Small Scribbles

Faith organized this game. She made the crowns and drew the checker board with huge pieces of chalk. Stuart and I marveled at her creativity and took pictures and joined her for a game. A mind-numbingly boring event. Not much action comes with being a checker game piece. Even after one has "been kinged."

To all who asked, my kids do take art lessons. I always feel like I am walking into the Renaissance when I go to pick them up because the room is full of painters, each working on a different piece. All the artists are generous in offering suggestions. This really pushes each person to keep improving their work. I think my kids learn as much from studying the progress going on around them as they do from working on their own paintings. It's a wonderful approach to art.

John and Lauren have been busy in the painting studio this spring. Here are their latest works. The Frog by John The Other Frog by Lauren Finally Finished by Lauren

Faith sculpted this little lady... ...and John staged the holdup. Barbie goes green. Fairy costumes by Lauren, Faith and Claire. Update: Today for a school assignment, Claire supplied directions on how to make your own Barbie fairy clothes. "First you have to get chives. If you don't have chives you can use grass. Get seven leaves, two big leaves and five little leaves. Get a couple of flowers if you want. You have to get the tape and the scissors and a Barbie. Then you tape the little leaves around Barbie for a skirt, a shirt and sleeves. Tape the two big leaves on Barbie's back for wings. You tie the flowers to the chives and you tie the chives around Barbie's head to make a crown. Don't forget, Barbie needs a fairy house made from leaves and chives and twigs."

The kids went to a homeschooling award ceremony a week ago. This is how we chose to encourage them: For beginning in earnest the lifelong journey into letters and numbers and books, The Dr. Seuss Award goes to Charlie. For her fascination with bugs, animals, plants, rocks, sticks, water, and mud, The Edith Holden Award goes to Faith. (Edith Holden was the English author and illustrator of The Country Diary of An Edwardian Lady written in 1906.) For diligence, a sense of duty, and spiritual growth, The Ruth and Abigail Award goes to Lauren. (On the way home, Lauren asked, "Who is Abigail?" to which John replied, "It's back to First Samuel for you, missy!") For his insatiable appetite for the printed word, his love of names, high fantasy, creative writing and thirteen letter words, The JRR Tolkien Award goes to John. For her mathematical abilities and the for effort she applied to her schoolwork this year, The Nathaniel Bowditch Award goes to Claire. (Nathan...

I cracked the book open to the halfway mark at the breakfast table and picked up where we left off yesterday afternoon. I intended to read a chapter or two before moving on to our school work. I read one chapter and then two. I read for an hour and then two. I read until my neck was sore, my throat was swollen and scratchy. Francis Hodgson Burnett spins a story in a way that spurs a reader on. We became Sara’s soulmates, and Becky’s, and Ermengarde’s. We were heartbroken in the sad places and as the words began to wind their way to a triumphant ending, the children burst into delighted cheers. They rolled around on the floor with glee. They squealed and chortled. They jumped up and down on the sofa. “Don’t stop reading, Mama! Read more! Read more!” The oldest two are already old friends of this tale and they were as swept along in the current of the story as the younger ones. Oh, we love a good book! If your children are sixish or beyond, run to the library, check out A Little Princess...

Over the past few weeks, our family has been watching hours of behind the scenes in The Lord of the Rings: Extended Edition . It's been interesting to get a bird's eye view into the minds of the movie makers and actors in the movies. In the spirit of The Lord of the Rings, I've decided to give you a behind the scenes look at my last post. Coping with aging has been an ongoing battle for me for the last few years and I’m sure I am not alone in this. As a Christian, I live against the backdrop of a known and secure ending. It is a comfort. But arriving at the end is something like the voyage taken in Pilgrim’s Progress . For all Christian knows where he is headed, he finds himself enticed away from the path leading to the Celestial City again and again into places where he does not belong. The Bible is my favorite book for many reasons. The one that is pertinent to this post is that all of the characters, apart from Christ, are shown as frail creatures. They are not polished...