The Duckling

Grace went into her room early tonight, apparently for good reason, as she was busy at work doing this:



She's recently become attached to the duckling and is extremely maternal toward him. She made a hammock out of a doll's bonnet , placed a small pillow in it and added a "lovie", which I think is the coveted "Baby Tigger" found recently at the gathering. I just love how the mind of a child works. I would never have given a thought to the bedtime comfort of MY duckling;)

Forte

Hello!

Hello to all of the new readers that have come through lately! I'm glad you stopped by! Don't be shy. Post a comment or two:) I really DO want to know what you think!
Have a great day! Grace and I will be kicking back until Piano, because Daddy is out of town for the day at his interview!
Forte

Another Funny

Some of you may remember the "Relaxation CD" from the recent conference hotel, and Grace certainly does as well.
Last night, she was having trouble getting herself settled down to sleep. I was attempting to "parent" her to sleep by stroking he head and declaring in monotones "I am pulling down the sleep" over and over. She got a kind of giggly face after a while and stopped my hand mid-motion, opened her eyes and declared, "Mom. D'you know you sound just like the relaxation CD from the Hotel?" She then proceeded to , in a mocking tone, treat me to her own rendition of said CD, "You are beginning to RE-LAX now....wwwwwwwwuuuuuuuuuunnnnnn.......ttttttttoooooooooo........thhhhhhhhrrrrreeeeeee".
What a little toad. I love her, but what a little toad. ;)
Forte

Core Knowledge

This looks pretty cool!
http://www.coreknowledge.org/bookstore/index.php?main_page=document_general_info&cPath=45_48&products_id=26
I am toying with using a curriculum like this, as you can order the guide and simply do any/all grade levels from K-8th. The core books are separate, but we can purchase what we need as we go and as the mood strikes us. Has anyone used this or found it great/horrid?

I am the kind of person that really likes to use a "framework", but one that allows me to still be flexible!
Forte

Mental Floss

Grace and I attended a fun "club" yesterday with her homeschool group. It was called "Mental Floss" , and the idea behind it is that the children get to see and participate in conversations about potentially-conflicting view points. The point of it being about conflicting viewpoints is for the children to observe the parents having differing opinions from one another, but still being able to hold a worthwhile conversation. We first watched half of "The Journey of Man", a video chronicling the adventures of Geneticist Spencer Wells and his search for the truth about where we all come from. His claim, substantiated by some pretty good preliminary data dealing with markers on the Y chromosomes of men he samples along the way, is that we are all descended from common ancestors in southern Africa, whose descendants today are the Bushman.
We all then had a wonderful conversation about it and came out friends on the other side! ;) It was a great experience for the kids and the adults both, and something that I feel is good to model for the kids.
The children the donned their bathing suits and went to play in the back yard on the trampoline and with the sprinkler. It was a great day!
Forte

Soul Mates

Here is a rare photo of the elusive "Anti-Picture Club". I am not sure, but I think it may be the only one in existence! :)

I can effectively say, after some reflection, that the past 4 days have been some of the best married-with-child days of my life. A presenter said Friday that she doesn't advertise to test children because of the children, but rather because of the parents! I think the same could be said of this "meeting of the minds". Unwittingly, the organizers and donors have brought together the parents of the "peerless", who are also probably themselves "peerless" . That's not to say that we don't have friends, and Carl and I are lucky to have found peers where we are, but there is just something special about all being in one boat...or hotel for that matter;)
To all of you that I have recently met face-to-face, I extend a warm hug and a promise to continue on with these relationships, as I now know that they mean more to me than just a cyber chatboard. :)
Here's to the future we are currently raising! I hope we all do a good job!:)
Forte

Ch-ch-ch-ch-changes...

Grace has always taken any kind of change hard. This change will perhaps be he hardest of all. We have been asked to move out of the Secret House into another house nearby. Grace is devastated. She considers the Secret House her "home". This fact has also radically pushed forward our exodus from this state in general, as it would be desirable to only move once. We have until July 31 to move out. I think I will keep the blog name, as this is where it started!
I am going through a range of emotions at this point. From anger to sadness, hope to despair. We knew we did not want to stay here forever, but I thought we would have more tIme to say goodbye. I know that where we are most likely moving is probably a better place, but we've made so many friends here. Grace is part of a growing, thriving homeschool community and I have support. This will be a wonderful, terrible, amazing and frightening two months for our family, and I appreciate any and all support!
Forte