Mt. Vernon

It takes several hours to visit George Washington’s estate.  It is hilly so tiring but beautiful. 

 

Slave cabin. 

Sheep.

Wool from sheep. 

End of an Era

Preschool is over for us.  It is a sad and a happy time.  It is always sad to close a chapter of our lives that has brought much joy but it is also a new beginning which brings joy as well. 

Retention Pond

That hole in the flower bed the kids dug earlier this spring has served a purpose.  It continues to grow and now is serving as a retention pond, apparently.  Who needs swing sets and bicycles when you have a personal sized retention pond to entertain them. 

And no, they did not ask first before they got this muddy.   But I am getting better about not exploding and just opening the Oxi Clean and tossing it in with the clothes in the washer.  Sigh. 

Chewing Gum and Long Hair

These two do not go together.  I have removed gum from Sierra’s hair before but it was never a whole piece and never had such a long time to adhere itself.  She lost her gum out of her mouth at church and by the time we could get home to work on it, it was a lost cause. 

Introducing the new Sierra:  

She was really concerned at first but once she saw how it was turning out, she really liked it.  I like it too.  I have been trying to get her to let me cut it for a while because of all the dead ends and so it would be cooler and easier to care for this summer but she was not interested in the least.  I am glad she likes it.  It has thickened quite a bit since she last had it this length which must have been a long time ago.  I think the extra weight might have removed the curl that she used to have in this picture, but it does kick up a little. 

It is amazing how much kids change in two years at this age. 

April 30

22 years ago Jeff and I were married.  It was a sunny spring day.  We spent one night in Indianapolis and then the following week I had finals and Jeff worked about 72 hours doing billing.  Do not ask me what I was thinking when I planned it for that day.  The following week we left for South Carolina and Florida for our honeymoon.  Seems like yesterday.  Well, not really, ha. 

Mom made the dresses.   My maid of honor and I made the boutonnieres and bouquets.  I finished mine at 2:00am. 

Looking at these brings back memories.  I miss those who have gone on before us… my Papa (left), my Granny (right), Jeff’s dad and brother.  I am thankful for 22 years of blessings.

 

Guinea Pig Farm

We got our two new guinea pigs today.  They all seem to be getting along so far at least during play time.  Jesse seems very happy.  She’s not usually very active but was running around trying to keep up with Gretchen.  The  new ones are much more active than the others have been.  Here’s a good shot of Jesse. 

At the top right is Gretchen.  We do not know how old she is.  At the bottom is the baby, approximately 4 months old.

We have a lot of white fur running around. 

Below is Jesse on the left with Gretchen our new guinea pig.  Gretchen is big and then there’s all that fur. 

The kids have named the baby “Pip”.  I think it’s appropriate considering she does the most squeaking.  Here she is being brushed by Sierra. 

Fun Weekend

The house did not get cleaned but we had fun.  The guys went to Cincinnati Zoo for a sleepover and learned about nocturnal creatures and visited the zoo.  Us gals took in a movie and saw How To Train A Dragon.  Loved it. 

After the movie, the oldest girl was ready to go out and get a new pet snake.  Somehow, I do not see the connection between the really cool dragons in the movie (I’ll spare you the details so as not to spoil it for you if you have not seen it) and snakes.   We are not getting a snake, let alone a lizard.  Now, if she can find a dragon like Toothless, I might consider letting him fly around the backyard. 

One nice thing about soccer…

One nice thing about soccer is that it gets my Saturday started early.  8:00 games get me up and going earlier than I usually am during the week.  The bad thing is that I usually start feeling a nap creeping up on me about mid-afternoon.  Sean has one more week of soccer.  I do not know if we’ll sign him up again.  He has fun but he is not totally into it as he should be for a team sport.  We may be exploring other options such as gymnastics a little more seriously.   

Here he is playing goalie.  He loves playing defense. 

He’s also rather content to play defense and watch his team keep the ball at the other end. 

I think he enjoys the individuality of gymnastics. 

CROCS – what’s the Big Deal?

Got a good deal at the CROCS outlet today for Sierra.  She tried on several pair before we decide on which size and color… the $9.99 price tag helped.  I got her a little flower to go on them for learning her memory verse. 

So, we get home.. and a while later she brings me the crocs and is upset.  She says, “Some kid put these on there and I want them off.”  She was trying to pull the crocodile off .. the little piece that connects the ankle strap to the shoe.  

She decided the “crocs” on her CROCS were UGLY.  I spent 15 minutes trying to explain how lucky she is to have a new pair of “real” CROCS and why there are crocs on her CROCS.    Finally, with the help of the other two kids and daddy, she put the shoes back on and wore them until bedtime.  Phew!  Good thing because I let her wear them home. 

 

Romeo, Romeo…

When you have a teen that wants to study a Shakespeare play, you better run with it before the phase passes.  This is especially the case when said teen is most productive when she is interested in something and pretty much not productive at all if she could care less about the subject. 

This is not typical disinterest but instead has the added complexity due to autism which makes it practically impossible to concentrate on certain subjects if they are not on her radar.  With Autism Spectrum Disorder, the disinterest is something like ten times the normal level of apathy that one might normally expect. 

Do I really want to try to teach Shakespeare?  Not so much.  So, I ordered a study guide for Romeo and Juliet from Progeny Press.  Progeny Press produces study guides from a Christian perspective.  I will go through it and then we will begin studying Romeo and Juliet.  It looks almost like fun.  I do not recall using fun and Shakespeare in the same sentence when I was in high school, so this might prove to be interesting. 

Where is Washington?

This afternoon the two youngest were working on a neat “game” (as long as they call it a game, they’ll play it) where you put the states where they belong – see http://www.history.com/interactives/place-the-state-game.  Somehow, while they were working.. er, uh, playing,  an argument began with the older one. 

Sean the 1st grader is telling the 9th grader where Washington, D.C. is but she is adamant that he is wrong, it is in Washington state.  I tell her that he is right and she wants to know when did they move it (luckily she does have a sense of humor). 

Ok, I can see it now… I will be blamed for this.  She’s homeschooled.  Problem is, where was she when she was supposedly learning all this stuff like U.S. geography?   Right.  Public school.  Just how much other stuff did she either forget or just never learned from Kindergarten through 6th grade that we need to review.

The 1st grader (always homeschooled) knows where Washington D.C. is.

I rest my case. 

Washington, D.C. or bust

We are discussing taking a trip to Washington, D.C. and possibly visiting a beach on the coast while we are in that area.  The kids are pretty excited.  The number one request from the younger two is to get a TV for the van.  What they mean is a DVD player.  They have both ridden in “video vans” (as Sean called them) while on fieldtrips with preschool and think that is a necessity.  I remember Sean kept asking if we could get a video van after his fieldtrip a couple of years ago.  I have resisted this up until now because I prefer the kids learn how to entertain themselves with books or drawing/coloring or just playing educational games with their video games.  They do a good job of this but they’ve never had to entertain themselves for more than 3 or 4 hours.    There was one in the sale ad for a very good price so we will probably break down and do that.  We also make several trips up north for appointments so this could be a sanity saver for me. 

Here’s a picture I took last week of one of my tall tulips.  I love the markings.  I’m sure it took a long time for these flowers to evolve to such beauty (sarcasm).  Thank GOD for his creation. 

Guinea Pigs Are Nice Pets

I always thought guinea pigs were just overgrown hamsters until we got our first one a few years ago.  They have a lot of personality, actually.  They do not bite unless they are under extreme stress so are gentle for young children.  They do poop a lot, just like rabbits but it is very small and easy cleanup.  They require vitamin C and will eat fruits and vegetables. 

We have had our most recent pair since late 2008. We adopted them from a family who were unable to take care of them due to the unexpected death of the young father/husband. 

The gray one has been sick for a while.  Multiple trips to the vet have not cured whatever its ailment was and she continued to decline until this week when we had to euthanize her.  Now we are working on getting another one.  Callie is the caretaker for them and misses the gray one (named Kyoko) very much.  The remaining guinea pig also misses her – piggies are very social animals.  I am talking with a foster mom about a couple of different ones that might work for us.  We prefer to adopt a rescued piggy than to use a pet store. 

Buses and Monkey Bars

We went on a field trip this morning to ride a city bus around town this morning with some friends.  Not knowing how long it would take, I packed lunch and we ate and played at the park before Sierra had to be at preschool.  The park is just beautiful right now with all the flowers in the grass. 

On the bus

At the park.

Another Short Weekend

Beautiful weekend but way too short.  Sean and Sierra played really hard yesterday with Keagan and Clayton and some neighbor boys.  I think they were still tired today or else they were just lost without all their playmates.  They would go outside for about 5 or 10 minutes and then come back inside. 

Some pictures from yesterday.