$ Store Fun

I am a big fan of the dollar store. Yeah, I know there is a lot of plastic crap there. But there are also some awesome homeschool finds!

This autumn, our local dollar store had some great science experiment kits. Nothing too sophisticated, but definitely worth a dollar a pop! I bought several, stuck them in a bag, and stuck that bag in the closet for... the FEBRUARY DOLDRUMS!

The kids were bored today, after having been out in the snow for several hours, washing dishes, and dancing around. I brought out the bag and suggested they find something in there to do.

Delight! They are in the kitchen right now cooking up scientific concoctions.

Dino puzzle

Crystal growing tree

Gel balls. Squishy. Grow your own balls.

Dollar Store finds

Gel balls before squishy.

On another note, our dollar store carries those cheesy classroom supplies... you know, the bulletin board banners, attendance charts, and all the kind of stuff you would find at ...well, here: http://www.dollartree.com/teachers-supplies/208/index.cat

I picked up some giant calendars, and an attendance chart for each child's chores. They are working out great. I love the transparency of seeing four months worth of schedule on the wall for all to see. The kids thrive on the predictability too, and as they get older contribute a lot to the schedule.

Family Soup

Big Sister has been curious about some of the ingredients mentioned on the cooking shows she watches, so on an impulse, we picked up shallots at the grocery store last week.
Tonight when I decided to make chicken and vegie soup, this seemed a perfect time to let Big Sis try them out. She peeled and diced them, then sauteed the shallots until translucent, and then carried on to the caramelization point, where I deglazed with chicken broth. This made for a deliciously rich and flavorful soup!

The kids have been pitching in a lot with 'things to be done around the house'. Each week one child is in charge of the bathroom, the other the kitchen. The bathroom is the favored task as it merely involves wiping the toilet and sink down with cloths, taking out the garbage, and refilling the cats' water that is in there.
The kitchen is a little more complicated, but so far requires dishes to be gathered and rinsed, and put away when clean. Garbage should be taken out, as well as recycling. But the kitchen gets SO much use, that this feels like a never ending and pointless job sometimes!

Yesterday, the kids got to go to an engineering open house at our local museum. This was very exciting for Big Sis who wants to major in engineering in a few years. We learned more about a civil engineering program right up Big Sis's alley- Engineers Without Borders! And also about material engineering. A great uncle from France was a metalurgist with Caterpillar during the second World War, and the tradition has continued strong at Cat. Fascinating presentations!

The week before that, the kids enjoyed a private 'Green Tour' of the museum building's construction, presented by the CEO of the museum. Two LEED certified architects also participated in the tour and where full of information for our family. Ninety minutes of one on one time learning about the green techniques utilized in this facility were well appreciated!

Stations of the Cross

...breathe...

I realized this morning that I have spent the last 3 years worried about losing my right to homeschool the kids. It seems so obvious and blatant, but looking back, there was good reason to worry. I clenched my teeth to get through an awful abusive relationship and divorce, and forgot, somehow, to unclench them when the real danger passed.
For a while, I was at risk of losing my home, and then my kids.It was not through any fault of my own, but because of a legal system that can be incredibly punishing to women and children. If I went homeless, I had literally planned to live in my van in a Walmart parking lot. I hear you can camp there any time. Only a month after the year long journey to securing a mortgage for my house in my name, I learned of a friend who was attempting to care for another woman in that exact situation. Sleeping in the Walmart parking lot in her van at night, sending the kids to school and herself to work during the day. This in the middle of winter as well.
There is more that I won't go into on this blog entry. Suffice to say that it has been hard. Excruciating. Frightening.
Things are still hard. Very hard. But I do not see that I or the kids are in great danger. Things are calming down. The likelihood of someone taking what we have is slim. And I realize I need to relax and savor these homeschool days.
This will be hard work, but as a friend reminds me, I am the baby being birthed, not the birthing mother. Is that a strange thing to say? I told my friend that I feel like I am on the verge of a re-birth. I am shedding the old weariness and abuse and divorce recover, and ready to take on a new mantle.
My friend said, what if you are not the one GIVING birth. YOU do not have to do the labor for this particular transition. YOU are the baby. And what do babies do to be born? Not much. The ride that undulating wave and slide on in to this world. It is ok for me to not WORK SO HARD during this latest transition.
She says all this knowing that I am usually going to Herculean efforts to induce change.
Could it be that I must merely enjoy this latest ride? Then who is in charge? Who is my birth mother?
And of course, the answer is automatic, arriving before I even finish the question. God. The Universe. My cosmic Mother Mary. As if I ever had control over those great things. My Heavenly Father and Blessed Mother are in charge.
So today, my only job is to receive. I will be conscious and savor what we have here. What I have built for my children in the good and just shelter of the Universe and its Creator. Mary's starry mantle flows around me in support and inspiration like deep blue waters carrying me forward into the world.
I am being birthed right here where I belong.

Lent 2013

Today is the anniversary of our family's entrance into the Church and also Valentine's Day! We celebrated with 50 homeschool kids by bowling at the Christian Center and exchanging Valentines!

I've been getting out the Lenten accoutrements... a set of candle holders from Ikea that will help us count down the days until Easter, some icons, and a special project to place our stations of the cross in little pop sickle stick shelters.

A candle for every day of Lent.... White for the week days and colored for Sunday.

Each day leads us closer to Easter!

At Easter is an icon of Jesus... I don't have an icon of the Resurrection.

Pop sickle stick project....

Little houses for each station of the cross

Bowling with the boys at the Christian Center

Passing out Valentines