Woodworking: Aragorn's Skateboard Ramp, stage 1

 

Family Vacation

We are having a very American summer. We went camping for a week, not four like the French, and not in September like homeschoolers, but one week in July, in 100+ degrees. The choice of lieu was easy; near enough to our sailboat which is docked at a lake in Iowa. A cabin sounded like an easier choice than trying to fit everything to do with tent camping into the car. (It was still awfully hard to get everything in the car, if we wanted to bring the kids and the equipment.)

It was a beautiful, serene location. We had a forest for a backyard.

Painting, Camping, Sailing

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Motivation, Pride and...Stupid Accidents

After experiencing the rather desperate search for a solution to my apparent "weight-loss resistance" that accompanies hypothyroidism*, I had an epiphany, just yesterday, sitting at the library. I guess I had been hoping that one last 3-day cleanse, 2 more weeks without wine or chocolate, protein drinks and nothing else until dinner would be the magic ticket, the end to my extra pounds. I do know better. I don't believe in dieting, I believe in food, I love food. So, anyway, while skimming over an article in, of all places, French Vogue, (it was in French and I had a free moment), I had one of those run-ins with enlightenment. 

No Pride...Just Joy

How pleasant it is when you find out what kind things your children are up to, either through direct consequences or from someone else. Children have sweet, kind hearts that are often well hidden from their families through daily conflict and sibling rivalry. However, if I open my eyes for a moment, it is easy to see that goodness shining through in each of them.

I returned home from work earlier than expected, yesterday morning and found everyone eating the meal that I had planned on preparing for them. Lily apparently was up to her ears in cries of "I'm hungry!" and decided to make them lunch. That was very nice, but the unexpected part was that she had made me my very own salad, with turkey, feta, tomatoes and olives, all ready to go, awaiting just the vinagrette.  I was touched.

I found out from the neighbor across the street that after Aragorn had animal sat for her for a week, he had refused payment for his help. She was impressed, and that's a special sort of warm fuzzy for a mother. Especially when he was scooping cat poo for a week.

Knitting...a useful occupation, or not

I have fallen in love with the incredibly utilitarian art of knitting teeny tiny critters and other things. The new book by Anna Hrachovec; Teeny Tiny Mochimochi, is a delightful foray out of the useful sock or hat, into the world of Japanese-inspired sweet, funny little creatures. This little guy was the smallest I've done. The birthday cupcake collection I have begun for each child's special day will be ready to photograph real soon.

Mochimochi: World's Tiniest Dinosaur

 

Aragorn is 14! (and a foret noir cake, made with love)

 

Summer in the Burbs

Some things about life in the suburbs in the summer are sweetness itself: kids in the neighborhood to play with, catching fireflies in the dark, open invitations from friendly neighbors to backyard bonfires (neatly contained in fire pits, naturally), other parents outside on the lookout when you need to be in the kitchen or doing laundry. The fact that the kids can bike to many places is swell, so is the private pool down the street where they have been taking swimming lessons for over a decade.

Then there is the dark side of suburbia, the one you never consider before you make the big move to the medium-sized house with the big back yard. It is known as...the front lawn. The obsession of many an otherwise kind-hearted, well-meaning individual. You have to understand, that in towns in the Midwest, where houses are more typical than apartment complexes and where there is rarely ever a ban on watering, the state of one's lawn is considered a mark of one's character. Pretty is as pretty manicures one's yard, truly.

Sadly and sorrowfully, I have succumbed to the mental condition known as "grass mania" in which the victim becomes preternaturally occupied with making grass grow in that stupid spot where never grass grew and making the rest of the lawn a weird, homogeneous green, devoid of any curls, puffs or spikes. I really had other things to worry about up until now, small children will do that to you.

The discussions men have about chemical options for grass, the need to water the lawn or the neat little edging they like to torture themselves with on a perfectly nice Sunday afternoon, rolled off my back like so much dandelion fluff blowing away. Besides, Pierre always made sure that a certain percentage of our lawn was green. To where did this carefree attitude disappear? Blame it on peer pressure, Pierre spending more time at work with his new job,  and most likely, the poison distributors known as lawn fertilizer guys. If you live in the city, you may not be acquainted with the chemical lawn spray salesman. He comes right up to your door and shakes his head in dismay and disapproval at the sorry state of your lawn,  then promises the glory of a perfect green space between your front doorstep and the street in exchange for one low, low monthly payment. I have, for years, had to deal with these guys, since I seem to be the only adult in the house when they call. My answer has always been; "no thank you, we take care of that ourselves." 

As the bald patches grew balder, my confidence began to waver. I took things in hand this year and planted grass seed. I started asking around; "how do you keep your grass growing?" the way I used to wonder how a mother kept her baby soothed during teething episodes. Would you believe? Even the nicest, most environmentally-aware men that I have questioned, have all said the same thing; "Oh, yeah, I let the chemical spray truck take care of that. It's cheap...and I can't make grass grow anyway." 

NOT HAPPENING! Spend money on GRASS, an invasive species that neither nourishes nor flowers? Add more chemicals to my environment to that end? What an odd idea. Here is my last remaining bald patch, after 3 plantings, daily watering, fertilizing with my fragrant, homegrown compost and way too much time and energy for any rational woman to put into this sort of endeavor: (note that nary a green plant surrounding said bald spot is actual grass, all weeds, pathetic.)

Here is my solution:

Behind the pretty petunia is a tomato plant; beauty and utility, how can grass ever compete? Sigh, now we can all go back to enjoying life out here, caught somewhere between the city and the wilderness.

Training Up Mama

It has come to this. I have been proven to be pathetically out of shape.

I have known that physically, my children are getting bigger and stronger than I am. However, since I do not do meet them in combat in kung-fu, and I do not regularly chase after them anymore, I had not tested the exact decripitude to which I might have descended, at least compared to the kids.

I have been mumbling about getting started running for the past several months. I even bought these great barefoot running shoes that have completely resolved my ankle, knee and hip pain, at least while walking in them. But running, I was not. I was walking, a lot, even jogging for a few yards during my walk, but it could not be called running.

It took Lily and her enthusiasm for running to get me started. She has been patient and not laughed at me. I was a disaster area the first day out.

Summer Term and Sailing

It should not be a such a momentous, tumultuous event.

After all, our normal rhythm is to have some time for study and work each morning.

Back in the Day, when the kids were younger, there was no conflict. We would take a month off when we wanted to, or a week for a holiday, and kept on working the rest of the time. That was before they had friends and neighbors who went to school and made a huge, hairy fuss about summer vacation or conferences or whatever other time they had off.

 Diversity; some children go to school 7 hours a day and finish before you do. You are finished by noon and take days off when they cannot. We like diversity, it means freedom.

Sew Focused

Clearly, there are some things I cannot do in multi-tasking mode. One of them is sewing. While I sometimes upbraid myself for doing too many things at once, this is one time when I wish I was capable of it. I blame the machine. When the sewing machine has taken over my dining room table and the kids think this is a great reason to eat in front of the tv, or my father might be stopping by and spot the disaster of a workshop my dining space has become, I am absolutely incapable of putting it away until I've finished the project I've begun. Luckily, I do not often sew. There are many reasons for this.

Lily and Aragorn; not screen-free in France, but not too unhappy either!

 

 

 

Screen-Free Week 2012

We are beginning our post-screen-free week, as my seven-year-old is happy to remind me. What does this mean? It's a little different from last year. In years before that, the kids were too young for it to make a big difference, they were not allowed on the computer anyway. Last year, the relief for the older children, then 12 and 14, felt like the walls of the house had been sucked in and were being let out. This year, we created such a peaceful and lively enjoyment of the whole experience that it was not quite the same source of stress. The expectation was that the tv would not be turned on, so it wasn't.

Screen-Free Week 2012 in Photos

 After a kids chemistry day at a local college; home chemistry became all the rage for a day or two. Here: writing with radishes on baking soda-painted index cards.

 

 The First May Pole of the week; and of our lives, thank you for sharing this with us!

 The second May Pole and Beltane celebration of the week...and of our lives!

 The beautiful, wild Lake Michigan

 

 

More pics from Sunday's May Pole dance; thank you, we had such a good time!

 

 Visiting the French Consulate in Chicago to vote; great reception area!

 A mobile Alienor discovered at the Consulat Francais

 My favorite work of art at the Consulat

 The Museum of Science and Industry; Chicago

 The Idea Factory in the M.of Science and Industry

 The most fun in stand-behind bodies I've seen yet.

 The railroad exhibit: M.of Science and Industry

 With Daddy in the Idea Factory; just before I returned to the Fairy Castle, where I fell in love all over again. The last time I saw it was as a child. Photos are forbidden, as it is in fairy realm and kept in a semi-darkened room, but look it up here: http://www.msichicago.org/whats-here/exhibits/fairycastle/history-of-the-fairy-castle/