blessed and lucky, continuing

Here's a short list of some things we've been doing since I last blogged:

-watching movies, especially the cartoon versions of Lord of the Rings and Return of the King.  (Elise has been enthralled with these stories, lately, and seen them many times this past week.)

-reading (Elise found the Warriors series by by Erin Hunter.  I've started with one of Gene Logsdon books called "You Can Go Home Again"--Jen and Jodi, I think you'd like him!  I've also got "The Contrary Farmer's Invitation to Gardening" but I'm going to finish the other book first.)

-spinning (I need to finish up a few projects so my bobbins are free when I get that fleece for Karl's sweater)

-cooking (We found a new family favorite recipe--Tasha Tudor's macaroni and cheese.  I can hardly believe that she used Velveeta, but there it is.  It was great.)

-thinking (What are our dreams?  Where do we want to put our time and resources?  Karl and I will have a coffee date later this morning to discuss such weighty issues...)

-working (Albin is really making progress in computer programming.  He and Karl chatter away like it's another language, which of course it is.  He runs into problems that are really hard, and he gets so frustrated sometimes.  He keeps at it, though (with many a Runescape break), and I'm really proud of his effort and attitude lately--he's come a long  way.)

-acting (Elise got the part she wanted in the Madcap homeschool production of Treasure Island.  She is so excited!)

all of us unschooling?

As we head deeper into this life of following our passions, I'm finding that I have more time to myself.  The children have dropped some activities, so I need to do less driving, less planning and less waiting.  While at home, they are often engaged in their own things.  We still do things together, but they don't need my constant company.  Karl and I have started weekly meal planning, so that makes cooking and shopping easier and less time consuming.  I feel as though I am deschooling myself, as well.  My life has gone from days of "shoulds" and "have-to's" to a lot of "how do you want to creatively fill your morning/afternoon/evening?"  I don't have all day every day to read, sew, knit, etc., but a lot more than I used to.  I find it a bit odd and unsettling, as I try to shake the protestant work ethic that I must be working all the time, or else.  You know, I was never happy when living that way, so the family wasn't as happy either (all that tension!), and it's not like the house was a lot cleaner, either...  So I will work on shedding the guilt, sit down with those knitting needles and good book on Librivox, and enjoy my life and my children.  We are blessed and lucky to have it this good!

skiing

 Elise's world is beginning to look up.  She joined the Madcap production of Treasure Island and had a great time at the first rehearsal.  She knows everyone in the cast, and likes them all.  Tuesdays are going to be fun.

Today, right after rehearsal, Karl took her downhill skiing for the first time.  The local resort has a great deal on rentals and lessons on Tuesdays, so of course we should take advantage of that.  Karl took Albin snowboarding a few years ago, and he declined the opportunity to join them today.  Maybe another time.  He and I walked to the library, instead. 

Oh, and here are two baskets for Jodi of Sunflowerhill Farm that I'm swapping for a fleece.  I'm going to try a cheese basket this afternoon, but it's been a long time since I've made one of those.  If I can't remember how to do it, an egg collecting basket is always a good option.

Haley's sweater is done.  I finished it up while watching 'Emma' on PBS with Elise.  She really likes the style, so I can safely start  hers now...as soon as we get to the Sow's Ear and order the right yarn. 

While browsing in the library on Saturday, I found the book 'Affluenza.'  I know there was a documentary (or two??) filmed about it, but I haven't seen it yet, and it's right up my alley.  I just looked to see if it was on netflix, and my search results came back with things like Ben Affleck, or Scooby Doo and the Alien Invaders.  Not quite.

So today we will be reading, cleaning, grocery shopping, knitting (and maybe sewing?),watching a Brambly Hedge movie, and playing games.  Oh, that's apart from the gymnastics, violin lesson and computer programming class.

Itinerary

Here's a running list so far of things we might see on our Southwest trip this fall.  What do you think we should add?

Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum and Library
City Museum of St. Louis
Laura Ingalls Wilder Museum
Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

Karl and I joined the bone marrow registry yesterday.  A local man was unexpectedly diagnosed with leukemia shortly before Christmas, and the community is working hard to help him and his family.  We saw an article in the paper for the donor registry sign-up, which was held at the ice skating rink behind our house.  The rink donated free time on their outside ice, too, so Karl and Elise brought their skates and zipped around a bit. 

The three of us also watched Better Off Dead last night.  (Albin wasn't so interested.)  I watched that movie dozens of times with my friends in junior high and high school, but hadn't seen it for almost twenty years.  I was afraid that seeing it again would taint my fond memories of how fun and funny it was back then.  (Ask me sometime about my new Great White North album.)  Sigh--I needn't have worried!  I guess it's sort of like the Marx brothers, still good after all that time.  We had to keep calling Albin down to "just see this one part, it's really good."  And now Elise gets the "I want my two dollars!" joke and why we often say it in this family.

Progress is going well on the Wallaby test sweater.  This is the design I will knit for Elise (I bought the pattern months ago), as soon as we agree on the yarn.  I thought Dark Horse yarn would be the winner, and I had lots of little balls it left in my stash, so I started this smaller sweater to test gauge while she chose her colors.  It's a size 4, and I thought it would be good for Haley for next year, but it looks pretty small to me.  I won't even wait for her birthday, I'm sending it as soon as it's off the needles so she'll  be able to wear it yet this year (if she likes it, that is!).  It may fit next fall, too, but why take the chance?  It was a good opportunity to test out the pattern, too, and I think Elise will really like hers...whenever I get it done.  (Now I'm thinking a size 12 for her would not be as big as I want it--this will take some pondering.)

We are slowly sawing out the banjo neck from our huge butternut chunk.  Someone from church is going to lend me an antique draw knife to properly shape the neck.  On the one hand, I like that we are using hand tools and making this the old-fashioned way.  On the other, I can't help but think this would take five minutes with a table saw, and it will be weeks before we even have it out of the block with our handsaw.  But if we did use modern tools, and were done in five minutes instead of three steady hours, would we use those three hours productively? 

This sort of gets back to yesterday's post..  How do we spend our time, and rate it as productive (i.e. accomplishing something important to us)?  I guess the only person I need to convince that an activity is worthwhile is myself, but somehow that is really hard.  The 'what I want to do' list is usually way below the 'what I should do list.'  It's a struggle.  I want my children to explore and spend time doing activities that make their soul sing.  I should allow myself (and my husband!) the same opportunity.

I just finished watching the documentary Surfwise.  It makes me think about choices.  The parents lived their ideal life, and the kids had no voice about their lifestyle.  The family was famous and documented all their lives because they were wandering surfers living in a 24-foot camper.  However, it is no different for most families living the 'normal' life.  Kids don't usually have choices about their housing, schooling, food, how they spend their time, etc.  ...not until they leave the family unit, anyway.

Are we living our ideal life?  Maybe.  Probably not.  At least, we have a hard time being intentional about it.  So what would we change?  And how can we accommodate the needs of our children, who are so different from each other and us?  We have the luxury to ponder things like this while I sit in my warm house, drinking coffee and making a bountiful breakfast.  I can talk about it all day with my husband, who is home from work for the weekend.

Last night I was wondering what it is that we as a family really want.  What are we dreaming and working toward?  I couldn't put my finger on it, maybe because we don't all want the same things, so it's harder to package.  This documentary is pushing me to think further along these lines, and try to consider the more distant future as well.  I could drag my kids to the middle of the Yukon because that's what I want (hypothetically), but as soon as they were old enough, they'd take off for civilization and I wouldn't see them again.  So really it's about balance, too.

And Karl is demonstrating the earth's magnetic field with one of the super bucky ball magnets.  It's pretty cool!

We've had a social day so far.  I took Elise to meet a family new to one of our homeschool groups.  She has been longing for more free playtime with people, and this family has an 8 year-old boy interested in many of the same things that she is.  It was an invitation open to the whole homeschool group, but we were the only ones that made it to this day.  Elise had a good time.  They played some games and did an art project together.  I think they will enjoy each other's company in the future.

Right after that, we stopped home to get Albin and run over to the Legacy Academy.  We've heard about it a number of times, but had never gone before.  It's a play area with climbing ropes and net, playhouse, gym floor, hoops, balls, etc., foosball, shuffleboard, wii, computer and board games, pool--lots of stuff.  Albin beat me a in a game of pool and wii bowling, and Elise climbed to the top of all the ropes, then ran around with the other kids.  It was mostly raucous boys, but she navigated them pretty well.

We went by the library on the way home and Elise found three movies.  Albin is playing Runescape.  I will read and knit some more before starting supper.  I'm also thinking about making cheese this week, a simple one to start.  I'm just wondering, since I have to buy the milk to turn into cheese, it isn't really cost effective, is it?  Maybe if we owned the cow or goat, and it was free...  I suppose all that whey could be composted.

cornstarch goo

Yesterday Elise found her cornstarch goo in the craft box (when it dried out, I put it there in a ziploc bag).  she reconstituted it and spent a long time experimenting.  This morning, she was in it again and asking for more.  How much more, you ask?  She wanted to take a bath in it.  Luckily, I had a large enamel tub in the garage, and I went to the store for ten boxes of cornstarch, some of which you see here.  By the time we got all the cornstarch and water in, it was about two inches deep.  Not enough for a bath, or as much as they had on Mythbusters, but still lots of fun. 

Albin went to his last physics class this morning.  He was ready to be done, and that was fine with us.

I went to a homeschool meeting this morning, and feel validated in our choices.  Sometimes this trust thing is hard.  I heard a lot of good, helpful and thoughtful things.  I can't wait for the unschool conference in February for more of the same!

Sledding

We found a few friends who were free this afternoon and went to the park for a little sledding and skating.  It was about 33 F, but felt more like 55 F.  The kids started shedding hats, mittens, scarves and coats, while I was only wearing a sweater and hat in the first place.  It was definitely warm enough to knit while the kids had fun running up and down the hill, or sledding onto the skating rink.  (That run seemed a bit bumpier--I think all their backsides are a bit sore, now.)

Valentine mess

Elise was getting over a sore throat from the weekend, and spent most of the day in bed.  She read several books, and this afternoon, I brought up some craft supplies to start making Valentine cards.  We'll want to send some to relatives, and we are going to a homeschool Valentine roller skating party, so we may as well get started before it gets to be the eleventh hour. 

Albin dragged himself out of bed to get to physics this morning, then spent most of the afternoon finishing up computer programming.  I think he fit in a little Runescape as well... 

Karl and Albin had a chance to make some dry ice smoke rings with their vortex generator.  Very cool!

Karl also started working on my homemade banjo, and has a good prototype going.  Here he is testing the 'strumstick.'  Did you know your head makes an excellent soundboard?  It's much louder than you'd think!  So we are finally making good progress on this project, and I, for one, am very excited.  (He can already play songs on the stick.  Karl is so amazing.)

The last two days we've had long, poky snowflakes.  Hoarfrost, I suppose.  Very pretty.

We're having a lovely, lazy weekend down here.  Albin is runescaping like crazy (and doing a little computer programming and physics on the side).  Elise is reading several books a day.  I've started swatching for Elise's new sweater, and have been listening to bluegrass on Pandora.  Besides working on my banjo, Karl is getting some projects done for work, too.

We learned how to make chainmaille from a homeschool graduate this afternoon.  (We also invited one of Albin's friends who likes weaponry, so he could learn this, too.)  Elise is modeling some of Alison's previous work with her sword and shield.  (Hauberks are heavy!)  There are lots of ways to hook all those...hundreds...or thousands...of handmade links together.  Egad.  We managed to finish a princess crown for Elise, and Albin did a really tricky join, the name of which I can't recall.  We'll make more jewelry for sure.  I'm not sure about the heavier chainmaille, at least for me.  It was hard on the wrists to cut the heavier links, and I don't want to ruin my hands for knitting.  I'll help Albin if he wants to continue, though.

Elise is now having a sleepover, and the rest of us are watching the Muppets together.   Menominah!

A little bit of fun

Making marshmallow fondant

Stirring henna paste

Planning a fun project (the goal--be a turtle on castor wheels)

Computer programming, with Pandora on, of course

Not pictured:  Monopoly (Elise is winning), dressmaking, and fiddling.  Elise tuned Karl's violin this afternoon when it was too woefully out of tune for me to play.  It was her first successful attempt.

coziness

Here are a few pictures of comfort that I have found lately:

Our big, sweet kitty, home safe and sound.

My temporary knitting nest at the Sow's Ear

.

My old stove as decoration...and useful antique holder (until we decide to repair it.

Our new shelf, which Elise and I found at an antique store.  It is actually a Canada Dry carrying case, but we plan to put it on the wall to give us a bit more working space on the table.

Al is home : )

Little Al really was under our back deck this whole time.  Whew, it's good having him home!  He was too scared to come out, but Elise managed to lure him with kindness, patience, and a can of Erika's soft cat food.  Now he is sitting five feet away from me cleaning his feet.  I bet he sleeps the rest of the day, after he's settled in and had a good, long drink.

watching, waiting, and watching some more

Little Al is missing today.  Karl let him out early this morning.  It's shocking that he wanted to go out at all this time of year!  When we open the door for him in the winter, he usually stretches his neck out, sniffs a few times at the open door, and hightails it back inside.  We can see evidence (his tracks) that he went under our deck, but Karl checked for him at midday, and he wasn't there anymore.  We walked along the bike path and nearby streets, talked to three neighbors across the street, and sent almost every other neighbor a message on facebook to keep an eye out for him.  Whatever happened to him must've occurred shortly after getting out because he would never be gone this long when it is this cold out.  I'm hoping he's trapped in someone's garage, and will show up tomorrow.  I keep expecting to see him standing at the window with his claws stuck in the screen every time I look out the living  room window...

In other news, Albin is done sorting Magic cards after having one more sleepover.  Elise had some good long playtime today and yesterday--just what she needed.  We also did some art together.  Ever since she was wee high, any painting project she started ended up sort of like this:

(No, folks, those are not gloves that she is wearing.)

bread and snow

The snow is really piling up on the picninc table.  Having the garden in the foreground reminds me about the book link I posted yesterday, where I had just gotten to the chapter on gardening.  I am starting to get excited about next year's garden.  In fact, I fell asleep wondering if we could build a new carport next to the house and tear down the garage--which is sitting on some of our prime sunny land.  (We don't have full sun anywhere in this yard, but there's a good half to two thirds sun in that part of the yard.)  Needless to say, for our gardening abilities, that would be ridiculous, but...

I really have to catch the children doing something else, but here's a photo of them 'as they were' yesterday afternoon, anyway.

I made Elizabeth's bread recipe yesterday.  (Don't you like the morph on the table from bread to paperwork/financials to sewing?)  It rose in the bowl just fine (sitting on our radiators), but was not quite as happy rising in the muffin tins.  Apparently I need more bread pans.  The cookie sheets were all in use at the critical shaping moment baking wheat crackers, and my one bread pan (which makes the food taste like pan if you leave it in at all after baking) was sticky on the bottom.  I still had all of Erika's muffin tins in my mudroom, so gave the individual breadettes idea a whirl.  I let them bake much (much!) longer than the recipe said, as they were not sounding done.  When I finally pulled them out, the insides were cooked, but the outsides were extremely crusty.  Not so crusty that you couldn't get your teeth through it, but you would get a shower of crumbs with every bite.  We put all of them in ziplocs overnight to see if they might soften up a little.  The crustiness was actually pretty good, but not so much the crumb shower.

Snowy Thursday

I'm feeling snowbound today and couldn't be happier about it.  We already have a few inches down, and several more are expected during a day of on and off snow.  I plan to wach Cranford with Elise, make bread, finish sewing an apron for Elise's friend (I finished Elise's new Edwardian apron last night), and read more of this book.  It is a fabulous book!  The second chapter is titled "Chickens, the most exciting backyard accessory since lawn darts."  I wonder if I can squeeze all that into one day...

Mondays

We are back to our normal Monday schedule, which means a lot of driving.  Albin has physics and computer programming, and Elise does gymnastics and violin.  We are dropping writing and group violin class for the spring.  Elise is contemplating taking an acting class with homeschoolers on Tuesday mornings, and possibly an art class for a month at a local teaching studio...on Tuesday afternoons.  I don't think it would be too much for her, but she does need a lot of creative downtime. 

I started my next reproduction dress, and I'll sew this one by hand.  I dyed some white flannel I had in my stash for it, and it came out not very splotchy.  Maybe next time I'll swish the load in my washtub for the full half hour, but just couldn't do it last night.  On a side note, I'd really like to get this pattern, and do some summer and winter dresses from this style.

Elise and I watched the last episode of "Cranford" on PBS Masterpiece last night.  That was the best story I've seen told on tv or in movies for years.  It was just fabulous.  (And the dresses were great!)  In case you are reading this before Jan. 10th, here's where you can watch it all, too: PBS Video.  Another similar (sort of) show I've been enjoying the last few months is "Lark Rise to Candleford", also on PBS.  That one can't be viewed online, so you'll have to catch it on your own PBS station.

Time to fix the pizzas for dinner.  I'm going to remember to put the olives on this time!

We went on the candlelight hike in the snow even though it was coooold.  It was still above zero...I think... and no wind, so it could've been worse.  It was a beautiful, crisp night to be in a candlelit wood--made me wish I knew the Robert Frost poem.  I'll have to look it up.  Elise appreciated the cider and bonfire after the walk much more than the walk itself.  Karl and Albin liked the hot dog and brat, while I thought the chili was best (after the woods, of course).

We never made it to the holiday show in lights during December, so we decided to drive over tonight.  It would be a pity to miss it, as the children have gone every year since they were born.  Albin remembers being able to unbuckle his car seat to see better out the window when he was little.  That little blurry blob under the blue and red fireworks is the state capitol, in case you were wondering.

The pretzels were a bit chewy this year, but the salt made up for it.  Next year we'll have to make them smaller (and more of them), no matter what the recipe says!

Karl and Albin cleaned up the basement floor and are setting up the trains this afternoon.  Elise went to play at the neighbor's house, and I finished my first reproduction dress.  I even took notes so I know what to change about the next one that I make.

We planned a mini vacation for the summer.  We'll go to Ripon, WI for a weekend history reenactment and farm breakfast (it's the weekend before Elise's birthday).  There's even a family-owned local motel in the town the festival is being held.  I was planning to just go with Elise, but none of the bed and breakfasts in area will take kids under 12.  The motel is cheaper, and it would be fun if we can all go.  Oshkosh isn't too far away, so if Albin can't stand all the history, he and Karl can go look at planes for a day.  It should be a great trip!

Happy New Year!

We had a quiet New's Year's Eve at our house.  Elise went with our neighbors to a friend's party, where she had a good time with the kids and went sledding outside well past midnight.  Wheee!  Karl, Albin and I stayed home and were very quiet.  I sewed, read, and fell asleep at 11:00.  The boys played computer and watched the ball drop on tv.  Elise came home around 1:30 and told me all about her evening.

Of course, they had to sleep in this morning.  I'm almost done with my first replica dress, and thanks to Carola's help with changing the pattern, it fits pretty well.  Yay!  When everyone was up and ready to go, we went sledding at Indian Hills County Park with homeschooling friends.  It was about 10 degrees F, but the kids had a good time.  Albin and I need better boots for next time, though--freezy toes!

Now Karl is starting our traditional New Year's pretzels.  They'll be ready to shape and bake in about an hour.  Hmmm.  Maybe that's supper.  More pictures of those later.  Probably.