50-Year Floods

So I've posted the last few springs and summers about the vast quantities of rain we've been having. I think eight or nine inches in a month was about the most I remember (we average between 3 1/2 - 4 inches per month).

I don't know the exact total, but this March we've had between 15 and 17 inches of rain. We had two storms where it poured nonstop for about three days. It was the rainiest March ever, and close to the rainiest month ever. There was lots of flooding in the area, and several counties including ours have been declared federal disaster areas (one bright side is that we have until May 11th to file taxes!).

How did we fare? Better than our friends the Faulkners in Winchester, who ended up with knee-deep water in the garage, five feet in their basement, and not a bit of lawn left to see. We had put a French drain on the uphill side of our house, and that really helped because we had no water where we've had it before. But, we got water coming in on the downhill side. Bridges set up a second sump pump, but we still had about an inch of water in two rooms in the basement. We had to move some things around, and Bridges spent a fair amount of time cleaning up water.

The horrible thing about it was that because the two big storms were separated by over a week, everyone had pretty much just gotten cleaned up from the first when it started raining again.

Springtime for Bears

Clara's preschool always does this cute thing about hibernation. At the beginning of winter, the class paints a bear "cave" (cardboard box), and they put a stuffed bear inside with a sign saying "Bear Sleeping." Then as spring nears they start talking about how the bear is going to wake up because spring is coming. They then pick a particular day, and then have a party and watch the bear wake up.

There's even a song that goes to the tune of Brother John:

Bears are sleeping, bears are sleeping,

In their lairs, in their lairs,

Soon it will be springtime, soon it will be springtime,

Wake up bears, wake up bears.

We've been practicing rounds with these lyrics.

Well, yesterday was the big day. Each child is allowed to bring a favorite stuffed bear or animal in for the day. Clara, of course, chose Tiger. She was so excited.

When I picked her up, I asked her if she got to hold Tiger all day, and cuddle with him.

"What was it like, Clara?" I said.

"Mommy," she said, "it was just like Christmas!"

Spring!

It's warm enough to play outside in the sandbox!

But, later that afternoon, it's quite a bit chillier at the beach when we go visit Nicole and her kids in Manchester. Brrrr......

The beach minus about four feet of sand after the last storm

How would you like to live here?

MGC Website

I was just looking at Mass Gymnastics's website, and noticed this picture of Lee.

Mommy Beans

The kids call Edamame "Mommy Beans." I like that.

Fruitlands

Today we visited Fruitlands Museum in Harvard, MA. What a beautiful spot!

I love outdoor sculpture, and this exhibit of tree people ranked up there with the giant bugs we saw at Garden in the Woods last year.

How can this face possibly be so expressive?

Fire, What Fire?

Last night I put the kettle on (yes, the second kettle we've bought that only intermittently whistles), left the room, and forgot about it. Half an hour later, the smoke alarms went off. Twice.

Well, the kettle is ruined, which is probably for the best, because I can try yet another model.

Also, I've now verified that my kids will sleep right through a smoke alarm. It's actually a bit scary, and is a stark reminder of how much we serve as protector in our role as parent.

Gray Hair

So I've been letting the color grow out of my hair, and the gray is coming through. This has brought up discussions surrounding gray hair and grandmothers.

Yesterday while were getting in the car, Lee must have said something to Clara while I walked around the car. When I leaned in to buckle in Clara, she had tears streaming down her face, and she said to me, "Mommy, I don't want you to be a grandmother!"

Holy Moly Guacamole Chicken Sauce!

This is Lee's favorite expression of amazement. I have no idea where the "chicken sauce" came from.

Kiersten and Corleigh

And, of course Katie. Just hanging out as usual.

Telling Time

Bridges asked me the other day whose bright idea it was to teach Lee to tell time. She's obsessed with reading the clock.

I had to agree this morning when she said to me "Mommy, you're eight minutes late!"

Maple Sugaring

This morning we went to a maple sugaring class taught by two homeschooled girls. It was really fun, and they did a nice job.

Rebecca & Sophie

Clara & Lee carrying a bucket of sap inside

Drilling into the tree

Hammering in the tap

Clara tasting real maple syrup

They gave us a gallon of sap to bring home and we're boiling it right now. We should get about 1/4 cup or so of syrup. Perhaps we'll make maple candy instead.

The family also had two goats. The girls fed the goats banana peels.

What Diversity?

I was reminded of the lack of diversity in our town (actually we do have large Indian, Asian, and Russian populations, but very few blacks) when Lee asked me in the middle of JFK airport "Mommy, why are there so many people here with dark skin?"

I remembered the 2008 election, when the kids would pick out pictures of Obama and say "Look, there's Obama!" It was awfully cute, until they started pointing at any tall black man they saw and saying "Look, there's Obama!"

The Fells

Clara gamely bringing up the rear

What better than rain boots and a lot of mud?

Big Rock

Clara gets a ride

Home School for Clara

I had to laugh the other morning when Lee said to me, "Mommy, Clara can count to 63!"

There they were, side by side at the easel, and Lee had written the numbers from 1 to 63 and was teaching Clara to count that high. This is exactly what Deb supposedly did with me when I was a little girl.

Clara is so interested in everything that Lee is learning. A few months ago she asked for her own workbooks, so I bought her a few Kumon books. But now, she wants the same books that Lee has. "When can I have my own math book?" she asks.

Harmony

The other day the girls were being very quiet (often a sign that something is up), and when I went to check on them, I found them sitting side by side, each intently coloring opposite pages in a coloring book.

It was so incredibly sweet. I know they'll have periods where they don't get along well, but they're so close now it's hard to imagine.

The Solar System

I bought a sheet of planet stickers. They are in scale, and even Pluto is represented, despite its new status as a "dwarf plant."

We decided to put them up on the windows around the house with an attempt to show approximate distances between. Well, that's a lesson.

Mercury, Earth, Venus, and Mars are all within about six feet of each other, and Mercury would be just a few feet from the edge of the sun. The Earth is 3-inches across, and given that the sun would be taller than the house. Jupiter is in the dining room, Saturn is in the living room, Uranus is all the way around the house in the bathroom, and if you continue upstairs and walk around the house again, Neptune is up there.

We left out Pluto.

Grrr.....

Clara, unlike Lee, loves to stay for lunch at school. Because Lee doesn't go to school and therefore doesn't need a lunch box, Clara's been using the purple insulated bag we own that has "LEE" written on it.

She's not too happy about this, and has apparently told everyone this. So, after a few comments by her teachers, I felt shamed into buying her her own lunchbox.

I wasn't actually sure where to buy a lunch box in town, but I happened to be in the toy store yesterday and asked if they had one. "I do, but I just have one left, " said the owner, and as she glanced at my cute little girl she kind of whispered, "but it's a tiger." The insinuation was that no self-respecting girl would take anything but a princess or Dora lunchbox to school.

"Perfect!" I laughed. Clara was thrilled. She took a Sharpie and wrote her name on the back, and took it to school today.

Good Guys, Bad Guys

There's been a lot of talk about good guys and bad guys around here lately. I think it began after watching Star Wars.

The other day they were involved in some pretend play, and I heard Clara say "No, that's a good guy. Good guys don't die."

My heart always hurts a bit when I hear them make statements full of such innocence. Those are the times I find myself wishing they just didn't have to grow up.

Clara's Latest Artwork