River Rat Wisdom and Not Back To School

This past weekend we(meaning Ong and Bates families minus Cody) took Angee and Brian back to Austin. Why? Because we seem to think it is necessary for ALL OF US..to return them for the new year. Cody..did not think it was necessary to be part of this venture. He chose to hang-out with his girlfriend and family instead.

Pictured here are Austen and Brian posturing their "buffness"  in the apartment kitchen. You know, as they drink their boba tea.

On our trip home I am given Words of Wisdom from Austen. Austen,my son, the River Rat.

Austen has spent a minimum of three hours a day..usually 6+..at the river this summer.

In the past few weeks I have noticed a change in Austen's walk..his talk..his humor..small glimmers of maturity that are intriguing.

As we ride home from Austin (the city) Austen (the young man)catches me up on many of his summer adventures at the river. The people he has met. The stunts they (Austen and friend Travis) have tried. Austen offers his insights into various people and situations. He has become clearer on what he wants and doesn't want in the near future. As Austen talks, I realize that he has become pretty street smart. You know..in a small-town, River Rat sort-of way. And then he says.  

You know..it occurred to me..that life is so unpredictable! I have a new philosophy. Embrace life. Live life. Love life. It's as simple as that. You can't hide away afraid of what might happen. You just have to..well..like I said. 

Embrace, Live and Love.

This..naturally, led to a discussion on his recent dread-lock consultation. Yes..we had a dreadlock consultation for the boy last Friday. Austen is very clear about what type/style of dreads he wants.

Did you know there are over 12 dread-lock styles? I didn't.

After discussion with stylist, she gave us the amount. $xyz.oo!! Holy Molie! We ask for an appointment in a couple of weeks so we can gather the funds. Austen should be dreaded on Sept. 10th. Should be interesting. I'm sure that will be a whole 'nother blog in and of itself.

In the meantime. The local neighborhood kids are back in school. We (again) are not. The house is unusually quiet.

I have been following the not back to school bloghop.

The bloghop has also been interesting..not in the same way as dreadlocks..but in a wow..do people really do all this sort-of way.

The month of August was broken into themes. Week 1- Curriculum Used, Week 2 -School Room Week, Week 3 -Student Photo Week and finallyWeek 4- Day In the Life. I have simply read..not posted. Mainly because there are some pretty efficient homeschoolers over there. Ahem..we? Well? We are growing River Rats!

So..quick summary here.

Curriculum Used. We occasionally have a year of what I call "Sonlight Panic" This is one of those years. So, for now..Sonlight British Lit, Saxon Algebra and Calculus, and miscellaneous other stuff for Economics, French and O-Chem.

School Room: Where-ever we are. The dining room table, the living room floor, my bed, the deck , the river...

Student Photo Week:

This would be it. Both boys are purposely hiding their faces. It was the best picture I could get..the other pics? Well...they were spitting/shooting paper napkin pieces at me.

A Day In the Life? Really?

  Let's see...had coffee with Big B and  my friend Sandy. Hung out with the baby, started laundry,and turned the t.v. onto the Sirius Coffee House station. Unlike the years we had no t.v.or only 2 stations,  we now have a gazillion channels to choose from. The easiest way to avoid getting sucked into t.v. land is to use the t.v. like a radio.

Austen came home from Devin's (he had spent the night) and I woke Cody up around 9:30 a.m.. Both boys thought this was cruel and unusual punishment because I had decided summer was over.

Don't feel too bad for them. They had been forewarned.

Boys wrote in journals and we (gasp) used work-books for grammar. We have not used work-books since...wow..Cody was like 7. Austen..about 6 years ago. Levi tried to converse with the studious paper spitters, as they wrote..the boys rolled up paper towels and pretended they were "baby cigarettes." They cracked themselves up.

 Then? We read aloud. We always read aloud together. One of the things I treasure about my time at home.

Today it was Beowulf and Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. Cody very creatively retold Beowulf. "Then Hrothgar- the optimist prime- with all his men..." or "They waded through the marrow..mm yum,yum.."

Austen had great fun with puns of King Arthur and his "high" court.

We read for a couple of hours. Levi falls asleep.

Boys work on cars and fix some lunch. I rotate laundry. (real exciting, huh?)

Then we resume. Bluestocking Guide to Economics. We read and discuss articles. Austen spends another hour studying French and working on Algebra. Cody reads some history and starts skimming an ACT prep book.

Pictured here is Cody playing with Levi.

By 3p.m..the boys are back in the river..The rest of the day the boys play with Levi, play in the river and mess around on computers. Cody helps me set the table for dinner.

Dinner conversation revolves around the No Impact Experiment .What will it involve? We are trying next week. Big B thinks he should be exempt from the experiment. We disagree. It's a family thing..he must deal with his consumerism just like the rest of us.

Big B rocks Levi (and himself) to sleep..as he embraces another love in our lives.

What's For Dinner?
Monday: shell pasta with salmon, sliced cucumber and tomato, bread sticks
Tuesday: New England  style roast, baked potatoes, salad
Wednesday: roasted red pepper soup, grilled cheese on wheat rounds, sliced peaches
Thursday: eggplant and tomatoes with pasta, sliced tomato with mozarella and basil, sliced apples
Friday: toasted french toast with bruschetta, olives, sliced cheeses
Saturday: meatless chilli
Sunday: ?