Nothing like a water balloon fight to cool down a hot summer day!

We love summertime!

We went to the zoo today and I took this picture outside the zoo as we were walking to the car.  They are at such wonderful ages.  It was a real pleasure today enjoying the zoo animals together!

While I did this…..

Ross did that……

I finally put down tile on the floor by the basement and back door.  Ross had other home improvements in mind.  As I was working, he asked me if he could have a peephole in his door so he could look out.  I told him to ask his dad.  A short time later I heard a scratching noise.  When I looked in his room he had a toy screwdriver and was scraping around the marker line on his door.  He had drawn a large rectangle on his door and was trying to break through.  I explained to him that this wasn’t a peephole and that considering how large he was trying to make it, he could surely see out but we could also see in very well. See the blue above it?  A piece of construction paper so he could cover the hole and you couldn’t see in.  Least he’s got a plan.

She might have “red eye” in the picture but here at home the words of the day are “pink eye”.  Yep, both Francesca and I have conjuctivitis, or good old, commonly called, “pink eye”.  Ross had brought a note home from school saying someone in his class had it.  Can someone explain how we ended up with it and Ross is just fine?  I’m glad he is fine, I’m just saying - how did WE end up with it?  Any how, it’s eye drops eye drops eye drops, 4x a day for 7 days for us.  Every time I pull the eye drops out Francesca says “Don’t buy that anymore, okay?”.  She hates eye drops. She pretty much makes this face when she knows they’re coming.  Today is day 2 1/2 so we have a way to go.  Mommy is so sorry Francesca.

Ok, not really.  But, since I was not posting on here at the time I know that when I look back later I am going to miss some of the photos I didn’t include.  So here is a little reminder, to me, of Christmas ‘09.  Ross turned 6 and Francesca turned 3 this past December.

They really enjoyed their trip to visit Santa.

They made Gingerbread houses.

We had pouts.

We had smiles.

We had a fabulous Christmas! There is nothing like Christmas with little ones to bring out the wonder.

While I was on my self-imposed, not-on-purpose blogging break, lots of stuff happened.  One very important thing was that Ross had his karate test and earned two stripes on his belt.  It was his very first test and it was very official.  He didn’t know how he did until he went to his karate class the week following the test.  His Sensei had a little ceremony for the kids who tested and then congratulated Ross on earning two stripes. He then very officially added his stripes (just like orange duct tape - ha!) to his belt.

Here he is with his Sensei looking all proud.  Congratulations Ross - way to go!

I went to the Farmer’s Market on Saturday.  It was a bit chilly and the Market is nearing the end of the season.  I went specifically to get our knives sharpened.  They have an older man that comes to the parking lot and sets up his knife sharpener contraption.  He sits on this thing and pumps the pedals and the wheel turns allowing him to sharpen the blades.  I wish I had gotten a photo of him, but I didn’t want to be rude.  He was really busy, you just drop off your knives (or garden tools, scissors, etc)  and he takes them in the order in which they are dropped off.  It took about an hour and an half, during the wait Francesca and I shopped the market.

They had the typical locally grown produce, some beautiful flowers, pumpkins and gourds, baked goods and handmade soaps.  They even had gourmet doggy treats and some seasonal doggy scarves.  We had fun looking and buying.  We bought some butter cookies to munch on while we walked, some mini pumpkins and gourds and a Scooby Do neckerchief for Moose for Halloween.

On the way home, I was driving along and was stopped in my tracks by the Halloween decor on this house.

This is a HUGE display and the biggest spider I have ever seen.  Here is a close up of the carnage.

A little too gory for our house with little ones and all but I applaud their creativity!  I hope to capture some other neat Halloween displays around here - I’ve seen so many - now I just need to get my camera and go for a neighborhood walk.

With apologies to Bill Martin Jr.  and Eric Carle. (Photo from Barnes and Noble)

Brown Bear, Brown Bear…

What Do You See?

I See Francesca Looking At Me!

Sorry for the bad photo, that’s actually a reflection of Francesca in the window.  The bear walked right up to the window to get a better view.  Not sure who was looking at who.

I am in a state of flux.  It’s been a while since I posted.  I’ve been doing nothing and I’ve been doing everything.  School starts soon for Ross.  I can’t believe he will be in Kindergarten.  School may or may not start soon for me too.

I still look for jobs.  I look all the time for jobs and there really is not much out there.  And what is out there isn’t great - and for all that “not great”ness, there are hundreds of people hoping to get an interview.

I’ve thought alot about going back to school in the last year and a half.  Switching careers entirely.  I’ve always wanted to teach.  With the kids being young and in 3 years Francesca will enter school too, timing might be good.  By then I could be done with my Graduate degree and have my teaching certificate.  And I can be home in the summer with them, as well as Spring and Christmas break and other holidays.  I’ve really enjoyed being home with them and it seems to be the blending of both worlds, the work and home worlds.

I might have found a program that would allow me to do that and still manage my home life and family obligations.  I just need to decide quickly.  Classes start in less than 2 weeks.  Fortunately I do not need to take the GRE as my grade point average was well above the 3.0 designation.  3.94 in fact.  Thank you.  Thank you very much.  I would need to take the basic skills test and order official transcripts from my two schools/degrees.  And fill out the application and psych myself up for school - as in NOW.

I have some questions about this program and need to get adequate answers before I pursue this option.  I’m actually very excited about the possibility of going back to school.  I could be teaching in 2 years and only 4 classes shy of my master’s Degree.  It’s a very disciplined program similar to the Elmhurst Management Program I took in the late 90’s.  There is no break taking or lessening of schedules for 2 years.  It would be too hard to catch up and recover.  It’s funny how such a chain reaction comes about from job loss or other events not orchestrated by ourselves.  I likely would never have quit my job to make a career change.    

If this program does not work out for me, I am left to look at programs beginning next fall based on application deadlines.  Not the end of the world but a while for a dream deferred.  Although I can use that time to take any additional undergrad classes / gen. eds. I may need for my teaching certificate.  In the meantime I have an application for Substitute teaching.  We used to laugh and say “Change is Good” at work when there was yet another policy or procedural change or shift in focus, which seemed to happen all the time.  We were being facetious, of course.  This time, I really mean it.  Change is good.

Patio Garden.  And I use the “patio” word lightly.  It’s not so much of a patio nor is it really a Florida room.  It’s more of an eyesore.  The structure was at one point a Florida room - really a rather nice attribute back in the 1950’s and 1960’s I’m sure.  It was wired with speakers and a sound system of sorts and electricity.  Off to the side (out of picture range), near where the vegetable garden is remains the remnants of a small pond.  A neighbor tells me there used to be fish in it and everything.  Now all that remains is rock and concrete.  And man, is it hard to break that stuff up and get it out of there.  They built it to last.

Our short term goal is to rebuild the roof and supports over the foundation, fix up the cracks in the concrete and use the space as a patio.  Long term goal is to build out and add a family room in this space.  For now it has an old fiberglass cover which will remain until money falls from the sky (or wherever it comes from).  My vote was to pull the roof off, my hubby wanted to leave it on as it provides relief form the rain (or snow) when you access the garage from the house or when we let the dog in and out.  Guess who won?  He did.  As unsightly as it is, there was an even more unsightly patch of dirt directly in front of the “patio” that was the very first thing you saw when you walked into the back yard.    That I could fix.

I added a Spirea japonica “Frobell”, a Yarrow plant, three Rose Coreopsis plants, some transplanted Hostas  some container annuals, transplanted some rocks and added 2 solar lights.  The patio itself is still not a pretty place but the view is adorable.  At least when you wak into the backyard you are greeted with a little pretty.  

I have admired the Spirea in other gardens and have a Spirea “Little Princess” in the back.  The “Little Princess” lives up to its’ name though and is small and compact.  The Spirea “Frobell” should get a nice 3′-4′ spread and height and fill in nicely.  Plus the “flowers” look pretty enough to snip and bring inside to enjoy.

The Yarrow was an impulse purchase.  I would have bought more but this was the only one in this color, the rest were “Summer Pastels” and multi colored.  I heard from Nicole that htis has a tendency to spread.  I hope it does, otherwise, I will be adding more in the future.

View as you walk into the yard.

All in all, a quick, easy and fun fix to an eyesore.  All accomplished in an afternoon.  Looking at this post, I have to go out back now and remove that piece of wood that is falling down behind the garden.  I started to do it and was distracted, until I saw it now in the photos.  Hope the whole darn thing doesn’t come tumbling down (or do I?).