New York State of Mind...

In my life this week… pack.unpack.repeat. And, a big thank you to Tracey at Little Bitty Design Studio for the beautiful new fall themed blog header, buttons and sidebars. Aren't they pretty?
 
Helpful Homeschooling Tips or Advice to Share...Children's language skills, both expressive (speaking) and receptive (understanding) develop from their play skills. Little ones need lots of play time; not lots of table/worksheet time.

Places we’re going and people we’re seeing… Mr. Darcy and I had a wonderful time in New York City.  We stayed at the Waldorf-Astoria and took in a Broadway Show and a carriage ride through Central Park. I will be sharing all about it on my travel/language blog next Tuesday. Next we are headed to CA; our eldest daughter has a Feis (an Irish dancing competition-- pronounced "fesh").

My favorite thing this week was… going to Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral in NYC. We also went to the Neil Diamond concert this week. Mr. Darcy and I saw him  in concert the first time 10 years ago. This month is the 40th Anniversary of Hot August Nights, for those of you who have that 8track tape CD... Time flies.

Things I’m working on… I'm still working on my History Masters Degree. I only have one class this semester, The French Revolution, but it is already keeping me busy. I have two papers due by Sept. 8th. I was saying to Mr. Darcy "you know you are in graduate school again when you are no longer bothered by long layovers because you can use them to study".

I’m inspired by... We've gotten out the the Halloween and fall themed cooking and craft books and been picking out the projects and recipes we want to do for the upcoming fall Holidays.

 

I’m praying for...safe travels for everyone this Labor Day Weekend, a successful and prayerful homeschool year, and for God to help me to have a gentler spirit as I go through the daily task of teaching my children.  

 

A photo, video, link, or quote to share… here's a few...

 

New York...St. Patrick's Cathedral

 

Central Park Carriage Ride...

 

 

 Our horse's name was Duke...Mr. Darcy feeding him his carrots...

 

 

Me, headed to the Neil Diamond concert. Mr. Darcy calls this my "Charlie's Angels Outfit". LOL.

Have a safe Labor Day Weekend, Everyone! Don't forget our new Music Monday series starts this coming Monday, September 3rd! This post is hooked up to the Homeschool Mother's Journal Series LinkUp hosted at IhomeschoolNetwork.

Brighton Park Barnyard: To goat or not to goat

Two years ago, we decided to get two little goats, those super cute little Nigerian dwarf  goats. We got a boy and a girl and they arrived around my birthday that fall. We named them Lizzy and Darcy (what else, right?) They were great; there was just one problem...

 

                          Lizzy, left and Darcy, right, sunning themselves on our back porch...

 

Lizzy was an escape artist extraordinaire. And while even when she escaped out her pen, she was contained safely to the fenced in sideyard, perfectly safe to nibble on well, everything, and play...this led to a different, far worse problem...

 

Darcy was a crybaby.

 

Every time Lizzy would escape, he would cry for her. Not a cute little baby goat cry,oh no... it was an "I'm so desperate for you I am going to die if we aren't together immediately sounding like a stuck walrus cry".

 

So we redid their pen so she couldn't escape anymore.

 

And she immediately did.

 

So we redid the pen again. Stronger, higher, taller, no way she can get out. NO. WAY.

 

But she did.

 

and the stuck walrus cries continued...daily. (Darcy was nothing if not romantic and insistent in his longing for her).

 

 

Lizzy as a baby; apparently a face that Darcy could not go  even

5 minutes without being near...

 

We live on a gorgeous one acre homestead amidst other horse properties and animal lovers and no one near our vicinity ever complained about the bleating cries of Darcy that some mornings started before 5am. But we wanted to be good neighbors so the lovely lady we got them from took them back and re-homed them... and in our defense, the lady who sold them to us,  told us she had never in her life heard a goat WAIL like Darcy did!  But, this story has a happy ending...I am told a lovely woman and her husband who had 7 acres took them and since she has no other homes within a mile of her, she doesn't mind the escaping and the crying and the goats are happy and Voila! happy ending...for them.

 

Except... we miss having goats. and the really funny part? About 2 months after we rehomed them, when we went delivering homemade Christmas goodies that year to the neighbors, our closest neighbor lamented that she missed hearing the goats! Really missed them. Where were they? Could we get some more?

 

Well...Didn't see that coming. LOL.

 

My eldest daughter and I, the day we picked out Darcy and Lizzy...

 

 

 Darcy...seriously, the cutest, if not the loudest ever, little goat...

 

I love making soap and really wanted to have goats milk for my hobby. And Mr. Darcy wants to make cheese, and the kids just L-O-V-E-D giving the little devils their treats each day and helping with their care. (Although even my daughter who was 6 at the time said she did not miss the 5am stuck walrus sounding crying...).

 

Well, my husband came home this week to report... One of his clients needs to rehome two of her goats. Different breed. More docile. Quiet, (she says). Do we want them?  We know this time around we would have to be race-ready with a better, higher, stronger, structure at the get go (the old adage is, if it won't hold water, it won't hold a goat). She thinks our homestead would be "just perfect" for them. Mr. Darcy thinks we should give them another go...

 

Here are the lessons we learned our first time around:

 

1. Goats require a pen that is bigger, stronger, taller, better than the pen you are thinking of in your mind. For our next foray into goat-keeping, we need to be prepared with stronger, taller, fencing.

2.Goats CAN be noisy. Keep this in mind if you have neighbors.

3. Goats kept for milk need milked daily. If you travel alot or have a busy lifestyle outside of homesteading, milk goats may not be for you. Or... you need reliable animal care that can perform what they need when you are away (we are lucky to have a wonderful animal loving friend who takes care of our animals when travels take us away from our homestead).

4. Goats are a great homesteading activity for kids to help with.

5. We have missed having them on our homestead, even if we haven't missed the crying.

 

Have you ever kept goats? What was your experience?

 

One last thing, I am a new contributing blogger for a great community blog of farm gals...Farm Chick Chit Chat. Please follow me over there by clicking HERE and check out the posts from the other great contributors! All kinds of awesome homesteading/farm related posts all in one place. You are going to love it! 

 

 

 

I'm off to New York City for a few days; I look forward to reading your comments when I get back!

Not back to school Photos 2012

My husband has been after me to take Brooke for her two year old pictures (Brooke turned 2 in May), and it is time to get family pictures done again too. Have I mentioned that as much as I love love love the photos once done, I look forward to family picture day about as much as I look forward to root canal work?

So, in the meantime, here are the photos I took this past Monday for our first day of back to school for this new school year.

The twins, Sean and Tim, age 12, grade 7

Sean

Timothy

Audrey, age 8, grade 3

Charlotte, age 5, grade K/1

Brooke, age 2, my supervisor...

This post is hooked up with ihomeschoolnetwork.com .  Wishing everyone a great school year . Make some magic :-)

Waldorf Wednesdays: First Family Camping Trip

You know those things you do as a child and you can't wait to do with your own family one day? There is such a satisfaction in embracing those simple joys, not sweating the small stuff that happens, and allowing the joy of the moment to make memories that will last a lifetime...

I grew up camping; spending most of my summers camping with my family. A child in the seventies,  being outside dawn to dusk defined my childhood. My husband, Mr. Darcy, is an Eagle Scout and an experienced camper and outdoorsman in his own right.  We have been anxiously awaiting our first family camping trip with our 5 children, who include twin boys (age 12) with severe special needs, and three little girls ages 8, 5 and 2.

Day One:

From This...

To This...in 40 minutes...Mr. Darcy and I make a good team.

Oak Creek Canyon in Arizona is one of the most gorgeous camping areas in the United States. We reserved our spot a few months ago, so we were able to have a private campsite with our own access down to the Oak Creek. Mr. Darcy outdid himself...it was positively perfect!

Blackberries are in season, so we were greeted with...

 

Funny, Bears were not part of my childhood memories of camping with my family...I'm happy to report that we did not site any black bears this trip, though we did have a herd of Elk run about 20 yards from our camp the first night. And the day we checked out, a lovely elderly camp attendant who was off the day we checked in,  informed us that it was our actual campsite where bear scat had been found a few days before. I think I'm glad I didn't have that information beforehand.

 

The first night we had a great dinner compliments of Mr. Darcy...actually we had amazing food the entire trip; my husband has mad campfire cooking skills! We had fajitas, campfire popcorn, toast and hot tea (for me!) for breakfast one chilly morning, roasting hotdogs, campfire grill packets of chicken, peppers, onions, and mushrooms (that Mr. Darcy stayed up late the night before our trip prepping so I wouldn't have to cook on this holiday...my hero) and of course...the best Smores ever...

 

 

Small stuff not sweated:

 

*I forgot to pack ANY extra socks for Mr. Darcy (sorry honey!)

*It rained our second day there but gave us a great excuse to play games inside the tent (I had packed UNO and the dice game, Feed the Kitty), and to tell stories and answer questions round-robin style as a family (what is your favorite color, what is your favorite holiday and why? etc.)

*Tent camping is more comfortable sleeping-wise when you are a child and not a 40 yr old person used to a mattress.

*The rain made things a tad muddy...but puddle jumping helped the kids keep shoes cleaner, if not drier...

*Two different people inquired why my kids were not in school when it was definitely not a holiday. "WHY thank you Random Strangers for being concerned nosy about my childrens' truancy...

*Brooke, our busy 2 year old, hardly sleeping at all the first night...which made for really tired Mom and Dad the next day...

 

 

 

 

 

Memories made:

 

*Roasting hotdogs

*Sitting around the fire

*hiking

*creek-walking

*site seeing around Sedona (Snoopy Rock was the kids favorite)

*Playing

*Animal spotting (elk, woodpeckers, blue-jays, to name a few)

*Waking up to discover little paw prints all over the table cloth which we assumed were raccoons but were informed our last day that it was probably skunks looking for snacks and then being told that more than one camper a season is surprised by a curious skunk working their way into their tent. Can I just say so happy that was no us ;-)

*Popping jiffy pop on the campfire

*Making Smores

*Me and Mr. Darcy racing to get a 10 person tent up before an impending shower with what had to be the worse "included" directions ever printed.

*Mr. Darcy cooking all the meals (well, a lovely memory for me and the food was great!)

 

Our first family camping trip was a success. It wasn't perfect, but it was wonderful. There is something cathartic about being in nature without technology that is good for the head, heart, hands and soul.

 

Here's a few last pictures to share...Have you ever done a family camping trip?

 

p.s. that's snoopy rock, upper left hand corner...



To read more Waldorf Wednesday posts click here... This post is linked up to:

Tour the Brighton Park Homeschool...

Our homeschool has went through many changes since we started 5 years ago. Changes in curriculum, schedule, but especially where we do school. When we started, we schooled at the kitchen table, but since moving into this house in 2010 which thankfully has a full finished basement (basement levels are a good 10-15 degrees cooler year round here in Arizona!), we converted our basement into a lovely homeschool space. It is divided into sections, based on function, in order to stay an organized space while being used by 5 kids, ages 2-12, every day...

Two puffy chairs in front of the bookcases provide a great place to cozy up with a book, or two or three... a lap desk doubles as a small table between.  The bookcases are divided into the kids bookcase (left), Mine and Mr. Darcy's books (center bookcase) and homeschool books (right). 

Homeschool books are all in labeled sections to help me find things easier, especially each year as our collection of school books grows...

A table sits at the ready  on the opposite side of the room for "serious" work, and also serves as a great space for crafting and for Tim (my one son with special needs) to do puzzles in the afternoons (his favorite activity).

Magazine Holders and Bins on counters organize individual kids school books and decks of learning cards...

This is also how I organize all my speech pathology materials...






The boys bedroom and a bathroom also are on this lower level. A second table and chairs are located in the boys room, giving a great place for them to work without distraction on school work or with their therapists on therapy days...

The kitchen play area keeps my two year old busy while I am schooling the older kids...

 

This cabinet makes a great space for holding all the girls fake food and kitchen paraphernalia...

Above it, hangs a clock, some favorite signs and a large wooden basket that holds faerie toys...

We use these baskets for storage in multiple areas. They are more aesthetically pleasing than plastic bins and easier to tote around by little hands...This one holds a vet kit and stuffed puppies (two puppies were having "check ups" when I snapped this photo)...

A hideout separates the space between the work table and the reading area. It's a great place for hide and seek, quiet time, creative play and other things...

Most people ask if the toys in the homeschool area distract the kids from learning.. No.  The table area is left very minimalist and on the opposite side so that learning is not in competition with toys in that area. The play areas in that space enable the other kids, who aren't at the table at a particular time to be able to choose quiet play activities or reading time. Play is very important for children to learn...in enables them to progress their speech/language skills, social skills, and the ability to entertain themselves when that is required.

What do I like about my homeschool space? THE SPACE! Over 1,000 square feet which really comes in handy during our hot summers when going outside is not an option. I also love the myriad of cabinets and closets I have for storage (4 closets and 4 sets of double closets on opposite walls).

I also love that, even though it is a basement area, there are 4 large windows that let in a bunch of natural light. It is a bright, open space.

What am I still working on? We continue to go through and give away plastic toys as they are replaced with toys of more natural materials.

What do you love about your homeschool space? What would you love to change? 

This post is linked up to the not back to school blog hop. Hop over and check out 300 other homeschool rooms that are linked up this week!


Have a great week!  

 

Baking Memories...

My two eldest girls (Audrey, 8 and Charlotte, 5) and I made cookies this week. We discussed fractions (via tsps and cups) and geography (where is Madagascar where the vanilla comes from)...

My eldest, age 8, read the directions for us. They took turns adding ingredients and using the mixer...

 I remind myself that I need to enjoy these moments with the kids. The years are fleeting and childhood is but a visitor in our journey of parenthood~~ That we are making memories more than baked goods and these are the days that the girls will remember...

And the days that I will remember too.

Have a blessed Sunday with your families...