Don't Eat the Daisies: Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

Tuesday, April 3, 2012

Simple Woman's Daybook Entry

Outside my window... It is snowing!!! After such a dry month of March, this is wonderful. Except that all of the apple trees are currently in full bloom. :(

I am thinking... I knew it was too soon to pack up the hats, gloves, boots, and coats. They are only placed in the family closet upstairs, but still.... I should have waited. I was just tired of Colin emptying everyone's winter gear bin on a daily basis.

I am thankful... For the moisture. I haven't watered yet, with the exception of my rhubarb that is coming up and my chives.

From the Learning Rooms... We did *almost* a full day yesterday. Owen had a follow-up Dr. appt in the morning, so we had to skip math. We just picked up where we were in the schedule when we got home. I did AAS with Rylan - we are working on the consonant teams 'th', 'sh' and 'ch'. It's not quite sticking yet. Owen did his first official preschool work yesterday. He completed two pages in his new workbook, Developing the Early Learner, and the first page in his Core Knowledge Activity Book 1. We also spent some time doing Reading Eggs. I LOVE Reading Eggs. Owen can't quite manage the computer mouse yet, so he points to the screen, and I position the mouse and then he clicks. We ran through our Geography index cards, and one of the words was "Bay". I started to sing Down by the Bay, and could only get as far as the first line, so I looked for it on YouTube. I love YouTube. Every single time we come across a song that is referred to in Core Knowledge (and there are a lot), I can find a sample within seconds. In the past month Jordan has listened to slave spirituals, Wayfaring Stranger (Johnny Cash's version - watch out for the nasty comments on the page), We Shall Overcome - an absolutely breathtaking rendition performed by the Morehouse College Glee Club, Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition - a nice version where you can see an orchestra perform up close, Git Along, Little Dogies - (The Kingston Trio version with beautiful artwork and the Arlo Guthrie & The Muppets version - and in typical Arlo fashion he talks, and talks, and talks...), and Peter, Paul and Mary's rendition of If I had a Hammer - I just love that song! And now we added Raffi's rendition of a song about a watermelon in the sand. We finished up the day with a lesson from MTM about American artist Mary Cassatt.

In the kitchen... Absolutely nothing because I need to go grocery shopping.

I am wearing... pj's. Time to get going this morning.

I am creating... this post and not much else at the moment...

I am going... grocery shopping of course, and to karate lessons this afternoon. Tonight I am going to hang out with other homeschooling moms and supposedly knit. I'll just drink coffee.

I am wondering... how this house gets so completely wrecked so fast.

I am reading... What Alice Forgot, by Liane Moriarty for bookclub next week. (my pick). I'm also finishing up Quiet. I breezed through books 2 and 3 of The Hunger Games last week. Oh my, that was good. The only weakness I can find is that the author, Suzanne Collins, seems to use the literary device of removing Katniss from a dangerous situation only to have her wake up in a hospital bed a little too much. I don't know if you can actually call that a 'device' but it sort of seems to take a predictable path after awhile. Katniss gets hurt, she escapes, she recovers in the hospital, she's weak and then gets stronger. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat....

I am hoping... to have some time this week to put out spring/Easter decorations. I forget EVERY year. At least I remembered to get some candy a couple of weeks ago - before all the good stuff disappeared from the store shelves.

I am looking forward to... Easter Dinner with family this weekend.

I am learning... about coal mining this week, as part of Rylan's FIAR book: The Rag Coat.

I am hearing... The boys in the shower. Alternate screaming, yelling and crying - due to an unjust distribution of water toys, I'm sure. Jordan does a sort of decent job getting Owen and Colin through the shower each and every morning. He also gets them dressed. I am very grateful for that - it makes my job of getting breakfast underway much easier.

Around the house... Our new trampoline! It arrived via UPS last Tuesday, and Dean put it together that evening. The weather was very mild, so we could stay outside and work on it. We put the kids to bed after dinner, and went back outside to finish the job. We were done around midnight. We had a few celebratory jumps and then went to bed. Our neighbors *love* us.

I am pondering... How long it will take for a serious injury to happen because of the trampoline.

One of my favorite things... Apparently, this morning it is YouTube. Although I could do without all of the nasty comments people leave or the inappropriate video suggestions on the sidebar. I wish there was a safe version of YouTube for kids.

A few plans for the rest of the week... the typical lineup of schoolwork, karate and archery. Owen has an appointment with a pediatric cardiologist on Friday. He had his four year old checkup last Monday, and because he was wheezy, he got a nebulizer treatment (with Albuterol). After the treatment, when the doctor listened to his chest again, she detected a murmur. So we are getting it checked out. It is possible that it was never detected before because his heart/lungs weren't under stress at the time the doctor listened. Albuterol excites the system for a short time, just after treatment.

Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...