Thursday

While I was taking in the laundry I saw this group of male mallards under the tree.  I tried to take a video because they were so talkative!  But just a low buzz - it was like a party where everyone was calmly chatting.

 

Joshua decided to try this route today - it was a 5.10+ and 5.11-.  (He rainbow climbed, which meant he used both routes.  It tends to make climbing much easier.)  However, those values are still really hard.  Isaac has done a 5.10 before but that's his current max.  Anyway, the nice thing about the rope is that I can actively belay.  There were a few times I pulled Joshua up a few inches so that he could reach the next hand-hold...I think we both had fun with it.

Wednesday: times tables

This weekend Joshua asked me if he could play a computer math game, and we settled on multiplication 1-12.  That made me wonder...why do we learn through 12 by heart?  That's a weird number.  Why not 10?  Or 15?

My guess was clocks.

The internet was helpful!  Well, mostly helpful.  The first result helpfully reminded me that multiplication tables don't stop at 12 but go through infinity.  It went on to say that there used to be 12 pence in a shilling in England, so to do any shopping you needed to know through your x12 well.

As I'm thinking about this, I realize I use my x12 fairly often.  Sometimes converting between hours and days, sometimes between inches and feet.  So I guess it's still important to have them memorized.

Tuesday: life

 

Ben is gone for work this week, so I've had this cutie sleep next to me.  He sleeps over on his side pretty well, although I had gotten all ready for bed, moved some things around, and whatnot while he stayed asleep.  When I finally got into bed he turned over and said, "I can't get to sleep!"  I told him he was sleeping and to just go back to sleep.

There was another box sighting in the morning.

Isaac finished his belay test at rock climbing today!  Since Joshua was with us he helped with the official test this time.

And then he belayed me, all by himself.  I promised you a picture of the sandbags.  Oh shoot.  We forgot to put them away.

I also completed the route that I've been working on for a while!  It's only rated a VB+, but is in a rainbow shape and I was having a really hard time going down.  Isaac had coached me through it a lot on previous days, and I got it the first time I tried it this time!  Of course, no one was watching.

We talked with Ben a bit in the evening.  It wouldn't be a family talk without all the lovies too.

Monday: box

Who needs toys when you have a box?

Sunday: nursery

Today we (Isaac, Joshua, and myself) helped out in nursery at church.  I remember when I was required to help out in nursery and not loving it at all.  I just wanted to get away from little kids for an hour but instead was with additional little kids.  I told myself that I should help out (when my kids were older) to help give the moms a break.  Up until this point, I had no desire to do so.  But now Isaac is old enough to be an official helper and I thought it would be good to expose both kids to small children.

Both of them did a really good job.  Isaac ended up by the kitchen area of the room and stayed there for almost the whole hour.  Joshua floated around a little more, but played with the kids well.  There were quite a few kids, but only one that had any trouble separating from their parent; it was a rather calm session overall.

You could tell the kids were thinking about it a fair amount, because they had assorted comments and questions over the next few hours.

Saturday: out

 This morning Isaac (and I) took a belay class.  So now he can belay me!!  He was weighed down with a ton of sandbags though...it looked pretty funny.  I'll get a picture soon.

This evening we went over to a friend's house for dinner.  The kids had a great time playing, especially on the trampoline, and the adults enjoyed talking.

Friday: life

I got stuff done today.  I finished cleaning the baseboards and the closets in the bedroom.  I was already half way done with the closets but still managed to take a lot out.  It felt good.  I also did a quick clean by my desk and it was needed.

Joshua and I went to Captain Sundae tonight.  He had a gift certificate and we both had good ice creams.  However, we didn't have a ton of things to talk about.