About Me

I am a captive caretaker of three small terrorists and an exotic petting zoo. I try regularly to sneak college courses so one day I can leave this place.

Thursday, October 29, 2009

MY three stooges

I had this bright idea how it would be so fulfilling to read under the stars with the fire going. Camping in your back yard. My small people brought blankets and pillows and then they started to read their little books. It was all so touching for about 5 minutes, then it turned into utter chaos.

Saturday, October 24, 2009

sewing machine

Today I whipped out my Singer. Whipped is an exaggeration because actually it was quite an event to pull it out of it's tight space and then get it to open. I haven't sewn anything in over a year, not because I don't like to sew but because it was inconvenient to get at and I still haven't hung any pictures on my walls of the house I have lived in for over a year so when would I have time to sew.
The point of what I am saying is I know how to operate a sewing machine and to sew by hand. And when my daughter Violet asked where did I learned how to operate a sewing machine I told her about Mrs "D" and Home Ec class in 8th grade. I fondly remembered the sewing room and my classmates Liz and Julie. I remembered making stuffed animals and chit chat. Then I remembered I am sending her to a school for the " Arts " they don't have Home Ec. Then it hit me No one is going to teach my child to sew!!
I really don't understand why not either, I consider sewing an art. But apparently the Creation Foundation (founders of my girls school) do not. That means I have to teach them to sew. Can you see me teaching KT how to sew? Let me draw you a picture for those of you haven't had the pleasure. KT is my ADHD kid, she can't go upstairs without hurting herself, she can't get through a meal without spilling her drink, she can't sit still or sit straight, and I am going to give her a needle ? Sure, if I want her to poke her eye out!!


I think not!! I will be paying those fine folks at JoAnn fabrics to teach her to sew, and believe me they will earn every penny!!!

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Halloween REALLY!!

Halloween is my favorite all time holiday!!! And I am very defensive of it's reputation.

I love all of my very Christian friends. However my antiHalloween friends need a little history lesson.



Over time certain interpretations have become inaccurate. Halloween, which I believe, is the most misunderstood holiday of all time needs a little fact fixing. Yes Halloween was a pagan holiday (love to all my Pagan friends) it dates back to ancient celts. The idea was to celebrate the end of the harvest season. The scary costumes were to scare away the bad spirits so the next harvest would be healthy. All that scariness was to ward off evil. Sort of like Christian metals, and crosses, and holy water. I realize this is not exactly the Christian purpose of wearing a cross, or using holy water, or having a St. whoever metal but it's similar. It makes christians feel safe and closer to god. Pagans chose the other route, to scare off evil to be closer to god, to have healthy crops, to have a prosperous year. Because this was the end of the crop season the grasses and hay were becoming short in supply, this lead to moving livestock and slaughtering some farm animals and salting them to eat a later date, and to have at their big celebration meal. These were not 'animal sacrifice' or gifts to gods, but a necessity to avoid starvation of farm animals. The holiday Samhain, was a little like Thanksgiving. It was a big feast, a family gathering, a bonfire, a start of the new year etc. It was also a day believed to be where the spirit world and our world came very close to one another. Some left soul cakes to help our ancestors on their journey. There is nothing satanic about Halloween. In the Celtic world there wasn't a satan or a devil. Only mischievious spirits that some called evil.

Saturday, October 3, 2009

Snoring in Music class

My girls are taking singing classes at Music Matters. They are learning to read music and use their voice to hit notes. The teacher thought it would be a great idea to record their voices on tapes and then let them take the tapes home so they could listen to themselves. Except who actually owns a tape player? Well, not me. So I decided to purchase the archaic technology and the problem there is I am too cheap to spend 25.00 on technology that has such few uses. Instead I decide to use our mini digital recorder and send it to class with them. Digital recorders are small and very useful. For instance your child can read a story and then listen to themselves and see how they sound. They can verify if the story sounds right, meaning they said the right word and didn't just pick a word that looked right, and they can check their own pronunciation of sounds. Another use is proving to your spouse that he sounds like Chewbaca when he sleeps. In fact that was the first thing I used it for.
On Wednesday miss KT took the digial recorder to her lesson. After a brief lesson with the recorder we thought she could operate it. After KT sang her heart out her music teacher hit the play button and what they hear ? Chewbaca!!!