Drip, Drip, Drip!

Thats what we hear outside of our windows! Coupled with the chirrup of wee little birds, the warm air smelling of wetness, and the blue sky we had yesterday, 'twould make one think it is spring! At night, when the darkness hides the blanket of still calf-deep snow, I've found my ears straining for the sound of peepers. Speaking of calf-deep snow, I am actually quite thankful that it still lays aground, for it covers the mud for a while longer! I'm expecting that this warm hint-of-what-is-to-come isn't going to last, so I'm glad to miss an early endless stream of mud tracked through this wholly carpeted house.

We have so far enjoyed our 'surprise vacation.' Apart from Andrew's cabin fever and my broken routine, I think we have made good use of this time! School is still being done - though not at the usual times - and the boys have even had a different teacher (much to their delight!). We've continued our Underwater Theme - don't ask me why - and I think the kids have enjoyed it. Abigail now knows more about sea creatures than I do, and I'm the one who was supposed to be doing the teaching! Actually, she absorbs information from books like a sea-sponge absorbs water, and thereby she learns more than I could ever teach her in the 24 hours I'm given each day. Do any of you think that your allotted 24 hours are actually shorter than 24 hours other people get? Or am I the only one...

Lydia has started talking more. Yesterday, she kept finding random shoes and bringing them to me, asking me to put them on her little feet: "Grunt... Grunt... Grunt" with a couple of pointed jerks of her finger, was how her demand was stated. I told her to say, "Shoe on, please." Much to my delighted surprise she said, "Shshshshshooo AH!" And she hasn't stopped since! She especially likes Abigail's dress shoes, of course!

Phinehas is progressing in his reading and it has been LOW STRESS for me! I just get to listen as Andrew patiently urges him on, guiding him through his stubborn unwillingness and into peals of laughter as a story is created out of the words:

Andrew: "Phinehas is..."

Phin: "BIG!"

A: "... and riding a..."

P: "PIG!"

A: "... while wearing a..."

P: "WIG!"

A: "... and eating a..."

P: "FIG!"

A: "... and dancing a..."

P: "JIG!"

And Liam has finally had someone to spend FOCUSED time with him working on shapes and colors. I can see that Liam thrives with one-on-one time; he has just been shining with smiles and overflowing with giggles lately!

And me? I've been basking in the presence of my best friend, cherishing the glances, the smiles, and the shared laughter over the antics of our wee ones. I love my man! And he is coming along day by day. His leg's range of motion is steadily (but slowly) improving and his pain is lessening. I know he gets stir-crazy, but honestly! He is NOT the typical male! He hasn't complained a bit! Except for his crutches, you wouldn't know he is hurt. He still manages to be my hero each and every day.

Hm. By now you are all probably gagging so I'll stop! *grin!*

And now I'll be off to start on the ever rotating pile of dishes (that should have been done 4 hours ago!)

Cabin Fever

Well, its been a week and a day since Andrew's accident. Yes, he is still in pain... especially if he moves the wrong way, but he is getting around well. Occasionally he starts doing laps from the kitchen to the living room and back again, trying to dispel his cabin fever. The big piles of snow and the temperatures in the teens hinder many outside ventures, and the fact that our Suburban is awaiting a transfer case removes any options for family outings. Fortunately, we have friends! Right now, Andrew is out with Eric, on his way to pick up some more meds; it will be a good change of routine, for sure!

Speaking of routine, we don't have much of one, these days. We are managing to accomplish the bare-bones of school. Abbi is progressing in Math, Phin tackled some reading today, and for the next couple of weeks we are going to do a unit study on oceans. For now, this involves a lot of ocean books from the library, free coloring pages off of the internet, we will make a diorama of sorts... if I get around to designing it, and we even have a handful of videos with exquisite underwater photography; one of our favorites is from Planet Earth! Phinehas has declared that he loves dolphins and Abigail has a strange fascination with eels, of all things! Other than that, the kids are delighted to have their Papa home for a long while.

Thank you all for your prayers! We are coming along, little by little.

Science at it's Finest

Well, there is a good chance that sometime in the near future we will have a nice clutch of newt eggs to observe. As it is, the children cheerfully giggled as they watched Mander 'wrestle' with Sally. He really wrestled, too - flipping and flopping around. It actually was quite humourous.

Better than science is BIRTHDAYS! Today was Phin's 4th birthday; soon I will post some pictures from his super fun party. (I can't believe he is FOUR!)

Spring, Science and Rubber Boots

It is raining. That cheerless rain that inhibits outdoor play. The gray clouds are drooping down like limp, dirty dishrags hung out to dry after cleaning my one uncarpeted spot of floor. Well, the dishrags would be gray if indeed I cleaned that floor… But I was talking of the rain. In spite of the dripping rain, I have my flip-flops on. After all, it is spring! Not only have the robins returned, but the peepers have started peeping, we saw a brave dandelion flower, and my daffodils have poked themselves up and will bloom with only a wee bit more coaxing from the shy sun. I say the sun is shy because he has been missing for a couple days, hiding behind the droopy, limp, dirty clouds.

But the rain isn’t all bad – just ask Abigail. She is quick to proclaim to her brothers that “even though the rain makes it so we can't play a lot outside, the rain is watering the earth and soon flowers will be here - but now we have mud. Because dirt and water, mixed together, make mud!” Thank goodness (and the Carpenter) for new rubber boots! Even I got a pair! I haven’t had a new pair of rubber boots since I was in 7^th grade. Back then, I had yellow rubber boots and they doubled as my winter boots when I shoved wooly-sock laden feet into the bright yellow objects of my mother’s affection. My mom liked my yellow boots. I did not. Yes, they kept my feet dry, but they also kept me as a prime target for Jr. High ridicule – yes, my nickname was ducky. I laugh now and even tease my mom about the whole thing.

Anyway, along with spring has come a GRAND science project. On Sunday, we hiked up into the woods and visited a hidden pond. As we walked along the edge (and into the water, thanks to our new rubber boots) we saw scores of amphibious creatures fleeing before our waterproofed feet. I caught a couple (they were literally “a couple”) and brought them home and now we have two critters in a gallon jar on our kitchen counter. We couldn’t decide if they were salamanders or newts so I did a bit of research (thank you, Google!). I discovered that we have two Red Spotted Newts. And I discovered that newts are a type of salamander! We have adult Red Spotted Newts, which are actually olive-green. So, I’m now trying to figure out how to keep “Sally” and “Mander” (as Abbi named them) alive – and I am hoping that the couple of them will “couple” again and lay some eggs. I did find out that they eat earthworms so I am planning on delegating the job of obtaining food for Sally and Mander to Phinehas. I’m sure he won’t mind!

Well, hope you all are enjoying your rainy, drizzly, sometimes delightfully sunny (but not this week) spring!