Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Leaving Blogger...Still Blogging

My old blog at the new site: Left to Their Own Devices

I've been a little frustrated with Blogger lately. Hiccups in posting text and pics. Plus, to my eyes, the layout doesn't feel as polished here as it does at WordPress. I am a big fan of changing things up from time to time and thought I'd give this new spot a go. Titles the same. All the old posts have been exported. Hope you will join me.

I'll keep this kicking around for a bit until I get everything where I want it to be. I'll only be updating through my WP site though.

Monday, May 3, 2010

A Big "Thank-You" to Aunt Kelly

Kelly gave Alex The Big Book of Gross Stuff, by Bart King, for his birthday. It has become a bible of sorts. He is constantly quoting parts of the book to us:

"Did you know that if you eat fatty foods, your poop floats?"

"Did you know some woman drank her own puss?"

"Did you know that Vikings used pee to clean sheep's wool?"

And on and on and on...

Without fail, we are almost always eating when he decides it is time to discuss this book. It is fairly standard for us to tell Alex that there is to be no discussion of the gross stuff book at the dinner table. This obsession is going on for over 2 months now and even though he has read it from cover to cover, he still carries it around, giggling while he flips through over and over again.

So thank you Kelly. And Mr. King too, I suppose. You've thoroughly entertained the boy and grossed us out at the same time.

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Just Thinking

It was this time last year that we started getting Izzy ready for school. Registering her with the school and attending some orientation stuff. Mentally prepping ourselves. Getting enthusiastic even.

What a difference a year makes!

I have some opportunities popping up for next September (I know, already!) and went back to read old posts from the previous Septembers, checking out what we were up to, reminiscing. The ones from last year are still upsetting to read. We were such a mess. While I hate the path we had to take, I am thrilled with where we have wound up.

So, last year we were prepping for school, making sure her skills were up to par and working with her to get ready for upcoming changes. Now we are in a whole new place with homeschooling. We are very comfy in our skin and feel we are exactly where we ought to be. The kids are happy to be homeschooling and school is a brief, distant memory.

I am looking forward to the rest of Spring and a relatively angst-free summer. In a cool turn of events, the pioneer village school program Alex participated in last year is happening again this September. Aside from the stress of last September, it was the one thing both Izzy and I lamented missing. It feels like an amazing do-over.