If you don't mind the construction dust, come on in. The coffee's hot, the food's good, and the door is open...
Thursday, October 30
Wow, talk about lazy... and weird.
Basically, Zorak was gone, it had been a rough week, and EmBaby didn't want to go into the nursery. She and I did go into it to use the bathroom there, as that commode is little, and I had Jase, and so, well, that seemed reasonable. On the way out, though, I asked Em if she was sure she didn't want to stay. She said, "No, I just want to stay with you." I told her that was okay, put out my hand for her and we headed for the door.
That's when BCNW physically picked the child up (yes, taking her out of my hand) and told me to step out into the hall. Um... pardon me? Yeah. I reiterated that I was leaving, and taking Em. Badda-boom, badda-bing, I ended up exerting every. ounce. of grace God was willing to spare me not to go all Wild Wild West on this woman and ask her to step outside at High Noon. Give me my child and get out. of. my. way. She did finally put Em down, but she mad-dogged me the entire time.
I wasn't going to say anything, just figured I'd keep Em and Jase with me from now on. Thinking perhaps this is not a good place for us to be, but whatever. UNTIL I found out she'd been talkin' 'bout it around the church. And, of course, her story involved what a helicopter parent I am, and how I'm really-really wrong, and what are they gonna do about me? Ohhhhkay... yeah, not okay with that.
Long story shorter than it could be: the Children's Minister and I have talked, and she's "pretty sure" they could "make an exception to church policy" in allowing a parent to come and get her child "without the church staff insisting otherwise". You know, "just for you". Oh. Policy? You have a policy that mandates church workers interfere with parents like that? Wow. Don't I feel special? But we're going to have to sit down with BCNW to have a mediation, first. (Can you sense the tension? Good.)
So, on to other things, they've been riding these kids hard for two months, now. ("Sharp hands! SHARP HANDS!") Last week, two kids were visiting from out of town and their grandmas brought them to the church on Wednesday night. The kids were told they can't come. (Because they'd be too far behind the rest of the group, and you know it's far more important to have a perfect show than it is to welcome visitors! And since nobody ever shows up anywhere in the Autumn, we wouldn't want to keep a bag of Cheetos and some Bible games on hand. Just in case. Pffttt.)
Zorak mentioned a couple weeks back that he can hear me seething at night, and to be truthful, it's kind of starting to freak him out. What with having to sleep near me, and all. The truth of the matter is, this place has very different goals and priorities than what we are comfortable supporting in a church.
Last night was the last straw.
I sit at the sign-in table, with the Big People. I suspect it's so that they can keep on eye on me and my subversive tendencies, but whatever. The Powers that Be started going through the roster, figuring out who is keeping up the pace and who isn't. There's one little boy who hasn't been there in a month. The Children's Minister says, "Oh, yeah *sad face* I talked to his Mom, and they can't afford the shirt. That's why he hasn't been coming."
*blink* *blink* (I'm waiting for her to say something like, "I told her that's SO not a problem and to bring him back," but that didn't happen.)
Another lady says, "Oh, yeah, they're really struggling. Like, they're living from paycheck to paycheck, and having trouble keeping it together." Minister says, "Awww. That's so rough."
*blink* What the--?? I'm sitting here, watching this bizarre scene from a how-not-to-run-a-church video, waiting for the rest of it... still nothing. I hadn't moved or spoken up because I just couldn't believe that this was happening.
The woman picks up her pen, folks, and starts to CROSS THIS CHILD OFF THE ROSTER! Suddenly, I realize they're going to do it. They're cutting dead weight. They're... what the fuck is WRONG with you people?!?!? You can carry the interest on a million dollar mortgage without batting an eye, but you can't fork up TEN DOLLARS for a child?
I didn't smack the pen out of her hand, but I got very, very close before I could just force my hand down on the paper, instead. (I'm thinkin' an assault charge wouldn't bode well for me at this point in my life.) I'll buy the kid the damned shirt. Put the pen down. NOW.
What do they say? "Oh, but you have five kids!" Um... what, exactly, does that have to do with it? You know what, just... don't talk to me. Don't look at me. Do. Not. Engage. Me.
I can't begin to tell you how absolutely disgusted I am with this place. So, yay for them, they have wireless mikes (what is the abbreviation for microphones? mics?) for all the chosen children, but if you can't hang with the Ralph Lauren crowd, Jesus doesn't love you? I know this isn't in the New Testament anywhere, but I'm pretty sure Jesus has a big ol' bitch-slap waiting for people who behave like this in His name. (He may have one for me, too, for plenty of things I've done in my life. I get that, too.)
"Let the little children come to Me," He said. I know that part's in there.
December 14 is the date of the play. December 15, I'm going to have a Captain Morgan's and Coke to celebrate never having to wade through that place's BS again.
Kiss those babies! Oh, kiss them and love on them with all your heart.
~Dy
Monday, October 27
Funday Sunday
And in the end, we had a lovely evening by the fire(s)...
Food, friendship, life... it's good.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
(P.S. I figured out the watermark feature, but it seems to be a bit of a PITB to use. Bummer.)
Sunday, October 26
Busy, Busy
Yes, those are basically Pixie-Sticks, but the tube is the diameter of a Sharpie, and as long as a twirling baton. WEEEE! Interestingly, it was the church we've been attending that had this set-up. I think we may let the kids have their sticks for breakfast before church tomorrow... just as a thank-you to the Children's Minister. ;-) (I jest - she planned for the kids to eat them on the spot and then just ping up and down the street until the effects wore off, I'm sure.)
The weather was gorgeous, just cool enough to necessitate a hat for Jase. You know, those just don't work so well once they've been chewed on for an hour or two. Ew.
Ben and Claudia brought their kids. The sheer mass of children vibrating around created some serious momentum, so we adults just wandered along behind - it was like a cattle drive, but without horses, and it smelled better. Just as noisy. But, oh-so-cute!Wednesday, October 22
Teamwork
The "help" was entirely Em's idea. Smidge went along with it. They're pulling vines off one of the persimmon trees down by the barn.
And Em made her own chopsticks to handle the persimmons. I don't know if it's a textural thing and she doesn't like touching them, or if she just thought it seemed like a fun idea to try out. She's pretty good with those chopsticks, though.
~Dy
Tuesday, October 21
He Has Your Quirks
Sunday, October 19
Autumn Joy
Zorak took all the kids to work on the barn and lower meadow Saturday, leaving me in relative peace and quiet (so there were no witnesses, should the whole experiment go horribly awry) to put up four jars of persimmon jelly and eleven jars of pear jelly. They haven't set yet, and that's okay. The pathetic level of enthusiasm I garnered just hearing the little "pop" of the jars as they sealed, one by one... that was worth it, right there. (I was somewhat certain the whole canning thing may be the homemaker's parallel to snipe hunting.)
Me-Wa is back! He'd been gone the last four months. Long months, for the kids. (Probably a lot longer for Me-Tae!) And today we were able to head up that way to visit. It was good to see him, great to visit. We got to meet the newest member of their clan, little Katie (a golden lab - oh, so cute!) The older dogs are not so fond of her, but she's sweet enough that I'm sure she'll grow on them.
There's a little boy who lives just up the road from them who comes over to visit - he's a sweetie. They play outside, go in to play pool, and migrate to the computer after a while. He hit me today with a doozie out of nowhere, though, and I had to laugh at how it all turned out.
He left it at that, and we moved on to an in-depth discussion of Dodgeball. I'm not entirely sure what the converation meant from his perspective, but it made me chuckle.Boy: You still homeschoolin' them?
Me: Yes, we are.
Boy: What's wrong with y-- uh, I mean, why don't you just send 'em to school?
Me: *aherm* WELL, we like the education we can give them at home.
Boy: Hmpf. Well, they're lucky, then.
There's an awful lot going on right now, not the least of which is that I can't seem to carve out time during the week to be left alone for fifteen minutes or so. Long enough to compose my thoughts, find something humorous in it, and write it up. I've been able to compose my thoughts, but I could sure use a few more minutes to find the humor before having to move on to the next thing. Hopefully, a little more rest, and a better schedule will help. I'm going to give that a shot this week and see how it goes. The kids deserve a Mom who can find humor in the daily things. I'm sure Zorak prefers that, too, over the rather irritable alternative he's been presented with lately. So. Yeah, gotta work on that.
And in that vein, I think I'm going to sweep up a bit, lay out tomorrow's plan, and try to hit the hay before eleven! (Livin' large, no?)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Thursday, October 16
Playing With Pictures
~Dy
Tuesday, October 14
Fall Fun
Just as Smidge had his pear tree, John had his apple tree. He picked the first apple of the season (not counting the ones we picked and cut open to see if they were ripe yet...)
And we began collecting apples. (And a stray pear.) Man, that tree will be a lot easier to harvest from when we're done pruning it properly! (We have to move slowly so the tree doesn't succumb to Fire Blight while we restore it.) However, the metal bucket is about half-full now with fresh apples, and they will become, hopefully, (magically...) apple pie filling this weekend!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Hey.
Today we began week 10 of the school year. Ten-ish, anyway. Of the previous nine weeks, we've taken three off. That sounds so bad. I can hear NEA members puckering in their seats from here. And yet, the boys have worked up to the nine-week point in a couple of subjects, and worked beyond the nine-week point in all the rest. Heh. Yeah. I love this lifestyle.
So this morning, we sat on the balcony, re-working our plans that will take us through Christmas break. The boys opted to adjust some of their goals to reflect the progress they've made. We sorted, sifted, printed, and planned. Then they got to work. I got sucked into the Tanglewood site. *sigh* There ought to be something I could take for that. Really.
We're off to the library, where we won't find anything and I will return with a bigger Amazon list. (It is SO easy to justify book purchases when you know you'll use each book through five children. So, so easy. I'm going to owe Zorak big-time for this.) But it'll be nice to hit the library again. And, they've fired the wacky library lady and replaced her with someone from an organization we refer to as "The Northern Alabama Branch of the Illuminati" - so I want to be sure to stay on top of the library sale, as they'll be culling all the good books soon, and I don't want to miss out on those buys!
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Oh, help.
ARE...
THESE...
THINGS?!?!?!?
Sunday, October 12
The Magnificent Mere! (More Photos)
But oh, that dress! I believe the fabric on the bodice, or actually, all the non-solid fabric - with all the swirly, lovely, flowery designs on it, came from our Donna (Quiet Life Donna - Donna of the psychotically photogenic children and the sweet wit). And that plum color - it's a perfect match. It swirls, it spins, it feels good to the touch. It fits perfectly. *sigh*
Friday, October 10
Trip Pics, Part A
And then they both - without even looking at each other - stuck their arms out and shouted, "Airplane!" (Complete with sound effects.) It was pretty funny to watch.
We kinda-sorta semi-managed to get the kids all rounded up to where they'd fit in a frame. The tree helped. SJ and Em both decided to cry the minute we started to take the group photos. Em's not in this one because she'd already given up and was somewhere behind me, snuffling.
We did manage to get a few shots on the sly, though, when she wasn't looking...
And SJ was sweetly compliant for an individual shot. Oh, so much Cute! It was hard to leave.
~Dy
Thursday, October 9
We're Back!
Melissa got it right - we got to see Mere, from The Ugly Trunk. The trunk is so cute in real life, but it's abso-stinkin-lutely nothing compared to her kids! And seeing all eight of them running around, playing Legos, playing chess, playing some random ball-kicking game - oh, that was almost too much cute for me to handle. The kids could be cousins, they have so many of the same mannerisms. Mere is, of course, elegant and sweet and fun. And oh, so patient. And her husband, bless him, was such a trooper in letting the whole horde descend upon his house with all of our lateness and loudness and messiness.
We also got to have lunch with Rebel, of The Looney Bin, while we were out there. She is so sweet and so gracious, and knows all the totally rockin' joints to eat at in her neck of the woods!
Granny came and met us in Waco, so we had two wonderful days with her. Then she drove with us to see Great-Granny (or, Granny the Younger, as she's a mere 94 years young - longevity seems to run in Zorak's blood), and Aunt Veda. It was fun, fun, fun. John contemplated smuggling a goat back with him. Thankfully, he had only his backpack and there was no way he could have hidden the whole goat in there.
From there, it was off to Arkansas, where we rounded off the trip with more cousins. Would you believe we were thisclose to New Mexico and I had to go all the way back to Arkansas to get chile rellenos? Oh, they were good. I'll be stuffed for another week, at least. This was the first time we've had to really spend any time with these cousins, and it was such a treat for us. They opened their home so warmly, and the kids were completely taken up with their lifestyle, even down to getting up early to work with the animals. (We emptied the van tonight when we got home and didn't find any puppies, kittens or chickens, so I think we're good.)
The children have named every animal they've come in contact with this week. And now I think they're totally on board with some of our more Out There projects, which is good, because I'm still mildly terrified of birds, so they'll need to be pretty involved.
It was a fantastic trip, but we're glad to be home. Jase didn't sleep the last four nights of the trip - which means I didn't sleep, either. And so, I'm going to finish this cup of coffee and see about rectifying that. I'll upload pictures tomorrow, while we recuperate.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Thursday, October 2
Wanna Play?
Adorable children.
Cool parents.
WAY more creative than I could ever hope to be.
Probably WAY more interesting than I am, too. (They're so gettin' the short end of this stick - but I'm excited!)
Hmmm... ok, I'm going to finish packing and cleaning while I think up better hints.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Wednesday, October 1
Thoughts on Education
...What I find even more fascinating is how our own definitions and goals change as the children grow and change. Education, or rather, the pursuit of education, is a dynamic enterprise that extends beyond the entries on a sheet of paper. Do we want them to know basic arithmetic? Of course. Do we want them to understand basic physical properties and laws of nature? Naturally. Do we want them to take an active part in their literary heritage (...and I think I just lost Zorak...)? OK, to at least catch references and nods to great stories in their reading? Yeah, I do.
Is that the sum of our goals for the children?
Not by a long shot.
And tonight, while Zorak tried valiantly to give me the indoc primer on RF attenuation (yeah, I know...) I managed to put my finger on a goal that's been there from the very start, although not always articulated this way. (I also put my finger on an Arby's coupon. I love Arby's.)
In some ways, I hope the boys receive a Jack-of-all-Trades education. I hope they know enough about a variety of topics to feel comfortable in any venue, to understand how much there is still to learn, and to have the ability and interest to articulate a desire to listen and learn.
...and, yeah, that's good for tonight. Listen. Learn. Want to. (Sometimes we have to work on that last one. heh.)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Monday, September 29
Can't Win Them All
~Dy
OK, folks, what is this?
~Dy
Sunday, September 28
This is wild.
We found another new, seemingly edible thing growing. No clue what it is (as usual) - look for a photo and a plea for help identifying it tomorrow! It kind of grows like cherries, but the tree shoots straight up and it's a good 50' high. It's also shading the smaller apple tree, so if it doesn't pony up with something edible, then it's going to get some serious pruning this winter.
The soil in the salad bed desperately needs more compost for next year. Even after two years of amending it, it's hard as a rock. Poor John's carrots never have grown longer than 1cm, tops. We've increased our composting contributions, now that we have the tractor mower. Hopefully, we'll have plenty of compost for next season.
We got three gypsy peppers from the armadillo-torn upper meadow beds. (The one w/ the snake.) Weird. We gave up on those beds back in July.
The apples are ripe, and they're *fantastic*. They have a complex flavor, starting out slightly tart, but turning sweet pretty quickly. They're psychotically juicy, and have a delicate crisp flesh. Ohhh, they're really good. It's exciting to be receiving from all these plants, now.
The Black Walnut trees are laden with big green balls right now. We gathered some and tossed them into the driveway to help crack the outer hulls. I'll go down in the morning to rake away the debris from around the tree so we can collect the nuts as they fall. Zorak's not sure there's enough meat in any of them to make it worth the work. I just want to try. It's part of the adventure. And, if it doesn't work, well, we've learned something along the way, right?
The persimmons are ripening unevenly, and between the height of the fruit and the birds, I don't think we'll get anything salvageable from them this year. Never did hear back from the County Extension Office, so I'll give them a call or swing by this week, sometime. I hate to give up on the persimmons, since there are three of them - if they can be saved and restored, I want to do it.
We enjoyed okra and cukes from the barn garden with supper tonight, and a late season watermelon this afternoon. That's always kinda fun. Perhaps the novelty wears off when you're an accomplished gardener. If so, we have decades of enjoyable side dishes ahead of us. ;-)
The kids finally decided pear jelly would be preferable to pearsauce for this year. If the trees stay healthy, though, we can do more next year. Tomorrow is canning day. (Someone hold me to that!)
Kiss those babies!
~Dy
Saturday, September 27
Cute goes a long way!
Hey, did you know it's less expensive to buy an IKEA armchair than it is to buy foam to make a cushion for the futon-chair? Wow. So, I figured I'd sew horizontal channels with the muslin, stuff them with the innerds of the existing cushion, and then cover the new design with the corduroy. In theory, the channels will help prevent the stuffing from shifting and bunching. But theory and practice don't always mesh, do they? I'll keep you posted.
The boys had a good time at the Beltloop Jamboree. I offered up the camera, but Zorak declined. I think it was all he could do just to get up and going so early, and I think I really should have offered him coffee, instead. Ah, well, I didn't think of it until I was halfway through the pot and he was halfway to the Jamboree.
Kiss those babies!
~Dy