That again....

Lately the white paint has been out again.  Dave has nearly all of the downstairs trim painted now, just the laundry room remains.  And the banisters... which I think he is a little nervous about.  It took a lot of convincing to get him to paint the doors downstairs, but once he agreed he was quick and efficient.  

He also painted the front and garage doors white.  They were an off white/dirty color that kinda looked white until we painted the trim.  So finally the trim and the doors match.  

Otherwise things have been going well around the McMath household.  Hockey lessons are almost done.  We are going to have Nate go through swim lessons later this spring.  T-ball games begin in May, he is going to be a little league Lion.  He was so excited because he thought he was going to be a Detroit Lion...... Dave has him brainwashed.  

Oh!  Nate has two super loose teeth right now.  We are waiting for him to pull them but I don't know how excited he is about that.  He thought the dentist would take care of them at his appointment last week.... Silly kid.

We are shopping first grade curriculum lately.  Just 8 weeks of Kindergarten left! 

Facebook Fasting

 If we are friends on the facey-book then you saw that we went out as a family this week to a Rush game.

It was a nice evening out for us. The Rush won in a shootout so that made it even better!

But since Tuesday night and throughout the Lent season you will not find me updating my status, or checking in, or liking your posts.  I'm on a facebook fast again this year. So if you want an update you'll have to find it here or actually get on the horn and catch up via-real talking.

So since Lent began I have been super efficient.   Which is helpful because it's been feeling very spring like outside, and that makes me feel in the mood to clean, and since I'm not on facebook wasting lengthy minutes of my life x 30 per day I have lots of time to rip apart a cabinet and purge, or scrub whatever else catches my eye.  So by Easter I think I might be done spring cleaning.   

We are going to have some very nice weather so I'm anxious start cleaning up the yard after this rotten long cold ass winter.  I am dreaming of the lilacs blooming and the smell of fresh cut grass and the dirt under my fingernails from messing around in my garden.  Just another couple of months! 

School has been going really well.  We are officially counting down until the end of the school year, which seems like a rotten trick because I'm going to make Nate do refresher worksheets throughout the summer so the sponge in his noggin full of kindergarten knowledge doesn't dry up....

But it won't be like daily school so I'm sure it will still feel like 'summer break' 

I'm working on planning a budget friendly mini trip to celebrate the start of our summer break.  This guy deserves it! (I do too dang it!) 

P.S. the 's' on our keyboard is sticky so if you think an 's' is missing somewhere in my ramblings you are probably right.  

P.E.

We went to PE today.  Nate loves going.  I think it' great for him to be around other kids.  Eventually I hope he acts like a normal person when we go.  Right now he goes back and forth between watching everyone paralyzed with observation and jumping up and down laughing like a nut.  

We went once last fall and I think I was just too overwhelmed with home schooling that I just couldn't manage to get it into our schedule.  But now with an end in sight and a solid routine  I feel much less anxious about adding things to our week.  

Going on a field trip and to PE this week was just fine, so I'm going to keep it up.

About that 'end' in sight.  I mean the end of this school year.  Kindergarten.  Our last day is scheduled to be May 16th.  We have 55 days of school left!  Nate is doing so well that I am feeling much more confident in my ability.  It seems I haven't screwed him up yet!

A little FYI for ya...... did you know if you take a raw egg and place it lengthwise in between your palms and press the egg it won't break.... it's true!  Just make sure your egg shell isn't cracked before you start.

The stuff you learn in home school eh?  Also I learned some people use bison bladders to cook things in.... I'll pass.

We are supposed to get some snow this weekend... but I'm going to stay hopeful that spring will arrive one day!  Either way 35 days until I start my seeds!

The wintry weather outside is a bummer but I'm appreciative that it makes for a smooth pizza dough day. I'm trying a glass half full approach.   

77

 Our puppy Anna turned 11 yesterday.  Hard to believe this little tiny pup has become an elderly dog.

Maybe it's because we missed out on those four years while we were overseas.

She's always been such a good girl. 

We love her. 

And as part of the geriatric dog treatment she's allowed on the furniture, and we tolerate her laying in the garden dirt. Since Bonnie came on to the scene Anna has really perked up, taking long walks with Dave every night, playing around, enjoying raw hides again.  

We hope we have many more years with this sweet pup. 

As a birthday treat Anna got a doggie ice cream last night.... she enjoyed it.  You can tell in this photo that Bon is super happy for Anna. Ha!

FIELD TRIP

Today we skipped schoolwork.  It was delightful!  

We headed out early and drove to Wind Cave National Park.  

They have an Adventures in Nature program and we decided to try it out.  Today's lesson was about the Bison! 

Nate had a good time. When I asked him what he learned about bison he relayed a surprising amount of info from the class.  I'm really happy about that.  The next class is in two weeks and I'm looking forward to it, so is Nate!

Grief

It's been an emotional week for me.  The loss of my Grandma Hoisington wasn't a surprise since we knew she wasn't well, but that energy I've spent thinking back to all of the amazing memories I have of her has been draining.  

 Being at my grandparent's house was always a safe place to be a kid for me.  Things were so different there.  My grandma was so amazing, a crafty and domestic role model.  And she was stronger than most of the other women I knew.  

The good thing that comes from a funeral is the time with family.

Catching up with cousins, and second cousins, and aunts and uncles..... just made it a joyful trip.  

And this girl made it extra enjoyable.  She's the sweetest baby I know.  

As I returned to South Dakota and to normal life I'm still reflecting on things and looking forward to my appointment with my shrink!

Our School

Friday was our 100th day of school.  All year we have been keeping count on our little caterpillar.  

Now that we are more than half way through, I have lots of thoughts. Nate's thriving.  We have days that are a struggle, and in general Nate just doesn't like doing his math work.  I've had to learn how to adapt our curriculum to get him past this.  He knows the stuff, he just doesn't have fun doing the repetition... So I try to spice it up, and I'm getting better. 

While we were taking down our caterpillar Nate said, "We should turn our caterpillar into a butterfly now!"   I think we should definitely have a countdown to summer, I'll have to figure something out!