What did you do? Saw a "katydid"!…among other things

We've been up to several things, lately, but one of the funnest things was seeing a katydid for the very first time for me (Chandra).  They're more commonly called "leaf bugs".  They are an amazing testimony to God's creativity.  Amazing that their bodies are perfectly camouflaged as leaves with veins!  This one was right on the brick wall next to our front door on Saturday morning.  He was quite large.

Good nature study!  And we are enjoying a second round of our roses, even though I've neglected them all summer long.  Here are a few photos.

I've been pretty busy getting ready for my garage sale.  The first day I made at least enough to pay our aeration guy who's supposed to come next weekend.  But, on Saturday I didn't sell one thing.  Well, I guess I'm meant to sell it on E-Bay and get more money for the items that our left.  Some will go as a tax write off at the local thrift store.

Well, the good part was that I got rid of some stuff and got my garage cleaned out.  One step closer to when we'll need it all cleaned out for a graduation party next year.  I've already started having nightmares about that.  The other night, I dreamt that I had forgotten to give the guests any drinks and forgot to make a cake for the party.  Ha!

Actually, homeschooling is going well and Penny continues enjoying making art work.  Here is this week's project.  She's been learning about Medieval Art, such as the Book of Kells.  So, here is her own "Book of Kell": (sorry, for some reason I can't figure out how to rotate this picture)

Yesterday we enjoyed getting together with our little Japanese bible fellowship group in the Denver area.  Penny had fun playing with the little kids.  Here's a picture of them riding on a "choo-choo" train.

The other exciting things around here were just cleaning up after the garage sale.  I figured out a way to keep my shoes from falling off the silly stand I have for them.  They were always slipping off, because they sit on slippery metal bars that are at an angle.  So, I covered them with yarn, to give them more traction and so far it seems to be helping.  Here is a picture of our "mud room". 

 Well, since we don't have one, our own genkan (Japanese for entryway), I decided to designate the space in front of my car as our entryway/mudroom.  Doesn't it just make more sense to remove your shoes before entering the house?  I like this Japanese custom.

And speaking of our house, we had an unexpected surprise this evening.  The utility room had water backing up from the pipes.  We have a feeling there are tree roots in the pipes.  So, we're having someone coming out tomorrow to take a look and clean them out.  I just pray that the pipes aren't broken.

We're thankful to God for His many gifts and surprises, like a very generous unexpected gift from a friend to help Penny out with some homeschool curriculum and some clothes from a family at church.  So good to see how He takes care of us, His kids.  May God bless you all this week!

Art & Comfort Food

We've been trying to relax and enjoy life, in spite of the busy days with homeschooling and work.  Fortunately, I (Chandra) am finally feeling better after the virus that wore me out for at least eleven days.  Now Jay is starting to feel worse.  Fortunately, Penny only was dragging for about a day or two. When I was still suffering I was trying to think of what food would bring comfort to my achy body.  And the answer for me was green tea and anpan (Japanese buns with sweet beans in the middle).

Since I can't easily buy them in the U.S. I just make my own, using the frozen Rhoes buns, stuffing them with canned anko (sweet beans), which I can find at Asian markets. 

  My favorite green tea in the U.S. is made by a Japanese company and distributed through Costco.  It's so good, because it has matcha in it, which is the special powdered green tea used in tea ceremonies.

Other than good Japanese comfort food, there's always our sweet kitty to cheer us up when we are attempting to do our school work.

And the subject that seems to be the most relaxing to Penny lately is that of art.  She seems to be enjoying her weekly art projects.  She's completed two more since the last time I blogged.  Here is her Egyptian hieroglyphics art project…

The symbols say, "beauty", "love", "joy", "peace", "protection", and "Jesus".

And today she finished her Greek art project for Week 3.  Here is her work of art…..

I'm really proud of her and think she's doing a great job.  She's also doing a great job at writing about the different eras of art history in her journal, as well as typing up paragraphs about what's she's learning.  This year my two main goals for her, during her senior year, is to improve in and gain confidence in writing, as well as to prepare for trying to take the GED.  I think she's well on her way for working towards the first goal.  Writing is no longer reducing her to tears anymore.  I'm very pleased at her progress in this area and believe she'll continue to excel.

Trying to be Productive

This last week (well more like 10 days) has been rough.  I picked up some kind of virus right when our German friends were leaving and I had to go back to work.  It was also the start of the new fall semester for Penny's homeschooling.  Not good timing!  It was like a head cold, combined with aches and fatigue.  But, my sweet daughter has been helping out a lot like cooking meals.  And it's been a good learning experience for her, too.  She started back up with her homeschool group that meets every Friday during the "school year".  Her electives at Home School Etc. are:  art, theatre, ancient history, art  of argument (debate).  At home, she's also started up with a new art class.  She's learning about art history by writing about it along with a related art project.  For her first week, she did her own version of a prehistoric cave painting.  Here it is…

I've been trying to get caught up on my teacher duties, such as grading and planning.  I don't have a picture of my lovely, organized desk to show you.  Because, in all honesty, I don't really like desks.  I do my most creative work on the floor.  No wonder I got along marvelously in Japan, where you frequently sit on the floor.  I love to have my books and papers all surrounding me.  So, here is my teacher's "desk"….

Now, lest you think that my house is in a constant state of disordered clutter, I will prove to you that I'm really trying to clean up my messes.  Here is my sun porch after going through most of the many boxes that my parents dumped on brought to me.

You may notice the random bowls sitting in the middle of the floor.  We are still having leaks in our sunporch roof and haven't had the time nor the money to fix it, yet.  In actuality, going through the boxes was both fun and sad.  I saw lots of really fun reminders in there of the great memories I have from my childhood.  But, it was also sad as I saw lots of reminders of my grandparents, whom I miss.  Mom, I hope you don't mind, but after going through the boxes, I am planning on trying to sell a lot of the old toys.  But, I took photos for posterity's sake.  So, here are the things that are getting ready to be sold on a garage sale.

Well, that's all for now.  I'm starting to feel a little better.  So, I had better get to work getting caught up on my teacher duties while the daughter sleeps in on a Saturday morning.