It's Wild Here

BROWN BELT!

The reason my house looks like an explosion and my mind matches

Next week

Monday
Jeremiah taekwondo with Grammy
Jamie soccer game - away

Tuesday
this week only, Greene County parks homeschool science class: Raptors
homeschool gym
Jeremiah taekwondo forms/conditioning, this week only - testing for brown belt
Jamie soccer - rec
Birthrite meeting

Wednesday
WILC outing to Cedar Bog
midwife appointment (need to postpone)
Jeremiah taekwondo
Jamie soccer - select
Jeremiah soccer - rec, conflicts with tkd

Thursday
allergist
homeschool gym (probably will skip)
Jamie soccer - rec

Friday
Grammy over to play with Ryan
Jamie soccer - select

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But they are sleeping well at night.

flying kicks of all kinds, OTN, knitting books

I just wrote a whole post and lost it. There is nothing so frustrating!

Jamie had his first outdoor spring soccer game today. They played in awful cold with intense wind and no substitutes, so he was not a happy kid after. Under a blanket with a book until dinner, back under the blanket after dinner, and to bed.

Jeremiah went with Grammy to TTF and learned a flying side kick! He was bashful but pleased to demonstrate, and Ryan was thrilled to have another homeschool taekwondo lesson. Toddler flying kicks are quite a sight.

OTN: cutie sock booties from here

It's a very nice book with some unique but not too wacky patterns.

On the other hand, way way on the other hand, let me share a book with you that is full of more ridiculous patterns than You Knit What could ever cover in a whole year (Evan asked "what year was this published?" I said, "2005," and he said, "no, when was it originally published," and I said, "really. 2005.")  This gem is full of at least 95 of the most hideous hat patterns you'd ever want to see. You really must borrow it from the library for amusement. (Please please don't tell me you know the authors. Seriously, this is just my opinion - in fact my son's very good 11-year-old friend Kira thought most of that hats were great!)

OK, also OTN: still working on the My Little Pony poncho for a special niece. No, this is not a poncho with a pony. It's a poncho FOR a pony. A very small pony, which means it's knit on very small needles.  But it's fun.

Soon to be OTN: newborn onesie, doing my first knit-a-long with the yarn mamas on MDC.

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House of Flu, spring, soccer, pregnancy

Recently, more people have been reading this blog than just the 3 family members who previously checked in. For this reason, I've tried to make my posts a tiny bit more interesting, add more pictures, talk more about knitting.

In the past, the blog was primarily about record-keeping for homeschooling and just general family history. As in, what year was it when Jamie dyed his hair green?  How old was Ryan when he stopped throwing food off his tray? Silly little stuff like that. And I'm not really getting those details in lately. So, I'm just saying, I have to go back to some of my older more boring posts, but I promise to keep adding the more amusing bits as well.  I mean, it's not like this blog could be anyone's source of real entertainment, so I know this isn't a big deal. Just FYI.

And along those lines...
- this flu will not leave the house. Jamie is almost up to 2 weeks sick. Not as sick as last week, but too sick to be normally active. Jeremiah is the same, but has had it much less time. Ryan is well. Evan is sick. I keep feeling slightly sick but don't seem to really get it. Thank goddess!
- I love spring. Even though our yard is muddy and leafy from non-raking in the fall, the weather is warmer. Even though it's raining almost constantly and I still barely see the sun, I can go out in  a sweater and take the toddler outside.
- soccer is starting up soon. The select/travel team last year was a nightmare for us, for various reasons. If you click "soccer" on the left in categories, I probably wrote about it some. I actually might have left out some of the most horrible stuff. Anyway, the boys are going to play rec league again this year so we don't have to travel, don't have to watch one of the boys sit on the side the whole game, don't pay an arm and leg, and don't lose every game (ok, I just summed up last year).  Fortunately, Jamie's select team is short player so they're willing to take as much playing from him as they can get. He can just play home games and join in on practices, so he should get lots of soccer in this spring. That's great for him.  Jeremiah is doing TTF and soccer at once, and those practices/classes always overlap, so I'm crossing my fingers on that - hoping for a soccer practice day that doesn't conflict.

I'll be in my third trimester on Tuesday (also the day Brokeback Mountain comes out on DVD). This pregnancy has flown by, now that I don't feel like crap. Same as with Ryan - every week that passes I think, I can't be THIS pregnant!  So, it's time to start checking things off the to-do list.

Baby is wiggling like a spaz! I have that alien-belly going on, and loving it.   

ymca

We joined the Y a few weeks ago, so we'd have an indoor exercise option in cold weather, so Jeremiah could take the taekwondo classes, and so Evan could work out. So far, we've gone twice so the boys could swim. No workouts, no TKD.  The taekwondo is pretty lame compared to J's other classes, so I understand his reluctance.

We've been going to the open swim in the evenings, and it's just so busy. Swim team, lifesaving classes, swim classes, water aerobics... The open swim is literally one lane. The first time, the boards were open, which was good for Jamie. But  last night, he went to the deep and and the lifeguard asked him to pass a swim test before he went. He was completely caught off guard, weepy, pissed and unwilling.  He didn't think he could tread water for a minute, and he didn't like being forced.  I thought probably he could do that, but couldn't help him with being angry.  He ended up leaving and waiting for us in the lobby. I saw him get some paper and a pencil from the receptionist, so he was content drawing while Jeremiah swam.

Another (very  helpful) guard told me he could do anything for a minute - just swim in some way - and that seemed much better to him. I think he'll try that next time.

studies, photos

What we're up to:

Evan
weekend naps and bedtime toddler duty, all night parenting. woohoo! Evan is TheMan.
considering a trampoline construction in the back yard
perfecting his squid menu and asian accents via Iron Chef viewing marathons
cheerfully and sincerely engaging Jeremiah in riveting discussions about YuGiOh cards
games of Risk with two big boys
a history lesson here and there with Jamie

Amy
reading Blink, Shiloh, an Ina May book, and Scattered (about ADD)
knitting Clapotis
catching up on the clutter of not tidying well for 9 weeks

Jamie
studying early American settlements, the geography of the Northeast US region, plant classification, art history, reading and studying Shiloh, and practicing some composition skills
beginning a new season of indoor soccer (not a bad start - first game won 8-1)

Jeremiah
reading Geronimo Stilton, listening to various books on tape, reading various picture books to himself and Ryan
caring for Ryan well while Jamie and I work on book-work
perfecting his purple belt taekwondo forms
attending homeschool gym class
arranging regular playdates with Joe, Murphy, Alex and Sam

Ryan
multiple daily readings of Goodnight, Gorilla
multiple weekly viewings of Blues Clues, Little Bear and Winnie the Pooh
heading outdoors as often as possible, any weather is just fine
randomly requesting candy throughout the day by repeating "neenee" at least 87 times until we all want to bang our heads against a wall. This, despite his not receiving any candy for several days.  Determined.
mastering names of colors, shapes and animals
fighting a mysterious fever with no other symptoms
sleeping poorly due to fear of shadows and other normal  developmental quirks

Purple belt!

Jeremiah continues to progress in taekwondo! He receives excellent marks in his testing and shows great concentration and dedication during class. Purple is the 6th belt of 10, the final being black belt.  He broke a board with a back kick this time, which takes a great deal of aim.   

carnivorous plants, pretesting, drawings for nana

Plenty to report, but I'm needing to stay focused on the main daily priorities, as my energy is quite limited. As soon as the first trimester ends, I'm good to go.

Jamie set up his carnivorous plant terrarium. It needs to sit in the fridge for several weeks.

Jeremiah has completed his pretest for purple belt.

All three kids made lovely drawings for Nana, who is healing from surgery.   

Green Belt

Backtracking.... a couple of weeks ago, Jeremiah had his promotion test, and he is now a green belt!

Jeremiah won 3rd place in his taekwondo tournament yesterday - it was very exciting!

After the tournament, he attended Daniel's birthday party at a bowling alley and had a very fun time there. We had dinner at Grammy's last night and visited with long-time family friends, Joan and Ernie.

Today, we have two home soccer games.