Chillin' at the Playground

The kids were disappointed that we didn't have time to play on the playground after our hike a few days ago . . .

. . . so we headed back to the park after school today.

It was fun . . .

. . . (except when Joy got her stuffed Creeper stuck on the playground roof for a while) . . .

. . . but it was also very chilly out (think very low 40s), so after half an hour we headed home to warm up . . .

. . . and play Connect Four with our friend Gabe, who came over for dinner.

Extra Credit

Sometimes while the big kids are working on their math homework, Todd asks me to give him some homework too.  Today I wrote down four math problems that I thought would be decently challenging for him (such as 18 + 4 and 23 - 5), then I went upstairs for a few minutes.

When I returned, I found that Todd had written his name at the top of the page, solved my four problems, then written a few of his own: 8 - 9 = -1, -1 + 29 = 28, 9 x 1 = 9, etc.  Maybe they'll hire him as a teacher's assistant when he finally reaches kindergarten in 18 months.

Green Gloves and Smoothies

In the course of the last month, Daniel has lost his coat, his beanie, and one of his gloves.  I considered letting him experience the chilly consequences of his carelessness, but that seemed a little harsh since the schools here have outside recess if the wind chill is anywhere above nineteen degrees.  So I bought Daniel a new coat . . .

. . . and a Creeper beanie with matching gloves.  Joy's kind of jealous.

After removing his cold-weather gear, Daniel set to work on his homework: reading a biography of Johnny Appleseed.  The old Disney cartoon gave me the impression that Johnny planted apple orchards here and there across America, then left each one behind for settlers to enjoy.  According to this book, he actually tended several frontier orchards at a time so he could sell the seedlings to pioneer families.  He wanted to spread appley joy throughout the new settlements, but he also wanted to earn a living.

Who knew?

While Daniel did his reading homework, Todd engaged in his usual after-school activity: sharing a green smoothie with his mom.  He's getting a little pickier about his dinner these days, but he still drinks whatever I pour out of blender, no matter how green it is, or what fruit it contains.  Thanks for being my smoothie buddy, Little Man.

Can of Corn = Gardening Tool

Hmm, one of these things is not like the others.

My kids are thrilled that my amaryllis finally bloomed, but while the flowers are indeed beautiful, I think they look a little silly looming over their petite little violet neighbors.  It doesn't help that the amaryllis is growing at such an angle that I have to put a can on its pot to keep it from toppling over (again).  Gardening, indoors or out, is full of surprises.

A Hiking We Will Go

Daniel's birthday is next month, so he has just a few weeks left to complete a one-mile hike to earn his cub scout Wolf badge.  The hike can be with his troop or his family, and his troop isn't going hiking anytime soon, so I decided to take my kids hiking on a nearby trail as soon as the weather rose anywhere above "frigid."

After weeks of very cold weather it warmed up to 60 degrees today, so when the big kids got home from school I told them we were going right back out the door for a hike.  Once they realized they couldn't talk me out of my crazy idea, they headed for the van and we had a good time.  It helped that I brought lots of snacks.

Of course, it wasn't the most scenic time of year to go hiking, since most of the landscape is a study in brown and grey . . .

. . . but we did find some welcome patches of green here and there, like this stand of evergreen trees . . .

. . . and these hardy (and delightfully soft) lamb's ear plants.

The girls had fun experimenting to see which was the biggest stick this pond's lingering ice could support . . .

. . . but the highlight for all the kids was when we discovered some big boulders to climb on.

Don't fall, Cweepy!  Safety first!

A Snowy Trail and a Late Bloomer

It was a toasty forty-something degrees today for the first time in weeks . . .

. . . so we met some friends to walk (or ride) along one of the many trails in Columbia.  One mom brought an extra balance bike for Todd, but he preferred to walk.  Since the younger kids were making pretty slow progress walking their bikes through the snow, he didn't have any trouble keeping up.

We went over the river and through the woods to a playground, where the kids had a grand time.

Back at home, it looks more like spring than winter.  My African violets are blooming for the first time since we left California, and the amaryllis I bought in November to brighten our home at Christmastime finally bloomed, much to my kids' delight.

MLK Day = Math + Emma Joy

The big kids were off school for Martin Luther King Day today . . .

. . . but Todd thinks a holiday is as good a day as any for honing one's mathematical skills.  He was supposed to go to Joy School later in the day, but today's teacher had to cancel . . . 

. . . so we invited his classmate Emma Joy over to play. :)

Plan B: Cookies and Books

We like to go on a family outing after Saturday chores, but we got a late start today, and by the time we finished our desired destination was closed for the day . . .

. . . so we headed over to Barnes and Noble where we bought a couple cookies to share, then found some good books to read.  Daddy bought a coding book, and I bought a Christmas book to enjoy with the kids next year.  Not a bad Plan B, all things considered.

Singing, Dancing, and Spelling

Daniel's choir practice started up again tonight after its holiday break. They got right to work singing . . .

. . . and dancing.  Daniel later informed me this was a "royal" dance from England.  It looked to me like something out of a Jane Austen movie.

After his practice, we drove to Thunder Hill to watch Joy compete in the school spelling bee.  She took fourth place out of thirty contestants, then enjoyed some cookies (provided by us parents in the audience).  At first I thought the two finalists were phenomenal spellers because they were rattling off the correct spellings of Kilimanjaro, ichthyosaur, and words I hadn't even heard of.  Then I realized they had just memorized the spelling list the school had sent home, and once the officiator moved on to a new list they couldn't spell simple words like tacit and morsel.  I guess study skills have more practical application in life than the ability to correctly spell obscure words; that just wasn't the skill I expected to see showcased at this competition.  At least the cookies were good. :)

On Thick Ice

When the kids arrived home from school today, Joy begged me to let them walk down the street to see if the ice on a big pond was thick enough to walk on.  The protective, maternal portion of my brain had terrible visions of my children falling through ice into frigid water (and me having to rescue them without any of us perishing in the process), but the rational portion of my brain pointed out that it has been well below freezing for days now, so we should be fine, especially if we stay near the shore.

So down to the pond we went.  It was actually hailing a little bit, so it sounded like the contents of a giant salt shaker were constantly pitter-pattering down around us.

First Joy gingerly stepped onto the ice . . .

. . . then Anna ventured out after her.  Then they took a little stroll a few yards from shore to retrieve a big rock someone had tossed out onto the ice to see if it was solid.  The ice stayed nice and firm the whole time.

Having crossed "walk on an icy pond" off her winter bucket list, Joy decided to see if she could slide down the frozen (man-made) stream that feeds the pond on warmer days.  The results of her experiment were underwhelming, to say the least.

Hmm . . . maybe she'll slide better on her tummy?  Nope, the coefficient of friction between cotton leggings and a bumpy, nearly-flat sheet of ice is just too high.  What's more, Joy's front and back were now very wet and cold.  Time to hurry home and have some hot cocoa!

So Over Snow

We got a couple inches of snow last night, which means the kids had a day off school and the grounds maintenance guys came through this morning with leaf blowers to clear snow off the sidewalks.

You may notice that there are no kids outside playing in this wintry whiteness.  The novelty of snow has definitely worn off . . .

. . . so the kids stayed inside playing games . . .

. . . and having pillow fights.