Friday, January 29, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #441
Yikes! My apologies for not getting my latest comic up in a timely manner! I was trapped in a never ending survey last night and it completely slipped my mind! Without further ado...
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #440
Teaching them to bake. It's always come back to haunt me. I've got very low resistance against the smells of fresh baked breads and treats. It's funny, Marina has always been good at baking cookies that I consider labor intensive, like snickerdoodles and chocolate crinkles. But it wasn't until last year that I realized she had never made a chocolate chip cookie. I think I intimidated her because I can usually throw a batch together without even looking at a recipe. She likes recipes and measuring correctly.
Some of our most successful baking came from "Honest Pretzels" by Mollie Katzen; clipped recipes from Highlights magazine; and a cookbook that I got free when I bought the DVD of Ratatouille called "What's Cooking?: A Cookbook for Kids". One of my latest finds at the library was the book "Everybody Bakes Bread" by Norah Dooley. The back of the book is full of recipes for different kinds of bread. It's always nice to find a new recipe to try, but it does make it harder to keep your weight down!
Editor's note: A few other books I've been reminded of with recipes in the back: Ian Fleming's Chitty Chitty Bang Bang had a great recipe for fudge. You need to check, because some of the later editions don't include it. Harry and Wende Devlin wrote several wonderful picture books with recipes on the back. My mother still makes Old Witch's Magic Nut Cake every year for Thanksgiving. If you have a favorite story that includes a recipe, let me know!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Carnival of Homeschooling at Corn and Oil
The latest Carnival of Homeschooling: For Those Considering Homeschooling, is up at Corn and Oil. Please take a moment to read some of this week's contributions!
Monday, January 25, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #439
Decisions, decisions. I like encouraging my kids to cook, but I don't seem to be able to express the importance of cleaning up. Once there is food, they seem to forget that. But I like to have them cook. I don't want them to start their independence relying on take-out. But there's that mess...
Saturday, January 23, 2010
Going on an Eagle Hunt...
When ice drifts down the Hudson River, it is time to head to the nature center to look for bald eagles. I tend to always have the same luck at these events. Either I have the camera and there are no eagles, or I forget the camera and we see many. The stars must have aligned last Thursday, because we finally had everything--camera, eagles, and fair weather!
Of course, the mature eagles still decided to take me down a peg and stayed far enough away that this was the best my camera could manage...
At least it's visible! Considering I couldn't see it in the viewfinder, I'm amazed it came out this well.
The swans were more cooperative. My son took this wonderful shot of a swan on the river:
Then I took some shots of the kids to prove they were there...
Afterward, we went back to the nature center to warm up a bit. (Could you tell we were cold?) I took some shots of the feeder birds.
Of course, the mature eagles still decided to take me down a peg and stayed far enough away that this was the best my camera could manage...
At least it's visible! Considering I couldn't see it in the viewfinder, I'm amazed it came out this well.The swans were more cooperative. My son took this wonderful shot of a swan on the river:
Then I took some shots of the kids to prove they were there...
Afterward, we went back to the nature center to warm up a bit. (Could you tell we were cold?) I took some shots of the feeder birds.
Another birdwatcher came in to tell us he had sighted a juvenile eagle. Marina and I dropped everything and rushed over (Chase and Sierra were in play mode by now, no sense in dragging them away from their friends.) We were rewarded with a wonderful view of this immature bald eagle, possibly a first year. We thought it was very griffin like.
Happiness is a Warm Harp
Do you ever read a book and feel like it relates so well to homeschooling, even though it has nothing to do with homeschooling? For me, my latest read, Harpo Speaks!, read like life and times of an unschooler.
Harpo Speaks! is the autobiography of Harpo Marx, the silent member of the Marx Brothers. Harpo led a remarkable life. The book itself is like stepping into history--Turn of the 20th century life in NY tenements, Tammany Hall politics, the Vaudeville circuits, the Roaring Twenties, the formation of the USSR, the Depression--there is so much here, I could go on and on! Most of the stories Harpo tells about the times and people he's met are so funny I was reading large sections of the book out loud to my kids. (Luckily, unlike what I've heard of Groucho's autobiography, Harpo's book is child-friendly for the most part. There are some references to things like bordellos that some parents may not want to explain to younger kids, but the stories themselves seem written as if he imagined his children would be reading them.)
What struck me the most was the second chapter, The Education of Me. Harpo had a tough time in the NYC Public Schools. He was literally thrown out of school by classroom bullies countless times before he finally got up and decided not to go back. He was, at the time, halfway through his second year of second grade. He goes on to explain how he learned to read from reading the signs as he roamed the city. He tells of his grandfather, who taught him German and who he considered his first real teacher. His second teacher was his big brother Chico, who taught him more practical things, like playing the odds in dice and poker. Chico himself ended up dropping out of school when he was twelve and started applying the laws of probability to gambling and the laws of physics to the poolroom. Eventually the whole family would be sucked into their mother's plans to help them make it big. Harpo's family was close knit, something he didn't think would have happened if their mother hadn't pulled them together and taken them on the road to fame and fortune.
My favorite quote from Chapter 2: "I was good only at daydreaming, a subject they didn't give credit for in the New York City school system."
Because Harpo was a listener, he sees the world in a unique way. He was very much an optimist and enjoyed whatever was sent his way. And he would have many teachers in his life. Some, like Alexander Woollcott, would be with him for a long time. Some, like his son Billy, he would have to wait a while for. Along the way, he played and lived a lifelong childhood.
Considering the closeness of his family, I'm surprised how long it took for Harpo to settle down. He was in his forties before he married Susan. They ended up adopting four children together. How he handled explaining the adoptions to them was beautiful. He and Susan turned it into a wonderful adventure that showed their children just how special they were to their parents.
He lists his family's rules in Chapter 23: Life on a Harp Ranch. I have many favorites here, but I will quote this one: "You can work at whatever you want to as long as you do it as well as you can and clean up afterwards and you're at the table at mealtime and in bed at bedtime."
One neat way I enhanced my reading the book was to have a four day Marx Brothers marathon. I would point out some interesting facts to the kids as they watched. (Now my kids look for the "Gookie" whenever they watch!) I'm also struck by the different types of humor each brother brings to the table to make such a unique style. Chico, just as Harpo wrote about him, uses accents and is the fast talker. Harpo is the ultimate pantomime clown. Groucho shows his bookish youth in his intellectual wit. With those three leading the way, it isn't hard to understand why Gummo and Zeppo, the youngest brothers, decided to eventually find another direction in life. But they also had their successes. Gummo was a dress manufacturer and then partnered with Zeppo in a talent agency in California. Zeppo would have the golden touch as an entrepreneur, always ending up richer after each investment.
There is so much in this book, I feel I can't even do it credit in a review. I hope some of you will take a chance on this book. I find biographies interesting because every life is interesting and no two lives are alike. And when you find a life story that really speaks to you, that is a wonderful treasure.
Harpo Speaks! is the autobiography of Harpo Marx, the silent member of the Marx Brothers. Harpo led a remarkable life. The book itself is like stepping into history--Turn of the 20th century life in NY tenements, Tammany Hall politics, the Vaudeville circuits, the Roaring Twenties, the formation of the USSR, the Depression--there is so much here, I could go on and on! Most of the stories Harpo tells about the times and people he's met are so funny I was reading large sections of the book out loud to my kids. (Luckily, unlike what I've heard of Groucho's autobiography, Harpo's book is child-friendly for the most part. There are some references to things like bordellos that some parents may not want to explain to younger kids, but the stories themselves seem written as if he imagined his children would be reading them.)
What struck me the most was the second chapter, The Education of Me. Harpo had a tough time in the NYC Public Schools. He was literally thrown out of school by classroom bullies countless times before he finally got up and decided not to go back. He was, at the time, halfway through his second year of second grade. He goes on to explain how he learned to read from reading the signs as he roamed the city. He tells of his grandfather, who taught him German and who he considered his first real teacher. His second teacher was his big brother Chico, who taught him more practical things, like playing the odds in dice and poker. Chico himself ended up dropping out of school when he was twelve and started applying the laws of probability to gambling and the laws of physics to the poolroom. Eventually the whole family would be sucked into their mother's plans to help them make it big. Harpo's family was close knit, something he didn't think would have happened if their mother hadn't pulled them together and taken them on the road to fame and fortune.
My favorite quote from Chapter 2: "I was good only at daydreaming, a subject they didn't give credit for in the New York City school system."
Because Harpo was a listener, he sees the world in a unique way. He was very much an optimist and enjoyed whatever was sent his way. And he would have many teachers in his life. Some, like Alexander Woollcott, would be with him for a long time. Some, like his son Billy, he would have to wait a while for. Along the way, he played and lived a lifelong childhood.
Considering the closeness of his family, I'm surprised how long it took for Harpo to settle down. He was in his forties before he married Susan. They ended up adopting four children together. How he handled explaining the adoptions to them was beautiful. He and Susan turned it into a wonderful adventure that showed their children just how special they were to their parents.
He lists his family's rules in Chapter 23: Life on a Harp Ranch. I have many favorites here, but I will quote this one: "You can work at whatever you want to as long as you do it as well as you can and clean up afterwards and you're at the table at mealtime and in bed at bedtime."
One neat way I enhanced my reading the book was to have a four day Marx Brothers marathon. I would point out some interesting facts to the kids as they watched. (Now my kids look for the "Gookie" whenever they watch!) I'm also struck by the different types of humor each brother brings to the table to make such a unique style. Chico, just as Harpo wrote about him, uses accents and is the fast talker. Harpo is the ultimate pantomime clown. Groucho shows his bookish youth in his intellectual wit. With those three leading the way, it isn't hard to understand why Gummo and Zeppo, the youngest brothers, decided to eventually find another direction in life. But they also had their successes. Gummo was a dress manufacturer and then partnered with Zeppo in a talent agency in California. Zeppo would have the golden touch as an entrepreneur, always ending up richer after each investment.
There is so much in this book, I feel I can't even do it credit in a review. I hope some of you will take a chance on this book. I find biographies interesting because every life is interesting and no two lives are alike. And when you find a life story that really speaks to you, that is a wonderful treasure.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #438
I'm not sure how this one will come across to my readers who have only girls. Those of you who have boys will probably understand. Let's say I've had the pleasure of learning the difference between boys and girls first hand. Surprise! It isn't just physical. Where girls are inclined to use words to express themselves, boys are more likely to take a hands on approach, usually by hitting, throwing something, or spitting. Then around age seven or eight they discover the miracle of language. And before anyone tells me that girls do this too, I'm not denying it. But based on my personal observations of my children and their friends, boys tend to do it more.
It has been a long time since I've had to apologize for my son's behavior or defend him against the injustices of another boy. We've had some crazy moments when I never thought I could civilize him. Eventually, he passed his savage stage and become a decent young man of whom I'm quite proud. And who mumbles a lot. Welcome to the teens.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
Carnival of Homeschooling at Home School Dad!
This week's Carnival of Homeschooling: Library Week edition is being hosted by Dave at Home School Dad. Grab your library card and check out a few articles and borrow a few ideas!
Monday, January 18, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #436
In a perfect world, our children would all get along with each other. After all, they have homeschooling in common! As Marina points out, there are as many homeschoolers as there are shades of colors, both visible and invisible...
Confession time. My kids don't always get along with every homeschooler they meet. My younger two are especially picky when it comes to picking friends. This shouldn't be unusual to me. I, myself, was picky when it came to my friends. I would be nice to everyone, but I was shy and had specific interests. I also wasn't likely to approach anyone. I would draw until someone noticed and talked to me. Then I would talk to them.
Chase and Sierra tend to be very competitive and have an overdeveloped sense of fairness. In all honesty, they aren't always fair, but they expect it in others. Marina probably encouraged this by being so easy-going. They tend to prefer friends who are like their big sister. I tend to encourage them to make friends with kids who have parents I like. I will work very hard to keep a good parent friend. If it means my kids have to learn to play nicely and give in every once in a while, I consider it a bonus.
Friday, January 15, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #435
Our couch is a busy place. I don't think I saw it for most of December. It's not for lack of trying. The faster I clear it, the faster it gets covered. It happens to be the hub of activity. It sits in the living room, which is the most used room in the house by kids and cats alike. This is not surprising in the winter, since sunlight pours in through the windows, keeping us warm and energizing anything under 5'4. The couch is the spot for pillow fights and workbooks, reading and art, tents and toy stages. Until I built our current couch, it was also the lost and found. I could always count on finding missing library books in between the cushions or slid down between the seat and armrests. One of our couches also had a torn lining underneath where we would find missing cats. I just wish I could use the couch for other things sometimes. Like sitting.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Carnival of Homeschooling at Alasandra's
The Carnival of Homeschooling: The Dog & Cat edition is up at Alasandra's Homeschool Blog. Please take a moment to check out some of this week's articles!
Monday, January 11, 2010
Saturday, January 9, 2010
What Moth is This?
The reason I love the library book sales is that you never know what treasure you might find. The last sale, back in October, I happened across a wonderful book called Pictures and Stories from Forgotten Children's Books by Arnold Arnold. The book is out of print now, but it was from the Dover Pictorial Archive series. I have a weakness for these old stories with their pen and ink drawings and their harsh lesson stories that make no apology for attempting to scare kids straight. Marina found a wonderful story in this book called Fanny Overkind. Fanny tries very hard to be kind, but it never works out as she intends. Here is an example:
I wish I had read the Fanny Overkind stories sooner. We might not have had the problems we had over the holidays. I'm thinking about that first time I saw a little white worm inching its way across the kitchen ceiling. It looked so fragile. I didn't want to kill it, so I asked hubby to put it outside (because a November chill would have been so much better for it.) I think he didn't hear me. Whatever the case, in the midst of holiday preparations, we started to notice the moths.
It was only a few at first. The cats, as inept as they are, couldn't catch them. They were too fast. I was worried about them getting into our closets and eating our clothes. Bad naturalist. I was so busy I wasn't being observant. I wasn't noticing little things, like the fact that every time I opened my baking cabinet, a moth flew out. And the fact that the bag of cornmeal I threw out had a strange stringy appearance that didn't really look moldy.
I had been stocking my baking cabinet for about a month in preparation for holiday baking. Luckily, the extra flour wasn't stored there and the flour we use was in a sealed container. Except that my son is not neat in the kitchen and has a penchant for making pancakes on Saturday morning. That's why there was flour on the shelf of the cabinet. We had created a perfect environment for mealworms. So in the midst of holiday baking, I ended up tossing half of my supplies and starting over. I found cocoons in boxes. I found nests in the corners of the shelves. It was my own little holiday horror show. I'm still checking cabinets at this point. Even though I did a thorough job of cleaning, I worry about them coming back. Not so worried anymore about killing the poor, helpless worm. I learned that lesson. On the bright side, our birds had a holiday feast and my baking cabinet is clean and organized.
You may be wondering how all this started. I was at the pet store one day looking for crickets for the anole. I couldn't find any, but I remembered that the woman who sold us the lizard said you could feed them mealworms. I had never done this before, but I figured Lizzie would enjoy the variety. Imagine my surprise when I opened the mealworm container at home and a moth flew out. It scared the bejeebers out of me--I'm pretty sure I screamed--but I thought nothing of it until I was fighting for my baking supplies. I don't think any of us even attempted to catch it.
Fanny had a nett(sic) made to cover her flowers and keep the chickens away; but if she had not put the nett over her garden the plants would not have died as they did: for the chickens, and birds, were only picking off the caterpillars and bugs: that would eat the young plants. But Fanny did not know that...
I wish I had read the Fanny Overkind stories sooner. We might not have had the problems we had over the holidays. I'm thinking about that first time I saw a little white worm inching its way across the kitchen ceiling. It looked so fragile. I didn't want to kill it, so I asked hubby to put it outside (because a November chill would have been so much better for it.) I think he didn't hear me. Whatever the case, in the midst of holiday preparations, we started to notice the moths.
It was only a few at first. The cats, as inept as they are, couldn't catch them. They were too fast. I was worried about them getting into our closets and eating our clothes. Bad naturalist. I was so busy I wasn't being observant. I wasn't noticing little things, like the fact that every time I opened my baking cabinet, a moth flew out. And the fact that the bag of cornmeal I threw out had a strange stringy appearance that didn't really look moldy.
I had been stocking my baking cabinet for about a month in preparation for holiday baking. Luckily, the extra flour wasn't stored there and the flour we use was in a sealed container. Except that my son is not neat in the kitchen and has a penchant for making pancakes on Saturday morning. That's why there was flour on the shelf of the cabinet. We had created a perfect environment for mealworms. So in the midst of holiday baking, I ended up tossing half of my supplies and starting over. I found cocoons in boxes. I found nests in the corners of the shelves. It was my own little holiday horror show. I'm still checking cabinets at this point. Even though I did a thorough job of cleaning, I worry about them coming back. Not so worried anymore about killing the poor, helpless worm. I learned that lesson. On the bright side, our birds had a holiday feast and my baking cabinet is clean and organized.
You may be wondering how all this started. I was at the pet store one day looking for crickets for the anole. I couldn't find any, but I remembered that the woman who sold us the lizard said you could feed them mealworms. I had never done this before, but I figured Lizzie would enjoy the variety. Imagine my surprise when I opened the mealworm container at home and a moth flew out. It scared the bejeebers out of me--I'm pretty sure I screamed--but I thought nothing of it until I was fighting for my baking supplies. I don't think any of us even attempted to catch it.
Lizzie is back to eating only crickets and mashed bananas and I am wiser with a new life lesson from watching animals....(and I have no picture to share this time, as we have no more moths)
The smallest problem can become a big one if you don't take care of it right away.
The smallest problem can become a big one if you don't take care of it right away.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #431
I try not to discourage my children's artistic freedom. My son may be the future Alexander Calder or Tim Burton. But there have been times when his room looks like it was decorated by a cardboard packaging plant. Then I have to decide between art and fire safety. And I'm sure many artists would disagree with my choice, but their moms would back me up.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Carnival of Homeschooling at Why Homeschool
The 210th Carnival of Homeschooling: The 4th Anniversary edition is up at Why Homeschool. Stop by and check out some of this week's links to posts by homeschoolers around the blogosphere!
It's My Wonderful Life
Today is the eve of Little Christmas. Some of you know the significance of this date. Those who are new here can read the full story here. It's hard to believe it has been 15 years since my worst asthma attack. Marina's age marks each passing year. She was only one that night my husband and my father rushed me to the emergency room. I can still see her little face, so scared and uncomprehending. I remember the feeling of wanting to comfort her, to reassure her, but not being able to even speak. The memory brings tears to my eyes.
What would I have missed if that had been my last moment? I know that sounds morbid, but it is a thought that haunted me for many years after the event. To have a second chance makes you wonder what your purpose is. Why am I here? It is not a question that can be answered directly after the experience. But fifteen years later, there is a clearer picture of what I might have missed.
Homeschooling. I hadn't even thought about the possibility of attempting such a thing. Marina would have ended up going to school somewhere. The idea of it was brought up by me after a friend of mine brought me to a homeschooling meeting. I was the one that took on the teaching while my husband worked. The one who searched for local support when I felt so alone in my decision. I might be wrong, but I don't think my husband would have attempted this without his crazy wife to lead him down the path less traveled.
Home Spun comics. It goes without saying that my blog and comic strip would not have existed. No homeschooling, no need for support, no need for a creative outlet for my writing and art. At that point in my life, I was still doing juggling shows and facepainting. It was much easier to balance (no pun intended) my motherhood and other activities when I had only one child. Which reminds me...
Chase and Sierra. Fifteen years ago, we were at the beginning of our journey as parents. We only had our little Marina, who was not even two. Chase wouldn't come until the spring of the following year. Sierra was years away from life. How incredibly different life is now! I cannot imagine a life without my younger two.
I am so grateful I have had fifteen more years to learn to enjoy life and to appreciate all I have been given, from a simple breath to the joy of watching my children grow and learn at home with me. Life parades by in all its splendor. I don't want to watch it from the crowd, I want to fully participate, march along, wave my little flag and make a complete fool of myself. I don't know how long I have, but if the past fifteen years are any example, I still have a lot of living to do.
What would I have missed if that had been my last moment? I know that sounds morbid, but it is a thought that haunted me for many years after the event. To have a second chance makes you wonder what your purpose is. Why am I here? It is not a question that can be answered directly after the experience. But fifteen years later, there is a clearer picture of what I might have missed.
Homeschooling. I hadn't even thought about the possibility of attempting such a thing. Marina would have ended up going to school somewhere. The idea of it was brought up by me after a friend of mine brought me to a homeschooling meeting. I was the one that took on the teaching while my husband worked. The one who searched for local support when I felt so alone in my decision. I might be wrong, but I don't think my husband would have attempted this without his crazy wife to lead him down the path less traveled.
Home Spun comics. It goes without saying that my blog and comic strip would not have existed. No homeschooling, no need for support, no need for a creative outlet for my writing and art. At that point in my life, I was still doing juggling shows and facepainting. It was much easier to balance (no pun intended) my motherhood and other activities when I had only one child. Which reminds me...
Chase and Sierra. Fifteen years ago, we were at the beginning of our journey as parents. We only had our little Marina, who was not even two. Chase wouldn't come until the spring of the following year. Sierra was years away from life. How incredibly different life is now! I cannot imagine a life without my younger two.
I am so grateful I have had fifteen more years to learn to enjoy life and to appreciate all I have been given, from a simple breath to the joy of watching my children grow and learn at home with me. Life parades by in all its splendor. I don't want to watch it from the crowd, I want to fully participate, march along, wave my little flag and make a complete fool of myself. I don't know how long I have, but if the past fifteen years are any example, I still have a lot of living to do.
Monday, January 4, 2010
Home Spun comic strip #430
I don't know about you, but usually the beginning of the year makes me want to toss out things. I've never gotten into spring cleaning, but New Year cleaning kicks in as the cats are knocking the last of the decorations off of our tree. First things to go are the little plastic containers under our sink that seem to multiply faster than happy tribbles. Whatever looks abused or has lost its lid goes out. Or rather, it sits above the garbage can as I have a mental debate over whether I want to add another layer to the landfill. Shouldn't I be using them for baskets or seed starting? I have, of course, but no matter how many containers I put aside, more seem to pop up. I blame a certain brand of lunchmeat my son prefers. You can buy refills for your baby wipes boxes, you should have the option of buying turkey refills for the lunchmeat containers. It makes me want to switch to the deli counter, but I'm still waiting for my number to be called from the last time I used it. (I was number 486. I think they were up to...5)
But I digress. The biggest barrier to my purging is the family recycling gene. That little voice in the back of my head that tells me, "I can use that for a craft." If I don't listen to it, it starts nagging, "Mom? Did you hear me? I can use that!"
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