Street Faire Success!

After a month of preparations, our Street Faire experience was a success. (Please excuse my shoddy photography skills - it was busy and I was a little stressed. Really, the table looked lovely.) We sold glitter snowflakes, puzzle piece gingerbread men and knitted gnomes.

I'm quite pleased with how all our ornaments turned out. I think the kids were happy that all the work we did resulted in a nice table with lots of sales. Our knitted gnomes were $2 each and the other ornaments were $1 each. The kids insisted on this pricing as I was wanted to charge $.50 for the snowflakes and gingerbread men. It turns out that this pricing strategy was perfect. I'm glad I listened to the kids.

We sold cider for $.50 a cup. The Boy Child was in charge of this and he did a really good job. Before the sale, the class in the hall ran late cutting severely into set-up time for the vendors. The Boy had to do all the prep and set-up for cider on his own as The Girl Child and I were frantically busy with getting the table ready.

We had a little helper all day. She is very cute and very fond of my big kids. She was responsible for hanging all the ornaments and helping with pouring the cider.

As far as the business end of things went, we spent a little over $30 in supplies. Our profit was a little over $40 after we covered our supply cost. We sold about $80 worth of ornaments and cider. There was a little deal-making and bartering that went on which accounts for our difference.

 

Sales were good, but I prepared many ornaments and now have all that I need as gift toppers and for family. Amazingly, that means I planned ahead and got a Christmas project out of the way in November. I love it when I surprise myself with being organized!

 

♥Mrs. A.

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The Girl Child Secures a Job For Herself

What does a mom do when her child gets herself a job? She sits in the car and takes pictures, of course!



A couple of weeks ago, The Girl Child announced she'd like a job. This was not news, as such a thing had been talked about - at length - in the past. We had looked into a couple of viable options but it didn't seem to be quite the right time.

It was two weeks ago today that she brought it up again. I suggested that she email the Nice Lady at the weekly newspaper to introduce herself and to restate her desire for a paper route. The first time she had contacted the paper, last fall, was through an online application tool at the website. At that time there hadn't been a route available in our area.



So The Girl got busy and sent a nice email stating that she was a homeschooled high school student with a flexible schedule and supportive parents who were willing to take her to where the available routes were.

Almost immediately she received a reply with an offer for a Fill-In Delivery Person position. A few more emails flew, details were discussed and we were visited by the Nice Lady who was very excited to have The Girl on board.

The Girl's first task involved delivering papers to two routes two days after the papers had been due. Each route took about two and a half hours by the time all was said and done. Her remarks on the way home were that 'it was more work than it sounded like' and 'when, exactly, would the pay cheque arrive?'







Said pay arrived much sooner than we thought it would. Hand delivered, no less! Just in time for a weekend shopping trip with her Grandma and Aunt.



I think The Girl Child was pretty proud of herself throughout the process - but that's the point, right? A little independence and initiative to foster some feelings of satisfaction and pride. And the prospect of more work in the future - although, I must say, I think the novelty has worn off. I'm proud of her, too, for taking this on!

Last week, there was no route. This week, there is one. Papers will arrive today and need to be delivered by Thursday evening. It's up to The Girl to plan around her schedule and the weather. She'll let me know when and where to drop her off to get her work done. I think she's looking forward to the pay cheque more than the long walk in a strange neighbourhood with a sled of papers.

~Mrs. A.

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Mondays...

This Fall, Mondays are particularly busy. I think today was fairly typical in scheduling, but it was better than many of my typical Mondays of late. I think I might be getting my Monday-act together...

After everyone has been fed and watered and we shovel up the weekend clutter it's usually around 9a.m. Monday mornings give us only an hour or so for any bookwork we want to accomplish. It's not too difficult to get the kids to hit the books on Mondays. I have them start with their journals. The Girl Child writes copious amounts - her biographer is going to have lots to sift through! The Boy Child, not so much. He's more matter of fact. 'Required' journal writing for The Boy amounts to a sentence per 'grade' so he's up to 6 sentences per journal entry. And that's a very loose definition of 'sentence' I'm using.

At 11a.m. I start getting the afternoon set up. The kids are sent to grab themselves a snack and then they pack another for later. I prepare lunch for Mr. A and myself and set it aside. French books and skating things are gathered and packed into the car. Today I dressed for a run and dug out my iPod. We left the house at 11:45.

My very good friend has taken it upon herself to teach a group of homeschoolers - her two included - French this school year. She's gone to a huge amount of work to plan weekly lessons for 5 families of kids, ages 8 through 15. The kids spend an hour and a half doing games and activities, vocab and dialogue. The focus is on spending time speaking the language which is awesome for my two-kid crew. The Boy and The Girl are quite well versed in their vocab, writing and reading skills. The speaking-out-loud has been a bone of contention in our past school years.

Today was the first Monday I snuck away from the other moms at French. I went for a miserable little run. I haven't run since the summer, really, so I was speaking fairly sternly with myself about the degree of laziness and depression that was taking over. I went for half an hour, 'running' for 3 minutes then walking for 1. Once I was done, I was glad I had done it. It's amazing how long improved cardiovascular fitness can hang on. I never thought I'd get 6 intervals completed today. I zipped home to change my muddy, wet running pants. While there, I constructed lunch for Mr. A and delivered it to his basement office (he's programming today and tends to focus in on his work and forgets altogether about regular bodily routines like caloric intake) before heading back to pick up the kids.

After French, we trek over to the local rink and spend an hour skating. The local homeschoolers have sort of dominated the 'Parent & Tot' time slot for the past few years. It was a quiet takeover...beginning years ago when the children blended in with those every-other-day kindergartners. Today there were 15 homeschoolers plus a bunch of moms on the ice.

Once we're home things depend on The Boy Child's hockey schedule. If he plays early, at 4:30p.m., we usually relax and snack before heading out the door at 4:15p.m. There are beefits to living in the rink's backyard! Today he played late, at 5:30p.m., so we had time to focus on some geography for a half hour before snacking and re-packing the hockey bag. I cleaned the kitchen and The Girl made pizza crust which we left in the warm oven to rise while we were at the rink.

At home, after hockey, I focus on getting some sort of food on the table fairly immediately. The low blood sugar is pretty apparent by this time on Monday. It's nice when we sit down to eat. Everyone knows that their responsibilities have been taken care of for the day. Relax mode starts to kick in. I like hearing about the kids' day - even though I've been there for most of it. I find it terribly interesting how different our experiences are even though we share the same space and activities.

We had a nice family evening culminating in apple crisp before bedtime. I'm watching the results of the local election and will head off to bed shortly. Hopefully next Monday will go as smoothly as today. Methinks if I keep up with weekend laundry and regular meal planning like a good, responsible grown up, I shouldn't have any problems.

~Mrs. A.

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~May~

May's calendar page is sitting on my computer desk waiting to be blogged. It's sitting there quite innocently, right where I put it. But it's kind of glowering, too. Glaring it's blogging want.

May wasn't anything spectacular. I'm sure it was sort of indicative if the way things usually are around here. I sifted and coasted and drifted through the days, sometimes wishing I could keep my head in the game more consistently. I suppose I would feel better if I were able to concentrate on the wonderfulness of my kids and the happiness of the dogs and the simple luxury I live in every day. I'll have to remember that.

I started May with a clean house and a new haircut. I had a really nice Mother's Day.

Treats!

I helped my mom out by going to work for her for a day. That was interesting. One working momma meant two sets of packed lunches, a baby-sitter, a puppy-sitter, packed up school work, a morning rush, a late dinner and an early bedtime. Totally not something I would do every day on purpose. I suppose it was a jarring experience just because we've not lived that way in a long, long time.

The skittish white dog got an eye infection. And Mr. A, bless his poor, oblivious heart, learned the ins and outs of dealing with the vet. I think he debriefed for a week.

Niece!

My new knitting group seems to have taken off quite nicely. As I had hoped, a good crowd of diversity has shown up and they all seem to be happy with a relaxed, social atmosphere. I find myself looking forward to spending a couple of hours planning and preparing for the meetings. So, every other week at the local library, we knit. The other attendees have taken it upon themselves to carve out some space at the local pub to knit on the off weeks. Hilarious. And awesome.

New Kittens!

On the home school front, we're picking our way through the final bits of work for the year. Much of the language arts we did was finished in May. We're a little behind my schedule in our history studies and the kids made a plan to finish their math by June 4. Running club finished early so the coach could take some of the kids and groom them to join the local private school's track team. We had a social picnic-park play after a museum program to kick off the good weather. I'll have to remember to have another at the end of this month. We took in the local multicultural fair as well. Always a good time. It always surprises me how much the kids enjoy themselves there even though it's loud and crowded and they are scared to try the different food. They eat cotton candy and apple crisp while the rest of us are sampling Indian, Jamaican, Turkish, Irish and Chinese food.

"Science" With Mr. A!

The Blue Eyed Bandit grew so much over May! She's impressing everyone at obedience even though we didn't practice a whole lot. She's very smart. She's such a happy, peaceful puppy. And ever since I moved her crate to my bedroom, she's slept through the night. That only took me three months to figure out.

Bad Dog!

I was reminded throughout May that I have 'Me' opportunities popping up all over the place. It's a little exciting after focusing solely on the kids for so many years. I'm part of a book club that I love. The knitting group, getting out a couple of times a week for a walk/run, puppy classes. We even had a couple over twice in May. I don't want to call them Couple Friends...Mr. A is shy, you know...but I think there's potential!

June is shaping up: We still have to get the boats out so we can get out on the River with the kids. And the car is having major surgery to the tune of the cost of a week long family vacation to somewhere a plane ride away. The next round of puppy classes will start. The Boy will be playing soccer and I will be convening his age group. Exciting times, I say!

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Field Trip!

Last Friday, the 20th, the kids and I piled into the back seat of a Honda Civic and journeyed to the Big City to visit the Royal Ontario Museum. I hadn't visited the museum in years and years. The kids had gone in October with my parents. When they came home, they were so excited to go back...and they all figured I should go with them this time.

Our main objective was to visit the Dead Sea Scrolls before the exhibit closes in January. The kids also wanted to show me their favourite areas that they had visited last trip. Isn't that sweet?

Fun times were had at the museum. The best part was watching how excited and engaged the kids were by the place. I think they would have spent the whole day in Ancient China/Korea/Japan. There was a beautiful display of Asian art through the ages. The Girl Child was very impressed. Her Chibi/Manga/Anime interest has some historical roots, she told me, as she was busy noticing all sorts of familiar elements in the artwork. The Boy Child was mesmerized with the Dead Sea Scrolls. He was a little ticked that there was so much exhibit before the actual scrolls. But once the scrolls were in sight, we had a hard time making him leave. He spent time finding the Tetragrammaton, pointing it out to anyone who would listen, drawing it in his Grandpa's notebook. I followed the rules and took no pictures although I was itching to.

We took photos in all other areas until the camera batteries konked out. I think I could reconstruct the entire Gems exhibit in photos. That would be the exhibit I handed the camera off to the kids. So, pics to follow:

REAL Samurai stuff!

Imperial Palace reconstruction.

Trying to find an elevator, we found The Girl's favourite animal.

The Boy takes a pic of himself and a giant geode.

Chillaxin' in the Gem Exhibit.

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Oh, What To Do?!

Today, I have had a day to myself. Sans kidlets. To tell you the truth, I have felt a little lost.

Today, I woke a bit early and pried The Girl and The Boy out of their warm beds. I put The Boy in the shower and gave The Girl a wide berth. (She needed a minute...or twelve.) They dressed nicely, packed a bag of electronics stuff to do on a car trip and meditated on the couch while I made breakfast smoothies and packed a cooler lunch.

At 8, my mom and dad picked them up to whisk them away to lands unknown. Ok, I - the responsible adult in their lives - know where they are going. However, my parents wanted to keep it a surprise for the kids. The Boy was a little anxious and The Girl a little grumpy about this, but I was prepared to let my parents deal with the consequences of their Very Good Plan.

They are off to the big city to see a very good show - Ovo. They will love it. It will be their second Cirque show. Last year, we saw 'O' in Vegas and it was the highlight of the trip.

Today I have walked the dog, dropped a baby crib on my toe, been to the library, registered the kids for indoor soccer, coloured timeline figures, watched the Cosby Show and Extreme Home Makeover, enjoyed a quiet lunch with Mr.B, admired the new grass growing in the backyard and completed only a very minimal amount of housework. When Mr.B completes his workday, we will take the Thanksgiving turkey from my freezer to my mom's fridge, return merchandise to WalMart, walk my dad's dog, drink expensive Starbuck's coffee (we call it Morebuck's) and figure out some dinner. If I am very sneaky, I may even be able to trick Mr.B into pant shopping at Winner's and some chick-flick viewing. Keep your fingers crossed.

I suppose that I have made good use of my day. I'm not really sure what I should be doing when the kids aren't here. Sure there are things I should be doing. I could go out on a limb and actually plan something significant when I know they're not going to be here. But October crept up on me unbelievably quickly and I found myself getting everything ready for the kids' trip yesterday. Noone around here makes plans with 12-hour notice. And really, I have no kidless, non-working friends to make plans with. I feel a little caught-off-guard without my regular entourage and regular weekday schedule.

So there you have it: the meandering thoughts of a homeschooling mother who finds herself kidless for the first time in a very long time.

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Happiness Costs...

...$8/hour. Or at least it did last week. 4 skaters x $2 = an $8 hour of ice.

Skating has begun! We homeschoolers have infiltrated the 'Parent & Tot' daytime skate.

We started doing so many years ago when the kids were actually just-barely school age. Back then, happiness cost only $1/child. Fast-forward a bunch of years and the ice time is the same although the cost is more: $2/skater...mom included. Still, you can't get better bang for your buck.

We usually have the ice to ourselves. Those who are interested bring sticks and pucks. Some unseen rink attendant even puts the music on for us. Occasionally there's a parent with an actual tot in tow.

Last season's Most Interesting Event was the day a couple of 20-somethings showed up to skate. He had never been on skates. She thought it was the most hilarious, photo-worthy event of 2009. By the end of the hour, Mr. Never Had Been On Skates was playing a very cautious one-handed game of hockey with the kids (one hand being required to hold the stick, the other hand being required to fan about for balance). As he got off the ice, he thanked us moms for having such supportive and encouraging kids. It was great to see that ever elusive 'socialization' in action.

We will walk to the rink at least once a week. We will be joined by various homeschooling friends. We will get some exercise. We will improve our skating. We will have a great season, as usual.

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A Chatty Blog

Thank you to those who have emailed comments. I appreciate every one as they are so personal. Since I am just a wee blip on the blogosphere and not inundated with huge numbers of emails, I like being able to reply to those who drop a line.

I've noticed funky, frustrating things happening with my blog layout. It could be the template. I can't read all the HTML and figure it out myself, so I'll wait for my tech support to take a look sometime. THAT will cost me favours. But that's ok. My tech guy is my own Mr. B and he's not too bad to do favours for. In the meantime, I just select 'smaller' from the 'Text Size' menu in 'View' on my browser window menu. Then everything pops back where it should be. I'm trying not to worry about it. But it is bugging me.

My brother is having a baby. Well, of course his lovely new wife is actually going to be doing the work of the happy event. I can still call her 'new wife' as their first anniversary is not until next week. This is wonderful news! I will be an aunt for the first time on my side and my kids will get their first maternal cousin. The kids tell me they've been waiting a while. The Boy is all ramped up to teach his new cousin to play hockey. I don't think he understands the timeline involved quite yet. I'm not going to the be the one to burst his bubble.

New baby news is rocking my world. I knew when it came, I'd have trouble with it. For years, I'd been doing really well when acquaintances announced their happy news or brought their new bundle around. I even managed to get over myself when my sister-in-law on Mr. B's side had her baby. However. Now that a sibling has begun the journey to parenthood, all my baby itch, my baby envy, my bigger family wishes, my pregnancy jealousy has taken a seat at the head of the table. Being a hormonal week for me has not helped a bit. So. Please excuse me while I wimp and whine and leak pity tears for the babies I never had. I'm trying to stay busy and not listen to music or be alone and I'm going to maintain a full schedule chalk full of people because that will keep me grounded in reality. I'm trying to keep all the angry, sad and disappointed feelings to myself. It's easiest to take out stressful feelings on those closest to you. My little family is perfect, really. We are so blessed with health and happiness and I feel rich every day in so many ways. So even with all my internal storming right now, I am remembering to be kind and considerate and loving first. I just have to keep a Kleenex in my pocket.

Moving on.

A particular acquaintance of mine, a former employee from days gone by, speaks about homeschooling under her breath. She's a teacher. Every time she sees my kids she asks them when they're going back to school. Never mind that they've never been to public school. It's a little undermining. On Monday this particular acquaintance stopped by while walking in the neighbourhood and this is what she found in our yard:

What poor, unfortunate, unsocialized homeschooled children I have. My kids are loving these outside play times with neighbourhood kids. I could go on about how much they get out of these friendships, what they're learning, the skills they're honing, how they're socialized rather than just socializing. I won't. The kids talk to me about the value of these times and I'm not worried about the Undermining Teacher.

My parents are back from a two week trip to South Korea and Japan. They came home bearing gifts and souvenirs for all. We are eating up the stories of Asian culture and are anxiously awaiting the pictures they took.

As our last week of homeschooling wraps up, I'm weeding through the Shelf and putting away things we won't be needing next year. I've got a bag of stuff to sell off and other things, like our math box, will be dismantled. This little math box held our fact cards, coin cup, money manipulatives and word problems. I think we used it every day for the last 3 years. Onward and upward, as Ms. Frizzle would say.

On the To Do list for today is a Homeschooler Phys.Ed class and The Girl's soccer game. My scrapbooking project will receive some attention. I have a tentative deadline of this Saturday for it to be finished. I should be able to get to a good amount of housework if the last two days are anything to go by. I'm off to get to our schoolwork this morning so we can enjoy our afternoon without bookwork hanging over our heads.

Have a great day,

♥Mrs. A

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Silver Birch Book Club 2009

We've just wrapped up our annual Spring book club. This year was especially exciting as there is a new children's librarian at our local public library.

New books, new games, new activities, new friends.

Things started off with the creation of getting-to-know-you posters. A quick photo and five things about yourself. I was quite amused by the 5 things the kids chose. Each week, leaves were added. One leaf per book read. I like how the librarian kept things independent and personal for each of the kids. There was no competition to see who had read the most books. Whatever you read was great. Each meeting would begin with logging books, adding leaves to posters, picking new books to read. Then there was some discussion about one of the featured Canadian authors. Meetings finished with games and snacks. There were no wimpy 'little-kid' games either. I was surprised to hear the kids played Crab-Walk Soccer and life-sized board games where their bodies were the pieces that moved around the carpet-square game board. Fun times.

The Boy Child's Getting-To-Know-You Poster

'I HATE math-I like penguins-I like music-I love Lego-I LOVE hockey'

At the last meeting, the kids were treated to a surprise pizza party. They carefully selected their favourite book from different categories and they entered the official votes of their choices. They came home with a thank you card, thoughtfully personalized, thanking each of them for participating and mentioning an appreciated contribution noticed by the librarian. A group photo was included.

The Girl Child's Getting-To-Know-You Poster

'I like to draw-I like being with my friends-I like reading-My fav animals are pandas-I like playing soccer'

I'm so glad I"m able to offer the kids these opportunities. They learn so much while enjoying themselves. They are respected and appreciated. They feel like they are contributing to and participating in a worthwhile endeavour and not just wasting time at some pre-fab put-your-time-in babysitting service.

Both the Boy Child and the Girl Child are looking forward to participating in the librarian's next planned program. Up next will be the Spy/Secret Mission themed summer programs, usually sponsored by the TD Bank.

In the meantime, the kids are planning a thoughtful thank-you for the librarian since they so enjoyed the Silver Birch Book Club. I can't wait to see what they come up with.

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Signs of Spring

New Cleats in the Hallway

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