A Little Sunshine

[For honesty’s sake, this was a little sunshine on an otherwise difficult and frustrating day.]

I thought the above picture a little funny with the bus driving by, and all.

The motor bike is Leif’s usual choice of recess activity. His and Luke’s. Down the driveway, back up, into the yard, up the hill, around the trees, and back down again. Sometimes around the house. Today was beautiful, so he spent quite a bit of time out there. Yes, he’s wearing gloves. No, it wasn’t that cold.

I posted a super short video of him riding over on Facebook.

In the afternoon, Luke grabbed a cookbook off the shelf, read through it, picked a recipe, and asked if he could make oatmeal craisin cookies. I decided he could do it completely on his own, and he did—with a little help from Leif and Lola. I’m trying to eat healthy and I don’t even like oatmeal cookies, but the aroma was so delicious I had to try one. He gets an A+ for this independent project, and I think I’ll let him do more baking from now on!

Life @ Mt. Hope

I came home the other evening to see the sun streaming through our willow tree on one of our pleasant days. (We’ve had quite the mild winter.) I snapped a picture with my phone, and it’s a good thing because the sun had gone down behind the hill before I could walk out with my “real” camera. Our house is finally mostly painted, and I love the gray.

The boys have spent some time almost every day riding that dirt bike all around the house and up our little hill and down our driveway. Can you see my gray hairs? They should be visible from where you are. And please don’t look closely at my lawn. It’s now a dirt bike trail.

I have another funny story to share about Leif and Life of Fred. (Honestly, I could give you one of these almost every day!)

Leif saw me on Amazon looking at Pride and Prejudice. [I adore the movies, with both Colin Firth and Matthew Macfadyen, but I have never read the book. It’s about time I fix that!]

He begged me to "look inside" the book and go straight to the first line, which he read aloud:

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

"Yeah, Fred [from Life of Fred] was wondering if he had to get married because he had more than $5,000. That's not something you want to hear when you are only six years old."

I asked him if it was something an eight year old wanted to hear.

"I don't have a fortune. I only have about $20, and that's rounded up."

A couple days later, the book arrived on our doorstep. So, naturally, he picked it up and started reading. An eight year old boy reading Pride and Prejudice, on the couch full of laundry, wearing Minecraft pajamas, snacking on pretzels.

Folks, welcome to my house. [grin]

Friday Five ~ Snippets

1. In the creek without a paddle

I went to pick Lola up from my mom’s house where she spends the day while the rest of us are at CC, often playing with cousin Rilla, and we ended up basking in the sunshine in the back yard while the kids played. All of a sudden we heard a splash and immediately looked around, breathing a sigh of relief when we could see the two girls. We counted heads, and I relaxed when I knew it was Luke. He and Leif were on the tire swing together and a vigorous push-off had sent Luke sliding off into the ditch. He was a great sport, and didn’t even give us a bad time about taking pictures before he finally said, “Uh, could someone help me out, here?”

Later he said to me, "Mom, I'm kinda glad I fell in the water. Because it was funny, I got to ride in the back of the truck, and I got to take a hot shower."

2. Shakespeare, wandering in storms, eyes poked out, and dead bodies everywhere

We were talking about attending a Shakespeare play this weekend and I asked Leif if he would be interested in going. He asked, "Which one?" And I answered, "King Lear." "Oh," Leif replied, "he's the one who wandered in a storm." Luke, who had just read the retelling by Leon Garfield, piped up. "That's not all he does!" [Luke's one-sentence retelling was that a guy gets his eyes poked out.] I handed the book over to Leif and told him that the story was on page 29. He responded, "Oh, yeah!" And then he cuddled up on his bed reading King Lear. Sometimes I really love my life.

And thank you, Life of Fred math, for the references to Shakespeare (in Jelly Beans). Something else came up the other day (I don't even remember what it was) and Leif said, "That's just like the end of Hamlet...Dead bodies everywhere."

3. Speaking of Life of Fred

In each Life of Fred math book, the author encourages students to find editing errors. He says that if a student emails him an error, he'll send a list of other errors students have found in return. Leif, who loves Life of Fred, also loves to find errors. [grin] So I emailed the author for Leif and Stan Schmidt sent a nice little personal email in return saying "Your son has good eyes! Give him a hug for me." And now Leif is on a mission to find more...

 

4. Speaking of businesses doing things right

A few weeks ago I recommended the movie The Boxcar Children. It is so darling and true to the book, and the kids love it. Well, the producer emailed me afterward, said thank you, and offered to send the kids a signed DVD. They just received it in the mail with Boxcar Children cards personalized and signed by both producers. They were thrilled. Seriously? That was super kind.

5. Speaking of kind people

When we gave our family presentation for CC, Luke mentioned that he loves to collect coins. A grandmother asked me later if she thought he would like a few coins from another country. I said he would. The very next week, she gave him several French franc coins. She had no idea that we had been studying the French Revolution, and Luke’s favorite song right now is “La la liberte. Eh e-galite. Fra fra-ternite!!” [CC peeps, take a look at the date on the left coin. Guess what our history sentence was this week!]

Have you experienced something funny or kind this week?

Working in the Quiet Room

It astounds me how quickly the boys’ room becomes an unmanageable pit. It’s not like I hadn’t cleaned it from top to bottom just a couple months ago. But it somehow had gotten so bad that no one was even sleeping in his own space anymore.

I ended up spending hours and hours again this past week, cleaning it out so it could function again. The next morning, Luke didn’t want to leave the room. He’s my nice and neat kid. He asked if he could set up a space in the corner so that he could do his school work in his room. [Yes, those are roller skates on his feet. Ivy donated her too-small roller skates to Lola, but Luke and Leif figured out that they could shove their feet into the several-sizes-too-small skates and have been wearing them around the house constantly since then.]

Levi decided to join him a little bit later.

We may as well enjoy the couple days it stays relatively straightened.

The Menagerie [part 2]

I thought you all might enjoy the next installment of Levi’s story while I’m working on the next book list project (and waiting for these antibiotics to kick in after almost seven weeks of illness).

He got braces last week and a haircut yesterday. It’s like I have a full-fledged teenager on my hands! He is almost as tall as me, and his feet passed up mine some time ago. I’m not sure I’m coping. The quotes above express his personality so well.

[Read part 1 here.]

Into the Menagerie

Canth strode into the receiving hall he had been directed to by a hassled-looking servant, who had told him that he might wait there till the lord of the keep came to that place as was required and commanded the servants to notify the resident Asura Krewe that the gate must be opened for a young man who was to be trained as a Ranger.

Canth was told that he might rest his feet on a stool which another tired-out servant procured from a nearby room. After a while of wait Canth was directed to meet the Lord of the Hold.

"Young man, you are the first new Trainee in five years!" boomed the Lord. "And we were not prepared for such a speedy arrival at this time of year!" Canth decided that he liked this man, for he had been hospitable even though his servants were exhausted.

"Thank you for receiving me so pleasantly," Canth replied. "But my new teacher must be waiting for me inside......."

"Oh, your teacher can wait, young man. I would like to make your acquaintance first."

"I am sorry, and I do not mean to be rude, but if your resident Asura Krewe have finished their task then I should be going," he notified the affronted Lord of the Hold.

"I understand young man. I will allow you to be on your way, but please do not mention that I detained your arrival to the Master Trainer. He would make me wish I had a different hold to care for than this castle on the border. It would weaken me to have to fight him off and still have the minotaurs to bother me in my harried state. I would'st prefer if thou think'est of me not as a pompous lord but as a friend." With those words the lord of the hold beckoned to Canth and strode through the halls to the room with the gate.

When they arrived in the room a surprise awaited Canth. He thought that he would be going through a normal-seeming castle gate that had a teleport spell cast upon it, but instead it was a circular frame of metal with a purple swirling energy inside.

The portal, since that was the proper name for the Asura Gate, glowed softly in the twilight, a thing of another world. The Asura in charge told him to step through. He did and felt a pull, like a strong tug, then he walked out of the other gate. This time he was inside the Menagerie.

Inside at last

Inside the Menagerie, birds twittered, deer and stags stalked through the forest, and Canth was in the midst of it all, on a journey into the heart of the forest. A journey to find the person who would teach him how to survive in the wild, find food. He had an apprenticeship to fulfill. An apprenticeship that was his and not another's.

He arrived in the heart of the forest and found a little house built into a hill, in a sixty foot wide clearing, with a round door, and beautifully kept plants in front. The house had a stump outside that had been perfectly shaped into a sort of chair, and there sat a man of about twenty-eight. Canth advanced and presented himself in front of the man, saluting and coming to attention.

"First lesson: don't salute or come to attention for me. If you were in sword school then you would have to do that, but here the rules are a little bit less formal. No officials allowed in here; they would want to disturb the peace by bringing heralds with trumpets, and many horses. That would frighten many of the animals on the Island. We use our proper names, not titles and surnames. And, unless we need to show rank in the corps, no saying ‘sir.’ My name is Peter Wolfwynd. Yours is Canth, correct?"

"Yes, it is.”

“Well, today we should start lessons with archery and a preview of Earth Magik." 

Peter and Canth began lessons. Canth was a natural at Earth Magik, but archery would have to be worked on. When Peter saw that Canth was such a good student and that he could perform some of the more complex Magik and had some expertise in simple wilderness survival, he switched Canth's schedule to include more of this because these were what he himself was proficient in, and were what would be more time-consuming to learn.

[To be continued…]

Vulnerability and Part 1 of “The Menagerie” by Levi

I’m going to be vulnerable with you for a few minutes:

It’s been a rough year with my oldest.

Personality clashes, hormone flares, emotional meltdowns, character issues. Probably pretty equally on both our parts.

Have I mentioned that raising adolescents can be tough?

I asked him if I could share that, and he said I could.

And I say this to let you know that we’re human, with human struggles.

The decisions are endless, and seem to have no easy answers. I hinted about the quandary in this post. How much do we expect our “square peg” children to fit in a round hole? When is it a character or training issue and when should we change our expectations?

I don’t know.

I’m reminded of this article about the best-selling teenage author Christopher Paolini. In the article, his mother talks about his education saying, “Little did I know that when Christopher was daydreaming out the window—and not finishing his math problems—he was dreaming of battling evil sorcerers and flying on dragons, dreams that would form the basis of his first book, Eragon.”

Well, exactly.

I’m not saying I have the next Christopher Paolini on my hands, not at all, but what do you do when your child would rather be thinking or writing about dragons than finishing his math? What do you do when it is a great struggle for him to bend his brain to focus on math? Even if he has the reward of free time at the end of it?

She does say in the very next paragraph: “Sometimes our children balked at lessons and we had a clash of wills. At those crucial points, Kenneth and I gave our children a choice: we told them that by law they had to attend school, but it was their decision where they would do this. They could do the assigned homeschool lessons or Dad would drive them to the local school, where they would do the work those teachers assigned. Ultimately, they always chose to homeschool, but not without a grumble here and there.”

And so we press on, but not without a grumble here and there. [wry grin] And I try to remember that learning to read was a painful process to go through with Levi, but now he can read 1,000 pages a day. So there’s that.

Maybe it is that I fear the regrets of hindsight, and I don’t want to destroy our relationship.

But I can’t live in fear. At some point I have to walk in faith here.

Levi has asked that I share with you all the very rough draft of the beginning of the story he is writing, and I told him that I would be glad to. So this is in part a preface.

Keep in mind that writing assignments are painfully completed (or not, as the case may be) by this son. Painful execution. Painful style. IEW was a battle. Even the creative assignments.

But when he is supposed to be completing a math assignment?

Magic.

Following is the first installment. I’ve edited his random capitalization and punctuation and reformatted the paragraphs. All other content is his spontaneous creativity.

Copyright 2015 by Levi Scovel

_________________________________________________________________________________________

The Menagerie

A Chronicle of the Apprenticeship and Adulthood of a Young Ranger

Chapter One

Selection

It was a dark and stormy night, a night to stay indoors, a night of fear and woe, yet there was a young man out in the blackness, struggling against the wind and snow. His name was Canth; he was the new apprentice in the Menagerie, the place where Her Majesty's royal trackers and scouts were trained.

He had been told it was a honor for him, a castle ward, to be selected for such a prestigious apprenticeship. The selection had taken place on a fair morning. He had been roused from sleep and instructed to change into a brown and green tunic and elegant but sturdy brown pants, and to venture to the Apprenticeship Hall. He had stood in line, shortest to tallest; being the tallest ward he was the last. Then he listened to all the wards receive their apprenticeships.

The first was a young girl who was very lively and fast. "Rhuinnion Green?" questioned the Chancellor.

"Yes, my lord?"

"Have you a wish to be apprenticed to a certain master or mistress?" the Chancellor asked Rhuinnion.

"My lord, I wish to be apprenticed in the courtier class," she announced with a curtsey.

"That is a fine choice," the Chancellor cried! "What say you Ariana?"

"I have seen all I would wish in a Courtier! She is polite and could outpace a centaur!" Ariana replied courteously.

"Ah, Young Tucker is next, do I speak rightly young sir?" The Chancellor requested that Tucker step forward.

"My lord, I am Tucker Nightengale."

"Ah, so I spoke rightly. Well young man, have you a request as to your apprenticeship?"

"Why, yes I do, my lord," Tucker proclaimed somewhat quietly. "My request is to be in the Mage Archen!" he happily announced.

"Well, my boy, may you be delighted to learn that Cobalion of the Mages Archen accepts you!" announced the Mage. "Tis such a rare thing when a boy shows so much talent for Ice that we will accept them if they but ask!" Cobalion pronounced. Tucker blushed. "I have seen him summon an eagle of flawless pure turquoise Ice that can mentally communicate and fly better than a natural bird! This boy will learn many secrets and may succeed me as the Master of the Mages Archen!

“I now will announce a grand thing! I am decided to adopt Tucker as my son and heir! Chancellor, do I have your acceptance of this?"

The Chancellor replied wisely, "You have my Acceptance for this is a thing of wonder, but I must warn you that Tucker must accept your offer as well, or his magical power may be lessened by shock!"

"Tucker?" queried Cobalion.

"Yes, I will accept your offers. I accept both of them!" Tucker cried, and he walked from the room with Cobalion following.

Cobalion returned presently with Tucker beside him in his new Apprentice of the Archen robes. More apprenticeships were confirmed. Some were what the teens had hoped for, others were not, but equally accepted by the teen who had been given a different apprenticeship.

After the last of the ten young wards had received their apprenticeships, it was Canth's turn. He asked if he could become a swordsman. He was turned down; Baron Egan was not accepting apprenticeships now, for he had already received three this morn. Horse school was close to sword school, but they had filled their ranks with new apprentices previously and would not take another. Everywhere he turned there was only despair. Finally he asked if he might join the Rangers. This was the place. He was received! He could not believe his fortune. The only discomfort was that he knew that he would not be training nearby. Sadly he must venture north to the Hold of Gorain, where there was a magical gate that would send him to his training place. He had spent the last thirteen years in the royal castle of the newly crowned Queen Simylene, and rued that he had had to leave the beauteous palace.

Canth’s recent memory faded and he returned to the present. Smurph, smurph in the snow went his boots as he stumbled into the hold from which he would depart to his place of training.

[To be continued…]

What Luke Has Been Reading

This kid has turned into a reading maniac! I found myself saying such ridiculous things as “Put down that Tolkien book and do some school!” What was I thinking?

He is working toward Memory Master for Classical Conversations Foundations (for the third and final cycle of information in history, science, Latin, English grammar, geography, and math). He completes an art project and watches a short science demonstration in class weekly. He sits through Essentials class (grammar, writing, and math games) weekly. We diagram an occasional sentence. Choir (and music theory homework) begins in a week or two. He swims at least three days a week. And he organizes my flatware drawer in the kitchen just for fun.

That’s enough “school,” right?!

I can add educational games and documentaries to the list. That helps.

Okay, maybe there needs to be more math and writing in there. Sigh. Math he can do. Writing—well, that’s torture.*

In general, it has looked a lot like “unschooling” around here lately. [In other news, I’m ready to NOT be sick.]

 

History (and Science History)

Benjamin Franklin: Young Printer (Childhood of Famous Americans)
Traitor: The Case of Benedict Arnold by Jean Fritz
The Mystery of the Periodic Table (Living History Library)

Historical Fiction

Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. This is the audio book the boys are listening to at bed time.
Guns for General Washington: A Story of the American Revolution
Dutch Color
The Great Wheel by Robert Lawson

Literature

Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling
Tales from the Perilous Realm by J.R.R. Tolkien
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

Fiction

The Green Ember. I read about this book on Story Warren and ordered it through the Kickstarter campaign. All of the boys loved it!
Flights and Chimes and Mysterious Times
Time and the Tapestry: A William Morris Adventure. This time-traveling fictional mystery has some fun history of the arts-and-crafts movement woven in the story similar to Chasing Vermeer or The Wright 3 by Blue Balliett.

I’m sure I’m missing several from his chapter book list this past month.
 
Plus… a gazillion picture books on all topics (history, art, literature, geography, science, cultures, fables and fairy tales…)
________________________________________________________________________________________________

Today Luke told me that he wants to read all the books in the house by the end of the year.

Good luck with that, Dude.

*Funny story. Luke was required to submit a writing sample for the charter school in which he is enrolled. He had a few prompts to choose from. I told him what he needed to do and gave him some suggestions for getting started, which he promptly shot down. He then proceeded to bang his head on the table for hours, all the while NOT doing the writing assignment. Because torture. “I don’t know what to say. I have no imagination. I can’t write. I hate this.” And so on.

The second day I sat him down again and he commenced with the head banging. After a little while he sat up straight in a sudden motion and a light bulb appeared over his head.

“Mom, if I write three paragraphs, can I have a piece of ice cream cake from the freezer?”

“Um, absolutely son. You bring me three paragraphs and I’ll serve you up.”

Five minutes later…

“I was driving up the long winding road to House Rock Campground when suddenly I heard a rumbling noise. It was a rock slide! I quickly went into reverse but accidentally went off the cliff! Luckily I landed in a deep part of the river right side up. I broke the window before I sank and climbed out.

“I looked around but I couldn’t find a way to get up the cliff. So I swam down to my car and rummaged around until I found some rope. I tied a slipknot and located a tree stump at the top of the cliff. I threw my rope and after a few tries hit the tree stump. I climbed up and finally I was at the top.

“I looked around and saw a car coming. I asked the driver if I could hitch a ride. He agreed and drove to the nearest town. I bought supplies and started hiking to House Rock. When I arrived I set up my new tent and curled up in my new sleeping bag and fell fast asleep.”

It may not look like much, but for this son it was blood from a rock. And, for this rock, the only thing more powerful than the torture of writing is the promise of sugar.

Levi’s Harry Birthday

[Harry Potter, of course]

I have a teenager. That blows my mind. He’s changed a bunch this past year. No longer a childish boy, he’s all limbs and scraggly hair and dark peach fuzz. Most days, however, are wild swings between acting 2 and 20. I imagine that’s pretty typical.

Levi’s my imaginative, playful son, and though getting older is inevitable, I believe he will always have a little boy soul in there somewhere.

I try to do simple themes for our family birthday parties (not the elaborate detailed parties I used to dream I would put on, back when I had no kids—or when they were little and I only had a couple). This year was Harry Potter.

• I printed off some Hogwarts Crest and a Design Your Own Crest coloring pages from Activity Village UK. I know Levi’s a little old for coloring pages, but I thought some of the other kids might enjoy them (younger siblings, cousin, friends). Turns out Levi’s the only one who colored one that evening, because he enjoys drawing and using colored pencils and the design appealed to him.
  
• I used the butterbeer ideas from Bakingdom, and improvised a little. I’m all about making things simple. I just used cream soda, a smidge of butter flavoring, and plain whipped cream. [I also had regular rootbeer and ice cream, so that guests could choose to make a rootbeer float instead.] Levi loved the butterbeer.
  
• These cauldron cakes are simply adorable, but I cheated and just used black cupcake wrappers and a butterscotch candy.
  
• I got the idea to make snitches at this site. I wandered around the craft store looking for just the right thing. I found little wooden knobs, had Russ drill the holes all the way through, painted them gold with craft paint, and added the ribbon. They were a huge hit (and my personal favorite).
  
• My amazing friend Brandy at The Prudent Homemaker did a gorgeous Harry Potter birthday party for her son, and that’s where I got the idea of the banner and printing the short prequel by Rowling as well as the train tickets.
  
• My lack of adequate planning and last-minute prep caused a bit of a problem when a few things I ordered from Amazon didn’t make it in time (estimated arrival time was December 31st, but they didn’t show up until today, January 2nd). Sigh. I had a little something different planned for the cake, but I made a little banner out of the paper scraps from the larger banner. It worked.
  
• Harry Potter Bertie Botts Every Flavor Beans showed up late. We’ll have to deliver them. Ha!
  
• Chocolate gold coins made perfect gold galleons (if you don’t pay any attention to the markings on them…).
  

 

 

I shared a bunch about Levi last year, so this year I’ll just share my three favorite quotes that best express his personality:

“I always wanted to be Peter Pan, the boy who never grows up. I can’t fly, but swimming is the next best thing. It’s harmony and balance. The water is my sky.” ~Clayton Jones

“Completion is the death of possibility.”

“A straight line may be the shortest distance between two points, but it is by no means the most interesting.” ~Doctor Who

Yep, that pretty well sums him up.

Levi. 13.

The Boys’ Room

I’ve spent hours and hours in the pit of despair the boys’ room the past couple days, trying to make it livable. Three boys in this small room for the past 8! years has taken a toll. It (desperately) needs to be repainted. It (desperately) needs new carpet. I need to get rid of the small, abused book shelf and replace it with a dresser for more clothing storage, and transfer a bunch of picture books up to Lola’s room (which is next on the docket).

Even with all the cleaning/organizing/purging I’ve done, it sure isn’t the sweet room it used to be. But we’ve added more books and shelves, so that’s forward progress, right?!

The boys decided to string little white lights up in their room, and I’m going to hang myself (accidentally) one of these days. Just when I thought I had made their room less dangerous…

And if you’re wondering what it’s like to have three boys in the same room at bed time… There are no words to describe their mother’s frustration.

Just. Go. To. Sleep. Already.

Better Late Than Never

I think “better late than never” is my new “reaching for the stars.” Because I still hit “never” more often than I’d like to admit.

We had a belated costume party with our best friends, and now I’m posting belated pictures of the belated party. Impressive.

Do you remember last year when I lost Lola’s mermaid costume? I’d love to pretend that I found it, but in reality my “make everyone’s dreams come true” best friend found the exact mermaid costume on Ebay and bought it for Lola for Christmas. And this year she got to be a mermaid. I bought both a George Washington and an Abraham Lincoln costume this year. Leif refused to wear one. (Surprise.) He made his own Creeper head, and I suppose that was better anyway. Luke happily chose George Washington. Levi went as himself (ha!!).

I dressed as a lady in waiting (yes, I did). We joined Harry and Hermione and made marzipan pumpkins. Because no party with these 6 kids is a party without marzipan.

The Beginning of the 9th Year @ Mt. Hope Academy!

I started reading and math lessons with Levi when he turned 4. And here we are, eight and a half years later. It’s shocking, really. I always knew this is what I wanted to do, but some days I didn’t think I’d make it another week—or even another hour. [wry grin]

I’ve chronicled the past seven years of home school here on the blog. [SEVEN+ YEARS of blogging. That boggles my mind.]

But check out these lovely students:

 

I described my students four years ago, and not much has changed.

(Other than adding one more big distraction student, of course.)

But now I have a brooding adolescent middle school student on my hands. (I shared about Levi’s personality here.) In many ways he is still the same as he was four years ago, though.

I will say that Luke has gotten so. much. easier. than when he was younger because he is suddenly capable. He mows, he fixes things, he organizes things, he works on lists independently, and he is motivated by incentives. (I shared about Luke’s personality here.)

Leif is much the same as always (so sweet and loving, so ornery, so difficult to keep focused, so smart when he’s reading and talking independently, so sneaky, so stubborn about assigned lessons, and so like a puppy that can’t control his mouth or body).

Lola is audacious and interactive and hilarious and very, very distracting. And unable to entertain herself independently.

This should be an exciting year!

 

Some of my favorite posts that describe what we’re currently all about here at Mt. Hope Academy:

::  Classical Conversations (not much has changed since this third year update, though we’re now in our 5th year)

::  Classical Conversations Challenge (the main thing that has changed is that Levi is starting the Challenge level this year)

::  Our Big-Picture Educational Scope and Sequence Integrated with Classical Conversations (because we don’t just do CC! and there are more links in this post)

::  The Great Conversation (our over-arching themes and philosophy)

::  The Trivium: Instructions for Living a Life (because it isn’t just school)

 

I think we’re ready for a new year.

 

I Love Them

Luke

Luke. He loves adventure, competition, risk, action, money (which has morphed nicely into coin collecting), computers, and sugar. And snuggling with his mom.

He also gets stuff DONE. Like lawn-mowing. Or anything else on his list, really. Especially if he gets computer time, cash, or candy when he’s finished.

So one morning he brought me a paper with “Luke’s Lickity List” written at the top. As in “things to finish lickity-split so I can play on my computer.” It’s become a little thing with us now, his “Lickity List.”

Today? He’s organizing my junk drawers and cupboard. I think I’ll keep him.

Birthdays and Boys and Summer Fun

I’m trying not to sweat the fact that I didn’t get Luke’s birthday pictures posted back at the end of May and that I didn’t take a single picture at Leif’s birthday party on Saturday. And that I have summer fun pictures that I haven’t yet posted. C’est la vie.

These boys were 2 years old and 6 months old when I started my blog. I still can’t fathom that.

 

Luke’s birthday kicks off our summer at the end of May, and Leif’s birthday wraps it up on August 18th. Somehow, I’m never ready for either birthday. Leif has gotten the short end of the stick when it comes to parties the past couple (or more?) years, so I wanted to do something fun for him this year. We had a big BBQ with friends, feasted at a build-your-own ice cream sundae bar, and watched an outdoor movie (The Lego Movie) from lawn chairs when it got dark. Lots of fun—no pictures.

I do have pictures of Luke’s birthday that I never posted, though, so maybe I’ll share those. We spent the evening in the garden at my parents’/sister’s house, playing games and making s’mores. I asked Luke what he wanted for dessert and he said rice krispie treats and red vines, so this was his cake.

My little boys are now 8, 10, and 12.

But there is never a dull day around here, as you well might imagine.

Leif

I had to capture the missing front teeth phase. Knock me over with a feather, my baby boy is almost 8!

Adventures With Friends

Camping, BBQing, Fishing, ATVing, soaking up the gorgeous sunshine, spending time with friends (the swim coaches from Albany and Lebanon and their families)—yes, lovely.

This is the Willamette River.

(Leif is on the right. He was so cute. And sooooo slow. But his mother did not complain. His dad finally told him that he should go at least as fast as he would ride a bike—instead of walking speed.)

Riding off into the sunset…

Life is good, so good.

Uh…to[o] hard..P.S. I mean It!

The last two weeks of April were a bear! Good stuff, but golly! This is more than you ever wanted to know…

We celebrated Easter and then turned around the following morning to head out for outdoor school with the boys for three days. (The above picture is of the worksheet the boys were asked to complete prior to outdoor school. Leif apparently decided it was above his grade level. Ha! That kid cracks me up. He has a ton of personality.) I picked Lola up from my parents’ house when we returned home on Wednesday, and she was feverish and not well at all.

Thursday Russ called and asked if I wanted to drive the family down (45 minutes south) for “bring your kids to work” day at his office. All four kids and I toured his office building for a little while that afternoon, then Russ took the boys to swim practice and I went shopping in Eugene with Lola.

Friday I decided I didn’t have enough on my plate (or had so much that I needed to be fueling my body well) and started a round of “paleo-ish.” (I’m now finishing day 13.) I should also mention that for the past eight weeks—ever since my Energy Begets Energy post—I’ve been consistently working out about two times each week. It isn’t as frequent as I’d like, but it is a tremendous step in the right direction. Friday is also the day we had to finish our writing work samples and get them mailed, without an hour to spare. (And swim practice.)

 

Saturday I was up early to help Russ and boys get ready for a morning swim meet. Then I had an online meeting. Then Lola and I went to the store to pick up some food. Then we went to watch the end of the swim meet and have a potluck lunch with the other families. We were invited out to the movies with another couple. It has been longer than I’d like to admit since Russ and I had been out without kids, and they offered their daughter as a babysitter, so I agreed. But the house was a disaster, so I ran home to tear through it with a rag and a garbage sack. My in-laws stopped by to visit. Then we went out for a quick meal and a movie. We arrived home to a son with the stomach flu. Not. Good. Timing.

Sunday was a true day of rest. Levi and Luke headed to church with my parents, but Russ and I stayed home with Lola (still nursing a lingering cold that appeared after her feverish day) and Leif. I did absolutely nothing.

Monday I finished editing some pictures and made a dessert. That evening was our end of the year celebration program for Classical Conversations.

 

Tuesday the boys and I took a scenic drive to Champoeg State Park (about an hour away) for a living history field trip with our charter school. It was a gorgeous, warm day.

 

That same evening I had a senior photo shoot for my nephew Daniel.

 

Wednesday morning the boys had a choir performance at a local assisted living facility (I did take pictures of the boys’ choir events, but I don’t like to share pictures of other kids without asking their parents first.) I spent the afternoon reading in the glorious sunshine. Then Leif had his end of the year program at AWANAS (picture above). (And swim practice for Russ and Levi and Luke.) I wasn’t feeling well that night so I left chores undone (and the house a disaster) and went to bed early at 10ish. I woke at 11 to the sound of puking (Levi). I’ll spare you the details, but it was a disaster that I spent a long time cleaning up. After which Levi spent the rest of the night in the bathroom and I couldn’t fall asleep until 4am—only to be awoken several times by children before I drug myself out of bed a few hours later.

I crept through Thursday at a snail’s pace. Now Luke and I were battling head colds. I managed to escape that evening and attend a much needed and quite lovely book club meeting. My sister Shannon had made paleo fudgesicles. Seriously? LOVE. MY. ChocLit Guild!!

 

Friday afternoon was choir dress rehearsal.

Saturday was a long swim meet (Russ coaching, Luke swimming in the morning, Levi swimming in the afternoon). Lola and I visited for part of the day.

Sunday was crazy. I really wasn’t feeling well. The swim meet continued. I had to juggle getting everything ready and packed for the day, transporting boys and trying to watch a couple events while keeping track of Lola, then heading a half hour north for a family bridal shower, and then leaving early to meet back at the pool with dress clothes for the boys to change into. Levi swam right after I arrived, they changed quickly, we grabbed a quick snack, and we headed straight to the church for the boys end of season choir concert. I was half dead by the end of the evening, but a bunch of friends were going out for frozen yogurt. Russ wanted to treat the boys. So we did. And then I crashed.

Monday my mom offered to take the kids. Yes. Please. I was shaky and weak and sick, so the disastrous house went unattended, but I used the time to read and study.

Tuesday my dear friend Cheris offered to take the kids. Yes. Please. And by now I was feeling a bit better so I cleaned up my office. It was impossible to think in that disaster. And then I spread the feast in the sunshine. Thank goodness for paleo-ish chocolate mug cake!

 

And this is where you will find me for the next 11 days—prepping to speak at the Salem, Oregon Classical Conversations 3-Day Parent Practicum on May 19th-21st.

I apologize in advance to my husband who will graciously ignore the disaster of a house and pizza for dinner.

If you don’t hear from me for a while, you’ll know why.

(P.S. I purposefully do not keep our schedule like this on a regular basis. This was an unusual couple weeks. Thank goodness! Other than studying and speaking, our schedule for the rest of May and June is much lighter!)

(P.P.S. I have finally caved and subjected myself to a smart phone. So far, it is causing me to feel quite stupid. But I can now text. And post pictures from my phone to Facebook. Yes, I know my grandmother mastered those skills years ago.)