Author Archives: Kim Halloran-Fry

Big Brother

Posted on by

I am behind on my personal correspondence and wanted to share one of the main reasons. We discovered over the weekend that a huge multi-state utility project is in the works. As it turns out, it is projected to roll right dead center through Starry Sky. I am not sure what the odds are with the thousand miles involved they end up RIGHT here? But as of now we are facing the very real possibility of our ranch being de-faced and everything we have been building for the past 4 yrs devastated. If we cannot stop nor re-route this project we will be forced to pack up the children and livestock and try to start over – likely minus the money that goes to the mortgage here.

Let me tell you, that prospect is a lot more romantic within the covers of the Little House books than it is in real life. In real life you think of things like life savings, the logistics of moving ten people, and assuring handicapped accessibility.  Your algebra lessons are punctuated by phone calls to lawyers. You try to get up to speed on eminent domain while nursing a sleepless baby.  You may even wonder what terrible thing you did to make God so darn angry with you.  Then you remember.

You remember that every time a new baby has come so has a raise. You remember that every closed door has come with an open window. You remember that God has lots of promises about things like His children never begging bread and His plans to bless and not to curse you. You remember that ‘faith is evidence of things unseen’.  And, even though you CAN’T see a good way out of this one, you just know, somehow, it’s gonna be all right.

We are holding on to that thought right now and we welcome your prayers as we face the upcoming battle.

New Books!

Posted on by

100_4893_0001 Ok I promised to share our latest finds so here goes.  Before Colin went back to school he had a dental appt. In typical fashion for our family we got there at the wrong time. In Atypical family fashion we were actually early lol! With an hour to kill we ran over to the Christian homeschool/book/gift/you name it store. Colin waded through posters and tee’s and I dove into the school books. I got hooked on these Evan-Moor Take it to Your Seat Centers.  WOW! 

100_4894_0001 Some background is in order. I have been moving towards a more Montessori approach for my elementary kids but materials have been a challenge. There are lots of make it yourself sites for preschool and early elementary materials – mostly math and language. I drooled over the Albanesi card sets but they really would break the bank. Still I liked the independent learning and the command card format.  Enter the Evan Moor bks!

The first book I bought was the Geography Centers for grades 4-5 for  Moira. We found that some of the games were plenty challenging for Alannah (12) however. They are like file folder games grown up and then some. Each center in this book is stored in a file folder. The full color graphics are ready to go. (no coloring!) There is one to be glued to the front of the folder. The Student Directions go on the back cover.  In the inside right pocket got the task cards, maps, self checking answer keys, and other learning materials. Reproducible record sheets (ie the worksheets) and writing paper where necessary go in the left pocket. The cards and record sheets for the twelve centers included are all in different formats so there is plenty of variety. At this level students cover the 50 states, a world puzzle and mystery country game, learn the countries and characteristics of North America, globe work,parts and kinds of maps, and landforms and bodies of water. (hello! Montessori!)

We are having a lot of fun with this and look fwd to collecting the rest of the series.  This won’t happen overnight however. There are books for six subject areas and six grade levels. I will let you know what we think as we get more books!

Lady in Red?

Posted on by

Shoes_5 It hit me when I put my new oh so cute shoes this morning <g>.   I was smiling  to myself because I absolutely adored the color of them.

They matched the quilt on my bed…..

Bed

And the old saw hanging on the wall above it….

Saw

and the sign in the kitchen…

Sign

and all of our exterior doors…

Door_1

my favorite dish…

Transferware

the fabulous washer and dryer…

Machines

the little boys beds (and hats!)…

Bed_2

my  antique store find – the architectural star…

Star_2

even my vacuum cleaner…

Vac

hmmmmm, do I see a pattern forming here?  Rebecca had me consider what colors we wanted to build around in the house after I insisted we didn’t have a color scheme going. I have been thinking lots about that very thing lately. It occurs to me that, while I love to see rooms in blues and greens and yellows, from my very first very brief apt dwelling I have tended to gather to myself all things red. I am not a color snob either. I have other favorites.  Like pink <g> and burgundy LOL!

Ok so here is a challenge for you – can you find and photograph half a dozen things in your house right now of a color you love? Impromptu fair anyone??  How about the Loveliness of Color? <g>

Hydration – Its a good thing

Posted on by

It’s late here but I thought I would pop on and say hey.  I haven’t fallen off the planet though I did come close to falling off my chair earlier this week. Not sure what happened but it looks like a combination of dehydration, some skipped meals, and fatigue caught up with me. There is always more I want to do than time (and sometimes energy) to do it all and apparently there are limits to how far you can push the envelope. Darn. <g>

After several days of water and naps and pushing protein life everything is peachy again. Or close enough lol! We are getting back to our school and household routine and found some GREAT activity bks we are loving. Instead of January doldrums we are all fired up about school. I hope to take pics and share our fun finds over the next few days.

B_and_card By way of catching up – we had Brendan’s 2nd birthday last week. Its hard to believe how far we have come since then. Two years ago I gave birth to that sweet little butterball while Allen was winging his way back from war. Brendan almost waited ’til he arrived. In the end he was born with Dad on the phone thanks to a VERY loaded calling card. What a night! I can’t tell you the relief. Relief to deliver a healthy baby.  Relief to welcome home my husband safely.

Snow_1 Shortly after B’s birthday we had yet ANOTHER winter storm. What is with that?  Maybe it being winter and all lol? It’s sure odd for CO though. We spent Sunday snowed in and yesterday missed the bookmobile since the van battery was dead due to cold. Zero degrees will do that I guess. Check out the pic. There was no snow falling in this one. It was drifted snow blowing horizontal from the wind.

Being snowed in and resting made for some surfing time.  I found a new favorite in the blogosphere: Shim and Sons  This is apparently no big secret in the craft world since there are already 550+ subscribers.  It was a find for me though and I am loving the graphic style crafts and photos. I have a split personality when it comes to arts and decor.  I love it all – from rustic to vintage to midcentury. There is not a thing on this blog that would work in my house but gosh I love browsing anyway!

Ok enough fun for one night. I will be back soon with those books!

Tess at 1 mo

Posted on by

Tess is a month old tomorrow.  How did that happen??  Fortunately the weather and the baby both cooperated for her photo shoot today. I am battling with my digi-cam (I still love my old manual SLR!)  but she is darn cute anyway!<g>Tess_1_mo Funny I noticed in the last pic she has her thumb between her first two fingers.  That has always been a default position for me. Like mother, like daughter.

Tess_1mo_b

Tess_1mo_c

Stage Management

Posted on by

Pleasant View Schoolhouse quoted this exerpt from the Homemaker’s Encyclopedia today:

"Oh, yes . . . and you’re a stage manager, too! You set the mood for a child, alternating gay activity with periods of calm. You help a child get to sleep by providing a restful atmosphere, cool air, drawn blinds, and maybe soft music. You see that mealtimes are pleasant and serene with the emphasis on sociability, not manners or punishment. You arrange a child’s playroom so he has several different type things to do, seeing that it’s bright and sunny and generally appealing. And you change scenes, too. You sense the moment when your child is becoming bored with indoor amusements . . . And then you lose no time is getting him outside for play. And you sense approaching fatigue in time to remove him indoors again . . ."

—Homemaker’s Encyclopedia: How to Care for Children (1952)

this reminded me so much of Montessori’s directive to observe the child as quoted here:
"The teacher is trained to model kindness and consideration, to observe the child and follow her interests in suggesting work, to give careful, individual lessons, and to refrain from interrupting when the child is concentrating on an activity. " from Montessori Homeschooling
These observations reveal readiness for new challenges as well as fatigue and ennui.  Careful observation allows you to alter the environment proactively, heading off negative behavior and guiding the child to success.  We all know that nothing breeds success like success. Charlotte Mason picked up that theme in her formation of habit passages. Another blogger, The Sparrow’s Nest, quoted from a book entitled The Excellent Wife by Martha Peace:
The New Testament Greek word for discipline is gymnazo which means "to exercise or to train." In other words, it means do it over and over until you get it right. We get our English words gymnastics and gymnasium from this Greek word.
So I guess that makes us stage managers and gymnastics coaches. ; )  We observe carefully, we organize the environment, and then we cue them over and over again to repeat the desired behavior until good habits are formed. Sometimes that last part makes me weary to be honest. It always takes a lot more ‘over and over’ than I expect for a habit to be rock solid. That applies to mom’s habits too. And habits once formed have a maddening tendency to vanish once you stop repeating them. My cabinet organization is a case in point…
We had worked hard to get our home super organized last summer and fall. A few weeks spent on my duff after the baby has allowed several trouble spots to form again. We are now working to get back into our good habits, to observe our environment more closely so that they don’t get away from us.  The children are being guided back into their regular schedule. The good news is that once a habit is formed it isn’t long lost even if it is put aside for a time. It has been much easier to fall back into the routine than it was to establish it initially.
Time to get back to the mats for this coach. Have a wonderful weekend!

Meet George Jetson…

Posted on by

Jetsons They’re here! The most beautiful washer and dryer I have ever laid eyes on that is. For 3 wks we have washed clothes that required several extra spin cycles and  weren’t reliably coming clean anyway, only to be hung all over the bathroom, dining and laundry room due to a stone dead dryer. This was proceeded by months of jimmy-rigging both machines in order to coax them into some semblence of function. That’s all over now! We are now the proud owners of a wild cherry red, extra large capacity, front loading washer and dryer set.

I have decided if you are going to have an appliance then having one that works well is definitely work the investment. I tend to be ultra cheap and shuffle various Goodwill finds through the house. That has proven to be a great plan for clothing and other household items. Mechanical items – not so much. Given that it had been years since we actually bought a new appliance and seeing that few things get as much use in a family of 11 as the laundry room Allen insisted on a new purchase. What a treat!

The new set is not only eye candy but computerized. Who knew? At the touch of a button the control panel lights up like the cockpit of an airplane. After a few beeps and a tentative spin to assess the load weight it programs itself to begin washing.  Could any of us born in the 60s have really believed that we would be doing laundry with a computer?? I half expect to open the front door and hop into my glass topped hover craft now. ; )

regardless of where technology takes us I am as happy as housewives of old to have help in the washing dept. After this year of battling with the whole process it was like a little miracle to have the whole family’s wash done and dried within a few short hrs. Move over Jane Jetson! You may have Rosie but I have LG!

Virtual Friends, Tangible Blessings

Posted on by

If I didn’t have a firm conviction that online friends were ‘real’ then this week would have clinched it for me. I have been a bit groggy this week. Several challenges merged together recently and that whole lack of sleep thing catches up with you. So, I was totally taken by surprise when the children came running in the door with a package.  The return address said simply that it was from my 4Real friends. Truer words were never spoken! Inside was a "baby shower in a  box".  The ladies had sent lovely things for Tess and I including tiny socks that look like Mary Jane shoes  – but never fall off, a book and cards, and a Jan Brett style hat and stocking ala The Mitten and The Hat bks.  I can’t wait to see Tess dressed like Annie from the Wild Animals bk!

Thank you so very much ladies!! You have no idea how much this long distance surprise blessed me!