Thunder snow

This week was full of fun. We started a new grammar curriculum, we dove into studying the Celts, and on Monday the boy decided to research ventriloquism. If that last study takes I suppose that in due time I can expect the dogs to begin talking to me.

On Wednesday Calvin graduated to the top swimming class, meaning that next week will be his first rec team practice lesson—a full hour of swimming the full length of the pool. It's a big change from the half hour lessons across only the width of the pool that he's had so far. The kid is excited and proud, as he should be. I'm trying to figure out the sudden change in the schedule.

On Thursday, with feet of snow still on the ground and a short warming period underway, we experienced the rare and beautiful thunder snow—flakes as thick as quarters hiding our neighbor’s house from view while lightning lit the world and thunder shook it. Snow lit by lightning is stunning. There are so many splendid things to notice about our world.

This weekend The guys started a couple of different computer projects, and Jon is in the process of setting up my old computer for Calvin's use. Yes, we've reached that point where the computer and the internet are edging their way into our learning world. I never claimed to have banished them completely, I was only holding them off at the door for a little while, and now it seems it is time to let it in.

And then this evening, while I was preparing dinner and Jon was helping Calvin discover the world of blogging (where soon you will be able to read all the book reviews that the kid writes and posts of his own accord), I noticed that the sun was still up and bright at 5:45. We all took a moment to enjoy that realization together. It is a sign the the warmer months are coming, even if ever so slowly.

My favorite creation of Calvin's this week, the dahsboard from the Nautilus. For all the crafts that we do together, it's the things he comes up with on his own and makes when we're not looking that bring me the most joy, really.

2012

The end of the year makes me both nostalgic and hopeful. I long to look back at the days that have gone by while also heaping upon myself great, or insane, goals and wishes for the coming year. So here's a look back at some of the things that we did this past year, which has served in part as a reminder of all those wonderful things, but also as a reminder to myself I get back to it, since the past month or so has been a little slack around here.

Happy new year.

January 2012: Snap Circuits, Legos, and lots and lots of books, and we were just closing up our look at human evolution and venturing into human migration and the history of civilization. Calvin started classes through our homeschooling group on Friday afternoons, and toward the end of the month we went to Disney World.

The North American International Auto Show

February 2012: I comment on the strangely warm weather in several posts, longing for snow. When it finally came, it was for only the second, and what would be the last, time all year, and there wasn't much of it, but we built a snowman. We were out of order, getting an overview of world civilizations before starting at the beginning. Calvin had an MIR, went to his first true musical, and started getting an allowance; we adopted Iris, and our blog images got bigger.

March 2012: We said goodbye to our Dachshund, Moose, with a lot of heartache. Warm weather came early, and with it a tornado that hit the neighborhood nextdoor. We went museuming. Calvin was in his first stage play, he fell in love with the My Father's Dragon trilogy and read it umpteen times, and he filled in his first journal, prompting what is probably my favorite post of the year.

April: Spring. There was fascination with the Titanic, and a museum visit to appease, but mostly history took us to ancient Egypt. There was a big Lego sorting and organizing project, and art.

May 2012: a month of travel, to Holland (Michigan) and Chicago. Plus Calvin performed in his second play (The Wizard of Oz), and we completely alterred our homeschooling approach.

June 2012: Most notably, Calvin turned six. The rest, like his mid-year recital, or learning about gravity, or taking a quick trip up north, was just icing on the cake. Oh, and we raised butterflies.

July 2012: Camping on Lake Michigan, biking around Mackinac Island, watching the fireworks in Harbor Springs; swimming at Independence Lake, hiking, biking, and playing in the sprinkler; three trips to the zoo, two to the Natural History Museum, and one to Greenfield Village; the Rolling Sculptures Auto Show and the Ann Arbor Art Fair. How were we ever this busy?

August 2012: To Niagara Falls and Stratford! Were we ever home this summer? In other news...it was hot.

September 2012: No first day of school here, just good old standard homeschooling. What? Another trip to Chicago, and football season arrived, along with some cooler, wetter weather.

October 2012: Time just flying by. Back from Chicago, headed up north; book reviews, a science experiment, a trip into history; and of cousre, Halloween, my favorite time of the year.

November 2012: An election, one final trip to the zoo for the year, and Thanksgiving.

December 2012: It wasn't that long ago, but it had Calvin in one play and watching one play, a trip to Greenfield Village for Holiday Nights, a winter piano recital, and all the usual trappings of a holiday season, even snow.

In search of fall

Dog days of summer

We're coming into the home stretch, when the long days grow shorter and the heat begins to escape us. I'm jumping the gun a little bit, but after so many hundred degree days over the past month, the weather lately feels down right fall like, with days that are merely warm, not scorching, and nights that are downright cool. Running in the mornings is enjoyable again (even as late as seven am!), so is walking the dogs in the afternoon, and the garden is finally growing.

I say all this on a day that reached a high of 94 degrees.

We have been watching the Olympics, along with much of America, I suppose, and I will jump on the band wagon with them and express my disappointment in NBC's failure to show the events as they happen. Facebook is fraught with spoilers, and my email keeps lighting up with updates from various news sources. There's no hope for magical surprises at this rate. We've been recording the nightly digest and sharing it with Calvin sans ads during dinner or the late afternoon lull. It's better without ads, but he's pretty crushed that they don't show all the medal ceremonies. He's drinking in the swimming. Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are names that slip right off our tongues these days, and they've injected him with extra enthusiasm for his own lessons. This may be our first look at something like hero worship.

We dedicate the remaining month of summer to soaking up the warm rays of the sun. To hikes, and bird watching, and fun. And ice cream.

Splash (finally)

It feels like we've waited for months to see some rain. In reality it's been more like weeks, and that's still a long time for a little boy with splashing boots and a rain coat. It was really too hot for the rain coat, but he couldn't resist the frog.