Friday the 13th

 Eric's taken John with him for a haircut and the other three are playing outside with the neighbors.  As good of a time as any to catch up.  And if anyone is wondering why I'm not inspired by Molly in the above picture...I already took a nap today.  As to how the above picture occurred, a couple of weeks ago the kids and I took a walk to pick up milk.  John and Molly rode in the wagon with a blanket as it was a little chilly.  When we got back, Molly said she wanted to take a nap in the wagon.  I thought she meant a pretend nap.   She slept in there for at least 90 minutes...possibly longer.

 Super Bowl Sunday, we laid out quite the feast.  For just us.  Heck, we practice for this day all year as 'party supper' is a regular in our dinner rotation.  Dom loves wings and was particularly excited to get his plate filled.

 During the Super Bowl, probably to distract John, I started putting the laundry basket on my head.  No, it doesn't make sense...but it worked.  What I loved was that as soon as Dom came in, he immediately asked to do it himself.  Then the other two got in the act.  10 points for who can name the flag they are creating.  It was Will's idea.

 The kids all enjoy listening to me read.  I love that I will sit down on the couch and they snuggle in and request book after book after book.  Granted, I sometimes feel like I don't have time for this, but, in reality, I always do.  In Homeschool life, nothing is ever particularly pressing.  Poopy diapers are the big exception.   All of this reading has also paid off in that the kids will regularly sit down and look at/read books on their own.  Dom and Will have also started reading chapter books on their own.  The first of which (The Million Dollar Shot)  Dom didn't want to put down even to eat his lunch.  He has now completed three chapter books in the last 2 weeks.  He reads for 20 minutes at a time...and will often sit for quite a while longer.  Will has also finished his first chapter book:  "How to Eat Fried Worms".   He is now asking if he can help with dinner...

 Meanwhile, these other two do their best to keep everyone smiling and efficient in their work.  And, yes, we are still patching.

 For Christmas/Birthday, Molly received three months of dance lessons.  She loves them.  If you ask her about her dance class, her response will be:  "You mean 'ballerina class'?".  And then she will show you all of her moves.  If she doesn't know what you are talking about, she'll make it up.  This was demonstrated last Sunday when Eric asked her to show us position 1 - 10.  By the end, she looked at Eric and told him she'd actually only learned position 1 - 3. 

 The other day, I clearly did not get John his snacks quick enough.

 Last Friday, our science class and dinner did collide.  It was a happy coincidence that the boys' science experiment was making bread.  One loaf used warm water and rose in a warm spot.  The other used cold water and 'rose' in the refrigerator.  Both tasted fine, though Dom said he could taste a difference.  Lots of butter seemed to cover it up, though.  This bread is now referred to as "Chemistry" bread.

 We had a beautiful day last Sunday.  We always have grand plans to go out and do something, but in the end, as long as we get to be outside, we really never have to leave home. 

 For Christmas, Dom received a 1000 piece puzzle.  Eric and I spent a few hours working on it while the kids played basketball and rode their bikes.  Guess what exciting plans we have for Valentine's Day?

 Dom had a slight injury, so we broke out the bacon band aids.  Oddly, Will soon also had an injury...Just kidding.

 We let John crawl around and play with blocks for a while, but soon, it was apparent that he was more intent on eating all of the acorns, leaves, and dirt in our yard.  He was actually quite content watching the big kids play while sitting in the wagon.  Especially if he could get one of them to always give him back his basketball.

 Our front yard is the hang out yard on the block.  If we are outside, we can expect anywhere from 2 - 6 kids to stop by and play. Somehow, this also means when these neighbors have friends over, they end up in our yard as well.  #socialization

 After sitting and watching his brothers play basketball for a couple of hours, John was ready to show off his skills.  You should see him dunk on the net in the bathtub.  Watch out!

One last story
As I said, Sunday was beautiful.  This did not stop the kids from requesting to play the Wii.  I told them they needed to ride 10 miles and then we would see.  We figured that down to the end of our block and back is about 1/3 mile.  Therefore, they needed to do this 30 times.  I left to do an errand, and upon my return they presented their tallies showing that they had done this route 31 times.  As they had been playing outside for several hours by this point, I figured I shouldn't go back on our deal by using the loophole of "we will see".   Next time, I'll make them ride 20 miles...

However, all of that riding reminded Dom how much he liked to be on the bike and they dug out the Tour de France jerseys from last summer and have ridden every day this week.  I walk back and forth with the wagon and enjoy listening to their commentary as they ride by.

Happy President's Day Weekend!