(on Mummu's beach last weekend)
Saturday, April 14, 2007
It crept up on me
...today marks one year since I started this blog.
(on Mummu's beach last weekend)
(on Mummu's beach last weekend)
Children of men
Intense. So well done. The scariest movie I've watched in a long time. Clive was yummy, but honestly, there was little time to even think about that. Barb will need her remote in hand for this one, although there's a scene of violence that comes so quick the remote would be of no help.
Unlike The Departed, I think this movie will hold up to any level of hype or expectation. We both loved it. Our hats are off to Alfonso Cuarón.
Unlike The Departed, I think this movie will hold up to any level of hype or expectation. We both loved it. Our hats are off to Alfonso Cuarón.
Sick day
First spent Thursday running to the bathroom periodically, unable to keep anything solid in his body for more than an hour. We made popsicles out of apple and pomegranate-cranberry juices. He amazes me with his calmness when sick. He takes it in stride. We watched our first ever episode of Spongebob. He thought the slapstick was hilarious. Kinder was under the table with a zabuton pulled up to just under his eyes. He doesn't trust screen images not to terrify him unexpectedly.
First and I also started James and the Giant Peach together, snuggled in bed. He was very resistant, but then listened quietly once I started. I'm not sure we'll continue. He is on a cusp of reaching for new independence and growth, but he's not a big reader of traditional books. He loves to read comic books.
Sometime in the afternoon, I came upon Kinder bustling about in the kitchen making "Ghostfreak" lemonade. As I helped him slice the lemon in half I felt like I was seeing myself as a child. I was often afraid of getting hurt and he is very much like that, letting his anchor hand pop off the lemon thinking he was about to cut himself though my hand was firmly guiding his slicing hand.
He spent some time looking for our red (go Carp!) plastic bullhorn and I soon discovered he wanted to use it as a funnel to get the lemon juice from the bowl into the old apple juice container. He wrote/drew up a "how to" for making Ghostfreak lemonade and taped it onto the container (a large Apple and Eve bottle for about a cup of lemonade :-) By then the finished lemonade was in a measuring cup with a lip so he poured it in gently, capped it, priced it ($4.99), and put it in the Ben 10 store.
I talked him down to $2.50 and had a lovely glass of fresh lemonade. Which he shot on digital video.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Mummu's beach
I love Mummu's beach. It's not big, crushed in on both sides by "private" beaches, but it holds a lot of memories. Cap and I spent many an hour there pre-children being one with the sound of the surf once the rays were slanted and the 10-3 danger zone was passed.
I prefer the beach off-season. I don't like crowds and my favorite thing to do on a beach is to look for shells and sea glass.
We've been to Mummu's beach with the kids in all seasons and I feel lucky to be attached to this particular slice of nature. We went last weekend after saying our good-byes to Mummu (not a beach bum that one). It was the perfect coda to a day that included cooking and dying eggs, lunch from Seafood Sam's (my first lobster roll of the season - yum), figuring out and fixing the leaking fridge and being together within the waiting and wondering that has defined so much of the last six months.
First diligently dug a small but deep hole (not to China, but that's exactly what it looked and felt like), we watched two seemingly innocuous but utterly mystifying black vessels that almost looked organic move silently and quickly across the water just under the horizon (Cap thought they were subs), I delighted in the shells that were washing up so distinctly different from the summer shells, and Kinder got his feet wet, socks and shoes and all because he is not always careful, he simply is, which is something I treasure about him.
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Dying eggs
We cooked our own vegetable dyes this year. We used the dry brown outer layers of onion skin, turmeric, beets and red cabbage. The dark burgundy tone is from the onion skins, the mustardy golden rod color is from the turmeric. The red cabbage produced a pale, pale blue with marbling effect (the eggs were wrapped in the cabbage leaves and then bound up with rubber bands). The beets, Kinder was inspired in the produce aisle by them, resulted in a barely there wash of dull red-brown. The cabbage egg can be seen in the single egg holder in the back on the left.
It was fun to create and observe the alchemy. The kids were not into participating very much (we were at Mummu's and they were immersed in drawing), but when asked at the end of the weekend, First expressed his preference of these eggs over the ones that he painted with Karen and the kids on Sunday, a project he called the shots on from step one (he really wanted to paint eggs, the eggs had to be white, etc.)
I like to think he was irresistably drawn to the undeniable earthy and grounding quality of these Easter eggs symbolizing the arrival of Spring. (Thanks to Olivia for the use of her bunny bowl.)
Thanks also to Mummu for connecting with the story Rechenka's Eggs by Patricia Polacco and reading it to the boys.
Monday, April 09, 2007
It does pay forward
We went to Fiber Arts today. I struck a deal with the kids. We would go to FA and stay till 3:30 and afterwards, I would take them to Toys R Us where they would buy, with their own money, some Ben 10 toys (a nearly weekly ritual anyway).
The kids felt very shy. I have been inconsistent with attending FA and though the kids are fairly familiar with the FA crew, we were at Kate's house for the first time today. Ada really set the stage when she offered them candy from her Easter basket. Kinder enjoyed what may have been his first ever peanut butter cup and First was grateful and excited by the whole roll of Smarties that came his way.
Kinder perked up, between the candy, Curious George book we read, and the pretzels and cookies that were on the snack table. He is more social than First and he quickly became involved in taking turns on the treadmill with a bunch of kids and then playing with legos with Elliott. And he wove one row of his potholder.
First stayed close to my side as I fingerknit the long jump rope I am working on. He spotted a puzzle that he had just seen at Will and Olivia's this weekend and he worked on that. It was nice to see him build up to feeling comfortable asking Kate things like where the clock was in the kitchen (he was keeping an eye on the time like nobody's business).
My favorite moment was having my hair sprinkled with glitter by Ada.
After two pleasant hours, it was time to go. I left without my bag, which I discovered as we got out of the car at Toys R Us, so we ended up having one of those cozy late afternoon rides in the car where it's cold outside but toasty inside from the slanting rays of the sun. Kinder fell asleep for awhile. It was an additional hour to go back to Kate's and then back to TRU.
Fate was smiling though because as the kids wrestled with the question of what to do because they only found one toy (4 inch Four Arms) that either of them wanted, I happened to spot across the aisle, in completely the wrong location, a small batch of toys. Among them, a 4 inch Heat Blast, also much coveted.
At the register, as I pulled out First's twenty from my wallet, he said he would pay for Kinder's toy, too. Kinder piped up quickly, "thank you", I swooped in for a hug and a kiss and a compliment, and in my heart, I thanked Ada for her candy generosity earlier in the day. It was lovely to witness the linking of such simple and soulful acts of giving.
The kids felt very shy. I have been inconsistent with attending FA and though the kids are fairly familiar with the FA crew, we were at Kate's house for the first time today. Ada really set the stage when she offered them candy from her Easter basket. Kinder enjoyed what may have been his first ever peanut butter cup and First was grateful and excited by the whole roll of Smarties that came his way.
Kinder perked up, between the candy, Curious George book we read, and the pretzels and cookies that were on the snack table. He is more social than First and he quickly became involved in taking turns on the treadmill with a bunch of kids and then playing with legos with Elliott. And he wove one row of his potholder.
First stayed close to my side as I fingerknit the long jump rope I am working on. He spotted a puzzle that he had just seen at Will and Olivia's this weekend and he worked on that. It was nice to see him build up to feeling comfortable asking Kate things like where the clock was in the kitchen (he was keeping an eye on the time like nobody's business).
My favorite moment was having my hair sprinkled with glitter by Ada.
After two pleasant hours, it was time to go. I left without my bag, which I discovered as we got out of the car at Toys R Us, so we ended up having one of those cozy late afternoon rides in the car where it's cold outside but toasty inside from the slanting rays of the sun. Kinder fell asleep for awhile. It was an additional hour to go back to Kate's and then back to TRU.
Fate was smiling though because as the kids wrestled with the question of what to do because they only found one toy (4 inch Four Arms) that either of them wanted, I happened to spot across the aisle, in completely the wrong location, a small batch of toys. Among them, a 4 inch Heat Blast, also much coveted.
At the register, as I pulled out First's twenty from my wallet, he said he would pay for Kinder's toy, too. Kinder piped up quickly, "thank you", I swooped in for a hug and a kiss and a compliment, and in my heart, I thanked Ada for her candy generosity earlier in the day. It was lovely to witness the linking of such simple and soulful acts of giving.
Wednesday, April 04, 2007
Catching up
• Danielle said yesterday, "what were the chances that four kids who like repackaging Ben 10 toys with their own alternate Ben 10 creations, with the zeal that these guys have for it, would be brought together at just the right time in life?"
• J.R. and Pam have been in town since Friday and will be in the area for a few weeks working Home Depot contractor service shows. As usual, it's been wonderful having them around. It's been a particularly yummy food time that they've inspired: Thai curry with homemade panko crusted chicken cutlets one dinner, cold sesame noodles and collard greens one lunch, and one of my ultimate comfort foods, spaghetti with meat sauce, a deluxe salad and corn bread last night. It's always a treat for me to make a salad since I only do it when we have company (Cap does not eat salad and it's hard to get through a great salad solo without it going bad.)
Seeing and hearing the kids play with J.R. reminds me of playing with You-niichan when I was little. He was younger than my parents, a single company man, I think, and he would play with Sandy and me for what seemed like hours letting us climb all over him. We were always so happy to see him.
Pam and J.R. treated us to books at the bookstore where I had gotten them their birthday presents back in January. We all walked up to the bookstore and spent a leisurely time poring over books and cards. I've actually started fantasizing about working at this bookstore because I love it so much. Kinder got a Spiderman book, First a dot-to-dot, Pam some nice cards, J.R. a book about Spain, and I picked out Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie for Cap and Neil Gaiman's American Gods for myself. I had a Jodi Picoult book in my hands for awhile because I am intrigued by her, but I am also repulsed by the rate at which she seems to crank out books. I don't trust that there will be enough...depth?
• On Sunday, we celebrated my dad's 70th birthday with my side of the family up at Mohonk. My parents used to take us there around the Christmas holidays when we were kids. It's a beautiful Victorian hotel nestled in a mountain with numerous hiking trails, a lake, gardens, an ice rink and these cute little wooden resting huts and gazebos scattered about the grounds and trails. We had brunch (First loved the breakfast sausage and Kinder the bagels, jello and mini key lime tartlets) and also did a lot of walking, rock climbing, looking at the rainbow trout in the lake, skating, and communing with each other. It was amazing being there with my family again and also being there with Cap, Kinder and First.
• On his actual birthday, my dad came over for his first visit to our place. Cap picked him up at the train station and then drove him up to the Uni to show him around up there. The kids played with him indoors and out. We had Red soup (purée of beets, carrots, chicken stock and miso), sautéed cabbage, hummus and a little birthday cake---featherlight yellow cake (from one of Bette Hagman's GF books) with powdered sugar and lingonberry preserves on top. The kids and I are really into lingonberry these days. We ended our visit with some time out in the backyard shooting hoops. A beautiful spring afternoon.
• Saw Mean Girls on tv the other day. I was pleasantly surprised by Lindsay Lohan's screen presence.
• We lost the gift of HBO for one day, but it has returned. I'm still keeping in mind that it could go away again at any time. I'm enjoying Real Time with Bill Maher these days. And am planning on catching the final episodes of The Sopranos and the new episodes of Entourage.
• Ashley Judd was luminous in Come Early Morning.
• I was psyched for the return of The Shield last night.
• I just love Hugh Laurie in House.
• Was a little blue, a lot tired, and quite "shut" last week. When I got my period on Sunday, I thought, "oh PMS". I'm giving up on ever having it be second nature to know PMS when I see it.
• I think I'm about to abandon Middlesex for the second time.
• Our get togethers with Anna, Lukas and Silke are becoming regular on Tuesday afternoons. Nice.
• Egypt Day is Thursday. The kids will make a posterboard about Egyptian currency. I'm making an Egyptian Foul (bean dip). We'll see if the kids help in the making of it. I was in the new Whole Foods yesterday picking up some ingredients. I hadn't been there in awhile, but had other errands at Staples and The Rag Shop right next door. It is really a nice store and experience, huge as it is.
• I posted to the Watercooler for the first time yesterday asking for recs for a notary public. I got many nice responses and found out the library has some notaries on staff and that the bank should notarize, even if it isn't official bank business.
• We're seeing Lucia and Holly today. Haven't seem them in ages. No picnic as hoped it's going to be rainy and in the thirties!
• We're picking up an African drum for Kinder today. We're getting a good deal through his drumming teacher.
• I researched and bought two subscriptions for the Symphony for the 2007-2008 season. They are incredibly reasonable. ($8 per ticket for the family series and $11 per ticket for the Sat night series for me and Cap) The best part though, was doing something which will expand our experience where we are and knowing we'll be here to do it even though it's "next" year. I also thought of my grandfather who loved classical music.
• I need to do our taxes! The first time in ages that I'll be handling taxes since Cap handed over our finances to me last spring.
• Cap did not get the Japan Foundation grant. He is still hoping to get to Japan for a couple of weeks this summer to do some research so he can publish pieces of his dissertation supplemented with new data. Our credit card foundaton will fund his travels.
• This means a summer here lies in wait for us and I can begin imagining.... Danielle and I talked yesterday of weekly outings to their lake place where they have a membership. (I think a dreaded bathing suit buying excursion may be in my future.)
• We will be at Karen and Brent's this weekend. Turns out Karen and I have been in Easter baskets overdrive, independent of each other (me in The Rag Shop yesterday: "ooh, First can eat these bright yellow rabbit "peeps"!). Like two peas in a pod...
We'll be spending Saturday afternoon with Mummu who is still in limbo in terms of her heart surgery. At this point it is the surgeon's office which is lagging in their scheduling. The new health insurance is on track and she has an appointment with a potential new PCP. But on Saturday, we'll enjoy Seafood Sam's and other springly delights.
We'll also see Jake and Evie and some other folks at a small Easter brunch on Sunday. It'll be good to see them and the house. Hopefully, we'll squeeze Jamie in there, too, if the timing works out.
• Ebs and Victor are due to have their baby later this month, Edith and Stephen had their baby, James, on the last day of February, Ellen and Jen are due to have twins in a couple of months, Ben just got his first post-Ph.D. job at SUNY New Paltz (we found out the morning we left for our day trip there) and Anna is suddenly in the position of traveling to and from interviews after waiting so long (bless her heart which has needed to be so strong this winter).
• I am looking forward to some solo travel again. I'll be in Oakland and Sacramento in a couple of weeks.
• J.R. and Pam have been in town since Friday and will be in the area for a few weeks working Home Depot contractor service shows. As usual, it's been wonderful having them around. It's been a particularly yummy food time that they've inspired: Thai curry with homemade panko crusted chicken cutlets one dinner, cold sesame noodles and collard greens one lunch, and one of my ultimate comfort foods, spaghetti with meat sauce, a deluxe salad and corn bread last night. It's always a treat for me to make a salad since I only do it when we have company (Cap does not eat salad and it's hard to get through a great salad solo without it going bad.)
Seeing and hearing the kids play with J.R. reminds me of playing with You-niichan when I was little. He was younger than my parents, a single company man, I think, and he would play with Sandy and me for what seemed like hours letting us climb all over him. We were always so happy to see him.
Pam and J.R. treated us to books at the bookstore where I had gotten them their birthday presents back in January. We all walked up to the bookstore and spent a leisurely time poring over books and cards. I've actually started fantasizing about working at this bookstore because I love it so much. Kinder got a Spiderman book, First a dot-to-dot, Pam some nice cards, J.R. a book about Spain, and I picked out Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie for Cap and Neil Gaiman's American Gods for myself. I had a Jodi Picoult book in my hands for awhile because I am intrigued by her, but I am also repulsed by the rate at which she seems to crank out books. I don't trust that there will be enough...depth?
• On Sunday, we celebrated my dad's 70th birthday with my side of the family up at Mohonk. My parents used to take us there around the Christmas holidays when we were kids. It's a beautiful Victorian hotel nestled in a mountain with numerous hiking trails, a lake, gardens, an ice rink and these cute little wooden resting huts and gazebos scattered about the grounds and trails. We had brunch (First loved the breakfast sausage and Kinder the bagels, jello and mini key lime tartlets) and also did a lot of walking, rock climbing, looking at the rainbow trout in the lake, skating, and communing with each other. It was amazing being there with my family again and also being there with Cap, Kinder and First.
• On his actual birthday, my dad came over for his first visit to our place. Cap picked him up at the train station and then drove him up to the Uni to show him around up there. The kids played with him indoors and out. We had Red soup (purée of beets, carrots, chicken stock and miso), sautéed cabbage, hummus and a little birthday cake---featherlight yellow cake (from one of Bette Hagman's GF books) with powdered sugar and lingonberry preserves on top. The kids and I are really into lingonberry these days. We ended our visit with some time out in the backyard shooting hoops. A beautiful spring afternoon.
• Saw Mean Girls on tv the other day. I was pleasantly surprised by Lindsay Lohan's screen presence.
• We lost the gift of HBO for one day, but it has returned. I'm still keeping in mind that it could go away again at any time. I'm enjoying Real Time with Bill Maher these days. And am planning on catching the final episodes of The Sopranos and the new episodes of Entourage.
• Ashley Judd was luminous in Come Early Morning.
• I was psyched for the return of The Shield last night.
• I just love Hugh Laurie in House.
• Was a little blue, a lot tired, and quite "shut" last week. When I got my period on Sunday, I thought, "oh PMS". I'm giving up on ever having it be second nature to know PMS when I see it.
• I think I'm about to abandon Middlesex for the second time.
• Our get togethers with Anna, Lukas and Silke are becoming regular on Tuesday afternoons. Nice.
• Egypt Day is Thursday. The kids will make a posterboard about Egyptian currency. I'm making an Egyptian Foul (bean dip). We'll see if the kids help in the making of it. I was in the new Whole Foods yesterday picking up some ingredients. I hadn't been there in awhile, but had other errands at Staples and The Rag Shop right next door. It is really a nice store and experience, huge as it is.
• I posted to the Watercooler for the first time yesterday asking for recs for a notary public. I got many nice responses and found out the library has some notaries on staff and that the bank should notarize, even if it isn't official bank business.
• We're seeing Lucia and Holly today. Haven't seem them in ages. No picnic as hoped it's going to be rainy and in the thirties!
• We're picking up an African drum for Kinder today. We're getting a good deal through his drumming teacher.
• I researched and bought two subscriptions for the Symphony for the 2007-2008 season. They are incredibly reasonable. ($8 per ticket for the family series and $11 per ticket for the Sat night series for me and Cap) The best part though, was doing something which will expand our experience where we are and knowing we'll be here to do it even though it's "next" year. I also thought of my grandfather who loved classical music.
• I need to do our taxes! The first time in ages that I'll be handling taxes since Cap handed over our finances to me last spring.
• Cap did not get the Japan Foundation grant. He is still hoping to get to Japan for a couple of weeks this summer to do some research so he can publish pieces of his dissertation supplemented with new data. Our credit card foundaton will fund his travels.
• This means a summer here lies in wait for us and I can begin imagining.... Danielle and I talked yesterday of weekly outings to their lake place where they have a membership. (I think a dreaded bathing suit buying excursion may be in my future.)
• We will be at Karen and Brent's this weekend. Turns out Karen and I have been in Easter baskets overdrive, independent of each other (me in The Rag Shop yesterday: "ooh, First can eat these bright yellow rabbit "peeps"!). Like two peas in a pod...
We'll be spending Saturday afternoon with Mummu who is still in limbo in terms of her heart surgery. At this point it is the surgeon's office which is lagging in their scheduling. The new health insurance is on track and she has an appointment with a potential new PCP. But on Saturday, we'll enjoy Seafood Sam's and other springly delights.
We'll also see Jake and Evie and some other folks at a small Easter brunch on Sunday. It'll be good to see them and the house. Hopefully, we'll squeeze Jamie in there, too, if the timing works out.
• Ebs and Victor are due to have their baby later this month, Edith and Stephen had their baby, James, on the last day of February, Ellen and Jen are due to have twins in a couple of months, Ben just got his first post-Ph.D. job at SUNY New Paltz (we found out the morning we left for our day trip there) and Anna is suddenly in the position of traveling to and from interviews after waiting so long (bless her heart which has needed to be so strong this winter).
• I am looking forward to some solo travel again. I'll be in Oakland and Sacramento in a couple of weeks.
Monday, March 19, 2007
The Prestige
Wow. I can't remember the last time I saw a movie that had me buzzing and wanting to talk about it to sort it out immediately after seeing it. It felt a little long at times, but boy, the payoff is HUGE. I am considering watching it again tonight to revel in the nuances that I am convinced are there for the enjoying...
Snow play and seashells
Kinder woke with a belly ache, but he has soldiered on.
After breakfast and some carpet sweeping we bundled up and ventured outside to the back yard. What a gorgeous snowscape. Bright, bright sun, forties, crisp air. We marveled over some animal tracks including a mysterious single deer track. The kids played with with their Ben 10 toys briefly, but then it was snow biking for First and cuddling for Kinder who wore out quickly and wanted to go back inside.
On our way back in First spent some time in the snow fort he built yesterday with Cap. Kinder and I rocked on the front porch while I had visions of summertime lunches sititng on the porch, looking out on Chestnut Street. First wanted to saw a window into the fort and then wanted to move some furniture in. Some snow bookshelves, he said.
We came inside and sorted and identified some of the many seashells I brought back from Florida. Olive shells, moon shells, worm shells, Venus sunrays... Kinder's got the quick eye for this sort of thing, I noticed. Then we drew our favorite shells. Auger for me, top shell for First and giant heart cockle for Kinder. I read them a poem by Federico García Lorca from Caroline Kennedy's book, "A Family of Poems". (The paintings are by Jon J. Muth whose work I love.)
Seashell (To Natalia Jiménez)
Someone brought me a seashell.
Singing inside
is a sea from a map.
My heart
fills up with water
and little tiny fish,
silvery, shadowy.
Someone brought me a seashell.
After breakfast and some carpet sweeping we bundled up and ventured outside to the back yard. What a gorgeous snowscape. Bright, bright sun, forties, crisp air. We marveled over some animal tracks including a mysterious single deer track. The kids played with with their Ben 10 toys briefly, but then it was snow biking for First and cuddling for Kinder who wore out quickly and wanted to go back inside.
On our way back in First spent some time in the snow fort he built yesterday with Cap. Kinder and I rocked on the front porch while I had visions of summertime lunches sititng on the porch, looking out on Chestnut Street. First wanted to saw a window into the fort and then wanted to move some furniture in. Some snow bookshelves, he said.
We came inside and sorted and identified some of the many seashells I brought back from Florida. Olive shells, moon shells, worm shells, Venus sunrays... Kinder's got the quick eye for this sort of thing, I noticed. Then we drew our favorite shells. Auger for me, top shell for First and giant heart cockle for Kinder. I read them a poem by Federico García Lorca from Caroline Kennedy's book, "A Family of Poems". (The paintings are by Jon J. Muth whose work I love.)
Seashell (To Natalia Jiménez)
Someone brought me a seashell.
Singing inside
is a sea from a map.
My heart
fills up with water
and little tiny fish,
silvery, shadowy.
Someone brought me a seashell.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Soup
I made some soup this morning. I've resumed making chicken stock about once a month, using the recipe in Nourishing Traditions. Liquid gold, the stuff is.
Today I had an aging cauliflower and some potatoes and carrots that were similarly past their prime. The last onion and four mondo cloves of garlic started the melange. I was a little sad that we were out of fresh ginger. The kids and I, particularly Kinder, are stuffy and sniffly.
I've discovered that I am good at making soup (my other specialty being eggs). I enjoy making it and eating it. And I especially like smelling it as the aroma fills the apartment.
As I sipped some for lunch, a rare lunch alone as the kids played intensely with Lukas and Owen, I thought about my soup and realized that more than anything else that I cook, soup has a hold on me. I take my soup personally. I'm like a proud parent and am protective about how my soup is perceived, how it is enjoyed, and by whom.
Today I had an aging cauliflower and some potatoes and carrots that were similarly past their prime. The last onion and four mondo cloves of garlic started the melange. I was a little sad that we were out of fresh ginger. The kids and I, particularly Kinder, are stuffy and sniffly.
I've discovered that I am good at making soup (my other specialty being eggs). I enjoy making it and eating it. And I especially like smelling it as the aroma fills the apartment.
As I sipped some for lunch, a rare lunch alone as the kids played intensely with Lukas and Owen, I thought about my soup and realized that more than anything else that I cook, soup has a hold on me. I take my soup personally. I'm like a proud parent and am protective about how my soup is perceived, how it is enjoyed, and by whom.
Idiocracy
It was funny. Not an excellent movie, but a perfect movie for a steady stream of giggles when you're too tired to do much of anything else.
Dax Shepard did a great job of making a charcter who is essentially, truly, stupid, somehow interesting, in a humane way.
Dax Shepard did a great job of making a charcter who is essentially, truly, stupid, somehow interesting, in a humane way.
Back in the saddle
I took a vacation, solo, to St. Petersburg to visit Wendy and her family. Stefan's parents were also visiting from Germany and it was a lot of fun and great to meet them. Highlights were playing with Sophia (Olivia, accesories, and Ian; you must pay the rent) and going out to Shell Island on Julie's boat. It was meditative and heavenly to be able to go up and down the beach looking for shells, the clear, relatively warm, gentle salt water licking at my ankles.
I read The History of Love while I was away and loved it. I started The Seven Year Old Wonder Book while there and am on the fence about it. It's a popular book to read to your soon-to-be seven/seven year old in some Waldorf circles. I'm going to read some more before I decided whether to read it with First. I picked up The Time Traveller's Wife for the plane ride home and am reading it now, enjoying it (this is a book that has been recommended to me by Jamie and someone else, I can't remember who).
I looked at the cd of photos that Stefan burned for me last night. A wonderful collection and memento. However, I was embarrassed by how heavy I looked, over and over again. I asked for and got many hugs from Cap afterwards. It's so strange that I don't feel like a "fat" person or see myself as one. But, there was no denying it in those pics.
We stopped in for dinner with Lisa, Sara (Lisa's mom) and Ellie on our way home from the airport. Momoko (my cousin) joined us. It was a nice visit. Sara is warm and effusive. Lisa and Ellie are a wonder to see. Baxter might have taken the cake though. He has very naturally taken on the role of brother and protector with Ellie. It's incredible to think that it hasn't even been a year since he joined Takai and Lisa.
Before I left for Florida, I spent two days working on organizing the kids' work area, which we also call the homeschooling area. It's comprised of the dining table and three shelves. One shelf is full of puzzles and games, another is full of all the stuff that comes in handy to make stuff :-), and the third is sectioned and labeled by subject, and full of learning materials.
Curious George is over and I ended up talking to Sandy on the phone for a few minutes. So I end here for now.
I read The History of Love while I was away and loved it. I started The Seven Year Old Wonder Book while there and am on the fence about it. It's a popular book to read to your soon-to-be seven/seven year old in some Waldorf circles. I'm going to read some more before I decided whether to read it with First. I picked up The Time Traveller's Wife for the plane ride home and am reading it now, enjoying it (this is a book that has been recommended to me by Jamie and someone else, I can't remember who).
I looked at the cd of photos that Stefan burned for me last night. A wonderful collection and memento. However, I was embarrassed by how heavy I looked, over and over again. I asked for and got many hugs from Cap afterwards. It's so strange that I don't feel like a "fat" person or see myself as one. But, there was no denying it in those pics.
We stopped in for dinner with Lisa, Sara (Lisa's mom) and Ellie on our way home from the airport. Momoko (my cousin) joined us. It was a nice visit. Sara is warm and effusive. Lisa and Ellie are a wonder to see. Baxter might have taken the cake though. He has very naturally taken on the role of brother and protector with Ellie. It's incredible to think that it hasn't even been a year since he joined Takai and Lisa.
Before I left for Florida, I spent two days working on organizing the kids' work area, which we also call the homeschooling area. It's comprised of the dining table and three shelves. One shelf is full of puzzles and games, another is full of all the stuff that comes in handy to make stuff :-), and the third is sectioned and labeled by subject, and full of learning materials.
Curious George is over and I ended up talking to Sandy on the phone for a few minutes. So I end here for now.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Waldorf and unschooling
I spoke to Karen on the phone this morning.
Olivia was transforming herself with each new t-shirt she was pulling on one over the next, Will strumming on his guitar, Kinder was mixing up water, soap and Sambucol in his new "test tube" (a small soft plastic tube container which has since warped in the microwave during the heating part of the experiment) and First was surfing around the U. S. Mint website where he discovered that gold coins with portraits of "first spouses" will be minted starting this year.
Karen and Brent are preparing to officially begin homeschooling soon. Very exciting.
As our conversation danced and dipped, a thought crystallized for me. A way of making some sense of some of the stuff I've been grappling with recently. I'm attracted to and inspired by two different "schools" of education: Waldorf and unschooling. At the moment I am feeling pulled by the two, but have been unable to put them together..to unify them in a way that feels smooth, day in and day out. Kind of an oil and water thing, though I don't think that's because of anything inherent to the philosophies.
Karen gets me because she is like me in a lot of ways. It's not unusual for us to be in our pajamas past noon. If we could, we'd be snuggled on a couch with a book in hand, our partners bringing us tea with honey, our kids playing around us, all day on a Saturday...or maybe even the whole weekend. Inspiration will suddenly hit us, a specific vision of a particular dish burned in our brains and we will spend the rest of the day shopping for ingredients, chopping and cutting and mixing and stirring, inhaling the luscious aromas and basking.
So, as we talked about meeting other homeschoolers, about group dynamics, about differing personalities, and about fearing rejection and wanting acceptance (for our kids more than for ourselves), I realized something. As I said to Karen, I re-remembered and re-embraced one of the main reasons I wanted to homeschool in the first place: to be at home with my kids.
I like being home and the kids do, too. I think Waldorf thought and practice strongly supports this which is what attracts me to it. It's not only okay, but desireable to spend a lot of time at home, making your home together. Cooking, baking, the arts, the rhythm of the day, of the week, of the season, of the year...to pay attention to these things and to hold them in reverence is something which means a lot to me, not only as a mom, but as a person.
What has drawn me to unschooling thus far, is the people I've met. The unschooling moms I've met since being here are warm, intelligent, enthusiastic and completely lovable. It has been so easy to spend time with them. And the kids are friendly, imaginative and exuberant. The electric undercurrent of no holds barred conversation, play and possibility (that also feels completely safe) at Fiber Arts is intoxicating to me. (Fiber Arts is not limited to unschoolers, but the core group happens to be comprised of them.)
I am both thrilled and cowed by the sheer number of activities that are available to us, that many of our homeschooling friends seem to do: ice sakting, swimming, bowling, regular field trips to the zoo, museums, etc.
For me, the gaps that need to be bridged come in two areas. One is time at home vs. time with others/outside of home and the other has to do with structure, schedules, freedom, and fluidity...
Balance, moderation, discipline...these are all qualities that I recognize as being important, but they don't come easily or naturally to me. I think I've spent some time trying to be more of these things, and feeling badly about myself as a parent because I just couldn't be more like "that". I feel these qualities come in handy when following Waldorf pedagogy.
I'm grateful to be feeling some relief and new energy in reconfiguring my approach (I have always considered myself an eclectic homeschooler and am renweing my connection to that identity). I think I am going to go directly to Donna's site and buy the audio download on Waldorf homeschooling and unschooling. It feels good to allow myself more freedom in truly figuring out what my style is and to give myself the time and space to do that without freaking out that my kids aren't "doing" anything.
As I've been blogging, Kinder has been continuing with his water experiments, moving onto the experiments from the book I Get Wet by Vicki Cobb (thanks Mummu!) and First drew a wonderfully vibrant abstract drawing ("Äiti, doesn't it look like Van Gogh?") for the musuem which still has its wall exhibits up in the living room. He made two color copies, one for Ellie who they will meet for the first time tomorrow, and one for Jiji, whose b-day package I am getting ready a little early.
I love this life of ours and feel hugely lucky.
Olivia was transforming herself with each new t-shirt she was pulling on one over the next, Will strumming on his guitar, Kinder was mixing up water, soap and Sambucol in his new "test tube" (a small soft plastic tube container which has since warped in the microwave during the heating part of the experiment) and First was surfing around the U. S. Mint website where he discovered that gold coins with portraits of "first spouses" will be minted starting this year.
Karen and Brent are preparing to officially begin homeschooling soon. Very exciting.
As our conversation danced and dipped, a thought crystallized for me. A way of making some sense of some of the stuff I've been grappling with recently. I'm attracted to and inspired by two different "schools" of education: Waldorf and unschooling. At the moment I am feeling pulled by the two, but have been unable to put them together..to unify them in a way that feels smooth, day in and day out. Kind of an oil and water thing, though I don't think that's because of anything inherent to the philosophies.
Karen gets me because she is like me in a lot of ways. It's not unusual for us to be in our pajamas past noon. If we could, we'd be snuggled on a couch with a book in hand, our partners bringing us tea with honey, our kids playing around us, all day on a Saturday...or maybe even the whole weekend. Inspiration will suddenly hit us, a specific vision of a particular dish burned in our brains and we will spend the rest of the day shopping for ingredients, chopping and cutting and mixing and stirring, inhaling the luscious aromas and basking.
So, as we talked about meeting other homeschoolers, about group dynamics, about differing personalities, and about fearing rejection and wanting acceptance (for our kids more than for ourselves), I realized something. As I said to Karen, I re-remembered and re-embraced one of the main reasons I wanted to homeschool in the first place: to be at home with my kids.
I like being home and the kids do, too. I think Waldorf thought and practice strongly supports this which is what attracts me to it. It's not only okay, but desireable to spend a lot of time at home, making your home together. Cooking, baking, the arts, the rhythm of the day, of the week, of the season, of the year...to pay attention to these things and to hold them in reverence is something which means a lot to me, not only as a mom, but as a person.
What has drawn me to unschooling thus far, is the people I've met. The unschooling moms I've met since being here are warm, intelligent, enthusiastic and completely lovable. It has been so easy to spend time with them. And the kids are friendly, imaginative and exuberant. The electric undercurrent of no holds barred conversation, play and possibility (that also feels completely safe) at Fiber Arts is intoxicating to me. (Fiber Arts is not limited to unschoolers, but the core group happens to be comprised of them.)
I am both thrilled and cowed by the sheer number of activities that are available to us, that many of our homeschooling friends seem to do: ice sakting, swimming, bowling, regular field trips to the zoo, museums, etc.
For me, the gaps that need to be bridged come in two areas. One is time at home vs. time with others/outside of home and the other has to do with structure, schedules, freedom, and fluidity...
Balance, moderation, discipline...these are all qualities that I recognize as being important, but they don't come easily or naturally to me. I think I've spent some time trying to be more of these things, and feeling badly about myself as a parent because I just couldn't be more like "that". I feel these qualities come in handy when following Waldorf pedagogy.
I'm grateful to be feeling some relief and new energy in reconfiguring my approach (I have always considered myself an eclectic homeschooler and am renweing my connection to that identity). I think I am going to go directly to Donna's site and buy the audio download on Waldorf homeschooling and unschooling. It feels good to allow myself more freedom in truly figuring out what my style is and to give myself the time and space to do that without freaking out that my kids aren't "doing" anything.
As I've been blogging, Kinder has been continuing with his water experiments, moving onto the experiments from the book I Get Wet by Vicki Cobb (thanks Mummu!) and First drew a wonderfully vibrant abstract drawing ("Äiti, doesn't it look like Van Gogh?") for the musuem which still has its wall exhibits up in the living room. He made two color copies, one for Ellie who they will meet for the first time tomorrow, and one for Jiji, whose b-day package I am getting ready a little early.
I love this life of ours and feel hugely lucky.
Monday, February 19, 2007
Bridge to terabithia and the departed
On Saturday I was lucky enough to take Elsa to see Bridge to Terabithia. I was familiar with the title although I had never read the book. When I was at Pierce, the sixth graders were reading it. I knew something sad happened, but was not prepared for the tragic event which sent an audible gasp through the theater audience. Elsa and I both cried on and off for the last quarter of the movie. It was well done, nicely acted (I particularly liked the boy actor) and good family fare bearing in mind the intense emotional impact it will most likely have for any kid who sees it.
Last night I watched The Departed at home, in chunks (along with The Amazing Race and Extras). I'm going to make an effort to rewatch it with Cap who decided he wants to see it after all. In a nutshell, I wasn't particularly impressed. My expectations were high. Leonardo DiCaprio was very good, Matt Damon was solid (but not his best work in my opinion). Mark Wahlberg, as usual, rocked, in a smaller part. I thought the "ode to Boston" aspect was weak. It was fun to see Boston on film, but I didn't feel like the movie deepened Boston for me. I remember being much more thrilled by Goodfellas back when I saw that (though, to be fair, I saw that in a theater in Japan---a special occasion unto itself). More recently, I think Mystic River made better cinematic use of Boston as a "character" and setting, as well.
Last night I watched The Departed at home, in chunks (along with The Amazing Race and Extras). I'm going to make an effort to rewatch it with Cap who decided he wants to see it after all. In a nutshell, I wasn't particularly impressed. My expectations were high. Leonardo DiCaprio was very good, Matt Damon was solid (but not his best work in my opinion). Mark Wahlberg, as usual, rocked, in a smaller part. I thought the "ode to Boston" aspect was weak. It was fun to see Boston on film, but I didn't feel like the movie deepened Boston for me. I remember being much more thrilled by Goodfellas back when I saw that (though, to be fair, I saw that in a theater in Japan---a special occasion unto itself). More recently, I think Mystic River made better cinematic use of Boston as a "character" and setting, as well.
Sunday, February 18, 2007
Presidents day party
First decided he wanted to throw a presidents day party. He was the idea man and suggestions needed to go through him for approval. The party was today so that Anna, Elsa and Tobias could be invited and present before heading back to W-town after our already planned weekend visit.
The party started at 10:50 am. Kids and adults busied themselves with various activities and noshing.
• a 500 piece puzzle of a one dollar bill borrowed from Owen and Lukas (Baba and I could be found there for much of the party)
• a Lincoln logs and kapla blocks building area
• a donation bin where First was accepting bills and coins with either Washington or Lincoln on them
• 24 piece puzzles of a five dollar bill, penny and quarter made by Kinder and First
• Tobias' throw a coin over the river game
• the 50 state quarters computer game
• a book area with books from our own collection and the library with books about money, presidents and Washington D.C.
• the food was primarily brown/orange or green in keeping with the more powerful theme of the party: money
• lettuce, celery, carrots, veggie chips, hummus, guacamole, peanut butter, pretzels, hot dogs ("Lincoln logs"), mini meatloaf muffins ("oversized pennies"), cherries and chestnuts
• a spice cake frosted with white frosting and decorated with green sprinkles to look like a dollar bill
We ended up out back for sledding and snowboarding on the slick, hard packed snow. The kids received new Washington dollar coins as a favor. It was a lot of fun.
First had a good time though it was hard for him to face the unexpected (for him...inevitable in my mind) modifications to the plans and vision he had in his head. For example, he really didn't want Tobias to set up the game he had thought up on his own. In the end, First joined the kids to play it, but his stubbornness around it was intense.
We have been very busy lately and I'm looking forward to a quiet week. I just saw that Fiber Arts is cancelled tomorrow and am not going make other plans.
Our visit with Anna and the kids was special. There is such an amazing closeness that we share despite having lived all of the kids' lives so far apart. The children are true cousins.
The party started at 10:50 am. Kids and adults busied themselves with various activities and noshing.
• a 500 piece puzzle of a one dollar bill borrowed from Owen and Lukas (Baba and I could be found there for much of the party)
• a Lincoln logs and kapla blocks building area
• a donation bin where First was accepting bills and coins with either Washington or Lincoln on them
• 24 piece puzzles of a five dollar bill, penny and quarter made by Kinder and First
• Tobias' throw a coin over the river game
• the 50 state quarters computer game
• a book area with books from our own collection and the library with books about money, presidents and Washington D.C.
• the food was primarily brown/orange or green in keeping with the more powerful theme of the party: money
• lettuce, celery, carrots, veggie chips, hummus, guacamole, peanut butter, pretzels, hot dogs ("Lincoln logs"), mini meatloaf muffins ("oversized pennies"), cherries and chestnuts
• a spice cake frosted with white frosting and decorated with green sprinkles to look like a dollar bill
We ended up out back for sledding and snowboarding on the slick, hard packed snow. The kids received new Washington dollar coins as a favor. It was a lot of fun.
First had a good time though it was hard for him to face the unexpected (for him...inevitable in my mind) modifications to the plans and vision he had in his head. For example, he really didn't want Tobias to set up the game he had thought up on his own. In the end, First joined the kids to play it, but his stubbornness around it was intense.
We have been very busy lately and I'm looking forward to a quiet week. I just saw that Fiber Arts is cancelled tomorrow and am not going make other plans.
Our visit with Anna and the kids was special. There is such an amazing closeness that we share despite having lived all of the kids' lives so far apart. The children are true cousins.
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
xoxoxo
Icy snow skittering against the windows. Our first real snow storm in Montclair, though it's truly more of an ice storm at this point.
The kids and I made Cap's valentines in our pajamas around the table this morning as the world outside turned whiter and Cap snoozed cocooned in bed.
I found my valentine in the kitchen wrapped in pink tissue...my sweetie MADE me truffles. He's the best. Apricot, lingonberry, hazelnut chocolate cream and chestnut cream. Yummmmmm.
The four of us in bed unwrapping gifts and reading cards, marveling at artwork. Chocolate and red hearts and Grey Matter all the rage this Valentine's Day.
I think the kids would have eaten their chocolate bars down to the final licks off of fingers if we had let them, while playing Kid Pix before breakfast.
The kids and I made Cap's valentines in our pajamas around the table this morning as the world outside turned whiter and Cap snoozed cocooned in bed.
I found my valentine in the kitchen wrapped in pink tissue...my sweetie MADE me truffles. He's the best. Apricot, lingonberry, hazelnut chocolate cream and chestnut cream. Yummmmmm.
The four of us in bed unwrapping gifts and reading cards, marveling at artwork. Chocolate and red hearts and Grey Matter all the rage this Valentine's Day.
I think the kids would have eaten their chocolate bars down to the final licks off of fingers if we had let them, while playing Kid Pix before breakfast.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
Elling
A wonderful Norwegian movie. Warm, insightful, moving, funny, realistic and magical, smart.... It's about a man who is about 50 and who has some special needs and what happens to him after his mother, who he had lived with his whole life, dies.
I thought it might be interesting to watch this back-to-back with Mozart and the Whale because that's about adults with disabilities, too, but these two movies were like apples and oranges. I liked them both, but would choose Elling over the other, hands down.
Thanks to Eleanor...I think she sent out a note about Elling via Netflix.
I thought it might be interesting to watch this back-to-back with Mozart and the Whale because that's about adults with disabilities, too, but these two movies were like apples and oranges. I liked them both, but would choose Elling over the other, hands down.
Thanks to Eleanor...I think she sent out a note about Elling via Netflix.
Museum
Danielle and co. came over for dinner last night. It was really nice to spend time both families together. Cap made Japanese curry with katsu-style chicken cutlets and baked cardomom pears drizzled with chocolate. Yum.
First and Kinder had the opportunity to expand on their Museum with the joyful cooperation of Owen and Lukas. The result? We adults were treated to:
• a model building area complete with models sculpted of modeling clay and a set of blocks with which to either copy the models or make our own
• a gallery of masterpieces, two paintings drawn by Kinder, one of which was his rendition of "Starry, Starry Night"
• a drawing by First which was taped onto a frame he made out of K-nex
• a massive gallery of drawings done by all the kids depicting the many characters from the Ben 10 series which our guys have never seen, but are becoming ardent devotees of nonetheless
• a maps and shapes section which included a map of China and Australia and a map of North America complete with the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Greenland drawn by First
We did not have to pay to visit the Museum, but this privilege was forever revoked when each of us parents failed to buy anything from the Museum gift shop. The kids have formed a club like conglomerate called Kid Life and they actually have a joint fund going for the group.
First and Kinder had the opportunity to expand on their Museum with the joyful cooperation of Owen and Lukas. The result? We adults were treated to:
• a model building area complete with models sculpted of modeling clay and a set of blocks with which to either copy the models or make our own
• a gallery of masterpieces, two paintings drawn by Kinder, one of which was his rendition of "Starry, Starry Night"
• a drawing by First which was taped onto a frame he made out of K-nex
• a massive gallery of drawings done by all the kids depicting the many characters from the Ben 10 series which our guys have never seen, but are becoming ardent devotees of nonetheless
• a maps and shapes section which included a map of China and Australia and a map of North America complete with the U.S., Canada, Mexico and Greenland drawn by First
We did not have to pay to visit the Museum, but this privilege was forever revoked when each of us parents failed to buy anything from the Museum gift shop. The kids have formed a club like conglomerate called Kid Life and they actually have a joint fund going for the group.
Friday, February 09, 2007
Odds and ends
It's windy out today. I feel like a hibernating bear though I'm not burning as many calories as they do.
• Yesterday we wet-on-wet painted some sheets of paper with red watercolor paint. Today we will make some valentines.
• New Zealand Day at the Paterson Museum monthly gathering sounded like it was a success. The next Country Day will be in March and the country to learn about is Egypt. Cap is going to work with the kids on something since he's been doing geography stuff with them. Everyone picks an aspect of the country to put together a presentation on and also chooses a traditional food to bring. First is very excited about the June country: Madagascar.
• I am getting together some materials and ideas to start a Math block next week. I'll introduce them to Cuisinaire rods and we'll continue playing games and doing activities involving counting, sorting, categorizing, patterns, etc. On the shopping list for this weekend: a good set of wooden blocks with cones, cylinders, and various prism shapes. Our set got left behind in California...
• Waldorf-inspired group get together yielded one guest. Marla and I had a nice time chatting and her adorable kids enjoyed playing with Kinder. First was a bit socially awkward and was intense and rigid about wanting us to buy some of the items he had for sale in his store. Marla ended up buying two things willingly (I hope) which helped. Part of my characterization of him has to do with my own unwillingness to fully support his endeavor (you don't invite people over to your house and then try to make money off them if that's not the intention of the gathering). Anyway, it ended up being a nice afternoon and I came away with two important realizations: 1) I really need to cut down on the time the kids spend watching tv (Marla put it so well: "I want my kids' minds to be their own"); and 2) I want to involve myself with homeschoolers with kids who are 5 or older for the kinds of activities I have in mind. It's not actually the content of the activities that would be different so much as the developmental thrusts of the language and thinking and actions that the kids would display and be inspired by that would be different.
• I am thinking about how to form some sort of co-op for homeschoolers to pool resources and give kids the opportunity for multi-age group learning in specific topic or subject areas. I know I could start up a Japanese language class...maybe I will.
• First is planning a President's Day party. He has an interest in presidents that is an off-shoot of his love of money. He slowly flipped through Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire's book, "Abraham Lincoln", the other day and seemed ultimately disappointed that there wasn't any mention of Lincoln's being on the penny or five dollar bill. Other than the outdated illustrated depictions of black people, it's a great book with a lot of information simply presented, but without talking down to kids. I have a feeling that First is going to come back to the book.
• Tonight Silke and her kids will come over for dinner before we all head out to a performance that the Newark Boys' Choir will be giving at a local elementary school. I'm looking forward to it except that the kids have been awake since about 5:00 am and may very well be basket cases by curtain time. The brown rice is in the rice cooker, the teriyaki chicken marinating in the fridge, the spinach and tofu made and the broccoli steamed. I may make latkes too. And Kinder and I may bake some corn bread. It's been one of those meals where I couldn't decide what I wanted to make so I'm making everything :-) They are bringing a German sweet of pitted cherries in sugar syrup that we are all eager to try.
• Yesterday we wet-on-wet painted some sheets of paper with red watercolor paint. Today we will make some valentines.
• New Zealand Day at the Paterson Museum monthly gathering sounded like it was a success. The next Country Day will be in March and the country to learn about is Egypt. Cap is going to work with the kids on something since he's been doing geography stuff with them. Everyone picks an aspect of the country to put together a presentation on and also chooses a traditional food to bring. First is very excited about the June country: Madagascar.
• I am getting together some materials and ideas to start a Math block next week. I'll introduce them to Cuisinaire rods and we'll continue playing games and doing activities involving counting, sorting, categorizing, patterns, etc. On the shopping list for this weekend: a good set of wooden blocks with cones, cylinders, and various prism shapes. Our set got left behind in California...
• Waldorf-inspired group get together yielded one guest. Marla and I had a nice time chatting and her adorable kids enjoyed playing with Kinder. First was a bit socially awkward and was intense and rigid about wanting us to buy some of the items he had for sale in his store. Marla ended up buying two things willingly (I hope) which helped. Part of my characterization of him has to do with my own unwillingness to fully support his endeavor (you don't invite people over to your house and then try to make money off them if that's not the intention of the gathering). Anyway, it ended up being a nice afternoon and I came away with two important realizations: 1) I really need to cut down on the time the kids spend watching tv (Marla put it so well: "I want my kids' minds to be their own"); and 2) I want to involve myself with homeschoolers with kids who are 5 or older for the kinds of activities I have in mind. It's not actually the content of the activities that would be different so much as the developmental thrusts of the language and thinking and actions that the kids would display and be inspired by that would be different.
• I am thinking about how to form some sort of co-op for homeschoolers to pool resources and give kids the opportunity for multi-age group learning in specific topic or subject areas. I know I could start up a Japanese language class...maybe I will.
• First is planning a President's Day party. He has an interest in presidents that is an off-shoot of his love of money. He slowly flipped through Ingri and Edgar Parin d'Aulaire's book, "Abraham Lincoln", the other day and seemed ultimately disappointed that there wasn't any mention of Lincoln's being on the penny or five dollar bill. Other than the outdated illustrated depictions of black people, it's a great book with a lot of information simply presented, but without talking down to kids. I have a feeling that First is going to come back to the book.
• Tonight Silke and her kids will come over for dinner before we all head out to a performance that the Newark Boys' Choir will be giving at a local elementary school. I'm looking forward to it except that the kids have been awake since about 5:00 am and may very well be basket cases by curtain time. The brown rice is in the rice cooker, the teriyaki chicken marinating in the fridge, the spinach and tofu made and the broccoli steamed. I may make latkes too. And Kinder and I may bake some corn bread. It's been one of those meals where I couldn't decide what I wanted to make so I'm making everything :-) They are bringing a German sweet of pitted cherries in sugar syrup that we are all eager to try.
Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Peaches in winter
With little fanfare I began my first week of "formal" homeschooling of the new year.
We opened with a verse, a Waldorf classic:
The earth is firm beneath my feet,
The sun shines bright above,
And here stand I so straight and strong,
All things to know and love.
Kinder comes right over and delights in doing the movements with me, First proceeds to run around the house to "hide".
On Monday, I read "Peach Boy" to them from "Japanese Children's Favorite Stories" (published by Charles Tuttle). "Peach Boy", or Momotaro, as he is called in Japanese, is one of the most popular traditional children's folktales of Japan. I started with this because it was familiar and it was a quick way to begin overlaying some Japanese stuff into our homeschooling/life. Waldorf calls for Grimm fairy tales, which I haven't abandoned, but it made sense to start with something that felt more right for me. I also veered from Waldorf practice to read the story from a book rather than tell it orally.
The kids have each drawn a picture in their sketchbooks depicting a character/scene from the story. Today I decided on a whim to retell the story orally which they loved. They added in pieces here and there. We then made beeswax models of the peach (First), spotted dog (Kinder), pheasant (me) and Momotaro (all of us cooperatively). Kinder said he wanted to do a puppet show of the story, so this afternoon we started making some puppets by sewing together felt pieces and stuffing them with roving.
First has been balking at much of what we've been doing and participating somewhat reluctantly and at times under mild threat/pressure. But, the boy likes to sew. I was getting started on sewing the pheasant (Kinder's request, he had fallen in love with the beeswax pheasant) and before I knew it, First jumped right in and began working on the monkey.
He picked out some felt and cut out a monkey outline without using a pattern (which is what I had done for the pheasant). I threaded a needle for him with some thread (embroidery floss) and got him started on a running stitch. Well, before I knew it, he had sewn around about 3/4 of the monkey and stopped to stuff it. The neck of the monkey was too narrow to get the stuffing through to fill the head. I was freaked out that he had worked so quickly and that I had missed opportunities to guide him (comes with the territory of life with two).
I suggested gently that I could take out about half the stitches he had sewn so that he could stuff the head. He glowered and I gave him a minute to think it over. Next thing I knew, he had cut off the monkey's head in order to stuff it. I felt bad, but the kid knew what he wanted and took the initiative to remedy the situation. I liked that.
So, First completed his monkey puppet with very little help from me. The camera is missing, but once it's located, we'll be taking a picture of it. He wants to sell it, of course. Just call him Scrooge McKid.
We played Blokus, Chutes and Ladders, and completed the 360 piece puzzle of the rain forest animals that Wendy gave First for Christmas. First also worked on Form Drawing and recorder. Kinder baked peanut butter cookies with me today for Kate (a fellow homeschooler) and her family who welcomed their fourth child a couple of weeks ago. I abandoned Finn Family Moomintroll for now. We had not read it in weeks and it didn't feel right to pick it up again. We started afresh with "My Father's Dragon", one that we've read before, but has been completely worth revisiting. I'm planning on reading the trilogy back-to-back-to-back.
In other news, we borrowed a bunch of books about money from the library last week, I bought them a book about Washington DC during my birthday date with Cap, we put Kidpix on the computer (thanks, Danielle!), and they have been watching Curious George on PBS. The kids love all of these things and have been very happy and animated.
Next week, I am thinking about doing another Japanese folktale, but haven't completely decided. We'll follow the same schedule of activities continuing Form Drawing and recorder for First and Drawing, Baking and Painting for Kinder. Fiber Arts will be at Lucia and Holly's on Monday and Wednesday I'll be hosting a planning meeting for folks interested in participating in Waldorf-inspired group activities.
Life is good, the boys are great and I can literally smell ripe, white peaches (the kind you can get in Japan).
We opened with a verse, a Waldorf classic:
The earth is firm beneath my feet,
The sun shines bright above,
And here stand I so straight and strong,
All things to know and love.
Kinder comes right over and delights in doing the movements with me, First proceeds to run around the house to "hide".
On Monday, I read "Peach Boy" to them from "Japanese Children's Favorite Stories" (published by Charles Tuttle). "Peach Boy", or Momotaro, as he is called in Japanese, is one of the most popular traditional children's folktales of Japan. I started with this because it was familiar and it was a quick way to begin overlaying some Japanese stuff into our homeschooling/life. Waldorf calls for Grimm fairy tales, which I haven't abandoned, but it made sense to start with something that felt more right for me. I also veered from Waldorf practice to read the story from a book rather than tell it orally.
The kids have each drawn a picture in their sketchbooks depicting a character/scene from the story. Today I decided on a whim to retell the story orally which they loved. They added in pieces here and there. We then made beeswax models of the peach (First), spotted dog (Kinder), pheasant (me) and Momotaro (all of us cooperatively). Kinder said he wanted to do a puppet show of the story, so this afternoon we started making some puppets by sewing together felt pieces and stuffing them with roving.
First has been balking at much of what we've been doing and participating somewhat reluctantly and at times under mild threat/pressure. But, the boy likes to sew. I was getting started on sewing the pheasant (Kinder's request, he had fallen in love with the beeswax pheasant) and before I knew it, First jumped right in and began working on the monkey.
He picked out some felt and cut out a monkey outline without using a pattern (which is what I had done for the pheasant). I threaded a needle for him with some thread (embroidery floss) and got him started on a running stitch. Well, before I knew it, he had sewn around about 3/4 of the monkey and stopped to stuff it. The neck of the monkey was too narrow to get the stuffing through to fill the head. I was freaked out that he had worked so quickly and that I had missed opportunities to guide him (comes with the territory of life with two).
I suggested gently that I could take out about half the stitches he had sewn so that he could stuff the head. He glowered and I gave him a minute to think it over. Next thing I knew, he had cut off the monkey's head in order to stuff it. I felt bad, but the kid knew what he wanted and took the initiative to remedy the situation. I liked that.
So, First completed his monkey puppet with very little help from me. The camera is missing, but once it's located, we'll be taking a picture of it. He wants to sell it, of course. Just call him Scrooge McKid.
We played Blokus, Chutes and Ladders, and completed the 360 piece puzzle of the rain forest animals that Wendy gave First for Christmas. First also worked on Form Drawing and recorder. Kinder baked peanut butter cookies with me today for Kate (a fellow homeschooler) and her family who welcomed their fourth child a couple of weeks ago. I abandoned Finn Family Moomintroll for now. We had not read it in weeks and it didn't feel right to pick it up again. We started afresh with "My Father's Dragon", one that we've read before, but has been completely worth revisiting. I'm planning on reading the trilogy back-to-back-to-back.
In other news, we borrowed a bunch of books about money from the library last week, I bought them a book about Washington DC during my birthday date with Cap, we put Kidpix on the computer (thanks, Danielle!), and they have been watching Curious George on PBS. The kids love all of these things and have been very happy and animated.
Next week, I am thinking about doing another Japanese folktale, but haven't completely decided. We'll follow the same schedule of activities continuing Form Drawing and recorder for First and Drawing, Baking and Painting for Kinder. Fiber Arts will be at Lucia and Holly's on Monday and Wednesday I'll be hosting a planning meeting for folks interested in participating in Waldorf-inspired group activities.
Life is good, the boys are great and I can literally smell ripe, white peaches (the kind you can get in Japan).
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