Sushi

My mother used to bring home copious amounts of Chinese food when we lived in L.A. (Lower Arkansas). Rare trips to Texarkana meant a visit to a very special chinese restaurant where we ordered double of everything and breathed in the amazing smell of their egg drop soup. The best shrimp fried rice, and sweet and sour broccoli, lovely peanut chicken. We crunched on icy Diet Cokes while we waited for our huge order. They gave us little plates of eggrolls and rangoon.

Now I am the one carting home a ton of foreign food. Enough so we have leftovers for days. But... I bring home sushi.

Instagram Dump

 

The peach tree decided to bloom a tad bit early. It froze for the last time the evening I took this.

 

I've got no idea how she is managing her daddy's big guitar. All I know is that there are

far too many cases of homebrew sitting in my kitchen.

 

Concentration.

 

Pond shot.

 

Enjoying the beautiful weather at soccer practice.

 

Wearing her funny glasses trying her hadest to hoolahoop.

 

Finishing up one last project in the remodeled living room.

 

My Easter table.

 

Yummy egg and bacon cupcake goodness!

Respect for Ma Nature

Environmental issues are all over the place but we've got some especially hard hitting ones close to home right now.

Please check this out......Cargill is on a course to poison one of our most beautiful rivers and watersheds. The Buffalo River is amazing and putting a 6500 animal hog farm right next to it ensures death for the river.

My gal Rya helped her sweet daughter make this video message concerning the issue.

It only takes a moment to pay attention and help change the world. A little bitty bit at a time.

Words of Wisdom

Just mind your own business.

Right, Paul?

Glimpses of Last Week

I am ready for a week off, I tell ya! Getting in the homeschool groove was easier than anticipated. Yet we're all looking forward to this break.

Last week brought warmer weather. It was more than welcome. I wore sandals to soccer practice and had my inaugural cold coffee (rather than hot) of the year.

 

 

 

It was so absolutely gorgeous outside, I was lying on the ground, camera in hand, stalking the bees. They were busy as well, bees. This made it hard snapping a photo but I tried my hardest. Warren and I are dreaming about having our own hives and our own honey. We'll have to educate ourselves a bit more and find some equipment. And of course the perfect place to put it. Until then I will watch the little workers in my yard.

Spring Break

Here's hoping its laid back and over easy like an egg....

We have a tentative plan laid out, more like suggestions for the week. Cause you know unstructured play is a really important

component of a childhood well lived. I try to step back

and let them have at almost every afternoon. Here's to a whole

week of debauchery.

 



A Few Things....

Lots of good information on the future of schools in this blogpost over at Mt. Hope Academy. And just an all around lovely blog!

These adorable monster corner bookmarks are on our to do list.


A sweet little reminder about being present with your children.


This would be a sweet gift for any creative families you know.


Just wrapped up assisting the Easter Bunny with his basket filling. Stella is getting this as a starter because she is just begging to learn to knit!

Library Day (Books Are Just the Best)

We make a weekly library trip and between three accounts we bring home a lot of books. Young fiction for Eli, easy readers for Cash, and storybooks for Stella. Here were mine and Stella's favorite bedtime stories from our last library trip.



Granny's Dragon by Lisa McCourt

A young girl visiting her grandma's house doesn't have many excuses to be afraid of monsters, as long as she has a guard dragon.

Thunder Cake by Patricia Polacco

Another grandmother story. In this one, Babushka helps her granddaughter overcome her fears and make a yummy cake.

Ultra-Violet Catastraphe! or The Unexpected Walk with Great-Uncle Magnus Pringle by Margaret Mahy

This lovely tale was our favorite. Full of whimsy and silliness. These relatives can relate in a very different way.

What Stella Is Up To

I thought it might be fun to take a peek into what Miss Sugarbaby is up to during our school days. She certainly has a much lighter load than the boys being that she is only 4, but that doesn't mean she is exempt from academics all together!

She is the latest riser in our family, which works out well. It gives the boys and I time to wake up and get through a decent chunk of work before she crashes the party. Once she is up her first activity is breakfast. Then its either back to her room to play dress up or to the computer to play Starfall.

 

Dress up is pretty important. To her, school at home is an excuse for several costume changes a day. I'm fine with this. I feel that giving her a chance to express herself however she wishes is very important. Also, all that time spent picking out the right accessories keeps her busy for long stretches of time.

 



 

Once she has exhausted all her clothing options, she can usually be coerced into doing some Kindergarten level bookwork or drawing. Below is a picture of her stuffed cat.

 

 

Stella has already finished one complete Kindergarten book. A bit of a sampling of each subject. For now we are doing small increments of time in Reading, Writing, and 'Rithmetic. Bear math is a favorite. She can make up her own number sentences to solve or copy down the ones I set up for her. About 10 minutes of Math is all we do a day. Of course that doesn't include when she helps with cooking, or the constant barrage of questions I fire at her during the course of our day.

 

 

As I have mentioned before we are using Teach Your Child To Read In 100 Easy Lessons. It's working very well for her and we are getting close to being half way through the book. The promise of her very own library card is a motivating factor, but the excitement on her face when she reads BOB books is delightful for me.

 

 

Her favorite part of our take it easy hours might be the stretches of time spent outside.

 

In the woods.

 

In the flower beds.

 

 

 

 

At the playground.

 

 

 

If you're Stella there is lots of fun to be had. Everyday and everywhere.

Rainy days are fun because you get to accessorize with an umbrella!

 

Projects are fun and good for motor skills and following directions.

 

Hummus is fun, especially when you make up songs about it as you eat.

 

Painting farm animals is grand.

Soccer is a real kick as long as you don't have to actually play soccer and can just wear cute clothes.

 

 

 

Cooking at a friends house is much better than cooking at home!

 

 

 

Face mask.....war paint. Same difference.

 

Growing things. Like her mind and her plants. This is what she does best.

Let's fix this little problem...

Oh man! C'mon and do this.

This petition is the path to a big journey. The big food industry and scientists and labs that are making food instead of growing food and harvesting food really need to go.


So take a minute to sign this please!
If you're not reading Spoonfed, you should be. She knows whats up and keeps me informed on the goings on in the natural nutrition world.


On a side note, Adam Sandler's character Cajun Man is just the funniest! But I couldn't find a good link. Netflix it! Best of Adam Sandler SNL.

Also, remember Justin Wilson?  Watching Cajun Man made me think of him!