No impact experiment - and Life Goes On...

This week long experiment is finally coming to a close. Yesterday we spent the day raising awareness of our water consumption (says the blogger mom with a water leak in her front yard)..and today is Action. I. E. volunteering, etc. We are weak in water..and volunteering is our lifestyle. Always has been.

  So..as sardinemama said from the beginning. We already do what we can..and won't be changing what we don't...or something along those lines. Pretty much sums it up for us.

4 tangible changes/reminders to keep?

1-Buying produce from the local produce stand
2- Keeping the ac/heat off unless absolutely necessary
3-keeping the t.v. unplugged most of the time and minimizing our computer use.
4-use cloth diapers more often.

Now back to the rest of life..

Levi has discovered that he likes the moby wrap. I found one at a second-hand store last week. Aunt Nicole? Also has discovered that she likes the moby wrap. Everyone is much happier now.

Cody, Austen and I continue to keep some structured studying going on M-TH at home. Odd really. Nice.

We write together for an hour each morning. We read and discuss British Lit  for another hour or two.So far we have read Beowulf and Sir Gawain and The Green Giant. Next Up? The Complete Adventures and Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes . We are learning economics together.(I took one class in college..but that was a l-o-n-g time ago)

Then? The boys do whatever they want for a short break (oiy..saying that is KILLING the unschooler in me!) and return to studying independently for another couple of hours. 

Austen- French and Algebra.

Cody- he is wrapping up a history book and studying for the ACT (next Sat.). Then he's on to Calculus and O-Chem.

Sometimes Cody and I just spend the afternoon  plodding through online college applications and stuff together. We discovered he has volunteered 999.5 hours (that are actually documented and stuff) during his high-school years. Who knew?

The boys are usually finished studying by 2 or 3 in the afternoon..leaving them free to do whatever they want.
As for me? I am (ugh) learning to crochet and knit. It's Cody's fault. Really.

I promised to make each of the boys a quilt when they move away from home. It was something I have told them I would do since they were little boys. When Brian-Scott moved to TAMS it took us almost 2 years! But, darn it..we learned to quilt!

This quilt was truly a community effort..especially since none of us knew what we were doing. But in the end Brian-Scott had a coolish tye-die quilt with black trim and backing. A quilt that had been made with the help of no less than 8 children and 4 adults.

So now it is Cody's turn.

I have been asking him since summer. (because I know this will take a while..because I still don't really know what I'm doing).Have you thought of what you want on your quilt? Would you like to look at some patterns? Would you like to look at materials?

Cody, in turn, has responded with grunts, shrugs and grins. Then last week he asks.

Are you still making me a quilt? I get WAY too excited. YES! Do you know what you want?!

Cody- Actually (almost sheepishly) would an afghan be okay?

and I know this is what we will do. Cody is texture sensitive. He has never been a quilt-kind of guy. But his favorite blanket in our house is a knitted afghan that used to be my grandfathers. Cody likes the feel, the smell and the weight.

I remind him I have absolutely no idea how to do this..so it will have to be a fairly simple pattern..and we will have to learn together.

We find a pattern for an afghan he likes. It is made in squares and then pieced together..almost quiltish, actually. Only two colors..cafe' and cafe' au late'. Cody likes things that aren't too busy. Visually, speaking.

My friend Brenda (who helped us with Brian-Scott's quilt) looks at the pattern with us. It is a mix of crochet and knitting. She agrees to help us learn. So...we are learning to crochet and knit.

..and that is our life right now. I will no longer be blogging every couple of days because this no impact thing is over (that was part of the commitment to the experiment..to blog about it). So..(big sigh of relief for us all!)

Today? I learn to crochet. (practicing on a beginning scarf kit)..and hopefully finish prepping the garden for Fall...and tomorrow?

Back to prison.

I'm a little nervous, actually. I (along with friends Jack and Rhonda) committed ourselves to going to this particular unit the first Sunday of every month. But, unlike with the Kairos weekend..there are just a few of us..and it is a LONG day. I'm looking forward to it. Feel like there is more consistency this way...but I guess I'm just nervous because I'm not sure what I'm doing. Kairos is very specific..everyone has a job and knows what it is months ahead of time. This? Not so much. Sure I'll learn as I go.

In the meantime..

 Today  Big B, Cody and Austen are helping a friend build a shop. Calvin is with my parents this weekend. Levi is with my sister for the long weekend...leaving me?

To a house by myself!