Rutabaga Dreams

The kids have had colds for almost a month now.  As soon as one seems to get better, they get hit with another one which has led to a seemingly endless succession of drippy noses, coughs, sneezes and the like.  I’ve been trying to figure out what changed (other than our move, which seems quite unlikely to cause this!) and I think it ties into the grocery carts with the little cars at Safeway.  I never used to use those, but a little over a month ago I relented and found them a nice way to keep track of Gregory now that he refuses to sit in the front part of the cart.  He now loves the little cars, and Emma eagerly joins him in it whenever we go grocery shopping.  If these germ-mobiles are what are causing the problem, I’m not sure how to proceed.  

Should I:

a) stop using them, and break my two year old’s heart?  

b)  wipe them down with anti-microbial wipes, contribute to the breeding of super-viruses, and hope for the best?

c) hope that the preschool effect kicks in soon and they stop catching these cold viruses quite so often

d) try to figure out a time when I could go grocery shopping without Emma and Gregory in tow?

We’re going to skip Safeway this week, and I’ll be curious to see if their colds clear up.  In the meantime, I think I’m finally coming down with one…  which helps explain why I was dragging so much this weekend.  

We got back our deposit for the apartment a couple days ago and found they deducted five dollars for two missing lightbulbs.  The lightbulbs weren’t there when we moved in, but since I didn’t notice it, I don’t have a leg to stand on to say anything.

At least we got the rest of it back, but still, $5 for two lightbulbs?  Sheesh.

Nathan, Emma and I just watched this excellent video on the recommendation of Danielle Bean.  It is well worth your time!

(In case you’re wondering what happened to Gregory, he watched the first couple minutes then wandered outside to play.  Can I tell you how wonderful it is to have outdoor space for the kids to play whenever they wish??  It makes life so much easier and more enjoyable for everyone!)

Our first week of school is going very well.  I’m really pleased with how things are progressing, and even though we’re doing a lot more, it seems to be going much more smoothly.  Emma is also enjoying school a lot more now, and likes having the additional subjects (namely history, science, art, & music) as part of our school day.  I’ve also started folding memory work and copy work into other subjects, so she’s doing that with more speed and less complaints.  My approach to the subjects we were doing before has changed substantially as well, and it has all been for the better.  All the thinking, reading  and planning I’ve been doing since April is really bearing fruit.  

And here’s a couple pictures for you all - the first is from our second day of school (I forgot to take any on Monday, oops) and the second is from just a few minutes ago, where Emma is “babysitting” Nathan and Gregory is helping.

In case any of you are wondering, I’ve decided to forgo the money (and the hassle, testing, meetings, and paperwork) from the state and do our own thing this year.  We won’t be joining one of the local homeschool charters, rather we’ll be filing an R-4 and establishing a private school in order to fulfill the state’s education requirements.  Now we just need to come up with a good name for our school…  but at least I don’t have to file the paperwork until Oct. 1st.  Any suggestions?

We’ve moved and mostly settled in, and all is well.  We’re very busy though, and I think we’re only going to get busier.  We start school on Monday, and Matt and I are stepping up the pace on house projects…  and then there’s still a baby to be cuddled and nursed, stories to be read, food to be cooked, and stuff to be picked up as usual.  So, yes, I really don’t know how blogging will fit in - I can’t decide where it fits on the priority list.  

But here’s a picture for you all of our six year old daughter holding our two month old son.  Isn’t he huge?  *grin*

Last night I absent-mindedly did something and it turned out to be quite a painful experience.  I had broiled a frittata in the oven and taken it out to cool on the stove.  I was about to cut a kiwi for the kids and was thinking about what else I would cut up when I suddenly remembered that the burner under the frittata was probably still hot.  Since the frittata was a little, um, well done on top I thought that the last thing it needed was to be on a hot burner, so I picked up the pan to move it.  And yes, I forgot to use the hot pad.  Wow did that hurt.  I had my hand on a cold pack for quite awhile then in cool water once I read online that cool water is better.  I took some tylenol too, and that seemed to help.  By about 11:30 I felt like I could perhaps sleep without my hand being cooled, and I managed to do so, although it was a restless night.  

This morning it is quite a bit better, but I have some definite red and white areas where the contact between my hand and the pan was the strongest.  I am very clumsy with my right hand (and thank goodness it is my right!) now but I can at least change a diaper and pick up Nathan (awkwardly, but safely)  I really hope I’ve learned my lesson this time…  but I’m not sure I would bet on it.  *sigh*  

Good thing I’m ahead on my packing…  and I thought having the kids come down with a cold this week was rough!

Just a few more days until our move.  The packing is going well, and I’ve started doing some cleaning as well.  We’ll be moving on Saturday, then I’ll come back on Monday or Tuesday and finish the cleaning.  The carpet is scheduled to be cleaned on Wednesday morning and then we’ll be done.  Yay!  Onto the next adventure.  

We’re getting ready to do some tile work at the house so that we can get our wood burning stove installed on September 16th.  It’ll be our first experience with tile, but hopefully it will go well.  Matt’s getting really close to being done with the rough electrical, which is exciting.  He still has about 60% of the rough plumbing to do and some pipe work for the propane, but then we’ll be ready for another inspection and then it is time for drywall! 

I just read The Milkman, by Carol Foskett Cordsen and illustrated by Douglas B.Jones, seven times in a row to Gregory.  I think he likes it.  And better yet, I like it too.  It has a nice rhythm to the rhyme, the illustrations are fun (a sort of 50-ish advertising style) and the story is peaceful but interesting.  If you have a little one about, see if your library has it and take a look.  

Emma had her last day of swimming lessons today (and she can do something that looks something like the freestyle stroke now - yay Emma!) and I brought a picnic lunch for after her lesson.  As I sat on the grass watching the kids, Emma and Gregory decided I needed a flower crown so I could be the flower queen.  Emma made a flower chain for me, and Gregory found flowers for me to hold.  As Gregory handed me the flowers to hold he told me “Here’s a statue for this hand, and here’s one for this hand” and as Emma was putting the crown on my head he said “You will look blootiful, mommy!  You will look like Jesus!”