Father's Day x2

I figured B wouldn't want to share his Father's Day, so we did it twice.

R had two soccer games on Saturday. One at 9:30 am and one at 1:00 pm. It was the Cheshire Invitational Tournament. They got slaughtered both games. Nagy Papa joined us for both games and then for dinner later on that evening. I made him Chicken Paprikash (his grandmother's recipe from Hungary) and we had strawberry pie for dessert. We gave him a copy of a computer animation video he had caught on PBS fundraisers a couple of times and raved about. I was happy to grab it up when I spotted it at BJ's one day. I think he enjoyed his Father's Day as much as we enjoyed his Father's Day.

Sunday R had two more games. One at 9:30 am and one at 1:00 pm. He agreed though that he should miss the first one so we could carry on with our Father's Day tradition. So Sunday morning brought orange juice, eggs, bacon, tater tots and crappy Pillsbury biscuits out of a can. Now that's living! B seemed really pleased with his breakfast.

He also seemed to enjoy the gifts we made him. We did these window cling paint things for him to stick on his car window. They came out very cool. R made the word DAD, E made him a fish, and I did a shamrock since he has always loved the fact that I am Irish.

We all spent some time in bed together watching TV and were ready for R's game at 1:00. Here is R's cheering section: B and E at the playground for 2/3 of the game, and me and Nagy Papa (my dad) watching and cheering and this week, sweating.
They lost this game too, and we heard, the game that morning as well, for a total of 0-4. Oh well. Since Cheshire was the hosting team and four other towns signed up, that left an uneven amount of teams to play, so they divided the Cheshire team into two. Which meant that we didn't have our regular full contingent. After the game they all got medals though and we enjoyed some ices from the ice-cream truck before heading out.

We drove to Shaws then, because B specifically wanted a banana creme pie from there.

Once home B didn't really know what to do with himself. He's not really one to sit around doing nothing, but did want to take the day off from his "honey do" list. So we actually sat on the couch and talked for half an hour while the boys went their separate ways. Finally B and R went to do some fishing while I cooked the lasagna and E played a computer game.

Yes, lasagna was dinner (food is way too important to this family). It was a HOT day though, so I ran the a/c to balance out the temperature on the first floor. We also had more of the crappy biscuits and surprise! no vegetables. R actually commented on it :-) Then of course, banana creme pie.

B commented more than once that he had a super Father's Day. I'm glad.

Another Busy Week

I wasn't good about taking photos this week, even though we did a lot of fun things.

Monday we had two families of friends over to enjoy our blow-up pool which we set up over the weekend. It turned out to be the perfect day for it, but the boys both got badly burned. I feel so horrible! They never got burned before, they had always tanned, so this year I used SPF #8 thinking it would let just enough sun in. WRONG. I guess the reason they never burned is because they tanned right through the #15. So we'll be getting more of that.

Tuesday we went to see Hello Dolly on the big screen. The movie theater in the next town over has a "silver screen" event once a month during the summer. A classic movie, popcorn and soda for a buck a person. It was too hard to resist seeing such a fun movie on a big screen. We have been enjoying musicals around here lately, so it was perfect for us. The boys both really enjoyed it, and it led to some interesting conversations about the women's movement and how far we have come.

Happily some friends joined us at the movies and we all went to the park afterwards. The daffodil park. I always love spending time with this family, and the boys enjoy it too. We are looking forward to doing some camping with them this year.

That evening I headed to Marlborough to pick up a freelance job. Luckily the deadline is not as demanding as the one last week and I'll be able to work it around family time. It's due on Monday, and of course B is thrilled to have me working, so he'll provide me with all the guilt free quiet time I need.

Wednesday our playgroup headed down to New Haven to the International Festival of Arts and Ideas. I've known about it for several years, but this is the first time we've ever gone. We saw a performance by Adam Battelstein. "Internationally known, formerly with Momix and Pilobolus, Adam has been declared a 'comic genius' and a “master clown disguised as a dancer.” I wouldn't call him a clown at all. His show was very fun but also great lessons in physics. Real life examples of gravity and friction, the weight of air, and even a giant gyroscope. Really terrific stuff.

R answered questions correctly several times when the the artist threw them out to the audience, and in the end he was invited up on stage to ride on this incredible thing, the name of which totally escapes me now - argh. Just look at that joyful face! (Click on the photo to see it up close.) These things cost thousands of dollars - it was definitely a once in a lifetime experience. So cool that R has just recently started volunteering for things like this and the first time he gets called it's for something so incredible!

The performer's co-star was someone I actually knew, so I said hello afterwards, while the kids ran off to play with their friends. Playgroup didn't last all that long since everyone were slaves to their meters. We didn't have to rush so we took the trolley ride back to our parking garage.

Thursday was a stay at home day. I had great plans to have my car inspected for emissions, getting an oil change, and going to a pool store to find out the real deal on chemicals for the pool, but I just couldn't get myself out the door. I need to be home sometimes - I'm a homebody at heart.

R took the opportunity to ride his bike up to Nagy Papa's house where they played a few games of chess, and then the two of them went food shopping together. E and I kept busy watching an episode of season one of The Waltons, which a friend had reminded me I wanted to get back to, and started working on Father's Day presents for B.

Nagy Papa came by after grocery shopping, and we all picked some strawberries. I am so thrilled that we have gotten about 20 pounds (so far!) of strawberries out of our patch this year. We had a very relaxing and enjoyable afternoon at home. I need to arrange my life to have more of these.

I spent the evening doing about a third of my freelance job.

Today we went to a birthday party. The boys had a great time and I got to connect with people I don't see much of anymore. It was a very enjoyable afternoon. Tonight B and I are set up to watch Ghost Rider.

Tomorrow we head off to a weekend of soccer...

A busy week with friends

We had a play date in New Haven on Tuesday and R had soccer that evening.

On Wednesday R attended a birthday party while E and I went to playgroup. They had a moon bounce at the party and they had invited siblings to come jump for an hour after the party was officially over. R had an excellent time at the party ("the only thing missing was candy") and E had fun afterwards jumping around with old chums he doesn't get to see anymore. That evening R had soccer tryouts for a new league for next year. More about that another time.

Thursday we had dentist appointments at 9 am - ugh! We are all doing great taking care of our teeth and have no cavities.

After that we went to Brooksvale Park for another cooking adventure with our playgroup friends. We got there early so we could search for a letterbox. We found a nice easy one, and saw this pile o' poop along the way. Compare the size of it to the oak leaf next to it. There's no denying that stuff is from a bear.

It was the biggest poop any of us had ever seen.

When our friends arrived we made pancakes. The scone planners were home with strep throat, so one of the moms threw together a strawberry pancake plan. She used to be a teacher, so she found throwing in some "learning" irresistible, but the kids didn't seem to mind listening to the pancake books she brought along.
They all had fun slicing lots of strawberries and whipping up cream. They even made some butter. In our house we add the berries to the batter, so the boys weren't thrilled with plain old pancakes (from a boxed mix, which made them even more foreign tasting) that had unsweetened whipped cream and strawberries on top. "Where's the syrup?" they wanted to know. They ate enough to keep them satiated for a long enough visit afterwards though.

They all enjoyed catching baby frogs. They have grown from the teeny tadpoles they caught there two weeks ago. Here are some newts that R caught:

But this is what it's really all about:
Another day to feel blessed that my children are being brought up this close to nature. Running around a frog pond with nets in hand is very grand indeed. At dinner that night when asked what their favorite thing was today, both boys responded "everything".

We left the park just in time for a short rest at home before heading out to soccer practice.

Friday found me working all day at home. The woman I had previously done some freelancing for had a family emergency, and I found myself with a full eight hours of work. It was actually torture for me since E had incredible stomach and intestinal cramps all day. I felt so horrible leaving him in front of the TV moaning while I had to work. Whatever it was he had moved through his intestines in time for soccer practice that night, though.

Much as I enjoy making such good money, and don't mind the work I am doing, I just don't know how I feel about the time the work takes me away from the boys. We had a really busy week, and I had planned to spend Friday reading lots of books and playing games, and maybe watching a Netflix DVD. I hated having them upstairs all day without me. I felt like I was downstairs in a dungeon. I felt so neglectful. We'll see if I feel the same the next time, since hopefully E won't be moaning all day. B would consider it a total tragedy for me to throw away this treasure chest which has landed in my lap.

Today (Saturday) were the last regular soccer games of the season. Yes, they play in the rain, but luckily it had been reduced to drizzle by game time. E was thrilled to have received his "first trophy ever".

Tomorrow R has another game with the pool team. Then next week is a tournament weekend; two games on Saturday and two on Sunday. B is not at all pleased that the soccer league does not have any problems monopolizing Father's day. I think it's kind of annoying too.

Tattoos for sale

A few days ago E had a tattoo sale. We all looked very cool walking around in our tattoos and matching Incredibles shirts.

Today we went to a used curriculum sale. For me one of the harder things about being an unschooler is that when I was a kid I loved all the workbooks. I've learned the expensive way though, that they just don't fit into our lives. We did get a few other books though. I'm very careful now though seeing how I have two cartons of books in the basement to donate to the CT Homeschool conference.

We stopped into Barnes and Noble today too. I had the browsing books urge, I guess. E bought himself four sticker books with some of his birthday money, and R bought himself a Harry Potter chess set. I bought nothing. Yay me!

This evening E and I read a book about Raccoons. One night last week we (okay, I) forgot to close the van doors and in the morning we found we had had a visitor. The boys questioned why he didn't go through our extensive garbage, but it seemed pretty obvious to me as our giant BJ's tub of pretzels was all over the place. It was kind of cool to see his footprints on thick roll of newsprint I had recently bought from our local Step Saver (a Pennysaver type thing). Anyway E decided he wanted to learn all about raccoons, and I happened to have a book on the subject.

Strawberries!

R scored big in the strawberry patch today. He wasn't thrilled when I told him he had to share with everyone, but realized it wouldn't be fair if he ate them all.

I am really psyched to have a great harvest again. We haven't had a great one in a few years. I am going to make strawberry ice-cream and strawberry jam and strawberry pie.

Strawberries are the most pesticide laden food one can buy, and organic strawberries run $5 a pound in season. So we don't eat fresh ones as much as we'd like (organic frozen strawberries are reasonably priced, comparitively speaking). We are all really excited.

Today while the boys were at soccer I started tackling our mess of a basement. I really need to de-clutter down here. I can't take it anymore.

Also today, we had someone stop by to take measurements for a deck for us. I was thrilled to find someone trustworthy. Stuart is the dad of someone on R's soccer team. He has his own carpentry business. I had heard that about him, then saw an ad for his business in the Cheshire Herald. When I saw that I checked out his website, and was happy with what I saw. So today he came by and took measurements, and hopefully if he's within our budget, we will have a new deck by the end of July. Woo hoo!