St. Francis Academy

Got Bustos?

I decided to scan some photos my MIL gave me from the softball tournament over Memorial Day weekend.  I was up in Centerville at a baseball tournament, so I missed the festivities surrounding the Bustos Blast Classic.  This is the annual tournament the organization my daughter plays for hosts.

Prior to the games that weekend, there was an optional hitting and fielding clinic for the teams  This year Olympians Crystl Bustos and Laura Berg were on hand for instruction and inspiration.  Lizzy had met Crystl earlier this year at another clinic held with Jenny Finch, but this was her first time meeting Laura Berg.  She was very excited and now has not only her sweatshirt and glove signed by Olympic medalists, but also has her bat autographed!

Lizzy and her hero Crystl Bustos

Liz and Laura Berg.

June

The past couple of weeks have gone by in a blur, all of it related to one ballgame or another.  Nearly every night of the week is booked with practice or a game, the price to pay for the rain-outs earlier this spring.  Nearly every weekend is filled with a tournament--or two!  The littlest ones, bless them dearly, they just roll with whatever is on the agenda. 

This weekend saw us dividing and conquering yet again.  Matt and John flew south to meet up with the team for the East Cobb (GA) Tournament of Champions.  The Flames faced tough competition against the warm-weather teams in pool-play.  They lost their first game in double elimination bracket play, won their second, then faced familiar competition from last year's CABA World Series against Gravel Baseball (IL), being eliminated after a 19-11 loss (Matt told me they made an outstanding comeback from an initial score of 19-2). 

Meanwhile, Lizzy, the two littles, and I headed to northern Kentucky for the Sluggerfest I (10U/12U divisions).  This was the third tournament weekend in a row for this first-year "select" team, and the first time the girls had to face a day of playing four games.  The first three games were nearly one right after the other, with only about a half-hour break between the second and third games.  The parents brought coolers of food and drinks, snacks, tables, and canopies to set up outside the ballpark fence.  (Apparently this is a BIG thing to do at softball games...some teams even bring grills!)  The girls lost their two pool play games, entering double elimination bracket play as the #4 seed in the 10U "B" division. 

After their first loss in bracket play, there was a long gap between games.  Since Liz was hot, tired, and frustrated after losing so many games (carried over from the last two tournaments), we packed up our stuff and headed back towards home to watch the little boys' Little League game.  My in-laws graciously offered to have the little boys sleep over and to take them to their game since Matt was out of town and I was unsure if I'd be able to get them there on time because of Lizzy's schedule.  I could've left Lizzy with her team, but since she has inherited Familial Hemiplegic Migraine from Matt, I'm not comfortable leaving her with someone who isn't familiar with the symptoms and how to care for them (the condition often mimics stroke symptoms and can be frightening for all the first time around).

After we got to see both boys at bat (a double, hit past 2nd base, for Drew; a single for Connor), we headed back to KY for the last game.  The girls probably played their best defensively all season, with the exception of one inning where they were throwing the ball around instead of getting it in to the pitcher's circle.  It had been a close game (8-7, the other team in the lead) until then..the other team scored 4 runs on those fielding errors!  Coach put a stop to the throwing around and we held them in the last inning, but lost 12-8 (I think?).  All in all, we were away from home for over 12 hours....we left at 7:15am and got back at 9:30pm.  A looooooong day!

Later this week we will be gearing up for our 12U Flames Summer Classic, which Matt is coordinating.  We have  44 teams coming from 7 states, with some very good competition from "cold-weather" teams.  While it would be nice to see the Flames play some of their better baseball at their own tournament, it really is a significant fundraiser for our team. 

At the end of June we will be heading back to Cooperstown Dreams Park (Week #4).  It's a little less than 3 weeks away, but I'm sure those 3 weeks will go by as quickly as the last 3!  I am beyond excited about this trip.  We have rented a house for a week with the in-laws, staying only 2 miles from the ballpark.  It should be a fun break for all, and I hope to have some free time to meet up with Angela and her crew.

Why Do We Do This? (The Baseball Version)

Elizabeth Foss has a most excellent post up from her archives answering the question "Why do we do this again?" in regard to the oftentimes hectic lifestyle competitive sports bring to the larger-than-normal family.  Go and read it, insert "baseball/softball" where she has soccer, substitute "Ohio" for "Virginia" and that is my life to a T...er, except for the great organizational tips.  Also, Elizabeth's husband, who works for ESPN, is away from home much more than my Matt is, so I really have no right to complain about anything anymore.

The past week has been challenging for me.  It always is when I don't get to see my husband much, regardless of whether we're running to activities or not.  Over the weekend, he was helping to run a tournament in northern KY, so he was at the park more than he was at home.  Fortunately, John's team was playing in the tournament, so I didn't have to worry much about him.  Saturday's games were completely washed out, so Matt had the headache of trying to appease disgruntled coaches, keep umpires updated, and call various and sundry people to keep them abreast of the ever-changing, on-again/off-again game schedule.  The sweet reward came at the end of the tournament on Sunday, where John's team won the tournament after playing four games in a row!

Monday was Little League night for our two little boys, Connor and Drew.  Tuesday was Lizzy's softball league game, an hour away.  Wednesday was a league game for John in a notorious area of town (the park has had shootings and drug-deals, oh joy), with the added bonus of Matt being out of town.  I paid my two oldest girls to babysit their two little brothers and sister, while I took the toddler, AJ, with me.  Thursday was a rare night off, so we went swimming during the day and had the pool to ourselves.  Tonight Matt comes home late, just in time to start this whole cycle over, except we'll be farther away from home this weekend.  Lizzy has a tournament in northern KY with games at the same time as John, whose team will be heading up to the Dayton area.  If all goes well, we should be able to spend some time together in Dayton after Lizzy's tournament is over, enjoying a Memorial Day cookout with John's team before his semi-finals begin.

Yes, I do wonder at times why we do this again.  But I can see how rewarding and character-forming being involved in sports has been for my kids, even the one who has tried several and decided she is an artist instead.  Like Elizabeth, my kids don't go to school (although John will be taking a couple of classes at the Jr. High next year so he can play for their basketball team), we don't do co-op, we really don't do much with the various homeschool groups we are members of.  Sports is their socialization and, admittedly, it's my socialization too.  When your child plays with a team for years, they become a close-knit family, a support-system, a tribe, if you will.  It may not be the tribe I would've chosen for myself, but I've developed ties to these people...we understand each other, because we're in the same nutty boat.  We're connected, whether we like it or not.

You don't believe me?  This local story only tells a little of the immense support the family of Cole Schlesner has received after he was hit by a line-drive at the mound.  Within hours of his game on Sunday, news of this accident spread to numerous teams through e-mails.  All these little baseball "tribes" have banded together in prayer and support.  Many have dedicated games in Cole's honor, teams will be wearing his number on their helmets, there will be moments of silence prior to games so that those in attendance can pray for his recovery.  I saw this same kind of love and support through sports teams earleir this year when our neighbor, Carolyn, passed away.  Many folks argue that sports can bring out the ugliness in people.  That is true...I've seen it and experienced it myself.  But they have the capacity to bring out the very best in people as well.

The month of June will be filled with make-up games, league games, and tournaments, both close to home and far away.  John and Matt will be heading to Georgia, while the rest of us stay behind to cheer Lizzy on in another tournament in Kentucky.  Then there will be our big fund-raising tournament that Matt's in charge of.  Last year, we saw one another for a total of about 4 hours the whole tournament.  Remembering that challenge from last year, Matt thought ahead and got us a hotel room nearby so we'll hopefully be able to see each other a little more.  Then we'll be heading to Cooperstown, NY for a week of great baseball competition.  Following that, Matt will be flying home while the kids and I head south to visit my mom and extended family.  Mom will be driving back to Ohio with us to spend more time with the grandkids and then will fly home.  I try not to think of the nitty-gritty details of it all, since I get easily overwhelmed when I do.  It'll all go by quickly, and we'll be starting with fall soccer, football, and a new school year before we know it!

Connor's big week

In honor of Connor's 8th birthday on Monday, all of us (except dad) went to the Cincinnati Zoo.    It had been quite some time since we had a zoo membership, and Connor suggested to purchase a membership as his birthday present this year.  We were blessed with partly cloudy weather, with high temps in the low 70s.  It was just absolutely perfect!

On our way out, we visited the gift shop, then saw some little penguins that were outside!  While watching the penguins, we heard some tropical sounding animals.  At first we thought it was one of the zoo soundboxes, but as we headed toward this gibbons, we saw them hooting (or whatever the technical term is) and swinging around.  It was the first time I had ever seen such a show at the zoo.  I took a video w/my cell phone, but this person's video on YouTube is much better:

On our way home, we stopped by the grocery store to buy a birthday cake.  That evening, Connor had to miss a baseball game to go to First Communion practice.  He will be making his First Communion this Saturday.  We're all very excited.  It has been such a big week for Connor!  Hopefully I'll post more about Saturday next week.

Don Quixote

One of the great things about home educating your children is you get a chance to educate (or re-educate) yourself.  One book I return to time and again is The Well-Educated Mind (TWEM) by Susan Wise Bauer.  The subtitle of the book is "A Guide to the Classical Education You Never Had."  In it, Bauer outlines a program for reading the classics or "Great Books", and provides helpful book summaries and notes on how to approach different literary genres.

Each year, in an effort to become familiar with the literature of the time period the kids will be studying, I follow the high school suggestions in The Well-Trained Mind (TWTM), a home education book also by Bauer.  Some years are lighter than others for me, according to our life circumstances (new baby, moving, heavy sports schedules, etc.).  Last year was light for me, but this year I think I have the determination to embark again on more serious study in preparation for Julia's high school years.

Thus, I have taken on the study of Don Quixote, written by Miguel de Cervantes and translated by Edith Grossman.  I could have used the translation by Thomas Shelton in my treasured copy from the Harvard Classics, but I felt the somewhat antiquated language might be troublesome for Julia when comes her turn to read the novel.  And while The Well-Educated Mind gives several suggestions for translations to read, after some perusal at Amazon, using the "look inside" feature, I settled on the above translation (which was not suggested in TWEM).

TWTM suggests that students put the Great Books in historical context by reading about the time period in Spielvogel's Western Civilization and then looking up the dates that span the author's lifetime in The Timetables of History and noting significant events and contemporaries.  Surprisingly, the latter book is one I purchased on a whim when I was still in college.  I'm glad I decided to hold onto this resource!  Once the student has the context, he then goes on to TWEM to read about the genre.  In this case, I read about the novel (there is a considerable portion devoted to the history of the novel), and then I moved onto the short summary of Don Quixote. 

One of the exercises for reading is to briefly summarize each chapter.  The reason for this is so when you go back for a deeper examination of certain parts of the novel, your memory is refreshed.  So, I have a notebook that I keep for these notes, as well as the historical context notes.  It's kind of nice to look back and see the notes I made for Homer and some related Greek drama (there is a blog post about that somewhere, but I can't locate it right now).  What I really like about Don Quixote right now is the brevity of the chapters.  It makes tackling this novel more manageable for me!

One resource I haven't referred to for myself yet is Spark Notes.  This online study guide is similar to the old familiar yellow and black Cliffs Notes, a resource I actually never used in high school or college (maybe I should have???).  I think the study guide will be helpful, especially when I'm looking for essay ideas for Julia.

The image above is Pablo Picasso's Don Quixote.

Landscaping

I know I've been quiet here...sorry.  Life takes over sometimes! :-)  We're very busy w/baseball and softball and finishing up school.  Today we're heading to a weekend tournament in Indiana.  Besides going to Cooperstown this summer, this is the only out-of-town tourney we're going to as a family.  I hope it will be fun. 

Anyway, here are a couple of photos from some landscaping we had done a couple of weeks ago.  We desperately needed something done w/the terrible landscaping job the builders had done (really, who plants pussy willow as an ornamental shrub???) and the price was right.  It really makes the place look a lot nicer!
 

This is the corner where the pussy willow once was.  We had it replaced with some variation of lilac.  It's more tree-like, but I think it is some sort of dwarf.  I can hardly wait for it to be in bloom and smell that heavenly fragrance!

The plants around the bottom are some sort of sage (purple flowers) and I think coreopsis (yellow flowers).

Along the front o the porch are dwarf lilacs, which we had at our old house and are fairly low maintenance.  Planted in front of those shrubs are day lilies, which I think the landscaper said will be red blooms.

Here the landscaper moved the dwarf Japanese maple back and continued the line of the wall which aligned with the step up from the walkway.  Previously the whole section along the walkway was mulched, but we had the landscaper plant grass seed instead.  Once the grass has grown, there will be less issues when the kids play basketball.  Hopefully the little tree won't suffer as much abuse, either!

One photo I didn't take was the little extra job they did on the other side of the house.  We have a problem with basketballs rolling down the hill into the woods.  To help stop the balls from going all the way into the woods, we had the landscaper transplant our evergreens to create a little "wall" effect (this was done with our neighbor's approval).  So far, so good.

Planning time begins!

This time of year is invigorating, if only because I look forward to planning for the next school year.  Much of my time and energy has been spent on considering a plan for next year's history.  We're still following a 4-year chronological rotation--Ancients, Medieval, Early Modern, Modern--and will be entering into and exciting time period which includes the founding of our nation.  Fortunately, there are lots of great resources on the internet, from free curricula to shared lesson plans.  These things have been most helpful to me in beginning my plans for several different levels of learning.

For grades K-8:

• The Artner’s Reader’s Guide to American History ($)
  
• Beyond the Pilgrims: A Catholic Supplement to American History Studies ($)
• Along the American History Trail (free literature-based, multi-level approach)
• American History Schedule (free schedule using Our Pioneers and Patriots as a spine)
• Literature-based American History plans (free)
• Our Los Banos American History Year 1 (free, daily plans, excellent resource)

For high school:

• Ambleside Online Year 8 (terms 2-3)-free OR
• Ambleside Online Year 8 Lite (free)
• Ambleside Online Year 9 (free) OR
• Ambleside Online Year 9 Lite  (free)
• The Great Books (Reformation/Enlightenment, starting around week 14, free)
• The Great Books (Modern, weeks 3-12, free)
• The Great Books Program (starting at Year 3, week 14 through Year 4, week 15, free)

So, these websites provide lots of great booklists and plans to help you chart your course.  I've been wrestling between doing a complete course in American history or following a dual-track of world and American history.  Right now I'm thinking that for our high school student, I will have her follow that dual-track, with a heavy emphasis on American history.  However, I think the younger kids will benefit from doing just American history, perhaps having me read aloud from a "living" book to fill in the world history tidbits (Genevieve Foster books come to mind here).  This is what I'll be working on the next few months, plus developing a course in earth science for our rising high schooler.  Fun, fun, fun! :-)

Lessons from Carolyn

The past two weeks have been heavy around here, even though we had the joy of celebrating our 15th wedding anniversary last week.  We lost our dear neighbor, Carolyn, last week, and the sadness I've been experiencing has surprised me.  I think it is partly because she was so young, and her illness and demise came on so quickly.  She would've turned 40 this summer and was diagnosed with cancer in December, but had yet to start chemotherapy.  A little over two weeks ago we were in her driveway discussing the upcoming baseball season, plans the kids had for summer, and her desire for her doctors to find out "what the heck is making [her] feel so crappy."  A few days after that, she was brought to the hospital and the downward spiral began.  We all are having such a hard time making sense of it all.  I can only imagine the tremendous grief her husband and children are going through.

Carolyn's funeral was Monday, and the priest's homily resonated with me.  He said there are "cornerstone moments" in our lives that remind us why we're here and the Church is the same way.  In the liturgical year, the big celebrations of Christmas and Easter remind us why we're here and this helps us in those times, all those Sundays, when we feel like we're just going "going through the motions."  The death of a loved one is one of those cornerstones which reminds us why we're here.  And while there is great sadness and grief "on this side, there is great rejoicing on the other side."

And so, as I reflect on the passing of our neighbor, I will try to list some of the lessons I have learned.

• "Preach the Gospel always, and when necessary, use words."  (St. Francis of Assisi)  Carolyn was a loving and generous neighbor.  May I strive to continue in her example.
• Cherish the small moments.  The movie, "The Bucket List" comes to mind here.  The first several items on the mens' lists were "big" things like "Climb Mt. Everest", "go on an African safari," etc.  But as they progressed through the list, the things got simpler...they were those "small" moments like "see a beautiful sunset" and "kiss a beautiful woman" (which was one man's wife and another man's granddaughter).  While I don't relish the idea of "change another diaper" being on my personal bucket list, may I appreciate that moment as being one spent with my baby boy. 
• Carpe diem, sieze the day.  Too much of our time is spent in pursuit of things that are either unattainable or fail to satisfy.  May I appreciate each moment for what it is, while striving to keep things beautiful and good.
• Open your heart.  Yes, you run the risk of getting stomped on when you let someone in, but the benefits of true friendship--Platonic love--outweighs that risk.  May I have the courage and trust to open my heart to those around me.

Rest in peace, Carolyn.

Spring?

Well, the snow has been long gone and we have been enjoying some beautiful spring-like weather.  It was nice enough to even let the heat be off for a couple of nights.  However, the past couple of nights have been cold, so I broke down and turned the heat back on this morning.

I love the changing of the seasons.  I eagerly awaited our first snowfall, and once that was over, I was anxious for the return of warmer weather! :-)  But seriously, I do like that we live in a climate that experiences all four seasons.  My favorite season is autumn, but that is closely followed by spring.  I love how the breeze carries the scent of new life...the richness of the soil warming up, the crisp scent of buds emerging, the delicate aroma of burgeoning blossoms.  Ahhhh....

We're gearing up for spring here in our home and school.  This weekend marks the first baseball tournament of the new season.  Matt, John, and John's team will be heading south to Chattanooga, TN where there will hopefully be warmer weather.  I made the decision to stay home, since the weather can be iffy even in TN when it comes to these early season tournaments.  Last year's tourney in Nashville was completely rained out.  We dubbed it "the Flames' most expensive pool party" and I really didn't want a repeat this year.  It looks like there is a chance for rain, but hopefully it will either blow north or south and the boys will all get a chance to play.

Our science project for the spring and summer is container gardening.  In the fall the kids got interested in sprouting beans and some asked if we could start a garden this year.  Our home owner's association stresses that gardening plans and other "improvements" need to be submitted to the board in writing and approved.  I understand that the goal is to not have anything "unsightly" to disturb your neighbor's aesthetic sense, but gosh!  Anyway, I figured we'd be able to get away with container gardening for this first go-round before I summon up the audacity to submit plans for a square-foot garden for the south-west side of the house next year.  Thus, we have started seeds for vegetables and herbs that are appropriate for growing in containers (ok, I might sneak in a couple of watermelons for that south-west plot  so they can grow down the hill).  The seeds have really taken off and need to be transplanted to some bigger containers and placed in a sunny window upstairs.  Looks like I need to visit Lowe's again.

We are in desperate need of a landscape remodel in the front of the house.  Still, we do have two different shrubs showing signs of spring.  The pussy willow has shown its soft, fuzzy buds and the forsythia is sprouting bright green buds.  If the warm weather returns, the forsythia will burst forth in a brilliant yellow soon.  Ah, yes, I do like spring.

The Loft

Well, I have the photos on the computer now, so I will upload the series of photos showing the progress of the loft Matt built in the girls' room on Sunday.   When all was said and done, I think it probably took him roughly 5 hours to complete, though I'm not sure.  There were a few trips to Home Depot.  The table saw's motor kept tripping the breaker, so he couldn't use it.  So, Matt had the bigger pieces cut to size at HD and did the smaller ones with the chop saw.  We used the ideas at this website as our guide, with some input from an old dude at HD.

The project started out with Matt anchoring a 10.5' 2x6 to the studs with lag screws along the entire width of the room as well as 4' pieces along the two side walls.  Then a 2x2 cleat was secured all along the bottom of these boards.  The front piece was then secured to the two side pieces, the cleat was added, and slats were secured to the cleats.

Since the loft is long, Matt wanted to add a 4x4 post in the middle to have extra support.  Then he added plywood over the slats.

A normal family would then sand and finish the loft.  However, it was a long day and beds still needed to be moved, so we were essentially done.  The wood along the front will be painted blue and the underside might be covered with fabric for a more appealing finish for the two older girls who sleep below.  We also need a rail and a ladder.

Here's the almost finished project.  Cate has about 4 feet of play space up top for toys.  The dressers (3 matching wood) will eventually be painted.  I might even install curtains under the loft that can be tied back during the day.  Don't you just love the ladder??? :-)