Sage Parenting in the 21st Century

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

2013: Condensed Version

(Photos are placed in no certain order, as moving pictures around on Blogger

will make you want to chew your arm off - maybe both of them.)

January 2013

Tooth fairy put in overtime this year

Happy 7th birthday!

Making wishes

My Mom made me drink from this hose as a photo op, which seems ridiculous.
I never do this in real life.

Mom is in Public Health, yet still let me drink from this unsanitary hose.

The Carnival Comes to Town

Carnival Magic

Our backyard garden harvest

Slacklining at Lake Michigan

Making friends at Pendleton Farm butterfly house

Chunking pumpkins

Finding the "One"

Merida says, "This is what a feminist looks like."

Anna honors her Sailor Papa at a Veteran's Day school assembly.

Fall Tradition - Bury the child and see if they find their way back home.

Anna contemplates her future plans to eat one of these fellows.
Kaw Valley Farm Tour 2013

Strawberry Fields Christmas Tree Farm

Now let's go home and put together our artificial tree!

Brrrrrr!

Wonderstruck

And….we're back to summertime!

Against my better judgement, I let our child play with fire.
Thankfully, resulting burns were superficial.

Picking grapes at Davenport Orchards winery.

Anna saves a sea star.

Mother's Beach at Kennebunk, Maine

Our family vacation at Bluebrier House, Kennebunk ME

Whaaa??? Back to snow? This is so confusing.

Unfortunately, these baby bunnies Anna has found will probably play
"Peter Rabbit" to my "Mr. McGregor" this summer.

Time of Wonder

Skipping stones

I love that I smell like pie. Perhaps that is my superpower.

Anna got a playset for her birthday.

Spring ballet recital - Anna was an ice skater

The play's the thing!

Anna makes stuff at the local art festival.

Kite flying at the lake

Collins Park Parade on July 4th

Anna gets her own library card

Kayaking the Kennebunk river with Dad

Potion making is Anna's new hobby.
Mermade Juse is sure to be a hit.

First day of 2nd Grade

New wall deal in Anna's bedroom. This sums her up perfectly.

Huff-n-Puff hot air balloon rally - The Glow

Halo Amok puppet installation - Beyond cool @ OKCMOA

Anna and Dad biking the Katy Trail

Anna finds her first ever geocache on the Katy Trail.

More geocaching at home

Anna in the role of Chinese Attendant for Nutcracker performance

Well, that's the year in review. We're on to new adventures. Happy New Year!

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

I will not start yet another blog entry apologizing for the lapse of time since my last post or using the same old tired line about how time flies so fast with children. Nope. Not...gonna...do it. Let's pretend you just heard from me last week. Maybe I'll fill you in on the past six months, or maybe not. Let's just see how it goes, shall we?

Birds of a feather - Anna and Summer on New Year's Eve

A little over a week ago, Alex was painting Anna's room a lovely shade of lilac (such a good Daddy), and I ran to the basement to get something...I forget what (not unusual for me). As I walked past the glass door that leads out onto the patio, something caught my eye. For an instant, I thought it looked like a disembodied cat's head. Eww. Upon closer inspection, I realized it was an owl! Right there, just a few feet away from me but totally unaware of my presence. (For perspective, these pots in the picture below are huge - I plant tomatoes in them.) So, to paint the scene for you, it was a windy day. A really, cold and windy day. Miserable. And windy. I was hoping against hope that this little guy was taking refuge from the north winds and not sick or wounded from flying into the side of the house, which has happened before with smaller fowl. He never opened his eyes, but when a gust of wind would swirl around, you could see him get a little taller, as he was bracing his puff of a body to hold steady. I'd never seen an owl this close before, so I knew Anna had never seen one either. His facial markings looked almost cat-like. My friend, Beth, who knows about these things told me from the pictures it looked like a screech owl. Upon my own investigation and extensive research (aka Google images) I concurred. We kept checking on him throughout the day, and with the exception of a couple of "presents" he left us, he barely moved for hours. Then, after dark, I went down to check on him once more. It was so dark, I couldn't even see out those few feet so I turned on the patio light and he was thankfully gone with no signs of carnage. Disappointingly, he did not leave any owl puke for us to dissect. (Yep, I'm totally serious about that.)

We really love our life in the 'burbs and the enjoyment of nature that it has brought. I love knowing that this is the stuff that will weave the web of Anna's childhood memories. Butterflies, hummingbirds, frogs, wild turkey, deer, fireflies, the humming of cicadas...

And this owl.

And the coolness factor? Don't even get me started!

Sunday, October 21, 2012

Are You My Mummy?

Today we brought history to life. Actually the lesson was about death, and how the ancient Egyptians cared for their dead, but it was a very hands-on experiment in mummification.

We chose a doll that could be sacrificed - of course, that would be Barbie. We needed a good reference guide that was written at the correct level for a 1st grader to comprehend. Magic Tree House has Fact Finder guides that are wonderful for this purpose. We spent the night before reading the book and setting the stage for our experiment.

Assemble your supplies - coffee optional

We began by removing all of the organs but the heart. We discussed the organs in the body and how the Egyptians didn't realize what purpose the brain serves so they threw that out too. They believed that in the afterlife the heart would be weighed and would show if the person had led a good life.

Anna drew a heart on her Barbie to represent the one organ remaining.
No surprise, Barbie is brainless -- I mean, her brain would have been removed.

Then we washed the body in wine. I'm pretty certain that the ancient Egyptians didn't use a Riesling, but that's what I had on hand. Then they rubbed the body with oil and spices. We used olive oil and cinnamon, nutmeg, and whatever else was on hand. Then the body was rubbed with salt and left on a slightly inclined table for about 40 days.

While we waited "40 days" we passed the time by making amulets (out of fun foam). The amulets would be woven into the bandages to bring luck and protection to the person during their journey into the afterlife.

Amulets and the death mask

After the body was wrapped, it was customary for a death mask to be placed on the mummy so the person's ka and ba (their soul) would recognize their body.

Next project -- shoe box sarcophagus.

Kaw Valley Farm Tour 2012

This year we froze our pumpkins off during the Kaw Valley Farm Tour. Reaching a balmy 50-some degrees out, it was certainly the coldest year for this event we've had yet. But a tradition is a tradition, so we bundled up, pulled up our boot straps, and went out to have fun whether we liked it or not.

Cregut Clan

Each year we forget the name of at least one farm we visited the year before and spend a good long time looking at the map and trying to figure it out. Since they are all clustered in the same region, and participating farms can (and often do) change from year to year, the map is pretty useless in this respect. We finally figured out that one of the farms that the kids enjoyed the past two years was definitely NOT listed on the tour this year. However, we did make a stop at another great pumpkin patch (off the list, but nearby) and Iwig Dairy, which is the farm that we buy all of our milk from. They have a small stand-alone store in town, so we don't have to drive out to the farm every time we need a refill. So this stop was a treat.

Pendleton Farm