I used to joke that Tupperware was like rabbits. You lock two pieces in a cupboard and the next morning you open it to find eight. It just multiplies magically. I think our family is the same way. More babies on the way. Three. Yes, three babies on the way.
It has rained all day here. Sometimes pouring, sometimes sprinkling, but raining the entire day.
The ducks and geese in the neighborhood are happy. They are splashing about in the lake and the puddles honking and quacking like excited children.
I can't say I'm quite as excited but the moisture is nice.
My friend Laura kept mentioning Downton Abbey, how good it was. How well they develop characters. How amazing and addictive the show is. Well thank you very much Laura, I am now hooked. I found season one on Netflix and I've been neglecting everything else I have to do today. One episode and I was useless, the day wasted. And It's all Laura's fault. So here I sit, watching another episode with the Christmas tree and it's bare branches staring at me like I was neglecting my responsibilities or something.
I seriously need a staff like the Crawley family. Then I could be watching Downton Abbey and have my tree down at the same time.
On the home front my trees are all trimmed and the ones removed gone, the yard cleaned up, the fence mended, the electric line fixed and a new electrical conduit in place. I think the tree trimmer lost his shirt on this job. But he held to his oral contract and admitted he was glad he had insurance to cover the unexpected "events." I told him that he could use me as a reference because I am truly happy with the way he did the trees, cleaned out all the dead wood and despite the disasters he made it all right and good as new. I think he was happy to get his check and see the last of my property.
Our neighbors were wondering why we removed all our pine trees (eight in the back yard). After they were down they understood. Six of the eight had pine beetle. Three were pretty much dead already. Two of the others were hollow from the base up to about 20 feet. These trees were all about 90 feet tall and we were worried if a bad storm came along we would end up with a tree on our house. Last year I got bids to have them removed and the lowest bid I got was $1200 a tree. This man came through and bid $750 a tree. I think after it was all said and done he was wishing he'd asked $1200 a tree. I know this picture isn't the greatest since it was taken in the evening but it shows the last of the trees before it came down. Now I don't have to worry about my trees falling on my house, just my neighbors (who has pine beetle in his also but has determined he can try a systemic to kill them and doesn't think they will spread very quickly. He has never been to Colorado).
Otto and Buddy getting up-close and personal.
We met up with the family at Aaron and Jill's house for a birthday luncheon for Wren. We ate pizza, had cake and hit the piñata. It was a rousing success for everyone involved.
The birthday girl with her giant cupcake cake.
Emily trying to teach Cora how to make a duck face..... you'd think when they reach the age of 30 they'd not do these things in front of mom who is holding a camera....
And here's Emily demonstrating where her child might have gotten the idea to use an imaginary flame thrower in school (in chapel no less).... such an example setter. 
Emily didn't have to do detention but poor Cadence sure got a talking to!
Happy 5th Birthday to Wren! She is the last of the girls to turn five so we now have three five year olds dashing about these days. Wren is our fashionable little girl. Leopard, or cheetah print only. No zebra print allowed. It's just not cool you know.
I have been learning how to use my new camera. It has so many settings on it that I have had to read and reread my manual just to figure out the basics. Once you learn the icons it's not hard but it can get confusing. I decided the best way to master it was to concentrate on one setting at a time. Today I worked on the aperture priority setting (a manual setting) and the portrait setting (a programmed aperture priority setting). I managed to create bokeh for the first time. Bokeh. Yes, it has a name. The blurry background, often bright spots or lights behind an up close portrait or object.
My results:
and a self-portrait
I've been watching my granddaughter Cadence for the past week while she's out on school break. She's a good kid and easy to take care of. She has been enjoying her "lazy time" and getting to see her cousins more than normal. The only challenge I have had is getting her to eat. If I offer beans in any shape or form I'm good but if I suggest anything else it's doubtful that it gets eaten. I've never seen a kid love burritos so much.
As part of her being here with me I have promised her mom that I will have her practice her reading to me so each day we sit down and she reads a book to me. I'm back to teaching lessons. It takes me back to the days when I was teaching my children each day. I have to admit I enjoyed the challenge. I also think I was successful in my endeavor since I have four children, all graduates, all have attended or graduated from college, all are productive members of society and above all they are happy and they love God. So I consider it a success.
Homeschooling your children is not something to be taken lightly. It is a big responsibility. The biggest challenge for many is diligence. It means setting a schedule. It means sticking to it. It means not going out to lunch with a friend because school hasn't been done. It means setting goals and helping your children achieve them. It means doing it EVERY day whether you want to or not. I found that if I let one day go by without doing school (on a regular school day) it was even easier to let the second day go by and before I knew it we were a couple of weeks behind. It is easy to let daily life interfere and to be honest there are days you just want to be selfish and say, nope, I'm going to Walmart and I'm doing what I want no matter what but you can't! You HAVE to make yourself do school because in the end you are just hurting your children if you don't develop that diligence. Not only are you not furthering their education the best way you can, but you are hurting them by teaching them that school isn't important.
I realize there are many methods of homeschooling and not everyone sits down at the kitchen table and does two hours of school each day. Some subjects lend themselves to a more relaxed method. Science is often learned through hands on activities and experiential activities. History is often accomplished through museum tours and discussion but the fact remains that to learn to read you have to sit down and work on it. It isn't just picked up by osmosis, you have to take the time to really work on it. Same with math facts. It takes time. It's those core subjects that require mom to put aside herself and get herself organized and just do it!
Okay, so that was a rabbit-trail. But hopefully this will all tie together in the end.
In watching Cadence I have had to be a little more organized in my day. The first couple of days I didn't get around to reading with her. I failed. Now did it hurt her for those two days? She would say no. But if I kept on not doing my promised job it would. She would go back to school having forgotten her reading skills. It takes daily practice to master reading and I didn't want to make it harder on her than it needed to be. So I had to apply myself and set aside reading time and be diligent in getting it done. For her sake. My petty wants and needs of running into town, playing on Facebook, reading my own book, could be set aside for the time needed to read with her. When homeschooling my children I had lessons I taught on purpose. As I was sitting here listening to Cadence read today I thought about the many lessons our children, and now my grandchildren have learned from me not on purpose. They haven't always been good ones. That's how it is in our society. Our kids learn lessons through observing those around them. And lessons are learned.
What are some things I see children being taught today in our society?
Is the church doing any better?
I suppose I ought to explain but I'm not sure I can. Or want to.
