MaeLyn's Musings

 Yesterday I finished crocheting this penguin. He turned out pretty cute, and a couple of the kids have been arguing over who has him. Yesterday my first Spring flower bloomed. I'm looking forward to having more bright daffodils and tulips around the yard. On Monday, as part of FHE, the family went to Lowe's and picked out some seeds and stuff for our garden. We've got a month or two before we can plant things outside, but we can start some seeds inside now and transplant them when it is warmer outside. I enjoy having growing things around. The kids have been keeping busy this week with various activities. LEGOs are always a hit, and we've got several cars, houses, and other creations floating around the house along with a ton of loose LEGOs that aren't attached to anything right now. When they aren't playing with LEGOs, the computer seems to be another favorite. All the kids have enjoyed playing "Escape from Monkey Island" at least once this w...

What could you make with pom poms, pipe cleaners, foam sheets, googly eyes, glue, scissors, and a little creativity? Yesterday, the kids and I found out! John and Joshua, hard at work. Joshua made elemental creatures. blue: water, red: fire, brown: earth, white: air John's frog and lion Hannah's pygmy puffs Peter's skinny man My caterpillar and bear

I've had a headache for the last three days. Sometimes I can push it to the back of my mind and focus on other things. Other times it seems to take over my brain and I just want to detach my head and stick it in a closet for a couple hours so I don't have to feel it. This is the menu that Peter made. Thankfully, this is Spring Break. Steven let me sleep in this morning since we didn't have to get the kids up and off to school. I ended up sleeping until about 9:30. When I did finally get up and wandered out of my room, my children met me in the dining room. Josh had a towel over his arm and a notepad in his hand as he led me to my seat at the table where he pulled out my chair for me. I sat, and was presented with a menu. I made my selections, and very shortly, Hannah was cooking me pancakes - to order, Peter was filling up a glass with water for me, and John was slicing my orange. I ate my wonderful breakfast - even having Peter refill my water glass a couple times. ...

Yesterday was our first day of Spring Break. Steven is working, so we aren't going anywhere, but so far we are enjoying a relaxed schedule with nowhere to go. I said Steven is working. Like I mentioned in my last status update blog , Steven has been working a contract job, standing in for a lady who is on maternity leave. Unfortunately, he isn't particularly enjoying it. For one thing, even though he has been there for over a month, and is supposed to continue for two more months, no one has taken any time to get to know him or even treat him as a real person. He only exists when they have something for him to do, he isn't invited to any office parties, doesn't have access to the company gym, or even access to the company intranet. They have incredibly complex and inefficient processes, and haven't appreciated any of Steven's efforts to improve their efficiency. (Yes, we have over 58,000 formulas on that one page of a 50 page spread sheet, and yes, it does tak...

Today is day three of normal life after Spring Break. Kind of. I'm not sure it's really normal when most of it has been catching up on things that I put off last week because the kids were home. Monday was mostly spent cleaning the house and putting it back in order from the weekend. I also cleaned out the boys room again. I filled an entire kitchen sized trash bag with trash and papers that were scattered all over their floor. They are down to pretty much beds and clothes in their room now, but somehow they still find ways to trash it. Go figure. Yesterday I made granola and yogurt (we finished off what the kids made last week, and they've been begging me to make more). I figured out our meal plan for April, made a shopping list and went grocery shopping at Sam's Club. I went Visiting Teaching. I washed, dried and sorted two loads of  laundry. I walked to pick up the kids from school. Somehow during all this I injured my knee so now it hurts to bend if I put any weig...

Last week was the kids' Spring Break. Five days, four kids, one mom, one snow storm. Monday was sunny and warm. We started by straightening up the house from the weekend, then we went to the library for books to read during the week, and then played for an hour or so at the park. Hannah made Rice Krispie treats for FHE and cut out the pattern pieces for a dress. (She loves to sew, and I thought it would be interesting to teach her how to make clothes from a real pattern and cloth rather from just her imagination and newspaper bags.) We (Hannah, John and I) started writing stories and I had Hannah and John practice their times tables while Josh and Peter watched a "All I need to know in 1st grade" DVD that Josh's teacher had sent home for him to watch. All in all it was a fun, busy, and exhausting day. Tuesday began crisp and cold. I got the laundry started for the day, and then we began a science experiment: making homemade yogurt. Once that was incubating (sittin...