as cozy as spring

Friday Morning Book Post

On our more hectic days, I am enjoy reading poetry to both children.  It is a pleasant and calming way to say end the day.  We have a few collections, none I love (suggestions?).  My daughter's favorite poem is Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening so I thought we'd try Poetry for Young People : Robert Frost.  I love that that particular poem isn't included so she has seen no illustrations to influence the picture in her head.  Regardless, it's a good collection (except for Out, Out which I just don't need in my life).  I like that it's organized by seasons because I am too. ;) We also read through A Child's Garden of Verses from time to time.  

This past week we began rereading our whole set of Smithsonian Backyard books and discussing how the different animals get ready for fall. My son is also picking up on the characteristics of different animal classes. It's wonderful to see. We added Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane to our collection.  My favorites are still Monarch Butterfly of Aster Way and River Otter at Autumn Lane.

Other books enjoyed this week with the children:

One Thousand Tracings -  This is a really sweet book about the aftermath of World War II.  There is a lot of information here.

A New Coat for Anna - Always.

If You Give a Moose a Muffin - My favorite in the series because it is fall themed and only the second book I was able to read to my baby son (who more commonly threw them across the room).

Lost in the Woods - This is my son's current favorite book.  Every night when I walk into his room he holds it up to me with a little smile.

On my own, I'm reading Freeing Your Child from Anxiety.  I would say more but I haven't read much further than the introduction.  One of my children inherited my anxious nature.  I hope to find some tools to help us all cope.  Then I'm going to pass it on to my dad so he can fix me. :)

Outside, go.

In the morning before lessons and in the evening after dinner.  

Other notes from this week:

In the kitchen: I used Ina's idea of roasting random vegetables and pureeing them for soup.  It was fabulous.  My best homemade soup yet and I cleaned out the fridge in the process (that sounds appetizing, doesn't it?).  I can't wait to try it again.

In the schoolroom: I keep meaning to write about our new schedule, implemented out of desperation.  Theme days.  Or One Table Subject Per Day.  We work on math every day and one other main subject.  We are completing the same amount of work, it's just more concentrated.  This excludes read alouds, sort of.  It really helps me to focus and helps me to integrate the children's studies.  I also cannot believe how much time we spent moving from subject to subject.  It really deserves a post of its own; the theory behind it as well as the logistics.  But so far it's been been tremendously helpful in simplifying my days. 

In the garden: It's nearly time to plant bluebonnet seeds and garlic. 

In the car: Seemingly all day long.

But I make the most out of it.

I need to get our pencils sharpened - I'll be back in the morning for the Friday Morning Book Post!

The (very, very) last walk of summer

We snuck one more spontaneous walk in on the evening of the 22nd.  

A long time ago, I wanted to plant Sweet Autumn Clematis.  I think my husband told me no because we didn't have a place for it or some other ridiculous reason.  Today, I am finding a place for it.  And beautyberries and more salvia as well.  It's time to brighten up the garden for fall.

Friday Morning Book Post

I've written and lost this post twice already thanks to a very moody internet connection (why can't it find the ATM circuit, whatever that means?).  I'll try to post again later if I can face the frustration. 

OK then...

The American Story:  This is just a fun book for all ages.  I've read about an anti-Christian slant but 1) It's easily avoided. 2) I don't feel it detracts from the book at all. 3) Every history book has its own bias and that is something I think children should learn early on.  In doing so, they hone their critical thinking skills.  We've also used this to emphasize the importance of looking at multiple sources, first hand if possible.  It kind of teaches its own lesson.  And if I can ramble on a bit more... I went to Catholic schools from 1st grade through high school and let me tell you, college was a shock.  I had no idea how many people disliked Catholics, nor how strongly.  It really shook me that first year.  So I don't necessarily believe in sheltering my children from all of that.  

Um, anyway, yeah.  I like this book.

(pause to save as draft)

A Really Short History of Nearly Everything:  I don't always enjoy Bill Bryson.  I bought this as a fun supplemental read aloud.  It's so much more than I expected. My children and I are fascinated by all the stories of the scientists and the different concepts they used to make these discoveries.  It's really inspiring since so many of them were amateurs and worked with so little in the way of fancy equipment.  We're only about a third of the way in, but so far I love it.  

Fall Picture Books!

Oliver Finds His Way - oh, love.  One of my favorites since I became a parent.  Is it out of print?  That would be very, very sad.

Ox-Cart Man - That can't be out of print.  Is Amazon just being weird this morning?  This one also ranks among the very best.

(pause to save)

Woody, Hazel, and Little Pip - I know I'm not the only one who loves Beskow's fashion sense - Did you see this Cranberry Girl dress?  Mrs. Acorn's apron in this book is just utterly too-too (name that reference!).  I was SO excited to see a knitting pattern for Little Pip's Acorn Cap on Ravelry.  I knit it up this past week and my son wore it all day yesterday, though it really wasn't that cold.   

       

Pretty, pretty please - I'm always looking for new autumn picture books.  If you have a favorite, could you mention it in the comments?  Perhaps I'll try to create a master list of some sort.

Happy Autumn, my friends!  I'm publishing before proofreading because I just can't lose this post again.

Last Walk of Summer

There is little more exciting for a heat weary Texan than the first real cool front in the autumn.  High winds brought cooler weather and gray-blue clouds to us this morning.  My children wrapped up their lessons early so they could play outside.  They came running back in almost immediately asking to go hiking down by the creek.  I normally say no because I just like to be at home as much as possible, but I couldn't think of a single reason not to go.  It was all too perfect.  I even had freshly baked pumpkin muffins to pack up for a snack.   

So we packed up our wildflower guides and water bottles and headed out.  It was gorgeous.  Usually we don't get fall color until November, but the drought has brought on showers of reddish brown leaves quite a bit earlier.  The fields were strewn with goldenrod, ageratum, and black swallowtails.  We explored for a few hours before heading back home.  I can't think of a more pleasant way to say farewell to summer.

My son holds my daughter's hand to help her down the steep path.  He is a seriously charming little boy.

Better Seams

I wrapped up my daughter's House Vest for her Hermione costume this weekend and marveled at how much better my seams have gotten over the years.  I used to immediately rule out anything knit flat because my seams were so terrible.  A couple of years ago, I decided to learn to do the mattress stitch neatly.  This tutorial on Knitty was tremendously helpful.

I had been tightening as I stitched, but it's hard to remember, and see, which column of Vs I was stitching, so I keep it very loose for several inches then pull the yarn and it zips right up, almost invisible.  It's still not perfect, but it's far better.

It probably has a bit more shaping than is necessary at this point, but overall it fits very nicely.  I'm super pleased with the result and ready to move on to something she can wear more than once.  What was I thinking! 

Details... 

Pattern: V Neck Shell (Bernat Design Studio - free!)

Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton in Dark Gray, Gold, Garnet.  It's a woolly yarn, but one that she won't wear next to the skin so it didn't matter.  I liked this yarn, but it was sort of clingy, especially with my wooden needles.  I think I knit on a US7.  Don't remember.

Welcome Home Pie

I promised my husband a chocolate cream pie upon his return.  Honestly, I'm always afraid he'll be disappointed when he comes home.  His hotel room is probably very clean and quiet and he can count on having a nice dinner in the evenings.  But I put on the mulling spices, some George Winston and my very best old paint-stained t shirt.  He seemed so happy when he walked in the door.

 

And I made the pie!  I paired this Sweet Pastry Crust with Smitten Kitchen's Best Chocolate Pudding recipe.  I made the pudding with those new dark chocolate chips, in the grand culinary tradition of using what I had in the house.  It was a bit dark for my husband, but actually tasted like chocolate which is weirdly rare in a chocolate cream pie. The crust stayed tender and crisp, even overnight.  It was also super easy to make and just pressed into the pan - no rolling (and subsequent cracking and cursing).  I think it is the perfect crust/filling combination and am saying so here so I don't completely forget about it.

I asked my husband to hold off cutting into the pie because I had to get a photo for the blog or I'd never remember.  He scoffed at me.

 

The very last piece.

Happy Monday, friends!

Friday Morning Book Post

I think I'm going to switch to Friday morning book posts.  So here we go.

I began reading Redwall to both children.  My son isn't yet interested in chapter books but seems to be enjoying it.  My daughter?  Not at all.  But she grudgingly admits that I occasionally know what I'm taking about so she has agreed to give it a few chapters.

We wrapped up our history text for this time frame covering World War II.  I thought we'd linger there for a bit.  We began, then set aside, The Diary of Anne Frank.  My little girl was rather horrified by the manner in which Anne wrote about her mother (good girl!).  We read far enough to get a feel for the horror they were facing, but I actually didn't see any point in continuing.  I could be wrong.  It has happened before.

We switched Anne out for The Winged Watchman.  We've only just begun, but it's already led to a lesson on polders etc. and some embarrassing attempts at Dutch name pronunciation.

We're in a bit of a poetry phase right now.  I never plan that because I maintain that I don't like poetry (which is kind of ridiculous).  I'll inadvertently pick up a poetry collection and just start reading.  It's nothing more or less than pleasant.  Never fails to surprise me.  Home is a lovely collection I've been reading to my son. 

On the audiobook front, we began listening to Stories from Shakespeare.  I've always been impressed with Naxos products, but I would not recommend this version of MacBeth.  Is a kid-friendly retelling of MacBeth even possible?  Yikes.  

I'm pretty sure I've got several books going myself, but I honestly can't remember. 

I was right.

I don't have time to spin in the fall.  It's taken me weeks to manage a tiny 1.75 ounces.  But oh, it's so lovely.  I do wish I had to time to finish the rest of the braid.  Since that is unlikely any time soon, I'll go ahead and post a glamour shot. ;)

This is my first braid from Fat Cat Knits 'Wizard Island'.  I'm impressed.  I ordered merino and it was fluffy and not at all dense or felted like some braids can be.  I got about 130 something yards, chain plied.  Not bad for half a braid and quite a bit better than I get with superwash merino. 

The weighing of my teeny tiny little skeins.  

I haven't had much time for knitting lately either.  Rather, all my current knitting requires a paper pattern and that's tricky to manage on the go.  I need to cast on some basic, mindless socks to keep my hands busy.  They are the perfect travel project.

I've been parenting on my own for a good bit of this month.  I'm uncomfortably busy and I'm trying to figure out if I need to change our schedule somehow, put the children in regular school, or start drinking.  One of those things.  But I shall not make any hasty decisions (or hit the liquor store) until my husband returns because that might immediately and dramatically improve my outlook.  I miss him.

Le Weekend

          

Ballet. A meeting. Oil change and inspection. His first game.  A late night dinner at Sonic (ew).  Early morning Mass and a tearful goodbye.  Chili, salad, fresh bread, and chocolate chip cookies for the first football Sunday.  Turning off the game because we had it in the bag (IN THE BAG, I SAY!).

I was planning on avoiding all the 9/11 coverage because I don't see any gain in reliving the worst day I can remember, over and over, every year.  I ended up watching a bit here and there.  I can't look it in the face without tearing up, after all this time - time hasn't healed anything.  I think we're still a little broken.  I don't think we'll know how much until many more years have passed.