A December Violin Recital

Solomon and Nova participated in a Friday Night Recital this December.  Each Suzuki teacher is a little different.  While their previous teacher did studio recitals like clockwork each November and May, their current teacher has no studio recitals at all.  Instead we do a sort of 'a la carte' version by participating in school wide recitals (which also means there is a variety of instruments, which is fun).  Typically kids will choose songs that they have played for quite awhile for these, so they will be really polished.  Solomon and Nova each chose an old favorite--Witches' Dance by Paganini for Nova, and Gavotte by Becker for Solomon.  

We made good use of happy hour at Kindee, a Thai fusion restaurant down the street.  We tried a little of everything, making a meal of many appetizers.  Charlotte was very fond of the calamari until she found one that looked like what it was.  The cranberry cream cheese puffs and tempura green beans were favorites.  Ariadne was all about the sauce.   It was fun to take the kids out to a fancy restaurant, and we had the place ourselves for most of our meal.

The kids did very well performing.  Nova whipped right through her song and was all smiles at the end.  Solomon started off beautifully, just like he had played it umpteen times already that day--and then encountered his first case of stage fright.  It had to happen sometime, I suppose.  He found a good spot to jump back into the song and finished admirably.  Though he was less than happy about the way it went, I think it was a valuable experience.  Resiliency is an important trait that you can't build up without a few mistakes. 

Little sisters like the stage too!

St Lucia Day 2014

St Lucia day has come and gone.  This time around we had three white nightgowns/lucia day dresses, three crowns, and actual, honest to goodness, wheat saffron buns (it makes a difference!).  A vast improvement on last year. 

Nova and Charlotte helped make the buns.  Aria stirred the hot chocolate.  The girls put the finishing touches on the wreaths themselves (having a purpose-made St Lucia crown is LOTS easier than using florist's wire to put electric candles into a wreath made entirely of evergreens).  Though Aria's was plush, she enjoyed helping her sisters put greenery on their crowns.  

Then it was off to wake everyone else (who played their parts beautifully by staying asleep past dawn).  We were aided by the calendar here as well, since it was the Winter Solstice.  Unfortunately, we were all sick a week ago on December 13th, so we had to push St Lucia day out a bit.  Since the Winter solstice was the original day of this holiday (before the Gregorian Calendar came in), the 21st seemed the perfect day.  Also, Charles likes being surprised by St Lucia day--like he was the first year.  

At breakfast Solomon said if he had daughters he might try to start this tradition up again as an adult--except that he thought it might be construed as a self serving way for him to get breakfast in bed.  I told him that there is a 'star boy' roll that he could fill if he wanted and that it was actually the parents, not the males of the household, that were supposed to get breakfast in bed.  His response 'So I am exactly right.'  He declined becoming a star boy.  Earlier that morning, while we were shaping the buns, Nova had told me she thought in three years she could do the whole thing herself--if I wouldn't mind.  I think that would be lovely!    

Treehouse Farewell and Bonfire Party

We have had a fabulous treehouse in our back yard for over four years now.  I dreamed it up one winter and my dad built it the next Spring.  It is 10' by 10', minus the giant tree trunk in the middle. It has a front porch and a suggestion of a roof.  The older two kids have slept in it every summer, taking up books and sleeping bags, snacks and (hopefully) bug spray.  It has been the coveted high ground in ever one of Solomon's birthday water fights (three years running).  Nova figured out the rope ladder herself just this spring (before we had a regular ladder leading up as the mechanics of the rope ladder proved a bit difficult for us adults.

Sadly the huge silver maple that it resides in is not doing well.  We suspect it is about 70 years old--the same as our house.  We knew it wouldn't last forever, we just thought we'd have several years left. Looking up into the canopy about two weeks ago we noticed a fungus on a dead branch--little white shelves all over the western face.  That alone was not too worrying, but the fact that the fungus continued down, past the floor of the treehouse on the main trunk was more than a little disturbing. Finding that it matched a fungus named 'heart rot' seem a death knell.  So--we had a party.

We set the date for just a week and a half out, since the following Friday was Halloween.  Chili, cider and a bonfire were offered as well as a farewell tour of the treehouse.  We invited widely, the kids' friends, our friends, the neighbors, grandparents and any aunts or uncles in the area.  One of Solomon's friends ended up coming early and helping with yard work and making the chili, which was nice.  We borrowed crock pots, ladles and a mixer from neighbors (my mixer died in the middle of making frosting).  A massive leaf pile for jumping and and driveway basketball court rounded out the outdoor activities.

And then 53 people came.  Even my high estimates had been no more than 40.  But, it worked out remarkably well.  The weather was perfect.  The kids (approximately 25 of our guests were under 18) ran around and generally had fun.

Some of our guests checked out the tree house.  (Above is a little tour--pretend we are taking you up  to hang out by the trunk, in the corner, and on the front porch). Others visited on the ground or in the house.  The leaf pile was a hit.  The food held out. We had a good time.

A little before dusk we got the fire started.  And then as night fell, the crowd dwindled.  We sat around the fire a while longer, and before we knew it, it was just us.  Thanks for coming everyone!  We will miss our tree and treehouse.

Celebration of Life

Solomon caught in the act of tickling his little sister

I have delayed in posting this a year, to give emotions time to settle and give us the benefit of hindsight.  Though it is not the sort of happy family outing I normally blog about, it was an important trip that I want us to remember.  From this point on, all references to time are actually from a year ago.

In mid October, we made another trip to Canada.  Our dear GG Lois, Charles' grandmother, passed away.  We knew it was coming, as did she.  We very much enjoyed our visit back in May.  We skyped in mid September, and that was the last time we saw her.  But the memories are rich and deep.  When the kids ask their dad to tell a story about his childhood, Charles often tells about gathering the potato beetles in his grandmother's garden.  The story of Barry and Tim accidentally digging up the strawberry patch is legendary (and indeed was part of the letter Tim wrote that was read during the church service).  There are many good recent memories as well.  Nearly the entire family got together two summers ago in Minnesota.  There have been Christmas and Thanksgiving gatherings in Oklahoma, and many other
family reunions, large and small.

We stayed in Fargo with Charles' mom, dad, brother and sister and met up again in Manitoba.  Here we are coming into the Pembina valley.  After arriving we gathered with aunts, uncles and cousins.  Lois was often someone to greet and help newcomers.  The Castelains, a Belgian chocolatiering family sent their regrets, as well as chocolates.  She befriended a farming family that up and moved their farm from South America to Canada.  I'm sure there are many, many more I do not know about.  She also had friends in the Hudderite community.  

The hospitality room at the assisted living facility where GG Lois had lived was our home away from home during the weekend.  Most of us were in hotel in the next town over, so it was nice to have a quiet place for immediate family to go in between larger gatherings.  

There were many family diners over the course of the weekend, with an ever increasing group, all courtesy of GG Lois.  The restaurant in town handled all the meals, seating us in a private dining room (pictured below).  The accomodated food allergies beautifully.  Aside from our two gluten-sensitive girls, there are a couple of true cealiacs in the family.  Our final dinner Saturday was for 50. We had turkey, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, glazed carrots, many salads, plus dessert.  Kathy announced 'dinner is on Mum, it is her final gift to you.'  It was as it turned out, Canadian Thanksgiving that Monday.  

The three elderly people in foreground are Lois' tow sisters, Jean and Joan, and her brother-in-law Glen.  

This was the first funeral my children attended, and while it was sad, it was also very good.  It was good to be with family, it was good to remember together, it was good mark a loved one's passing.  We live so far away we had only been able to see GG Lois once every couple of years.  Without taking the time out to be there and experience a formal ending I feel it may have been very easy for the younger ones especially to slip into imagining her still at home, still just a nine hour drive away.  We all struggle with what death means, but for young children simply understanding the finality of it is a challenge.  Considering we all must die, the death of a long lived, accomplished, much loved family member or friend is probably the gentlest introduction to our own mortality.  Not that we get to choose these things.   Nonetheless I am grateful for the very graceful way GG Lois was able approach the end of her life.   

Since we had spent so much time in the car driving up, we needed to make an effort to explain to the kids that driving to the cemetary was not time to use the ipad, play video games or listen to books on CD.  I remember Charles saying that we had driven up here to remember GG Lois and go to her funeral and that now that was what it was time to do.  It was time to remember GG Lois.  Kathy had given us several laminated obituaries the night before as keepsakes for the kids.  I handed three back and read the fourth aloud, finishing just as we parked at the cemetary.  

Though it had been pouring rain on Friday, and cloudy all Saturday morning, the sun broke through just a bit before the burial.  The day was beautiful but cold.  The minister encouraged us to get as close as we could, gathering in a tight circle.  So we could hear, and for warmth, he said.  Roberta got us all up to the top of the circle, along with the rest of the close family.  The coffin was a warm honey colored wood with a huge bunch of flowers on top.  The grave was dressed with astroturf silver bars and winches.  There was not a spec of dirt within three feet of it.  Ariadne squirmed a bit as I tried to figure out if she should face the burial or away, be in my arms or standing on her own two feet.  In the end I held her, for fear of her getting too near the grave.  Nova stood near Grandma Roberta.  As I think of it now I recall how much she looks like Grandma Roberta, who in turn looks like her mother, Lois.  I noticed for the first time looking at the family photos taken at the McKitrick family get together taken two summers ago (of course I am leaving out Charles, who also bears a resemblence).  The minister spoke of how Lois would no longer know cold or pain or light, about how she was being called home.  Kathy took a three red roses from one of the floral arrangements and gave one to each of her siblings, leaving her own with her husband Peter.  She then took two white roses from the same arrangement and put them on the joint headstone of her parents.

It is amazing what you learn about a person at their funeral.  The order of service for Lois's memorial service proclaimed it a 'Celebration of Life' and it truly was.  While I knew that she had taught English and French I did not know the extent to which she went to further her studies.  To finish high school she completed a year of correspondence learning and a year spent away from home at school, from there she continued on to college.  This was at a time when even finishing high school was not necessarily expected or required.   

The service began with poetry, then moved to an open letter written by Tim (and in fact read by Lois before her death--he joked that she corrected his spelling).  He told of her early life and her commitment to education and reminisced about having her as a mother and the care she took of others and her accomplishments and personality.  There was much singing in the service, and I am glad to say Solomon joined me in singing along.  It was nice to have him near, holding the words, and my order of service when Ariadne was keeping my hands busy.  The minister spoike of heaven and Lois being reunited with her husband Allan there.  He likened it two early settlers moving to Saskatchawan, saying that you simply had to trust that their lives went on there, as there was no reliable means of communication.  He did end, however, noting that Lois would always be there, should we need her, though we could no longer see or touch her.  Aria and I caught the last half from the quit room.  

After the service was over some drove and others walked a few blocks to the kinsmen hall.  Only the week before we had been warm enough for summer clothes, even in Canada.  I got the stroller out in hopes that Ariadne would fall asleep on the walk over--no such luck.  There were people everywhere.  Long tables filled the hall.  Plates of open faced egg salad and ham sandwiches, and many kinds of cookies, carafes of coffee and pitchers of water filled a middle table designated for family and a buffet of the same was available for friends and neighbors.

The girls at at large community reception for GG Lois

Aunt Marianne and Ariadne (Ariadne's dress was knit by GG Lois for Roberta over fifty years ago). 

As all the planned activities wrapped up, the immediate family went back to the Hospitality room in small groups to twos and threes until all 19 of us ended up there.   Nova made a point of learning all the cousin's names.  She had trouble with Tom. We gave her T for a hint. We all heard her say 'Sally!' (She claims it was Tsallin).  Lehaina and Les were also a challenge--given the hint of L, she tried 'Lenny' both times.  Laughter ensued.  She continued to go through the names until she got them all right, making a joke of it by dwelling on her own family member's names as well, like it is an accomplishment to remember Ariadne and Solomon.

We talked and played games.  Chris, Leslie's husband taught Nova how to make a loon call, and taught Charlotte how to shuffle cards.  Solomon and Ariadne played a little chase game, but for the most part, the kids were calm and we ended up staying the whole evening.  Roberta, Kathy, and Tim open up a pile of condolence cards and read through the guest book--200 signatures (I can tell you there were a lot more people than that there--for example, none of our kids signed the book).  Finally it is back to our hotel and time for bed.

Cousine Victoria and Charlotte having a little fun on the way back to the hospitality room. 

Charles, Leslie, Chris, Lehaina, and Tom

Back to Jane's for dinner with 50.  Lots of visiting overall.  We have turkey, stuffling, gravey, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, glazed carrots, many salads, plus dessert.  Kathy announces--dinner is on Mum, it is her final gift to you.  Monday is Canadian Thanksgiving.  

Ariadne really latched on to Grandpa Berry during the week end.   At nearly every meal, she wanted to sit with him.  

Grandma Roberta, Great Aunt Kathy and Great Uncle Tim reading condolence letters and sharing memories.

On the way home, Charles and I talked about life, death, and future plans.  For both of us, the biggest takeaway was to live our lives well now.  The big swooping windmills came into view and we knew the border wasn't far off.  At duty free we got the last of our Canadian chocolate bars and some crown royal and maple leaf candy for our friends who have been pet sitting.  After a mild grilling at the border we were off.  

Home nine hours later, all in all a very good trip.    

An Average Day, Circa Early Fall 2014

Some of you may wonder what we really do all day long.  Homeschooling is as varied as the families that practice it, but here is an 'average' day of ours from earlier this fall.  

This morning began with some Suzuki listening.  We focused on songs for Out and About day, playing both 'name that tune' and 'sing that tune.'

Charlotte and Aria and I read the last story in Molly Wuppie, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, and the Bob book Dot.  It is one we've read before, but not at all recently.  Since Charlotte has been frustrated, I thought I'd try backing up a bit.  She read it remarkably easily but I thought she might be remembering/guessing so I wrote up a word and picture match on the white board using words from the story.  It was harder, but she ended up liking it and asked for more.  We did another two and a half of them for a total of 10 words read.  During this time Nova and Solomon practiced violin.

Next Charlotte and I practiced cello while Nova played with Aria.

Nova and Solomon both did some research for pending projects--Nova on the flight of butterflies, and Solomon on WWII.  Nova did some programing.  Nova also tried out garage band for the first time, 'writing' two songs using existing beats, original melodies, lyrics and harmonies.

I outlined the butterfly written projects a little more clearly during snack.  Solomon is doing a paper, on metamorphosis,  Nova is doing a poster on flight and flight patterns, and Charlotte is doing a book on the butterfly life cycle.



During lunch I read about the partitioning of India into India and Pakistan and the creation of Israel after WWII.

The doctor called, and it turns out Ariadne does still have a bladder infection, so I went to the pharmacy in the afternoon to get her medicine. Because of this we did not get to math or Solomon's violin check in. Nova and I did get to go over her newest song a little bit.

In the afternoon Ivy and Matt came over and we walked up to the park and released our butterflies together. It was a beautiful fall day.

At dinner Solomon asked Charles about dark matter.  In addition to dark matter they talked about where the Big Bang started, vectors and dimensions.  Nova got in on the conversation too.