Windows, for Dy

Fellow homeschool mommy and blogger Dy is rehabbing her home and has asked for help! (And how often do you get the chance to pitch in to something fun like helping someone create their forever home??) She is finishing up some windows and needs ideas for wood trim and for curtains. I can't even begin to offer how-to advice on the trim, but I did make the curtain panels hanging in my den, so THAT I can help with. So, with apologies to everyone else who just doesn't care, here are window pics for Dy:

 

 

No-See Dee-Cee

Yesterday I called my sister from my house, and when she heard my voice on the phone, she began to stutter and stammer until she finally spat out, "How are you calling me from home if you are in Washington, D.C.?"

How, indeed? The short answer is the obvious one: that I'm not in Washington, D.C. The fact that even my sister did not know that I was here and not there attests to the last-minute, fruit-basket-turnover nature of my weekend. Suffice it to say that I got a phone call Friday night informing me that my presence on the trip was no longer required, so I was off the hook. I spent the weekend waffling and being surprised to discover that, deep down, a large part of me wanted to go on this trip. But in the end I decided not to, for a whole mess o'reasons.

So this week I am at home while eldest babybird flits around the nation's capital. I thought I'd be moping around and wistfully wondering every few hours what "they" were doing right now. But no... I've been enjoying a relaxed pace of school with my other two birdies. Imagine - a school day that begins around 9 and ends around 2! With math after dinner as the only evening requirement!* It's wonderful.** I've also got some fun with Father Bird scheduled - a day trip to North Georgia tomorrow, and a class on Saturday at Starbucks where we're going to learn how to make mochas and capuccinos and lattes and all those yummy drinks we treat ourselves to every once in a while. (Okay, every week.) And today - the kids and I are taking my mom and dad to the GA Aquarium, which, as you know, is one of my favorite places in the world.

So this week I'm learning once again the truth of the words of the famous European philosopher, Mick Jagger:

You can't always get what you want...
But if you try sometimes, you just might find,
You get what you need.


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*Note and **Double Note: I have failed to mention here something absolutely life-giving that DH has done for me recently - he has temporarily taken over math with one of the boys. I had reached the point of meltdown a couple of weeks ago, and he graciously offered to tutor said boy for a while until harmony could be restored. Boy is happy that he has a more patient teacher - Mama is delighted that her school day is now manageable instead of completely and soul-suckingly overwhelming. Kudos to DH for his level head and generous spirit.

Snaggletooth

You know your baby is no longer a baby when she loses her front teeth. This last one fell out while she slept. If only other milestones were so easy!

School on Steroids

Science project, ds 1. Science project, ds 2. Science project, dd. Essay on Dante. Double Latin lessons. Vocab. Spelling. Saxon. Reading. Handwriting. Can you tell what the focus has been around here the past few days?

It's always hard settling back into school when you've had a little break. It's especially hard when you have deadlines built into your school. This Friday, for example, all three of my dc have to turn in a major science project that involves maps of biomes, topographical maps, food webs, pictures of relationships between organisms (like mating for life, or interspecies competition). Whew! How much of Mom's time does this require? HOURS.

At the end of this week, ds 1 and I leave for DC on our marathon, whirlwind tour. I think the trip will not be so bad, except for a) not enough sleep, and b) coming home on April Fool's Day. What would YOU say the likelihood is that a van full of 7th graders will refrain from trying to pull an April Fool's prank on the class mom? Yeah, exactly.

When I get back, though... science projects will be behind me. Whirlwind tours will be in the rearview. I am going to do something, anything, that is low-key. Relaxing. FUN. Like sitting around doing nothing. Yeah, that sounds appealing right now.

Ski Birdie Is Back!

Well, the Bird Family Ski Adventure is now complete, and it was good cold fun. Not too cold, mind you - we saw not a flake of fresh falling snow (except in the car on the way back to the airport). But Colorado had so much snow in January and February that there was still plenty left for us to ski on, and ski we did! Father Bird and I had one day of skiing together, then two more days of skiing with boys. At one point we tried to include babiest bird, but it took, oh, 30 seconds to realize she was not ready and needed to be back in ski school. BUT, by the last run of the last day of the trip, babiest bird was cruising down greens with the rest of us.

Here is the photographic evidence that Mamabird does, indeed, ski:

tubing 

kyl 

;lkj 

;lkjh