Tuesday, March 15, 2011

Some Slightly Connected Things

Remember the socks that I was talking about a few weeks ago- the ones that were dragging along? Well, I did finish them. (They were the ones inspired by the song- see previous post) They were helped along considerably by the fact that they were the one and only knitting project I took with me on a weekend retreat the weekend before last. I knit over 11" of sock at that 1 and a half day retreat. I think that's pretty good for me; seeing as how I am nowhere near as speedy of a knitter as the YarnHarlot- even though I have taken her class on speed knitting, I have nowhere near as much practice as she has, and am therefore a whole lot slower and can't knit a complete sock in one day. Well, maybe I could if it was a small sock. But that's beside the point. At least for today.

As I continue to knit away on the the things that I can't share with you, the rest of my life keeps going. This is one aspect of it that is super cool.

We homeschool, so I get to say, "Ok, today we are studying the planets, so I want you to paint Styrofoam balls so we can hang them on the ceiling so you can learn the order of the planets from the sun. " Dude, it was so much more effective than I imagined. They know so much more about the Solar System than I do!

I also get to say, "Field Trip Day!" And take them to the zoo on a Tuesday. They loved it. It was especially cool this time because it was my Roo's first time ever. The sea lions were a bit overwhelming for him, he wouldn't stand up close with the others.

But he spent most of the morning saying "oooooooh" and "whoooaaaa". Which would have been even more cool if it had been directed at the animals instead of at how fun it was to run and crash. It was cute anyway, and we all had a great time.

Speaking of my Roo, the child is the biggest eater I've ever met in a toddler. My other kids hit this age, and didn't really eat a whole lot; kids can do that, you know. But this one? Nope. Wow. The boy can eat. So yesterday, I fed him breakfast (I honestly did, or I never would have gotten to eat mine- he'll just come over and start eating it- well, he usually does that even after his breakfast anyway, but honest, I fed him.), and about 2 hrs later, I came out of the back room from talking to another of the kids to find the crazy boy here:

Please notice the banana peel in front of him.
That was the first banana he had gotten. He climbed up, pulled off two bananas from the bunch, peeled them, and proceeded to eat them both on the spot. And his tummy was not noticeably huge afterwards, which you would think it would be. The boy is only 17month's tomorrow, and those were good sized bananas. No, the other kids didn't help him with this. He did it all by himself. And then he ate a big lunch too. Mom talks about my teenage brother doubling their grocery bill- this kid? I don't even want to think about it.



3 comments:

Knittingmama said...

Henry eats like that, too! He eats his breakfast, my breakfast, a snack, lunch, snack, supper, and milk before bed. It's amazing! He will also eat more than one banana at a time - something I couldn't do if I tried. I can't believe how big the older boys are getting! They are all growing up so fast!

P.S. I'm really digging Emerald!

Jessica said...

before we started homeschooling, in my oldest 2 kids 3rd grade classes, they had a solar system project where everyone would come up with their version of it... undoubtedly, several were made with lots of help from parents. My guys & I needle felted & paper mached ours.. and Micah made a punch needle pillow for the sun... I did most of the needle felting.

We still have the pillow and I may need to re needle felt some of the balls... (this was before Pluto got demoted, too!)

That said, my favorite solar system of the whole 3rd grade was a kid who wrote the names of the planets on paper & attached to a coat hanger! Couldn't have taken very long (tho I bet they took a while to come up with the idea).. it was clever & simple & to the point! :)

Painting styrofoam balls is cool!

Anonymous said...

Oh I could never knit an entire sock in one day, no way but I admire those who can!
Your kids are adorable!