April

April went fast.  I didn't realize it had been so long since I wrote a post.  The kids went swimming one more time before I found out that the pool doesn't officially open until May 1st.  The weather cooled so the kids haven't been too bummed.  I picked up Bohdin's glasses.  He was amazed at how much more he could see.  He doesn't wear them that often and I'm not sure why.  Maybe he is worried about hurting them.  I just asked and he says he hasn't gotten used to them yet.  He wore them more in the beginning than he does now. 

There was another playdate at our house with the same girls that showed up previously.  Nyla was beside herself with excitement.  The only thing she could do that day was wait outside impatiently.  The girls had fun and stayed for about 4 hours.  Nyla wanted her favorite friend to come back again soon so she and her sister came again on Friday.  I didn't tell Nyla they were coming so I could avoid the endless questions and excitement.  They put on a play about Raggedy Andy losing his pants.  

We've also been really busy in the yard planting trees, bushes, and flowers.  It's a big blank slate of a yard and we spent hours planting and moving rocks.  We have just a few vegetables this year.  The deer are really in our yard and I'm not putting forth a lot of effort into planting deer food. 

The night that we watched Raggedy Andy Bohdin became sick.  He had a runny nose, fever, and headache.  He was feeling better by Sunday.  Sunday night I became sick.   I had a fever for over 36 hours and felt terrible.  I've never had a cold wipe me out that way.  I was completely exhausted for days.  If I stood up I developed a headache.  Bohdin did a lot of work.  He made meals, made me tea, and cleaned the house.  He was glad when I felt better because he didn't like doing so much work.  The kids had a week off school and we had a Doctor Who marathon.  Nyla likes Doctor Who and it's grown on me too.  I think I like it better than she does at this point.  There have been some scary episodes recently and she didn't like that. 

While I was sick the kids watched Dinosaur Train.  One of the dinosaurs lost her doll and was worried about it.  Nyla was super sad and almost in tears.  I've never seen her so sad at a show before.  When we watched Frozen Bohdin was crying toward the end but Nyla was fine.  We watched a music video once with a child that forgot a stuffed bunny at a playground.  The bunny works hard to reunite with the child.  Nyla found that to be overwhelmingly sad as well.  She can't imagine anything sadder than losing a stuffed animal or doll. 

Buddy got slightly sick and so did Cora.  Nyla escaped the virus.  Bohdin is still coughing and blowing his nose more than a week later. 

First Swim

The kids have been asking to go to the pool for weeks.  I told them it was too cold but today I told them they could dip their feet in.  They heard get all the way in so they put on their swimsuits.  It was a hot walk over to the pool.  The temperature was in the mid 80s.  Before getting in the pool we had a late lunch but the kids were so impatient they only took a few bites before wanting to get in the pool.  The water was cold since it's an unheated pool.  That didn't stop them.  Bohdin tried getting in slowly but I told him to just get it over with.  He did and thanked me for the advice.  He was glad to be back in the pool and swam back and forth for a while.  Nyla was getting in much slower but finally took the big plunge.  Cora wasn't allowed to get in the pool since I wasn't getting in the pool.  Bohdin continued swimming laps while Nyla tried swimming along the edge of the pool.  Both kids have regressed with their swimming.  Bohdin moved on to playing around a bit more in the water since Nyla was playing on the submerged bench.  Cora alternated sitting on the edge with me and walking around the pool.  She would have liked to get in further and maybe next time I'll bring her bathing suit so she can go to the second step.  The shallowest portion of the pool is 3.5 feet so she can't do much more than that. 

 The kids didn't pack towels so they warmed up on the loungers.  As soon as they stole the heat from one they moved on to the next.  We stuck around for a while so the kids could finish eating.  By the time they were done with that they wanted to get back in the pool again.  I gave them an additional 10 minutes.  Nyla was shivering on the walk home.  Cora complained bitterly about how hot it was.  I'm glad our neighborhood pool is open year round.  Some pools around here don't open until Memorial Day.  That seems excessively late to me for this climate.

Saturday was the grand finale of the Atlanta Science Festival.  I took just Bohdin to the event.  Nyla may have enjoyed it but Cora would have hated it.  Because of rain they had to hold the event inside.  It was loud and crowded.  Bohdin enjoyed it but we had to leave early because he couldn't take the loud noise anymore.  We did less than half of the booths.  By the time we left the lines to get into each individual booth were crazy long.  I don't know if we'll do it again next year. 

On Monday we went geocaching with a group of homeschoolers.  None of us had ever done it before but we did still manage to find the two boxes in the area.  It was a hot day and all of the kids were wilting by the time we were done.  We stopped at the store for juice to make popsicles.  It's popsicle season again.  

Cora refuses to get ready for bed until I get out of this chair so that's it for now. 

Staying Busy

There was a neighborhood get together for the ladies tonight and several people mentioned that they don't see the girls out as much anymore.  I think it's because we've been so busy with other things that we haven't been home.  This week is the Atlanta Science Festival.  On Monday we left the house before 10am and came home a bit after 7pm.  We attended two of the events and they were not worth the drive.  At one place we went to a place that builds robots for competitions.  It's sort of like a lab for area high school robotics teams.  The kids were still in school so there was just an adviser there.  Both Bohdin and Nyla were able to briefly control the robot.  Nyla wants to do a lego league team next fall.  I told her I would look into it. 

Once we moved here I noticed that Bohdin's vision isn't great.  He can't see the time on the microwave from the couch.  If I can see something that he can't then it's a problem.  I tested him several times over the weeks and his vision was always poor.  On Monday he went to the eye doctor and he got a prescription for glasses.   He doesn't like the way he looks in glasses so he is pretty bummed.  We'll pick them up next week.  He would have preferred contacts but the optometrist said his prescription is not that strong and he wouldn't need to wear them that often if he didn't want to. 

On Tuesday I took Bohdin to the math club at a local homeschool coop.  I didn't realize they had one for younger kids also.  Nyla was invited to join the K-2 group.  She was hesitant to go at first but I pushed her gently in the door.  She had the best time.  She enjoys a classroom environment with lots of kids.  It's only once per month but they have a weekly thing on Thursdays.  I will probably enroll her in that in the fall.  It's something she would really enjoy.  Bohdin had fun in his class but found the math too easy.   There are only two more sessions before summer break and we'll probably take advantage of them.

Yesterday I hosted a playgroup at my house for the girls playgroup.  There were only two families that showed up but they have two girls each and it was more than enough.  Nyla had time to bond with two of the girls she hadn't spent much time with previously.  They spent over an hour and an half playing inside before we walked over to the tadpoles.  Cora and a four year were way way ahead of the rest of the group.  I had only intended to go as far as the lake but we had to go further to find Cora.  She and the other little girl had gone far ahead to the swing and big rock.  The other mom was pretty worried and I would have been in Cora hadn't been at the swing.  She's familiar with the path and got a little carried away with the other girl.  The kids enjoyed the swing and the walk.  Cora didn't want to walk home which is usual for her.  She gets lazy on the return trip and wants to be carried.  It took me a long time to cajole her all the way home.  Bohdin and an 8 year old girl had gone far ahead and reached the house way before us.  Nyla and a 6 year old were bringing up the rear because they were having such a good time together.  The kids had a picnic outside and devoured plates of fruit and carrot sticks.  It was after 5 before they left. 

Today was Bohdin's turn for a group and the first meeting of the math club was very successful.  Three families arrived with a total of four children participating.  One boy watched and one little girl played with Nyla and Cora.  I was worried when one of the kids arrived because he looked young.  I was hoping everybody would be very familiar with factors since they would be playing a game with them.  The mom explained that he had been in fourth grade.  I thought he was just really short for his age but it turns out he was just radically accelerated.  I think he is almost 8.  As I was explaining the game I noticed that this kid,E-, was smart and I rearranged the groups so he and Bohdin would be together.  It was the right choice because they were more evenly matched.  This kid is somewhere between a little smarter to a lot smarter than Bohdin and he is exactly who I've been searching for.  I was super excited to meet him.  His mom and I are going to plan to get the boys together soon.  Bohdin should be a decent match for him as well.  They both enjoy academic pursuits.   

It was really difficult to run the learning exercise.  Even in the best of conditions I'm not good at that sort of thing but this was made complicated by the very wide range of abilities.  Bohdin and E- were able to finish much faster.  They knew factors better than the other kids.  I had a ton of material prepared so when they were done I was able to give them additional tasks.  The other kids took their stuff home.  The other two moms were very helpful in instructing their children so that was helpful.  We all went to the playground afterward and we talked about it a bit.  They were interested in coming back again.  We'll do it again in three weeks.  One of the moms joked that they'll need to prep their kids with the learning material before we meet and I actually thought that was a good idea.  So I need to get to work on picking the next topic.  I thought we might do prime factorization but that would be way above the majority of the kids. There might be something geometry based that would tie in with oval Easter eggs or we might just work on problem solving strategies.  I bought a book that goes over it very well. 

Cora cut her hair yesterday.  She cut her bangs and a huge chunk from the right side.  At first I thought it was Nyla but I was finally able to pin it on Cora.  I didn't think Cora could cut well enough since she's left handed so I was having Cora demonstrate that she wasn't able but her demonstration proved that it was definitely her.  First I had her cut paper which she did quite effectively.  Then I had her show me what it would look like if she used the scissors to cut her hair.  She held them up to her head in the exact spot that was missing hair.  I cut some of the length off but I can't even it out without giving her a pixie cut.  It's going to take years to grow back out. 

One of Nyla's Christmas presents was late so Amazon gave us a $20 gift certificate.  She finally spent it by buying Frozen.  The kids have watched it at least 4 times.  Cora hadn't seen it in the theater but she was familiar with it because she watched the songs on Youtube over and over again.  When the Let It Go scene came on during her first viewing she got mad and said she wanted to watch the movie not that song.  It did feel a little weird seeing it in the movie after seeing it separate so many times. 

Lots of Friends

Last Tuesday we went to a playgroup put together for girls Nyla's age.  Nyla didn't really interact with any of the girls because she was feeling shy.  She spent her time playing with Cora.  Bohdin was followed around for a while by several of the girls but he finally escaped them.  I knew it might take some time to get acquainted. 

On Thursday we saw one of the same families again.  Nyla played with the nine year old girl and a six year old girl for quite some time.  When she said goodbye the nine year old turned to her and asked if she was homeschooled.  I said yes and pointed out that they had met each other two days ago.  They both squealed in delight that they would be seeing more of each other.  Once we came home the neighbor kids came by and played here until I sent them home at 8.  They must not have a curfew.  The school bus comes early for them so I was surprised that they didn't have to get ready for bed. 

On Friday we went to another playgroup.  The nine year old was there again along with a new six year old girl.  Bohdin was so bored.  He didn't want to explore the creek anymore because he had already been scratched.  There were lots of kids there but he didn't want to play with any of them.  Nyla was having such a good time that I told Bohdin I couldn't stop it just because he was ready to go home.  He agreed with me and went to the car and listened an audio book for at least an hour. 

Monday we went to the writer's workshop.  I think Bohdin has a better time than Nyla.  One of Nyla's friends was there but they didn't get a chance to talk.  A lot of kids attend and the room is probably too small.  Bohdin shared a piece about lithium he wrote and Nyla shared a piece about giraffes along with a giraffe picture.  In addition to sharing writing there is also a fun writing exercise each time.  This time the kids had to write two truths and one lie.  Nyla's lie was that she could turn into a fairy.  Her truths were that she loves deer and dark curtains.  Bohdin decided to do a logic puzzle with his that nobody could figure out.  It was a variation of #3 is a lie, #2 is true. 

Yesterday we went to a grocery store to tour the bakery.  It was set up by the same mom that started the girl playgroup so Nyla knew some of the kids that attended.  Bohdin enjoys tours and he is always the one as close to the speaker as possible.  He was the only kid to ask questions.  All of the kids decorated a cupcake which was sort of fun.  Cora was tired and a little short so I had to hold her the whole time.  We'll all get together next week here at my house.  I hope it's not rainy so they can go outside. 

While Nyla has found friends easily and Cora has a lead on a few, Bohdin has had no success.  There are probably a few kids who attend writer's workshop that have potential but there isn't a ton of time to socialize.  Playgroups haven't worked out either.  So next week I'm hosting the first meeting of a math club.  I don't have a great desire to run one but I think it may be good for Bohdin.  It would give him a chance to meet like minded kids in a smaller setting.  I also think he would enjoy math competitions so if this works out I will be a team leader for a competitive math team next year.  Georgia is one of the few states that don't allow homeschoolers to do anything with public school kids so joining an after school team at the local elementary school is not allowed.  It's actually too bad since this county has a very strong Science Olympiad program that I think Bohdin would enjoy.    Running a Science Olympiad team would be way more difficult than a Math Olympiad team so math it is for now at least. 

Museums

Buddy had to go out of town last week so since we were already in Atlanta to take him to the airport we went to the Fernbank Natural History Museum.  We arrived just before it opened so we were among the first there.  We had the first area to ourselves for a few minutes.  By the time we left there were a couple of preschool groups there.  The museum was too big to do it all in one visit so we'll go back sometime.  I'll have to take the camera next time.

It was really rainy last week so we couldn't see the frog eggs.  We need to cross an area that would have been muddy before getting on the trail to the frog eggs.  Instead we walked to the see how some of the new construction was coming along.  The kids had fun playing on a gravel pile.  We passed by again a few days later and it was gone. 

Bohdin has been reading the Harry Potter books rather quickly.  He stalled on the last one because I bought him a book he loves.  He read that book twice this weekend and hasn't glanced at Harry Potter at all.  I don't know when he'll get back into the last one.  

Nyla has been listening to more audiobooks lately.  She has finally started liking them more.  In the past few weeks she has listened to Gooney Bird Greene, Because of Winn Dixie, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and a fairy book.  She had heard Charlie and Chocolate Factory in January but wanted to listen to it again.  As she was listening she drew a picture of Violet.  

Cora likes to draw and color but only with markers.  She always breaks crayons from pressing too hard.  It's a good thing I stocked up on markers last fall although I don't think our stash will last until the sales start again.  I only have three packages left and two of them don't contain orange and brown which are Cora's most used.  Since they are the most used they are also the ones that need to be replaced the most often.  She's pretty good about putting the lid back on but it's not every single time.  She also likes to use the dry erase markers on our big board.  The above picture is Nyla sitting on a mountain.  Cora and Bohdin are the two next to it.  The tall figures are Buddy and I holding hands.  

 

This is Nyla's art but I don't remember the story behind it.  The brown thing is a mountain with a face on it.  

We didn't get a chance to check on the frog eggs until Saturday.   They're growing.  We continued walking to the swing and then went on hoping to find a nice loop around the lake.  We ended up following a path that dumped up onto a dirt road well past the neighborhood.  Bohdin complained about the long walk which Buddy estimated at 3 miles.  I carried Cora for a good chunk of it so she didn't have anything to complain about.  Part of Bohdin's problem was the large rock he carried for most of it.  He collects so much on walks.  He is always finding an interesting stick or rock or something. 

On the long walk back home.  It's sad that all of this nature will disappear eventually so more houses can be built. 

On Sunday I took the kids to Allattona Pass.  We didn't walk as far as the day before.  We had a picnic lunch next to Lake Allattona then went to the Tellus Science Museum.  It's wasn't a large museum but it was nice.  We saw a planetarium show and since we were the only ones at the show the guy showed us some extra stuff.  That was more interesting than the molecule program we bought tickets for.  Bohdin enjoyed the gem and rock room quite a bit but the girls didn't.  They all liked the play room and didn't like the transportation area.  The biggest hit may have been the area where they could pan for gems and keep what they found.  I suggested they use it as Playmobil treasure but Bohdin thought it was even too small for that.  He's probably right. 

We dropped Buddy off at the airport again yesterday and tried to go to the Fernbank Science Center but I didn't realize the opening time was noon.  We'll have to try another time. 

Friends

The three kids down the street came over Friday right after the school bus came home which is around 3.  They did played a bit and then did art.  It was before five and they were cleaning up so I could send them home when their grandma knocked on the door.  She asked if I could watch the kids while they ran to Radio Shack and picked up some food really quick.  My kids were getting hungry and dinner was almost ready but Radio Shack is only 10 minutes away so I agreed.  We waited and waited and waited.  At 6:30 we went outside and the eldest girl told me that they were probably eating at some restaurant and that they did this sort of thing all of the time.  I was not happy.  I don't know if she was telling the truth but I'll never forget what she said.  She noticed I was getting very antsy and called her grandma.  The grandma was stuck in traffic and would be here in 15 minutes.  It was longer than 15 minutes.  I'll never watch her kids again.

They wanted to come over on Saturday but I sent them away.  They came several times this morning and on the third attempt Nyla and Cora went out to play with them.  Once again they were here for over four hours.  They are pretty good kids but even Nyla was getting tired of company.  After they had been over for 2.5 hours I received a text from another neighbor asking if we wanted to join them on a walk.  Nyla said she didn't want to so I invited her to bring her three kids to play in our yard with everybody else.  I figured at that point I may as well invite another neighbor and her two girls.  So at one point there were 11 kids in the yard.  When Nyla saw another neighbor walking down the street with her adult children and grandchildren she turned to me and asked me how many I had invited.  I hadn't invited them but they did stop to chat.  It was almost funny when another neighbor girl knocked on the door after 6.  She had just come home from her trip to Pennsylvania.  We sent her away.  I don't know how our house became the neighborhood hangout.  In a way it's good because Cora is the youngest and it's easy for her to be part of the group in her own house but at the same time that's a lot of kids. 

I was organizing some of the homeschool stuff this week and came across some of Bohdin's work from 2010 when he was almost six.  I had asked him to name ways to make the number 5.  He listed several including 1+1+1+1+1 and 25-20.  I asked him the question again and he told me he wouldn't answer that because there were infinite ways.  He said by the time he was 98 he would only have named a small fraction. 

Buddy planted a flowering dogwood in the front yard this weekend.  It's Nyla's favorite tree.  It won't get big enough to climb before we leave but hopefully she'll enjoy the pink blooms.  The trees around here are mostly tall and skinny so there aren't really any climbing tree here.  She has adopted a small tree in the backyard but it's too little for climbing. 

Spring

Those spring peepers were right about spring.  One morning Nyla mentioned that she saw some deer standing on its hind legs eating leaves in the backyard.  I looked out there and sure enough a few trees had leaves.  It seemed to happen overnight.  There are a few trees blooming and I saw a few daffodils yesterday.  It seems too soon for spring. 

We've been working on cleaning up the backyard a bit.  There are lots of vines and dead wood.  Some of the vines are strong enough to swing on. 

Our neighborhood is still young and years from being built out.  Last week we saw dump truck after dump truck driving by the house full of soil.  Nyla, Cora, and I went out to explore where the soil was coming from.  We ran into the loader driver who told us that they took 100 loads to the other side of the neighborhood and that the area we were entering would be the future site of 62 more homes.  Right now it is just forest with some paths in it.  On Sunday we all went to explore and found several frog eggs, the far side of the lake, and a fun swing.  On Monday I took the kids again so we can track the progress of the frog eggs.  On our way out their we passed the neighbor kids' house and all three ended up joining us as well.  Nyla finally spent some time with the youngest who is six.  Prior to this she had spent most of her time with the eldest who would come over frequently.  She really hit it off with the youngest and they made plans to play again the next day.  Unfortunately it rained yesterday and we were off running errands so we didn't see them yesterday.  It's raining again today and it is quite a bit colder so I don't know if we'll see them today. 

Bohdin has been sucked into watching youtube videos of somebody playing Minecraft.  I don't allow him to play the game but I do grudgingly allow him to watch a couple of the videos per day.  Being on the computer too long puts him in a bad mood.  He becomes grumpy and he just wants to keep watching beyond the allowed time.  We had another disagreement about it Saturday night so Sunday morning he told me that in the future it would be better if I just said a simple yes or no to his request.  He thought that would solve all of the drama surrounding why he couldn't play or watch something.  I agreed.  It seemed like something he had given a lot of thought to.  About an hour later he asked me if he could play on the computer.  Remembering our new agreement I simply said no.  He followed that up with asking why he couldn't and when he would be able to.  The plan was nice while it lasted.

Cora has begun doing a growly hiss at us when she doesn't like something.  If we tell her something she doesn't like she'll turn to us, give us a mean look, and hiss.  She also likes to pretend she's a bear or a dog.  She hates being called princess even when she is wearing a princess costume. 

Strawberry season is here and Cora is devouring them.  I bought a pound on Saturday and she ate them up immediately.  I bought another pound on Sunday and they were gone just as quickly.  Yesterday I went to Costco and bought four pounds.  We are down to our last pound already and it is mostly because of Cora.  She gets pretty territorial about them and we are hardly allowed to look at "her" strawberries.  Explaining that I bought all of those strawberries for everybody to enjoy has had no effect.  At least she hasn't hissed at us when we dare eat one.