by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, In My Classroom |
SOL25-1202 It had been a full morning. Full. But good. The productive sort of good. Seven siblings and cousins from kindergarten through eighth grade have been busy with their lessons. Math. Language arts. Science. Social studies. T6, who is 7 years old, is working...
by Alice Nine | Uncategorized |
DRAFTING …. A record of the ways three generations have celebrated Christmas with Christ-focused and family-focused activities. She asked, What are the Christ-centered ways you celebrated Christmas?I decided to answer with a blog post. These are things we have...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-1125 High we held our umbrellasas we reached for each other,wandering through the cityin the springtime of our love. Raindrops played our sweet love song,echoing unspoken words,summoned us to dance ’til dawnto the rhythm of our hearts. Raindrops fell like...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-1118 This is the place our family often visits. Four generations. This is the place where sea lions soak in the sun on seastacks or swim in the shallow water near the shore. They bark at us; we bark back. This is the place where the beach is smooth, round, gray...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-1111 US Route 20 U.S. Route 20 is the longest continuous road in the United States, stretching for 3,365 miles. From the Atlantic to the Pacific. From Boston, Massachusetts, to Newport, Oregon. From New England to the Pacific Northwest. A scenic highway from...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-1104 Photo: From our beach house deck, Rockaway Beach, Oregon, Spring 2025. There’s something unforgettably spell-binding about it all . . . Sky evanescing into the endless seaSpray from foamy waves cresting and crashingSurf relentlessly roaringSea gulls...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, For Fun |
SOL25-1028 I saw this cartoon. The truth of it made me laugh. So I posted it to social media and wrote, “LOL So true!’ To which my friend responded: “I must go back for the list.” To which I replied with a long narrative. (It became the draft...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
The day is just beginning. I push the screen door open and step out onto my back porch to empty the trash. But instead I set the paper trash bag down and pause to take in the moment. The air is chilly and damp and full of the smell of mossy woods, and I breathe it in...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-1028 Siblings and cousins are playing in our connected backyards. The cousins from Ecuador are here on their extended spring visit. Being the good grandma that I am, I call them for a snack. I stand on our back porch, and as they run up, hand each one a cheese...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-1007 Photo: On the tarmac at ELP airport. Franklin Mountains rim the horizon. Bumping, we lumber along. Taking a broad right turn, we stop,motionless with our nose pointed north. With a sudden escalating roar, we launch forward like a rock from a boy’s...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-0930 If today gets difficult, I will remember—Slower mornings—The aroma of coffee brewing—Sweet sounds of songbirds—Sunlight flooding my east windows If today gets difficult, I will remember—The voices of those I love—Music...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-0923 I step out onto my back porch. In the darkness that precedes this mid-August dawn, I sip my coffee and savor the damp coolness that has drifted in from the sea and lifted the fragrance of fading lavender and blooming peppermint. I listen for chirping sounds...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, In My Classroom |
SOL25-0916 The marine layer rolls in like a whispered secret, softening the edges of the Oregon Coast and turning the familiar into something dreamlike. Foggy mornings here aren’t gloomy, they’re pure magic. The Oregon Coast I.Supper was take-out—clam chowder...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-0909 There is a dry rustle of leaves parched from days of sun and hot temperatures. There is an aroma of fading roses mingled with sweet ripening pears. Green clover spreads across our browning grass. Honey bees drift from blossom to blossom, gathering the last...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, For Fun |
SOL25-0902 Me: Reclining in a lawn chair, relaxing on a warm end-of-summer afternoon.TM and NT: Jumping on the nearby trampoline. I. Wasp appears. Buzzes the boys like a bomber.The boys duck and scream.Wasp lands on the trampoline springs. II.The boys tumble off...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, For Fun |
SOL25-0826 I had a crazy dawn-cracking dream
today. It was an early morning Zoom meeting, working with educators on the East coast. I’m on the West coast–a 3-hour time difference. This is what happened.I awoke with a start before the sky was light. I...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-0819 Summer is winding down. I’m thinking of what I still need to do. To create. To plan. To organize. To track. And so I’ve been making lists. There’s one list that I’ve prioritize. Did you catch that? I’m not just making one list;...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-0812 From my devotional journal… “And let it be, when thou hearest the sound of a going in the tops of the mulberry trees, that then thou shalt bestir thyself: for then shall the Lord go out before, …” -2 Samuel 5:24 I like the sound of wind in the tops of...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
SOL25-0805 I wish I could remember what made us laugh so hard.* Live, love, and laugh!Live a life others will want to remember.Love so much it never runs out.Laugh contagiously. Much has been written in medical literature about the health benefits of laughter....
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, For Fun |
SOL25-0729 This post on social media triggered my memories of childhood road trips. You’ll want to get your second cup of coffee before you begin reading. I remember this kind of travel. Every summer we made a road trip from Attica, Indiana, back East to New...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, In My Classroom, Literacy |
SOL25 #0718 Grasshopper Yesterday, I paused when I spied a tiny grasshopper sitting so still on the handle of my garden hoe that I was turning over for safety reasons. He was beautiful. He was so translucent in the morning sunlight. So delicate. I dared not touch him....
by Alice Nine | In My Classroom, Literacy |
She wrote: “I’m considering homeschooling my soon to be kindergartner and have no idea how to do so.” I responded . . . Welcome to the homeschooling journey! You can do it. You may feel inadequate. You may wonder what to do, and then you’ll...
by Alice Nine | In My Classroom, Literacy |
She wrote, “I am very very new to homeschooling . . .” and asked for help. So I wrote . . . and then over several weeks I added even more and published this blog post. “Ah! The homeschooling journey! Think of it as another facet of your motherhood....
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal, For Fun |
Slice of Life No. 25.0423 #Family #Memories #SOL25 It was when we still owned the big lot as everyone called it, the lot that was a block long, the empty lot bordering our property, the lot we mowed with a rented riding mower. It was before we sold that lot and the...
by Alice Nine | A9 Journal |
#SOL2025 0407 This year, I haven’t see the nasty big flies that come in the spring. Not yet, anyway.Maybe we won’t get them.Maybe spring is late.Maybe they will come today since our highs have been climbing into the 60s. Does anyone else get an adrenaline...
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