The Golden Papaya

nap shots

2012-05-08T14:56:00.002-03:00

where are you, spring?

2012-05-02T15:31:00.002-03:00

We are ready. Pink toenails and all.

unplugged

2012-04-30T15:18:00.002-03:00

For the past few months, we’ve been shutting down the Internet from Friday evening until Monday morning. Not that we spent a lot of time on the computer on the weekends (and neither of us has smartphones, thank God), but it was enough that I felt like I needed a break. I need to shut down that antsy portion of my brain that’s always itching to check my email or look something up.

Nope, can’t do it. Might as well read a book, or play outside.

Or scrub your new scooter.

Why not?

There have been occasions when we've had to break our rule to get directions somewhere, or find out how to make a goat manger, or to check and see if there is still an opening for a math teacher and an English teacher at the Friends' school in the Cloud Forest in Costa Rica. (In case you're wondering, there is, but Dan convinced me that we can't up and move to any more countries without thoroughly vetting the prospect first. Among other problems with the idea.)

In any case, it may not be the Cloud Forest, but weekends without the computer and the constant elsewhere-ness of the Internet are almost like a getaway. Without the malaria or the hand-sized spiders.

you know you've got a house full of boys when...

2012-04-12T14:09:00.002-03:00

This morning Ju was watching me put on a pair of tights.

What are those? he asked. Shinguards?

at the lunch box

2012-04-10T15:54:00.004-03:00

Here is R. this morning, working at his uncle's restaurant.

Maybe he's destined to follow my brother into the food industry. He does love food.

When I asked him, though, he said, no, he plans to be a musician.

In which case, a back-up plan would be a good idea.

Also, the other day, he asked me if I could give him an Altoid. I told him I didn't have any. They are candy, I said.

No, they're not, he said, indignant.

They're a spice.

meet clementine and clara

2012-03-12T15:24:00.006-03:00

We just picked them up yesterday in New Jersey. Aren't they adorable?

That's Clementine nibbling on my hair.

And this one's Clara.

They're adjusting very well.

Although the neighbors, apparently, not so much. I pulled up at 11 this morning to find Animal Control in front of our house.

The guy apologized for disturbing us, though, and confirmed that it's totally legal to have two small animals on our property.

I guess we should lay low for awhile, and put off those plans for chickens...

getting ready for the goats

2012-03-08T15:31:00.005-03:00

This is what Dan and the boys have been up to for the past few weeks. We pick the goats up on Sunday, so it's down to the wire.

(Literally. The shelter's just about done, but fence isn't, and as you may know, goats have a reputation for being escape artists.)

Can you read the pro-goat graffiti?

I'm a little nervous, to be honest, but this passage in "Raising Milk Goats the Modern Way" made me think I may be better prepared than I realize: "Goats will jump over, crawl under, squeeze through, stand on, and/or lean against, and circumvent any boundary...in any other way they can discover or invent."

Hmm...sounds familiar.

Maybe there's a reason they call them kids.

naptime

2012-02-28T16:06:00.003-03:00

For some reason, Ju has taken to napping on the couch in the playroom.

He has also taken to removing his clothes before he falls asleep, and redressing himself in whatever attire he can find--in this case, an inside-out shirt, E.'s underwear, and a sweatshirt hood draped over his head.

But, hey, as long as he's sleeping, I'm not going to complain.

flowers

2012-02-19T18:56:00.003-02:00

I don't like to write about it much here, but as some of you know, my middle child...well, he can be quite a handful.

But then he'll do something like what he did yesterday: beg his dad drive him to Trader Joe's while I'm at yoga, so he can take his own money and buy me flowers.

No kidding.

Then sidle over at various moments for the rest of the day and give me a hug and whisper, "Mommy, are you thinking about the flowers?"

Yes, R. I'm thinking about the flowers.

the benefits of inconsistent housekeeping

2012-02-16T11:48:00.005-02:00

When I finally broke down yesterday and hauled out the mop and bucket, after I'm not even going to say how long, it was such a novelty that R. practically wrestled them from me, and insisted on doing the honors.

changes

2012-01-31T16:22:00.007-02:00

It's been awhile. Two birthdays, several rounds of colds and viruses, a trip to the farm show (see above).

The boys have moved on from What a Wonderful World to Sunshine of Your Love to Black Dog (this phase can't pass too soon, let me tell you). I've started a new semester.

And...we are officially done with homeschooling. Yes, that's a sigh of relief that you just heard.

Sure, I will miss the cozy mornings when we didn't have to rush anywhere, and reading with E. in the afternoons, and listening to the sweet strains of his guitar at all times of day, and watching my oldest and youngest play together after lunch.

But, I must say, that is more than amply compensated by not being solely responsible for his academic progress. And being relieved of co-op duties and meetings. And having an hour or two to myself (to myself!) when J. is napping and R.'s in kindergarten. Hallelujah.

E. is excited, too, once he got used to the idea. Happy to rejoin his friends. And his new second grade teacher is a man, and speaks Portuguese and plays the guitar. What could be cooler?

Sometimes I wonder if I intentionally make my life more difficult than necessary. Why? To try new things? Because it might make a good story?

Anyway, I can cross homeschooling off that list.

Next up: Nigerian dwarf goats. Seriously. Stay tuned.

busy week

2011-12-31T18:18:00.011-02:00

We went to D.C. for a few days.

Hung out with cousins, rode the Metro,

visited museums.

Then came back to Philly in time to see some live music.

And make some of our own.

Happy New Year, everyone!

adeus, cesaria

2011-12-17T16:26:00.004-02:00

Cape Verdean singer Cesaria Évora died today at the age of seventy.

I remember hearing her sing in an open-air amphitheater in Cape Verde, on the island of Fogo, almost fifteen years ago. We paid five dollars for the tickets (less than it cost to see some local bands).

Her voice was beautiful and sad and haunting. She performed barefoot, as was her habit.

In between sets, she sat down on the stage and smoked a cigarette, a pensive look on her face.

I would post a photo here, but that was years before digital cameras or any of that.

Instead, I'll leave you with that most Cape Verdean word, the refrain of Cesaria's music, and other Cape Verdean music, too, which means missing, which means longing, homesickness, yearning for something that's gone or past or distant:

Sodadi.

cousins

2011-12-15T22:33:00.002-02:00

{this moment}

A Friday ritual from Soule Mama.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

boy after my own heart

2011-12-14T15:10:00.002-02:00

R.: I know how you spell easy. E-Z.

E.: No. That's not how.

Me: Well, sometimes they spell it that way on advertisements.

E.: Yeah, they do that to be cute. But it's not.

Friday

2011-12-07T15:53:00.004-02:00

{this moment}

A Friday ritual from Soule Mama.

A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

accuracy in homeschooling

2011-12-06T17:16:00.004-02:00

Did you know that Brad and Angelina homeschool their six kids?

I just found out, but then again, I am generally completely out of the loop. For example, we just came across the Whole Foods Parking Lot rap. (Thanks, Rebecca.)

E. and R. loved it, and have been singing it nonstop for the past few days.

What can I say? Like B. and A., we are homeschooling to "ensure the greatest accuracy."

As Angelina says, "they have to learn about their country so they can form their own conclusions."

projects of the week

2011-11-17T17:36:00.007-02:00

This week we...

ate bibimbap at a Korean lunch counter

practiced using a real typewriter

found bits of nature to make prints with

conferred about what to do with the dead worm discovered in a puddle

(Umm...your guess is as good as mine here.)

my son, artiste

2011-11-12T11:42:00.005-02:00

E. is writing a novel.

It's for a class he's taking at our homeschool co-op, a part of NaNoWriMo. We seem to have stumbled across a great motivator for writing. I had been making him write every day before, but it was slow going. He dawdled. He hemmed. He hawed.

Now, though, he has an external goad (aside from me) to answer to--his own word goal.

The novel is about a witch/werewolf named Maddy and her family.

With his permission, I am posting an excerpt from it:

Like I told you, she is getting more and more powerfull and mean ugly and hard to beat but not really for long. The guards crushed her and brought her to the castles prison. But the jail was in France and that jail isn't any ordanary jail it is super very very well protected.

Now the rest of the family came along with them to see if any thing went wrong. they learned how to speak french pretty well but they never were able to pronounce there Rs very well. Wait I should of told you this a long long time ago. The witch/nice/werewolf's name is Maddy and the fathers name is Thomas and the kids name is Max.

I especially like the meta-commentary he inserts every so often.

Now before I begin the actual story...

...and that's what I would do if I were a police...

Clearly a postmodernist in the making.

porkpie

2011-11-04T18:20:00.007-02:00

My dad found this hat on the street.

My first reaction was, are you kidding? It could have lice! (And somehow, we've been lucky enough to avoid lice completely for going on eight years now. Knock on wood.)

But when I saw how cute it looked on the boys, I couldn't resist.

Could you?

a ninja, a clown, and spiderman

2011-11-01T16:59:00.001-02:00

what we've been up to

2011-10-04T09:23:00.002-03:00

Yesterday we stopped at a thrift shop, and the boys saw these ties, which they just had to have.

Also, I have a new essay about Brazil up at Terrain, complete with photos.

a walk in the woods

2011-09-26T13:40:00.002-03:00

Not a bad way to spend a Monday morning.

the sweet and the salty

2011-09-23T11:04:00.008-03:00

We got some used bunk beds for the boys this week. Dan felt they were too crowded and uncomfortable sprawled all over each other. They seemed comfortable enough to me, actually, but I wanted E. to be able to read at night before going to sleep, and this proved impossible with the three-in-one-bed approach.

Despite the predictable jockeying for the top bunk, and one minor fall onto the bed below, they were all excited about it.

The first night was fine. The second night, E. couldn't sleep. Finally, after nine o'clock, we found them all asleep, crammed into the bottom bunk.

The next night, R. cried that he wanted R. to sleep with him. So there they were once again.

I'm sure they'll figure it out, though.

I'm trying to take the same approach to the homeschooling. We'll figure it out as we go along. Right?

Some days E. doesn't get to his writing or math because we have somewhere to go, or the younger boys need to get out of the house already. Sometimes R. and J. get short shrift so I can go over E.'s journal with him.

Sometimes, when we're attending a class at Bartram's Garden about pollinators, and the boys are totally engaged, or we're at the co-op, and they're playing tag with the other kids, or we're just hanging out at the park on a weekday morning, I think, what a great idea.

Other times, when E. is dawdling about getting to his work, or the boys are fighting for the fourteenth time that day, I get this sinking feeling in my stomach: It's only September! How am I going to get through a whole year of this?

But I suppose we will.

I keep remembering something my mother-in-law told me about Brazil before we moved there. The sugar is sweeter, she said. And the salt is saltier.

Yeah. It's kind of like that.

definitions

2011-09-10T09:44:00.000-03:00

R.: I know what a midwife is.

It's two men and one woman.

E.: No. That's a divorce.