Nora Lee

Bat Diamond

2012-01-09T09:37:00.000-08:00

Just another day as a super hero.

Nora Lee's Bonfire Birthday

2012-01-09T09:08:00.000-08:00

I was looking for inspiration. Nora Lee's birthday comes on December 29th, right after a month of other family birthdays, Christmas and New Years. We are often pooped as are the families of Nora Lee's friends. In prior years we have invited many of the people we adore and have had rather large parties (last year we had about 60 friends over).

A few weeks before it was time to decide what to do for Nora Lee's birthday this year, I stumbled upon the video from last year of Nora Lee blowing out the candles on her cupcake. She looked totally stunned. You can even hear me asking on the video, "Are you okay?" She was overwhelmed and I realized that although it's really fun to have a big party, it's intense for it to be focused on any one of us, and especially for a little one.

So this year I was looking for an alternative. One morning Nora Lee was lamenting the winter (yeah, it's so hard here in sunny California during the winter) and asking when it would be summer again. I asked her why she was longing for summer and she said, "I miss the beach, when we can go again?" This gave me an idea. I said, "You know, we could go to the beach in the winter, we could even have a fire there!" Nora Lee went crazy for this idea and that's when we came up with the idea of a winter bonfire birthday. This time we invited a lot few people and roasted hot dogs and made s'mores. Matty and Brian played beautiful music, the kids played in the sand and it was lovely.

Cement

2011-12-29T20:28:00.000-08:00

Today at Mud Pies and Butterflies we learned about cement. The kids (and parents) got to learn how to mix cement and how to make it the right consistency to make a hand print in. We learned about why it's important to make cement rough for sidewalks so they are not slippery when wet and this evolved into a conversation about what makes a house structure sound in an earthquake. Each child got a box of wet cement with which to make a hand print and decorate with shells, stones, or beads. The photo of Nora Lee's hand print did not turn out very well, but the hand print itself did. I was particularly tickled since today is Nora Lee's 5th birthday. It seemed special to mark this day with a print of her sweet hand.

Christmas

2011-12-29T20:03:00.000-08:00

Cookies for Santa along with a painted snowflake that Nora Lee made for Santa because "Why does Santa give all the presents and never get any?"

Our tree after Santa came!

Nora Lee enjoys the contents of her stocking

Each of us received a recorder in our stockings

Holiday Park Day

2011-12-29T19:41:00.000-08:00

Last week at Mud Pies and Butterflies, which is the Thursday afternoon park day we attend, we talked about different holiday traditions. Jessica told a story about Kwanzaa and the kids acted it out. Jessica and her family made a traditional danish cookie- cake and decorated it with flags from around the world as well as religious symbols.

I love that this boy showed up to park day in this yellow mustache. You may be thinking that he wore it to perform in the play, but no, he wore it because he wanted to. It was unrelated to anything else we were doing that day. It ended up being great for playing an old man in the kwanzaa play the kids did but he didn't bring it for that reason. I absolutely love that about homeschooling. Nora Lee gets to wear her high heeled cowgirl boots constantly and if she wants to show up in her bright pink cape, no problem, we don't have any rules about that. In fact, the more outrageous, the better.

This is the fabulous Jessica. She leads this park day and always plans an interesting educational theme and project for the kids.

Recent Pics

2011-12-27T13:43:00.000-08:00

If only Hogarth liked to snuggle...

Oh Robin!

2011-12-27T11:00:00.000-08:00

A lot of transformation has been happening lately with Nora Lee. She is very interested in "growing up" and most of her imaginative play relates to getting married and having babies. It's so much so, that when I awoke her last week she groggily said to me with her eyes still closed, "Shh. My babies are coming out of my body right now." Later that same day, she acted out babies coming out from under her shirt and has been taking care of them. She has two, Pepa and Sleeping Beauty. She puts them down for naps, feeds them and takes them for strolls in our back yard to "give them fresh air and sunshine."

Nora Lee made Christmas gifts for each of her babies and put them in their stockings. This is her opening them on Christmas morning.

This is Nora Lee placing a crown on Pepa that she had made out of vines from the garden.

She has become enthralled with super heros, particularly Batman and Robin, and has been watching the 1966 Batman TV show. Immediately after seeing the show she "fell in love with Robin." She would actually sit at the dining table with her head leaning on her hand, sigh, and say, "Oh Robin! I'm so in love with you!"

She asked me to help her throw a wedding reception for her and Robin. This included her sitting at the dining table with Robin and her wedding guests and having me bring out a menu, take their orders, and then bring their food. She happily ate the entire dinner alone at the table with her wedding party. After the meal, she requested fast dance music. I turned on the 50's Pandora station and Etta James' "At Last" came on! I told her that it was perfect for her first dance. She and Robin slow danced and then went off on their honeymoon.

The other night Nora Lee was in a panic. We had deleted the two Batman and Robin shows we had recorded and she explained that when she watched on TV it was happening "in real time" and "that's how I see what Robin is doing and that he is okay." This was an emergency. We got on amazon and Nora Lee used her allowance to buy the 1966 Batman movie instantly. She began watching the movie as Matt and I wrapped Christmas gifts in our bedroom. A few minutes into the film, we heard her run to her room and then run back into the living room. She had gotten two stones from her treasure chest and was rubbing them together (I learned later that this would allow her to talk to Robin). She was saying "Robin, you're in danger come back home immediately!" Intense.

As I think back to my childhood, I think I was starting to have crushes and these intense feelings about boys around age 5. As I chat with some of my girlfriends they remember the same thing. Its unexpected to me because it feels like it came on so quickly - as if all of a sudden this switch turned on. She still doesn't have any reference point for the complexity of relationships between men and women but it's fascinating to watch deep feelings come forward in her. I'm aware of not wanting to diminish the feelings or laugh at her (even though some of the stuff is hilarious to me) because it feels very real and important to her. Fascinating.

The Robin doll Santa brought Nora Lee.

After I showed her how to spell "Batman and Robin" she remembered and spelled this herself on the fridge.

Art

2011-11-07T17:34:00.000-08:00

Nora Lee has been spending a lot of time drawing all of a sudden. As of last week she began spending hours and hours in her room listening to books on CD and drawing. The first day she listened to the entire novel of The Wizard of Oz and got about halfway through again the next day. I immediately went to the library to stock up! She is currently listening to the Little House in the Big Woods series, the Charlie Bone series, and Charlotte's Web.

Many of her pictures are of people with long dresses and lots of circles or shapes on the dress. This picture reminded Matt of a Gustav Klimt piece.

Wonder Woman

Potions

2011-11-03T10:45:00.001-07:00

Last night Nora Lee was having trouble falling asleep because she was afraid. At one point she began crying and calling for me after being positive that one of her dolls was turning its head and staring at her again and again. She told me that she asked the doll to stop and it wouldn't. She said she wanted to remove her imagination and asked if we could please do a spell. I told her we could do some magic in the morning that would keep the good parts of her imagination and get rid of the bad parts. I removed the doll from her room and comforted her back to sleep.

This morning she got up and put on her witch attire. She happily did her spells and in the process, accidentally dyed her hands bright pink. I suspect it will take days for her hands to return to a normal color.

Halloween

2011-11-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Halloween Park Day

2011-10-29T20:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesdays are our homeschool park days and this last Wednesday we celebrated Halloween. Some of us adults built a haunted house and the kids got to decorate it. There were games such as eat the doughnut off the line, a scavenger hunt, and trick-or-treating.

Jealous?

2011-10-29T20:14:00.001-07:00

Don't you wish you had my bathroom designer?

The Getty Museum

2011-10-20T14:08:00.001-07:00

Nora Lee and I visited the Getty museum today with our friends Amy and Auriella. The museum had created a fun game where kids can solve a mystery by finding the picture in the exhibits. For example, we would see a bird and were told which room to look in and then the kids could find where the bird was in one of the pieces of art. This included paintings, sculpture and wood pieces.

The Getty has a stunning garden as well. This is my favorite part! As the season turns to fall, this was reflected in the changing colors of the leaves. Its very mild here in LA but we get a little of that :-)

Me and my shadow

Hide-and-seek

Family Game Night

2011-10-19T20:01:00.000-07:00

We attended a family game night at a park last Friday evening. There was amazing food and we played games like "hat tag" and "hide-and-go-seek." We stayed at the park so late that it was actually hard to see our car in the dark. Nora Lee had a blast.

The pot luck!

Nora Lee and Tobey collected wood for an imaginary camp fire and sat around chatting and eating oranges

Kickball

2011-10-19T19:23:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee played her first kickball game last week. She missed the ball but the kids let her run to first base anyway. As other kids kicked and got on base, she ended up making it back to home. Her team was incredibly sweet and supportive as they cheered for her run. She had the sweetest, most surprised look on her face when she heard them cheering for her.

A Farm Visit

2011-10-10T14:31:00.001-07:00

I took Nora Lee to a farm located about an hour southeast of Los Angeles. I was excited to learn more about organic farming and gardening. The weather was very hot and it was dusty and Nora Lee was eager to keep driving on down to grandma's house in San Diego, so we went on the tour and then hit the road again.

God bless all the organic farmers out there doing hard work in the hot sun so that we can have healthy food.

Nora Lee milks a cow!

San Diego Symphony

2011-10-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

Last month we were invited down to San Diego to an event where the San Diego symphony played. It could not have been a more beautiful experience. We were seated at a table on the edge of a lake viewing the musicians on the other side. They played old Hollywood tunes and songs we knew from musicals. My favorite part was when the conductor said, "This next tune is from the Sound of Music." And my little girl shouted, "I've seen the movie!" She snuggled into grandma's lap and watched the whole performance.

Bluegrass Girl

2011-10-10T11:47:00.000-07:00

Bluegrass is often played in our house, either by Matt on the banjo, on the computer, or by Matt's band The Dust Bowl Cavaliers. Nora Lee digs this type of music too and is now eager to learn to play the fiddle. We have a great teacher lined up (the fiddle player from The Dust Bowl Cavaliers) and are in the process of looking into renting a fiddle for a few months.

Nora Lee playing the banjo and singing a song.

Salsa

2011-10-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

At the end of summer it was time to take all of the tomatoes we had stored in the freezer and make them into jars of salsa.

Our Homeschool mascot

2011-10-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Hogarth

The Dream

2011-10-10T09:08:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nora Lee became thrilled with the idea of having her own book shop. She decided that she would write books "about her own experiences" and sell them. She talked a mile a minute as she shared her vision and asked for my assistance in putting it all into action.

Step one, write a book. I gave her a file folder and stapled some computer paper inside.

"What should the title be?" I asked. "The Experiences of My Dream," she suggested. She decided that was a mouthful and simplified it to, "My Dream."

"Will they know that it's my dream, like, the dream of the author?" she worried.

I assured her that we would put her name on the cover and readers would understand that it was her dream. She liked that idea and began writing the title as I spelled out the words for her.

I couldn't believe how focused and energized she was. I wore out before she did and she wanted to do another book which I had to say no to since I was starving and it was time to make dinner. "Okay, I guess I'll make art and picture books then."

She began collecting books that she had made in an old cardboard box that would be the inventory for her store.

"Can we make a big sign for our gate that says 'Please Come Into Our Book Shop'?" she asked.

I told her I would have to think of a way for her to sell her books since I didn't want strangers coming into our house.

"What if we put on the sign, 'Only Nice Strangers Come In'. Wait, no, that might make the mean strangers feel bad." She was really trying to figure this all out.

"How about if Dad and I pretend to be strangers and come in?" I suggested.

"No! I don't want my parents buying my books! I want strangers. I want people to be surprised."

"Hmm. I'll talk to Dad about an idea, but I think the best we'll be able to do is have some friends come to your store when they visit our house." She didn't like where this was heading, but we left it at that and closed up book making for the evening.

It's tricky because her enthusiasm is incredible and her willingness to sit for hours and write things, create stories ("My Dream" was an actual dream she was documenting). Yet, I don't know that strangers would be as willing to buy a book as grandma or her god mother. Her first thought was that she could put her books in the library and then strangers could read them. Perhaps the children's librarian would be open to displaying them for a while? As a parent, these are nice problems to have...

My Dream By Nora Lee Young

Once upon a time there was me.

I had a dream. In the dream I was with Daddy.

He left me and I walked off. Then I found a crawl-in hole.

I met two nice men. I talked to them. Then I came out of the hole. Then I saw Dad. The End.

Singin' in the Rain

2011-10-06T08:17:00.000-07:00

Homeschooling on autumn's first day of rain...

Roller Skating

2011-08-12T07:19:00.000-07:00

This week Nora Lee went roller skating for the first time! One of our homeschooling groups planned a field trip and we got to spend an afternoon skating and eating pizza. It felt like a big breakthrough day because at the beginning Nora Lee was so frustrated. She said, "I hate skating and you do too! Skating is just about falling down." I realized that she didn't understand yet what the payoff was of learning how to skate. I shared with her that once you know how, you can go really fast and it feels like flying.

After one round on the rink she tried for about 15 more minutes on the rug and then wanted to take off her skates. I let it go and decided to just have fun watching everyone. Soon after, pizza was ready and we went to the food area to chat with some friends. There was a little girl Nora Lee's age that she began playing with and after lunch Nora said, "I'm ready to put my skates on again." She practiced some more of the carpet and then announced she was ready for the rink. By this time, I had taken off my own skates, thinking we were done for the day. I walked her over to the rink to an area where I could walk beside her. She tried that stretch of the rink and wanted to continue alone! I told her that she would need to go the ENTIRE length of the rink by herself. She said she was ready! So off she went, taking tiny, tiny skate steps as she held on to the railing. It took her about 20 minutes to get around once. Then she wanted to go again and said, "You can skate too and I can be near the wall." By this time we had only 15 minutes left of the four hour day but I was ready to skate! I got my skates back on and loved every moment.

Nora Lee went twice around the rink all by herself and felt very successful. She and I can't wait to go back!

Our Summer Garden

2011-08-06T13:26:00.000-07:00

The Devil Tomato

We've got zucchini, yellow squash, grape tomatoes, steak tomatoes, and basil growing right now. The strawberries and cucumbers are not happy.

These sunflowers are about 8 feet tall!

This was the first year that the fruit tress that I planted a few years ago are producing. Matt and I had an ongoing (and losing) battle with the squirrels who ended up eating almost everything. We had about 100 apricots and about 30 apples. We netted the trees and everything but they still got them. In our exasperation we were actually considering a BB gun but don't think our neighbors would be too delighted with our missed targets. I've heard hanging human hair and/or moth balls in the trees can work. I'm hopeful that in the next few years the trees will produce enough for us all to share. This is what happens with our citrus trees in the back yard and it seems like a win-win situation ;-)

A Lazy Summer Day at the Creek

2011-07-18T20:46:00.000-07:00

Tobey and Nora Lee

Nora Lee, Mila, and Chloe

Chloe

Claire and Tobey

Tobey and Mila

Nora Lee

Mila

Tobey and Nora Lee

A Story

2011-07-15T17:03:00.000-07:00

A short story by Nora Lee Young

Once there was a princess. She was picking flowers. She wished that she could fly on the cloud. The End.

School

2011-07-14T19:22:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee is 4 1/2 and we are in the full swing of things academically. We are using a Waldorf kindergarten curriculum supplemented by other workbooks that Nora Lee and I find interesting. Over the months an entire imaginary school has been created in our household. I am "Mrs. Quiley" and Matt is "Mr. Cashote" (We have learned that Nora is a gifted creator of names). There are usually three or four other students that are in our class and often one of them is a character from a book or movie that Nora Lee is smitten with at the moment. A few weeks ago it was Omri, the boy from "The Indian and the Cupboard" and this week it is Cedric Digory from Harry Potter.

We all come to class at the dining room table and focus on one letter in the alphabet. We practice writing the letter and discuss "as a class" the sound the letter makes and words that begin with the letter. The Waldorf curriculum also includes an old fairytale that connects to the letter in some way. Sometimes we will explore a poem that also connects to the letter. For example, when studying "P" I would recite the "Peter Piper" poem.

After working with letters we move on to numbers and simple math. Nora Lee is working on counting to 100. She's got all the numbers in between but gets stuck on 50, 60, 70, 80, and 90. We've learned that Nora Lee is really good with geometric shapes. She can create cool patterns and enjoys that type of play.

After this study time at the table we go off into the world to explore. We have fallen in love with a library one town over from us. We were given a library card and we can't stay away! They have an incredible children's section with thousands of tantalizing books and movies. We have been enjoying books on CD for in the car when we drive around town. We did the first three Harry Potter books this way and just started The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Our Season Table

2011-07-14T19:17:00.001-07:00

Nora Lee and I decided we are going to set up a small table in our home that we decorate for each season. We went to the beach yesterday and collected natural treasures for our "summer" table. She lovingly washed each rock and shell today and lined them up on a towel to dry. Tomorrow we decorate!

A few days later...

"Summer"

Coloring

2011-07-14T19:02:00.000-07:00

As a child I loved to color pictures and I still find it very relaxing. Nora Lee also loves it and we have spent many sweet hours together coloring pictures at the dining room table. We have coloring books on wizards, fairies, princesses, elves, and animals. I'm rather impressed with her coloring skills. She does a good job of staying within the lines.

This is an original Nora Lee piece. There is something about it that I absolutely love. It makes me very happy to look at :-)

Nora Lee's Photography

2011-07-14T18:50:00.001-07:00

I love uploading Nora Lee's photos because I get a chance to see through her eyes. I find out what she finds interesting and beautiful. Here are the most recent pics.

Nora asks me to make an angry face!

Nora captures Daddy's tattoos while he drinks his morning coffee

A picture she colored and framed herself

This is one of my favorite pictures of Hogarth ever taken!

She figured out how to take a self-portrait

Nora Lee is crazy about Scooby-Doo these days

Missouri!

2011-07-06T20:03:00.000-07:00

Matt, Nora Lee and I just returned home from an incredible trip to Missouri. Most of my mom's side of the family lives there and it was time for a visit! Although I hadn't been back in 13 years (and Nora Lee and Matt had never been), it felt like home. I have such dear family and they welcomed us with open arms, hearts, and homes.

On July 1st we flew out of San Diego along with Colleen, Clay, Cameron, Mom, Dario, Karl and James. I've never had so many friendly faces on a flight before!

Colleen and Cameron

Karl and James

Clay and Aunt Dolores

James and Cameron

Brett

Aspen, Cameron, and Dusty

Clay

Cindy and Mom

All of us!

Nora Lee gets ready to swim

Cameron, Mom, and Colleen

Aspen and Uncle David

Dario and Matt

Mom and Dusty

Uncle David

On the Fourth of July we went to the town parade. Nora Lee was most excited about the candy they threw from the parade.

Nora Lee and Dusty

Jordon

Nora Lee

Nora Lee and Matt

Aspen and Karl

No matter how hot or humid it was, Colleen always looked stunning.

Cameron and Nora Lee

Matty

Mom and Dario on Dusty's ATV

Bottle rockets start off the evening of fireworks

Adarius and James

Uncle David

Shelly and Jimmy

John is the grillin' man

It turns out that Nora Lee is a fly swatting ninja. She went on a rampage to eliminate the enemy. She won.

Dusty and Nora Lee

Aspen and Nora Lee

Clay rides Dusty's horse, Babe.

Nora Lee enjoys a sparkler!

My cousin Dusty is a true Renaissance man. Among many other talents, he is a gifted auctioneer. He is 21 years old, owns 40 acres of land and each week holds several auctions where people can sell and buy things - all kinds of things. I saw an auction that was entirely produce, much of which was grown by the local Amish community. I am fasciated by the Amish and really enjoyed getting to spend half a day with them. They prefer not to have pictures taken of them so I left my camera in the car but got some shots of horses and buggies.

We also got to explore Fantastic Caverns! It turns out that the caves were discovered by a dog while out hunting with his owner. Later when the owner wanted the caves explored he put out an ad in the paper and a group of twelve women from the Springfield Womens Athletic Club responded to the ad and explored it first!

Brett, Tonya, and Jordon on the tram that took us through the caverns

All-in-all it was a perfect trip and we are all excited to return!

Horse Class

2011-06-22T19:38:00.001-07:00

There is a horse ranch about 30 minutes from where we live that has wonderful classes for kids and adults. Today, Nora Lee took a two hour intro class to see if she would be interested in taking weekly classes. They learned about approaching horses safely, grooming them, feeding them, and got to ride as well. She loved it and hopes to take more classes soon! As she was riding Lady she said, "Now I know I want to be a cowgirl when I grow up!"

Nora rides Lady, a 2,000 pound horse

The kids learn about grooming and brushing horses

Tim, one of the teachers, carries his little chiwawa in a satchel as he teaches

Nora Lee digs rocks and dirt out from Lady's hoof

Matt's Graduation

2011-06-22T19:29:00.000-07:00

On May 24th Matt graduated from California State University, Northridge with a bachelor's degree in Cinema, Television, and Film. He was accepted into the master's program with only 14 other students and will begin classes this fall.

Mimi and Poppy Come to Town!!

2011-06-22T19:22:00.001-07:00

Topanga Bluegrass Festival

2011-06-22T19:10:00.000-07:00

Matt and The Dust Bowl Cavaliers were invited to play the main stage at the Topanga Bluegrass Festival this year. We spent the day listening to incredible folk and bluegrass music and Nora Lee got to try cotton candy for the first time. She is a fan of both.

Square Dancin' Fun!

2011-06-22T19:01:00.001-07:00

Matt, Nora Lee and I went to a classic square dance and it was a BLAST! I had no idea how much fun the whole event would be! It started in the early evening with a family square dance followed by a cake walk and then an adult square dance. I was delighted by the sense of community that was created. I had no idea how to square dance but it didn't matter at all since we were beautifully led through the whole experience. I became a big fan and look forward to more square dancing opportunities!

Nature Class

2011-03-31T09:30:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee has just started a nature class with several other homeschooling families. The class takes place at Topanga State park in the forest. It's a stunning place with fresh air, lots of trees and plenty of happy deer running around. The kids hike and study plants, animals, cycles of the earth, edible plants and much more.

This week they learned about time and different calendars and how humans have kept track of time in different ways throughout history. They made Native American "moon sticks" and will mark the stick each time there is a full moon to track the passing of one year.

We taste edible flowers

Nora Lee and Toby let roly polies crawl on their hands

Nora Lee's moon stick

Saturday in Ojai

2011-03-31T09:19:00.000-07:00

Matt, Nora Lee, Hogarth and I went to Ojai with our dear friends, Lena, Josh, Dede, and Esme. We ate at an amazing cafe with fresh baked breads and pastries and other delicious foods. We walked around the tiny downtown area, played at a nearby park and simply had a lovely, relaxing Saturday afternoon.

Improv

2011-03-31T09:09:00.001-07:00

Nora Lee has been taking an improv class for the last few months and is having a great time. It's a wonderful way for her to explore her creativity and desire for acting and pretend play. Matt could certainly teach her improv skills, and they do play at home, but we know there is a lot of value in Nora Lee learning from other adults and having her own classes out in the world.

The studio where she goes is all kids, all comedy, and all improv. I love the teachers and am a huge fan of the process. A few weeks ago Nora Lee performed in her first improv show. It was such a treat to see all those 4-6 year olds on stage.

We celebrate at Sweet Butter Kitchen after Nora's show

Explosions

2011-02-27T09:08:00.000-08:00

In the last few weeks Nora Lee has been experiencing powerful emotional outbursts. She still remains, in general, a calm, reasonable person; but from time to time she will suddenly feel very angry or frustrated. It's most often directed at me and she blames me for something that happened to her. For example, she ran into the dining room table and hurt herself and she screamed, "Mom, why did you put that table there!!" She has also said things like, "I'm so mad I want to hit you, I'm not going to, but I WANT to!" I've told her that she can feel however she needs to feel but that she can't yell at me. She is allowed to go in her room or scream in the cave (which is soundproof). I have also talked to her about hitting her bed or pillows to let some of the energy out. She hasn't had an upset since this conversation so she hasn't tried it out yet, but she was excited about the idea.

The emotions remind me of turmoil some teenagers have when something relatively small can just make them go crazy for a second. Here are some recent quotes that I found rather funny and beautifully illustrate my point.

#1

Nora Lee: You are such a bad mom!

Me: Don't say that. It's not kind and It's not okay.

Nora Lee: Its just that you are so not easy to control!

#2

NL: Mom, you are such a hand-full.

#3

Me: I dont want to play with you anymore because you are being bossy and it's not fun to play anymore.

NL: I'm not being bossy. I'm just guiding you.

#4

Matt and Nora Lee were having a power struggle over her wearing socks. They went back and forth and then, of course, it was no longer about socks but about who was in control. Matt was explaining that when we say you need to do something, you need to do it.

They came to an agreement and Matt said, "Next time I tell you to wear socks, you need to wear socks. I will make you wear socks. Nora Lee responded, "Next time I will make YOU make me wear socks."

This cracked me up that she was determined to get the last word on the power struggle, even to the point of making Matt make her do something. Crazy.

Luckily, it seems that this is only a stage and perhaps a necessary one. It's been mild compared to what it could be and I am grateful!

Learning

2011-02-22T09:27:00.000-08:00

So much of the learning that happens in our home, takes place in our daily lives. Life provides many opportunities to learn how the world works, why things happen, how to take care of our bodies, etc.

And, there is some learning that simply takes practice and is more about sitting down and practicing. We have been working with letters and numbers each morning after breakfast. We play games with recognizing the symbol and then Nora Lee practices writing them. We have also started simple math. Recently we introduced the symbol for addition and have done a little adding together. I've been surprised how Nora Lee already understands things like if I say, "You can have one more piece of candy." She will say, "Then there will only be three pieces left."

Family Fun

2011-02-22T09:15:00.000-08:00

Could I have a cuter nephew? I mean, seriously.

Auntie Colleen, Cameron, Nora Lee and Grandma

Grandpa and Cameron

Rusty and Hogarth have a blast together

Grandma and Cameron

Clay and Cameron

Garden Updates

2011-02-22T09:01:00.000-08:00

Having the seeds inside our dining room has allowed us to see much more of the growing process this year. We just planted the seeds recently (a week or two ago?) and so many of them are sprouting already! We have noticed that near the table there are discarded seed shells that the plants have outgrown. I've never been watching carefully enough to see this process before and its fascinating.

A bean sprout!

Shells that have been discarded after the seed has grown into a sprout

You can see the plant about ready to outgrow the seed shell

Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T14:36:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day!

Nora Lee and I got up this morning and began decorating for our family Valentine breakfast. I love any excuse to cook pink pancakes, decorate with red hearts and tell the people I love how much they mean to me. I am so deeply blessed in my life.

Rose Bowl Swap Meet

2011-02-14T14:26:00.000-08:00

Last Sunday Nora Lee, Matt, and I decided to check out the Rose Bowl swap meet. I am a lover of garage sales and I had been told that this was the ultimate garage sale.

This was no lie.

It was massive and wonderful. People selling old things, new things, handmade things, food, soap, comics, furniture, clothing, on and on and on. The people watching alone was a blast!

Here is a man riding on a keg motorized scooter. The seat was a cooler and there were a handful of taps on the front of the scooter. Matt was envious.

Here are a few more photos from the day.

Belly Dancing

2011-02-12T19:28:00.000-08:00

Nora Lee just completed her first seven weeks of belly dancing classes. She has learned so many new things and her development in the performance and dramatics of belly dancing has been so fun to watch.

She was taking classes with two close family friends, Mila (6) and Chloe (9). This was really fun but the age difference was becoming a challenge so Nora Lee has switched into a class of just four year old girls. This seems to be a much better level for her and I'm excited that she plans to continue.

Last friday when Nora Lee had her last class with the older girls and her first class with the younger ones, she did 3 hours of belly dancing!

Here are photos of the older class:

Here is her new class:

Gymnastics

2011-02-12T19:15:00.000-08:00

Nora Lee has started taking gymnastics classes at the community center in our neighborhood. She is really enjoying it and it's helping her a lot with her coordination. Nora Lee is taking the class with her friend and next door neighbor, Vienna.

Backward roll

Nora Lee tries a handstand

A brand new gorgeous playground was built in the park! After class we go over and play.

Vienna

Our Garden Begins

2011-02-10T09:42:00.001-08:00

Who says you can't garden in your pajamas?

It's still quite cold many nights (low 30's) here in Los Angeles but beautiful during the day (mid-high 70's) so we decided to start our seeds inside this year which we have never done before. This gives us the freedom to put them outside for direct sun during the day and then bring them inside for protection from the cold at night.

We have planted zucchini, tomatoes, sunflowers, cucumbers, yellow squash, beans, and peas. We also planted a row of carrots and a row of lettuce directly into the ground in the garden. We'll see what happens!

Pizza Play-Doh Fun

2011-02-08T10:52:00.001-08:00

Park Day

2011-02-08T10:43:00.000-08:00

Nora Lee and I spend lots of time at the park with some other homeschooling families. Here are some recent pics.

Tyler (age 11) and Nora Lee

Claire and Nora Lee reading

Toby is only 3 weeks older than Nora Lee!

Toby (4), Cassidy (5), Claire, Nora Lee (4), and Valerie (8)

Chloe (9)

Harry Potter and Nora Lee (book 1)

2011-02-07T08:48:00.001-08:00

Once upon a time Harry and Nora Lee wished to explore the woods. They walked along the beach and into the woods.

The sun faded down and night came. Harry and Nora Lee were worried. Then they came upon some giant footprints.

It was a lion!

Then the lion hides in the bushes as a monster comes to chase them! Harry and Nora lee fall asleep.

Then their mom and dad carry them home without them noticing. Then they wake up at home.

The end

The Fun is Repeated (book 2)

2011-02-07T08:27:00.001-08:00

Nora Lee's imagination has exploded in the last several months. Entire days can go by that we are around home living in the world of Harry Potter, princesses, magic wands, monsters and dragons. She loves the fight between good and evil and takes her role very seriously as the defender of good.

She gets married, has children, people die, people live. It's quite incredible to observe. Often Matt and I will play in the game and then go about our own business while she continues.

Nora Lee loves books and is very interested in writing. She can write a fair amount from memory. She will say, "I want to write 'The monster is coming!'" and we will spell it all out for her verbally. There are still lots of letters that she needs us to write for her or show her in a book and then she can write them on her own. She is in the process of learning that there are upper case and lower case letters but still doesn't know when to use which one.

Below is a book she created. She is responsible for the story and how it's written, Matt just wrote the words and helped with some of the pictures.

The title is "The Fun is Repeated."

Once upon a time, Rapunzel, Harry Potter and Nora Lee were lost in a monster's cave!

The monster appeared!

The monster's husband came out a chased everyone!

They made friends with the monster.

They had a birthday party for Nora!

And they lived happily ever after...
(This is a picture of Nora Lee's house and Harry Potter's house. Often she and Harry are married but they live in separate houses.)

January 2011

2011-01-19T18:25:00.000-08:00

Our family had a restful and joy filled holiday season. We stayed in LA for both Thanksgiving and Christmas and were thrilled to be cozy at home. It was very cold and we loved snuggling in, watching movies, reading, listening to music, cooking and being together. I love December because the entertainment world slows down and I get my hubby all to myself (sharing with Nora Lee of course).

Nora Lee turned 4 years old on December 29th and being four opens up more opportunities out in the world. For the last few weeks she has been taking belly dancing classes and just today she began an improv class. Next week she will begin gymnastics.

Nora Lee is inquisitive and bright and very interested in words. Her vocabulary is growing in leaps and bounds and she is often asking what words mean. (This morning she asked me what the word "define" meant.)

She is eager to learn how to read and loves working with magnet letters on the fridge and writing them by hand. We practice spelling and most recently she wanted to write a letter to her cousin Leah. (She is keeping this letter to deliver to Leah by hand!) I told her what letters to write and she wrote them. This is the first writing of this nature and it's really exciting!

We are still spending time each week with other homeschooling families as well as a few other close friends of Nora Lee.

Nora Lee is loving Harry Potter and we are reading the first book together. We are both excited for her to get older so that we can read and watch some of the later Harry Potter movies and books.

I have been cooking a lot and trying to get better at making homemade jam. I'm learning that each batch is very different and each fruit acts very differently. I'm having fun learning. I'm also trying to get good at homemade bread. With fresh food and my kitchen, I am in heaven.

Matt is busy writing and will be shooting a commercial tomorrow. He begins his last semester of school next week and will be graduating with his BA in Screenwriting in May. He is also applying for the master's program in screenwriting.

Life is full and so much fun!

Music Night

2010-11-07T08:22:00.000-08:00

Our dear friends, the Chapmans, hosted Music Night last night at their home in Topanga Canyon. It was an opportunity for anyone, at any age, to sing into the microphone, play drums, dance, you name it! Matty and some of the awesome musicians there played and some of the kids got up and sang a song or told jokes.

Nora Lee danced herself silly and got up and improvised a song! I wanted to burst out crying it was so sweet. We took advantage of the 75% off Halloween costume sale and got her an Alice in Wonderland dress and a new Dorothy dress since she has outgrown the one she wore last year. She wore the Alice dress to the party and in my humble opinion was the cutest person on the planet last night.

Watch Nora sing her song here:

Daddy and Nora Lee dancing

Halloween

2010-11-07T08:05:00.000-08:00

For the last few months Nora Lee has wanted to be several things for Halloween. At one point it was a fairy, then a prinecess, then a ballerina. Recently she decided to be all three. So this year she was a fairy-princess-ballerina (she's not girly or anything).

We usually trick-or-treat with several of our friends and neighbors. Our neighborhood never has trick-or-treating so we always drive to another neighborhood. This year we tried a new area in Toluca Lake where the houses are decorated like they decorate at Disneyland. It was insane! These homes are huge and have lots of land. There was an old Georgian Manor and a huge mansion with a pirate ship coming out of it, ghosts, goblins, you name it! It was actually too busy for the little ones. We turned onto the busiest street and actually had to wait in a 5 minute line to get candy as each house! The decorations were amazing but it was too easy to get trampled. Luckily we had some calmer trick-or-treating on a street before that. This also limited the amount of candy the kids got, which was a nice thing.

The day after Halloween we called "Candy Day" in our house. Nora Lee got to eat as much candy as she wanted all day long. She really liked Candy Day. She ate oatmeal in the morning and 1 sausage in the evening and candy the rest of the day! I was sure she would be a sugar wreck but she was actually calm and delightful! Her favorite candies are fruity ones and ones you suck on for a long time like suckers and gobstoppers. She's not as crazy about the chocolate goodies (which are my favorite!).

A little dog dressed as a skeleton

Disneyland

2010-11-07T07:58:00.001-08:00

Last year we took Nora Lee to Disneyland about this time and we just went again last week! What a wonderful time! She is at the perfect age for Disney. We rode on all the smaller rides like Snow White and Alice in Wonderland and Dumbo. She got to meet Mary Poppins and several of the princesses. She even got to dance in a show with Mary Poppins and Burt! She was in HEAVEN!!

Our Lovely Girl

2010-11-07T07:40:00.000-08:00

Nora Lee has crossed over into a new stage this last month. She seems more mature. She has more control over her emotions and is able to speak about them clearly. In the past, when upset, she would just break down into tears and lately she handles it differently. I can see when her little lip quivers that she is wanting to burst out crying but instead, she shares her feelings with words. We have talked about this in the past; meaning I have shared with her that she just has to tell me what she is feeling and I can help, rather than her just breaking down. She seems to understand that now and actually be capable of managing her emotions. Its so lovely to witness.

She is also wanting to interact with the world more and act as others do. For example, we were at a home of some friends and their neighbors came over to visit whom we had never met before. She greeted them in the living room, introduced herself and then said, let me go get my mom and introduce her to you. She came into the kitchen and asked me to come meet them, then introduced us all. Even using my name!

Homeschooling is going very well and fits in beautifully with our family life. We have been watching Nora Lee's interests and offering support whenever she wants to learn something. Both Matt and I feel that reading and writing in particular is often rushed and taught to kids earlier than necessary. That being said, Nora Lee is showing strong interests in both reading and writing. We read to her a lot and the library is our home away from home. She goes each week and has volunteer grandparents read to her as well. She also sees Matt and I reading all the time. She has an amazing memory and quickly memorizes books and then "reads" them to us :) We have tried to get this on video but she has been shy about it for some reason.

We have refrigerator magnet letters that she often gets out and we will help her spell words she suggests. Recently Matt was with her at the table and asked her to write some letters without an example in from of her and she did it! We were very surprised since we knew she recognized all the letters but didnt know she could reproduce them. Since then we've done a little more practice as she feels inspired.

Here is a picture of her first time writing her name. She had help with the last "ee" part but did the rest on her own.

She continues to be VERY interested in storytelling and performing and puts on shows and puppet shows for us on a daily basis. She will be turning four at the end of December and its feels like such a fun time!

Lantern Walk

2010-09-28T08:17:00.000-07:00

Last night Nora Lee and I met our friends at Topanga beach and went for a lantern walk. The purpose of the lantern walk is to welcome autumn and to carry your light through the dark, symbolizing that even though the world gets darker in fall and winter, we still have our own light within us that we can nurture and share with others. The beautiful thing about flame is that you can share it indefinitely with others without depleting your own.

Last week we all made our paper mache lanterns using blown up balloons and colorful tissue paper. Nora Lee and I practiced walking with our lanterns in Matt's cave where is gets completely dark.

Last night we met around 6pm at the beach. It was the hottest day in history in some parts of Los Angeles. When I got in the car at 5pm to drive to the beach, my thermometer for the outside said 113 degrees! It was about 90 degrees at the beach when we arrived and it stayed warm throughout our evening.

When we arrived, Nora headed straight for the water to play in the tide pools and more importantly, the mud. She was wearing a beautiful princess dress which was covered in mud quite quickly. The kids played for about two hours as we watched the sunset and enjoyed the beach. As it got dark, we lit the lanterns and walked the beach while singing. One of the songs we sang was a new one to me. It went like this.

Burn little candle
Burn so bright.
Show to us your flickering light.
Turn the darkness into day
and slowly melt away.

We sang this in rounds and Nora Lee LOVED it! It was a beautiful evening.

Through Nora Lee's Eyes

2010-09-21T10:01:00.000-07:00

Here is Nora Lee's view of the world through her photography this week.

A vine crawled up the side of the house and then inside the house!

Nora Lee giggled as she took a picture of Hogarth's butt. She is Matt's daughter...

Nora Lee wanted to document breakfast so she asked to be lifted so she could get a shot of the oatmeal.

Nora Lee's baby cousin Cameron

Grandma in Lake Arrowhead

September 14-19th 2010

2010-09-21T09:34:00.000-07:00

This week one of the nearby homeschooling communities started back up again after taking the summer off. Nora Lee and I have been attending a small group about 20 minutes from where we live which continued meeting throughout the summer. We really enjoy this group and were excited to check out this other group which we heard was larger. Boy, was it larger! On this "Welcome Back" park day there were probably somewhere between 100-150 people! There were way more people than we could possibly meet or play with but it was really fun to see all the homeschooling families so close to where we live. My buddies, Carlene and Claire brought their kids too and we enjoyed a potluck, making snow, and running around. This group offers many classes that kids can participate in each week. Park day usually starts at noon each Wednesday and runs all afternoon. Kids can play on their own as well as participate in a variety of classes offered such as kick ball, french, Spanish, ballet, literature, and a bunch more. There are not many classes suited for kids Nora Lee's age but more will open up for her in the next year or so as she turns 4 and 5.

There is a lot of support and seasoned homeschooling parents are available for questions and advice. It seems to be a wonderful network. We plan to go back again this week and explore some more.

On thursday we learned how to make homemade jam with our friends Carla and Julian. No pics got taken but we hope to have more jam days and more pics soon!

This last weekend my mom hosted her annual Wonderful Women's Weekend where she invited all of the women in our family on a weekend trip. This year we went back to Lake Arrowhead (my favorite!). She rented a beautiful house and we spent the weekend resting and eating. Auntie Colleen braided mom and Nora Lee's hair.

Zach Bonner

2010-09-15T08:17:00.000-07:00

There is a 12 year old young man named Zach Bonner who began walking from Tampa, Florida last December and yesterday arrived at his destination in Santa Monica. He was walking to raise awareness for homeless youth in America. He is a remarkable person and I wanted to join in the celebration of him finishing his goal and also to show Nora Lee what a huge impact young people can make. You can learn more about him at www.littleredwagonfoundation.com.

Laura and I packed up our kids at noon and headed down to the park in Santa Monica where he was planning to arrive, have a short press conference and then walk the remaining 2.2 miles to the Santa Monica Pier. He was welcoming anyone who wanted to join him in those final miles.

We got to the park an hour and a half early and let the kids play around in the fountain and in the playground.

Once it was time to walk, we put the kids in the strollers and made it all the way to the pier! Zack gave a speech and the mayor of Santa Monica spoke as well. The kids were antsy by this point, so after getting ice cream and french fries (we needed our strength for the way back ;) we headed back to the park. Nora Lee was VERY disappointed not to go on the rides at the pier but not only do I think she would have been too little, I worried about staying too long at the pier and then having to push three screaming kids back to the park. The whole adventure took 7 hours from front door to front door and we walked for 5 miles. I was really impressed with Laura who pushed a double stroller that whole way (on the way back, it had our heavy girls in it while I got to push 7 month old Dorian!)

I was so glad we did it.

Preparing to walk

Zack is the red-head leading the way

My view of his speech at the end :)

A Break

2010-09-14T10:27:00.000-07:00

I was being hard on myself. I often tell myself a lie which is that I should have an endless amount of energy. I was tired and it was only 9:50 a.m. Then a little voice came up inside of me. "Please review what you have done today," it said.

I made a mental list.

I woke up at 5:45 a.m. and took Hogarth for a two mile walk. I came home to find Nora Lee had awakened an hour early and wanted breakfast. I cooked hard boiled eggs and toast and fed her and Hogarth. I noticed we were out of dishwasher detergent and had a full load of dirty dishes. I went to the corner store for more. I came home and made myself some breakfast. While it cooked, I cleaned and oiled the dining room table, washed the windows and swept the floor. I sat down to eat my breakfast while sending a few emails I needed to catch up on. I made the shopping list and then went to Trader Joes to get groceries.

Sara, maybe you could give yourself a little break :)

September 6th-13th 2010

2010-09-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee, myself and our friends and neighbors, Laura, Vienna and Dorian went to an event held by the Pasadena Symphony. It was an opportunity for kids to participate in a sing-a-long, explore classical instruments and even play them. The kids got to get up near the stage and march to the music and dance. Nora Lee and Vienna held hands almost the entire hour and a half!

Laura, Vienna, and Dorian

We have been visiting some friends (who are also a homeschooling family) pretty regularly. They have a beautiful home in Topanga Canyon with lots of trees and places to run! This is a time for the seven children from ages 3-11 to play together, create and perform plays, sculpt clay, draw, and do much more. This also gives us moms an opportunity to talk about our lives as homeschooling moms, wives, and women. Today we made plans for next week which will involve a "Welcoming Autumn" Lantern Walk. We plan to make lanterns and walk along the beach the following week. We also made plans for Dio De Los Muertos festivities at the beginning of November. More to come on all of that when it happens!

I'm very excited about fall! The temperature changes are so mild here but they are very welcome!

Here are some photos from today.

2010-09-08T20:26:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee's photography

2010-09-08T20:05:00.001-07:00

Nora Lee made this figure using some magnetic geometric shapes.

Nora's Remarks

2010-09-08T19:47:00.001-07:00

This morning as Nora Lee and I were driving to the farmer's market she announced that she never wanted to be a grown-up. I asked her why and she started to cry and said, "Because then you guys won't be my parents any more and I wont be your daughter!" I assured her that we would always be her parents no matter how big she got. She said that she would be willing to be a teenager and we talked about all the fun things that teenagers get to do. She asked me if I had my own slide like she does. I told her that I don't have my own slide but that its because my interests have changed, not because I couldn't have one as a grown-up. I think all this may have come from a new awareness she had yesterday. She began to play on her slide in the yard and she hasn't played on it in a while. She commented that the slide was smaller now and I told her that the slide has stayed the same but that she has grown. This may have gotten her thinking about growing up and how things change. Its so amazing to watch her learn about life.

A few minutes later in the car she said, "Mom, 'I can't wait' has two meanings! One meaning is when you say, 'I cant wait to go to Disneyland.' Like saying, 'I'm so excited!' and the other meaning is 'I am so hungry my belly needs food right now, I cant wait!"

As we pulled up to the farmers market I told her to stay close to me because it's a busy place and we need to stay together. She told me what she would do if she got lost (tell another mom her name and that she was lost) and then she said, "I may get lost today because I'm a rascal, do you know what rascal means?" I told her I didn't (she likes when I pretend not to know things so she can inform me) and she said, "A rascal misbehaves or is naughty. I'm not going to misbehave, but don't you just love the word RASCAL!"

Valedictorian Speaks Out Against Schooling in Graduation Speech

2010-08-16T07:17:00.000-07:00

Last month, Erica Goldson graduated as valedictorian of Coxsackie-Athens
High School.

Erica originally posted her full speech on Sign of the Times, and without
need for editing or cutting, here's the speech in its entirety:

Here I stand

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his
teacher, and asked the Master, "If I work very hard and diligently, how long
will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then
replied, "Ten years . ." The student then said, "But what if I work very,
very hard and really apply myself to learn fast -- How long then?" Replied
the Master, "Well, twenty years." "But, if I really, really work at it, how
long then?" asked the student. "Thirty years," replied the Master. "But, I
do not understand," said the disappointed student. "At each time that I say
I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?"
Replied the Master, "When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one
eye on the path."

This is the dilemma I've faced within the American education system. We are
so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first
in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever
it takes to achieve our original objective.

Some of you may be thinking, "Well, if you pass a test, or become
valedictorian, didn't you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something,
but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize
names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for
the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place
for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as
possible.

I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as
a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in
retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can
attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the
system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have
completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on
to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that
certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being,
a thinker, an adventurer - not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped
within repetition - a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have
successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the
extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great
artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While
others would come to class without their homework done because they were
reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While
others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit,
even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this
position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave
educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have
no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I
saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for
the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I'm scared.

John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of
compulsory schooling, asserts, "We could encourage the best qualities of
youthfulness - curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising
insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by
introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student
what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then.
But we don't do that." Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected
to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who
deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme
of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.

H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of
public education is not "to fill the young of the species with knowledge and
awaken their intelligence. ... Nothing could be further from the truth. The
aim ... is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe
level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and
originality. That is its aim in the United States."

To illustrate this idea, doesn't it perturb you to learn about the idea of
"critical thinking." Is there really such a thing as "uncritically
thinking?" To think is to process information in order to form an opinion.
But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really
thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?

This was happening to me, and if it wasn't for the rare occurrence of an
avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open
my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have
been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must
retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place
really is.

And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the
uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either
acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist
on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely
sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done,
for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no
choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force
ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system
that trains us, rather than inspires us.

We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were
taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so
special, so aren't we all deserving of something better, of using our minds
for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile
activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a
degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation
after placation. There is more, and more still.

The saddest part is that the majority of students don't have the opportunity
to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same
brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working
in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst
of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back
these 18 years. I can't run away to another country with an education system
meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and
I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential
suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We
are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are
anything we want to be - but only if we have an educational system that
supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its
roots are given a healthy foundation.

For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to
the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You
still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and
create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with
intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of
directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the
excuse, "You have to learn this for the test" is not good enough for you.
Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning
rather than getting good grades.

For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not
mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the
incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or
administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of
the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that
you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.

For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not
forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come
after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition
stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of
knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the
power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good,
for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face
value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.

So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was
molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching
me. I couldn't have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you
who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my
competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.

I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain
it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is
more of a "see you later" when we are all working together to rear a
pedagogic movement. But first, let's go get those pieces of paper that tell
us that we're smart enough to do so!

Thinking Styles and Oh, What a Personality!

2010-08-16T06:28:00.000-07:00

I just read a very interesting book (thanks to Grandpa Young) called "Every Child Has A Thinking Style" by Lanna Nakone. In the book the author explains that there are four thinking styles and ways that people organize their environments. If you can figure out which thinking style you are, you can spend time focused on organizing your surroundings a certain way to make things easier for you. What often happens is we ask people to think and organize in a certain way that doesn't match their style and they end up spending a lot of energy trying to make it work for themselves.

I did the quiz for Nora Lee and learned that she is a "Maintainer." I was a little worried about whether or not I had answered the questions accurately for her but after reading about "Maintainers" I was quite sure I had hit on something!

Here are a few quotes from the book describing Maintainers. "(Maintainers are) eager to tackle everyday tasks with accuracy, devotion, and a love of structure...They thrive with predictability and familiar routines. Urgency, pressure, and a loud, 'Get it done right now!' doesn't work well with these children. They will feel stressed out and deeply alarmed if they cannot take the time to plan and organize their next move. They need organization and structure to guide their life, day in and day out."

The book goes on to share things that make Maintainers feel safe, secure and that they simply enjoy. They like following the rules and like to do what others have done before them rather than charting their own way. One recommendation is to allow the child to make check lists. So, being the Maintainer that I am, I made three checklists on small white boards for Nora Lee. I cut out pictures of activities for getting up in the morning, things to do before leaving the house to go somewhere, and things to do before bed. Since Nora Lee cant read, she is still able to read the list on her own. Yesterday I introduced these list to her and she was absolutely delighted! She LOVED doing the activity then going to get her dry erase pen and make an "x" by the picture. It was very important to her to do it in order as it was listed on the list and to do an item, then check it off. No doing two items at once! Matt and I giggled at the accuracy of this book.

What's deeply helpful to Matt and I in having this information, is that structure is particularly important to Nora Lee. Even when I created "snack time" she latched onto that immediately and wanted to know that we were having our snack "at snack time."

The amazing thing is that we battle over her using the toilet before bed or going out somewhere, and with the list she hops right on the toilet. Some homeschooling families have very little structure and it sounds like that wont be a good fit for us. We will need to create lots of structure and deadlines. The book mentions that Nora Lee's relationship to time will be very positive and she will feel energized by deadlines rather than pressured.

It also says, "They do not do well when their stuff is handled, misplace, or lost. Your Maintainer does not easily share books or toys. Its not because they aren't kind; its just because they know things can be mistreated, and they really aren't too flexible when a book comes back torn or a toy is returned broken." We have found this with Nora Lee. She is actually very generous and seems to share things very well but if her toys are involved and they may be in jeopardy, she will not share and becomes very emotional. Some of this is being three years old, I'm sure, but I think some is personality.

I laughed when I read, "They are usually kind and sincere in explaining to the friends the best possible way to do something. They tend to be rigid because they believe there is only one way, and one right way, to do things." This is not always welcome by others! We have seen this a lot in Nora Lee. She knows this song about manners that goes something like, " We do not scream or shout, we do not scream or shout, we have good manners, we do not scream or shout. We do not push or shove...etc." On several occasions when another child is doing one of these thing she will go up and sing this song to the child. For example, she and I were at the children's museum and there was a five year old girl completely out of control. Yelling at other kids, scowling, angry, volatile. Nora Lee and I were sitting nearby and watching her tirade. Nora Lee said to me, "I want to go talk to that little girl." So she walked up and said, "Little Girl, I know a song about manners." And she began to sing her the song. The little girl hissed, "I DONT CARE!" Nora Lee came back to me. We were both a little shocked by the venom and then Nora Lee went back to try again and the girl pushed her. Both Nora Lee and I said firmly, "HEY!" and since no parents were stepping in, Nora Lee and I left that area.

A few Nora Lee quotes...

Also while the children's museum Nora Lee was playing in a small puppet theater. Another girl came and butted in front of her. Nora said, "Oh, excuse me, I was here first." (I was so proud of her response!) The girl ignored Nora Lee and a moment later went off somewhere else. Nora Lee poked her head through the theater and said, "Sorry audience."

She and I were watching a PBS show called Word World, which is really great! Nora Lee turned to me and said, "They (the characters) can talk to the narrator. Did you notice that?" I'm still surprised by the things that come out of her mouth!

"Mom, you are incorrect."

While at the beach, I was trying to make a sand castle before the waves could get it, she said "I am distracting the waves."

She is pretty magical.

Updates 3.5 years old

2010-07-11T07:01:00.000-07:00

Im noticing some new things emerging in Nora Lee that are so fun and I wanted to share. One is her wit. She is starting to understand humor and to play with words and ideas in such a fun way. She'll say things that I ask Matt if he told her but she's coming up with it! She is also spontaneously laughing often and wholeheartedly. She sometimes says, "I love to laugh!" Me too kid!

She is also expressing her desire to be seen. I've heard her say on a number of occasions lately "Look at me!" She will ask specifically for someone (anyone!) to watch her do something. She has also started throwing a little attitude our way in a very teenager sort of way. Saying things like "Maa-maa" in that tone which says, "Mama, you are being so ridiculous." More of our phrases are coming back at us that we have used with her when she gets moody or out of control emotionally. When we try to hurry her along (usually when putting on shoes and getting in the car - a task that can take sooooooo long) she might say, "OK, OK, take it easy." As if our requests are so out of the blue or ridiculous.

Matty calls her his little string bean right now. She is long and skinny. We are officially giving up on pants with no elastic waistbands because her pants fall down too much. She needs long but tiny waisted pants. I need to measure her but I was shocked to see that in the pool yesterday in the 3 foot area she could touch the ground and keep her head above water. I think she weighs 31 pounds.

We are off this morning to a kid's music show as a family and then will go over to our friends, the Chapmans, home to make pizzas and our own music!

Predictions

2010-07-11T06:54:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Nora Lee and I spent the afternoon in a friend's pool. It was beautiful and sunny and absolutely perfect weather. When we went in to change our clothes Nora Lee kept going to the window and very dramatically saying, "A Storm is coming! A Storm is coming! Close the windows, close the doors!" We all thought it was a fun game since it's the middle of July and the weather was gorgeous.

After leaving our friends we went to a BBQ for a late afternoon party. About an hour into the party, it started to rain and rain hard -from out of NOWHERE! For those of you in Florida, this is no big deal, happens all the time. But in southern California in July it does not just go from blue sky and full sun one moment to big heavy raindrops the next. It rained for about a half hour and then was done. It was unexpected and so fun! Although it was a surprise (to everyone but Nora Lee) it made the air feel warm and wet and clean. Lovely.

Homeschooling

2010-07-09T07:04:00.000-07:00

As many of you know, Matt and I have been considering homeschool as an option for Nora Lee's education. Over the last few years I have done a lot of research about educational options such as available public schools, private schools, and homeschooling. Although it's true that the public schools are not great near us and the private schools cost between $10,000-$25,000 a year per child (yes, you are reading those figures correctly) that is not ultimately what is causing Matt and I to choose homeschooling for our family. The main reason is that Matt and I are really excited to play an intimate role in Nora Lee's development and education. We are lucky enough to have a lifestyle that allows us to both be home a lot of the time and homeschooling offers us the freedom to focus on Nora Lee as an individual.

In the last few months Nora Lee and I have been exploring the homeschooling communities in Los Angeles and discovering all there is to do! There is a huge community here and we are still getting to know everyone. The biggest community is taking a break for the summer and then starts up again in September. Another smaller group still meets throughout the summer. One main activity of this group is a "park day" which happens every Thursday from 12-5pm. It is led by a passionate homeschooling mom who creates lessons and activities for each afternoon. Last time we went, the kids were raising silk worms. The worms were just beginning to create cocoons so the kids got to hold the worms and watch other worms spinning their cocoons. The kids will get to experience the worms through the entire process and then will be dyeing and using the silk cocoons in an art project. This is the second year of the project so the kids have documented the process from eggs, to worms, to cocoons, to moths. I also really liked how the older kids got to teach the younger ones. Nora Lee was in heaven having a 9 year old girl help her make a friendship bracelet!

This park day also gives the kids an opportunity to run around and play with each other. The ratio of kids to adults is usually 1:1 or 1:2 which is really nice. This group also goes camping together and really allows the kids to form long relationships. I went to a homeschooling informational evening last month and got to hear from parents of homeschooled young adults. They shared what worked, what didn't work, and what their kids are doing now. Many of the kids formed friendships that started as toddlers and lasted through adulthood. They also shared that families can be as social as they choose to be. If desired, they can do activities with other homeschooling families every day of the week. We are close friends with a family with three children who are just beginning to homeschool. Their son is three weeks older than Nora Lee and we have been spending lots of time together. Nora Lee also has regular weekly play dates with several friends.

Many homeschooled kids do extracurricular activities such as theater, dance, sports, girl scouts, etc. Many of them also begin taking classes at junior colleges around age 13 or 14 to begin specializing in subjects they want to excel in such as higher maths and sciences.

There are so many different approaches to homeschooling. Right now, the one that feels best to Matt and I is to use a homeschool curriculum called Oak Meadow. We will purchase a curriculum each year that has lessons day by day. It also has the options of long distance learning with an instructor for subjects where we would like more support such as calculus, foreign languages, or for high school AP courses.

If you are interested in knowing more about the curriculum you can check out the following links:

Here is the specific link for the Oak Meadow curriculum for first grade. It gives a thorough overview of the year and sample lessons.

http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/overviews/1ov.pdf

Here is fifth grade :

http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/overviews/5ov.pdf

They have this info for every year, so explore as you like!

This link gives info about high school and preparation for university education:

http://www.oakmeadow.com/curriculum/highschool.php

We are excited and will keep you updated about our journey!

Fun Stuff We're Up To

2010-07-09T06:40:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee just finished three half days of summer camp. It worked out okay. We all had some learning experiences. Nora Lee was pushed and bitten in the first half hour of attending and had some tender moments in the following days. She continued to be willing to show up the following day but only knowing that she wouldn't have to go after that. On day two Matt picked her up early because she was homesick. We were reminded of Nora Lee's sensitivity. That morning she and daddy had buried some stones in the dirt. Later, some kids were beginning to dig up the stones and it made Nora Lee really upset and really miss her daddy. She cried for a while and then the school called us. She happily went back the next day and had no problem.

Im also happy to report how lovingly the school handled the little boy who was rough with Nora. After some loving training in the few days they were together, by the third day I saw him go up to Nora Lee and give her a big hug. Matt and I both felt good about Nora Lee getting a taste of the school environment and he and I getting to feel the rhythm of school for our family - getting up in the morning, packing lunch, dropping off, picking up, etc. Since Matt and I have been considering homeschool and are now moving forward on that path (more on this in the next post) it was nice to see more of the school we had been looking at for Nora Lee.

It was also nice to see that many of the elements that make this school so special, we have created here at home. For example, they have a small vegetable garden and some fruit trees. The kids take turns watering the plants and picking up the fallen fruit. They play in the dirt and in the water. All in all, it was good for our family to have this experience.

Nora Lee and I have been spending lots of time at the library both for story time and library events. They have a program where grandparents read to the kids each day and Nora Lee loves it. They also put on great puppet and magic shows. This has brought us out to libraries all over the valley. We've enjoyed checking out tons of books and some kid videos.

Last week we discovered a shop called Lollipop Dreams. It is decorated in a style that I LOVE, french boutique! One half is a shop and the other is a play area. Each Friday at 11am kids can listen to stories, then they get to dress up in princess costumes and get their faces or arms painted. All for free! What a deal! I think we'll head there today again.

Last week Nora Lee went dressed as Dorothy and then got to change into Snow White.

Prayer

2010-06-16T08:50:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee has started wanting to pray before meals. At grandma's house we often hold hands and say a prayer of gratitude which I really enjoy. It's been so sweet to have Nora Lee continue that practice here at home. She likes us to hold hands and she leads us in prayer. It often goes something like this, "Thank you for this wonderful food and this beautiful Shire, Amen." This morning after saying "Thank you for this food, Amen" she said "I like praying. It is so calm and soft and fun."

The Knight

2010-06-14T06:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Matt and the Dust Bowl Cavaliers had a show at a folk event out at a state park in Malibu. It took place in an amphitheater where the sound was incredible and the audience ate it up. We stopped for burgers and milkshakes on our way home. All in all, it was a perfect day and then came the icing on the cake.

As we were driving home I saw this knight near a trash can with a bunch of other stuff. As we passed, I said, "Did you guys see that!" Matt turned around and we admired this unusual sight. "I want it! We can't let it get thrown away," I said. So we raced home (just another block or two) dumped Matt's bass, which takes up the whole car, and went back for it.

As I dragged it inside our house I was laughing wondering where the heck I was gonna put such an object. I told Nora Lee she could put it in her room and she said, "Really?!" So I put it in her room next to her bed and she decided he would watch over her and keep her safe in the night. He's not the full size of a man but he is about 5 feet tall and about 2 feet wide and made of thin metal. So cool!

As we were trying to come up with a name for him, Matt told her that his name should start with Sir...Nora Lee said, "How about Sir-vivor". We thought that was hilarious. Don't know if the name will stick but his first night in our home he was known as Sir-vivior.

Topanga Blue Grass Festival

2010-06-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Matt's blue grass band, the Dust Bowl Cavaliers, played at the Topanga Blue Grass festival last month. This festival is incredible and brings out all the best in this field of music. It takes place on Paramount Ranch in Malibu and incredible musicians play not only on stage but jams break out all over the place - under a tree, by the pizza stand, you name it. Its really fun to see!

The Dust Bowl Cavaliers were a big hit, no surprise, and we had a blast.

Hogarth

2010-06-11T07:25:00.001-07:00

Isn't he just adorable?! What a sweetheart and is madly in love with Nora Lee. He follows her around and sleeps in her bed.

Nora Lee

2010-06-11T07:00:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee is 3 and 1/2 now and so full of life. She loves playing with other kids and is completely obsessed with two things - Lord of the Rings and Into the Woods, the musical. Her Lord of the Rings passion came about after seeing Matt in a musical parody of Lord of the Rings called Fellowship about a year and a half ago. It was her first play and she went to a special rehearsal where young kids were allowed to attend. She was one of three children who lasted the entire play and the other two kids were about 8 years old. She LOVED it!

Flash forward a year and a half and she is still singing the songs and regularly wants us to act out the whole saga of Frodo's journey. She has been begging for a Frodo costume and here is what we have put together so far.

She still insists that she needs a wig and a cape with a hood. So, if any of you see one or know how to make a cape, let me know!! She is introducing herself to people these days as Frodo Baggins-Nora Lee. When she did that to an older gentleman at the park while with grandma he said, "Grandparents these days just dont get a say in what our grandkids are called!" To which my mom replied, "Oh, thats just her name this week." He shyly understood.

Her other love is the musical Into the Woods. For those of you not familiar with it, its an incredible show and one of my favorites. It focuses on a bunch of fairy tale characters who travel into the woods to find something that will make their lives better and then, the actual outcome. Nora Lee has seen the Broadway version on DVD and we listen to the soundtrack daily. She is getting quite good at the songs, which is no small feat I may add! We're trying to get video of her doing it.

She is having trouble finding other 3 years old who share her passions, but we are working on it. I also want to give her opportunities to perform, but those too are for older kids. She and Matt are going to a children's theater performance of Beauty and the Beast today and she is thrilled.

One day she asked me if she could have a popsicle and soak her feet - hilarious!

This image made me laugh so hard. Just a regular day watching a movie, wearing a gown...and a bicycle helmet.

Our Garden

2010-06-11T06:39:00.000-07:00

For those of you who haven't been to our house in a while, we have turned most of our front yard into a vegetable and fruit garden. We have three 10 x 5 wooden boxes on what used to be our front lawn. Two years ago I planted several fruit trees which are just starting to produce - peach, apricot, apple, fig, and lowquat. We have two old trees in the back, lemon and orange, which produce plentifully. I'm dreaming of adding grape vines and some berry bushes.

In the beginning of March we planted a bunch by seed but they were eaten by the squirrels. We've taught Nora Lee to shake her fist and holler, "Those darn squirrels!" It was the first time I tried planting directly into the ground rather than growing plants in tiny pots and transplanting them later. I really just provided a squirrel buffet for a few days.

In any case, I bought plants and replaced everything that had been eaten and began growing the following: zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, butternut squash and cucumbers. A few weeks ago we began harvesting the zucchini and cucumbers and are having a plentiful harvest, to say the least!

We are regularly bringing in bucketfuls of squash and cucumbers. I have made six loaves of zucchini bread and just shredded and froze enough zucchini to make 21 more loaves! I just began making chocolate, chocolate chip zucchini bread with cinnamon and walnuts. Delicious!!

Our tomatoes are on the way and I've just cleared out more space in the yard to grow more. We are having a blast!

Nora Lee's First Banana Split

2010-05-08T10:17:00.000-07:00

Last weekend Nora Lee and I spent the afternoon with her godmother, Clare. We walked around the sweet neighborhoods of South Pasadena and came upon an old soda shop. We decided to see what their banana splits were like. They were HUGE! I swear there was a pint of all three favors of ice cream. We didn't even get half of it eaten.

Money, toys, and Neck Cookie Young

2010-04-29T15:24:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago Nora Lee and I were in Target. She loves going through the toy section and I often will set my phone alarm for 10 minutes and let her look at all of the toys. We rarely buy anything but she has fun gazing at it all. On this particular day she really wanted a toy - a princess doll. These dolls are the size of Barbie but are a Disney princess like Belle or Cinderella. She really wanted one. So I asked her if she would like me to come up with some ways that she could earn money. She really liked that idea.

We left the store and I started thinking of tasks she could do -

Making her bed - 10 cents
Bringing her dishes to the kitchen - 10 cents
Setting the table - 10 cents
Sorting laundry - 50 cents
Sweeping the porch - 25 cents
Washing the windows (her favorite) - 50 cents
Vacuuming her rug - 25 cents
Mopping - 25 cents/room

Ultimately these are tasks that she will need to do just because she is part of the family, but being three years old, there are a limited number of things she can do. Nora Lee was very excited about earning money and was like a little Cinderella that day.

She had been given a piggy bank and at that time had started collecting loose change from around the house and raided our change jar. Because of this, it only took her a few days to gather up the $10 required to buy the doll. I don't know if it was good or bad that she got a reward so quickly. I was worried at first that it would take her so long to save up the ten bucks that she would be discouraged. But since it happened so quickly would she think earning $10 was a piece of cake?
In any case, we headed to Target where she joyfully picked out and paid for a Snow White doll. Success!

Nora Lee loves counting and Spanish. She is aching to learn more Spanish (she has actually learned quite a bit from watching Dora the Explorer) and we are looking for ways to make that happen. She can count to ten in Spanish and can count to 100 in English with some assistance. She understands that once you know how to count to ten you can count to 100 if you learn 20, 30, 40, etc.

After watching Sleeping Beauty she became obsessed with the number 100 (because Sleeping Beauty falls asleep for 100 years until the prince wakes her). This obsession has now turned into 1000. Let me explain what I mean. She uses 1000 to mean how much of something. For example, "I love you 1000 much" or like this morning when I asked her if her hands were messy she responded, "Just a tiny bit, like 1000 tiny bit messy."

Nora Lee has an imaginary friend that is her dog. Her name is Neck. Yes, that's right, Neck. The greatest name of all time. Her full name is Neck Cookie Young and she goes just about everywhere with us. We'll be in the house and all of a sudden Nora will say, "Oh no! Neck is pooping all over the house! I'll clean it up."

My favorite recent quote by Nora Lee: : "Mama, you are so still and calm. I love that about you mama."

Nora Lee, Photographer

2010-04-29T14:55:00.000-07:00

Nora Lee has always wanted to take photos and now she has her very own camera (a hand-me-down from Uncle Clay and Auntie Colleen)! She is delighted and took her first batch of photos this week. We told her to take pictures of whatever she thought was interesting or of things she loved. Here's what she came back with...

This ones not too bad. Maybe I should use it as my facebook photo which I have not updated in a century and in which I am holding Nora Lee at about 1 year old!

Her self-portrait

Matt and I have learned that it's a little tricky being models for a three-foot high photographer. We either have to bend down, squat or have a picture that accentuates our nose hair.

Boundaries

2010-04-28T09:01:00.000-07:00

In general Nora Lee has gone to sleep easily. We have a bedtime routine and then she falls asleep. In the last month we had some issues which were not actually related to sleep but to being a three year old and pushing boundaries. Nora Lee is also usually quite well behaved. She is kind and considerate and can be reasoned with. But we went through a period of real challenges. We are on the other side of it now but I wanted to share the process.

It started slowly with an occasional refusal to do what was asked of her - resisting going to the bathroom when asked or putting on shoes, etc. We started putting her in "time-out" more often and then it stopped working. She would laugh and leave time out like it was a game. Then we started taking away things like her piggy bank or a beloved toy. This quickly stopped working too. I was feeling very nervous because none of these tactics felt right and yet I really didn't know what to do. Over a few weeks this escalated to a refusal to stay in bed at bedtime. She would laugh and basically say that she was in charge and wasn't going to go to bed. Right as this began, Matt went out of town and I went to San Diego. This was a very challenging week and one where I learned a ton!

I had read an approach online where you don't engage with the child you just lift her back in bed silently and do that as many times as you need for them to see that your serious and they need to stay in bed. That night I spent an hour and a half waiting outside her door and catching her running out and putting her back in bed. I felt calm and determined. She finally fell asleep from exhaustion. The next morning she apologized for getting out of bed. She had rug burns on her stomach from sliding off the bed so many times and my arms were very sore from lifting her onto the bed so many times. I felt successful and hopeful about the next bedtime.

The next night I was at my mom's house and I tucked her in and she started that terrible laugh and said "I'm gonna get out of bed again." My heart sank because I could see that she was ready for the game again and that the night before had not asserted myself as the boss but as a playmate. She was ready to do it all again. I started to cry. I knew I couldn't do it again, I was still recovering from the night before. I told her how upset I was and how sad I was. She put her hand on my back and started rubbing my back. She said, "Poor sad mama. Sometimes I'm just not going to do what you want my to do."

I was lost. I had no idea how to proceed. I had lost control and didn't know how to get it back. I walked out to my mom and Dario crying. She followed me. I explained what was happening. Dario looked Nora Lee in the eye and pointed his finger at her. He didn't yell but was very firm and said, "You need to got to bed. You are being disrespectful. This is my house and my rules and you are breaking them." Her lip started to quiver. The game was over. He continued, "We love you very much but you wont be welcome here again if you disrespect us." She burst out crying. I said "Do you want me to take you to bed now?" She nodded and she cried in bed for a few minutes and then fell asleep.

This was a turning point for me because I realized that what I was doing was no longer working like it had in the past. Through talking with my family and soul searching, I realized that the last few years were about building love and trust between Nora Lee and I but this new phase required me to be in total control and for her to know that without a doubt. Instead of picking my battles, I needed to win every one of them. Things that seemed to be inconsequential meant something now. When she and I played princesses and she asked me who I wanted to be, if I said Snow White and then she said, "No I'll be Snow White you be Ariel. I would have to say, "No I'm Snow White."

The next morning more tests began and I knew I had to pass this time. We were having a tea party and it went like this:

Nora Lee: What kind of cream do you want?
Sara: I would like vanilla please.
NL: You can have vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate.
S: No, I want vanilla. ( I started to pretend to pour the vanilla.)
NL: You're pouring chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla!
S: No, Im pouring vanilla. This isnt fun for me. You asked me what I wanted then gave me what you wanted me to have. Im not going to play any more.

She began to tear up but I continued walking to the kitchen. I started making breakfast. Mom and Dario came in and we greeted. Nora Lee felt the dynamics shift and didn't like it. My mom started scratching my back and we hugged good morning. Nora Lee said "Dont scratch her back!" My mom laughed and said, "Are you the queen?" That made Nora Lee cry. About half an hour later at breakfast Nora Lee started to interrupt my mom and I firmly said, "You need to wait your turn to talk." She did.

It took several days and nights to establish control. I had to get extremely firm with her at night. I told her she had pushed me too far and I let her think I might have gone crazy. I even had to hold her down and hold her face so she would look me in the eye and know how serious I was.

She started to play the game in Target of running away. I warned her once that if she went where she couldn't see me then we would leave the store. She loved that game so ran away. I picked her up and left a full basket of things (bummer for me but it paid off). After a few days of this firmness she stopped pushing. She wanted to cooperate again.

When Matt returned home he had to establish the same control. She really responded to him telling her what a brat was and she really didn't want to be a brat.

We are feeling successful and in control now. I never knew Id have to get as scary forceful as I did those first few nights - I call myself Crazy Mama. But I haven't had to pull her out and I think if I do, then Nora will respond quickly. I hope so...

Travel

2010-04-28T08:49:00.000-07:00

There were entire fields full of wishes to make!

A camel stole my bucket!

A zebra right outside the window!

Grandma Donna and Nora Lee

VMI Parade

Grandpa Mike and Nora Lee

Military Parade at VMI

Grandpa Mike and Nora Lee

We just returned from spending a week in San Diego and then a week in Lexington, Virginia - all visiting family. Nora Lee did beautifully on the flight to and from the east coast. We only had one mishap when she fell in the toilet in the airport and bruised her leg. I was holding onto her and then lifted one of my arms so that I could grab the toilet paper. When I did, she fell in and started screaming "Mama you're hurting me!" Everyone in the bathroom (and outside the bathroom) were convinced I was torturing my child. When we finally got cleaned up and left the restroom Matt said, "What was going on in there!" Nora Lee dried her tears and said so sincerely to Matt, "Daddy, did that ever happen to you when you were little?" He lied and said yes.

Grandpa Mike and Grandma Donna live in a beautiful tiny town (about 7,000 people) in Virginia. It takes about ten minutes to drive into this town from where they live which is located in the Shenandoah Valley and absolutely stunning. Green everywhere and my personal heaven. We played in the yard and Grandpa Mike showed Nora Lee how to play golf, football and soccer. She even had her own sized golf clubs!

One of my favorite things on the trip was going to Safari Park. Incredible animals lived on acres of land and we got to drive our car through and feed them. They would actually stick their heads into the car! It was scary at times and totally thrilling!

We were in Virginia for five days and then we flew home. We ended up on an international flight with our own TVs and tons of movie choices. Nora Lee watched movies the whole way which was awesome. She got really tired near the end and fell asleep. Unfortunately we hadn't put her in a diaper so when we lifted her up to carry her out we realized she was sleeping in a pool of pee. Luckily the seats were leather and I got it cleaned up quickly and gave the flight attendant a heads up.

We are happy to be home and with Hogarth again. it was our first time away from him and all went well.

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star

2009-12-20T19:37:00.000-08:00

We shot this a month or so ago when Nora Lee still couldn't saw her "L's". Its so cute! Matt worked with her and now she says "little star" but its so fun to have this version on tape.

Hogarth Steps in For Santa!

2009-12-20T19:36:00.000-08:00

Nora Goes to Disneyland!

2009-12-20T19:24:00.000-08:00

Last week we took Nora Lee on her first visit to Disneyland. When we first arrived we sat down to a wonderful buffet breakfast where many of the Disney characters come visit you at your table. She met Minnie and Chip but was very nervous when Captain Hook approached us. I asked him to keep on goin' which he gladly did :)

After breakfast we visited Sleeping Beauty's castle which was a little scary for her. As we exited she said, "We are safe at last."

We then went on Peter Pan and Its a Small World, both of which she loved. We also got to take a princess tour and meet Ariel, Sleeping Beauty, and Jasmine. This was also a big hit.

The other exciting things were when she got to drive the car in Autopia and the candy store (Im still excited by that!)

After about four hours she was pooped and ready to go home again.

It was such a sweet day.

Santa

2009-12-20T19:21:00.001-08:00

Nora Lee met Santa the day after Thanksgiving. When it was her turn, she went up to him, looked him right in the eyes and said she wanted a new shirt, a lollipop, underwear and a wig. Santa got a heartbroken look on his face as he wondered if Nora Lee was a cancer patient wearing a wig. Mimi straightened him out and then, with a look of relief, he said, "So you'd like Halloween costume." Nora replied, "No, I want a wig!"

Thanksgiving

2009-12-20T19:14:00.000-08:00

We spent Thanksgiving here in Los Angeles at home and were delighted to have my mom and Dario and my in-laws, Lee and John come join us for the holiday. It was such a treat to have them all here! We cooked delicious food, sat around chatting, Matt played the banjo and we had a feast. The next day we did a little Christmas shopping and then decorated our house for Christmas. It was a blast!