Plethora

Yesterday we shopped for shoes and enjoyed the Milwaukee County Zoo.

Today - a plethora of things to do:

• National Geographic Kids - articles on Greek mythology and Ancient Egypt, comics and puzzles
• Ben 10 Vilgax attacks on Wii
• Lego Jr Magazine coloring page
• Build lego dinosaurs and race cars
• 3DS AR card games
• Fossil Fighters for DS
• Dinosaur research
• Eras of Life poster
• Outdoor play - "Legendary Sevendary", scooter riding, and more
• Falafel, hummus, baba ganoush, and couscous salad 
• Lego Heroica - Draida Bay
• Discuss lego contest rules
• Tripod web gun
• Re-creation of zoo fences with playing cards

New! Improved! Up-to-the-minute posts!

I've been changing things up here today. The biggest change is that I've figured out how to post by email from my cellphone, as you can see below. So, maybe, since my cellphone is with me virtually 24-7, I can keep this a bit more up-to-date. Correspondingly, I also may be transitioning more to a scrapbook format, with more pictures and fewer words. On the other hand, since previous posts have been few and far between, maybe (hopefully) with more frequent posts, there will actually  be more words. Time will tell.

A few words about the past week;

Today we enjoyed going to the nature center for a pancake breakfast and to see how maple syrup is made. Did you know it takes 40 gallons of maple sap to make one gallon of syrup? And that syrup can be made from any of the trees in the maple family, including the box elder tree? Just a few of the pearls of wisdom we gleaned today. Another: pancakes come slowly at all-you-can-eat fundraiser breakfasts. Oh well, they tasted good.

Friday I took Viktor to the children's museum in Milwaukee for his "Valentine date". We had a lot of fun, just the two of us.

Tuesday, Eddie and I saw a local performance of Treasure Island, and had a grand time. It has been quite a while since I saw a live play ... and the Q&A after the performance was almost as entertaining as the show itself.

Some other things we have been talking about this week ... fish, what kinds there are, and whether yellowfin tuna would make a good pet (not unless you have an aquarium the size of a house).

We have been playing a lot of computer games lately. Some of our most recent favorites are at physics.com: Civiballs, Castle Crusher, Roly Poly Monsters, and more. As seen in one of the photos below, the whiteboards at our house also get a lot of use, often to create games that are variations on the theme of our most popular computer game of the day.

We visited the bookstore Thursday to pick up the last two in our current series of warrior cats books by Erin Hunter. Couldn't pass up the opportunity to pick up some games, and toys as well as a math workbook for Remy. He picked it out all by himself. It has a shark on th front. Okay. I wonder if it will be used at all? I also grabbed a tidbit from the checkout line that showed how to make Kirigami flowers, which we had fun cutting yesterday.

It takes a long time to make a pearl

It's been a long time since I posted, but I've been inspired. And I sense that there are many waves thrashing about in my head, energy that needs to be released before I drown in the hurricane. This is always my way - to come and go - and while it may not leave me much readership, the most important audience will always be here.

Learning Curve

Unsurprisingly, the next two days didn't go as well as the first.

Unsurprisingly, because I got caught in the web and didn't get enough sleep on Wednesday night.

Unsurprisingly, because what goes up must come down. If every day was spectacular, then spectacular would be ordinary.

Unsurprisingly, because I have been distracted by other issues, and have not been paying full attention to the boys.

Nonetheless, we are all learning.

I am learning that although I can enlist the boys' help in my projects, there comes a point when they've had enough. Even if I am antsy to get something finished, completion can usually wait until the boys have had the attention they need and deserve. Of course, this is a lesson I suppose I will have to keep practicing.

I am learning that V won't take naps in the afternoon at home anymore. So, early afternoon is probably a good time for a bike (trailer) ride, or a walk (with stroller), or a field trip. At least he'll still sleep when he's strapped in.

I am learning that R & E - especially E, get antsy in the late morning. They need a snack and something active to do at that time.

R seems to be thriving - even these last two days when he hasn't been getting as much attention, homeschooling suits him.

E apparently needs something else, or something more. Perhaps it is only my distraction that has been a problem, but I'll have to keep an eye on him, to find out what we do right when we have a good day.

And what have the boys been learning? Among other things, how to make Jello.

First days

We officially started school yesterday with a first day field trip to a nearby amusement park. I wanted the boys to know that the Oyster school would be fun. Just to be sure we were learning something, we checked out a bunch of books about roller coasters and amusement parks from the library on Monday. We read from them for about a half hour Monday afternoon, and tried to pay attention to how the different roller coasters work while at the park. Honestly, though, we were just having a heck of a lot of fun. It was a really good chance to connect with the older boys, and with my aunt, who kindly agreed to accompany us even though she doesn't like roller coasters. E was an inch short for many of the rides, so we compensated by riding the two coasters he could board multiple times together. I rode some other coasters with R, also multiple times and learned ... that either the rides are getting older, or I am, or both. One of the rides I remember being smooth 20 years ago gave me a headache yesterday. Oh well - worth the price, for a good start to the year.

Today, the boys seemed to be ready to learn. There were points over the past few months when I was terrified of what it would really be like trying to teach the boys at home. They seem to appreciate my suggestions for organizing the day, however, and we had a good morning. For the first time in as long as I can remember, I had both R & E on my lap at the same time, while we looked at atlases, and discussed whatever looked interesting. When they got restless, I sent them outside for "recess", and later they helped to plan, shop for, and prepare dinner.

I am sure there will be down days, but right now I am enjoying the ride.