Last Soccer Game of the Season

It's taken me until the very last soccer game to get pictures of Lincoln actually playing soccer, and most of them turned out blurry. Oh well. I got some cute one's of Ivan and Adelia though. They've been really good sports about sitting on the sidelines and cheering for Lincoln and his team.

First year soccer is always so funny. Most of the kids on the field don't have a care in the world, and are just happy to be out there running around. Most seem clueless as to the point of the game, but they like to chase the ball, and each other. :) Some parents get WAY to into it, but for the most part everyone is just there to enjoy themselves. I like that they don't keep score. And I like that they only play 4 on 4. It seems to make the chaos a little less.

Some people think I shouldn't have signed Lincoln up for soccer so early. (You have to be 4 and he just barely made the deadline by like 2 days.) But soccer has been a good experience for him. Not only does it give him the opportunity two times a week to run all his energy out, but he also gets the experience of learning from another adult besides me, and gets to practice taking turns and working with a team. Plus it's just fun. So, I'm glad we signed Lincoln up this year. We'll definitely do it again next year.

Lincoln's favorite part about soccer games was the treat at the end, and retrieving the ball out of the net after someone (usually the other team) scored. He scored one goal this season and had a lot of great throw-ins. He loves his medal and his soccer shirt.

Letter Day: C is for Cookie

 

Kaitlyn and Ivan in their chef's aprons

Today we went to Provo for Letter Day. Last year we did C is for cookie, and the kids had such a great time with it, that Suzy decided to use the same activities again. She showed them the Cookie Monster video on youtube "C is for Cookie", that one is always a big hit. Then the kids got to pick out different shapes and glue them onto their aprons (which are easily made out of brown paper bags and yarn). Once they were dressed to cook, they went in the kitchen and got to work making chocolate chip cookies. They were great at taking turns helping Suzy measure out and pour in the ingredients. And everyone was very satisfied with the results...cookies!

So Long Sweet Summer...

So long sweet summer
I stumbled upon you and gratefully basked in your rays
So long sweet summer
I fell into you
Now you're gracefully falling away

Hey thanks
Thanks for that summer
It's cold where you're going
I hope that your heart's always warm
I gave you the best
Gave you the best that I have

So, so long sweet summer
I stumbled upon you and gratefully basked in your rays
So long sweet summer
I fell into you
Now you're gracefully falling away 

-Dashboard Confessional

Lincoln, Adelia, and Ivan on a hayride at the apple orchard

We welcomed in Fall today by hanging out at an apple orchard in Santaquin. A group from our ward was going and invited us along. My kids were in heaven. 

 Lincoln, Sam, Ivan, and James waiting in the wagon for everyone else to get there.

Adelia did not want to hold still, even when the tractor started moving.

 Ivan and Lincoln with their apples.

The kids each got to pick one apple off the tree to eat. It was the best Gala apple I've ever tasted.

Lincoln, Adelia, and Ivan in the orchard. 

Nathan, Wilson girl, Sam B, Jacob, Emily, Lincoln, Adelia, and Ivan

 Ivan and his buddy Emily.

 Lincoln and Sam are always inseparable.

Adelia was perfectly content to sit in the field and munch her apple.

 Back at the barn, this is most of the kids in our group waiting for their coloring books and doughnuts.

 The apple kept Adelia occupied for the whole rest of the trip. Awesome!

Ivan, Lincoln, and Adelia on the porch at the big red barn.

In Honor of TS Eliot's Birthday

When I was in school, I studied English Lit. One of my least favorite authors to study was TS Eliot, but he came up all.the.time. However, even in my dislike of most of his works, I find myself strangely fascinated with one poem... And actually (do I dare to even admit this, and claim my nerdiness?), sometimes when I'm in a social situation and am trying to make a choice about an action that might be viewed by others, the line "Do I dare to eat a peach?" runs repeatedly through my head. Yes. You read that right. So here it is:

The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock

          S'io credessi che mia risposta fosse
          A persona che mai tornasse al mondo,
          Questa fiamma staria senza più scosse.
          Ma per ciò che giammai di questo fondo
          Non tornò viva alcun, s'i'odo il vero,
          Senza tema d'infamia ti rispondo. *

   Let us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question . . .
Oh, do not ask, 'What is it?'
Let us go and make out visit.

   In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

   The yellow fog that rubs its back upon the window-panes,
The yellow smoke that rubs its muzzle on the window-panes,
Licked its tongue into the corners of the evening,
Lingered upon the pools that stand in drains,
Let fall upon its back the soot that falls from chimneys,
Slipped by the terrace, made a sudden leap,
And seeing that it was a soft October night,
Curled once about the house, and fell asleep.

   And indeed there will be time
For the yellow smoke that slides along the street
Rubbing its back upon the window-panes;
There will be time, there will be time
To prepare a face to meet the faces that you meet;
There will be time to murder and create,
And time for all the works and days of hands
That lift and drop a question on your plate;
Time for you and time for me,
And time yet for a hundred indecisions,
And for a hundred visions and revisions,
Before the taking of a toast and tea.

   In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

   And indeed there will be time
To wonder, 'Do I dare?' and, 'Do I dare?
Time to turn back and descend the stair,
With a bald spot in the middle of my hair -
(They will say: 'How his hair is growing thin!'}
My morning coat, my collar mounting firmly to the chin,
My necktie rich and modest, but asserted by a simple pin -
(They will say, 'But how his legs and arms are thin!')
Do I dare
Disturb the universe?
In a minute there is time
For decisions and revisions which a minute will reverse

   For I have known them all already, known them all -
Have known the evenings, mornings, afternoons,
I have measured out my life with coffee spoons;
I know the voices dying with a dying fall
Beneath the music from a farther room.
   So how should I presume?

   And I have known the arms already, known them all -
Arms that are braceleted and white and bare
(But in the lamplight, downed with light brown hair!)
Is it perfume from a dress
That makes me so digress?
Arms that lie along a table, or wrap about a shawl.
   And should I then presume
   And how should I begin?

          .   .   .   .   .   .

   Shall I say, I have gone at dusk through narrow streets
And watched the smoke that rises from the pipes
Of lonely men in shirt-sleeves, leaning out of windows? . . .

   I should have been a pair of ragged claws
Scuttling across the floors of silent seas.

          .   .   .   .   .   .

   And the afternoon, the evening, sleeps so peacefully!
Smoothed by long fingers,
Asleep . . . tired . . . or it malingers,
Stretched on the floor, here beside you and me.
Should I, after tea and cakes and ices,
Have the strength to force the moment to its crisis?
But though I have wept and fasted, wept and prayed,
Though I have seen my head (grown slightly bald) brought in upon a platter,
I am no prophet - and here's no great matter;
I have seen the moment of my greatness flicker,
And I have seen the eternal Footman hold my coat, and snicker
And in short, I was afraid.

   And would it have been worth it, after all,
After the cups, the marmalade, the tea,
Among the porcelain, among some talk of you and me,
Would it have been worth while,
To have bitten off the matter with a smile,
To have squeezed the universe into a ball
To roll it toward some overwhelming question,
To say: 'I am Lazarus, come from the dead,
Come back to tell you all, I shall tell you all' -
If one, settling a pillow by her head,
   Should say: 'That is not what I meant at all.
   That is not it, at all.'

   And would it have been worth it, after all,
Would it have been worth while,
After the sunsets and the dooryards and the sprinkled streets,
After the novels, after the teacups, after the skirts that trail along the floor -
And this, and so much more? -
It is impossible to say just what I mean!
But as if a magic lantern threw the nerves in patterns on a screen:
Would it have been worth while
If one, settling a pillow toward the window, should say:
   'That is not it at all,
   That is not what I meant, at all.'

          .   .   .   .   .   .

   No! I am not Prince Hamlet, nor was meant to be;
Am an attendent lord, one that will do
To swell a progress, start a scene or two,
Advise the prince; no doubt, an easy tool,
Deferential, glad to be of use,
Politic, cautious, and meticulous;
Full of high sentence, but a bit obtuse;
At times, indeed, almost ridiculous -
Almost, at times, the Fool.

   Shall I part my hair behind? Do I dare eat a peach?
I shall wear white flannel trousers, and walk upon the beach.
I have heard the mermaids singing, each to each.

I do not think that they will sing to me.

I have seen them riding seaward on the waves
Combing the white hair of the waves blown back
When the wind blows the water white and black.

We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.


******************************************


* The published version of the epigraph comes from Dante's Inferno. A translation is -

"If I thought that my reply would be to someone who would ever return to earth,
this flame would remain without further movement; but as no one has ever returned
alive from this gulf, if what I hear is true, I can answer you with no fear of infamy."

These lines are taken from Dante's "Inferno", and are spoken by the character of
Count Guido da Montefelltro. Dante meets the punished Guido in the Eighth chasm
of Hell. Guido explains that he is speaking freely to Dante only because he believes
Dante is one of the dead who could never return to earth to report what he says.

from  Exploring The Wasteland - T. S. Eliot and Jean Verdenal

Dirty Dash 2011

Aaron, Bennett, Lincoln, Ivan, and Jeremiah before the Piglet Plunge

We did the Dirty Dash again this year. Aaron's brother-in-law Rob ran the 10k, and then Aaron and Rob ran with the kids in the Piglet Plunge. It was a blast having the Bailey's stay with us for the weekend. My kids loved having two of there cousins to hang out with. Lincoln's been walking around all day saying, "Wanna hear what Bennett taught me to say? 'Zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket!' Haha! Isn't that kind of funny? Bennett taught me that."

Rob ran in the tuxedo from his wedding. Lincoln wore goggles and an old school life vest, Ivan wore a little golfer outfit, Bennett wore a ninja costume, Jeremiah had a snorkel mask and boots, and Aaron wore one of my maternity t-shirts and a safari hat (he looked gross).

Aaron's brother Ryan and Ryan's wife Melissa are the owners of Flo Foto, the photography company that takes all the pictures for the Dirty Dash. Aaron is the one who does their website flo-foto.com. If you go to the page, and watch the slide show that's in the middle on the bottom, you'll see a picture of Lincoln at last year's Dirty Dash, I think he's the 3rd or 4th picture in.

Lincoln was not a fan of the giant water slide. Melissa ran down to shoot pictures of the kiddos.

 Ivan, Aaron, and Lincoln after the slide on their way to the mud pit.

The mud pit. Lincoln said it was cold.

Some of my favorite shots of the day:

 Lincoln coming out of the mud pit.

 Ivan, Aaron and Lincoln coming out of the mud pit.

 I handed Adelia to Aaron at the very end, when they were in line for pictures. She wasn't very sure about being in on the mud action.

 Mud Monster!

 I told Ivan to say "Cheese!" but instead he yelled NOOOOO! At the top of his lungs. 

 Ryan is hard at work taking pictures in the studio.

 "Not happy Bob, not happy."

 Can you see the goggle lines?

 Ivan's golfer outfit just cracks me right up. I love it. Especially the hat.

 Jeremiah after the mud pit.

 Happy, muddy baby.

One more shot of the golfer out fit. Love it!

Sooner or later we'll get the professional pictures that Ryan and Melissa took. They'll be awesome. I'll post them when I get them. I think the kids had fun, even though not a one of them would admit it. Once the memory of the ice cold showers at the end wears off, I'm sure they'll want to do it again next year.

Book Review: Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother

by Amy Chua

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An awe-inspiring, often hilarious, and unerringly honest story of one mother's exercise in extreme parenting, revealing the rewards-and the costs-of raising her children the Chinese way.

All decent parents want to do what's best for their children. What Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother reveals is that the Chinese just have a totally different idea of how to do that. Western parents try to respect their children's individuality, encouraging them to pursue their true passions and providing a nurturing environment. The Chinese believe that the best way to protect your children is by preparing them for the future and arming them with skills, strong work habits, and inner confidence. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother chronicles Chua's iron-willed decision to raise her daughters, Sophia and Lulu, her way-the Chinese way-and the remarkable results her choice inspires.

Here are some things Amy Chua would never allow her daughters to do:
-have a playdate
-be in a school play
-complain about not being in a school play
-not be the #1 student in every subject except gym and drama
-play any instrument other than the piano or violi
-not play the piano or violin

The truth is Lulu and Sophia would never have had time for a playdate. They were too busy practicing their instruments (two to three hours a day and double sessions on the weekend) and perfecting their Mandarin.

Of course no one is perfect, including Chua herself. Witness this scene:

"According to Sophia, here are three things I actually said to her at the piano as I supervised her practicing:

1. Oh my God, you're just getting worse and worse.
2. I'm going to count to three, then I want musicality.
3. If the next time's not PERFECT, I'm going to take all your stuffed animals and burn them!"

But Chua demands as much of herself as she does of her daughters. And in her sacrifices-the exacting attention spent studying her daughters' performances, the office hours lost shuttling the girls to lessons-the depth of her love for her children becomes clear. Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother is an eye-opening exploration of the differences in Eastern and Western parenting- and the lessons parents and children everywhere teach one another.

This book was a super fast read, like two sittings, for me. It's not that its suspenseful or anything, but just really interesting. I had no idea that parenting styles were so different in different parts of the world. And although to my western way of thinking, some of her techniques seem pretty harsh, I tried to keep in mind that her end goal and my end goal are the same thing in the long run. I tried not to judge, but instead put myself in Amy's mind set, and I'll admit, it was hard.

But what I really loved about this book was the end, where keeping her daughter close to the family was more important than any other belief in parenting, even though it meant giving up a lot on Amy's part. I like that one parenting style worked for one daughter. And I like that Lulu still benefited from aspects of her Chinese upbringing (like her work ethic in playing tennis), even though she needed to do it her own way. I think it would be interesting to see how Sophia and Lulu choose to raise their kids.

I guess my opinion at the end is that the world would benefit from throwing eastern parenting and western parenting in a bag and mixing them up a bit and seeing what happened :) 

This book would make an awesome book club discussion book. I loved it, and recommend it to everyone.

Little Boys Club

Our homeschool group does "clubs" every Wednesday. The kids are divided up into age groups, so Little Boys club is ages 4-6, and so on. Today we got to host, and it was nice, because I finally got to meet some of the boys in our group that are Lincoln's age.

I decided to do an apple theme in honor of fall. We made apple sun catchers, taste tested different kinds of apples, played pin the apple on the apple tree, and hot apple (potato), and of course the favorite, bobbing for apples. :) The kids had a great time, and it was a hoot watching them bob for apples.

Baby Steps!

Well, The Child finally decided to try taking a few steps! I'm thrilled! Actually, I kind of tricked her into it. I would hold onto the back of her shirt, so she felt nice and safe and balanced, and then once she started going (because she'll always walk if someone is holding on) I slowly let go. I think four steps is about the most she ever did, but hey, it's progress! She was pleased with herself too. Every time she'd make it to the couch without falling over she's laugh hysterically and clap her hands for herself.

We played with the toy cell phone today too. I got quite the kick out of Little Miss Chatterbox. I don't know where she gets her phone skills, but it's not from me. I hate being on the phone. But apparently she likes it.

Today she also said, "Cheese!" and gave me a big cheesy grin, when I pulled out the camera. And she signed "chicken" for me. So that puts her spoken words up to mom, dad, baby, ball, shoes, chicken (meaning the animal), and cheese (meaning smile). And her signed words at baby, milk, water, shoes, and chicken. She's getting so big so fast.

Letter Day: B is for Boat

Ivan launching his boat

We did letter B today, for boats. One of my kids' favorite thing to do when the weather is nice is float boats down the little man-made stream on campus. We haven't done it nearly enough this summer, so I decided that's what we'd do for B day. I made the boats out of some extra craft Styrofoam that I had in the craft cupboard, but you can buy craft Styrofoam at Walmart pretty cheap. I used a wooden shisk-kabob stick cut in half for two of the masts, and drinking straws for the other two (because I only had one kabob stick left). The sail is construction paper.  

We usually sail boats at the North campus duckpond, but they are doing a lot of construction over there at the moment. So we opted to check out the new south campus duck pond and stream that we haven't seen yet. They have wooden walk ways all around the duck pond, which make it MUCH nicer and more sanitary. The new stream is beautiful and has little waterfalls every few feet. We're going to have to take Aaron back there one of these days.

We sang all three verses of Row, Row, Row Your Boat which go like this:

Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
Merrily merrily merrily
Life is but a dream.


Row, row, row your boat
Gently down the stream
If you see a crocodile
Don't forget to scream! Ahhh!


Row, row, row your boat
Underneath the stream
Ha ha I fooled you
I'm a submarine.

Sometimes she sleeps...

...but not very often.

Bedtime for Frances Day 4 and 5

I decided to make a small change to our ordinary schedule. Originally, I thought we'd do our poem at the end of the lessons, but it hasn't been working and we've been skipping over the poem because we've been running out of time. So instead of doing the poem at the end, we've started doing it right after the Pledge. That's been working really well so far.

Day 4 Today after rereading BFF we talked about quilts. In our read aloud time we've been reading some books about quilts. Lincoln has a special quilt that his Gramma Tam made for him when he was a baby. It has little boys pretending to be pirates on it. Lincoln did a writing activity about his blanket. He told me the words he wanted to write, and then I called out which letters he needed to make the words. When he was done, he drew a picture of his blankets with three pirates on it. He did not want to use any colors, only pen. He told me that the pirates are sad because they are trapped in a net. They all three have hats and hooks.

This is what Lincoln wrote, "I love my blanket but I like it. Grandma made it for me. Blanket." We've been working on having him put a space in between hid words. I think he did pretty good this time.

When we were done with the writing, we did some patterning. I made this patterning sheet, that had three quilts with colored squares, and then three blank quilts. Lincoln's job was to color the blank quilts to match the patterned ones.

Other than the fact that he insisted that the color orange was brown, he did great. And at least he consistently said orange was brown.

Day 5 After reading BFF we talked about patience, and whether or not Frances's parents had patience with her. We also talked about our favorite parts of the story. After that, I pulled out a sheet of sequencing card that I got of off homeschoolshare.com and Lincoln cut them out and put them in the right order.

After that, we talked about morning, afternoon, evening, and night, and the activities that our family does at these different times of the day. Then we sorted the activities into their respective time of day using a little chart that I made. Linc had a little trouble distinguishing between evening and night, but I think we got it all worked out.

And that's the end of our Bedtime for Frances unit. Next up, The Gingerbread Boy by Paul Galdone

Book Review: The Help

by Kathryn Stockett
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I really liked this book. Historical fiction is probably my favorite genre, and American history is probably my favorite topic. I also typically like books that are character development based (as opposed to plot based). So this book was a win/win as far as that goes. I've read a lot of books about slavery, and a few on civil rights, but this is probably the first book I've read that addressed the civil rights movement through the daily life lens of ordinary women. This was an interesting take on it.

Ever since I read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, I've loved the idea that progress, realistically, happens in small steps, a generation or so at a time. The Help, does a great job of expressing this idea. And I think that's one of the underlying themes: how change comes about in society. I did not think the book was trying to point out that things were bad in the South in the 1950s and 60s, in my mind that's already a given. The author was trying to talk about change, and picked a backdrop she understood as her medium to do it.

Speaking of the author, one of my favorite parts of the book was reading her few pages at the end. I like that her feelings about her upbringing in the South are mixed and complicated, instead of cut and dry. I like that she expressed this complication in her characters. Probably what I love most about the book is that the characters are so real and human.

My favorite character was Aibeleen. I felt taht she was the voice of change in the story. She was rock solid, and steady, and without her quiet, ongoing strength and courage, everything would have dead ended before it even started.

Great book. There is a lot of mild language, but it's the way people talked. I didn't feel like the language detracted from the book at all. I'd recommend this book, and I can't wait to see the movie.

Mammoth Sunflower

Not quite as mammoth-like as I would have thought...but the boys love it! :)

Bedtime For Frances Day 1, 2, and 3

We started a new unit, the book it's based off of is called Bedtime For Frances by Russell Hoban. The book is about a little badger named Frances who can't fall asleep. 

Day 1 was Tuesday, so we were a little bit pressed for time because we had Letter Day in the morning. After lunch and getting Ivan and Adelia down for naps, Lincoln and I did our first reading of the story. Lincoln was really into it, I think because it was right at his level. He's just started to say he's afraid of things in his room at night, and he's already a pro at stalling, and dragging bedtime out as long as possible. :) So I think he really identified with Frances. He asked a lot of questions. We talked a little bit about what badgers are, about how monsters and giants aren't real, and about how the wind moves things.

After that we build Frances's bedroom scene on the side of the fridge, using simple shapes. As we put the scene together, we talked about the different shapes we were using. These are the patterns I made for Frances's bedroom. If I were to do this again, I wouldn't trace the mattress onto white construction paper, I'd do it a color. Since our fridge is white, it's hard to see the white mattress against it.

And last, we read our poem for this unit, Wind on the Hill by A.A. Milne. I made this poster of our poem to put up on our preschool board.

Day 2 we got a little more done, and I was happy. After rereading the story we talked about the things Frances did before she went to bed and compared them to Lincoln's bedtime routine. We also talked about the song Frances sings to try and help herself go to sleep. We made a list of things we could give Frances that might help her sleep. Lincoln came up with a telescope, a baby, a teddy bear, shoes, a tree, and a cactus. He helped me write a letter to Frances explaining what we were giving her. Then he drew a picture of each thing labeled it, and he cut it out and put it on Frances's bed. (Lincoln also wanted to make a blanket for her, and to put the moth on the outside of her window.)

After that, we talked some more about the wind. In our read aloud time we've read a few books about the wind, so we brought those into our discussion. Then we made a wind vane. I found the basic pattern for that on pbs.org, but then I improvised a little based on things I had around here.

I made this pattern for the compass and the pointer. Then Lincoln cut out and glued the compass to a paper plate. Then we poked a hole in the bottom of a plastic cup, and stuck a pencil through. To hold the pencil in place we had a big round ball of play-doh inside the paper cup that we stuck the pencil in. Then we glued down the edges of the paper cup onto the plate. We cut slits in both ends of a drinking straw and inserted the pointer arrows, and then taped them down. Then we stuck a pin through the center of the straw into the eraser of the pencil. Ta-da! Wind vane. Then we took it outside to test it out. We talked about the points on the compass, and which way was north/south/east/west. We ended up drawing a little key on the driveway with sidewalk chalk. We drew a little house with an N under it for north, mountains with an E, a road with an S, and a tree with a W (because if you're sitting on our driveway, the house it to the north, the mountains east, the street to the south, and the tree in our yard to the west.) Then Lincoln could line up the letters on his compass with the letters in the key, and he would be able to tell me which direction the wind was blowing.

On Day 3 we started a lot of projects we didn't have time to finish. But that's ok, because they can go in Lincoln's projects folder, and he can pull them out to work on when he's bored, or when I need a minute to prep something. After reading the story, we talked about jobs (in the story Frances's dad tells Frances the wind's job is to blow the curtains), the wind's job, the job Frances gives to her teddy bear, what Lincoln's dad does for a job, etc. Then we got started with out activities for the day. We started making an alphabet book similar to the song Frances sings to put herself to sleep. We folded 7 sheets of paper in half and stapled the middle together to make a book with 28 pages. Then on each page, in the top left corner, Lincoln wrote a capital and lower case letter, until he'd done the whole alphabet. We will go back and make a simple sentence for each one (A is for apple, B is for bear, etc.) and draw pictures, or cut pictures out of magazines for each one. We will probably work on this project here and there, and it will take longer to finish than we will be spending on this particular unit, but that's ok. Next we talked more about badgers, and how they are omnivores, and that omnivores eat meat and plants. I found this activity online at homeschoolshare.com for free and printed it out. All we had time to do today was cut out the picture and glue them to the right words (and I made Lincoln figure the words out all by himself by going off of the starting letter, he did great!). After they dry we'll staple them together to make another book.

*Something weird is going on with the color/underlining of my links, sorry the look so dumb! I can't figure it out at the moment.