sat, 5/29...day 149

This is one of my best friends from childhood, Lea, whom I hadn't seen for 30 years. We met up at our mutual friend Michael's house for a backyard marshmallow roast. I hadn't seen Michael for even longer, so it was quite the reunion night!

Niall and Cory enjoyed roasting marshmallows (especially delicious chemical-free versions) while Lea and I caught snippets of catching-up chat around kid-attention needs. Next time we're going to do an adults-only version and really reminisce . I can't wait.

fri, 5/28...day 148

The boys' lunchboxes, packed and ready for the school day.

thu, 5/27...day 147

My silly 9YO put his backpack on top of the little kids' climber today at Extended Day. Here he is, climbing up to get it back down.

No, it's not all that safe. But at least there are deep wood chips on all sides (some small consolation!).

wed, 5/26...day 146

Niall read in one of his books about a way to construct a list of all the prime numbers between 0 and 500-something that someone came up with in the 1500's (I think). So he's spent several days now working on doing it himself.

It involves counting by primes and crossing out the multiples, and maybe some other things (I didn't really get an explanation).

He's going to share it with his class and explain the method to them. He thinks it's pretty darn cool. :P

tue, 5/25...day 145

One of our favorite weekday meals: tacos!

Or for Tynor and me, taco salad.

Yum!

mon, 5/24...day 144

The boys in their Extended Day habitats:

* Niall in the library with Nancy.

Today they were designing a book review form together. Niall was eager to provide a review of the new Rick Riordan book (of "Percy and the Olympians" fame), which he had read over the weekend.

* Cory playing by the tire swing with his Extended Day pals - Theo, Charlie, and Owen.

sun, 5/23...day 143

We finally built the frames for our raised beds today! Having *finally* decided on a plan, I ran all over town tracking down lumber, had it cut to the right lengths, and hauled it home. Then Tynor and I worked on getting it nailed together. Voila! Garden beds. :D

Next up: How to haul enough dirt and compost here to fill them.

Rolly came over with his mom and sister and enjoyed helping us carrying the boards to the backyard and move planks into position. He clearly wanted to help hammer them together too, but with 3-inch nails and tricky positions holding the board ends together, it wasn't to be this time.

Rolly had lots of fun with his cousins when he wasn't helping us with our construction project (or checking "just one more time" to see if the hens had laid any more eggs :P).

Niall brought some gak outside, and he and Rolly enjoyed rolling it in their hands and (in Niall's case) pretending to stick it in people's hair. Har har har, Niall. :D

sat, 5/22...day 142

As much as the yard here causes me grief (looks unkempt, is overgrown by blackberries and ivy, moles crop up all over the yard, etc. etc.), one thing I love is the many rhododendrons. We have rhodies in pink, purple, deep red, light lilac - so lovely.

And they've endured being pummeled by falling branches, lack of attention in the way of watering, feeding or pruning, and general hard times.

They're survivors, and they're just gorgeous.