Spring?

Was treated to this happy scene last Friday at the end of my morning run...

Delighted to see signs of spring finally! And, I just love how fluffy the little goslings are. :)

(We'll just ignore the forecast for snow on Wednesday, shall we?)

Ten on Tuesday

1. I'm done with snow now. Thank you very much. ;)

2. It's messing with my morning runs. Pretty proud of myself, though, for changing my routine and running yesterday morning just before the stupid snow started again...instead of this morning amid the covering of snow. Also managed to take advantage of the sunshine at the end of last week for a couple runs. Just wish we could get some consistency...preferable warm weather consistency?

3. In happier news, Noah and Micah had their last JOAD tournament of the season on Sunday. Woohoo! Sadly, their scores didn't reflect what I've seen them do at practice (and we tried to put in even more practice before this last tournament). But. They both handled their emotions better than any previous tournament, so we're counting that as a win. :) Here's Micah chatting with his coach and teammates just before they got started:

4. If you live anywhere in Central Washington, be sure to check out my mom's new business! (Follow her on Facebook.) She's opening soon!

5. In case you're interested, I added some curriculum lists over on the right...one page for each boy. Right now, I've only got our present year but may work on going back and adding previous ones.

6. I feel badly for all the little birds outside. They're in the streets now, looking for food...since the snow has (yet again) covered everything. Growing up on an orchard, birds were rather frowned upon since they damaged and ate the fruit. Feeding them was absolutely forbidden. ;) But. I find myself wanting to go buy some birdseed...

7. All About Spelling is having a great giveaway over on their blog. Check it out! :) (We've used All About Spelling for years now and have been quite happy with the program!)

8. I think this is gorgeous! (No idea what quote I'd use, though...)

9. I forgot to mention that that last JOAD tournament also served as the 2013 JOAD State Indoor Championships and that Micah took third. He's taking solace in the fact that he was the youngest competitor in the compound division and that all the other kids in his division will move up next year, while he has another year still as a yeoman. 

10. I really ought to go get something done now... ;)

Bleh.

Remember last week when I was worrying about y'all seeing my capri tan lines when I wear shorts or skirts? Ha!

Yeah. Mother Nature obviously has other thoughts. There's more than a foot out there, easy. And it's still snowing. (That dark brown line in about the middle of the picture is the bench on the edge of the deck.)

Awesome.

Tween

Okay, what gives?! I took Noah to look for sandals for the summer yesterday (after an email about a sandal sale at our favorite local shoe store...). We had planned to just get another pair of Keens, as we usually do. (Remember, this is the boy who generally just gets *exactly the same thing* but in the next size. Has for years.) But. The boy no longer fits the kid size. And the store's selection of Keens in the appropriate men's size included only one pair. And they were powder blue. Obviously, that didn't work, lol. So, here are my questions:

How did the boy's feet suddenly get so much bigger? Seriously. His last pair of Keens were a size 4 (kids), and they fit last summer/fall. He now needs a size 8.5 (men's). What?!!

(Incidentally, this also led to the discovery that, duh, his shoes (which were a couple sizes bigger, having been purchased in the fall rather than last spring) don't fit either. No idea how he's been stuffing his feet in them without complaint, lol.)

Why doesn't Keen standardly stock plain black as a choice in every style? At the store, not a single pair of black Keens for boys or men were to be found. (And it was not for lack of choices. There were at least a dozen different colors for men. I made him try on the black women's Keens but they didn't fit right.) Honestly, though, practically all the rest of the men's shoes are black. Why wasn't there a single black option in the Keens?

(Okay. I looked. Keen does make black. (Whew!) But, then, why doesn't the store stock it?)

Why does the boy insist still on wearing only black? (Okay, don't answer that, lol.)

What's the deal with this apparent gap Noah's in...too big for kid sizes and too small for the sizes generally stocked for men? I know we can do some online shopping but it's annoying for this most, um, discriminating son who is quite particular about what fits and is comfortable...who generally needs to try things on.

And, while I'm at it, we seem to be in the same gap for everything else, too. Kid size tops are too small; men's are too big. He'll be in the same predicament for pants soon, as well. What gives? Why isn't there some sort of juniors section for boys? There are entire stores just for junior sizes for girls! It's a conspiracy, I tell you! ;)

Sigh. Off now to try to take the boy shopping again. Wish us luck! ;)

Four on Friday.

1. Don't laugh if you see me out and about in skirts or shorts in the coming weeks. I recently noticed that my running capris have gifted me with a lovely little mid-calf tan line. ;) I'd be irritated, but I figure at least it proves that I've actually been running, lol.

2. Given #1, could someone please tell Mother Nature to get her act together? I'd really love for spring to be here for good so that I could start wearing my warm weather attire without my down coat.

3. Does anyone else find this food math to be skewed? Last night, we ordered pizza...one large for Nathan and I to share (and had some left over), one small for Asher and Micah to share (which was just right...and, technically, it was an order of cheesy breadsticks that Micah then dipped into pizza sauce so that it was like cheese pizza, which Asher won't eat), and one large for Noah to eat all by himself. I really should start a tally of how much this boy costs to feed. ;)

4. Anyone have any experience with either of these games? Do You Know Where You Are? and Passport to Culture. I'm looking for a good geography game to play with the boys...something that will teach about the countries of the world...that's challenging without being too complicated, kwim? Suggestions?

Happy weekend to you all!