Outside my window... A bright morning with blue skies and a breeze that is a little on the cool side. Perfect.
I am thinking... About Kathy. Kathy was the mom who hired me many, many years ago to nanny her three children. I worked for the family for nine years. Kathy passed away last week after a courageous five-year battle with brain cancer. I attended a party hosted by the family in her memory yesterday afternoon. It was wonderful to see the kids - all three have spread their wings and left the nest, and I haven't seen the older two girls in a few years. Kathy was a wonderful mom and great mentor - she will be missed very much.
I am thankful... That it is Labor Day weekend. It is nice to have an extra day to get caught up on stuff. I am also thankful that last week's big transition to a new platform (Yahoo Groups to Bigtent) for our homeschool group went relatively smoothly. So far about 40-45 members have moved over and it was pretty painless. The other 70-80 members have yet to even open their email invitation. Typical.
From the Learning Rooms... The rest of our curriculum arrived from Rainbow Resource on Friday, so I am itching for Tuesday to arrive so we can start. This was the language arts component - All About Reading for Owen, MosDos Opal and Shurley English for Rylan. Looking through the materials, I am most excited for MosDos with Rylan. Her anthology looks awesome - she has already read a couples stories on Friday as we unpacked the boxes and looked over everything.
In the kitchen... Leftover blackened tilapia, much to the family's dismay. Time to go shopping for the week.
I am wearing... pjs. The outfit of weekend blogging champions!
I am creating... Last night I opened up Pinterest to get the ideas churning for Halloween costumes. Owen and Colin want to be Minions, and Rylan wants to be Scarlet Overkill. Owen's and Colin's will take a lot of work, but I am excited to start. It involves foam, a glue gun and lots of yellow spray paint. Rylan's wig, gloves and dress have been ordered. Luckily the red dress can double for any holiday dress needs this upcoming season and her fall violin recital.
I am going... to drive to see my aunties later this afternoon. They called this morning to report that they have two flats of garden tomatoes that need a new home. I could have cried with happiness! I can't wait to start a batch of sauce this evening in the crockpot. I can smell it now.... ahhhhh...
I am wondering... what to write here. Moving on...
I am reading... I am still working on Elizabeth Berg's The Day I Ate Whatever I Wanted.
I am hoping... for rain this week. It's been too dry.
I am looking forward to... Fall! Fall is my favorite. Thinking about Halloween costumes has put me in the mood..
I am learning... How to carve and shape foam with scissors.
I am hearing... I can vaguely hear the kids arguing about BoomBlox on the Wii. I have headphones on, which helps. I am listening to my current standby for writing music - Coldplay.
Around the house... Dean fixed the Wii last night (hence to sudden urge to by the kids to play). It was making a horrible whine. He looked up a video on YouTube about how to diagnose the sound and fix it. He and Rylan took it apart and tweaked whatever little metal part was out of position and it was fixed. yay! Today I will probably gather up the Calvert stuff and clear the kid's school shelves for their new books, papers and things.
I am pondering... What the hell to do with all the Calvert books.
One of my favorite things... Those first hints of fall, like the slightly cooler mornings and the first few leaves on the fruit trees beginning to brown and fall.
A few plans for the rest of the week... This is an unusually quiet week. Just school, scouts for Owen and violin for Rylan.
Here is a picture for thought I am sharing...
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| Colin, June 2011 |
I came across this yesterday, and this picture never fails to crack me up...
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