Bellyaching

Yesterday was the worst day ever. Well, not ever, but pretty darn horrible.

** I dropped off my sewing machine to be repaired on January 15th. They (finally) called yesterday morning to tell me it was ready (ABOUT TIME!). I immediately told Matt and begged him to pick it up, which he did, and brought it home. I sat down eagerly to work at her (I missed her so!) and my many projects on the burner (so to speak) only to find that she was never FIXED. Over $120.00 (!!!) and almost THREE months (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) and she still wasn't fixed!!! Needle stills clanks into metal once past the bobbin plate. I called the company and they told me to bring her in again. ugh. It was like a firework that made it to the sky only to come back crashing to the earth. It was like euphoric suicide. Trust me, it was bad. I think I moped the rest of the day.

*** On top of that~ I was reminded yesterday (by my sister and Mom) that my son has a birthday on TUESDAY. OF NEXT WEEK. (That would be four days away, my friends, and over an already busy weekend to boot!) I felt (feel) like the worst mother in the world, for forgetting about a birthday. WHAT MOTHER DOES THAT?!?!

My mind has been so consumed with all the *stuff* going on and on EASTER, that I completely forget that my Panda Cowboy is turning four. FOUR. And, fitting his obsession with cowboys, I was going to make him leather chaps and a fancy shmancy hobby horse and a lasso...and there is NO way I will have time for all that (or even SOME of that).

His birthday cake, I was told last night, must include a cowboy with a lasso, holding a pistol who is shooting a rattlesnake while the horse has a rifle in its' pack. Figure that one out.
It's official, I am the world's worst mother.

**** Foto Friday was a bomb and a half for me this week.

***** Some days I feel totally fat and huge, other days I wonder if Smooch is still okay and growing. I am so schizophrenic it scares me.

****** Two things that happen to me when I get pregnant: my insecurities quadruple AND I have nightly nightmares. Not a combination I am fond of. Matt has cheated on my about 10 different nights now, in a row. (IN MY DREAMS, people. The man is the most devoted guy I know, which is why this is all so baffling.) Baffling, but very emotional.

******* There are clothes on the line right now. With SNOW on them.

******** The basement is empty of wood and the fire is pretty much gone. brrrrr. (another weekend project.)

********* The HEALTHCARE bill passed. ?!?!?!?!?!

********** I am REALLY cravings onion rings. Lots and lots of onion rings. In barbeque sauce. In southwest sauce. In ketchup. In cheese. In all of those things at once. And I wonder why I gain 40-50 pounds during pregnancy...

OK. I guess that is about it. There are lots of good things (and sweet things, and funny things, and blessed things) happening around here too (to be written about some other time), but I just didn't want to talk about them right now. I felt like complaining.

In order to make up for that, here are a few lions and lambs to elicit forgiveness and goodwill from those of you who endured this depressing post.

....darling...

....awwww....

....sweet...

...happy thoughts....

...ahhhhhhhhhhh....

much better.....

Foto Friday: SPRING

I am the biggest Foto Friday LOSER this week. I was *THIS* close not to posting any photos of my own at all because I had NOTHING to offer (though I had GREAT plans!).

All but the bird photos were taken after lunch and before rest today, about an hour ago, hence this late posting. (SORRY!)

This post is photo heavy, but not because any are extraordinary....in fact, there isn't an extraordinary one in the bunch.

Oh well. You win some and you lose some. I *DID* promise to NOT post a single photo of plants beginning to grow so you can be sure I didn't even bother with that!!

Why I wasn't happy with this weeks' outcome?

*I wanted to photograph SPRINGS (literally) but never got to it. I was going to buy a slinky and see what I could do with that. Slinkies are springy and would have made a fun subject.

*I had several other ideas in mind: MARCH coming in like a LION which was rushed, April Showers which never even happened, and buying the letters S.P.R.I.N.G and using them in a photo including all the children which didn't happen either. poo.

*I wanted to photograph a robin (the epitome of spring, in my book) but I was hoping to catch one in the grass while I was lying in the grass in order to make a straight-on perspective (with grass and robin in focus and background blurred). Try getting up close to a robin though. You can't exactly lure them with seed. SHEESH. These were the best I could do....and I am shocked they were in focus....

I am in the mood to critique-so this is me, critiquing my own work....

(REMEMBER: a good critique contains both positive AND negative and is meant to BETTER yourself. I am not being too hard on myself, just trying to get better. Self-critiquing is a useful tool and should be used often. Try it sometime!)

Critique: I have learned that when photographing birds, the eye ought to be in focus. If you can get the eye, you can capture the essence of the creature. (Thanks, Els!) I was happy with the eye being in focus. I wish, however, I could have been closer to the subject. The concrete would have been nice to be blurred with the wood and the bird still sharp. I could do without the junk on the right.

Critique: I think it is miraculous that this photo is in focus. I might have put the bird just SLIGHTLY more toward the center, if I had been thinking of it. It might be TOO far over to the right side. I love how vibrant his breast is.

This is a cornfield that happens to be flooded, another sure sign of spring here in the North. I drove past this on my way to a get-together and was late because of it. (oops)

Critique: I had to turn around the car to come back to this scene because I wasn't swift enough on my feet to pull over. In doing so, I misjudged where the flock of geese was and had to travel a ways to get to them (on foot). Unfortunately, they saw me and got far from me ASAP. Had I climbed the ridge right where they were, I would have gotten up much closer to them which would have made the image much more powerful. You almost can't even SEE the geese in these photos, and certainly not the fact that it was a whole FLOCK (over 20). I do like how the corn stalks were in focus, my hope was to portray that it really was a cornfield and not just some random lake.

This scene was to represent the mantra MARCH COMES IN LIKE A LION AND OUT LIKE A LAMB.


It was rainy yesterday and bitter cold today so it wasn't pleasant being outside on the only days I had available to take some time to do this shot. And since I had to get this post up sometime this afternoon, I had to do it right smack dab at noon. None of these turned out as I had hoped.


Critique: I like the concept. A LOT. I like the subjects A LOT too! ;-) (How CUTE are their noses?!) I DO NOT like the crazy brightness/shadows that are produced outside in the middle of the day. I would have liked to do this shot about 4:30/5:00 when the sun is not so harsh but the lighting is still nice. This would have helped make the light consistent. I also would have liked to work more on the background, it's too cluttered in my opinion. Grass alone, perhaps? Ideally, it would certainly not contain a gnarly, naked appletree, power lines, and bits of snow all over the ground. I likely would have taken more time to get "what I wanted" if it wouldn't have been so COLD outside. brrrrrrrrr.

(Andrew was trying his VERY BEST to get a reaction from Adele' but she knows her brother and only laughed. It was pretty funny to watch, though!)

A FLOWER girl:

I bought these headbands with an awesome idea in mind including ALL the children (it WILL come, sometime) which never actually happened this week. I took a few of Corynn anyway, for kicks.

Critique: This girl is a hard one to get natural in front of the camera. She reminds me of myself. Any face that isn't weirdly contorted in some way is a successful shot. I like this shot. I can't think what I would do different.


Critique: can't really tell she is wearing a flowerpetal hat. Not sure how I could have done it different, though, given my limitations (not being outside, low light except near a window, a messy bed that I didn't want in the background...)

Critique: to me this photo portrays the yearning for good weather, but it not quite being there. I wish, overall, that it were lighter (the bed in the foreground and the walls). The molding out to have been centered too, framing the subject, instead of being cut off on one side. I like the sparkles her shirt made in the sunshine though...sorta magical. :-)

Alright. That was sorta fun, critiquing my work. Maybe sometime that will be a challenge! ;-)

Now, this post is already late enough. No more jibberjabber. Let's see what YOU did for SPRING:


In order to participate in these Foto Friday challenges, you must take a photo (or several) pertaining to the challenge WITHIN the challenge week and post it/them to your blog. When you do, please link back to this blog {you may use the button if you like} so that perhaps we can get lots of participants! (Because, you know, the more the merrier!) Then simply link to your Foto Friday post with Mr. McLinky here so that we all can visit you and compare notes...

Please do not post a link to your blog if you are not actually participating (this has happened!) It will be deleted, I check all the links.

For those of you new to this blog (or to Foto Friday's in general), each Friday we get a new photo challenge to work on for the week and we post our photos the next Friday and link back up here. Whatever your skill level, the goal is to get behind your camera and to begin, as you practice, to view subjects in a different light. To extend yourself and your concepts and ideas. To create ART instead of just snapping a picture. And to do it all while having FUN.

This week's challenge is EGGS. (We will get back to the colors theme soon. Promise)

Radio FLYER

The girlie is finally walking more than crawling now, but even with all her practice indoors, the rough terrain of outside is frustrating for her. Which stinks (for her) because any free moments of sunny days we have are spent outside. In comes Radio Flyer walker, an extraordinary gift back when people thought we were only having one child (HA!) that keeps on giving to each child we have.

She loves it for roaming about (even in grass) and I love it for not having to carry her everywhere.


It has found a new use recently, one that I hadn't exactly anticipated. When said girlie gets TIRED of walking, an older brother or sister plop her inside of it and takes her for a ride...

FULL THROTTLE. And when I say FULL THROTTLE, that is precisely what I mean.

Running as fast as their legs can carry them, panting along driveway, in grass, whatever, with their bouncy cargo laughing away.

I would have been petrified of going that fast as a baby, methinks. In fact, I am a wee bit petrified of watching it happen as a grown up.


Whoever came up with the name Radio Flyer hit the nail right on the head.

Because BOY, can she fly!

Foto Friday: GREEN

I am the lazy mother who is too busy preparing for Easter to actually take time out to do any leprauchaun-y type things, so my little tribute to those Irish lads and lassies was this weeks' theme....GREEN. Turns out, mid-march in PA isn't exactly conducive to GREEN. I actually, kinda STINK at it. (SHOULDA celebrated St. Patricks Day after all!)

Here we go, anyhow:


I *DID* celebrate with a Shamrock Shake, however! Does that count?! *slurp*

We have literally NOTHING living around here except these bitty buds from my hydrangea plants I brought into the potting shed (and covered with upturned pots) last fall. I can't tell you how I hope these things will bloom this year. Toes and fingers all crossed. Legs and elbows too. AND eyes.



I am finding it more and more challenging to come up with fresh (extraordinary) photos to match that weeks' challenge. As soon as the challenge is announced, I automatically think back to some great shots in the past I have taken that would qualify and RARELY find an opportunity during that week to find something worthwhile pertaining to the challenge. Is this just me?

For the fun of it, here are a few photos that just SCREAM green to me (from my archives...)





Seeing GREEN, anyone?



In order to participate in these Foto Friday challenges, you must take a photo (or several) pertaining to the challenge WITHIN the challenge week and post it/them to your blog. When you do, please link back to this blog {you may use the button if you like} so that perhaps we can get lots of participants! (Because, you know, the more the merrier!) Then simply link to your Foto Friday post with Mr. McLinky here so that we all can visit you and compare notes...


For those of you new to this blog (or to Foto Friday's in general), each Friday we get a new photo challenge to work on for the week and we post our photos the next Friday and link back up here. Whatever your skill level, the goal is to get behind your camera and to begin, as you practice, to view subjects in a different light. To extend yourself and your concepts and ideas. To create ART instead of just snapping a picture. And to do it all while having FUN.

Since this week is the FIRST WEEK OF SPRING (!!!!!!), how about we do a SPRING theme?! Yes? YES! Let's see how well we can represent SPRING.

The Artist Within

Monday and Tuesday of this week I took care of a little boy, very spontaneously, as emergency childcare.

At one point, I came into the room and saw this:

Which reminded me very much of this:

The Boy Who Loved to Draw.

(If you haven't read the book, you really need to. It is great. Quaker boy discovers incredible talent at a very young age (a talent which questions his family's' beliefs), learns to make paint out of dirt from friendly Indians and begins making paintbrushes from his cat's fur until the poor thing is splotched and nearly naked.

I am hoping to have this be our next family read aloud:

Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin

So I have taken to calling her Benjamin West.

Corynn has been on a drawing kick for ages now, but ever since Monday it has been kicked into full-throttle. The girl wants to be an artist, I tell ya. And she IS, she IS!

After the above portrait was made, she proceeded to draw portraits of the whole family. SMOOCH included (yellow sheet).



I realize you can't really see the actual drawings well from the above photo...the point is that they are EVERYWHERE. If you want a close-up, here is one of Matt.


(for the record, that magnet is SO true. I love him from the top of his heart-shaped head to his right-sided tear ducts. I tease (on here), but please know, I am very impressed that she even DREW tear ducts.)

The next day, she drew about a half dozen more pieces of art. I will spare you most, but here are a few favorites:

Despite the size of the photos, the actual drawing was very small. The people were about two inches high and the cat was smaller than my thumbnail, so she really had to have a steady hand when drawing this one.


I saw her sitting outside on the front step for a while there and didn't know what she was doing. I figured she was enjoying the warm sunshine. Instead, I find out, she was studying the rooster.


I love how she diagrammed the "important" stuff like FOOD. She tells me she also wanted people to know that chickens don't have almondy shaped eyes like people, but that they are just CIRCLES.


My personal favorite was the spurs, though. I must admit.

All of the above drawings were made within a two day period. So you see my dilemma? Which is why I am saving some in photograph form, for posterity (and so we don't get buried alive in papers....) Just to forewarn you: Grandparents and friends...be prepared to be inundated with artwork! ;-)

And one last one, done a month or so ago: The Flood

That's Noah and one of his sons on the right, another son on his left and his wife, holding a basket of food.

Noah and the Ark is not a cutesy story but the most horrendous punishment and tragedy of all time, the import of which is lacking in most of the childrens' versions. I always try and make sure the children understand how dire a situation it really was, and how tragic.

We have devoted our Bible time recently to Dinosaurs, Extinction and the Flood through this book:

After looking at Corynn's drawing, it seems to me there are some real elements of understanding scratched on there. There is death portrayed (sad, drowning women in bottom) and volcanoes erupting (left hand side) and fire (upper left) but still the picture of redemption (the dove).

Seems my 6 year old did a better job portraying the event than half the childrens' books on the subject.




I have been meaning to start this book with the children for AGES (we have an older copy) but never have gotten around to it (read: made it a priority). I have heard great reviews about it. It seems, given this surge of interest, now is the best time yet to begin...

Another great artistry book that I have borrowed several times from the library and WILL get for our OWN library some day is this:

It is really fabulous and would be a great resource to have at home.

We have never really done the whole Easter Basket thing, but I think I might have to surprise Corynn with a newly crisp sketchbook, just because. An artist can't be using LINED paper, ya know. :-)

Now-anyone have any art suggestions for me? I'd appreciate any links, suggestions, recommendations, good books, etc. you have to offer on the subject! Leave 'em in the comments section (please) for everyone to see.

Inquiring minds want to know! ;-)

Math Games

I have really really wanted to post more of our home educating stuff lately, in fact, I have even toyed with the idea of making a separate blog about it to keep it all...organized. But if I rarely get a chance to post the things ANYWAY, why start ANOTHER blog?!

My intentions are good. We do a lot of neat stuff during our days and I would like to record it (and very soon will be required to). I have to work on that. If I can get to the point of recording things well, maybe THEN I can consider a separate space/blog devoted just for it.

Until then, all you non-home educators are going to just have to muffle through these homeschooling posts somehow! ;-)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Two math games from the last few weeks:

A MATH BOARD GAME:
No reading required. Can be played alone or with two players starting at opposite ends of board. Can accomodate several different skill levels.

Objective: to get your guy/gal to the other side first, using math concepts such as counting, adding, subtracting, multiplication and division (depending on age group).

Andrew plays the game with one die and counts that number. For him it is about number recognition, counting, following instructions, and taking turns.

Corynn plays a more difficult version. She rolls two dice and subtracts the lower number from the higher and moves THAT amount. (Can also be used for addition-though the object should be to go across the board and back again, in that case, since the number of spaces moved will be much higher.) The object for her is to practice working out math skills like subtraction and addition in her HEAD, making the concepts more abstract. It also gets her nose out of her mathbook and gets her learning without realizing it, always a good thing.

An even older option would be to move the number of spaces rolled after answering correctly multiplication/division problem flashcards.

If different skill-levels play at the same time, they ought to play the same "way" i.e. Corynn move the number shown on ONE dice. We learned this the hard way, after Andrew had made it across the board before Corynn even got a quarter of the way through it just because her subtraction answers were so much smaller than his rolls! :-)


I used my circle punch to punch a bunch of circles and made a road across two sheets of black construction paper attached to one another. Then, I made some "obstacles" and some "opportunities". The children helped illustrate these.

Obstacle One: Stone wall (Go back ONE)
Opportunity One: Good Weather! (Move ahead ONE)
Obstacle Two: WATERLOGGED (Move back TWO spaces!)
Opportunity Two: Find Food! (Move forward THREE spaces)
Obstacle Three: QUICKSAND (Move back THREE spaces)

They also made themselves game piece "people" from a wooden bead glued to a button.


(It is good to allow the children to participate in the creating process too---you know they want to, it will give them pride (and more excitement in actually playing it) and by doing so, you are helping to nurture the creative process in their own minds too. Who knows, they might be creating board games on the side afterwards!)

I placed the paper pieces where they ought to be and Corynn glued them all. I wanted to laminate the game but had run out of laminating sheets, so I used up the last of our clear CONTACT paper. Not nearly as pretty as laminated, but it should hold up well enough.

It has already been well-used, and I have never even had the opportunity (yet) to suggest playing it; they have beat me to it.

PIZZA PARTY
Objective: practice math concepts like halves, quarters, eighths as well as introducing FRACTIONS through play.


While bookwork was being done one morning, I decided pizza making would be fun for the children and could be educational too. I traced a small dinner plate on tan construction paper (twice since both Andrew and Corynn made their own), a slightly smaller and less perfect circle out of red (for sauce) and slightly smaller and jagged circle out of white (for mozzerella). The children shouted out their favorite toppings and I cut up a bunch.

After bookwork (which went by incredibly fast that morning for SOME reason, hehehe) I gave the children both glue sticks and told them to have at it. My goodness these children love glue. They made their own pizzas, just how they liked them.

Then, we cut them up into equal portions (eighths) while discussing it. We laminated all the pieces.

Then, we played pizza party.

"How much pizza would you like?"

"Oh, two-eighths please." Wait! That is a QUARTER of the pizza!



"Could you cut the pizza in half, please?"

"I would like 7/8s of the pizza please..." "NO WAY!" ;-)



They had fun during the creative process, the learning process and the playing process. And now they have PIZZA for their play kitchen too! ;-)