Fridays are the best.

Zoë is turning a shoebox into a Valentine's Day box to hold the cards she'll get from her Science Club friends this Monday.  I'm cutting out words for the Bingo Grammar game I'm making.  The rabbit is eating some hay in the cage next to my desk.  The guinea pigs are in the cage next to Zoe and they're snoozing after eating this morning's kale, carrots and apples.  Max is lying on the rug in the exact place where the sun shines through.  He's fast asleep.  It's a very nice morning, and I'm grateful.

Zoë as a Roman girl in Ancient Rome.

Today's Poem

Snail
by Maxine Kumin

No one writes a letter to the snail.
He does not have a mailbox for his mail.
He does not have a bathtub or a rug.
There's no one in his house that he can hug.
There isn't any room when he's inside.

And yet they say the snail is satisfied.


We liked this one and wanted to share.

Confession

Homeschooling, house cleaning and hygiene...can they all get along?

We wear pajamas until 11:00 sometimes.  I won't say how long I stayed in PJs yesterday.   I will say I got dressed.  Before dark.  I think homeschooling has something to do with it.  I like the privilege getting more cosy and comfortable in my clothes, but I think Paul Bunyan's relatives are trying to kidnap me and maybe that's not a good thing.  "Wear flannel, buy a mountain retreat," they whisper.  Is this my new mantra?   I think I'm on day seven of the ponytail.  

I'm not going down that easy.

I just cut a deal with Zoë.  We can do the pajama deal every other week, but she has to be dressed for the day before noon and the same goes with me.  I do not want to sacrifice the rite of dressing, cleaning up, etc.  no more than I want a messy house.    It is as important as keeping my surrounding clean and uncluttered.    I know it's just me and Zoë many days so it's easy to go casual, but there's a fine line between casual and unkempt.  

Homeschooling, house cleaning and hygiene:   Shake and be nice to each other.



Classroom update:

Zoe and Lenny.  Oliver is in hiding.

We welcome Lenny and Butterscotch, our new guinea pigs, to Finucane Elementary.

Correction on the name Butterscotch.  Zoë has changed his name to Oliver (as in Oliver Twist).

Happy New Year and we love you, Norman Rockwell.

We're off to a slow start at Finucane Elementary this week, but I think it's safe to say neither one of us really mind that much.   For Zoë, she's simply tired and having difficulty getting back to our routine after Christmas break.  She stayed up late and slept in almost everyday.  And I did the same.  Sleep is such a welcome, but often neglected friend so I relished the opportunity to catch up on some of it.

The break also gave me some time to reflect on our schedule and make some changes.  For starters,  I decided to cut back our time at the Learning Arbor Cooperative this semester and opted for Gym/Game day with the Cary Homeschoolers at Middlecreek Elementary.   There was a conflict, so one had to go.  Truth be told,  I'm still learning to balance our family life now that homeschooling is in the equation.   The coop requires the parents teach the classes.  Maybe next year, but definitely not ready to add more to the pot.

On that note, I signed Zoë up for a girl's Science Club.  Now THAT is way cool.  She went to her first meeting yesterday.  It's a two-hour class taught by a retired professor from UNC.   Just eight girls and they'll spend every Monday from now until May working together.  Zoë was once again, smiling ear to ear after the class.  That's when I know I did right.  I'm also happy because I get a  two hour window to catch up on my reading and writing.  I went to the Cameron Village Regional Library, about three miles away.   There's a coffee shop and Wifi.  Perfect.

I'm tired as I write this.  It was supposed to be about our field trip to the NC Museum of Art today.    The docent handed Zoë a piece of paper and asked her to draw a stick figure of the above painting.   I love that painting.  She told the kids that Norman Rockwell started drawing at a very early age.  He drew his hands.  If you can draw your hand really well, then you're on to something.  I'm going to try that out, but I'm thinking  it will still look like the ones I traced in school and turned into turkeys.  Zoë, on the other hand, nailed it.

Dinner....oops.   Hungry children await.

"Love Your Teacher" Day

Apparently, that's today.  Zoe woke up at 6:00 this morning and while I was snoozing away, she was setting up my desk, arranging my breakfast, writing a card and arranging roses in a vase.

I'm speechless.  She couldn't have given me a better gift than the card and the poem she wrote in it.  If there was any second guessing about homeschooling her, it's gone.  I've never seen Zoe so happy.  Thanks Zoe. You're teaching me way more.

This is how I found my desk this morning.

Zoe's Poem

A visit to Sonoco Recycling

The field trips are so much fun.  We went to a recycling center in Raleigh yesterday.   Zoe and I were once again amazed.   Who knew you could knit purses out of plastic bags?   And who throws a bowling ball in the recycle bin?

It was so interesting to see where our recycles go and how they are traded like a commodity.  We weren't allowed to take any pictures of the assemble line as the conveyor belts were running and men were sorting through the recycles, but my first thought was Lucy and Ethyl in the chocolate factory.   The conveyor belts move fast and these men have to know what to eliminate.  By mid morning they had already handled 16 tons of recycles.

There were a tons of plastic bags on the floor.  We asked why they were taken out.  Our tour guide said they jam the machines so they toss them on the floor and then they're sent to the landfill!   Apparently, the bags are not profitable for the middle man like Sonoco.  They're too light, a pain in the neck on the conveyors and the return on their investment is lousy so it's easier to send them to the landfills.  You can't recycle pizza boxes either.   Good to know.  I"ll keep taking them back to Harris Teeter.  They recycle the bags and work with a company in Wilmington.  Or I'll learn to knit a plastic bag.   :)

We're scheduling a field trip to Holly Springs to see the landfill.  That's where all of Cary's garbage goes.   They said the kids can actually get inside a little tractor and ride up to the top of the garbage.  I can only imagine how nasty that smells, but maybe it will really hit home and we'll realize how much we waste and work on it some more.    Birkenstock Barbie is in Da House!

Euuuuu....Cyclops.

You would think the really scary picture of Cyclops holding a few of Odysseus's men and getting ready to eat them would be scary enough for Zoe.   His face alone, with that big eye in the middle of the forehead, does it for me.

Nope.

Zoe says....."Could he put on some clothes.  I mean, really?"

Teaching her makes me laugh.  Every day.