I love how much art and music envelop us at every turn, and how the boys have learned to channel their own feelings through art and music to take the edge off of some of those overpowering emotions. T...
They were the original reason I fell in love with San Francisco in the first place. I saw a 2” x 2” picture of these houses in black and white in an encyclopedia when I was 14, and fell head over heel...
For most of us, there is only the unattended Moment, the moment in and out of time, The distraction fit, lost in a shaft of sunlight, The wild thyme unseen, or the winter lightning Or the waterfall, ...
So, tears come easily perhaps. And the pain others put into story form, to allow others to see into their world, see what their challenges and struggles were, see what they rose up from, what brought ...
So, within a week of one another, both my 13yo and my 16yo have had their hearts broken. They process things very differently. My youngest is open with me. My older one is shut down. I want so much to...
Do you listen intently to the words of songs your kids listen to - the stations, the kinds of music they like? ...
When the kids were smaller, we did Art Excursions on a regular basis. We have been thinking about gearing up for doing that again. We all are fed by art in various ways. We seek out and find things to...
par·a·dox noun \ˈper-ə-ˌdäks, ˈpa-rə-\ : something (such as a situation) that is made up of two opposite things and that seems impossible but is actually true or possible Ben went through a Phantom of...
Because Ben and I are both artists, and experience a large range of emotions, we’ve had to learn about anger and how to handle it, manage it, subdue it, understand it and live with it. We...
Today, Bean and I had some errands to run, and I chose the Pandora Station “Peter, Paul and Mommy” for our musical background. We sang along to Feed the Birds, from Mary Poppins, and some ...
Unbelievable precision. This is mesmerizing. We watched this on Thursday for Theater and Dance night....
Last night for Monday – Murals, we started out with this series of murals from the article Fun New Murals by ROA Utilize Tunisia’s Domed Architecture, then checked out 30 Wonderful Example...
The thing is, the world of the internet is exciting and terrific and mind-blowing and brilliant. It can also be terrifying. My kids got hand-me-down phones that were so worthless, and non-funct...
Painted by Bean three years ago, when he was Four. It should have dawned on me sooner that this may be his thing. As I was hanging the boys jeans up to dry yesterday, I noticed that on every one ...
Ben and I were reading about Castles in the Middle Ages yesterday, and we decided to try to find a YouTube video of some of the greatest castles in the world. Sadly, we didn’t find what we were ...
This was originally posted on my Artful Homeschool Blog – but I think I’m disbanding that after one day. I’d rather have one blog here at Country Kid Farmers....
Ben started with a drawing, then did a paper cut-out of the body for this guitar, then headed to the shop to use his new saw that cuts angles. His dad helped him cut out part of an old license plate a...
Even though we buy paper and tape in bulk, tonight Ben just needed another form of canvas, and so he started giving Bean tattoos with marker. We discourage this sort of thing, generally. A long time a...
Over the weekend, I got to spend a few minutes out in the shop with Scott. He needed my help to move some giant thing over onto the lift, and then push it under the back of the torn down vehicle. See ...
Ah – the glories of learning off the computer! Could there be a more exhilarating way to see in a quick moment all the geometric wonders involved in those wonderful Cathedral windows of old? (Pe...
Part of Ben’s fourth grade art curriculum includes a look at Gothic Architecture. We live in the age of the computer, and I couldn’t be more thrilled. What we can see in little pictures in...
This article is based on a prompt from a blog I enjoy called the Tao Te Ching Daily – which gives beautiful, peaceful, soothing, inviting, mindful advice about living. The Tao, as I understand i...
Saturday, we wanted to run down to the Eagle Point Farmers Market for some veggies, but instead ended up at The Wood House for their Farm Festival. My boys adore antiques and things that show how life...
After Scott and I finished Morning Chores, he left for a day of removing an emergency tree. Ben started his day by inviting me to join him at the Kitchen Table. “We can pull out all the art supp...
That, apparently, is what it is like to be an artistic welder, and spray sparks all day in the process of creating. This is according to Cheryl Garcia, whose studio we had the distinct pleasure of vis...
