I'm a Control Freak...

...But I'm in recovery. How do I know?

Because Wombles received a wonderful set of Play-Doh from Boppy and Grandma for his birthday. He LOVES to play with Play-Doh. And I know I'm recovering, because I was (after some thought and consideration) able to let him play with all of it at once, and not just dole out one color at a time. Which is what I really really really REALLY wanted to do.

Why, you may ask?

Because this:



Makes me absolutely crazy. For so many reasons. I become irritable, distracted, and I can feel my blood pressure rising. I had to walk away while this was happening. I couldn't look at that end of the table. It's...totally unnatural.



THEY WERE BRAND NEW! HOW CAN HE POSSIBLY ENJOY THEM EVER AGAIN?!? AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH!

However, I survived. And when playtime was over, and I brought him the canisters two at a time, he gamely picked the stacked pancakes apart and put each color back into its own container.

I said almost recovered.

But I'm breathing again.

Caps Without Markers

Sounds better than markers without caps. For some reason.

I wanted to be sure I didn't give the wrong impression of a smoothly-running, no-speed-bumps kind of school.

Today it was 110 in the yard and about 100 degrees in the house. We don't have air conditioning. Almost no one here does--with average year-round temperatures around 70 and lows in the 50s, why on earth would you need it? We just open our windows at night and wake up to a cool, fresh house. Shut the windows and it stays cool during the heat of the day. Usually. You only need it about 7 days out of the year. Today was one of those days--and tomorrow should be another one. Whew!

Last night we had sundowners, which are hot winds coming down the mountains (instead of outr usual cool mountain air, or occasionally cool ocean breezes). The sundowners just started up again tonight--it had dropped to 94 outside, but now at nearly 9pm it's back up to 99. this means we can't cool the house off overnight--which means tomorrow will be muy toasty.

So, I'm sure you can understand why Pixie didn't ever get around to doing her math today--she had ridden her scooter outside in the morning for a bit at recess, only it was so hot that upon her return she got in a cool bath and I just didn't have the heart to make her get out. We'll double up tomorrow.

The real fiasco was Wombles, though--dear Wombles, playing so well in his room while I taught Bud his Math. Dear Wombles, playing so well with his trains while we finished up the Gupta Dynasty of India.


Dear Wombles. Pixie saw him and started yelling. His clothes were soaking, but not with sweat.



Dear Wombles--he put five markers in his pocket without the caps on. "Do you know what that stuff does to a kid?" (Name the movie, -ish).



It made the marker I just cleaned off the tile look positively tame.

Under the Clothes

When I got home from teaching Spanish this afternoon, J had the kids doing their science. With a window air-conditioning unit in the sliding glass door (since the fire, our new windows cannot accommodate one). Brilliant. He's amazing. It's the only thing keeping the main part of the house remotely comfortable right now. We're trying to use fans to blow the air into the kids' rooms.

A Monk's Supper

For our history curriculum, I'm leaning a lot on Susan Wise Bauer's Story of the World. The kids love to listen to me read, and while selective, the story of history is written in an engaging style. This year we're on year two which covers from the fall of Rome until the rise of the Renaissance.

Side note: Thank you to Mr. Macmillan, my 6th grade teacher, for making sure I will never misspell renaissance. And for playing Tracy Chapman's Talkin' About a Revolution for us in class when you taught us where and what apartheid was.

Anyway, Story of the World has an activity book with everything from crafts to map and globe work to games to projects. Perfect for me. I'm all about implementing other people's good ideas!

One of the features I've come to love is when the activities we can choose from include a recipe/menu for a meal. A few weeks ago, for example, we ate like Roman soldiers. We roasted food over the open fire (grill) and ate it with no utensils. (No one ever taught me how to never misspell "utensils," but thank you spellcheck).

During our "Christianity Comes to Britain" week, we learned (among many other things) about the establishment of monasteries. And we got to cook a monk's supper!

Now, does this look like a list of ingredients that would make a seven-year-old, a five-year-old, and a two-year-old happy?





Turns out that you can add a magical ingredient:


PARTICIPATION! Probably a better seasoning than hunger for this age group.

I forgot apples at the store, so we had to make do with nectarines. Add some sourdough bread and Irish sharp cheddar and, Ta-Da! The kids ate it up! Bud thought lentil soup was delicious. Amazing.

We did pretend it was Christmas, though, so we got to butter our bread. :)




PS: I just Googled Tad Macmillan... he's now a principal for one of the middle schools in the town where I had him for a social studies teacher in sixth grade. Wish he was still in the classroom, but so glad he's still serving kids in the town I love!

Happy Birthday, Wombles!

Happy Birthday to you...



Happy Birthday to you...



Happy Birthday, Dear Wombles...



Happy Birthday to you!





Many Happy Returns of the Day of Thy Birth
May Sunshine and Gladness be Given
And May Our Dear Savior Prepare You on Earth
For a Glorious Birthday in Heaven!



We Love You!

Preparing for a Birthday

Tomorrow Wombles turns three. I can't believe it!

I am in the process of prepping his cake, which I'll actually "make" tomorrow. It will be fun. Two hours ago, I told J I was making a train cake. He looked at me like I was crazy. I said, "I watched a video online--it looks pretty easy."

That's when Pixie chimed in, "Mom, you can't trust those movies." And then she apparently said something about them being professionals, which I didn't hear because I was already looking for balloons in the garage.

Oh, the wisdom of a 7.5 year old! Or maybe she's seen me in action a few too many times.

It will be OK. I'm going to put the next cake in as soon as Cuatro allows me to stand comfortably again, and then wrap some presents. J has already done a stellar decorating job.

Want to know what Wombles wants for his birthday?

Yellow.

Yellow.
Yellow.

Sweet Dreams, Wombles! See you tomorrow when you're three!

And, according to him, tomorrow is when he'll "be THREE, and Bigger, and have children."

Being bigger means having children...and making their birthday cakes.

Spider Spotting

Bud just came running in: "Mom! Mom! There is something going on outside, and it is not good."

"Really? What is it?"

"There's a black widow under the picnic table!"

"On the ground?"

"YEAH! I know it is one and I'll tell you how I know. I saw the red hourglass!"

I went out, knowing he was right. Of course, no self-respecting black widow is going to be sitting still, on the ground, in the middle of the day. It just isn't done. So I knew there wasn't anything to fear.

I knew because I was there on Wednesday night when J went out and poisoned four of the things. At the other two webs we checked, no one was home...but we'll call again.

He had seen some suspicious webs, so he went out with the flashlight and the poison spray (they are way too fast and sneaky to just smash them in a good old-fashioned way, unless they have been poisoned first).

This one was under the edge of the picnic table. I remember spotting the web a while back and seeing her when she was an adolescent (not yet poisonous), but I hadn't gotten back to it. These spiders grow up so fast these days!

I'm pretty proud of Bud, though, for the efficient identification and reporting! Makes a Mama feel safer.

Of course, then he and Pixie were seeing black widows everywhere. I had to explain the "if the web looks like one Charlotte would make, it's not a black widow web."

There's episode #315 in the series!

Have a good weekend!

Time Out

I feel like all I've talked about lately is how our little school is going. I guess it is the start of a new school year, and things are going well, which is fun. But it's not the only thing in the works. Oh no!

This week was my first week back at teaching after school Spanish at the local elementary school. I think it's going to go well--I'm really happy with it, when I take time to think about how I feel about it--and since I'm teaching one less class per day than last year, it seems much more do-able.

Plus the kindergarten class hasn't started yet. Gravy! Except all of my things were packed up and moved. So I'm spending that time sorting things out. What great timing!

Also, this week and next I get to teach at our neighborhood women's Bible study. I find this an incredibly rewarding and draining exercise....and one that I should be working on right now, as a matter of fact. This year we are doing 1st and 2nd Samuel. Since I had the first study this week, I got to prep a bit of an introduction, and it really blew my hair back (as J says). Wow! I can't wait to spend more time with it!

Except for the stressful reality that I spent about a month, off and on, working on this week's. And so far I've spent a little of yesterday working on next week's. YIKES!

So, uh, literally, I can't wait to spend more time with it. Must go now. I will try to resurface soon, in spite of the mini-conference at church this weekend (which I may or may not be able to attend; see above) and getting ready for Wombles' third birthday next week. Seriously, third?

Can someone please send potty-training tips? I was asking for them from a friend recently, and her seven-year-old daughter ran and got me a book that she thought would be helpful. You might want to check it out-- American Girls Dolls' Bitty Twins Go Potty (there are tips for parents in the back). The only trouble is that my three-year-old exhibits none of the signs of readiness that are usually evidenced in a 15-month-old (at least, according to the book). Sure, if he's really in the mood for jelly bellies and the timing's right, he might just poop in the potty. But more likely not.

I went and visited my sweet brand-new niece last month and saw her itty-bitty diapers. When I came home, Wombles was obviously way too big for diapers anymore. He's unconvinced.

I'd like to point out that I do have two other children who regularly use the potty (OK, Bud sometimes uses the yard, and has been known to use the garage or the corner in the front room behind the chair...but those are entirely intentional).

Where was I? Samuel.

PS Here's who we had over to lunch one recent Sunday. We thought there were five students coming to church...but there were 13.



PPS In case you're wondering about the can at the top: Sweetened Condensed Milk. I have recently learned to make caramel. My last batch was actually like the candy...I think it WAS the candy! My favorite part? "Good Source of Calcium." Hmmmm. Yummy source? Yes. Good...?