Presentation

Yesterday was project presentation time for the homeschool group.  This month's topic was geography.  Bohdin chose China while Nyla chose Russia.  She chose Russia because it was the only country she knew besides China.  I wish we had spent more time preparing but we basically waited until the last day to get it done.  Sort of.  Last August after studying China I made Bohdin tell me things about China.  I wrote them down and was able to pull the list back out.  I think he used some of it for his report.   Buddy helped Bohdin to put it together so I'm not certain.

For Nyla I just read her a book and she pulled out the parts that she thought were interesting.  She liked the reindeer, tigers, ballerinas, princesses, and longest railroad.  I drew pictures of these things on a piece of paper to help her remember during her presentation.  Nyla was very excited to do it.  Unfortunately it was very difficult to hear her and I am probably the only one who heard anything since I was the closest.  Nyla didn't use her normal loud voice and spoke rather quietly instead.  I could have helped her do better but the previous person had been really really long (Bohdin and Nyla's favorite though) and I wanted something short afterward.  Plus Cora was tired.  I wish I had told her to repeat it or asked questions. 

Bohdin wanted to go last and he did.  When it was his turn he walked to the front and turned his back to the audience to take some deep breaths.  He said he needed some time.  There was one family who had been there before so they knew what to expect from him.  At one point one of the girls thought about chanting "you can do it" but I'm glad she didn't.  I don't think it would have helped.  Bohdin read through his report quietly before I turned him around to begin.  He hesitated a little in the beginning but then did really well for a Bohdin.  He didn't seem panicked at all like last time.  He was easy to understand and I think he showed remarkable progress from last time.  He felt at ease answering questions.  I was really proud of how well he did. 

We are drowning in strawberries right now and I have busy dealing with them plus all of the other yard work to be done now.  Yesterday I picked as many strawberries as I could before Cora became fussy.  I weighed them later.  I put almost 4.5 pounds of sliced strawberries in the freezer.  I threw away almost 2 pounds of waste and I made more than 3 dozen chocolate covered strawberries.  Later I went out and picked a bag of strawberries for the neighbor.  I did not pick every ripe strawberry out there and will be able to pick many pounds of strawberries again tomorrow. 

First Steps

Buddy finally saw Cora take a few steps when she had a six step run. He declares her a walker but I disagree. We had the same disagreement with Nyla. As far as I know six steps was her best so far. She can't be enticed to walk and often does it when nobody is watching. Bohdin and especially Nyla still call out in amazement when she just stands. She's heard the word amazing so many times in the past week.




After last weeks run of way above average temperatures we have swung in the opposite direction with temperatures well below normal. It still won't stop raining so we have had trouble getting our garden started. I finally planted a few tomatoes yesterday but Cora was making it difficult. She pulled the leaves off the plants, bent one in half, stepped on another, and kept using me as a handhold. I told Bohdin to watch her and he came up with a Cora jail. I was on one side of the trellis and she was on the other. It worked for quite some time. When it was time to pick strawberries, Cora joined us and picked a few. She's not supposed to be eating strawberries yet but she did anyway.




I forgot to pull out some whole beans for Cora last night before mashing them. It ended in a huge mess.



Paul and Jenn sent the kids some books this morning and they looked through them this morning while I was cleaning. I also had a new cd on. I've been checking out cds from the library for several months which the kids have enjoyed. The selection is limited so I downloaded a few last night. I can hear Bohdin singing under his breath in the car. Luckily there are some really great artists out there for kids now.




When Bohdin finishes listening to an audio book I let him watch the movie if one is available. He loved watching Mary Poppins a few weeks ago and is in love with Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory this week. He has watched the older version at least 6 times now. I haven't checked out the newer version yet.

Strawberries

It has been a busy few days here. Thursday afternoon we met up with the boy, J-, we had met at playgroup on Tuesday. They had a really good time together. It was quite hot that day and they had the water feature turned on. Bohdin came home soaked. Nyla didn't really want or know how to play with the two boys so she stayed near me a lot of the time. She was sad there wasn't anybody for her. After the playground we came home for Bohdin to change and had just a few minutes before leaving for soccer. This session is much smaller with only five kids in it. Four of them including Bohdin were in the last session together. Because of that they are moving along in the skills and focusing on passing and teamwork. The coach told them to split up into pairs and one of the boys called out to Bohdin. Nyla heard him call Bohdin name repeatedly and started crying because none of them knew her name. That was the second time that day she felt left out. I was glad for Bohdin though.

After practice we came home and picked strawberries. It's our first big haul of the season. We are going to have a lot of strawberries so I'm going to busy for the next several weeks processing them somehow. We're also trying to get our garden started but the weather has not been cooperative. The time that we have free it always seems to be raining. We are so behind. I'm determined to get everything planted this week but with a forecast of rain for the next three days that won't be easy. Buddy is having trouble tilling the wet soil so it's not even ready for us to plant yet.




Saturday was the neighborhood yard sale. With a forecast of rain I didn't want to waste time prepping stuff. Saturday morning was overcast but not raining yet. We threw a few items out there. It was good to get rid of some stuff. The old refrigerator is gone as well as an old vanity and some baby stuff. Bohdin made $11.50 selling strawberries and strawberry plants. It wasn't something we had planned. That was really our big money maker though so we'll do it again next spring when we will have even more strawberries.

Cora has tooth #4 coming in. It is her top front left. It's coming in quite fast and has caught up to the one next to it. Cora has also been working on taking some steps I think. She stands a lot now in the middle of the room and a few times I think I've seen her take a step. I'm not certain though because it is always out of the corner of my eye. This morning I was cleaning up the kitchen with Nyla and Cora nearby. Cora was standing near Nyla who was holding George. Cora likes George and reached out to grab it. I'm pretty sure I saw her take a step but I was loading the dishwasher at the time and she only had my partial attention. There have been several instances like that.

We had a money drawer in the house in case we needed cash for whatever reason. There was more money than usual in it because of the yard sale and Derby money. Bohdin emptied the drawer and added it to his money bag. I found out and he tried to give it back but it was too late. The money had been mixed. I had no idea how much he had so I took some and gave him back my best guess of what he had. It may have been more but more likely it was less. He cried and cried over this. He has been saving for a really long time for that Playmobil train and to go backward must be devastating. He said he did it because he wanted the train. It's something he has wanted for years and has been actively saving his money for six months. That is a long time for a little boy. Unfortunately his method of accelerating the timeline was wrong.

Leaving

Sunday all our company left. Nyla wasn't as sad to see R- go as I expected. It could be because she was packing to leave to Colorado. In
the past Paul has asked Bohdin if he wanted to go back to Colorado with him. Bohdin has always declined. He likes to stay close. This year Paul asked Nyla and she said yes. She packed up a suitcase and truly thought she was going to fly out to Colorado with Paul. When it was time for him to leave without Nyla she was devastated. She was sad and mad. There was no way to talk her out of it. Buddy took Paul, Jenn, and Dave to the airport while I dealt with Nyla. I convinced her that we would follow them to the airport so we piled into the minivan quickly. Once in the minivan I explained again that she couldn't get on the flight but we could drive to Colorado instead. She agreed. After driving a few minutes I asked her if she had packed everything she needed. I mentioned that we had left in such a rush that I hadn't packed anything for myself or Cora. I suggested that it might be better to go home and do a good job packing. She agreed. Bohdin still wanted to swing by the airport and I agreed. I was hoping that Nyla would fall asleep. Through a stroke of luck we actually met up with Buddy as he was dropping everybody up. Nyla did fall asleep on the way home. She was still mad later and I tried to explain that Paul was joking with her when he asked her to come to Colorado. Nyla said it was not a joke because it wasn't funny. Nyla has long ago forgiven Paul but he still feels terrible.




We went to playgroup yesterday and it was the first time that a lot of people attended in quite some time. Bohdin and Nyla didn't play with any of the other kids much. We did invite a six year old boy out who was looking for a playmate. He arrived after we had been there for 1.5 hours. Bohdin was tired and hot. This other boy ran over and joined the big group of kids at play. His mom brought him over to meet Bohdin and they played for a few minutes. We may try meeting him again another time. I also had a lead on a different six year old that was looking for a playmate. His mom pulled him out of the Waldorf school because he was getting bullied. The description I was given made him sound just like Bohdin. His mom may contact me.



I was reading to Bohdin in the kitchen this morning while Nyla was playing with Cora. Bohdin took a break from the book to watch Cora stand on her own. Both he and Nyla were amazed that she could stand without holding on. She has improved quite a lot recently. She can stand unassisted for probably a minute. Bohdin noticed that she didn't fall down but sat down when she was done. I resumed reading to Bohdin but paused when I heard Nyla cheering again. Nyla was cheering Cora who had climbed up the stairs. I'm not sure how much help she had from Nyla. Nyla was sad when I burst her excited bubble by telling her not to do that again.

Kentucky Derby

After Cora's nap, Buddy dropped off Drucilla, Tyler, R-, the kids and I at the Kentucky Derby. We met up with Paul who led us to the spot he had reserved that morning in the infield. They left super early to be the second people in the gates. It was really nice having so much room to spread out and the rope they hung up kept other people out. Everybody did a good job keeping the kids safe during the Derby. We arrived in time for race 8. I had the kids place bets on most of the races. I didn't make it to the betting window in time for that race which is unfortunate because Nyla's horse won. She could have had $13. I didn't study the horses because I've found that does not increase my chances of winning. I picked as randomly as the kids. Nyla wanted the pink horse except in the Kentucky Derby. She chose the blue horse for that one. That was actually an interesting pick since Calvin Borel was riding that one.

Last weekend Buddy was in Lowes and overheard somebody talking about their horses in the Derby. This lady said she had one horse in the Oaks and two in the Derby. I looked up owners a few days later and found there was only one group who had one horse in both the Derby and Oaks. They're like a management group so this lady was wrong. The name of the horse was Animal Kingdom. I liked it immediately. Yesterday when I needed to come up with a bet quickly I went with that horse. I picked well because he was the winner. I was really excited at the end of the race but it seemed there was confusion if the number 6 horse was the winner or the number 16. Paul also bet on Animal Kingdom so we were both happy with the official results.

Bohdin was disappointed that he hadn't won anything so we stayed for the last race. I made a place bet on his horse to increase the odds but I was going to tell him he won regardless of the actual winner of the race. We went to the grandstands for the last race. Tyler liked it better and I might have also but we arrived during the race. I was still trying to get the kids in position as the race was finishing. Bohdin's horse won so we cashed out. If I had placed a win bet he would have had $10 but he walked out with $3.50 instead. He thinks he bet the two dimes he brought with him. This was the highlight of the day for Bohdin. He said the thing he liked the least was seeing the trash. There was trash everywhere.









Meeting up with Buddy was harder than expected. I didn't have phone service until later that evening. Buddy was trapped by all of the road closures. We ended up walking almost a mile and a half from the original meetup spot. Bohdin was tired of walking and cried a bit once he was in his carseat and the ordeal was over. Bohdin and Nyla both said they were glad they went.

On the drive home I told Nyla that R- would be going home the following day. She just couldn't understand why. Nyla doesn't want her to leave because R- is "her best kid".

Tourist

Our new chicks.

Drucilla flew in with her daughter Tuesday afternoon. Nyla was beyond excited to have a little girl here to play with. I haven't taken any pictures of the two of them together but they are really cute. R- seems to be having a good time playing with Bohdin and Nyla. We didn't do anything exciting Wednesday so Thursday we went downtown. Louisville is known for the hot brown sandwich which was invented in the Brown Hotel. Lots of places around here copy it but we went for the original. Unfortuanately they had already instituted the Derby gouging menu and they wouldn't give me a locals price even though I asked. I won't be back because I don't want to support a place that raises their prices for Derby visitors. The sandwich was pretty tasty. Bohdin loved it. Nyla hardly touched it. We stopped at the Children's museum for a short time and then had to go to Bohdin's soccer practice.






Tyler arrived early Friday morning. Paul, Jenn, and some of his friends arrived late Friday morning but headed right back out to the Oaks. Drucilla and Tyler didn't go and we all headed to the Louisville Slugger museum. It was quite interesting. Bohdin was fascinated by the factory tour and made his way to the front at every stop.

Tooth #3

I was playing with Cora a few minutes ago and noticed her third tooth has erupted.  She's getting her teeth out of order so this is the top left incisor.  Cora has odd gums on top and I can see the bulge of her top two front teeth but they are not out yet.  I also feel a downward protruding bump on the right side but it is still covered.  Because of her strange gums her tooth hasn't passed below the gum line yet.  It's like her tooth is moving out before moving down.

We were supposed to have Buddy's grandmother and uncle for a visit last week but with almost everybody sick they understandably canceled.  Buddy was the lone holdout and he spent the weekend working on the basement bathroom.   It was down to the studs but it's coming back together now.  The floor remained and the tile on the shower floor remained but everything else will be new.  Actually one wall remained.  I have to finish peeling off the wallpaper so I can paint.  Now Buddy is sick but I think he will try to finish it anyway. 

In between shopping for stuff for the bathroom I've been trying to clean up a little bit so it's not horrendously dirty when guests arrive.  I don't think this house can ever be completely clean without help.  By help I don't mean Bohdin and Nyla.  They did help a little bit last night but they took frequent rest breaks and play breaks.  Nyla came up from the basement at one point and marveled in the cleaner living room.  "It's so clean I want to play!", Nyla said. 

At dinner last night Nyla threw something at Buddy.  He told her not to do that and she managed to turn the situation around and chastise him for throwing something he did not.  I wish I had written it down.  Nyla may be a politician or lawyer in training.