Not Back To School

Today is the first day of school for the children in our area.

Such a big day for them.

Just one more day in our lives for us.

Tomorrow we will go to the park and celebrate life without school with the Life Learners.

Today I will count my blessings, for I have two children whose lives are defined by their own lights, not an institution.

I have a family that has time for each other (working on Daddy having more time with us, too!), time to really know one another, be together, and live as we choose.

In each moment my children come to know Who They Are and I get to share in that discovery every day. I get to see all the great "AHA!" moments as they explore their world and make connections.

Our life is slow, and easy, and fun. Or fast, and intense, and exhilarating! Exactly as we choose, or need, in that moment.

Life is good. I am blessed!

Splish, Splash

I have not been blogging and I realized today why. I have not taken any pictures in over a week and it is the pictures that tend to get me sitting down at the computer to write in my blog. So, this afternoon, the girls and I were in the pool and I noticed how cool the lighting was and the colors of the water. Out came the camera. I talked with the girls a bit about how if you wanted to paint the water you would have to pay attention to the actual colors of the water. In the shot above, I was trying to capture the amazing electric blue that was there when the water splashed up. It does not quite get it. When does a camera ever capture what your eye can see?

This one of A is cool to me because of the way her face is reflected so many times in the water, all Picasso/Dali-like. A says she is acting like a mermaid coming up out of the water. Below I caught her actually doing just that:

I love the way the water ripples off of her hair and forehead. She has been freaking me and her Daddy out with the whole eyes-open-emerging-from-the-water thing! She says she looks like the mermaids in Peter Pan.

E had to get in on the action, too, so here is one of her:

She was wearing the shower cap so as not to get her hair wet. I had put it in a braid last night after bath and she wanted it to remain wavy. She is also wearing a pair of earrings her Daddy got her. The girls have been excited to get new earrings and wear them.

I have a lot to report, but I am waiting for the right time to reveal it. Here is a hint:

Answer to comment:

No, Papa, it is not about me playing golf (wishful thinking!). YOU should know what it is, I'm just messing with everyone else!

I Worry About The Children

But not in the way you imagine.

I worry that they will be judged harshly for what they do not know. Compared to school kids and seen as coming up short.

Notice I do not worry about what they do not know yet, for intelligence is measured not by what you know but by how you think. That is, except for in school. There your intelligence is judged by what you know more than how you think.

I do not worry about my children, for I know how they think. I see every day how they approach life and learn what they need, when they need it. I am assured of their intelligence by watching them conquer their goals and live life as they choose.

I have a deep respect for the way their brains amass information on their own schedules. I see how when they want to know something it comes to them very easily. There is no struggle to understand. The desire to know leads very quickly and painlessly to the information being incorporated into their body of knowledge. Only when I try to impose an external schedule (say what other five year olds in school are learning), does the process break down and the struggle begin. It is not worth the damage it does to my relationship with my children to force facts into them. It is not worth the damage to their self esteem when they are made to feel "less than" by well meaning others who tell them what they "should" know. What they should know is what they do know. No more and no less.

You could say we are focused on the journey, not the destination. We are living life fully, Now, not preparing for it, and inadequately at that.

So, when those who do not understand our goals and priorities try to judge us by their goals and priorities, I know that they will be judged harshly. And I worry that this will somehow be revealed to my children and they will suffer for it. I do not worry that, given time and greater understanding of mine and my husband's thoughts on these matters, my children will ultimately feel bad about themselves and their intelligence. But when they are young and impressionable, there is some risk to our approach. And it is my job to protect them from that danger, just as I would protect them from a speeding car or a hot stove. I see the danger, they don't. I will do what is necessary to protect them from it, until they are out of danger or old enough to understand and protect themselves.

I know how much of an enigma I am to worry where I "shouldn't" and not to worry where I "should". In the grand scheme of things, my worry is tiny and short lived compared to the worry of the masses. As soon as my children gain the wisdom to protect themselves and the small body of knowledge everyone is so worried about, my worry will evaporate. But since you can never know everything, the rest of the world will always worry if they know "enough". Too much worry for me.

I Love NY

We had a wonderful visit and so much happened I cannot possibly record it all here. But I will use the pictures to jog my memory and give you a taste. Above is my Dad and the girls on the float in the pond. The green was so intense. Usually by this time of year, things are looking dried out from all the summer heat, but they had so much rain this year everything was so lush. The first few days were cool and we had thunderstorms in the afternoon. It was such a nice change from the desert. Then it got hot and muggy. Oh well.

We saw so much wildlife and nature, the girls were in heaven! E found a feather with polka dots while up at the pond. My dad said it was some kind of woodpecker, but we never looked it up. His internet was not working and I really missed google!
Later the girls found some snails while walking up the road after dinner. We had to take them home and make habitats for them. And then the races began! Wouldn't you know it those snails actually raced neck and neck in straight lines!? It was hilarious. A named hers Dudley and E named hers Gary, of course.

The next day we were once again walking down the road after dinner and E picked up something and said, "Look! I found a rubber lizard". I looked and it was a newt! She was named Nevada, because she was the color of Red Rock, and she, too, got her own habitat. E was quite (too) fond of holding her and "playing" with her. The poor thing was in shock, I'm sure!

While at our friends we found these tiny little frogs hopping all over their field. This one is sitting on A's hand, so you can see how tiny it is. E wanted to take one home, but I said no because we could not release it back to the same place since we were not going back to our friend's house. All the better anyway, since E ended up loving one to death! She felt bad, but wanted another one. Ah. No. Too many small creatures on my conscience that day.

No big story with these next two pictures, I just like them! The girls were helping my dad water the plants on the porch using the rain water collected in an old tin basin. I thought the scene was picture perfect with the plants and E filling her bottle with the big ladle and the architectural details on the house. Don'tcha think?
And while sitting on the porch late in the evening, talking in the candlelight, I played with my camera and got this shot of A gazing at the flame. Not too shabby for no tripod. I need to learn so much more about taking pictures to get the shots I want, but I am having fun playing with it. I love the intensity of A's eyes. That's my A.

The girls were eager to ride our friend's horses, so we visited on Saturday to do that. Last year, they got to ride bareback for a short walk around the barnyard. This year the horse was saddled and C walked them all the way around the house, so it was a much longer ride. Here is A up on Cocoa. She said it was a bumpy ride. E was thrilled to be up on that big horse and asked to go around twice. I think, for A, it is about communing with the horses. E is more into the riding. Daddy even got a ride, although Cocoa was not too much into doing what C wanted him to do. He kept trying to stop and eat some grass!

They had brought along some carrots and peas for the horses, so we went in the barn to feed them all the treats. Here, E is giving Charlie a carrot. He would have eaten the whole bag, if he could have! A was hesitant to hold out her hand to feed the horses, so she put the carrots into the feed buckets. I don't blame her. Those horses have big teeth and mouths!

On Sunday, there was to be a party in the afternoon, with my brother and SIL arriving with the cousins that day as well. We wanted to get out of the way for the last minute prep, so we went to Buttermilk Falls State Park for a hike in the creek. There is a spot with all these awesome waterfalls and interestingly shaped rocks. In this picture, E is standing in a round hole in the shale bed of the stream. There was a bigger one that was perfectly round and big as a hot tub. We saw a water snake, probably a Northern Water Snake, but because we were not sure it was not a cottonmouth, we left him alone. We also found a crawfish's molted shell.

This picture of a waterfall has a hidden surprize. Can you see the waterfall spirit looking out at us? Freaked me out when I was zooming in on the shot to see if I was in focus! Too cool! Click on the picture to get the larger image if you can't find it.

We had a nice hike and then headed back to the house for the party. The girls were very excited to see their cousins! Several of our friends attended the party and it was nice to see everyone. Since my brother had just had a birthday and my other brother's girlfriend's birthday was just that week, there was a scrumptious chocolate cake decorated with these purple flowers. The girls gathered them up and decorated themselves with the flowers! Here is A and her cousin J, looking so tropical. I just love that picture.

On Monday, it was very hot so we tried to cool off with water balloons and the sprinkler. My Dad borrowed a friend's dinghy to take the kids in on the pond. The water was too icky this year to swim in the pond. Too much algae. A said they liked the float better. Too many spider webs in the boat! In the evening, we all went to watch my dad play softball. It was hot and buggy, but his team won, so it was good! Tuesday the plan was to go swimming in the lake in the afternoon when the youngest cousin woke up from his nap, but it was too hot to wait. So we skipped the nap and drove into town to go to a movie before doing the swimming thing. We saw The Any Bully. It was cute and the kids all liked it. My SIL was hoping it would get her son to stop squishing every bug that crossed his path, but to no avail. On the way out of the theater, he tried his best to step on a hopping cricket! I guess he learned that ants are people, too, but not crickets!

The lake was very refreshing and a nice way to wrap up our visit with my family. I was too busy cooling off in the water to take any pictures. After the swimming area closed we went over to the playground nearby and let the kids play on that for a while. The girls liked the spiderweb climbing thing, better than the real ones in the dinghy!
The next day, we packed up our stuff and drove to my girlfriend's house for a few days visit. She has three little boys and they live in a big old farmhouse on a wannabe farm, with chickens and a tractor. They also have a pool just like ours, so that was fun. The picture of A is from the pool at her mothers' house when we went for dinner the last night. My friend and I have known each other since we were seven and her mother was good friends with my mother. It was very nice to catch up on old times, not to mention the swimming and sliding!

Visits like this never last long enough and soon it was time to head home. All we have left are memories and a few pictures, but it will have to do until next time.

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggedy Jig

We arrived home tonight from our trip to NY. Well, E and I got here about 6pm and A and C are in the taxi on the way home from the airport as I write. We had separate flights to get us all there and back, with frequent flyer miles, and they had less luck than we did getting home on schedule.

Much fun was had on our adventures. Many thanks to all involved with making our trip so great. And much love to all back home in New York!

I will be back soon with lots of pictures and stories of the past two weeks.