Hmm...I wonder if this is true.

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

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

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

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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

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!

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!!

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

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!

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

I found this video to be very powerful.

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

Wendi

First Week of School

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!

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!

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

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.