Little People

We haven't been doing many drawings from the nature stories--- just not enough time in the day. But we did do Little People. I was going to draw a big foot instead of a hand, but didn't leave myself room. K pointed out right away that that was wrong. Mom, what are you doing??? Me: Huh? Oh, yeah... One of the main themes in the story is: don't touch the mushrooms! OOPS! So, I remedied it by writing in red letters "Don't Touch!!" K and D thought that was pretty funny.

100's Chart

K and I finished up this first math black by making a 100's chart. It took us three days to do, mostly because we have to work with A-zilla's interference. We will be working with Even/Odd and Greater/Less Than qualities after our next language arts block. I chose to have us make each number column a different color. When we work with Even/Odd, I will probably print out a second 100's chart so that he can color the even numbers one color and the odd colors another color. That activity won't be clear on this 100's chart. The main purpose of writing out this whole chart was to give K a chance to practice writing the numbers over and over, and sequencing.

Ten

Ten! Finally! Ten is ten fingers and ten toes, both double fives. It's the first two-digit number. We drew a ten pointed star as our geometric figure. How did we do that you ask? Why two five-pointed stars, one on top of the other, of course! K thought this was super cool. Look how complicated it appears to be!

Nine

Tripling! Nine is three three's. We got out our counting stones again, and as I called out small numbers, K would triple them. In nature, Nine is the number of months in human gestation (my pregnant mama above came out weird... a perfect case of just stop drawing... more won't fix it).

We didn't have a geometric figure for Nine.

Nine is also nine planets in our solar system. Knowing that Pluto has been demoted from planetary status, K drew Pluto all by itself in the upper left-hand corner of the page. In number lore, nine is longevity, a sacred trinity of trinities and has some pretty cool properties in relation to multiplication.

Eight

More doubling! Eight can be a pair of four spider legs, or from Rascal, in four pairs of racoon kit eyes. We brought out the counting stones again and played around with doubling more numbers. Our geometric form was a diamond overlapping a square-- two four-sided figures. If you connected the dots, you'd get an octagon. In number lore (which K and I didn't talk about), Eight is the number of new beginnings or regeneration because Seven is the number of completion.

Drawing an Eight is very challenging for a first grader. There's that midline to cross, and it is fascinating to watch the brain and hand working so hard to cooperate! K and I drew together over my figure 8 numerous times until K seemed to feel comfortable enough to attempt it in his own Good Book.

Here are my racoon kits discovered in their sandy burrow under a tree. I initially wrote "Eight is four pairs of eyes," but on second thought, I told Kirven I was crossing that out and putting "can be," because Eight can be the sum of other numbers as well.

Six

We skipped Six and saved it for after Seven in order to introduce "doubling." Again, we looked to nature, this time to find double three's. Insects have pairs of three legs. A pair of clover has six leaves. The Star of David has two triangles.

We got out our counting stones and played with doubling numbers. I would tell him to count out two rocks, and then I would ask him to double that. Four! Then, count out five rocks. Double that. 10!

Seven

Seven is the Big Dipper (Kirven's above), and the rainbow (mine below). Some interesting number lore: Seven is a pivotal number in many traditions, the completion of a cycle leading toward realization or the divine. There are seven years in each cycle of human development (birth to seven years, seven to fourteen, fourteen to twenty-one, and on...) In mystical stories, there are often seven steps or seven gates through which one passes to reach the goal. In the Kabbalah, there are seven branches on the Tree of Life. Just interesting stuff. Kirven and I didn't talk about number lore, but we did look for the magic of seven in nature.

For the geometric figure, we combined the square with the triangle.

Five

Mine (and Dunagan's hand)

Kirven's. Kirven also drew Rascal's hand.

Kirven found drawing the five-pointed star to be really interesting. He liked the continuity of the motion and practiced it on his own later in the day to make a tree ornament.

Toga

I won't wear clothes. Why am I cold?

Snuggled

Blizzard

It snowed. It really did. For about 15 minutes.

Homestead Heritage Craft Fair

We went to the annual fair at Homestead Heritage the Saturday after Thanksgiving. They have really grown! It's been at least seven or eight years since I was there last, probably more. I think Evan and I were fairly newlyweds at the time. Anyway, well worth the drive. Lots of interesting things to see and nice people to talk to. Bring your own coffee, though; it's a caffeine-free zone.

We had just finished reading Babe: The Gallant Pig by Dick King-Smith, so it was a great opportunity to get to see some sheepdogs in action--- or goatdogs, I should say, since it was goats they were rounding up. Kirven and Dunagan were super excited to recognize the calls "away to me" and "that'll do." It was like they felt they were in on a secret code. (By the way, the movie was terrible. We rented it the last weekend, and we were all really disappointed. I know it won a lot of academy awards and the special effects were amazing, but man, can't they leave a good story alone?)

Dunagan fell in love with the baby chicks in the chicken house. He held numerous ones as long as he politely could. He would have taken them all home if he could've.

And both boys chose to make a boat from the many crafts they offer, and those have been great fun in the tub (except for Aylazilla... that's not so fun).

We didn't stay too long. It's a convenient stop on our way back home from visiting family for Thanksgiving. We got there about lunch time, and headed out around four o'clock when Ayla began to give out on us. Gone are the days of napping in the stroller. She was asleep before we left the parking lot though, maybe before I even got my seatbelt clicked.

We hope to go again every year we can while the kids are still interested. Anyone's welcome to join us next year!

Four

Four is stability. Four is the square, a sturdy house, the four winds, the four cardinal directions, the four elements. Kirven drew water, wind, earth and fire.

Four is also the four seasons

Happy Birthday, Kirven!

Kirven turned seven Saturday. Happy Birthday, Kirven! He had an oreo cake...

... and a mad scientist demonstration...

... and even made slime.

Afterward, when it was just family left, we had pizza and opened gifts. It was a great day!

Rising Castle Form Drawing

Like Castle a couple weeks ago, this one was very easy for him. Another linear one... interesting.

Three

Here is our work with number Three. Three is Harmony. Think of a musical cord. I chose to draw a father, mother and child.

Kirven drew Heaven, Earth and Man. The black circle at the top is Heaven, and the green ball is Earth. And Man has a top hat.

And Kirven's numeral writing, triangle and three dots. He didn't like his first '3.'

Our reading from Rascal highlighted when Sterling, his father and Rascal all go to Lake Koshkonong to hear the whip-poor-wills; a happy trio. The link between our number work and our chapter book has become a little tenuous. I'm not sure either of us are feeling much of a connection. This is where I think the fairy tales would shine. We forgot to do recall this morning, and Kirven was very distracted during our work. That's probably the missing link right there, because he did better on all the other mornings.

Two

Here's our work for the number Two. I drew Rascal and Poe-the-Crow, a pair of Sterling's pets (from Rascal) and also enemies. Rascal has a shiny penny in his mouth and Poe is about to steal it. In hindsight, I was too explicit about defining Two as 'pairs and opposites.' The discovery learning factor there was a little lacking (and in Three the next day as well). It is difficult when there isn't a class of kids to inspire each other.

Kirven drew a boy and a girl, a pair of trees, and dark and light (black & yellow circles). He seems to be enjoying choosing what he will draw. He doesn't want to draw what I'm drawing, which is new for him, and a nice step to see him take.

Kirven's numeral 2, plus two dots and parallel lines for the geometric form which expresses 'twoness.'

And mine...

Ironing

I found this super nifty applique iron at Joann's Fabrics night before last. I didn't know they made irons like these. It's perfect for chore time! The instructions say: NOT A CHILDREN'S TOY!!! KEEP AWAY FROM CHILDREN!!!

Heh.

Actually, I was very pleased with the temperature. It gets warm enough to start thinking about coaxing wrinkles out of cotton napkins (it would take you all day to persuade anything to press with this thing), but not hot enough to burn anybody. Ayla was even able to use it after we unplugged it, and it was cooling down. Needless to day, it was a big hit.

One

We began our first math block this week, and we're focusing on Number Qualities. We discussed Zero on Monday and Zero's tricky quality of being nothing, yet being able to make other numbers 'more.' Zero is nothingness and emptiness. Zero is also potential... the moment before the beginning, yet also the moment after everything is finished and gone and the moment of completion. We didn't draw anything for Zero because there's nothing to draw!

Tuesday was a discussion about the magic of one. One is unity and uniqueness. We both drew the sun. We also discussed how we are each unique as individuals. I drew my lovely stick figure self, but Kirven was content with just his sun. I also added in one Rascal from Rascal. Rascal, a true story about a pet raccoon, is the chapter book we're working with for this block since we have shelved fairy tales for the time being. (And let me tell you... night and day, people. Recall is so much easier this block than it was doing our Fairy Tale Consonants block. Kirven is chiming in and finishing my sentences and is excited to relive episodes from the book as we retell it. It's been tough (for me) letting the fairy tales go for now, but it has been the right decision).

Then we drew the numerals large on a separate page. We also saw how one can be represented by a single dot (think dominoes) and also by the circle (one side). Kirven's is below, and mine below that.

(As a side note, today while we were discussing the triangle for three and that it has three sides, Kirven thought back to this circle and was a little confused that it didn't have sides. I added a little snake head to show him that it was like a snake (one side) eating its tail.)

I'm really enjoying learning about number qualities myself. This wasn't something we ever covered in school, that I can remember. Kirven said to me, I didn't know numbers had magic! I didn't either. I really, really like how we are setting the foundation for noticing the patterns in math and breathing life into numbers.

The Dragon's Flame

Another painting story from Kristie Burns' ebook A Year of Waldorf Watercolor Stories. It's one that can be used for Michaelmas (but we don't celebrate Michaelmas), but we do love dragons around here!

Kirven's painting is above; Dunagan's below. This is the first painting where Dunagan followed along, and he was very proud of that fact! He was on the other side of the table from me, so his is upside down. :)

And mine...

Rising Wave Form Drawing

The form was really, really hard for me and for Kirven. It was so tough, that K and I gave up at the chalk board drawing stage and declared our mutual need for Daddy. Evan walked it with us Saturday morning, and then did the rest of the form drawing steps with Kirven. Visual-spatial. Not my forte. But I am genuinely loving form drawing. I am finding it fascinating to watch both Kirven and myself working with these forms and how our brains struggle to make our body movements match our mental pictures.

First Cold Morning

We found our hats and mittens this morning.

Big Spider

What the heck is this thing??? Evan brushed it with his hand on the banister.

Independent Painting

Ayla's fingerpainting

Kirven's independent wet-on-wet watercolor. Very linear.

Color Painters

We drew a picture from the autumn Enki Nature Story Color Painters. We were supposed to color the red and yellow leaves first, then cover them with green. Then we could scratch off the green to reveal the autum colors. The project worked great. The only problem was that K and I made our trees too big, and we got tired of coloring leaves. Kirven tried switching to block crayons, but that didn't work at all, and I just gave up on mine and did half and covered up the other half with my hand as I finished 'retelling' the story.

Washing

One of the chores the kids can choose for morning chore time is washing 'clothes' (or napkins in this case). We hadn't done this particular chore yet here at the new house, and it was cold the morning Kirven requested it, so we laid out several towels on the playroom floor. It worked great, and they were not as messy as I feared. They can get really out of hand with the water play outside.

Letter Review

Here are the letters of our First Consonant Block. I had Kirven write them in a grid in his Good Book, so that he could see all that he had done.

Project Night

Project Night with Dad: putting together Ayla's new chair. I challenge anyone to find a highchair that can contain her.

The Golden Amulet

Our last fairy tale in our First Consonant Block was The Golden Amulet for the letter 'T.' My picture is above, Kirven's is below.

And the circle was our form drawing for that week. The form gave him a little bit of trouble. It is a difficult form for first graders to make a well-balanced circle. He made a perfect one in the sand tray. I made a mistake by unthinkingly exclaiming, Nice! when he did it because he became overly confident for the rest of the form work and easily frustrated when it didn't come as easily with the crayon drawing. What a good reminder of being 'punished by rewards...'

Dunagan decided he was not ready to leave his 'Blue Period' after all.

Peach Tree

Hidden Pumpkin Painting

Kirven's

Mine

Dunagan

This was a fun one to paint! I found the painting story in the ebook A Year of Waldorf Watercolor Stories by Kristie Burns.

The Girl Who Laughed Lilies

For the letter 'L,' we read the Middle Eastern fairy tale The Girl Who Laughed Lilies.

My picture. The 'L's are the lilies falling from her mouth.

Kirven's

Dunagan's, emerging slightly from his 'Blue Period.'

Mariposa

We did a story cycle with the Enki Nature Story Mariposa, which is about the life cycle of the Monarch butterfly. My picture is above, and Kirven's is below.

Dunagan is still in his 'Blue Period.'

Playing

Halloween!

Halloween Trick 'r Treating started out with a neighborhood cookout down the street. It's fun to be a part of social neighborhood, and one with lots of kids to boot!

Dunagan is the little pilot seated on the bottom left. Kirven sat this picture out.

Ready for candy.

Ditto that.

And s'mores to top off the night.

Pumpkin Carving

We carved our pumpkins the Monday of Halloween week, and my sisters Bettye and Hillary were able to come over again for our second annual Carving Party (with Cider). My parents and Hillary's boyfriend were also able to come, making it even more fun.

Sweetberry Farm

We went out to Sweetberry Farm in Marble Falls right before Halloween to get our Jacks. Evan missed out on the fun since he was still in Germany, but my parents were able to go along with us. It turned out to be much, much more than just a pumpkin patch. The farm was very crowded!

The boys painted a couple pumpkins, did the kid maze (as opposed to the acres-large Texas maze), and the hay ride, and Dunagan took a chance to ride a pony.

There were wild bees everywhere, and Ayla was stung twice, and Dunagan and I were each stung once--- my first sting ever. It hurt, but it wasn't as bad as I had always imagined. Bad, but not something I couldn't handle. And poor Dunagan, he had been so kind to the bees all day, waiting patiently while they took their sweet time sipping the strawberry popsicle drips off his hand. As we were leaving, he thought he had a mosquito on his cheek and slapped at it. It wasn't a mosquito.

Overall, it was a fun, exhausting day. Now that I know what to expect, we'll have to consider going again next year. It would definitely make a nice Halloween tradition.

Rhodopis

We did the Egyptian Fairy Tale Rhodopis for the letters Rr (raven) and Pp (princess). Kirven included the hippo from the story in his above, but didn't want to draw the princess. But that's ok, because we work from my drawing the next day to find the hidden letters.

I forgot to take pictures of his handwriting for the letters and verses, but we did 'castle' for our form walk and drawing for that week, which you can see below. He did really well with this form; it was very easy for him, which is typical for very analytical children. The more flowing forms, like 'soft wave,' are more difficult for him. It will be interesting to see which ones Dunagan finds easy and more challenging. I'm guessing it will be the opposite for him.

Little White Dove Verse

Little White Dove

Kirven's

Mine

Dunagan's

Changing Gears

It's common for first graders to resist circle or practice work, but resistance doesn't usually come at story time. Well, it came around here. There was enough resistance to the fairy tales that we were reading that I really began to feel that I was just not meeting Kirven where he is right now, but I wasn't sure what to do instead. Was it just a matter of stretching him a little bit, or was I breaking him trying to force feed these fairy tales?

Time for a consultation call with Beth Sutton to get her take on it. Her answer surprised me, but in the end, I agreed with her. Instead of fairy tales, we are going to be using chapter books during the next two blocks (Numbers Qualities and the Second Consonant Block). Kirven loves chapter books--- begs me not to stop; please just read a little bit more... I told Beth the ones we had read recently, all ones he loved, and they all have the same themes that fairy tales do: chaos, separation, conflict... So, why aren't the fairy tales appealing to Kirven? Perhaps he has not shifted into symbolic thinking? That's the theory anyway. We don't know, and I may never figure it out. But, I'm going to drop them for now, and we may try them again after February or so, particularly if I sense a shift in him that might suggest he is ready for them.

There is a big part of me that has to deal with letting go of the fairy tales. I love fairy tales, and I have been eager to share them with my children. For now, that is going to have to wait a little longer. And it was a good reminder that the Enki Approach is not the materials in the big binders; it is meeting the child where they are. And right now, Kirven is being fed by chapter books.

So, we are going to attempt to do the Number Qualities Block using Rascal, the book we just happened to finish today. We are taking this week more casually as I regroup and figure out what the heck I am going to do.

Do Schools Kill Creativity?

Debajo del Boton

This is the moving picture I made for use doing circletime Spanish work for "Debajo del Boton." If you can't tell (which Kirven couldn't), it is supposed to be a hand (Uncle Martin's to be exact) lifting a button and finding a mouse.

Just Leave It On

Imagine the boys and me in the middle of doing circle time when a certain toddler rounds the corner buck naked and saying, "Pay, pay... pay," and looking a little... wet.

At some point, she took off her clothes, and while she was standing on the couch (the couch), looking out the window deer-watching, she pee'd. This was her second self-undiapering and accident in 15 minutes. I had just cleaned up her first mess in the kitchen, put her on the potty for a minute, dressed her and gotten back to doing circle.

And this was not the last accident this morning! (ooooooooooh, yes, there was much more to come) Nor was it the last self-disrobing. So far, the poops have been contained in the diapers, but she has been bringing them to me in her hands (the soiled diaper, that is, not the poop alone, thank God--- and I don't mean that blasphemously, I mean that seriously, really, thank God), and then it is a juggle and a wrestle to get her cleaned up.

You know, in my beautiful schedules and rhythms for the day, I didn't leave any room for spontaneous potty exploration. I'm running out of towels.

Vasily Verse

Kirven wrote the whole verse himself!

Origami

Kirven discovered my old origami book, used up all our origami paper making about 25 cups (the first figure in the book), tested them all at the sink, and requested more paper. Origami actually comes later in the first grade year as part of math work, but he's obviously enjoying it now.


And cute pics:

Soft Wave Form Drawing

Vasily and the Dragon

Vasily and the Dragon was our story for the letter 'D' (do you see the hidden letter?). I liked the story, Dunagan liked the story (I like scary stories, Mom; I doooooooooo! I love them!), but Kirven... not so much.

Dunagan's work with dot painters.

Kirven added some details to his drawing: the ferry boat at the top of the page, and the black spiral going down, down, down into the deep, dark dragon cave.

Grandfather Blue's Nap

Dunagan's

Kirven's

Mine

I really like watercolor painting with the boys. Dunagan really seems to enjoy it, though he is also starting to get frustrated that he can't follow my lead. I think it may be time for some independent paintings soon. Kirven, on the other hand, could take it or leave it. The outdoors have been calling his name. It's too beautiful outside to be inside painting.

Scorpion

Look what we found in our kitchen this morning.

Jumping Mouse Verse

Kirven wrote the beginning of the Jumping Mouse verse using a different color for each letter, but he decided to stick with blue for the third word. His hand started cramping about midway through the third word, and I pushed him a little to finish that last word.

Jumping Mouse

Jumping Mouse was our story for the letter 'J.' Here's my drawing above, with the hidden letter in the tail.

Kirven's drawing; he added the frog from the story. He also wrote the title in a rainbow of colors.

His letter 'Jj's.'

Dunagan's work.

Yellow's Birthday Party

Dunagan's

Kirven's

Mine

Kirven's camera

I just thought this was a cool picture from Kirven's camera.

AWHS Halloween Party

We just got home from the Austin Waldorf Homeschoolers' Halloween Party. Oh, what fun! Lots of yummy potluck dishes, fun games like ring toss on witches hats, pin the nose on the pumpkin, feel the icky yucky thing in the box, and even a fortune teller.

Everyone was in costume and eager to participate. Kirven's favorite game had to be throwing darts at balloons.

It was such a sweet party. Most of the prizes were little trinkets; only a few pieces of candy (which unfortunately (for me) melted in my pocket). Dunagan won a tiny, glass sun, which you can't see very well.

And Kirven won a couple of teeny tiny pumpkins and minuscule spell books. Kirven questioned why the 'spell books' were blank, and I told him that he would have to know the secret magic word for the spells to appear. All spell books are enchanted this way.

The older homeschoolers' drama class did the witches' scene from Macbeth around a glowing, steaming cauldron, and a couple of other children recited spooky poems. After that, and with the darkness, most of the children went running off into the woods with the dads jumping out from trees to scare them. Dunagan ran off with his friend Annie to be scared by the dads, but eventually joined Kirven by the fire circle to throw sticks into the fire. Ayla was right there with them, throwing in handfuls of hay and scaring her mama in a not so fun way.

Eventually, even though the boys were having the time of their lives, Ayla really and truly gave out and needed to be put to bed, so we sadly made our way home. Thanks very much to our hosts, Margaret and family! We can't wait for next year!

Rodrigo y Gabriela

I took the boys to the Rodrigo y Gabriela concert Tuesday night at Stubb's. (This is a perk of homeschooling. Yeah, they were out way past bedtime, but it was a special thing, and we could sleep in the next morning and still get our schoolwork done!) Rodrigo and Gabriela were as awesome, if not more awesome, in concert than on their cds. And the funny thing is, I'm not big on live music, but this is one group where if I hadn't had the boys with me, I would have been down front dancing the whole time. We stayed afterward hoping to meet them, but they didn't come out. There were a couple of other little kids at the concert, which surprised me a little, but they actually looked like homeschoolers, too. There's just a homeschool vibe sometimes. Evan had tickets to go with us, but ended up being sent to Germany on business. We were sad Daddy couldn't get to enjoy the music with us. Our friend Chris was able to go, and he snapped this picture of us with his phone. This is about the time the boys were getting bored and ready to go home. Rodgab didn't end up playing until close to 9pm, so their attention span was a little used up "waiting patiently." But they had a good time overall. And I would definitely like to go back with Evan just the two of us when they're back in town.

Snout Butterflies

Did anyone else see the swarming snout butterflies? They're not very colorful, but they are sweet, little brown things, and they were all over our backyard this afternoon; dozens and dozens of them. It was a BEAUTIFUL day to be outside catching butterflies.

Update: I'm feeling a lot better; Ayla, not so much. Her poor tush is diaper-rashed from the antibiotic. But I think her ear infections are getting better. It's always hard to tell with a toddler.

Back in Bed

Instead of getting back to schoolwork this morning, Evan packed me off to see the doctor, while he took Ayla and Dunagan in to see the pediatrician. I have a secondary infection (acute bronchial infection), and Ayla has a double ear infection. Drugs all around, and we're to keep a close eye on Ayla, Tamiflu on hand. Dunagan was all clear. So, that's where we are. Still sick.

Little Falcon

Our first story last week was Little Falcon. It introduces the letters 'G' and 'M'. Each story has a repeating verse, which becomes part of the storywork during the following days. We practiced reading the verse together many times during the 2nd and 3rd days, and we have been working kinesthetically with the verse during circle using Eurythmy gestures for the letter sounds. I found a little blackboard through Paper, Scissors, Stone, which is proving to be very handy. I just set it up in our window next to our work table. The window latches work fine as holders, and it allows Kirven to work on eye tracking when he is writing out the verse in his Good Book.

The day after reading Little Falcon, we recalled the story together, and then I led him in drawing the picture above. Mine is below, and you can see the hidden letters G (in the gate) and M (in the mountains). Kirven asked me if it was a G as I was drawing it, and I just said, 'hmm, we'll have to find out tomorrow,' but he didn't notice the M. It was a little more subtle, and he was surprised by it the next day when we worked on revealing the hidden pictures.

And Dunagan's latest silky crayon drawing is below. These crayons are terribly messy, and Dunagan ended up taking them all apart (breaking them), so they were all thrown in the trash at the end of drawing time. I wasn't sad to see them go. I used to love them, and they are still fun to draw with, but Dunagan likes to experience them tactilely, and I need a break. I spend too much time cleaning his side of the table (and chair and floor and body)! We'll get some more sometime; I just need a few months.

And a final note on piggy flu around here. I'm still the only one who's been sick. We had a slow day at home today. I feel like I'm pregnant. I can't do too much without feeling like I need to lie down on the couch for a minute. The main difference, though, is that I know I can push through the fatigue, and it won't kill me, meaning, I won't paid dearly for it later in not being able to get out of bed or vomiting--- as was the case in pregnancy. I love being able to push through to get things done again.

Better

Thank you, everyone, for your get well wishes. The kids are still well, and Evan is still well. I don't think we'll be out of the woods until Friday or so with them. I'm not really clear on the incubation period. I am feeling much better. I was able to warm up dinner this evening, do dishes and pickup, and now, I'm about to turn my attention to the mountain of clean clothes piled in my bedroom. I'm feeling weak, but I'm taking it slow.

We're just going to have a couple of quiet days at home before we try to get back to stories and storywork. Maybe we'll go get ourselves chocolate shakes that I have been craving all this time.

Rats

My fever is back to 103, and I'm coughing more and a little wheezy. It's 'cause I blogged that I was better, Evan said.

And Kirven had a croupy cough tonight, Ayla was extra fussy going down to sleep.

And a five year old girl in Austin just died from H1N1. No words. Scared. And weepy for that mom and family.

Going to go watch a dvd of The Office with Evan to think about nothing having to do with the flu.

Railroaded

I started running a high fever Tuesday night, and it has just broken today. That meant that schoolwork ground to a screeching halt. Evan was able to take the boys through circle Wednesday morning (an unforseen benefit of working from an mp3 playlist!--- which I'll post more about later; it's been a lifesaver) and morning lessons (with me guiding Kirven from my bed to find and write the hidden letters from our Little Falcon drawings-- pictures soon). My parents were able to come mid-morning (thank goodness for extended family in town--thanks Mom & Dad!) so that Evan could head to work. Kirven did his practice work after quiet time, and my mother read a chapter to us all from Thimble Summer in the afternoon. I was glad that we were able to complete the story cycle we were in the middle of, and we'll just push our next story, Jumping Mouse and the letter J, as well as the other activities we had planned, to the beginning of next week.

Thursday and Friday have been more unstructured, but the kids have been good and very helpful while I've been sick.

I'm expecting everyone to get sick, and we're concerned that I've had H1N1. What does that mean for Ayla and Dunagan? Kirven is a little older, but he has asthma and may still be sensitive to egg (egg is involved in creating the flu vaccine). Do we get them the vaccine? Do we risk as serious vaccine reaction with Kirven? Do we risk respiratory problems if he gets the virus? We've got the same reservations about the vaccine as every other parent in the country. Is it too late anyway since they have been exposed to me (assuming that's what I've had--- I have all the symptoms). Hopefully, if Evan gets sick, he gets sick soon because he leaves for Germany at the end of next week.

So, I'm in bed recouping; everyone else is still fine and healthy. Hopefully, everyone stays that way!

Duchess Autumn

We did a led drawing for Duchess Autumn today. Kirven followed me pretty closely, and then he added the wind that makes the leaves dance (all the red swirls) on his own.

Dunagan's-- doin' his own thing.

My drawing from which Kirven was working.

And we also did our first form drawing, which is a preparation for handwriting. We walked a line and a curve out in the culdesac three mornings in a row, after our short walk to get the blood moving and right before we went in for circle. Today, I asked Kirven to draw on our little chalkboard what we had walked. He did that several times, and then he drew them with his finger in a pan full of sand. He liked that part the best. Then he drew them in yellow crayon in his Good Book. Finally, he did his best form in the color of his choice (blue) and colored the background yellow to hide his previous tries. This form was a snap for him.

This was our wonderfully smooth morning.

And then Ayla slipped going up the steps of the playscape and knocked a bottom tooth loose! Blood everywhere!

I immediately got on the phone with our dentist (who is in Oak Hill-- SOUTH Austin for all you non-Austinites), and they promised to squeeze us in. The boys were very good and very helpful, and we got in the car in record time. And we got to Oak Hill in record time and without a ticket. It was all very exciting-- a full-on emergency.

The verdict is: wait and see. Her tooth may or may not have broken completely off. We tried to get an x-ray, but we might as well have been wrestling an alligator. Hopefully, we can keep her from pulling it out herself, and it will heal itself. She is on a soft food-only diet, so my baby who has made it through babyhood with no baby food just had her first strained stew for dinner. And she didn't like it! She looked at me like I had to be kidding. And then she dumped her water in it. Because she can only have a lidless cup and no sippy cup...she shouldn't suck...bad for the tooth. She seems to be nursing ok, suprisingly enough.

Except for the loose tooth, it was a good day.

First Week

Well, we're in the middle of our first week. I made a tactical error by forgetting that when you order supplies online, it takes a few days for them to get here. So, we're kind of doing a 'pre' week, and we'll get into the meat of the first Consonants Block next week. We're doing form drawing and circle and reading some favorite K stories and Duchess Autumn. And we also decorated the title pages of our Good Books in lieu of story work drawings.

Here's my Good Book and Dunagan's Good Book.

And here is one of Kirven's Good Books: Science. I had him follow my lead as I told him this story:

'Once, long ago, at the beginning of time, there was much that the earliest people didn't understand. (I said this as I was drawing the dark border with a purple crayon-- blue would have been better in hindsight). People didn't know how to make fire. They didn't know how to make clothes. They didn't know why the bees made honey or what plants were best to eat. They didn't know how to make metal. (I talked along these lines as I colored with the purple)

(Then I took a yellow crayon and drew a dot in the center). Then one day, someone wondered. Someone wondered how to make fire, and they figured it out. (Then I expanded the yellow circle) Then someone else wondered about how to make clothes, and they figured it out. (and I continued on in this vein until the whole center was yellow).

The more people wondered, the more they understood. And the more they understood, the more they were able to wonder, and the more they wondered, the more they were able to figure out.

Kirven, you are old enough now to join all the people in wondering. There are many things we still don't understand, but you can wonder about them and you can help to figure them out."

Kirven seemed to be touched deeply, and it was a pretty cool mama-son moment.

Here's Kirven's free drawing for his Form Drawing book. I debated doing all one book, but decided to go with separate subject books, but I did take the advice of my good friend and fellow Enki mom, Michelle, and got Dunagan his own good book, though smaller.

For the Form Drawing Book and the Language Arts Book (not pictured), I let Kirven free draw how he wanted.

And two knights showed up last night. Evan and I thought we heard them come in, but we weren't sure until the morning when we found them at the breakfast table. They had heard that the boys had a castle that needed some defending. The dinosaur was in desparate need of reinforcements; not to mention, it was the first week of school.

Peek-a-Boo

Deadline

I've set Monday as our first day of Grade One for Kirven (and K4 for Dunagan!-- he's going to have his own little Good Book). What this means is that I am cramming like I have a final coming up. I'm reading and planning and gathering resources together all weekend.

Our weekly schedule for the fall has firmed up. We've decided (surprisingly) against Cub Scouts. The den is a really great homeschool den, but it just wasn't a good fit this year. It might be next year. We are still doing Enki Game Day (with Austin Enki Homeschoolers) and Eurythmy (with Austin Waldorf Homeschoolers), and our friend Cristina, a native Spanish speaker, is still going to come and play with the kids for a couple hours in Spanish.

We're going to start with a Consonants (Language Arts) Block, and I'll post more details about that later on Musings.

We're going to try something different with circle this year because my memory is completely caput. I don't know if it's the third pregancy that did it or what, but I can't memorize anything anymore, and I just don't have the time. It has meant the difference between doing circle and NOT doing circle (adventure, formal, enhanced walk, whatever). If I'm stumbling along (which I am), I lose the boys nearly immediately. So, Evan and I have come up with a cheat. Evan's degree is in audio engineering, and he has been offering to record me saying the verses. We're going to make MP3 playlists of each circle (adding in songs from the Enki cds), and I will just play them when we do circle and we'll all follow as a group. It's a total cheat, I know. We'll see how it goes.

Ok, back to work... or time to start, I guess. Evan and the kids are down at the creek for the morning. I'm obviously supposed to be using my time more wisely than blogging. This helps me focus for the task at hand, right?

16 Tons

16 tons of pea gravel. Two dump truck loads. And we moved it all in one day (with a bit of last hour shoveling from a very kind neighbor).

The boys did their fair share of hauling, and it truly was a lot of fun to work together as a family.

We have a wonderful new playscape to show for our efforts.


Evan and I are still feeling it in places we didn't know we had muscles.

Little Mama

Ayla has discovered her baby doll. Yesterday, she climbed up in our rocking chair with her baby and her sunglasses, worked at getting her sunglasses to stay on top of her head, cradled her baby in her arms and then started making the rocker rock. Then she gently patted her baby. I only happened to see her out of the corner of my eye. And some say boys and girls are the same. HA! Both of my boys had a doll, but they never nurtured it--- not like this. They might carry it around in the doll sling once in a blue moon (at my suggestion) and pretend to be a daddy while continuing to play trucks, but that is the extent of it. Ayla will give kisses and snuggle and rock and pat and carry her baby in the sling for long periods of time. She's also starting to put her to bed! And taking her to bed with her herself. 16 months. I can't get over it. I didn't expect her to play like that until at least two and a half or three. And it's funny how easily I can sink into playing dolls with her; my mind doesn't wander away with boredom at all. I have a much harder time playing the boy type of things with Kirven and Dunagan. Legos. Trucks. Trains. (my eyes glaze over) But dolls on the other hand; much easier for me to stay focused! (and I've suddenly realized: now here is a child who might be interested in a dollhouse and a play kitchen... oh, the possibilities; how exciting... and, um, the potential to go overboard at Christmas...)

And I should add, the doll in the picture is a very special doll. A version of this doll was given to me and both my sisters and all my female cousins by my mother's mother, and my mother, I think, bought Ayla's doll for her the day after her 20-weeks-gestation sonogram when we found out her gender. It was a first Christmas present for her. So, Mamma, you ought to be pleased! (Because she scorns the waldorfy doll I so carefully picked out for her!!) And you'll also notice: no clothes on the doll. What is it with naked baby dolls??

Paint

We found our paint! Unpack art supplies- CHECK

Packing

Ayla playing in one of the first boxes to be packed at our old house

Trofast

We bought some new shelves for the playroom/project room from IKEA, and the boys did all the screwing together. "IKEA: furniture so well-designed a four year old and a six year old can put it together."

Silly Clothes

This is a new game called 'Silly Clothes'. It all started when I asked Dunagan to please, for last time, go get dressed. This is how he came down, and the game was born. His job is to put clothes on in the most ridiculous ways he can come up with, and my job is to exclaim how silly he looks and how he still doesn't have it right and to please go try again.

Mail Call

Ayla with our mailbag all ready to walk down to the mailbox with Geena

Bit by Bit

We are mostly unpacked. The big areas left are Evan's office, homeschooling nooks and crannies, and the garage. I veer between a mature patience for the process and sheer panic.

I uncovered Enki Grade One today. Our Austin Enki Homeschoolers group had a meeting a couple weeks ago, and between that and the NOT Back to School swim party today (held annually on the first day of public school ) and finding our books, I'm starting to feel a little inspired. Our Enki group is planning a weekly Game Day that we'll participate in. We're considering the homeschool Cub Scouts den, and we'll be doing Eurythmy with Austin Waldorf Homeschoolers again this year. On top of our Friends Meeting every weekend, I think all those activities are plenty for our outside-commitment plate.

We just finished reading Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator. I'm beginning to appreciate Dahl's humor better, though he's still not my favorite. Both boys love him. I think they would love him even more in a couple years.

Someday, I'll get back to posting pictures on here, too, and not just writing. Eventually. It's all a process.

Moved

So we've done it. All of our stuff is in our new house, and we're officially northies now! Yay! and Sniff! I miss the comfort and friends of south Austin, but there's some pretty cool stuff up here, too, like Terra Burger (sprinkler park and shakes, what more can I say? Hannah, if you see this, we could easily be talked into meeting over there sometime!), and very friendly neighbors. Everyone on our street has been very welcoming. No pictures yet... camera's somewhere around here... I figure if I unpack just one box a day, it will take me less than six months to get us settled. Our focus now is on getting our house on Greentree ready for market and sold as quickly as possible. Anyone looking for a house? In the meantime, some things will have to wait to be done here at our new house.

Kirven asks me nearly every day when we're going to start first grade. Soon! Soon, soon, soon... when I can find the box.

The boys spent the week with grammy and grandpa while we packed and moved and unpacked (a little), which was enormously helpful. (Thanks!) They had an awesome time and came back with superior swimming and ice-cream-eating skills. Their uncle told them that he didn't get swimming and ice cream everyday when he was a kid.

While in Waxahachie, they started reading Charlotte's Web, and we finished that a couple days ago and have moved on to Stuart Little (also by E. B. White). Other than than, our learning these days centers around helping mommy unpack boxes (their quota seems to be three for the day before that start asking for ice cream) and riding bicycles in the culdesac.

First Grade Panic Attack

Kirven is ready to start learning how to read. We're in the middle of buying a house and moving. My Enki Grade One books are still in their box unread because I knew it would be better to wait until after the move to start reading them, otherwise I would forget everything. And now I'm panicking. I'm particularly panicking in the shower. I have to stop and remember that this is all according to plan. We aren't officially starting first grade work until November after our month off in October. There's still plenty of time, and even if we get 'behind' we can always, easily, catch up.... so why do I suddenly feel like it's the night before an exam, and I haven't started studying yet??? Breathe.

And as a side note, as I'm packing up our study, I'm coming across books that I bought, intended to use, and had completely forgotten about. Good books! Fun books! More panic!

In the midst of packing boxes, we have still kept up with reading a new kindergarten fairy tale each week. Though, things are slowly falling by the wayside one by one as we get closer to moving day. It's hard to do painting or crafts in all the mess (a mess that is actually the 'usual' mess because we haven't bothered to declutter yet since we are moving and planned on killing two birds with one stone). But Kirven has been making scrambled eggs in the morning on his own, and both boys have been making ebelskivers with their grandmother. We've been doing a little Spanish most days, and we have made it out for our after-breakfast walk. Kirven is still doing his piano lessons at his own pace, and we're reading The Wheel on the School by Meindert Dejong. It's the first chapter book that Dunagan hasn't hung around for, and that Kirven hasn't begged for chapter after chapter. It's a sweet book, but a little dense and slow perhaps... perhaps it would be a better success with a seven year old? Capyboppy was our last book, and we've read it twice, it was such a success. In the area of mathmatics, Kirven seems to have an innate ability. He is noticing the pattern of numbers, how bigger numbers are groups of smaller numbers, and he can subtract small numbers in his head faster than I can sometimes; all of which he has figured out on his own.

The rest of our days are spent with me trying to get basic household chores done while simultaneously keeping Ayla happy in spite of the fact that the boys have left her (a fact which she is not happy about) and are in the front yard hunting for toads. Or, I am able to let her out in the backyard while the boys run up our water bill filling the sandbox, expanding the mud wallow(s) and spraying the neighbors' house, car (aiming for the open window), trash can and cats... until I yell out the doorway for them to stop or I'm turning off the hose, which is an empty threat (which we all know) because that would mean they would want to come inside early. And we can't have that, at least not until I get the folded clothes put away.