family life

Logos School takes a field trip……..

March 26, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth Leave a Comment

It’s Spring Break for us so I invited several friends and their teens and tots to join us at Barter Theatre to see Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat. I don’t what was more fun….watching the play or watching my kids watch the play. The teenagers laughed out loud and wore the technicolor flashing glasses we bought for them. And Sue and Donna and I couldn’t resist a picture with ‘Joseph’. My angel friend Donna who used to make her haven next door to me lives in the vicinity of the theatre now….so we were especially excited to see her.

Emme was brave enough to stand next to Joseph for a quick pic.

We enjoyed lunch together at KP Duty in Bristol! Morgan joined us for the fun day too and kept Taylor and Andrew in line.

And I was fortunate to spend a few hours in the car with Cindy……and 3 teenagers and 3 small girlies. We talked and played music and laughed and talked some more and drank Starbucks (be still my beating heart). Abingdon is such a quaint and cozy little town. And every production I’ve seen at this theatre is spectacular. Our little group picture is missing Cindy, Sarah, Emily, Clay, and Donna. Sandy and Sue rode together with their kiddos and I’m only sad that we didn’t have more time to visit with them.

And the icing on the cake? We ran into Taylor’s first grade teacher Mrs. Savery! I almost cried. She was such a blessing to us and I have such fond memories of being at Providence Academy…..where I first learned about classical education. It was so good to see her and Bunny Turner. It was nearly a perfect day from beginning to end.

So, the girls and I are watching YouTube clips of the play this morning. Sandy was lucky enough to see this very one where Joseph was played by Donny Osmond! Thank you girls for such a great day!

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One of my chicks turns 7 today!

March 21, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 1 Comment

and guess what she got for her birthday?

yep, chicks…..and ducks

You only turn 7 once, right? And I am a firm believer in a little bit

of childhood magic. So what if they ‘cheep’ alot. So what if there are 6 of them.

Life is messy. Might as well get your hands dirty.

And this particular wonderful spring time fun is

brought to you by Daddy…who apparently

thinks childhood is magical too.

The girls have named them

and held them…

and fed them…

and watched them….

and are currently running a little bath water

for the ducks to take a swim.

Every adult should occasionally put all rational thought aside.

And enjoy the small creatures God made.

So while my oldest chick is in NYC on a choir trip,

the younger chicks will play with their own ducks and chicks.

And watch cute YouTube videos of chicks hatching.

We throw caution to the wind

and celebrate

life’s little wonders.

More birthday fun to follow!

Email me with any advice on how to keep them alive!

P.S. One of my precious readers wrote the sweetest things about me and it really blessed me to read it. The isolating world of homeschooling is made easier by those of you who read this blog and offer so much encouragement. I am thankful for you all. Check out her blog here.

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How to Survive a Rainy Day with 5 teenagers, 2 small children, and 2 dogs

March 15, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth Leave a Comment

1st Make some dough and bake something. We made biscuits (in the craziest little shapes) and gravy and bacon and eggs. Every rainy day should have dough.

2ndly Recruit your small children to be the pictionary master of ceremonies and keeper of the sands of time.

3rdly Divide the teams into boys versus girls. The competition will be fierce.

4thly Pass out bubble gum to all players. Bubble gum= fun. Everytime.

5thly Give the boys a little slack, despite the fact that they frequently use illegal verbal gestures to supplement their very poor drawings.

6thly Help the boys out on the only drawing that seemed straight forward. That’s a sprinkler. I gave the verbal hint that ‘small children like to run through them’.

That didn’t even work instantly. But finally they got it.

7thly Be thankful that when they draw very rough illustrations of North America and Africa, they get their geography right.

8thly Play a few rounds of charades and then prepare the teens for prom by teaching them the basic waltz step. (Perhaps this will give them a better alternative when the rest of the young folks at the dance are exposing their poor taste in dance styles). Remember boys, always start with your outside leg, go up onto your toes when you move forward or backward, and always hold your head up. Be a strong leader and always be a gentleman.

9thly Praise Andrew for teaching Hank to waltz.

10thly Praise Taylor for only stepping on Morgan’s toes thirty two times.

and lastly….finish the day off by watching Sense and Sensibility with the little girls.

Boredom averted. Rainy days welcome.

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Hestia, the goddess of hearth and home

February 25, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth Leave a Comment

Just call me Hestia–the Homeschooler

1. My winter ‘funk/blues’ (you know, the one I’ve been in for about a year and a half) is almost over. I’ve been practicing my hitch kicks and have planned to make a small chocolate cake with buttercream icing to celebrate. (after Lent of course)

2. I’m working on a guest post about homeschooling (yes the same one I’ve been working on for a month) and I was hoping my ‘funk’ would be over before I needed to submit the post. As fate would have it, the funk will still be in place…..which means I’ll need extra special audio-visuals to ensure the ‘readers’ what a wonderful homeschooler I am. Any ideas? Oh wait, dummy me turned the comments off.

3. Never ask a homeschooler to do a guest post anywhere near February…..when most of us are looking for the nearest school that serves lunch…..and hasn’t had a shooting….in a while.

4. I cannot bear to tell anyone of my lenten discipline (other than closing my comments) …..because that would ensure me ‘breaking’ it within the hour. I’ve already considered opening comments back up. I’m just that disciplined.

5. I have renamed myself Hestia-the greek goddess of hearth and home. I’m having new cards printed with my new name and am working on new monograms. Cindy, who made my beef stew, assures me that I qualify. And I’ve always been jealous of “H” monograms.

6. I can’t decide if I want Stevie to be Apollo (god of light) or Helios (god of the son) or Zeus (king of the gods). I could be speaking out of turn, but I think he would also nominate me for Demeter (goddess of grain) because I bake so much bread.

7. There is something ‘to’ this classical education thing. The girls and I are reading about Odysseus, Greek mythology, the Trojan War, Alexander the Great, and even Plato. We’re listening to Bach’s Mass in B minor and memorizing EVERYTHING…..lately we’ve memorized a list of the greek gods, Deut. 6:4-9, the Ten commandments, and the poem Foreign Lands by Robert Louis Stevenson. We’ve read great books like Eight Cousins and The Railway Children. We’ve done some fun art projects including making an Olympic wreath and a cardboard version of The Wooden Horse. We’re studying the life of Christ for lenten devotions and have adopted ‘kneeling’ for our morning prayers. (which Emme was enraged by…..and with a big sigh said, “My knee hurts, mom”. ) My struggles over the past month with homeschooling have been real and grueling. And yet, when I look at some of the wonderful things we’ve done, I can only cry out, “Lord give me strength”. I say all that to say……..pray that I will make the right decisions regarding my childrens’ future.

8. I’m checking out a new program called Classical Conversations. It’s an adjunct for homeschoolers (like a co-op of sorts) and meets once a week in Knoxville. Email me if you have any advice or experience with this program.

9. To take a small break from the Greeks and to help me with my bookclub book for March which is the autobiography of Ben Franklin, I started a book called Founding Brothers. Very interesting, so far. I also plan to read a C.S. Lewis book a month. March-The Great Divorce. Read it with me. You’ll love it. This will be my 3rd time reading it. And I just placed an Amazon order today that will secure for me every last book that Lewis wrote. Oh yes I did.

10. My prayer life reminds me of that of a 4 year old. I start out with the best intentions:

Dear Lord, I confess to you that I am a sinner through and through. I’ve sinned against you in so many large and small ways already today. I’m a beggar in need of repentance and I pray that you will have mercy on me……..(wonder how that gargantuan ball of dog hair/dust got way over there……and I really should take that dog to get him groomed…he’s so cute…that Hank……)

Oh and yes Lord, please forgive me for my lack of attention….where was I? Oh yeah, a poor miserable sinner…..I haven’t even written my thank you note to Aunt Rosemary. (It was so nice of them to have us there last weekend. I don’t know how Uncle Troy made those pepper mills.) And on and on until I almost laugh at how…..childish I must seem to God. I’m like my 6 year old who starts to tell me about what she wants for her birthday and twenty minutes later is asking if I remember that time that she had a bad dream about a monkey driving a big car? This my friends, is why I need Lent. I need discipline and practice and a timeframe.

10. I’m planning a small Greek Festival for the girls and I to ‘showcase’ our favorite Greek projects. We’re gonna make Greek food and wear flowing simple gowns. Okay the girls refuse to wear gowns and will likely not enjoy the food. But I am gonna enjoy it. And very soon I will re-emerge from my ‘funk or whathaveyou’ a new, lighter, and able to breath easier mama. I just know I will.

11. Marcus moves out this Friday. We are sad for us and happy for him. He’s moving to live very near campus which will save a lot of driving time for him. To ease the pain of the transition for the little girls, I told them they could move upstairs to ‘his’ room sometime after he moves out. Which I already regret….’cause they seem too young still (6,8) to not be right beside us. This would however open up their room to me for an office/craft room/lock myself in and cry room. This means I’ve got work to do. Things to paint. Redecorranging galore. Any fresh ideas? My mind is whirling. My heart rate is 180. And I haven’t even had an energy drink yet. And Marcus, we miss you already, despite the fact that the girls keep coming upstairs to ‘scout out the place’.

12. I need a teacher’s aide. Or a cleaning lady. Or a year’s supply of energy drinks. Or all of the above.

13. If you have never heard a 6 and an 8 year old sittin’ around talkin’ about what they’re gonna *do* for Lent, then you should try it sometime. Oh.my.word. Funny stuff. Very funny stuff. And let’s just say that Elea is oiling up her bicycle chain.

14. Maybe I should start a blog carnival called ‘Hooray for Hestia’ or ‘I am a Goddess’ where we women could post random stuff about our home and hearth and share it with others. And then again maybe I need sleep. Or chocolate.

Lenten prayer

February 23, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 6 Comments

We girlies made it home safely and are knee deep in laundry and life. My family is the best and I’ll tell you more about that soon. I’m eeking out every spare moment I can to finish The Problem of Pain by C.S.Lewis, which turns out to be great reading in preparation for Lent. I’m still gathering my thoughts…….

and the dirty laundry……

so enjoy this lenten prayer in the meantime.

Lord Jesus, precious Savior, who went all the way to the cross to redeem me, a lost and condemned creature, graciously look upon me in this Lenten season, and let me find cleansing and healing in Your precious blood. My transgressions caused You the agony of the garden. My sins nailed You to the accursed tree. You were forsaken so that I would not be forsaken throughout eternity. Make me see the awfulness of my sin and then Your wondrous love that would not let me die.

Grant that I may ponder day after day upon Your passion. Let nothing distracting take my thoughts from You. Draw me closer that I might find in You forgiveness and peace. Amen.

What we’re growing………

February 12, 2009 by Edie Wadsworth 16 Comments

1. The cutest little english golden retriever puppy that you ever saw.

who now towers over Scooter (the 3yo maltese)

and who I repeatedly find standing on the patio furniture. He’s hilarious. And he’s growing…so fast.

2. A little girl who loves to be outside. So we take our books outdoors….and read on the trampoline.

3. Tomatoes, chives, and basil. Our little indoor seed garden has sprouted. Life pokes through from the dark cold dirt. We watch and are hopeful.

4. Magnolia trees and flying acrobats and daffodils. All of which, I simply adore.

5. Teenagers who like broccoli. And your teens would like broccoli too if you’d add a teeny bit of maple syrup as it finishes sauteing. Do it for the young ones. Real maple only please. Broccoli helps ’em grow, ya know.

6. Teeth. We’re growing teeth.

7. We’re growing germs too. Plenty of little creepy crawly bugs that have us coughing and waking up at all manner of unsightly hours. With fever. And sniffles. And little red noses.

No matter what you do , the growth goes on. The trees, the kids, the grays, the flowers, the wrinkles . Time marches on. Even in February. Even without my permission or my noticing. I purpose to notice. The growth. The grace. The life that springs up all around me.

Emme says, “Mom, are you watching?”

Oh, I’m watching……. like I’ve never watched before.