Who knows

what this blog is becoming? It began as a theater blog, morphed into something personal, segued into personal exploration, and is teetering on the brink of homeschooling. Sigh. Apparently, I'm not so great with decisions. :)

Yesterday, we started reading and talking about ancient Crete (from which my favorite non-abusive insult comes), and learned about how the Cretans decorated their walls with frescoes. So, today we're going to make some frescoes of our own. I'll post some pictures when we're done.

We're also studying birds and our bodies in science. Ds#2 has rediscovered mazes, and Ds#1 has been working with bubble math puzzles. Ds#2 got a marble construction game (made in Italy, fwiw), and the game Tell a Story for his birthday, so those were great fun yesterday as well.

Speaking of Ds#2's birthday. We celebrated it on Saturday with my family and Dh who was "home" for the weekend (where is home now, exactly?) with barbecued chicken, homemade potato salad, hot yeast rolls, and chips and salsa (all his choice, as the birthday person chooses everything). Instead of cake, we had homemade banana splits, with fresh strawberries, pineapple, bananas, chopped cashews and almonds, chocolate syrup, and homemade whipped cream. Yum! My kids have great taste! ;-) I can't believe that he'll be 4 in a couple of days. My physical dynamo can't wait to sign up for swimming classes as soon as we move. I realized the other day that he doesn't just enter a room, he bounds into it. He doesn't leave it so much as he leaps out of it. He focuses when he needs to, but really, the kid is rarely not moving. :)

Ds#1 has a birthday in 2 weeks. So, he and Dh spent the weekend bidding on a Gameboy Advance (lots of good ones available since the new one has come out and everyone is upgrading). Ds LOVES ebay and the process of bidding. He won a red one (his favorite color), and is expecting it to arrive later in the week. He also won 2 games and will probably get more from my mom and brother. I think that he learned a lot from the process (he actually "lost" 2 gameboys before winning this one, and lost scads of games), and had a great deal of fun, too.

He really is growing up. This morning, with my direction, he made cream of wheat on the stove. He helps me take the dogs out every morning with nary a grumble. He hasn't argued as much lately, nor been so hard on his brother (he never fights with ds#3). On second thought, maybe he's coming down with something. ;-) There are cycles, of course, but this one gives me a beautiful glimpse of the responsible, generous person my child is and will continue to blossom fully into.