Week One: DONE

Inertia is a thing, friends.

I’ve been open and honest about my apprehensions about this coming year. Homeschooling, while beautiful and lovely in so many ways, has also been hard and we haven’t been doing as well as I have wanted, particularly the past two years. And we’ve done almost nothing for five months. FIVE MONTHS. We’ve stayed up late. We’ve slept in. We’ve adventured. We’ve relaxed. We’ve skipped all semblance of a home routine. I was sure re-entry was going to be painful.

This year I also have children doing challenging work, and none of them are doing the same work. Four children in four different stages (high school, middle school, late grade school, and kindergarten).

I felt paralyzed and couldn’t clean, organize, or plan for our school year. I didn’t feel ready.

And yet start we must.

I had a schedule, and I was determined.

This past week was a miracle. An honest to goodness miracle.

It was perhaps our most successful full week of homeschooling and home life that I can remember.

Usually when we have a good day or two of homeschooling, everything else falls apart. This week we managed to do most things well—or at least keep most things from going backwards. OR we usually have one good day and then two rough ones. This week we managed to have seven decent days!

Again, miracle.

Monday I was up by 6:15, we were out the door for Levi’s and Luke’s first days of Challenge, I co-led an Essentials Parent Orientation Meeting, and I managed to get some exercise before going to bed.

Tuesday-Friday, we managed to stick fairly closely to this schedule (minus swim practice and some of Leif’s independent work since he hasn’t yet started Foundations and Essentials).

We sat down to a formal family dinner 4 nights in a row (Monday night was casual pizza night).

I managed read-aloud and prayers before bed 3 nights in a row (Levi was gone last night, so we took a break.)

I read to Lola every day.

I blogged every day this week.

I exercised every day. I drank tea and took all my vitamins and supplements.

I had quiet time/Bible reading every day.

I kept up with laundry and dishes.

My house is NOT clean, but it’s cleaner than it usually is.

Lola played well independently. She even sat at the table for a long time and drew several pictures using the Usborne Step-by-Step Drawing Book. She painted. She played with Legos. Who is this child?!

I remembered to play classical music in the mornings between 7-8 am.

I got to bed before 11 pm every night (though Poldark was really messing with my earlier-to-bed intentions).

I was up by 6:15 every morning (the alarm goes off at 6, but I’m terrible at bouncing out of bed), and made my bed and showered and had quiet time first thing (before getting on my computer).

I still managed to hang out on Facebook and Instagram occasionally.

I read! After a couple months of slipping in my reading habits and inspiration, I read a little each day.

We had treats. Homemade Italian cream sodas. Luke made marzipan.

The kids swam in the fun pool at the YMCA two evenings.

Levi had a pool party with his classmates at his tutor’s home and an overnight gaming birthday party at a friend’s house.

We added to our symposium schedule in the mornings. We picked up a nature specimen on our short walk and the kids drew in their nature journals while I read a short portion of a Shakespeare retelling.

We’ve had a lazy Saturday. We went to the local farmer’s market as a family and ate goodies and purchased bread and veggies for dinner. We did our weekly Costco shopping.

Who is this family?!

Luke is THRIVING. The kid loves his computer time and struggles with non-concrete learning and any writing/pencil work, but the kid LOVES routine.  I scaled his Challenge A work back a bit so that he would feel successful and confident. He had time to read at least 4 other books and play on his computer this week. He had all Friday afternoon off.

Levi had a great week. He still has some work to do this afternoon and tomorrow, but he worked independently and with a great attitude all week. (Who is this child?!)

I know this was a light week, and we’ll have more to juggle as the month goes on. The Challenge work will increase. Foundations (Leif and Lola) and Essentials (Leif and I am tutoring) begin on the 12th. Piano lessons for Luke and Leif begin on the 14th. Tumbling class for Lola begins on the 18th. Swimming for Russ, (Levi, when his foot is healed), Luke, and Leif begins on the 19th. Music class for Lola begins on the 19th.

We have evening meetings for the Essentials IEW DVD viewing, Challenge A book club, and Scholé Sisters [finishing the last Flannery O’Connor meeting and then beginning Tolkien]. We have birthday parties and the Renaissance Faire, and dinner with friends, and Choc Lit Guild book club.

We have a new family membership at the beautiful new YMCA facility since Russ is coaching swimming there now. I’m not sure what opportunities we’ll avail ourselves of there.

Levi is planning to swim with the local high school this winter.

But we’ll adjust week by week.

For now, I’m THRILLED with our successful start.

Here’s to a new week. Let’s see if we can keep our momentum.

[I’ll be posting soon with details about our scholé week and how we are implementing the CC Challenge A and 1 work.]

The Best and Most Precious Things

 

“We get robbed of the glory of life because we aren't capable of remembering how we got here. When you are born, you wake slowly to everything... What I'm saying is I think life is staggering and we're just used to it. We are like spoiled children no longer impressed with the gifts we're given--it's just another sunset, just another rainstorm moving in over the mountain, just another child being born, just another funeral."
~Donald Miller, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years

"Nearly all the best and most precious things in the universe you can get for a halfpenny. I make an exception, of course, of the sun, the moon, the earth, people, stars, thunderstorms, and such trifles. You can get them for nothing." ~G. K. Chesterton, "The Shop of Ghosts"

"If I were called upon to state in a few words the essence of everything I was trying to say both as a novelist and as a preacher, it would be something like this: Listen to your life. See it for the fathomless mystery that it is. In the boredom and pain of it no less than in the excitement and gladness: touch, taste, smell your way to the holy and hidden heart of it because in the last analysis all moments are key moments, and life itself is grace." ~Frederick Buechner

Liturgy and Children’s Movies

“Liturgy” has been on my mind all summer long. I have several long blog posts in the works, and The Quotidian Mysteries: Laundry, Liturgy and “Women’s Work”; The Monk Who Grew Prayer (picture book); and Wisdom from the Monastery: The Rule of St. Benedict for Everyday Life are on my night stand.

As I was watching (again) Jenny Rallens’ video lecture The Liturgical Classroom and Virtue Formation, I was reminded of the above passage from The Little Prince by Antoine de Saint-Exupery—”leisure” also having been on my mind for the past couple years. The Little Prince has important words for children and adults alike on the subject of being human. Our culture is so focused on efficiency and entertainment, we forget that walking at our leisure toward a spring of fresh water is often the point.

The Little Prince has recently been made into a beautiful children’s movie. The original story is something of a book within a book movie, as the movie does not follow the original plot (because it doesn’t have much of one—it’s more of a dreamy philosophical ramble). The movie keeps the theme and spirit of the story, however, and it is masterfully rendered.

Bonus: The Little Prince is on Netflix streaming.

 

And then today, in a discussion on Facebook (truly, one of my favorite places because of the friends I’ve made, the pages I follow, and the groups to which I belong), I discovered Shaun the Sheep Movie. I’ve loved the animated shorts, but I didn’t realize that a movie had been made.

The Liturgies of ‘Shaun the Sheep’ @ Christ and Pop Culture connects all the dots for me. Delightful synchronicity. 

When we think of liturgical worship, our minds probably jump to its verbal components. If we do, drawing analogies between Shaun the Sheep Movie and church life might appear odd, given the film’s complete lack of comprehensible dialogue. Yet as Smith points out, liturgies are deeper than mere rational exercises, and they are meant to embody loves through habit. God’s Word itself reflects this fact.

Bonus: Shaun the Sheep Movie is free streaming for Amazon Prime members.

Stay tuned for more on Liturgy.

Story Moves the Hearts and Minds of Men

:: Story Lines, not Party Lines by Rod Dreher @ The Imaginative Conservative

What happened brings to mind Pope Benedict XVI’s observation that the most convincing arguments for Christianity aren’t propositional arguments at all but rather the art and the saints that the faith produces—that is, the stories Christians tell and live…

Argument has its place, but story is what truly moves the hearts and minds of men. The power of myth—which is to say, of storytelling—is the power to form and enlighten the moral imagination, which is how we learn right from wrong, the proper ordering of our souls, and what it means to be human…

Kirk understood that the world might be won or lost on front porches, in bedrooms at night, around family hearths, in movie theaters and anywhere young people hear, see, or read the stories that fill and illuminate their moral imaginations. If you do not give them good stories, they will seek out bad ones.

“And the consequences will be felt not merely in their failure of taste,” Kirk said, “but in their misapprehension of human nature, lifelong; and eventually, in the whole tone of a nation.”

Let Us Tell Better Stories to Our Culture, to Our Children

What story will we tell our culture?

What will it reveal about what we believe, love, and allow into our hearts to shape our affections?

 

:: Stories are Light; Ranting is Arson by S.D. Smith @ BreakPoint

'Chuck Colson wisely said that “politics is downstream of culture.” And what feeds the ecosystem of culture more than anything else? Stories. Stories. By the time the election comes, it’s too late. It’s been too late for a long time. Our hearts were already won over by the stories we loved as children, the tales that shaped us as profoundly as anything else in life. Likely more.'

 

:: The Age of Hooper: On Calculation, Poetry, and the Grace That Will Save the World by Andrew Kern @ CiRCE

"You cannot build a business on calculation, not to mention a family, a household, a tribe, a city, a state, or a confederation of states.

"You cannot build a moral code on calculation.

"You cannot reduce instruction or assessment to calculation.

"You cannot do philosophy or theology with calculation.

"It is not information that will save the world, but grace; and grace comes in the story of an image-restoring Son."

 

:: Tolkien Alternatives to the “Benedict Option” @ Crisis Magazine

"There are times when the burden of need and our own limitations might tempt us to become discouraged. But precisely then we are helped by the knowledge that, in the end, we are only instruments in the Lord’s hands; and this knowledge frees us from the presumption of thinking that we alone are personally responsible for building a better world."

 

:: You Barely Make a Difference, and That’s a Good Thing @ Ancient Faith

"We have no commandment from God to make the world a better place. We have no commandment from God to “make a difference.” Only God makes a difference, and only God knows what “better” would actually mean. As Christians, the proper life is one lived in accordance with the commandments. We should love. We should forgive. We should be generous and kind. We should give thanks to God always and for everything."

 

:: Flannery O’Connor’s Hollow Men @ The Imaginative Conservative

"Many of Flannery O’Connor’s stories portray the ineptness of men to uphold traditional ideals of manhood. The men show no leadership, they do not protect or care for their family members, they lack all manner of chivalry, and they lose a sense of priority as they commit to careers and professions or social and political agendas at the expense of their family members. In these stories, the failure of men to live with honor, integrity, and magnanimity leads to tragic loss of family members they neglected in their pursuit of political causes or personal desires."

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SKIP THE REST OF THIS POST IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ ABOUT POLITICS ON THIS BLOG.

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:: Four Issues to Consider Before You Vote Trump - What is Really at Stake @ Samuel Whitefield

"Despite his wickedness, many Christians are being rallied to Trump’s cause by the idea that we must do anything to prevent a Clinton presidency. However, I want to say boldly that a Clinton presidency is not the biggest thing at stake in this election. The biggest thing at stake in this election is the church’s prophetic voice to the culture. The church’s role in the national discourse is at stake and that is far more important than who the next president is. Trading our voice in culture in an attempt to prevent a Clinton presidency should be a horrific thought to us.”

[If anyone comments on this post to tell me that any critique of Trump is support for Clinton, or that my vote for a third party is not actually a vote for a third party but a vote for Clinton, or that a third party can’t win, or that Trump’s character does not matter because Clinton is worse, or that Trump is a “Christian,” or that God can use anyone, or that character doesn’t matter because we are not electing a religious leader, or that I’m singling out Trump because I did not post about Clinton, or that we only have two choices because our secular world tells us so, or that I must not care about the world my children live in, then they have completely and utterly missed the point of this post.]

 

Are we telling stories of hope or fear? Love or hate? Do the right thing regardless of the outcome because God is in control, or the end justifies the means? Be a person of integrity even if no one is watching, or do what it takes to win? Christianity is the “long view” or American politics is the “long view”? In whom are we placing our trust and confidence and fealty?

20 Things To Do When You Feel Powerless

1. Love God.

2. Love your neighbor.

3. Listen to your neighbor. Listen to understand, not to reply.

4. When you speak to your neighbor, speak in love. Speak truth. Speak to delight. Speak to encourage. Speak to serve.

5. Serve.

6. Forgive.

7. Learn something new.

8. Create. Play music. Draw. Paint. Garden.

9. Make the world a more beautiful place.

10. Invite someone to join you.

11. Read a book that will enlarge your heart and imagination and place you in another person’s shoes.

12. Teach.

13. Practice integrity. Practice it more. Even when no one is looking. Especially when no one is looking.

14. Share your home.

15. Overcome a challenge.

16. Don’t lie. Even when you don’t think you’ll get caught.

17. Smile at your children. Smile at strangers.

18. Help a stranger.

19. Tell good stories.

20. Be filled with gratitude for this astounding gift called life.

Life’s a Party

Last week was a blur. I drove up to Portland on Monday and Tuesday to attend the CC Parent Practicum there (so that I could also attend Essentials Tutor Training). I drove by myself and it was a bit nerve-wracking. I don’t drive in Portland well, I hit rush hour coming and going, and I had never been to this location before. It was about 1.75-2 hours each way. The practicum was fantastic, but I was exhausted by Tuesday evening. Wednesday morning I made it about 25 minutes into the drive and realized I was much too sick to drive the rest of the way. I turned around and drove home and was mostly in bed from 7:30ish am until 8:30 am the next morning. About 24 hours in bed. It would have been much nicer if I hadn’t felt so sick on Wednesday.

Thursday and Friday were a complete blur. I don’t even remember those days. Errands and whatnot. Oh, and I spent one of them reading Lizzy and Jane.

Saturday we attended our best friends’ joint Harry Potter birthday party. This year, Char chose to hold the party for McKinnon and Monet at our local vintage roller skating rink. When I say vintage, I mean that it was the small town roller skating rink from my childhood, and it has probably been 30 years or more since I skated there. It’s been closed most of these years and it’s now in the middle of construction, reduced in size, and mostly rented out for other reasons—definitely not restored to it’s original charm, ha! [Between the construction and the terrible lighting, the pictures didn’t turn out well.] But oh my goodness. I had the best time ever and I couldn’t wipe the grin off my face.

Russ and I were the only adults skating, and the others were totally missing out. [ahem] I like to think that the kids were astounded by our mad skillz. And watching the kids crash and fall and grip the walls made me realize that they have been missing out on a great American childhood tradition by not having skated before and often. Ivy had given Lola a pair of her old roller skates (and Ivy has been using mine from my childhood!!), and Lola has been wearing them around the house over the past year or so even though they are much too big, so Lola had a huge advantage on the skate floor. She did fantastic! It was so cute to see Russ skating with her. Russ and I even held hands and skated together. I felt like a kid again. [grin] We are definitely going to get together and rent the rink a few times this winter.

Today after church and a VBS helpers meeting, we drove to our friend Bob’s house for his annual summer party at his gorgeous house on Lake Oswego. We were crunched for time, so I was busy visiting with friends or watching the kids take a quick dip in the lake before we rushed home and drove straight for VBS (or “Kids Kamp” at church) where Lola is attending for the first time and Levi and Luke are helping. Then I rushed home and tried to do some laundry and other prep work before Russ flies out for a business trip early in the morning and we head out for another adventurous day of hiking (and more evening VBS all week long).

I love summer. I really do.

Soaking Up Sun and Inspiration

The last week and a half or so has been a complete blur.

Last weekend we completed house and yard projects, spent some time on the river (I soaked up sun and books, the boys spent time on dirt bikes and four-wheelers and camped out two nights), and hosted Luke’s 12th birthday party.

I had book club with my best peeps at a charming small-town one-room library. Then next day I set off for a (hot) weekend retreat in Washington, where I had the great privilege of meeting many wonderful women and meeting and listening to Jennifer Dow of Expanding Wisdom (more about that to come).

The boys had a local 3-day swim meet while I was gone, so Russ was juggling parenting (three swimmers and a 5 year old), coaching, and competing (yes, he was swimming as well). Whew!! I was thankful that my mom and sister helped out with Lola on Saturday. I made it back in record time today (only a four hour drive on the return trip), so I was able to watch everyone but Leif swim a few races. Russ’s time in the 50 Meter Fly (31.64) qualified him for Masters Nationals in Oregon this year, and he was super close in his 50 Meter Free! I was sorry to miss Levi narrowly beating him in the 400 Free and slaying him in the 400 IM. This was the first time Russ had ever competed in a 400 IM in all his years of swimming, and he said he almost died. [ha!] But I was proud of him for modeling for the boys how to do hard things. [grin] Apparently all that work wasn’t enough for him, so he invited two families over to our house for a BBQ one evening while I was gone. Yep, Superman.

Tomorrow we head out yet again for another (hot) day-long adventure.

After that, I just need to sit down and finish the 30 blog posts I’ve started. School plans, book reviews, book lists galore, thoughts on education, pictures from retreat and various adventures, and so much more.

If I don’t melt in yet another day of 90+ degree heat.

No worries, though. We’re back to familiar rain next weekend…

Food for Thought ~ Birthday Edition

Yes, it’s my birthday. [No, there is no 3 in my age. Ha!]

I’ll pause the Oregon Coast pictures to post links and quotes and videos from the past month.

Enjoy the buffet!

Living a Good Life

:: This Could Be the Difference Between a Life of Suffering or Joy @ UnTangled [I adore this one. Go read it.]

Suffering is resistance to what is.

Suffering is opposition to the present moment and demand for the next moment. Suffering is having this but wanting that. Suffering is the search for the next thing. Suffering is the mental roaming we do for what might be.

Suffering, for instance, is trying to read something brilliant, while wondering about something better.

:: Forty Days | Forty Sacraments @ CIVA [So gorgeous. Click on the link to see her paintings.]

I find myself in a time of waiting right now in certain facets of my life, and this project was birthed out of that—being present with waiting, present with solitude. These paintings are marking time, and they are also calling out beauty where you might not expect it—in the extremely ordinary.

Politics

:: On Jane Austen in the General Election by G.K. Chesterton [Relevant. And hilarious. And a tiny bit terrifying.] 

"A dictator has to be a demagogue; a man like Mussolini cannot be ashamed to shout. He cannot afford to be a mere gentleman. His whole power depends on convincing the populace that he knows what he wants, and wants it badly."

Books, Education, and Family Culture

:: As Soon As He Returns by my friend Nicole Mulhausen @ Book Riot

The human voice is my favorite instrument, and reading aloud is important in ways that I can hardly express. Ordinary and ancient magic: breath and sound and time, weaving a narrative. And whether it’s a story of return, Mole to his home, or a story of grand adventure, Marie-Laure and her Uncle Etienne with Jules Verne on the Nautilus, to begin aloud together, especially a longer work, always involves both risk and promise—the risk of interruption, broken narrative, and the promise that the reading will always be shared, requiring patience and fidelity, when, like Marie-Laure, we are tempted to read on alone.

:: Loving the Lost Boys: Some Thoughts on Boyhood and Reading by Zach Franzen @ Story Warren

Let me add one more point on this score: The failure to recognize male distinctness leads to a marginalization of femininity. I just read a sample reading from a 2011, fourth grade National literacy test about a girl wrestler named Daisy. A story for fourth grade boys about a girl wrestler? Why don’t boys enjoy reading?

:: For Useless Learning by Peter J. Leithart @ First Things

"Lewis points out that there is always some crisis, some alarm that demands our attention; there are always a million and one things more important than reading Homer. Yet we continue to read Homer because we are not creatures whose behavior is solely guided by a crabbed criterion of usefulness. We are creatures made in the image of a Creator who makes things that He does not need, things that are not of use to Him. As we imitate His excess, we play music and recite poetry and tell stories... We should not be ashamed of the uselessness of the liberal arts, for making what we do not need, and doing what we have no ordinary use for, is part of the glory of being made in the image of the infinitely creative God."

Constraints and Creativity

:: Two teenagers started a street school to educate poor and homeless children in Pakistan

:: Edible Spoons

 

:: Richard Turere: My invention that made peace with lions [This reminds me so much of The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind.]

 

Art [Movies and Music]

:: I’m a Christian and I Hate Christian Movies by Alissa Wilkinson @ Thrillist

Christian theology is rich and creative and full of imagination, that's broad enough to take up residence among all kinds of human cultures. It contains within itself the idea that art exists as a good unto itself, not just a utilitarian vehicle for messages. (In the Greek, the Bible calls humans "poems" -- I love that.) There is no reason Christian movies can't take the time to become good art. Each one that fails leaves me furious.

:: J.S. Bach - Crab Canon on a Möbius Strip

Looking for the Helpers

:: Walking The Beat In Mr. Rogers' Neighborhood, Where A New Day Began Together @ npr [Sob. This one is exquisite.]

"Yes, I have been talking to you for years," Rogers said, as Clemmons recalls. "But you heard me today."

:: It was a touching sight at a Dutch Bros Coffee stand in Vancouver, where workers comforted and prayed with a woman who just lost her husband. [FOX 12 Oregon]

"We're going to do what we do every time we get someone who’s in pain or hurt. We're going to give them our love."

:: 'If We Left, They Wouldn't Have Nobody' @ npr

"I just couldn't see myself going home — next thing you know, they're in the kitchen trying to cook their own food and burn the place down," Rowland says. "Even though they wasn't our family, they were kind of like our family for this short period of time."

On Potential Energy, Constraints, and Creativity: Conversations with a Teenage boy

On Energy

My son and I just had a conversation about this the other day. He's in the "this is useless; when will I ever use this?" phase. I told him it's a little like energy. Energy cannot be created or destroyed. He has to gather energy from other sources in order to make his own spark. And he'll never know what combination of energy sources will make that spark until the moment it happens.

The more energy gathering he does, the more potential creative energy he has.

On Constraints

Another day we were driving to the swimming pool for practice. This son, who is always coming up with fantastical solutions to everyday problems, said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could earth-bend a bridge all the way to the swimming pool?”

I countered, “Wouldn’t it be great if we could bend the earth so that wherever we wanted to be was suddenly just a step away?”

Let’s talk about the word fantastical, shall we? It means “conceived by an unrestrained imagination.” The word I want to focus on is “unrestrained.”

God is the ultimate Creator. He created staggering vastness (in its extent, proportions, quantity, and intensity). He created staggering minute-ness. He created staggering beauty in material, texture, form, color, and pattern. He created staggering diversity and variety.

Sheer excess, friends. There is nothing practical about a thousand of varieties of fruit.

Every day, by the witness of His own creation, I learn that God delights in creating.

But God also created constraints.

Physical law. Natural law. Moral law. Chronological time. Biological systems.

God is a God of cosmos (form and harmony), not a God of chaos.

The greatest creativity I’ve witnessed has not occured in unrestrained environments.

Anyone can plink random notes on a piano and call it a song. But if the musician uses his imagination within the constraints of rhythm and harmony and tempo and dynamics, he achieves a certain masterful creativity.

In fact, the greater the constraints, the greater the creativity.

That seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it?

In writing, the tighter the form (paralellism, poetry), the greater the requirement for a precision of words and ideas.

In fantasy writing, authors who are able to conceive of consistent constraints for their fantasy world and plot constraints for their characters are able to create a more masterful story.

I would not hesitate to say that creating beauty within constraints and overcoming restraints to solve problems show a higher degree of creativity.

The greater number of constraints (either within a form or as problems to overcome) or the greater the complexity that is brought into harmony, the greater the creative skill.

In many ways, we fight against this as a culture. We don’t like constraints. My teenage son doesn’t like constraints. I don’t like constraints. Constraints aren’t fair. Constraints aren’t fun. Constraints aren’t easy. Society should have solved all our problems for us by now.

But, made in the image of God, we are still hard-wired to know, deep inside, that constraints are necessary. We are still hard-wired to need constraints to grow in character, in skill, and in creativity. We are still hard-wired to value those traits when we see them in others. Do you know how I know this?

Do you want to watch a movie about a character who has nothing to overcome?  When someone is given everything they need or want without restraint, are strong character, skills, and creativity likely to follow? Are a man’s accomplishments worthy of praise if he puts no effort into them? Don’t we love an underdog story?!

Skillful creativity is not unrestrained imagination.
Skillful creativity is bringing chaos into harmony or form.
Skillful creativity is perseverance in adversity.
Skillful creativity is acknowledging restraints and solving problems in spite of them.

Why do I want my boys to read books like Wonder, The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind, A Long Walk to Water, and The Boys in the Boat? Because these are characters [particular (historical) and universal (fiction)] who are faced with constraints, great constraints; they work within their limitations to do incredible things, they show astounding perseverance in the face of adversity, and they grow in character as a result.

Ask kids, ask yourself: what constraints (and how many) did each of the people in the following videos face? Did working within these constraints require a higher degree of character, skills, and/or creativity for the people who solved them? Would their creativity have been better served without constraints?

Food for Thought ~ Margins and Meditations

Seek in reading and thou shalt find in meditation;

knock in prayer and it shall be opened in contemplation.

~ St. John of the Cross

:: Marginal Faith: You Probably Should Be Doing Less by S. D. Smith [If you read only one of these links, let it be this one, friends.]

"Margin is not the wasted space on the page where more words could have gone if only we would knuckle-down and work harder. Margin is the place where the words we carefully compose and place show their best... 

"Margin makes your story clear, legible, and beautiful. At least, if your story really is beautiful, the margin will not contradict it. It will enhance and testify to its worth and beauty, to how compelling it is."

:: When Beauty Strikes by David Brooks @ The New York Times

By this philosophy, beauty incites spiritual longing. 

Today the word eros refers to sex, but to the Greeks it meant the fervent desire to reach excellence and deepen the voyage of life. This eros is a powerful longing. Whenever you see people doing art, whether they are amateurs at a swing dance class or a professional painter, you invariably see them trying to get better. “I am seeking. I am striving. I am in it with all my heart,” Vincent van Gogh wrote. 

Some people call eros the fierce longing for truth. “Making your unknown known is the important thing,” Georgia O’Keeffe wrote. Mathematicians talk about their solutions in aesthetic terms, as beautiful or elegant.

:: Just Another Reason I Homeschool: A Meditation on Jayber Crow by Missy Andrews @ Center for Lit [Love, LOVE this one.]

'Crow describes this undetected pressure to create an identity for oneself as a kind of subtle bondage. He finds its source in his education: “If I was freer than I had ever been in my life, I was not yet entirely free; for I still hung on to an idea that had been set deep in me by all my schooling so far: I was a bright boy and I ought to make something out of myself…”'

:: Sir Ken Robinson: Full Body Education @ Zen Pencils [A great graphic-novel-style visual of an excerpt from Robinson’s TED Talk on education]



:: Why Introverted Teachers Are Burning Out @ The Atlantic

In some ways, today’s teachers are simply struggling with what the Harvard Business Review recently termed “collaborative overload” in the workplace. According to its own data, “over the past two decades, the time spent by managers and employees in collaborative activities has ballooned by 50% or more.” The difference for teachers in many cases is that they don’t get any down time; they finish various meetings with various adults and go straight to the classroom, where they feel increasing pressure to facilitate social learning activities and promote the current trend of collaborative education.

:: To educate children, you need books on the shelves @ Like Mother, Like Daughter [Preaching to the choir]

There is a way to relieve the burden on yourself to be providing the all-too-elusive “complete education” for your children at every moment. And it’s the same solution to the opposite problem, which is resting too much confidence in that school you are sending them to — the one that you may be paying a lot for, but which simply can’t give them the depth of experience with a life lived with books that they need.

:: Christian Books and Christian Reading by Adam Andrews @ Center for Lit [I’m looking forward to reading part 2!]

“This book does not seem to have any Christian lessons in it,” she said. “It’s disturbing and full of hopelessness and despair. Is there a way to redeem this story, or at least understand it better, by reading it from a Christian perspective?”

:: Gentlemen Speak: 5 Things Pride and Prejudice Can Teach You About Men @ Verily [So interesting and full of truth]

The truth is, Darcy is sometimes placed so high on a pedestal that we forget the many ways he is very much like your modern everyday man today—full of his own flaws and far from perfect. 

Jane and Bingley, Elizabeth and Darcy, Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, even Charlotte and Mr. Collins—every relationship Austen portrays teaches us what it is to be devoted, selfless, authentic, and most of all open-minded to love. But especially as a man, I can tell you, I find it all extremely relatable. Here’s why.

:: Why Can’t We Read Anymore? @ San Francisco Chronicle

Still, I am an optimist. Most nights last year, I got into bed with a book — paper or electronic — and started. Reading. One word after the next. A sentence. Two sentences. 

Maybe three. 

And then … I needed just a little something else. Something to tide me over. Something to scratch that little itch at the back of my mind — just a quick look at e-mail on my iPhone; to write, and erase, a response to a funny tweet from William Gibson; to find, and follow, a link to a really good article in the New Yorker. E-mail again, just to be sure. 

I’d read another sentence. That’s four sentences.

:: Everyone Uses Singular 'They,' Whether They Realize It Or Not @ npr [I know I do, and I’m happy for it to become standard!]



:: Brain Starvation: Could Boys Be Suffering? @ Deep Roots at Home [This blog post was the kick in the pants I needed to implement some diet and supplement ideas at our house. I’ll keep you posted.]

The left hemisphere of our brain is where our judgment resides. It is the logical part of the brain. Our right hemisphere is where our emotion resides. When boys aren’t using good judgment, they are having a difficult time accessing their left hemisphere. Sometimes, this is due to a lack of essential fatty acids, essentially brain starvation. Information can’t travel across the corpus collosum if it isn’t nourished properly. The solution is for us to fatten up their brains!

:: A Crash Course in The Art of Constructive Critique @ Psychology for Photographers (and other creative professionals) [I’ll admit it: I am not good at receiving constructive criticism. This article, however, shares great advice for giving constructive critiques in this culture of widespread online criticism. These are fantastic general tools for peacemakers in leadership positions (hello, parenthood), as well.]

A constructive critique is delivered in a manner, time, and place that the recipient will 1) hear you out and 2) be likely to take action.  That means it has to start with compassion and genuine concern.  Advice given out of frustration and anger will elicit defensiveness and retaliation - not action. 

Before offering a critique of someone’s work, check yourself:  Who are you writing this for?  You?  Them?  The gathered audience?  Know your motivations.  If you’re trying to help, meet them in a way and a place that they will hear you out.

:: Nikabrik’s Candidate @ First Things

"Did C. S. Lewis foresee the rise of Donald Trump? Not specifically, I’m sure. But Lewis had a remarkable understanding of human nature. He knew what it was like to feel that all hope was lost. And he knew that fear and despair can drive decent people to look for someone, anyone, who projects an appearance of strength."

We’ll wrap up this post of links with an entertaining and brilliant video.

A Day in the Life ~ Monday

A Homeschooling Monday in the Life of Levi (14), Luke (11), Leif (9), and Lola (5) [And Heidi, Too]

Mondays are our Classical Conversations community day.

[I spend a good portion of Sundays prepping for Mondays. I go to the grocery store. Make sure the kids have their papers and whatnot for school. Do laundry. Set out (and iron if need be) clothes for Lola and myself. Try to have the house relatively clean and neat (though this is a losing battle). Have Leif and Lola bathe. Try to get the kids to bed at a decent hour (also a losing battle). After the kids are in bed, I prep for my Essentials class, write out a task list for Levi, and set out lunch bags and snacks and such for Monday morning. I usually fall in bed around midnight or after.]

6:00  I hit the snooze button. Repeatedly. I am not a morning person. My preferred wake-up time is 9 am. Even 10 am would be nice...

6:20  I grudgingly roll out of bed and head to the shower. After getting myself half ready, I read my Bible and devotion book for a few minutes and pray for strength for the day. Russ leaves at some point. (He’s usually gone before I get out of bed, but his schedule is off this week.)

7:00  I wake the boys and go to check my email. Internet isn’t working on my computer. Luke pops out of bed, gets dressed, empties the dishwasher, and cooks some bacon. I pack Lola’s snack bag and begin packing lunch. I repeatedly go in the boys’ room to wake Levi and Leif.

7:30  Levi finally drags himself to the shower.

7:45  I drag Leif out of bed. I make eggs for Leif and myself and egg on toast for Levi. Luke toasts a bagel and eats it with cream cheese.

7:50  Lola wakes up and I give her Greek yogurt.

8:00  The push to the finish line begins. I stagger down the stretch, carrying Levi, Leif, and Lola. “Brush your teeth. Get dressed. Pack your snacks/lunch. Brush your teeth. Comb your hair. Get dressed. Gather your things. BRUSH YOUR TEETH. Where is your snack bag? Lola, stop playing with your toys and get dressed.” Leif sits like a stone in the living room. He refuses to get dressed because his jeans aren’t comfortable. I finish getting myself ready. I put a ponytail in Lola’s hair while Luke loads all our stuff in the truck and starts the engine so it will warm up. “Get your shoes on!” Lola won’t let me help her so I leave her to do it herself. She throws her shoes across the room. Levi is still getting ready and I’m starting to twitch. He asks, “Mom, do you think it would be unethical to augment a human with cybernetics?” (Clearly his mind is not on teeth brushing.) I’m supposed to take a frozen pie to a friend (for a swim team fundraiser), so I get a cooler with ice ready. And then I can’t find the pie. We leave the house a disaster.

8:50  We’re all in the truck by the skin of our teeth. The truck makes a weird beeping noise when I put it in reverse, and I wonder what’s going on. Luke says in exasperation, “We’re going to be late if you contemplate the baffling enigma indefinitely!” (I’m pretty sure he means “Forget it and get moving!” but I’m glad the vocabulary from Essentials is sticking.)

8:51  Lola realizes that she left her presentation (her toy for show-and-tell) at home and starts wailing. I tell her that’s the consequence of not getting ready with a good attitude. Levi hooks up his music to the truck speakers so we listen to “Fear Not This Night” from Guild Wars at top volume.

8:53  We’re at my mom’s house to drop off Levi with his bin of school work. [He’s doing some of the Classical Conversations Challenge B work at home and with his friend. Russ usually works from home on Mondays so Levi can stay with him, but this week he has to be in his office all week for training.] I chat with my mom and dad for a few minutes. Luke counts each minute and calls for me to stop talking.

9:01  We leave for our day at Classical Conversations. Lola is still screaming and she proceeds to scream the whole way there.

9:13  Lola has now been screaming for more than 20 minutes. Luke unloads the truck and the boys go to class. Lola refuses to pull herself together. We finally walk in (late) while she’s still throwing a fit, but she refuses to go to her class (for the first time ever). She sits in the back of Luke’s class and looks at her book. Luke’s class is learning about Ghiberti and working on an art project. The moment I’m distracted watching Luke, she disappears. I find her, she still won’t go to class, so I take her back to Luke’s. We go back and forth between classes for most of the morning, and she never finds her groove. She does manage to "massage" her face with sandpaper from their art project, and then has a painful red rash around her mouth for the rest of the day. I peek in on Leif’s class a couple times. The classes learn their new memory work in timeline, history, Latin, English grammar, math, science, and geography. They learn about core samples with a science activity. Each of the students give presentations and eat snacks. Then they review past memory work.

12:00  It’s finally lunch time. I spend most of the time talking. (And dealing with Lola. And losing Lola.) I’m late setting up my class. I’m late taking Lola to afternoon play camp in the gym.

1:00  My Essentials class begins barely on time. Game on. Luke and Leif are in my class. We cover complex, imperative, S-Vt-IO-DO sentences and then active and passive voice verb structures. We take a quick break and then come back to read IEW papers and cover the multiple-source, fused-outline research assignment with a new style tool (luckily it’s the www.asia.wub subordinating conjunctions that we covered during grammar). Leif is completely checked out half way through the afternoon and reads a book in the back of class while humming. (I’m trying to figure out appropriate expectations for him as we’re adjusting to a Tourette Syndrome diagnosis along with other comorbid diagnoses such as ADHD.) We end the afternoon with a rousing math game of Battleship Board Slam.

3:15  Class is over and I’m exhausted. I try to keep a fairly high-energy class, and my voice is shot. Clean up begins, but I have great helpers. Luke gathers up most of our class stuff and loads the truck. I pick up Lola from play camp. It seems she had a rough afternoon, as well. I see an early bedtime in our near future.

3:40  We finally leave CC.

3:55  We pick up Levi and I chat with my parents for a moment. Levi shows me the new Doctor Who shirt he got on a shopping trip with Bambi.

4:05  I stop next door at my sister’s and drop off a bin of girl clothes and pick up mini muffin tins.

4:15  We’re home. Hallelujah. We unload the truck. I discover I left the kitchen window open (from the bacon fumes). Oops. The house is still a disaster. I change into my pjs and grab a cold beverage. The kids have lost screen time, so they head outside for an epic Nerf battle. I pre-heat the oven for frozen pizza and discover I bought thin crispy crust instead of the thick crust that we like. I lie down in bed until the pizza is done.

5:00  Internet still not working on my computer, but I figure I can type up a log of our day. I hear a strange noise and can’t figure out what is making it.

5:05  I discover what the curious noise is: Luke is on the roof.

5:15  The kids come in for pizza.

5:45  Luke finds the pie I couldn’t find this morning—buried in the chest freezer. He begs to bake something. I relent and give him a recipe for glazed lemon muffins.

6:25  Russ arrives home. He brings me chocolate and fixes my internet. I heat up some food for him. I finish blogging.

7:00  Luke is finishing "cleaning" up the kitchen from his baking mess. It's read-aloud time and then an early bedtime for everyone. Maybe I'll get some reading in tonight. Or maybe I'll just go to sleep. Yeah, that sounds good.

It's That Time Again

Yes, time for a re-set.

I’m starting another Whole30 this month. [I had planned to start on the 2nd, but life. Party leftovers, illness, inclement weather…So I’ve had a “soft start” the past few days.]

I’m trying my own mayo for the first time around. I’m also hoping to get a batch of home-brewed kombucha going. My sister gave me a beautiful recipe book and a brewing jar for Christmas and I can’t wait!

Drinks:

A detox mixture of water, apple cider vinegar, lemon, and cayenne pepper (Yes, it’s nasty.)

Green tea (I love Tazo’s Zen tea.) (I add a tablespoon of coconut oil to the first cup of the morning.)

La Croix sparkling water (or other sparkling waters like Trader Joe’s lemon) (I live on these...)

Snacks:

Fresh fruit or vegetables

Black olives

Dill pickles

LARA Bars (in case of emergency)

Breakfast:

I almost always eat some combination of eggs and veggies (scrambled and sauteed, respectively). Today it was eggs with mushrooms, bell peppers, and asparagus. Occasionally I’ll add sausage or bacon.

On rare occasions I’ll eat a sliced banana topped with coconut milk, cinnamon, a pinch of sea salt, and toasted sliced almonds (too many carbs and not enough protein, so it doesn’t last as long).

Even more rare (because it’s more time consuming and, again, not enough protein), Sweet Potato Latkes and fried apple slices.

Lunch:

Salads with various cold meats with either guacamole or olive oil and vinegar dressing like this Greek Dressing or Caesar dressing using homemade mayo (I love taco salad or a salad with sliced cold steak in particular.)

Veggies dipped in guac and a few slices of cold steak (I love the individual serving guacamole cups at Costco.)

BLT Lettuce Wraps (These would be delish with sliced avocado.)

Lettuce-wrapped tuna salad with tomato and homemade mayo

Cold Sesame (Cucumber) Noodles

Dinners:

My go-to dinner is some sort of BBQ meat and roasted veggies. It’s easy and fast. I also keep Aidell’s Chicken and Apple Sausages and organic beef or chicken stock on hand (available at Costco) for emergencies. But here are a few more ideas for you.

Slow-cooker Piquant French Dip (lovingly called “the roast that does everything” at our house) [3-lb chuck roast, 2 cups water, 1/2 soy sauce or coconut aminos, 1 tsp dried rosemary, 1 tsp dried thyme, 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 bay leaf, 3 whole peppercorns; place in slow-cooker, cook on high 5-6 hours or until beef is tender, shred beef, strain broth and skim fat; use leftover meat and broth for veggie soup.]

Loaded bunless burgers [I usually top them with some combination of dijon mustard, avocado, bacon, lettuce, tomato; but you could add dill pickles or marinara sauce or grilled pineapple…]

Personal Pesto Chicken Meatza

Asian Ground Beef Broccoli Slaw (I just use the kale salad mix from Costco instead of the broccoli and spinach.)

Korean Beef-Wrapped Asparagus (Leave out the honey if you want it to be Whole-30 approved.)

Lettuce-wrapped tacos (Turkey Lettuce Wrap Tacos with Chiles, Cumin, Cilantro, Lime and Tomato-Avocado Salsa)

Paleo Chikfila Chicken Nuggets

Bruschetta Chicken

Very Greek Grilled Chicken

Oven-baked Chicken Fajitas (This is one of my favorites. I serve it with tortillas for my family.)

Proscuitto-Wrapped Rosemary Chicken [Chicken wrapped in prosciutto with rosemary- marinate the chicken with rosemary, white wine (use a vinegar for Whole30), pepper, garlic, olive oil and red onion. Wrap the prosciutto around the chicken with a sprig of rosemary tucked in and bake for 40 minutes.]

Lemon Garlic Dijon Chicken

Cilantro Thai Grilled Chicken

Chicken and Asparagus Lemon Stir Fry (Substitute alternate oil and coconut aminos instead of soy sauce.)

Skinny Shrimp Scampi with Zucchini Noodles (FYI: the wine is not Whole30-approved.)

Roasted Shrimp and Broccoli

Baked Salmon with Roasted Fingerling Potatoes and Asparagus

Pulled Pork with Slaw (I use Costco’s Kirkland Signature pulled pork and the kale salad mix for the slaw veggies with this creamy dressing.)

BBQ Brats and Sauerkraut

Sausage and Cabbage Noodles

Asian Cauliflower Fried Rice (with Oven-Roasted Cauliflower Rice)

Sides:

Heirloom Tomato Avocado Caprese Salad

Grilled Artichokes with Roasted Garlic Olive Oil Dip

Green salad (with guacamole or oil and vinegar dressing)

Roasted veggies (potatoes with bruschetta seasoning, sweet potatoes with cinnamon, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, asparagus, bell peppers and onions…)

Sauteed snow peas

Green beans

Need more inspiration? You’ll find endless ideas at these blogs:

Melissa Joulwan’s Well-Fed

Elana’s Pantry (but no baked sweets during Whole30!—even if they are Paleo)

Everyday Paleo

paleOMG

nom nom paleo

Against All Grain

Food for Thought ~ When You're Drowning

We’ve received around 10 inches of rain so far this month (our average precipitation for the whole month is 7.5). So, yes, it feels as if we’re drowning some days.

We’re headed into our busiest holiday stretch. And that’s why Lola puked all over me yesterday. Yes, it felt as if I were drowning.

But.

Immanuel, here with us.

In sun or rain. Health or sickness. Joy or heartache. Accomplishments or failed attempts.

Immanuel.

:: Failing at Advent @ by Tresta at Sharp Paynes [Love this. LOVE it. I am the mother of good intentions. So many of them.]

"Necessity might be the mother of invention, but I am the mother of good intentions. So many of them." 

"I want my own burning bushes but these are the terms: tell me what I want to hear, show me You’re with me, and let’s do this now because I’m tired of waiting." 

"Immanuel, here with me because of my failures."

:: The Brutally Honest Christmas Card @ D.L. Mayfield [Vulnerablility. Let’s be kind this Christmas season to everyone who crosses our path.]

:: When They Saw the Star @ CiRCE

Aquinas tells us that, “Wonder is…desirderium sciendi, the desire for knowledge, active longing to know.”

:: You Barely Make a Difference and It’s a Good Thing @ Glory to God for All Things [This was a difficult blog post to read and I’m still struggling with it, but I love how Andrew Kern summed it up on FB: "Love your neighbor and let God decide if it will make a difference. When you try to make a difference, you are turning Christ like love into power over others."]

We have no commandment from God to make the world a better place. We have no commandment from God to “make a difference.” Only God makes a difference, and only God knows what “better” would actually mean. As Christians, the proper life is one lived in accordance with the commandments. We should love. We should forgive. We should be generous and kind. We should give thanks to God always and for everything.

:: The Difference Between Art and Entertainment @ Goins, Writer [Excellent article.]

Entertainment makes us feel good. Art, on the other hand, transforms us.

:: Promises That Can't Be Kept: Why education rightly done is a path and not a method by Matt Bianco @ CiRCE

We pursue education because it is right and worthy, not because it guarantees anything.

:: 10 Things Your Homeschool Friend Won’t Tell You (but wishes you knew) @ Lea Ann Garfias

She’s just like you.

:: How Each Myers-Briggs Personality Type Prepares For The Holidays @ Thought Catalog (A funny post to end on…)

[Me] ISFJ - Settles down to watch their favorite holiday specials that they’ve been enjoying every year since childhood.
[Luke] ESFJ - Starts viciously baking and freezing treats two months ahead of time. Nearly explodes with excitement planning their holiday party.

Food for Thought ~ “gravy soaks in and grace shines through”

Photo by my mom, Cheri Dunbar

 

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period…”

“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.”

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.” ~Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities

 

::

 

 

 

"To know and to serve God, of course, is why we’re here, a clear truth, that, like the nose on your face, is near at hand and easily discernible but can make you dizzy if you try to focus on it hard. But a little faith will see you through. What else will do except faith in such a cynical, corrupt time? When the country goes temporarily to the dogs, cats must learn to be circumspect, walk on fences, sleep in trees, and have faith that all this woofing is not the last word.

"What is the last word, then? Gentleness is everywhere in daily life, a sign that faith rules through ordinary things: through cooking and small talk, through storytelling, making love, fishing, tending animals and sweet corn and flowers, through sports, music and books, raising kids — all the places where the gravy soaks in and grace shines through. Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.” ~Garrison Keillor, We Are Still Married: Stories & Letters 

 

:: From an ordinary life comes extraordinary lessons by Bob Welch @ The Register-Guard [so lovely]

And here’s the lesson that was reinforced for me: In a world where influence now explodes with the power of a sound bite or the speed of a tweet, never doubt the steady impact of a well-lived, other-oriented life. Consistency over time.

“With Jesus, the kingdom of heaven is found in the ordinary,” Shriver said. “Bread and wine from the kitchen counter, fair wages for the worker, caring for your neighbor.”

 

 

 

"Those who love you are not fooled by mistakes you have made or dark images you hold about yourself. They remember your beauty when you feel ugly; your wholeness when you are broken; your innocence when you feel guilty; and your purpose when you are confused.” ~Alan Cohen

 

 

 

:: Mom Thanks The Team Of Doctors And Emergency Responders Who Saved Her Son’s Life @ Little Things [I may have been sobbing at the end of this one.]

 

::

 

:: Are you killing yourself for nothing? by Donald Miller @ Storyline Blog [Why do we do this to ourselves? In health and exercise, in life, in homeschoolig—so many ways to apply this concept.]

The same technique can be used with all sorts of areas in our lives where we are defeating ourselves. The question is, what constitutes a satisfactory job? What do we really need to do to be a good father, a good employee, a good wife, a good teacher?

:: Hack the Facebook Algorithm for Spiritual Growth. @ Marc Alan Schleske [Not just about spiritual growth—some important ideas to consider here.]

When you were a kid, your mom probably told you that who you hang out with matters. Well, that’s still true. If you’re going to be on Facebook, you’re going to be hanging out with a lot of people and ideas. Those people and ideas are shaping who you are becoming.

:: I don’t get it. by Tresta @ Sharp Paynes

“I’m learning to expect questions I cannot answer - that’s easy; I just say that I can’t answer them. What is far more difficult is questions I would rather not answer.” ~ Madeleine L’Engle, A Circle of Quiet

So I am forever a novice and I can’t afford to be an expert in everything; but I also can’t afford to not be curious and sometimes, curious leads me down a path that just simply dead-ends.

I have to be alright with some mystery - that’s what makes God, God, and me, not God. What if we really could understand and explain and discern every curiosity, every difficult thing? With nothing left to learn, how would we spend this life?

 

::

 

:: This Is Your Brain on Exercise: Why Physical Exercise (Not Mental Games) Might Be the Best Way to Keep Your Mind Sharp @ Open Culture

Which is why we are trying to do this each day:

Because I have at least one of these children…

 

 

::

 

:: This Comedian Perfectly Captures the Way Moms Completely FREAK OUT When Company is Coming @ For Every Mom [Because laughter is the best medicine, and my kids have watched this comedy routine too many times to count—only it wasn’t quite as funny at the time.]

The Karstens Family

I have so much to catch up on this month after my 31 Days series last month!

We’ll start with pictures of my sister Holly’s family. I can’t believe her kids were so little when I started my blog (2, 9, and 10!). Ilex is now 19 and in college. Drake turns 18 this month and is in his senior year (senior photos coming up), and Ivy just turned 11. Many of you have watched them grow up over the years. Somehow everyone gets older but my sister. [grin]

Food for Thought ~ The Impeded Stream Sings

“Art always emerges from constraint. Art comes out of the margins of your life.” ~Jeff Goins

 

Do you think the ideas in the above two quotes are related?

 

And a little bit of everything:

:: How much business is your profanity costing you? @ Michael Hyatt

If you can’t be interesting without profanity, then let’s face it: you’re not that interesting.

:: Prison vs. Harvard in an Unlikely Debate @ The Wall Street Journal [Incredible.]

On one side of the stage at a maximum-security prison here sat three men incarcerated for violent crimes.

On the other were three undergraduates from Harvard College.

…The debaters on both sides aimed to highlight the academic power of a program, part of Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, N.Y., that seeks to give a second chance to inmates hoping to build a better life.

…The Bard program’s leaders say that out of more than 300 alumni who earned degrees while in custody, less than 2% returned to prison within three years, the standard time frame for measuring recidivism.

:: Chesterton Casts a Spell on Tolkien @ The Imaginative Conservative

There is, however, a sense in which those who turn their back on fairy-stories are also turning their back on the very world in which we live because, as Chesterton insists, we don’t live in the best of all possible worlds but the best of all impossible worlds. If we have the eyes of humility, the eyes of wonder, we will realize that we are living in a fairy-story, and not only any old fairy-story but the best of all fairy-stories.

:: Making the World More Beautiful (with Miss Rumphius) by Laura Peterson @ Story Warren

She’s not suffering the type of vocational crisis that I think our well-meaning Christian culture can emphasize, worrying over what her “calling” is.  She goes through her life, and when she sees an opportunity to bring beauty to a place that was short on it, she takes it. That’s all.

:: A Conversation with Marilynne Robinson @ Image Journal

If God makes the world, populates the world, infuses the world with every kind of ethical meaning, then the signature of God is the beauty of the world. Why even imagine a mystical experience when we’re born into one, submerged in one, day after day?

:: A Manifesto for Liberal Education by Eva Brann @ The Imaginative Conservative

"Let us offer to the young some (let it be four) clear years for becoming not a this or a that, but for learning to be a human being, whose powers of thought are well exercised, whose imagination is well stocked, whose will has conceived some large human purpose, and whose passions have found some fine object of love about which to crystallize."

:: Who Killed the Liberal Arts? @ PragerU (video)

:: Lecture me. Really. @ The New York Times

"A lecture is not the declamation of an encyclopedia article. In the humanities, a lecture “places a premium on the connections between individual facts,” Monessa Cummins, the chairwoman of the classics department and a popular lecturer at Grinnell College, told me. “It is not a recitation of facts, but the building of an argument.”

:: Classical Chats with Matt Bianco [The four levels of knowledge]

:: I love this story about an extraordinary man named Derek.

:: Forever a Novice @ Tresta Payne

[W]ho I really am comes out in the worst moments, not in the best, and I think sometimes that the words I write (which are the thoughts I think) are the truest forms of my soul - with all the commas missing and misplaced; the lack of degree, obvious; the semi-colons placed wherever I want them because that’s just how I think they go and I don’t have to be an expert to tell you what life is like, in so many words.

It Has Begun

Monday marked the first day back to Classical Conversations and our first official day of the school year.

Not only was it our first official day of the school year, but it was my first day of tutoring Essentials, Lola’s first day in class at CC, Leif’s first day of Essentials, and Levi’s first day not at CC (long story, but I’ll share more about that in a later post). Luke is the only one doing the same thing this year!

It was a long but good Monday. By the evening I was feeling the effects of straddling multiple seasons of childhood. I spent the morning in Lola’s class with other four and five year olds. (Oh, my. It has been a while since I’ve hung out with a group of four year olds. Quite the culture shock.) Afternoon was spent teaching English grammar and writing to my 4th and 6th grade boys (and thirteen other 9-12 years-olds plus ten parents, so I have twenty-five people sitting in my class!). Then I spent the evening trying to read The Iliad and study up on Introductory Logic so that I could discuss both with Levi the next day. Whew!

After an extraordinarily lazy summer, we’re all adjusting to going to bed earlier, getting up earlier (I am not a morning person, but I’ve been up by 6:30ish every morning this week), and generally being more diligent about simple tasks like doing morning chores, cleaning up after ourselves, and making dinner.

Apparently my body is having difficulty adjusting because I, the light sleeper, slept through my alarm for 30 minutes Wednesday morning and then fell asleep sitting up that afternoon. Goodness.

I won’t say it’s been a super productive week since we’re still working out the kinks and I have more organizing and prepping to do. We had a few various errands and I hosted my Schole Sisters Hamlet group yesterday evening (which meant extra house cleaning—you know how it is). Levi spent Thursday afternoon and evening studying and hanging out with his best friend, and he’s with a close group of four boys this afternoon for a Bible study.

I’m praying I can get more organizing done this weekend and next week we’ll be in full swing.

[I’ll let you guess which child was not enthusiastic about Monday morning.]

Randomness

I know I shared pictures of our “1st Day of School” but I’d be lying if I said we’d actually, you know, started school. ‘Cause I’m not ready.

I spent all day, today, up to my eyeballs in books and trash and dust and bins (and more bins) full of random junk that has been accumulated in the past decade. My house was, and is, a mess. But there’s progress, so that’s good. And, while I was distracted, Luke made cream puffs with vanilla pudding filling, and those were also good.

Our first day of Classical Conversations (and my first day of tutoring Essentials) is Monday. So next week is our first official week of the school year. Lots on the to-do list in the next two days!

Yesterday we had a fantastic start to this year’s Book Detectives club. I think there were 35 or more of us! Next week my Schole Sisters meet at my house to pick up where we left off in Hamlet.

We may attend the local Renaissance Faire tomorrow.

I still have a few summer posts to catch up on—like the rest of our beach trip and more pictures from our traditional “1st Day of School” hike. Oh, and the boys’ reading list.

And, for the sake of randomness, I am sharing this picture of Leif’s Pokemon birthday cupcakes from last month. A month late. It’s all good, right?! I remember when I used to plan elaborate birthday parties with invitations and decorations and themed food. Now, this is as good as it gets. The good news is that Leif thought the 144 mini Pokemon figures I purchase were the greatest thing ever. Who needs fancy invitations? I guess my boys couldn’t care less.