Marvelous Pigs in Satin

This week, so many things happened. It was like a month crammed into a week. Fall is definitely here, but my rose is still blooming.

I was reading a fairy tale to Banana Cream Pie for her literature class. In the fairy tale, the prince has to find a girl to marry who is the richest but also the poorest. She interrupted to ask, “how can that be? How can she be the richest and the poorest?”

I said, “Often fairy tales have riddles like that. If we keep reading, we will find out how the prince solves the riddle.” Before I could start reading again, Banana Cream Pie jumped up excitedly.

“Oh this is reminding me of something!” she said. “This is reminding me of the widow and her two coins. She paid the least, but Jesus said she also paid the most.”

I was very proud that she made such a great connection and very grateful that she shared it with me. This is what education is about.

Our folk song for the next six weeks is “She’ll be Comin’ Round the Mountain.” We learned that the root of this song was an African American Spiritual song and it is actually referring to the second coming of Jesus Christ. It was then adopted by railroad foremen, who we learned were hired primarily for their singing ability because singing is how they kept the work crews working well together. Being excited for the second coming is a relatively recent feeling for me, and singing the song with this new knowledge was very poignant. What a glorious day that will be when Christ comes in glory, six white horses pulling his chariot. We’ll all go out to meet him. All hardship will be ended, and we’ll have the best food and gifts to offer him and celebrate his coming, and

“We’ll be singin’ hallelujah when she comes”

Tuesday, I took Banana Cream Pie to the dentist because she had a tooth that was hurting. The dentist assured her that she wouldn’t need numbing shots or anything and started drilling away. However, the decay turned out to be much deeper than he thought; and after she cried out a couple of times, he had to stop, give her gas, and several numbing shots before continuing. Once she had relaxed, Banana Cream became quite chatty and conversational. As the dentist was finishing up, she said,

“That took a lot longer than I thought it would.”

“Yes,” said the dentist, “I should have asked you if it had been hurting, it was worse than I thought at the beginning.”

To our dentist, who has been fixing teeth for so many years that he was my dentist when I was a kid, Banana Cream Pie said quite matter-of-factly, “Maybe you’ll learn from this, and next time you’ll be more careful and look more closely at the beginning.”

Doctor Stidham rocked back in his stool, laughing, and I told him he was lucky to be benefiting from the kind of helpful advice I get every day from this wise eight-year-old.

For Family Home Evening, we played our traditional family Conference Jeopardy. Cherry Pie has been in charge of this game for years now. She makes up all the questions, and sets up the board. We have to take meticulous notes to do well in the game. You might ask for “Sunday Afternoon for 100, please.” and get

“This color was the tie President Nelson wore during his closing remarks.”

or “Who provided the music for this session.”

or you might be brave and ask for “Saturday Afternoon for 500” and get a really tough one like

“Elder D. Todd Christofferson provided several ways that a society can be sustainable. Name 2”

or

“This General Authority related the firey darts of the adversary to a flaming empty microwave.”

We had a great time. I had forgotten about dessert, but one of the kids suggested apples and dip, and I have this great recipe from my sister, Katie, so I whipped it up fast.

In a medium saucepan, melt 1/2 cup butter, 1 1/2 cups brown sugar, 3/4 cup light corn syrup, and 1 can (14 oz) sweetened condensed milk.

Stir constantly until mixture comes to a light boil. Remove from heat and add 1 tsp vanilla. Serve warm.

**homemade sweetened condensed milk substitute (I used regular powdered milk)

For art, we used chalk pastels to draw apples, focusing on drawing what we see and not what our brain knows an apple looks like.

We also practiced vertical strokes for brush drawing, and had time for a free drawing session.

Wednesday

This is my practice/demo of our handicraft for home school co-op. Paper sloyd teaches so much more than I ever guessed. My students are learning how to follow directions, how to measure accurately with a ruler, how to cut a straight line, how to fold a straight line, and how to tie a bow. This is only lesson 7! Who knows what practical knowledge heights we will climb with this “non-core” subject? P.S. my grandmother was so beautiful. I love her face, and even more, I love the legacy of education that she passed down.

Sad thing for this week:

Little Aztec has passed on. We gave him a good two weeks, after Blueberry Pie rescued him, but Wednesday, he ran under a vehicle in our driveway as it was backing out, and that was the end of his mortal existence. None of the kids were very upset about the accident, except the one who was driving. She had a tough couple of days. I buried the little puppy under the big cedar tree in our back yard, and even though the ground was really hard, I took the time to dig his hole big enough that he could lie comfortably, as if in a little bed. Rest in peace, Aztec.

The resident Captain talked me into doing this Couch to 10K in 13 weeks running program with him. I haven’t been walking recently because it’s dark in the mornings, and it’s harder to make myself go alone. So I agreed, and he bought me some special running shoes to correct for my over-pronating feet. I don’t enjoy running, but I like spending time with the Captain, and I like how my back hurts less when I get out and move.  The shoes are making a big difference: I haven’t rolled my ankles once.  Also, the kind of running I am doing is called “shuffle running” and it’s not much like any running I’ve ever done before.

Key Lime Pie got to dissect an owl pellet Friday. It was gross and cool and took forever. She considered the bone charts carefully and determined that our particular owl had digested a mouse and a vole, at least.

Friday morning, we had our first frost. I told myself that after school we would dig the sweet potatoes. But I had to take the van to get the tires replaced, and that took so long, I forgot about the potatoes. Saturday evening, around 8:00pm (It was after dark) I suddenly remembered.

An In-the-dark Treasure dig was announced, headlamps were handed out, and we trouped out to the garden to save the potatoes. We had planted the sweet potatoes in hills of mushroom compost, so we didn’t have to dig very much. Mostly, I pulled the vines back, and the potatoes came up. Some potatoes had grown down into the hard ground though, and we had to work harder for those. It was pretty fun, and Banana Cream Pie announced that it was Family Fun Night. Wholesome Recreational Activities? check!

Sunday Morning, I discovered that someone had thoughtfully placed T-rex to guard our treasure while we slept.

Poem of the week:

Frolic by A.E. (G.W. Russell)

The children were shouting together

And racing along the sands,

A glimmer of dancing shadows,

A dovelike flutter of hands.

The stars were shouting in heaven,

The sun was chasing the moon;

The game was the same as the children’s,

They danced to the self-same tune.

The whole of the world was merry,

One joy from the vale to the height,

Where the blue woods of twilight encircled

The lovely lawns of the light.