May Pictures in the Sun

Cocoa can now reach the top of this little hill in our backyard, but he can't get down.  He's calling for me in this picture :)

The edge of the woods is a magical place for the kids right now.

J has been slowly re-barking the yard.  Handsome man!

Ernie is so close to being a big girl.  She goes between shutting herself in her room to read or cry depending on her mood, and playing dress up and pretend games in the yard.

Selfie group shot!  The kids and I stopped at Snoqualmie Falls to see the waterfall.

We had gorgeous weather in May- the beach is a favorite place for the kids .

May 28, 2014

Praise everything, all three kids slept all night !  It's been at least a week since that happened, we all feel so much happier today.

I taught one student I the early morning- she is probably not coming back next year I think she gave up trying years ago. We had a good lesson, she is making progress on her songs right now.  The kids and I cleaned up the playroom and our house cleaner came around 9:00.  She brings her little daughter who is the same age as Cocoa.  She doesn't speak a bit of English but she and the kids get along famously.  

I made lunch for us all- jam sandwiches and cucumber slices for the kids and a mint chocolate chip yogurt for the kids.  (Yogurt with mint and spinach for color, a bit of sugar, blend it, then throw in a few chocolate chips.  Yum!). I took the rest of a cucumber-tomato-onion salad and whizzed it in the blender into a gazpacho type of soup for me.  Leftover tzatziki sauce drizzled on top made it extra delicious :)

Cocoa went down for a nap and I sat down with Ernie to finish her math for the week while Mimi played Littlest Pet Shop and practiced her reading.  I found lots of reader e-books at the library website and loaded them into my Kindle for her.  I am assigning points to books this summer and the kids can earn prizes by the points they get.  Ernie is reading The Ordinary Princess today and will probably finish it tonight. (That's a grade 6.5 book.). I am going to steer them towards classics this summer to help them break out of an unchallenging book rut.

Math took approximately 3 hours to complete 12 problems.... Oy.  We cut loose and put together a pan of French toast to bake later on for dinner and the kids scattered to play and read.

The baked French toast turned out amazing, not surprising considering it was kind of creme brûlée made with old bread, and I served bacon and cantaloupe on the side.  Go figure, the kids practically licked their plates!

My aunt came to discuss the next stage of planning our kitchen remodel- she and my uncle have been amazing to work with.  We have most decisions made now, we need to pick a sink and faucet and then pack up about half the house.  Whee!!

Picture Dump

Cocoa got his summer cut from J- I love it!

Cocoa also thinks that headbands are headsets- "Beep beep!  Got a job to do!" he says.

Progress in the backyard- grass is coming back in.

Ernie is getting so big.... So different from her little girl body.

The girls and I are painting seascapes to go along with an artist study in school.  

Mimi decided she desparately wanted to be in my piano recital, I taught her two simple songs and we will start piano lessons this summer.

Cocoa drinks my smoothies.  Turkey.  

I snapped this picture of Mom piled under all the kids, reading stories, Sunday night.  I hope they remember how much she reads to them when they are grown!

Monday May 26

We took a holiday on Memorial Day- I moved lessons to teach two hours in the morning,  J rode around the lake with a buddy, and the kids played outside all day.

J got some projects done- replacing a rotten board in the back deck and replacing finishing nails with screws on the master bedroom deck (!!) and I got some weeding done.

This neighborhood has a great habit of trading bikes around on our Facebook page- Cocoa woke up from his nap to find this beauty waiting for him.  He kept saying "it's my first bike!  It's green!" all night long :)

The kids rode their bikes to the dinosaur park and J and I walked- we had a picnic.  Falafel in the park is a pretty great way to end the day!

I have successfully grown a radish- in the past they have bolted, failed to germinate, or been eaten by slugs and ants.  This was gorgeously juicy and so very spicy!!