Go to the River!

(Photo courtesy of Simona, the mom with the phone.)

If you have been to any of my seminars for homeschooling, you are well aware that the river is my escape from schooling when it isn’t exactly working out as planned… and my fill-in for science. Look, plants! Look, frogs!

Homeschooling is hard, friends. But God made rivers and saw that they were good.

When kids can’t read when they “should”… go to the river.

When kids can’t remember the math operations you taught them yesterday… go to the river.

When children born in America who only have one language can’t seem to speak or spell their native tongue… go to the river.

See? It works wonders in multiple situations. We have been going to the Verde River in north east Scottsdale for 15 or 16 years. When we discovered it, it was an undeveloped reedy wonderland of huge stones, polliwogs and secret tunnels in the cattails. My kids LOVED it. I loved it, who are we kidding here?

Our minivan braved the rocky banks many times before the Tonto National Forest folks paved most of the road, cleared the rocks for a parking lot, put up barriers so you can’t accidentally drive into the river, and placed porta-potties for our general convenience. It is still just as grand and adventurous as the days of old… minus the standing water filled with frogs eggs. I miss that.

Phoenix has met or broken more heat records this year in the last month than I remember in all 19 years that we have lived here. It was 91 on Friday, MARCH 4th so I summoned some homeschool peeps and we went to the river. In the shade of the buzzing trees (Bees were very busy collecting pollen!  Science… check!) it was ideal for us moms to sit and relax in our camping chairs.

The water, however, was straight from high country snow melt and had the 17-year-old almost-men screaming like little girls because of the chill. My brave little Colombian princess was the first one all the way under… which is a BIG deal because she only went in up to her ankles for the first hour. I think her feet went numb and her brain froze and then she went all the way in.

As usual science naturally occurred. The kids gathered flowers for me when they saw my nature journal. The boys picked cattails and had sword fights. Several kids discovered a dead possum and examined its claws and teeth. Most importantly, they enjoyed being out in God’s creation and so did every one of the moms.

Please, go to the river. You need it. Your kids need it. Consider it Spring Break.

 

Post Wreckage Wisdom

Before this past Saturday, the previous car accident I participated in was in 1999 in Anaheim, California.  Thankfully I have been fender bender free for 14 joyous years. (However, in my current state of narcotic use, I could easily and most probably be missing large periods of my life in my memory banks.)  When one meanders through life without hitting other vehicles, you tend to forget many important facts regarding collisions.  This morning, at 4:06 a.m., I am here to inform all those who need informing on said subject.

1.  Accidents happen when you least expect it and when it is not convenient in your life.  In my case, I was casually  heading to Bed Bath and Beyond to purchase a much needed shower curtain liner for the main bath due to visitors who were scheduled to arrive at my home in exactly four hours.  My daughter and two friends were descending upon our house for Spring Break from college in Tulsa, Oklahoma, a mere 14 hour drive to Phoenix, Arizona.  Two days after their arrival, three Canadian relatives were also visiting for a week.  Hence, the new shower curtain liner was MANDATORY.

2.  Teenage drivers are a danger on the road.  Out of a neighborhood shopping center driveway (right next to Charming Charlie’s purse/accessory mother ship store) a small white vehicle came flying directly into my lane from the right without any warning time, hindering me from doing all those things you know you should do when you figure out you’re are going to hit another car, i.e. brake, scream “Sweet mother of God!”, brace yourself so as to increase muscle injuries, curse the driver’s day of birth, yell at your kids “Hang on, Mommy’s going to hit someone!” or any other such nonsense. I glanced at the car and slammed into it.  That is all.  I never saw the driver’s face as she was looking to her right the entire time she was entering the four lane road, planning on crossing two lanes of traffic.  The kind police man asked me how long I had between my visual awareness of the other car and impact.  “One second.”  I have since wondered about her actions.  Did she just find the queen mother purse to match her favorite hot pink and cheetah print shoes, and couldn’t wait to get home and unite the two, creating the perfect ensemble?  Did she just eat at the Mellow Mushroom and was in a pasta induced coma with garlic permeating from her pores?  We will never know, dear reader.

3.  When the kind police man finished my inquisition and then glanced in the back seat of the van to witness a tear-stained little Latina child, he should have used his kind policeman voice and asked a politically correct question like, “Who is this little sweetheart?” or “I see we have a princess in the back seat.” or “Honey, are you ok?”  But NO.  He got the wrath of the blubbering adoptive mother when he blurted out, “Who is THAT?” like I picked up an illegal alien down by the border and was transporting her color-coordinated, well manicured dimpled self like a criminal. I will admit I answered a bit tersely, “SHE’S MY DAUGHTER!!!!”  My tone set him in his place and his kind police man voice surfaced as he praised her for being in her booster seat and wearing her seatbelt.  I am a protective mama first, and an injured car passenger second. Don’t ever forget that!

4.  Auto injuries are curious beasts.  Due to the impact of the airbag underneath the steering column of our van, my shins took a real beating.  I did not know there was an airbag under there, nor was I aware that it was hinged from the bottom and the molded plastic cover was capable of shaving your legs so thoroughly upon explosion, you might never need to shave them ever again due to the absence of several layers of skin and hair follicles.  Thank God I was wearing jeans.  As was predicted by my ER doctor friend, other injuries will surface when the most intense injuries subside.  After four days of lying on the couch with my legs elevated and iced every hour around the clock, I was able to stand without tears accumulating in my eyes.  Then I realized my right shoulder was not working as well as it had been performing before the white car jumped in my path.  Yesterday x-rays were had and after two days of icing my shoulder every hour around the clock, we will hopefully have some answers tomorrow as to my gimpy limb.  When that is concluded, I do not know what will make me cry next…. the seatbelt bruise line across my entire torso?  Or some other area still in shock waiting to surface.  I will surely keep you posted, even though I am aware of “women’s tea rules of courtesy” of not speaking of sickness or operations.  This ain’t a tea…. it is my blog, and where else can I complain with my sense of humor intact for the enjoyment of others?

5.  God takes care of His children.  When God found our new-to-us van on November 30, 2012, He was testing my thankfulness at receiving such a good and perfect gift from Him, despite it being red.  Red is my least favorite color.  But I WAS thankful for the van… the low miles, the reasonable price, the stow-n-go compartments to haul more junk, the awesome air-conditioning, the radio controls on the back of the steering wheel, etc.  And I was content knowing that I couldn’t see that it was red while I was riding in the van. I imagined that it was a purty royal blue color.  So I am pretty sure I passed the red van test and now get another new-to-us van that is not red.  I will keep you posted.

Currently my pain meds have once again done their duty and I am ready to drift back to a psycho-dream filled sleep.  Good night for now.

Spring Break #1, 2012

I love homeschooling.  I think I’ve mentioned that here before.  I love it for several reasons…. one of them being the freedom to make and follow (or not) your own schedule.  So, way back in August when our co-op moms were deciding on Spring Break, we picked the first week of April.  That sounded good to all of us.  Done.  Bam.  Then last week we got a call from my husband’s brother asking if we wanted a week of company for their Spring Break.  SURE!  So today wrapped up Spring Break #1.

Next week starts Spring Break #2, only because it was already on the schedule and we don’t have to go to class on Wednesday as per usual.  The Crosby’s will be doing school work, but it will be a tad relaxed.  And everybody said…. AMEN! 

Spring Break #3 will be later in April, when our son has a cycling race in Monterey.  We don’t plan to bring any school work on that trip either.  I did alert the pupils that the same amount of math, history and English will need to be done by the end of Spring Break #3….  in order to keep the water flowing in the primed schoolwork pump. 

See why I love homeschooling?  Here is a photo tribute to spring Break #1, 2012.

Street Hockey Championship in the cul-de-sac.

The Metate Trail in the Spur Cross Recreational Area…. HUGE saguaros!

What would a hike be without some planking?

And to finish off hike #1…. some ruins. 

Spring Break #1, Hike #2 at Black Canyon Recreation Trail

The cacti are just beginning to bloom their AMAZING blossoms.

And we discovered there was a river at the bottom of the trial….. that we didn’t plan on… in time, water or food… so we will return to this hike someday when we are prepared.

Goodbye Spring Break #1.  Hello Spring Break #2!  (I love homeschooling.)

SpRiNg BrEaK!

Yes, we are a week late, but for a good reason.  Homeschoolers can take Spring Break whenever they want to!  So we did school all last week while our friends played.  This week, Rick’s brother, wife and daughter are in town to PLAY!  It started yesterday and shall continue for another six days!  WhoOoooo HOoooOOoo!

Today’s business was: street hockey game, dressmaking and container gardening.  Unsurprisingly, I chose container gardening.  (Only because I had half of the soil mixed on the tarp when the trip to the fabric store was announced.)  After much calculating and price shopping, the final mix for the ultimate container vegetable garden turned out to be: 1 cf (cubic foot) each of perlite, peat moss, compost and mulch.  There are so many different mix recipes out there, I had to do my research.  I do like the book The Square Foot Garden, but his mix is very expensive.  So I found all the ingredients and mixed it myself, well, with the help of my two sons and my 7-year-old daughter who LOVES to help!  And I added mulch.  Hey, it’s cheap and adds roughage to the mix.

Funniest thing happened as me and my sister-in-law were leaving the store with a flat-bed cart piled with huge soil bags….. the cart hit the first of the pavement bumps leading to our get-away car and half of the bags fell off onto the ground.  As we were laughing and setting our purses down to pick them up, a lady in a wheel chair pulled up and asked if she could help.  “Sure!”  (I was thinking, what exactly is she planning on doing to help???)  She held the cart still while we piled the bags a bit more securely.  That was nice!

One thing I did know was NOT to use the soil in the ground in AZ!  It is the same clay that the Hohokam Indians used to make clay pots.  After the sun shines on the clay soil at 120 degrees, it is as hard as a clay pot fresh out of the kiln!

As mentioned before, I was given large plastic barrels that were cut in half long-ways for my containers.  Yes, the hardware store sells cute little wooden fences for a 4’x4′ garden bed, but like I said, these were FREE!  And required next-to-nothing in set up.  I filled six of them today with my miracle mix and will plant tomorrow.  The heat and sunshine are always a concern here for wilting plants in the summer, so I lined the barrels along the west wall of our backyard, so they only get sun until 2:00.  Then they can recover until the next morning sunshine kisses their little leaves again.

(Pictures to follow when plants appear.)

Old Dog Learns New Tricks

Here we are at our friend’s, Bruce and Connie, house in California… playing the train game Ticket to Ride.  Obviously someone just did something naughty…. you can tell by the faces in this photo. I’ve been friends with these folks for over 30 years.  WOW!  We still try to get together every year for a vacation of games, movies, laughs and more games.

 

In March when we were dealt the unwanted hand of “no more hockey” for our 13-year-old hockey-loving son, we cried for two days and then went to Bruce and Connie’s house for a week.  We needed the friendship… the laughs… the games.. the distraction from the life we’ve known for eight years that ended abruptly… and the life we thought we would be living for another eight years at least. 

 

While we were freeloading at their home, I learned two valuable tidbits from my friend, Connie. 

 

#1.  If you put parchment paper on the baking sheets while you bake cookies it makes your life easier, tidier, quicker and your cookies look WAY better.  She’s probably known this trick for years, but kept it a BIG FAT secret until this past March.  It’s only been two months since that miraculous discovery and I’m already on my second box of parchment paper.  Totally awesome!

 

#2.  Women who are slowly losing their sight REALLY should invest in a 10X magnifying mirror for the sake of their eyebrows.  I asked Connie for a mirror and she handed me this little gem.  I took one glance and was horrified at the condition of my blind eyebrow tweezing ability.  I have since purchased a purple $3 10X magnifying mirror at Walmart and my life is forever changed. 

 

There you have it.  Old dog learns new tricks.  It is possible.  (Makes me wonder what else Connie has been holding out on me???)

Weather Report from AZ

We were getting a bit concerned here in Phoenix last week when the Spring Break temperatures passed 90*F.  Yikes.  Those are not March numbers!  I tried not to think ahead to the summer of sweltering days and stuffy nights.  All five of us got sunburned in one area or another while fishing at the river.  We all put on sunscreen… but obviously not very effectively. I have distinct red triangles on the tops of my feet.  Larisa was wearing water shoes, so she is only burnt in little circles around her ankles.  Keeve put on sunscreen and then changed shirts to one with a larger neck hole… so he has a crimson necklace.  Austin’s shoulders and neck got kissed by the sun.  And I’m not sure Rick ever used sunscreen, but his skin tans so quickly, he never turned red… before the lovely bronze color emerged.

Good news appeared outside this morning on our thermometer… 55*F… oh, thank you, Jesus.  It’s actually chilly in our house.  While I read to the boys, one curled up in a blanket and the other went and changed from shorts to pants.  Yes, it’s sunny, and yes, summer is still going to burn our bare feet, but for today… it’s a lovely March crisp day outside.  It’s 1:00 now and we’ve only made it to 65*F.  Perfect outside activity weather.  LOVE THIS!

Spring Break Shakedown

OK, I just need to start by saying that I will NEVER sleep on the dirt again, as long as I have all my faculties and am conscious of where I am lying.   We left for camping yesterday.  We came home from camping today.  The timing couldn’t have been better for my aching bones.  Thankfully it was only an hour from home and the campsite was lovely.  I probably woke up 20 times last night… and every time I did I would think, “OH good!  That means I actually fell asleep for a little bit.”  I’m even a positive thinking when half conscious. 

The first time I opened my eyes and could see past my hand, I was out of that tent and off to the river to catch lunch.  Austin was right behind me and we made so much noise getting dressed, that Larisa came too.  Did we catch fish?  No.  We did catch other things.  And we know there were plenty of hungry fish in the Verde River because they taunted and teased us all day long by jumping out of the river to show us that they were there.  They even jumped within 6 feet of where I was standing… casting and reeling… casting and reeling. And in case you are planning a fishing excursion to the Verde River at Needle Rock Campground, the fish do not eat the following things on hooks:  power bait in green or pink, marshmallows, corn, bacon, potatoes, scrambled eggs, ramen noodles (hard or soft), and by the way, the little piece of red fabric tied to the lure didn’t seem to help either.

We did eat fabulous food for camping:  steak shish-kabobs with rice, jiffy pop (told you!), breakfast hash, Chinese Chicken salad and of course smores.  As usual, we came up with a famous Crosby lines from our trip. (This is a family custom, so we will always have these inside jokes about our trips together.)  This trip’s line was Keeve’s answer to “When do you want to go home?”  It was discussed that we would leave at about 6:30 or 8:30 pm after another campfire dinner and family time around the burning wood.  The kids were asked at 2:00 when they wanted to go home, meaning, 6:30 or 8:30…. Keeve’s answer:  “How ’bout 30 minutes.”  He did have fun, but was stuffed up the whole trip and then got a rash on his legs from his wet bathing suit.  :o(  Poor boy.

You want pictures????  Of course you do!

What in the world is the last picture?  You ask?  It’s the place where the midnight prowler scared the beegeebeez out of us.  We were sitting around the fire singing songs (Not Kumbaya either).  Cool songs like Islands in the Stream and some Kutless songs.  Anyway, I made everyone stop singing because I could hear something walking in the bushes.  At first my dear family mocked me and called me names like Chicken Little, Scaredy Cat and Lilly Livered.  But when the Coleman lantern lit up the weeds and they all saw them move, everyone except Rick and I was up on the picnic table in 2 seconds flat.  Rick and I chucked large rocks at the moving weeds and eventually it stopped.  But we took this picture for proof!  See how it’s all smashed down!  Proof!

THE Hike

Yesterday we hiked West Fork Trail 108 in Sedona.  It is past Slide Rock, for those who know the area.  It is a four mile hike that crosses Oak Creek seven times…. on rocks, logs, mud patches and twigs.  Twigs were my personal favorite. Well, it’s actually 14 crossings if you count in and out.  Only one kid fell in from our group.  We did witness another kid fall in twice.  It’s not deep, just FRIGID!

It was an absolutely beautiful day!  Sunny and breezy.  Perfect for hiking.

There was an abandoned homestead on the way to the creek and this was their chicken coop.  Keeve thought it was a barber shop.  Not sure what’s up with that?  Oh, Larisa took all of these pictures.  I carried the sandwiches.

The beauty God mixed together in this valley is sublime.  Red rock, green trees, blue sky, white snow…. yes, you read that correctly… SNOW.

My niece, Whitney, came with us too.  We went with two other families, the Fooks and the Browns.  All together there were 3 moms and 11 kids ranging in age from 6 to 19?  Not sure about that last one.

What a groovy day.  :o)

Kickin’ Off Spring Break

We just finished a unit of Floating and Ships which we wrapped up by renting a boat and spending the morning on Canyon Lake.  It is amazing to me that there are beautiful lakes only an hour outside of Phoenix.  Canyon Lake is one of a chain of three man-made lakes that fill steep canyons bordered with cliffs, cactus and even mountain goats.

This is the perfect time of year to go because it’s not too hot yet.  It was 65F when we arrived and 80F when we left.  I’m not sure who loved it more, the moms or the kids?  We decided we needed to plan some more units that would involve boating…. like animals of the Southwest, plants of the Southwest, classification of rocks, water conservation, gas propulsion, the sun’s effect of exposed skin, etc.  As you can see, there are plenty of times we can return to the calm waters of Canyon Lake.  It was a relaxing morning to kick off Spring Break.  On the way home, we stopped at a ghost town of an 1893 gold mine.  What a tourist trap…. but the kids had fun kickin’ up the dirt and talkin’ like cowboys.

Spring Break is a sweet gift to homeschooling moms.  Makes me smile.

Checked-Off Check-Off Lists… These are a few of my favorite things

Rick was off work yesterday (and he didn’t even break the plane so he could stay home!) so I made a gigantic check-off list of tasks to be completed.  Next week is Spring break and we have house guests coming.  Our home and yard were crying out for attention.  Believe me, they got our full attention yesterday. 

I’m REALLY proficient at making check-off lists.  Some people are born check-offers.  I am a card-carrying, due-paying member of the Check-Off List Cadre.  I’m even the anal type that draws little boxes to be checked off.  Nothing bugs me more than a To-Do list with the items scribbled out so the memory of the task is gone and there is no long-lasting sense of accomplishment.  What’s the point of that?

In my “Save” file, I have a few crinkly, stained check-off lists of old.  My personal favorite is from our Yucca Street house when we decided to sell the 30+ year old home.  Oh my goodness.  That list still makes my head buzz.  We conquered more tasks on that house in six weeks, than we have in all our other houses added together.  Whew.  That’s why I saved it.  Some day when my grown, fully-trained, married and moved-on children call home to complain of a few house repairs, I can copy the list and send it to them.  No sympathy here, baby.  It could also be used as a boost in the caboose, as THEY did a lot of the jobs listed, even at their tender, young ages of 5,7 and 10.

I’m thrilled with Zaza’s room.  The buttery walls melt in your mouth… well maybe not, but I did have an urge to eat popcorn when we finished.  The chair rail is up.  We sank the nails, filled the holes, caulked the corners and repainted over the Spackle.  Oh, it looks GOOOOOOOOOD!  Then, the moment I’ve been waiting for for months… we put the purple bed together.   Makes my heart glad.  Sadly, I don’t have bedding, so I can’t put the picture on the blog yet.  Please stay tuned.

After our house finished crying-out for attention, my arms and legs took on the crying-out task, due to the meed after manual labor.  Good grief, weeding saps your strength! 

I need to go brush my teeth, but my legs hurt just imagining the climb up the stairs.  (Reminds me of my kids’ excuses!)