Simple weekend

I think this little blog was starting to wonder if it would ever get word of another L & E escapade or Wild Oak update. Did the kiddos’ cuteness wear off? Are we boycotting power tools and paintbrushes?

The answer is decidedly no, on both counts. The kids are cuter than ever – with darling Easter, biking, and hiking photos on deck. And the looming (wife-imposed) deadline of our 1-year house-iversary for all initial home projects has had us checking off little updates weekend-by-weekend.

So let’s see if I can start catching this little blog up. Starting with… this past weekend! There was breakfast with Princess Crinklenose,

Who can carry on a delightful conversation these days provided she isn’t in a “No, I NOT!” mood.

Princess breakfast is served concurrently with “math time”. Most mornings Luke and Erik have math time, during which they count to 100 or more and do simple additions and greater than/less than activities. Luke delights in numbers and will quantify anything, from how much he loves me (14 zillion) to how much celery he wants to eat (zero), to how old he’ll be when he can always obey Mommy (89).  Here Luke is coming up with a tough addition for Daddy to solve!

Thursday to Saturday, Erik and I caught pieces of a terrific homeschooling conference. We’ve already started and plan to continue “homeschooling” but we’re not sure if we’ll also send the kids to an elementary school. We have less than a year and a half until Luke starts kindergarten so the schooling decision which seemed distant for so long is suddenly nearing and we want to be ready to make the best choice for us!

After the conference we stopped at the Bosque bike path. Look at these hill-climbers!

Luke loves to pedal fast and now that Eleanor has learned to glide she relishes the whoosh of acceleration too.

Then there was snack time with a rare cloud shielding the sun and we headed for home.

After a little rest, the menfolk bagged and bundled sticks and leaves for our neighborhood’s spring green waste pickup.

They met the 10 bags or bundles maximum and readied the yard for our next big project – installing an irrigation system! Erik’s been eyeing the ditch-witches at Home Depot ever since we moved in, and I’m sure Luke and Eleanor will be fascinated by the mighty D.W. as well. I’m less enamored with the tool rental, but am hoping it means that no more trees die and our watering becomes more efficient. Until then, Luke and Eleanor will practice mixing dirt and water so that they can lend relevant expertise as needed for the project.

So today it’s so long weekend, hello midweek make-a-cardboard-car party. We have the car kits, Luke’s made a pile of spare wheels in case of blow-outs, and I just need to tidy up the house a bit. Happy mid-week and here’s hoping I’m back soon with our photo backlog!