Odds and ends and a bit of catch-up.

As you may have noticed, I never wrote a blog on Russell's Tae Kwon Do board breaking presentation he was supposed to be apart of. Well, the night before it was scheduled for his instructor called to inform us that it was canceled. So last week we at least got some pictures of him in his class with his instructor.

Last Friday as Russell sat at the table doing a math quiz, I heard him say under his breath (in a rather angry voice), "that man from the beach should be here now to see how real my school is." Russell hates math quizzes. He does well with math, but it is not his favorite by any means. He was angry that he had to take a quiz and that Max got to build with the blocks instead of do school work. He is not always thrilled to do his school work...just like other kids in "real" school.

We will begin "cooking class" next week. Thursday, as I was making lunch, Russell told me that I make cooking look easy and I don't even have to think about what I'm doing (I'm taking that as a compliment??). He asked if I could begin teaching him how to make a few recipes. He is great at making sandwiches, cereal, and toast, but he is ready to move on and expand his cooking knowledge. The next weeks should be fun...with many interesting meals coming our way!

Thursday as we were out picking up trash around the neighborhood, one of the neighbor boys came outside to show us his new puppy. We enjoyed playing with Checkers for awhile and talking with the neighbor boy. He got quite sad when he asked if we were moving out soon and I told him there was a chance we would be, but we didn't know for sure. He let it slide that he will miss R.C., and that R.C. is "really cool". The neighbor kids are pretty sweet when they are by themselves. Put them all together and they all are trying to out do the other and they just get rambunctious and crazy.

Max LOVES to take his own picture, and spell words with blocks.

We attended an art opening Thursday night at the RISD museum in which R.C. had a piece. I didn't get any pictures...maybe later. It was a lot of fun and we were able to see several friends, but we were all wanting to get home to watch the Red Sox game. They were beat (again) but it's great to watch and yell advice, for the team, at the T.V.. If only we could make the listen to us once in awhile...it may help them win!

Next week is "bring a jar of peanut butter and get a free ticket" night at the PawSox game. Sure, they are not totally free tickets because we will purchase 4 jars of peanut butter, but if we get 4 jars of peanut butter at $2 a piece, that's $8 (plus some tax) for our family to spend time together at a ball game...and help the Rhode Island food pantry at the same time.

Saturday the boys were able to use their "beach clean up money" to get some ice cream. I don't know what they put in that ice cream, but it stained Max's face blue for the entire day. I scrubbed and scrubbed his face, but the blue would not come off...it's better today. (If I can figure out how to get a video on here I will show Max doing a dance when he hears the ice cream man coming down the street. Stay tuned for that one!)

Russell lost another tooth last week. By now it is very unmonumental to lose a tooth. We knew it was loose for days and one night as we sat eating supper it just fell out. We dabbed it to stop the bleeding and we were back to supper within 2 min. like nothing had happened.

Friday night I got a break. R.C. finished his work by early evening and was able to come home to spend the night with the boys while I went out with some friends. Before I left Russell was singing a great song about when mom leaves the party starts. He had a GREAT jingle made up and it was really catchy (so catchy that I even found myself singing it several times before I left.), but by the time I got home I completely forgot how it went and R.C. couldn't remember either. It was aparent that Russell needed a break from me just as much as I needed a break from him. (Don't push the "publish your comment" button with nasty things about that! I love my kids, but I am able to love them more if I don't see them for a few hours once every few weeks. Surely if you are a parent/aunt/uncle/nanny/grandparent/human you can understand that.)

Tomorrow is Earth Day so the boys and I decided to have a pre Earth Day party. We packed a picnic lunch, a blanket, school books and trash bags and went down to the RISD beach to do some clean up. We spent 2 hours combing the beach for various types of trash. If you can think of it...we found it. We filled several trash bags and then took a break to spend some time on our lessons. We did not get the beach spotless, but we did the best we could do. Every little bit helps and every bit of trash that we can keep out of the oceans, the better. I know I for one (and you should be too!!) am sickened by this, and will do all I can to not contribute to it.

As we were picking up trash today, a man approached the boys and I. He was thrilled the we were out there cleaning up the beach and trying to make a difference. He and his dog walked with us a bit and flicked trash out of clumps of seaweed with his dog ball thrower stick thing so we could pick it up and put it in the bag. He didn't dare get his hands dirty. He decided he wanted to do something for the boys since they were doing such a great job, so after talking and walking awhile, and after I told him many times that his words were enough, he tucked some "ice cream" money into the boys dirty little hands. He was a kind man, very skeptical about home schooling, but still very kind.

He seems to be one of those dreaded annoying people who believe that learning can only happen in a classroom, sitting at a desk, for 7 hours, away from mom and dad. In his attempt to prove that kids need to be in a classroom to learn, he began asking the boys questions. Questions on presidents, past and present, weather, continents, etc.. Both boys answered his questions with the greatest of ease and for once were not shy about speaking up on topics they know about. Thank goodness!! Usually they clam up and don't want to tell people about what they are learning, and I was nervous they would do it this time also and I would be left trying to explain that they do know the information, they just don't want to say it, but the boys, without even knowing it, stopped this man in his home school bashing tracks. The only questions they did not know were questions about The 3 Stooges (he assumed they would know who the 3 stooges were before they knew who the first 3 presidents were. HA!)

After he left I had to answer many questions that the boys (mainly Russell) had. He was confused as to why that man said that he needed to get into real school, what was not real about our school, how our school was different from other schools, and who the 3 Stooges were. This guy really upset Russell with his views that home schooling is not real school, but at the same time Russell was thrilled with all the trash we collected and the ice cream money he now has burning a hole in his pocket. 

Tomorrow we tackle the trash in our neighborhood. The boys and I make up a pretty strong trash picking up army of 3, so all the hoodlums in the neighborhood better watch out. And I hope we don't run across the man with no pants...yes, this has been in issue.

Not all trash is trash...some is a treasure!

These are 2 that Max took while Russell was working on lessons...and since there are few of me on this blog, I felt I needed show I am alive and well...even though Max needs to give more warning when taking pictures...sheesh!

Before heading home we played some football (or at least what we like to call football) in the field.

Finally, it just so happened that I captured both boys jumping. I am never surprised when I capture Max mid jump, since he is ALWAYS jumping, but after looking at the pictures when we got home I noticed that today I got Russell too...and what an amazing jump Russell has!

Max just looks kind of goofy since he looks completely normal, except his feet are not on the ground.

The last week has been good.

The boys and I have been busily working on lessons. We are 40(ish) days away from completing our school year so we are preparing for tests that I'm hoping sure that Russell will pass with flying colors. At this point I am pretty sure Max could pass first grade also. That boy has shocked me this year with all he has learned. I began the year thinking he would dabble a bit with the preschool material I had, but he flew through that, laughed his way through the kindergarten material, and now proudly displays his first grade work beside Russell's. In the last few weeks Russell began reading and finished Hatchet and Stuart Little, and is a few chapters into The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

R.C. has been working his tail off at school. He has about 6 weeks left of classes so the pressure is on! He is beyond busy writing his thesis paper, making art, getting ready for several shows, applying to job after job, and trying to spend a little time with the boys.

At Christmas time you may remember reading about "Christmas with the PawSox". We received tickets to a game in the spring for attending this event, and so on Tuesday afternoon we took the boys out to the ball game (I love free tickets!). It was a beautiful day for a ball game...but they lost...12 - 0!! Ouch! Before you begin writing about the boys being at a ball game instead of sitting at the table doing worksheets, you must know that it was field trip day for public school kids also. The general admission seats were FULL of school kids and teachers watching the game also. There were very few people there other than kids and teachers. You will also notice that the green and red seats are practically empty! Afternoon games are not too popular I guess.

Russell has been taking a Tae Kwon Do class and is doing very well. His instructor asked him to participate in the "Healthy Kids Day" at the YMCA this Saturday and show some "moves" to the community. Russell is pretty excited to participate and break some boards (Yes...break boards! My scrawny little Russell will break boards!) for all to see.

Max has finally learned to love his veggies. In the last week he realized that broccoli, asparagus, and beets (he has no problem with all other veggies) taste great. Beets are served A LOT in this household (mmmmm!! Delish!!) so it's a relief that Maxwell can do this with a smile now, instead of a frown...

This morning I packed a bag of snacks, school books and sand toys, said good bye to R.C., put the boys in the car and headed to the beach. It was a BEAUTIFUL day so we spent it playing in the sand, splashing in the water, and doing school work, pantless, on a beach towel. We spent hours in the sun, while giving R.C. a chance to do school work in a quiet house instead of a quiet studio.

As soon as we got to the beach we spotted some swans. They were down the beach quite a bit, so we put all our stuff down and took a walk to see them. We watched them swim around and then decided to go back to the spot we had staked out. To our surprise, 2 of the 6 swans followed us to our spot. They stayed by us the entire time and even followed us when we took another walk...and back again. The boys were loud and splashing and trying to skip rocks, and the swans swam close by watching the excitement. 

 

A flock of ducks landed near where the boys were playing. Max chased them away, and, what you can't see is, one of the swans was swimming just out of frame, and didn't budge as all the ducks flew away in fear of Maxwell.

The boys are pantless due to the fact that I have yet to get spring/summer clothes out of storage, and rolling their pants just wasn't cutting it. So, after soaking their pants, we took them off and let them dry in the sun so they would be dry for the ride home and the errands we had to do before going home. Both boys still think running around in their underpants is cool, and I think there are few things better than watching your kids running and laughing on the beach in their little undies.

We spent some time in the big grassy field playing soccer and picking daffodils before heading home to see R.C. and distract him from his work....oops.

Have I ever mentioned how awesome homeschooling is?! No, not just because we can do our school lessons on the beach...but that is a huge perk! It's a lot of work too, trust me!

R.C. is in NYC for several days again. We dropped him off at the bus station Thursday and will see him again on Sunday morning.

So, while he has been away, the boys and I have been busy. We had no lessons on Friday so we spent the morning and early afternoon at the park, took a walk along the bay, and picked some flowers. We have played hours of board games and had light saber battles with friends outside. Today needs to be a cleaning day...but maybe another park day.

Due to all the flooding that has happened in RI in the last few days, the bay that we walked along was much higher than normal. As we were walking we could see how high the water had risen by the line of debris that had collected in the grass. Much of RI is still underwater, but up on our hill we were unaffected. We just can't get to our favorite grocery store which is NOTHING compared to how many people had to evacuate their homes and leave all their belongings behind.

So. I've got a hater!

It has come to my attention that someone out there, maybe more than one, thinks I am a hypocrite. That's the word this person used. I was bombarded with comments on my blog the other afternoon (20+ comments in one day!) from an "anonymous" person. The problem is that they think I am a hypocrite for saying ,"I don't like the boys to have sugar filled drinks" and yet I have several (yes, this person pointed out each and every one) postings in which the boys are pictured with ice cream cones, doughnuts, hot chocolate, etc.. This person feels I am too busy pretending I am concerned with sugar intake and not concerned enough about the happiness of my children. I was also told that I need to stop putting down others who choose to give their kids pop, cookies, etc..

Sigh.


I don't even know how to begin to approach this.

I never set out to upset people with my opinions about food. I never meant to put others down for their food choices. I never meant to insult anyone who makes their kids a pitcher of Kool-aid. I really don't care if you give your kid 2 cups of sugar as a bed time snack, or if you consider french fries as vegetables. This is my blog and I am telling how I run my home and how I feel about things. I am sorry if anyone (and apparently some do) reads this blog and feels I am "preaching too much about something I don't practice myself" and "putting on a show to make people believe that you eat healthy all the time".
 

I feed my family nutritious food, even when other people are not around. I do not do it for show or to make myself sound good on this blog. I do it because childhood obesity, diabetes, and other health issues concern me. I want my family to live long lives. I do however let my kids have treats. I don't think of myself as a hypocrite when it comes to food. I do feed my family healthy foods and I give them treats from time to time. Moderation is key! Along the way I may try to convince others that it does not take extra time or money to buy and cook fresh foods instead of "convenience foods" that are loaded with extra stuff that our bodies don't need. If that is taken as preaching, then I will stop preaching.

As far as the comment about me not being "concerned enough about the happiness of my children"....I've got nothing to say other than you obviously don't know me, my husband, or my children.

"Anonymous" really made me not want to blog. I'm sure that was the purpose, and for the last few days, he/she succeeded.

*All comments from this person have been deleted because they were rude and nasty*

When we moved here we downsized all our belongings. We sold or donated a good portion of what we owned. Furniture, clothing, dishes, books, toys, etc.. Nothing was safe. We got rid of things that we loved, but knew that those things were not necessary for us to survive. Throughout the last 2 years I have thought about one or two items and wondered why I got rid of them. Like wise, some of the items that we moved here I wonder why I wasted good space in bringing them with us.

There are two particular items that I never understood why I kept. Two items that cost next to nothing and had been around for YEARS, never used or touched, and yet I took the time to put them in a box and move them over 1,000 miles. Why?

I remember purchasing these 2 things in Greenville when Russell was first born. Thinking about it now, it seems all the more strange knowing that I not only moved these things once, but I moved them from our first apartment to our second apartment. Then I moved them from our second apartment to our house. Then I moved them from our house to this place. 3 moves. That's a lot of moves for 2 little Kool Aid packets.

Yeah, that's what I said. Kool Aid. I have no idea what made me purchase these 2 packets of Kool Aid 7 years ago, but I did. Neither R.C. or myself are Kool Aid drinkers and I don't like the boys to have sugar filled drinks (gasp!) so I had never made it for them...and they never asked for it.

Until today.

This afternoon the boys went outside to play with a friend right after lunch. Before I knew it, it was 3:00 and they were still outside running wild with their buddy. As I stood in my teeny tiny kitchen listening to 3 boys playing in the back parking lot, I had to smile. That's when I opened the cupboard to see 2 little Kool Aid packets staring at me. I thought I would be a good mom today and make a pitcher of ice cold Kool Aid for when they came back inside. I felt this was a pretty big moment for myself. This was the first time in 7 years (actually probably much longer since we rarely got Kool Aid growing up either. But I am certain it has been at least 7 years so that's what I'm going with.) that I had made Kool Aid.

Max was the first to come in. He was just taking a break from playing for a second to take care of some "business", but I was so excited I offered him a glass of bright red liquid right away. I poured him a glass and he took a small drink and then put the glass down. I asked him if he liked it and he responded with an "ehhh". Next up was Russell. He came in for the same "business" and I offered him a drink also. He refused! What!?

Sure for a second I was broken hearted thinking that I was failing as an all American mother, but soon I brushed those feelings aside and relized that all these years they have not been missing out on anything since they didn't really care for the stuff anyways. Then I felt some what proud realizing that they (mainly Russell since Max did at least try it) made a smart healthy choice even when unhealthy foods were offered, all on their own.

All that to say...our move (if and when) will be 2 Kool Aid packets lighter. One packet was made today, and the other went in the garbage. Downsizing feels great!

*Just so you know how old these packets were...they expired in 2006! Yes, I still made the one...how does that stuff go bad? All it is is fake flavoring and other additives.
*I mean no disrespect to Kool Aid drinkers out there! Really!!

Today is a clear, sunny day with temperatures in the mid 70's and in my book that means you go to the beach.

This afternoon, after some errands and some baseball in the park, I took the boys to the beach to enjoy the beautiful weather. As soon as I parked the car and turned it off Russell threw his door open, took a deep breath and yelled (in a wonderful pirate voice), "Ahhhhh, I sure have missed that salty sea air!" We walked up and down the beach searching for seashells and sea glass, petting dogs that were enjoying a day out also, and chatting with some friends who we happened to run into. Soon the boys legs could walk no further so we headed back to the car and drove home with the windows down while singing Beach Boys songs as loud as we could.

 (We were completely over dressed for the beach today! I assumed that even though it was warm, it would probably be a bit cool on the beach. Usually I am right when it comes to things like this. Not today though.)

Spring is definitly here. We have seen several flowers in bloom around the neighborhood (well...not in our neighborhood, but in other neighborhoods), and the heat has been off for a week now. We may have a few days here and there where it gets cool again, but spring is in the air.

RC update: RC was in NYC 3 days and 2 nights this week and is now busily working in the studio. He's keeping more than busy trying to get through these last few months of school. 

I wish I had some great things to blog about, but the past week has been very uneventful. VERY.

Here is what we do everyday:

 Looks exciting, doesn't it? 

Russell has been working on adjectives the last few weeks. On Thursday he was given a worksheet to complete in which he had to use an adjective to describe his home, family, favorite food, town, etc. I had to cringe, and agree, when he wrote "trashy" to describe his town. Take that Providence. That's the best I can do for interesting stories from the week. 

The biggest thing that happened last week was an eye doctor appointment for myself. I hate the eye doctor. Not a specific eye doctor, just the news that the eye doctor gives me. I have always had a fear of going for a routine checkup and finding out that I have 2 weeks left to see before I go blind. This time I heard the dreaded, "That's the best we're going to be able to do for you." Although he did give me a new type of contact to try and I was shocked at how much better I can see with them, and scared at how poorly I was seeing before and not realizing it.

Last week the boys started their spring programs at the YMCA.

Russell chose to take a martial arts class. I did not go to his class with him so I do not have stories to share from that, other than I hear he should wear some pants that don't fall down next time. (RC and Max watched the class and passed that message along)

Max wanted to take swimming lessons for his activity. I signed him up for a class in which I would get in the water with him, per his request. We attended the first lesson and the teacher was impressed with Max's "swimming" ability and promoted him to the next class level. This means that I no longer have to get in the water! Russell and I took him to this class on Friday morning and he was a bit nervous, but once he met his teacher he was showing all his swim moves and had a great time. The only time he got upset was when they told him class was over and he could go get his towel. He truely is a fish.

Russell has been obsesed with Super Mario Brothers since our Wisconsin trip. Uncle John played Mario with the boys one evening (and well into the night) and it was definitly a huge highlight for the boys. Since being home, Russell is thinking one thing...Mario! He is constatly humming the Mario theme song, jumping to "collect gold coins" and wondering if John beat level 3 yet. One thing he has done is build a Mario set out of Legos.

 

 

This is his King Kupa's (sp??)Castle he created. The picture doesn't really do it justice. It really is pretty cool, complete with little hammer throwing guys, jewels, and a flower coming out of a pipe. Today is castle demolition day though. Max is itching to get his hands on the Legos and make something he likes.

There is just too much to share about our trip.  I keep putting it off thinking it will get done on it's own...so far, no luck with that...so I guess it's up to me.

The boys were little angels on the planes. They loved the attention they received from the flight attendants. The men attendants were giving them high fives each time they passed, and the women made sure they had ample drinks (juice) to make it through the flight. On our last flight home I sat next to a pilot who was heading to Canada. We talked about kids and he told me all I ever wanted/needed to know about flying. He could not say enough good things about the boys and praised their good behavior over and over. He said that he can fly his kids for free, but every time he does the flight attendants get after him because his kids are causing such a ruckus. Once again, thank you boys!!

We had a good week seeing family and babysitting my niece and nephew. I spent 3 days at my sister's house making messes and chaos with 4 kids, and it was great. The boys loved spending time with Grace and making faces at Mitchell. Mitchell is cuter than I could have imagined and I was so happy to get to visit and help out. 

Russell helped by reading stories to everyone.

Gracie holding her baby brother.

Crazy Max holding Mitchell for the 1st time. He wanted to hold him ALL THE TIME!

Sweet Grace helping give Mitchell his pacifier. Actually she would gently put it in his mouth, then pull it out and listen to him wail. What a nice big sister! (She really is though)

They are a pretty cute bunch of kids!

Miscellaneous pictures:

We had a great week visiting with the family. We were all anxious to get back to R.C. though. We arrived at the Providence airport around 10:30 pm and my fantastic husband had a cup of coffee waiting. (Yes, I realized the time, but sometimes you just need coffee...like every second of every day.) 

Thanks for a great trip everyone!

We made it safely to Wisconsin and have been having a great time. Mitchell is the cutest little baby, and Gracie is a perfect big sister. The boys and I (mainly I) have been watching them the last 3 days while their mom and dad work and go to school. It's been a lot of fun! More on our trip later.

I had this post done a few weeks ago, but never hit publish...oops. So, until I can upload pictures from our trip and tell about that....

A few weekends ago the boys went to a birthday party for one of their friends. This was a birthday party to beat all other birthday parties. It was held in the kids gym at the YMCA, there were snacks galore, pizza, cake, and a cape making station. It was super hero themed, so the boys went dressed in their best Spiderman costumes and had a great afternoon running wild and eating pizza and cake with their friends and 20+ other crazy kids. There were so many kids running around dressed as super heroes, but the real super heroes were our friends, the mom and dad, who put this shindig on for their little guy.

We took a half day off from lessons yesterday. I had errands to run and the boys were just needing a break, so after reading lessons, we got our shoes on and headed out the door. We went to the mall and wandered (purchasing nothing), then walked around Target picking up toothpaste, mouthwash, etc.. We were out walking around in public for about 2+ hours.

It wasn't until I was putting my bags of toothpaste and mouthwash into the back of the car when I realized something just wasn't right with my outfit. I bent down to pick up the reciept that I had just dropped and I saw this:

 

That's right, I was wearing one red shoe, and one pink shoe. They are the same shoe, just different colors, so they feel identical on my feet. I found this shoe and it is very comfortable, VERY affordable, and comes in all different colors. Maybe I should pay more attention to what I look like before I leave the house, instead of being so concerned with making sure the boys go to the bathroom and wash their hands. I guess it could have been worse, I could have had a red shoe and a turquoise shoe on. At least these 2 are both in the red family. Upon thinking about this, I can't even remember which shoe I meant to put on. Was I trying to wear red shoes, or was I trying to wear pink shoes? I don't know. 

Today the boys and I sat down with construction paper, scissors, glitter and glue. We were all ready to make Valentine's Day cards. I thought I had a great idea when I pulled out 2 small boxes of the, always classic, "Sweethearts" candy hearts. You know what I'm talking about...the small hearts that are pastel colors with sweet Valentine messages, printed in red, in the center of the heart. Or, at least, that is what they are supposed to look like.

I thought we could get a few Valentine sayings from the candies and enjoy an afternoon treat at the same time. Well, that didn't work out as planned. First of all, Russell's box had 5 pieces in it, and Max's was filled to the top. Luckily Max was more than happy to fill Russell's box to the half way point so they had an equal amount. Secondly, all the words were printed off center so we had no clue what 80% of the hearts said; not too helpful when we were counting on these candies for words to write on our cards. Finally, the only hearts that printed clearly said, "TEXT ME" and "TWEET ME". These are not sweet words that I want to hear from my valentine, and the boys had no clue what they meant. Does the cyber world really need to get involved in everything?

What happened to "LOVE ME", "BE MINE", "YOU'RE SWEET" and "HUGS AND KISSES"? Were people really writing the Sweetheart company asking them to include "TWEET ME" on a candy heart? I doubt it. Maybe I'm annoyed by this because I don't really know or understand what twitter is, but come on!

Our card making afternoon lasted about 15 minutes. Russell was only interested in cutting up the paper and drawing cartoon characters that make you think of anything but Valentine's Day, and Max wrote his name over and over on a couple of hearts and then wanted to make glue mountains and cover them in glitter.

Maybe I just woke up on the wrong side of the bed today (who me?!) but I threw in the towel on card making after these 15 minutes. It was one of those days when we fight to make it through our lessons, I found a stash of dirty clothes under the bookshelf that no one would claim, and I feel like I want to let the dishes pile up because all I want to do it grab a warm blanket from the radiator and watch a mindless movie. Maybe we will try card making tomorrow, but I'm not holding my breath on that one.

Today was not a fantastic day. Today was not even a good day. Today is not one I would want to do over. It's days like this when I need more pictures like this:

What is that? It's Max squishing his nose into mine (what we call a "snuggle kiss") while he takes a blurry picture of it. Bad days are few, but they happen, and they pass. Maybe tomorrow will be a snuggle kiss day, not today, and I'm ok with that.