LaPaz Home Learning

making waves

Posted on February 7th, 2010 by lapazfarm

Have you considered that if you don’t make waves, nobody including yourself will know that you are alive?

Theodore Isaac Rubin

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Filed under: Random Ramblings, alaska

Order amongst chaos

Posted on February 5th, 2010 by lapazfarm

Still surrounded by boxes.

Still sleeping in sleeping bags piled on the floor.

Still moving furniture from over here to over there (and a little more to the left, please).

Still asking on an hourly basis “Have you seen my (hairbrush, shoes, pencil, bread knife, this, that, the other thing)?”

And yet, amongst the chaos, life goes on.

Same as it ever was.

And it’s all good.

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Filed under: Curriculum or Lack Thereof..., JBug, science

The view from here

Posted on February 2nd, 2010 by lapazfarm

I’m back! And it’s good to be back. I’ve missed my bloggy friends!

We have finally moved into our new place here in Sitka. It’s a rental, and the house is a “cozy cottage” (aka tiny little run-down shack), but you absolutely cannot beat the view from here.

This is straight out the front yard:

to the left, a view of the harbor and town, and the mountains beyond:

(I’m loving those cloud formations! So compelling!)

To the right, gorgeous Edgecumbe volcano looks as if it is floating in the mist:

With views like that, we can deal with “cozy” wouldn’t you say?

But admittedly, this is the view I am seeing most of the time:

That view will be changing, little by little, though it’ll take some time to get it all unpacked and properly arranged. The trick is to assign a priority to everything and unpack in a logical order according to those priorities:

Though we don’t always agree on what those priorities should be…

Silly me, thinking the first thing we needed was a functional kitchen!

Oh, well. To each his own, right?

See ya next time!

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Filed under: Random Ramblings

The sun came out today

Posted on January 19th, 2010 by lapazfarm

I’ll tell you, it’s been raining since I got here. Constant, incessant, soggy, rain.

Rainy weather tends to make me kind of melancholy. It always has. Combine that with missing my family and you’ve got one lady who is in desperate need of some sunshine. Luckily, I woke to a brilliant sunny day today! Just what I needed to lift my sagging spirits.

Here a few sights that put a smile on my face today:

Some gorgeous ice crystals on my windshield this morning.

The patterns were so leafy and delicate!

I really hated to scrape them off, but I had another sight I wanted to see, just down the road a bit:

That is Edgecumbe volcano, which dominates the view across the bay from Sitka (on a clear day, that is). Gorgeous, isn’t it? It’s even prettier in person, I assure you.

It’s amazing what a little sun can do for the spirits.

I feel better already!

Hope you’re feeling just as sunny and bright!

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Filed under: alaska

Just in case you hadn’t heard

Posted on January 17th, 2010 by lapazfarm

I am coming briefly out of my hibernation to share a link to a wonderful opportunity to do something positive for those suffering in Haiti.

The wonderful folks at Craft Hope have opened an Etsy shop in which 100% of the sales go to Doctors without Borders in Haiti.

Crafters all over the world are donating beautiful hand-made items and the site has raised over $4000 in the first 24 hours! You can participate by purchasing some really lovely hand-crafted items, or by donating your own handmade goodness for the cause. Even your children can participate as they will have a special section of kid crafts!

So head on over to Craft Hope for Haiti and bring something beautiful into your home and your heart.

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Filed under: Random Ramblings

Offline for a few days

Posted on January 9th, 2010 by lapazfarm

I’ll be going offline for a few days as we are in final stages of our move to Alaska! See ya when I get there!

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Filed under: Random Ramblings

Our year in the sun…and off we go again

Posted on December 31st, 2009 by lapazfarm

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
What a wonderful year 2009 has been!

I believe I will always look back warmly on this past year and think of it as “Our Year in the Sun.”

It has been a blessing to call Key Largo our home for this past year. Such a beautiful place, truly a tropical paradise. We’ve loved having the sun on our skin, our toes in the sand, warm tropic breezes, good friends, blue water…

but we have decided that the place where we left our hearts a year ago,

the place that called to us for so many years,

the place we loved and lost too quickly,

is the place where we truly belong…

So shortly after the new year, we are off again, following our hearts. Next stop…

Sitka, Alaska!

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Filed under: Random Ramblings

Goofing off at Pier 1

Posted on December 24th, 2009 by lapazfarm

Or, “How I spent my Christmas Vacation” by the LaPaz gang.

We were out and about yesterday and we had an hour or so to kill before our movie started~you know how that is. So we wandered into Pier 1 and found a display of fantastic masks. So naturally we had to try them all on. Luckily Modgirl had her camera with her and we got a few shots of the fun:

Superboy

Cityboy

Modgirl

JBug

Superboy again

Myself and Modgirl

Aren’t these masks fabulous??? I wish I could have bought them all but they were rather expensive. I don’t think we will be able to match the incredible detail on these masks, but I think we will give it a shot and try and make some of our own, now that we have some real inspiration. After Christmas, of course.

Merry Christmas, everyone!

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Filed under: Random Ramblings

I’m not dead or anything

Posted on December 13th, 2009 by lapazfarm

Just going through one of my blog blahs. Those of you who’ve been around here awhile know that every once in a while I go through a period where I just don’t blog. Rather than blather on about nothing, I just kind of drop out for a spell. Nothing wrong, just kinda not feeling like I have anything to say.

Well, actually I do have a lot to say, I just suppose I am not quite ready to say it all quite yet. I’m in a contemplative mood, you might say.

In the meantime we are just doing the same old thing around here. I’ve been sewing a little, JBug has been working on some arts and crafts, Superboy has been doing whatever it is he does (usually involving the sharpening of sticks and the consumption of large quantities of snack foods. I don’t think the two are related.), JackJack and Squirt buzz in and out with all the energy typical of a 4 and a 6. And Ed has been working a lot. As usual.

And we are getting ready for Christmas, hauling out the decorations, making travel arrangements for visiting family members, envying the snow that everyone else (even Texas!) is getting and we most decided are not.

A tropical Christmas. Weird.

Not complaining, mind you because that would be just plain ridiculous. Just kind of taking it all in. Rolling with the changes. Because that’s what we do best.

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Filed under: Random Ramblings