Elizabeth’s birthday pumpkin pancakes were such a big hit that she offered to make them again for everyone this morning. She messed up the milk and then had to double the recipe, so that totally counts as math, right?
Making Breakfast for Everyone
May 16th, 2017 by ECM
Books We Read This School Year
May 15th, 2017 by ECM
So I’ve been struggling for months with intense mom guilt that this school year did not go how I’d planned. Last summer at the reunion, I was so challenged by hearing my friends talk about how important reading is in the homeschools, and gosh, that is what Derek and I have wanted for our family culture since literally the first day we were dating. I did so well when the big kids were little, reading stacks and stacks of books to them, but I’ve had a much harder time figuring out how to do that the past couple of years, especially now that we live in Malibu and have to add an hour of driving time to literally anything we do, from grocery shopping to Bible study to art class. We are just so much busier. The accident pretty much screwed up everything about this second semester of school, too. I wouldn’t have minded if our life had gone crazy because we were fostering and driving needy kids to appointments. I minded very much the time I’ve had to spend on physical therapy (which is 45 minutes away!) and fighting with the hospital (mystery $10,000 charges are not cool) and our stupid auto insurance (which took five and a half stinking months to pay out for our medical expenses!!!). BUT…the end of the school year is in sight, I’m down to once-a-week physical therapy, and many of our activities are winding down, so I’m trying to finish the year strong with some good reading. And for my own records, here’s what we did get done.
Chapter Books I read to the kids 2016-2017
Augustine Came to Kent
The Door in the Wall
Otto of the Silver Hand
Robin Hood
Pagoo
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz
(See? Pathetic. I mean, we did read a lot of picture books, but not stacks every day. And the goal had been to really do literature-based history this year. Blah.)
Books We Listened to in the Car/At Home
King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table
Swallows and Amazons
Swallowdale
Peter Duck
Winter Holiday
Coot Club
Pigeon Post
We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea
Secret Water
Five Children and It
Little Women
Eight Cousins
Jack and Jill
The Railway Children
The Story of the World: Middle Ages
The Great Brain
All-of-a-Kind Family
More All-of-a-Kind Family
All-of-a-Kind Family Downtown
Betsy-Tacy
Betsy-Tacy and Tib
Betsy and Tacy Go Downtown
Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill
Emily’s Runaway Imagination
The Story Girl
The Moffats
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory
The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (yes, I read it AND they love the recording)
(Okay, after going through our hoopla and audible recently played lists, this makes me feel a little better. When you consider that these are 5-10 hours apiece, that is a lot of time that they were at least listening to quality literature even if I wasn’t the one reading it to them.)
So my takeaway is…it can only get better from here, right? Six read-alouds in a year is an incredibly low bar to pass for next year. And in Iowa City this fall, where everything is just 10 minutes away and we’re not doing many formal activities, it will be easier for us to make weekly trips to the library (instead of biweekly or even monthly this year), we’ll have tons of down time at home to read together, and our family culture will be more like the one I’ve always wanted. Right?
Happy 8th Birthday, Elizabeth!
May 13th, 2017 by ECM
My right hand woman is eight. Still the sunshine of my day (and everyone else’s), she is getting so grown up, and I just want to hang on to this sweet relationship we have right now. Yes, there are tears and tween moments, but I am so blessed to have her in my life.
Last night, as I was tucking the girls in bed, Elizabeth turned to me, book in hand, and said, “Mommy, I think I’m kindof becoming a book worm!” Yes, indeed, I think she already is. I’ve enjoyed sharing many of my favorite girlhood books with her, and she loves listening to audiobooks and reading the books at the same time. It’s good for vocabulary development, right? She also loves mothering anyone smaller than her who comes across her path. Susanna only occasionally allows the mothering, but Janie usually revels in it. Elizabeth also mothers the toddlers on our street and in our small group. She is performing in her first ballet show this month, but her no-nonsense teacher has greatly dimmed her love of ballet class this year. We’ll be taking a break for the summer and and might try a new studio when we get back next year. She does love holding ballet class for her little sisters at home and dancing on her own around the house and really anywhere with enough space to move around. She often comments on how much she misses having a yard to practice cartwheels in! Her grace and awareness of her body have really helped in piano lessons (she’s the only kid whose posture their teacher didn’t have to correct) and in swimming (while Tommy is still a bit faster, Elizabeth’s stroke is beautiful to watch).
Elizabeth is my get-it-done girl. When I need a room tidied or things put away while I’m doing something else, she often is the only one who obeys me and does it. This often leads to frustrations, as when the little girls sit around and play when she’s slaving away. I feel for her and try really hard not to be unfair with chore assignments or punishments for messy rooms. Elizabeth is gaining confidence in major housework and in cooking. She’s gotten much more comfortable with reading recipes this year, so I’m close to letting her take off and try to bake on her own this summer. She’s my most literal child. Sarcasm and innuendo are lost on her, but she finds her siblings hilarious and laughs at their shenanigans.
In school, we are plodding away at the last few weeks of all of her subjects. Math facts are going to need extra drill this summer, but her cursive handwriting is beautiful when she wants it to be, and she excels at memorizing Bible verses, poetry, and Shakespeare. Can I just say how happy it makes me to have my kids throwing Shakespeare quotes into random daily conversation? Every homeschooling mom’s dream!
For her birthday (and to celebrate finally kicking her finger-sucking habit), we are planning to take her doll (and her sisters and their dolls) to American Girl place for lunch in a couple weeks. She is on a real American Girl historical doll kick, checking out stacks of the books every time we go to the library and rereading several per day. But today, it was pretty low-key: pumpkin pancakes in bed, mac and cheese for lunch, and Derek’s fresh homemade spaghetti for dinner!
Derek’s Graduation, Ten Years Later
May 10th, 2017 by ECM
With the academic regalia out for Pepperdine’s graduation, we thought it might be fun to revisit Derek’s graduation day after a decade. My boys are just as handsome as they were in 2007!
Susie’s 6th Birthday Party
May 7th, 2017 by ECM
We were planning on having a picnic/pool party for Susie this weekend, but rain and temperatures in the 50s forced us inside. We still grilled hot dogs and had fruit salad, but we just did painting (12 children, tons of paint, one kitchen…crazy, right?!) and then let the kids decorate their own cupcakes. Susie said it was the “best party ever,” so the mess was worth it!
I didn’t take any pictures of the kids while they were painting, for obvious reasons.
Our guests, ready to eat! (Not pictured: Baby Billy)
Q and Tyler (CBS buddy)
Q with Bobby (Pepperdine Law babies, 2011 edition)
Q and Nico (s-pad bestie!)
Janie and Judah at CBS
May 5th, 2017 by ECM
Janie’s CBS teacher sent me this picture of Janie and Judah at their last CBS class yesterday. I love that the kids learn the pledges to the flag and the Bible at the beginning of class, and apparently J&J got to share holding the American flag one last time! They are such good buddies! (Notice, too, her choice of beige socks with silver shoes…file under “picking my battles and letting some things go.”)
Yogurt and Tea
May 3rd, 2017 by ECM
Good morning. =)
File under: Things That Make Me Happy
Apr 30th, 2017 by ECM
Tommy reading The Wizard of Oz aloud to his sisters.
A Windy Day for Swimming Lessons
Apr 28th, 2017 by ECM
on the “narrowness” of a mother’s life
Apr 27th, 2017 by ECM
“Your life has been so narrow, Mother… just here, all the time. You ought to get out now and see things.”
Unwittingly, as so often she did, Grace had hurt her Mother’s feelings. For a moment Abbie nursed her little hurt, and then she said quietly, “You know Grace, it’s queer, but I don’t feel narrow. I feel broad. How can I explain it to you, so you would understand? I’ve seen everything…and I’ve hardly been away from this yard. I’ve seen cathedrals in the snow on the Lombardy poplars. I’ve seen the sun set behind the Alps over there when the clouds have been piled up on the edge of the prairie. I’ve seen the ocean billows in the rise and the fall of the prairie grass. I’ve seen history in the making…three ugly wars flare up and die down. I’ve sent a lover and two brothers to one, a son and son-in-law to another, and two grandsons to the other. I’ve seen the feeble beginnings of a raw state and the civilization that developed there, and I’ve been part of the beginning and part of the growth. I’ve married…and borne children and looked into the face of death. Is childbirth narrow, Grace? Or marriage? Or death? When you’ve experienced all those things, Grace, the spirit has traveled although the body has been confined. I think travel is a rare privilege and I’m glad you can have it. But not everyone who stays at home is narrow and not everyone who travels is broad. I think if you can understand humanity…can sympathize with every creature…can put yourself into the personality of every one…you’re not narrow…you’re broad.”
— A Lantern in Her Hand (from Ch. 28) by Bess Streeter Aldrich