Open thread

What are we up to? Finding a groove that includes an almost mobile baby. Getting outside again. Practicing respect toward one another and learning to collaborate again. Multiplication tables. Girl Scouts. Guitar learning. Story writing. Learning all about the development and running of a restaurant (I'm looking forward to recipe testing- especially desserts!). Planning a fall garden. Making quilts and softies and fall clothes. Reading on the new Kindle. Considering a curriculum that will provide some flexible structure for the one who needs it. Hoping we're moving back home soon and eying all of our belongings to see what will make the cut. Taking a trip to LA next week and going to the beach and the Getty and the tar pits, as well as hanging out with the biggest sister. Clearing away the clutter - both mental and physical. Breathing. Simplifying. Enjoying each other and where we are right now. Wishing there was more sleep for me and less (at least less late) for the kids.

Now that I write it down, it looks like a lot. How about you?

Ha! It does look like a lot when written down, but most days it's relaxed and proceeding at its own pace. I have to admit that Girl Scouts day really messes up my rhythm but she loves it.

I love that you were willing to give up the closet to the animation studio. We don't have a closet with natural light.

Some food network is watched around here, but I think the interest was spurred by his time at the bakery this summer and by the restaurant game on Facebook.
Right now he's planning everything - he made a list of the different aspects of opening and running a restaurant, and he's designing the physical space right now. I love this project because it involves everything he loves - food, design, space arrangement, organizing everything, etc. and it stretches him in a lot of ways. Annika is still working on her farm project, and she plans to be his food supplier.

I am super excited about potentially moving back home - it would mean the world to all of us. We should find out in the next couple of weeks - it's taking a long time to work out but if it happens, it'll be so worth it. Remind me of that when I complain about the rain. :)

I need to post pictures of the revamp of the kids' dedicated spaces. It has helped a ton in their working together. I'm sure a dedicated animation studio would be very popular around here, too!

We are wrapping up our Greek Mythology theme with a Fall dress up party next weekend. I am making Greek costumes for the kids, one will be Zeus, one Poseidon and the littlest will be Athena or Persephone most likely.
The second batch of cousins that have lived next door since May, moved yesterday. The next few weeks will involve getting into a new routine and discovering new interests. Glad Fall is here to help!
Love the idea of the animation studio and you are one cool family to give up your ONLY closet. Looking forward to the progress report and the animation that comes out of it!

I am really starting to watch my son, who is almost 3, at his play. Haven't found a way to journal it simultaneously. As soon as I start he wants to know what I'm doing/wants the pen for himself and it breaks his concentration for what he was doing. This morning he was doing a little coloring on postcards to send to Grandma and Papa. When he was done, the beeswax block crayons turned into building materials. And then he colored a little with markers, but then when I asked him to put the caps back on, it became this whole game about fitting all the markers together in one big line. Definitely into building more than the coloring. :)

He is very much a kid that wants to be doing whatever you're doing all the time(I cannot cook without him by my elbow. Neither can my husband do anything with any kind of tool without him right in the middle of the project) or else is constantly asking "Mummy will you help me with this?" Which really means he wants me to participate with him. I know he is still very young, but I can't see him ever working independently. How do you lay the foundation for this kind of project work at this young an age with a child with this kind of personality?

Well, I'm a little late to the party, but since the party still seems to be going...

Remember that quote I sent you a few weeks back? Isn't it a little uncanny how it mirrors the Wright quote?

"By believing passionately in something that still does not exist, we create it. The nonexistent is what we have not sufficiently desired." --Nikos Kazantzakis

Anyway, you already know what I've been up to because you have so kindly offered your ear lately...My youngest is fascinating me, yet again, with his tendencies to take a straightforward idea and tweak it to his liking. First he wanted to make a timeline of ancient history, based on The Story of the World, which we've been listening to. But about three minutes after he came up with that idea, he decided that it would be much more interesting to make a timeline of his own invented world. Then a few days later, he got all worked up about the idea of making a plaster map of the Nile, after seeing something similar in a book. But after about thirty seconds, he decided that it would be much more intriguing to make a plaster map of his own invented world.

Do you see a pattern here?

I've been thinking a lot about this. What's interesting is that years ago I might have thought that doing these activities with T's invented world, rather than <i>real</i> places would have been somewhat less educational and valuable. But seeing how immersed and creative my kids get with these self-devised projects has changed my mind about all that. I'm writing a post on my own blog that will try to dissect why I think that is.

But I will say this: watching my kids animate something from their own minds is not only interesting for them; it's utterly fascinating for me.

Something interesting that's happening here is my biggest boy (8) has decided to teach an art class to his friends in our backyard one afternoon a week. He's just started an art class with a local artist which is what got him thinking about it, and he wants to share the joy. The weather is getting warmer (we're on the east coast of Australia) hence the backyard idea. The biggest learning experience here so far is for me: how to stand back, offer suggestions only when asked for, not interfere, not suggest subjuct matter/format etc...and then see what happens. So far a couple of his friends are keen.
Other than that we're watching beans seeds shoot up and baby basils resist the wind...I'm amazed at all the things Sarah is up to- I feel positively stagnant by comparison!

Hi Lori! What am I up to... enjoying my youngest, who just turned two. I enjoy her immensely. I spend a lot of time playing Truck, which is her current favorite game. The boys are loving school, still, and our local district is doing everything it can to limit choice, giving hs'ers a hard time and refusing to pay for charter school students. I'm being inspired by a recent family workshop at the local art museum, and figuring out how to make better use of our art space. I'm realizing the resources I want aren't online, and I'm considering blogging again, to provide it. (The old hs'er adage: if you don't see what you want, create it!) I'm amazed that you seem to be the only Reggio Emilia-inspired blogger out there. That's more or less what I'm up to. ;)

Hi Lori;
I am missing your thought-provoking posts.
And any updates on your book? Is it coming soon?!
Mags
(Australia)