Mom & Pop Home School

This morning I was reviewing my lesson for church and Sunshine wandered in with a sad, slightly horrified look on her face.

“Oh no, Mom!” she moaned.
I asked her what was the matter.

“My mind!” She exclaimed. “It fell out!” Then suddenly her face lit up, she smiled and looked relieved, as if she’d just realized something. “That’s ok,” she declared confidently, “I don’t need it anymore.” And she scampered off to play.

And you know, she’s probably right. I lost my mind years ago, and nobody has noticed.

So Friday this week was wild!

Cricket had been complaining of dizziness on Thursday, and I had let him have a day off school with the understanding that he would rest and drink lots of fluids, since dehydration can cause that, and it’s so very dry here right now that everything seems to be shrivelling, cracking and blowing away, so hydration is an issue. But Friday morning he said he wasn’t feeling any better. We puttered around and rested up until lunch time (another sick day, more or less…he did a few “educational” things, but I’m not really counting it as a day of school). Then we packed ourselves up (except for Pop who was chained to his computer working) and headed down to the local Carl’s Jr. to meet up with a local homeschooling group for the first time. I had a great time chatting with the other moms, and Sunshine found some little girls to chase around with, but Cricket had a hard time with the noise levels, and we had to leave while things were still in full swing. I think we’ll try another activity in a different location when he’s feeling better and see if it works out a little better. They seem like a friendly bunch.

So after lunch we (more…)

The weirdest thing happened yesterday. I left the house in the middle of the morning to go to the store. About a block and a half from my house, a red minivan pulled in behind me. I turned left at the edge of the subdivision. It followed me. I turned right at the next intersection. It followed me. A left, another left, through several lights, and onto the freeway–the minivan was still behind me. It got off at the same exit, and turned right, still smack on my bumper. Down the road and into the parking lot at the store, and the minivan was still there. At this point, I would probably have been freaking out a little and engaging in some evasive maneuvers–had I not know that it was my very good friend B. from up the street heading out to do some shopping of her own. Har har, I know…I’m soooo funny. She thought so too, when I jokingly threatened to call the police.

It had been a while since we chatted; the last time we spoke I was feeling pretty overwhelmed, so she asked how things were going, homeschooling in particular. I told her (more…)

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Thousands of birds fall dead from the sky for no apparent reason?

Ok, I know this is small potatoes compared to a lot of people’s blogs, but I have officially passed the 1000 hits mark! I’m psyched! (Especially since it doesn’t count when I come here.) I can’t believe you people are actually coming here…and coming back…lol. And so many of you have given me such great feedback in person and at my hangout, www.thehomeschoollibrary.com too. I’m so touched that y’all have taken an interest in us. So a big THANK YOU to all of you! And I hope to see you here again. Feel free to chime in on the comments, by the way. It gives me the warm fuzzies whenever I see non-spam posts in my moderation queue, even if I don’t know you in real life.
(Note: Today’s official hit count is 1003. Unique hit count is 272. Can you believe it? Lol.)

And here it is, straight from the innovative mind of Aunt W…the one and only crocheted cockroach. If you look closely there’s a crochet hook in the photo to give an idea of the size of this monstrosity. It has become a regular member of the menagerie of stuffed animals Cricket carries around to talk to. And there’s Bob over there on the right so you can see what a great job she did copying him.

Thanks, Aunt W.!

(Note: I brazenly swiped this picture from Aunt W’s blog.)

Funny how the two so frequently hold hands. Sunday was wonderful. Today….oh why doesn’t someone just shoot me! (That’s just a figure of speech, btw, for those of you who take language literally.)

First, Sunday. In spite of a definite spiritual bent, church has always been a challenge for Cricket. There are large masses of people moving around, talking to each other, sometimes making sudden noises at inappropriate times, and periodically bursting into song, all at more or less the same time but usually not quite at the same pitch. Let’s just say it’s not a very comfortable setting for a person with Asperger’s Syndrome. And when you’re a Mormon, it lasts for three hours each Sunday.

First there’s (more…)

They’re dead, Jim.

The last one passed peacefully from this mortal world yesterday at what I gather is a ripe old age for a painted lady butterfly. None of them are survived by any posterity in the form of little green eggs. The children are very sad about this. Mom is somewhat relieved.

I’m back. We survived Christmas. Well, ok, so the tree isn’t down yet, and the thank you notes have not been written and all that, but the presents are opened, the homemade cookies and candy have been made at home and delivered to neighborhood friends, the company has come and gone, and we’re all still in one piece–or at least in the appropriate number of unconnected pieces…you KNOW what I meant. I have more or less recovered from the bronchitis I contracted on the heels of the last cold (I’m so TIRED of being sick), and life is more or less returning to normal.

We had a lovely visit from a puppy named Duchess and that nice lady who drove her here…what was her name again….oh yes, Aunt W. When Duchess first arrived, Sunshine was on hand with a VERY enthusiastic greeting. Duchess, feeling a little startled, crouched an uttered a low growl at the flying blonde blur hurtling at her. Said blonde blur stopped short, squealed in delight, and exclaimed, “Mom! Duchess BURPED!” Aaaahhhhmmmmm….yeah. Burped. That’s just what she did alright, Sweetie. We’ll go with that story. The kids had a wonderful time playing with the puppy and teaching her bad habits that will take months to train out again. She was awfully sweet and cute (she’s a miniature pinscher–lap dog, attack style) and it was awfully fun to have her here (especially since she came with her own keeper to feed and walk her), but I must admit that it’s nice to be able to go up and switch laundry without climbing over the baby gate. The children’s pleas for a puppy are falling on deaf ears and a thoroughly hard heart. (more…)