jack and my mess

so, in a magic tree house book about cowboys there are lyrics to this old western song...
i made up a tune and jack LOVES this song..
it is SAD!!!!!
about a cowboy who looses his girl (what else? =))
anywho...he really wanted to figure it out on the violin, so we did with letters adn then we wanted to write the actual music...
so i showed him which notes go where and gave him a little code on the first lines and off he went!
i couldn't believe he stuck with it and figured out which notes went where!

now, our song isn't rocket science by ANY means =)
but just his interest was lovely to see...
he got a folder and now wants to have a collection of all his songs =)

and my mess!
so, i am teaching one day a week at the veritas classical schools and really loving it!
basically i teach one day of 1st and 2nd grade and then pace them out for the next 4 days and then reconvene a week later and teach again.
but if you have read this long, you know 2 things...1. i love projects and 2. i can't seem to do anything "a little"
so i spend so much time working on the lessons and reading the books...i love the curriculum and i love the kids (i only have 5)
so i have a space at the back of the house which is just piled with books and papers and ideas....=)

making a polymer!

called goop!
i am going to jack's class on friday to teach a science lesson...so was experimenting with some goop =)
borax, glue and water....makes silly putty and then rubber!

water color idea!

i found this blog the other day that showed great craft ideas...cant remember the name or i'd post it...
anywho....this mom takes tubes of water color and dabs a bit on top of watercolor paper and lets it dry (i used way too much here)
and then uses the sheet as watercolor pages!
just take a cup of water and go for it!
i have a favorite book of watercolors that we looked through and then tried to copy one....
such a neat idea to paint where close up it looks like just colors but far away you see the picture...
ahhhh...monet, you were a genius!

jack's mixture

he mixed sand, glue and flour...and we baked it a bit..and it is HARD
these are his axes of assorted sizes.
=)

seaside collages

we finally got out the shells from st george and made a collage...
jack carefully choosing his shells and drawing out pathways through the collection....esme making blue sand glue =)

insect dissection

we checked out compound eyes...they look COOL under a microscope
while esme and sammie chatted through the window...

sammie was raised on our couch and he still thinks himself a pet...he peers through much of the day wondering why he is not watching tv on the couch!

how a stream cuts a path....

jack was curious about meandering streams....
so we stacked up clay and dirt and rocks and watched the water take the path of least resistance!
and cut out gulleys....it was neat...
we would have stayed out there longer but o my it was HOT!!!!

all of a sudden...

i am 19 again...i hear a song, i smell a wiff of fall and i am there again....and not just my mind but my whole body doesn't feel any different...i could pick up the phone and call my mum, climb a water tower in the middle of the night or ride my bike through campus singing at the top of my lungs before the sun rises...  the mind is such a strange creature. 
could it be true that our body ages but our mind does not?
at least some part of it anyway.
certainly it is true that disease can cause our mind to revert perfectly to a time and place...to be a true child again.  could it be that our soul doesn't have a timeline as the rest of us...all bits of us surely have been affected by the Fall...and yet, even in our mortality there are glimpses of the eternal...of the timeless. 
I would say all those glimpses are soulful...emotional...
the timelessness of relationships, of love, of memories that seem like yesterday....if we relive them in our hearts often enough, to our mind they are like yesterday!  at least the emotions experienced were only moments ago when we thought it.

I am 35 and a happy 35.  and my deep churn that turns over and over in my head that life is short...life is short...is part of who God made me i have learned, always has been...and its revolutions refined by loss...but still, it is just me.  so, i am aware of my age and aware that in 5 years i will think back on "o to be 35 once again!"  while settling into my 40's. 

but sometimes...o sometimes, i close my eyes and i am 19.  and i have my mum.  and my body feels no inch of tiredness, only sheer fervor and fire...

i like these moments...i like remembering the drive God has given me for life and for creativity and for exploration....life is GOOD......sooooo good.

Photography

i keep meaning to sit down and write out a really nice plug for my brother~! but i am always here at the computer on the fly!
so instead, i will just shoot this out there for all my athens folk friends....
i love my brother's pictures...he is a patient photographer and takes a generous amount...he loves candids and captures some beautiful moments....
if you would like to have some family pics done.....he is charging $100 for an hour and then you keep the cd to use as you wish (for non-commercial use) ...he usually charges for prints so this really is a good deal.
i don't think he'd like me to publish his number on here =) but he is easy to find on facebook and checks regularly.... matt fulkes.
ok! if you are looking for some family pics, look him up!

the chapmans and the sheep!

we had a great visit from katie and clay and the kids...
so nice to catch up and let the kids play play play...
jack went to school yesterday morning but the 3 others played in the mud and made salt dough dinosaurs quite happily =)

and the sheep!
josh brought them back from athens....they are mostly freerange right now =)
sammie is remembering his old free range ways of looking in the front door when he wants you to come and hang out =)
moose is still skiddish...but i hope she'll come around...
we put them up in a little fenced area at night....they are happy i think =)

i'll get better pics soon...can you tell it was too hot and i didn't feel like opening the door to get their picture! ha!

such a sadness...

a tree working friend that josh knew in athens was killed last week on a tree job.  he was 26 with baby number 2 on the way.  i have felt dulled the past couple days since we found out...just so tragic and so sad.  tree work, we always knew, was very dangerous....josh often thought before he made a cut if this could go badly for him...there is just so much unknown even if you are "good" at it...and even if you have covered all your bases.  it is like working with a tornado, sometimes no matter how well you know their habits, they can surprise you. 
please pray for this family...chris welch was his name and he leaves a pregnant fiance and a toddler. 

a lovely visit today!!!

we had a lovely visit today from josh's grandma and josh's uncle lex and cousin alex and his daughter kelsey!!!
they were stopping off here and there and the kids and i were delighted they came by!!!
josh' grandma is such a pretty lady i think...and so full of vitality...
and she genuinely seems to love being around the kids...she is so good with them!