2500!!

I have hit 2500 on my visitor meter. Which, is absolutely amazing to me. For months I watched the meter inch up one and two visitors a day and then boom - suddenly the thing is just jumping on me. I just wish I knew who was stopping by. Anyway - Hi to all of you - Thanks for visiting me.

Yahoo!! I just finished my work project and have emailed it off. I will probably have edits over the next couple of days - but nothing like I have been working the last few days to finish it. I am glad to have a little bit of work and of course the $ that comes with it - but boy have the last few weeks been crazy with everything else going on.

Tomorrow I have a group coming over to my house to do some Chinese New Year crafts. In the morning I must clean!! It is amazing what happens to the house when I spend two days on the computer. I went back to put the girls to bed tonight and there were toys and clothing (clean and dirty) spread all over their room. And this is with almost half their stuff packed up. Our kitchen table is covered with printouts of houses that we have been weeding through and newspapers I have been saving to pack with.

Today we also finished up MB's month-long Tuesday science class at a local museum. She has really enjoyed the class, and I have enjoyed the time that we spent together at the museum. I am so very, very pleased with how well the little ones have done with their 'down' time at the museum. Thankfully it is a children's museum and does have areas for preschoolers to 'play'. But not having the class will let us get back to our more normal routine, especially concerning my meeting schedule. That has taken the worst hit with all the craziness this past month. My attendance has been sketchy and I am really missing the grounding I receive from going. But next week things should be more relaxed, for at least a few weeks.

MB and I are enjoying our new science and history 'units'. We are focusing on Ancient China and the Human Body. This is one of the first times that I have found MB to be really into what we are studying. Wanting to find and track down more information. We are having conversations at different times and out-of-the-blue about them. Generally, it seems to me MB merely tolerates most of these 'units' at best. Some of the books we are using are:
Ancient China:
Discoveries - Ancient China (Barnes & Noble book)
Look What Came From China
Houses of China
Ma Jiang and the Orange Ants
The Five Chinese Brothers
The Story About Ping
Tikki Tikki Tembo

Human Body:
Discoveries - Human Body
Looking into My Body
The Magic School Bus: Inside the Human Body
I Wonder Why I Blink
Why Do Some Kids Have Freckles

One of the neat things we are going to be doing is putting together the plastic human body model that MB received for Christmas as we go through the various body systems.

And, while I am on the topic of how well MB is doing with her schoolwork, I also need to mention how grown-up she seems to be getting recently. How mature some of our conversations are becoming. Today in the car she started a conversation about The Jungle Book. The conversation ended up moving into a conversation about how sometimes when you love something/someone you have to "send it away" or set it free for its own good, even if you don't want to do it. I guess I would have thought that this conversation would be way over her head, but she seemed to get it. Especially since we used The Jungle Book as the example.

Yesterday we saw an ad for the new Curious George movie that is going to be released next month. K was excited and wants to go see it. She really enjoys the older movie that I bought on the cheap DVD rack several months ago. Something that I found interesting in the preview of the new movie is that it is stated that George stows-away to come with the man, as opposed to the book and older movie in which he is captured and brought over. I guess "P.C." has to even reach into the depths of a children's classic like that.

I just have to say how very blessed I have been feeling in all this craziness of activity. And it realy isn't only about the last month, but the last four or five months. I am blessed in being able to watch my girls grow, learn and mature. Maturity and attitude changes especially in the two older ones. I would say that with MB it was all about getting some age on her - but it is K too. And I realize that as I am slowly growing and changing how I see and respond to the girls is changing and they are changing. We actually have manners and sharing going on. The girls still squabble and push each others buttons, but more and more often they are making up and doing things together. One can't stand it if the other one earns a timeout, even if it is for doing something to the other one, and they beg me to let the other one out of timeout. Tonight we asked both K and MB to help us clean, and they did it willingly and with no grumbling (at least for tonight).

I know it sounds like a Patsy-Perfect family, but that is still far from the truth. I just see it as a lot of love and caring growing in the family. A comfort being found in the greater emotional stability. And, I am just so happy that I can actually see it and not take it for granted. That I can thank them and be proud of their efforts and not just overlook it as something that is expected.

Anyway, I have rambled way too long.

Peace,

Amy