European History & Culture Sampler: An Epic Homeschool Field Trip

After talking about it for several years, last fall we finally followed through on one of our parenting goals: international travel with Caitlyn at an age when she’d be old enough to understand and appreciate what she would see and experience but young enough that she’s not too cool to hang around with her parents.   It’s a big world out there (and we only managed to see a small portion of it this time) and getting to see some of it firsthand is good for building empathy, experiencing diversity, and appreciating your own privileges.  It’s harder to “other” people …

Gratutious Cat Photos

Taking pictures of our cat is hard. Wasabi doesn’t pose. He sleeps in dark corners. He’s prone to rearing up on his hind legs and swiping at things out of place, including camera lenses. Every once in a while, though, he’ll get curious about a camera. Actually, I think he’s not so much curious about the camera as why this weird black thing is hovering in front of my face. Wasabi likes to visit people in the kitchen, since, obviously, we might be talked into feeding him. Also, he’s realized that the catnip lives in the spice cupboard. Any time …

My Weekend

Things I did this past weekend: spent 2 hours shoveling gravel into buckets as part of a work party in our local urban forest, Cheasty Greenspace at Mt. View. We graveled 75 feet of trail! attended a showing of Once Upon a Circus, a production of the SANCA Youth Company. They attempted to tell fairy tales but kept getting the details mixed up. Favorite segments: the acrobatic seven dwarfs and Red Riding Hood’s aerial routine. The introduction skit mangling The Lord of the Rings was pretty awesome as well. made a bag from In Color Order’s tutorial: started the holiday …

Caitlyn’s new cousin

Caitlyn has been eagerly anticipating the arrival of her newest cousin, pretty much ever since she was given the ok to talk about it. And yesterday she was able to hold the baby. She’s talking already about babysittting, which freaks me out a bit. I guess it’s true that Caitlyn will be 12 when this little one is 6, and they probably could be allowed to walk to the park together or something, but it’s entirely possible that I won’t be ready for that when the time comes. Save

Quiet so Suddenly

Or maybe it’s not so sudden, really… I’m going to give myself permission to not keep up here for the rest of the month. Despite all my best intentions and even remembering to take pictures, I’m just not posting as much as I wanted to. Life is like that, sometimes. I’ll be back in September, after my grandfather’s memorial, after blueberry season, after this sprained ankle allows me to walk again, after peach canning, and after the first day of school. Be well, where ever you are.

Priorities and Time

I don’t really think of myself as an ambitious person. Wanting to be president or working to find a cure for cancer or becoming a box office smash, those are ambitions. I just have a wish list. Admittedly, it’s a very long wish list. And I suppose not everything on the list is actually a wish. I never find myself saying, “Gee, I wish I could clean the bathroom right now.” But I do often wish I kept house better. I’m a huge list maker. I have to-do lists on paper, on the computer, in my head. And I’m a …