The Tale of Despereaux

When picking free reading chapter books for Grace and I to read, I tend to pick the books which had a lasting impression on me as a child. I find myself steering away from recent releases as I don't have time to pre-read our selections. Overall our experience has been safe...with one or two exceptions.

Grace and I had just finished two books about a mouse named Poppy that had a bit of questionable content despite the reasonably good read. But when I saw this on the library shelf, I couldn't resist, hoping that the Newbery Medal Award I saw shining on the book cover was a promising sign. I'm so glad I did. Grace and I are in love with an adorable mouse (Despereaux) who is in love with a Princess. To date, the book has been lovely, and a great read, that has had both Grace and I laughing. If the book continues on this pace, it is sure to be a classic in our family. Judging from the reviews on Amazon, it will be.

Our Last Hurrah

Today is the last full day for the children and cousin Alyssa to spend together. After assembling a number of gifts from last night (giant marble run, and Spiderman lego town) it was off to enjoy the day outside. What is a fall day without a giant leaf pile to jump in?

Friday Chili Night

To fend off the Turkey repeat blues, we declared Friday Chili Night and headed over to Aunt Kristy and Uncle Christian's house. While the chili was warming up, a bunch of us went to the nearby park and burned off an hour of steam.

Grace trying to hold her turkey from the night prior down while Uncle Jacob and Aunt Rachel team up forces:Meanwhile Grandpa enjoys the new contraptions that parks these days wield. Once the sun went down everyone was glad to be heading home for the fantastic spread of warm food: white chili, brown chili, spicy chili, cornbread, and pinwheel appetizers. Following the great eats, we huddled together for an early Christmas gift exchange.

Great Grandpa Adams (85 years old in a week) and his youngest great grandchildren.
The prank gift of the night was courtesy of Ken. The night prior Uncle Christian told on his dear wife Kristy and announced to the family that Kristy had been trying to locate Ken and Amo in church last week by Ken's bald spot in the back of his head. In retaliation, Ken purchased a bottle of Rogaine, wrapped it, and placed it under the tree with a gift tag that said To: Ken - From: Kristy. It was a great gag as we watched Kristy's puzzled face turn from shock to embarrassed laughter to determination to search for the real gift giving culprit. :)

Happy Thanksgiving Highlights

This year's Thanksgiving was one for the record books: Four generations of Adams' sitting in one room celebrating the Holidays together at our house. An experience to be remembered and appreciated. The food was grand, the company always lively, and there were plenty of laughs to go around for everyone.

Seated in this picture from left to right (Jack, Uncle Christian, Grandpa Adams, Grandma Adams, Uncle Jacob, Aunt Rachel, Amorette w/ baby Faith munching on turkey in utero, Great Grandpa Adams, Uncle Jeff, Cousin Alyssa and Grace). Missing in this picture are the picture takers - Aunt Kristy and Ken. Very much missed and present by phone this year was Aunt Sarah.

What Color Is Your Blood?

Driving home from gymnastics today, the children and I had an interesting discussion. Grace started the topic by asking me an off the wall question about blood. (I believe the wheels were turning around the topic of blood since Grace had picked out an excellent library book on bats yesterday, and happened to find a page on vampire bats).

Grace: "Mom? Do flies have blood?"

Me thinking to myself: Oh geez. I can't seem to remember a thing from my zoology class in college. I wonder how much that class alone cost my poor parents? (Quick rationale: There are blood sucking flies right? Wait...that's digestive...not circulatory...OH, GO WITH IT.)

Me to Grace: "Sure hun...probably a little."

Grace: "Caterpillars have blood, it is just a different color like yellow."

***Pregnant pause of deep thought interrupted by the mind of a four year old.***

Jack: "Do angels have pink blood?"

For some reason...I follow the logic. This entire discussion was then followed by a lesson in why we need blood, and what blood does. (I felt a bit more redeemed on the cost of college classes after that). Which spurred another discussion on how important not only oxygen is to our bodies, but also water.

BTW, in case you are wondering...after a little research, I now can say with confidence that insects DO have blood, but the blood is not used to carry oxygen. Instead, insect cells receive their oxygen through other means.

A Half Inch Away From Faith

The excitement in my tummy is growing. My little Faith continues to be my strongest, most spirited child in the womb. And, while the house is not quite ready for her arrival (bumpers still to sew, and cradle and crib still to reassemble), we are all so ready for her arrival. This house needs a good dose of change. It will be such a welcome sound to hear a wee little voice again among us.

Tonight while laying on my back, it was as if I could have held her hand or foot if it wasn't for the 1/2 inch of tummy flesh between us. I could feel what probably was a small heel slowly moving around my belly, and I was able to practically grasp the very end with my thumb and forefinger. Just a 1/2 inch away from touching my baby girl...so close, but still two months away.

Egg On My Face Again

Jack has reminded me again that I am coddling his capabilities. He has become very strong with his printing of letters, and in the last two months we have been working on practicing over the dashed lines of letter strokes, and then doing only two attempts at capital and lowercase letters completely free handed. Two months ago, this was a very daunting task for Jack, but with continued encouragement from Mama he's gaining ground and confidence.

Today after working on a worksheet with dashed out words, he decided to go above and beyond the call of duty and select another worksheet. When he picked out the worksheet (writing the words for numbers 1-5 completely freehand), I found myself actually saying to him, "That's a pretty hard worksheet Jack. Are you sure?" He gladly took the challenge and aced the strokes. I'm still trying to get all of the egg off my face.

Maybe I'm in denial. My little "Bubba" is growing up, and it is becoming clear to me this week that somewhere deep down, I'm fighting that.

It Is An All Out Reading Blitz!

Grace is officially a strong reader. She has gained the confidence she needs to now sound out any word she sees whether it be in a book, on a box, or on the street. We are almost complete with all of the online books offered by Starfall.com and I am also incorporating books from the library. This was all planned and expected work for this fall, and I am thrilled she has taken to reading so easily and confidently.

What was not expected is my just turned 4 years old son! He's been working on phonics sounds (a single sound per letter), and except for an occasional "oops" he has the sounds all down and associated with their corresponding letters. I just wanted him to become familiar with the sounds, and didn't even plan on introducing the concept of reading until at least another year. He apparently has other plans:

Today, while doing another double digit number recognition flashcard game with me, Jack decided to apply his own rules. Some of the flashcards we use have animals or shapes on the backs illustrating the number or amount, others have the name of the number written out in words. Spontaneously, the child began sorting out his "winnings" as he won them - shapes and animal backed flashcards in one pile, and number words in another pile. If the card had a word, he would check his answer by phonetically sounding out the letters.

This had me sitting in awe and also in horror. My son isn't ready for this!!! "Thirty-two" does not work out phonetically with only one sound committed to memory, and no introduction of how two consonants work together to create totally new sounds. What do I do??? Do I dive in with him? Do I just let him explore and hope he doesn't get frustrated with his sounded out results when they are so different from how the actual word sounds?

I am now embarassed that I had chalked up his boyhood as an instant mark against him for reading early. I just figured I would let him be. I have felt no rush in pushing reading with either of my children, but I assumed Grace would be my earliest reader. But (true confessions from a mother), I thought Jack would read later than Grace because he was a boy, because he was not a first born, or he'd just probably have stronger interests in other areas of his work for a good long while. Isn't that awful??? Shame on me.

Now I am not sure where to invest our time...I don't want to ruin an already good thing.

Reflecting On Beethoven

This morning as Grace listened to a little Beethoven while working on her math, she said to me, "Mom? Do you know what I would do if Beethoven was still alive? I would ask him if I could help him."

I joked with her that maybe she would need to learn sign language since Beethoven went deaf.

She started working again on her math and off the cuff said, "I wish he were still alive. I miss him. Do you miss him Mom?"

The "O" in Telling Time

As mentioned before, Jack has been very interested in telling time, and he's doing a terrific job at it. Today we reviewed whole hours and half hours on a face clock, of which he has almost licked.

He may have just earned himself the "Stumped Mom" award over spaghetti dinner tonight when he asked:

"Mom? Why do they have an "O" in one o'clock?"

I have no stinkin' idea. Anyone know what the point of the "O" is when telling time? Was the person who invented telling time in the English language, Irish?? Or before we got technical and exact about everything, did people used to say, "Oh, it is about one.", and things have just been rearranged over the centuries. :)

November Play Date

The kids and I had a wonderful time today at the local park with two other homeschooling families. I'm the play date coordinator in our group, and each month I try to get us together for a planned play date. Today I chose to ditch the standard playground and pick a great park nearby that has flat green lawns and loops and loops of sidewalks for bike riding.


Despite the gusty winds, the kids spent the next two hours in glee trying out each other's bikes and scooters, and kicking around the soccer ball. I tried to get photos of them in action, but between the wind and the constant movement of children, the pictures were pretty weak. The photo above was a spontaneous moment between Grace and Jack, when everyone else had left. Fatigue was just beginning to set in, but the children were still happy.

Later, Jack gave himself a voluntary nap while playing in his room. And Grace, came up and gave me a big hug telling me what a great day she had today at the park. That's what it is all about. Right there in an unsolicited hug. Being a Mommy just feels good.

Useless Bits Of Information About Me

Yesterday night I caught myself doing it again. I always do it when I drive a car. I've done it ever since I was a teenager. I have no idea why. I don't do it anytime else. It is just one of those things that makes me...ME...I guess. This got me thinking about other quirky useless things about me. Here's my short list:

When I drive, I bite and hold the insides of one or both of my cheeks. If I ever get in a bad car wreck, you'll know me by the two holes in my cheeks.

When I walk in public places, I tuck my thumbs inside my fists.
(I'm sure a psychologist would have a field day with that one.)

I walk like a duck - toes pointed out.
My father used to point this out to me relentlessly, forcing me at times to walk with my toes pointed straight. It felt like my knees were being pulled around 180 degrees. I blame it on my years of gymnastics in my youth.

I get my eyebrows waxed.
When I pluck them, I get into huge sneezing fits. For some reason the feel of flesh ripping away from my face isn't as bothersome.

As a child, I used to be able to hear disturbing patterns of sound.
It was always the same pattern of soft and strong sounds, and once it started, it was incredibly difficult to avoid hearing, no matter where I retreated. I used to think it was something evil. It disappeared in my teenage years - thank the Lord.

In college, my hair turned bright green after a very bad chemical reaction with hair dye. I have never dyed my hair from a box again. I went from long locks to short boy cut in order to cut the green out. Paying mula at a hair salon is worth every penny.

I am the first born of four.
That explains a lot.

I have never received a speeding ticket.
After driving for over 15 years, the thought of getting pulled over by a police officer for speeding still makes my heart pound. I do speed...just probably not enough to make the sirens go "wicky wicky". (Wicky wicky is a term used by cops in our neck of the woods for going lights and sirens. How do I know that? My younger brother is a cop. I'm 32 years old, and my brother is a cop in the same county as me - and I am STILL afraid to get a ticket. Go figure.)

The perfectionist in me hates that I only can think of 8 useless things about me. I have got to have at least 10 things that are useless about me. Or 15. Or 20. Not 8.

Ah Peace! I've got one: I sleep on a baby pillow. My husband calls it a "scrap". The top of our bed is really funny looking. Ken has a giant king sized fluffy pillow that takes up half the bed, and my pillow is barely perceptable (only about 2 inches thick and half the size of a standard pillow). I don't like any of the standard pillow cases we own, so it looks even more ridiculous hiding in a king sized pillow case.

Trading Hymns For Prayers

Ambleside Online includes the use of learning hymns and folk songs in their curriculum, which falls right in line with Charlotte Mason. This is the only part of the curriculum that causes a struggle within me.

I have a strong appreciation for many of the classics, but the thought of teaching my children hymns, admittedly has been one I have avoided. It just sounds boring (throw tomatoes now). If you catch me singing praises in the car, it is to bands like Audio Adrenaline, Jars of Clay, or Swiftfoot. I'm sure Ms. Mason would be rolling over in her grave. I'm guessing I'm not your typical Ambleside mother.

I do have an alternative that I think is an equivalent to memorizing hymns, and that is memorizing prayers. Hymns and prayers are very much similar in their intent and posture. One of the legacies I want to leave to my children is a plethora of prayers. Prayers said together as a family, like hymns, can bring a flood of childhood memories back to the adult mind. The act of passing prayers on through generation after generation, is important to me.

Starting last January we began memorizing a new prayer for each term. These prayers are said as a blessing over our meals, and the children relish picking out the prayer to be said. Here is what we have learned so far:

Robert Herrick's - A Child's Grace
Here a little child I stand,
Heaving up my either hand.
Cold as paddocks though they be,
Now I lift my hands to thee,
For a benison to fall,
On our meal and on us all.

Paddocks are another word for frogs, and a Benison is a blessing.

This next prayer is one carried down from Ken's German paternal grandparents. It is a combination of two Lutheran prayers and was said a mealtime.

All eyes wait upon Thee O Lord,
And Thou givest them their meat in due season.
Thou openest thine hand,
And satisfiest the desires of every living thing.
O Lord God, heavenly Father
Bless unto us these Thy gifts
Which of Thy tenderkindness
Thou as bestowth upon us.
Through the merits of Jesus Christ,
Our Lord and Savior.
Ever one God,
World without end. Amen

Our last prayer is actually a portion of a song from Nicole Nordeman appropriately called "Gratitude".

Daily bread, give us daily bread
Bless our bodies, keep our children fed
Fill our cups, then fill them up again tonight
Wrap us up and warm us through
Tucked away beneath our sturdy roofs
Let us slumber safe from danger's view this time
Or maybe not, not today
Maybe You'll provide in other ways
And if that's the case . . .

We'll give thanks to You
With gratitude
A lesson learned to hunger after You
That a starry sky offers a better view if no roof is overhead
And if we never taste that bread.

I have been in search of more prayers that we could learn for next year's terms. If any of you have ones that are near and dear to your heart, I would love to have you include them in the comments section.

Boggle Jr. - A New Play On Phonics

This past weekend we purchased a few more board games for the children (masked as a birthday presents for Grace). These included the classic Chutes & Ladders game, as well another heralded classic - Operation. Added to the mix was Jr. Boggle.

I remembered playing and enjoying the game Boggle in my youth, and this looked right up our alley for where we are with both kids in Phonics.

This week we have been using Boggle Jr. as our Phonics work, and the children have found it a fun challenge, and something unusually hands on for Phonics work. They need to complete ten cards, (if they spell the 3 or 4 letter word correctly using the letter dies it is theirs to keep, otherwise it becomes my card).

I was impressed with how well Jack has picked up on this game. Some of the vowels are difficult, but the consonants are within his grasp with his new basic knowledge from Starfall of phonics sounds. Plus anything that looks remotely like a flashcard is instantly hoarded.

Nesting...I AM.

Pregnancies with my girls can coax out the obsessive compulsive in me. With Grace, I had the constant fear that something was turned on when leaving the house: the stove, the clothing iron, the curling iron, etc. Feeling the constant urge to check if my worries were founded. With Faith, I have seen my compulsions manifest in new ways:

I was excited to use my newly created kitchen inventory sheets (all four pages) last Wednesday at the grocery store. All was going well, until I noticed that I could be even more efficient if I coordinated the order of items on my inventory sheets with the aisle numbers in the store. In this way, if Ken ever had to go shopping for me, I would be able to hand him a map to the store that he could essentially follow and pull checked items off the shelf along the way. Sickly obsessive, I know. But I was already so close with my original order, that I found myself going down all of the aisles marking where each section on my inventory sheets could be located, and then coming home after a very long day and reorganizing the Excel spreadsheet. It doesn't stop at the inventory sheets.

I'm beyond nesting. I'm BURROWING.
After tackling my kitchen cupboards, I moved on to the boxes and boxes of medicines in our house - placing in labelled freezer bags various types of medicines. I had my "General Pain" bag, "First Aid" bag, "Stomach Problems" bag, "Cold & Flu" bag, "Childrens Medicine" bag, and the list goes on.

After tackling medicine, it was off to the children's room to winterize them, and reassess storage of their clothing and shoes. With shoes, I couldn't just pack up the shoes. No, that would be too easy. I felt the need to WASH all 40+ pairs of shoes we've gathered since the day they could first walk, and then sort them in small bins according to size. OCD fully in operation. Grace is now complete, and I am waiting for my winter order from The Children's Place for Jack, so that I can winterize him next.

The good news is this type of behavior happens only during pregnancies, and the results gain me one highly organized house. The bad news is my pelvis is paying dearly for this type of activity, but burrow I must. With the decision to go birth control free from here on out...this could either be the remaining few months of organization in the next 10 years of my life, or the start of a continuous cycle of OCD behavior.

BURROW...BURROW...BURROW.

Ink Blots...But With Leaves

Today at the park Jack came to me with a small white oak leaf. Showing me the fallen leaf, he said, "Look ma, the leaf looks like one of those sting fish."

That morning we had just watched together as a family our 3rd Blue Planet CD about the ocean. Included in this CD was a clip about an extremely large manta ray combing the deep ocean for food. I looked at the leaf, and Jack was right. It did look very close to a manta ray in form.

The children love the Blue Planet DVDs. They have been so much more educational than a half hour of "Miffy" or "Dora" before breakfast in the morning. Watching their cartoon choice in the morning, the kids become lumps, but with the Blue Planet DVDs they are on the edge of the couch asking 101 questions.

Our First Born Turns 6 Years Old

Today our little girl now has to use two hands to display her age. The older she gets, the more I find myself reflecting on her youth and babyhood.

She was the one who filled my womb for the the first time. Never once did I fear her arrival and the unexpected. I had been expecting her with delight and anticipation for months. When she was born, she became the baby that "didn't count" in the eyes of other family because she was such an easy baby. It is true that she was born with a heart of gold, but I eventually earned the full title of Mother when she turned 3.

I remember enjoying her baby days, but longing for a day when she and I could talk and hold a meaningful conversation, sharing our thoughts and opening each other's eyes to new perspectives. We arrived at that moment this past year. And now my baby is six.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart.
Grace's first "real" necklace from Grandma & Grandpa.
Grace has earned it this past week: a new bike!

We Owe No Man Anything

I was thinking we had two more months, but the Lord had bigger plans. This month turned out to be overflowing with God's blessings. This week, He provided for us in such a grand way that it blew our socks off. It was to the point that we were both shaking our heads the other night in awe of God's goodness. It was sobering.

It was as if God wanted to say, "I just wanted you both to know that I am celebrating this achievement with you." He had to be laughing at our shock and awe: Our final payment toward our house. PAID.

And now we can say, that we "Owe no man anything..." (Romans 13:8).

None of our blessings are deserved, but I do believe our obedience to the Lord's command to tithe has played a large roll in our business success. Ken and I have tithed consistently in plentiful times and bare times, trying to be good stewards of the Lord's provisions for our household.

My father taught me many things about following Christ, but tithing was an example that really stuck with me. My parents always tithed, and it was very important in our household growing up. When it came time for me to tithe on my own, I didn't even question it.

Taking a step of faith, while you are still in debt, shows the Lord that you trust Him with your first fruits. We seem to forget or not want to recognize that it is the Lord who gives us our fruits to begin with. He has never ceased to provide for our family. And He is SO creative about how He accomplishes this. If there is one thing that God is NOT, its boring.

Wind in The Willows Revisited

A few weeks back we got our exciting new book shipment for the next term. I didn't tell Grace this was arriving as the books are stored where she can look through a number of them, and I didn't want her to peek at the pictures and spoil it for herself.

So very stealthily, I slipped The Wind in the Willows on the shelf. There is a story behind this and the stealth. About 5 months ago, I picked up a beautifully illustrated copy from the library. Almost every page is done is lovely watercolors. I thought Grace and I would read it together, but I had never read the story myself, and I had no idea at the time just how complicated the language would be. I found myself struggling, even though Grace wanted to keep reading. We probably got three chapters in and after seeing that this book was also in Ambleside's Year 2 reading, I thought it might be best if we held off and took it back to the library.

Grace was NOT happy with me when it came time to return books. We have never stopped a book in the middle, and this was disturbing to her. But I went ahead and returned it (feeling bad) but thinking she would quickly get over it. She never mentioned it again...

Until the same version of the book was discovered in her own playroom/schoolroom, quietly waiting for it's pages to be cracked open for the first time. With a squeal of delight she came running in the room beaming, and said, "Mom! Mom!!! What did you do? What did you do??? Did you GET this!?" When I told her she would be reading it next term, she jumped up and down with glee going on and on about how she couldn't wait - how she loved this book. Did she really get that much out of it before?

I think she did.

Please Tell Me This Is Just a Phase

Jack informed me this evening that he would now like me to return his knight/pumpkin costume to the store. When I asked him why, he said "I would like to trade them in for butterfly wings now". AAHHHHHH!!!!!

I'm trying to stay calm telling myself that his preferences for the color pink, princess dinner plates, and now costumes are just a phase. After all, the child loves to head butt, wrestle, treasures his trains and cars, and enjoys watching football games already with his father. I know so much of it is my own stereotyping issues. But he's loved the color pink for two years now, choosing to do most of his school writing in pink marker.

Is a mother to draw the line at picking pink dinner trays and Disney princess plates?

OOOO! Minn Is Good. Really Good.

We read the first chapter of Minn of Mississippi today, and I could feel the excitement growing for this book. In the fourth paragraph, Holling is already going into the formation of sandstone, limestone, shale and granite. I did not realize this would be mentioned (thinking I would be doing the rock study solo), but this was a great introduction to a number of our rocks in our identification kit.

After the first chapter, I took the opportunity to sit with Grace and have her describe to me the different characteristics of these rocks as she held them in her hand. Her favorite part is trying to make a streak on the white streak plate. By the end of it, she was correctly identifying each of the rocks, and understanding more about their origins.

I'm liking Minn!

Pagoo Is Finished!

What a great living book! Grace and I really enjoyed reading this together. I learned SO much about tidepools myself. It can be a little slow near the beginning as the story line is developing, but once you become attached to Pagoo and his struggles, the second half becomes a real page turner. Holling introduces so many different characters and sea creatures of all sizes, it kept Grace's interest soaring. I also thought Holling did a good job of trying to bring the drive of "instinct" to life for a child.

Grace stated that her favorite part of the book was "the end". (Pagoo becomes a father, and she liked the idea of new baby hermit crabs being born.)

So now it is off to Mississippi to meet Minn.