Swimming Lessons are Over

The boys did so well at their two-week swimming lessons that I signed them up for two more weeks - which is the biggest reason we haven't been blogging. But they just ended, so we should have some time again (we have our lives back! LOL!)

I just completed my paraphrase of Charlotte Mason's Volume 4, both parts! It's been a year-long project that was beginning to feel like would never be done! Now on to Volume 3 . . .

Miss Moana is just as spirited and feisty as ever. Her latest thing is pretending to be a dancer and then narrating everything she does in third person: "The dancer is reading a book." "The dancer is going for a drive." It brings back memories of another toddler, about fourteen years ago, who used to do the same thing, except he was usually a fireman: "the fireman is eating a sandwich." "The fireman is buckling his seatbelt." If he wasn't a fireman, he was Timmy Martin, with his stuffed collie as Lassie. And his little brother was always a cowboy, and he wouldn't eat anything until he had first checked to make sure that it was something that cowboys really would eat. He'd always ask, "Do cowboys eat this?" and I'd say yes most of the time, at least, if it was something I wanted him to like. For example, cowboys loved baked beans and peanut butter sandwiches, but they didn't eat ice cream because they didn't have freezers. At two, it never occurred to him to check my sources.

Miss Moana is looking through an old New Testament I bought her at a used book sale. I was curious to know what her impression is of the book, so I asked her, "What's that book about?" And she said, "it's a bear Jesus story." Okay, so she does connect it with Jesus. Sort of. So I asked her to tell me what the bear says in the book. She answered, "He gets mad and then he goes to bed." Hmmm. Two months ago, when she had roseola, I stayed home with her while the rest of the family went to church. She was cranky, and I was starving and irritable after being up all night with her, but she wouldn't let me put her down long enough to get anything to eat. I finally convinced her to get down long enough to make a smoothie, although she fussed every minute - and, wouldn't you know it, I found an insect leg in the blender after I made the smoothie and was pouring it out of the blender! I was so frustrated that I scooped her up and said, "I might as well go back to bed!" And we did, and she kept asking me, "Mommy, are you mad?" and I said, "Yes, I'm mad."

Well, she's never forgotten that. Now she associates being mad with going to bed. Any time one of her brothers is mad, she'll ask, "Are you mad?" and if they say yes, she'll ask if they're going to go to bed.

Fireworks

Books of the Last Two Months - May and June

Jack by George Sayer
A biography of C.S. Lewis by a friend and former pupil. It's very good, and detailed enough to be used for reference. It was obviously written by someone who knew and loved Lewis, but it doesn't try to gloss over the less flattering parts of his life--and it usually tells the whole story, which Surprised by Joy (not surprisingly) doesn't. My only criticism might be that it gets a little too psychoanalytical at times.


Daughter of Time by Josephine Tey
A very good mystery (why hadn't I heard of this author before a couple months ago?). The mystery is actually about a historical figure [I have a great temptation to write "an historical"], and it's worked out (or should I say "detected"?) by a police detective and a historian. The conclusion they come to is controversial among historians, but the book is very good.


The Princess and the Goblins by George MacDonald
I love this book. I've read it many times and found it an excellent story, but as I get older I'm seeing greater depth in it.


The Princess and Curdie by George MacDonald
The sequel to The Princess and the Goblins. It's not quite as good, but it's still very good. Some parts remind me of parts in Lewis's and Tolkien's works.


The Red House Mystery by A.A. Milne
Disappointing. Milne may be a good writer, but his mystery doesn't compare to Miss Tey or Miss Sayers (or Sir Arthur C. Doyle or Chesterton).


A Shilling for Candles by Josephine Tey
An excellent mystery. Good characters, a good engaging plot, and a satisfying conclusion. I'm afraid to say too much and give away part of the story--perhaps you should just read it?


Magic by the Lake by Edward Eager
A reread; this is the sequel to Half Magic (which I talked about in my March list). Light, fun reading about four children that wish for magic and get a whole lakeful of it (not to mention the turtle).


The Wise Woman by George MacDonald
Princess Rosamond is completely spoiled by her royal parents. One day the Wise Woman comes and takes away the Princess to her home, and teaches her and makes her work and helps her work, until she becomes a true princess in character as she already was Princess by birth. (It's actually a good book, far better than my summary makes it sound. It shows well how God takes us, spoiled and selfish as we are, and makes us true children of the King.)


The Day Boy and the Night by George MacDonald
A good story with some interesting ideas. Upon a time there were two ladies in the house of Watho the witch who both gave birth to children. Watho took the children from their mothers at birth, and said they had died; but she brought them up in secret. The boy she named Photogen and the girl she named Nycteris, and neither knew that the other existed. Photogen she kept in daylight as much as possible, and did not allow him to see the night. He was taught all the manly arts, swordfighting and and hunting and the like. As long as it was light he knew no fear, and darkness he did not know.

Nycteris was kept in a cave that was completely dark save for one very dim lamp. Watho taught her nothing but music; but by her own devices Nycteris learned to read--for her eyes could see quite well in the dim light--and from the books she read she had a vague idea of a world outside. She sometimes wished for something else; she could not say what, except that she wanted more space. But somehow her lamp, and the light of her lamp, seemed connected with the idea of space, and of outside.

Eventually Nycteris does get out, and Photogen sees the night and learns what fear is, and--but I think that is enough to get you started. You wouldn't want me to tell you the whole story anyway--would you?--when MacDonald has already told it so much better.


The Iliad by Homer, translated by Robert Fagles
Good, but gorier than I remembered from the audiobook we listened to (years ago, admittedly). I've not read any other translations which I can compare to, but this one was generally recommended and it seemed pretty good. It's in free verse, or loose alliterative verse. The language is modern, easy to understand, and it moves along well. It also has helpful notes and pronunciation guides for all the names in the back.

I noticed, however, that a lot of the stories Rosemary Sutcliff has in Black Ships Before Troy, such as the coming of the Amazons and the death of Ajax, are not in the Iliad itself. The fall of Troy isn't even in the Iliad. Does anyone know where those stories are from?


Emma by Jane Austen
Very good. I was afraid that the middle might get dull, but it never did. Miss Austen's characters are excellent.

Cleaning

I've successfully kept to my raw diet for 6 weeks and I'm finally starting to feel the results. I have fewer aches and pains, my stomach is pain free, and I'm not as sleepy or draggy even though I gave up my green tea caffeine fix a month ago.

For those wondering what a raw diet is, there are a few variations - some rely on juicing lots of vegetables (Hallelujah Acres), some create copies of mainstream dishes with food processers, blenders and dehydrators, some eat almost exclusively fruit, some eat raw eggs and dairy products. I've never been much of a cook, so I like to keep it simple. I make a lot of fruit smoothies in the blender, usually with added greens (lettuce, spinach) for protein and minerals, a few sunflower seeds and an avocado from time to time. Sometimes I eat plain fruit, or make creamy avocado soups in the blender. I thought I would miss Miss Moana's wheat-free sandwich cookies and my nightly popcorn, but the only thing I've really craved is soy 'chikin nuggets.'

So what am I doing with all this newfound energy? I'm getting back to cleaning my house, a little at a time.

I broke my kitchen cleaning into baby steps - 131 of them. I'm not talking about washing the dishes or cleaning the floor, stuff that has to be done every day, I'm talking about the deep cleaning that I've mostly let go because of low energy and other priorities that include a toddler. For instance, I divided the refrigerator into ten steps, and each cabinet and pantry shelf. My tentative goal is one step a day, more if I can manage the time. At one task a day, my kitchen will be cleaned well every few months (the refrigerator and microwave show up on the list four times, so they'll get cleaned more frequently.) That's a lot more often than every blue moon - lately, it seems like the refrigerator only gets cleaned when something starts to smell funny in there.

Today I did the first four tasks, so my refrigerator is almost half done. I could have done more, but Miss Moana is clingy and wanting to nurse for long stretches of time today. Maybe she's coming down with something.

Toddler Talk

Miss Moana had a lot to say tonight. She kept talking about "Poo." I thought she meant Winnie the Pooh, but, after some time, I finally realized she meant Randy Caribou from Mister Rogers Neighborhood! He was featured in the Neighborhood of Make Believe today. He's a jolly, fun guy who just likes having fun and playing games, and he often introduces himself by saying, "I'm a fool!" That made a big impression on Miss Moana. "Fool" isn't a word she's really familiar with, so now she'll probably think that fools are caribou's! And she kept talking about his sharp hands, and how he picked up Daniel, and when she's big and a caribou, she'll have sharp hands, too, and be able to pick things up.

Sometimes you just wonder what goes through their little minds. Will she dream of sharp-handed caribous tonight?

GCM (Gentle Christian Mothers) Message Board off-Line

"GCM has gotten too big and was using other people's resources. That's what has been causing the errors. The co-locating company finally got fed up with it and shut off our permissions. . . . Basically the only solution is for GCM to get its own server . . ."

Read the rest here.

Untitled Post

I've been distracted lately and not keeping up with my blog. I threw myself back into my raw diet a month ago with a vengeance after letting things slip for a few months, and I've been reading everything I can find about it - websites, email lists, books, trying to fine-tune to make this work long term. And I'm too focused and preoccupied to have anything to say, I guess. But it won't last, it never does. One day I'll wake up and realize I've reached the saturation point and get back to my other things.

Tim's been taking swimming lessons every day with his brothers. That's where he's been. This is the final week of the 2-week class.

I Went To a Conference

I've been trying to catch up on stuff this week that got a little backed up because I was at the CM Childlight conference this past weekend in Boiling Springs, NC. That's why my blog has been so neglected.

I hadn't originally planned on going because I'm not ready to leave Miss Moana yet - not only is she still nursing, but I just can't bear the thought of being away from her. And a spirited toddler at a conference that isn't set up to accomodate children doesn't sound very appealing. Besides, our van transmission is skittish. We really need a new van, but we can't afford one yet and this one will get us around town; it just gives us trouble when we try to take it up long hills, and we live in a hilly area where every way out of town means going uphill. So we do okay near home, but we don't take it out of town anymore.

But I was persuaded to go when a ride was found for me with Camille B., who was driving and lives only a few miles away from me. I hadn't met her before, but we had emailed when she moved to the area a few months ago.

The drive there wasn't too bad - Miss Moana did tolerably well and only cried a little bit. Camille was dropping her children off at their grandparent's an hour from the conference. Miss Moana sat beside Camille's 3 year old, which provided her with some entertainment. (The drive home wasn't so great, she screamed for a solid hour!)

I was in an apartment with Jeannette T. and MamaLion, who I've known for years from different CM lists, and Joanna P., who talked about the current situation in Zimbabwe, where she plans to go as a missionary with her family.

I planned to stick to my raw food diet, which I've been faithful about for 3 weeks, so instead of paying for a meal ticket, I brought a blender and some apples, bananas, lettuce and celery to make green smoothies, and avocados, grapes, sunflower seeds, raisoins and Lara bars. For Miss Moana, I also had Luna bars, healthy cookies and fig bars, raisins and pineapple juice. At one point, I showed her all her options and asked her, "What would you like to eat?" and she said, "Chik'n nuggets." LOL! But, besides that, the food situation went well. I had grapes for breakfast, made two huge smoothies for the day, and snacked in the evenings. I felt great during the whole weekend, no blood sugar fluctuations or weakness - and no tiredness, even though I had just gotten off caffeine that week. So I was pleased with that.

The conference itself went exactly as I expected: I didn't get to hear a thing! LOL! I sat down in the back to hear Ranald Macauley the first night, but Miss Moana started getting restless 15 minutes into it, so I had to take her outside, where she had a great time climbing up and down the stairs in front of the building and playing with another toddler she met there named Kieren. And the rest of the weekend went pretty much like that. I was either walking/carrying her to and from the duck pond and the apartments, or letting her run in the empty clubhouse hangout room downstairs, or chasing her around sidewalks, or trying to keep her reasonably subdued in the lobby area during the lectures. The facility is a college, not a church, so there were no cry rooms or speakers set up in the hall for parents who have to remove loud children. If you have a child and need to leave, you're just out of luck. Miss Moana's favorite thing to do was go up and down stairs. She actually mastered that skill while I was there - the first evening, I was holding her hand and staying right with her, but by Saturday, she was handling them on her own.

I met lots of nice AO moms, some who I'd met at last year's conference or at the AO conference in Dallas, and some were new. It's always nice to see some of the people who are enjoying the curriculum. I was given a gift certificate to the bookstore vendor by some anonymous kind person, and I had no trouble finding things to use it on! My boys loved the books I brought home. I answered a few questions during the weekend, but it seemed like the most helpful thing was for people to hear is that I, as a member of the advisory, don't always manage to "do AO" perfectly. So, for the record: with a toddler and children in three different Years, I do the best I can. Miss Moana tends to be disruptive during read-alouds, so often I'm trying to read louder than she's playing. Narrations are hit or miss - I don't remember to chase each of the boys after every reading every day, but I try to catch them when I can. We haven't done more than a couple nature notebook entries all year, art study has been nothing more than using the term's art as my computer wallpaper and mentioning the name of the artist when I remember to, and composer study has been even less organized. I'm really good at focusing on the areas where we're having success and hoping for the best where we're less regular. If I have a key for success. maybe that's it - focus on the things you're doing well at and let that confidence help you make progress in the other areas.

I was asked to introduce Bobby Scott, the headmaster of the Perimeter Schools based in Atlanta before his plenary lecture. I was very worried about how I was going to manage that with Miss Moana, I explained to her beforehand that I was going to go up on the stage and talk for a few minutes, and that I'd take her with me, but she wasn't allowed to say ANYTHING! And she did fine. I didn't do so well. I'm in awe of all the people there who got got up and talked and seemed perfectly natural and capable up there. My lungs froze, and although I got out all the words I had written down, I couldn't breathe! I don't think I want to do that again.

I don't have much to say about the plenary lectures or breakout sessions because I didn't get to hear them, but I plan to get the tapes and I know they'll be good. Last year's were great, and many of the speakers were there last year.

I'm already thinking about next year, when the focus of the conference will be "assessment," which means EXAMS! If I go, I won't be bringing Miss Moana.

More Pictures

These were taken by a friend's daughter. Aren't they great? Yes, I know I post a lot of pictures of Miss Moana, but I feel less comfortable posting pictures of the others--toddlers and babies don't care if you get their best side! I did post a picture of Keola, but it was such a good picture, how could I not?

Strawberry Shortcake