Friday's Daybook # 1

+ JMJ +

 

Outside my window:

Dusk is falling on the freshly-cut carpet of grass. The tall trees are standing in the shadow of the early evening sky.

I am listening to:

"76 Trombones" playing on our CD player. Honey put it on to listen to while she's in the kitchen, preparing dinner. She offered to cook for us tonight. What a sweetheart of a daughter!

I am wearing:

My three-quarter sleeved dark brown Mossimo shirt and my dark blue L.L. Bean jogging capris -- very comfortable!

To be Fit and Happy:

The temps are unusually warm for this time of year (80's). Summer is fast approaching, and I need to go on a diet!


I am thankful for:

The ease Honey had in starting her blog. I didn't realize how simple it was. I promptly followed suit and am now hooked!


I am pondering:

This sage bit of advice from Olalla at Unschooling Catholics.

I don't care for video games very much, I just don't find them that interesting. But if my kids ever do get into playing video games, then I would really try to participate in that, too.


It reminds me a little bit of the advice given to married couples by Greg Popcak and others -- to take an interest in your spouse's hobbies and projects, even if they aren't initially your cup of tea. You might never really love watching football, but you will be able to appreciate and enjoy how much your husband likes it, for example.


When someone takes an interest in something that is important to you, you really feel understood and loved. It builds self-esteem in a good way. Unlike good grades or other accolades, you don't feel that you're valuable because you are better than someone else, but valued for who you really are. It might even inspire you to go out of your way to get to know another person and love them in the same way.

What a great reminder!

I am reading:

The recent posts at Unschooling Catholics. Interesting thread on "Drudgery and Attachment" begun by Michelle D, who just joined the group. Lots of questions and good conversation. I've been joining the discussion and staying up late.


From the kitchen:

Honey is busy preparing her favorite dish for dinner tonight, Spaghetti Carbonara. The bacon smells delicious! Muddee is happily helping her. He loves cooking. This afternoon, he made crepe-thin pancakes for us. Yummy with maple syrup!

I'm thinking:

SLED will enjoy creating his own blog. What a great way for kids to improve their writing skills! Honey's having a lot of fun with hers. Need to hone up Muddee's typing skills so he can make his own, too.

I am creating:

My very first blog and am having so much fun!

From iTunes:

Just bought Beethoven's Twelve Contredanses # 1, 2, 4, 6, 7 , 10, 12.

Towards a real education:

For her first blog post, Honey wrote about some important concepts she had learned during her yearlong Catechesis of the Good Shepherd (CGS) Level I training at St. Catherine's. She is now a certified Level I CGS catechist and has been enjoying her work with Linda E as assistant catechist at OLGC's new Level I Atrium!

I led our weekly highschool Socratic Discussion Group this morning at Melissa F's home. I prepared Honey, Josh R and Skylar F (Mary G was absent) for their first student-led discussion, which will be held next week. Through the exercises provided by Touchstone Discussion Project, they discussed and agreed on a variety of interventions that may be used to address any difficulties in group dynamics. They are now ready to try out their roles as Discussion Group leaders.

Melissa led the Junior High Socratic Discussion Group with SLED, Gabe F and Leah J. The weather was a bit warm, so they held their meeting in the patio. They read a passage from Mary Shelley's "Frankenstein" and a short poem by Langston Hughes called "Buddy." SLED said they had an interesting discussion.

Muddee had his Art History class this morning with Sean R, Becky R, Abby W and Isaiah F. Faith R taught them Colonial American Art from the Catholic Heritage Curricula DVD Art Program. For the first part of their art activity, Miguel chose to draw a picture of the U.S. soldiers raising the flag at Iwo Jima.

Muddee also improved his cooking skills the past two days when he offered to make a big batch of French Toast for us yesterday and crepe-thin pancakes today! They were delish! In fact, SLED commented: "There's nothing like  Muddee's French Toast." I agree!

Honey practiced her Russian today on Byki.com. Earlier, SLED had her test him on some German phrases he had learned and copied on his notebook from Byki. They are both very interested in learning these languages and have chosen to learn them ON THEIR OWN, everyday, without any help or prompting from me! Oh, the beauty of interest-led learning! So much for the French and Spanish Rosetta Stone CDs I had bought years ago....

Towards rhythm and beauty:

With the help of Muddee, Honey set the dinner table tonight with our pretty rose tablecloth, the leftover roses they gave us from Mother's Day at OLH and light blue candle tapers on tall candleholders. It was a vision of loveliness.

To Live the Liturgy:

Tonight, we started our Novena to the Holy Spirit in anticipation of Pentecost Sunday next week. Christine W sent out a timely e-mail to remind everyone. We have always prayed this before the Feast of Pentecost, but it was only when I read her e-mail that I learned ...

The novena to the Holy Ghost is the oldest of all novenas since it

was first made at the direction of Our Lord when He sent His apostles

back to Jerusalem to await the coming of the Holy Ghost on the First

Pentecost. It is still the only novena officially prescribed by the

Church.

We all thought that this new bit of information was very interesting. Imagine, it came directly from Our Lord Himself -- no wonder it's so powerful! Muddee then asked if we could do the CGS presentation of the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and I assured him we would on Pentecost Sunday, like we do every year. Everyone in the family, including Robs, enjoys this beautiful presentation.

I am hoping and praying:

That we will have a wonderful and relaxing summer, after such a demanding year for me outside of our homeschool. I've been teaching 2 Art History classes for 4th-7th graders at our Homeschool Co-op, as well as leading our TORCH highschool Socratic Discussion Group.

SLED is in my Art History II class: Renaissance to Modern Art.

In the Garden:

Wildflowers are growing. The grass needs mowing! (Actually, so does our neighbor's.)

Around the House:

Since we haven't had visitors the last few weeks, clutter has been building up.

On Keeping Home:

Nobody minds the clutter because it's more comfortable than having to clean up.

Rob's job:

He had a good day. Because of his company's Netherland clients,though, he's been translating some technical documents from Dutch to English. He is learning a few Dutch words in the process, but finds having to translate every word rather tedious.


A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

Rest this weekend!

Honey borrowed the DVD of "Roman Holiday" from the library. It'll be her first time to watch the film, and Robs and I haven't seen it in years, so we're looking forward to watching it with her.

Tomorrow's activities (Saturday)

Honey will be going to the Opus Dei meditation for highschool girls at St. V's.

SLED and Muddee have their last swim team practice for the schoolyear. (They've enjoyed learning with gifted swim teacher and assistant coach Theresa F.)

Muddee will be altar-serving at the 5:00 Vigil Mass at OLH.

Sergie will be going to the BASH for the first time, a huge annual event for Junior High Youth Groups from 60 parishes in the diocese. He'll be going with his youth group from OLH. There will be pizza, ice cream, inflatable games / obstacle courses, Improv Comedy, an inspirational speaker, time to chill, and Vigil Mass. He's looking forward to it!

Robs and the kids will be helping out the Knights of Columbus at the monthly Pancake Breakfast in OLH, Sunday morning.

I need to start preparing my Art History students' works for display in our co-op's end-of-the-year Fine Arts Festival. After all this work, I'll finally have my break. Can't wait!