The other night, I asked Isaac, "How much do you love me?"
"A whole lot," he answered.
"Yes, but, how much if you could measure it?"
He searched his mind and said seriously, "So much that it takes up half of my whole heart. No, more than half."
Every time I think about it, my throat gets a little squeeze of emotion. To be loved that much? Being a mom is so special. I think of all the other people who have to share the space in the smaller half of his heart and it feels like an honor to hold such an important position in his world for this brief moment.
After the morning math worksheets on Thursday, we headed to the Treehouse Children's Museum where there is the most delightful Curious George exhibit until part way through May.
The kids spent a lot of time sending blocks up and watching them slide down on conveyor belts while practicing taking turns.
Kids are the best
Friday, we met friends at the park to enjoy perfect weather and play and the kids got these haircuts:
before
after
I love the ritual Katie and I have established to watch the sunset together every night:
My plan for today (Saturday) was to clean the house and take the kids to Lagoon. Katie had a Birthday party to attend until 3 p.m. and the park closed at 7 p.m. The kids said they would rather have a houseful of friends. So we did. With pizza and rootbeer floats.
Isaac and his friend built this fort in the backyard:
From all of the recent remodel projects, we've accumulated an impressive pile of "scraps" in the back corner of our yard. Right before Brian left for Washington again, he said, "When I get back, I'm going to rent a trailer and clean up our yard." These past two weeks I've been counting down the days for that to happen (there are also two dead trees that blew down in a storm over the winter -- so things look pretty bad).
I think the fort they built is really cool. I also think the neighbors might vote us out of the neighborhood, or, at least pool their money to buy us a fence. Yard etiquette aside, doesn't this remind you of something my generation would have done growing up? They loved it and felt so proud.
This week has been a gift. I don't know how long we will continue on this home school journey. But, right now, we are loving it.
An update on Ian:
Two weeks ago, the stomach flu went through our house. Katie, Isaac and two of the kids I babysit got it for about 24-hours each. Ian got sick too, but he didn't get better for two weeks! On day 5 I called his Dr. who said there was a 7-10 day bug going around. On day 10, I took him in to have him checked out. They drew his blood for tests and concluded that he just had a strain of the stomach flu that was hanging on.
He missed eight days of school and two weekends being sick. He was so skinny to begin with and he lost about 5 pounds. Now he is extremely underweight and it is now my goal to help him put on 10-pounds.
He was so tired and weak and looked like a skeleton, but as soon as he was back to school, he thought he should also be back to doing all of his sports.
I had been told comp basketball would have two practices and one game per week and I thought outdoor soccer would have one practice and one game. It turns out, basketball would have three 90-minute practices plus a game and soccer would also have three practices plus a game.
I was overwhelmed. I didn't want him to be exercising 3-hours per day right after this illness. How am I suppose to keep him fed and help him gain weight when he is keeping that schedule?
I was also overwhelmed because I looked at the calendar right before outdoor soccer started this week and realized Brian will be gone for the ENTIRE season. All of those soccer Saturdays 100% by myself.
The recent illness was concerning me. The logistics of driving Ian to six practices and two games (in addition to all of the other things he and the other three kids have) for the next 10-weeks seemed like too much. I frequently take the kids to all of their things myself. But, at least when Brian is in town I feel hope that he will be there to step in if I need him to.
I decided that Ian had to choose soccer or basketball and he chose soccer. It was hard for both of us to let comp basketball go. But, he said he felt relieved about it, and I think it was the right thing. If each sport had been one practice and one game per week it would have been fine. But, this was too much.
This morning began with three soccer games (Isaac had both his final indoor game and his first outdoor game). I know I am maybe suppose to hate waking up early on Saturday and sitting on the sidelines for hours, but I love watching them play. In fact, even though I know we made the right decision about basketball, I am still sad I won't see Ian play any more basketball games for awhile.
Brian will be home when we wake up Tuesday morning for a few days until he leaves again. We are all excited.
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