Soccer and Gardening

Yesterday R had a soccer game at 12:00. Then E had one at 1:30. Then R had another one at 3:30. It was a beautiful day to be outside, and I never get tired of watching the boys play. Practices are not so thrilling, but games are always fun.

R's second game was interesting. It was with his traveling team, and the opposing team had some serious parenting issues. I'll definitely be blogging about that on my commentary blog real soon.

Today we got quite a bit done around the outside of our house. We are covering over my giant garden in the back. It's just gotten way too large for me to keep weeded, and by mid July I get too demoralized to even try to keep up. So I moved the flowers I care about to the side of the garage, and will keep that area for strictly a utility garden. Maybe I'll even plant a couple of tomato plants. Mostly though, it's flowers for cutting, which I'm planting really close together to hopefully choke out the weeds.

Home ownership gets to be such a chore. I totally understand my mom's contemplating condo living. Sometimes it sounds really good to me too.

What have I done?

This morning I'm laying in bed waiting for the weather to come onto the Today show, when R comes in to snuggle.

R: Are you going to walk on your treadmill today?
Me: No.
R: Why not?
Me: I just don't feel like it.
R: But you haven't walked on it at all this week.

I guess I don't get to be "sluggish" today :-) And the exercise has done wonders for the fog which my brain was enveloped in.

Mathemagic

We saw Mathemagic at the Palace Theater in Waterbury today. We were pleasantly surprised to run into some friends on the way in, then see another family show up, and another... unfortunately the surprise stopped being pleasant when we realized that all of our old friends had gone together as a group and we hadn't been invited. Luckily R's friends were willing to move back a few rows so that he could sit with them, while E and I remained in the general admission area nearby. Our being left out was a recurring discussion today. R was almost as hurt as I was. But not quite.

The show itself was not as great as some other homeschoolers had led me to believe. The ad for the show said it would be geared toward grades K-5, but once the performer got going and took a survey of who was in the audience, he decided to ignore our expectations, and at least half of the audience, by doing a show geared toward grades 5 and 6. R thought it was great, but just for the magic. And the whole thing was waaay over E's head. Overall it was not worth the $24 to get in (we didn't get a group discount) and the $3 to park.

Afterwards we came home and had some lunch before heading out again. We went to Cheshire Park to check on our letterbox. We were worried that the huge rain storms might have washed it away since we hid it under a bridge, but not only was it still there in fine condition, it had also been visited. We really enjoyed looking at the stamps someone had put into our book.

We walked around the woods for a while after that. We passed a pond filled with toads, and I actually got E to be silent long enough to see their huge necks protruding while they made their mating calls. It was very cool. I myself could have spent at least an hour there enjoying just watching them, but the minute and a half of complete silence that I did get was more than I would have ever expected.

The boys ran around under the pavilion for a while, and then had fun in the playground, which brought up more remember-whens about our old playgroup. We are home now taking a rest. Soon it will be time to take R to soccer practice...

R is getting exercise

This morning R took a ride on his bike up to Nagy Papa's house. For those of you who know the area, that would be across the street from Stop and Shop. Yes, he is getting old enough to go that far alone. Unfortunately the walkie talkies we got which are supposed to reach eight miles don't reach one. At least not in our neighborhood. Argh. Letting go is so hard.

And then I have to contend with E whining the whole time that R is gone because "IT'S NOT FAIR". We had fun though, playing a game of ABC Oy which he received for Christmas two years ago. He's really catching on to reading fast. Very, very glad about that, I can assure you.

When R got back, with Nagy Papa behind in the car, he told us that they had taken a nice walk around the track at Cheshire Academy, which is behind Nagy Papa's place. They explored the whole area together, apparently, and came home with a bag full of tennis balls which they had picked up off the ground along the way. Nagy Papa didn't want R riding his bike with a bag hanging from the handlebars, so he followed him home.

We spent more time than usual at the library today. I found some books on tree forts, but will have to check other libraries for better ones. Then E played a Zoombini computer game, one which we don't own at home, while R and I played a couple of games of chess. Boy was R pissed when I won both times. I was actually surprised myself. He's gotten so much better since he's been playing this chess computer game I got him for $1 at JoAnn's; he's been practicing a lot. He has improved enormously, but not in his ability to lose. He started crying and actually made his way to the floor in a corner of the library to compose himself. I left him there for a few minutes, but then insisted he had to get himself together so we could leave. He said he needed a nap.

When we got home from the library, did he nap? Course not. The boys played for a short while and then had something to eat before we headed off to R's soccer practice. R got lots of exercise today.

OT: changed the layout of my blog. It was actually quite easy and I'm very happy with it. Although I do have to admit it screwed up some of the layouts on my old postings. Oh well.

Playdate at Home

Today we had a lot of fun having friends over. They arrived at around noon, and we were disappointed when they had to leave around five. What an enjoyable afternoon. R got to play with a friend he doesn't get to see often enough, and E got to play with a bunch of girls - which for some reason he loves doing.

They all played together at some points, often in our sand pit, which they filled with water. A few of the eight kids were covered in mud from top to bottom, including E. They did a great job of staying comfortable on this very hot day. The boys were really good about sharing the ice pops they got from the Easter Bunny, with all of their friends. And R had the chance to play with all the Yu Gi Oh cardshe's been collecting. He's been wanting to show them off to his friend E for a while now.

I too had the opportunity to spend time with someone I really enjoy. She is going through some stressful times with a close friend of hers, which parallels some of my own experiences, so our visit had us relating on a new level. We also enjoyed the company of a third mom. I watched her kids today while she had an appointment, and we all had some time to visit beforehand and afterwards.

A beautiful, sunny, easy-going day.

R needs exercise

R had a soccer game yesterday and 1/2 way through the game he started huffing and puffing. He can't run as well as he used to. We had a talk about it and he agreed that he needs to start exercising. I told him he could use my treadmill (he can't do it without supervision, because I have a key for it), or he could ride his bike, or just run or walk, or even do one of my exercise videos, but that he should do 30 minutes a day. My smart boy sees the value in it, since I stand for a fine example of what not to do. After he and E stopped laughing over the word "sluggish", R finally agreed that it was something he did not want to become. He also agreed that he can't take for granted that he will have his father's physique when he grows up.

I have to admit that I never thought about having to encourage R to exercise. I myself assumed he'd have his dad's physique since he was such a toothpick when he was little. But he really has filled out and simply does not run around the way his brother still does. And since I really do NOT want him to end up with my physique, I've got to encourage him to start new habits NOW.

On another note, I have a new blog. This one is all about describing what's going on in our lives, and the new one will be about what I think about things. I suppose I'm needing to focus a little bit on what I think rather than simply what I do. Check it out.

Pot Luck Hobby Night

Perhaps a smaller memory stick in my camera would help me download all the photos more often. I might not be blogging as often as I had hoped, but I'm still snapping lots of photos. Actually, I'm trying to spend less time at my computer in general, so blogging is falling by the wayside too. Plus, we've actually been really busy!

Tonight we went to a Pot Luck Hobby Night with our homeschool group in Hamden/New Haven. We had such an enjoyable time. It was great getting to meet some dads, and to have the opportunity to "break bread" with a small group of fellow homeschoolers.

E did an excellent presentation on his action figures. We were all *very* proud that he actually got up and did it! This afternoon the two of us went through all of the figures he wanted to display and knowing that he'd never be able to memorize anything to say, I asked him some questions and wrote them down. He said all his answers to me, and repeated them almost exactly when I asked them of him in front of the other families - including men he didn't know! Well you could've knocked me over with a feather. He is growing up. I might add that although all the preschool kids were too busy being adorable to be nervous, and none of the 10 year-olds seemed to have any problems, E was the only one in his age group who got up in front of the group to do a report.

R did an equally excellent job. He had all his Bionicles set up in his room last night, and took pictures of his presentation so he could match the positioning perfectly when we got there this evening. He showed off his $120 worth (yes, he told us) of "monsters" (including one made not from a kit, but from random pieces he had lying around) with perfect confidence. That is after I did *my* presentation.

Yes, after E's I did one (why am I always the only parent that gets into this stuff?) on my hobby of concert-going. I was going to do it on scrapbooking, but then today I was going through a drawer and came across 55 (R counted) concert tickets from throughout the years (mostly the 80's). I also brought all the concert programs I still have. It was lots of fun, and going before R helped him settle himself. He was quite nervous. The first time he got up he admitted to the group that he had really bad butterflies, so after a few moments of watching him have trouble composing himself, I jumped up and took my turn before him. Worked perfectly; no matter what he was feeling inside (haven't discussed it yet) on the outside he was as cool as a cucumber.

One of the best parts of this is that we did all this because we wanted to, and not because it was a school assignment. I did not make any demands at all, even on participation. No requirements to write anything (although R did take the time to write a "DO NOT TOUCH" sign), no requirements to present to the group, no requirements whatsoever. They did it all because their friends were, and because it was fun!

I actually took pictures of the event, but am hesitating posting them. Blogger has been taken over by Google and now all the photos I post will be stored on a server that Google owns, and they are saying they can use any photos...well, here, read it yourself:

"...by submitting, posting or displaying Content which is intended to be available to the general public, you grant Google a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to reproduce, adapt, distribute and publish such Content for the purpose of displaying, distributing and promoting Google services." So basically, Google can use any of *my* photos for advertising their company. The "Terms of Service" does not indicate just *where* this advertising could take place. So, realistically speaking, I could find one of the photos of the boys running around with wooden swords in the backyard on a Google advertisement on the side of a bus, or even on TV! IN JAPAN!

I know I'm getting paranoid, but Google is collecting just a little bit too much from me in too many places these days. And we are living in an age when our privacy rights are severely deteriorating. So, I'll think more on it, but I don't know that I'll be posting photos here anymore. I'll have to check the lists and find a place to store my images where I will retain full 100% rights on their usage.

Okay, back on topic...
We had a great time this evening. I'm looking forward to spending more time with these folks. They showed up in our lives exactly when we needed them, and it's good to be part of a group again.