The Fernbank

The Fernbank, a natural history museum in Atlanta, is what Jack refers to as his third favorite museum. His first being the natural history museum in New York and his second The Field Museum in Chicago.

Jack had been to The Fernbank before, on two other occasions with my mother-in-law, and is always asking to go back. So for his 8th birthday we made the quick drive to Atlanta where we met my mother-in-law and her stepdaughter's son for a fun-filled day.

The three-story museum, filled with dinosaur replicas and other pre-historic fossils and creatures that once dominated Georgia's landscape, has enough exhibits to keep you intrigued, but few enough so that you are able to walk through them more than once. It also has an indoor nature play area as well as a hands-on experiment station.

And because Jack requested a hot dog for his birthday meal, we drove to the world famous Varsity restaurant. The place was packed,  and this picture doesn't even begin to show the extent of it.

But it was SO worth it!

Chili dogs, onion rings, cheeseburgers, apple pies and ice cream were just part of our order.

And there was no way we could leave without the hats!

On The Nightstand

We've been reading, reading, reading around here lately.

For the Kids:
I have a 1960 copy of a folk and fairytale edition Childcraft book. It includes everything from Aesop's fables to classics like "Jack and the Beanstalk," "Rumpelstiltskin" and "The Princess and the Pea." Three of my favorites ended up being stories I'd never heard before: "Salt" (an old Russian folk tale), "The Fisherman and His Wife" and "Snow White and Rose Red" (who knew Snow White had a sister?). We finished this book just last night, and Jack is already asking to start it again. I'm so glad he's gotten into fairy tales. I had tried reading this book before, but gave up quickly when it was apparent he had no interest in the stories. I was beginning to think he was going to grow up and never have heard things like "Hansel and Gretel" and "The Three Billy Goats Gruff." This will serve him well this fall because fairy tales is the theme for his clay class this October.

We are also on the last chapter of "Robinson Crusoe." This read through with the children is my first time reading the classic novel. I put it on my list a couple of years ago when I read an article in which the author claimed to be forever changed by the adventurous story when his father read it to him when he was eight. Since Jack is fast approaching this milestone, I figured it was time to give it a try. How do I know he's taking it all in? Case in point: last night he was talking to someone about going on an adventure. His story was complete with a cave and a foot print, and he looked at me and said, "Like Robinson Crusoe mom!".

My Reading:
Anthony Trollope. Never heard of this Victorian author? Don't feel bad. I hadn't either until this summer. I came across an article about him and would have felt like a complete moron for not knowing about his work if the author hadn't made it clear that the name Trollope, unlike his counterpart Dickens, is a widely unknown name for such a popular novelist. I read "The Way We Live Now" and am looking forward to spending more time with his works this fall.

"The Well-Trained Mind" had been on my list since spring. As a homeschooling mom I'm always looking for solid content related to both practical and rigorous study and the ways to go about presenting content with my own children. I was initially intimidated by some of the suggestions, then I sat down and looked through some of the material recommended in the book and realized it was exactly the direction I wanted to go. The book is broken into grades 1-4, 5-8 and 9-12. I stopped at the end of the 1-4 section, because let me tell you, that was a whole lot to absorb. I'll make my way to the later grades once we get there.

Displaced

For four days last week we found ourselves displaced.

Ok, so maybe displaced is too strong of a word. It would be more accurate to say we stayed with my grandmother for four days across town while we had hardwood floors installed throughout our home.

We bought our home nine years ago as a new construction. At the time it seemed perfect. But what is it about time spent in a house that makes so many of its features become glaringly lacking?

For several years I had been telling, or should I say warning, my husband that I wanted hardwood.

"I like carpet" was always his reply.

Then a year ago we got a dog, and I was more convinced than ever that all the carpet downstairs had to go. It was constantly stained and no matter how much cleaning we did it was just plain gross.

There were also pieces of tile that began to bulk. We found a guy to come fix it, or so we thought, but he patched it up and never returned to finish the job.

At this point I became tired of trying to convince my husband and started making calls.

After several no shows and a hard time tracking down anyone in town that would do the job, I took the recommendation of a neighbor and found someone reliable.

We originally had hardwood in our dining room, but it wasn't quite the color I was envisioning for the whole downstairs.

 Here is the updated result.

They ran the wood longways throughout the entire downstairs, excluding the bathroom where the tile remains, and I definitely think it feels like it opened the house up and gives the impression of more space.

It took a lot of work on our end to get the house ready for the installation. While the men installing the wood moved all the heavy furniture, we had to remove all breakables, pictures off the walls and everything out of the closets before their arrival. This is what our upstairs bonus room looked like after that:

I knew we would have a lot of work in store for us putting everything back up when we returned home, but there was one bit of information - and it's a REALLY big bit of information - that no one saw fit to pass along to me. And that is the amount of dust we would be cleaning up upon or arrival back home.

By dust I mean so much gritty, grimy covering in E-VE-RY room of the house that my father-in-law had to come over with heavy powered equipment yesterday to help us tackle the walls, the curtains and every nook and cranny in between. It took me four wipe-downs of the kitchen to get the counters and appliances clean. I also had to wash every single dish, pot and pan because the dust seeped into closed cabinets. 

On the bright side, not only does the floor look fantastic, but I get to do some rug shopping! I was super excited last week as I browsed the rug collection on Joss & Main's website. It will likely take several months to acquire all we need because I'm going to have to spread the expense across multiple credit card payments, but I'm eager to add color and design to our new floors.

ASF & BCT

"All the world's a stage."
          -William Shakespeare

The initials in the title of this post stand for the names of two theater companies here in Alabama. The first, ASF, is the Alabama Shakespeare Festival located in Montgomery. The second, BCT, stands for Birmingham Children's Theater in Birmingham. We've visited both in the past eight days.

We took my 80-year-old grandmother with us to see "The Little Mermaid" at the ASF last week. Even though I've been to ASF multiple times, I still had to rely on the GPS to get us there. And we got so turned around because it was trying to send me in the back entrance, which I didn't know existed, that the lady on the phone was yelling at me about being late when I called to tell her my dilemma. Luckily, we got there with 20 minutes to spare before curtain time.

Today we drove to Birmingham. Our sweet baby sitter from last year, who has now graduated from college and moved back home with her parents in Birmingham, met us at the BCT for a rendition of the Gingerbread Man, which BCT titled "The Gingerbread Boy." We enjoyed lettuce wraps and eating with chop sticks afterward at PF Changs, one of my favorite places to go when in Birmingham.

American Girl Doll - Chicago Style

Early Saturday morning we walked the seven blocks from our hotel to 835 N. Michigan Ave. We stood outside the store while I showed Matt how to use the Uber app so he and Jack could catch a ride to and from the Field Museum.Then the two of us girls headed inside for our first American Girl Doll experience.

True, there are at least two American Girl Doll locations closer to where we live. But years ago when we were in Chicago I knew it would be where we would come back for Mattie when we finally decided to take the American Girl Doll plunge.

It was a girlie girl's paradise!

Saturday was Mattie's 4th birthday, and it was well worth the time and the expense for the experience.

She checked out every corner and crevice of the two-story store.

She played here and there throughout the store.

She picked out her doll whom she promptly named "Mattie."

Then the two of us enjoyed lunch with her "Mattie" doll. We ate cinnamon rolls as a starter, had a plate of grapes, carrots, broccoli, corn dog muffins and pretzel sticks with cheese as our first course, we both picked pasta with chicken for our main entree and ended with chocolate mouse and cupcake for dessert.

We had the most fun talking all fancy and using the word fabulous over and over again. And we giggled our way through the meal, the way girls do.

July is for De-cluttering

We homeschool year round - with one slight deviation.

JULY!

We take a break from our normal routine, except for reading, and I use the time to clean out and re-organize.

So far I've tackled the kids' rooms, including their closets. I almost feel like closets deserve their own status because so much piles up in them.

Last week I needed the assistance of both children to take on the upstairs. That's the lego haven, as well as a major clutter zone. I finally finished it up today. Included in that was organizing all of Jack's art work from the past year, complete with descriptions that his amazingly talented art for homeschoolers teacher provides at the end of every quarter.

Tomorrow it's on to the clean up of our school cabinets. I'm hoping to have the laundry room completed by Tuesday, because on Wednesday we head out on a road trip for Mattie's birthday adventure!

When we return I still have our bedroom closet, the medicine cabinet, all the windows and a few miscellaneous tasks on the agenda before we have hardwood floors installed downstairs the first week of August.

It feels somewhat counterproductive to think about all this organizing right before our house gets turned upside down. But I know once we start back to school, and a new semester starts at the university where I teach, any sort of mass overhaul is out of the question. That's why for me, July is for cleaning up and cleaning out.

A Confession

I don't like going to the library with my children.

There, I've said it. (Can you hear the exhale?)

Here's the thing: I love books. I love the library. I most certainly love my children.

It's just I don't find the library an enjoyable experience anymore.

When Jack was a toddler you'd find us at story time every week. Even back then there were some things I felt were left to be desired, but the guilt I felt about thinking negatively about the library, a place where the love of books and reading run supreme, compelled me to keep my thoughts to myself and to persevere in our weekly visits.

When Mattie came along it got harder to keep the routine. I promised myself I'd take her when she got older. For two summers we tried story time. Last year I gave it up.

Part of my feelings stem from the difficulty locating books on the shelves.

Another frustration, at least with story time, is how little you can hear of the actual story because of the noise and chaos that always seem to ensue.

A constant sore spot is how often we bring home books we never read; I say yes to random books pulled off the shelves because what kind of mother tells her child no when it comes to library books??? Then we get home and immediately discard them until its time for their return.

Yet another aspect is that one child wants to do one thing while the other child wants to do something else. This inevitably leaves one of the two pouting or angry when we leave.

And don't even get me started on what feels like a lack of help or interest on the part of the librarians in the children's section at our library.

Until a couple of weeks ago I thought this was something better left unsaid. I had never heard anyone else express thoughts like this. Then I had some conversations with friends expressing the same feelings, and I also listened to a Read-Aloud-Revival podcast where one of the guests talked about her own, as well as others, feelings about venturing to the library with young children.

I knew I was not alone.

Part of what I've tried to do the last couple of years is to create our own home library so that quality stories are always at our fingertips. We've amassed a decent collection. In fact, I was talking to my husband a few weeks ago about the possibility of having additional shelves built for our bedroom because we need more space for books!!!

All of this might lead you to believe I've nixed going to the library.

Quite the contrary.

I just make it a point to go by myself. I pick out the books ahead of time and make a quick run inside. My favorite part is checking out, especially with two particular librarians. They are always so inquisitive about my choices and offer great suggestions for future reads.

And its when I get home from the library that the magic happens: the reading of the books themselves and the total immersion into the stories they weave.