Oh yes, I forgot. End-of-Summer Item #2

Thing 1 and Thing 2 are, obviously, not hard to impress. In lieu of the new sneakers and Hannah Montana backpacks, Thing 1 and Thing 2 were thrilled to receive as back-to-school goodies: one each, Hannah Montana 3-hole-punched very groovy folder, and, one each, stretchy print book cover to camouflage the hideous black-speckled cardboard cover of the composition-notebook-masquerading-as-a-journal that we have yet to find time to write in. You know, it's the little things . . .

So, as a homeschooler, it's kinda tough coming up with fun things that mark the beginning of a new school year. Something that says, "Hey, we didn't actually die last year (of boredom, burnout, each other's company . . . ), so let's be thankful for that and try to get excited about this coming year!" I am met with blank stares.

Ok, Plan B. A little background . . . Over the summer, the Things fell in love with the movie Matilda. Sometime last spring, the Roald Dahl classic (the book) became one of the few read-alouds at the time that 1) everyone sat through (Things 2 and 3 have a tendency to roll around on the floor kicking each other, stare off into space, wander off aimlessly and/or beg for snacks), and 2) All the Things begged for more, more! each time I finished a chapter. Shortly thereafter we picked up the movie at the library. They loved it so much we finally bought it. Now, where was I . . . ?

Oh, Plan B. Right. Well, after deciding not to call our homeschool Crunchem Hall (although it's very tempting), the next best idea was to take something from the book to make our back-to-school special. Naturally, we decided on food. We came up with all sorts of dinner dishes--Wormwood spaghetti with Zinnia zucchini, chicken fingers with Miss Honey dip, Matilda meatloaf--but by far the most popular request was for Trunchbull chocolate cake. Now, I'm not going to go to all the trouble to create a multi-layer, gooey, chocolate confection extravaganza, but I will, however, whip up a Duncan Hines devil's food bundt cake. And I did make my own super-yummy, thick and gooey, from-scratch chocolate frosting. Needless to say, the cake went over really well. And, yes, once the kids were asleep, I did go back and shamelessly finish off the last piece--faster than you can say, "Bruce Bogtrotter!"

Welcome 2007-2008!

Farewell to Summer

Well, we officially said so long to summer last week when we deflated the kiddie pool and cracked open the books. I wanted the Things to have a happy transition into the new school year (when you don't go shopping for new sneakers and a Hannah Montana backpack, well, you just gotta do something!), so we did a couple of things to make the summer good-bye a little less painful.

The first item wasn't exactly fun (ok, it was our first piece of memory work), but I thought it captured, so nicely, the fond memories of our recent vacation to Lake Michigan.

At the Sea-Side

by Robert Louis Stevenson

When I was down beside the sea

A wooden spade they gave to me

To dig the sandy shore.

My holes were empty like a cup.

In every hole the sea came up,

Till it could come no more.

The spade is now plastic, but some things never change.