Howdy, all!

Oh, I wish y'all could've been here today. Following a few days of bitter, bone-rending cold, we had the most beautiful day! I turned OFF the heat! Opened the windows! The children were summarily coated in mud the latter half of the day, coming in only when the sun faded completely from the top of the fence and the boys began to turn blue. (I will never get this clay out of their clothing.) Several loads of wash hung out to dry and all the mopped floors dried almost instantly in the warm, gentle breeze. Gotta love days like that.

James just came flying downstairs to tell us that he "found an atom that has no neutrons!!" (emphasis his) Wowsa! The Usborne Dictionary of Chemistry has been his regular companion all week, and I'm thinking this is one worth buying. He's learned more in a week of leisurely reading than I did in an entire semester's worth of lectures.

Our lessons are coming along well. John is learning his +2's and James is finishing mastery of his multiplication facts. Both have mastered counting to ten in Latin and have finally reached mastery of the vocabulary to date in Prima Latina. It's time to start the next prayer and move on to the next chapter with that. Reading? Check. Always. Good stuff.

We made up our own pantheon this week, to go along with History. The boys made up the heirarchy of the gods and drew a wall mural to display them. The list is hilarious, with such noble figures as "Nut", the god of all nut products and "Polyneeda", the goddess of housing. It's fascinating to see myths spring to life in the eyes of children.

We've talked with the boys about making the move. It looks like it is definitely going to happen, it's just a matter of when. Can you believe it? We're going to Alabama! WOOHOO! Depending on the paperwork and making sure all is tidied up on this end, we will most likely head out in late April or early May. I can't believe it. Anyhow, the boys are so excited to have chickens and a cow. (I lobbied for goats, but the cow won out.) They have been such troopers through all the moves and upheaval. Zorak and I are just on cloud nine to think that we can finally put down roots and give the boys a place to be "from". That's a good feeling.

Zorak is currently subjecting us to one of the truly horrible movies he picked up at the library sale ("Honey, why'd you get this one?" Um, oh, Mickey Rourke was on the cover. "Oh.") and, well, I can't think with the dialogue running in the background, so I'm going to go see if I can talk him out of a footrub while he watches the movie. (Yeah, if Mickey Rourke is in it, you know it's not likely to end well for anyone involved...) Maybe I can read.

Kiss those babies!
~Dy