Words and Wool

Part of my summer goals involves a good bit of knitting! Not only will the knitting provide relaxation, but also give me some necessary items for our trip later this summer.

I am making good progress on Ronnie the Fox. All pieces have been knit and I have begun sewing him together, which is always the fiddly, annoying part, but also very rewarding. Maybe by next week I'll have him finished!

I've also started a Wee Black Faced Sheep and he was super fast to knit so I'm actually already working on a cabled jumper for him. I just need to take time to sew him up!

And I'm back to sewing flowers for summer sales.

At our homeschool group's year end program my Knitting Club organized a sale to benefit World Vision and Voice of the Martyrs. They raised over $100! I'm so proud of them! And I enjoy our club times so much! I love working with girls.

As for books, here's what I've been reading:


How to Talk So Kids Will Listen & Listen So Kids Will Talk by Adele Faber and Elaine Mazlish is a great, practical book on interacting with your kids! Why have I never heard of it until now? (And thanks to Catherine for recommending it!) Some of the major points covered are: empathizing with your child's feelings, how to get cooperation, letting your child experience consequences, encouraging autonomy, praising your child, and avoiding labeling your child. The book is filled with helpful scenarios and ideas. I took notes and it is the kind of book that wouldn't hurt being read every year. Most certainly an aid toward raising your kids in love and nurture rather than frustration.

We Are Sisters (Dee Brestin's Series) by Dee Brestin was a follow up book to The Friendships of Women. The book not only applies to friendships among women in general but also specifically to female siblings. I would certainly recommend it.

The Second Mrs. Gioconda by E. L. Konigsburg is a children's book focusing on the life of Leonardo da Vinci from the viewpoint of one of his servant boys. It gives a good description of what life was like in Leonardo's world although I felt the plot was quite thin. However, the children still seemed to enjoy it and I think it served to etch Leonardo into their memories.

  Well Fed: Paleo Recipes for People Who Love to Eat. Thanks to my friend Jess for recommending this book! I LOVE it! I think I will plan to cook from it all summer long! Each meals consists of some sort of delicious meat/protein and a variety of vegetables. Our family adds one starch to our meals. So far, I don't think I've had any real complaining from the children and I've loved every recipe we've tried. The Czech meatballs are especially delicious!

All Creatures Great and Small by James Herriot. I've started showing the children this television series in preparation for our travels and so I thought I might pick this up and read it again. Who can resist heart-warming animal and people stories from the Yorkshire Dales!!

For more knitting and reading ideas, hop over to Ginny's Yarn Along.

Please note: this post contains affiliate links.

Our Deflating End of the School Year

Last week was our End of School Week! Boy was it crazy with all the "lasts". We had our last art class on Wednesday. We've all enjoyed the classes so much and learned a lot!

Here is one of my favorite pictures that James did:

And I love the sheep that Rachel invented! Isn't she so cute!!!!! (Also notice Melea's humming pony next door).

We celebrated the last day of school with a trip to the place where my mom resides. It is perfect for outdoor picnics and explorations!

It's like a little hidden park inside the gates.

We spent a relaxing afternoon enjoying the outdoors and kind of just puttering about.

Grandma let Laura do some painting at her work table.

Soccer finished up last week too. The boys had so much fun this spring, mostly because they got to play on teams with some good friends of theirs.

James' team was particularly fun because several of the children have recently arrived from Ethiopia where everyone is an expert soccer player. 

We also had our piano recital with Rachel, Andrew, and James each playing.

The best part of the recital is the last song where all of the students play along with their teacher. 

Here is the "final day of school" picture (in this version they were requested to make a serious face).

And here is the deflating part of our last day. Pulling into my mom's I completely gashed the front tire and it immediately made that horrible hissing noise and went flat. UGH! 

For a minute I thought our day was ruined but then when I really thought about it, this couldn't have happened in a better place, at a better time, etc. My mom had triple A who came to change our tire and in the end we arrived home at the exact minute I had planned to all day anyway! So, although the poor tire was completely deflated, I was thankful that the day ended well and the kids and I had a good laugh about hardships that happen even to adults and not just kids.

It's exciting to have school finished for the 2012-2013 year! It is a lot of work, and I usually spend part of each day wondering how things will work out and if my kids are learning enough. But looking at the big picture, we had a great year and studied some really cool things.

Mondays are for Grace

"Sometimes Christ walks through our crisis dressed in the best disguise of all: ordinary events.

He tucks a miracle in the fold of His robe and sweeps in and out unnoticed. 

Only in retrospect do we realize that a divine visitation graced our cold, crude winter 

and the resurrection of spring is on its way."

-- Beth Moore, Esther

The Tea Trolley

This week there was plenty on the tea-time agenda! One morning I attended a talk by a British woman who now lives in my town. She told about her own childhood in a tiny little English village and then launched into interesting bits about the history of tea in the western world. It was very enjoyable and we all got to try some of her homemade scones, conserves, and tea loaf. She also provided good English breakfast tea.

 I also met up for lunch and tea with my Lithuanian Knitting Club friends this week. We sat outside and enjoyed the scent of blooming lilacs.

As we were celebrating a birthday, there were presents. Check out this massive tin of Ceylon tea that was received by our hostess! I think I'm going to have to go get my own tin and try this!!!

At these gatherings we always get to enjoy Lithuanian rye bread and farmer's cheese. It is so delicious. A new thing to try this time was Lithuania's favorite soda. I was told it would taste like rye bread soaked in sugar water with fizz. Exactly! It actually paired nicely with the food on my plate!

And we had to have cake for the birthday lady!

And then there was our Mother's Day tea! I did manage to get a decent picture of the kids and myself!!!

There were 15 around the table at lunch and we made the middle stack of goodies completely gluten free!

We had four different teas going on the table (plus coffee for those who just can't tolerate much tea).

 By the time everyone had passed out flowers to everyone else the table looked like a garden!

Today is our very last day of school! We will have a full morning and then do something celebratory this afternoon before heading to the End of Year Program with our homeschool group! It has been a very full week! I'm looking forward to a few relaxing pots of tea this weekend!

The Tea Trolley Link Up:
-- Any post that is tea, coffee, or hot drink related
-- Link to this blog
-- Paste your link in the Mr. Linky below

Bits and Pieces

I don't think I ever posted this picture! Last summer James really wanted to plant carrots so I let him, even though I figured they wouldn't work. And they didn't. But, when we were preparing the garden for this year, guess what we found?!!!! A nice, big carrot for James!!! 

Our weeks have been in an archery, Bible study, soccer routine for the past few months. Tuesday we drive out to 4h archery for the older three to participate. Wednesday evenings finds me driving Rachel into town for her junior high Bible study, and Thursday finds us at the soccer fields for practice. This week is the last week of soccer and then we will just have archery and Bible study.

Laura is such a fun little person to hang out with these days. She was so excited that I took her to the grocery store on Saturday. Her favorite thing is to hang on the cart -- it makes her feel big. 

On Friday we had a most exciting happening!!!! Last fall we had some caterpillars make chrysallis'. One of the chrysallis' was brown and a friend told us it probably would over-winter. So I put it in the garage and thought about it everytime I walked past, all through the winter. I pulled it out a few weeks ago and we all waited to see if this would be a dud or if the butterfly might actually hatch. On Friday it HATCHED!!!! The whole family was so excited, the adults probably the most of all!!!! It was a family event to let the butterfly go.

Isn't he beautiful!!!!

Three more days of school left! We have our last art class this week, our final soccer games, our Year End program and our spring piano recital! Everything is happening at once. Monday I want at least one hour of peace and the ability to DO NOTHING.

Mondays are for Grace

"The grass is greener where you water it."

-- Neil Barringham

The Tea Trolley

The tea trolley has had a strangely quiet life this past week. There were the usual pots for Sunday afternoon, Bible study, and a pot I made for a long phone conversation with a friend. And of course there were the usual cups all throughout each day. But, as of yet, there has been nothing out of the ordinary to report. Perhaps that is nice.

I have been trying to enjoy my lovely lilac bush while it is in bloom. The scent of the blooms takes me immediately back to a childhood home and the hours my sister and I spent playing inside the large bush and in the grass with our dolls under its branches. The next time I buy perfume, I think it will have to be lilac.

There was an al fresco meal this week when just two children were home. It was an interesting experience to enjoy dinner as a foursome.

And finally there was a break for a few minutes one afternoon -- enough time for a cup of green tea and a light snack along with a book to peruse.

The weekend promises plenty of tea, including a special tea for mother's day! I'll tell you all about it next week!

The Tea Trolley Link Up:
-- Any post that is tea, coffee, or hot drink related
-- Link to this blog
-- Paste your link in the Mr. Linky below