The End

Our last day of Geography co-op was today!! Yeah!!! We love for it to come, and we love for it to go. I guess the part that gets to me is getting up early in the morning to cook a meal. Today I made Diri, a rice recipe from Seychelles and Hertzoggies, a layered meringue cookie from South Africa. That is the part I am glad is over. After co-op I went with a friend and her kids to play at the park. The kids played; we visited. It was a much needed break for me. This morning my husband told me my life is a mess. I guess I better tidy up a bit before I try to take on more. This weekend is unplanned, Hubby is out of town, and it is supposed to rain. Sounds perfect for doing some catching up. #2 heard a joke from a friend at the park: How do you make a blonde laugh on Friday. Tell her a joke on Monday.

Speed

I have the feeling that I have climbed aboard the bullet train in France, and I am now under the English Channel. I am moving at breakneck speeds and can't see a thing while I possibly am drowning. Therefore, tomorrow is a Home Economics Day. I thought about calling it a "Holiday", but the boys won't consider it that. So, a Home Ec Day it is. We have been gone so much lately that the house is beyond recognition, and it actually stinks. Yes, STINKS! You would think that if we haven't been home much that it would be a spotless home. What I mean when I say we haven't been home is that we have been gone in the evenings and parts of the days. The time that we are home in the day doesn't count since it is spent with schoolwork. It's like saying we are at school, when in actuality we are at home. I guess that's why it is called "homeschool". Friday was our first big co-op day. I spent the entire time chasing down people to get money, disburse money, and have paperwork signed. There were a few fires, but hopefully they have all been smothered. I guess we will find out this Friday. The boys had a good time, and I suppose that is what matters. #1 is taking a Classic Games class, a class on movies, and PE. Not much educational in that, but the movie class will help with his 4-H project, and he isn't in soccer this fall, so PE was a good choice. The game hour satisfies his need to socialize. It's a pretty BIG need. #2 is taking something called Discrete Mathematics that is very much hands-on. He loves that! Then he is in Microbiology with a friend from church. She has a PhD in microbiology, so I can't ask for better. Finally he is taking an art class; this past week was clay. He enjoyed the messiness. Hubby just told me that Fox News is reporting that Obama has proposed a longer school day for kids and a shorter summer break. #2 heard and said he doesn't think so. "Kids are in school long enough. Would you want to sit in a class and listen to someone for a third of your life?! Kids are already in school too long." There you have it; out of the mouths of babes. Saturday #2 went to a Flight Day with his buddy. They actually were able to fly a plane! He said it made him a little scared when the plane was at an angle, but it was thrilling just the same. Now he has a whole new interest. He put a website on my desk for me to look up some things for him. #1 and I went to a youth rally on Saturday. It didn't go well, and I decided that it was not the place for us. The other chaperone and I took the kids back to the building to have pizza and watch a movie. The kids had a good time with that, AND I was back before 10:30, which had been the predicted time table. #1 did not get a part in the play. They said they didn't have a part for him in this one, but to try again next semester. It is actually ok with me. Like I said, the train is moving fast and we're taking in water.

A Teacher's High

Yesterday was our writing class. I have 8 students, including two of my own, and we meet once a week for about an hour and a half. This was our third class, and I have to say I was not ready for the response. When we began the class, it was regarded as a punishment by nearly every student. Writing is not FUN, and certainly if we mothers understood the torture of it, we would surely pull our kids right out of class. I tried starting class with public contests, so that the motivation of winning lucre might take effect. Yes, they want to win, but no, they don't want to write. One essay had to be 100 words, and the other had to be 500. They were stunned and mortified. But then yesterday we began writing with adjectives and action verbs to enhance our writing, and you would not believe the remarks those kids were making. "Can't we write more?!" "What! Only 100 words! That's not enough." I told them after this contest we will take their short essays and write longer fiction. Several of them cheered, "Yes!" I was so excited myself. It was such a pleasure to see them enjoy writing and working together. They were typing their stories the last half hour, and each was sharing what he/she was writing. It was a wonderful teacher high.

What Did You Learn Today At School?

Home schooling offers up a lot of unique educational experiences. We can cozy up in the living room and read a book together, or we can meet with other families to learn as a group. When you are alone with your children, you can laugh at the strange ideas and games they invent. When you join other families, you risk offending them with your children’s oddities. Take, for example, the Phileas Fogg Geography Club. For about four years now we have been gathering with several other families to learn about different regions of the world. One of the moms will give a quick “tour” through the region, and then each child will present a country’s interesting geographic and cultural facts. We share foods from our countries, and then head home having enjoyed a meal and learned some interesting facts about our world. After lunch, the kids run outside to play for a while, and the moms enjoy a quiet moment of visiting with other adults. It all seems very benign, until the children enter the scene. Today the boys auctioned off the girls. It has come up several times that in some African cultures, men will pay a girl’s parents for the right to marry her. The boys decided this was an interesting fact to pick up on, and developed a “game” of auctioning off the girls. #1, the self-proclaimed auctioneer, came inside to inform one of the mothers that her daughter’s price was now up to five goats. Thankfully the mother played along and said she would prefer something different than a goat as she didn’t have a need for five goats. Another girl wandered in and said she had only sold for one chicken. I started to tell her that she needed to work on selling herself, but caught myself in time. I think I said she needed to improve on her self-promotion. When we left, #2 told me that he had bought R. for five goats and twenty chickens. I asked why G. only sold for a single chicken and R.’s price was so high. Well, that was obvious. G.’s brother didn’t want to buy her, and that left A.P. without any competition for the bidding. “So, how much did N. go for,” I queried. The reply, “Who would want to buy her? She’s too young to be able to take care of you.” So in Geography today we learned that demand is limited by desire of the market. I learned that girls aren’t worth anything until they can take care of you. And I learned that my sons will spend my animals (money) without asking first. I also learned that my friends are just as odd as we are.

Fasting Ended

Fasting went well in my opinion. I started my fast the night before, and the boys started after breakfast. About 10:30 #1 asked what is for lunch, and then realized there wasn't going to be lunch. That was when I told him when you fast, and the hunger hits you, you pray for whatever it is you are fasting. After that, I would hear him wander into the kitchen to get something to eat, and then say, "God, help the kids that won't eat today." It was said with a deep sigh, but it was said. We ended up breaking the fast at ten hours for both of them, and 22-23 hours for me. They had parties to go to, and I didn't want them feeling sick at the parties. #1 told me he learned that he didn't like fasting. I don't know how much he learned about the children in Africa and their situation, but maybe it will strike a chord later. I, on the other hand, realized how much eating is a habit for me. I wasn't necessarily hungry some of the time, but I would start toward the kitchen because it was time to start cooking. My routines around the house were more noticeable. That made me think how sad it would be to NOT have a routine of cooking and eating.

Fasting

Our Geography Co-op is studying Africa this year. We meet once a week for six weeks and learn about the regions and countries of the continent. Each child researches a particular country, and then presents the information. Then we all share a lunch of foods from the regions’ countries. Our most recent region was Tropical East Africa. I had sent out a link to a website that our family has used a lot for this year’s study. It is easily navigated, and the recipes are usually made from things I already have in the house. One of the mothers called to say she couldn’t find anything on her children’s page. I told her I, too, was having a hard time finding recipes for my children to try. We discussed different reasons for the lack of recipes, and decided that it must be that no one has really researched that area before. We were wrong. It seems that there are few recipes, because there is so little food available. It isn’t that they don’t like to cook, it is that they have nothing to cook. As we shared our meager lunch, one mother gave a visual lesson. She showed the children how much rice they would receive if they lived in the country her children had presented. It was one bowl of rice. After that sank in, she gave us the rest of the news: a week. Yes, one bowl of rice a week. Another child had given a visual lesson, too. She had us stand in groups of four and then send a representative to the stage. All of us left on the floor were dead. The statistics say 3 out of 4 children die by the age of 2. We wondered if it wouldn’t be better to die as a babe than to survive and endure such hunger. Tomorrow my children and I will fast for the day to help us understand what it must be like to want to eat and not be able to eat. How well will we think with our stomachs grumbling? Will we have the energy to do the work that needs to be completed? Will tempers flare? We will see. It won’t be a true test for us. We know there is food waiting at 7:00 to be eaten. We know that there is a pantry full if we just can’t last. But maybe it will be a lesson to remember. Who will remember these children when our lessons have ended? Will our prayers for them end as well? I didn’t know of them before, will I casually forget to know them again? God asks us to love, give, serve, share, provide. What can I do, a stay-at-home mother just trying to educate her children? First, I can continue to provide these lessons for my sons. Perhaps they will grow up to be men who feed the hungry. Secondly, I can continue to help feed those in my community who are hungry. Thirdly, I can share my wealth through an adoption program or some other charitable giving. Most importantly, I can refuse to forget. I can fast more often, to pray for these hungry ones. I can tell others about them. I can post notes about them to remind me. I can do whatever God shows me to do. After all, I am a mother, and a real mother feeds her children.

Restoration or Reformation

I was raised in a Restoration Movement church. That means the basis of the beliefs for the church come from a desire to restore the church that Christ instituted. My husband went to a Reformation Movement seminary for one of his degrees. There most of my friends were Reformationists. That means they are part of the movement to change what the church became to what it once was. Basically, both are a lot of wordage for, "Let's get back to what Christ intended." Today at church I had the feeling that our congregation is well on the way to being what Christ would approve. (I know pride goeth before a fall, so I hope this is being said in the humblest of ways!) Singing was led by a local company's VP, communion thoughts by a come to Christ later in life white man, prayer led by a born and raised CoC black man, communion served by a convicted criminal, a white, PhD female, and a young, white, high school graduate. One of the working class elders announced that a single, half-Korean woman was approved to adopt a child. A divorced woman in her fifties and a teen-aged girl read the Scriptures. My Dr. Husband gave the sermon. I sat next to people with no education and with PhDs. There were traditional families and single parent families. There were criminals present, and straight-laced goody-two-shoes. There were people who have experienced abuse, and those who have lead an easy life. People from all backgrounds of religion, culture, and economic status were present. The only thing that we could truly have said that made these people come together was a need to worship the one who saved them all from Hell. Christ. I hope you were honored and pleased, Lord.

Whew!

I had 5 children all day Monday and tried to work. I had Geography co-op Tuesday, came home to complete schoolwork, and then left for a night time meeting. Wednesday I hosted a registration for another co-op, then went to a friend's house to work on writing up all the lists on a website. Church and dinner out were a welcome change. Today we spent the morning trying to yank words out of boys' mouths to put into a paper that was due at 12:30 in the writing class I was teaching. Left there to drop off one kid at a charity to volunteer, and went to pick up the other three from school. Brought them home, set up dinner in the crockpot, and headed back to get the kid from volunteering. Thus there have been no posts. Sorry.

A Home Is A Home For Me

A house is not a home until there are eggs bubbling in vinegar on the windowsill, baby shrimp growing by the furnace, tiny plants piercing through bean seeds, and bugs in your freezer. A house is not a home until the walls are filled with paintings, paper-mache statues, maps, and timelines. You can not consider it a home until sewing and knitting projects sit on a chair, books are strewn across the rug, and carved soap is in the sink. Home is where sports equipment fills the yard, tree branch forts adorn the porch, and deer hides dry in the afternoon sun. A house is for people, and a home is for chicks and ducklings, baby goats, turtles, gerbils, cats, and dogs. A home is filled with music: piano, guitar, singing voices, and the radio. A home allows questions about religions, explores cuisine of other cultures, and guides its members through life. A home does not mind candle wax on the floor, colored potions on the counter, or collections in the dryer. A home celebrates achievements and commiserates with failures. A home prepares its members to leave and anticipates their return. Life begins and ends at Home. My Sweet Home.

Half Amish

I get teased a lot about being half Amish. I am a little different from most of my friends in that I mill my own flour, bake from scratch, make my own yogurt, and now, my own laundry detergent. I raise chickens and goats and enjoy their "products". I was telling someone the other day about some home schoolers who are stereotypical, "You know. They make their own bread and yogurt." Then I realized that I may be stereotypical myself! However, I think this one breaks the stereotype. I am brewing beer in my kitchen. Yes, the preacher's wife is brewing beer. When the preacher is gone, the preacher's wife will play! Actually, it is ginger beer from Liberia. That is #2's country for geography co-op this week, and ginger beer was high on the list of favorite foods. It is made of LOTS of ginger, pineapple, molasses, and yeast. I concocted it last night and it has sat out since. I don't really know how long it is to sit out before straining, so it might be a bit strong. Beer at a co-op. Now that is atypical for home schoolers.

Sea Goddess

I was told that I looked like a Sea Goddess today. Yes, a Sea Goddess! I have been called many things in my lifetime, and thankfully they are usually nice things... a good mother, a loving wife, intelligent, organized, helpful, a good friend... but I have never been called a Sea Goddess. This comes during a bit of a mid-life crisis for me. I have been watching my body metamorphose into a middle aged lady who is active, but evidently not active enough to retain her youthful figure. As I posted recently, my first born is about to enter puberty, and I am entering my forties. I am not mourning the change or losing my identity, but I am having trouble recognizing myself. I still enjoy dancing around the kitchen. I like to flirt with my husband. I have tried some new make-up colors, and I am still considering what to do with my hair. But I do not shop. I do not enjoy clothes shopping, first of all, because it involves spending money for something that I essentially already have. It seems wasteful to me. I also do not enjoy shopping because very few clothiers understand the metamorphic changes that I have undergone. I need to look young, but not show everyone all of the places on me that really are not young. Yesterday I went clothes shopping at one of my favorite stores where they do seem to have an idea of what a middle aged woman needs to look stylish. My everyday shirts have been worn, uh, everyday and are looking a bit, um, worn. So I decided that as I only have two shirts that really are nice enough to wear out of the house, and I do plan on leaving the house, that perhaps I ought to go shopping. Much to my delight, and my husband's surprise, I found a great sale at the aforementioned store. It is difficult in this new body to know what looks good. Nothing is where I left it, and some new visitors have arrived without directions for their costuming. After two hours of trying on clothes- a horrid torture for someone who thinks you should get dressed and stay that way until you go to bed- I found several articles that seemed appropriate. I bought 7 shirts, 2 pair of pants, and one pair of shorts. I had no shorts before. I know, I live in NC, the Land of Heat and Humidity, but the shorts I did have didn't change with the rest of me, and I was left shorts-less. I walked out of the store feeling proud of my new attire, if a little uneasy at how it would look on me. I wore a new pair of pants and blouse today to church, and bless her soul, one of the teens came to me afterward to say that I reminded her of a Sea Goddess, all blue and flowing! She has no idea what that means to me. Certainly a Goddess was not a level to which I had aspired. I would have been happy with, "You look nice today." My Wednesday evening small group has been reading/discussing a book entitled When Did I Stop Being Barbie and Become Mrs. Potato Head? It has provided a lot of much-needed laughter. Last week was about how old we feel. As I have a harder time bending, walking, and kneeling, I have wondered how old do I really feel. My heart is young when I am intimate with my husband, laugh with my children, talk with a friend. I think of my future as lasting a long time still. I am making plans, looking forward, seeing fresh beginnings. But when I look in the mirror it all fades into what used to be and isn't anymore. My children are growing. My husband is graying. My parents are aging. My grandparents gone. The Bible verse that was highlighted in our reading last week was Psalm 90:12, "Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom." I took from that to be aware of the days that I am in, and not to look too far back or forward. Wisdom comes in living this day that I have been given and not in wishing for a different day. So for today I will do some work, play a bit, and rest, too. I will not complain about my back or my feet. I will enjoy my children at the age they are. I will revel in being a Sea Goddess.

That'll Teach You

This is our sweet little Lukey. He is such a lovable cat. He will curl up in your arms and purr, or follow you around the farm. He will even let the kids hang him upside down. He likes to take walks with us. He really wishes he were Kelly, the dog. You see Kelly gets to come inside and be with people whenever she wants. Luke will do about anything to get inside. We often wallk out the door with full hands and have to yell, "Someone get the cat!" He is fast.

However, if he keeps this up he will go the way of Sam.

Sam cried and cried for his women. No, he didn't lose his voice. I was walking in the neighborhood on Tuesday and could hear him crying from quite a distance. I was still thinking about charging that aesthetics fee, but the price was getting lower as I listened to the wails.

Of course there is the peeing on your face. Now that has to be worth something to see. He stood on top of the goat house bleating for help out, then peed on his face to entice the girls. No wonder they just left him in there. I don't understand billy goats.

He rested for a little while, but when Hubby and the boys got back from their Guys Night Out, Hubby asked why Sam was in the driveway. That's right. Amore reigns. He learned that he could put his front legs on the woven wire fence, give a mighty leap, and be free. Of course that still left him outside of the girls' fence, but I put him in so that he wouldn't destroy the neighbors' property. I don't think the aesthetics fee would cover the damages.

So today when a lady drove by and asked if I have any goats for sale, I answered, "You're in luck!" Tomorrow a man should come and get Sam for his holiday dinner. If only that lesson could be taught to high school boys!

No Such Thing As Normal

The glasses arrived on Saturday. We had been waiting for what seemed like an eternity. The mail came while we were doing yard work, and I didn't tell #2 about the glasses until it was finished. I figured he didn't need to learn about sweat and glasses first thing. He seems to be excited about wearing them. He tells everyone about them, and loves showing them off. I think he is quite handsome in them myself. But this morning he came to me saying, "We have a problem." He has already broken them. We got the bendable ones so that they would last longer on this rough and tumble kid. However, they are so FUN to bend that he has done it too much.

So this morning, while trying to teach school, prepare for a writing class I am teaching this afternoon, clean house before guests arrive, and various other duties, I super glued my fingers to eyeglass frames, tried soldering them and dropped solder on the floor, and finally gave up saying wear them like old lady glasses. Then I ordered a replacement pair off the internet.

You see, this is a "normal" day for us. Abnormal would be getting our work done with no interruptions. Sigh.

Co-op

Our home school group does something called "co-op" that allows our children to take classes with other home schooled children. The parents offer to teach classes, and the children get to choose which classes they are interested in. There are martial arts classes, art, phys. ed., cooking, writing, math, science, whatever a parent feels capable of teaching. One of the mothers in our group moved here from Nevada, and they had done something similar there. She wanted to be able to do it here, so she started it. That's what I like. A person who can have an idea and then implement it. But her daughter grew up, and now she isn't able to do co-op. She has other commitments. So this woman, who has been asking me to help her for a couple of years, decided that I must have answered yes. Now, somehow, I find myself in charge of this behemoth. There are about 100 kids involved, and it seems, nearly as many parents. I have always taught and helped out in general ways, but this year I am the LEADER. I told my friend that I wasn't nice enough to do such a thing, but she didn't believe me. Now the truth is starting to show. I don't deal well with idiots. I have room for people who don't know better. I have grace for those who make mistakes. But I do not have patience with grown people who need me to walk every step of the way with them and hold their hands. There I said it. I am not nice enough. So that explains why I haven't been posting for a while. I am busy tring to handhold adults while educating my own children. Sound a little irritated, don't I? ------------- Today is a much smaller co-op that I organize every fall with a few families. We study geography, and this year it is Africa. Last week I gave a presentation on Africa, and then each kid gave a presentation on a physical trait of Africa. Then we shared a food from our different areas. This week my boys will share presentations on Egypt and the Canary Islands. So last night, as I tried to write, clean, take care of co-op, etc., I was also making chocolate banana sponge roll from the Canary Islands. Now this morning I am making flat bread to make the fast food of Egypt- shawerma. I bought the meat at a restaurant. I'm not a complete fool.