in pursuit of wild things

I awoke to the sound of rain rolling through the gutters at three fifty-two this morning. All of my mornings are early these days. I managed to drift back to slumberland before the gotta-dos invaded my mind. Once my head starts filling with lists of responsibility, sleep spoils away. The day turned out to be rainy, dark and chilly; just an ordinary November day in Kentucky. Autumn leaves are everywhere but on a dreary day like today they seem muted.

My mother’s visit last week was awkward and quiet. We just didn’t have much to say to each other. The kids managed to get her to play a few games with them. I did noticed that her “smoker’s cough” was worse than I’ve ever heard in the past. I wish she would quit smoking. I

asked about it but she didn’t think her cough was any worse than before. Even if she was ill I’m not sure that she would even tell me. Now I worry for her.

Last week Littlest turned seven. Even though I have striven to cherish his little years the time is nearly done. He is quickly turning into a bright and mischievous little boy. He wanted a Geometry Dash (currently his favorite game) design on his cake and we found some magnetic geometric toys for his present. Later that evening we went to a Halloween party hosted by one of my husband’s colleagues. Most of the party goers wore costumes but we did not. By the time I was finally comfortable with he crowd it was time to make our way home…so goes the life of an introvert.

This week the kids started the new Around the World guide from Beautiful Feet Books. Well,

sort of. I decided to add a unit in Pakistan and Afghanistan. I am reading aloud “My Name is Malala” and the older crew are all reading “Three Cups of Tea” (a somewhat controversial book and author). Comparing and contrasting the two books will be interesting. I have a couple of recipes for us to try and some art projects to go along with the study. Today we read a simple children’s book about Buddha by Demi. She is currently my new favorite children’s author and I want all of her books! Fortunately, our library has several of her titles and I brought an armload of them home this week. I also ordered an Asian snackbox from Amazon and the kids have

enjoyed tasting the treats…well…most of them anyway. So far the little cookies that look like hamburgers are their favorite. Once we finish our unit on Asia I will write a detailed post.

I took Sparkles clothing shopping last week. We ended up in the junior’s section. I was a bit sad to leave the children’s section of the store. She was appalled by some of the clothing options especially the cleavage and shoulder showing blouses. Most of the clothing looked cold and uncomfortable to her. She did find a lovely red hat that she just had to have!

I spent last night sitting with oldest handing out Halloween candy to the few trick-or-treaters that came by. Sparkles debated about going this year but we convinced her to go one last time. Most likely she will not want to go next year and I think she will be glad that she went this year.

nap time

basketball with the adventure group

red hat

geometry dash cake

seven years

little bat

ninja boy

egg gane

Averill House group

pumpkin hockey

poetry table

home education mess

candy begging time

the moon on Halloween night