Lee's Elf Face

For a while this fall Lee was in all seriousness practicing her elf face.  I think she got it down.

Oliver! vs. Oliver Twist

To tie in with history, we're reading a biography of Charles Dickens.  Actually it's the second one we're reading because the girls liked the first one so much.  

So we decided to watch Oliver! again.  We'd first watched this during our musicals extravaganza last year.  It was fun to watch again within the context of what I now know about Dickens, although I didn't like the boy cast as Oliver any better than I did the first time around.  

When I was taking the DVD out of the library I happened to also notice Oliver Twist, a relatively recent film directed by Roman Polanski.  I told Clara we were going to watch that too and then compare them.  

"But Mom," she said, struggling with the concept of a movie about Oliver Twist that was not a musical.  "How do you know what's happening if they never sing?"  

The Trophy is as Big as She Is!

She won first place in her kata, against twelve other kids, some with higher belts.  What a smile!

Even better her team (consisting of her, Bridges, Miss Duval and Master Lamy) won first place, even against teams consisting entirely of black belts.  Woo hoo!

A Homeschooling Thought

As I've continued on our homeschool journey, it has gotten harder and harder to imagine my children in school.  I am not at all a hardcore homeschool parent ("schools are BAD") or an unschool parent ("planned schooling of any sort is BAD"), and yet enrollment in a school, public or private, just gets harder to imagine.

Here's a case in point.  Today, Lee and Lila were talking about vocabulary (what else do two smart kids talk about?), and Lila, who at ten years old is in fifth grade, mentioned to Lee that three of her vocabulary words this week were "wavy", "officer", and "ancient".  Really?!?  In 5th grade?  I guess my expectations are just too high.  Three of Lee's vocabulary words this week were "superfluous", "tangible", and "apprehension".  Lila's a pretty smart kid and she reads a fair amount and at a fairly high level.  How is she not bored to tears?

I still have this plan in the back of my head that our girls will stay home through middle school and then attend high school.  This is because from my own experience I imagine middle school as the worst time to be in school.  Whether this is a valid assumption or not, I do not know, but I'm sticking with it unless they scream to go to school.

But high school is something else.  I cannot imagine them still homeschooling in high school.  Maybe it's just too far away.  But it's really hard to imagine how that would work:  how I would manage it, and how they would be happy being at home at that age.  But, then again, it gets harder and harder to imagine them in high school either.

Straight on to college, I say!

Christmas Lists

Another modest list from Lee this year.  How many nine-year-olds still put candy canes and truffles on their Christmas list?   When I asked her if she didn't have enough love, she said "I can never get enough love!"

Clara, however, is another story.  Her list is 26 items long and surprisingly includes such high tech things as a phone, an iPad, a watch, and a camera.   Although, in keeping with her artsy-collector side, she also lists cool paper, an art kit, really good books, notebooks, bags, and "a box with tons of big compartments."

Inheritance

The other day Clara wanted to look at my jewelry.  Not that I have much jewelry.  When I was young my mother's jewelry box was like a treasure chest.  But, I do have a few things.

She came down a bit later, all decked out.

"Mom," she said, "I know you're going to say No if I ask if I can have this now.  So I'm wondering if maybe I could have this jewelry when you pass on?"

Ah, that's thinking ahead.

When I grow up...

Lee recently told me that when she wants to be a third-grade teacher.  I think that's actually changed now, as today she is saying she wants to be an architect.  But at the time, my reaction was "huh?"  This is a kid who never ever has wanted to go to school and has never been in third grade.  Yet somehow she thought she wanted to be a third-grade teacher.

Clara is going to have three careers.  The first is of course to be an artist.  That's been a constant.  Her next career will involve training people to do things "like sing or swim."  And the third is to be an inventor.