Our life in Photos

I won tickets on Jet Blue and the warmest we could get to was to Cancun. We stayed at a great B&B. Eco-friendly, with composting toilets even. Not unexpectedly, there was a beautiful garden. We got all kinds of perks from one of the big resorts that wanted us to buy a timeshare. We didn't buy, but did enjoy the free food, nice beach and the trips to Chichen Itza and Isla Mujeres. Our last day, we went back to Isla and rented a moped to see the sites, including lounging iguanas (see behind us). Katie and Zack had a good time being spoiled by Gma and Gpa E.


On the first nice warm-ish day of the year, we wanted a picnic and I thought the Manassas battlefield would be a good lesson for the day and nice grounds to picnic on. A bit chillier than expected, but still nice.


We went on a pie tour for my birthday. 4 diners and 9 pieces of pie. MMMMMM. The best of the day was blueberry.




Zack is now a Boy Scout and received a walking stick at his bridging ceremony.


A trip to the new ocean exhibit at the Smithsonian Natural History museum.



We took a trip to NYC just for the fun of it. Went to the free Friday at MoMa. Here are Kate and Zack in one of the installations.


The Egypt exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. We also liked the Greek and Medieval exhibits and peeked into the Renaissance wing but ran out of time. Need to go back!



Last weekend was wonderfully warm--80 degrees! Pete wanted to check out the Sam Ash in Richmond, so off we went. He dropped the kids and me off at the Science Museum, where the kids lost their heads, and he went to bang on cymbals for a few hours.



Trying out steering in zero gravity at the Science museum.

The Constant Worrier

We've been at this homeschool experiment for a little bit now (we're in our 4th year) and I am once again plagued by the post-February doubts and worries.

Maybe it's because this is the time of year to order the tests. Maybe it's because we don't see as many people in the winter months as we do in spring and fall and I don't have the support of as many other HS parents. Or maybe I'm just having a later winter nutty as usual.

Whatever the cause, in the wee hours I am thinking over all the things my kids ought to know by now, what I should have exposed them to, how far along the curriculum we should be, blah blah blah blah blah...

Never mind that Katie has developed quite the witty sense of humor, Zack is more focused than ever, the Math Wars have ended with the use of the computer math course from Teaching Textbooks, and they thoroughly enjoyed the Met Museum of Art and wished we had the energy to stay longer. They are wonderfully curious, articulate, probing, comic, caring and happy people.

But still it's hard to have faith that they will get what they need, even if I don't supply the perfect everything, every day. I still struggle with the notion that they will get what they need and it won't all come from me--as a matter of fact, more and more it will come from others. Yes, puberty is on its way with all the eye-rolling, heavy sighing and shoulder shrugging that comes along with it.

So, a deep breath before the spring. Off to the eye doctor this morning, lunch with Pete this afternoon and a mental-health-for-mom driven day-off from schoolwork to enjoy the warm weather.