Author Archives

Medicine Wheel update

July 17, 2013 by tam

I have been going through my files trying to (yes, it’s never-ending!) keep up with cataloguing, backing up and blogging. If I keep taking pictures this will never end – Haha! I still have images to blog about from over a year ago – really those are just for our sake. We don’t print any longer and I really do love this way much better as it’s so nice to have a story to go along with the pictures.

When Mom visited in May she and I went searching for some shade loving plants to add to the medicine wheel. Mom had suggested these nettles (not of the stinging variety). They are beautiful with tiny little flowers and when the sun hits the leaves they have a silvery glow. Hmmm…maybe they are moon plants!

I am falling in love, no, I have fallen in love with the wheel. I am drawn to it. It feels like such a sacred place to me and every time I visit it the birds gather around. To walk bare foot on the moss that the boys lay down, which has grown wonderfully, has such a calming feeling. The soft coolness of it underfoot is soothing indeed.

The plants have started to spread since this picture was taken and the moss has become a bright green. Sadly, the nettle in the bottom corner has died. Super big sad smile inserted here. I don’t know what happened but I think I will try to transfer a bit from one of the other plants to this area as it is at an imbalance now. One of our neighbours gave me some of her Solomon Seal (in the back with the little white flowers) and some Lilly of the Valley which have taken well. All of the plants surrounding the wheel have grown wonderfully and seem to gather themselves around the parameter.

I am so happy that the boys took part in this special corner of the garden. It is truly lovely.

Starting out slow today… a make and listen…

July 11, 2013 by tam

Yes, that’s right. It’s a bit of a slow one today. Last night was filled with some bed hopping on my part.

A few days ago we all went to see Despicable Me 2. We own the first movie (found it in mint condition at a used store!) as we just loved it. The boys were very excited to see the new one in the threatre and, I gotta tell ya, I even laughed out loud in a couple parts, louder than the kids. Good times. But, there were a few parts that really freaked the boys. I won’t give it away but I can see how it was a bit freaky for them. Let’s just say the minions go through a bit of a change… Those changes are sticking by them come bedtime and emerging into their dreams. Darn minions. Trouble-makers! 🙂

I slept in those narrow beds close to my favourite men. It was totally worth it for the closeness it made and the comfort it created but has made me a tired one today. It will be a slow day. That is okay, because with the lovely rain (yes, I do love love love it), it feels like a cuddle under a blanket kind of day. Perhaps we can read another chapter of this book that the boys are loving just as much as their Legos. It’s the last of the series which L found second hand and has encouraged him to read more of the series on his own. I too, am enjoying the books and it’s so much fun to be able to talk Lego with them and know who is who. Ya, that’s right, I’m cool. Teehee.

I have grabbed my knitting to work on – a free pattern from Craftsy. I am also in the midst of making a turtle neck style cape which I hope to complete for this winter. Fingers crossed. In the meantime it’s nice to have a smaller portable project on the go. Can’t wait to wear it!

As (almost) always, I have CBC2 Tempo playing in the background (competing with a Sonic dvd in the other room). I sip my tea, my lovely earl grey tea. Oh, it just isn’t morning without it. It is the perfect knitting/reading/sewing companion. I think I may need to make another cup…getting kind of low in there…in my cup that reminds me of home. 🙂

Once tea is done and the knitting is put aside, I think we will finish creating our so-much-fun (!) tissue paper lanterns from a lovely book I just happened to find roaming the library. More on that when the lanterns are finished. Then we are off to the library for a book drop-off/pick-up and maybe a little moment enjoying the rain.

What have you been making and listening to today?

For more inspirational making and listening visit Dawn’s lovely blog.

~smile~

7 Lies About Homeschoolers

July 8, 2013 by tam

In tune with yesterday’s post, I just had to share this one that I found on one of the FB HS pages.

Brilliant.

Laugh-out-loud-able!

Socialization and home education

July 7, 2013 by tam

I can’t recall how often I had heard this concern about socialization and homeschooling from friends and strangers alike when we decided to homeschool. I still hear it from time to time but no longer from those who have spent time around us since our homeschooling adventures began. Many strangers still voice concern regarding such a thing or they have concern for me as in: Why would you want your kids around all day? Don’t you want time to yourself? My response: I love my kids and there is no one I’d rather spend my time with.

I just read this article (as in just before posting here which is why I am posting here). I love it and want to shout it on the mountaintops! Please read it – go to the link – read it read it read it! Now! 🙂 I couldn’t have said it better myself, so I won’t. Now go. Then come back here.

And now read this:

I love that my children tell us they love us in public.

I love that they open the door for us and other people.

I love that they talk to adults easily and openly.

I love that they have friends who are two years younger than them and as much as six years older.

I love that they all play together! There were twenty (20!) of them playing together for two hours just the other day.

I love that I can ask my children about white blood cells and they know their names (these books are amazing as is this series).

I love that they get to learn at their own pace about what interests them and in their own learning style.

I love that I get to be present as they learn, discover and create.

I do not love, however, the monetary sacrifice. No, I don’t love it. But, it’s totally worth it. And it helps breed the buddhist in us.

Keep in mind this is what works for us and we do what we can to make it possible. I feel fortunate to do what we do. I am not saying I am better than anyone and that’s where it gets sticky: just because we do this is not us saying we are better. I feel that is what some assume, I can see it in their eyes, hear it in their tone. I just want that to be clear.

We just move to a different groove. It’s an amazing adventure I wouldn’t change for the world. It may not be your cup of tea, and I totally respect that. It’s not everyones’ cup.

It’s tough. Yes, there are tough days. We all have them. And we all love our kids (well, we all should and most of us do thank goodness).

So…the next time someone holds the door open for you, look down and say, Thank You. My kids love it!

Canada Day, walk in the rain and screen printing!

July 2, 2013 by tam

We had a lovely day yesterday despite the rain and despite the fact there has been a lot of it these days! My garden is super-green but my radishes aren’t too happy about that, nor my greens. They are craving the sun after so much moisture!

I think we all tend to get a bit of cabin fever with all this inside business. A few days ago we went to an indoor play area to let the boys run like crazy and it really helped. It made me feel better too to see them getting the ants out of their pants (that saying was a fun one to explain to the boys!).

Yesterday, I figured that rain or not it was time to venture out. I really wanted to collect some leaves to do some printing as I was excited to use the brayer that I just purchased from Michaels during their 40% off everything sale. Oh, I think we (that means mostly ‘I’) did a pretty good job of containing myself among all the crafty goodies and art supplies. I also purchased a Fiskars rotary cutter which has been on my list for a long time and used it shortly after on a skirt I was sizing. I instantly fell in love. Soo nice!

Although it was not raining at present, the forecast called for more so upon leaving the house we decided to take our umbrellas. We walked along the path near our house which overlooks the lovely waterfront harbour going out to the Atlantic Ocean. Despite the overcast sky it was a lovely day and the birds were singing and so many flowers were in full bloom including some St John’s Wort and Birdsfoot Treefoil which are both such a brilliant yellow you can’t help but say ‘hello’! It was a surprise to see all the blooms and plants in full greenery on our first trip to the trail this summer/spring. We’ve been kept away by the weather but reminded that despite a bit of rain, it’s still a great time to get outside. Hey, I used to do it all the time when I was a kid so why not now?

About half way along the trail the rain started but we were prepared and it was just a light drizzle. At first. Prior to our departure we had told the boys we would walk along the trail and go to the new Starbucks at the other end. It was a nice destination spot and a treat and as the rain came down the idea of getting inside with a nice hot cup of something proved sweet indeed!

After a nice treat and a bit of drying off we went on our way again. We only got hit by a smidgen of rain, so little that as soon as we raised the umbrellas it stopped! We had to laugh at the oddity of our weather!

The boys found some young snails on the path and so began our search of saving the little newbies from the doom of squishdom by moving them to the edge of the grass. A good deed and something for which we are always on the lookout: taking care of the little creatures. By the time we arrived home the sun was out and we had to laugh at that timing. Then again, with the sun came the humidity so were happy to now be indoors.

After lunch we started on printing leaves onto paper. We didn’t have much luck this time as we found that painting onto the leaves and then placing paper on top and rolling with the brayer just didn’t suffice. I think I need to buy a foam brayer and try rolling the paint onto the leaves and then placing under paper and pressing. Any input here would be appreciated! I know I saw this done somewhere and feel so silly that such a simple thing is beyond my abilities to figure out at the moment. Alas, I did not take leaf printing in art school! Haha!

We moved on to some printing with the screen and squeegee that we purchased at the same time at Michaels. Stephen cut out a Maple Leaf (very apropos for the day!) as a stencil. I borrowed this book from the library and it was a great help as we figured out what we needed to do. The boys were excited to finally have a go at printing as they would like to make t-shirts to sell with their own creations printed on them. We learned that running the paint over the area to be printed several times is the key. I’d say first time was pretty successful!

Not bad, right? Perfect timing for going out to see the fireworks later that night, too!

Onto dinner and a movie while we waited for 10pm to roll around. I cooked up some spinach and chickpea curry from this book and it was delicious. We all really enjoyed watching Nanny MacPhee while we ate and had a good laugh!

Time to cut the hair and have a bath! During this time I checked for an update on the fireworks as the day had been so overcast and had turned that way again as evening came on. The fireworks ended up being postponed, but hey, no loss as we’d had a great day and the boys got to stay up late!

I played around with the colouring on my little camera on this one.

Happy Day to all!

Okay, now time to get onto the latest issue of Alphabet Glue that Dawn helped put together!

Belated Father’s Day and Happy 12/17 plus Summer Solstice!

June 21, 2013 by tam

This past Sunday was a great day for us. Not only was it Father’s Day, which we wholeheartedly thank the boys for (oh yeah!) but it was our Anniversary as well. We have been married 12 years and together for 17 as we got married on our 5 year anniversary. Thus, the Happy 12/17.

It’s been tough, a real challenge, you know? Sometimes we just don’t like each other.

Kidding!

There is no one else I would rather spend my life with than this amazing and handsome man. I’ve known him since he was 18 and I was 23. We were in our first year of art college at the foundation party when I asked him if he was drinking. He said his birthday was tomorrow and he promised his mother he wouldn’t drink until he was 19. He was serious and I was gobsmacked.

Who admits to that? He did.

I will never forget the respect I had for his morals of which I find these days/decades are down the tubes. Mine were slipping down a steep slope when we met. I was starting to feel I just wouldn’t find anyone who really cared about others, was truthful and stood by their beliefs. I knew then and there that he was someone I wanted to know, to be around. Forever.

Love ya, my man. You make me laugh. You make me humble as I take note of myself and my self-contradictions. You have made me a better person indeed. Thank you.

We may celebrate our 25th anniversary a year early to make it our 25th in 2025. Cool, right? 😉

We had just recently purchased a bike rack and were excited about having a beautiful day ahead of us after days of rain. We had talked many times of going on a family bike outing but we just needed to buy a bike rack first, of course. The boys helped Daddy assemble the rack. I love how keen they always are!

Once the bikes were mounted we had hopes that the rack would hold four bikes. It did a fair amount of bending and bouncing but we made it to the trail. Whew!

I had borrowed a Lensbaby Spark from work and brought it along as my only lens. Fun!

…zoom zoom…

Taking time for Lupins.

We had an amazing time on our first family bike ride. It was a perfect day in every way!

The next day I made a belated paleo carrot cake. You can’t rush a good bike ride and carrot cake takes time! Especially when it’s a new recipe. Carrot Cake is Stephen’s all-time favourite of cakes. But paleo? Well, even the boys loved it. Completely loved it! Thanks, Dawn, for the recipe. Now L wants one for his birthday!

As for the bike rack? It made its way back to Costco. Shifty bouncy thing it was. Made us nervous. We found out after some searching around that our car is only meant to handle two adult bikes on a hitch rack. Bummer. Need a new plan…

Today is a big day with L’s drama class’ evening performance after many hours of rehearsal. We were going to wake up to welcome the sun and then sleep when the sun sleeps but it’s going to be a long day for him anyway. We will, however, make our Solstice Strawberry Jam before we go to rehearsal…maybe with some bananas added this time…and a lot of sunshine!

Happy Solstice Everyone!

Eesh, he did it again…

June 20, 2013 by tam

…yes, that darned bug got Xman again and the same eye as last time! Two years ago in June, the boys were playing outside and Xman got bit near his eye. It just looked like a mosquito bite but it bled a bit. By the evening it was swelling. That was about 4 hours later and seemed unusual to me. Well, by next morning I couldn’t believe how he looked! I think the popsicle helped. Such a sad, big bottom lipped, boy!

You should have seen the other kid. Kidding…kidding.

Poor guy, he did well despite his lack of depth perception. I think the apis may have helped his eye this time around from swelling as much as last time.

Alas, I did not have a popsicle to hand over but I still got the big bottom lip.

He got some carrot cake instead. Yum!

Hmmm…must post more images with my good camera (I used my point and shoot for the last two). The first ones look much better.

Alas, he’s still a cutie!

Raw Kofta Balls and When God was a Rabbit

June 19, 2013 by tam

Last Saturday our book club got together to discuss this meet’s book, which I loved. This book was the author’s first novel and as I don’t read a lot of fiction these days (I am more of a non-fiction fan lately) it was nice to sit down and enjoy a group of characters that were unusual enough to seem almost unreal but free enough in their ways to make me feel free too. When the main character suggested to her christian teacher that perhaps Jesus were an unplanned pregnancy I laughed out loud. Hey, God must have a sense of humour – he made humans after all. I think we were all split down the middle on our likes and dislikes of the book which was nice as it gave way to some good criticism and interpretation on what the author was trying to convey.

Prior to discussing the book we ate a raw food dinner where each person contributed a dish. I was so excited about this as I am a big fan of raw food and absolutely super-heart my Excalibur. That means I really love my dehydrator. Arms-out-to-here much. We had a delightful dinner with amazing raw food and even more amazing company. What a wonderful group of women who are all so different yet alike in many ways. I have only been a part of two meets so far but I have to say, “Love you ladies!”.

When I was searching for a recipe to bring to the meet I happened upon one that I’d book marked in one of my recipe books. I figured it would be too much prep for the time so I decided to make it for today – which means I had to start prep yesterday. I did however, bring some kale chips and bliss balls to our meet and they were a delightful part of a wonderfully tasty night indeed.

Tomorrow, I make Raw Banana Bread Breakfast Bars! …which means I actually begin prep today with bananas in the dehydrator. I’ll try to remember to post those too, if I don’t eat them all first!

drumming fun!

May 31, 2013 by tam

Yesterday the boys and I went to a drumming workshop at a wonderful fellow homeschooler’s house. It was very gracious of her, I must say, to have a house full of kids which I think totalled around 16 and all of us adults. Oh, and if you are getting that craving for something wonderful and sweet, you must check out her business and sink your taste buds into some of her beautiful sweet wonders! There really is no excuse needed, we all know that. 🙂

The kids, mine included, swarmed around the trampoline and I was wondering if I would be able to pull them off once Andrew came with the drums! I had nothing to worry about for when he arrived many children stopped whatever they were doing and helped bring the drums up onto the deck. There were enough drums for all children and some adults as well. I don’t know how he fit them all into his wee car. Must’ve been some magic involved.

May30-13_Drumming_08

I was amazed at how keen and attentive all the children were from the little ones to the older pre-teens.L and X chose a drum each and followed along fairly well for never drumming before. We have two small bongos which I brought with us in case more were needed and we used these as well. I’m glad I did this because now I feel a bit more confident at home when the boys bring them out and bang, bang, bang. Now I think it will be more of a rhythmic rumble.

May30-13_Drumming_03

At times, my boys took a break to do some jumping when their hands became red from the pounding. But, before long they were back again. I think the group and the primitive sounds of the drumming just makes you want to return and be a part of it.

After all of the drumming, jumping and running around the boys were exhillarated and hot! We said our thank you’s and good bye’s then jumped into the car where the boys threw off their shirts and downed their water. Whew!

May30-13_Drumming_16

We all enjoyed ourselves immensely and will certainly be back again. Thank you Andrew and Joanne for this wonderful opportunity!

Happy Mother’s Day

May 12, 2013 by tam

Stephen let me sleep in a bit, which was nice and of course his intention as it is a day for mothers. Isn’t every day? 😉

I’ve become more familiar with Ayurveda and learned that I am a vata dosha, meaning many things but for this instance that my energy levels are at a peak in the wee hours of the morning and mid-afternoon. By 6pm I should be going to bed. That’s a challenge, of course as at 6pm I am usually on my way to work many days.

I took advantage of my usual 2:30/3 am wake-up and grabbed this book that has been whispering my name ever since I put it on hold at the library. It came in about a week ago but I was reading another book for book club and kept getting distracted because I wanted to start this one. So I did. In the middle of the night I picked it up. It is wonderful and feeds my soul.

I woke just after 9am and came down to smiling excited boys. L had drawn a map for me of our house. I had to find all of the spots marked with an ‘x’. There I would find a letter marked on paper. I had to collect all the letters.

I have to say that L made an amazingly accurate map! The boys hid the letters in places that I wouldn’t go to before the morning came. Good thing. They were going to place one letter on or below the toaster but thought I may use it when I got home from shooting a wedding. They were right. Homemade bread toasted is perfect after a shoot. Good thinking!

Once I had all of the letters I had to rearrange them to make a word. At first I was stumped but figure it out:

I looked in the dehydrator and there on the shelves inside were cards for me. Handmade by my three boys just for me. There is really nothing better than handmade love.

Today we have the pleasure of picking up my mother from the airport for a two week visit. What perfect timing! We are all so excited and just can’t wait. She is one of the strongest people I know, as was her mother. I treasure our time together.

Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, whether this be your first Mother’s Day or fortieth, whether you are a single dad or mom who has the job of being both mother and father (which I can say is amazing as my mother raised us on her own), a grandparent who is blessed to take part in the lives of their grandchildren, or a care-giver who takes the time to take care of others.

Perhaps you have lost your mother/grandmother or both and are missing them today. I feel they are with us now as they always have been, and are comforting us in spirit. Stop, close you eyes and you can feel their love. For me, it sends a coolness flowing through my spine, like fresh ocean air carried along on the breeze. I breathe it in.

Much love and blessings to all.