And we're off

Making last minute preparations for our trip to Maine this weekend (like there are ever any other kind of preparations in my world.) Something did jump out at me at Walmart today for E, so he's ready to "dress handsome". Although the closed-toed sandals which I had him try on are naturally now MIA.

Tomorrow we are leaving bright and early to go to the New England Aquarium in Boston. We'll spend the day there and then pick up Aunt Debbie from work, (which she says is right near the aquarium,) to bring her with us up to Maine for Uncle Mike's wedding.

Uncle Mike is getting married on Saturday afternoon, then his and his wife's immediate families are going out to dinner. I can't count how many years it's been since my entire immediate family sat down with eachother in such an intimate setting. It will be interesting.

Sunday my extended family is hosting a luncheon for Mike and Mary. No way Uncle Larry could let Mike's wedding go by without a big to-do. Then it's home Sunday night.

More on Monday, have a good weekend!

My Little Man

R is feeling quite manly in his new duds. We found a tie and belt and the Goodwill in Hamden today. He also asked if he could borrow a [conservative] gold stud earring to wear. He saw his whole outfit laying on the bed and was very happy when I said yes, he could try it all on. He really feels all grown up in it. My baby!

No luck on shoes for E, but I remembered that the sandals I got for him this year (on clearance last August) are closed-toe, so with a pair of socks they will do just fine. I found a decent plaid shirt for him to wear too, but then he insisted on a tie also, which is too dressy for the shirt. I think he'll look just fine in all the photographs though. Who knows, maybe something will jump out at me at Walmart tomorrow while the boys are in Craft and Swim.


At the consignment shop today I found a brand new latch-rug kit of Winnie the Pooh, and picked it up for E. My mom sent him an embroidery kit some time ago, but he found it too difficult. I bought him one at the craft store with larger holes, but the problem is that the yarn gets tangled as he guides it in and out. He seriously wants some sort of craft that he can do on his own though, so the latch-rug seems to be the perfect answer. No tangles. He did five pieces this evening, so I'm anticipating that it will take a loooong time to finish, but he is happy to hear that I will sew it into a pillow for him when he is done. He himself mentioned that it will take a long time, but he is confident he will finish it. And we are keeping it handy so he doesn't have to take it out/put it away every time he wants to work on it.

I so love that I can go into Photoshop and blur the messy house in the background of the photo!

Tonight at dinner, E, out of nowhere, started explaining that air is all around us and that it is made of oxygen. "It touches every part of your body all the time!" At bedtime tonight, instead of "reading" a book in bed by himself, he decided to do some writing. He wrote all the words he could think of that rhyme with cat. Then he wrote a sentence: Mat sat on a elafin.

This evening at the library we stocked up on audiobooks and DVD's for our trip to Maine this weekend. My Queer as Folk DVD was due today, but I kept it to watch the last 3 episodes tonight, and I'll pay the late fee tomorrow. They let me renew it once, but not a second time. How can they expect one to watch 22 episodes of anything in 2 weeks? It's 6 disks! I don't know why they don't separate them instead of keeping them all together. Oh well, I really want to see the last of it. I'm sad it's over. I really miss having a gay man in my life. If you have gay people in your life, or are interested in what gay life is like, check it out. It really is right on. There are graphic sex scenes in it though, so be forewarned. Like I've said, I can't believe the Cheshire library has the thing.

Three hours of it is waiting for me, so I'm off...

The International Fair

The International Fair exceeded my expectations. It was really super. There were about 50 families there and very few countries were done more than once. The boys were given passports and they received a stamp or sticker from each country. The organizer also provided a terrific scavenger hunt with a question for each country, which was an awesome way to get everyone to actually stand and look at each display.

I was very happy with the way ours turned out. Yes, I did most of the research, but the boys did all the cutting and coloring, and most of the gluing. Our whole thing was very age appropriate; we touched the surface of the current culture of Hungary.

We had our globe with a giant arrow on it. This was great, because most other families just had a map on their display, and I thought the globe was much easier to decipher. We also had a CD player with headphones so people could listen to a pop tune which was popular in Hungary last year. We had a boot filled with treats, and Nagy Mama's Chicken Paprikash, which everyone who tried some, loved.

R had written up the info about the boot being used at Christmas instead of a stocking, and E had written up the info on the Rubik's cube. We also had a photo of Tony Curtis doing a commercial for Hungarian tourism, and a list of all the medals Hungary had won in the 2004 Summer Olympics. We had info about homeschooling in Hungary too. And of course, images of the money and info about their joining the EU. We also had a good photo of the capital Budapest, which you can see is actually split into two parts by the Danube River. Interestingly, each part has its own name: Buda and Pest. Like I said, ours was very age appropriate; just enough to keep them interested.

I had hoped that visiting all the other displays would inspire R for next time. There certainly were some beautiful displays, and some were quite involved. Some kids even dressed up in costumes. I have to admit that I just don't see us getting that involved, unless the boys suddenly start showing massive amounts of enthusiasm for it. I could see that a lot of work had gone into these things and could visualize parents sitting down and forcing their kids to do a lot of what was represented, and that's simply not our style. Also, to be quite honest, looking at these things could get to be like looking at book reports. Some of them would've gotten A's if they were in school, but they were usually the most boring to peruse.

Afterwards we went outside to watch our friends set off the volcano they had created for their Costa Rica display. And then we rushed off to Southington and arrived in time for E's basketball class.

Sunday B took the boys up to the YMCA for March Madness. The Y had an open house for members with a basketball theme. They swam and played some basketball and had some fun time with Dad, while I stayed home and took a deep breath after my busy week. And we finished off the weekend with Chinese Food.

Today found us shopping for shoes for Uncle Mike's wedding this weekend. Got a great, practically brand new, pair of penny loafers for R for three bucks, but no luck for E. We'll head down to another goodwill on Wednesday and stop off at consignment if that doesn't pan out. R also mentioned he'd like a sport coat "like Daddy" and I actually found a full suit that fits him for four dollars. Gotta love it!

I'll probably be starting to blog every other day from here forward. Although it's something I really enjoy doing I'm afraid I'm letting the important stuff go. You know, like doing my taxes. Ugh.

Sturbridge Village

We had a fantastic time at Sturbridge Village today. I really have to say that it is days like today that make me thrill to being a homeschooler. Learning out in the real world is so much more fun than being stuck in school. And when you are out learning things you are interested in, you really remember them so much more readily. E is finally showing interest in learning about the world, so getting out to do things is going to be so much easier than it has been in the past. What a totally awesome day. Truly what "Fun Friday" is all about.

The first thing we headed toward was the maple syrup demonstration. We listened in on the worker at the tail end of his presentation and then the group walked away and we had him all to ourselves. I gave my boys a good demonstration on how to ask a lot of questions. We all tasted the sap coming out of the tree. It was not a sugar maple, so it tasted like water. Later, we saw how they used to boil down the sap into syrup, and then sugar. And we got to see and smell some the of the maple sugar up close.

E was very interested in finding out what kind of tool they used to dig out the trough. I asked the gentleman for him, and we were told where to find it in the Freeman's barn. Later when we were up there, R found the area where all the axes were and we all discussed the differences between them; the one used for the trough was very different than all the others.

We had a pretty long visit with the potter. We watched him make a handle for a mug he was working on, while listening to him speak extensively on pottery in the 1830's. E had a spot right in the front and was really spellbound for quite a while. R actually had time to be finished, leave the room, and come back again. It's kind of nice for him to be the one waiting for once; it used to be E who'd get bored quickly and want to move on.

We spent quite a while with the blacksmith. We outlasted three groups coming and going. He was very dynamic and seemed to really enjoy working with the kids. He really encouraged questions and answered them all eagerly. Even the several of mine. The best part was when he told us all to move back, and he struck two really hot pieces of metal to stick them together. Sparks went flying everywhere. My kids really understand blacksmithing now. It was pretty memorable.
The subject of this picture led to a conversation about cud and the digestive system of cows. E listened attentively and R filled in on things he remembered. Also, watching one of them urinate led to an interesting chat about why dogs lift their legs when they go.
We also saw pigs which led to the fact that all those things are nipples and no, none of them are penises. We also ended up remembering helping out on the B's farm when they were away on vacation, and how upsetting it was to see our pork urinating in the water trough. I still can't believe we eat these things. E also remembered the little chick which had escaped the hen house and was following us all along. That's something he'll remember for a long time. He's really an animal person, I have to say.

R's favorite building has always been the saw mill. We were disappointed to find it is being worked on. I hope they get this up and running by summertime. They have several mills there, and R was very interested in seeing how they operate. We even went downstairs at the card mill to see the mechanics of it below. In the grist mill was a neat "touch the screen" gizmo which showed photos of different the different kinds of mills and how they function.

We got some physics concepts in too, at the simple machines building. R enjoyed learning (by doing) that two pulley's make things even easier than one. He was also excited to demonstrate that several smaller rocks would hold up a heavier one on this lever. This led to a really cool connection with how I have to move toward the middle whenever I ride a seesaw with one of them. Comprehension like this is so much harder out of a book - gotta love those hands on experiences!

We stopped in at a few other buildings, but they were mostly museum-type ones without speakers to bring it all to life. Despite this, the boys spent some time in the firearms building (surprise, surprise) and I learned that R really knows more than I thought about weapons. I was quite impressed, actually.

He also insisted we stop into the bank, but we didn't spend much time there. The banker asked R if he knew what "this" is and R responded with "it puts candles out" (it was a snuffer.) He was very impressed that R knew how it worked when he asked him. R wasn't interested in being tested any further so we left there pretty quickly.

We finished at the bakery/candy store, where R picked out two stick candies and E chose a giant sugar cookie. I had nothing, thank you, thank you. I bought one rootbeer barrel to bring home for B though.

We decided that the next time we come we will start with the buildings we didn't get to this time. We also decided to come back in April when the lambs are born, and again in May when the pigs are born (my kids have a thing about watching pigs nurse - must bring back warm fuzzy feelings or something.) I'm so psyched that they are looking forward to it, and that buying the membership will be worth it.

On the way home we listened to LionBoy since we finished Dragon Rider, which by the way, we loved. I'm so happy that they didn't even think to ask for the DVD player. E has come so far. Half way home he did ask that we turn the story off and enjoy some quiet time though, and after 10 minutes began singing. Hey, I'll take it. When B arrived home this evening the first thing he said was "I heard they have a good bakery there" so some things may never change.

E is very much into reading maps right now and kept referring to ours all day. He kept great track of where we were and where we were going. And later with B he used it to explain what we had done all day. It was so very cool to listen in on him explaining how they make maple syrup, and well, just about everything else I've written here, to B. It was kind of like a voluntary oral book report. Like I said, these real life experiences really stick.

Well, this has taken a long time to do, but now I have it all written down, and when I get my photos developed I will already have all my journaling done for my scrapbook page. This is really cool. I'll post all the photos online with a link over the weekend. But for now I'm off to put the chicken in the crockpot for the chicken paprikash. Tomorrow is the International Fair!

Here's hoping I don't time out while all these photos load. And my apologies for any bad formatting; I don't have time to fix it all, I just wanted it up!

Craft and Swim and Soccer

We don't know why they call it Craft and Swim, since they do the Swim part first. We guessed it's because it just sounds better. It was parent observation day, and B was able to leave work to come for the swimming part. He used to be on a YMCA swim team, so he always likes to see how the boys are doing. R has been asked many times by the staff to join the swim team, but he says he gets too tired from it. He really does swim so gracefully and smoothly. So perhaps when he is feeling stronger. E swam the whole session this time without a bubble! We are all very proud of him.

They made a really cool fish tank with tissue paper. R is still working on his, but E's is really cool. His teacher, Miss Kim, told him that his was the best in the class, and he just beamed.

B had to work late tonight, so I took R to soccer. E and I spent some time working on his workbook during R's practice. He actually enjoys working on phonics rather than math, but all the repetition gets boring, so we jumped around a lot. The building where practice was held was really dark and cold. Very depressing. I guess it's not a big deal if you are playing and staying warm though.

We talked more about Hungary today, and R asked me to look up some things on Google, which I did instead of blogging. I had hoped to go to bed early, but no luck.

A night off

Sorry folks, I am too tired tonight and am going to bed early. We have to get up early since we are going to utilize our membership to Sturbridge Village tomorrow. I think all those late nights watching Queer as Folk are catching up with me. So I'll blog two days worth tomorrow evening.

A wonderful Wednesday

Today TWO families came for a visit. The kids all had a great time playing together. My boys love playing with Q (next to R), but his sister (next to him) ends up feeling left out. So this time I invited M (second from right) to come to keep her company, but they all played as a group the entire time! They all made Lego vehicles and raced them around, R giving building tips to those who needed them. Later they played outside too. And I had a wonderful visit with two of my dearest friends.

Went to the library today too. I returned Gangs of New York and renewed Queer as Folk. What an amazing show; the lives of several gay men. I can't believe this has made it to American TV. Watching it has been bringing back lots of warm, fuzzy memories. I really do miss having gay men in my life. I managed to watch nine of the 22 episodes in one week, and because it's over three discs they let me renew it for another. I've been staying up all night watching it. I'm totally addicted. It truly is like a blast from the past.

Here is E with a picture he drew.
"Who is that a picture of, E?"
"You can tell from the 'B' on the hat that it's R. Can you tell what this is?"
"Looks like a dog to me."
"Yes, it's a dog that's sitting down. Can you tell what's next?"
"Is that a cat?"
"No, it's a [really loooong pause] fox. And all around is a giant snake. Can you see it?"

We spent some time working on our Hungary display today; only three days to go. R is finally getting into it!

Lots of silliness during dinner tonight. Blowing bubbles is always fun, and the boys are always very impressed with how I can burp so loud on demand. Comes from growing up with two brothers I guess. R is working on perfecting his own technique.

E spent some time practicing blowing bubblegum bubbles today too. He's getting pretty good!

Make-up confidence?

We had a great time visiting with friends today. We haven't spent time with the A family in quite a while, and all of the B's had a very enjoyable afternoon. We are looking forward to a repeat visit in two weeks.

After their departure we had to run up to Oakville for our food co-op order. The boys are both extremely bummed that they did not deliver the dried mango I ordered. They must've been out.

This evening I took a class at the local high school entitled "Developing Make-up Confidence." I was really interested in learning how to choose the correct color foundation for my skin tone. I need to start covering up this rosacea without looking like a clown. Unfortunately, this was not the class to do this. The instructor is an Image Consultant who was out to sell her own products. So whenever she put something on one of the "students", she'd tell us the name of the color, but never once told us the name of the product. She made quite the effort to cover the name of the products as she was dispensing them too. Luckily I caught a glimpse of it and wrote it down, and once home a simple google search had me find out that it is a line of cosmetics from a group called Quixtar, which is basically an Amway type deal. She also said that she had researched all her products and that they have no artificial ingredients. I began to search that too, but then decided against spending my time that way. I can just go to The Green Guide to find recommendations for make-up that won't kill me; I did find out that make-up can actually contain mercury under a disguised name. Why does everything have to be that way? Maybe I'll just stay red.

A little business and a little fun

We went up to Hartford this morning, to the CT Secretary of State's office. The boys and I learned all about retrieving a Certificate of Incorporation. Luckily we arrived when it was not crowded, so the government employee was able to help without feeling harried, and was therefore able to remain friendly. She was actually quite nice. Maybe she's like that all the time, and I'm still not used to dealing with government employees in Connecticut.

Anyway, she looked up CT Homeschool Network in her computer, and informed us of where to find the films that the documents are stored on. She then informed us on how to go about paying at the cashier and receiving a magnetic payment card, which actually slips right into the microfiche machine and lets you print out the number of pages you've paid for. Luckily when we returned from our cashier trip there was someone else who was working a microfiche machine, so we sat next to her and received a lesson on the whole thing. You know, I think it might actually be the fact that I travel with children that makes people so nice. Especially in places where children are not often seen. The woman next to me was all smiles as she helped us.

The boys had fun pushing the buttons, and I had fun seeing how the whole thing works, and enjoying the kindness of strangers, for whatever reason they offered it. The whole thing took less than 1/2 hour, so someone got to enjoy quite a bit of time on my meter when we left.

We also enjoyed a visit from Nagy Papa today, who recently returned from a vacation to North Carolina, and came bearing gifts. E enjoyed a new pirate hook, pirate hat, and an eight piece, but most importantly, enjoyed some fun swash-buckling weaponry fighting with Nagy Papa.

R enjoyed the model of the Kitty Hawk, which was his gift. He put it together right away, with pretty much no problem, but became frustrated when it wouldn't fly very far. Later on at dinner I pointed out the "Important Pointers" which were on the bottom of the instructions and which he did not read. After being forced to read the instructions he realizes there is still hope, and he'll be making the necessary adjustments tomorrow.

E's turn to be sick

Saturday found me at an Area Council meeting for La Leche League. I can't believe I've been a Leader for five years already. This last year I have not lead any meetings, but served as a District Advisor, which means I'm a support person for five groups of Leaders in the state. I'm retiring from LLL soon, so this will have been my last Area Council meeting. I'm a little sad, but mostly happy to have one less thing to do.

B spent the day with the boys, taking E to basketball, etc. For dinner we headed down to New Haven for some Indian food. We only had our appetizers when E announced that his stomach hurt and started behaving way out of character. Well, after our experience with R's thing, we weren't taking any chances. So, we had them pack up all of our food when it was ready, and took it all home to eat. B was pretty bummed that even though we were eating out there would still be dishes to do, since they are his responsibility. I told him I'd do them - which I did.

E went right to bed when we got home, and the rest of us enjoyed our dinner. It was an excellent dinner, regardless of the atmosphere. Later B and I watched Gangs of New York, which I had never seen before, and so wish I still hadn't. I'm just not into the whole violence thing. And the story took so darn long to actually happen. Three hours I could've definitely spent better elsewhere. Oh well.

We were done with the movie and heading upstairs when E puked in his bed. B took E, and I got the dirty sheets. B was pretty insistent that E sleep with us; he was worried he'd choke on his vomit. I'm actually glad he did, because I can remember getting up several times during the night to clean out that stinky puke bucket which was strategically located right next to my head, while B snored blissfully along. Last time was around 2:15 and that's when I finally was able to really fall asleep.

Today (Sunday) E decided he was most definitely sick and needed to stay home all day watching TV. So the two of us missed going to Open Cockpit Day at New England Air Museum. B and R used the free passes from the library to get in and had an awesome time, and R was full of excitement when they came home. They got to go on several planes to check out the cockpits. I was super bummed to miss it, especially since E was his usual bouncy self all day long, and never threw up again. Argh. He just wanted to be able to watch TV all day long like his brother did the week before. I did not keep him company though, as I was not interested in watching 101 Dalmations, The Rescuers, The Jungle Book, Singin' in the Rain, and Take Me Out to the Ballgame each for the umpteenth time.

I spent a large portion of my time working on the CT Homeschool Network. I'm trying to compile all the documents which govern its board, of which I am a member or former member, depending on what all the documents say. I'm still in the process of getting my hands on all of them. More updates on that soon, as it all unfolds.

For those of you who have been sitting on the edge of your seats waiting, here's the forsythia I brought inside, in full bloom. It took what, a week? It's beautiful and well worth the wait. A piece of spring inside for free! If you have a forsythia, or your neighbors do, bring some inside right now!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!








It was E's idea to spend fun Friday at home this week, and it was very enjoyable. We started out the day with green eggs. Fresh eggs are actually more orange than yellow, so it takes a lot of dye to get them green. And then they are not so kelly green as much as pukey green. Sort of like the color of snots. They tasted good though.

We were bummed that the New York St. Patrick's Day Parade was not on TV this year, but we did find a cool special on the history of St. Patrick's Day on the History Channel which we all enjoyed.

We worked quite a bit on our Hungary display for the International Fair. Here is E showing off the bit he copied about Rubik's cube. He is quite proud that he wrote so much in a much shorter time than we both anticipated. He is also showing off his leprechaun pin.

I made an Irish Soda Bread to bring to a St. Patrick's Day party we were invited to. Everyone here was very disappointed to have to give it away, but everyone at the party seemed to enjoy it. And I will make another one just for us this weekend. It really was good.

The party was very enjoyable. Thanks S and D for inviting us, you have good friends who we always enjoy visiting with. We were happy to be included. The food was great too, and we were thrilled to come home with some ham for yummy sandwiches tomorrow. We look forward to spending time with you guys again real soon.

Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!

Spring cleaning is coming soon...

The boys had Craft and Swim today. My friend M. drove them so I had a little time to myself. I did a few errands and cleaned through some paperwork. I hung up the leprachauns the boys made today, but they seem to have disappeared, so no photo for here.

Instead I happily present a shade of crocus which is new to us this year. What a pretty color! I just love seeing all the crocus pop out of the leftover leaves and dead foliage from the year before. I also enjoyed observing emerging chives, peonies, hyacinth, daffodils, daylilies, and some grass-looking stuff which I don't remember.

Plus the birds are singing all around us. Even our hawk has returned; I hear it screeching overhead quite often. What is really wonderful is that it has returned with a companion. The two of them can take on all the crows. What a great feeling to see them; this means there will be a baby soon! We will have to go out into the woods and find their nest. They fly quite low overhead, really low actually. It is so exhilarating to hear them screech, and run outside to find them level with the top of our house. I am concerned about them, however, since a very nearby meadow is currently having six homes built on it. I hope they don't end up having to find somewhere else to go for sustenance. Although I hate to be a potential "accomplice" perhaps I'll start feeding the smaller birds again. Now that three neighborhood cats have relocated to Holland I had been considering it anyway.

I just love spring!

We gave the livingroom a good tidying up today. I swept away the leftover sand from the mess that surrounds our front door, and cleaned up all my magazines, while the boys returned everything that belongs there into their rooms. I have to admit I've been getting that itchy feeling that precludes my throwing lots of stuff out. Every day I feel like our house is shrinking a little more...

Library Day

E spiked his hair with gel today. R told him he had wanted his hair like that but it was too curly. E felt very cool with it all day.

We started out at the Doctor's this morning. Unfortunately Compound W Ultra Super Mega for $24 was not enough to get the job done for R, so we are letting the doctor take care of it once and for all. Since I had him trapped I also had him look at a really bad slice in E's hand from the day before. He thinks E will be fine without stitches, which was nice to hear since we recently spent several hours in the emergency room getting stitches on his brow when he hit his head on the coffee table while trying to jump on the couch.

After the doctor we headed over to some friends' for a playdate. M has lots of cool trains that the boys loved playing with, and J gave me my baby girl fix. I have worked hard on earning that big smile and hug when she sees me. Her mother is also a great friend, so it was a relaxing afternoon for all of us.

Stopped at BJ's next where R finally purchased his new CD player. Three hundred forty watts of power, and he is looking forward to using every one. Five CD changer, two cassettes, and it even reads MP3's (which was something I insisted on.) The best part though is the remote. "It even controls the cassette player. My old one didn't." The first thing he played after not having a CD player for three months was The Ramones because it wasn't his, (it's mine) and he was nervous about having the first CD get damaged for some reason. (Yes, he admitted this to me later.) After the Ramones tested okay, he went for AC/DC.

We did eventually make it to the library. Only DVD's were due so that's all we took out too. I returned "Osama", which I highly recommend, and "Battlestar Gallactica The Miniseries" which if you remember the original fondly, would really enjoy.

R made dinner tonight; salmon fried in butter and garlic, and peas and corn. I enjoyed listening to him explain how his remote control worked while I watched him from the kitchen table. He went to bed early tonight. He's been waking up earlier with the sun, since he has no curtains in his room. I love that he recognizes that he should go to bed earlier. Baby #1 is not a baby anymore.

A day of contemplation

Today R was happy to be back in touch with the outside world. He spent all morning outside, at one point simply sitting and being. It was quite lovely to witness when I looked out the front door.

"Whatcha doing E?"
"Watching worms."

When a family member is sick

R was still sick today. Not throwing up but not ready to get up and play. I was feeling guilty about not paying enough attention to him yesterday so I was determined to spend the entire day today hanging out and snuggling with him. He had no interest in snuggling, but I did watch TV with him. He enjoyed my recliner and I took the couch. We watch a lot of TV today. Mostly stuff I had recorded from the History Channel and Discovery. We watched a show about a giant tunnel being built in Kuala Lumpur. R has a big thing for tunnels so he enjoyed this very much. We also watched a show about hurricanes. We watched The Man in the Iron Mask, but it was still really over his head. We saw a show about the first five presidents of the US. Everything else I've ever recorded during The History Channel in the Classroom has been great, but this got dry. We also watched Mythbusters wherein these two guys determined if Benjamin Franklin (another favorite of R's) could have actually lived through having his kite attached to a key and getting struck by lightning. (No.) Even more interesting were the experiments they did to determine if someone could die from their fart gas during the course of a night (no again.) It was very amusing. Finally we watched The Travel Channel's "Sand Blasters: Extreme Sand-Sculpting Championship" which was totally fun.

E meanwhile, caught a "calapitter" outside. He brought it in and placed it into a brown cardboard box while he rummaged for provisions. He gathered his official bug holder and filled it with sticks and leaves. But unfortunately that calapitter got away while he was doing all this. He was quite distraught about it. How could such a tiny thing climb out of that box and get out of site in such a short time? Our hotel turned into a trap which he placed in a strategic position and promptly forgot about. He spent lots of time outside today; the schoolkids next door got a new dog so they got to stay home from school to keep it company.

At some point R said "I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm sick of TV." I have to admit I am too. I offered to play a game with him or read to him, but as much as he was tired of TV he was willing to watch everything I slipped into the VCR.

I was happy to have the opportunity to go out for drinks with some other mamas this evening. I haven't had a lot of grown-up time lately and I really needed it. Let's hope that R is better tomorrow and E doesn't get whatever it was!

St. Patrick's Day Parade

On Saturday afternoon R was playing outside with his friends and suddenly came running in and straight up to the bathroom. He threw up, but was more upset about being sick on a weekend when all his friends were home. So he brushed his teeth and went back out.

I headed out to a fabric store where there was a sale gong on, and when I got back home around 4:00 I learned that R had thrown up in the car on the way back from E's basketball. He threw up once more before going to sleep early. E got some special time just with Mom and Dad when we watched Stars Wars II with him and he got to go to bed late.

Sunday morning E was out making clothespin obstacle courses in the sand pit while B was weeding the strawberry patch. I sent R out to lay in a lounge chair in the fresh air. Later R was very disappointed to miss the Saint Patrick's Day Parade. And so was I. E and B had an excellent time though and enjoyed some pizza on the way home. I spent the afternoon making the curtains for my bedroom, and R rested and watched TV.

I've always wondered why the St. Patrick's Day Parade is the weekend before St. Patrick's Day here in Connecticut. I guess maybe they don't think anyone will show up on a weekday? Jeeze, several years ago on a St. Patrick's Day I passed a bar here in Cheshire that was open and broadcasting live on a radio station when I drove past at 7 am on my way to work. Irish people will not miss a party. I really do hate having it on the wrong day. Maybe they think they can't compete with New York? Maybe. They do show the NY parade on TV here and I've watched it. We will definitely go down for it next year since it's on a Saturday.

I brought some forsythia inside to bloom. If your forsythia are currently showing buds, snip off some branches and throw them into a vase inside. After a couple of days you'll have blooms. It's an easy and cheap way to bring spring inside. It will be wonderful to have their blooms as it snows on Friday. I'll post an "after" picture here once they do bloom.

A Titanicologist in the making

No hanging around in bed thinking about what to do on this Fun Friday. R woke me up bright and early to have me get ready for the Mystic Aquarium. He wondered if a "Titanicologist" is what he is becoming.

After getting dressed, I prepared and served breakfast, prepared and packed lunch, and prepared and threw dinner into the crockpot. We stopped at the library for the discount pass and were off. It's amazing that no one asked for the DVD player since it is over an hour away, but R wanted to listen to Dragon Rider and E was just fine with that. E made it all the way to the aquarium without getting bored.

We arrived just in time to see the sea lion show. Then we headed right back out to the car for lunch. When we came back in, we went straight for the Titanic exhibit. On the way we were sidetracked by the new XD Theater. R is always the one I have to worry about with these things, but it was E who got thrown off by the 3D monster in the sea. He was fine with the moving seats, but he took off his glasses and shut his eyes for the last 20 seconds of the show. When we exited into the Titanic exhibit he was still pretty stressed about it all, as you can see above. I didn't realize how stressed until he burst out crying right after this picture, poor thing. He always recovers quickly though, and did this time too.

Above, the boys are standing in front of the giant model that R loves. To be honest, the exhibit was a great place to start learning about Titanic last year, but we are now Titanicologists and this was all old news. One cool display though was the one which shows the depth of the bottom of the ocean. It was good to have a reference. The top is the boat, the second level is how far down divers can go. The third level is how far down submarines can go...etc. It also showed how bioluminescent creatures live down on the bottom where it's so deep. And finally, on the very bottom was drawn the Eiffel Tower and the Empire State Building so viewers could see how truly deep the water is. Both boys had one of those aha moments.

We watched the penguins be fed, which is always fun. And spent some time looking at the Beluga Whales. And more time than usual at the touch tank since E is finally getting old enough to enjoy it. The Amazon exhibit also kept our interest for a while. Eventually though, an afternoon snack became the pressing issue, so we called it a day and headed home. I was thrilled to make it away without having to stop in all the boutiques at Mystic Village next door. They remembered the candy store, but agreed to skip it without any argument at all. You can check out more photos from our day by clicking on the link on the right.

On the way home E stayed interested in the audio book until we were just 10 minutes away from home. I'm so glad he's able to maintain his attention now. He's also paying attention to all the explanations which I read to R in the exhibits, and even asking me to read some of them to him.

When we got home we cleaned out the car and the boys ran outside for some socialization. Boy 140 miles makes for a long day; I sure am glad I filled that crockpot this morning.

Socialization up the wahzoo

I always laugh when people express concern about my homeschooled children being well socialized. I mean it's not like school is the only place to meet people. It's just the only place to meet lots of same-aged children who are raised in our self-centered mainstream culture without enough adult supervision.

Out here in the real world we meet people of all kinds and ages. And since we choose where we will meet them, we can pretty much count on having similar interests. Here are the boys at Craft and Swim with friends at the YMCA this afternoon. It's so cool that the YMCA actually has a class specifically for homeschoolers - in the middle of the afternoon on a Thursday.

Later this afternoon R and E headed out to play with their school friends. P lives 2 houses away and is eleven. N is also eleven and lives at the end of the cul-de-sac. They all played on the 25 foot mountain of dirt a couple of houses behind us, where a new cul-de-sac is being built. It is a challenge for them to play there without getting caught, but so far only once have they been asked to get down. Man, its a 25 foot mound of dirt - how could they not want to play on that? They have been coming home extremely dirty every evening the last few days.

We are lucky that P and N are really good kids. Eleven year-olds who include a five year-old in their play must be! I have spoken to R about my expectations regarding his behavior now that he is playing with older kids. When I told him they probably use language that is not acceptable in our household, he responded with "yeah, they speak PG-13."

We'll see how E manages in all this. He tries so hard to keep up and the kids really are good with him, but he is only five, and gets frustrated very easily. It sometimes takes a while, but he often ends up coming inside crying. Sometimes it's so hard to be five!

Getting excited about Niagara Falls...

The other night I was thrilled to find a show about Niagara Falls on the Travel Channel, and I taped it to watch another time. Tonight was another time.

I had forgotten how much I enjoyed that vacation with B back in the late 80's. The power of Niagara Falls really spoke to me. I can remember how glorious it felt to be standing beneath it in the tunnel. I really felt connected with nature. By the end of the trip B was pretty tired of it all, complaining that he had seen the things from every conceivable angle (which we did) but I loved every minute of it. I am so looking forward to sharing the experience with my kids when we vacation there this September.

We'll drive 1/2 way there, camp somewhere for a night, and the next day finish the drive. Once we get there we'll camp nearby the falls, at the same location B and I did all those years ago. Hopefully the savings on airfare and hotel will enable us to spend our money on all the good stuff, like helicopter rides!

The video presented a new "attraction" too. Apparently we can walk the footsteps of Harriet Tubman helping slaves cross the river as part of the underground railroad. So there will be something new for B and I to see.

Well the video got R and E all pumped up about it too:
Me: We can take a helicopter ride over it to see how it looks from above.
R: Really?
Me: Would you like to go under the falls like that?
R: Definitely!
E: What kind of food do they have there?

A great day for a bike ride

It is so beautiful out there today. The boys and I went for a bike ride on the linear path. We made it all the way to Lock 12. R hadn't been there in a while and gleefully announced "it's a canal!"
"How do you know?" I asked.
"I learned all about it on Popular Mechanics for Kids. It opens up and lets the water out so it's high enough for boats to pass through."

Along the way we stopped to watch some ducks and we got to see two males fighting over a female. It was actually comical to see one duck yelling at another for quite a long time. Then it got physical, with one jumping on top of the other, and the female yelling about it all from a few feet away. E insisted on staying to see it to the end, when the female and her champion flew off.

We also enjoyed the sounds of birds and watching squirrels and having races every so often. It's days like today that remind me why I do this.

The house is a mess!

One of the things I find challenging about being a homeschooler is accepting the constant mess. Currently there are two giant rugs on my livingroom floor, littered with tons of the matchbox cars they were invented for. The Lego castle and dinosaurs are *still* out too. It's hard to complain when all this stuff actually gets used, but it's to the point where I have nowhere left to hide.

As homeschoolers we are in our homes so much more of the time than others, and we are really hard on our house too. The walls are filthy and gouges are actually missing out of some of them! A homeschooling friend once told me that she doesn't live in a house, rather a giant classroom. Keeping this in mind has helped me immensely. But most of the time I just can't stand the mess.

I'm sure Mom is chuckling over this since I was one of the world's biggest slobs while growing up. Even when I met B I had to clear a path in my room for him to sit down on the bed to watch TV with me. When does it happen that we decide living in a clean house would be nicer? Probably right when we have kids and the mess is no longer ours to control!

E asked me to take a picture of him with his Magz creation today. He was quite proud of the way he was able to follow the photo exactly. He wanted me to snap this before he crushed it with his fist.

St. Patty's Day decorations came out today. Not alot - just enough to keep it festive without too much work. We had window clings to hang up so I cleaned the kitchen sliders. I hated to have anything cover up the now unobstructed view, but shamrocks now cover the thing.

Today R came running into the house at one point, urging me to go out back. There in a tree overhead, was a beautiful red-tailed hawk. We were just standing out on the deck admiring it through my binoculars, when all these annoying crows came along and started to harass him. One finally flew into him and got him all angry. We couldn't see where they all flew off to. R said it was a shame that they chased him away.

Spring is coming...

R pointed out this crocus to me today. The three of us then poked through our whole mess of a front garden to see what else is growing. Lots of flowers showing signs of life! I am waiting on all the flower seeds I ordered. I decided to give up on vegetables because I always lose interest and don't take care of the garden, so I'm hoping this year flowers will keep me motivated. I've always wanted a cutting garden and I figure growing it from seeds will be an inexpensive way to find out if my enthusiasm will make it all the way through the summer. The potting bench is all set up and waiting!

We've been enjoying Dragon Rider in the car during our errand runs. It's quite enjoyable; a wonderful introduction to the world of dragons and brownies and basilisks. Brendan Fraser does a great job reading it with lots of terrific voices. Even E is managing to stay interested - perhaps only because we've been on short errand runs!

A weekend full of big motor skill activities

After E's basketball practice on Saturday we raced home to pick up everyone's skiis, then headed out for some fun. E has finally mastered the ski lift and we needed to get it on videotape. Personally I do not understand the attraction for outdoor winter sports; it was cold!

Sunday we had planned to head down to New Canaan to watch our cousin play a soccer game, but then friends came out and the sunny weather erased all thoughts of going anywhere.

A personal highlight for myself this weekend was while making juggling balls with E. He had several handfulls of beans to get into the small opening of a balloon, so I made him a funnel out of some sturdy cardboard. It was so amazing to see his face light up when he comprehended the use of this simple thing. It was one of those "aha" moments that every homeschooling parent adores.

An Atypical Fun Friday

Typically on Fun Fridays we head out to a museum, letterboxing, or other fun activity, or sometimes just hang out at home reading books and playing games. What makes Fun Friday different from other days is that the boys have my undivided attention for the entire day. I don't do laundry, don't clean the house, and don't even check my email. I just be with them all day.

This Friday I was laying in bed thinking about our options for the day when the phone rang. A friend's wife is a birth doula, had been called away to a birth the night before, and he needed to head off to work himself. This is family of friends who have been there for us many times, and I didn't hesitate in saying that he should bring his kids right over.

His children, B and S, are the same ages as R and E, and they spent a wonderful morning playing together. When Mom showed up to pick them up I suggested she let the boys keep playing and go home to get some sleep. Nine-year-olds R and B spent the entire day outside in the glorious snow, and five-year-olds E and S stayed inside playing cars, later working on E's Lego castle so they could attack it with pirates and dinosaurs and who knows what else.









So I found myself confronted with a large block of time "alone" on a Fun Friday. I could clean the stove, do some laundry, answer tons of email, balance my checkbook... But instead I decided to be true to the spirit of the day, and spent the afternoon scrapbooking. Woo hoo! Above is the Halloween page I completed. It's been a challenge to fit so many pictures on a page, and this page especially came out way to busy. However, the page will remind me not only of Halloween 2005, but of an afternoon where I found myself with time doing something I love.

It was a super day!

Snowed In

Our regularly scheduled program for Thursdays was cancelled due to snow. It's always fun to find time on our hands. The boys harass me for a while about what they can do for the day, and then they go and find something themselves.

R decided to start with the easier version of his roller coaster and work up. The easier version took six hours. His fingers hurt from snapping all the pieces together, but it sure looks great. He listened to the rest of "Frindle" on tape as he worked, and then moved on to "Ralph's Motorcycle".

E did some puzzles, played with cars, listened to his own audiobooks in his room, and practiced his snowboarding. He was frustrated that R wouldn't play out in the snow with him. This certainly was a first. R is a total snow bunny and is usually urging E to join him.

R suggested I type "Life in Hungary" into Google today. We found a couple of really awesome websites. And learned that the Rubik's Cube was invented in Hungary! We also had fun changing the Google search results to Hungarian, and then googling "Star Wars". We were surprised to see lots and lots of search results. We printed one out to put on our display when the time comes.

We finished the day with a recording of the History Channel's show "Ancient Marvels", which was about Roman weapons. Weapons of any kind are always big around here.

Library Day

This morning while R emptied the dishwasher, the two of us had an interesting conversation regarding why a saucepan would not make a good baseball bat. He originally thought it would, but then saw that the scoop would not work as he originally visualized.

Among other things, Wednesday is usually library day around here. Today we headed down to visit the one in East Haven. We were specifically looking for books about Hungary, and the online catalog told us that East Haven had a good selection. We came home with two, plus lots of fictional audiobooks for each of the boys to enjoy. The East Haven library is rather small, and we probably won't visit it again.

We are going to study Hungary for the 5th Annual Homeschool International Fair in which we will be participating on March 28th. We've never participated in it before and are really looking forward to it. Some friends participated last year, and had lots of fun. We chose Hungary since we are hungarian and have lots of resources. The boys are looking forward to some Chicken Paprikash. I am looking forward to Kifles (yummy hungarian cookies) but they are so much work, I may just photograph them for the fair, and keep them all for us. Nagy PaPa (pronounced Nudge Papa and means grandfather - who is by the way, 100% hungarian) would probably be devastated if he found out I made them and gave them all away.

Well I'm off to clear some room downstairs for R to start working on his K'nex roller coaster. The thing is going to require some major space, and therefore actual rearranging of furniture.