Merry Christmas

Sarah the night of her choir performance.

Danny all dressed up in his Spiderman hat and gloves, ready to make a snowman.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all! I was going to write a Christmas letter, but I don't seem to have the energy :) Know that you are loved and prayed for, my friends...

Apple Picking 2009

As usual, we had a great time apple picking at Quarry Hill this year. The owner and staff are so friendly, I'd never go anywhere else.

I couldn't figure out why Sarah kept having pictures taken with an apple hanging out of her mouth. That is...

Until I saw this and many other pictures of Dad with apples hanging out of HIS mouth. Sarah would follow Papa to the ends of the Earth.

Yep...again. I'll spare you the 3-4 others, plus the ones with Dad and his similar look.

Sarah and her Papa. So sweet!

Mom missed out this year, because she was home with some kind of crud. Lord only knows what she had, but she did NOT look good. We're hoping that we escape that illness!

Month Two

It's hard to believe that we've already been at this for two months. There is still much deschooling to be done, but at least Sarah is no longer asking for recess. I am pleased with the progress she is making on most days, especially in math and history. For someone who despises math as I do, it's interesting for me to see her favoring these subjects.

We have been working on our study of mammals in general, and then we will move on to study of a few different mammals to compare and contrast. Of course, we'll need to get into the internal organs and how the body works, which should be way cool. As a part of this study, she will be using the computer to write a book, and she will illustrate it after we print out the pages. Hopefully this will not be too frustrating for either of us to handle. I have my doubts!

In our history study we've finished the Early Period in Egypt as well as early India and China. We start with Africa next week and there will be an African Feast, which should be good. I hope. Well, I hope that we don't have to order pizza, anyway. Steve will actually be home for that one, so we'll probably make it a party with instruments and all.

We continue to do as many field trips as we can handle, hiking and observing at parks, mostly. There's always COSI, where we went again today, for rainy days. The zoo hasn't happened lately, but that will be good for the mammal study pretty soon.

Sarah has been very good about her chores as well, and is actually loving her new level of responsibility. Most likely, I will be adding another chore once she is used to her current routine. Any ideas? Her current load is: making her bed daily, taking care of the cat, cleaning the bathroom on the main floor once a week. Cleaning her room hasn't stuck, and it's hard for me to enforce because my room's not clean either. Never has been...never will be....but I digress.

A Looooong Day

This is completely my fault, but Tuesday are going to be tough! We start in the morning with taking Danny to school and Sarah doing school at home. This part is fine...but then the real fun starts. Pick up Danny at 11:30, feed both kids lunch, clean up (yeah, right) and out the door by 12:30.

Choir at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware starts at 1:00. I think this choir is going to help Sarah with her musicianship and also with her ability to follow instructions, as there are quite a few distractions in the room. The instructor is on faculty at the University, so that's cool too. I feel so nostalgic being in the conservatory building. Very surreal.

So, okay, we finish choir at 1:45, then back in the car, eat a snack in the car, and off to piano in Clintonville at 3:00. She loves piano, and Danny loves to pet the dog, Bacon, at the teacher's house. Boy oh boy, am I going to need a break on Tuesday nights! Too bad hubby is never home on Tuesday....

Month One

We are in full swing now with school. It's going better than I ever imagined, and I find confirmation of our decision to homeschool every day. There are still adjustment issues, of course, but I expect that those will work themselves out with time.

After a slight revision, I have decided on Biomes for our first science topic. I thought that animals and Biomes would be best, since Sarah loves animals, but that was way too disorganized for both of us. We'll do the Biomes first, and then move on the the animals after we've researched the major areas they live. We have visited a brook, a wetland and grasslands so far. Of course, we hike a lot so we've been to the woods, but not with the purpose of doing any real investigation. We'll just have to go back again!

History is much more interesting to Sarah AND Danny than I ever imagined. We are using The Story of the World curriculum lent to me by a good friend, and it's just so cool! The lessons are just long enough to give some detail, but not long enough to bore my children so much that they stop listening. The added benefit is my personal learning...I don't remember anything from World History, so our Ancient History curriculum is nearly as new to me as it is to them. It's really hard sometimes to stay on a child's level when it's so interesting!

Our visit to the Honda Wetlands Education Center at Glacier Ridge Metropark.

Turning over rocks in the brook at Scioto Park to see who might be living under them.

Sarah and Dan both loved making "cave" drawings while learning about the earliest people. I have 6 of these things and they won't let me throw them away!

Riding the camel at COSI in the Egypt exhibit. They were also able to try to build a pyramid, pull the blocks for the pyramid using a simple machine, walk through a "tomb" chamber, see real mummies, a sarcophagus, canopic jars, and other artifacts on loan from museums. (The camel was probably their favorite...)

School Days

The school year officially started here about a week ago. Sarah is loving math, science and history. Writing and English, however, are not her forte. It is literally like World War III trying to get her to write a sentence. We are working on learning to tolerate these subjects. (Yes, I really mean we!) I am much less worried than I thought I would be, and we're having so much fun together. Hopefully we can sustain this feeling for the year!

My parents bought Sarah a microscope for her birthday, so that's WAY cool, too. The kids have so many neat options for learning that I think it will be tough to not start Danny as well. He is really involved when Sarah has her lessons, so we'll see what happens there...

We're also working on what time of day works best for school. I have learned that Danny being present for writing is one ingredient in our recipe for disaster, so that will have to happen when he's at preschool. Once the other neighborhood kids go back to school it will be easier to tell. Right now, it's tough to get her to pay attention when there's someone outside having fun! There are so many things to learn before we even get to the "learning" part of it, but I'm up for the challenge!

Canning Season

It's so exciting to have enough tomatoes to begin canning. I'm on my first batch of spaghetti sauce of the year, and there are 2 batches of salsa downstairs on the shelves already. My garden is, for the most part, winding down though. Snap peas are done as are the green beans. The zucchini is much less prolific than it was a couple of weeks ago. The strawberries which weren't supposed to send out runners are doing a great job of sending out runners! I hope to have a nice patch next year, as well as being able to gift some to a friend. Hopefully, pictures will follow when I have a few free minutes!

Sleepwalking

So...last night, Sarah had a little "episode" of sleepwalking. I was startled awake by doors slamming multiple times. She was going in and out of her room. By the time I made it upstairs, she was closing the bathroom door. I went into her room to find a trail of drips from the bed to the bathroom. The sound of her going to the bathroom seemed a little higher pitched than usual, so I was a little concerned, but not enough to check. I commenced changing the sheets on her bed. After I had her tucked in, I was really concerned that she continued to make a peeping noise, much like a young chick. Not sure what that was about. I entered the bathroom to find a LAKE of pee on the floor next to the door. Nowhere near the toilet. What fun at 0100! Both kids found this story quite funny. I'm still not sure.

Maftoul

This recipe is posted for Mom, but anyone who likes Mediterranean food would like it. So easy and so tasty!

Maftoul with Pine Nuts, Parsley and Lemon

2 T butter, divided
1/2 c pine nuts
1/2 c shallots, finely chopped
1.5 c Israeli couscous
1 cinnamon stick
1 bay leaf
1 3/4 c chicken broth
1/4 c parsley, finely chopped
zest of 1/2 lemon
salt and pepper to taste

Melt 1 T butter in large saucepan over medium low heat. Add pine nuts and stir til golden brown. Transfer to bowl. Melt remaining butter and 1 T olive oil over medium heat. Add shallots and saute til golden, then add couscous, cinnamon and bay leaf. Stir often until couscous browns slightly. Add broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer until liquid is absorbed and couscous is tender (about 10 min). Remove from heat, transfer to bowl, and stir in parsley, pine nuts and zest. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Danny's 4!!!

I cannot believe that my baby is already 4 years old. This morning, I took both kids to the zoo at his request. We stayed there 5 hours, a feat never before accomplished. We ate our picnic lunch while in line to see the baby elephant, Beco. (check) The Amur Tiger was pacing back and forth like he wanted to eat us (check), and the kids both we allowed to choose an item from the zoo store. They both chose "Unicorn horns," and Danny fell asleep with it in his lap on the way home in the car. So sweet.

This evening, it's back out to a restaurant where they will sing to him, and then cake baking for tomorrow's party with his two friends. I'm tired already!

Trial

Today we honed our stealth and observation skills at Scioto Park. The kids were actually quite good at moving slowly to get close to the ducks. Most of the time, they got within a couple feet of them. Danny was usually the spoiler, when he'd try to talk to the duck about what it was doing. Needless to say, Sarah was not too pleased with that aspect of our trip. I, however, was ecstatic, as this is a BIG part of what we'll do while homeschooling. Both art and science can be accomplished quite easily using these skills, provided we go home and research what we have found, and that I remember the sketch book to draw. We'll see how it goes!

After about 20 minutes of being stealthy, the kids had had enough of it. They went back to their favorite standby activity...gathering slime from the run that goes into the river. Yuck.

Dance Recital...finally!

Last Day of Preschool

We didn't have pony rides at MY preschool!
Here's Dan telling Pastor Rob that he already knows how to play shuffleboard.

The kids did a cute program, and then each child got an award. Danny got the "Best Storyteller" award. I wonder if this is akin to the "Never Stops Talking" award?

What a sweet boy!

Gardening 2009

"What doubles the pleasure of reading is the subconscious feeling that I ought, most of the time, to be doing something else." Carl Patton, The Atlantic, 1922.

Gwaking

If there's one reason I don't get any sleep, this is it. My boy likes to run himself into the ground, and then falls asleep at very inopportune times. Here, he fell asleep on the short trip to pick up Sarah from school. School is literally down the street. Not even 3 minutes. Geez!

Here's Danny being the superhero "Rainbow Man," of his own creation, of course. "Look Mom, I'm cool because I'm gwaking (walking) backwards, and I'm good at it because I'm Rainbow Man and I'm cool because I'm a big boy gwaking backwards." Got all that?

Spring Programs

Sarah and Danny were both in programs at school last week. What a blessing to see them perform. Sarah was so consumed with looking at me in the audience that she missed half of the movements, and probably half of the words too. It was so cute. Danny was about 5 words behind the rest of the class for the "I Love Mommy" song. (Sung to the Frere Jacques tune) It didn't seem to bother him, though. He kept right on going at his own pace, happy as a clam. As usual, I can't post any pics because the other computer is occupied :)

We Love Spring!

We are trying to cram everything we can into the little bit of time we have to enjoy the fleeting pleasures of spring. So far, we've checked off the hike to see early spring plants, tadpole observation, playing in the creek before it gets too full, early season plantings....I think that's it. It's always amazing to me how nature holds a child's attention like nothing else. A child with "ADHD" or whatever label you'd like to give them can sit for hours on end observing rocks, tadpoles and toads. We were truly designed to be in nature...not apart from it. My problem now that it's warm? My children don't want to come in the house...ever! I guess that's a good problem to have.

Piggies!

My dear friend lives in my dream house about 25 minutes from us.

We just had to go over to meet the new pigs! They had 9 at the time we were there. I think they may be up to 14 now. They are just so adorable!

I couldn't resist a picture on the gorgeous screened porch.

The kids had a blast playing in the straw, although they couldn't agree on what they should play. Sarah, as usual, is observing, boys are just being insane, and Riley was trying to organize it all! Life is good.

This is Humbling....

"What, therefore, is our task today? Should I answer "Faith, hope and love?" That sounds beautiful. But I would say - courage. No, even that is not challenging enough to be the whole truth. Our task today is recklessness. For what we Christians lack is not psychology or literature... we lack a holy rage - the recklessness which comes from the knowlege of God and humanity. The ability to rage when justice lies prostrate on the streets, and when the lie rages across the face of the earth... a holy anger about the things that are worng in the world. To rage against the ravaging of God's earth and and the desruction of God's people. To rage when little children must die of hunger, while the tables of the rich are sagging with food. To rage at the senseless killing of so many, and the madness of militaries. To rage against the lie that calls the threat of death and the strategy of destrustion peace. To rage against COMPLACENCY. To restlessly seek that recklessness that will challenge and seek to change human history until it conforms to the norms of the kingdom of God."

-Father Kaj Munk, 1944

Conference Weekend

As usual, I did not bring my camera, but we had a great weekend at the Midwest Homeschool Conference with some good friends. I learned a TON about methods and was so encouraged by the successes people have when they bring their children home. Sarah is getting more excited by the day, which is both good and bad. The bad, of course, is that it's difficult to get her to finish up the year at school. I don't know why I feel like she should do that, since they switched teachers on us for the last 6 weeks, but I'm going with it. We will be able to do lots of hands-on, and hopefully we'll keep her desire to learn alive.

In other news, Sarah no longer has ANY front teeth. She's so cute with her lisp...cracks me up. She walks around with her tongue in the hole, so that looks a bit odd, but it's time limited. (I hope!) Danny has his own gross habit to contend with. He no longer is satisfied with sucking his thumb. He likes to stick his fingers in his mouth, sometimes gagging himself. For good measure, he licks the back of his hand and wipes it on his forehead. NASTY and stinky. Hopefully, this is time limited as well!

Good Friday

I have matured so much in my relationship with Christ in the past few years. Today was a day of reflection and sadness...and amazement at what He did for us.

Beth Moore always has such a way of saying things. Getting them down to my level. If you have a minute to read, this is a neat post regarding Good Friday.

http://livingproofministries.blogspot.com/2009/04/thinking-about-death-and-healing.html

Tim and Heidi

Barle, the SECOND best yellow lab ever.

Wally, the chocolate English lab. I was surprised at how much more stocky this breed is.

The kids with Heidi, who looks concerned about the kids topping their own sundaes!

One of our nights in PA was spent with our former neighbors and good friends, Tim and Heidi. They were so gracious to let us stay there and love on their dogs while they made dinner and did tons of work! The kids loved it and so did we...but it sure did make us miss them even more.

What a week we had last week! Many good things and bad things. Of course, the worst was losing Zubin on Monday. We all cried...a lot....and it still gets us at the strangest times, but I know that what we did was right. It's so hard to walk down the steps in the morning and not have him waiting to go outside. I'll be the first to admit that I was annoyed many mornings when I wasn't ready to deal with him yet, but boy, I miss him. The picture above is Zubin's last meal...hamburgers from Wendy's.

Monday was also the day that Sarah learned to ride her bike without training wheels. Steve had taken them off the day before, and she just hopped on and started riding. She's now working on jumping curbs and doing figure eights. It seems like sometimes they just grow by leaps and bounds in the matter of days. This was one of those weeks for Sarah.

We also just returned from a trip to PA together. I will post more about that later, as I'm needing to get the kids up for school. Our friends there are all so awesome, and we didn't get to see all of them, but we did our best. Time to start planning the next trip!

The Adventures of Zubin Mehta

Zubin's last few days have been very exciting, no doubt. He has been on adventures I can only imagine. For those of you who don't know, he has run away twice in 3 days, and both times he was gone long enough that we feared he was gone forever. Both times, good people have found him, picked him up, brought him home, and LOVED him. He has been swimming in the golf course ponds, running through fields, playing with other dogs, sleeping with new people in various homes....and God only knows what else. I think people were better to him than they would be with a lost child.

It is so sad, yet so fitting, that he will end this way. He has lived a good life, and has been the best pet I can imagine. But his time has come. He can't control his bladder anymore, he limps everywhere even with pain medication, and his ears are constantly filling up with fluid. Not to mention the growths that are back in his eyes, causing his eyes to water and be flaming red continuously. It is time. We are devastated. Please be thinking of us as we spend our last weekend together with him.

St. Patrick's Day Parade

One of several St. Patricks that were in the parade.



Sarah's float...she's second from the left.




Sarah in full parade regalia.

Black Teeth and Wigs

Danny had a nasty fall about 3 weeks ago, and one of his front teet is quite dark as a result. Thank goodness he doesn't need a root canal or any other intervention!



Sarah got her wig today for dance, just in time for the St. Patrick's Day parade in Dublin. She is very excited! This was just a quick try-on, and it will need to be much neater for the parade and for any feis in which she participates. For those who are familiar with my hairstyling abilities, you know this will be a real challenge. Hey, at least I don't have to make all of those curls every time!

Too Much Dancing, Or Just Too Old?

So, first off, don't start Irish dance at the age of 36...maybe I could have done this at 34 or 35, but apparently, I'm just too old. We had such a good time at the Ceili, and I loved dancing with Sarah during the traditional set dances.

That said, I am now down a toenail and have a bad limp. The podiatrist asked if I had done anything "atypical," and at first, I said no, but it was definitely the dancing. My big toe was VERY swollen and angry looking. I showed Steve to get some sympathy, but all he said was, " I never knew you had such a long big toe!" Aargh! Is it that hard to know what to say? (I guess it is...)

They removed my nail at the podiatrist so that my toe could swell as much as it wanted to. That was Wednesday, and I'm still limping, but it's getting better every day. I could post a pic....but let's just leave this one to the imagination.

The Last Picture of Sarah's Baby Tooth

Sarah is VERY close to losing her first "top" tooth, and she is very excited. Undoubtedly, this is because the tooth fairy will bring her $2.00. Quite a bit more generous than the stingy fairy who brought ME money :) Just kidding, Mom!

Lessons to be Learned

Irish Dance is a very expensive activity, I'm finding. All of the one time purchases that are required the first year really add up. Since my daughter does not do much outside the home, I really would like to allow her to continue on. So, after I bought the $50 wig and $70 performance outfit, I found out that she also needs warm ups, which are nearly $90. Gulp!

Steve and I decided that we'd keep going, but she'd have to earn the warm ups doing work around the house. She has done everything without complaint, and last night, she washed the kitchen floor on her hands and knees, humming. I wish I could be that cheerful about it!

Salsa for Canning

Another way to use the tomatoes and jalapenos from the garden throughout the year...most closely resembles Chi Chi's bottled salsa. You can adjust the heat easily by reducing the jalapenos, as this version is pretty zippy. I like to leave the seeds in the jalapenos for more heat. I have fiddled quite a bit with this recipe to get to what we like, so it may take you a few tries to get to the flavor and consistency you prefer.

8 cups fresh tomato, chopped (I do a rough chop)
2.5 cups onion, chopped
1.5 cups green pepper, chopped
1 c jalapeno, fine dice
6 cloves garlic, minced
2 t cumin
2 t black pepper
1/8 cup kosher salt (scant)
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
6 oz can tomato paste
1/4 cup cilantro (add after cooking)

Cook all except cilantro for 10 minutes at a low boil. Take off heat and stir in cilantro. Process for 10 minutes.

Ceili, Ghillies and Wigs...Oh My!

Sarah is really getting into her Irish dance class, and we just attended our very first ceili. For those not well versed in Gaelic, it is social dance party, kind of like a square dance. There was a little performance by each class, but for most of the night, it was a free for all. Sarah actually had blisters on both feet from dancing so much!

The bottom line for me is that she's having so much fun, and is just really comfortable there. She may not have the steps down, but she's loving it, and that's what counts.