Take a Hike

Too cute!

2009-01-15T09:31:00.001-08:00

Isn't this the cutest? Two of my favorite pets, together!

Blueberry Muffin's babies

2008-11-12T10:27:00.000-08:00

When Noah and I quit our part-time job as rabbit caretakers back in August, our last week held a fun surprise! One of the rabbits who had just come to us from another shelter gave birth to a litter in the bunny barn, and Noah and I found the babies. I posted the story and photos of the newborns on my blog here. Well, now they're almost three months old, and look! So big and gorgeous! They are all healthy and happy. (I couldn't get photos of all of them; my camera phone can't capture then when they're moving, and baby bunnies move a lot!)

So true!

2008-11-11T09:50:00.001-08:00

Funny Blogs

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Menu Planning

2008-10-27T10:23:00.001-07:00

I'm trying to get more organized, and also save money, so I'm getting back into menu planning, as opposed to flying by the seat of my pants. Here are the plans for this week's dinners (items with an * are new recipes I'm trying):

Monday: Baked Potato Soup*, salad, garlic bread

Tuesday: Going out to dinner at Sweet Tomatoes for Noah's birthday

Wednesday: Chicken with Spanish Rice, broccoli

Thursday; Twice-Baked Potatoes, salad

Friday: Spaghetti, garlic bread, salad

Saturday: Ginger-and-Spice Chicken Thighs*, Roasted Garlic Potatoes*, salad

Sunday: Cheddar Chicken Chowder, cornbread

Lunches will be the usual variety: peanut butter and jelly, grilled cheese, turkey sandwiches, canned soup, quesadillas, macaroni & cheese, leftover pasta with butter and parmesan, leftover soup, etc.

I'd love to find some new cookbooks with cheap, fast, and healthy recipes. Any suggestions?

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What I'm reading

2008-10-23T21:49:00.001-07:00

I got this book through inter-library loan, and I'm glad I did! It would probably be a great book for Noah to study in high school. I should probably buy my own copy; I have found myself jotting notes and quotes on index cards as I read. Here are a couple of intriguing quotes:

"The etymologist finds the deadest word to have been once a brilliant picture. Language is fossil poetry." (Ralph Waldo Emerson in "The Poet")

And from Veith himself:

"And yet Christians, especially those schooled by the Reformation, would insist that in real life we are saved by a deus ex machina -- our lives are hopelessly tangled and filled with sin until God intervenes by His grace. Christ is a God let down from Heaven; the Holy Spirit does break into our lives."

Added to my "to-be-read" list as a result of this book:

Graham Greene, The Power and the Glory
Walker Percy, Lost in the Cosmos
Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canterbury Tales
A.N. Wilson, Gentlemen in England
Tom Wolfe, Bonfire of the Vanities

And to re-read:

everything by Flannery O'Connor

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The Kind of OCD Steven wishes I had.

2008-10-23T13:32:00.001-07:00

When I was considering the possibility that I might have OCD, about 7 years ago now, Steven basically laughed. "You can't have OCD! You're a lousy housekeeper!" was his comment, or words to that effect. I had to agree. But it turned out I did have OCD, although unfortunately for my family, not the kind of OCD that keeps everything supernaturally shipshape and organized. My psychiatrist thinks I've got ADD as well, and the combination means I worry about how everything should be, but can't seem to get it organized! :-)

Funny Blogs

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Stargazing fun

2008-10-20T14:23:00.001-07:00

Google Image Result for http://www.kidscosmos.org/kid-stuff/graphics/jupiter-moons-1.jpg

Saturday evening, we went to a Stargazing for Everyone event at Lake Pleasant. We were running a little late, so we missed the ranger-led hike, but enjoyed fresh-grilled hamburgers and hot dogs while we watched a slide presentation about the night sky. Then we looked at various objects through high-powered telescopes. We saw Jupiter with her four largest moons, the Ring Nebula, the owl cluster, a binary star system, the Andromeda Galaxy, and more. It was lots of fun. We also found out that there will be an Orionid meteor shower tonight from after midnight to just before dawn. I'm not sure if I'll have the energy to get up and check it out, but if I do, I'll let you know!

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Hopefully Noah will remember more than this...

2008-10-19T21:37:00.001-07:00

Funny Blogs

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I just think this is funny.

2008-10-17T12:15:00.001-07:00

This is Noah's writing assignment on a type of fungus. He actually did do a plain, basic paragraph, but then he couldn't resist letting his creative side show.

Boy Sopranos

2008-10-16T20:18:00.001-07:00

I admit it, I (not so secretly) dreamed that Noah would be a boy soprano in a boys' choir. He has a nice voice, and a good ear. Singing's just not really his cup of tea. So I console myself by watching videos like this on Youtube.

Embedded Video

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Smoky Corn Chowder

2008-10-16T20:13:00.001-07:00

I spend more time than I should hanging around on a message board for homeschoolers. I like it because the women (and a few men) are so diverse, and I get to hear opinions and experiences I might not hear from people I see regularly. And, sometimes, I get great recipes there!

Here's one I made a few weeks ago for a friend's family, to welcome their new baby. I made a double batch, and froze half. We had it tonight, with some cornbread (Trader Joe's). Mmmm. Very satisfying.

1 pkg. frozen sweet corn
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 cup each, chopped celery, carrot and red bell pepper (I omitted the celery, because I forgot to buy it)
1 TBsp thyme
1 tsp ground cumin
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3 large potatoes,peeled, cut into bite-size pieces (I actually left the peels on)
28 oz. chicken broth
1/2-3/4 cup half-and-half

Cook bacon until crisp. Remove bacon to paper towels to cook and then crumble. Melt butter in pot and and add onion, celery, carrot and pepper. Cook until tender, about 10 min. Stir in thyme, cumin, salt and pepper. Add potatoes, chicken broth, water, and corn. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer. Stir as needed. Use a blender to puree mixture for 2 minutes and then add half-and-half and remove from heat. Crumble bacon bits on top and serve with corn bread...

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So true!

2008-10-13T13:56:00.001-07:00

Funny Blogs

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Snow in the mountains!

2008-10-10T08:28:00.001-07:00

This dusting of snow on Agassiz Peak is the first hint of winter. Eventually, there will be enough snow for sledding and skiing! I can't wait! I am going to be much more careful when I go sledding this year; no hurtling over ramps. I'm too old for that.

Weekly Report (well, not exactly weekly, I guess)

2008-10-10T08:25:00.001-07:00

Here's what we've been up to at The Shire Academy:

Music: Reading about and listening to Baroque composers Vivaldi, Handel, and Bach. (Noah's opinion on Bach's "Brandenburg Concertos": "That's pretty good music!")

Writing: Still working on key word outlines. Once he has the outline done, his writing is fine. It's just that doing the outline is like pulling teeth.

History: More sad tales. Slavery in the south, and the Cherokee Trail of Tears. We did watch a really good DVD from the History Channel about the Underground Railroad, which prompted a discussion about what we would have done if we had lived then. (I like to think I'd have been a station master on the underground railroad, but would I have let fear of arrest get the best of me?)

Math: Decided to try a free month's trial of the online math program, ALEKS.

Latin: Doing some review of the first three chapters.

Logic: I think the Mind Benders book has been very helpful. At first, Noah struggled with some of the deductive thinking required, but now he's doing great! He's almost done with the first book.

Science: He's still feeling overwhelmed at the amount of work required in his new junior high science class at co-op, but I think he'll be fine when he gets used to it. He's learning about the sun, the stars, the planets, etc. We're hoping to attend an outdoor stargazing event soon, hosted by a group who brings along their high-powered telescopes and expertise to share with the public. We haven't done anything like that in awhile, and we're looking forward to it.

Big news: Noah's computer class is going to be taking a field trip to the Apple Store!

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Book List

2008-10-07T07:31:00.001-07:00

The Big Read reckons that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed.

The Rules:

1) Look at the list and put one * by those you have read.
2) Put a % by those you intend to read.
3) Put two ** by the books you LOVE.
4) Put # by the books you HATE.
5) Post.

**1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
**2 The Lord of the Rings - J.R.R. Tolkien
**3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Brontë
4 Harry Potter series - J.K. Rowling
**5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee

**6 The Bible
*7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Brontë
*8 1984 - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
*10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
*11 Little Women - Louisa May Alcott
*12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
*13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
**14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
*15 Rebecca - Daphne du Maurier
**16 The Hobbit - J.R.R. Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
*18 Catcher in the Rye - J.D. Salinger
*19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
%20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
%21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
*22 The Great Gatsby - F. Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
%24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
**25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams -
%26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh -
*27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
*28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
*29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
%30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
**31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
**32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
**33 Chronicles of Narnia- C.S. Lewis
**34 Emma - Jane Austen
**35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
**36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - C.S. Lewis -
%37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini (have it from the library, but haven't started it yet)
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis de Bernières -
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
*40 Winnie the Pooh - A.A. Milne
*41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
%45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins -
**46 Anne of Green Gables - L.M. Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood (pretty heavy propaganda)
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
*50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
*52 Dune - Frank Herbert
%53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
**54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
**57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
*58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
*59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
%67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
*68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
*71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
*72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
**73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
*74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
%77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Émile Zola
*79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - A.S. Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
*83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
*84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
*87 Charlotte’s Web - E.B. White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
%91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
%94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
%95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
*98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
**99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
**100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

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Can't get this song out of my head!

2008-10-05T07:56:00.001-07:00

Embedded Video

Noah is studying the sun in science this week. We can't get this song out of our heads. Enjoy.

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The Tucson Herpetological Society

2008-10-01T11:17:00.001-07:00

Noah is having trouble getting his work done, since we are at the library sitting by the floor-to-ceiling windows, and there are numerous Sonoran Tiger Whiptails running around outside. They are pretty cool.

The Tucson Herpetological Society

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Facebook is fun!

2008-09-26T08:37:00.001-07:00

GraphJam: Music and Pop Culture in Charts and Graphs. Let us explain them.

I've been having so much fun on Facebook, catching up with old friends and keeping in touch with those I don't get to see as often as I'd like. You should try it!

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Hope Deferred

2008-09-24T10:39:00.000-07:00

I am really struggling right now with disappointment, disillusionment, discouragement, and a lot of other dis- words. (Disgruntled? Dysfunctional?)

We are having to deal with some serious issues that, a year ago, we thought were on the wane. This means our adoption dream is put on hold, indefinitely.

This feels like a kick in the stomach. I am struggling with those old feelings of, "Of course you're not going to adopt. Why would God bless you? He doesn't really like you that much. Basically, you need to just get used to pain and disappointment and stop thinking that any of your dreams will ever come true." Not Biblical, and not true. But that's how I'm feeling these days.

Has anyone else ever felt that way?

Apple - iPod touch

2008-09-12T10:02:00.001-07:00

Apple - iPod touch

Noah and I went to the new Apple store in the mall to play with the new toys. I have been wanting an iPod Touch for awhile now, and they just made it BETTER and CHEAPER!! I will be able to listen to music and audiobooks, watch videos, check and send email, surf the web, sync my calendar and contacts instantly with my laptop at home, even play games, etc. Such a cool thing!

So here's my plan: Save up my money, ask for Apple gift cards for Christmas, and then sell my current iPod.

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Weekly Report 8/22/08

2008-08-22T08:47:00.001-07:00

Our second week of "easing into school" has gone fairly well. We didn't get everything done that was planned, but that's okay. Yesterday was my last day of work at the rabbit rescue; from now on, we will not be in such a rush.

The highlight of this week was our literature selection, Hoggee by Anna Myers. A hoggee was a boy who worked on the Erie Canal, leading the mules along the towpath. (Did you know the boats were pulled by mules who walked alongside the canal?) Good character development, moral lessons, and even information about sign language (the main character meets a "deaf and dumb" girl, and finds out how to help her). I read this book aloud to Noah, and he even asked me to read it one evening instead of our current bedtime read-aloud, The Enchanted Castle. (We LOVE E. Nesbit!)

History and writing this week were about the Erie Canal. In addition, we continued in Megawords, Winston Grammar, our catechism study, and Building Thinking Skills. We also added Mind Benders. His geography work again concerned colonial America. I decided to drop music until September, as we didn't have the time to devote to it this week.

We are really enjoying the songs for learning the catechism. The CD is by Holly Dutton. She's really talented. We are walking around, bursting into, "Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy-oy Him fo-or-ever!"

Next week will be a "short" week, as we'll be off Thurs. and Friday. I'm not sure if I'll have time to post a weekly report. We'll be studying Andrew Jackson's presidency.

Aren't they cute?

2008-08-17T16:22:00.000-07:00

Oreo and Lanah are really snuggling a lot together this afternoon. We even saw Lanah grooming Oreo, which is almost as rare as Halley's Comet!

First Week of School

2008-08-15T07:49:00.001-07:00

So, our first week of 6th grade is almost over. It's a "light schedule", since we're still working in the afternoons. In September, we'll start the full schedule (including poetry, Latin, science, civics, and art). Here's the recap:

Bible...We're using Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade. This week was catechism question 1: "What is the chief end of man? Man's chief end is to glorify God and to enjoy Him forever."

Math...We're using manipulatives to work on multiplication facts, a weak area for ds.

History...The Monroe Doctrine. In addition to the worksheet, test, and project, ds read a short biography of Monroe, and filled in a book report sheet. We also listened to several chapters of History of US in the car.

Geography...Physical features (mountains, bays, rivers, coastal plains, plateau) of the original thirteen colonies. This one was frustrating, because our little atlas was no help. I checked out two different atlases from the library yesterday.

Writing...As usual, my creative ds turned a writing assignment into something more. He used powerpoint to create a presentation on the Monroe Doctrine. My favorite part is the page talking about Spain losing Florida. He used a photo of a baby crying, and labeled it "Spain".

Music...Ancient music and the Middle Ages. Today, we'll be looking at some videos of Gregorian chant on youtube.

Grammar...Started Winston Grammar. I think the hands-on and visual aspects will be very helpful.

Vocabulary...Megawords 2. I think this will be fairly easy for him, except spelling the words. I think this will be good for him.

Other...Buiilding Thinking Skills.

Oh, wow! Brand-new bunnies!

2008-08-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

Today was a day of surprises at the rabbit rescue. When we arrived, I went to the garage to load up the wagon with litter (Wednesday is Litter Box Day). As I pulled the wagon up to the bunny barn, Noah came out, saying, "Mom, there's something crawling around on the floor; it's creeping me out!" I expected it to be a bug; hopefully not another huge spider (which I still think was a baby tarantula).
What he had found was a little mammal, dusty, squirming on the floor, half under the cabinet where we keep medical supplies. It was gray, about 4" long. At first I thought it might be a squirrel or even a mole. Yes, I was INSIDE a rabbit rescue, but my first thought was NOT "baby rabbit". We weren't aware of any of our rabbits being in the family way; we get them all spayed and neutered ASAP. But as I stooped to pick up the creature, I saw distinctive ears and tail. Sure enough, it was a newborn rabbit!
When Erika got there, a few minutes later, we found another five babies stashed behind the litter box in a cage. She handed the babies to me as she took them out of the cage; one was cold, so she told me to put it inside my shirt, next to my skin. The residents of the cage are two female rabbits who arrived just this week from another shelter. They were scheduled to be spayed tomorrow. Oops.
So Blueberry Muffin is a mommy now! She's a gorgeous and very nice gray and white Rex rabbit, and her babies appear to be some gray, and some gray and white spotted like their mom. (No fur yet, but their skin is spotted.)

Back to School!

2008-08-10T18:22:00.001-07:00

It's time to Someone to start sixth grade tomorrow! Woohoo! I spent a lot of time agonizing over curriculum choices, and I'm pretty happy with my plans.

We'll be using:
Veritas Press History
Megawords 2, then Vocabulary from Classical Roots
Phonetic Zoo
Latin for Children
Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization
Training Hearts, Teaching Minds
Winston Grammar
Building Thinking Skills
Young Scholars' Guide to Composers
Artistic Pursuits
Information, Please!
How Government Works
Lyrical Life Science
Read and Understand Poetry
Institute for Excellence in Writing

Whew! It looks like a LOT, but some of those subjects will be done only weekly. We won't be starting a full schedule until Sept. 8th; we're easing into things.

Ridiculous Cuteness!

2008-07-25T23:05:00.001-07:00

We have new bunnies at the shelter. They're Harlequin bunnies, four weeks old. So tiny and unbelievably adorable! Don't you agree?

Our Latest Adventure

2008-07-25T23:03:00.000-07:00

Well, there's never a dull moment around here! Wednesday, we took ds to the children's hospital for a sleep-deprived EEG. We had to keep him up ALL NIGHT the night before!! Thanks to our dear friends who loaned us a Playstation 3, it wasn't too bad. We should get the results soon.

Sunday afternoon siesta

2008-07-14T08:35:00.000-07:00

So I was taking my usual Sunday afternoon siesta in the recliner when Noah decided I needed some rabbits. Tubby and The Princess snuggled in for awhile. Aren't they the cutest? Awww.

(Note that I am wearing the perfect Sunday afternoon laziness ensemble: yoga pants and an oversized "Frodo Lives" t-shirt.)

Lions and Tigers and Bears, Oh My!

2008-06-30T08:35:00.000-07:00

Well, now that I think about it, I don't think there were any bears. But definitely lions and tigers. And Madagascar hissing cockroaches, meerkats, a leopard, many different parrots and macaws, and even a hairless guinea pig.

We went to Wildlife World Zoo with friends from church. It was stinkin' hot, but other than that, we had a great time. Here's a video of Noah feeding a giraffe.

The highlight of the zoo for me, as usual, was seeing the big cats. I have a lifelong fascination with them, especially the tigers. They have four "baby" tigers at this zoo right now. (About a year old now, I think.) Beautiful.

For Noah, the highlight was the meerkats. He adores them. Also any baby animals. Babies we saw (besides the tigers) included: warthog, hamsters, porcupines, prairie dogs, ducks...

Oh boy, does this bring back memories!

2008-06-12T21:24:00.000-07:00

I just found out about www.hulu.com, where you can view movies and Tv shows. Look what I found! This really takes me back. This was one of my FAVORITE shows! I wanted to be Penny Robinson! And thought Don was handsome. Sigh.

Every 25 years

2008-05-25T20:31:00.000-07:00

Twenty-five years ago, I was a junior in high school. I had braces on my teeth, and a boyfriend named Tim. He took me to the Rock Superbowl at the stadium to see The Police, my favorite band. It was my first rock concert. It was a big deal, too; The Police were huge superstars, and Martha Quinn from MTV was there. The opening acts were Eric Burdon and the Animals (did I spell that right?) and Bryan Adams, but everyone was really there to see The Police.

There were over ten thousand people there, I'm sure. The stadium was packed. People were singing along and holding up their cigarette lighters. I was thrilled. I bought a T-shirt, which I still hung on to until just a few years ago, when it was disintegrating.

Well, The Police reunited a couple of years ago, and did a world tour. When they came to town then, the tickets were way too expensive, so we didn't go. But this time, apparently their final tour together, the tickets were a bit more affordable (at least the cheap seats), so we went. It was my Mother's Day present.

Very similar. An outdoor venue, with over ten thousand people in attendance. People singing along and holding up their cigarette lighters. All the old songs. The band was amazing.

I never imagined THEN that I'd see The Police again in 25 years, as a homeschooling mom. (I happened to have a homeschool catalog in my purse last night. I thought it was funny when the security person had to look through my purse. I bet I was the only one there with a Veritas Press catalog.) Twenty-five years is a long time. How did it go by already?

We joked about seeing The Police again in another 25 years. Stewart Copeland will be 90 years old then, and I think Sting will be 80. We'll see if my new T-shirt is still in good condition then.

Hmm...I wonder if this is true.

2008-04-19T10:47:00.000-07:00

Take the Quiz here!

I would have thought I'm more of a Marianne-Dashwood-after-she's-learned-her-lesson-and-fallen-for-Col.-Brandon-type, but who knows? I've never been in Anne Eliot's position.

Which one are you?

My singing career

2008-03-31T11:00:00.000-07:00

One of my passions is singing. Has been my whole life. Shortly after we moved to AZ, I saw a notice in the newspaper that a choral group was performing Mozart's "Requiem". I couldn't make the concert, but the group's website was mentioned in the paper. So I checked out their website, and emailed the group's president. A month or so later, I was performing John Rutter's "Requiem" with them in a music festival. I stayed.

Over the years, we've performed Haydn's "Creation", Handel's "Messiah" and "Judas Maccabeus", Vivaldi's "Gloria", Bach's "Magnificat", Mendelssohn's "Elijah", and many others.

This past weekend, we did three performances of Cathedral Classics, an overview of cathedral music beginning in the medieval era and continuing to the 20th century. It was, as usual, a blast. I loved the Renaissance pieces by Giovanni Gabrieli the best. During the instrumental (organ and brass) pieces, I enjoyed imagining all of us in Renaissance attire, sitting at a banquet in a great hall. "Gloria" by John Rutter was fun, too, especially the third movement, which is bouncy and jazzy.

Next on our calendar: Schubert's "Mass in G". I've never even heard this before, as far as I know.

If you're in the valley, please consider coming to one of our concerts.

Today's Hike

2008-03-15T17:46:00.000-07:00

It was a lovely, breezy day today, with a high of about 80. We took a hike, and snapped a few pictures. (We would have snapped more, but I left the digital camera unplugged, and the battery died.) That's my hubby above.
That's me below. (The fanny pack makes my dupa look MUCH bigger than it really is, okay?

Here's my son. He found that walking stick at Lake Tahoe last summer.

We saw lots and lots of wildflowers: lupines, owl's clover, fiddleneck, desert mallow, brittlebush, scorpionweed, and more. It's hard to believe how different these hills will look a few months from now.

Quote of the Day

2008-03-11T13:13:00.000-07:00

I saw this quote in a signature line on my favorite homeschooling message board. It fits me so well!

One of the advantages of being disorderly is that one is constantly making exciting discoveries.
A. A. Milne

Feeling Thankful

2008-03-01T18:33:00.001-08:00

I thought I'd mention a few things I'm thankful for this weekend...

1. That dh and ds had safe travel to and from a church men's retreat in Prescott.

2. That ds emailed me on his dad's Blackberry an hour after they left, saying he loves me and he missed me already!

3. That I got a good haircut today. Boy, did I need it! I was looking very frumpy.

Wildflowers coming soon!

2008-02-23T15:17:00.000-08:00

We went for a family hike on the waterfall trail today. Gorgeous weather, about 70 degrees at the most, blue skies. Lots of people on the trail, of course.

There were so many green plants and weeds everywhere! This will be a great wildflower season, I think. We saw some flowers today, actually. A few Mexican gold poppies, and even fewer fiddlenecks and scorpionweeds.

In a few weeks, I'll start taking my camera out to capture the flowers.

My other blog

2008-02-15T10:32:00.001-08:00

I have another blog now, with photos and info about some of my rabbit friends. Check it out!

Bunnies AZ

Please leave some comments!

They're bonding!

2008-02-15T10:08:00.000-08:00

After a rocky start, the bunnies' relationship is going really well. After the first week or so, Oreo started grooming Lanah sometimes when she demanded it. She stopped chasing him around, and stopped demanding to be groomed every five minutes (both of which behaviors were driving Oreo bonkers!). They started lying down next to each other of their own accord. Finally, we also glimpsed Lanah grooming Oreo. We started putting them in a cage together, first for a few hours at a time, then longer. Now, they are sharing a cage and doing very well. They snuggle, groom each other, and get along great. No more chasing or annoying.

It's very sweet to see them being friends, and we're glad Oreo is no longer lonely when we're out of the house or busy. When we went to Flagstaff, we loaded them up with lots of food, hay, treats, water, and new toys. They were fine.

Snow Days

2008-02-15T09:32:00.000-08:00

My mom generously gave us a check for Christmas, to use for anything we wanted. We immediately decided to use it for a trip up to Flagstaff to play in the snow. We considered using it for a day of skiing, but ended up deciding we'd rather go for a whole weekend of sledding instead. It was a great weekend!

Of course, whenever you have a klutz (me) doing anything active, there is great potential for injury, and I didn't disappoint. (The very first time we went up to Wing Mountain, I slipped in an icy patch walking down the hill, and cracked my tailbone.)

Saturday morning at Crowley, Noah started playing with a boy about his age. The boy's dad and I chatted briefly, during which time he pointed out a nearby sled run with a "ramp" near the bottom, and said, "That one's fun." I had never dared to go down one of these runs where someone had built up the icy snow to make a ramp. For some reason, I dared this time. The snow was wet, and I was going at a high rate of speed when I hit the "ramp". I became airborne, tightened my grip on the handles, and experienced a jarring impact. I lay on my side for a few moments, assessing the damage. My back and shoulders hurt in a number of places. I tasted blood in my mouth; I had bit my lip. Thankfully, I found I could get up and walk, and nothing seemed to be broken. When Steven reached me, he demanded, "Why did you go down that run?" Stupidly, I replied, "That guy said it would be fun." As we trudged up the hill, I noticed my pants were a little wet. Inside. I wet my pants when I crashed! Oy. Not very dignified for a 40-year-old. Seriously.

The poor guy felt really bad; he apologized and explained, "I was being facetious." Well. Now he tells me.

Steven took this photo shortly after my crash.

This is where we were sledding. It's an area of volcanic rock, where the city digs up cinders to scatter on the roads in the winter.

Our new foster bunny!

2008-01-05T20:02:00.000-08:00

We decided to foster Lanah, a lionhead bunny. She seems to have a very sweet disposition, and we wanted Oreo to have a friend to snuggle with when we're not around or busy. We took him over to have a "date" with her. At first, they seemed to be getting along great, even cuddling next to each other in my lap. Soon, however, she started displaying some dominance behaviors, which really bugged him. He started grunting and stamping his foot at her whenever she came near him, and even sometimes when she wasn't anywhere close by!

At home, things are about the same. They'll cuddle right next to each other if we put them side-by-side, and they'll hang out in the same room. Sometimes they will approach each other and sniff with no problems, but other times, Lanah starts pestering him again. He fled from her in a panic right onto the couch where we were sitting! It's funny to see him run from a smaller, younger rabbit.

We're hoping they'll bond, but we'll see.. here's her picture.

888 Reading Challenge

2007-12-25T20:03:00.001-08:00

I'm going to attempt the 888 Reading Challenge next year. You can check out the rules at http://www.triple8challenge.blogspot.com. Here's my list (subject to tweaking):

888 Reading Challenge

1. Women Writers
The Snake, the Crocodile, and the Dog (Elizabeth Peters)
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)*
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)*
Middlemarch (George Eliot)*
Suite Francaise (Irene Nemirovsky)
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)*
The Nine Tailors (Dorothy Sayers)

2. Christianity
Against Christianity (Peter Leithart)
Christianity and Liberalism (J. Gresham Machen)
Angels in the Architecture (Douglas Jones)
Lost in the Middle (Paul David Tripp)
Life in the Father’s House (Wayne A. Mack)
A More Profound Alleluia (Leanne Van Dyk)
How Should We Then Live? (Francis Schaeffer)
Revolution (George Barna)

3. Adoptive parenting
Adoption Parenting (Jean MacLeod)
Attaching in Adoption (Deborah Gray)
Adopting a Toddler (Denise Harris Hoppenhauer)
Talking with Young Children About Adoption (Mary Watkins)
LifeBooks (Beth O’Malley)
Parenting Your Adopted Older Child (Brenda McCreight)
Our Own (Trish Maskew)

4. Classics
Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen)*
City of God (Augustine)
Henry V (William Shakespeare)
Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan)
Middlemarch (George Eliot)*
Uncle Tom’s Cabin (Harriet Beecher Stowe)*
Frankenstein (Mary Shelley)*
Paradise Lost (John Milton)

5. Inklings
Till We Have Faces (C.S. Lewis)
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Hobbit (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Lord of the Rings (J.R.R. Tolkien)
The Great Divorce (C.S. Lewis)
God in the Dock (C.S. Lewis)
Pilgrims Regress (C.S. Lewis)
The Abolition of Man (C.S. Lewis)

6. Books about Books
The 101 Most Influential People Who Never Lived (Allan Lazar, Dan Karlan, and Jeremy Salter)
Thirteen Ways of Looking at the Novel (Jane Smiley)
101 Best Scenes Ever Written (Barnaby Conrad)
Every Book Its Reader (Nicholas A. Basbanes)
Reading Like a Writer (Francine Prose)
The Case of the Missing Books (Ian Sansom)
Deconstructing Penguins (Lawrence Goldstone)
How to Read a Book (Mortimer J. Adler)

7. Nonfiction
Making the Mummies Dance (Thomas Hoving)
Amusing Ourselves to Death (Neil Postman)
All the Clean Ones Are Married (Lori Cidylo) – Moscow, Russia
Three Cups of Tea (Greg Mortenson) – Pakistan
Stalking the Wild Dik-Dik (Marie Javins) – Africa
An Odd Odyssey (Glen David Short) – Mexico & Central America
The Seven Laws of Teaching (John Milton Gregory)*

8. Education
The Seven Laws of Teaching (John Milton Gregory)*
Climbing Parnassus (Tracy Lee Simmons)
Teach Like Your Hair’s On Fire (Rafe Esquith)
Rediscovering Catechism (Donald Van Dyken)
Talking of Dragons (William Chad Newsom)
Increasing Academic Achievement with the Trivium of Classical Education (Randall Hart)
Norms and Nobility (David V. Hicks)
Wisdom and Eloquence (Robert Littlejohn)

Happy reading!

Our little bunnies found a home!

2007-12-01T18:56:00.000-08:00

Remember the baby bunnies Noah and I fostered for a couple of months? Well, they're now settled into their new home - together! We are just tickled about this, as it can be hard to find someone to take three rabbits together. We expected them to be split up. But they really were so fun together, with their different personalities. And Sally, especially, seemed to need her siblings near (she's the shy, cautious one). The people who took the bunnies home also took home another sibling pair of baby bunnies, Wyatt and Cassidy. So their house is lively now, I expect.

Here are more recent photos of Lucy and Charlie Brown outside for playtime, and Sally posing for Noah in the bunny barn.

So Many Decisions!!

2007-10-20T09:02:00.000-07:00

So we have finally reached the time to get the adoption process rolling. We first attended a seminar of an adoption agency about five years ago, back in FL. Then came the layoff, and eventually the move, followed by some more layoffs. Now, dh has been gainfully employed for a year, making a good salary, so we are ready to move forward.

We have chosen an agency, and I *think* we've agreed on a country (Russia). We are trying to figure out what age range we're comfortable with, and whether to specify a girl, or be open to either. (Guess who wants to ask for a girl?)

We need to put a fence around the pool, which annoys dh, although he knows we need it, because it will mess up the aesthetics of the backyard. C'est la vie.

Where all the money is going to come from is still not fully determined. I am working two part-time jobs, and we are hoping dh can get some freelance work. He also just got a raise. So basically we are trying to squeeze the budget a little tighter, too. No more Starbucks!!! Can you believe it? I hope they have Starbucks in Moscow. I will have a frappuccino to celebrate the finalization of the adoption.

I figure taking care of rabbits, teaching Spanish, and giving up Starbucks is a small price to pay for a new child. Oh, I can hardly believe it's really going to happen!!

Pray for us. Pray for God to bless our financial situation, and provide all the money we need when we need it. And pray for God to prepare us as we educate ourselves about parenting an adopted child. And pray for our child to be cared for lovingly while he/she waits for us.

Making Music

2007-09-21T11:43:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Noah and I made the trek to ASU for a special event. The college students in the music practicum class demonstrate their instruments to homeschool kids, and then show the kids how to play, letting the kids try each instrument. I am hoping Noah will be inspired to learn one of the instruments; he showed a lot of interest in several, including my favorite (cello), as well as xylophone, snare drum, and oboe. Here are a few photos.

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day!

2007-09-19T09:54:00.001-07:00

My pirate name is:

Captain Jenny Kidd

Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!

Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
part of the fidius.org network

It helps to find out your official pirate name. Have a great day, mateys!

Sovereignty and Suffering

2007-09-04T20:51:00.000-07:00

I found this video to be very powerful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0WT_WUOyud4

Wendi

First Week of School

2007-09-03T09:03:00.000-07:00

Last week was our first week of 5th grade. It was a busy week; we had a co-op meeting Tuesday and a WIC board meeting Thursday. We still managed to get most of our work done.

The thing I'm most pleased with is Noah's writing. We're using IEW (Institute for Excellence in Writing) materials. This week, he wrote a key word outline of "The Boy and the Nuts", then wrote his own version. He embellished a bit, of course. Here it is:

THE BOY AND THE NUTS

Once upon a time there was a boy who was strolling along in the park one day, and he saw some other kids that were at play. But he didn’t want to play with them, because he was looking for a fast food restaurant. Then, up ahead, he saw something. It was a jar! He ran over to the jar hoping it had hamburgers, but it had walnuts.

(Ed. note: Here he pasted a photo of walnuts, with the caption below.)
Walnuts are a good snack. These walnuts are in their shells.

As the boy put his hand in the jar and grabbed a handful of walnuts and TRIED to pull his hand out, but couldn’t. He burst into tears. Then a man came by and said “If you could be satisfied with fewer, you could get your hand out.” “Sometimes you have to give up a little to get what you wish.” And the boy obeyed him and the man’s theory worked. THE END

Baseball Madness!

2007-08-29T09:18:00.000-07:00

Every summer, the Arizona Republic newspaper and the Arizona Diamondbacks baseball team sponsor Read Your Way to the Ballpark. Libraries hand out special posters for kids to keep track of how much they've read. They get little prizes at the library, and the grand prize at the end is a voucher for a Diamondbacks ticket. Those who get the D-backs ticket can also enter a drawing to attend a baseball clinic with the D-backs at Chase Field. This year, ds was chosen, and went on Saturday.

He had a good time. The kids got to take home goodie bags, including a cool D-backs baseball cap. And they got autographs from the pitcher, Dustin Nippert.

I was on the radio!

2007-08-24T09:55:00.000-07:00

Last week, when I went to my bunny caretaker job at the rabbit rescue, the head of fundraising was there being interviewed by a journalist from K-Jazz (a local radio station). I was interviewed as well, and she recorded me feeding the bunnies.

I did say some articulate things, but the only part that ended up on the air is my high-pitched talking to the bunnies as I fed them. But the piece turned out well.

Here's the link so you can listen:

http://www.kjzz.org/news/arizona/archives/200708/fluffybunnies

For more info on the controversy, check out http://www.bhrabbitrescue.org

Chef Noah

2007-08-21T09:41:00.001-07:00

Noah learned to make French toast yesterday, so this morning he made breakfast for everyone. It was delicious! He told me I won't have to make breakfast anymore for the rest of my life, or until Noah gets tired of French toast.

Playtime!

2007-08-21T09:27:00.001-07:00

It's always fun to let the bunnies out of their cages to play. (Well, Oreo mostly snuggles up to me and insists on being petted.) Here are a few photos from this morning's playtime. The babies are five weeks old now.

Here Charlie Brown is exploring the bottom shelf of the bookcase.

Here is Sally. She's the shiest of the three; she will often hang out in the cage for awhile before joining the fun.

Lucy is grooming herself (washing her face) in this photo, but it looks like she's praying.

When they've been exploring and playing for awhile, they start to get tuckered out. Here, the three cuddle up behind the lamp base.

Aren't they sweet?

2007-08-15T08:08:00.000-07:00

The foster bunnies are here. They are active and curious, but still like a good snuggle. Oreo likes them, it seems, and hops around playing with them some. I took some photos, but they don't stay still much, so they're hard to photograph.

This is Lucy.

This is Sally.

And this is Charlie Brown.

Watch this space!

2007-08-13T21:21:00.000-07:00

Noah and I are going to be "fostering" a trio of baby bunnies from the rabbit rescue. They're only about four weeks old! Awww! Check back here Tuesday night for photos! Maybe even a video!

Planning, planning, planning

2007-08-07T15:28:00.000-07:00

So I've decided that Monkey Boy's 5th grade year will start the last week of this month. I've ordered all the books, and most have arrived. I'm most looking forward to history (Explorers to 1815) and writing (Institute for Excellence in Writing). He has recently decided he wants to be an author/illustrator when he grows up, and he's writing a book about the adventures of his rabbit. This is the first time he's ever written so much just for fun! So I am hopeful that this year his writing skills will take off.

Here's what we'll be doing:
Veritas Press Explorers to 1815
Student Writing Intensive A (IEW)
Phonetic Zoo
Shurley Grammar
Math-U-See
Building Thinking Skills 2
Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization (IEW)
Training Hearts, Teaching Minds (Bible devotional based on Westminster Catechism)
Literature: The Twenty-One Balloons, The Phantom Tollbooth, Johnny Tremain, The Sign of the Beaver, Carry On Mr. Bowditch, Dangerous Journey... still need to finalize this list.
And at co-op: science and art, and hopefully Spanish

Whew! I'm looking forward to it!

Hope for Women and Babies

2007-07-30T12:51:00.000-07:00

I just spent the weekend in the White Mountains with some other women from our church. We were there to do some volunteer work for a fabulous ministry in Show Low. The lady who runs the ministry, whose daughter was one of the women from our church, is dynamic and full of faith and passion. It was great touring the women's clinic, where they can even do an ultrasound for women whose pregnancy tests come up positive. They do counseling and education there, and they have a store where the women can buy things for their babies with "money" earned by taking classes. There's also a maternity home for pregnant women/girls and their babies. I loved spending time with the young woman living there now, and her amazingly sweet 6mo baby.

We spent all day Saturday working hard, unloading and sorting donations for Dinah's latest enterprise: a resale boutique. Some of the other women spent their day painting and organizing at the boutique, a weird building with lots of odd rooms off of other rooms. We got to sleep at the house parents' cottage.

I can't wait to go again. I loved seeing what God is doing there, how many women and babies are being helped. I hope more women will join us next time.

No big surprise here.

2007-07-24T18:32:00.000-07:00

You Are A Chocolate Ice Cream Girl

Dramatic. Powerful. Flirty.

What Flavor Ice Cream Girl Are You?

Restaurant Meme

2007-07-13T07:22:00.000-07:00

I've been tagged by Sally to do this restaurant meme.

Here are the rules:
*Link to the name of the person that tagged you
*Include state and country you live in
*List top 5 favorite local restaurants
*Tag 5 other people and let them know they've been tagged

Here are my picks for our little corner of Arizona:

1. Grimaldi's. Yum, yum, yum! Small family-owned place with TVs in the corners. Steven discovered it before Noah and I arrived; he likes the sandwiches with Boar's Head meats. Heather introduced us to the Greek pizza, which is now one of my all-time favorite foods. They even deliver to my house! (Not just my house. Other people's houses, too.)

2. Abacus Inn. Right next door to Grimaldi's! I've only visited it once, but am definitely looking forward to repeat visits. Their won ton soup is much heartier than most; in addition to the won tons, there is shrimp, beef, and veggies in the broth. Mmmm. Their kung pao chicken is atypical, and I wasn't a big fan (that's usually my favorite dish), but shrimp lo mein was scrumptious, and they have good egg rolls.

3. Elephant Bar. Okay, this is a chain restaurant, but it's good! Steven doesn't like it as much as I do, but they have a really yummy chicken dish - Shanghai Chicken?? that I just love.

4. In-n-Out Burger. Another chain, as Sally mentioned, but it's impossible to make a list of best places to eat without mentioning our beloved In-n-Out Burger. The fries are freshly made, the shakes are perfect, the burgers delish. Simply the best.

5. Papa's Perks. This award is given posthumously, as our favorite little family-owned coffee shop is now closed. We will miss the friendly service, the excellent lattes, freshly baked pastries (apple scones!!), and the free Wi-fi. Sigh. Cabin Coffee is good, but it's just not the same. For a frozen coffee beverage, I recommend The Coffee Bean.

Now I'm hungry.

I'm going to tag:
Nancypants
Jessica
Ree
Amy
Kate

You're it!

Wendi

Over Three Years Already??

2007-06-08T17:04:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe it's been three and a half years since this photo was taken. We were driving across the country, from our old home in Florida to our new home in Arizona. We stopped at a visitor center just over the AZ line from NM to stretch our legs and play in the snow. It still seemed very unreal that this was our home state.

In some ways, Arizona seems like home. We have friends and continue to make new ones. We are members of a church, partiipate in a homechool co-op, and I sing in a chamber chorale. We're settled. We recognize many varieties of cacti, and admire the rocks in our neighbors' landscaping. Yet, every once in awhile, it still strikes me as odd that I live in Arizona. Like when I am on the freeway and see signs for "Los Angeles" or "Tucson". When I was growing up, Los Angeles might as well have been on another planet; it was a faraway place I never expected to see. Now it is a wearying 7-hour drive, in what I have discovered is an endlessly long state of CA. But a sign on the freeway "Go this way, and you'll be in L.A." still seems strange. Where in the world am I?

I'm here.

Virtual Castle Church Door

2007-06-07T09:01:00.000-07:00

I just found out about this site: http://www.castlechurch.org. It's like a virtual Castle Church door; you can find articles, books, podcasts, and links having to do with Reformed theology or of interest to the Reformed community. Cool!

Check out this new blog!

2007-06-05T08:22:00.001-07:00

My son has started his own blog. Check it out at http://www.forcewithyou.blogspot.com!

Win an apron!

2007-05-28T13:31:00.001-07:00

Okay, I have no idea yet what "Nancypants" will ask us to do in order to win an apron, but I'm sure it will be within the bounds of modesty and propriety. After all, she's a pastor's wife. So click for more info.

Cutest. Bunny. Evah!

2007-05-17T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos displaying the incomparable cuteness of our bunny, Oreo.

He seemed interested in the camera, until he realized it wasn't something he could chew on.

Here, he seems defensive, like he's being interrogated by Mike Wallace on "60 Minutes". "Affidavit? What affidavit?"

Stretched out to his full length, pretending he's Superbunny.

Aaaah! Tummy full of carrots and timothy hay, it's time for a siesta.

We love bunnies!

2007-04-30T09:01:00.000-07:00

My boy and I still volunteer at the rabbit rescue shelter. We are always meeting new bunnies that steal our hearts. This time, it was Giggles, a sweet and friendly bunny girl. Here's her picture. You can't tell in the picture, but she has one brown eye and one blue eye. We are thinking of bringing her home to be Oreo's snugglebunny. Just waiting to see if Steven is willing....

I always knew I was special!

2007-02-08T09:19:00.000-08:00

My Peculiar Aristocratic Title is:
Imperial Majesty Wendi the Disheveled of Giggleswick on the Naze
Get your Peculiar Aristocratic Title

My latest literary obsession

2007-02-06T13:13:00.000-08:00

I've never been a mystery fan per se, although I did enjoy Nancy Drew as a child, and I had a crush on Parker Stevenson and Shaun Cassidy when they were the Hardy boys on TV. I remember in 6th grade, my friend Allison was going to marry Shaun Cassidy and I would marry Parker Stevenson when we grew up. But I guess they didn't wait for us! I digress. But I am completely addicted to a series of novels by Elizabeth Peters. The main character is Amelia Peabody, a British woman who decides to use her inheritance to travel to Egypt (she has always been fascinated by archaeology). She is strong-willed, intelligent, and outspoken. She's also romantic and a fiercely loyal friend. The stories take place in Egypt on various archaeological digs, where mysterious things always happen. The author has thorough knowledge of Egyptology, and an excellent, witty style. I highly recommend the books.

Fun in Flagstaff

2007-02-06T13:04:00.000-08:00

We spent Friday and part of Saturday in the Flagstaff area, playing in the snow. We went sledding at Crowley most of Friday, then drove up to Snowbowl so Steven could show us the bunny slopes and convince us to try downhill skiing sometime. Of course, it's me who needs convincing, not Noah. Noah is always ready to do any insane, dangerous, and exhilarating activity at a moment's notice. He wants to try snowboarding. We shall see.

I was, however, more than ready to try cross-country skiing, so Friday evening we headed over to the Nordic Center and rented skis and poles. Skiing in the quiet, snowy forest under the full moon and all the stars was totally fun. We loved it! Despite the cold (it was about 12 degrees when we finished), I was too hot in my down jacket. That's some workout! (In my defense, I am not as chubby as I appear in the photo. My fluffy-puff-marshmallow jacket and loose-fitting track pants make me look huge! In reality, I am within 2 lbs. of my Weight Watchers goal. So there!)

I feel so blessed to live near the mountains, and have these opportunities. I love sledding, too, and wish I could have done it when I was a kid. I defy you to sled without whooping, shrieking, and hollering. It's impossible!

Urban Coyotes

2007-01-26T19:06:00.000-08:00

On the way home from the skate park this evening, I was again surprised by the sight of a coyote in our densely populated suburban area. I know they live in the open desert, and in rural areas, but it still surprises me to see them in our neighborhood. I only see them after dark; where do they go during the day?

Noah's latest artwork

2007-01-09T13:39:00.000-08:00

I wanted to post this picture, drawn by Noah. It's a ComicCon parade. You can see there is an Ewok float, a Star Wars Episode I float, and a superhero float. Very creative as usual.

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

2006-12-28T09:47:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been so nice and relaxing. Yesterday, my mom's big box of gifts arrived, bringing new excitement for ds (more Playmobil, and Magnetix!) and me (docking station/radio for my iPod). Just clothes for dh, so not so exciting.

Yesterday, despite my sinus woes, I even cooked a delicious meal - Tex-Mex Soup (using leftover turkey) and cornbread (found a Trader Joe's mix in the pantry). Mmmmmm! Perfect for a winter day. Then we sat by the fire and played Life (Spongebob version). Good times.

I think I am pretty much maintaining my pre-holiday weight, although we haven't had our weigh-ins for two weeks. Hopefully I just have three pounds to lose!

Are you ready for Christmas?

2006-12-18T11:23:00.000-08:00

Isn't it funny how, when you're a kid, Christmas takes forever to arrive, but when you're an adult, it just pops up so fast? Yikes. Lucky for me, I actually got most of my Christmas shopping done early this year. (While in FL for Thanksgiving, I bought gifts for all the FL relations and left them, gift bagged and tagged, at the correct houses.) I have to wrap all of ds's presents, and I still need to buy my dh's gift.

But every year, I have great intentions of spending hours just listening to Christmas music and doing crafts, and it seems like the last time that actually happened in any great quantity was in about 1999. Sigh. Hopefully this week, we can get the house neatened up, turn on the carols, and snuggle up with "Two from Galilee".

How about you?

Winter Reading Challenge

2006-12-16T09:07:00.000-08:00

Here's what I'll be reading this winter:
To Say Nothing of the Dog (Connie Willis)
City of God (St. Augustine)
Because They Hate (Brigitte Gabriel)
Mysteries of the Middle Ages (Thomas Cahill)
Parenting a Child with Sensory Processing Disorder (Christopher R. Auer)
The Right Attitude to Rain (Alexander McCall Smith)

Of course, I'll probably add other books (we go to the library at least once a week), and these may not all be read, but that's my plan right now.

What are you reading this winter?

This year's holiday photo

2006-12-16T08:03:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of our family on the shore of Lake Tahoe in late August. We were there with another family, and it was wonderful! Lake Tahoe is gorgeous. And we were there at just the right time of year; it was not crowded. One day, we went to a small beach called Baldwin Beach, and we had it pretty much to ourselves. Lovely.

Things Are Always Changing

2006-12-15T20:22:00.000-08:00

There was a song on Sesame Street that went something like this: "Things are always changing, but don't be sad and blue! Change can make you happy 'cause it brings you something new." I remember this song running through my mind when we were preparing to move from Florida (where I had spent pretty much my whole life up until I was 36) to Arizona (where we had visited, but only knew two people). We looked at the move as a big adventure, and ended up loving Arizona and meeting some wonderful people.

That song has been running through my head again lately. This time the change is definitely NOT making me happy. My dearest friend in Arizona, Heather, is sick. Very sick. As in cancer. She's going through chemo, and her hair is pretty much gone.

I can't even say how much I love Heather. I couldn't ask for a better friend. I look up to her a lot, and I love her whole family to pieces. I know she's going to be fine, when all this chemo stuff is over, but still, it changes everything. She's the most healthy, active, and energetic person I know. She's the one who's always available to help everyone else - she offers advice on homeschooling, fashion, and nutrition; she babysits (even my son, who although I love him dearly, can really drive a person barking mad); she brings homecooked meals over (she even brought me a meal when I broke my pinkie toe).

Now she's the one in need, and there's precious little I can do for her. I have a bag of some of her favorite goodies ready to deliver, but since my son and I are sick, I don't want to deliver it and expose her to germs. I plan to get her some excellent lotions and soaps (chemo is hard on your skin, and winter in AZ is hard on your skin anyway). But those seem like such little things, a drop in the bucket.

To make it even worse, she's moving to Florida next month! Her dh has a new job in Orlando, and their families live in FL. Now, we visit our families there once a year or so, and we do plan to move back to FL eventually, but still... how can she move away? When I told my son they were moving, he wailed, "How can I live without Josh?" (Josh is Heather's son, and Noah's patient and longsuffering buddy.) I know how he feels. How can I live without Heather????

I know that God is faithful, and He'll continue to meet my needs even after Heather leaves. But I don't like it one bit!

You Can't Go Home Again

2006-12-12T11:22:00.000-08:00

We traveled back to central Florida to visit our families for Thanksgiving. Although we still hope and plan to move back to the Orlando area someday, we have really come to prefer AZ for climate and geography. Florida has humidity, and huge mosquitoes! And it's depressingly flat.

It was our first time returning to our beloved home church in 16 months. So much has changed! Our son's friends all looked so grown-up, the teenagers are now beard-sporting young men, some people have gotten engaged or married, or had babies since we last visited. Many new faces surrounded us.

Some of the changes were especially hard to deal with. The chief musician was let go for financial reasons, just couple of months ago. We were shocked, since music is a high priority there. The budget struggles must be significant. The senior pastor left (we were aware) to plant a new church. He leaves a great hole. A friend shared her recent diagnosis with a serious illness, and told me how her daughter is struggling. And saddest of all, a woman from our church had committed suicide. It grieves me to know how much our church family has suffered.

God never changes, and He is faithful to His people. It is so hard to see that sometimes, when everything else keeps changing!

It's me again.

2006-11-13T12:26:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a long time, but there's no time like the present! The months seem to fly by, maybe because I'm getting old (I'll be 40 in February.) (Remember that scene in "When Harry Met Sally" when Sally is sobbing because her old boyfriend's getting married, and she wails, "And I'm gonna be FORTY!" "When?" Harry asks. "SOMEDAY!" she wails.)

The summer was lovely, and capped off by a vacation in Lake Tahoe with our good friends. We stayed in a condo that was built onto the side of a mountain, so the view was amazing. And the lake is spectacular! Chilly, though. The kids played in the water, and I waded a bit, but mostly I just relaxed and enjoyed the view and the perfect weather. I had hoped to do some hiking, and walking along the shore, but I was still recovering from a broken toe. (An excellent metaphor for how important even the most tiny and seemingly insignificant members can be. Like hobbits.) (I am starting to realize where my son gets his habit of adding parenthetical comments to his stories.)

My dear friend Heather is still my friend after that trip, which is amazing. She patiently hopped into our car to drive when I was to sleepy to drive. She cooked amazing food in a tiny condo kitchen. She graciously spared my son's life, even though he was inexplicably mean to my friend's youngest dd the whole time. I couldn't ask for a better friend.

Now fall is here, although the weather is still warmer than I'd like. Hiking weather is back!! I have been dragging my ds out on hikes once or twice a week. Between hiking and yoga, my buns are tighter than they've been in a long time. (Which isn't saying much, I guess, but still.)

Books in progress: Mysteries of the Middle Ages: the Rise of Feminism, Science, and Art from the Cults of Catholic Europe by Thomas Cahill; Beowulf translated by Frederick Rebsamen; Eyes Before Ease by Larry Beason (yes, it's about spelling!). On deck: The Hippopotamus Pool by Elizabeth Peters (an Amelia Peabody mystery).

Well, I better go back to Mt. Laundry.

It's been a while...

2006-02-02T10:29:00.000-08:00

I haven't posted in a long time. It's hard to get the hang of this blog thing, I guess. I don't feel like anyone's reading it, so I feel unmotivated. But perhaps if I spent more time on it, I'd be proud enough to let everyone I know have the URL so they could read it. Hmm.

Steven started his new job this week. He's stressed out, because the expectations are high, and he's afraid of disappointing his new boss. He'll calm down eventually, and I think he'll really like this job. Too bad it's not closer to home (it's in Scottsdale).

We are doing pretty well with homeschooling, I guess. But I think we need to take a break so I can (a) get the house under control, and (b) work on Noah's attitudes. Seems like so much is a struggle between us; that's not good. On the plus side, though, he's doing pretty well in math and English, and loving Greek and Roman history. I just started a new thing: every day, he chooses a folded piece of paper from a bag. It's his copywork for the day: a few sentences from our current read-alouds (Five Children and It, Archimedes and the Door of Science) or verses from his Awana book. So far, it's working out well. I hope to make the passages a bit longer, but I started them out fairly short so he won't get freaked out.

On the nightstand... well, I just finished Highland Fling by Katie Fforde. Disappointing. I love British chick lit, but this one left me flat, despite its Scottish setting. The main characters basically "fall in lust", and have improbable things happen to them. My all-time favorite chick lit writer is Sophie Kinsella; I just love all her books!

Waiting to be started... Dog Days by Ana Marie Cox (Wonkette), Slam Dunks and No-Brainers: Language in Your Life, the Media, Business, Politics, and, Like, Whatever by Leslie Savan, Last Chance to See by Douglas Adams and Mark Carwardine, and First Light by Brock and Bodie Thoene. Oh, and Nine Parts of Desire: the Hidden World of Islamic Women by Geraldine Brooks. So we have Brit chick lit (finished) a political novel, a book about language, a humorous and factual book about endangered species, Christian historical fiction, and a behind-the-scenes account of life in the Muslim world. I like a lot of variety!

Going to the library and the park today with another homeschool mom and son. Then tomorrow we'll be at a historical reenactment event. More later.

Wildflower Season

2005-04-09T17:31:00.000-07:00

We had an unusually rainy February in the valley, so the wildflower season has been gorgeous. (I say this as a newcomer, but even the veterans are impressed with the display this year.)

I have been taking pictures on some of my hikes at places like Cave Creek, the White Tanks, and Piestewa Peak. I have been able to identify the following wildflowers (and this is an incomplete list!):
Brittle Bush
Canyon Ragweed
Desert Senna
Desert Globemallow
Orange Fiddle-neck
Compass Barrel Cactus
Englemann's Hedgehog Cactus (a.k.a. Strawberry Hedgehog Cactus)
Mexican Gold Poppy
Arroyo (Desert) Lupine
Blue Phacelia (a.k.a. Baby Blue Eyes, Wild Heliotrope, Scorpionweed)
Fairy Duster
Owl's Clover
Desert Chicory

Wow! The Sonoran Desert is so beautiful in spring! Already the wildflowers are past their prime, though. I went to Thunderbird Park today, and the sparse clusters of lupines were fading, the fiddle-necks were getting dry. Nothing stops the brittle bushes, though. They're still going strong, as are the creosote bush, ocotillo, and foothill palo verde trees. I spotted dainty phacelia on the south side of the mountain, along with large yellow compass barrel cactus buds ready to open soon. The north side of the mountain had more flowers; that's where I spotted the lupines and fiddle-necks. The brittle-bushes are everywhere, as well as creosote, of course. And wheat-like wild grasses are abundant.

I will have to find out how to post pictures on my blog!

Pride & Prejudice

2004-12-31T08:50:00.000-08:00

I watched the famous BBC version of "Pride and Prejudice" this week. I'm a big Jane Austen fan, but I think I like "Mansfield Park" and "Emma" better than "P&P". At least in this version, I have a hard time understanding Mr. Darcy's character. I think the shift between obnoxious and rude to kind and down-to-earth doesn't make sense. His coldness and pride during the early scenes (at the country dance, etc.) are not excused by his later acts of generosity and kindness in rescuing Lydia (and, by extension, the Bennets) and admitting his deception (re: Jane) to Bingley, as well as his friendliness to the Gardners.

So I find "P&P" less satisfying than "MP" and "Emma", because the heroes of the latter two are so clearly excellent characters from the beginning. I didn't feel this way when I read the book "P&P", so maybe it's just something about how Colin Firth portrays Darcy?? I guess we're just supposed to believe he was transformed by his love for Elizabeth. Or perhaps that he is just painfully shy and awkward around anyone he doesn't know. But yikes! He is even rude when talking to his friend about Elizabeth at the country dance.

I can't believe I'm saying this, because my dh had the same complaint about the movie "French Kiss" - the hero has been supposedly transformed by his love for the heroine, but what about his track record? How do we know he is truly reformed? When Steven complained about "French Kiss", I accused him of being utterly unromantic, that he just didn't get it! Now I'm making a similar complaint about "P&P". Maybe I just think Kevin Kline is cuter than Colin Firth. Am I that shallow?

Krispy Kreme & Proverbs 31

2004-10-28T10:58:00.000-07:00

We went to Krispy Kreme this morning. Did you know that you get 6 free glazed donuts and a drink in a travel coffee mug on your birthday, for free? My son is eight years old today! Eight! It's hard to believe that he is eight already. Eight years ago, I held a tiny wide-eyed newborn, and today I watched him scarfing down donuts with his friends. We're having a Lord of the Rings party for his birthday. I expect lots of running around with swords, pretending to be orcs and hobbits and elves. He wants calamari and pizza for his birthday dinner.

Speaking of Krispy Kreme, it's pretty gutsy of them to have the machine on display like that, in this Atkins-crazy world. A Krispy Kreme donut is pretty much the polar opposite of healthy food, yet the place didn't lack for customers, and my friend tells me that the other location nearby is even busier. Which explains why, despite all the bestsellers about healthy diets, Americans are getting chunkier and chunkier.

We seem to tolerate a lot of contradiction in our lives, a disconnect between what we know or believe and the way we actually behave. When I worked at McDonald's as a teenager, a lot of people would come in and order the typical burger and fries, and an ice cream sundae, and a DIET COKE. Yeah, that'll help.

But I have become aware this week (again) how much I am not living out what I truly believe. We were studying Proverbs 31 in Bible study, and the one thing that really struck me about the infamous Proverbs 31 Woman is that she is consistent. She has her priorities, and she has actually organizes and plans her life so that she does what she is.

I have lots of good intentions and can talk a good talk, but I give myself plenty of excuses to explain why I don't keep my house clean enough to invite newcomers to lunch after church, and I feel too overwhelmed to babysit for someone in need, or have the new neighbors over for dinner, and why I have lost 3 pounds instead of the 12 I need to lose, etc.

I guess that will be my New Year's Resolution: less talk, more rock.

I don't have a real job either, Mrs. Bush!

2004-10-20T17:02:00.000-07:00

Teresa Heinz Kerry said that she doesn't think First Lady Laura Bush has had a "real job". Ouch! Later, she apologized, after supposedly being informed that Mrs. Bush had in fact worked as a teacher and librarian before marrying the future president in 1977. Still, Mrs. Kerry was certainly aware at the time she made her first comment that Mrs. Bush has been a homemaker and mother for 20+ years. This is, according to Mrs. Kerry, not a "real job".

So, Mrs. Bush, don't feel bad. I don't have a real job, either! Just frittering away my time keeping house, raising and homeschooling my son, serving nutritious meals to my family, reading aloud countless books, and talking in the various high-pitched voices of my son's ever-growing family of stuffed animals. Not one foundation or endowment to show for it. What a waste.

Where do I start?

2004-10-19T14:49:00.000-07:00

Hugh Hewitt asked bloggers to chime in on this question: Why vote for Bush and what's wrong with Kerry? To which I say, Where do I start?

To be fair, I knew I would vote for President Bush's reelection at the same time I decided to vote to elect him in the first place. Observing him during his first term in office has only reconfirmed that decision, and watching Sen. Kerry blah, blah, blah his way through the campaign has simply given me another reason to vote for Bush: he's not Kerry!

That George W. Bush shares my Christian theology is a primary reason that I support him, but it's not like voting for someone because he roots for the baseball team as I do. Everyone has a theology (what they believe about God), whether they know it or not, and our theology shapes our view of the world and everything that happens. President Bush believes that there is great evil in the world, and that the solution for evil is not more tax dollars or a new government educational program, with public service announcements on TV and sappy, overbearing afterschool specials to drive home the message. No, there is some evil which must be simply confronted, and if need be, destroyed. The innocent must be defended at all costs, and if the president of the United States isn't called upon to defend his people, then what is he supposed to do? All the infrastructure, social policy, and economic growth we can imagine can be gone in an instant if our enemies succeed in what they would dearly like to do. I believe George Bush understands this, and I do believe that John Kerry does not.

John Kerry thinks that summits will somehow solve everything. We will have a summit, invite everyone, and talk. I think he's been watching too much Dr. Phil. You can't work things out with a group that is bent on your destruction. I'm not saying that we should ignore the international community, or that the U.S. is always right and other countries always wrong, but I think Kerry goes too far in wanting to please other countries (especially Europe), so we can all "get along". Vote for Kerry if you'd like to see another dozen years of U.N. resolutions. As a parent, I know that you have to make sure your word means something, that if you threaten a consequence, you'd better follow through. President Bush does not equivocate; he means what he says, and does what he says he will do. Senator Kerry can't even bring himself to state a preference between the Stones and the Beatles, lest he offend a potential constituent group. In the same debate, he can miraculously appear to be on several sides of the same issue. How can he command allegiance from our allies, or respect from our enemies?

On other questions, too, Pres. Bush has demonstrated moral courage. He stands up for the unborn, the most defenseless among us. John Kerry waivers and flip-flops, claiming to oppose abortion but refusing to vote to ban the most brutal of procedures (partial-birth abortion).

Why vote for Bush, and what's wrong with Kerry? Don't get me started!

Geography and Hiking

2004-10-19T13:50:00.000-07:00

I grew up in central Florida. The predominant geographical feature there is lakes. Since you can't see lakes from a distance in a flat place, though, there is little to give you a sense of where you are. You see houses, street corners, those disgusting nuisance slash pine trees, some beautiful oak trees. That's all you see.

Now I live in the Valley of the Sun, metropolitan Phoenix. When I look out my upstairs bedroom windows to the west, I see the White Tank Mountains. To the north and east, the Hedgepeth Hills are visible when I step outside to check my mail. Driving around on the freeway, I see many landmarks: Four Peaks, Camelback, downtown Phoenix. It's amazing how living in a more geographically diverse (i.e., not flat) region changes my perspective. Driving across town in the evening, I see Piestewa Peak framed by the setting sun's orange glow, and I remember hiking to the top of it with some friends last winter (an amazing feat for a Florida girl). Glimpsing the mountains on the south side of the valley makes me think of friends who moved there, to a tiny town, several months ago. Having all these visible geographical landmarks is somehow comforting, stabilizing. They tell me where I am, and remind me of where I've been, and where I want to go. When I hike to the tops of the peaks in the Hedgepeth Hills, I can see taller mountains to the north, and I know that further on, beyond my gaze, are the beautiful San Francisco Peaks, and a forest which was our winter playground last year.

I love hiking here. I never hiked in Florida; traipsing through the muggy, buggy woods as a Girl Scout cured me of that. But here, I could hike every day. The rugged, arid terrain doesn't seem welcoming at first. It can be daunting for a novice hiker. (Let's not even mention the rattlesnakes and scorpions right now, okay?) But somehow hiking into this wilderness of cactus and creosote bush makes me feel more rugged, too. Before we moved here, I didn't know that cacti bloom. Now I delight in spying a ring of flowers on a small, barrel-shaped cactus. Bending down to get a closer view of them under a sheltering creosote bush, their pink, girly color defying the dull, gravelly colors of the trail, I am encouraged. They are at home in the desert; I can be, too.

I am addicted to the peaks, to the feeling of sitting down on a rock and taking a swig of water while I take in the panorama below. If the hike has been difficult, like Piestewa Peak, the rest at the summit is even sweeter. I did it! I'm not an athlete - actually I'm such a klutz that the first time we went hiking in AZ, I tripped on some rocks at the parking lot at the base of the trail (!) and tore up my knee and my good jeans. But I keep hiking. Down into washes, over ridges, even climbing over boulders sometimes. To get to the top.