So Little Time, So Much To Do.

Well...the title says it all! :D This is the list I compiled while putting Gracie to bed:

The List of "If I were to have all the time and enough money to do as I pleased with my first graduated fall I would:"

• Direct and put on a play, including scenery, costumes, and that sort of thing. Preferably a musical.
• Teach an art class for the younger kids
• Run a weekly field day and teach a nature class for the younger kids
• Illustrate a whole children's book, as well as write it.
• Make a movie-costume reproduction. (i.e. Meg March's forget-me-not blue dress, Queen Victoria's rose and gold ballgown, Emma Woodhouse's red coat [2009], Lizzy Bennet's dark blue Spencer jacket, Ann Shirley's charity-ball gown, etc.)
• Design and make my own dress
• Get to the point of no return in writing Puddleby Lane. (at least 1/2-way through)
• Buy a pair of red shoes and wear them out
• Start our Sweet Alyssum Etsy Shop
• Read at least one more Dickens book
• Make a hundred-point bucket list....maybe even 101 to even it out. ;)
• Go out and paint with my field-case
• Go to the Beauty and the Beast Broadway show, Josh Groban concert, or an opera.
• Outfit a writing corner for myself....probably in the Reading Nook.

See? Dear me...I wish I wasn't so ambitious at times like this. ;) ~Rachel

Teaching Abby to Read and Learning I Speak English Wrong

I never thought that I had much of an accent. But apparently I do. And apparently it's a stumbling block for my younger siblings. ;) I never thought that my pronunciation of the "wh" part of words like "where" and "while" and "whale" was abnormal. I never thought that saying "seer-up" instead of "sur-up" was a problem. And I certainly never even noticed I said "ayg" instead of "ehg" for the innocent little word "egg". But I'm telling you it's dangerous, and catching.
Here's a peep into what I mean...

Setting: Me helping to teach Abby with her reading.

Me: Okay, what does this part say? (pointing to "en")
Abby: "in"
Me: No, no read it, don't guess.
Abby: e..e..e...n...n...EN!
Me: Right. Okay now what does this part say? (pointing to "men")
Abby: M...en....MIN!
Me: No Abby, it says M-en. Not min.
Abby: What does men mean?
Me: It's the same word. We just say it funny. Okay, now this one: (pointing to "hen")
Abby: H...en....hin!
Me: No, H-en. Not hin.
Abby: *sigh*
Me: All right. How about this one: (pointing to "Egg")
Abby: e...e...p...p..
Me: Those aren't "p's" dear, those are "g's" they say "guh"
Abby: Oh. e...gg...Egg? What's an "ehg"?
Me: *sighing too* It's an "ayg", Abby. We just say that wrong too.

Haha! :) That made me laugh a lot. :) I guess I need an English tutor! :P ~Rachel

Planning a Tea! :)

Hello! Sarah and I have been doing a literature-based unit study on the Victorian era called "Where the Brook and River Meet" available at Cadron Creek. We have had such fun doing this in-depth study on the era! I am sure I would never have grown to love Sir Walter Scott, John Greenleaf Whittier, and so many others unless I had dissected and poured over long poetry, learning to find the beauty in it! :) I'm also sure that we would never have been able to quote famous poetry, know about the men and women who wrote it, learned about such "obscure" people as Erasmus of Rotterdam and legions of Greek "great ones" unless we had gone though this study! Already, the information we have gathered has been profitable- since the Victorian Era is one of my favorites, I read a lot about it, and now I have a deeper understanding of that time-period; it is SO much fun to be watching a movie and recognize a quote, or two read in an old diary about a certain author and know about that author and his life...it's amazing! :) I'd say that my knowledge about the era has quadrupled at least...this is a super thorough study, and I highly recommend it! I mean, if an author so much as made a reference to a poem in a chapter title, we read that poem, researched the author, wrote a paper about the author, then if in the poem it mentioned something about a classic ancient Greek person, we researched them....it's really great!
But any how, as a final send-off from this study, Mama commissioned us to host a Victorian tea party for a couple of friends! :) We are so excited! We plan to make a meal with all the proper courses and dozens of eatables, then have a "parlor-party" where we will play, sing, and recite anything Victorian, before going outside to take a brisk walk or play croquet! Sarah and I had great fun designing the menu! We are going to have, among other things, Beef Wellington, French lemon tart, and we are going to make Petit-Fours!!!!!!! :D I love those things! They are so...Victorian! :) I wish we girls could get "The Society For The Suppression of Gossip" down in time to perform it for our guests! That is such a funny play! (And one that Anne Shirley and her friends performed at the school concert! :) But Sarah and I are trying to learn "Night of Stars" from "Tales of Hoffman": a truly beautiful song! (The Charlotte Church version anyway! :) Well, I have to go help with dinner so goodbye! -Rachel

In Which I Divulge The Identity of my Mortal Enemy

Well... ho-hum, bon-hommy, gathering-nuts-in-may! (This is Rachel speaking) This is Two-thousand-and-ten, and all around our circles it is lock-down time! After gallavanting for 6 weeks, having thrilling social obligations and glittering soirees, it is time to go back to everyday-ness. Which ordinarily I don't mind. But you see, I have a mortal foe who waits with open arms for my return. He lurks at every corner. I have many names for him: evil, menance, dastardly, but you all know him better as Algebra. We are thrown together daily during the school-year! Of course it is impossible not to speak to him. Mama would have my head! And I suppose he is for my own good. But his evil eyes wink at me menacingly, though Sarah insists that they are just decimal points. He grins at me from every page, knowing that it pains me to see him. Sarah reasons it away as multiplication signs. I am good friends with English, I would kiss dear old History if I could, I absolutely adore Writing, I find Latin nice to chat with. Then there is Science. He is distantly related to Algebra and when he acts like his cousin, I snub him. But ordinarily Science and I like to speak with each other. But hallelujah (and I am not being flippant, I really mean it) in a few months Algebra and I will be done, I'll dance a jig upon his ugly head, (I really will on top of my math book!) and not speak any longer till I must introduce the Menace to my own children. (Scary thought that. I'd better marry a mathmatician! ;) Yay! Huzzah! Bring out confetti and sparkling cider!
So there you have it. We are starting up school again, I am out to squelch my last few booklets of Algebra, and then revel in the knowledge that I will be onto Consumer's Math, or maybe Geometry. (Which I have been assured I will like better than her cousin: Alebra the Horrid) Sarah is best friends with little Algie. More's the pity. But More power to her. Yuck! But I know the Lord will help me through with the ferlie beast, and it isn't all that hard, only decidedly disagreeable. This inspires me with a battlesong: Ahem-ahem-ahem:





"Algebra ye are a wicked beast,
Upon my sorrows ye sit and feast,
Ye've plagued my heart till my mind is weak,
And I've scarce the strength to write this and speak.
I've been away for a fortnight times three,
Ye're ugly face I again must see.
So I'll summon my courage and tell ye true:
In just a few months ye're fun will be through!"




So there! Take that! Touche! :) Hope I didn't plague your hearts out with my dirge! But now you know what I think of mathmatics and I hope you aren't a best buddy with that most vile, hideous, scary of subjects! -Rachel