Remembering This Moment: Rainy Day

I have not done one of these posts in a very long time.

(here's one from quite a while back--look at how little my Davy is)

But as I looked through these pictures I took today, I thought, "I want to remember this."

I want to remember these moments with them, because I am sure there will come a day when it won't be like this anymore.  

And the craziness of it all will grow dim.  

I won't remember how many things happened in one, half hour block of time.

I won't quite remember the noise.

Or the energy.

And I want to.

I want to remember how much I laugh when they make silly videos and shake their bootys at the camera and giggle like it is the best thing ever.

I want to remember rainy days when I let them run in the house, and play chase, and how loudly all of us are screaming every time we nearly crash into each other.

I want to remember that we were all getting grumpy and cabin feverish, and that doing jumping jacks, skipping around the house, and dancing to the music turned up real loud, made everything better.

I want to remember when our life was this simple.

I want to remember these moments.

By taking the time to photograph and write about these moments of my life, I hope I can look back on this time and say, "really?  My life was really like that?"

And then I can congratulate myself for surviving.

Ha!  

Just kidding.

Kind of.

Because, really, it's gets pretty crazy up in here.

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After 2 days of grey, rainy weather, and being mostly stuck in the house, some of us were, literally, climbing the walls.

Aside: am I the only one who has the house rule, YOU CAN ONLY CLIMB THE WALLS WHEN YOUR FEET ARE CLEAN?

Yes?

I thought so.

Lilly refuses to believe that she cannot do what her brothers do. 

So she's been working on her wall climb.

Today, she mastered it.

Going up.

Almost there.

I didn't get the shot, but she made it to the top and then slid back down the wall like a fire pole.
Tada!

Feeling all the pent up energy and being unable to send them outside to climb the tree, I decided to take charge of the situation.
We all needed a break from school and to move around the room.
We needed to shake the grouchies that were growing in all of us.
So we did crunches, side stepped around the house, did push ups, skipped, and did lots of jumping jacks.
They were all smiling and laughing the whole time.
It's pretty funny when your mom makes you do jumping jacks to get out of a bad mood, right?

Even David got in on the act.
Look at him jump back there.

 After a bit, they collapsed on the floor claiming exhaustion.

 The tickling began in mere seconds.

And the next thing I knew, clothes were off and there was a full blown wrestling match going on.
This was no surprise.

After they tired of wrestling (or before some of them tired of wrestling) I suggested a dance party.
They asked for Rock Lobster, and we started dancing.
Apparently weapons are needed while dancing, and weapons can be had in the kitchen.

That's where they headed.
They quickly found what they were looking for.

 James led the charge around the house, weapons in hand, and hips shaking to the music.

Our play list included, The Love Shack by the B-52s, Darth Vader's music from Star Wars, Mr. Roboto by the Styx, Sister Kate by the Diddy Bops, and I Walk the Line by Johnny Cash.
We like to mix it up.

Then William put on a little Glen Miller and did a show for us.

Lilly was next.

And that was all in less than an hour.
Everyone was smiling and happy.
We watched the videos we took of ourselves dancing.
We laughed a lot.
Then we ate lunch.
David went down for a nap.
And our after lunch reading and drawing time was calm and enjoyable, just like it should be.
As crazy as they might be, I love these little people to pieces.
Wishing you a weekend full of many moments that you want to remember.
Love from,
Greta

This Home Schooling Life: The Reality of Schooling With the Littles

Although I haven't been home schooling "officially" for very long, I have been teaching my children since they were born.  They have all been with me, all the time, since the get- go.  And yes, I still really like being home with them, and I like having them home with me.

I have longed for this for as far back as I can remember and God has given me the desires of my heart.

But.....

Lest you think that our days here at the George Emmerson Academy are all sunshine and smiling children in knickers and starched pinafores.   Children who sit at the table with folded hands and ankles crossed saying things like, "Mummy, dearest, may we please do our arithmetic now?"  Lest you think that I only tell you half truths, I give you this: 

a little bit of reality.

The reality is, I have to do school with a 2, 4 and 6 year old.  The little ones don't run off and play while I have uninterrupted time with the oldest.  Not at all.  In fact, the 4 year old wants to do school right alongside the 6 year old.  And he amazes me by how well he is doing.  That competitive drive can be a wonderful thing.

And the 2 year old, well she won't be left out of anything.  So she is right there with us.  All the time.  Sometimes she "writes" with them, listens to their stories or reads her own books.  And sometimes I give her something of her own to work on.

Which often distracts the 6 year old.

And sometimes, if she is particularly antsy, I give her a special treat, like letting her wash her baby doll in the kitchen sink.
And a bit later, when James goes into the kitchen for a drink, I hear this: 
"OH MY WORD!"
And I walk in to find this:

Because really, why would you want to just bathe your baby doll when you could strip naked and bathe yourself?

It makes perfect sense, don't you think?

This was one occasion where we all laughed, but there have been others, where the damage or the mess was a bit more, that I have not felt like laughing.

But it is reality.

And it is not forever.

Soon she'll be able to sit at the table with us for longer stretches of time and I'll be schooling 3 instead of 2.  For now I work with it and do my best and laugh a lot.  

It helps to be laid back.

Because I know that if my kids were in traditional school, they'd be dealing with interruptions  there too.

For example, let me tell you another tale of reality.

The reality of my 5th period class, my first year of teaching.  They were 35 9th graders at the end of the day.  They were, truly, a class from hell.  My mantra before each class started was, "don't cry and don't cuss them out."

This was just one, just one, of the many, many, many interruptions I dealt with daily in that class.  After asking Gustavo to stop talking, stop whistling, stop getting up, stop looking at comic books, stop poking the person in front of him, to stop playing with his tech deck, to stop using his pencil as his tech deck and to let me teach the class, I finally sent him to sit in the hall.

A few minutes later, another teacher knocked on my door, asked me if he, pointing to Gustavo, was my student.  

"What is he doing?" I asked knowingly.

"Crawling around to each classroom door on all fours, and barking into the room like a dog."

See what I mean? 

Life is full of interruptions.  

And we have to learn how to deal with them and still get our work done.

Otherwise, we'll all be really terrible at parenting, won't we? 

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I hope you are enjoying these glimpses into this home schooling life of ours.

I'll be posting next about some of the more regular subject like math, reading and science.

But before I do, I am taking a little break to post about our vacation.

We made some mighty good memories and I'd like to put them down for posterity.  

Or at least for us.

Be back soon!

Love from,

Greta

For Your Amusement: Yarn, Geodesic Domes and Underwear

I've written before about how much fun the boys have with yarn.

James, especially, seems to enjoy it.

You can't believe what that boy does with a bunch of yarn.

By the way, if you're new around here, you'll soon see that my kids pretty much live in their underwear.  And that's it.  Well, as long as there are no guests over.

We try to maintain some respectability.

But back to the yarn.

This time he tied it to the tree and some sticks until his creation took over most of the yard.

He was quite taken with the shapes he was making.  He called me out to look at them.  When I asked him if it was another web, he told me no.  He was trying to make a dome.  Like the ones on the playground.

Of course.

He has eccentric artist written all over him.

Watch out girls!

At some point I am going to have to stop posting pictures like this of the kids.
But I am going to keep at it for as long as I can because they make me laugh.
A lot.
And who doesn't need a laugh on a Monday morning?
Hoping you find something that makes you happy this fine Monday.
Love from,
Greta

Summer Afternoon

"Summer afternoon--summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language."

Henry James

I know it is not officially summer yet. But it feels like summer is here already. Especially in the afternoon.

I love summer afternoons because they are lazy.

We have to be outside under the tree--that's where it's coolest.

We snack out there, read out there, play out there and when it gets too hot, we turn on the hose or hop in the pool to cool down.

And then we lay under the tree and feel the cool wind on our wet skin and we shiver a little.

There is just something about a summer afternoon that makes you slow down. It feels good to rest and be and hear the quiet, hear the wind in the leaves and the chatter of birds.

By the end of August there will be days when it is almost too hot, even under the tree.

And we'll complain and long for a break from the heat. But for now, in these first days of summer, we will relish every moment of it--these lovely, lazy summer afternoons.

Here are some scenes from our summer afternoon today. They all say summer to me.

Frosty drinks and ripe fruit for snacking

and for sharing

Dappled light

A blanket spread on the grass

and a book for reading aloud

Spotting new friends

and getting to know them

How blessed am I to spend these sweet, sweet summer afternoons with my babes.

There is so much to be enjoyed and savored. And we don't even have to leave our backyard.

Happy summer to you, friends. I hope you have some time this weekend to enjoy some lazy summer afternoon goodness, whatever that looks like for you.

Love from,

Greta

The Making of a Pirate Ship

A Good Play

by Robert Loius Stevenson

We built a ship upon the stairs

All made of the back of bed-room chairs,

And filled it full of sofa pillow

To go a-sailing on the billows

We took a saw and several nails,

And water in the nursery pails;

And Tom said, "Let us also take

An apple and a slice of cake,"--

Which was enough for Tom and me

To go a-sailing on, till tea.

We sailed along for days and days

And had the very best of plays

But Tom fell out and hurt his knee

So there was no one left but me.

Don't you love to see their minds at work?

Imagination is one of God's greatest gifts to us.

May your day be full of grand adventures--whether real or imaginary, enjoy them!

Love from Greta

Dyeing Eggs--We Never Tire of It

I have always loved dying Easter eggs. It might very well be my most favorite holiday activity. Well, it's a toss up between decorating the Christmas tree and dying eggs. Either way, it's way up there on the list.

I never miss a year. Even as a teenagers, my brother and I still dyed eggs. In my 20s, my sister and I did them together. It's tradition.

We use PAAS brand egg dye. Totally toxic, I'm sure, but we like the colors. Besides, we don't eat them. We've used the same kind ever since I was a kid. I get the bare bones box, none of those fancy, marbling kits for me.

We use vinegar instead of water. It is fun to watch it fizz and it makes for very bright colors. After the fizzing stops, it's time to have fun.

This year we did it during Lilly's nap time. She has an ear infection and is terribly cranky. I just envisioned a lot of spilled dye and broken eggs. It didn't sound fun. I felt bad, but I must admit, it was more fun this way. Don't worry Lil, we'll let you help next year.

Look at these colors!

Yep, we're having fun.
And the fun doesn't end when we finish the eggs. There will be lots of egg hunts with these eggs in the back yard next week. We used to lose eggs every year and usually found one in a gopher hole months later . My mom wouldn't let us hide eggs in the house for that very reason.

I wonder where we'll be finding eggs this year?
To find out about those gorgeous jewel tone eggs, go over to Picnics in the Park, here.

Happy Easter everyone. Hope your day is filled with lots of chocolate bunnies, egg hunts and rejoicing. He is risen indeed!

Greta

Barefoot in the Backyard: Spring Fun

We are just delighting in this warm, spring weather. We are basking. We are spending hours in the back yard.

Soon enough there will be those dreary mornings of June gloom. But for now, we are barefoot in the backyard and loving every minute of it!

And, Daddy put up a swing.

It is just a board and a rope, tied to a "way up high" branch of the avo tree.

But is providing countless hours of fun.

The best is when they go really high.

So high they swing into the leaves.

So high the swing goes crazy and spins around and they almost slam into the tree trunk and then Lilly walks in front of the swing and Mommy almost has a heart attack.

That's how high.

So high they can't stop laughing.

Such a simple pleasure.

I want them to have a play house and a tree house and a climbing wall and sand box--the best backyard they could ever wish for.

What a good reminder.

It doesn't take much to make them happy.

Thank you Daddy for our new swing.