Last weekend
Posted on | April 29, 2010 | 2 Comments
Just a very brief update so Lola knows what’s happening.
The soccer game: the boys lost again. However, the number of goals that they lose by has been shrinking noticeably. NM has been strongly commended at each game for doing a great job as goalie (wow I am proud) and even as striker. His confidence has been increasing so that he’s even been making a significant number of attempts at goals when he’s played striker. Other parents have commented on how well he’s doing and also his coach keeps making a point of telling him what a great job he’s doing (even emailed NM and made his day).
J has been doing a great job at learning to read. I think he stares at all the books he wants to read and doesn’t get frustrated, he just tries to sound them out. He doesn’t nap in the afternoons, just takes a chapter book to bed and reads it and tells me what each chapter he read was about. He’s been reading out of the NIV bible he has and I’m really surprised he doesn’t get frustrated when he can’t read something, he just tries or waits for help. He recently inherited a lot of his older brother’s Legos and has been making cars again. I guess I won’t be putting NM in a Lego robotics class in the fall, maybe beginning engineering instead. We still need to put J in some kind of sport but are waiting on Abba for the ok.
Speaking of Abba: we are also very proud because he got a promotion (literally waited years for that). It’s a one-word change in his title but it’s still a big deal. He was supposed to get one several years ago but perhaps our move delayed it; we’re not sure. God’s timing is good though and he finally got it! He has to travel down to Monterrey, MX in June so we need to keep that trip in prayer.
Me? A friend had recently blessed me by asking me to take photos of her girls. That was fun! I learned what *not* to do about where to take the photos and how much fun the girls were! They were real troopers and had fun with me even though they had to walk through grass with prickly thistles and wait in a bunch of flowers before we went to see the ducks in the water. Actually, they were geese so we ended up not having as much fun seeing them as we thought. Geese are very territorial and they didn’t really want anyone around! When you’re 6 and 7 they also look a whole lot bigger than ducks! Hopefully I’ll have some of those photos up when I get her written permission to use them.
Mr. Valiant Fortruth
Posted on | April 23, 2010 | No Comments
The boys and I have been reading through John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress—both parts—in lieu of our post-WWI history studies. So sorry…”The Great War” kind of burned me out for a while. It was senselessly dealt with and that’s all I’ll say about that. History is fascinating but most of the time emotionally draining (watching Sgt. York was a highlight, though).
So here we are with an even more emotional book!
I did have to give in and get a more “modern” English version because translating “from whence did thou come and wither goest thou?” became too laborious. And I kept saying the opposite of what the text meant. Think Yoda but with ideas rather than English.
Anyway, while I really identified with the character of Mr. Fearing, it’s his antithesis in a loose sense, Mr. Valiant Fortruth was someone to aspire to be like. Very Paul-ish.
This is one of my favorite poems in the book so far (and the most approachable in terms of the language), about Valiant Fortruth:
Who would true Valour see,
Let him come hither;
One here will constant be,
Come wind, come weather:
There’s no Discouragement
Shall make him once relent,
His first avow’d intent
To be a Pilgrim.
Whoso beset him round
With dismal stories,
Do but themselves confound,
His Strength the more is.
No Lion can him fright;
He’ll with a Giant fight,
But he will have a right
To be a Pilgrim.
Hobgoblin, nor foul Fiend
Can daunt his spirit;
He knows, he at the End
Shall Life inherit.
Then Fancies fly away,
He’ll fear not what men say,
He’ll labour Night and Day
To be a Pilgrim.
I think this was a good choice for a book for us. My NM isn’t a big poetry fan at all but he hasn’t complained about any of these verses. I absolutely love how engaged both the boys are with the story at a degree that I didn’t expect. It did really help that there were questions for each chapter in our edition but beyond those, we do have dialogues about the characters and their experiences. The boys have been touched by the book and I really don’t want it to end (it does tomorrow). Some of what we’ve experienced so far will be indelible for J at least, since he’s named two of his stuffed animals in the manner of Bunyan. His robin is named Peaceful and his okapi is Love.
Last thing about the book…I have to re-read some parts for my own benefit. There is a point where Christiana and Christian’s boys are questioned by Prudence during their stay. Prudence gives very direct and simple object lessons when the boys ask her questions. My favorite:
“Why does fire fasten upon the candle wick?” [Matthew] inquired.
“To show us that unless grace kindles upon the heart, there will be no true Light of Life in us, ” answered Prudence.
“Why are the wick and tallow and everything spent to maintain the light of the candle?” he asked.
“To show that body and sould and everything should be at the service of and spend themselves to maintain in good condition that grace of God that is in us,” she answered.
Am I completely spent? Or am I still asking “how much”?
Town Lake Walk
Posted on | April 19, 2010 | 2 Comments
Really, I had no idea how much I missed walking around Town Lake/Lady Bird Lake. We went yesterday afternoon and walked for several hours.
Austin was wearing its Sunday best, the temps and humidity was perfect, the blooming flowers perfumed the air and it was just gorgeous. Just gorgeous!
And I had the camera the whole time…woohoo!
No, I don’t remember what he was yelling.
Green had exploded all over Austin.
We saw funny things…that’s just Austin.
I love my boys. They’re handsome. Yes Lola, that outfit was money well spent.
Of course, Sprocket came too.
The boys had to do their own thing now and then.
I just love this: happened upon four modes of transportation in one frame:
Wow, they wanted me to take their picture!
We happened to see a whole troop of cedar waxwings eating berries off a tree.
They suddenly took off because of this guy:
I told you it was gorgeous, right?
And yes, there’s more on Flickr.
Updates
Posted on | April 14, 2010 | 2 Comments
(Seems like they might be needed)
The Cardinal Saga
It continues! Today, while Mama Bird was away, I saw what I think were three eggs. They’re tiny and speckled. I guess I never thought about what they might look like, but there you are: tiny and speckled, not unlike quail eggs only not as speckle-y. She came back too quickly for me to take a photo. I think I’ll have to just be prepared in advance with the camera because she doesn’t seem to be gone for very long at all. We did get to see Papa Bird come and feed the Mama something that looked worm-ish.
When did she lay her eggs? We’re not sure. She’d been spending the better part of five or six days just sitting in the nest and rarely leaving.
The Soccer Saga
The boys had another loss however, the team as a whole has been working on their skills. The kids are noticing their improvements, too. Very good! We enjoyed watching this past weekend’s games. NM made so many attempts at goals! It was also pretty cool how they worked hard at keeping the balls and getting them from the other team. Fancy footwork, that!
The School Saga
Well…I guess not so much “saga” is it? Heh. This Friday NM gets to go with his Abba to participate in Teenpact at the State Capitol. They will go through a one-day class, led by teens, that introduces them to the legislative process and how this relates to us as Christians. Sounds fun, right? NM had to write draft his own bill, too. He originally thought it would be a good law that all children should wear only shorts (bills could be silly or serious) but he ended up writing a bill requiring gas stations to install filters on gas pumps to minimize the smell. I like it!
J has been surprising me with his reading. It seems like I really don’t raise the bar high enough for him, to his detriment. I delayed potty training for him thinking it would be too soon but it was Mom who was too slow. Same with reading! I insist he read his “beginning reader” bible when he is practically begging me to read his older brother’s NIV adventure bible. While some times he is “filling in the blanks” when reading some longer words, he *is* actually reading most of it. He’s the one who is such a strong auditory learner that he memorizes the scriptures we read so much faster than NM and I.
Speaking of memorizing scripture, I think the boys waited long enough for mom to (mostly) have Psalm 46 memorized so we’re looking into another Psalm. We might do Psalm 1 next since that was NM’s request at the beginning.
And just so you don’t forget what they look like…
I honestly have no idea what was going on in that last one, I wasn’t there. That is all.
Berry Syrup
Posted on | April 9, 2010 | No Comments
Painfully easy!
Simple syrup, even amounts of sugar and water, boiled until sugar dissolves.
While that is boiling, take a small bag of frozen berries and pulse them in a food processor until they are very fine bits.
Add frozen fruit crumbs to the boiling sugar. Bring back to a boil, lower the temp just a bit and then let it go for 5-8 minutes.
Cool. You can strain out any seeds if you are picky about that.
Do not ask why the puff pancake did not puff. I have no idea.
Cardinal Saga Continued
Posted on | April 2, 2010 | 2 Comments
Day Three:
Day Four:
To come: a video of mom fixing up the nest, taken today.
UPDATE: a video of her working on the nest:
Untitled from phisch on Vimeo.
Cardinal Saga, Day Two
Posted on | March 31, 2010 | 2 Comments
She came back to add to the nest yesterday.
Cardinals!
Posted on | March 29, 2010 | 1 Comment
My NM came to me this morning very excited to let me know there’s a bird building a nest in the bushes right outside our front/school room window.
Wow!
(Sorry it’s blurry, it’s through a screen window)
We are so excited you have no idea.
At one point, I worried that I had scared her off with the camera. She had been flying off and returning with building materials every couple of minutes so when she was gone longer, it seemed as if she was spooked by the camera (and binoculars the boys had). That was one time I was happy to be wrong (certainly not the first time). She was never spooked by our staring at her or the boys’ noise coming from inside. That’s a good thing!
Come to find out that cardinals like to have flat areas to perch, eat spiders and nuts and weed seeds and like to nest in bushes.
It’s a treat and a blessing to be able to see this happen. Stay tuned…hoping to be able to report about more!
Mayfield Park
Posted on | March 29, 2010 | No Comments
We didn’t get to do much this past week since the boys have been congested and we’ve had to deal with the tiredness that comes with that. But after church today, we headed out to Mayfield Park to take photos of the peacocks (and peahens…no one ever remembers the peahens…).
Besides peacocks, flowers:
But, really, we loved the peacocks:
And flowers:
Kinda wonder what life is like from the perspective of a lady bug. Landscapes must look very, very different.
I don’t think this is “officially” a white one, but we overheard it was just a juvenile (lensbaby!)
Aaaaand…ACTION!
I wanted photos of NM but he was sick and I didn’t think it was a good idea. He needs to kick the ball around for me some more so I can take photos of him on the grass.
***
Speaking of kicking the ball…the boys didn’t win their first game yesterday but the second was forfeited. A wise one said “This isn’t the way I wanted us to win.”
*Nod*
It was especially sad considering the opposing team got lost after driving for 2+ hours. Ref gave them 1/2 hour then another 5 minutes before he called it.
Pioneer Farms
Posted on | March 23, 2010 | 2 Comments
This past Friday was the highlight of our week off. Well, it is pretty hard to pick a high light. It’s more accurate to say this was just one of many highlights.
And you know what? I’m tired of checking the “homeschool” category box for things that happen during the week only. The rest of our hikes and Lego creations and reading really fall under that heading. Just putting it out there since it just occurred to me and I am impulsive that way.
Where was I? Friday? Pioneer Farms? Yes. Goes without saying: fun, friends, and those are all the Fs I can think of. It was hardly frivolous and there was lots to learn about from lots of people.
Like how nails weren’t commercially available until several years after the Civil War. That’s what this gentleman shared.
Another docent told us that this chestnut horse (Indian “pony” or appaloosa) has what they call a “wild eye” because you can see the whites of his eyes. He looks very skittish because of it. It’s just a coincidence that is his, in fact, very skittish. The pony in the back (a palomino but not a champagne palomino) has what they call a “kind eye” because—you guessed it—no white can be seen.
Just for fun:
The blacksmith told us that, in Pioneer days, a good blacksmith could turn out 200 nails in an hour.
Our hostess at the Jacobsen homestead told us about how the 13 children lived in their tiny, tiny home. That is to say, not very comfortably, especially if you were a boy past infant stage. You got to sleep outside or in the barn loft.
Please don’t ask me why, but I just love looking at laundry drying on a line.
Is that just me? The clothes always had such a nice smell and it was fun to walk through them when they were very damp and just hung and you could see someone’s silhouette through them. I think we need to bring back clothes lines.
A friend’s discovery as we were walking through fields (and by the way, there were so many different kinds of flowers…I was trying not to get left behind so I didn’t take too many photos). These flowers smelled like garlic.
See the fishes? The family of 15 Jacobsens’ diet was supplemented with fish from this stream which was actually part of the Chisolm Trail. Google it, it’s good for you to know about this stuff.
This was the docent that gave us the information on different horse breeds and how the horses we were feeding were the sort that were very skittish and tended to bite. But not here. Here he’s telling us about how the Tonkawa Indians of Austin used to live and how, while they were a typical patriarchal society, the only “real” property that was owned—a tipi—belonged to women. Only women and their husbands got to live and sleep in a tipi. Kids? If you aren’t nursing, you’re booted out of the tipi. Husbands? You had better bring home a nice fish or rabbit for dinner or you’re sleeping outside with the kids.
Genuine replica tipi which only women set up and tore down and transported:
Camp:
In another house, we saw a demonstration of how to card wool so it could be spun into yarn:
And we met the baby longhorn in the area behind the home:
His mama was a little concerned about how close we were to her baby. After I took this, she did express her concerns so I made sure we moved out of the way. Those longhorns live up to their name. But if they changed the name to long-and-pointy-and-not-afraid-to-use-them-horns it would be much more accurate.
There’s lots more to see over on Flickr.
While I did get lots more trivia about pioneer life, my main thought is how much I take for granted in my own time and world. Right? I know I wouldn’t have enjoyed the chore of washing clothes (hanging, maybe) or fetching water from a well or having to sleep in a loft with no screens on the windows. Who knows what makes it in the house. No insulation either. Or indoor plumbing. Or gas and electric. Or indoor plumbing.
Wouldn’t you miss indoor plumbing?
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