Wednesday, December 12, 2007

when I was first homeschooled



I was remembering back, quite fondly I might add, to the year I was eight. eight remains my favourite number to this day. eight was the year I started to "get" it ... you know, that parents aren't perfect and some of your relatives are less savoury than you once believed. we went to the cottage a lot and I got to swim in lake ontario at ontario place. we went to niagara falls for family vacation and I rode the largest ferris wheel with my brother. mom has a picture of us wearing ginormous hats and goofy smiles. good times.

anyway, eight was also the year I broke my arm (just in time for christmas), got measles, mumps and rubella. I don't remember feeling terribly sick with the mumps, but I do remember my mom doing "school" with me for a couple of weeks and me skipping in the garage while she timed me. she would have been the ultimate homeschool mom ... seriously. she was always generous with the praise, loved to do the messiest of crafts, adored field trips and made the most mundane math lesson come alive.

I was remembering because sarah posted about her first "married christmas" ,yesterday. I wanted to as well, but it seems the scrapbooking craze hit about that time in my life and I have all those pictures pasted in an album already. I need to visit my parents really soon so I can scan the photo mom has of me face to face with santa claus. it is funny because it occurred in the basement of a church which was to end up being my home church until I married. at the time my parents were involved with the kinsmen and kinettes and rented the basement of this particular church out for their annual christmas party.

I suppose the best I can do for today is post a couple of nostalgic pictures of days gone by, calling it
"when it was". I personally believe everything should have a title. makes it seem like you knew what you were doing.

this was when my mummo (finnish for grandma) lived with us. late eighties. my brother is next to me. whoah, move over big permed head.

the advent wreath and christmas crackers are true ashfield must - haves.


I remember spending most of the day curling my hair until it was just so. there was the christmas production at church that evening. I also remember making a corny love book for neal, complete with poems and cut outs of things I wanted to buy him one day, or things I like (cheese, clementines and the j-crew barn jacket). turns out we found a land's end version of the barn jacket this year at value village and I finally got to give it to my sweetheart. why so mushy? it's our fourteenth anniversary on tuesday, and we have been trying to decide all week what to do this time.

and I happen to love memories ...


then there was the first christmas with neal ... I am madly in love ... and we set a ten dollar limit on gifts for that first christmas since we were both still in school and thought it was fun to be thrifty. we still do, actually, and marvel at the sum of money most people we know spend on "stuff".

No comments: