I am just not very consistent with the whole blogging thing, I guess. But looking back through old posts, and coming across things I don't remember until I read about them, I'm realizing that I need to work on that. New Year's resolution, perhaps? The thing with me and journaling is this: In retrospect, I have a lot of difficulty tolerating personal things that I write. I've never kept a diary. I've written in diaries for years at a time, but it always ends the same way. I tear out the pages and rip them to shreds, or burn them cathartically. They never last. Blogging was sort of an antidote for that. I've had many blogs, and they're still all floating out there in the interwebs where I don't have to reread them, or even look at them, unless I seek them out. But I think my pattern is the same. I blog for a while, then feel terribly self-conscious, and fade into the wallpaper. Anyway, my point is, I'm trying again. So, updates. New city, new digs (upstairs, even, and oh, is that an adventure with four), and a slightly more structured homeschooling year ahead of us. And the children (I'll be using clever little nicknames from here on out, as they get older an less inclined to be okay with me sharing too much). The little Wild Thing is two-and-a-half now. And is he ever. It's become clear to me now that I've never had that typical two year-old. The boy is utterly and completely fearless. He's an independent, "Mama, let go of me!" in the pool kind of fearless, but still so very, very attached. He's been a real challenge to my convictions surrounding extended nursing. He is wonderful and clever and intense and loud. He loves to shout out lines from Sendak books. (Honestly? That kind of makes me feel like my work here is done.)

Her Royal Highness is seven-and-a-half. Second grade. I'm hoping that the transition from those dreamy fairy tales that she loved so very much to fables and hero/saints stories will be a smooth one. She's writing and reading on her own again, after a year of refusing to do either in her post-public kindergarten burn out. I am an incredibly relieved mama on that account. This morning there was even talk of "if I ever go back to school", which gives me hope that her experience wasn't entirely negative.

The Evil Genius will be ten in less than a month. Fourth grade. The year of bravery. And he's embraced it whole-heartedly. Walking out into Lake Ontario up to his neck, climbing, stretching himself socially. I'm immensely impressed by him. We're starting the year with a local geography and mapping lesson block, and looking forward to the Norse myths. We need to work on handwriting, and the list of assigned reading for this boy keeps expanding (he's started with My Father's Dragon). He's met a group of local kids who share his interest in Magic and are open to helping him learn D&D and is thrilled to death about it. As am I.

Hufflepuff is nearing twelve and in sixth grade this year. What a lot of work this will be. We're moving on from Greek (Ancient, which I had a bit of background in) to Latin (which I have no background in) and the study of the Roman Empire through Medieval times. The goal is to end the year with Chaucer (my favorite, favorite, favorite). We're starting the year with a Geology and Mineralogy block. I had originally planned on an Astronomy block here, but after going to teacher training at Taproot again this summer, I decided to swap with this block, that I'd intended for seventh grade. For math, I'm using Life of Fred again (we've had great success so far), Biology and Pre-Algebra, and a couple of lesson blocks drawn from the Making Math Meaningful series. And we've started geometric drawing. Our science blocks this year in addition to Geology, will be Physics-based. I'd be lying to say I'm not a little intimidated by that. But setting up the experiments should be lots of fun.

And then there's the Art History. That's my area of expertise and we're really getting into it now as we move through Roman history. I can't wait. I've been a bit excessive with the texts I've ordered, but man, this is what I know.

We're still (after an entire year) looking for a ukulele teacher here, but in the meantime, she's learning what she can on her own. I think we're going to make some time for her to sit down and peruse youtube for lessons.

So that's our fairly parenthetical update. Our curriculum is very strictly Waldorf-based. The more trainings I go to, and the more reading I do, I realize that Waldorf just fits our family so well in most regards (although I do diverge on the standard Waldorf stance on media, but that's a topic for another post). I've started listening to Steiner's lectures to teachers online. It's a great wind-down at the end of the day, and helps me get my focus on for the following day's lessons. Heh, I just said "lessons". My former radical unschooling self is boggling right now.

<3

I didn't realize until late this evening that this is National TV Turn Off Week. Middle Girl had mentioned it when she came home from school one day last week, but we'd never really discussed it further. Ironically, the television has been on more this week than in the last three weeks. Middle Boy's been sacked out on the couch with a stomach bug, so it's been mostly for his benefit, but I think we've all watched a good deal more than usual.

The thing is, though, that we're just not real big television watchers in the first place. Even when they turn it on of their own accord, the kids hardly ever sit in front of the tv for the duration of an entire show. There are a couple of things they like to watch, but Middle Boy is far and away the only child meticulous enough to pay attention to the times and dates that his show airs. I think the girls must get it from me, because as much as I've enjoyed certain shows, I've always been notoriously bad at remembering when something is on and turning on the television.

(At this point, I make a mental note to myself that Food, Inc. is on PBS tomorrow night at nine and I've been wanting to see it. I'll probably end up missing it because I have a Girl Scout meeting that will run until 8:30 and then I'll get home and there will be things to do and it just won't cross my mind again until I'm getting into bed for the night.)

In other news, my digital camera has died. I was taking pictures of the kids on an Easter egg hunt at my parents' and set the camera down outside. I forgot it was there until, several rainstorms later, I went searching for it in my bag and came up empty. It wasn't a great camera by any means, but I'm mourning the pictures of Youngest waddling through the woods in search of plastic eggs that died with it.

Eldest is still working through a long, slow math lesson block. I think we may do another mini lesson block on math over the summer so we can finish covering all the grade 4 material. She's been reading almost non-stop lately, and as she didn't start reading on her own until just over a year ago, I'm loathe to call her away from it for lessons. Her homeschool Waldorf class performed their play last week - Jacob and Esau. Since the program starts a new "grades class" every two years, the class she's in is doing a third grade curriculum this year. It works out well because we don't get overlap with things she does at home. If anything, she hears stories we heard over a year ago and is glad for the retelling.

Middle Boy has started a new main lesson block on "saints". We're finishing Gandhi and will be moving on to Mother Theresa. I think he's really enjoying it. His class's play was The Pied Piper of Hamelin. Very sweet.

I think I'm too tired to form much more coherent thought, so I'll leave off here for tonight.

The sun is (sort of) shining through the hazy sky, and the kids are playing outside with light jackets on. I'm ostensibly cleaning house (though here I sit with a nursing baby dozing on my lap) and enjoying the open windows.

The dive headlong into our next math block has begun and I'm very proud of our progress. I realized that we've been too busy to really get down to circle time in the mornings, so we've been reciting arithmetic facts in the car and it's actually been great fun. I feel like we'll be done with fourth grade in total by June, and our second grade lessons are already winding down for the year. Next year will be first, third and fifth if the little one comes home from public school. I am so looking forward to the fifth grade. Botany! Geometry! I can't wait. (And, um, the future-fifth-grader is plenty excited as well, I think.)

We've also been mapping the Erie Canal for local history/geography. Having grown up here, I don't think I ever got a clear picture of the canal's significance, and it's fascinating to see how our local geography shaped, and was shaped by, the canal.

Another load of laundry is calling my name, so I'll end this post here. Maybe I'll get the hang of this "blogging regularly" thing after all.

So nearly a month has passed again, but I am still determined to start blogging more often. Hopelessly optimistic, that's me.

Our home school lessons have been on hiatus for a couple of very busy weeks. March was supposed to be a math block, and we'll be starting that tomorrow, pushing everything else forward a couple of weeks. My perfectionist tendencies go into overtime every time we have a math block approaching and I keep putting it off until I feel everything is perfect (which never happens, of course). I've decided we're just going to dig right in now and then if we don't accomplish everything we'd like, we can do a long, slow math block over the summer.

The kids adore math, so this is my problem, not theirs.

We've been doing a lot of reading aloud lately. Middle Girl is reading "When We Were Very Young" by A.A. Milne. She's very into poetry right now. Middle Boy is reading "Highway Robbery" by Kate Thompson. All three kids are currently enamored with "The Highwayman" by Alfred Noyes (as sung by Loreena McKennitt), so this book fits in perfectly. And Eldest and I have been reading Anne of Green Gables. Oh, Anne. My first literary love.

Eldest is also reading "Beowulf" (a graphic novel version), and "Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing". Next up on her list is "Ella Enchanted".

Tomorrow Middle Girl is off school for conferences and I promised her I'd help her make her own knitting needles. I made a bunting baby for the little guy this week and I'm feeling very much in a handwork groove. Speaking of the wee boy, he's telling me he's ready for bed, so I'd better oblige him.

Oh, the Toddlerness of You!

It's been that kind of few months in which there has been much to blog about and no time to blog. The girls turned 6 and 10 at the beginning of January, but more on that later. The big news around here is the very first birthday of Sir Babypants.


The birthday ring and lemon cake:



For five seconds, he even wore his birthday crown:



Sweet potato soup is good birthday food:



And this one, I couldn't resist. Those eyes, swoon:



He is fearless, single-minded, happy and funny. Oh, is this boy funny. And he knows it. We just started a parent-child Waldorf class together, taught by a dear friend, our amazing kindergarten room teacher at LCG. He is having a fabulously good time there with all the other small people. At home, all he wants is to keep up with his siblings (who are luckily willing to slow down to a reasonable pace for him).

Still alive. Still, apparently, a horribly slack blogger. Sorry about that.

Too tired to update properly just now, but things are just lovely. From the sweet (fast) crawling baby who can stand on his own and teeter as he winds up his bravery to take those first few steps, to the kindergartener who is soaking up everything she sees and hears like a sponge, to the long-haired boy with a MUCH shorter hair cut, to the pink-and-black-haired girl who is becoming a young woman much faster than I ever dreamed. All lovely. And tonight, all very sleepy.

It's amazing what a little bit of a change in environment can do for my mental state. I did some rearranging in the kitchen today and removed a huge, clunking shelf unit in favor of a little table my parents picked up for us at a garage sale earlier in the summer. The difference is astounding. I cleared away all the clutter, and the window is no longer blocked, and my kitchen is now sunny and light and so dearly deserving of a fresh coat of paint (and some patch for the walls, and a new floor...).

Last weekend I was so blessed to spend time with a group of wonderful, amazing, talented, fascinating women that I've known for many years. There was wine, and baby cuddling, and so much conversation that at times I didn't know where to settle in for a chat. The hellmonkeys and I loved every minute of it. I am truly, truly lucky to have the friends I do.

In other news, I'm planning the upcoming school year, missing Eldest, who is away at camp for 2 weeks, and trying to fill as many donation bags of clothes as possible. The kids have outgrown so many things and they're all just piling up around us. I'm on a clutter clearing binge lately.

Oh yes, and there was cherry picking a couple of weeks ago.



The results were my first fresh cherry pie, which was delicious.