Knock Me Over with a Feather

Longtime readers of my blogs probably know that as a part of Miss Dog Lover's (dis)ability she does not like idioms. As in Does Not Like them.

Years ago I posted on a blog (now seemingly lost in cyberspace) about her hatred of standard idioms but the irony of her creating a few of her own... she used to announce some people were "dumb as a bug" or "stubborn as a pickle on a leaf." There was also one about turkeys in soup, though I am hardpressed to remember what that related to. (Miss Language? Do you recall?)

A favorite story is Miss Dog Lover having a developmental evaluation done with a new doc. He started asking her, "If I were to say to you, what does it mean to be tickled pink..." and she stopped him, saying, "No. This is about idioms, right? I don't do idioms." The doc looked surprised but checked a box on his form and moved on to the next item.

Anyhow.

We have a new development in idiomland. We added a small kitty to our household and Miss Dog Lover has an allergy history with them. Well, although kitty is outside, Miss Dog Lover has been loving on her just as if she were a dog and the result is that Miss DL is now on a hefty course of steroids and we are seeing if she can control her loving on or if kitty will have to go. But the steroids seem to have an activating effect on some language center. The first night sleep was elusive so we added benedryl. The next morning Miss DL reported she had "slept like a baby." I was flabbergasted that she used an idiom and she laughed and told me that she was just "on cloud nine" because of a good night's rest. 

Amazing.

Fungi Day

Today Devastatingly Handsome, Miss Dog Lover, Miss Dog, and I took a walk through our woods and carried along a picnic for our lunch. It was a beautiful day, cool for July but pleasant. It rained for maybe three minutes, tops, perfectly timed, while we were eating lunch in the shelter. 

It turned out to be what I declared fungi day. 

Here is a picture of my "fun guy" along with the girls: 

And here are some of the other fungi we saw... a pretty red toadstool of some sort... I am pretty sure there were fairies nearby...

there were lots and lots of Indian pipes... is it still pc to call them that? I may have to go back and see if I can get a decent photo... 

pretty sure some sort of (very small) alien came out of this ship cleverly disguised as a puffball...

and these fellows really were purple... if I can find them again I will turn off the flash and see if it shows that way...

"And God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.” And it was so. The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the third day." ~ Genesis 1:11-13

Too Easy

Miss Language shared a 7 minute workout with us and I decided to give it a try because, really, how hard can anything be that only runs as long as about two youtube videos?
So Monday I asked Miss Dog Lover if she wanted to join me for it and her answer gave me my first inkling that it may not be as painless as I was thinking. She told me she didn't want to do it because "it's too easy."

I have a theory that Screwtape could have written a letter to Wormwood about the advantages of teaching humans not to bother with doing things that are "too easy" but saving their strength for the Big, Important Work.

Not to jot out a thank you or get well note, much too easy. Not to bother with a simple kindness at home. Not to do the easy work of memorizing a verse, or of praying for someone in need. Not to hold your tongue or your temper. Because all of these are Too Easy, and really not worth doing.

And what do you know, those 7 minutes are not actually as easy to do as they are to think about.  :-P

Extra Time

Our state requires standardized testing of homeschooled students every few years and today was the day for Mr Music to go. This gave me a quiet day, with Miss Dog Lover as the only student currently enrolled, so I had a bit of time. That is a good thing.

I had time to call and talk to my Mum.  <3

I had time to watch the birds who are new arrivals for the winter.

I had time to sharpen all my colored pencils that I use for Bible marking. I started using Kay Arthur study books and have taken her marking system to a new level. This works for me because I like coloring, and it slows me down and makes me think about what I am reading.

And this evening Devastatingly Handsome and I had time to try to find an old-style piece of blotting paper and have ice cream sundaes together. :)

Pretty Sure She Learned This from The Princess Bride

Ya gotta love Miss Dog Lover. What she lacks in clarity on how language and the (much overrated) Real World work, she makes up for in intensity and effort. 

Case in point, the other day we were in the car on our way back from errands, when she starts talking about a papercut she picked up. She tends to go on and on obsess talk a lot about any injuries and what treatment may be required. I tell her we will wash the paper cut up and take a look when we get home. She makes a dramatic noise and tells me it really hurts. I tell her we will wash it up and take a look. Soon. She makes a dramatic noise and tells me she did not mean to get such a bad papercut. I tell her I will wash it up and put some triple antibiotic on it as soon as I get to the sink. 

And then she starts saying, "Lemon juice! Lemon juice is good for paper cuts, right? Do you have lemon juice? I will just rub some lemon juice on it and it will be all better, right?" while I am trying to break in and tell her, actually, no, lemon juice is not the way to go.

New View

I had the opportunity to view the world from a new vantage point for just about 24 hours. I had a little run in with chest pain and the doc decided this called for brief vacation from the bananalets whilst being under observation at the hospital. Everything came back good thus far :) and hence the random observations.


First: I am now convinced ER people can tell homeschoolers from non-homeschoolers. In our old town, way back when Miss Dog Lover was a tot, she took frequent visits to their nebulizer in the interest of keeping breathing. The triage nurse there asked me if I was a homeschooling mom. Yes, how did he know? He knew because, he said, I knew everything about my kids off the top of my head. And the triage nurse here asked me, too, though I had no kids whatsoever in tow. (I admit to doing a quick scan to make sure I was not wearing a denim jumper or lugging any textbooks.) How did she know, I asked? Well, she said, when she asked if I was short of breath, I said, maybe just a little when I am reading long chapters (we are on Lewis's Space Trilogy now). Isn't that sad? Reading aloud with your kids, one of the greatest joys, is maybe almost unique to homeschoolers? No wonder more people don't homeschool, they don't know what fun they're missing.


And second: My room was right outside the nurse's station and the floor was pretty quiet so I heard an awful lot of chit-chat between very nice, educated, mostly middle-aged women. And these women need Jesus. They were talking about drinking. And boyfriends. And what they would do for fun on the weekend. And how much reading Shades of Grey makes her happy. I am so often surrounded by Christian, churchified friends, that I really forget that perfectly nice, solid citizens around me, are starving for Christ. I am glad to have had a reminder and hope to figure out ways to remember that don't involve IVs.


In the meantime, please pray for Billy Jo, and Tammy, and Sue, and Casey, and Joyce, and Kiley, and my doctor. They took good care of me and I hope my Father will take care of them.

Dining Out at Its Best

Today was our evaluations day so the homeschool year is all but done for us. To celebrate, Devastatingly Handsome took us out for dinner. We greatly enjoyed it ~ but I have to admit ~ sometimes I think maybe we don't get out enough: Miss Dog Lover fingered the creamer cups and said, "Wow! Free drinks, too!"

Sample Day at Wal*Mart

Miss Dog Lover and I ran to Wal*Mart for summerific foods: yogurt and Celestial Seasons Perfectly Peach for making iced tea. 


The sample lady was there. 


She had some sort of new jolly ranchers but I do not like green apple or cherry so they do not even get upper case from me. Miss Dog Lover took a green apple but forgot to eat it and is not sure where it is.


She also had some sort of funky cole slaw made with some "cooking cream" I had never heard of but suspect may not be what I consider a real food. I did not look at the ingredient list so please do not sue me if it lists real food instead of chemicals. Anyhow.


We tried the slaw in little plastic cups. And the sample lady gave us the smallest sporks I've ever seen, so I saved them. My Mum is a fan of The Owl and the Pussycat so we always  called sporks "runcible spoons." Photo below: pen included for scale and monkey for yellow funness.  :)

Do you think these would make great earrings? 

Summer Break and Our Brains are Nowhere to be Found

Miss Language: *hiccup* I have no idea why I have hiccups.


Miss Dog Lover: Because you love me. Or because you don't eat enough sugar.


Miss Language: *hiccup*

(not) Busy

I am not doing a resolution per se this year but I am finding my self thinking about the word busy. We are getting our, uh,  somewhat late Christmas letter ready to go out, and I have determined to not use that four-letter word.


So, some of my thoughts.
~~~
Nothing in Scripture supports an assumption of our culture: that the busier you are, the more important you are (what does being "more important" even mean when we are all like slugs, albeit beloved slugs, made in the image of the Holy God?). 


The ESV uses the word only a few times ~ once as a passing excuse in I Kings 20:40; twice in reference to being busy with "wicked deeds" or "iniquity" (Psalm 141:4 and Isaiah 32:6); once contrasting being "busy at work" with being "busybodies" (II Thessalonians 3:11); and twice in Ecclesiastes (1:13 and 3:10), where the poet says he has seen the "business that God has given the children of man to be busy with." 
~~~
Maybe "busy" is just what we do in our twenty-four hours a day. And everyone fills them in some way, so maybe we are all equally "busy." Maybe it implies productivity - but that idol cannot stand. 
~~~
Even the vegetables know that feeling busy does not solve anything or reflect the face of God, it only makes me unwilling to serve others and serves as an excuse for my failure.

I'm busy, busy, dreadfully busy
You've no idea what I have to do.
Busy, busy, shockingly busy
Much, much too busy for you.

~~~
And yes, as I was formatting that, Miss Dog Lover came asking me to fix her belt on the back of her top. I nearly said it. I nearly said: "I'm busy." Bleh.
~~~
Why do I wear busy like a badge of some sort of goodness? Jesus said in John 17:4 that HE had "accomplished the work" that God gave Him to do. Could it be possible I am so arrogant I think God has given me more to do than He gave the Christ?
~~~
Challenge to self: no more self-righteous being too busy to love God and the people He made in His image. Care to join me in 2012?

Lollipop Flowers

This week's art project was another fun one, and is found here. The flowers are based on the work of Friedensreich Hundertwasser (don't you feel bad for him when he had to learn to spell that name? No wonder he turned to art). 


Miss Dog Lover's has a splattery background:

I think I made my flowers a bit too small but I like the colors:

and I guess you can tell Mr Music had the Cheshire Cat on his mind: 

Art Class, Again

We finished our art projects, based on this post about Rizzo's style. 


Starting with Mr Music's salute to the Pierogie racers at the ballfield (notes: 1. Mr Music says it's not done and 2. I loved that my camera knew the eyes on the pierogie to the right were eyes):

Then Miss Dog Lover's awesome self-portrait:

and my alizarin crimson whale:

I am amazed when we do a project like this with clear instructions and end up with such different results. Creativity is a great thing.  :)

Where Does This Stuff Come From?

Mr Music has still not outgrown the continuous question stage. Two I liked recently:
* if you shoot caps off inside, can you start a fire? (I opted to not suggest experimentation as a good way to find out, despite the science lessons he is taking)
* Two bees are fighting. What should you do about it?


And Miss Dog Lover? Today she was explaining something about a dream:  when I see something in dreams I see the form but there’s black and white mixed in it. And when I try to eat it it has no taste so I know I’m asleep and I pinch myself and wake up and it works well.  (All I can say about that one is that her dreams make as much sense as mine.)

Sock It To Me

Mr Music, Miss Dog Lover, and I finally did a craft I copied from a blogland friend, called Sock Monkey Portraits. Doesn't even the name sound like fun? 

Ours are not as skillfully wrought or photographed as hers, but we had a good and silly time making them. 


First, let me introduce Miss Dog Lover's Bride Monkey. I love the way she made the gown:

Then, Mr Music's Pirates player #22, Andrew McCutchen. He was so clever about cutting up old ballfield programs and got the "22" from an old calendar:

and finally, my Mom Monkey:

Hope you have fun making some, too!

That Phase of the Moon

*disclaimer: this post makes no claims to hold any insight into life, the universe, or anything*


Miss Dog Lover, today, looking at the calendar, "Tonight we get a full moon."


Me, stirring oatmeal, "Yep."


Miss Dog Lover, "We keep getting full moons."


Me, "Pretty much every 28 days."


Miss Dog Lover, "They're nice."   :)

What is More Perfect Than a Day in June?

What? An evening in early September. When you can:
* walk the dog just as dusk is falling
* with a beloved daughter
* catch sight of the last few persistent fireflies who have outlived summer
and
* kick the apples that dropped from the neighbor's tree ahead of you as you go

Terrestrial

Just picked Miss Dog Lover up from her daycamp. She had quite a day and came home all giggly.


Seems the cute boy gave her his cantaloupe. She does not like cantaloupe. So she told the gossipy girl "that is very terrestrial of him" and returned it. The gossipy girl does not know what that word means (and frankly I am a bit loss by this use, too) but it apparently it is the wittiest thing anyone could say when being given undesired fruit.


And THEN. She and I were walking a lap around the track before we headed home. And one of the staff people said to Miss Dog Lover, "Is that your Mom? The two of you look just alike." Which made Miss Dog Lover ecstatic, as she came to us by adoption and always hopes people will think she was born to me. Her wish came true today, so of course we left the girl in ignorance of the facts.


What a day!

Veggieized

Surely we are not the only family that has been Veggieized?


VeggieTales were new when the Bananalets were little and so we know the oldest ones quite well. 


Every now and then I notice it. I cannot hear the story of the fall of Jericho without thinking about purple slushies. And today I told Miss Dog Lover she is loyal and she immediately responded with "Like a pea. 'The end.'"

Praying Our Geography

Teaching geography is one of those things that frustrates me in homeschool. I am not good at it. I believe in using maps to look things up and only know the barest outlines, which I consider in a constant state of flux, whether due to politics and war or earthquakes and other disasters shaking things up and making my hard-earned knowledge out-of-date.


But this year we hit on a simple system that I like. We have used the prayer calendar from Operation World at breakfast to give us the "country of the day" -- only actually, they each get three days, which is handy for weekends and days when we just don't get everything done. I am increasingly convinced of the importance of building in margin (not margarine, I use butter and olive oil, but margin). 


So, we look at the country of the day and mark it on an outline map in a little folder each Bananalet has. We also have a big world map hung in the dining room to help us out a bit. Then we read the corresponding entry in the Operation World book, summarizing where it gets a little dry. The big hit here is trying to guess what the per capita income in each country is when we get to that part in the entry. Miss Dance usually guesses low, Devastatingly Handsome just a bit high, Mr Music one dollar on one side of one of the two of them (so he often wins) and Miss Dog Lover looks over my shoulder to see if she can see it before guessing.  :-P


Then, we check these two wonderful books for entries on the country of the day or any of its people groups:


Window on the World

and


Material World

It has been a fun, relaxed approach to learning about the world, and has helped (at least me) to grow in gratitude for what God has given us here in Bananaland and to picture and pray for a wide variety of needs in other countries. 

Nutshell Reports on Two of the Bananalets

Thus far today two of my crew have said things that just summarize their existence at this point in time.


Miss Dog Lover, after a visit to the endocrinologist to check on her thyroid, "So, what he said, is, I'm mostly normal." Uuuh, well. Reminds me of Earth's entry in the Hitchhiker's Guide.  :)


and Mr Music read aloud his cheesestick wrapper at lunch, which said, "Tigers can eat up to 90 pounds at a time" and immediately added, "Wow! I wish I could do that!" By which I'm pretty sure he means not that he was able to do that, but that he was permitted to do so, just judging by how much food we are ploughing through here as his teens creep up on us.