Category: homeschooling

Caitlyn, homeschooling, sewing

Things that Happened in April

 

Looks like posting monthly summaries is just about all the blogging I’m doing these days. Our days are filled so full, and sometimes there’s not much to say about any one thing. Ebbs and flows. I completely failed to do anything for Kids Clothing Week. I meant to sew for Caitlyn but then decided I needed to finish something things that had been lying around for ages first. That took way longer than anticipated. Pictures later. On the other hand, Caitlyn actually used the sewing machine. We made 100 fabric grab baggies. We saw the Broadway (touring) version of The …

Caitlyn, homeschooling, quilts, sewing

Marching By

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Things that happened in March: Caitlyn played two roles, Mellifleur and Maudlin, in Robin Hood, her latest theatre production at Youth Theatre Northwest. She’s looking forward to Alice@Wonderland in the summer. I finally managed to meet one of our homeschool goals, getting Caitlyn and I to SAM for Free First Thursday. This time we saw the Miró exhibit. Now, I just have to do it again! The peas came up. We saw a presentation of National Geographic Live: The Secret Life of Wolves. Caitlyn cried at the end. I joined the Seattle Modern Quilt Guild, my first quilt guild membership …

Caitlyn, homeschooling, Seasons

Field Trip: California, Coast, and Cousins

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Welcome to March! I’ve got little daffodils blooming in the backyard to remind us that it’s not going to be cold and gray forever. It can rain some more, though. I’d feel better heading into summer with more snow in the mountains first. Back at the beginning of February, to help my grandmother celebrate her 90th birthday, we took a week off from the chill of Seattle and trekked to California. We had a lovely birthday dinner with family, and Caitlyn got to spend time with her cousins, whom we don’t see nearly often enough. The adults managed to pry …

Caitlyn, homeschooling

Cover Girl

 

Sometime last year I received an email from Capstone Press inquiring about a photograph on my site. I’d completely forgotten about the whole exchange. Last week, a box appeared on our porch. You can’t tell that’s my girl standing in for the actual Sarah Gillespie, but there she is, wearing the “olden times” Halloween outfit I made 3 years ago. Can I gloat just a little? The book is part of a new First-Person Histories series that uses diaries of real kids (approximately ages 10 to 16 or so) to make American history more than endless names and dates. In …

field trips, homeschooling

Field Trip: Rockridge Orchards

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Farmer Wade of Rockridge Orchards has been a fixture at the Columbia City Farmers’ Market ever since we started being market regulars; he likes to say he’s known Caitlyn since before she was born (which could be true since he appears at other markets in Seattle which we might have visited prior to Caitlyn’s arrival – I don’t remember). Caitlyn calls him “my favorite farmer”. Back before the economy declined and budgets were cut indiscriminately, there was a King County Harvest Festival. We meant to visit other farms, but we spent the whole day at Rockridge. Caitlyn was about 2. …

Caitlyn, homeschooling, Seasons

Costume Evolution

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Used to be, I wouldn’t ask Caitlyn what she wanted to be for Halloween, I just put bunny ears on her. In more recent years, we’d have conversations, usually in late summer, about costume options (although I’m fairly certain she didn’t request the fairy princess costume, I just wanted to make it), settling on a tiger or a pioneer girl. Last year’s FireCat was a collaboration. This year, it was all Caitlyn. She started planning back in early September. Her dragon costume went through a lot of mental permutations before taking shape, with big black wings (from her dress up …