Eileen on Him . . . at least, I try!

Warning: This Video May Induce Chicken Wing Cravings

h/t The Chief, who will surely have a fresh batch of Buffalo Wings waiting for us when we get back from Junie's Karate class tonight ... :)

Great News in Stem Cell Research

This was exciting to read:

A team led by scientists from The Scripps Research Institute has developed a method that dramatically improves the efficiency of creating stem cells from human adult tissue, without the use of embryonic cells. The research makes great strides in addressing a major practical challenge in the development of stem-cell-based medicine.

And here 's a big part of what makes it so great:

The creation of iPS cells from adult cells sidesteps ethical concerns associated with the use of embryonic stem cells, and allows the generation of stem cells matched to a patient's own immune system, avoiding the problem of tissue rejection.

Via Instapundit

A Little Homeschool Gratitude to Wrap Up the First Quarter

 I may not be terribly original in my approach to homeschooling (though heaven knows I've certainly spent many an hour reinventing the wheel!)  But more and more I'm realizing how well we're hitting our stride, finding what works for us -- and it's just so satisfying.

We just finished our first quarter for this school year, last Friday -- wow, did that go fast!  I finished both of my quarterly reports over the weekend, and sent them off to the superintendent by registered mail yesterday (the due date I had set on the IHIP is not until this coming Friday, so this is waaaay "above and beyond" as far as I'm concerned!)  While my blogging on the subject may have been terribly light, I actually did a great job keeping track of both my plans/what we covered and how the children responded to it, on a simple form I keep on Excel.  I update my notes frequently throughout the day -- just little snippets to help me keep track of what we covered -- and as a result, tossing off a Quarterly Review was actually pretty easy.

Our "school" days have been relatively relaxed, since we stretch out our learning activities across the whole day, and don't try to "get it done by noon."  We spend the most time on the things that most capture each one's attention (and how wonderful when it's all the same thing!), rather than give all lessons equal weight.  (Reading and Math are always done first; but I've found the hard way that, for this homeschooling family, the more I try to make our time seem like "school," the worse it goes for us.)  We're taking the long view here:   There's no rush.  And still, still!, it amazes me how much we accomplish!

We usually take a week off at the end of the quarter -- more for me to take a breather, organize my paperwork and plans and fend off the ever-present potential for feeling overwhelmed.  (I don't know why I tend to get overwhelmed -- mostly, I think, it happens when I'm trying to "prove" myself to ... somebody out there, I guess ... or worry that we're not doing "enough" in meeting some arbitrary standard.  Could we do more?  Sure.  But it isn't necessary, and the tradeoff could very likely involve a level of unpleasantness in our home that I've decided, from experience, I don't want.  Besides, we already enthusiastically do more than the state requires.  Dayenu.) 

So the children slept in yesterday, and helped prepare a hearty breakfast of chocolate chip waffles to celebrate their "first day off."  It was a stunningly beautiful, if somewhat cool, fall day, and after we walked to the post office (to dispense with those reports!), we decided to pack a picnic lunch and head back to the pond for an impromptu Nature Monday -- an activity which we would have done if this were not a "day off."   (Any traditional school kids out there excitedly going out of their way to recreate "school" on a vacation day?  Not too many, I suspect.) :)

After that, SB took a nap, Taz made a "museum" full of block structures and Junie B. played Carmen Sandiego, Word Detective.  We straightened the downstairs; I mopped the kitchen and bathroom floors and did ALL the laundry, and even got a little planning done for next week (yes, there are definite advantages to "days off"!)  A little later, the three kids went outside with raquets and a tennis ball, batting the ball at the garage door (and then chasing the ball all over the yard -- but they were having fun!)

Soon it was time for an early dinner -- Junie had Karate last night -- and, after that, a hearty bedtime snack of baked apples.  SB snuggled down with Daddy while I read  to the older two, and they played quietly together; then off to bed for them with a little more reading one-on-one with me.  (We continue our planned "read alouds" at bedtime, as on any "school" -- or weekend, for that matter -- day.  It's the one thing that feels least like "school" anyway, and I truly treasure that time with my children.  And if it weren't for homeschooling, I doubt I'd still be reading aloud to my 10 year old every night -- yet, what a blessing for both of us!)

Anyway, we have a pretty good life here, I'd say.  Sure, we drive each other crazy sometimes (OK, several times a day, but who's counting?) :)  But we're together -- loving, learning, growing and figuring it all out, day by day.

It's surprisingly counter-cultural for a conventional girl like me, actually.

And I wouldn't have it any other way

"That's why I am homeschooling.  Because I want our family to meet in heaven someday, and I think we have a better shot at it if we journey together as much as possible.  God put us together for a reason." -- Willa Ryan (via Together for a Reason)

Civil War Resources Up at My Backyard

I've posted a host of links and a little bit of reflection regarding our study of the Civil War for Junie B.'s 4th grade program, over at my planning site, In My Backyard.  We've already sunk our teeth in a bit, reading stories and having discussions re:  slavery, Harriet Tubman & the Underground Railroad, and are just finishing up a shared reading of The Perilous Road.  Tomorrow is our last day of the first quarter and we'll be putting most formal lessons on hold for the next week, but our readings will continue (Across Five Aprils is next up!).  Today and tomorrow we'll get a good headstart on our timeline for Junie's Lapbook, focusing on the events that led up to the Civil War.

For general information, I'm going with selected chapters from Vols 5-7 of Joy Hakim's A History of US, because it has a wonderful story-telling style that I think addresses the issues behind the Civil War very sensitively.  (Her books have been criticized by some as taking a decidedly "liberal" or "P.C." slant, but that really doesn't concern me right now.  I think she does a nice job articulating the issues.  Maybe,  at least in this case, her slant appeals to me?)   In any case, I think the series provides a good starting point for discussion. 

It's a very interesting study, and we even have a sort of "personal connection" that I'm especially excited about!  I hope to share more about that over the next several weeks.

I hope some will find this helpful!  If you've recently studied the Civil War with younger kids and have some good links to share, I'd love to hear about them, too!

Perspective

We homeschoolers, especially if getting by on one income, sometimes think we have it tough, financially.

"Sacrifice" is the word that we use the most.

Click below for what may be a surprisingly different view.

http://www.globalrichlist.com/

h/t Jennifer's Favorite Links

A Perfect "10"

My little Junie B. isn't quite so "little" anymore.

She's all of 5 feet tall ... and all of 10 years old!

Happy Birthday, sweet girl!

I love that you enjoy cooking and sewing and drawing and playing board games and singing, and I love doing them with you!

I love how helpful you are, with keeping up with housework and laundry (and your crazy little brothers) any time I ask.

I love that you are getting into nail polish and lip gloss and playing CDs to sing and dance with your friends.

I love your sorta funky, sorta preppie, sorta girlie-girl taste in clothes, and the wild way you wear your hair after a braid.

And I love that you still love to play with dolls and dressups and playdough, and to snuggle up together with a good book!

And oh, how I just love you!  What a wonderful 10 years it's been!

"We're so glad you came to live at our house!" :)

What We Have Here is a Failure to Communicate ...

My little boys love to help me in the kitchen.  So when a task made for little hands, like scrubbing potatoes, comes along, I put them right to work -- they have fun, the potatoes get scrubbed, and I can turn my attention to something else, perhaps the chili on the stove (chili over baked potatoes!  Yum!), for a minute or two. 

Usually.

Mmmm.  Cleanest potatoes in town! 

(Good news:  The soap rinsed well and left no discernable residue.  And the boys enjoyed rinsing them almost as much as scrubbing!)

Torta de Cacao and a Cuppa for St. Peter Claver

As part of the study of South America my children and I are currently sharing, we're including an introduction to its Saints.  And, of course, what better way to get to know a people than through its food? :)

In honor of St. Peter Claver, then, whose life's work led him to Colombia along the northwest coast of South America, my children and I made a Torta de Cacao, or  Colombian Cocoa Cake.  We were inspired by this delightfully simple cupcake recipe at epicurean.com, but decided to make a bundt-style cake instead, enhanced with a cup of chocolate chips and drizzled with a simple glaze of powdered sugar and cream.

Torta de Cacao

Ingredients:

1 stick softened butter

1 c sugar

3 eggs

¾ c cocoa powder

1 T baking powder

1-1/2 c flour

2/3 c milk

1 t vanilla

1 c semi-sweet baking chips

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. 

Prepare a standard bundt pan by greasing it well with butter-flavor shortening; dust well with flour.  To avoid having a whitish coating on the finished cake, follow the flour dusting with about a tablespoon of cocoa; dust over the flour until completely covered, and tap out the excess.

Place the butter in a large mixing bowl, and beat on medium speed until creamy; add sugar and continue to beat until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well with each addition.  Combine cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt in a sieve; sift into a separate bowl, then spoon into the egg mixture while beating at low speed.  Continue beating until combined.  Add the milk and vanilla, and beat until smooth.    Stir in the chocolate chips by hand, then spoon & spread evenly into  the prepared bundt pan.  Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted halfway between the center and the outside of the pan comes out clean.  Loosen gently and remove from the pan after about 10 minutes; continue cooling on a wire rack.  Glaze, if desired (I used about 1 c of sifted confectioners' sugar, with maybe 1 T of half & half -- added a few drops at a time until I got the consistency I wanted).

And, since no discussion of Colombia can be complete without mention of one of its main exports, we enjoyed our cake with our own version of Colombian Coffee Smoothies!  This recipe can be adapted easily to your own preferences, being made entirely to taste; but these are the proportions we used:

Iced Coffee Smoothies

Ingredients:

3/4 c Freshly-made Colombian coffee (regular or decaf)

1/4 c Sugar (could substitute chocolate drink mix for a mocha smoothie)

3/4 c Half & Half (you could use milk – but, hey, it’s a feast day!)

3 c Ice cubes (ours were 1" cubes, prepared from about 2 c of water)

Put all of the ingredients in a blender and whirr at high speed until thick and creamy.  Pour into serving glasses or cups and enjoy!  Makes 3 one-cup servings.

And now for a word about our honoree of the day.

St. Peter Claver (d. 1654; feast day Sept. 9) was a Spanish missionary priest assigned to work with the victims of slavery as the ships came in to the port at Cartegena, Colombia.  This port was a major gateway through which the enslavement of Africans gained its hold in the New World.  While the efforts of the Catholic Church were unsuccessful at stemming the tide of the lucrative slave trade, Catholic missionaries devoted themselves to alleviating the suffering of its victims.  St. Peter Claver became a major source of comfort and kindness to the thousands of horribly mistreated, sick and often dying captive people who were brought into that port.  Calling himself a "slave of the slaves," he dedicated himself to improving their lot, enjoining slaveholders to treat them kindly, and advocating for laws that would allow them to marry and to keep their families together.  He offered them the faith of the Church as well, and is credited with baptizing more than 300,000 African captives over the course of his nearly 45 year ministry.

This particular Saint's feast day comes at an especially apt time in our family's history studies:  We are currently reading about Harriet Tubman's life and the role of the Underground Railroad (a leg of which ran through the very area in which we live!)  We have been discussing the horrible indignity and injustice of slavery and the God-given yearning of all hearts to be free; and observing how people like Ms. Tubman in the US, William Wilberforce in the UK, and others ultimately led the way to end the acceptance of slavery in our own country.  It's a very hard subject to discuss with young children, actually; it doesn't occur to them to discount others on account of something as trivial as skin color, and it breaks my heart to have to introduce the notion to them at all.  At the same time, however, those who have opposed such injustice and changed the world for the better are a great source of inspiration, challenging us to size up the age we live in today -- and maybe even calling us to action.

Will we dare to be like St. Peter Claver, spending our lives exposing injustice through our insistence on the humane treatment of those who are oppressed?  Will we shine the light of truth on the accepted practices of our day, as did William Wilberforce, boldly challenging unjust and inhumane laws even as others dare call them a "right"?  Do we have the courage to even risk our own freedom for the sake of others, as so fearlessly did Harriet Tubman?

Who ever said education was easy?

You never know who will ultimately inspire your children to live up to whatever it is that God is asking of their lives, of course.  By celebrating these heroic people, especially those whom the Church acknowledges as Saints, we can open the door to their hearts in untold ways.

And -- who knows? -- igniting the tiny spark that ultimately sets their hearts on fire may be as simple as sharing a recipe for chocolate cake!

Painfully Gorgeous Must-Read of the Day

from Mary Ellen at Tales from the Bonnie Blue House, a beautiful and deeply-felt reflection on the Triumph of the Cross.

There's Way Too Much Room in our Church Pew

(and other sad observations, now that Step 2's in college ...)

We helped Step 2 move into her college dorm for the first time a couple of weeks ago, on a Friday.  The Wednesday before that was her "last supper"  with us, which should have been one of her favorite meals, but instead ended up being pizza.  This severe miscarriage of justice was the result of a number of factors, not the least of which included extreme denial on my part.  We consoled ourselves with the notion that, hey, she's not leaving forever, you know.  She really can come home for dinner if she wants to; it's only an hour away.

Still, at the end of grace before dinner that night, we added in chorus, "And God Bless [Step 2], on her last dinner with us before college!" and suddenly everyone let out a spontaneous wail.  And we weren't even kidding!

We miss that sweet girl.

Step 2's college is a wonderful place, and even though the adjustment is understandably hard for her at times, we know she'll be just fine.  Not so sure about us, though!

After we dropped Step 2 off, The Chief turned around in the car and looked at Junie B.  "Now you're the oldest," he said simply.  I caught my breath sharply at the enormity of it all.  It was like we'd lost our moorings.  "The Girls" -- meaning Step 1 & Step 2 -- have always been there.  Sure, they weren't with us half the time, but they were always around.  If they weren't with us today, they'd be here tomorrow, after all!

And now they aren't.

Step 1's all done with college and is enjoying life in her first "real" apartment -- also an hour away, but in the other direction.  Step 2's all done with high school and is adjusting to life as a full-time college student.

And, while we knew we'd miss them, of course, when this day finally came,  I'm surprised to discover how big is the hole in our home and our hearts, now that both of them have moved on.