Pinewood Castle

To Blog or Not to Blog

That is the question, and one on which I have frequently reflected in my absence.

You see, I've done it again. I've unintentionally taken a really long break from blogging since family life got busy and now I feel like I have to apologize, explain my absence, and re-evaluate my commitment to blogging.

Is it just me, or have you also noticed that the blogging world has become more sophisticated in recent months? Top-quality photos, Facebook and Pinterest Pins, Google sharing, sponsorship, give-aways, linking, blogging conferences, advertising, etc. On-line presence. Every day blogging. A part time job! It all makes me feel disqualified and I fall into the trap of comparison and discontent. I do not blog on a laptop and don't own a fancy camera. I'm way behind the curve.

I can't promise that I will never explore these lucrative aspects of blogging (earning some extra money would be most welcome) but to tell the truth, in this season of motherhood I would rather not be . . . beholden. {My friend M. shared this most perfect term to describe our shared sentiment}

My ship is full enough to sail steadily with focus. Add more weight and the vessel may sink. The last few months our family has been uncomfortable busy. Almost hyper-busy. I don't like hyper-busy. Ironically, I despise hyper-busy in other families. We've become . . . one of them. Until this weekend, I think I forgot how to relax and enjoy life.

It's all my own doing and it's high time to slow down. After another month of busy {a homeschool conference, gall bladder removal, ballet recital, theater day camp, orchestra day camp, a birthday, and continued weekly lessons in ballet, piano, violin and karate} our family will look forward to a new academic year with only two activities per child, not three. More weeknight family dinners, more afternoon tea times. More hand crafts and less driving, driving, driving.

Margins. I need margins to relax, focus, play, reflect, read, cook from scratch, bake cakes, plan, sort, organize, think, pray, communicate, chronicle, NOTICE others, train character, breathe, not react out of stress, bathe the little ones, watch them run around the yard chasing bubbles, hug my kids, sit on the floor and play with my two year old, talk to my husband, call my mom, call a friend, get together with friends, leave the house five minutes early, sleep a few hours before midnight, whatever.

I need more of all of this and I just can't do it if I am spending hours of time and brain power on blogging. The rest of life seems to need us to be at the computer reading newsletters, printing forms, paying bills, planning field trips, shopping, reading message boards, and planning curriculum. When the kids go outside, so should I. Otherwise I will miss watching my five year old blowing bubbles with all her might and chasing them around the yard.

Plus, do you know why I named this blog "Pinewood Castle" in the first place? Other than our home backing up to a belt of towering pines (shown on my never-changing banner)? Did I ever tell you?

It came to me after pondering Casti Conubii (On Christian Marriage), a papal encyclical by Pope Pius XI from 1930. When adressing the "emancipation of women" and thus being freed from the  "ruling of the domestic society, the administration of family affairs and the rearing of the children" the advice is this:

75. This, however, is not the true emancipation of woman, nor that rational and exalted liberty which belongs to the noble office of a Christian woman and wife; it is rather the debasing of the womanly character and the dignity of motherhood, and indeed of the whole family, as a result of which the husband suffers the loss of his wife, the children of their mother, and the home and the whole family of an ever watchful guardian. More than this, this false liberty and unnatural equality with the husband is to the detriment of the woman herself, for if the woman descends from her truly regal throne to which she has been raised within the walls of the home by means of the Gospel, she will soon be reduced to the old state of slavery (if not in appearance, certainly in reality) and become as amongst the pagans the mere instrument of man.

Regal throne! Ladies, Pope Pius XI said we sit on a regal throne! When we are too busy or away from home too much to care for our family, "the husband suffers the loss of his wife, the children of their mother, and the home and the whole family of an ever watchful guardian".

This message is what moved me to decide to take my role as mother and home educator more seriously, helped me to stop seeking a part time job, to be better with the budget and living within our means, to be willing to live on the edge sometimes, and to help me encourage my husband with his work and career.

Even though mom bloggers typically work from home (or the coffee shop), and usually after kids are lovingly tucked in bed, the more I listen and I read the more frequently I hear bloggers express their struggle to balance online life with real life, to step away from the computer and email and Facebook and Twitter and Pinterest. Not always, but often, the computer is an escape from the distasteful aspects of our vocations. The mess, the tantrums, the poopy diapers, the laundry, the dishes, the squabbles, the incessant mom mom mom mom mom mom. 

(He's getting a haircut)

Computer time is solitary, clean, quiet. We need this sometimes. I know - I'm an introvert. But at least for me, I need to be free - to be able to step away whenever I need to, and as long as I need to, without enslaving myself to the screen. 

So, as much as I enjoy reading amazing blogs and respect my fellow bloggers and all of the work they put into their blogs, I hope you like Pinewood Castle the way it's been -  because for now, it's staying that way.

{And I will try this week to carve out some time to catch up around here - but after kids are in bed and I've spent time with my husband!}

Five

 

Please, everybody, look at me!
Today I'm five years old, you see!
And after this, I won't be four,
Not ever, ever, any more!

I won't be three or two or one,
For that was when I'd first begun.
Now I'll be five awhile,
And then I'll soon be something else again.

 

My Baby Turned Twelve!

We are celebrating with very special visitors, Grandma and Aunt Terri from Oklahoma. Our action-packed weekend includes a piano recital, last violin group concerts, and a field trip to a one-room schoolhouse.

On the Feast of St. George

Have you read the book to your children today?

This morning we snuggled up on the sofa and took the time to enjoy the feast for the eyes the illustrations provide and the feast for the ears the abundant alliteration affords.

The feast for our bellies (a dragon cake) we will skip this year. It's a school day, I have a meeting to attend tonight for boy's choir, book club Wednesday, company coming from Oklahoma, two birthdays to plan, and am already terribly behind after tending to three of my children who have taken turns with The Four Day Fever and spending my Saturday chauffeuring children to violin, a ballet pizza party, and a play date. Yesterday was a needed day of of rest, catch-up, and comforting sick little ones.

I have a couple of "tweaking" posts in the works - one about the ever-changing The Chore Chart and another about how I am planning to tweak MODG (again )to suit our needs next fall. But, since they are nowhere near done and my little prince and princess are crying and distracting the others from their school work I suppose I had better attend to the chaos, hopefully with love, and begin Spring Week in preschool.

Have a blessed day!

Too Good Not to Share

Paleo on a Budget

 

Continuing Ed

(from the 2nd volume of Homeschooling Cartoons)

 Do you ever daydream that your husband takes you to a hotel room filled not with flowers and chocolate, but with all of the homeschooling books that have been teetering on your nightstand for over a year? In my dream, he gives me the key, and kisses me goodbye for a week. Am I just a nerdy home schooling mom?

Conferences (like the one coming up) are wonderful for learning new things and perusing curricula and I almost always come away with more information that I can process in one or two days away from home. Invariably, I gather my courage to attend a lofty workshop on Classical Education and, overwhelmed, find myself wishing I could attend a talk on a simpler topic such as: Homeschooling for Dummies: How Exactly Do You Teach Phonics, Spelling, and Grammar or perhaps Signs You Should Ease Up on Your Child and Assign One Page of Math a Day Instead of Two and even better: Look No Further: Which Math and Phonics Programs Are Indisputably the Best.

Before I am bombarded with new ideas and new books at this year's conference I am hoping to get to a few resources I already have. A few titles I'd love to read for the first time (which of course I could be reading right now if I weren't sitting here blogging the day away):

Let's Read Latin

Cave Canem

Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Egypt

The new edition of Educating the Whole Hearted Child

The School of the Family: A Renaissance of Catholic Formation

The Hidden Art of Home Making

All of the Genevieve Foster books (even though they are not Catholic)

 

Here are some favorite titles I would love to re-read every year:

The Imperfect Homeschooler's Guide to Homeschooling

The Catholic Homeschool Companion

Real Learning: Education in the Heart of the Home

Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum

all the Sally Clarkson books

Some resources are ones I own but need to implement:

Slow and Steady Get Me Ready

Teach Me To Do It Myself

Mudpies to Magnets

Making an effort to read some of the living history books before or after my kids read them has been helpful. This year I read Florence Nightingale's Nuns, The Golden Goblet, Hittite Warrior, and Ship's Boy with Magellan. Some titles were helpful to me, but not appropriate for young children: With Pipe, Paddle and Song and Nefertiti.

You know another thing that's helpful that I often neglect to do? Read the prefaces and teacher's notes in the curriculum we currently use. Maybe if I didn't have adult-onset ADD with major flare-ups between the hours of 9 am and 9 pm this would be easier for me.

So, do you carve out time for your own inservice days or are you like me and try to read a book here and there before you crash at night?

Minnesota friends, if you see a good deal on Groupon for a week at the Grand View Lodge, call me and let's plan our own continuing ed days, ok?

 

 

 

Poetry Night

A reader asked about the story boards - I read about this idea in the Summer 2011 issue of TOS in an article titled "17 Creative Ways to Connect with Literature" by Melissa Culver. This is also online here in PDF format. {Yeah for the internet.}

The latest round of memorized poetry at our house includes The Children's Hour by Longfellow (3rd grade), Christopher Columbus (4th), and The Jabberwocky (6th). All are selections from The Harp and Laurel Wreath. I try (and usually remember) to make an evening out of reciting the poems for Dad on a Friday night. Sometimes we get busy and forget, in which case I just video at The Teacher's Desk.

Do you believe an eight year old boy can memorize a ten stanza poem? Sure they can - bit by bit, copying one line a day, one stanza a week. {Yeah for the power of copy work.}

 The next clip begs for a little preface.

Here's our Sunshine, entertaining the crowd atop her rock at age three on the occasion of her little brother's 2nd birthday.

This was our first inkling she God made her with a flair for the dramatic. Well, maybe not the first inkling - that came around the age of four months with her wide open smiles.

 

She has always been a ham. Anyway, enjoy her rendition. Her infectious enthusiasm only ripens as she ages.

 

And here is Carroll's famous nonsense poem, perfect poetic fare for a courageous and giggly 6th grader.

 

I just love that MODG incorporates poetry in the curriculum - on so many levels. Poetry infuses vocabulary, rhyme, alliteration, descriptive language, rhythm, meter, patterns, and proportion. By looking up the background of a poem a child also makes connections with culture, history, and geography.

Recitation fosters public speaking skills and confidence. Like music, poetry is a positive contribution even a child can offer to friends, family, or even to an audience of nursing home residents. I can't even begin to explain how we have found poetry memorization to go hand-in-hand with their Suzuki music education. I think Andrew Pudewa can explain this much better that I can do in one little blog post.

Most importantly, a poem (or scripture) memorized by heart is often kept in the heart. It's not like the math worksheets dropped daily into the recycling bin. Poems continue to work in their hearts and minds. They are easily retrieved when seeking comfort, entertainment, connection, or even distraction. Sharing poetry touches the hearts of others, as Sunshine learned when she recited The Village Blacksmith to a real life blacksmith at an art fair. I have never seen a big and burly man so touched (or shocked?) that a little nine year old girl knew that poem. 

 

Story Boards

Here's an idea I picked up from an old This Old Schoolhouse magazine.

My 3rd grader chose the Titanic -

4th grader did Narnia -

 

And my 6th grader did Island of the Blue Dolphins -

 

We'll keep trying to include a creative literature project each month as an alternitive to traditional book reports!

Saint Reports

Now that the older two girls have finished the IEW Writing program I am trying to remember to assign writing projects throughout the month. One week it might be an assignment from their IEW History book, another week some sort of creative "report" about a book they read on their own.

The last week of the month they write about a saint. I encourage the children to choose someone in whom they are genuinely interested, so the saint's feast day does not have to fall during the month. In 4th and 5th grades I do encourage those studying American history to choose a saint they have been reading about.

My 3rd grader wrote about St. Blaise after reading the little blue book: A Story of St. Blaise. He "forgot" to illustrate it, so I'll have to post a photo of his report later.

My 4th grader chose Fr. Marquette since she recently read Fr. Marquette and the Great Rivers.

I check their spelling, and add words to their personal spelling list (every fifth lesson in the Phonetic Zoo). I also check their cursive and usually have to assign some letters to practice (in this case, capital I, F, and J).

My 6th grader, who has blossomed into a daring girl, and shows interest in zoology and survival skills, chose St. Francis. I really liked the "before" outfit she drew for him.

 

Worth a Click

Dawn's Two Cute Kittens - Happy 1st Birthday Archie and Oliver

My resident feline-o-phile loves it when I share cute cat posts with her.

:::

The Adventures of Bear's I is for Insect

I've been gleaning Montessori ideas here that I can plug into the Little Saints Preschool program.

:::

Heart of the Matter's Going Old-School

Alternatives to book reports.

:::

It's the Starting That's Stopping Us

Writing Tips from the wise and witty Carol Barnier.

:::

Wee Folk Art's Flower Fairy Wand Kits

If only I had the time.

:::

Another goodie from Dawn - Spring Nature, Spring Books

Will use the nature hunt list in Preschool this week!

:::

Ana's link to a clip about Dolores Hart

Did you know there was once a Grace Kelly look-alike who became a nun?

:::

From Sally Clarkson's new Mom Heart Online, a post about the importance of rest and how we moms are the only ones ultimately responsible for our own well being.

:::

Saving the best for last, Rachel's Dear Moms with Littles

If you have littles literally underfoot, hugging your legs and demanding that you read a tall stack of board books you have had memorized for the last ten years, and you wonder how in the world you could convince your husband to pay for day care so you can just get school done with the olders without constant interruptions, and when you finally have a moment at the end of your day to sit down and read but find this in your chair

then please click over for a fortification injection. Keep going, keep loving, it matters.

 

Porta Novus

One mild January day pings on the back door were heard, the glass shattered, 911 was dialed, the neighborhood boys were apprehended (not arrested or anything, just caught), one decent father/son pair apologized and claimed responsibility, estimates gathered, a claim to the gun owners homeowners insurance was submitted, contractors were scheduled, the door was ordered, and finally the installation was completed.

Just in time to let in the fresh spring air.

Thankful Thursday

My little prince who likes to play "kissy smash face" every morning while we cuddle in bed.

Cherished moments in the rocking chair at bedtime when he wraps his warm little arms around my neck.

Finally figuring out how to make a Starbucks mocha at home.

Caffeine-free Vanilla rooibos tea in a thermal mug for afternoon chauffeuring.

Spell check - because I keep forgetting the "e" in chauffeuring, and I am particular about spelling in spite of the many mistakes I make on this blog.

That the Target website has printable coupons. Last trip I saved $23.

A husband who helps out with the myriad of responsibilities in raising a family.

Finding that delicate balance of approaching homeschooling with intensity and punctuality while trying to remain relaxed, fun, and happy.

For a pre-prepped Little Saints program. To my four year old, preschool time = love. Having it all prepped and ready to go in gallon zip-loc bags is the only way this program will work for me. And thanks to the two other moms who split up the work!

That I have two more chances to do a better job homeschooling the elementary grades. I can't go back now, but can make better plans for the future.

For great homeschooling forums with moms who always have wise answers to your burning questions.

Thankful that we finally got around to the history-based writing assignments.

For all 2200 comments left here since 2007. I can't tell you how much even a little feedback brightens my day.

For blanched almond flour. It sounds corny, but gluten-free never tasted so good.

For the local appliance repairman who came to our home the morning of Holy Saturday and resurrected our refrigerator/freezer. This saved everything from our last Costco trip except the ice cream.

A mild winter and an early spring. I feel totally spoiled. Finally, Mother Nature has taken pity on displaced southerners in Minnesota.

For well-loved fairy costumes. Wings worn upside down with holes in them are even more beautiful to a mother's who has seen the enchantment they have brought to three little girls in the last seven years.

 

Hedgehog

When I saw this embroidery kit advertised at Creative Kidstuff I salivated, but waited to for weeks and weeks to buy it. When I finally did, my daughter beat me to it. She stitched up this cutie in just two evenings.

Good thing more patterns are available penguinandfish.com - a different animal for all 26 letters of the alphabet!

New Croc Day

A biennial event!

Easter Blessings

Off to the Easter vigil.

{The PJ's on the baby? An optimistic wardrobe decision.}

In each egg: five jelly beans and the scripture verse for The Garden of the Good Shepherd.

 

Natural or Paas? We do both. Paas for the kids, nartural for Mom & Dad.

 

 

 

May your Easter season be blessed with new growth and the every day pockets of beauty through which God speaks to our hearts. Alleluia.