Grammar, Gilgamesh, Etc.

 Grammar today. With Emma, the couch hog. Travis started out seated beside me. Then Emma sat on his lap. Heavily. He tried to move her off. She won.

  

 (Travis has a very forgiving nature.)

Emma likes this picture. She says it makes her look petite and kittenish. We will allow her her illusions.

 Today our grammar lesson was on interjections. It was pretty funny! Travis's new favorite interjection is "Moo!"

 (It was the bit at the end in the above picture that got me. We're not even allowed to use "rats!"? Our Mennonites really are a bit tyrannical sometimes. We aren't (most of us) especially inclined to profanity, but an occasional "rats" or "tartar sauce" seems like a harmless way to relieve stress. But, for purposes of the Chapter 10 test, we will express our strong emotions with "lo," "alas," and "plop." (I'm a little puzzled by that last, but that's what the book says!)

Travis and I particularly enjoyed number 4, below.

And, completely unrelated to grammar, Katie has been working on party invitations. For her birthday next March. It is good to be prepared!

 And also this lovely bookmark, which doubled as a request for pizza. It says, "To Mommy, who does not love me. If she did, she would have gotten pizza! Lots of Love, Katie       P.S. Pizza is very good.     P.P.S. Cut off the writing when you are done reading."   We recently got a Papa John's, and the children were very keen to see if the pizza was Truly Wonderful. While we did not get pizza on the day she made this bookmark/extortion note, we did get it the next day, in honor of the taking of the standardized test. So I am now back in Katie's good graces!

Yesterday we finished lecture 24 of The Foundations of Western Civilization, which brought us through the emergence of the Christian church, so I decided we'd wait until next spring to finish the lectures. Travis was not pleased (he likes to finish things, and we all love Professor Noble), but we have a lot of ancient history/literature courses to fit in. Today we started with Professor Harl (or "Kenny," as we lovingly call him) and Origins of Great Ancient Civilizations. The introduction was a little dry, but he showed us pretty maps and told us all about the beginnings of civilization, especially Sumer and Uruk. He mentioned Gilgamesh quite a bit, which reminded me of my yesterday's crisis. Well. Not exactly "crisis." More like "profound annoyance." 

Our history/lit. program, Tapestry of Grace, uses anthologies for some of the literature, so when I didn't see Gilgamesh listed separately I assumed that it was included in From Distant Days: Myths, Tales, and Poetry of Ancient Mesopotamia.  Then an internet friend posted a review of Gilgamesh and I wondered which translation we were scheduled to read. Turns out that, in the latest version (the one we'll be using with co-op), they've dropped Gilgamesh for high school students. Katie is still scheduled to read the McCaughrean version, but Travis gets to examine how ancient Mesopotamian creation myths compare with the Biblical story of creation.  Sigh. And he will do that. But he will also read and discuss (though not with the co-op boys) Gilgamesh. 

And Katie didn't remember Gilgamesh at all! Can you believe? Actually, though it seems as though we just got through studying ancient history a year or so ago, it has been a little while. 2008/09 school year, to be exact. When my girl was in first grade. Sniff!

So today we reread Ludmila Zeman's marvelous Gilgamesh series. These are So wonderful! The pictures are just amazing! (And I don't know Why my photos are all squashed.)

 The Last Quest of Gilgamesh has the cutest lion ever.

 It doesn't exactly have a happy ending, but it isn't a sad ending either. And don't you just love that griffin?

And, finally, I stopped by my parents' house again today to see how the peonies were doing. Just in time! They are almost finished, but the last flower is still very beautiful.