My Babes go Back to School

Well, today was the first day of school for my little babes. Mila started 4th grade at Kershaw Intermediate and Tallis is in Miss Joy's 1st grade class. (Maybe it's Miss Jill? I can never keep them straight.) I rode my bike over with Tal to introduce him and get him settled . . . Devan took Mila and then met me at Central. Moms and kids were everywhere. I love the first day of school.

I remember the first day of second grade right after we moved to Idaho. I wore blue and white polkadot polyester pants--bellbottoms, of course--and a Hollie Hobbie shirt. I dropped my schoolbox, which was dark blue with a space scene on it, and marbles and erasers went everywhere. Mrs. Bills was my teacher. I was late, and they had to move a new desk in for me. I was very solemn.

What are your memories of starting school?

A Fun Day With Tallis

Yesterday was a great day with my good boy. First he crawled into my bed and snuggled up. Even though he really needed a bath, I loved to squeeze him and see all of the grime on his fingers and toes. Then he read a story about shadows to me from an old school reading textbook. There were a few projects listed, like learning about the role of the sun and clouds (we used a flashlight and a small stuffed Snuffalupagus to demonstrate), making shadow figures, and setting up an object outside to use as a "shadow clock."

Later in the morning he did his piano practice. He is thrilled to have learned "Peter Peter" on the black keys. He will play it for anyone. He plays it non-stop.

In the afternoon he came into my room from playing. I asked him if he would "gopher" for me. He said, "Yes, Mom!" and spent about a half-an-hour running little errands for me. When he was not busy he played quietly with a spatial reasoning block set Devan had found for him at D.I. I tried the block set . . . I couldn't do it. Tallis loves it and has figured out many of the cards. He is amazing.

I love my boy. He is cute and grimy and loud and joyful.

Yummy Recipe (I'm guessing)

I just saw a recipe for this, and although I don't have any watermelon right now, I thought it sounded great.

Watermelon Mint Ice Cubes

1 1/2 cups watermelon, seeded and diced
1/2 c. water
1 TBSP honey
1 TBSP fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP sugar
24 small mint leaves

1. Combine watermelon, water, honey, lemon juice, and sugar in a blender and blend until smooth.
2. Place mint leaves in ice cube trays (though in the picture I saw in the magazine, the mint was chopped up) . Pour watermelon mixture into trays. Freeze.

Use these ice cubes with lemonade, sprite, or whatever. I wonder if this would also taste good with lemon thyme or something like that; perhaps you could make something similar with raspberries or another kind of soft fruit or melon.