McKinney Falls

Tim's been home a bit more these days, so we've gone twice to do some half-day hikes in the Austin vicinity. Here's how it goes when we announce the day's outing to the kids:

Parents, enthusiastically: "Okay guys, after we eat breakfast and do our morning lists and play a little bit, we're going to go to [insert beautiful woodsy spot here]! Ho ho ho!"

Kids: "Whyyyyyy? We don't waaaaannna go!" Kvetch, kvetch, kvetch. (Yeah, I know, your kids never whine.)

Parents: Why? Because we're mean parents who like to make you SUFFER! (evil chuckle)

Eventually, we go. Today, it was McKinney Falls, and our friend Grace, who's staying with us right now and commanding the children's supreme affections, came along. See what a miserable time we had?





Actual dialogue overheard while crossing the creek:
Child: Is it time to go home soon?
Parent: Nope.
Child: Yay!

Drama aside, there's just something about these little outings that calms the soul, and spirit too, even when there's cleaning, decluttering, organizing to be done at home. Maybe it has to do with looking around at natural world and remembering that the One who ordered this whole, intricate amazing universe is the same One who's ordering and holding together my own personal universe.

Whatcha readin'?

The woman I work for at the tutoring center was kind enough to give me a gift card to Barnes & Noble for Christmas. How cool is that?

Very cool, except that I am overwhelmed by my choices. Paralyzed by indecision.

I have thirteen dollars left on this gift card. Would anyone like to recommend a book to me that I simply must read and own?

Three

The other day I took Caroline on her very own shopping trip to the Dollar Tree.

She was adamant that she wear her "Christmas Hat."

(Funny, it looks an awful lot like a mesh bag for laundering your delicates in the washing machine.)

It was awesome.

This same child, after two weeks of bickerbickerbicker with Big Sis, played hours of Mama and Baby outside today.

As we drove to Half Price Books later, the following comment escaped her lips: "My heart is filled with joy because you gave Great Joy to me. Thank you, Eliza!"

O, my smitten heart.

The last couple paragraphs of Melissa Wiley's post at Here in the Bonny Glen sum it all up perfectly, this life we're leading and trying to capture in print. Anyone else relate?

We've been busy

I determined last weekend to get some of my mojo back by crafting with the kids -- specifically, writing down my list of projects in my notebook, shopping for the supplies, and actually making it happen instead of just reading about other people's great ideas. :-)*
The biggest hit with the kids?


Thank you, Costco, for your five dollar kits that brought us an entire afternoon of comfort and joy. You are almost forgiven for being so insanely crowded on a Monday morning that we couldn't reach the sample tables.

Then there was the lemon-rosemary shortbread for the neighbors and taekwondo teacher (this year I will NOT be that friend/neighbor/mom who basically says, "Oh gee, thanks for the plate of cookies! Never occurred to me to bake anything for you!" Nope, this year we are PREPARED! Our love and gratitude have a concrete expression!).


Then, truffles. Eliza's idea, group execution as you can tell by the variety in sizes. I can't tell you whom they're for because at least one of the recipients reads this blog regularly. Of course, his daughter already spilled the beans at the dinner table, so the Top Secret activity isn't so Toppish after all.

We worked so hard that we earned a lazy afternoon of lounging on the couch watching WALL-E. Um, for the second time in the last three days. Oh, stop it. I did fold laundry.

And how did we keep our blood sugar level today? Why, by nibbling leftover candy and shortbread and licking the bowls and spoons, of course! Note: when I became a mom, at least two of those parenting manuals I skimmed cautioned me to never let my child lick the bowl when baking together, due the risk of salmonella from raw egg in the batter. BWAHAHAHAHAHA! ExCUSE ME? Did you grow up in AMERICA? If I don't let my child lick the bowl, it's only because I'm saving it for myself!

More crafts to come tomorrow, even though I'm actually working in the morning! Yup, on Christmas Eve! Those Korean kids just never stop their learning! (And hey, a paycheck is a paycheck, no matter what the date. (Not that I'm mercenary. Just to clarify. No, it's all in the spirit of giving. I am GIVING them some of my abundant family time so I can GIVE them a few extra droplets of education in English grammar. Me and my drum. Rum pum pum pum.))



* Speaking of making things, please consider joining me in writing to your congressman and senators and asking them to revoke or at least revise the CPSIA, which is great for regulating potentially toxic toys from China, but deathly for the makers and purveyors of homegrown and handmade toys from right here in the U.S.
More info, and a button for your blog if you so desire, here.

Thought Salad

Oh boy! This post has NO governing theme whatsoever. A toast to miscellany!

Ian's writing sample from last week:
This week I did a brainstorm on what Ben Franklin and I had alike(and what we didn’t)! Things we don’t have in common: I have 2 siblings; he had 16. I like Legos; he didn’t have them back then. I take Tae Kwon Do; he worked in a printing shop. Things we have in common: we have great mischievous schemes, we like to read, we both have younger sisters*, he liked stories and I do too, and we were and are curious about things.-Ian Diller

*we aren’t absolutely sure he had YOUNGER sisters.

We've been reading D'Aulaire's Benjamin Franklin.

And speaking of reading, Ian seems to be enjoying The Sign of the Beaver, a great boy-in-the-wilderness coming-of-age story from a Newbery Award winner. But the real humdinger of the week is Caroline's new favorite, and it looks like this:


This is the first time my youngest has requested her very own copy of a library book. I find such a request exceedingly difficult to resist. Please buy me a book, Mama. And she has good taste; the book is simple and beautiful in both its story of young compassion and its illustrations that draw you into its heart.

More book stuff: I splurged on myself and bought a new cookbook:
The Bon Appetit Cookbook: Fast Easy Fresh. So far, I'm nothing but pleased. The cranberry-mustard chicken and chicken molé we made last week were quite respectable, but the spiced pumpkin pancakes I made twice this weekend were well nigh sublime. If you're even the wee-est bit into cookbooks, don't pass this one up. It may well take a place of honor on my shelf next to How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, Silver Palate Cookbook 25th Anniversary Edition, and all my Everyday Food magazines.

In other news, my dear friend Jenny, a celebrated digital scrapper, has created some adorable holiday cards which, if you're perpetually behind like me, you can still order! In the spirit of loyalty, friendship, and just appreciation of beautiful things, I am using one of her designs, and if I have your mailing address, you'll be receiving it one of these weeks. ;-) If you still need cards and don't want to spend a fortune (you can print them at Winkflash or Artscow), check 'em out (#1-#5)!

Here's a Caroline Treat for you: as we drove past an empty high school stadium today, she gasped, "Look at all the baseball players!* They're NOT THERE!" (*we're still working on sport identification.) Think on this philosophy next time you check your bank statement. Look at that nice fat balance! It's NOT THERE!

The sound of music

I crow-barred the children out of the house today to attend a free concert downtown at Central Presbyterian. A brass quintet was playing carols, and when we entered, I was in a huff because of a "conversation" (if you can call it that) my son and I had in the car about whether to take the entire summer off from homeschooling.

Let me just say that on the pendulum of things, this week has been really discouraging in terms of the gap between my ideals and hopes and dreams for homeschooling and the present reality, in which I forever feel like I am shortchanging ONE of the kids (usually one of the younger ones), the one who's technically "schooling" prefers to badger me for computer time rather than appreciating the fine literature and intellectual delights being served up in such a cozy atmosphere, and that same child thinks that leaving the house to go anywhere is tantamount to parental cruelty. So much for spontaneous outings and learning by living. Hmph. Please don't tell me that my ideals are too high; I've already heard it. You can send me consolatory hugs, though. I'd like that.

So my bruised soul sort of oozed its way into the sanctuary, found a seat where the children all miraculously stayed quiet and still for 25 minutes, and just paused to be still and listen. The music was ... well, transporting. Have you ever heard "The First Noel" played in a chapel by French horns, a trumpet and a tuba? Have its sounds ever swelled around you so that you have to close your eyes lest the tears sneak out? It's balm, folks, I tell you.

I sort of get grumpy around this time of year when I can't make my innocent way into a store without hearing some ridiculous pop diva cooing about Santa Claus or Frosty or whatnot in a way that's not only cloying but also vaguely sexy, if that's what does it for you. "O Holy Night?" Bring it on. The simple version. Fat red guys getting stuck in my chimney? Not so much.

But this, today, was just ... well... so uncommercial that they didn't even have a CD for sale. Unvarnished. Unfussy. Perfect.

Oh Charles, you shouldn't have

So, not to get all Plum Creek-y on you, but we awoke this morning to what was, by Central Texas standards, BITTER cold. Would you believe the temp did not surpass 38 degrees all day? As I said, BITTER.

Which meant that most of the day my kids spent running out to the woodpile, always wearing less clothing than I thought appropriate, bent on keeping alive the "roaring fire" that their very own Pa had laid in the fireplace before leaving, bravely, his blue eyes twinkling at us, on his bike this morning.


Impressive, no? Particularly the nightgown-with-rainboots look.

Today was one of those days when I nearly resorted to duct tape to get my eldest to sit down and accomplish anything resembling academia. His distractibility knew no limits. But by gum, the boy figured out how to relight a fire and keep it blazing (under my supervision, thank you, no need to call CPS). It was a great day for Life Skills!

Then tonight, we bundled them up and took them to the library for a delightful puppet show of the Nutcracker. If you're in my town, you have two more days to see it at one of the area branches, and it's totally worth it, sitting beside those faces that alternately gaze and giggle. Go forth and marvel!