Nature Walk

Our first official day of homeschool went fairly well, all things considered. It's going to take some time to work out those darn kinks.

We had a mini field trip of sorts in the afternoon. The husband didn't have work so we all wanted out of the house for a little while. We visited a local nature trail to get some fresh air. There was a lot of walking involved and even some running by the boys, so.... PE maybe? We'll figure it out.

Kadin being Kadin wanted to read the information. No prompting necessary! This one was about snakes we might encounter. We didn't, fortunately.

Kadin, husband, and dog ran on ahead, leaving Ansel and I behind. Oh well, photo opportunity!

I also managed to convince Kadin to let me take a picture. This is just about the time we realized there was very likely a skunk nearby. So we high-tailed it right out of there!

And here's that ugly little dog running straight at me. He's nothing, if not enthusiastic! His name is McFly, by the way. He's also currently curled up right next to me on the couch. This, after he managed to dig an oatmeal cookie I had in my purse. Hrmph. Not cool, McFly, not cool.

Also check out Friday's Nature Table over at The Magic Onions. 

Bikes and trikes and things

So, I had another blog planned, but after the Teddy incident overnight(Teddy having a major, ongoing seizure and having to take him to the vet ER) and me subsequently being worried all day, I didn't have the wherewithal to edit it and post.

So here I am, sitting outside, while Ansel runs off some much needed steam. On a normal day, we would have played outside earlier, but I've just been really blah all day. I am, however, so glad that the weather is cooling off some. The heat isn't oppressive now and there's even a frequent breeze, which is lovely!

It was today that I realized Ansel needs a new bike. The one he has now was a Christmas present from us in 2009. Look at tiny Ansel!

His birthday is in December, so I think that would be a good time to get him a new bike. I just feel like a bike is kind of a big 'whenever' present, and the bike he has now still works for him, it's just getting a little small.

As a bonus, check out my mom pointing and laughing at Ansel when he fell off his bike on Christmas.
Not really. She was pointing like, "Look! He fell!" It just looks like she's pointing and laughing.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Idea completely adopted from Soulemama. Check out her blog!

The athletic gene

I lack whatever that thing is that makes you good at, or like participating in, sports. Whatever it is, I don't have it. I was in gymnastics, dance, and softball as a kid. Oh! And horseback riding and swimming lessons, but never swim team.

Gymnastics was a joke. I think I lasted maybe a month's worth of lessons. I was(and still am) terribly afraid of heights and taking physical risks. So yeah. that rules gymnastics out pretty quickly.

Softball lasted, I think, four years. I think softball lost me when they switched from those cute short-shorts to the capri style(I'm sure this is not what actual softball uniforms are called, but this shows where my priorities were). I was sort of ok with softball for the first three years. I drew a lot of pictures in the dirt when I played second base. I caught exactly three balls when they made me catcher(Why? I have NO idea). And I was a huge fan of the free soda after games(Suicides anyone?).

Horseback riding was yet another joke. That fear of heights and physical risk? Oh yea. That reared it's head again. I think the straw that broke the horse's back was when the horse stepped on my foot. That.... hurt. I had already spent most of the lesson's crying, so.... That was a bust. I loved the idea of horseback riding. But actually doing it? Not so great. My parents weren't thrilled with that one. The boots and helmet had been expensive and now.... yea. Wasted. Sorry!

Swim lessons went ok. The water didn't scare me. I had a brief resistance to diving, but I was able to get over that one. I was also fortunate that no pool I ever frequented had a high dive, cause that would have been a total no-go. I came out of it knowing how to swim just fine. I can dive... kind of. I know the various strokes, but who in their spare time does the butterfly anyway?

Dance was the only one that had any kind of longevity. I started at 3, if I remember right. Stopped for a year at 5, then was back in at 6 or so, until we moved to Texas when I was 11. This is another one of many situations in my life where I really liked something, I was doing everything "right," but I just didn't have the right whatever to be really good. My body wasn't right, my this and that wasn't right, whatever. But it was a fun activity, and that was the end of it. I didn't pick it up again after we moved.

Oh. And there were two pathetic try-out incidents in middle school..... track and cheerleading. Both went, well, badly. I can't run to save my life and my ability to contort my body in air might be even worse.

I firmly believe that the value of sports is not in being good at them, but in enjoyment and the physical activity of it. I am the least competitive person ever. I hate competition, and so I'm not super excited about winning at sports. It's nice, but eh. You will never find me watching a sporting event by choice. I positively could not care less.

Which brings us to my children. I think Kadin inherited my non-athletic gene. And I'm sad, because my husband has the athletic gene, and he has it bad. Dear, dear, Kadin. He is so like me in so many ways.

But we started him in soccer when he was 5, I think. And he's never been a natural, but he tries(most of the time) and he enjoys it(generally). So we've carried on with it. I also really like soccer, as far as sports go. I kind of hate sports that require fifteen types of equipment and a special space to play at all and so on and so forth. Soccer's just you and a ball, and I think that's pretty great. And there's running. Running is great exercise. Back and forth, back and forth....

So Kadin's now 9, in the 4th grade. And this year, miracle of miracles, the kids are finally playing something that resembles an organized sport. There's finally technique, and defined positions, and real coaching, and an official ref, and it's amazing! Monday was the first game of the season, and Kadin definitely contributed, and his team won! Off to a great start! Their next game is tomorrow, and we're gonna hope for good things.

Do your kids play sports? Do they love it or hate it?

How about you? Did YOU play sports? Were you terrible like me?

Nature fun time at the lake

I didn't update yesterday..... I will now hang my head in shame. I was doing SO WELL! Hmph. I guess that's ok anyway.

I had been planning on my next post being more information on HFCS, but that can be either tomorrow or later today. We had an impromptu trip to the lake on Sunday, so I decided I'd post on that first.

This summer we realized our county has a park with a lake for swimming, boating, and camping. We've been in this area for two years now and it took me this long to figure it out. In my defense, our county's website leaves much to be desired and the parks and recreation information is even less available, despite our county's parks being thus far quite impressive. So. Once I figured it out, we went and checked it out.

It's great! The park is quite large, with several different areas designated for boating and swimming. The swimming beach has not been busy any of the times we have visited. The busiest time had about two other groups of people there. This time, when we arrived, there was only one sunbather actually on the beach. It's really nice! The water is as clean as one could expect from a lake. They have obviously trucked in sand, which is fine with me. The water is pretty shallow in this area, though if you go far enough out it's hard to say how deep it might be. The only time I tried that was when we had another adult along with us(I guess I just don't trust my swimming skills that much!).

On this particular day, I had intended to stay in and clean the house. But the weather ended up being amazing, it WAS a weekend, and being almost mid-September, it's impossible to know how long this weather will hold up. So upon the advice of two friends, I let the responsibility wait and we went and had fun. I packed a lunch, and only took the necessary swimming items to minimize effort necessary, and off we went! Another great thing is that the drive out there is through a rural part of the county which is pleasant, and then admission is $3 per vehicle, so that's simple enough. We turned on some jams in the car, and off we went!

The kids had a great time, as always. They didn't want to leave, even after staying for a couple of hours, but that's par for the course anytime we do something fun. It also sufficiently wore them out so they were much more laid back for the rest of the day. It's a win-win for everyone!

Exercise by deception

I'm very fond of tricking children into exercising. I'm even more fond of putting small children on the treadmill and forcing them to run until their little legs give out, but the children only let me do that to them once. So.... I have to get creative. I also admit, I felt a little bit guilty when I realized that I stocked up on water balloons after the summer sale two years ago. And.... I had yet to ever use any of them. So there's no time like the present, right!

So this afternoon, I filled up 250 water balloons. I probably popped about 20 of them in the process, but that's just the way it goes. So we now have 210 water broken water balloons scattered in our backyard. Who needs gardening when you can add "a splash of color" with latex balloons!

My weekly challenge

Every week, I get to solve a puzzle. The puzzle is how to fit this much stuff into two produce drawers. And lemme tell ya, it's challenging! Yes, we use this much fresh produce in a week, PLUS some! Not pictured are the week's pears, tangerines, bananas, and onions. (and frozen vegetables, which we eat probably twice a week)
The vast majority of this is organic, with only a few exceptions based on availablity and cost. Apples are always organic, because my kids eat so many of them. Potatoes always are, too, as I've heard they have some of the highest levels of pesticides among conventional produce. In this particular week, the strawberries were conventional, along with the cilantro and jalapenos. The tomatoes were local, but not organic.

And this is what we did, later in the day. It's Spring Break for Kadin, and this was about the most exciting thing that happened all week. Sad, I know, but we're(ok, I'm) still recovering from last week's time served at Disneyworld.
Ansel showing his true colors.

I like big buns!

I'm baaaack!!!! I feel like I've done more 'I'm back' blogs than I have anything else. I got derailed by hectic life events, a trip to Disneyworld, and a wicked stomach virus that attacked the smallest member of the household. The next couple of items are actually from before chaos ensued, but I never got a chance to blog about things. So I'll try and get a couple of quick entries up and then resume with things as they're actually happening.


Hamburger buns! This is another item from Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day. The book raves about this recipe, and I was definitely skeptical. I'm not a huge fan of wheat buns. They seem to be distracting to me.... just too much going on. But, as a part of this all whole foods thing, I figured I'd give it a go.

They looked soooo good coming out of the oven! And they smelled amazing!

We grilled hamburgers outside, of course, which meant the boys got time to play outside. We have a dirt/rock pile off to the side of the house(no idea what it's from, it's just always been there) and they spent a good deal of time just digging.

I'm trying to get used to my new lens. This was fun for me to be able to stand on the patio and take pictures of the kids on the far side of the yard. Still needs work, but it was exciting!

And the husband doing his part. I do grill as well, but if he's available to do it, I am HAPPY to share the responsibility.

The buns got rave reviews! They used the same dough as the Soft Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread I've been making as our basic bread. It was remarkably simple, and there was no specific skill or technique necessary to get a good result. The book also gives instructions to make hot dog buns, which is very similar to making the hamburger buns. I don't think I'll be buying buns again! The taste was flavorful, but not overpowering, much better than any storebought wheat buns I've had.

Taking advantage of the day

Our weather was surprisingly nice today. And because of my husband's irregular work schedule, he sleeps during the daytime. It always helps to get out of the house when both the kids are home so he can get a chance to sleep in a quiet house. So.... We packed a picnic lunch and headed to the only decent park I know of here!

I wanted to get just one decent picture of the two boys together today, but.... it didn't go so well. We'll have to try again another day.

Granola bars are on the agenda for tomorrow! For now, I'm off to bed!