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so cheesy

"We forgot the cheese Gromit, we forgot the cheese!"

Anytime anyone mentions cheese in our home this line inevitably makes its appearance in some part of the conversation. If you are not a Wallace & Gromit fan than you unfortunately cannot hear the distinct inflections this quote makes and the british accent that accompanies it. However, if you are familiar with such phrases than you can only picture what a splendid time we had on our last educational field trip. That's right...to a cheese factory. Actually, what many would consider not just "a" but thee cheese factory, Tillamook.

{sorting}

I can't say that I'm all that fond of mathematics. I know that it is an essential part of life and has probably been the bedrock of upper education that has brought about so many of the things that make modern what it is today. Even so, I am still a literature-history-art kinda girl. But I do aim at picking at the brains of my young-ins just in case they are a bit more bent towards this topic of study than their teacher.

All that said, Kindergarten mathematics is just plain fun. We use an excellent program from Singapore. I enjoy how colorful it is and how it uses the workbook as more of a platform for hands-on play. George particularly got a kick out of a day dedicated to sorting. As a teacher sometimes its hard to see where the easy stuff is going. Is this really a necessary skill? Isn't sorting pretty common knowledge that gets picked up anyway? Well, yes and no. It's amazing how much sorting goes on in other areas. It gets new fancier names like classifying or organizing your thoughts, formulas, or writings. But it all starts in the fun that's created when you pull out a drawer full of children's dishware and say, lets sort it!

rain on our parade

Getting out of your box is sometimes right inside someone else's box and it ends up good for everyone. My husband and I are pretty much in the same box on a lot of areas. Our ideas of fun, our ideas of future dreams, our ideas on parenting, etc. have formed over the years, with a few sweat and tears, and therefore we tend to read each others thoughts and make decisions based on a look across the room, aka the infamous it's-time-to-go look. But within those boxes also comes a whole lot of predictability, emphatically. So when we went for a trip to the Oregon coast this weekend we knew how to bring the snacks, prepare the kids, and map our stops. We also counted on the "mist" clearing up... {you may now chuckle to yourself as inevitably you will}.

 

Being that this is our second time in the same locale, we decided to hunt for a few off the beaten pathways to the sand. And boy did we find one! As these picture do tell, it was an amazing hike down to the water's edge. The water's edge itself was amazing too. But here's the thing. Instead of the mist clearing up...you guessed it, down it poured. Even the weather man that evening commented on how unusual it was the recorded rainfall near the coast that seemingly didn't touch the rest of the city. Nice. Hiking, sand, and nature hunting we were prepared for, but doing it all in the rain - well not exactly. So as Andrew and I exchanged glances and then felt the need to clarify what they meant, it verbalized into, "we really needed to get out of our box". And all the while we had to laugh as one particular child of ours was reveling in a day filled with the exact box he would love to live in every-single-day. So here's to an adventure where mud puddle jumping, soaked jeans, and dripping hair translates into one fantastic family outing {oh, and a large cup of hot coffee for the trip home}.

 

{this moment}

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I love my church!

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Joining Soulemama for a friday ritual.

Happy Weekending!

music to my ears

Art classes and music classes have always seemed to be an elusive element in our school days. It tends to be like the family time that is always scheduled over or the personal time that get swallowed up into needful household chores. And as good advisers will tell you, put these things on the calendar and make them as much of a priority as going to the dentist! So this year I scheduled in art and music. It's just one hour in every week but it doesn't (and won't) get over run by other subjects that have for one reason or another lagged behind. We have gone three straight weeks now saying, "no grammar you must go away now" or "enough math, we will deal with rounded decimals and mixed fractions later"! I have been very pleased with the results.

Yesterday was music class. I decided that all the kiddos need to brush up on their music appreciation so we are studying the orchestra. We are beginning with The Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra and then will go on to use The Story of the Orchestra. Both are superb books, accompanied with a CD recording which just wouldn't be the same if not heard - obviously.

When I was in grade school we regularly visited the symphony orchestra. I remember so vividly the plush velvet seat and the glittering chandeliers. Standing in that enormous hall, dressed in my favorite dress and wearing patent leather shoes it was quite a magical place. But nothing was as beautiful as the sounds. I often remember going with my grandparents and watching as they closed their eyes when the music played. The first time I tried that the orchestra went to a whole new level of sensory emotion, one to which a simple recording on a ipod could not nearly embody it's great fullness. That's why I hope to take my children, all dressed in there best of looks, to the symphony orchestra after this music class has commenced. And then, and only then, will true music appreciation be caught rather than only taught. 

In the meantime, I delight in what has already turned out to be a very good thing. Here is my homegrown orchestra - George the Conductor, Peter the Flutist, Annika the Percussionist, and Nicholas {well in true form, my photographer}. Oh, and the orchestra itself all played by our dearly loved friends of the stuffed variety.

a girl, a swing, and her orange balloon

 

observe

Doing a bit of sketching today. The world is full of inspiring still-life right now. Today it was nature right outside our door. Observation is instantly caught when trying to draw something real. I love the way you can discover new features about the simple things you look at everyday yet often missing its beauty. Leaves are an important part of the beauty this season. This morning was the first morning that I looked out my window to find the concrete parts of my view sprinkled with the tree's lovely colors fallen from their lofty places. I enjoy the imperfections that wind in autumn creates, especially for an {sub}urban setting trying it's best to maintain order. It makes me giggle with a sinister grin.

{this moment}

Joining in with Soulemama for a Friday ritual

Have a great weekend!

the royal court

Life tends to work itself out in seasons. There are seasons of the earth, winter-spring-summer-fall. There are the seasons of terms: childhood, college, marriage, young children, older children, no children {just kidding}. And sometimes the hardest of all, are the seasons of a vision, time for it to be conceptualized, materialized, and ultimately sustained. However, in those three terms of a vision come an eminence amount of change and waiting. It's no stretch of the imagination that our family is in an "eminence time of change and waiting".

Two of the elements of our lifestyle that one might not see hiding under the more obvious ones, is the fact that my children, for the time being, have given up a backyard to play in and a basement to let the imagination soar in. Let me tell you, this is heroic at there ages. And they are doing it quite well. However, we have all loved a little spot down the lane that is as close to a shadow of former things as we can presently achieve and it brings much joy.

order my day

I'm so fickle when it comes to technology. Some days I simply hate it and definitely don't want myself or any member of the family to be self-consumed under it's rapturous power; and then other days when it has been successfully reigned into a tool it lets life be more of where I am actual aiming. I am quite sure my children are just as frustrated with my Jekyll and Hyde personality.

Facing the facts we all know that any good thing has its vices. But when good is really good, well, its a wonderful thing. Mid-summer I discovered a great app for my ipad. I was searching the endless "aisles" in the education category and happened upon an intriguing idea. What if I could schedule all of my lesson plans on this handy device? And that was just what it has since accomplished. I spent the last month of our summer break entering lessons for every grade, every subject, and every day - all the way till June 2011. Oh, how sweet. Oh, the pure bliss. I love organizing but this was a whole new dimension, literally. In previous years I have produced a schedule for a semester, at best. Ah, the motivation of new technology. See what I mean? Do I hate it, or love it!

For two weeks now we have all benefitted from its friendly format. Nicholas is over-the-top motivated to click a little checkmark on the screen that announces he has finished that particular assignment. And an added plus is that my children actually want to look for themselves at what it is they need to learn for the day and in what hours of the day it is to be reasonably completed! Can you say, happy teacher! My husband has especially enjoyed having our evenings free to gaze into each others eyes instead of constantly reworking the lessons for tomorrow's pupils. {Or at least we gaze at a movie together...darn that technology again!}

App available for iphone and ipad

iStudiez Pro