Yesterday a young man came by to tell us about the PVREA rebate for insulation.  As it turns out, they can insulate our house for a mere $1400 after the $300 rebate.  Yeah, not happening. 

However, the important part of the story was when we sat down at the kitchen table for him to write out his quote for services.  I looked with chagrin at my kitchen table covered with craft projects, books, a library reading program flyer, a cage full of moths and other flotsam.  I was embarrassed by the mess.  It looked something like this:

Stella, protecting her dross with her life.

The young man sat down and started talking and working his numbers.  Then he glanced at the table and asked, "do you homeschool? Because this is just what our house always looked like.  My mom homeschooled all five of us until 10th grade."  He went on to say that going to high school was useless to him because he was bored to death and couldn't work on what he wanted to do but had to repeat doing things he already knew.

Ha! So....

Vindication #1 - It's not that I'm a bad housekeeper, it's that we homeschool and it should look like this! Ok, well, I am a half-assed housekeeper.  But, the projects that the kids do are important and do lead to things looking like a wreak a good part of the time.  It's what happens when learning is going on in your house all the time.  You can't learn without being a little (or a lot) messy.

Vindication #2 - I won't send them to high school.  Alright, so that wasn't really in the plans anyway, but so many people get to that age and send their kids to school.  I'd rather they did some apprentice work and took classes at Front Range Community College and had a mentor.  I want those to be years of exploring what they might want to do with their life.  I don't want them in a situation where they are relearning or bored.

Sometimes the little things you need come from the most unexpected places.

  

Sandis' soccer team this season named themselves White Dynamite. Not nearly as cool as 2 seasons ago when they were Tsunami Cyclops but what can you do? This year somehow I became in charge of the end of the season party.  The season's end just happened to be the same week as the end of the year Girl Scout party and a birthday party, but hey, I'm SuperMom (not!), I can do it!

It was suggested to do a kids vs parents soccer game so we went with that.  Added to that was pizza, cake and these shirts I whipped up.  Plain white shirts ($3.50-4.00 each at Hobby Lobby) to which I sewed a strip of scrap fabric I had around.  I then added a fuse and some sparks with Sharpie, wallah, dynamite! (hey, the SHIRTS are the white part, the dynamite is whatever color I had on hand :P )

Once I finished the shirts, all the team members signed them making it a special memento for the season.  Sandis has a signed shirt from her Odyssey of the Mind team years ago and still wears the heck out of it.  One thing to note, use BLACK Sharpies.  The other colors fade much more quickly.

Sandis in her finished (and now stained, sigh, why couldn't they be Dirt Colored Dynamite) White Dynamite shirt:

And check out the cool cupcakes that A's mom made for the party! Those soccer balls on top? Yep, chocolate covered Oreo.

I am tired of fighting with my kids about money.  It goes like this:

     Me: Here's your allowance.
     Sandis: Ok
     Stella: Take me to X store because there is this amazing thing that I just noticed that I've wanted
                  forever and if I don't get it right this minute I'll EXPLODE!  BTW, can you pay tax? And
                 can I borrow a dollar from next allowance to buy it? And can you buy me candy? And oh
                 look something shiny!

Stella also was going through a scrounge the house for money phase.  She assumed that any money not directly in my purse or Brian's wallet was fair game to become hers.  Um, child, you can have the pennies in the couch, you cannot take the dollars off the dresser.  You cannot stay up all night in your frenzy of archeological digs to discover money.  Yes, we put an end to that before she drove us batshit crazy with the rat-like sounds of digging under dressers at 11:38pm.

In order to give her (and her sister) some guidelines and us some sanity, I came up with the Money Rules:
  

Allowance:

• $5 every two weeks (when Daddy gets paid.)
• You can be fined for things which will result in less allowance.

Extra money can be earned for things. You MUST ask before doing these things to be sure they need to be done and to see how much must be done (for weeds/dog poop.) All regular chores like dishes and picking up your stuff MUST be done before you can do any extra chores:

• laundry (wash, dry, fold/hang, put away) - $1
• pull weeds - $1
• clean mommy bathroom - $1.50
• clean daddy bathroom - $1
• pick up dog poop - $1
• other things may come up

Money earned is to be divided between Spending, Saving and Sharing (donating):

• 10% donated
• 20% or more saved up for a big item (saved up for at least 4 months before buying anything.) Once money is put into savings, it cannot come back out to be spending money, even if it was more than the 20%.
• 70% spending whenever

Things you have to buy with your money:

• toys
• candy, chips, soda, etc
• games
• vending machines
• gas station food
• gift shops
• garage sales/thrift stores
• jewelry
• other things can be added to this list if mom or dad think of them

Make a list of things you want to buy with your spending and saved money. Things should be on this list for two weeks or MORE before you buy them.

Please think about the things you buy. Think if you will really play with it after 1 month or if it is really just a cool idea or fun for right now. Think about what you play with right now (trampoline, dogs, drawing/coloring, computer, books and a few stuffed toys seem to be all you guys really play with.) Think if you could borrow or share something. If it's junk food, think if you really need it or if you could have something from home instead.

All purchases must be approved by mom or dad even if it is your money.

We can ALWAYS assign chores for which you will get no extra money. Also, you can be asked to do the “money” chores and HAVE to do them, even if you don't want to do them.

They both had to read it and sign it before I hung it up in the kitchen.  Hopefully this will help.  Time will tell.  I would guess Stella will still spend with abandon and then wail about the unfairness of not having money for this or that when she wants it.  That's the way it goes.

  

I acquired a new rug for our living room - on the same week as the solar eclipse, and the circles remind me of the eclipse.  Coincidence?  Um, yes.

$12 at Goodwill, brand new.

That is all.

  

I was cleaning this morning with the girls.  Yes, I have several more gray hairs.  Fortunately, I like my gray hairs because they actually add some depth to my blah head.  Do you know, I had to look up the definitions of "gray" and "grey" to write this because I can never remember which is which? I will now though because "gray" is alphabetically first and I can remember to use the first one.

What was I saying? Oh yeah, I was cleaning and was taking things to be donated out to the car so that they are no longer in my house.  As I was shutting the back of the car I saw this sad sight:

Yep, dead baby fox in our yard.  I called the Larimer Humane Society and they said just bag it up and throw it away, so I did.  Poor little guy :(

Deanna, I don't think he's your cat's nemesis, sorry.  Too far away and definitely a baby.

Sunday we traveled out to Fossil Creek Reservoir Open Space to hang out with the Fort Collins Natural Areas & Astronomical Society volunteers. There were cars lined up half way to the entrance but there was really very little if any wait for the displays.  We had a demonstration of how an eclipse works:

 

Looked through telescopes (equipped with filters, of course):

Waited for the sun to come out from behind the clouds:

Took a walk around the lake where Stella saw some lake flies mating:

 and Sandis took a picture of a cloud of them:

We saw some Grebes:

and a beautiful sunset:

All within about 2 hours.  A lovely end to the weekend.

  

Our Girl Scout Campout weekend finally arrived! There wasn't too much nagging to get people to sign up for food/equipment.  We spent only 2 or 3 days shopping, packing and finding our camping gear.  My girls were so excited they even spent the night prior to the campout in the tent in the backyard with the dog.  (Turns out, you don't camp with Tonks.  She runs circles around inside the tent while you try and sleep.  She was swapped out for Sirius and the night proceeded much better)

Friday, Brian took off work at noon and we packed up the car and headed to the mountains.  We arrived and the trouble began.

You see, there is a new registrar for Girl Scout camps.  She unintentionally booked us on top of another Girl Scout group for the same camp, same weekend.  Theirs involved 200 girls.  The lady in charge was Crazy Red Hat Lady.  She wanted to know how many girls.  How many adults.  She never allows that many adults.  Parents only cause trouble.  She was horrified that 4 of the adults were MEN.  Yes, we do allow the girls' fathers along on the campouts.  Despite the fact that they have penises, they seem to be capable of spending the weekend camping with their daughters and daughter's friends.  Good grief!

Anyway, they found a spot for us in an "old" part of the camp.  It was actually PERFECT.  There were tabins (part cabin part tent - like a cabin w/canvas walls) we could use, something we wouldn't have had in our original spot.  Plus we were far away from the Crazy Red Hat Lady and her uber organized, non-parent, non-penis group.

We got settled and grilled pizzas for dinner which was way fun.  After that and some s'mores it was off to bed.  The night was super windy and a bit rainy but the next morning looked like this:

View of the mountains from our campsite.

Sandis in the sunshine.

Beautiful, n'est pas?

It didn't last.  The storm rolled in rather quickly.  First there was fog.

Then rain.  Lots of rain.

Lastly snow. 

At this point I was able to convince the others to bail on the camping.  We had young kids (12 youngsters from 6-12 yrs old) who were out of dry clothing and it was wet, cold and getting worse.  The problem was that they all wanted to stay together.  They were supposed to get two nights of sleeping (or not) together and they wanted BOTH of them.  Angela, crazy and wonderful woman that she is, volunteered to have a sleepover in her basement with all the kids and whatever parents wanted to stay.  So the girls got their sleepover and we got out of the miserable weather.  (As an added bonus, there were enough parents that I didn't have to stay and Brian & I got an impromptu date night.  I did get Angela some chocolate and Starbucks for doing this - she deserved that and more!)

For all the weather issues, the girls had soooo much fun! They got along, worked together, didn't have too much trouble with the "I want to sleep by X and she wants to sleep with Y" crap.  Angela decided that SHE would make all the sleeping decisions which put an end to any hard feelings with the girls deciding.  Of course my children BOTH decided at different times during the evening that they wanted to come back to our tent and not stay with the other girls.  This was annoying for Brian & I but not really a big deal in the overall scheme of things. 

So, all in all, not a bad weekend.  Stay tuned to hear about our solar eclipse viewing on Sunday :)

Winnie the Poop.  Yeah, take a look at the books we've checked out of the library this week and see if you can tell which of us is (still) into potty humor?

Shawn:

• Ancient Mesopotamia [videorecording] / produced and directed by JWM Productions ; producer, Ann Carro
  
• Geek dad : awesomely geeky projects and activities for dads and kids to share / Ken Denmead
• Ancient Egyptians and their neighbors : an activity guide / Marian Broida.

 
Sandis:

• Giraffes / Jennifer McDougall.
• Bison / Amy-Jane Beer.
• Opossum / Tom Jackson.
  
• Learning to care for reptiles and amphibians / Felicia Lowenstein Niven.    

Stella:

• Spooky ballet! / Michael Broad.
•  Zombie cows! / Michael Broad.
• Butt wars! : the final conflict / Andy Griffiths.
• Who stole the animal poop? / [written by Timothy R. Smith].
• What buttosaur is that? / Andy Griffiths ; illustrated by Terry Denton.
• Poop : a natural history of the unmentionable / Nicola Davies ; illustrated by Neal Layton.

I'm pretty sure the next few days (weeks) will be filled with giggling and tedious repetition of words that aren't "bad" words but become so because I hear them with great frequency.  Like that song on the radio that you liked the first time you heard it but after they play it every day for weeks, you can't stand it any more.  Then give that song to an ADHD 8 yr old and let her sing it, write it down, whisper it, giggle it, watch it on tv...it'll be...um...fun!


 

   

My younger daughter has been dubbed the Moth Whisperer by her sister.  She is forever catching moths that are in our house.  No matter what the obstacle, she will risk life and limb (and my curtains and dishes,) in her never ending quest to release those agricultural pests back into the wild.

She feels she is a kindred spirit with the moths because once caught, they calmly sit on her hand until she releases them outdoors.  Well, at least half the time anyway.  The other half they fly away and she has to recapture them, but since that is her life's purpose, for the moment anyhow, it is not a deterrent.

Once all the house moths are caught for the day, she must then proceed to the garage.  This room, having a doggie door is often full of lovely winged friends. It also presents a challenge as it has a high ceiling and many places where even a monkey girl can't reach.  Never fear! Stella requests a head lamp from her father, turns off all the lights and the moths come to her.  While some children might fear a bevy of dusty Millers, not the Moth Whisperer, they are her soul sisters (and brothers.)

She now also has captive moths as pets.  These creatures who most would squish, farmers would curse, live in the lap of moth luxury.  They have a house, grass, sticks, not to mention a fresh corn cob from Stella's dinner last night.  They get the honor of traveling with her around the house with a running commentary of their benefactor's day.

Here's Stella's video, complete with running commentary:

If you have someone living in your house who fears or despises the moths, Stella is available for hire.

   

I saw that a person changed his name, legally, to Tyrannosaurus Rex. My first thought was that it should really be Tyrannosaurus rex. Or Tyrannosaurus rex.  Either way "rex" would not be capitalized.  And the whole thing needs to be underlined or italicized.  How is he going to do that when signing things and filling out forms? Ridiculous people that don't understand science mutter mutter grumble.  (yes, these were my first thoughts, not "that's stupid" or "why the hell is this in my Facebook feed?")

After my internal geeky ranting, I began ruminating about our family's names, starting with my own.

I hated my name growing up.  Shawn.  A boy name.  I got picked on about it.  Put in the wrong gym class.  I raged and cried about how awful it was.  Why couldn't I have been named Karen or Susan or something NORMAL? But by the time I was old enough to actually change it legally, I didn't mind so much anymore.  In fact, I enjoyed the fact that I wasn't one of the 3 Susans in the room at any given event.  I liked the anonymity that came with an androgynous name.  I wonder how my brother, Erin, feels now as an adult.  I know as a child he hated having the "girl" spelling.  For the record, my parents chose Irish names and spellings.

Flash forward, eventually the time came when I had the privilege, along with Brian, of choosing our children's names.  I didn't want anything popular.  My husband agreed (though he never minded being one of several Brians in his social circles.)  As it turns out, we had names picked for YEARS before we decided to actually have children.  Yep, I'm a planner.

If our first, or second, baby had been a boy, he would have been Vincent, named after the great Vince Lombardi, of course.  Alas, no baby boys were born to us so the name waits for another to use it. 

For our first girl, we decided on Sandis.  No we did not make it up.  There was a player for the Avalanche, way back when, named Sandis Ozolinsh.  We liked his name and years before having children, decided we would use it.  Sandis has never appeared in the Social Security Admin's top 1000 baby names.  We were good! Not at all popular.  Check it anytime, never does Sandis appear on their list.

After Sandis was used, we needed a new girl name for our next baby, yet unconceived.  I had many years for Sandis to be the chosen name for our first child, I needed to let the second child's name grow on me as well.  In order to move things along, I came up with a short list and from that, the only one Brian really liked was Stella (on the veto list were Seraphina and Tabitha.)  No problem, the most recent data available showed it was #656 for girls in 2000.  Stella it was.

Stella was born in 2003, looking at the table for that year, in Colorado, Stella did not make the top 100 chosen names. I did what I set out to do, pick unpopular names.  By golly, I did it.

Now, just look what has happened to Stella's popularity (from the SSA website):

Year of birth	Rank
2010	85
2009	126
2008	184
2007	244
2006	242
2005	250
2004	291
2003	381
2002	499
2001	598
2000	656
1999	724

Eighty-fucking-five! That is not allowed to happen.  I am most definitely NOT pleased.  Not a lot I can do about it now, except bitch on my blog.  I tried, Stella, I really did.  Not that it matters to you.  Both you and your sister like your names and I guess that is good.  Ok, well there was that time when you were about 4 and you were LIVID about your name.  We had the following exchange:

Stella: "Mommy! Why didn't you name me what I wanted to be named?!"
Me: "What did you want to be named?"
Stella: "Harry Potter!"

Since then though, you have decided that Stella is a better choice for you.

Now lest you, dear reader, think I am considering your child's name, be assured, this, like everything I write, is all about me.  Do not project my choices as judgements of what you did/do.  If you want to name your children popular names, that's up to you.  It's just not what I wanted to do, and like so very many, many things in life, it didn't work out how I planned.  Like I said, it's all about me.  In my blog, my little slice life, the world DOES revolve around me. ;)

Oh, and do you notice that "did/do" kind of looks like "dildo"? No? It's just me and my dyslexic and/or dirty mind? Ok, I can accept that.

   

I love my children.  I love that I homeschool them.  I love that we can learn history through a variety of methods including historical fiction.  I even love that we can set up our day so that our reading of said books is right before bed.

BUT

It is encroaching on MY reading time making it take too long to finish my own books.  I've been falling asleep after reading as little as <gasp> 30 minutes of my own book before bed.

This may not seem like a big deal, but I'm used to getting an hour or two of complete down time where I read what I want before bed.  Mind you, I have to stay up until 11, 12 or 1 to do it, but I persevere.  It's my wind down and I sorely need it.

Not that I don't love reading 11,000 Years Lost.  But that is not MY book.

I need to herd the children to bed earlier so I can have my time back.  It's MINE and I want it <stomp><pout>

  

I took a walk around the block.  Why? Well, I really should try and do something at least slightly active in my life.  Really, there aren't a lot of things in my life calling out for me to move so I have to invent them.  Today I invented walking around the block - how about that? I bet no one has ever done that before!

Ok, so that isn't the point.  The point is while walking I notice all sorts of little tidbits along the road.  A soda tab, pieces of glass, widgets, whatnots, etc.  I was thinking, I should collect all those and have the kids come up with an art project to do with them.  I kept thinking (see how I can do that?! Much easier to start and continue thinking without the children along on the walk.  What with their, "she's walking in my part of the road", "I want to be on the LEFT side of mommy," and the ever popular, "she's stepping on my shadow" it becomes difficult to follow any train of thought.)  What was my point? Oh right, I kept thinking and came up an idea!

First, collect all the bits.


Next get a piece of paper and draw a simple but recognizable shape.  If you cannot draw a shape and have it be recognizable, go for abstract art or download some sort of coloring page.  Find some thin wire or string to trace the shape onto a piece of cardboard, wood, picture canvas, whatever is handy and relatively sturdy. We used string and regular old white glue

Using more glue, attach all your found objects inside the outline, filling it in as completely as possible.

When that is done and the glue is dry (pretty instantly for hot glue, a day or so for other glues) spray paint the entire thing.  Pick whatever color you like. Ours took four coats, rather heavy coats because, ahem, I'm not that patient.  Anyway, here they are, only 10 days after we started:

Pig, by Stella

Triceratops, by Sandis

You're done! Or not.  You could paint over the monochrome masterpiece to add more details.  Or leave it as is to focus on the bits and baubles. 

Some alternatives:

• do this on a picture frame
• use broken toys
• use natural objects like acorn caps and rocks
• use different kinds of dry beans

The possibilities are virtually endless.  I decided on the found objects because I discovered them on my walk..  It's a good recycling/community service/earth day thing that way.  If it's fall and you need acorns picked up in your yard, well, there's a different priority! Looking at different kinds of seeds, do that instead.  Looking for a rainy day activity and only have popcorn kernels? That works!

  

My husband is a runner.  More than a runner he's an ultra runner.  Ultra runner is what they call those people who run distances longer than a marathon.  I think it is actually slang for crazy nutjob, but he surrounds himself with a bunch of other crazy people so he thinks he's normal.  So not normal.  (Mind you, the ultra runners I know are very nice people but not normal.  Which is okay because normal is over-rated and boring.)

Anyway, my husband is a runner.  Today was the Colorado Marathon which he vows is his last road marathon.  He'd rather run 50 miles on a trail than 26.2 miles on a road.  Actually hard to blame him, the scenery is so much better on the trails. Still, I don't quite believe him on the "last road marathon."  Time makes the memory warp and remember things less clearly - like say how much it hurts after he runs a road marathon.  Here he is today about a mile from the finish:

My children are runners, one eagerly, one reluctantly.  Today they ran the first Healthy Kid's Run of the year.  They've done this for 5 years now, running about 8-1mile runs per year and pulling in some swag like warm-up jackets and Target gift cards.  I'll let you guess from these photos which one is the reluctant one:

Some of my friends are runners, not sure if they are runners reluctantly or not.  Deanna ran the Horsetooth Half this year and the 10K today.  Amanda did the 1/2 Marathon today.  First halfs for both of them - congrats ladies!

A slew of others I know are doing the Couch to 5K program.  It is a nice, gentle intro to running that Brian would have liked to have had back when he started. 

I am not a runner.

Once, in my 20's, I dreamed of being a runner.  I thought of what it would be like to be in shape and feeling strong.  I would run easily, for my health.  I would look fabulous. I would have running outfits (hey, I was in my 20's and didn't have kids - the word  "outfits" was still in my vocabulary then.)

Now I'm in my 40's and know I am not nor will I ever be a runner.  I tried the Couch to 5K.  I messed my knee up in Moab and was unable to walk up stairs for ~6wks, let alone continue on my route to running a 5K. I never tried again.  Why? Well...

I have that Chronic Fatigue right around the corner, peeking in at me when I do too much. Running is not friends with CF.  Walking might be, running invites that bitch in.

I have bad knees, to which two surgeries will attest.  Running hurts.  Not while running, but aching for hours afterwards.  Not my idea of a fun evening.

Did you know it's hot here already? It is.  I hate hot.  And I don't get up early so don't tell me how cool it is at 5 or 6 am because those hours don't actually exist. Late at night might work, it's beautiful then.  And I tend to wake up when the sun sets.  I'm kind of like a vampire only I don't sparkle.  I'm in my 40's, remember? No sparkling.

Maybe I need to do the C25K but just walk the whole damn time because I need to do something active besides ice hockey which I can't afford that anymore.

But no running.  I will not cave to you peer pressure!

I am a total slacker this month and it has barely started.  There are numerous lovely, organized and educational, and not, field trips coming up and I signed us up for, wait for it, ZERO of them.  Here's what we're missing:

• Little Shop of Physics
• CSU Water Festival
• National Center for Atmospheric Research Tour
• Rawhide Electrical Tour
• Homeschool day at Elitch Gardens
• Dinosaur Ridge Tour
• Environmental Learn Center class
• Mining Museum Tour 
• probably eleventy billion other things

Why am I, the person who absolutely LOVES field trips, not signing up for these fun things? Well, I'm really tired of being scheduled for things every. single. damn. day.  Not to mention:

• Little Shop of Physics - done it several times
• CSU Water Festival - Sandis has done 3X, Stella 2X
• National Center for Atmospheric Research Tour - did this in the fall, different class but same tour
• Rawhide Electrical Tour - Stella's too young
• Homeschool day at Elitch Gardens - expensive.  Plus Stella doesn't like big rides, Sandis is too big for little rides making for an annoying and expensive day for me
• Dinosaur Ridge Tour - BTDT, same tour, different class
• Environmental Learn Center class - have done several, though not this class
• Mining Museum Tour - don't want to drive to C. Springs

I'm just simply too tired, too lazy, too over-scheduled to bother with any of them.  I don't want to go get up early, pack a lunch, get the kids out the door, go back in the door for the things we forgot, drag the kid who followed me in back out the door, realize said child doesn't have shoes and go find them, finally get out the door again, drive somewhere, wait for people to show up who are late, wait even longer for people who won't show up, be embarrassed by the people who don't show up, start fun event, deal with one or another whining child who may or may not be yours but probably is yours during event.  And all this with people we might or probably do not know because our group is over 150 families now.

But WAIT, you say, this is supposed to be about the kids.  Homeschooling is for them and it's all about their wants/needs/desires/hair-brained ideas/etc.  Yeah, ok, some, but not so much.  It is about them following their passions, but it's not about them getting to decide what we do all the time.  Plus, the kids, when asked about said field trips, were all, "meh."  They like them, but have done so many before that they aren't willing to get up early or drive an hour for them.  Well, ok, Sandis would have gone to Elitch's but she didn't want to go badly enough to go with another family (who she does know and like) without us.

On the other hand, they really enjoyed when we met a family and played in the river or when we went to the IMAX with a friend.  Those small groups where we know and interact with the other people with us have been much more meaningful than a big group field trip.

So, for now, I'm going to continue my lazy streak.

Have I  mentioned that in my next life I want to be a sloth? True story.

  

...I get new shoes! Meet the new Keens (similar to the old Keens):

My Keens are my favorite shoes.  I wear them almost every day for about 7-8 months of the year.  They are so comfortable and practical, plus they last for, well, three years.  Because of that, I am willing to pay the $95 price tag.  Lucky for me though, these lovelies rang up at $65.  Score!

And just so you know that I don't abandon my old shoes without due cause, the old ones lost one of their ties last year (worn in half) and I replaced it.  They have holes in the fabric under the straps and one of the straps was almost worn through.  And the soles, well they had worn almost completely flat on the balls of my feet with holes worn through the heels to the soft inner sole. 

Even though it's a need, and even though a pair of $20 shoes wouldn't last more than 1 year at best and wouldn't be nearly as comfortable or versatile (really, what $20 sandals can you hike through a creek in and not come out worse for the wear,) it is still incredibly difficult for me to spend this kind of money on myself! It took me years of wanting Keens before finally buying the first pair.  And these should probably have been put out to pasture last year, but I couldn't face spending the money on a new pair yet.  This year though, they were starting to hurt my feet and I couldn't put it off any longer.  I'm sure the new Keens, pair number two, will be my constant companions until the snow flies :)

  

Yes, this post could be about any number of things as my sieve-like brain only functions because of my extensive, and shared-so-others-can-keep-up-with-it-too, Google Calendar.  Still this is about something more important than a doctor's appointment or a soccer game, this is The Hobbit! I was posting about all the history and Da Vinci reading we are and will be doing, along with making pudding, because who doesn't like pudding, when I suddenly remembered, "CRAP! I need to read The Hobbit to the kids before the movie comes out!!!"  Because, of course, I will NOT let them see the movie before we read the book.  That is simply wrong.  And the book will take time to read through as it is fabulous and deserves full attention.

Ok, whew, I looked it up and the movie doesn't come out until December.  Plenty of time.  And apparently it is going to be two movies.  The things I don't know fill volumes.