Here comes Peter cotton-tail

 

Kale found Eden's bunny costume that she wore for the assisted living centers a few days before Easter. I kept the costume with good intentions of getting pics of Eden in her cute little costume (it was seriously so cute) but before I could do that Kale found it and ran around the house with Eden right behind in the rest of the costume. Happy Easter!!

When Daddy comes home

While I was making dinner one night I came out into the living room to find a group of kids huddled around Darrin reading a comic book that Kale picked up from the library. They were so mesmerized by the stories (and the voices that Darrin uses while reading) they didn't even acknowledge the camera. I am so glad when Darrin comes home, we miss him when he's gone.

Kindergarten farewell

 

Eden was the only child I had in public school this year. There were good things and inconvenient things, and certainly not because it's public school. Taking Eden to school everyday was a burden, it was hard to leave and disrupt our schedule at home and try and get the others back on track. It was hard to not take days off, I felt such flexibility with our homeschooling schedule (we had every Friday off), and to have Eden still on a schedule outside of what I wanted was difficult. The great things were, she loved it. She made some really good friends, she learned to read (which I was scared to do), and I got to come to her class and do art with the kids.

Near the end of the school year Darrin and I needed to make a decision about next year. Baylie wanted to stay home, Jaya liked both options but would prefer to do public school, and Eden wanted to go to public school. We made our pros and cons list and discussed it quite heavily with the kids and settled on homeschooling all of them, except Kale who will start preschool with a local preschool.

I love the idea of them being home while they are little. There are things to learn all around them and I love being flexible enough to choose what we are going to study. I'll be honest I am not as "pumped" about it this year as I was last year, I think mainly because I know the work it takes, but I don't want to end after one year when I feel like I was finally figuring a few things out. So I am excited for the challenge, with a lot more reality mixed in. I am very curious how it will be with Eden added to the mix and being here all day with us, but I think it's going to be a good thing for all of us.

Happy summer!!

Mrs Bowen - Eden's kindergarten teacher was great!

Mrs Geest - The kindergarten aide - LOOOVE her

Mother and ONE daughter

 

The sun came out, the breeze was cool, but not cold. We put on our tennis shoes, finished up math and hurried out the door. Our mother/daughter activity was banana splits and hiking for Baylie's activity days. The hiking turned more into a short walk, but Baylie and I did learn a little more about each other through our questionnaire we took.

I loved having some one-on-one with Baylie, it helps me really see her. She is a fun, outgoing, energetic personality. I especially love that she will still hold my hand! What a sweet girl, and an awesome activity. (The moms in our group are really awesome too!)

 

Here's what I learned out Baylie...

.

If you could be an animal what would you be and why?

Dolphin, because they are the smartest mammal, and I will probably not get eaten (while other ocean animals survival rates are definitely questionable)

 

What do you love the most about being 8 years old?

That I got baptized.

 

Favorite movie?

Wreck-it Ralph

 

What do you love most about your family?

We are REALLY awesome!!

Iron Man - Stomach bug and bike rides

Being to true to my commitment about blogging more about my training, I decided to do it in weekly increments, so 1- I don't bore you to death and 2- there isn't enough to say that won't cause boredom.

Iron Man Training 5 weeks left of training...

Monday - Swam 40 laps. This was not "hard" it's just very time consuming. It takes me about 50min - to 1 hour to swim this distance. 50 min if I do not stop and chat with my friend Angie, which always happens, unless she shows up late which happened this day and then I had 15 laps in by the time she came, so then after 10 min of chatting I started again. I realized that swimming is not physically hard for me it's just really long. I am nervous for the day of the race because it's going to be very cold. It's in a lake and we had snow this week, so I don't think that lake is going to warm up much in 4 weeks. I will wear a wetsuit which will help some but regardless, being in the cold water and no way of getting out or warming up is going to be the biggest obstacle of the swim, at least that's what I am thinking. Who knows? Maybe I will encounter some lake alligator that will try and take me down, that would prove to be a much bigger obstacle for sure, but may end the agony faster, by drowning me!

Tuesday - Nothing. I normally run with my friend on Tuesday but she switched it and it's throwing me off. I did plan on going biking and then for a short run after, but the weather got really cold, and I am a big baby when it comes to cold weather. Again, another reason I am nervous about the swim.

Wednesday - Stomach Flu. Oh how lovely, I started feeling sick Tuesday night while visiting with our friends, by the time we left to drive home I was so sick! I moaned and groaned all night, texted my friends that I couldn't work out the next day, and stayed in bed all day.

Thursday - Nothing. Still didn't really care, I am still recovering right? Although I felt great I just didn't want to work out.

Friday - Panic. Okay now I am starting to panic. I should work out but I just don't want too, yet I can't really use the sick excuse still. Really I wasn't sure what to do even if I did work out. I didn't want to run, I had an 8 miler planned for tomorrow. I didn't really want to bike, I had a 50 miler planned for tomorrow. So I just went to my kids track meet, cheered them on and enjoyed "Cherry Berry" afterward, not happily though the guilt was really starting to come on.

Saturday - 8 mile run, 4 hour break for soccer games, 46 mile bike ride. The run was great, it felt good to get out, to visit with my new/old friend Stephanie that has joined our running group. Darrin and I then decided to go for a 50 mile bike ride. The wind was blowing against us, too the point that it felt like the downhill wasn't even relief. We got to our turn around point and I was tired. I decided to try a book on tape, and started biking home, the route flew by. We now had the wind on our side and my mind was entertained. We got home at a pretty good time. It took us 3 hours and 15 min to bike 46 miles (Darrin got 50 miles!). I figure the race day it will take me 4 hours to complete the bike ride.

OH! update on my shoulder. Right before the ride I had a strong feeling to try riding without my camelback, to see if it would relieve some of the pressure I was feeling on my arm and shoulder. I had been doing stretches all week and guess what?! My shoulder felt great! It was awesome, so I am not going to be riding with a camelback anymore and hope that problem is over.

Kindergarten love

This was found on Darrin's pillow around Valentine's day.

a 10 year olds self-education

 

We checked out the book The Daring Book for Girls by Andrea J Buchanan and Miriam Peskowitz from the library and Jaya's life has not been the same. She carried it everywhere she went, she read late into the night and she constantly shared her new found knowledge with the rest of us. Little bits of the this and that started disappearing, from string, newspaper and plastic bags, as she started creating the projects she read about in her book. One of the more "daring" adventures was - learning to walk in heels. She slowly clicked around the house, starting on the carpet and rugs and graduating herself to the hardwood (which I was not happy about.) She is now insisting that she would like some heels of her own.

I don't know if I have mentioned but Jaya is 7 inches shorter then me right now, when she puts heels on we are so close to the the same height it's scary. I am not ready for her to be as tall/short as me, and certainly not at 10 years old. After a recent shoe shopping outing together we compromised and she came home with a pair of black shoes with a "low" heel.

This girl is growing up...I guess if heels are the least of my worries I am grateful.