Ocular Athletics

It's been awhile but here is the return of Ocular Athletics.

A Pencil
by Ken

A pencil is very useful. For instance if no one invented pencils would I be writing this? Another example, if no one had invented pencils I'd have to do my math in pen so it would take up a lot more space, wouldn't it? You see, pencils are very useful.


Snow
by Joe

Snow is cold, wet, white, and needs to be shoveled. At the moment we have about 45" of the stuff and I am sore from shoveling it all. However, it is really fun to play in it. Sledding is my favorite but I actually use a snowboard without any straps instead of a sled. Snowflakes are about as big as this period . and it takes a large amount to get 45".


Play
by Adam

I find that the word play can mean several things. Play can just mean make believe, a child wandering off to his own favorite place, by himself or with another, it makes no difference. Play can also mean the absence of work to some, sitting on the couch not doing anything can be loosely defined as play to the practical mind.

All these points can be said to be true, especially the first one. But play, real play, is the simple joy of doing simple things. Say it's winter. You start out sledding, speeding down the hill as fast as you can. As the participants get bored with this and if there are no inadvertansome grownups around, sledding can quickly turn into speeding down the hill trying to break through the sled wall at the bottom. Which can't exactly be considered for its brilliance, but I must confess to finding it particularly enjoyable. This in turn will soon turn into a form of warfare game. Boys being what they are will probably get kind of rough, with much pushing, shoving, hearty laughter, and many awkward positions. It is not arranged this way. It's just the way it is . Play, real play, is such intense enjoyment that you stay out untill dark just doing the simplest things. That is real play.

What we've been doing

We've been hunting and Christmas shopping, baking and cooking and shoveling snow (lots of snow!)tending chickens ( we're even getting a couple of eggs already! My how those little chicks grew fast!) and sometimes we conjugate latin verbs and solve for X and try and figure out the Boer War. We also are reading the Iliad out loud. Try that sometime if you want to twist your toungue around all those Greek names. Truly gives new meaning to it's Greek to me!

Wild Geese

Wild Geese
by Elinor Chipp

I heard the wild geese flying
In the dead of the night,
With beat of wings and crying
I heard the wild geese flying.

And dreams in my heart sighing
Followed their northward flight.
I heard the wild geese flying
In the dead of the night.

Betsy-Tacy

Every now and then I visit the Bonny Glen to see what's up in literature. The hobbits and I get caught up in swash-buckling adventures and it is good sometimes to see what the gentler folk are reading. Or to put it another way--sometimes I want to read something girly. I participated in the Betsy-Tacy read last October without blogging about it and thoroughly enjoyed all the books from the beginning when Betsy-Tacy meet to Heavens to Betsy which gets her through her freshman year of high school. This year I am reading Betsy in Spite of Herself, Betsy was a Junior, and Betsy and Joe. If you would like to participate stop by the wonderfully named blog--A library is a hospital for the mind and sign up. Or just start reading! These are very sweet books and will have you making fudge and singing along at the piano (or wishing you were).

The School Year

It was a rocky start this year. It seemed every time we got a routine going it was interrupted. I know this is the theme for homeschooling but it was even worse than usual this year. Things have settled down a bit and this is how our weeks are going...
Everyday we do math and Latin. On Monday we do poetry; on Tuesday we do art and Botany and Earth Science; on Wednesday it's music and Nature study; on Thursday it's health; and Friday it's geography. On most days we read, have spelling lessons and try to cover some history. Missing this year is Ocular Athletics and we all miss it. so I'm trying to fit it in somewhere.
I'll be blogging in more detail about the different subjects. Some things are going really well,like geography, some things are endured like spelling and some things need serious adjustment like music (not our best subject unless you count memorizing the lyrics to Toby Keith's greatest hits---which I don't!!)

Salamander

Joe found this beauty yesterday...

Summer Drift/Poetry Monday

We wrapped up school at the end of May and spent two glorious months enjoying the best summer weather for the last few years. After two wet, rainy summers this one has been hot, mostly dry, with one beautiful sunny day following another. But then drift set in.. Our days languished... Hobbits grew bored... So I started school which surprisingly was well received and we have finished one week already and today is the first Poetry Monday of the new school year (we started last Tuesday).

Piping Down the Valleys Wild
By William Blake

Piping down the valleys wild,
Piping songs of pleasant glee,
On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me:

"Pipe a song about a lamb!"
So I piped with merry cheer.
"Piper, pipe that song again";
So I piped: he wept to hear.

"Drop thy pipe, thy happy pipe;
Sing thy songs of happy cheer!"
So I sang the same again.
While he wept with joy to hear.

"Piper, sit thee down and write
In a book that all may read."
So he vanished from my sight;
And I plucked a hollow reed.

And I made a rural pen,
And I stained the water clear,
And I wrote my happy songs
Every child may joy to hear.

Moonflowers

We're shifting gears a little here at the Hobbit homeschool. Baseball is finished for the year and soccer has begun.(Soccer is much more low key!! No travelling to games!!)School paperwork is in the future. So is canning tomatoes. I guess I could be weeding but I'm going to pour myself a glass of iced tea, sit on the deck, and read Planet Narnia by Michael Ward It has been a lovely summer so far. And the moonflowers are blooming!

My Family and Other Animals

This is the best read aloud for boys who think they are too old for read alouds! It's great for summer too. This is my second time reading this one aloud...I only hope I retain my composure during the part about Widdle and Puke better than I did last time!

Fallen off the face of the Earth?

No, but we sure have been busy. May hit with a bang and we have been juggling two baseball league schedules, wrapping up the school year (with testing for little hobbit) planting the garden, celebrating four birthdays, mowing lawns (ours and three others) and Papa Hobbit had rotator cuff surgery. Whew! And today the peeps arrived!!Aren't they adorable?

Mr. Beethoven at the zoo

Yesterday we were good and finished school but we skipped out on the Lenten Spring cleaning and went to the zoo. (This fellow was very miffed with us when we moved Mr. Beethoven out of reach!)

Poetry Monday

Pippa's Song
by Robert Browning

The year's at the spring,
And day's at the morn;
Morning's at seven;
The hillside's dew-pearled;

The lark's on the wing;
The snail's on the thorn:
God's in His Heaven--
All's right with the world!

Mr. Beethoven goes to Buffalo

He was in town to visit the bishop ... (Altar Servers Awards Banquet)

Ocular Athletics

Swords by Ken

Swords are big metal sticks that have been sharpened. This is an example (drawing of sword complete with blood channel) I happen to have a big book of swords by Ben Boos. It has fourteen chapters and I can list them.
1. Warriors
2. Raiders
3. War Maidens
4. Villagers
5. Soldiers
6. Landsknechts
7. Knights
8. Kings
9. Samurai
10. Ninja (my personal favorite)
11. Silla Knights
12. Eastern Masters
13. War Chiefs
14. Sultans


Books by Joe

Books are strange things. They can make you laugh or cry, they can bug you or thrill you, but they can also be Algebra books which definitely make you cry. Books can have as few as 5 pages or as many as several thousand pages. I like fiction best but I don't mind other books. Books can take you to other times, worlds, places, and planets, but some are rather boring. My favorite author is probably Rick Riordan who wrote the Percy Jackson and the Olympian series.



Swords by Adam

Swords are amazing creations. Forged from the best steel that is within man's power to create they can be long and heavy or short and light, good for close combat. Some are simple and cruel, others are elegant and dignified with intricately shaped hilts and patterned blades. In medieval times a sword was used not only in combat but it justified someone's rank or status. You could be a king and have a sword made by the best swords smith on the planet or a freeman or soldier with a simple but deadly steel weapon designed for great battles or any combat, whether against man or beast was best decided under the circumstances. The sword is the most wondrous weapon and I suggest you learn as much as possible about this weapon.

Beethoven's First Trip

Beethoven sat on his Jacob's Ladder meditating, when Mrs. Ladybug came flying by with the daily news."She never comes at a convenient time,"he grumbled to himself.
She landed in front of him and said in her squeaky voice," Uh,oh, Beethoven! The boys' parents are taking them to D.C. to visit their sister living on the outskirts of the city. I saw them looking up the distance. It's a six hour drive!" she finished, out of breath.
"So what does that have to do with me?" the musician said irritably.
"I brought you the news because the little boy,Ken, asked if he could bring you," Mrs. Ladybug said in her fast way taking breaths as she spoke. "They are leaving in three days, on Monday morning."
"How long are they staying?" Beethoven asked, maintaining his outward calm with difficulty.
"Three days," the little ladybug added shortly.
"Three days!" Beethoven said, cracking. "I'll never live that long in such a huge city. If I make it, I'll die on the car ride!"
Mrs. Ladybug looked at him sympathetically. "Six days is torture," she agreed.
"Why six?" the musician asked cautiously.
"Oh, come now, Beethoven. I know you. You'll be stewing in sweat at least until you get back," the bug answered exasperatedly.
Ans she was right. Beethoven was thrust unceremoniously into a backpack with some granola bars and batteries. The only thing to pass the time was a grumpy toy dwarf who had been packed with him. The dwarf introduced himself as Gimli. He spoke very highly of a battle ax he remembered having. It was not on him but Beethoven was glad when they made it to D.C. and were unpacked and put on a shelf. The dwarf grew restless but thankfully Beethoven was used to this and suffered without complaint, which earned the dwarf's respect. They spent the time chatting amiably about this and that.
The trip was uneventful until the mouse came. Beethoven was just describing Zeus, the pet dog and a friend of his,"And he has big, brown eyes, bigger than my head. Irresistible, they are, and we..."
"Please, sir," said a tiny voice. Beethoven nearly fell off the shelf.
"What is it, my dear mouse?" Gimli said, quite politely.
"Please, sir," she said again timidly,"They said you were coming here. I did not believe them. But they want me to bring you to the mayor. Please come with me."
"The mayor," said Beethoven recovering from his surprise.
"Apparently," Gimli said thoughtfully,"We are in trouble."
The little mouse led them into a crack between the floor and the heater. As soon as they stepped in a loud voice boomed,"I said no, never, n-e-f- whatever, no, not ever. Mrs. Little Sticks I said do not bring those invaders into our defenseless abode."
An enormously fat mouse led six other mice armed with tooth picks and sewing needles up to Beethoven and Gimli. "What are you doing here, Invaders?"
"We are not invaders,"Gimli said defensively. "We are just looking."
"Ah, hah!" said the fat mouse, "Scouting the path ahead of the others, are you? Well, they will never hear the news. Guards! Attack!"
Just then Beethoven had an idea! He called to the mayor (the fat mouse)"Ho, great, governor, king, mayor, whatever, we are actually bringing a peace treaty to you from our king. He is starting a long campaign to take over the world starting here, and if you join him he will spare you." That stopped the guards in their tracks.
"You..ah..have a great army?" the mayor asked slowly.
"Oh, yes,"said Beethoven. "It is magnificent!"
The mayor thought for minute. You could see his gears working. Finally he said,"Very well. Tell your king I accept his peace. Go tell him....please."
Beethoven bowed and dragged the laughing Gimli behind him.
"That was brilliant," Gimli said. "I can't believe he fell for that."
"It was a stroke of genius," Beethoven chortled,"And you know what? I think I might even survive the trip home after all!"

Ocular Athletics

A United States Flag
by Ken

A U.S. flag has stars in the upper right hand corner. It has red and white stripes everywhere else. The flag I happen to be looking at is stuck in a bookcase under Ten Greek Plays.



Pepper
by Joe

Pepper almost always accompanies salt at the table and is used to spice food up. It comes in little balls called peppercorns which are actually seeds. I like to grind it up with a mortar and pestle, myself. That way it is a little fresher. Pepper is usually black but there is red pepper, and lemon pepper, and probably more. Pepper was a highly expensive Chinese spice in the Middle Ages.

Adam is the author of Mr. Beethoven's Adventures and will appear on Fridays!

The Amazing Adventures of Beethoven

If your take a step into our house and enter a certain bedroom you will see many things which include a faded blue rug, and two homemade bunk beds pushed into the corners. The beds are slept in and used for the storage of fondly cared for stuffed animals.

By one of these bunks is a large dresser. Two crates are placed on their sides and used as transportable shelves.Between them is an old shoe box which holds an uncountable number of audio tapes. CDs are neatly organized on top. Placed in front of all this is a folded Jacob's ladder. Seated on top is a little toy musician looking sternly ahead. We call him Beethoven. He spends most of his time here, alone, if no ladybugs visit, and he doesn't fall. If he gets bored I do not know. I haven't asked him. But I would think not because sometimes...he goes on adventures. To be continued...

Poetry Monday

Yet Gentle Will the Griffin Be
by Vachel Lindsay

The moon? It is griffin's egg,
Hatching tomorrow night.
And how the little boys will watch
With shouting and delight
To see him break the shell and stretch
And creep across the sky.
The boys will laugh. The girls,
I fear, may hide and cry.
Yet gentle will the griffin be,
Most decorous and fat,
And walk up to the Milky Way
And lap it like a cat.

Ocular Athletics

This week we tried something a little different. I read the list Chesterton made of his "equipment for starting on a journey to fairyland" which he wrote to his fiance, Frances (Gilbert Keith Chesterton by Maisie Ward) It starts with:
1st. A Straw Hat. The oldest part of this admirable relic shows traces of pure Norman work. The vandalism of Cromwell's soldiers has left us little of the original hat-band.

Here are the Hobbits' offerings.

Things I have in my Pockets by Ken
A rather battered jack knife.
A wrist watch or not a wrist watch anymore. It has lost its strap.
A wallet which has eight dollars in it.
And a lot of lint.

Stuff in my Bed by Joe

1. In my bed there is a sleeping bag that is in a very sorry state. But I like it because it is slightly longer than me, shoulder to toe, so I don't have to curl up. It has been with me on many exciting adventures including a sinking boat and many car rides.

2. Pillows not nearly as heroic as my sleeping bag.

3. A compass which has been on even more adventures than my sleeping bag but is not as interesting. (It points North)

4. Four pocket knives. (Not much to tell there, all new)

5. A blob of aluminum that melted in a fire.

6. A wallet.

7. A Crucifix broken in more than one place but lovingly repaired by my brother, Adam. (Who has good hands.)

8. A couple of bits and bobs that are less interesting than the wallet. (See item 6)



The Inventory to my Humble Sleeping Quarters by Adam

The many and strange things I keep in my sleeping quarters is about to be confided. This is the very first time I have ever even attempted to fathom my small but mysterious bed.

1. A flash light. Why I keep it I have no idea. It is useless in the fact that it does not work.

2. A small blue sleeping bag, looking torn and sorry but unpacked none the less.

3. The usual sleeping requirements. I just thought I would mention the sleeping bag just because it is important to me for some strange reason.

4. A small wooden cache box screwed into my wall. (Did I mention we (my brothers and I) all have a nice sturdy wall in our keeping?) It is crammed full of every object I can fit in it, which consist of: a pen knife which I have to had to bend back into position twice due to the fact that I carve too much. An arrow head which makes a rather bad necklace due to size and coldness. A box of quarters. A wallet which is regrettably empty. That is it for the box, but not half the bed. I guess it will remain mysterious. I like it that way.

Snow and Tom Sawyer

We are having our usual mid-winter interuption of declensions by lake effect snow. It is about 3 ft deep and rising. It has also been very cold so you would think those lakes would freeze already!
The hobbits had a Tom Sawyer moment when they convinced the neighbor boy that snow shoveling is the best work out ever!!!