Frog Creek

We joined a Co op

2012-01-27T14:15:00.000-05:00

I like to put a space between the words, or else I see it as coop.
As in we flew the coop.
Chicken coop.
Chickens are dirty.
In which I certainly would like to leave the coop too..
But I digress
So anyway, what I am referring to is a homeschool co op.
Kids take classes taught mostly by parent or kid volunteers, or hired teachers.
I believe there are 35 families involved.
Marlin is taking an acting class,

There will be a play to see at the end!
I am excited about that, as is she.
She is also taking a Little House on the Prairie class.

My understanding is that they play games and do stuff featured in the little house books.
The boys were a little leery, so we just started with one class to see if they liked it.
They are in a Modes of Transportation class.

Basically they are going to build things.

Things that will move like a glider plane, a pinewood derby car, and build bridges and have a challenge of some sort at the end of the class.

So this is our foray into the world of co ops.
So far so good.
And there are lots of boys there!

Which is good because our core tribe is so girl heavy.
Kaya was even able to explain his injury and have a boy say, cool!,

instead of the girl default response of, Ewww!
He smiled.
I have been trying to keep very busy this winter. Getting through winter with out losing steam and becoming some what depressed is hard for me. But when your busy, and the days are flying by it helps so much.
I can't believe it's nearly February already!
I hope they like it enough to continue into spring.
I hope they don't want to fly the coop....

Our day at the Doctor's

2012-01-26T16:53:00.001-05:00

We had a 10:30 Orthopedic appointment, and walked out a 1:00.

We waited,

fooled around,

and then got tired of it all.

We got cranky,

and then just goofy.

After a few x-rays,

it appears he has a tore a ligament off the bone and left a chip.That is the little white line in the upper right, near the bone. See it?
Sounds bad but is common. It should self repair. There is also a pretty good chance that he has a supracondylar fracture, which may or may not need surgical repair. We'll re evaluate next week.
It is that faint line that is above where the two bones would bend. It's hard to see...
Depending on how things look on the next x-ray, we may move on to a MRI.

Happy healing vibes for Kaya!

Bird walk

2012-01-25T19:07:00.001-05:00

Yale had a public bird walk.

We went.
; )

Canning party.

2012-01-23T15:38:00.001-05:00

With friends.

Chicken noodle and Lentil.
Mmm Mmmm....good.

two

2012-01-23T08:42:00.001-05:00

Saturday snow.

just us two,

on a Saturday.

Many things

2012-01-21T22:07:00.001-05:00

Choices:

Kaya:

Zoey:

Snow!:

kitchen science:

Er trip:

Dislocated

2012-01-19T10:45:00.000-05:00

Friends for dinner, a nerf gun battle, a leap over the couch for cover, and a dislocated elbow.
We know how to entertain our dinner guests!
Kaya was so calm and brave.
He wanted to remember his big event and wanted many photographs.
So:
Describing his pain to the nurse:

Post morphine:

X-rays:

So dislocated...

Ugly elbow:

He had just eaten dinner, so we had to wait for 4 hours till they could sedate for the procedure to fix his arm:

Yeah for dvd's, ipods, and ds's.
Finally, procedure done, and waking up from some very good drugs:

He was such a funny, sweet, little drunk.
Apparently he went to Blockville, and danced with Justin Bieber.
Thing is he dislikes Justin Bieber.
It was very funny.
He said it was an amazing experience.
I believe him.
More X-rays:

All better!:
Midnight munchie time!:

He really loved that popsicle.
LOVED.
This morning:

He really likes the sling.
He says he might want to work in a hospital, he says it was such an interesting place.
He really liked the whole process..
He is such a funny, lovely, precious dude.

Just another week

2012-01-18T08:35:00.000-05:00

in which many things occur.
Like:
Major Lego action,

a fascination with Ants,

Making natural moisturizing cream,

Hail,

banditizing,

The act of being in the vicinity of Mom, when she has her camera,

Second snow!

Piano lesson,

Self portraiting,

Art:
A toast-man (obviously...)

By Evren
and a good looking hamburger,

by Marlin
And it's actually only Wednesday morning....

The Arts!

2012-01-16T11:01:00.004-05:00

The medium:
Martial.

We are so cultured.

Well spent

2012-01-15T15:14:00.000-05:00

Dinner with friends:

Surrounded by beauty.

That dog!
And those kids?

So awesome.

Tracks

2012-01-13T09:33:00.000-05:00

Our Friend's new farm, walking a freight line,

Found ice pools in an open field,

Then track back

to home.

Not a mess!

2012-01-12T09:42:00.001-05:00

Read here!

Easiest post for me, ever!

:>)

Evren

2012-01-11T08:33:00.001-05:00

On Tuesdays, while I am in a different town 20 minutes away with other kids, Ev jumps in a car with a different Mom and heads over her house to have a piano lesson right after/before her Daughter. The Teacher is lovely. She comes to the house, and sits patiently with my little man and teaches him how to play.
I am never there at the time to witness it, so I have been imagining him sitting still and listening, and playing.
Yesterday, Ev and the Teacher did a "duet" together. Jess was kind enough to capture it for me, and I am so glad she did!

I have watched these clips over and over, cause it's so cute.
I love looking at his little fingers perched in just that way, and that he is looking intently at sheet music, and that his head bobs slightly at times, and how he looks at his Teacher at the end. Even though I can't see his sly little grin. I know which grin he is giving...

It's the little grin of happy and cool, but don't look at me too long cause it's embarrassing. It's the grin he gives others in that new-scary-awkward-I-did-it-moment.
I love that grin.

New

2012-01-10T11:13:00.000-05:00

Deer Cam!

2012-01-09T10:57:00.000-05:00

Oh how we love this wildlife camera!
Addy was lucky enough to get a deer during hunting season this year.

After using all the meat we could for ourselves, and the stuff we were not fond of for our dogs, we hauled the carcass out back,

and set up the camera to see who would clean up the remains.
There were:
Crows:

Turkey Vultures:

Raccoon:

Coyotes:

Fox:

Our dog!:

Red tailed Hawk:

I have taken a few days off, but I will put the camera back to see what else pokes around. My hope is to one day catch an image of the elusive Bobcat, or Fisher cat, or in the Summer, a bear!
And I will also share an extremely cool photo! Remember I think lots of gross things are cool...
This is the deers stomach loaded with undigested vegetation...

But upon closer observation, I noticed some distinct imprints upon the stomach contents showing the cellular patterns of the stomach's lining.

COOL!
Anyway, we had our friends over on the weekend, and they spent a lot of time tromping through the woods and creek. They found another Deer kill!

This one looked a lot like the work of coyotes. Although we looked, and looked,

we never found the body.
It was weird.
So, we hiked on back home and declared it a mystery.

Good times.
Check on over here, for more pictures!

giving

2012-01-05T21:09:00.000-05:00

This year, I want to focus on giving. We did a pretty great job during the Holiday season, but we have relaxed since.

I want to delve back in, somehow.

We have discussed sponsoring a child, or a dog, food drives, Habitat for humanity. It is yet to be decided. Maybe we can give to a few things. I did snap some photos of them giving in the moment.
Coat drive:

Marlin has collected nearly 85.00 dollars!
She left a jar on the counter with her intentions to give it to wolf song of Alaska written on it. We, she, family, and friends have been plunking change and bills in there for the past year.

She is so excited!
She is so awesome.
You can be awesome, too. Just saying...
The Boys picked up some toys to give to toys for tots:

They felt good, and they want to keep doing it.

They are awesome as well.
I guess I just need to seek out the opportunities to keep on doing it.
For 2012, be as awesome as you possibly can.

Lost images

2012-01-02T00:01:00.000-05:00

Found these images on a camera, most are from fall, but some are more recent.
Working on stuff:

Creeking:

I love when I find forgotten images.
Playing:

Piano lesson beginning:

2012-ing:

Fire starting:

Dino-ing:

They are my little teeny digital treasures...

Visiting Great Grandma

2011-12-31T09:22:00.002-05:00

Great Grandma does not have such great luck around the Holidays.

Last year she spent Christmas with a broken hip, and this year she suffered a series of minor strokes.

We visited her on Christmas day in the Rehab center, she was weak and tired,

but the kids tried their best to be with her.

Being old, is very hard, but she takes it all in stride.
We love her.
If you have elderly neighbors, adopt them. Do something every day to make their world easier. I now truly realize how long, frustrating, and lonely a single day can be for an older person.
But you and your family can make it easier!
Bring their mail to them and say hi, it will only take five minutes. Bring some home baked cookies and stay for a cup of tea, bring their garbage cans out and back on garbage day. If you are going to the store, ask if they need something. Bring some flowers on a gloomy day. Offer anything even if it seems small.
To them it's not, it's really huge.
:>)

Christmas 2011

2011-12-28T08:36:00.001-05:00

6:40 a.m

The best morning of the year!

Christmas Eve 2011

2011-12-26T10:09:00.000-05:00

Christmas Eve is always buzzing with excitement for us. Three kids who can hardly contain their energy. So we have to keep busy to help them pass the long hours of waiting. I remember the waiting from when I was a kid. It's not just Christmas Eve, but the whole thing. The Advent calendar countdown, that whole endless week before, 5, 4, 3, 2, Tomorrow!
It was all good, but so hard.
So we did what do on this special day before....
We baked Christmas cookies,

We headed off to New Haven's Fantasy of Lights:

We headed for home to meet with my parents and have a nice dinner. Then the kids opened presents from each other.

It was awesome. This is the first year they spent their own money on each other. They loved it. Marlin got Kaya a fossil cow shark tooth, Ev got him Lego mini figures, and a stuffed animal. The boys got Marlin some Bucky balls. These are such awesome things, and have been played with so much. You can make endless things. Like this gun Kaya came up with:

Ev is so into it, he is using his Christmas money to buy his own set. Marlin bought Ev a huge stuffed fish he had been wanting so badly for his bed

He was so happy.
Kaya also gifted him some mini figures, and a stuffed animal. Their gifts were identical to each other, which I thought was awesome.
Then it was time to bust out some fireworks, because nothing screams Christmas like sparkly loud fireworks.

Finally it was time to light a fire, play with our new toys, and watch movies.

After skyping far-away loved ones, we finally headed off around midnight to let sugar plums dance in our heads.

A surprise!

2011-12-23T12:56:00.000-05:00

We wanted to surprise the kids this year.
A Christmas surprise.
I got them all up around 7:00 a.m. and told them that we were going on a big trip.
They were baffled and groggy.
Ev was very excited, Kaya was kind of freaking out because surprises are not that great of a thing to do to him, and Marlin just wanted to figure it out, so she was firing off relentless questions.
As we readied, it was very apparent that I needed to tell Kaya, as he was just getting more and more pissed off. And Marlin finally guessed that we were going to NYC, and then figured out it was for the Christmas Spectacular.
Poor Ev thought we were going to Disney.
So we hopped in the car and headed an hour south to a different train station where it would be an easier and quicker ride, and I could leave my car for free at my Parents.
Ev was both excited and disappointed to be at a train station, as he knew right then and there that his Disney guess was wrong.

His next guess was the White House.
Marlin was just so psyched to be headed in.

She loves the city life so much, and she would love to live there.
When we arrived we headed toward Rockefeller Center.
We passed by Saks, and checked out the Christmas window display,

which was a crazy bubble making contraption.
We passed the Saint Patrick's Cathedral. We have never been in there. Although we are not religious, we certainly appreciate the architecture, beauty, and serenity of a spectacular place of worship.

I am extremely fond of the particular aroma in these places. It's incense, wood polish, and some other vague holy sent. It is one of my most favorite smells on this Earth. I loved the stained glass, the nativity scene,

and the candles.

My kids love just lighting the candles.
I am really glad we popped in. It reminded me so much of this gem.
Next we arrived in Rockefeller Center to see the tree!

The skaters!

The Lego store!

The boys were so very excited to be in the lego store.

They grabbed a few new kits, and were so happy to build their own custom mini figures.

We were feeling a bit hungry so we decided to take a walk for food. We passed the most awesome Salvation Army bell ringer, EVER.
This guy was a magnificent dancing fool.
We just had to give something.

He was the best. He just made you happy.
I still think about him.
Anyway, we headed off to a wonderful bakery to get all sugared up.

I remembered this place from our girls trip with my friend. She showed me so many neat places, and it made me feel super cool knowing how to find them.

I love feeling super cool.
Finally it was time to head to our destination!

We grabbed our tickets and waited in line.
Once we entered, we knew there was going to be magic happening in here.

I was buzzing.
So we grabbed some overpriced treats and had to sit for 45 minutes and wait for the show.

I am so glad the kids brought their ipods.
Finally, it began!
I took one last picture.

So many times during this show my eyes welled up. Not because of the show. But because I would look at my kids, and see how riveted they were. I remember seeing this as a kid, and I know that now my kids will have this memory and want to take their kids. It is these moments that make life special. I was so grateful and thankful that I was able to do this.
Happy tears!
Anyway, Jess was kind enough to send me amazing pictures to use. I can not believe how great her pictures were.
Enjoy!

Can you believe those pictures?
After the show we decided to stroll around and take in the merry of it all.

Then we arrived in Times Square.

Ev was starting to fade, so we hit up the Disney store.

I guess in the end, his Disney guess held some truth!

We had yet another treat planned. We were meeting our cousins who live in the city, out for dinner!

So much fun!
We decided to start wrapping it up and headed back with our cousins to see the tree one last time in all its glory, glowing in the dark.

My friend Jess, who was also seeing the show the next day, told me that their day got switched back a day so they happened to be at the show the same day as us. However they were at a later show. I did not tell the kids because I was not sure if we would be able to meet up with them, as we already had some plans set.
So I made a call, and their show had finished. They could meet with us in a bit!
Once they arrived, we headed out for hot chocolate,

and a trip to the Nintendo World store to play some games together.

It was so much fun to end our trip with friends and cousins.
We said our good byes and headed off. We arrived home a few hours later totally exhausted, but full of happy.
As soon as the boys awoke the following day, they wasted no time on begining special projects.

We had a really special day.
I am so happy we created these beautiful Christmas memories.

Go make one

2011-12-23T09:21:00.000-05:00

Hot glue crayons to canvas.

Apply letters, or not.
Blow dry until a rainbow defies gravity.

Peel off stickers, or not.

Now go!

Girl, Dog, Lake.

2011-12-22T23:35:00.000-05:00

A mid week sleepover

2011-12-22T22:57:00.001-05:00

At friends!

Well, apparently we have a theme this month....

There was salt dough-ing:

And bird treat making:

And ginger bread cookie decorating,

and lots of other fun stuff not pictured.
At the end of it all,

I think they were all fun stuffed out....

Science!

2011-12-22T20:38:00.000-05:00

We went for the day to the CT Science Center,

This place is so much fun,

and even better when you go with friends.

But we always spend the most time,

always,

in the water area.