Projectors and Rock Climbing.

What a fun day! It started out a bit rocky as Sam is still on Bubba Standard Time (aka - getting up at 6am to watch cartoons and snuggle on the couch...Momma isn't that nice.). After everyone woke up and had breakfast, we were off to a great start.

First up, the overhead projector that we got from Russ's Aunt Suzy. I knew this sucker would get some major use! It was used for HOURS today.

Introducing it to Brooklyn, as Sam was occupied with Starfall on the computer. We decided to try out the dry erase markers first.

Ignore the pile of dirty laundry and the gigantic dehumidifier in the back there...ugh. (For those of you who aren't aware, we came home from Christmas (a 12 day adventure) to find our house flooded. A hot water pipe had broken early on and it was so humid there was water dripping from the ceiling and mold growing on many things...rice cooker, cell phone charger...GROSS! We have to have the dehumidifiers for a week, according to our awesome neighbors (one is a plumber, the other a contractor).).We decided to move it to a bigger wall. We had so much fun! While they played with markers, I laminated some colored tissue paper shapes so they could build images with those and use them on the lightbox we got for Christmas as well. Then we played lots of games--spelling games, letter hunting games, number games, shapes, reading...lots of fun. After Sam took the scissors to many of the shapes I'd spent a good chunk of time making, claiming he was making puzzles...sigh...we decided to take a break and read some books.
The kids love snuggling in my bed, so I set up one of their bookshelves in my room, packed with their books in hopes that they'd be more apt to ask to be read to. Sam chose a book on spiders and another on Venus Flytraps. They were enthralled at the old, stale book! They got too sidetracked pretending to be flytraps that we had to put the book away.

I love it when they recite through play things that we discuss. Here, Brooklyn was saying, "Okay Sam, come fly into my pods and step on my hairs so I can start digesting you." Then Sam would say, "I smell that sweet smell...bzz bzz...step step. Oops, I'm gone." Brooklyn, "Yum! See you in 8 to 10 days!"
And then of course it turns into Full-Body Flytraps..."The more you struggle, the harder I squeeze and more digestive juices I have, Sam!" Goofballs.
Today was rock climbing day!! We've missed it for several weeks, and we were all excited to get back to the gym. Turns out, the kids weren't quite as excited as they'd THOUGHT they were...Sam climbed the easiest one once, and Brooklyn climbed a couple of times but was SO cranky! She's usually climbing the entire time, but she plopped her butt on the couch, crossed her arms and pouted for probably a good 45 minutes. Sheesh. Oh well, at least Russ and I had fun!! I got to climb more than I have in the past probably 7 years combined!! And I rocked it!!

Here's Brooklyn on her incredibly frustrating climb...

If she thinks it's too hard, she will pout and whine and cry...but if you say, "Okay, ready to get down?" "NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!" Stubborn little...I have NO idea where she got THAT from...lol.

But give her lots of patience and a little help and she'll do it nearly every time. And then after that first painful time, she'll sail right on up every time after that.

After Brook and Sam decided they were done climbing (which was about a half hour after we got there...it's a 2 hour session), Sam entertained himself for the rest of the time by throwing his socks up and down the stairs. No joke. An hour and a half of it...sigh, boys. And Brook sulked for awhile, then made a friend with another homeschool girl, and then decided she was going to be a photographer for awhile.

I have about 50 photos of nothing but either black or white, lol, and when she took my camera into Trader Joe's, the cashier literally looked at me like I was insane when I brushed her off after she warned me against letting my daughter play with it. Meanwhile, I got this cute shot of Sam that Brook took while I was inside the store running errands.

After Trader Joe's, the weather was so nice...and it's only a mile or so from the house, so I asked Russ if he minded if I jogged home since I was already in my sweaty workout gear from being at the rock climbing gym. At first it felt really good--it's been months since I've done any sort of exercise by myself. And it felt DOUBLY good when I got not one, but TWO people honking before even getting 2 blocks. One guy even strained his neck to look back at me as he drove by! Although I have a feeling his double-take and increase in speed had nothing to do with the fact that I looked something akin to this...

photo credit: reneemynette.wordpress.com
A bit older, a bit more female, a bit more gaspy, a bit greasy from a lack of a shower in 3 days, and boy did I have to pee. I'm sure I looked quite the hot mess. But hey, I got those honks!! ...at least I know my backside looks decent.

Anyways, we got all the fixins for Russ to make some homemade pizza (garlic free...sad, so so sad). While waiting, we called our Bubba and wished her a happy 9th birthday. Yes, 9th. Real birth years don't apply to Bubbas. And then some much-needed bath time.

I'm ecstatic that Sam is finally showing some interest in letters and their sounds. Brook was SO vocal and interested in reading and letters at an early age that I feel like Sam is so behind. ...even though he can do other things that Brooklyn can't do. Anyways, so I guess I'm just a bit relieved now that he's starting to at least show SOME sort of interest in it.

"S-A-M, Sam! That's me!"

Coming up tomorrow...Brooklyn got wind of Livermore's Polar Bear Splash. Apparently they turn on the waterslide at the Livermore water park and whoever wants can take the plunge into the cold water. At least it's supposed to be in the low 60s, but still... Russ and I are still trying to decide on whether or not to support her from the stands or by joining her...eek!