In case you missed it on facebook, we celebrated our official first day of school today with the traditional name/age/grade signs and a joint school session with Beacon Hill Academy–DenHartog Campus!
Official First Day of School
Aug 31st, 2015 by ECM
Playing Wedding
Aug 26th, 2015 by ECM
It’s a good thing we have so many flower girl dresses around the house. The girls are currently big into playing wedding!
Real Men Love to Cook…
Aug 25th, 2015 by ECM
…especially when they’re wearing a custom-made Detroit Tigers apron from Great-Aunt Becky!
A Tale of Two Legs
Aug 24th, 2015 by ECM
Once upon a time there were two legs that were used equally. Then one day, a fluke accident with a plastic snail put one out of commission for 8 weeks. The other one took on more than its fair share of the work and caught some sunshine. The other one stayed in a boot in solidarity with its broken foot and got pale and skinny. After new x-rays revealed the foot was healing and the doctor gave permission, the neglected leg eagerly spent this weekend doing some practice standing. It was so exciting to take a shower standing on two feet! But oh, so painful to places on the sole of the foot where callouses used to be. This morning, the leg was even able to assist in some brief bouts of walking from chair to couch. The foot is aching again, so both the injured foot and atrophied leg will get a little break for the afternoon.
One of these things is not like the other. Looks even more pathetic in person.
And apparently 8 weeks of disuse causes swelling and extreme dryness. (I spent over five minutes in the shower just scrubbing off dead skin on the left foot!)
Oh Yes, Temper Tantrums
Aug 21st, 2015 by ECM
I’d forgotten how a two year old can dissolve into tears and cry for half an hour over things like Mommy refusing to dance with her because my foot is broken. Or because she asked for a piece of bread and butter for a snack, and I gave her a piece of bread and butter for a snack.
School Mess
Aug 19th, 2015 by ECM
This is a pretty telling view of our school day this morning. Tommy, Elizabeth, and I were still in our PJs. Susie was in the dirty tutu she’d worn the day before. Janie was in a diaper. Before I made it out to the table, the kids had gotten out the color wonder markers, so that bin was out. Then the 1st grade and 3rd grade bins, of course, and Susie pulled out the “school manipulatives” and preschool bins out so that she could find something to do. Bins (you can’t even see the fifth from here) and their lids crowding everything off the table. In this picture, Tommy is working on his Beast Academy math (still LOVING it!), Susie is using dry erase markers to trace shapes in a preschool book, Elizabeth is working on her handwriting, and Janie is playing with sorting beads. That’s my tea and untouched breakfast bowl on the table–a friend called at 7 am my time with some urgent homeschool questions, so I was slow this morning–and you can even see how filthy the floor is under the table. I think this was before someone spilled a full cup of water for the first of THREE times today. Also lots of random cups, cloth napkins, colored pencils, sticker pages, and lacing cards. It’s Charis Classical Academy, day three!
“Mommy, I picked a pitty flower!”
Aug 18th, 2015 by ECM
Sigh. What are you going to do?
It’s a pity this one is blurry (still haven’t figured out what the kids did to the focus on my camera), but it’s such a typical Jane-Bug expression.
The culprit and the instigator
“Soft Start” to the School Year and a Sort-of Update on my Foot
Aug 17th, 2015 by ECM
We unofficially started school today with just a few subjects. Since we’re officially homeschooling under a public charter this year (for the $2K apiece for Tommy and Elizabeth’s textbooks, supplies, and extracurricular activities), our official first day of school will be August 31. But I feel like we’re ready to have a little structure in the mornings, and I know we’ll be glad we got a head start now when we’re packing and moving later this fall. I didn’t know what to expect, and things were harder because I didn’t fall asleep until 4 am and am thus very, very tired today, but I think it all went well! We started at about 9 and spent an hour or so at the table altogether. We started memorizing Psalm 100, then Elizabeth practiced some handwriting and Susie traced some mazes while Tommy and I worked a bit on his Beast Academy math. Janie colored happily for about 2 minutes before fussing, so she eventually transferred to my lap while I did E’s very first First Language Lesson and Tommy did cursive. After coloring some Daniel Tiger pictures I’d printed out of some preschool site last year, Susie disappeared into her room and Elizabeth did some Busy Bag activities with Bug while I did Tommy’s First Language Lessons dictation. Then I sat down and did phonics with Elizabeth while Tommy did some typing practice. We’re going to do the plain old Veritas NT, Greece, and Rome this year, because history is my passion, but I noticed that Veritas has sample lessons of the first week of online self-paced history, so I decided to let the kids watch those this week since I’m not as passionate about Ancient Minoan culture, anyway. All four kids crowded round the computer for that while I took a shower undisturbed! When I came out, the girls declared that self-paced history is “really great!” I find it a bit on the hokey side myself, but that’s okay. Then Tommy and I did a bit more math together while Elizabeth practiced some typing. I ended up taking the little girls off to read some books, and Tommy got out the train set with Janie while I reviewed a math lesson on doubles addition facts up to ten with Elizabeth.
I’m feeling good about things! I know it will get more complicated as we add in the rest of our subjects, but I was relieved that we were able to get so many subjects done, even with no planned activity for the little girls and no mobility or energy on my part. I think the kids are excited about things, too, especially history. I still have some lesson planning to finish and am waiting on some of our new curriculum to be ordered once the charter school starts back up, but I think it’s going to be a good school year!
No picture, though, because apparently the kids have done something to the focus on my camera, and I can’t figure out how to fix it.
In other news, I went to my primary care doctor today for a variety of reasons, and she ordered more x-rays on my foot to see how it’s progressing but wants me to stay off it for another week, regardless of how well it’s healing. Sigh. I was really hoping to be able to start cooking and cleaning again this week.
Playing with the Neighbors
Aug 14th, 2015 by ECM
After four years, and just before we leave, the kids are suddenly playing with the neighbors all the time. When Henry moved 2 doors down last summer, we started meeting him out with his nanny and her little girl, Nora, in the street every once in a while, and we’d ride bikes a bit every once in a while. But in the past few weeks, the kids have been over playing at Henry’s nonstop, or Tanya will bring Henry and Nora over–and Jordan, our next-door neighbor who we see once in a blue moon–suddenly appears. This morning, our house was dress-up central! I guess better late than never? But I’m wondering if this will make the move to Malibu harder for the kids…
The Benefits of Being Raised by an Anglophile
Aug 13th, 2015 by ECM
Tommy is doing a UK Coached soccer camp this week, and on Tuesday, he won a new soccer ball for winning the UK trivia challenge out of 100+ campers. He answered questions about the Loch Ness monster, 10 Downing Street and Buckingham Palace, the Thames, and the winning question, what is the name of the reigning Queen of England: Victoria or Elizabeth? Easy peasy! Apparently he attributed his win to his mom being a Jane Austen fan. =)
