Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts
Showing posts with label homeschooling. Show all posts

Friday 8 February 2008

Winter Blahs or Whoo Hoos

I don't have the winter blahs. I had the blahs in the summer.

Our snow total for the season is 39 inches, our average is 30. Heh. More snow on the way. I think this helps, keeps the view outside fresh instead of muddy and slow. If we were not on a rotating sniffle schedule, we'd being playing outside in it.

Yesterday was a blast. I learned much about Chinese New Year AND the friend which I have been navigating troubled waters about was there. Surprisingly, I didn't even tense up. It was awkward at first, but ended up relaxed. No, we will never likely be as close or trusting BUT at least I had no panic attacks and it was proven we could be civil if not friendly. For me, it was a big step in the release goal.

Lil'Bug made new friends, we saw friends we hadn't seen since park day, and we just relaxed. It was nice to attend instead of host. All said, our venture out into the snow was well worth it. Oh, did I mention there was a cheese ball? I love cheese balls.

More later.

Tuesday 5 February 2008

Making

Making progress:

I am experiencing quite a bit of anxiety over the Wii purchase. Sure, we made the decision for all the right reasons.....BUT.....

I grew up in a house with video games and violence and heartache.

I banished video games from my home because it was easier than looking at the big picture. Until this week I never explored this in my processing. I have always just said to myself, not in my home. I never related that we all had our coping strategies to deal with our childhood violent and unpredictable household.

My banishment of gaming is no less of a control issue. In reality games are a tool and we have worked hard to create a loving, gentle home. So I released that anxiety. I am also a little sad about the memories I explored today for meaning, but a little sad is way better than freaked out anxiety + 20 anger.

Tea time! Move on, clean cup!


Moving on, we made butter today in the food processor. That's how this place said to. Yeah, no. Next time I will use my mixer. The butter got too thick for the processor at one point; once it clabbered it was fine, but the heavy cream goo stage almost killed my new toy. Also, easier to move the bowl to drain the goo if it is in the mixer bowl AND since you have to use the bowl anyway for the end steps, using the mixer will mean less to clean up. Here's the pic:


We played pirates today. We kidnapped baby dolls and fed them chicken noodle (she doesn't say it noonel anymore...wahhhhhhh!) instead of dog hair stew and booger pie (what I told her pirates fed their captives, he he). Lil'Bug insists that she is a nice pirate. This is her ship and sail:


AND....that's pretty much our day. There was a dinner disaster where I had trouble cutting the roast up and splattered meat blood all over everything and then forgot to add water to the enchilada simmering beef mass (supposed to be strips) and so it is definitely not going to be ready for consumption anytime soon, or possibly just not for dinner tonight. Yup, that's just the domestic goddess that I am.

*edited to add: dinner was saved by some creative thinking on Dearest Husband's part plus a casserole dish. It was yummy, but too savory for my pregnant heartburn prone system. Gah. When did that happen? (Um, the prone to heartburn thing, I mean....)

Wii and Childbirthing

A two for one post.

We decided, with almost the same wording, to get a Wii. While I posted on my blog, Dearest Husband posted almost word for word the same thing on a gaming (RPG) forum the same inquiry. So, it is done. It is ordered. It will be about a month, but a good deal and no line waiting. He ordered the family pack and then we intend to get Endless Ocean too.

Ok, so then.....first childbirth class last night. Wow. Last time we took "Childbirth Express" through the hospital because we thought we knew a bunch already and we were really busy. I think we covered last night, the first of 8 classes, more than the whole class we took last time AND it was basically a meet and greet/ syllabus review. Geesh. We did physical exercise positioning too and I learned that I was doing the tail bone "wagging" thing totally wrong.

Dearest Husband kept me entertained. During the relaxation work we were instructed to work on a calming story that we share for him to retell to me. I looked at him with concern. "We don't have a story," I whispered and then tensed up. He leaned down and whispered in my ear something that I never expected. It was hilarious and I almost screeched with giggles. (Dearest, if you'd like to share, post it in the comments.) I love him. It was probably the only kind thing he could of said to relax me too.

I love the class. We are really getting a lot of information. Funny thing is- it is the only such class in Central Iowa and there are only 5 couples in attendance? How sad is that. I really wish we'd had this available to us last time, not that it would have changed anything but my attitude/guilt post op.

Blogger still is fritzy. Is anyone else having trouble?

Tuesday 29 January 2008

Monday on a Tuesday

After I posted yesterday, we headed to an OB appointment. Everything is well and good. The report came back on the fibroid, it is small, has grown but not significantly. The docs don't think it will interfere in the VBAC. I am so thrilled at the medical support I am getting for my choice to VBAC! I got the ok for the Yoga I want to do and asked questions about the Bradley exercises that I am confused about.

Oh, and about that- We have decided to take the Bradley classes and there is absolutely no problem with that. They think it is great and recommended the local teacher. With the rumors circulating locally, it was a relief to hear that.

Baby's heart rate is 150/min. My weight gain is perfect, as is my BP.

So then we headed downtown to the historical museum. That was fun. It had been a while since Lil'Bug and I went someplace new without an entourage of other homeschoolers. While that has value, so does walking slowly through exhibits with one on one attention from each other. There is a new exhibit that is 100+ year old nature and animal dioramas. I'd seen them in the basement archival storage when I worked at the museum, spent lunch times walking around down there with the curator, but it was all new to Lil'Bug and she was really engaged. They have preserved owlets and fox cubs and all sorts of birds that we would likely never see up close. We walked through the trash and recycling exhibit and talked about waste too. All in all, just 45 minutes, but it was lovely.

Then we went home and made Chicken "Noonel" soup. Shortly after we popped in a movie and settled in. My headache was only getting worse and ice packs were no help. Lil'Bug got up and headed to the kitchen. That usually means trouble, but when I finally got up to go after her I found her with all her paint stuff set up and ready to go. "Mama, I was waiting for you to pour the paints!" Indeed she was, very patiently. I got down my paints and canvas and we painted for about an hour. We talked and sipped tea and painted self portraits on our canvases. It didn't make my headache go away, but I was really feeling connected to the small one.

So, then we did NOT clean up and instead grabbed a bucket of strawberries and headed back to the TV room to watch Arthur and snuggle. Soon, Dearest Husband came home- he had a headache too. We made dinner together and played as a family. Soon, I thought it was bedtime and Lil'Bug and I settled in. I fell asleep, tornado tot headed back downstairs to play with Daddy for another few hours.

I woke up at midnight and my headache was gone. All was quiet and sleepy and a thunderstorm was rumbling. The pressure had been released, I went back to sleep.

Friday 11 January 2008

Falcon Release

We went to an event today that was the release of a rehabilitated peregrine falcon back into the wild. Amazing bird. I messed up the flight shots, new camera and all, but here is the photo of the handler showing the bird.

I found about about this yesterday and was happy to share it with our local homeschool group. Ornithology is one of my interests that carried over from my farm days. I used to be in charge of the chickens. So, I trained them to do tricks. :) Now I share my home with two parrots and would love to volunteer at one of the rescues for falcons and owls.

We are so blessed to be able to follow our passions and help our children find their own.

Tuesday 8 January 2008

Fleeting Moments

We made cream cheese frosting for raspberry filled cupcakes (will make those in the morning). Yummy.

She washed her own hair today with an entire bottle of shampoo. I had to rescue her when she couldn't get a clean rinse or open her eyes. It looked like she'd been blue slimed. I'm not sure it all came out, but she sure smells good!

Lil'Bug asked me if she could use my phone to call her friends so they'd come over and play. She proceeded to trash her room and THEN she asked me to take her to the mall. How fast they grow up. When I said, "No," she waited patiently until Daddy came home and asked him.

Of course he said, "Get your shoes, let's go!" Sigh. On the way out she said, "Mama, I just needed attention. I'll clean my room when I get home." ROTFL

She did many things today. Too many to count. All said and done, we had a really good day today, but she earned the title: Tornado Tot!

Thursday 27 December 2007

Things Take the Time They Take

Bread must rise..... The cake must bake..... Things take..... The time they take....

That little poem is in a Beauty and the Beast Disney early reader book. It is a fitting reminder for many of us right now. My camera will eventually be fixed or replaced, Lil'Bug will learn to read and recite numbers when people prompt her (or give a catty response in the stead), J. will eventually propose to my anxious sister, wounds will heal, hearts will mend......

Things take the time they take.

I often get impatient. I was anxious to conceive Lil'Bug and again this time. Then when it happened I shared right away. THEN 9 months is soooo very long to wait. Though I would not wish an early delivery. There are plenty of things we must do to prepare. My body must prepare, my family must get ready, ect. The new seed takes time to grow into a sapling, into a tree, and then into a grand old tribute.

When you bake a cake, you can't just turn up the heat and expect it to be ready to eat sooner and opening the door to check on it can ruin it too. When I wanted Dearest Husband to propose to me, he didn't. And I cried. Then I thought, for sure now, but he didn't. Every time I was upset- it actually seemed to delay the proposal more. What this really did accomplish was it made our days sad and miserable, irritated Dearest Husband, and in general decreased our quality of life and affected how much we enjoyed each other's company. However, the delay was really a very good thing. By the time he proposed, we owned our own home, I was steady in my studies at school, we could afford the wedding we wanted without burdening our families, and various other good things. It also came down to trust. I needed to trust my future husband to make the decision when he was ready to- I was ready at that first kiss, but that does not mean that WE were ready to make that commitment financially or emotionally. So often I forgot that there was more than just me in that equation.

Somethings just take time to learn. Somethings come with age or with experience. Patience is something we try to teach Lil'Bug, when something is difficult- go slower. I don't drill her on the ABC's or it could irritate her and she will become a reluctant learner. She knows her letters and numbers but has yet to understand the value in the performance aspect of recitation when homeschool doubters drill her to answer questions. She's 3. Do I intend to send her to preschool just so she can learn recitation and compliance? No. That will come to her in time. In the meantime I will continue to let her learn from life at her own pace and joy. Rushing things would ruin that.

Yesterday I really made life miserable for my family with my impatience. I want my camera to work now, not three weeks from now. I am very frustrated. Should that dampen my participation in family life, should not getting to photo document our day ruin the festivities? No, not one bit. I want my house to sell right now, but it's not ready. I want to live on a farm RIGHT NOW- never mind that moving and house hunting while pregnant is an additional stress that I do not need. I want all the laundry to be done but it will always be a lurking pile of a chore, eh? We are about to celebrate our 9 year wedding anniversary- sometimes it seems that the days just flew by. Indeed they did.

Mostly, I want happiness for all my friends and family. That will come easier to all if we all embrace some patience and enjoy each day as it arrives and passes. Just some thoughts for the day....

Saturday 22 December 2007

TMBG- James K. Polk

In 1844, the Democrats were split
The three nominees for the presidential candidate
Were Martin Van Buren, a former president and an abolitionist
James Buchanan, a moderate
Louis Cass, a general and expansionist
From Nashville came a dark horse riding up
He was James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

Austere, severe, he held few people dear
His oratory filled his foes with fear
The factions soon agreed
He's just the man we need
To bring about victory
Fulfill our manifest destiny
And annex the land the Mexicans command
And when the votes were cast the winner was
Mister James K. Polk, Napoleon of the Stump

In four short years he met his every goal
He seized the whole southwest from Mexico
Made sure the tarriffs fell
And made the English sell the Oregon territory
He built an independent treasury
Having done all this he sought no second term
But precious few have mourned the passing of
Mister James K. Polk, our eleventh president
Young Hickory, Napoleon of the Stump

Why did I post this? Heh. Funny story. In graduate school I took an American history seminar. I had a 3 month old. I didn't do the reading. I'm sure I'm not the first or only grad student ever to face this problem BUT there were only 3 students in the seminar and it is a little harder to fake having done the reading in such a small class. Fortunately......the subject of James K. Polk came up and I had just heard the song at home. I quoted it almost word for word in my piece of the discussion and managed to make my way through the 3 hours. Gah. I've always suspected that one of the other students knew, the professor certainly didn't. Anyway. Funny story. ;) We all learn things in different ways. Me? I happened to learn obscure history facts from a They Might Be Giants song.

It was on my mind today and the subject of the upcoming Iowa caucus was discussed. Our lovely state is overrun by candidates, news affiliates, and campaign brew ha. I wonder how many of them know about James K. Polk?

Friday 21 December 2007

Playing and Tea

Friday was filled with friends and tea. Three mamas got together and let their kids go wild. It was fun and just what we needed to take a break from all the holiday nonsense.

Dearest husband was home and played music with the kidlings. I was left another tub mural. We made a significant dent in the cookie pile. All good things. :)

Thursday 20 December 2007

From the Archives.....

I've only been blogging since April or May of 2007. This picture I found from May of 2006. I love it. It is from a trip Lil'bug and I took to Gavelston, TX. There were a lot of firsts that trip: first sea shell found on the beach, first walk in fresh salt water, first step in quicksand, first swim in a deep pool, first airplane/ferry/boat ride, first encounter with dolphins/crabs/starfish. So much fun. :) I really miss my aunt who lives there and hosted this wonderful part of our trip.

Family Music

Monday 17 December 2007

Things We do for Fun

The comments on the Snow Day post got me thinking.......

No, I am not any good at snowboarding, pregnant or not, I just love doing it. I fall a lot, but I have tons of fun. I'm not any good at biking either, but I'll pedal my heart out. Singing too- totally tone deaf, but I'll belt it out anyway! I love to cook, but most of my end results are on fire, under/overcooked, or just plain taste nasty. Once Dearest Husband ended up in the ER with food poisoning. I still like to try and slowly I am improving (that's a different post all together....).

We have a saying at our house that Dearest Husband started: If it is difficult- go slower. That's just about it: slow down and think it out, pay closer attention, just practice. It is all wrapped up in that. Such wise words. We do lots of things for fun, not to be good at them. We love to learn new skills, new facts, new things to do.

Life is good. You don't have to be good at it to enjoy it. :)

Sunday 16 December 2007

Everyday is a Snow Day!

I love days like this. Lil'Bug and Dearest Husband usually head out to sled and play in the snow while I stay home and catch up on stuff (read blogs, drink tea). Today I decided to go with them. I would have taken more pictures but I decided to partake in the fun and put my camera back in the truck. Also, white mittens=bad idea. Lost in snow forever.

Lil'Bug decided a sled was too cumbersome for both the trek up and down the hill......that's just how she rolls!

Lil'Bug meets Dearest Husband at the bottom. Because I came along he got to bring his snowboard out of storage (it's been like 8 years!). Fun stuff. I would have gotten back into the snowboard groove as well, but for the fear of crashing on my belly. There are some sports that will just have to wait until Baby is born.

Friday 17 August 2007

Live and Learn, (welcoming the new semester)

I've been asked to blog about my education philosophy, maybe it would be stated better as a method really.

I love to learn. I love my fields of scholarship. I tripled in the MA program because I couldn't decide and doing each one one at a time would be horrifically more expensive than the horrifically huge amount of money we have already spent, but I still couldn't decide. Doing all three fixed a couple problems for me: 1) It meant I didn't have to take "electives" or some of the boring unrelated to my actual interest mundane classes related to the disciplines 2) I had to propose my thesis before I was accepted instead of 6 months before graduation and 3) I got to do all three! Yippee!

I flounder in the boring classes. Why? Because I get it early on and then I am bored. I read ahead. I did ok, if I could tutor someone else in the class. However, in the advanced classes I had to learn the boring stuff as I went, along with the themed material, as a means to understanding it. Then I was motivated, fascinated, and occupied mentally the entire time. No floundering. That worked really well for me and I retain to this day about 80 percent of the content in each of those classes. I did have a problem with dominating conversation though. This led to a long heart to heart with an professor who suggested I teach. Maybe he was joking? Doesn't matter because that's what I do now and I love it. Don't think that I got a pass on the cores of each discipline; at my thesis defense I was drilled on all of it and had no notes, no idea what they would ask, and I had no know it all. Plus my actual thesis had to demonstrate working knowledge in all three. Fun stuff.

Which brings me to my classroom. What do I do that works so well for my students? I do not stand up front and lecture the cliff notes of the textbook. That bores me as much as it bores them. I choose to teach an element of my field that is process instead of content: Composition. What worked for me in my education works for them to, if they are willing to take it on. They choose, within a set pretext, what they will write about. Then we use their topic to learn the process of composition, research, and revision.

One semester I had a student use the same topic for every theme: his beloved race car. His autobiography was about learning to read about cars, his profile of a place was about the undercarriage while he built it in his garage, his problem paper was about track safety and his solution paper was about better pr for the type of racing he does. These papers were creative, interesting, and really well done all from a student who had told me at the beginning that he struggled with English and hated writing papers. His grade? A. (103% after extra credit) So that got me thinking, why not encourage all my students some freedom to be creative and bend the rules a bit? I could have told him, "No, write about a park or a coffee house," but I didn't and he excelled.

Most people, by the time they are working adults, hate education and see it as a tedious chore. That mindset happens long before, when they are forced to study topics they hate and will never use, forced to do homework, forced to work for grades instead of learning. Thus the humiliation of "Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader". It's not that you are or are not smarter, it is just that hopefully, at age 11, those little people have not had their desire for learning stomped on by tedious tasks and busy work. So why should I continue that loathing of education? (I am smarter than a 5th grader, BTW. I played along twice and know more than 80 percent of the answers! They would never let me play on TV though.)

I set fluid parameters. I cannot force them to learn. If they fail a paper I do not mark an F, I give it back to them to do again with reasons why. They can take a zero or try again. People learn by trying again. Life is like that.

I also teach them that I am a person, one of many that they can learn from, but that I am their equal as a person. That is a different dynamic than most primary schools teach. Many students are afraid to talk to me, afraid to advocate for themselves (if they don't, no one will), and afraid to fail. Real learning is counter to all of that. Once they take responsibility for all of the above, then....I can teach them, or rather they begin teaching themselves and I facilitate the classroom experience.

Teaching my daughter is no different. I am her guide, but really, most of the time she is the one leading her own discoveries and I am along to document it. Call it unschooling, learning driven by delight, child led learning, or "relaxed"/"eclectic" homeschooling- it's what works for us.

Sunday 12 August 2007

Sounds Like Fun: The Iowa State Fair

Sounds like fun, eh? Sure. When it's 105 degrees out and sunny, it sounds like fun to gather with 7,378+ people and eat deep fried whatever you can think of and walk around lost looking at animals in barns, people in barns, through the left overs of both and emerge into the gloriously, glaring, and overbearing Iowa sunshine only to think of all the other deep fried food you can ingest before you die of heatstroke on the Midway........


Oh, but we had fun! We did. The new Animal Learning Center is awesome (read: air conditioned), HARRY POTTER WAS IN BUTTER (I'm not kidding!), and I whole heartedly agree that next time we go we are doing so to view our own 1st place ribbons on our own food entries. My raspberry jam could so beat out this year's entry.



Also, I'm entering the Ugliest Cake contest; I have ideas bubbling right now, most of which are titled, "Muck and Goo For You".......
If they had a muddy hippos contest, I'd enter Lil'Bug. She went straight for the water fountains when we sat down to eat round 1 of greasy fair food. :) She says she liked the piglets best.....




Friday 10 August 2007

One Buggy Night

The Creepy Crawly Cookout.....it occurred to both Dear Husband and I at the same time how interesting it was that they chose to serve hot dogs. Yummmmmy.

Lil'Bug had a great time, mostly because she loves bugs and dear husband caught and jarred six specimens to be identified by the "expert" etymologists, and quite a bit because Mama B and her boys were there too.

I was not impressed by the undergraduate students (who were likely failing Bug 101 and needed extra credit) who identified 3 of our mystery spiders as.....spiders. Seriously. Our fly that looked like a bee....."I'm pretty sure that's a fly that looks like a bee," said the "expert" and our squash beetles, "Yes, that's definitely a bug." ???? Very disappointing. I am considering emailing their supervising TA (I asked and they provided me his contact information), on the other hand they were there, which is likely all they needed to be.

Sunday 5 August 2007

Eggrollies.......the Experiement in Cabbage!

  • 1 pound ground pork
  • 2 teaspoons ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder OR 1 tsp of GP and 1 of sweet curry powder
  • 1 quart peanut oil for frying
  • 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour + 2 tablespoons water OR 2 tbs of soy sauce
  • 3 cups shredded red cabbage
  • 4 ounces shredded carrots (like more carrots? we do. I used 5 carrots)
  • 20 (7 inch square) egg roll wrappers
  • 2 tablespoons sesame seeds or crushed cashews/peanuts (optional)
  1. Season pork with ginger and garlic powder (or curry or whatever seasoning) and mix thoroughly. Heat mixture in a medium skillet, stirring, until pork is cooked through and no longer pink. Set aside.
  2. In another large skillet heat oil to about 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) or medium high heat. While oil is heating, combine flour and water in a bowl until they form a paste (if you use that option). In a separate bowl combine the cabbage, carrots and reserved pork mixture. Mix all together.
  3. Lay out one egg roll skin with a corner pointed toward you. Place about a 1/4 to 1/3 cup of the cabbage, carrot and pork mixture on egg roll paper and fold corner up over the mixture. Fold left and right corners toward the center and continue to roll. Brush a bit of the flour paste on the final corner to help seal the egg roll.
  4. Place egg rolls into heated oil and fry, turning occasionally, until golden brown. Remove from oil and drain on paper towels or rack. Put on serving plate and top with sesame seeds if desired.

These are/were seriously yummy. We now have 40 eggrolls in the freezer. What an excellent way to use cabbage and save $$ on lunches. We froze 3-4 per bag, so a perfect individual serving. I was really worried about what to use the cabbage in and then I was worried about the deep fry part (made Dear Husband do it). Silly me. They were easy! Ok, they were only easy because I made him do all the hard parts. :)

Friday 3 August 2007

PCCB Field Trip Pond Study

Polk County Conservation Board (PCCB) offers awesome hands on science classes. We signed up for one a month, year round. Today was the first and it was really, really cool. It was also only $2.50 per family. Some insects, amphibians, and reptiles cannot live in water that is pollutes by certain degrees. The naturalists can determine the health, not only by labratory tests but by cataloguing the creatures and plants in the water. We helped! Here are the pictures of what we found when testing the health of a pond by documenting the living inhabitants.


Tuesday 5 June 2007

Remember, "You are alone in the kitchen."

This week Lil'Bug learned more kitchen chemistry. You will see in her very Julia Childs like moment that she is mixing baking soda with salt with baking powder with flour (can you see the flour?); she wanted to add water to make a cake, but I gave her cider vinegar instead. It was funny! When we were done marveling at the chemical reaction, she said, "Mama, can I add water now?"
"Sure, here you go," Mama hands her and she adds a cup of water.
"Mama," she pauses reflectively, "That didn't do anything. Can we make it do the fizzy again?" Sadly, we are now out of baking soda, so not today.


We were actually baking carrot cake from scratch. It turned out yummy. Unfortunately the vanilla in the frosting had turned a bit and Lil'Bug's reaction to it was, "It smells like Grandpa! Grandpa is not food." Indeed, it did smell quite a bit like cologne, but the alcohol settled out of it overnight in the fridge and it was an amazing and yet healthy cake (ok, maybe not the butter and cream cheese frosting part) that we will make again soon.

Friday 1 June 2007

Friday Tea Time

I know, everyone else does Thursday tea time, but today is a tea day for me. I will have Chocolate Hazelnut decaf. The last thing I need today is caffine. In fact, I need a nap.

Tuesday a few of my homeschool mama friends checked out local parks. We're looking for a "good" park, but the problem is that everyone has a different idea of what "good" means. Ah, the nuances of words. So good means all of the following: not far (gas is expensive here), modern bathrooms, shade, no water feature, and kid friendly play equipment (you'd be surprised how unkid friendly some of our local park's play structures are). Sounds simple, but its not. Crowd control is also an issue, especially in the summer.

Tuesday's park choice was overrun with public school buses so Plan B was enacted. Park B was ok, but there were mean little boys who were mean to and said rude things to Lil'Bug and that pretty much ruined it for her. Beautiful view though, the bathrooms were the gaping hole in the ground stinky camp toilets kind. Ugh. So we're off to find a better option. Hopefully one on the bike trails. Hear that Mama B? I just thought of that.....is there one that connects to the "park by my house"'s bike trail?

Thursday was much better. The park was awesome: connects to nearby bike trails, is shaded, nice bathrooms, and Lily had fun. Of course there was an encounter with a Queen Ant (neat) and the parking was on street, but neither were so terrible that the park gets a bad grade from me. I think we will go there sometimes for fun, not on a park day. That's high praise!