March in all it's craziness, part 2

A trip to a different park. At which I managed to get them to pose for a decent picture. Don't they look like three peas in a pod?


#3 climbing higher and higher, and #2 waiting his turn.
#4 flew down the slide. His hair caught up with him at the bottom.


My backyard this morning, March 28, 2009. You'd think this was Michigan instead of Oklahoma. What happened to spring?

Boomtown Bonanza GiveAway

My friend Marietta over at The Bookworm's Booklist is hosting a giveaway of the book Boomtown by Nowen N. Particular.

The book sounds wonderful - and I hope we win it because I'd love to read it with #2 - and if we don't win it I'm going to have to buy it - even if I have to *gasp* pay FULL PRICE. So, I hope we win - but you should go enter just in case she doesn't draw our name out of her proverbial hat! :)

#3 turns 3

Feathering my nest....

I didn't realize that I haven't posted in over a month. I've been working hard to prepare our home for the arrival of #5 - cleaning, organizing, getting school stuff ready for the rest of the year, selling things we don't need, buying things we do need, and creating more space in general.

We have had major renovations to one bathroom and are working on the second one. We've added many cube-shelves to our playroom and we are working on some new habits regarding toy-usage and clean-up time. I've re-organized most of our storage areas and gotten rid of countless things we don't need, want or use. We put up four Rain Gutter Bookshelves and are planning a couple more because they are even more handy than we thought they would be - and they look COOL! All the bookcovers become wall-art. See? Here's one:

My little closet-office has been cleaned out and rearranged so that #2 and I can sit in here for his morning written work. That is working nicely because we've modified our family's routine to include the King playing with #3 and #4 while #2 and I have a little schooltime early in the morning before the King leaves for work. Because #2 is highly distractable, this is working fairly well.

Most importantly, I've spent time with my children - we've worked together and played together and generally enjoyed each other. We've read some good books, spent a lot of time outside, built and shopped and had an all-around good time.

Conversations in the grocery store....

It's Field Trip Friday, so #2 finished his week's work early this morning and we ran out the door to go meet our homeschool group. We had planned for #4 to stay with Gramma (She's such a blessing to us!), and once we got over there, #3 asked to stay too, so it was just me and #2 for a trip to Reasor's to learn how a grocery store works from the inside out. Sounds like a weird field trip, huh? It was actually pretty cool - they divided us into small groups and took us behind the scenes into the produce storage and the deli preparation area and the bakery and meat packing area. We saw the loading docks and everything, including the inside of a Hiland dairy truck and a Coca-Cola truck. Did you know that the new produce is always at the top and in the back? It really does pay to reach a little farther because it will last longer in your fridge.

After the field trip, #2 and I stopped at Whole Foods, where we greatly amused an elderly lady. She was standing behind us in line at the meat counter, and she was listening to our conversation, which was centered around a tower of canned tomatoes. I called it a pyramid at first, but was corrected. "Mom, this is more like the (step) pyramid we built with Legos than the Egyptian pyramid that we built with Wedgits. It's a ziggurat." The elderly lady behind us giggled and said to her companion, "He must be homeschooled. Those kids are so smart."

Amen. Now go tell that to state Sen. Mary Easley and state Sen. Jim Wilson.

Caution: Treasures are being stolen!

My kids are playing in the playroom. They really want to go paint, but I'm not sure that I'm up to that kind of mess. So, #2 is building with Wedgits, and #3 and #4 are causing general mayhem with the Little People and Mr. Potato Head, who currently has an arm where his nose goes.

BUT, there is evidence of our current school work in #2's play, and that is so much fun to see. He's built a pyramid, and he's making alarm sounds and saying, "Caution! Treasures are being stolen!" over and over in a voice that would probably be annoying if it weren't so darn cute.

What it made me think about was all those little moments with my children when I let myself get frustrated because I'm not "Accomplishing Anything" (other than childcare). Oh my! There are so many moments that I let my lack of progress on other projects spoil my enjoyment of my sweet boys and their growing and training. Talk about stolen treasures.

In case you were curious....

Bookworm #5 is, indeed, another boy.

And I've been working hard on my nesting project list - because it's the second trimester - and that's the time for getting things done. :)