Honoring Our Veterans...

...At the largest Veterans Day Parade west of the Mississippi.

There Is a Grief That Can't Be Spoken....

Things That Make You Go Hmmmmmmm...

I discovered this morning that I've been nominated again for the Homeschool Blog Awards. This time I am up for Best Photos and Artistic Content Blog and (drumroll, please.......) Best Unschooling Blog. I have no idea what to say about that.

Now, I have really no hope of winning. In the photo/artistic content category, I'm up against The Pioneer Woman, Holy Experience, and Simply Vintagegirl. Honestly, even I wouldn't vote for me (I didn't). And the link wasn't working to my blog today, so I'm astounded that I have a few votes already. Thank you, to whomever nominated me and/or voted for me. You're crazy.

And the unschooling category? Well, technically we are (neo)classical, but some days it feels like unschooling (or I should say non-schooling). Unfortunately, those days we aren't exactly the poster children for Unschooling in the best sense, which takes more effort/diligence/creativity/etc. on the part of the parents than I happen to possess on the best of days. So I really hope an awesome unschooling mom (like Soule Mama, cough, cough) wins in that category.

Head on over to check out the nominated homeschooling blogs and start voting for your favorites. It only takes two clicks!!

Field Trip #7 ~ Thompson's Flour Mill

Gorgeous day. Beautiful drive.
An impromptu field trip to a nearby location we had never yet visited: Thompson's Flour Mill.
Oregon's oldest (1858) surviving water-powered mill.
A private tour (just the boys, my mom, and I).
Lots of history, science, and hands-on activities.
Grinding wheat with a millstone. Sifting flour. Operating grain elevators and augers.
Weighing all the boys on a large scale. Turning large gears. Building a wall with wooden pegs.
Our delightful tour guide even powered up the mill for us so we could see the grain elevators and gears in motion!
The Oregon State Parks Department has turned it into a beautifully restored Heritage Site.
I highly recommend visiting if you are in the area!

Thankful Each Day

It seems I'm always a day (or week, or month...) late these days, but I finally finished my leaf calendar for my mantel. It all started with a handful of leaves I picked up while walking with Shannon one morning last week. I picked up a few more at church yesterday. Yes, it works best if you dry and press them for a few days.... but patience isn't one of my virtues. I think the leaves are quite charming with a little curl, don't you? (Please say yes.)

I used my large corkboard (which is covered with black paper, but one could easily paint the surface as well), added 30 craft tags (I'm glad November has only 30 days) and leaves with silver push pins, and wrote 1-30 on the leaves with a large black pen. Each day we'll be writing on a tag (with a smaller black pen) something for which we are thankful. This morning we got to think up 9 things...

Jane! Jane! Jane!...I am Coming!

(Susan, this one's for you. Grin.)

I have distant memories of Jane Eyre from my first time through the book years and years (and years) ago. I will here confess that I wasn't completely eager to dive in a second time and was fairly certain that I would find it unendurably dark and haunting. In fact, 75 pages into the book, I constructed a scathing review in my mind while still determined to plow through for the sake of book club.

The first 10 chapters of Jane Eyre filled me with passionate dislike. Certainly the writing is exquisite, but it only served to swell in me an exquisite hatred for all but a couple of characters, for whom I felt only ache and pity. No hope, no beauty, not even a love for Jane herself. Is it because I already knew (or thought I knew) Jane's future that I despaired?

Along came Rochester: the quintessential dark and brooding romantic lead. Except that this time around I found him irresistibly engaging, passionate, larger-than-life, and Jane's ultimate match. They both were able to be themselves, their whole selves, more than themselves, when they were together. Their witty, quirky conversations thrilled me. I loved that Rochester called her an elf and a sprite, that Jane amused and enchanted him. There was none of the restrained and proper Austen-esque dialogue. It was edgy and loaded. I loved the interchange when Jane was leaving to visit her dying aunt, and Rochester gave her money (and then asked her to return it). I find it fascinating that Jane herself did not charm me until she had Rochester to draw out her spunk.

Still, though, I waited for the despair to come. And come, indeed, it did. More ache. More hopelessness. I knew already the mystery, but had completely forgotten what happened between the discovery and the very end of the book (parts of which were seared in my memory). I thought to myself, I should only read the middle of this book if ever I visit Jane again.

Imagine my surprise when I discovered a little story completely forgotten. Tragic desolation melted into a home, friendships, a position, and eventually family. St. John was a consummate illustration of righteousness without grace, making way for a sublime conclusion of grace, redemption, and a love that frees rather than imprisons.

The 'let us be desperate and hopeless together' ending for which I was steeling myself seemed foreshadowed by these words earlier in the novel:

pg 223

It was not without a certain wild pleasure I ran before the wind, delivering my trouble of mind to the measureless air-torrent thundering through space. Descending the laurel walk, I faced the wreck of the chestnut tree: it stood up black and riven; the trunk, split down the centre, gasped ghastly. The cloven halves were not broken from each other, for the firm base and strong roots kept them unsundered below; though community of vitality was destroyed--the sap could flow no more: their great boughs on each side were dead, and next winter's tempests would be sure to fell one or both to earth. As yet, however, they might be said to form one tree--a ruin, but an entire ruin.

"You did right to hold fast to each other," I said, as if the monster splinters were living things and could hear me. "I think, scathed as you look, and charred and scorched, there must be a little sense of life in you yet, rising out of that adhesion at the faithful, honest roots. You will never have green leaves more--never more see birds making nests and singing idyls in your boughs; the time of pleasure and love is over with you: but you are not desolate; each of you has a comrade to sympathize with him in his decay." As I looked up at them, the moon appeared momentarily in that part of the sky which filled their fissure. Her disk was blood-red and half overcast: she seemed to throw on me one bewildered, dreary glace, and buried herself again instantly in the deep drift of cloud. The wind fell, for a second, round Thornfield; but far away over wood and water poured a wild, melancholy wail: it was sad to listen to, and I ran off again.

And yet, and yet.... Grace abounds. Contented sigh.

pp 361-362

"I am no better than the old lighting-struck chestunt-tree in Thornfield orchard," he remarked ere long. "And what right would that ruin have to bid a budding woodbine cover its decay with freshness?"

"You are no ruin, sir--no lightning-struck tree: you are green and vigorous. Plants will grow about your roots, whether you ask them or not, because they take delight in your bountiful shadow; and as they grow they will lean towards you, and wind round you, because your strength offers them so safe a prop."

Read it. You must.

Shannon and I spent two evenings together watching all four hours of the Masterpiece Theater version of Jane Eyre (wahoo, Netflix) after reading the book. The movie was quite faithful to the story. Mr. Rochester was perhaps more handsome in the movie than as described in the book (no complaints from me, however), there was possibly one or two passionate scenes in the movie that weren't completely faithful to the original story (again, no complaints here...), and they reduced the first 10 chapters of the book to about 10 minutes (NO COMPLAINTS!), but overall a very good representation. I am not positive I would have loved it so much had I not just read the book (not so much as Pride & Prejudice or North & South), but I would still highly recommend it. (Advocating, of course, that one read the book first, if at all possible...)

BFFs

Family photos of our BFFs!
Char and I have been the best of friends for 20 years!
John and Russ... even longer.
How lucky are we to have them living just down the road from us?
McKinnon and Monet are the same ages as Levi and Luke,
and they are also homeschooling.
Yep. Lucky!!

Field Trip #6 ~ Bauman Farm

I forgot I hadn't posted any photos of our field trip last week to Bauman Farm!
We went with Christina, Jake, and Ivy.
There are so many things to do at this farm!
A barn with huge tube slides, swings hung from the rafters, and a large covered 'box' with hazelnuts to play in (who needs a ball pit!).
A dark maze made out of hay bales spanning 3 greenhouses. Took us about 45 minutes to find our way out. Luckily Christina brought a couple small flashlights.
An open hay bale maze ending in a long slide.
An extensive obstacle course covering 2 greenhouses.
An animal barn. Two newborn baby goats...born that day!
A castle made out of hay bales.
And much more. (We were there on a weekday when a few other activities were closed.)
We taste-tested fresh apple cider in the cider-making barn.
Ate hot cider donuts from the large produce/bakery shop (and bought fresh cider!).
All-told, four hours of fun!

What a busy weekend! I had book club the night before (glorious),
and after Bauman farm, we dressed up and headed to our friends' house for a costume party which was loads of fun (thanks Char and John!!!),
went trick-or-treating the next evening to various grandmothers' and aunts' houses,
and attended a birthday party the next day. Whew!! I was TIRED by Sunday evening!

POP!

I love art books for children!!

Andy Warhol: Paintings for Children contains a surprising amount of information, paintings, photographs, questions about the art to get children thinking, and more. (And age appropriate, considering the artist...) I was really pleased with this library book!

We have several of the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists books.

Andy Warhol is a wonderful addition to our collection, with information about the artist from birth until his death, large easy-to-read font for younger children, a bit about the Pop Art movement and examples of other art during the period, and cartoon drawings. (Again, nothing inappropriate or controversial.)

My favorite board books are the Mini Masters series (probably the only ones we will continue to look at when the boys have completely outgrown that stage...), and I was excited to find an Andy Warhol board book in another series. Leif loves it. He has been carrying it around everywhere and fell asleep with it a couple nights ago. Very fun and bright!! (Because of its simplicity and bright colors, this board book would make a great baby gift...)

After reading Andy Warhol: Paintings for Children, the inspiration hit me to have an impromptu painting project:
Rorschach paintings a la Warhol.

And, well, that put me in the mood to make a fun art display in the hallway.
I was thinking I needed more Pop Art.
Will this work?
I made matching collages for each of the boys.

Living. Lovely. ~ Out of Context Lovely

"It's not that bad. I'm not saying I'd like to build a summer home here,
but the trees are actually quite lovely."

(Quick... what's that from? Grin.)

Did you

Discover Out-of-Context or Unexpected Lovely

this week?

If you didn't, watch this video and it will have you smiling all day long.

(I apparently have a fondness for train stations this week.)

(Thanks, Debi, for sharing this on Facebook!)

Or, we could go with one of my all-time favorites (moment and song):

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I shared photos, yesterday, of the glorious morning Shannon and I had on Tuesday for our walk/run.

Most mornings have been dark, foggy, and/or raining, so this unexpected brilliance was bliss.

(I promise to move on and share something other than sunrise photos tomorrow. Grin.)

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Next week's Living. Lovely. challenge:

Savor Slow Food

As the days grow short, some faces grow long. But not mine.

Every autumn, when the wind turns cold and darkness comes early, I am suddenly happy.

It's time to start making soup again.

~Leslie Newman

Slow food will be different for each person (at least for this challenge).

For some of us, a can of soup and Bisquick biscuits will be slow(er than normal).

Skip the drive-through and savor some slow food this week!

Or go for the gusto... simmer a pot of applesauce,

get your hands dirty and kneed some bread dough,

make your own hummus and dip fresh veggies,

challenge yourself with a new recipe,

put some time into a beautiful dessert...

Come Walk With Me

I'm not a morning person. I'm not an exercise person. I'm not a diligent person. But for the past few weeks, I've been driving two miles down the road to meet up with my sister early in the mornings (before hubby heads to work) to go walking/running. For three weeks we've endured all sorts of weather and darkness. Some mornings we've been drenched. Some mornings we've marveled at the glittering sky and watched vivid shooting stars.

Tuesday morning I woke in the dark, layered on the clothing, headed outside into the heavy grayness, waited for the ice on my windshield to thaw, drove through the fog, and met Shannon to begin our walk on the quiet country road.

May I tell you, I'm loving the time change.

Halfway into our walk, we had the promise of rosy dawn on our left:

And the retreating full moon on our right:

Hello, sunshine.

Through the fog towards the west, you can barely make out the hill which I call home

(at least a little parcel of land at the base of it...), and see the acres of 'lawn' which span the mile or two between us.
Our walking/photo session ran long, I had to hurry back so that Russ could make it to work on time.

Back home, I stopped at the end of our driveway to capture the view back towards Shannon:

Russ hurried off, but there was more magic to capture.

A Ribbon at a Time

Consumerism, Clean Water, Fair Trade....

I stopped by Target (yeah, I know) yesterday to pick up a couple things.
I hadn't even stepped in the door when it hit me full blast.
The day after Halloween.... and the store screamed, "Christmas!! Spend your money here!!"

I love Christmas.
I love stuff. I love shopping.
I love Target.

But, but...

There is a tug on my spirit that says: Enough with the stuff.

Faith. People. Ideas. Relationships. Health. Time. Memories.
Invest in these.

So, today you get a line-up of videos from which to choose.
The first: the Advent Conspiracy video I shared last year.
The second: Trade as One, for fair trade.
The third: Ted Talks: Making Filthy Water Drinkable.

(So sorry if the videos aren't working... they were earlier!)

Autumn Rains to Green Pastures

Living. Lovely. ~ Celebrate Autumn

Autumn is the eternal corrective. It is ripeness and color and a time of maturity;

but it is also breadth, and depth, and distance.

What man can stand with autumn on a hilltop and fail to see the span of his world

and the meaning of the rolling hills that reach to the far horizon?


~Hal Borland




Bittersweet October.

The mellow, messy, leaf-kicking, perfect pause between the opposing miseries of summer and winter.

~Carol Bishop Hipps In a Southern Garden, 1995




For man, autumn is a time of harvest, of gathering together.

For nature, it is a time of sowing, of scattering abroad.

~Edwin Way Teale

Did you

Celebrate Autumn

this week?

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Russ is on a roll this week. Sunday evening he took the boys up to the neighbor's orchard and picked me a huge basket of apples.
I've made a couple batches of applesauce with cinnamon and local honey. I adore the smell of simmering applesauce.

Russ also carved a pumpkin with the boys... which is the first time we've ever done that, amazingly!

It was a terrific boy project.

I got a pedicure, and picked out a lovely fall colored polish. Does that count?

I happen to think it was a most relaxing way to celebrate autumn. Grin.

Tonight, I'm off to our October ChocLit Guild meeting.

Talking about books (Jane Eyre in particular) while eating chocolate in the company of marvelous friends...
Yep. I'm celebrating.

Tomorrow, we are off to another pumpkin farm with cousin Ivy and our friends Christina and Jake.

Then we'll spend the evening at a costume party with our friends John, Char, McKinnon, and Monet.

I'm going to need a long nap after all this celebrating is over....

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Next week's Living. Lovely. challenge:

Find Unexpected or Out of Context Lovely.

My friend, Jodi, sent me a timely link to this blog post.

But if you have time, I urge you to read the Washington Times article, Pearls before Breakfast, in its entirety.

It is well worth your time. I particularly noticed this paragraph:

There was no ethnic or demographic pattern to distinguish the people who stayed to watch Bell, or the ones who gave money, from that vast majority who hurried on past, unheeding. Whites, blacks and Asians, young and old, men and women, were represented in all three groups. But the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away.

And because I adore finding connections (a la this post), Russ and I watched The Soloist recently and thought it was an excellent movie.

Slice of Life

Just a glimpse into life at our house. On a good day, of course. Grin.

Leif wants to 'do school' like the big boys. So he colors in a workbook.

Levi, never the workbook guy, teaches me the grammar lesson while I fold clothes in the bedroom:

Luke and Leif were getting rowdy, so I sent them to their room to read.
I was worried when it was so quiet, but for once my fears were not realized.
These two are starting to be really good buds.

Working on a basic diagram of the earth's layers of atmosphere:

Independent reading. Mom and Levi's favorite time of day:

Two peas in a pod:

Luke S. ~ Firefighter

It's Halloween Dress-Up at i heart faces!

My boys dress up every year for Halloween, but it has never been a huge deal.
They don't talk about their costumes for weeks (or months) on end.
Actually, I'm usually the one who picks them out.
Don't get me wrong, they love to dress up.
We have bins full of dress-up clothes... and they get used almost daily.
Maybe that's it. Every day is dress-up day!!
This year, though, there is a little story behind Luke's costume.

Luke is my practical guy. He adores doing 'guy' stuff.
Lately, as in the past several months, his favorite book has beenRichard Scarry's What Do People Do All Day? He POURS over that book.

One day, he was pouring over the pages about firemen while we were driving along in the car.
Suddenly, he had an epiphany. He saw a fire hydrant on the sidewalk and saw the firemen in his book hooking the hose up to a fire hydrant. The look on his face was priceless. Country kids are so deprived...
Later that week, we were visiting my sister and her husband, Ben. Luke and Ben are two peas in a pod, and Luke ADORES Uncle Ben.Luke was sitting on a fire hydrant outside their house, and the subject came up.
Uncle Ben tells Luke that he is going to be a fireman. He has signed up for school and joined the volunteer fire department.
Luke immediately got very upset and said with great disappointment, "But I was going to be a fireman!"Apparently he thought there wouldn't be room for both of them. Grin.Since then, Luke has come to terms with the fact that both he and Uncle Ben can (and will) be firemen.
We were at Costco some time ago, and I glanced over at the costume rack.There it was... a perfect little fireman outfit. It took me about 2 seconds to throw it in the cart.
So, Halloween night, Uncle Ben has offered to put on his own turn-outs (apparently that is what they are called ~ I learn something new everyday)and take his mini-me trick-or-treating. I'm speculating that they will both have the time of their lives...

Jameson ~ Take 3

Jameson came to town recently (with his mommy, Lori) and
the pumpkin patch was a perfect place for new pictures.

(You've seen this cutie before, here and here.)
Here are a few of my favorites.