Sunday, October 16, 2011
Pumpkin Day!
Pumpkin Day is a big deal at our house. This is our third year (maybe fourth?) doing it and it just gets more fun every year. We always start the day off with pumpkin pancakes at our house, go to a really fun pumpkin patch and fall fest, and then end the day eating more pumpkin goodies. This year Kevin's mom hosted dinner and made Spicy Pumpkin Sweet Potato Soup. And, of course, we had pumpkin pie. I originally got the idea to do this from the book Pumpkin Day by Nancy Elizabeth Wallace. What a fun day!!
Our Man
I love this man. He is amazing. His kids love him too. Family bike rides are the best. (And yes, people smile and stare when they see all these bike attachments!)
Have I mentioned already how wonderful my husband is? Here he is with the girls:
Have I mentioned already how wonderful my husband is? Here he is with the girls:
Impromptu Civics Lesson
This year the kids are memorizing all of the states and capitols. I have talked to them about how a capitol is the center of government for the state and it is where all of the state's laws are debated and enacted. After having lunch with Kevin on Friday--something we try to do at least once a month--we walked over to the State House to show them around.
Meredith, at the Court of Appeals. While I think that Meredith will be a businesswoman/artist (my prediction at this point!), she also is intrigued by law.
Clara takes in the beautiful interior of the capitol building.
Checking out the state assembly. The kids enjoying seeing the buttons on the desks and hearing about how the laws are debated and voted on.
A good day!
Meredith, at the Court of Appeals. While I think that Meredith will be a businesswoman/artist (my prediction at this point!), she also is intrigued by law.
Clara takes in the beautiful interior of the capitol building.
Checking out the state assembly. The kids enjoying seeing the buttons on the desks and hearing about how the laws are debated and voted on.
A good day!
Sunday, October 09, 2011
Running ... continued.
I have continued the C25K running plan, with only one slight set back. During week three, I got a head cold. So, I decided to repeat a few days of week three, rather than moving on and kicking it up a notch. Currently I am running nine minutes out of 23. When I start week four, I will be running 16 minutes out of 26.5. Eek. That seems like a big jump to me.
On Saturday morning, I started my walk/run a little later than usual because Kevin was home and I had more flexibility. As I started out, it was just before sunrise and there was a thin fog ahead of me. The world was still and peaceful. I was the only one out. After 10 minutes, I got on the trail that runs behind my house. It was getting lighter at that point and I could see all of the splendid fall foliage and listen to the golden leaves crunch underneath my feet. I started to see a few more people out and about. I continued running and walking alternately, enjoying the crisp fall air. By the time I got home, the sun had just started rising and the sky was full of colorful splendor. I sat down on my back porch to enjoy all the color. All of the stillness. All of the peace. Every time I do this, in the end I think, "It is worth it." It is really hard to get up early. Especially when I feel sick. But in the end, I really, really enjoy it. I can understand why people really love running. When I run, I feel alive.
On Saturday morning, I started my walk/run a little later than usual because Kevin was home and I had more flexibility. As I started out, it was just before sunrise and there was a thin fog ahead of me. The world was still and peaceful. I was the only one out. After 10 minutes, I got on the trail that runs behind my house. It was getting lighter at that point and I could see all of the splendid fall foliage and listen to the golden leaves crunch underneath my feet. I started to see a few more people out and about. I continued running and walking alternately, enjoying the crisp fall air. By the time I got home, the sun had just started rising and the sky was full of colorful splendor. I sat down on my back porch to enjoy all the color. All of the stillness. All of the peace. Every time I do this, in the end I think, "It is worth it." It is really hard to get up early. Especially when I feel sick. But in the end, I really, really enjoy it. I can understand why people really love running. When I run, I feel alive.
Apples and More Apples
The trek to Anderson Orchard to pick apples is an annual tradition.
We love the apple slushies!
We took home three bushels of apples.
And 24 hours later we had turned 2 1/2 of those bushels into 42 jars of apple sauce! Ta da! Kevin's mom has shown me that nothing tastes better with hot soup in the fall and winter than homemade apple sauce.
We love the apple slushies!
We took home three bushels of apples.
And 24 hours later we had turned 2 1/2 of those bushels into 42 jars of apple sauce! Ta da! Kevin's mom has shown me that nothing tastes better with hot soup in the fall and winter than homemade apple sauce.
Another ... field trip!
I must be new to this homeschooling thing because I signed up for way too many field trips! But it really has been fun.
Here we are at an old-fashioned turn-of-the-century ice cream parlor in Columbus, Indiana, which is also a museum.
Columbus also has this amazing indoor playground. The kids LOVED it.
I also took Meredith to a fire safety program at a local fire department. It was really great because they filled a room full of artificial smoke to show the kids how to "fall and crawl" in the case of a fire and covered other basic info.
They also had the kids practice crawling out of a window.
Kevin took the day off work and we all went down to Marengo Cave in southern Indiana. We had a 60-minute tour of one part of the cave and a 90-minute tour of another part of the cave. The kids also got to mine for gemstones, which they really enjoyed. Unfortunately I only had my phone to take pictures with. :( We would definitely go back! Marengo Cave was great.
Here we are at an old-fashioned turn-of-the-century ice cream parlor in Columbus, Indiana, which is also a museum.
Columbus also has this amazing indoor playground. The kids LOVED it.
I also took Meredith to a fire safety program at a local fire department. It was really great because they filled a room full of artificial smoke to show the kids how to "fall and crawl" in the case of a fire and covered other basic info.
They also had the kids practice crawling out of a window.
Kevin took the day off work and we all went down to Marengo Cave in southern Indiana. We had a 60-minute tour of one part of the cave and a 90-minute tour of another part of the cave. The kids also got to mine for gemstones, which they really enjoyed. Unfortunately I only had my phone to take pictures with. :( We would definitely go back! Marengo Cave was great.
Visiting the past ...
The two older kids and I took a few hours last weekend to sneak up to a Civil War reenactment taking place about 20 minutes away. They will be learning about the Civil War in the spring so I thought it would be a good opportunity to pique their interest!
Ha! A southern belle on her iPhone:
As soon as we arrived, we saw a group of soldiers preparing for battle. The man who was the general took a few minutes to talk to the children and show them some authentic Civil War-era pictures of children he collected.
The ensuing battle:
We even got to meet our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln!
Ha! A southern belle on her iPhone:
As soon as we arrived, we saw a group of soldiers preparing for battle. The man who was the general took a few minutes to talk to the children and show them some authentic Civil War-era pictures of children he collected.
The ensuing battle:
We even got to meet our 16th president, Abraham Lincoln!
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Pride and Prejudice
Tonight I met with my classics book club to discuss Pride and Prejudice. (I love having an excuse to ignore dishes sitting in the sink and read all afternoon, which is what I did two days in a row in order to get this book done!) This was a familiar story as I had read the book previously and had watched every movie based on this book at least twice. The appeal of this story is that its characters, tension, wit and humor never grow old.
I instantly sympathized with Elizabeth who is a lively and intelligent, yet flawed soul. While Elizabeth's mother wants to see all of her daughters married to wealthy men, Elizabeth is more interested in living authentically. She loves people for who they are, not for what their status in life is. She wants happiness for herself and her sister Jane. She wants to be judged on her own merits, and not based on her embarrassing family members or her social status and wealth, or lack thereof.
There are many obstacles standing in her way--her family, the social customs and mores of society, and her own prejudices and quick-to-judge temperament. Elizabeth remains true to herself and, in the end, gets the man of course.
Honestly, I think that if all of the people in Pride and Prejudice had been gainfully employed, not even half of the drama would have happened. That's what you get when you sit around all day and stew over things and have time to write all those long letters.
We talked about whether Charlotte Lucas was right to marry Mr. Collins, whether Mr. Bennett was a good husband/father, whether people change over time or essentially remain as they always were, and whether it is acceptable to intervene and tell a friend when you think they are making a big mistake romantically. We also talked about the reaction of the family (and society) to Lydia running off with Wickham and whether we would want our daughter marrying such a man if we were in that situation (personally, I would say NO!). All in all, it was a good discussion.
One complaint I have is that the book ends too happily to be realistic. Perhaps Austen made all her books end with such perfection and happiness so that she could live vicariously through her heroines, as there was no fairytale ending in her own life.
So far we have read Don Quixote, Pilgrim's Progress, Gulliver's Travels, and now Pride and Prejudice. Oliver Twist is next. After that only 26 books to go before we are done with the novels' genre in Bauer's book! By the time my kids are in high school, maybe I will feel that I have a handle on classic literature! My fingers are crossed.
I instantly sympathized with Elizabeth who is a lively and intelligent, yet flawed soul. While Elizabeth's mother wants to see all of her daughters married to wealthy men, Elizabeth is more interested in living authentically. She loves people for who they are, not for what their status in life is. She wants happiness for herself and her sister Jane. She wants to be judged on her own merits, and not based on her embarrassing family members or her social status and wealth, or lack thereof.
There are many obstacles standing in her way--her family, the social customs and mores of society, and her own prejudices and quick-to-judge temperament. Elizabeth remains true to herself and, in the end, gets the man of course.
Honestly, I think that if all of the people in Pride and Prejudice had been gainfully employed, not even half of the drama would have happened. That's what you get when you sit around all day and stew over things and have time to write all those long letters.
We talked about whether Charlotte Lucas was right to marry Mr. Collins, whether Mr. Bennett was a good husband/father, whether people change over time or essentially remain as they always were, and whether it is acceptable to intervene and tell a friend when you think they are making a big mistake romantically. We also talked about the reaction of the family (and society) to Lydia running off with Wickham and whether we would want our daughter marrying such a man if we were in that situation (personally, I would say NO!). All in all, it was a good discussion.
One complaint I have is that the book ends too happily to be realistic. Perhaps Austen made all her books end with such perfection and happiness so that she could live vicariously through her heroines, as there was no fairytale ending in her own life.
So far we have read Don Quixote, Pilgrim's Progress, Gulliver's Travels, and now Pride and Prejudice. Oliver Twist is next. After that only 26 books to go before we are done with the novels' genre in Bauer's book! By the time my kids are in high school, maybe I will feel that I have a handle on classic literature! My fingers are crossed.
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