Seven Quick Takes vol 62.

Hi Jen, and all you fabulous quick takers!

{one}

Do my quick takes always read like a week rehash/lament? Well. I guess that's what they are. Haha- enjoy!

This week Nora decided she hates the idea of my blogging, or maybe just my blog. It could be both. But every chance I had when I had either all the other kids in bed/busy/cared for and she was supposed to be napping/sleeping for the night she would wake up and scream, scream, scream. And I don't really know the reason for the screams, she seemed perfectly affable while awake or being held...its one of those baby mysteries. 

And obviously this isn't that big a deal, I really don't blog religiously or have leagues of followers or anything. But it just was something I wanted to do for about 10-30 minutes. And frankly, that's 10-30 minutes of doing what I want that can only happen once a day unless I want to stay up to all hours, which I just can't. For some reason this is hugely demoralizing. Is it 10-30 minutes that I just don't want to give up to the needs of my children? Yes. But does it make a huge difference to my mental health? Yes. Do I not offer it up willing? No. If anyone doesn't understand the sacrifice of motherhood then they've never stayed home with multiple children. Or one child. Anyways, moral of the story is no writing but not a lot of progress on the path to holiness. Again. Ugh.

{two}

I usually try to be positive about being at home and being with my kids because that really is two of the strongest principles I hold dear. But sometimes you can just get discouraged. I had a couple days like that this week. Not that I was specifically unhappy with anything in particular, I was just so tired of everything in general. So tired of the plain old days, with constant demands with no end in sight. Sometimes you can't help but crave change. Glamour. The outside world. And then you start thinking to yourself, "hey those kids with moms who have exciting looking jobs don't seem so bad? The moms get to put on outfits in the morning! They go places, accomplish things, get out of the house for more than an hour! Maybe my whole life's path has been wrong!"

And of course, these discouraging thoughts are really bogus. They're really temptations. The temptation to think that by putting what you want first you really will be happy. The temptation that glamour, travel, excitement is more rewarding and lasting to you and your family than the routine, care, safety, and trust you are instilling in your children by being there day in day out. The temptation to shirk the way God has shown you for what you want when you want it. All that jazz. 

{three}

Not a good week for sleep around here. Patience for children is at an all time low. Haha, says the mom of five kids. That feels like something you shouldn't admit for fear someone is going to lock you up. So today was cereal for breakfast, extra cartoons, and more play downstairs/outside-away-from-mom time. And extra coffee for me. 

{four}

With the no time to write comes also the no time to read my favourite blogs. So I've been the worst commenter ever, and I'm weeks behind in all my regulars. Actually my reader is about to explode. I think I need to subscribe to less blogs but I just want to read more and more. I haven't even read some categories in what feels like months. My "Style", "Design", and "Food" categories are piling up. I miss them. But also have no time. I miss time. 

{five}

Even though it was a less than stellar week for me, the schooling department went surprisingly well. We tackled all our books over the week which was nice, got in lots of the extra reading I wanted to cover, and the kids have done pretty well not driving me nuts. So win-win! The biggest challenge I have is dealing with Max. If you ask him how old he is he would most definitely not say 21 months. He believes he's at least three like the rest of his siblings and takes great personal offence when I don't include him in everything. Which as you can imagine just adds to the peace and harmony surrounding school time. And since he's too young for the tv he ends up having a "nap" of sorts when I need to do hands on work with the kids. Which really doesn't bother me, but it really bothers him. Basically, the over age 2 category of tots seems like a breeze compared to the under 2 set.

{six}

Ok, everyone, what's our stance on knock-off J.Crew jewelry? I'm firmly planted on the side of eBay-for-a-fraction-of-the-cost of the fence, but is that wrong? Does it make me look cheap?? Basically I'm not looking for philosophical reasoning, I'm looking for what you think it looks like in real life by comparison. I think for the money savings but still looking uber-trendy factor is legit and worth it. Its not quite as awesome as wearing the real thing, but I'll learn to live with it. Yay? Nay?

{seven}

Its Thanksgiving weekend around here. Yes, all of Canada actually. And I love it! I love having a fall holiday at least two months away from Christmas!! Seriously, Thanksgiving in November is almost the worst idea I've ever heard of. Take that American Superpower! We're having friends to stay till Sunday, helping my dad move cattle Sunday and Monday, and eating all my mom's turkey both those days as well. I may eat my body's weight in pumpkin pie, just because I can! On the other hand its the first Thanksgiving in years where I haven't been pregnant (I KNOW!!) so maybe I'll show some restraint.  But I wish all my Canadian friends the nicest long weekend! And you Americans just a plain old weekend. Just kidding, I love you too, eat some pie anyway!

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G.K. of the Day!

"We Catholics must realize that by this time we are living in Pagan lands; and that the barbarians around us know not what they do."

- G.K. Chesterton, G.K.'s Weekly, Dec. 31, 1932

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Happy Sunday Lovelies...

Today I'm absolutely chuffed to be guest hosting for the fabulous, fashionable ladies at Fine Linen and Purple!

Do come say hi and link up the cute outfit you're wearing to Mass today so we can all celebrate fall fashion with its wonderful sweaters, boots, jackets, knits, and darker colours; because Autumn really is the greatest season of the year for clothes!

And I'm already feeling fantastically embarrassed by my "fashion" pictures...

I wonder why?

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Picnics, pioneers, and a pretty wet ending

In an attempt to be a fun mum and take full advantage of a beautiful fall day we packed up a picnic and went down our country road a couple of miles to this small church in the middle of woods and fields. This homeschooling business can't be all toil and drudgery!

 I've always wanted to go poke around this quaint looking church, and if ever we were going to move away I'd always regret not exploring these out of the way, but just down the road, spots. So even though packing up five kids in the middle of the day can be a Herculean effort in the drag department sometimes its worth it for the sake of soaking up nature and beauty and stuff. Plus getting out of the house is never a bad thing, right?

The area of Alberta in which we live is bespeakled with small churches in what seems the middle of nowhere. Down random country roads miles and miles from what towns but sometimes just a few miles away from each other. Some are still kept up by local parishes with priests visiting every few months for a special service or Mass, many have been boarded up and are falling in disrepair, but most like this one  we visited are still cared for in that the grounds are always freshly mown and the graves of the cemeteries clearly still attended to. 

Because this area was settled by mostly Ukrainians at the beginning of the twentieth century the rural country churches tend to be Ukrainian Orthodox, Ukrainian Catholic, and sometimes Russian Orthodox. There are usually domes and many churches have Byzantine style designs. They're truly beautiful and charming.

 I'm always moved by the fact that these pioneers who must have come from really dire circumstances in order to tame this very cold wilderness cared so much for their faith as to build small churches wherever they could. They didn't have much, many lived only in sod houses for years, but the churches remain as a symbol of enduring faith.

This church we visited had no markers left as to what denomination it was built to celebrate, and I'm not friendly enough with the farmers who live around it to dig deeper into its history, but I believe it must have been a simple, humble, yet sincere place of worship.

It also had a small cemetery in its grounds with the graves of about 30-40 people. And being the good Catholic mom I am I told the kids to come check out some gravestones. Because we all need to know that that's where we'll all end up. What's a picnic without a touch of the morbid?

These grave markers are of the real pioneers of our area, which is pretty amazing and impressive. There's not much more written history around here that's older than this person's lifetime. From what I could glean from more recent tomb markers, those making up this small cemetery were mostly of one family, probably those who farmed the land. There were quite a few graves of very young children and babies, which always chokes me up. I can't imagine how hard it must have been to be a mother in times of high infant mortality, let alone a mother living in the deep Canadian wilderness miles away from any doctors or child-saving medicine. 

But back to the scenic, natural beauty! It was a perfect fall day, still blissfully warm where we could even spot the flocks of birds flying south. 

It was a bit Hitchcock-ian. A bit crazy having that many birds swooping right over your head!

The kids were having a great time roaming around exploring with sandwiches and cheese in hand up until I wanted to take their picture. Then everyone got crabby. And weird. And threw their body in unnatural directions. I mean, I got one happy child out of five. You can't even see Max. And my own baby is giving me glares. And this was the best shot out of 25, I kid you not.

After we finished exploring, eating, and "praying for the dead people" as Dom says, we quickly drove down the road a bit further to a little "lake" which should probably be classified as a pond, but since this is Alberta and its a bit bigger than a puddle it earns lake status. We were approaching the dreaded nap deadline, so this was going to have to be a quick stop to avoid rapid meltdown in multiple people, and maybe the kids too.

I also brought along my sister, aka Auntie Nanny. She really comes in handy with the extra pair of hands and all. She's a great help with baby herding, really, she should put it on her resume. But neither she nor I was fast enough in catching Max when he took a run straight into the lake.

Canadian lakes at the end of September are not something you can describe as "warm". But remarkably the crazy boy thought it was fun and just stomped around in the water when I asked if he was freezing. It was funny to see the non-reaction from his siblings, "Oh yeah, Max...walking into a body of water...seems pretty normal."

Since Max was nearing toddler hypothermia I stripped him in the back of the car and he got to ride home in only a diaper and a good helping of sand. This was the close of our picnic adventure, as you can also see was a bit much for the teeny Nora.

Linking up with Like Mother, Like Daughter because I believe all these qualify as Pretty, Happy, Funny, Real - I'll let you decide which is which!

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G.K. of the Day!

"I believe that the child has inside his head a pretty correct and complete definition of the whole nature and function of Art; with the one addition that he is quite incapable of saying, even to himself, a single word on the subject."

- G.K. Chesterton, Life and Letters, December, 1934.

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Seven Quick Takes vol. 61

Keeping my Quick Takes relationship alive - go visit Jen for the best of the best!

{one}

It definitely feels like Friday! 

Its been another full week around here. Or at least I feel it to be! We've had a glorious week of fall. Which in this land of the north needs to be absorbed and revelled in to your fullest capability. On Monday we went for a little picnic down our country road, sat out in a field surrounded by golden leaves and children screaming. I took pictures for a change, so many that I believe it will warrant its own post. Every day since the kids have been able to roam and run out doors even though a chilly Northern wind has started to sweep through. I'm still not thinking about the consequences to that wind...

{two}

And don't get any crazy ideas that she's rolling or anything...she's still good and immobile! Just the way I like 'em!

My baby turned six months yesterday! How did that happen?! It feels as if she's been here forever. Which is always the case with beautiful babies. How did we live without parts of ourselves such a short time ago? I really feel that the first six months are the toughest. Somehow around six months babies mellow out for the most part, ok, maybe not mellow out. Maybe we become accustomed to them more? In other words I feel as if I've crossed a mini-milestone! Its all downhill from here! I know, I'm a little delusional, but let me have my moment!

{three}

My culinary success of the week was making a giant pot of borscht yesterday with fresh garden veggies! Have I mentioned I love soup? And beets? I do! So borscht is a perfect storm of soup goodness. I forced every child to eat it for dinner too. Then I thought I'd have so much to freeze but by the end of dinner there was probably only a lunch sized portion left to freeze. Cooking...you're so much work.

{four}

Our Ikea trip of last week yielded a couple of organizers for toys in the basement, meaning we're almost done with the basement overhaul!! I ordered kids around all week to start organizing toys in the basement that have just been kept in two giant boxes for the past ten months or so. We culled, and I hope I was ruthless, but all I got was a giant garbage bag to give away and a smaller garbage bag to throw out. Is it just my kids who play with a lot of garbage? And I'm not talking metaphorically. I mean there was a lot of garbage in the toy boxes. 

{five}

I keep wanting to post pictures of what I think has been massive progress in the basement redo-but every time we make a major step I say to myself, "As soon as the -blank- is done, I'll take pictures." Well, now I'm so close to actually getting things on the walls that I'm going to hold out a little longer. I'm sure you're on pins and needles...or not.

{six}

If you haven't yet read this great article from Verily Magazine; "A Tangled Web: Don Jon Highlights Real-Life Effects of Internet Porn", please stop and read it. I thought it was such a smart, well done article about pornography. And this magazine is doing everything right when it uses movies, to engage in topics from a Catholic/moral perspective. I just love that. I don't know if I really want to see the movie though...

{seven}

The girls and I are going out of town this weekend for a bridal shower! That's pretty big excitement in these parts. I can't remember the last time I was away overnight without my husband. Or out of this house. I'm going to bet it was to have my last baby...that's when you know you don't get out much. Anyway, the shower is Sunday so I won't be making my Michaelmas goose for dinner but I will be driving home to see the finale of Breaking Bad. Does that make me a shallow person? I think I may tell the kids Michaelmas is Monday and throw in a chicken!

Have a fab week-end!

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Homeschooling Preschool/Kindergarten/Grade 1 Curriculum Extravaganza; or How Crazy Can I Be?

You're in the mood for a homeschooling post, right?

No? Well, you can hang out anyway to see if I'm completely crazy, or just come back tomorrow, either way.

Its the end of September, and I know everyone else has had fabulous curriculum posts already, but I thought I'd squeeze a quick one in - its still September...I'm still sort of organized...well, hey - we've started school already, I should get points just for that I think!

Before we get into the books, let me just accustom you to my line of thinking about educating the preschool through Grade 1 set. Firstly; I honestly don't have much time to devout to teaching in my everyday. Basically, one-on-one teaching time boils down to when the baby is napping. And that is primarily nap time in the morning. Secondly; because of this lack of time, etc. etc., I'm lowering my expectations. By a bunch! And I'm ok with that! I think its better for your sanity to attempt homeschooling with lower expectations according to what's going on in your real life. Homeschooling doesn't happen in a magical bubble - it happens at home, which is full of....you know, life! So, with the knowledge I have two babies under 2, one still nursing, and three children of the age of just beginning to show varying degrees of interest in the sit-down kind of learning this is what I've come up with and I think its ample for right now, maybe even a bit much.

Now, I also want to say I have zero experience teaching homeschooling. But I was homeschooled from second grade through all of high school. I think that gives me a little more insight into homeschool realities, but you never know. I was also the oldest in my family, so I saw my mom educate each of my siblings completely at home. She also had a couple of babies after us oldest three were all school aged so she juggled a lot of babies as well as teaching. I hope this covers my wild presumptions I'm about to make, because I'm sure I'm going to make them and in a few short months I'll wonder at my naiveté.

Lets get ready to rumble.

Primary Arts of Language. I'm using this for reading, writing, letters, sounds, poetry, and reading aloud. It covers everything in an integrated way which I like, and it seems fairly incremental so far which I also like. I'm not sure if this will work with all my children, but so far they seem to not hate it and pay attention. Both wins. This program also seems to be adaptable to any age, and since I believe I'll be doing this for multiple years with multiple kids I like that. 

The only downfall of this program is it requires a lot of cutting and glueing on my part. Which, as we all know, is not even close to my cup of tea, but if this is my cross to bear I'm probably doing alright.

My main objective is to do a little reading and a little math everyday. We'll then throw in reading different books whenever we can, its a lot easier to read to everyone when babies are awake or nursing.   

Singapore Math. I read a few people recommending this program as a decent alternative to Saxon. Not that I hate Saxon, I did it through most of my schooling, but that five inch thick kindergarten teachers manual was a joke, so I wanted to boycott Saxon just out of spite! Its colourful, very repetitive, and so far liked by the kids so that's all I need. Really, kindergarten and grade one math...really isn't something to worry about.

Twenty-Six Letters to Heaven: A Catholic Preschool Curriculum. Since I haven't used this curriculum yet, I thought this would be a good book for Luke, since he'll want to do school but won't have quite the same attention span as Gemma and Dom, because he's three. I like the set-up of this book, with the emphasis on virtues and saints. Her books lists are also great, but if you think I'm doing every little craft - well, you'd be crazy. I'm going to use this as a more general guide to reading lists, and a nice way to introduce different saints.

Faith and Life. This was an easy pick because it really is the best catechism for children going, and because my mom still had every single book. We'll read this here and there, maybe once a week? That'd be great.

I'm going to come clean here and admit that we get funding in our province to homeschool. Yes, it means you have to sign up with a school board, the government knows who you are and where you live, which is a big downside and I would gladly give up my moola for parental freedom, but since its in our best interest to not go underground I'll gladly spend the government's money on really great books! 

Gyo Fujikawa's fairy tales and books of poetry. I am possibly Gyo Fujikawa's biggest fan. I just love his art, and I think these books are perfect for introducing a child to great poetry along with beautiful illustrations. I like these to be books the kids will just pick up to look at, then once they begin to read pick up and just read random little poems. Or that's the dream.

I mean. These pages are just beautiful.

More great books I didn't have to spend my own money on - but would have because they're wonderful. James Herriot's Treasury for Children: Warm and Joyful Tales by the Author of All Creatures Great and Small, Aesop's Fables for Children, and The Blue Fairy Book. Did I mention I'm following the Ambleside reading lists for the young grades? They're really perfect for a good basis in classical literature for children which inspires the moral imagination. I don't know what my homeschooling philosophy is, but I'd say I'm a big believer in developing a moral imagination in children through good fairy tales and storytelling. I blame Anthony Esolen. I'll feel good if we come away from this year having read most of these books, not even all of them.

I thought now would be the time to buy the whole My Book House collection as well. I found a great deal on eBay after I found only four at my local Thrift Village. So if anyone needs Vols. 5-8 I can hook you up. I hope we can get into some routine of reading aloud from these at some point in the day. We'll see how it shakes down.

Beautiful Stories from Shakespeare for Children and How to Teach Your Children Shakespeare. Another dream of mine is to have small people walking around my house quoting soliloquies on demand. Ok, that sounds a little creepy, but I do want them to have a good acquaintance with Shakespeare from an early age. I'm not sure how we'll do it yet, but I figure reading this book will help. 

And there you have it. My schooling philosophy for this year really boils down to simply reading and math everyday, and reading aloud from good books whenever we can fit it. No worrying about subjects. No science projects. Just the basics and letting their precious, spongy little minds soak up everything they can. 

I really think that most preschool/early elementary learning is done through simply reading good books with your kids. Everything else is gravy.

I also am a believer that the things you think of as subjects just naturally get rounded out through life, and especially life at home. For instance my husband fills them with all sorts of scientific knowledge that I think is too much for them, but which they seamlessly absorb and can repeat to me verbatim days later, just in having conversations with them or seeing something new. We live on a ranch and are surrounded by nature so that leads to endless ecological, biology, questions. And we make more than good use of our library with scads of picture books. We also try to live liturgically, saints, feast days, and Mass. I've conned employed my little sister to teach a weekly "arts and crafts" lesson so I don't have to deal with glue sticks and my kids somehow learn the primary colours. I think this all sounds pretty good to me. 

Again, I'm totally stressing that I'm not an expert. But there are so many awesome homeschool blogs out there that should I get stumped I'm sure to find a little help and inspiration somewhere along the line. I'm also going to save all my crazy ranting for another post, another time. And trust me, there will be ranting! 

So with fingers crossed and dreams undashed, and maybe a good case of wine for me and you, I wish a very happy school year to all! 

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