Elena 
This content uses referral links. Read our disclosure policy for more info.
Outside my window…
I am thinking…
about out homeschool last week. Izzy was up with Mr. Pete working a convention selling her jewelry and so I was home doing school with just Rosie. This was a glimpse into what homeschooling will be for us after this year.
— Elena LaVictoire (@mrsL) February 5, 2017
Of course- we also had little Miss C. with us. She comes mid day and stays until 6:30 or so. She is 3 years old now, very smart, but also very stubborn when she wants to be. And she won’t take a nap if she isn’t sleepy!!! But I think I have that figured out. On Tuesday we went to the Dog Park and let the dog play. We did a lot of walking in the cold and Miss C. came home and took a great nap! On Thursday we went to the grocery store, the library and then on the hiking path down by the river and she took another great nap! (and truth be told, so did I!) Friday, we went to church for the Feast of St. Blaise so that we could get our throats blessed after mass. From where I have to park my big van, it’s a long hike up a big hill to get into the church. Little Miss C. trudged up that hill like a soldier – and took another great nap when we got home.
So the trick is some sort of physical activity outside – and then nap time!
For homeschooling that means get all the hard stuff done in the morning before she comes over, and save literature for nap time.
I am thankful…
to have the chance to spend so much time with my granddaughter. Some of my friends don’t even get to see their grandchildren and I not only see her, but have a chance to teach her a little bit!
I am also thankful for my best friend T, and my daughters. Last week was T’s birthday and we talked for two hours on the phone! We always pickup where we left off and it was a great conversation.
The next day I talked to my daughters about how lucky I was to have a friend like that and how lonely I had been at times since moving to Ohio 30 some years ago. Of course I have friends and associates but the deep friendships from my youth and early adulthood are unique and unreplicable, and I have missed that.
So I shared that with my daughters and both girls put their hands on my arm, as if they had practiced synchronizing this move, and Rosie said, “Mom, we’re your best friends now too!” Well, I guess in a lot of ways they are. They are the friends I grew from scratch!
I am pondering…
liberal youth – and by youth I probably mean 40 and below. Which is a little shocking because I have friends, children, nieces and nephews in that age category. But I have no idea why those that lean left think the way they do. I know why I was liberal when I was younger, but I don’t think it’s the same today. I don’t think being liberal means the same things it meant then either.
One such young relative wrote:
Yes, it’s a stupid unfair double standard; the white nationalists have no comparable need to keep their fringe from shooting up a mosque. Yes, the most prominent targets of the antifa are as close as you can get to being literal Nazis with friends in power, and it feels gross to let them march around unmolested.
We still need to do it, because every day that goes by *without* an antifa killing a cop is a terrible day for Trump’s popular support.
This is actually one of those times I could have written “WTF?” on this person’s Facebook page – except I know it would be removed AND I got a pre-emptive instant message asking me not to.
But on second thought, if that’s what a sampling of liberal youth think of “Trump supporters” maybe they don’t have as much insight into the conservative right as they think they do either.
I am hearing…
Tinnitus in my head and quiet in the house.
In the kitchen…
As I’m typing this, we are getting ready for Super Bowl Sunday – which means a bunch of snack foods full of gluten that Mr. Pete and the kids enjoy.
I will probably stick with day-old chili – which always tastes better the second day for some reason anyway.
I am wearing…
One of my goddaughters is expecting her first baby and she extolled the comforts of maternity pants a few weeks ago! Well, these are a pair of my maternity pants. They are probably close to 20 years old, but they are comfortable and warm, and if I wear a long top over them you can’t even tell they are maternity pants.
I am going…
- to walk or work out every day with Pfilates
- add some additional novenas next year with the help of PrayMoreNovenas.com
- to cut my carbs via the Wheat Belly Total Health: The Ultimate Grain-Free Health and Weight-Loss Life Plan
recommendations.
- More flute practice to keep in shape and get ready for Lent.
- Prepare for my Logic Class. This week we are studying the Slipper Slope, Equivocations and Loaded Questions!
We’ve been watching “The Best of ” I Love Lucy on Amazon. The Pony Dance from “Lucy Meets the Queen” is just delightful and the girls and I thoroughly enjoy it! Even Miss C. asks for it when she comes over. We played it for her last week and turns out, she knows some of the choreography AND she can do the pony steps absolutely in time to the music!
Here’s a fun fact – one of the dancers met her husband through her part in this episode!
Good book, but really, really strong liberal bias.
I am teaching the class for co-op next semester.
From the Learning Rooms…
Maryrose:
Prairie Primer – Social Studies – studying the grass fire, fire starters and fire safety!
Saxon Math Grade 6
Exploring Creation with Botany
Drama – at co-op A Flintlock in this year’s production of Peter Pan!
Last week, Rosie made two peg saints – She updated her St. Blaise and gave him a Bishop’s miter. She also did a Saint Brigid – patron of milkmaids!
Isadora: Senior year!
Parish Choir St. Sebastians
Saturday Soccer League
A quote to share…
In front of the red-flickering smoke a wheel of fire came rolling swiftly, setting fire to the grass as it came. Another and another, another, came rolling fast before the wind. The first one was whirling across the fire-break.
With water-pail and mop, Ma ran to meet it. She struck it with the with mop and beat it out black on the ground. SHe ran to meet the next one, but more andmore were coming.
On the Banks of Plum Creek
Laura Ingalls Wilder
I am always struck by the bravery of this young mother, meeting a raging prairie fire with only a mop and a water pail!
A picture to share…
St. Brigid is the patronness of milkmaids and dairy farmers! We found this cute little cow button in a bag of farm animal buttons, and knew it would be perfect for St. Brigid’s peg saint.
I hope the convention went well for your daughter and her jewelry! Have a great week!
The Prairie Primer is a great curriculum! I used part of it for my daughters when they were younger. Enjoyed watching "The Pony Dance." You can't go wrong with I Love Lucy. Great show!