mathmom's blog

Luke has been busy.  On the first day he said that there was shrimp and octopus for snack, and he ate them all up so that no one else got any.  Then he played with his friend Annie on the playground and threw balls at her until she blew up. Today he collected rocks.  We counted, and he had 85 including the shell they gave him in class.  Apparently, there is a rock collecting contest and he and his friend are running neck and neck.  But (according to Luke) Luke is a better collector, and besides, he really likes collecting rocks.  I don't have to teach competitiveness to this boy. The prize is a cup full of shells...or is it a dragon...or maybe a treasure chest...or maybe more rocks...  It's hard to tell from what Luke says.  He's got me alternately laughing or tearing out my hair.  It's a good thing he's so cute.

Today they did: square dancing.  Ella had Luke, Amanda and me demonstrating the Virginia Reel. rounders (baseball) leather working cord making cooking a "hoe cake," using the butter and buttermilk they made yesterday recorder playing (no violin playing today) I'm sure there is something else. Ella is having so much fun---except for the dress, which is very hot and getting hotter.  She thinks the boys should dress more appropriately, but then they'd have to wear dresses until they're eight... Amanda had a fun time picking out things from the store... we did have to put some of them back, but she and Luke got parasols.  Ella got a pen and ink set.

...is awesome!  I knew I would like it when I found that the first thing that they did was issue colonial clothes (2 sets) to the kids.  But Ella and Amanda seem to like it too. Some of the things they're doing: fire making with flint necklaces quill writing violin/viola playing (Ella couldn't play the A-E combination on the viola...) marching to a nearby field with a fife/drum combination (the walk is less onerous with music, according to Ella) playing hoops and tug of war butter making (they're going to bake today) And that's just the first day! Ella complains that the boys just have to wear shirts while the girls have to wear a shift, a petticoat and a pinafore.  It's been cool today (80 degrees) but it's going to get up to the 90s tomorrow, I think. Anyhow, it's been pretty fun so far for them.  I'll write more later.

Monday: Haircut, swimming (interrupted by thunder) and taekwondo.  A very boring day =). Tuesday:  Went to the History museum.  The North Carolina exhibit really is fantastic, the only problem is that we run out of steam after we get to WWI.  Luke had a speech therapy evaluation.  We'll have to find some sort of child care arrangement, I  think. Wednesday: Didn't get much done in the morning.  Luke had a play date with Colin in the afternoon, so the girls and I went shopping---got a pencil holder and a paper holder for Ella's newly cleaned off desk.  Amanda went to her first dance lesson, which she enjoyed.   I do see why we haven't done this before, though, the logistics are annoying.  There was one woman at the studio with 4 (maybe 5?) kids, and they were all at the studio for 3 hours for various lessons.  I'm not sure how we'll work things out as the kids get older, I'm worried that the number of activities will balloon... ...

I admit that I am not an active person.  I would rather sit and read a book than ride a bike, or even take a walk.  My kids (especially Ella) are taking after me in this.  Ella isn't in any organized sports that require lots of practice and hour long games---Taekwondo is good, but it's only 1 hour twice a week. I was also concerned about Amanda's core strength: as I've learned through my exercise class, "They're all core exercises!"  It's important to have good core strength for all aspects of life. So I was trying to think of how we could stay active during the hot summer months when it is easier to stay inside rather than go out into the 100 degree heat. We go swimming and bike riding.  We can play at the park (although Ella and I bring books =).   But we started a daily exercise program to augment these.  Here's what we do: sit ups.  I do 20.  Ella does 30, Luke does 10 and Amanda does 15.  pushups.  Ella and I do 30, A...

The number one reason to grow parsley. Luke says, "I love this day!"

Amanda leaves a lot out of her cartoons, but she explained this one to me.  The man and the woman are having a conversation about whether the year 33,033 will ever happen. (This was inspired by my observation that I've seen 2 palindromic years, but amanda might not see any.  Doesn't seem fair.)  The man can't believe it, but the woman knows that you can't stop time.  At least that's how I understood what she was telling me at the time. It was interesting to me that she really seems to believe that women in general are smarter than men, but she thinks that michael is smarter than me.  Go figure.

Mon: went to lunch with Grandpa and Daddy, went to Carrboro to pick up a picture I had framed, ate Locopops.  Went to rehearsal for recital and then Taekwondo. Tues: Dropped Grandpa off at the airport.  Built lots of things out of kapla blocks.  Relaxed until the recital---we had to eat dinner really early in order to get there on time.  All the kids did great at the recital.  Luke was very funny with his seriousness (playing Takka Takka) and then bowing 4 or 5 times when he was finished.  We went out for gelato afterwards, it was great! Wed: Actually did some "school" (writing, math, reading).  Ella and Amanda finished listening to Chomp.  Went to Ella's friend's house to drop her off, went to Monkey Joe's to meet with friends from the homeschool co-op, then back to Ella's friend's house to pick up Ella.  Went to taekwondo. Thurs: We did our morning routine, including exercise (yay!), except somehow Amanda didn't eat breakfast.  W...