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!