#1. Resurrect a lapsed blog.
As I told you last summer, I signed up for a Writing Fiction class at my local community college, rather than deciding what kind of graduate degree I want to pursue. I was very excited. And as you know if you've been reading me, to get warmed up and make sure I didn't embarrass myself in class, over the summer I did a free online course through Open University called Start Writing Fiction. I was concerned because I had never written a story before, not since I was a tiny little girl and wrote only a few sentences. Class started in late August, a little while after I wrote my last post for this blog.
At first I was really inspired, I had a bunch of ideas (mostly hare-brained) for short stories. I wrote one of them over the course of a number of weeks, but it turned out sounding stiff and bloodless. It was about a middle-aged character having a very quiet sort of experience. Even though the class I'm taking is at a community college and meets in the evening, I am the only 'adult learner' in there, the rest of them look to be 18-19 years old. I wanted to write something that they would like, since we have to read our stories aloud and have the class critique them. I scrapped my first story at the last minute (one week before my first 'workshop') and wrote another, a YA short story about teenage Wiccans. My classmates ate it up, although they misunderstood the story somewhat.
Once I survived my first workshop, I found to my dismay that all my ideas and inspiration had dried up, and I didn't know what to write. I tried writing another story, and started it twice but both times it sounded stiff and contrived.
Meanwhile, Ariel had told me about the Young Writer's Program part of NaNoWriMo , and I helped Primo sign up. He got really excited about it, and started writing character bios and story ideas. Soon his friends were signed up too, and even Radish asked me to help him make an account. I decided to sign myself up for the regular adult version of NaNo, the 50,000 word write-a-novel-in-a-month challenge. I figured there was no way I'd make it to 50K, but writing toward that goal would give me something meaty to bring to my second (and final) workshop for class. The professor seems to prefer unfinished 'first chapter of my novel' pieces over finished short stories, and the class, too, criticizes those less. Anyway, I took my most substantial idea and wrote an outline, put it aside until November 1st.
Today. I tried, this morning, to write from that outline, and the result was the poorest, most bloodless writing that I've done so far. I think I might scrap the whole idea and write 'by the seat of my pants' in a genre, rather than straight real-world fiction.
But for this evening, I'm finding lots of other things somehow more pressing or interesting than getting to work on writing fiction. There's this poor, neglected blog, for instance. How could I let it languish for one more day? :) Also, there's:
#2. File away the kids' homeschool work in their notebooks.
#3. Make a cup of tea, and some toast with jam to go along with it.
#4. Hmm, laundry. No reason to let it sit, just because it's Saturday night!
#5. Christmas shopping! Online, natch...
#6. Email. Oh, so urgent, these messages, must read right now...
#7. Get ahead on tomorrow's chores: plan meals for the week, write lessons for the week (including all-new 'Baby Lessons'! more on that in my next post!)
#8. Read-- if I can't write fiction today, I can still immerse myself in it. Specifically, a terrific book by Octavia Butler, Wild Seed. It's so interesting to read this book after reading about it and reading the first paragraphs, broken down, in Orson Scott Card's How to Write Science Fiction and Fantasy. I'm having one of my reading crises again-- I've stacked myself up with too many things to read, trying to find inspiration. I have an old favorite, Orson Scott Card's Maps in a Mirror out from the library for over a week, but untouched. And a fun, YA collection of short holiday stories called My True Love Gave to Me. Then there's the short story collection (Best American Short Stories 2014) that I don't have to read for class, but I feel like I should anyway (it was the 2013 edition that was mandatory for class, but I finished that). And the boys have several things out from the library that I want to read, and I have a few more on my NOOK, and don't get me started on magazines and non-fiction (I have three or four books about helping your homeschooler get into college which I haven't started yet).
#9. TV- and this one is ridiculous, because we only have the most basic cable and on a Saturday night there is *nothing on*, not until SNL and that's hours away.
#10. Make a list of some kind. Oh. Check.
I guess I'll be mad at myself tomorrow if I don't at least make an attempt to write something worth continuing (the 150 words I put down this morning is not it). But first, I hear Snorzy talking upstairs, more than an hour after I put him down in his crib. A few more minutes before I have to face the blank page!
Saturday, November 1, 2014
Thursday, August 14, 2014
The Merciful Edit
Well, we've been back to lessons for almost two weeks now, and it feels like we never stopped. The boys and I fell right back into our groove, and I have to keep reminding myself that no one else we know is in the midst of their school year. I actually assigned the boys watching CNN student news on our first day, and we were all briefly confused when the newest video on the website was from early June. Then, "Oh, yeah-! There's no student news when all the students are on summer break!" I hope we'll remember to pick back up on that resource when the 'school year' begins for everyone else. Although Sweet Hubby is a bit of a news hound, I tend not to follow current events very closely (too cynical, I don't believe much of anything that's reported), and as a consequence my boys are growing up a bit ignorant of the world around them.
I guess I still have to get around to writing a post about History Odyssey and why I love it so much. I'll add to that my newfound affection for Microscope Adventure!, a unit study on the use and history of the microscope (this is going to comprise much of Radish's science curriculum for 4th grade, and Primo will do it along with his Holt Life Science textbook, to round things out for his 7th grade science). What's on my mind today, though, is a tiny moment in our homeschool related to History Odyssey, and the quality of mercy.
A window into my methods as a homeschooling mama: when Primo was small, I used to write out his lessons daily, the night before. After a year or two of this, I realized that I found it stressful to have to do this each day, and I sometimes had a hard time making the work over the course of the week add up to a satisfying whole. At some point, I came around to a better way-- I sit down every Sunday and write out lessons for the week, in a little yellow notebook:
I make a section on the page for each day, and divide that into 'Radish', 'Both', and 'Primo'. Then I list their work, using the textbooks and curricula that they're working from, and figuring out which lesson they need to work next, and also trying to make my best guesses about how much work they can reasonably complete in one day. That's where the finesse comes in. It's not unusual for me to under-plan, and have both boys turn up 'finished' after just an hour or two of work. This is especially frustrating at those times when we've had a bunch of days in a row in which we have had to spend a lot of time out of the house, and then we finally have a good, solid day 'in'. If the boys finish all their assigned work for the day, they get understandably salty when I say, "Huh, it looks like I didn't give you enough work. Let's look in the yellow notebook and have you do some lessons listed under tomorrow."
So, sometimes I go too far the other way and load up my planning book with lessons, to make sure they'll have enough to do. I was starting to do that this past Sunday, I had actually written in my planning book three separate History Odyssey lessons for Primo (we do three days of history each week), when I happened to look closely at the lessons I was assigning. I noticed that the second one was pretty involved, and included a particular piece (a Record of War or Conflict) that Primo has had a hard time with in the past. I thought about it for a moment, considering leaving things the way they were, and just letting him stretch things out during the week if he really needed to. I even called him over to the table and pointed out to him that I was giving him a lot of history work, but that we could cut it down later. He just said, "Ok," and wandered off to go back to whatever he had been doing. Then, I chose mercy. On him, and on myself-- I crossed that third history lesson out. Drew a pen line right through it. And breathed. Nothing broken, just a little extra space in our week.
This is one of the things I continually struggle with in homeschooling my boys. With my tiny class of one seventh grader, one fourth grader, it can be hard to figure out exactly how much each boy is capable of doing. I have no basis of comparison, I just have to make it up as I go along, and pay attention to each boy to see if he is bored or stressed by the amount and level of work that I give him. It can be really difficult to see, though, because neither boy will complain about too much work, nor will they ever ask for more challenge in their lessons. I used to think that at some point I would notice that the boys needed more, and we would start grade skipping and then they might even outgrow homeschooling early and move on to college work. Instead, I think that we adjust as we go along, so what I call '4th grade' might not look like '4th grade' level work in school.
I just read a somewhat ridiculous book called The Brainy Bunch, a memoir written by a homeschooling mom and dad who have sent each of their children to college at around the age of 11 or 12. They have 10 kids, and I can empathize a little with wanting to hurry the older ones out of the nest, with so many coming up behind. What struck me, though, was that these weren't really success stories, nor did it sound like these were kids who needed more of a challenge. Instead, the parents had embarked upon a program of rushing their average IQ kids through boxed curricula, and then having them take college entrance exams and start community college when they had reached some minimum level of competence. One of the oldest daughters had always wanted to be a doctor, but after graduating college at the age of 17 or so, was unable to pass her MCATs to get into medical school. Instead she ended up pursuing a D.O. degree, and entering the navy as a medical trainee. Her parents were pleased and proud as could be, but I was left wondering, "what if?" What if she had been allowed to stay home through her high school years, pursuing biology and doing some kind of medical internship or job? What if she had entered college, maybe even a four year college, at 17 or 18 and graduated with other kids her own age? Might she have done better on her MCATs, been able to go to medical school the way she wanted? How do these kids feel, knowing that their parents expect them to be 'done' with homeschooling at the age when their peers are in middle school?
I was glad this book came to my attention now, as my oldest is just beginning what I think of as the 'transcript years', when he's old enough to conceivably do things that might be interesting or high-level enough to show up on a transcript for college entrance. Reading what these parents had done, and the results, gave me a push in the other direction. I don't need my guys to enter college early in order to give my homeschooling legitimacy. They can take their time and be 'ordinary', I can refuse to step on the crazy train of college expectations that so often is a part of modern parenting. I want to help my kids find opportunities to do neat things, especially the kinds of things they wouldn't have the time for if they were in school and bogged down with homework. But the last thing I need them to be, for my sake, is impressive.
I guess I still have to get around to writing a post about History Odyssey and why I love it so much. I'll add to that my newfound affection for Microscope Adventure!, a unit study on the use and history of the microscope (this is going to comprise much of Radish's science curriculum for 4th grade, and Primo will do it along with his Holt Life Science textbook, to round things out for his 7th grade science). What's on my mind today, though, is a tiny moment in our homeschool related to History Odyssey, and the quality of mercy.
A window into my methods as a homeschooling mama: when Primo was small, I used to write out his lessons daily, the night before. After a year or two of this, I realized that I found it stressful to have to do this each day, and I sometimes had a hard time making the work over the course of the week add up to a satisfying whole. At some point, I came around to a better way-- I sit down every Sunday and write out lessons for the week, in a little yellow notebook:
I make a section on the page for each day, and divide that into 'Radish', 'Both', and 'Primo'. Then I list their work, using the textbooks and curricula that they're working from, and figuring out which lesson they need to work next, and also trying to make my best guesses about how much work they can reasonably complete in one day. That's where the finesse comes in. It's not unusual for me to under-plan, and have both boys turn up 'finished' after just an hour or two of work. This is especially frustrating at those times when we've had a bunch of days in a row in which we have had to spend a lot of time out of the house, and then we finally have a good, solid day 'in'. If the boys finish all their assigned work for the day, they get understandably salty when I say, "Huh, it looks like I didn't give you enough work. Let's look in the yellow notebook and have you do some lessons listed under tomorrow."
So, sometimes I go too far the other way and load up my planning book with lessons, to make sure they'll have enough to do. I was starting to do that this past Sunday, I had actually written in my planning book three separate History Odyssey lessons for Primo (we do three days of history each week), when I happened to look closely at the lessons I was assigning. I noticed that the second one was pretty involved, and included a particular piece (a Record of War or Conflict) that Primo has had a hard time with in the past. I thought about it for a moment, considering leaving things the way they were, and just letting him stretch things out during the week if he really needed to. I even called him over to the table and pointed out to him that I was giving him a lot of history work, but that we could cut it down later. He just said, "Ok," and wandered off to go back to whatever he had been doing. Then, I chose mercy. On him, and on myself-- I crossed that third history lesson out. Drew a pen line right through it. And breathed. Nothing broken, just a little extra space in our week.
This is one of the things I continually struggle with in homeschooling my boys. With my tiny class of one seventh grader, one fourth grader, it can be hard to figure out exactly how much each boy is capable of doing. I have no basis of comparison, I just have to make it up as I go along, and pay attention to each boy to see if he is bored or stressed by the amount and level of work that I give him. It can be really difficult to see, though, because neither boy will complain about too much work, nor will they ever ask for more challenge in their lessons. I used to think that at some point I would notice that the boys needed more, and we would start grade skipping and then they might even outgrow homeschooling early and move on to college work. Instead, I think that we adjust as we go along, so what I call '4th grade' might not look like '4th grade' level work in school.
I just read a somewhat ridiculous book called The Brainy Bunch, a memoir written by a homeschooling mom and dad who have sent each of their children to college at around the age of 11 or 12. They have 10 kids, and I can empathize a little with wanting to hurry the older ones out of the nest, with so many coming up behind. What struck me, though, was that these weren't really success stories, nor did it sound like these were kids who needed more of a challenge. Instead, the parents had embarked upon a program of rushing their average IQ kids through boxed curricula, and then having them take college entrance exams and start community college when they had reached some minimum level of competence. One of the oldest daughters had always wanted to be a doctor, but after graduating college at the age of 17 or so, was unable to pass her MCATs to get into medical school. Instead she ended up pursuing a D.O. degree, and entering the navy as a medical trainee. Her parents were pleased and proud as could be, but I was left wondering, "what if?" What if she had been allowed to stay home through her high school years, pursuing biology and doing some kind of medical internship or job? What if she had entered college, maybe even a four year college, at 17 or 18 and graduated with other kids her own age? Might she have done better on her MCATs, been able to go to medical school the way she wanted? How do these kids feel, knowing that their parents expect them to be 'done' with homeschooling at the age when their peers are in middle school?
I was glad this book came to my attention now, as my oldest is just beginning what I think of as the 'transcript years', when he's old enough to conceivably do things that might be interesting or high-level enough to show up on a transcript for college entrance. Reading what these parents had done, and the results, gave me a push in the other direction. I don't need my guys to enter college early in order to give my homeschooling legitimacy. They can take their time and be 'ordinary', I can refuse to step on the crazy train of college expectations that so often is a part of modern parenting. I want to help my kids find opportunities to do neat things, especially the kinds of things they wouldn't have the time for if they were in school and bogged down with homework. But the last thing I need them to be, for my sake, is impressive.
Tuesday, July 22, 2014
Rooting
Our month off from lessons is half over. When I mentioned that fact to the boys yesterday they groaned but I'm looking forward to getting back to it soon. Due to our weird homeschooling year, they've already completed one 10-week 'quarter', before we took our July break. I have yet to do my paperwork for the coming year, but that's par for the course-- I always send it in sometime in August. I don't know why I'm so looking forward to going back to lessons-- because we started back in May, there is nothing new to the work they'll be doing. For now, I'm happy with all the materials we're using (and beyond happy with History Odyssey, but that's a separate blog entry, or will be soon). Next year I'm going to look into Discovery K-12, a free online comprehensive curriculum that I just heard about from Ariel, homeschooling mama extraordinaire.
Homeschooling and staying home with babies is like living on a glacier. Everything is slow, out of step with the rest of the world and their hurry, but at the same time there is constant change and we never return to where we were before. It's funny to look at my last post from a month ago and see that I was concerned with not giving Snorzy enough enrichment on a daily basis unless I planned for it. The weeks between then and now have been a kind of a renaissance for him, his language has grown exponentially and he's gotten more clear and firm in his will too-- I could never go a day without reading to him now, when he brings his favorite "boo" to me over & over throughout the day (the favorites evolve every few days, he isn't loyal to one the way Primo was to Dinosaur's Binkit or Radish to both The Pudgy Where is Your Nose? Book and Quack Quack by Claire Henley). I can't make it through a day without taking him " 'side" either-- he insists on being taken out on the front porch or into the backyard many times each day, aside from any outings we might go on in the car to shop or swim or whatever the day holds.
I drove myself crazy for a week at the beginning of the month, the way I do periodically-- I get too much time on my hands and end up somehow thinking that I can single-handedly solve the whole 'work-life balance' thing that has plagued mothers since the dawn of time. I nearly convinced myself that it made sense to spend an enormous amount of time and money taking a graduate class that would throw the whole family's schedule into chaos twice a week for the fall semester, and then lead nowhere (it is the only evening class available in that department, so I wouldn't have been able to follow up with any more classes in that field without quitting homeschooling). Out of the blue, one evening, inspiration hit and by the next day I was over at a local community college, jumping through hoops to register to take an (inexpensive, conveniently placed in the week) night class in writing fiction this fall. I literally had not written a word of fiction since I was ten years old (a poignant, one-page tale about a bunny, if I remember correctly), so this is scary good fun to look forward to. In preparation, I've been working through a free online mini course from Open University's OpenLearn portal, called Start Writing Fiction.
I've been spending more time on GoodReads this month than on any other social media, and getting almost depressed by the exposure to all the things that I don't have time to read. My appetite for books, like my appetite for sweets, makes me feel like life is too short. If I did nothing each day but read novels and eat cake & cookies, there still wouldn't be time to consume everything that I want. What's the answer to this? Is it to have a taste of something exquisite each day, and try not to think about all the rest?
Homeschooling and staying home with babies is like living on a glacier. Everything is slow, out of step with the rest of the world and their hurry, but at the same time there is constant change and we never return to where we were before. It's funny to look at my last post from a month ago and see that I was concerned with not giving Snorzy enough enrichment on a daily basis unless I planned for it. The weeks between then and now have been a kind of a renaissance for him, his language has grown exponentially and he's gotten more clear and firm in his will too-- I could never go a day without reading to him now, when he brings his favorite "boo" to me over & over throughout the day (the favorites evolve every few days, he isn't loyal to one the way Primo was to Dinosaur's Binkit or Radish to both The Pudgy Where is Your Nose? Book and Quack Quack by Claire Henley). I can't make it through a day without taking him " 'side" either-- he insists on being taken out on the front porch or into the backyard many times each day, aside from any outings we might go on in the car to shop or swim or whatever the day holds.
I drove myself crazy for a week at the beginning of the month, the way I do periodically-- I get too much time on my hands and end up somehow thinking that I can single-handedly solve the whole 'work-life balance' thing that has plagued mothers since the dawn of time. I nearly convinced myself that it made sense to spend an enormous amount of time and money taking a graduate class that would throw the whole family's schedule into chaos twice a week for the fall semester, and then lead nowhere (it is the only evening class available in that department, so I wouldn't have been able to follow up with any more classes in that field without quitting homeschooling). Out of the blue, one evening, inspiration hit and by the next day I was over at a local community college, jumping through hoops to register to take an (inexpensive, conveniently placed in the week) night class in writing fiction this fall. I literally had not written a word of fiction since I was ten years old (a poignant, one-page tale about a bunny, if I remember correctly), so this is scary good fun to look forward to. In preparation, I've been working through a free online mini course from Open University's OpenLearn portal, called Start Writing Fiction.
I've been spending more time on GoodReads this month than on any other social media, and getting almost depressed by the exposure to all the things that I don't have time to read. My appetite for books, like my appetite for sweets, makes me feel like life is too short. If I did nothing each day but read novels and eat cake & cookies, there still wouldn't be time to consume everything that I want. What's the answer to this? Is it to have a taste of something exquisite each day, and try not to think about all the rest?
Monday, June 23, 2014
Blooming
In two weeks we'll take another break from homeschooling, this time so that the boys can go to summer camp(s). In a perfect world they'd do all of their summer camps in August so we could stay on our 'three months on, one month off' homeschooling schedule, but over the years I've had to loosen up about that, so that the boys can do the camps they want to do (this year: Primo is going to one week of sleep-away Boy Scout camp, while Radish gets a week of Wayfinders role-playing day camp). Later in the month they'll do two weeks at a local town Youth Department day camp, not our own town but a 'better' one nearby. We'll start back to lesson in August, which means we'll have *four* months is a row 'on', before we take a break in December.
We've had some good days of homeschooling lately, and I've been trying to remind myself to slow down and pay attention, really appreciate what it feels like when things are going 'right'. All too often I *expect* 'right' and ignore it when it happens, then pay a lot of attention to the times that everything seems to go 'wrong'-- anxiously fretting about whether we should be homeschooling at all. On a good day of homeschooling, the big boys are cheerful and willing to do their work, they don't break down in frustration over how 'hard' the math is (or writing, or whatever they're least in the mood for that day). They make connections between the different things they are learning that day, and between what they've learned in the past and the current work. On a good day I am cheerful and clever, thinking of ways to help them through their work before they get frustrated. On a good day Snorzy is able to amuse himself for a while during the big boys' lessons, using his toys and books without whining and without asking for too much extra attention, until it's time for his morning nap.
Snorzy is getting old enough that I'm starting to think it's time for him to have some 'lessons' each day, too. When Primo was a baby I never had to think about it, I just naturally supported his learning by interacting with him over toys and books all day. By the time Radish came along, I had to be more deliberate about it. When he was a little guy, I scheduled some time into his day for 'working' on various skills (I was influenced by the books I read back then about Montessori and her methods). Now Snorzy is a big boy of 15 months old and he seems a little at loose ends throughout his waking hours, and I'm so distracted by the older boys and my own activities that I can easily let a day pass without so much as reading him a book. Luckily, I have plenty of ideas and resources for making his world richer in experiences, I just have to put myself on some kind of schedule like I did with baby Radish. For today, we're going to do a modified version of the 'Age 1, Week 15' activity from June R. Oberlander's Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready. The activity specifies making a simple play house out of a cardboard box, but lacking a big box I'm going to use a pop-up play tent that we've had since Primo was 4. I'll have to keep myself alert to find a good time, after he gets up from his nap.
In other news, look how different my frenemy rose looks, since I let weeks pass between the last time I wrote on the blog, and now:
Here's the whole, bloomin' garden:
And here's a view of the backyard, which is looking better than it has in years:
My goal is to plan and plant the whole place, so that we have one little square of lawn in the middle of all deliberate plants and features. Every year I talk Sweet Hubby into giving up a little more lawn, in favor of other things. A few years ago it was the rose, lilac, and peach that you see in the left (back) of this photo. This year it was the hostas below those three. Next year I want to take my frenemy rose out of the garden patch and put it in that blank spot near the fence, rooted in our former compost pile. Then I'll train it over an arched trellis, and put a metal bench in front of it. I've always wanted a small water feature back there somewhere too, but I'm re-thinking that now. Water attracts mosquitoes, and they're so bad this year, I'm worried that it's because our local bat population has suffered from white-nose-syndrome related dwindling in their numbers. I'm worried about the bats. And theoretically the bees too, but I'm not feeling their loss yet, the way I feel (itchy) without the bats.
We've had some good days of homeschooling lately, and I've been trying to remind myself to slow down and pay attention, really appreciate what it feels like when things are going 'right'. All too often I *expect* 'right' and ignore it when it happens, then pay a lot of attention to the times that everything seems to go 'wrong'-- anxiously fretting about whether we should be homeschooling at all. On a good day of homeschooling, the big boys are cheerful and willing to do their work, they don't break down in frustration over how 'hard' the math is (or writing, or whatever they're least in the mood for that day). They make connections between the different things they are learning that day, and between what they've learned in the past and the current work. On a good day I am cheerful and clever, thinking of ways to help them through their work before they get frustrated. On a good day Snorzy is able to amuse himself for a while during the big boys' lessons, using his toys and books without whining and without asking for too much extra attention, until it's time for his morning nap.
Snorzy is getting old enough that I'm starting to think it's time for him to have some 'lessons' each day, too. When Primo was a baby I never had to think about it, I just naturally supported his learning by interacting with him over toys and books all day. By the time Radish came along, I had to be more deliberate about it. When he was a little guy, I scheduled some time into his day for 'working' on various skills (I was influenced by the books I read back then about Montessori and her methods). Now Snorzy is a big boy of 15 months old and he seems a little at loose ends throughout his waking hours, and I'm so distracted by the older boys and my own activities that I can easily let a day pass without so much as reading him a book. Luckily, I have plenty of ideas and resources for making his world richer in experiences, I just have to put myself on some kind of schedule like I did with baby Radish. For today, we're going to do a modified version of the 'Age 1, Week 15' activity from June R. Oberlander's Slow and Steady, Get Me Ready. The activity specifies making a simple play house out of a cardboard box, but lacking a big box I'm going to use a pop-up play tent that we've had since Primo was 4. I'll have to keep myself alert to find a good time, after he gets up from his nap.
In other news, look how different my frenemy rose looks, since I let weeks pass between the last time I wrote on the blog, and now:
Here's the whole, bloomin' garden:
And here's a view of the backyard, which is looking better than it has in years:
My goal is to plan and plant the whole place, so that we have one little square of lawn in the middle of all deliberate plants and features. Every year I talk Sweet Hubby into giving up a little more lawn, in favor of other things. A few years ago it was the rose, lilac, and peach that you see in the left (back) of this photo. This year it was the hostas below those three. Next year I want to take my frenemy rose out of the garden patch and put it in that blank spot near the fence, rooted in our former compost pile. Then I'll train it over an arched trellis, and put a metal bench in front of it. I've always wanted a small water feature back there somewhere too, but I'm re-thinking that now. Water attracts mosquitoes, and they're so bad this year, I'm worried that it's because our local bat population has suffered from white-nose-syndrome related dwindling in their numbers. I'm worried about the bats. And theoretically the bees too, but I'm not feeling their loss yet, the way I feel (itchy) without the bats.
Friday, May 30, 2014
Change the Conversation
"If you don't like what's being said, change the conversation." I've been somewhat obsessively watching Mad Men lately, catching up on this series after Sweet Hubby and I took a loooong break from watching (we don't get the channel and have to wait for it to come along on Netflix). I find myself lying awake at night, unable to sleep, thinking about what's going on with the characters and what could happen next. I can't blame Mad Men for my insomnia, I'd be awake anyway-- I just think it's funny that after I go through the catalog of my own worries, I turn to those of the fictional characters I'm most involved with at the moment. Today I was trying to express to a friend what I find so interesting and escapist about this series-- and I realized (aside from the costumes) it's the relationship of the women in the show to motherhood- or rather their complete lack of interest in their children. Even the stay-at-home trophy wives in the show (with one exception) have very little to do with their kids, more interested in their clothes, husbands and affairs. It's not that there are no women on the show, or no mothers, or even no children-- there just aren't mothers who build their lives around their children, even while they are new mothers and the children are adorable babies.
It's little wonder I find this fascinating after a day that starts with waking to the sound of Snorzy's voice in the other room, followed by homeschooling and getting the big guys to their activities all while chasing a very active toddler, through dinnertime and shuffling everyone off to bed-- there isn't a moment of my day that doesn't have to do with my children. And I love it, in fact I love it too much-- I can't seem to wrap my head around doing anything else with my time even though I know I'll probably be mad at myself ten or twenty years from now if I don't go back to school or find a creative outlet or a career now while I'm young(ish).
I haven't been keeping up with this blog because I haven't been keeping up with my self-imposed craft challenge-- as we started our new school year and spring turned warm and wonderful, I just couldn't get excited about making things. The temptation is to start a new blog, the way I used to start a new journal periodically as I felt I was moving into a new phase of my life (starting college, starting a career, starting a family). I've learned though, that what works best for me is to just turn the page and start fresh from where I am, unapologetically. When Primo was small I bought a colorful composition book at the grocery store and started a hybrid journal/scrapbook, over the years I've continued through five of these books (every time I'm afraid I'll run out of colors and have to repeat, I'll find a new one in the stationary aisle), which veer wildly in content as I go through phases of interests-- from fashion and makeup to garden plans and children's parties, preschool play time activites, literature, career planning, homeschooling and travel. I never worry what it's 'about' or whether it fits-- it's just a brain dump, a window into what's going on in my cranium. Never anything very serious, I'm not out to impress anyone with my sophistication!
(the pink one on the left is the original-- started ~November 2002)
And so, this blog. We'll see if I pick up my craft challenge again, maybe when it gets cool or something causes me to get inspired again around making things. I'll never stop writing about homeschooling-- that is, unless I stop homeschooling. Right now stopping is not in the cards, although theoretically I've always said that I'm only committed to homeschooling one year at a time. So, what else will I write about? Stay tuned and see. For today, here is a look at my Fair Acre (um, actually just a fraction of an acre in the middle of a small city)...it seems Mr. Groundhog has moved on, so I'm cautiously planting some baby vegetables this weekend, and hoping he doesn't come back to munch them!
baby kale
my enemies-- I planted two tiny rhododendrons side by side the first spring we lived in the house, and ten years later I've threatened to tear them out nine times
and right next to my enemies, my oldest plant friend-- a Jackmanii Clematis that I planted that same first spring, ten years ago, as a little start ordered from the Kelly Nurseries catalog. The other two varieties that I planted never grew. Every time I think he's done and not coming back, up he pops again!
some happy hostas, my new best friends of the plant world. I love how lush and lettuce-y they are in the spring, and how happy to grow and thrive without any fussing from me.
and, a frenemy-- the wild rose climbing rose in the middle of this shot was a tiny bush donated by a friend years ago. I didn't realize it was a climber, or I wouldn't have put it in my precious sunny patch. He choked out a prettier rose that grew next to him until last fall, and his tendrils catch me as I try to weed and plant in the patch. The roses are tiny and cute and plentiful, but I think it's going to be moving day for this guy, one day soon. For now, I have his longest branches trained up along the fence-- hope they stay that way until I figure out where to put him!
It's little wonder I find this fascinating after a day that starts with waking to the sound of Snorzy's voice in the other room, followed by homeschooling and getting the big guys to their activities all while chasing a very active toddler, through dinnertime and shuffling everyone off to bed-- there isn't a moment of my day that doesn't have to do with my children. And I love it, in fact I love it too much-- I can't seem to wrap my head around doing anything else with my time even though I know I'll probably be mad at myself ten or twenty years from now if I don't go back to school or find a creative outlet or a career now while I'm young(ish).
I haven't been keeping up with this blog because I haven't been keeping up with my self-imposed craft challenge-- as we started our new school year and spring turned warm and wonderful, I just couldn't get excited about making things. The temptation is to start a new blog, the way I used to start a new journal periodically as I felt I was moving into a new phase of my life (starting college, starting a career, starting a family). I've learned though, that what works best for me is to just turn the page and start fresh from where I am, unapologetically. When Primo was small I bought a colorful composition book at the grocery store and started a hybrid journal/scrapbook, over the years I've continued through five of these books (every time I'm afraid I'll run out of colors and have to repeat, I'll find a new one in the stationary aisle), which veer wildly in content as I go through phases of interests-- from fashion and makeup to garden plans and children's parties, preschool play time activites, literature, career planning, homeschooling and travel. I never worry what it's 'about' or whether it fits-- it's just a brain dump, a window into what's going on in my cranium. Never anything very serious, I'm not out to impress anyone with my sophistication!
(the pink one on the left is the original-- started ~November 2002)
And so, this blog. We'll see if I pick up my craft challenge again, maybe when it gets cool or something causes me to get inspired again around making things. I'll never stop writing about homeschooling-- that is, unless I stop homeschooling. Right now stopping is not in the cards, although theoretically I've always said that I'm only committed to homeschooling one year at a time. So, what else will I write about? Stay tuned and see. For today, here is a look at my Fair Acre (um, actually just a fraction of an acre in the middle of a small city)...it seems Mr. Groundhog has moved on, so I'm cautiously planting some baby vegetables this weekend, and hoping he doesn't come back to munch them!
baby kale
my enemies-- I planted two tiny rhododendrons side by side the first spring we lived in the house, and ten years later I've threatened to tear them out nine times
and right next to my enemies, my oldest plant friend-- a Jackmanii Clematis that I planted that same first spring, ten years ago, as a little start ordered from the Kelly Nurseries catalog. The other two varieties that I planted never grew. Every time I think he's done and not coming back, up he pops again!
some happy hostas, my new best friends of the plant world. I love how lush and lettuce-y they are in the spring, and how happy to grow and thrive without any fussing from me.
and, a frenemy-- the wild rose climbing rose in the middle of this shot was a tiny bush donated by a friend years ago. I didn't realize it was a climber, or I wouldn't have put it in my precious sunny patch. He choked out a prettier rose that grew next to him until last fall, and his tendrils catch me as I try to weed and plant in the patch. The roses are tiny and cute and plentiful, but I think it's going to be moving day for this guy, one day soon. For now, I have his longest branches trained up along the fence-- hope they stay that way until I figure out where to put him!
Thursday, May 15, 2014
AWOL
What does it mean when I don't 'find any time' to write on the blog for over two weeks? Well, for one thing it means that the month of 'break' is over and now half my day is taken up with overseeing the boys' lessons. We had gotten into some bad habits of doing very short days of lessons, and I was determined as we started this new 'school year' to nip that in the bud and get back to doing a good, solid morning...and in Primo's case, right on into the early afternoon, of book work. It's going better than I anticipated, I know eventually I'll get some foot-dragging and complaint over the increase in their work, but for now it must feel novel and interesting to them, because they aren't complaining a bit.
Somehow, I can't remember ever feeling so uninspired creatively-- not even in the cold, grey tail end of winter! I've been knitting a little, a very little, just enough that I can tell myself I haven't fallen down on my craft challenge. I don't know what it is-- in this blooming, burgeoning season I ought to be buzzing with ideas. Instead, I'm just biding my time, reading a lot about food (more on that in a minute) and wishing I could start my garden but instead having to wait until we trap and relocate the groundhog living under our shed.
I'd been thinking more about food and health than usual anyway, as I count calories and keep a food log (on the LoseIt! app, which I love and highly recommend) trying to lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight. Then a chance conversation with my dear friend Ariel about the Paleo diet had me hitting up the interlibrary loan for the books It Starts With Food and Eat Like a Dinosaur, the first of those is more radical in terms of what is considered 'good' food-- no grains of any kind, no sugar, nothing that even mimics grain or sugar, only certain oils and fats, no dairy, and lots of high-quality (not factory raised) meat, and (mostly) organic vegetables and fruits. Next I picked up Year of No Sugar, a memoir of a woman who (along with her husband and young daughters) spent a year eating very little sugar.
At first I was convinced, and warned the family that I might ask them to radically change what we eat for a little while. As the days passed, though, I calmed down and realized that we would never be able to stick to any really radical plan, we're just not that kind of family and I in particular am not that kind of mom. However, I've started thinking more about what we eat, and just how many of our meals consist of a grain and some dairy. Without cutting anything out of our diets at all, I've started making little tweaks to our meals and snacks to reduce the amount of sugar and flour that we're eating (somehow I can't wrap my head around giving up dairy, though).
(artichoke & spinach sandwich spread for Snorzy-- without the cream cheese, parmesan, and regular (sugar-containing) mayo, this wouldn't be so delicious!)
So, that is what's been going on for the past couple of weeks since I last wrote-- not a whole lot. I hope my inspiration comes back soon, I know there is nothing I can do to force it-- one day I'll just wake up brimming with plans.
Somehow, I can't remember ever feeling so uninspired creatively-- not even in the cold, grey tail end of winter! I've been knitting a little, a very little, just enough that I can tell myself I haven't fallen down on my craft challenge. I don't know what it is-- in this blooming, burgeoning season I ought to be buzzing with ideas. Instead, I'm just biding my time, reading a lot about food (more on that in a minute) and wishing I could start my garden but instead having to wait until we trap and relocate the groundhog living under our shed.
I'd been thinking more about food and health than usual anyway, as I count calories and keep a food log (on the LoseIt! app, which I love and highly recommend) trying to lose the last 15 pounds of baby weight. Then a chance conversation with my dear friend Ariel about the Paleo diet had me hitting up the interlibrary loan for the books It Starts With Food and Eat Like a Dinosaur, the first of those is more radical in terms of what is considered 'good' food-- no grains of any kind, no sugar, nothing that even mimics grain or sugar, only certain oils and fats, no dairy, and lots of high-quality (not factory raised) meat, and (mostly) organic vegetables and fruits. Next I picked up Year of No Sugar, a memoir of a woman who (along with her husband and young daughters) spent a year eating very little sugar.
At first I was convinced, and warned the family that I might ask them to radically change what we eat for a little while. As the days passed, though, I calmed down and realized that we would never be able to stick to any really radical plan, we're just not that kind of family and I in particular am not that kind of mom. However, I've started thinking more about what we eat, and just how many of our meals consist of a grain and some dairy. Without cutting anything out of our diets at all, I've started making little tweaks to our meals and snacks to reduce the amount of sugar and flour that we're eating (somehow I can't wrap my head around giving up dairy, though).
(artichoke & spinach sandwich spread for Snorzy-- without the cream cheese, parmesan, and regular (sugar-containing) mayo, this wouldn't be so delicious!)
So, that is what's been going on for the past couple of weeks since I last wrote-- not a whole lot. I hope my inspiration comes back soon, I know there is nothing I can do to force it-- one day I'll just wake up brimming with plans.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Growing
Whipping up a grocery bag holder took me less than an hour. I like the result, it's pretty and useful, but more importantly I can see in this craft a number of ways that I've grown as a crafter since beginning my challenge this year. Unlike last year, I can now:
Ways that I'm still trying to grow:
- Read a mention of an object, with no picture to go on, and imagine that I could make it
- Troll Pinterest and find a number of tutorials to make that object
- Skim the tutorials just to find the average dimensions of fabric needed, and the general techniques used
- Compare the techniques and materials used by different crafters in their tutorials and determine which best suit my vision, skills and taste
- Come up with my own ideal measurements, and also realize that with anything other than tailored clothes, these measurements can be fudged a little to suit what I have on hand
- Sew the object, start to finish, using my own common sense and what I remember from the tutorials, without having to go back and reference anything
Ways that I'm still trying to grow:
- as a businesswoman, I want to be better at choosing what to sell for my possible, future 'home baking business'. I'm kicking myself that I bought a bottle of anise just before deciding I don't want to make biscotti after all-- what a waste! And I've spent years baking dozens of recipes each year, and somehow I still can't decide what would be easy & popular enough to make a good home business.
- as a homeschooling mom, I want to be better at finding 'teachable moments' and opportunities to learn together aside from our formal lessons. I don't mean through online videos or websites, either-- we all spend plenty of time staring at screens. This weekend Radish and I plan to plant some seeds in the garden, there's a start anyway. Gardening is a hard sell to Primo, though, I'll have to think of something else to do with him.
Tuesday, April 22, 2014
Late April Updates
Last week turned out to be one of those 'work on Snorzy's sweater' weeks, since Sweet Hubby was on vacation from work and we were too busy having fun for me to want to plan or execute a new craft. I'm totally okay with that because since I can knit only a few rows at a sitting, this sweater is going to take forever to complete! For this week, I'm going to sew a plastic bag caddy as my project. I found a bunch of tutorials on Pinterest, now I just have to narrow down which one I like best, and get to work.
This is our last full week of our April break from lessons, we'll get back to it next Thursday when May begins (can't believe it's already almost May! This year is flying by!). I've previewed most of the curricula that we're going to use, and I'm cautiously optimistic that the kids will like the new things. Primo will be using History Odyssey, which references Henrik Van Loon's Story of Mankind as a textbook. Last night I started reading reviews of SOM on Goodreads, and overall they were positive but some people criticized the book and said they would never use it with children. I've started reading it myself, but I'm not enough of a history buff to know if the history is accurate and comprehensive (I guess I'll have to get Sweet Hubby, history teacher that he is, to read it too).
I'm still in the 'product testing' phase of looking into starting a home baking business. I tried out biscotti but found them too fussy to make, with too much waste (added to that, I noticed that there is another small business that makes biscotti just a few towns over, and I think that not having an Italian name or heritage might be a drawback). Now I'm planning to bake some chocolate oatmeal cookies, costing out the recipe and giving it to testers to see if it would be a tempting enough product to sell in local shops. Lovely Mother suggested I make something pretty, but I'm not sure I want to sell quantities of things that have to be carefully crafted and fussed over.
This is our last full week of our April break from lessons, we'll get back to it next Thursday when May begins (can't believe it's already almost May! This year is flying by!). I've previewed most of the curricula that we're going to use, and I'm cautiously optimistic that the kids will like the new things. Primo will be using History Odyssey, which references Henrik Van Loon's Story of Mankind as a textbook. Last night I started reading reviews of SOM on Goodreads, and overall they were positive but some people criticized the book and said they would never use it with children. I've started reading it myself, but I'm not enough of a history buff to know if the history is accurate and comprehensive (I guess I'll have to get Sweet Hubby, history teacher that he is, to read it too).
I'm still in the 'product testing' phase of looking into starting a home baking business. I tried out biscotti but found them too fussy to make, with too much waste (added to that, I noticed that there is another small business that makes biscotti just a few towns over, and I think that not having an Italian name or heritage might be a drawback). Now I'm planning to bake some chocolate oatmeal cookies, costing out the recipe and giving it to testers to see if it would be a tempting enough product to sell in local shops. Lovely Mother suggested I make something pretty, but I'm not sure I want to sell quantities of things that have to be carefully crafted and fussed over.
Monday, April 14, 2014
Shirring, and April Musings
As I mentioned in my last post, this week's craft was the Shirt Skirt from the blog Sew Like My Mom...an opportunity for me to try out elastic thread and shirring. I read a few tutorials first, so luckily I knew this was going to be a bit of a pain-- from winding the elastic thread on a bobbin by hand, to holding the material flat as I sewed so that it would come out right and not too bunched up. It worked ok, but this was the first of the things that I've made this year that I've been unhappy about-- I don't know if I'll use this skirt. Here are some mistakes I made, that made this a little unlikely to make it into the wardrobe rotation:
1. the T-shirt I chose at Goodwill was new (leftovers from Target), soft, and a good color of grey...but not very thick, or well made. I ripped a tiny hole in it when I started sewing and had to stop, cut off half an inch, and start again. I should have been as much concerned with the quality of the T-shirt as the color.
2. there is a ruffley bit at the top because I left a good 1/4 inch edge when I began, fearful of going any closer to the top. The directions said 1/8 inch, but I forgot that until I sewed all the way around and saw the ruffle appear.
3. the directions said to do 12-15 rows of shirring but I got bored/worried about running out of elastic thread and having to wind another bobbin (I was already on my second one, that was all I prepped ahead of time) and stopped at 11. After steaming the elastic it shrunk down and got a little stretchy, but it doesn't grip me tightly and I'd be worried this skirt would fall down if I wore it in public. Maybe it would have been more grippy if I had gone for a few more rows of shirring.
This one I *won't* be modeling for the blog! Above you can barely see the dots of green and purple on this light heathered grey skirt, it's hard to see from this picture why the material of the t-shirt tempted me in the first place.
This close-up gives a better idea of the material and the shirring-- I'm glad I tried it anyway, and I would try another one with a better t-shirt (maybe extra long, but not men's XL?) and maybe better quality elastic thread too. I had to buy Dritz as that was all they had at my local store, and only afterward read in the comments of a tutorial on shirring that Dritz is the worst for this use. Oh well.
In other news, we're almost halfway through our month-long 'break' from homeschooling-- although it's not a complete break, as things like Debate class and piano lessons are still going on, as well as physics experiments with the 4-H club which the boys just joined and some lessons with our 'tiny co-op' on Fridays with our good friends. This month off has gotten me thinking again (this crops up every couple of years) about doing a home-based baking business, selling cookies through local stores. I'm not sure if I can really manage it on top of the homeschooling (not just the lessons, but the driving all over for activities) and keeping up with a toddler. This month I feel like it would be possible, but I might just be thinking so because right now we're on break and my days are not over-full. Then again, I recently read an article in a magazine (maybe Redbook? I can't remember) about having a bunch of mini jobs, less than part time, instead of a full time job or even two part-time jobs. It felt like a revelation when I read that, because I tend to do things "all or nothing' in some ways, and it never occurred to me before that I could work a little of this and a little of that, and make money and keep myself occupied without having to compromise what I'm doing with the boys. So, instead of imagining that I could either have a huge, busy, thriving home-based business, or not do it at all-- what if I only sold to one or two outlets, and didn't have to spend too many hours a week on the business? The big boys are five years older than they were when I started looking into having a food business (I took a class about it in 2009)...they could be genuinely helpful (not in the cooking, but advertising, delivering, accounting) rather than just cute little sidekicks. They're actually really excited about me starting a baking business, it motivates me to try because I don't want to disappoint them. My family is so touchingly invested in seeing me do something besides just be the mom, it's nice. Or insulting, wait-- are they trying to get rid of me?
1. the T-shirt I chose at Goodwill was new (leftovers from Target), soft, and a good color of grey...but not very thick, or well made. I ripped a tiny hole in it when I started sewing and had to stop, cut off half an inch, and start again. I should have been as much concerned with the quality of the T-shirt as the color.
2. there is a ruffley bit at the top because I left a good 1/4 inch edge when I began, fearful of going any closer to the top. The directions said 1/8 inch, but I forgot that until I sewed all the way around and saw the ruffle appear.
3. the directions said to do 12-15 rows of shirring but I got bored/worried about running out of elastic thread and having to wind another bobbin (I was already on my second one, that was all I prepped ahead of time) and stopped at 11. After steaming the elastic it shrunk down and got a little stretchy, but it doesn't grip me tightly and I'd be worried this skirt would fall down if I wore it in public. Maybe it would have been more grippy if I had gone for a few more rows of shirring.
This one I *won't* be modeling for the blog! Above you can barely see the dots of green and purple on this light heathered grey skirt, it's hard to see from this picture why the material of the t-shirt tempted me in the first place.
This close-up gives a better idea of the material and the shirring-- I'm glad I tried it anyway, and I would try another one with a better t-shirt (maybe extra long, but not men's XL?) and maybe better quality elastic thread too. I had to buy Dritz as that was all they had at my local store, and only afterward read in the comments of a tutorial on shirring that Dritz is the worst for this use. Oh well.
In other news, we're almost halfway through our month-long 'break' from homeschooling-- although it's not a complete break, as things like Debate class and piano lessons are still going on, as well as physics experiments with the 4-H club which the boys just joined and some lessons with our 'tiny co-op' on Fridays with our good friends. This month off has gotten me thinking again (this crops up every couple of years) about doing a home-based baking business, selling cookies through local stores. I'm not sure if I can really manage it on top of the homeschooling (not just the lessons, but the driving all over for activities) and keeping up with a toddler. This month I feel like it would be possible, but I might just be thinking so because right now we're on break and my days are not over-full. Then again, I recently read an article in a magazine (maybe Redbook? I can't remember) about having a bunch of mini jobs, less than part time, instead of a full time job or even two part-time jobs. It felt like a revelation when I read that, because I tend to do things "all or nothing' in some ways, and it never occurred to me before that I could work a little of this and a little of that, and make money and keep myself occupied without having to compromise what I'm doing with the boys. So, instead of imagining that I could either have a huge, busy, thriving home-based business, or not do it at all-- what if I only sold to one or two outlets, and didn't have to spend too many hours a week on the business? The big boys are five years older than they were when I started looking into having a food business (I took a class about it in 2009)...they could be genuinely helpful (not in the cooking, but advertising, delivering, accounting) rather than just cute little sidekicks. They're actually really excited about me starting a baking business, it motivates me to try because I don't want to disappoint them. My family is so touchingly invested in seeing me do something besides just be the mom, it's nice. Or insulting, wait-- are they trying to get rid of me?
Saturday, April 5, 2014
April Update
We are on our 'April Break' from lessons right now, and I think I agree with Radish that this is the best of our three annual breaks, because it falls in the spring. The idea of taking a break in changeable April is that we can pick up and run out the door whenever the sun comes out, instead of having to finish math or some such.
So, you might think that since we're on break, my craft challenge projects must be humming along. Um, no. Last week I did *nothing*-- just couldn't get inspired to make anything. This week was in danger of being more of the same, and derailing my challenge, until I had a conversation with Lovely Mother about crafting and inspiration, and remembered that 'when in doubt', I can always work on Snorzy's rainbow sweater. I was stuck on that one, once again, this time just because it was time to switch from the trim color to the main color.
Once I worked a little on the sweater (and I mean a *little*, I picked it up near the end of nap time so I had about 5 minutes before I heard Snorzy crying), I got out of my rut and the next thing I knew, I had two ideas for sewing projects. I can thank my friend Jen F. for the first one: she repinned one of my Pinterest pins, from my Sewing board, and I realized this is what I want to make, next week! It's a 'shirt skirt', made from a men's XL t-shirt, from the blog Sew Like My Mom (I feel like I've made something from her blog before, but I can't think of what). This skirt involves shirring and elastic thread, two things I've never done/used. Here's my sweet spot for sewing projects: things from tutorials that don't require paper patterns, about which the writer of the tutorial says something along the lines of "this can be made in an hour!", yet which also involve techniques or materials that I've never used. This project hits that spot.
Also, I was reading the free magazine from Hannaford supermarket, Fresh, this morning while on hold with the phone company about our lack of dial tone, and found inspiration there, too (it comes from the weirdest places, and at the unlikeliest times)! I haven't looked up a tutorial yet, but I know I've seen them-- for a cloth bag to hold plastic bags from the store until we can take them to be recycled. Dull, tiny, simple, yet useful and will reduce the clutter in the house rather than adding to it-- fits the bill for my craft challenge.
In other news, the Big Homeschool Buy is done and delivered-- I had to move books around to different bookshelves to clear out a shelf in the dining room for all of this coming year's homeschooling materials. I'm excited about some, intimidated by others, and realizing I need to take some time this month while we're on break to read, and write some lesson plans. The best part was that the boys spontaneously picked up a few of the books each, read a little, and declared them good. The one I'm currently the most intimidated by/excited about (yes, both) is a unit study called Microscope Adventure. It's like nothing we've used before.
Tuesday, March 25, 2014
Happy Spring Chef's Apron
For my craft project this week, I made a chef's apron with the happy spring fabric that was included in the box of fabric my mom sent recently. I had thought about using this piece for the oven mitt, but concluded at the last minute before cutting it out that it would be a waste because a) this piece was too big for such a little project and b) the charming print would have been obscured by the quilting.
After wracking my brains for an outdoor use for this (somehow that would have seemed more spring-y to me, to actually use the 'sunshine and blue skies' fabric while outdoors), I gave up and decided to make the simplest big, wearable thing I could come up with-- an apron.
One of these days I'd like to make a pretty little frou-frou apron, or one of those tricky ones that looks kind of like a dress. But for my first one, I went simple-- a chef's apron. I consulted some blogs, but couldn't find an example of one that was adjustable using jump rings, like the one I had hanging in my kitchen-- a nice manly apron that my lovely mother had sewn for Sweet Hubby. So, after gleaning as much info as I could from these tutorials: Once Apron A Time and Kathy's Cottage Easy Apron , I went ahead and got started, and when I got to the bit about the top I just reverse-engineered Sweet Hubby's apron and figured out how Lovely Mother made it with the rings for adjusting.
The whole project, start to finish, took only three nap times: one for cutting the big pieces and the pockets, one for cutting the strips for the ties, making the ties and sewing on the pockets, and one more for sewing together the two sides, pressing and topstitching. (I love topstitching-- I didn't even know what it was, before the Bunny Lovey project, and now it's my favorite part of sewing) Several parts of this project were new and adventuresome for me: cutting out the pieces using my rotary cutter (even the big bits, even the curves), making pockets (I was trying for rounded ones on the yellow 'B side', but they looked funny once I sewed them on so I folded down the tops and pressed them, making them look like envelopes rather than half circles), the aforementioned reverse-engineering (so proud of myself for figuring something out without explicit instructions! and I didn't even break down and call Lovely Mother or Ariel for advice, like I usually do!).
I wish I had taken more photos while this was in progress, but I every time I work on a craft project I feel like I'm racing the clock, one ear cocked to hear if baby is done with his nap.
Here are the pockets and ties:
Look what came in handy, as I sewed around the whole edge of the two layers!
Here is the 'A side', just before pressing and topstitching:
And here I am, modeling the 'A side', then 'B side', then the ties in the back (which were not as long as I wanted them, but I ran out of fabric and couldn't make them longer)
I had thought I would like a big pocket on the chest (not down lower, I don't want to look like a kangaroo), but now I wish I had made it smaller, or made little hip pockets like the ones on the 'B side' instead. Oh well! I was completely improvising all the pockets, I'm lucky they didn't come out even more wildly wrong than this. Also, if you look closely you can see where I had to fold up a little bit of the fabric before tying, to make this fit. I used my Sweet Hubby's big apron as a pattern, and I was afraid if I tried to guess how to make it smaller, I would make it too small. That's okay, I'd rather a big, voluminous apron that needs a little fold to fit, than a titchy apron that I'd never use.
One last photo: here's my new pretty apron hung up on the kitchen coat rack, next to Sweet Hubby's old manly apron. Aw, aprons in love!
What next? I have no idea!
After wracking my brains for an outdoor use for this (somehow that would have seemed more spring-y to me, to actually use the 'sunshine and blue skies' fabric while outdoors), I gave up and decided to make the simplest big, wearable thing I could come up with-- an apron.
One of these days I'd like to make a pretty little frou-frou apron, or one of those tricky ones that looks kind of like a dress. But for my first one, I went simple-- a chef's apron. I consulted some blogs, but couldn't find an example of one that was adjustable using jump rings, like the one I had hanging in my kitchen-- a nice manly apron that my lovely mother had sewn for Sweet Hubby. So, after gleaning as much info as I could from these tutorials: Once Apron A Time and Kathy's Cottage Easy Apron , I went ahead and got started, and when I got to the bit about the top I just reverse-engineered Sweet Hubby's apron and figured out how Lovely Mother made it with the rings for adjusting.
The whole project, start to finish, took only three nap times: one for cutting the big pieces and the pockets, one for cutting the strips for the ties, making the ties and sewing on the pockets, and one more for sewing together the two sides, pressing and topstitching. (I love topstitching-- I didn't even know what it was, before the Bunny Lovey project, and now it's my favorite part of sewing) Several parts of this project were new and adventuresome for me: cutting out the pieces using my rotary cutter (even the big bits, even the curves), making pockets (I was trying for rounded ones on the yellow 'B side', but they looked funny once I sewed them on so I folded down the tops and pressed them, making them look like envelopes rather than half circles), the aforementioned reverse-engineering (so proud of myself for figuring something out without explicit instructions! and I didn't even break down and call Lovely Mother or Ariel for advice, like I usually do!).
I wish I had taken more photos while this was in progress, but I every time I work on a craft project I feel like I'm racing the clock, one ear cocked to hear if baby is done with his nap.
Here are the pockets and ties:
Look what came in handy, as I sewed around the whole edge of the two layers!
Here is the 'A side', just before pressing and topstitching:
And here I am, modeling the 'A side', then 'B side', then the ties in the back (which were not as long as I wanted them, but I ran out of fabric and couldn't make them longer)
I had thought I would like a big pocket on the chest (not down lower, I don't want to look like a kangaroo), but now I wish I had made it smaller, or made little hip pockets like the ones on the 'B side' instead. Oh well! I was completely improvising all the pockets, I'm lucky they didn't come out even more wildly wrong than this. Also, if you look closely you can see where I had to fold up a little bit of the fabric before tying, to make this fit. I used my Sweet Hubby's big apron as a pattern, and I was afraid if I tried to guess how to make it smaller, I would make it too small. That's okay, I'd rather a big, voluminous apron that needs a little fold to fit, than a titchy apron that I'd never use.
One last photo: here's my new pretty apron hung up on the kitchen coat rack, next to Sweet Hubby's old manly apron. Aw, aprons in love!
What next? I have no idea!
Friday, March 21, 2014
Thoughts on Testing
I wonder if public school teachers ever feel guilty about spending class time on 'test prep', or if they don't have any feelings about it because so much about the whole testing situation in schools is out of the teachers' hands.
Every year since Primo was in first grade I've ended our school year with a standardized test (we use the CAT-E), even though here in our state we only need to report test scores to the local district in 5th, 7th, and 9th-12th grades. So these tests that I give them each year are just for practice (at the end of Primo's first grade year it was also because I was a little curious/worried about how our homeschool measured up compared to public school), with no consequences attached either for them or for me as their teacher. This year is not a reporting year for either of my big boys, and even if it was I would have no concerns about their scores being below the percentile that they need to meet or exceed as homeschoolers.
So, why? Why do I buy test prep books and spend a precious week of our school year having them run through exercises on topics that we haven't covered, or haven't covered in much depth? I reassure myself that it is mainly so that they don't feel nervous or frustrated when they see those topics pop up on next week's test. Also, it's good for me to know (by giving them the practice tests in the prep book) which areas they are weak in, in case I want to incorporate any of it into our new school year (for example, I found to my surprise that both boys could use a refresher on literary genres). In a way, it's even fun-- these are, by definition, things we have not spent a lot of time on before, so they are fresh and new in a way that none of their other lessons would be, in this penultimate week of our school year.
And yet. I have a niggling fear in the back of my mind that 'prepping' them for the test has something to do with my pleasure when I open their test results and see that they did very well in all sections of the exam. It doesn't matter, doesn't give an accurate picture of them as students or certainly not as people. But I've come to like seeing those high scores, and I'm afraid I would be disappointed if they didn't do as well, one of these years.
Just to be clear, they love the testing itself--they're amused by the formality of standardized testing, they think it's funny when I read the script word-for-word and time them (it probably helps that they are good at testing, and rarely run up against the time limits). When Primo was six, in first grade, and we completed his first CAT-E exam, he turned to me and said, "You're the best teacher, Mama, and I love homeschooling". Traumatized by testing, these kids are not. They don't even seem to mind the test prep.
It just feels to me almost like cheating, to do anything at all to get them ready for the test instead of just giving it to them cold, after going about our usual business up until testing day.
I think I'm thinking too much about this. To make myself feel better, I'll enumerate some things I *don't* do:
1. look at the contents of the actual CAT-E exam in advance, in order to truly 'teach to the test'
2. teach to the test in general, throughout our school year
3. help the kids during the test in any way, or give them extra time
Maybe one of these years I'll be brave, and just hand them the tests without a minute of prep. Maybe next year.
Every year since Primo was in first grade I've ended our school year with a standardized test (we use the CAT-E), even though here in our state we only need to report test scores to the local district in 5th, 7th, and 9th-12th grades. So these tests that I give them each year are just for practice (at the end of Primo's first grade year it was also because I was a little curious/worried about how our homeschool measured up compared to public school), with no consequences attached either for them or for me as their teacher. This year is not a reporting year for either of my big boys, and even if it was I would have no concerns about their scores being below the percentile that they need to meet or exceed as homeschoolers.
So, why? Why do I buy test prep books and spend a precious week of our school year having them run through exercises on topics that we haven't covered, or haven't covered in much depth? I reassure myself that it is mainly so that they don't feel nervous or frustrated when they see those topics pop up on next week's test. Also, it's good for me to know (by giving them the practice tests in the prep book) which areas they are weak in, in case I want to incorporate any of it into our new school year (for example, I found to my surprise that both boys could use a refresher on literary genres). In a way, it's even fun-- these are, by definition, things we have not spent a lot of time on before, so they are fresh and new in a way that none of their other lessons would be, in this penultimate week of our school year.
And yet. I have a niggling fear in the back of my mind that 'prepping' them for the test has something to do with my pleasure when I open their test results and see that they did very well in all sections of the exam. It doesn't matter, doesn't give an accurate picture of them as students or certainly not as people. But I've come to like seeing those high scores, and I'm afraid I would be disappointed if they didn't do as well, one of these years.
Just to be clear, they love the testing itself--they're amused by the formality of standardized testing, they think it's funny when I read the script word-for-word and time them (it probably helps that they are good at testing, and rarely run up against the time limits). When Primo was six, in first grade, and we completed his first CAT-E exam, he turned to me and said, "You're the best teacher, Mama, and I love homeschooling". Traumatized by testing, these kids are not. They don't even seem to mind the test prep.
It just feels to me almost like cheating, to do anything at all to get them ready for the test instead of just giving it to them cold, after going about our usual business up until testing day.
I think I'm thinking too much about this. To make myself feel better, I'll enumerate some things I *don't* do:
1. look at the contents of the actual CAT-E exam in advance, in order to truly 'teach to the test'
2. teach to the test in general, throughout our school year
3. help the kids during the test in any way, or give them extra time
Maybe one of these years I'll be brave, and just hand them the tests without a minute of prep. Maybe next year.
Oven Mitt Part Two
Well, I almost loved this oven mitt project. At the last minute it turned into a bit of hand sewing, to attach the 'cuff' that hides the cut edges at the bottom. The tutorial didn't specify hand sewing, but in the comments section several people said they couldn't do it with their machines (nor could I-- it just didn't fit on there)-- so at least I wasn't alone! I don't like hand sewing, I'm not very good at it and my stitches look like they were done by a child. Now I'm debating whether I'll make another of these, knowing that it will end in hand sewing.
Monday, March 17, 2014
Oven Mitt Part One
I was determined to make something this week, other than excuses. I'm still trying to keep this craft challenge from filling my house up with worthless (though pretty) mess, so I settled on something that I needed anyway-- a new oven mitt (I have only one pair, which were ugly to begin with and now are also burnt and worn through in places, they have begun to let heat through-- ouch). I found a 'hot pad and oven mitt' round-up on Pinterest (see here) and chose a simple glove style mitt, tutorial here.
Another sub-goal of my challenge is to use up the craft supplies I have lying around, whenever possible, instead of buying more. I went through my fabric stash and found some pretty-enough cotton to use as the main fabric and liner. All I had to buy was some Insul-Brite insulated batting, and heavy duty needles to sew through all these layers!
Cutting the layers was quick and fun-- using the rotary cutter reminds me of quilting, which I love the best of all sewing (if only quilts didn't take so much of everything-- fabric, time, money, space). I didn't bother cutting out exactly 9 x 15 as the directions say, my fabric scraps were already around 11 x 18 and I didn't waste time cutting off the little bit extra.
Above are the layers, with the lining fabric face up (only after I started this project did I fall in love with that fabric a little and wish that it wasn't about to disappear inside an oven mitt). The darker pink is for the bottom edge. Next I quilted one half (so, one whole sandwich of outer, cotton batting, insulated batting and lining) with diagonals of whatever thread happened to be in my machine. I thought this step would go faster than it did, and that I could finish the project today, but instead I think I'll just get around to quilting the other half.
More to follow when I get this finished up. When I started this project I chose a different fabric for the outer, but while ironing it I realized I had quite a big piece, and I didn't want to waste it on a tiny little quilted thing like this oven mitt. In fact, I wish I could think of something easy to make that we would use outdoors, because the print is so happy and evocative of spring. I'm stumped though-- what can I sew with this piece of fabric, not sure the size but I think less than a yard, which I can then use outside in the spring? Help me with this if you have an idea, otherwise I've got next week's project decided already-- an apron.
Here's the fabric, my current crush:
Another sub-goal of my challenge is to use up the craft supplies I have lying around, whenever possible, instead of buying more. I went through my fabric stash and found some pretty-enough cotton to use as the main fabric and liner. All I had to buy was some Insul-Brite insulated batting, and heavy duty needles to sew through all these layers!
Cutting the layers was quick and fun-- using the rotary cutter reminds me of quilting, which I love the best of all sewing (if only quilts didn't take so much of everything-- fabric, time, money, space). I didn't bother cutting out exactly 9 x 15 as the directions say, my fabric scraps were already around 11 x 18 and I didn't waste time cutting off the little bit extra.
Above are the layers, with the lining fabric face up (only after I started this project did I fall in love with that fabric a little and wish that it wasn't about to disappear inside an oven mitt). The darker pink is for the bottom edge. Next I quilted one half (so, one whole sandwich of outer, cotton batting, insulated batting and lining) with diagonals of whatever thread happened to be in my machine. I thought this step would go faster than it did, and that I could finish the project today, but instead I think I'll just get around to quilting the other half.
More to follow when I get this finished up. When I started this project I chose a different fabric for the outer, but while ironing it I realized I had quite a big piece, and I didn't want to waste it on a tiny little quilted thing like this oven mitt. In fact, I wish I could think of something easy to make that we would use outdoors, because the print is so happy and evocative of spring. I'm stumped though-- what can I sew with this piece of fabric, not sure the size but I think less than a yard, which I can then use outside in the spring? Help me with this if you have an idea, otherwise I've got next week's project decided already-- an apron.
Here's the fabric, my current crush:
Monday, March 10, 2014
Challenge Update
For this past year, I gave myself an unofficial challenge (unofficial because I wasn't yet blogging, to make it official ;), to finally figure out how to make a delicious, light cake. I'm a bakestress, and know my way around cookies of all types, yeast breads, quick breads and muffins, rolls, and many other confections. Somehow I just couldn't wrap my head (or hands) around baking a cake that didn't turn out dense, heavy and unpleasant to eat. My challenge then: learn how to bake a good cake by the time Snorzy's first birthday rolled around. Up until late in February I didn't think I would be successful-- throughout the year, for every occasion and sometimes no occasion, I baked cake after cake, following all the advice I could find online and in books. Still, each of my cakes turned out a bland brick. Finally, I had a partial success with the Birthday Chocolate Cake from The Mom 100 by Katie Workman-- I made it for my father's birthday on February 19th, and it baked up perfect at first, and then got a little heavier when I put it in the fridge.
For Snorzy's birthday I made Zoe's Cupcakes from C is for Cooking (the Sesame Street cookbook), after a friend came over for dinner one night bringing those and they were the most delicious homemade cake I've had *ever*-- and from a kid's cookbook no less! I think the secret to baking a tender cake for someone like me who just doesn't naturally have the touch with cakes is this: lots of dairy. I used whole milk plain yogurt (the recipe called for a full cup, and this in addition to butter, not instead), and they came out soft and pillowy. I also re-visited the chocolate cake from the Mom 100 (speaking of dairy, it calls for both sour cream and whole milk in addition to two sticks of butter) being even more careful to get all my ingredients room temperature and not over-mixing (my downfalls as a bakestress are absolutely over-mixing and over-baking), the cupcakes turned out lovely underneath but with overdone crunchy cookie-like tops, despite the fact that I baked them for 1 minute less than the minimum time given-- I think it's time to invest in an oven thermometer. Overall, I was pleased with my progress, and now I believe that I can bake a yummy cake whenever one is called for (though I still would like to learn how to make a perfect butter cake, without all the added dairy).
All this by way of saying-- I can rise to a challenge, even when I don't do so well with it at first.
After a good start on my craft challenge, here have been my contributions to it for the past few weeks:
1. skipped, trying to believe that 'making' the list of curricula we'll use for the year really counts as making something
2. cast on and knit the first few rows of the right, front panel of Snorzy's rainbow sweater-- another case (as when I finished the back panel) of using my challenge to motivate a dull little piece of a project that otherwise would have caused me to stall
3. used my craft time to send all the pictures in my phone to Walgreens so that I can print them and 'make' photo albums-- I don't know what other people do with their pictures, but I feel like I need an actual, paper photo record of every important moment (and some cute, less-important moments) of my children's lives
So now, I'm determined to actually, factually, un-ironically, make something in the upcoming week, start to finish, using yarn or fabric or art supplies. Wish me luck and a visit from a muse, pictures to follow.
For Snorzy's birthday I made Zoe's Cupcakes from C is for Cooking (the Sesame Street cookbook), after a friend came over for dinner one night bringing those and they were the most delicious homemade cake I've had *ever*-- and from a kid's cookbook no less! I think the secret to baking a tender cake for someone like me who just doesn't naturally have the touch with cakes is this: lots of dairy. I used whole milk plain yogurt (the recipe called for a full cup, and this in addition to butter, not instead), and they came out soft and pillowy. I also re-visited the chocolate cake from the Mom 100 (speaking of dairy, it calls for both sour cream and whole milk in addition to two sticks of butter) being even more careful to get all my ingredients room temperature and not over-mixing (my downfalls as a bakestress are absolutely over-mixing and over-baking), the cupcakes turned out lovely underneath but with overdone crunchy cookie-like tops, despite the fact that I baked them for 1 minute less than the minimum time given-- I think it's time to invest in an oven thermometer. Overall, I was pleased with my progress, and now I believe that I can bake a yummy cake whenever one is called for (though I still would like to learn how to make a perfect butter cake, without all the added dairy).
All this by way of saying-- I can rise to a challenge, even when I don't do so well with it at first.
After a good start on my craft challenge, here have been my contributions to it for the past few weeks:
1. skipped, trying to believe that 'making' the list of curricula we'll use for the year really counts as making something
2. cast on and knit the first few rows of the right, front panel of Snorzy's rainbow sweater-- another case (as when I finished the back panel) of using my challenge to motivate a dull little piece of a project that otherwise would have caused me to stall
3. used my craft time to send all the pictures in my phone to Walgreens so that I can print them and 'make' photo albums-- I don't know what other people do with their pictures, but I feel like I need an actual, paper photo record of every important moment (and some cute, less-important moments) of my children's lives
So now, I'm determined to actually, factually, un-ironically, make something in the upcoming week, start to finish, using yarn or fabric or art supplies. Wish me luck and a visit from a muse, pictures to follow.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
The Big Buy
Every year around this time we get a tax refund, and it's time once again to make our big homeschool purchase. The project of deciding what books and supplies we need for the coming school year has been consuming all of my spare time for the past week and more. It was a little more work than usual; in the past I've mostly just ordered the next book in each of the series that I've liked over the years. This year, though, I felt a need to make things more challenging and comprehensive for Primo, as he goes into 7th grade. And after six years of trying to put together something on my own for science that I can be happy with, I'm going to cave and try a textbook-based curriculum for Primo. I think I've almost settled on what we're getting (for all the boys and all the subjects) after *many, many hours* researching various curricula, previewing books through interlibrary loan, reading reviews, and taking stock of what we already have (and what sorts of things I buy and then find we never use-- that's right, I'm talking about you, art supplies). This may change a bit, there's no hurry to order since we won't start our new school year until May 1st. Here it is then, for anyone who is curious:
Math:
Singapore 5A/5B workbooks (Radish, he won't need them until early 2015 but I like to have everything I'll need for the next 12 months when I place my order)
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra: Zillions of Practice Problems (both of these for Primo)
Learning Wrap-Ups: Multiplication (Radish)
History and Geography:
History Odyssey- Early Modern (Level 2) (for Primo, but some of the literature units I'll use for Radish as well)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
Yo, Sacramento!
The Little Man in the Map (these last three mostly for Radish, to work on memorization)
Science:
Holt Science And Technology, Life Science, Homeschool Package (Primo)
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (both)
Microscope Adventure! Unit Study (both)
World of the Microscope (both)
ScienceWiz DNA (kit, for both)
Bridges! (mostly Radish, although I think Primo won't be able to resist 'helping' with some of the projects and experiments)
spring scale (Radish, needs for Steck-Vaughn Science by the Grade, which we already own)
English:
Daily Grams 4th Grade (Radish)
Daily Grams 7th Grade (Primo)
Practical Arts:
Life Skills for Kids (Primo)
Art:
1-2-3 Draw People (Radish)
Philosophy:
Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition (both)
Planning for High School and Beyond:
Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook (me)
College Without High School (Primo, very unschool-y but I want him to be exposed to these ideas)
Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (me)
Homeschooling the Teen Years (me, on the fence about this one because it's the same author as the Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook above, might be repetitive)
Snorzy, toddling at home:
water table
My Fairy Princess Palace (because I want it, and he'll want me to play with him, and this is the compromise we're going to come to-- I'll play with him, if we can play things that I like and am usually deprived of in my boy-centric world)
So there you have it, and that's what's been eating all my time lately. (don't ask about the craft challenge, I had to let it slide this past week or go crazy! hoping to continue the sweater project as this week's 'craft')
Math:
Singapore 5A/5B workbooks (Radish, he won't need them until early 2015 but I like to have everything I'll need for the next 12 months when I place my order)
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Expanded Edition
Life of Fred Beginning Algebra: Zillions of Practice Problems (both of these for Primo)
Learning Wrap-Ups: Multiplication (Radish)
History and Geography:
History Odyssey- Early Modern (Level 2) (for Primo, but some of the literature units I'll use for Radish as well)
Yo, Millard Fillmore!
Yo, Sacramento!
The Little Man in the Map (these last three mostly for Radish, to work on memorization)
Science:
Holt Science And Technology, Life Science, Homeschool Package (Primo)
Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia (both)
Microscope Adventure! Unit Study (both)
World of the Microscope (both)
ScienceWiz DNA (kit, for both)
Bridges! (mostly Radish, although I think Primo won't be able to resist 'helping' with some of the projects and experiments)
spring scale (Radish, needs for Steck-Vaughn Science by the Grade, which we already own)
English:
Daily Grams 4th Grade (Radish)
Daily Grams 7th Grade (Primo)
Practical Arts:
Life Skills for Kids (Primo)
Art:
1-2-3 Draw People (Radish)
Philosophy:
Thank You For Arguing, Revised and Updated Edition (both)
Planning for High School and Beyond:
Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook (me)
College Without High School (Primo, very unschool-y but I want him to be exposed to these ideas)
Setting the Records Straight: How to Craft Homeschool Transcripts and Course Descriptions for College Admission and Scholarships (me)
Homeschooling the Teen Years (me, on the fence about this one because it's the same author as the Homeschoolers' College Admissions Handbook above, might be repetitive)
Snorzy, toddling at home:
water table
My Fairy Princess Palace (because I want it, and he'll want me to play with him, and this is the compromise we're going to come to-- I'll play with him, if we can play things that I like and am usually deprived of in my boy-centric world)
So there you have it, and that's what's been eating all my time lately. (don't ask about the craft challenge, I had to let it slide this past week or go crazy! hoping to continue the sweater project as this week's 'craft')
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Pyramid Bean Bags
I'm feeling a little more inspired around the craft challenge this week, since my lovely mother sent me a big box chock full of colorful, patterned fabric remnants from her stash, as well as a bunch of spools of colorful thread. This week I used some of that bounty and made these pyramid bean bags, as a birthday present for Snorzy (I made a second set at the same time for a little friend, so each set has 5 bean bags in two different fabrics). I found these on Pinterest as 'pattern weights', which would also be useful next time I sew something with a pattern since I hate pinning.
The very clear and easy tutorial is here, on a blog called Five Green Acres. In order to close these up with the beans (I used split peas) inside, I had to use a blind stitch. I have tried to do a blind stitch before, but this time I found a good tutorial here, at Positively Splendid (the directions are for a pillow, this was the same idea but in miniature), and really managed to do it well. Next time we finish a box of tissues I'm going to convert the box into a little storage case/bean bag toss game to go with these. Then I'll be all set with a handmade gift for Snorzy's birthday! I hope he'll like them, I think he will if Radish's reaction is any indication-- he couldn't stop fooling around with these until I put them away.
The very clear and easy tutorial is here, on a blog called Five Green Acres. In order to close these up with the beans (I used split peas) inside, I had to use a blind stitch. I have tried to do a blind stitch before, but this time I found a good tutorial here, at Positively Splendid (the directions are for a pillow, this was the same idea but in miniature), and really managed to do it well. Next time we finish a box of tissues I'm going to convert the box into a little storage case/bean bag toss game to go with these. Then I'll be all set with a handmade gift for Snorzy's birthday! I hope he'll like them, I think he will if Radish's reaction is any indication-- he couldn't stop fooling around with these until I put them away.
Tuesday, February 11, 2014
Struggling in February
This time of year is the pits, every year at this time I get at least a little fed up with everything. Many years I entertain the idea of sending the kids to school, in February, but come March I love homeschooling again and wouldn't dream of doing things any other way.
I'm trying to keep things a little bit light and fun over here...the boys are doing plenty of math and all the other core subjects, but I'm making sure I keep some lighter things injected into our school day-- for example, today we started with a Valentine-making workshop (which included lots of practice in negotiation and working together, and for Milo also the skill of finding an unknown zip code--so, not completely noneducational).
Another way we're keeping it interesting is by doing science experiments, like this one on crystals:
And later in the week we're going to view some videos on Khan Academy and Ted Ed (or is it Ed Ted? never can remember) about plate tectonics, earthquakes, Pangaea, and Fibonacci numbers. I've been thinking about how to incorporate these online resources into our homeschool, and what I've hit on this week is that I'll have them do their usual books-and-papers work on these topics, and then add watching the videos (and, as always in our hs, writing and drawing about what they've learned) late in the week as enrichment. Up until now I've resisted using videos in the boys' lessons, going with the Well-Trained Mind idea that learning from books is a different skill that should be acquired first. However, some of the home educating moms whom I respect the most (Hi Jen S. and Ariel D.!) use Ted Ed (Ed Ted?) and Khan Academy videos with their kids, so I knew it was time to re-think this and see what using these could do for my family.
Craft Challenge news this week: well, this time of year really is getting me down, and my week was, once again, almost up without anything to show for it (craft-wise, that is). So, last night on Primo's advice I grabbed my fabric scissors and a big bag of felt scraps, and made some shapes and animals for Snorzy's felt board. Radish agrees with me that the baby would probably just eat the felt shapes right now, so this will be put away and likely show up next under the Christmas tree later this year (when Snorzy will be almost 2)
Next up: remind me to get around to the post that I've been meaning to write about learning styles, Radish, and multiplication. Also, I'm going to try to do a more involved and interesting craft this week-- not needle felting yet as I don't have the supplies, but something engrossing and fun.
I'm trying to keep things a little bit light and fun over here...the boys are doing plenty of math and all the other core subjects, but I'm making sure I keep some lighter things injected into our school day-- for example, today we started with a Valentine-making workshop (which included lots of practice in negotiation and working together, and for Milo also the skill of finding an unknown zip code--so, not completely noneducational).
Another way we're keeping it interesting is by doing science experiments, like this one on crystals:
And later in the week we're going to view some videos on Khan Academy and Ted Ed (or is it Ed Ted? never can remember) about plate tectonics, earthquakes, Pangaea, and Fibonacci numbers. I've been thinking about how to incorporate these online resources into our homeschool, and what I've hit on this week is that I'll have them do their usual books-and-papers work on these topics, and then add watching the videos (and, as always in our hs, writing and drawing about what they've learned) late in the week as enrichment. Up until now I've resisted using videos in the boys' lessons, going with the Well-Trained Mind idea that learning from books is a different skill that should be acquired first. However, some of the home educating moms whom I respect the most (Hi Jen S. and Ariel D.!) use Ted Ed (Ed Ted?) and Khan Academy videos with their kids, so I knew it was time to re-think this and see what using these could do for my family.
Craft Challenge news this week: well, this time of year really is getting me down, and my week was, once again, almost up without anything to show for it (craft-wise, that is). So, last night on Primo's advice I grabbed my fabric scissors and a big bag of felt scraps, and made some shapes and animals for Snorzy's felt board. Radish agrees with me that the baby would probably just eat the felt shapes right now, so this will be put away and likely show up next under the Christmas tree later this year (when Snorzy will be almost 2)
Next up: remind me to get around to the post that I've been meaning to write about learning styles, Radish, and multiplication. Also, I'm going to try to do a more involved and interesting craft this week-- not needle felting yet as I don't have the supplies, but something engrossing and fun.
Sunday, February 2, 2014
Pesky Inch
I wasn't feeling inspired about the craft challenge this week, so I decided to allow myself to use it as an incentive to finish something that had been plaguing me. While I was pregnant with Snorzy, and before I knew if I was having a boy or a girl, I bought a few skeins of really lovely Lorna's Laces yarn, rainbow colored. I started a sweater, knitting the back first, which had to be knit to 14 inches high. For awhile I was going along well, knitting two rows at a time, once or twice each day (any more and my hands hurt me). Somewhere along the line, though, I ran out of steam and put the project aside. It was a good thing I changed my mind about making it size 6 months to one year, as I originally intended. Thank goodness for smart knitting friends like Ariel, who suggested at the outset that I size the sweater up quite a bit (I ended up with the 3T size) both so that I could knit it slowly, and so that Tiny Baby (as I called Snorzy before I knew him) could wear it longer. The unfinished back panel has been dormant for months, while Snorzy himself is creeping up toward one year old. I just couldn't get myself to knit the last inch and a half of the panel.
Here it is, about 12.5 inches, just needed a few more rows to hit 14 inches and allow me to put this dull plain knitting part aside to work on front panels, sleeves, etc.
Ten minutes of knitting interspersed with resting my hands and rolling a hot rice pack on them, I finally hit 14 inches and can move on to the more interesting parts of the project (this will be, incidentally, my first sweater). Now, where did I put my stitch holders? :)
Monday, January 27, 2014
Cold Snap
One fun thing about this prolonged stretch of cold weather is that we were able to get around to an art project I'd been meaning to do with the kids: an ice chandelier, as seen in The Jumbo Book of Outdoor Art (one of my favorites for unusual art projects). Primo made the frame by himself (not visible in the picture below, unfortunately-- the kids were the photographers), and we collaborated on a set of colorful ice cubes and a circle, all with small objects (natural and man-made) trapped inside. We hung it about a week ago, and it's been interesting to see the cubes melt and change, *even though* the air temperature hasn't risen to even close to 32 degrees all week. How is this possible? Our hypotheses include heat from the cars passing on the street, and sunlight shining on the ice.
Once again I felt a little 'under the gun' to make something for my craft challenge. I had the idea to make Snorzy a felt board, but didn't know what to use as the base (without buying anything). Then I realized we had just thrown a white board into the recycling bin. I had one of the kids retrieve it, and used it to form the basis of a felt board (with a blue sky and a slight hill made of green felt). I found that staples wouldn't stay well in the cardboard back of the white board, so I reinforced it with duct tape. Not pretty, but hopefully it will hold up. Next mini project: making some felt shapes for Snorzy to use with this board. No rush, he's still at the age where he's more likely to put the pieces in his mouth than on the board. Maybe I'll save this as a birthday or even Christmas present. The important thing is that I *made something* this week, other than the chandelier (with the boys) and various baked good ('Samoa' Brownies, Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake).
Once again I felt a little 'under the gun' to make something for my craft challenge. I had the idea to make Snorzy a felt board, but didn't know what to use as the base (without buying anything). Then I realized we had just thrown a white board into the recycling bin. I had one of the kids retrieve it, and used it to form the basis of a felt board (with a blue sky and a slight hill made of green felt). I found that staples wouldn't stay well in the cardboard back of the white board, so I reinforced it with duct tape. Not pretty, but hopefully it will hold up. Next mini project: making some felt shapes for Snorzy to use with this board. No rush, he's still at the age where he's more likely to put the pieces in his mouth than on the board. Maybe I'll save this as a birthday or even Christmas present. The important thing is that I *made something* this week, other than the chandelier (with the boys) and various baked good ('Samoa' Brownies, Chocolate Cherry Dump Cake).
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
The State of Things
I'm living in a state of distraction this week, from two causes:
1. poor Snorzy is under the weather, with a bad cold that leaves him whining and demanding my attention (and somehow it's made his nap more of a hit-or-miss affair than usual so I don't have that almost guaranteed hour or more to get things done on the days that we're home all afternoon)
2. I had an irritating letter from the local school, questioning the quarterly report that I sent in for Primo. Calling the coordinator for homeschooling in the district yielded a 'don't worry, I'll call the principal about it, you don't need to re-submit anything', but at the same time the whole situation has left me shook up and unhappy about homeschooling here in a state where we have to do a lot of reporting to the local district.
Even so, I managed to get in under the wire (on Monday) with a very quick little project so that I wouldn't lose steam in my self-imposed craft challenge. I made a sewing machine mounted pin cushion, to give me a handy place to stick all the pins I need to remove as I'm sewing something big like the sheet from the week before.
Last night I was searching Pinterest for middle school homeschooling ideas, and found something called CNN Student News, a ten minute news report with comprehension and discussion questions in an easy-to-use format. Happy doesn't begin to describe it, I've been wanting to do 'current events' lessons with the kids since we started homeschooling, but even our little local weekly paper always has stories in it that I'd rather they didn't see. This morning we read the questions, they watched the video, then they took turns answering the questions and we got into a little bit of discussion about some of the news items. They loved it, and so did I! There's nothing like finding a new homeschooling resource, and successfully implementing it. Joy!
1. poor Snorzy is under the weather, with a bad cold that leaves him whining and demanding my attention (and somehow it's made his nap more of a hit-or-miss affair than usual so I don't have that almost guaranteed hour or more to get things done on the days that we're home all afternoon)
2. I had an irritating letter from the local school, questioning the quarterly report that I sent in for Primo. Calling the coordinator for homeschooling in the district yielded a 'don't worry, I'll call the principal about it, you don't need to re-submit anything', but at the same time the whole situation has left me shook up and unhappy about homeschooling here in a state where we have to do a lot of reporting to the local district.
Even so, I managed to get in under the wire (on Monday) with a very quick little project so that I wouldn't lose steam in my self-imposed craft challenge. I made a sewing machine mounted pin cushion, to give me a handy place to stick all the pins I need to remove as I'm sewing something big like the sheet from the week before.
Last night I was searching Pinterest for middle school homeschooling ideas, and found something called CNN Student News, a ten minute news report with comprehension and discussion questions in an easy-to-use format. Happy doesn't begin to describe it, I've been wanting to do 'current events' lessons with the kids since we started homeschooling, but even our little local weekly paper always has stories in it that I'd rather they didn't see. This morning we read the questions, they watched the video, then they took turns answering the questions and we got into a little bit of discussion about some of the news items. They loved it, and so did I! There's nothing like finding a new homeschooling resource, and successfully implementing it. Joy!
Monday, January 13, 2014
Crib Sheet
For my second project of my 2014 craft challenge, I went with something both simple and veeeeery useful, a crib sheet for Snorzy's bed. I had made three flannel sheets for his cradle before he was born, but the cradle lasted only until he was about 4.5 months old before he was too big for it. Such a bummer to have to put aside those handmade sheets!
I did a little research (hello Pinterest, yes I'm talking about you again) and came up with three or four more projects that I'll do for this craft challenge. However, many of them are toys-- if I could do anything in the world I'd be a toymaker-- and I began to worry that my craft challenge is going to result in spoiled kids (especially Snorzy) and a house full of extra...stuff. So in resistance, I decided my second project would be something that I would have had to buy anyway, if I didn't make my own.
I was excited to hit Jo-Ann fabric and pick out something cute, something with critters on it, maybe in flannel...but all the 'diy crib sheets' direction I found online called for fabric of either 44 or 45 inch width, and sadly all the cute, nursery prints and flannel were 42 or 43 inches wide. Why is that? Maybe I could have done better at fabric.com or something, but I was looking for nearly-instant gratification here, so I settled for some lovely aqua quilter's cotton (44 in wide).
I was able to bang this together in very little time, from remembering to prewash the fabric this afternoon just before going to pick up my niece D from the high school so she could watch the boys for me, (pause, find other things to do while I wait for the fabric to come out of the dryer) to ironing, cutting, pinning and sewing the corners just before I had to bring D home, to after dinner and nursing the baby finally finishing the last bit and putting it in his crib before bedtime tonight.
Next up, toys! (maybe)
here I am, sewing the casing for the elastic (thank you to my photographer, Primo):
And here is the finished result in Snorzy's crib. Other handmade items in view: bunny lovey (mine) crocheted blanket (made by a good friend, Jen F.)
I did a little research (hello Pinterest, yes I'm talking about you again) and came up with three or four more projects that I'll do for this craft challenge. However, many of them are toys-- if I could do anything in the world I'd be a toymaker-- and I began to worry that my craft challenge is going to result in spoiled kids (especially Snorzy) and a house full of extra...stuff. So in resistance, I decided my second project would be something that I would have had to buy anyway, if I didn't make my own.
I was excited to hit Jo-Ann fabric and pick out something cute, something with critters on it, maybe in flannel...but all the 'diy crib sheets' direction I found online called for fabric of either 44 or 45 inch width, and sadly all the cute, nursery prints and flannel were 42 or 43 inches wide. Why is that? Maybe I could have done better at fabric.com or something, but I was looking for nearly-instant gratification here, so I settled for some lovely aqua quilter's cotton (44 in wide).
I was able to bang this together in very little time, from remembering to prewash the fabric this afternoon just before going to pick up my niece D from the high school so she could watch the boys for me, (pause, find other things to do while I wait for the fabric to come out of the dryer) to ironing, cutting, pinning and sewing the corners just before I had to bring D home, to after dinner and nursing the baby finally finishing the last bit and putting it in his crib before bedtime tonight.
Next up, toys! (maybe)
here I am, sewing the casing for the elastic (thank you to my photographer, Primo):
And here is the finished result in Snorzy's crib. Other handmade items in view: bunny lovey (mine) crocheted blanket (made by a good friend, Jen F.)
Friday, January 10, 2014
Wipes Box Toy
For my first project of my 2014 craft challenge, from this blog post, as seen on Pinterest: I made a baby wipes box ‘toy’ for Snorzy, with fabric squares that he can remove again and again. Maybe making this was a little bit stupid, since none of my three kids ever did the ‘pull every baby wipe out of the box’ thing, maybe I’m just encouraging bad behavior. He drives me so crazy anyway, though, in that he hardly plays with toys but instead looks around for anything he can get his hands on that he *shouldn’t* play with. I think I wouldn’t even mind so much if he pulled real wipes out of a current box of wipes, if it would keep him sitting still for five minutes and not pulling on electrical cords or knocking over my things.
I cut out about twenty squares of fabric in a variety of colors and textures, using pinking shears to get a hard-to-ravel edge without having to do any sewing. I opted not to do applique letters or numbers on the squares yet, but if he ends up liking this toy a lot I’ll add them later. To decorate the box and hide the brand labels, I covered it in bright blue duct tape (left over from Primo’s Tron costume from a few Halloweens ago). So far he likes the box itself more than the fabric, and it’s a little hard to get him to take the fabric squares out (we have to pull one out halfway and then show it to him). He likes opening and closing the box, though, and if we take the fabric pieces out of the box for him and throw them around, he plays with them. Yesterday he stood there and carefully handed me one after another, while I said, “Thank You” for each one. Time will tell if this turns into a favorite toy, but it was free and he’s played with it a little, so I’m satisfied.
I cut out about twenty squares of fabric in a variety of colors and textures, using pinking shears to get a hard-to-ravel edge without having to do any sewing. I opted not to do applique letters or numbers on the squares yet, but if he ends up liking this toy a lot I’ll add them later. To decorate the box and hide the brand labels, I covered it in bright blue duct tape (left over from Primo’s Tron costume from a few Halloweens ago). So far he likes the box itself more than the fabric, and it’s a little hard to get him to take the fabric squares out (we have to pull one out halfway and then show it to him). He likes opening and closing the box, though, and if we take the fabric pieces out of the box for him and throw them around, he plays with them. Yesterday he stood there and carefully handed me one after another, while I said, “Thank You” for each one. Time will tell if this turns into a favorite toy, but it was free and he’s played with it a little, so I’m satisfied.
Craft Challenge 2014
I’ve decided to make something every week of 2014, starting this past week (I’m writing on the 10th, but I swear I finished the first project on the 7th!) I have a Pinterest board or two filled with things I want to make ‘someday’, but the other day I was looking at my ‘Snorzy’ board and was horrified to see several cute, simple things that I meant to make for him for which he is *already* too old! Ever since I had to virtually give up knitting due to hand pain, it has been hard to always have a project on the go—it’s so much easier when all you need is two sticks and some yarn. I find that once I get started on a project it’s not hard to stay motivated and finish in good time. It’s just the beginning that is the biggest obstacle for me. So many of the things I do as a homeschooling mom are either consumable or never-ending (cooking, laundry) or have such far-reaching consequences that I don’t get a satisfying ‘ahh, I’m done’ feeling (teaching the boys lessons, manners, how to live in the world). It’s nice to have something to point to at the end of a short period of time, about which I can say, “I made that”. Hence, this New Year’s challenge: I will ‘make something’ – complete some kind of multi-step craft project—every week of this year for a total of 52 projects by year’s end. We’re several days into the second week and I don’t have an idea on tap yet, so we’ll see how I do at sticking with this challenge. I’ll also have to figure out the rules for myself as I go, in regards to big projects like quilts—can I count each part of the process as a mini project? But I give myself permission to count *very* simple crafts, as long as there is more than one step involved—for instance, see my next post, on my first project of this challenge—a Wipes Box toy for Snorzy.
Technorati Tags: Pinterest,crafts,quilting,Snorzy,projects,challenge,2014,homeschooling,knitting,Wipes Box toy
Monday, January 6, 2014
Habits
I recently read the book The Power of Habit and it has me thinking a lot about my habits, and how they are forming my life. According to this author, every habit (which includes much of our behavior) consists of a cue, a response, and a reward. Sometimes it’s hard to tease the three apart, to figure out what the cue is that triggers the habit, or what the reward is from a seemingly unrewarding behavior (for example, why do I yell at my kids? it doesn’t make me feel any better when I do, and it rarely elicits a good change from them). Today I noticed that by changing my habits just a little—taking a shower before eating breakfast rather than after, switching up the order in which I do things in other, even smaller ways….I ended up feeling energized by the change, and found myself changing other more damaging habits (usually I somehow end up sitting on the couch all morning, instead I was up playing with the baby, cleaning, and I came up with six different ideas for blog topics too).
Another habit I’m trying to change is my tendency to do things unrelated to the boys’ lessons during lesson time, in the between minutes when no one needs me. I get swept up in reading my current book, checking Facebook, trolling Pinterest. I want to try to only do things related to lessons during lesson time (in terms of reading, writing, using media)- I have been less successful at making this habit switch so far, but when I do succeed with this to any extent I find that I’m more patient with the boys when they get frustrated at a difficult lesson, or when they lose focus. Instead of having to pull myself away from something wholly unrelated to lessons straight into a crisis already in progress, I find I either sit thinking quietly and notice right away that they are getting into difficulty OR I read or do research related to lessons, and their crises don’t feel unrelated when they interrupt what I’m doing, it’s all part of the same project. It was easier when I could still knit, that was something I could do with half of my attention and I never felt the need to ask them to wait longer than it took me to reach the end of my row, before I was ready to help with the tricky bits of their work.
Another habit I’m trying to change is my tendency to do things unrelated to the boys’ lessons during lesson time, in the between minutes when no one needs me. I get swept up in reading my current book, checking Facebook, trolling Pinterest. I want to try to only do things related to lessons during lesson time (in terms of reading, writing, using media)- I have been less successful at making this habit switch so far, but when I do succeed with this to any extent I find that I’m more patient with the boys when they get frustrated at a difficult lesson, or when they lose focus. Instead of having to pull myself away from something wholly unrelated to lessons straight into a crisis already in progress, I find I either sit thinking quietly and notice right away that they are getting into difficulty OR I read or do research related to lessons, and their crises don’t feel unrelated when they interrupt what I’m doing, it’s all part of the same project. It was easier when I could still knit, that was something I could do with half of my attention and I never felt the need to ask them to wait longer than it took me to reach the end of my row, before I was ready to help with the tricky bits of their work.
Saturday, January 4, 2014
Back To It
The best part about getting back into daily lessons (as of Jan 2nd, even though Sweet Hubby is still on vacation from *his* school, if we didn't start I was sure we wouldn't finish the math and history curricula by March 31st) was watching Primo and Radish collaborate on filling in their timeline of history. We asked them to find between 5 and 10 important events from the medieval periods that we've studied so far this year, and add them to the timeline (a purchased one which we have not yet cut into pieces to mount on the wall-- I tried having a mounted timeline when the boys were small, but our house doesn't have any accessible wall long enough for even a significant portion of it to fit). At first it was slow-going and they argued a little about sharing the resources (Story of the World, Kingfisher History Encyclopedia). With a little help from me, and from Sweet Hubby too, they settled down and it was sweet to watch them discuss which events to include.
Next best was how enthusiastic they both were about trying BBC's Dance Mat Typing. After lessons were officially over for the day, they each returned to this 'game' and played some more. The only downside is, they were able to progress quite far in just one day, which tells me that this free online game-style typing instruction is not meaty enough for us to use all semester as their touch-typing curriculum. So the hunt continues, for a program that will last a bit longer, and give them a good strong introduction to touch typing (or, re-introduction in Primo's case-- he tried Typing Instructor for Kids when he was 7, but he found it frustrating).
I'm thinking about what to do with our weekly schedule for the rest of the year, so that the boys have enough time to work on math, science, history and English, while also spending at least a little time on Latin, geography, music, art, and now typing. My ideas so far are either to schedule one 'special' lesson per day (as there are 5 of them and 5 days in our school week) or to save them all for Fridays, and do just math and 'extras' that day.
Next best was how enthusiastic they both were about trying BBC's Dance Mat Typing. After lessons were officially over for the day, they each returned to this 'game' and played some more. The only downside is, they were able to progress quite far in just one day, which tells me that this free online game-style typing instruction is not meaty enough for us to use all semester as their touch-typing curriculum. So the hunt continues, for a program that will last a bit longer, and give them a good strong introduction to touch typing (or, re-introduction in Primo's case-- he tried Typing Instructor for Kids when he was 7, but he found it frustrating).
I'm thinking about what to do with our weekly schedule for the rest of the year, so that the boys have enough time to work on math, science, history and English, while also spending at least a little time on Latin, geography, music, art, and now typing. My ideas so far are either to schedule one 'special' lesson per day (as there are 5 of them and 5 days in our school week) or to save them all for Fridays, and do just math and 'extras' that day.
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