Mother's Daybook - November 8th

Exciting about - November! Ah, November! So many fun things are happening in November. It's a bit of a downer month normally, what with my mom's birthday at the beginning of the month followed by the anniversary of her passing bringing it's cloud over our Thanksgiving. But I've got a Charlotte Mason conference coming up that I'm really excited about. It's the first time I have left the big kids but Craig's gonna have it all under control and Norah and I are gonna party it up with some homeschooling moms. Yay! And it's not the only thing this month because..

Watching - All the Gilmore Girls. I wasn't planning on rewatching the series before the November reboot but then, well, I started it. And now, it's a challenge. I've also ordered a Gilmore girl shirt. I must be prepared!

Got the t-shirt!

So I wrote all that above on the first of November. But then, mid-blog post, I got interrupted by a kid crying from ear pain. Not a good sign. And the germ started flying (again) and we had another ear infections, another round of fevers and a bad case of croup. We're down to just one sick daddy and a recovering but still snotty baby. So November, you're not quite living up to the hype yet. But I have faith in you. Pull yourself together!

Sick babies are sad, but still awfully cute. 

Relaxing - Because stuff is ending! The kids had their last day of soccer so our Saturdays are free again. Lucy ended up really loving soccer and being goalie. She also liked playing on the field but she had a tendency to run right up near the ball but not even kick it. She did eventually get a kick or two in so I'm excited to see what next year brings. Jonah on the other hand, well, he was a bit more reluctant. He'd practice but refused to step on the field when it was game time. Now, that doesn't mean that the other four year olds helped their team out much more. Four years old just isn't really a game ready age. But boy are they fun to watch. Like the kid who cries when the other team gets the ball, or the two girls that like to stand next to each other and hold hands or the little boy who runs around after the ball with his shirt pulled up over his head. Comic gold. So it was enjoyable but I'm not sad that we will no longer have somewhere we have to be every Saturday morning. We've also finally hit the end of all our appointments. The result of some of those is that Jonah is now approved for twice weekly speech therapy. Which I guess means more appointments but those are consistent and routine things don't seem to wreck the same havoc that irregular appointments do. So, breathing can now recommence.

Reading - Easy stuff. I've just finished my last Classic for the Back to the Classics Challenge. I've still got to write up the reviews do I won't talk about them here but I'm going with some easy reads for a while. 

• Cinder/Scarlet/Cress (the first three Lunar Chronicles) - Fun YA sci-fi spins on fairy tales. Cute. Don't go expecting fine literature or anything but enjoyable and getting progressively better so I've put the fourth on hold. 

• The Nine Tailors - This is good if you can get past all the bell stuff. And there is quite a bit of bell stuff at the beginning and I really didn't understand it. Also, not enough Bunter nor any Harriet Vane. But still, it' a Sayers novel so I'm happy I read it. Every few months I check my library and their overdrive has a new Lord Peter book. This makes me happy but I do wish they would acquire them in order. I just read about a honeymoon for a couple that isn't together yet - confusing!

• The Willoughbys - Oh my. This was hilarious. It's not a book I'd hand to a kid at 8 or 9, especially as I'm reluctant to do too much sarcasm too early, but it is the type you hand to a young teen who has already read lots of Burnett and Nesbit and Dahl. They'll get the jokes. The story itself is simple and quirky but the parody is spot on. If you like classic children's literature and need a fun quick mood lifter, you should give this a try. 

• The Incarnation by Athanasius- Now, one might not think this is "easy" but I started this thinking it would be a real challenge to get through. It's not, the writing makes the ideas come alive. Profound and thought provoking but simple to understand. C.S. Lewis really knew what he was talking about in his intro (and if you don't have a desire to read this book, at least read the intro which you can get access to in the free book preview. Several quotes just from that. And I'm normally an intro skipper - but not in this case). This is the only book on this little list that I haven't finished but I'm intentionally reading it slowly so I can really have time to spend on the concept. I wouldn't have disagreed with anything he says if you had asked but I can also say that it is has already changed the way I view Jesus. 

Singing - Everything, all the time! We are all loving the last few folk songs we've done. Norah even starts rocking along. And we keep catching each other singing them throughout the day and its become a bit of a joke. I've also started us on the solfa lesson from singsolfa.com and youtube channel Children of the Open Air. It was only supposed to be a once a week tea time thing but they both love them and are asking for it more often. I'm fairly musical although solfa is a entirely new concept for me but these resources make it very accessible and fun and its all starting to make a lot of sense. I've already seen a difference in Lucy's singing. (I think the idea that singing is notes just like piano was a new concept for her - oops!) Jonah loves it too although he won't sing along, or if he does he "sings in a whisper so no one can hear me" That's also how he likes to say his apologies and sometimes his bible verse memory work that way as well. When he's six, he might be in for a rude awakening but for now, he gets a pass (except when it comes to apoligizing. I do believe the phrase "it's only apologizing if the other person can hear you" has been said more than once. So hopefully all our singing is going to turn into pleasant sounding singing shortly!