Chinese Gardens

The sun was shining and entrance to the local Chinese gardens was free. How could we resist? It's a lovely haven downtown, even if the Suz thought we were headed for China itself. The visit was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

 
  

Easter Egg Hunt

(I just now realized that Blogger has eaten all my text on the past few posts. And I had so many happy things written down and now I can't remember much of what I said.)

*SIGH*

I do remember that Ziggy was the one pushing his ol' Ma and Pa to do an egg hunt in the back yard this year. In our geezer-like ways, we had tried to convince the boys to hide and then hunt for the empty eggs themselves, but that was no good, no good at all. The Zig put on his best puppy dog eyes and asked for stuffed eggs, hid by the Kill-Joys themselves. 

So, that's what we did, and who knew? We all had such a happy, fun time on a happy sunshiny day.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Easter Dinner

Ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, rolls, and an old bottle of sparkling cider left over from Christmas. Happy holidays!

Coloring Easter Eggs

We have Pa to thank for this rollicking good time.

 

 

 

 

 

Homeschool Sports Class

One of our local community centers is especially generous to the homeschool community, hosting classes in multiple subjects, one of those being "phys ed." And seeing as March is one of our more antsy months of the year, I signed my kids up for the class.

Each week, the kids played in a huge gymnasium with about twenty other homeschooled kids, most of them six to nine years old. The class lasted an hour, and for the most part, the instructor had the kids playing games that included RUNNING. God bless that young man -- for he understands grade schoolers in the spring.

The class included a whole mix of games and sports, and my boys were so happy to participate in the class and get some of their winter wiggles OUT. Suz wasn't old enough to take the class, so she hung out with me and her other four-year-old buddies on the side. Several of our friends signed up for the same class, which made the whole thing super fun for the moms. Oh, and the kids too, but since when is their education about them?

I didn't get many good pictures, as the lighting is weird in the gym, and the kids were always moving moving moving. But I did snap a couple of good ones right before class had started one day, when the Suz was also allowed on the floor:

 

The class was a fun time for us all, and I certainly plan to sign the kids up when the rainy blahs roll around again next winter. Yay for group games and exercise with someone else teaching the kids!

Ten Grands

Each year for the past few years, our city has hosted a "Ten Grands" concert which includes, and I know this might seem obvious, ten grand pianos on stage. There are people playing those pianos, of course, though I will say--the sight of that many grands alone is stunning indeed.

Students are given free tickets to the midday concert, and we all went for the second year in a row. We were part of a group of homeschoolers from across the city--and would you believe it, there were 900 of us in all. Nine hundred. That's a big group, and we took up the bulk of the floor seating at the concert hall.

Pa had the day off and was able to join us at the concert. I couldn't take any pictures inside the hall, so you'll just have to look at a sign and then one of us standing outside.

 

 

But it was a lovely concert, you can rest assured.  

The producer of the concert makes sure to include (incredibly talented) students playing the pianos as well. It's nice for the kids in the audience to see that music is awesome and wonderful and everyone should play the piano, amen and amen.

Wild Kratts

All three of my kids have been watching a show on public television called "Wild Kratts." It's their reward at the end of the day for working extra hard at their school work. Oh, who am I kidding. It's on at 4:30 and that's when I fix dinner. So, YAY ME, I get a half-hour segment of peace.

But we were talking about Wild Kratts, yes we were. Anyhoo, the show is all about animals and is hosted by the Kratt brothers, a couple of men about my age who are earning a living entertaining my kids.

So when I saw that the brothers were going to be putting on a LIVE show at our local science museum, I twisted my friend's arm into taking three-fifths of my family with her. She was successful in getting seats, because apparently she is awesome, and so I sent Pa and the boys off with her husband and her and their kids. Five little boys in total, you see.

Ziggy tells me that seeing the Kratt brothers in person was THE BEST DAY OF HIS LIFE. I kid you not. It made his year. He loves animals, and the show is about animals, so the whole thing was a match made in heaven.

Campers enjoyed the live show as well, though he did mention that the room was "awfully crowded" and that he would have preferred a much calmer type of program. Thus proving to me that he too will not like rock concerts, as the apple does not fall far from the tree.

 

After my astute mind picked up on the fact that the Kratt brothers always wear the same color shirts (Martin the older brother wears blue; Chris the younger wears green), I determined that I would search HIGH AND LOW until I found something similar for my boys. 

And yes, ma'am, I did.

 

Those two boys were ECSTATIC when they opened their shirts on Easter, and they've worn them every day since. And yes, they've been washed, at least four times. Each night at bedtime, the boys lay their shirts (and now, tan shorts to complete the outfit) out to be ready for the next day, and from the second they wake until the second they sleep, they wear their Kratt brothers' attire. Ziggy tells me that every day is now "the best day of his life."

(How is that not the sweetest thing ever?)

(Shirts are from Old Navy, five bucks a piece. I either need to stock up on shirts or stock up on detergent.)

We Kept Running And Running And Giggling

I discovered a long time ago that the Suz likes to run. No surprise. She likes anything that is fast, faster, and extra-fast. She also tends to trip and fall down, and has spent her walking lifetime perfecting that maneuver. She falls down so often that she hardly ever cries. It's just part of who she is. Can't stop to cry! Gotta get up and run! And run! And run and run and run!

She asks me eighty-seven times a day if we're going to take a walk around the block. Correction, eighty-seven times before lunch, and forty-three times after dinner. So sometimes just the two of us will strap on our running shoes and go running around the 'hood.

The best part about the Suz is that she giggles the whole time she's running. That's how much she loves it. Just giggles and giggles and giggles and then has to catch her breath because of all the giggling. (Thank heavens for the breaks, goodness know I need them.) The next best thing about running with the Suz is that I can push her and push her, and she rarely tires out. That's good for my workout. But the best best part is that people pay so much attention to the cute, giggling girl that they don't notice the jiggling lug heaving behind her. You'll notice I take pictures of solely the cute one.

Speech Therapy, Round Two

The Suz just finished her second round of speech therapy. In order to qualify, she had to test quite a bit below average than her peers, and she easily did that last fall. So, for most of the school year, I've been taking her to a 45-minute class each week where she gets help with her speech.

Make no mistake, speech therapy is no miracle cure--it's actually the parents who have to do the hard work of working with and correcting the child at home. Kudos to the Pa for being the more consistent of the two of us as he was quite instrumental in getting the Suz back up to speed.

Anyway, there were three other little four-year-old girls in Susie's speech class, and she consistently out-personalitied them all. The other three girls were shy and reserved, scared of their own voice, much like I was at that age. They found a fast friend in the Suz who was always ready and willing to "talk" for them, regardless of how sloppy and spitty it might have sounded.

That's my girl. So helpful.

Her teacher adored the Suz, well, for the most part. I mean, sometimes the Excitement Level got out of hand and sometimes the Suz had to be reminded that it was someone else's turn to talk, seeing as it was SPEECH therapy, and not LISTEN therapy. 

Just recently, Suz was tested again because we all felt she had reached a point where she was back up to normal for her age. She passed with flying colors, delighting the two testing ladies to no end. Truly. She is the child who fully engages with adults and loves to participate and tells funny little stories about her world. I've never met another child as likeable as her, God bless her gene pool, as those traits are severely lacking in someone like me.

During Susie's last session, the teacher had a little graduation party for her, complete with cookies and snacks that I'd brought in for the occasion. It was her way of celebrating Susie's progress and allowing the other girls to say goodbye to their smiley, talkative friend.

I don't know yet if she'll need therapy in the future--time will tell. But for now--good job to the girl on talking more clearly!

 


 

Go Tell The Rhody Garden The Old Gray Goose Has Hatched

There's yet another garden inside our city limits, and it's full of rhododendrons. And even when the rhododendrons aren't in bloom, which is roughly fifty weeks out of the year, it's still a lovely place to visit. Trails of discovery, man-made waterfalls, bridges, and ducks and geese a-plenty.

The kids and I met up with my friend and her three boys, smack dab in the middle of the day in the middle of the week. The place was a ghost town, complete with six little shriekers running around and scaring the already frazzled moms.

My friend was thoughtful enough to bring baggies of animal food, one for each child to feed the ducks and geese. The Suz was quick to use up her food within ten seconds of entering the garden. Ziggy used his in moderation, and the Campers saved most of his and then doled it out to those who deserved it, meaning, those who used their first batch responsibly. I don't know where he gets these crazy ideas; I blame it on the Pa.

*COUGH COUGH*

We also saw some eggs that had recently hatched a duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, duck, GOOSE!! Okay, I don't really know which one, I'm a bit clueless, but it was the egg of one of those animals. Zig The Animal Lover would have liked to take the empty shell home to love it and hug it and call it "George." Meanwhile, Suz In All Her Delicateness was attempting to stomp on said shell.

Before we left the garden, all three of my kids had gotten their feet soaking wet, and Campers went so far as to fall in the water up to his waist. I must be half-numb because this sort of thing feels normal--expected even. I suppose once the kids are grown I'll have to resort to pushing Pa in the pond just for old times' sake.

Enjoy the rhodys.