Spring Blooms

Our neighborhood is full of flowering pear trees--no pears, just flowers. Every spring we enjoy the new type of "snow" that falls on our lawns, the petals of these flowers. I caught this picture last Tuesday, before our rainy weekend. Now the show is over and green is beginning to dominate the landscape.

Strolling Along

Caught this picture of Sinatra strolling along with his hands in his pockets this morning.

Our Easter

Gem, Shakespeare and Popcorn were part of an Easter presentation at church.

The sweet little girl next to Popcorn was so adorable--reminds me of the Candyland game.

This fuzzy shot is the only picutre of them all on Easter Sunday. Thankfully, they're still clean. Thank you, Nana, for all the Easter duds. They loved getting all dressed up.

Here is one taken later. You can see that Sinatra was enjoying a frosted cookie.

Deck Day

On Saturday two friends showed up bright and early to help install the new deck boards. Thank you, Jim and Rex!

Once they figured out the system, the deck progressed quickly. Now we just have to replace the stairs and install the railing.

Luna Liberation

Extrordinary Everyday Event

Today is the first day of spring. While all the blossoming and chirping is happening outside, something also happened inside. Our long-time visitor decided to make some noise and then emerge from his cocoon.

So welcome spring and Kermit, our luna moth.



Please excuse all the crying (Sinatra wanting attention) and commenting. We were all excited. Gem even pronounced him a boy. (You can actually tell by the thickness of the feathery antennae). The footage is so quick that you are hardly able to see the thing, but you might notice that he doesn't look much like a moth. When they emerge
their wings are folded up. Within an hour they are fully open and dry.

If you're looking for a pet, I highly recommend a luna moth at the point of hibernation: only high maintenance for a few weeks then they spin a cocoon and sleep for six months. When they emerge they do not have a mouth or a stomach. They live for a week (in which they must mate) and then die. They're also the largest moth in North America, have swallow tail shaped wings, and are a lovely shade of pale green.

More pictures to come when we set him free.

Ryaninjun Bread

This morning Gem did a presentation in class about food and etiquette during the late 1700's. She dressed up in her colonial outfit and pretended to invite everyone into her kitchen (the church where we meet has one). She explained different dishes that she was "making" and then talked about the bread that was commonly found in colonial stoves--ryaninjun bread.

We actually made the bread the night before, so Gem pulled it from the oven. Then she talked about tea etiquette and we served tea.

If you'd like to have an adventure, try making Ryaninjun Bread.

Three cups of conrn meal
One of rye flour
Three cups of sweet milk
One cup of sour
One cup of molasses
To render it sweet
Two teaspoons of soda
To make it complete

Mix dry ingredients then add liquid. Mix well but don't beat. Bake in a 9x13 pan at 200 degrees for 12 hours. Put a pan of water in the oven with the bread to retain moisture, or bake it along with baked beans (the traditional colonial way).

One recipe we found said that the bread was actually done within 4 hours, but that old timers swore that the longer you left it the better. After putting the bread in the oven at 9pm I awoke at 1:30 (no alarm) and yanked it out of the oven. Don't do what I did. The entire thing fell and was underdone. The flavor was there, but not the texture. Live and learn and don't panic.

Happy Birthday, Mark!

This picutre is of my brother turning four and having just ripped open a much anticipated and talked-up gift that I had made for him. He was expecting something grand and got this instead. What can I say? I was eight. Sewing a tiny pillow with lace is an extremely thoughtful gift, don't you think?



I have a collage of pictures in my bedroom that make me smile. This is one of them.

Happy 28th birthday, Mark. Sorry that you have to share the day with St. Patrick. I hope you like your card better than you liked the pillow.

From My Hubby

Hanging it Up

There is a trend that all people who have ever gone to school experience: easy, hard, pulling-teeth hard, and exasperating. The home school is no exception. Our last month has been hard. This week has been pulling-teeth hard, and today (thankfully, it's Friday) was downright exasperating. After getting the bare bones done I released them out into the wonderful sunshine.

I remember when my public school teachers would occasionally give us an extra five minutes on the playground. I know what they were fighting--a beautiful day and 26 children who were more concerned about the clouds that were floating by rather than drilling multiplication tables.

One of the benefits of home schooling is that when the level reaches exasperating I can call it quits for the day (or until the afternoon). I wish that public school teachers could do something similar.

It's hard being the teacher and the principal though. To know when to push through and do the hard thing or when it is more beneficial for all just to quit is a hard call to make. It challenges my character, which yells like a drill sergeant, "Keep going! Keep going!" Sometimes, though, it's just time to hang it up.