Three Plus Two

Just Popping In

I have a number of posts I'm working on right now -- ordering seeds, ancient India, weeks 3 and 4, a book review of The Writing Diet by Julia Cameron, a library day post -- but I don't think any of them are going to be finished in a hurry.  So I just thought I'd pop on and let everyone who is not following me on Twitter know that I am still alive -- barely -- just without enough time to make posts longer than 140 characters on will our van make it out of the driveway or not.  Even natives have pronounced this a bad winter, and what that means for me is that I am stuck inside with a toddler and two three year olds going batty because they can't go outside.  Actually, I think that's a pretty good definition of "going batty" for grownups -- being stuck inside with a toddler and two three year olds who are unable to burn off enough energy to behave like human beings -- as opposed to, you know, monkeys or boys shipwrecked on an island for whom civilization has totally broken down.

Ahem.

Anyway, it looks like we're in for another big snow this week, so I doubt the situation is going to change any time soon... unless we move to Florida, which is unlikely although I keep threatening to pick up and go every time I have to wrestle three small children into snow suits and snow boots just to go to the doctor's office.  (Also, every time Chipmunk picks the snow off my boots and starts eating it, particularly when I've just been to the chicken coop.  And when the big kids get into a snowball fight and a certain child hits another child in the face with a plastic sled because that child has been "complaining too much", and "I didn't *mean* to hit him... *hard*." And when the twins start hurling Duplos like bombs.  Actually, I guess I threaten to move to Florida a lot.)

But - the sun is out today, and I did manage to get the big kids to their swimming lessons, even though there were no signs for the pool or where to go once we got there, which is so typically New York because you're just supposed to KNOW see, I mean who VOLUNTARILY moves here anyway? Hmph. Well, the kids did get to their lessons, and they did well, which was a relief, because the instructors had them jumping in the deep end on the first day and, well, my kids don't actually swim that well.  So you can bet I was saying a few Hail Mary's as I sat on the sidelines.  Our carefully thought out logistics worked very well today -- swimming lessons, library (I paid my massive fine and was removed from the most wanted list), violin lessons, stop at Rite-Aid, *cough* Arby's *cough*, home -- but Gareth actually needs to move up a level in swimming and they had too many kids in the beginner level so they're going to have to break them into two groups, so the times are going to be moved all around and now the violin lessons that we had to rearrange so Katydid could do swimming is still going to be in the wrong spot.  Getting kids to activities is turning out to be like one of those logic exercises on the GRE. ("If G needs to be at swimming at 11 and K has swimming at 10 and violin at 11:30 and the library is only open from 10-1 and Farmerboy wants to take swimming lessons, too, only his will be at 8 AM, what will the twins and Chipmunk be doing?"

There was at least one other mother there who was doing the same sort of logic exercises out loud to her children, though, so I felt better.

Another thing that deserves its own logic exercise: why were there 6 fish in the parking lot of the music store this morning? Not supermarket fish; I mean, real fish with fins and spines and eyeballs.  Right beside the running boards of my van.  Stepping in a fish would have been quite the surprise, but fortunately I managed to avoid it. (I shudder to think of Chipmunk eating the snow off my boots in that case, but I doubt moving to Florida would solve the problem of fish in parking lots.  The fish in Florida probably aren't frozen stiff, so I imagine they would stink.)

Books on my kitchen island

 

This is what my kitchen island looked like on New Year's Eve.  It did not look like this when I started this post, nor does it look like this now.  When I started this post there were a couple of bags of apples, a giant bag of oranges, a much taller stack of cookbooks, a Walkie-Talkie box, 2 empty plastic jugs, and two marshmellow sculptures on the island... among other things.  I cleaned it up again, so my husband had a place to put he took down in order to paint.  (You will notice the blue painter's tape on the walls.  The tape is now gone and a couple of coats have been applied to that particular wall and one and a half others.  The kitchen's been approximately 1/3 painted since New Year's Day.  Hopefully it will be finished by next New Year's Day.) So don't go getting any ideas that my kitchen island looks like this on a regular basis, because it doesn't... although I wish that it did and am continually working toward that goal.

Anyway, I thought I would start off my book tour with the books on my kitchen island.  I always have a stack of cookbooks on the island because the only other place to put books in the kitchen is on top of the cabinets.

   

I'm 5'2" on a good day.  If I have shoes on.  Keeping all my cookbooks on top of the cabinets is not convenient.  There is a skinny wall in the kitchen where we could put a bookcase... but in no way, shape, or form are most bookcases made to fit its quirky measurements.  Finally I've found a bookcase that will fit, but I haven't ordered it yet.  So the stack on the island remains for now.  And here's what's in that stack at this moment:

The 1997 Joy of Cooking -- A Christmas present from Andy several years ago, it sees almost daily use and has the stains and flour-dusted interior to prove it.  The binding is beginning to crack already. The recipes I use most often are for cobbler dough, pizza crust, pancakes, and crustless quiche. 

Simply In Season (World Community Cookbook) -- The leek and potato soup everyone loves uses the Potato Soup recipe from this cookbook as its base.  But possibly the reason the kids love the soup is because of the dumplings.

The Garden-Fresh Vegetable Cookbook -- I got this one down because I was looking for leek recipes. The leek and potato gratin is really good, although somewhat time consuming.  Also good -- the chocolate chip carrot cake.

Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant: Ethnic and Regional Recipes from the Cooks at the Legendary Restaurant (Cookery) -- The first cookbook I ever bought.  It was on a bargain table for $1.  I was 19 years old and had just moved into my first apartment.  My copy is well-loved.  In fact, I made a modified North African pizza recipe from this book for dinner last Sunday.  (Another favorite -- Hoppin' John. Chipmunk loves it.  Soy sauce is the secret, very non-traditional ingredient.)

The Vita-Mix owner's guide and cookbook

Home Cooking: A Writer in the Kitchen -- I love Laurie Colwin's books, but I cannot read them without remembering her untimely death.  And so, whenever I get her books down, generally to make gingerbread, I always end up having a moment of terrible sadness.  My copy of this book is spattered with generous amounts of molasses.

The Laurel's Kitchen Bread Book: A Guide to Whole-Grain Breadmaking -- Still haven't made anything from this one.  It's all very interesting, but somewhat intimidating.  Particularly for a non-planner.

Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day: The Discovery That Revolutionizes Home Baking -- Picked this one up with a Christmas gift card.  I made my first batch of dough last week, and I have to say -- it was really, really good.  Much less intimidating than Laurel's Kitchen, but also much less whole grain.  One day maybe I'll figure out this whole bread-baking thing.

I have more cookbooks, but that was what was in the current stack.  But!  I will hopefully be ordering that bookcase soon, and when I do -- actual dedicated shelves for cooking and gardening books!  In one convenient location! I will be a happy camper.

 

 

 

 

Week 2, Winter Term: Break for Blocks

We're having a bit of a problem getting back into a groove again.  While we made it through the holidays without getting sick, a couple of colds hit hard after New Year's.  Last week was a run-down sort of week.  Nobody had very much energy, although I doubt you would have thought that had you peeked in my windows and watched my little boys brandishing light sabers and chasing each other round and round the living room.  Anyway, here's a taste of what did happen around here last week.

 Some Montessorians out there just flinched.  Yes, those are pieces of the Pink Tower and the Brown Stair Chipmunk is loading into Andy's boots.  They are only some of the many things we find in our boots these days.  Chipmunk is a spatial kid, and there is nothing he likes more than testing open containers (or boots) for fit.  His next favorite activity is pushing chairs around so he can climb on them and loot the high shelves meant for the bigger kids.  Therefore, I have very little in the way of Montessori out on any shelves, and I've also had to scale back on our nature area. (He broke the Our Lady of Grace statue on the china cabinet this morning, so I have to find a new home for our religious display, too.)  I do, however, give Chipmunk some Montessori-ish activities to do in a very relaxed manner.  Some of the things he enjoys (other than loading up people's boots):

• putting craft sticks into containers with different sized necks, such as spice bottles and cornstarch containers
• matching lids to different containers
• pouring and spooning cheerios
• Duplos
• putting on and taking off play silks knotted into capes
• pushing carts, walkers, etc

In addition to normal toddler chaos, the twins gained access to one of my Montessori storage closets, which could have been Very Bad.  Fortunately I was right there and could set them up with the knobbed cylinders before they dragged every single thing out into the hallway.  (I would have the knobbed cylinders out, but I don't have anywhere to put them where Chipmunk won't leave pieces scattered all over the place... or attempt to choke himself on one of the small pieces.)  Chipmunk joined in with the knobbed cylinders (of a safe size) and did quite well:

 The twins were both able to do two blocks at once.  The challenge held their interest longer.

It was actually a fairly spatial week. Since nobody felt 100%, sitting down with blocks was a good way to pass the time, especially while I read. 

In this picture, Farmerboy is using Katamino to build 3-D structures, Katydid was making patterns using Pattern Play blocks, Pip and Pop were trading blocks and the Rush Hour game (they just like arranging the cars and trucks on the grid, but here's a neat online version, which is also very addictive), and Chipmunk was sorting fish and transportation counters... after a fashion.

And while we're focusing on Chipmunk for a change, he had another first this week:

 

His first hair cut!

Country Diary Daybook: We're missing a January thaw edition

I suppose I should explain here that I had to delete my Country Diary blog when I downgraded my typepad account. (In case you are one of the three people wondering where it went.)  But since I miss having it, I'm thinking about either folding the entries into Three Plus Two or starting a new Country Diary blog on Wordpress.

Today Is: January 22, 2009

Weather: It's winter, what can I say? High today: 22.  High tomorrow: 31. Then back into the twenties.  Tomorrow will be the warmest day of the whole month. No January thaw this year, I'm afraid.

Outside my window: At least 2 feet of snow on the ground with deeper drifts.  It's compacted and with a hard crust (mostly) so generally you're not sinking through two feet of snow, just the first 6 inches or less.  There's another crowd at the feeder today -- a jumble of pine siskins and goldfinches flitting to and fro so quickly that I can't count to see how many we have of which.  Right now my best estimate is 8 goldfinches, 4 pine siskins. Mix in a few chickadees, tufted titmice, and juncos, and that's my view.  Gray skies, as usual. 

I am thankful... for the birds, of course, who bring interest and liveliness to an otherwise bleak landscape.  For the amaryllis, which is now past its prime but with a couple of flowers that haven't wilted and browned yet.  For learning how to make coffee, which is keeping me awake in these dark winter days when Chipmunk has been up all night.

From the kitchen... Well.  I think I have to make something with eggs, because we're starting to back up again.  Somebody should tell these chickens that it's only January! I'm getting at least a dozen eggs every two days, often more.  It's nice.  I'm never out of eggs, and I've decreed Friday Pancake Night: either "brown" pancakes as Pip calls regular pancakes, or I make a big puff pancake (Dutch Baby) using about 15 of our eggs (because some of them are small). 

I am wearing... do you really want to know what I'm wearing? LOL Big brown sweater with a leaf pattern, denim skirt, tights, leggings, Birkenstocks, and my new reading glasses which Andy tells me look like Sarah Palin's.  But honestly, I did not mean to get glasses that look like Sarah Palin's.  If they do, which I am not convinced.

I am creating... not much, unless you count quarterly reports.  But now those are done, maybe I can remember what it was I was thinking at the beginning of the year.  I'm trying to regain my enthusiasm. 

From the learning room... we've been having good discussions about "actual sin" (as opposed to original), the kind of thought-provoking discussions that you put in the success! column when toting up the advantages and disadvantages of homeschooling.  Otherwise, things are a bit of a struggle, the way they often are this time of year, with gray days and illness and cabin fever.  I'm doing my midyear tweaking, trying to decide on a better way to document our activities, changing from Abeka language to Seton (at the request of the kids, who wanted a Catholic language book), preparing for standardized testing later in the year. 

I am hearing: Farmerboy playing Silly Songs with Larry. "The Hairbrush Song" just ended.

Around the House: You don't want to know about this either.  I get so incredibly frustrated with the clutter, but when I try to declutter, it seems like the stuff just hangs around in boxes for weeks and weeks (or months) because I don't get out much and our donation centers are few and far between.  So I am beginning to wonder whether it would be better for me NOT to declutter, which probably seems (and maybe is) counterintuitive.  On a more inspiring note, Andy is slowly painting the kitchen yellow, which suits me so much more than the bland white of the previous owners.

I am hoping... Right now I am just hoping we all make it to April.

A few plans for the rest of the week... I really, really need to sit down with my seed catalogs.  And a cup of tea or coffee. And a fire in the fire place that stays lit (eyeballing the stove which has died for the THIRD time today... sigh...)

A picture or two:

 
Writing down the seeds we already have, accomplished at the beginning of the month...

 

The leeks we dug out of the garden during the very brief thaw in late December... The little boys helped me give them "hair cuts" -- snipping off most of the roots with scissors.  Half the leeks are still in the ground.  We'd hoped to dig them during a January thaw, but this year we haven't had one.  Will they still be okay in February or March or April?  I guess we'll find out.  Next year we should probably dig them in November.  But it is so satisfying to eat fresh food from the garden in the middle of the winter.

 

Voila -- the leeks after they've been cleaned up a bit.  They make excellent leek and potato soup, and are also quite good in quiche.

What Boys Want to Draw

... when you ask them if they want to draw an amaryllis.

 

Me: You know this is a pink notebook, right?

Farmerboy: Just write "The Death Star."

Me: A pink Death Star?

The pink Death Star is now firmly entrenched in family folklore, and the only thing resembling the amaryllis.  Otherwise...

 

   

 

   

...this is just what boys do.

(Gareth drew all these droids for Pip, who then had a grand time coloring them all in.)

A Crowd at the Feeder

The thermometer is hovering at just about zero right now, but I think we're over the worst of this shot of cold.  We never got the really dangerous cold the Midwest had to deal with -- the 20 below stuff -- for which I am thankful, since our chickens are not bright enough to roost in their enclosed coop with a lamp on for heat.  Fortunately, they've seemed to do all right so far.

Yesterday, as I was feeding the chickens, I heard a call in the tree above me and looked up to see a smallish northern flicker eating the frozen crabapples.  That reminded me that since Katydid has been sick and it has been so cold, our feeders had not been refilled in a while.  So I waded through the big drifts at the back fence to refill the feeder we can see from the dining room window.  At lunch time we were rewarded with a flock of fifteen pine siskins. 

Of course we took pictures:

 

 

 

 

   

 

(Katydid took the last two pictures; all others taken by me.)

Which Early Church Father are you?

Bit of nerdy fun this morning ...

 

You’re St. Melito of Sardis! You have a great love of history and liturgy. You’re attached to the traditions of the ancients, yet you recognize that the old world — great as it was — is passing away. You are loyal to the customs of your family, though you do not hesitate to call family members to account for their sins. Find out which Church Father you are at The Way of the Fathers!

(HT: What Does the Prayer Really Say?)

Winter Nature Study: Amaryllis

The amaryllis I bought over the holidays is blooming now in all its splendor.  Outside it is subzero white; inside, four huge pink and green trumpets of spring. "Apple Blossom" is the variety, which I think I like better than the run-of-the-mill blazing red.  We now have two amaryllises (amaryllisi?), although one of them won't bloom for another few weeks due to the fact that we treated it badly and thought it had died.  But these bulbs are a lot tougher than I had thought.  After being left in a pot on a kitchen counter for months in a minimal amount of dirt -- and then unwatered when it started to green up -- our amaryllis from last year has recovered and is now sending up its own green leaves.

 

But the star of the show is definitely "Apple Blossom".  With a bunch of kids just sick enough to be cranky, irritable, and ornery, life has been a little... chaotic... this week, and yesterday particularly so.  In the midst of this, I resolved that I was going to spend some time contemplating the amaryllis even if no one else wanted to.  And so, in the midst of chaos, I undertook some quiet:

 

 

   

 

 

Well, I'm not much of an artist, but I think it may have turned out better than I originally thought.  Katydid, delighted to see me drawing, immediately ran back to her room for her nature journal and drew this:

 

We tried to get the boys to draw with us, but alas, they were more interested in drawing droids.  So they drew droids, and we drew flowers.  But thanks to the amaryllis, we had a calm spot in the morning -- an oasis.

If you're curious about the amaryllis and want to know more, here are a few links:

Amaryllis Planting and Care

Amaryllis (Wikipedia)

Amaryllis is really Hypeastrum

US National Arboretum Amaryllis Photo Gallery

Week 1, Winter Term: Harry Potter, Ancient India, Cardboard Buildings

After a two week Christmas break, we picked up our routine again.  In spite of a few bumps -- which always come after a break of more than a few days -- I think we've gotten going again.  I would not say that we are "in a groove", but -- we're working.  It's been a tough winter so far and shows no signs of letting up.  If it were just me and the big kids, it wouldn't be so bad; they go out almost every day to sled or snow shoe or check on the chickens.  But the snow is either too deep or too icy for the little ones, they don't like the cold, and anyway it takes an hour to get everyone in their outside clothes.  We end up stuck inside much of the time.  I'm thinking about buying a huge full spectrum light to set up in the living room, and I'm collecting ideas about how to get through February already.  (Hawaii Day, anyone?) 

This is what happened inside this week:

 

Katydid has been zooming through the Harry Potter books and decided one day last week to pretend she was at Hogwart's.  "I got up at 7 AM to do a herbology lesson," she said, "and I was supposed to go to Potions at 11, but I'm still doing chores so I'll be late and Professor Snape will give me a demerit."  She also asked me if she could do a book report on The Goblet of Fire.  So of course I replied, "No, absolutely not, why do you think I would ever allow you to do a book report???"

LOL Actually, I think I just blinked at her in surprise for a few minutes and then I said, "Of course!"  I gave her a list of questions to answer in the report, and after she was done with her first draft, I sat down with her and helped her edit and refine her thinking.  Then she rewrote the report and gave it to Andy to read.  "Writing something for Daddy" has worked wonders with getting Gareth to write, too, although he hasn't gone so far as to ask if he can do a book report.   This week he did write a really long (page and a half) description of a culture he made up, though -- probably the most he's ever written at one time. 

(An aside here: I believe Katydid is looking at Theresa's blog, where I was looking up Theresa's Term at Hogwarts.  We did part of the Magic or Muggle activity, and succeeded in dyeing the floor, ourselves, and everything else bright yellow.  We haven't managed the rest of the experiment yet, though.)

The little boys played a lot of dress-up themselves:

 
I think they were pretending to be "Scary Romans".  (And as you can see, we are not done wall-papering their room yet.)  They have a round of dress-up that they do basically every day.  First Pip and Pop play priests and pretend to say Mass.  Then they change their vestments for light sabers and play Jedi.  After that, the light sabers become guns or swords and they play cowboys or Romans.

At Choice Time, they've been making cardboard buildings:

Pip was working on a "chicken coop".  Here he's gluing craft sticks onto the top of the box for a "roof" and the bottom of the box for a "floor".  The next day, he painted some of the box green and black.  When I cut a door into Farmerboy's cardboard prison (he wanted to use it for his Playmobil policemen), Pip asked me to cut two doors into his coop... which he had decided would now be a "chicken prison."  The doors are small, about the size of a chick, and on either side of the box.  Katydid informed him that she thought the box could actually be used for bantam chicks, and he was very pleased with that, but asserted that he really wanted to put toy chickens in it.

Katydid has been engrossed by chickens lately. (That doesn't sound right, but I can't figure how else to say it right now -- extremely interested? Investing most of her waking hours in the topic?)  She drew some plans for chicken coops because she wants to raise bantams this spring, and she wants to keep them separately from the other chickens.  I encouraged her to model her plans using craft sticks and glue.  It did not go well.  The thing about art is that it often presents gifted perfectionists with the opportunity to do something truly challenging... something that doesn't go as expected the very first time.  I am hoping that she will come back to this project and try it a different way -- with different materials, maybe, or perhaps with more of a mindset toward experimentation. 

In the meantime, we're trying to figure out what the black spots on our chicken's combs are.  I don't think they are pox or frostbite.  Katydid has been helping with the research, and she took some pictures of the chickens for me:

We had a record 8 eggs today from 11 hens, with no lightbulb in the coop.  I'm impressed.

There have also been many and varied Duplo creations with the enormous box of Duplos Santa brought.

 
 A farmstand built by Katydid and Farmerboy for the twins to play with.

We also started reading about ancient India, listened to a lot of poems by Jack Prelutsky, went sledding with two other homeschooling families, and picked up math and spelling again... a decision that did not find favor with everyone.  And Gareth spent quite a bit of time with his kit of ancient Roman coins.  Hopefully I will post about ancient India, Jack Prelutsky, and Roman coins in the future, but for now I have to unload the dishwasher and pull a tortilla casserole out of the oven for dinner.  Hope you're staying warm on this cold winter evening!   

Seven Quick Takes #... Oh, I forget

See Jen at Conversion Diary for more quick takes!

 

One

The twins were playing construction workers this morning.  First they had to clear the land.  (I.e., whack at a bunch of toys with light sabers and plastic swords.)  Then they had to climb up on "ladders" -- the high chair.  (It's wood, no tray, don't worry!)  Now they are wearing plastic racing helmets and using the vacuum cleaner as an excavator.  One of my favorite things is to watch these two play.  They turn all the received early childhood wisdom on its head.  Yes, sometimes they do "parallel play".  But more often they are involved in the same game: interacting with each other, playing off what the other does or says, really playing together.  Is it twins, I wonder, or being in a large family, or both?  Or maybe the received wisdom isn't as wise as it lets on?

Two

Yesterday I finally made it to the developmental optometrist for my own eye appointment.  For the past few years I've been going to Lens Crafters and other chain-type places, because funny things have been happening with my eyes.  It's not that I can't see -- and let me tell you, it really is consternating to your run-of-the-mill optometrist when I walk in with 20/20 vision and say, "But my eyes are tired, I'm getting headaches, and I have to cover one eye when I read."  Our beloved Dr. Fox, however, started laughing after he examined me.  "It's a wonder you can read at all," he said.  Apparently, I have convergence problems I've been compensating for all these years by doing weird gymnastics with my focus.  Now my ability to focus is "running out of gas".  At least now I know that when I lose track of what I'm reading and have to reread a page three or four times it doesn't mean I'm getting dumber; it just means that my eye muscles are "running out of gas".

Three

I also found out that lens strength is generally measured in quarters.  I'm a something and 5/8.  "That's the story of my life," I told him.

Four

I am right now listening to the happy squeals of children sledding onto the icy driveway.  (At least I think they're happy, right now and this moment...)  The sun has been out all day, which is, well... you want to say, "What is this 'sun' of which you speak?"  Anyway, after a really miserable icy, rainy, snow, windy, beat-up tin gray run of days, the sun coming out is like your favorite uncle coming to visit, and you'd better make the most of it.  The big kids have been outside for an hour and a half, and temperatures are only in the teens with a wicked north wind.  But cabin fever has set in already.  Everywhere I went yesterday, people were talking about how hard this winter has been.  I'm not from here, so I never have any idea.  It always seems long and hard to me.

Five

I have been meditating all day on these lyrics, in fact: "This morning I shot 6 holes in my freezer/ I think I've got cabin fever/Somebody sound an alarm..."

Six

I have to figure out a better way to get a shower and do all the outdoor-related morning chores and get settled for our morning time before 10 AM.  This morning I had to beat the latches on the chicken coop open with a big pair of pliers.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to get the eggs out before they froze.

Seven

Since signing up for Facebook, I have had quite a few old acquaitances ask me if I'm still writing.  It's like they think I ouight to be or something.  and I'm not sure how to answer that question, really.  I am still writing -- this blog, basically -- but a blog is not really what they want to know about.  They want to know if I'm still writing novels.  It's somewhat embarrassing to tell people that I haven't written any fiction in a long time.  And I can't even blame it entirely on the kids.  (After all, I'm sitting here writing this now, aren't I?  Instead of 7 Quick Takes I could have written 7 quick paragraphs on a story.)  The truth is, I stopped writing fiction because I suddenly wasn't sure if it was the kind of fiction I ought to be writing.  I have always written a little (cough) dark.  As my kids got older, I had to stop and ask myself, "Is this the kind of story I would want my kids to read when they're teenagers?"  It's not that I have ever written smut -- much to the relief of one of Gareth's preschool teachers who actually said to me, "You don't write that smutty stuff, do you?" -- but adult science fiction and fantasy has grown darker and darker over the years, and even the explosion of juvenile fantasy fiction, with some notable exceptions, has had its dark side as well.  I had to conclude that I did not want to be a part of the slide into darkness.  On the other hand... we're not all cut out to write Anne of Green Gables and Little Women.  So basically I have had a long, introspective dry spell in which my blog has kept me from going insane, which is what not writing anything at all does to me.  I hope that this dry spell will soon end, and I'm keeping an ear out for whispers from God.  

So that's my answer to the question, "Are you still writing?"