The beach

I was tickled when I put out the call to our new playgroup, telling everyone we were going to the beach, and some people actually joined us!

One of the moms actually has family who lives in Milford, and knew of a great neighborhood beach to go to in her residential area. So we parked on the street and went to a secluded area of the beach for free. I'll definitely be remembering that spot.

We had such a wonderful time. It was a great day for the beach, and the whole water thing always makes for fun times. R adores the ocean. This year we'll have to try to make it out of the sound so he can experience some real waves.

I had a great time as well, hiding out under my umbrella chatting with the other moms. The woman who lives nearby is very nice, and invited us all to come back anytime. We will definitely be taking her up on that very soon.

Strawberry season is upon us. We are seeing an excellent crop in our backyard so far.

Memorial Day Weekend

R is getting into fishing. Or perhaps he just enjoys spending time with his dad. Either way, they went fishing twice this weekend. E joined them only once.

Golf was big this weekend too. B took the boys to hit a bucket at a local range, and another day we all tried out a mini golf course in Prospect. It was way smaller than we would have liked, and we will never go there again, but we had fun being together anyway. It's great when we don't keep score.

One cool thing about this weekend was that there was NO soccer.

We didn't have any picnics to attend, which was kind of a bummer. For the last several years I've had people here and I needed a break this year. I had hoped to get invited over to the homes of one of the people I had invited here over the years, but it didn't work out that way. Oh well.

We enjoyed the Cheshire parade. Nagy Papa joined us under a tree along route 10. It's kind of a bummer that the Cheshire Soccer League doesn't walk, but we saw several people we knew with other organizations. Being a spectator is fun because everyone throws candy to us. And we watch right at the beginning of the parade route, before people realize they need to ration their candy if they want to have enough to make it to the end. So the boys came home with lots of candy to add to their stashes from E's birthday.

B and I got to spend a night out for our anniversary (married 16 years!). Nagy Papa watched the boys while we enjoyed seeing Pirates of the Caribbean (which was lots of corny fun) and having dinner at a place called Manor Inn in Southington. We had been looking for an excuse to try this place. B had gotten a take out menu from there once, and it seemed really expensive. But it turns out the portions are enormous, so it is well worth the price. The atmosphere was not what we had hoped for for an anniversary dinner, but we got over that as soon as we tasted our food. Exceptional. We will definitely be eating there again. It was an excellent anniversary.

E's Birthday

E went to a birthday party a couple of weeks ago where rather than having a pinata, they had goodie bags filled with candy hidden around the yard. Each child had a bag with his name on it which he had to hunt for. Well E loved this idea so much that we had to do it too. It seemed that E's guests loved this idea too. They spent about 45 minutes trading candy afterwards. The moms were surprised at how into the trading they all got.

The kids had a great time playing tag, too. E didn't bother with the couple of games he had said he wanted to play (freeze dance, etc.) but we did do "hot potato". Then as each child got the ball, rather than being out, that child got to give E his present to open. We've done it this way for a few years now. It's a civil way to decide whose present will be opened next, and has the added benefit of the kids having to sit in a circle, so everyone ends up being able to see and doesn't squish in tight.

It was a brutally hot day, and a few of the preschoolers ended up dancing through our neighbor's sprinklers. We went through a lot of water and juice.

Having cupcakes and ice-cream cups worked out as well as I had hoped. I didn't need to spend time cutting up a cake, and dishing out ice-cream. And happily, other than a very few candy wrappers, the kids were really good about using the trash can.

We were a little disappointed that two of our newer friends were not able to make it. Nevertheless, it was a terrific day; E really enjoyed himself.

Cooking with friends

We cooked up some Mexican Soup today with friends. One family lives on the grounds of Brooksvale Park (dad is the grounds keeper) and has access to the Veterans Memorial Building there. It's got a great, fully stocked kitchen and a big room for dining. We all had a lot of fun practicing our chopping skills, and our manners eating soup.

Afterwards we enjoyed some of Brooksvale Park. There is a pond there which is totally filled with tadpoles, and all the kids had a great time filling buckets up with them. R was thrilled to have captured two huge bull frog ones, and took a few photos before they let them all go. It never ceases to amaze me how captivating the water is for kids.

We are looking forward to returning in two weeks for some more cooking (or baking?) and maybe doing some letterboxing. It's a beautiful park.

Getting ready for the big day tomorrow! Lots of cleaning and cupcake making and grass cutting. It's 9:30 and E still can't fall asleep he's so excited.

Rain on Wednesday and Kohl's on Thursday

We got caught in that huge rain storm on the way home from playgroup in Hamden yesterday. All the traffic lights were blinking as we entered Cheshire. I've never had to drive so slow because of rain before; we did 15 miles an hour for quite a stretch.

We got home to find ourselves without electricity. Luckily the Chinese restaurant down the street uses gas stoves, so we were able to get food for dinner there. I owe them a dollar though since their credit card machine was unavailable, and I was short on cash.

Boy my family is way too reliant on gadgetry. R and E used the laptop for 15 minutes until the battery died. I read a couple of books to them, but they will only sit for a couple at a time. R borrowed my rechargeable batteries to listen to an audio book (he's on the Lemony Snicket thing now). When B came home he was so bored he passed out on the recliner. I enjoyed the time reading with one of the headlight flashlight things we have for camping.

I was bummed that it lasted as long as it did. The woman I've been freelancing for in Marlborough sent me home with a Mac CPU so I could start working from home (woo hoo!). I had told her I could give her more hours if I were here, so she set me up! Anyway, I had gotten it all assembled and connected, and had work to do last night from 8pm till 12. I was embarrassed to have to call and let her know that I couldn't get the work done. I had called CL&P and their recording said my electric would be on by 6 am. So I got up at 6 am to do the work this morning. Don't ask me how because I'm still in shock myself.

After finishing the work by nine, we had an asphalt guy come and give us a quote on ripping out our old driveway and putting in a new one. Ouch. Still waiting for our tax refund.

I did not manage to get myself onto the treadmill today, but definitely will tomorrow. I'm not used to sitting for such long stretches and my legs are getting crampy.

After lunch we headed to Kohl's. I have a credit card of theirs so every once in a while I get a coupon in the mail for a certain amount off everything. This time around my coupon was actually for 30% off, so we went shopping.

R got a couple of bathing suits and some flip-flops. I got some sandals, two leather bags, and two sun hats, E got some shorts and I chose out some shoes for B. Thirty percent off on top of their sale prices was a lot. E's shorts were only $4 and my leather handbags were only $20 each. Even my leather sandals were only $14. We really struck gold with that coupon. B wants to use it again to look for some shirts for himself.

The day ended, of course, with soccer practice. I managed to get dinner done before we had to go, so rather than drop R off and come home to cook, I hung out at the field and read my book. I'm reading Nextby Michael Crichton, and it's got me hooked. E spent the whole hour and a half playing in the playground with some kids there. He is getting to be a social kid at last.

We had a birthday party scheduled for tomorrow, which has been postponed due to the weather yesterday, so we find ourselves free for the day. I'm voting for staying home and getting some things done; maybe some laundry, gardening and cleaning the basement. But I'm not the only one with a vote, so we'll see how it goes.

Mother's Day Weekend

Friday B took off from work to move the dozen yards of top soil he had ordered. We had a huge indentation in the backyard which we could never explain, and B decided it needed to be filled this year. He had a great time with the Bobcat he rented.

He didn't need my help the way he thought he might, so I got to go to the Scholastic Warehouse Sale unaccompanied. Woo hoo!

Saturday was a soccer day; three games in all. The boys were happy to have Nagy Papa join us at all three. One can never have too many fans present.

Mother's Day was wonderful. The boys all woke up and made breakfast for me. We had eggs and bacon and hash browns and nutritionally devoid Pillsbury biscuits. They each gave me a card they had made for me (yes, B makes cards for me too, with lovely little sentiments inside), and a photo of season one of Farscape, which they have on order from Amazon. Then we snuggled up and watched The Princess Bride, which I had borrowed from the library. "I am Inigo Montoya. You killed my father, prepare to die." Hee hee. It was lots of fun; the boys loved it as much as I knew they would, and I really enjoyed seeing it again. It's a classic.

I spent a good portion of the afternoon reading, both to the boys, and alone. Sitting down and reading is usually hard for me because I can never stop thinking about all the things I "should be" doing instead. But I pulled it off a great deal of the day.

We finished up with Olive Garden, which we are pretty much over now. We expected a wait, but we walked in at 5:30 and walked out at 8:20, which felt rather unacceptable, even for Mother's Day. Plus we are starting to feel like it's overpriced. Nevertheless, the food was good, and the company excellent, although I am eternally grateful for B switching seats with E, who was next to me on the bench seat and could not manage to stop bouncing up and down.

When we finally got R and E tucked in, B and I each enjoyed some Coconut Macadamia Creme Pie, which R and E don't like. Last year I finally decided that Mother's Day would be the one day of the year when I would allow myself to ask for a special treat that I knew they wouldn't like.

This week is another busy one for us. We spent some time with friends today, then grocery shopped. Tomorrow I am working in Marlborough again, and then have to take R to soccer practice. It just goes on and on.

But, it's all good.

Working

Well today I headed up to Marlborough to do some freelance work. This time I'll be getting paid for the four hours we spent there, since I actually worked. And it looks like this may be turning into a regular thing. The boys did a decent job keeping busy and I thanked them by stopping at McDonald's for milk shakes (don't call me on the McDonald's thing, or the milk thing either).

I wasn't thrilled with the fact that they spent a great deal of their time there playing an Incredibles PlayStation game; there was a lot of fighting and punching going on there, plus it was a lot of time just sitting there. We'll definitely have to address that before we go next time. The laptop which we had brought for R to program his Lego Robotics with went completely unnoticed. Argh.

B is taking off from work tomorrow, so I'm cutting this short so we can watch a movie together. I wonder what he rented...

Fishing and Playing

B has been anxious to use his fishing license for more than just the day he picked it up for. So this week he and R went to the linear path and fished along the river, where they have seen other people catch fish in the past. Nothing was caught except, as R explained jovially, "a tree".

Not one to waste however much he actually spent on the worms he bought Friday night, B went out again on Sunday afternoon, this time with R and E both. This time they went to Mixville Park. B caught nothing, R caught three fish, and E caught frustration since the pole they have for him is too difficult for him to handle. I'm under instruction that the next time we go someplace which sells them, I'm to get another pole exactly like R's for E. Naturally I'll have to have R with me since I have no idea what any of the darn things look like. Perhaps that can be R's present to E for this birthday, which is on May 26th.

Today we spent some time with friends. Their father is an electrician and recently had a very bad accident. He will have bandages on his hands, and absolutely no use of them, for at least four weeks. His wife, a playgroup friend, asked for volunteers to take her girls this week until she can settle her husband into a routine.

We had playgroup today, which is in their neck of the woods, so I picked them up early and we spent some time in New Haven before playgroup. We went to the Peabody Museum, but I was incredibly overwhelmed by all the school kids on field trips, so we cut out of there PDQ. Luckily we are members, so I hadn't spent anything to get in and wasn't all that frustrated at leaving after just 30 minutes.

So we went further south and parked along the trolley route. The girls had never taken the (free) ride before, so that was something new and fun for them. Of course we have done it many times at this point, but it never seems to get tired. We were disappointed to see that the candy store we loved to visit has disappeared, and has been replaced by some sort of eatery.

After that we parked closer to the green and had a picnic under a big old tree with a huge canopy of shade.

We even had time to run over to BJ's in North Haven for gas before heading to Bassett Park for playgroup.

Playgroup was especially fun today because three new families joined us. I posted the regular event on the Greater New Haven Homeschoolers , and CT Homeschoolers Inclusive calendars of events, and was happy to see the results. One mom had only just moved to Hamden nine days ago. I can remember not too long ago feeling like I would go crazy if I didn't find other kids for my own to connect with, so I was glad to contribute to helping others find us.

Funny, two of the moms already knew me from the photo on my blogs. One of them had read through this blog, and the other one knew me from my other blog. She had heard about it from an unschooling list she is on. Apparently there was a big discussion about my blog regarding Radical Unschooling vs. Self-Directed Learning. It seems that I don't even have to be on the lists to have my "wrong" way of doing things criticized - lol! Anyway a few of us had our own interesting discussion regarding the topic, and I can add more people to the list of those who are afraid to post their real feelings on the lists. They suggested I started my own for those of us who are not comfortable with the extremism.

By the way, I'm moderating comments now. Not interested in providing soap boxes for anyone except myself :-)

Another Park Day

Today we spent another afternoon in a park. This time in New Haven, and with friends. We had a relaxing day, and we continue to enjoy getting to know this family. D is R's age, and his sister is E's age. And their mom is a 43 year-old Sagittarius who grew up in New York.


Thought I'd throw in a recent photo of evidence of math skills. The sorting of these cars was shown to me, and not prompted by me. And sorting is a required kindergarten skill :-)

Daffodils

I've decided not to stress about the whole Google thing, and worry about suing them, if they actually use any of my personal photos, later. How can I not post this gorgeous photo of my boys? I do have to say that uploading photos is a million times faster since Google took over Blogger.

We had playgroup today. The group's coordinator was fearful of the rain yesterday, so it was decided we'd meet at the Cheshire library instead. We had a nice walk up there, but were the only ones to show up. I understand someone else finally did, but not until after we waited an hour. It was too beautiful a day to be inside anyway, so after that hour we walked back home, hopped into the car, and headed to Hubbard Park to catch the daffodils before they all fade away.

It wasn't as spectacular as I remembered it being, but it was still a great place to take photos. There were other people there with the same idea too. We took lots of photos and played with the many water spots in the park.The boys love dropping things into the stream and following them all the way down to the end, as much as they did when they were toddlers.

It was a lovely day to be out at a park. And it was a really good reminder that we don't need a big crowd to have a good time.

A job "interview"

Today we took a trip to Marlborough, CT to meet with someone I used to work with back before R was born. She is in need of a freelancer and thought of me. She has an awesome network of Macs in her house; yes indeed I am quite jealous of that set up. And me on my pathetic Dell.

It was really great to see my former co-worker. She has done very well for herself. And I'm also glad she kept me in mind. I'm hopeful that this could turn into some regular work for me. The extra income would be nice, but more importantly, I would love to get back into stimulating my brain again. Much as I love being home with the boys, I truly do miss graphic design. I miss feeling totally competent. And I miss the constant and immediate feedback.

Her setup is such that I can work at her home, and she has no problem with my bringing the boys. I would really love to get set up in my own home though, but that would mean reinvesting in an updated Macintosh system for myself.

Anyway, it wasn't so much an interview as much as a chance for the two of us to reconnect, and for her to show me what she's up to and may need help with. I'm really happy. Ten to 15 hours a week is totally manageable and would probably help make me a better mother, to be perfectly honest. Sometimes I feel like my brain is turning to mush. It's partly why I started a new blog; to make myself think.