What I can't show you:

1. The clean basement with the art area (where pictures are finally being painted) and the hang-out spot furnished with old furniture and a giant chalkboard on wheels.

2. The pizza party for Calvin's Cross Country team where everyone but Calvin was dressed in blue and I got a thank you kiss on the cheek from the Mexican boy and we discovered that five pizzas for eight boys is not enough, not even close.

3. The full set of braces (with blue bands) that Isabelle now sports.

4. Freddy's perfect handwriting (this is going to shock Linda) yesterday in his schoolwork. He did it because he had a gel pen. I wish that I bought that pen three months ago. He even did extra math because of it.

5. Seb receiving an award.

6. Dancing, where we side-step and spin and turn and promenade.

7. Our new grass, showing completed foundation work after almost two years.

8. Pompey's fluffy, new, winter look. I'm a bit fluffy myself due to the lack of biking since it rains every day.

And why can't I show you? Because I let my children use my camera. Now I don't have one.

My life in books

She appeared to be no more than thirty years old, but her dark hair was already streaked with gray, and her expression was weary and haggard.

My life, down to the last detail, can be found in the books that we read. Right now I'm reading a Sherlock Holmes book to Freddy. We are both enjoying it greatly. I much prefer Sherlock to Encyclopedia Brown.

Calvin's been reading Stephen King...Freddy's reading a children's version of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea...Lucy insists that she doesn't like to read, so I better not buy her books for Christmas...Isabelle is reading every single book at the library...and Seb is reading a book on how to pick up babes. Quite a collection. I'm reading Don Quixote:

In short, he so immersed himself in those romances that he spent whole days and nights over his books; and thus with little sleeping and much reading, his brains dried up to such a degree that he lost the use of his reason.

When Calvin was little, we told him that watching too much TV was bad for him. Specifically, that it would shrink his brain to the size of a pea, and that he would blow it out his nose one day in a sneeze. I'm sure that Seb came up with those details.

So, when Calvin was three, he went running out of the daycare room at the Y crying. He did it several times. Everyone thought that he missed me, but he didn't. He was afraid of the TV. The caregiver kept turning it on to placate the children.

Then there was the time that I was chatting with Auntie Rosie on the phone and relayed what she had told me about her day. It involved so much TV watching that Calvin freaked out. We had to call her right away to warn her what might happen to her brain. She heeded the warning, I'm sure.

If

Freddy: If the ground is covered with a foot of water, will we get in our car and go?

(First of all, I must explain why I didn't answer this question: My children ask if questions all day long. They graduated from why questions when they turned three and then got stuck on if. My days are a series of queries like this: If that house suddenly exploded, what would you do? If someone ran in here and cut off all your hair, what would you do? If I dropped down dead, what would you do? If I put my hand in this boiling water, what would you do? If Pompey starting killing people, what would you do? It gets old, so now I don't even bother thinking what I'd do.)

Susan: We'd do whatever Papa wanted to do.

Isabelle: What if Papa was dead?

Susan: We'd do whatever the new papa wanted to do.

Isabelle: What if there was no papa?

Susan: There will be; I'm not doing this alone.

Isabelle: What if you don't like any of them?

Susan: Then we'll have a new papa that I don't like.

Isabelle: What if they are all complete idiots?

Susan: Uhh...

Freddy: What if they are all obese?

(That is where they got me. Obese idiots will not be considered. I find it interesting that my nine year old knows the word obese. I didn't know that word when I was nine. Maybe it's in Calvin and Hobbes.)

If I had a photo of a crazy man with scissors running into my burning house being chased by my homicidal dog while Isabelle drops down dead at the same time that someone is being burned and something else is exploding and all my teeth are falling out, I'd add it to this post.

More from Halloween

It is really hard to maintain a serious face while dressed in clothing belonging to offspring. Seb wants to wear his uniform the next time he flies commercial. He's sure that someone will give him a first class seat and some treats. And maybe applaud him.

I guess that Halloween was a super-dark night because I had comments like these:

Are you guys security?

Did the cadet get some candy?

Are you from [Name of School]?

To the last one I answered, "Well, not really, because I'm a GIRL." I didn't say, "Duh!" because that would have been rude. Most of the time I just saluted and said, "YES, SIR!"

Freddy just couldn't understand why we wouldn't let him trick-or-treat with the giant French knife. Hmmm...running...in the dark...after eating sugar.

Isabelle wore my fur and Lucy's high heels. The heels are too small and hurt her feet. Such dedication.

And Ashes was a bouquet. He was entered in a contest online. I don't think that he won. Maybe next year. I don't think that we ever dressed Pompey up. We dressed up our first dog, Foufie, before we had children. She was a ballerina, Little Red Riding Hood, and a bride. I think that she was the bride the year that she ran next door with some trick-or-treaters, entered the neighbor's house, ran up onto the lap of the neighbor's mother, and tinkled.

A weekend for plumbing

Anyone want to guess what year I was born?


In the last few days, we've frolicked in the sun...
discovered a water leak...
and calculated how much it will cost us to pay for 12,000 gallons of lost water and a water heater and labor.

We've done school in the basement because the "clean" space with the hang-out area furnished with old furniture is sooooo exciting...
scrubbed windows and doors...
and pedaled.

We've dined on Mexican and Chinese...
thought about sewing up the winter jammies...
and looked (unsuccessfully) for a tiny bit of land on a big lake.

We've gone to church...
cleaned up the overflowing toilet...
and forgot about the youth group that someone is required to go to (by me) now that he goes to a boys' school and has no contact with girls.

============

And about that overflowing toilet:

I have a great, irrational fear of overflowing toilets. All my life, I've been more afraid of an overflow than of the boogey-man. It's crazy, of course. But there is a reason. When I was a girl, there was an incident. It was Christmas and we were gathered at my aunt and uncle's house. There were three of us girls who shared a bedroom at the end of the hall. It turned out that this bedroom was the low point upstairs, a very important fact.

Someone (an adult) used the potty, and then it overflowed...and flowed and flowed and flowed. It flowed right into our bedroom. We shrieked and jumped on the beds. We tried but weren't quick enough to save our Christmas presents that were all over the floor. I remember things from the potty floating by. I remember an uncle rolling up his pants and coming to our rescue, carrying each of us out to dry land.

And that is where my irrational fear comes from, although I have it all year round, not just at Christmas time.

Dictionary

In our living room is a giant, old dictionary that I bought for $.25. It gets used a lot, mainly because it's too big to go missing like our other dictionaries, thesauruses and French-English dictionaries. Freddy used it today:

Friend: P...ii...ee...
Freddy: Piece of ex-cornment.
Susan (butting in from the kitchen): Ex-CRE-ment. It means poop.
Freddy (ignoring his mother): Turds are hard.
Friend: How did you read that???

The page with turd on it has been turned to more times than any other. After Freddy found the word in there, he told all his friends, "Turd is in the dictionary."

There is nothing like discovering the wonder and beauty of this world for the first time.

Sneak-peek

A sneak-peek of Halloween '09...

Michael Jackson (aka Lucy)...Baroness Gertrude from the Sound of Music (aka Isabelle)...the surgeon (aka Freddy)...the Colonel (aka Seb)...and the military school cadet (aka Susan).

My basement is clean

Last year my four children went to school all day, three to one school and one to another school. My only job was housewifery and mothering from afar and visiting the post office. With all that free time, I kept a clean house, made lots of food, volunteered a bit, and baked for teen boys. That still left a lot of time, so I vowed to clean my basement and set up my home management notebook and prepare my food supply & 72 hour emergency packs.

All I did was clean the basement half way. In my defense, the basement was a huge, overwhelming, anger-causing, muscle-aching, gross job. It was also bad for my health, what with my allergies to dust and hard work.

That was last year. This year I have two homeschoolers and two children to drive around. I spend at least 90 minutes in the car each day. I still bake for teen boys, keep a clean house, cook, and do a tiny bit of volunteer work. But somehow I've managed to finish cleaning out the basement, do the notebook, set up the food supply and nearly finish the 72 hour packs.

I can't quite figure out why homeschooling makes me more productive, but it obviously does. I even scrubbed my washer and dryer yesterday...and shined my shoes.

But it is now the weekend and the temps are supposed to be up to 75. It's November, so no work will be done. There will be frolicking and biking and playing and that's it.

Cooking

These photos are three years old. I used to allow crazy shenanigans like cooking outside over a little fire. I even let them take all my spices outside.

Now they watch TV and play video games and tell me that they are bored. Oh, and they make messes too. Isabelle (she's on the left) now has hair that is almost to her elbows; Lucy's hair reaches her chin...I think. Freddy just looks older.

Today we made cookies for boys taking the SAT this weekend. And we are catching up on chores and cleaning and organizing. It's all going swimmingly well.

And, since all work and no play makes people dull and cranky and bitter, Sebastien and I danced the cha-cha to the BeeGees last night. I'm pretty sure that I heard him say, "You're more than a woman!"

In September

We finally built a binder. Sebastien's customers and potential customers have been making these for years at our open houses. I've wanted to make one for a long time. I actually planned to make a rudder too. Well, those plans have changed. It was terribly difficult to make the binder. I couldn't have done it without Calvin. The work that I actually did (drilling and riveting) was done very, very badly. I no longer comment when I see poor workmanship on one of our customer-built airplanes. Now I know how hard it is!

My dance partner there is now three inches taller and fifteen pounds heavier than I am. He never dances with me though. He'd probably bowl with me if I offered to pay.

Alive and kicking

I'm still alive. I'm thinking that it might be wise to hold off on the driving lessons until after hunting season. Another deer crossed the road today. This time it was behind me and it was on a highway. I don't think that a 15 yr old driver could handle deer on the road. Two dogs ran in front of me today also, two different dogs on two different streets at two different times of day. I hit neither.

Calvin is now #1 in his class and #3 in his school. And that annoying boy in his science class has disappeared, so Calvin thinks that he got booted. Private school is so different from public school around here.

Today my doctor told me to stop eating gluten again. And today my cookie dough scoop, my doughnut pans, and my pizzelle maker arrived. Oh, the cruel irony.

Show and tell

Bruce and Freddy in front of their toad obstacle course:

Many a toad was put through the course. Poor things. It was up for weeks in the summer and is now dismantled. I think that I heard some little toad cheers when the last bricks were carried away.

Sunday morning conversations at our house:

Freddy: Papa, let's make something!
Seb: Like what?
Freddy: I don't know...a guillotine?

==============

Seb: Calvin, is your room clean?
Calvin: It's pretty clean.
Seb: I don't care about pretty! I want clean!

And that last line is the secret to my happy marriage.

My speech

Isabelle and Seb, preparing to take over kitchen duties:

Week two of Teaching Calvin to Drive began on Friday. It's been months since week one. Week one ended after four days because I couldn't take it anymore. I've used the last three months to get my affairs in order and increase the insurance coverage on our car.

After the experience on Saturday morning with the car, the big, brick wall, and the accelerator instead of the brake, I feel the need to go ahead and make my farewells:

Please don't be sad when I'm dead and gone. I've had a good life, and I'll be going to a good place. Don't blame Calvin. He did his best. Do what you can to help Sebastien find a new wife. If he has to do this gig on his own, he'll go insane. Find him someone who is the opposite of me, for variety. Love, Susan.

Costumes

Freddy's going to be a doctor. He specializes in amputations. Isabelle doesn't know what she's going to be. Lucy has the scary Michael Jackson costume. And Seb and I have smashing, unique costumes. Any guesses?

The end of the week

Lucy needs cash, but I don't think that she'd go to these lengths:

It's Friday, and I'm happy. I haven't been happy all week. I'm happy today because I finally got to ride my bike after almost two weeks of rain and sickness and busyness that kept me either in my bed, in my kitchen, or in my car. However, I picked the windiest day in history to ride. I was giving it my all and barely moving.

Today we are skipping the retirement party for our favorite postal worker (when you visit the PO every day, you soon find favorites) and the Halloween party. I'm making cookies for cadets while Freddy begs someone to play Clue with him.

This week the carpets were steam cleaned. The dog was scrubbed and fluffed. Soup and quiche and bread and bean enchiladas and fajitas were made. School was finished. Awards were accepted. Dances were learned. Wine was handed out. Birthday cake was eaten. A Halloween costume was made. A stuffed ostrich's coat was made. Toothbrushes were cleaned. Kitchen tools were ordered.

This weekend there are plans to run a final race, make some cinnamon rolls, Trick-or-Treat, and ride the bike as much as possible. If Freddy has his way, we will make a cake, play Clue, buy cap guns, take everything apart, watch Alien, and eat candy.

Pittsburgh: the city

We flew into Pittsburgh on a Friday. Then we visited the IKEA store. It was my first visit. I got bored after about ten minutes. Seb bought a chocolate bar and ate the whole thing.

We called a cousin who lived nearby. I knew that my bro and his family were staying at her house. No one answered on land line or cell. We heard an excuse of a broken phone later, but we aren't buying it. We might look like naive country bumpkins, but we are really quite savvy.

At our hotel, I took a good, long nap to shake off the sick feelings that I was having. Seb had some quality time with the TV and some green bottles. Later on we planted ourselves downstairs for the free food and drinks and greeted our extended family as they arrived from Indiana, Illinois and Missouri. Then we dined on Italian food, sang Happy Birthday to Michael, and went to bed.

On Saturday there was a bride and a groom, a church service, a party, a good meal, and some chocolate cake. There was also some failed match-making, but that won't stop me from trying again.

On Sunday, we brunched with family and a dog and then went to the city:

That's a smelter, right? It's really big.

The city on the other side of the river. The photos that Seb took on the riverfront (down low) all make the city look fake. It's very weird.

We wanted to go on that boat for a ride, but couldn't figure out how to get there.

We went up the hill on an old incline. I remember doing this when I was young. I'm glad that I lost my fear of heights. My sis and her mate would never survive Pittsburgh with their his (bridges) and hers (tunnels) fears.

After the riverfront and hilltop gallavanting, we drove all around in the city itself, and back and forth over bridges. We walked through an interesting neighborhood with a name that I can't remember...but I know it's rather naughty-sounding.

This was our second trip to Pittsburgh together. Next year (if we make it to the last Pittsburgh wedding) will be our first in the summer.

Pittsburgh: the people

We went to Pittsburgh to attend a family wedding. My young cousin got married. Do we have photos of the bride and groom? No. Any photos from the day of the wedding or the day before when we all gathered together and feasted? No. We have photos from the airport, photos of Pittsburgh, and the following photos from our bonus day in Pittsburgh. We were supposed to be home on Monday, but we hung with some familiy instead. We don't get to see them often, so it was wonderful to have the opportunity.

We were waiting outside the conservatory for Hannah to get freshened up. She's 1, so it took a little while.

From the left:

Eric. He's married to my cousin Becki. Becki was on diaper duty. If Eric looks familiar, it's because he's been seen on this blog before, teaching ballet in Kentucky.

Seb. He's a dreamboat.

My sis-in-law Monika, with her twin boys on either side of her. She's married to my eldest bro Bill, who is 44 and still in school.

Jason. He'll be married to my cousin Sara next year. He's very devoted, unless the vomit story is all hype. He's an ER doc.

Bill, my brother with Krista, his youngest.

It was really sunny that day. My aunt was kind enough to lend me a sweater so that I had something fresh to wear. We were also provided with a bed in a quiet room that didn't have annoying neighbors on the other side of the wall getting energetic in the middle of the night. And we were fed seaweed and cookies. It was a great bed and breakfast. I highly recommend it.

Moni with Andreas on the left and Kyle on the right. Kyle had a broken wrist. I bet that you can all guess how he broke it.

Krista in the sunshine. Krista is six and she called me last night, but I was out partying again. She just had a birthday party, so maybe we'll talk parties when she calls back.

Update

In the last week...

Calvin was sick. Many of his schoolmates were sick. We delivered popsicles and juice to the school more than once. Which is probably how I ended up sick, but it wasn't bad. Lucy and I also delivered snack bags for the boys taking the ACT.

Before Calvin got sick, he ran a race. He did well, but not as well as he usually does. Lucy worked a Halloween party dressed as Michael Jackson. I hope that she didn't scare anyone. She also got a great report card, the best we've seen.

I put on my high heels and purple fake fur and Seb and I went out partying. It was fun. I was the only one wearing purple. It made it easy to get my coat at the end of the evening.

Sebastien and I went dancing. We are continuing on with our lessons because he really wants to. He tells me that I suck the fun out of dancing class, but he's just stuck with me.

We are preparing the entertainment and decorations for a big party tomorrow. Seb will give a speech; I'll frolic.

Our busy October is almost over. I'm not sure if we'll survive living with Freddy. It's getting more challenging each day.

Terd

Homeschooling is getting old. This is Freddy's English today:

THE GREAT TURD hunt

The great turd hunt was today. the contestants ran off nakid and Lookt for the terd. they didint finde it intill Steve found it in his but. tey had a Big Party for Steve. after the Party Steve drove off. A deer walkt Across the road and got smshd by Steves car. Then a skunc walkt into the rode. Steve fartid on him. he dide. Steve drove home. THE END

He did a great job finding all the nouns, but I see a few areas where he needs a little extra help (both academic and mental/emotional). I'm going to need a little extra help to survive these two homeschoolers.

Finally: The emergency landing in Pittsburgh

The first photo was taken early on Friday morning in St Louis. I was really sick that morning, but several good naps took care of that.

The next three photos were taken in the Pittsburgh airport. It's a nice airport. There is plenty to do if you have to spend many hours there. I even got to hang out with football players and old guys.

The last photo was taken after we landed emergency-style. The runways were lined with fire trucks. Not a good photo, but it is all we have.





This is what happened:

We were late getting on our airplane in Pittsburgh because the lady at the bookstore was lonely and wanting to tell me all about the book I bought (My Life in France by Julia Child). It was annoying. We were two of the last to get on.

We were flying US Airways in an Embraer 145, a small jet with three seats across, one flight attendant, and a very smelly bathroom. We were returning to St Louis after attending a delightful family wedding with our delightful family. (We left our children at home because they are not so delightful right now.)

We took off and ascended to about 15,000 feet. There was a very thick layer of clouds and at the same time that we came through them to clear sky, there was an odd noise. It wasn't a scary noise, and the flight was smooth...but we both heard a distinctive noise.

Soon after that, the pilot did a sharp U-turn. Seb and I both knew that something was amiss, that we were turning off course. After the U-turn, the flight attendant came over the PA to say that we were returning to Pittsburgh for an emergency landing, that we would be on the ground in five minutes, that we would have to assume the position and stay in it until we were told otherwise. She went over the position and the exits and reminded us to stow our stuff properly.

By then we could tell that there was a problem with the cabin pressure. I felt the physical effects of a lack of oxygen. We were also descending very rapidly, which I could feel in my ears and sinuses. The oxygen bags did not fall down from overhead.

While we were going down, Seb had a very good view of the flight attendant and she was freaking out. She didn't handle her job of relaying information well. We found out the next day that she was sure that she was going to die.

I stowed my bag, tightly closed up so that nothing would fall out when we crashed, and put on my jacket to protect my arms from flames. And I tightened my seat belt. Then Seb and I had an argument about taking photos. I wanted him to take a photo of everyone behind us in the emergency position, but he refused. It would have made a good blog photo.

It was a pointless argument, because when we landed we didn't assume the position. The flight attendant either forgot to tell us to or the order had been changed. She never explained. I don't think that she wants to be a flight attendant anymore.

When we landed, the runways were cleared of other planes and all the firetrucks were out. One escorted us to a gate after we made a perfectly normal landing.

I wasn't scared at all. Not one bit. The airplane felt normal and I was sitting next to a pilot who didn't appear to be scared at all. It is possible that he was hiding his fear to appear strong and brave, but I don't think so. There was also an extra pilot on the plane, in the rear, who never left his seat. That was reassuring.

After we disembarked, someone made the comment that all the passengers held it together really well. That was true. The young man across from us was scared, but Seb reassured him. All of us were calmer than the flight attendant. One man even read his paperback on the whole descent.

I was nervous the next evening when we finally flew home, on the same airline. It was a different airplane though.

My advice after going through this: Know the emergency procedures, just in case, and don't let someone else's freak-out affect you.

We went dancing

We went dancing at Calvin's school. They have two dances each year. Next time we'll be dressed in long gowns and a tux. Seb will wear the tux.

I just love this dress. It is prettier in person. It is hard to see the bow in this photo: The two long sashes wrapped around and tied in a bow in front. It bulked me up nicely, just what a still skinny girl needs. The skirt was a little fuller in person. And those are my very first heels.

The girls joined us, but Calvin decided to stay home. The dances are for the entire family, so there were plenty of children there.

Lucy got her first pair of heels the day of the dance. I was concerned about her ability to walk in them until I remembered my great idea of buying them heels for dress-up when they were younger. Those girls have hours and hours and hours of practice walking in heels in all kinds of terrain. No problem there.

Isabelle did a lot of posing for us beforehand, but Lucy refused to be photographed by anyone but the professional. The girls were high on sugar by the time the photo below was taken.

Sebastien and I didn't do any fancy dancing. He's the leader and he just doesn't lead me into fancy dancing outside of class. Isabelle danced the Grand March with a very polite and accomplished senior officer. He's from mainland China, so his date wasn't able to make it. Seb and I danced the Grand March right behind them. The girls politely turned down all the other boys who requested dances that night.

A public service announcement

It's that time of year again. The time when the thoughts of this nation's huge deer population turn to...whatever is on the other side of the road. Please, please, please drive carefully and be on the look-out for deer. If you are careless, you might hit one, causing great suffering and traumatizing to tears the middle-aged, brown-haired lady behind you who is driving her children to school in her silver mini-van.

Bra shopping for the flat-chested

Seb and I went shopping on Saturday. I needed dressy clothes for the following: A fete at a senator's house, a semi-formal dance, and a gala dinner in honor of my award-winning husband.

I also needed some clothing for bicycling in autumn weather. And I needed some undies.

Store #1:

Susan: I need blah-blah-blah.

Clerk: What size are you?

Susan: Size? I'm no size! Isn't that obvious?

Clerk: Oh, I can help you with that!

Susan: (Confused and suspicious.) How?

Clerk: These great little inserts.

Susan: Oh, no. Nothing fake. My husband would throw them away.

Clerk: Oh. So no water bra then?

Store #2:

Susan: I need blah-blah-blah.

Clerk: What size are you?

Susan: No size! Why do you people keep asking me that? Can't you see me?

Clerk: Oh, I was that way too. But I went to the doctor and got that fixed. Best decision I ever made.

For Uncle Bill...From Calvin

I'll get to the trip to Pittsburgh and the emergency landing later. My brother in uniform requested a photo of Calvin in uniform, so here he is:




There's a goofy, unkempt guy next to him for contrast. This is Calvin's winter uniform. The summer uniform is short-sleeved and does not include a tie. There is a little jacket that goes with this, but he doesn't have to wear it yet.

Calvin went out to dinner with his English class yesterday. Their teacher took them out to reward them for all making 95% or higher on their test.

How to be a very popular day student without getting kicked out of school: Go out to dinner with some of your classmates and introduce them to girls at the restaurant. (Calvin is a little more popular today.)

See the orange thing on the floor in the living room? That is the broken pumpkin pinata from Freddy's birthday party. He had his 9th birthday party yesterday, two mths late. We went to a park, played, drank juice, ate sugar cookies, smacked the pumpkin with a golf club, ate candy, and scavenged the park for "treasure". Our wonderful emergency back-up babysitter made the cookies while Seb and I were stranded in Pittsburgh. Freddy got an Etch-a-Sketch and has been happily etching and sketching since.

Emergency

Ever heard a flight attendant with a shaky voice say this?:

We are returning to Pittsburgh. We will be making an emergency landing. You will be asked to assume the emergency landing position. You will remain in the position until you are told otherwise.

I have.

Another note

A little over a week ago, we went to a baby blessing at a church. I'm hoping that Sabra will post some photos, but until she does, you'll just have to imagine it.

I have this nice little momento from the day; it's the second in a series:

Dear Mr. and Mrs. Anonymous,

I am sorry for my naughty behavior during sacrament meeting. Mrs. Anonymous, I am sorry I was rude and disobedient to you. I hope my behavior did not detract from your experience at our church.

Sincerely, Anonymous Boy

Comments

This post is for me, because I've been called fish lips.

This post is for my homeschooling friends.

And this post is for all those people (who probably aren't going to read it anyway) who think that homeschooling is stupid.
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Calvin's been in school for a month. It's a difficult school. He just got his grades (6 As and 1 B+). I just got comments from his teachers. Here are the highlights:

Calvin is making excellent progress on the piano in Private Music. He has been working on improving his scale technique and is working on a Clementi Sonatina to perform for contest and our special piano concert. He has a great attitude and always works hard during his practice time. (Private Piano)

I was very pleased with Calvin's overall work and positive attitude in my world history class. He was also a perfect gentleman at all times. I will continue to encourage Calvin to work up to his full potential. (World History)

I am proud of Calvin for putting forth the effort necessary to do A-level work in this course. He is a bright student who will continue to make progress. (Algebra II)

Calvin did a great job for the month. Overall, he ended the month with a 97% - GREAT! I have been very pleased and impressed with Calvin's good attitude and behavior. (Biology II)

Your type of home-schooling is outstanding. Calvin is well-adjusted, respectful, and probably the smartest sophomore in school. He is doing well and being challenged much more than last year. (English II)

Calvin is doing very well in french! He usually answers before the other students and his work is always superb. Good work!! (French II)

Calvin is a strong student of mathematics. It is a pleasure to have him as a student. I expect that Calvin will not settle for B's this year. (Pre-Calculus)

Rudeness

I didn't want to homeschool yesterday. I wanted to do homemaking. I didn't want to spend the day with children. I wanted to be alone and be quiet. But I persevered and did everything that I was supposed to do, and I was rewarded with this:

Child: Your lips remind me of a fish.
Susan: Thanks a lot!
Child: They really do! Especially from the side.

On to another day...

Saturday talk

Freddy and I took a few walks today to harvest pears, cut berry branches and look for a willow tree. These were some of the questions that he asked:

If an airplane flew over and dropped a submarine into our yard, would we get to keep it?

If the people on Gilligan's Island had to get married. Who would marry whom?

What's your favorite season of Gilligan's Island?

How old is Gilligan?

If you could be anyone on Gilligan's Island, who would you be?

(Alright, he probably didn't say whom, but I like to remember it that way. And Seb chose to be Ginger, while I picked to be the Professor. Isabelle made Ginger marry Gilligan and the Professor had to marry Lovey after her rich husband divorced her. The Skipper was married to his boat. If we all dress up like Gilligan's Island folk for Halloween, do you think anyone would recognize us?)

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I spent some time driving Calvin around today, and this is what he told me:

I learned today that the students at my school actually run away. Last year it was about one a month. There is a train to Chicago that goes through the woods.

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Isabelle is learning French. This was her question today:

Is caca masculine or feminine? (masc.)

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I also heard this many, many times:

Can I have a donut?
Can I have a hotdog?
Can I have money for a soda?

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And I heard this a few times:

You're Sebastien's wife aren't you?

Biking: the beauty and the blood

We've had a few biking adventures. Starting with the beauty:

Living in the woods, we rarely see rainbows. On this evening, Seb and I went out for a ride after dinner. After we rode for a few miles, the wind picked up, the clouds rolled in and rain pelted down. It was so windy that I had to pedal with all my might to go downhill. Did you hear me? Downhill. It was tornado weather, which we haven't had a whole lot of this summer. I didn't bother to call my children to order them to the basement; based on previous experience, I knew that they'd spend 20 minutes loading up on "essentials" before they went down.

And we had our first crash. Seb was doing something fancy and his bike toppled over. He stood up, just a little shaken. He showed me his hand, where three knuckles were skinned. They weren't too bad. Then I looked down and noticed a puddle of blood on the ground. Where did that come from? I pulled up his pant leg (his pants looked just fine) and found three holes in his leg gushing blood. It was like a geyser down there.

I used my sweat rag (which he had made fun of at home) to stanch the flow. It took longer than either of us expected; after watching that blood flow, I can't believe that he survived a brain bleed.

His shoe was filled up with blood also. He got a little dizzy after seeing his lower leg covered in blood, but it didn't last. We went on with our ride. We stopped to wash off the blood and then biked 20 miles.

When we got home, a little boy grabbed the bloddy rag with the intention of using it for a Halloween costume. Yuck.

But that's not all. Last week we got stuck out in the dark. We rode down our dangerous street, talking to the animals that we passed. I find the horses particularly responsive. Anyway, Seb mooed at some cows and they rushed us. There was a barbed-wire fence between us and the animals, so I wasn't exactly afraid...but it was rather intimidating to have 700 lb animals running full-speed right at me.

By the time we turned around and headed home, our sunlight was almost gone. We hadn't been biking in the evening and had lost track of sunset time. We made it, although I think that a few drivers had a few choice words for us when they spotted us in their headlights. We now have bikelights, but have no plans to bike at night again.

On our perilous ride home, we came to the dog. The dog has always been a concern. He's a big German Shepherd with long teeth, and he runs full speed at my car while I'm driving 55 miles per hour.

We had encountered him before on one of our rides. I was in the lead, and when I came over a hill, there he was waiting for me at the bottom. He was just standing there in the street. I had the pepper spray in my pouch, but there was so much other junk in there, I couldn't find it. I did whip out an air pump with a dramatic flourish though. When I came to the dog, he ran away. I guess the bikes were so weird, that he was freaked out.

However, on the night ride he didn't run away. He stopped Seb and bit at his tires a bit. Seb said, "Nice doggy," over and over. He let me pass with a few bites at my front tire. That time I was ready with the pepper spray in hand. I've been instructed to spray and then ride away as fast as I can, ready to spray again. I've got it and I'm not afraid to use it.

Dance

How is dancing going? Everyone asks me that.

So far we've learned the following: tango, rumba, waltz, swing. We've spun and promenaded and side-stepped.

So far we've suffered the following: a back injury and two bruised, skinned ankles (his back, my ankles).

It is still really, really difficult. I'm too tired at the end of the day to learn something new. However, the man has to lead, so I can just zone out, ignore the instructions and follow. Until he kicks me again.

We have a wedding to attend in early October and a dance to attend in mid-October. I hope we're ready.

School

How is school going? Everyone asks me that.

We are on our 4th week of school. Lucy started a little before us, and Calvin started a little after. Here is how it's going:

Lucy: She's doing great in 7th grade. No problems. She's doing some extra stuff and some volunteer jobs.

Calvin: He's doing great in 10th grade. He grades are good. Even in the private school, he's right at the top in acheivement. His pre-calculus class is challenging. Two math classes are not a prob. He has homework in every class every day. He has to work much harder both in school and in sports at this school. It looks just right for him.

There is some misbehavior at his school, but the teachers and administrators actually deal with it. There are boys in his French class who are from another country and are not appreciative or respectful. That is too bad, because they are not going to get a very good education in their own country. Their parents are doing their best, but the boys are blowing it.

Calvin is running on the junior varsity instead of the varsity team right now. His school has to prove to the athletic association that they didn't poach him because of his great athletic skills. That should be obvious, but we are still waiting on the official ruling.

Isabelle: Isabelle is doing great in school. She's learning a lot. She is especially good in grammar, writing and math. I've never had a child that good in grammar before. However, she doesn't have a very good attitude. She's terribly irritable and is consistently whining and complaining. We have one good day a week.

Freddy: Freddy is doing great in school, but he has a bad attitude also. He doesn't want to do any work. He has to try to negotiate his way out of every task. It never, ever works. He's learning a lot though. So far, he hasn't visited with friends much. His school friends have declined invitations, and the one time he had a chance to have homeschooled friends over, he blew it by refusing to do science (strange because it's his favorite subject).

Susan: Susan is overworked. She gets tired and cranky. She has to take naps. She has already decided that it is necessary to pare down the workload and loosen up the schedule. It is just too much to homeschool two, drive the other two around, do a little work that pays, cook, clean, organize, do the paperwork, plan the date nights & weekend fun, take care of health, etc. She generally has a good attitude. When she speaks to Freddy harshly (his word), it is because he absolutely deserves it and not because she is tired and cranky. She hasn't forgotten to pick up a child, pay a bill or make a dinner yet. The dinners, however, are not what they used to be.

Our weekend

Yes, Napolean, we think so too.

Our weekend was interesting. Last weekend I hung out with men in tights; this weekend I watched a man in a skirt play musical instruments and sing. And I came in first, ahead of all those bikers.

Not really. They were super fast. Sebastien and I were out for a leisurely weekend ride, and, all of a sudden, were surrounded by bikers. Thousands of them came into town on a fundraising ride. They all passed me.

Our weekend: Calvin ran another race; Seb and I biked 55 miles. Freddy found an enormous bone in the woods; Seb brought home a dead, baby snapping turtle from a bike ride. We watched two really bad movies; the children watched Gilligan's Island. We ate Chinese food and Mexican food; we listened to Spanish music and Celtic music. Lucy worked at her school. We took naps. Sebastien cut wood for the winter, and I bought my very first pair of high heels. Now I practice.

The Celtic band that we listened to is headed by a woman from NE Canada. When we were getting ready to go, Sebastien was singing a strange but lively tune. It's one that I've never heard before, and I've listened to more Irish music than he. Well, the band played Seb's ridiculous song. It's a Newfie folk song about sailing and fishing. None of us thought that it was a real song, and we were proven wrong. Now that song is stuck in my head.

RANS ride

On the Friday before Labor Day, Sebastien and I drove to Kansas. Actually, he drove; I lazed and dozed. I'm used to driving on the long trips and riding was a treat.

We traveled hours and hours to bicycle in Kansas. I spent my weekend hanging out with men in tights who shave their legs, not my usual crowd.

We went to the RANS factory where our bikes were made. Sebastien had been there before, and he kept a few secrets from me...like the wind in KS and the mental instability of the bicycle designer. In the photo above, I'm in red in the back talking to one of the few female riders.

In the photo below we are starting off. Every single biker would eventually pass me except the big guy in red on the right. I don't know why he is slower than I. I couldn't figure it out, and I was too shy to ask.

This was the first time that we didn't have the weirdest bikes on the street. There were plenty much weirder ones. We rode some of them later on that day, including bicycles built for two. We'll save those for when we're old.

The crazy bike designer and I had matching red skirts on. I hope that that is not a sign that I'm a little unstable myself.

Sebastien said that he felt like part of a biker gang when we were riding through town together. There were six bikes in this little group; there were 75 in the whole pack. My grandpa in the post below was out riding along carrying his garbage or something. He was enjoying his ride too.

The ride itself ended up being my worst yet. My asthma was really bad for seven miles, and that led to some pain in my muscles that was terrible but short-lived. I won't make that mistake again. Next time I'll hang back with the homeless guy and go slow enough to breathe easily.

A write-up by the designer is here. You can see Seb and me in the top photo: He's in green; I'm in red.

Aside from the not-being-able-to-breathe and the excrutiationg leg pain, we had a great time. We were shown lovely hospitality, made new friends, and learned about some biking trails. The next trip that I have planned will take us over the Mississippi River. That is if we survive our local rides, which have been filled with blood and gore and danger the last two days. But that's another post...

Disclaimer: No one that we encountered in KS was actually crazy, not even the homeless guy. I just like to kid around. It's my only fun in life.

Weekend adventures

Our Labor Day weekend was full of biking adventures...

I even got to ride with my grandpa:

I'll post the rest later.

Biking update

Sebastien and I spent a Saturday last month biking trails. We took the MKT trail from downtown Columbia (and no one threw things at us!) to the end where it connects to the Katy Trail. We stopped there and ate bread and cheese from our morning market visit. We whipped out an Opinel and pulled a chunk of bread out of the bicycle pack, very European-like.

We saw a familiar face on the MKT:

He's the guy that I mentioned in my last post about bicycling...the one with all his belongings...the possibly available one. He has two carriers, not one. Plus the dog kennel. We still don't know if there is a dog in there.

Then we took the Katy Trail to Rocheport. It was about 35 miles, round trip. Next time we take a long trip, I'll be able to follow it with my new bike computer and know for sure. We stopped to watch a barge on the MO River.

Seb takes fancy photos. I concentrate on riding. On this trip I got a bloody wound on my knee and nearly crashed. I also left my water bottle at a pit stop. It is best if I concentrate on riding and let Seb do the photographing.

This old train bridge is in Rocheport. We also had lunch there. We had to trek to the top of the bluff. Lunch was OK, not great. There was a bad playing outside the restaurant. We were eating outside, but we couldn't see the band. We were astounded by how bad the lady singer was. She sounded like she'd been smoking for all her life. She wasn't quite in tune either. It was unpleasant to listern to her. When we left, we discovered that it was a boy singing. A boy of 12 or so. It was funny.

As we went down the bluff and rode off down the trail, we could hear the music. Because of the hills, it sounded like the music was coming from the heavens. We couldn't tell exactly what direction it was coming from. It sounded like it was coming from the sky and from all around us. Unfortunately, they weren't playing gospel tunes, so we couldn't pretend it was a heavenly host. I don't think that a heavenly host would sing suggestive rock tunes. The boy shouldn't have been singing them either.

Since school and sports practice has begun, we don't get to ride as much as we used to. I really miss it.

I'm a haggler

What's going on at our house of freaks? Well, the dog may look like he is puking up his tongue, but he is just yawning while resting in his little bed.

Isabelle may appear to be overcome by some big, hairy monster, but she's just spinning while snapping photos.

And making herself look odd. She can do anything with that face; it's rather impressive.

We had a busy week. The cadet started school. He hates marching. The rest is going fine. It looks like a perfect place for him.

Homeschooling went well, but I expect it to get better as our schedule calms down. Ballroom dancing class was terribly difficult this past week. We are the youngest couple in the class, and we are the worst. We are getting a lot of special attention, so Seb feels like we are getting our money's worth. I want to scrap the spins in the swing dance, but Seb says that we must persevere. So, we shall.

And Seb forced me to do something difficult yesterday: He made me haggle. We stopped at a garage sale on our bike ride, and I found a dresser that I wanted. It was priced at $25. Seb wouldn't let me pay full price, and he refused to do the dickering. I don't dicker, but I wanted the dresser. I finally did it, figuring that it couldn't be much harder than ballroom dancing or public speaking.

On our ride home we had this conversation:

Seb: So, how much did you get it for?

Susan: $18.

Seb: $18?? How much did you offer?

Susan: $10.

Seb: You offered $10?

Susan: Yes! That's what you told me to do!

Seb: I meant $20!

Susan: You said $10!

Seb: Well, I meant $20. I would never have offered that little. I figured you'd get it for $22.

Then he made me buy some ax heads when Calvin and I went back to get the dresser. I paid full price for those.

Finally proposed to!

It's a pretty well known fact that I have never been engaged and have never been proposed to. I have been married for nearly 18 years though.

Nineteen years ago Seb and I were driving from Ontario to Oshkosh, WI, to an airshow. We were driving a mini-van with a wimpy engine and pulling a trailer with a cute, little, red airplane on it. There was car trouble and our trip ended up taking us 22 hours. There was sheet metal in the front seat between us. It scratched my leg, and I had to put together a make-shift bandage with paper towel and duct tape. It hurt coming off.

Anyway, Sebastien didn't propose to me on that trip, but he did slap my leg and say, "So, when do you want to get married, Baby?" We were married by the end of the year. That was always the end of the story until he found the photo below online (when he was supposed to be working):

I guess that I've been proposed to after all. I must have been fiddling with my duct tape at that moment on the road.

And my dreamy husband? The one who is too busy at work to fool around with photos? He's a keeper.

Update

Well, I've been busy, busy with many things. One child started school this week. She has to be there early, so I have to be up even earlier. It is much easier than last year though. Getting one or two out the door is a breeze compared with four.

After dropping her off at school the first day, I rode my bike around town. The next two days I headed to the store to complete a mission that I gave myself a year ago: food supply.

We stayed at two houses on our trip up north (not counting my mom's little house). One house had a food supply and one didn't. The food-supplied house gave me a great sense of peace, deep down. So, now we have a food supply too. It isn't as much or as complete as our friends' supplies, but it's something. There are basics to last a long time and a pantry jammed full of all our usuals. I'm happy it's done. I was really happy to have Calvin as my cart pusher on the last day.

And Sebastien and I started dance class. We walked and side-stepped and rock-stepped and triple-stepped. We waltzed and rhumba-ed. And it was really, really difficult. We are not gifted in the dance area, but I guess that's what classes are for. Sebastien is teaching his daughters at home:

Sam and Bruce spent most of Friday with us so their mom could get a nap. She needed it. I was awakened three times on Thursday night, but she trumped me. Pompey loves visitors, and Bruce and Sam really enjoy playing with him. I can't believe that we have such a ridiculous little dog. Hours after this photo, Pompey was placed inside our stove-fireplace-insert-thingy and the fan was turned on. One of my children is now prohibited from going near him.

And someone is now a cadet:

He is in a class of fifty. His course load:

Algebra II Honors
Precalculus Honors
Biology II Honors
French II Honors
Private Piano
English II Honors
World History

The dean allowed him to double up on math, skip ahead in science, and take all the honors classes available. He will get more credit for the honors classes too. Those are all things that were not available at the old school, no matter how much I begged and pleaded. The dean also looked Calvin in the eye and told him that he expected straight As. That's something else that never happened in the old school; they are just happy when students show up.

He is also a varsity athlete this year, due to smaller teams. He is daunted by that, but we think that it will help him to improve and reach his potential. We're all about reaching our potentials here.

It is Saturday evening, so Sebastien is cooking. He just offered me fishheads for dinner. I declined, even though he insists that they are fresh. Now he's throwing out Quebecois curse words...

Oshkosh 2009: rainy day

We spent hours each day on the airshow grounds...about eight hours a day. The big boys (Calvin and his buddy) were sent off on their own with money for lunch, while Freddy and I hung out. On our first day there, it was raining. It didn't bother me one bit; I was too happy just to be there. I don't think the boys were thrilled. The big boys quickly broke their zebra print umbrella.

Freddy is standing just to the right of center with a red umbrella. He's standing under the biggest airliner in the world. I think it's the biggest airplane, but I'm not sure. The tour lines were 1.5 hours long, so Freddy and I didn't bother to go inside.

Parked under the biggest airliner, was a tiny, little airplane like this. It looks like the smallest airplane in the world, doesn't it? The pilot of the airliner (a fellow Frenchie) flew one of these tiny airplanes at Oshkosh many years ago. He did a horrible landing when he landed the biggie there, but I'm sure his landing in the wee airplane was much better.

The wee airplane looks like something a boy made out of scraps, doesn't it? It might be. It's one of Sebastien's father's designs. I'd ask the origin of the design, but Sebastien is off in dreamland right now. The airplane looked like a perfect fit for Freddy.

On our first day at the show, we spent a lot of time indoors. Freddy discovered quickly that people were giving away freebies everywhere. Tons of them. Three big bags of them to be precise. He was in heaven, grabbing everything that he could put his hands on. His favorites were the DVDs. Our favorites were the free flash drives. We came away from the Mission Aviation tent with flash drives, DVDs, candy, a New Testament, and a lovely dish made by Venezuelans. The Honda and EAA folks gave us hats. The workers in the federal building gave us everything under the sun; our tax dollars at work.