dragonfly days

scenes from the weekend.

This weekend: garage cleaning, movie watching, picking up our new to us piano (!!!), music playing, bead making, biking, playing at the park, grocery shopping, game playing, a first break up :(- which meant crying, treat making, helping neighbors, etc.

On the list this week:

• back to a light summer school schedule for Jack, he just does better with some structure to his days.
• a bbq at the neighbors
• baseball
• A big birthday for my man! 40!!! And I need to plan something!!
• getting the older kids on a "won't drive mom batty because we are out of school and bored" schedule.
• play- lots of play- lots of fun.

What is on your list?

the eclipse

scenes from the weekend.

This is our first experience with a dance recital. I get it now. I get what everyone has said about the exhausting week leading up to the performance. It was a long weekend.  After his final performance Saturday night, he looked at us and asked if we could please go home. We did, after ice cream, and the boy put himself to bed. And has put himself to bed every night since.  It was fun and he still wants to do it, but we are so glad last week is over.

This week :

• only one baseball game and no practices! Yay for easy!
• school is out for the older kids.
• that is seriously all I have on my list.
• I could be in denial though.
• I also should probably take the overdue library books back.

Here is to summer!

the garden

Today we:

• had phone call about our online school plans for next year- more about those to come.
• watered the gardens
• practiced playing baseball
• played with a friend
• tried new foods
• had dessert
• bought solar eclipse glasses
• ran long overdue errands
• did lots of laundry
• did a light homeschool day
• made necklaces
• went for a walk
• cooked  a new dinner
• enjoyed the views.

 

 

hey batter

Tonight was our first experience with youth baseball.  Our older kids were never interested in it. We counted ourselves lucky. But Jack, Jack only wanted to play baseball. He started to hit balls that were pitched to him when he was three.  He even asked back then to play.  Our excuse was in the bag, "You're too young. They don't have a team for you."  But this year they had a team. Honestly he could have played t-ball, but we just won't mention that.

I figure if the baseball career doesn't go anywhere that maybe he can model for a sports magazine.

Okay, seriously the poses were all his idea. Ahem. Now on to the game...

The players rotate positions throughout the game.

They get six pitches while up to bat. If they can't hit it in those 6 pitches they walk to base.

Nobody gets out.  And the inning is over once everyone has had a turn at bat.

There is also a strict no heckling policy. 

All the parents were cheering both teams on. So far it seems good. Exactly the kind of thing we were looking for-- a fun way to learn more about the game.  He is over the moon about it all. He can't believe they won their first game. They don't actually keep score at these games, but the kids can count.  He also can't believe that he has to wait until Thursday for the next game.  He wants to eat, breathe and live baseball. 

We made it through Monday.

How we spent Monday...

• Spanish lessons
• Jack read,  Leonardo da Vinci  - the whole thing!
  
• Then he started to plan and make his own version of the flying man. I have talked him down from testing it off the roof or out of the tree house and we have settled on jump off the couch. Phew, that was close. 
• baking granola and baked oatmeal cups.
• picking mulberries, eating mulberries
• watering the yard
• loving on the animals
• watched the robins visiting the yard and the hummingbird in her nest
• painted some beads
• tap dancing
• baseball practice
• more tap dancing
• watching videos of Sammy Davis Jr, Gregory Hines, Fred Astaire, and Gene Kelly. 
• making this for dinner with some leftover steak from last night. Yummy!

More importantly, we made it through Monday! Anyone want to do a happy dance with me?

 

scenes from the weekend 5/13

Mothers Day brought flowers. 

This weekend was:

• short
• the last rugby game. They lost, but did much better than the last time they played this team.
• lunch  with the grandparents
• redbox and pizza date night
• breakfast for mother's day with the smoke alarm only going off 3 times. ;)
• the hubby running errands with me to keep me company
• dinner with grandpa
• a late night walk with the hubby during which we saw the most amazing shooting star
• time in the hammock relaxing.
• menu planning
• planning for the week trying to get all my ducks in a row.
• laundry

 

This coming week is:

• beginning of baseball for Jack which means practice Mon(maybe more), and games Tues and Thurs.
• dance- two classes, two dress rehearsals and two performances.
• end of year swim party with our online school.
• the solar eclipse.
• the end of year lacrosse party
• end of year school projects galore.
• family in town this weekend.
• planning phone call with online teacher

I am thinking that school will be light this week. I try to keep my schedule so that we aren't that busy or out of the house that much.  It kind of bugs me, but we are going with the flow. We'll do what we can to have enough downtime to make it livable.  I ran all my errands this weekend to try and make it possible.  The laundry is caught up.  The menu is planned. Any paperwork is already filled out and in my planner.  All I need to do is get glasses for the eclipse. Yes I am kicking myself for not buying them last week at the visitor's center when I saw them. 

Hope you all had a wonderful Mother's day. I am so thankful for all the mother figures in my life and all that they have shared with me.

 

 

pre-history

Yesterday  we headed up to the local national park for pre-history craft day. Every year Zac and a few other pre-history enthusiasts set up a demonstration in the courtyard outside the vistor's center and teach people about the natives around the area.

The tables include all different kinds of replicas. They are all avid flintknappers.

These effigies (?) are awesome. I am planning on making some myself. I would like to make some and paint them also.  They look fun!

Jack jumped right in and started teaching people about the arrowheads. He was a natural. The ranger asked if he would like to come work there. It was also evident that he was very proud of his dad.  We all are. One of the other guys asked me what I thought of my husbands hobbies. I told him I was actually very impressed by them. The attention to detail and patience involved amazes me.

That is a fish basket on the table that someone made.

Sorry for the dark pictures. I was using my old camera since it is lighter and better for hiking. They were also making sandals out of yucca plants, cordage out of yucca, and Zac helped two of our little friends make arrows using his arrowheads.

After spending some time at the demo we headed up the canyon to take one of our favorite hikes.

The cool canyon water was a welcome relief at the top of the hike.

It was a really fun day.

 

 

 

hooked

Some of you know that Jack's favorite show is River Monsters. Last week he asked if he could go fishing. We're not big fishermen around here. Steve goes with his grandpa, but Zac doesn't enjoy it. I told him I would take him to one of the local ponds. When Steve heard the plan, he immediately offered to go along and help. That was a good thing since the last time I went fishing was around 20 years ago.

This past weekend he took his money and bought a rod and was ready to go. As in- bouncing off the walls ready to go.

Two minutes later, he had a bite.

He did throw the fish back. We have a strict you kill you eat it policy, which makes it hard for a picky eater.

It was also nice to see these two connect on something. It's hard to find common ground with a nine year age gap.

That was the only fish caught tonight.

On the way home they were already planning the next trip. I think Jack is hooked!

the garden

We've been on some marathon garden kicks here. I think we are finally able to see the light at the end of the tunnel. That is, if I stop finding things we just need to plant. Today I took a moment to enjoy while I did the watering.

The milk weed is starting to bloom. We started with one little seed and now we have quite a patch going. Love this. I hope it attracts some butterflies this year.

The roses are in full bloom right now. I have a love hate relationship with these roses. They are so beautiful when they are in bloom, but it only lasts a week or two. 

Today we made a quick trip to the nursery. I was looking for a valerian plant. I had one last year and think it might have seeded, but if it didn't I wanted another. I couldn't find it but I did pick up a pineapple sage, another comfrey, and some seeds.  The most exciting find was the quinoa seeds. Can you imagine? So excited to see if it will grow here.

I also have another big project involving gardens in the works. It started with a conversation with one of the neighbors at the wild edible class. I'm hoping I can make it come to fruition.

 

some goodies

Sorry for the lack of blog posts. We are headed in to the end of the year crunch. Throw in a few extra activities, changes and angst from all angles and you get a bit of chaos. I am hoping things find a flow soon. Real soon.

Anyways. Now for some fun stuff. A few weeks back I answered a question on a facebook post from PBS Learning Media and won a prize. Love it.

 

The book and dvd of Great Expectations.   Love surprises.

This week was the local Scholastic Warehouse sale.   Look at all those cool books. Love the River Monsters ones.  The rock book has fantastic pictures and info.

These are the other books I got. We love the Basher Science books.  The rest I am hoping will eventually interest Jack. To be truthful, he was only excited about he Ninjago one. The rest will be a bit of a challenge for his reading level, but we will either use them for read alouds or he will move in to them. There wasn't a whole lot of selection for his actual reading level this time. 

 

finally

Everything finally worked out with our schedules and we were able to take our little car lover to a car show. Not just any show, but a Mustang show.  We love Mustangs. We count them and keep a running total of how many seen while we are out and about.  So being able to see all of these in one place was the coolest thing ever.

Makes me want to go for a ride.  Jack thinks our Mustang count is up over 150 now.

going back

Today Zac, Jack and I headed up the mountain to the Mountain Man Rendezvous.  The last time we went to one was when the older kids were about Jack's age. I had forgotten how much fun it can be, especially for a young boy. 

First off, these people know how to camp. All of the camps looked inviting and comfortable.

The candy canon is always a favorite.

There were also some old time games for the kids to play.  We loved all of the period dress.

One of the games involved throwing a spear through a hoop hanging on a line.

Jack's favorite though was the archery. He simply could not get enough. I think it motivated Zac to finish making him a new bow and some arrows.

One of my favorite parts was the shops.  They had beads! Awesome beads! For cheap!  I had no idea. Next time I will have to plan to take my time and some more cash. I was really selective and only dame home with two strands of beads, two buffalo teeth, two skull beads and a bobcat tail. Yes there is a necklace planned and in progress for a certain little guy. 

 

 

 

rock hunting

This past Sunday we headed out on a rock hunt to start our rock study.

First we found a lizard. We call this a horny toad. I'm sure it has a more official name.

Then it was down the wash for the rock hunt. I scored three nice fossils in this wash.  Jack found some picture stone and other cool rocks. We also saw lots of lizards!

A different wash- more fossils and lizards.

Doesn't he have an intense look on his face? Not sure what that was all about.

Pretty lizard though.

See what I mean?

These are some of the fossils and rocks we found.

What a great start to our rock study.

 

 

kite festival

Saturday was the local kite festival. This year, Jack had an opportunity to participate in the reading program they have.  He had to read 50 minutes per week for a total of 650 minutes. He had no problem reaching that. 

There wasn't a wind, not even a slight breeze, so it was really hard to get a kite up.

Some people were more creative and used helium balloons. Why didn't I think of that?

It was a fun afternoon!

15

Today was  a special day.

Alex turned 15.  She only had a half day of school, so we spent the afternoon shopping

together. She is a fun one.

Opening gifts.

This evening it worked out so that the whole family was able to go out to eat together-- something that hasn't happened in a while due to work, practices, games, classes, etc.  Then it was back home for some homemade crepes- thanks to dad. 

Love this girl.

 

the dinosaur site

Today we took an impromptu field trip over tot he dinosaur site/museum nearby.

We are starting a rock unit and this was a good way to introduce it and get some hands on activities in. Also I had a hunch I could find some rock collections in the gift shop.

There is an origami room there. Which to me was weird. Origami? Really?

Okay the dinosaur origami makes a little sense, but then sit down and make a crane or a swan? Hmmm...maybe it's just me.

Good news though, they had rock collections.

Scenes from last week

I did not mean to disappear for a week. Life happened. Life was full. We were trying to soak it all up. I think we did our best.

Here is last week in pics, at least from Thursday on:

We went to the indoor trampoline place with our friends. Loved this. It totally wore him out.

He mostly played dodge ball, which is the only explanation I have for his facial expression.

Another morning we spent some time at the park.

Do you see that look on his face. Priceless.

Some of our favorites at the street painting festival.

On the list for this week:

• soaking up some more time with our friends before they leave.
• dance classes
• practices
• getting a baseball jersey
• fun and fitness
• planning for a birthday next week!
• science fair prep
• back to a light school schedule
• park day

What's on your list?

 

Easter

We didn't have much planned for Easter this year.  We had company staying with us, which was by far the best part of Easter, and Steve was working. I was planning on celebrating on Monday, but in the afternoon on Sunday Jack started asking about doing an egg hunt.  Alex and I decided to pull off a last minute celebration.

Jack is the only one who hunted eggs, at least until I realized how much candy that would mean for him. Then I had to beg the older kids to hunt some. 

 The kitty even got in on the action.

We had the hunt, found the Easter baskets that the bunny had misplaced, had dinner and then watched a movie together. It was a great finish for our fun weekend.

Scenes from the weekend- the visitor edition

Jack's face upon opening the door and seeing his best buddy that he hasn't seen since they moved six months ago.

We had an awesome weekend. Our very dear friends, who moved six months ago, came to visit and stay with us.  We had a blast. I haven't laughed that hard in ages. My face still hurts from it. So good to see them again.

When I asked Jack if it was a big surprise, he said "Too big of a surprise."