Ordinary Time

There are a lot of moving pieces to get this crew ready for the school year, and unpacking and getting settled in a new place were not the only ones. Another part was just figuring out logistics. We don't have the big school room we used last year, where everyone could keep their school books and supplies laying about. While we do have school storage, it is not nearly so large, and we won't be working in that room, we will be using the dining room each morning instead.  I've used kitchens and dining rooms before, and the most challenging thing about that is getting them cleared off for use as actual tables to eat on afterwards. We needed an easy way that people could carry their stuff about, and keep it contained. I decided that if each person had a bag for their books and a pencil case for pencils, erasers, and crayons, doing the moving and cleaning would be easier. So we did some crafts. I bought each child a new, blank canvas bag and a new pencil box. Everyone decor...

Some pictures from our second visit to the fair. K. G., L., and Y. K. Y. and K. TM and L. H. and R. Watching A. and G. on a ride P. and A. getting off the ride Y. ____________ And I haven't done this in a few days, so here is our monthly vegetable tally: Artichoke - 1 Avocado – 3 Basil - 1 Beans (black) - 2 Beans (navy) – 2 Bell pepper – 2 Broccoli - 1 Brussels sprouts – 1 Carrots - 2 Cauliflower – 1 Celery - 1 Chickpeas - 1 Chipotle pepper - 1 Corn – 3 Cucumber – 2 Edamame – 1 Escarole – 1 Green beans – 1 Green onions – 1 Jalapeno – 1 Lettuce (iceberg) - 1 Lettuce (leaf) – 3 Lettuce (romaine) – 2 Mushrooms (white button) - 1 Okra - 1 Onion – 6 Peas - 1 Potatoes - 1 Spinach – 1 Swiss chard - 1 Tomato (cherry) – 2 Tomato – 5 Zucchini - 2 How is yours going?

That is what we've been doing the past couple of days. Our new little town has a big festival the third weekend of August, complete with parade, carnival, tractor pull... you name it. Everyone enjoyed the parade and carnival last night, but it did make for a late bedtime. This morning, we were up early to head into Chicago for a memorial service. It was a sad reason to see M. and B., as well as lots of friends. Of course, one doesn't make the trek without doing some visiting, so we were gone all day. I'm pooped. It's late, I'm tired, and tomorrow is promising to be another busy day. It also means I don't have a lot to say other than that. And really, I'm popping in here not just to say that I'm tired, but to also ask you, if you are a praying type, to keep my mom and her new puppy in your prayers. A couple of weeks ago, she bought home a new little bulldog puppy, whom she adores. Then, a week ago, Daisy, the new little puppy contracted pneumonia and ...

We get closer and closer to September, and I still have no done homeschool planning. I may take a page out of a friend's book, and consider September 1 to be August 32. I can do that, right? Make summer another month or two longer? It's been a week of socializing. We've made some new friends which we are very excited about, who don't live very far from us. It certainly helps this seem more like home. But for this introvert, three days in a row of meeting people is a lot. I'm tired. The grocery store trip I need to make today sounds kind of relaxing.  P. and I headed over to our local community college the other day to get her enrolled. She has decided she wants to try one class at first, and has settled on French 1. Her reasons for taking French are not because she has always wanted to learn it, or because I can help her. No, it's because they don't offer Romanian, and French is the closest she could get to it. (P. likes learning less main stream langua...

When you move to a place where you know no one, it can be difficult to start all over again. This is particularly true if you are a private teacher. Since it seems that the area where we've landed relies heavily on the internet for information, I have decided that I needed to create a Facebook page for my piano studio . So this is what I did last night instead of writing a blog post. For people on Facebook, if you care to, a visit to my new page, and a like would be much appreciated. If I have ever taught you or your child, and you would care to write a positive review, that would be much appreciated as well. ___________________ Vegetable tally... last night we had pasta with pesto. I decided that even though basil is typically classified as an herb, when you use four cups of the stuff it counts as a vegetable. Halfway through the month, and we are at 29 different entries. If you want to quibble about me dividing up lettuce and tomatoes into types, then you drop the total down t...

It's the season when schools are starting, and thus many homeschoolers are starting their more formal learning as well. Recently I've noticed something. Maybe it's because I'm in quite a few groups where it seems that homeschooling has not been a first choice for a family, but they end up homeschooling because it feels like a last resort. These are not parents who are homeschooling because of the benefits homeschooling offers, but are homeschooling because their first options proved to be harmful to their children. There is a big difference between choosing something proactively and feeling cornered by a lot of bad options and picking the one that seems least harmful. It's all homeschooling, but it is so interesting to me how many people can view the same thing, but with such different lenses. I see a lot of pain and frustration and feelings of failure among the 'homeschooling thrust upon them' group. Very often this group gives up on homeschooling, thinki...

Well, it's not really new, but it's new to me. For a while, A. was really interested in photography and used her own money to buy herself a really nice dslr camera. I thought she took some really good photographs with it, but eventually she moved on to other things. As we were packing, she came across it again, and decided she didn't really want it. So I happily snatched it up. I don't actually enjoy taking bad pictures, and having a good camera would encourage me to actually practice.  I've spent some time reading the manual and figuring out how the basics work, and decided before moving on to more technical aspects, I should just fool around with it and get used to it. What do you think? Better? (Don't say anything if you don't think so, because I think they are.) These are from this morning. H. And some of Kenzie. Various plants growing in the yard. This is on a medium height, rounded bush. Any idea what it is? Since I...