Writing - Eva Varga

As the holidays are approaching, I am finding it a little more difficult to stay on task with this challenge. So many things are pulling me off in other directions. I have been able to keep the kids engaged but DH has fallen off these past two weeks and I missed week 7.

Week 7
Buddy wrote to Josh – the friend of mine who mailed us postcards from the United Arab Emirates and previously Curacao. Sweetie wrote a followup letter to her new pen pal in Canada. I failed to mail a letter myself this week – but to my credit, I have been burning our annual family DVD that I enclose with our Christmas cards that I will mail out next week.

Week 8
Buddy wrote to Papa Jens and Sweetie wrote to a friend back home in Bend. I mailed approximately one-third of our Christmas cards and will need to mail out another one-third next week. I actually ran out of DVDs and cards both so I will spend the weekend burning more.

1/3 of the cards I have mailed – each requiring 65 cents postage due to the DVD

On a very happy note, we received letters from Arvid & Marit in Norway. It is so exciting to see real, physical mail. The postage stamp, the cancellation mark, and especially the handwriting! I love this challenge! To Buddy, he wrote, “First, so funny that you sent me a letter in handwriting. Thank you, and you get me to do the same!” To me (and the family) he wrote, “Thank you so much for the lovely letter! And now I’m sitting with my pen and doing a handwritten letter myself, the first one for years (I guess you can observe how unusual it is!!”)

I absolutely love this! Earlier this week I was also talking with another parent at swim team and coincidentally discovered that one of his closest friends happened to work with DH some years ago at Bay Area. He stated, “Wow! I can’t believe it. I haven’t actually talked with him in some time. It has been too long.” I suggested he sit down that night and write a letter to his friend – describing in some detail the 52 Weeks of Mail challenge we are doing as a family. He seemed intrigued and perplexed at the same time, “A handwritten letter?!” I’ll have to check in with him when I see him again to see if he followed through.

Another two weeks have nearly passed us by and I am pleased to say we have been keeping up with the challenge of writing letters to friends. In fact our leader, Old Bull, has even been keeping up. I think our success so far is partly due to the fact that I am only expecting one letter each.

In week #3 the kids selected a friend in another country. Sweetie was overjoyed to receive a reply from her friend (the postage stamp from her letter is shown below) .. who is coincidentally also doing the 52 WOM challenge. I think this will be a great incentive to them both.

My kiddos have written to other friends back home – and have yet to receive replies. It is so frustrating that people today have lost the conviction to write. We hope with our continued efforts to reach out in this way, others will follow suit in time.

In week #4 the kids had written to Jan Brett. They were excited to receive a response from her last week in which she encouraged them to ask their teachers to write her as well so she could send them each classroom pack. They hadn’t mentioned that they homeschool. I guess I know who I’ll be writing to this week! Delightfully, we also received a couple of postcards recently from the United Arab Emirates.

Last week, Sweetie wrote to Papa Jens while Buddy and I wrote a letter to family in Norway . This week, Sweetie wrote her new pen pal a letter in response while Buddy wrote to the cast of Myth Busters, his favorite television show. This challenge has turned out to be a great opportunity to learn not only about writing and communication but also about geography, careers, and the postage system. Love it!

It is amazing how quickly the weeks go by … already we are into week four and I realize I haven’t written my post for the previous week. We have been trying to develop a routine so that we stick with this challenge all year. Presently, we have Mandarin lessons on Monday. The kids take turns working one-on-one with Shawn (their Mandarin teacher). Thus, while one is with him, the other completes a math lesson and composes a letter to someone of their choosing.

Last week, they both chose to write to a friend in another country in hopes of developing a pen pal friendship. Sweetie chose to write to a friend in Canada. Her mother and I met (virtually) through our homeschool blogs ~ Hi Alex! Buddy chose a boy in England who has the same interests … Legos, trains, and believe it or not, Maersk! I had corresponded with his mother as part of the Worldwide Culture Swap we are also taking part in this fall. I wrote a letter but opted not to actually mail it. It was cathartic but to be honest I feel this didn’t exactly meet the challenge requirements so I wrote a thank you note a few days later.

This week, the kids opted to write to an author. Coincidentally, they both chose Jan Brett as we recently had the chance to meet her while she was on her book tour for Mossy. To keep with the spirit, I also followed suit.

As we continue on this challenge, I hope to begin integrating more art. We love the cachet art we have seen through our philatelic interests. I have even started a Pinterest board for inspiration, 52 Weeks of Mail.

How are you all coming along with this challenge?

We have been looking forward to this day for some time now … our local Barnes & Noble was hosting an evening with Jan Brett. They had stated that we would be required to purchase her new book, Mossy, on the day of the event in order to obtain a ticket to her book talk and signing. We thereby arrived early – long before the store opened – to assure ourselves a ticket. We were surprised to discover however, that there was only one other person in line. Fortunately, another homeschool family, so we chatted while we waited for the doors to open.

Occupying themselves while awaiting their chance to meet Jan Brett

She was scheduled to arrive at 5 p.m. and we thereby decided to come at 3 p.m. in hopes of finding a comfortable place to sit. Upon our arrival there were only two others with the same intentions. The staff informed us that we had the option of taking a seat for the book talk OR standing in line for the book signing. At the time, however, the line was queued to wrap around the backside of the book shelves and those in line for the signing would not have a view of the book talk. I talked it over with the munchkins and they voted to sit comfortably at a table – knowing that we might NOT be able to get a book signed in the end.

Engaged in conversation while Jan signs their book

We had brought along our schoolwork and purchased a cocoa and a little snack from the onsite Starbucks. It made for quite an enjoyable afternoon actually – surrounded by enticing books and artistically intriguing illustrations. The kids managed to complete their math assignment but spent the majority of the time browsing the new titles. Sweetie even made a list of books she would like to read.
I was disappointed in how the staff chose to organize the event, however. I felt they could have distributed tickets to patrons upon their arrival to indicate their place in line for the signing that was to follow the book talk. In this way, those that arrived early could have seated themselves comfortably and been assured of a good place in line as well. What further aggravated me was that just prior to Jan’s arrival, the staff chose to move the book shelves to allow the line that had formed for the book signing to have a view of her talk. Had I known they were going to do this, I would have gotten into line. Oh well.

Mossy as illustrated by Jan during her book talk

Thus, after her talk – which was amazing – the crowd that had formed quickly dissemenated into a queue for the signing. Because we were so close to the tiny stage where she had spoken, it took us some time to make it into line. We thereby had to wait quite a long time for the signing. It was well worth the wait, however. Jan inquired if the kids like to draw and they informed her that they did indeed. “We have a nature journal and we draw things we observe in nature all the time.” She was very intrigued to hear this and she stated that this was the first time she had heard a child remark that they had a nature journal. Her remark of course had my kiddos floating in the clouds through the weekend.

As we drove home, I suggested that they write her a letter for the 52 Weeks of Mail Challenge. They were immediately interested. 🙂

We started the 52 Weeks of Mail Project this week – a week behind because we were on a family vacation and sadly we forgot. We thereby made certain to mail two letters each this week in an effort to make up for my absent mindedness. The project, going on its second year, is organized by the Etsy Greetings Team and begins this time of year to commemorate World Post Day.

The idea is very simple. Every week, write and send a letter to whomever you want, family and friends. A regular “old fashioned” letter, handwritten is such a nice surprise in the mailbox! I think it’s a great opportunity to stay connected with friends and relatives particularly since we moved to another state a year ago. I also hope to encourage the kids to make new friends by setting up a pen pal or two. Interested?

I love writing and receiving letters. As a child, I had pen pals all over the world (Germany, England, and the Philippines). Sadly, we’ve lost touch. I’ve tried to locate them via Facebook but haven’t yet had any success.

Some of the many cards and letters I have saved over the years

I have been wanting to resume old-fashioned letter writing for some time. In fact, I have been meaning to write my relatives in Norway for over a year!! Yet, I never seem to do more than think about writing. Life can be busy and often I don’t take the time to write – email makes it so much quicker but I find it much less personal and heartfelt. [Does anyone even save old emails?] I figured this project will be a great reminder to keep writing.

If you are interested, you can do your own project. There is no formal sign up and you don’t have to let anyone know if you are writing or not. It’s personal. I am choosing to blog about it to keep myself accountable. If you wish, you can visit the Facebook page for the project and interact with others that are participating. Here is the link: 52 Weeks of Mail Project.

We are fascinated with bees and after our experience at extracting honey earlier this week (The Science of Bee-Keeping :: A Visit with an Apiculturalist), the kids have wanted to learn more about bee anatomy and the ecological importance of bees. We began our indepth exploration by reading pages – in Anna Comstock’s Handbook of Nature Study. Thereafter, I pulled out a number of field guides and additional reference materials that showed illustrations and/or photographs of honey bees. They were not in the mood to draw – but I insisted that they draw at least two components and to include proper labels.

Our nature journal entries for Apis mellifera, L.

Later that evening we enjoyed the documentary, Vanishing of the Bees, which was available as an instant play feature on Netflix. Days later, I asked the kids to write a summary or narration of what they had learned. I was impressed with the facts they were able to recall.

Sweetie wrote: “One honey bee can makes in it’s whole lifetime (which is about 2 weeks) only 1 teaspoon of honey). Only 10% of bees are honey bees. The queen bee has a smooth stinger so that lets the queen sting you as many times as she wants. A drone bee (male) has no stinger. The worker bees (females) have barbs on their stingers. They can only sting once and then they die because the stinger gets stuck in your skin and it pulls out a part of their abdomen. In a bee’s lifetime, they can fly two times around the world.”

Buddy wrote: “One bee can make a teaspoon of honey in its lifetime! A nest (one colony) can hold over 1,000,000 honey bees.”

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