Slow Mornings.

Homeschooling has some really profound benefits for teacher (mom,) students (kids,) and the family.  Of course, there are also days when schooling starts slowly due to mom's school planning, or perhaps her wandering and creative mind being unable to focus on task-oriented, kitchen-table teaching, and often household chores or other responsibilities take over time that usually is dedicated to teaching.  Those mornings shouldn't happen everyday of course, but one of the benefits of homeschooling is that these mornings exist.  Natural things happen... happy things happen...

Conagher's been playing "smath" by himself since last night.  He's supposed to be playing against me but he began the game for me last night as I was cooking dinner.  

This morning, as I was getting out of the shower, he asked if he could make my next move for him.  "Of course you can," I told him and he's been at it ever since, joyfully telling me "Guess what!?  You've got 97 points!" or randomly asking me to check his addition.  

Smath is like scrabble but you make equations instead of words... right up his alley!

Thinking, thinking...

More contemplation...

The scorecard... he does all the addition mentally as you can see.

Emily's been perfecting her back bends this morning.  She's getting so limber.  She says she wants to be a contortionist and she's well on her way.  

Hanging out in her room listening to the book on CD "Bunnicula and Edgar Allen Crow"

And of course, in addition to playing dress up herself (which is her normal attire at home,) she's also dressed little Lolly in a dress this morning.  Lolly doesn't seem to mind actually!

So, there's a little slice of a slow-moving homeschool morning.  We'll get to the TOKTT Lessons soon (that's task-oriented, kitchen-table teaching )but first I had to squeeze the saturated sponge of my creative mind by taking these pics and writing this blog post.

On another note, the kids won't be homeschooled forever.  Though I love the many benefits of homeschooling, I don't underestimate the importance of away-from-home school as well!  If we can get them into the theme school which is spoken of very highly, they may even go to school next year.  I think Emily is ready for school as she'll be in 5th grade next year.  I think it would be good to homeschool Conagher a little longer as he's only in 2nd this year, but if they both get in, I believe it will be an acceptable arrangement.  

We're going to try to get them into the them school for the next school year which means they have to first have room or win a lottery placement, and then pass testing with certain scores.  That means I've really got to stay on top of meeting core curriculum in teaching them.  They're at or above grade level right now, but there are so often holes between what homeschoolers and public schoolers are taught so I'll have to stay on top of that.

The theme school is a publicly funded option available through the county.  It's a "parent-involvement" school which means you have to volunteer 20 hours a year (not a problem,) maintain above-average grade and behavior standards and provide transportation for the kids.  The great thing is that the theme school is closer to the house than our zoned option AND the highschool that's right down the road (Eastside, Riley's school) will be turned into the theme-school highschool.  Riley, class of 2016, will actually be the last graduating class from that school.  And if the kids don't go to highschool there, they'll probably end up WAY down the road at a HUGE highschool they're currently building in the middle of the county that I guess is going to house students from several schools.  The only other option would be if they built ANOTHER high school to replace Eastside which I have not heard about yet.  

Our public school system is so frustrating right now.  Because our town has experienced such growth over the past 10 years, our school zones have been completely jumbled.  We were forcibly transferred out of our sweet, little-local elem. school to a great big one much further away... which is a big reason for having pulled them out to homeschool.  And now, all we know is that the high school we're zoned for won't be there when Em and Con are ready for high school... but we don't know what school they'll be zoned for at that time!  It's frustrating to not know.  The kids' education AND school-life (social safety, that is) is very important.  I so wish we could just afford a private school and have some security in their education.  The other option is to give them security in their education through homeschool, which we will continue year by year if they don't get into the theme school for next year.  

Oh my, parenting is HARD WORK!  Most of the time, I'm exhausted, but a good kind of exhausted; the type of exhausted that builds endurance.  And the light at the end of the tunnel is in knowing that I did all that I am capable of doing for them, though it's the capable part of it that gives me pause, because sometimes I am certain that I will lose my mind being in the home every day teaching elementary school!  

Smile.

But I'm trying to make good decisions out of uncontrollable circumstances in my kids' education.  Beyond that, I soldier on, knowing that to live is to toil, and to toil rightly is live a good life to the end.  

UPDATE!!!!

Conagher just finished the smath game.  The score is:  Conagher- 404, Mommy- 335.  He says he did all he could with my tiles and 'I' would've gotten a better score if 'I' had not had to dump my tiles that one time.  LOL.  Yea.  Good times.

Photo Session in Town Yesterday

I've got some Fall photo sessions coming up and, not having been shooting in a while, needed to get some practice in.  Emily and Conagher were willing and available models so we scrapped school for the morning and went around the Covington square seeking some good morning light backdrops.  Here are some of the results:

(Of course, I was disappointed that I didn't have Riley with me to complete the shots.  I'll get a session scheduled for her as soon as ... eh hem, she can fit it into HER schedule... LOL... busy teenage daughter!... and I'll post them here too.)

Can a sweet potato get too big?

This was my first year ever growing sweet potatoes and everyone told me to harvest them when the plants start to die back.  Well my plants were as green as ever when I looked over and noticed a mound of humongous sweet potatoes protruding from the ground!

So I'm going to cook this whopper!

Here it is split in half.  It was no joke breaking into this thing and it took two knives!

Here's the skin:

And the flesh!  Whoa!

I read online that there's no such thing as a too big sweet potato.  I guess I'll find out.  I'll follow up this post with the results, boiled and mashed for dinner.

UPDATE:

I made the boiled and mashed sweet potato into sweet potato casserole.  I had so much that I filled up two casserole dishes!  It was DELICIOUS!  

I did, however, find one drawback to the size of the potato... it had some (not many!) woody parts.  Occasionally I would have to spit out a woody thread into my napkin much like the gristle on a steak.  I probably could've avoided that by inspecting it after I had added butter and milk and beat it with the hand beater. Lesson learned, I guess... but the flavor was EXCELLENT!

Our Big Buff Orpington

I got some neat pics of our big buff orpington rooster.

And here's Emily with a new batch of bunnies.  They are only about two weeks old here.  She's holding the runt next to one of the big ones so the size difference can be seen:

Amicalola Falls Survival Weekend

I forgot to post about our trip to Amicalola Falls for their Survival Weekend where we learned about orienteering, natural cordage making, outdoor emergency planning,  shelter building, and FIRE STARTING.  It was a terrific weekend of family fun... right up our alley.  Here are some pics:

This is a cool shelter made out of a little duct tape and a couple trash bags:

And the inside view:

This is like a beaver damn shelter.  It's made to catch anything else that might fall on it, strengthening it over time.

And inside view:

FIRE STARTING:  

And orienteering.  

Sorry no pics of me.  If you want to see me you just have to imagine what all the eyes in the pictures are looking at and there I am in their reflection.

Art Devotional at Merryvale Assisted Living

Today I get to lead an art devotional at our local assisted living facility.  I am super-excited.

Read it about it by clicking here as I've written about it on my missions blog.

It's all about 1 Corinthians 15 and it's an inspirational devotional about the reality of the resurrection body.  1 Corinthians 15 is deep enough to drown an elephant so I've tried to make it simple.  Read 1 Corinthians 15 for yourself though... it's amazing.

Here is my inspiration painting:

And the progressive example through which I will be guiding the folks:

I am so excited to get to do this.  I know it is going to be energizing and rewarding and I hope that it is likewise revitalizing and life and hope-giving to the participants.

Empty Nesting

Each summer, our little family gets to be the happy host of another little family, a family of house finches.  Mommy and Daddy finch let us know that they're looking for the best location for their nest by sitting on our door wreath and chatting with one another.  We watch them through the glass door when our front door is open.  This year, Mommy finch decided that she wanted her nest to be in my hanging strawberry basket.  And so that's where she and daddy built it.

First there was a perfect little nest, then one tiny blue/green egg, then two, then three.  Mommy finch lovingly warmed them.  Daddy never was far off, talking to her from the tree beside the house.  And about two weeks later, three perfect little finch babies were born.

We watched them every day, taking the basket down and sneaking a peak.  Mommy and Daddy finch attended to them regularly and they grew and grew, until there was no longer room for three finches.  One day when we pulled the basket down to say good morning, big brother was sitting beside the nest.  When we said hello, he flew away!  We caught him and "helped" him back into the basket, but that's not what he wanted because the next day, he was gone again.

A few days later, we heard heavy chattering.  Mom and Dad were flying near the basket stirring up quite a racket.  "Today is the day!" they demanded of their two remaining fledgling fliers.  Little sister stepped up to the side of the nest.  After a couple practice flaps, swish, swish, FLY... away she went, straight up into the air.  Mom and Dad followed after her.  "Hey, what about me," the youngest finch cried out with a demure "cheep."  pause.  "cheep."

A little while later, Mom and Dad were back chattering up a clamor again, "Come on little one; Today is the day!"  This time time, though, big brother and little sister were back with Mom and Dad trying to land back on the nest!  "Oh no you don't" commanded Mom and Dad, shoeing them off each time they came in for a landing.  Busy, busy Mom and Dad had to fly away with the older two and show them where they needed to sit and wait for their youngest sibling.  "She'll never come out if you two cozy up next to her," I imagine they told big brother and little sister.  And so off they went, the four of them, into the tree beside the house, leaving the youngest again who cowered and quietly cried out "cheep." pause.  "cheep."

I would like to have watched them all day, but, as with most days, nature's little wonders must only be a brief delight.  We did not witness the youngest make her debut, but alas, she did at some point because when we later checked the nest, it was empty.  And we have not heard from the finch family since.  But we hope that we shall seem them, or at least their lineage, when nesting time comes around again.

Benny is Back & Hummingbirds Sing

Benny, our 2nd generation white bunny rabbit was out of the back yard the other day.  After considerable effort, we managed to catch him and put him back in the back where he belongs, only for him to escape again the next day when Daddy had the fence block removed to work on his boat.  This time, we let him roam a little and, by the next day, he was nowhere in sight.  He's a rabbit though, and they are not known for their loyalty.  This morning, however, he was back nibbling the sweet potato leaves by the garden.  Not having seen him, I had put out an unused garbage can on it's side filled with hay and some rabbit feed.  I moved it to where he was.  He thanked me in his sort of way by exploring the side-ways can and eating the feed for a mid-morning snack.  I realized he was likely thirsty and put some water out by his food.  He made some space between us as I walked up to his new garden home, so I set the water down and then sat a little ways off to watch him return and explore the new digs.  As I sat I watched the side yard in the morning.  There are so many noises in our world, cars and radios and lawn mowers and phone calls, that we hardly notice how noisy mother nature is herself.  As I watched a brown thrasher preen above me, dropping her downy feathers breezily floating to my feet, the carolina wren sang her mighty little song in the evergreens beside the oak.  The mother hawk screeched loudly across the street.  Benny stood up on his hind legs, ears perked.  He knows to look out for that sound.  The blue jays, chasing one another, squawked and quarreled as they always do, "Get off my branch!," "This is MY branch," "No it's mine; I was here first!"  And when the blue jays had settled their argument and the woodpeckers had alighted in the far off sweet gum top, I realized that a not-so-tiny chirping from the garden was the scratchy song of a hummingbird, then two hummingbirds, conversing with one another, perhaps telling each other the location of the sweetest nectar this morning.  I would have been perfectly happy sitting and watching them all the whole morning.  But alas, this is a world of toil and I must get to it.  But I'm glad to see Benny and delighted to know the sound of a hummingbird song.

The Squirrel and the Bone

This morning, while taking care of the rabbits and chickens, I kept hearing a strange scratching sound coming from the trees.  Upon closer inspection I discovered that a squirrel had a segment of deer legbone and was holding it in on a branch sharpening it's teeth.  Neat.  I'd never seen that before but it makes sense.  They have to have sharp teeth after all to break open all those nuts!