Dance,Girls! Time doesn't stand still!

In a time that doesn't seem so very long ago, our dear friend Keenan was a little girl, playing fashion diva.

Now, she's a grown up ballerina, an American at the Kirov, training in Russia. This is a rare, rare, rare occurrence. Keenan was invited there by the director himself who saw the incredible talent and the dedication that sets her apart from countless others dancers around the world.  I hear it on good authority that the Russian dancers are not all that thrilled to have an American in their midst and that, among other "annoyances," there is no washer nor dryer and she's washing all her clothes by hand. She went with a stash of blessed salt and store of rosary beads. An American Catholic in St. Petersburg. We love this brave, beautiful girl. And she's in our constant prayers.

Today, my own fashion diva loves Keenan's hand-me-downs. (Courtney, if they were vintage when Keenan wore them, what are they now? And what will they be for Karoline? Well loved.)

And today, Katie takes her very first ballet lesson ever. She's already told the world she is going to grow up to be just like Keenan. Not so fast, my love. Please. Not so fast.

Many thanks to Courtney for the Keenan pics.

Are You Ready for Some Geography?...

Tonight begins Monday Night Football, noted on my calendar for the entire season as "MNF."  Why does a middle-aged mama note Monday Night Football on her calendar? I like to keep track of my husband. He won't be on the couch with a beer and a bowl of chips. He'll be at every Monday Night Football site all season long (with the exception of San Francisco tonight--he can't bi-locate so when MNF is at two locations, he's only at one of them;-). As much as we love sports around here and as grateful as we are for this job, this is a very long haul through the fall.

Last year, as my younger children began to figure out the rhythm to Mike's travels, we started moving a Post-it note arrow around on a big wall map so that they could see where he was. But a flat map on the wall doesn't really do much for a child's imagination. They couldn't really picture him where he was working.  Kim introduced me to the idea of geography textboxes these wonderful picture books, and an idea was born.

Every week, on Monday, we spend the afternoon reading and writing about the state where Monday Night Football is being played. The books are packed with information and illustrations and pictures. There is a short rhyming verse on each page, perfect for the little ones. The older children spend more time with the book, reading the more involved columns on the page for detail.

Last year, the baby arrived four weeks into football season. I relied heavily on the idea in these free unit studies which are keyed to the books. This year, I think we are going to focus only on the information in the book during our study time. Each child is creating his or her own book. The books vary according to age and interest and I'm giving the children free reign to pull out of the alphabet books what matters most to them and then to express that in their notebooks.

On Monday evenings, we watch ESPN beginning well before the game. In all honesty, this has nothing to do with geography and everything to do with our Daddy's shows. But, the bonus to our devotion is that we see great scenic shots of the places we've just read in the books. All the way up through the pre-game show and the introduction, there are sights and sounds of the state we've studied.

Finally, as he dashes through the airport on his way home, Mike collects a few postcards from each state to add to the book. All the books we will use for Monday Night Football geography are linked on the sidebar. Maybe you'd like to travel with us this fall!

What she said...

You don't need a perfect world to teach well. You need a perfectstrategy. You need a strategy that does not involve manipulating events that are largely out of your control. Each year I have discerned "what" we need to accomplish. We make checklists to help us stay on track and cover the necessary ground.  The "when" of it varies but it always happens and surprisingly well.  Real life and real learning are unnerving to those who are wedded to absolute control. With faith and a fun loving attitude you can roll with the punches and thrive. It just requires a bit of thinking outside the box. : )

Read the rest here.

Faithful Over Little Things

I'm back to posting over at the daily notes blog. I actually have a plan up there this morning instead of just the jottings of what we did. I've had a little too much fun with Google Calendar in the wee hours of the morning lately. We'll see how long this lasts;-). Stop in over there, say hey, and let me know what your planning tools  are this year.

Baking Bread

This is for Jen:

I made this every other day for years, using a Bosch mixer. And yes, it was way too much of a good thing. I am now very allergic to wheat flour. But it is wonderful bread and a very reliable recipe.
Daily Bread

4 cups  water -- 110 degrees
2 tablespoons  yeast -- SAF instant is best
about 9 cups  whole wheat flour, more or less (I sometimes use a
multi-grain
blend)  I grind my own flour from Golden 86 wheat
½ cup  vital gluten
½ cup  olive oil
½ cup  honey
2 teaspoons  sea salt

In a large mixing bowl (I use a Bosch) place warm water, SAF yeast,
honey, oil, gluten,  and 5 cups flour.
[If you are soaking overnight, just add water flour, honey and oil to
the bowl.  Be prepared to use a little less flour than otherwise in the
morning. You have to play with this. Then add the yeast and gluten in the
morning and proceed.]
Stir to mix well, then cover and let sponge one or two hours, more time
makes the bread sour and sort of rancid and not in a good way.  The
shortest sponge time is about fifteen minutes.  I've done this in a pinch.  Any
shorter, and the yeast won't be developed enough.
Stir to punch down; add salt. (I tend to forget the salt-without salt
your bread will over-rise.  Salt checks the yeast. So, put the salt bottle on top of the covered bread while it's sponging, that way you won't forget.) Mix to blend; add 2 cups
flour and turn mixer on low. Add flour by 1/2 cupfuls until dough
cleans the sides of the bowl and is no longer sticky. Knead on low speed 6-8 minutes.  The
flour  amount is approximate; use only enough flour to cause the dough to
pull away from the sides of the mixer bowl. Do not add more flour.  The dough
should be a little sticky and you should require oiled hands to work with it.

Let dough rise in covered Bosch bowl about 30 minutes until doubled. Turn
machine on to punch down, let rise again in the bowl, then remove from bowl to
oiled counter, divide into four pieces.
Form loaves and place in greased and floured loaf pans (the smaller
ones, not the real big ones).
Let rise in warm oven (turned off) until 1 1/2" above the rim of the
pans.

With loaves still in oven, turn oven on and bake at 350 degrees for
about 30minutes.

Remove from oven and cover with clean towel to soften crust, if desired.