Cindy's Life as She Knows It

Thursday was a day off of work for my daughter and with the gorgeous weather expected and her move to her second trimester of pregnancy (thus no more feeling queasy and sick), we decided this would be a great day to take the kids to visit the zoo.  We got a fairly good start, but hit traffic and construction so we got a late start at the zoo.  The kids were excited to see the animals and the day was really just glorious.  There were alot of school kids there, but there was room for us to see the sea lions, the elephants and best of all, the cheetahs, who darted after two squirrels in their enclosure, proving how incredibly fast they are! My granddaughter was a crazy ball of beautiful energy and at one point my son was grumpy and tired.  So it goes with kids, I guess.  What I enjoyed best of all, however, was the time with my daughter.  We truly are best friends and it's such a reward to watch this beautiful young woman mother my granddaughter, carry my ne...

Yesterday was Earth Day and we celebrated with friends.  When they arrived around 11am, we had lunch, watched part of the Lorax and read a book.  Then we took some supplies and headed down to the park for a scavenger hunt. The kids had a great time collecting a pine cone, a feather, different kinds of leaves and rocks, making bark rubbings and flower sketches.  They got some play time in on the playground equipment too, enjoying each other's company.  Later, back at the house, they learned about the parts of a seed, took one apart from the "helicopters" in our front yard and planted marigold seeds and lima beans.  Then they painted using bingo markers to make flowers and took turns making cherry blossoms with empty 2 liter soda bottles (reduce, reuse, recycle!)  Koda and I really enjoy learning time with our friends.  It's nice to get the chance to do group activities and even Natalie and little Brady,who are the same age, have forged a  nice frie...

Today has been a good day for new homeschooling ideas.  Early, while still lying in bed waiting for my adult children to leave for work and college, I was playing with my Kindle and phone and found a poetry app.  It was easy and wonderful and I couldn't wait to show Dakota when our school day started.  Next, I discovered it was Wear Your Pajamas to Work day.....well, we work at home, right?  So I greeted a still sleepy Dakota with the wonderful news that on this gray, rainy morning, he could stay in his comfy pjs all day! As our day was set to begin, Dakota asked if for art today he could make more pipe cleaner and tin foil figures like the ones my friend Kelly had shown him how to do learning about the artist Giacometti yesterday (Did I spell that right?) He loved the activity and I turned him loose in his room with some Reynold's Wrap and a bag of pipe cleaners.  He appeared about 45 minutes later with his creations, very proud of himself! I showed him the...