Spring Break Whine pt 2

~Erica

This past month I've been frequently asked, "If you homechool why does it matter when the public school takes spring break, you set your own schedule?"

It does matter... I'm on Spring break this week and next, Ryan is off half of next week and the week after, then the following week is the school's spring break (first week of April). We have Cub Scouts, Boy Scouts, Wednesday night church activities, Chess Club, and 3 kids in Baseball every week so we can't just drop everything and take off to the beach for a couple of days. The week the kids don't have any activities both Ryan and I are back in classes.

I'm going to try and fit in some extra fun stuff in the next 3 weeks but I'm having a hard time scheduling it:

* An XBox game they preordered is coming on Tuesday so they'll probably get an extra XBox day/ time to try it out.
* Tulips should be blooming soon and we'll make our annual visit to DeGoede's, that day we'll try and go on up to Morton to get 1 lb. Ollie Burgers at Spiffys.
* We can't go watch Rush play in Toutle next week and go to Papa Pete's with the team but maybe we'll just go one day for lunch.

After Spring Break we won't have Wed. night activities other than High School youth group. Rush's last high school game is May 5 unless they make it into post-season play. Chess is also over May 5. Cub Scouts is done May 16. Jonah and Tovah will play into June but I don't have their game schedules yet. Jonah will play at least 2 tournaments on weekends. Rush wants to go on the 50-miler this summer so he needs to go on as many training hikes as possible. Isaac also wants to go on those hikes but he won't be eligible for the 50-miler unless they make an exception (he won't be 1st Class because he's going to have to wait until the September Car Camp to do the cooking requirement- we have a Chess Tournament the weekend of Spring Car Camp).

I do have some plans for this week between activities:
-cover the hole in the bathroom with something other than cardboard
-vacuum my bedroom behind and under all the furniture (painting just isn't going to happen)
-work on a StoryBook for a graduation gift
-organize my art in StoryBook, I've got a ton that I've downloaded but never brought into SBC
-figure out what needs to done to bring the kids' baby albums up to date
-answer emails that have been piling up about the homeschooling loop and cub scout questions
-write up some of the blog posts I've listed in my notebook.
-catch up my Project 365 pages
-get back on track taking a photo a day

I couldn't have 2 posts in a row without a picture, could I? I had to write an essay about Monroe's Motivated Sequence and Aristotle's Theory of Persuasive Appeals for Speech last weekend. I used the Allstate commercials for my example. Cause I'm funny like that...

Let Spring Break Begin!

~Erica

I've got 10 days before school starts again for me. I plan on getting tons of stuff done off my To Do list! HA HA!!!! I'll probably be luck to download pictures off my camera...

Yesterday was my first official day of spring break and it was one of those days that just wouldn't quit- like Whack-A-Mole the next thing I had to do just kept popping up.

Rush was taking the HSPE this week (State test for 10th graders). So he had to be in town at 8 a.m. 3 mornings. I normally get to the college at 7:20 but this was super inconvenient because 2 days I didn't have to go to school at all and Wednesday I had my Spanish final at 8 a.m., across town.

Back to yesterday, I didn't have school so I figured I'd go to Starbucks and get to read a book for the 3 hours he was in testing....

Wednesday night we got the grocery ads to check meat prices and found things at all 3 stores in town. Okay, I'd make a circuit of grocery stores first.

Grandma Hendrickson, Ryan's 91 yo grandma, is in the hospital for a some recharging and had a bad night Wednesday. I added a visit to the hospital to my morning since Ryan was studying for his final and had to work last night.

I had my cup of coffee in grandma's hospital room. It was a cup of decaf given to me by the Food Services worker on the way up in the elevator! I was trying to inhale the fumes or something and she took pity on me. Family Drama was the theme for the day at the hospital and I got back to the car ready to DiNozzo slap someone.

I ran through an espresso stand for a cup of drip on my way to Safeway. After Safeway I wasn't sure where I wanted to grab some lunch so I headed to Goodwill. I forgot my phone in the car and didn't want to go back out for it. I did score 3 pairs of jeans for Jonah, a pair of capris for Tovah that won't be skin tight, a skirt for me, a frame for a project I want to do this week, and some garbage novels for spring break reading at the ballfield.

When I got back to the car I'd missed 3 calls and a half a dozen texts, including one from Rush asking if I was on my way to get him. By this time I didn't not have the energy to face the beauracracy to get his Learner's Permit so we deferred that activity. We ran to the college to check my grade for Spanish so I could return one of the texts and ran to Burger King so I could get some Breakfast/ Lunch. I was looking forward to going home and taking it easy until it was time to run Rush to the school to leave for the baseball game in Rainier.

At home I was reminded that Jonah and Tovah had baseball practice at different times at different fields. Oh, and Isaac and Tovah had to be at Chess Club from 3-4:15. Then there was Boy Scouts, we missed last week so we had to go. And I had told the Family that Ryan would stop by the hospital at some point to check Grandma's lab results and care plan. I got  my mom to drop Jonah off, texted a friend to make sure she'd be hanging out at the field at about the time he got done if I wasn't quite there, got Rush to the school, and put a pillow over my head for 20 minutes.

Tovah's coach called as we were getting ready to leave for chess and cancelled her practice (the fields are so muddy right now) so I wasn't going to have to pick her up at the same time as Jonah at different fields. We got home from chess and I went up to get Jonah. About froze to death watching him practice and they got done late (have to take advantage of no rain days). Called Isaac to start the deep fryer. Instead of Irish Stew and homemade bread we had popcorn chicken wraps and Kraft Mac & Cheese for dinner- FAIL! Okay, the kids were fine with it but it wasn't what I wanted to do.

We made enough of an appearance at Scouts to give them one more week to sell coffee and get all the upcoming events on my master calendar. We got to the hospital before they closed the main doors and visited for about an hour. She's getting so many visitors she's having a hard time getting any rest...

Found out that Rush doesn't have baseball today so it's our one and only day of my spring break so I declared it a Pajama Day! But we may go to MeMenamins tonight to see the Portland Opera On the Go program.

Project 365- Week 3

~Erica

15- Jonah's a muddy mess...The Webelos planted trees for their Conservation badge. 3 Webelos, 1 Den Chief (Arin), and 4 adults: we planted 100 seedlings in 2 hours.  A week later my shoulders still hurt. It was "This is not the career you want" Day (or another reason to stay out of jail when you grow up). We did manage to finish before the monsoon rains started.

16- Rush saw this t-shirt at Old Navy and said we had to get it for Jonah. This picture is for Cassidy from Family Camp.

17- The floor in front of the bookshelf in the office seems to be the catch-all. Everything that doesn't have a home seems to congregate here. I trip over the piles for a couple of weeks then it drives me crazy. This pile includes my Sunday basket, my rainboot box, and clothes for Tovah to grow into.

18- I have a hazelnut shrub that I have to follow for Botany. Every day or so I have to check it for signs of spring, I took this to show Ryan that I could see it from the house... I still have to walk (or drive) over there to check on it. There are some filberts (different from the native hazelnut) in the same area that are really old. There used to be houses, the train station, and a hotel along that part of the railroad.

19- We got the kids a new video camera, it's on the left next to my cell phone. The videos are just as good as our old 8mm Handicam and it cost A LOT less. We wanted to get them one a year ago for Christmas but missed all the great deals. We got this one from Amazon for less than we had planned on spending and it's actually a better camera.

21- Today Ahvri would have been 2 years old. I was doing fine until a friend texted me a picture of a primrose. I stopped and bought a couple and dropped one off with Rita. When I got home Ryan had stopped and got me 4 on his way home. Since Taryn was at Children's primroses have always been a reminder to me of God's promises and that spring is coming.

Was this our summer?

Growing up in Western Washington I knew all the jokes about the rain- I had webs between my toes, I went to the Rain Festival July 1- June 30, etc. But then we had an El Nino year and a La Nina year and the past few years we've had way too much hot weather in July and August. This year seems to be working up to one of the rainy summers of my childhood. There hasn't been any teaser hot weather that makes the kids long for summer and school to be out, just rain and more rain. We had one hot weekend- I'm just wondering if it was our only summer...

Even the flowers seem messed up, tulips are supposed to bloom in April for Ryan and Taryn's birthdays, the lilacs are gone by Mother's Day and by our anniversary the only spring flowers left are the irises because the summer flowers haven't yet started to bloom. We have clematis, tulips, poppies, iris, lilacs, columbines, and peonies all at the same time this year.

Arin enjoying the rare sunshine at the ballfield. This is the same day that the tops of my feet and my arms really burned. Most days we are at the ballfield in jeans, wool socks, hoodies, rain gear, and fleece blankets to wrap around us.

March Madness

And I don't mean basketball! We let 3 of the kids play baseball this year (or in moments of complete honesty I should say I encouraged the kids to play baseball this year). With Ryan home all week I didn't think it would be too onerous to try it out. Rush is playing for Adna High School, Jonah is playing minors, and Tovah is playing U-8 girls softball. We haven't played organized sports since the fall Arin & Rush were in U-8 soccer and Nathan played U-14. Nathan played 2 years of T-Ball and Coach Pitch.

Yesterday Tovah started her practices. Our week now looks like this:

Monday: Rush- afterschool until 5:30 @ HS, Tovah- 4:30-5:30 @ AES, Jonah- 5-7 @ HS
Tuesday: Rush, Jonah
Wednesday: Rush, Tovah, Jonah
Thursday: Rush, Jonah
Friday: Rush, Tovah

Plus Monday we're supposed to be at Cub Scouts 6-7 p.m. Wednesday we still have dinner and AllStars at church (for 6 more weeks). Thursday is Chess Club for Isaac right after school and Boy Scouts at 7. Friday Isaac & Arin have CAST from 3:30-5:30. This week Jonah is at the Batting Cages from 6-7 on Tuesday and Rush has games Wednesday and Friday. We don't know what Jonah & Tovah's game schedule will be.

And the gear we've had to buy- 2 batting helmets, 2 bats, a glove, 4 undershirts, a belt, a hat, a bag, and black & white socks. Luckily I've been stockpiling cleats and somewhere I acquired 5 pairs of baseball pants that fit Jonah & Tovah. I'm supposed to be looking for an "A" sticker for Jonah's helmet since he's the only one who doesn't have one but no one seems to know where you get them.

But the kids seem to be having fun and all that fresh air and running around is supposed to be good for me. Tonight I'm going to try and walk the track while Jonah is at the cages.

Primroses bring thoughts of Spring

Do flowers mean anything to you? Can you pinpoint a bouquet of a type of flower and remember what makes it special?

When we were dating Ryan sent bouquets of roses regularly.

The time John Lyons sent me 3 yellow roses just for being a friend stands out.

When we lived on Guam there was bouganvilla and hibiscus and plumeria all over the place but the one flower that stands out isn't even one that I saw- there was one road that if you drove it in the evening after a rain then you could smell the wild orchids. It was wonderful and fleeting and if we ever get back to Guam it will be the first place I go.

We came back to the States in the fall, it was cold and gray and dismal. When I went into labor with Taryn they told me to go walk. We discovered the tulip fields in Skagit Valley. Tulips and Taryn go hand in hand. We try to go to the fields each spring, usually to Mossyrock but we may try the Willamette Valley this year, I've heard its beautiful.

Taryn was diagnosed with leukemia in October, by January I was ready to go home and let it all be over. For the first time I really noticed primroses when they appeared in the stores. I bought some and enjoyed them but 2 winters later after she had died the appearance of primroses reminded me that there is still Hope and Spring is coming. Each winter I've bought a pot or two or three to remind me. Last winter they appeared the week that we lost Ahvri, God wanted to make sure I knew that it's okay, there is still hope in this world, and better things are coming.

Yesterday was beautiful, I went out and poked around in the flower beds, The daffodils have buds, the snowdrops are up, and my primroses are starting to bloom. I've never had much luck growing tulips but every primrose I've ever bought gets planted in the flower beds. One of these days the entire yard is going to be covered in red and yellow and purple blooms. Oh, and I have one very special double primrose that was a gift after Taryn died.

Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you may also be where I am. John 14:1-3

~erica