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February 28, 2006
Carnival of Homeschooling
The Carnival of Homeschooling is up! I like the Greek Muse theme, and the fact that my first entry to any carnival falls under the Muse of Comedy. Fitting.
Check it out!
Posted by lynx at 8:50 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 26, 2006
More Joy of Children
Four Year Old: (Poking at my stomach) Mommy, your tummy's squishy. Why is your tummy squishy?
Mommy: Because I had four babies, and when a baby is in there, it stretches my tummy all out. Then when the baby comes out, my tummy is squishy.
Four Year Old: And your butt?
Posted by lynx at 10:14 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
February 23, 2006
"Yes, I know what it looks like, but ..."
Griffin is very interested in ancient Egypt right now. I told him that we could make a chicken mummy. He's very excited. He asked where we would be getting the chicken from. I explained that we would get the chicken from the store, where we typically buy chickens.
"But," he wailed, "It will already be dead!"
"Uh ... yes. Of course it will already be dead. You don't want to kill a chicken, do you?"
"Yes, I do!"
Oooo-kay. Let's lay my son's potential psychological issues aside for the moment (he's only 5, don't panic), and picture the scene:
It's a lovely afternoon. The sun is shining. The birds are singing. The chicken clucks merrily around our back yard. But the chicken's hour has come, and we advance upon it.
The chicken senses that we're up to no good. It runs.
Now, you can probably guess that we have no experience with chickens. We don't know how to catch them. We certainly don't know how to kill one. We have a vague idea of catching it and breaking it's little neck. Children scatter in all directions, diving after our unfortunate feathered friend. The happy children scream. The screaming, running children frightens the chicken, who makes ever-louder frightened chicken noises.
Our back yard is small, and surrounded by houses.
Let's say that eventually, someone does actually catch the poor chicken. The chicken pecks the children. The children scream louder. We don't manage to break the chicken's neck, and feel terribly guilty that the chicken is experiencing this much stress and terror. But the chicken is also probably pretty well wounded by this time, so let's say that in desperation I take a knife and put it out of its poor chicken misery.
Chickens have blood. Well, the ancient Egyptians had to drain the body, so this is all in the line of realism, right? Yeah, right. The children scream even louder, thoroughly traumatized. I'm feeling pretty ill myself.
But now we have a dead chicken, so we begin the rest of the procedure, removing organs, putting them in little jars. Some of the children have made Egyptian robes to wear during the making of the mummy. They convince Mommy to don one as well. We also have scented oil, and spices arrayed around the table.
What's that? The doorbell? Hmmm, we're not expecting anyone, let me see ...
"Excuse me, Ma'am, but we've had a complaint of children screaming here. Is everything all right?"
"Huh? Oh, yes, Officer, everything's fine! We were just -"
"Is that BLOOD on your ... uh ... would you mind if I came in and had a look around?"
Can you see it? Can you hear the rest of the conversation?
"No, Officer, it's just a history project ... ancient Egypt ... well, yes, I guess it does look a little ritualistic, but the jars and spices are just ... well, yes, we are homeschoolers, but .... well, actually, we are Pagans, but ..."
(Please don't get the idea that I'd ever seriously consider killing an animal in order to do a school project. In fact, at this point, I don't think I can pick up a chicken from the grocery store to mummify either. We may have to stick with fruit mummies. In fact, I may not eat meat for the next week, unless it's Kosher ...)
Posted by lynx at 8:05 PM | Comments (12) | TrackBack
February 21, 2006
The thing I like best about the internet ...
(and the reason I'm glad it wasn't around when I was a teenager) is the instant obsession interest gratification factor.
I'm certain I never would have made it to classes if I had had the web in my college years. And I don't even surf porn.
I read Gaudy Night (a Lord Peter Wimsey Mystery)
And thankfully, there's more! Ooh, a whole line to read!
It's almost as fun as the Aubrey/Maturin books!
Posted by lynx at 11:39 PM | Comments (9) | TrackBack
February 19, 2006
And the Packing Rolls On
I just packed the 59th box.
It's sad and scary to see how much stuff we still have in the house, although 59 boxes have been packed.
And ... may I just say it? I'd like to stop now. I don't want to make this move.
Of course, if we were to stay here, I wouldn't want there to be any tornadoes, or to be hot in the summer. I'm out of luck either way. (Or as we say, "Either way is bad for Zathras.")
But I don't want to go.
School has come to a screeching halt. Before we leave I want to get pictures made at our local park, take all the kids in for well-child visits, visit my midwife, and take the kids to both Houston and San Antonio. Do you think we can manage all that in five weeks or so? While packing? And with Jeff leaving town every time we turn around? (Because, you know, the job is THERE.) And with kids getting sick every time we turn around?
Yes, I'm whining.
I've packed 15 boxes of books, with more to come. This is both heartening and irritating.
The good news is that I've found all the library books we've lost over the years. I turned them in and they gave me a credit. A credit! A credit at the library!
Did I mention that we still don't have a house up there?
I'll stop whining now. Instead, I'll leave you with a tidbit of Texas history. It turns out that my kids are related to this woman. So, running the state is in their blood eh? Along with accepting bribes of land and money. Hmmm. We could work with this, don't you think?
Posted by lynx at 11:06 PM | Comments (6) | TrackBack
February 15, 2006
They Don't Know the Power of the Mom ...
Connor: Yoda is very powerful.
Lachlan (in awed voice): More powerful than Mom?
Heh heh heh.
Posted by lynx at 10:02 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 14, 2006
Classic Rock Education
Now, here are some fun lesson plans.
Number 48 guides students to evaluate popular reaction to U.S. action in Libya by watching a Def Leppard video. Oh, the sacrifices I make for my children....
Posted by lynx at 1:12 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
February 13, 2006
Tigers and Webelos, Oh, My!
Our Blue and Gold Banquet was Sunday. It was wonderful. Aidan received his Tiger badge, and Connor his Webelos badge. I'll have pictures as soon as the site decides to cooperate.
Frankly, I have no idea how Connor got his Webelos. As much as I worried over the religious requirements ... I don't know when he did them. Or how. His den leader assures me he did all the requirements, but I never saw anything happening. It was a non-issue.
She must be one heck of a leader. I suppose the rest of the pack would protest if I packed her up and took her to Michigan?
Aidan's requirements I saw. Every bit of them. Including the last-minute field trip to the local paper to get that ONE last bead requirement in. That's much more like how I thought Scouting would be.
Posted by lynx at 11:22 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 9, 2006
Packing Bites
Packing is evil.
The problem is that we're taking this packing opportunity to create a household inventory. So that means we're not just plunking stuff in boxes, we're creating a database in which we list everything we pack.
That. Takes. Forever.
It takes at least an hour to pack a box of books. Ask me why I didn't just dump them all in and label the box "paperbacks"? Ask me why I didn't do that, and then drive the box to the dump?
I don't know.
Tonight I packed a box of curricula I'm not currently using. I estimate the value of the box to be $450. And there will be plenty more where that came from.
I am pruning as we go along, but it doesn't seem like much. I'm trimming, and we probably need to lop off huge branches, or just pull out the hedges altogether.
At any rate, we are moving s l o w l y, and we really don't have all that much time. Our move target is the first week in April. We have no house to move into, this house is not ready to show for sale ...
But it will all work out, right?
Posted by lynx at 11:20 PM | Comments (7) | TrackBack
February 8, 2006
Dude
If I had rooms like these, I'd spend the whole day walking back and forth to get the right view. Wouldn't you?
Posted by lynx at 10:38 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
Overheard at Our House
... the following conversation between the 5 year old and the 3 year old:
"Okay, now he comes back alive."
"Now he has three heads!"
"Eight thousand! Twelveteen!"
"He can make a nest for his babies. He's a good guy snake now."
(pause)
"ATTACK THE SNAKE!!!"
"I said he's a good guy snake now!"
(pause)
"Oh. Then let's play something else."
Posted by lynx at 10:34 PM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
Unexpected Day
Today is our long day of classes (music, piano, Spanish, astronomy). At 8:30 this morning we were all up, most of us were dressed, I had worked out, breakfast was ready, and we were all set to be in the car by 9:00.
And then Aidan threw up.
So.
Last semester we did not miss one single class due to illness. This is the second time since mid-January. It's not good.
Aidan is sleeping on the couch, and Connor is casually doing his schoolwork. I'll do housework, play with the little ones, and go to the library later.
And now the school update:
Yesterday Aidan finished Singapore 2B. Connor will finish 4A this week. Connor will move forward with 4B, but I'm going to wait before starting Aidan in 3A. There's plenty of time. We'll spend a few months using Right Start, and drilling multiplication tables first. Once he has those down well, 3A should be easy for him.
Connor is two chapters away from finishing LfC. Instead of jumping right into LfC-B I think we'll spend some time with Minimus, and maybe Oxford Latin. Or, maybe we'll just call this "summer," and break while Mom figures out how to pack and paint the rest of the house.
Connor is very excited this week because I found a book on the Cuban Missile Crisis for him. Today he'll be thrilled because I've checked out a copy of "The Rise of Facism." He's definitely his father's child, isn't he?
Posted by lynx at 11:10 AM | Comments (1) | TrackBack
February 6, 2006
The Real Joy
... of shopping with a four-year-old, is when you pass the display of bras and he yells out excitedly:
"Look! They sell breasts!"
Posted by lynx at 10:48 PM | Comments (8)
February 5, 2006
The Party is Over
The party is over. And it was a success!
I hate putting together birthday parties. This year I held it at our rec center, in a room off the pool. Good idea. The boys (and girls!) ate cake and then splashed around, some for hours. What was left of the party migrated to our house, and finally broke up around 10 pm.
That's a party.
Not only that, but everyone who was invited came, except for one family who I knew was having a very busy weekend. I think we had ... 11 guests, plus our four (for a joint Connor/Aidan party). For a socially-challenged and party-phobic mom, that is not bad at all.
I'm so glad it's over.
Most importantly, the boys were happy. More than happy. They beamed the entire day. Success!
Lachlan is getting a quiet cake at our house for his birthday (gulp) in ten days. Thank goodness that a cake will thrill him to pieces.
We packed 22 boxes today. I had forgotten what a tiring, dreary pain it is to pack. Twenty-two down ... 500 to go?
Posted by lynx at 10:51 PM | Comments (2) | TrackBack
February 3, 2006
Shhhhh.
I just wanted to say that you haven't seen any respectable blogging here lately because I'm tired. Too tired to drum up a post on homeschooling moms needing a separate life. Too tired to give a coherent arguments for why I buy the good science text even though it's written by an ID proponent. Much too tired to get into education in ancient Rome.
Tomorrow is The Birthday Party at the pool. Sunday is a baby blessing. This next week is the frantic push to get all the Scout requirements out of the way, before the big banquet next weekend. Wednesday we might go into Dallas to see the orchestra. Meanwhile, my young ones are watching more TV than is good for them, and developing the vocabulary to prove it.
And you want I should blog? Sheesh.
Posted by lynx at 10:28 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack
Serenity of the Caribbean?
In the comments on that last "Firefly" post, Butch (is that the Butch?) mused about the similarities between Captain Jack and Captain Mal. They have a similar code of honor. For both of them, their ships symbolize freedom, and their only means to live life on their own terms.
Fun. This kind of comparison needs research. DVDs and rum at my place.
Posted by lynx at 10:23 PM | Comments (4) | TrackBack
Aiiiiiiii! My eyes!
The trailer for Brokeback to the Future.
Posted by lynx at 10:20 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack