Life Right Now

I'm not sure what the deal is right now, but I seem to be in a bit of a blogging rut.  Our life is busy and full of things, but they are the same 'ole things week after week after week, and if I'm not intentional about taking pictures and finding funny things in the middle of normal boring things, well, it seems it's easy to stop writing about anything.  And I don't really want to do that.  I love looking back over old posts and seeing what our kids were doing, the funny outfits Willow put on, the songs Jayden sung (he still sings all the time, but he's much more shy about me recording them).

We still have swimming twice a week and both kids are still loving it.  Jayden actually moved up from Level 3 to 4a two sessions ago, and while that is totally blog worthy material, he wouldn't let me take a picture or post about it, so I'm sneaking it in here.  But let me tell you, it's awesome to watch him cruise down the pool doing freestyle and backstroke, and now he's learning to master breast stroke and butterfly.  (Uncle Jordan, you'd be proud, his swim teachers coaches tell him he has an awesome dolphin kick, now all he has to do is figure out how to breathe with the right timing of his arms.  He said he wants to race you.)

I am tutoring 7 kids in math. (like I didn't have enough to do, but gosh darn it, if I find an idle hour somewhere I'm libel to sign up for something!)  I'm part of a volunteer program called Andover Schools Community Volunteers, that basically plugs people into the schools to help in pretty much any area of school you could imagine.  Royal helps out a high school chemistry class once a week over his lunch hour, and since I can't do a lot during the school day because I'm taking care of Jayden and Willow, I do after school / evening tutoring.  Turns out high school math stumps as many parents as it does students.  I usually do one-on-one tutoring, but there seemed to be a high need and as I was the only tutor at the time, once a week I am tutoring 5 geometry students together.  I actually have to prepare for that one, with 5 kids to teach, I don't have time to look through the book and figure out where they are, I have to come to the session knowing what they have been going over.  That means I have my own Geometry book and I print out and do their homework, and truthfully I kind of think it's fun.  I heart math! :)  Then, I'm not sure how, but word spread and about a week after starting the geometry tutoring, I got a phone call from someone outside the volunteer program else asking if I could tutor their daughter in Algebra 2.  Then again, word got around, and I got a call a couple nights ago asking if I could tutor someone else's son in Algebra 2.  And that's how I ended up with 7 students and packed our family schedule just a little bit tighter.

But in an effort to remember what is happening in the normal hours around the house, I am trying to remember to take pictures of the kids. 
Willow LOVES helping in the kitchen.  She is constantly standing on her stool waiting for instructions.  And while sometimes it is annoying and slows me down, I try and remind myself that I want her to love cooking and I want her to know where her food comes from and hopefully all her help now will one day turn into her cooking for me!  :)
Here she is buttering a muffin tin.  We were cooking up eggs for breakfast sandwiches that Jayden loves.  Willow only loves the breakfast sandwich if I take it apart and she can eat her egg separate from the muffin.  I'll do whatever I have to do to only have to make one breakfast that both kids like.  (Please try to look only at little Willow and forget the rest of the mess that is our house!  holy smokes I need a maid, or maybe to stop signing up for things so I have the time and energy to pick up and clean once in awhile, but I'd much rather do math than pick up blocks and puzzles)

Jayden spent a couple hours this afternoon making pom-poms.  Who knew that pom-pom makers could be so entertaining?  But they have officially been moved out of my crafting area and into their own bin in the kid's crafting area.

Willow sat around wearing a helicopter hat and causing as much grief for her pom-pom making brother as she could.

She may look all sweet and innocent, but that girl knows how to rile Jayden up like it's nobody's business - I suppose it comes ingrained her in little sister DNA.