Restoration Place

My Head is Spinning ~ Relocation

News: Karl has accepted a job offer which will move us to the greater Hagerstown/Frederick (or even on the other side of the Potomac river in West Virginia), Maryland area. I'm thrilled for him and this new opportunity for our family in that beautiful, historic area, and a little anxious (ok, a lot anxious) about what it's going to take to get this house market-ready. And about homeschooling in some form or fashion through this season of change.

Thankfully, it's only about a two hours' drive from where we live now, which will make the process smoother. Maybe.

If I'm not here much, you can just imagine me scrubbing, painting, purging, and making other preparations for this house to sell. 

I'm already wondering about all the great people we'll meet and connections we'll make in our new area, and excited about all our new adventures there!

Banana Split Muffins

I first tasted delicious Banana Split Muffins at my friend Denice's years ago, in my long-ago Ohio days. She always made the best homemade bread and other baked goodies (and still does, plus lots of other great food). I had completely forgotten about the muffins until recently, when she linked to her recipe (a slightly modified version of her friend's) on Facebook.

With children looking over my shoulder at the recipe and begging to give it a try, overripe bananas on the kitchen counter, and just barely enough maraschino cherries in the fridge, we gave it a whirl. We liked the results.

When the muffins came out of the oven, the children immediately requested Tea and Reading, since we had the "goods" to go with it. Doesn't take much to convince me to delay kitchen clean-up and laundry for Tea and Reading. 

When we made the muffins, we didn't have mini chocolate chips, but we were able to substitute Ghirardelli 60% Cacao Bittersweet Chocolate Chips, which Maggie immediately volunteered to chop into small pieces. I know why she volunteered. Those things are addictive!

The recipe also calls for mayonnaise, but don't be put off by this. There was absolutely no flavor of mayonnaise in the muffins, only sweet, moist goodness. I added a teaspoon of vanilla, which isn't in the original recipe. Just seemed like it would be a good addition. Next time, I think I'll add some fresh, chopped pineapple. And quadruple the recipe. 

Thanks again, Denice!

Book Week One ~ Discover Nature in Winter

I'm laggardly with the book posts, but I am reading, and surprising myself with all the ways to tuck in a few pages throughout the day.

For the first Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks I dug Discover Nature in Winter: Things to Know and Things to Do (Discover Nature , No 6) out of our winter reading basket.

(I thought I would read The Best American Essays 2009 for Book Week Two, but quickly realized I need more than one week to read and mentally process the essays).

Discover Nature in Winter is more than just a nature guide; it's a "discover and do" guide full of lessons about winter (what causes it?) and creature/plant life (what happens to them?) and suggestions for activities to explore winter. I particularly like the winter tree/weed identification sections, insect life, and the night sky. Those are areas I'll delve into with my children during our nature study times.

I own several of Elizabeth P. Lawlor's nature discovery books and consider them to be among the best of our nature study resources.

Mondays with Mowat

Monday breakfast reading now includes Owls in the Family by Farley Mowat. We still do parts of our Morning Stack (those parts are adjusted as time goes by) but we'll slip in some Mowat for the next 10 weeks, at least.

  

I had realized again (for only about the 37th time) that my younger two children hadn't exactly been read aloud all the great, not-to-be-missed books my older two had enjoyed when they were younger. And I felt a little guilty.

Not sure why, because my younger ones have enjoyed listening to books I would have never read the older ones when they were seven and five. But I don't want them to miss treasures such as Mr. Popper's Penguins, All-of-a-Kind-Family, Pippi Longstocking, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle, My Father's Dragon, Betsy-Tacy, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and many others. Those, like so many, are fun to read out loud (aloud? out loud? guess I use both interchangeably), whether or not the children are capable of reading them on their own.

I have vivid memories of rocking a fussing baby, grasping a book with one hand, and reading with a projected, animated voice (over the noisy baby sounds) to my older children who were sitting sprawled around my feet, with joy in their faces. 

Mondays with Mowat is just one more way for me to be intentional about my younger two children and bring more things into our days with them in mind. 

Sighting ~ Sharp-Shinned Hawk

We were thrilled to see this beautiful Sharp-shinned Hawk perched in a backyard beech tree several days ago. We saw one frequent our property last winter, but never managed to get a photo. This time we were ready, though I wasn't speedy enough with the zoom.

He stayed on the branch for several minutes, long enough for me to call all the children to come quickly to the window and have a good look. Then he swooped down to explore the ground beneath a holly tree, and remained there for another minute or so. We were curious about what he was investigating. Then he flew to a split-rail fence in our side yard, paused for a few moments, and left, presumably for better hunting grounds.

Amazingly, while the hawk was sitting in the beech tree, there were still about 10 Mourning Doves feeding on the ground not too far away. They left only when when four children rushed to the nearby window to watch the hawk. Maybe they thought they were too big to be Sharp-shinned Hawk prey?

As soon as he was gone, we grabbed The Young Birder's Guide to Birds of Eastern North America (Peterson Field Guides), which has become our favorite go-to bird guide. I own far too many bird identification guides, but this is the one that stays on the kitchen counter to assist with our kitchen-window bird watching.

 

 

Right now, the The Young Birder's Guide is available for only $5.98 -- 60% off the normal price. Click on the blue title link above to find out more information. What a bargain! I'm ordering several to keep as gifts for the bird-curious children in my life.

Note: In the spirit of disclosure, I'd like you to know that if you purchase any books through my Amazon links, I get a small kickback. Not enough to get excited about, but thought it best to mention it again.

Resource ~ Winter Nature Study

I've just printed out my new Winter Nature Study with Art and Music Appreciation e-book created by Barb at Harmony Art Mom and I'm excited about the fresh life it's going to breathe into our winter nature study. Seems like somewhere between January and February I experience that late-winter slump and lose my enthusiasm for nature study. 

 

 
I love how Barb connects winter nature study to music and art. That's not something I would normally take time to do (I'm grateful if I keep up with my meal plan and the laundry!), but I know my children are really going to like the connections.

There are 56 pages full of ideas for January, February, and March in the e-book version I purchased (you can view other versions at her site), more than enough ideas and resources for us to enjoy all winter.

I'm In ~ Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks

One year ago, I asked myself what it was going to take to motivate me to read more books. Years ago, I would have never dreamed I would be having difficulty finding the time and motivation to read. But I am.

Oh, I read. I read aloud to the children. A lot. I read through cookbooks. I read articles online. Blogs. But most of what I read is for the service of my family and their needs, not so much for myself or my own interest or -- gulp -- my own pleasure.

I need the Read 52 Books in 52 Weeks challenge. Although the pace irks my Charlotte Mason reading sensibilities (live with a book, savor it, soak in and absorb it), it's the push I need to make space in my life for something that brings me so much joy.

I'll be checking in here and sharing brief reviews weekly, as much as I can. 

Care to join in?

Thanks to my friend Amy at A Call to Adventure, where I first found out about the challenge. If she hadn't posted about it, I don't think I would have felt so inspired to join.

I'm going to try these two books for this week and next: 

Discover Nature in Winter: Things to Know and Things to Do (Discover Nature , No 6)

The Best American Essays 2009

  

Linger ~ Believe ~ Change

For the first time in several years, I want to linger in this Christmas season. 

It's been full of His light and presence, even in the midst of a long personal season I just can't wrap my understanding around.

 

He's told me, lovingly, to not try to understand, to stop trying to make sense of it, and to quit trying to figure it all out. 

But just be in Him. Total surrender. I like what Graham Cooke says, "My security is in Him, not in what He is doing." When you're waiting, and waiting, and waiting for Him to do something, something only He can do, it's essential to give yourself to that. To give yourself again to Him.

I'm in this place and He is here. I'm in His presence. And in His presence is fullness and joy. 

And lightheartedness. 

I can stand in this place. I can linger here. I like who I'm becoming. It's so worth the process.

While I'm here, I'm alert. I'm watching and listening. 

Change is coming. I'll soon be stepping into something new. He's prepared me for it. But for now, I'm here, in this place. It's the right place for me.

   

 

Coming to a Close: Ambleside Years 3 & 6

Ambleside Year 7 books 

We're winding down our Ambleside Year 3 and Ambleside Year 6 studies. We have about four weeks left. I have all the books we need to continue on to Ambleside Year 4 and Ambleside Year 7 but I'm hesitating.

Ambleside Year 7 seems like a stretch for Maggie right now. She's definitely got the reading ability, but I think she's a little on the young side (newish 12) for some of the literature content as well as pace and depth of the reading schedule. An alternative to following Year 7 and tweaking it for ourselves would be Year 7 Lite. If it seems too "lite" we could always add in books and beef up the reading schedule.

The great thing is that Maggie is eager to learn about that time in history--800 to 1400s. That'll be what drives our decision. How we do it is another thing.

As for Ambleside Year 4 and my nine- and seven-year-olds (oh, and the ever-present, always listening five-year-old): I absolutely adore American history, and cringed at times at the dryness (e.g., This Country of Ours) of some of the Year 4 books. Several years ago, after completing much of Year 4 with Maggie, then nine, I had the feeling we were eating too many unappetizing vegetables because they were supposed to be good for us, rather than consuming food which delighted as well as nourished.

We switched to Sonlight Core 4 and had a blast. There we discovered laughter, joy, and fun while learning about American history (you must read By the Great Horn Spoon if you haven't yet), though I must say some of the books were a little too fluffy. Nevermind those, though, because every curriculum/reading list must be altered to fit the needs of our home education.

And so, I'm perched at the edge of Ambleside Year 4, wondering if I should try to take the best of that year, and the best of Sonlight Core 4, and thoroughly immerse ourselves until late spring of 2011. It would take that long, especially since the two learners (well, three) are very interested in hands-on, make-history-come-alive projects and we would be traveling through more than 200 years of rich, exciting American history.

So I must pray, think, read, and listen. The way will become clear.