Autumn Hike with a Surprise

On Monday, we decided to enjoy the last bit beautiful weather to hike up the Holbrook Canyon Trail. It turned out to be very eventful... The multi-colored leaves were absolutely breath-taking and the air was crisp and fresh. The kids enjoyed seeing two large green grasshoppers and a cute little dog, but the most memorable find was definitely the tarantula. Yes, there truly was a real, live, hairy, huge tarantula was crawling along the dirt on the side of the trail. Nathan noticed it first and we all gathered around to see. It's legs were honestly as long as my fingers! I tried to take a picture with my cell phone camera, but I guess I wasn't thinking very clearly because I didn't save it correctly. Here's a picture of what it looked like, (though it doesn't quite show the size...




And here are some much cuter pictures of my kids enjoying the outdoors...

Music!!!

We've almost finished up our Music Unit! We still need to go to my brother-in-law's Junior High band classroom to see instruments, and hopefully an orchestra concert, too. The thing I have loved the most in teaching the kids about music is seeing them enjoy classical pieces and want to listen to them all the time, even if they do steal my Tchaikovsky cd. :o)

I love knowing that they appreciate the beauty and complexity of the music and get excited about picking out the sound of certain instruments. They definitely have their favorites... Bach's Fugue in D minor, Beethoven's 9th, Sousa's Stars and Stripes Forever, and of course, Grieg's the Hall of the Mountain King.

These are pictures of Nathan's Music LapBook. Brandon's is very similar.















I love this quote from Handel, said after a performance of the Messiah: "My Lord, I should be sorry if I only entertained them; I wished to make them better." This has become my motto for homeschool this year. I've made a nice copy of it and have it hanging in our school room as a reminder of why I do homeschool.





These two pages have tri-fold's from the different orchestral periods, each lists the years, some composers from that time and the typical orchestra seating chart for that period.










This page has Nate's answer to why music is an important part of our culture...
"It helps us express our feelings in a language that anyone can understand all over the world."











You may not be able to see it, but the envelope says "Brass instruments uncoiled" and has small tags attached to pieces of string that are as long as the brass instrument would be if it were uncoiled. The tuba is 16 feet long!








We had two more pages, one with four pockets, each representing one of the instrument families and containing cards with names and pictures of those instruments. We used them for lots of activities. We also learned about the different parts of the ear and how it works, as well as sound waves. Each of the kids also did a small report on their favorite composer. Nathan chose Johann Sebastian Bach and Brandon chose Ludwig Van Beethoven.

Overall, it has been a fabulous unit!

Time

It was inevitable. I knew it was coming, creeping up on me... and it got me. There was simply no way to stop it, no way around it. As the day drew closer I vacillated between childish excitement and a sorrowful fear. But no amount of avoidance or distraction could possibly prevent time from continuing onward to that fateful day... my birthday. So, I admit it: I'm another year older; physically at least, I'm thirty-one.

Surprisingly, this year was harder to face than the last. I expected thirty to be challenging, but was pleasantly surprised to feel much the same as I had for the past few years. This birthday, however, has somehow gathered up all the time from about five years ago until now and thrown in all in my lap at once! I have never before felt my age. I don't know if that's usual or not, but I always felt younger than I really was. (Perhaps because my lack of height leads others to believe I am still young?) Most likely it's simply that I was not as mentally "mature" as I could have been. Don't get me wrong, I've been a pretty responsible adult and a decent mother, but I tend to get childishly enthusiastic about fun events and holidays.

So now I find myself struggling to muster up a joyful smile as we decorate for Halloween or plan a party. A nice quiet evening with a book is more enticing than a night out. Simple, repetitious meals appeal instead of new and different recipes. I am hoping this is just a temporary rut, a challenge I can overcome with a bit of effort, as opposed to a permanent, old-person sentiment that I will carry to the grave.

I suppose it is what I make it to be. And so I put on my happy face, plan fun and joyful activities with my family, determine that I will try new things and learn new skills, arm myself with holiday cheer and enthusiasm for life's little daily blessings, and rejoice with my whole soul in all that God has given me.

I will capture youth and hold it tight, and though my body ages I will keep my mind bright and my heart strong. I will laugh and cry and love, and never really grow old.

PS - I apologize for philosophizing so dramatically and promise to make my next post light-hearted, full of fun pictures and interesting moments with the kids.