The Start of School Year 2015-16

School is off and running.  This might be our last year homeschooling everyone, as the plan has always been to do something a little more traditional for high school.  The picture above is from the evening of our first day.  All that grad school in the History of Science came in handy in convincing Solomon that there really is a point to factoring radicals.  Thinking big ideas is one of the best parts of high school mathematics, and Solomon, Charles and I are all looking forward to that for Solomon this year.  

These are our unofficial school uniforms for the younger two.  They each have the same dress in purple and matching leggings (Aria is wearing her purple leggings).  Both dresses are reversible. They each have a pullover for when the weather gets colder. Why have uniforms when we homeschool?  My point is not to be controlling, it is to make them more comfortable and reduce friction about what to wear.  My kids often get comfortable in what they are wearing and don't want to switch. Different seams and closures feel uncomfortable.  This way switching only means switching colors, nothing else.  The necklaces were their idea.  We rarely go shopping for new clothes, they were both pretty thrilled with the whole thing.    

Charlotte has been asking to learn Chinese for years.  I blame Aunt Brynn, for giving her a Gordon and Li Li Learn Animals in Mandarin board book back when Charlotte could barely speak anything--that and maybe the Avatar cartoon series.  I say blame only because Chinese is notoriously difficult and we have zero experience with the language.  I am actually pretty excited about it now that we have found a more comprehensive curriculum.   It turns out Charlotte is most interested in learning the characters, though she has been spending a lot of her free time listening to the books on CD and repeating the words too.  Up until this year all the curriculum I could find for young kids ignored written Chinese.  She is excited to get going.

Ariadne's first day of preschool began quite wet but ended in sunshine (both atmospherically and emotionally).  Though she was sad to see me go, she was all smiles when I returned.  Ariadne told me excitedly about her new friends, Libby and Juliette.  Though Juliette and Aria had spent an entire year in the same Sunday School class, it seems they did not notice each other until the first day of preschool.  Libby couldn't help but remind me of my own dear friend Libby, whom I also met in preschool.



Solomon and Nova are both taking fencing at their co-op this year and it has become a fast favorite.  Nova is in the foreground poking her saber at her opponent's stomach and Solomon is in back wearing dark pants and facing the camera.  Their instructor is quite a character, which makes it extra fun.



The girls posed for a picture when playgroup took an impromptu trip to the zoo.  Volunteers were stationed around the zoo to field questions and offer educational enrichment.  The boys (all being older) had gone on ahead.

Charlotte is reading without sounding out the words--her new big thing in reading this year.  It was all her idea too.  She is just at the cusp of taking off.  I remember when Solomon learned to read.  He went from reading the fifth and final set of Bob Books (which Charlotte is reading from above), to reading Lion Boy by Zizou Corder, a long and complicated children's chapter book that even throws in a few phrases from other languages.  He had received the book as a gift from my mom, neither Charles nor I would have guessed he could read it.  We were floored.  Nova, always a determined child, powered through an abridged version of Anne of Green Gables, sounding out the words all the way.  Shockingly she was still able to follow the story.  She got through it all and still has fond memories of reading her first chapter book at age five.  This one had been a gift from my aunt, who also homeschooled her kids.

And now for a little science!  Solomon is taking Biology at our co-op.  His teacher assigned the kids to design their own experiments.  Solomon's involves a classic rat maze.
 

This is Heimdall, running the maze--well, exploring the maze, he never reached the end.  His brother Dasher finished in 3 minutes 24 seconds.  Too bad for Dasher, he will now get played with for half as long as Heimdall for the next week to see if playtime affects results.

We also had some fun with non-Newtonian fluids this week (a.k.a. oobleck).  It is amazing what fun cornstarch and water can be!  Plasma, liquids, solids and gases all came up in conversation as we watched this bizarre matter clump and ooze, depending on how we handled it.

The little girls and I also read Dr. Seuss's Bartholomew and the Oobleck.

Other things going on that don't photograph so well include learning Italian (Solomon) and French (Nova), lots more math, and a whole lot of writing on Solomon's part.  He is working on a novel and it is really coming along.  Nova is taking a combo electronics/mine craft redstone class and ballroom dancing along with fencing.  Solomon's third co-op class is History of Rock and Roll (I am jealous). Suzuki music lessons continue with a slight change--Solomon is now playing viola.  Circus classes have just kicked off and soccer is in mid season.  Never a dull moment!

These transition times always get so full and go so fast.  Fall is my favorite season, I must admit.  I just have to remember to take a little time to enjoy it all.  Kids, while they keep you busy, are also good at reminding you to slow down.  On one of the last days of astronomical summer (Sept 21st?), Charlotte and Ariadne were adamant that we take some time to play on the swing set.  And could pass up recess when it looks like this outside?

  

Wedding!

At the end of June, Aunt Marianne said 'I do.'  Above are the happy couple together with their parents.  The kids are happy to report they now have two uncles.  Uncle Sylvain fits into the family quite well.  He loves cooking and games, and leans a bit to the nerdy side, all characteristics he shares with Marianne.  A native of France, he is doing his best make our kids bilingual.  Charles and I met in French four---it is possible he might succeed.  

All four of our kids were in the wedding.  We had a junior bridesmaid, two flower girls, and a ring bearer.  Charles did the English language version of the reading for the ceremony, while his cousin Victoria covered the French reading.   

Nova and Charlotte practiced walking in heels in the grass.

Charles, Marianne and Matt

Francoise and Roberta trying out the front row seats.  Believe it or not, in less than an hour storm clouds rolled in and the wedding had to be moved inside.  The lobby made a good back up location.  By the time recessional was done, it was pouring.  

Piloting the rings in by drone was about the coolest way Marianne and Sylvain could have asked Solomon to fulfill the duties of ring bearer.  Their wedding had all sorts of fun, playful elements.  Our first hint of this was the invitation that included a tardis.  The wedding programs were entitled 'The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Wedding' and included crosswords and wordfinds about Marianne and Sylvain in French and English.  

Elements of the ceremony were serious, others playful.  Their vows, which had all the meaning of the traditional version, we said in anapestic tetrameter, as Dr. Seuss would have written them (so of course the Cat in the Hat had to show up).    

After the recessional, the bride and groom hurried under a 21 Nerf gun salute

A photo booth served as a guest book.  The kids (and most of the adults) took full advantage of the props.  

French family and friends who could not make it to the US sent a lovely little video we all watched at the reception.  In August there will be festivities in France.  

Marianne and Sylain along with their best man and his wife.

Ariadne investigating the dessert.  If you think you spy a tardis...you would be correct.  Here's a closer look.

Charlotte was so enthusiastic about the cupcakes, she ended up with a frosting moustache.  

Solomon and Nova with their cousin Victoria.  

Cousin Tom and his wife Lehaina

First dance...

The dance floor was well used at this wedding.  We heard Kazakh songs, French Songs, Sinatra, Happy, and eventually, despite a complete ban--the chicken dance.  The wedding party and siblings were to blame.  More mischievous fun was in store.  Toward the end of the night, I couldn't find the older three kids anywhere.  It turns out the had been  recruited to decorate Marianne and Sylvain's car.  I hear the inside was entirely filled with balloons.  Ariadne had some tricks up her sleeve too (or in her flower basket).  Around 10:00 she started dispensing blue glow in the dark bracelets.  When Marianne enquired where all the guests had gotten the bracelets, the only person they could credit was the three year old.

Well, the weekend has come and gone, but oh, what a weekend it was.  We partied and visited and celebrated.  The kids danced, danced, danced, all Sunday night.  Here's to a happy marriage!

Back Yard Progress

 

Some of you may remember that we had to say goodbye to our tree house last fall.  The Silver Maple it rested in had a fatal fungus.  The tree was likely as old as the house--75 years.  We were sad to see it go.  

Step one was getting the tree house out of the tree.  My dad did that pretty much single handed.  If you look closely, you can see Solomon glumly looking on in the window.  

The tree came down, providing a fascinating spectacle for everyone who was home that day.  Our yard looked bare indeed when they were finished, plus there were several ruts from heavy machinery.  It was time for a revamp, so we began to re imagine the backyard.

It just so happened there were plenty of used swing sets on craigslist at the time (late April or early May).  Solomon helped me scope this one out.



A few weeks later, my Dad helped us disassemble and move it to our yard.  Solomon got a little practice with power tools.

 

The girls thought the 'Grandma's Attic' in the U-Haul was a good spot for a picture.

Meanwhile, we were doing some backyard gardening.  The ultimate goal is a butterfly garden back here, but this year it is more or less a flower garden.  We had lilies, joe pie weed, butterfly weed, and columbine from previous years.  Blue bachelor buttons, orange and red poppies, four o'clocks and sunflowers were all annuals we added to the mix.   

   

The cat is rather fond of the 'parent bench' (as in, the place for grown-ups to sit while the kids are on the playground). 

Wood chips from the tree made a path through the garden.  Ariadne enjoyed shoveling.  River rock we found the garden beds formed the sides of the path.  Note to all homeowners: don't bury landscaping rock, it will haunt future generations of gardeners.

My parents (especially my dad) have been a tremendous help through this entire process. Above my dad and Solomon are working on getting the roof up on the tower portion of the swing set.  Below my mom and the girls took a break from spreading wood chips to try out the swings.  

This is more or less where we are at present.  We added a heavy duty wave slide and replaced the old swings with Charlotte and Aria's swings (which had been suspended from the clothesline). More to come!