Hi baby! I hi-jacked your blog (guessed the password) to tell you Happy Anniversary and also to tell you how much I love you and how much I love your blog and this wonderful community of kindred spirits you’ve become intregrated with.
You’re pretty cool in my book…
Love, Husband
Originally uploaded by laluandmatt
Ta Da!
We’ve been so busy getting the house ready for school to begin. In my mind, I imagine every mom is doing this: organizing the pantry/fridge for quick and simple meals, stocking up on plastic baggies, crayons, glue sticks and paper, tracking down the extra safety scissors, and the already blogged *schedule planning* that must be done for every family, home schooled or *school* schooled. Probably a ton more planning for those having to schedule drop off and pick up times to coordinate with naps. Ugh. That’s one thing I’m glad to be rid of this year!
So I decided the *other* corner of the homeschooling room needed a serious update. Ikea to the rescue… with a whole bunch of time intensive labor from my sweetie. A little place that’s just for me… and two other adorable little ones when they are not occupied right across the room at their own project table. So far, mama’s table is much more interesting. What 2 year old could resist all those drawers!
I love looking at other people’s crafty spots. One of my favorites is This window spot from Lovely Days - (she had the blue wall color in her *making* room specially made, and it is perfect. Also, she has this amazing little business (especially if you like maps and paper and, well, beautiful things!). I’m really wanting one of her maple address card *holders* with the special papers. Completely extravagant. AND she has the most gorgeous brand new baby. Check out her website here.
And who wouldn’t want to making something here, or here or here or here or here or here? And store everything you make in here?
Originally uploaded by laluandmatt
Great-grandma turned 90 (ninety!) last week and we had a party. Guess who made her laugh the most?
It’s a pretty neat feeling to watch your babies grow up able to relate with people (you think) they have very little in common with. Humbling, that.
And Lalu sat in a big girl chair all by herself… and climbed right up on the table to grab a handful of whipped cream and strawberries!
(I’m not sure how much I’ll be writing for the next week or so… I seem to be running in a gear that is entirely focused on Thursday. Surgery day. But I’ll be posting pictures, even if the commentary may be truncated. )
dollquiltswatches
Originally uploaded by laluandmatt
My dad used to say that all the time. *in the hopper.* A strange sounding, but familiar to me, idiom. An optimistic way of saying, *it’s not quite ready yet.*
I have a bunch of little fabric scraps there… calling out for a project to show off all their colors. I’m thinking doll quilts since these squares are only a little over 3 inches. We’ll see. I need something to do with my hands while I’m in the hospital waiting room next week. And I”m just not a very good knitter or crocheter (yet!). Hand quilting sounds just right…
Originally uploaded by laluandmatt
This was me yesterday. Rudely ignoring my family and all the household chores that desperately needed doing. They had to fend for themselves through breakfast and lunch (sweetie took them on a Legoland trip for a few hours), and I barely managed to cook up the old standby bean and pasta soup (and only after an annoyed and tired daddy gave me the *you’ve got to be kidding* look around 5 pm when I said I needed to go to Staples for some lapbook supplies.) I had planned a nice trip to the library to plan our schedule. Clearly, I hadn’t realized the sheer number of books I needed to consult in order to do this. No way was I lugging all this to the library. No way. Next year, I’m going on a weekend teacher’s retreat to get this all done at once!
I spent so much time musing about the possible outcome of all this: how long we will be homeschooling, feeling like this is a test run of sorts for me, to see if I’m *up to it* and can *keep up* with our back up school testing. Our oldest is only 4 and a half. Hardly the time, I think, to be pressing him into a rigid 6 or 7 hour school schedule. But I still feel this unspoken pressure to hit some real milestones at the end of this year if I want to continue on. Maybe it’s a self-imposed expectation? But I’ve come across alot more opposition/disagreement in response to our decision to home school then I ever expected, and I’m feeling a little (a whole bunch, actually) defensive about it. And trying to keep my personal feelings separate from what I know is the right pace and schedule for my son. For those of you who are capable of taking flak for homeschooling from those around you, and not let it influence your decision making, I applaud you. For me, it’s a struggle. I really want our entire family, our friends, our environment, to be supportive of the education we choose for our kids. And it hurts when they are not.
For those of you interested, these are some of the resources I’m really excited to use (and in some cases, like the *Code* books, we already are) this year:
*Tapestry of Grace: I’m loving this. There doesn’t seem to be a good pre-made schedule for 4 or 5 year olds following the program, however, so it’s taking alot of time to map out a schedule. Basically I’m taking each 1 week unit and adding a few days. This helps it fit into our 4 day program, and leaves lots of time for projects1
*Ancient History Portfolio Junior: a really nice lapbook/notebook that works well with TOG year 1
*Explode the Code Phonics program
along with Phonics Pathways
*The Noah Plan (mostly for their philosophy of education and notebooking tips)
*Still looking for a multimedia French program. For now I have the Noah Plan french notebook and tape. It looks like a good place to start, but I’d love to supplement with some fun videos or games.
*Family Math for Young Children (I’m still trying to decide between Saxon K and Math-U-See as the main component)
*Story of the World book and activites
*Kumon mazes for pre-penmenship practice, and Spencerian theory and practice books for me. I remembered that all my favorite teachers had really nice handwriting – maybe it’s a girl thing? – and so I’m trying to at least make my own legible. Just something fun.
*A little blow up globe and preschool geography book. We’ve already done a few of these, and Matt is super excited about maps already. I think TOG provides a more substantive geography program within the units, but this is good to *ramp up* to the salt (or cookie dough!) and transparency maps. It also helps that this little blow up globe has blue water instead of the beigey oceans on our *real* globe.
*The Harp and Laurel Wreath for poetry readings. Both kids are surprisingly willing to indulge me as I read from this in the morning!
*The NEW Way Things Work, by David Macaulay. Just to break up the day a bit. It’s fascinating even for adults.
I still have quite a bit of work to do. Unlike some super planners, like the Trivium Academy. Wow. I’m experiencing a whole new level of respect for home school moms today.
Originally uploaded by laluandmatt
The long awaited baby quilt is finished and home now with the sweet girl it was intended for. It’s always hard for me to part with a project, I think, because every project entails a learning curve at this stage of my domestic education, and therefore a huge time investment. But today, I felt elation (yes, elation) when I gave it away. She literally grabbed the quilt and pranced around the fancy schmancy hair salon (she’s a stylist) showing off her present. Now, folks, this thing is full of mistakes, quilting (forgot to use the walking foot), sewing, embroidery, sizing, mistakes… all over the place. But she just gushed and gushed. And others did the same, and called me, get this, an *artist.* (I failed to point out that the artist they should thank is a Ms. Amy Butler who designed the fabrics, but, hey, I was on cloud nine and didn’t want to disillusion them).
And I learned (awfully late to be learning this) how important it is to be grateful when someone gives you something they made, and not just purchased. Because I did put a lot of time and thought into this, and I feel like a million bucks right now. My friend recognized the effort that went into it, and made sure I knew how she felt.
I LOVE getting presents. Just love it. Today, though, it was far better to GIVE .
I also named this quilt. I know. Crazy to be naming little baby quilts. But I did anyway… festival. I used some leftover chenille, and scraps from the front to complete the backing. Inspired, as always, by other crafty bloggers, but especially Rosa Palmer and Dogged Knits, both of whom I found on Flickr. In the end I did a tiny wee bit of hand-quilting, just to get a feel for it (that, and I didn’t feel like changing the thread color on my sewing machine at that moment) and I am addicted. I used the fabulous waxed hand quilting thread, which truly makes a difference, and I didn’t use a quilting hoop (or a thimble). This hand-quilting thing is so much easier to control and the results are charmingly off-kilter. Which is why, maybe, I’m in love with these adorable miniature quilts from Turkey Feathers. (While you’re there you may want to take a peek at the *Playhouse Projec* picture gallery on the right side of her blog. Super cute.)
Now I’m off to finish our homeschool schedule. My sweetie promised to watch the babies while I finished up…told him I need about 8 hours at the library. Hmmm. Hopefully I won’t get distracted.
Originally uploaded by laluandmatt
The last days of summer (for us) are here. September weather is wonderful in California too, but we’ll miss the gangs of suburbia (ages 1-11, on trikes and bikes and scooters) that gather in our front driveway every night right around 7. I think once school starts next week most of these neighborhood get-togethers will be cut short by homework, and then, inevitably, the darkness that comes so much sooner… slurking down the valley, keeping everyone cozy inside. The kids around here start school next Monday. Too early, yes?
Originally uploaded by laluandmatt
The baby quilt is still not finished, but finally gave the ever-popular embroidery a go-round last week. I look at it now, and think a 6 year old must have done that. At the time though, I was so pleased to finish it and didn’t see all the flaws so apparent in this photo. Super fun to do, and easy to pick up and put down in between snack runs and filling up the squirt guns.
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