BTW

By the way, remember way back in July-ish when I mentioned that we were replacing our kitchen table? Yeah. We did that. ;)

As you can see...new table. (We liked our old one just fine...and that one was definitely a step up from the card table we were using before, lol. But, the chairs were falling apart and Micah didn't even have a chair...just a step stool, lol.) So, Nathan made the new table from a big slab of butcher block from IKEA and their desk leg mounting system thing. It's bigger than our previous table...which is perfect for growing boys. ;) Nathan also gets the credit for his "ah-ha!" moment when he realized we could simply rotate the table orientation 90 degrees to fit everyone better and enable everyone to see the television, as that had caused arguments over who had to sit with their back to the family room, lol.

Yes, we sometimes eat and watch tv at the same time. ;) I totally get all the arguments for making dinnertime around the table a dedicated family time and have fond memories of that as a kid. I do. But. I also figure that the reasons for that mostly center around reconnecting and spending a few moments altogether when the rest of your day tends to be spent apart. As a homeschooling family, we're together pretty darn much already, so I figure it's okay. ;) 

Anyhow. Our plan had been to go eclectic and let each person pick his/her own chair. We spent a couple months searching for five different chairs that were...

• Sturdy (necessary, given active boys)
• Not ugly (though this was tough since our interpretations of ugly differed, lol)
• Either wooden or red or black or able to be painted (though Nathan definitely preferred they be already painted as the idea of sanding and painting was unappealing)
• The right size (we toyed with the idea of stools or a bench for the younger two)
• Not upholstered (for the same reasons that I think carpeted dining rooms and children don't work) and
• Not horribly expensive (this actually proved to be one of the most difficult criteria...decent chairs are spendy!!...got to the point we'd be sitting at a restaurant wondering where they got their chairs and whether we could convince them to sell us one, lol)

Yeah. It wasn't working so well. ;) We managed to find two at different flea markets. Then, ultimately, we gave up. We discovered, then, that IKEA had added a new chair design that we actually liked and that, miraculously, met our criteria. It even came in different colors. So. Matching chairs, different colors. Yay!

(Mine's red, Noah is obviously black, Nathan and Micah are wooden and Asher's is white...which mostly coordinates to each person's desk color except my desk is wooden. But, my office is painted red, so that's close enough. I'm still debating rearranging the seating so that the red and black aren't right next to each other, but it works for now.)

And that's our kitchen table story. Enthralling, I know. ;) 

Five on Friday

1. I just wanted to take a moment to say thanks, Steve Jobs, for the mark you left on our world. On this one year anniversary of your passing, I thought I'd also stop to appreciate the mark you left on my almost 12 year old...my Apple-obsessed boy who almost exclusively dresses in black tops, dark rinse blue jeans, and sneakers just like you did. ;)

2. Tomorrow, apparently, is Star Wars Reads Day. Who knew? I may take advantage of some of those activities but, honestly, it often feels like every day is Star Wars Reads Day around here anyhow, lol. 

3. Considering that tomorrow morning's forecast calls for temperatures below freezing, with 5 mph winds and a 50% chance of snow, I don't think we'll be running the CSU Homecoming 5K as we'd been planning. :) (Asher and Micah had wanted to run it, so Nathan and I signed up to run with them...as I don't trust drivers to see my smallish boys and the course runs along streets in places, lol...but, let's face it, Asher and Micah don't have much in the way of "insulation." ;) And, yes, on Wednesday it was in the 80s and I was opening windows to cool the house down. Gotta love Colorado weather!)

4. I think I may end up writing my own grammar curriculum. Bleh. I'm not sure it'll happen this year so will probably continue using cobbled together bits for now...but at least I might have a plan eventually...

5. I really need to get off the computer and get some stuff done. With this sudden change in weather, though, all I really want to do is go curl up with a good book. ;)

The past week...

Sorry for the silence. We've been here...just busy. ;) Grandma Nancy came to visit...

THURSDAY: We hit the archery range and I neglected to take photos. Poo. The boys also played plenty of games with Grandma... 

FRIDAY: We all headed down to Denver for the day. First we hit the zoo...having realized that Micah has no memories of visiting the zoo:

We enjoyed seeing the sea lions being fed, chasing the peacocks, saying hi to Shifu (the red panda from Kung Fu Panda, lol), watching monkeys swing overhead, seeing the new elephant exhibit, watching pelicans at Monkey Island, measuring Micah against the penguins, playing the drums and staring down the gorillas. Micah now has happy zoo memories. ;)

Full morning. ;) After that, we headed across the parking lot to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science for a late lunch, taking in the new Pompeii exhibit and playing around through the rest of the museum. We also made it up to the terrace and had some fun with panorama shots:

We had to head home after that for Asher's black belt club and demo team practice. :)

SATURDAY: We picked up Noah's glasses then drove up to Rocky Mountain National Park to hike to Calypso Cascades:

It was a lovely hike! After that, we (well, everyone except for me...I was too cold and stayed in the van reading, lol) played a chilly round of miniature golf and then had our traditional dinner at Ed's Cantina before heading home...even managed to get in a game of pinochle once we made it home (taught Noah to play).

SUNDAY: Up early to get the boys to the fun run up in Old Town:

Yes, Noah still ran in jeans. ;) The three of them actually finished rather close together this time...Micah was quite proud. After that...

Micah nabbed two ice cream bars after the finish line then we all meandered around Old Town for a bit...ate some brunch...and headed to the local Irish Festival to watch bagpipers, drummers and Irish dancers. Micah thought the inflated Jameson bottle was cool. ;) 

Later, we headed home for some down time and grocery shopping before our first JOAD meeting of the season (Junior Olympic Archery Development). After that, Nathan and I took advantage of Grandma Nancy being here to watch the boys to go out to dinner. 

MONDAY & TUESDAY: Were a bit more low-key after all the activity...just games and normal activities (karate and swim team) and walks with Grandma and such. We drove Grandma Nancy to the airport Tuesday afternoon...lovely visit. :)

And that's what we've been up to for the past week...

Just so you know...

Micah had two (more) teeth pulled this morning...to create room for the permanent teeth that were trying to get through (and had already turned 90 degrees in trying to find room). In true Micah-style (remember this and this?), he was pretty sure he was going to die while we waited for the dentist to call him back. (Honest, he said exactly that. I'm not making this stuff up, lol.)

But. A little nitrous and a well timed purchase of the newly released Avengers dvd later...and he's a mostly-happy camper again. ;) (Yes, I actually scheduled the appointment knowing that today was the day The Avengers would release. I'm awesome like that.)

So. If you're keeping track...in the last few days...Asher took third in his first big karate tournament, Noah had to get contacts and Micah had two teeth pulled. Which boy do you think has been happiest around here? ;)

It was probably inevitable...

Don't tell him I'm posting this picture here, but check out Noah:

Yup. Noah and I had eye appointments this morning. He's officially in contacts now. :) We also picked up a pair of glasses just for backup. Doesn't he look thrilled? 

Technically speaking, his prescription is pretty darn minimal. But. He was starting to notice when he shoots at the archery range (from 18 meters) and, well...given that both Nathan and I have correction...chances were good that he was going to need glasses/contacts eventually, right?

Anyhow, he was just darn happy that he didn't need correction until he was also old enough to go straight into contacts...but that won't stop me from posting this photo of him wearing glasses. :)