Aww... What a cute sweater...

I've had so many, many good ideas for blog entries in the last few weeks, but alas, no time! (At least, no time without kids hanging over my shoulder asking, "What's that mean?")

Sweater pictures, as promised. No, it's not too small for The Girl now that it's finished. It's actually too big still. I had subconsciously thought that it'd take a year to finish it, so I made it a little big.

The real issue is that it's really pretty, and she refuses to wear it. Oh yes. I've tried, and she just shucks it off like it's hideous and nasty.

Pretty hideous, huh? ;)

visiting the evil kingdom...

This morning, for the first time in probably six months, I saw the Today Show. That, in itself, isn't so bad, but I just couldn't believe what I was missing in the Consumer World. You know -- the life of gourmet, single-cup coffee makers and "The Happiest Place in the World", aka Toys-R-Us. I had no idea how much consumerism that I had missed over the past few months, but it only took 10 minutes to get me hooked again: the creeping lust for slick kitchen appliances, the discontent with the lushness of my eyelashes, the dread of being less hip than Al Roker or the Obamas. Good Lord! What if I've missed some great new CD that was released today? What will I do if my dog isn't as trendy as the dog that the president-elect (and the Today Show) picks for Malia and Sasha?! The Joneses are getting away from me, and I didn't even know it!!!

I took a deep breath, clicked it off, and went to take a shower -- with cheap shampoo, in my slightly soap-scummy shower, with the door that I realigned myself (perfectly!) last month. I dried myself on a slightly shabby towel that my husband washed, fluffed and folded for me. I dressed in last summer's clothes and headed to my kitchen with the worn, out-of-date flooring. I had a piece of toast made from bread that I made yesterday from organic whole wheat, along with a cup of 8 O'Clock coffee, made by my my husband. I kissed The Husband good-bye and settled down to teaching my kids to print legibly and add correctly. We made a mobile of "The Gifts of the Nile" and basked in the morning sun in the back yard.

I think I'll leave the TV off for a while...

mellowing out a little and sneaking out during school hours

Well, The Husband took me to a party Saturday, where I could have -- wait for it -- worn a costume! We went dressed as party poopers because he didn't tell me. LOL! Can't win this year!!

After (yet another!) pep talk from Suburban Correspondent, I've decided to take a small step back from this homeschool venture and mellow out a little. I'm trying to fit too much into too little time and not having enough fun. We've just started on motion, force, work, etc. I've decided to use the text book only as a compass to show me where I'm going. We're having fun with it. We make cartoons every day, showing the cat demonstrating the principals of physics: "The cat pushes the cup toward the edge of the table: force. Friction pushes back: opposing force. Gravity pulls it to the floor: force. The forces change the motion of the cup: work." Whee!

The Boy is doing more in less time, which is also good, since he had been spending the entire math hour working on his stuff. "We" do math for an hour, but he doesn't need to.

Today, we actually went to Target after lunch, so I could get some sidewalk chalk. Why? The Husband's Obama logo on the driveway was washed away in the rain, so I got some chalk and put it back on for him. I'm his hero now!

The cutest thing happens when I go out during school hours -- I catch other moms with school-age kids peeking at me out of the corner of their eye. "Is she a homeschooler or is she on vacation here? Do I know her? Ooh. I wonder if she has a double-pan balance scale I can borrow..." Oh wait, that last one was me. ;) I have got to get out more!