This moment

Joining Amanda from SouleMama for
{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Back to school: Week 1

Last night I prepared the children:  "As you know, we will have to start school tomorrow.  If we are going to have two summers this year, we will have to work a bit in this one.  Tomorrow we will get up at 7, be ready to start at 8... " and all of that, to make sure that they know what will happen.  They took it well.

It is very hot and humid now, not as hot as last year, thankfully, and I do not want to complain about the mosquitoes since the fact that they are here means that it has rained, but, well, they are everywhere, in swarms, at all hours. So it makes sense to spend these dog days of summer indoors, getting some work done.

This morning at 6:40am I was awakened by Melva, already fully dressed (she even brushed her hair), and for a moment I thought we were off to a good start.  But, she was holding the cat and waking me up to tell me that the cat caught a rabbit.  I did not believe her, since a rabbit is way to big for our cat, and sent her outside to go and look for the rabbit.  She found him cowering next to the house. He was fully grown, but injured, (not by our cat, but I guess that is why he could chase it), exhausted and very stressed.

Our class journal, dictated by Jean and written by me.

I went outside, wrapped the rabbit in a towel, put it in a pet carrier and carried it inside.  It looked as if a dog or Coyote injured its hind leg, where he had wounds, but other than that he was fine.

Recently Ginny's children rescued an opossum, so in a way I had some experience in these matters and knew what to do - I phoned the Wildlife Rescue Center.  We were welcome to drop our rabbit off any time between 9am and 4pm.

This on the day that I decided to stick to my schedule for once in my life.  I decided to finish Bible, Math and a bit of Language Arts before the first break at 10am, and then head out during the break, hoping to be back before the end of the second period after break (11:30am).  We made it back by 11:27.

Isn't he beautiful?  I am very glad we did this.  It is just a swamp rabbit, they are not endangered, but once you picked him up and felt his warm little body, you could not just let nature run its course.  I remember crying when I watched animal programs as a child - I cried when the lion caught the zebra, and I also cried when he did not, because then his babies would be hungry.  For once, I could interfere, and it only cost me 90 minutes.  And the $20 I donated just because I am so glad that they are there and I will never ever have to think about what to do with an injured animal.  At the rescue center they ensured the little ones that the rabbit will be fine, that they could treat him, and they invited us to phone them to find out how he was doing.
 

He likes to pose as if he is a cougar, but he is hardly any bigger than the rabbit, and the toothmarks were too big to be his.

And so the year has started.  I wanted to make a little list of what we are doing, since some may wonder and I might be a bit more accountable if I write down what I am planning.  This is not all that we will do, but it is the core:

Melva (11, 6th grade):

• The Art of Problem Solving (math) and Alcumus
• Writing with Structure and Style (Level B) by the Institute for Excellence in Writing (IEW)
• Fix-It! (grammar)

Jean (8, 3rd grade):

• Singapore Math, 3A
• Institute for Excellence in Writing:  PAL-R and PAL-W (I am still trying to find his level, he reads at his grade level but writing is still very hard.)
• All About Spelling

Both:

• Latin:  Artes Latinae (Computer based program, teaches classical Latin)
• Real Science for Kids: Level I Chemistry
• Story of the World (History)
• Piano
• Westminster Catechism

I try to involve the twins in as much as possible, and we all do the Linguistics through Poetry Memorization (also from IEW), but most of the time they just play.  They know their letters, shapes and colors, I try to get them to color and  draw but they are really not that interested at the moment.

For a while now we have had very strict screen time rules:  Only two screen days a week:  Tuesday and Thursday, and only after 3pm on those days.  Over the weekend we are more lenient.  Their favorite show is on Netflix:  Myth Busters.  I have difficulty teaching them anything new in science; they have seen every single episode.  Melva wants to restore old cars one day, so she loves to watch Wheeler Dealers, and they both love Top Gear.  As a bonus, it ensures that their more British sense of humor remains intact. (I am saying that tongue-in-cheek, dear Americans!)  The twins love Battle 360.  I know, it is not aimed a 4 year old audience, but they need material to re-enact with their own army men and whatever they can turn into battleships and carriers...

I hope that this year I can write more about what we do.  Our decision to homeschool was a lifestyle choice.  Melva was in a Classical Christian School, it was not that we were not happy with what they taught.  We just thought she could learn all that and more at home, in a shorter time.  We would then also be free to visit family during the school year.  I am not a homeschooling advocate, but I do think it is a very fulfilling occupation and not as difficult as many might think.  Jean's visual impairment (he has Achromatopsia and his best corrected vision is 20/200) was also a motivator, but even if he had perfect vision, I would have preferred to teach them at home.

Errant Socks

Things have been busy.  I ordered and received most of the home school curriculum, we went on another trip to the Frio, and we finalized our tickets to fly "home" at the end of November! Suddenly I had to book places to sleep, arrange with family to make sure we coordinate vacations, and hear from friends when we could visit, all in a very short space of time.

(We will be traveling from Johannesburg to the Cape, back up north through Tsumeb on to the Caprivi strip, and then hopefully have a chance to see the Victoria Falls and the Chobe National Park.  I know.  It is such a schlep to visit family).

I knit only a little bit with my Madelinetosh Sock yarn (I decided on a shawl), but it is just a garter triangle at the moment, so I decided to show this instead:

Melva is knitting a sock.  The child that knew where her fossa poplitea was when she was 2, now knits socks with superfine yarn, using 5 double pointed needles and a cable needle.  And she taught herself how to do short rows too. Go figure.
While knitting, she is devouring all the books on knitting in our house, and there are a couple. Of dozens.
This week she read both the Mason-Dixon knitting books, and she has taken to the Yarn Harlot (Stephanie Pearl-McPhee). 

I am reading Institutes of the Christian Religion by John Calvin.  I am also trying to wrap my head around some of the material by the Institute for Excellence in Writing, before I embark on teaching my second language as a first language to my child who is knitting sock.

Later I might explain why I am reading Calvin, and this year I want to share more about our homeschool, but for today I am just squeezing this in between VBS and swimming lessons to join Ginny for yarn along.  Happy yarn along!

It won't fit!

I still love the Fisherman's sweater pattern, and I am very sad to say that I will have to frog all of that knitting, because the sweater won't fit.  I know how important gauge is, I read the whole darn "The Principles of Knitting" and "Knitting Rules!" barely two months ago, both of them emphasizing the need to get gauge.  Yet I felt comfortable winging it.  Now I covet  a hank or 3 of Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool, because that would be a much safer yarn to try to wing it with, as it is more or less bulky, right?  If only I did not have too much yarn in my stash already.  Maybe if I knit size 10 it will fit the 4 year old?  ( I know how to do the math.  I just cannot get myself motivated to do it. Yet.)

About the books - I am not all that pious, I wish I were.

To be a transplant in all spheres of life, including your church, can cause some confusion.  Thus far we have been blessed with nurturing congregations, gifted pastors, and new points of view that challenge those that we grew up with, only to the extent that they are from a different angle.  It nevertheless requires some thought and study to bring my own thoughts and words in line with the words of the people around me, specifically those whom I trust.  (For clarity, I should perhaps say that we are now members of the  PCA)

I do not know exactly what I believed about prayer until now.  I think by nature I am a bit cynical; I also believe very firmly that everything is in the hands of God.  I did not grow up with specific prayer requests.  The Lord's Prayer was the example.  It never seemed necessary to be more specific.  Am I making sense, here?

In the 90's, a couple of tragedies struck in short succession.  My father and brother died, and my husband was diagnosed with cancer.  (He has been in remission for more than 10 years now)  I did not feel as if specific prayer was "effective" then, in any measurable way, apart from asking God to convince me that His mercy alone would be enough.  Actually having long internal debates, trying to convince God that it might not be, and then what?!  I know, it would still have been enough, but I was only 22 then.  As He promised, nothing could separate me from his love.

However, I fear that I might have become a bit cynical in terms of praying for anything specific.  This book, and I am only a few chapters into it,  may answer some questions.  I trust God to keep me safe, spiritually.  I just do not know how much more I should ask, since that seems to be enough.  So, in a nutshell, that is why I am reading "A Praying Life."

Once again, I am linking up with Ginny's yarn along.

(PS:  Yesterday it was 107 (41.6) degrees in Austin.  It is now after midnight and the temperature is 87 (30.5) degrees. Just sayin. It's not like I am trying to convince my whole family that this place is hotter than anything in South Africa. Really not.  Who would get involved in a debate about the weather?)

A pop-over halter dress

This dress did not turn out as bad as I thought it did.  When I finished it, the first time, it was far too wide - the dress was gaping at the back.  I undid one seam, removed 3 inches from the back panel (that was just a  rectangle), and also took 4 inches off the elastic, and now I think that it could work.  I was hoping that it could be a dress, but I have to admit - this won't work as a "real" dress.  It will be a dress for the beach.


 

If I make the pattern again, I will choose a softer fabric with more drape - my friend Leslie from The Seasoned Homemaker suggested cotton lawn.  I will also make it one size smaller (maybe even two), to see if I could get the neckline to a level where she would feel more comfortable. I think the white is perfect.














Pattern from: "Girl's World:  Twenty-One Sewing Projects to Make for Little Girls"

Things to do in Texas...

... when you are (almost) blind:




Stopping and looking at butterflies on flowers does not work.  But you can pretend to, and blend in, if you are a go-along-to-get-along kind of guy.

 

You can always look at the picture, later.

 

Scaling mountains is quite possible: since you never really know where the next obstacle will be, you are used to being cautious, so you will actually slip and fall fewer times than the more adventurous types.
 
Jumping into the river with the rope swing is a bit daunting.

But it can be done.  Someone just has to sit on the ladder and call you so that you know where to get out again.

(Without his glasses he cannot see a thing.  If he opens his eyes and closes them quickly, he has a couple of images to work with, but he usually uses sound and touch in bright light, outside.)



Rowing does not come naturally, but after some explanation, he got that too.

Last weekend we went with a friend to a house next to the Frio River, near Leakey, TX.  It is about 3.5 hours away, but well worth the drive.  Summer is very tolerable if you spend it in the water, and being invited along to a friend's friend's house was a wonderful treat.

All four of them.  I remember our neighbour's mother in South Africa telling me that these are the best times.  While you can still cover them with one blanket, parenting is at its easiest.

 The babies, as we still call them, can both swim now, and both had the courage to jump into the water.

Martinus is definitely the more emotional one, at the moment.

 He is not crying because he is scared.  He cries because he wants to jump off the table on the deck, like the big children, and not only off the deck. (Or in his words, because I won't let his dream come true.  "His dream" being to jump off the table, and not the deck.)

 

Dad thinks up a new game:  let's pretend we are fighter airplanes, and mom is an enemy ship, then we swing over the water and shoot the enemy.  Here he is Admiral Nimitz giving orders to "The Red Duke"

 

Amelia Crash-a-lot, unintentionally aiming at the Admiral.



He makes a narrow escape.

We came home after the week end totally unprepared for the week ahead, with heaps of laundry and several play dates lined up, so I barely had time to sit down and sort through the pictures and write about them.  I guess it is almost always like that - the more you do, the more there is to show and tell, and the less time you have to pen it down.

Summer is now in full swing.  The older kids are doing a morning choir camp next week, I am looking forward to spending some time with the twins.    I am also looking at the next school year - as we are planning a second summer, we cannot stay idle for too long.  The twins actually know their alphabet, and they can do simple math, so I want to see what we should plan for them for next year. In the mean time, I have baked pita pockets, and we made our own butter!  But I did not take pictures, so you'll just have to take my word for it.  It was delicious, and much easier than I thought.

And about the 52 projects - I think I am actually on track.  I'll take some pictures soon!

{this moment}

Joining SouleMama


{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.