The Week in Review

I don't always have the time to sit and write...but I do usually have the time to take enough pictures to fill a book. Here are a few of my favorites from this past week.

Peace

Ella spending a homeschooling field trip on the Potomac River.

My hidden truth -- the state of my kitchen most days.

The start to some beautiful spatter-paint creations.

Ella's first cupcake recipe - Marshmallow Madness. Expect to see her on a baking show in another 20 years.

Natural learning at its finest.

We welcomed a new cousin on Thursday. This is my altar for such things.

An important and overdue day of 'reconnection' for these two. About to explore the creek via kayak!

She looks both grown-up and so young in this picture.

Happy & Confident.

I was the only one to actually get a fish. A big score for the mom who paddles slow and gets everyone wet.

Yes! He IS sitting on a rock in the middle of the Potomac. Sound judgement was trumped by carpe diem.

My favorite part

Handmade bobbins for Ella's sewing kit

What is my favorite part of the 'unschooling/homeschooling/interest-led' life? Getting to just say yes, in the interest of learning.

Here are a few pictures to describe what we've said 'yes' to today.

Shanty-town

And it's my belief, the more I say yes, the easier the no's will be. I'm building confident, self-assured children that believe in themselves. If I said no to all their ideas, wouldn't this teach them that their ideas aren't any good?! Saying yes to painting, or creating, or constructing is very, very different than saying yes to poor behavior, disrespectful actions, or material 'wants.' 

How do you view the word 'yes' in your house? Is it 'yes' when it meets your needs AND the kids' needs? How many yes's are allowed that completely trump your need for cleanliness, organization, &/or control?

It's a 'yes' kind of mood over here.

Handpainted tree for our family tree project

Creative painting before lunch

The start to some cookies

The stacking of mattresses - I have no idea why

#photoadayjuly

For the last few months I've been 'participating' in a 'photo a day' challenge. It's a personal challenge but it originated from another blog and a list of topics for each day of the month. It's been a fun and creative way for me to document my life through a frame of reference given through a list of topics. One idea for each day.I take a picture and then upload it to the crafty app 'Instagram.'

I've taken a few of my very favorite pictures by looking at my life through these pre-determined themes. This picture was taken with the theme 'bathroom' in mind...I took a picture of a grouping of plants out in our backyard. How does this relate to a bathroom? Any bathroom? Well sometimes, uhhh a lot of times, it's just easier for these four nature kids to pee on a plant. For the neighbors that care, we have some good barrier trees giving us privacy. For the neighbors that don't, their kids know that routine. So...when the topic of 'bathroom' came up on the 'picture a day' challenge, I knew right where to go, pun intended.

This is another favorite of mine. The topic was 'shadow.' I have an affinity for trees, especially 'tree of life' images. Years ago we received a beautiful metal tree that hangs on our back patio. I'm not sure how I came to the idea of photographing it as my 'shadow' picture but I did. The sun was coming in our front door so perfectly. I just propped-up the sculptured tree and took the shot. Teh tree shadow against the hardwood floor - yum. I just love this picture.

Some pictures can be very meaningful. Actually, it's what I find 'challenging' about this kind of challenge...taking a topic and transforming it into something deeply meaningful. A picture that will ignite memories and emotion. Or, perhaps, a picture that is a statement. A statement or icon that encapsulates a philosophy that I/we live by. This next picture is a statement about our food philosophy. If I could have taken a picture of our farmers market, I would have combined the two. It's taken our family about three years to make this change from box-store foods to locally produced. We eat approximately 80-85% locally grown. Our meats, milk & eggs come from a local farm. Our seasonal fruits come from a local farm. Our seasonal vegetables come from our backyard. There is meaning and purpose in our choices for food. I love this picture because it answered the topic 'where you shop.'

And isn't 'meaning', and finding it, what life's all about? I try to find it in everything - good and bad. When I was terribly sick for four days, barely making it out of bed for longer than an hour, I reflected back and thought...'How brilliant! This illness gave me time, permission actually, to sit and color quietly with the kids for hours on end. It gave me an opportunity to ask for what I needed, and then receive care & compassion from my husband...without the guilt a young mother can feel when she's asking others for help.' Meaning is everywhere, just waiting to be interpreted. And it's the interpretation that can grow us or kill us. I could have been pissed about getting sick. It was the first long weekend we've had with Adam in months. He had four days off in a row and I was sick for each one of them. And it was Fathers Day, no less. We missed a party. We missed a nature hike. I missed playing in the pool. But for all these misses I gained some perspective - coloring and laughing are a priority, clean laundry is not. Being a role model for my kids about of healthy self-care is a priority, playing martyr and complaining about it is not. I don't feed a cold and starve a fever - I don't even know what the hell does this means? You follow your body and if it's hungry, you eat. If not, you don't. I lived off of watermelon and fresh cherries for four days. And hot water with a little lemon.

Meaning is everywhere. It's one of my most favorite internal exercises - finding meaning. It's difficult to do sometimes, especially when there is tragedy. And I consider my life void of many tragedies so perhaps this is why I have an easier time coming to meaningful conclusions. Or perhaps the void is due to my perspective...I see few things as tragedies; is this why I haven't experienced many? There are opportunities for growth and learning in every experience. Even the miserable ones. So, in my moments of despair &/or negative thinking - in turn, destructive thinking - I dig deep and see how different the composition of my life would be without said experience. Life is a living, breathing, force to be reckoned with - when I fight it, I become tired & exhausted. I do better surrendering to the journey. If I hold on too tight, my hands just end up bruised and blistered.

Ella & her wood-polishing work

I'd like to continue sharing some of photo challenges with you. In case you are curious about it for yourself, I follow the blog fatmumslim and she publishes the 'photoaday' challenges each month. Maybe it'll spark your creative side. In the meantime, here are two pictures from yesterday - topic was 'work.' the kids did a lot of 'work' yesterday.

Oliver doing silver-polishing

The Creepy Crawlies

It's our first official week of summer! I'm in my element in the summer....no schedule, no lunches to pack (unless it's a cooler for all of us.) I love summer - the pace, the heat, the boredom. Yes, even the boredom. In this fast-paced world we live in, where children are as over-scheduled and stressed-out as adults, I find boredom to be a sign of accomplishment. Ella starts most mornings with the questions, 'Do we have a plan today?' I enjoy the feeling of saying no. 'Nope. No plan. We'll just see what the day brings us.' Sometimes this is an acceptable answer, and sometimes not.

Don't worry. The kids have things to do. Have you seen our backyard? It's a mecca of kid-friendly things...a firepit, a playground, a sandbox, a fairy-house garden, an actual garden - with food, a backporch, a zip-line, a driveway for bikes and chalk. And the pool. Can't forget the POOL! (though I do find it amusing that we had a week of hot weather, just prior to the end of school, but now we're in the upper-60s/lower-70s.) I keep promising the return of heat. It will come, just be patient.

But boredom is the catalyst for many things...and at this age, when messes and boredom-driven mistakes are minor, it usually means imaginations can kick into high-gear. Better yet, boredom can mean it's time to learn! For those who haven't heard, we will be homeschooling next year. Calum will return to Montessori for his Kindergarten year (such an important year!), while Ella & I navigate our way through the subjects. I 'declare' her as a homeschooler in just a few months, but we've been teaching & learning at home all year. Many friends and family ask, 'When will you 'officially' begin homeschooling? When will you start, officially?' I tend to smile at this question -- I remember asking it of my friends, and now realize why they also smiled. 'Well. I guess I officially started homeschooling on August 1st, 2005, and haven't really stopped since.' You see, homeschooling, at least the way we plan on doing it, is just an extension of what we already do. My kids are home with me, and this means two things...1) my house is usually a mess, and 2) I get to encourage & support their learning.
This month, June, is BUG month. Everything bugs. We have bug books. We have a bug calendar, thanks to Carisa over at 1+1+1=1. We have YouTube and all its Bug-glory. We have the State Arboretum near us, along with a host of nature trails . We have monarch caterpillars headed our way from Insect Lore. I have 'parts of a bug' activities and 'life-cycle' work, galore! But best of all...we have a backyard, and four kids that like to talk about bugs.
 Here's how this whole 'teaching at home' thing works for us. Here's how it plays out in our day. Most days, I try to have an 'invitation to play' activity. An 'invitation to play' is simply something I've planned and set-up for the kids to do. Planning can take days...or 7 seconds. Just all depends on my mood, their mood, and the amount of caffeine coursing through my veins.

Our first Bug'esque activity was to make melted crayon butterflies. We started by peeling and compiling a bunch of old crayons. Interestingly, Oliver is the only one who saw this part of the project all the way through. He has some staying-power, I tell ya. We see it more and more everyday. Give him a job and he'll do it like no-bodies business. The rest of the crew took some time sorting, peeling, and smashing the crayons but after about 15-minutes, they had moved on. 'Tis fine. Oliver and I spent some extra time together learning our colors (age-appropriate learning opportunity #1.) And I got an extra turn with the rolling pin beating the hell out of a plastic bag full of crayon bits (HUGE stress-reliever, all in the name of kids craft!) After some lessons on patience, turn-taking, color-mixing, thermal energy, and safety (age-appropriate learning opportunities #2, 3, 4, 5, & 6) - we had these little beauties to hang in our kitchen.

An hour or so following our crayon-melting excitement, Oliver and Adam found a Cicada nymph in the backyard. Adam must have dug it up while doing some yard-work and Ollie, always on the lookout for something to impress the older brother, saw the baby bug. This little creature provided me with two hours, TWO HOURS, of  uninterrupted & focused learning, for all of us. Here's how it went down....Bug discovered. Bug book retrieved. Cicada nymph identified. Description of said bug, read. Questions emerge. Computer booted. Life-cycle information gathered. Cicada-video watched - http://youtu.be/tjLiWy2nT7U. Questions emerge. Expansion of subject continues. Multiple bug videos observed. Computer error occurs (Calum hit the wrong button.) BAM! Now we're on to awesome-cool science experiments. Another 45-minutes passes and the kids now have me trying to find a dry-ice resource so we can do a handful of these science experiments. I got saved by a birthday party...otherwise, I would have been foraging for dry-ice

Daddy couldn't resist...

We had great weather over the weekend and on Sunday, we got out of the house and onto a trail. On the way there, I asked the kids what kind of creatures we might see on the trail...turtles, bees, butterflies, wombats, rattlesnakes, and cougars all topped the list. They were most excited for the creek, which was our eat-drink-and be merry point. We'd eat there, and drink there, and probably get a little muddy there. Turns out, I was right.

Being ever so careful in keeping her skirt dry.

Mud

From our adventure to the creek, we now have a list of little creatures that we identified. This week, I will find pictures of those little bugs, print and laminate them, add some written labels and Calum can practice his letters & sounds (age-appropriate learning activity #7,) and Ella can practice alphabetizing them (#8) and perhaps write a story about our adventure. It's time to introduce some writing concepts to her so we will explore the 'beginning, middle, and end' of our narrative (#9.)

The setup

 And this brings us to yesterday and today. Yesterday's invitation to play was to make a bug using re-purposed egg cartons, googly eyes, glue, paint, and pipe-cleaners. Providing very little direction and hoping for some cool creations, I watched as each child explored these materials. Ollie and Drew were first and Calum waited until three minutes before bedtime. Ella, as usual, learned from the mistakes of the twins (too much paint takes a VERY long time to dry,- #10) but wanted her bug all but completed before Calum's bug....nothing like a healthy dose of sibling rivalry.

This was the scene halfway through...

You'll have to wait until tomorrow to see the four finished bugs. We have some interesting leg positions, colors, and eye-amounts. I suspect the painting isn't over and that we'll need some additional embellishments (glitter, stickers, spiny things) as these little things take shape.

And last night, before bed, I created a butterfly for our learning wall (the big wall in our office that seems to be a great place for visual learning.) I plan to add an ant and a spider but for now, the butterfly is our start. I labeled this pretty little thing (learning opportunity #11) and made labels for Ella. Today, when she is looking to do some quiet, challenging work, she can alphabetize the labels and practice writing them in her journal (#12 & 13.) I wrote the parts of a butterfly in Calum's handwriting book and he can practice his penmanship as well (#14.) I will also spend some time with him today reviewing the letter sounds on our wall (#15.) He'll be reading in no time...
 Our morning hours today will be filled with a host of learning opportunities...math, science, language, health, manners, etc. We're headed in for some annual check-ups --- all four at the doctors office, in a room fit for two. This should be interesting... 

Shall we dance?

A quick post this morning. Our family is settling in to that lazy schedule of a long, summer weekend. Too bad it's the last day of said weekend. Regardless, the next nine hours will be a slow dance between us and summer - a prelude for the weeks to come. So, with the sound of our neighborhood dogs barking their arguments, let the screeching from the pool, ice melting in the wide-mouth Ball jar, Popsicles dripping down elbows, music floating out from the house, hazy, lazy days of summer begin.

                                   

Lest we run into stormy weather

My kids had a great day today; they got to play with their cousin. Their 22 yr old, recent college graduate cousin, Chelsea! Chelsea joined us for the day, arriving 7 seconds after the last bite of breakfast was taken. She got to see the ebb and flow of our day. The good, the bad, the crying. It's how we roll over here. You gotta go with the flow, or you are going to drown. A walk down to our duckpond and the arrival of a flying little beauty helped give me the reinforcement I was desperately needing to hear. Let me begin...

I love taking note of my surroundings. I love when a cloud is alone in the ocean-blue sky, or when a troop of flowers is dancing in the breeze. I am especially fascinated by the symbolic meanings of animals and insects. Symbolic meanings? Huh? Ok, here's my take on creature symbolism...a cricket. You're not supposed to kill a cricket for fear of bad luck. Most people have heard this. Most creatures are symbolic, in one culture or another. These meanings intrigue me and I love the chance to relate a meaning back to my life...my day...my moments.

A dragonfly followed us home from the duckpond today. We took a walk down to the pond to see how it looked after last night's crazy storms. We saw the newly emerged lilypads, green in their splendor. I reminded the kids to walk quietly around the pond so we could hear all the frogs escaping from their sunbathing on the bank. We saved a tadpole that wandered to far from the safety of its wet habitat. We examined half eaten tadpoles and talked about the ecosystem and the food chain of the pond. And then Calum spotted it - the first dragonfly of the season. I'm not sure why this excites us but it does, and we're ok with our weirdness. We remembered last year when our front yard was swarmed by them. For a week straight and at dusk, our front yard would come alive with these beauties. Hundreds of them. It was glorious, and I was fascinated. I get excited just thinking about it!

Today's single dragonfly was an exciting sight and we left the duckpond talking about all the creatures that come and go, as the cycle of the seasons goes on and on. Imagine our surprise when we got home to find a solo dragonfly hanging out on our back porch. Now, who knows if it was the same dragonfly...the odds that it wasn't are just as good as the odds that it was. The mere fact in seeing two, looking pretty darn identical, was enough for me to take note. What was this dragonfly trying to tell me? There's always a lesson. A meaning. And this dragonfly carried a good one.

Today was an exceptionally good day. We enjoyed our time with Chelsea. The kids stayed in motion most of the day. We ate good eats. We played good play. I was trying hard to anticipate activities for the kids. I didn't want them to spend this precious time with their cousin watching tv. So we painted. And beaded. And playdough'd. And fairy house'd. And ate snack straight off the vine. We floated from one activity to the next. I just tried to say 'yes' as much as I could, today. Yes, we can paint! Yes, we can go for a walk! Yes, let's go harvest the snap peas (even though they are barely of size...) Yes, let's capture that massive hornet and watch what it does in a plastic Tupperware container - lid on tight of course! --- note to self....research symbolic meaning for bees.---- I've learned over the years, it's truly better to just say yes. And, honestly, much easier. And I don't mean saying yes to the ridiculous, and by ridiculous I mean riding the bike without a helmet or allowing the kids to poke small metal objects into the electrical sockets in the name of science. Saying YES to their creative needs - paint, playdough, sewing, mud, sand, mud AND sand AND water - saying yes to these things, regardless of how I feel about the cleanup, makes for a smoother ride. And the kids feel nurtured and fulfilled. Just follow the spirit and interest of the children, and one can usually get through the day without any major squalls. Mind you, there is always a time of day when everything comes crashing down in a fiery mess of emotions and low blood sugar, or high blood sugar for that matter. My measurement of success is how the kids feel as they cuddle down into bed. If they feel peaceful, and free, and loved, well then, I've done my job.

           'As a creature of wind and water, the dragonfly represents change. It's iridescent wings are incredibly sensitive to the slightest breeze, and so we are reminded to heed where the proverbial 'wind' blows - lest we run into stormy weather.'

Our little visitor from the pond came to our home midday. I quickly read the above symbolic description of the dragonfly and noted to myself how much I felt like that creature...getting blown from one activity to the next, and trying to avoid that 'stormy weather.' But I then took great comfort in recognizing that this is exactly how it should be. My proverbial 'wind' is the attention and interest, and needs, of my children. And it's my deepest, deepest desire that these four creatures grow from a place of confidence, trust, love, and joy. Peace and harmony are two words that are attached to the symbolic definitions of the dragonfly - being at peace with ones work/life and in harmony with nature. We are trying very hard over here to be these very two things. In a world that doesn't always respect these desires.

What a wonderful little gift this little winged-spirit brought forth today. And how lucky for me that I could receive it.

Wingman

My boys. These boys. Calum & Oliver. What can I say, they are my boys. They can live here until I die. They can dig as many holes in the yard as they want. They can eat as many Goldfish and cheese sticks as their child-sized bellies can hold. They can burp. They can smell like sweat. I don't care. And I won't care, especially if they continue to quietly support, encourage, and love their sisters as they did so honestly today. Let me explain.

Today was full of excitement and motion, as most days are around here. Tuesdays are Pizza Day at school and this means I have an extra half-hour or so to give the kids some latitude and space. With Mommy's calm mood and extra shot of patience, Ella usually prepares breakfast on Tuesdays. Today was oatmeal. I've made oatmeal once every week for the last two years. Ella makes it today and both boys stand as audience, offering their encouragement and accolades. Once said oatmeal is cooled (by ten minutes of constant blowing and one lightheaded mother,) the boys 'mmmm-mmmm' and 'so good' their way through their bowls, with a 'Thank you' at the end. They were spot on....having little to do with the oatmeal and much to do with their oldest sister needed a few extra strokes today, Calum & Oliver delivered the sweet. Nothing was ever said. No one had a meltdown to which the boys were responding. Nope. It was just the unspoken connection between siblings. When one needs a lift, the others are there. Next example...

The twins and I had plans for a play date after school drop-off. I admit, these youngest two have it good. WAY way good. Did Ella get Popsicles at three? No. Were Ella and Calum ever allowed to stay up past 830? Hell no. Number three and number four get the best of us. We are calm parents after four. Calm or brain-dead (we often try to define the difference), either way, I love the parent I've become after these years...mostly. One thing to improve is getting these youngest kids out of our house. Today we were headed out for a play date. It was the best kind of play date - just my two and one other; the kids all familiar with one another. My peer, a close close friend. I even had the kitchen cleaned before leaving. It was unfolding to be the perfect morning. And then they crept in. Nerves. Anxiety. Fear. We know these mates well here in the Levy family. Anxiety runs as thick as blood. But this morning it caught me off guard, for the one that was anxious was NOT the nervous kind.

Drew started to hedge. She was nervous. Most days, she takes no prisoners and has little use for fools, but she is her father's daughter - a creature of habit. And she was leaving her domain, her kingdom, her fortress, for another. Thankfully, her prince was beside her. As they both shuffled down the back steps, Oliver popped his fingers out of his mouth, did the obligatory slobber wipe-off on his shorts, and took her hand, saying 'Don't worry Drew-Drew. You 'wuv' Sydney [the friend we were headed to see] and I am coming too.' And with that, her confidence returned and we were off. It was a great morning and yet, the best was yet to come.

Fast forward several hours and you find my four surrounding a large bucket that has been made into a makeshift hospital bed. We found an injured bird in our driveway. I noticed the bird around lunchtime. No one else noticed the bird until we got home from school. Ella spotted the injured avian before turning into the drive. This child, my oldest, has this innate ability to sense trauma and can easily channel the EMTs from across her extended family as she micro-manages a rescue scene. It wasn't long before the injured dove had a safe and comfortable resting area - safe from our neighborhood predators (cats, hawks, and Mr. McGregor and his hoe, ie BB Gun.) She secured birdseed and water, and sat with that bird trying to anticipate its very next move. And by 'move' I mean sad flapping and falling over. I have no idea what happened to that poor bird but it was broken, and I needed to figure out a way to fix it. This being said, I am well-aware of my limits and veterinarian far surpasses my expertise. I quickly made some calls and had a name and address for a wildlife rehab person.

I popped outside with excitement and told the children our plans....eat dinner, load the kids and this dove - the symbol for peace, as Ella discovered in her encyclopedia while trying to learn 'everything I can about this special bird, Mommy!' - and deliver the injured animal to the rehab person. It seemed perfect, and full of learning potential.

Enter heartbreak. Enter that life-lesson of giving something up in order to take care of it. Enter the drama of a six year old. The tears flow. The wailing ensues. 'My bird.. My bird.... What ever will happen with my bird...' I'm used to this, and so are the kids. We all just take deep breaths and roll with the emotional waves. It's fine. It's cool. It's Ella. We know her well. We also love her very, very much. The patter never clearer than tonight when her brother, Calum, commended her bed-building - 'you made a really good bed, Ei' (pronounced 'eye'...I don't know why. He's called her this since he started making sounds) and commended her nurturing, 'Look, Ei, the bird isn't flapping around. I think you made it feel safe.' And as he patiently waited for her to catch her breath and regain some emotional control, and when she did saying, 'You really do know how to fix things, Ella, just like doc mcstuffins. You are so cool and you're not even a cartoon. You are real.' As he said all these wise things, giving her the very words she needed to mend her little heart, he gave her the exact gift exchanged just hours earlier by the youngest two. He gave her the gift of presence, and unconditional love. She could be scared, and sad, and freely feel this way because it was ok. He was with her. He was her wingman. And isn't that ALL a girl really wants, in any boy. We all just want an emotional wingman.

Fear not, father of two teenage girls. There will be two teenage boys keeping things in check. And at present, they are both doing a fine, fine job.