Snow

Really, I've had quite enough snow. Fourteen inches last night over the many, many, we've already had this month.

Here is my poor dog Luna, trying to go to the bathroom. She couldn't see the steps of the deck, so she went right on it. (Click the photos to see them larger.)

We have to get outside somehow to refill the bird feeders. The squirrels are thrilled because they can just leap right up now.

Here are views from our front and back windows. Yes, that's our deck.

I'm so jealous that my boys are flying down to Florida for a week with my mom. I want to go in the worst way now, but they are really looking forward to having some time with Grandma and Aunt D without me. Plus B is looking forward to some time alone with me at home.

I would just love opportunity to get away from all this snow. I'm glad at least the sun is out today. We'll have a few hours of the snow being absolutely beautiful before it becomes a dirty nuisance.

The boys slept over some friends’ house last night, so the snow in front of my house will be there for a while. It's nice that R is at an age where he is thrilled to be allowed to use the snow blower. We got about two years out of him before his love affair with the lawn tractor mellowed, so let's hope the snow slows down over the next couple of years. In the meantime, perhaps I will go outside and shovel a path off the deck for Luna.

I'm glad my camera is still working, despite the fact that the LCD is broken. No viewfinder, so I've been just randomly aiming and hoping for the best. No “artsy” photos this way, but at least I can still capture life. (Partly why I still haven't mailed it to be fixed: I can't live without it.)

I'm enjoying time scrapbooking while the boys are out. There are lots of things on my “to do” list that I've been ignoring, but the snow makes me so unmotivated (as if I need a reason). I suppose it's better than laying in bed watching TV all day. At least I will have a sense of accomplishment. Plus I've hardly scrapped at all lately, really, because doing anything for myself brings such guilt with it. Not today though!

Sleepover

Last night the boys had their best friends sleep over.
Recognize them?
Usually I'm a big fan of irony.

Charity

Every week the boys get one dollar for each year of their age for allowance. Ten percent comes straight off the top for charity. Then the rest is cut in half between savings and spending money.

In the past, we've taken construction paper mittens off the Christmas tree at our library, and used the boys' charity money to purchase the gifts requested on them. They have always enjoyed shopping for someone close to their age, and continue to do so.

This year though, R rounded up his charity money each week before dividing his savings/spending, and ended up with a lot more than usual. We talked about some of the ways that money could be put to use. And he decided he'd like to help animals.

Well as these wonderful connections typically happen, a few days later I saw an advertisement in our local newspaper requesting help for a dog pound. And R decided a trip to BJ's was in order.

One hundred fifty pounds of dog food, and a drive to the next town over, left us all feeling pretty good about why we do this every year. Even B who does not willingly donate money on his own, liked the feeling and commented on how cool it is that the boys are growing up with this habit.

Grandma's Village

Every year Grandma (my mom) keeps getting more into the whole gingerbread thing. I don't know how she's going to top this next year.



She, my 2 “B” homeschoolers, and my sister, worked quite hard on this for the two days before Xmas. Two gingerbread trains with a licorice train track, a gingerbread house, a Rice Krispie house, ice-cream cone trees covered in frosting and sprinkles or shredded coconut snow, marshmallow snowmen, penguins, and an aluminum foil pond surrounded by gumdrops, on a base of coconut covered Fluff. (Click on the photo to see it larger.)

Yes, except for the pond, it's all edible.

A great week

(Remember to click on the photos to see them larger.)

Last week was so great that I don't want to miss blogging about it. B is finally getting some of his energy back after finishing chemo a few weeks ago, and is jumping right back into life.

Sunday we went to Mixville Park for some fishing and other fun. Luna got her first slide experience, and everyone (except the sane one - me) actually dipped their feet in the water (OK, B kept his boots on).

Monday was errands day, but on Tuesday afternoon, after my bowling league, we headed to Coco Key Water Resort to take advantage of free admission for the 3rd time. We invited our friend R again, and had a great time. He didn't even seem to mind when he got a giant rip in his bathing suit; he just threw his underwear on underneath and was good to go. Good lesson for my boys.

Wednesday E had his guitar lesson, and afterward we let Luna play with his guitar teacher's dog, who is a boxer the same exact age. Both of the puppies had an awesome time playing, but our guitar teacher is a pretty overprotective parent, and we only had 15 minutes or so. Luna had so much fun! This week I'll have to take pictures, since she was invited back again.

Thursday the boys decided to join B and I for our trip into Manhattan. B had good news from his oncologist: his Mediport will be removed on December 11th!

After his appointment we headed over to the Intrepid which has reopened after renovations. We actually took a cab to get there across town, which the boys thought was lots of fun.

First we looked at the Growler, which is the submarine they have there. I think that was all of our favorite. It was super cramped in there, but luckily B never hit his head once!

The Intrepid itself was pretty cool, but not as much to see as I really expected. Considering that the thing held 3,000 men, we didn't really see very much. I would've like to see the mess hall that holds all those men, but my feeling is that they ripped it out for the museum area. It was cool to see the kitchen (galley) though, and some of the bunks, which were really close together, and certainly the anchor room with the giant chains. The planes on top were cool too. I do have to say though, that their short film about the history of the ship was not worth building that whole theater for. We wished we hadn't wasted time on that.

Even the train ride home was lots of fun. We got some food in Grand Central and got on a train that wasn't the next to leave, so that we'd be sure to get seats together, and ate our dinner on the train. The boys thought that was really cool. And they decided that next time they'd get Chicken Tikka Masala too.

We are so blessed that my dad was able to watch Luna for the day, and we stopped by on our way home from the train station to pick her up. Boy was she happy to see us!

Friday was the last day of Great Hollow classes. I got to see where the boys have been spending their Fridays the last couple of months, and was glad to have the opportunity to hear what they've been doing all that time, since when I'd ask them I'd get mostly "we played deer and coyote". Something I was not thrilled to hear since I couldn't see spending a small fortune for them to play tag in the woods.

I learned that they transplanted some endangered plants, and that they can identify several plants in the woods now. They both really want to return to the classes in the spring, but I really have to think about whether it's worth that much money. And the hour drive each way.

Well the week just kept getting better, as Saturday found us at the Lego Kidfest at the CT Convention Center. It truly was awesome to see all the giant statues made with Legos. But I have to admit the place was packed. I'm so glad we had gotten our tickets in advance (a fellow homeschooler got a group discount) so that we didn't have to wait on those enormous lines.

We saw a presentation given by two of the giant statue designers/builders. We got to see the software they use to determine how to make the statues (which, by the way, are all hollow). We also saw adult Lego clubs’ huge displays of cities and other amazing things of their own designs. R was pretty inspired and is thinking he might need a new set now. E mostly enjoyed seeing all the giant statues.

I am really glad we went. It was very inspiring. I don't think they anticipated the turnout though (by 12:30 pm they called it “sold out” and turned away hundreds of people on line). And all the aisles were really filled with commercial vendors having nothing to do with Legos. So although we will unlikely return if they do it again, we are really glad we went.

The week ended on an unusual note. Both boys went to the Yale Pediatric Sleep Disorder Center to be tested. E did great and fell asleep despite all the wires, but poor R was miserable and got only one REM session the whole night. I don't think that was enough for them to tell me if his deep sleeping is the concern I think it is (since he could not fall into one). I actually hope they call us back to do it again, but I'm not confident that's how it will work out. We'll have the results of that in a couple of weeks. And in the meantime, B has finally made an appointment for himself to be tested.

On the way home from the hospital we stopped at McDonald's for some milk shakes, which have become our after-hospital tradition (yeah, we've been there for stitches). Milk shakes at 7 am. That made their day.

So that was our awesome week. Definitely one I wanted to get down, so I remember it.

Our new playgroup

We had a fun time down in New Haven today with our “new improved” playgroup. Today all the kids hung out together instead of separating the younger ones. The boys both had a great time. And I did too. I have not been getting enough grown-up time lately, and my visit with J was very enjoyable. I really look forward to B coming out of his bubble and talking to me again.

I forgot to take pictures :-(

Long Live Playgroup

We went to playgroup today. I understood that the family who has not been respecting our boundaries, and their entourage, would not be there today. Wrong.

It's really a bummer that we have been forced out of yet another group by someone who keeps forcing herself into my life and simply refuses to leave me alone. Especially because the indoor location for this winter is just 10 minutes over in the next town, and we've spent the last 3 years driving 30 minutes down to New Haven. But on the other hand, as I mentioned a couple of days ago, we “are thrilled that all of our friends have arranged to meet once a week with us on another day. We are so blessed to have created friendships with them that they are willing to work to keep. The tweens are meeting at one house, while their siblings are meeting at someone else's (who happens to live within walking distance of the first).”

So we really are done with our Wednesday playgroup.

Great Hollow

The boys are taking nature classes at Great Hollow through a YMCA. It's an all-day thing every Friday (from 9 till 3). Here's a photo of the group heading out this morning.

The Great Hollow Homeschool coordinator writes a blog, so I'm just going to copy what it says our class has been doing:

"In plant class we are working on a very practical level, with our focus on conservation. Components of this endeavor are three-fold: Conservation of land integrity and biodiversity, Bioregional and traditional alternatives for herbal medicines which replace overuse of endangered plants, and Place-based knowledge. The latter being the founding root of the former two components.

Our classes thus far have reflected this. The first day we studied and planted Goldenseal roots. The second day we studied Elder and made wise Elderberry Elixir to keep everyone healthy this season. The third day we took root cuttings to help propagate our existing Bloodroot, and the students scouted the proper habitat for their transplant. Very well done. The fourth day we assimilated what we have learned about these plants and their accompanying lessons by creating our own folklore stories. This was an especially challenging and rewarding class – all the stories were fantastic, and if read to a sibling or younger friend, would indeed pass along the intended wisdom in clever and enchanting ways."

The boys really love this class, but I haven't decided whether we'll continue in the spring or not. It's super expensive and an hour away, which is really taking its toll on me.

Till now I've been dropping them off and returning home, since I can't leave Luna in her crate for eight hours. So altogether it's four hours of driving every week for me, not to mention all that gas.

This is one of those examples of how Luna is really cramping my style. Ordinarily I'd have absolutely no problem enjoying six hours alone in the Danbury area of the state, but with a dog? Well this time I didn't care, and brought her along and left her in the car. I spent a wonderful morning in Target, had lunch at a favorite diner (clam chowder, salad, stuffed cabbage, pickled beets and a baked potato - yum!), and then spent some time at a nearby state park.



Luna joined me on a walk through the park, but is so testing my alpha position that it was not very enjoyable. I did manage to take some photos though. Once we got to the beach area, I was distracted taking some macro photos and she slipped out from her choke collar and was off. Argh. To say she went berserk on that beach would be an understatement. I didn't yell and scream, or engage in her attempt to play, but just stood there dispassionately till she ran it out. Eventually I made my way to a picnic table and sat down to wait.

Luckily she is still a fraidy cat about some things and when a motor boat went by she came and sat right next to me. She was a lot less resistant to follow instead of lead on the leash once she had used up some of that energy, so it worked out. And she was finally willing to eat some of the food I had brought for her since she had worked up an appetite. She didn't eat anything all day till about 2:00!

Anyhow, I put her back in the car and had 15 minutes to take some photos without her. I always enjoy taking photos, but am pretty unhappy with my camera. It's a pocket thing, that's easy to carry, and it takes great macro shots when I can get it to focus where I want, but for action shots my four year old Sony blew it away. What good is a super long zoom if the shot is always fuzzy?

I enjoyed taking all those shots though, and wish I had gotten there before all the leaves were gone.

The drive to Great Hollow is a long one, but it's beautiful, and now that the leaves are all fallen, I can see the homes, and today noticed this (click to enlarge it):

What a lovely thing to come across.

So as usual, the boys had an awesome time in their nature class, and for once, I spent the afternoon the way I wanted to.

This evening R is sleeping at a friend's house, and once E is tucked into bed, I'll be settling into my own with my husband and a movie.

Life is good.