FOR TODAY
Outside my window... 


There is a heat wave! It is supposed to be in the seventies all week long. Mom is here in town and disappointed that the weather isn't more extreme, but I'm happy because the kids can play outside without putting on lots of layers and I know extreme weather will come eventually.

I am thankful...
For my mom's visit. It is so much fun to have her around! I'm also thankful for the huge amount of winter clothing a college friend gave us. I don't need to wonder about how to clothe my littler two for the winter at all (and, since the older two give good feed back if they are too cold, I don't need to worry about them, either).
 
In the kitchen...
I'm going to be making a Shepherd's Pie from Cooks' Illustrated this week. Hopefully I can make the dacquoise from this month's issue this coming weekend, too. We'll see. I like experimenting in cooking when I can take my time and there isn't a lot of pressure.
  I am wearing...
Jeans and a beaded t-shirt. It is summer weather!
  I am creating...
I'm looking through some crochet patterns. Since I worked on the Rubik's cube for seven hours straight one day, I can't knit without repetitive stress pain. Will crochet work, or should I stick to sewing? 

I'm still working on order in the house, but some things take time and it gets frustrating. Like finding a dining set with eight chairs on craigslist within a one hour drive. :-)
  I am going...
To a free ballet class for beginners at the University tonight!
 
I am reading...
Kid books, of course. I'm going through books I bought at our neighborhood used book sale so that I can confidently hand them to my children.
 
Around the house...
I'm working on the binder system for homeschooling. I've got 3" language arts binders set up, with five sections per child. I'm putting the math explorations into the pockets for now, but I'll probably set up a nature study/math binder for things like that. Narrations are currently going into the language arts binder but they could probably go into a history binder along with map work we've been doing. I've made some progress, but there is more to go.

I've been looking for ways to store arts supplies that make intuitive sense to my children.
 
One of my favorite things...
Little kid hugs.
  A few plans for the rest of the week:
Ikea (Tuesday is kids-eat-free day and I have hope for art supply organization here), Dad coming, and the normal ballet-for-Anna and soccer-for-John second half of the week.

A peek into my day...
 

Anna checking out a Persian artifact at the museum.

from thesimplewomansdaybook.blogspot.com