cici at home

a short trip

We went north last week and spent some time at a real lake.  A Great Lake indeed.

We'll definitely have to do this more often. My youngest went absolutely wild.  No kidding - he ran around and around in circles unable to control himself.  Finally, he was able to straighten himself out and run down the beach instead.  At which point he nearly give his mother a heart attack as he darted in and out of the waves. This guy is fearless - and Lake Erie has some mystery "drop off" points just beyond the beach that aren't good for the health and safety of littles.  But it sure is good for the adrenaline!

Little P also indulged in a little more beach running. He's naturally more cautious, though, and so was a bit easier to monitor.  Of course, he did find this "cave." And crawled inside and over it. Good times indeed.

Sometimes, I think when he thought he might be missing out on some important little bit of something, he joined his sister to the devotion of starting new collections. But then he was off again.

This is pretty much where all her time was spent. Looking for beach glass. And then the really fantastic shells. And, well, of course, rocks that caught her fancy.

And so we have collections. Of glass, of rocks, and stones.

And I think the beginning of a very large collection of beach memories.

cap and trade

I know the country is talking about health care this week with the ABC infomercial and all...but up for vote in the House on Friday is Cap and Trade.

I guess its the first step in two (maybe 3?) step process.  Cap and Trade, the Carbon Tax and then Global agreement on harmonized global taxes. What you may not realize, and what Democratic Representative John Dingell says you don't realize - is that "Cap and Trade is a tax - and its a great big one."

Read my lips: "No taxes on the middle class." And if you think that a corporation is going to NOT pass the cost of the tax onto the customers, well, take a look at your phone bill. Our phone company charges me a portability fee - you know, so I can take my phone number somewhere else.  Or the fuel charge on my garbage bill.

Call your Representative and tell them to vote no before this huge tax cripples what little economy we have left.  Don't know who your representative is? Look Here.

plugging away

at the Red Barn Quilt Co. quilt.  The pieces are all cut.

And I've assembled little stacks of six strips. And I've even started sewing a few of them together. This is a lot for me.  I'm the type, good or bad, that seems to have too many projects going on at once. And even more floating around in my head.

While I know it would be better to just hunker down and do it. I feel overwhelmed and then procrastinate more. Because if I hunker down and do it I feel like I'm doing it just to complete it and that zaps the fun out of anything in a hurry.

Phew! It can be dizzying just thinking about it.  I'm great at planning though.  And the research part. Boy can I look and look and plan and plan.  That's when the ideas start multiplying.

So, to make a long story longer, I'm enjoying this quilt.  I love the colors. I love that the fabrics are all from "the stash." Which has grown - admittedly - too big. It's more of that planning thing again.  But my husband had the nerve to comment that I could sew from now until eternity with the stuff I have. I know! I know! The nerve!  So, anyway, it was time to stop collecting bits of fabric for the dream quilt and to just up and sew it.

And you know? I think I"ve been bit by the quilting bug. This is fun, these strips of fabrics.  And I may even stop planning and just starting cutting for the children's quilts.  Maybe. I can't promise though, because then I'll become contrarian and not do it.  Okay? Are you still with me?

To the sewing machine with me.  I wonder if I can finish the quilt before summer is over? I need a nice summer weight for my bed.

thanks mom, we love them!

My mom made these bags for my children.  They are terrific.  I mean, TERRIFIC!

Simple totes with outside pockets, vinyl handles and made out of mesh! MESH! MESH! And made in the kids favorite color with all the appropriate embroidered designs.

Towel, sand toys, shoes, and life vest go home...

Sand stays at the beach.  I'm tellin' ya...it really doesn't get much better than that.

Oh...and the kids love them, too. Thanks Gramma.

i'm takin' out the big guns now

Passing through the garage the other day I noticed a few of my bathroom towels sitting in a bucket.  I cringed - but walked by anyway. It's that time of year again.  Washing the cars/motorcycle - (but never my van??)...and my towels seem to disappear.  I know I'm not the only one who has to deal with this.

It's not just the towels that go missing. It's the buckets, too.  Inevitably, I'm looking for my "mop the floor" bucket each time I'm...well...mopping the floor. This causes me a bit more irritation because by the time I've committed myself to actually mopping the floor (as opposed to looking at it and thinking "boy I really need to mop this floor") - I don't want to have to go searching for MY bucket.

Yes. He has his own bucket. Yes. He has his own towels.

We've been married long enough that this isn't something worth talking about anymore - more or less.

So, I'm baking bread this morning and thinking - hmnn...I wonder where all my bread cloths are?  I use a regular ole' dishcloth (clean! it was clean!) and then proceed to the laundry room to start that chore.

Well...well...well...what do we have here in the laundry room? (I moved the bucket to our garage to snap a picture and commiserate with you)

Is that? Could it be? Oh. yes. it. is.

It cleaned a motorcycle yesterday.

behind again...

or still?  This pile

Slowly being made into this...

I'm two weeks behind but really excited about the strips that are cut.

i'm in the way

Year end assessments are a requirement for homeschoolers here in Ohio.  Little C had hers a couple of weeks ago and the results are: I'm in her way.  I've known she's a good - and voracious - reader.  I've even seen evidence of precociousness.  But it looks like I've underestimated her. I was told to give up on the curriculum, give C the library and hang on.

I'm in the way. I see now, that in some ways I have been holding her back and that is, perhaps, why she seems to be "cruising through life at 80%" - I'm not letting her take the brakes off.  And this is funny to me - because its a part of why I homeschool - I wanted the freedom to dig deeper, drink freely, explore more...

Of course, I'm a control freak. And she's not - in my opinion - old enough to have absolute and complete free reign over her education.  Which means next year we will still rely heavily on Ambleside Online and Mater Amabilis but I will need make room and put those aside when need be. Melissa Wiley's Tidal Homeschooling comes to mind.  I think we'll have to go tidal.

With that in mind, I brought this book, Exploratopia, home from the local library and...well...it's going to have to be - was requested to be - purchased.  It's the summer must have book. Truly, it is. It is fantastic.  It's a series of experiments - but not the gimmicky over done ones I've seen every where else. These experiments are the important ones that speak right to the heart of the seven year old who lives here.  You know, things like looking in the mirror and noticing your pupils dilate/shrink as you play with the lights; finding magnetic sand; or making your own roller coaster.

The book starts out with a common sense, no-nonsense, kid friendly explanation of the scientific process. This explanation, of course, is just a teaser for what comes next: THE FUN, divided into three parts: Exploring Yourself (eyes, ears, nose & tongue, hands, brain); Exploring Interesting Places (kitchen, bathroom, backyard, playground, amusement park, beach); and Exploring Interesting Stuff (language, music, math, money, paper, optical illusions, light, color, electricity & magnetism, sound). So many options!  So many things to be explored! I can say, though, that while I will allow the building of the roller coaster - it's going to be more difficult for convince me to ride one (calling my friend Kathy here).  Umn...and I'm thinking "no" to the experiment that has this on its list of supplies:

• A working Drop Zone ride
• A watch with a second hand or a stopwatch
• A lot of nerve

But we have plenty of time before we get to that one.  Up next for us? Mummifying a hotdog!

the taste of spring

Because I want to remember the excitement of realizing that you are in a berry patch. That somehow one of us did not make it out of our pajama top that day.  That his big sister lovingly pulls him down the row, showing him the difference between a green strawberry not yet ready and those plump, juicy, red ones just waiting to be picked.

That sometimes, one of them likes to be alone.  That, possibly, he is not eying the strawberries. He might be noticing the leaves. The bugs. The bees. The sounds of the birds.  Or maybe he is noticing the strawberries. He may be looking for the "biggest one of all" or the "tiniest of all" or the "reddest one of all..."

That the jars are "funny" and look different (than the usual pint sized jars we use - I picked these up at some thrift store over the winter).  The way "strawberry rhubarb" is not written, but drawn. Drawn simply so you can satisfy momma and still get outside and "do".  That "strawberry" does not quite fit across a label and that strawberries are triangles.

Spring in a jar: to be opened, remembered, and enjoyed during those darker months of winter.

opening day

This was my Saturday.  All day at the fields watching two children new to the sport play their hearts out.  Little C is such a girly girl - its odd to see her in pants (pants!) and cleats, stooping over her knees in the outfield. Or running after a ball with determination.

At least she sports the obligatory pony tail through the back of the cap.

And Little P. He swings the bat with gusto, this boy.  This is nothing short of surpising to me.  Little P is usually very mellow and doesn't really do much with gusto. 

Of course, standing at third base can get quite boring. And sand is not boring at all. Ever.

So, yeah. Here's to opening day and the anticipation of a brand new season.

back from porchville

that's serbian for "vacation" when you don't go anywhere. I know it's all the rage to use the term "staycation" now,  but I can't bring myself to trade my Serbian grandfather's "isms" for these new fangled phrases. Here are a few more Serbian Grandfatherisms:

Whatch you do besides nothing?

Uh. Actually, quite a bit. I took some pictures for a friend's son's first birthday and have been editing like crazy! And a bit of sewing. And strawberry picking. And jam making. And garden planting...And weed picking...And a lot of timewasting. But not on the porch - I prefer our back deck.

You go Porchville this weekend?

Actually, we went to "Back Deckville", its a bit more private and I can watch my kids go crazy back there. And we live near a little lake...

Jus like-a downtown (only not so crowded!) wink wink

(Do you understand this one? It means its a success, typically used when he is patting himself on the back) So we went to the beach, too. And tried to make "Paddle to the Sea" out of stray bits of wood, clay, and whatever else looked like it might help stabilize the boat. It did float for a bit, but then it capsized. And eventually it was tiresome to keep Paddle from capsizing, so we collected a lot of driftwood and set off our "navy" of canoes, instead.

And now I'm back, with a few projects cleared and a new (to me) sewing machine, and more projects lined up...