Drumming Circle

Yes it is that time of the month again. Where we circle around eachother and create power and strength around ourselves. Well really this month is more about scheduling the next year of drumming circling and... whatever else we women do... Here are a couple pictures that remind me of our group, since I am in the mode of artists right now.



This painting by Monica Steward, entitled Unity, reminds me of the charge I get from these spiritual gatherings of women. We all create this energy and strength around us. The energy we conjour up when we are at circle carries over through my life for days to come. In a home brimming with testosterone like mine is, these circles help to center me.



For a long time, I had forgotten this part of me. Kinda put it away to live "life", so to speak. Whenever I forget to remember the magic that keeps me alive and happy, I get it back when I am back around that spiritual energy. This painting by Kalidou Kassé is entitled Dancers. It inspires that magic back into me to remember that this is the important part of my life. The wild crazy dancing music silly I-don't-care-what-anyone-thinks self.

Pictures

For the trip, the girls and I are in need of a picture of us for the fairy godparent activity. The girls just love this. It may be what they are most excited about! And so, that said, pictures of us girls to come soon.

January Quotes of the Week

If you want happiness for an hour; take a nap. If you want happiness for a day; go fishing. If you want happiness for a month; get married. If you want happiness for a year; inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime; help someone else.

Chinese Proverb

One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams.

Salvador Dali

What's a Happenin?

Today's blog features Salvador Dali.

As does my new Quote of the week... One day it will have to be officially admitted that what we have christened reality is an even greater illusion than the world of dreams. Salvador Dali

So my blog has been void of actual homeschooling stuff. What ARE we doing here all day? Where are my political comments? Why is SHE slacking on the job? You might ask yourself.

We HAVE been real busy. You might blame the lack of blogging to that. Maybe. Girl Scout cookie sales have begun and are taking a lot of my time. I am the leader and cookie mom for two troops. This takes a lot of coordination from my part. Also there is Kalahari to get ready for. What is that?? Only the biggest indoor waterpark in the USofA. We are off to an unschooling gathering. But again, we are saving up for this fun. So unless it is free, we aren't doing it right now. And things are already tight. We have spent a lot of time at home doing fun things there.

Politics? What do I think about our new president? What about his inaugeration speech? What about the new first lady's dress? Haven't we heard all those comments already? I try to stay off straight politics whenever I can. It is like religion, breastfeeding, homeschool vs. public school, etc. It is personal and when you discuss it, it makes people crazy. The D's hate the R's. The R's hate the D's. He's wrong. I'm right. No you are wrong, my way is right. If you believe that one person is the downfall of anything, it can only be you. You are the only one that can make or break anything. That is my political view, and my view on all other controversial issues. So what great things will our NEW prez bring to the table? I can only hope that he brings awareness with him.





I am swapping girls with a friend and that is a nice switcheroo. On Tuesdays I have her daughter. On Thursdays she has one of mine. Both of my girls are friends with her daughter so it is nice for them each to get their special time with her. Also I get some special time with that other daughter that stays home. Today it is Bret. She has asked me to take her to the Thrift Shop to spend some of her money. She has $7.00 minus the dollar she spent at the dollar store the other day plus $5.00 for that damn inflated toothfairy deal she has going on. So $11.00 altogether. Not a bad spread for a seven almost eight year old.

Doing the Laundry

Not about homeschooling?? Maybe not. But ok, when I decided to change my homeschooling approach and found that unschooling matched the goals that I have for my relationship with the kids, I soon found that it is not about school at all really. It is more about living, being happy, and enjoying eachother's presence every day. So I started, and still currently am when I have time and energy, reading up about how unschooling fits into every day living. Right off the bat, my personal struggles are this, housecleaning (chores) and food.

To give to my kids eating whatever they want and letting them find their healthy eating choices from trial and error (ex. crap food will eventally make you feel unhealthy, gorging on food will make you feel sick, and eventually you will stop wanting those things that you felt like you needed because you couldn't have them.) Well there is a little more to it than that. But I soon am finding that my girls literally busting the seams of their pants because they are having a freeforall with their food, first of all we aren't buying enough pants for that! Second of all we are rationing our money to pay some things that we fell way behind on so we are really watching the money we spend on food. It isn't that Bret and I are eating like royalty and the kids have pork and beans. We all are eating more wisely because that is how I am shopping. We simply are not buying 10 bags of chips and gallons of ice cream and nutty buddies and whatever else so that they can have whatever they want to eat all day. So that is my first issue, I guess with the radical changes that I want to eventally make. Maybe in due time I will change this view.

The other is house cleaning. Left to their own devices, my kids would and do throw their clothes, toys, papers, garbage, wherever they are and never look back. I am not sure why it has gotten like this. I think it is more out of habit than lack of respect. But how to turn that around? I do assign chores on a need be basis. A radical unschooler would say there is no need. Just a want. And maybe this IS so and true. I want to be able to cook food and eat at the table without having to spend hours of my own time washing all the dishes that the kids chose not to wash and cleaning the table that the kids have thrown everything from school work to toys to clothes on. I want my husband to find his toothbrush in the morning without having to search through tons of bathroom mess, because that is frustrating and no way to start a work day. If I were to do it all on my own not only would it never get done but I would have no quality time with the kids. I would literally be a slave to cleaning and cooking. In our house cleanliness saves the time of spending half an hour looking for the car keys before we go somewhere. Order helps me get things done faster. When the kids take something of mine into their bedroom and don't replace it, I could be all day trying to find it, not knowing that the kids took it.

So for now as I figure this life out, I know two things. One is that I love my kids and I want them to lead a healthy and happy life. The second is that I don't want crazy chaos to get them there.

So that brings me to the laundry. I came up with this idea. So far it is working. I bought baskets for everyone and when the laundry comes out of the dryer I immediately sort it into its rightful owner's basket. Then once a week, usually Sunday is a good night because we are all home, we sit down to watch a movie and fold our clothes. Then everyone can put their own clothes away. The kids seem to enjoy this. I am TRYING to find creative solutions to some of these issues! See? I am trying.

Do You Like Avacados??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w38KNDmNVHg Vote for Avacados!!!

Time Comes and Goes

Midnight Sun, Greenland, 1925

Eight exposures on the same photographic plate, made at 20-minute intervals, capture the midnight sun over Littleton Island near Greenland.

Photograph by Donald B. MacMillan
Brought to us by National Geographic

I am reminded that time comes and goes. And these magical fairies of mine will only have this moment once. Must go play now. Bye. Hope you enjoy the picture. Hope it reminds you to go play.

Let's Learn About Seals This Week... Just Because

What Ranks?
Photograph by George Steinmetz

Cape fur seals sun themselves in Namibia's Skeleton Coast Park, where in many areas tourism takes a backseat to nature's needs. To prevent the Cape fur seals from feeling threatened, visitors can view them for no more than an hour at a time a few days a week—if they have strong stomachs, says Chris Leibenberg, a guide with Wilderness Safaris. "You have not experienced true stench in your life until you have stood downwind of 30,000 Cape fur seals on a hot day."

This of course taken from National Geographic online.

Here are some pics from camping this last weekend. I bunked with 21 Girl Scouts from kindergarten to 6th grade. All my 10 were 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades. The girls made God's Eyes, finger knitted, completed 4 or 5 badges, took a night hike, "made" a fire then ate it, roasted hot dogs, made s'mores (in the toaster oven, it was raining and we didn't have any dry wood left), danced, partied, made all their own food, cleaned their own messes, and just had a wild time. We got home on Sunday and the girls were bugging me to take them out to sell cookies. Sometimes we sit at home with nothing to do but have a good time relaxing. Other times we are so busy I can barely keep up.

One of the reasons I really wanted to go camping this weekend with the other troop that invited us is so I could be prepared for camping with just my troop next fall. Some of the things I learned... small groups get more done. We spent so much time preparing food, cooking the food, setting it up, lining the girls up buffet style, getting the food, eating, lining up to clean the plates, then cleaning the kitchen after every meal. It took easily 1-1/2 to 2 hours for this process for every meal. This was just a matter of numbers. It took so long with so many girls. Antoher thing I learned is how important it is to have order. The girls stuff was just everywhere. Even I came home with clothes that didn't belong to my kids somehow. I want to impliment a plan for keeping their things in order so we don't have chaos this summer at TAC camp or this fall camping with just our troop. The girls (mine included) are so used to getting dressed and leaving their clothes on the bathroom floor, dropping their jackets on the floor when they walk in the house, leaving their toys everywhere. I will work on that. That might take a couple camping trips to get into gear. Also I started a list of things I need to bring like rope to hang the mess kits, and clothes pins, laundry bags, dish towels, etc. And lastly I have to come prepared and organized. I was just not organized this weekend. There was no set thing they were going to do at a certain time, so when I didn't have activities going on or I was putting an activity together I had 21 girls running wild. And things like when we made omlets, if we had the bacon cooked ahead of time we could have saved ourselves so much time. I need to plan for that. And last, I think if I am going to take the girls camping ourselves like a troop, 10 girls will be the limit for my troops.
That said, the girls had so much fun. We all met tons of new friends. We had the most wonderful hosts that invited us along on their trip. Big thank you to them. They worked really hard to make this trip a success, and I am able to bring so many ideas home from what they taught me. So a HUGE thanks to THAT troop and their leaders for the opportunity to learn from women who have put in so much time into making their troop's experience great (and ours too.)

New meaningless Schoolboard Quote across the street

Where are the pictures you say? I am usually filling the blog with colorful pictures of our daily happenings. Bret is holding my camera hostage in his car. But he will be bringing it in tomorrow morning for me, bright and early. Little Bret has her co op in the morning, then we are off to go camping with the troops. Me and 15 other tinnie bopper girls locked in a lodge together. Can it possibly be a good thing?? Well anyway, I won't be around for a few days.

So if you are waiting for lots of colorful bloggings, you will have to wait. OOOOOH but, although I don't have the camera today, the school across the street has another new meaningless schoolboard quote posted on their billboard outside!!!

Drumroll please!!!!

"A book worth reading, is a book worth buying."

I will take a picture of it if I can in the next week or so. They got this BRAND SPANKIN new schoolboard and this is how they pay the PTA back? Really. I would be insulted if I helped pay for this school board being used in such a useless way. Inspire someone, won't you.

Last month's was... "Before you can do anything, first you must dream." Really?

Now I must come up with an equally useless schoolboard quote for my blog. Give me some time. I will have to work at this one. Keep checking back. I will update it soon!

And I like the school too. Last year, I volunteered to be a mentor. I wanted to do it again, but my boys aren't available to keep an eye out for the girls during the day anymore. It is nothing against the school. But really, who is letting someone post these things? There are thousands of perfectly inspiring quotes to choose from out there... Mother Teresa, Einstein, Thoreau, etc. Let someone else make up the quote please. PLEASE!

Drawing and Learning

OOOOh I found this last picture I am going to post today. Just because it fits in with me and Marley. The other day we were drawing. I was getting tired of drawing houses, flowers, and beautiful little princess girls and one of Marley's throw-aways looked like a volcano. So I turned it into a volcano and we talked about what a volcano was. Then I got the idea to draw a geyser and we all talked about what those were and how they got there too. Now that I think about it, I might check out what fun books I can come up with from the library with great pictures of geysers. But anyway in the mean time, I found this great picture also. It is also from National Geographic.

Water Ballet

I had to add this picture. It IS truly water ballet to me. I have just been staring at it and admiring it from all different angles. Wow. Who knew water droplets could be such works of art. This photograph is by Wei-i Lee. It is called Synchronized Liquid Art. It comes as one of the finalists from National Geographic's Energizer Ultimate Photo Contest. Here is a comment from "Jim". Jim's Comments
What a delicate, instantaneous water ballet! Glasslike, mirrored and highlighted for our inspection and delight, so that we might marvel in detail at their momentary perfection. Two sets of two drops really, one set falling into a clear pool, the next set arriving just in time to be pierced like jeweled crowns. Visually delicious.

To see more go here...
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/energizer/?fs=travel.nationalgeographic.com

The Picture is blue "ish" and this is blue desktop wallpaper month. So use it if you like it. Make your desktop blue for fun. There are so many fabulous blue pictures out there waiting to be wallpapered to your desktop!!!

Girl Scouts

Well it is January now, time to start thinking about the rest of the school year of scouts. Since next month is Thinking Day we will spend a week putting together our project for Thinking Day. There are only 4 troops in our service unit, and two of them are mine, so no HUGE deal, but still it must be done. Before that of course, we are heading out to the lodge to go camping next week. All but one have rsvp'd in the older troop, and three are going from my younger troop. We are connecting with a third troop and heading for our first troop camping trip. Actually it is great to have the opportunity to go camping with a troop that has done this many times. It will prepare me for next year when we schedule our fall camping trip by ourselves. After this trip is behind me I can start working the girls toward their last keys. The older girls will only have February, March, and April to complete the book if they are to start earning their bridging patch for Juniors in May. This means we need to start thinking about our service project soon. This week... well we will be talking about our trip, picking a country for Thinking Day, maybe making some sit-upons for the trip.

One more thing... Girl Scout cookie orders start Friday. Place your orders now and be the first to get your delicious, once-a-year special Girl Scout Cookies!!!

Sleeping Habits

I am blogging about sleeping habits today evidentally. So I mention the girls now on this blog. I have found Brenda and Bret all snug together in Brenda's bed the last couple weeks. I wonder what that is all about. Is it the cold? Or something else? Maybe..... maybe they love eachother after all. And are keeping eachother company. Could it be????? My kids love eachother?? Some days it seems impossible to imagine, other days it is as obvious as the brown snowless grass on our small patch of noncement.

Which is your favorite apple??

Bret comes to me and says, "Which is your favorite apple? I like Green for the Sour and Red for the Juicy." I don't think we have ever discussed apple flavors and textures before.

Oh What A Wonderful Life

After two days of non stop playing with Lily, well I don't know if it is literally non stop. I do know that it was A LOT of playing. Anyway she was feeling left out tonight. I spent the day cleaning and getting the house in semi order, only to have 10 girls stomp through my house on the way to their Girl Scout skating party. Funny enough, Bret pal'd up with a friend of hers from Brenda's troop. And Brenda found her own comfort zone worth of friends. My troop co-leader brought along her older daughter who was an older Girl Scout. I found out today that her troop disbanded this year, for whatever reason. We talked a bit about her becoming a Juliette for a while until something else comes up. (That is where with the help of an adult she works as an independent Girl Scout.) She could sell cookies to earn money for her camp and whatever else she wants to do, work ahead without the actual troop. She seemed interested. For some of the Girl Scouts there today with us, it was a great learning experience of what they do NOT want to do again. Some of them were begging for more skating parties. I'd say we all learned something... Like how bruises don't kill you for instance. He he he. Just a couple more weeks and we are heading camping. Whoooooo hooooo. What fun. Two nights of no sleep for me. ;-)

Do you WANT TO make a difference...

Fight Global Warming; Go Vegan!
by david baake
http://www.opednews.com/articles/opedne_david_ba_070513_fight_global_warming.htm
"Probably the easiest, cheapest, and most effective way to reduce your contribution to climate change is to adopt a vegan diet, or at least reduce your consumption of animal products. According to the United Nations, “raising animals for food generates more greenhouse gases than all the cars and trucks in the world combined...”
Thinking of making a change?? Start small, if you can't go all gung ho. Since Bret and I have gone vegan, we have noticed that some things are easier for the kids than others... Change their milk... not so easy. Change from butter to Earth Balance natural buttery spread (vegan substitute), easy for everyone. Change to vegan cheese, easier for the younger kids, not so easy for the teens. Veganaise? Good for some, not so easy for others. Since I switched to Vegenaise... the smell of mayonaise makes me gag now. I am hooked on Vegenaise. I couldn't go back to mayo if I wanted to. Eggs, haven't had them in I cannot remember how long. Chicken, I have eaten that a time or two.

If you are trying to make a change in your life, remember!!! Every little bit counts. If everyone changed just a LITTLE bit it would make a big difference. Don't beat yourself up because you didn't change ENOUGH today. You are beautiful how you are. You aspire. You dream. And some day you will see that you already are...

New old pics just because I found them...

This is the most awesome pic of Josh and Leah. Must have come from the Unity party this summer. I donno, but it is cool!! Josh is awesome!

And here are the girls with Jessie and Leah (undoubtedly their proclaimed best friends) and Griffin, at what appears to be the Museum Center. Boy you guys have made my girls lives so amazingly happy when you are in it...

Thnx Leah for these fab pics. I stole them from you.

Learn something new

This month's wallpaper is blue...

Though it's better known for shades of red, the Grand Canyon is shrouded in blue as night descends on its foggy, snow-covered walls. The canyon's north rim is typically closed to vehicles in winter.
Photograph by Michael Nichols

Brought to you by National Geographic photography. Do you have a blue picture of amazingness to showcase? January is put-an-amazing-blue-pic-on-your-computer-wallpaper month. Just DO IT...

Circle

Here is what I saw through Celeste's special glasses. A normal Christmas tree with a special Chanakkah twist...

Here are the glasses...

Do we look like we are circling around the Winter Solstice?? And celebrating Chanakkah and Christmas? We did all of that and soo much more. It has been a few months since I have been able to make a Drumming Circle. The last one was amazing, I heard, but I was in Tennessee, learning more about the wonderful world of unschooling. So it was great to get together with the girls again. Wild Women, you are amazing. You inspire me to be who I forgot I was. I came home feeling like I had visited again the world of Avalon. Thank you all for being there for me.

Bret and her Beanie

Here is Bret with her new beanie. Both girls totally had to have this beanie. I told them IF I bought this beanie for them they M-U-S-T MUST MUST MUST wear it to every meeting with their sash that they just had to have. They swear that they will so here it is! At Bret's last meeting (the Christmas party) I needed an extra hand and asked for Brenda's help as a senior Brownie. Both girls were there at that meeting with their sashes AND beanies. So we will see.

Before... and After

(My husband) Bret decided he wanted to get dread locks. I have wanted them for a while. When Josh had them I loved them and thought they were the coolest. So we bought the special bees wax with no petroleum in it (that just makes the wax like vasoline, sticky and goopy, I remember from Josh's hair), and decided to practice on me. It might be a while before Bret's hair is long enough. In fact I remember when we did Josh's so long ago, that Bret had wanted to do his hair too, but he never did. Corporate look and all, I guess, who knows. Life happens. Anyway three days and HOURS later...

Ta daaaaaaa! What fun! But let me warn you if you do get this done to you... There is a lot of pain involved. Now I realize that having my perfectionist husband do my hair made the whole experience last longer than normal (like DAYS longer) but even done professionally, it is painful!

So here is what we did. First we went to Knottyboy.com and checked out their video. That was very helpful and would have been great to have for Josh's hair, way back when. Then we bought their shampoo bar, their wax, and their wooden comb (in Bret's opinion, a must-have). For my hair it took an entire jar of the 8oz. wax, but I do have a lot of hair. So anyway, next I washed my hair with their Knottyboy shampoo bar which totally took any softness out of my hair and made it impossible to brush, duh. I dried my hair and crimped it with my crimp iron (this gave it lots of frizz for the dreading process). And Bret got to work, back combing pulling, waxing, and palm roll, palm roll, palm roll (Bret, it turns out, is a backcombing maniac, and that was the painful part). A couple days later, here I was like new, only dreadlier.

Lovin it!

See you soon and Merry Christmas. Happy Chanukah, as today is the first day of THAT holiday. It is also the Sunday Solstice Celebration for us Wild Women so I will be at the drumming circle all night tonight celebrating so many things that are wonderful in my life. And there are plenty.

So to all my many many friends (and it just occurrs to me now how many that be) thank you ALL for being in my life with me. Thank you for sharing your part in my last year, and do stick around for the next one too! I will surely miss you if you don't!

Which do you prefer? Let me know. BUT BE NICE!!

I don't want that to happen to me...

Marley and I were emersed in bathroom conversation this morning while I was taking a bath. She usually graces me with her presence when I am in the bath. We were talking about getting bigger and older for quite a bit already.
"I don't want bigger to happen to me", she said.
"Well then you should stop eating," I told her half in jest.
"Why?"
"Eating, along with sleeping and exercising, sunlight, learning, and some other stuff, will help you grow up."
She thought about this for a minute. "Well, I am still hungry." And with this she was off to see what there was for breakfast in the fridge.

We spent some time looking at pictures of Dad and me as babies and little kids with her. We showed her how Dad and I both had moms and dads when we were little. Now we are big and we are the mom and dad. Still she wants to stay little forever. But it was fun to look at the pictures.

Christmas Party/ Gingerbread House Parade

Pin the Nose on Rudolph

Lilian's magnificant house creation. She ate most of the candy and put some of it on the house. Then I told her it was time to have a snack. She said ok and left to go get her snack. She bipassed the table where everyone brought a snack to share and headed to the table with the gingerbread house candy on it. She came back to me with handfulls of candy telling me that she had her snack. Ha ha ha. I think she was so focused on the candy she didn't realize there was another table with cookies, chips and actual foods.

I told Brenda a day or two before the party that she could pick a book to represent with her gingerbread house. She said, "OK, Hansel and Gretel." And she walked away. That was easy enough for her I suppose.

Learn a little through pictures

Brought to us by National Geographic

Lacking any other defense, many larval fish have adapted
transparency as a method of camouflage—such as this tiny, see-through larval
leaf scorpionfish in Hawaii. Photograph by Chris Newbert/Minden Pictures

A goby fish (Trimma okinawae) peers out of a sea anemone in
the Solomon Islands. Gobies are serial sex-changers: They can go through both
male and female phases. Photograph by Wolcott Henry

As if bathed in moonlight, a giant spider crab (Macrocheira
kaemferi) is illuminated by a diver's lamp in Japan's Izu Oceanic Park.
Protected from some predators by its hard exoskeleton, the creature—which can
grow to ten feet (three meters) wide—can also blend in with the ocean floor.
Under deeper cover, it can disappear beneath the sponges and other marine life
it uses to adorn its shell. Photograph by David Doubilet

It takes more than high-tech wizardry to capture
deep-ocean creatures on film. Dragged alongside the unmanned submersible
SeaRover, liquid tuna and chum attracted this rosy rockfish, swimming by a
basket sea star in the waters of Monterey Bay, California. Photograph by Emory
Kristof

Hustle and Bustle

Parties, shopping, Girl Scout meetings, dance classes, parent meetings, Co ops, and much much more. With everything going on, I will be taking much of the month off from blogging. Next month we will start Girl Scout cookie sales, both troops will have their first overnight at a GS lodge with another troop, we will be making NewYear resolutions, and much much more, I am sure. I will pop in a couple times to say hi, but in case you don't hear from us before hand, Happy Holidays to all of yours!!!

Two Days of Snow

For the last two days, since the first snow, the girls have been all about sledding, snowballs, and pitiful snow men. There wasn't tons of snow, but that doesn't deter the twinkle in their eyes when they see it falling. Today I even convinced Daddy Bret to get out and do some sledding with the girls.

The hat Brenda is wearing, I made yesderday from some yarn I bought at the dollar store. The hat cost me two dollars to make. Brenda is asking for mitts to match. We went out to the dollar store today to buy some more of the yarn for mitts.

Snow angels were a hit for Marley.

Even Bret was out having a great time. It is also great exercise at a time when the girls are not getting much. Up the hill, down the hill. Up the hill, down the hill.

Happenings

Bret had the best time at the Co op. She met a new "best friend". They all seem to be best friends for her lately. One of her teachers told her that she could be an artist and make any kinds of sculptures she wanted. So she made this tonight. Brenda said it was just a bunch of stuff piled on top of itself. I said one man's junk is another man's art. (or woman, anyway) Bret is too excited to pay any attention to Brenda's naysaying today. :-)

Brenda and I hung out at the museum center with Marley. The huge train room was set up for the holiday. Brenda did a scavanger hunt.

Really... my day went like this. We went to get Bret settled in at the co op 9:30. Then we headed over to the grocery to pick up more yogurt. (We picked up yogurt yesterday for lunch today, but Gaige ate it when we weren't looking.) After the grocery, we headed to Deanne's house to pick up the small boxes she got us for the gingerbread houses the kids are going to make at the Christmas party next week. By the time we got to the museum it was after 11. We ate first because we figured the school kids on field trips would be eating around 12 so the museum would clear out when we got down there. After lunch we played for a bit, then we connected with some unschoolers at 12:30. At 1:30 we were out the door heading back to the co op to pick up Bret by 2:00. We haven't had a day like that in a while. I have a craft I want to do with the girls. Then I am making Christmas aprons for us so we can make Christmas cookies in style! That is my excitement.

I got some yarn from the dollar store yesterday. Maybe I will start making a hat.

I got this from National Geographic yesterday

Photograph by Carsten Peter
"Sulfur, salt, and other minerals color the crater of Ethiopia’s Dallol volcano."

It is my new wallpaper on the computer. It looks amazing on a full screen! Check out my link to many more National Geographic pictures to the right.

The Co op

Today little 7yo Bret wakes up early pumping with excitement for her chance to go to the magnificant co op. Last year, I sent Brenda and Gaige because that was all we could afford. And Bret cried. "You don't think I can do it. You don't think I can go there!" But really I just thought the older kids could get more out of it. But when I see the classes that I put her in, I think maybe I was wrong. She is my creative child. Loves to explore, touch, feel, dream. This is right up her alley.
Her schedule...
Children of the world...
This class is your passport to places near & far - designed to give children a hands-on experience about children of many cultures: their customs, daily life, foods, artforms, & language. Get your passport & sign-up for the adventures that await you! Cooking will be included, as we try our hand at some international food recipes.
Creative Discovery...
Students strengthen their creative and critical thinking skills in lessons presented by characters Dudley the Detective, Sybil the Scientist, Isabel the Inventor, Yolanda the Yarnspinner, Jordan the Judge, and Max the Magician. Children discover and develop parts of their brains that allow them to think like a detective, scientist, inventor, and storyteller. They learn how to make wise decisions and to exercise their visual/spatial perception. Costumes and role-playing combined with high level thinking activities make this class fabulous, important, and fun!
Imagination Station...
Fun using your imagination using different materials making/creating crafts (puppets, game characters, recycle creatures, making things out of natural objects, incorporating crafts from all over the world). It will be a crazy, fun and wild time!
And what will Brenda, Lilian and I be doing today? We have a date at the museum center with some other unschoolers. There was another cool activity today, but we are opting for free these days. The family that was going to share the rooms with me for the February gathering backed out. I will be paying more for that vacation now. Which is fine. But time to save some more money.

Girl Scouting in December

For about two years I have been talking to Brenda about my helping her put a newsletter together for her Girl Scout troop. We tried to set it up with the other troop unsuccessfully, then I just dropped it eventually. This year, I mentioned it in passing. I guess this was the year that she was ready to start putting it together. Brenda and her friend, Emma, have decided to make a newsletter for the girls in their troop for their next meeting.

Bret's troop meeting was today. The girls have done crafty stuff for the last couple meetings and I felt that they wanted to pick things up a bit. So we worked on the Games Around the World try-it badge today. Those girls can be HIGH ENERGY. Lots of fun. It wears me out. This month both troops are going rollerskating at a Girl Scout Skate Party during Christmas break together. So far 7 of the girls in Bret's troop are going. Most likely all the girls in Brenda's troop of 8 will go also. We will be a big group. Hopefully skating will wear tire them out. :-)

Clocks

Brenda came to me today and asked if I could teach her how to read a clock. So we worked on it for a few minutes. She asked if we could work on it a bunch of times so she would remember it. I told her we could work a few minutes every day until it sinks in good. That's all. I love it when I they bring something to me that THEY want to learn.

UPDATE: Later yesterday we were at the bank depositing money when Brenda saw a clock. She figured out the time herself. Then she noticed that the clock was stopped and the time was not right. So she hunted out another clock in the same bank and proceeded to find the real time. Learning can be such excitement.

December Quotes of the Week

Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."

Albert Einstein

"Have you learned the lessons only of those who admired you, and were tender with you, and stood aside for you? Have you not learned great lessons from those who braced themselves against you, and disputed passage with you?"

Walt Whitman

"Look not mournfully into the past. It comes not back again. Wisely improve the present. It is thine. Go forth to meet the shadowy future, without fear."

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

If you want happiness for an hour; take a nap. If you want happiness for a day; go fishing. If you want happiness for a month; get married. If you want happiness for a year; inherit a fortune. If you want happiness for a lifetime; help someone else.

Chinese proverb

Current Activities

I was redirecting my energy toward what I have going on these days. A good friend called me yesterday. We haven't talked in probably at least a year. So that was exciting. I was telling her that my boys have gone back to public school. She asked if Brenda wouldn't be wanting to do that soon? I told her I don't think so, because she has plenty of friends to play with after school, she has activities to meet new girls, and she has become quite the homebody during the day. We hang out at home during the day, then she is off to play with friends after school. She even decided not to go to the co op this year. It is just Bret. So I started thinking about how busy we were last year and what we are up to this year.

Monday - Free
Tuesday - Brenda dances pm
Wednesday - Bret dances pm (sometimes story time for Marley am)
I forgot to say we swim Wednesday nights at the local school pool
Thursday - Girl Scouts (alternating weeks for the girls) pm
Friday - usually free or an activity of one sort. This Friday we are meeting up with some Unschoolers at the Museum Center.

Not abnoxiously busy like we used to be. It feels good to have that time at home to do other things. As well I have been holding back on activities that cost more money. We are saving up for the February Gathering. (I am throwing my lodging dilema into the free universe that the answer will come back to me in an obvious way.)

Chanukah Celebrations

Brenda asked if we celebrate Chanukah or if it is only for Jewish people. I told her it is traditionally a Jewish holiday, but if she would like we could celebrate it here this year. "But we are getting Christmas presents", she worried. I said we could do dollar store presents or homemade. She liked that idea. So look for more on our Chanukah experience later this month. Must go to find some dreidels and a menorah. Some matzah, and a Jewish holiday cook book for fun.

Marley is sick

Marley puked all over us in bed last night. She is feeling fine today. But at the time it was big drama, as you might well imagine. I rushed her to the bathroom to finish throwing up in the toilet. Then she sat on the bed watching Care Bears while I cleaned the sheets and blankets. I asked her if she felt alright now.
She said, "Yes, I am alive now."
So I asked, "You feel better?"
She replied, "Yes, but what does it look like?"
"Spaghetti." (that was dinner. Ewwwww!!)
Thankfully we are all better this morning.

Potato Head Day

The day before Thanksgiving every year, we celebrate Decorate Your Potato Head Day. Here are the girls decorating their own potatoes. This year's specialty was sparkles. Lots of paint and lots of sparkles. Woo, what fun that was to clean up. But still a great time.

Thanksgiving Festivities

We started out with a Thanksgiving Feast with some homeschoolers. We learned about the first thanksgiving, played some Indian and Pilgrim Games, made yarn dolls. Then we feasted on traditional Thanksgiving food, which of course was not the original Thanksgiving food. After that it was time to start making some Thanksgiving food of our own. Each of the kids helped make something.

Thanksgiving Day, Bret took Josh and his friend Tyler hunting for bird. They were excited partake in their first ever hunting experience. Unfortunately no birds to bring home.

We cooked a turkey at home while the men (from left to right) Dwayne (who usually doesn't hunt with them) Daryl, Paul, Bret, and Scotty (a good family friend) were closing up for the day. They caught two birds in all. It is a good thing we bought the turkey, but still a fun tradition for the guys I am sure. The girls and I cooked pies, dressing, turkey, veggies, stuffing, all the usual. And we feasted all weekend until it was all gone. Which it now is.

Lily Turns 3

My baby is no longer a baby. The last of my little tykes is growing up. Awwww.

She is now officially 3.

Her new Holly making friends and taking a nap with one of the old Hollys. Finally Lilian has a Holly of her own.

Here she is blowing out the candles. She made the cake with me, iced the cake with me, sprinkled the cake with me, and ate it with all of us. At the end of the day of fun she was exhausted, and so was I.