Random pics

Sarah doing some yoga.

Noah rescued this bunny from our window well and set it free.  

Pretty girl looking pensive.

She has this whole nice bed to sleep in, but she prefers teetering on the edge.

Noah was here first, and Snickers joined him.  They're watching birds.

Butterflies and the big game

Noah was so nervous before his baseball game last night that he couldn't eat before we left.  Just talking about food made him gag.  He said, "That's just the butterflies trying to get out."  After he got his first hit, he was able to wolf down a corn dog from the concession stand. 

Before the game, Sarah was watching him get ready.  He was assembling his male protection items, and Sarah asked, "Is that cone uncomfortable to wear?"
N: It's a cup, Sarah.  Not a cone.  You don't put ice cream in it.
S: You can eat ice cream out of a cup. You know, I can run really fast.  I'm not bragging, I'm just saying.
N: Saying IS bragging.

Speaking of bragging...guess who scored the winning run in extra innings?

Desperate for quiet

A big reason we chose the homeschooling lifestyle was so that we could be a close family.  HOWEVER, constant togetherness with no break can be maddening torture, so I have always insisted on an hour of quiet time in the afternoons. The rules are:

1. No talking
2. No electronics
3. Do not come in my room unless the house is on fire or someone is bleeding profusely.

Seems straightforward and simple to me, but I have a child who needs to know every specific detail about everything, so I've had to clarify and explain the rules many times. This clever child hates to be isolated, so he looks for loopholes and pushes the boundaries all he can.

This is how it went today. I was in my room with the door locked, because certain people don't always respect rule #3. I heard Sarah go into the bathroom. (I'd like to make a rule that you can't leave your room during quiet time, but after all, this is not prison.). The clever child heard it too and sensed a loophole. He went in the bathroom too.

S: Noah! Get out! I'm going to the bathroom here!
N: But I have to go too.
S: Well then go in Mom's bathroom!
N: I can't. She locked the door.
S: Well, you'll just have to wait till I'm done then, and don't stand there and watch me.
N (yelling from outside the bathroom door): Are you done yet?
S: No! Stop rushing me!
N: Are you peeing or pooping?
Me (yelling from my room): Noah, go to your room and wait till she comes out.
N: But I have to go really bad, and she's just stalling on purpose!

Sarah finally came out, and there was more talking and more arguing and more attempts to get into my room.  When "quiet time" ended, I was grouchy instead of refreshed.  I went over the rules again, and in my frustration, I changed #3 to: "Do not come into my room for any reason."  Noah asked, "But what if the house is on fire or someone is bleeding profusely?"  I said, "Call 911, and go outside and wait for them."

Bike rodeo

We went to a bike rodeo on Saturday.  Here's a police officer explaining the course to Noah.

Sarah navigating the obstacle course.

 

Right after I took this picture, his last two scores went downhill.  Both kids did great, but they didn't win any prizes (except the participation prize, which was a free cone at DQ).

 

Noah was pretty interested in the fire truck parked at the rodeo.  When he was 3, I was sure he would be a firefighter when he grew up, because he was totally obsessed with all things firefighter-related.  He lost interest for several years, but after he toured this truck, he said, "I think I might want to be a firefighter again."

Watching their cones being made.

Babies

My favorite thing about spring is all the new babies.  I love babies!

baby lettuce

baby radishes

baby ducks

My baby girl, missing our cat, Jason.

Ramming around doing projects

My girl loves to "do projects".  I'm not a project-y person.  I like to bake, but this girl wants to bake something elaborate EVERY day!  And then there are the endless artsy crafty projects. Those are the worst, because I have no interest or skill in that area.  She has some of those "things to make and do" books, and she carries one around with her all the time, badgering people to help her make something. It would be fine if she would just read the book and figure it out for herself, but she doesn't.  She just makes messes and breaks things.  And she's SO bossy!!! (oops, scratch that. I'm trying to think more positively).  She shows great leadership qualities.

So this morning, her feet barely hit the floor, and she comes at me with one of the books.  "Mom, can we bake cupcakes and cookies and make a salad and then make these beanbags and decorate them and put faces on them?"  It's 7 a.m. and I'm exhausted already.  I pick the easiest thing and focus on that, hoping it will appease her.  So we're making an old favorite recipe for 100 Good Cookies (remember that one, Mom?).  In the middle of that, her ADHD takes over and she makes off with the container of oats (which is now empty) and starts poking holes in it, filling it with water, and making a watering can.

While I'm stuck in the kitchen baking the other 88 cookies, she goes off to make an "April Fool's trap".  She reminds me of a phrase I remember my dad saying about "ramming around thinking you know everything".  I never knew what that meant until I had this child.  Speaking of my dad, he made a "pets' corner" with Sarah last weekend from her favorite project book.  I was so grateful, because she had been hounding me for that one for a long time, and I kept putting her off, because it looked difficult and involved.  It turned out really cool, and she loves it.  My BFF also had our kids another day last weekend (Mike and I were at the homeschool convention), and she is the queen of artsy crafty projects.  Both my kids adore her and always want to go to her house.  She made puppets with them!  It really does take a village.

The pets' corner.

puppets

Having a little puppet show

Snickers sleeping on one of the books.  That's more my speed.

Garden

I couldn't figure out why I was so stiff and sore today, and then I remembered I spent an hour planting the garden yesterday.  There's Sarah on the watering bridge.

This is for my own reference, because my markers are pretty feeble, and when sprouts start popping up, I won't have any idea what they are.

I'm also trying a hanging pot of strawberries on the front porch.