Recovery

Ahhh.. Things are eerily quiet right now, considering it's only 8:11 PM and there are eleven children in this house once again.

Lily (12) and Miriam (11) are the two in hats.

The dryer is running, the hot water heater is recovering from a few hard hours of showers and laundry, and tomorrow's potluck meal is simmering in the crock pot.

This year's Lichenville

My children are lying in bed exhausted, their duffle bags and sleeping bags are lying helter-skelter in the upstairs hallway awaiting a trip to the attic, and somewhere at the very edge of these children's emotional thresholds lie the fresh memories and ruminations of another Science Camp week completed.

Benjamin (14), modeling the latest in camp headgear

We have heard little about what transpired this past week. Our oldest four were visibly subdued and fragile this afternoon as we traveled home over the three mountains ("It's the top of the first hill...it's the bottom of the first hill...only two more to go...").

For some, it was the thought of friends that they will not see for another year. For others, it was the thought of friends whose last year was this one, and the question of whether they will ever be seen again.

I had to steal Lily's camera after she went to bed to try to get an idea of what went on at this year's camp. (To be fair, it *is* my camera so perhaps it's not stealing, after all. Just borrowing back.)

There were numerous pictures of blue-bedecked buddies making crazy faces from tire swings, and lichen and mushrooms and science experiments in various stages of bloom, and a couple of videos of children of varying ages out in the remote countryside having the time of their lives.

That made me happy.

But this, too, made me happy: two pictures of home, taken before she left. Pictures she could look at to remind her of others she loves, of other bosom buddies and roommates and ones with which to laugh and giggle.

Eden (9) and Ada (4). If you took out the carpet, this could be a camp picture!

A reminder that action awaits them here at home, too.

So we'll give them time to rest up and find their emotional footings, and we'll air their sleeping bags and sneakers and put away their toothbrushes, and then, I'm quite sure, we'll hear all about the nicknames and the food and the songs and the silliness.

But for tonight, I hear only the dryer.

Camp 2016

Monday we dropped our oldest four off at Science Camp. These are the pictures I got from then:

So, for anyone who is counting, that's exactly one picture with any of my Science Camp kids actually in it (the bottom picture: the two girls in hats are mine). Mostly this is because from before our van doors even opened, we were surrounded by eager campers who gave their Siren call to our children and whisked them away, pillows and sleeping bags and duffle bags and hats and all, to waiting cabins and friends.

They didn't even say, "Goodbye." And we couldn't even find them when we left, so we didn't say, "Goodbye," either.

Which is how it should be at summer camp.

This week is the highlight of my children's lives. Those who are old enough (10 and older) count down the days from the end of one camp to the start of another. And those who are not old enough cannot WAIT until they are.

It has been quiet here at home. It's strange to see the dynamics shift a bit when the Olders are not here...the 9yo and 8yo seem older and more capable, and the 6-year olds and 4yo and 3yo (yesterday! Zebby is 3!) content themselves with playing with one another and bringing the clingy 1yo to me. Again.

A friend stopped by with pizza yesterday and one of the children asked, "How many days until Science Camp is over?"

"Three," I said.

"You must miss your older brothers and sisters," said my friend.

"Not really!" was the overwhelming response. "It's nice and different without them here. And the house stays cleaner!"

This bit about the house is true, and I haven't quite figured out why. Certainly the laundry and meals are much easier...but that's simple to figure out. My four largest eaters and biggest laundry-wearers are missing.

I'm so glad for this week and what it does for all of my children. The Olders come back a little teary-eyed and full of stories and memories and addresses of friends and usually begin right away to continue researching this year's camp topics (Fungi are on the list this year...I am a little nervous).

The younger children enjoy their stint of being the "oldest" around the house and having more of my attention ("Hello, 3yo washing your chicken-poop covered Crocs in the bathroom sink, I see you..."). But by the end of the week, they are also ready to have the Bigs back and hear the mesmerizing tales of late nights at camp and what food Grandma (the camp chef) prepared and what nicknames everyone got this year. And, of course, last year there were the plant presses and learning all about wildflowers, and the year before that there were bugs galore to find and put in the freezer, and goodness only knows what fungus experiments there will be to undertake this year...

Birthday and Bats and Blah Blah Blah

So Jonathan turned two yesterday. Two! It seems like he's been two for a while now, and not much about him seemed much different than the day before. Although I am realizing that I will have to do some potty-training in the next few months, the thought of which surprisingly brings very little emotion. I remember dreading it with Benjamin, being amazed at how early I was doing it with Lily (she insisting on climbing on the potty and going - backwards - at 18 mos.), and laughing at how easy it was to do with Abraham and Miriam (appoint Ben and Lily as personal coaches and reward the pee-er AND the coach for success). I don't even remember doing it with Eden, but she is potty-trained, so I know it happened.




Anyway, Jonathan's two. His favorite thing to say right now is, "I DIDN'T" even when he did or when he was supposed to ... as in, "Jonathan, stay in bed." "I DIDN'T."

Or the time he came to the door of Ethan's study with brown and green marker all over his face and hands, looked at his hands, looked at us, and said, "I DIDN'T." The marks on his face begged to differ. Ethan held him up to a mirror, where he blanched, paused, and then reiterated, "I DIDN'T."

He's a silly little guy. He has a really advanced sense of humor (which means he thinks I'm funny) and rarely (read: never) takes me seriously. We enjoy hearing his chatter and spot-on mimicry of the other children. And he has this strange ant fascination. He will drop to the ground to watch an ant closely, and when I hear him crying only to find an ant biting his arm and then go to help remove the ant and squish it, I am rewarded by a, "No, Mama! Bad Mama! Bad Mama!"




In other news, we moved out of the large upper (air-conditioned) conference room because there was a conference last week, and we are now staying in a cabin. And I am so glad, because thirty to forty bats have decided to inhabit the Upper Room. Their numbers are diminishing, though, due to the combined efforts of Kenley the Caretaker, Ethan, and a Large Rat Snake. The last left a slimy pile of fur and bat wings surrounded in foam on the floor of the Upper Room. Ethan used this as an excuse to throw in an extra science lesson for the kids, and I used this as an excuse to GET THE REST OF OUR STUFF OUT OF THERE PRONTO HURRY UP AND SHAKE IT ALL HARD!!!

Ewwww.

And the last news is that we are working with a new lender who looks a little more promising. We've turned in the conditions they've requested, and we should know in the next few days whether they say go ... or no.

And that's all for tonight.

Science 101

Toad using Turtle as a lily pad:



The well-researched terrarium (thanks to the impulse purchase of a used copy of Hillcourt's Field Book, which Ben finds indispensable):



Just when I'm feeling especially negligent about my children's learning and schooling, along comes (providentially, I'm convinced) a tutor to live with us for a week. Not only did she instruct through her instinctual affection for the natural world, she fixed meals, dressed children and brushed their teeth, put little ones down for naps, and played wholeheartedly with all from dawn to dusk.

Last weekend, friends from our last church (my Very Good Friend Sue) came camping here to try out their new-to-them camper. They went home on Sunday but left their oldest daughter here for the week.

Kay found a large tupperware container, which was quickly turned into a terrarium. By day's end, two toads (one red, one brown), a turtle, and a lizard named Kenley were munching happily on grasshoppers.

Kayleen (or Kay-la-leeeeen, as Edee says) is at her house now. But she's welcome back anytime!

Right Thar's a Bar!

So, actually, I have quite a few things to post about. Time and little ones in need of direction dictate that I pick the most interesting thing and limit myself to that for now.

Yesterday, on the way home from a day in town and celebrations for Abraham and Miriam's birthday, we were driving along the curvy roads towards the retreat center. I was listening to the second Harry Potter audiobook (and the reader is just THAT GOOD) while trying to ignore children bickering over presents and the occasional baby whimper.

All of the sudden, I felt the van swerve and heard Ethan say, "Look! Look! Look!"

And right there in the field next to us, not more than twenty feet away, was a black bear.

Finally! We've been waiting for so long to see one! The children have been fascinated by the mangled birdfeeder here at the retreat center, desperately hoping to get to see a bear. And here we were, 3.4 miles from the entrance to the center.

I scrambled for the camera (and by "scrambled," I mean I shouted desperately, "ETHAN! WHERE'S THE CAMERA?? WHERE'S THE CAMERA?? WHERE'S THE CAMERA?? FIND THE CAMERA!!!!!!") and then tried to take some pictures. Unfortunately, someone's desperate shouting made the bear move farther away, but we did get a few pics. The interesting thing was that there were 5-10 deer not far from the bear, just munching away and looking around. They didn't move until I was yelling about the camera. Apparently Crazy White Female Spazzing Out is scarier than Natural Predator.

The children all saw the bear. And this MADE THE DAY for Abraham and Miriam. Turning five was a hit!

Now Posting to Blogger

Just a note to let you know I've switched from www.homeschoolblogger.com/deovolente to this address with blogger. I couldn't figure out all the switches homeschoolblogger made when they went to wordpress, and I don't have the time to figure it out. As it is, I spent most of the time I should have been sleeping last night working on this blog. So we'll see.

What else we have been up to:



Gideon nursing as always, this time on his sister's elbow:




I am carrying two babies in this wrap. Gideon is hidden behind Salem, but he's the one nursing on my finger. Because he's ALWAYS. NURSING. What is it with boys?

Rocks and Hair Things and Salamanders

That's a list of the recent things found in pockets around here. The rocks and hair things ended up on top of the dryer, and the salamander ... well, Miriam found him in Eden's pocket, and I'm not sure whether he was washed and dried or if he dehydrated naturally. But I directed that he be thrown ceremonially into the woods and not left in the pocket. I can only take so much.

These last days have been full of amphibians, rain, and mud-speckled shower floors. We have only five more days until we close on the house (Lord willing!) and we are READY.