May. 14, 2009
Spring Activities
We've been enjoying the spring weather. We've spent a lot of time working in the garden. In March we installed a 12' X 8' greenhouse in our vegetable garden. I'm enjoying the warmth and how fast the plants are growing in there. DH continues to help me build raised beds. He is currently working on preparing the ground for the patio we are hoping to install by summer.
This weekend DH will be building me a chicken coop. We will be getting 4 Rhode Island Red chicks on May 22. My mom kindly volunteered to pick them up for me, since I'm working so many Fridays this month.
Last week we enjoyed a week long vacation which included a trip to Mendocino, CA. I grew up visiting Mendocino several times each year. This was our first trip as a family. Our several other attempts have had to be canceled. We had a wonderful time. DH has declared it as our retreat. We fell in love with the bed and breakfast we stayed at, Inn at Schoolhouse Creek in Little River, CA. We would recommend it to everyone. We stayed in the Tansy Cottage. It was the perfect place for us. There is a covered deck with a grill and seating. Right out the front door is lawn chess. Out the back door were the 2 miniature donkeys which are quite friendly. There was a chest in the room for the dog (which we didn't bring this time, but will next time.) They provided child size robes for the boys. We enjoyed visiting with the owners.
Since it was raining for the first day of our trip and still windy the next, we were unable to play in tide pools, on the beach, or visit the pygmy Redwood forest. We play to do these things on our next trip as well as rent kayaks on Big River.
We did visit the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg. We had a lot of fun. The rain made everything shimmer. The boys had fun exploring all the paths in the effort to find the model train display. Next time I would like to walk out to the coast and enjoy the coastal plants growing amongst the rocks.
I hope you enjoy our photos. I am hoping the garden will look more finished and beautiful in late summer or early fall. I can't bring myself to take pictures of it quite yet. We still have so much to do.
We return to our school schedule on Monday. Today I'm tired so I don't feel ready, but I'm sure we'll all be ready when Monday arrives. I've spent a lot of time thinking and exploring ways to make our struggles less. I have had a lot of help and encouragement. The boys and I have talked about my concerns and what our goals should be. They are ready for the challenge. DH is going to help with the writing/spelling aspect of school. In addition he is going to start asking direct questions about what each one has learned. Neither one does well if they are asked direct questions. If they are allowed to tell a story they do fine, but they cannot communicate the same information if questioned. J continues to struggle with spelling. He has shown improvement, but we have a long way to go. D still struggles with legible handwriting. He has excellent spelling. They both have wonderful ideas and are very intelligent, but I am unable to read what they write. We've purchased voice recorders for them and will have them type their written assignments in hopes that this will help in both areas.
This weekend DH will be building me a chicken coop. We will be getting 4 Rhode Island Red chicks on May 22. My mom kindly volunteered to pick them up for me, since I'm working so many Fridays this month.
Last week we enjoyed a week long vacation which included a trip to Mendocino, CA. I grew up visiting Mendocino several times each year. This was our first trip as a family. Our several other attempts have had to be canceled. We had a wonderful time. DH has declared it as our retreat. We fell in love with the bed and breakfast we stayed at, Inn at Schoolhouse Creek in Little River, CA. We would recommend it to everyone. We stayed in the Tansy Cottage. It was the perfect place for us. There is a covered deck with a grill and seating. Right out the front door is lawn chess. Out the back door were the 2 miniature donkeys which are quite friendly. There was a chest in the room for the dog (which we didn't bring this time, but will next time.) They provided child size robes for the boys. We enjoyed visiting with the owners.
Since it was raining for the first day of our trip and still windy the next, we were unable to play in tide pools, on the beach, or visit the pygmy Redwood forest. We play to do these things on our next trip as well as rent kayaks on Big River.
We did visit the Mendocino Coast Botanical Gardens in Fort Bragg. We had a lot of fun. The rain made everything shimmer. The boys had fun exploring all the paths in the effort to find the model train display. Next time I would like to walk out to the coast and enjoy the coastal plants growing amongst the rocks.
I hope you enjoy our photos. I am hoping the garden will look more finished and beautiful in late summer or early fall. I can't bring myself to take pictures of it quite yet. We still have so much to do.
We return to our school schedule on Monday. Today I'm tired so I don't feel ready, but I'm sure we'll all be ready when Monday arrives. I've spent a lot of time thinking and exploring ways to make our struggles less. I have had a lot of help and encouragement. The boys and I have talked about my concerns and what our goals should be. They are ready for the challenge. DH is going to help with the writing/spelling aspect of school. In addition he is going to start asking direct questions about what each one has learned. Neither one does well if they are asked direct questions. If they are allowed to tell a story they do fine, but they cannot communicate the same information if questioned. J continues to struggle with spelling. He has shown improvement, but we have a long way to go. D still struggles with legible handwriting. He has excellent spelling. They both have wonderful ideas and are very intelligent, but I am unable to read what they write. We've purchased voice recorders for them and will have them type their written assignments in hopes that this will help in both areas.