The Easter Post

Easter 2012

 My bf's dog escapes for a day and a half and turns up in my front yard urinating on my daffodils.

Of course.

The perfect ending to a wonderful day.

Spring break, day 1

Please tell me homeschoolers do not have this idyllic scenario every Monday morning.  Rain pouring down, windows open, no rush to wake kids at 7:15 a.m., coffee for Mom, and three games of Candyland by 9:15 a.m.

Ahhhh.

I imagine not, but good grief I could get into days like today.  I even squeezed in a workout before 7.  On the list of things to do today are:

More caffeine

Trip to the lego store to make "lego guys"

Babysit a friend's one year old for a few hours

Whew.  I think I'll make it.

This weekend's fossil hunting trip was another success.  If anyone tells my children that their Poppy had anything to do with the placement of those teeth, I will hunt you down with my bag of rocks and knock you down.  

Sharks were in the water Saturday, and there was competition on the beach.  The crowds come running when multiple megaladon teeth are being found in a five foot square area.  I had to ward one man off who was coming to see 'what they look like' so he could go scavenge for his own.

Scavenge he and his family did, indeed.  After disappearing for an hour or so, they came waddling out of a cove down the beach that we didn't know existed.  Of course, seeing people hauling out huge loads of rocks in their shirts prompted my Dad to ask the man, "Did you find any fossils?"  "Nah," he grunted in between puffs of his cigarette.  "Just some pea gravel."   

We got a big kick out of the pea gravel comment.  If pea gravel looks like that, then I've got some oceanfront property to sell you.  In Arizona.

So of course my Dad is already planning his next trip to the cove.  These fossil hunters are competitive to say the least.

The find of my life - a sea urchin embedded in limestone.  Be still my heart.

No more fossil stories and pictures for a few months, promise.  I realize this subject is interesting to about three people.  And they're all in my family.

January thoughts

It's the lull in the semester, the calm before.....Spring Break?  I have to admit, January is probably my least favorite month of the year.  It's the month that has really nothing special and just sort of drags on and on.  I guess it has MLK day which I'll take.  I will take any day that has me in comfortable clothes and both of my kids attached to my hip.

Really.  I thought my almost five year old would be a little less co-dependent at this age, but he's really my shadow a good bit of any 24 hour period.  He wants me in his room when he's getting dressed or playing with toys, he wants me sidled next to him when he's on the couch playing his DS commenting on every move.  I used to blame his 'alone room avoidance' to the scary pole lamp in his bedroom I named Larry (in an attempt to take away it's monster-like qualities) but I think he just likes me.  I'll take it.

My daughter is a little less of a shadow.  As in, she lives and breathes to go to school and socialize and lives and breathes for the next activity.  There is not a day that is too packed for her.  I recently asked her if she would like to go to school all day at our house with just me and her brother and her jaw hit the floor.  A good reassurance to me that we're following the right path for her, but sometimes nagging hormonal moments make me say ridiculous things.

I added up the costs of Suzuki institute this summer and my jaw hit the floor.  Like, I could take my family to DW each summer for the cost of a violin camp.  Someday when my kids ask me why we hunted a lot of fossils scattered throughout the State, I will have to inform them that I blew all of our vacation money on their education.  I may be holding my own carwash on the side of Mardel's and forcing all of my friends and family to 'scrub for Suzuki.'  Has a nice ring, right?

Going to eat some really greasy chicken and drink lots of fizzy soda tonight.

Going to get my sweet niece tomorrow night.

Going to have a little girl time with my thrillseeker tomorrow.  Thinking pedicures and shopping are involved.  Or according to her, hot chocolate and shopping.

Going to get off of her and lament that I just taught my son to say 'earlier' as opposed to 'early ago.'  I hate correcting sweet baby phrases.

Have a great weekend and a beauuuuuutiful MLK day.  

Christmas 2011...sort of

I just realized that I don't have one good photo from Erick's house or my parent's house at Christmas.  For my children, here is the Christmas recap of 2011:

Trip down south for a day - Christmas with Erick's family.

Home to meet friends from Colorado staying over the Holidays.

Christmas eve and morning church services.

Tons and tons of gourmet food prepared by said friends from Colorado.

Impromptu dinners with family and friends.

More food, more chasing kids around the house, more food, and more food.

The end.

It was a wonderful Christmas.  Tomorrow we are going hiking and hunting for fossils with both sides of the family, so I shall take the camera along.  Who says good Christmas pictures can't happen two days before the new year holding handfuls of ammonites?  

Sweet Christmas babies

Matt is undoubtedly arranging music, Tamara researching her next gourmet meal, and I'm just pretending to fit in a crowd of really smart people.

There is NOTHING more attractive then men baking and handling homemade bread.  Nothing.

A song

The week before Christmas my frenzied life gave me....

Two rockin' concerts,
One unwatched purse,
One stolen card,
a ton of purchases,
Fifteen hundred dollars (fraud)
One police report,
One Catholic wedding,
One Sandi Patti,
Thirty-seven ornaments,
two homeroom parties,
One Dirty Santa,
One school performance,
And a dirty houuuusssseeeeee......

And it's not yet done,
But that's half the fun,
This is a cruddy soooonnnngggg........

But it's a blog and it may be the laaaasssst. (for a few days)

Whew.

Perfect Saturday.  

No plans.  No obligations.  No commitments.

Just jammmies and lots and lots of Christmas music.  

Have a wonderful weekend!