By the Seat of My Pants

On the playground

2012-02-12T13:51:00.001-05:00

Going for walks is happily now apart of our routine. We have walked miles with the boys exploring different cities. One of our favorite destinations continues to be "the playground". It works out lovely, parents get to see the city and kids get rewarded with a session of wild rumpus in a new place.
Today we explored the lower edge of Sevilla and EVERYONE had a great time :)

Mistress Jedi Knight

2012-01-30T12:40:00.002-05:00

My husband always has the most creative names for my very creative outfits. Today I asked him how I looked and he said "like a mistress jedi knight" I burst out laughing. I took it as a complement and dashed off to the rooftop for this mini photo shoot :)

Boys of a feather in Maria Luisa park

2012-01-28T12:20:00.002-05:00

$1.50 for a pack of bird food, and the experience was priceless....

Plaza Espana

beautiful lamp post

T in Triana

2012-01-25T11:31:00.004-05:00

Triana Twirls

I just chose that title because the boys and I saw a bar with that name and kept coming back to the topic all day. We even made our own sayings, shmeep said he puts the H in hot, Shnook puts the N in nice, Shmittle puts the O in awesome (didn't have the heart to tell him awesome starts with "a") and I put the K in kool which is way better than cool :)
We finally got around to exploring our neighborhood more today and all I kept thinking was "what took me so long to do this?"

almost made it

We discovered "calles besando" kissing streets, so named because of their narrowness. Shnook, "they could be kissing they are so close". The boys tried their hand at leaping across the street in a single bound. Next, we found something that made my heart skip a beat. Inside a beautiful Moorish building, up marble staircase, tucked in a secret corner we found a library with a children's section. Yes, yes I found a new home.

caught mid-sentence

Calles Besando

When the children demanded I finally "put the books down and just walk away" we went off in search of a spot to grab a bite. In a little bitty cerviceria/ bar we discovered moussaka, a yummy meaty cheesy tapas dish served with a side of bread. In addition we had hummus and another spread I can't remember the name of to tide us over until dinner.
After our merienda/snack, we headed over to check out a capoeira class for the boys. When we got to the studio we found out the class was cancelled. We were looking around the space at all the instruments and ran into one of the owners who also happened to be an awesome guy. He took down the darbuka, gave us a demonstration and then let the boys try it. He then asked us if they wanted to drum for a little bit. OF COURSE!!!! So we spent the next 45 minutes slapping, banging and tapping different percussion instruments. It was an amazing musical journey around the world. He let them try everything and kept taking out new things to show us. Our ears travelled from Sevilla to Egypt, Senegal, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Bali, The U.S and back in under an hour all for free.

Bali

Senegal

Dominican Republic

Sevilla, a 5 star kinda night

2012-01-21T16:45:00.002-05:00

From start to finish we had a great night. First star, the sitter arrived with an English-Spainish dictionary and a netbook opened to google translate just in case. She told us about her favorite place to see and hear flemenco and some other places to check out.

(Wait, earlier in the evening I bought the cutest pair of $7 shoes I have ever seen, this may have actually set the cheery mood :)

We set out walking along the river on the Triana side. Strolling down the orange tree-lined streets (yes the pace here is a stroll, slow and steady) past large groups, colorful buildings and the river on my left I felt myself fall in love with Sevilla (second star). After crossing the bridge we took in the massive cathedral with it's amazing bell tower and luckily for us the bells were chiming.

From the Triana side

Cathedral

Trying to find our way

At this point we entered the old city area with tiny twisting streets. I can't remember how many times we stopped to look at the map before deciding to just walk and figure it out. We began to wonder if the sitter had given us the right address because we looked to be in a residential sleepy area.
We arrived at what looked like someone's home, and again we were very pleasantly suprised. There was a warm fire glowing in the sala, and people were singing, clapping and enjoying themselves. We walked through the building, which probably was a house at some point, and out to what used to be a courtyard, but now a vibrant bar perfect for hosting flemenco nights. Trying to live by the old adage of "when in Rome" we ordered Agua Sevilla. With Sevilla on my tongue, guitar in my ears, and the red swoosh of dancing dresses in sight, me encantada (I was enchanted). Two more stars.

Seeing red :)

Agua Sevilla

After two performances, we decided to continue our adventure and check out a nightclub. We made a pit stop at Burger King to get directions and ended up getting a personal guide. Teddy struck up a conversation with a man and asked him for directions. The guy was so nice he walked us there ( about a 10 minute walk), pointed out other places we might want to check out in the future and took us to a spot he enjoys. I still have to get used to the bar/club music here, but given that I love to dance I had a great time on the dance floor. Our new friend hung out with us and we bought him a drink to say thanks. Just as the place started getting crowded, 2:45am we had to head out. Again we were impressed with the Sevillian hospitality (5th star). Our friend walked out with us, took us to the cab stand and hailed us a cab.
We came home to three sleeping boys and my feet weren't even hurting after a walk around the city, a good night indeed.

Castle Days in Xativa

2012-01-18T19:24:00.002-05:00

As our days came to an end in Valencia we decided to venture beyond the city a bit and what an adventure we had. Xtavía, birthplace of two popes and the first place to make paper in Europe, was the perfect day trip destination.
Beautiful, bustling and quaint, Xtavía is the quintessential small town, complete with old church and hilltop castle. First, we walked through an amazing life-sized Belén. I couldn't stop taking pictures and pointing things out. It was awesome. The boys loved all of the live animals, especially the dromedaries.

After enjoying the sites in town we hiked way, way, WAY up the hill to the castle. The views were breath taking and the experience was unforgettable. The lovely castle was very well persevered and I spent my time wandering around the paths and gardens imagining life there hundreds of years ago. The chicos kept running from place to place announcing "Soy el Rey de todo el mundo" (I'm king of the world). Good times for all :)

Way, Way, WAY up

fun pressing against the walls when cars drove by

Head of Department of Defense

Claimed in the name of Haile clan

first the tower

then the fort

Finally, a castle

three little princes

King of our castle with his boys

Small Things

2012-01-12T12:06:00.002-05:00

There are many things that I have come to love about our life in Spain. I wake up and have a good cup of coffee with my husband in the mornings, we eat almost all meals at home using very few processed foods, I like the idea of multitasking a lot less, and of course we are all improving our Spainish. I often grumble and complain because I have to sweep and mop and wash on top of homeschooling the boys, but even in that I see value. I am becoming a much better housekeeper, and cook. I am finally getting past my need to save everything (because maybe, just maybe, I might be able to use it some day:) and realizing how much easier it is to just have a small number of things. Less really is more:)

Home made birthday cake

Valencia (dish I created)

Greener :)

Día de Los Reyes

2012-01-05T15:39:00.002-05:00

Back up Halloween the Three Kings are here! Yesterday we went to watching the Three Kings parade and were totally unprepared. Tons of people lined the streets and all the children had empty bags like they were going trick or treating. I had heard that they throw candy but I had no idea how much. As the floats passed by we were showered with small candies, balls and small toys. All you could here were the children shouting "Aqui, aqui" as the caravans traveled past us. This was absolutely great for the boys. We missed the free candy every child is entitled to on October 31 so this more than made up for it. As for the parade itself it was ok and then as the procession drew close to and end the costumes and figures got better. Beginning with the Virgin Mary and the angel Gabriel you could tell these were very important aspects of culture and tradition in Valencia. The float carrying Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus was a living nativity scene complete with animals and hay and a live baby. Each king was proceeded by an envoy of servants and entertainers in beautiful costumes. The three kings themselves wore rich robes and had elaborate floats.

Candy Rain

After the parade we discussed the holiday and how it marked the end of the 12 days of Christmas. I told the kids about how the Kings' helpers climb balconies and deliver presents inside houses where kids live. We went to a bakery and got some traditional pastries to celebrate the festivities. Roscon, turron and mazapan are traditional sweets eaten at this time of year. The Roscon goes directly along with Three Kings day. There are two objects hidden inside the pastries, a bean and a figure. The two people who find them will have good luck throughout the year (double if they also ate there 12 grapes on new years eve). The one who finds the figure is the luckiest and crowned king.
We of course had to sing a few rounds of the 12 days of Christmas as we walked along the beach working off our sweets :). Yes yes I worked in a small lesson on the song, its believed meanings and religious persecution, when I'm on a roll I'm on a roll :).
Felíz Reyes a todos!!!!!

¡Viva Madrid!

2012-01-02T18:36:00.001-05:00

We decided to ring in the New Year in Spains largest city. Madrid is a really nice city and we had a good time. We came, we saw, we ate grapes, we drank cava, we conquered!!

Felíz Navidad

2012-01-02T18:13:00.001-05:00

Christmas is a very different holiday in Valencia Spain than in the US. The only places where you will see lights and decoractions are in stores and shopping areas that want you to come spend your Christmas cash. It really didn't feel like the season to be jolly walking around our neighborhood. There were no lights twinkling nor trees visible through windows. The biggest difference we noticed, aside from the lights, was the lack of Santas. Sooo we had to find out what was up.
In Spain, we learned, presents are not delivered by an old guy with a jelly belly in a red suit. Children write their letters to the three kings and they come to deliver them on Jan 6th. The three kings are the men who came to visit baby Jesus when he was born and brought gifts. These same men come to Spain every year to deliver presents to all the boys and girls. There is usually a huge parade on the 5th in every town where the three kings and their helpers come into town throwing gifts and candy to all the children. It is said that the helpers climb up balconies and leave the gifts on them or in the house in the wee morning hours ( because Spainards go to sleep late) of Jan 6th.
Christmas, 12/25, is a time for family and reflection on the early life of Christ. People usually attend midnight mass and have huge meals with friends and loved ones. All over town different organizations create Belénes, which are models recreating the town of bethlehem at the time of Jesus's birth. Our family went touring the different Belénes and here is my favorite one. It tells the whole story surrounding the birth of Christ.

Why on Earth????

2011-12-16T06:15:00.001-05:00

So I'm here in Valencia; tapas, sangria, paella, bakeries every few meters, and I decide to do a 7 day cleanse. It sounded like a good idea when I was lying in my bed on the laptop conversing with friends on facebook. Needless to say I am second, third and fourth guessing my decision. Today we walked by a bakery that smelt like heaven. I couldn't deny the boys a treat from a place like this. I was sooo tempted to snatch their donuts from them and gobble them up. I held it together, but just barely. I had to at least touch them to see how soft and doughy they were. Man, I think this 7 day cleanse is going to turn into a 7 day search party for places to regain any weight I lose plus some.

Lovebirds

2011-12-08T12:34:00.002-05:00

To say that I have witnessed a lot of PDA in Spain would be an understatement. Some of the things i have seen would get you flat out arrested in the States. Today though, I witnessed a cute little sight. Tucked away in a secluded little area of the park I found an old little grey and wrinkled couple making out. I just had to smile thinking of all the tests that, try as they may, coud not take the passion away from those two. It was a really refreshing sight. In America it's a rare sight to see two old people happily loving each other. On television the couples bicker and degrade one another, and often live like roommates. We get the impression that love is a joke that could not possibly last a life time. Here in Spain in a little wood I have found prove that it can.

Bipolar

2011-11-28T12:23:00.006-05:00

My life is bipolar. I am either super busy or lying around wasting time. There are times when I'm extremely passionate about something and others when I just want to stay in bed under my covers. The other day we had a jammed packed day. We went to the oldest church in Valencia, the Central Market, several plazas, the Royal Garden and Capoeira class. I get like that at times. I want to do everything in one day. It's like I have no awareness of tomorrow. True balance has always been a challenge for me. I look balanced on paper; mother, teacher, dancer, blogger, traveler. But I don't do them in equal amounts at all times. Just writing that sentence I'm realizing the impossibility of it. Well at any rate I need to find a better way of being myself, that doesn't have me going between extremes all the time.
Here's a day in my life....

Central Market

Our history guide

Oldest Church in Valencia San Nicholas

Town Hall plaza

had to take a pic

Horchata break with Dad

Plaza De La Reina

Walking break

Royal Gardens

And here is another.....

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Adios Caballeros

2011-11-25T11:44:00.002-05:00

Almost 7 years ago I laid eyes on you and it was love at first sight. I wanted you and no matter what anyone thought I was set on buying you guys, my cowboys. I remember clearly that some people actually

laughed when I put you on the counter at the thirft store. I think it was that laughter and the taunting that actually fueled my fire for you. I felt myself making a statement, this is me, like it, approve of it, accept it, or not I don't apologize. When I slide you on my feet I feel more mySELF than in any other pair of shoes I have ever owned. I know that you are MY style, not something I saw on TV, in a catalogue, or on another woman walking down the street. You inspire me to be true to myself. You have been apart of some of my most freeing outfits, those that truly capture my spirit. When I walked down the street wearing you the clunk of your heels made me smile, and the lack of seeking approval from others gave me a natural high. We have stomped around LA, Boston, Atlanta, NYC, Quebec, Montreal, Barcelona and you have chosen Valencia as your final resting place. I won't seek out a replacement for you, but instead spread a little of you spirit into whatever other pair of shoes I own.

Adios mis amores

At the playground, you know

2011-11-23T12:28:00.001-05:00

After a month of trying to get him to reach out to other kids in Spanish, it finally happened. This evening after an excellent trip to the Military history Museum we stopped by the playground. As usual there were several children playing on the crazy spiderweb like structure. I don't know if it was the great time we just had, the warm night air or the increased sessions of Rosetta Stone, but Shmeep finally felt confident enough to strike up a conversation with not one but two boys. He introduced himself and tried to have a conversation. It was very rudimentary " you want climb" is fun?" " this is my brother" but the point is he tried. Which lead to his brothers giving it a shot too. Tonight was great and ended as every night out with boys does, in me breaking up a wrestling match gone south :)

Whirlwind

2011-11-21T06:35:00.004-05:00

This has been an excellent week! Monday was a regular day and in all honesty I don't even remember it. On Tuesday we went to a very nice park in Valencia called Cabezera Park. It was very beautiful with nice walking and riding paths, and a stream that wound its way through the park and ended in a picturesque pond. Tucked in every corner were nice surprises for the boys like wooden bridges and playgrounds. We all loved it and it really made me feel like I could live in Valencia for a long time.

After lovely Tuesday, came beautiful Wednesday. On Wednesday we took a trip out of the city to a little town called Navajas. The town was a hidden treasure with beautiful mansions and well kept tiny streets. We drove around and eventually found what we came to see; the Salto de la Novia. In this case pictures can say more than I ever could.

Thursday was full of wonder. We drove about 45 minutes north of Valencia to one of the longest underground rivers in Europe. I was overwhelmed. We traveled in a boat along a winding river through caves made hundreds of years ago. At one point the passage was so low even Shmeep and Shnook had to duck their heads. It was beautiful and serene with the place inspiring so much wonder we were all forced into silence. Shmittle didn't even raise his voice above a tiny whisper. Unfortunately we could not get any good picture, but I don't think we will ever forget that place.

After such a peaceful start, we ended the week in the exciting bustling city of Barcelona. We spent two days in Spain's second largest city and had a pretty good time. The hop on hop off bus was a great way to learn some history and see the city. We also spent a night rambling along La Ramblas, enjoying the street performers and enjoying the slower pace of strolling. My favorite thing in Barcelona was Park Guell, it was beautiful and inspiring with breathtaking views of the whole area stretching out to the beach. Even in the rain, with bad tempered children I still loved my visit. The only real things I would have changed are my shoes. We walked up a crazy steep hill to get there and I had on boots with a nice heel. After treating our eyes we decided to treat our bellies and try the city's version of Ethiopian food. So far we have had Ethi food in LA, DC, NYC, Boston, Montreal, London and Rome so now it's a tradition to have it in a new city, if of course they do in fact have an Ethiopian restaurant. Barcelona did a great job on some dishes, it was no D.C or LA, but it was good and we definitely cleared the platter.

We ended our week with bellies full and minds filled with great memories.

Providence

2011-11-15T00:51:00.000-05:00

The other night we went to a Halloween party, yes it was November 12 and the boys went trick or treating. What can I say, they take their time over here ;) We had a great time meeting people who are originally from the US but live in Valencia and their partners, who come from around the world.

In the middle of good food and great conversations I learned about an amazing cause. There is small organization called R.A.I.D (Rural Association for Integrated Development) in southern India who's goal is to aid rural communities in the area of self sufficiency. One component of the program currently provides housing, meals and education for 30 children. These children either come from homes where there was domestic violence or where the family couldn't afford to provide for them. The organization pays for a caretaker, and a cook who make less than 100 euros a month combined. Right now the children are sleeping on straw mats on the concrete floor. One of the fundraising goal this winter is to buy the kids bunk beds and mattress before cooler weather arrives. The total cost for bedding for all 30 kids is a little under $3000. What really struck me about this org is that it's large enough to make a big difference in the lives of the children, but small enough to keep the money going where it needs to. There are no over head fees other than the cook and care takers salaries. They have no admin fees or advertising budgets. Every dollar raised for this project will go directly to providing bedding for the children.
The season of Thanksgiving is upon us and as we think of all that we have to be grateful for let's also give these children something to celebrate. Please make a donation and more than that spread the word to others. My hope is that the children will be sleeping in their new beds before Christmas.

I have personally met the representative for this organization and will collect the money via paypal and pass it directly to him. So please look on the side of this post find the Beds4Kids button and donate anything you can.

If you have any questions about the program please feel free to email him with questions, his name is Andy: macleod.pigtraining@gmail.com (he's a pig farmer :)

Here are the history and details I got from Andy:

RURAL ASSOCIATION FOR INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT (RAID) is a charitable organisation that was established in 1986 in Hosur, a region near Bangalore, which is part of the State of Tamil Nadu in South India.

In 2001 Mr Leonard Ramsamuj a British National who lived in Crouch End, North London, bequeathed a sum of money to be used for the development of marginalised sections of society in India, particularly for development work among women and children. His bequest was donated to RAID who managed the projects listed below.

Between 2001 and 2007 RAID managed two projects, Ramsamuj Centre for Development of Children (RCDC) and Ramsamuj Women’s Empowerment Programme (RWEP).

Under RCDC a children’s home for 20 was established and under RWEP a project for 17 women who were chosen from the local community. These women were assisted in securing a loan from the bank to purchase land and were supported in building a small house for their families.

It is pertinent that all of these families came from two particular castes of people – the Kuravars (nomads who earned their living doing body tattoos) and Erulars (snake charmers). Both these caste of people had over the years lost their livelihood due to changes in the way society was developing and also changes in law relating to snakes becoming protected species under Indian law.

RWEP was a successful project and achieved the aim of establishing 17 houses for the women over the years, some of whom have now built an extension to their original one roomed house. An outreach worker employed by RAID continues to provide support to these women in establishing self-help groups, literacy programmes and health programmes.

Up until 2006 both these projects were solely funded by the interest from the bequest of 102.000€ (£88,000) made by the late Mr Ramasmuj. However, in 2006 the original house where the children were living became unfit for habitation and new land was bought and a home built for 20 children, with the support of money raised from several private donors and a small bequest from the late Mrs Ramasamuj. In 2008 the new building was opened. In 2009 a second floor was added creating space for 10 more children. This was done with the support of one private donor who undertook to support these 10 extra children for a period of 10 years.
Prasanth Siruvar Illam (translated as Prasanth Home for Children) was established in 2009 as a home for 30 children between the ages 5-18.Almost all the children are from one parent families where they were exposed to domestic violence, alcohol abuse or too poor to be able to afford to send them to school.
The Children’s Home is managed by a committee made up of unpaid voluntary workers, whose president Mr Yesupadam lives on the premises. He is supported by a live in warden and a cook and also by two outreach workers. Children attend the local primary and secondary schools. Parents and Guardians are invited to the home to visit their children regularly.

Total annual cost of maintaining each child is around 300€ (£265). There are no extra administrative or other costs, so all money donated goes directly to the project. Annual accounts are audited and freely available as RAID works on a policy of total transparency.

So far no extra funding has been needed, other than when the land was purchased and the building extended to include 10 extra children. However, recently it has become apparent that further funding is necessary in order to continue to support these children and offer them a reasonable standard of living and to help them through further education.

A number of specific requirements are now urgently needed:

At present children sleep on rush mats on the tiled floor. Over the last few years the climate has become successively wetter and some of the children are now suffering health problems for this reason. It is hoped to provide bunk beds and mattresses as soon as possible. Each bed will cost 92€ (£80) and each mattress 30€ (£27). The total cost for all children will be 2440€ (£2130).
At present each child has a small box or suitcase in which to keep their clothes and personal belongings, which are housed on shelves in the bedrooms. Many of these are broken and need urgent replacement. It is hoped to purchase a small tin trunk for each child, which can be stored underneath the bunk beds. Each trunk will cost 8€ (£6.50), the total cost being 245€ (£213).

Raid was previously owner of a car which became unroadworthy and had to be scrapped. At present Mr. Yesupadam uses his own private and very small car in cases of emergency. He is, however, by law, unable to claim any expenses for its use, a considerable problem since he is also unpaid. A new vehicle is urgently needed to transport the children when necessary and it is hoped to purchase an eight seater “people mover”: A suitable petrol driven car will cost 6850€ (£6000) and a diesel driven car 11450€ (£10,000). In India diesel fuel is roughly half the cost of petrol, so clearly a diesel car would be more cost efficient.
In 2013 two children are hoping to start university which will cost 535€ (£465) each per year. By law the children must leave the home when they reach 18 and it is hoped to establish a fund to ensure continued support in their future life, be it further education, marriage, employment or housing.

In summary, apart from the normal running costs of the home, a further 14.000€ (£12,500) will be urgently needed over the next two years. If you feel you can help, at whatever level, be it a one off donation or a commitment to regular giving, your donation will be very gratefully received. Please be assured that 100% of donations will be used directly for the project – none will be deducted for administration, advertising or any other extra cost. For corporate donations photographs of the project can be provided, including company logos if required. If you would prefer to assign your donation towards a particular purpose this can be arranged or if you would like to support a specific child in their further education and maintain contact with them, this too will be possible. All donors who provide names and contact information will be regularly updated on the progress of the project and the use of their money.

Donations can be made by transfer to the following accounts:
Spain: Andrew Stewart Macleod (RAID) 00303105980000557271

UK: S.C.Jacob (RAID) Sort code:55-50-21 A/c 69499624

If you would like to talk to us we can be contacted on:

Valencia (Andrew) 615307813-macleod.pigtraining@gmail.com

London (Shanti) 07939093459-shanti@pobox.com

Please do be sure to let us know your contact details so that we can keep you up to date with the project.

Deal with it

2011-11-07T20:44:00.003-05:00

The other night was the scariest night I have had in my whole life. We went for a drive outside of Valencia to explore the surrounding towns. While driving we saw a castle brightly light on top of a hill. Adventure called and we answered.
Of course from the highway the route looked clear, but once we got close the high-rise apartments blocked our view and we got very turned around. Finally we found a sign for the castle and we began to follow it. Our little Toyota Aurius took us steadily up the mountain twisting and turning with the curves in the road. We came to what appeared to be a fork, and because we saw the castle to our left we ventured on a tiny road that lead that way. This was torture for me, the turning and climbing kept increasing my anxiety, at one point we went over a hill and I couldn't see the other side and I began to freak out. Then the worst thing, the street stopped, at a cliff! It just ended cliff all around and only the tiniest space to try and turn around.
I completely fell apart. I have a horrible fear of driving in high places, I feel like we are going to fall off the edge. So when I say I went to pieces I did. Just writing this is making me shaky. We were stuck on the side of the mountain the wind was blowing and I fell apart. I was crying uncontrollably and Teddy was trying to calm me down. Thank you God none of my boys share my fear. They were all calm. In the middle of my hysteria I realized I had come to a head with my fear And there was absolutely nothing I could do but deal with it.

I made all of the boys get out of the car and let Teddy ever so slowly turn the car around. That was another nightmare. I prayed harder than I ever have and even mustered up the courage to turn around and look. I thought quickly that I might have to pull that car back up the cliff if he went too far. I told the boys to back up and I inched toward the car preparing to be super human if my husband's life depended on it.
Of course he was fine and turned around without a problem. I put the children back into the car. Another wave of fear shook me, we had to go down that mountain. I prayed even more down on my knees, cried more, and realized I had to get in the car. Teddy crept down the mountain for my sake and I calmed down.

24 hrs later I'm digesting it all and coming to some realizations. I realize I was the only person afraid for our lives. It really puts the idea of perspective under the microscope. To me the situation looked very different than it did to everyone else. They couldn't really even comprehend what I was experiencing. Teddy was sympathetic yes, but that's different. We each, try as we may, will never be able to truly walk in another person’s shoes.

Travelling has taken me so far out of my comfort zone, both in ways I expected and in ways I would have never imagined. In the US the road we took would have been blocked off and or rails would have been all along the side of it. When you are away from home at any age you have to monitor yourself; determine how far is too far what's safe and what's over the edge. All on your own without signs or direction, you have to determine which road to take.
Being in Europe has me feeling like I'm growing up all over again. Working on my language skills, adjusting to cultural norms, exploring my environment, finding community, and seeing if and where I fit in. This whole adventure has been about enjoying the road less traveled and yet I find myself constantly asking, “who says this road is better?” A road having a lot of travelers is not necessarily a bad thing. At this point I'm feeling like the two roads are simply different. I liked my life in Boston and I like my life here. There are thing I don't like about both places and ways I live that I don't like at times, but I think that's the key. It's not really about which road you take in life but more about how you travel.
I can sit sip and enjoy My life wherever I am if I choose to.

Kung Fu Mathster

2011-10-30T19:36:00.000-04:00

"It's a monkey china maan, in a monkey china town!" These lines, as well as the rest of his interpretation of the song, can be heard in our home at any hour. Shmittle has been hit hard by the Kung Fu Panda craze. He recites lines and dresses up as the characters and incorporates them routinely into his daily life. [Now mind you, I have yet to put on my conscious hat and examine the film, in truth I haven't really watched the whole movie, so I am not endorsing it by any means.] Being the magic maker that I am, I decided to seize this moment and use his enthusiasm to "master" some math concepts.

One day he was interested in feeding the characters dumplings. I asked to to count up the number of characters and then we laid out that number of bowls. We then discussed how animals of different sizes eat different portions of food. I wrote down the names on slits of paper and he placed the names in order of size of animal. Then he began to fill the bowls. I asked him which animal would eat the most. Of course, this was a no brainer for him. He filled Po's bowl to the brim. Then I asked who would eat the least and Mantis received his share. We had a long discussion about who ate how much after that, but in the end we had the animals bowls filled according to size and appetite. Shmittle pointed at they ate different things and Cobra could eat one big thing and be full but monkey might eat a lot of little things. Because he was of course right and this was a grey area, I let him sort them as he saw fit.
Another day found us back with the bowls. I want to help him recognize numbers by patterns. Like how if you see a 5 rolled on the die you know its 5 without counting because you know that pattern means 5. We took out some play doh to make dumplings for the Furious 5. We rolled several long rods. I took out one bowl and asked if we had enough, when he said no I asked if we could use our dough to make the number one. I added a bowls and repeated. With each bowl I let him make the number to the best of his ability and assisted when he asked me. Fortunately there are only 5 main characters because he was out of patients by 5, and wanted to actually fill the bowls with dumplings :)
My favorite activity came about on the spur of the moment, as most of my best ideas do;) Shmitty was shadowing Teddy one night and "making" soup out of the scraps Teddy didn't use for dinner. I watched him and asked if he would like to make soup for the family the next night. My happy little chef jumped at the chance.
Next morning, after getting the big boys going with school work, Shmitty and I had a meeting to discuss his soup. I asked what he wanted to put in it and what it was called.

Noodle Soup
Ingredients: Rice, chicken, carrots, onions, garlic, ginger, water, salt, pepper, and broth. (No I didn't forget to type noodles lol)
I passed him the ingredients and he mixed and poured as he saw fit. I asked him how many or how much of each vegetable and chopped as directed.

The soup was absolutely delicious. So good in fact that we had it for lunch and dinner.

labor pains

2011-10-26T08:33:00.001-04:00

So come to find out, I have been living the good life of a spoiled middle-class American woman. I "straightened up" my house often and complained about how much work that has been having to clean every other week when the housekeepers didnt come. Ohh this and that waan waan whaaa. I have not mopped, dusted nor cleaned windows in years. I clearly remember that the last time I busted a sweat cleaning was when my now 9 year old was a baby.
Here at "Mi Casa", there are tile floors, nice large mirrors on the closets, wooden furniture, and did I mention two blocks from the beach, so I'm living in a housekeepers back breaker. Even on days when we don't visit the beach there is sand in here. My children have never had giant mirrors (and I never cleaned them) thus they don't know about not putting their grubby little paws all over them. Revelation, dust loves dark wood furniture as much as I do. Last, but not least, I have found out my Mom's arm workout secret. Daily sweeping will keep any flab off your arms, so seeing as I sweep two or three times a day, I'm good. I have been sweeping like a mad woman since we moved in and doing my usual straightening up. This morning it hit me, I have to deep clean clean this place. As soon as that thought came the accompanying thought came "well they have to help too" :) I didn't make this mess all by myself. I handed out rubber gloves, spray bottles and towels and we went to work. Seeing as I wanted it really clean and they are only 9, 6 and 3 year old boys, I still did 80% of the work. They dusted and cleaned the windows and mirrors and I did the bath rooms, sweeping and mopping. This post is so long because I am sitting giving my legs and back a break right now. From here on out the dust will not be given two weeks to pile up, nor the finger prints.

Scenes from Valencia

2011-10-24T19:45:00.001-04:00

Here are just some shots of us being us and what we see....

during siesta

Bruin Beach

future Bruin :)

the Force

Valencia's obsession, Jamon

Longest show ever, what a way to start Teddy's birthday

Valencia, Valencia let me count the ways....

2011-10-22T20:06:00.002-04:00

So we are still exploring this medieval meets modern city. Everyday I am working on my Spanish and subliminally taking in some Valenciano too. Being the eternal nerd that I am, I am of course learning about the history, culture and pastimes of the region. I often find my self shaking my fist at my ethnocentric American public education. There are so many things about so many places that I am unaware of. I think about all of the years I wasted learning things that I don't remember and am grateful I chose to homeschool my kids. On the flip side and in the true homeschooling spirit, I guess even if I had learned them they might not have stuck because it wasn't relevant to me at the time. Back when I was in high school daydreaming of warm Cali beaches on cold winter mornings during history class, hearing about Spain's various regions, nationalities and governmental structure would have gone in one ear and out the other. So now, when I'm here and interested, is the best time to learn about Spain. I really want to ingrain this into my head when planning lessons and activities for my boys; if it lacks relevance it lacks substance.

Back to Valencia, I like it, it's great. It's definitely a place I could live, there are all the things I need here; parks, museums, art, culture, live music, tapas, and siestas. But, there are small things that make it not perfect. For example, it not as diverse as I'd like, sometimes there is a bad smell, and people don't pick up after their dogs. Also, I never expected Spanish people to be so reserved, even the children. During the fireworks show when Americans would have been clapping and cheering, they were just quietly watching. We stood out with our loud cheers and squeals of excitement. At the beach you can hear the waves from the boardwalk. No one runs and makes noise unless playing volleyball or futbol. We live in a neighborhood full of kids, but I rarely see them running and playing at the beach. It may just be that they consider this weather too cold for beach activities. Who knows? But I love the pace of life, every moment seems intentional and savored. The other day we were walking and eating and Teddy said, "look, nobody does this here". We looked around and realized he was right. When you eat you sit and eat. When you walk you take your time and the whole family stays together. I jokingly said, there's no Valencian word for multitasking. No one seems to be running late, or in a hurry either. Another interesting note; we don't find Valencianos sitting at cafes in front of their laptops or typing on their phones. Sit, sip, enjoy seems to be the motto.

We are all well adjusted to Spanish time, trust me CPT has nothing on this. We eat dinner around 9 or 9:30pm, which is actually early here and the kids are in bed around 10:30ish. Teddy and I usually cal it a night around 2:30am. No one is up around here before 10am. At last, a place that respects my internal clock :) It's actually perfect because we get up, do school work, and can be at a museum around 2:30 and stay until 7pm. We have started having our tapas (appetizers/snacks) anywhere between 5pm and 8pm. If we do go to a restaurant it's around 8:30pm, we are in and out before the 10pm crowds. As we are blessed with a great chef, we rarely eat out. Dinner at home is always great; bottles of wine are cheap and the kids can be as unreserved as they like :)

Taming the beast

2011-10-20T20:33:00.006-04:00

On the spur of the moment, we decided to go to see a bull fight. I'm not sure what decision I would have made had we had more time to think about it.
About 5 minutes in a was questioning our presence there.
Why had we brought the children to see an animal get tortured? Needless to say there was lots of discussion all throughout the event.
First, I had to explain again that people kill animals all the time, either for sport or food. I reminded him that we are meat eaters and quite often consume beef.
After the food discussion I had a great talk about bravado and posturing with Shmeep. He was asking if the matadors had to stand that way and if they practiced. I pointed out how they were displaying their bravery and strength in their posture. We talked about why they did certain moves and what was going on. In the end he and I concluded that bull fighting represented man's conquering the beast. When the bull first comes into the ring he is wild and vicious. Slowly he is subdued by the strong fearless matador. It comes to a point when man has turned the bull into a docile creature. Once the bull is calm enough for the bull fighter to stand next to him, the fight is over. Man kills the beast. Shmeep said it's not so much a physical fight as a spiritual one. The Matador fights the wild spirit of the bull and kills it. I thought this a beautiful observation.
Lastly, Shnook and I discussed animal rights. As we sat, watched and even cheered on the fighters, we began to hear chanting coming from outside. I heard someone say "aaah animal rights!". Shnook wanted to know what was going on. I explained to him that just as there are people who want to see this sport there are also people who don't. Some believe that it's cruelty to kill animals in sport. We discussed what was happening to the bull. We talked about necessity versus sport and the value of an animal's life as opposed to a human. I left him with the decision to either support the matadors or the protesters. He said that if the bull was killed and the meat was eaten then it was just like other cattle we raise just to eat.
As we were leaving the stadium we actually witnessed what happens to the dead bulls. It was amazing. They skinned, cleaned and cut the bull up right on the spot in a little studio next door and packed the meat into a truck, which I'm assuming, was headed for a market.

Watch out for flying buttons

2011-10-18T20:19:00.000-04:00

Along with all the obvious perks of travelling, our family has been given chef Teddy. Thank you Lord for blessing me with a man who enjoys cooking. My belly is doing it's own little bow right now :)
Because Teddy is working from home and we have our own kitchen again, he has returned to his workshop where his artful fingers and master nose come together to create some of the best food I've ever eaten. I don't know how he does it. No cooking channel, or cookbooks or scribbled recipes just him the utensils, ingredients and an empty kitchen. Maybe there's a little rat in there with him tugging his hair this way and that :)
In London Teddy made:
-Pasta in a light creamy tomato, carrot and broccoli sauce. Salad and fresh bread and butter accompany ever meal.
-Fresh salmon sauteed in olive oil with buttery spinach cooked in a ginger garlic and onion paste
-Chicken tikka masala with carrots and broccoli over rice

In Spain he has outdone himself.
-Paella type dish with chicken and veggies
-Shrimp and broccoli in a buttery, creamy tomato sauce. This was to die for on top of rice or soaked up with bread.
-Fish Alicha ( his title). It was soft fish stewed in a scrumptious turmeric flavored soup with potatoes and onions. Again add rice or bread, to die for! I ate three plates full.
-Seafood dish, imagine olive oil, tomatoes onions and peppers, and garlic add a touch of cream and smother fish and shrimp in it, my stomach's definition of beauty
-lentil soup, fresh salad and homemade dressing
There are more but you get the point, mouth watering good food
I think Teddy needs to start creating names for these dishes and make a cookbook.
Fortunately for my waistline we are doing things the Spanish way and only eating one big meal a day. I'm going to have to up my exercise game because there's no way I'm eating less if he keeps cooking like this.

Mi Casa

2011-10-04T20:26:00.002-04:00

The flight to Spain was a short two hour breeze. Getting on the flight was a pain in the neck. We arrived two hours early as suggested and thankfully so. The check-in line was long and the EasyJet counter we went to had a busted system. The representative was very friendly but extremely slow. Our bags were over weight so I had to do some repacking and then her conveyor belt stopped working. It took about 45 minutes just to check-in.
In London we only changed 40 pounds into euros so we could have enough for a cab and some food. Well no one told us, but they don't have cabs big enough for a family of five and their luggage in Valencia. We had to take two cabs and I watched the meter the whole time. Not sure why, but we seem to like living on the edge :). Of course it all turned out alright in the end. Teddy paid for my cab ride and had his driver take him to the bank.
When we got to our flat I fell in love. Two bedrooms, two baths, full kitchen, tile floors, exposed brick, high ceilings, exposed beams in a 100 year old house with tons of character. The kicker, it's two blocks from the BEACH. As soon as we dropped our bags we went to check out the neighborhood and ended up in la playa.
We let the kids go in the water just as they were. Shmitty was even wearing pants but he didn't care. There were lots of topless women so I was prepared to answer questions but no one had any. I guess they were too busy enjoying the waves, which after a summer on the Pacific seemed like ripples in the bath tub.

Misadventures of the well intended

2011-10-04T20:17:00.002-04:00

So today has been fun. In an attempt to find a short cut, we walked blocks and blocks and blocks to find the train station, almost lost a child, got on the wrong train, missed our stop, broke a suitcase and went for an exteremly long walk. Yes today was a good day.

So when we were planning our trip to London we decided to book a hotel close to the airport for the first night and the last and then one close to the city for the two nights in between. Of course this planning was done before we packed and without having ever travelled with lots of luggage and 3 young children. A short walk sounds easy when you are sitting comfortably on a couch booking plans on your laptop. Needless to say it was no walk in the park trying to transport 2/3 of our luggage ( thank God the first hotel let us store some of our bags) and 3/3 of our children from train to tram to bus and then walk a couple blocks. We did this relatively smoothly on the inbound trip and decided to try an easier route going back to the hotel near the airport. Nugget of wisdom "if it ain't broke don't fix it". I wish I would have remembered that.

On our last full day in England we experienced a nightmare. We got all of our luggage, which mysteriously kept increasing by one bag ever place we went too, and all of our children to the train station. We got on the first train and got off at a junction, now I debated about writing this next part but it's my blog and I write what I want to :). I said we should just get on the tram and go back to the hotel the way we came from it. My husband said the employee gave him different instructions, so we went with the bad advice.

Disaster number 1. We got on the wrong train. We were on and sitting comfy when I realized our exit wasn't coming up on the sign. We asked several people and we were indeed on the wrong train. We got ourselves together and began to collect our things when the train came to the next stop.

Disaster number 2. We were half ready and Shnook got off the train the doors closed and my heart sank. I jammed on the door open button and banged on the doors but they would bot open. Ted ran over and pulled the emergency handle and swish the doors slid open and I grabbed my baby. After lots of hugs and deep breaths, we were off again and this time on the right train.

Disaster number 3. We were on the train eating lunch and making sure everyone used the restroom. We kept our luggage close and sat near the exit, we are learning. However, when Shnook, yes same kid, went to the bathroom we came to our stop. Both of the other boys started yelling where is Shnook, remembering our last event. So we missed our stop because we weren't even chancing it. Shnook walked out of the bathroom smiling at the cool buttons for control it, completely oblivious of the fact that we missed our stop.

Disaster number 4. So we rode to the next stop, switch trains and finally get to our stop. We were hurrying and trying to get everyone off the train, panicking about the doors closing on us. Shmeep was pulling a brand new carry-on we bought in NYC and the wheel got stuck. I picked it up and together we yanked it free, breaking it of course. But, we were all off the train at the correct stop with all of our belongings. It was only 2pm.

finally off the train

We left our stroller in Brooklyn, which sounds like the title of a bad song I could wrote given our experience without it, and as a result our 3 year old was asking to be picked up every few blocks the whole trip. As we walked the mile and a half back to our hotel, (don't ask why we didn't get a taxi we were spent, brains fried) we just kept hearing this little voice saying "pick me, pick me". Teddy and I just started laughing, it had been a crazy day but we all made it through. Of course we learned a few things too, like never let your child get out of the train first, prepare to exit the train as it leaves the stop before yours, listen to your wife;), and very important buy a new stroller as soon as you realize you forgot it. Most importantly, hug your children and laugh with your partner because no matter the situation, it could have been worse.

Old England

2011-10-02T23:23:00.001-04:00

London
Ok ok ok, so I like London. Yes it does remind me a LOT of Boston, but I love New England so how could I not like the original. It has a Boston look with a New York kick, I could live here :). The boys are working hard on their accents and searching for signs of Harry everywhere, it's great.

Haile crew take London by storm

Bluest Eye

Travelling from the airport to the hotel I was reminded again of my need to lighten our load. How do those people with those tiny bags do it? Where are your shoes Madame? I need my boots, and hats and dresses and .........and......

If you remember nothing else, remember this :)

and they are off to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry

Creative Sleeping

2011-09-30T17:21:00.000-04:00

On our flight to London, Shnook and I had the unfortunate experience of sitting in the row just before the exit row. This meant that our comfy leather seats did not recline. After lots of twisting and leaning this way and that we came up with a position I like to call "school daze". My nap was just as good as the ones I use to take after lunch in the fifth grade :)

NYC

2011-09-29T22:25:00.001-04:00

So day one in the Big Apple was great! The boys and I slept in until 11am (winning) and then hit the city.We visited the USS Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum. This is a little boys dream. Jets, subs and a giant ship kept us busy for hours. I was very impressed when my 6year old said "Mom wait I need to read this" at almost every exhibit :) Shmeep, the 9 year old, kept rattling off facts he knew about planes so fast my head was swimming in digits and miles per hour. Shmitty even enjoyed himself in the Exploreum.

Jumping around

Side note- In May we bought a membership to the fantastic Boston's Children Museum for $135 for 4 people. We have taken FULL advantage of the museum's reciprocal program, visiting 11 museums in 5 states.After the museum we hit the square, Time Square to be exact. I, Brave Mommy, took a trio of boys into one of the most crowded places on the planet. Yes yes tooting my own horn because we made it out alive and in a good mood :)

Day two was spent in Brooklyn with flash floods spoiling our fun. The Haile males went to Chuck E Cheese and I got my eyebrows waxed :) for some reason I want to get all of my major things done before I leave the country. I don't know how to say "where a great place for getting my eyebrows done" in Spanish yet ;)
Soo after the fiasco that was hurricane Irene ruined our first plan, I was a bit edgy about getting off US soil. I went with the legit car service and triple checked that they would send a minivan or SUV to fit us all and that they would get us to the airport 2 hrs before our flight. FORTY-FIVE minutes after he was suppose to be there, our driver shows up all relaxed. The only thing that kept his head connected to his body was the fact that he arrived in a limo. The kiddos LOVED it and it was kinda cool to be leaving in style. The driver drove like a true New Yorker and got us from Brooklyn to Newark in 35 minutes.

All Aboard!!

2011-09-28T01:54:00.001-04:00

So we have finally left Cali and landed in our first stop on our travel adventure, NYC. Already I have made a discovery, Shmitty my 3 year old IS a good flier. In the past we have always booked redeye flights so theboys can sleep on the plane. Shmitty almost NEVER sleeps, and when he does it's usually the last 30mins of the flight. Not this time! We left at 7:40am and he slept for 3.5hrs. of our 5 hr flight, I was a happy camper :)
I also learned that 2 suitcases, a duffle bag, 3 backpacks and a carry on bag is too much luggage. Gonna have to lighten the load before we head out to London Thursday night.

Amazing

2011-09-23T14:46:00.000-04:00

Who knew that not only is there great kid friendly hiking within 30mins of central LA, but also that there's free entertainment and breathtaking views? Did I mention free??

So last month I went soo far over budget on entertainment that I'm in the hole for like two months :). My new ( uhmm read forced) focus is on free family fun. Today I stumbled upon Franklin Canyon a truly hidden gem.

We spent the first hour in their vistor center learning about the Native Americans who lived in the area, the water cycle, energy conservation and ways to cut down on wasting water. They have an excellent visual example of the water cycle. It is so simple yet informative even Shmitty the 3 year old was engaged and understood it.

After the center closed we hit the trail with our leaftlets about scat, animal prints and native plants. The boys happily IDed several droppings and searched excitedly for signs of rattle snakes, thankfully they had no luck.
We stopped by the lake for lunch and decided to try our hand at boat making the way it was done hundreds of years ago. While in the visitor center we saw models of reed boats that looked simple enough to recreate. Honestly, it was a fun venture. The boys hauled tall blades of grass up from the lake. We meaured and cut it. Shmitty searched for dried grass that was strong but flexible. It felt great to be working together on a project again.

We created three bundles then tied the bundles together. Shmeep suggested weaving them together to make it sturdier. Launching our craft was quite difficlut, but after two lost sticks and nearly laying on the reeds to give it a push, we did it!

We continued our trek and came across a cool pond full of turtles, a grove of redwoods and a "spooky" well. At this point we had already had a GREAT day and were on our way out when we say sings for a camp fire. Yes it got better.

Naturalist Judy was excellent. She explained all about reptiles and what to do if we came across them. She used puppets, pictures and lots of audience participation. We sang songs, did silly dances and of course enjoyed roasted marshmallows.

Did I mention it was all free, not even a parking fee :)
For more info on this park and other LA parks visit www.LAmountains.com

2011-09-22T21:19:00.000-04:00

This year I am releasing some of my control. I want the boys to take more ownership of their education, so they are creating their own schedules.
Without arguing or anything they came up with a system where Shmeep picks the day and Shnook picks the time. I can tell they felt the weight of the matter because they were being very formal :)

Sent from my iPhone

Setback

2011-08-27T22:15:00.001-04:00

OK so I'm breathing, I'm alive and out of harms ( aka Irene) way. These are the things I keep telling myself so I don't get too upset about the fact that our trip is postponed for nearly a month because of the weather. Yes a month! First our flight to Boston was cancelled and we can't get to Boston until early September. Here's the kicker, Iceland Express stops it's Boston to Paris route at the end of September so there are no more flights we can switch too. So we have to fly from New York to London in late September.

Ain't no sunshine

2011-07-22T04:35:00.001-04:00

I plan to balance this blog out a little by keeping track of our travels, trials, triupmhs and teachable moments (I was on a roll with the Ts :). Right now life is a trial. We decided to spend the WHOLE summer in California with family because we weren't sure when we would see them next. In my head it was a beautiful plan full of sun and sand and social gatherings. I forgot the small things I would miss like my own corner on the counter in the bathroom to elaborately display all of the facial and beauty products I don't use, or my housekeepers who came every other week to scrub my floors and bath tub, and yes Peapod grocery delivery service which saved me from the nightmare of shopping with three always hungry boys. All of these things are very minor however when it comes to the fact that us spending the Whole summer in California means us spending the whole summer away from my husband. I miss him everyday and his 3 day visits go by too fast. So yes, we are in a very trying state; the boys fight a lot, traffic sucks and I have yet to dip a toe in the Pacific. There is a bright side to all of this; it has been great to see family, we are visiting tons of cool Cali attractions and the boys have taken up Capoeira and are loving it, however, if I had it to do over again we would only be spending August in Cali. Teaching myself in this moment to remember the small things.

M.I.A

2011-07-20T16:40:00.002-04:00

Soo, I have seriously been MIA since April and that's because I have really been missing. I lost myself in the crazy hecticness of life planning. We decided to move and spend some time travelling with the family and I lost my head in the boxes and dates and travel websites. I am finally, 3 months later, coming up for air :)
So from this moment on I will truly be K-bytheseatofmypants because we have moved out of our home, secured a work from home job, and bought one way tickets to Paris! The anesthetic caused by moving is wearing off and excitement is starting to build, we are really doing this. For the past five years we (the Mr. and I) have dreamt of escaping the hamster wheel, barreling over the white picket fence, grabbing our kids and going for it. Our plans are super loose at the moment all we are sure of is the fact the we are going. We are hoping to spend a year traveling around Europe some of the time renting furnished houses and the other trekking along in an RV. I will happily keep you posted.

Summer Science Fun

2011-07-18T16:35:00.003-04:00

Powerful Pressure

After a year of serious science I wanted to get in a summer of silly science fun and repeat some of our loved experiements. When we were moving I had the "pleasure" of cleaning out my classroom and came across some cool books. We are using two great easy to read books for our science fun.

I have set up a science station outside so the kids can access it whenever they want and I don't have to worry about the mess :). I stocked an old desk with bottles, paper, measuring utensils, baking soda, vinegar, food coloring and some other random items along with the two books. So far they have gone out and used the station several times unassisted and came in happily displaying their scientific discoveries. Shnook did an experiment with water and air pressure that was that blew the kids away. That cup of water in the picture was still able to hold up the plate more than 24 hours after he did the experiment. Shmitty even gets in on the fun, mixing vinegar and baking soda to magically fill up balloons.

Outdoor Science Lab

Garden Update ~ 3 wks old

2011-04-26T01:24:00.000-04:00

Catch Flight

2011-04-21T23:14:00.001-04:00

I love 6 degrees of separation!! So it turns out this this other homeschooling mom I know knows a helicopter pilot who agreed to a show and tell type deal with her helicopter. Wait it gets better. The helicopter pilot asked her friend who is an airplane pilot if he would join her. The kids had a great opportunity to meet with both pilots and learn about their aircraft. It was totally cool, especially in this post 911 airport security lock down state we live in, to get to go to any airport and see the planes up close. All three of the boys had a blast, asked tons of questions and touched lots of gadgets in the cockpit. On days like these I'm doubly happy that we are homeschoolers. So, do yourself a favor and ask around, you never know who you might know :)

Airplane 101

The Haile Brothers

Tiny two seater helicopter

Who knew helicopter fuel was light blue and not to smelly

Shnook in the captain's seat

Shmeep trying to take flight

Shmitty getting in on the action

Ode to Mass Audubon's Stony Brook

2011-04-20T13:00:00.003-04:00

Skunk Cabbage, yuck!

What threatened to be a grey, cold and slightly rainy day turned out to be the best day I've had all week. Determined to get us out and about, I got up this morning and called to sign us up for a class on vernal pools. Once I pay for something I'm much more likely to put effort into enjoying it. After waiting to the last minute, because I am just addicted to rushing about yelling "hurry we are late," everyone actually got ready in less than 20 minutes.

Even without the green blush of spring, Stony Brook was picturesque. Chattering birds, crashing waterfalls in the distance and the soft inviting sounds of a forest waiting to be trampled through provided the soundscape for the sanctuary. After a quick introductory meeting we ventured out to explore the vernal pool.

Salamander Eggs

Equipped with magnifying glasses, spoons and buckets we set out to explore muck from the pool. Fortunately my troops had successfully gone ponding before because after several minutes of relentless searching, we had no luck. Without any signs of disappointment, the boys shifted focus and began investigating their surroundings. Shmeep went back to the pool, Shnook began flipping over logs and Shmitty looked at everything around him through magnified eyes, each in search of signs of life.

At the close of the class we considered ourselves very lucky. The class had found spotted salamander eggs, insect larva, a mouse, mites and 5 different salamanders. Several of the salamanders we found were "lungless," using their skin to absorb oxygen. Did I mention we had a cool, fact filled naturalist leading the group :)

I promise its in there

Boardwalk

After the vernal pool class we set off and explored the grounds. We saw cardinals, blue jays, robbins, hawks, geese, and a beautiful snow white swan. While walking out on the family friendly boardwalk, we saw a huge snapping turtle resting peacefully in the water. We stood for awhile watching nothing in particular and everything at the same time. It was wonderful. At the end of the boardwalk was a perfect little island where the boys ran wild, delirious with the freedom of open space and unmanicured terrain.

Snapping Turtle

After leaf tossing, playing chase and running with sticks, we slowly walked around the sanctuary back to out car.

Salamander

Swan in the distance

Socially Lonely

2011-04-17T22:57:00.002-04:00

When the last bit of florescent glow slowly fades out
And the yellow black shadows slink back into the dark abyss
What shall I be left with?
When the last self gratifying, life affirming, congratulatory, nuances of ordinary existence status update is read examined and then cross referenced for ulterior meaning
Who's face shall I see?
A tweet without sound isn't a tweet at all, only a hallow expression of mock camaraderie to ease the pain of our lonely existence

Making light of a rainy day

2011-04-15T22:04:00.000-04:00

filled with smaller bags

You know what they say, "April showers.." and all that jazz. Well as we await the beautiful May flowers we have to find fun and active ways to enjoy all of the rainy days.
Today Shnook decided to be Shmitty's science teacher. He looked in the book More Mudpies to Magnets (check my bookbag page) and picked out an activity to teach his little brother. I was pleasantly surprised at how well he lead his eager charge. Shnook patiently explained what he was doing and shared some of his own knowledge of air properties. We had a fun time exploring the strength of air and I wanted to share with anyone else looking for a simple, cool indoor activity with the kids.

The aim was to explore the strength of air. All you need are plastic bags without holes and a large garbage bag. First, you blow up one bag and discuss the properties of air. Discuss how it's different from and similar to solids and liquids. Push on the bag showing that it takes up space. Second, have the children try and sit on the bag. According to the book the bag is suppose to pop, but of course ours didn't. I took this opportunity to tweak the experiment and test in stead how much weight the air could support. So we went in turn from lightest to heaviest sitting on the bag. Of course it popped when I sat on it, lol.

Third, discuss why the bag popped and what we can do to get it to support heavier things. After guiding the kids to the idea of adding more air, fill a garbage bag with several smaller plastic bags ( visually demonstrating that you are adding more air) then tie it shut. lastly, repeat the weight test.

This time really let the kids go at it, laying on it, jumping on it you name it. In the end a neat little surprise will await them. When the garbage bag finally pops the smaller bags, some still filled, will fly out. Since it's the end of the activity they can play a fun game of air bag volleyball.

Air bag volleyball

Ukrainian Eggs

2011-04-15T13:00:00.004-04:00

Pysanka

First a little history via Pysankycrazy.com:
The meaning of Pysanky is "to write"; decorating Pysanky eggs and orUkrainian eggs have been handed down through the generations of theUkrainian and Russian heritage. Decorated eggs are a strong part of the daily lives of those in the Ukraine. The eggs were thought to possess powers to keep away evil since spirits feared the rooster and chicken eggs. The prominently white eggs were given to the younger as their life was still blank, the eggs with deeper darker Pysanky colors to the older since their lives were fulfilled. The early Pysanky Designs strongly depict man's close relationship with the earth through theUkrainian egg symbols such as wheat and trees many of which are still used today. When the egg is broken the yellow yolk represents the sun and the white the moon. This form of Ukrainian egg decorating is still popular among many artists today.

Today we learned about the Ukrainian art of decorating eggs called Pysanka. We saw some traditionally decorated eggs and had the opportunity to try our hand at the art form. Let me just say it's not your average dunk and done Easter egg dying. I loved the activity because it really required the kids to organize their ideas, follow directions and work slowly and patiently to reach their goal.

Shmeep's egg

My 6 and 8 years old both participated in this activity. What I will say is that it teaches patience and respect for the elements. My 6 year old had hot wax on his fingers a couple of times before learning the proper technique for holding the darwing tool. I was very proud of Shnook. He got hot wax on himself, his design didn't come out the way he wanted and he broke his first egg. However, after being a little upset he tried again this time with more respect for the tools and the flames. Unfortunately, when he was almost finished his second egg rolled off the table too. He was ok with it because he enjoyed the process so much the egg didn't really matter. I was also so impressed when I realized that Shnook worked on two eggs and Shmeep worked only on one egg for an hour straight; another example of just how still and focused kids can be when they are engaged in something of interest.

Shnook's second egg

I'm going to order some supplies ( www.hearthsong.com ) for this activity and do it at home with the boys. I was itching to get busy on an egg but time flew by and all too soon the workshop was over. I highly recommend trying this with your kids who are at least kindergarten age or have a healthy respect for fire because you use a candle throughout the entire process.

When we came home I took out a plain egg and some paint to let Shmitty try his hand at egg decorating.

Shmitty with his egg

1 buck and a little sweat

2011-04-11T22:55:00.002-04:00

Shmitty sprinkling extra seeds

So it's April again and time to try our hand at growing something. Every year our plants fail. In year one we were the victims of "raccoon"stances. In year two squirrels knocked over our tomato plant pots. In year three squirrels ate our pea plants. Finally, last year just after we we nurtured and raised the plants until they were strong enough to go outside New England had a terrible heatwave and my husband forgot to water our babies while the boys and I were out of town. Needless to say my thumb is thus far no where near green. This year we are keeping it simple and going for a butterfly garden. I found a box of seeds for a dollar at walgreens. We paid our buck and put in the sweat, now let's see what happens.

Walgreens wonder

Day one of our flower patch

2011-03-29T14:26:00.001-04:00

First day back in the hammock, a little chilly but still very cool

My Virgo Headache

2011-03-28T12:01:00.002-04:00

After 5 days of being bedridden here is what I arise to.
Shmeep asked for a liter bottle for his homework assignment last week.
I gave him a big water bottle. Oh but he couldn't use that because it
was 1.5L. So the next day Teddy goes to the store finds a bottle that
says 1L. Today the kid tells me he can't use it. I say why? Him "
it's not a liter." Me, "yes it is it says it right on the bottle."
Him, "no it's not I tried 3 times and I can only get 990mL into it."
Welcome back to health Mommy

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Exiting the Playground

2011-03-18T15:46:00.001-04:00

I hate the silent smirking faces of condescension that prevail on the
playground. Aah The judging! The side eyes when your kid stands up in
a swing, the annoyed eye rolling when your kid streaks through the
playground yelling with glee. Since when did the playground become a
place of restraint? I remember the joyful feeling of sheer abandonment
as a kid when we went to the park. My mother would just barely be
visible and my brothers and I were left to invent our own rules, games
and limits. What happened on the playground was our business.
Playground equipment has drastically improved in terms of safety so
why do we still lurk and micromanage? I feel like I'm breaking the
law when I don't follow my kid around every twist and turn of the maze
of ramps and walk ways that have replaced merry-go-rounds and jungle
gyms.
My kids prefer the field to the structure. When we don't have the park
to ourselves. No one looking at them wondering why these wild boys are
disrupting their orderly parent dictated play. They throw sticks and
climb rocks. They jump from high places and make my heart stop every
five minutes, but it's their business. In the fields and woods they
can create their own rules, games and limits.

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View Point

2011-02-24T21:10:00.005-05:00

A little while ago my husband and I went to see an excellent played entitled Ruined. The play was very well acted and the writing was a phenomenal. The play takes place in a brothel in the bush of war torn Democratic Republic of the Congo. The characters were gripping and spellbinding. I was completely drawn into the horrors, the pain, the exasperation and the determination of the characters.
After a few days of reflection I came to understand the most important aspect of that play was view point. The writer captured each character's view point in a poignant manner that allowed you to understand, if not empathize with, them. I began to think how much better we would all be if we could see where others were coming from, if we provided others the opportunity to express their side. More to the point, I began to think about how important it is for historians, writers, and journalist to capture various view points of events. Watching the news I often feel something is always missing. The world is to complex for matters to simply be good versus evil. As my husband said, "conflicts arise because we all feel that we are right." Hearing another view point won't necessarily change our minds, but it can remind us that we all have a point and hopefully we can treat each other with more understanding.
For parents this could mean cutting your kid some slack. No he or she isn't trying to press your buttons, they are engaged in an activity and might truly not hear you. Let's take a breath and try and put ourselves in their shoes. It's stressful having someone else control so much of your life.
Hopefully I can keep the play's core aspect with me, we all have a side of the story to tell, and apply that when listening to and disciplining my children.

dancing words

2011-02-17T21:00:00.000-05:00

I think of myself as a physical poet. I see the poetry in the interconnectedness of the wold. I expressed myself using moving poetry, or dance as others call it :) I strive at some point in each day to understand the poetry of this life that the Creator has granted me.
Recently, inspired by the amazing photography of my friend Nicole of Vintage1981 photography, I have come back to my heart's language. I plan to share from time to time some poems that don't leave me to open to the world. I'm not ready for that yet, but hopefully one day I will open my mouth and my soul will freely flow from it; until then please enjoy my pieces.

Inhale
Poetry is an intricate breath of words, images and emotions
It is the captured flight and flow of a vivid dream of the awakened mind
Poetry is the liberation of our obstructed thoughts, repressed emotions and hidden desires
It is the mind's unchoreographed dance, freely gliding, wildly swirling and gently floating across a papery dance floor
Poetry is but a glimpse of our true self
A stolen moment in the interior of another

Defeating Fairies and Slaying Dragons

2011-02-05T02:45:00.001-05:00

In some form or another I know we've all been here.
Me: Snow boots, coats, gloves, hats, let's go!!
Shmitty the 3 year old is sprawled out in the middle of the living room
apparently trying to make snow angels on my carpet, insisting he

doesn't see his things.
I step over him for now. Bigger fish to fry.
Me: (calling up the stairs) Shmeep it's cold outside please be dressed
for winter. Don't forget your gloves.
Shnook comes up from the basement and says, "Ive looked everywhere and
I can't find my snow boots."
Mind you he just wore them yesterday.

Me: Well if you left them in the basement I can guarantee they are
still there, we do not have a snow boot monster. Go back down and look
again.
At this point Shmeep comes down in jeans and a T-Shirt. Yes, yes the
boy has lived in Massachusetts for the last 4.5 years and knows that
it's pretty close to freezing outside, but insists on trying to get
away with wearing nothing but a short sleeve shirt everyday of winter.
You can take the boy out of Cali but you can't take Cali out of the
boy:) At this point I give him the side eyes with the pursed lips to
the side face and turn my back as I say "there's a long sleeve
undershirt in your closet." That was way to small to blow a gasket over.
At this point I realize that's what they are trying to make me do.

They being some imaginary green fairy people who sprinkle crazy dust
on my children every time I need their cooperation :) There's a war
going on between us, and though I usually when the battles, those
little suckers are persistent.
Soo at this point carpet boy is wondering around picking up every shoe
except the right ones. At one point he even tried on rain boots.

Shnook has found his boots, coat and gloves but no hat. I check him
off the list 3 out of 4, we'll take it. I wrestle Shmitty into his
boots, gloves, hat and coat and send him and Shnook outside. * That is
one trick that works for me, once they are dressed for outside I send
them out even if they stand on the porch they are one step closer to
the car*
Shmeep comes downstairs, long sleeves, coat, gloves, hat, check check
check check, but with damp snow boots. Now this is a kid who wouldn't
even allow you to swaddle him, so nothing even slightly bothersome is
touching his skin. They were beginning to cheer thinking they had me
beat, but alas I pulled out my last lifeline, the hand-me-down card. I

had an old pair of snow boots waiting for a kid to grow into them in my
closet. He tried them on, they fit, voila, I sent him out, grabbed my
gear
Then we were Free!!!

After countless snow storms and days spent in the house or in the Y,
escaping to the woods in 32 degree weather with nothing but a sled and

a smile sounded like heaven to me. My plan was to simply get out in
the fresh air and go for a nice long walk in the sunshine. Mission
accomplished :)
As parents we all want to do something fun with our kids every now and
then, but the prep work seems equivalent to slaying a dragon
sometimes. I know for me there are many times when I am defeated
before I even attempt it because it would take so much energy to get
us all going. To-glorious-day has reminded me that it is worth it. 30
minutes of hassle is nothing compared to the timeless memories we
create when having fun with our children. So ignore the fairies and
slay the dragons. Shake out the sand toys, dust off the hiking boots,
or whip out the coats and mittens and get out and enjoy your children.

To pay or not to pay

2011-02-03T18:29:00.000-05:00

Today a friend of mine was over with her kids and we were watching the boys play in the yard. She looked at my deck and said "wow look at all that snow, I wonder if the deck can handle all of that weight." Of course being from California these are just not things you think about; shovelling before it ices over, clearing gutters, making sure pipes don't freeze, clearing decks so they don't collapse. Who knew there was so much to living in New England? Any who, we decided to put the boys to work clearing the deck, (and secretly making them exhausted so they can let us watch Grey's in peace, yes it's Thursday). As they shovelled and played and shovelled a little more, a thought popped into my head, "should I pay them for this?"
Now I know money and kids is a touchy and heated topic with some people firmly taking sides. Unfortunately for me, I do not know which side of the fence I'm on. So far, at our house my boys do not get allowance, but they also don't have regular chores. We have a housekeeper who does the major elbow work and we just tidy up as needed. When I was a kid I didn't get allowance and I had a ton of chores. Every Saturday was spent cleaning the house and some weeks included yard work. I got money for movies or skating when I asked for it if it was available. My children's life is different. They don't have to scrub the floors and they are still too young for the mall and movies. My husband also has no strong opinion either way. Sooo, do I pay them or not is a tough question for me. It's work that someone in the family would have to do. If their father or I did it we would not be rewarded. No one is responsible for the mess. It is something they can handle. Hmmm.

I must admit I'm heavily influenced by what I'm reading which happens to be the Little House on the Prairie series. Back in the 1800s Laura would have shovelled the snow, no problem. I think I'm going to take a page out of Ma and Pa's book and not pay them, but give them a warm cup of hot cocoa when they are done. Yes I am choosing to reward them, but its not money, just showing I appreciate their contribution to the family. I hope in the long run I'm adding to their character by choosing not to add to their wallet.
I'm still on the fence about allowances. Honestly, I want them to figure out how to earn their own money, but I 'll cross that bridge when I come to it.

Mixing Two Rs with our Favorite F word

2011-01-26T19:24:00.002-05:00

Today I surprised myself. Lately I've been making a conscious effort to
get in more teachable moments with my youngest munchkin. In that vain,
I sold Shmitty on the idea of a sound hunt.
The goal was to go around the house and find things that started with
certain letters. First, I let him pick the sounds we were hunting for
and then we set off.
Shmitty found his backpack and began filling it with items. He was on
a role; book, bandage, boat etc. Then we hit a monkey wrench. I
said,"hey what about that," pointing to a blue block. He said, "Maaum,
we are searching for Bu here, not Llll".
I said, "I know look it's a blue block." He looked at me and sighed.
"Mom, that's a Lego you know."
I'm am seriously starting to rethink all the Charlie Brown I let this
kid watch, but that's another post :)
So after a little debate he decided to include it because it was
blue. We went on to find a group of Ss and Huh objects.
I watched him and saw he was tiring of the sound hunt so I switched it
up and asked him to pour out his loot so we could count it all up.
We had a total of 12 objects. I have been working on classifying with
my 6 year old and so I naturally just suggested grouping them. Then we
compared the groups. Shmitty was having a hard time deciding which
group had more so we laid them out and made a graph. Shmitty had a
ball organizing, counting and then comparing the groups. Being able to
physically see which group had more seemed to excite him. I was
excited because we got to mix Reading and aRithmetic with Fun without
any bookwork or prep work on my part:)

Sent from my iPhone

Sound Graph

2011-01-26T19:23:00.001-05:00

Jesus loves me

2011-01-23T15:58:00.001-05:00

Me: Did you have fun in Sunday school?
Shmitty: Yes I made this. It's Jesus and me. Jesus said he loves me.
Me ( wearing a crazy grin): you are absolutely right, Jesus does love
you.

It's funny how a child's rearranged, forgotten, misunderstood,
mispronounced or misplaced words can send a message that can't miss
our heart. Messengers come in all shapes and sizes.

Pre-Writing Fun

2011-01-21T17:42:00.001-05:00

My youngest guy, Shmitty, is ever eager to begin doing "school work".
So to keep his little mind, fingers and body busy we do a bunch of
different pre-K activities together.
Recently we have been doing a lot of pre-writing activities and I just
wanted to share some. To start, I think writing should be personal
to keep the kids engaged. I always start out by teaching my kids how
to write their name. Being able to write your own name is a big deal
to preschoolers because it fills them with a great since of pride and
accomplishment.
Magic Finger is a little game I play with my son to get him to
practice proper stroke techniques. I write his name on a dry-erase
board and he makes it disappear with his finger. This game is a huge
hit. He loves doing magic and often ask to play this.

Boy Wonder working his magic

You can use the dry-erase board for teaching letters, numbers and
shapes. Try a simple game of "Potter says". Potter says make the
triangle disappear and other similar directions.
For those curves and circular shapes remember to teach the kiddies to
go counterclockwise. If they learn this early on it will make writing
a lot easier. Make my name is another thing we do often, it involves using household
things to spell out his name. Kids love their name, they love glue and
they love crafts. Trust me you can never wear this project out. You
can make your kid's name out of beans, rice, pasta, twigs, sand,

cotton, you name it. A huge plus of this activity is that it will
provide a variety of tactile examples of their name. They can use
these not only to practice tracing their names, but also to compare
different textures.

With the help of my oldest kids we did this little fun
activity.

cotton, sand, rice, crumbled paper, pasta and even acorn tops make up our alphabet

Then we wrote out everyone's name in our house, placed the letters in
their spots and then tallied them up. In our family O is the most
popular letter.
Have fun trying these activities.

Aren't They All Spoiled

2011-01-18T10:14:00.002-05:00

I just saw a post trying to draw parents to read it with the savvy
title "How to Raise Unspoiled Kids". It made me think. In this day of
instant everything, I don't think we can raise unspoiled children.
Our children have the ability to get almost everything instantly.
Microwaved food, Velcro shoes, AIM, and google make everything from
food to facts available in the blink of an eye. My basic idea of a
spoiled child is one who cries out and demands things when they want
them and how they want them. Now days our children are like silent
brats who never have to throw a tantrum because they have a permanent
pacifier in their mouths. You no longer have to wait an hour for
dinner to be ready, or three days for a letter in the mail, or struggle
through mastering those tricky laces, or make that trip to the library
to research a topic.
As parents we now have to consciously teach our children patience and
delayed gratification. Nothing in our American pop-culture teaches
patience, dedication or determination. Our children are taught to
have fleeting interest, short attention spans, and to demand instant
rewards: our children are being spoiled. We have to find ways to slow
down their instant lives and let them know not all things come to us
easily, some things require more time and energy. However, It is our
job, not to pretend like this fast paced world doesn't exist. We need
to teach them how to appreciate what they have and those that made
their lives easy. Most importantly we have to teach them that the
responsibly to help make the lives of others easier is now theirs.
You don't strip an heir of his millions, you teach him how to use them.

Air Time

2011-01-15T11:09:00.004-05:00

Yesterday at the Discovery Museum we saw this really cool, very simple
exhibit. They had hair dryers, ping pong balls and a small basketball
net. The challenge was to get the ball into the net using the dryer.
It was a lot of fun and the kids learned a little too. The boys worked
to figure out the right amount of air pressure to float the ball.
Shmitty was challenged to simply slow down and hold the dryer steady
in order to keep the ball afloat.

This is way too easy to do at home. You can take this activity in any
direction also. I was thinking of: blow dryer obstacle races, getting
a ball on someone's head, or the how high challenge. Play and enjoy
your own air time.

From Cacao to Cocoa

2011-01-14T11:17:00.002-05:00

Last month Shnook (6 yr old) decided to study chocolate as his monthly
topic. Needless to say I was very pleased. We read about the history
of chocolate talked about chocolate and yes it had to be done, we ate
and ate chocolate. I found a site selling some raw beans online and
tonight we make our own cocoa straight from the bean.
It is a very simple, fun hands on activity that will leave your home
smelling delicious.
Directions
Step 1. Get some beans :) I got mine front this site and they are very
cheap Www.amazonasimports.com

Step 2. Roast beans. We roasted ours in the oven at 350 F for 20 minutes

Step 3. Peel the husk off

Step4. Add some flavor. Here is where you can let your imagination run
wild. Add whatever you think will taste great. We added cinnamon and
brown sugar. Note you have to add sugar, cacao beans are not sweet

Step 5. Get your grind on :) grind all the ingredients together into
a nice powder.

Step 6. Add 1tbsp to a cup of hot water/milk/rice dream top with
marshmallows and
Step 7. Enjoy

Shnook enjoying his cocoa

Let it Shine

2011-01-12T06:44:00.002-05:00

Here's an excerpt from Teddy and Shmitty's conversation while lying in
bed in our dark room this morning.
Teddy " look at Mommy, isn't she beautiful?"
Shmitty " let me see your iPod I need to shine her up." (then he
shines the light in my face) " Now she's beautiful!"

Sent from my iPhone

Word Swap

2010-12-19T01:14:00.002-05:00

Word Swap
Shmeep (the now 8 yr old) : Mom one of the best things a robber can do
is to get an invisibility cloak.
Me: one of the best things that person could do is not commit a robbery.
Shmeep: Then they would just be a pheasant.
Me: A pheasant is a bird.
Shmeep: No not that kind of pheasant the poor kind.
Me: Oh you mean peasant.
Shmeep: well then yeah they would just be peasant.
Me: We don't really use that word to describe people any more.
Shmeep: Well what do you call regular poor people?
Me: We just call all people citizens now. Like you and I are just
regular citizens.
Shmeep: I'm not a citizen if it's the same as a peasant.
The conversation ended there. I'm
Not sure where I want to take it. It made me think of how badly we
strive to breakaway from anything considered common. I'm torn between
supporting his aim for greatness and a need to let him know that the
vast majority of people are just common pheasants if you will, trying
to stay alive by staying ahead of the hunt.

Sent from my iPhone

From lines to letters

2010-10-01T16:20:00.002-04:00

From lines to letters
My intentions this rainy afternoon was to do a little art project. I
wanted us to look at lines, color and shape. We took out the water
colors, crayons and paper. As soon as I started drawing lines on my
paper with a white crayon they were ignited and excited. But of course
not over my own idea, but theirs.
My crayon strokes reminded them of how white crayon marks are
highlighted when you paint over them. They immediately switched focus
and began writing secret messages. Then they took turns decoding with
the water color Dot Arts paint markers.
It was fabulous, they came up with an elaborate game of writing
messages and having them delivered to the mailboxes they made. They
created a mail system complete with zip codes corresponding to their
ages. They spent the whole afternoon writing and improving their
spelling and all I did was draw a few lines on a paper to get them
started.

Oatcakes mmm mmm good!

2010-09-29T13:50:00.000-04:00

When life gives you lemons make oatcakes

2010-09-29T13:48:00.002-04:00

When life gives you lemons make oatcakes
This afternoon Shmitty asked for candycakes ( our version of pancakes
made with sugar in the mix so they don't need syrup). I was feeling
upbeat so I said sure. I was feeling real upbeat an told Shmeep, the 8
year old, he could make the mix. Now in my defense Shmeep has made
pancake batter many times and he invented the candycakes. For whatever
reason he was off his game today.
As I walked into the kitchen he was frantically searching my
cabinets for some more pancake mix. Today he followed the directions
but mixed up the columns for milk and mix. So he ended up with a VERY
watery mix.
After searching every cabinet and coming up empty, I suggested
adding instant oatmeal to thicken it up. After one pack didn't do the
trick. We added regular oatmeal handfuls at a time until we were
satisfied with the consistency. Shmitty was in charge and had a ball
grabbing and dumping the oats in. Next we heated the mix up for a
minute and a half to soften the oats.
The results: Dee-licious!!
The cakes didn't even stay on the platter. Every time I finished a
batch the boys picked them up. This is our most successful failure yet.

Sent from my iPhone

Little Yogis

2010-09-22T22:38:00.000-04:00

Truth in a Book

2010-09-22T22:35:00.004-04:00

Whoo hoo quite by accident I found a very simple and pleasing to my
spirit way to meditate. I was reading the boys a book about the
Buddha and in the end there's a note from the Dali Lama telling you
how to begin meditating. The boys and I tried it and they liked it.
And I thought it was great too. Whoohoo another good idea for
starting the day or ending it or both :)
After our five minute meditation I came to feeling very relaxed and
dreamy. Thanks Buddha ;)
FYI the name of the book we read is "Becoming Buddha" by Whitney
Stewart. It was a great easy to read and understand story of the life
of Siddhartha.

Bitten

2010-09-10T15:38:00.000-04:00

Why, why, why am I doing everything else, including blogging in the middle of the day, except for cleaning out my classroom. I have a red, swollen itchy bite that is slowly stopping me from moving forward, I fear my dears I have been bitten by the procrastination bug. Beware this tiny intruder. At first, you just get a little distracted, then side tracked and then you are all out doing something you never intended to do and have no clue how you got here. Its so tricky too because you start out all pumped up about the big job. You make plans in your head for how to get it done, the over achievers even write down their plans. but then it happens, you look at the jobs, then you look at your plan, you look back at the job and then back at your plan. Suddenly (bite) the job seems to big for your measly little plan, and here come the "I'm nevers". I'm never going to get this done; on time, like I want it, by myself, (my favorite) while the kids are up, so I'll do it later, or revise my plan, or get help or whatever other excuse you come up with.
Ha!! I needed to blog this, I'm reminded about a little saying regarding excuses and so I'm off to face my "I'm nevers" and apply calamine lotion to this bite.

Seeing God

2010-09-05T16:26:00.000-04:00

At the national Museum of Air and Space we were looking at the 20 foot
telescope built by William Herschel and shnook asked "well what could
he see with it?". We had just looked at a replica of the first types
of telescopes Galileo used, so I said "if Galileo could see planets
with his and it's only a couple of feet imagine what Herschel could
see." Shnook thought about it and then he said "he must have been
looking at God".
I love children

Sent from my iPhone

2010-09-03T12:37:00.000-04:00

Shnook's first job

2010-09-03T12:36:00.001-04:00

So we stopped at our local Valvoline to get the oil changed before we hit the road. We had a great time!! The guys were great and the service was unbelievable in this day and age. The guy was so nice he offered to let the boys hop out of the car and help with the inspection and filling the tires. Shmeep was stuck in his Harry Potter book, but Shnook jumped at the chance. He walked around checking tires filling them up and adding missing caps. His face was beaming. He was enthralled with all the "cool tools" and other oily gadgets. When he finished with the car. They gave him some of the stickers that are used for posting in your car to remind you to get an oil change. Shnook loved this little surprise miniventure and I hope it's a great sign that this is going to be a great weekend full of exciting adventures.

The Definition of Hectic

2010-09-02T04:08:00.002-04:00

So after a long hot day of running around and football practice, we got home tonight at 8pm. I rallied all of my energy in a last minute push to get all the kids showered and have dinner on the table at 8:30pm. Well the universe had other plans.
I call the troops in for a meeting dishing out orders, a who does what and when list. I get everyone to look at me and repeat the evening's mission. After everyone correctly recites his role I dash to the kitchen to start dinner. Thinking ahead, I had already made the Rice a-Roni so I checked that first. Turns out I had forgotten to put the seasoning packet into the mix.
Strike one
8:10pm. I dash upstairs to check progress. My first son, Shnook, is slowly removing his clothing and sings Christmas carols at the top of his lungs so I urge him into the shower. 8:13ish check, he's in the shower.
I remove my youngest son's clothing and get him ready to get in the shower when I see Shmeep, the oldest, walk by still in full football gear. This of course is not a part of the game plan and a clear foul ball. He explains that he can't get his jersey off over his shoulder pads. I plop Shmitty into the shower with Shnook and go to the room to help Shmeep underdress.
8:30pm everyone undressed and shower ready or already showered.
I return to the kitchen look at my failed rice then to my right and see the George Forman grill has fallen into the sink full of water, so no grilled meat tonight. ( I have no clue if I still could have used it and didn't want to test it, better dry and safe than sorry:)
I pull it out clean it off and leave it to dry out. I walk back to the stove to think and suddenly, drip drip drip water is falling on my head! Man, of all things, the ceiling is leaking. I gallop upstairs, edged on by the shouts of "mission, attack the baby! He's ruining our house!". At the top of the stairs stand two naked boys with marshmallow guns aimed at a two year old holding a detachable shower head aimed at them. Needles to say, the bathroom floor is soaking wet which explains the raindrops falling on my head.

Strike two
Deep breath in deep breath out. So, not time to loose it I can still pull this night together, or so I thought.
I direct the troops to their room to get properly suited up, clean up the water, call about having a plumber come out tomorrow and dress the tiny terror.

Shmitty is potty training and tonight he finally wants to wear underwear to bed. Overjoyed by the news I eagerly dress him in his finest pair of Thomas the Tank engine undies and send him on his way to play with his brothers.
8:45ish all is not lost
I pop a frozen pizza into the oven, emergency food a must around here.
I clean up the water that has dripped from the ceiling all over the stove and the floor. I put some veggies in the microwave to steam, take a breath then head upstairs.
First the smell, yuck! Then the sight, gross! Apparently there has been an accident. I find Shmitty complaining about the poop on his foot at the top of the stairs just outside the bathroom.
Breathe
Me: Shmitty what happened?
Him: I pooped
Me: didn't we talk about pooping in the toilet?
Him: I did
Me: no buddy it's all over your new undies.
Him: I did pooped in the toilet.
Me: You went in the bathroom, sat on the toilet and pooped?
Him: yes
Me: Did you pull your undies down?
Him (with a "now why in the world would I do that face") : No!
Breathe
I clean him up, then the floor and put him back in the shower.
Strike three I'm out!

9:30pm all dreams have gone and I'm laughing at myself for thinking I could have pulled that off. I make plates pour water and at 9:40pm we all sat down an ate dinner.

If you give a mom a vacation....

2010-08-02T23:12:00.000-04:00

After a hectic morning that was off to a late start, followed by
forgotten lunches, I had to glorious task of putting away the
groceries. Let me back track a moment. My two older boys are in camp
so that I can have a summer vacation :). So this waking up at a
certain time and having everyone dresses and ready to go every morning
is very challenging for me. Needless to say we have yet to make it to
camp by 9am an this is week two of my vacation.
So this morning we were late again, but to top it off my husband had
the keys to my car with him and he was on his way to work *argh*. Then
after getting the keys we all pile in the car and head out and of
course I forgot the lunches. So I decided I would just go to the
grocery store and grab them something. But everybody knows that if you
send a mom into a grocery store she'll remember something else she
needs for the house. Thinking about the house will reminder she needs
to have something for dinner. Planning one nights dinner will trigger
a planning of the weeks dinners and if you are planning the weeks
dinners you might as well plan the weeks breakfast and lunches.
Planning the weeks lunches the mom will remember she needs to drop off
lunch to her kids at camp and that brings her to the checkout stand.
At the checkout stand she will look in amazement at the cart full of
food she has when she only meant to grab two quick lunches.
So there I was, morning over and the afternoon creeping up me as I
dropped off the lunches and tried to salvage my day. I got home and
began the unhappy task of unloading the car and putting the groceries
away. My youngest son, too young for camp:(, was doing his version
of unpacking. Everything I was trinh to put away he was trying to take
out. Without his brothers to keep him company Shmitty is quite the
attention drainer. I saw that more and more of my day was fading and I
was hit with a brilliant idea. I gave him several boxes of pasta that
I had just bought and told him to build with it. Don't see why it's
brilliant? Well let me explain. At first Shmitty was just exploring
the new things brought into the house in a way he thought I was. I was
moving stuff around so he was moving stuff around. Me just telling him
to go play with his blocks wouldn't have satisfied him because he
wanted to explore the things I just brought in. So I gave him some of
the new things, let him stay relatively close to where I was working
and let him explore them in a way that was familiar to him. Boxes are
like blocks so building with them came natuarlly. At one point he even
lined them all up and pushed them around like a train. I was able to
quickly put everything away and he was able to play and when I
finished I showed him how to put the boxes away properly so next time
he will know.
After our session I made us lunch, cleaned up, played a little more
with Shmitty, then it was time to pick up the boy from camp. I guess
I'll start my relaxing vacation tomorrow.

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2010-06-11T18:10:00.000-04:00

Book browsing

2010-06-11T18:09:00.001-04:00

One of my favorite things to do when I visit someone's home is to
checkout their bookshelf. Not to see what books we have both read, or
to see how well read they are, but instead I'm looking for new books
to add to my reading list.
The other day at another homeschooling family's home I came across a
great book. I knew it was a great book after look at the cover and one
page inside. First off is says 10minutes, to a time strapped mother of
three anything that only takes 10 minutes is heavenly. Second, on the
page I opened up to the author explained the activity stressing the
importance of making your child feel loved and accepted even when you
are short on time, my kind of attitude:)

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Sailing through time

2010-06-09T21:41:00.001-04:00

Tattoos and sugar cane

2010-06-09T21:40:00.001-04:00

On the grind

2010-06-09T21:38:00.000-04:00

Mashed coconuts

2010-06-09T21:37:00.000-04:00

Man School Day 2

2010-06-09T21:35:00.000-04:00

Today we are still out to sea. The boys ever so carefully put the
sails on their ships. Then it was coconut time. The boys took their
coconuts outside and smashed them to pieces. First there was throwing,
then out right banging with hammers and rocks. I never knew it was so
difficult to crack a coconut.
It was amazing watching the boys. They were so enthralled with their
activity. All the glorious banging and breaking with no one trying to
end their fun. Watching them really got me to thinking that I ought to
institute a "break it" day where they get to smash old useless things
to pieces. If I did that I might just secure my spot in history ad
the coolest mommy ever.
The activities, nor the learning for that mattered, stopped with the
coconut breaking. The boys then gathered their shattered novelties and
brought them in the house to wash and grate them. During the grating
work they enjoyed the chilled coconut milk they drained before the
bashing. They also ground up some Jamaican all spice, sliced plantains
and chopped garlic as they helped prepare their caribbean fare.
At this point I must interject and say how very impressed I am with
the woman coordinating this class. She has managed to allow the boys
to have plenty of fun all while they practice cooking, learn about
sailing and explore nautical history.
So, back to day 2 activities. While we were enjoying our meal of peas
and rice and fried plantains ( yes we because I chowed down too), our
organizer explained to use how sailors used alcohol as a
preservative. Which was a great segway into dessert which was rum cake.
After lunch we got tattoos and munched on real sugar canes. Did I
already say how wonderfully thorough the woman is? To wrap up our day
the boys created a timeline of sailing history, where we all learned
that just recently a 16 year old girl circumnavigated the globe all by
herself.
I am definitly taking notes, feeling inspired, and greatful that I can
rely on other homeschoolers to help fill in the educational cracks.
Viva homeschooling !!!!

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Wamponoag Native Americans

2010-06-09T02:45:00.001-04:00

A Day on the Common

2010-06-08T20:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was a glorious. We are reading "Indian in the Cuboard" and
my boys have taken to it like mice to cheese. It was just our luck
that we heard about a Native American presentation on the Commons so
we jumped at the chance to see real Native Americans.
When we got here we ( really me being the history buff that I am) were
in for a treat. Not only did we see the Wamponoag Native Americans,
yes the actual tribe that celebrated the first Thanksgiving with the
Pilgrims, but there were also reenactors of the 54 regiment, the
govenor of Boston, live bands and a carousel.
We had a great time. We learned the Mosquito dance and marvelled at
the firing of the cannons. It was a warm beautiful Boston afternoon.

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Birdhouse

2010-06-06T23:21:00.000-04:00

Up close and personal

2010-06-06T23:20:00.000-04:00

Ok call me a thief. I go visit my friends and I steal their ideas.
Well I've done it again. This one was just brilliant. I was at my
Dad's house and saw this wonderful contraption on his window. It's a
birdhouse that you suction to your window so you can spy on the birds.
Now a whole bunch of ideas flooded my brain. I could just imagine
following a family of birds. Watching as the mother lay her eggs,
watching and waiting for them to hatch. Then watching the babies get
bigger. I was in lesson planning heaven. Needless to say we are
getting one of those next winter.

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2010-06-04T19:21:00.000-04:00

To catch a chipmunk

2010-06-04T19:20:00.001-04:00

To catch a chipmunk
Appearantly to catch a chipmunk you need
1 fake lizard
Tape
1 light saber
A chain
24 pinto beans
1 empty egg carton and
2 boys

The boys terrorized the poor chipmunk living in our yard today. They
flooded it's hole. Chased it around and lastly, decided to trap it. I
felt bad for the little guy but he decided to move into a yard
occupied by 3 courious George type boys. I'm sure he scoped out the
place before he moved in, right under their ball bin might I add. They
actually left him alone for awhile, but today he made the dreadful
mistake of scaring them as he came scampering out of hid hole. The
boys saw this as an assult and just cause to break the peace. They
launched a hostile attack to capture the enemy. Fortunately for the
little guy I called them in to dinner.

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Great discipline

2010-06-03T22:02:00.000-04:00

Great discipline
Last night my world came to a crashing halt. My beloved iPhone froze
on me, with my husband far away and every apple store with a hundred
miles closed there was nothing I could do. I sat there starring at my
phone, watching people call me, seeing text message flow in and
nothing I could do to respond.
I learned 3 things last night. First, you can't cool off an iPhone in
the fridge. My 7 year old suggested my phone was over heated like the
laptop sometimes does and just needed to cool down. Desperate I tried
his suggestion of putting it in the fridge to cool off. Second, I
learned how to send text messages from my email account. Again, driven
by desperation to contact my husband, I looked up how to perform this
little miracle and found that it was quite simple, embarassingly
simple to tell the truth. Thirdly, and most importantly, I learned
that being so tantilizing vlose to the thing you want but not being
able to have it is a powerful and motivating form of discipline.
Lately we have been scrapping the barrel so to speak looking for
effective ways to discipline our 7 year old. He has reached it, the
age of the the smart mouth. It's driving me crazy but I refuse to
revert to old school methods. One I don't believe they work and two I
physically can not bring myself to do. So my little painful episode
has been turned into a learning experience that will hopefully benefit
the whole house and decrease the amount of "sassing" around here. One
more reason to love my phone;)

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Ship ID

2010-06-02T13:33:00.000-04:00

We looked at scenes from movies and Identified types of ships

Day 1 of Man School

2010-06-02T13:17:00.001-04:00

Day 1 of Man School
So we joined a group of homeschooling friends in what we are calling
Man school. A friend's son said he wanted to learn how to be man. Now
please don't jump all over that sentence and get all PC or
philosophical. Sometimes as parents you have to know what your kid
means spare him the lecture and respect his wishes. In this instance
that's what my friend did. She gathered a group of his male friends
and designed Man School. So for our first four weeks we are doing
everything sailing; building a sailboat, eating pirate food, singing
sailor chants, telling pirate jokes, increasing our nautical
vocabulary and having a good time.
Maybe I'll pay for it later when my future daughter in-laws are
exasperated by their sexist husbands. Sorry ladies but we are having a
rowdy good time Arghhh!

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2010-06-02T01:22:00.001-04:00

Extraordinary Fun

2010-06-02T01:13:00.001-04:00

Extraordinary Fun
This was just way too much fun not to share. Once in a while you
stumble upon a great idea and you run with it.
Materials
Balls (the greatest toy ever)
Blow dryer
Challenge the kids to float the balls, race the balls or get them
through an obstical course the possiblities are endless and so is the
fun. We decided to play basketball with the dryers and balls.

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Reflect on the past and look to the future

2010-06-02T01:02:00.001-04:00

One of the beautiful things about homeschooling is it's flexibility.
As a homeschooler you have the freedom to use or not use curriculum,
use or not use schedules, use or not use test and most of all you have
the freedom to change your mind.
The annual end of the year report provides us with an opportunity to
reflect on the past year, to evaluate what worked and what needs to
change. It's very important to do this with your children regardless
of their age. Small children like remeniscing about the years
adventures and older children might enjoy looking at pictures of
fieldtrips or special projects they worked on. Kids can also engage in
some self evaluation. Discussing where they started the year, where
they are now and then set goals for where they want to be next year.
If after your reflections you find that you need to change things up
feel free to ask other homeschoolers what they are doing. Living in
the Boston area, you have a wealth of networks and local groups to
ask your questions to. Some local homeschoolers have get togethers
where they discuss different homeschooling methods.
If you love the idea but know of any get togethers, engage in some
idea swapping of your own at a local park day.

A Wild Bouquet

2010-04-14T23:57:00.001-04:00

Flower Tasting

2010-04-14T23:53:00.001-04:00

Flower Tasting
Revisiting a subject every year can get boring, so it's important to
spice it up a bit. Every spring we revisit the life cycle of a plant,
and we try our hand at planting veggies.
This year my seven year old showed no interest in the subject so while
the younger two and I discussed the matter his head was in a book.
Today, however was different. Today he learned that wild violets are
etible and that sparked his interest. We went out to a field covered
with flowers and had ourselves a lovely time tasting nature.
They talked about plant parts and polunation. I was even lucky enough
to go home with a handpicked bouquet.

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Apple pie

2010-03-16T17:06:00.000-04:00

So yummy I forgot to take a picture before we started eating

Pizza rolls

2010-03-16T17:04:00.001-04:00

Rethinking Dinner

2010-03-16T17:02:00.000-04:00

Rethinking Dinner
Looking at our grocery bill the other day, I realized even though we
try to shop at healthy stores, we are still buying more ready made
foods. As the boys get bigger and our days get fuller we are spending
less time cooking.
Let me pause for a moment and say that one thing I try to do often is
re-evaluate my methods. This served as a great moment to critique
myself.
I ran through my head the pros and cons of our eating habits. Turns
out cooking more homemade meals wins hands down.
Cooking is very stimulating for all children. They are literally
learning hands on. Not only does cooking enhance math skills, it also
improves fine motor skills, mental sequencing, and boost confidence.
Cooking your own meals is also a great way to get picky eaters to try
new things, they are more likely to try something they made themselves.
For our first revisit to homemade we made apple pie. We followed that
up by making our very own pizza rolls. The apple pie was delicious and
so were the pizza rolls despite their appearance :)

From Civil Rights to Chinese New Year

2010-02-26T12:28:00.001-05:00

February, the tiniest of all the months, is jam packed with great
topics to explore. From inspiring individuals to world class
atheletes and fascinating cultures there is no shortage of learning
adventures.
Yesterday the boys and I read a wonderful picture book entitled "Let
Freedom Sing". The text was an adaptation of the song "this Little
Light of Mine" and it provided a timeline of important events during
the fight for civil rights. It is a great springboard for studying
this time period. While we read my children discussed the people they
already knew about and I have them explinations for things we hadn't
covered yet. We had a great time singing the song and made a plan to
lookup some of the topics on the Internet.
We found this book at the library but I plan to buy it and use it as a
spin, pick a different date and event and researching it. Followed by
watching PBS specials on the topic. I could stretch the lesson out to
include a trip to the African American history museum, endless
possiblities.
After our reading and dicussion we headed out to the library for a
Chinese New Year celebration. Our library puts on this event annually
and we definitly take advantage. I'm a huge believer in out sourcing
education :). If I am not familiar with a subject I find someone or
someplace that it. The library and muesum events are my go to source.
We learned an old Chinese folktale explianing the order of the animals
in the zodiac. The children paraded around the library with their
crafts and came to a spot where the ground was covered in bubble wrap.
Popping, stomping and cheering ensued. I have to admit I got in a few
good stomps too I couldn't resist. That event was followed by a
puppetshow and a great Chinese food dinner. You have to love the
library, Edutainment and dinner!

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Chapter 7

2009-12-07T13:33:00.001-05:00

Chapter 7
Babylonians were the first to figure out the earth goes all the way
around the sun. They divided the year into 12 months and a day into 24
hours and an hour into sixty minutes.

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Navigating

2009-11-24T15:39:00.000-05:00

Train tracks

2009-11-24T15:36:00.001-05:00

When you stop teaching the learning begins

2009-11-24T15:35:00.001-05:00

I have been away. I got sucked into the, "you must teach them these
subjects or they will fall behind and you will be a horrible parent"
phase. We all go through this right? Well you can imagine how
uneventful things have been around here. Nothing but teachers and
books and lots and lots of dirty looks. I know I know what was I
thinking. Well today I just decided to give them some room. To
honestly give myself some room too. I'm tired of repeating "where is
your mathbook, please finish your spelling blah blah blah".
So this morning on their off day, they went down into the basement and
worked for hours constructing and reconstructing their train set. The
whole thing involved lots of negociating. Which piece to use where,
which sound effect pieces to use, who got to play with what first. I
heard several arguments, but suprisingly I was not called down to the
basement once. They problem solved, compromised and worked it out. I
was very impressed.
When trains got boring they came up did some math and then found that
the computer was free. They began to search for our house on the map.
Then they started looking at our neighborhood. Then my oldest son got
the idea to look up some towers from his book. They spent several
hours mapping locations then looking at the street view of several of
the worlds famous towers.
They covered:
Spelling and typing
Geophraphy
Navigation
architecture
Tech skills
Communication skills
Engineering
Reading
Without a word of direction from me

Today I was reminded to trust my children to learn on their own in
their own way

If you give a kid some marbles

2009-10-27T03:26:00.001-04:00

After playing Wii, reading books and doing extra math work, Shmeep was
bored so I gave him some marbles. He made his own version of
pinball. The designs kept changing and he played with until bedtime.