Clothing struggles

Keeping the kids clothed in stuff that fits is an ongoing struggle.  They keep growing.  The kids, I mean. Not the clothes.  Unless you count the bathing suits that stretch out from chlorine water exposure, but that's another problem.

Last night I sent Nathan with money to buy a new taekwondo uniform.  He looks so nice now in the new one.  He can bend over to touch his toes without showing off his underwear.

A couple of weeks ago I had to make an "emergency" run to Goodwill to replace Paul's shorts, which were getting a little too form-fitting.  We picked up 4 pairs so he could make it through a week of school without having to do laundry for shorts.  He wore one of the pairs this week for picture day.

I, on the other hand, haven't outgrown anything since 1992.  Several years ago, I bought a pair of blue jeans from Goodwill.  When I got them home, I realized they were missing the button, so I found an appropriate sized replacement button and sewed it on.  Since then the jeans had been patched in both knees (by my mother-in-law), had started tearing at the patches, and finally had been cut-off into shorts for me (by my mother-in-law).  The seams have started to fray, and there is a small hole above one of the back pockets.  Yesterday I came home from running errands and realized the button had fallen off somewhere. 

Steve says it's time to let them go.

Super Reading Program

The library's summer reading program this year was super hero themed. I think the pictures speak for themselves.

Notes from home

My parents have a young Labrador, and they are in a constant race to keep it from eating stuff.  Socks, Christmas ornaments, rocks - Molly likes it all.  Out of the blue, the other day Petra said, "To Molly, everything is a hot crispy cinnamon roll."
Well said, child.

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Steve was telling Nathan about a video he saw recently, in which people were visiting Australia and swimming in ponds were platypus dwelt.  He said, "Wouldn't that be cool?  To go swimming with platypi?"
Nathan's response was, "Wait a minute!  You mean platypus are REAL??"


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Julia came home from school chatty and excited because in English class she did a survey on "kinds of intelligence," and she was intrigued by the results.  The kinds of intelligence had to do with natural strengths and learning styles.  "My top three were spatial reasoning, music intelligence, and logic.  My lowest three were interpersonal communication, intra-personal communication, and kinesthetic intelligence."
Steve and I answered with, "So you are good at math and spatial relationships, but you are socially and physically awkward?  Sorry, honey, but you are doomed to be an engineer."

Cooking lesson

Last night I was in a hurry to get supper ready, which does seem to be the story of my life this season.  I got home from work with the plan to make tacos, and I called Julia, Petra, and Nathan to the kitchen to help.  I assigned Petra (age 9) to cook the beef.  Julia helped her tie on an apron. 

Revelation #1

As I dumped the ground beef into the cast iron skillet, she said, “Mom, this looks like hamburger meat.”

I blinked twice and answered, “Yes, it is.  Taco meat is made from hamburger meat.”  I handed her an old fork and showed her how to break the meat up in the pan.

Revelation #2

I ran upstairs to change clothes.  Soon I heard her calling, “Mom, the meat is turning brown!”

“Yes, that’s what it is supposed to do.”

Later I explained that cooking the beef like this was called, “Browning the meat.”

The tacos turned out very well, and Petra learned a couple of important things about cooking.  Double win!

Violin Recital

Petra had her very first violin recital, outdoors at a park in 90-degree heat.  There were about 2 dozen other people with solos or duets performing that afternoon and it was so nice to be to be out there to support them. 

Now, sometimes you go to a recital and the music is genuinely enjoyable to listen to, and other times you go and the music is not super, but you're just so stinkin' proud of the performer that you are about to bust.  This performance fell in the second category.

I am proud of Petra because-

• it was very brave of her to get in front of so many people and play a solo
• "Lightly Row" was recognizable
• she played by memory
• this was her first time performing
• when she made mistakes, she didn't start crying, but kept going and made it through

Good work, Petra Grace!

First Day of School 2019

We have a Sophomore, 8th grader, 4th grader and 1st grader.

I love the slightly crazed look in Julia's eye as she waits for her pre-dawn bus ride

Petra is ready to go

Nathan rides separately from Petra, but here he is ready for full days of school

We have four children in four different buildings, but all of them are in the same building that they had last year, so that helps reduce a little stress.  Paul accidentally skipped English class on his first day.  His explanation went something like this:

So last year I had band right after lunch, and this year, once lunch was done I headed to band class.  In that hall on the way to band I saw a study hall, and I noticed a bunch of band kids in there, so I thought, "The band teacher must be out, and we're having study hall time instead," which I would like to mention happened several times last year.  And I asked, "So we've got study hall now?" and people were like, "Yeah."  So I stayed in the study hall room, but then, when the bell rang, people started going band class, and I was like, "Wait, what?" and I looked at my schedule and was like, "Ah, nuts."

We had him write an e-mail of explanation to his English teacher, who was apparently fairly understanding.  

Nathan bought his first school lunch yesterday.  I think he is enjoying that privilege.  He is allowed to pack a snack, but I'm a little concerned about what to send him with for snacks and lunch because there are children with some serious allergies in his room.  

Petra and Julia appear to be holding their own with their classes.

I'm proud of my crew and excited about this year.

Family Gig

The band Steve is in had a gig at a community event last Friday.  He played early enough in the evening, that I brought the whole family out for the first set.  I got some pictures of the kids playing with giant Jenga sets.  If you zoom in, you can see Steve on his bass in the background.