Project, Impressive Lab Journal, and Best Display."  My daughter is still interested in her topic and has

Cup Stacking, Board Games, and Archery

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We joined a new homeschool co-op.  Actually, it's not new a new co-op at all; It's a very well-established co-op that's been meeting at our church for many years.  So it seems like it should have been an obvious choice for us to try to join it a while ago.  But for a long time, I worked part-time teaching and also subbing as many fitness classes as I could manage to fit into my schedule.  During that season, there was a real concern that we might not get enough school work done unless I was home when I was home and we were doing school when I was home, so the only co-op we ever did was our weekly CC meeting.  Now that I am not working, I am thrilled to discover we have this thing called "margin" and now we do the sports and we can even join another co-op! But honestly, even if we found out that we couldn't do as much school work and we ended needing to adjust something and do less, we'd probably go ahead and do that and make this co-op a priority. It only
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Avril, my middle daughter, is drawing and learning the skeletal system in Challenge A right now, so I took the model skeleton out of the schoolroom closet for her. Adele, my youngest, must have thought the looked lonely there in the middle of the table alone, so she brought the art manikin out to keep him company. I laugh every time I notice these two. They look like bros. 

Easter Decorating Continued

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My youngest collected all our Easter or Springish books and put them out on display to add to our Easter decor.  She and/ or her sisters read them silently to themselves or aloud to one another here and there throughout the days.  The libraries do this kind of thing, putting out books for every season.  I always dreamed of living inside the library anyway, so that's fine. 

Commonplace Book Update

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I'm still copying my highlights from Ourselves by Charlotte Mason into my commonplace book.  I finished Ourselves earlier in the year, but I highlighted so many quotes that it is taking me a really long time to copy them all by hand into my commonplace book.  I've finished several other books since then and I've got highlights in those books, too, that I'd also like to add to my commonplace book eventually.  But I find that I don't mind reviewing the texts slowly in this way.  It is a nice way to slow down and go back and revisit and collect and cherish and contemplate beloved ideas from the books I've read. 

Reflections on the Basketball Season (and Sports Activities in General)

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My two younger girls have been playing basketball for the last few months with the rec center. After their final games on Saturday, we celebrated the season with a late lunch/ early dinner at Sycamore with frozen root beer floats, cheeseburgers, and two big baskets of fries- curly and regular.  This was the first time the girls had ever played basketball (or any organized sport for that matter). That's not because we don't value sports, but like most every other family, we have limited time and money, so we had to make choices and order our priorities based on what we prefer and value most.  We know families that make sports a priority and apparently, really enjoy doing so, but sports activities usually proved to be far too expensive in our reckoning and/ or they were usually going to require too big of a time commitment during the week and on weekends for our sensibilities.  We wanted to spend most evenings at the dinner table or fireside.  We didn't want to be most of the

Lent

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We're preparing for Easter in our home and in our hearts. I'm thankful for my daughters.  They help with the motivation and inspiration to decorate and mark the seasons in special ways. I find it difficult enough to simply clean as often as is needed, let alone find the energy to also decorate with the seasons, so my daughters' youthful enthusiasm when it is time to decorate is a welcome relief at this point in my life. Our Easter decorations includes a crown of thorns. This crown sat in its box for years, because the children came along and they were very little and very clumsy, and it seemed like too much of liability to display it anywhere.  Then, one Easter, our beloved neighbors gifted our daughters the pink basket you see in the picture above. (They always give the girls baskets and generously invite us to join their family's Easter egg hunt making our Easter memories so much more rich and special.) Once all the candy and toys were removed from the basket, I reali

Faces of History

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It's Faces of History time again at CC.  Essentials students write a Faces of History paper at the end of each year.  Students pick characters from the history cycle that CC is currently on, and they compose a paper about their character, and give a first-person presentation in costume.   This year, students are choosing characters from ancient history, so my youngest daughter chose Persephone.  She's long been enchanted by the Greek myths about Persephone, and we've read and enjoyed these stories for many years already.  Now, we're working on her essay little by little, rereading our beloved sources, taking notes, fusing details into a thorough and organized retelling of Persephone's story to share with her classmates, the Essentials families, and guests.  We've ordered my daughter a Persephone costume (that will also happen to double as a beautiful, white Easter dress for this coming Easter.) Note: We keep every costume and prop we ever purchase in a chest in

A Stack of Faithfulness

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I helped my nine year old clean out the book bag she takes to CC each week.  Once all the trash had been thrown away and we'd organized what was left, I noticed the pile of papers she has accumulated.  I counted.  There were fifteen essays.  I thought to myself, "This! This is why I am a part of Classical Conversations!"  I know.  I know.  It's not about the quantity of the work.  It's about quality.  But sometimes artifacts can serve as one reliable indicator of how well you are doing, even if they simply indicate how faithful you have been to work at the material set before you.  That's what this stack of essays indicates to me.  I don't remember writing fifteen essays, but I know we've simply been faithful to sit down together a few days a week and focus on the content, talk, work through the material, laugh, and learn. I'm not all that worried about assessing exactly how much my daughter has learned. But I am sure good things will come from t

The Action Bible

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 "Mom, Jesus just had an epic Scripture battle with Satan, and He won!" *proceeds to narrate the entire temptation of Jesus in detail* "Satan misused Scripture, but Jesus knew it better." -My youngest daughter after reading The Action Bible  one afternoon Graphic novels are becoming more popular, but popularity usually doesn't impress me.  It may even make me more skeptical and suspicious to find out most people like something. Of course, my kids were drawn to graphic novels like every other kid who ranges the stacks at the library in summer, but I was on the fence about them until I saw an outstanding graphic novel done on The Iliad by Gareth Hinds.  After I picked my chin up off the floor, shocked at how beautifully done the work was, I quickly purchased it and then slowly started purchasing others including The Odyssey, Poe: Stories and Poems also by Gareth Hinds and The Hobbit by Charles Dickon.  In that context, I found the graphic Bible shown above at the

Mothering

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As Norah has matured, she has started “mothering” her siblings. I’m allowing this within limits, because I am trying to honor her nature. She loves. She wants to protect and nurture. And she’s usually not wrong. It IS Avril’s turn to do dishes, or Adele does need to brush her teeth, or we all do need to careful because of the ice, etc. Today, she picked up my glasses and handed them me. “I really wish you’d wear these… *then she ventured into lecturing me* I’d usually remind her how old she is and/ or who is in authority here. But as it was happening, my imagination totally fast forwarded me forty years into the future to when I’m in my eighties and I don’t want to put those drops into my eyes because they sting, etc. Instead, I hugged her. I said, “Thank you for caring about me so much.” (But I still didn’t put the glasses on.)