Footprints on the Fridge

Wordless Wednesday: Baby Bryce Edition

 

 

 

He's Here!

I am so thrilled to be able to hack into this boy blog and announce that Bryce Philip has joined the blessed band of brothers!
He weighs 8 pounds, 8 ounces and is over 20 inches long. He has blond hair and blue eyes.  The report from the hospital is that surgery went beautifully.

We are pretty tickled here in Virginia and eagerly awaiting the posting of pictures.
Praise God for this little miracle man!
St. Philip Neri, pray for us!

~Elizabeth

The View From Where I Stand...

is all belly!

Yesterday, after an afternoon trip to the nail salon for a little pampering, I posted on Facebook that I was feeling "pink pedicure pretty."  My oldest brother, in a joke only he could get away with, asked if I could actually see said pedicure or if others were just assuring me it was there.  I, true to form, responded like the baby of the family and told him I was going to tell our mom.  In all honesty though, I do like my pink toes, it just requires a little effort to get the pink belly out of the way so I can enjoy them.

But I can see them and they are pretty!

And I'm actually still feeling really great and enjoying being this pregnant, except at night when heartburn takes the place of sleep and I get a full aerobic workout on my bathroom runs.  

 See, very pregnant, but still smiling!

And all that nesting mania that I know you all have been chuckling over the past couple of weeks?  It has paid off.  Other than cleaning the car out and re-engineering the car seat arrangement, we are ready to welcome this wee one next Tuesday, on the feast of St. Philip Neri.

Ready for our newest passenger

 The baby pampering station in my bedroom!

 

 And my new girly-girl suitcase, just about packed, with all my favorite things--

(that post coming soon!)

Watercoloring the Seasons

 Magnolias in May by Mom

I love to watercolor with the kids.  Every time we make it happen, the results are beautiful and satisfying.  I used to be able to let the "art mood" just strike and when it did, I'd put everything aside and immerse us in the moment.  It happened regularly enough that art got its due attention in this house.  But with a growing group of children in this house, a wider variation in age ranges, and a baby on the way, I have found myself less and less able to let the art mood just strike when it will.  I think about it, then am reluctant to give up the chore time, or want to wait until little ones are napping and then am too tired myself, or open the supply cabinet and all my energy wanes at the thought of breaking everything out and then putting it all away again.

I'm disappointed in myself for feeling this way.  I've always been the mom to encourage creative exploration, no matter how messy.  I've always been willing to cast off the plan when the day demands we focus on beauty instead.  My family tends to have a lot of natural artistic ability and my kids show signs of the same tendencies.  I want them to express themselves artistically as much as possible.  Creativity is woven into much of our daily learning, with the focus we keep on main lesson book work, narration, and using lovely mediums to display what we are learning.  However, I  am recommiting myself to art for art's sake, as a way to connect with the beauty in the world around us and make a conscious effort to portray that beauty using the abilities God has given us. 

So I have planned a combined art and nature block for the next year in which we spend our Friday mornings watercoloring the seasons.  We'll focus on a particular subject each month, and each week vary the technique and colors we use to portray that topic.  My plan is to bind each child's work into a book of his own at the end of the year.  I think a placing this focus as part of our learning plans will help me stay more committed to it, and if the boys like it as I expect they will and come to expect it, they won't let me off the hook.  And even if we skip a week here and there, they'll still produce a nice body of work to display in the end.

Magnolias in May by Quinn, 10

Here are my monthly plans (I'm listing them beginning in August, because that's how our school year rotation is planned, but I hope to start before then):

August: Sand and Seashells

1. Wet on Wet: Brown, Pink, Yellow
2. Creating Texture with Splatters
3. Sketching Shells
4. Painting Shells and Sand Background

September: Apples

1. Wet on Wet: Reds and Greens
2. Developing Dimension, Roundness
3. Still Life Sketching, bowl of apples
4. Still Life Painting

October: Fall Leaves

1. Wet on Wet: Yellows, Oranges, Reds
2. Creating Detail: Leaf Veins and Stems
3. Sketching Leaves Close-Up
4. Painting Leaves

November: Pumpkins and Gourds

1. Wet on Wet: Orange
2. Focus on Defining Detail with One Color
3. Sketching the Pumpkin Pile
4. Painting the Pumpkin Pile

December: Conifers and Evergreens

1. Wet on Wet: Greens and Browns
2. Creating Linear Shapes, needles and branches
3. Sketching the Trees at the Tree Farm
4. Painting Christmas Trees

Magnolias in May by Gabriel, 8

January: Winter Landscapes

1. Wet on Wet: Whites, Grays, Light Blue
2. Creating Depth with a Horizon Line
3. Sketching the Woods in Winter
4. Painting the Woods in Winter

February: Night Sky

1. Wet on Wet: Black
2. Adding Elements Over a Background, stars and moon in the sky
3. Painting the Night Sky Background
4. Adding Stars and Moon

March: Birds and Feathers

1. Wet on Wet: Pastels
2. Realism:  Imitating Audubon
3. Birdwatching and Sketching
4. Painting a Bird

April: Grass and Insects

1. Wet on Wet: Greens and Yellows
2. Combining Sketching and Washes
3. Painting a Grass Background
4. Sketching and Painting Insects Over Background

May: Flowers

1. Wet on Wet: Bright Colors
2. Looking More Closely: Imitating O'Keefe
3. Sketching Detail of A Flower
4. Painting a Flower

Magnolia Tree by Brendan, 5

 

Nesting: The Plan for Survival Mode

As part of this weekend's nesting mania, I redid our chore chart for the summer, thinking about some of the wisdom in Katherine's post here and the way life with our new baby will play itself out.  I am blessed this time around to have helpers lined up a few days a week for the summer.  And they are helpers who are fully capable of directing my children to complete their assigned tasks as well as  taking on a few of my jobs themselves.  I am grateful for that.  Nonetheless, life with a newborn will inevitably bring its share of "survival mode" days.  The chore chart is ready to go, printed and posted.  But my thoughts the last few days have been less about the days where we'll get it all done and more about the days where we'll just make it through. Life in a lrge family provides plenty of these days--early in pregnancies, the first months with a new born, days nursing sick kids, and weeks loaded with outside commitments. How can we survive those days without frustration and without letting go of all the habits we work so hard to form when we are clicking along through rhythmic, orderly days?

Here are the rules I have come up with for survival mode. 

Rule 1: Put the laundry on a schedule.  Elizabeth and I share a theory that "as the laundry goes, so goes the house."  In survival mode, the laundry is one of those things that is likely to fall woefully behind without a plan.  I try to keep a daily laundry routine in mind as we move through our week so that everything that needs to be laundered gets its due attention.  Making a weekly laundry schedule and committing to memory will be a huge help in survival mode.  The morning duty of sorting can be simplified by directing a child to go to the hampers and grab all of whatever item is up that day.  Folding and putting away is simplified by having one type of laundry in the basket.  And if you have a helper asking what she can do, you have a ready answer: " Could you wash a load of....?"  And when the day comes that no one touches the washer and dryer, you can count backwards and know exactly what you need to do to play catch up.  That eliminates the "this is all so overwhelming I just can't think about it right now" syndrome.  Here's what a week worth's of laundry looks like at our house:

• Monday: bed linens
• Tuesday: whites and light colored clothing, diapers
• Wednesday: bath and kitchen linens
• Thursday: dark and brightly colored clothing, ironing
• Friday: bath and kitchen linens, diapers
• Saturday: special care items, ironing
• Sunday: diapers, mending

I'll simplify for a few weeks after baby by using disposable diapers and skipping ironing and mending as needed.  Normally on a Monday, we'd not only wash sheets, but air out comforters in the sun for a few hours.  In baby mode, we'll settle for a quick spritzing with some lovely smelling linen spray I recently ordered along with my beeswax furniture polish.   

Rule Two: Keep the kitchen sink empty.  Try to be aware (or better yet, assign a child to be aware) of the next step in the dish cycle at all times.  Then when an offer of help presents itself, or you need to send a child off to do something productive, or you happen to have a quick five minutes, you know what to do.  I love the advice for homemaking to "do the next thing", except that when you're functioning in a sleep-deprived fog you often can't wrap your brain around what the next thing is.  If you can walk into the kitchen and assess quickly the next step in the dish cycle, you can actually make a big impact in a short time.

Rule Three: Stick to the Morning Swish and Swipe.  Keep some of those handy cleaning wipes near the bathroom sinks, a bottle of all purpose cleaner near the toilets, and some of that daily tub spray near the shower or tub.  Each morning get someone to wipe out the sink, swipe the brush through the toilet, and spray down the tub in each of the bathrooms in the house.  They'll still need a good scrubbing when life allows, but they'll stay fresh smelling and cleaner than filthy until you get to it.

Rule Four:  Work the quick pick-up system.  Put a system in place for tidying up quickly and easily.  In our house, it'll be the laundry basket system.  I'll put a laundry basket in the corner of each room, labeled for that room.  Each evening, the kids can head to assigned rooms and pick up everything lying around and toss it into the basket.  On a good day, the pick-up process can be: Gather dirty dishes and place in sink, throw away all trash, place all dirty clothes in a hamper, place the rest in the basket.  On a bad day, dump it all the basket.  On a good day, the pick up can be followed by a quick sweeping or vacuuming of the floor underneath, on bad day, not so much.  In the morning, the kids bring all the baskets to whereever mom finds herself with, and the items inside are sorted into the basket for the room where they belong.  The kids then take the baskets to the rooms and empty them.  If they don't know where an item goes, they leave it in the basket.  Mom can quickly put away on her next sweep through that room, dad can do it in the evening, or it can sit in the basket until the next morning when Mom can tell the child where to put it. 

Rule 5: The rest is the rest.  The last rule in survival mode is to realize all the rest of the things you would normally accomplish--dusting, mopping, scrubbing tubs--is the rest.  It will get done, eventually.  Dad will pick up the slack sometimes, days of miraculous cooperation from kids will appear unexpectedly, and angelic helpers in the form of friends will sweep through occasionally.  And then, soon enough, you'll wake up one morning with the energy to tackle more than just the basics, and get to work.  Until then, let the rest be the rest.

And I give you all permission to remind me of these words when I am feeling totally overwhelmed about a month from now.

Get Your Passports Ready

Can I tell you how excited I am to take off on our trip around the world at Serendipity?  I love the collaborative process of working with such gifted women and I am thrilled with the results.  Our school year is going to be so rich!  I can't wait to unpack the African treasure chest together and see what we find.  I hope you all will join us. 

For those of you beginning to flesh out the details and trying to get a vision for how this could work in your home, you can see my first attempt at laying out a week in my Google calendar in .pdf form here: Download Calendar_2009-05-10_2009-05-17.  There are already some things I want need to work on to get this plan exactly where I need it to be, but it's a good start.

I'm beginning to put together our continent boxes too.  I'm using black photo boxes like these for this project.  I'll back on outline map of the continent in colored card stock and decoupage it to the top, then slide a same-colored label on the front of the box.   The montessori downloads for that continent will get backed in the same color card stock before laminating and then placed in index card files.  I'm going to have to gather all my other items before I decide how exactly I'll keep them in the box and color code, so I'll give you a more detailed run down when the Africa box is ready to go.  If you need ideas for how this concept works, there is years worth of conversation and ideas logged at 4Real plus lots of links to really great examples.

This little table that I showed you in another post will become the montessori geography center.  I'm going to hang some art and photos low on the walls just above the table, then place a globe and the box for the continent that we are studying on top.  The small drawer will hold the appropriate puzzle map.  On the shelf underneath, I will place work trays similar to these with the  push pin tools and  a three part card tray.   During the montessori work block I have scheduled in the week, I'll have one child take the three part card work from the continent and the tray and bring it to the big table to work.  Another child will stay stationed here at the small table where to do map work.  A third child can take the rest of the contents of the box and the work tray to the large table and explore freely.  And finally, there'll be the option of geography computer games for yet another option.  As each child finished his work in one area, he can swap stations with someone else or move on to the open station at the time.  Our beeswax, wooden figures, and play silks will be available for anyone who is waiting for an open station.  Those can be used to sculpt the animals in the box, to imitate cultural dress styles, and to be painted or decorated like children from the continent we are studying.  Little ones will be allowed to explore the continent box and puzzle maps when older kids are done and to use the art supplies with the help of an older brother.  In addition, they will be encouraged to complete the work in their own montessori baskets during this time. 

I hope that gives you an idea of how one component of this study can look in your home.  I hope to add posts that detail some of our other learning blocks too, but they'll probably have to wait a while...the baby clock is in its final hours!

 

 

Nesting: A Summer Babymoon Meal Plan

Part of my nesting plans have been to get a simple, easy menu rotation together that will serve us throughout the summer.  I've tested what I've come up with over the last couple of weeks and the kids seem heartily satisfied, the shopping trip really is quite easy, and meal prep is quick and simple. My goal was to have a simple shopping list that could easily be handed off to someone else who offered to stop at the store for me, and a menu that could easily be prepared by Dad, a willing helper, or a Mom with a baby attached.  I think we have a plan that will work.  This morning I filed copies in both my kitchen companion and summer binders, and laminated a copy for the fridge.  Then I typed up the shopping list, put a copy in each binder, and printed twelve copies which are now in a page protector on the fridge, ready to be handed off to whoever will be doing the shopping in the weeks to come.  If time allows this weekend, I'll start some advance prep and freeze components of a lot of these meals to make things even simpler--taco meat already seasoned and brown, chicken legs already boiled, shrimp sauteed, perhaps I can even blend the sorbet and freeze it in individual portions.  But even if that ends up being wishful thinking, I know we can work this plan for the summer and that makes me one satisfied nesting mom.

If I can figure out how, I'll make a pdf of the plan and the shopping list for here.  But just in case, here's the run down (sans the really cute header that for some reason won't paste into typepad):

Breakfast Rotation:

·         Bacon, Egg and Cheese on Toast

·         Bagels with PBJ, fruit

·         Granola, yogurt, and berries

·         Sausage biscuits

·         Ham and egg in crescent braid

Lunch Rotation:

·         English muffin pizzas, carrots and celery with Ranch

·         Mac n cheese with ham, apples and PB

·         Grilled turkey sandwiches, snack crackers, peppers with hummus

·         Baked beans with sausage, watermelon

·         Chili dogs, salad, grapes

Dinner Rotation:

·         Meatball Marinara Subs, Caesar Salad, Berries and Cream

·         Shrimp Parmesan Pasta, Spinach Salad, Sorbet

·         Tacos in Dipped Corn Tortillas, Corn on the Cob, Spanish Rice (Guacamole, Salsa etc…)

·         Grilled Honey Chicken Thighs,  Roasted Potatoes, Broccoli and Cheese

·         Chicken and Spaghetti, Peas, Green Salad, Italian Bread

·         Grilled Steaks, Baked Potatoes, Squash

·         Pork Kebobs, Fried Rice, Green Beans

Counting Down and Looking Back

We are in our final days until the arrival our little one.  If all goes as planned, he should make his way into the world on May 26th.  I am in nesting mania.  To-do lists for gathering the final baby items, packing the bags, making arrangements for the other kids, grocery shopping and meals are made.  Cleaning and home management tasks are mapped out.  A phone tree flow-chart has been created.  And, of course, there are book lists made and baskets waiting to be filled with library requests that have already been processed.

You see, I think the one thing that makes transitioning to life with a new baby easier is restoring your family's rhythm in whatever ways you can.  Post c-section moms cannot do so immediately by stepping into the kitchen and whipping up a warm meal or resuming laundry duties right away.  We can, however, find familiarity and warmth in welcoming little ones to our side and sharing a beautiful picture book while the newest member of our family naps and nurses at mommy's breast.  Full book baskets are a part of who we are in this house, one part of us that adding a new baby does not have to disrupt. 

It was important to me in this last trimester to go back and look at my plans from the beginning of the year and see how far we've gotten, to assess where we still need to go.  I plan the year with a full calendar year in mind from August to August, not a school year mindset.  We take long breaks in the fall for camping and vacations, and slow the pace considerably during Advent, then live a relaxed but productive schedule in the summer months.  Since we began in earnest in August, I still have two solid months before me to wrap up my goals for this year.  In early April, I reviewed and set up scaled back goals for the rest of the months of our year.  I slowed the pace to third trimester energy levels, left space for our babymoon, and then filled the lazy days of summer with simple plans to keep us occupied while we take refuge from Louisiana's heat in the A/C. 

The most satisfying aspect of that review was seeing how the well-laid plans of last summer unfolded before us this year.  Sure, there was tweaking, adapting, changing.  We definitely let some things go and scaled back our expectations in others.  But all in all, the plan served us well.  This makes me particularly satisfied because my brain is in hyperdrive getting a solid foundation for the new school year that we will begin in Mid-August.  I have wondered if it was a poor use of my energies over these last few weeks, but looking back has let me see that planning to educate my children in the heart of my home is my passion.  It inspires me in all the other areas of my motherly duties, it gives me a framework for the days that lie ahead, and makes life seem manageable.  With a plan in place and the big picture in mind, I feel less overwhelmed by the marathon of a life I am running.  It puts the value of my children's childhood in perspective for me and reminds me of the lovely gifts we have to share with one another.  A plan for their education is a healing balm to the heart of this mother who wonders how we will all adjust to life with three babies three and under.  It is an assurance that the big brothers will still be immersed in the wonder of childhood for the year the come, in the richness of their faith, and in the culture of our family.  That's some pretty good nesting inspiration, no?

So here's how we'll wrap up this summer and bid adieu to one set of plans and welcome the new life a baby and a new focus will breathe into our home.  The kids are working steadily through their core subjects and are on track to have finished up their proposed Math and Language Arts goals by the beginning of August.  Their books and assignments have been noted so they know exactly where they need to be come week's end each week from now until August (They have been granted two weeks of baby moon privileges in the beginning of June.)

We set out to tackle Greek myths as our literature focus this year.  Initially my plans were to accomplish two large learning blocks a day, one morning and one afternoon.  It turned out switching focus like that over the course of the day was more demanding than enjoyable, and I began instead reading the Mythology stories at bed time.  A practice was born that I am firmly convinced is a great gift to our family: we'll spend our learning blocks during the days focused on history, science, and the arts, and each year we'll choose a literary focus and plan a bed-time reading list.  Then I'm assured some of the most precious moments of our days are filled with fodder for good memories, deep discussions, and intellectual inspiration.  It has worked beautifully for the better part of this school year.

We have made our way through a great number of picture book versions of mythological stories, great retellings of the Greek epics, lovely overviews of the gods and goddesses featured in our tales, and Quinn has devoured all of D'Aulaire's Greek Myths, Mary Pope Osborne's Tales from the Odyssey, the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series, and the Jane Yolen Young Heroes series.  We'll finish up our last stack of picture books this week and bid goodbye to the heroes and stories of the last year. 

It seemed a no-brainer to tie in an astronomy focus with a mythology one, so we spent our science blocks getting to know the night sky this year.  We have created a main lesson book that details the main constellations and features of the night sky for each month of the year, following the lead of 365 Starry Nights and learning more about each constellation through some great picture books.  We have completed intensive book lists and lesson pages on stars, the moon, and the sun.  We have read great poetry and enjoyed many star-gazing nights.  In June, the book basket next to my nursing chair will be filled with lovely picture books that feature astronomers and astronauts as well as the story of space exploration.  In July and early August, we'll wrap up those plans with a concentration on the solar system.

This year in history, we continued our journey through American history, beginning with the War of 1812 book list and moving on to the Alamo.  We even took little treks to New Orleans and San Antonio to bring those studies to life.  We spent the beginning of 2009 emersed in the days of covered wagons, ponies that ran like the wind, and the exciting discovery of gold in them thar hills.  We followed elections and inaugurations with interest, and learned a bit about how our democracy works in the process.  We've spent the spring immersed in the beauty of the art, culture, and legends of the Native Americans and will wrap that trail up in the next week.  We'll spend the summer reliving Civil War days through lovely stories and exciting field trips.  Actually, the first one is under way.  Greg and the older boys left to camp here today.  When we've made our way through that era, we'll change our focus to an exciting trot around the globe for a couple of years, then come back and spend a year immersed in modern history all before Quinn begins high school.  That's a pretty solid foundation for his high school studies, I think.

I'm planning to create a photo album where I can save for myself a record of the First Communion preparations we did this year as well as the unit on the Mass I hope to complete later this summer, but in addition to those plans, we worked our way through the liturgical year and a wide array of inspiring saints' stories this year.  We enjoyed getting to know St. Paul in the year dedicated to him, and revisiting family traditions that mark the seasons of our lives with the beauty of our faith.

When nature study, art, and poetry began to vie for space in the schedule and the time to focus on planning to keep little hands occupied began to elude me, we worked on a learning room revamp and style change that is still serving us well.  I think we'll keep down this path for the days and months to come. 

I hope you understand that much of the point of this post was record-keeping for me, and that I have not bored you to death with the story of our year.  Looking back helps me look forward with passion and purpose, and make the best use of these to-do list days that I can.  I look forward to a summer where we relax into a rhythm of long nursing sessions, read-alouds, and afternoon refuge from the heat with warm beeswax stories to tell.  And I look forward to hitting a new stride in mid-August, sweet little one safely installed into the ranks of the band of brothers and life returning to brisk pace of living, loving, and learning in the heart of home.  It is with hope and faith that I do so, for I know this life we are called to live in the one designed for us by our Heavenly Father and I know that living His life in Him does not disappoint.