Co-op

I have enjoyed our little co-op so, so much this year. It's the perfect size, the perfect amount of time, and the perfect group of families. 

Recently (and without any instigating event that I can recall), the kids have all decided that they are kittens. And somehow, I became the Mother of Kittens. They will greet me with enthusiastic meows when they see me, and snuggle up for a hug, or to let me 'pet' their hair. It's kind of weird and kind of endearing and I have no idea how long it's going to last.

Me, teaching my class about optical illusions while holding Asher Kitten on my lap

The best kitten story, however, was from a couple of weeks ago. We arrived to co-op a bit late (it's intentional on my part since we never start on time). As we climbed out of the van, I saw a big group of the kids standing near the sidewalk, apparently waiting for us. It was the Kittens. And the Kittens were all meowing The Imperial March. They rushed over, grabbed my giant pole (we were planning to do the limbo that day), and marched back to the building, meowing in chorus the entire time. It was hilarious but also felt enough like a weird horror movie plotline that I was kind of on edge. But no, the Kittens did not turn on Kitten Mother. Or at least not yet.

Ah, food art.

Still the only co-op class Elijah will attend.

Aaron's class did a serious sewing unit, which he loved.

I was so impressed with Ms. Kate's patience and dedication to the class.

And Aaron was so proud of his work!

Sewing his pillow

The finished product!

He sewed on a pocket, embroidered the shape of his hand, and sewed on some buttons.

Our new weekly co-op tradition looks like this:

Why, you ask, is my poor child completely devastated and heartbroken?

Because of this:

I get to hold Marielle while her mom teaches and I LOVE it!

Elijah, not so much.

Actually, Marielle not so much either.

But she tolerates me better than the other moms.

Maybe because her mom has red hair like me?

We also started kickball this term!

Faith, Ruth, Aaron, Asher, Cole, Caroline, Caiden

Team Blue

During the first week I seriously questioned whether these kids would ever be able to play a game of kickball. It was pretty bad. But by week three they were serious about their kickball game and occasionally managing to work as a team instead of an assorted group of individual kids all trying to get an out. But I suppose that's what PE is supposed to be all about!

March

The giant pile of dirt we excavated from under our sidewalk was the hit of the cul-de-sac for the month of March. Elijah and Bennett (our neighbor) were the biggest 'pile of dirt' fans. I swear I had to change Elijah's clothes every single time he went outside this month.

One boy is crying over cars.

One is crying over geometry. 

It was a good morning at our house. 

After a year of debating what to do (and polling all my friends/sisters), I finally got our wall of baby photos and handprints hung up! It makes me so happy to see it in my room every day. I sure love all those little faces. 

Best part of working with the youth? Awesome adventures, like indoor rock climbing. Minus the part where I was super stressed about failing the belay check (passed!), I had a BLAST! I pushed myself to do some pretty difficult climbs and pulled them off (although without Everett giving me tips on the hardest course I'm not sure I would have made it. He was awesome!). 

Doing some bouldering at the end.

Many thanks to Kevin for making this photo look really impressive by not showing the ground two feet below me (my arms were so done after 2-3 hours of climbing). 

New bunk bed for the boys' room!

Jon hated how much the metal bunk bed squeaked when someone was sleeping on top. He had me check FB marketplace for a nice wooden one. This one was a steal and we were lucky we saw it in time to snag it. It did come out of a dusty, moldy basement, so I washed literally every surface before we took it inside. But the boys love it and it looks really nice! Plus now we'll have room for both boys once Aaron gets too tall to sleep sideways on the full next to Elijah. 

Elise's spring pictures.

My Little Pony dress with unicorn pants.

Perfect.

Elise is still loving school. She comes home literally every single day with a folder full of notes that say things like "I Love Mom and Dad" or are covered in hearts or rainbows. Our fridge is also full of notes that say "Elise Claire Vivi Freya Kate BFF." She loves having all her friends in class!

Catherine's spring pictures never came home from school.

But Catherine is also loving school and thriving there. Math is her favorite right now, which is awesome! But band is still her true love. I ran into Ms. Roderick, her band teacher, at the school one day. She went out of her way to tell me how impressed she is with Catherine. "She's such a hard worker and so mature. I would literally do anything for her." That is high praise coming from Catherine's favorite teacher!

Seth's potential schedule for freshman year!

We were able to attend an orientation meeting for Seth's high school program for next year. It was a little rushed, but we were able to get lots of questions answered, most important being the class options. There was much debate and compromise with Jack and Gabe about which classes they wanted to take, but I'm proud of Seth for pushing himself. I think he can do it, plus the better teachers (and peers) tend to be with the more advanced classes. Now we wait to see which classes he actually gets into...

Also, Seth managed to finish both geometry and algebra 1 in a single year! We offered to pay him the $40 we would have spent to extend the subscription to his math program until the end of May if he could get geometry finished by the end of March (when the year-long subscription ended). It was not easy. He spent 2-3 hours on math every day. But he did it!! 

And, finally, Aaron. Aaron is seriously debating attending public school next year. I'm not sure it's going to be a good fit, but why not give it a try? Who wants to be the only kid homeschooling in the family? It will be interesting to see how a boy who is literally doing Catherine's 5th grade math adapts to doing 3rd grade math with his peers.

We'll end with an Aaron quote, pronounced randomly as we were all driving somewhere together: "I've spent most of my life on a UFO." Jon and I keep laughing about this one. Never has a quote been more literally false while being so metaphorically true. 

Cake Decorating

The YW asked to do a cake decorating class. It has been probably over a decade since the last time I taught cake decorating and I was excited. But it's also a huge mess and a ton of prep work, so that's not quite as fun. Thankfully I had an enthusiastic assistant.  

This is the primary reason I don't make cakes to sell anymore.

No one wants a cake made by a toddler with no pants.

The YW (and Catherine) decorating cakes:

Another angle:

Had to make sure I got a good photo of Catherine glaring at me.

I think the girls had a good time, despite my fondant being way too soft to work with. They took so long to finish up that we were still in the gym when the missionaries and YM were trying to play basketball. Oops. 

Catherine's cake

It says, "Don't Die"

She is DYING to be in YW already.

Elijah at Almost 3

Elijah's new favorite activity?

Starting to whine anytime we drive somewhere and are heading back home.

His usual refrain?

"No go Yijah's house! Go Timmy's house!!!"

"I Cafrin!"

He actually managed to wear her boots while walking down the stairs to the patio.

I was sure he would end up sprawled on the cement halfway through.

Helping trim the bushes at Grandpa & Grandpa Bradys' house.

Scissors are very exciting right now.

One afternoon we were all driving around in the van together. Elijah was getting tired, which translated to silliness. From the back seat we could hear him repeating all his insults (in his obnoxious, imitation-obnoxious Aaron voice). In case you're wondering, here are Elijah's insults:

"Your mom!" (thank you, siblings)

"You're stupid!" (siblings again)

"Car transporter!" (pure Elijah)

I would say around 80% of Elijah's vocabulary consists of song lyrics, insults, and construction vehicles.