USA

Tommy had this project that his class was doing.  It was pretty straight forward.  They copied an outline of a map of the United States, and then they filled in the name of each state and they had time in class to "decorate" it. 

Nothing earth shattering, am I right?  But I think it's a nice little project for a third grader.  Around the time this was happening in his classroom, I was getting reports from Tommy that his project wasn't going well...someone stepped on it, he couldn't find it, he was too far behind and the teachers were basically telling him to turn it what he had.  (So you know:  the teachers are great, but it's a Montessori school, which means you manage your time ~ with their help ~ and you have to plan out your own projects.  They weren't being unsupportive, just realistic as far as I can tell...you can only have so many false starts and redos on a single project before you have to admit that this one will just have to be a learning experience on time management.)

At our parent teacher conference, I asked about the map.  I said we'd like to do it at home.  So I borrowed a poster sized outline of the United States (continental, only!  I had to freehand Hawaii and Alaska off a picture from The Internets!) and a poster sized piece of paper, too.  At home, I showed Tommy how to use my lightbox to copy the image onto the poster paper.

Lookit.  This was not the most cognitively demanding activity he's ever engaged in!  But I was really committed to helping him get this done.  For me, it was a craftsmanship issue.  It was a big, multi-step project, and the truth is, I think he struggled with it at school because he was overwhelmed by it.  He just couldn't start it and stay the course. 

I showed him how to outline the whole thing in black pen, and he used one marker and I used another and we made short work or retracing the entire outline.  Each night (and not every night...hmmm, why is my boy so inconsistent?  ugh) that we worked on it, I helped him by, mostly, sitting at the table with him and getting him started.  He used black pen to write a handful of state names each work session.  I picked out the crayons that were the colors of the rainbow, and I used different ones to outline each state as he finished it.  Then, he filled in the inside of the state outlines by coloring with the matching crayon color. 

It was a fun project for us.  We had many funny and quite enlightening conversations huddled over this map.  I learned that he's a good speller with poor penmanship.   But I was proud of him...that's a lot of states to write out, and he had to make the names fit in the shapes of the state, which was no small trick.  I did show him how to use the "line that points to" teeny tiny states like Rhode Island and Delaware!

I had to get a close up of this crazy mug!!  Anyway, he was really happy when it was done.  It's beautiful, and I was really hoping he learned a lot about making small steps and putting attention on details, like coloring nicely (he wants to hurry sometimes and just scribbles) and writing carefully.  At the end of the project, I asked him what he thought of it, and he told me:  "I think it looks great.  I never could have done this without your help."

I never could have done this without your help.  Er.  That's not quite the message I was hoping to send him.  *sigh*  Parenting is hard, sometimes.  Did I say sometimes?  All the time. 

Ardenwood Farm, Part Two

At the farm, Scotty liked to push the stroller my friend Kristie had brought for her babe-in-arms, Claire.  Fortunately, Claire felt strongly about walking herself, so there was no danger of an unfortunate toppling incident.

We were very excited to come around the bend and find the farmhouse!  It has a part that is the original farmhouse, and then a part that was added on in the Victorian style.  Guess which part is my favorite?  :)

We sat on the porch and enjoyed the view of our kids blazing across the lawn and playing hide-and-go-seek at the gazebo.  When the kids finally joined us, one of the house tour guides nearly busted her bustle trying to shoo us off! 

Scotty and I paid a few dollars to take an abbreviated "kid friendly" tour of the inside of the house.  Scotty begged to go inside, and he was so curious and excited to be there!  He was cracking me up.  We both nearly came unglued in the kitchen...we know what we like.

Scotty loved the old stove and the 'new-fangled' water heater in the corner...

...while I was completely smitten by the adorable vintage embroidered tea towels.

We were both dying to play with the grinders and handpowered food processors that crowded the island, and we also would have played in that huge sink...except we were also both kind of afraid of our guide.  Yeesh.

Scotty kind of loved her...she was older, and he was right up in her grill the whole time, asking her all kinds of questions about "where did the babies sleep" and "whose bed is that one" and "let's see what's in here...."

She [wisely] kept hustling him out of the more...delicate... areas, though nothing could stop him from clickety-clacking on the old typewriter keys in the study, or trying to crawl into the bathtub upstairs.  She had a sweet and gentle way of letting him know that this really wasn't allowed.  Then she gave him a sticker for his hand and invited him to come back any time.  I kind of loved her, too.

This kid is so domestic.  He just slays me!

Dude.

Dude.  There are over 600 pictures on my camera from this weekend.  I'm going to need a minute to work that out!  :-| 

Ardenwood Farm, Part One

Last Saturday was a perfectly gorgeous spring day in California.  By the time we woke up Sunday, it was raining and windy.  But Saturday.  Oh, Saturday!  Scotty and I met some friends at Ardenwood Park in Fremont.  Ardenwood is a favorite for me, as it is still a working farm, and the original farmhouse is on the grounds.  We go there to pick berries, see the monarchs, feed the animals, ride the train, pick pumpkins...and, while the kids enjoy all that, plus running and climbing, I also spend a bit of time pretending like it's my farm.  I stroll the grounds and I know it's ridiculous, but I literally itch to go to work!  

I have so many pictures of both my kids climbing the trees at this park!  They are perfect for climbing, no matter how old you are, because of the deep "v" starts in the trunks.

So many new things to try at the farm!

There are naturalist programs nearly every day.  Here is Scotty with our friend Sophia (love her style!) enjoying story time under a tree at the hay circle.  "The Little Red Hen".

After the story, they got to pet...the little red hen!  Good times.

Not Too Serious

Sometimes, in the morning, it's just me and Scotty.  (It's nice to have alone time, but I miss Tommy when he's sleeping!)

The weather has been...uncooperative...but some mornings are too beautiful to be inside, so we head out for breakfast.  Scotty eats pancakes and I get hard-boiled egg whites and tea.  (Tea in my favorite specially-made-for-me mug, by the way, which is my most favorite kind of tea!)

When we head inside, Mommy usually has to get some writing done (math-related writing!) and so I set up at one end of the table...and Scotty gets cozy mirroring me at the other end.  He even takes notes.  I could just die looking at those feet!

When we take a break, Scotty likes to whip up some cupcakes.  Green ones, with sprinkles, just as nature intended.  I had to laugh, actually, because when Maia was here from London last month, she peaked into my pantry and found the stash of Betty Crocker cake mixes on the top shelf.  Between that and the granite counter top in the new bathroom, she was positively scandalized!   haha! 

Lookit, I'm a walking paradox...always have been.  I do what I can, but I don't pretend to be, or even strive to be, perfect in any way.  I'm so incredibly flawed, it's painful to watch.  

So, when cake mixes go on sale at the holidays for 50 cents, I'm going to buy a couple of boxes.  Sorr-eee!  And when my contractor neighbor gets some cast-off granite, then yep, you guessed it, I'm getting some in my bathroom. 

When I was in high school, my mom taped a cartoon onto my bedroom door that she had found in the newspaper.  It was a drawing of a young woman wearing a full-length fur coat, and she was being accosted by an anti-fur protester:  "What poor, defenseless creature had to die, so YOU could wear that FUR coat?!?!" she bellowed, spittle flying and arms akimbo.  The young woman hesitantly offers, "My great aunt, from Cleveland?"

Even then, my mom was warning me about taking myself (or anyone else!) too seriously.  I cracked up when I saw that cartoon and to this day, when we see somebody coming unglued about nothing much at all (even ~ or especially ~ when it's one of us) we'll turn to each other and say, "My great aunt, from Cleveland?" and it's a nice, gentle reminder.  I try really hard to arrange my life so that I'm carrying on in alignment with my core beliefs...the rest of the time?  I make my cupcakes from a box.   And then I sit right down and eat one of those cupcakes with my free-trade tea and my cage-free boiled eggs, and don't forget my care-free little boys and life is oh so good.  :)

Pee Wee Herman

Something BIG happened last week.

It took everyone in our family to pull it off.

Plus FOUR stops at the store.

I'm not sure what possessed Erik to take the boys to the toy store after going to the movies, but Scotty met...and fell in love with...this red bike.  They came home empty-handed because the bike AND all three of them would not fit in Erik's car.  

Which prompted my mom and I to force my dad to stop at a Toys R Us 80 miles from our house, in hopes of finding a version that could be purchased right now.  No such luck.  Better for all, though, in the long run.  The kid is a little runt, and getting everything he wants, when he wants it, would only increase his personality problems.  I promise.

But let's just get real for a second here.  What wouldn't we do to see that smile?  He dreamed about the bike (talked in his sleep about it!) and I found him one morning, glum as hell, and I asked him what was up?  "Just thinking about that special red bike," he sighed.

Erik offered to find him an even better blue or yellow bike.  Oh.  Oh, silly, silly, Erik!  Erik stopped and got the Awesome and Special Red Bike (the official name) on the way home from work.  And it was....awesome and special, indeed.

Shortly after this picture was taken, we decided that the "trial run" was over and he would have to wear a helmet from now on.  That resulted in a near total meltdown, the noise of which caused several neighbors to evacuate their homes and take to the street.  In case of a martial law emergency, I have to imagine.  Look, we may be suckers, but we're suckers for safety, my friend, and just so you know, the last time he rode a bike, last Father's Day, he fell and broke his arm.  

Helmet. Wear it. 

And he did.  But not before we got "The Look" from our neighbors!  haha!  Whatever, amateurs, we only had to outlast him this one time.  He wears his helmet every time now, and it was worth every jaw-clenching, aggravating minute of his tempter tantrum because, in the end, we won.  We are that petty ~ believe it. 

Flowers for Mother's Day

These flowers were made for me by Tommy (left) and Scotty (right).  Tommy used watercolors and wrote our names and "I love Mom" in the middle of the flowers.  Scotty used his handprint and tissue paper.  Inside Scotty's card, he drew me a "spaceship".  It's just that...wait, I have something in my eye.  WHAT? 

Tommy used yarn to "embroider" this burlap drawstring bag with my name.  (It says "Mom", obvs.  :) 

Scotty and my mom stopped at Trader Joe's last Thursday, and he put these in the cart, insisting that they had to get them for me.  When he gave them to me that night (so proud of himself!) he said, "These are for you, because I like you so much."  Swoon.  Apparently, he talked about how much he "missed" me all day.  I get it, kid, I missed us too.  (Last week...was challenging.)

My mom and dad gave me a dozen lavender roses.  Gram, Aunt Barbara, my cousin Kathy, and my brother and me, all went to my mom and dad's house.  We had a big barbecue and, since it was rainy and cold, all us MOMS sat in my mom's cozy dining room while all the GUYS hustled the kids into the yard (kids just do not care how cold it is!) and made up our plates and delivered them to us.  We ate and laughed and enjoyed the quiet and each other.  Afterwards, we passed my mom's laptop around the table, enjoying youtube for reminiscing (do I have the only family that listened to CB radios and The Streak in the 1970s?) and Auntie Barbara got teary-eyed (one of my favorite songs...reminds me of my mom and dad) and then my mom got teary-eyed (one of my favorite songs...reminds me of me and my dad) because some songs just make you sigh.  Gram did some swing dancing from her seat and clapped at the end of each song.  Be still my heart.

I sort of "accidentally" scored these beautiful roses, too, and Erik got me an iTunes gift card (My Precious!) and two pounds of See's chocolate.  Nuts and chews, do you really need to ask?    (Most frequently asked question of the day?  "Mommy, can I have a piece of 'your' chocolate?"  :)

I also collected these gorgeous cabbage roses from my mom's garden.  They are sitting in my favorite vase (gorgeous, cobalt blue, blown glass, and given to me by my friend Tracy the day she married her love, Travis) and they smell like roses should.  What is it about roses from the florist?   They just don't "stink" the way garden roses do! 

Mother's Day is for everybody...so I wish a Happy Mother's Day to everyone who is or has a mother!   This weekend we'll head up to Healdsburg to say goodbye and honor the life of Marie's mom (Mamaw, who died at 81 years old) and it was the start to a very hard week when my mom had to tell Marie ~ in her own hospital bed, unable to get stabilized blood pressure and lungs filling with liquid ~ that her mom had passed away.   Marie is home now, and expectations are being adjusted... we've moved from "kicking cancer" to "let her make it through the summer" to "she just wants to get out of the hospital".  Every day is a gift, and when my dad and I drove up last weekend to get my mom, I was very aware of how much it cost dear, sweet Marie to put my dad at ease.  He hasn't seen her since she got sick...and I do declare, despite the feeding tube and the hospital bed in her living room and the constant iv of medication, that he has not seen her sick, even yet.  So much laughter.  If you close your eyes and just listen, it's like none of this is happening at all.  Love her.  Wish she wasn't dying. 

Sorry.  Didn't know this was going there.  I guess it's just what's on my mind, though, and that's life...  sweet, beautiful, and so sad, all at the same time.  All we can do is gather around the table and make our memories.