At Home…in Alaska

Archive for November, 2003

I haven’t been here for a while… Business and homeschool lessons have been keeping us busy mostly. I throw in a little housework now and then. On the morning of the 20th, I discovered Q. seventh tooth was in. I’m pretty sure it actually poked through the day before by the look of it. He had been acting crabby but I just didn’t think to check until then. His fussiness was also an indicator of illness…poor baby came down with something that caused fever, rash, etc. So, this last week he was just miserable. His wanting to be held and nursed frequently on top of everything else listed above didn’t leave any leeway for anything else.

We had a bit of excitement Tues. (Nov. 25th) morning…as everyone was getting up and busy with their morning work, I came over to my desk to turn on the computer and out of the corner of my eye I saw movement out the window. Thinking it was one of our cats or a neighbor dog or something, I wasn’t going to look out. Well, I did…and there was a coyote standing there with a big snowshoe hare in his mouth! I’ve seen coyotes before but never this close! And, with his breakfast to boot! Anyway, it my rush to find a camera, everyone realized *something* was up and went running to the window to look. He proceeded to our raspberry patch (startled by the commotion at the window) and into the bushes…the view of which is partially blocked by one of our vehicles. About a minute later he came out again, minus the rabbit, and trotted across the street and down the neighboring subdivisions road. Cool! All the years I lived more rurally, we never had wildlife so close to our house doing “it’s thing.” Probably because with acres and acres and acres of forest around us they didn’t have to (duh!)!!! The children keep hoping he’ll come back…which is more than I can say about the bears…they are glad the bears are hibernating! lol Oh yes, and winter has returned to Alaska. We are back to normal weatherwise and have plenty of snow now thank you very much!

Well, the snow is here…to stay. Started snowing Mon. about 10:15am or so and snowed all day. Sometimes heavy. Sometimes light. Didn’t quit until Tues. afternoon. Approx. 6″ fell. The sky cleared up a bit through Tues. night and then the snow started again Wed. mid-morning. It snowed straight through into Thurs. Again, sometimes heavy but mostly just a slight steady fall. I’d say we ended up with a foot or a little over. The children were so excited that the Head Teacher declared Wed. a “snow day.” They played outside most of the afternoon and into the evening coming in a few times to warm up and then head back out. Yesterday, after the snow stopped, the temp. dropped into the hi ‘teens so nobody went out. Spent the day reading mostly which gave the Head Teacher time to work on a computer problem (which is now successfully resolved). So, we have a bit of catching up to do with our housework and homework…not necessarily in that order. (Side note: I didn’t complete the lesson plans as much as I would like but I did add a couple of things more so we’re picking up the pace. I have to remember that this is the busiest time for me right now…three who are still heavily dependent on one-on-one time learning all the basic skills of phonics and early math, etc. More independent work and “enrichment” will come. I just need to exercise patience! So, I took a deep breath or two or three while planning and I’m ok now with what’s happening in this area! Plus, throw a toddler and new baby in and whew! I gave myself permission to be easier on myself. ;-)) I didn’t get anything done to speak of Wed. because it was spent getting the winter gear sorted all morning…who has outgrown what, what fits who, etc., etc. … then mopping up water, fixing mittens and boots, helping undress/dress children who need potty breaks, etc. …in between cooking breakfast, lunch and dinner. Those and cleaning up the kitchen afterwards seemed to be all that was accomplished workwise…maybe a load of laundry or two also…funny how you can forget… But, you know what? Looking back on it, I see that I did do what was most important…helping/serving my children! Anyway, a busy day today.

Oh, before I go, Q. definitely has the regular crawling thing down pat. He now ventures past the living room into the hall or kitchen looking for Mama. So sweet! He also is really intent on standing…he still does the “crab” crawl occasionally and bear walk stance is getting steadier. He also crawls over to [insert piece of furniture] and lifts/pulls/steadys himself on his knees holding on to it with both hands. When he’s done the crab crawl over there, he looks just about ready to stand on both feet. Sigh

Ok, off to start this busy day.

My dh slept in this morning. While sleeping, he let out this loud, deep cough. Our 5 yr olds response, “What was *that*? A Hephalump?!”…lots of giggling all round…
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Rain, rain and more rain. Guess I’m getting my wish…a Fall/Early winter like last years. At the risk of sounding weird, I think it’s a polar shift. Welcome to the Alaskan Tropics! Whatever the reasons, I’m glad it’s happening. We just aren’t prepared for winter in several ways. Ah, the mercies of God!
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Oh, one more thing. I have had the honor of being listed in two other ladies’ blog “reads.” I need to recipricate. Shame on me for being lazy and not listing my favs sooner. Add selfish too, keeping all the fun to myself…. tsk tsk. So, keep an eye out for my “reads” list in the right margin soon.
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Sigh. And, I guess there is one more thing. Below is a post from Nov. 6th I had saved it as a draft until I had the correct link and now Blogger won’t put it in order for me. It’s driving me crazy to have it listed “after” the 5th or before the 8th (today) so I’m cutting-n-pasting it here so it’s in the order *I* want. I played with republishing the archives and a couple other things and I give up. I’m a busy gal and this will work just fine…

Thursday, November 6, 2003
6:45am
Amongst other things…

M. is doing division and cursive.
B. is doing double digit math w/ regrouping.
C. is learning to read.
E. loves to count and is getting a handle on the alphabet.

I feel accomplished! It’s so wonderful being my childrens’ teacher!

That said, here’s an article I wrote (in collaboration w/ dh) for our state homeschool assoc. newsletter:
APHEA Network News

Hasta luego!

ps - of course, they aren’t doing these things this early in the morning! still sawing those logs they are! just thinking ahead in the day before me…and the weekend too. i’ve been kind of winging half of our lessons…half of my lesson plans are filled out and the other half has been stalled due to preoccupation with other things. the three r’s are being covered (well, writing could be beefed up a bit) but we need some “enrichment” too. so, i plan on finishing my lesson plans through dec. this coming weekend.

Ok, I just left the baby in his crib to come blog. Yes, it’s late but I had some things I wanted to get done and he apparently wanted to keep me company. It’s a portable one that we have set up next to our bed. He still snuggles with us a good 60-70% of the time…it’s been a gradual weaning process. Our first two just graduated into twin beds when they were old enough but since number three we’ve had the portable as an option. She was major fidget-girl practically from birth and so around 6 or 7 months we “gave in” and lo and behold almost from day one we all slept better. It was like immediate relief to her…and thus to us. So, at about the same age we’ve done similar w/ our last two…actually, still in the process (obviously) with #5. It’s been about a month now and he settles down pretty quickly. At this age, they still wake up in the wee hours for a “snack” and stay with us for the rest of the sleep period. Anyway, right now he’s down there wrestling w/ Larry…Larry the Cucumber…of Veggie Tales fame. I think he might identify with Larry’s almost tooth-less smile (for those who don’t know, Larry only has one tooth)! LOL His dear siblings put each of their different V.T. characters into his crib one day and he’s been drawn to Larry the most. Bob is second string and Laura and Jr. hardly get a glance. Strains of “Heeello”, “Have you seen my hairbrush?”, and “I’m not a pickle…I’m a cucumber” are floating up the stairs… Before you all tsk tsk me, I did rock him and sing Jesus Loves Me and Amazing Grace before I laid him in there so he did have a more positive imput just before slumber…but Larry was just there lying in wait and I just couldn’t wrench him from my dear baby’s grasp now could I? LOL

So, it’s been a while since I was here. Been preoccupied with some other things lately. Just haven’t felt very talkative. Here I am finally and I seem to be doing a good job of filling space! LOL
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Before I leave the subject of our dear baby, I need to record some milestones for posterity:

Nov. 1rst (last Sat.) - Q.’s 6th tooth finally, finally, finally poked through. For days upon days it hung out just below the surface of the gum. You could see it’s white edge it was just *right there.* Poor thing. For a few days, rubbing his gum brought relief. But a couple of days before it emerged, you could tell it hurt and he refused to let me touch it. I only tried a couple of times and got the hint real fast! I read in a novel around the turn of the century that they used to lance the gums. It didn’t give the reason…it was a given for the audience of the time to know. I’d never heard of it before. They must have thought it helped the tooth emerge faster? Kind of cleared the way so to speak? Seems to me that a tooth will come just as fast as it was meant to…no more or less. At any rate, I’m glad it’s not a commonly done thing these days.

Nov. 1rst - Q. also was introduced to the sippy cup for the first time. He’s watched us drink countless times of course and so, after being shown to grasp the handles, he knew to put his mouth on it and suck. Of course, tipping it back was not so quickly realized and attempts to show him only frustrated him. So, we left him alone and somewhere in the space of a few minutes I think he got a slurp or two in but mostly got wet clothing. So sweet!

Nov. 2nd - Regular crawling has kicked in a little more for Q. I think our wood floors are a little too hard on his knees though. He is modifying it to the “crab” crawl. He is putting his right foot flat on the floor and “scootching” sideways. So…hands, one knee and one foot…scootch sideways… Anyone have the mental picture? Really adorable! But, sniff, not only that, he also pushed up on hands and both feet!!! You know, the Bear Walk position! He’s only 7 months and he’s already trying to stand!!! I can clap and praise him but also see my baby slipping by toooo fast!

Nov. 3rd - Q. manuvered himself into a sitting position for the first time! He’s been sitting up for a while but this time put himself there all on his own! Boy, was he beaming for the clapping he received for that.
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The Matrix: Revisited

My disappointment has cooled…not gone away completely….but cooled. In fact, it had I little while after I posted about it the first time. I have a more tempered response at Marysue’s blog. Actually, I’m kind of surprised how interested I am in these movies. Never was one to go “ga-ga” over singers, actors, etc. even in high school. In fact, I couldn’t have even told you who was who, who was popular, etc. at the time. My husband gets a kick out of quizzing me on bands, singers and such. Ok, ok…I can guess the Beattles pretty accurately…but who couldn’t?! LOL His favorite response is, “Well, weren’t they during your “time?” (He’s 4 1/2 yrs older than me so there is a *slight* musical gap.) That’s something he’s interested in and I’m not. It sticks for him and not me. Back to the point, it’s the first time I’ve had such a knee-jerk reaction to “entertainment.” I’ll try not to let it happen again! LOL I am ready to see how it concludes though…so bring on the Revolution(s)! It’s been a really looooong time since we been on a “date” so I’ve even contemplated stepping foot in a theatre for it! We’ll see…
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Something to laugh about…

The girls and I laughed uproariously over this this evening! Of course, there are deeper meanings for older readers… That’s one of the things I love about A. A. Milnes writings. True pleasures for family read-aloud time. (Actually, this evening was “girls night”…E. was bonding in the garage w/ Daddy. )

That about does it for me tonight…

Ta-ta for now!