Dear Paige,
We must not let ourselves get too busy today. I missed painting with you yesterday. I’m getting out the paints today at 2:00. It’s better to paint than to be busy.
Love,
Mom
P.S. You did a good job on these ballet shoes!
Category: Art
Observatory
I like finding clues around the house showing me what my kids are thinking about. I found this diagram today of one of the telescopes Daniel saw at the Whipple Observatory on Friday. I thought the reflection patterns were pretty good, and it turns out, they are pretty accurate.
Did you know we don’t have street lights here so there is better star gazing for the observatories? Well, now you know. It’s a great place to stargaze. Now Daniel and Paige can say they have been to an observatory, thanks to a good friend who took them. They were up so high on the mountain that they saw Mexico. The whole building which houses the telescopes can rotate. Just thought you’d like to know…
This is a drawing Timothy has made of the birdhouse he wants to get for our backyard. He has a birdcage that he’s filled with birdseed, hoping to catch a new pet. In fact, the whole yard is littered with birdseed to attract future pets. He told me tonight that the bird could live in the birdhouse and then visit the birdcage now and then… it looks like he plans to leave the door open.
So, to wrap this all up in a neat metaphor, I’ll say that I’m grateful live in my own personal observatory and to be an observer of children. I try sift through all the information and words and behaviors and see what my children are trying to communicate. With the help of the Lord, proper focus and care and timing, simple observations of behavior or words can give me greater insight into the needs, hopes, and wishes of my children. A simple piece of paper, a forlorn sigh, a persistent wish or behavior… each a precious clue.
So, we started school
I don’t share everything on this blog. It’s just what comes to mind when I sit down at the computer. I realized I didn’t mention a pretty major development in our lives. We started school last Monday. Yes, Mr/Ms. Reader, we did. I teach 8th grade, 5th grade, and 1st grade. I like all these grades and love all of my students. Here’s a list of some of the things we did during this school week:
- Studied archaeology, made pictures and diagrams and wrote summaries.
- Studied the Great Depression using The Story of the World and Learning Through History Magazine. Wrote essays about the Stock Market Crash of 1929. Sat up late at night talking about stock market and the Great Depression. If you ever need a good source for the Great Depression, check out the book, When the Banks Closed, We Opened Our Hearts, published by Readers Digest. It’s full of personal accounts of people’s lives as they lived through these years. It’s an uplifting book, reminding us that hard times can bring out the best in people.
- Worked problems in Algebra 1, Math 65 (Saxon), and Singapore Math grade 1.
- Worked on Vocabulary studies with Wordly Wise and Spelling studies through Spelling Workout books. No grammar this week; we can look forward to that next week :).
- Attended piano lessons. Paige had 3, Daniel had 2.
Attended an art lesson about Picasso. Learned about his life and styles from a guest artist.- Read for hours and hours.
- Opened up Rosetta Stone German lessons and moved through the first section of lessons at lightning speed.
- Studied astronomy and the endocrine system, each a marvel. We use Apologia science textbooks, but skip some parts in them.
- Had to postpone our Hamlet reading, but we will finish next week.
- Wrote the classic essays, “What I did on my summer vacation” because I wish even ONE of my teachers had asked me to do this when I was young.
Created Picasso-style paintings and drawings in art class and at home.- Painted with oils at home. I painted, too. Someday we’ll share our paintings. Paige painted the Mesa Temple; I painted a robin near a nest. I still need to paint in the babies. Paige has some more work, too.
Played with playdough. We made igloos, cookies, cinnamon rolls, and other amazing things.- Played with friends in the afternoons after school. I don’t like to mix friends with most school subjects…too much social pressure when you’re trying to think.
- Attended ballet lessons (3).
- Copied lots of things for handwriting practice.
# of teachers: 5
# of students: 3
Now, this is a great student-to-teacher ratio.
Prima Ballerina
This is Paige at age 5 posing with the ballerinas from the Nutcracker Ballet in 2001.
Paige danced around the house from the time she could walk. We took Paige at age 5 to the Nutcracker wearing a dress as close to a tutu as we could create. She sat quietly through the show, enchanted by the beautiful dancing. At one point she leaned over to me and said, “I love the ballet so much, I just want to go up on stage and dance with them!”
Paige didn’t like to leave my side when she was young. I worried about that a little when I decided to sign her up for ballet lessons, beginning on her 6th birthday. She still talks about that first day of ballet like it was the day her life began.
Anyone who has seen her dance knows that she has a special gift.
Tonight Paige learned that she has been chosen for the second year in a row to dance the lead role in Oh Holy Night. What I thought was a once in a lifetime experience for her (and for me, too) will be repeated. This time I’ll bring my tissues. I’m sure I’ll need them.
It’s a Right-Brainer
This is a word, a little worse for wear after hanging for an hour. It was the theme from our Cub Scout Pack Meeting tonight. Daniel earned a silver arrow point, the ultimate frisbee belt loop and baseball belt loop.
Sunday
…a day of Rest.
A day to think, renew covenants, spend time with family, read, & make simple meals…
I talked to Grandma Ruth today. We cheered on our current political heroine and talked about happy things like our upcoming visit.
Now I’m off to bed, ready to start a new week tomorrow.
(Art by Paige)
What to do on a hot day
Idea #1: Wear a big hat and wade in a pond. Look for frogs and prune plants. If possible, hunker down low in the water, so it looks like there’s a floating hat. Stand up suddenly when an unsuspecting maintenance man stops by. Double points if he yells. (Double points for Daniel today.)
Idea #2: Gather together with friends and create tiny animals using Sculpey clay. While Mom bakes them in the oven, eat Otter Pops.
Idea #3: Create a house for your tiny mice friends, using odds and ends, such as an empty bobbin for a table, lego cupboards, stray golden beads to fill a treasury, and seeds for food. Don’t forget the trampoline, made from a broken leather doll chair. These critters are shorter than a penny.
Idea #4: Take a nap. That’s what I did all afternoon.
Agua Caliente According to Daniel
Daniel went to Agua Caliente Park on Saturday to take a dragonfly class with some friends. Here are some photos that he took from that day. I enjoy seeing the things he thought were worthy to photograph.
Daniel’s words:
When we got to Agua Caliente on Saturday, we took the Dragonfly class. The teacher told us how to recognize or how to tell dragonflies and damselflies apart. Then he gave us butterfly nets and binoculars and we went out to catch dragonflies. Each of us caught one or two and then we identified them. After the class ended, we went to look at the lake and the ducks. We went exploring and took some pictures. Then we left. I really enjoyed the class because I learned a lot of things I didn’t know. For instance, some dragonflies can fly all the way across the ocean in just a few days!
Spring Lake ramblings
I’ve allowed myself to slip into a deep summer reverie; I’m working (yes, it takes work for me) to enjoy every minute of summertime. I work too hard and enjoy too little most of the time. Silly me.
Our stay at Spring Lake was so brief, but very special.
Sunday was our last day at the Round House. After church, the kids enjoyed a quiet afternoon at the frog pond. Richard read a book; I walked around the property, taking photos. I wanted to remember the feelings of the day and I hoped pictures would help. Aunt Susan was in my thoughts all day. I looked down the road where she grew up and took time to think of her as a young girl, running around this little town.
The Secret Garden, always such a special place, with its places to sit and rest and bits of interest like the Thinking Rock, tiger lilies, yellow brick pathway, money bushes, and more remains true to its name.
I love a good, rustic pathway and the rustle of leaves as I move down the lane.
New oaks at my feet and a canopy of tall oaks over my head taught me new life lessons simple and profound and not easily expressed.
I studied the tiles for an extra long time, smiling at the thought of a young Aunt Susan not being able to resist taking a pretty tile home many years ago.
On the deck, the usual restful spot awaited me, bathed in green light filtered through the trees. I found a plaster of paris mold that Dad made in 1961 of a seahorse sitting on a table there. I smiled, picturing Dad just a little older than Daniel.
Echoing through the property was the sound of my children laughing and splashing together at the frog pond, enjoying the details so carefully created by Dad. This may be one of his most powerful lessons: children need rocks, dirt, and water to be happy.
And here, these things are in abundance.
The kids sought me out and asked me to take a picture of them on Grandma’s swing. Pow! I felt so much gratitude for them…
My wanderings took me up the road, to the spot that was burned last summer. The foreground still looks marred, but the view had the same effect that it always has on me. I had the usual sharp intake of breath as I tried to comprehend it all. I’ve never felt this powerfully about any other place. And again the view taught me quiet and powerful lessons impossible to describe.
And there was healing in the thoughts of family, home, heritage, and a loving Creator.
And then I walked down the hill and we drove away from my own personal Walden Pond, resolved to live with more simplicity, more faith, and greater effort to find joy.
The Value of Imperfection
I painted this in January, using the Pima Community College catalog cover as my guide. I could never find the name of the photographer.
I see more flaws in my work every day, but I will continue to display it proudly in my house.
If I had never tried this painting, I wouldn’t ‘t have learned to appreciate the symmetry of a wheel; the complexity of color; I wouldn’t have had time to ponder the aging of the wood, the shadows and reflections of light; I wouldn’t have accepted my own inability to create a perfect hub to hold it all together. I learned about focal point, perspective, and rust. I thought about endless things during this project. It was both a vacation and an intense study, a pleasure and a frustration all at once.
Having seriously considered my reasons for blogging: Connection to family and friends, creative outlet, family record, homeschool life revealed, etc, I have decided it’s worth it for now for me to share. If I hadn’t been blogging these past few months, I wouldn’t have noticed so many blessings in my life.
So, a blog is not a perfect medium, any more than I am a master at working oil paints. But it’s a tool I use to discover and relate. And even if my words inadequate and my feelings about the blogging world vacillate, I think sharing is better than keeping things to myself. And hopefully in the process, we all learn something.