A Mother's Journal » Book Reviews

Faces and Books

Lynn — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:58:25 +0000

I am surrounded by loveliness. Really, it’s true. I have so much to be thankful for. Cleaning out as much as I did and moving to a fresh new apartment was like getting a new slate in school. There are not as many distractions here. When I moved, I purposed to leave behind or get rid of things that did not make me happy. Then, once here, I have culled box after box of things that I just really do not need. Even with my crafting stuff, I am trying to focus on what I love most and throw out things that I have to give too much thought to. Things that waste my time. Things that I don’t really have a known use for but that I was once afraid to throw away.

I suppose the enormity of my current situation brings little things into focus at lightning speed. Really what value does an old postcard have? What value does a shabby chic bowl or a lace curtain have? Oh, they have their rightful places, but relationships (and peace in those relationships) are the most important things. And I am finding that the material things that mean the most to me are things attached to people.

Boy howdy do I love having a blog and being able to ramble endlessly on and on! So, continuing…

I was looking through photos and photo albums today and bravely throwing away duplicates that at one time I just felt like could not be tossed out. What if I needed one? What if someone wanted one?

Uh, what if I am overwhelmed with STUFF?

In my looking, though, I came across my album of antique photos collected over the years.

These, I cannot toss. I cannot sell. I cannot not love.

I used to look at faces differently. I took them completely at face value. What about that for a redundant saying? Or a pun? Or whatever! But I did! I thought that whatever was on the face reflected what was inside, but now I know that’s sometimes not true.

A smile can cover up tears. Tears can be false. Anger hides hurt. And so it goes.

Anyway, I love to just look at these faces and ponder over what they went thorugh. I think of the times they lived in and wonder what part of history we read about that they were shaped by, or helped to shape!

These old photos are more than just pictures to me. They are people.

Books? Oh my have I gotten rid of boxes and boxes full. But I’m not getting rid of all. I have a special shelf just for our Five In A Row books. Those books are attached to some of the sweetest memories I have with my children.

I also have rediscovered my love of reading for sheer pleasure and even now I am reading a novel, chapter by chapter, late at night after the kids are in bed. Makes me feel like I’m in college again! My joints don’t necessarily agree, but that’s okay! I think I know who’s boss around here, and it ain’t my knees. Yet.

Recently I was sent some books by a dear reader and these books are so precious. They, too, are books that I cannot part with. They are attached to a person. To a kindness. To a time in life when, really, a dreadful lot hangs in the balance. I know I’ll never look back on this time and take it lightly.

I had never heard of these books! Have you? What a treasure! John and Michaela and I huddled together on my bed and read them. We read parts out loud. We read quietly. It was a sweet time. These books are simple yet rich, and the photographs of the author’s dolls are amazingly sweet! There are simple lessons in the books. Does it suprise anyone that the characters in the books listen to nature? Ah, my kin. (Anyway, thank you for the books. Proper card on the way to you.)

As far as the author of the book, you can see Tracy Gallup’s website for more info about her talent!

There have been many, many other kindnesses done as well. This morning was spent writing out thank you cards and quietly thinking on things.

Still waiting on time to work a work, wondering how this all will turn out.

I better head to bed. It’s been a long work day, and there have been terrible storms today, not far from here. Loss of life, even.

Enjoy each day.

Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms?

Lynn — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 14:01:27 +0000

My dear readers, I missed you yesterday. I had planned on posting about a number of things, including our music show and a recent co-op, and hopefully I will get that caught up soon. I also wanted to list my personal-goal 10 items (which are ready to list) in my Etsy shop, but alas I recieved a book in the mail and I have been lost in it ever since. I want to share it here, because I think every single person with autoimmune thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s disease) should read it without delay.

For me personally, it is affirming. It is comforting. It is ammunition.

I have studied herbs on my own, and for a short while under a well known herbalitst. My occuption has been typing medical notes for over 20 years. In my “first life” I trained as a respiratory theraptist. I have always been in tune to what my body is telling me.

I knew, and had known for awhile that something was wrong with me. You already know the whole long story of the Hashimoto’s diagnosis, so I won’t repeat it, but after dozens of doctor visits, being told it was my age, being told it was premenopause, being prescribed Ativan, being put on an antidepressant, finally, a doctor checked my TSH. It was 43. You’ll know that that is high. I was in a pit that had been getting deeper–with no one offering any help–for over a year. I would not dig out of it quickly. Actually, one of the doctors who had overlooked my symptoms for so long even had the courage to tell me that.

In a nutshell, this book:

explains WHY so many people (mostly women) get diagnosed (many of them after years of suffering, like in my case), then are immediately put on thyroid replacement, often not even offered to be checked for antibodies (my doctor did not offer–I had to ask), and then after feeling better for a little while start feeling horrible again.

WHY? Because Hashimoto’s is an autoimmune disease. When you have it, your body is systematically destroying your precious thyroid gland, a little at a time. Whatever caused your body to turn on your thyroid is still going on. Whether it’s gluten, stress, infection, chemical exposure, your body is sending out antibodies that are including your thyroid in the battle to make you better. Only, you’re getting worse.

That year that I was getting sicker, I could tell that sometimes something I ingested would make me better or make me much worse. Only the result was not instantaneous, so I would have a hard time pinpointing. Was it the dandelion infusion I had made. Was it the ashwaghanda I had taken? Was it the extra vitamin D? And after getting off of coffee several years ago, why was I craving coffee and actually feeling better from drinking it? It is in this book. Oh my goodness, I feel so validated and like something can make me better. Even if what’s left of my thyroid is too far gone to work, I can stop the autoimmune process or at least slow it down!

When a person develops an autoimmune response to one tissue, it’s not uncommon for her to develop autoimmune attacks against others. Daris Kharrazian , DHSc, DC, MS

That’s what I’m talking about. That’s what I know. This book even touches on type 1 diabetes, autoimmune joint and nerve conditions, and more. Vitamin D deficiency plays a huge role, maybe in all of these things, and what I was prescribed after my diagnosis is nowhere near what I should be taking. This bookstalks about herbs and trace minerals that a person needs. It explains the two mechanisms by which the immune system goes haywire, helping me to understand why the caffeine in the coffee was making me feel better. It explains why I had seasons of getting better a few years ago when I was doing my herbal apprenticeship and taking in certain plants, but then how I got worse when consuming other plants.

Fortunately there are practitioners close to me who have been trained by Datis Kharrazian. I am so excited! I plan to visit one.

I have already started anew with my gluten-free and dairy-free lifestyle. I had let that slip a bit, but:

I advise my patients with Hashimoto’s to give up gluten completely if they wish to preserve their thyroid gland. Eating just a little bit is not okay, since even a small amount will cause irreversible thyroid tissue death.

So there you have it: My so-far review of the book.

More FUN things to come later.

PS — I am not done with this book. Expect another review. Also, I am not recommending coffee and neither does the book. It just explains why the caffeine might make certain people feel better.

PPS – In reading back over this, it sounds that I might be anti-doctor. I am not. It’s just that we have not been that successful in treating auto-immune conditions in this country, as many doctors will tell you and as this book says. It was not until I went outside of the mainstream conventional system that I found any help as far as supplements, herbs, ordering of additional lab tests, food help, etc. I still love my family doctor and I still see her and tell her everything that I find out “on the outside.”

New Tools For School

Lynn — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 17:41:37 +0000

How I love finding something exciting for school! You know how we struggle in math around here. It’s not that we cannot do math. It’s just that we tend to be artsy and spontaneous and math seems like a big scary monster that one must approach with black robes and thick glasses and a very serious demeanor. We hide from it. Put it off. Worry about it. Wonder about the magic of math that seems hidden behind a veil that we can’t seem to get through.

I sat on the floor in Barnes and Noble over the weekend, looking at math workbooks. I’d pick one up, look through it, read a bit and not feel very happy about it. Over and over again. I knew that when the right book was in my hand, I’d just know.

It turned out to be Challenge Math by Edward Zaccaro. (You can search for the book at Barnes and Noble — my affiliate link, in case you’re interested.)

We are still doing our Saxon 7/6, but I wanted math to feel more familiar, more fun. This book is the type of book that you can read, much of it with little side notes and a couple of little cartoony figures that talk to each other throughout the book. The book tells you something, then asks you a challenging question, and then tells you how to get to the answer.

We read the first few pages together, Michaela and I, yesterday, and we learned about how math changed astronomy. How trigonometry was used to calculate the distance from the earth to the sun. It made trigonometry not seem so scary.

Anyway, it’s just one of the tools we’ll be using to make math a better subject this year. This book feels Charlotte Mason-y to me in that we are talking so much about math and talking about how to use it in real life to solve problems.

By the way, the box you see is Michaela’s portable sort-of desk, made from a sturdy grape box picked up free at Sam’s, with another sturdy little box hot-glued inside that holds pencils and a large eraser and a pencil sharpener. Fun!

The other new tool is this amazing xylophone I found at Goodwill for 20.00! It went into our little music nook right away, and it has been played almost constantly by someone in the house since it came home! It is so much fun. You know, it was one of those instruments when I was in school that you barely got to touch, but always wanted to be let loose on!

No problem. I now have my own. And mallets? So what that it came with zero mallets. We made some with tinker toys and they work great!

Enjoy this day! Look for the fun in math and in music!

The Fairy-Land of Science

admin — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:07:46 +0000

One of Michaela’s school books this year (Year 5 using Ambleside Online), is The Fairy-Land of Science by Arabella Buckley. It was first published in 1879 and I am sure you know it does not take much twisting of my arm to opt for an old book and to think that the garden is full of fairies.

The forces of science are presented as fairies in The Fairy-Land of Science. In our week 1 assignment we were introduced to a handful of Fairies. There’s fairy Cohesion who locks atoms together, fairy Gravitation who causes the raindrops to fall to earth, and other fairies and giants that you might want to read about yourself!

As Michaela’s copywork assignment for the day, I took a few lines from the first week’s reading, a few lines from a Wordsworth poem about Peter Bell:

A primrose by a river’s brim
A yellow primrose was to him,
And it was nothing more.

We discussed those lines and what they meant and I asked Michaela if she thought a flower was just a flower and nothing more. At that point we escaped outside and investigated flowers. We knew already, of course, that a flower is a world unto itself and yet an intricate part of Nature which fairy Life must certainly spend much of her time working on.

Fairy Gravitation pulled our water into the birdbaths.

Perhaps we’ll soon meet the fairy who changes the plants from green to brilliant reds and oranges and yellows every year.

Maybe there’s a fairy Oxidation.

I can’t help but wonder if there’s not one fairy alone whose job it is to create dandelion wish-makers for all the children who instinctively blow the dandelions’ seeds away and make wishes.

One of the passages I loved most from our reading was when Arabella Buckley was writing of imagination and how necessary it is to have imagination when trying to understand the forces of science.

Most children have this glorious gift, and love to picture to themselves all that is told them, and to hear the same tale over and over again till they see every bit of it as if it were real. This is why they are sure to love science if its tales are told them aright; and I, for one, hope the day may never come when we may lose that childish clearness of vision, which enables us through the temporal things which are seen, to realize those eternal truths which are unseeen.

I really had to stop and think about that. I considered when Jesus brought a little child before those around him and said that’s what we should be like — a little child. There is indeed a sweet, innocent and easy belief in all that is told them that children possess. I don’t want to lose that gift of believing what I cannot see.

There were tiny gourds in the garden and one that had broken off of the vine at this tiny stage. Michaela loved its little size.

We tested the fairies. Is a flower really only just a flower? Of course we found flowers to be homes, and food….

for all sorts of creatures.

Nearly every flower offered something of a wonder to us.

The flowers seemed to be even a place of refuge for the injured.

I feel like I’m still just getting started with Ambleside. There’s a tendency in me to push too hard and feel stressed when we do not get enough done. The reading assignments in Ambledside are plenteous and the books are full of important references and rich with vocabulary. I determine everyday to enjoy this transition. I aim for a little more each day. A little more reading, a little more narration, a little more stretching of our minds and training of our abilities to read well. That said, I want to aim with joy and good sense.

Lynn

The Recycled Box

admin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 14:17:38 +0000

On Playing

Not too long ago I spied a box by the road for recycling. A very large box. A perfect box to have fun with.

“Michaela,” I said, “Do you remember Christina Katerina and the Box? That box by the road would be perfect to play with.” We asked the neighbors if we could have it and then dragged it home.

I don’t know of many things a child loves more than a huge, recycled box to play in. A box like that is a rare treat. Even I like to go inside The Club House when I go up to Michaela’s room. (Yes, I’m allowing the box to live in her room right now. I know this sweet phase of life won’t last forever.)

Are we having fun yet?

We are indeed! Do you see that I am a member of THE CLUB? Michaela and a neighbor friend made THE CLUB sign from popsicle sticks. The box is covered in all sort of notes. There is even a key hidden in her bedroom that you must use to enter The Club House. There’s a little keyhole cut into the cardboard door.

On Children Growing Up

This past weekend was prom night for my oldest son’s girlfriend. She happens to be one of the loveliest and sweetest girls I have ever met. Did I say how gorgeous she is? She is also hard-working and smart. (Can you tell I like her?)

Anyway, I was given the okay to put a picture of them here so that you could check out how spiffy they looked. She was voted prom queen.

What I’m Reading These Days

Since Princess of the Universe will be 11 this summer, I know she’s certainly entering that transition phase from girl to young woman. She’s had plenty of years of running around screaming with her brothers and dressing in any old boys’ hand-me-downs that she could get her hands on. Yes, she’s got plenty of dresses too and she wears them frequently, but I am preparing myself for a bit of training that I know needs to take place.

I pulled Beautiful Girlhood off the shelf last night and began reading it again.

“A girl is not able “to be her own boss” until she has passed these changing years. Not till then can she look upon things with a settled gaze.”

Princess of the Universe being my fourth child, I have learned that an easy toddler can have a turbulent transition through adolescence, and a difficult toddler can grow into a dream child who never questions and never disobeys. You just cannot easily predict what will happen through “the teenage years.” That said, I’m trying to do a bit of reading about this transition for girls. She is my first girl, after all.

There are passages in the book that are good for all of us, even my boys who are nearly grown.

“Character is not given to us; we build it ourselves. Others may furnish the material, may set before us the right standards and ideals, may give us reproof and correction, may guide our actions and mold our thoughts. But we build our own character. It is we who absorb the good influence about us, adopt the ideals, reach for the standards, and make ourselves what we are.”

Nature Study

Princess of the Universe and I have been sitting on her bed this morning looking at a little bird. I was busy downstairs getting ready for the day when Michaela came tip-toeing towards me, one finger over her mouth in a shhhh stance, and whispered to me that I needed to come up and see what was sitting right outside her bedroom window. It was so sweet. It was a small, lone bird sitting quietly ourside her window. I’m not even sure what kind of bird it was, but it does give us a nature mystery to solve today.

I hope you have a bit of nature today that makes your heart sing. I hope you have time to have a cup of tea and put your feet up and think on good things. I hope you have a wonderful Monday.

Lynn

The Country Diary of an Edwardian Lady (or Nature Study Here)

admin — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 12:43:24 +0000

Ahhh, nature study, my favorite part of homeschool. Nature study is something I like to incorporate daily into our lessons. This morning I thought I would share how we do our nature study here.

First of all, my favorite example of a nature journal is this:

The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady

It’s a beautiful and exquisitely detailed book with an amazing story behind it.

It began in 1906 as a diary kept by Edith Holden, documenting her nature observations in the English countryside. Ms. Holden kept the journal to encourage her students. Tragically, Edith Holden drowned in the Thames at the age of 49. For some years, her diary was passed down through her family and was finally published after a great-niece approached Webb & Bower in 1976. The book became an immediate success, a record-breaking best seller, but then went out of print for several years. It is currently back in print, (one can only guess at how long — hopefully for good) and it’s one of my favorite books ever. I’ve had my copy for about 10 years.

Our Nature Study

Ideally we go outside (our own backyard is a fine place for this) and spread out a b lanket.

It’s nice if the weather is warm, but if it’s chilly out, a big sweater works just fine. An added benefit of using your own backyard is that it’s easy to run inside and get a quick cup of hot tea every so often, especially if it is chilly.

As I settle onto the blanket, it’s my instinct to tell Princess of the Universe to sit down right away, but the wiser part of me gives her time to run around and get some energy out. Children love the outdoors and seem to know exactly what to do in it.

“Mom, watch.”

It’s a wild and crazy game. The only part of Earth left is the stack of two wooden blocks that Princess of the Universe must land on.

I can hardly bear to watch this. What if she misses the one spot of Earth left? Will she go into outer space? Will she disappear? Maybe she will come sit down quietly on the blanket.

Thank goodness, she came to the blanket. Sigh.

What are we doing?

I’ll tell you.

Princess of the Universe and I have discussed the style of Edith Holden’s diary. To me, it almost has the look of elegant doodling on some pages.

I have always been a doodler myself. I can fill up a 9 x 12 page with doodles taking a phone number and message down during a phone call. (Did you know that a recent study showed doodlers remember more from their phone conversations?) I digress.

The Country Diary Of An Edwardian Lady is also filled with an abundance of information about nature and history. In summary, the fun layout makes it interesting to read, the beautiful illustrations make it classic, and the seriousness of the information written makes it a real teaching tool. The bottom line is that I want our nature journals to favor Edith Holden’s.

How do we do that?

At this point, I simply require that Princess of the Universe follow my lead. She writes what I write, copywork-style. Our journal pages are kept in the same fashion in which Edith Holden kept hers. The difference is that we are using information pertinent to our location and our lives and we are using colored pencils to document what we see.

Oh my. Time for another pleasant distraction. My oldest, Daniel, who is off work for the day and has been fishing shows up.

Big Joe and Princess of the Universe must gather around and see the picture of the large fish he caught and released. I sip on hot tea. And wait.

Instead of coming straight back to the blanket, Princess of the Universe goes in the opposite direction, but there is a method to her madness. She needs to show me that she can jump all the way across the blanket.

“Wait!” I say. Let me move our journals. And set my camera to “action.”

Okay, run!

I am happy to report that Princess of the Universe comes back to the blanket, but look!

Another distraction. It’s totally okay, however, because this IS the heart of nature study: observation.

I think the key to successful nature study is to just get yourself outside, relax, and enjoy what comes your way.

Princess of the Universe lets the granddaddy long legs crawl onto her hands. We look at the colors. Gray. Brown. She has a patch of darker brown on her back. We note that she’s missing a leg. We let her go.

Back to work. “Use the right colors to draw your dandelion,” I tell Princess of the Universe.

Her leaf is the right color but needs more definition, I think. I don’t say anything this time because overall she has done a fabulous job. She’s documented some valuable information and she’s done it with care and enthusiasm. (I think the Earth’s-almost-gone game helped tremendously.) Mental note to self: in a lesson soon, we will color together just a leaf, working on detail.

Patience is what wins the race.

Here are our two journals side by side. How did we decide on this information? A few questions did the trick.

What is growing in our yard this month that we did not see last month? Dandelions. Let’s draw the dandelion.
What do we know about the dandelion? It’s a food and a medicine. It has many names. Let’s write some of that down.
What about its scientific name? This is a short and sweet lesson in classification. Over time these little lessons add up to a good working knowledge of how plants and animals get their names.
What fun fact do we know about March? It’s mommy’s birthday.
What do we hear as we sit here? Birds. On some days we may try identifying birds by their sounds and drawing a bird.

What do we use as a nature journal?

For now, Princess of the Universe works in a sketch book with nice heavy paper. I have several ideas for preserving her nature journal, but I have not decided yet how we’ll do it. In the past we have used a standard black and white composition book, cutting out our drawings and gluing them in and using the lined paper underneath to write our info on. These pages we are doing now, however, are larger and fuller. I want to keep them whole and intact. For now it’s fine to just keep it all in the sketch book. It keeps things simpler. She can just pick up her sketch book and go.

I’ll be sure and post what we decide to do to permanently store her nature journal for this school year. When it comes to nature study, the point is to just do it.

Lynn

Aunt Claire’s Yellow Beehive Hair

admin — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:01:36 +0000

What a cute book this is! And what a perfect go-along for They Were Strong and Good. It is all about family “memorabilia” and the family tree from the view of a young girl.

Aunt Claire’s Yellow Beehive Hair

by Deborah Blumenthal, pictures by Mary GrandPre

“After we’re so stuffed we can’t eat any more, the grown-ups push back their chairs from the table and talk and talk about the people I see only in old pictures.”

It’s well-written. The illustrations are adorable. As part of the storyline, the little girl describes how she puts old photos together with her own descriptions to make a beautiful family book. I recommend this book!

Lynn

Fireboat

Wed, 04 Feb 2009 03:30:24 +0000

We read the sweetest book today.

It’s called Fireboat: The Heroic Adventures of the John J. Harvey. This book would be a fantastic go-along with The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge. It has a bit of trivia about New York City in the 1930s. There’s even a picture of the George Washington Bridge with the Little Red Lighthouse underneath! The book addresses what happens when once useful things go out of date. In that regard, it would also be great with Mike Mulligan and His Steam Shovel.

The book moves into modern time, the restoration of the Fireboat and its heroic work during the events of September 11th, 2001.

“The Harvey was a hero. And everyone knew it.”

This book made me cry. Of course. Princess of the Universe was not surprised about that, and I’m sure you are not either. I felt like the book introduced the events of September 11th to a young reader without making it overwhelming. It does open up the topic, however.

Lynn

Our Noble Work

Lynn — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 13:11:15 +0000

“It’s a strange thing, but somehow we expect more of girls than of boys. It is the sisters and wives and mothers, you know, Caddie, who keep the world sweet and beautiful.”

“What a rough world it would be if there were only men and boys in it, doing things in their rough way! A woman’s task is to teach them gentleness and courtesy and love and kindness. It’s a big task, too, Caddie–harder than cutting trees or building mills or damming rivers. It takes nerve and courage and patience, but good women have those things. They have them just as much as the men who build bridges and carve roads through the wilderness. A woman’s work is something fine and noble to grow up to, and it is just as important as a man’s. But no man could ever do it so well.”

Mr. Woodlawn speaking to his daughter, Caddie, from Caddie Woodlawn by Carol Ryrie Brink.

I don’t know if I’ve ever read of a woman’s calling described so beautifully. We finished Caddie Woodlawn last night, and it was such a lovely book. It’s a book packed full of life lessons, opportunity to discuss history–both good and bad, and tangents that one could follow to a full heart’s content building a fabulous unit study.

Happy Reading.

The Ant

Lynn — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 02:45:22 +0000

I’m not sure what’s up, but this fella crawled around on the wall behind my desk. All. Day.

This is a brick column in my office. It’s been painted. I know, I know. It looks like a misshapen piece of cake with boiled icing, but it’s not. It really is brick. And the paint is not so white. It’s more a linen, sort of off-white color. Maybe it’s the flash. I digress.

Yo, ant. What’s up? Are you lost? Exploring? Looking for a place to build?

I’m not sure what to do with this ant. I suppose I could scoop it up on a little piece of paper and deliver it outside, but it’s freezing out there. And after watching this little ant all day — all 8 long hours, I feel like we’ve bonded.

Yes, the little ant is still crawling around on that great (to him) expanse of white wall. Looking for something.

It made me remember a book my children all loved when they were little.

Henry’s Awful Mistake

Let’s just say that Henry sees one lone ant right before having company over and basically destroys his house trying to get rid of it. It’s a cute book. It may be the reason I let the ant crawl around while I just kept on typing.

An other, more relaxing note, I found these the other day. Very current (many November 2008), very new looking…

At 25 cents apiece. I am heading into my snuggly den now to pile on the loveseat in front of the warm heater, with a cup of hot tea, to flip through a couple of these – maybe all of them,while I think of decorating a room in the doll house.

Then it’ll be time for more Caddie Woodlawn. The fun never ends.

Lynn