Happy 4th of July

In Laura Ingalls' Little House books she mentions going to picnics on the 4th and hearing someone read aloud the Declaration of Independence. We are going to follow that same spirit by attending a bicycle race and holding our red, white, and blue pinwheeels this morning and posting part of Thomas Jefferson's writing here.

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.
The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States...

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

spitting image

Sitting at the breakfast table this morning I glanced over at Maggie and startled. I recall seeing a carbon copy of that face when looking through an old photo album with my mother a few months back. She said, "I remember that! You cut your bangs 1/2" long with the kitchen scissors. It took about 6 months to grow back."

Yep, she's my girl.

sheep farm day

We just returned home from a walk around an 80 dairy sheep operation looking at different types of fencing. Luckily the farmer has little girls so all 6 children played together and turned it into a great afternoon. Most of the talk went over my head as but I did learn some basics of wire and electric fencing options. I Googled the names of some of the big fence companies and am now on several mailing lists. By reading these I will likely learn more than I ever want to know about deer deterrent tape, spacers, live wires, braces, and corner posts.

Going to the local organic coop store and the Common Ground Fair with the children I have been under the impression that the Maine Organic Farmers and Gardeners Association (MOFGA) types are hostile to those like me, whom they term "breeders." And after reading publications like Mother Earth News it is apparent that greenie-type liberals don't care for children, whom they look on as little ecological disasters. However, the other folks from the group on the walk today seemed like nice ordinary farmers. Now, they could all be sitting down to dinner and exclaiming, "Did you see how many children that woman had! She is single-handly ruining the planet and causing global warming!" but I will assume that instead they said, "What a lovely family, those children are a real blessing to us all."

are you lying to me baby?

Timmy has a soft fuzzy giraffe named Geraldine given to him by an auntie. It is funny to watch as Timmy's eyes search around the crib and light up as he reaches for her before snuggling up in a little ball. Sometimes though, Timmy cries for me to come rescue him and nurse him a second or third time before he drifts off. It is a hard stage right now because I can't tell if he really needs more food, or he is just trying to stay up later than he should. I don't quite buy the theory that he is technically lying, but it is interesting.

We certainly don't have any fake laughing, there is plenty of the real thing from baby Timmy as the big ones have figured out the secret to getting him out of a fussing jag, the horsey game. I'm sure you know it: Place baby on your hips while lying on the floor. "This is the way the lady rides, pace, pace, pace, pace (gentle bumps), this is the way the gentleman rides, trot, trot, trot, trot (brisk bounces), and this is the way that TIMMY rides, gallopy, gallopy, gallopy, whee! (large bounces, followed by lifting in the air)" Timmy laughs uproariously and jiggles up and down to indicate that he would like to do it again, and again, and again.

My grandmother recalled a news program which reported that researchers put a group of football players in a room with a bunch of toddlers. When instructed to repeat every action of the babies, the big strapping athletes soon fell down in exhaustion. That research study I can certainly believe completely.

Yet it now appears that babies learn to deceive from a far younger age than anyone previously suspected.
Behavioural experts have found that infants begin to lie from as young as six months. Until now, psychologists had thought the developing brains were not capable of the difficult art of lying until four years old.
Following studies of more than 50 children and interviews with parents, Dr Vasudevi Reddy, of the University of Portsmouth's psychology department, says she has identified seven categories of deception used between six months and three-years-old.
Infants quickly learnt that using tactics such as fake crying and pretend laughing could win them attention. Dr Reddy said: "Fake crying is one of the earliest forms of deception to emerge, and infants use it to get attention even though nothing is wrong. You can tell, as they will then pause while they wait to hear if their mother is responding, before crying again.
"It demonstrates they're clearly able to distinguish that what they are doing will have an effect."

potty training in progress

Charlie has been outside naked for most of the afternoon after using the little blue BabyBjorn potty 4 times this morning. Unfortunately, he came inside to inform me that he pooped, not in the grass, but in the garage and to make it worse, he rode his bike through the pile. Uggg.

After trying several potty seats and chairs I really like this one- one piece no fussing to empty it. These are also useful in the car for long trips or going to places with no bathroom, just use a grocery bag as a liner for easy cleanup.

Happy Birthday Timmy!

My little stand, step, crawl, 4 toothed smiley wonderful baby! You are a delight (except for those restless nights and early mornings) to all of your family, making all of us laugh, even when we have to check your mouth for choking hazards. You love all of us as well, especially those of us who feed, bathe, and help you down the slide. You look just like the picture of the baby on your mush (Gerber) and don't mind being hauled around under the arms by whatever kid happens to be around. You are a happy baby, never cross, and luckily you do like more than just applesauce.

healthier eating

I have noticed that when I come to Maine I am more critical of what I put in the grocery cart, selecting local and organic rather than the cheapest. I buy butter proudly made in Maine, buckwheat pancake mix ground in a mill up the road, and our favorite ice cream parlor serves locally made ice cream with 25 flavor choices as well as giving Will the opportunity to practice the piano. Farmer markets abound, even with a growing season 2 months behind the mid-Atlantic states allowing me to buy free range chicken and eggs from a farmer who posts pictures of her flock of Rhode Island Reds. The girls came with me last week to the weekly market to also purchase a quart of gold from the sweet and gentle honey lady.

I don't know exactly why my attitude changes as the latitude changes, but perhaps it is the availability of good products, knowing that soon we will be farmers hoping someone buys our produce, or the constant greenie drumbeat in the local media of how important all these issues are to our health and to preserve the rural character of Maine.

NEWPORT - Maine’s farmers markets are open for the season and market masters across the state say attendance is increasing and customers are buying. And it’s not just the crisp spring greens or bright green asparagus and fiddleheads that are drawing people to the markets.
"It is a sense of community, entertainment and education," said Deanne Herman, marketing manager at the Maine Department of Agriculture.
Those who have been to a farmers market before know that it’s a different type of shopping experience, she said. "All of your senses are engaged. You’re seeing, hearing, feeling and tasting things that you’re not likely to have experienced at a typical grocery store." More than just buying food, customers have a chance to meet and interact with the person who grew it.
Public concern about food safety is another reason farmers markets are valuable, according to Hillas. "As consumers increasingly raise questions about food security in response to e-coli outbreaks, mad cow quarantines, and the recent recall of contaminated dog food, the farmers market offers the option of directly asking food producers about food safety," Hillas said. "Answers about production techniques and post-harvest handling are immediately available. In addition, market farmers are happy to share advice on cooking, nutrition or gardening topics."
According to last week’s New England Agriculture Statistics’ crop report, it’s been quite a spring for Maine’s farmers. Nearly all crops have been planted, fields were dry enough for farmers to get on them and work, and corn plants are already popping up.
Herman said that crops available in early June include asparagus, crisp lettuces, spicy mustard greens, arugula, spinach, baby carrots, radishes, broccoli, as well as an array of vegetable seedlings for home gardeners.

We will be going on Sunday afternoon on a farm tour of a dairy sheep operation an hour south of town. Hopefully the children will behave and I will learn lots about fencing and milking. I like the looks and docility of sheep, their triple usefulness in wool, milk, and meat.

78th Carnival of Homeschooling

Is up at Homeschool Hacks. It is titled the surgery edition, but no internship or residency will be required.

time does fly

Today we took Tim to the airport so he can start back to work and earn money to keep a roof over our heads.

In thinking it over last night it amazed me that with so many flights with babies and toddlers under my belt, 3 of the kids have never set foot on one. As I heard some childless career woman yammering about how awful her last flight was last week because a family with 3 small children were aboard, I whispered, "I'm so grateful it wasn't me she was complaining about." I have been there too many times to count, including when 6 month old Will suddenly developed a fever post take-off. I recall trying to cool him off with damp papertowels while staring out the window at the snow-capped Alps. Luckily a nice doctor at the Gatwick airport walked me to Boots, where I purchased a bottle of Panadol. Sufficed to say, I was a worn-out wreck of a woman by the time I reached the Norfolk airport.

Tim has had a lovely time the last few weeks mowing with his new tractor. He will fly back up in late September to fetch us when we will return to suburban life. In the meantime, I will be grateful for the help from our new babysitter Maggie who is coming every day so I can get in my run. I will also be appreciative of my helper Mary who has taken over the bedtime rituals for Charlie. He actually has said, "I like Mary doing it better." A woman I encountered a few years back told me, "the whole dynamic changes for the better once the oldest girl turns 9." I have to say that I see the light at the end of the Mommy-having-to-do-everything-tunnel.

TV and morals

This is one of those "no brainer" studies that come out of the federal government. People who spend their time inside the house with their eyes glued on a screen are much more likely to believe whatever the talking heads say and are less likely to do much else. They don't go to church because the TV says that God doesn't exist and because MTV is more entertaining than going to Mass. They don't realize that abortion or fornication are wrong because they don't go to church since they are too busy watching reruns on TiVo. Also, the sitcom characters spout out that abortion is a virtuous act by saving our planet from excess population, as opposed to a morally repugnant evil specifically forbidden by God.

I always think it amusing when I am at a party and the talk turns to favorite TV shows. When I am asked my opinion and reply with, "we don't have a TV," everyone quickly responds with statements like, "oh, we don't watch very much at all..." These are people who just 2 minutes before listed 5-6 shows they watch religiously! Perhaps there are some families that watch 24 hours of TV per day to keep up the national average since I can't think of a single household that will admit they watch more than 60 minutes of the boob tube daily.

Heavy television watching parallels a decline in moral values and a sense of personal responsibility, a new study by the Culture and Media Institute of the Media Research Center has found.
In a new Special Report entitled “The Media Assault on American Values,” released by the CMI June 6, a clear correlation was shown to exist between an increase in the number of hours a viewer spent watching TV and a decline in the strength of personal moral values.

On the issue of abortion, 44 percent of light TV viewers (those who watch one hour or less per night) said abortion is wrong, compared to 27 percent of heavy TV viewers (those who watch four hours or more per night).
While 39 percent of light TV viewers said sex outside of marriage was always wrong, only 26 percent of heavy viewers considered sex outside of marriage to be always wrong.
While only 28 percent of heavy viewers are frequent church goers, 47 percent of light viewers go to church regularly. More than half (51 percent) of heavy viewers said they rarely or never attended church, while only 29 percent of light viewers said they went to church “rarely or never”.
When it came to a sense of financial and social responsibility, heavy viewers were much more likely to expect the government to provide for their health and retirement needs than light viewers, and they were much less likely to support charities.

See full study here:http://www.cultureandmediainstitute.org/

raising social misfits?

This article out of Canada seems to suggest that all public school children are well behaved, exceptionally intelligent social butterflies in comparison to homeschoolers.

It seems to me that one of the main reasons parents pull their children out of public schools is because they want their children to have a superior education with more opportunities to think outside the box and to interact with people of all ages. Homeschoolers also have more than the average number of children so they are not sitting alone with a grownup day-in and day-out. With 4 siblings to talk and play with, I bet my kids have more interaction with peers than the average. Even so, when I informed my family that we were going to homeschool, my little brother looked at me horrified before blurting out, "I knew some kid in college who was homeschooled and he was weird!" I replied, "I know hundreds of people who are weird and they all went went to public school."

There was a study a few years back comparing volunteerism and voting of young adults. Those who had been homeschooled were far more likely to be involved in their communities than their public schooled peers. According to this author it is not possible to be social in everyday interactions, but isn't that how adults make friends: in church, clubs, sports, and by visiting with neighbors?

The reason we started homeschooling was partly from seeing the strong social skills of some friend's daughters who were taught at home. One is now in college and doing extremely well and the other is preparing to join her sister in higher education. I think if this biased journalist met these young ladies she would completely change her mind that homeschooling is equivalent to raising social pariahs.

There are many pros and cons to home-schooling, but when they are weighed, there appear to be more drawbacks to being home-schooled than being in a traditional academic setting. A significant example is the amount of time - not to mention money - it takes to prepare and teach daily lessons and organize activities. Parents who chose to home-school would have little time to themselves and would have to pay for most of the resources needed to educate their children. It is unlikely many parents can match the resources offered by a government-funded school system.

But perhaps the greatest disadvantage is the difficulty in developing social skills. Social skills cannot be learned merely through everyday interactions, such as trips to the mall, church, sports and clubs or visiting with neighbours. It is imperative kids learn how to have relationships with their peers - and that can rarely be accomplished in a home-schooling environment.

Kids need more than book smarts, they also need to learn about real life - with its perils and pitfalls - and develop the skills they need to cope with it. And those skills cannot be learned merely by enrolling children in sports, church or community groups. It is that lack of exposure to the real world that poses a danger for home-schooled children, particularly those who are taught by their parents right through their teen years.

smart kid

Yesterday was a milestone day, Charlie used the potty for the first time and excitedly received 3 m&ms as a reward. It only occurred to me that he should be out of the diapers when a friend told me how well her little girl is doing in that arena - her daughter is a year younger than Charlie. If it wasn't for the expense I would leave them in diapers until they figured it out on their own, I can't stand dealing with wet and messy clothes, the hanging around all day waiting for something to happen... Is it any wonder that Tim potty trained both girls in exasperation?

The other baby book worthy moment was after dinner when Timmy took his first step. The applause and smiles from every corner of the room were so worth it that when I hoisted back up to standing he did it again. I'm glad we are in a 1 story house for the next 2 months, keeping him away from the woodstove and the kitty litter is enough of a challenge these days.

So after thinking I have the most brilliant children on the planet, what should I spy as soon as I turn on the computer this morning? An article about this gorgeous 2 year old little girl in England who is being reported as the smartest child ever tested. Do notice that she is not an only child and not coached by her parents with flashcards (do you remember that book, Teach Your Baby to Read?).

According to an expert in gifted children, Georgia is the brightest two-year-old she has ever met.
Parents Martin and Lucy Brown have always regarded their youngest child as a remarkably quick learner.
She was crawling at five months and walking at nine months. By 14 months, she was getting herself dressed. "She spoke really early - by 18 months she was having proper conversations," Mrs Brown said. "She would say, 'Hello I'm Georgia, I'm one'. She was also putting her shoes on and putting them on the right feet."
Mrs Brown began to worry about Georgia's future education. She contacted Professor Joan Freeman, a specialist educational psychologist, for advice. To the amazement of the family, Georgia scored 152 points on the IQ test, putting her in the top 0.2 per cent of the population. Georgia was then invited to join Mensa, the High IQ society whose members have IQs in the top 2 per cent of the population. Georgia is one of only 30 Mensa members under the age of ten.
Mrs Brown, chief executive of a charity, believes Georgia has benefited by growing up as the youngest of five children. She has been absorbing information from her older brothers and sisters and father, a self-employed carpenter, while not receiving any special treatment. "There is always someone around to offer her something," her mother said. "But she still has temper tantrums, like you wouldn't believe, throwing herself on the floor. "She doesn't think she's better and cleverer than everyone else. She is a very kind and loving child."
Georgia, who has a "wicked sense of humour" is as busy as any toddler, enjoying a schedule of ballet classes, listening to stories, dancing, singing, sport and even watching the TV.

responsible driving

Here in Maine there are little placards all along the coastal road, "State Law: Yield to Pedestrians in Crosswalk." Route 1 is so congested in the summer from tourists traveling down east (meaning north) that in some towns a walker would otherwise never be able to get across the street. Even with such laws and friendly drivers, Charlie and I almost got hit when we were crossing the road yesterday to get to the local library. After my initial panic and fear, I got angry, very angry and had visions of tracking down the thoughtless teenage driver and threatening his life.

When we lived on-base in Italy the parking lot of our apartment became a toddler turnpike in the late afternoons with upwards of 2 dozen children riding bikes and scoot'n'go vehicles around and around. All the residents coming home from work knew to drive slowly into the quad's lot and shouts of "car!" periodically permeated the din. This could only have happened on-base, Italian drivers are so wild that all the children would have been squished like bugs in 20 minutes. We can't go to our local city park here in town because of the number of close calls with people thinking the circular gravel road is the Daytona 500. As a parent I see too many yahoos who exhibit little concern for others and threaten the safety of everyone within their path. I'm not saying I would have been part of the below mentioned murderous mob, but my heart goes out the the mother of the toddler more easily than the driver or his companion.

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) - "Police on Wednesday were pleading for witnesses to help them track down members of an angry mob that beat a man to death after the car he was riding in apparently struck and injured a child.
Investigators were struggling to piece together what happened Tuesday when David Rivas Morales died defending the driver from members of a crowd. The car in which Morales, 40, was a passenger had entered an apartment complex's parking lot when it struck a 2-year-old boy, Piatt said. The boy was taken to a hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
The driver got out of the car to check on the child and was confronted by several people, Piatt said. When they attacked the driver, Morales got out of the car to protect the driver and was attacked as well."

kitchen update

After my morning run (yes, I took Mary) I was at the hardware store at 7am. The paint counter lady was there and sold me some primer for the cabinets. She is now my second favorite local in town because she asked Tim when he went in the other day to pick up the yellow paint, "How does your wife stay so skinny?"

My all time favorite Mainer is the old man who asked me a few years back in the Shop'n'Save parking lot, "Are you a movie star?" Let me tell you, though we have movie stars come to town while on vacation and shop at the local organic market (Kirstie Alley), I am not one of them. Can you imagine having your cellulite and belly flab pointed out on tabloid covers at every grocery store in America?

Anyway, the cabinets do look much improved even with the top doors off and the primer applied. And perhaps I look so improved in the crisp, cool Maine summers that I do resemble Jennifer Aniston.

Nah.

Martha Stewart, watch out!

Last week I finally had enough of peeling vinyl wallpaper in our bathroom and almost before I knew what had happened 1/2 of the tiny room was only sporting glue resin. I figured watching years of design shows on HGTV and This Old House counted for something and certainly the helpful folks at the hardware store could give me a few pointers. Maggie turned out to be a great helper in peeling wallpaper and all the kids wanted to try painting. After upteem trips to said hardware store for scrapers, joint compound, razor blades, paint, brushes, patch kit, and wallpaper remover I now have a beautiful sky blue bathroom with bright white trim and fluttering Italian linen curtains at the window. Every time I pass the doorway I stop and admire my handiwork. The rest of our vacation house screams "1970's tacky" but that one bath is a work of art.

Well, since I figured it only took me a week to finish that project, you can figure out what happened next. The wallpaper in the kitchen hit the floor yesterday during nap time and bright buttercup yellow paint is waiting for me in the garage. Tim took 4 of the children up to the farm for an hour or two. Timmy is snoozing away and I have sanded down the walls and put on the first coat of white on the trim. The ugly insulating curtains are in the trash to be replaced by pretty white ones I found yesterday at Reny's.

Somehow I didn't have the nerve to do anything drastic until this year. Boy, I wish I had done this 5 years ago instead of living with it just 'cause "we are only here for such a short time." If you have a project that is beckoning, get off the computer and just start. It will be finished before you know it and will brighten your mood too!

update: The yellow is really bright, it clashes terribly with the ugly brown fake wood cabinets. Seems there are two options: live with it, or look into painting the cabinets white.

77th Carnival of Homeschooling

Is up at Consent of the Governed.

comparison shopping

I discovered these Dove dark chocolate covered almonds at Christmas and soon found myself scarfing down entire bags thoughtlessly while reading in the afternoons. So, when I saw a pouch of Hershey dark chocolate covered almonds for 40 cents less I bought both for a taste test. They are almost the same, but the Dove ones are a tiny bit richer.

Another few items for snacking while reading are dark chocolate covered Raisinettes and dark chocolate m&ms-yum!

Is it any wonder that I have gained 3 pounds in the past week? (though I did wear my new bikini out at the local pond yesterday, Tim thought I looked pretty good!)

early to bed, early to rise

The last week or so I have been getting up at 5am and heading out the door for a short 2.5 mile run downtown and back. I love running early when everyone in town, including my family, are still snuggled in bed. Maine summers are actually quite cool and even in a t shirt I feel a bit chilly down by the water. This week it has worked out especially well, with low tide being early in the morning so I can participate in my favorite summer activity without feeling any Mommy guilt. Hunting for beach glass is free, fun, and therapeutic. I have 6 jars of it that I have collected over our summers in Maine. The girls love to sort it by color, and while I have filled 2 glass lamp bases with aqua pieces that our local beach is semi-famous for, I haven't really done anything artsy with it.

Friday evening before bed Mary begged and begged me to wake her up early so she could go with me so I whispered in her ear and she willingly got dressed and followed me on her bike downtown. After our hunting expedition we stopped for breakfast at the local diner and then I ran home slowly to avoid tummy upset. I am glad we did it once, but this morning she had her nose out of joint that I went without including her. 7 year olds don't quite get that a treat is a treat precisely because it only happens once in a while, otherwise it is defined as a routine.

My morning runs will soon come to an end when Tim leaves in a little over a week to go back to North Carolina, though I might have a sitter lined up so I can run sometime. I do know for certain that no 15 year old is going to show up at my door at the crack of dawn so I can go hunting for beach glass.

Happy Father's Day

Tim you are a great Dad, despite, or perhaps because you never thought you would become a father. You read stories, patiently tutor Will in piano and the dreaded multiplication tables, change countless nappies, preside over bath time, and shove mush into little bird-like mouths. You take the time to explain car maintenance to the boys and willingly listen when the girls try to teach you about color coordination. You praise, correct, chastise, thank, and discipline.

A couple of new t shirts is poor compensation for the hours you spend helping raise our children, but you need them and you don't play golf or need a new tie (one is enough!).

"Thank you Daddy! We love you!,"

Will, Mary, Maggie, Charlie, and Timmy (okay, he didn't actually say it, but just tried to eat a bug that Tim fished out, so he meant it)

real life

Being the mommy of 5 small children is not the easiest job in the world. I do realize that I am part of a family, not a corporation so I just can't quit, but some days I wonder why I have volunteered for this vocation.

Yesterday afternoon I spent over 2 hours getting ready to join Tim and Will out at the farm, making a picnic dinner, packing sweatshirts and tools, making sure all the baby's nappies were clean and dry and everyone had gone potty. We drove about 20 minutes through the scenic countryside before Mary yelled, "Mommy, Charlie has thrown up, and its all over ME!" I pulled over at the nearest gas station and blanched at the mess all over my brand new van - milk curds and goo over 6 square feet, much of it pooling in the van seat and dripping into the seat belt slots. It was covering all Charlie's clothes and part of Mary's as well. With my handful of wipes in the emergency bucket I wiped out the car as best I could, stripped down Charlie and put everyone back in to get to the farm. I was so frustrated with my carsick tot that I told Tim as he drove up on the tractor with a quizzical look on his face, "I quit. I don't want to deal with this again for the second day in a row," and stomped off to the next field over.

After about 20 minutes of recovering by being alone in the woods, finding a wild turkey hen and her chicks, and poking around the base of a huge oak tree, I walked back to the housesite. Tim had put all the children he could find in the van and said he was taking them to clean up. I could come home, making sure to bring Mary, when I wanted to. I worked out my frustration by smashing up dead tree limbs into oblivion for about an hour before I wanted to go home and resume my motherly role. It certainly wasn't Charlie's fault. We just have to realize that afternoon car trips over lots of hills doesn't bode well for the car upholstery.

Being a real life Mommy is not like being one on TV. It is often messy, inconvient, and stinky. Conflicts do not get resolved in 25 minutes with everyone smiling at the closing credits. But real life is full of emotions such as love, joy, and forgiveness that are only alluded to on the screen. Being a real life Mommy is better.

look ma, no hands!

Yesterday afternoon we drove out to the farm with cupcakes and fireworks for Charlie's birthday. Unfortunately, Charlie ate too much chocolate frosting and threw up on himself, the carseat, and the van seat on the way home, but it is all cleaned up now.

When we arrived, Tim was beginning to re-mow the fields and decided that it was a good time for my first tractor driving lesson. This isn't some dinky lawn mower, it is an intimidating John Deere tractor with a 7' mower and a bucket on the front.

After about 15 minutes I took off down the field in 1st gear at about 5 mph. With a little more confidence I put it in 2nd and made 3 passes before the kids flagged me down to ask if it was time for cupcakes.

My rows were so neat and my turns so polished that I felt like a NASCAR driver in the winner's circle. I do want to thank all the little people who made it possible: my husband for the instructions on how to drive the thing, my son for telling me how to engage the PTO, and especially my patient mother for teaching me to drive a stick shift all those years ago.

While I don't think I will do a lot of mowing this summer, due to baby Timmy's need to be held, I have confidence that it is now something I can put on my resume under farming skills.

76th Homeschool Carnival

is up at Kris's Eclectic Homeschool.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

Today you turn 3, our bright-eyed bushy-tailed little boy. You are willing to go along with everyone else's idea for adventure and have the bruises on your shins that never go away to prove it. In fact, you always look grubby, despite two baths a day. You play so hard that you instantly obey when I call, "Charlie! Time for milk and bed." You are my early riser, rubbing your eyes and sleepily saying, sometimes at 6am, "Good orning Mommy. Milk ease." You will never have osteoporosis with your habit of gulping down two sippycups full of milk before anyone else gets to the table at each meal. I refuse to cut your silky blond hair because I know that it will turn brown soon enough. I love seeing you walk around with your finger stuck in your belly button - a security blanket that can never be lost, but does need to be washed.

You are loved Charlie by so many people and charm them all. God bless you and may you always strive to know, love, and serve God in this world and be happy with him forever in the next.

love,
Mommy

missing teeth

There is a on-going debate in our house of the milestone separating little kids from big kid status. Will claims that it is, "when you lose your first baby tooth," while Tim and I insist that it occurs, "when you learn to use the potty."

Of course Will picked his designation because Maggie can use the potty but has not yet lost any teeth. He loves to torture his little sister, but I am hoping they will both outgrow this phase and be best friends one day. She was so funny to listen to when she explained to our dentist, "I get a dollar under my pillow when I lose a baby tooth, but not if it is green or black. That happens when you don't brush your teeth and you don't get any money for those."

Mary has lost two teeth in the last two weeks, one never managed to make it under the pillow so last night the tooth fairy put $2 for the teeth and 50 cents extra for interest. She now has 3 gaps in her smile, including the front top teeth which makes her look more beautiful than any supermodel, at least from a mommy's point of view.

farm days

Tim has been happier than a pig in mud the past few days since his new John Deere tractor was delivered. I laughed at him when he drove an hour up to the dealership the day before to pat it and get the manuals, but in 3 days he has mowed 17 acres and is headed back up to the farm today to work on clearing the field edges. If left alone the poplars and wild cherry saplings will slowly creep into the fields making them smaller year by year. After years of thinking every tree is good and necessary for the world's health, I now realize that nature will turn our beautiful and useful cleared land into forest if we don't work hard to beat it back. I can clear out about 50 feet of saplings, dead limbs, and brush in the 3 hours of work time I am allotted before mommy duty makes me take the little ones back to town. At this rate it will take me 200 days to clear all the edges, not including time to do something with the detrius.

Now there are certainly fun things to do this summer like hunt for beach glass at low tide, ferry Will and Mary to summer camp in a few weeks, and picnic at the lobster pound for supper. But we are farmers now and Tim and I are enthusiasically jumping into our country adventure with both feet. It will take us the rest of our lives to develop this farm into our dream with a beautiful butter yellow house and garage, a barn and machine shed, a chicken coop, fences, a pond, a cross country ski trail through the woods, and a huge fruit and vegetable garden. God willing we will get to sit on our porch in rocking chairs looking out over our laborful bounty and holding hands in the twilight each evening.

springtime anew

It struck me while running this morning at 5:30am (early to bed, early to rise girl here) that traveling up to Maine in June is a lot like homeschooling your children.

We already experienced spring this year in Virginia, way back in early April. The azaleas and tulips bloomed like mad, the evenings were still chilly but the afternoons warmed up enough for a t-shirt and shorts. Traveling 600 miles north I have been enjoying spring all over again, this time with the rhododendrons and lilacs blooming and the famous blue and pink lupines blanketing the roadsides. Our first evening up here we actually had to light the wood stove and put on our flannel jammies which we had packed away 2 months before. Presently it is summer in Virginia, with a high of 103 F yesterday.

Homeschooling is a reintroduction to learning material that might have been boring or too complicated the first time around. When we read science aloud to our little ones, listen to older elementary age children read history stories, or discuss religious morality with our teens we are learning right alongside them. Mom might even get more out of it than the kids! While we are giving them a great education, we are also teaching them that learning is a life-long process and schooling is not just about passing a test or advancing to the next grade.

This summer we are going to finish up the last few weeks and then take some time doing "fun schoolwork" like art, reading aloud Childhood of Famous American books, and lots of nature studies. Have fun this summer and learn along with your children, its like getting a second springtime!

75th Carnival of Homeschooling

Is up here at Homeschool Buzz.

We made it!

Well, it was a looong two day car ride from North Carolina to Maine. I swear the entire state of Massachusetts was one big traffic jam. The kids were great, Timmy especially is a great traveler and even fell right asleep in the pack'n'play at the hotel. We made it to Connecticut the first day and splashed in the pool for the kids to get their energy out. I got to soak in their hot tub to soothe away the stresses from trying to keep up with Tim in my huge van. I do love the space and being able to see over everyone, but the width makes me nervous about sideswiping someone, especially tractor trailers and the height exacerbates my fear of bridges. By the time we hit the state line I was so grateful to be out of traffic that I did a little happy dance in my seat. When I read the sign at the border that reads, "Maine, come for a vacation, stay for a lifetime" I wished we didn't have to go back.

The fresh air and cool temperatures in Maine have driven us all out of the house after the obligatory unpacking and grocery run. I have already weeded the front flower bed and spread compost from last year's pile on as mulch. The trees and shrubs have begun to get their annual hacking back, and our brand new John Deere tractor was delivered out to the farm this afternoon. Tim stayed behind to mow after I brought the kids and a picnic lunch while we waited for the delivery truck. After a few photo shots and a meeting with the architect of our soon-to-be-constructed garage, (for above mentioned tractor) I drove a bunch of very tired children back to the house in town. They are all out playing on the swings and in the very shallow stream while I rest and Timmy naps.

Now that the computer is in one spot for the next few months I am glad to return to the blogging world once more!

I did it!

Yesterday morning I stepped onto the scale and found _ _0.0 staring back at me. After an hour I wanted to see again and it was 1/2 pound less. I lost those last 5 stubborn pounds I had been trying to lose for months now! Don't know how other than holding Timmy in the pool for 90 minutes each evening, trying not to eat everything nailed down, and drinking lots of water since it is sooo hot here.

The downside? I bought a new expensive Speedo bathing suit on Tuesday because both of my old suits had become see-through. To say it politely, taking 5 kids to Dick's Sporting Goods to shop for a bathing suit is NOT my idea of a pleasant shopping experience. I told Will and Mary to go over to the fishing section and just look, no touching, while I grabbed some suits and pushed the whole cart into the changing room with my maximum 3 items. If I wanted a different size I had to get dressed, grab my bag and all three little ones to seize it off the rack. That got old very quickly so I just bought the most plain blue tank I could find. Well, now it seems a wee bit big and I keep having to tug the backside down a bit when I get out- there doesn't seem to be enough bottom for the material to grip. I have some errands to run this morning now that Tim is back from checking out of his old command. I might sneak over there and try on some slightly smaller and more fashionable suits with only the girls in tow.

bye bye whining Charlie

A new friend asked me yesterday if Timmy was a good baby. "Oh yes, he is a wonderful baby," I replied as I kissed his soft head, "Charlie was the difficult one from day one until..."

Well, I realized at that instant that Charlie has matured, has become more compliant, more cheerful, and less fussy. He is willing to say "yes" more times than "no" and now waddles off after the others to play outside in the sand rather than simply hug my knee and fuss. He will be 3 in less than two weeks now and even though I have grown used to his difficult ways I am much more excited about a Charlie with a soft voice and and a more independent spirit. I have to balance this with the recognition that the baton might have been handed to Mary, our new tattletale queen.

Family life apparently never reaches a state of perfection, its always a balancing act.

spelling bee time

Today was the 1st day of the Scripps National Spelling Bee with tomorrow evening being the big final televised on ABC. Last year I drove the kids down to my mother's house to watch some of the competition, but being in a different state might lead me to ask that nice homeschooling family down the street if they could possibly tape it for me. Our hometown girl, homeschooler Rebecca Willet made it to the next round so I would love to cheer her on.

Being a mediocre speller myself I feel drawn towards the perfection that these children exhibit in such a highly competitive environment. Yes, high school sports and musical concerts are difficult, but somehow they don't incite the same admiration that I muster for a 12 year old able to recall a word like ursprache, the 2006 final word. I was amazed last year at how few of the words I had even heard of, much less be able to spell. Even if we don't get to see it, I think we will have a movie night this week featuring Akela and the Bee, a fictionalized account of a girl with a gift of spelling.

Here are some interesting statistics about the competitors this year:

Grade:

2 fourth graders (.7%)

23 fifth graders (8.04%)

36 sixth graders (12.6%)

88 seventh graders (30.76%)

137 eighth graders (47.9%)

School Type:

192 public (67.13%)

38 private (13.29%)

36 home (12.59%)

14 parochial (4.9%)

5 charter (1.75%)

1 virtual (.34%)

After a homeschooled student won the National Geography Bee last week, a number of media types have begun again asking why homeschoolers tend to be represented well and score high in such competitions.

What is it about home-schooled students that make them such competitive spellers?
Of the 286 students who will compete in the National Spelling Bee next week, 36 are home schooled. While only 3 percent of all students are homeschooled, they typically make up 10 to 15 percent of contestants in the national bee. And they love to win.
Homeschoolers captured first, second and third place in 2000 and won in 2001. They've placed in the top 10 every year since. And this year, a favorite to win is Samir Patel, 13, who is home-schooled in Colleyville, Texas.

My basic answer would be that homeschoolers have loads of free time to pursue whatever interests them, be it sports or spelling, music or engineering, and if so motivated, to a point of mastery. Also, homeschooling parents tend to provide an atmosphere of love of learning, rather than one emphasizing materialism or popularity. In our home Will practices the piano and both he and Mary work hard at their schoolwork because I tell them to and because they don't know that in many schools it is uncool to study hard and be smart. He is a much better speller than his sister and if he keeps up in his success in the subject next year, we might have to look into him trying out in a local bee. Who knows? He may just be the 2011 champion!

update: apparently our favorite speller was eliminated from the competition on Thursday afternoon.

Rebecca Willett was four minutes away from the semifinals at the Scripps National Spelling Bee on Wednesday evening.
All that stood between her and Thursday's televised rounds was a word that means "gathering pollen with a brush on the abdomen" and sounds like a medical condition.
The 12-year-old Virginia Beach resident had never seen the word before. She used most of her allotted two minutes at the microphone asking questions to suss out the spelling.
Then she tried it: "G-a-s-t-r-i-l-o-g-o-u-s."
The bell dinged.
"One lousy letter," said a resigned Scott Willett, Rebecca's dad.
The word, absent from many dictionaries, is spelled "gastrilegous."
Oddly enough, Rebecca's placard also was off by a single letter.
It spelled her home state "Virgina."

74th Carnival of Homeschooling

Is up at About Homeschooling with an Alaskan theme.

nature studies

Our new home in North Carolina overlooks a large pond, home of many interesting creatures. We have all been walking down to the trail after Will and Mary's schoolwork is completed for the day. There are little plank bridges over inlets, which the children have discovered are home to turtles, water snakes, and minnows. As of this morning they had spotted a dozen turtles and almost 2 dozen snakes, one of which was a big'un that Mary was bravely and stupidly poking with a stick.

Today Mary found a tiny yellow slider turtle which she proudly carried home in a jar. We made a little terrarium for it, complete with a rock to climb and rest upon. I am insisting that the animal go back home tomorrow as I have not the skill to keep a turtle alive on a 2 day car ride and realize that the poor creature will be grateful to get back to his natural serene environs after a day of peering and picking up by my little nature lovers.

update at 3pm:

Apparently Mary is an expert hunter, we are now up to 3 turtles, one of which is named "Star." Mommy had to perform emergency leech removal surgery from Star's head, which gave the children something else to study. We have fed them some raw ground beef after hunting for minnows with my brand new strainer proved impossible.

weight loss challenge week 3

What a week of living on camping rations, lifting boxes up and down steps, and unpacking household goods will do, even when slugging down a Cocacola every day and not running!



Total weight loss: 3.5 pounds

73rd Carnival of Homeschooling

Is up at The Lilting House.

7 days of moving

A numerical list of what I have been doing since last Tuesday:

54 pieces of furniture arranged
48 boxes of books organized and put away
24 pictures hung
6 beds put together and made up
5 reptiles spotted on a nature walk around the pond
4 friendly neighbors rang our doorbell and chatted
7 sunburned bodies soothed after Memorial Day at the pool
3 movers fed and thanked (especially after bringing in the piano)
2 trips to the dump and charity bin
1 traumatized kitty patted and scratched

Next, a few days of quiet and relaxation poolside before packing preparations begin in earnest for the 2 day trip up to Maine. Then I can really relax!

72nd Homeschool Carnival

Is up at Palm Tree Pundit.

packing day

Tomorrow, while Tim is at a course up in DC, the packers will arrive to box up all of our belongings (including the computer) and put it all on a tractor trailer. Then we will say goodbye to my extended family, my mother, and our church family before driving down to North Carolina. I will then have exactly 14 days to unpack and then organize and pack for our summer up in Maine.

Can we say, "Mommy is stressed out"?

Hopefully once we get there I will have some time each day to post something, but since I also have an article due for my writing class to start (and finish) in the next month, it will be a time of light blogging from me.

Wish me luck in supervising the moving men and all the children!

weight loss challenge week 1

Here we are on the first weigh-in of the challenge (see sidebar for button) The week definitely saw some positives, with a few negatives. The first 3 days I ran over 15 miles, but didn't run at all the rest of the week. I am proud of my willpower by only having one Cocacola and managing to only have to have a chai latte once (a new record). I also refrained from going through any drive-thrus and didn't buy any dark chocolate covered almonds to snack on while reading.

We are, however, in the bounty of strawberry season with a pick-your-own field just down the road. Everyone knows that strawberries are divine on leftover buttermilk biscuits slathered with whipped cream (those nasty premade "shortcakes" are for the birds). After supervising the children pick two buckets of berries on Friday, I managed to eat at least 4-5 helpings of shortcake this past week.

Mommy's Best Buttermilk Biscuits

2 1/2 cups flour

2 Tbl sugar

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup shortening (I have used a soft stick of butter and found no difference)

1 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 425, sift dry ingredients and cut in shortening with fingers until no large lumps. Stir in buttermilk and knead on cutting board a few times. Pat out and cut with biscuit cutter. Bake 12-15 min in round pan with sides touching until tops are light brown and sides are dry. Slather with honey or jelly- Yum!

Weight status: (must have done something right) Down 3 pounds, 2 pounds to go.

church law

A blogging priest posted some new rules he devised for his parish's new sanctuary in the bulletin.

Now, being in the midst of our parish's building campaign I can understand the priest's frustration with the mess and lack of reverence for Our Lord's house he details below. However, I wouldn't feel comfortable in a church that seems this draconian about the Mass behavior of small children. If these rules were in place at our parish I would feel very hurt. We try our best to keep our little ones quiet and respectful, but some of my best tools are keeping something in their mouths and something for their fingers to do.

Our TLM parish is like all others. There are parents who keep all of their children in a row intent on the priest's gestures and their picture missal. There are those who allow their toddlers to be unattended in the pew, racing noisy cars up and down the seat, rattling keys, and distracting all around them. And there are the rest of us, allowing our littlest to color religious coloring books, nibble on Cheerios, and drink diluted apple juice so we can possibly get 10 minutes of prayer and adoration into our Sunday morning.

If you just so happen to be from Mars, you might not know about the great debates about every aspect of parenting these days, the bottle vs breast debate, and the work vs stay-at-home, ad nauseum. Equally as passionate are the Catholic Mass with children debates, no snacks vs Cheerios, nurse only in the cry room vs in the pew, coloring allowed vs no distractions... Perhaps these discussions were just as vocal in the past, but I'm of the mindset that many choices parents made about their children long ago were made privately and did not require a public defense. Somehow, "I chose to do X,Y, or Z," turned into, "I do X, Y, and Z, and therefore you are a bad parent if you do not do the same."

I don't have any suggestions to the blogging priest. But after yesterday's Mass involving 2 squirming, fussy toddlers I would have blown up if I had been handed a copy of an edict from on high of "no bottles and no pencils permitted in the door or the priest and your fellow parishioners will chew you out."

Over the last month or so, several incidents have occurred that necessitate reiterating the obligation for each parishioner to work to keep our church clean and new. Parents have allowed children to draw on the baptismal font with crayons, to draw on the pew seats with pens, to walk on the pews with shoes, to litter the pews and floor with snacks, and spill drinks with no effort to clean up afterwards. Lest you think this is just a problem with careless parents, older people have used the kneelers as foot rests, failed to replace the missalettes and hymnals in the pew racks, and left their trash in the pews.Our church is the house of God. It must be treated with care, reverence, and respect. (It is not a playground or a family room!)

Please observe the following rules:

1-No gum is to be chewed in the church.

2-Silence cell phones before you enter the chapel.

3-Save conversations for the entrance area or the social hall.

4-Please do no let children draw in the church with pens, pencils, crayons, or markers.

5-If your small child must have a snack during, it is YOUR responsibility to clean up after them. Also, no snacks that are sticky or have the potential to stain.

6-Please no juice or milk in bottles. Water only in the church.

7-Don't let children walk on the pews wearing shoes or to stand with their shoes resting against the pew seats.

8-Kneelers are for kneeling. The are not footrests.

9-Straighten up your own pew before you leave. Replace books in the rack, take any trash with you, and leave the kneelers in the upright position.

All parishioners, please help us keep these rules. If you see someone who is out of line, please gently remind them of their obligations.

Happy Mother's Day!

I was formally invited by post to a Mother's Day brunch at Maggie's preschool on Thursday morning. We listened to the class sing several songs, including, "Sometimes mommies say 'don't do this', sometimes mommies say 'don't do that,' sometimes they say 'kiss, kiss, kiss.'" (So, thats what she was singing it loudly all the previous week!)

We were then waited on by our oh-so-polite children and served ham sandwiches, fruit kabobs, and desert. Finally, the teacher held up portraits and read a description, we then had to guess which Mommy was portrayed. Maggie's picture of me has a tiny shock of brown hair on top (I have long dark blond hair), green ears that stick out (my ears are very small and NOT green!), and green dots all over the face (supposed to be freckles). Her description was thus:

My mom is special because: she makes lunch!

I like it when my mom: gets me a tricycle.

My mom can do many things! I think she is best at: sewing and buying roller skates.

My mom is pretty as a: dress.

My mom is smart! She even knows: that we're bringing caterpillars in the house.

I'd like to tell my mom: "No bringing caterpillars in the house!"

Signed: Maggie

I wish you a happy mother's day and hope that you don't find any caterpillars in your laundry.

a letter from my congressman

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, I voted for two bills in the House that chart a path to end U.S. involvement in the war and bring our troops home safely. President Bush remains stubbornly wedded to his failed Iraq policy. Since he and those who continue to vote to support his position in Congress have no strategy to end the war, Congressional Democrats will lead the way out of the Iraq disaster the President has created.

The McGovern Act, H.R. 2237, requires the Defense Department to begin to redeploy American troops out of Iraq 90 days after enactment of the legislation with all combat troops home within 180 days. The bill would allow a limited number of U.S. troops in Iraq to conduct targeted operations against al Qaeda, train Iraqi forces and protect U.S. diplomats. It would also prohibit funding for the President’s ‘surge’ unless specifically authorized by Congress. Unfortunately this measure failed by a vote of 171-265.

H.R. 2206, passed by the House last night, is a new version of the Iraq Accountability Act that President Bush vetoed on May 2nd. In contrast with the blank checks Republican Congresses gave the President, it compels progress in Iraq by conditioning funding. It withholds approximately half the Iraq spending until the President tells Congress by July 13th whether the Iraqi government has met specific benchmarks and goals. At that point, Congress would then hold two votes that present members with a choice: either release the remaining funds, or direct the funds only for an orderly and safe withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq. I urge the Senate to act swiftly to pass H.R. 2206 and send it to the President. I will continue to use the power of Congress to end U.S. involvement in the Iraq civil war.
Sincerely,

U.S. Representative

1st District of Maine

Dear Rep. Allen,

I am not pleased that you voted to "bring the troops home" from Iraq. You have shown to our soldiers, the world, and our enemies that many of our representatives want to lose the war. You would rather see that our dead soldiers and Marines have made the ultimate sacrifice for nothing than to link victory with a Republican president.

I am not happy with the way things are going in Iraq- no American is. However, defeat should not be an option. If we had the same Congress in session after Bull Run, the Confederates would have won the Civil War, and after Normandy, WWII would have been lost. We must win the war against Islamofacism, otherwise all Americans will live in fear for the rest of history.

Please reconsider your cut-and-run stand in Iraq. You owe it to our soldiers, sailors, and Marines.

Kat *

a proud Navy wife

movie meme

Go to imdb.com and look up your favorite 10 movies, noting 5 key words for each. See if you can guess mine (they are very easy):

1. woman in labor scene, 2+1/2 hours, passion, Southern belle, narcissism
2. Nazi, governess, nun, music, Austria
3. romance, estate, suitor, melodrama, Britain
4. matchmaker, satire, upperclass, archery, friendship
5. good versus evil, weather, axe, hostage, villainess
6. magic, cliff, revenge, pirate, chocolate
7. rain, leech, torpedo, boat, spinster
8. love triangle, dancing, playboy, party, cooking school
9. eccentric, monk, siege, shrubbery, narration
10. despair, car accident, bathrobe, jitterbug, small town

So far, the correct guesses:

1. Gone with the Wind

2. Sound of Music

3. Pride and Prejudice

4. Emma

5. Wizard Of Oz

6. The Princess Bride

7. The African Queen

8. Sabrina

9. Monty Python and the Holy Grail

10. It's a Wonderful Life

(I changed #1 to make it a little easier)

Thank you for playing!!

it's so hard being 2

Charlie fell several times today, resulting in boo-boos on both knees and his thumb.

Just like bread, apple juice, and jelly are automatic purchases each trip to the grocery, I think a box of bandaids are going to have to be thrown into the cart every week as well.

save the planet, don't have kids

I remember reading back in the early 1980's of the "population bomb" predictions. There wouldn't be enough food, people would be crowding on top of one another, plagues would sweep over the planet because there were too many humans. I recall being swept up emotionally and resolved to not have any children of my own. Luckily for my family's sake I stopped believing this enviromental wacko cult religion. Unfortunately, the wake-up call did not happen to most of the educated classes of the western world and they simply stopped having children.

Now not enough Europeans and Japanese young adults exist to replace themselves and those cultures are likely to become extinct. The Communists and the Muslims certainly didn't read those books and are reproducing at a fast clip. So, it will not be the case that just Europe will disappear, but that all of Western Civilization will be overrun.

These cases are presented very well in a book I read a while back, America Alone, but some academic types are still stuck back on the 1970's model of "don't have children and somehow save the planet."

HAVING large families should be frowned upon as an environmental misdemeanour ...
"The greatest thing anyone in Britain could do to help the future of the planet would be to have one less child."
The world's population is expected to increase by 2.5 billion to 9.2 billion by 2050. Almost all the growth will take place in developing countries. The British fertility rate is 1.7. The EU average is 1.5. Despite this, Professor Guillebaud says rich countries should be the most concerned about family size as their children have higher per capita carbon dioxide emissions.

Homeschool Carnival #71

Is up at The Company Porch with a real Southern flavor!

weight loss challenge

Today is weigh-in day at Tales from the Scales Weight Loss Challenge.

While I am in better shape today than I have been in 15 years, I would like to lose those last 5 pounds that are keeping me from being pleased when I look in the mirror each morning.

I was known in high school as "the track star" and don't think I weighed over 100 pounds at graduation. College added more than dozen pounds, but then I had to diet to fit into the wedding gown I bought at the bridal consignment store. How could I pass up my dream dress at $80 because it was a little snug?

Every pregnancy since then I have seen gains of 40 pounds, to then lose most of it, just to begin gaining again. After Timmy's birth I was determined to be skinny and fit. I started running and lost all but 5 pounds, but have been stuck here for 6 months. The problem is my diet-I drink at least one Cocacola each day and consume handfuls of chocolate after the kids go to bed.

I swear, on this day I will try really hard, to cut out the soda, to not reward myself with sweets every other day because "I deserve it." When you have 5 little kids the days tend to grind and these little treats are sometimes the only thing that keeps me going. Perhaps one unexpected benefit of our new van is the likelihood that it is too high to fit through the local Burger King drive-thru. But I am stronger than the lure of Jr. Whoppers and chocolate covered raisins.

I have a new goal. This fall is my high school 20 year reunion and, even if I don't go, I want to imagine myself voted "most unchanged" and "most kids" and having all those snobby kid's jaws drop as I glide forward to the podium in a slinky ice blue gown that clings to every curve.

strawberry season

Nothing epitomizes the arrival of spring and is so indulgent as strawberry shortcake. My breakfast this morning was a pile of berries picked by my children, still-warm homemade buttermilk biscuits, and lots of whipped cream. Yum!

date night

Tim and I never go out alone as we have not found a hired babysitter we could trust and the only willing family members live far, far away. So, when our parish recently held a silent auction and one of the services was 3 hours of babysitting by a reliable teen with 4 younger siblings, I put in a bid and won!

Last night Mary W. came over to play, watch Star Wars, and put the little ones to bed while Tim and I went to my favorite elegant restaurant. We have been going there intermittently for 12 years, since our 2nd date, but hadn't returned in several years. It is one of those places where the waitstaff has memorized the 8 additions to the menu and describes them in an elegant and cultured voice, "Tonight we also offer a tomato gin bisque with an she-crab base, trout almondine sauted with garlic herb butter, and a Portuguese fishermen's stew with shrimp, scallops, littleneck clams, and salmon infused with saffron and garlic."

Listening to the waiter reminded me of my last dinner in Italy with the Catholic Women of the Chapel. Even getting to the restaurant was an adventure. We whizzed through crowded and chaotic Pozzuoli on narrow, twisting roads, keeping right on the bumper of the driver in front to avoid getting lost. Finally we turned onto a dirt road and parked in a dark field overlooking an enormous extinct volcanic crater. Luckily we didn't go right off the edge, as there was not even a curb bumper to protect us from the 100 foot dropoff. Turning on flashlights that were recommended, we hiked about 1/4 mile through gardens and vineyards and trooped down a set of stairs to a cheery and brightly lit basement room. The set meal included 8 courses, and the feasting commenced until finally an elaborate dessert was set before us at 1am. The descriptions of the courses were so elaborate that we read them aloud to each other and laughed, "the salad greens are an artfully arranged blend of organics grown on our farm, topped with wild arugula plucked from 2000 year old tufa stone walls." To their credit, they grew all the fruits and vegetables served, produced all their own wine, and raised some of the meat they offered as well.

We returned home last night to find peace and calm, except for little Timmy who wanted some more Mommy milk before he would settle down comfortably for the night. If we were staying here I would think that date night would be a more frequent occurrence, but my guess is that we will likely go out for our next romantic date in another 3 years.

introducing...

the great gray ghost, the new vehicular mode of transportation for our family.

After test driving several Ford full size vans at the local "vans, vans, we only sell vans" dealer, the decision between the 8 and 12 passenger models was left solely to me. I went with more seats, rather than more cargo room, figuring into the equation the possibility of being open to more little lives in our home (just not this week, please).

Tim wasn't too keen on the 350, but now that we have it home he seems to really like our choice. I know that it will be wonderful to have more room to spread the children out, and it will work well on road trips, but slipping into a tight parking space and whipping down off-ramps are now things of the past. You just can't drive a 1 ton truck like a nimble little sportscar. However, driving it almost makes me long to be back in Jamaica. I wouldn't recommend it to wimps, since the official rule of the road there is that the larger vehicle always has the right-of-way. Watch out all you Miata and Mini Cooper drivers!

poison ivy season

After 1st Holy Communion on Sunday the parish hosted Family Fun Day complete with fried chicken and lots of yummy side dishes and desserts. It saved the parents from having to organize parties at home and after the kids all changed out of their Sunday clothes, they had a blast. The older children have built a fort in the woods and have organized themselves with mayors and guards. Will was voted 1st mayor and drew up applications for membership. "Will you defend this fort against all girls?" "Will you keep the secrets told within the circle?" The questions were all followed by little yes or no boxes to check off.

Poor Maggie trooped after the big boys to their fort entrance where she was told to scram. The evidence of her running off the path and through a large patch of poison ivy became apparent on Tuesday when welts started appearing on her arms and legs. Despite liberal application of Benedryl, she ended up with it also on one side of her face and a few bumps on her tummy (how did it get there?) While I feel sorry for her, part of me is glad it happened after we took dozens of pictures that day, rather than the week before. She will recover in a few more days and then when we get to Maine I will teach her, "leaves of 3, let it be."

car trouble

Yesterday afternoon, after depositing Will and Mary at their homeschoolers art class I took the littles over to Mother's to visit. We chatted while I filed her nails, helped the aide get her bathed, and got soaked as Timmy spilled an entire glass of water all over me and the bed. Then I loaded everyone in the van and returned to collect my older charges, looking forward to returning home to change into dry shorts and sitting down with a large glass of ice water.

Unfortunately, the van decided to cut off about 10 times before I had driven 4 blocks. It has done this before, every 6 months or so, leaving me panicked about being stuck on the side of the highway with 5 little children and spotty cellphone service. The van never acts up for Tim, assuring me that there must be a weight device in the seat connected to a computer chip in the electronic components of the vehicle, "Female driver detected. Knows nothing about automobile repair. Attention all sensors, attention all sensors: immediately produce engine failure and battery failure."

When this happens I have learned to keep one foot on the gas with the other on the brake at stoplights so I can give the tachometer a little boost. This time though, it also started cutting off while I was driving, leaving me with no power steering as I drifted to the side of the road. Frantically, I called Tim, who dropped everything at work to come to my rescue. Of course, after I refused to set foot in the driver's seat it acted perfectly normal (remember that weight thing).

We are renting a brand-new van while the dealership figures out if the water pump, the idle sensor, or some other thingamajiggy has gone bad. I hope the problem is found, but am grateful I have a husband who says soothingly, "It's okay honey, if they can't fix it, I'll buy you that 12 seater van you seem to want so much."

packing for Maine

My brain is in an almost constant whirl these days as I pull items from closets and attics, pack up Christmas ornaments and dollhouse furniture, and make lists.

Lots of lists.

I have the to-do list, the what-to-take-to-Maine list, and the better-buy-it-now list. Maine summers are short I have to anticipate fall clothing needs and the fact that the children will outgrow their clothes and shoes the instant we hit the state line. This is our 6th summer in Maine and since I always pack in the heat of Virginia, I inevitably pack too many sleeveless items and never enough long pants and sweatshirts, which we need even in August.

Our town has no children's clothing stores and the closest Walmart is an hour away. I have learned the hard way that if I don't bring something, it is not easily procured. Spending the summer there reminds me of this post about a town in Vermont with no children.

I once vacationed with my three girls in a town without children. It was a picture perfect Vermont town, that could have come from Norman Rockwell, but there were no children on the street. I first noticed something amiss as we first drove through, the many art galleries had signs saying "no children" and "dogs welcome". Strange I wondered, where are the children?

Maine is a very liberal and our town is even more so with lots of left-over hippies and the occasional movie star (Kirstie Alley and John Travolta) coming over to shop in the whole-food co-op. Everytime I go to stock up on honey and maple syrup (which you can buy in bulk) I can feel the glare of the usual patrons simply because of the troop of little ducklings trailing behind me. I recall speaking with a father of 6 from a nearby town who recounted his experience when he took his well mannered children into the same store. We laughed as we swapped stories of disbelief from the locals and imagined their comments afterwards, "Did you see that breeder?" "Think of the future enviromental disaster from all those diapers." "Don't get close, children have cooties."

So, in addition to proctoring Will and Mary's schoolwork, keeping the little ones entertained, I have been spending my afternoons making lists and anticipating the growth pattern of a 10 month old chubby baby so he doesn't end up naked in September.

homeschool carnival #70

Is up at Dewey's Treehouse. Lots of great posts!

membership has its price

After Mary's 1st confession on Saturday morning I took advantage of the opportunity to go out with Will and Mary and took them to Friendly's for lunch. We were escorted to a cubbie that held 3 tables, one with 2 small children and the other with 5 little ones. The mother and father were shoveling food into the baby's mouth while simultaneously divying up 2 desserts and making sure everyone stayed at the table. They did a great job and I told them so on my way to the restroom. Later, after they left and the table was bussed, another mom arrived with 4 little boys, the oldest about 10, and a tiny baby dressed in pink. She told the oldest child to escort everyone to the potty, negotiated their order, and nursed the baby. I made sure I told her how good her kids were on our way out. She said with a weary smile that her husband had just left for a deployment.

While both families were at the restaurant I wanted to wave my hand in the air and say, "Me too, I'm in the mommy-of-many club!" However, it was refreshing to sit and eat without having to repeat, "Stop that. Eat your food. Don't poke, kick, hit, or pinch your sister," between bites. I took little glances at these mothers and had the queer feeling that they were thinking to themselves, "She only has 2 kids, what does she know of my effort and workload? Perhaps she is one of those wackos, judging me for having all these children."

After we got home I dug into the enormous pile of laundry needing to be folded, the papers that needed to be graded, and the boxes that needed to be packed and labeled. I thought about planning dinner and ironing church clothes before it struck me why I have had so many older folks stop me in the grocery and say, "I had 9, 6, 5 children." They were telling me they were part of the club too and understood the trials I was going through. There are comrades in our lives, unknown to us by sight, who have been there, done that, and gotten the t shirt. Let us remember that we are on a single phase of our lives and one day we will, God willing, be the little old lady in the grocery smiling at someone else's toddlers, saying, "I remember those days dear. God bless you and your beautiful children."