school work – Page 5

A happy, warm, successful day

This morning Lydia and I made buckwheat muffins again. It’s a good thing, too, since I found out today the competition on Saturday is a cupcake competition, and one of the ingredients is garlic. I am thinking of revamping the buckwheat muffin and calling it a cupcake. Maybe I’ll pipe some onion/garlic jam in the middle and top it with some sort of honey frosting and toasted almonds. We’ll see.

After we made cupcakes, we headed out to meet Misty, Sophia and Max at the park for a play date/ picnic. While we were there, we also ran into Jen, Eldon, Natalie, Laddie and Spencer–a two for one play date!

Then we went home for naps and such. After I fed the girls again, we headed to the car to go to school. Tonight I made spinach and cheese tamales. I was so excited because I got to partner up with the best student in class. I have observed her in awe all semester–she cooks so fast, so clean, and her food always tastes amazing. Sadly, she got sick half way through and had to go home. I was terrified to plate our food all by myself, but it turned out okay. I forgot to take a picture because I was so frazzled. Her ceviche and shredded meat dish turned out amazingly good.

But by far, the best news of the day is about Abe. Abe met his quota at work today, and the quarter is only half done! I was so proud of him and really grateful to God for the blessing. I have been praying a lot and feeling really close to God lately, and this felt like some direct divine communication. Yay, Abe!

Also, Mary is finally talking more. She is learning to say “please” instead of screaming in her high chair. Glory be, allelujah. I am always so charmed by her cuteness that it’s hard to get mad at her, but I won’t miss her screaming in her high chair one bit.

A bike ride

We did take pictures today, but the camera card was accidentally in the computer. Oops! Better tomorrow.

This morning we had a play date with Jen, Natlalie, Laddie and Spencer. The best part was after we all went to institute, and Lydia and Natalie had so much fun running around the church. They were so cute! I wish I’d had my camera on me, but seeing that the card wasn’t in the camera anyway, it wouldn’t have done much good.

After we all ate and napped, Abe came home and we went on a bike ride up the canyon. It was a gorgeous evening and the recent rain has turned everything green. Everything smelled and looked so fresh. It was a wonderful end to the day. Too bad my Fitbit can’t tell when I bike! Next time I’m going to stick it in my sock and see if it can tell I’m moving.

We made pizza when we came home, Abe bathed the girls, I did homework, and now we’re all ready for bed. Abe has had so little sleep because of his long commute. I feel sorry for him. Right now he’s dying of tiredness, so I better stop blogging so we can turn out the light and he can go to sleep.

Quick Post

Today was a good day for everyone at the Darais house. We haven’t been sleeping much, but in spite of that, God has given us strength to not only manage, but find great joy.

Lily got a TON of house work done, including accomplishing hours worth of laundrey washing, drying, folding, sorting and putting-away. For a brief moment in the Darais home there was literally NOTHING that needed to be washed…….I know I wont sleep in the socks I’m currently wearing, so unfortunately the pile starts again tonight……

Lily read to the girls separately, read in her book about the Monart method of teaching your children to draw and she read in a book about how to teach your children to read. She said she felt very happy and close to God today. What a wonderful and productive day!

I had a good day at work. I was a little tired, but I kept my nose to the grind-stone. Days usually come for two packages for me, successful days and learning days. Today was more of a learning day, but I did learn and I believe success will come. At home I had the most wonderful time with the girls. They were both in super good moods and we all danced to K-Love together. We went totally wild when our favorite song “Every Act of Love” by Jason Grey came on. I was dancing while holding Mary and she screamed to indicate that she wanted to be set down…..when I set her down she proceeded to get her groove on and I thought it was hilarious! Days like this I am reminded why I’m so grateful to not have a job that takes my attention at home as well as at work. I was completely engaged with the children and drinking from the cup of pure joy.

Pictures!

Ready for Bed

Mary has been teething and so she cried a lot last night. Lily claims she wasn’t tired today (even though she did most of the getting up to help Mary last night), but I for one am pooped. I had a little bit of a compressed day, and there were junctures where I didn’t really have time to eat or go to the bathroom, but( hooray!!!), I made it through! The rigor is very much aided by the fact that I enjoy every moment of what I do.

Lily had a very peaceful day. She fed the girls, played piano, worked-out on the treadmill, read to the girls and had an overall rounded, fulfilling and peaceful day, even in-spite of Mary being a wreck because of her teething and major diaper-rash. I think it started when I had to walk her home for an hour in her poopey diaper after dropping the car off at the shop……

Lily just back. She said school was good and she learned how to de-bone a chicken.

For my part, I stopped by mom’s office to give her some flowers for mother’s day only to find that she needed a ride home because her car was in the shop. I drove her home and we went inside so Lydia and Mary could play with their new heart-throbs, REAL LIVE ANIMALS. They love them so much. In fact, Lydia announced tonight that she likes dogs now, which is a HUGE shift because she is usually so terrified of them. But Lucy, my mom’s dalmation-border collie mix is so old that it is impossible for her to scare anyone, even someone as dog-phobic as Lydia. Mary and Lydia pursued casper, the white puffy cat insesantly, until finally Casper had enough and clawed Mary’s arm. It wasn’t too bad, but Mary did cry. I guess two cat-crazed toddlers was a little much for one cat to handle! My mom wanted to make us dinner, and it felt like a huge blessing because I was frankly exhausted. She made Costco chicken from her toaster oven, peas, macaroni and cheese, and boiled potatoes. Needless to say, the kids ate very well.

At home I exercised FINALLY with my Insanity DVD. I then planned my week and well, blogged. PICS!

visit and procrastinating packing

We are still last minute packing for our trip tomorrow. We are going to get up at 5:30 am tomorrow, so I am hurrying.

This morning I was supposed to clean the house in preparation for the trip to California tomorrow, but I noticed all the library books I need to return that I haven’t read to the girls. An hour of frantic reading ensued, thus bumping my cleaning plans until…well, actually, they never materialized. The house is still a mess.

But we had a great middle of the day. Jan, George, Chelsea, Olivia, Carter and Camden came over for lunch, and after we all went to the zoo. Jan’s phone took better pictures than mine, so I’m stealing her pics and inserting them here:

Lydia had another tea party with Olivia that involved probably a gallon of water. I was impressed at how carefully they must have carried their little bowls and cups of water to the bedroom because when I discovered them, the vessels were all filled to the brim. George held Lydia’s hand and showed her all the animals at the zoo–and she fell in love! She kept asking me where George was and would go stick up her hand to hold his. It was sweet.

Mary climbed over a railing in front of the snake display and fell on top of her head smack dab on the concrete floor. I may or may not have sworn so loudly that heads turned. We decided shortly thereafter it was probably time to head home.

Seeing Chelsea always makes me wonder why we are not moving to Orem. It is so nice to see someone you’ve known for a long time. I always feel like these visits are more like family reunions than friend meet-ups.

Then I came home and tried to pack, but mostly I lay on various pieces of furniture stressed out about how much I had to do. I heard Charity Lang, the fictional character in Crossing to Safety say to me, “Do something! Don’t just sit around and gawp.” Sorry, Charity. I gawped today. And when Abe came home, I straight out napped. Now we’re paying for it, and as soon as I hit publish it will be back to the packing grindstone.

Oh, and I probably won’t blog while we’re in California. I might if Auntie Geri’s computer is free, but if not, I’ll blog again on Monday.

A play date, great book, boring paper, and a birthday party

This morning I watched Sophia and Max because Misty had a doctor’s appointment. Her kids are so easy that I could have done homework or practiced while they played (well, Max was actually napping), but Lydia and Sophia were beyond adorable playing together. I couldn’t leave! They were saying things such as: “It’s your turn, Sophia!” “Thanks, Lydia. Okay, Lydia, it’s your turn now!” “Thanks, Sophia!” “Sophia, do you want to play Minnie Mouse with me?” “Yes!” [Insert sweet, polite, kind play here.] “Okay, Sophia, do you want to sit next to me?” “Yes! Thanks!”

This is what I had kids for. I was so delighted by how sweet and polite these adorable children were, and I was so happy to hear them play so beautifully that I just couldn’t tear myself away. By the time Misty came back, I was over the moon in love with all of our children.

Then I fed the girls, practiced for an hour while Lydia and Mary played, and put Mary down for her four hour nap. Lydia had quiet time that whole time, so I lay in bed reading Crossing to Safety. In fact, I could have written this blog a whole lot earlier and gotten to bed on time if it weren’t for the fact that those characters are so dear to me that I talked Abe’s ear off about the book for about an hour after the girls went down for bed. I still have a lump in my throat–as I type, hours after finishing the book. I have never read a book where I loved the characters so deeply. Also, I am sad the library is closed. I want to go check out everything Wallace Stegner has ever written and read it all right now. I’m so sad my book is done! I just want more time with the characters, but since it’s done, the next best thing I can do is read all the rest of his works.

After finishing my book, I skipped class so I could get a paper written before we go to California. I still have more homework to do tomorrow, but at least this paper is out of the way. It was on the history of Garde Manger, and even though I finished writing the paper, I still am not sure if the term Garde Manger refers to the actual Garde Manger chef or the craft of Garde Manger. I kind of side-stepped that in my paper…

Abe took the girls to his cousin’s birthday party down the street while I did homework. Lydia LOVES her cousin, Isabella, and when she got home, she said, “Mama, I want a play date with Isabella right now because I loooooooooove her so much!!” You can see she likes her from the pictures.

Abe's cousin, Alexander, turned 17. — Abe’s cousin, Alexander, turned 17. Also, it took a while to cut that cake. Abe said that Lydia waited patiently and then said very quietly, “Can I have a really big piece, please?” Everyone laughed.

Mary found Isabella's stuffed animal and held it close all evening. — Mary found Isabella’s stuffed animal and held it close all evening.

Lydia and Abe's little cousin, Isabella. — Lydia and Abe’s little cousin, Isabella. They played outside and Isabella picked flowers for Lydia. Lydia could not get enough play time with her favorite cousin!

Short

It’s past midnight, so this will be short.

We had a great morning planting new plants in our garden, and halfway through Sophia, Max and Misty showed up for a play date. We finished planting together and then I talked Misty’s ear off about homeschooling. I love talking to Misty.

Afterward, I practiced a lot of piano while the girls played. During Mary’s nap, I lay on my bed and read and Lydia came in to lie down next to me and color. I love that girl.

Then I had the WORST night of cooking school ever. I came home so discouraged. I am the slowest, most mistake-prone person in my class, and even the chef, who is the nicest, most patient chef in the school, started getting upset with me by the end of class. I just made so many mistakes on my dish! I spent an hour telling Abe how far behind everyone else I am, and now it’s so late that I don’t have much time to blog. Sorry, Mom and Grandma! I also neglected to take pictures today. I WILL do better tomorrow.

Blabbing about home schooling

This morning I raced around the house doing and folding loads upon loads of laundry, cleaning up and putting away Easter/Spring decorations, painting Lydia’s nails, feeding the girls, and reading to the girls. When Mary went down for her nap, I read to Lydia, practiced piano, and read more of The Well-Trained Mind. I have an action plan, I think.

Next year I’ll send Lydia to Challenger as planned. I am still going to be in school, and even though I’m going to buy some supplementary material and start coaching her from home, I feel a little too stretched to make a disciplined home-school commitment. The year after, though, I am going to experiment with home-school. I’ll start Lydia on a reading and math schedule and see if I can be disciplined enough to hack that kind of schedule at home.

All that to say, the book, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide for Classical Education has completely changed my paradigm. I used to think homeschooling was strange and produced social misfits. However, two things: 1) I was not home schooled and yet still managed to come out a social misfit with massive social anxiety 2) Jessie Wise, the author, poses this question: Socialization to what purpose? To fit in? To dumb down? To navigate an entirely artificial environment where all your peers are the same age–an environment not replicated in real life ever again? She argues that the family should be the primary unit of socialization because the end goal is for the child to become a high-functioning adult that understands what it takes to create a peaceful home and to contribute to society.

Before, every time the thought of homeschooling crossed my mind, I immediately dismissed the thought because I was so scared my children would end up strange and neurotic. But hey, my favorite people are people who are themselves and don’t try too hard to fit in. What’s wrong with raising children like that? The more I think about it, the more sense it seems to make.

At the end of the day, I still don’t know if I’ll home school, but I know I love this book’s educational philosophy, and my connotation for the term “home school” is permanently changed.

There’s Abe. He finished working out. He barely slept last night, so I better stop blabbing on the blog and go to bed.

Here’s a picture of the girls playing with the laundry basket while I folded piles of laundry. Lydia thought it was hilarious to put the basket over Mary, and Mary thought it was hilarious too…until she stopped thinking it was hilarious, and then she cried. Then I put Lydia in her room because she wouldn’t stop the game, and Lydia cried too. That was the only crying of the day, though!! (Oops. Except when I left for school and Mary saw her babysitter–she cried a lot then, too.) Anyway, I can’t seem to stop typing! The picture already:

Easter Eve

Today was packed, and Abe and I have yet to make Easter baskets and hide eggs, so quickly:

I got up at 5:30am to make it to yoga this morning. By the time I got home, Abe was in an apron making pancakes for all of us. Well, actually, Lydia made them:

Then she had an accident, which meant she had to take a shower, which meant that I got to do her hair while it was wet, which meant I got to practice my ladder braid!

I also did Mary’s hair for the first time. She didn’t like it.

Then I did a couple hours of homework while Abe played legos and other games with the girls. We fed them lunch, put Mary down for a nap, and then I practiced the piano for a couple hours. It felt positively luxurious to play whatever the heck I wanted to play. But it was a gorgeous day, and Abe and Lydia were outside enjoying the day and helping Ron and Shirl, so I finally quit and joined them outside. I found Abe reading his scriptures in the sunshine while Lydia drew chalk pictures next to him. No camera nearby, but it was cute.

Then we packed up the girls for the library, groceries, and the park:

By the time we got home, it was almost dark, so we hurried to plant our new tomato plants and then scurried inside to get dinner ready. Abe and I taught the girls an FHE lesson on Christ’s death and resurrection, and Lydia grilled us with questions all throughout dinner. She was very concerned about the nails-in-hands-and-feet part, which made me wonder if I should have diluted the story more.

At any rate, the girls didn’t get to bed until almost two hours past their bedtime tonight. We are going to have a tough time being on time for church tomorrow…

Content

I only have a couple pictures today. This one I took this morning while I was doing homework. The girls were angelic today and let me do hours of homework while they entertained themselves:

During Mary’s nap, Ron and Shirl replaced a window in the house. Lydia was curious and at one point left the house to watch. I was upstairs reading when I heard the front door bang, and I knew Lydia had just let herself out to watch them. So I hurried downstairs and ended up reading to Lydia on the lawn. She was really excited because Puss got to come, although she was a little worried he’d blow away in the wind…