Little Red House

2006-12-20T12:10:00.000-08:00

orange poppies

2006-06-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

Garden, Grindstone, Good Grief

2006-06-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Ok so it's been a while since I posted. Life got busy. After moving to town and hating it, we relocated yet again. Now I live in Monmouth, a jewel among towns, where I hope to stay for a good long while. We're renting a cute little bungalow in a neighborhood of cute little bungalows, and ours is on the last street on the edge of 'town' so the back yard opens out onto farmland. Everything I need from town is withing walking distance and I spend a good deal of time walking here and there. I have a good sized front yard with some immature cherry trees, a dogwood, a Japanese maple and lots of birdhouses, and a big back yard with an apple tree, poplars, and raised beds, in which I'm growing pumpkins this year. I just put in some zinnias, gazanias, and impatients in the front bed and one gorgeous electric-salmon pink dahlia that blows my mind every time I look out the window. I also put in a Japanese painted fern that Maria gave me back at the red house (I've been packing it around, I love it so) and as soon as this blessed rain pauses, I have a rhody to put in and Addison's hydrangea needs a spot to grow.

So I've been gardening and teaching and toddler chasing these past couple of months, trying to get the kids all caught up on their schoolwork. We're a bit behind, having moved twice this year, and I want them back on schedule by fall, so our noses are firmly affixed to the grindstone. In an effort to get back to art history, which I dropped about a year ago, I printed out several paintings by DaVinci and posted them on the wall for the kids to take a look at. One of the paintings I chose was Lady with an Ermine. I pointed out the ferret to Rosie, my little animal lover, and then I went on to give a brief biography of Da Vinci...his work on human anatomy, his famous frescoes, the lure of the Mona Lisa, his attempts at invention. Rosie was thoroughly impressed. "I didn't know a ferret could do all that!"

2006-05-31T21:12:00.000-07:00

sash logo

Much Ado About Moving

2006-01-10T12:29:00.000-08:00

Moving day is fast approaching (Jan 22) and I am utterly unprepared. This is by far the most difficult move I have ever contemplated. We have been here for three years, a lifetime record for me, and we have spread our little mess over all two and a half acres. Thankfully, the good Lord spared me the task of sorting through the things down in the basement when he let loose the deluge last week. Fourteen inches of water later it's all trash, for which I am grateful. I have so much to go through before I can head to the new place. It's all a little overwhelming.
Things I will miss about living here:
my rabbits
the kids playing safely outside for hours
the quiet
my garden
the deer and cattle and horses
the plum tree
hearing the coyotes at night
calling my blog Little Red House ( Little Orangish-Brownish-Yellow Duplex is somehow lacking...)
Things I will not miss:
the cold
the dark
the slippery, steep stairs
the mud
the cold
the dark
the impossibility of keeping this house clean
having only two useable bedrooms, only one with heat
the cold
the dark
being so far from friends and shopping
the mold and dust that comes with an old house
the cold
the dark
Mostly I think I will miss the idea of living here. I have never been settled in one place, and I thought I would like it. I thought I would like the stability and security but instead it feels stagnant. It's just not my time to stay put yet. Maybe it never will be, and I guess that's ok too. I'm already thinking about where I will go after this next place. I love the change in pace and lifestyle. I love a fresh start. I love moving. I love how much packing time can be bought with a dollop of Cool Whip on the highchair tray.

2005-12-08T21:57:00.000-08:00

I love cigarettes and the people who smoke them. I know it’s wrong. I know that cigarettes are bad for you, lethal in fact. And for that reason, I don’t smoke. I’ve never been a smoker and I never will be because I already know I have a life threatening addiction to cigarettes. I love everything about them, except that they stain your fingers and teeth, make your face wrinkly, cost a fortune, are grown in such a way that is wholly detrimental to the earth and of course, cigarettes kill people.
What’s to love? I love the bitter, acrid smoke, how it wafts through the air in the winter and fall, like your own personal handheld woodstove. I love the fancy little packages they come in. I love the variety. I have always wanted to ask the drugstore clerk for this brand or that, for box or soft pack, for lights, menthols, 100's, unfiltered. I love that in certain societies, like prisons, cigarettes are currency, and can buy you most anything, maybe even your life. I love the ritual of smoking, that there are times of day and night set aside specifically for smoking; after meals, the ten minute "smoke break" afforded by employers, and most classically, après intercourse. Fire is necessary for smoking, adding a more immediate level of danger. I love the danger of smoking. And nicotine. I love the nicotine.
All through my childhood, my parents smoked like chimneys; first indoors, and later, in my teen years, outside only. My mother, who hates to be alone, would plea for me to ‘come smoke’ with her. What she meant was for me to sit on the back patio with her and keep her company while she smoked. I acquiesced more often than not, and over time, I came to look forward to these moments, but not for the sake of some twisted take on quality time spent with a parent, brought to you by Marlboro. To the contrary, conversations with my mother usually consisted of a volley of thinly-veiled barbs and insults. No, I was in it for the second hand smoke. I would test the wind and position myself in such a manner that her smoke would breeze back into my face. I'd inhale deeply and feel myself relax. As an adult, I sought out the company of my sister in law, a smoker from a tender age. She lived upstairs from us in our quardruplex and when it was a particularly hard day of parenting, I would call her down, like Romeo to his cancerous Juliet, that she might ‘come smoke’ with me. It was like breath work meditation, but with the added bonus of drugs and reduced oxygen levels.
My preference is to bum other people's second hand smoke. I've never bought a package of cigarettes myself, for while I revel in the noxious, dry exhaust of others, actually taking a drag off a cigarette makes me choke. Only under very special circumstances will I smoke a cigarette myself. For this to take place I must be very intoxicated, in the company of smokers, and those smokers must be willing to share their stash with an obnoxious drunk non smoker. Only twice in my life have circumstances aligned thusly. And now that my sister in law has moved, married and quit, in that order, I have no one to smoke for me. My husband smokes a pipe, but it's not the same. The smell is sweet like incense, and I like that quality about it, but it doesn't pinch hit for cigarettes. So I smoke in my dreams, I smoke in my fantasies and sometimes I smoke in my memories, the best of which are always seen through a gray brown haze. I have found my inner child, and she is a chain smoker.

CORRECTION

2005-10-18T08:34:00.000-07:00

HE is a SHE. And a brilliant she at that.

What HE said.

2005-10-16T20:15:00.000-07:00

Ok, so we're looking for new digs, and red is a fairly rare house color, so I might wanna start thinking about a new name/theme for my blog, and the first thing that comes to mind is Cabbages and Kings, which you'll recognize from the story of the Walrus and the Carpenter, by Lewis Caroll (Found in Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Saw There, 1872). I love all things Alice, and the Walrus and the Carpenter especially, and the term cabbages and kings embodies the random, fanciful and surreal aspect of the book that I appreciate so much. Unfortunately, this guy likes it too. Check out his piece on Brit culture. He got it all right. I just might forgive him for having my idea first.

I'm not blogging but

2005-08-31T23:10:00.000-07:00

Coby is. Check him out here, and leave him a comment, if you can spare a moment.

Take this Blog and Shove It

2005-08-22T21:19:00.000-07:00

Hi all. I'll be taking little hiatus from blogging for the next few months. I'm feeling pretty overwhelmed right now with hanging the gutters before the rain comes, putting up summer produce, organizing my curriculum for this year, nurturing a baby, planning things for my homeschool group, teaching in our co op, building a goat barn and milk room, fencing the yard, finishing painting my porch, taking care of my menagerie, weeding my garden, remodeling the bathroom, trying to be supportive of the many new mamas, new again mamas, newlyweds and newly homeschooling in my life and trying to make time to converse with my dream of a husband. Oh, and helping formulate a new k-12 Sunday school curriculum for our church education comittee. I'm going to leave the site up and hopefully make my way back after 'school' gets underway and things are settled a bit. Thanks for reading!

FEAR FACTORS....or..... Sharks, Clowns and Angels! Oh My!

2005-08-05T15:54:00.000-07:00

I read once that 'shark' creates a greater fear reaction in people than any other word. Try it sometime. Walk up behind a friend and yell "shark!" Chances are she will jump three inches off the ground and yelp, even if you’re not in the water...even if you're in Kansas. Fear of sharks, called Selachophobia, is widespread around the world. And sure, a shark attack is a scary way to die, but people just don't have the same reaction to 'dog' (you're much more likely to die from a dog bite than shark), or 'lightening'. People don't even get the same rise out of shouting 'fire' though the destructive capability of a fire far outdoes that of a shark. Also, it's much harder to shout 'theater' in a crowded shark....

Shark fear is understandable to a point, after all, they do occasionally kill people, and more importantly, we have all seen JAWS, many of us at a tender age, which probably has more to do with our irrational fear that any biological instinct. I suspect Hollywood is responsible for another phobia which affects a smaller portion of the population. I am speaking of Coulrophobia, or the fear of clowns, an affliction I am willing to bet was virtually unheard of before Stephen King's novel "It" was made into a for-tv-movie. Before the book, I doubt the term even existed.

Adam has a touch of Coulrophobia. Not to the point that it affects his daily life or anything, but our kids generally don't have stuffed clowns or books that feature clowns. Adam is never the first to suggest we hit the circus when it's in town, and whenever we sleep over at his mom's place, he makes sure her porcelain clown doll beds down in a different room. Now, clowns don't bother me much (Tim Curry's Pennywise aside) but I have to admit, that doll is downright creepy. It has the face of a harlequin clown, but with the orange 'fro of an Auguste clown. The features are painted on a juvenile face form, and the artist just missed getting the eyes and smile right, so that what is supposed to look like a cheerful, endearing child playing dress-up instead comes across as Chucky headed out to trick or treat. It's an evil-child thing, which brings me to my own irrational and ridiculous fear. Cherubs.

Now, not surprisingly, there is no official word for fear of cherubs or even angels in general but all the same, cherubs creep me out. Something about their fat, nude, winged little bodies strikes me as grotesque.

Cherubs really started making an appearance in painting and sculpture during the renaissance, when artists like Michelangelo were intent upon portraying the human body in great detail. Thus, many cherubs from this time period appear all at once to be plump and infantile, yet incredibly well muscled. This, for me, is not a good combination. These days, cherubs are most often the province of outdoor statuaries and dollar store ceramics sweatshops. The cherubs have kept their muscular, fat little bodies, which are often paired with poorly done faces with blank, pupil-less eyes. The eyebrows are all wrong, and the little things often appear to be angry. They are fat, mean, muscular spirits with wings and they don't like you.

This being my overall impression of cherubs, imagine my horror in learning that Maria found two gold spray painted cherubs in the warming compartment of the wood cook oven in her new house. Oy. You can just rock me to sleep tonight. I ambled back home from Maria's hearing things (probably chickens) rustling in the brush on the side of the road, heart pounding, imagination running wild. I made it safely home, eager to relate my tale of horror to Adam. I hop into bed, shiver down into the covers. "Do you know what's even scarier than a clown?" I ask him. "Yeah," he says, "A clown riding a shark."

Good fences make me broke.

2005-08-02T14:02:00.000-07:00

Since Maia has refused nursing and I hate the whole idea of formula (Maia too...the brilliant girl won't hold it down) and because some very wise women I am blessed to know gave me the heads up, we are now bottle feeding her goat milk. It's closer to human milk than cow milk, and very easily digestible. It also costs an arm and a hoof to buy it at Lifesource, the only local grocer that carries it. In fact, it was costing somewhere in the neighborhood of $5 a day to keep the babe in milk, until last week when we visited Bryarose Farm and the lovely people who run it. They have agreed to sell us extremely fresh milk at about a third of the price we were paying before *and* they are going to sell us some dairy goats in the spring and help us get set up milking. So I was feeling decidedly rural yesterday, pricing stock fencing and barn roofing and such things at the Home Depot, though I don't really know how official we can be, since we are renting.

I've been thinking about the whole ownership thing alot lately. Traditional wisdom says that it is always better to buy. After all, we are 'throwing away' our rent money each month. But on the other hand, we're really happy here, and we aren't likely to be able to afford to buy a place with property any time soon. So no goats, rabbits, chickens, treehouses, big gardens, room to roam...no Adam swaggering in all covered in sweat and sawdust after hours spent cutting wood, no oohing and ahhing over the buck muching windfall apples out the front window. But what we would have would be *ours* in a way this never will be...and buying is the responsible thing to do. So, hapiness versus responsibility. Why does so much in life come down to choosing one or the other of those? Adam doesn't have this struggle. He chose happiness the day we moved in here and hasn't looked back. He gets tired of my constant doubt over our situation. And he's right, we aren't hurting anyone by renting. Our landlord is an absolute gem and the neighboors just couldn't get any better (pausing to wave to Maria, two doors down for the time being).

You know what this is all about? Fencing. I have wanted to fence this place ever since we moved in, but I have always had this "I'm not paying to fence someone else's property" attitude. I swear I have said that exact thing no less than a hundred times over the last two years. I just have a problem paying to make major improvements to a place that isn't mine and likely never will be mine. Adam argues that it's fine to improve something just for the sake of imrpovement. Making the world a better place and all that, not to mention getting what we want in the meantime. I'm still stuck on the mine aspect, which tells you something about our relative maturity levels. The fence is a really loaded issue for me. No fence = probably moving, buying in the near future, much to the satisfaction of our parents and other responsible types in our life. Building a fence = staying, much to our own satisfaction. But, Maia requires milk, milk requires goats, and goats require fences. So fencing it is, though it still doesn't sit quite right with me. I guess you could say it really gets my goat, which might be a good thing.

Housework Shmousework

2005-08-02T09:13:00.000-07:00

In the process of avoiding folding the laundry this morn, I took a closer look at my site meter report (the little goody that counts how many visits there have been to this site) and I found some interesting things. I don't have the clink to pay for the premium meter stuff, so I can't always see from where people are accessing my page, but I do get some details. One cool thing I can see is when someone gets to my site from doing a search on yahoo. Some of the search terms that led people here:

buy warm fuzzies (I think they were looking for this)

ultrasound Astoria Oregon

holland lop bunny forehead hair

I feel for the poor rabbit out there with the receding hairline (hare line) that prompted this last query. Off to fold.

Dino Boy

2005-07-25T20:14:00.000-07:00

Check out Addison's cool dino pix here.

WARNING:political and religous content

2005-07-25T11:35:00.000-07:00

London, now Sharm el-Sheik, Egypt. The bombings are starting to get to me. Every time I turn on the radio hoping for the weather report and get a body count instead, I get this sinking, sharp pain in my stomach. I imagine this is what an ulcer-in-the-making feels like. I’m tired of hearing how well coordinated and sophisticated the bombers are; how the precision of the explosions are a hallmark of this hate group or that. I’m tired of feeling hopeless and helpless. I want to do something. I want to strike back.

We used to have that bumper sticker, the one that reads “Commit random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.” I like the idea, and sometimes (though not often enough) Adam and I would practice what we preached; once, we left uplifting handwritten notes on all the cars in the Albertson’s parking lot. Another time, at Valentines Day, we put roses and carnations on windshields around town. I try to always put a quarter in a parking meter when I see someone is out of time. But right now I’m feeling like random acts just aren’t cutting it. I’m feeling that what we need now are some precision coordinated, sophisticated, organized acts of lovingkindness.

My faith calls me to love everyone (my god, my neighbor, myself, my enemy…that just about covers ‘em all), and following the example of Jesus, who never raised a violent hand, even in self defense or in the defense of his friends, I feel called to lobby for peace. Jesus also said that his followers should be known by their love. Yet I never hear someone say “Wow, he’s really loving, he must be a Christian.” Quite the opposite. But that’s what I hope for: That one day I turn on the radio and hear “In a surprise act of kindness, the hungry were fed, the cold and displaced were housed, those in mourning were comforted, and the sick were healed. Due to the extreme effectiveness of these acts, experts speculate that it is likely the work of Christians.”

Cyclist seeks Sponsors

2005-07-12T19:49:00.000-07:00

Amateur cyclist (and son of my best friend) Coby Hutzler is currently seeking corporate sponsorships. Coby races with a local cycling team here in Salem, traveling to Portland International Raceway and the Alpenrose Velodrome as well as training extensively around town. Coby will sport sponsor’s logos on his jersey, offering a unique advertising opportunity for local businesses. Contact coby.hutzler@gmail.com for more info.

Sleeping with the enemy....no wait....the pastry

2005-07-07T13:13:00.000-07:00

My husband talks in his sleep, and so does my son, Addison. It used to be a pretty frequent thing for Adam, and some of my favorite memories from our dating days include long, late night phone calls during which he would fall asleep, yet continue to converse. The first time this happened, I realized something wasn’t right when Adam said, in a very accusatory manner, that my bird had taken and eaten his bagel. I didn’t have a bird, and when I tried to argue this point with him, he continued further with “I’m not sharing my herb garden with your mother no matter what you say!” I never said he should…we don’t even grow her variety of ‘herb.’

Adam also sleepwalks on occasion, and once when Rosie was a baby I asked him in the middle of the night to get a bottle for the baby, and instead he returned with a bottle full of dry Cheerios. I pointed out his error and sent him back for milk, only for him to return with an empty tapioca pudding cup from the trash can. We decided the next morning that I should be in charge of night time bottles, lest he inadvertently treat the babe to a cuppa joe in the wee hours, or perhaps an eight ounce bottle of bourbon. Hey….cool way to get out of getting up with the baby at three a.m.

I have only seen Addison sleepwalk once. He was coming down our very steep, slick staircase, and ever since then I’ve felt more comfortable with him sleeping downstairs. He basically sleeps where he lands each night, and lately has taken to crashing on my bedroom floor in a sleeping bag. It’s fun to listen to him giggle and chatter through his sleep. Most of the time I can’t quite make out what he’s saying, but last week he sat straight up in bed and bellowed “Hot cross buns! Hot cross buns! What the hell are hot cross buns?”

I often wonder what is going on in that little seven year old brain of his, and I guess the answer is…cursing. Don’t know where he hears that kind of language, ahem. But I suppose one can’t be blamed for things said and done while unconscious, at least that’s the line Adam feeds me, but I plan to forewarn any future potential girlfriends that might come Addison’s way.

Living it Up

2005-05-29T19:41:00.000-07:00

All my adult life, I've been a bit of a communist at heart. A communist in the literal sense, if not the political. I've always thought it would be wonderful to live on some land with a few other like-minded, laid back families. We could share the mortgage, the chores and the joy of family life. Grow apple trees and honey bees and snow white turtle doves. Yep. A hippy commune. I know that in reality this rarely works out; a family unit is a special thing. It takes a lot of work to make a family work, and adding to the mix usually makes things harder. Yet, here we are, our closest friends living in a camper trailer in our carport and I have to say this is the best life has to offer. There are the practical things...I can take a shower in the day time even if Maia is awake, there are more eyes looking after the children, more hands working away at the weeds (the garden is looking very lush these days), more fingers available to pry things out of the dog's mouths. And, since I like to do the cooking, and there are more people to cook for, I feel more validated in doing what it was I wanted to be doing in the first place. Last Saturday, there was a rare moment when everyone was home at the same time, all ten of us. Maria was folding laundry, Ralph was mowing the lawn, Coby was filling in potholes in the driveway, Adam was cutting up the maple tree limb that fell a couple weeks ago, I was making food, Stevie was walking the baby around and the three youngest kids were running around playing and learning and growing. There was just so much going on. I will be so sad when Maria and Ralph's new home is ready for them to move in to. I had the good life before, but now I have more of the good life, and I'm not ready to settle for less.

Unfairly projecting upon my poor, unsuspecting children

2005-05-24T10:36:00.000-07:00

When Addison was born, I worked at a shelter for homeless families in Eugene. I didn't want to quit working after his birth, but I didn't want to leave him in childcare either, so I took him to work with me. I carried him with me first in a soft, front carrier, and then in a rigid frame back carrier when he was bigger. I worked five hours a day and nursed him on my breaks. It worked well and fit into our attachment parenting lifestyle. The staff and guests at the shelter thought Addison was a bit spoiled (you can't spoil a baby, so ha) and they called him The King. This irritatied me to no end....don't label my kid, right? But at this point in his life, I think he would make a pretty decent king after all. He likes rules, he is into both justice an propriety, he is a natural leader, he is a peace activist and he knows how to delegate....he is a delegating pro...just ask Rosie. She, on the other hand, I would not vote queen. The words 'off with her head' come immediately to mind. Rosie, despite her small stature and unfathomable beauty, is a warrior at heart. Sort of a pixie warrior. Woe to the man who crosses her when she is grown. Maia, new as she is, already has such a developed personality. She is the diva. I've been threatening to trade in her crib (as yet unused) on a merlot hued velvet chaise lounge complete with pool boy bearing grapes. She's not particularily fussy or demanding, but she seems to take such pleasure in the finer things in life. The finer things in her life right now being warm milk, soft blankies and dappled sunshine. She may not grow up to be wealthy, but I imagine she might grow up to spend her tips on Godiva chocolates and weekly peducures.

Tom Putman

2005-05-14T08:50:00.000-07:00

Tom Putman, a dear friend of the family, passed away last week. I was unable to atttend his funeral in Eugene yesterday, as much as I would have liked to pay my respects. Adam had to work and I'm just not at a point yet where I feel ok going out of town with all 3 kids, without extra hands. Tom was a great guy and stood in as grandpa when I was a little girl, and sadly short on loving grandparents. We would arrive at his house any time of day or night and find that he had prepared a spread of food that covered the whole table and two counter tops. "I just thought we might like to have a bite," he'd say.

Christmas time at Tom's house was every child's dream. He would bake several dozen varieties of cookies, as well as candies and fruitcakes, pies and cakes galore. It was like the land of Dairy Queen but better (I've never seen a perfectly glazed virginia ham accompanied by sweet hot mustard in the land of Dairy Queen, nor curried turkey, home grown bread and butter pickles, waldorf salad......)

As well as being an accomplished chef and small time cookbook author, Tom was an avid gardener of both vegetables and flowers. Each year when the soil was properly warmed he would plant out what looked to me like small, malformed potatoes, which would in time grow to be beautiful dahlias in every imaginable shape and color. He had flowers like perfect round pom-poms, some that looked like bright pink sea anemones, and some that were bigger than dinner plates. His roses, too were breathtaking, and his vegetable garden grew an abundance of zuchinni, tomatoes, onions, garlic and most importantly, pickling cucumbers. He was generous with his produce and each year we would spend three or four days turning the cukes into garlic dills, sweet pickles and the aforementioned bread and butter pickles, my all time favorite.

I'm sad to see Tom go, but it was relieving for me to hear the circumstances around his death. He was preparing for a road trip and potluck (he thought they might like to have a bite), and took a moment to step out and admire his garden when the heart attack struck. Many will miss him, but I think they are comforted to know that he spent his last moments doing what pleased him most.

Plum Gone

2005-05-10T09:13:00.000-07:00

After two and a half months of 'summer vacation' we're back to school this week. We started our 8 week unit on ancient Rome yesterday with a look at everyday Roman life. We found a recipe from ancient Rome for stuffed figs and gave it a try. The figs were stuffed with spices and ground pine nuts sweetened with reduced grape juice. It was pretty good. Tasted alot like a fig newton, but sweeter and without the crust...and spritzed with Pine Sol. Well, it tasted a *little* like a fig newton.
Maia's baby shower/welcoming party went really well. It was great to see all the family and get to visit. I always feel a little concerned the first time new kids come here to play, especially kids unaccustomed to the perils of country life; we have electric fences, stinging nettles, a two story tree house to fall from, blackberry brambles, skunks and poison oak. Addison tried to point out this last danger to one of his cousins but apparently didn't get the message across. Our poor little nephew comes speeding in the house, "Uncle Adam, is there really poison elk out there?" you have to wonder if he just thought the plant was called poison elk of if he was envisioning a huge ungulate with massive, venom dripping fangs roaming the forest beyond our back yard.
Speaking of the tree house, last night a huge limb fell from the treehouse maple and crushed the little plum tree Adam and I have been carefully nursing back to health for the past two years. We found it shortly after we moved in, entirely covered by huge blackberry brambles. The landlord didn't even know it existed. And now it doesn't. Bummer. That limb will make good firewood though. Gotta see the bright side.

2005-05-08T19:12:00.000-07:00

Hey, this is just too much fun, ya gotta try it: What kind of American English do you speak?

My results showed 60% general American English, 30% Midwestern (my pa is from MI) and 10% Yankee. Cool.

2005-05-01T19:09:00.000-07:00

Maia was baptized today at St. Mark Lutheran church. Pictures here. Congrats Maia!!

2005-05-01T19:05:00.000-07:00

Our sweet cat Indi had her kittens today. There are two black, one black with patches of gray/orange and one orange marmalade. Aw. How sweet!

Voice of Evil

2005-04-26T13:05:00.000-07:00

I have an arch nemesis.
I’ve yet to see his face and I don’t know his name, though I can do a decent impression of his voice. I call him The Bird. Now, if you’re going to have an avian arch nemesis, the dignified thing to do is to choose a bird with sinister connotations; a raven, a vulture, a crow perhaps...thanks to Hollywood and Batman, I can even envision an evil penguin. But dignity has no part in this.
The object of my loathing is a small songbird. He perches in the Magnolia tree outside my bedroom window and sings every morning, at the first hint of dawn, the only time of day or night that I can solidly count on Maia to be sleeping. This morning he began his ballad at 5:26 am, one minute earlier than yesterday. It’s not an unattractive sound, but it is loud, and more effective than any alarm clock I’ve come across. I cannot sleep through him, try as I might.
One week postpartum Adam woke to my crying. “What’s wrong?” he asked. “It’s The Bird,” I sobbed. “I just got the baby to sleep and the damnable bird won’t shut up.” In his sleep deprived delusional state I was able to convince Adam to go outside and throw a rock at the bird. As he headed out the door I felt a tiny stab of shame. “Don’t throw it right at him, just near him, ok?” It worked and I went on to enjoy a morning of peace. Adam has no memory of his chivalrous act but I am eternally grateful. At least I was grateful until the next morning when I regretted my moment of weakness and wished I had asked him to aim true.
Mind you I’ve always considered myself a nature lover; an environmentalist even. But in the wee hours of the morning I have indulged myself in fantasies concerning the slashing and burning of The Bird’s winter home in the tropical forest. Other times I think perhaps The Bird is non-migratory, in which case I regret every morsel of millet, every smidgen of sunflower I may have scattered his way in the depths of winter. I have passed many a spring morning trying to mentally will my cats to eat The Bird. “He’s right there you fools,” I think. “Can’t you hear him?”
I’ve begun to blame The Bird for other woes as well. When there are droppings on the windshield of the van, I blame The Bird. When I find holes in the garden where once pea shoots grew, I attribute it to The Bird’s greedy, malicious appetite. Yesterday Maia and I were outside visiting our rabbits when a telltale white splat landed not three inches from my foot. “You missed us, sucker,” I thought. At times I have thought that if I had a rifle, and an inkling of how to use it, I might shoot The Bird. But our landlord doesn’t allow hunting here. So I rationalize. It’s not really hunting; hunting is motivated by hunger or sport, whereas I am motivated by sheer hatred. This is not hunting. This is murder. Gruesome eh? Or maybe it would be no worse than swatting a mosquito. Messier though. Man, I need some sleep.

Argus/Ag Fest

2005-04-24T17:38:00.000-07:00

Lately I've been thinking a lot about Maria's dog, Argus. Argus is an English bulldog, a breed that has been so overbred that they can no longer reproduce on their own, but must be artificially insemenated and deliver by cesarean. Argus also has joint pain, food allergies and at one point the vet had to re-drill his nostrils so he could breathe. He's such a sweet, ugly dog and I adore him, but I look at him and think to myself......man, that just ain't right.
So yesterday we packed up the kids and went to the Oregon Ag Fest. Apparently it was cesarean survivor day. Each woman who approcached to drool over Maia had a horrific emergency c-section story to share. Each of them was convinced that her doctor had saved her life. One woman even told me that she had to have an emergency c-sec because her baby was to big to be born vaginally. Her baby was 8lbs, 7oz, the same as Maia. She seemed a little offended when I told her that Addison had been 10lbs at birth. I don't mean to judge these women and I'm sure that some of them really did need emergency medical intervention, but at the same time I keep thinking...is this what the human race is coming to? Because if so, better watch out for your nostrils, gals.

2005-04-21T21:00:00.000-07:00

Maia's thrush is worse, and it's interfering with her nursing. Sigh. I have to take her to the doctor tomorrow. It'll be her first visit, and I'm not really looking forward to it. We opted against the PKU, infant eye drops, vitamin k and all other forms of messing with the babe up to this point, and we're planning to do delayed, staggered vaccinations. Kaiser in general is just nuts about injecting kids with this and that, so they're just gonna *love* me, I'm sure. To top off my crappy day, our sweet lady rabbit Basil, lost her whole litter of bunnies. :O(

If you're totally depressed reading this, cheer yourself up with this hilarious and cruel baby name website, passed on by my friend Cheyenne: http://notwithoutmyhandbag.com/babynames/index.html

Be forewarned, there is some crude language, and you may be offended if you plan to replace normal vowels in your child's name with the letter 'y'' (eg Mykenzy-Mckenzie) On second thought, you'll be offended if you plan to name your child Mckenzie at all.

Feeling blue.......

2005-04-19T10:36:00.000-07:00

....but not how you'd think. Maia has thrush, which we're treating with gentian violet, a bluish-purple dye that has anti-infective properties. We've been painting her mouth with it for a couple of days now and I have to say she hasn't put forth much effort to be neat about it. Just about her whole face is colored violet, not to mention my hands, breasts, upper arms and anywhere she feels the need to drool. Adam says she's a blue-eyed-new-born-crying-purple-people-eater. Poor little one.
She's two weeks old today and we're really learning her rythms and figuring out what comforts and soothes her. She loves long baths in the birth pool, driving on the highway, and listening to music. She especially seems to like the Paul Simon compilation I was obsessed with through the pregnancy. So basically it's fast cars, rock 'n roll and skinny dipping.

Brought to You by Office Max

2005-04-14T13:38:00.000-07:00

Maia has her own blog now, so further obsessive posting of baby pics will take place there. She's doing really well and we're all adjusting to her little presence. Rosie, who generally turns inward in times of stress, has decided to express her new feelings through body art. Friday night Adam found her in her bed, displaying her new tatoos...drawn in permanent ink. The designs included a big black cross on her forehead, and since at the time I was in the middle of an episode of the X Files in which Mulder and Scully face a group of Christian cultists, I was pretty creeped. "It's like the blessing" she explained. Our church observes Ash Wednesday with the imposition of ashes on worshippers' foreheads (in the shape of a cross) and our pastor often blesses the children by making the sign of the cross in baptismal water in their heads. So I figure maybe Rosie is leading the march toward a new church holiday...Sharpie Friday. Maria suggests we see if we can get it sponsored by Office Max.

Rosie also took the scissors to her precious curls. She lopped off about three locks, leaving a few sections of three-inch long hair. I wasn't too upset about it...it's her hair, but I did suggest we go to the salon for further snipping. She says she's ready to have short hair for a while-tired of all the tangles. I'm with her. I'm still battling this massive dreadlock I worked into my hair while I was in labor. I tend to do this Stevie Wonder head thing when I'm laboring. I had big knots in my hair after Addison and Rose were born too, but this time I added the element of water, and my hair basically felted. I tried to let Adam work out the tangles this morning but by the third yank I was feeling pretty resentful so we gave up. Maybe I'll have Rosie cut it out for me

2005-04-09T10:19:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Baby

2005-04-09T10:16:00.000-07:00

Daddy's receeding hairline and baby.

2005-04-09T10:13:00.000-07:00

Grandpa and Baby

2005-04-09T10:10:00.000-07:00

Baby Maia

Stats and story

2005-04-06T16:52:00.000-07:00

Name: Maia Rachael Kinch
DOB: April 5, 2005
Time: 1:31 am
Place: underwater, at home
Weight: 8lbs, 7oz

Yep, she's finally arrived and much to our surprise, she is a she, and a fairly normal sized she at that. After expecting a 12 lb boy for so long (just guessing, no ultrasound) she was quite a shocker. She came so quickly too....Pam had come early in the day, about 1 pm on the 4th, and brought along her bag of nasty little tricks for inducing. We tried a myriad of small tortures throughout the afternoon and evening to get the ball rolling but without much success. So eventually we got back to discussing the option of breaking my water. We had previously decided against it, but then my blood pressure was starting to get pretty high, and the balance of risks shifted and we eventually decided to give it a go. Pam called her assistant/apprentice, Emily and the doula, Michelle, and around 11:45 pm she broke my water. Staying in the birth pool (trough) did wonders for my blood pressure and after a small wait, real contractions started up. Everything moved so fast that about 45 minutes into labor I started to feel a little panicked about my ability to cope with the pain. It wasn't unbearable, but was approaching the limits of what I felt I could deal with without drugs....and I kept thinking...I'm only 45 minutes into this...how am I going to withstand a few more hours? At that point, the kids were asleep and Pam, Emily and Michelle were in the other room, so Adam and I had been laboring alone. I called Pam in and told her it was getting to be too much for me and that I had doubts about withstanding much more. She told me I was in transition but I didn't really believe her, lol, after all, labor had just started! She stayed with me and talked me through each contraction. After a little more than an hour of labor, I told Pam that I thought I might need to push with the next contraction and she reminded me to listen to my body. So when the contraction came, I pushed...fairly gently, lol, one time and out came the whole head all at once. I looked at Adam and asked "Is that the head?" Yep, it was the head. So with the next contraction I pushed again and out slipped her little body. Adam caught her and brought her to the surface of the water and handed her to me. She was sooo little...and female, lol. I looked around and said "Pam, that was so EASY!" Birthing the placenta was unpleasant....somehow I can't muster the same enthusiasm for pushing the placenta out. You just can't say to yourself "It hurts but just think...soon you'll have a beautiful little bloody gooey yucky plancenta to hold." It just doesn't fly. But it was all over soon and it took me a few minutes to be truly convinced that I was done. I thought it might have been a dream or that maybe I had blacked out at some point. But it was real, and now I'm a proud mama of three!

*Picasa, the program I use to post pics to my blog, is acting up. I'll try to get it fixed tonight at some point so I can get some photos of this little angel up for y'all to see.

The Doctor is....out

2005-04-03T17:57:00.000-07:00

A half hour ago I started a new regimen of herbs to induce labor. I'm alternating taking blue cohosh and black cohosh tinctures every 15 minutes, along with valerian once an hour. Black cohosh is said to get contractions started, and blue cohosh is supposed to help regulate the contractions. Valerian is for my blood pressure, which is a little elevated, though not yet worrisome. None of the tinctures are particularly tasty, but I've been drinking them mixed with root beer, which isn't so bad. In fact I've paid for root beer this nasty before. You know, the kind you get at the healthfood store with the not-so-professional looking label that reads:

Dr Joe's Amazing Regenerative Root Tonic
All Natural!
Here at Dr Joe's, we know health is more important to you
than actually enjoying your food and beverages. That's why
we make our hand crafted brew from the finest whole foods
ingredients including parsnip, pennyroyal, organic goat yogurt
and boiled, chipped root of the Austrailian vomit vine!
Sweetened with 100% pure imagination!

Comments? Write to us at:
Dr Joe's
1222 Rainbows Make Us Happy Way
Berkeley, California

So yeah, I can handle this. Beats the heck outta castor oil any day.

Well Marinated

2005-04-02T18:35:00.000-08:00

Just to get it out of the way: Nope. Nada. Nothing.

Back to my regularly scheduled chatter.

Spring is certainly in the air. We went for a long walk in the pasture today and saw hundreds of Oregon rough-skinned newts mating in the water,(Adam said it looked like a 'newt beach' hehe). The males all look so weird during mating season...all pale orange and bloated. Kinda like me in my orange hooded sweater. We found out last year, after Rosie kissed a newt, that they are actually quite toxic. So if you're ever lost in the woods, don't snack on them. We also spotted a couple of little cotton tail bunnies, which the kids were so excited about. I'm not sure what the allure is, considering we have about a dozen rabbits in hutches out the back door, but the cotton tails are pretty darned cute. There's been a pair of Canada geese hanging out in the pasture for a month or so and we hoped to see little goslings by now but no luck. We did see a heron and a nutria, and got a closer look at the little calf that was born last month. One of the mares is expecting too....I'm hoping the kids get to see the birth.

We bred our friend Deb's little stud muffin bunny to one of our doe bunnies and two of Maria's does about ten days ago so if anyone is interested, we should have baby bunnies in about 20 days. They are Holland Lop rabbits, a small, sweet little breed with smooshed-in looking faces. The babies will be ready for new homes when they're about 8 weeks old. I think between four and six is a normal litter for Hollands, but I saw today that litters of up to 16 are possible. Heaven help us if all three girls are super prolific and we end up with 48 baby bunnies to unload. I hope some of the babies are colored like Deb's boy...he looks like a little brown teddy bear. I would also be willing to breed our Jersey woolies if someone was interested in buying the bunnies. Jerseys make a small amount of spinnable fiber, but don't require the constant upkeep that angora rabbits need. Jerseys are super small, with tiny little ears that poke up and they are incredibly docile and tolerant of petting, holding etc. We will sell all the rabbits for $5 each.

Our cat Indi is also pregnant and she looks almost as uncomfortable as me, so I think her time is coming soon. Crud, that reminds me I need to buy cat litter so she can keep the babies inside. What a baby-filled time. Been lots of fun explaining the...ahem...ins and outs of spring to the kids. At least Addison finally stopped confusing 'mating' with 'marinating.'

Resisting the temptation to 'fool' you into thinking I had the baby

2005-04-01T07:11:00.000-08:00

I've been teasing Adam that if the baby was born on April Fool's day and if it was a girl I am going to name it Magdalene Jubilee. I really like that name, though I can tell it's probably unacceptable since all but the politest people look like they just bit a lemon when they hear it. However, I am *really* attached to the names we have chosen...and I'm kinda bummed that I can only use one, lol. Oh, the names are:

Maia Rachael
or
William Russell (Liam)

Maia we just like, and Rachael (with that spelling) is my (wonderful) SIL's name. William is Adam's father's first name and Russell is my father's middle name. We'll call him Liam though, because it's more unusual than Bill, Billy, Will, and Willy. Also, if you don't call him SOMETHING, he'll become Bill/Billy, and that's what Adam's dad goes by...and it's just easier to have only one of each name in the family.

So now I have to adjust to having an April baby. That's cool. I already have a March baby.

Oh hey, I went to this really neat meeting last night...Birth Trust or Trust Birth or something like that . It's like La Leche, only for childbirth. The group doesn't promote one kind of birth over another but more about discussing issues around birth, helping women research so they can make informed decisions, and broadening our knowlege base about birth...I think. Anyhow, it was fun. We chatted (you know I like that part) and watched a great video of an unassisted childbirth of twins. Unassisted childbirth means that there was no doctor or midwife attending...the mother birthed the children on her own. The daddy was videotaping. The mom in the video was amazing. She had so much patience and presence of mind through the whole thing...even allowing her older child (I'd say 2 or so) to come nurse in between contractions. The first baby was a little boy, and weighed over 7 lbs, and the second, born 1.5 hours later, was a little girl, a footling breech, who weighed over 8 lbs. Pretty good sized twins, and the birth was really smooth. So you don't have to be pregnant to go to the meetings, and there will be meetings every last Thursday of the month. Come with me next month!

What have "they" done?!?!

2005-03-31T15:01:00.000-08:00

One of the questions we're getting alot now is "How long will they let you (her) go." This is asked by sweet, well meaning people who are truly concerned about my comfort level and the well being of our baby. Still, the question makes me giggle a bit. First of all...who is "they"?

I feel like saying "Oh, we weren't pleased with the care we got from "they" last time, so we decided not to go with "they" this time around." I think what our dear friends and family mean to ask is how far overdue is too far, according to the medical establishment. The general answer, I believe, is that OBGYNs don't want you to go past 42 weeks, and that "they" will induce your butt by whatever means possible before you get to that point. And just FYI, I am officially 41 weeks today. Addison was born at 42 weeks plus 4 days. We only got that far because I stopped answering the phone after 42 weeks, lol.

Or it's possible that people want to know how far Pam will 'let' me go. The answer there is...well, until the baby is born. We're thinking when he/she is around 2 years, we should take it out to start potty training. Just kidding. We have now done everything we are able to do to get labor going, short of breaking my water. Taking several things into consideration, we've decided against that option, so now it's down to waiting.

2005-03-30T11:54:00.000-08:00

Has it never occured to anyone to put castor oil in a gelcap, like evening primrose oil? This stuff is truly foul. Yeah, ok, I know. I swore off ingesting anything else to induce labor, but I'm not a patient woman. I was actually thinking hey, if I had a syringe, I could suck the eve. primrose oil out of the little capsules and inject it with castor oil. Alas, I am without syringe, so I take the nasty stuff mixed with pop and ice. I took castor oil to induce with Addison too, but it actually worked then. Or not. Maybe it was just time for him to be born. That's the thing about induction when you're overdue. You never really know if it did anything, or if the time just came. I also took tincture of blue cohosh with Addison, which is also gross but in a different way than castor oil. It's bitter. I can handle bitter though and I'd consider getting some now but I'm too cheap, lol. Come to think of it, I do have some Dr. Christopher's Totally Disgusting Tea (now available in GELCAPS), which has black cohosh in it, but I'm not sure that a whole herb mixture is potent enough to really do the job.

You know, I've been hitting the mall alot lately, trying to walk the baby out, since it's been too rainy to walk much outside. It's a bizarre place (pardon the pun). I usually don't go to the mall much and apparenly I have been missing out on scores of items I didn't even know that I needed....tiny aquarium filled with hermit crabs in whored-up shells, electric iced tea maker, carbohydrate- free double chocolate caramel bars (appealing, really), midriff baring blouses (now available in plus sizes!!), sugar gliders, and stripy bejeweled cellular telephones that play "Afternoon Delight" when someone calls. As tempting as all these things may be, I'd have to get a job to afford them, so I guess I'll have to remain a cynical, broke anti-consummerism snob and just continue to use the mall as an indoor track.

2005-03-29T08:17:00.000-08:00

Well Pam is sick and feverish today, so with Murphy's law in effect, maybe.....you know. I don't want to jinx it.

Just like Halloween ;o)

2005-03-28T13:59:00.000-08:00

I can't believe I forgot to mention in the last post the beautiful little knitted Christening set Maria gave us. I've been sorting my baby stuff (again....it's kinda like Halloween candy) and trying to put things into piles by size. It's impossible. There is no rhyme or reason to the sizes on the tags. Some go by age (0-3 months, 6-9 months etc) some are S, M, or L, and some go by weight. But here's where it gets tricky....I have sleepers that range in size from 0 months to 9 months and if you hold them up to eachother you will see that they are ALL THE SAME SIZE!

2005-03-28T12:42:00.000-08:00

I think it's a good idea for anyone who is considering having a baby to try to make friends with knitters. Hand knit baby clothes are so cute and expensive. I scored an adorable stretchy little hat from Pam last night and Maria made me the cutest little hat with double tassels....and Monique knitted a sweet little sweater for baby. Maria has tried to teach me to knit and I thought I had it there for a while. I could make a small, lumpy and uneven square, but that was months ago and I didn't practice enough to get the whole muscle memory thing because today I picked up the needles and just stared at them, unaware of how to even begin. Maybe I'll see if Pam will let me come to her knitting group sometime, and I can get private tutoring from Maria on the side, lol.

2005-03-27T14:08:00.000-08:00

Happy Easter! No baby yet.

We had a nice holiday. The kids somehow completely spaced out that they get goodies and presents for Easter, so they were very plesantly shocked when their daddy brought them their baskets this morning. We had a great service at church. The kids sang for the congregation and they looked so sweet in their little choir robes :) The music throughout the whole service was amazing, and the cross looked beautiful bedecked in lillies. We had a lovely, low-work Easter dinner of frozen veggie lasagna and garlic bread, and after dinner Pam came by to check in on me. As she was coming up the driveway, Adam was just descending the hill outside with an armful of trillium flowers he picked for me in the forest. Pam said that it must be a sign... an alternative name for trillum is birthroot. So now I have a big bouquet of birthroot embellishing my little birth corner!

Third time's a charm

2005-03-26T08:16:00.000-08:00

No baby yet, but today is my brother Michael's birthday (Happy birthday Mike!). Michael really wanted Blue to be born on his b-day, but I was already 2.5 weeks overdue when he was born on March 16, and I was absolutely not willing to hold out another ten days. And of course, Rosie is a summer baby. But maybe third times a charm, right?

Waiting

2005-03-23T15:55:00.000-08:00

I've decided to wait. Tomorrow is my official due date and the neverending unproductive contractions seem to have stopped ( I think the child moved back up a bit) so I'm going to wait a few days. Let's see if I can make it through Easter Sunday. Then, if on Monday I still haven't gone into labor on my own, we'll have Pam over for some of the owie stuff. Sound OK to you? I guess if I'm not going to have this baby this week, I should be more careful about junking out. It's already a big baby, I don't need it to be a toddler. So, anyone want to come over and eat my baby shower cake?

The good, the bad and the bored

2005-03-23T11:30:00.000-08:00

I'm bored out of my skull. I took a bath. I did a 2 hour homeopathic treatment. I ate leftover cake. My house is clean. I refolded the baby clothes about twelve times. I figured out how to use my new crib (which is quite an accomplishment, since the thing sings, dances and does about everything but nurse the kid for you). I read with my kids.

To cold to go out and too wet to play ball so I sit in the house I do nothing at all. So all I can do is to sit sit sit sit and I do not like it not one little bit.

Of course, there are a few, slightly more invasive steps I can take to get the ball rolling....but I hate invasive. I have this real dislike of uncomfortable and painful stuff. Who knew? But this is just agonizing. To call Pam, or not to call. That is the question. Plus, if labor starts, so does Adam's vacation. Vacation is good. Pain is bad. Good. Bad. Good. Bad. Good. Bad. Good. Bad.

Sherri's recipe

2005-03-23T08:45:00.000-08:00

Sherri, in an effort to promote world peace, has agreed to share the recipe for the aforementioned to-die-for strawberry pastries. The world thanks her.

Cheese Cake Cups
8 sheets phyllo dough
1/4 cup melted butter
1 egg
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 package 8 oz cream cheese cubed
1/2 cup small curd cottage cheese
3 tablespoons sugar

unroll phyllo dough sheets trim if necessary into 13 by 9 inches rectangles. While assembling, keep remaining dough covered with plastic wrap and a damp cloth. Brush one sheet with butter. Top with another sheet and repeat until all 8 sheets are used. Cut stack lengthwise into three pieces: cut widthwise into fourths. Lightly press each stack into a greased muffin cup.

In a blender, place egg, lemon juice, vanilla. cheeses and sugar; cover and process until smooth. Spoon about 2 tablespoons into each phyllo cup. Bake at 350* for 12 to 15 mins or until lightly browned. Carefully take out of pan and cool on wire racks to cool. Cover and refrigerate makes 12

I then top with fresh sliced strawberries and melted dark chocolate bars. OH, so good.

Warm Fuzzies

2005-03-23T08:33:00.000-08:00

If I had any imagination at all, I would have guessed that the lovely ladies in SASH were throwing a baby shower for me, but alas, I was clueless! It was a great party, hosted by Angie and I got some cool stuff...little sleepers and onesies, blankets, a beautiful sweater, sweet little socks and toys and booties, my DREAM CRIB, and lots of little doo dads. There was a Costco cake (I reanamed it 'Breakfast') and cute decorations and baloons. It was so much fun. Warm and fuzzy, warm and fuzzy.

Feels like Christmas

2005-03-22T12:25:00.000-08:00

We have been blessed again by our friends the Chamness family. Last night they brought over three casseroles (one hot for dinner and two for the freezer) along with hot noodles, salad and these little strawberry pastries that were to die for. Adam commented (through a mouthful of pastry) that meeting Sherri Chamness and her family might have been the been the best thing that has happened to us since moving to Salem, and he's probably right! It was Sherri's son Jeff who first turned us on to homeschooling, and Sherri got us through those nervous first few months....and introduced us to SASH, our wonderful local homeschooling group. Through SASH we met Pamela, midwife extrordinairre, as well as Angie and fam, Allyson and fam, Deb the wonder mom, and of course Maria who is basically my life support system at this point....and about a million other great people. We feel so blessed... a little like Christmas. But with all that good food waiting in the freezer, I'm more eager than ever to have this baby :)

Do you think there's any chance that basil-cream chicken is effective in inducing labor?

Not Likely

2005-03-21T17:03:00.000-08:00

Well, after violently vomiting a mixture of greasy kung pao chicken, castor oil, Dr. Christopher's nasty herb tea, and little homeopathic pills, I have decided to close the door on inducing with anything I have to ingest. I'm going to rest now, and maybe tomorrow I will have grown into a patient woman who doesn't mind having a few hours of contractions each night. But not likely.

2005-03-21T08:59:00.000-08:00

An-ticipation....an-TIS-i-pa-a-tion........it's making me late.....it's keeping me wa-a-a-a-aiting.

Unsolved Mystery now Solved

2005-03-19T12:27:00.000-08:00

By the way, the mystery plant turns out to be a bergenia.

TMI Part II

2005-03-19T12:02:00.000-08:00

Well, make that four nights in a row. Last night I took some homeopathic herbs that generally work well to move labor along but my pattern remained the same....3 hours of regular contractions in the evening that then slowly faded as I got sleepy. Today we're resting, focusing on other things. Planted some new roses...been hanging out with the bunnies. We borrowed a little stud Holland lop to breed with our Basil bunny in hopes of babies in a month. He's still settling in and we will give them a few days before we introduce them. The garden is so thankful for the rain, and I see that the birds didn't eat as many of the peas as I suspected. I have volunteer sunflowers blessing the garden left and right and peas from Maria's adopted garden soil here and there too. The magnolia is just past its peak glory and the rain is taking a toll on the petals but it's still very beautiful out my kitchen window. The plum tree and apples are blooming too, and the trillium and daffodils are all out. I love this time of year....especially now that we have some rain. The ringer on our phone will remain turned off in order to promote a restful and private atmosphere here at the house, so assume all is well even if we're a little hard to get a hold of. I'll be sure to pass along any news as soon as we have some.

TMI

2005-03-18T07:28:00.000-08:00

Ok, in the possible realm of Too Much Information, for the past three nights I've had good, hard contractions, about 10 to 7 minutes apart, for the duration of a couple hours. And then at bedtime it just peters out. It's not my due date yet, and I'm trying to be all cool and go-with-the-flow, but this little pattern has me feeling a teensy weensy bit impatient. It doesn't help that I'm feeling just a little pressured by certain family members to just get this over with (you know who you are) as if it's up to me, lol. The way I figure though (actually, this is the way my dear and wise friend, Sherri, mother of 7, figures) the end of pregnancy isn't supposed to be comfortable. If it were, women wouldn't be relieved and grateful when labor begins, and the pain would be harder to cope with. Smart gal, that Sherri. Anyhow, the girl who cleans for me was out of town this week and she'll be coming by today to spif up the place. Maybe the babe is just waiting to make it's entrance into a cleaner little environment. So, we'll get the house clean, the weekend will come and maybe we'll have this baby in time to take him/her to church on Easter, if not Palm Sunday.

Um. Yeah.

2005-03-14T18:46:00.000-08:00

Ok, when I first saw this on one of my local homeschooling e-mail lists, I thought it was a joke. Then I looked into it. It's real. Really.

In an effort to increase the public drumbeat for criminalizing homeschooling, California Deputy Super-intendent Joanne Mendoza has distributed a memo containing the top 10 reasons why public schooling is better than homeschooling.
Here is an excerpt from that memo:

Why Public Schooling Is Better Than Homeschooling

* Most parents were educated in the under-funded public school system, and so are not smart enough to homeschool their own children.

* Children who receive one-on-one homeschooling will learn more than others, giving them an unfair advantage in the marketplace. This is undemocratic.

* How can children learn to defend themselves unless they have to fight off bullies on a daily basis?

* Ridicule from other children is important to the socialization process.

* Children in public schools can get more practice"Just Saying No" to drugs, cigarettes and alcohol.

* Fluorescent lighting may have significant health benefits.

* Publicly asking permission to go to the bathroom teaches young people their place in society.

* The fashion industry depends upon the peer pressure that only public schools can generate.

* Public schools foster cultural literacy, passing on important traditions like the singing of "Jingle Bells, Batman smells, Robin laid an egg..."

* Homeschooled children may not learn important officecareer skills, like how to sit still for six hours straight.

Okfirst off, my kids ( who have *never* been to public school, head start, daycare etc. ) *do* know 'Jingle Bells Batman Smells' along with 'Trick or treat, smell my feet,' and 'Happy Birthday to you, You live in a zoo.' Oh, and they love to hear excerpts from Don Quixote and The Illiad. Bring on the cultural literacy. Also, don't points one and two contradict eachother? We're too stupid to teach our children, yet our children are getting a superior and therefore undemocratic education? And we're dealing with the socialization issues: Once a week we have the neighbor boy come over and punch Addison and tell Rosie she's fat. I'm not so convinced about the fourescent lighting thing. It gives me a headache. They're children, not plants. They need sunshine, not grow lights. I don't give a hoot about the fashion industry. I have noticed that homeschooled children do dress differently than their publicly schooled counterparts. For instance, I have never seen a homeschool boy's underpants, whereas the displaying of underpants seems to be part of the public school dress code. This is the biggest crock of beans and weiners I've seen since the elementary cafeteria.

Buy this house!

2005-03-09T15:54:00.000-08:00

Looking for real estate? Maria's house is for sale. Check out the cool mural she painted on the kitchen cabinet!
http://wvmls.com/public/propertylistings.asp?mlsnumber=540509

Plant of Mystery

2005-03-06T10:25:00.001-08:00

Hello all, I need help identifying this plant. A friend gave me four of these last year but she couldn't remember what they are called. The plants are low, and grow in a roundish/rosette pattern. The leaves (pictured below) are round and thick. They're mostly green with some pink and purple. They measure about 5.5 inches long (not including stem) and 4.5 inches wide. The plants flower in Spring....a cluster of small, semi-bell shaped pink blooms borne on one pink stem from the center of each plant. They only bloomed once last year. The plants grow from thick, rhizome-like roots and the new shoots this year look a little like really fat asparagus. Any hints?

2005-03-06T10:25:00.000-08:00

This is the underside of the leaf.

2005-03-06T10:24:00.000-08:00

This is the front of the leaf.

Pestering Nesting

2005-03-04T14:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, so maybe cancelling the housekeeper for the week was a bad idea. The kids are just recovering from the flu/cough/vomiting thing they had going on and I don't want to ask them for help quite yet. They need some time to play. But, I've gone into full nesting mode and this house is a wreck! I decided to start in the bathroom and what should have been a simple clean up has morphed into a total reorganization of the cupboards and drawers, including new contact paper. Man do they need it. Adam is working a ton of overtime this week and probably going in on the weekend too. Need the $$ this time of year, and he wants to get some catch-up work done. Better now than after baby! Had my prenatal a few days ago and my midwife, Pam, said everything looks good. At the last appt, it was looking like baby was getting seriously big. But we remeasured this time around and it looks more reasonable. Baby must have been in a weird position or something before. Still going to be a good sized babe, probably bigger than Addison (9lbs 14.5 oz), but still reasonable. Maybe 12 lbs. Got the radishes in and some more flower seeds planted. That grass seed I put out doesn't seem do be doing much. Cheap stuff. The magnolia is about to burst, and the plum tree is getting ready. All the cherry trees around town are starting to do their thing too. I hope we get a chance to get some pictures taken at the Capitol while the trees on the lawn are in bloom. Which reminds me, I don't think we have an Easter dress for miss Rosie for this year. Hmmm. Wonder if I could modify the flower girl dress from last summer. Maybe get a little pastel sweater to go with it. I'm so glad to be blessed with a little girl.

Sickies in the Garden

2005-02-28T19:03:00.000-08:00

Kids have been sick. Sigh. We've been sick more this year than ever before. We missed our Sicence Fair at the Gilbert House and didn't get a chance to celebrate Dean's birthday with him. We also missed church. Again. I've been teasing Adam that we wanted to give up something for Lent...and we've been so sick lately, it seems what we've given up is church! You know we're ill if I've cancelled the housekeeper for the week.

On a positive note, our beautifully generous friends Maria and Ralph have decided to move, and in the process of readying their house for the market, they had to move their raised garden beds full of glorious, fertile soil. I convinced them to move the beds to my front yard, which is looking decidedly tidy and neat, for once. We planted peas...both sugar snap and snow, and wildflowers so far. When the kids are feeling better we might put in some mesclun mix and radishes. Once the season gets going, we have corn and tomatoes and zuchinni (so prepare yourselves) and maybe some pumpkins or melons. Oh, and beans. I want to pickle some beans this year. Pickles sound sooo good, but that might be a pregnancy thing. Before Blue was feeling sick he cleaned out one of the front flower beds and we planted lots of flower seeds: columbine, cosmos, marigolds, michaelmas daisies, california poppies, shirley poppies, love-in-a-mist, and some 'seeds of mystery' I found in the cupboard, and am now thinking might be cabbages, lol. We also planted grass seed in our bald spots in the lawn. So the place is starting to look nicer, and I'm off to get a pickle.

Pendleton Finally!

2005-02-11T08:26:00.000-08:00

Hey look, I found a Pendleton weather cam. Sorta.

Typical Day

2005-02-11T07:46:00.000-08:00

On one of my homeschooling e-mail lists, a homeschooling newbie asked what a 'typical' day looked like for us. I thought I'd post my reply here as well. My reply came after my friend Maria replied. Maria uschools, which is a very child-led learning process, so some of the post refers to the differences between my day and hers. We use what is called Classical Education, which is based on the trivium. We're not hardcore classicists though, we blend classical with Charlotte Mason and some other styles to best suit the kids. So here is my reply to the newbie: (Please forgive odd spacing throughout; for some reason when I paste text from an email list to my blogs, all the spaces dissapear, and I'm lazy about putting them back in.)

My kids are 5 and 6. We started schooling pretty formally about two years ago, when they were pretty young. We're more relaxed now, but not as relaxed as Maria. Our Day:I wake up with dh, unless I decide to sleep in. On a good day I get up, get breakfast and take time for Bible study, but more often I drink too much coffee and stare at the dog for an hour or so until the kids are up. I feed them; give hints about what might be appropriate clothing for the day, show Rosie my cavity so she will brush her teeth and then send the kids out to do `chores' which means feeding the dog, cats, rabbits and ferret, and bringing in a few pieces of fire wood. Then we `do lessons.'

We do reading lessons almost every day.Rosie, who is 5, loves Phonics Pathways, and does a few pages from that each day. P. Pathways is really dry and bare bones, but she digs it and is speeding right through. After P. Pathways, she chooses a book to read to me. I encourage her to get a first reader so she will have an easier time, but she often chooses cookbooks instead, which is fine. Addison, age 6, hates Phonics Pathways, so I let him quit last year,about three quarters of the way through the program and now he just reads me books (around 2nd or 3rd level readers) and we check through P. Pathways if there is something he gets confused about. After the kids read to me, they get to choose a few books for me to read to them. Right now they are obsessed with reading all of the Caldecott Honor books.

Much like Maria, a good deal of the day is spent removing things from the dog's mouth, washing her after she rolls in manure, brushing bunnies etc.

Addison asked to start learning handwriting again after a break, and we decided to start him on cursive. We use this free website: http://www.handwritingforkids.com/handwrite/cursive.htm

Rosie practices printing on her own, or colors or tries to write stories using the words she knows how to correctly spell. She used to use her own invented spelling, but now prefers to look up words in books she has memorized. Her favorite story of all time is The Little Red Hen, so a lot of the fiction she writes revolves around planting, weeding and grinding wheat.We usually stop here for a snack, or if it's a late day, for lunch.

We do history almost every day. We use The Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History as a starting point and we branch out from there, using library books, the internet, historical coloring books and historical fiction to further explore. When we find something cool, like mummies or Greek myths, we spend some time on it. Right now we are doing a review of what we have covered so far this year (first farmers through ancient Greece) by reading The Story of the World at bed time. We're taking 2 months off for baby to be born before we start on Rome. History is everyone's favorite subject and we spend more time on it than anything else. We have an art history book that we look at along with our history studies.

For Science this year, we are studying biology (for history and science, we use the chronological models in The Well Trained Mind).We don't use a science text. Instead we check out library books on each subject (eagles, nests, salmon, migration and so on) We are just finishing up the animal world with a study of the weasel family (come see what we learned at the Gilbert house science fair! Our ferret, Molly, will be there representing the weasels!). Next wewill be learning about the human body, culminating with the homebirth of baby number 3, due in late March. Then it'll be on to a study of the plant kingdom, which I think is going to amount to planting our garden. We do science two or three times a week. We learn Bible lessons too. We do a deeper study of the scripture or verse the kids were introduced to at Sunday school each week. We use bible coloring books and print bible worksheets, word searches and coloring pages from the internet.

I bought a Spanish curriculum last fall, but I haven't even opened it yet.

After history/science/bible, we have nap time for 1.5 hrs. They don't really sleep, they just play quietly in their rooms. After that, it's freeplay basically for the rest of the day. Sometimes if we didn't get something done in the morn, we will do it in the afternoon, but more likely we will skip it.We don't have a tv, and if the kids want to play computer games, they have to first earn time by reading for an equal number ofminutes. Dinner, Daddy comes home, and we play until bedtime, read a bit and then off to bed.

---------------------------------------------

Now, when I wrote this, I totally forgot to mention math, which is not shock to those who know me. We have done Math independently this year, learning about measurement and coins and telling time. Both kids add and subtract well, Addison is doing well with multipliction and simple fractions. Next fall we will start using Singapore Math. I think I might go ahead and order the first grade material as a review for Addison. Singapore has a great online placement test, and he is placing around the beginning of second grade at this point. And Spanish. We really should be doing something with that Spanish curriculum, but I have to admit that hiring a tutor or paying for a class is starting to look pretty good at this point. Or maybe our nation will face a huge influx of people from France in the next few years and I can just teach the kids a language I can actually speak. But probably not.
Au Revoir

Slinky and stinky:Mustelids

2005-02-07T13:15:00.000-08:00

The kids are working on a science project for an upcoming science fair at AC Gilbert's Discovery Village Saturday February 26. We're doing a unit on mustelids (the weasel family). We'll be displaing our own little muselid, our ferret Molly, along with lots of neat weasel family info. Be sure to check us out! Admission is $5. Hope to see everyone there.

Book Wishlist

2005-02-03T13:06:00.000-08:00

Well I didn't get it done before the holidays, and I changed the format a bit, but I finally got some work done on the kid's book wishlist (link at left). I know there are aunties and grandparents and so on that like to give books as gifts and it can be hard to tell what we need, what we already have etc, and I hope this list helps. Please, let no one feel obligated to buy books, or to buy the books on the list! The list is just there in case you need it :)

Homeschoolers' freedom threatened

2005-01-26T17:18:00.000-08:00

Well, thus far I've avoided any political talk here, but feeling the time has come.

Oregon State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Susan Castillo has put forth a bill that would begin a rollback of home educators rights. This bill (sb 165) would require homeschool students to register with their local esd every year, instead of registering once at the outset of homeschooling (as well as any time we move to a new esd). It would also require homeschoolers to turn in standardized tests to the esd, while currently; homeschoolers only turn in tests when the esd requests them. Sounds pretty harmless, right?

Wrong, and here's why. Most homeschoolers feel that homeschooling is a form of private education. Yet, here in Oregon, homeschoolers are already subjected to far more regulation than private schools. For instance, we have to test our children with standardized tests in the 3rd, 5th, 8th and I think 11th grades. Private schools are not required to test at all. Why the discrepancy? What is the purpose of the testing? No one really knows. Homeschoolers consistently outscore publicly schooled children on the tests, and at this point the esds rarely collect the tests, and even when they do, they generally don't act upon the results. I never did see the point in testing. After all, I work with my kids every day, and I already know how they're doing. I don't need an expensive test to tell me how they're progressing. Last year, homeschoolers in Oregon tried to get rid of the mandatory testing, and we almost succeeded. The issue was passed by the state senate (after hours of hard work from Oregon homeschooling families) but was eventually vetoed by the governor (who will not be receiving my vote, lol). One of the points made by homeschoolers in trying to be rid of the testing was that the esds were not collecting the tests anyway, and had no money to do so. I think this new bill is an effort to stifle future efforts homeschoolers might make toward getting rid of testing. Some things to remember:

Homeschoolers still pay taxes-we're paying for the education of everyone's kids just like you.

Homeschoolers are not granted equal footing with other private educators in Oregon.

Testing is expensive, around $40 per child per test, last I checked.

Homeschoolers receive a better education than the publicly schooled. Check out the stats.

Homeschoolers are exepted from the Federal 'No Child Left Behind Act.'

God entrusted my children to me, not to the state. I am ulitmately responsible for their welfare.

Truancy is a problem born of the public school system, not a homeschooling issue.

The following is a letter sent to State Superintendent of Public Instruction, Susan Castillo, from OHEN.

Date: Wed, 26 Jan 2005 11:39:45From: "OCEANetwork Legislative Coordinator" <williams@o...>To: <superintendent.castillo@s...>Cc: sen.vickiwalker@s..., sen.charlesstarr@s...,sen.ryandeckert@s..., sen.jeffkruse@s...,sen.billmorrisette@s..., randy.harnisch@s...

Subject: An Open Letter about SB 165An Open Letter about Oregon Senate Bill 165

Dear Superintendent Castillo,
Senate Bill 165 would increase the frequency of homeschoolnotification to annually and would require ESDs to collectstandardized test scores from all home educated students.Since you submitted SB 165 to the legislature, you are the logicalperson to ask about the reasoning behind this bill. We wouldappreciate knowing your thoughts in the following areas of concernfor us:

1) How does annual notification help home educated students?

2) Why is this small segment of private education being singledout for this annual reporting requirement?

3) How does reporting of test scores help home educated students?

4) Home educated students are currently required to take standardizedtests, but the Education Service Districts have the discretionwhether to request the results or not. This bill removes the ESDs'discretion. Why are ESDs not qualified to decide whether it isappropriate to request test scores? Will the Department ofEducation be providing funding for this mandate?

5) The implication of the bill seems to be that the State ofOregon knows better than parents what is best for this segment ofchildren being privately educated. This is probably best typifiedby the current law's provision that the State may require childrento be remanded out of the private education home environment,against the parents' best judgment.Could you please tell us this: Of the children remanded duringthepast two decades, which of them were helped by the State's actionand which of them were actually harmed? How are such resultsassessed?

6) How will this bill "help enforce truancy laws" (reference theState Board of Education minutes, below)?
And why should privately ducating parents be required to bear the burden of what isessentially a failure of the public schools to keep students inattendance?These are not rhetorical questions. They are about the substance ofwhat SB 165 requires from privately educating homeschooling families.We would appreciate your kind response.

Sincerely and with due respect,
Rodger Williams
OCEANetwork Legislative Coordinator
Amy Grant
OHEN Legislative Liaison

Baby Mode

2005-01-19T20:35:00.000-08:00

Well, the holidays are over and we've set into baby mode! Rachee is working on a 'welcoming party' for the little one, on Sunday April 17, following the baby's baptism at our church. We're starting to work toward getting our baby supplies together... we still need onesies and sleepers, an infant carseat, receiving blankets, cloth diapers and diaper covers (wool soakers and regular wraps), hats, booties and socks. Oh, and a diaper bag. I've been out of baby mode for so long I can hardly remember what's needed! The baby is growing well, and we've been working with our midwife, Pamela, to ready ourselves and our house for a home birth. So far this has been a really positive and relaxed pregnancy, and we're eager for baby's arrival. My due date is March 24...just two days before Easter. What a blessing it would be to have a little Easter baby! My brother Michael is pulling for birth onthe 26th too, since that's his birthday and we only missed it by 10 days with Addison.

Also in the works right now is a Valentine's Day Party for our homeschool group. We're hosting it here with an "Alice in Wonderland" theme. We'll have a tea party, valentine crafts, a 'mad hatter' shop, croquet and all sorts of fun! The kids have been helping put together invitations these past few days. They're studying ancient Greece right now, and really enjoying all the myths, though they both seem a little frightnened by the hydra! We're finishing up our studies of the animal kingdom with a look at birds, and gettin ready to learn about the human body. Rosie is reading really well now, and reading lessons are her favorite. Addison is reading more advanced books now, and really has his sight words down. The kids have enjoyed the recent warm spell almost as much as the ice storm that preceded it, and are looking forward to spring. Adam has been working alot of overtime and the department is encouraging him to take advantage of the tuition reimbursement offered by the city. So, maybe back to school for him! Off to bed.

2004-12-24T09:32:00.000-08:00

Well the tree is up and we're mostly ready, though I still have some baking to do. This year has been a full holiday season...with church activities, caroling with our homeschool group and our cookie exchange party. We headed up above Detroit Reservoir last weekend to cut our tree. It was a sunny and warm day, much to the dissapointment of the kids, who look forward to 'snow time' on our annual outing, but in the end, the fair weather turned out to be a wonderful blessing. Since the roads were dry we were able to drive much farther up than any past year and finally met our goal of cutting a noble fir, which grow only at elevations above 4000 here. And, as you can imagine, we did find snow up there! The kids spent hours sledding and builing snow castles. Tawney tunneled in the snow and sniffed around the bear tracks. The wilderness is so much different up high...I hope we get to go up there again some year.
This has probably been the best holiday season I can remember, but I'm looking forward to getting back to real life...ambling around the yard, feeding my animals, reading to the kids, watching the horses....eating vegetables, lol. Three months till baby arrives!

Recipe # 5

2004-11-12T11:35:00.000-08:00

This cookie recipe is from my dad's family from Germany. It's a big recipe and I've never braved it myself, though my dad makes it frequently for the holidays. Lebkuchen is a spicy, not-too-sweet cookie that's good dipped in coffee. Enjoy.

Now with Weather!

2004-11-12T11:10:00.000-08:00

I've added some links to weather cams in cities and towns where family and friends live. The Astoria cam is the coolest; you can take control of the camera and move it around to different parts of the city. The Salem cam is a little lame...but it's the only one I could find that wasn't just a picture of I-5. I'll keep an eye out for a better Salem cam. Maybe I could talk the governor into fixing one up on the Golden Pioneer, lol. I'm still on the lookout for cams in Pedleton, Adams or Athena, Veneta, and Jackson MI. You won't believe how hard I had to resist the temptation to title this post "Doing the Cam-Cam," or something equally corny. Must...resist....

General Newsy Update

2004-11-07T20:00:00.000-08:00

The past few months have been really busy for us, but in a great way. The kids have been busy with school and activities and Adam and I have been busy trying to keep up with them! They are both involved in a drama club that meets weekly right now, and have been working hard to memorize poems to perform at their upcoming recital. The club is working on poems by Shel Silverstein. Rosie chose to perform the poems Gumeyeball and Anteater, and Addison chose Monsers I've Met and the tongue-twister Poemsicle. All the children will be performing Jimmy Jet and his TV Set and Boa Constrictor together. The recital is the weekend before Thanksgiving, and the kids are now working on their props.
We are just finishing up studying ancient Egypt in history and we're getting ready to focus on the ancient Hebrews, which will be fun for the holidays. In biology we just finished learning about honey bees (a tasty topic!) and we're ready to begin learning about gray whales, just in time for the fall migration. We'll wrap up the unit with a whale watching cruise from Newport after Thanksgiving.
We spent Halloween trick-or-treating my mom's neighborhood this year after enjoying the day at Mount Pisgah's Annual Mushroom Festival. The kids loved the mushroom displays, scarecrow contest and the wildlife we saw on our hike. I liked the pizza! We also went to a great Halloween party hosted by our friends Michael and Charlotte. The food and company were super and we really enjoyed the games.
We had a wonderful opportunity to do some volunteer work with our church in October, helping homeless families in a shelter for an evening. We were the official 'greeters' for the night but someone forgot to tell us we were supposed to bring an activity to entertain the children. Thankfully, God stepped up to the plate and provided a full eclipse that kept us all occupied for the evening.
My dad was just discharged from a hospital in Arizona today where he underwent a hip replacement surgery. The surgery went very well and he is on the mend. The same surgeon performed his knee replacement last year and he sounds like a super doc. Dad came out of the surgery room asking for a cheeseburger and a cup of coffee.
We celebrated Bill and Kerry's birthdays last month, with a party in Eugene for Kerry and a dinner at Paddington's Pizza with Bill. It's been great seeing so much of the family all at once, and I (of course) especially enjoyed seeing Rach. It's so hard being far away from your best friend! Hopefully I'll get some new pictures uploaded to the kids' pages this week, not much time for computer lately.

Congrats!

2004-10-13T21:26:00.000-07:00

Congratulations to Matt and Gina on the birth of their new baby boy, Benjamin Cian, born Saturday, October 9th, weighing 7 pounds 6 oz.

Adam's Notebook

2004-10-06T20:32:00.000-07:00

Read Adam's essay on the recent and tragic deaths in his family, and other writings at his blog, Adam's Notebook.

Rosie gets a page!

2004-09-26T13:58:00.000-07:00

Rosie now has her own blog! I've added a page for her artwork, favorite photos and links to some of her favorite places on the web. Check out the link at left. Coming soon-a page with an alphabetical listing of all the children's books we have, and some that we are in need of (just in time for holiday shopping!).

Recipe # 4

2004-09-23T13:59:00.000-07:00

....sort of! Check out the Family Recipes link to find a recipe for wonderful soft pretzels.

2004-09-23T13:48:00.000-07:00

Addison and Rosie are enjoying their studies so far this year. They have been learning about sharks for science, and have been studying ancient Mesopotamia in history. Rosie is finally reading whole sentences with ease and Addison has been working on his handwriting and on memorizing a poem. You can see examples of their artwork below.

2004-09-23T13:44:00.000-07:00

Addison's hammerhead shark, with a ray and some coral.

2004-09-23T13:37:00.000-07:00

Rosie's picture of a Whale Shark. Whale Sharks are her favorite because they are gentle, and allow divers to approach.

Dave Foster Passes

2004-09-23T13:14:00.000-07:00

Dave Foster lost his life to lung cancer this last week. His funeral was held yeserday in Eugene. Dave is remembered as a great sport fisher and as a loving father, son, brother and uncle. We will miss him.

A New School Year

2004-09-07T11:37:00.000-07:00

A new school year is beginning here at the Kinch house. Rosie will be starting Kindergarten and Addison will be doing first grade. Both kids will be home schooled again this year. The style of homeschooling we do is called classical education. It’s really fun for us and fits our family well. In the model of classical education we follow, history is taught in chronological order, beginning with ancient civilizations in the first grade and ending with modern times in the fourth grade. Then the cycle is repeated again in grades 5-8 with more advanced materials, and then again in high school, with original sources. You can check out the curriculum guide we use here.
Even though Rosie is a year behind Addison in school, they will do science and history lessons together. This year they will learn all about ancients such as the Sumerians, Egyptians, Greeks and Romans, as well as the Bible in ancient history. Our science curriculum follows the same cyclical form. In the first grade we study basic biology, then in second grade we learn earth science followed by chemistry and physics in grades three and four. The cycle is repeated in the middle and high school periods with increasing depth of study.
Addison is already a great reader and Rosie has been working hard at her reading primer. She’s a real book lover and spends a lot of time curled up flipping through her favorites such as The Little Red Hen, A Pocket for Corduroy, and the Madeline stories. Both kids get a bedtime story each night and are working their way through chapter books. Addison is listening to Farmer Boy by Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Rosie is enjoying Charlotte’s Web.
It’s time for a new year of Sunday school as well! Classes start at our church on Sunday the 12th. This will be Rosie’s first year in a class without her brother, but hopefully she will be comforted by the presence of her teacher’s aid-me! I’ll be helping out with the Kindergarten class through December. Addison will also be joining the Cub Scouts this year and Rosie is taking part in a Dollhouse club, where she gets to help make dollhouses and furnish them. Everyone is looking forward to a busy and fun year.

New Feature!

2004-09-02T15:15:00.000-07:00

I've added a page where you can view some of Addison's computer artwork. Eventually I'll scan in some of his pictures on paper and maybe some schoolwork as well. Some of his pictures are pretty humorous! Try the link at left or here.

Just for fun...

2004-08-31T19:23:00.000-07:00

Adam and I took this quiz at belief.net. It's supposed to match you up with the religion/denomination your beliefs most closely match. I scored 100% for Orthodox Quaker. Funny, I don't even like oatmeal. Not that I would hold much stock in something called the belief-o-matic; we're quite happy attending Saint Mark Lutheran Church. Still, the quiz was fun and good food for thought.

Recipe # 3

2004-08-28T20:09:00.000-07:00

Check out the Family Recipes link for a simple and spicy sweet-hot mustard recipe. Just what the pregnant lady ordered!

New Additions

2004-08-24T18:19:00.000-07:00

Our little menagerie has grown! We recently welcomed Ghiradeli, a one year old chocolate lab in to our home, as well as Indi, a little calico/tabby kitten. Ghiradeli (called Deli) was adopted from another homeschool family that was struggling to find time to spend with him. He's a handsome boy in need of some training. Tawney, our golden retriever, gets along with him well and is glad for the company. Next up will be some jersey wooly bunnies my friend Maria is sharing with me. I also have my eye on some laying hens but we're trying to slow down a bit in anticipation of the new baby, due March 24.!

New Recipe!

2004-08-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

You can find Pam's 'wedding meatball' recipe at our Family Recipes page. Follow the link on the left.

2004-08-22T20:53:00.000-07:00

Rosie on Papa's "really, really cool orange tractor!"

2004-08-22T20:50:00.000-07:00

Rosie at papa Bill's house.

Rosie Turns Five

2004-08-22T20:39:00.000-07:00

Rosie celebrated her birthday on August 20th with cake and punch with her friends Panda and Stevie. Her two birthday wishes this year were to go to the Oregon Coast Aquarium with auntie Rachael and uncle Peter, and for Grandma Pam to bring her toy horsey 'Cleo' home. Cleo was sadly left behind when we came home from the Kinch-Buderus wedding. Both wishes came true! We had a great time at the aquarium where we got to see sea dragons, a close relative to the sea horse. They were beautiful creatures and Rosie thought they looked like floating flowers. Check out sea dragons here: http://www.divegallery.com/Leafy_Sea_Dragon.htm
After the aquarium we headed to Devil's Churnbowl to make sand castles and watch the surfers. Addison enjoyed chasing the waves and touching the sea anemones. Earlier in the week Rosie spent some time with papa Bill and Grandma Jaemie. They enjoyed lunch at Paddington's Pizza and spent time riding papa and grandma's horse and tractor. Check out the pictures!

Congratulations!

2004-08-22T20:36:00.000-07:00

Pam and Kerry Anderson have welcomed their ninth grandchild into the world! Jennifer and Justin Dillon were blessed with a healthy baby boy August nineteenth. They named him Jordan Aaron. Congratulations!

2004-08-16T11:17:00.000-07:00

Peter with mom and stepdad.

2004-08-16T11:16:00.000-07:00

Kristin and proud father Bill Kinch.

2004-08-16T11:14:00.000-07:00

It's official!

2004-08-16T11:09:00.000-07:00

With this ring....

2004-08-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

Rachael, Mother of the bride Pam, and Tyler.

2004-08-16T11:06:00.001-07:00

Awwwww!

2004-08-16T11:06:00.000-07:00

Little Men in Black

2004-08-16T11:03:00.000-07:00

Rachael, Kristin, Gina, Brandy and Rosie

2004-08-16T10:59:00.000-07:00

Ring Bearer and Flower Girl

2004-08-16T10:57:00.000-07:00

Peter with mom and sisters.

2004-08-16T10:53:00.000-07:00

Rachael and Peter Buderus