My bum hurts!

Today we had a good morning. We got up at about 6:30am and I started our morning music playing while we had our coffee and breakfast. The boys have adopted a small list of chores they do int he morning, basically making their bed, picking up their toys and opening up their curtains. So they did that while I unloaded the dishwasher and sipped my coffee. By 9am we were ready to get our day rolling with yoga and lessons. I am trying to find a good transition from our regular hanging out into our more focussed time. The yoga works really well, but Im researching ways to have a reminder of our need to focus when we are working on lessons. GM is doing great (ironically enough) it is GD who seems to float above the table in his own little dream bubble. Doodling on his papers and having to be brought back to focus time and time again. He is a dreamy boy, and I love and cherish that about him, but he does need a little more close guidance when it comes to getting through something without drifting off back to dreamland. I will keep reasearching ideas...

After lessons and lunch we went outside for a bit, the kids played on the playground and I made myself something to eat before having to go get ready for our training day at the Naturalist Center. Today GM and I decided to ride our bike to the museum, it isnt far at all, and we have a tandom bike so I dont have to worry about GM going off into traffic. However, MY BUM IS KILLING ME! What is up with that? As a child I could ride my bike all day everyday, and never did my bum hurt, my son was just laughing because his bum didnt hurt. So now here itis Friday evening, I had this great week and Im ready to relax a bit and get some things done around the house, and Im in such pain, its just hilarious. Everyone is teasing me and laughing when I complain about it. Geez, I guess 35 is right around the corner!!!

Happy Birthday Kellen!

Today my younger brother turned eleven yars old!!! Congratulations on that, and on getting straight A's in your school!!! Your having a terrific year, and we are all so happy for you.

My brother is 24 years younger than me, and we are the only two. Yes he is only two years older than my oldest child, so our relationship is more like aunt and nephew. I wish we lived closer together so we could be closer.

We love you Kellen!!!!

Lessons Update for March 29th

Morning
In the woods upon a hill
A spotted fawn in standing still.
While crickets chirp
And birds abound,
The fawn wont move
Or make a sound.
We dont move either-
we dont dare,
But hold our breath
And top to stare

This is our poem for this week. At the end of the week after having shared it for four days, the boys will each draw a picture in their books to share what they thought of the poem. I always look forward to seeing what they had in mind.

We wrote in our journals, GM about the Naturalist Center and GD about being in a jungle with a lion (there goes two weeks of learning about how they live in grasslands and not jungles)...
They each did an activity in their Comprehension books
GM read another chapter of his book, and GD read a little book about animals
They each did their math lessons, Gavin worked on a page about the number 13 while GM did three pages of math including a subtraction practice sheet and a large addition one.
GM entered Hiawatha into his Main lesson book, and did a wonderful job. He is really taking pride in how this unit is coming together.

We are now getting ready to go to Great-Granma's for dinner and will return home tonight to read our nature story about Mr. Squirrel and play some more games of chess before calling it a day.

Lessons Update for March 28th

Today we got a late start because of a hectic morning and our rhythm being thrown off by important phone calls etc...

However we did well, especially considering it is a bonus day for us as we usually dont do home lessons on Tuesdays. Because of the morning groove being thrown off we decided to wait until after Dad left from his lunch visit to start our lessons. The kids had been outside playing and then had some lunch, so it felt as though we were in a good part of our day to begin. Similar to after breakfast. I have to giggle because it reminds me of double-dutch, you have to stand there for a minute and get the right rhythm going before jumping in, if you get it right, your off and running, if not the rope hits you in the face and your falling down onto concrete. LOL

GM (soon to be nine)
Wrote in his journal and drew a picture
Did two of his math lessons and an extra subtraction practice sheet
completed a reading comprehension activity
Put his entry for Finn MacCool into his Main Lesson Book
Listened to the story of Hiawatha
Read two chapters of his book he chose to read
Printed the pictures he took while we went on an African Safari at the zoo yest
and put them into his Safari guidebook we made

GD (soon to be seven)
Drew a picture in his journal, no words today which is unusual for him
Did one lesson for math about the number 12
Completed a reading comprehension activity
Printed his safari pictures, cut them out, and put them into his guidebook
Played with his numbers blocks making numbers greater than ten and smaller than
100
Read a short story he chose from our library
Listened to "Mr. Red Squirrel Comes To Live in The Forest"

ME (3.5 yrs old)
Played on the floor alongside of me
got the mail and looked at the pictures in the birthday express catalog
played on the playground
tried to count GD's wooden math blocks with him
Ran around the house having a personal cheese party :-)


We also went to get our veggies from our CSA Farm today, only to realize it isnt our week. We recently went to every other week, and I am too flakey to remember we were just there last week. I think we need to go back to every week, we miss it too much. We did at least get to see what lookedlike a Black Australorp Chicken which is one of the breeds we have, and the donkeys did come by the car to say hello and thanks for coming by.

African Animals and Updates

Our little Science club has been studying African Animals. It is my trun to lead a topic and this one seemed right up my alley, with the Africa background, and the wonderful newish Africa Exhibit at the local zoo. We have been having a wonderful time with it. In the first week the kids made large maps of Africa while learning about the three major biomes and the animals that call them home. It was realy fun and filled the entire two hours quite nicely. This week we went on an African Safari at the zoo. I made guidebooks that look like scrapbooks in that there is a lot of info about a certain animal along with its biome and other important info. the kids had to find that animal at the zoo and either sketch or photograph it. We just got home, and I think it went well. The best part was that we each got to work with our own families, we didnt have to move through the zoo as one group unit and deal with dynamics etc.. So my boys both really did learn a lot about the specific animals in the book. This was a nice bonus because typically your kids get the least when your the leader, accept of course the planning you do at home.

Our weekend was nice. I got the books finished for the zoo thing very early Saturday morning. I discovered that if I get up at 3am, I can get an amazing amount of stuff done before the family gets up. I was thrilled to have them done so we could enjoy our weekend. My husband built the greenhouse while I painted the chicken coop and the kids played on the playground and around the yard. Saturday evening we had a date night which included a wonderful dinner out and tickets to see MacBeth. Well the dinner was incredible and the show was terrible!!! We (and about 1/3 of the audience) left at the intermission. I have never done that before. I will stay just out of respect for the players, but this was truly unbearable. Plus the second act was 75 minutes long, and we knew that there was no way we could sit through that.

GM and I had a great Friday afternoon, we went and did our training at the Naturalist Center and were able to get two of our topics signed off on, so that was good. After our training we went shopping at the warehouse store and finished out our evening with a nice dinner, just the two of us. We had so much fun, we laughed and chatted about stuff. I really enjoyed the afternoon and evening with him. It is such a treat to get time alone with any of them.


Sunday morning we were invited to breakfast at a friends house, and we ended up visiting and hanging out until almost 2 in the afternoon. The kids had a lot of fun and we always enjoy getting to visit with them. When we got home I had my first conference call with Beth Sutton and some other Enki-using homeschool Mothers. It was nice to discuss some of the things we are doing, or struggling with. We basically discussed rhythm, transitions, chatty talkers, and allergies and how they can effect a child's learning. It was really great, and Im looking forward to our conference call next month. We enjoyed a calm and relaxing Sunday evening and I even went to bed at about 9pm. The kids were tired too and went down just before I did. Dad had to stay up to catch up on his March Madness, but even he was tired earlier than usual. I guess when we move the clocks we will all be exhausted by 8pm. :-)


Today we are home because our Science class at the museum is canceled due to Spring Break Camps they do during the public school's break time. Im thrilled to have the day at home and Im looking forward to a nice quiet day, along with a bonus lessons day. Usually we do three per week, but we can do four this week with the extra day at home. Im getting excited about the progress they are making and looking forward to the coming of summer. Mainly because of the clubs and classes ending, not because we dont love them, we do, but the having to run is a bit much for us most weeks.

I will give a lessons update later today, just because I havent in quite some time. :-)

Too much, or too little, trying to find balance

We seem to undulate between feeling that we are doing too much, and feeling that we are doing too little. Trying to find that balanced rhythm between the two is really a constant struggle for me. I can observe the kids needing more time at home, and then observe them needing to reach out and expand into new things. They fluctuate, as do I. Currently we are a bit busy, opportunities to do things and participate in classes have come up and they are all very much enjoyed and loved by the kids, however I feel it is too much. Our homelife suffers a bit when we are running about too much. This morning my husband laughed when I was complaining that we have to be "somewhere" everyday this week. Including this evening when we have dinner at Great-Grandma's house. He asked me if simply having to leave the house counted as having to be somewhere, I thought, well yeah!! Having to be somewhere means that we have this thing hanging out there that I have to build our day around. It means that if we have to be at Grandma's by 4:30pm that I have to begin the getting ready to go dance at about 2:30 or 3:00 at the latest. Including showers and baths, finding outfits, being sure I have last weeks tupperware to return to her (may mean I have to do dishes) helping the kids choose something to bring to play with their cousins and getting out the door by 4:00pm. Its not a big deal, but it is an outing, and it counts. I had to laugh when he asked me that, because I could see the confusion on his face. I remember when going somewhere meant grabbing my keys and running a brush through my hair too, but that is not the case right now. I feel like I'm complaining, and I'm really not, Im just clarifying that getting four people ready for dinner at Grandma's can certainly be an event in itself.
Other than that this has been a busy time for us, we started back with Science Club this week, and I did our African Animals unit, which I think went really well. Tuesday we had Science at Explora, which the boys love and while it sounds like we are doing science twice a week, and basically we are, they are sooooo different. One is a coop of people who the kids enjoy seeing and that has grown into our sort of support system. We get to visit other families and participate in something that is very much created and nurtured by its members, very different from the very schoolie science classes we do on Tuesday. They are really great because they are at the science museum, and they have such wonderful resources that I cant possibly create in my home. The kids curiosity and excitement about it is thrilling and they are definitely feeding a different interest there than they are on Mondays. Normally that is our week, we are out on Monday and Tuesday mornings and then home for the rest of the afternoon and evening. Then comes our second portion of the week where we have lessons each morning (Wed, Thurs, and Fri). With Wednesday we try to bake something to take to Grandma's to share and we head over for dinner with the extended family. This leaves us Thursdays as our home day (ugh I would rather be having only one outing day). However this week we have tickets to the theatre so we will be out yet again!!! Fridays are usually nice and mellow with my husband working a half day and our trying to get our lessons done before spending time cleaning the house up from the week and preparing for our weekend. BUT, for the past few weeks, and a few more to come, GM and I have training at the museum all afternoon until dinner time. We love it so much and have a terrific time together, but again, we are out of the house.
So why are we doing all this stuff, well I dont know, it just evolved. We initially only had Science Club once a week and then some Tuesday afternoons we would go to the park to meet friends and run around a bit. But then this opportunity came up for the classes at Explora, GM is a science fan, and he loves Explora more than I can explain, he always wants to go, and rarely wants to leave. It is such a great thing for them both, that well.... we signed up. Its fourteen weeks long. I NEVER sign up for things that last more than 6 weeks, its a number I found works for us, but again, such a good opportunity...
Great-Grandma's for dinner, well I mean isnt it obvious how great this is for my kids to be a part of a weekly dinner with extended family, and feeling such a part of something greater than just our nuclear family? Cant pass up that one!
That leaves Friday Trainings as the other ongoing thing. GM is flourishing with this, and literally wakes up excited to go in the morning. We both love it.

So, where do I find the balance? How can I bring my homeschool family back HOME?? How do I learn to forsee the opportunities that may arise and not get over committed in the beginning of the year. Each of these "outings" feeds a different part of the kids lives, some more for GM some more for GD, but where to trim and get back to balanced, I just dont know?

Of course if I was planning things I would have the outings be at the end of the week, and in the afternoons only. Then we could have a regular morning routine, and start our days with a nice rhythm that could energize us and help us maintain a sence of balance. I would also have things be every other week, so we could have home based weeks and weeks where we are out and about more often. But I dont plan all these things. I plan Roots and Shoots and it is twice a month in the afternoon.

Im so looking forward to summer when we can be home or move in a more fluid way through our days. I really regret feeling this sence of constantly trying to fit our home life in between obligations. I have set out for it to be the opposite, yet somehow we are running about at least four times a week. Its just too much. This summer GM will have a Gardening class every-other week and he and I will volunteer every-other week as well at the Naturalist Center. I will time them to be on the same week, so we can camp and travel on the the other weekends. We will be doing a lot of work on the house and that is all. We wont be signing up for anything else accept maybe things that are one time events. An owl lecture at the Nature Center or a hike with our Roots & Shoots group to view some local animals in the mountains.

Now to only figure out how to avoid this situation next year. Where do I cut the activites? How do I balance our time at home with our excitement over an opportunity?

In just a couple of weeks we will be finished with our Naturalist Center training, and we will only have something out of the house three times a week (including Grandma's). Also I can opt out of one of the upcoming units at our Science Club. They are all so cool, but I will see what the kids are interested in first. Maybe I just need to allow myself to be more picky and not worry so much about feeling obligated to go. That is the story of my life. Constantly trying to balance a sence of obligation with a sence of what is right for me. Homeschooling sure is a great way to work through your own crap!! :-)

NPR Radio Interview

So yesterday we got a message from my father to listen to an interview that was done on NPR radio where a 12 year old boy with Asperger's Syndrome interviewed his mother. Now, for some reason I dont do well with things like this. I am super positive and very engrossed in our situation and in what we are doing within our own family. I don't like to hear or watch what others have going on because it somehow muddies the water for me. It is hard to communicate what I mean, because it is so raw, but lets just say I was very hesitant to listen to it. I had my husband listen to it first to be sure it wasnt negative or too scewed in a particular direction. He said it was nice and I went ahead and listened to the four minute interview myself. Of course I cried and cried. I havent ever felt depressed or all sad about our family and our journey with autism or aspergers, it has always been very positive. We as a family really choose to focus on the large amount of positive things that come with autism, and to guide and support the weakness that comes with the package. We have always viewed it that our child is especially blessed and as with all things, with blessings come responsibilities and in this society the social aspects of autism are culturally challenging and so we work our way through it.
But, I can not listen to a 12 year old boy ask his mother if he has been a disappointment, or has lived up to her expectations, or why it seems that everyone likes his little sister more. It crushes my heart. He was so articulate and positive and he sounded so intelligent and happy. His mother seemed very in tune with him and you could hear her love and support in her voice, but still it made me cry.
Check out the interview here, it is really good, and really short.

Naturalist Center Docent Training

I am very proud to share that GM and I began our training at the Naturist Center at the local Natural History Museum. He did great and really enjoyed himself. I was thrilled and had a terrific time too. This is a great program where homeschooled children can act as a volunteer at the museum in the naturalist center. They first undergo a training session that runs for six weeks (approximately) where they learn about all the animals and equipment in the center. After we complete that we will then have a shift we work in the Naturalist Center and we get to answer questions, and givelittle talks about the different things in there. It will be such a great thing for GM and I know I will really enjoy it too. We already did our microscopes study and now we are working on our spiders and insects unit. Im hoping we can get through it before we go to our training day again this week. I will take a camera next week to post a picture of GM in his apron, yeah, Im an nerd!!!

Weekly wrap-up and more new music...

Well, I started going a little nuts with the music yesterday. I havent done it in a while so I was overdue for some fresh music. You have to remember that my ipod is also my motivation machine for housework, which is essential for everything else in our lives. So basically I see having my ipod filled with great music as a duty to my family. Slacking off on that is just not okay! :-)

So here goes...
MORE of The Beautiful Girls (great timeless music)
MORE of Beth Orton
Ludacris (an old fav who keeps me moving)
Edwin McCain
Hot Buttered Rum (some good high-altitude bluegrass)
MORE Indigo Girls
Joe Purdy
John Hiatt
The Wood Brothers (you can FEEL the stand-Up Bass, its wonderful)
So as for our week. Well we have had a nice quiet and relaxing week around here. It has all been about the chickens and taking care of them. When we got them it was very warm out and keeping their temperature between 90 and 95 degrees wasnt an issue. Well, we had a cold snap and so it became quite a big deal to maintain their temperature. We ended up moving them inside our bathroom so they would survive the night. The temperature is only a big deal while they are young, later they can withstand almost any temperature, and certainly any that the southwest would present them.

Our science club was doing a mini-unit on Semiconductors, which sounds really cool, but a bit beyond my kids right now. So I thought it would be a good time to take a little break and not attend for these two weeks. It was nice being home on a Monday, I usually love Mondays, they are so fresh and new. Having to load up and run each week on Monday morning really does throw me off my usual groove, however it is good to start the week off with something that gets us out and about. I actually wish it was the opposite, I wish we were home on Mon, Tues, Wed and had our outings on Thursday and Friday. But, you cant make everything fit perfectly so this is how we roll now. :-)


Tuesday we had Science at the local museum, and the kids had a great time exploring magnets (GD) and kaleidoscopes (GM). ME is getting harder to maintain in her stroller during the class time. She wants to be a part of it so bad. I may end up having to take her to the toddler space and letting her play a bit to get her geebies out. We had to go to the Organic Farm we belong too to pick up our veggies for the week, so we checked out their nesting boxes so we had an idea of what to do in our coop. It was fun to go inside the chicken coop there. It is really big and the hens were so funny. I cant believe how big these tiny little ladies will get.

Wednesday we had some friends over to see the chicks and to visit for a couple hours. It was nice, but we realized it was getting too cold for them in the garage and had to make new arrangements for them in the house. A nice dinner at Great-Grandma's rounded out our day and a quiet evening at home.

Thursday we decided to snuggle up and watch movies. It is really windy and cold and gray outside. A RARE accurance here. We didnt get any of our snow days we had in Virginia, so we decided to make Thursday our snow day. I have always thought of snow days as a gift from mother nature and a forced reminder of what is important. I remember being little and hoping for snow so our life could slow down and I could spend some time with my Mom. So now I treasure those days. Everything stops and plans go to the pot, and you just hang out together. Its the best!!! So we had a desert snowday. It was great.

Today we are cleaning the house, and we are cleaning out the brooder box for the birds. This afternoon GM and I begin our training at the Naturalist Center at our Natural History Museum here in town. We are really looking forward to it. GM woke up this morning and said he was "so excited" to start his trianing. This is huge for him. He is usually much more quiet about his emotions on things like that. So I know he really is looking forward to it. Im looking forward to the time alone with him. I can hardly imagine having three hours with him, just the two of us. It will be fun and good for both of us.

Our weekend will be busy (of course) as we will be working on the yard, attending a family birthday party, and helping some friends with their chicken coop. So it will be fun, a lot of work, and fun again.

My goal is to get things together for a quiet Sunday evening at home. I can see how starting our Monday morning off with a clean house, and a clear mind can really help our week start off right. We will do lessons on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and
Friday of next week. GM will work on our next hero Finn MacCool. We will also continue to plan our garden and work on getting our seeds planted in the greenhouse. We have some tomatoes to plant that have been on the International Space Station out in space. We are a part of a study to determine how space effects the seeds and their germination. We will start our study using the ISS seeds and the placebo seeds. It will be fun. I will write more on that soon. :-)

Okay, Im off to jam with my iPod and get some stuff done around here. Have a great Weekend!!!

Great Week for New Music

This was a great week for new music. Since the last time I posted my iPod playlist I have added a few new friends. Here goes...













Keller Williams
Keller Williams & The Keels (Great Sunday morning coffee tunes)
MORE Animal Liberation Orchestra (Cant get enough)
Jack Johnson's new Curious George Recordings
MORE Nickel Creek (still adding to my good bluegrass coffee tunes)
Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five (oh yeah, thats right!)
Holly Figueroa
Holly Williams
Inara George
Jane Monheit
Kasey Chambers
The Little Willies
Sarah Harmer
Sonya Kitchell
Tina Dico
NEW Van Morrison (wonderful)
Katie Melua

The chickens are here!!

What an exciting weekend we had. We were able to clear the area the coop is going in, and to coordinate with some terrific friends who hooked us up with their Grandma who was looking to get rid of her old, (very old) coop for free. It was terrific. I love the coop so much, it is so cute and fits in here so nicely. It has a tin roof and is very simple. We will paint it and spruce it up for the girls. I already have plans.


So the hatchery we were going to order from (who have great birds) has a minimum order of 25. We only want half of that and even when trying to combine with other people, we couldnt get enough. So we decided to shop around here locally and see what we could come up with. My first priority was that they be nice. Of course I want good layers, but as it is our first experience and the kids are so young, I wanted them to be friendly and tame. So here is what we have. 3 barred rocks

(Gavin's favorite because they look like baby penguins) he named them Renji, Penguino, and Kevin. 2 Buff Orpingtons (Daisy and buttercup), 3 Rhode Island Reds (Ruby, Scarlet and ?), 2 Americana (Martha and ?), 2 Black Australorps (Frida and ?).

GM loves them so much, the other two think they are great, and want to love them and hold them, but GM is really taking great care of them. He seems to be tuned into the responsibility of it and is truly enjoying it. He is keeping track of their temperature and coming up with great ideas for how to keep it at the 92 degrees. We got up to check them a coupletimes in the night and their temperature was holding within about 5 degrees of the target, so that was pretty good. Im a little worried about a few cold nights we have coming up. We have them in a brooder box we made in our garage, but still if the temperatures get too low it will get quite cold in there. We may have to move them into our furnace room for a night or two if the box isnt holding the right temp. We'll see.


Today we are going to clean up the house, and head out to Science class at the museum. After that it is back home to care for our baby birds, and clean out the inside of the coop. Maybe we can even start some painting, we'll have to see how it goes.

Break Days, and Happy Birthday Kip!

With such a busy Monday and Tuesday, we have decided to take a little break for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday mornings. So no lessons this week. This doesnt mean no learning, just that we are taking a little break from the formal lessons part. We havent had a three day break since the beginning of January, so we are tired and ready for some relaxed days. I think it is from working so hard on the weekend, we havent been getting that simple time in our days.

Tuesday we went to our Science Class at the local museum and with the weather being so nice, the kids and I decided to head to the zoo for lunch and to visit the animals on one of the first really warm days of the year. It turned out to be a nice relaxing afternoon, and we each got to visit the animals we like without feeling rushed or distracted. Although tiring, it was a great idea and Im glad we did it.

Wednesday we just stayed home and sort of relaxed a bit. The kids hung out and I tried to get some things done around the house, although quite unsuccessfully. I have no idea what I did, but somehow the evening came and it seemed nothing was done. :-) That often happens to me.

This was also my step-father's birthday! I hope he had a great day and that he doesnt get mad at our day late phone call of well-wishes. I was foolishly trying to wait until after dinner at Grandma's house and of course when we got home I forgot. When will I learn, a message on the answering machine is better than no call even with the best of intentions!!! I even made him a nice birthday mix cd, and of course didnt mail it. At some point my intention and my ability will come together and I will be a pretty cool person. For now though Im mainly a well-intentioned flake.

On a better, less flakey note, we are all set to start our training (GM and I) at the Natural History Museum. GM is going to work in the Naturalist Center (with me) as a volunteer guide. He will help talk to families who come in and want to learn about the animals and various experiments in the center. We have been wanting to start this since August, but finding coordination between the center and our babysitting needs was difficult. However, we are set now and should start next week. This will be really cool for GM and it is something he is really looking forward too. When in college I studied Anthropology and African Art, and my intention was to work with museums on improving opportunities for children to participate in museums and to develop programs to expand the educational outreach of museums. Back then, a docent led tour was about it. Now things have really improved, museums are doing more and more to really touch and connect the museum experience with children. This is one example. Homeschooled kids who are over 7 can become volunteers in the museum. This is the first step in a long line of opportunities the museum offers children to be involved. Im thrilled for GM to be a part of it. Eventually GD will do it too, but he is not mature enough nor interested at this time.

Today I believe I will try to get the house together (again) and build my little greenhouse. That will help our weekend to be more productive and hopefully we will be able to get the garden beds and chicken area done. That would be HUGE!!!

How is GD doing?

After posting so much about how GM is doing I realized I hadnt shared much on how GD is. Well he is six, almost seven; which is a hard year for my boys. I remember GM having some spirited times during this age and really exhausting me through it. Well, GD, being spirited by nature, is no exception. He is so tender and sweet. I remember when he was born the first word that came to mind was tender, he has a tender heart, tender eyes, and a tender spirit. He is still very much a little guy, very much still living in that dreamy 5-6 year old world. I see him waking up and connecting with us more and more often. He loves to snuggle and to be held or even carried around the house from time to time. He is light, so I dont mind at all. Seeing how fast GM grew to a size where lifting him is simply not possible, I remember how short these days are and love that he still wants to feel that sense of support and care.

This year GD has decided to read more and more. He is an instinctual reader and has been reading about a book a day for some time now. Small books, but none the less he does it, and of his own will too. He has an enormous imagination, I know exactly where he gets it from too. He will sit and fill a 20-3- page journal in an afternoon filled with a story he drew out in picture form. His mind follows a stream of consciousness style and his stories just evolve and grow the longer he sits there. Where as GM has a vision of the finished idea and fills in until he reaches it, GD will just start with a figure on a page and allow the figure to take him on a long and winding journey. It is fun to watch and I try to support him in it as much as possible. although itmakes times of focus more difficult, I try to remember that the skills that make a child challenging can often be the very keys to their individual success. Gavin wants to tell stories, they live in him and at this tender age he cant differentiate between himself and the stories. They are one. Sometimes I wonder if I should try to pull him out of it, but my heart says to let him enjoy it while he still can. He is waking a little, as I said earlier, but I am trying to support his creativity and his imaginary world as much as possible. Using the Enki and Christopherus approaches to lessons are perfect for him. He gets to express his creativity and use that strength to begin learning about the world and things like math or writing. He is quite happy with it. Since starting this style of living, he has become an eager learner, often asking for more or persuing it on his own. This is the exact place I wanthim to be at, developing that appetite for learning, and feeling the confidence to persue it, even on his own.

His challenges right now are with mischief. Gm was never really mischevious, however GD has that streak in him and loves to be the trickster. He requires a closer eye and is easy to allow too much room. He is strongly affected by images and media too. Where GM doesnt really care about tv or movies so much, GD is drawn to them. So I have to monitor his time more closely. The other challenge with GD is that tender heart. He can be so easily crushed by the world and takes everything to heart. We are a lot alike in that way. I treasure him, as any Mother should, but he is such a soul connection for me. I see a lot of myself in him. It is so funny to see bits of your own personality coming out in a boy child who looks just like my husband. Although, Im pretty sure I listened better when I was 6. The not listening thing is just killing me!! :-)

Playground, Organic Farm, Chickens and Homeschool log...

Things are really coming together for GM. Im still struggling with his ability to maintain his behavior when we are in a group, but I am seeing great strides in other areas. This is a big year for him. He will be nine and is starting to show maturity in a lot of areas, including his interest in doing more things with Dad. They have always been the best of buddies, but when it came down to things, he came to me, he was still really young and I was the focus. Now I am seeing him out working with his Dad, and willing to stick through things and finish them. He helped my husband and I with the playground all day Saturday. Reading the instructions and pulling the appropriate nuts and bolts that we needed. He was using the power tools and the hand tools. He loved it, and the best part was that he was in a terrific mood. It was really feeding him and making him feel really good.

The other part of the back yard will be for a garden. We have a small greenhouse to start our seedlings in, and he (GM) has created a list of veggies and herbs that he wants to try to grow. It is great to see him so interested in it. He will even get to participate in an organic farming class that our local CSA is putting together for homeschooled children. It will be fantastic for him to get to see the farming on that scale. He loves Tuesday's when we go to pick up our veggies from the farm, and is already looking forward to taking the class through the summer and early harvest season. To top it all off, we are getting chickens next month. All the kids are looking forward to it, but it will really be great for GM. Im just excited for the fresh eggs. GD chose some Dominiques, and GM chose some Araucana/Americanas. I think we will get a heritage breed as well for the laying reliability. Its all coming together. This is so exciting to be living this life and being able to help support the kind of childhood we want to provide. They will probably grow up and think their parents were nuts, but Im happy to be doing what I envisioned before I had kids. That makes me feel really good.

On another note, today we had our science club meeting and the kids got to hold some
really nice snakes. Of course they loved it, but the highlight of the day was when after the meeting we went for a hike in the 10 acres of bosque we just adopted with our Roots & Shoots group. I was downright thrilled to see a large porcupine sitting in one of the cottonwood trees. He was so cool, and cute. I could have just laid down under the tree and watched him all afternoon. He was moving around a tiny bit, a little sloth-like. Just awesome! It made my day. His spiney things (that is a technical term) were glowing in the sunlight, like a halo. He just made me so darn happy, I was worse than the kids. 34 years and I have never seen a wild porcupine sitting in a tree!!!!

On to our lessons. Last Wednesday we read Genevieve of Paris, Im glad I chose that story and GM really enjoyed it. It was great to see how interested he was in it. GD sort of daydreamed through it, but was interested enough to hang out with us. We baked a cake and took it to share at Great-Grandma's house. The family was supportive and told the boys how good it was. They made a chocolate oreo bundt cake. We dont keep sweets in the house, so it was great to get to bake it and take it over there to share. They are big dessert people, so it gets eaten!!! I decided to focus on one main subject per week, I know we are supposed to do this all along, but we are finally getting it into our rhythm. We were alternating days, but weeks does seem a lot better. GM is half way through his first chapter book. He chose it on his own and has been peacefully working his way through a chapter a day. He just goes and gets it and reads it. Those who know him will be as impressed by it as I am. Im so happy that he has found his confidence with reading again. Lets hope he can keep it.

On another note (last one I promise) my house is a mess again!! That is what happens when we spend the day working outside. Im gonna get back on it though. Tomorrow we have science at the science museum and then I am going to try to get the house picked up. Here's hoping I can get it done, life is a lot easier when its all picked up.

Mon/Tues Homeschool Log

Monday was a busy day for us. We got up and headed over to the Planetarium to participate in a show as the final part of a three week series our Science Club did. The boys liked it a lot and ME was sure to sing her "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" as the show began. We didnt get to stay and play around because we had to head over to the Nature Center to prepare for our Roots & Shoots meeting. We started by learning about keeping a Nature Journal and how to record things we find while we are hiking. We then started off on a short but fun hike to find some birds and make some entries into our journals. We collected leaves and did bark rubbings as well as spotting a few nice birds. We saw a crow, some Canadian Geese, a couple Roadrunners, several that we didnt know the names of, some ducks and an American Coot. The kids played around in the Nature Center's education building and then we were able to present our Recycling Bins to the Superintendent of the State Park. Pictures and all.

I was really tired in the afternoon and just read some books from my Enki stuff. We are going to start a monthly conference call and I want to read up on things so I can take advantage and ask questions on things I need clarification on. I am also reading Donna Simmon's new Unit study on Saints and Heroes, its a fantastic unit for my oldest son, and since I know nothing of Saints I thought it would be good to look for help. The study is not a religious study, but one about normal people who have risen under extraordinary circumstances. There are figures from multiple religious backgrounds or lore. Also there are some historical figures who I guess would fall into the Heroes category. Anyhow it is very well written, easy to follow and something Im looking forward to starting with the boys this week. Im just reading through to see who I want to start with.

Tuesday was another busy day for us. GM decided yest that he wanted to come back to the Nature Center today because most of the kids didnt want to hike the full trail.
So, we headed out for Science Class at the science museum where GD did Camouflage and GM did Electricity. We then visited with some people and let the kids play a bit before the four of us went on a two hour hike through the Bosque. It was WONDERFUL!!! These are the times I get all sappy about how much I love homeschooling. I love just strolling at our own pace and allowing the kids to freely explore without feeling rushed or pulled in different directions. ME was such a trooper and found a lot of great things to show me. We played on some logs that the beavers have brought down and found bark beetle trails, birds, the river, a lot of leaves for GM's leaf book he decided to start, as well as lots of various seed pods. It was a beautiful day at about 58 degrees and some slight wind. We had a really good time. Finally getting home at about 2:30 we settled into some quiet time. I am typing this up now while my husband and his buddy are outside with the backhoe loading up one of those big dumpsters you can rent to get rid of debris. It is sooooo loud!!

I think I will go and start the kid's dinner and continue reading my books and thinking about who I want to start with tomorrow from Donna's book.

Roots & Shoots

I started a local Roots & Shoots group called Rio Grande Roots & Shoots. We are a small group of homeschooling families that get together twice a month to learn about our environment, animals and community, and to do child appropriate service projects based on what we learn. So far since we started in September we have held a Peace Picnic for International Peace Day, and built our Peace Dove to fly at events. We were invited to go to Santa Fe with our dove and fly it during a presentation Dr. Goodall was giving about her experiences and about why she founded Roots & Shoots, after which we were able to meet her and have the kids pictures taken with her and our dove. We had an educational presentation from HawkWatch and learned about their program. We created a poster campaign where the kids each made a poster about HawkWatch and we hung them around town to promote their efforts. This project made it into the international Roots & Shoots newsletter put out by the Jane Goodall Institute. We then focussed on learning about how to be a Household environmentalist. This was a large project involving learning about all the ways we can make a difference just in how we live our lives and the choices we make. We made eco-friendly household cleaners and painted new recycling bins for the Rio Grande Nature Center as a service project. We then were able to meet with members of the Wildlife Refuge and the Rio Grande Zoo to learn about the Mexican Gray Wolf (my son is named after these guys) and how they became so endangered and what is being done to help them now. We also got to observe the wolves at the zoo and learn about how the wolf restoration program works from the zoo. We have turned our focus to winter birding this month and had a large bird project day where we made a lot of feeders from recycled objects, bagel feeders, garland feeders and built some small feeders from little wooden kits. Thanks to Wild Birds Unlimited we were able to learn about the birds we can expect to see in our neighborhoods and what kindsof seed they like. We also gave each child the forms to observe their feeders for 10-20 minutes and record their visitors, when they do this they will get a Junior Naturalist certificate from Wild Birds Unlimited. We then went on a winter bird hike to find
birds and learn about how to keep a Nature Journal. Its been a great year and some wonderful familieshave been participating. In the coming months we are going to do our Bosque Clean-Up project to collect trash from the Rio Grande Forest and learn about human impact on the area, we will learn about our local CSA Organic Farm and about how living and buying organic can impact not only our helath but our environment and community. We will be having a celebration party for our years efforts, and taking some summer hikes. I love being a part of it and I really enjoy having the kids feel empowered by what they can do. Now everytime we go to the Nature Center they will see their recycling bins and feel a sense of pride and ownership for the center. That is exactly how I want them to feel. A personal connection.

Backhoes Rock!!

Well, we have (I use the word we very loosely) been digging and breaking up concrete and hauling off rocks in our yard for a couple of weekends now, and we finally broke down and asked for help from a friend (a very NICE friend) with a backhoe. WOW, WOW, WOW!!! He brought that thing into our yard and it just went to town. He was able to pull up the sidewalk in literally minutes. I was sooo excited!! It has been that the demo and excavation was going to take longer than the rebuild. Now we can get busy on building the kids playground, preparing our garden beds and building our chicken coop. I am having a hard time staying focussed on our regular days because Im so antsy to get out there and start working on it. Trust me, its a BIG change from a sledgehammer, shovel and a wheelbarrow to a big backhoe!

Week at a Glance......

WOW, we had a busy week! I usually really don't like to have busy weeks and I try to not schedule things to happen too close together. This one snuck up on me, I didnt realize this week was so crazy until it was here. While I WONT be trying to do it again, we did survive it. We are a family who likes to be home more than we like to be out running around. Having to run around more than two or three times in a week is a lot, and throws our rhythm off. We dug in and got all our plans done and it even went smoothly. I will admit to basically turning into zombie Mommy on Friday afternoon, but it was well earned and the kids all snuggled up with me in bed too. They were just as tired as I was.

So here is a glimpse:

Saturday: Yard work, preparing the space to build the kids a playground. OLYMPICS!!

Sunday: Yard Work, Errands, and had Brother and Sister-in-law over for dinner. OLYMPICS!! I did at least get to see Shaun White soar through the air for gold! Go Tomato Go!!! We also baked cookies and decorate 25 bags for Valentine gifts to share at a party.

Monday: Housework, Science Club about Solar System, and a Valentine PotLuck party. Home for hanging out and some impromptu lessons on cursive and math games. OLYMPICS!!!

Tuesday: Housework, Science Class at museum about Static Electricity for GM and Balance for GD. Then home for a build-your-own pizza party with friends. OLYMPICS, and of course Valentines Day.

Wednesday: Baking Day, we made key lime bars to take to Great-Grandma's house, did our lessons, Great-Grandma's for dinner and I went to a curriculum share with a group I am considering joining. OLYMPICS!!!!

Thursday: We had lessons in the morning, and then ran some errands to get stuff for the Bird party on Friday. In the evening we had friends over for dinner. OLYMPICS!!!

Friday: In the morning we had our Roots & Shoots meeting here. We made various bird feeders from recycled objects and some using things like bagels and garlands. We also made some small wooden bird feeders from kits. It was really a lot of fun. We had 16 kids here and 6 Moms!! GM went to a LEGO Mindstorm class at the Science Museum with his Dad. They love doing that, and GM is getting really good at it. Oh yeah... OLYMPICS!!! And some simple lounging around.

Now today I have some running to do to get ready for the big family birthday party tomorrow. We celebrate once a month for all the relatives who have a birthday that month. This time we have 5 people ranging in age from 2-42. My Brother-in-law is coming to help my husband with getting the concrete out for the playground and I need to clean the house up. Of course this is all while trying to watch as much Olympics as I can.

Tomorrow we have tickets to the theatre to see a cool show with acrobats. The boys will love it and ME will get to play with her Grandma. Monday will be busy too, but then after that we are back to normal! Ahhhhhh

For Sale: A Home on a Hill....

Okay, so I made my declaration and admitted that my housework skills are a bit lacking. I do suffer from the "if its not going to be done at a certain level, than I am frozen by it and cant do it at all" thing. BUT, here is the other side of the mountain on the whole thing. It is impossible to be smoothly successful in whatever I attempt unless my house is in order. There I said it, I am now realizing how exhausting trying to "do" anything is when our foundation, our home, is not in order. Let me restate that, I am not just now realizing it, I have known it forever, however I never tasted it before; I never sat down and ate a big old plate full of it and knew it, owned it for myself. I thought I knew it, I could visualize it and I could relate to it, Ive even smelt it, but now, now I have tasted it. Whenever we did things in the past it was certainly fine and doable, but MUCH harder than it is now. Not having to search for the sock, not having to yell about "why dont you put your shoes in the basket", not having to hope my keys are where I put them last. My mind is much more clear and less distracted by the sense that I have sooo much to do, that almost paralyzing feeling. Basically I live on a big old hill. Im always having to do things while trying to march up a hill. That is so much harder, doable; yes, but harder. Im not sure why I live on the hill, Im not sure why I return to it time and time again and have some sort of "comfort level" here, but I do. But Im slowly (quite slowly, over about 15 years) learning about how nice things can be in the valley. Ive seen the views, and driven the roads, its a pretty nice place.
I feel like Ive given the impression that we live in filth, and we dont, but we do live in chaos often times. My Mother, whom I am sure is reading this, is a VERY neat person. I remember growing up and people thought I lived in a museum, everything was in a specific place and beautiful. I really liked, and appreciated that, because we didnt always live in a beautiful place, but our home, our foundation, was always a beautiful and fully cared-for space. She has that ability, that gift. She just does it. I wish I was more like her in that way. She is a putter, and will putt about picking up things, pinching off the less-than-perfect bloom on her plants, wiping down counters, thinking of how she can make it even more lovely. Somehow I missed that gene. I got the "leave that little light on for ambiance" gene, I got the "we can fashion a decoration out of a cup a diaper pin and a frog" gene, but damn-it I didnt get the putter gene!!! If Im putting it is conscious, it is something I am "doing" not just something that happens as I walk from the kitchen table to the bathroom. BUT, Im learning. I am tasting the flavor of knowing that I will get to crawl into a bed that was made that morning and that has the blankets all organized with the sheets all cool and fresh. That is such a good feeling. It makes me do that "Aaahh" sound in my head. It feels special and good to rest in a place that is "cared-for", just for us. Noone else sees it, noone else uses it, its just about us, about that "Aaaah".

NOTE: I dont equate on any level the happiness of a person with how clean their home is!! In fact, I think it can often go too far and become THE focus. The foundation cant be the focus, you have to allow it to ebb and flow, you can't not allow people to stand on it while striving for more for fear that they will mess it up, if that makes sense. Im just making an observation and spending a lot of time thinking about how this has affected me over the years. How it has limited me and my family. How we are much more free, peaceful and happy with things a bit more in order. How being the "keeper of the home" is very important, and not just for appearances, but for us.

Anyway, Im babbling and doing a little blog-therapy on my housework growth. But I figure this can't just be about the Christmas Card letter, that is dull and not real. I mean they work for a once a year snapshot, but you cant report that version everyday. The good part of a blog is sharing about life, the real parts. What Im up too, how we are doing and what is happening with us. Lately its been more about me, but hey, Im the one doing the typing right? Anyway, Im off to make my bed and Putt-about as unconsciously as I can...

Learning how to live at 34

Well that title sounds much more profound than the reality. But, its actually quite true. Im constantly struggling with trying to keep up, trying to be a person who could handle someone doing a "drop-by" visit, someone who could be spontaneous or not panic when the door bell rings. I want to be able to offer someone a ride without feeling humiliated that my car was a pit, or could offer a spontaneous playdate at our home. I have basically just figured "screw-it" that is not who I am and it is ridiculous to make myself crazy trying to make it so. That worked for about 33.5 years.
For a while I used to ask a very anal friend of mine to please give me the scoop, help me with the system. HOW is your house clean all the time?? How do you keep up all the time, how are you never caught with your dirty hair in a ponytail and looking very, well icky? She laughed at it and said it was just a part of being anal. She said it made her crazy to go to bed at night with a dirty dish in the sink, or a load of laundry waiting in the machine. Hmmm, never a problem for me!! I am so exhausted by trying to figure it out. How do you "learn" how to create systems that work for you in your own world, oh yeah, while mothering and homeschooling three young children? Ive been dedicating a lot of time meditating on it, reading about rhythms and the importance of living in a healthy vibrant home. I feel like rather than feeling this is something that I "have" to do because of the people in the world and what they may think of my messy house, I am now beginning to see it as another essential part of raising my family. Yeah, yeah I heard that "duh" comment, but I mean on a different level, I mean having them feel a sense of my dedication to them, having them see and be a part of a healthy functioning home. Not anal, not even always clean, but healthy, and flowing with the rhythm of a happy and vibrant family. Hey, Im pretty bright in most areas of my life, cut me some slack here, at least Im getting there now.
The iPod has been about 70% of it, it helped me dig in when I wasnt wanting too, but here is the best part.... Im keeping it up because I like the feeling of it, I like feeling that freedom, and control in my life. I couldnt care less about the other people when it comes to this, its about me and my family and how it makes us feel. I am always being chased by this mess-monster or maybe it is a lack of control in my life. I am learning, step by step, not patching, or getting caught up just long enough to get through something, only to let it all slip away again, but learning how to live my life in control of something that Im tired of avoiding or feeling conquered or paralyzed by. Im really hoping this is a new beginning for me, and that Im actually finding my system.