Ordinary Time

One of the things I love most is when I'm grocery shopping and come across a spectacular deal. Of course, you have to be aware of the usual prices of things in order to know it's a spectacular deal, but I pay attention to the usual prices. The bulk items in one of the grocery stores I frequently visit had been off limits since everything shut down. Instead of people being able to bag their own bulk items, they were pre-bagged. (An aside, I don't mind safety measures, but sometimes there are things that just don't make sense. This is one of them. I can rifle around the fresh produce all I like, but I can't pull a lever and fill a bag from a chute? I still don't get it.) Evidently, this has not been popular, probably because the whole point of the bulk section is being able to choose how much of an item you are buying. I surmise this because there were quite a few things in the bulk area which were being clearanced. I suspect it is because they were hitting thei...

It's very hot and humid this week. I do not like very hot and humid; it makes me not want to eat, much less cook. But while it was a near thing, I did come up with a menu for the week. Monday, June 29 Grilled chicken      I didn't make it to the store today because I hadn't yet made a menu and list, so we were forced to make do with what was on hand. We had chicken in the freezer, so that was easy. Stuffing      From a box Salad      Lettuce we have in abundance, oh and sugar snap peas, too. Tuesday, June 30 Taco salad       It's cold and it tastes good. No other reason. Cornbread      I'm hoping I can convince G. to make this for me. Wednesday, July 1  Swedish meatballs      I know this sounds a little warmer than the rest of the menu, but it sounded good, and when I went to IKEA a few weeks ago, I picked up several jars of lignonberry sauce, which I haven't been abl...

It probably won't come as any surprise to read that financial life around here operates with a very fine margin. It always seems to work out, but there are times when it is a closer call than is comfortable. When I opened the mail the other day to learn that our property taxes will be raised 15% next year, I will admit to having to take a moment to let my heart start beating again. It also set the hamster who lives in my brain back on his wheel of what I could do to bring in a little more income. With the sudden rise of people considering homeschooling for the first time, I briefly thought about hanging out my shingle as a homeschooling consultant. You know, helping people find resources, trouble shooting, that kind of thing. I think I'm probably pretty qualified. I loved the idea... until I didn't. I know there are homeschooling consultants. I know there are people and businesses that provide lesson plans. I know that there are even people who will take your documentat...

Suddenly it is late June, and I don't know how that happened. It was probably focusing on all those birthdays. I have three gallons of strawberries macerating in the refrigerator waiting to be made into jam tomorrow. Macerating is just fancy term for sitting in sugar.  The last two gallons of berries I'm going to make into strawberry lemonade concentrate. This will be new for us, but it sounds really good. G. is still loving her riding lessons. On Tuesday she trotted nearly the entire lesson. Her legs were a little sore by the end. It was so humid today that even the fronts of my shins were sweating at Horse Power today.  I love it when an older child comes up to me and asks if we have a copy of The Great Gatsby. J. figured out how to use the carpet shampooer attachment on our Kirby vacuum today. It makes the carpet look better. Not pristine, but it doesn't look horrible now, either. K. has turned into a lawn mowing fanatic. He loves it. A few days ago he mowed bot...

I'm slowly working my way through my new book, Play=Learning, which is a collection of scholarly articles about, surprisingly enough, how play facilitates learning. It is a subject which I find endlessly fascinating. It is also a subject which fills me with frustration because I believe so deeply that children need to play, that it is important, and it helps them learn and grow emotionally, but I fear so many parents do not see its value nor importance. With one too many queries about good curricula for three and four year old, I must take my frustration out somewhere. You my lucky readers are the current recipients. Since people like to listen to people with letters after their names, I'll stick with that. I'll share some of the many quotes I have underlined in my new book. "Moreover, the features of make-believe -- child controlled, rich in social engagement and language, and attuned to the child's interests -- are ideal for stimulating changes in the cereb...

Today we went to pick strawberries. The weather was beautiful, the berries were large, and it was a lovely afternoon. I found a new U-pick berry farm because I just couldn't work up the energy to drive two hours one way to the one we used to go to. This one was less than an hour away, had reasonable prices, and we discovered will have apples in the fall. It would be nice to have a decent apple orchard to go to that wasn't a racket . We now have 6 gallons of strawberries. Guess what I'm doing this weekend. Jam and Strawberry-Lemon concentrate are at the top of the canning list. Some photos of the day... TM (photo credit TM) TM and Y. (TM) The cute little kildeer who was guarding her nest (The farm had protected it and put a sign out warning visitors away from her. TM used his fancy phone camera to get this shot.) P. (TM) R. (TM) H. (TM) Y. (TM) Everyone crossing the street to get to the strawberry fields (TM) Y. (TM) (TM)...

We woke up on a hotel room, complete with children, one dog, two cats, and one quail, and waited around for the phone call telling us the closing on the Big Ugly House had been completed. With that happy news, we loaded the dependents back up into the various cars and drove to what would be our new home. With permission, we left all the dependents at the house, but hanging around on the back porch, while J. and I went to the closing for our new house. We had whatever things that did not go on the moving trucks, which turned out to be quite a bit. The furniture would not arrive for a week and we slept in sleeping bags on the floor. I go back and forth as to whether I think it feels longer or shorter than three years... maybe a little bit of both. When I would talk to people about moving, asking for advice, most would say that it takes 2-3 years to really feel as though you are settled. I didn't want to hear this. I wanted to be settled right away, and I worked HARD to try to get...

Today was J.'s and my 29th anniversary. We were actually able to go eat at a restaurant. We had a very nice meal, and were actually able to have a conversation that wasn't interrupted after every sentence. So, happy anniversary to us. Monday Meatball sandwiches      This was all from packages... frozen meatballs, jarred sauce, store bought buns. It's one of the easy meals children can make for themselves if we are going out. Roasted Brussels sprouts      These were frozen sprouts and they worked okay to roast. Tuesday Steak and spring vegetable stir-fry      The key to meal planning this week was to use the vegetables I had growing in the garden. I have a lot of snap peas, which this recipe calls for, so that's why we're having it. Jasmine rice Eggrolls Wednesday Pork meatballs and escarole soup      Once again, I have a lot of escarole growing in the garden. Biscuits Thursday Pasta with Swiss chard and ...

With the last June family birthday celebration tonight, we can set birthdays aside until September. Whew! It's a marathon. Tonight we celebrated J.'s birthday, gave D. his gifts, and also acknowledged Father's Day. It was a good day. There was even a massive family badminton game for a good chunk of the afternoon. I'm so very sleepy right now, though, that this is all I can write. I do have a couple of funny cat pictures for you, though. P.'s cat, Midnight, is not a very big cat. He looks bigger than he actually is because of all of his fur. It's moments like this when you realize how very small he really is. I'm not sure he was enjoying this.

I drove into Evanston this afternoon for a drive-by (and stop and visit while socially distanced) bridal shower for a good friend, so I'm kind of tired. It was a lot of driving and also a lot of socializing. Far more socializing than I have done in literally months. I'm tired. A good tired because it was good to visit face-to-face with friends. On the way there I heard a really interesting interview on the radio. I had to keep saying the name of the person over and over again so that I could remember it until I was off the tollway and stopped at a red light to write it down. I was able to do that, so my next step is to do some more research on what I was hearing. I can't even tell you the speaker's name right now because I promptly forgot it the second I wrote it down, and the piece of paper is downstairs in my purse. The quote that caught my ear as I was driving and caused me to pay more attention was, "We descend into despair when we lack imagination." Int...

I'll dive right in. Things are starting up again and I have things on the calendar. This feels both good and odd. I keep forgetting to check the calendar. Plus, my calendar runs out at the end of the month, so anything past that is scrawled inside the back cover. I suppose I need to do something about this because it doesn't seem like a practical system.  After being back at riding lessons for two weeks and Horse Power for one, I'm realizing that it doesn't take too long to become lazy and out of shape. I'm pooped.  Every day since her first riding lesson, G. has asked, "When will it be Tuesday again?" I think she loved her lesson a lot. Y. is deeply involved in the Warriors book series. She has spent most of the past week curled up on a couch with her nose in a book. Sometimes I find her silently crying because something sad has happened to one of the cats in the book she is reading. It is a gift to have learned to read well enough that she is so fu...

I know, I know, after all my posts about curriculum not mattering, it feels a little contradictory to now post a list of resources and curricula that I have found helpful. Well, after watching H. head into the studio, grab one of the books of the shelf, and process to work through it, I realized that much of what I have on my shelves is because I read about them somewhere. And what I have on my shelves has been useful. So, I am making a list. It is not going to be an orderly list because I was never going to write this. It is going to be a free-association list as I think about the things that we have used. At least the ones I can remember. I am also not going to link to anything. You can pick your favorite homeschool store to buy from. I would always encourage you to buy from family run stores to help keep them in business. Some work very hard to review and search out new resources. So in no order what so ever. Draw-Write-Now - This is a multi-volume handwriting series that has bo...

1. I can cut-up five pineapples an hour, including taking out each of the little eyes from around the outside. 2. If you spend two hours cutting up pineapples, your hands will start to get sore because of the enzymes in the pineapple. 3. My children love pineapple, and when you deny them the pineapple you are slicing, they will take the leftover ends and eat the bits of edible pineapple off them. 4. This will cause sores around their mouths if this is done for too long. 5. You should really get to the pineapple chopping in the morning, leaving the afternoon free to do the canning. If you don't, you will bump up into dinner preparation where you will not have enough decent burners on your stove to do what you need to do. 6. I miss my good six-burner cook-top. (I didn't actually learn this. I already knew it. I was just reminded of it this afternoon.) 7. Out of nine pineapples, you can get 6 pints of sliced pineapple and 4-1/2 pints of pineapple jam. 8. I am out of ...

G.'s big birthday gift was four horseback riding lessons with the trainer that I take lessons from. This seemed like a good way to help her build a good foundation. She was very excited, and today was her first lesson. I had done some work with her here so she wasn't a complete beginner. G. really enjoyed it and did very well. She even trotted independently around the arena and began posting. Her legs were pretty sore by the end of the lesson, though. The one picture I didn't get, which I wish I had, was her enormous smile when she finished her lesson and walked over to me.

Monday, June 15 (G.'s chosen birthday dinner) Macaroni and cheese      homemade Raw vegetables and dip Root beer floats Tuesday, June 16 (L.'s chosen birthday dinner. These are all recipes from her Redwall Cookbook , and she and G. have plans to make it all themselves.) Crispy cheese 'n' onion hogbake Parsnip, tater, and beetroot pie Salad Blackberry and apple cake Wednesday, June 17 Chicken curry Basmati rice Naan Thursday, June 18 Summer squash and basil pasta      The basil plants in the garden are growing nicely, and I can finally pick recipes that use fresh basil. Garlic bread Friday, June 19 Hamburgers      Grilled, on homemade buns Garlic potatoes Saturday, June 20 (D's birthday dinner) Cherry chicken salad      A cold salad that's one of our favorites French bread      From scratch (I still don't know what he wants for his dessert) Sunday, June 21 (J.'s birthday...

Actually, their birthdays are tomorrow. B. turns 25, while G. and L. turn 11. It was easier to get everyone here to celebrate today. We took full advantage of the fantastic weather. First, J. and B. finished repairing the culvert so that in the next big rain all the gravel wouldn't wash from the drive into the creek. Looks pretty good, huh? There is wire mesh under the gravel which is screwed to wood underneath the logs and staked down under the road. The idea is the railway tie and logs will stop the gravel from going over while the wire mesh will stop it from washing out underneath. I think the rock makes a nice addition (J. and B. rolled it from the front yard where it didn't make any sense), plus it holds the logs in place. The other part of the process was to gather the gravel that did wash down the creek in the last storm and bring it back up to cover the wire mesh. Here is K. with the wheelbarrow in the creek trying to push it back up the bank. The mower t...

It's time again for me to write a post so that I don't have to write the same thing over and over again. The topic for today is... creating curriculum for special needs students if you are homeschooling. There are a lot of parents who are considering homeschooling for the fall due to what school will or may look like in the fall. This is particularly true among parents who have children who have special needs. A common question on various homeschooling pages has been, "What curriculum do you use for your special needs child?" Now, I know you all know what my opinions of packaged curricula are , but I try to be helpful and say that I usually cobble together what we use. Then, inevitably, I am asked what I use when I cobble things together. This is a much larger issue than can adequately be covered in a comment, so here we are. Step one, in my opinion, is to figure out exactly what an individual child can and cannot do; investigate what they really understand. For i...

Another Friday rolls around. The four youngest are sleeping in a tent tonight. They've been planning this for days and are very excited. They have put on warm pajamas and have thick sleeping bags as it is supposed to get down to the 50's tonight. H. has been doing a lot of drawing. Here are her most recent birds. I think they are fantastic and full of personality. We made food from my new Indian cookbook tonight. Everything was extremely good, and we are excited to try new recipes from it. The surprise hit was a chaat salad, which was cucumber, radishes, green onions, and chickpeas fried in a pan on the stove. Oh, and lots of spices, of course. It was also supposed to have pomegranate seeds, but evidently June is NOT pomegranate season, because we could not find a pomegranate anywhere. Nearly everyone loved it. We have finished reading A Wrinkle in Time and have now started the sequel, A Wind in the Door at teatime. Some days I feel as though we will never conquer th...

If you do not live in the horse world, you are probably unfamiliar with the 52 thoroughbred horses. In 2011, 52 thoroughbred horses really did need homes, and people posted about it on their social media. (All 52 horses did find homes, by the way.) The trouble is, every year since 2011, the urgent posts asking for help for the 52 thoroughbreds resurface. First, if you happen to come across this, you can now shake your head knowingly and not pass it along. Second, you can join with me in appreciating some of the funny memes that have resulted.