Rebekah's Insights

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We have been home now for almost three days and while still a bit tired, we are back to our normal schedule. The long flight home was delayed until a very late hour, which made for some VERY tired and VERY hungry travelers, as all food court locations had already closed. :( It was NOT one of my favorite days, but this too has passed by into memory and we are happily home again.

I am enjoying the cool breezes and gentle rain as I muddle through tackling the mountain of laundry with a broken dryer. LOL! I have the first week of school planned out in the planner. School will begin September 7th, in order to give me time to get the house and our life back to normal. Unpacking is a slow and steady process and will continue until all of our boxes arrive in the mail.

To everyone we had the pleasure of visiting with--it was great to see you and hope to stay in touch! To those with whom visits did not work out for whatever unfortunate reasons--we hope to stay in touch and to be able to see you again before too long!

Happy Monday!

"With silver bells, and cockle shells,
And pretty maids all in a row."
(from Mary, Mary Quite Contrary, an old English nursery rhyme.)

Not quite. :) Last summer, amid a chorus of naysayers we planted a few tomatoes in containers. It was a cold and rainy year--unseasonably, so we are told. Nevertheless, we did harvest tomatoes! In September. And although there were not as many as we are used to, the flavor was well worth the effort. (And enduring the laughter from the naysayers in the Spring.)

This year we have "a bit of earth" in which to plant, in addition to our containers. We have planted beans, courgettes, swiss chard, lettuces, and some herbs. Liam has been having the best time planting seeds, watering them (it has been unseasonably dry this year,) and inspecting them each day for progress. Despite a few casualties of the strong winds around our place, we have a cheerful patch of plants to watch grow. We have already had more warm days to date than we had last year by the end of Summer, so I am hopeful that we will not only have more tomatoes than last year, but also that we may be able to eat them before September.

And this year...not a naysayer in sight. :)

JUNE

The sun is rich,
And gladly pays
In golden hours,
Silver days,

And long green weeks
That never end.
School's out. The time
Is ours to spend.

The playground calls,
The ice-cream man,
And, after supper,
Kick-the-Can.

The live-long light
Is like a dream,
And freckles come
Like flies to cream.

from A CHILD'S CALENDAR by John Updike

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Well, school is not quite out yet--but we are enjoying the sunshine, playground, and the "live-long light." (Sun rising before 5:00 AM and not setting until after 9:00 PM.)

Liam has a firm grasp of upper and lower case letters, can tell you the sound each letter makes, and in most cases, distinguishes the initial sound when listening to a given word. He is currently all about spelling words and printing the entire alphabet from memory. Formation looks excellent--easily recognizable. He enjoys writing cat, dog, the, cow, and several other 3 letter words with some assistance in breaking up the phonemes. We are very proud of him, but most pleased that he enjoys learning and tries to read words wherever he goes. He continues to be an avid "reader," also enjoys drilling his little sister on the alphabet.

Liam enjoys exploring shapes, measurement, counting, and a variety of other math-related topics. Lately, he has become quite fond of printing numbers neatly on drawing paper, when not filling the sheet with figures from his favorite books, movies, or imagination. He is anxious to begin his Kindergarten year in the Fall.

Aine is also an avid "reader"--spending hours at a time with a pile of books. Since we brought home some Italian children's picture books from our recent trip to Italy, her interest in learning Italian along with Liam and Momma has increased greatly--learning the color words is her current favorite! Aine is identifying a good many upper and lower--case letters, as well as several of the sounds to go with them. Yesterday, as she put on her tights and was saying the word over and over again while she worked, she proudly announced to me that "T starts with tights!" (Smile!) That's right, my girl. Tights begins with the letter T! She's getting it, but enjoys a much more relaxed pace than her studious brother. (He sets such lofty goals for himself!) Aine will continue the Preschool curriculum begun this Spring. She can be observed counting her toys and looking for shapes everywhere! Though a delightfully different individual than Liam, she is ever as much a joy to teach as her brother continues to be.

Time to prepare for Liam's Swim lesson, so more another time.

Happy First of June!

The children's first trip on a ferry to visit Ireland went very well, but they are SOOOOO tired out today after arriving home last evening. :( Hopefully by tomorrow they will be back to their usually cheerful selves. It did perk them up quite a bit to enjoy the rare privilege of a day warm enough for shorts and (gasp!) NO JACKET today!

We enjoyed a few days seeing the sights of Dublin and one day trip to Enniskerry in County Wicklow. The little loves enjoyed the rides on the double-decker tour bus, particularly when we sat on the top. Top sights for the little ones included chasing pigeons on St. Stephens Green, seeing the interesting artifacts in the National Museum, and climbing the Tower at Powerscourt Estate.

It was interesting to observe their reaction to being in a city again, since the flat in which we stayed the few nights was in downtown Dublin. During the daytime, they were fascinated by watching cars going along the street below, but at bedtime, did not appreciate the traffic sounds one bit. Go figure! As we walked the crowded streets, they were very aware of all the sounds we do not usually hear. At intervals, talented (and occasionally not-so-talented) street musicians shared their gifts with the strolling crowds, but when I asked Aine if she liked the pretty music, her only remark was that, "That music is too loud!" Perhaps she will not be a fan of concerts? Too early to make that call, I guess.

Liam took the opportunity to practice his new photo-taking skills. These past few weeks he has taken to asking for the old digital camera to carefully carry around the house and take photos of scenes interesting to his eye. It was much fun to look over the photos he took each day while out and about. Wonder where he comes by this interest in photography?

So now that all of our traveling excitement is done for a while, maybe I will actually learn how to upload photos here to accompany my blogging. Readers would especially enjoy the view of Liam's photo-documentary of his first proper holiday. I'll see what I can do.

But no promises. :)

"Hey...there's no SEEDS in chocolate!"

So says my always-entertaining daughter after carefully inspecting her chocolate kiss for...you guessed it! SEEDS!

She inspects all her food for those dreaded SEEDS these days and is happy to report that chocolate is safe.

Just another reason to enjoy chocolate.

Just another reason I'm always laughing.

:)