The Red Cloaks

Today we went to Williamsburg. For a year now we have been lusting after a red woolen cloak for Martina and today we found one. She has worn it since the second we purchased it. For the day she had on her colonial style dress and she came close to freezing but with the addition of a petticoat and the cloak she was better. Still cold but too prideful to put my sweater vest back on. We also picked up Liberty passes which means we have until January of next year to visit everything we can in the Colonial Williamsburg area.

We didn't visit any of the exhibits but did have a fancy lunch at the Williamsburg Inn, a special treat for our family which is always done during the holidays.

I love Williamsburg at Christmastime. Hot cider, classic decorations, horse drawn carriages and rosy-cheeked cold.

The Revolution

We are headed for a 2nd grade Unit Study of Colonial Life and the American Revolution. Every Christmas I fall in love with Williamsburg, VA and this year I'm giving in and feeding it. Today is the beginning of our Unit. Martina's assignment is to create a diorama of what she thinks life was like in Colonial America.

We have several books we plan on reading and I'll post Amazon links as we get to them. For now, Martina may use these for information if she feels like she needs more than she has:

Felicity, An American Girl, Boxed Set

Adventures in Colonial America Series:

The Village

Seventh and Walnut

The Farm

Later this week Daddy is going hunting and we girls will head to Colonial Williamsburg for a nice lunch at the Williamsburg Inn and some taking in of the sights there. Perhaps Martina will use a bit of her Christmas money to purchase a new Colonial era dress and a red woolen cape to go with it. Maybe I will too! Then we'll have proper outfits to wear on our forays into Colonial America and war with England.

Pandora

She is the sweetest little thing. We tie our other goat, Sarah, and leave Pandora loose. She migrates between the dogloo where they sleep and wherever Sarah is tied. If we're out, she's close by, talking in her tiny little voice all of the time. Bah.

Christmas Treasures

Christmas Treasures are the same things that are treasured all year long. A few of them go on great adventures during the holiday season...

like Prancer, Martina's reindeer who made the sleigh team for the second year in a row. Prancer is now officially retired from service at the North Pole.

Randall playing the guitar Mark and I gave him for his 14th birthday, in a house my Grandfather built 100 years ago. The treasure of history, heritage and continuity...

and these girls. Beauties one and all. Eli our college girl, Martina reciter of the first four lines of the Aeneid and Aleia, future Dentist.

My husband, Mark. Provider extraordinaire of love, necessities, sarcasm and warmth. (Eli knitted him the hat =D)

Laughter and happiness and beer and the ability to be perfectly happy when sitting on a piece of lawn furniture right in the middle of the living room.

Wonder. The ability of an 8 year old child to completely lose herself in her sister's reading of, "A Visit From Saint Nick," late, in front of a roaring fire on Christmas Eve.

A 17 year old son who loves whatever his little sister gives him for a present. How cool is that?

Then there is this part, which we don't do except at Christmas. People who can't understand why anyone would buy into the consumeristic BS at this time of year? Please look at that kid's face.
These are the things that make Christmas beautiful for my family. What does it for you and yours?

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

December 23rd, 2009

Things are beginning to get a little crazy around here! But we're all in the Spirit of the Season.

Spiral Walk 2009

We always begin our Spiral Walk evening with a story about the creatures gathering around a tiny flame. There are a rabbit, a mouse, gnomes, and an angel. The children sit on the floor round the table and listen as the story is told and acted out with our felt creatures.

Then we all meet by the front door bundled up in our coats and begin the walk to the spiral. We sing Christmas carols, though for us the event is not strictly a Christian one. When we approach the door to the spiral we hush, knock and are allowed entrance.

The room is dark except for the angel, sitting in the center of the spiral holding her light. In the background we hear guitar music playing softly. One by one the children come, some in the arms of their parents, to choose an apple with a candle in the center to carry into the spiral. There, they light their apple candles from the light of the angel and bring it back toward the outside world, pausing somewhere along the way to place it carefully near the path.

The spiral begins to glow as each child and then the parents walk to the center and bring the light back out. The little boys rush to the center and back again, moving so quickly that their candles barely stay lit. The girls are slower, more gentle in their journeys. The mothers wearing their long, flowing wraps look like mythical creatures as they move through the spiral.

The dark room becomes lighter. Soon we recognize the faces of those around us.

The soft glow of the candlelight illuminates the room. All of the children are quiet, reverent and wide eyed. It is a beautiful moment among our little family of homeschoolers. When the last participant leaves the evergreen spiral, I open the door, thank them for bringing their light into the world and everyone quietly goes. Back home, back into the world which is a bit brighter for their being in it.

The spiral in the bright light of day.

'Tis the Season (for Migraine Headaches)

Christmas is my favorite season. For those not in the know, Christmas is not a holiDAY, it is a holiSEASON. Probably, for some people, it's all about the shopping and the gifts and the presents and the stuff but for me it's about something else. Decorations and lights and sparkly fairy thingies and looking into a pair of round blue eyes and seeing innocence and trust and all things good and holy.

Yes, it's true that Christmas has little to do with the birth of Jesus in our household, though we do recognize him and tell his story right alongside the story of the lights in the Temple and the Yule fairies and Santa Clause.

But none of that is the point of this post. Christmas is known to be a stressful time of year. Normally, for me, it's not. Only this year, it is. We aren't completely moved. Our sheep are in NC still. The dog was spayed a few days ago and making sure she doesn't pop a stitch and spill her guts all over the place is a chore. We have had parties lined up asshole to elbow and while they are wonderful and the whole getting dressed up thing is fun, I'm a bit worn out. Add to that serious, ongoing health issues, social stresses that outweigh anything in recent memory and a sudden influx of great business propositions and I'm all set up.

What do you mean 'set up' you may ask? Well, set up for a migraine. Stress is big factor in many migraines but for me they land just after the stress lets up. Like today. As soon as Mark walked into the house, Bam!, I went blind (which is from the aura preceding the migraine, a classical symptom). Yesterday I had to shop, something I hate worse than having my toenails plucked out with pliers, was dumped by a close friend for reasons I don't understand, then had to do party prep for Night on the Town with my Dad and 50 or so of our closest relatives, some of whom we don't know. Dressing included a lotion bottle explosion which covered Martina's expensive cocktail dress and almost, ALMOST but not quite, ruined the night. We recovered. Mark lost a lens from his glasses at the party, during repairs I ordered a glass of Scotch and the bartender filled the fucker to the rim. God love her.

But I digress. Today we had to rush to arrive early for a 10am Nutcracker performance (think clean, neat, nice clothing). Remember we have livestock (think boots, hay covered clothing, wind, dirt, manure). We thoroughly enjoyed the show, and I was able to watch the ballet for the first time ever. Lovely. Magical. I cried. Then lunch with the kids, home for a riding lesson and house work.

When Mark came in I was making creamed turnips. He said, "Hello love," and I went blind. (Again, the aura.) And that's how it works for me and migraines. As soon as I can let my breath out after a period of extreme stress, Bam! It hits. Then my head hurts for a few days. But you know what? It's okay. Because I have Mark to bring me water and Excedrin migraine and Martina to give me kisses and Travis to take over cooking the damned turnips. They were delicious.

Obsessed, Facebook, Real Life and Community Gardens

Lately I've been playing Farmville a lot. It's a good fit for a computer game. I get to grow stuff. I get to check out. I get to harvest, virtually, tons and tons of beautiful produce that my friends stop by and fertilize for me. I have a similar relationship with Cafe World. I love to cook. Why not do it in cyberspace where clean up is easy and everything is forgivable.

Then today a friend told me about a meeting on Community Gardens at a local business. Tonight. So I turned off Facebook and went out into the real world where gardens have real dirt, real bugs and require real hands to work them. I won't say it was amazing but it was good. It was satisfying like a crock pot full of simmering bean soup. It was filling. And nourishing. Are you tired of the nutritional cliches yet? The most thrilling thing of all was talking to, interacting with, breathing the same air as other people who are passionate about gardening and sustainability.

Mark and I have been so long in the society of monoculturists and so far from everything that might make us feel like we could be a part of a like-minded community that this evening's meeting was far more for me than just informative. It was a reminder that I am not alone in this journey toward a healthy world.

Thanks Sara.

Marketing the Skills of a Homeschool Mom

Some days I look back on the hours that went before and I think, "What the hell did I do all day?" Most of the time I feel like I really haven't accomplished what I set out to do and therefore, being a glass half-empty kind of gal, I think I didn't do much if anything.

One of my friends used to be a high level marketing executive. She can make Food Lion potato salad sound like vichyssoise and vodka. Sometimes, when I have one of these I didn't do squat days, I think of her and reframe.

Today is one of those days. I had grand plans of getting the whole, entire, gigantic downstairs room cleaned out and organized. It didn't happen. So I started feeling like a failure of mammoth proportions and wondering how my husband can stand to come home after a long and productive day to a home in which nothing has changed. Then I remembered the vichyssoise and vodka.

By 8am I had cleared off a 9' segment of kitchen counter space, shelved a milk crate full of books, made coffee, started a load of laundry and fed the (7) cats who live in our yard. Then I showered, taught Martina how to make scrambled eggs with cheese and ham, given her the rest of her weekly assignments and prodded Travis into semi-consciousness.

By 2pm I had cleaned and organized and watered all of the plants, mostly herbs, living in my sun porch and repotted a couple of them; eaten lunch; moved a few boxes out of the downstairs and sorted through one I found behind my bedroom door. 3 more loads of laundry had gone through the cycle. The kids and I had made a trip to the homeschool bookstore where Travis picked out a math tome that suits his needs and I found a nifty writing course for Martina. (Life of Fred math-thanks Sara and Shez and Writing With Ease by Susan Wise Bauer, I have high hopes for this one!) Supper was bubbling away in the crock pot.

By 4pm, Travis had done the first assignment in the math book, watched his history course dvd, done Latin with his little sister as his tutor (heh) and myriad other things, all at my direction. Martina was finished with her school work, as well. The school work is not a short cycle deal, either. I've come to realize and maybe even have gotten over, that I am a school-at-home homeschooler. I like books. I like order. I like to go through things in a certain order. So, not only did we do school work, Mom had a moment of realization and self-acceptance.

If you've made it this far you, too, have done something huge today ;) and thanks to my friend, Shez, I have a glass that's half full.

Catching Up

We are moved and I am cooking in a new/old kitchen. The set up here is strange because my father, who has never cooked anything more involved than a can of soup, designed the kitchen. He would take no advice and so, for now, I have to live with the consequences. They aren't too dire but the kitchen is awkward with cracks in the edges of the countertops, badly stained linoleum that is coming apart at the seams and a cabinet system that has lots of room that is not greatly useable.

So, whine, snivel, stomp. Here I am, back in the Big City, where I belong and I haven't been so happy in years. When I cook something delicious and want to photograph it, I just can't bring myself to share the tawdry realities of my current cooking space. Recently I have made a delicious breakfast casserole, my favorite fennel and rock fish recipe, a simple, hearty goulash with cabbage and local hamburger and a delicious, sweet salad that everyone in our family consumed like sharks on a feeding frenzy. No recipes though, and no photos. Not yet.

I'll get back to it soon, if any of you are waiting around out there for my next great, easy, chemical-free food ideas. If you're waiting for more of my dry, smart-assed commentary you will be satisfied much more quickly.

GUESS Homeschool Science Fair

The sponsors of our 2009 GUESS Homeschool Science Fair generously provided our young scientists with exciting prizes for the winners. Their donations also allowed us to underwrite the cost of all the kids' science fair day at the VASC, including an age-appropriate science class, an electricity demo, and an IMAX movie. Part of what we do to thank our sponsors is generating links for them on homeschool blogs and sites, pointing to their web presence from descriptive anchor text, to boost their Google ranking on those search terms. That's where this post comes in!

We need your help to spread these links across the internet, to say thank you to these businesses for supporting our young homeschooled scientists. If you have a blog, or site, and you can help us, please steal this post! For maximum impact on search engines, it's very important that the links go along with the post, attached to the appropriate text, so if you need the plain HTML to put into your blog, click here for a .txt file.

So, how can you help the GUESS Homeschool Science Fair?

1. Copy this post, or the .txt file with the HTML.
2. Post it to your blog.
3. Let us know when you've done it so we can link back to your blog!

Here's the part of the post we want you to "steal":

Thank you to the following homeschool-friendly businesses for supporting the GUESSHomeschool Science Fair and the young scientists of Hampton Roads!

Green Olive Tree is an internet company based in Portsmouth, Virginia and owned and operated by a homeschooling family. They offer a broad range of internet services, fromreliable web hosting to corporate infrastructure solutions and server administration.

SKS Science supplies homeschoolers and other educators with all the science supplies you need to turn your dining room table into a proper laboratory. Browse their site for test tubes, bottles, face masks and other lab supplies and books.

Book Exchange is the largest used bookstore in Eastern Virginia. Unlike most musty and confusing used stores, this one is clean, bright, inviting, and has a huge selection of used homeschool books. There's always an interesting curriculum find on these shelves!

Folkmanis Puppets makes the most delightful animal puppets available outside Santa's workshop. Meet their most unusual creations like llamas, Chinese dragons, ostriches, flying squirrels. Unusual materials create realistic textures, and they all move in very realistic ways. Irresistible.

The Happy Scientist, Robert Krampf, hosts an online wonderland for budding scientists. Withonline science lessons, experiments to try at home, a science photo of the day, and new content added all the time, you'll love setting your kids loose on this site.

Mad Science is Hampton Roads' premier provider of science enrichment classes for children. Summer classes include "Crazy Chemistry" and a space camp developed with NASA! New homeschool science classes are being offered in Norfolk and VA Beach, with more planned for fall.

Moore Expressions is a homeschool bookstore in Virginia Beach, VA. They sell used and newhomeschooling curriculum, host a support group, and publish a newsletter called the Bayith Educator. They are the premier source for homeschooling books in the Hampton Roads area.

Norfolk Karate Academy offers classes in Tang Soo Do (Korean karate) and Gracie Jiu Jitsu(Brazilian grappling and self-defense). With classes for children, teens, and adults, it's a great way for anyone to get in shape and kick things in a socially acceptable way!

Brooks Systems offers standalone software and web applications that check legal compliance in all municipalities in all fifty states, and create truth-in-lending documents for residential lenders. Using Brooks for your automated mortgage compliance, you can be sure your loans are safe.

Virginia Air and Space Center was host to the homeschool science fair this year, and delivered awesome science classes for homeschoolers from their education department. The VASC is the educator resource center for the NASA Langley Research Center.

Thanks to Lydia and Sherene for expending the energy to make the fair wonderful.

Newton Piano, Virginia Beach, VA

Update: Today Newton did come to our home and repair the piano. The Mr. Newton who came, Joe, was incredibly personable and professional. He found the problem with the piano, fixed that and we then hired him to tune it. He stayed for several hours and did a damned fine job.

Normally I do not post reviews to this blog, I keep them over at WhereIGoReviews. Today is different. I feel the need to spread the word about this business and intend to place a call to the Better Business Bureau later today. Here is what is new since I wrote the original post: twice now Newton has told us they will be at our home to repair the damage done to our antique baby grand piano when they moved it. Twice they have not shown up. Twice they have not called. Twice we have been left here waiting for them to fix what they broke and they haven't.

I would drive to Richmond or Raleigh for piano services before I would use Newton.

Below is the post from WhereIGoReviews:

When browsing through the directory for piano movers, there was only one company that dealt exclusively with pianos among the plethora of multi-purpose moving companies. It seemed to be very simple to choose Newton. After all, they appeared to be the professionals.

I called, booked the move tentatively based on having my call returned and pick up confirmed by X, the person who deals with booking moves. I very specifically left instructions that I be contacted at my home telephone number because cell phone service at our rural NC home is undependable. I never received a call at our home but when I left to go out a few days later and got service on my cell, I noticed that I had missed a couple of calls from Newton. I called back and spoke with X who said something about how I need to answer my phone. I then re-explained the situation with cell -vs- home telephones but in the end, X never contacted me at my home number. He was also patronizing and insistent, for a short time, that my piano is not a baby grand but probably a small grand piano which would cost more to move. Not that he had seen the piano.

X told me that he contracts the moves out to another company. He told me that the movers generally come and pick up the truck at 8:00 am on Saturdays and they would come to my house immediately after that. I asked if I could then plan on the piano movers arriving between 9:00 and 9:30 am and was told that no, he couldn’t say that. I asked what time I should expect them and Tom told me that sometime before 10:30 am on Saturday would be reasonable.

On the day of the scheduled move all was quiet. No telephone ringing. No movers arriving. Nothing. Finally, at approximately 11:45 am, I called Newton Piano and was told that the movers would not be in that day. They had made other plans. X told me, “I should have called.” No kidding. He said they would be at my home the following morning and proceeded to tell me how dependable the men are. I told him that my experience told me different but that I would be there and to please call if they couldn’t be there.

Following morning the movers came. They moved the piano. It now has a dead key and rings (I am not certain of the proper term here) as if one of the pedals were pushed down all of the time. We called and Newton said someone would come out to repair the piano. Nothing so far. The piano has been here for a week. They want us to pay them $85.00 to tune it but we paid them $395.00 to move it and they damaged it during the move and are, as seems to be their wont, neglecting to do their professional duty by staying in touch or showing up to fix the antique baby grand in my living room.

Based on my experience with Newton I cannot recommend them for their quality of service, pricing or customer relations. All-in-all my experience with Newton was a huge disappointment.

What Happens After Co-op

We come home and fall down, flat, on our faces. Then we don't move until the next morning.

We love our homeschool school. The people and community and classes are wonderful. Still, every single droplet of energy is sucked out of our bodies and we are useless for the rest of the day.

Martina watched tv and read all afternoon. I've been online or walking around the house looking at all the things I need to do and just can't muster the energy for.

We are tired but it's a good tired, if you know what I mean.