The Wine-Dark Sea

My gang, enjoying today’s beautiful weather. Is it February or April?

1. So our Valentines Day was very nice, though low key. Dom brought me flowers and chocolates and a card…. and BBQ take-out because I totally lost it over figuring out what to do for dinner. The kids and I made Valentines cards. Or I tried to make one. When Dom came home mine was still unfinished. Not that he minded at all.

Paper dolls, Bella style.

2. After a while though Bella got bored with pasting hearts on paper and began to make her own creations. She brought me an “outfit” that she had made.

A beautiful bride!

A tall yellow dress form with arms and blue shoes. She told me it was a wedding dress. Later she added a blue head and a blue veil that was longer than the dress. Then she drew a face on it and added a heart sticker.

Bride doll with veil

She also made a black bridesmaid with green high heels. And a family, mom, dad, and children that never got heads.

Bridesmaid with green high heels

Sophie’s children

Sophie made some people too, figures cobbled together with little scraps of red paper.

3. Have I mentioned that Anthony is walking now? He’s been making strides for weeks and now he’s probably at about 75-80% walking to about 25-20% crawling. He’s slimmed down considerably, just as everyone said he would, though he’s still a pretty chubby guy. And he’s going to be one on Monday!

4. Today Ben had me reading Curious George backward. He likes to open books to the back. This time he was turning the pages for me while I nursed Anthony. I think he knew it was funny to read it backward. When we got to the title page he made me read it to him twice. And he laughed. At least reading backwards is a nice change of pace.

5. Bella doesn’t just play with beads, she becomes a jeweler making fine jewelry and selling it to support her family. I just love her imagination.

Bella at Ikea

Yet another reason to homeschool. I would be so sad to miss all the Bella stories if she weren’t here all day. I’d be sad not to see her playing so sweetly with her sister. Oh of course they fight; but they really are the best of friends and I love the way they work together.

Sophie at Ikea

Anthony at Ikea

6. This weekend we went to Ikea and bought some more shelves to deal with the overflowing clutter of the school books and art supplies in the dining room and the mess of the pantry. Then on Sunday we moved the furniture. The futon went from the living room to the office and two bookcases went from the office to the living room. How is it possible that both rooms feel bigger and more open? The kids all seem to be enjoying the change. We should probably rearrange the furniture every February.

Dom and Ben at Ikea

7. Today the weather was lovely and after naps we all went to play outside. I pulled Anthony around in the wagon, first with Ben and then with Sophie. Then Ben pulled Anthony. The weather has been so very mild this winter, a nice change from last winter when we were buried for months under feet of snow.

Ben pulls Anthony in the wagon. I couldn’t believe he could actually do it.

This week’s Quick Takes are being hosted by the lovely Betty Beguiles.

Homeschooling has kind of stalled out for us since before Christmas. It’s not that Bella isn’t learning, I’m sure; but formal lessons of any kind have fallen by the wayside as I’ve not had much energy for gathering myself into a purposefulness. So today it was a wonderful surprise to find ourselves stumbling into a little impromptu lesson inspired by today’s feast, which is one of my favorites.

It is a frequent custom, though it doesn’t happen every single day, for Bella to get a chapter from a longer book read to her while the boys nap. So we read her chapter of our current book, a life of St Rose of Lima. Then I read a picture book for Sophie. Then I pulled out my Bible to read to them the passage of the conversion of St Paul from The Acts of the Apostles, part of my resolve to read to Isabella from the actual Bible more often in addition to retellings from her various Bible story picture books.

After we’d read the story of Saul’s vision on the road to Damascus and his healing by Ananias and his preaching of Jesus, then I thought it might be fun to show them some art inspired by that famous story. I googled “Conversion of St Paul” and clicked on Images and found the Carravaggio that I expected and a Michelangelo. Then I found this great Biblical art website that has catalogued a most impressive number of images of the subject, four pages of thumbnails. We didn’t look at all of them, there wasn’t time. But we clicked through to see quite a few of them. We had fun trying to identify which figure was St Paul, where the light was, or where Jesus was. It was interesting to try to figure out why each artist interpreted the picture as he had. Then Bella told me that none of them looked like what was in her mind. I told her that if she wanted to she could try to draw it; but she said she wouldn’t be able to get it right. Bella and Sophie had no idea that this was a school lesson and they are developing visual literacy. They just had fun looking at the pretty pictures.

Some of the images we looked at were from illuminated manuscripts and one, by Fra Angelico, was clearly from a psalter with the square neumes of chant notation so I turned on my iPod and played the girls the Invitatory Psalm from today’s Divine Office podcast while we looked at the image and I briefly explained that the picture was from a song book and would sound something like the one we were listening to.

One image that caught Isabella’s eye was very colorful and very modern looking. The link took us to a gallery of images from a contemporary Chinese artist, He Qi. So we clicked through and looked at all the images in the gallery, and Bella was able to identify the subject of almost all of them, thus demonstrating to me both her visual and her Biblical literacy. She immediately knew the subject of the Finding of Jesus in the Temple, the Annunciation, the wise and foolish virgins, she identified an Agony in the Garden as Jesus on the Mount of Olives with the apostles falling asleep while he prayed. (Here’s the index to the gallery where you can see all of He Qi’s work. I’m in love and have spent hours staring at all the images in the galleries)

We couldn’t actually tell which character in Brugel’s painting is meant to be St Paul.

We had a nice little side trip because Sophie spotted the one picture that wasn’t a conversion of St Paul but an image of the Road to Emmaus. So they asked me what that story was and I retold the story in my own words. (One of my favorites, because my parents used to own a Catholic book store called Emmaus.) That led to Bella asking about why were the women in the upper room and us discussing whether the apostles taught Mary about Jesus or Mary taught them about him.

Then Anthony woke up long before we’d exhausted the girl’s curiosity, which is probably a perfect place to end.

Bella was captivated by this one but neither of us could figure out which figure is supposed to be St Paul.

We’re all still sick and the house is a terrible mess from days of everyone being too tired to pick up properly; but it was one of our best learning days in a while. Isn’t it funny how that happens? Isn’t it funny how this spontaneous excursion was so much better than anything I might have planned ahead of time? Why do I spend so much time worrying? If I just rusted more I would see that Our Heavenly Father has it all taken care of.

And now it is time for me to go to bed. I think today was Day 6 of everyone being sick. I’m ready for this saga to be over.

So here are a few of my favorite people celebrating in their own inimitable ways.

Bella sings the Twelve Days of Christmas to Sophie.

Sophie sings with the pretend pencil people: “... day our earth sets down in the wind… Now, they said, we’re going to sing a different song… Baby Jesus is born on Christmas Day… Baby Jesus is born on Christmas Day… Baby Jesus is born on Christmas Day… Baby Jesus is born on Christmas Day. That’s true. That’s true. Emanuflue… and ransom captive Is… Oh baby…”

Sophie’s bedtime prayer: “Thank you, God, for Baby Jesus lying in the manger.”

This afternoon Bella and I were sitting outside. I was chatting on the phone with my mom and Bella announced that she was bored. She didn’t want to watch anymore football. I suggested a few ideas and she decided she wanted to do some art.

Immediately she had a plan: “I want you to cut out some flowers and then I can glue them on a paper and paint them.” It was a very specific plan, especially considering we’ve never done that exact project before. It took me a minute to understand what she wanted. I ended my phone conversation and went inside to help with the project.

Bella found some orange and black construction paper and asked me to cut out some flowers from it. She and Sophie glued the flowers onto some brown and green papers. The result was really quite striking. Bella decided against the paint and instead colored each flower carefully with red and blue crayons.

When she was halfway through she suddenly declared: “I want to take the flowers to our neighbor.” Recently she made a solo expedition across the street (with Dom’s approval and supervision) to say hello to our elderly neighbor. I guess this was the natural next step in her bold move to be neighborly. We have decided she’s now allowed to cross the street by herself with supervision and I think she’s finding excuses to exercise her new freedom.

When the she had finished her paper Bella sprang up and made for the front door, “I’m going to take this to our neighbor.” I went along to supervise the crossing of the street. Bella didn’t need any help, though. She went directly across to the house, up to the door, and only hesitated when it came to what to do next. I pointed at the doorbell and told her to push it. Sophie by this time had dashed out and joined us. I held her hand across the street.

Our neighbor came to the door with a bit or a surprised look and the girls handed over their bright creations. I explained that it was their own idea and she was very, very touched. She asked the girls their names and thanked them warmly and they ran back across the street, Bella holding Sophie’s hand. I lingered at my post on the sidewalk to chat a bit longer. She asked Ben’s name, he was lurking in our yard watching the proceedings from a safe distance. She commented on that he was “all boy” and I agreed.

I told her that the pictures were the girls’ own idea. Then our neighbor, who has never been excessively friendly, though we’ve talked a few times, continued to express her appreciation. She said the pictures gave her goosebumps. As you know, she said, we’ve had some hard times recently (Yes, we’ve noticed all the visits from the local fire department and ambulance rides for both him and her.) And then she said that she’d just come home today. She’s got a blood clot in her leg. She was almost in tears as she looked down at the pictures in her hands and tried to find words for how much they meant.

Oh I have never been such a proud mother as I was then. I said goodbye, I should have said more. I should have said we’d be praying for her. But I am so shy I can never find the right words. I was afraid, I guess.

I went back into our house and told Dom how it all went down. We agreed that St Therese had been working powerfully in our little Bella.

The girls went back to work and finished a second picture each. We went back out to deliver them. We tried to knock next door but the little lady who lives there didn’t answer. So we went to the next house on the other side of her. The old man who lives there answered the door and the girls clammed up, a little startled to find a masculine presence. I explained their presents and he was delighted. He said they would get a place on the fridge. He wondered why he’d been selected and I just shrugged. Who knows why they do what they do? His wife joined him in the door and she oohed too. They said thanks again and I prompted the girls to say “you’re welcome” as they dashed back down the sidewalk toward home, bare feet flashing under bright flowered dresses.

“You girls have done a good deed,” I told them. “St Therese would be very pleased.”

I wish I’d snapped some photos of their projects, but they went so fast. Still, I don’t think I’ll soon forget our neighbors’ faces, and that is an even more precious picture.

Bella and Sophie are playing a game in which the dad (played by elephant) won’t let the baby doll, whose name is Afadilla, go into the store.

Bella:“Let Afadilla go in the store!”

Sophie: “No!”

Bella: “Let Afadilla go to the store! Afadilla’s a person! She loves it. Any other day when the store is open Afadilla’s mother helps her in it!”

Bella is so into the game that she’s screaming and weeping, tears streaming down her face as she pleads for Afadilla to be allowed into the store. But when I tried to intervene to make Sophie play nice, Bella told me “It’s just a game, Mama,” and “It’s a part of the game that makes me sad.”

Ok then. I guess I’ll let it continue since it’s just a game. I just told Bella it makes me sad to see her cry. 

Bella can’t remember the word dome. So she called it a “hill ladder.” I like that name.

I wasn’t going to write anything. Just let the pictures stand on their own. But I do have a story to tell that the photos don’t tell.

Theresa put it together and didn’t finish until after sundown. So immediately after breakfast the next morning the girls wanted to go out to play on it.

I was nursing Anthony so wasn’t able to supervise. Dom went to the door but wasn’t dressed and after giving them a few pointers went about his business. The girls gave up after not very long and came in to tel me they didn’t know how to climb it. I was a bit surprised because it didn’t seem too hard to me and they’re both pretty adventuresome.

Later when Anthony was done I went out with them to see how I could help. I tried to give instruction: Put your feet here. Put your hands here.

Both girls actually could climb up onto the lowest bars. They just couldn’t figure out how to get any higher.

It was obvious that Sophie’s problem was that she was just too short. Soon it became apparent that the root of Bella’s problem was that she was afraid of falling.

This surprised me because she used to be so adventuresome. She used to scare me when she was a toddler with her fearless climbing.

So I had her walk around the perimeter at the level she was comfortable with. And I told her she would get more comfortable and wouldn’t be afraid when she got more used to it.

And I tried to have her practice falling so she could see that it wasn’t that scary. I held her legs as she swung down so that she could see that when hanging by her arms she was only a foot or so off the ground.

Sophie on the other hand was willing to swing down and drop several feet to the ground. Fearless.

After coaching Bella for a while she was still feeling afraid and wanted me to guide her every move and Sophie was starting to echo both her language and her behavior, saying she was afraid and wanting me to help her.

I decided to go back in to let Bella work through climbing around on it on her own and find her own ways of moving about.

After not too long she gave up and decided to collect caterpillars instead. That’s her new favorite hobby. And the bug collecting kit we got her for her birthday just makes it more fun because she can look at them through the magnifier.

But later after naps we were all back outside and I looked up to see Bella at the very top of the dome. She’d conquered her fear and navigated her own method of climbing.

I knew she’d do it eventually but was surprised that she’d persisted and pushed through to succeed. I’m so proud of my little girl.

And snipping, snipping
Scissors run
To cut out hearts
For everyone.

~ John Updike “February” from A Child’s Calendar

For weeks Bella, inspired by one of her favorite poems, has been asking to cut out hearts.

I had this inspiration to cut out hearts from the vast supply of water colored papers that Bella and Sophie have been stockpiling and have the girls glue them onto construction paper. Then we could decorate these cards with plenty of glitter glue and stickers and whatever else might strike our fancy.

On trips to Target and CVS I collected a few crafting supplies: construction paper, heart stickers, glitter glue. Do you know how hard it is to find lace doilies? Why is that? I seem to remember them being everywhere when I was younger. In the grocery stores and pharmacies and anywhere that sold cards. Now they seem to be a rare bird. I found a one package of small gold heart doilies at Michael’s and that was it.

I tend to put off doing crafts with the kids because it always seems like it’s going to be so much work. But once we get started it is such a great deal of fun. And not just for the girls. I loved making my own collage cards. It must bring out my inner ten year-old.  I could have kept it up all day.

We ended up with more than two dozen cards, two little girls covered in glitter glue, and not too much of a mess on the table.

Bella adored it all from gluing on hearts to sticking stickers to mixing the various colors of gliter glue into a sodden mess on her paper. She can be very methodical with craft projects—she is always the last child to finish when we do crafts at library’s story time—and I think she only applied glitter to two of her cards because she got so very absorbed in the process. But she didn’t mind when Sophie and I decorated the rest of them, so all was good.

I think Sophie’s favorite part was sticking on the stickers. She didn’t require any help with them and there was zero frustration factor in it. Most of the tasks were really beyond her, including squeezing the glitter out of the tubes; but she was pretty content to let me squeeze while she held the tube and directed me. She especially enjoyed having me write out her name in glitter.

Nonetheless, fun was had by all except Ben who was upset that he couldn’t throw all the art supplies all over the floor. You’ll enjoy it more next year, Ben.

Last week when we went to Target Bella spied the tubes of finger paints. “What’s this, Mama?” Oh twist my arm! She didn’t even ask; but I pulled them off the shelf and she refused to put them in the cart. She carried them all the way to the checkout.

I am getting much, much more relaxed about messy crafts. The girls do them during Ben’s morning nap. They wash off. All is good.

Look how happy they are!

I love the one finger technique. But for such a dainty painting style, they still make quite the mess!

I had so much fun getting down on the floor to paint with my girls. It made more of a mess this way; but it also meant we were all creating a painting together. Water-based paints clean up easy. It’s so worth ignoring the mess. (Just very hard.)

I love the creativity of the girls. Bella paints a big blue sun, a"holy, big sun.” With eyes. And then tells it to watch out for the shark.

Bella looks at what Sophie’s painting and tells her that she’s painting “sun drops”. Typical big sister seizing creative control and naming rights.  Sophie adopts the name, because, well, Bella must be correct.

Of course, there’s a bit of a squabble at the end when Bella touches Sophie’s wet paint. I love Sophie’s delayed reaction and the way she slashes her own face with the red paint.

It’s become a ritual now. Every few days I announce that I’m going to go cut some roses. And my two little helpers scurry to the front door. Bella fetches the basket and I get the clippers. Sophie’s job is picking up petals, which requires no tools.

Today Bella opted to climb the peach tree rather than help with the roses. She’s in love with that little tree and so excited by her new-found ability to climb it. She reminds me of a certain little girl who loved to perch in an apple tree, though I was much older then, 11 or 12.

We have vases of flowers scattered all over the house. The sweet smell of roses wafts across the rooms.

But I think the best part is simply spending a few minutes with my girls enjoying beauty.

Both the beauty of the roses and the beauty of the girls. The fairest flowers in my garden.

Today I pulled petals off the spent flowers and showered them on Sophie’s head. She was delighted. Two year-old shrieks of joy are so lovely.

Why didn’t we do this more last summer?

Of course Ben is a sweet rose too. Just look at those rosy cheeks!

He was napping today while we were gathering roses; but if he’s awake he loves to crawl about at my feet.