Archive for January, 2010
Fuss decided he wanted Sea Monkeys. Unfortunately we have a toy store a block from the house in which one of my closest friends works, so we spend a bit of time there. I can get the kids out of the store without incident (read: purchase). Colin, however, cannot.
This is how we ended up with the bucket of sea monkeys.
Don’t see anything? More about that in a minute.
We followed the instructions and I put them in the window sill. A few days later my toy store friend was over for drinks with her husband. I tried to show here there was nothing in the bucket, but then I saw these little tiny things sort of squirming their way through the water. I don’t know why I found them so creepy, but when I saw them, I almost dropped their home. My friend was able to see them too. Her husband could not so he inexplicably shook the case. Water sloshed all over the floor. We had a good laugh at this, although my friend was appalled at her husband’s lack of thought - he’s a scientist after all!
The next day, I could see no sea monkeys. I’m not sure if they all ended up on the floor, or if it had something to do with me leaving the window open whilst they were on the sill. It was around -7 that day……
Fuss didn’t really mind that we were no longer going to have sea monkeys - he never saw them anyway and gave me permission to get rid of the tank. I promised him we would try the trilobites (is that what they are called?) in the spring when it’s warmer.
I wont be any less grossed out though!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 31st, 2010
This post really spoke to me. Fuss tends to be overly dramatic and if things are not going his way he can tend toward negativity. It’s rather heartbreaking to see in such a small guy. I was thrilled when I read this.
I tried many of the suggestions in this post and I’ve noticed a huge difference. The most noticeable being after we saw the naturopath. I certainly never said he was negative to her, since I don’t see him that way, but there’s a change nonetheless. He wakes up happy and bouncy.
One suggestion in the post is not to react to the ‘blahs’ when they come up. I find this so hard! I’m trying though. It’s a bit easier since Bug is such a tiny ray of sunshine, making it hard to be dragged too far down with Fuss.
The bedtime suggestion in the post is also a big one here. If sent off to his room to go to sleep, he’ll stay up reading or acting out various stories we’ve read during the day. However, if I let him snuggle with me while I read to myself, he’s out in minutes.
Parenting a sensitive (which I think is a much more positive word for this) child is hard work, but so worth it!!!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 28th, 2010
I really loved this post. I call myself “Waldorf-inspired” because there is so much about Waldorf I don’t understand and some of Waldorf I don’t care to understand. So, I’m not true Waldorf in any way, but I do love so much of what I do know about it, that I incorporate what I understand and love into my homeschool.
I was so pleased to come across this post about Waldorf Myths written by a Waldorf teacher.
I loved the story about the girl who couldn’t do her maths because all she saw was gnomes. I have used math stories but I didn’t emphasize the math gnomes overly much because I didn’t really understand it. I just couldn’t put math and gnomes together well enough to put together any stories. I did use the gnome stories to introduce the general concept of add, subtract, multiply and divide; beyond that, we just ‘do math’. I’ll talk more about that in another post.
I will admit that the introduction of math using stories involving gnomes worked well for Fuss and he still refers back to them to remember what each does, which is nice. At least the introduction was gentle even if I couldn’t follow it through.
Moving on to another point in the post, I love circle time. We do it every morning and it is a lovely way to start our day. It brings us together and focuses both children on the day ahead. I notice a huge difference in circle time days and non-circle time days. I find it interesting that this post claims it is not a “Steiner” thing. I don’t really care who came up with it, I’m just really glad I encountered it!
Moving on, I like his view on drugs. Rather than say it doesn’t happen in Waldorf schools, he challenges us to think of it in a “law of attraction” sense. If we assume teenagers will experiment with drugs, that is what we will get. If we assume the teens will not do so, that may also be what we will get. This feels so much better to me. We are certainly not at the drug experimentation stage, however we would be at the bully stage. I was having coffee with a friend who has a daughter in one of the local Waldorf schools. She was expressing concerns about the bullying going on. I was surprised. I just thought that wouldn’t happen at a Waldorf school - all that fresh air would counteract it maybe! However she said it is a horrible problem in her daughter’s class; not so much physical bullying, but psychological. I found that very interesting.
His last point is about Waldorf dolls. My children do start out with a tied-knot doll as he suggests is a true Waldorf doll. And, once they are older, I do get a proper “Waldorf doll” - the kind he says are not at all Waldorf, but whatever. And, contrary to what you are learning about me in earlier posts, they do not have anything to do with Martha Stewart!! Honestly, I can see absolutely no correlation between Stewart and Steiner!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 27th, 2010
One Saturday a month Fuss heads over to the local nursery and take a very sweet nature-based class. They make something so cool and Fuss learns so much. He asks so many questions and really gets the absolute most out of what they are offering.
The last class of 2009 they talked about bulbs and planted paperwhites. They have really taken off, however they’ve yet to bloom.
The first project of 2010 was planting an aloe very plant. It’s lovely. He came home and explained to me all the beneficial properties of an aloe plant and had me put some on my skin.
I’ll post more projects and he goes.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 25th, 2010
…and not a spot to think!
We are in the process of de-cluttering (yes, again) and touching up the house. This post could not have been more timely.
I had the goal of finishing the entire house by the end of January. However, I’ve not even started. We had a handyman come in to do some work and he’s been here all month. It would appear my house is somewhat of a Pandora’s box. Or our handyman is just a black cloud in that everything he touches falls apart. Really. For example, he was rinsing off his paint brushes in the laundry room tub. I was standing talking to him so I know there was no funny business going on. However, all of a sudden there’s an inch of water on the laundry room floor - the sink had sprung a leak. It’s been like this with every task we’ve given him. For most misfortunes it was a matter of time and it just happened while he was here, which is a positive thing. At least that’s how I’m choosing to look at it.
I’ll post photos room by room as I get underway in the clean out of 2010. I’m just waiting for the handiman to move out. There is such visual clutter here, I can hardly think. I plan to get rid of so much ’stuff’. Really, we just have way too much.
I really liked Gretchen’s post since it made me realise I’m not alone! I also have a coat-hanging up problem. We have a babygate close to the front door, at the entrance to the living room. It’s to keep the dogs out - not the kids. I tend to put my coat over the gate rather than hang it up. If we ever remove the gate, I’ll be forced to hang my coat up on a regular basis.
The post has as one of the 27 tips to make your bed every day. It supposedly makes people happy. I can see it being so in the fact that it’s a small task that’s fast to complete and makes an initial tick on the daily to-do list. It’s also really, really easy.
I adopted this immediately. My husband is really good at making the bed (it feels like a big fluffy hotel bed when I get into it after he’s made it), but I’m in it when he leaves for work, so he doesn’t. He will when he gets home, but I thought I’d put in on my list of daily activities. I was explaining this to a friend of mine a few days into it and she asked “and how’s that working for you?’. I was honest - I hate making the bed. It all came back to me why it stays unmade until Colin gets home. I hate to do it.
However, I’ve persevered and I do it every morning as a matter of habit now. I don’t enjoy it and often roll my eyes at the start of the task, but honestly, it does make me just a tiny bit more cheery. When I pass the bedroom door during the day, the room looks nice and neat. Before, it looked like an unmade bed. So, does it make me happier? I have to very sourly admit it does.
Here is a photo of one of the beds (we only have two) that I make daily:
What are some of your decluttering tips?
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 24th, 2010
So, one of the troubles with being so stubborn about my approach to cookbooks is that sometimes I really don’t like what I’m cooking. I did start Martha Stewart’s Dinner at Home in the back. I received this as a Christmas pressie and I didn’t want to wait until spring to start. Winter, week 1 didn’t exactly thrill me.
It starts with oyster soup. I have had the occasional raw oyster. Occasional. They are okay. I don’t look forward to them. If someone orders them and offers me one, I may have one. I would never purposly order them. But, Martha made me cook with them.
Shucked oysters are hard to find. Whole Foods was happy to shuck them for me, but 3/4 of a pound would be about $50. Nope.
The fish monger near my children’s dance studio had them for $10/lb. I’m not overly convinced this is a good thing.
With a heavy heart I made the soup.
Food made with a heavy heart is destined to be yucky. To be perfectly honest, there was nothing ‘bad’ about the soup. It was very easy to make, but it also had nothing going for it. I served it up. The kids and I stared at our bowls whilst Colin consumed two bowls. He really didn’t have to do that…..
Next was a celery root and walnut salad. It was tasty enough but nothing I would be rushing to make again.
I think if I accidentally bought celery root I would make this so it didn’t just rot in the veggie drawer. Tt would look more appetizing had I not failed to buy parsley which was an ingredient.
This salad was accompanied by these super tasty grilled cheese and ham sammies.
I don’t have a panini maker, so I put them in a cast iron skillet and topped them with another cast iron skillet. It did the trick. They were not as flat as if I had actually used a panini maker, but they tasted the same I’m sure.
Finally (and luckily) there was dessert.
A baked fruit custard. Those are dried cherries which I reconstituted. There were pears on the bottom. Again, super simple and quick. Both kids liked it so much they asked for it at lunch the next day. There were no leftovers of this though. Oyster soup, I had bowls full of leftovers. Not so much the dessert….
After all was said and done, I tried to clean up the kitchen. Tried. My faucet pooped out on me. All it gave me was a trickle. Kohler for life - not so much. I love the faucet to look at, but I wish it would work. This is the second time I’ve had to had repairs done to it. Here is the tiny trickle it provides.
See that water in the bottom of the sink? That took about 20 minutes to get that tiny amount of water. It really wasn’t a nice night to have this happen. I would have liked an easier way to have the oyster soup behind me.
I have to wait 7 - 10 days for the parts to arrive. ~sigh~
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 21st, 2010
Skiing started this week. This is Fuss’ fourth (!!) year and Bug’s first. She was beyond excited.
Colin brought Fuss to the ski hill the week between Christmas and New Years. It helps so much with getting him back into the swing of things, rather than have it all come back on the first lesson day. That’s really wasting a lesson. They both had a great time and Fuss was then looking forward to the beginning of lessons. He’d been on the slopes for about 45 minutes on the first day of lessons when I got this shot of him.
I’m pretty sure he’s completely enjoying himself.
Bug could hardly stay still from excitement while we got her dressed and ready to go, but we finally wrestled her into her gear.
Here she is in her skis on the ‘magic carpet’.
And - her very first run.
She has an amazing centre of gravity and is really starting out very naturally on skis. I think she’s really going to take off and have caught up to her brother in no time. Fuss is very cautious and has to think everything through before attempting it. Bug doesn’t care - she just goes for it. I’m interested to see how the two completely different approaches serve them as they grow up on the slopes.
One last look at Fuss as he comes down the hill to finish up his morning of lessons.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 19th, 2010
I cooked the first meal from this book this week. It was a fine meal for one that only took thirty minutes. I actually don’t think it even took that long. Super fast, super easy and the kids really liked it which made it a winner. So, the first recipe is a hit, in it’s way. The first thing I had to do was reconstitute the mushrooms for the porcini butter. This was probably the most time consuming part of the entire thing since it has to sit for a while.
Here they are, just waiting to plump up. Once they did, I minced them and mixed them into butter which I used to cook the eggs in and to butter the bread. I lightly butter the toast, but it would have been tastier had I generously buttered the toast!!!
These are all the ingredients ready to go. Everything here are basically pantry staples save for the prosciutto. That isn’t on my staple list, but I’m sure it is in many homes.
There it is all put together. I made an enormous green salad to go along with it. I just was really hungry so I forgot to wait to take a photo of the meal with the salad on the plate. As easy as this meal was, I think my favourite part was the salad. With the prosciutto, the eggs were too salty for me. That’s actually saying alot since I do like salt….
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 18th, 2010
I had some major clean up to do, so I turned Fuss and Bug loose on some crafting materials. I did let them use the beeswax which was a treat. Due to expense I usually like to monitor this activity, but I just really needed a minute and they love it so much. Fuss made this beautiful cornucopia of white chocolate (one of his absolute favourite things).
Once I was finished, I sat down with them and we made paper snowflakes which was very appropriate since it was totally snowing outside!
Fuss put an outline where he wanted to cut and made the snowflake as symmetrical as possible. This, by the way, was the first time he pick up and used a writing utensil properly on his own. That was a thrill. He usually rests the pencil on his ring finger rather then the middle one.
He then cut around his outline. I’m not entirely convinced that using scissors with your eyes closed is a hot idea, but they were kid’s scissors.
And Fuss with his final product. He made several of them and hung them around his nature table. It looks as lovely in there as it does outside.
We do this every year and it’s one of my favourite activities.
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 15th, 2010
I think most parents have moments in which they wonder what their children will be like or what they will do as adults. I had a glimpse the other day. Our dishwasher soap dispenser spring has worn out. As we were going through the manual to see the part number to order it, Bug got a hold of the papers and I truly think she’s got it all figured out!
The part is due to arrive next weekend at which point I’ll put her to work!
Enjoying the journey, Amanda
January 13th, 2010
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