a gypsy caravan

mudpies and catching up

Summer has come and gone. I have written and rewritten posts summarizing our last few months but they all sound pale and faint compared to the real thing.  Our summer was like most of our summers--equal doses of fun and relaxation. My favorite day this summer was mudpie day.  Annie made mudpies while Chris and Mary swam in the river.  Tess stayed on the shore and skipped rocks with me.  We did so many other things but this day stands out as a magical, lovely moment that I will remember when I am old and grey.  (Well, older and greyer than I already am. :) ) And rather than continue to try to describe it in words, I will just post the photos. 

Other highlights:

• trips to the zoo
• the county fair
• knitting on the porch
• lots and lots of drawing and painting
• watching and feeding the birds
• raising 8 baby rabbits and selling them the week of fair
• family photo walks and posting on Instagram
• days at the beach swimming and searching for beachglass
• baseball and soccer
• garage sales and lemonade stands

Our summer was rich and memorable. We recently planted mums near the front door and put out scarecrows and pumpkins. Fall is in the air and I am happy because it is my favorite season of the year.  I love it when the air is cool and crisp and the heavy humidity is gone.  It's nice to be able to wear a sweater with a pair of jeans and be comfortable.  

I hope all of you had enjoyable summers.  I hadn't checked google reader for a couple of months and when I returned, there were 534 posts to read.  I'm embarassed to say that I marked them "all read" rather than try to catch up.  I hope to be better at keeping up with reading blog posts. Happy Fall! :)

Love, Rebecca 

snapshots around the world

My dear friend Kim has talked for quite some time of a group photo blog.  She wanted it to be a collective effort between a few people highlighting a simple weekly theme.  This week, Kim, who lives in Germany, Sue in Japan and I posted our first photos at Snapshots Around the World.  We are pretty excited about it and hope you'll stop by to see the pictures.  If you'd like to post a photo of the same theme, you can link yours in the comments or using the linky thingamagig at the end of each post.  

sometimes...

...when I reread some of the posts that I wrote years ago, I feel sort of squirmy and ill inside.  My hands get a little clammy and I want to loosen my collar.  I think I sound pretentious and know-it-all-ish, downright pious and unfriendly. Ugh.  Honestly, I am debating deleting many posts.  Or maybe just unpublishing them.  I touched on these feelings here.   Much time has passed since I wrote that post, likening my little, personal transformation to the Velveteen Rabbit.   Yet, I still feel the same way, on an eternal quest to be genuine.  I stopped writing things that could be construed as advice, things that made it appear that I have it all together. Because the problem with giving advice is that, in the very act of giving it, we make the assumption that we are qualified to do so, even though that may not be our deliberate intention.  

Much of what I write here is intentionally unimportant.  Though, I guess "unimportant" isn't exactly correct. It is not about writing drivel or meaningless chatter, about wasting time or writing fluff and stuff.  I want to write about things that are important to both my family and true to myself.  And while I am glad you are here to share them, they may not be important to you.   They are the comings and goings of my children, our activities and our photographs. They are birthdays and celebrations and milestones.  But there will be no nitty-gritty "how to" posts on anything. Because things that were once set in stone can change with the wind. Just. Like. That.

I don't post about homeschooling philosophies or marriage or childrearing or housekeeping tips or politics or even much about my own personal faith in God.  Why? Because I have been misunderstood many a time. And because I stumble and fall on my face much more frequently than I get things right.  And then, stubborn fool that I am, I sometimes I lie there on my face for a long while before I am willing to get up.  God is working on me in a way that is not pretty or poetic.  I know that pretty and poetic is popular.  And while this little blog doesn't generate stats in the thousands or dozens of comments, it is a comfortable place for me to record my thoughts and memories and, hopefully, a place for my children to visit years from now to reminisce.  

If you stopped by my home,  I would offer you a cup of tea and we could sit and talk. But since that isn't possible in most cases, I want to thank those of you who continue to visit me here, who enjoy seeing the smiles of my little ones and reading about the stuff of our life. I am so glad you are here. 

Dear Friends

I wanted to explain my recent period of silence.  It was not an intentional break and kind of happened by chance.  I also don't want anyone to think it was a statement of rejection of the internet.  I am still online for a bit each day, checking email, even on Facebook occasionally as well.  I have mulled over why I am not blogging and can really pinpoint it to a few reasons.  These are my reasons, no one else's.  Please understand that.

First, my blog started out as a place where I could record my thoughts about my children, post photos, poems, just kind of a catch all online journal.  I am a poet at heart.  I wanted a place to write things that I wanted to remember.  When my blog started to receive visitors, it seemed most of those people were 1) Catholic and 2) homeschoolers.  So my blog morphed into a place where I posted things of interest to that audience, not because I was being false, but mainly because I did not think my visitors would care to know what music I listen to or that I used to watch The Office or that I enjoyed an occasional Guinness or any other number of random things unrelated to Catholic homeschooling.  I did not do this intentionally but now I see it was not real. I regret that not only for my sake but for that of my family.

Secondly, I have felt tremendous pressure (honestly, from within myself) over the years to make my blog a lovely place, a blessing, a ministry.  I hope it is a blessing.  However, it will only be one because I intend to be genuine and real, not because I will not post any of my bad days or my struggles in life.  I have not ever been able to write perpetually chipper post after post.  I am not a flowery, gushy person.  I did not start a blog so I could minister to people. I hope that does not sound harsh.  I started it as a place to share and record our real life, the real me, my real family.  I hope that some of you find some inspiration, hope or humor here. But you will also find difficulty, sadness and struggles on occasion.  That is part of who I am and, I think, tastefully written, it does no one any harm to share or read those things. Many people find blessing and peace knowing others are walking a bumpy road with them and that they are not alone.

Third, since starting my blog, I have burned out.  I have not burned out as you may be thinking, not haggard and tired and close to tears with a messy home and unkempt children.  I actually have felt quite happy as of late. My family members are happy.   I have burned out on the homeschooling scene.  I still believe strongly in homeschooling but I am no longer finding all of my identity in the fact that I homeschool.  I am not trying to prove myself to be knowledgable or to be any sort of expert.  I am just happy where we are at.  My kids do their lessons faithfully each day.  There is beauty in every day.  We are steadily trucking along and learning quite a bit.  However, I do not want to be a professional homeschooling mom.  I just want to be a mom, a wife and a friend, who happens to homeschool.

Fourth, I am finding myself resisting any overspiritualization. In regards to the Catholic content of my blog, I have ceased to post little blurbs about what feast day it is unless my family is truly celebrating those feast days.  We really only celebrate one a few times a year. And it is usually with a coloring page or small craft, a treat and a story, not a lot of hoopla.  That's about it.   I used to make sure to post something all the time for each feast day, whether we celebrated it or not.  Some times I would even plan to celebrate one simply so I could blog about it which to me is insane. I don't know why I did that. I just feel that for a couple of years I hid behind overspiritualization and labelled myself into a corner in many ways.  I have been spending the past couple of months fighting my way out of that corner.  My family is much happier and I am too.

Lastly, I am not an expert in anything.  I have no business telling you what to wear, how to run your homeschool or how to be a good wife.  Honestly, I am so humbled by my lack of knowledge.  I regret, in many ways, some of the posts I wrote about politics or fashion or housekeeping.  When I reread them, many of them sound pompous and indignant.  I did not do that intentionally and am sorry for sounding anything but humble.  I realize that much of what I said and did online in years past came from truly thinking I was doing the right thing, only to find that I was darn wrong.  Mea culpa. 

So, I may not be posting as often as I have in times past.  But what I do post will be from the heart.  Like the Velveteen Rabbit, I am trying to become real.  Keep me in your prayers, if you so kindly will and thank you for stopping by.

Love,
Rebecca

Thinking Aloud

This time a year is always a good time for me to reflect back upon the past several months.  I look back on what we have done, what has been successful and what I would like to change for the upcoming year.

Our plan for the fall is to follow Laura Berquist's well laid plans for the children, as we have done in other years,  but adding the special elements that have worked so beautifully for us and that add flavor to our learning. We will be notebooking certain subjects, as we have done this year.  We will leave chunks of time for handcrafts, circle time and nature study.  All of this has brought my children such happiness.  The littles especially have enjoyed the rhythm of a day that looks similar to the one before it but is different enough to be interesting. :)

I've made a few guidlelines for myself regarding my computer time.  Last summer, I cut back considerably and even stopped blogging altogether.  I plan to cut back again this summer, but will continue to record our experiences and memories at A Gypsy Caravan.  The difference will be, that instead of allowing myself time on the computer each day, I will do so on one weekend morning or evening.  I will pre-publish posts that will appear throughout the week in my absence. Rather than posting them each day and being unavailable to my family, I will jot down things I'd like to post during the week in my notebook and will post them over the weekend when I have more time.  I still plan to check my email each day, though the number of times I do that will be greatly reduced.   I will allow myself time to read blogs on the weekend as well.  I think these guidelines will help me to keep my family first and not to get sucked into spending too much time online.

Though my boys have baseball most evenings, the girls and I will only attend two games per week so as to cut down on the amount of time we are away from home. I will continue our decluttering efforts and will hopefully start the next school year with a lot less stuff.  :)  So, I look now with excitement on the year ahead and towards a slow paced, peaceful summer.  Hopefully, this summer will be the segue into a wonderful schoolyear for our family.

Neat Sites for Creative Bloggers

I have always enjoyed fiddling with my blog template.  There are a few sites that have made this easier for me and I though I would share them with you today.

Colr.org is a fun place to spend time.  You can choose  random flickr photos or download your own and the site will generate a color scheme for you to use in your blog template.   For example, I chose a free stock photo for my header.  (I'd like to tell you that I took that photo but there is no grass to be found this time of year in Northeast Ohio!)  Anyhow, I wanted a spring-y look and downloaded it on colr.org.    I then clicked "pick a color scheme" and it brought up several choices in complementary colors.  If you do not like the first choice, just hit that button again and a new batch of choices will be shown.  To find the color's number, click the little color box and then "view".  It will give you the official color number which then can be added to your blog template. 

(If you use Typepad, you can design a new template by going to design>manage your saved designs>duplicate your applied design.  After duplicating your current design, you can work in the duplicated design without changing your actual site.  Rather than using the small list of standard blog colors, you can plug in the colr.org colors and have many more to work with that complement your header photo.  Once you have made design changes to your site, you can apply that new design and republish.  This system allows you to tinker with your design without your readers seeing all the changes until they are complete.) 

Another neat site for color schemes are Colour Lovers.  Here is a beautiful page of colors based soley on butterfly wings.  Here is another page of inspirational colors taken from master artists.  Neat, huh?

Some other helpful color sites:
Color Blender
Color Schemer
Color Generator

A few months back, Lissa had posted a link (which I cannot find!) to Pixenate.  I really appreciate Pixenate because it allows me to download photos, edit, crop, resize, add text and a variety of other handy tools for bloggers.  It is not a program to install on your computer but rather a free site on which to work.  I used it to resize and add text to my current grassy themed header. I do wish they offered a wider variety of fonts but, hey, its free!  No griping here. 

Lastly, if you are looking for free stock photos, I am fond of Bigfoto.  There is no subscription or registration form to fill out.  I have found many pretty photographs there. 

Well, that's it for now.   I hope you all have a happy day ahead!  :)

Spring in My Step

I know it is not officially Spring yet but I was just itching to add a little green here at A Gypsy Caravan.  Despite the fact that my area of the country is supposed to be covered in 7-14 inches of that white stuff over the next 24 hours, I am going to pretend that Spring is just around the corner.  Because it is, right?  :) 

There are no fire ants, no prickly weeds or pesky spiders in this grass.  So, take off your shoes, wiggle your toes and stay awhile. 

"Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over it and whispers, "grow! grow!"--Talmud

"Her lawn looks like a meadow,
And if she mows the place
She leaves the clover standing
And the Queen Anne's Lace."
-Edna St. Vincent Millay

"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars."
-Walt Whitman

"Until a Man duplicates a blade of grass, nature can laugh at his so
call scientific knowledge."
--Thomas Edison

"There's one good thing about snow, it makes your lawn look as nice as your neighbor's."
--Clyde Moore

Better Late Than Never

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE? I was supposed to be a boy, named John after my grandfather who died two weeks before I was born.  My mother, who is a big fan of Barbara Streisand, named me Rebecca after this song.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED? Not sure.  Probably last week sometime.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING? Yes, when I take my time.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT? Fried bologna though I also like prosciutto

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS? Yes, four plus two little souls in heaven.

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU? I think so.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT? Not so much, usually only when angry or stressed.

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS ? Yes.

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP? Nope.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL? That one with the cranberries and almonds, don't remember its name because I rarely eat cereal.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?  I do not own a pair of shoes with laces.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG? Physically, not so much these days.  Emotionally, yes.

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM? French Vanilla with honey on top

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE? Their smile.

15. RED OR PINK? Red

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING YOU LIKE ABOUT YOURSELF? That I struggle to be disciplined in many areas of my life.

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST? My dad.

18. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING? Old blue bohemian skirt, Birkenstock sandals and socks

19. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE? A banana covered in Nutella

20. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW? Strauss

21. IF YOU WERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE? Cerulean

22. FAVORITE SMELLS ? Cinnamon, Coppertone Suntan Lotion, Burt's Bees Baby Powder

23. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE? Kim

24. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH? Hockey

25. HAIR COLOR? Dark Brown

26. EYE COLOR? Green

27. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS? No.

28. FAVORITE FOOD? Asparagus,  little neck clams with butter, cinnamon rolls,  a summer tomato.

29. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS? Definitely happy endings.  I don't do scary.

30. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED? St. John Bosco

31. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING? Blue Nordic L.L. Bean sweater

32. SUMMER OR WINTER? Autumn for sure.

33. HUGS OR KISSES? Hugs.

34. FAVORITE DESSERT? Angel food cake with strawberries

35. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW? See sidebar. :)

36. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD? No mouse pad.

37. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON T.V. LAST NIGHT? Didn't watch TV last night.

38. FAVORITE SOUNDS? The halyard hitting the mast, lapping waves, seagulls, children laughing.

39. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES? Beatles in the early years if I really have to choose between the two.

40. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME? Venezuela

41. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT? Not that I can think of. When my husband is down I sing him the Rubbertree Plant Song. You know, from Laverne and Shirley?

42. WHERE WERE YOU BORN? Ohio

Archives Are Up

Dear Friends,

I have imported my previous "Gypsy Caravan" blog to this new site this afternoon.  While all the posts lack photos and some of the links are askew, they are all there as they were on my old site.  Months ago, my husband made back-up discs of all the photos that were on my old site and I am so grateful.   He gave them to me recently and I am just thrilled as I thought they were all unretrievable due to my problematic laptop.  I will take the next few weeks to re-upload all the photos category by category, starting with Advent and Christmas.  Thanks for bearing with me and being such fine readers. 

Love,
Rebeccca

Come on Over...

...to Babylove where we will gush about the tiny people in our lives who bring us such joy!  Babylove has been silent for many months but is opening its doors again to discuss all things baby: parenting, birth, diapering and much more! 

Comments or No Comments...

...THAT is the question!

I have gone back and forth with this in my mind for some time.  I have received a number of emails since I began blogging again that expressed disappointment that I did not initially open comments on my posts.  The underlying message in those emails is that keeping comments open seems "friendlier".   I tend to agree and wanted to explain my reasons why, at first, I did not open them. 

I really like having comments open and certainly enjoy the dialogue.  I did not turn them off for any reason other than the fact that I had trouble with self discipline in the past and was afraid that I might struggle with it again this time around. 

I used to keep the computer on all day and checked in whenever I felt like it.  This was a source of distraction for my kids who were often engrossed in an activity only to find their mother online (checking her comments), even if only for a moment.  Add up all of those moments and you have a mother who was not truly present for her children.  That was my problem with my last blog--lack of discipline on my part. 

I have become better at disciplining myself online since last summer.  While I certainly have days that I am on more than I'd like, I have been careful to keep the computer off for most of the day.  This has helped tremendously.  Because of this,  I've decided to keep the comments open on any future posts and have opened them on those posts that were once closed.  I have enjoyed reading your ideas and feedback.

Many thanks to those of you who emailed with your thoughts on this. 

Blurb Books

When I decided to close down the original Gypsy Caravan site last spring, Alice of Cottage Blessings surprised me by giving me a very thoughtful gift to keep as a memory of my site.   She had the idea to publish my posts into a Blurb Book.   

Have you seen these yet?  If not, spend some time checking out the sample pages.  They are a beautiful way to keep a hard copy of your blog.  There are so many styles to choose from and the different template choices allow you to design one that expresses your own personality.  You can choose paperback or hardcover in a variety of sizes.  Your blog's text and photos can be "slurped" right from your URL and onto Blurb's site within minutes. 

Before I erased my blog at Typepad, I backed it up at Wordpress so I could make the blurb book.  Unfortunately, the photos disappeared from the Wordpress site once the Typepad blog was deleted.  I have literally hundreds of photos that need to be downloaded again before I will be able to make my blog book.  Right now the photos are on my old laptop, which is currently unusable.  Argh.  So, I have not yet designed my Blurb book gift from Alice but I am excited to do so as soon as I can access all of those photos. 

A Blurb Book would make a great Christmas gift, which is why I am posting this now (even though Christmas is several weeks away), in case any of you are looking for a creative gift idea. In addition to making a blog book, you can also design photo albums, cookbooks, baby albums, wedding books. poetry books and much more.   They take only a little time to design and download  but there might be some turnaround time to manufacture and ship the finished books.  When mine is complete, I will be sure to post photos so you can see it.

Comments?

A few people have asked me why I have not opened each post for comments. Lest you think it is because I do not want to hear from all of you or that I do not value your opinion, I wanted to clarify.

Getting a comment in my inbox is such fun, way TOO fun for me. I used to run back and forth all day long looking for comments from my readers. Finally, I decided that if I was going to write again, I would have to discipline myself and only allow them on an occasional post. That way I am not so tempted to check back when I should be scrubbing my floors or washing my windows. :)

If you do want to comment on a certain post and the comments haven't been opened, feel free to drop me a line at the email address in the lefthand sidebar. Thanks!

Heart of the Kitchen

Last spring when I decided not to blog anymore, I backed up all of my sites at a free Wordpress site before deleting the Typead blogs just in case.  Last week, I reimported my recipe blog back to Typepad.  I have linked it here: Heart of the Kitchen  and in the right hand sidebar.  I apologize that I am missing many photos and images.  They were deleted in the switch to Wordpress.  Hopefully, I will get them back up and visible soon.  Though there are no new posts at Heart of the Kitchen as of yet, I hope to add some yummy recipes in the near future. 

P.S. Karen, you will find the white fruitcake recipe there! 

Enjoy!

What’s in a name?

My great grandfather Johann came to America from Slovakia with $12 in his pocket on November 22, 1910. He spoke seven different languages fluently. Grandpa's family had a rich ethnic heritage including some Romani (gypsy traveller) ancestry. After arriving in America, he settled in Ohio and founded the General Tool and Die Company. My blog is named for my Gypsy roots (and a delicious tea!). Hope you enjoy it...