The Great Internet Outage of 2007

I haven't died or run off to Mexico; it's just that my modem went kaput a few weeks ago.

There are 639 email "conversations" and 470 blog posts to sift through, as well as two and a half weeks worth of online research.

I'll be back with you soon.

First Signs of Spring

We spotted a black fly this morning.

Our Snowfamily

Our Snowfamily
Originally uploaded by warillever.

Sr. Mary Martha Says

heh.

Sr. Mary Martha on the saints and homeschoolers. And mental illness.

Really.

Unit Study: Trains

...or how little kids can make any chore fun.

Because of the "unseasonably" cool weather, we have been burning through firewood faster than expected, and I needed to lug wood over to the back porch this morning.

This is not as tough of a job as it sounds. The woodshed is only about 30 feet from the back door, and I don't actually "lug" wood; I pile it into a plastic toboggan (one of those bright orange things you buy at Walmart for $7) and drag it accross the yard.

Agent 002 decided that it looked like a freight train.

Mama: Does that make me the locomotive?
Agent 002: A steam engine.

I played along, calling the logs "freight," and the smooshed-down snow "train tracks."

The game got more and more involved as I went back and forth accross the yard with sled-fulls of wood.

Somewhere along the line, the kids started riding the "train" for the return trip.

"Woo Woo! Train boarding at back porch station."

The kids climbed into the sled, and with a whole lot of "chugga chugga"s in between, I pulled them over to the woodshed.

"Train arriving at woodshed station. This is the final station; all passengers must disembark."

Agent 004 thought that "disembark" sounded a lot like "doggy bark," so she howled and barked while she rode.

I had only planned on bringing over enough wood for the next few days (hoping that mr warillever would move some more this weekend), but I was having so much fun that I just kept on going.

Knock on wood, that is the last time that I will move wood this winter.

Unless we really do get a Nor'easter this weekend.......

The Trinity According to Preschoolers

Conversation between children when I told them to "go play."

Agent 002: Let's play with Jesus.
Agent 004: I play with Jesus, you play with God.
Agent 002: Jesus and God are the same thing. I play with Jesus.
Mama: What about the Holy Spirit?
Agent 002: making ghost noises: Hol - y Spir-it. Just like God!

...and I just wanted them out of my hair for five minutes.

Blasphemy

This happened a few months ago, but since I posted about Agent 004's "elf," I thought it was only fair to post about Agent 002 as well.

One afternoon, after spending most of the day with my parents, Agent 002 started singing "Sucky Jesus" over and over again. Nothing more, just the words "sucky Jesus."

I was perturbed to say the least.

This went on for days.

When I asked him about it, Agent 002 said that he saw "sucky Jesus" on Grammy's TV.

Religious programing is not unheard of at my folks' house, so I asked them what the kids had watched. "Oh, just Sesame Street and Curious George," said my mother.

PBS? Doubtful that they would have shown Jesus (even a sucky one).

A few days later, I watched George with the kids. And on came an advertisement -- for Chucky Cheese's.

:)

Ideas Borrowed and New

Elephant Joe
Originally uploaded by warillever.

The borrowed: Yasmina suggested that coffee beans work well in a sensory bin. I just happened to have a bag of beans lying around, but no grinder. Smells and feels wonderful!

The new: Agent 004 and I made spring "rain sticks" with coffee beans, paper towel tubes, and construction paper.

Morally Disordered Weather

I'm with you, Ironic Catholic:

Blizzards in April are further evidence of the moral disorder of the universe that came about through the original sin. Snow outside of the November to March window is intrinsically disordered.

No blizzard here, though. Just a 6-12 inch storm......in the middle of April.

Agent 002's school was canceled even though there was nary a flake until 8:30. He is currently chasing "monsters" with a plastic fishing rod.

Our Little Elf

Although her speech becomes more clear everyday, Agent 004 still frequently leaves off the initial sound of words. "Pig" becomes "ig," Dog" becomes "og," etc.

Now that she is using pronouns, we have a new (and very funny) mispronunciation -- "elf" for "self." Some examples from the past 24 hours (and my unspoken responses):

• I need to go wash my elf
• Why? Is his green suit dirty?
  
• Mama, you get drink for your elf
• Great, a drunken elf in our house......
  
• I go kaka by elf!
• Just make sure that he doesn't step in it when you're done.
  

The Incredible Plastic Egg

Eggs
Originally uploaded by warillever.

Eggs. Is there anything they can't do?

Last weekend we worked on patterns:


We hunted for jelly bean filled eggs at the town park, Grandma's house, and Aunt E's. Aunt P had the real thing -- hard-boiled.

Yesterday the eggs participated in water fun.

Agent 002 and I played "bunny soccer" this afternoon. We crawled around on all fours like bunnies, trying to swat a purple plastic egg into a goal. I fortunately don't have any pictures of that.......

Good Friday

Winter Wonderland

On Wednesday, I thought about putting the snowsuits up in the attic (Zone 1 decluttering, don't you know), but fortunately I caught wind of Thursday's forecast first.

Some pictures for the sake of my southern readers (yes that's you in Indy and New Jersey):

There went my clothesline,

... and my garden.

He Really Said it

Agent 002, pointing to the cat's flea collar:

Is that so that her head doesn't fall off?