Happy Weekend and New Year!

Wouldn't you love to cozy up to a fire in this cabin and watch it snow? Some years I want a quiet New Year's Eve, and other years I've been with large crowds of people. This New Year's Eve will be a quiet one at home with my wonderful partner and love of my life, and our children. There will be snacks, sparkling cider, music, and parents slow dancing in the living room as we ring in 2012.

However you choose to ring in the New Year, please do it safely. May 2012 be your best yet!

A few gifts from me to you :-)

A fun centerpiece

A little bit of brotherly love from my childhood, and a Coke

And isn't this dress the cutest?

Is Santa to blame?

Is Santa to blame?

When I was younger the day after Christmas was so anticlimactic for me. I would feel depressed once the presents were opened and the excitement of preparing for Christmas was over.

Decorating the house and the tree, shopping for the perfect gifts, choosing the wrapping paper carefully for each person, putting the perfect bow on top of the package, and drinking in all that is Christmas was so exciting. I just loved all of the activities that led to Christmas morning.

I was never disappointed in the gifts, and never put a lot of focus on what I was or wasn't getting. It was more about having this big event to look forward to and get ready for, and then it was over.


I haven't felt that disappointment in a long time, but I still feel a little out of sorts.

I don't know if it was the commercialism that created this problem for me, but I've had discussions with some of my friends about what we call The Santa Dilemma. As parents should we promote the whole Santa thing? I love everything Christmas, and the magic and wonder of it all still gives me a thrill. But the "begging" of gifts from some strange old man does seem a bit weird when I step back and look at it from a detached point of view.

Of course it was never about Santa, really, but we live in a very materialistic culture. As a child it is hard to distinguish what the real meaning is when we are bombarded with the commercialism of the holiday. As I've gotten older I know that Christmas morning is really just the beginning. It marks a major event for Christians, and it is the beginning of hope, not the end.

I finally realized yesterday while I was talking to my chiropractor that it's the break in routine that has me feeling a little dull. I'm a person who needs a routine. While I do like a break once in a while, I don't do well when my whole routine is thrown off for an extended period of time.

We were gone for a week, Sean is out of school, work is different during holiday breaks, and our daily schedule is all out of whack. We're staying up later, getting up later, eating at different times and eating so much junk. Ugh. I can't even stand the thought of another sugary "treat."

This is the time of year when a lot of people get depressed. My dulldrums will disappear as soon as we get back into the swing of the daily grind, but for some it is not that easy.

How do you deal with holiday stress, disappointment, or the break in your routine?

Here's a little gift from me to you :)
How about a virtual trip to a museum?
Click on one of the bars in one of the periods and it will take you to the composer and a button to play the piece. Hope you enjoy it!

Or a little help from the floral department
This could also brighten your day.

Oh, Christmas tree

Once we returned from Tennessee it seemed like we had to kick everything into high gear to catch up to Christmas.

I'm used to having a tree up the day after Thanksgiving because I have used an artificial tree for so many years. I think the last time I had a real tree was the first year I was in Sacramento, and that tree was sad. It dried up within a couple of days.

Chuck always uses a live tree. We knew we wanted a live one, and a fairly tall one.

We had our eye on a tree that has to be taken down at the fire station, but decided we should also look at the local tree lot. We have bought some small starts from this guy and are growing our own, but they won't be ready for another 4 or 5 years.

So off we went to the tree lot. It was a little late in the season to choose a tree-- actually Dec. 21. I was thinking in the range of 10 foot tree or so, but the only tall ones were really tall, and the kids ran to this particular tree and decided it was "perfect."

The kids decided this was the one.

This is a you-cut lot, so we brought the chainsaw with us. There were a few men there who helped drag it to the truck and load it on the back. The tricky part came when we got it home.

It's so large I couldn't get the whole thing in the shot. Our ceilings are 24 feet, and this tree was probably
that tall when Chuck cut it. He sliced off the bottom limbs. We measured it and it's 18 feet.

It was too large for our tree stand, and we had to call around to find a place that had some of those big plastic ones. Our local Cost Less Pharmacy had some. So convenient.
Chuck took the base and I took the top and we got it inside. Once it was in I started up the stairs with the top and Lilly helped until it was steady and Chuck had it straight. He also stabilized it with boards and secured it to the staircase.

We used a ladder for decorating a lot of it, but also had to decorate on a chair
from the top floor. No star on top. We couldn't reach it.

It is a beautiful tree.  I don't think we'll get one this big next year, though. It blocks our view of the television, makes our path through the living room a tight squeeze and also blocks the hallway a little. We do love it, though. And the sort of sick thing is we had enough ornaments to decorate it, and even had some left over that we didn't use.

I do love ornaments, and I have a hard time getting rid of any. They all have a story and as I unwrap them and place them on the limbs I get to relive some of those memories.

Whether it was a gift, a buying spree with Karen when Hallmark had  75 or even 90% sale, or it was a special ornament that I bought for a family member, I do love the memories.

Chuck and I joked that if you're looking for a fancy tree with a theme, ours is not the tree for you. Ours is all about memories and family. Hand-made ornaments, some the kids made at school, photo frame ornaments, and some that are really fun and move or sing.
We love Christmas. I hope you do, too!

Trip to Tennessee

We recently returned from a trip to Tennessee to visit with family and a few friends.

We flew from Sea-Tac to Atlanta and spent the night with my friend Karen and her family. They were so nice to welcome us in and give us a place to stay. I hadn't seen her in five years, and it was the first time I had met her children Kate and Isaac. We were up and out of there early, but spent a little more time with them on our way back. 

I'm really not a food person, but I had been missing my favorite eating spots. We loaded our bags into the rental car and headed for the nearest Chik-fil-A for breakfast on our way out of Atlanta. Oh, how I miss me some good Chik-fil-A. I started my day with the drink of Southern champs, sweet iced tea.

We arrived in Asheville, N.C. around lunch time. We walked around town a bit.

 Then we walked to Pack Square and had some lunch at Bistro 1896. It was really tasty.

  We stayed at a bed and breakfast that has llamas, and it was a really nice time. Turns out the couple running it attend the church I attended in Elizabethton when I lived in the area. The bed and breakfast is in Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee.

 We unpacked our bags, said hello to the llamas and then made our way to Jewel and Bjorn's. I couldn't wait to see them, and to give Parsla a big squeeze.

 Parsla had never met Chuck, but she took to him right away. I was so happy to have her walk to me and let me scoop her up. I've watched her grow this year, thanks to Skype.
We had a great time with David and Grace, too. We all went out to eat some Asian food one night, and I took Chuck to Poor Richard's, which is now called Uptown Deli or something like that. It's still Poor Richard's, though. Same food.

 About mid-week we took a trip back over to Asheville to see the Biltmore Estate. It was beautifully decorated for Christmas. Chuck had never been, and I knew he would love it.

 While we were there we ate at the Stable Cafe, and also stopped off at the ice cream shop for some fresh Biltmore Dairy ice cream. Oh, it is really good. It's a good thing we don't have it here because I don't think I could resist it.

I love this picture.

 Sean was a little restless with touring the house, so we took a break and ran around outside on the grounds for a while. He enjoyed these fish, and a walk through one of the garden areas. The temperature was amazing-- about 62 degrees. Sure didn't feel like December in North Carolina to me.

David and Grace checking out the menu at The Dining Room, Jonesborough.

The kids met us in Jonesborough one afternoon and we walked around town to see some of the sights. We had a great lunch at The Dining Room, and I highly recommend it. (They didn't give me anything free or pay me to say that. We all agreed it was very good.)

 I always try to get a photo of Dave and Jewel together when I can. Sometimes they're goofy.

 Sean really enjoyed his role as uncle. He pushed Parsla in her stroller around Jonesborough.

 The Lollipop Shop was a neat little place with nostalgic items. There was an old metal pedal fire engine, and some new ones as well. Couldn't resist this opportunity for a photo.

 We were impressed with this private residence in the middle of town. I would love to see the inside.

 I spotted this vehicle before I saw the office across the street.

Must be some paranormal activity in the area.

 First abolition publications were right there in Jonesborough, Tenn. 

 For a long time I couldn't get Sean to pose for a photo, and now he has hit the "make a weird face," stage. My dad met us at Taco John's our second day in town, and he took the guys to the shooting range. Sean loves going, and had been asking if Papaw would take him there again this year.

 Sean, Dave and Jewel at breakfast the day we were leaving. We all met at the Cracker Barrel in Johnson City.

 Family shot at Cracker Barrel.

 Parsla loves to push things around, so this doll stroller was a favorite in the Cracker Barrel store.

 On the road again, headed for Atlanta.

 Once we got to Atlanta Sean, Kate and Isaac bonded over some computer time.

 They also enjoyed making some paper airplanes with Chuck.

 Sean took my camera and followed Kate and Isaac around the house for a while. He got some good pics.

Karen and I left the kids with the guys and headed for the local Goodwill, and then the Lenox Mall. We didn't buy much, but we had a good time looking around.

Next morning we were dragging our bags back to the airport headed for the Pacific Northwest.

December events

Every year there is so much going on in December.

Though we didn't attend any Christmas parties this year, we still had a lot going on.
Chuck is the Master of Ceremonies for the community Christmas Tree Lighting. This happened the first weekend of December. It was a busy weekend, and we were working at home up to the last minute before we were scheduled to be there prior to the 4 p.m. start time.

Sean was with his dad, but Lilly was here. It was pretty chilly that day, but clear. There wasn't much to do, except hand out the song list to the crowd. We all (probably a couple hundred people) stood around and sang Christmas carols just before sundown.

Dr. Roes Down Home Band led us in the old standard songs, and there was hot cider and cookies.
The tree was lit and then Santa arrived. The kids visit with Santa in his sleigh, and then the fire department pulls him through some neighborhoods. He has a busy schedule visiting a neighborhood or two each night during the month of December.

The tree is so large now the electric company
comes with their cherry picker truck to help
decorate a week or so before the lighting.

The Grinch made an appearance and Chuck received a small bottle of Tobasco sauce from him.

Birthday celebration

Sean chooses helpers during his
birthday celebration

Montessorians celebrate birthdays a little differently in the classroom. The birthday child holds a small globe and walks around a candle symbolizing the sun. They walk around it once for each year they have been alive. Parents share a little bit about their child's life and what they were fond of or major events that occurred each year of their lives.

We were getting ready for our trip to Tennessee, but I wanted to be sure that Sean had a great birthday experience this year. His birthday occurs just before school starts, and things are so hectic with the start of school that we rarely have been able to celebrate. A lot of kids have September birthdays in his class this year, and October was busy, too. His teacher said there were no November birthdays, so we were shooting for that, but then Thanksgiving came, and there were teacher conferences as well.

Though his birthday is in August we celebrated in December with his class.
He was really excited about it, and I tried to make sure that I did it well and with thought and intention.
The form had a space to fill in the birth date, weight and length. It also had a space to write something for each year.
"When my child was one year old he/she liked to_________"

He walked around the candle and then I told the story of his life. To personalize it a little more I explained that his name means something and that was how we chose his name. Sean means God is gracious, and I talked about his middle name as well.

Instead of launching into his 1 year info I improvised a little and told about his baptism when he was 8 months old, and then started to talk about each year. I brought pictures of him in his baptismal gown, and from each year of his life and showed them while I talked.

I included that when he was 5 he had some sad times because that was the year we had to say goodbye to Nanna. All of the kids reacted with a sigh. One of them came up to me afterwards and asked why we had to say goodbye to her. I explained that she died that year.

When we finished with his life story he chose some helpers and served cupcakes to his classmates.

Sean gets some help from his friends with his
birthday cupcakes.

We packed a lot into that day because Meag had asked me to come talk to the class about how writing is used in the real world with newspapers.

I brought examples of our proofs with the marks all over them and explained how each story is read many times and then the proof pages are also read many times by different people. I showed them some stuff on the computer, like the Word track changes feature and how we use that. I explained how the stories get corrected and changed, so that what was originally written is revised, sometimes several times. I brought copies of our newspaper and answered a LOT of really smart questions they had for me.  A lot of them were about what I do as an editor, and I told them all of the various things that are my responsibility as an Executive Editor. They were all so attentive and interested. It was hard to believe I was talking to a bunch of first, second and third grade children.

One asked how much I get paid. I softened it a little and just said I work for a non-profit newspaper, so the goal is not to make a lot of money, but instead to provide a service for our community. I didn't want to spoil the mood and tell them to forget journalism if they want to make a living wage.

Conference Time

The bead cabinet.
Photo by Sean

Today was conference day with Sean's teacher. (I'm writing this to have a record for myself, just in case you are stumbling onto this blog and wouldn't want to read this post.)

I so love his teacher, and his school. I love the Montessori method, and today was one of those great Montessori moments.

Sean is a "third year", meaning he has reached the final year in his classroom. He is a third grader. He has mastered a lot of the materials the younger children are working with, and has moved into a leadership position. In fact, Ms. Diamond said he frequently helps the younger children, or others who are also third years. When she asked him who his friends are this year, he said, "everyone, really." She told me he really has stepped into a leadership role and seems to have a good relationship with everyone in the class.

Ms. Diamond began the conference by asking him how he felt things were going with his writing. He said he feels it's going really good. She acknowledged that he has had an explosion in writing this year, and contrasted how he approached the work last year.

She asked him what his goals were this year for his writing, and he said he is working on a chapter book and his goal is to write 30 to 60 pages. (I felt my heart swell, I admit.) She asked how he chose those numbers as a goal, and he said, "Most chapter books are longer than 60 pages, but this is the first time I've ever written a chapter book, so I think I should start with less pages." Ms. Diamond agreed that when we do something for the first time we have to allow ourselves some leniency.

She suggested some areas he could work on to challenge himself, and penmanship is one. He writes small, and she suggested that he write and draw his pictures larger so the reader can focus on the content of the story instead of the work it takes to read the small print. Sean acknowledged that one of his friends frequently says he can't read his writing because it is too small. He said he writes small to save space so he can write more, but agreed to try to use the lines on the page to form his letters larger, what they call the head line, foot line and butt line.

From there we moved to reading, and she shared some scores with me. He is reading at standard, but when she assessed him with another tool she said it seems he is reading above standard, which means he is reading at a higher than third grade level. She suggested he continue to choose the "good fit" books and challenge himself. "Good fit" books are books that he can read on his own, that he understands most of the words, but are also a little challenging.

As is common with Montessori students, Sean has had that writing explosion and almost focuses exclusively on writing and reading. I know from experience with homeschool that this will likely change as the year goes on, but she looked at his work plan (the students write their own weekly work plan) and asked that he spend some more time on math. She suggested that he begin the day with writing, but put a time limit on himself so he saves time to work on math each day as well.

The work plan folder.
Photo by Sean

The fraction work I wish I had here.
Photo by Sean

Some of the areas he can work on are fractions and multiplication. Ms. Diamond suggested we use some real life problems to work on this, including slicing apples and such. "Would you like your apples sliced into fourths?"

Then she went over his goals for himself, and the things we would like to see him work on as well. To watch this exchange was amazing. Sean actively participated in this conversation and gave complete answers and explanations about his work and his goals for himself. He asked her for extra packets of math to take home to work on. It will be great, since we still have some of the materials here. We have the box of beads and the stamp game, which can be used with addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. I wish we had the fraction boards, but I can make some with Chuck's help.

I was so proud to watch him participate in a serious conversation about his plans for his own education this year, and to hear what his goals are for himself. He is so supported and loved there, and the responsibility is put on the student. There is no brow beating or ridicule, or accusations, or demands of "why didn't you complete this work?" or "What do you have to say for yourself?" type of energy there. No threats of, "If you don't do the work you're going to fail."

Because the student has written his/her own work plan (with guidance in the beginning, of course) the responsibility lies with the student to be sure that work plan is carried out. Once the work plan is completed they are allowed to do "other," which is free choice.

Sean said his favorite free choice is origami.

He has become so mature this year. I love watching the transformation. He has always been a great kid, but today I saw a different side of him.