The day begins with a clear table. By 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon, the top is completely covered with the bits and pieces of homeschooling life. Cleaning it up again before dinner can be a daunting task. But taking a photo of it first seems to help.
I fell in love with the old, neglected greenhouse at the Ruby Ellen Farm during our homeschool field trip last week. I’ve been thinking about it ever since and imagining what it would look like if someone had the time and energy to bring this treasure back to life.
This baby boy —
he is so active.
All day long
he moves.
Even when it’s nap time
or bed time,
he thrashes around
and bends and twists —
not wanting to give in
to stillness
and rest.
This papa —
he is so good at
being quiet
and focused
and still.
But
this papa + this boy
= love.
When I watch them
together
I see how
somehow
they are just right
for one another.
It was a perfect way to begin our autumn: a morning walk with dear friends up the chestnut trail.
Autumn officially begins tomorrow. And today I felt the season shifting. There was a change in the air. The sound of the birds. The scent of the evening garden.
Ellen wore her baby zucchini in the ergo on our morning walk. “My baby was born without legs or arms,” she informed me. “And it was a little green. But other than that, it is perfectly healthy!”
Maybe Uncle Chris can help us identify these mystery mushrooms?
One of my favorite parts of our homeschooling mornings is walking together. It’s such a simple thing. Walking outside calms Wallace; it grounds me in the day; and centers me with the girls. We take the same route most days and every morning we notice different details along the way: plants and creatures, mushrooms and moss, flowers and seed heads.
Walking in wild places is the simplest, clearest way for me to remember what is most essential.
He love tiny things. And he is usually pretty good about not putting them in his mouth — although we have to watch him closely. Today, for instance, he was playing around with Ellen’s baby zucchini when I saw him moving his mouth around in a funny way. Sure enough, he had gently removed one of the zucchini’s googly eyes and was sucking on it with delight!
He’s starting to stand up on his own!
Oh, the little joys.
They feel so big.
Most mornings baby Wallace opens his eyes well before his sisters do. I try to tiptoe down the hall and close their door before he wakes them up with his baby chatter . . . but lately he gets very upset if we don’t go into their room so he can have a peek at them. Their bed is his favorite place, especially when his girls are snuggled in it! If I put him down on their bed, he climbs up towards their heads and throws himself into the pillows, smiling his fuzzy morning smile.
We finished The Midwife’s Apprentice by Karen Cushman. It was the perfect start to our language arts year.
“Jane Sharp! It is I, Alyce, your apprentice. I have come back. If you do not let me in, I will try again and again. I can do what you tell me and take what you give me, and I know now to try and risk and fail and try again and not give up. I will not go away.”
The door opened. Alyce went in. And the cat followed her.
I hope I can remember Alyce when the going gets tough.
Thursday evening was a math lesson with Gommy and playtime with Boppa. The girls treasure this time devoted to Gommy. And Wallace was making us all laugh with his antics. He has developed such a sense of humor; it cracks me up!
We finished Lief the Lucky by Ingri and Edgar D’Aulaire and so delved into the geography of northern Europe, Island, Greenland, and North America.
We ended the week with a trail walk in a new spot with our lovely group of homeschool friends. I loved watching the bigger kids pass the babies back and forth on the way back.
