Repairs

Because we live in an imperfect, fallen world, things are broken and in need of repair.  The past few weeks, we have been surrounded with repairs...or need for repairs.

First, it was our van.  

We bought the van in October, and on our first trip in it (our trip to Lancaster, Pennsylvania), we had a short preview that something was wrong.  As we're driving along on the highway, suddenly the horn started beeping, the wipers wiping, the headlights flashing, automatic locks locking!  Ack!  Ron pulled into a parking lot, turned off the engine, and exchanged keys with me. Maybe his remote access key needs a new battery?  The rest of the trip was uneventful (van-wise) and we assumed all was well.  

But over the next months, such car antics happened from time to time, on a seemingly random basis.  Including the first time that Kati drove us to church.  (Have I told you how totally inept I am at teaching a new driver?  Total fail.  As in...Ron and a dear friend did all of the teaching. Now you know.)  It also happened once with the "good" key.  So much for that theory.  

A few weeks ago, Ron went outside to pull the van up to the door on a Sunday morning, curbside service for his slow girls.  Before he even reached the van, the horn started blowing! Not beeping, as in on-and-off.  Blowing, as in deafening constant noise that will not stop. Wipers were going, lights were flashing, locks were locking.  And the key was not even in the ignition. Trying to stop the insanity, Ron opened the door, got in, and started the engine.  He tried to manually turn things off.  Nothing changed.  He turned off the engine, and removed the key from the ignition...but the van kept running!   Ack!

What does a good wife do in such cases?  She googles!  

I googled all of the symptoms...and up came the year and make of our van!  Oh no.  

One source said to disconnect the battery.  So I sent Kati outside with that message.  Of course, the horn noise was so loud that she had to shout at the top of her lungs to convey that message.

The bad news is that he had already disconnected the battery...and the engine kept running and the horn kept blowing.  Crazy!

He started pulling fuses until he found the one that stopped the insanity.  

The next night, he put in the fuse and drove it to the dealer.  It was in their shop for over a week.  And, of course, it was very well-behaved and displayed none of its antics for the repair man.  

Finally, they replaced the "brain" which controls all of the communications in the electrical system.  

In the meantime, Henrietta was repaired.  

You may recall that someone may have spilled her evening coffee on Henrietta in January.  I kept procrastinating about taking her in to the laptop repair shop.  I suspected that it would cost a fortune, or that it wouldn't be fixable and we'd need to buy a new one.  So Kati and I learned all of the tricks you can learn (I think) to work around her non-functioning keys, and we did some things on the desktop because Henrietta  would not do them, and we juggled and somehow continued to do blog posts and Facebook stuff.  (We could read anything, so that was not a problem.  We were sometimes "phantoms" because we could read, but not type or comment until we got to the desktop.)  But finally, I decided to bite the bullet and find out what needed to be done.  

One repairman told me that it would cost $369 to repair Henrietta.  No, thank you.  That would be a large chunk towards a new one!  

I took her to another shop...who replaced her keyboard for $45 and returned her to me in less than 24 hours!  Hooray!  (If I had only done that two months ago...)

Now it's the car.  

When we purchased the van, Ron decided to keep the old car for Kati to drive.  

This week, Kati got her driver's license (yay, Kati!).  So on her first full day of having her license, she went out to run a birthday errand.  Gift purchased, leaving the parking lot, she stalls out at a stop sign.  Car. will. not. start.  Lady behind her is irate and rude.  But a kind gentleman comes to her rescue.  He also tries and fails to start the car, but then pushes her into a vacant parking space.  

Last night, Ron had the car towed to a repair shop.  They will look at it on Monday.

And it's also us.

Yes, all four of us are sick with yucky colds.  Sniffly, sneezy, drippy, stuffy, body-achy colds.  I have a hundred things to do today, as Bekah's (12th!) birthday is tomorrow, and we are having a family birthday party for her on Sunday.  And here I sit, feeling yucky, and typing away in my jammies.  Maybe I'll get that birthday bunting made today.  And the house cleaned (so that we can do fun things on her birthday tomorrow).  And her birthday cheesecake made.  

Or maybe we're just down for repairs...

A Potpourri of Poetry Ideas

Our days have been busy and the blog has been quiet.  But I'm popping in with a post about poetry that I wrote a couple of years ago.   In honor of National Poetry Month...

Teaching poetry to children can begin when they are babies! Learning the joy of words and rhythm and ideas as expressed in poetry can foster a lifelong love.

Our children’s earliest exposure to poetry came through nursery rhymes. It was quite a natural thing for me to teach my children nursery rhymes, as my mother had read them to me, as her grandmother had read them to her. Also in early childhood, we read a wide variety of poetry—from limericks (Edward Lear is a favorite) and nonsense verse (such as poems by Ogden Nash), to the beautiful expressions of childhood by Robert Louis Stevenson found in his A Child’s Garden of Verses. A. A. Milne’s When We Were Very Young and Now We Are Six are also delightful collections of poems that appeal to young children (and their parents).

When I taught unit studies, I often looked for a great poem to go along with our current unit. We read “Paul Revere’s Ride” when learning about the American Revolution. When we did a study of birds, I had each child choose a poem about a bird to memorize and recite. “In Flanders Field” was posted during our study of World War I. The anthology Favorite Poems Old and New is a great resource for finding poems about different subjects—seasons, holidays, famous people, nature, fantasy, etc.  (You can read about some other resources ~here~.)

From time to time, we have also focused on a particular poet. For example, we once read a delightful children’s biography about Emily Dickinson, The Mouse of Amherst, which was told from the perspective of a mouse who lived in her room. That inspired us to read quite a few of Dickinson’s poems. We have also spent time with Robert Frost, A. A. Milne, Walt Whitman, and Shakespeare.  At other times, we have read a "poem of the week."

There are a few things that I’ve discovered through the years that have aided us in our learning and appreciation of poetry.

~  One (don’t laugh!), I keep a poem posted on an antique wooden washboard that I have hanging in my bathroom. (I said not to laugh—it is a place that people visit every day!) My children have memorized lots of poetry over the years by reading the displayed poem day after day. For these particular poems, memory is not required. I have just chosen a poem that has living ideas with which I want my family to become familiar. But memory sometimes follows as they become enamored with a particular poem. I also include hymns in this display, as they are indeed poems and contain rich expressions of faith and doctrine.

~  Two, I take advantage of opportunities for my children to memorize and recite poems, whether it be a poetry recitation sponsored by our local homeschool organization, a recitation night planned for our co-op, or an impromptu recitation at a family party.  (You could do a similar thing within your own family, reciting for grandparents or other extended family or close friends.)

~  Finally, we include poetry in our Morning Time. Each day, we take turns reciting the poems that we’re working on (for co-op or for our own enrichment). We may recite these same poems for several months...and believe me, if you recite a poem three or four days each week, it becomes a part of you! After all have recited, I read aloud a poem by a particular poet on whom we've chosen to focus for a time.  We usually read the same poem for three consecutive days, and then begin reading another by the same poet.  By reading many works of the same poet, we become familiar with his style, and discover the scope of his writing. 

This may sound as if we spend a great deal of time in our homeschool studying poetry, but that is not the case. One of my basic homeschooling philosophies is “slow and steady over time”...and that certainly is the case with our “study” of poetry. 

A little bit here, and a little bit there, and your students will learn to feel at home in the rich world of poetry!

Past poetry posts (shall we talk alliteration?)...

• A Golden Treasure   A wonderful first poetry book.  My mother thought so.

• Our Go-To Poetry Anthology  A poetry book every home with children should have. (In my opinion. ~smile~)

• Mountain Breezes   Treasury of poetry for the soul...by Amy Carmichael.

• And a Few More Poetry Books... Quick reviews of some of our much-loved poetry resources.

And this recent one by Karen Andreola...

• A Poem Can Be Consoling  The author of A Charlotte Mason Companion shares thoughts on poetry.

Sunday Snapshots: Snaggletooth

This afternoon, Owen (6) lost his first tooth!  

It's been loose for months, 

hanging by a thread for days, 

and today, as the children were playing outside,

 out it came!

Loving that snaggletooth smile!

A Busy Saturday and a Soup Recipe

I usually love a puttering-around-the-house kind of Saturday.  

Today was not that kind of Saturday.  But I loved it anyway!

First thing on the agenda: a breakfast date with my sweetheart.  Nothing wrong with that!  After breakfast, we ran a few errands and did some birthday shopping for our youngest who turns twelve next week.  

Back home for some lick-and-a-promise housecleaning, and then out of town to an 80th birthday celebration for Ron's Uncle Phil.  In the photo below, Uncle Phil is in the front row, holding one of his great-grandchildren.   Everyone else is a family member, and this is only a fraction.  (There are 300+ members of this family, branching from Uncle Phil's parents--who would be Ron's grandparents--down to the current generation.)  It was a celebration of love and honor, as family and friends paid tribute.  One of the highlights was a moving vocal duet by Uncle Phil and his friend who sang "Just a Closer Walk With Thee."  

On quite a different note...

Tonight as we were driving along, we heard Ron say, "Oh. My. Lands."

We all turned to see what had impressed him.  

It was this.  A car in the middle of an empty field.  Down to the axle in mud.  This could not have been a "run off the road" incident.  No, this car was way off the road.  The driver had obviously driven into the (very) muddy field.  And had gotten hopelessly stuck.  

The question is, Why?  Or maybe, What was he thinking?  

Changing gears again...

I promised to share the recipe for the soup I made last week for our ladies' game night.  I found this recipe for Wild Rice Soup at Sisters Playing House.  The first time I made it, I had no ham, so I substituted chicken.  We loved it, so it became Creamy Chicken and Wild Rice Soup.

Ingredients: 4 tablespoons butter  1 cup chopped onion 1 cup diced carrots 2/3 cup diced celery 1  1/2 cups cooked chicken  1/4 cup flour 6 cups chicken broth 1 cup heavy cream (or half-and-half)  1 package Uncle Ben's Original Wild Rice 1 teaspoon thyme Directions: Prepare rice according to package directions.   In a large pot or Dutch oven, melt butter over medium heat.  Add onion, carrots, and celery and sauté until soft. Add cooked chicken; cook until warmed through.  Stir in flour until it coats the pieces evenly; cook for 3-5 minutes.   Pour in chicken broth.  Add thyme.  Simmer for at least 30 minutes.   Add prepared rice. Pour in heavy cream (or half-and-half) and stir.   Let simmer until you're ready to serve. *** Note: I doubled this recipe for my gathering, but I had scads of it left!  That was okay with us, as we had it leftover on Sunday evening; just be aware that it makes aplenty.

Automan(s)

I'm afraid to say that after hearing about someone on Craiglist who was trying to sell an "automan" (ottoman ~wink~), the word has become a part of my vocabulary.  And I have been looking for an automan for Kati's room for years.  Whenever I'd come across one, either the color was not right or the price was not right...or both.  

Then The Nester did a post about cubes.  That she purchased at Walmart.  For $15.00.  White.  Okay!

The Nester's Cubes

By the time I got to my Walmart, they were $10.00!  Okay!

Kati was happy with her automan.  She'd finally have a place to prop up her feet as she read.  Or a place to plop down a craft project.  Or an extra seat in a pinch.  

Then I drug it into Bekah's room and tried it out there.  Yep, it looked great there too.

Back to Walmart to get an automan for Bekah.  (For 10 bucks, why didn't I think of that in the first place?)

Even Pinky has been enjoying the automans (automen?).

Talk about bang for the buck!  

What's the last low investment purchase you made that gave you a thrill?  

Morning Time: Spring 2013

It's been a while since I have given you a peek at our Morning Time.  (If you're not sure what I mean by "Morning Time," scroll down to the bottom of this post and follow some of the links.)

I continue to be amazed that such a simple plan and the investment of an hour or so (usually less) can add such richness and scope of learning to our school day.  These are things that could so easily slip through the cracks if I did not have "intention" about it, which is why I am so thrilled with the concept of Morning Time.

Homeschooling mom, if you want your students to memorize Scripture or view great art or read poetry or learn Shakespeare, consider taking those few minutes each day in your own Morning Time. (Yours can look entirely different from ours; you will include those things that you deem important.)

Our Morning Time currently looks something like this...


BIBLE READING
We are continuing to read through the second chart of the Daily Bible Reading Plan for Children, found ~here~ , which features Bible stories and truths that every child should know.

BIBLE MEMORY

We are continuing to memorize Romans 8.  Last year's goal was to memorize the entire chapter, but we only learned the first thirteen verses.  So far, we have added ten more; the last five will need reviewing, as we learned those a few years ago.  That leaves eleven verses to memorize.  (We'd better buckle down if we're going to accomplish our goal this year!)

SING A HYMN
We recently learned “Christ the Lord Is Risen Today”, by Charles Wesley.  Bekah also learned to play this on the piano.  Last Sunday, she played it for our church fellowship and again at our family gathering   I truly cannot tell you how much I love that she plays!  

We'll be adding one more hymn to our repertoire this school year for a total of six.  I will probably choose "Spirit of God, Descend Upon My Heart."  Bekah is learning this one on the piano, and it is one of my favorites.  She already knows the hymn, but I think that those words are well worth committing to memory.  

POETRY RECITATION

Bekah:  “At the Zoo” by A.A. Milne
Mom:  "God of the Stars" by Amy Carmichael 

POETRY EXPOSURE
We are reading aloud the poetry of William Blake.  We choose one of his poems, read it three days in a row, then move on to another. We're also reading Poetry for Young People: William Blake, slowly making our way through the biographical section, taking care to discuss Blake's religious perspective.  

LISTEN TO A PIECE OF CLASSICAL MUSIC
This term we are listening to the music of Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky.  Over the winter, we read The Story of Peter Ilyich Tschaikowsky (note the alternative spelling) and now we are reading Peter Tschaikowsky and the Nutcracker Ballet, both by Opal Wheeler.  (This is one of the only composers about whom Wheeler wrote two books.)  Bekah has also learned a couple of Tchaikovsky pieces in her piano lessons. 

ART APPRECIATION

To accompany our American history studies, we have been looking at the art of John Singleton Copley, Gilbert Stuart, and Benjamin West.  (There is an excellent book about Benjamin West, Benjamin West and His Cat Grimalkin by Marguerite Henry.  It was a family read aloud several years ago, and Bekah remembers it clearly!) 

Penn's Treaty With the Indians by Benjamin West

And that's our Morning Time plan for this term.  Small investment, great returns!

~ ~ ~ ~ ~

For more reading about "Morning Time":

An introduction to our own "Morning Time" 
What Is Morning Time? by Cindy Rollins
Cindy's Inspiration for Morning Time
Kathy's "Morning Stack" 
Confessions Regarding Morning Time

Bread On Tuesday {Round Up}

This post will serve as a parking place where you (and I!) can find links to all of the bread recipes that were featured in Bread On Tuesday these past weeks.  Does it look like a Mecca for carb eaters?  (And perhaps a Vanity Fair for those who abstain?)  

CLOCKWISE, FROM TOP LEFT:

Week 1: Sweet Potato Bread

Week 2: Cheryl's Semi-Sweet Corn Bread

Week 3: Three-Cheese Bread

Week 4: Multi-Grain Bread

Week 5: Rosemary Bread

Week 6: Cheddar Biscuits

Week 7: Parmesan-Herb Focaccia 

Week 8: Cinnamon Raisin Bread

Week 9: Coconut Bread

Week 10:  Naan
Week 11: French Bread
Week 12:  Bunny Bread

And how about a few bonus breads...

some recipes that were not a part of this series?

Here is a link to Kati's Greek Olive and Feta Bread.  I've never made this bread, but I have eaten it and it is delicious!

Vee made some yummy-looking cheesy breadsticks for a birthday party in January.  I must try these!

Another recipe I intend to try is Podso's Cool Rise French Bread.  Make the dough ahead and refrigerate it until time to bake?  Yes!

Kristin served this Honey Cornbread when we came for dinner.  Even my reluctant cornbread eater loved it!

And then there's one of my favorite bread recipes:  SallyLunn.

As I told you at the beginning of my Bread On Tuesday series, I live with a girl who loves to bake, and she has done most of the bread baking around here in recent years.  But I decided to challenge myself to make 10 (I extended it to 12) different kinds of bread this winter, using both old and new recipes.  I believe I have rekindled my love of bread-making!  (Kati will have to share her baker's hat.)

A few final bread-making notes...

• A stand mixer (mine is a Kitchen Aid) simplifies bread-making!  Back in the day, before I had the stand mixer and the dough hook attachment, the time and effort for kneading would sometimes discourage me from making bread.  But all excuses are gone with these handy tools!

• Making bread from scratch is not that hard...and it really does not take a whole lot of hands-on time.  You just need some time to wait (for resting, rising, baking).  I was surprised by how little time it took me each week to make fresh bread.  As I said, the biggest time investment was time spent between steps!

• I have found that rapid rise yeast is my friend.  (Rapid rise is also known as "quick rise" or "fresh yeast."  "Bread machine yeast" is also rapid rise.)  Many of my recipes called for rapid rise yeast,  but I substituted rapid rise yeast even in those that called for "active dry yeast" and decreased the rise time by half.  

• I learned that the "very warm water" used to activate the yeast is warmer than I thought.  Although you don't want water hot enough to kill the yeast culture, it needs to be warmer than I expected.  I have measured the water with a candy thermometer to assure that it has reached the recommended temperature.  But experience has taught me how to judge the correct temperature by touch.   

 

So what about you?  Are you ready to don your baker's hat?  

March

In like a lion...

...and out like a lamb.

Sunday Snapshots: Resurrection Day 2013

What a glorious celebration, that in which we celebrate our Risen Lord!  

This morning, we gathered with our church family for a time of  rejoicing...in the Word, at His table, by lifting our hearts and voices to the King of Kings!  

♪♫  Christ the Lord is ris'n today, Alleluia!  ♫♪

♪♫  Love's redeeming work is done, Alleluia!  ♫

♫♪ Christ hath opened Paradise, Alleluia!  ♪♪

Back at home, we gathered with family, glorious songs of the Resurrection accompanying our gathering.    

Bekah's Resurrection Garden was the focal point of the children's table.  On Wednesday, I bemoaned the fact that I didn't remember to plan this project far enough in advance.  Bekah begged to do it anyway.  I insisted that the grass would not have time to grow in four days.  She insisted that it would work.  I told her that we didn't even have the materials.  She insisted that she could do it.  I told her to go for it.  She did...and we loved it!  

The "spring bunnies" wore tags and served as place cards for each of the little ones. 

Oh my.  Our buffet was scrumptious, full of colorful and delicious food.  Mom baked the ham and made deviled eggs and potato salad.  (Our family considers hers the best potato salad in the world.  Occasionally, Mom will offer to bring something else instead.  But after a general uproar and twisting of arms, we usually convince her that our Resurrection Day meal would not be complete without it.)  Kristin brought homemade rolls. (Swoon.)  My mother-in-law brought Jello in her vintage bowl, as she always makes Jello for her Jello-lovin' boy.  (Never mind that her "boy" is 56 years old.  We moms know the deal.)  We made some side dishes and we were good to go.  

(Please do not take note of the photographer's plate in the picture below.  Thank you.)

I love my Peeps!

Did I say the meal was scrumptious?  So was dessert!  Coconut cream pie, pineapple lush cake, cupcakes with sprinkles, chocolate chip cookie dough dip.  Say what?!  

And then, just in case the kiddos did not get enough sugar (!!), we had a hunt for chocolate eggs! There are two eggs hidden in the collage below.  Can you find them?  ;)

The proud (and artistic) winner, Gavin! ☺

Death has been swallowed up in victory. 

Where, O Death, is your victory?

Where, O Death, is your sting?

(I Corinthians 15:54-55)

Behold, the Lamb!

"Who would have thought that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men?”

(lyric from the modern hymn "Wonderful, Merciful Savior" by Eric Wyse and Dawn Rogers)

Draw out and take you a lamb according to your families, and kill the passover.

And ye shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the bason, and strike the lintel and the two side posts with the blood that is in the bason; and none of you shall go out at the door of his house until the morning.

For the LORD will pass through to smite the Egyptians; and when he seeth the blood upon the lintel, and on the two side posts, the LORD will pass over the door, and will not suffer the destroyer to come in unto your houses to smite you.

(Exodus 12:21-23)

Behold, the Lamb of God which taketh away the sin of the world!

(John 1:29)

... the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

(Revelation 13:8)

Forasmuch as ye know that ye were not redeemed with corruptible things, as silver and gold, from your vain conversation received by tradition from your fathers;

But with the precious blood of Christ, 
as of a lamb without blemish and without spot:

Who verily was foreordained before the foundation of the world,
but was manifest in these last times for you.

(I Peter 1:18-20)

Christ our passover is sacrificed for us.

(I Corinthians 5:7)

♪ ♫ "Who would have thought that a Lamb could rescue the souls of men?” ♪ ♫
(Click for youtube video.)