DangerousCrayon

3 weeks left! Helloooo Summer Break!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:20:00 +0000

We're almost "done" with school for the year. 3 weeks! Then on to fun, like Nana Camp, swimming, reading, adventuring...

Really our summer "break" won't be a time of no-school. The kids know that. We just won't be following a schedule, and I'll be aiming for interest-led activities and reading.

I'm going to take the summer break time to prep for the next year. Having been through one year of schooling with Sonlight, I have an idea of what I want to do to add to next year's work, and how I might go about preparing for that. Big plans, I tell you!

Break for us won't be all that long, really - I'm aiming to start up our lessons again in mid-August, so we're looking at a 6-8 week break instead of the 10-12 weeks that the rest of the kids in our neighborhood will get. I'm okay with that, though. I think there are benefits to year-round schooling, but that's a whole other post. The break in the middle will probably be hardest for ME to come back from, since it means I'll have to get back to so me semblance of daily schedule.

But it's all fun. How can it not be with my sweet 3 kids?

I'm excited about our new tumbling composter!

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 16 May 2014 15:00:00 +0000

The title if the post says it all. I finally got a tumbling composter!

It's a dual chamber composter, placed against a wall with southern exposure. I have experimented with composting back at the yellow house, but it was a cold pile, and it never really did what it should. It was good at growing viney weeds. I'm VERY excited to be putting our fruit and veggie waste to a good use. It makes me feel a little less guilty about the veggies that end up languishing in the fridge, or freezer-burned to uselessness.

The kids are excited about it, too and get a kick out if turning it. We will see how long that lasts!

Our first year with Sonlight

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 15 May 2014 19:05:00 +0000

I'm pleased at how well our homeschooling adventure is going this year.

After a year or two of feeling overwhelmed by alllll the choices and pathways for homeschooling, we decided to just... BUY a complete curriculum! (GASP!) We opted to go with Sonlight this past year, and I can't express how happy I am that we purchased a curriculum.

We've just finished week 30 of Sonlight Core A. With Core A, we purchased Sonlight's Language Arts 1, and Science A. We opted for Handwriting Without Tears, and Singapore Math Primary Math 1A/B For Elizabeth. I'm using this Core for both my 4/5 year old and my 6/7 year old. While the 5yo doesn't sit through all of the reading, he does listen in on much of it while playing, which is fine by me. We aren't doing any particular Language Arts or Math curriculum with him, although he plays with Starfall.com and a Hooked on Phonics app. We do use Handwriting Without Tears Pre-K workbook, which is a good fit for us. Even the toddler is learning letter shapes and sounds!

We definitely don't follow the schedules as printed, but it's not intended to be a strict "this way only" kind of schedule. I would say that we tend to "clump" things, especially with the read alouds. So, rather than reading one bit of this and that each day, we'll read most of the assigned reading for the whole week for a particular book in one sitting. I'm totally fine with adapting it to fit us. So, here's a little first year review of the materials.

I'll start with the things we DON'T use or do:
The sing along bible verse CD. Listened to it once, and didn't care for it.
We don't do scripture memorization.
The Timeline Book is hit or miss - like, once or twice we've used it. I just tend to forget it. Oh well.
The Giant Map. I'm okay with not having purchased this, since we use our globe and the smaller maps.
The Critical Thinking book. I bought it as an extra, but for whatever reason, just never quite fit it in. I'm thinking to try to start in with it eventually, or as a summer activity.
The Calendar/Coloring book. We use a big wall calendar with numbers. And there are lots, and lots of free calendars to find to help kids play with calendars.

Things we don't use as intended, or that maybe don't quite fit us:
The Science material. Reading and worksheets are fine, but the timing of the experiments is just kind of off for us. I think we've done... maybe half of the experiments so far? Otherwise we just watch the DVD and read the book. I'm okay with skipping some of these things since we do a fair amount of science outside the scheduled stuff in the material. I think we will go ahead and get Science B, though, because it seems to hit the mark for us in balancing the presentation of commonly accepted theories of a very old earth/universe while allowing space and information to present a creation-based view.

The Handwriting Without Tears Sonlight Schedule. Why Sonlight schedules it the way they do is a mystery to me. They spread the use of the workbook out over the course of 36 weeks, while the suggested schedule from the publisher uses the workbook in 18 weeks, and then does weekly review for the rest of the year. That makes a whole lot more sense to me, since the child builds the proper handwriting techniques early on, rather than reinforcing bad ones for longer.

Everything Else:
Language Arts 1 is probably the right fit for Elizabeth. She speeds through the reading. She taught herself to read last year using Starfall.com, so the phonics and sight word lessons she breezes through. I can't really say if it's a good method for teaching reading, or not. I think it is SPOT ON for her writing and creative thinking. We supplement with a separate journal in which she can free-write about writing prompts.

We hadn't worked much on handwriting in previous years, so the copywork in the LA is a great regular practice. Using the HWT schedule for the workbook has given her good practice in learning to shape letters. For a while, handwriting was her least favorite task, but her writing improved significantly in the first 10 weeks. I've learned that it's better to do handwriting early in the day before she gets tired.

Math - we were plowing through the lessons for a while, but we got into subtraction and realized she didn't really have a handle on her addition math facts within 10, and that she was just not getting subtraction, so we paused for several of weeks to play math games on the Ipad (like this), doing flashcards and doing things like coloring worksheets to help her practice her math facts. I wish that number bonds were something she really connected with, but alas, it's not, so math fact memorization it is. I borrowed a teacher's manual, and I'm glad I did. It's given me different ways to introduce the concepts that are displayed in the textbook. I don't refer to it every day, or even every week, but I think it's worthwhile.

I'm generally satisfied with the curriculum. I LOVE the selection of books, and the opportunities they give to talk about hard, but real life issues. I'm finding a love of Usborne books (they use several for the main texts). I'm not sure how I'll manage running more than one Core in the future, but that's a couple years off, assuming I even stick with Sonlight. But for now, this is just what I needed to get my feet under me, and to have a guide with which to work. I sometimes long to be more interest led, but I can be so bad about following up or getting into the moment that going unschooled would not be good for us.

Overall, I'm pleased with Sonlight. It's just what I needed to pace lessons so I don't overwhelm the kids with my need to get everything done right now.

If you are considering buying Sonlight for your family, you can get a $5 discount of your first order of $50 or more by using this code: http://www.sonlight.com/rewards/CV20348267
Make sure my referral code (CV20348267) is in the proper field when you sign up for a Sonlight Account, otherwise you won't get your $5 discount!

surviving and thriving

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 26 Apr 2014 19:44:00 +0000

It's nearly May. To contrast this past year with the one before, I cannot tell you how much a difference
a) not dealing with postpartum depression has been.
b) having a curriculum with a clearly laid out schedule has been.

So, because, I've been focusing so much on figuring how how to do this homeschool thing, and on being a advocate for the licensing of homebirth midwives in Illinois, I have been sorely lacking in time for blogging. I guess really, most of my internet energy has shifted to brief posts on Facebook, since it's nice and easy to keep up with family and friends there.

I've even considered taking down the blog entirely, or at least turning it private. I'm increasingly aware of how public and permanent our digital presence is, and feeling like maybe I should ditch it. Well, at least scale it back. I know I can't undo what's been posted, and maybe I don't really want to undo it, but it's given me pause to consider: what is my purpose in having a public presence on the internet?

I don't have any clear answers to this. My blog's focus (if it ever had one) has shifted around as my life has changed. So, the blog languishes, and I find myself wonder what to post, or not.

But we're still here, still surviving, and possibly even thriving.

and that was August

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:33:00 +0000

Note: I found this post languishing on the drafts. Here it is months later.

So what happened to the rest of August?

We got back from vacation. We recovered by not going anywhere for several days.

I discovered my garden had been growing nicely. Many peppers greeted me. Carrots and tomatoes are growing in abundance. The strawberry plants are trying to escape their pots.

Elizabeth and I went on a geocaching date, and got some caches that we can't do with the younger siblings. And we watched moveis, and just hung out. And got together for a Not Back To School Picnic with our homeschool group.

And then it was time to start our school year.

Elizabeth is in 1st grade this year. We've chosen to go with a "boxed" curriculum, one that has all of the subjects we'll need for the year. Here's what we're using:

Sonlight Core A, with 1st grade Language Arts for E (Mostly for the writing. She's already finding the reading assignments to be super easy. )

Sonlight Science A

Singapore Math's Primary Mathematics 1A/1B

Handwriting Without Tears 1st grade

Art will be on an interest basis at home and with our homeschool group.

PE with our homeschool group, mostly in the form of playdates, but also group get togethers for rock-climbing, open gym, skating, and whatever else we do.

I'd like to add:

Spanish, maybe using Rosetta Stone, but we will see. We have several Spanish-speaking children in our homeschool group, and Elizabeth would like to be able to talk to them better.

Music, mostly through piano lessons. Looking for a teacher.

So, I've been trying to get myself ready for teaching, getting a handle on the flow of the material, and making sure we're ready to go. We've done a couple of days so far, and I can see we'll find our grove with it.

And in a few days, we'll have some people visiting us to finish our fly-by August. Good-bye Summer, Hello Fall!

wild, wild, west

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 27 Aug 2013 20:09:00 +0000

I feel like I've missed August.

Here's why: We went on vacation. Whee!

We piled our family of 5 into our truck, and headed of for places unseen. We met up with my parents and 3 of my nieces for our 2 week tour of the Wild West. We added Nebraska, Wyoming, Montana, South Dakota, and Minnesota to our children's states list.

In Nebraska we saw: A small train to ride a local park. We rode it. We saw here Papa was born, and where his grandparents lived. We saw the world's largest train yard, but only from the ground because the tower was closed. I grabbed a geocache or two.

In Wyoming we saw: Dry flat land. Cheyenne, and the biggest locomotive, ever. Big Boy. I grabbed a geocache, but really Jude found it. A Mountain range.

Laramie, and a bridge over a train yard, which was right next to the restaurant where we had our dinner. Nathanael was VERY excited to be standing on a bridge, watching trains pass right under us. The bridge shook. The wind from the passing trains whipped our hair around, nearly knocked off ball caps, and would have caused skirts to fly, had there been any skirts to be flown. The smoke from the diesel engines was black and surprised several of us. Drivers honked the horns at the crazy people waving at them from the bridge, and the 4 year old who was nearly jumping out of his shoes from excitement. We all grabbed a geocache.

Do you detect a train theme here?

More Wyoming: More dry, flat land. I tried to grab a geocache, but subtle was needed, and subtle a crowd-of-10-people-milling-around-a-street-corner is not. Mountains! The Tetons!

We made it into the Jackson area, and spent several days checking out locations in Grand Teton National Park. We saw bison, elk, pronghorn, muledeer.

No bears, despite all the signs telling us bears would practically be crawling all over us/our food. I grabbed a virtual geocache while the rest of the crew was painting on Lunch Tree Hill.

Wyoming, and Montana: We then moved on into Yellowstone National Park. Geysers, mudpots, and fumeroles, Oh MY! Although I enjoyed Yellowstone, and would go back, I was a little underwhelmed at most of the hydrothermal features. Nathanael was not impressed with Old Faithful the first time around (he had just woken up) but the second day we saw it, he was much more enthusiastic.

He was especially pleased that we were standing on a real, live, volcano. I really wanted to see Grand Prismatic Spring, but they were working on the boardwalks. Boo. We did see bison and elk. We really wanted to see moose, bears, and wolves. Some people saw wolves. Our truck did not. We did see moose, though. I grabbed a few more virtual geocaches, and even a traditional cache in Montana. Woot! We managed to get Adelle to say "buffaloes," but really it sounds like "Bup-a-boes!" And then she proceeded to exclaim "buffaloes" every time we saw bison. Again. Blocking the road.

Buffaloes! And an unfortunate alignment for nosepicking?

Buffaloes. Blocking the road. Again.

And then, our time (which was still too short) was nearing an end. It was time to leave the natural wonders of Western Wyoming and start the return home.

More Wyoming, again: We eventually made it over to Devil's Tower, but didn't stay very long. There was much rock climbing in the time we were there.

South Dakota: Deadwood! We didn't realize how much of a gambling town this would be. Casinos everywhere, even in our little hotel. But we walked Mainstreet Deadwood, saw a model train display, and got some ice cream. We also grabbed a geocache. Gold Mine Tour, panning for gold, driving through the Black Hills. Mount Rushmore! Yup, there it is. It's big. But now that Elizabeth has seen it, she found the humor in a sign she saw, where someone substituted some band's faces onto a picture of the monument. The Badlands National Park did indeed include bad lands. And Bighorn Sheep! We stopped by the Minuteman Missile historic site, and saw the silo from the ground, but the tours of the launch facility were full. It was still awesome.

And then we headed home. Several days later, we rolled into our driveway. We were done. We were glad to be home. Adelle wandered around the house, playing with whatever she found, glad to be OUT of her seat. Nathanael wanted to make his own geyser (and did with Elizabeth's help - a few squirts of hand soap, and a stream of running water in a cup, and Viola! A geyser!)

Adelle - "Buffaloes!" Nana, Papa, Anna, J, Go-gan. Splashing in the water. Counting trains with Nathanael. And probably watching the movie "My Neighbor Totoro" pretty much every day while spending hours in the truck. Thank you, inventors of the portable DVD player! (To-wo-wo? Peas!?)

Nathanael: "Going to grand tetons, staying in hotels, eating at restaurants, and seeing my Nana and Papa." Nathanael picked up stick pretty much every place we stopped, turning them into swords, guns, arrows, fishing poles and whatever else. His friend Hammy (the puppet hamster) was his constant companion.

Selfie

Elizabeth: "Yellowstone. Seeing Old Faithful. Going to the Grand Tetons, and staying at Jackson Lake Lodge and getting to paint with Papa."

pickin' strawberries

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Mon, 29 Jul 2013 17:35:00 +0000

(Forgive the fuzzy pictures. My camera decided to quit focusing properly, then quit all together. Didn't see if till after the fact.)

We went strawberry picking for the first time this summer. We (me) managed to pick 20 pounds of berries, of which we made jam, frozen whole berries, and some delicious fresh treats! A shout out to Guelde Strawberries for the easy picking. Great prices, too! Although the berries aren't organic (I wish!), they say they minimize spraying chemicals on the berry plants.

I'm not totally sure if the kids liked it. They said they liked the first 5 minutes or so of picking. Adelle, especially, since she just ate the berries out of the box. After 5 minutes, the kids were done, really, but they hung out around me for another 20+ minutes picking a berry here or there.

Then, the fun really started for them - I opened the trunk of the car, and spread a blanket out. They got to hide in there with the trunk lid acting like a sunshade. Thank goodness for the crazy-big trunk of an Impala! They played with toys, drank water, and kept themselves entertained while I finished picking berries.

I think we'll go again next year!

Nathanael is 4

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 27 Jul 2013 14:30:00 +0000

Since I don't want to leave out my boy, even though it's been 4 months since his birthday:

Happy Birthday, Nathanael!

You were born at home in the bathroom, caught by your daddy with just our family in the house. You had little skinny frog legs, and I loved you for them. For the full birth story, you can read over here.

You are awesome, and sweet.

When Elizabeth is sad because she ate all of her treat, and wants some of yours, you kindly share with her. You are very sensitive to other people being upset.

When people are unkind to you, you cry big tears. And when you try to talk when crying you sound just like your mama: Unintelligible.

You like the water. Except. When it gets in your ears or eyes. That is the most awfulhorribleterribleworstest thing ever.

You still put your shoes on the wrong feet, and your underwear and shorts on backwards. Your shirts, too. And while you may not care what you wear, you are very particular about your hair style.

You ARE Iron Man. And Tony Stark. Your best imaginary friend is Soldier, who apparently looks like Daddy, and sometimes he has kids, and sometimes not, and sometimes he's even a grandpa. Soldier was away on a long mission for a while, but he's back now.

Your favorite stuffed animals are Hammy (your hamster puppet), Elmo, and your baby doll.

Your favorite color is blue. You still love trains, planes, and cars, but mostly trains.

You will eat almost any green vegetable. You enjoy veggies and will eat them straight out of the ground/off the vine! You don't care much for melted cheese (pizza, casseroles, even grilled cheese) but you'll usually eat it anyway. You don't care much for pizza at all, really, and never have.

Your energy knows few bounds. You dance like a crazy monkey. You sometimes literally run in circles when you have more energy than you know what do do with. You run, and jump and are filled with much derring-do.

You cuddle and snuggle, and like to rub your face on people's arms.

You are my boy, and I love you!

Adelle's Words

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 26 Jul 2013 14:36:00 +0000

*Note: This post is about 2 months old. Many more words have been added!*

Adelle has had a huge explosion in vocabulary over the past month. We are recognizing new words almost daily.

At the beginning of April, I was wondering when the rush of words would hit. At that time, she had just a few - maybe 10 words that we recognized that she used on a regular basis.

Now, here are the words she has:

Mom(my)
Dad
hat
chocolate
nana
papa
outside, other side (side?)
sleep
done
excused
uh-oh
yes
on
nose
eat
hot
cup
Peek-a-boo (tee-ka-goo)
drink (gink)
cat
baby
chew
shoe
let go
let's go!
see?
help
cheese
banana
please
milk
no (mo! mo! mo! mo!)
again (nen?)
juice
that
balloon (bbbboon)
treat
leg
bike
nurse (moose, noose)
dog
duck (guck)
train (ten!)
jump

Names:
Scout
Chase (neighbor)
Jack (neighbor)

Animal sounds:
grunt, grunt (covers many animals)
meow
arf, arf

Various songs:
Row, row, row your boat, gently down the stream
mary had a little lamb
ABC song
whatever she happens to be singing about

blogging bucket list

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 21 Jun 2013 04:12:00 +0000

It is hot in this room. Too many computers running, I guess, and too many things stacked in front of the AC vent. So much for organization.

I'm currently cycling through a state of nothing being effectively organized. There are mixed piles of stuff strewn about the house.

(Random: Strawberries were originally called "strew" berries, because they were strewn about the plant/ground.)

I've been working on a bit of a blog bucket list for the summer. Here it is:

Blog something once a week (ambitious, no?)
Finally post about Nathanael's 4th birthday, about 4 months late.
Post the cuteness that is Adelle.
Share out family summer bucket list, some of which we've already done (Hint: "strew")
Post about Adelle more.
And Nathanael
And Elizabeth
Write about not being pregnant for this summer's grand adventure. (wheee!!!)
and blog stuff.

Mother's Day

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sun, 12 May 2013 17:42:00 +0000

Happy Mother's Day!

I'll admit, I have a bit of a love/hate relationship with this (and many other) holidays. I absolutely believe mothers should be honored and thanked. I recognize that sometimes, if there's isn't a special day set aside many people will neglecting doing something special, or recognizing the mothers in their lives.

I do not appreciate the commercialization of this day. I am concerned about how this day can have an unintentional impact on others, such as:

People who's mothers have died.
Mothers estranged from their children/children estranged from their mothers.
Children who have never had someone to call mother.
Women who have given children through adoption to other families to raise.
Women who want to be mothers, but are unable to be a mother.
Women who have lost children in pregnancy or as infants.
Women who have lost grown children.

I have spoken with women who avoid going out, or going to church on this day, because flowers are handed out to mothers, and they sit there, mourning their infertility, or suffering in the knowledge that others don't recognize that they are a mother, even though they have no living children.

Maybe I'll still end up being unintentionally insensitive. I hope not, because that's not my goal.

To my family and friends who have born children who didn't have a chance to live and grow, or who have given children to other families to raise - Happy Mother's Day. You are a mother, and you are not forgotten.

To my friends and family who want children to love and raise up, Happy Mother's Day - you have been a mother to my children, and to other people's children. Thank you for your giving heart.

To my family and friends who have raised children, only to have them pass on too soon - Happy Mother's Day. You are loved and remembered.

To my friends and family who have estranged relationships with their children or mothers, Happy Mother's Day. Your experience of this day is complex, with no one or right answer. I know that oftentimes you love and hope, even if from a distance of miles or years.

To all of you who no longer can say "Happy Mother's Day" to your mothers, I'm glad that you have memories of the wonderful women who have been mothers in your life. Thank you for loving and honoring those who have gone before us, and those who are mothers for us now.

closing in on summer

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 11 May 2013 21:20:00 +0000

We're getting close to summer.

Lawns are being mowed, we've started some kale and lettuce in our containers. I have some strawberry plants to replace the old ones I managed to kill last year. So, we'll have a small container garden up and running.

Elizabeth is doing very well with reading. She's reading aloud confidently, and sounding out unfamiliar large words.

Nathanael is expressing interest in letters and words, so we've done some occassional work.

Adelle's interest in language is mostly toddler-ish. "Mommeeee!! Up! Up!" Or "Da! Hi!" Her other words are hit or miss - words that she used before, she doesn't use now. And, instead of saying words, she prefers to nod yes to anything, and everything. At least now animals are getting different sounds instead of the ubiquitous "grunt, grunt."

I'm experiencing mommy guilt, but as we all know, that's nothing new. Right now, my guilt is centering around the fact that I haven't printed Adelle's one year portraits yet. She's almost 18 months. Maybe I'll take the 18 month portraits, and then just send them all at the same time. 2 for 1!

I did a 5k in April, and managed to finish in less than 45 minutes. My mom came in exactly 3 minutes behind me, and we were both glad to be done walking/running. I now have a running buddy here, though, so I'm hopeful that our bimonthly get-togethers will spur me on to further progress.

I finally (quickly) found a geocache I'd been hunting and missing. Don't know why it didn't occur to me to look on the other side. Probably I was trying to keep young children from falling into the icy water?

I'm getting rid of stuff. I have boxes of things piled up. I'm planned to do a yard sale at some point this summer, and the rest will be given to Salvation Army/Freecycle. So.Much.Clutter.

I am grateful my city offers curbside recycling. I feel a lot better about throwing out old magazines, papers, and random whatevers. And grateful for freecycle. I wonder if I could freecycle my extra body weight? Jude hasn't been too interested in swapping metabolisms with me, so I guess it's all on me now.

My mental self-talk involves a lot of "I'm fat." Which is probably because people didn't recognize me when they hadn't seen me for a few years. And I've gained about 20 pounds since November 2011. Not cool. Midlife metabolism change? Probably. (yay 34!) General sense of stress/emotional eating? Absolutely! (You mean I shouldn't seek validation in my food?!) I'd like to blame it on not having the genetic switch that makes me want to exercise. I saw something about that on TV recently. Maybe I should be watching less TV. But why, when there are so many yummy-looking recipes to make? Especially the sugar-laden carby ones?

I have half a cow sitting in my freezer, waiting to be used. If I were 2/3 of my brothers, I'd totally be grilling that beef. However, I feel my grill is inadequate, and I am embarassed to bring it out to grill on my patio. It's a teeny camping charcoal grill. I should get over it. Who cares what the neighbors, with their big, shiny, no-squatting-to-turn-the-meat, propane grills think. I got beef. And summer is made for grilling.

And spring, and fall, and winter if you ask my brother.

Elizabeth is 6

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Fri, 05 Apr 2013 15:12:00 +0000

I'm late posting, but my darling girl turned 6 a couple months ago.

Such a precious girl.

Things about E:
She is missing her two front teeth and the two bottom teeth on either side of her front teeth. I can't think of what those are called, and clearly haven't the motivation to google the answer. Just be glad I'm even blogging anything, yo.

She ADORES anything princess, fairy, tea party.

When she grows up, she's going to be a paleontologist-gymnast-dancer-actress-doctor-mommy. I'm most proud of the last one - it's the only one that stays the same, and hey it must mean that I'm doing something right. Or that as six she's figured me out and is already planning to do better.

Favorite color steadfastly remains RED.

She is the queen of the segue as non sequitur - "Speaking of {whatever} I think we should have a tea party!"

E can read, and read pretty well. Her read alouds are pretty smooth and she appears to be reading the sentences as a whole (in general) rather than as discrete words.

She got her own camera for her birthday, and has been taking tons of selfies and making videos. Perhaps she'll be a photographer like her mom or dad. Or a TV producer or a star in her own Food Network show.

She's testing out her independence. She just recently asked to take showers instead of baths. She is asking for guitar lessons from Jude. She rides her bike (no training wheels!) by herself, and usually remembers to put on her helmet. She doesn't usually want anyone to buckle her carseat harness - she can do it herself, thankyouverymuch. She sometimes helps with meal preparation. She wants to do lots of things by herself. I have to remember to let her try.

little things

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 19 Dec 2012 19:03:00 +0000

My mom talks about her grateful book. She writes down things that she is grateful for, and it helps her remember all the things in life that are blessings to her.

Here are a few things I am grateful for, and that make me happy:

Adelle:
5 days ago, she made noises that were kind of horse-like while playing with horses.
2 days ago, Adelle made a "Whoo-Whoo!" noise when reading "The Little Engine That Could."
Yesterday, she starts intentional blinks in an effort to wink at Jude.
I don't know what she'll do today, but it will probably be awesome.

Nathanael:
He plays like I remember my brothers did - lots of sound effects, running around flying his lego planes.
He comes up with Wild Stories, and often inserts the word "bottom" or "poop."
He is a superhero. Depending on the minute, he could be Spiderman or Captain America. Or a Train Superhero.

Elizabeth:
My lovely girl is an author and artist. She has been making books and illustrating them. We got her a sketch book to start recording her ideas for keeping. Some of her stories are big enough that we transcribe them for her.
She loves purses and small boxes for keeping things. Very much like her Nana.
At the same time, she loves superheros and transformers. She settled for a Transformers toothbrush when I said no to the battery-powered light saber toothbrush.

overwhelmed

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 18:58:00 +0000

This "Mom of 3" thing is totally kicking my butt.

I'll be honest. IF we have more children, I need for it to be a while. I love babies, and being pregnant, but at this point that would feel like more of a burden. I can't keep up with anything. Which is why my blogging has totally fallen by the wayside. I'll admit it: I'm struggling.

I feel a little defective in the face of the "more than three" families I know, including my own family of origin. I feel like I should be able to handle this. I mean, I was the over-achiever in high school and college. I managed to keep on top of things then. Why is it that I feel like I'm walking through a dense fog of chaos, avoiding my own children, while simultaneously accomplishing nothing except staring at a screen? I wonder how women managed back in the day when we didn't have oodles of convenience products and appliances, and yet managed to find time to volunteer or create things.

In truth, it's not that I'm lying around the house in complete and utter inaction. I feed my children, and we go shopping (spending money, now THAT is something I can do!) I do laundry when we run out of clean clothes. Some times we participate in group activities with other people in our homeschool group. I usually shower at some point in the day, but no guarantees that my hair will be brushed. We've been enjoying doing family activities like movie marathons and playing with our ever-expanding LEGO city (it will overwhelm the basement before long, I think). I excel at enjoyable one-time distractions, like geocaching, thrift-store shopping, and trying to get involved in volunteer projects (and even going on a literal wild goose chase trying to track down a rare bird for Jude that I, the non-birder actually saw while he was working).

But as to my house and things that are not distractions? I can't seem to maintain any efforts to do something consistently, and certainly trying to change more than one thing at a time is simply going to lead to failure sooner.

So, for the past month we've been pretty much not-schooling. Not even Un-schooling, because that would require some effort on the part of the parent(s) to find resources for the things a child wants to explore. Hello PBSKids! Lots of movies. And me, trying to figure out what in the world I'm wasting my time on while my kids seems to be self entertaining.

Honestly, the list of ways I feel like I'm failing at parenting and in my life feels endless.

I've been talking with Jude on and off about this. We're working at figuring out how to help me feel like I have a grip on things, but ultimately it takes me to be the one doing something different. The past few days have been somewhat better. I'm not yelling at my kids as often. I've started (and completed) a few projects that have been sitting around. I've even done some token exercising, which is better than the NO exercising I've been doing. I hope that I will be able to maintain at least one of the improvements, and hope that one thing will lead to improvement in another, and another. I have a long hill to climb (if only that counted as exercise!)

Happy Birthday, Adelle! {1 year}

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 19:39:00 +0000

Brand New

One year ago, Adelle Jane entered our lives! If you're into birth stories, here's hers: Introducing Adelle Jane

Rockstar.

What you should know about Adelle at 1 year old:

Adelle is about 20 pounds and 29 inches.

Adelle has been walking for a number of months. During the past month, she has completely mastered the stairs - up and down, with speed. You usually hear her coming up the steps because she likes to throw her hands on to each step with a loud "Thwump!"

Adelle has been making some effort at words in the past 2 weeks. The sounds we've been hearing (but I haven't for sure declared) are (in order of appearance)
"Da-ya" - Daddy (when waving hi to him),
"Ha" - hat,
"Mumumumum" - Mama (only when she is upset and wants my attention)

She's an avid dancer. She has a very serious face when she dances.
She likes to wave bye, hi, and night-night.

We have a large yellow tonka truck, and Adelle likes to climb in the back of it. She then waits for someone to push her around the room.

Adelle enjoys reading - she find books, and brings them to us to read to her. She also finds books, opens the up and starts reading aloud to her self. Loudly. Very Loudly.

She loves baths. She splashes and pours. She blows bubbles. She is surprised when she slips and gets some water in her windpipe, but she recovers. She tries to get in the bath with her sibs, but when she fails she just splashes their water from the side of the tub.

Finally, she has all four front teeth. Now she can really tear things up. I think she'll discover that eating solids can be pretty fun. If I'd let her make a mess with it. :)

Thanksgiving: Last Year vs This Year

The past year, in pictures:

Happy!

Frustration.

Hmmm... This headband is too small. It restricts my plotting to take over the world.

After walking the 5K with Mama.

Stealing Dad's pizza

Enjoying the beach at Lake Michigan

Loving the swing at the playground

"Rock Climbing" at the Shedd

Her own apple. Don't take it.

midwives in Illinois

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 17:03:00 +0000

We moved to Illinois just after the birth of our third child. In Missouri, we FINALLY had non-felon midwives! yay! And then we move where, like Missouri of the past, non-nurse-midwives are not legally able to attend homebirths. Boo.

Well, since I've changed states, and I support midwifery licensure, I need something to keep me busy, right?

So, once again I am delving into supporting licensing of Certified Professional Midwives. In Illinois, the consumer group (Illinois Families For Midwives) has waned, and a new group is coming together to provide the grassroots support that is needed to ensure that women can find legal homebirth providers.

I don't know if we'll have more kids. I don't know that if I have other kids, all of them will be born at home. But I certainly would like the freedom to easily and openly seek out and interview a variety of skilled providers, and decide who I think would provide the kind of maternity care I desire.

I guess that's me telling you that I'll be posting about this stuff on and off.

So, uh, fair warning.

our homeschool studio - classrrom - playroom

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 19:13:00 +0000

We've been working at getting our space for homeschooling together and this is (mostly) what it looks like.

In this corner, we have our reading area, our "prayer tree" and calendar. And a playyard that Adelle sometimes uses. We're trying to help her learn it's a happy place, not a torture box especially for babies.

The low shelves are primarily toys and learning tools for the kids. We have a place to display their artwork up above.

The tall shelves have most of the books, crafting and learning supplies. You can also see part of the dining room, which looks MUCH better now!

I still have more that I would like to see added to our space:
An bookshelf to display kids books cover-side out, near the reading corner.l
Some framed art up above the shelves, where the walls are tallest.
A cool lamp for the reading corner.
Additional shelves for the low bookcases so I can make better use of space for putting out puzzles and manipulatives for the kids.
I need to figure out some space for putting up our maps.
A pocket chart for weather and other calendar activities - near the calendar, but I'll need to put it high enough that Adelle won't tear it apart.

The computer for the kids is between the kitchen and family room, so it's not in this picture. It's a pretty boring space, and kind of cluttered right now. We'll address taking photos of that space some time when it is clean, and the rest of the house is a disaster.

not a giveaway blog

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 09 Oct 2012 20:20:00 +0000

I guess I'm glad I didn't get in to hosting giveaways on my blog.

I just spent 15 minutes going through my feed reader and unsubscribed from a bunch of blogs that at one point used to host giveaways, but have had nothing new to post in months. Some of them have new posts, but they're totally uninteresting to me.

That could have been my blog, if I had gone that direction.

Companies only give you stuff so many times. Eventually you run out of companies to approach if you are doing giveaways for a very specific audience (like cloth diapers). I may not have a whole bunch of followers, and we might be lucky if I update my blog every month, but I do update. I've been around for 6 years. I guess I'm not a young'n in blog land. I'm just not well know, and that's probably just as well.

I'm not opposed to doing a give away once in a while for my small collection of loyal readers. But don't expect me jump on the giveaways bandwagon. There's more to blogging than that.

adelle reads

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 02 Oct 2012 20:11:00 +0000

Since we homeschool, we like to claim learning can happen anywhere. So. Here is Adelle reading by osmosis at a wedding.

cute Adelle

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 23:09:00 +0000

So, the girl is walking now. She decided that it would be okay for her to walk before her 9 months birthday. So, she's been walking for weeks, and has been consistently gaining speed. Not running yet, but nearly so. Must keep up with so siblings, you know.

I've been meaning to record for myself and the internet a cute Adelle move. She's been doing it for several months, and it could disappear at any time. It actually started as a "bump bump": When lying on her back, she would lift her bottom from the floor, and then drop it back down. Bump, bump, you know? Wiggly girl.

Verbal description: Kicking her legs straight down from her hips. She pulls up her knees, and kicks down, as if she were jumping. She does this when she is lying down. She does this when she is being held. She does this probably when standing, but it looks like jumping. Or squatting several times in a row.

When used: in frustration or anger. If we're holding her, and she want down she kicks. If she's lying down, and she's impatiently waiting for her diaper change. If we laid her down because she's super sleepy, but she doesn't want to go to sleep. Any of those times, she brings out this move. If she simply doesn't like what we're doing, or how long it's taking, the legs start moving.

She's very smiley now - she laughs at many things. She claps. She "yells" at me when I'm not paying enough attention to her.

She dances, too, but I can never get it on camera. Every time I get the camera out, she hurries over so she can get it.

She's trying out some sounds - she says "uh-oh," but she doesn't use it for uh-oh moments. Just any time, whenever she likes. I think she likes that when she says it, we parrot it back to her. Still waiting on the "first word."

Adelle is 10 months old. At her last measure, she was 18.5 pounds, and 28.5 inches. If she follows the pattern of my other kids, she'll stay at about 18 or 19 pounds for the next year, and very slowly add on some weight. She still nursing quite regularly, but she does enjoy snacking on solids. She likes to have her own, and she'll steal food from other people's plates. Watch out, is all I'm saying.

Her name is apparently on the list of fastest-rising baby girl names. FAN-tastic. That means we'll encounter a bunch of little Adel(l)es running around the playground over the next several years. I haven't yet encountered another baby Adel(l)e though. I suppose rising in the ranks quickly doesn't mean a lot - I think the last time I looked, it was ranked about 627, so even jumping up to 200 wouldn't put it in the same league as Elizabeth (hello top 20!)

Eventually, I'll need to figure out my photos and this new mac. I haven't uploaded any photos in months - they're all sitting on the camera card, waiting for me to get my act together. I think I'm almost there.

So, until then, imagine a sweet brown-haired, blue-eyed baby, toddling around, and looking remarkably cute (and clever).

I want fluff

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 22:15:00 +0000

I'm considering getting some new cloth diapers.

My trusty BumGenius one-size diapers have done well for more than 3 years (and have been worn on 3 kids). The velcro is shot (although I replaced some of the velcro with snaps) and then I find some are beginning to leak regularly.

So, I want some new fluff. Maybe if I have new fluff, I'll keep cloth on the baby more regularly!

I really do like my bumgenius diapers. I've tried fuzzibunz and a tiny tush elite, and they both do fine. I guess I'm feeling a little like I want to try something new. I've been a bumGenius mama pretty much my whole diapering time, and I've never explored much of the other options.

I don't strongly prefer snaps or velcro. I've done both, and they both have their benefits. I guess I like a mix of both. And I'm all out of velcro/aplix whatever diapers, so I'm probably mostly shopping for that.

I would LOVE to find a night time diaper for my girl, as I'd given up on nighttime cloth diapering a long time ago (mostly the stink and the ammonia burn on baby's bottom did me in. Maybe new water, new diapers, and new washer will make a difference).

Some of the diapers I've been eyeballing:

Rumparooz

Applecheeks

I've always done pocket diapers - I've read the all-in-one diapers can take a very long time to dry, so I've stayed away from them. But, in my question to explore some of the diapering options out there, I'm considering those, too, although I don't have any that have really grabbed my attention.

Suggestions on "must-try" pocket or all-in-on diapers?

around here

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 01:29:00 +0000

It seems like lots has been going on around here.

I still have a quilt waiting to be done. The recipient is in college now, so maybe by the next birthday it'll be done? Or maybe by the time he has his own grandkids? Somewhere between now and then I'll finish that quilt.

I've been preparing a whole boat load of stuff for consignment. I made a questionable choice a while back to purchase a large lot of clothes (which were in the size range of my two girls) with the intent to resell that which we don't need. I've been doing pretty well on it so far, but I have a BUNCH of clothes that I need to sell off to make sure that I didn't blow way too much money on kids clothes. So, I stain-treat, I wash, I consign. Note to self: Don't do this again (once I get through all the stuff I have). Even if I recover all the money I spent (making the clothes I kept free!) it's more work than probably worth. Although I did score a bunch of cute clothes at a great price....

I've been "preparing" for our homeschool year. Yesterday was our first "official" day of kindergarten for E, and preschool for N. Since my soon-to-be homeschool classroom/studio is not yet prepared, it felt mostly like a normal day. We spent maybe an hour reading, playing some math games, working on fine motor skills, and other stuff that sounds "educational." Most of it is stuff we do anyway, just with a little more purpose now. As the year progresses, we will be adding in a few things to round out the day and week. By "preparing" I also mean that in spite of my best intents, I have yet to plan out what I'm doing any day this week, beyond homeschool group activities. So, week one, we're just easing in to a routine.

That homeschool room/studio I referred to... Our front room will no longer be the catch-all of kids toys and unpacked boxes. We've decided it would be better to keep our school materials there, organized, rather than spread through the dining room, living room and the upstairs office and guestroom. I'm on a quest to find whatever it is I have in my minds eye, and I'm not really seeing it for the price I'm willing to pay. The search continues.

This is the space I have to work with (The orange room. Red room is full of dining table, a large painting and shelves). This is also the view upon stepping through the front door (and looking to the left). The wall is about 18 feet long. We're imagining a wall full of shelves about 30 - 48 inches tall - the right height for kids to access pretty much everything, plus one tall unit on the end for things that aren't for kid access. I'm also imagining a reading nook on the left end of the shelves. We have a 5x7 map rug that would go on the left. I have a coffee table that makes a good kids' table for now, plus another low table.

I'm looking forward to developing this into a well-arranged space!

babywearing - 5 years, 3 kids, 3 carriers

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Tue, 21 Aug 2012 15:53:00 +0000

I've been convinced that baby wearing is an excellent choice for many families since before Elizabeth was born. Practice in our house has proven this to be true, but what I thought I'd be doing and using 5 years later is not quite what I'd anticipated. I'm offering a bit of my experience for those of you thinking about adding baby wearing as a tool in your parenting toolbox.

I have three types of carriers:

Stretchy Wrap - Mine is a Moby, my first carrier, and the one I used more frequently with Elizabeth.
Asian Style carrier/ Mei Tei - Babyhawk brand - I got this somewhere around the time Nathanael was born. I really don't remember if it was before or 5 months after. I used this more than the Moby, once I had it, and he was a bigger baby.
Ring Sling - a beautiful yard sale find, apparently homemade - I found this when N was about 18 months. It is my most frequently used carrier with Adelle.

Here's how I use my carriers:

Rarely in the house. I'm just not someone who wants my baby strapped to my body all the time in the house. Most of the time, the baby is sleeping, or playing on the floor, or simply being held in arms. I wore E much more when she was a newborn around the house, but she didn't mind playing on the floor or in a swing while I did housework. None of my kids fuss much, and haven't been colicky babies, so I haven't needed to use a carrier to help me out in that way.

As Adelle has gotten older, I find I use the BabyHawk in a back carry, so she can get a nap, and I can get something done around the house.

Mostly out and about. I can hardly imagine shopping for groceries or running errands without some kind of baby carrier. The few times I've hauled the baby seat in to the store it's been a pain, but I will do this when I have just one or two things to get/do in a particular store, and the baby is sleeping. It's so much easier to have the baby in a carrier than trying to figure out how to put my groceries in a cart around the baby, while corralling the other two kids!

During camping/retreats/large gatherings. I directed youth camps and attended family camps when E and N were infants/toddlers. My baby carriers were indispensable. I kept baby on me most of the time, especially since these events mean lots of outdoor walking to and from cabins, bathhouse, classrooms, and the lodge/eating area. I've attended conferences and baby wearing has enabled me to keep baby happy while allowing me to participate. Although, you'd still often find me at the back or edge, swaying or bouncing baby to sleep.

My thoughts on the carriers I have:

Moby - I love it for the newborn stage. I secures the baby's head, and keeps baby nice and snug against me. I used a Moby with E until she was more than a year old. I love that it's stretchy, but that's also the ting I don't like when baby gets heavier. I love that it's easy to get the baby in and out of the wrap, which is especially useful when getting in and out of the car for errands.

Babyhawk- I got it because I was curious, and I found it on sale for $35. I like it especially for back carries, once a baby is a little older - starting about 6-7 months. It's okay for the newborn stage in a front carry), but there's an awkward stage where baby doesn't want feet tucked in froggie style, but baby isn't quite big enough to straddle the carrier and have legs out. It's a good carrier, and I expect I will be using it more in the future. Of my three carriers, this one is the most challenging to put baby in and out frequently (as one might do while running errands), but all things considered, it's still pretty easy to use.

Noname Ring Sling - I've been surprised at how much I've used my ring sling. The thing that draws me back to it again and again is how easy it is to take on and off. Very easy to get baby in and out. It's harder for me to get the snug fit I want, I think because the rings are a little small for the amount of material. I do end up using my hands to support the baby more often than I do when I'm using the moby or the babyhawk, but it's generally not a problem. I've not tried a back carry with this sling, and the hip carry is not comfortable for me, but as a general go to carrier, I like this one a lot.

Breastfeeding while baby wearing has never been something with which I've been comfortable. The babies never seemed to like nursing in the moby, and I felt like the babyhawk left me too exposed, while the ring sling didn't feel secure enough to walk and nurse. Perhaps there are more skilled mamas than I out there, but for me breastfeeding is something I have to do with the carrier off my body.

I would love to try out an Ergo or similar carrier. I've heard great things about them, and maybe, just maybe, Jude would be more willing to carry the baby (if I got a non-girly one, unlike my babyhawk and ring sling.)

What are your favorite carriers? Why do you like them? Have you tried any that haven't worked for you?

1/3 of August

noreply@blogger.com (Unknown) — Thu, 09 Aug 2012 21:30:00 +0000

Here it is, the first third of August done.

I've kind of disappeared from the face of my blog, but it's not because I don't love you. No, it's because I've been more wrapped up in things around going on outside the interwebs. This is good, because it's given me time to work on other stuff.

We're "officially" starting homeschooling this year, since Elizabeth is age-eligible for kindergarten. I've been working on what our curriculum will be. In a lot of ways, I'm still not settled on the exact path we shall take. I'm draw to an out-of-the-box curriculum, since it is all planned out. I have a bunch (read: a 3 foot stack) of lesson, theme, activity, and workbooks for k-1, that I've picked up over the last few years. So it's not that I don't have the materials for the year. I just lack a cohesive plan for proceeding through the materials.

I have been reassured that I need to relax a little for kindergarten, and stick with the basics. Explore with them. Read with them. Play with them. I'm confident that this year will be a great year for us. Elizabeth is a quick and enthusiastic learner. My job? To encourage that, and not dampen it.

At the 1/3 of August mark, it's time for me to be putting round 2 of my container garden in to play.
What, you say? I didn't post about my garden to start with? Well. Here's the short of it:

May - Garden shop. Tomatoes, Peppers, Cucumbers, Sugar snap peas, Cilantro, Dill, Mint, Carrot seeds. Already had 2 pots of strawberries and chives. Tomatoes and carrot seeds in a 3.5'x3.5' square. Rest in pots.
June - Seeds died, tomatoes thrived. Cilantro died.
July - Cucumbers did well till we left on vacation, then 1 plant died, the other is hanging on. Peppers had blossom end rot, but I got some calcium and watered more evenly, and they appear to be doing better. Everything else is fine. Peas are done and pulled out.

So now that we're caught up to August, I'm planning to take some of my now-empty pots, and plant lettuce and spinach. I'd read that I might get some carrots to grow even at this point, so I'll probably give that shot in one of my deep pots.

1/3 of August.

That means we've been living in the Chicago area for almost 6 months. That means I'm really hoping that we don't have to move again in 6 months when our lease is up. It also means that if we did have to move in 6 months, I'm totally not prepared to do that again. Too Much Stuff.

Last 2/3rds of August. Plus September.

We still have some summer left in us. I made a summer bucket list for the family back in June. What? Another thing I didn't get around to posting on the ol' blog? Oh well.

Done:
Train Store
Swimming
Beach at the lakefront
Bike ride
Make ice cream
Complete summer reading program
Go to an art festival
Go to a concert in the park
Go to a movie

To-do:
Camping
Train ride
Make our own bubble mix
Go to Toys R Us (totally E's idea)
Geocaching
Starved Rock State Park

Good thing we have plenty of summer left!