Stepping Stones

It's a kind of dreary Memorial Day - over cast, passing rain, humid - not really a day I'd like to spend outside. The boys (x3) and I finally got around to making our stepping stones today. I bought them about a year ago and it seemed like a good activity to keep us busy. We had four stepping stones total - two of this style and two of this style. Directions were fairly straight forward, but what I'd do differently would be to 1) use a bucket that has a smooth bottom and 2) when adding cement to bucket, make sure the bag is held close until almost touching the bottom of the bucket. It's a nasty smelling powder that seems to take flight easily, so don't just dump it in at any level.

Here are some pictures, at various stages, of our stepping stones:

Pressing broken glass, glass pebbles, and mosaics into cement.

Mixing up the next batch of cement for Thing Two to start on his stepping stone.


Still mixing the cement while Thing One continues to work on his.

Finished stepping stones.
Top left is Thing One's - no particular pattern.
Top Right is Hubby's - a guitar.
Lower left is Thing Two's - star flowers on a starry night.
Lower Right is mine - no particular pattern, just worked on balance.

Pizza Night

It's been about 8 years. Eight years of making homemade pizza, from scratch, most every Friday night. There have been some weeks, over the years that have been skipped, because were dining with family or friends (at their house) and there have been some weeks that we order in. Mostly, though, we make our dough in the bread maker, make the sauce, and go from there.

Today was a first. The first time we made individual pizzas and the first time photos where taken (dear hubby even suggested that we should take pictures - guess he knows I like to blog). Here's a look into some of the pizzas.















Here are the hands of my all cheese child. The other pizza if for my meat loving son. Hubby's and mine are on the other tray.











Two trays worth of pizza's ready to go into the oven.

Childhood relived

I got to relive a bit of my childhood today. When I was about 7 or 8, living in Fayetteville, NC (location doesn't matter as much) the summer held a special place for me. It was time for going to the water slide park, military pool and contemplating going off of the high dive, and most of all making a fort under the redwood picnic table.

Those days, fort days, I'd bring out all sorts of stuff for under the table. My sleeping bag, little radio, coloring books and crayons, dolls I'm sure. It was just a lot of fun. About two years ago (Mother's Day 2007 I believe), my parents asked if I'd like the table and benches. I said yes, in a heart beat, all the while remembering those days. I so wanted to share those memories with my boys.

Today, the boys were out front somewhere, and getting a bit bored. I took a couple table clothes and put them over the table and benches and then called the boys back. There was some rumbling, until they saw what I'd done. Quickly, I was voted "The Best Mommy in the World!!" Following are some pictures:




You can just make out Thing Two crawling in. He's wearing a blue shirt with white sleeves and is to the right of the plaid table cloth.







Thing one enjoying a moment while Thing two gathers more stuff.












Entrance to their fort!























Just chillin' in their summer spot!

Last Day of School

Thing One and I finished up testing today; he had two sections left. So, after returning from the Post Office, we had an "end of the school year meal". Going to fast food, just wasn't going to cut it for me, so I let them pick what they wanted from home. Both originally asked for peanut butter on graham crackers. I surprised them by also putting on this dark chocolate spread we found at World Market this past weekend. The combination was actually pretty good.

We'll take the rest of this week off and all of next week before starting our "summer school" session. Nothing major going on for that, just mainly review of a few things that they seemed to have a hard time committing to memory. Hopefully it will be fun.

Saturday Comics

Year End!!

The boys and I are ready for the year to be over. It's been a great year; we've grown, we've learned, we've had fun.

Earlier today we wrapped up most of our testing for the year. Just a couple more tests on Monday, for Thing One, then head out to the post office to mail them off. To me, the year isn't over until the tests are packaged up, have the proper postage and left at the Post Office. THEN, we'll have some sort of year end party

Already looking forward to next year, though. I really enjoy looking at new stuff, dreaming of fun stuff to do, and the planning doesn't frighten me like it did two years ago. So, here's what's shaping up for next year:

Thing One:

• Finish up Volume 4 of Five in a Row
• Volume 1 of Beyond Five in a Row
• Math U See (last bit of Gamma and on to Delta)
• Sequential Spelling
• Either Analytical Grammar or Simply Grammar

Thing Two:

• Various books from Five in a Row beginning with Volume 1 and ending with Volume 3 (however far we get is how far we get)
• Math U See Alpha
• Possibly Sequential Spelling as well or just homemade spellings of relevant words or word families (yes, similar to Sequential Spelling)
• English for the Thoughtful Child

It's my desire to expose them to more Art, Nature, Science, and Spanish. Whatever kind of bunny trails happen as a result of learning will explored as fully as possible.

Summer Reading List

Have you ever felt the tug of the Holy Spirit, leading toward a particular book. That's how I feel about this book: The Power of a Praying Parent by Stormie OMartian. Below is the description from Amazon. We're almost finished with our school year, just a couple more days of testing, and summer will begin. This will be first on my list. Here's the description of the book, from Amazon:

After decades of raising her own children along with her husband, Michael, Stormie looks back at the trials and joys of parenting and the power found in praying for her kids. In 30 easy–to–read chapters, she shares from personal experience as to how parents can pray for their children’s

• safety
• character development
• school experiences
• marriage
• and so much more

Featured in this edition, Stormie’s grown–up children, Amanda and Christopher, reflect on the way their praying parents raised them—and what a difference it made.

Perfect for new moms and dads as well as those a little further along in the journey, The Power of a Praying® Parent is a must–have for anyone caring for a child.

So, what is on your reading list this summer?

Trees and Turtles

We had a "Mother's Day" cook out yesterday. While our boys and their cousin were playing out back, they came across a turtle. Not to uncommon around here as we back up to woods.

In other news, the Oak Tee in our front year was looking pretty sick. It had a lot of dead limbs on it. Fortunately is was cheaper to trim the tree up than pay the deductable if a limb fell on the car.



















Because there were dead limbs everywhere on the tree, J.L. Tree's had to bring in a "bucket" truck. It held the boys interest for only a short time.








There were a number of limbs, that when they fell, jabbed the ground hard enough to "stand up". Was a little slow with the camera to get a picture of one that was probably 5 inches across.









These post pictures aren't the greatest. Might try again on a sunnier day.

Happy Mother's Day!!

Totally forgot my "Cartoon Saturday" postings. A good Mother's Day will have to do.

Family Circus

By Bil Keane

Testimony to Five in a Row

In Language Arts today, Thing One worked on letter writing. One he choose to write, was a thank you note to Steve and Jane Lambert, as well as their daughter Becky Jane, author's of Five in a Row (Becky wrote Beyond FIAR). He is just so excited about FIAR. He really enjoys being read to, the lessons are enjoyable and hands on. For an ADHD child, it's a wonderful unit study, with a lot of topics covered in different ways. This is done, in such a way, that it's not boring or obviously "We just did this last week!" type thing.

Thank you Lambert family for sharing your lesson plans with the rest of us!

Saturday comics

Looked around on the internet for a comic I liked. Fortunately, this Pickles one didn't take to long to find.