Author's Fair 2014

Well, they did it:

After many, many, MANY hours of work, the girls finished their "Book of Months" project. The final book is very sweet, with words & illustrations showing our life as a family over the course of a year. They finished it just in time--as in about 30 minutes before I needed to go help host our school's table at the annual Author's Fair!

This year the table was almost embarrassingly weighted towards our family's contributions.  For some reason there were far fewer families participating this year--and so Terry, my wonderful E.S. asked if they could have all our previous years' books, as well as the group projects I led for the Vintage Homeschool kids (most of the families attend our charter) to show, to ensure the table display was well filled.  It was a good thing we did, because the girls counted--and 11 out of 21 books on the table were from our family/my leadership!

 

 

 

A sweet book Sunny made this year for her sister Merry, for her birthday.  (The sticky-notes you see on various books are from nice comments people can choose to leave on the books for the young authors. : ) Below that, one of our older but favorite books, in which my and my dear Becky's girls created poetry in response to the trees at a local state park filled with majestic redwoods.

On top, the "Wild Cats of the World" book the girls made together a year or two ago, full of facts and drawings.  Under that, "The Life of Our Trash," another collaborative project from last year or the year before.

One of my favorite Vintage Homeschool kids projects--"What's Above and What's Beneath."

Another favorite Vintage Homeschool kids project--a book of sensory immersion guided poetry, with watercolor collage artwork.

 

In this picture: Seven Evans, the first chapter book Sunny wrote.  Then a very early book we made about a visit to a California Gold Rush town.  Then in the back the very first book we ever wrote--what we call the Preamble Book (in which Sunny interpreted the lines of the Preamble as they might look lived out in our house).  Then, on the right middle, the Vintage Homeschool kids book from last year, "What Is It? A Book of Nature Riddles."

I must admit, it was really fun to see the progression of the kids' writing and artwork displayed together, and be reminded of how much I love to lead the group book projects.  I'm already looking forward to next year's ideas!

the bed update

These posts I have been making are just so completely random--but that is how my life is at the moment!  As always, there are so many things I would love to say to you all, and so little blogging/brain-fresh time, so I find myself putting on hold telling you the things that are probably most important, and instead telling you the things that are easy to say.

But I am sure there are things I was sharing at the end of last year that you would like an update on--so consider this the first in a series of random updates! 

The bed project.

So, this has been going sloooooooooowly. However, we have made progress.  We are building four connecting bunks, basically two "L" shaped beds, one on top of the other.  We are using an antique bed we found locally for some of it, just because.  We have sourced and purchased and transported all the additional wood we should need to make the beds (DH wanted hardwood because it would be more attractive and stronger. Fine with me.)   I bought the fabric and at least most of the batting we will use to upholster the sleeping platforms (in lieu of traditional mattresses we are building in padding, and then the kids will have some additional personal bedding on top).  We have finalized the overall design.  DH has prepared his work space in the carport and the wood is ready there for the working.  In fact, he's out there right now "ripping" boards to get the sizes he needs to start the actual construction.

This is all really good.

We still need to hunt down a few specialty bits, to hold certain parts of the beds together as strongly as possible, esp. where we are using the antique wood.  And while the overall design is done, we need to finalize design of some of the trickier parts, such as where piece of wood are joined and how to make sure everything is well supported (while still meeting my requirements for being attractive).  So much goes into a project before the actual building begins! Then after he cuts the pieces, I will be sanding and staining them.  And then we need to get the plywood for the sleeping platforms and I will upholster them (that part should be the easiest--just wrap and staple, no finished edges to worry about).

So, most of the work is yet to happen.  However, I am choosing not to be discouraged by that--instead, I'm just going to be patient and content do my best to help each small step of the project go as smoothly and quickly as possible.  It's zen home makeover.  It's good for my spirit, and my marriage. : )  And I want to celebrate each step completed too!  With that in mind, I finally took photos of the beds, so we have "before" shots:

The original footboard, and one of the long sidebars.  The original bed is a 3/4 size. 

The headboard.  Photos taken at night, so not the best lighting.  As you may be able to see, especially if you double click on any of the photos to enlarge them, there is a finish on the wood that the antique dealer said was a milk paint finish, and it does have charm (just needs a good cleaning). But just last night we were debating whether we should just strip the wood so we can try to stain it the same as the maple we bought for other parts of the beds (the old bed is possibly maple--or cherry. Not sure.) I dunno--one more step to the process, and a tedious and messy step at that. But we might end up with one post that we are going to have to sand down anyway, which means that area at least might need to be re-finished. . . I welcome your opinions.  I wish DH would just let me paint over the old finish and then "antique" it. . . but he is not a fan of painted wood, so said I could only do that if we first stain it and then don't like how it looks.  (And if I go to the trouble of sanding and staining all this wood, you know I'm not going to want to paint over it.)

Anyway, the new beds are underway!

And it is none too soon.  The girls have definitely outgrown the single, and while they are still sleeping well at night, they are having trouble getting settled when they first get into bed.  They are staying awake longer, which might be somewhat from getting older and needing less sleep, but might also be because they are so snug together. 

Which so far has been fine, and even adorable:

Fall, 2013

And sometimes downright hilarious:

Sleeping tangle, Winter 2013

Smiley has been sleeping in the crib, which is set up under the bunk.  He still has plenty of room, and has been content:

The old bunk bed (DH's when he was a boy) has served us well:

Reading before bed

 

Doing school (or trying to)

And bouncing on bigger siblings

And general cuddling and bonding.

We're a close-knit bunch, and I think a lot of that has to do with how we sleep.  I don't regret a bit of the closeness they have gained from the old arrangement, and we even designed the new beds to foster the same kind of fun and sharing spaces. 

But I'm still going to be so happy when the new bunks are done!

mending

Today I had a little bit of time in the afternoon to do something productive, and so I brought out the big bag of Things To Be Mended, which always seems to maintain the same volume no matter how much I mend, and which has been mocking me from the bottom of my closet for a few weeks now.  Today I actually pulled it out, got the sewing kit out, and started work--even though I had a lingering headache and really didn't feel like doing it.  Going through all the closets is one of the things I've been working on since our Christmas break--not just "out with the old, in with the new," although I have been doing that too, but a more systematic re-assessment of what is working in how we use the closet space, what needs to change, what is taking up valuable real-estate that is not worth it any more and needs to be moved elsewhere, etc. So attacking this seemingly huge bag overflowing with items to be mended just seemed the next step today.

But.  My Sunny girl has had a rough transition back into real life after the holidays, and esp. into school this week.  She was not really having trouble with the work given her--she did a good job making good choices and keeping a positive attitude about all that this week--it was more her heart had broken bond with mine, and so she has slipped back into old patterns of sassiness, interrupting, arguing, and generally disrespecting me.  Yesterday I told her it had to change, and then today there was a moment when I gently reminded her of something and she was rude back, so I gently but firmly called her out for it, and she did not handle it well, so she ended up in a time-out in the bedroom. When I went to see if she was cooled off and was ready to apologize, she didn't handle that well either, and basically kept trying to make it my fault why she did what she should not have.

But.  God has been doing such a good work in me the past couple of months, and so I knew this was happening because of the broken bond, so I stayed patient, and I stayed in the bedroom with her, listening, talking, and keeping on pointing her to truth, and finally broke through her self-focus and we ended up having a really, really good time of re-bonding.  Seriously good for both our hearts.

It also took a good 40 minutes.  When I left the room and saw it was time to make dinner and I would have to abandon the mending, I mentally grumbled, "Great. There goes the mending."

Then a little voice in my head whispered, "But you did the mending that was the most important today."

One more reminder that I want to always be willing to let go of my own do-to list, and be ready and willing to do whatever it is God has placed before me in any given moment.   It will always, always be the better thing.

Random update #1--In Which My Son Fails Sunday School

Smiley was demoted in Sunday School. 

This past August, on "Move Up Sunday," we dutifully moved him from the preschool room to the kinder room, even though he was sad to be leaving his best bud "Hecho," son of Rosa.  Then three weeks ago, the Children's Ministry leader approached me after Sunday School to gently confront me, and said she thought Smiley should move back down to the preschool room. When I asked why, she said because he was not participating as [she thought] he should during the large group time (when the k-5 kids get together in a larger classroom and sing and dance and watch a [really boring] cartoon Bible lesson.  I think she said he was laying down for part of it and must have seemed disinterested. . . which I have seen other kids do. . . .

Huh.  I just smiled brightly and said, "Oh, ok!" 

Smiley turned 5 in Sept and is officially a kindergartener.  He has also spent his entire "preschool" life participating in educational activities with children much older than himself.  He sits and watched long documentaries about nature and science and history--he watched the entire Ken Burns' "The West" series this past Spring, for heaven's sake.  The boy has a much better attention span than most his age.  At home, he dances and sings--with tutus to boot.  He listens well and has never seemed to demonstrate any inability to know what is expected and follow along.  He is a people person, and jumps right in with whatever playing is going on.  Other people love having him over at their houses because he is such a good little guy who is so easy to please, and who plays with others so well.

The leader is a lovely woman whom I have known for many years now and whom I like very much.  She is also a former public school elementary teacher.   I think it is safe to say this is a true case of homeschooler prejudice--clearly this poor boy is showing a lack of proper socialization, and does not know how a kindergarten boy should act.  Maybe I should teach him to hit other boys?  Or quickly and uncaringly color and complete whatever is placed before him and then run off to throw toys inappropriately? 

Ok, I realize I sound bitter, but I am seriously typing this with a smile.  Well, a wry smile.  I see this not as a flaw in the leader, but as an example of the faulty training she herself received.  I am sure the leader saw something in Smiley that made her think that was a wise choice, but I am seriously flummoxed.  I have volunteered in Sunday School many times now, and have a pretty good idea of what normal participation is, esp. for boys his age.  What I described above is how some (even older!) boys act each week, and I don't think the leader would approach their parents and suggest they need to be moved to a lower class. 

And interestingly enough, this is the EXACT kind of thing that happened to us when Sunny was actually in public kindergarten--she was omitted from things the rest of the class was doing because "she was too young."  Um, yes she was on the young end, but if the state says she should be here, then um, accommodate her!  Oh, wait--they did.  They pulled her out of the classroom to have special intervention with a special-needs aid.  Without talking to us about it first.  And similarly, we loved her kinder teacher, and thought she was awesome--but clearly there is something in the public school teacher mentality that has to take any kid who is odd or different and label them "special needs."  As in, "we need to fix that."

**Clarifier--Sunny probably was gaining good things from the attention she was receiving, working on gross motor skills and all that.  I have NO PROBLEM with my child spending time with an aide and a Down Syndrome girl.  Great!  She would not have qualified for an IEP anyway, so a little special attention on the sly--perfect.  But it was really disconcerting to feel like my child was being labeled, and then biased against, just because she was a little different.  And I don't think any child should be taken out of the classroom on a regular basis without the parent's knowledge and approval.  That felt creepy.

But back to Smiley--clearly my second "special needs" child.  ; ) Good thing, as a homeschool mom, I honestly don't care one whit what "grade" he is in.  And so the next week I got to tell him he could go back to his old classroom and get to be with Hecho!  Yay!  He was so glad, and actually I am too, because I realized there are two other little boys who had moved up to the class that I would like for him to befriend--one was recently adopted, and one is the son of a lovely fellow homeschool mom!  (And then the little adopted boy just last week choose Smiley to be his special guest at his birthday dinner--how special is that!  Clearly the boys are striking up a friendship, and I LOVE the parents, so that's all a win!)

So, really, it's all fine.  But I do still just have to smile sadly and shake my head.   I think VERY highly of public school teachers as a profession.  I do not even know how they do it--they seriously have one of the toughest jobs out there, and one of the most important.  Both my parents were public school teachers, and I think they were very good at what they did.  But I do have issue with some of the ways modern teachers are taught to think what Education is, and how best to impart it to young minds--and both DH (who volunteers in the Sunday School classrooms way more than I do) and I have complained to one another that too much of the way our (and probably most) Sunday School is run is very akin to public school, to its loss.

Maybe one of these days they need a homeschool parent in charge.  ; )  Now THAT would be fascinating to see!

Um, that makes me so tired just thinking about.  No, I'll leave the lovely leader to her post, and support her as much as I can.  Which in this case, means putting Smiley back into preschool and letting it go.  He's happy, she's happy, DH is disgruntled but what can he do, and I'm choosing to see it as Just One of Those Things That Ends Up For The Best Anyhow.  : )

Not Back To School Photos

My schoolgirls

A couple of our homeschool mom friends decided we should have a special "Back To School" park date, and take official "school" portraits.  What a fun idea--wish had thought of it way back when we first started homeschooling!  

Sunny, Grade 8

Merry, Grade 5

Happy, Grade 3

Smiley--who was of course not at all smiley yesterday, and who in fact had an inexplicable clinging and refusing to look at the camera fit--my kindergartener.

The Redwood Academy, Fall 2013

The Last Princess Party

I've noticed a lot of bloggers taking breaks, or writing less than normal--does that happen every summer?  Well, for me it is just that I got busy and I lost my words all at the same time.  The busy was nothing special--just having DH's parents visit, and finally starting some home-improvement and cleaning projects, and jumping back into summer school for a few weeks.  Really nothing all that interesting to share. Time is just slipping by so quickly--I can't believe the summer is halfway over! As for the losing the words--I dunno, it just seemed like there were plenty of thoughts in my head, but none worth writing down. And I've still been kinda tired--not quite over the hardness of this past Spring.

But we did do one really fun thing since I last wrote, that is totally worth sharing:

The Happy birthday girl, flanked by the twin daughters of my dear Becky.

The third and final Princess birthday party!  "Princess" has been the theme for all 3 girls' 8th birthdays, and each one has been different, all good in different ways--but this one was my favorite.  Happy turned eight the first week of July, and we planned a party outdoors at a local park.  Really nothing fancy--just good friends and imagination!  Of course we invited all our friends to come dressed up as princesses, and it was so fun to see how many of the girls went international.  We raided our dress-up collection--in other words, did not purchase a thing you see in these pics--and I think the costumes all turned out so great!

Maid Sunny, wearing the Madrigal costume my mother made for my elder sister Rebecca back in high school, with vintage costume jewelry we inherited from my grandmother and friends.

Merry-san, in the kimono and clogs my mother received as a gift from a Japanese pen-pal back in the 1950's.  We inherited it last summer, when I was helping my parents sort through their house in preparation for moving--also when we brought the Madrigal costumes and prom dresses and all kinds of other fantastic dress up back with us to CA. 

Prince Smiley--um, Serious 

 

 

We had the party at 6:00 p.m. so that Daddy could come after work, and so I did not have to actually have real food to serve (although a friend sweetly brought chips and salsa to add to the table).  Happy had decided she wanted a white, three-tiered wedding cake for her birthday party.  I decided since the party was going to be so simple, that I was up for the challenge!  I made a three-tiered "Boston Crème Pie," which was the favorite kind of cake my mother used to make for our birthdays when we were kids.  It's basically a sweet white cake with custard layers--mmmmm.  I had no clue how to transport it frosted, though, so I gave it a quick whipped-cream frosting there at the park. 

I suggested fruit to go on the cake, and those she picked ended up rather patriotic--appropriate for the week.  So the final product is not exactly wedding-ish, and is not even all that pretty, but I was just glad it was structurally sound! 

 

 

With the cake we served wedding punch--raspberry sherbet and ginger ale.  Happy and I together made a berry ice-ring to float in the middle. Looking at it now, I think I put the ring in upside down.  But it complemented the cake--and made the birthday girl feel special, which was the goal.

 

 

Traditional birthday activity--reading a story.  This one is called The Seeing Stick, and makes me cry every time I read it. Yes, including at the party. Good thing I had so many eager readers to help me finish. : )

 



 



Becky's girls Miss C and Miss K knew Happy would be wearing this princess dress, which my mother had made for Sunny years back--and so they sewed a dress for Happy's Addy doll to match!  How adorable and clever is that?!

 

 

I just love all the candid girl moments going on.

The party consisted of four simple activities: princess/prince "portraits" (I took everyone's pictures to share with the mommies later), the story reading, then food, then princess charades.  The charades were so cute--the girls had to act out different princesses/queens for us to guess.  And while we did have plenty of Disney princess in there, we also threw in famous characters like Sara Crewe (The Little Princess), and The Princess and the Pea, Esther, The Queen of Hearts, Princess Buttercup (The Princess Bride), and Queen Susan (The Narnia Chronicles). 

I have really enjoyed these themed birthday parties that became tradition, so each girl got to have one of her very own--so far the "Fairies in the Forest Teaparty" at age 5-6, and the "Princess" party at age 8.  DH is adamant that Smiley will not be a Fairy in any Forest, so I'm going to see if he and Smiley will go for a Wood Elves party--as in Tolkien--instead!  ; )  Normally the child's first party comes his or her kindergarten year, which would mean this September, but I'm thinking Smiley will be getting his first party next Fall, because I just can't pull off three parties in as many months!  Because you see, Sunny turned 12 last November, so she is overdue for her party, which I just could not pull off during the school year--because she is dreaming of a pioneer themed party, and sleeping outside in a "covered wagon" and me cooking a dinner of beans and cornbread and then a breakfast of flap jacks the next morning, all over an open fire! We'll see what we can pull off for this party later this summer . . ; )

What We've Been Up To--The Abbey Art Show

This series I had been posting got broken up by the unexpected family heart drama, but I want to go back and wrap it up, since I had most of the posts half written and I know my mother and maybe some more of you would like to see the last things I had intended upon sharing. And because my brain gets sad when things are posted too illogically. : )

double-click to embiggen if you care to read about the show's formal objectives and criteria, or if you want to see any of the following art pieces a little closer.

Merry's piece, entitled "New Life on a Spring Day"

Happy's piece, "New Life"

A different view of the piece, to show how the butterflies' wings add a layer of extra dimension 

Sunny's piece, "Morning Has Broken"

The artists the morning of the art show opening, with their pieces behind them

This show was so fun to organize, although it was a lot of work.  This was not just a show for the Vintage Homeschool kids, but for homeschool kids county-wide!  So it also served as a bridge-building event between our church and the un-churched local homeschool community--there were lots of families who participated, and who came to the opening party, who avoid churches and who had never set foot in the Abbey before.  They were all very positive about the experience, so I hope we helped generate some goodwill in the local community.

The artist/teacher who is the Art Director at the Abbey Coffee Lounge (the non-profit coffee shop that is part of our church) is a woman from church with whom I am friendly, so I had asked her last Fall if there would be a possibility of a homeschool art show sometime, and she said we could put up a show for Easter and leave it up the month of April.  So that was another bonus in my mind of the show's timing--the theme "New Life" allowed some of the Christian kids to be natural witnesses by making their art celebrate Easter and what Christ did on the cross for all peoples, but it also allowed kids to have more Spring-ish pieces or other creative interpretations of the theme.

When we were hanging the art, the Art Director said it was the best school show she has seen there.  I was so proud of the kids!  She also commented on how smart it was for me to have the two required elements to the show--the conceptual theme of "New Life" and also a construction theme of "layers"--because it likely led to more thoughtful, exploratory, and purposeful art.  I was so glad to hear that, because that was exactly why I did it.  Knowing the homeschool families who would likely be participating, and how child-led their schooling is, I knew there was a real possibility some kids might scribble with crayons and call it a day and their parents would submit it to the show.  So, I purposefully made the requirements more stringent to keep that from happening, and I was so glad to hear a "real" artist affirm that call.  My decision to use the black matte boards for visual cohesion also worked really well--look at how fabulous and "serious" the kids' works look on that wall!  (There was another whole wall of art as well in the hallway leading to the church offices, but since my kids did not have art on that wall I was not including those pics here.)

This was the first time I ever curated an art show, and it was so rewarding!  To be honest, it was such a hard Spring for me it felt really good to have one thing work out well--to feel like all the time and energy put into something was worth it.  Let's just say, I poured my self into other things this Spring that did not end up being rewarding, and were even a little soul-sucking.  So looking back on this event makes me happy.

(Although I should also say that the whole taking down and parents picking up their art aspect has been a nightmare, involving many hours and much fruitless planning on my part, and it is still not over--there are STILL three pieces of art sitting out in the upstairs church office hallway over the Abbey, which of course I feel still responsible for, and am worried custodians or other church people might end up annoyed over, and which of course I tried to hand over responsibility for to the parents multiple times. . . but even if the parents have had plenty of warning, and the show has been over for a month now, how can I just stick their children's masterpieces in the trash?  Sigh.  Just goes to show there are often a lot more hours of involvement and psychological weight behind one little date on my Spring plan.)

Still, I'll choose to remember just the fun and good in this event. : )  It was so worthwhile.

What We've Been Up To: Purple Sweater Portraits

A few year back one time when we and lots of DH's relations were visiting his grandma, she brought out some boxes of things she had been storing for family members to see if they wanted any of it or if she could give it away.  A lot of it was old clothing, and really nothing much people wanted anymore.  I snagged an oversized Mickey Mouse t-shirt for a pajama top--it was made in the USA too!  That tells you how old it was, for sure.  But then one of DH's cousins, Heather, saw an old mauve sweater and exclaimed that it had been her favorite favorite when she was little!  Heather only has boys, so she promptly gave the sweater to Sunny, since it was about the right size for her and she is, as Heather said, "my fellow redhead." 

It is the most horrible sweater.  It is so dated it is funny.  It is 100% pure scratchy 1970's acrylic.  It is the absolute worst color you could ever put on a redhead, unless your goal is to bring out the purple in her lips and the hollows under her eyes.  So what do I do with it?  Put it on all the kids, and take photos of course!

First trying for an authentic late 70's look

 I think I like it on Smiley best

 

 

And now that it has been properly immortalized, off the sweater goes to Goodwill. : )