24 February 2023

 

The elementary school PTA held a Valentine's dance for the kids.  Rosebud was really excited to go, and she chose her dress with care.  She was pretty stoked as we walked in, but the music was so loud and the kids were doing less dancing than just running around screaming that it was really overwhelming for her.  So we went and had a snack, and then back to the gym.  They played some game with hula hoops that she didn't get a chance at, and then she stood in line to do the limbo but so many kids cut in front of her that she didn't actually get up to the bar.  After that, we decided to call it a night and go home.

21 February 2023

 

We made our first venture to DC on Presidents' Day! The kids were excited to go to the natural history museum.  Bobo in particular was in awe of all the monuments and museums that we passed.  He kept saying, "I can't believe we're really here!"

The natural history museum was a little crowded but way cool!  We toured it in a very ADHD fashion, looking at exhibits until we got tired of them and then running off to see something else.  I think Bobo's favorite thing was the giant megalodon model.  We also looked at the Hope Diamond, ancient Egyptian artifacts, ocean stuff and bugs.  The kids were done after a couple hours, so we ate lunch and went home.  It was really neat, and one of the best things is that we can go back whenever we want to see the rest of it!

18 February 2023

 

Rosebud was assigned to make a diorama of dolphins for presentation during her class's "learning day". She wanted to make one that showed the dolphins feeding from a school of fish, so she made a school of fish on a circle of cardstock using flecks of aluminum foil, and two dolphins.  She painted the shoe box and we hung the three items from the top using thread.  She put them all very close to the top, and when I commented that it made them hard to see from the front, she reminded me that this is how it actually works - the dolphins herd the fish towards the surface of the ocean before feeding.

Parents were invited to come to school and view the diorama and ask questions (the kids were prepared with notes on note cards to answer questions), and then we got to do a math activity with our kids.  I was not expecting too much but it was really, really fun to see how excited the kids were to share what they had learned.  Rosebud and I had a really great time doing the math activity together as well.  It was so fun to see what her class is like and spend some time with her at school.

14 February 2023

Mr. Brown and Rose Pink sent us a Valentine's Day package!  There was a bunch of candy and some Valentine's Day toys.  It was so fun to receive.  We felt very loved.

 

That morning, we had the web of yarn all over the house leading to a box of chocolates.  The web was exceptionally large and tangled this year because I did it for all the kids in the house, not just mine.  Then we had pink heart pancakes for breakfast with a box of conversation hearts (their family tradition).

Rosebud was excited to make valentines for her class, but Bobo was not so enthusiastic.  He was worried about making the wrong kind of valentines and the other kids thinking they were stupid.  In the end, I made some up for him that referenced Star Wars and included glow sticks, and sent them to school with him with instructions to bring them home if he decided not to give them out.  He came home very happy and told me that he had given them out, and that the other kids thought they were cool!

10 February 2023

Rosebud dressed as her favorite character from a book for school and chose a kitten named Chi. The cuteness is sometimes just overwhelming!

 

6 February 2023

For Hedgehog Day this year, we actually had a hedgehog guest!  Our friends have a friend who has a pet hedgehog, and we invited them over to celebrate with us!

 

3 February 2023

When we were first contemplating moving across the country, one day while driving to the library it got really quiet in the back seat. I looked back and found this scene.  "What are you doing?" I asked.  "We're practicing sleeping," they said.  "For when we have to drive to our new house across the country."

2 February 2023

We are staying with a couple who are friends of mine and Mr. Brown's, although we haven't lived near them in fifteen years.  We met them in Iowa, and when we parted ways, they had zero children and we had two.  Now we have four and they have five.  The husband also works at the same command that I do, and they generously offered to let me and Rosebud and Bobo stay with them until the end of May when Mr. Brown arrives with the household goods and the rest of the family.

Fortunately for all of us, our kids overlap in age and they have made friends and enjoy each other's company.  Rosebud in particular has made friends with the girl her age (they are one month apart).  The whole gang of them spends a lot of time playing together and I'm so glad that they are getting along and having such fun.  Any pictures included on here of red-headed children over the next several months are our new friends.