Happy birthday, Griffin!

Overheard...

Rhys: Avery, will you race with me?
Avery: No, Rhys not right--
Rhys: Aaaaaaveryyyyyy, race with meeeeeeee!
Avery: Rhys, I said I'm busy!
Rhys: Just one race? Please, please, please!
Avery: Ok, fine, just one!
Rhys: Ok, good. But let me win.

PSIA

Today we spent all day at the PSIA district academic meet. Avery competed in creative writing and spelling, and was awarded 4th place in spelling. We are so proud of her! This is the first time she's every done anything like this -- including taking a test of any kind! The test was composed of 50 words; 80% of the words were from the word list given ahead of time and 20% were completely new words. She learned the entire 600 word list (and they were hard words, like magnitude, galactic, and xebec). The only word from the list that she missed was serious, which she spelled 'sirius' (like Sirius Black in Harry Potter!). The other ones she missed were all new words (including psychiatry -- which I can barely spell). I'm just so impressed that she was able to figure out how to study. It took me a year or so into college to really figure that out!

Oh, the bonus was that she got a crash course in traditional schooling all in one day: she was dropped off in a classroom full of people she didn't know, the hallways were loud and chaotic, she had a kid try to cheat off her, someone pulled the fire alarm, we had a tornado warning, and the principal threatened to take away everyone's "electronic devices" because apparently kids were sending nasty messages between the schools. It was quite a day! All we needed to finish it off was a bomb threat! Avery was so funny about the cheating; she told Bill, "The teachers even told them not to look at other people's papers, and they STILL did it!" LOL, poor naive Avery. ;-)

T-ball

Rhys started playing t-ball this month. He loved the first practice, but the first game wasn't such a big success. He cried every.single.time he didn't get the ball -- which was every play. The ball just never came to him! He just didn't understand how the game works, and apparently he thought it would be just like practice. Luckily, he understood before the next game, and he loved the second game! He got to play "pitcher" (they just pretend to throw the ball, since they really hit off a tee). The ball comes to the pitcher on just about every play, so that suited Rhys just fine! He did a great job, and knew to throw it to first base at every play! I'm just glad that he enjoys it so much. He says it's even better than gymnastics -- and that's saying something!

Griffin, 23 months

Trip to Houston

A couple of weeks ago, we went to Houston for a couple of days. We went to the zoo, then Avery and I went with friends to NASA's homeschool overnight program. We didn't actually spend the night at the Space Center, but we had dinner there and stayed until after 10pm. Avery got to do lots of neat projects, including building and launching a rocket with an air compressor and a project where the kids had to create a design that would allow for a safe landing for a Space Eggie. The next morning, we all went to NASA's homeschool day. There was tons to do and see, and we all just loved it!

Rhys funnies

Rhys was bored while I was gardening the other day, and he kept standing over me and sighing loudly. Finally he said, "Mom, I'm so mundane. Can I go on harrypotter.com?"

Today Rhys asked me, "So who was in Mamar's tummy when the dinosaurs died?"

Our version of American Gothic

Actually, Griffin and Jasper are posed for American Gothic. Avery and Rhys seem to have just escaped from an insane asylum!

Friday group Valentine's party

Hello-o-o-o-o-o-o

Wow, I have really been neglecting this blog lately, haven't I? A friend of mine was kind enough to point that out today. ;-) I've been having computer issues for a few months that make it hard for me to post pictures from my computer, so I keep putting off posts until Bill has his computer home. Not to mention that, as usual, we've been crazy-busy. Ok, enough excuses. On with the update!

Let's see...what has gone on in the past month or two....Avery is still heavily involved in gymnastics and works out 12 hours a week now. Rhys started T-ball a few weeks ago. Griffin is closing in on 2 and is just as ornery and busy as ever! We also are still involved in the Friday co-op that we've been attending for years, plus Bookclub, a monthly American Girl class, a Harry Potter discussion group, two writing groups, a nature club, and a science co-op. Plus playdates, park days, and my regular volunteer work. Whew. Gee, why is it that I can't keep up with the housework?

The science co-op is a new addition to our schedule, and we're all really enjoying it. The kids are studying physics, and I'm learning a lot along with them. I was actually surprised to realize just how much Rhys is getting out of the group. On a walk the other day, Rhys was pointing out all the things he saw that were made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons (yes, there were a lot of items), and he also explained to me that if the stroller started rolling away from us, it would roll and roll until something stopped it. Laws of physics coming from my 4 year old. Pretty neat.

Oh, exciting stuff this week: Avery and I went with Mamar, Linah, and Dani to see The Lion King. Wow, it was amazing! We had fabulous seats -- fourth row and dead in the center. We could see *everything*. The costumes were amazing!

We also went to NASA a couple of weeks ago for the Homeschool Overnight field trip. We had a blast!! (bad pun intended) I'll post some pics soon.

Sad news from this month is that we lost our sweet Wolfie cat a few weeks ago. We have all been very sad, and Avery has had a particularly hard time getting over it. He was her best buddy and roommate for as long as she can remember. We're slowly feeling better and hope to eventually feel ready enough to add a kitten to our family. We'll see.

Well, that's about it for now. I'm really going to try harder to keep up with regular posting. For real this time. No, I mean it. I swear!