Now I am found

I just found my blog! I had lost the address months ago, but now I am found. Here's hoping I actually post again : )

Sweet moment

It's Mother's Day. Caitlyn and I are in the front yard after a short walk when Angelee picks a wish-blossom (a dandelion at the seed stage) and says with a big grin "I wish I was like Mommy" and proceeds to blow away the fuzzy white seeds. "Ah, that's cute" I say.
I am basking in the sweetness that is this kind of moment when she picks up another one and says "I wish I was a tiger". Hmmm. At least she thought of me. : )
Happy Mother's day!

Funny joke

The first blooming of the trees is in full swing.

Yesterday Mother Nature played a funny trick on us dropping 2" of snow overnight. I hope the trees will take the joke well. : )

It sure makes a beautiful picture.

On time for Church

I got up early, dyed my hair, showered, dressed, washed some dishes, fixed my hair and make-up, and started waking up the kids. I had things going pretty orderly with breakfast, showers and clothes set out. We still got out of the house in time to make it to the chapel at 10 after. I promised the kids if we are ever walking out the door by 10 to I will take a picture of them holding a clock!
I can hear a hymn being sung, and tell them "Hurry with your coats, I think it's only the opening song". Jen Crafts says "It's quite a day" in a knowing sort of way. A little confused, I hurry us down toward the chapel. The Foyer is pretty full, but that is not that uncommon because of all the little kids and the tendancy for people besides myself to be late. We peek into the chapel find a good spot, and as reverently as possible buzz up there and sit down. I pick up the hymn book, glance at the plack that hold the hymn # and look it up. Not the song we are singing. I check the next one and start to turn pages, but it's over. Brother Buttars comes up to say the prayer. We all fold our arms, and listen. About half way through I realize it is the closing prayer! Oh My Gosh! It is daylight savings time!
Fully blushing, I shake my head and kind of chuckle to myself. Some day we'll be on time! Maybe when daylight savings time ends. : )

Gifts of Spring

Breeanna and I just read "The Secret Garden", and were really excited to see real snowdrops growing in the Library's flower beds.

There are crocuses, and the leaves of daffodills and tulips too. We love spring!

Getting On the Ball

In the few months I have been going to the gym, I have met some friendly 'regulars'. They make it fun to go by sharing lifting tips, dieting tips, and encouraging me to do more. This last Wednesday I received some new tips from a regular that I hadn't spoken with much (by the way they were really helpful). Then he stood in front of some kind of apparatus that one would use to do squats and pull ups. It has three sides, one in front, and one on each side slightly angled away from the first. Facing the first, he held firmly to the sides and very slowly, one foot at a time he stood up on an exercise ball. Concentrating, he let go with his hands, but kept them up knowing he would need the support. He made it look easy! As I watched he confessed it was very fatiguing. It took every muscle in the body to keep his balance and stay on the ball. If you want to try it, to begin on your knees and work up to standing.

I found this to be a parallel to life....

Life is a balancing act. It takes every effort to keep from tipping to one side or another.
It is very important to place your feet in just the right place to keep you on center. Be sure you are doing enough in all the areas of your life that need attention: Devotion to God, relationships with family members, being productive part of your communities, keeping up with daily livelyhood responsibilities, consistently educating yourself in good things.... If you need to re-adjust, you have to reach out for support. Our three sided support are God, family, friends. This can only be possible where there is a foundation close around you start from, and refer to constantly.
Balance is hard, but fully achievable. What ever your ball consists of, be sure to start on your knees in humility and prayer.

Charlotte Mason Seminar

Today I was privilaged to attend a Charlotte Mason Seminar hosted by Penny Gardner. She talked about 3 educational instronments

1) Atmosphere of Environment
2)Discipline of Habbit
it is noble to do what you make yourself do that you' d rather not
good habbits create a smoother life
3)Presentation of Living Ideas
found in living books
living books are books you can read several times and they still 'speak' to you.

Language Arts
Narration- the retelling of a book, story, or concept in one's own words
Start requiring with oral around age 6 .
It's a great idea to type some of these up to observe the progression. It would
also be fun to record by camcorder or audio to keep their own voice. Get
them to illustrate sometimes too.

Copy Work-a penmanship exercise
to form good habbits in letter formation and practice copying masters in the
world of literature.
No more than a sentence, should be meaningful
Familiarizes one with proper punctuation, sentence structure, contractions and
other writing mechanics.

Dictation- a written piece as read or recited to the writer
gives children great practice at writing notes from a teacher (or college professor)
strenthens listening, attention, conceetration and memory skills
parent requires neat penmanship with correct spelling and puncutation
( she has a very gentle method of requiring these things)



Penny also talks about spelling, grammar, and foreign language instruction.

After the language arts came math, science, history and how living books in each of these fields
adds a depth to the subject that really brings them home. [email protected] was mentioned as a recource for those struggling with math inspiration.

Science and history are great things to read to your kids and have them narrate. You can even write it for them. The point is to get them to internalize the information and the verbalization does that. Keep a journal strictly for a timeline. Put into it book titles, composers, artists, religous leaders, as well as the more common stuff.

Nature Jounaling was a huge part of Charlotte Mason's beliefs. Keep a drawing journal. Study life in everyday observance. Draw it. Write a narration about it. Draw a tree in the winter. Look it up. Find out everything you can about it. Draw it in the Spring, Summer, Fall. Draw the leaves, what lives in it, when does it flower, How big is it's shadow, how tall is it in relation to it's surrounding buildings, people, swings?...... Just an example.

If you don't have confidence in your drawing abilities, find a picture of what you want, and turn it upside down to draw. You loose the preconceptions of what a bird should look like. You'll be surprised at how realistic it looks.

One more topic....Art Appreciation. Choose an artist to study. 1 artist and 6 works. Have a 3 ring binder to compile everyone's work. Make a title page with a picture of the artist or one of his/her works. Penny's plan.....5 minutes ever day talk about one painting for a week. This makes it a 6 week study of a great artist. That is comprehensive. : )

Read to them about the artist, have them narrate after having looked at the painting what they saw, do an art experience(make a picture in the style of the artist, OR sketch the painting from memmory, color on the second day).

Creative Writing based on the art study.
original poetry
imagine self in picture
fictional story start in painting
Conclude unit- Which was your favorite painting and why?

Penny had us view a painting by Wislow Homer called "Adirondak Guide"
Here is what I wrote:

Glassy smoothe river reflecting
A small rowboat with oars up, floating
Gizzly old man unwillingly looks back to answer a call
While a wise old dying tree bows it's branches knowing what is to come

For lists of living books on any of these topics you can go to PennyGardner.com
I can't wait to learn more and do more with my children!