Kate was very proud of her Christopher Columbus display. She created a sandy beach, complete with a stick-and-fern palm tree and beautified by real miniature shells, coral, and beach glass and “tropical” flowers.
Meg also made a nice display including Columbus petitioning Ferdinand and Isabella, a not-to-scale ocean with Spain on the left and Hispaniola on the right, plus some of the New World discoveries Columbus brought back from his voyage.
This was a year of firsts: Meg, Nate, and Kate recited their usual poems, but for the first time Kate gave a speech (albeit forgetting a key detail at the end!) and Meg and Nate played piano pieces. Also, Caleb recited his first poem in public. Thirty minutes before we left the house he wailed that everyone was doing something except him. So I grabbed a book off the shelf and found the shortest poem in it, which thankfully happened to be cute and sort of fall-related, read it to him three times, and he was good to go:
A wee little worm in a hickory nut
Sang as happy as can be,
“Oh I live in the heart of the whole round world
And it all belongs to me.”
Tiger Lilly, Queen of England, Darth Vader, Giraffe
this one deserves its own close up; annual fun with the neighbors
Oh my! Is this a stereotypical homeschool picture or what?! Still in pajamas with unkempt hair, performing a half-baked science experiment in the kitchen. I am fighting the urge to list all the ways this picture is the exception, not the rule; that they really are normal and well-socialized, etc. But I suppose the jury will be out on that for 10 or 15 more years.
This is amazing. In a recent study of bird feathers we examined a pheasant feather with our microscope. The dark area on the left is the shaft of the feather (the central, plastic-y “spine.”) The dark vertical columns jutting off the shaft are called barbs. The tiny eyelash looking fibers jutting off the barbs are called barbules. All the barbules on one side of each barb are plain or straight; all the barbules on the other side are hooked. Do you know how when you pinch your thumb and index finger together at the top of the feather and run them down toward the bare quill at the bottom the neat little hairs get all ruffled and messy looking? You are separating all those “hook-and-loop” connections. When you run you fingers back the other way everything becomes smooth and straight again as the barbules “zip” back together. One reason a bird preens is to zip its feathers back up to ready them for flight. That is just one tiny view of one feather on one type of bird…think of the millions of wonders that exist among all the creatures of earth and all the galaxies of space.
O Lord, how manifold are thy works! in wisdom hast thou made them all: the earth is full of thy riches. Ps 104:24
This year both my parents turned 70 and we celebrated with a trip to North Georgia—as close as we could get to the Blue Ridge Mountains (one of their favorite places.) We rented a beautiful house and had a fun time doing everything you would want to do on a fall weekend getaway:
listening to bluegrass and rock-hopping in the park
rocking on the porch while gazing out over the mountains
riding in an open air train car
eating bbq
picking apples
devouring fudge bought in a quaint little town
enjoying each other
(Not pictured: Erik & Meg who returned early for Sunday school responsibilities at Westminster)
Once in a while he escapes from a house on the street behind ours and comes over to play for the afternoon. The kids have SOOOO much fun playing fetch, etc. that I feel my no-dog stance weakening. Then I see his slobbery tongue lapping water out of one of my Tupperware bowls that someone snuck outside and my resolve strengthens again. Someday, if we never get a dog, I will probably regret being so selfish.
Good seasons for all three players this year.
(Unfortunately, all my action shots of Nate were too blurry.)
We have a knack for spreading out birthdays around here. Meg’s 10th probably set a new record: Grammy and Grampy came to celebrate with us so we had dinner, cake presents on Sunday (as they had to leave early the next morning—Meg’s actual birthday). Monday was traditional birthday breakfast by request and, later, leftover cake, presents, etc. with Pappy and Mema who stopped in for a short visit. That Thursday Meg and I went on our long-anticipated Mommy & Meg 10th birthday get away to Helen, Georgia…returning Friday evening in time to get ready for her “friend” party taking place on Saturday. Lots of opportunities to celebrate this precious girl with lots of people who love her. Here are some highlights:
so fun to have Grampy and Grammy here! carrot cake
maturing tastes—no hot dogs at this party sewing supplies
good morning birthday girl
balance beam made by daddy pierced ears at last!
Mommy & Meg trip
carriage ride
we love hotel breakfasts!
friends games
Happy Birthday, Meg!! We love you so!
While Grammy and Grampy were here to celebrate Meg’s 10th birthday, we spent a fun afternoon in the city.
After a picnic lunch at Piedmont park, we toured the Atlanta Botanical Garden.
Meg, the strolling artist
Then we walked a few blocks over to the High Museum
for a fascinating glass blowing demonstration.
Sometimes he calls himself Frodo, and sometimes he calls himself Bilbo.
But I think you get the idea.
This summer it was time for a facelift for our deck. After years of nail pounding, sanding, and re-staining, the surface wood really needed to be replaced. Our favorite woodworker/handyman/electrician/plumber, Josh, signed on for the job. As I mentioned, the old boards were installed with nails, not screws. This made the removal process VERY slow. (Fortunately we had two eager helpers.) Finally the guys devised a method of cutting the boards into shorter sections before ripping them up. However this created numerous “trap doors” all over the deck. Both Erik and I stupidly stepped on half-cut sections with no support beneath! Thankfully only one of my legs went through. I was right over an upside-down canoe our friends were storing under the deck, so my fall was abbreviated by about two feet and I was unscathed except for a pulled muscle. Erik, however, had his arms full when he stepped through and he broke his fall with his chin, leading to a nasty gash and several stitches. But, the job was finished at last, and thanks to Josh’s craftsmanship we are enjoying a fresh, smooth new deck.
The kids took advantage of a rare summer rain-without-thunder/lightening to do one of their favorite things: build dams in the gutter.
The girls started things off at the edge of the driveway.
Nate liked the idea and picked a spot uphill to start his project.
When the rain tapered off they found an alternate water source.
The boys successfully dried up the flow downstream, much to the girls’ chagrin.
Much to Erik’s and my chagrin, when they ran out of brick and natural building materials they began chipping up from the cul-de-sac chunks of asphalt to use. And then they all ran off to some other diversion leaving a ecological disaster and eyesore behind them. We ordered them back to clean everything up and the asphalt filled the whole wheelbarrow! Now what are we supposed to do with that?! It is too heavy to put in a trash can at the curb. Erik suggested dropping it all down the manhole. Finally we decided to smuggle a few pieces into our regular black garbage bags each week, but we keep forgetting. Oh well.
Our friends the Andersons moved to Atlanta this past summer. Evan and Erik have been friends for over 20 years (!), and it is great to have them living near by. Our family has really enjoyed spending time with all of them. Kate and Rozzie have especially hit it off—they both have a flair for glitz and glamour and dancing.
