I Am

My friend Kathy posted an "I Am" poem challenge on her blog a few days ago, and I felt like this would be a good exercise for me, as a writer with a serious case of writer's block and as a person who has a tendency to bottle up her feelings.

I Am

I am a nomad and an adventurer.

I wonder where I will go next. 

I hear the world calling my name. 

I see beauty in every corner of the globe. 

I want the freedom to go and to keep on going. 

I am a nomad and an adventurer. 

I pretend I can leave on a whim. 

I feel enamored with locations I have never seen.

I touch the land, the sky, and the sea.

I worry about unchanging scenery. 

I cry when mundanity stretches before me. 

I am a nomad and an adventurer. 

I understand that travel changes me for the better. 

I say life's too short to be lived in one place. 

I dream of having new experiences.

I try to keep a trip on the calendar.

I hope to see more of this amazing world. 

I am a nomad and an adventurer. 

If you want to try your hand at introspection and self-expression, I am including the template for the poem below. I encourage you to think about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard and explore the depths of who you are. Make it a family exercise and a topic for discussion around the dinner table. Try it multiple times, changing your roles each time. Play around with it, and have fun. Keep it private if you want, or be bold and share it in the comments here or in your own public space. 

Happenings

There hasn't really been any one day since my last post that seemed worthy of its own post, but added together, the last few days have been pretty noteworthy. (Our Internet became pretty sketchy later in the week, and it just wasn't worth messing with, even if there had been a day deserving of its own post.) In case you're curious, there follows a list of things that have happened since my last post. Fair warning, I will be bragging on my amazing kids here, so if you aren't into that, feel free to skip the first half.

• Weston finished his 5th grade Math book, answered all the test questions out of the next book, and will be starting Pre-Algebra tomorrow. 
• Max finished his 2nd grade Grammar book, and we have started reading through Grammar-Land, which he (and all the kids) love and is a great way to reinforce some of the skills he learned in this last book, before we move on to the 3rd grade book.
• Weston finished reading the last of the Harry Potter books.
• Max finished reading the 5th book in the Narnia series and started the 6th (out of 7).
• The boys and I finished The Story of the Word: Volume 1, completed our studies of the countries we will visit on our RTW trip, and started The Story of the World: Volume 2.
• Ruth has been working her tail off studying for the SAT (the real-deal SAT, not the grade-level test she takes at the end of every school year), which she will take on Dec. 5, in France, to see if she qualifies for a special program Johns Hopkins offers for Jr. High students. We have been very impressed with her dedication and with her performance on the practice tests. 
• Clay learned the vowels and a few new word sounds and spent some time reading some new-to-him words.
• We had our landlords over for a visit. Like many of the owners of rentals we've stayed in on this trip, they are well-traveled and had some fascinating stories to tell of their adventures.
• My sister's house was hit by a tornado and destroyed, but, thankfully, she and her two kids, who were inside at the time, made it out safely! 
• I had an initial consultation appointment with the dentist in Dublin who will install the permanent crown for my missing front tooth. I don't believe I've ever been so excited about a dental procedure!
• We watched the ridiculous first half of the Aggie game, and then our Internet gave out. It was good to see some positive things happening on offense, for a change. If we could just get the offense and defense to both show up in the same games, it would be fantastic. We were relieved to learn that the Ags managed to pull out the victory in the end! 
• My hubby had (actually, is having) his birthday. We took him out to lunch at a fun little tavern called The Strand and then went for a walk on the beach.
• We made up limericks as we drove away from Limerick. It was pretty awesome! Not to mention VERY silly!
• We relocated. We are now in the south of Ireland, in a tiny beach town called Duncannon. Our lovely townhouse is perched just above the beach, and the view is amazing! We will be here for 27 days, making this the longest stop of our entire trip. 

Our Duncannon home

The view from the front of the house

The kids were enamored with this rainbow sculpture near the beach.

Birthday lunch at The Strand

The birthday boy chose the berry crumble for dessert.

But, I opted for a latte and the sticky toffee pudding

Clay insisted on a picture with the ice cream "statue."

This will be the boys' playground for the month. They (and I) couldn't be happier!

Pure Poetry

So much in homeschooling, as in life, is trial and error. We try something, and if it doesn't work, we try something else. And, we keep on doing that with every kid, until we hit upon something that works, which may not be the thing that worked for another kid. My kids are all brilliant (of course!) but sometimes, I will admit, I do feel like I am beating my head against a wall, trying to put knowledge into their heads. Last week, Weston got into the poetry lessons in his Grammar book, and I can tell you there were real tears as we tried to work through the lessons in the book. It wasn't pretty. And, I knew that game plan wasn't going to work. I was wishing (but not really) that he was old enough to relate to the scene in Dead Poets Society, where Robin William's character proclaims that "Language was invented for one reason, boys - to woo women - and, in that endeavor, laziness will not do..." But, then I realized, that, though Weston may not be old enough to care about wooing women yet, there is another love in his life that I might be able to use to the same end: sports. So, I tracked down a copy of "Casey at the Bat." With all my hopes of teaching rhythm and rhyme resting on this one tool, I stepped up to the plate. The subject matter was instantly tantalizing to my sports-minded student, and by the time we were done with class, he was begging me to let him read it "one more time" and to rewrite the ending to make it "better." Truly, it felt like a homeschool home run. It doesn't happen every day, but I'll take my victories where I can get them.

Inspired by the weather

Rainbow in my Heart

by Mandi Watts

Today I chased a rainbow,
For I knew it could be seen.
Though clouds and rain filled up the sky,
The sun still shed its beam.

There had to be a rainbow
Lurking under all the drear,
So I scanned the whole horizon,
Looking far and near.

The sun gave a smile, the clouds did wink,
The raindrops made to part.
And to my surprise I found that rainbow
Unleashed inside my heart.

A poem by Ruth

Ruth wrote this poem for me earlier this week and left it on my bathroom counter for me to find. I love that kid!

Mothers

Mothers are funny, 

Mothers make me laugh.

Sometimes they are stern, 

Other times, well, silly.

Mothers are different. 

Mothers are the same. 

But I like my mother

How she is.

by Ruth Watts

She writes like a champion

Dreams

Sometimes I dream of cheetahs

Galloping after a gazelle.

I also dream that I'm riding a horse

Fast across the sand.

There are even times when dreams are scary,

And I wish they would leave me alone.

Sometimes dreams rock like a baby's cradle,

And that makes me happy.

Sometimes, my dreams are lonely or sad. 

There are times when dreams remind me of trees or giraffes

That are so, so high.

Sometimes, they remind me of the beach, 

With rolling waves, soft sand, pleasant sun and seagulls soaring overhead.

I don't know what dreams are to you, 

But I hope they make you happy.

Ruth's assignment for Writing Class today was to brainstorm words and phrases that come to mind upon hearing the word "dream," and then to write a poem using some items off her list. She wrote the above poem, which I think is beautiful. But, since we haven't worked much on the pre-writing process, and because she is my daughter, she actually used the brainstorming time to write another poem, which is at least as good as the final draft (in the humble opinion of the mom/writing teacher). It's no wonder the girl has the state champion title for creative writing!

Dreams (Pre-Writing Exercise)

Sometimes, dreams remind me of cheetahs,

Other times turtles.

On other occasions, they remind me of giraffes,

Looming up, up, up.

Sometimes, they're black, blue, green, even red!

There are times when they rock. 

There are days when they are happy, sad, lonely or mad.

Sometimes, I wish dreams would leave me alone. 

There are times when I dream that I am riding a horse,

Fast as the wind.

Sometimes they are scary.

They remind me of the beach.

A poem by yours truly, inspired by by real life

Sleepless Love

A mother may close her eyes in prayer
Or even in a blink.
But a mother never really sleeps;
This is what I think.

In a moment a child is born,
A new awareness, too.
For a mother may be needed
At four or three or two.

Only she can wipe a nose
Or chase away bad dreams,
With soothing words or gentle touch--
Whatever that night deems.

She may grumble in the morning
And take her coffee black.
But she would not neglect her post
Just to have a few winks back.