Twitternoia

Last night I dreamed that all the while I've been eschewing Facebook and Twitter, they were not avoiding me.  Somehow in my dream I googled "sara cole twitter" only to find people had been twittering about me for years.  The only tweet I remember from the dream was, "wow, she can really put away some food."

My imagination never ceases to amaze me.

Messy Homeschool Day

Since February, our homeschool days have been what I would consider "successful."  Mostly in that we do all the things on my list of must-do's. 

Today was not one of those.  Rosie and I woke up really late only to discover Bill, Theo and the dog MIA.  My head ached terribly, so I talked Rosie into going for a run.  When we got home Bill was already at his computer.  While I felt much better, nobody had eaten any breakfast and the house looked like a tornado hit sometime in the night.

I thought I'd be clever and set Theo up with a history lecture while I got myself cleaned up so we could jump start our day. Rosie occupied herself with an art project. One lecture turned into to two and still no-one had eaten, craft supplies littered what tiny part of the floor was previously visible and everyone was grumpy.

After a few deep breaths, I convinced everyone to eat a big snack, do a 15 minute clean up and watch a language video. So, now it is noon and we've finally achieved our normal 8:30 state. I'm ready for a nap.

5 Great Questions

I often sense that the way I handle difficult situations for my children doesn't work well for them.  Usually I have no plan, I just start talking.  Here's something I'd like to try:

Five questions for you to ask your child to help him or her deal with problem situations:

• What happened?

• How did that make you feel?

• What did you say or do when that happened?

• If something like that happens again, do you think you will

deal with it the same way?

• Would you like me to do something?

Rite of Passage

Today Theo got older.  He did something that seems big to me: mature and capable.

He made chocolate chip cookies.  By himself.  He found the recipe, read it through, got out all the ingredients, measured everything, and mixed it all up.  Then he put the dough on the cookie sheet, put the sheet in the oven and set the timer.  After I took the cookies out, he spatula-ed them to the cooling rack and set up a new batch. While the first batch cooked, he put all the ingredients away and wiped down all the counters.  He even let his sister help a little along the way.

In that small, sugar-focused boy I saw a man who would some day be able to take good care of himself.

Welcome May!

Today officially ends my 2nd successful NaBloMoPo.  In a 30 day month I posted 28 days, and I'm proud of myself.  I hope you enjoyed it as much as I did.

This month holds big projects for me. Adoption paperwork.  Find a new health insurance plan and complete+turn in all forms by May 10. Something else Big that escapes me (wow, is that scary). 

Word on the street says that May 1 is the recommended start day this year for getting plants in the ground.  So lots I plan to get lots of dirt under my fingernails in the next few weeks. Plus, the calendar already brims with get-togethers, a Star Trek date with Hubby and lots of homeschool doings.  

I love all the promise of a new month. What are your plans?

Forms and Assignments

Just finished combing through our forms and assignments CD from WACAP.  My printer is busy chugging away and dear hubby will find his email loaded up with to-dos.  I'm reminding myself to breath more than once every 10 minutes and reciting a mantra that "telling myself scary stories about how many forms there are to complete will not make this easier."

Sounds like a good time for a cup of tea and some guitar playing.

The Car's Name

Because I know you all are on the edge of your seats.

Our grey 2006 Honda Odyssey has been named Susan/Ginormica. You know, the really nice lady from Monsters vs Aliens....

To truly understand why this names delights us so much, watch this trailer. Sooooooosssaannn.