right now...

I am so slow getting photos marked and uploaded and blog posts written. There is a part of me that thinks I should scrap blogging all together. (Hasn't everyone bailed for Instagram anyway?) Part of me just can't let go, but I can't seem to carve the time from all the other balls I am juggling. This is all to say I am weeks behind. While I did get a post up for sweet Lala Bug's birthday, I haven't shared much else recently.

That said, the days have been full and I want to get some of it down, so years from now, I can look back and think "those were the days!"

Our little family was separated for a time when M traveled to India for work. His absence was felt acutely by all of us for various reasons, but Skype, which I previously didn't like, was fabulous for keeping us all connected.  When he returned home, we were, of course, learning about India, so we had a lovely tea time with Indian tea, treats, and stories.

 

Lala Bug will still insist math is her least favorite subject, but I have been catching her in self-directed math moments. Above, "May I just have a few more minutes to work on this before bed?" ("This" is a mixture of geometric math and art in This is Not a Math Book by Anna Weltman.) Below, she is curiously tackling a math challenge sent home with her from the math club she is unwillingly attending through our homeschool charter. (She seems to be liking the group, despite being the only one who didn't volunteer to sign up!)

Misty bunny, just because she is so cute. When we got her, I thought she might be especially therapeutic for Lala Bug, yet at the moment, it is Little Brown Mouse who is totally taken with her and can be heard adoringly sharing about her cuteness.

Below, Little Brown Mouse is doing rec soccer. The kids' weekly soccer class that he has been in for over 2 years now has been outstanding. He really shows skill on the field and I love his team and coach. Really positive, supportive, low pressure, fun. Lala Bug really wanted to do rec soccer too, but there was no room for her age group when we applied (right before the season began). She was incredibly disappointed, but has been the best cheerleader and coach (to me on what is happening in the game)!

 The photo above is just to say I love our homeschool charter. This photo is one of the many fabulous activities that happened on a recent activity day. Salad dressing. The kids came home and made salad for snack!

 Below, the kids at play. (Well, they aren't in the photo, but this was their set up.) Honestly, I am not quite sure what they were playing, but they were content, amiable, and darn cute.

 

Above, he ran out of city blocks for his alphabet. :)

We have been studying the moon during September. It has been lovely. We've moon gazed, read various books about the moon, made moon phases from Oreo knock-offs (I never buy them. Ever. The kids were thrilled.), went to the space and science museum, sat on a hill and watched the full harvest moon, and more. It has been enchanted bonding and was especially sweet when M was in India and the kids realized we were all looking up at the same moon.

to the moon and back

Dear Lala Bug,

Today marks my 12th journey around the sun as a mamma. You have made this so! This year has been one of such incredible growth. So much growth, sweet girl, that I am crying as I write this, because growth can bring both joy and pain. I am sure someone told me, before you were born, how much wonder, learning, and joy being a mother would bring. Maybe they even told me about the pain, too. I don't remember. I do remember being told to enjoy every moment, even the hard ones, because they go so quickly.
Oh, they do.

Your confidence and your curiosity have continued to soar this year. You have become a little more willing to try some of the things that previously made you nervous or frustrated. You have also come into your own a little more and I am doing the hard part of stepping back a little, letting go a little, still being there when you need me, but knowing that, soon, I won't be the sun in your little world. And that is hard for this sensitive, emotional mamma.

You still are so grounded in who you are; how and what you love to play, your favorite colors. (All that I wrote last year still applies.) You are still passionate about soccer. You know all about the soccer greats, but your heart lies firmly with the U.S. women's team. You still love ballet and there is nothing like a good dance fest in the living room to shake off the grumpies and return to center. You've found an appreciation for U2, John Denver, and The Beatles this year. You feel good about the way we are addressing your worries and you still find knitting (and crochet) a relaxing activity, whipping out a record number of skilled projects, including Stan the Stegosaurus. (All while I am still working on that ridiculous pair of slippers!)

Sweet cheeks, my hope for this year ahead is that you experience peace and pleasure in all that you are increasingly able to do as you grow. My hope for me is that I am able to continue nurturing our connection in new and loving ways. You are gift! I love you to the moon and back. A million times.

Love, Mamma

danaus plexippus

This is the story of 3 Monarch (Danaus plexippus) caterpillars; Dum Dum, Michael Phelps, and Bubbles.

Once upon a time, there was a young girl named Lala Bug. With a shriek of glee, she cried "Look! Look at what is on this plant!" Her little brother and her Mama, came running. There, on one of the small milkweed plants that they had grown from seed, was the little caterpillar. They watched this little creature on and off all day and then, the next day, when Mama went to water another milkweed plant, she found two more caterpillars.

Lala Bug, Little Brown Mouse, and Mama were very excited. They all loved Monarch butterflies very much, but had never found any in their own garden before. They gave the three caterpillars names. Little Brown Mouse named the first and biggest caterpillar Dum Dum. Mama named the second biggest caterpillar Michael Phelps (who does a beautiful butterfly stroke and in honor of the Olympics, which was happening when this story began).  Lala Bug named the tiniest little caterpillar Bubbles.

When Dum Dum crawled over the edge of the potted milkweed plant, the three amateur naturalists began to worry. They wanted to watch the entire life cycle of these lovely visitors. Mama suddenly remembered she had scored a butterfly habitat at a thrift sale months ago, so she brought that out and the three naturalists put the caterpillars, potted milkweed and all, into the butterfly habitat.

And then they began to watch. For days they watched, they watered milkweed, they rotated potted plants in and out of the butterfly habitat, and they took photographs.

One day, they noticed that Dum Dum was looking a little darker and was very still. They worried that he was dying! Instead, after several hours, Dum Dum made a little pad and attached himself to the side of the netting. Mama was concerned about his choice of location.

The next morning, when they went to check on the caterpillars, they found that Dum Dum had made a chrysalis. It was fully formed and hardened, with a beautiful golden rim at the top.

Not long after, Michael Phelps showed the same signs of darkening and slowing down. He climbed to the top of the butterfly habitat and attached himself to the lid. (Mama thought this was a much safer location for a chrysalis.) The amateur naturalists now knew, from observation and research, that Michael Phelps would curl up into a J shape before splitting his final caterpillar skin.

While the three humans kept checking, they missed the transformation Michael Phelps made from caterpillar to chrysalis, his third stage in his four stage life cycle.

A few days later, Bubbles made the same transition. This time, the three amateur naturalists caught Bubbles' transformation on video! It was a very exciting moment. (And it was a moment. The change happened very quickly.)

Now the naturalists had to wait. And wait. And wait.

 

More than 2 weeks passed. Mama began to worry again. Had they not survived this stage? In the meantime, the family of naturalists took lots of photographs. The chrysalis of the Monarch caterpillar is small, about an inch long, a lovely shade of pea green, with the most beautiful shimmering gold band.

They had not died! Suddenly, one morning, there was a beautiful Monarch butterfly. While the naturalists did not see the first, Dum Dum, emerge, they did catch the Michael Phelps emerging on video and watched her(!!) pump up her wings.

Each one of the amateur naturalists got a chance to hold and release a butterfly. In doing so, they discovered all three butterflies they had been calling "he" were all actually "she."

These butterflies were the third generation, so as they flew off, the amateur naturalists could envision their winged friends, flying south to Mexico or Monterey Bay (since they began west of the Rockies. East of the Rockies, Monarchs migrate to Mexico.)

Magic.

366: 244

 It has been awhile since I have done a day in the year post. Ages. Clearly, my plan to post daily this year was a flop. Today was one of those days I want to share about, mostly because it followed yesterday. Starting Monday night and rolling right through until I crashed last night were...rough. I hit a low. Tired, anxious, frustrated, worried, etc. Just low. But some serious crying and some solid sleep meant I woke to a new day.

Today was far from perfect, but it was the joy and connection of an ordinary day.

 We started our homeschool year, in earnest, part way through last week, and extra activities are beginning this week. We probably have too much going on again. We'll see. Today, though, we had a 'home day.' Not too long after M left for work, there was anger, irritation, and sibling squabbles. I turned around, grabbed my backpack, and told the kids to get their shoes on. We started our day with an hour of soccer drills at one of our favorite parks. That was the reset we needed. Home again, we did read-aloud, lessons, played, and the highlight for my kids; we spent a chunk of time doing Mystery Science.

The kids helped make dinner, we had a snuggly book reading, M tucked in Little Brown Mouse, and I sat with Lala Bug while she wrote some in her Success book.

All in all, a good day.

give your child the world

We have been enjoying the resource Give Your Child the World, a wonderful book list (and more) of titles for children, by age, from around the world. This summer, shortly after the book was released, Jamie Martin, the author, launched a read along through her site, Simple Homeschool. We joined the challenge. Now, there is a link up for those who want to share. While we followed the challenge, reading a book from one particular region each week, I am not going to share the list of books we read for the challenge, simply because we didn't give it the depth we could have (and because I just want to share other favorites from each region). The book is full of amazing titles; many we have read, but so many more we have yet to explore. Thank goodness for the library! The book would make an excellent guide to an entire year of literature, cultural, and geographic exploration. (That is a hint for those who homeschool!)

For the link up challenge, a little about us, using the questions Jamie posted.

– Tell us about your family.
We are a family of 4; Mamma, Dada, 11 yr girl, and 8 yr boy. And a chicken. (Yup, just one. She is the last left of our small original flock of 6. She might be joined soon by some chicks and a rabbit, but only time will tell.) Our immediate extended family all live nearby, as well!

– Tell us about where you live and how long you’ve lived there.
We are in Northern California and we've been here forever. I (Mamma) started in the general area, moved elsewhere, and moved back. Everyone else has been here their whole lives.  As for this specific city and home, the kids have known no other!

– What do you think is unique and special about living where you do?
Where we live has incredible diversity. We are blessed with diversity in our population and diversity of people, who come from all around the world, and share a variety of cultural and lifestyle viewpoints. We love this.

– What languages are spoken there? If it’s different from English, can you help us learn a few common phrases?
So many languages are spoken here! English is the primary language, but no one looks twice if you are speaking Spanish, Mandarin, Cantonese, and variety of Indian dialects. Russian can also be heard here. European languages such as French, Italian, and German are a little less common here.

– What are some traditional foods there?
Diverse cultures, people, languages, and...foods! Where we live is known for excellent food. One can get good food from just about any culture, but this area is known for its amazing local farms, fresh produce, local cheeses, and wine.

– Tell us about the climate where you live.
It's varied here, so the weather should be no different! Because we are along the coast, with coastal mountain ranges, a change of a very short distance can mean the temperature varies. Our seasons are mild (no snow), but are noticeable. They are a little backwards, though, with dry, foggy, cool weather happening in the summer. 

– What does school look like for the majority of kids where you live?
For the majority of kids,  school is public school, 8am-ish to 3pm-ish, Monday through Friday, September through the middle of June. Schools are grades K-5, 6-8, and 9-12.

– What does school look like for your family?
We homeschool, so school looks like us! We are a Waldorf inspired family, but we put our own spin on it with a little Brave Writer, Charlotte Mason, and interest lead learning. We are wholistic learners who are supported by a wonderful charter school. (You can read more about our homeschooling here and here.)

– Are there any special festivals or traditions you’d like to tell us about related to where you live?
There are a number of events that happen in our urban area; there are tech events, Pride parades, coastal native historical celebrations, and more. Our family keeps it simple. I suppose we like events that celebrate with food and nature; harvest, apple, and butterfly festivals!


– If you ever had to move away from where you live, what do you think you’d miss most?
I think it would depend where we move, but things we would miss include family, friends, diversity, good food, ability to grow good food, access to amazing museums of all types, and more.  We (parents) would not miss the traffic, the cost of living, drought, and the inability to have a bigger garden/property.

– Do you have a favorite book that takes place in your region/country?
There are so many good books! We have some favorites for the United States (American Girl series, Laura Ingalls Wilder's series, and A Pioneer Sampler come to mind), for California, both kids love G is for Golden, and for the area of California we are in, both our kids really enjoyed Adopted by Indians, by Thomas Jefferson Mayfield.

We have really enjoying exploring the world through books this summer, we love to travel vicariously through family, who share their tales of travel and work in every continent, we look forward to diving deeper into other cultures in the coming months and years, and we really enjoyed sharing a little about ourselves!

nature journaling

Last week, the kids and I had the fortune of participating in a free field sketching class with John Muir Laws. He is a well know nature artist who offers a lot of free information on his website - everything from videos of his classes to a free nature journaling curriculum he and collaborators wrote for homeschoolers and teachers. While we weren't in the field as we hoped to be (especially Little Brown Mouse), we all really looked forward to and enjoyed the class and got a lot out of it. Both kids were really engaged, although Brown Mouse needed to leave a couple times to stretch his legs. Lala Bug was enthralled.

As a Waldorf inspired homeschool teacher mamma, his discussion of color mixing blew me away, as it was very different than what I had learned about primary colors and their use.

The result was a trip to the art store for some new colored pencils, just so we could play. (And we didn't even wait for new school year gift time!)

This class was a big "rose" in my week, because it felt like something really positive fell into place for the first time in awhile. Lala Bug and I have really wanted to take a drawing class, have wanted to get better at field sketching, among other things, and this fell in our laps. Lucky us, they occur nearby regularly, so we plan to attend others.

wholistic learning

A week ago, I nervously made my way to attend my first homeschool conference. I knew I picked the right one to start with when I set my bag down, glanced down and saw that Waldorf Essentials was a sponsor. And when I looked in the bag, I pulled out information for Brave Writer and Christopherus. A wholistic homeschoolers conference that is my speed. Yes.

After beginning as a group, with singing, the keynote address was by Rick Tan of Syrendell. He talked about the 5 spheres of parenting and homeschooling. He had each of us select 5 rocks, onto which he asked us to write/draw the words and images he assigned to each sphere. Did he know I have a thing for rocks and writing on them?!

His spheres were as follows:

1. Self. For the parent; vitality. For the child; development. Being the parent teacher means giving of oneself and so we must take of ourselves. For the child, it means finding oneself.
2. Relationship. For the parent; synergy. For the child;; entrustment. Thinking, feeling, and doing has to do with our interaction with another person. It is a two way street.
3. Balance. For the parent; harmony. For the child; engagement. We work to keep in balance, withing the 12 senses  (in Waldorf).
4. Rhythm. For the parent; sustainability. For the child; contentment. We need to keep a pace and a pattern that are sustainable, with enthusiasm.
5. Course. For the parent; discovery. For the child; wonderment. The curriculum for the homeschooler can be more organic. We instill a love of learning.

 

A number of workshops were offered, but I chose one on alternative methods for homeschooling and unschooling, which was lead by a woman with 6 children, 3 of whom have graduated high school already. She reminded me very much of Brave Writer's Julie Bogart. Relationship first.

The second workshop I attended was one on making your homeschool mission statement. This is something that hasn't ever come easily for me. The leader gave several suggestions and offered the heart centered outline below, but I opted to make a collage, much like my annual dream vision garden collages, but this one on a folder.

I have an image of the inside, below, but I also added words and images to the front and do want to write a mission statement to include, once we have discussed it as a fmaily. Below is the inside - on the left, for my children, on the right, for me.

The third workshop I participated in was all about games and movement, with Brian Wolfe of Waldorfish. It was excellent. He had us playing games with bean bags and balls, all of which I will bring to our morning movement for math and spelling practice and may use as ice breakers and group gathering with 4-H. He also talked about the stages of play and we discussed the challenges of balancing the pressures toward competitive play with the developmental appropriateness of it. This was timely for me, as the kids have been asking for more competitive soccer. As an aside, I have done Brian's online course for form and geometric drawings previously and was very pleased.

All in all, I came away feeling very validated in our approach to family life and homeschooling, a little fortified in my plans for the year ahead, and feeling brave and pleased that I had overcome my nerves about going on my own.