Archive for the ‘elijah’ Category

The Rip-Van-Horsmans

Monday, June 28th, 2010

Have you heard of/seen the new-fangled skateboard called a RIPSTIK?  Oui?  Non?  (I need to brush up on my French.  We begin a French foreign language course this fall.  Exciting!  Elijah and Zeke think that they’ll finally have a language to have secret conversations in the same way that the Portuguese speakers on campus do.)   A RIPSTIK was all Zeke wanted for Christmas this past year and a RIPSTIK he did get.

As soon as the snow cleared this spring Zeke started practicing the wiggling maneuver used to propel himself on his RIPSTIK.  He soon found out that it wasn’t as easy as it looked.  He fell…a lot.  But he kept at it.  And fell a lot more.  His elbows took the brunt of most of his collisions with the sidewalk.  Ouch.  Me?  I would have given up.

But finally – like overnight – Zeke figured it out!  Now he’s cruising all over campus.  I love this picture of him doing a U-turn and the concentration evident in the tongue curl.

Of course, it simply would not do for Zeke to have a skill that Elijah didn’t have, so now Elijah is determined to figure out the RIPSTIK too…

Boys…everything’s a competition.

Very Impressive, Elijah

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

Now could all three of you look at the camera?  Just once.  And smile…or at least not look weird.  Please?

Not gonna happen.

Last Spelling Test of the School Year

Wednesday, June 2nd, 2010

Yippity Skippity!  Tomorrow is our last day of school!  We’re planning on doing a bit of summer school in July and August - just a half hour to an hour each day of math and language arts review – but for the month of June we will be free spirits.  :-)   So happy and proud of us all.   We did it!

Weathering and Erosion

Tuesday, May 11th, 2010

The boys have been studying weathering and erosion in science recently. This was a fun little experiment in which they observed and recorded the effects of glacial erosion.  Very interesting, I must say.  Honestly, I’ve learned almost as much as they have this past year.

And while I’m on the topic of weathering and erosion… I feel weathered. Beaten down.  Tired.  This year has had it’s ups and downs, but it’s been a pretty good experience for the most part, I think.  These days, though, I’ve been feeling, for the first time, like I just want to quit.  Probably a good thing that this is happening with only three weeks left until our summer holidays begin.  Oh boy, I am so ready for summer holidays!  Wahoo!

Eli-Guy

Wednesday, April 14th, 2010

IMG_5925 (Custom)“Well, would you look at the sit of him,”  my mother would say.   He sits, as Dave and I often discuss, like his Grampie…interesting how we inherit so much more than looks, I think.

It occurs to me as I look at this photo, and realize how grown-up Elijah is getting (and by the way, those are my shoes that he has on!) that we are standing at the precipice of a great, yawning chasm.  At one end is boyhood and at the other is manhood.   It’s a little unnerving, I must say…  Okay, to be honest, it’s terrifying.  I have no idea how to cross it.

On a side note, Elijah is off doing MCA testing today, a Minnesota standardized test.  Go Eli-Guy, go!

Drawing Lessons For Phoebe

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

IMG_5496 (Custom)Phoebe drew her first successful face today under Elijah’s tutalage.  Elijah was a proud teacher and Phoebe a proud student…and I was a proud mother.  :-)

Still Life by Elijah

Tuesday, February 23rd, 2010

IMG_4427 (Custom)