First Day

I have to laugh when I think about the "First Day' ritual and how it pertains to us.  We don't really have one.  Both kids are spread out between 'grade levels' when it comes to their work.  Rylan straddles between Kindergarten and first grade work, Jordan straddles between fifth and sixth... so there is no real defining *moment* when they move from one level to another.  It is more like one long continuum.  We also (or at least try to) school year-round.  So there is no last day or first day to celebrate.  If I go by the books - there is an "official" beginning and end to our year as far as it pertains to counting up the minutes as we go to make sure we hit the mark (or surpass it) for what we must do as far as state regulations.

We must school for a total of 694 hours over the course of the school year.  I begin counting August 1st, and end July 31st.  Ever since we began four years ago, I have just sort of winged it.  I figured as long as we did 2-4 hours most every day, and counted all activities, we were good.  This last spring, I decided I really wanted to know what we were actually accomplishing, time wise.  I was worried that we were way off - in a bad way.  I spent a few days pulling an excel spread sheet together to track Jordan's and Rylan's time spent with everything they do.  And I mean everything!  Did I ever mention that I am type A?



Rylan's work for June 2011

The vertical columns are the days of the month, and the rows are the subjects and the specific activities under each subject.  For example, under the heading of Language Arts, I have listed Reading Skills Practice (those small-sized practice books that come from a teacher-supply store), Explode the Code, Mailbox Activity (from the Mailbox Teacher Idea Magazine), Five in a Row, All About Spelling, Core Knowledge, Write Source, Handwriting and Read Aloud.  We don't do every activity everyday, but each is an important component, and I really would like to know how long we have spent doing each one.  The spreadsheet totals it as we go along, and I can know at a glance how we are doing.  I keep the shortcut to it on my screen, and I have it open all day while we are doing school.  It takes two seconds to enter in a time in the appropriate spot.  Jordan and Rylan each have their own timer, so they are responsible for using it when they start an activity and stopping it when they are done. I've tested it through June and July.  As you can tell from the above screenshot - June was a really LAME month for me accomplishment wise.  I didn't complete the daily subtotals for Rylan either.   We were just too dang busy!

So I took pictures of the little kids yesterday as a way to mark the new year... Although I think we will go for more formal pictures in the fall, when Jordan gets back.

I decided it was time to open Rylan's What Your Kindergartner Needs to Know (Core Knowledge).  We did the Preschool anthology and workbooks 1 & 2 last year.  She isn't done with her workbooks yet, but she is way beyond it ability wise, so it is time to let it go and move one.  Long ago, on some wild rabbit hole trip of mine, I read on a Core Knowledge forum that the best way to work through the What Your (blank) Needs to Know books is to break it into parts.  The book is basically laid out in five sections - Language and Literature, History and Geography, Visual Arts & Music, Mathematics, and Science.  You work on one section each day of the week.  So for example, yesterday was Thursday, so we went to the Mathematics section.  Each day you do 1-2 pages from that section.  By the end of the school year, you have worked your way through the book, and have touched on an amazing variety of subjects.  Your pace is slow enough that if something catches your interest, you can take that tangent wherever it leads you.  The beauty of this is, you don't have to do Monday in order to do Tuesday, and so forth.  So if you miss a day, or two, or three... you can still pick it up and read whatever section it is for that given day.  I love that!

So in the math section yesterday, the suggested activity was to collect a number of things based on likeness.  Rylan can do this pretty easily, so we included Owen as well.  We chose to collect things based on color.  I gave Rylan a collecting basket, and she and Owen went to the playroom to collect ten 'red' things.  Colin was napping at the time, so we could spread out on the floor without fear of him taking off with our stuff.  Owen lost interest midway through the second color, and spent the rest of the time hopping between the rows, occasionally kicking objects out of the way.



I think I will do this again, but make it more challenging for Rylan.  Some possible categories might be things that make sound, things that you use at bedtime, things that are used for transportation...

It was a good day, for the most part.  I felt some sadness - my grandma would have celebrated her 89th birthday.  I thought about doing a blogpost, but my heart just wasn't in it.  I went out in the evening to join up with my bookclub friends.  We discussed our book selection quite a bit - which is an odd thing for us - we usually only dedicate a few minutes...  It was a profound and disturbing read, so we actually had quite a bit to talk about!  I will add a book review as I have time, this weekend.  It was a great discussion!

Fabulous Forty

Yesterday was my birthday and I added another candle to the proverbial cake.  I am actually happy to be forty!  I figure the twenties are spent enjoying all the new freedoms that come with young adulthood - yet you are also busy with school or what-not as you get your career on track.  The thirties are when you start to feel your age a little, as you take on the three 'M's - - marriage, mortgage and miniature people.  You miss the carefree days of your twenties (um...did they really exist anyway?). and you feel torn between looking young enough to pass for a twenty-something and realizing that going to bed at 9 pm is actually something you WANT to do.  Well forty is here and this is the age of "I don't give a - - - -".   I don't care what my hair/clothes look like - if I have to get to the grocery store, I'm going!  I don't care that I drive a minivan.  Now get out of my way!  I don't bother with make-up... it will just have to be washed off anyway.  I'd rather be in my garden than out shopping.  I love the age of "I don't give a rat's ass".  I embrace it totally.

So how did I spend my birthday?

There is a little slice of heaven that is located within an hour's drive of our home.  Just outside of Red Feather, CO is a small state recreation area called Dowdy Lake.  It is absolutely gorgeous.  The topography is unique.  You are in the mountains, at around 8,000 ft. elevation, but it doesn't really *feel* like the mountains because there are no mountain peaks looming in the distance.  The air is cool, the pines are tall and the underbrush is green and lush.

Here is a shot to make you drool...

This photo was actually taken at the end of August last year, when we went up for Dean's 40th birthday.  I just didn't get a good shot of the lake this time around.  The lighting was totally different this time - bright and sunny all day.  Here was the best I could do -

The sunlight definitely brings out the bright greens...  The dreaded pine beetle is also starting to make a definite presence here, and I worry about how different it will all look by this time next year.

So this trip was all about just relaxing.  Dean asked me weeks ago what I wanted to do for my birthday.  Did I want a party?  A surprise?  A quiet dinner?  I am an introvert at heart... and camping with just 'us' was what I wanted most.  My happy place is right here (photo above), with my husband and children, breathing in the mountain air, with no sound except for the ripple of water on the lake shore and the quiet roar of the air moving through the pine trees.  Camping does not feel like work to me.  Sure there is a lot of preparation involved, but the payoff is worth it. 

The kids wanted to fish, so that is exactly what they did.  As it turns out, they are both very patient with reeling in the line very slowly.  Rylan was even able to cast with surprising accuracy when she got the hang of it.

Last year, Colin was a tiny, sickly 8 month old.  So this was his first 'real' experience camping.  He loved it!  He was a very very busy little boy as there was sooo much to explore.



Abby enjoyed her time too.  Her end-of-summer shed has begun, unfortunately, so her hair is everywhere!!  She reminds me of the character 'Pigpen' from the Peanuts comics.  She is just this moving cloud of loose fur.  Here she is in all her scruffiness...

I tried to get some good artsy shots.  I scouted out wildflowers in the evening, and then I went out the next morning to make use of the good light...

Abby passed this way, just before me.  Can you tell?

There is nothing better than the smell of pine on a warm, sunny day

Anyway - back to birthday fun.  Our trip was only an overnight.  We headed home and washed up in time for dinner with the family at Famous Dave's.  My mom, dad and step mom, brother with his wife and three boys, my grandma and my three aunts and my mom's cousin all came to celebrate with me.  It was sooo good!

Rylan helped me open gifts and Colin just devoured anything you put in front of him - especially the corn!  The kids were just awesome the entire weekend.  Minimal arguing and good spirits despite a rather sleepless night.  We will be making some changes to sleeping arrangements and gear before we head out camping again in a few weeks.

A very good birthday indeed - and there is more to come.  My birthday gift from Dean and the kids was delivered earlier today - an iPhone!!  My mom is making me my official birthday cake today: Mississippi Mud.  Is it just not a birthday without some mud.  She is coming by with it tonight, and some sort of surprise is afoot.  I am supposed to go out a get a new dress today and be ready to go out when Dean gets home from work tonight.  Hmmm.

The only down moment in the midst of all the birthday fun is that the physical mailbox has remained devoid of one birthday card in particular.  I could always count on a card from my grandma Betty, so yet again her absence has been painfully felt.  She and I were birthday buddies - her birthday is coming up on Thursday the 11th.  We would always share a giggle on the phone as we wished each other a Happy Birthday on the 8th and again on the 11th.  It is hard to believe, still, that she is gone.

I don't want to leave you down... so here is a laugh for the road...



Family gathering at my grandma Bobbie's house last weekend.  Here are all of the great grand kids.
This is take 28, and the only one cooperating at this point is Lauren (in pink, standing next to Rylan)
Getting eleven children to smile at the same time is impossible.
So let's embrace them in all their glory!!



The Birthday Weekend Begins!

It's been a very jam-packed week - and I am ready for some R & R!

Monday - Average day.  We did swim lessons in the morning and then worked on the backlog of laundry for most of the day.  Jordan and Dean went off to the scout meeting in the evening, and when they got home, Dean and I mapped out the family calendar for the next three months.  I post it up on the wall so I can see it all the time.  I like knowing when stuff is coming up - especially scout stuff.  There is always something to prepare for - and with only four weekends each month - you can bet that almost always two of them will contain a potential scouting event.

Tuesday - Swim lessons again and karate for Rylan.  Jordan sat out today because he leaves for OKC tomorrow, so we didn't pay for his lessons this month.  We attended a morning Park Day in Loveland with several homeschoolers in our group.  It was so nice to get out and see them - we have been so busy it feels like we are being anti-social.  One family brought some watermelon, which was a very nice treat for all of us!  Spent the afternoon working out a new blog - you can see the link over there in the sidebar.  A sometimes humorous look at money.  We don't have any.  Don't take my advice on how to spend it.  But I will be chronicling our painful climb out of the debt we are in.  Good times.  Spent the evening packing Jordan's suitcase for his flight early tomorrow morning.  He and Rylan have spent most of the day hugging.  I also encouraged him to spend a good portion of the afternoon outside enjoying the 84 degree weather we are having.  Because tomorrow, when he steps off the plane, it will be 110 degrees in OKC.  HA!  (okay, that was mean)

Wednesday - Enjoyed two hours of joyful quiet early this am, after Dean and Jordan left for the airport.  I spent that time tweaking this blog.  I made a few cosmetic changes, but Blogger fought me the whole damn way.  Some thing's up.   I do.  not.  like.  how every time I change the title picture, it blows it up and makes it absolutely huge.  DO YOU HEAR ME BLOGGER???  Please let me adjust the size of it!  Thank you.  I took the kids to swimming lessons, and friend Abbi met us there and kept us company.  She also brought watermelon.  You know... for whatever reason, Owen calls watermelon 'lemonade'.  I don't know why.  I correct him all the time.  He has watermelon flavored toothpaste, and every night he asks for lemonade on his toothbrush.  He is a complete mystery to me at times.  I picked the first tomato from the garden today - it was very delish.  Dean took the day off, so as soon as he got back from the airport, we went outside and spent the rest of the morning and early afternoon working on a clean-up project in the backyard.  Here is a 'before' picture... although we have already done quite a bit of work because I never remember to take the 'before' picture until after we have already started.  So, just imagine things much worse than they are here...

We had already trimmed the aspen trees - you could barely see the fence before...  Those landscape timbers were originally placed around the perimeter, and the whole area was filled with 6" of pea gravel.  We removed the gravel last summer and posted it as 'free' on Craig's list.  It was gone within a week.  All year, though, we have been at a loss as to what to do with the area.  It is riddled with the massive root system from the aspen - so a patio area is out of the question.  So is a play area because I do not want the expense of a playset - we can go to a playground anytime, and we have already constructed a massive sandbox.  Monday evening, as Dean and I were doing the calendar, Dean had suggested a deck out here.  YESS!!!!  That is the perfect idea.  It can be raised up a foot, and it will clear the roots, yet be in the shade of the aspen trees from early afternoon on.  Now all we have to do is figure out how to pay for it.  Did I mention we have no money?  It may be awhile before I can post an 'after' picture.  We arranged for my dad to come by with his trailer so we could load all of this 'stuff'  and take it to the landfill.  Instead, dad decided that he wanted to keep the timbers to use in his garden, and take the branches to a compost place.  Everything else we needed to be hauled away stayed behind.  So we are left with a massive pile of chunks of sod, rocks, and broken plastic sand toys that we will have to figure out how to get to the landfill another way.  We have a long history of this sort of behavior with my dad.  We REALLY want to get a small trailer and a hitch put on the van to solve this problem for us.  It is hard to depend on others in this respect.  Further strife and disappointment rounded out this day - I'll be posting about it to the other blog soon - although I doubt I can get it polished before we leave today.  I came home in a really frustrated mood, so I worked in the garden, pulling weeds (what else??).  It helped a little.

Thursday was a great day!!  We finished our swim lessons this morning!  Owen advanced to level 2, and Rylan advanced to level 3.  I feel like I have my summer back!  We went over to my moms and the kids played while I carried boxes down to the basement for my mom.  The boxes were filled with the rest of my grandma's belongings, and had been stacked up in the guest room since April.  We didn't sort through anything - maybe a couple more months and then we will be ready to take on that task.  I took Rylan to karate, and then just let the kids play for the afternoon.  I was extra productive.  I sorted legos.  I have about a thousand plastic baby food containers, and now I have a use for them.

Friday we were supposed to go to the fair, but plans never got off the ground.  Dean had taken the day off, so we tried to be productive.  It was payday, and in one short hour we blew through 3/4 of it paying bills.  It feels good, but it isn't any fun.

Saturday morning we took Rylan to karate, and then went on to the Boulder County Fair.  We had a great time!  I like going to that fair versus the fair in our own county because the fair grounds are a much more pleasant place to be.  It has been there for decades, and so the trees are massive and provide lots of shade.  I love, love, love looking at all of the 4-H projects.  Every time we attend the fair, I get wistful about raising chickens, ducks and goats.  I wish we lived where we could have some.  Here are some highlights..

Today, Sunday, we are off to go camping for just an overnight.  Tomorrow morning, on my birthday, I get to look out on a beautiful mountain lake and listen to the birds... bliss.

Up, up and away

Jordan is up in the air, as I write, hurtling towards Oklahoma City.  It always cracks me up that he will have completed his flight before Dean is even home from the airport in Denver.  The high for Oklahoma City today is around 108 degrees F.  The high for us today is around 85 degrees F.  Poor baby.  I teased him mercilessly yesterday about the drastic climate change he was about to experience.  He wasn't enthused, but nothing would dampen his excitement about getting to spend time with his mom, and that is as it should be.

Rylan is already missing him.  She spent the better part of yesterday hugging him at every opportunity she could get.  Now she gets to be top dog for a few weeks - that always makes things more interesting around here.  Owen will only put up with that for so long.

We have two more days of swimming lessons (today and tomorrow) and then I get my summer back, and my regularly scheduled life back.  I.  Can't.  Wait.

Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

Outside my window... Duke, our visiting dog (see last daybook entry), is running laps around the backyard.  He continues to be a very good house guest - we will miss him when he goes home on Tuesday.  I don't think, however, I will miss him lifting his leg and peeing on my tomato plants.  Now I remember why I only have female dogs...

I am thinking... about a terrific article I read on using Positive Activity Interventions to help you work through depression.  Here they are, in no particular order:

• writing letters of gratitude
• counting one's blessings
• meditating on positive feelings toward others
• using signature strengths
• practicing optimism
• performing acts of kindness

I am thankful... (see?  Already starting...)  for good friends.  Several months ago one of my bookclub members moved to my neighborhood - just a couple of streets away.   Last night she had a bbq, and I loaded up the stroller and walked over with Rylan, Owen, Colin.  We had such a good time - the food was awesome!  It was nice to have a plan for the evening, since Dean and Jordan were gone on a campout with the scout troop.  It makes me wish that neighborhood bbqs were a regular occurrence.  I may have to come out of my introverted shell and organize one.

From the Learning Rooms... We spent last week wrapping up summer for Jordan and preparing for the scout campout.  Lots of playdates and very little 'learning'.  Jordan leaves on Wednesday for Oklahoma.  I am ready to jump in with both feet with Rylan - full blown Kindergarten schedule will commence on Wednesday.  Yeah!!!  I also need to prepare Jordan's NOI (Notice of Intent) for this year.  I always send it mid-August.  A new twist this year - it will include Jordan's testing results from the Spring, so it won't be just the standard update file and print thing.  I will not be filing one for Rylan - she is only five, and even though she will technically be a Kindergartner, I don't have to notify until she is six years old.

In the kitchen...  Last night I made a pasta salad for the bbq.  Very easy.  Tri-color rotini, quartered cherry tomatoes, very small cubes of pepperjack cheese and about half a bottle of Caesar salad dressing. 

I am wearing... nightgown.  Standard early Sunday morning dress code!

I am creating...  a beautiful ceramic pasta bowl! Here is my finished product!!

Before firing...

After... 

I used a bowl design I found on the web (I googled ceramic bowls) as my inspiration, so the design isn't uniquely mine.  I chose it because I suck at detail work - large, simple shapes are hard to mess up!

I am going... to a family gathering this afternoon.  My grandmother and great aunts are hosting a dessert party as a way to bring together the family while my cousin and her daughter (who is the same age as Rylan) are in town from Florida, and my other cousin (her brother) and his partner are in town from Seattle.  The last time we were all together (well, most of us anyway), was two years ago, when, again, my cousin and her daughter were visiting.   I greet this event with a great amount of trepidation - for reasons I may or may not post about later. 

I am wondering...  what this afternoon will bring.  I may just retreat and spend the time in my grandmother's garden.  My happy place for my introverted self.

I am reading... Watermelon by Marian Keyes. Still. I haven't cracked a book in over a week.

I am hoping... that today goes well.  That my children behave and don't add to my already burgeoning discomfort.  I already have two strikes against me... boatloads of sugar and missing afternoon naptime.  Sh!t.

I am looking forward to... about an hour from now I will pick up Dean and Jordan from their weekend scout campout.  When I was tucking in Rylan last night, she said "I can't wait until tomorrow.  I've really missed 'those boys'".  Me too.

I am hearing... the neighbor using a jackhammer to break apart his old concrete patio.  Owen and Colin fighting over a wagon.  Rylan asking for applesauce over and over again like a broken record.  Adele, singing Rolling In the Deep.  Which one of these things is not like the other??

Around the house... Washing and drying Rylan's porcelain tea set to take to the party this afternoon.  My way of helping Rylan and her cousin connect since they don't really know each other.

I am pondering... why I set up such massive mental roadblocks about past hurts.  It just makes getting over it and moving on that much harder.

One of my favorite things...  is working in the garden.  I spent an hour pruning and weeding my tomatoes yesterday, as the kids played in the sprinklers, and it was truly wonderful.  It is one of the few activities that can take me to a Zen-like state.  I think of nothing else but the task at hand.

A few plans for the rest of the week... pack Jordan for a six-week stay in Oklahoma.  Finish up the last four swim lessons of the season for Rylan and Owen.  Start schoolwork in earnest with Rylan.  Prepare for camping next weekend.  And oh yeah... celebrate my 40th birthday next Monday.  Uugh.

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...

Hangin' out at the pool..

New haircut.  Short and sassy.

To read more entries and visit a variety of other blogs, go here...

Art takes time. A lot of time.

Hooray for us - we finally wrapped up an art project!!  Last year, when Jordan attended a one-day-a-week enrichment program, we took advantage of the ability to take home some curriculum for the school year and made Atelier Art one of our choices.  We had to give it back when we left the program in April - which I was pretty bummed about - because it is expensive.  I didn't really start using it until January, so we were just starting to get into it.  So forgive me, this post is so embarrassingly overdue and I have no idea what lesson this project is, or what level it is from.

There are 8 levels, 3 modules each, in Atelier Art.  I know this because I just looked it up.  :)  We belong to Homeschool Buyers Co-op, and they are running a 40% discount on it that ends August 22.  Each module normally retails for around $150, so it is a very good deal.  I can hardly speak with authority here, but the four lessons that we did do were pretty cool.  I *think* we were working within level 4, module A... We first did a lesson on the color wheel, and practiced mixing secondary and tertiary colors.  Then we painted a picture of a hot air balloon with all of the fabulous colors we made...

Then there was a lesson on washing the background with sweeping watercolors in a blue/purple hue, and then cutting out shapes of trees with bare branches, people with umbrellas and birds from black construction paper and arranging them on the background.  It was to depict a rainy day.  I didn't take any photos, unfortunately.  I'm lame like that. 

Then we sort of combined the third and fourth lesson.  I didn't like the finished product in lesson three, but I liked the idea...  Here is what we came up with.  We began in early February.  Yes, February.

Watercolor still life

We began by creating a still life for our inspiration.  We kept it simple but rich in texture: a vase with flowers, a bowl of apples, and a fish sculpture.  I am mostly pleased with this arrangement, but I am bothered by the two 'low' elements, and one 'high' element.  If I were to do this again, I would ditch the fish and go for another item that would be about medium height, in a blue or purple hue.  I think the artistic composition would be more balanced that way.



Hey look!  There is 'Rainy Day' above the flowers!  I'm not lame after all!!

 Then we used several sheets of white tagboard, and gave each one a colorwash using watercolor paints and lots of water, one sheet for each color represented in the still life: yellow, red, blue/green, brown and speckled brown.  We made the speckled brown by washing the paper with brown first, and then taking a brush with a darker shade of brown and flicking it at the paper.



We didn't need a lot of red or yellow, so we divided the sheet in half.

 

Close cat supervision is required at all times for a project of this magnitude.



Owen, of course, doing his own thing...

 Then when the paint is dry, approximately 77 days later (give or take a day), tear the watercolor papers into the shapes you need for each element of the still life.  Small bits for the little yellow flowers, a large red piece for the bowl, long, skinny strips for the branches... etc.  Then arrange them on the paper and glue them down.

You can see the speckled brown in Jordan's paper pile.  He did a great job with that technique.



This part of the project proved difficult for Rylan.  Not quite enough finger dexterity to be able to exert enough pressure to do semi-accurate tearing of the paper, so I helped her with that component.



This part of the project must be supervised by a toddler eating leftover Chinese.

 Then after waiting the required 96 days for the glue to dry, you can then begin the final phase of the project.  Outline the shapes using a pen or pencil (the video showed the instructor using a black felt tip pen, we used plain 'ole black colored pencil), to give further definition to the shapes.



Jordan's finished still life.



Rylan's finished still life


I am very pleased with how they turned out.  I love the rough edges of the torn shapes, and the way they give dimension to the finished piece.  I also love how the color wash gives lots of different color values across the painting, giving a soft, yet cohesive effect - and it lends an element of realism.

So in our household, it takes approximately six months to produce a piece of artwork.  We painted one day, glued the next, and finished by outlining in pencil.  This last push took all of 12 minutes to complete.  I am so tired I think I need to recharge with a cup of coffee and a nap.

What is really silly about this whole thing??  This is the best part about homeschooling!  It's fun!  It is so relaxing to pull out the materials, put on some good music (We listen to Nora Jones on Pandora) and just create.  And I can only seem to manage to do it once every couple of months.  Shame on me.  Shame. shame. shame.  I love doing art.  I don't even mind the mess - unless it involves a small child running through the house with a loaded paintbrush.  It's been known to happen.