Wave!

Hi! I'm still here, though some days it feels as though I'm barely here.

As the school year winds down, my stress levels (and the amount of time I have to spend addressing work matters) goes way, way up.

Hence, my lack of presence around the blogosphere.

sigh

I promise, I will be back soon. (The countdown currently stands at 9.5 days left in the school year!)

And when I come back, Purple Brick Road will be bursting (yes, BURSTING, I say!) with posts on Mother's Day, homeschool, teaching the nontraditional learner, faith, gardening, kidspeak, recipes and maybe even a good, old fashioned giveaway or two.

For now, I will leave you with a photo of my Mother's Day gift. My husband & boys are so awesome!

Sorry the quality of the photo is so bad. The problem with wanting to take a photo of one's fancy new camera is that you have to take the photo of the fancy camera with the less than fancy camera on the iPhone.

Oh yeah, I'll also be posting all about my hi-jinx adventures in learning to use this thing...

This and That

1) I absolutely LOVED this week's episode of Glee. If your DVR missed part of it (because of AI) you can go to hulu.com and watch it. It's totally worth it; the last number was awesome.

2) Speaking of our boys, Tyson brought home a new project from school. Since he is nearing the end of first grade, they are beginning to work on project-type assignments. Each student in the class has been assigned a different Beatrix Potter book to read. They will then be making watercolor stick puppets of the main character and doing an oral book report for the class. The book that Ty has been assigned is called, "A Squirrel Called Nutkin." I would like to know if anyone else has read this book, or if anyone's kids have read the book. I would love to hear what you have to say about it... because I'll be posting my thoughts on the story later this weekend. If you are familiar with the story, will you please leave a comment and let me know what you thought of it? If you haven't read it and would like to, it's public domain and is available on several internet sites. It's a quick read.

3) Speaking of Tyson, he started therapeutic listening today. I can't begin to explain how it works in this scatter-brained short post, but basically, he listens to electronically modified music through these ginormous bulbous rather large headphones which further alter the music. He does this for 30 minutes, two times each day. It is meant to better organize his cochlear-vestibular system. I will post more about this later, too. But I had to mention it because I am cautiously hopeful and praying that this will be just what he needs to get him on track. He listened this afternoon, and I'm not really sure if I saw a difference... but it was only the first time. So I guess we'll see.

4) The garden is planted! And is struggling to remain alive whilst the plants figure out how to grow in the terrible soil I have. It is seriously. bad. If we ever need to go back to making clay pots or bowls or houses, my garden is full of the stuff we'll need. I still need to get the corn, spinach and a few other things planted, but for now I'm very tense about the whole thing. These first couple of weeks are what will determine how much produce we harvest later this summer. I got the soaker hose put out tonight... just in time for the rain! (And please, don't ever tell me that God doesn't have a sense of humor. I'm quite sure he chuckles over me often.)

5)There are only FIVE MORE WEEKS OF SCHOOL!!!!! (Yes, for the record, when you were in school, counting down the days and fighting off spring fever... the teachers were much, much worse than you. That's the dirty little secret of school faculty: when it comes to snow days and vacations, they are far worse than the students!)

6) I do appreciate that you stopped by! And I hope you have a blessed day!

This and That

Hi, Ya'll! It's Friday, and I have just a couple of quick things to share.

If you're a knitter, be sure to stop by my other blog to check out photos of my new FO (Finished Object). I did some fingerless mitts that turned out great. Also, I'm looking for some advice on making these lovely wool mitts less like a torture device scratchy. So if anyone has any ideas, I am completely open to hearing them!
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I'm still reading along through the Bible in 90 Days. I have left the OT behind. It's nice to be out of there. I mean, don't get me wrong, I know there is really important stuff in the Old Testament. But the end of it is just such a downer. Also, if it was a movie, it would be rated R for violent content. I have to admit that I was a little uncomfortable with reading so much about God's anger toward Isreal and the nations... and what he did to Jerusalem. I wasn't raised with those stories, or with that "side" of God. I mean, He definitely gave them chance after chance after chance... and I just think that if I had seen all those miracles and wonders that He did I would have been a little more devout in my faith. I am still confused about why His chosen people just couldn't seem to get it together and keep it together. I mean, I know that they couldn't keep the Law absolutely. The broken and sinful nature of man would never allow that. (Plus, it was a lot of rules to remember.) But, really. I do not have any idea how it is that after they witnessed the plagues and were delivered out of Egypt, that first generation went off & made a golden idol just because Moses was gone a little longer than they expected.

And later, when Jeremiah (now I know why they call him the Weeping Prophet) was telling them about the destruction and all the death and disease that would come to them.... I don't understand why they didn't get it together. He was pretty clear and explicit in his prophesies.

Now I'm in the book of Mark, and the reading is flying by. Although I have read bits & pieces of the new Testament, I've never actually read it through. The religious group I was raised in had its favorite verses, and pretty well stuck to them exclusively. But really, is there anything better than reading the Gospel? I mean, I can't put it down! I love reading all those red words, and I think I got all teary eyed about 23 times in Matthew. Jesus is just so awesome! (Yes, I'm a dork --> Goooo Jesus!!!! *Does a hurky*) A few of His parables have confused me, but He usually explained them, so I usually figure it out. I've still got a few question marks, but I'm trying not to get hung up on them.
*Don't know what a "hurky" is? You could ask Smockity. She sent me a great picture of one!*
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We had a sick little boy this week. I got to take off work on Wednesday to take care of him. I was bummed that he was sick, but it was really nice to spend the whole day with my "baby." He spent the entire day snuggling me, Nani-Bear and his "Foofy." Doesn't he look so pitiful?

He's better now, and back to tearing up life (and my house) at breakneck speed!