At the beginning of last week, we had two crazy days when the weather got up into the 60s and it was sunny. I was like, "Come on, we gotta go. We are not staying inside for this." So we rode up to Gunpowder Falls State Park again. I promised the girls I wouldn't make them hike this time. It was just to play. There is a meadow next to the river where the trails we hiked before start and so that is where we set up camp. We brought Tinkerbell, who was so happy to be off the leash for a little while. We brought a snack, Gwyn wore a cape, and Celee wore her cork necklace - they said this was all because they were going to play "fairies." Because it had been pretty cold here there was still quite a bit of ice along the sides of the river which the girls thought was fun to walk on and break up. It was super muddy, and we all got wet and dirty, but we played for a long time until we finally started getting cold and it was time to go.
After our two warm days, it got rainy and then cold again. I've been a little stir crazy so on Wednesday we headed over to Sweet Air Park. They have a really nice community center with a gym, playground, soccer field, etc. Each weekday afternoon their gym is open to homeschool families to use. You just have to call first to make sure someone is there to have it actually open. So we went to check it out. It was nice to have such a big are to run and play all to ourselves. We hoola-hooped, played alphabet games, did gymnastics tricks (or tried to) and "played" basketball. I think we need Jason to help us with the basketball though. I never really learned how to play other than knowing you have to dribble the ball when you move and you need to try to shoot the ball in the hoop. We tried though. Lyla and Celee decided to have a yoga break for a bit during our playing.
I've been fretting about it since we moved and this past Thursday was our homeschool portfolio review with the school district. I feel like it took me so long to put so much stuff together for each girl's portfolio! This may have been because a) I had never done it before and so was unsure and b) we were only under MD jurisdiction as of Nov.15, but they wanted to see everything for the whole semester and didn't tell me that until January. Anyway, it all got done. It all kind of fit into a laundry basket for me to carry it to the library where my review was too. I am making a note next time to put it in something with wheels, or get help carrying it all up and down our three flights of stairs though. The lady who reviewed our stuff was very nice thankfully. She asked me if I had been a teacher, and said she could tell because all our stuff was in order. I will take that compliment. Anyway, we "show clear evidence of instruction." Whew!
I found out a little-celebrated holiday in the liturgical calendar this week. Candlemas is Feb.2nd. This is when the church celebrates Jesus' presentation at the Temple. Apparently it is also when traditionally people brought their beeswax candles to be blessed for the year. Huh. Since the girls already knew the stories surrounding Jesus's presentation, of Simeon and Anna's recognition of Jesus as the Messiah and the giving of two doves, we talked about that, but decided we'd make our own beeswax candles to celebrate. Gwyn and Celee have made dipped candles before so this was something new and the candles they got out of pouring them are bigger, so that was a plus. Also for Lyla, the attention span needed to pour candles instead of dipping them was more her speed, which is to say fast. Now we have these beautiful candles to light every now and then and hopefully think of the reason we made them. I am one for celebrations that mark seasons of the year, and so liturgical holidays are as my hubby says, "right up my alley."
Celee asked me for a date this weekend, so I got to spend some one-on-one time with my blondie. She had saved up some money to buy a particular puppet that we saw before Christmas as the mall and so she wanted to go there and eat lunch with me. Alas, the toy store was not there anymore. I don't know off-hand of any other stores that sell Folkmanis puppets, so she opted for Build-a-Bear instead. Not quite Folkmanis quality, but she was happy with her new horse toy she "made." We also got to hang out in the bookstore a while and we both got books we've been wanting. I finally got Book 14 of the Wheel of Time! The Final book! I have invested at least 17 years in this story and finally the last book it out! As I write I am itchy to read it, but I will finish this first!
Yesterday Lyla's Girl Scout Troop went to the Pumpkin Theater to see a musical production of The Zizz Bird. The Zizz Bird is a creature of Jewish mythology who, in this story, learns what the hardest word is, to say your're sorry. I didn't have great expectations based on the description of the story I was given, but it was really cute and well done. The musicians and singers were great! I don't know if the traditional Zizz Bird has three heads or not, but the costume for it in the play comprised of three ladies giving it three heads who all sang and talked together. I though it very creative. The setting of the play was a community garden and after the show the girls got to decorate a pot and bring home Thyme seeds to plant. Bonus for me! Three pots of Thyme to smell so good!
And yes, it was Superbowl Sunday! We dutifully painted our fingernails purple. I colored a piece of Celee's hair purple with markers. We tried to dip Lyla's tips in kool-aid but it didn't show up. Gwyn opted for the fake purple piece of hair. We made purple cookies, dipped purple pretzels, made purple cake, had purple corn chips. We even let the girls stay up way past any sort of their bedtime to watch the game that almost never ended, lights out and all. They were happy the Ravens won. They want to go to the parade tomorrow when the team comes back to town. I'm not sure about that. But who knows? That's one more of those things that finds me thinking, "How many times do you get to live in the city whose team wins the Superbowl and there's a parade?" Will that win out over the cold? And the school-work that will be put off till the afternoon if we're gone all morning? I guess morning will tell. If they remember about the parade and ask about it, we will see.
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