I Hope Grandma Won't Mind...

A ride home from church unfinished alphabet:
We went to Grandma's house and we took...
An apple
bountiful bouquets
crisply crocheted cardigans
a dark discus
ecclesiastical eschatology
fleeting floppy fish
a green gardening gorilla
a humongous horse
irresistible iguanas
jumping jogging joeys
knowing Kyrgyzstanians
long lived laughing llamas
Mount Milamor
nefarious nighttime needles
oozing octagonal opals
pleading people
quiet quartz quintet
rational ravioli
terrifying tarantula turtles...

Poetic Haze Muse by Grace

Haze

The fans are all spinning

And whirring and clicking

The windows are closed and

The turtles are in

The windows are closed

And the doors are closed, too;

There’s soap on the floor

‘Cause it’s hazy, not blue

The haze is quite high and

The haze is quite strong;

The haze makes my throat dry

And makes the air wrong.

Hazy Days

The air quality this time of year here pretty much sucks. We're talking such heavy haze that it reminds me of pea soup fog days in Atlantic Canada... only this stuff is super unhealthy to breathe! Schools close, and everyone stays indoors as much as possible. Those of us without air conditioners make excuses to hang out at the malls where there is air is cleaner. In between times we deal with headaches, skin rashes, itchy eyes, asthma - whatever our bodies do to protest the unhealthy air. Fortunately for us, the effects are minor - a few more headaches and some itchy eyes. Still, it's not pleasant.

Everyone suddenly talks about the weather, hoping for rain to clear the air and give us some relief. It did rain on the weekend, clearing the air enough for us to see the mainland (about 14 km) briefly and for us homeschoolers to have a "back to school" party in the Youth Park on Monday. A very special gift to us all, as the very next day the Air Quality Index readings skyrocketed to a Very Unhealthy 225!











It was a great morning of kids swarming the playground equipment and lots of mom-talk and discussing what we'd like our group to be like for this year.  As you can see, it is quite a large diverse group this year.


In other news, our back to school first few weeks here in the Hu home have been kind of rocky... we weren't fully ready to begin, and since the end of August Mom has had one health issue after another - and not small stuff either! For example, Mom is currently directing school work from her bed, needing to be on her back to keep severe sciatica pain at bay... But, while household routines are pretty ragged to non-existent, the household is running. Our house might not be too clean, meal times all over the place, and meals rather ad-hoc, but the kids are amazing. They've cooked meals, done extra housework, put themselves to bed, gone out to activities on their own, and worked their way through schoolwork on their own as much as possible... and pretty much without complaining too. Hopefully Mom will be back on her feet before the good will runs out!

A Random Lunchtime Creation by Grace, Jasmin, and Aiden

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to one
And really want just to have some fun
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to two
And you find a cockroach living in your shoe
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to three
And you fell down the stairs and bruised your knee
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to four
And you hear someone knocking on the front door
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to five
And you just feel completely alive
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to six
And you find your living room covered in sticks
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to seven
But you misread the clock and you think it's eleven
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to eight
And you find there's a monkey dancing on the gate
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You brushe your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to nine
And you find your river has turned into brine
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to ten
And your pet bird talks, saying she's a wren
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to eleven
And you misread the clock (again!) and think it's seven
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the morning and it's quarter to twelve
And you find your little brother on top of your shelf!
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch

When you wake up in the afternoon and it's quarter to one
Well it's not morning anymore, so our fun is done
You brush your teeth
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch
You run and scream
Ch-ch-ch,ch-ch-ch-ch!