A new chapter of our lives has begun.

When I heard about the Heber/Park City homeschool group, my first response was one of excitement. But I have to admit, that my second thought was "I wonder if Park City home schoolers are nerdy?" 

Am I totally perpetuating this terrible stigma? Yes, yes I am. It's kind of true though, we home schoolers tend to care less about current trends in clothing, and focus more on... you know... uh... other stuff. 

I also forgot to blog about our first outing with our new group of friends. Remind me to do it later, cause it was awesome.
Today's adventure took us to the Swaner Nature Preserve and EcoCenter in Park City.

Those are my two little nerds towards the right. We're about to find Macro Invertebrates, determine their species, and by so doing determine the quality of the water from whence they came.

I know, so cool. 

This is Maggie, teaching them how to figure out what kind of bug they found using a dichotomous key. I  just googled how to spell that.

Claire was sleepily not paying attention.

Then they moved on to the buckets of watery goodness where they sucked up bugs and took many closer looks at them and determined the water quality.

Can I tell you how happy this was all making me? 

Well I would... except for Caleb was actually the one down there doing it with them, whilst I was putting baby to sleep in the nearby field.

It didn't work. This girl prefers to sleep in her Daddy's arms over her Mommy's. 

 Jonah was right in on the action too - bugs don't bother these guys one bit.
I'll never forget this one day, in the changing room of the local pool where we had Home School Swim Day once a month with our fellow nerdies. A Huge spider was slowly lowering itself down in the middle of the room, and rather than scream and try to smash it, we all gathered around and counted it's legs and discussed what type of spider it might be.

A good deal of education does happen at a desk, it's true, but it can happen in almost every other place that you find yourself, too, if you let it.

Then it was time for the long slog out through the marshland to the frog pond.

Claire slept the whole way out there, and Caleb chatted with the Nature Lady (I think her name was... Kathy?). We got soaked. It was great. And luckily it wasn't snowing today like it was yesterday. 

The purpose of going to the pond was to catch frogs.

 Purpose fulfilled.

I have since determined that kids have built-in frog catching skills which fade with adulthood... they were good at it! 

And these little guys were really little guys.

It was awesome, to say the least. A whole bunch of schooled-at-homers, their lovely Mothers, a gorgeous sunny day, and a whole, huge, watery field of knowledge waiting to be soaked up.

 Jonah loved his frogs. I think they liked him too, because they snuggled right down in his calm little hands, rather than trying to jump away.

And I got to sit back with Claire and a few other Moms and chat. I met one from New Zealand, one from England, and two from here. They were all lovely, and we all shared one major thing in common which made conversation with these complete strangers easy.

They're not complete strangers any more. They're our fellows scholars, and we're thrilled to be a part of them. 

I lurve him

I'm not really a huge facial hair fan. At least I wasn't, until the goatee. He's shaved one in a few times before, but it made him look too grown up and, dare I say it, sophisticated. So he'd shave it off again.

But, being as he turned twenty nine older today, I decided that he was mature enough for the goatee, and since I have the final say on what his face looks like, he did it. 

I promise that it's his idea that I decide on the current facial hair condition. "You're the one that has to look at it." Ok, that's true. I can go with that. 

 Getting him to pose for a photo was a whole different story. None of this "whatever you say, dear" business. It took me almost a week to get this photo, and wasn't it worth it? Pleh.

Then he smartened up and decided that getting between me and my blogging was a dangerous place to be.

Happy birthday, Caleb dearest. Your daughter looks like you, lucky little thing. 

 Have I ever told you about Caleb's Daddy-abilities? They're pretty phenomenal. He says it's because he and the kids are on the same maturity level. I say it's because he has no self consciousness. Because he has no need to be cool. Because he'd rather have his kids love him and want to be around him more than any one else. And they do. He doesn't just play with the kids, he plays like the kids. That is a skill.

Being a good Dad doesn't end with being able to play with your kids. It also includes protecting them from dangers, be they physical, spiritual, mental, emotional, what ever.

He might also throw in a little mental instability...

But no one has peed their pants yet, so I think we're still safe.

This guy works hard. He provides. He works to the point of pay raises and promotions and "what would we do without Caleb?" situations. There is a lot more to being a good provider than first meets the eye, and Caleb is a good provider.

Ok ok, Honey, I'm finished. Almost.
I also think that you are very good looking, and in the words of the butcher at Valley Market where I worked through my high school years:

"Looks aren't everything, but they sure help."

Amen.

Reasons to celebrate

The kids and I ventured up to Eden earlier this week. We're usually weekenders, but this time we went on a Monday! Can you believe it? We're so crazy around here. 

 If you have recently read Tess' blog, you will now know that I'm Lainey's favorite. I've known it for a while, but now it's printed and blogged and that's final.

Are you seeing what's in the background? I'll zoom in for you.

I love cooking at my Mom's for many reasons, one being the incredible view from the kitchen. 

 And in the kitchen, for that matter. There's a chance that I return Lainey's favoritism.

 Somebody turned 25, which meant that each kid had plenty of candles to contribute.

 Did you know that Tess' love language is 'receiving gifts'? It's true. Her birthday is her favorite day of the year.

 I think it's kind of adorable.

If it had only been Tess' birthday we still would have gone - but the events didn't stop there!

 It was also the baby's graduation! From High School! Like as in real, government, public, normal, high school. My Mom had 6 kids and only had to go to one 'normal' High School Graduation.

 I attended this meeting when I was the right age and all my friends were down there... and I cheered them on! My 'graduation' was very similar... minus the gowns and the Weber State University Dee Events Center and... everything else.

There were about 20 of us. I played the piano for the opening song. We said prayers. I got a diploma which said "State of Utah" on it where the high school name usually resides. I honestly don't know if there is any other difference - my diploma got me into college and everywhere else a diploma needs to get you. I was so embarrassed to have to graduate with so many nerds... until I realized that I was one. Then I just embraced it:)

ahem. back to Hanna.

 There she is!
Tess and I and our five small children attended this event. That was entertaining in and of itself.

 But once we were outside, Lainey busted out a post-show-show for all of us which drew a crowd.

 This is the Hanna fan club.

 Plus Lainey, who was determined to get every last crumb out of her chip bag.

 Then Emmy needed some attention, so we gave her some.
We're obliging like that.

So, Mom and Dad... she's the last... now what are you going to do? 

 Hi Gramma. I love you.

 Birthday/Graduation dinner at the Union Grill - yes please.
The food is stellar, and you can play on real trains! What's not to love?

 One of our favorite parts of driving to Eden from Heber is watching all the trains hauling along and singing train songs.

 "Talfin? Do you love eet?"

I love you Hanna, you are absolutely amazing. 

I love you Tess. You are too.

I love you Ca... oh wait. She moved. 

jokes!

What was left.

He started out hitting right handed, but it wasn't working out so good.

Then, without thinking, he switched sides. Success!

I'm the only lefty kid in my family, and it never bothered me. Although I don't hit left handed...

Change is good. Maybe.

Hi there. It's me. The 'ol look we knew and loved has gone the way of the delete button and the new look is here, until I decide I don't love it either and then *click* it'll go too. 

I love designing online. It's so lovely to get rid of things and not actually have to carry them off to a real live garbage can/recycling bin/donation pile. It's almost as refreshing as getting rid of real live things at home - but only almost.

I don't know though... are the green leaves too buggy? Can you read these words through the foliage? This I will have to ponder.

This photo has absolutely nothing to do with the current topic, I just lurve that girl. She learned how to blow kisses today. *sigh*

A few things worthy of note have happened around here lately, including but not limited to:

*Jonah decided that he loves baby sitters.

*A swallow (named sweet flyer) flew in our open front door, circled around our living room a few times, then made a hasty exit.

*I ordered something other than fish tacos at Tarahumara.

*My sister introduced me to the HeyTell app. Try it.

*Emmy threw up in the back seat of the van.

*Claire learned how to walk. Officially.

*Caleb cut the roof off of a truck with a power saw in my garage.

*The peas sprouted.

*Jonah told me that when he grows up he's going to be a Dad that's kinda like a Mom.

*I made it to the three-quarters mark of Moby Dick which made me a little sad because it means the story's going to end some day and I'm not ready to part with it.

*Emmy has a new friend named Pickle who happens to be a real human being.

*I passed off song number two in my violin book. That's right folks, I can play two songs.

*My neighbor friend bought a boat, for which we are grateful.

*I stayed up past my bedtime blogging.

One less trip to the grocery store? Sign me up.

Well well well, what have we here?

 Mmmmm.... hello gorgeous mounding pile of fresh deliciousness.
I love you.

Let's see what's in the first bag,

 Wow! Look at all those tomatoes! Fresh salsa here we come.

 Mmm... a five pound bag of apples, more onions than I will ever eat, bell peppers... yes. This is good.

 Romaine? Two cucumbers? Sounds like lunch to me.

You look like my pretend vacation to somewhere tropical. 

Corn on the cob? Beautiful, blessed, corn on the cob! I'm gettin' all misty here.

Artichokes... those three are all for me. My kids won't touch 'em, and that's their loss.

And I only paid $15 for all of it. I know! 

If you value your fruits and veggies budget, you should give this a try. You've probably heard of the bountiful basket (even though I, miss super knowlegable) (hardy har har) only learned about it 3 months ago.

There's a really good chance (if you live in the westernish united states) that you can get in on this thing of beauty. Try it.  CLICK THESE HUGE LETTERS.  You're gonna love it.

 The kids can hardly stand the excitement of seeing what comes in the basket each week. It's different every time, depending on what is in season, but there are always 6 different fruits and 6 different veggies. I plan the meals for the upcoming week based on what comes in the basket.

You sign up for the basket online on Monday, then pick it up at your local location (he he) on Saturday morning. Take a large basket with you (or, in my case, a few plastic wheel barrows, wagons, and reusable bags, depending on if I'm flying solo or not so solo). Your wallet and your health will love you.

Wait... I thought there were 6 cobs of corn in there.... 

Oh there it is. 

The notion corn needs to be cooked before being consumed is one of the great misconceptions of our time.