I am Sarah: 38 year old Canadian-American, tea-drinking, feminist, homeschooling, agnostic, crafty, domestic-artist-wanna-be, island-dwelling mother to Maxine (age 2), Asa (age 5) and Lee (age 8).
this blog is dedicated to creative endeavours and household minutiae.
i love love love the Royal Winter Agricultural Fair (and isn't it fun we can live in Canada and go to things that are "Royal")
:: we saw farmers milking cows with velvet-looking fur, and learned that 94% of the milk in Ontario comes from Holsteins
:: we watched the fabulous 'Sheep Shearing Shelleys' shear a sheep (the teenage daughter has been presenting and narrating this demo for at least 6 years now- since she was about 8 maybe? and is such a performer. they make farming look like a fun family affair)
:: we gawked at these prize-winning giant pumpkins
:: the boys raced some mini Nascar RC cars
:: we admired tried out the Japanese tractors, learned about biofuel, and saw the chassis and engine of a big pick-up truck
:: we got really excited about dancing and racing dogs
we also--
bought some amazing smoked trout from Manitoulin Island; ate some chocolate fudge, perogies and cabbage rolls, and fish and chips; saw some butter sculptures (!!); petted some goats, sheep, and llamas; tasted birch syrup; learned about urban homesteading; and watched some show horses.
finally, to top off a wonderful day, we had cereal and fried eggs for dinner.
Calder spent his formative years hitting the streets of Paris with a
creation that has to be seen to be believed — a magical miniature
circus.
Featuring more than 100 works, this exhibition tells the story of
Calder’s artistic trajectory — from his early sketches of circus folk
in New York and the small wire sculptures he created in Paris to early
examples of his famous mobiles. The focal point of the exhibition is Calder’s Circus,
a miniature three-dimensional circus that Calder created between 1926
and 1931 and then performed internationally for decades, garnering the
attention of the Paris art scene and introducing him to artists whose
friendship and influence would change his life and work forever,
including Mondrian, Miró and Man Ray.
this was a particularly good show for kids as it was very whimsical.
here's a snippet of the documentary we watched at the museum that shows Calder performing his circus:
Lee made a wire head sculpture today- of Samuel de Champlain. we have been learning about early Canadian history and European explorers. I SWEAR i had nothing to do with his choice of figures. i thought he'd just do a generic 'guy.' this choice was particularly funny to me because often, in school, teachers combine art with other subjects ("choose a figure from history to make a portrait of...") but this was completely from Lee. he used these pictures as he worked:
i helped him a bit by holding his sculpture as he worked, and helped him twist the wire where it joined to other pieces but the rest was all him. and, wow, i was blown away by his 3D rendering. he had it all worked out in his head before he started and he was very pleased with how it turned out.
no surprise i guess, but my kids LOVE Halloween so much. costumes, trick-or-treat, jack-o-lanterns- pure fun.
here are a bee, an Ewok, and a gangster:
i resisted the temptation to make something original for Maxine- she wore a bee costume i made for Asa when he was little. she was fine with that- for weeks she's been saying, "I bein' a bee!!!!" she was too cute. I made the Ewok suit for Asa but my man said no one knew what he was. come on folks! haven't you seen Star Wars? But Asa was happy with it so that's what counts. Lee pulled together his whole costume himself (another good thing about growing up!) including inking his counterfeit bills.
we had about 100 trick-or-treaters. i made chocolate chip pumpkin cookies (i posted the recipe in last year's Halloween post) as is my tradition. it pleased me to hear one kid walking away saying, "oh- these are awesome! i remember them from last year!"
last night's big sort:
the kids have a 24 hour candy fest and then they 'trade' the rest of their candy (minus 2 pieces to save for later) for a new small toy. we figure a ton of candy for a day is better than a little every day for months and they like getting a new toy.
i'll leave you with Lee and his 8-year-old-idea-of-funny pumpkin.
he read the entire way through the grocery store and didn't even notice as i snapped his picture.
the homeschooling this year is going really well (you may remember, last year we 'took a break' and Lee went to school for the rest of Grade 2- more on that here).
my man and i rethought some of our goals and our methods and revised the plan in a way that works better for everyone, and also Lee knows now what regular school is like so he has a much better attitude about homeschooling!
Piano has become a big part of his curriculum: his lesson is now an hour a week and includes theory, and he practices for a big chunk and does his "pencil work" (theory) every day. his dad gives him math problems (fun high-level geometry and algebra) and we are still using JUMP math for basic skills. Lee is also using this website to learn to type. i am amazed at how fast/ how much his young brain can absorb this new skill. he reads a lot (mostly adventure or mystery novels) and we have been doing a lot of reading and research together about early Canadian history.
people have commented that they have never seen Lee so happy. I would have to agree.
yesterday we resumed our weekly field trips with a visit to the Royal Ontario Museum. of course, we hit the dinosaurs, the knights (armour and weaponry) and the bat cave. Lee, being the detail man that he is, read on the signage that most of the dinosaurs were "fake!"- that is casts of the fossils. he was a little indignant.
on the way there and back, the kids collected "subway bubways" (the name Asa gave the transfers you get in the subway station machines). I always find getting someplace on public transport is half the fun- for the kids at least.
killing time until the ferry, our last stop was a good long visit to the Wave Deck.
my camera battery ran out in the very beginning of the day- so here are some dinos, and a picture of the Wave Deck from the summer.
:: fabulous weekend getaway on a long skinny point of land jutting out into the the lake
:: blue skies and beach walks and my family
:: a Sunday drive
:: my mom's tribute to Canadian Thanksgiving (which was Monday- Happy
Thanksgiving my fellow Canadians!) -- by way of a 1970s childhood
memory- an all fondue dinner (cheese, meat -turkey, ahem- and
chocolate)- the kids loved it!
weekends like this make me miss my home state and those in it, but it's good to be home.
my sister and I walked our dad down the aisle (following the cutest ring bearers and flower girl EVER) and my dad's partner's sons walked him down the aisle. the minister from their MCC church in Key West flew up specially to marry them. the dinner was sooo good- i am waiting for a corn pudding recipe from their caterer. i will share...
the loveliest part for me however was what a few people said during the blessings ('guest participation') portion of the wedding.
my mom got a lot of laughs when she started with, "i feel a little like the mother of the bride" (my parents were married for 15 years and are close friends to this day, 20+ years after their divorce). But there wasn't a dry eye in the house as she thanked my dad (and now his partner) for saving a space for her in the events of their lives and for being happy they could share in the events of their children's lives together. She spoke of how we (including her same-sex partner of 15 years) are a family, despite our unusual circumstances. we were all laughing again as she finished with, "plus, you and B. are a better couple than we ever were." how lucky am i?
my dad's two older sisters came with their husbands. they are very traditional Vermont stock- my dad grew up on a dairy farm. both of my aunts welcomed B. to the family. this was HUGE: for them, for my dad, and very moving for me that they were there, and supportive and loving. i think they may have lost whatever residual hesitation they may have had about my dad's sexuality/"lifestyle" when they saw the love and support and joy at this wedding- and my dad and B's acceptance by their community- gay and straight.
Asa was bored out of his mind at the reception- "it's just a bunch of people talking and eating!" I should have brought some Lego!! Lots of ice cream was eaten by Maxine, and Lee charmed all the adults with his lovely 8 year old social skills.
i can't resist closing with a taste of my attempt to get a 'good' picture of all 3 kids. sometimes the series of 'off' ones is better than 1 good!
about an hour after i took the photo in the last post, i looked at the jar and there she was! we kept him inside overnight and let her go in the morning. i was so astounded by this process and grateful for the opportunity to observe Mother nature doing her thing.
we walked up to the St. Lawrence Market to get some treats and go to the show at the Market Gallery: Toronto Island Narratives, Past and Present. admittedly this is of particular interest to us, but i really enjoyed it. (so did Lee, but Asa said it was the "poopiest field trip ever. this isn't a SHOW! it's just some stuff." But i hope he secretly liked it)
It was a tribute to the recently deceased keeper of the Island Archives - some great historical photos and artwork inspired by Island history.
i had fun making this mosaic of my boy. these are just all the costumes i happened to photograph- and it doesn't include Halloween! (my kids are starting to bug me to get going on their costumes already!)
destination: the Redpath Sugar factory and Captain John's restaurant. Captain John's is a 300 foot long repurposed cruise ship that has been anchored at the foot of Yonge St. since 1975.
view from the ferry: Redpath is on the far right, and Captain John's is on the far left.
both are on the waterfront, directly across the water from the Island where we live. it was high time for a visit!
first stop: the 'famous' clam chowder at Capt. John's.
the ambience was not a disappointment. picture a cruise ship turned into a restaurant in 1975, with fairly opulent decor, and NOTHING changed since. it was incredibly shabby and charming. we met Captain John himself and he invited us to poke around the ship.
Next stop: Redpath Sugar factory.
the Redpath Museum had some visual displays that were fairly dull, if well put together, but an eccentric curator and an excellent video showing how sugar is made right there in the factory.
next to the grocery store (while not technically part of the field trip, I like to do as much as i can while in the city) where we saw this:
how cool for the boys to see the shelves of sugar right after visiting the factory where it was made!
2 things happened after our visit that in the education world would probably be called 'lesson extensions' or some term like that in the education world: we tasted some sugar cane and we made brown sugar. Both of these things happened completely spontaneously and organically and gave me a few chills about our homelearning process.
while we were in the produce section, Lee exclaimed, "Mom! They have sugar cane!" We had to buy some of course, but it was so old that we only managed a few chips away at the inside to get a taste of the cane juice. But i love that he saw it and recognized it and we could buy it right after our factory visit!
when we got home and were putting away the groceries, Lee asked if we could make some brown sugar. (i had asked about that at the museum- did you know all brown sugar and 'raw' sugar is processed white sugar with molasses added back into it? i am going to start saving some serious money on my brown sugar habit. i have it in tea every day and love to use it in baking)
the boys loved "their" sugar on their oatmeal this morning!
we tried last year to raise a monarch butterfly, with heartbreaking (for me) results, but we decided to try again this. some of my favourite memories of childhood are finding the caterpillars, taking care of them and setting the butterflies free. i wanted my kids to witness this amazing transformation.
here is the caterpillar in its 'J hang'- for 12-24 hours before it becomes a chrysalis.
when we woke up Saturday, it had become a chrysalis. check out the incredible golden spots on the green. here is a good link if you are interested in raising monarchs. we learned that the caterpillar actually sheds its striped skin and the chrysalis is underneath. it is not actually a cocoon at all. so fascinating!
in about a week the butterfly should emerge from its chrysalis.
i am so used to Asa wearing costumes that i kept thinking, why is everyone smiling and looking at us? (he was a snow leopard today) some day soon i'll post about his dress-up habit...
today is the national Terry Fox Run day. Terry Fox is a Canadian icon and hero- for those of you who don't know who he was, here's an introduction from the Terry Fox website:
Terry Fox was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, and raised in Port
Coquitlam, British Columbia, a community near Vancouver on Canada's
west coast. An active teenager involved in many sports, Terry was only
18 years old when he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma (bone
cancer) and forced to have his right leg amputated 15 centimetres (six
inches) above the knee in 1977.
While in hospital, Terry was so overcome by the suffering of other
cancer patients, many of them young children, that he decided to run
across Canada to raise money for cancer research.
He would call his journey the Marathon of Hope.
It was a journey that Canadians never forgot.
After 18 months and running over 5,000 kilometres (3,107 miles) to
prepare, Terry started his run in St. John’s, Newfoundland on April 12,
1980 with little fanfare. Although it was difficult to garner attention
in the beginning, enthusiasm soon grew, and the money collected along
his route began to mount. He ran 42 kilometres (26 miles) a day through
Canada's Atlantic provinces, Quebec and Ontario. However, on September
1st, after 143 days and 5,373 kilometres (3,339 miles), Terry was
forced to stop running outside of Thunder Bay, Ontario because cancer
had appeared in his lungs. An entire nation was stunned and saddened.
Terry passed away on June 28, 1981 at the age 22.
The heroic Canadian was gone, but his legacy was just beginning.
To date, more than $400 million has been raised worldwide for cancer
research in Terry's name through the annual Terry Fox Run, held across
Canada and around the world.
:::::::
today we Islanders and friends are participating in the Terry Fox Run with heavy hearts.
a few days ago, a friend and neighbour, Margaret, died after a 4 year battle with cancer. Margaret was only 43 and leaves behind her husband and 4 children, ages 6- 14.
one of things Margaret did to try to fight the cancer was drink fresh organic vegetable juice every day. some friends organized a supply of vegetables and a team of people every day to 'scrub' and 'juice' day-in and day-out for the past 2 years (the date of her most recent cancer diagnosis) and deliver a mason jar of juice to Margaret's door every day. there were over 50 people involved in this labour of love.
one of Margaret's neighbours planted this tribute to Margaret and her band of juicers in his garden this spring.
Margaret will be sorely missed.
:::::
I am challenging myself to run 10K today- i've never run that far before. i know how hard Margaret fought to live and i want to do something hard to recognize her struggle. if you would like to donate to the Terry Fox foundation, here's the link.
Asa had his first day back at school, my man had his first day of classes for Year 2 of 4, and Lee had his first day of homeschool, round 2 (we homeschooled for grade 1 and part of grade 2- explanation for our change here if you are interested).
ever since he went back to school, Lee has been asking to homeschool again. our neighbourhood school is a fine little school and Lee had a great teacher last year, but for lots of reasons we decided we didn't want to send him back this year- it wasn't a good fit.
I have been stressing out for 6 months over what to do this year- looking at other schools, getting wait-listed for the school we do want (an alternative school within the public system), wondering if we should homeschool again. after my getting (eye-opening) degree in teacher's college 2 years ago, (my ideas of education now lean toward this- i was radicalized by teacher's college!) i believe that homeschooling can be a fantastic lifestyle/mode of education. BUT, we have not found a community of other homeschoolers and this lack of 'buddies' has made me think this will not be a permanent solution to his/our situation. (on our Island there aren't many kids Lee's age- and they're both in school all day anyway!)
now that we decided- to go for homeschooling this year and wait for the school we want for next year- i'm really excited about the possibilities. Lee's firts day today was a chapter of the book he's writing ('Bionicle Terms and Definitions', some JUMP math, reading a novel, and piano lessons) Asa has school 3 days a week, so the brothers still have lots of time to play together- and we can all hang out- do 'field trips' to museums or other places of interest, go to the library, be outside, make stuff, read lots of chapter books.
a few weeks ago, Maxine lost her all-night milk buffet. my goal was to give her that pleasure/nourishment until she turned 2, but we went a bit longer because she was still teething uncomfortably.
it went pretty well- she did cry a bit, but understands that we all need to sleep and will accept a pat on the back and a round of her favourite song ("Baa Baa Black Sheep" is the new soundtrack of my dreams) She can wait until 'in the mornin' and says proudly 'no more nicknie in the night!'
i hadn't realized how much the broken sleep was affecting me- yes, I was tired and i still am, but my outlook on life has drastically improved. for a while now, i have felt overwhelmed by everything i have to do and everything i want to do and anxious about a lot of it. this was often a physical feeling at odds with what i knew rationally. since Maxine has been sleeping through the night, that feeling has pretty much gone away.
in this photo she is napping in my arms- something i have been letting her do lately as she seems to be losing her baby-ness everyday.
anyone who knows me knows about my reading habit. i love to read and i always have. the fact that i have less time to read may be my biggest 'complaint' about my child-rich lifestyle.
BUT, even with less time to read, i have still managed to give myself carpal tunnel syndrome (repetitive strain injury) from READING (holding heavy books while breastfeeding). this has gotten progressively worse with each child until i finally got it checked out and was given a splint to wear at night- which really helps. I finally figured out this was what was causing it as i get the numbness still from reading if i'm not careful. anyhoo...
the author writes about how most kids do not get enough sleep and how family lifestyles are not conducive to children getting the rest they and their parents need.
i needed to hear this. i am trying to develop a 'program' a 'plan' a something to help me in
the next year while my man is busy at school and i am mostly on my own. an earlier bedtime is now one part of it.
i strongly recommend reading this book.
for us, it will be the 8 o'clock bedtime- because 7 just is too early around here. i think the bedtime of right now- 9 or 10 o'clock (even though the kids sleep in)- is making everyone really tired and cranky. sometimes everyone just seems so unhappy! this book gives me hope that maybe they are just tired. plus, i will have a bit of 'me time' or catch up time in the evenings which i am lacking right now.
the big challenge? dinner should be 2 hours before the desired bedtime!! !!!!! that is a big challenge for me. my new goal in life is dinner at 6:00. if you had told me 20 years ago that that would be my goal in life, i would have laughed (see the first book i mentioned in this post. i didn't think there was a connection but i guess there is)
my mom gave us this tie dye kit- so fun! i hadn't tie-dyed since i was a teenager. i soon remembered the sudden urge when he dye is mixed and flowing: 'what else can i tie-dye?' which in this case led us to inviting over some friends and neighbours to partake in the fun.
Our friend Julia is laid up with a broken ankle. And check out Asa with one of his crazy daily (!) costumes- underneath the ladybug umbrella and black velvet cape is a purple fleece balaclava and cat whiskers- his sword is on the table.
it was a great all ages activity: the littler kids needed help with the tying, but could do the dyeing just fine.
(Lee is wearing a tie dye he made at camp)
here are a couple of the shirts in action.
(another day, another costume for Asa- ninja at the beach- you should have seen some of the strange looks he got)
this would be a fantastic birthday party activity- instead of the dreaded 'loot bags.' but each guest would have to go home with a wet shirt filled with dye, to be rinsed and opened in 24 hours- or do what we did and everyone come back 24 hours later to open the surprises!
we've had so much rain and cooler days, not necessarily so bad, but there's nothing like a beach day.
we've been having some of those around here, if only to get away from the MONSTER mosquitos around our house. the wet weather helped them thrive- to the point where I say "Run, kids, run!" as we are leaving our house and going down the path through the garden to go out.
i've been notably absent from this space, taking a bit of a blog vacation without meaning to, but i'm back. i've had a hard time finding the space to blog while in our summer routine. lots of time out of the house, miss big girl not wanting to nap much anymore, the boys wanting to know why i'm on the computer, and my man more available in the evenings for hanging out. but i've still been thinking of post ideas and taking photos, so i'll try to catch up.
i'm also anticipating my man going back to school, and our fall routine. trying to think of ways to make it all manageable, and, yes, pleasant! more on that later.
but for now- a welcome back to myself photo- from the beach yesterday.
one of the best things about our trip was our visit to the Shelburne Museum. go there if you can! it's amazing!
it was started by Electra Havemeyer Webb in 1947. from the museum's website: "When creating the Museum she took the imaginative step of collecting
18th- and 19th-century buildings from New England and New York in which
to display the Museum's holdings, relocating 20 historic structures to
Shelburne. These include houses, barns, a meeting house, a one-room schoolhouse,
a lighthouse, a jail, a general store, a covered bridge, and the 220-foot
steamboat Ticonderoga." Don't forget the Webb family's private train, and the old Shelburne train station, and a 518 foot hand-carved miniature circus parade and a 3,500 piece miniature 3 ring circus (the boys especially loved those). The museum also has an extensive collection of folk-art and quilts. When Mrs. Webb died a special building was created to recreate her New York
City apartment, with everything inside it, including her $350 million
worth of Impressionist art and all her furniture and interiors. Right now there is an amazing Tiffany exhibit and a motorcycle exhibit.
when i was a kid, I went ever year with my elementary school class and i LOVED it. i hadn't been back for years. it was EVEN BETTER than i remembered! How often does that happen?! Lee and Asa liked it too.
here are my favourite things from this visit (no way can you see it all in one day):
a 1790's Vermont house. interactive for kids- see how they made their food and how flax is processed to make linen (amazing process! 1 acre of flax would yield 1 linen bedsheet) here's Asa threshing some flax.
the steamship Ticonderoga- a beautiful boat
the 1950's house. This house was adjacent to the museum. when it came up for sale they bought it and recreated a 1950 family home.
I can't wait to go back next year and take my man there. My dad's partner works there now as a docent, so we will definitely go back often!
nary a craft is in sight, so i'll share some trip photos with ya'll. we're back now for the rest of the summer (!!) Lee is having a ball in Canoe Camp (week 2 of 2 begins today). thanks Mom and Nan, Dad and Bill for a great trip!
sink baths
dog beds
'fishing'
the dairy farm my dad grew up on and my gram's old house. sadly, the family farm proved hard to sustain. my last cousin to try to make it work had to sell last year.
this is an old post- written last Thursday, had to get photos from a classmate's parents as i forgot my camera! (thanks Rachel!) i'll still resume posting again next week!
today was Lee and Asa's last day of school. yay summer!
Asa's school had a 'flying-up' ceremony. each age group of children at the school is a birdhouse- Hummingbirds, Chickadees, Blue Jays and Robins. Asa was a Blue Jay this year, and next year will be a Robin (kindergarten year). the children made 'nests' in the meadow next to the school and, dressed in the colours of their new birds, 'flew' from their old nest to their new one.
it was so sweet and simple and beautiful and meaningful.
