Friday bullets, Aug. 2, 2019

I've sat down here to write because I have an article due by the end of the day. So what do I do first? Write a blog post. I'm calling it a writing warm-up exercise.

• Bristol arrives tomorrow afternoon, so this morning, J., M., and I put the final touches on the stalls that needed to be finished. Want to see?

I think J. did a magnificent job on them, and it's quite a far cry from the finished, but very empty barn of several months ago.

                                                    

That's the same wall you're looking at. (This picture is from right before the barn was finished... when they were done it was a solid wall, but there wasn't anything else inside.) It is such a huge difference from seven months ago.

• K. continues to create with Legos. I won't overwhelm you with pictures of every single thing, but I wanted to share this one. If you are not in the Chicago area, you may not be familiar with Chance the Snapper, the alligator which was discovered and subsequently caught in one of the ponds in the Chicago Park District. We may only barely count as living in the Chicago area these days, but Chance was everywhere, figuratively. Here is K.'s homage to Chance done in Lego.

He was very difficult to get a picture of so you could really admire him.

His mouth even opens!

I need to edit to add that after dinner tonight, when K. was showing B. his creation, we learned that Chance was also created to eat and poop pennies. This seemed like something you would not want to miss.

                                      

• P. has been working with Emmy pretty consistently and is now able to lunge her. Also, while she (Emmy, not P.) was always alright with her ground manners (how she acts around people when not being ridden), she could get just a little fussy. After having lived here for seven months and with all the people who pay attention to her and make noise and do all sorts of surprising things, the farrier has now deemed her the easiest horse that he works with. The horse that we were warned doesn't like her ears touched now lets anyone hold them and touch them. Good job, Emmy!
• I can't believe it is already August. We are just getting into our summer groove. In the back of my head, I have been planning what we will do school-wise this coming year, but I am certainly not ready to hide myself away in my studio to do the yearly planning yet. This year we are going to go back and begin a new round of world history. I feel as though I have had an adequate break and can go back to Egypt one last time. (I've lost count of how many times I've already gone back to Egypt.) I was a bit stymied as to what we would do along with history for our other unit study, though. Until... I was going through a friend's boxes of curriculum she was giving away (I realize this need to collect curricula is a problem, I can't help myself), and came across a really terrific book about using writing journals to teach writing. There were also some other creative writing resources and some poetry items. They caught my interest and I decided that was what we will do. Along with history, we'll be putting some intensive time into creative writing and poetry. 
• We continue to have issues with R.'s sleeping. Both J. and I have become a twitchy about hearing noises at night, wondering if this particular noise means we are going to be up for hours. It is not a restful way to sleep.
• D. is all registered at the college where J. works. He will be taking Psych 101 and American History this semester.
• Here's the official adoption photo of us with Bristol. I didn't have a copy earlier.

• I just saw an ad for a t-shirt that says "Oxford comma appreciation society". I think I need one.
• Has anyone ever read any books by Thomas Keneally? I've started one which focuses on Napoleon... it's historical fiction... but it is slow going at the moment. I also really have to focus, which is not a bad thing, but it makes me realize how quickly I tend to read when I come across a book which slows me down so much. 
• Remember when I wrote about Y. working so hard to walk through the tall grass on a walk we took earlier this summer? In order to manage it, she found a stick that helped her balance. It worked so well that she was finally ready to agree to use some sort of aid for longer walks, especially on uneven surfaces. She now has a pair of very nice hiking poles and is enjoying them. The fact that these are a tool that able bodied hikers also use is a plus to her. But reaching a point where she is willing to accept help, even in the form of a tool, is a big deal.
• I guess I really do need to stop and actually write this article. But remember, it's not too late to order a side (or quarter) of beef from my brother. This is a new business venture for him and new customers are like gold. Chicago area people, we will work on getting your meat delivered out here, no need to drive to Iowa... unless you want to, that is. I've certainly done that enough times in my life. Click the link and give my brother a call or email or something: Riggins Family Farm