I've waxed poetic (or talked with excitement) about this great PBS tv show called Martha Speaks. Yes it's an educational show, but unlike all the rest, it is actually well done, so funny, and enjoyed by all ages. It's MY favorite show people! And lately I've been noticing some great things coming out of the kids mouths that I can relate back to this show.
As we all know, I have the vocabulary of a long shoreman. If I need a word, I too often rely on slang jargon that sounds crass, juvenile and cheap. I don't hide this, and I have no time to care about it, for myself. The kids know I have a lazy, unimaginative vocabulary, and I encourage them to find the right word for how they feel, to not fall back on my standards.
So Leif and I are out playing tennis one day this week, and I hit it too hard to the back of the court, and he returns it with such force it clears the fence behind me and heads into the field. Then he says "Sorry Mom, but you hit it so hard to me and I had to retaliate". Oh yeah, that's a word. I would've said 'get you back'. Lazy.
I'm trying to explain the title of an Avonlea episode to Hannah. The title is a play on words, based on a common saying. I'm falling all over myself trying to explain what a saying is, it's a thing we say Hannah, to describe a moment or a feeling, but it's a standard sentence we use . . . argh. And she says "You mean it's an expression?". Thank you lord for providing me with the word I was looking for! Yes Hannah, an expression is what it is.
Hannah has been hired for a dog walking job this week. It sounded lke a great idea, a perfect opportunity for this kid who wants to have responsibilities (and money). Benny is a young shitzu type of guy who lives 2 doors away. When Hannah went for her first walk, he wouldn't leave the house with her, and their bigger golden retriever dog kept knocking her over. We're working on a solution.
Leif continues to enjoy playing hockey, watching the playoffs and tracking the hockey pool. Our wekly homeschoolers hockey days are going well, and are the highlight of his week.
Both kids have been enjoying playing a game that Leif came up with. You go in the back yard and hide somewhere in plain sight, using camouflage. So Leif wears all green and hides in the trees, for example. Then I come out and stand in one spot and try to see them.
Ivy just stands in the playhouse doorway and says "I'm in here!".
We've started lighting candles at dinner, and it has become an issue of who gets to light them (Leif or Hannah). There are 3 candles, and they've worked out a solution of how to share this task. Hannah lights 2 candles, then blows one out. Then Leif lights the remaining two. Pretty smart huh?
I'll leave you with a little chat on motivation, and how what you think motivates people doesn't really motivate people.
http://www.ted.com/talks/dan_pink_on_motivation.html
C
Monday, May 10, 2010
Sunday, May 02, 2010
Not a woolly bear but a ??(Week 35)
After such a warm winter we are now flush with caterpillars to study. But what kind are they? We've definitely got an abundance of tent caterpillars in our apple tree. Leif and Hannah and Ivy spent hours up in the tree trying to collect and remove them. But we've run across a caterpillar that I recognise from childhood, it must be a common BC bug, but we cannot find it in any books or websites. When we search for 'orange hairy caterpillar BC' we only get returns on the woolly bear caterpillar, which is not the one we're looking for. No, I did not remember to snap a picture of it to show you.
We are all about celebrating the arrival of Spring around here. We finally cleared off the table and are really working to keep it clear, and our motivation for this is our lovely spring table display, some found nests, my first knit and felted nest and a newly knit and felted bunny.
Inspired by this, Hannah made a sign for all of us to remind us of the celebratory feeling of a new season
(Throw off your coats it's springtime!) (with a drawing of Leif about to fall back into a lawn chair under an umbrella, Happy birds and Ivy floating through the sky.)
And what is Spring without May Day? The complementary celebration to Hallowe'en, May Day is a celebration to bless the coming growing season and celebrate all growth, from plants to baby animals. We have a homeschoolers May Day each year out in Saanich and this year was as lovely as always.
One part of May Day is the pocket lady, who has an apron full of pockets with little treasures inside. You reach in and get a surprise. This year I had such fun making these super-cute pinecone necklaces (based on these) for the pocket lady. I love the fat little pinecones with their crocheted tops!
Another new, spring-like thing that happened this week was this:
My darling fellow got a haircut (at mama's salon of course!). His long hair was beloved, but hard to take care of when you are forever losing the hair elastics you need for aikido and soccer (we're talking 3 elastics a week). We found a style that blended the familiar longer hair in the front with much easier-to-care-for short hair in the back and sides. It looks awesome!
His first appearance with his new do was at his first soccer game on his new team. He made a fantastic save as keeper on a corner kick, tipping it up and over the net with his fingers. The crowd cheered!
Leif's been challenged this week with the concept of disappointment. He learned of a local street hockey league that he'd LOVE to join, but it is impossible with his other classes to fit it in. And his team jersey for soccer most likely will not have his chosen number on the back. :( These are big things for him. But the upside is that over time, the disappointments do not seem so huge, and do feel manageable, which is exactly the lesson to learn from them. Sigh. Growing up can be a bitch at times.
I scored this brain teaser at a yard sale and Leif works on it a little each day.
Hannah is bursting with creative ideas these days (when is she not?). This resulted in a new necklace for me:
And one for Ivy:
And a simple lunch time meal was another avenue for Hannah to think outside the box. Who wants a boring old plate of veggies and tofu when you can make it a forest of intrigue and design?
Through some ingenious re-arranging on my part (I split our L sofa into 2 sofas. Not possible? I beg to differ!) Hannah's drum kit could get space front-and-center in the living room.
Now there is light and an audience, and Hannah (and others) are inspired to experiment on the drums throughout the day. Woohoo!
We've been soaking up the Sun whenever we can, and this includes 3D puzzles and boardgames on the finished front patio.
This T-Rex puzzle posed some challenges as it was bought used and so came without any instructions. I actually thought this was good, as we had to think about his body and relate the bones to our own bodies, and then group them by shape and size. Now that he's built, where oh where to put him?
This is Ivy's favorite game, Peter Rabbit's burrows and paths (think snakes and ladders), and it is challenging, both numerically and spatially. We play it any chance we get!
Happy May!!
Caelen
We are all about celebrating the arrival of Spring around here. We finally cleared off the table and are really working to keep it clear, and our motivation for this is our lovely spring table display, some found nests, my first knit and felted nest and a newly knit and felted bunny.
Inspired by this, Hannah made a sign for all of us to remind us of the celebratory feeling of a new season
(Throw off your coats it's springtime!) (with a drawing of Leif about to fall back into a lawn chair under an umbrella, Happy birds and Ivy floating through the sky.)
And what is Spring without May Day? The complementary celebration to Hallowe'en, May Day is a celebration to bless the coming growing season and celebrate all growth, from plants to baby animals. We have a homeschoolers May Day each year out in Saanich and this year was as lovely as always.
One part of May Day is the pocket lady, who has an apron full of pockets with little treasures inside. You reach in and get a surprise. This year I had such fun making these super-cute pinecone necklaces (based on these) for the pocket lady. I love the fat little pinecones with their crocheted tops!
Another new, spring-like thing that happened this week was this:
My darling fellow got a haircut (at mama's salon of course!). His long hair was beloved, but hard to take care of when you are forever losing the hair elastics you need for aikido and soccer (we're talking 3 elastics a week). We found a style that blended the familiar longer hair in the front with much easier-to-care-for short hair in the back and sides. It looks awesome!
His first appearance with his new do was at his first soccer game on his new team. He made a fantastic save as keeper on a corner kick, tipping it up and over the net with his fingers. The crowd cheered!
Leif's been challenged this week with the concept of disappointment. He learned of a local street hockey league that he'd LOVE to join, but it is impossible with his other classes to fit it in. And his team jersey for soccer most likely will not have his chosen number on the back. :( These are big things for him. But the upside is that over time, the disappointments do not seem so huge, and do feel manageable, which is exactly the lesson to learn from them. Sigh. Growing up can be a bitch at times.
I scored this brain teaser at a yard sale and Leif works on it a little each day.
Hannah is bursting with creative ideas these days (when is she not?). This resulted in a new necklace for me:
And one for Ivy:
And a simple lunch time meal was another avenue for Hannah to think outside the box. Who wants a boring old plate of veggies and tofu when you can make it a forest of intrigue and design?
Through some ingenious re-arranging on my part (I split our L sofa into 2 sofas. Not possible? I beg to differ!) Hannah's drum kit could get space front-and-center in the living room.
Now there is light and an audience, and Hannah (and others) are inspired to experiment on the drums throughout the day. Woohoo!
We've been soaking up the Sun whenever we can, and this includes 3D puzzles and boardgames on the finished front patio.
This T-Rex puzzle posed some challenges as it was bought used and so came without any instructions. I actually thought this was good, as we had to think about his body and relate the bones to our own bodies, and then group them by shape and size. Now that he's built, where oh where to put him?
This is Ivy's favorite game, Peter Rabbit's burrows and paths (think snakes and ladders), and it is challenging, both numerically and spatially. We play it any chance we get!
Happy May!!
Caelen
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