But What About the Big Kids?

When we first started brainstorming about what to study this fall, Katherine and I both acknowledged that the best of the best happens when we plan both horizontally (across the curriculum) and vertically (up and down the age span). Our little girls loved the flower fairies but what about the bigger children, even my teenagers? What about the boys? Could this work for everyone? Frankly, it had to work. If I can't do it with everyone, at least a little, I end up abandoning it.

So, we've planned for Serendipity with an eye towards including everyone. In every week's plans, there is a list of books for the older children. As time goes on (we're doing this in real time) I expect we'll add even more, particularly as the children themselves spark ideas. For my teenagers, I've begun to work with MacBeth's Opinion, making some book substitutions and additions as I go. I also enjoyed a very nice conversation with Regina Doman last week and my oldest student, Christian, is reviewing her modern day fairy tale trilogy.  At first, the question was raised by my big boys especially, "Why read fairy tales now?"

The answer was because they are part of our cultural heritage the same way that myths are. My boys are huge C. S. Lewis and Tolkein fans.  C. S. Lewis commands their utmost respect as a storyteller and a man of God. In the dedication of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, Lewis tells the world how important he thinks a fairy story is for his own dear godchild:

To Lucy Barfield:

My dear Lucy, I wrote this story for you, but when I began it I had not realized that girls grow quicker than books. As a result you are already too old for fairy tales, and by the time it is printed and bound you will  be older still. But some day you will be old enough to start reading fairy tales again. You can then take it down from some upper shelf, dust it, and tell me what you think of it. I shall probably be too deaf to hear, and too old to understand a word you say, but I shall still be

Your affectionate Godfather,

C.S. Lewis"

- Dedication in The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe

"K" is for Sweetie Pie

I know that last week was "D" week, so this should be "E" week. At Funschool it's "F" week . And at Serendipity, we went all the way back to "A" week and then we sent you plans for "B" week. But here, it's really still Birthday Week. And we're way tired of cake. Inspired by Sophie's beautiful "A"pple Pie, we made Karoline a birthday version for our sweetie pie.I didn't have a deep dish pie pan, so that daisy cake pan was pressed into service again. Something about daisies amidst this week's roses seems just perfect to me:-) Katie and Nicky cut out "KarolineRose" to go around the edges.

The children painted their faces like animals in honor of St. Francis' feast. Then, there was cream to whip.

We had one happy sweetie pie!

Happy Birthday, Karoline Rose...

Karoline was born a year ago today. And even now, after spending every moment of every day with her for 365 days, I can't get over the miracle of her. I can't begin to express who she is and what she means to me. Her life has been chronicled on this blog. We gave her big brother a big camera for his birthday just days before she was born. He re-paid us with pictures more beautiful than we could have ever imagined. And she inspired words as well as pictures, though I've never been quite satisfied with a single post about Karoline. She evades my expression. I tried to put together a slide show. But my technical advisor has left the house to get an education and a phone call for help just frustrated us both. So, please enjoy the Baby Archives and say a little prayer for Karoline on her very first birthday. I'm off to smile through my tears.

Worth Pondering

Fantasy and the Heart of the Child by Bryan Davis
HT Melanie

Happy Birthday, Patrick!

Thirteen years ago, late on the evening of the Feast of St. Therese, I felt a familiar tugging across my tummy. Mike was in Boston. It wasn't really all that urgent, just  a tug. He took the last plane out of Boston. A train wouldn't have cut it.

Early on a Sunday morning, we made our way to the hospital. One thing was certain, we were going to miss Mass that day. Our pastor, Fr. Bob, said that when he looked out at the congregation and saw we weren't there, he knew I was in labor. So, he prayed especially for our baby during the consecration. As nearly as we can figure such things, Patrick made his entrance into the world at the same time the Eucharist was consecrated at George Mason's campus ministry on the morning of October 2, 1994.  The child, named Patrick Gabriel, was born on the Feast of the Guardian Angels. He is our herald of good things.

Patrick is a serious child young man. The family joke is that it's difficult to find a picture of Paddy to share or to take group pictures with Paddy in them. He doesn't smile. It's not that he's sad; he's just serious. As in  way, way intense. He is an extraordinarily gifted soccer player. We've tried to hide this fact from him;-) but recently we were found out. While trying to fill out a form, he was looking for his social security number. He saw pages and pages of commentary from soccer websites where he has been spotted as a phenom. Mike had tucked them away for later reading--much, much later. Patrick read them all. He smiled that day. All day long.

He's also an extraordinarily gifted student, a fact that he pays no attention to at all. It's all easy for him and he takes it very much for granted. Finally, he's a gifted leader. This is a strange phenomenon, I think because he is the third child in our family. He is captain of the soccer team. And he is captain of the kids around here, too. Christian, who is older, is happy to have Patrick lead. Christian is at the eat-sleep-grunt stage of teenaged life.

Here are some reminiscences of Patrick's childhood, dug up as we celebrate his leap to the teen years:
The Gift of Faith
Patrick on Love and Babies
Patrick and the Guardian Angels
Patrick and First Communion
Patrick the Clown