Meteor Shower Watch Party

Last night was supposed to be the best night to view Lyrrid's Meteor Shower.  So the kids and I loaded up a blanket, Trey's telescope, and some lawn chairs and sat in our driveway in hopes of seeing some truly spectacular sight.  We saw 2.  lol...

Forgive my photo quality - as I've said before, I'm NOT a photographer by any stretch of the imagination, and my iPhone doesn't really cooperate when I try to tell it otherwise.

We may not have seen the spectacular show that we were expecting, but we did have a good time trying!
Lindsay was super excited at the prospect of staying up a little past her bedtime and being outside at that time of night is a little magical to any child.



Trey searched and searched for more meteors, but they just didn't come.  Maybe we'll go out again tonight...He worked so hard to get it set up just right.  It would almost be unfair to not get to see anything!

The shower is supposed be going on through Friday night, so if you have any youngsters (or oldsters) who are interested, go look in the northeastern part of the sky and see if you can find one or two.  :)

Baking Cookies!

Today Loo had a dentist appointment that left her mouth very sore. I took her for a milkshake afterwards, but by the time dinner rolled around, the numbness was starting to wear off. So to take her mind off of it, I suggested that we bake some cookies. Chocolate fixes everything, right?? Her dentist probably wouldn't agree with that assessment.  But we got a good lesson in measurements, and it cheered her up to help Mommy in the kitchen, so what the heck, right?

Anyway, halfway through the cookie making process, Lindsay was in excruciating pain. I felt so bad for her - I hate to see her hurt like that. It just breaks my heart.

I went flying to Target to retrieve all the Orajel they have in stock, and I heard the funniest conversation going on over on the next aisle between a man on his cell phone and a person whom I can only assume was his wife:

"Tampons AND hemorrhoid cream? Seriously? What are you DOING to me??!"

Bahahahaaa!! Poor guy!!

It took all I had to keep my composure - of course I couldn't stand not to peek around the corner (acting like I was looking for heartburn medication of course). He was in his 40's and ha an extremely red face. Haha!! Anyway, I collected my toothache medication and sped home only to find my sweet angel-baby asleep. She's feeling MUCH better this morning, Praise the Lord!   She was a little sad that she didn't get any cookies last night, so I snuck (that's how we say "sneaked" in Texas) an extra one in her lunchbox while she wasn't looking.  That ought to make her smile.  :)

If the sun is still shining after work/school, I think we'll go do a little nature walk and enjoy spring!  :)

Happy Fall, Y'all!!

Last week was really fun - our homeschool group got to attend Kids Day at the Fair...it's nice for parents because the rides aren't open, so we didn't have to compete for our children's attention during fun lessons of dairy farming (we got to watch a farmer milk a live cow!), agriculture, and farm animals.  We also got to attend a rodeo that featured kids of all ages from 5 - 17!  They had the cutest little 5 year old barrel racer!!!

But of course, no trip to the fair would be complete without some rides, so we splurged and took them back the next night to ride the rides and take in as much fair food as their tummies could hold!  We also went back for the "real" rodeo.   It was a really fun week last week!! 

Kind of sad our little fair is over, but today made my year!!  I woke up to the most beautiful surprise this morning:  crisp air flowing through my open windows and beautiful autumn sunshine!!!  I just couldn't fathom the idea of being cooped up in the house all day, so for the kid's lunch break, I surprised them with a picnic in the park.  We brought along bread to feed the geese (sorry no pictures - my phone's battery was almost dead), and then played until it was time to go home and finish our schoolwork.

Lindsay (right) with a park friend

Getting ready to go ZOOM!!

You can do it, Addie!!!

 

My little Monkey Man!

 They had a BLAST!  Hope everyone was able to get outside and enjoy this beautiful day like we did!!

Sad Start to Mother's Day Weekend

I just don't know where to begin.  I feel like my heart has been ripped out of my chest.  My sweet baby girl was bitten by my sweet little dog.  We're not talking a small little snap, either.  He. BIT. her.  Her upper lip had a gaping hole in it. 

I was putting away our wares from our trip to Sam's, when I heard him snap at her.  I turned around to see her kneeling on the floor beside him.   I've been after her all week because she'd been playing really rough with him.  She's 4 - that's what 4 year old's do.  But she had been pulling on his tail, and trying to give him a buzz cut with a hand-held fan, and I guess he'd just had enough. 

We rushed her to the ER.  She was screaming the entire way...not because she was upset about her mouth, but because she knew that our beloved family pet would have to go live somewhere else.  The ER team was excellent; they were able to use the liquid stitches to "glue" her lip back together.  They said that if the glue holds, she shouldn't have any scarring - as long as we put Vitamin E on it after it's completely healed.  She was so brave.  They also gave us antibiotics to help fight against infection. 

The ER was legally obligated to notify the police department because it was an animal bite, so we had an animal control officer show up at our home to take an incident report.  Ugh. 

I am suffering from overwhelming guilt over this because Stitch is MY dog.  He's always been MY dog.  If you're a dog person, you know what I mean.  He and I just bonded the instant we met.  I've spoiled him rotten, and I just love him to pieces.  But I just can't have a dog in my home that will do this to my child.  I just can't.  So, it's gonna hurt, and I'm very sad....but there's just no decision to make here. 

I called my sister in tears, to tell her that I was going to have to find Stitch (ironically named, considering the circumstances, I know) a new home. She offered to take him. Her boys are older, and they both love him. So this will be a good thing....but I hate it.



To say that my husband is upset about this would be the understatement of the year.  He did very well by not killing him.  I just wouldn't be able to stand that....the dog had just had enough torment for one day.  He knew he had messed up pretty bad, because he hanged his head in shame all night.  He's still not allowed to come out of the bedroom - I leave our french doors open in our bedroom so he can come in and out that way.  He knows something's wrong - and that's sad to me. 

Don't get me wrong here - there is no dog on this planet who will ever mean more to me than my own children.  I'm more of a Mama Bear than anyone I know...to a fault sometimes.  But I don't completely place all the blame on the dog, either.  He was just tired of being picked up, grabbed, poked on, and pulled on.  That's no excuse - but he's only lived with us since January.  We believe he may have belonged to a little old lady who died in a housefire before he showed up at a friend's house starving.  We rescued him, and he's been with us ever since.  He's very loving; but I don't think he's used to being with little kids.  He's growled at her before when she was "hugging" him, and he scratched her once.  But this was just the last straw.  He's got to go.  I'm sad.  But I know this is the best thing for all of us.  :( 

 

Mayflower to Mayhem!

I absolutely love homeschooling!  On those rare occasions that Addie is out of public school, she joins us for a day of FUNschooling! 

As you can see, it started out as a simple little reading lesson about a family aboard the Mayflower.  They would take turns reading in Trey's book.

Addie kept mispronouncing a word - and Trey kept correcting her (it's usually the other way around, so he was having a little fun with her!)  And once Addie gets tickled.......

You just might as well......

HANG IT UP!!!