Learning By The Way

I have looked forward to this spring more than usual, for it is unwrapping my present. Our new house has a yard full of stuff- but I don’t know what until it comes up and I can get somone to identify it for me! So far, we have identified several patches of peonies, 3 forsysthias, irises, tulips, and a lilac bush. (I knew about the rhubarb and roses and rose of sharon from the fall. Many others are yet unidentified).

Saturday, we went to the greenhouse. All of the children picked out something to plant- Moriah got verbana, Elsie dianthus, Toby pansies, Peter marigolds, and Samuel a jalepeno plant. I got a bunch of orange flowers to line the front walk (after all, we do live on ORANGE Street). Mostly pansies, and some interesting specimens called jewel boxes. I think they look like fuzzy caterpillar flowers. We got most of those planted on Saturday.

Yesterday, I planted the vegetables. 6 tomato plants, and 4 peppers. I have zuchinni and cucumber yet to do. Whew! There isn’t much room for vegetables until I can figure out what else we have. I know some of it can be rearranged, but not until next year. Our small patch is thanks to our friend Jon, who knows things, identifying a large patch of green stuff in the flower beds as overgrown grass. It is now our vegetable garden.

Our yard is a beautiful place to be. I am loving spring.

James and I celebrated 11 years of marriage this last Friday. James took the afternoon off, and we went out to paint the town red. He asked me what I wanted to do first, and I said “Let’s go to Church Mouse!” This is our neighborhood thrift store. So we took off on a beautifully sunny spring day, with the top down on the convertible, and drove the several blocks to Main Street. We parked in a municipal lot, so we could check out a few other stores, too.

We ended up going to the Habitat for Humanity Restore first. There I regretted that I have no use for a perfectly huge solid soapstone double sink, and lamented over having no reason to buy gorgeous old wood doors. We bought two sconces to replace the ones in the girl’s room hanging lights (one of the set was a broom casualty). And oh, marvelous and exciting find, an old Singer sewing machine and table for 5.00. We got it mostly for the table. James has installed Moriah’s birthday sewing machine in it, and she loves it. The machine that formerly lived in the table was complete with all attachments- if it still works, I might be able to sell it and make a profit.

Then we visited a vitamin shop that I have been wanting to check out since I noticed its unprepossessing store window (Quantum Health on Main St.) They were having an herb sale. I picked up Mullein, for next time we have a respiratory illness, and Shepherd’s Purse. The Shepherd’s Purse is to make a nauseatingly bad tea to drink in the last weeks before the baby is born. It prevents bleeding remarkably well.

After that, the Church Mouse Thrift Store. Its sewing machine with table for 15 dollars now looks overpriced. I do get a stack of children’s books (1/2 price sale!) 

 While stopping at the grocery store for a snack, we got a phone call from Crystal with a hot tip about an estate sale on Columbia Terrace. So off we went- as estate sales go, it was pretty uninteresting. However, it was here we make the find of the evening. Ta da! An electric pencil sharpener for 50 cents.

We had dinner at a Mexican restaurant, and a beautiful time together.  11 years doesn’t seem so long. I hope for many times that to spend with my love.

We arrived home with our goodies. Samuel immediately began sharpening pencils. Moriah started reading books. But bedtime came to soon- most of the books and pencils must wait. And now, 5 days later, all of the books have been read (except for the complete patents of Nikola Tesla). And every single pencil in our house is stiletto sharp. If there was no eraser, the other side was sharpened as well, making a deadly double sided pencil. I am all for this, as it discourages children from nodding off while doing their workbooks.

Saturday, Samuel sidled up to me and said “Did I say ‘Thank you’ for the pencil sharpener? I really like having it.” You’re welcome, son. I love you.

Eleven years. God, did I say thank you for my beautiful life?  I really like it. Surely I must be the most blessed of women.

Yes, the children are enjoying their long awaited math workbooks. And don’t worry, Samuel found his again. It was under his bed.

 I was a little concerned when I first glanced through the 3A books that it wasn’t going to be a challenge for them. And Moriah especially gets bored if she isn’t being challenged. But while they may not find many things they didn’t already know, there will be a fresh perspective and much needed review of times tables 8 and 9. So I believe it will be good to get a very solid grounding in the basics before we move on. And so far, they are enjoying it immensely.

Samuel ate exactly 100 peas with his supper tonight. He counted.

After our foray to Bradley Park on Wednesday, I woke up the next morning with a nasty headache. It was confined to the right side of my head and throbbed like it was trying to get out of my skull. Unfortunately, it didn’t suceed and spent the next few days waxing and waning from firework proportions to “ha, ha, don’t forget I’m still here and do something foolish like laugh”. I described all my symptoms in detail to a friend on Sunday, and she told me I have a migraine. ME! The nerve of some headaches. (Isn’t it nice to have friends who will sit through detailed desciptions of headaches, and still seem interested)?

Anyway, today it is almost gone. I feel like a normal person. I like that.

Our Singapore Math books are scheduled to arrive on Wednesday. I love UPS tracking numbers.

We got a late start on learning time, but did manage to get in multiplication flashcards and a logic puzzle for the 3 older children. Elsie did a couple of addition workpages. The children completed their Bible reading for today. (Samuel told me at bedtime that he read two really good stories- God calling Samuel, and Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at the well. He is reading in 1 Samuel and John, because those are his first and middle names).

It being the day after Easter, we took our traditional jaunt to the local drugstore to get 1/2 price Easter candy. This is a much loved family tradition, passed down for generations. A delightful excursion, made even better because my head didn’t hurt. Thank you, God, for days without pain. 

Moriah, Samuel, Toby and Elsie will be starting new math books as soon as they come in the mail. We have been using a hodgepodge of books picked up here and there, and for the first time are going to be using an actual curriculum- Singapore Math.

Last week the three older children spent a considerable amount of time working through 20 pages of placement testing to find out which workbook I should order for them. To my suprise, they are all going to be in the same book, Singapore Math 3A. There are a few things they are clearly more advanced in, such as fractions, but they haven’t covered division and geometry in the depth the 3A book does, so we will be starting there. Elsie is starting in the first book, 1A. In case you are wondering, yes, these numbers do correspond to grade levels. In Singapore. What does this mean in US grades? Something different, which I don’t care about. Grade levels are completely unhelpful in our learning environment, and we haven’t ever needed to use them.

 I have heard very good things about this curriculum and we are all eager to get started. For now, though, they are finishing up their other math books.

We’ve worked up a new morning schedule, which went smoothly this morning, and I think is going to help us get more done in shorter time. We had a slightly shortened version this morning though, as we headed to Bradley Park for a picnic lunch and playtime with 3 other families from church.

When we arrived at the park, there was a guy with a metal detector working his way around the playground, sifting through the sand. Soon he joined a group of mostly young adults to the side of the playground. While we waited in the car for our friends to arrive, we tried to make up stories as to what possibly could be going on. Most of the people left, but when we got out of the car, there was still a man and woman with metal detectors methodically searching the sand around the play equipment. Of course I inquired what they were doing, and it turns out our stories weren’t very close. They were instructors for a crime scene investigation class at Illinois Community College. They had planted bullets and silver dimes in the sand as a training exercise for the students. The class being over, they were doing cleanup to find the things the students had missed. The children enjoyed watching them finish up their work, and then enjoyed playing with friends on a beautiful, breezy spring day.