Nothing to Do

It's great to have a day with no schedule, appointments, classes, errands. We almost had one of those today. We had to buy milk and stuff to make daddy's leg feel better, drop Grandma Darla off at the train station, pick up a chess book...but besides that we were free. I was required by Elan to see how far I could make it on the Kirby's Dreamland game without using all my lives (level 2, but I wasn't really trying my hardest-I swear). Then I had to play Soul Caliber with Jordan who promptly beat me 3 rounds in a row. We moved onto chess, where mommy once again got schooled by Jordan. I lost and then he showed me the "rook roller". Just you wait Mr. Jordan, I will beat you again at chess someday! Then I endeavored to play chess with Elan-luckily he quit, before he could also beat me, and ran off to play chess with the computer. He knows pretty much how all the pieces move. Soon the new favorite hobby will be "let's go beat mom at chess!" Elan and I played marbles today. Our marbles turned into armies of Davids and Goliaths. We started using a new book for our naptime story- "The Napping House" by Audrey and Don Wood. We thoroughly enjoyed laughing at the silly characters all waking up. Such a fulfilling day!

Natural Learning

Yesterday we spent the morning at the beach. Jordan and Elan played on the boogie board. It was great to see Jordan's confidence growing each time he took the board out. Elan just looked the part of surfer with his long curling hair :) They spent a long time building waterways, dams, waterfalls and a huge hole. Luke collected ladybugs and grasshoppers. He covered a sand castle with sticks and seaweed. Grandma Darla found a cool black beetle. We made him a little cave in the side of the hill and watched as he dug himself in further. We came home and the big boys watched their cartoons (video games seem to be getting the cold shoulder this week) while I tried to clean up. Elan was more than I could handle while we waited for Jordan to be done with tai jutsu class. I don't know if it was the heat, or maybe hunger. I'll have to bring food and a bottle of cold water next time. Luke apparently cried for 45 minutes last night while I was in class. Daddy was a little frustrated when I got home.
It's a thrill as a parent to feel like you have found a way to raise your children that respects their uniqueness, lets them stay children longer and will let them follow their dreams and aspirations, instead of a pre-set path determined by a random adult in an office who has never met them. And when you sometimes doubt your choices, it's great to see an article by a psychologist which supports your beliefs.
http://blogs.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/200901/minimally-invasive-education-lessons-india

Hands in the earth

We have started our garden this year. After a whole year of no planting, it's such a wonderful site to see the ground full of tomatoes, onions, peppers, beans and other sprouting beauties. Grandpa and grandma helped us get started while they were out here visiting. Luke loves helping me water the seedlings as we plant them and is very careful already to not step on any of the plants. There is a baby tomato on one of the plants so whenever we head out to the garden, he goes up to it and says "hi baby". Jordan hasn't shown much interest in the garden yet but I think as his cucumbers and tomatoes grow for his favorite greek salad, he will be excited. Elan likes to help with any sort of digging. We are almost out of space in our garden and I don't feel done planting yet so we might be digging another plot this weekend! It's so good to have dirt under my nails again!