Our Odyssey

Guess where we have been....not Greece.....

.... but Philadelphia. While touring the city, Lou's eyes grew wide as she began to notice all sorts of references to Greece. Apparently our founding fathers thought that perhaps Philadelphia might become a new Athens. She grabbed my camera and began to search out columns, determined to find one of each major kind.

She found Doric columns

and Ionic

and Corinthian.

She also found sculptures of Poseidon, Athena, and Zeus. It was a lot of fun to watch her connect something from school to the world around her.

We then continued on to Ohio to visit Grandparents--a long, 14 hour journey. We worked on her play lines and listened to all of Mary Pope Osborne's Tales from the Odyssey. We all enjoyed this version very much and it made the time go by.

I am now craving roasted meat and a bowl of wine. Osborne does a great job at describing food.

We're all home now for a day and switching gears from all things Greek to American history, culture, and government. Helen and I leave tomorrow for a class trip to Washington, DC. We have all sorts of adventures planned from exploring monuments through primary sources to visiting a mosque, to attending a young violinist concert at the Kennedy Center. This wide variety of activities is requiring many outfits....from head scarves for the mosque to something nice for the concert. Phew. I'm off to iron!

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Photos from the Phone

Here are some pix from around school and home from yesterday. My phone takes pretty good photos outside and pretty grainy photos inside.

Helen taking a break from intense play rehearsal. She was at school from 8 a.m. - 9 p.m. yesterday. She's loving her hat and wears it around school all day. She's the tallest kid in the school and the hat makes quite an impression. She ends the play with a beautiful solo song. I know I'm going to cry!

Lou got stuck waiting around after school while I had a meeting. She decided to work on her Greek vase. Here she is in the woodworking/pottery room at school. We're reading the Odyssey at night and practicing play lines. It's all Greek at our house now.

And, finally, just to add to the crazyness of our lives.....Odin with a cut foot that may require stitches. He can't be left alone or he starts chewing. However, Nels had to go to Boston for the week so Odin is being left alone....chewing :)

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The beauty of language

The rich, beautiful language brought to the girls through the Waldorf curriculum is ringing through our house right now. Springtime is performance time.

Helen is performing in two plays this week. She is an extra in the 3rd grade's play about Moses and is Feste (the fool) in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night. She has rehearsals and performances every night this week.











Lou is Demeter in Demeter and Persephone which will be performed in May. She has a massive amount of lines and a solo.










The girls have been helping each other learn their lines. It is fun to watch them coach each other.

"For I am the mother of green leaves unfolding.
Golden wheat and red fruit grow ripe through my care."

"Daughter, beloved, remain in this grotto;
Await my return at the Sun's dying ray."

"Marry, sir, they praise me and make an ass of me;

Now my foes tell me plainly, I, am, an, ass."

"Marry sir, lullaby to your bounty till I come again."

Since they both have solos, they are also helping each other sing.

Oh mistress mine, where are you roaming?
Oh stay and hear your true loves coming,
Who can sing both high and low.
Trip no further, pretty sweeting:
Journeys end in lovers meeting,
Ev'ry wise man's son doth know.

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A Quiet Easter

We had a very quiet Easter which was a good thing because the pace of our life has picked up ten-fold.

I spent the week before Easter meditating on potential. I had a group of branches from our woods in water on the table. Each day I visualized the life within and how they would look once they bloomed. My thoughts often turned to my children and my work --potential and the future. It was a quiet, lovely time for me. Easter morning brought just the slightest opening of those buds.

(the cat knocked it all off the table before I could get a picture. The photo above is actually from last year)

On Easter morning we made hot-cross buns for the first time. We used Tasha Tudor's recipe. They were delicious!

The Easter Bunny brought just the right bunnies....they were....."gnarley" according to Lou. The girls are growing out of stuffed animals, yet still expect the traditional bunny. These fit the bill!

It was unexpectedly warm for Easter. We spent much of the day out on our porch. We had a grilled, butterflied lamb, roasted new potatoes, and grilled asparagus. The girls delivered dessert to the porch.

Spring is finally here. The peepers are singing. The daffodils are blooming. The trees are greening. Life is blossoming and my meditations turn to wonder at the newness of life.

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