August and Blogging Don't Mix

To do:

Friday - Make giant batch of granola and then eat some for breakfast. Go with relatives and friends to best blueberry place ever, hands down. Pick 3 pounds blueberries. Swim with kiddos in pool. Finish drying 1/2-bushel of peaches purchased earlier in week. Stay up way too late, unable to put down Harry Potter #4 (third reading in as many years).

Saturday - Return to blueberry field and pick another 7 pounds berries. At favorite farm stand, put in order for another 1/2-bushel of peaches; while there, ask about 1/2-bushel of tomato seconds. Take home said 1/2-bushel of tomatoes. Cook down into tomato sauce. Swim with kiddos and hubby. After kiddos are in bed, can tomato sauce, interspersed with reading HP#5. Stay up way to late again reading HP#5. Swear that tomorrow night will be different.

Sunday - Wash large load of laundry and hang on line. Pick up peaches ordered yesterday. While there, notice a lonely-looking 1/2-bushel of tomato seconds; take home. Take laundry off line and put away. Prepare for and host afternoon pool party. Drink beer and eat cheez doodles and Adele's awesome blueberry pie. Swim, talk, laugh. Make sauce while hubby puts kiddos to bed and then slices peaches for the dehydrator - thanks hubby!. Make yummy fruit roll-ups for dehydrator. Stay up way too late reading HP#5.

Monday - Wash first load of laundry hang out to dry. Continue cooking down last night's sauce and prepare canner and jars for processing. Teach yoga class. Take down first load of laundry and hang second load on line. Can tomato sauce. Swim with kiddos. Get some dinner on the table. Take down second load of laundry and put into dryer, because clothes are not dry due to excessive mugginess. Forget about them until tomorrow. Read HP#5 well into night. At 1AM, smack forehead and SWEAR that tomorrow night will be different.

Tuesday - wash and hang laundry. Make giant batch of waffles with Owen. Grow crystal experiment with Owen. Read The Indian in the Cupboard with Owen. Notice that Owen is attached to right hip today. Swim with kiddos. Take down first load of laundry and put up second to dry. Swim with kiddos and hubby. Make dinner - Spaghetti Bolognese made with extra tomato sauce, love the leftovers! While hubby cleans up from dinner and takes care of chickens, slice peaches for the dehydrator. Read more Indian in the Cupboard to Owen before bed. Make more yummy fruit roll-up for dehydrator, this time in a pleasing peach-and-blueberry stripe. Write blog post. Finish HP#5? (Probably... will most likely stay up way too late :-)

The Life of the Homeschooling Dad

Some of our favorite homeschooling friends live right next door to the neighborhood elementary school - ironic considering the kids have not set foot inside all their lives!

Recently Gary, the stay-at-home dad of the family, did an interview with a local paper, Bay State Parent. I love how the article showcases the best aspects of homeschooling, like 'learning in your jammies' (as Gary's son points out) and studying what you want to study, as well as addressing the ins and outs of being the parent at home. Here's the full text of the article.

As we gear up for another year, it seems like a good time to reflect on this crazy, fun lifestyle. I LOVE just about everything about homeschooling, but I think most especially, I love that when one of the boys asks a question, we can follow up on getting an answer pretty well immediately. I also love how creative they can be about solving problems and just about playing; Owen does more with a funny-shaped piece of foam than I would have thought possible. As for pet peeves about homeschooling, I have none; sometimes, it is true, I do need a mommy break but that has more to do with family life than homeschooling per se. I mean, who doesn't need a break every now and then?

So, what about you? Do you have a favorite and/or least favorite part of homeschooling?

The Carnival of Unschooling: First Edition

I am so proud to be a part of my friend Susan's newest endeavor, The Carnival of Unschooling. It's a monthly carnival, and if you have a post about your family's experiences that you would like to be included in the September Carnival, then you should submit it by August 30th.

But whether you do or you don't, go and check out the carnival for August, up at her blog, The Expanding Life. It's a great start to what I'm sure is going to be a great resource for those who are unschooling, and those who are thinking about it. Thanks Susan!

Lazy, Hazy, Crazy

Well, I wish I could say that, during this recent little bloggy break, I'd been off ending world hunger or even doing productive work, like Topsy-Techie. But the truth is, Ben and I have been watching Battlestar Galactica, whose final season came out on DVD last Tuesday, and even when we weren't watching it, we were analyzing recent developments or endlessly predicting what was going to happen next. It's been difficult to remember that we have children to care for, jobs to get to, and vegetables to put up for winter, what with our obsession about this amazing show. Fortunately, we have watched the whole thing now and can get back to real life!

Even with all our watching of Battlestar, other things have been going on recently too. First, each boy spent a week being totally spoiled by their Grandma, going to favorite museums, eating dessert every night, and staying up late. Isn't that neat? (Thanks, Grandma!) It was kind of cool to have the other one at home with us all by himself, too, it gave us some rare one-on-one time. During Luke's visit to Camp Grandma (as we called it), Owen and I did little-boy stuff, like going to the zoo:

From summer 09

And during Owen's visit to Camp Grandma, Luke and I did bigger-boy - and more sedentary - things together, like reading:

From summer 09

Notice the tea-mug on the chair; I guess I've passed on my love for the combination of books and tea.

It was so nice to do things with each of them that we might not get to do with both of them.

Also, summer means birthdays in our house - first, Owen turned FIVE years old this year! How is it possible that my baby was born five years ago already?

From summer 09

At our favorite thrift shop, I found a Wilton kit for making super-hero birthday cakes, a boon in a year where Owen can't get enough super-hero play. Luke's obsession with dinosaurs endures, even into his ninth year:

From summer 09

Also, Ben got rolling (so to speak) on the chicken tractor:

From summer 09

So now our girls have a way to get out and see the world - our little corner of it, anyway.

Now, if you can imagine doing all these things in the real world, but never quite leaving the Battlestar Galactica universe, either, you will have my mindset over these last few weeks. It is such a great show, but I have to say: it's also nice to resume normal life again.