May Days

May so far has been unusually predictable.  Except for an uptick in birthday party invitations (5 in less than two weeks!), we have not had a lot of extracurriculars and, with the heat and humidity rising, park dates are slacking off. 

5 things we are doing now:

1.  Watching a nest of baby mockingbirds.

This nest is at eye level for me - it is in a sort of tall bush and next to the sidewalk.  There were four eggs, but now there are only 3 babies.  We have watched a few nests now (usually not this closely) and we all think 3 out of 4 would be a very successful clutch.  Natalie has a different perspective and can see the bottom of the nest very clearly.  She noticed that there is a cigarette butt woven in with the twigs!

2.  Learning about China

 That is, trying out lessons, crafts, and books for the class I'm scheduled to teach at PEP in the spring.  The big girls are especially good at counting to 10 in Mandarin.  Natalie knows them well enough to use them.  She can count by 2s and do simple math problems with them.   (I can only say them in order, I can't seem to connect the word independently with the number).  I think I have one class figured out.  After we get this tacked out, we're going to review botany.

3.  Putting in a swing set.

When C & A and even Natalie were little, going to the park was easy, now it is hard.  We got a small swing set and the kids are using it even though we haven't finished anchoring it.  It is really for the little girls, but that is sour grapes to the bigs.  So they use it as gently as they can - at least some of the time!

4.  Getting an inspection!

The structural inspection for the new room is set for this Friday.  If we pass that means we can cover things up with dry wall and carpet.

5.  Doing a lot of math.

Not a math picture...

Caleb gets up half and hour early for his math lesson - that is a time the house is quiet and distractions are few.  He is in decimals, Annalise is doing fractions, Natalie is learning place value.  I rely heavily on the teacher's guide and find myself wishing I'd had a teacher's guide when I was learning math!