Yard and garden!

Spring is exploding around here!



underneath the wisteria



overwintered rosemary - buds and blossoms



my rose bush



swamp mallow




wisteria


back row: (l-r) cilantro, jalapeño, strawberries, habañero,
middle row: spearmint, oregano, basil, parsley, thyme,
front: peppermint

Lettuces and cabbage, tomatoes and peppers toward the back

peppers and tomatoes


I've been having to clean under my fingernails again...and it feels good!

Javamom

Blog spring cleaning

I've begun a little spring cleaning on the blog, taking off old links, rearranging a few things and such. I'm doing this as I can interspersed with working at Hubby's school, teaching, taking ds to football carpool daily now, and wrapping up a semester at our hs co-op.

Thank you to my handful of visitors who stop by every once in a while! Some don't post comments and that is fine, since you e-mail me ;-). The purpose of this blog is not to stir up controversy or complain about the state of things. I post to keep family members and friends up to date with our family. I also post to share my latest research in teaching a foreign language or Charlotte Mason, especially when CM is associated with foreign language learning. As I've stated before, the researchers and practitioners that I read now go back to M. Gouin and his research, just as CM did @ 100 years ago! So much of what these FL teachers talk about on a weekly basis on our TPRS teachers' list are these things:

~ Telling Back aka Narration
~ Dictado or Dictee aka Dictation
~ presenting a short list of new words at a time
~ learning to read in context
~ speaking in the target language in context, such as a nature walk in the target FL

So, that is my area of joy and research these days, besides teaching three or four Spanish classes each week and also homeschooling, I stay pretty busy and am not able to post as much as I'd like. But maybe that will change in just a few weeks!

One thing I have added is a list of blogs of some of the ladies in my local CM book club. I have given up on the international AO blogring, because I can't get the html update to work and can't really access my account at RingSurf. I may start over again fresh this summer, but right now, I just don't have that kind of time.


Thanks again for continuing to stop by~

Javamom
Trying to keep things simple!

Currently listening to...

Because I am in a bit of a quirky and slightly wistful mood...I am loving this CD borrowed from Sparsebeard's co-worker and Spanish teacher friend.

The songs range from a lively, Latin flair to mellow and even haunting, with styles from classical to ballad to Latin, in languages from English and Spanish to French and Greek and more.

The group is comprised of a 14-piece group on vocals and instrumentals. I love it's international flair.

The song titles are: Amado Mio, No Hay Problema, Qué Sera Sera, La Soledad, Dónde Estás Yolanda, Andalucia, Song of the Black Lizard, Never on Sunday, Brazil, Lullaby (which I recognize from one of my favorite foreign films, "The Girl From Paris.")

Check out samples of the songs here.

I am absolutely loving it... :-)

Javamom

Fundraiser Music Video

Watch this video put to the song "Freedom Never Cries" from John Ondrasik's Five for Fighting. A dollar goes to Operation Homefront, a charity that assists troops and their families.

niece, cousin, sister and aunt of American troops and veterans,

Javamom

spring project completed!

I love spring projects!

extended spring break!

Our spring break has been spread out over two weeks, b/c our 19 yo surprised us with a visit from Omaha last week. I postponed one class till this week, which really is our official Spring Break from co-op and hubby's break from his school.

We've done some spontaneous things, like meeting friends in the city for ds to reconnect with them. We've invited groups over for lunch, rented Audrey Hepburn movies, and also put in our garden. We began prepping and priming the boys' room for new paint, then got a deluge of rain for about 24 hours, which slowed our progress.

Today, 14.5 yo ds and I are back to the painting, while hubby re-wires our sprinkler/septic system, which burned out under our deluge of rain earlier this week.

So instead of camping, which was our initial plan, we've taken care of some much-needed home maintenance things and spent time with family and friends.

All-in-all, a very productive and successful time so far!

What are you doing for spring break? Have any special Easter plans?

Around the Neighborhood

Resting and Recital

We had our first piano recital today, so Androcles and the lion got a good night's rest!



Today's recital was very sweet indeed. All the kids did such a good job! It gave our son the motivation to invite a friend next time. He really enjoys his piano lessons.


Javamom

Rare March Tx snow - again

You can barely see the boy stooping down to make a snowball.




Our second snow of the week, and a rare one, at that. The last time it snowed in March (besides earlier this week) was when our oldest was ten weeks old! The last time it snowed multiple inches in March was sometime in the early 1920's. We were all giddy about it here, and ended up getting a day off from our co-op the next day, because of icy traffic conditions early the next morning.

I spent a lot of the day in the kitchen, preparing cold-weather dishes like Vegetable Beef Stew and Black beans and rice, plus cornbread. Dd brought home hot, fresh bread from the bakery, after seeing a dollar movie with friends.

It was like playing hookie! I love the break from the regular routine.

Snowy Primary Eve

We experienced a late, winter wonderland last night between nine and midnight. What a treat!

But not to worry on primary day. It's almost all gone in typical Texas fashion. It's already sunny and will be about 58 degrees today.