Last night we had some friends over for barbequed portabella mushrooms and fireworks. I think this is our third year grilling portabellas and they've become a big hit in the crazy crowd of fasting Orthodox we run in.This fast has been a particularly difficult one for me. The Apostle's Fast lasts forever, and it throws a monkey wrench into summer. The trip to Vegas first messed me up, and getting back into the swing of fasting has been difficult. But fortunately there's only one more week of this. It's not the fasting that is overbearing, it's the guilt associated with breaking it when I do. I need to stop looking at the fast as if it were a contest, and more like a medicine, which I suppose is closer to the intent of the Church.This is the biggest fireworks display we've done yet. When I was growing up the most amazing thing we did was the whistling bottle rocket. Little Mark didn't like any of it. When I picked him up he was shivering all over. He is usually blissfully confident, so it was unnerving to see him as frightened as he was. It made me want to plug his ears and hold him all night. But he wanted to go to bed. When I left to take him upstairs Mark was sneakily setting up smoke bombs in the corners of the patio. However, he had accidentally picked up the wrong thing (which he claims "looked exactly like the smoke bomb") and inadvertently set off a noise-making firecracker which began tossing out dancing fireballs in the midst of our guests. When the children were in bed, Mark & I sat on our driveway watching the fireworks on the horizon with Max. He was lying on his belly with his elbows on a pillow and his chin in both hands. I hope I don't forget how that looked, because it is a very sweet memory. It was a nice end to the evening.
In previous years July 5th was rainy. As a result, the remnants of the night before were always soggy and mushy. It was a several day ordeal to pick up all of the cardboard and plastic stuff scattered throughout our yard. This year we had something called a Saturn Militia (?) which had fifty plastic bullet-shaped things which shot high into the air and exploded with a loud crack. I picked those things up all morning--half of them anyway.
I think I might have found a history program. It is by Veritas Press which seems to be a good classical homeschool resource altogether. They are much less confusing than Sonlight, whose web site and catalogue make my head hurt. I'm watching the Omnibus I on Ebay right now. It would be about a $100 savings to get it used.
