You Don't See That Every Day

A week has passed since our spring break ended and I am finally getting to this. It went by too fast! We kept busy enough to feel it, but no so busy that we didn't sleep in. Oh, that felt good. And yes, Monday morning of back-to-school was very painful for all of us. We started the break with a wedding - friends' children who we've known since our kids were little. We all enjoyed the wedding .. it was simple and beautiful. Our Boy got a chance to serve - scooping ice cream at the reception.  We all enjoyed the dancing - The Boy and I joined in on the Mom and Son dance; The girls showed us their moves to songs we had no clue on; and The Mr had some great tango moves. It made me miss our ballroom dancing days. That evening we picked up The Cousins. What a giggle-filled three days those were! We took them to a local children's museum one day. There was an exhibit there for streams - and just like an engineer's grandchildren would do, they each start...

We've been going and going and going. And finally we were able to slow down just a tad and stay home. Once basketball season and swim fnished we had a few nights off and what a nice break. However track season is upon us; and we're eagerly anticipating the first meet of the season soon. We've taken some field trips in the meantime with the homeschoolers. One of them was to the OSU gymnastics meet. It was Little K's first meet and she was so excited to go! Thankfully it was only between two teams and so only lasted two hours. That's about as long as this 7 year old could sit in the same seat. By the end she was asking when it would be over. So even though all of it captured her attention, it was just the right length. Of course I always enjoy being back on campus - definitely one of the most beautiful campuses on the West Coast. There's been work on our latest farming adventure. We took advantage of a sunny day and went out to pull the weeds away from the...

Whomever decided to "change" time probably never dealt with a toddler who is used to a schedule. I would gladly live in a state that did not observe this daylight savings time idea. However, since that is not the case, yesterday morning I was up an hour earlier than I usually am, and  I got myself off to church to teach the six students who's parents managed to get them there on time. The rest of my family was still asleep when I left the house, but that's because none of them went to bed at their bedtime. Some of them stayed up until the wee hours of the morning. That had more to do with the events of the evening than anything else. Saturday night was the school's annual Black Tie Dinner, and this year The Girl Who Swims went to it with a group of friends. We spent the day, (it seemed like the whole day), getting ready - first we had to buy shoes, but then my other daughter needed a haircut. So then I spent time at the salon waiting for that to happen. When I ...

Every day here is a day full of educational opportunities! This morning I felt like turning on the radio while I cleaned up the kitchen. The kids had not started school yet so we didn't have to worry about distractions. And since my kitchen radio - the one with all my pre-set stations - has gone to reside at the town dump, I had to use the kids' radio. It's not a Fisher price, but it does not have pre-set stations. I had to actually use a dial to find a radio station. No, I am not technically savvy - my radio does not hook up to an ipod. I don't own an ipod. So fiddling around with that, I came upon music from my youth! Yayhoo! The music of the 80s and (early) 90s! My daughter watched with awe (or maybe it was laughter, I didn't look too closely) as I danced around and did some boxing moves to the Rocky theme. And then Michael Jackson was up next. I showed my girls how to moonwalk. Once again their eyes were wide with surprise awe. And then it was their turn - I ...

I've been away. And business around the funny farm here have been crazy. Here are just a few thoughts I wanted to take time to write down. **Ballet has overtaken our life for the past 2 weeks. Our daughter has now had 3 of her four performances, and they were really good. ** I recently watched the first disc in a series titled "Made in America" which chronicles various products made in ... America. Highly recommend it for all ages. ** Our 5 year old came home from Awana ans told us, "We saw an Activity scene tonight." ( ie. Nativity scene) ** I am having a low-stress holiday this year. We decided to do presents for our kids differently this year - more on that after Christmas because I don't want to spoil the surprise! ** That being said, I told my husband I changed my mind about Christmas gifts this year. Usually we say to each other, "Don't buy me anything," and we end up getting each other some thing. This year, all I want is for those...