Simple Woman's Daybook Entry



Outside my window... It is 6:28 a.m. and the sprinklers are running, the birds are chirping all over the neighborhood and the sun is peaking up over the trees in the distance.  I have a window open (so I could hear the birds) and it is still very breezy and cool.

I am thinking... That the neighbors across the street really tick me off.  I don't like the fact that they run their sprinklers every.  damn.  morning.  (because they use so much water).  They also wash both their cars every week - sometimes twice.  And their lawn is a beautiful lush green.  That makes me jealous beyond words... our little patch of brown-green drabness will never look that nice.  sigh.

I am thankful... That Dean and I got to go see Sal Khan (creator of Khan Academy) at a speaking engagement at Denver University on Friday evening.  It.  was.  awesome.  I am going to do a whole post about it because I have a lot to say.

I am also thankful for wonderful, creative friends... one of which gave me an award this week!

Thank you Amanda!! I was very touched by your kind words.  :)

Here is a snippet about what the award is about: The Liebster Award is a blog award given to bloggers with less that 200 followers with blogs of note. The title, Liebster, is a German word translating roughly to 'favorite.'  I am to pay it forward and pass this award on to my favorites as well.  I may need an extra week to get this accomplished.


From the Learning Rooms... We managed a lot of math this week and not much else.  The May calendar is from hell!  Jordan did go to Scratch Wednesday (in downtown Denver) for the first time, so Wednesday was shot anyway.  Scratch Wednesday is a time for kids to get together and compare notes, get ideas, show what they have created and so forth - - all in regards to the Scratch program that kids can use to create neat stuff on the computer.  Two of Jordan's friends were there - E and L, who have helped pave the way for Jordan to become involved in the game Minecraft.  E (who just turned 11) had designed and built his own server over the last year-and-a-half.  Jordan is learning so much from him.  They have known each other for almost six years now, and it's nice to see that a true friendship is starting to form - which is a very, very good thing for Jordan.  It has been a long and lonely year.   While Jordan was at his two hour Scratch 'class', I took the kids to the zoo, which is only a few blocks away from where he was.  I came back to collect him and then we went back to the zoo to spend a very lovely afternoon.  The morning was just insane because the place was overrun by school kids, but in the afternoon we nearly had the place to ourselves.  AND  I even parked TWICE and DID NOT get a parking ticket.  Amazing.

In the kitchen... Last night I made a pizza.  The dough turned out better than it has in a long, long time.  (I use a bread machine).  Rylan pulled a chair up to the counter and sliced black olives for me.  She ate four for every one that she sliced.  Just then my stepmom dropped by to pick up something, and the kids just mobbed her with the news of all that they had to share (you know, the mundane stuff like: "LOOK!  I HAVE A LIBRARY BOOK!  LOOK!  I HAVE A COOL BLUE CAR!  LOOK!  I HAVE A BLACK OLIVE ON MY FINGER!")  Every thing they had to say had to be expressed at the 90 decibel level.  Also, using the chair to climb onto the counter so they could be at eye-level seemed like the best way to achieve further emphasis, so both boys were on the island counter, shouting over each other to be heard.  In the meantime, I spread the sauce on the pizza, sprinkled on the cheese and the toppings and it was ready to put in the oven.  I removed the boys from the counter.  I turned to grab the oregano, and when I turned around, there was Colin, on the counter again, and he had just accidentally stepped onto the pizza.  He lifted his foot (now covered in sauce and cheese) and as I lifted him off the counter again, he put his foot down on the pizza and pushed.  The whole pan flew off of the counter and landed buttered-side down.   Crap.  There went our dinner!  I scraped it off of the floor, spread it all around the pan and baked it.  Dog hair and all.  At least Abby isn't in full shed yet.  I promise that if you come over for dinner, I will mop the floor before I cook.  That way, if I have to scrape it off the floor and put it back in the pan, it won't be all covered in kitchen-floor-grossness.

I am wearing... pjs.  I really need new pjs.  These are the ones I wore when I went into the hospital to deliver Rylan.  That was almost six years ago to the day.  It's time.   Hmmm.  Mother's Day is coming up, isn't it??  Hmmm?




I am creating... Two birthday cakes this week.  Jordan's is simple.  It's his favorite, year-after-year: chocolate black-out cake.  Rylan wants a doll cake.  God help me.  We looked at about two hundred doll cakes yesterday, trying to find something she liked.

She would like something like this:

www.cakejournal.com

If I tried that, if would look like this:

I don't exactly have mad skillz when it comes to cake decorating.  We'll see.  The worst that could happen is that I would wind up on Cake Wrecks.  Although they say they only make fun of the professional cakes.

I am going... This week is nuts.  It's Birthday Week.  Things don't really heat up until Thursday.  And then it is a solid 72 hours of GO!GO!GO!  I can't wait for Sunday.


I am wondering... How difficult it really is to make fondant. I don't think I am brave enough to try it. Plus, I heard it tastes yucky.

I am reading... I've given up on The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marian Keyes.  I am just frustrated because it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.  I am instead going to pick up where I left off with The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest, and finish that series off.

I am hoping... That the Spring Camporee that Dean and Jordan went on this weekend went well.  I'm tense and bracing myself in case it didn't.  Things have been less than stellar with scouts, lately.


I am looking forward to... (Sunday?)  I am looking forward to Jordan turning 12 on Wednesday, a nature outing with a friend on that day while Jordan goes on a field trip, book club with the girls on Thursday, Homeschool Day at the amusement park on Friday, and Rylan turning 6 on Saturday. 

I am learning... More about all of the fabulous things Jordan can learn on Khan Academy.  Dean has already set himself up as a coach, I need to add myself as well, plus create an account for Rylan.


I am hearing...  No more birds.. :( The neighborhood is absolutely quiet. Usually some idiot is mowing by now... Ahhh. I'll enjoy this while it lasts. (It is now 8:15. This post has taken nearly two hours??)  Rylan just got up and is now sitting at the desk behind me, illustrating a story in her composition book.



Around the house... I am going to put in the tomatoes today, as soon as Dean gets home and helps me get the frame in.  And no, I will not be using the same straw this time...

I am pondering... How scouts just exacerbates all of the social issues (covert bullying, ostracism, inappropriate age-related topics of discussion), that we are purposely avoiding by homeschooling in the first place.  Dean and I are sort of at odds about this.  As Assistant Scoutmaster, Dean is unable to intervene on Jordan's behalf.  I am unable to intervene due to personal reasons.  I am just so frustrated for Jordan.  No boy is willing to give him a chance because of how they perceive him (hyper and clown-like at times).  And they base their perceptions on the opinions others... so it is just this perpetual cycle.  It is not Jordan's fault that he is who he is.  It is not Jordan's fault that he still struggles with appropriate physical and emotional boundaries - he gets a lot of coaching from us, but ultimately he is in charge of his self-management.  He still has a lot of maturing to do.  Several of those boys do.  Yet when Jordan is consistenly passed over or chosen last, when (as current Patrol Leader) the entire patrol pays him no attention during patrol time and instead wanders off because of the intentional encouragement of another, it leaves Jordan in a hellish perpetual state of "What's wrong with me??"  Dean insists that it is Jordan's battle (within himself) to fight and conquer his inappropriate behaviors and ultimately find his place within the group.  I just feel protective and want the cliqueishness to stop (they are worse than girls!!).  Dean was like Jordan at his age so he relates to Jordan's struggle as something that he will eventually grow out of - and be all the stronger for it.  I experienced the ostracism that Jordan does - and I am not the stronger for it.  It hurts to this day.  I hurt when I hear about what is happening... and I know I am projecting my own personal feelings into this mess, and I don't know how to do otherwise.  It just sucks in every way you look at it - and I am taking a huge personal risk even discussing it here... yet it has been on my mind for months.  And this is my personal place to bring my troubles and lay them down, so I guess it is time.

One of my favorite things... Now I am in such a mood that it is hard to handle this question.  Hmm.  The quiet of the house in the mornings.  I need to return to that peaceful state asap.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Well, I guess I already talked about that, didn't I?  Rylan is having her very first 'friend' birthday party.  She is inviting all of her daisy scout friends.  I need to think about party favors and doll cakes and decorations.  Even though I don't want to.  It makes my head hurt.  Jordan isn't having a party because 'I don't really have any friends!' (his words, not mine).  Yes he does, but they are all very different from each other and a 'party' per se would be awkward.  He will invite his friend, Henry, to come along to Rylan's gymnastics party.  He will get to play Minecraft to his heart's content with his friend E., and go and see a movie with his best friend Abbi.  As long as he has his chocolate cake, he's happy.  We will do a nice family dinner out on his birthday as well.


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

Rylan on the carousel at the Denver Zoo

Hope you all have a good week.  It is now 9:40am  Can I be done now?  I think so.  :)




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Telling off the Universe...

I met an old acquaintance at a coffee shop last night for the purpose of swapping stories about our common experience of loss.  Our dads, who are old colleagues, realized that their daughters had similar stories and should really get together.  My story: eight years ago my ex husband (after eleven years of being together) abruptly left me after only 16 days of marriage.  Her story: last year her live-in boyfriend of eleven years abruptly left her after she pressured him to make a decision - she wanted marriage and a family.  (she is 36).  She is still struggling the with heartache and trying to move on.

Well.... it's not that easy moving on.  I'm eight years into my journey and I can tell you it is not easy.  Having a wonderful husband and four children to love have most certainly helped, but it is still not easy.  Furthermore, not everyone can 'move on' in the same manner.  Each perceived situation is different.  I was dealing with intense feelings of betrayal and humiliation.  My friend feels lost and confused.  Neither of us ever received adequate explanation of why the relationship ended.  One moment he was there, and the next moment he was gone.

For me, the best coping mechanism I could come up with in the immediate days afterward was the idea that he was dead - because that is what it felt like.  One day he was in my world, and the next he wasn't.  It didn't help matters that this person who I loved was actually still walking in this world, but since he was not communicating with me, it felt very much like he was gone...never to return.  Then the odd thought came to me.. what happens to the love?  I loved this person!  I had just married him three weeks prior!  What happens now?


My friend brought up the same question as well.  She is currently fighting her way out of that black hole of loss.  She loves him, and doesn't know how to stop - even after a years' time.  Oh my goodness my heart just aches for her... because I lived this journey too.  After months of living in that swirling vortex of "What now?", I found out the truth: he had left me for someone else - someone he had been with months before we got married.  Now I had the reason I was looking for to stop loving him.  It was such a relief to be able to cut that cord and offer myself the opportunity for a new life, and a new identity.

"L" is such a beautiful person - and she has done a lot of wonderful things in her life.  She is an operating room nurse and frequently takes part in mercy medical operations.  She uses her vacation time to travel to third world countries to offer her services.  Last year she went to Haiti (and came home with a horrible lung infection) and Sierra Leone.  I told her that I envied her in a way.  She was now single, and would have the opportunity to travel and maybe make a new life for herself abroad.  She told me she envied me: I had found love again and was a mother to four kids.  I suppose the grass is always greener someplace else.  It's not that I regret my life AT ALL - but I am sure, as many women can attest to, that once you are tied down with the burdens and responsibility of family, the looming desire for escape always haunts you.  Whether it be at the bottom of a wine glass, the spa, MNO, the weekend get-away or (gasp) the milkman.  For me, all I need is an hour or two of intelligent conversation to recharge my batteries.  Thank goodness for that.

After three hours of sifting through our thoughts and feelings we both walked away feeling like a burden had been lifted.  She is the first person I have been able to talk to - in all these eight years - about some of the deepest, darkest feelings I experienced, and still deal with from time-to-time.  It is nice to have someone who truly understands what it feels like (apart from my mother).  I was supposed to be there for her, but it ended up that we were there for each other.

On the way home, I had several thoughts swirling around in my head.

1.  I still have a lot of healing to do.  I operate in the fear mode on a daily basis.  My biggest fear is that I will lose again.  I feel paranoid at times - like I don't deserve this happiness and that 'life' will come along at any moment and take it all away from me.  I'm afraid to get too close to people, because I will just get hurt again (and gosh this keeps happening!!).  I'm afraid to share because of what people will think of me.  It's nice to have the anonymity of the web.  I try not to think of the handful of people I know who read this blog (hello to my four or five fans out there... well, you're family.  You have to like me.)  I try instead to think of the potential reader who maybe has a similar story to tell.  Who needs to hear that she is not alone.  Who needs to hear how someone else is trying to cope.  That is how I try to convert my fear into love.

2.  Love is neither created or destroyed.  In answer to the question: "What happens to the love?", I think that it just changes form - similar to the concept of energy.  Love is energy.  The love you have for your child drives you to feed him, hug him, chase after him when he runs into the street, ache for him when he hurts and search endlessly for ways to make him happy.  When you experience loss - either through death or divorce, that love just changes form.  You channel that energy in another direction.  You establish a memorial fund, you take on a new vocation, you devote that loving attention on yourself instead, for a time.  I think that was how I found my release.  I took that energy and I used it on myself.  I painted walls.  I bought new furniture.  I lost weight.  I read books.  I went for hikes.  I spent time with friends.   I kept busy juggling three jobs.

3.  I am a lucky, lucky girl to have been able to cross to the other side.  I am lucky to have Dean, Jordan, Rylan, Owen and Colin in my life.  And I am lucky that I had such wonderful family to lean on for support through all these years.

I know that "L"s journey is going to be a long and painful one.  But her spirit will be strengthened by it, in time.  And at some point, joy will return to her life.  I know my spirit is strong and I 'feel' strong, but I also feel like life for me will be forever tarnished in a way that is difficult to describe.  It is there that the fear resides.  I have to acknowledge it every day and do my best to squash it.

Years ago, when I was living alone after the divorce, I would go out into the backyard late, late at night, and 'tell off' the Universe.

"You aren't going to beat me!"

"Years ago you sent a really, really crappy person into my life to teach me the lessons I needed to learn in this lifetime.  Um....thanks?  Can the lesson be over now?"

"I deserve to be happy!!!!  Please?  Just a little?"

"Why!!!  What is the fucking point of loving someone if they are just going to hurt you?!?"

"Are you listening?"

My neighbors probably thought I was some crazy woman telling off her aspen trees, night after night.  Then again, they were crazy eBay hoarders who had a permanent dumpster in their driveway.

but.

The Universe listened.  Damn the Universe and it's smug knowitty-all-ness.  Now I have to make amends every night to the Universe and acknowledge that everything happens for a reason, and you shouldn't really question it, and thank you for sending Dean into my life, and thank you for loving me and giving me the capacity to love others, despite all of the other crap you've made me put up with.

Oh.  And thank you for chocolate...good stuff.

And for coffee.  Of which I have had entirely too much of this week.

It's worse than I thought...

I made a quick stop at the grocery store tonight, after a long chat with a friend at a local coffee shop.  After I found out last week that our favored grocery store is gearing up for "a makeover", I've been dreading going back.  It's worse than I thought.  Not only have they changed around entire sections already, but as they clear a section in order to fill it with something else (with absolutely no attempt at forethought in any of this), they just dump the contents into grocery carts, and then distribute them all over the back of the store.  I had to move seven grocery carts of laundry detergent out of my way just to get some sour cream.  A cart of laundry detergent is heavy.  And unwieldy.



At least there was fresh bananas.

Happy May Day!



I don't believe I will engage in any pole dancing today, (thank goodness for that). but I would love for my inner spirit to feel as light and bright as this picture.  So, instead of listing out what is weighing heavy on my heart, I will write about all that I am grateful for as of late.

One of the highlights of last week was having a couple of homeschool mom friends over for a visit, and then walking back to one of their houses (she lives close by) and looking over some of her curriculum that came up in conversation.  I love looking at curriculum - I have a terrible weakness when it comes to that!  She sent me home with an armload of books to look through.  The next day I sat down with Jordan to look over a copy of Shurley English, Level 4.  (OH MY GOSH!)  Where has this been all my homeschooling life?  Why-oh-why did I not come across this years ago??  I LOVED IT.  Now - would Jordan?  We sat down together with the workbook and the teacher's manual and worked through what a lesson looked like, and then what a whole week would look like.  We discussed the pros and cons, and compared it with other workbooks we were currently using.  Jordan admitted that it looked a little intimidating and asked if we could begin with Level 3, and just work at an accelerated pace.  ??  This very-adult-like conversation I was having with this soon-to-be twelve year-old was just blowing me away.  But shouldn't it be like this when the kids get older?  Shouldn't they have a say in what curriculum they use?  I think so.  Jordan can't wait to start - he asked if we could start it up as soon as he gets home from his visit to Oklahoma next month.  w * o * w

My mom's cousin Carol Ann paid our family a visit this past weekend.  The kids absolutely love her!  We went to church together and had an awesome Vietnamese dinner afterwards.  I'm sad about not getting any photos - sorry Carol Ann!

I also got to have dinner on Friday night with my mom and my three aunties (on my dad's side).  It was such a fun evening - and a rare experience to be able to talk without a thousand kid interruptions.  I can't wait until we do it again in July. (Hint-hint)

I am grateful for the wonderful 2 year-old checkup that Colin had yesterday at the pediatrician's office.  The numbers are staggering, considering the journey we took to get to this day.  We discovered in late September, 2010, when Colin was almost 8 months old, that he was not getting adequate nutrition from breast-feeding.  We had to start formula immediately or else he would have to to hospitalized.

(10/3/10)  8 mo./ 15 lbs. - 3rd % for weight.  He had been on formula for almost two weeks at this point.  His arms and legs felt like toothpicks.

(4/26/12)  2 yr 2mo/ 33 lbs - 85% for weight.  He weighs two pounds less than Owen - who is two years his senior.

Dean says that we need to forget the college fund at this point, and start up a grocery fund instead.  No doubt...


I am grateful for good times on the Poudre River last week... we went two days in a row -the first day with friends, and the second day we went on our own.

We had a good time at our Daisy Scout meeting on Friday - we met with Master Naturalists at the Ross Natural Area for an outdoor class, followed by a trail/creek clean-up project.

Rylan took this one

So we are off to a wonderful start this May - but what a busy month ahead!  We are going to try out a Scratch day in Denver tomorrow, then we return to Denver on Friday evening to meet Sal Khan, the creator of Khan Academy.  Two kiddos will be celebrating birthdays next week, a family trip to Elitches for Homeschool Day, a couple of boy scout campouts, annual academic testing for Jordan, three field trips, Jordan will leave for OKC, the final girl scout meeting/ceremony, karate promotions, and several meetings and appointments in between.  Oh - and Mother's Day.  (how could I forget that?)  So far I only have three precious white spaces left on the May calendar....they are going fast!

Outside my window this morning...

Well hello there little miss Iris!  You are five weeks early, BTW.

I am glad to see you though.

My charges while my dad is away.  They have grown about six inches in eight days!

Someone heard me sneaking out to take pictures.
(that window is absolutely filthy isn't it?)

Our first-ever bird's nest.  Jordan spied a robin gathering grass in the backyard yesterday.  I saw him again this morning, and he wasn't even deterred as Abby came over to investigate.  This will be fun to watch over the coming weeks.

Bolting!!  Already?
When you want blooms, you use the term 'flowering'.  When the blooms are undesireable, you use the term 'bolting'.  Rhubarb has the tendency to bolt when the weather gets too warm, and the soil becomes dry and in need of nutrients.  Some plants are also prone to bolting - mine, a 'Valentine' is among them.  If you allow a rhubarb to bolt, the plant will focus more of its energy into the bloom(s), instead of growing nice-sized stalks for harvest.  If you want a good crop, you should remove the flower buds as soon as you see them.  This one appeared just a few days ago and has grown at least a foot in that span of time.  I lopped it off after taking the picture, along with about five others.  Geesh.  It has been hot and dry for the past several weeks - and I've only watered the rhubarb plant as an afterthought.  Oops.  It is also about four years old - it is time to divide it.

Redesigning a perfectly acceptable grocery store? Fail.

So there I was, this past Sunday night, at 8:35pm, getting ready to go grocery shopping.  Ideally I should be getting the weekly shopping trip done on a Saturday afternoon, but lately it's been sliding into the last possible time slot late on a Sunday night.  I shop two places: I first hit Super Target to get all of the canned goods, household-type stuff (t.p., detergent, soap, diapers, etc..), bread and cookies/crackers.  It is much cheaper there.  I categorically refuse to shop at Walmart.  I cannot fathom shopping for food and smelling the yucky smell of tires at the same time.  It just doesn't work for me.  Besides....have you seen the people of Walmart?  :)  Even in our little patch of Heaven here in Colorado there are some scary-assed people who shop there.

Anyways... back to the story.  I realize it's 8:35, and Target closes at 9pm on Sundays.  Stupid Target.  So I grabbed my list, purse and shopping bags and threw a 'good-bye' over my shoulder.  I made inside the Target building at 8:47.  I threw my stuff in the cart and took off.  I never stopped the cart moving.  I was still moving as I chucked this-and-that into the cart.  I entered the lanes at exactly 9pm, with an overflowing cart.  Mind you, a big bulk of the cart was filled with large packages of paper towels, toilet paper and a box of diapers.  I was on fire!  (I have to celebrate the victories...no matter how small).

I then headed down the road to the grocery store.  I put on my headphones (the only reason I love to do the grocery shopping is so that I can get some time to just zone out) and struck out for the far side of the store.  I am a creature of habit.  I walk along the exact same serpentine-style path throughout the store, every time.  A couple of years ago I decided that I should write up my grocery list so that it follows that path.  I went to the store and hung out for about three hours, with clipboard in hand, and as I walked down each aisle, looking L & R, I wrote down every last possible item that I would normally use in day-to-day meal prep.  Each aisle is numbered, and I always enter a particular aisle from a specific direction, and the list for that aisle is in the order I encounter it.  I listed the entire dairy case as I would walk along it in the back of the store, and then broke up the meat department, deli, bakery and produce.

I am sensing some serious eye-rolling going on.  C'mon!   All I can say is that this system shaves an incredible amount of time off of a normal shopping trip.  There is no back-tracking (unless you forgot to put something on the list), and the simple act of working through a list removes any need to strain your brain and actually think.  I am typically 'done' with thinking at about 5pm everyday.  I can't go much beyond that.  I just print off a list when I am ready, I open up the cupboards and look at what we are low on, fill in what I need for any of my recipes for that week's menu and I am good to go.  I also have a list for Target, but it is just broken into categories because it was designed for the older Target.  Now that I do some of the grocery shopping there, I need to tweak it and actually break it out into aisles as well.

So.  Here is my predicament.  I walked back to my usual starting place in the back corner - working along the dairy case, when I notice that there is a small army of temporary workers filling grocery carts with stuff.  Uh-oh.  They were emptying the shelves.  Lots of shelves.  I had to fight off some guy just so I could grab the last gallon of milk.  Dude!  My poor starving children need milk to drink!  As I walked along, swatting away hands so that I could get some butter and yogurt, I stopped and asked a team of two younger guys filling a cart what it was that they were doing.  (Was there some sort of eColi outbreak going on??)  "Oh, well, we are moving stuff around."  Shit.

I gathered up the rest of my groceries and went to the checkout.  I went through a lane with two younger guys (Why choose the guys?  Because they tend to spill the beans more.  They love to bitch about their jobs, so they are the ones to go to when you want the dirt).  Yep.  Just as I feared.  The idiots at corporate, who never set foot in a grocery store themselves because their wives or housekeepers do it, made the decision that our store needed a remodel.  Which means that EVERYTHING will be moving around, over the next several months.  Items will be moved, and then moved again.  Worse yet, the design will be similar to the other stores in town, where the long, parallel aisles are a thing of the past.  Islands, diagonals, intersections... it will be an organizational nightmare.

I have just one question.  WHY WHY WHY do they not ask us - the primary grocery shoppers - what we would like in a store?  Where was the survey?  If we are the ones opening our wallets each and every week, forking over hundreds of dollars for over-priced food - shouldn't we have a say in what the shopping 'environment' should be like?

Here is what I would say:

Don't roll your pallets of food out at 9 o'clock at night.  You are IN MY WAY. 

Please restock the bananas.

Adults should be able to get a free cookie too.

Ban the plastic shopping bags.  Really.

Make the aisles wider.  When I can't get my cart around the three frat boys arguing over how many cans of pork-n-beans to buy, I get massivly irritated.

Same goes for the lovey-dovey twenty-somethings that flock to the store in the late-evening hours to figure out what they are going to make for dinner - they aimlessly wander - arm-in-arm of all things, up and down the aisles.

Please stop shoving candybars in my face in the checkout lane.

You need to put handwipes/sanitizer by the meat case.

I know this seems like a petty little thing, when such serious stuff is happening all over the globe.  But, when in your own little existence the weekly shopping trip is considered your 'sanity saving get-away', it's huge.

Simple Woman's Daybook



Outside my window... Sunny and breezy!  Dean is going to turn on the sprinklers today (unheard of for April) because the grass in the front yard is bone dry...  Hopefully he will get the first mow done as well.

I am thinking... That the signs that the kids are growing up are coming too fast and furious for me to be able to process...  Jordan reached the chapter on growth and development chapter in his science book.  It was time anyway to sit down and talk it out, so Dean, Jordan and I have been having intermittent conversations and Q&A (when the other kids weren't around) for the past couple of days.  It is refreshing to be totally frank and honest, and also disturbing the amount that he already knew thanks to his mom jumping the gun last summer.  Her version of instruction?  "Don't bring home a baby before you're 18".  yep... that about sums up my frustrations with that whole situation.

Moving on... Rylan is getting fiercely independent with her schoolwork - which is causing issues, Owen is able to remind me on a nightly basis that he is ready for his breathing treatment and wants to walk around the library with me and help select his library books.  Colin's vocabulary is blowing me away. I love this age the best. 

I am thankful... For the lovely family weekend we have been having.  Last night Jordan and Rylan slept outside on the trampoline for the first time.  The weather was fairly mild - the kids slept in silk thermals and wore socks and stocking caps.  They said they were pretty warm.  Dean and I joined them for a short time - around 11pm to midnight.  We watched the sky, looking for the meteors that were supposed to put on quite a show.  I think we were a little early.  There were lots of clouds moving across the sky and it sprinkled a little bit.  It was still a very nice time.  Until the next-door neighbor decided that 11:35pm was the most excellent time to do some yard work.  WTF?  I don't get those people...at..all.


From the Learning Rooms... We had an awesome week!

On Monday we did the usual stuff and then wandered over to a small natural area, called Dragonfly's Lair, in a neighborhood area next to ours.

We did an aquatic insect class here about three years ago.  There used to be a large deck that went out over the water where the kids are standing in this picture, but it is gone now.  The city must have removed it...probably a liability thing.  :(

Rylan found a couple of lost and forgotten Easter eggs left over from a neighborhood hunt last week.  There was even candy inside, but she made the good choice not to eat it.

Not much water in the ditch yet, but there were still some interesting things to watch.

Later that afternoon we did some craft time.  This became a fuzzy "C"aterpillar after Owen glued on a jillion pom-poms.

On Tuesday we had a counseling session and karate back-to-back, so the schoolwork suffered a bit.  But we managed to work in a decent math session in the morning.  It is the hardest part of the day - trying to work with three different kids, simultaneously.  Believe me I have fiddled with the schedule every which way, but when all three of them tackle this sort of work best in the early morning, what else can you do?  There are only so many minutes to work with.  So I do my best to keep all three doing different bits independently, while I spread out the one-on-one time.  Owen is able to keep focused for a surprising amount of time - as long as it is like 'play'.  It also helps that he has done this activity sheet once before (weeks ago).

He is using Thinking Kids' Math

Rylan is progressing on to adding up numbers bigger than five.  So I made up a game in that she rolled the die twice.  The first time she put together that certain number of unifix cubes, rolled the die again and added up that number in a different color and attached it to the first set.  Then she added the sets together.  She was completely irritated with me, so it didn't go over so well.  Math has been a struggle for her and I lately...



The rest of the week was spent getting the bulk of the work done each day.  It was one of our most productive weeks yet - which is big for me.  I feel like we are coming out of this hazy cloud of pregnancy/birth/newborn/baby time period that has lasted for the past four years, and now we can make some real strides in digging into cool stuff.  We have a lot of lost time to make up for.  Jordan is reading about Egyptian mythology, Rylan is learning about using a compass, and Owen learned how to use scissors and glue this week, while making his "C".  That child has been the most obstinate when it comes to crafty stuff.  Rylan taught herself...so this is more than I bargained for.

In the kitchen... Dean whipped up cinnamon rolls, scrambled eggs and bacon this morning.  I of course 86'ed the eggs, but it is a joy to just pull up to the computer and have my husband do the cooking - love ya honey!

I am wearing... A nice dark blue sundress that has really been in my closet for way too long.  It's time to refresh my wardrobe.  I'm taking the little kids to church in just a bit - so we all need to look nice.


I am creating... A new email account and all of the headaches that go with that. I have lost the war with spam on my old account.

I am going... To church in a bit, and then to the greenhouse later today.  It is Earthday afterall!!


I am wondering... There are some really crazy theories that eleven year old boys come up with regards to all things pertaining to sexual reproduction. It is hard to keep a straight face at times...

I am reading... Still reading The Brightest Star in the Sky, by Marion Keyes.  I made it about another 20 pages this week.  I was devoted to getting schoolwork done.

I am hoping... For some time in the garden later today.


I am looking forward to... Exploring the plant offerings a the greenhouse.  It has been a long time.  Too long!

I am learning... About Singapore math.  I'm trying to figure out what it is that makes it "Asian Math".  How is "Asian Math" different - and will I really screw up the kids if I make a switch?  I need to spend some time digging around on blogs this afternoon.


I am hearing... Colbie Caillat on Spotify


Around the house... Getting the sprinklers running (and problem solving about where exactly to position the trampoline.

I am pondering... That the testes of little boys don't descend until they are older - like 6 or 7?  I didn't know that.  Dean says it is the male body's way of protecting the testes until there is adequate growth/blood supply to the scrotum to protect them and keep the temperature constant.  Hmm.  Learn something new every day!


One of my favorite things... Watching the kiddos dance to music.

A few plans for the rest of the week... Dinner out with my mom and aunts tomorrow night, a nature walk play date with homeschooling friends midweek, and a Daisy field trip with a Master Naturalist on Friday.

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

I set Colin on the trampoline this morning to wake up Jordan and Rylan.  Rylan was about to lose her purple stocking hat.  Colin bounced around, yet had no idea that his older brother and sister were sleeping amongst all those pillows and blankets.  He saw Jordan's blue sleeping bag moving, and just stared and stared.  He finally bounced over and peeked inside the bag, and Jordan made him about jump out of his skin.  Hilarious...

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