Sew what's new?!

The Harris Family Blog's Evil Twin: FACEBOOK!



September 4 was my last entry - pathetic! I hate to admit it but facebook has taken the place of this beloved blog. I could try to recount the last four months of our lives but that would be too much of a chore on what has become a relaxing, no-pressure, no expectations kind of day. This blog began as an online journal of last year's trip to Europe...the trip of a lifetime...a treasure trove of irreplaceable memories. I guess nothing can quite compare unless we could go back. But I must continue to write because equally important are the comings and goings of each day of our daily lives. The biggest accomplishment for me this past season was deciding to homeschool Sydney and Quintin which turned out to be the most satisfying and monumental decision I have made in a long time. Just last night in skimming through a homeschooling website I came across some words that really resonated in me which was not having to deal with the "hello/goodbye" syndrome. It is a gift of time and allowance to oneself to enjoy your children. I cherish our time together more than trips and performances or hopes, dreams....As I write I look over to Sydney who is sewing on her brand new sewing machine that she got for Christmas, praying the needle doesn't catch her finger. Quintin is videotaping this event while Sweety the cockatiel is trying to land on his head. Quintin comes over to show me the video he took and we laugh hysterically!

1st Day of Homeschooling

The first day of homeschooling went exceptionally well. What we didn't expect today was to chop off 10 inches of Sydney's hair. She then decided to donate her hair to locksoflove.com where they make wigs for children with cancer. Quintin FINALLY agreed to have SOME of his hair cut.

Compost and clovers

It has been way too long since my last post and so much has happened in all our lives. I am happy to report that I will be homeschooling Sydney and Quintin this academic year. I am very excited and look forward to all its adventures and challenges. Today I would like to share something my mom wrote earlier this year when she was asked to write a submission for the New York Botanical Gardens blog which actually was never used. Anyways, I like the story so here it goes:

The Luckiest Girl in the World

Anita Guerrero, author

I have never found a four-leaf clover in my life, but my granddaughter has found many, maybe 100, I have lost count. She can find a 4 leafer in a minute or two. Her brother cried yesterday, he lost the only one he found in the clumpy mound in our mystical yard. I know it is mystical because Holly black, the writer of Spiderwick Chronicle books (before the movie came out) told my granddaughter Sydney so. Excited to meet the creative and young author, Sydney gave her a fresh four leaf clover she had found the day before. "Oh no! I couldn’t take your clover." Holly exclaimed! "Its alright, I have many in my collection." Sydney answered. "I have never found a four leaf clover in my life. Do you know what it means to find so many in your garden yard?" Holly asked. Sydney looked excited to hear the answer. "It means there are fairies in your garden." Sydney was so delighted, fairies and other magical folk are on the top of her list of favorite reads. She has almost every book on the subject of fairies. She knows all about flower fairies too, her botanical knowledge of flowers has grown surprisingly. Sydney almost fainted when she met her favorite writer. A very dramatic and brilliant child of 10, she attends a public school for the gifted with her budding entrepreneurial l brother of 8 years. Finding lucky clovers are easy for Sydney, must have to do with being part Irish, but she has a terrible time finding her shoes, and other less interesting stuff.
Speaking of clover, it actually affixes nitrogen to your lawn, no need for fertilizer, and you wouldn’t want to rid you lawn of a potential lucky clover find. That’s right. Too much fertilizer is polluting our rivers and streams, and that’s just the tip of the iceberg. We are in real trouble if we continue on the path of excess fossil fuel emissions on earth. Scientists have done their research and do believe within 10 years, global warming will probably have an impact. Global warming threatens an erratic climate with greater extremes of heat, droughts and storms. There are no cookie cutter answers they profess, but we all can help now in a lot of small ways that will add up to a big difference, and you can start in your own back yard and home. Compost, compost, compost! (no chemicals needed) Recycle! Use energy saving light bulbs (more on this later)....

Blue Skies

Today's weather reminded of that lovely Willie Nelson song, Blue Skies. Although Spring has officially arrived in New York we are still wearing sweaters, coats, boots...we went to the Orchid Show at the Botanical Gardens a couple of weeks back and the kids and I are so looking forward to Spring Break next week which will consist of the Bronx Zoo, museums, a movie, Central Park and of course, hanging out on the porch enjoying the hopeful weather.

Pubescent Woes

I have two stories that have me laughing so hard that I cry. The first one I will tell is Quintin's. He has decided that he no longer wants to waste the $1.75 I give him every morning to spend on lunch. This past week, he has paid the lunch lady a single quarter for his meal. He claims he just can't understand why he should pay full price for something that is not worth more than 25 cents...he has a point.

Now for Sydney's...well, puberty has hit the Harris household, something Sydney is very proud to admit. In the last few weeks, I granted her permission to use the women's shaver in the shower. No problem. EXCEPT this past weekend when she decided to use it on her EYEBROWS! On Monday at school, two 8th graders were teasing her, calling her "fairy girl". The three got into a discussion about Tinker Bell and Sydney responded by saying that Tink is only an animated version of a fairy. To scare off the older girls, Sydney proceeded to show them her eyebrows and told them that she ripped part of them out with her teeth (huh?) and that they tasted like a lot like beef! Well that did the trick, I think, and the bully girls have left her alone since! OY!!!!!

Quintin turns 8 years old!!

Quintin turned 8 years old this past Saturday on March 1st. Chocolate and money were the theme - his two passions in life! How appropriate when the cake created by Grandma was a Chocolate Treasure Chest. Quintin invited his very best buds who surprised us all by not climbing the walls from the over-abundance of chocolate goodies. The party included the usual Harris birthday treasure hunt with clues created by Larry the night before at 3am. Quintin received some great gifts including an ATM bank machine from Grandma & Grandpa. He pretended to faint when he opened up a box from cousin Donna and discovered an 1899 Underwood typewriter in fabulous condition. (If you look in the blog archives you can read the story of how Quintin's love affair with the typewriter began in Paris - see October archives).

Snow!

In Memorium

We laid our Flowerhorn Cichlid to rest a few days ago. "Big Red" (sometimes known as Big Head) had a great life and was three years old when he died. Cause of death is thought to have been caused by a parasite. We shall never forget Big Red's late-night violent attacks to the top of the fish tank with his growing nuchal hump, his bites to the fingers when taking food from Larry or Sydney, his splashing water at Quintin when he ran past the aquarium, or his ravenous appetite for feeder fish.

May you rest in peace Big Red.

Happy Valentine's Day!

share the love.......

Mom's Birthday

Mom and I spent Saturday hanging out in Manhattan. First stop was ABC Carpet where we enjoyed lunch at one of four culinary spots called Pipa. (pic shown) I can't believe in all the years we have lived in New York I have never made ABC a fav on Manhattan's must see & do. After stuffing ourselves with the very delicious meal, we made a quick stop at Le Pain Quotidien, an organic French bakery VERY reminicient in taste and look of the Paris bakeries we fell in love with a couple of months back. We then eagerly chose birthday pastries and bread for the family. Our last stop was at the Soho location of Vintage - one of our most favorite wine bars of all time. In our opinion there is no better treat than the semi-sweet white wines of NY's Finger Lake region (well, of course there are the Alsatian wines too...). (Can you guess how old she is?)

My 11th Birthday

My 11th birthday was a blast. Most of my friends from school came including Jaylen, Esperanza, Jamie, Rebecca, Abigale, Sita and her little sister Saritha and my choir teacher, Ms. Kresek. Instead of cake we had cream puffs, lemon bars, cookies and dream bars. All made by my mother and grandmother. The decorations were cool too: green, silver and yellow balloons and a table with a tablecloth with a big golden present in the middle. Before we had treats, we went on a scavenger hunt with one clue leading to the next and so on. At the end, the treasure was a basket of goody bags for all. I felt very special because I was finally a "tweenager" - that's really close to a teenager. I opened my gifts. Everything was wonderful especially the golden gift which turned out to be several books that I really liked.

Your semi-average 'tweenager,

Sydney

The Letter

Sydney received a letter she had been waiting for seven months. And here is the reaction to the letter from the person she most admires, Holly Black, author of Spiderwick Chronicles.