several weeks worth

for two, three, maybe even 4 weeks now this is how the world around us has looked, a total blur, a flurry of hurried activity. it was a beautiful, fun whirlwind to get caught up in and carried away on, but now we are exhausted. inspite of that, we are finding it really challenging to let go and come down from that adrenaline rush. j in particular as he really loves the thrill and excitement of performing. i never imaged he would feel so comfortable being on stage in front of an audience under hot, bright lights (it would terrify and annoy me!), but after that first ballet performance back in august, he was hooked!

"circus" as performed by the Utassy Ballet School

a last minute pep talk from the teacher

(j is one of the shaggy lions)

interspersed between ballet rehearsals and performances, karate practice, a karate tournament and grading which only just finished today!, and a fantastic excursion with a local entomologist, was lots of quality time spent at home. we three are falling in love with japan again and the boys are busy fashioning ninja/samurai outfits and weaponry all because of these wonderful books. the boys have discovered the joys of making their own comic/manga "stories" and as a result are reading and writing more everyday. if i ever had any doubts in the past that unschooling couldn't/wouldn't work, they have all been laid to rest. amidst the rushrush and chaos of the past few weeks, i've watched my boys grow and expand in so many ways on so many levels. i've witnessed first hand what i've read in so much unschooling literature in the past, when you are pursuing what you love, when you are passionate about what you are doing, learning happens, spontaneously. plus, they are happy and that really means something.

cleaning his snailery and putting in fresh "vittles"

at any given time j has several terrariums "up and running" and at one point he had an aquarium with freshwater invertebrates. currently he's got a terrarium filled with snails and slugs. his love for these slimy little critters began when he was a wee toddler. the other day he found two masses of eggs glued to the side of the jar. we are looking forward to having baby slugs and/or snails sliming around the terrarium soon. he's counting the days. seriously, he's ticking them off the calender.

in another terrarium he's got several earthworms and a bush cockroach that he found on the excursion i mentioned above. he couldn't believe his luck when he found it and began showing it to everyone. as it lives in the bush, you would never find it around humans. it eats only rotting bush plants on the forest floor, so he's very careful to find only choice bits of native plants from the small creeklet behind our house. as it's nocturnal, j will often check in on it in the middle of the night. i love hearing his stories the next morning, "you won't believe what he was up to last night, mama....." wanna bet? :)

chopping celery tops for the slugs and snails

and that pretty much brings us to today, a dirty house from weeks of neglect, a garden full of weeds, and i still haven't given any thought to holiday gift giving. wish me luck!