24 September, 2006

Chores in Spanish

We had a very busy week, and a nice, relaxing weekend. I am fighting fall allergies, though, so I'm a little extra tired. I did make time to plan some Spanish lessons, in between church, symphony, and weekend movies.


Vamos a limpiar... - We're going to clean...
We will be making chore charts en Español, both at home and in my Jr. High homeschool co-op class. Es muy práctico, ¿no?

Here are some of the chores we will be using:


cortar el césped - to cut the grass
limpiar el cuarto - to clean the room
lavar la ropa - to wash the clothes
lavar el carro - to wash the car
hacer la cama - to make the bed
lavar los platos - to wash the dishes
secar los platos - to dry the dishes
lavar al perro - to wash the dog
planchar la ropa - to iron the clothing
pasar la aspiradora - to vacuum
pasar un trapo - to dust
preparar la cena - to prepare dinner
poner la mesa - to set the table
sacar al perro - to take out the dog
caminar con perro - to walk the dog

Sounds like a productive project, eh? The kids are making their own charts and doing their own work.


19 September, 2006

overheard about music in our CM bookclub

When reading a score of sheet music or in a hymnal, you want to know what key the song is in so that you'll know what key to play or what pitch to blow on the pitch pipe, or which tuning fork to use. I grew up singing hymns without instruments, and by shape notes. I knew that I was an alto by the age of 8. I was in multiple singing groups and classes growing up!

I was also in band from the fourth grade through college, playing the flute and bassoon, (and as an adult, vocals and percussion instruments with a band). This is a memory trick that was taught to me by my dad, who also taught whole youth groups to sight sing (a capella).

If there is one sharp in the key signature, the song is in G
If there are two sharps, the song is in D
three sharps - A
four sharps - E
five sharps - B
six sharps - F#
seven sharps - C#

So the memory trick sentnece is: God Destroyed All Earth By Flood, Charlie.

(do note that the sharps as they appear in order in the key sig. from left to right are: F#,C#,G#,D#,A#,E#,B# and you'd have to have a different device to remember that by)

For the flats in the key signature~If there is only:
One flat - the key of the song is in F
two flats - Bb
three flats - Eb
four flats - Ab
five flats - Db
six flats - Gb
seven flats - Cb

So the memory sentence is: For Being Evil And Disobeying God, Charlie.

(note that the flats appear in this order from left to right in the key sig. Bb,Eb,Ab,Db,Gb,Cb,Fb)

Of course, the key of C has no flats and no sharps. That you just have to remember on your own.

A neat interactive website for testing your key signature skills is
here.

(let me know if you see typos.)

Javamom

13 September, 2006

androcles & the lion


Too sweet for words!

...and it's a good thing, too...because this sweet child is the reason I got this:



In my 18 years of being a Mom, I must say that this is the worst one of these I've ever sustained. That is saying a lot, with three boys (four kids) in the house. Can you venture a guess as to the cause of this injury?? Virtual Toblerone (with hazelnuts!) to the first person who gets it right. Maria, will it be you??



09 September, 2006

Finally, The newest Mandolin!


The Dread Pirate Sparsebeard has another hobby, besides chile peppers. He plays the guitar and mandolin, and enjoys woodworking. He cuts, planes, sands, glues, bends, files, fashions, trims beautiful scrap wood, cuts inlay, and makes homemade instruments in his spare time. This is his newest finished project. He played it at the nursing home with his ChileMen buddies. Their band is called "Podnas," like 'Partners,' but with the play on green chiles and jalapeño peppers using the word "pod" in part of their name.



The mandolin, his fifth one to be exact, is made of Bois d'arc wood back and neck, Spruce top and a Mesquite wood fingerboard. The fret markers and headstock inlay are cut from the bones of an alligator that expired in Hurricane Rita last year near Galveston. The shooting star inlay piece on the headstock is out of ebony. (click to enlarge for better detail).

It has a lovely, rich sound that just resonates through the room!

08 September, 2006

~ Chile Men ~






Here are some photos of The Chile Men from their trip to bring back toe-sacks filled to the brim with Big Jim and Sandia from New Mexico. In all the photos, Hubby is on the far left. Mr. Medina, who is the patriarch of Medina Farms, is in the middle.

The chiles were perfect this year, as the temps were cool and the men had overcast skies the whole drive home. This kept the hundreds of pounds of chile cooler and fresher in the trailer.

I love the smell of the air when fresh Hatch Big Jim or Sandia chiles are being roasted on the grill!

04 September, 2006

Five Things...

I've seen this one on several sites, and decided to play along. It has been finished and waiting in another program for several days. I decided to post it on a day when I am busy prepping for my Spanish classes, not having time for any other writing at the moment.

I'm sure this reveals some very important things about me and my family. ~Smirk~

5 things in my freezer:

1. two 1/3 full smoothies! I assume someone was too full to finish them.

2. green chiles

3. extra coffee

4. brussels sprouts

5. ice and ice packs


5 things in my closet:

1. hidden gifts

2. too many clothes and old purses

3. my wedding dress

4. a shoe rack w/ shoes

5. some cool fabric


5 things in my car:

1. my tambourine and shaker, printed music

2. a small trash bag and mini-vac (b/c we have messy boys, and I'm messy, too)

3. bags of outgrown clothes, etc., for the second-hand shop (b/c we have boys)

4. a lint roller (b/c we have two cats)

5. some of my teens' mix CD's (b/c they don't want to listen to talk radio :-)


5 things in my purse:

1. Tiger Balm for my stiff neck and shoulders

2. an ink pen of turned bois d'arc wood made by my hubby

3. Neutrogena Moisture Shine lip soother, with spf 20; I don't wear lipstick

4. a short grocery list and receipt

5. a couple of my bookbinding tools


5 things in my wallet:

1. no cash or debit card, but lots of coinage

2. library card

3. driver's license

4. symphony ticket stub

5. my teacher ID card teacher discount cards


Five things on my computer desk:

1. Müsli cereal box from Estonia (finished up the last bowlful at my desk. My niece, who used to live there, brought it to me from her last trip there.)

2. a slide whistle

3. Plutarch, and a whole stack of books

4. Don Quijote (or maybe Cervantes?) resting up against a stack of books figurine / box from Southern México

5. coffee mug filled with pens/pencils



people I tag:

Feel free to participate in this one, if you'd like! No pressure. I don't want to encourage anyone to waste precious time!