Wardrobe Wednesday

At holiday time the Lizard King decided to do a little something for his people at work. Wouldn't hoodies make a nice gift? I contacted a local company and had the sweatshirts made up in your basic gray. Of course Princess and I had to have our own...and of course they had to be...PINK!

Art Museum...finally!

Yes! We made it to the art museum and what a fun time it was. No cameras allowed, so we have very few photos. After the scavenger hunt, we played an eye spy game. I had to close my eyes while Princess described, in detail, a piece in the room. Then I opened my eyes and tried to find the piece. Princess loved this game and we went from room to room, playing it again and again.

We really had a fun time and I have to say that we are so lucky to be able to do field trips our own way. There was a school field trip going on while we were there. I kept looking over at those kids, watching their expressions and their body language and feeling sorry for them. We were having so much fun examining each piece, looking for the items on our list. These kids were ignoring listening to lectures about various works. I'm not positive, but I think that Princess may have gotten more out of our little field trip.

When we got hungry, we left the museum and crossed the street to the park where we sat on a bench and enjoyed the beautiful and warm Spring day while having a snack.

I've compiled another list of art work to find the next time we visit the Portland Art Museum.

Random Spelling

Recently, Princess started spelling. When I ask her a question, she responds by spelling the answer. At times she'll ask me to give her words to spell, starting easy and getting progressively harder. I'm not sure what prompted this, but she's having a ball with it. There are times that she is uncertain about a word, but with a little help she finds her way through. Some of the words she figures out surprise me. Perhaps she's caught the bug from her momma. I'm such a spelling and grammar nerd goddess*.

I truly believe in this unschooling path we're on, but it rocks to be reminded how beautifully it works.

*I am not responsible for any typos.

Spring Prose

When I was very young, the beauty of Spring inspired me to put pen to paper or voice to tape recorder. I forgot about this poem, but an old friend never has. In fact, he introduced this gem to him wife and they often reflect on the brilliance of it by quoting it at least once a year in the Springtime. We have found each other on Facebook. I love Facebook for finding old friends. This year, my friends' wife posted the poem on my Facebook wall. I will give you all the great pleasure of experiencing the beauty. The poem is of course entitled, Spring.

I love spring!



Spring is everything.


Flowers grow.


You use a hoe....


I love spring!


Those are very wise words we should all remember. Don't you think?

Mario Time!

I know I'm the mom...but I thought this rendering totally rocked!

Wardrobe Wednesday - New Baby Edition!!

Does this count as a Wardrobe Wednesday? I think so! After all it is a wardrobe accessory for a baby, right? This is the blanket that I knitted for our grandbaby. It is a nice neutral green because they decided not to peek at the 20 week ultrasound. From this point forward Princess and I can spew all the pink we can find all over this baby because...IT'S A GIRL!! (I think she looks like her daddy.)

Head on over to Heathen Family Revival and see where it all started...Wardrobe Wednesday, that is.

Hoarding

Inspired by Rachel at Reservation for Six I decided to share a little bit about my little hoarder. Although she hasn't reached the stellar heights of Rachel's daughter, she's also a bit younger so I'll give her some time.

The most recent attempted aquisition was a piece of velcro. The upper tab of velcro on her coat kept grabbing her hair, so I cut it off. Emotions ran high when I asked her to throw it in the garbage. She was devastated because...wait for it...it was pink. gasp!

She likes to save the boxes that her toys come in because she likes the pictures on the box. We have a special place in the garage where we keep such treasures. I call it the staging area. After enough time has passed these objects move from the staging area to the recycle bin.

We are moving to a new house and we've purchased a super cool new play structure. Princess still wants to keep her crappy swingset that we plan to sell for the bargain price of $25. We'd actually give it away for free, but I don't want to deal with the no shows that result from free listings on Craigslist. Oh, but wait. We'll be putting the swingset into the imaginary storage unit where we will keep everything that we won't be taking to the new house. I just hope she never asks to see the storage unit. I'll be in big trouble.

Indiana Jones

Indy and Marion have joined the ranks of Luke and Leia in our house. The acting is just as bad, but the content has inspired some conversation and some pretty deep conversation at that.

We have talked about alcohol, the effects and dangers if consumed in large quantities. We have talked about Nazis and World War II. We have talked about geography. We have learned that asp is another word for snake. All these things are questions that Princess asked. We have only talked briefly about these things, but it was an introduction to the topics which we can explore in more depth when Princess expresses that interest. For now, I think that at age 6, an introduction will suffice.

The Build

When we were in Mexico, the Lizard King came up with a brilliant idea. He asked Princess if she would draw him a picture each time we went to the new house. She thought that was a great idea, so we headed out to the store to find a sketch pad. Each time we venture out to the house, we set her chair up on the hill above the house. It is a perfect vantage point.
We are attempting to get out to see the progress three times a week. I am also taking lots of photos so that LK can keep up on things. He can also inspect the work...virtually. After our second visit, he informed me that the rebar (I have not idea if I even spelled that right) looked good. Whew! I was worried about that.

Look! We have walls! Well, a couple of walls...

EDIT!!!
We were last at the house on Wednesday. This evening, we went out to see the progress and were stunned to see this.

Getting Real

It's time to step up and get honest. I am not a horrible mother, but I have been behaving horribly for far too long. The Lizard King has been away for almost 9 months and it has been hard...much harder than I imagined it to be. I feel silly complaining. I mean, after all, he is the one who is in Afghanistan. Princess is without her Daddy and she's only six. Still, this is hard for me. And rather than make things easier for Princess I am making it harder.

I am absolutely convinced, especially after our time in Mexico, that Princess' eczema is emotionally triggered. The thing that I didn't realize was that it isn't only the absence of LK that is causing her stress. It is the absence of her mother...me. Yes, I am here, but I am not the mother I always was. I am not a patient person, I never have been,but with Princess I always had heaps of patience. I believe that children have value and deserve to be treated with respect. For entirely too long, I have not been living that.

For far too long I have been speaking to Princess like she is a worthless piece of garbage. I have created this sad, empty little girl. I am destroying her spirit and her soul. And I'm not sure how to stop. It is not only me who sees this. Freckle called me on it the other day. I need to figure out how to stop this. I need to figure out how to build my sweet little girl back up.

There are many things that I have to change. First I need to cut back on the amount of time I spend online because it feels like she is bothering me and disturbing me whenever she tries to interact with me. I chose to have this child. I chose to homeschool. I need to be there for her. It is about her, it is not about how much time I can spend online and believe me, it is a lot. My laptop is always open. I am always searching for something.

I need to spend more focused time on Princess...things like the art museum that will happen next week, but also during our time at home. I need to find my patience again. I'm not sure how to do that. Freckle has offered to help. I am grateful for her honesty. I know I can do this. I know I can find my way back to me. Yes, having LK gone is hard but I need to build my daughter up in the process, not tear her down.

I know that this bloggy community is so supportive, but telling me that it isn't that bad just isn't true. It is that bad. I even asked Princess about it and she told me that it is half and half. Half is good and half is bad. It killed me to hear that, even though I know it to be true. I am not striving for perfection. I just want to be the mom that I used to be.

Wardrobe Wednesday

I absolutely love this jacket. A friend bought this for Princess when she was about a year old. Needless to say, we had to put it away for a while. It finally fits and Princess will finally wear it because she gets that it's more about fashion than me trying to get her to wear a jacket. She so has the attitude down, doesn't she?!

Head on over to Heathen Family Revival to see what they're wearing today!

Art Museum...not

I bet you are expecting to read all about our fabulous day at the art museum, right? Well that is not going to happen today. I am sick. Curl up in a ball and sleep all day sick. Waves of nausea washing over again and again sick. It was awful.

Princess was amazing. She wanted to know how she could help me. My sweet 6 year old wanted to take care of me. I told her that the best thing she could do for me was to watch TV, play the Wii, play her computer and her DS...and let me sleep. She was awesome!

The nausea seems to have passed and I am left with achiness and I'm still tired. My sister and her fiance' are downstairs playing with Princess and making her dinner. There is one blood relative who I can count on. Through our differences, we have always been there for each other...and I am grateful.

Arty Scavenger Hunt

Princess and I are going to the Portland Art Museum tomorrow. This is Princess' first ever visit to an art museum and she is very excited. In order to create even more interest, I have designed a scavenger hunt.Within the parentheses are the names of the permanent collection sections/displays. I think this will make the visit even more fun!! Princess really likes the idea of the scavenger hunt.

• Painting with flowers of pink, blue, red and white (European)
• Man with a mustache (European)
• Woman with a black hat (American)
• The Man with the Green Eye (American)
• Naked Man (Contemporary)
• Clock (Contemporary)
• Stripes (Contemporary)
• Mask (Native American)
• Necklace (Native American)
• Something Pink (Northwest)
• Mount Hood (Northwest)
• Rocket (Photography)
• Someone wearing a colorful sunflower (Prints & Drawings)
• Woman with a bun wearing a red jacket (Prints & Drawings)
• Man with curly hair (Prints & Drawings)
• Silver cup (Silver)
• Silver tea set (Silver)
• Silver pitcher (Silver)

There is also an Eye Spy game we will try if we have time. I will close my eyes and Princess will describe one piece in detail. After she is done, I have to open my eyes and find the piece she described.

I think this promises to be a fun day for both of us!

Climbing the walls...

with a little help from a friend.

This friend is the person Princess calls sister. I don't know where she got the idea, but she believes it with every part of her being. Princess has known her "sister" since she was 8 or 9 months old. The bond and relationship they have is amazing. I guess family doesn't necessarily require blood ties.

Hoot! Hoot!

Lisa at 5 Orange Potatoes makes THE cutest little critters I have ever seen. She is a homeschool Momma with her own Etsy shop where she sells these cuties. I have been following her blog for some time now and what an awesome blog it is!! I have gotten so many ideas and learned so much from her. A while back she had a giveaway and Princess and I won!!

Check out our Hootenanny! Isn't she so cute?! She came in a fabric bag with a tag listing everything about her. Her favorite colors are pink & purple. She loves Star Wars, wants a set of drums to play music for her Hootenanny family, and loves to be a Princess. Go figure!! She is the perfect Hootenanny for our Princess! ;) Head on over to Lisa's blog and check out her Etsy shop, too! Thanks so much Lisa! Princess LOVES her little Hootenanny and has incorporated it into her imaginitive play.

Wardrobe Wednesday

Princess, the fashion diva, modeling the latest in tourist wear.

Head on over to Heathen Family Revival to see their latest fashions.

Mexico

I shot so many photographs and it is so very hard for me to choose which ones to post. I wanted to share a glimpse of all the things we did. The shots I didn't take were the best times, when we were just hanging out in the condo, being together.

The weather was perfect. Mid-seventies and low humidity. It was amazing!

We did get out and do some sightseeing.

The Aquarium at La Isla

We finally made it out to Chichen Itza. It's about a two hour drive and we went through downtown Cancun. This is outside of the tourist zone. This is only a little of what we saw. Driving down the highway, we saw people who had structures (I couldn't get photos of these) they lived in built a few yards from the highway. It was rather shocking to see. Here are a few shots of downtown Cancun.

Then there is Chichen Itza. It was amazing!!!

Old time tic-tac-toe?

This is the only structure where climbing is permitted. The steps are extremely narrow, but the perfect size for Princess' feet.

The beach! We couldn't go in the water because it hurts Princess' skin (eczema), but we had fun!!

We ate out one night. Bubba Gump...run Forrest, run!

Can you believe I even got some Shady Lady shots?!