Just so you know...

I'm having one of those days...

I woke up feeling lighter. Even though two boys drive me to the brink with the morning routine, my eyes are smiling. I got a good cup of coffee at the bank (yes my bank serves coffee for $1). I'm really happy today - no reason. I just woke up this way. It's one of those days that my heart is singing.

Smile.

Tadpoles

The frogs have been busy in our neighborhood. Ian sleeps with his window open "just a crack" so that he can hear them at night.

We finally (do you hear the 7 and 5 year old angst in that) went in search of the tadpoles.

The walk to the park

That basket is for the frogs he's going to bring home

All those black specks are tadpoles

No frogs to be found

Sometimes....

he scares me - a little bit.

For example:

Last night we all went to bed early. The weather was terrible all weekend and we were getting on each others nerves - in a serious way. Everyone was in his or her room reading or playing with action figures or just resting. When Kal came into our room I was working on a crossword. Here's the exchange.

Kal: What are you working on?
Me: Crossword (one word answers work the best to keep the concentration going)
K: How many have you done?
Me: 2, but the last one stumped me. What's a word that means the same as eggshaped?
Simon: oval (quietly)
K: How many letters?
Me: 4, I know I'm over thinking this...
S: oval (a little louder)
K: ellipse?
Me: 4 letters - means eggshaped
S: It's an OVAL (shouted from his bedroom).
Me: WOW that fits - Thanks buddy.
K: (whispers) that's kind of scary isn't it??

Late night reading

Last night I walked past Ian's room around 8:30 and he was reading. This is nothing new as he has relaxed with books before going to sleep his entire life. I still read most nights to both boys and then they look at books by themselves until they fall asleep.

This was a first (that I observed). He was propped up on some pillows in the glow of an LED reading light. He was reading a book about pet frogs aloud. When he came to a word he didn't know, he would stop, sound it out and finish the sentence. Then he would read the whole sentence again. He was putting his reading strategies to work.

It was one of those heart swelling moments that mom's have. I worry about my Ian - I probably don't have to, but I do. He is a smart kid, but I worry that his teachers don't differentiate for his learning style. He's a busy kid and sometimes that can get on peoples' nerves. This was one of those moments where I felt that he was going to be ok.

Where has the week gone?

My gosh. Tomorrow is Friday. Can you believe it?? This week has flown by for me. It hasn't been busy - no extra work or school meetings. I actually got to go to Monday night knitting and exercise class on Tuesday night. I think the week off from work was just what I needed because I was dragging for what seemed like year (from mid January to the end of March).

My flower gardens are all cleaned off and waiting for mulch - maybe this weekend. There was snow on them this morning, but it was melting as I left for work.

I've also been busy in the craft room too. I have the wall hanging ready to quilt (de ja vu - I think I wrote that before). I was looking at the stack of left over fabric and realized that I only had enough to put a hanger on the back, not enough for the binding. I do however have a really nice project bag made from some of the material in the quilt - guess I didn't figure I needed that!

Magic loop - I'm in love with you. Here are the class project socks.
I've got another pair almost done. And figured out how to do the barn-raising squares magic loop style (two of those done).

Reading over this makes me think I am in a manic crafting phase - not so much - just enjoying learning something new.

Take care everyone. Stay warm.

Kite flying

The boys were supposed to get kites in their baskets (read Kal left them in his truck and they saw them), so this morning we went to the soccer field and flew kites. It was really windy and the kites really took off.
Simon's IronMan went up without any problems. It stayed up the entire time we were at the field.



Ian's dragon was another story. It had some issues and Ian tried to wait patiently.

It finally took off!

Knuckleheads

We had an enjoyable time at Knuckleheads in the Dells. Ian has wanted to go there with the family since he went for a birthday party months ago (I DEFINITELY would not take a group of children there - just me- give it a try if you want).

We rode all of the rides several times. Simon's favorite was the bumper cars. We had a blast on those.

Ian's favorite was the little go-carts (we didn't tell him there were bigger ones - bad us).

I enjoyed the little roller-coaster. I think Simon and I rode it a half a dozen times - at least. We stopped because the last time he bumped his head on the side of the car.

We ate at Buffalo Phil's - ehh. I don't have to go back.
Do you see the wing coming out of the side of Simon's head? It's a female grouse or pheasant.

Here's one of the conversations that took place:
S: Hey, look at its eyes.
I: Yah...
S: Why isn't it blinking?
I: Because it's dead (said in a manner of a 7 year old who holds all of the world's knowledge).