Moments: Meet Bogart.

Our new member of the family is already making himself at home! He's sweet as he can be, and silky soft. He's spent his first few hours sniffing everything and everyone, seemingly approved, then lumped himself down on the carpet with the kids. :o)

He's already housebroken, obeys many commands, and *so far* hasn't chewed up anything (though we've been warned!) Bogart is a mutt, most likely a Golden Retreiver/Rottweiler mix, though he has some white on his chest and throat. He's so gentle and docile even though the shelter puts his age at approximately 10 months, making him technically still a 'puppy'. We're going to make his official birthday January 1st.

I think I'll go snuggle him some more. It's his favorite activity besides sniffing.

Musings: Stargirl

I was loaned a copy of the book Stargirl a couple weeks ago. It's a teen novel. I was skeptical.
Now in my third reading, after zipping thru it myself, reading it aloud to hubby, and now to my girls, I am completely enamoured with it.

It is the story of a 10th grade girl attending high school for the first time after being homeschooled. It's a bit of a tall tale....the protagonist is definitely outside the realm of reality as one might expect from a book on human nature. But she represents so much of what I strive to infuse into my daughters' hearts. She is naive, she is friendly and kind to everyone. She is individual in her manners, her dress, her ideas. It is the story of how these things bear upon a school of typical teenagers....how it changes them, how they change her, the regret we all feel about those years in our own lives.

It is a profound study of a girl who represents the best humans can be when they live with their eyes outside themselves. Even though unrealistic, it paints a beautiful picture of childlikeness, with all it's vulnerability and joy.

So here's my plug! It's a great little book to read aloud to teen girls or boys, leaving lots of room for discussion and introspection. My family has laughed out loud, cried, and sighed wistfully thru it. After you read it, here is a great selection of discussion questions you might want to share with your teen.

Moments: A first dance.

Our first Semi-formal with K. Ain't she a peach? It's not a nice feeling knowing she's in the care of another teenage boy now and then....not a nice feeling at all.

But...seeing as I changed the diapers of the kid who escorted her, I suppose she's safe. They've grown up together.

When I was in high school, we didn't have 'semi-formals'. There was Junior-Senior Prom. Unless you were invited by an upperclassmen, you couldn't go as a frosh or sophomore. We had little dances after games and such, but they were a joke. Girls on one side, boys on the other, sweaty hands for everyone. No fancy dresses and suits.

Things have changed. Now we have Semi-formal (and don't let the name fool you. They wear gowns and corsages. Fancy updo's for the hair. Sparkling earrings and bangles. Nothing 'semi' about it at all.

With two in high school now, I'm realizing I need to have a separate budget for 'semi-formals'.

Ah, but ain't she a peach?

Moments: "When I was down beside the sea...."

Last night, and almost every night, my boys ask for bedtime stories. I try to oblige them unless it's past their bedtimes or I'm tuckered out. I'm so pleased that when I ask them to bring me a book, either S or B will always bring me A Child's Garden of Verses by Robert Louis Stevenson. I stand there gaping, thinking to myself, "I've succeeded! They love poetry!"

S loves to see what's on the next page...."Read a new one tonight!" And then afterwards we go back to the beginning and flip thru, stopping to read those they love most. We've memorized many of these beautiful verses, and when we come to one of those, they triumphantly say it along with me. I hope these little gems will stay with them into their adult lives to be shared with my grandkids!

We read poetry every day, as well as working on our memory selection. They never balk, and it always surprises me. I've even taken to keeping a book of poetry (100 Best-Loved American Poems) in the car for those inevitable lulls between picking up kids. There is a beauty I never understood about poetry, or at least noticed. Growing up, if I didn't 'get' a poem, I was frustrated. Now I'm ok with the mystery of it, in the same way several people will see the same work of art and come to different conclusions about the artist's muse. My children have taught me this....they love to hear the rhythmic, soothing words. They certainly don't grasp some of the vocabulary, but they are devouring the meter, the lilt, the words themselves. For example, B has a particular favorite poem in our book. He always tells me afterward that he like it so much because of the way I say "apple tart" in the middle. He waits for it to roll off my tongue and grins through the remaining stanza. This would be poetry appreciation at its best, methinks.

Moments: Well now. I haven't lost it after all.

Last week I had the opportunity to share some music with the kids who make weekly stops at the Lakeside Learning Garden. It'd been a VERY long time since I'd touched my guitar (M plays it most of the time). So I played till my fingers were numb! It was a blast, and it felt really good to slip back into my musician's hat that has sat crumpled in the back of my closet for too many years.

So here I am in all my glory, and all the gooseys dancing and singing with me. What better way to spend an afternoon than singing silly songs with unpretentious children? It was a balm for my soul, that much I can tell you.

Moments: It is time.

I'm just completely jazzed for my Bead for Life Open House this weekend! (You can read my previous post about this here.) Anyone who reads this blog is welcome to buy a piece from me. I'll even pay your shipping. Items start at $5 for a bangle bracelet up to $30 for a 5 strand necklace. The jewelry store on their site shows the different items available. I can pick out color schemes from the pieces they sent me.

It feels really wonderful to be able to do something tangible at a grass-roots level to bring these women the dignity they deserve. The are precious women, so pleased to be working for a living that actually sustains life.

If you're in my area, please stop by. I'd love to sell every single piece!

Moments: This month's Memory Selection

November

~ Alice Cary
The leaves are fading and falling,
The winds are rough and wild,
The birds have ceased their calling,
But let me tell you, my child,
Though day by day, as it closes,
Doth darker and colder grow,
The roots of the bright red roses
Will keep alive in the snow.
And when the Winter is over,
The boughs will get new leaves,
The quail come back to the clover,
And the swallow back to the eaves.
The robin will wear on his bosom
A vest that is bright and new,
And the loveliest way-side blossom
Will shine with the sun and dew.
The leaves to-day are whirling,
The brooks are dry and dumb,
But let me tell you, my darling,
The Spring will be sure to come.
There must be rough, cold weather,
And winds and rains so wild;
Not all good things together
Come to us here, my child.
So, when some dear joy loses
Its beauteous summer glow,
Think how the roots of the roses
Are kept alive in the snow.

Musings: What's a Hazelwood anyway?

My property is surrounded by trees. Most of my neighborhood boasts beautiful old trees of every persuasion. Over the winter, my goal is for the kids and I to be able to identify the different trees that share our environment.

The street names in my area are all names of trees. Our street is 'Hazelwood Ave.', so I assumed 'hazelwood' was the name of a particular tree. Wrong. Here's the definition:

reddish-brown wood and lumber from heartwood of the sweet gum tree used to make furniture

So now I'm on a nature scavenger hunt. What is a Sweet Gum? Well, joke's on me. Here is a picture from an 19th century nature classification book:




It seems the sweet gum tree is the annoying variety that drops the 'pokey things' my kids complain about when running barefoot in our backyard. Here's a close-up of a 'pokey thing':

Sweet Gums are also called 'alligator trees' because their bark resembles the rough and deeply grained skin of that reptile. We have 2 of them in our backyard (sweet gums, not alligators), and though their leaves turn a brilliant red in the fall, the 'pokey things' just ruin it for me.

So, today's nature study (which proceeded from mama's curiosity about her street name) is that 'pokey things' come from the sweet gum tree, and hazelwood is the lumber extracted from a sweet gum for furniture. (Oh, and that my street is 'Hazelwood' because there are so many darn sweet gums rooted around the properties. Which leads me to wonder, why didn't they just name the street 'Sweet Gum Ave'????)

Here's a lovely poem my friend Angie found that somewhat redeems the 'pokey thing' aspect:

The Song of Wandering Aengus
I went out to the hazel wood,
Because a fire was in my head,
And cut and peeled a hazel wand,
And hooked a berry to a thread;
And when white moths were on the wing,
And moth-like stars were flickering out,
I dropped the berry in a stream
And caught a little silver trout.

When I had laid it on the floor
I went to blow the fire aflame,
But something rustled on the floor,
And some one called me by my name:
It had become a glimmering girl
With apple blossom in her hair
Who called me by my name and ran
And faded through the brightening air.

Though I am old with wandering
Through hollow lands and hilly lands,
I will find out where she has gone,
And kiss her lips and take her hands;
And walk among long dappled grass,
And pluck till time and times are done
The silver apples of the moon,
The golden apples of the sun.
~William Butler Yeats

If a tree that produces 'pokey things' can inspire such imagery, I suppose I can abide them for the time being. At least until next season when the "OUch!" and "OWie" song and dance begins once again in earnest.

Moments: Trick or Treat!

Look out Evil-Doers! (note the fleece batman 'silk' goes with the light saber in S's interpretation of a young Anakin Skywalker....he won't leave home without it, even when mooching candy.)

G wanted to be the rescued Damsel in Distress to go with B's Knight in Shining Armor, but B thought that was "dumb". So she went as:

K practiced putting on airs for her upcoming Semi-formal. What'd ya mean 9th grade is too old to go trick 'r treatin'?

Moments: Three cheers for B!

Here he is! My narration-extraordinaire! Hip Hip Hooray!

Our first real attempts at narration have been successful (and to be sure, I received affirmation from the gals on a Charlotte Mason yahoo group). So here's his first narration from chapter one of An Island Story, used in Year 1 of Amblside Online, which we recorded immediately after I read:

"Well, in this story, um, (asks quietly, "What was his name?") Neptune, um, had a son. He wanted to choose a very beautiful island for one of his sons, which was his best and favorite son. And all the mermaids and mermaid men went and told the counsel what...about islands. And Neptune and his wife kept saying "No." So, um, once a very beautiful mermaid came and told them about an island. It was jewelled like a diamond and the son and Neptune chose that one for his boy so his son lived there. He died once when he was trying to fight Hercules but Neptune ruled it then. And then he was getting too old to rule so the island ruled the seas. The end."

Pretty impressive, eh? Well, I was impressed anyway.....and I'm allowed to be 'cause I'm da mama.

For those interested, narration is simply the retelling of a passage that has been read aloud or silently. When the kiddos are under age 10, they are done orally. As they get a bit older, they learn to organize what they say into written narration (writing is talk with some rules). There's a lot of information about narration all over the web. Here is a good explanation from a popular Charlotte Mason author.

I'm amazed at how simple this seems when we're doing it. I just tell the boys I'm going to read them a story, and at the end I will ask them to tell me back what they remember. I really get into the reading, and I'm sure to do so clearly and slowly. They listen attentively, and parrot back. Charlotte said if you can narrate back any information, you own it forever.

What a gift we've been given from God in these children. He's created the child's mind to easily absorb life around them. What a priveledge and responsibility we have as parents to saturate that growing brain with good and lovely things. I hope thru narration, my boys will have their minds so crammed and so familiar with beautiful stories and language and nature, that they'll look for beauty and find it for the rest of their lives.