Morning Walk

The trees are greening

Warm enough for flip-flops, cool enough for blankets

What are you, Mom, the paparazzi?

Yes, I am! One never knows how long these lovely everyday days will be around.

We'll pose, then.

"Now make a fist. Slowly ease it up underneath your chin...
this is looking really good."

Did I mention they also rescue stuck basketballs?

Daddy's home!

Actually, he is just leaving...

The Warrior Poet and his truck

And a beautiful baby tulip

Teeth-Pulling Narration

This is the one where you finish reading and the student is not sure where to start, so you throw out a keyword and the student gives a short sentence answer, you throw out another keyword, she gives a short answer, etc.... at my house, this student is in danger of being handed the book to study alone and then write a narration, having forfeited the privilege of oral narration through lack of attention.

Someone should write a narration field guide. :)

Random Thoughts

We saw rain lilies today, and wild onion flowers.

Mr. Honey was in Oklahoma yesterday and most of today, but he is home now. We are in our easy chairs next to each other looking at our laptops.

Clint Eastwood is on the TV. Do people eat pasta in spaghetti westerns?

Aravis came home today. She had a very big day of rehearsals after she got off the plane.

She brought home chocolate and tea.

It is supposed to snow tomorrow. We are going to Javamom's daughter's wedding.

(Except Aravis, she has to rehearse some more.)

I get to wear my swishy skirt.

Cornflower has decided she loves nature, and has been drawing lots of nature pictures in her journal. My favorite is called, "The Ways of a Rabbit".

She was so excited to see her sister that she couldn't stop talking and teasing until we made her go to bed.

We are baking cookies next week for our church meeting. We think we will make a batch every day. I'm planning to make sugar-free peanut butter cookies for Goggy.

Ya'll come to our church meeting. It's sure to be an uplifting time, Lord willing.

I'm reading the memoirs of Louis L'Amour. That man really loved books.

Mariel got a new desk from Ikea this week. She and I put it together without man-help (or Aravis-help). She is getting good at reading directions and wielding a drill.

Mr. Honey and I are currently watching all the back episodes of "Chuck" in the late evenings. Yes, I know. We just got hooked. Some parts are not nice. But 1) I really like Chuck and Sarah, 2) the idea of someone having an entire juxtaposition of computers inside his head and the way that interacts with his emotions and internal principles is fascinating, 3) the struggle the agents have between the good of the country (and obedience to the people in command) versus the good of the individual is also fascinating, and scary to boot, and 4) I just know Casey has a heart. That is why I like watching Chuck. Also, I think Chuck and Sarah should quit the spy business and go live in some suburb, although NOT the scary Stepford-Fulcrum subdivision. That would pretty much end the show, I guess.

I'd like to watch Chuck right now, but the spaghetti western ended, and Mr. Honey is watching some kind of sport-thing. It's March Madness. I do not find it as interesting as Chuck.

Also, Mr. Honey will no longer be known as Mr. Honey. From now on, he will be called The Poet Warrior, with all the attendant honor that implies. Mr. Honey, as a name, was just not adequate. If you must, you may refer to him as The Warrior Poet Formerly Known as Mr. Honey.

I sure love him. :D

Pie in the Sky

oh dear
i fear
that i
can't fly
but if
you sniff
you soar
for more
more what?
a glut
the sky
is pie
and i
know why
because
of fuzz
that flies
and cries
and sighs
and dies
and then
the jinn
comes through
the slough
and takes
and bakes
the pie.

(This is a cooperative poem by Aravis and me-- we switched off composing lines. It was fun!)

Bloggy News

Mariel has started a blog! And she has one cute little post. She signs her posts "FishnamedChloe", but we will continue to call her Mariel over here. Go see!

Duly Noted

Triss would like to inform everyone that her blog name is no longer Triss. She will be known as Aravis until further notice.

25 Things I Did This Week

1. Packed and unpacked

2. Practiced piano

3. Talked (and talked and talked) with a good friend

4. Got to know one of my newest cousins

5. Got to spend a day with cousins I haven't seen in almost seven years

6. Swam in the Guadalupe River (purely unintentional and incredibly fun)



7. Laughed at noisy gibbons

8. Read about how to be a better wife

9. Tore my pants on a choo-choo train



10. Worried about one of the bills that passed the Texas legislature

11. Read President Obama's Egypt speech

12. Ate twice at McDonald's

13. Realized I have no clue why I ordered the history book that came in the mail today (Update: I just figured it out-- David Hicks, who wrote Norms and Nobility, recommended it. I currently have a thing for history books. I am trying to figure out how they ought to be arranged, I think. Actually, I don't know why. But for some reason I have a desire to own all the good history spines I can find. I like to compare them.)

14. Coached the children on their monologues

15. Admired a way cool fort



16. Told stories to a six-year-old (and an eight-year-old, but that happens pretty often)

17. Watched "Phantom of the Opera" (the movie)

18. Learned about some new books (well, new to me)

19. Went to church twice, but not in the same place

20. Critiqued clothing and hairstyles

21. Observed a raccoon, a few deer, and a phoebe couple

22. Entertained my husband with witty and learned remarks on basketball, hee hee (Why are they called the Los Angeles Lakers anyway, huh? huh? LA isn't known for its lakes...)

23. Gave my advice on a cookbook

24. Listened to the working-out of writing ideas

25. Thought of a great thing to do while my grandparents are in town

So, I guess you could say I packed, practiced, talked, swam, laughed, worried, read, ate, coached, admired, told, watched, learned, critiqued, listened and thought this week. Lol.

("25 Things" idea taken from Cindy's post.)

Happy Thoughts

The world is so full of a number of things,
I'm sure we should all be as happy as kings.

--Robert Louis Stevenson

Before Triss was born, Mr. Honey and I lived in Nashville, Tennessee. He worked at an electronics store and I worked for an insurance company days and at a dinner theater nights. (Mr. Honey worked a lot of hours-- retail hours, you know.)

Working at the dinner theater was certainly an experience. We were in character from the moment we arrived until we left, and when we were actually on the stage, we were dinner theater characters playing play characters. I would be a character in the dinner theater, and then my character would go get ready to perform and be *another* character on the stage. Layers and layers. It sounds confusing, but I thought it was great.

Anyway, at the dinner theater we served the guests in character in between shows and I was the hostess. I was Polly Doodle, an eternally optimistic and sunny young lady who spread cheer wherever she went.

It was a lot of fun.

I wore a pretty green and white striped fluffy dress (with crinoline), a light straw hat trimmed with ribbon and cabbage roses, and little cream-colored boots. And I carried a thick paperback I had discovered at the bookstore a few days after being cast-- The Happy Book. It was a huge list of reasons to be happy-- things like:

*autumn leaves
*tea
*baby laughter

You get the idea.

Folks would come into the dinner theater (which was pretty avant garde for Nashville), and surprisingly enough there were a fair amount of people who came looking stressed or unhappy. When that happened, Polly Doodle pulled out the Happy Book and found happy thoughts. Real Pollyanna-type stuff.

And you know what is funny? It worked.

I would find someone who looked not-quite-festive and say, "How are you tonight? You look a little down. I think you need a happy thought!" I'd flip through my book, skimming until I found something that looked like it might fit the person, and then say, "Oh, I have the perfect thought for you. "Shiny chrome on cars." Do you like it? If you do, you can have it. It's your thought for the rest of the night." And people loved it. Rarely did I meet a resolutely grumpy person. Sometimes they would say they wanted a different thought-- people would occasionally keep me at the table for awhile until they found the perfect one, even asking to see the book, which, as I said, was simply a large list. I stayed and visited with much cheer, laughing and smiling.

When the directors originally told me what I would be doing in my improv character I was kind of nervous, thinking I would be overbearingly annoying. But people loved it.

People just need to be reminded sometimes.

So here is my list for you. Do you like these thoughts? If you do, you can have them. They can be your happy thoughts for as long as you want them.

1. the moon on water.
2. eating a pickle.
3. the first daffodils of spring.
4. the water cycle.
5. Sharpie markers.
6. a piece of cake after a long diet.
7. the sun rising every single day. (It never stops that, did you notice?)
8. the cycle of seasons. (this also never stops. so cool.)
9. finding a caring bureaucrat.
10. your head hitting the pillow after a long day.

Of course, the number one reason we can always be happy is that the Lord is on the throne, He is in charge and He does all things well. All these other things are little side benefits-- but they are great reasons nonetheless. Every good and perfect gift is from above.

CM's Student Motto: Our Revamped Version

Triss, Mariel and I were being silly at dinnertime, and this is what we came up with:

I AM a reader of books, a teller of tales and adventures. I am a Person of the Riverbank because Ratty influenced me.

I CAN get out of bed in the morning and not pull the covers over and say, "very snug", because that is no way to run a retail business.

I OUGHT to do my duty to remember the suspenders, to quell my desire to say "HUMPH", to call on the Cake-Parsee, and to keep myself from blowing bubbles in the sand pit, so my mind is ready to imagine.

I WILL resolve to avoid the Sheriff of Nottingham, and learn what fear is, even if it's not what I want.

Who will list the literature references for us?

(The original-- and highly recommended-- CM's Student Motto can be found here. We take the original Motto much to heart, but we couldn't help having a bit of fun with it as well.)

January 17th

I read somewhere that January 17th is Resolution-Breaking Day, or some such thing, three weeks being the average length of time the average American keeps his or her New Year's resolutions.

So, how are your goals for 2009 coming along?

As the Returns Come In

Well, we've eaten our meatloaf and mashed potatoes and shared some birthday candy and hot chocolate, and now we are beginning to look at election returns.

I'm playing the roving reporter tonight, and here are the opinions of three ordinary schoolgirls:

Cornflower: Obama's doing better than McCain. Probably, Obama's going to get elected President. We don't know. Either he is or he isn't.

Mariel: Would you like a piece of chocolate?

Triss: Well, I never could see but that my bread rose just as light when liberals were in as when they were not.

That's all for now!

Stress Relief

The kids and I have compiled this list of stress-relieving activities for everyone as we head into the final stretch of the U.S. Presidential election. We hope you find at least a couple of things that you can use to de-stress. Happy relaxing!

1. Pray to the Lord.

2. Remember you have a pretty good life (or remember your wonderful pet, your grammy, cookies, the Resurrection, eternal salvation)

3. Take a nap in a cool, quiet place (or, if the weather is chilly in your area, in a warm, snuggly place).

4. Hug someone!

5. Write. Write a story, or a blog post, or a poem, or a letter to a friend.

6. Get something done. (Bake cookies! Or clean your room.)

7. Sit in the cleanest room in your house.

8. Plan something. (Or, if planning makes you irritated, do something spontaneous.)

9. Play the piano, or other instrument of your choice. Or sing!

10. Read a good book.

11. Have some hot tea. Have green tea, it alkalizes your body.

12. Draw, sketch, paint. Do watercolors! It's fun to make them go swirly.

13. Relieve your emotions by lying on the floor and kicking, or screaming into a pillow, or shouting gibberish (make sure there is no one else around, as this tends to stress out others).

14. Go to bed and, when someone calls you, say, "Very snug," (although this is not any way to carry on a retail business).

15. Take a nature walk or bike ride. Just get out into the fresh air.

16. Make a craft or sew.

17. Poke fun at characters in books.

18. Carry on an imaginary conversation with the literary character of your choice.

19. Curl up in a blankie and watch a good movie.

20. Get together with some friends, make yourselves pretty, and have a tea party.

Costumes and Donuts

First, costumes:



Triss is Titania the Fairy Queen, and Mariel is Hermia the Lovelorn. Doesn't she look terribly sad?



Cornflower is a princess or fairy every day, so she decided to be something different for a change. She is Kevin the Football Player!



Triss explaining how earthquakes work while waiting for donuts to fry. (There was an earthquake in Texas last night, how about that?) She also expressed thanks to the Lord for her nervous system, which informed her rather quickly that she had touched the hot slotted spatula.





Mmm, donuts. When they cooled enough, we shook them in a bag with powdered sugar.

Tonight we are going to eat pizza and watch a movie and hand out candy to trick-or-treaters. The kids have never passed out candy before and are looking forward to oohing and ahhing over all the little kids' costumes!

TOO Funny!

For those of us who do best learning manners from The Goops and How To Be Them and How to Behave and Why:

Hoops and Yoyo Demonstrate Manners!

(I think my kids would memorize the Periodic Table of the Elements if Hoops and Yoyo taught it to them. We relish Hoops and Yoyo.)

Family Personalities

We took the Humanmetric personality test last night (found the link at Mrs. Happy Housewife).

Mr. Honey and I are INTJ Rational Masterminds. (I guess this is proof that married people really do develop similar personalities!) My Thinking tendency was very slightly expressed, though, so I guess that means I think only a little more than I sense.

Cornflower is ISFJ-- a Guardian Protector. (I can't believe she let me ask her all seventy-two questions. I interpreted some of them for her, so that might have influenced outcome.)

Mariel is ISFP-- an Artisan Composer. (A free spirit! We didn't need a personality test to tell us that, though.)

Triss is ESTJ-- a Guardian Supervisor. Her Extrovert and Sensing tendencies were only slightly expressed, so perhaps Triss is almost half-and-half introvert and extrovert, with a balance between sensing and thinking.

It always impresses me the way the Lord places people in families. We have so much to offer each other.

Have you ever pondered the fact that a reformed perfectionist will never be perfectly reformed?

(Thinking about it conjures up a vision of two mirrors shone into one another, reflecting endlessly.)

Did You Know...

...you can also call ladyfingers femina phalanges?

Chess in the Land of Brobdingnag

A Meme by Tim's Mom

Tim's Mom has created a neat meme!

I am going to answer this in an of-the-moment fashion-- if you came at a different time of year, or when the kids are reading or thinking of different things, the answers might also be different. Also, I sit in this house every single day and probably don't notice the same things a visitor would notice. I would really be interested in hearing what an actual visitor to our home would answer!

If you came to our house--

You would see:
Nature paintings (Yosemite Valley by Albert Bierstadt and Big Horn Mountains by Thomas Moran) nature photos with poetry quotes from William Blake and Christina Rossetti, Bible quotes, words, words, words... And lots of family photos (probably way more pictures of the girls than necessary, but I cannot take them down). Bookcases. A yellowish blond upright cabinet piano, circa 1960. (It reminds me of the practice room pianos at CSULB.) A very large chalkboard. Seeds on the windowsill, boxes in the entry. A time-out doll patiently waiting for parole in the corner. Ivy dishes, poppy wallpaper border and a very large clock.

We'd probably feed you:
Fruit and crackers, or a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, or maybe oatmeal bars or cookies. (You would have to politely ignore the pathogens Triss is growing in glasses on the kitchen counter, as well as the paper cups Mariel has painted black and left in front of the coffeemaker.) Perhaps we would walk down to Walgreen's and get some Blue Bell ice cream!

And offer you this to drink:
Filtered water, or coffee or tea.

We'd undoubtedly ask if you'd read:
The Penderwicks
The Swallows and Amazons books

We'd want to play this music for you:
Each of the children would want to perform. Triss would probably play Amazing Grace on the piano. Cornflower would play Cuckoo Song from her Suzuki book. And then she would modulate it a third and play it again. And then she would play it in the minor. She would continue her variations until we asked her to stop. Mariel would play Jesus Shall Reign on her violin, or perhaps another of her pieces. Once I contained them, we would put Aaron Copland, Anonymous 4 or Bach on the stereo.

We'd want to tell you the latest about:
Triss would want to talk about Prince Caspian, definitely. Cornflower would want to explain her Lego creations. I don't know what Mariel would want to tell about. I would bring up my latest ideas about writing curriculums and ask your advice on the scrapbook I am making my parents for their 40th wedding anniversary (everyone has more scrapbooking experience than I). Mr. Honey would most likely talk about sports, home improvement and the Food Network.

We'd probably suggest a game of:
Wise and Otherwise or Sequence.

We might show off:
Triss' winning poem, which I cannot show off on the blog, much to my mommy disappointment. My new laptop. And, of course, all the musical showing off mentioned above.

We might get on the computer and show you:
The sweetest little girl singing songs on YouTube. Some gluten-free recipes over at the Treehouse. The newest members of Jubilee's family. Our favorite bird and flower identification sites. If Mariel would let us, we might show you her colonial girl stories (she hasn't even shared them all with me yet).

If it was a long enough visit, we might watch:
the children put on a play for us.

What would a visit to your house be like?

I tag Jubilee, Ginger, Javamom, TeacherBrit, Willa, J (at Journals), and Senora Smith! You're it! Ooh, and I tag Triss. Her answers might be different than mine.

Creative Mothering

What type of Mother Hen Are You?
by Montessorimom.com: Educational Resource

Well, this suits me just fine. Especially with summer just around the corner. :o)

Thank you to Mama Squirrel and Athena for the link!