This, That, and the Other Things...

Just bits and pieces today...

The Boy has decided not to do track at this point, which is good for me because that would have made a couple of my evenings each week crazy busy. He chose not to do it because it would interfere with something that has been a goal of his for the last two and a half years... and that is to join the Civil Air Patrol! He'll finally be old enough this spring, and meetings are on Monday nights, as is track practice. [On a side note, I'm mad at the track people anyhow, so this works for me. When we joined in the fall, we paid $75. Then for a multitude of reasons, we had to drop out. I notified the coach and board, and a month later, they deposited the check anyhow. And they won't apply any of that money to the spring session. Enough griping though!]

Luckily for both The Boy and myself, at the end of March, they are moving The Girl's roller derby practice to late Sunday afternoons, so Monday evenings will be free and clear for CAP meetings! I have already contacted them, and he has to attend 4 meetings before joining, which we can do over the month leading up to his birthday. Oh, and he might be returning to piano lessons!

We're coming up on a milestone... The Girl will be TEN in just a few weeks! We're planning a small party at a park for her, with a few of her friends in attendance, and maybe a couple of The Boy's friends too, to keep him happily occupied. I think she wants a piñata, filled with organic lollipops, fruit treats, trinkets, and so forth. And a four-layer cake, chocolate with strawberry filling and vanilla icing. We were toying with an Alice in Wonderland theme, but aren't positive yet, although we'd better get cracking on this!

The Boy will be in his first fencing tournament this upcoming weekend. It is just a small, in-house tournament... a good way for him to get his feet wet. He's pretty excited about it! His coach stressed that this is about learning and having fun, not necessarily winning, which I really appreciate.

I was reading Kim's Year of the Garden post, and it got me thinking about our own garden, which we are in the midst of preparing for and planning. We'll be growing:
sugar snap peas
green beans
corn
tomatoes (lots of tomatoes!)
bell peppers and chili peppers
squash - summer/zucchini
lettuces
lots of herbs - we have rosemary and thyme year 'round, then we'll add in basil, dill, chives, cilantro, etc.
potatoes
chard
spinach
eggplant perhaps (I'm the only one that like it)
cucumbers
nasturtiums and violas

And when we transition into fall, I'd like winter squash, broccoli, kale, chard, onions, beets, radishes, and so on. We're aiming for year-round growing, which is entirely possible in northern California.

And we're getting some artichoke plants this weekend! A friend of a friend of a friend is dividing his, so we're getting three. They'll actually go out in the front yard along a section of the fence.

In case you're wondering since it hasn't appeared in this post, homeschooling this week? Ummmm... the less said, the better. It just has been one of those weeks. I think though that I have decided against the Project Passport: Middle Ages that I mentioned earlier in the week, in favor of other hands-on things, like making gargoyles, a stained glass art project, and building a model of a castle, etc.

I did order some fun stuff though, namely a butterfly kit with live caterpillars, a ladybug larvae refill kit, and a praying mantis egg sack!

We're also getting ready for a couple of things, one being The Great Backyard Bird Count (starts tomorrow!), and the other is the National Mythology Exam, which we received in yesterday's mail. The Boy is really excited about taking this test!

Before I go (enough rambling!!!), I did want to wish you a