Wordless Wednesday

This will never be me... After working for about 10 years in retail book selling biz; I hate Black Friday. In fact, I rather dislike the next four weeks of long lines and meaningless sales. I usually try to be done with my holiday shopping before Thanksgiving but this year I'm not even close to starting. So, I too will brave the long lines, wait in parking lots filled with insane shoppers, and try to enjoy the holiday spirit but I will wait till tomorrow.

By Mac

Eli the black Cat


The Cat looked outside.

The leaves fell in a heavy tide.

His eyes would flutter from side to side.

You would think he was the smartest of cats.

Indeed he is quite wiser than rats.

At night he wonders the halls.

His meows resound through the walls as loud calls.

He is Eli the black Cat.



He gently purrs in your lap.

A few hours later he’s taking a nice nap.

He eats with great grace and poise.

If only that were the same for all boys.

He is Eli the black Cat.



He rubs his head against your face.

Then he goes for a race.

He will watch TV with you at night.

Then he’ll go for a bite.

He is Eli the black Cat.

Wordless Wednesday

It will be 24 years this Friday. I can't remember a time when this man was not a part of me, my life, my other half. I long for at least another 24 more.

A poem by Mac

Fast it goes one, two, three
Soon it will end like a fallen tree
I look at the world and I see
And yet, I don't
Life is as precious as the golden lore
If only I had enjoyed it a little more

Joyful Noise.. the other kid's turn

It was Mac's turn for her fall recital. I could only fit a small part of the night's music... so here is a piece. For just eight weeks of practice, they did a great job.

We had yet another fall field trip treat this morning. We went to see the Atlanta Opera and former conductor Yoel Levi host the Houston Grand Opera's production of Hansel and Gretel. This production featured puppets in the style of Japanese bunraku; the witch was more than 12 feet tall. It was so cool how they made the singers look so small as the scale of the puppets and backdrop were huge. The girls loved at the end as all the gingerbread people turned into live kids and sang so beautifully. Hopefully this is a trend for this city to host and share more of the arts. After living here for almost 30 years, I am ready for more world-class events.

Annie

What a great day. Fi had her first recorder recital and she did great. I posted some video below, she's in the back row to the right. It was hard to shoot because the room was packed. I loved to see this in the homeschool community. So often when I go to one of our classes that is mixed with kids from both public and private schools, many of the parents don't show. I just can't imagine not supporting these little people as they grow. Anyway, later on we saw a number of fellow homeschoolers in a local production of Annie. One of Mac's buddies is in the play, it was her first and she did a marvelous job! The musical was performed by area kids in grades 5-12. I was blown-away at the incredible job they did, much better in fact than many adult productions I've seen of late.

Joyful Noise

Touch the Earth with Native Peoples

The girls and I got a real treat today, to go back in time if just for bit, to learn from Native Americans about their history and culture. The group is called Touch the Earth with Native Peoples. They travel all over the U.S. educating children about the first Americans. The group shared traditional dances from a number of tribes throughout the U.S., demonstrations on falconry, hunting, the use of animals (horse and buffalo), storytelling, as well as listening to the languages of the Lakota, Comanche, Cherokee, and Creek. It was a pleasure to share, what for me has been a life long attraction to the cultures of the native peoples of the Americas. We are lucky to have some quiet reminders that we live in a once rich Cherokee nation. That the river near my home was the life line for this amazing tribe. I hope to continue to provide opportunities for the girls to learn more about this nation's rich past and of the people who walked the very ground we now call our home.
Here is a link to their page if you are interested.

http://www.nativepeople.org/

Touch the Earth

Then and now..

I can't believe it will be 12 years in just a couple months.

A day at Zoo Atlanta

A spooky night...

Now what to do with all that candy!

This past August we marked the 6th anniversary of Fi's dx with Type-1 Diabetes. November will mark Fi's fourth year on the pump. She was so excited to receive her band new royal blue Cozmo pump. It's amazing how much this little gadget has become a part of her. It not only keeps her alive but give her a sense of control over her life in a small way, which none of us without Type-1 could ever understand.

Today was our last silver jewelry class. The girls and I learned a bunch over these last eight weeks. This is something I really want to learn more of and just maybe jewelry and metal design is in my future. Today's project was a small snake ring. We played with fire, got to hammer, and of course the best... we can wear what we made. Many thanks to Ms. Victoria for a great class. If you are interested in seeing her amazing creations, here's her web site. http://www.victorialansford.com/filigreed.html

Oh Mr. Depp... can't wait!

Well, we finished week seven of our jewelry class today. In the past two months we have played with fire (melting and fusing silver and copper into pendants, beads, bracelets and necklaces). We have twisted wire to make crazy creations that are as fun to wear as they were to make. Our last project will be to make rings and Mac can't wait to see how we will do that. I'll be sure to post pix of our last class. Next week will also be Mac's last Improv class. It has been a very busy month with more to come as we prepare for Mac's concert in Nov, her Red Door play in December and Fi's recorder recital in Nov. I think we are all looking forward to some time off during the Holidays.

Have I the strength to teach my daughters to be as brave as this women is. To face death for freedom, for liberty, for a chance at what could be.. should be?

Athena’s mother was Metis the goddess of prudence, the first wife of Zeus, who he depended upon greatly for advice. Before Athena was born Zeus was warned by mother earth that if Metis bore him a son, this son would overthrown as he had done to his father, and so on. Zeus thought, “This must not happen, I must stop it!” So he came upon the plan to swallow Metis. One day he slyly proposed to play a game of changing shapes and forms. Forgetting her prudence she agreed and began to change shape, after shape. When she came to be a fly he swallowed her whole. Metis then sat inside his head to give him advice from there. Now it just happened that Metis was going to have a daughter, so she sat within Zeus’s head, making a helmet and a beautiful robe for her daughter. Now the helmet took some loud hammering so before Zeus knew it he was having excruciating headaches, crying out in agony and anger. All the gods came to him asking what was wrong with his head, and skilled Hephaestus finally came with his tools and split open his fathers head, and out sprang Athena, wearing the great robe and helmet, her grey eyes flashing. Great roars of thunder came and the gods stood in utter awe.

Retold by Mac

Yet another Bard morning!

Continuing our on-going field trip extravaganza, we went to the Shakespeare Tavern this morning for their educator's open house. The kids got a behind the scenes tour of the Tavern; their props, costumes, green rooms, and more. The tour also included mini classes on acting, sword-play and physical combat. A merry time was had by all! Best part was that we won tickets for our families to take in one of the upcoming shows this season. Mac is lobbing heavily to attend camp there in the future - we will see.

A bit of the Bard on a Weds Morning

While waiting at Georgia Shakespeare to see Richard III, my oldest did what she loves and the youngest, as always, hunted for bugs - ladybugs.

A trip back in time

This week's field trip was to the Michael C. Carlos Museum at Emory University, to see the Cradle of Christianity. The Carlos Museum is one of only three U.S. venues to host this exhibition, which traces the shared roots of Jewish and Christian beliefs and practices through biblical archaeology.

Organized by The Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Cradle of Christianity explores the concurrent histories of early Christian and Jewish life through some of the most significant biblical artifacts ever found, including a section of the Temple Scroll, a major Dead Sea Scroll. Other highlights include the burial ossuary of Caiaphas the High Priest—who, according to the New Testament, delivered Jesus to the Romans, and an inscription bearing the name of Pontius Pilate. These artifacts represent the only surviving physical testimonies of these two prominent figures. Cradle of Christianity features a full-scale reconstruction of the chancel of a Byzantine-era church and other remains of excavated synagogues, churches, and religious sites, such as capitals, mosaics, and marble furnishings, dedicatory inscriptions, and liturgical objects.

It was very cool to see artifacts from the time in which we are studying this year. After our tour we were invited to hear a few stories from storyteller Jim Weiss. The girls have grown-up listening to his stories which range from the Old Testament to Shakespeare. This was a real treat to see him in person. And as always we roamed through the permanent collection, which ranges from Mesoamerican, Egyptian, African, and Greco-Roman. All-in-all a very full day.

A silver pendent

Week four of our silver jewelry class and with each week the projects just keep getting better. The girls learned how to fuse small silver balls and stems on to a pendent. The balls are made with tiny bits of scrap silver melted with a torch till they form balls. Then both are fused to the disk using "spit" good old saliva as solder. I can't wait to see what we will do next week!