OK, this sounds weird. But I can’t divulge what we’re having for dinner tonight, because it’s part of this month’s Daring Bakers challenge and if I tell you what the challenge is they’ll probably kick me out of the group.
Tuesday: Cube steak
I have to go to a meeting for our homeschool co-op on Tuesday night, so Rockford will mostly be in charge of dinner. I’ll probably start it for him, though.
Wednesday: Grilled cheese
I will be astonished if ever Poppy chooses something without cheese in it for kids’ choice night. Rockford and I will be having grilled ham and cheese, because we’re very sophisticated and carnivorous.
Thursday: West Indian rice & beans
I check out cookbooks from the library pretty often, but I usually just flip through them and then never actually make any of the recipes. This time I decided I’d at least try one of them, and this is it!
Can you believe this is the last day of August? I cannot. We’re only 115 days away from Christmas! Unbelievable.
Anyway.
Poppy spent the latter part of this week with Rockford’s parents, so we only did schoolwork on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Pete’s schedule yesterday included:
lots of reading;
playing with cars and blocks;
watching “Madagascar 3” at the cheap theater;
and playing “Rock Band” before bed.
I think he had a pretty great day. I know I did. I’m not sure what we’re going to do today, but I think a trip to TCBY might be in our future.
In slightly more down-to-earth literary pursuits, we got to the chapter of “Anne of Green Gables” that required an explanation of what “drunk” means.
Me: “Sometimes grown-ups drink too much alcohol, and my makes their brains not work so well.”
Poppy: “Oh. Well why would they do that?”
Me: “I don’t know. It’s just a choice some grown-ups make.”
So thanks for that, Lucy Maud Montgomery.
History
This week we read about the barbarians attacking Rome. We didn’t get to any of the activities, so we might still be talking barbarians next week. Poppy did her narration work for the chapter on her blog, where she included this bit of information:
The word “vandal” now means a person who does bad things on purpose, like someone I knew who drew an X on the wall. (That was my brother.)
In “Artistic Pursuits this week, the lesson called for us to take a walk in search of things we might find inspiring. Poppy filled up almost a whole notebook with sketches of trees, flowers and butterflies, while Pete drew a mailbox, a berry and a fighting robot monster. Then we came home and talked about Marc Chagall’s “Birthday” before using their sketches to inspire a painting.
It feels odd taking a break this early in our year — Wednesday was, I believe, only our 22nd day of school — but Poppy had been yearning for some special time at Grandma’s house, and it worked out well for her to go this week. I think it was good for Pete and Poppy to have some time apart, too. They were already missing one another by yesterday afternoon.
Life is hard and I’m doing the best I can. So I just take inventory and love myself something FIERCE and then start over. Every single moment I am someone brand new.
At the further end of the field, behind the barbed wires, far away from the others, a woman was looking at me, alone, fair, all dressed in black. … In her clear eyes, one could read a mute intense despair. I put my hand through the barbed wires and she seized my arm, just like a shipwrecked person would clutch at a floating board.
In “