Miscellaneous May 2021

The girls worked on some lovely messages/poems for me for Mother's Day. My favorite part is, "Thank you for homeschooling us. No thank you for yelling at us." Keeping it real. I love these people.

It warmed my heart to hear my little kindergarten Wren reading a Magic Tree House book to Tines, even though Wrenzy got very angry when she saw me videotaping them.  

My children stopped properly using climbing apparatuses long ago and now just set bad examples for other children. Wren:

Tiny:

I got a sneak peek of Tiny and Wrenzy as they practiced their tap number for the recital...

... and a sneak peek of Ever in her ballet costume.

Ever wrote this sweet tribute to Jim.

I drove the girls to Big Bear in Little Gray (the Toyota Corolla). Jim was already up there working on the place. Google sent me on a crazy route through the middle of nowhere. I kept wondering whether I should turn around or keep going. Ever kept telling me to go on; the others weren't as sure. I tried to seem calm and kept telling the girls what an adventure it was, but I was kind of freaked out. I had no idea where we were and was relying entirely on Google maps. If my phone lost service, we'd be stuck. I didn't know how to get back to a main road. At one point I thought maybe I could cut over and get out, but I ended up just circling back to where we were. We'd gone a really long way into no man's land by then, and the only options were to proceed into the unknown or go all the way back. We came to a sign that said it was the end of the maintained County road and to proceed at your own risk. Ever said to go on. Wrenzy really didn't want to. We ended up on this terrible dirt road. It seemed so sketchy, and I didn't know how long it was or where we were headed or if our little car could handle it. I actually tried to turn around once, but then I saw another small car or two going the way we were headed, so I flipped around again and continued on.   

We rounded a bend and caught sight of civilization ahead. What a relief! 

Sam and the girls met us at the cabin again. Jim and Sam worked, and the girls hung out. I continued to clear things out and try to sell little pieces of furniture. We did get in one little walk before we left.

Wrenzy is the cutest, most expressive reader there has ever been. 

Her writings also give me a glimpse into her thoughts and feelings, and I am definitely the bad guy.

I don't know if I can get away with putting this pic in here, but it's so great. Bear practicing piano naked? My fave. 

I showed the girls, Luc, and Amelie Lady and the Tramp. It seemed necessary. It was not passionately loved, but it went over OK.

I have a real love-hate relationship with perler beads. This picture doesn't do justice to the mess they make. Containers of them get knocked over, and even when they don't, there are still perler beads all over the floor.