Easter Lilies by Brenna

Have you ever gone to church on Easter morning?  When you push open the front door and step into the vestibule, your nose experiences a slight tingling.  Then, as you open the door to the church, you're hit with the entire smell, the smell of Easter lilies.  They have been in the church since yesterday, and that has given the smell more time to spread and take over the building.  The smell is like dawn on a cool crisp morning.  It is like heaven in all its glory.   It is the smell of spring condensed into a single flower.  it is like all those lovely pastel colors come to life.  It's like pretty dresses swirling on happy girls through dewy grass.  It is the smell of life and the smell of pure, unspoiled joy. 

An Interview With Jonathan Cooper, by Megan

Jonathan Cooper was born in the year 2001 in the State of Illinois.  He has six siblings, a mother and a father.  They are currently living in the State of Kentucky.  Jonathan's father and mother both come from New Jersey, to Colorado, Germany, Illinois, Georgia, and, finally, Kentucky, where they're planning to stay.  Jonathan grew up surrounded by sisters.  When Jonathan was seven, on their last move, Jonathan's mother had a baby boy, finally.  The most important part of Jonathan's life, to him, is training for Ninjitsu, because he desperately wants to be a ninja when he grows up.  Personally, I think being a ninja would be cool, especially when that ninja happens to be your brother.

IF I CAME ACROSS A LARGE SUM OF MONEY by Megan

If I came across a large sum of money, first, I would buy tiaras for everyone. Then I would buy my dream horse and tack so I could ride him. After that, I would buy a new tractor for Daddy. Then I’d take my family and go to the theater. Mama and I could go see Pony Penning Day on Chincoteague island the last Thursday in July. Then I would rent a boat, sail into the ocean, and ride a harmless whale shark. Or maybe I could ride a dolphin. When I was done with that, I would buy a huge yacht and fill it up with family and friends. Then we would all go on a cruise. When all that is over, I’d put all the rest of the money in the bank for college when I’m older.

What I Would Do If I Suddenly Fell Into a Fortune by Delaney

The practical side of my mind would save it for college, but that wouldn’t make a very interesting essay now would it? So on the impractical side I would…

Rent out a carnival, and have them set up on our 14 acres of land. Then I would invite anyone who wanted to have some fun. We would ride on rides all week. We wouldn’t have to worry about dinner since we could eat very unhealthily on fair food: hot dogs, cotton candy, funnel cakes and chicken-on-a- stick. After a week though we would all be sick to our stomachs, so we would eat salads for the next month or two.

Then once we recovered our health, I would buy a few tons of ice cream, and make the world’s BIGGEST ice cream sundae with extra cherries. I wouldn’t want to eat it all at once, so I would build a huge freezer for it. I would be famous for it and I would go down in history as ‘The Girl Who Ate Way Too Much Sugar’.

Next I would buy an elephant. I’ve always wanted a pet elephant, haven’t you? I would ride it to church and the grocery store. Little kids would laugh and I would give them all rides.

And the last thing I would do with my money, before I gave the rest away to charity, is buy a three masted ship. I would hire a crew and sail the high seas forever. Every night, I would turn my ship westward into the sunset, with the wind blowing my hair. I would smile, my hands resting comfortably on my wheel.  I would sail forever and ever in complete freedom and happiness.

The Thing I Least Like About Spring by Delaney

Before I start complaining, I want to say that spring is my most favorite season.  I had quite a lot of problems trying to think of something I do not like.  After all, in spring, the flowers bloom, and the grass hasn't been cut yet, so the ends are still pointed and fun to walk barefoot on.  The birds have come back, and their lovely songs are the first thing I hear in the morning and the last thing I hear before I fall asleep and dream of running through pleasant meadows filled with wild flowers.  Best of all, in the spring, our farm animals have their babies, and there is nothing cuter than a baby chick, except for baby bunnies!  The baby calves are born, too, and then there is the job of bottle feeding them, which everybody wants to do, so it is a race to see who gets to feed next.

I have come to the conclusion that the thing I like the least would have to be all the pollen.  Pollen makes my nose runny and that is not fun.  Also, it sparks my contact allergies to be allergic to everything: animals, plants, soap, and even bubbles.  The rest of the year, it's just cats and new detergents, which is much more bearable than being allergic to all of Mother Earth.  Lucky for me, though, the allergies fade in a couple of weeks.  In the meantime, does anyone have a hankie? 

Brenna's Wish

I never had a consistent wish; I did have a dream, though.  I dreamed I had a horse, a beautiful, tall, brown horse.  I rode him and we went all over the place together.  He would pop up in the middle of a nightmare and carry me to safety and good dreams.  I saw him often, and it made me want a horse along with my sister, Megan.

Meggie was crazy over horses, and I learned why.  Playing horse became a favorite game.  Maybe that's why Mama got all four of us horse sticks.  When I first saw mine, I was delighted.  It was brown with a white diamond on his forehead, just like my dream horse!  I named him Jackie.

Years flew by, and we moved twice.  I hardly ever dreamed of Jackie, but when I did, he faithfully led me to a good dream.

One day, we went to the feed store and the owner told us we could pet the horses around back.  I went from stall to stall in the big barn, petting each horse by turn.  Suddenly, I saw him.  A tall brown horse stood across the barn.  When I reached his stall, I saw the white star on his forehead.  I stood there, petting his head, when Delaney said, "His name is Jack," pointing to the horse I was petting.  I couldn't believe it, but the horse did.  He pushed his head into my hand and gently whinnied.  I believe he wanted to go for a ride, a ride to pleasant places full of good dreams.

My Wish, by Megan

Every time I have a chance, I wish for a horse.  He is midnight black, with a white diamond on his forehead.  He has a black mane and tail that wave in the wind when he runs.  Together, me and him could soar across the field.  But I can not tell his name because I have not seen the gleam in his eyes, nor have I felt his strong, powerful body, or seen his mane wave in the wind.

I have wished for a horse since i was five years old.  Someday, maybe my horse will come prancing out of my thoughts and into the real world, where I can treasure him as my very own.

My Wish by Rosie

I wish to be a fairy because I could make other wishes come true.

Bonus: My Favorite Zoo Animal

My favorite zoo animal is the gorilla because they are fun and one is one of my best friends.

(Yup, Rosie has a gorilla friend at the zoo!)

My Wish by Delaney

My wish is to go back in time. I would go back first to medieval times to visit King Arthur.  While I was there I would wear a long ball gown and go dancing with handsome knights. Then I would time travel to the battle of Troy. While I was there I would talk to Achilles and tell him that I don’t think he was very brave, and that he might change his mind about killing Hector because he really is a nice person. Then I would say, “Good bye!” and go visit people in the great depression. I would tell them it will be okay and that things will straighten out eventually. Then I would come right back home and find out that the things I said changed history in a bad way because now all the books would say that Hector and Achilles became friends after all and didn’t fight. That would be no good because then Odysseus couldn’t have his adventures. So I guess it would be fun to see those things but in the end it would mess up history. That’s probably why they haven’t made a time travel machine yet. :-)

A Princess, A Fish, and a Safety Pin by Megan

Once upon a time there was a princess named Roset. She was a lovely princess and every prince wanted to marry her, but Roset wanted to marry a peasant boy named Peter. He was strong and handsome.  Every peasant girl wanted to marry him, but Peter wanted to marry Roset.

Well, the King wouldn’t have it, he said Roset had to marry a prince, not a peasant. Roset was very sad, so she went to the lake behind the castle. She sat on a log and cried, when something from the water said, "What’s up?"

Roset looked into the water and saw a fish. "Well," she said, "I want to marry a peasant, but the King won’t let me."

"Hmmm," said the fish. "Why don’t you tell the King you promised the peasant you would marry him? Kings don’t break promises."

Roset said, "But I have to have an engagement ring."

"Yes, you do," said the fish. "Well, go ask the peasant for a ring, then go tell the King."

So Roset left the fish and went to Peter’s house. "Peter," she said, "we want to get married but the King won’t let us. If you give me an engagement ring and I tell the King that I promised I would marry you and I show him the ring, then he will have to let us marry."

"Yes," said Peter. "Only I don’t have a ring."

"Oh," said Roset.

"Wait!" shouted  Peter. "I have a safety pin."  He reached into his pocket and pulled it out.

"That will work. Thank you," said Roset, taking it. "Good bye, Peter."

 Roset ran onto the throne room. "Father!" she said. "You have to let me marry Peter because I promised him I would."

"Oh, you naughty girl," said the King. "But," he said, "you don’t have a ring."

"No," admitted Roset. "He didn’t have one, so he gave me a safety pin instead."

"Fine," said the King.

So Roset and Peter were married as soon as possible and they all lived happily ever after. (Meanwhile, the King was pouring out his troubles to the poor fish in the lake.)                                                                                                                                                                                                                                             

The Person I Admire, by Megan

The person I admire is my oldest sister Brenna. She is sweet, beautiful, loving, generous and  graceful. She loves to read books too. But the reason I admire her is because Brenna is understanding of people's feelings.  And for the most part she is confident and always reassuring.  In a bad situation, Brenna usually knows what to do. So that is why I admire Brenna.

The Person I Admire Most in My Family, by Delaney

The person I admire the most in my family is my big sister Brenna. Brenna is shy and quiet, but she has a big heart. If someone is being teased, Brenna is the first to stop it. Brenna loves everyone, and every animal.  She is very good with the farm animals. They all love her because she loves them. Once she found a baby kitten.  It was too small to survive on its own without its mom. We all knew the sad truth: the baby was not going to make it. Brenna sat with it. She even warmed milk and fed it with a medicine dropper. Brenna is trustworthy. I can tell her things I can’t tell anyone else. I know she won’t tease or tell; it’s just between me and her. Brenna is creative. She thinks of the most amazing patterns I wouldn’t have dreamed of. That’s why I admire Brenna.

The Person I Look Up to Admire, by Brenna

The person I look up to and admire the most, after my mother, is my sister Delaney. Even though she’s two years younger than me, she’s my best friend in the whole world. If she’s ever scared, she rarely lets it show. She always has something to say, and even if it’s stupid, she’s not afraid to say it. She can talk to anyone about anything, and because of this everyone wants to be her friend.
 

She went over to a lady’s house recently to babysit her daughter. I missed her the whole time she was gone and could barely wait till she came home. I admire her for going, and while I could have done it too, I could not have done it as casually and as smoothly as she did.

 

Often times if I’m scared to do something, Mother will send her with me. Of this, I’m always glad.

My Favorite Memory With Daddy, by Megan, age 12

My favorite memory with Daddy happened a little before Christmas last year.  It was cold outside and overcast.  Me, Rosie and Daddy were in the garage installing a gas meter.  (At least, I think that is what it was.)  The TV was on so Rosie was slightly distracted.  I was leaning over the tractor with Daddy trying to figure out what was blocking the meter's way.  It was the closest to Daddy I had felt in a long time.

Some of My Favorite Memories with My Dad, by Delaney, age 13

My favorite memories with Daddy must have been in Illinois.  Back then, he was recruiting, his new job in the Army.  He worked long hours.  He would be gone by the time I woke up and come home while I was already asleep in bed.  He worked six days a week.  We only saw him on Sundays, and these are my favorite memories.

I was just about five when I realized I could see Daddy every day!  My plan was this: if I got out of bed early, I could maybe, just possibly, catch him before he left.  I tried it and it worked!  I taught myself just when to wake up so I could see him.  My drill was to throw on clothes, then to race downstairs quietly so as not to wake anyone else up.  When I got downstairs, I would sit on his lap and eat his his fresh out of the bread machine bread covered in blackberry jam.  Maybe that's why it's my favorite?  I would then walk out to his car with him and stand there until I couldn't see it anymore.  That's favorite memory #1.

On some rare Sundays, he would collect the ones of us who were awake and take us to Duncan Doughnuts.  We would walk in and be flooded by the smell of coffee and doughnuts, one of my favorite smells.  Then we would stand at the case and gaze for a very long time at all the different doughnuts.  Everyone else would pick theirs quickly, but not me.  I stood a long, long time, and Daddy would just say, "Take your time."  That's favorite memory #2.

One very snowy winter, he tried to take us up the big hill next to our house to go sledding.  It was fun walking up the hill in his footsteps.  When we got there, it turned out me and Brenna couldn't steer or get the sled going, so he sat behind us on our little sled and pushed off with his hands.  It turned out Daddy wasn't so good at steering, either.  We crashed at the bottom of the hill on a playground.  Ouch!  Oh, well.  Time for hot chocolate!  Favorite memory #3.

These are just a few of my favorite memories and I know there are more to come, but strangely enough, the little memories are my favorites - not the time we went to Florida, but the times we built sand castles in our back yard.

My Favorite Memory of Daddy by Brenna, age 15

When we lived in Illinois and Daddy was a recruiter, we only saw him on Sundays, but those Sundays stand out in my mind as wonderful.

The night before, Mama would tell us if Daddy was going to get doughnuts or not.  If he was, me and Delaney would get up as early as we could to go with him.  It always seemed like the middle of the night to me, but I'm sure it wasn't.  I can remember holding his hand as we picked our doughnuts out.  We always got some with filling inside and some with sprinkles on top.

After breakfast, we'd go to church.  The church seemed more like a huge cathedral to me, but taking into account how short I was, I think it was just a nice church.  All through Mass, I'd sit next to or on top of Daddy.  The best part of Mass was the Consecration.  Daddy was kneeling and I was kneeling between his legs.  He was warm and close and I felt very safe under there.  I folded my hands just like his and he folded his over mine.  When the priest held the host up and said, "Do this in memory of me," Daddy would bend his head down and whisper the words along with the priest.  Every Mass, I hear in my head yet again Daddy whispering in my ear the same words as the priest.  Even though our current parish has no bells, I hear them pealing in time with Daddy's voice.

After Mass, we returned home and spent a whole day with Daddy.  Sometimes, we watched the Olympic ice skaters on television while Daddy flipped through a newspaper.  I remember sliding around the living room on those papers, imitating the skaters. 

For a while, Daddy was building model boats.  It made him a little snappish and no wonder.  They were delicate little things and we were always sticking our fingers in them.  Mommy had to explain to us several times that they were looking-at boats, not play-with boats.  He nailed some parts with tiny tacks and crazy glued others.  I somehow got a little on my thumb and was deeply disturbed that it didn't peel off like Elmer's glue.  I also thought it odd that I could not feel anything on that one spot.

After dinner and bath time, we waited with barely supressed excitement for Daddy to come up.  There was a hammock on the far wall that no one could reach.  It was stuffed full of stuffed animals, and every Sunday, Daddy would lift us up to get one.  Mommy quickly installed the trading rule.  To get an animal, you had to give an animal.

The day ended with four happy children being tucked in by a much loved father.

My Favorite Memory of Daddy by Rosie, age 7

My favorite memory of Daddy is when he taught me how to drive but I sat in his lap because I couldn't reach the pedals.

My Favorite Memory of Daddy by Jonathan, age 10

My favorite memory was in Georgia.  When it got rainy, me and Daddy would sit in the garage and watch the rain.  He would drink beer and I would drink juice and pretend it was beer.  And then we would talk.

Accountability, And Day One of Being Accountable

My little, neglected, schoolish blog, resurrected on this, the Feast of Christ of the King. I need a place to write down what we've done with our day, and I need to be accountable to using the days wisely, so here we are. No need to comment on anything, though in the spirit of accountability, I don't mind. :-)

I was buying books for the kids for Christmas, and I generally use to occasion of book buying for someone else to pick up a little something that's been sitting in my cart. As I rummaged through several pages of saved titles, I found The Complete Children's Liturgy Book, by Katie Thompson, and Children Discover the Mass, by Mary Doerfler Dall. I don't know where I found them originally. Perhaps Elizabeth's blog? I seem to remember a post from way back when. :-) Anyway, they are wonderful, with simple color, cut and glue activities. The children had a wonderful time at our first "Sunday School", which is on Saturday, in preparation for Sunday. It did take much longer than I expected, though, about 1.5 hours.



Thanks for keeping me company.

Faithful Patriots

When I first started homeschooling, I used Sonlight Curriculum. I loved all the books and all the different cultures studied. After all, like they said, America isn't the only country in this world; why spend so many years studying American History? This probably makes sense, as they market mostly to the expatriate crowd. Still, I gave it up after a couple of years. I told myself it was because of the Instuctor's Guides and the religion courses. (I don't think a person can call himself Christian and still manage to be anti-Catholic. That's hatred, which was not on Jesus' to-do list. But I digress.)

A few weeks ago, I was sitting in church, waiting for Mass to start. Before me, side by side, stood the American flag and the Pope's flag. I contemplated that for a few minutes, then I realized that's what I want for my kids. I want to be raising faithful, God-loving patriots. I want them to believe that they live in the greatest nation on earth. I want them to know the stories and legends of our heroes. I want them to know where they came from so they can influence where we're going. I want them to love their flag and the republic it represents. I want them to know the men and women who loved this country enough to give their lives for it.

May these early years breed in my children a love of God and a love of country. There is time later for looking at the world through another's eyes.

First Day Jitters

We are starting school today, but it isn't going to be pretty. The house isn't neat, let alone clean, there isn't anything that you might call a schedule, and we don't even have all of our materials yet. But we are starting school today anyway.

I'm leaning quite a bit this year toward workbooks. Being in the first trimester throes of nausea and exhaustion, and expecting, at the end of the third trimester, to have an infant to tend to, I thought I'd make this year as easy on myself as possible. Plus, the girls LOVE workbooks. So, they will have spelling, math, handwriting, art, and religion books that they can deal with mostly on their own. Not bad, especially since art and spelling have been somewhat neglected anyway. That frees me up to spend more time with the little learners, who don't have enough skills for independent learning yet, and for the fun stuff, like history and science.

As far as the schedule go, I think I'll print out a Managers of Their Homes style schedule, laminate it, and use wet-erase markers to schedule in stuff like piano sharing. Changes are easily made, the kids will be able to help with their schedules, and we'll have a bit of order to our school days. Of course, there is a fine line between order and spontaneity. The balance must be preserved.

First Sewing Lesson

 The girls learned how to sew a basic running stitch, using gingham check fabric as a guide.
 They spent over an hour sewing rows and rows of neat little stitches.
 Brenna even advanced to adding a backstitch in the spaces.
 Jonny learned how to sew knots.