race day

I'm always a bit relieved when the cross country meet for the week is behind us. There is the whole knee thing...I cringe watching her run right now, but Sela is also a little ball of nerves and excitement on race days. She gets nervous because she feels people (herself included) expect her to win so anything short of 1st feels like falling short. I agree, it is certainly less stressful to be the underdog. Anyway, she pulled off another tight race this week with her close friend and super athlete, Morgan, at her heels.They really push each other and have made each other much stronger runners over the past few years.

daredevil in training

Rollin has decided he needs a little stunt buddy. This afternoon on our hike, the girls and I came around the bend and he had Evan jumping off a big root. Rollin was totally proud of him and Evan was loving it! I'm afraid I've got another thrill seeker on my hands.

Good job, little buddy!

Early Fall

We swapped the flip flops for boots this week. The weather is changing ever so slightly. We all look forward to fall, but it's usually because we've had enough summer and heat to welcome the cooler weather. While I love the crisp fall air and the beautiful changing of the colors, I'm not quite through with summer. I could use a few dozen more warm, sunny days. It's doubtful that will be happening so we're looking on the bright side and enjoying all the beauty of this gorgeous season.


The last of the tiny poppies we enjoyed all summer long.


Leaves are beginning to change.


Fall flowers are appearing.





Our favorite warty pumpkins are ripening.


Grapes are coming along.


Ornamental Apples


And some tasty ones too.


Abundant Quince

Owen Beach and the Zoo

Visiting a zoo or aquarium when most other children are in school is pretty dreamy. We headed to Point Defiance Zoo and Aquarium after the kids finished their work this morning. This zoo is fantastic. I can't believe we had never been before! I much prefer this zoo to Woodland Park Zoo, even though it's a bit further away. I bought a membership on the spot because I know we will be returning for the sharks alone!




There were no crowds, no preschool groups with a ratio of 20 kids to 1 teacher running wild, and just a few people here and there. We went to Owen Beach first and had a picnic. The kids had a great time exploring up and down the shoreline. What a gorgeous park! The sun was out and all I could think of all day was, I'm so happy to be homeschooling. I love my kids and it's a joy to learn (and play in the sun) alongside them!


Owen Beach




Evan was here










driftwood fun


Baby meercats.


Mount Rainier

Peacocks in the parking lot. No, Rollin is not riding one :)


This was the first time I attempted an outing requiring quite a bit of walking with no stroller for Evan. He  hates to be confined so I end up chasing him while pushing the stroller so I decided to bag the wheels. He was a little trooper, but was pretty tuckered out at the end of the afternoon.

One year older....

What made Zig's birthday perfect (to him) is that there was no big hoopla and his admin kept quiet about the big day at work. Some people say they don't want a big deal made out of their birthdays, but really don't mind, however, Zig means what he says. His idea of a perfect birthday is coming home and having a nice dinner with family and maybe a dessert (healthy, if possible). He does not want gifts, which is good, because he is so difficult to shop for. My Mom did get creative this year, and Zig was stoked about all the heirloom seeds, grains and other goodies.



The kids do love to celebrate his birthday so we at least have to light some candles and sing. We also share things we love and appreciate about him, and there are many to choose from! I can't write them here..that would be going "overboard." Happy Birthday, Zig! Thanks for always being so appreciative of the simple things. You are loved.




Sela chose the dessert all on her own, and here is the Ginger Peach Blackberry Crisp in progress. Zig LOVED it!  He had it for dessert, midnight snack, and breakfast. Way to go, Sela!

Sela's 1st CC Meet

Toward the end of the summer, Sela started having some pretty intense pain in her left knee, and a fairly significant bump began to develop. She had so much pain she had to stop playing tennis for the last couple sessions of the summer, and definitely no running. I took her to Children's Hospital to have her seen and the doctor sat down across from Sela, took one glance at her knee, and said she had Osgood-Schlatter. 

From what I understand, this happens when significant physical activity occurs alongside a growth spurt. The condition can be short lived or plague young athletes for years. Sela was disappointed because she really enjoys sports and was having so much fun playing tennis. She was also looking forward to cross country season as well. The doctor said if we could rest her knee for a month, she could slowly begin to try some sports again, but needed to really take it easy if any pain accompanied  physical activity. She's been good and has taken it easy for the past 4 weeks. The pain is gone and the swelling is going down.


She decided to try cross country to see if the pain would come back. She had one practice and 1 meet last week. She won first place in a close race and her knee felt fine afterward. I was so relieved. She may only get a few runs in this season, because the pain very well may return, but I was happy she had a great beginning to the season.

I tried to video part of the race for Zig since he was out of town. The girls were coming up "Heartbreak Hill." I did a horrible job on the video, oops!

These girls really push each other to do their best. They are great competitors and even better friends!

Homeschool Update

We've been slowly ramping up over the past couple of weeks. I want to keep at least a brief record of our year, but my nights are still consumed with pouring through books, blogs, the library catalog, and Amazon. But we're getting there! Wherever there is.

  The kids collected, studied, and sketched several abandoned birds' nests from our yard this evening. It was fascinating to discover that two of them had many strands of Kona's hair woven into them! Birds are pretty resourceful little creatures!

And now a brief update:

I took Evan for his check-up a few weeks ago. Upon finding out I was giving homeschool a go this year, my Naturopath remarked that most of the parents she knows who homeschool spend every spare minute of the day/night in preparation, and it's a huge, albeit rewarding, undertaking. We both laughed. I laughed because that has totally been me these past few months, and she probably laughed thinking I'm CRAZY!!

Anyhow, I am cutting myself some slack on the temporary obsession with research. I wanted to really get an overall grasp on the various approaches and curriculum options before I took the plunge. But the problem is, there is always more to learn. One thing always leads to another. And there are so many amazing resources out there for homeschoolers. So many different ways to do it "right." Actually, I think every single homeschooling family does things differently to some degree. This is awesome, yet difficult at the same time. Awesome because the flexibility to choose the best for your family is one of the hallmarks of homeschooling, but difficult because that basically means everyone is on their own journey in many respects through trial and error. I really wanted to  bypass the error part, but I've heard and read enough to know that's a pipe dream. I'm grateful I had the time this summer to put a great deal of thought and study into this, although it never feels sufficient. Even if we only do this for a year, I will be so happy for all I've been learning. I'm feeling bad for Rollin, but he's happy in school, and I think this is all I can handle well at this point. He does join us in the afternoons though, which has been so nice.

Now back to the point Dr. Candace made referring to balance or lack thereof.

I do want to keep the balance in my life. My SIL does it beautifully, and still seems to have time  daily to focus on her interests, so that is heartening.  I know others who do so as well. So I've decided I will strive for the same.. I will maintain balance in my life. I'm really happy being home. There are no shortage of things to keep me busy, engaged, etc. But I definitely love to get out and spend time and connect with friends and pursue my own interests. I don't want to lose that, and I know I will miss these dimensions of my life if I let them slide. However, I can tell I'm just going to have to make a conscious effort to do so. Already this week I've started to talk myself out of book club as well as seeing a film with friends tthinking I really need to nail down my history program or whatever. No Bueno.

I got off topic. This post was supposed to be about how things are going so far. And I must say, Sela, Nina and I are loving the transition. There are some bumps and I still feel unprepared, but even my imperfect efforts seem to be met with enthusiasm. And THIS is what I love most....All the after school rushing around, drama, crazy shuffling to activities, tired kids, what's for dinner, homework, no family time is gone! Oh, I can't express how much I love this aspect already! The girls had voice lessons today, in the morning. We did Math, Science, and Writing this morning before they went to Voice and then PE at the school. This afternoon we began a U.S. History series and were able to sit and watch two segments (form the History Channel)together from 3 -5pm. We ate dinner together, played outside, did nature journals and then read together for an hour. The girls read in bed for another hour or so. I love that school just becomes a part of life, and it doesn't have to end at 3:30. I can feel the stress disappearing. The girls feel the PE is plenty to keep them in touch with their friends, which again, surprises me.

It's also starting to cool off here (well, it never really got hot), and there were even a few drizzles today. I panicked, but then I realized I can leave!! Yes, I don't mind sacrificing my free time right now if it means a ticket out of here in the winter. Hallelujah!

Meal Planning

I love having a meal plan for the week. Even if we deviate a bit, I have a plan and this makes our evenings more enjoyable less stressful. I also notice we eat dinner on time more often because I can prep little parts throughout the day when I have 5 minutes here or there.

Sunday: Potato-Leek Frittata, Panzanella, Cantaloupe
Monday: Lettuce Wraps
Tuesday: Asian Noodle Salad with Pan-Fried Tofu
Wednesday:Lentil Walnut Burgers w/ Sesame Carrot Salad
THursday: Tomato Soup w/ white cheddar melts, spinach salad
Friday: Fish Tacos
Saturday: Purple Chop Salad

On a slightly different note, we watched Forks Over Knives last night for our Sunday night documentary and it's given me a lot to think about. We don't eat much meat, but I may keep a closer eye on the dairy now. It's a thought provoking film worth watching. Especially if you need a pep talk to get back on the veggie train!

Late Summer/Early Fall

The perfect season.

Lemon Pancakes

 Thank you, Erin! My sister sent me the recipe for these delicious lemon pancakes. We all loved them, but Zig, who typically doesn't eat pancakes, thought they were fantastic.


The kids were so eager to eat these that they couldn't even wait for the berries to defrost, hence the frosty raspberries!


Lemon Pancakes
 Combine the dry ingredients:
1 cup flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Combine the wet ingredients:
3/4 cup sour cream
1/3 cup milk
Zest of 2 lemons
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
3 Tablespoons butter, melted
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Mix wet and dry ingredients together and prepare the pancakes. Erin said maple syrup would overpower the lemon flavor, which is the special part of these pancakes, so we served them with raspberries and drizzled some lightly sweetened creme fraiche on them (Rollin still wanted a little maple syrup on his). The rest of us thought they were plenty sweet with just a slight sprinkle of raw sugar at the end. Pretty tasty! Oh, and I also added a few drops of lemon oil to the batter. Definitely not necessary, but that stuff is extremely powerful and really ups the intensity of the lemon flavor.

And speaking of breakfast, Zig typically goes for savory breakfasts like this one, all from our garden. We have some amazing tomatoes right now and these little yellow ones are our favorite.

Swifty

This week one of Sela and Nina's dreams came true.



On a whim, my friend, Kim, and I decided very last minute to surprise our girls and take them to the Taylor Swift concert. They were very excited just to be having a girls' night. When they climbed in the car dressed in their sparkles, they still had no idea what we where doing. And oh the screaming, squealing, and carrying on once we broke the news!! They were kind of in shock and not sure whether to believe us at first.

The concert was darling. Taylor Swift wore lots of pretty, sparkly dresses, sang all of their favorite songs, had beautiful and creative sets, great dancers and dance routines, and our girls had a blast at their very first "real" concert. They sang their little hearts out along with Taylor Swift. I was totally impressed with how wholesome the entire concert was. Perfectly appropriate for their ages in every way. Go Taylor!


Emma, Nina, Kate & Sela


Tacoma Dome after 3 hours in traffic!




I took my small camera so forgive the red-eye and blur in most of these photos.


Here she is, right in front of us! She had so many cool guitars.

We made it home at 1:30am with some very tired but happy girls.

a lazy sunday afternoon

Sela was playing with her camera yesterday while we were all just sitting around after lunch talking and reading on the patio. I was trying to do some planning for the week ahead while Evan was trying to thwart my every attempt at being productive. That's alright. As I looked through Sela's camera later in the evening I realized how big my baby is getting. He's growing up quickly. He started stringing little sentences together this week. I'm not quite ready to call him a toddler, but it's obvious that while he still has one foot in babyland, the other is firmly planted in toddlerhood. Sniff, sniff.










Zig and his big baby.