I love living out here in the country. I suppose this falls into the realm of unschooling myself but I've been surprised by the transformation I've made in the 3 months of living here. I grew up in the city and I was always squeamish and nervous about things like bugs. Now, it's like I can't get enough of being outside. If I can get 30 minutes outside by myself before dinner, I feel like a little kid who has been let out to play. I walk through our empty neighborhood (about 100 acres, nearly all undeveloped) and sometimes I explore different undeveloped lots.

I cannot wait until the dead of winter because then it becomes safe for me to explore the woods. Right now, I have to worry about ticks, poison ivy and the like and venomous snakes. When I do go into grassland or woods, I do it very carefully and with trepidation. I always watch where I'm walking and I stomp when I walk. When I get out and back onto the road, I do a tick check on my legs. Oh, and I do wear long jeans and big boots.

Dh loves it here too but he doesn't understand my strong desire to go exploring here. I've also become slightly obsessed with identifying trees and plants. It's typical me; I get topic obsessions that I will completely immerse myself in until something else good comes along. Right now, I want to know what all the trees are. I want to be able to identify things when I walk and get to know them.

Much to my delight, I found that I can enter our dense backyard woods via a small path near the border of our lot. Our landscaper dug up all the weeds and wild grass from the front yard and he drove his vehicle back there to dump them, inadvertently packing and widening the path. So now, if I walk around the kid's playset and go over the corner of the lot, I can walk down this path and be inside our woods. Obviously, I'm still very careful about where I step. So far, the only thing I've seen near my feet have been some species of bee; they seem pretty busy and uninterested in me.

When I walked around and into our dense woods via this path, I discovered something that I couldn't see from our back yard: big beautiful orange flowers on some type of vine. Further investigation led me to believe it was "trumpet creeper". It explains the presence of a hummingbird that follows me around, because the hummingbird likes trumpet creeper. Hummingbirds are so bold and curious; they have no issue with hovering right in front of my face and getting a good look at me. Anyway, so now I know why we have hummingbirds and what they are eating here.

I also found a curious round green fruit on the floor of the woods. I only found a handful of them. I suppose they were about 2 1/2 inches in diameter, green and kind of leathery looking. I have no idea how I started narrowing the search down but I ended up on a page about black walnut trees. It seems that this fruit looks exactly like a black walnut fruit. You have to crush the fruit beneath your heel, being careful to avoid the dye inside which stains everything. Then, you should find a pit which contains the walnut meat.

Today, B and I took the fruit that I collected the other day and we crushed it under my heel on the road. The paper towels surrounding the fruit got stained with a strong yellowish-brownish color. Inside the fruit was a small withered looking pit. We're going to let it dry out for a few days and then crack it open.

I took some pictures of a tree in the woods that is very near the fallen fruit and which looks like it could be a walnut tree. It is slender but of course, it is in competition with quite a lot of trees. The bark is very furrowed. The leaves are alternatively compound, creating a fringe-like appearance. I will have to watch this tree through next spring to see what its flowers look like.

On my walks, I've been intrigued by a very large tree that stands near the corner of an undeveloped lot. I do not know why it intrigues me but it just looks different to the other trees. It's huge and it's attractive but it just looks different. The other day, I noticed that it had nuts all over it. Today, I managed to get very close to it and take several pictures of it. The nuts on the tree are oval shaped and very spikey. Based on the bark, the leaves and the nuts, I think that it's a beech tree.

The neighborhood used to be an orchard but it was cleared. Dh discovered that there are still several apple trees around. I walked to the one nearest our lot but although it was covered with green apples, it appears as though insects or disease have ruined the fruit. But the other two apple trees seem to look Ok. I'm sure the insects and animals will eat all the fruit; deer love apples. But I hope that we can get just one good apple from one of the trees once they ripen.

Living here is like living in a giant science lab. I spend my free outdoors time trying to identify the various plants. I share what I know with the kids. We've read various books about the animals we've seen here. B spends a great deal of time catching locusts. He doesn't hurt them, but he likes to touch them and talk to them. Even T is learning to become a bit less afraid of bugs. When we're outside, it's just blissful. The kids and I are learning so much and enjoying country life so much. I feel very lucky.

B has *really* taken off with his reading. His biggest issues were perfectionism, confidence and practice. Wrt practice, reading obviously becomes much easier the more you do it, because you memorize words. He has not received reading instruction, unless you count watching "Between the Lions" and doing a few pages of "Explode the Code" (he lost interest in the latter). I'm not sure how he reads but he just does it and he sounds much more fluent now. Before, we could tell that he was sounding out every word. Now, he just reads words like he already knows them and he reads with tone.

I got a 'Henry and Mudge' book from the library and he read it in one go. I only had to help him with an occasional word. It's supposed be level 2.1 and he hasn't started second grade yet (nor received the reading instruction that school kids get). I feel good about the whole thing. The most important part is that he enjoys it and he's pleased with himself. After the Henry and Mudge book, he read a book about seahorses in the car. And he's been reading the "Mr. Men" books to T. I'd like to find some comic books and some joke books for him, because I think he would really enjoy them and it would help him practice.

We went to the Natural History and Science Museum yesterday, which we have not gone to in about a year. We got into a rut when we were in the apartment and I feel like we're over that now. Life is much better now.

The kids were really happy to visit the museum. It's one of B's favorites but T actually really enjoyed himself this time. It's amazing what a year of growth can do for a small child. Before, he used to get tired and bored about halfway through. This time, he didn't even want to leave.

The highlights, as always, were: the insect display with magnifiers, the dinosaur artifact room, the hominid evolution dioramas (or "the hairy people" as T calls them), the giant T Rex replica skeleton and the puppet theatre. B also really likes the room with the ancient sealife dioramas, a room that no one else likes. It's full of trilobite models and such. It's challenging trying to keep T content so that B can have his time in this room. I'm pretty bored in that room but I want B to have the time that he needs. Of course, T likes to spend an inordinate amount of time at the insect display, which is funny considering that he's terrified of insects. Oh, while we were there, B read "blue mud dauber". His reading has just exploded.

At the hominid evolution section, we talked about what the Latin terms for ancient humans meant and who "Lucy" was. The museum is a bit outdated, however. Their displays presents Neanderthals as "archaic homo sapiens" and, therefore direct human ancestors. We spoke about modern scientists' theories of Neanderthals being a separate species that went extinct.

We also spent a bit of time in the Earth section, talking about what causes earthquakes and where crystals come from. When we left the museum gift shop, in addition to two cheap toys, we left with a handful of geodes that we hope to break open this weekend.

We had a good day.

Obviously, I haven't updated in a long time. We're finally settled in our new house in the country. We all love it here. I can't begin to describe how different our lives are becoming since we've moved here. So far, in our own yard, we've seen: deer, turkey, a 5 foot long black rat snake and a really cool variety of insect life. We're on 4 acres but we're in the middle of about 100 mostly undeveloped acres. I find myself secretly hoping that no one else builds here for a very long time. It's like our own private paradise.

B calmed down a good bit. He was doing his blinking thing that he does when he's nervous. That started dramatically calming down when my in-laws came to visit. Then, with the move, both kids were much much better. They can now officially make as much noise as they want and they have space to spread out. It's been good for all of us.

In the academic world, B has really taken off with reading. With great difficulty, I convinced him several months ago that he could read a simple Dr Seuss book. He was convinced he could not. He read "Put me in the Zoo" and he was as surprised as anyone that he was actually reading it. That seem to open the floodgates. He started reading everything around us and his confidence started going up.

He still doesn't sit and read but when he does read stuff, he reads it with greater ease and speed. And every time, his confidence goes up. From the back of a Dick King Smith book yesterday, he easily read: "When Ben finds a bag of gold coins under the floorboards, he can hardly believe his luck. But it's Treasure Trove, and therefore belongs to the Queen, not the finder. How can Ben keep his treasure a secret, and will he ever be able to claim it for himself? A magical tale from master storyteller and award-winning author, Dick King-Smith."

The ONLY words he needed help with were: "therefore" and "claim". Oh, and he read "master" as "mister" initially. I don't think that's too bad for a 7 year old who has pretty much received zero reading instruction. I kept meaning to do word walls and such but I never got around to it. He's self-taught, basically, and I have no idea how he did it. He still writes his little story books and while he still writes phonetically, much of his spelling has improved.

He also read a section for "Undercover T-Rex", which was quite technical. And he read me some bits from "Life on Earth: the story of evolution." He still feels nervous or unready to sit and read to himself so we don't make a fuss about it. But he's getting more and more relaxed. We have a feeling that once he takes off with it, that will be it.

I got out some "Choose your Own Adventure" books that belonged to me when I was little. Both dh and I devoured those as kids. I told B that if he could read one of those on his own, that I would gladly buy him as many as he wanted. Of course, I will help him with random words.

I have lots more to post about our summer activities but I'm going to leave this for now.

Our lives have been so upside-down and stressful to the point where I don't really want to talk about it. The short version is that we're still not in the new house, but it's very close now. And as long as we're in this apartment, we are severely limited in terms of what activities we can do. We're all feeling the stress and irritation at this point.

I honestly couldn't say what we did in the last month, except that I know it's contained many park dates, a few trips to the local cultural center, a visit to the public gardens and a trip to the aquarium. And my in-laws visited for two weeks. Oh, and B made many things out of paper like he does. Many Lego and K'Nex structures were made. We've lived life and learned through it, while trying to remain patient about the new house.

After watching a "Smash Lab" episode about sand-pit construction, my little mad scientists immediately constructed a mock sand-pit from pillows. Dh had to disassemble it because it was a little too functional and therefore dangerous. I'm not sure what neat little educational box that fits into, but it's learning for sure. If my kids could use nail guns and welding equipment, I think we'd be in trouble.

I also meant to mention that when we went to the public gardens, both boys sketched nature pictures.

It's about a month early to be doing end-year assessments, but I thought I'd start one simply because I have some recent benchmarks. B would have been in First Grade this year, based on the school district's birth year rules. I get really confused when people identify their kids by grades that they feel they are working at, rather than legal definition. By legal definition, B was in First Grade this year.

As for reading, he can do it and yet he doesn't do it. He does not read for pleasure or information yet. But he reads things around him and he can read at least on grade level. As proof of this, I have two recent examples of his reading level. He brought me a book with ambiguous cover art and told me it was about hydrogen (which is what the title was). And at the Aquarium, while looking at a random bit of bone, I asked, "What does that say next to it?" He replied, "Whale." "Whale what?" I asked. He quickly and casually replied, "Whale vertebra". So there you go. He can read but he just doesn't sit and do it yet. From everything I've heard about boys, including my book-addicted husband as a child, most boys don't sit and read at this age unless forced to.

I have a recent writing sample that I'm including in the mandatory end-year assessment. He wrote a little book called "Tommy and Horses Invnchr". That's "Tommy and Hornsy's Adventure". Hornsy is a beloved toy triceratops. I will write his text, followed by translations. I feel compelled to say that we haven't done formal spelling lessons or practice so this is organic learning on his part.

Chapter 1:
"Oen dae Tommy wus in his haoos."
(One day Tommy was in his house.)

"Noc noc. Cum in."
(Knock knock. Come in.)

"'Hay Horse.' 'Hay Tommy.' But Hornse wus warnig a soot."
(Hey Hornsy. Hey Tommy. But Hornsy was wearing a suit.)

"And Hornse sed lets go icsploing. Tommy lict the ideeu."
(and Hornsy said, "Let's go exploring." Tommy liked the idea.)

"Soe Tommy sed Oca Honsie. Ua Uahoo. Facuoo Tommy."
(So Tommy said, "Ok Hornsy." "Yay! Yahoo! Thank you, Tommy.")

"The frgot sootcasise."
(They forgot suitcases.)

At this point, B dictated the next 3 sentences to my MIL and then copied what she wrote.

"Suddenly they remembered their suitcases so they went back inside."
"Thas you for reminding me Hornsy. Youire welcome Tommy."

Chapter 2:
"Weer going too the gunge."
(We're going to the jungle.)

"AAAAA" (There's an illustration showing them being swallowed by a whale.)

"WYYYYYY"
(Wheee!!! An illustration shows them going down the whale's throat.)

"Wut isdis"
(What is this? An illustration shows them examining a blood vessel inside the whale.)

"I no clim"
(The illustration shows them deciding against climbing up the whale's throat.)
"Ticl ticl."
(Tickle tickle.)
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA"
(An illustration shows them being sneezed out of the whale.)

"Wy mad it"
(We made it.)

"Cum on Hornsy. But Hornsy is lucnig at the chree frog."
('Come on, Hornsy!' But Hornsy is looking at the tree frog.)
"Gribit."

Chapter 3:
"AAAAAA"
(An illustration shows something nearby with huge teeth and a menacing face.)

"Hoo or yoo"
(Who are you? Quite possibly my favorite part of B's book, there's an illustration of a strange police box in the middle of the jungle.)

"Im the doctr. Bie bie"
(I'm the doctor. 'Bye bye!' This is a Dr Who reference. Apparently, the Doctor saved them from the menacing jungle creature.)

Chapter 4: An illustration shows Hornsy and Tommy sleeping in their beds.
"Eet fast Tommy."
('Eat fast, Tommy.')
Other illustrations follow.

Chapter 5: An illustration shows the Zula Patrol arriving on the scene.
Another illustration shows Tommy and Hornsy and a big heart.
"I lov uoy"
(I love you.)

Another illustration shows Tommy and Hornsy eating donuts.
"Hi. Im Spidr-man. Im Bat-man."
Other illustrations follow.

"Dis book has bin ilustradid bie Ben. Tommy is mie bruvr."
(This book has been illustrated by Ben. Tommy is my brother.)

We've been watching the two best kids' shows lately. Normally, I don't have a lot of regard for kids' shows. But sometimes, I see that my kids learn from them. Like when B was figuring out reading but didn't want us interfering, "Between the Lions" helped him make a lot of connections on his own. TV has its redeeming features.

Anyway, they started watching this really sappy show on Disney (ugh) called, "Little Einsteins". The title by itself is kind of obnoxious. The show seemed pretty harmless, however. I swear that most little kids' shows now seem to use the "Dora the Explorer" formula; if you watch kids' TV then you know what I'm talking about.

Anyway, they have learned so much from this show; I was really surprised. First, T started going on about "adagio" and "allegro", etc. I don't know what most of that means tbh, so I was a bit confused when T would urge us to go adagio. He really got into that. And second, they've started recognizing pieces of classical music. Some were pieces that most people know, like the Nutcracker stuff. But when I had a classical music station playing the other day and something from Handel came on, B yelled, "That's Annie's Love Song!" (a LE episode) and they were both so excited. One time when they were watching the show and the cartoon characters introduced Schubert, B turned to T and said, "Oh Schubert. We know Schubert".

So, sappiness and obnoxious title and all, my kids are learning a lot from this show.

The second show is one that an online friend told us about the other day, a Nick Jr show called, "Ni hao Kai-lan". It's like Dora the Explorer, but with Mandarin. She seems to use a LOT more Mandarin than Dora uses Spanish. I was really impressed with it. I'm studying Mandarin right now and I've been teaching some to the kids. So they are obsessed with this show now and they recognize some of the words that I had taught them like "ye-ye"/grandfather.

This morning, T asked me how to say "slippers" in Chinese again. They had watched their first episode yesterday, one that used the word for slippers and we had only seen it once. I honestly didn't remember how to say "slippers. Then, B piped up with, "It's duo-xie". I don't know if those are the words but that's what it *sounded* like he said. I couldn't believe he remembered how to say "slippers" from one viewing of one episode!

Anyway, those two shows get a thumbs-up from me for now.

I'm trying to remember what we've done lately. We recently saw a live production of Pinnochio. All four of us went. It was really good, perhaps the best production I've seen from the Children's Theatre so far. Dh thought it was remarkably similar to British Pantomime. British Pantomime is a weird Christmas play ritual that features a traditional fairy tale where the leading lady is played by a man and the leading man is played by a woman. There's lots of audience participation ("He's behind you!!"). I've been once; it was a blast. With any luck, we'll be in England this Christmas and my kids will finally get a chance to see a real Pantomime.

T is really enjoying his drama class. I arrive to pick him up before the class is actually over, so I can see what they're doing through the window. He's always really into whatever they're doing. My father said, "Does he need any more dramatics??". This class is right up T's alley.

I think B and I are going to the open art gallery night downtown. Both my kids like art but it's more of B's thing and it's just nice for us to do something together. The weather is great and downtown is so beautiful. We've looked inside the windows of various galleries before but it will be great to actually go inside and see what they do. I hope to go by my photography instructor's studio, but her studio is a bit further away from the main area.

Speaking of photography, my recent revived interest in photography has passed on to B. They kids got a V-tech toy digital camera for Christmas. B has been making full use of it. If I can find our old, original digital camera (which is very light), I'll let him use it. One day while T was in class, B and I took our cameras to the park. He took some great pictures. He has a good eye for things. I copied at least one picture idea from him and we both raced toward another thing (the base of a suspension bridge) at the same time because we simultaneously saw its interesting geometric shapes. When our lives calm down with moving madness and such, I plan on taking B downtown really early in the morning when I retake some of my downtown shots. I figure it would be a fun photography outing and then we could get breakfast afterwards.

I think we're going to the park today. Earlier today, T was building a Lego pyramid and B was making a Dalek puzzle. I think they're playing with the Playmobile airport right now.