After lessons yesterday I dropped the boys off with some friends so that I could help R.C. install the giant. They had a great time playing with their friend for a few hours and I am so thankful to have good friends who are able, and willing, to help us out. The show tomorrow is going to be fantastic!

The big news for today/yesterday is that R.C. won a very substantial grant from the school! It's very exciting and something that he will not tell anyone about because he doesn't like to "brag or boast" about himself...but I like to "brag and boast" about him! He, along with a few others, applied for a grant so they can have a show in NYC, and it was accepted! It's estimated that 90% of the students at RISD apply for this grant, so the fact that R.C. was able to win not only 1, but 2 grants, is AMAZING!!

While I'm on the topic of great things that R.C. is doing/has done, let me share a little story/quote...

The thesis paper is something that all students have to write (in any field) in order to get a masters degree. Yes, even in art school there are papers to write. Many people may see art school as a "hobby" but I assure you, it is REAL school. Anyways, R.C. has been working on his thesis since the beginning of the year. He has a committee of people that he gives rough drafts to periodically so they can make suggestions/corrections or to tell him to scrap it and start over. After he turned his paper in for a review a few weeks ago he got an email from a man on his committee that was very encouraging.


"I have to say this is one of the most, if not flat out the most enjoyable theses I have read.  It is smart, personal, clear, witty and also quite provocative." (There were several more long paragraphs, but these were my favorite 2 sentences.)


When R.C. forwarded this email on to me, and I read it, all I could respond with was, "Biggity BAM!!" Sure, I could have (and probably should have tried a little harder to) gathered my thoughts and put my excitement into words that were intelligent sounding, but sometimes, excitement is hard to express in words. In these times I find it best to keep it short and sweet. Who knows what I'll say when I see him finally receive his diploma at graduation. I probably won't speak...I'll be the weirdo jumping up and down crying, with 2 boys beside me dressed in blazers and tights.

Wait...did I just say blazers and tights?

I sure did...I'll explain later.

We've had a relaxing weekend after such a crazy week last week. We actually had every meal at home around the table instead of peanut butter sandwiches in the studio with glue covered hands. We have spent time at parks, played some baseball, and spotted a pair of orioles. They are such beautiful birds and so exciting to see...we also spotted their nest, which was also exciting (don't call us dorks for enjoying bird watching! Try it and you'll see how great it is too.) We have done job searching and discussing about the coming months, and it's funny how that is considered relaxing now...

We start another exciting week tomorrow. R.C. is installing his piece on Tuesday, with the help of a pretty awesome assistant (cough cough) and the thesis show is Thursday. When we delivered his piece on Friday to the convention center, it was exciting to see the "behind the scene" work that goes on to make an art show happen. Walls were being built, workers were scurrying around, and pieces of art, that so much blood, sweat and tears had gone into, were scattered all around waiting to be assembled and placed just so. We are all looking forward to Thursday when we can, once again, take a breath and know that one more thing is complete and graduation is just around the corner. Until then we will help with the finishing touches if we are needed, otherwise we will stand back and let the "almost master" work his magic and make a crazy awesome piece of art.

Well, everyone, except me, has been catching up on sleep this weekend and trying to get back on some what of a schedule (my schedule has become the "no schedule-schedule, and lately it has been working for me so I'm not complaining.). R.C. has fallen asleep shortly after the boys Friday night and tonight, so I am left to occupy myself, quietly, so I don't wake anyone. I find the best way to do this is to peruse THIS blog. This weekend I think I read more about this woman's dress making than the usual food blogs. Check it out...you'll love it too...maybe.

This week has been crazy.  (If you would rather just skip to the bottom and hear the super exciting news I understand...)

The boys and I have spent everyday in the studio with RC since last Saturday. It's been great seeing him more than usual, but we have been working non-stop.

We wake in the morning and head to the studio and work until supper time. I have been taking school work for the boys to do in the studio and they keep busy doing lessons, drawing, helping when necessary and reading...as well as roaming the halls trying to find people the know. After coming home for a quick supper we head back downtown to work a few hours before the boys and I head home, so they can get to bed, and RC keeps working until the wee hours of the morning. As soon as I get the boys in bed I then begin my work organizing school work and getting everything ready for the end of the year. I work on this until about 11:00pm and then usually take a break, thinking that after a little break I will go to the kitchen and do some dishes...that never happens. I almost immediately fall asleep on the couch and am awoken by RC when he comes home at _______ o'clock.

The boys have been great, even though our schedule is less than desirable right now. They are worn out and tired, but attitudes are still positive and they LOVE being able to see RC more than just during supper and a car ride to drop him off at the studio again.

Today the final piece was dropped off at the convention center in preparation for the big huge thesis show next week. Now the thesis paper needs to be fine tuned and printed. I can help very little with this...if at all, which is OK. I have plenty to do to catch up after this last week. I would love to post some pictures of the boys, but I have taken zero this week. Why? Because if I take their picture in this house you will see the mess in the background. Mess! I have not been here to clean/pickup or do dishes. When we are here it is for a quick meal and things just get tossed around and dishes get piled in the sink and on the counter. A horrible confession...I had not done dishes since Monday! Yikes! I gave Russell cereal today in a mixing bowl and with a giant spoon. He thought it was cool, but I felt horrible!

Today things got cleaned up and it felt great! Dishes have been washed, dried and put away, floors swept/vacuumed/mopped, beds made, a few loads of laundry done, etc....Now we are ready to start another busy week!

BUT....THE BIG NEWS....

We finally saw Hermione Granger (some of you muggles may know her at Emma Watson)!! We stopped at the restaurant/convenience store last night that is right below the studios and there she was, getting supper. RC approached her and asked if the boys could say "HI" and she agreed, shook their hands and chatted with them a bit. THEY WERE SOOOOOOOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!! Excited doesn't even explain how they felt. Since hearing that she was coming to Brown the boys have been on the lookout for her everywhere we go. Finally they saw her and she was kind to them. After I tucked the boys in bed last night I heard them talking to each other about seeing her. They talked about it for 30 minutes nonstop...and made plans to go to that particular store everyday so they can see her again.

• On Friday R.C. took Russell to his studio while I took Max on some errands with me. The boys have such different personalities when they are apart from each other! It was a fun afternoon for them and R.C. and I also to get some one on one time with them.
• At the Y, every once in awhile, they have an activity called "Parents Night Out". Last Friday this activity was scheduled. It's a night of babysitting so that parents can have a night off. When I heard of this I was not going to pass it up. They needed at least 5 kids to sign up in order for them to do it, and when we signed the boys up they were the only 2. So, I quickly convinced some friends (one family who has 2 kids and one family who has 1 kid) to sign their kids up also. 2+2+1=5!! It was on! (There ended up being a few more other kids also)
• The boys had a great time swimming, learned a bit about camping, played with their friends and made Mother's Day gifts. According to Russell it was "the best night of my life."
• R.C. and I went out to eat and got wonderful seafood (I had a bowl of mussels that was bigger than my head!) and actually talked about things other than kids, although they did come up once or twice. We then walked to a used bookstore and looked through wonderful books and enjoyed the quiet. Next stop was ice cream. We got our ice cream to go and walked through the park until we were done and then we went to Lowes for some art supplies.
• Saturday was spent in the studio. All of us. It's crunch time and projects need to be wrapping up for the year. One thing I love about our little family is that when things get busy we all work together very well to share the "load". 
• Two nights in a row the boys got to stay up until 9:00 pm! That is VERY rare! Usually by 8:05 pm, at the latest, they are tucked in bed.
• I woke early on Sunday and began to get out of bed, but was told (by a very groggy, barely coherent, RC) that I needed to stay in bed so the boys could bring me breakfast. I laid in bed awake for 1 1/2 hours until everyone was awake and I was brought rice krispies, toast (with butter frosting) and orange juice. MY BOYS ARE AWESOME (and crazy about carbs...)! 
• We spent more time in the studio this morning working with R.C.. The boys and I just came home for a break, and to let some glue dry. I need to get lessons planned for the week so we can go back to work with R.C. after supper.
• I have so much glue on my pants that it is hard to bend my knees. I'm not exaggerating.

Last week Russell and Max made supper and it was GREAT! They wanted to make a family favorite, Kung Fu Panda soup. I was a bit nervous about handing my boys sharp knives, especially Max, but with a little instructing, they were chopping vegetables like pros. I did not get pictures of them chopping because I wanted to keep all my attention on them and their little fingers.) They learned how to read recipes, and measure correctly. The soup turned out great and R.C. even said it was the best that has been made yet! That's saying a lot since we make it a lot! (No pandas were harmed in the making of this soup...it's named after the popular kids movie Kung Fu Panda.) This is the recipe that we started with when we first started making the soup. Over time I have strayed from the recipe (which I do A LOT! It's very rare for me to actually follow a recipe entirely since I like to put my own spin on most (all) dishes.) and added more/different veggies, less/no sugar, more chili paste and different noodles, or dumplings.

Last week was also peanut butter night with the PawSox. As others waited in line at the box office to get tickets, we walked to a table, set our 4 jars of peanut butter down, were handed 4 tickets and walked into the game. We had a fantastic time watching the PawSox get beat, switching seats muliple times, eating hotdogs, getting a bloody nose, and being given a "home run ball" that was hit during warm up, but it was SO cold and windy that we left by the 6th inning!
The boys had even made signs to take...(Russell I guess was concerned that they would not know he was a fan, and Max wanted Josh Reddick to go...twice.)

Saturday morning was pancake morning and Max was the chef. He made a delicious berry salad to go along with the pancakes, and helped measure, pour, flip and serve the pancakes. Hey Bobby Flay, I've got a Max who is ready for a showdown!

Saturday morning we went to the park and played baseball and got some flowers planted in the flower boxes on the porch. After supper, and baths, the boys got to have a movie night. They had rented Coraline from the library and were ecstatic when the movie came with 3-D glasses.

 (Someone has been bitten by the bloggin' bug)

This week, and last, has been a difficult one with Russell. Usually Russell is agreeable and pleasant, but, for some reason this week, he has been VERY disobedient, whiny, and we have also had an issue with lying. Yikes!

Sunday was my breaking point. Sunday was the day that I took away Russell's right to have treats of ANY kind, the day that he found out he had to go to bed 30 minutes early every night for a week, and the day that he was told he would not be going outside to play with his friends for the week (which has been no big deal since it has been so rainy and cold).

Sound extreme?

Sometimes extreme measures must be taken.

Russell was not thrilled with his punishment(s). He was down right angry at me for punishing him period, but each day he expresses how upset he is that Max is allowed a cookie after supper, or that Max is not made to go to bed early also. He thinks he is undergoing the worst punishment known to any 7 year old kid.

It wasn't until this morning as we were doing some reading on the Aztecs (for history lessons. This chapter could not have come at a better time for Russell!), that he realized he didn't have it so bad.

The two of us sat on the couch at 8:15 am, while Max slept soundly and R.C. was off to school, and read a chapter on the punishments that Aztec children had to endure if they were disobedient. Russell's eyes grew wider by the second as he read out loud that "bad" kids were poked with cactus needles or told to stand, for 1 hour, in ice cold water as punishment. The one that made him stop reading and look at me and declare, "I will go to bed early anytime, never eat treats and never play outside again if I don't ever have to do that!" was when he read that kids were held, with their eyes propped open, over a fire of burning jalapeno peppers so the peppery smoke would burn their eyes.

Early bed, no treats, and no playing outside seem like a cake walk to Russell now. He couldn't wait for Max to wake up so he could share with him what he had just read about. Max's only response was, "mom and dad would not do that to us...". (Thanks Max!)

Today has been a good day for Russell. He has been doing what he is told to do and not whining. He even saw on the clock that it said 7:25 pm, and marched off to bed without me saying a word to him. He has been talking about the Aztecs all day and I am sure that he learned, from his reading today, that he doesn't have it as bad as he may think.

Thank you ancient Aztec parents for showing my boy that his punishment is not as extreme as he may have originially thought it was.

A have had this locket for quite some time now. It's nothing fancy/expensive but it has a beautiful peacock feather on the front that I just love! (Not a very good picture...but you get the point)

A few nights ago Max took this locket that meant very little to me and turned it into something very very special. He usually likes to open it several times if he sees me wearing it. A few nights ago, as we sat on the couch together, he opened the locket, saw that it was still empty and jumped off the couch while yelling, "Stay there, I'll be right back!" He soon came back with a little picture that he drew, and cut out, to fit inside the locket. He would not let me see the picture until he had it in, and it took him a few trips back to the kitchen to trim the sides of his picture a little more so it could fit nicely. Soon he had it just right and I was able to look at the picture. 

It's a very simple picture of two people (he said it is R.C. and I) smiling and holding hands. Each day since then he wants me to wear the locket. The other morning after R.C. left for the studio and I was stumbling around in huge, bright turquoise sweatpants, slippers with the soles falling off (they are my favorite! I will make them last forever!) and a red sweatshirt that should have been retired 5 years ago, Max brought the necklace to me and said I should wear it because it would look good. I laughed and put it on...and to my surprise it did bring the red from the sweatshirt and the turquoise from the pants together quite nicely (HA!). Immediately Max wanted to open the locket and when he did and saw the picture still tucked nicely inside, he smiled from ear to ear and and shook his head as if he were the proudest human being alive.

It's funny how a little scrap of paper that fits oddly into a cheap locket can suddenly make this the most valuable peice of jewlery I own.

 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.