Yarn Along



Today we had our first day of classes at the homeschool resource center about thirty minutes away from our house.  It was exhausting but good.  John Paul is taking gym, art, sign language and a rotating unit study (this quarter is on magnets).  Michael is taking gym, art, and a rotating unit study (this quarter on the five senses).  It's always strange for me seeing them go off and begin to navigate the world a little bit without me right there.  (I was right there.  I was in the same building and helped them switch classes.  But still weird for me.  That whole thing about motherhood being like having your heart walking around outside your body is truth.)  I hung out with David and Luke while the other two were in class and I kept the littles occupied.  David kept insisting that he, too, had to go to class.  Thankfully, he wasn't too disappointed that his time was spent playing in the nursery area and on the playground and eating snacks with Mama.   That child would be happy if he could just snack all day long.  (That is actually the plan on how we will handle the upcoming plane and crazy long car trips.  Just keep feeding.)

Oh, and the knitting...yes the knitting!  That's what this post is about!  I actually got a few moments of time during the classes to restart a little hat for my newest niece who will be showing her beautiful face sometime in October.  (Yes, I already know her face is beautiful.  And I already know she will have big smooshable cheeks just like her older siblings.)  I had it half done but my tension was all off and it was looking wavy so I pulled it out and started over.  I'm doing yet another of Ginny's newborn lace hats using a light pink super wash wool I ordered from Knitpicks way back before I knew whether the Lukenator was boy or girl.  I'm hoping to do something a bit more for this little bambina coming up but until I can figure out what, this will keep my hands busy.  I really need to get a knitting plan before the big trip coming up.  It would just be so unfortunate to not have a great project in hand to work on while we're gone!  I did try to get yarn at the yarn store yesterday but she didn't have the colors I was looking for so I'll have to check the other shop.  Someday I'll have to tell you about the awesomely eccentric lady from the yarn store.  She's great.  And she had a ball with all four of my boys while I perused yarn.  They were enchanted by her pet parrot that she keeps in the store.  His name is Gomez.  

Anyhoo, a friend lent me this book A Little Way of Homeschooling by Suzie Andres.  I've only gotten through the first chapter but I'm intrigued.  It is an anthology of different Catholic homeschoolers who take more of an unschooling approach.  I never in a million years would have thought me to be an unschooler but I do have a bit of a crazy unschooling streak in me (despite my super strong scheduling tendencies).  I like how intuitive it is.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to gleaning some wisdom from this book no matter what the educational label I put on for the day.

I just picked up three books ordered from the library and I am excited to finally have some good reading waiting for me.  AND I finished Kristin Lavransdatter a few weeks ago!  It was wonderful and worth the rave reviews from so many people.  I'm so grateful for the friend who sent it to me because I'm not sure I would've ever have gotten through it with the old edition library copy.  I even got to meet up with some girlfriends last week and talk about it!  How awesome is that?  It was such a gift to be able to discuss with other women about such a moving and edifying book.  And we didn't get interrupted once.  It was incredible.

So that's what I'm knitting and reading...check out more over at Ginny's!




4 comments

  1. I've been wanting to read that book "a little way of homeschooling" - keep us posted on how it goes! Also is that second book you are talking about a great read? Seems like it, but I could maybe only get it from the library... Worth it?
    Miss u Mary!

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    1. Kristin Lavransdatter is a great read. It's actually a trilogy but the book I had had all three of the books in one. The newer translation is MUCH easier to read and they might have it at your library. Ours only had the older translation which is difficult to read for my little mind :) It was published in the 1920's by a Catholic convert Sigrid Undset and won the Nobel prize. You do have to push your way through the first few chapters but then I had a hard time putting it down. Definitely worth it!

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  2. I really enjoyed that unschooling book. Have you read project-based homeschooling by Lori Pickert? Amazing book and the great thing is that it meshes well with any methodology. You don't even have to be a homeschoolers to be a project learning family. It would blend well with your "scheduling tendencies.". I'm intrigued by that trilogy book.

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    1. I haven't read that one! I'm really liking this unschooling book, though. The husband and I have been having some very good conversations about it all and I feel really hopeful. If anything, it is very freeing from the burden that some of us homeschooling moms tend to place on ourselves!

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