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life{in}grace

live with more presence, passion, & purpose

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Geography lessons with the Griswalds

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As a vital part of our homeschool, I like to choose a few quality toys that they can play with while they’re listening to books on tape or while we’re taking breaks. Legos have to be my favorite, second only to Lincoln logs. But girl-ish legos are hard to come by. So, when I saw the Lego RV—the endless educational possibilities began to fly through my mind.

Yes, my friends, that’s a bike rack on top! This RV is be-dazzled with all kinds of amazing stuff.

And my little Emme spent nearly two hours putting this gem together, all by herself. It wouldn’t have taken her so long, but I had the ‘dad’—whom I shall affectionately call ‘Cousin Eddie’ (not only with his cool hair do–but also the snazzy muscle shirt he’s sporting) and ‘mom’ packing up lots of things from the house to get ready for the family’s first big trip in the RV and kept distracting her with my Cousin Eddie voice.

And this is not your grandmother’s RV. If you’ll look real carefully, one of the Griswald children is asleep in the ‘overhead’ compartment. (She’s yellow with an orange hairbow). This RV has brought us so much entertainment already that I’m thinking of purchasing another one. Camping is always more fun with other families, ya know.
Please notice ‘dad’s’ hairdo.

What does this have to do with homeschooling, you ask? Geography, of course. The Griswalds are gonna travel. A lot. And this particular RV is amphibious, so not to worry about how we’ll get through the straight of Gilbraltar. We’ll get through just fine.

This amazing map I bought at Hobby Lobby last week is one of those ‘easy stick’ gadgets that you can stick and then remove and re-stick. So we applied it to our school table so that we’d always have the world map at the finger tips. This could very well be my most favorite idea yet. We talk geography all the time now. And the Griswald’s travel all over the world. Cousin Eddie doesn’t think twice about traveling to Australia one day……and then Alaska the next. He’s quite adventurous and doesn’t even take the time to repack the RV.

We’ve had more fun with this and find ourselves sitting in there all the time asking each other questions like “Where in the world is Belfast?”

And what could be more entertaining than Cousin Eddie playing air guitar on the Rock of Gilbraltar . Elea snickers everytime she shows us where ‘Chad’ is—-her favorite country in Africa.

We even sometimes use our ‘art man’ to take giant steps across the world. If he’s does a leaping splits he can touch Brazil and Australia at the same time.

Who needs a geography book when you have the Griswalds’ and Art Man?

And have you ever heard Cousin Eddie’s famous homeschool quote?

Oh yeah, Yuban Coffee. You know you can sprinkle that stuff on anything? Ice cream, mashed potatoes, or just eat it right out of the can for a quick pick me up.

Excuse me while I sprinkle coffee grounds on my oatmeal!

Color Trends, Big Hair, and Blue Eye Shadow

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You can ask my sister, I’ve never been one to pass up a good trend. In 1987, I had big hair. In 1993, I wore stirrup pants. In 1999, I bought a Suburban—- and in 2008, I started a blog. With age comes the wisdom to know when ‘trendy’ touches on ‘why is that forty year old woman wearing skinny jeans?’ So, although I’ve bridled my passion for fashion trends, I’m still a sucker for all things hip and ‘edgy’. Enter ‘Duchess of Windsor Pink’ (a vintage Ralph Lauren color I discovered at Home Depot).

Stop.The.World.

I’m not gonna lie. I am completely 100% smitten with this romantic, warm, and fleshy color.
But we need to set some ground rules: this color is NOT peach or mauve or coral. Forbid those words to cross your lips. It is almost exactly the color of a Wendy’s frosty. I know this because I had an ample amount of paint on my hands/clothes/hair when I took the girls for Frosty’s on Saturday. I thought it nearly divine that this very ‘fleshy’ color is so frosty-like. Not peach-like. Nor mauve-like. I’ve done mauve. This is not mauve. Southerners should never do mauve because we completely butcher that word.

“Is ‘at ‘Maaawwwve’ “—I hear my aunt say—with her almost angry southern drawl.

” No, no it’s not. It’s Duchess of Windsor Pink. “

This color so puts me in the mind of an old English study that I paused midafternoon for tea. And why an English study you ask? I have no idea. But neverthless, that’s what it reminds me of. When I got the walls done, my plain stark white trim looked frail and weak. It could not stand up to duchess of windsor. Duchess is soft and sultry and tender but she is a force to be reckoned with. It took the strength of a cowboy named ‘Coronado Dunes’ (Behr-Home Depot) to tame this duchess.

They are a match made in heaven. Love at first site. Sonny and Cher. Steve and Edie. Mawve and Blue.

I cannot stop sitting in that recently recovered $2 chair that I bought a few weeks back at a thrift store. Why, you ask? Because the romance that has ensued in my dining room is compelling. The duchess draws you in. The next installment of this love story will be posted later this week when the painting and ‘fluffing’ are done.

And just to prove that I am no respecter of colors when it comes to trends, I’ve also recently tried the canary yellow (which I adore)…..

…..and the peacock blue (which I highly recommend)

To further prove my commitment to past trends, I give you 1988, the year I—-‘had the time of my life—-and I owe it all to you-ououoou’.

There, I’ve done my part. Easy on the eye makeup Tammy Faye.
FYI, I like this link for current color trends. I like using trendy colors on objects easily repainted or in smaller rooms that are completely contained. When making daring trendy fashion statements, I recommend going all-out. Own the parachute pants. Don’t be scared.

Landslide

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The days come one after another without my permission. If you asked me to articulate precisely my thoughts and emotions as I wander along in this ‘valley‘, I could not. When Caiti was eight years old, we drove across the Blue Ridge Mountains listening and singing with reckless abandon to “Landslide” from our favorite Dixie Chicks album. Today, I wonder if I’m caught in a landslide of my own. For sure, I’ve lost my footing.

I’m taking a little break to reconcile things a bit, in my heart and in my head. When the dust settles, I am confident I’ll find that there was One who sheltered me, hemmed me in, stood in the gap for me, and placed me on solid ground.

If you have struggles of your own today, maybe you’ll join me in this prayer (taken from the Lutheran prayer book)

Lord, have mercy. Christ,have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Merciful Father, You know how difficult these days are for me. In Your holy word You have promised to hear those who cry unto You in the day of trouble. Listen to my cries for mercy and send me help from the sanctuary of Your grace. Preserve me from bitterness of spirit, and rescue me from every temptation to despair. Calm my frustrations with the knowledge that my life is secure in Your redeeming love, for I am baptized into the death and resurrection of Your Son. Draw me out of self-centered worry, which stifles faith, and cause me to take comfort in the great and precious promises that You have made to me and all believers in the Gospel. Sustain and strengthen me under every cross and affliction, that Your grace might be made perfect in my weakness. Give me confidence to pray without losing heart and to trust in Your mighty deliverance according to Your good and gracious will. Father, into Your hands I commend myself. Hear me, for the sake of Your Son, who alone is my Savior. Amen.

Post edit: I’m joining Darcy’s bloghop this week, featuring homeschool room’s. Click here to see how real mom’s make their spaces work.

Life on the Lake

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If the day and night are such that you greet them with joy, and life emits a fragrance like flowers and sweet-scented herbs, is more elastic, more starry , more immortal,—that is your success. All nature is your congratulation, and you have cause momentarily to bless yourself. The greatest gains and values are farthest from being appreciated. We easily come to doubt if they exist. We soon forget them. The true harvest of my daily life is somewhat as intangible and indescribable as the tints of morning and evening. It is a little star-dust caught, a segment of the rainbow which I have clutched. Thoreau


Knit Together

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I have a strange way of grieving. Lately, I am always on the verge of tears. Today, my eyes welled up with tears at least three times and I can’t even remember why. But I don’t usually slow down or withdraw. I cry frequently and then feverishly keep my hands and my head occupied. (officially called being ‘in a tizzy’). It’s the only way I know to give my heart a break. So, in this grieving season of little birdies leaving my nest, I’m reading and knitting. Almost ravenously. Since we arrived in MN, I’ve knit and read nearly continuously. Except for the multitudinous breaks for eating. I guess I should add ‘eating’ to my list of grieving activities but it seems much less industrious than knitting and reading.

Like this beanie I made for Taylor this week, I couldn’t get Psalm 139 out of my head.

You have searched me and known me
You search out my path and my lying down
You are aquainted with all my ways
You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me
‘You knit me together in my mother’s womb’
Where shall I go from your spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
He will never be alone. His Lord will be ever present. And my beloved son will be ‘hemmed in’. He will be surrounded by a hedge of protection. (And a cute little beanie hat). I know that I need not worry. But I also know that this is just one more stage in the process of letting them go. And I don’t know any other way to walk through that valley except one painful step at a time. So bear with me. My heart is heavy. My thoughts and days are bitter sweet.

I guess I should be thankful that I’ll still have this one home to make me laugh. I’ve been trying to think up a good rap name for him. Maybe S. Macdaddy Wads or better yet, all one word, Smacdaddy Wads. And just that quick I go from tears to belly laughs. Welcome to my emotional roller coaster.

~~BTW, I did NOT ask him to pose. This is his natural gangsta face. Be very afraid.
~~And thanks to Grandma Evadne for her patience with my facial contortions when she told me I was going to have FOUR knitting needles going at once. She’s a saint with my questions and mistakes.
~~ Caiti like the beanie so much, I’ve started one for her. I feel a tsunami of tears on the horizon.

Cherry Picking

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We went out to (brother) Jeff’s farm and picked cherries from the most gorgeous cherry tree you’ve ever seen.
Everywhere I looked was a photographer’s dream world; there were old barns, grapevines, kids picking cherries, wheat fields. I could’ve stayed there all day and used up all my memory card.
This is one of my favorite photos.
Vicki showed us the ropes, including how to pit them with a paper clip.
There were more cherries than I’ve ever seen in one place in all my born days!
…….what’s even better, you ask? I woke up this morning to not one, but FOUR cherry pies from the master of all pies, Steve’s mom. It’s like heaven on a plate. Then she started to teach my girls the old American folk song “Billy Boy”. Listen below but be warned: you WILL sing it all day. I’m humming it as we speak—-much to Caiti’s chagrin.

P.S. FYI: I edited these photos using the ‘cross-process’ function at picnik.com
P.S.S. Thanks to all of your kind words and to those of you who introduced yourselves for the first time!

I’d like to wish a Happy Birthday to one of my favorite people in the whole world, my beloved sister. Her friendship and love have been a constant source of strength. She is God’s hand of mercy to me. And I say ‘thank you’.