Cinco de Mayo

I had already spent way too much time updating the slide show in my sidebar when my mom called me this morning to see how my day was going. "Well, rather slowly, actually," I truthfully responded. "None of the kids have had breakfast yet and we're all still in pajamas and whoa!, is it really already 9:00?!" As she proceeded to tell me of the productive morning she'd had thus far and the plans she had for the rest of her day, I distractedly finished adding the last few photos I'd selected for my blog. And then...my computer shut down. A silent scream echoed through my head as, with wide eyes, I watched helplessly while window after window just disappeared from the screen. Gone were the changes that had robbed me of the better part of the past hour! How many times (with increasing irritation) had I responded to my children's requests with, "Just one more second, Mommy's almost done here!"? Oooohhhh, was I aggravated. I bid my mom a terse farewell and tore myself away from the offending machine, then went to tend to the children who had been so patiently awaiting their cereal and chocolate ovaltine. Moments later, there was an authoritative knock at my front door and, protectively clutching my gaping nursing gown close to my body, I peered through the peephole to see who on earth it could possibly be. There stood my mom, in command, as ever, of the pathetic position in which I had irresponsibly placed myself! "Hi, guys!", she called cheerfully as I sheepishly held open the door. "Let's see. Who needs help getting dressed? Who needs their hair combed? Mommy's going to be in the shower for a little bit. Nonny's going to get some beds made while we wait for her to finish getting ready." I emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later to find that not only were the beds made, but the dishwasher had been unloaded and reloaded, the garbage had been taken out, and every room was tidied. See why I love my mom? See why I'm going to be absolutely lost when she leaves again in June?

Sigh.

At any rate, the rest of our day did get better, thanks in large part to that tremendously helpful boost from my mom. Having neglected lessons for nearly two months now, I decided that today was just as good a day as any to dive back in. It's ironic, really, when you consider that most everyone else is now wrapping up their school year, but I believe that our family just really needed that time and that we can make it up over the summer. (However, I was reviewing a favorite curriculum guide in bed a few nights ago and realized that Dylan has accomplished much more than is probably necessary for his kindergarten year. But how do I know when to stop? Where do I draw that line? That's the one aspect of homeschooling that I just really very strongly dislike: I so wish that somebody else could be in charge of just telling me what to do, already! What if I'm not doing this right?!)

So, what did we do today? Well, let's see. Dylan has been very much into "True or False" lately, so to change things up in the math department, I wrote out a True or False assignment for him and he loved it. It was fun, he said. Math! Fun!

Then, because he's been typing much more than he's been writing lately, I had him copy a bible verse that's been on my mind a lot lately. (Due in part, I'm sure, to the sad anniversary we observed yesterday, along with the Ascension of our Lord.) He illustrated it using A Catholic How-to-Draw as his guide, and I think he did a really remarkable job!

We read a chapter from his current Science book and answered the accompanying questions. We remembered that today was Cinco de Mayo, and that pretty much ended the formal aspect of today's school...which was just as well, because we all really enjoy any excuse to celebrate and have fun! We worked on Cinco de Mayo coloring pages, and Dylan (of course!) created his own Cinco de Mayo activity book.

We had quesadillas and chips and salsa for lunch. I wanted to make tacos for dinner, but lacking the proper ingredients, I called Darren and asked him if he would mind stopping on his way home from work for the next best thing: Taco Bell. I know, I know, how unauthentic! Mexican fast food?! I should be ashamed of myself! (I am, after all, one quarter Hispanic. :) ) Dinner was served on plastic plates and paper wrappers, but to compensate for poor presentation, we ate it outside at the picnic table, which itself was an exceptional treat...as were our drinks, which were served in real glass glasses!

But wait, settle down now, before anyone races off to report us to CYFD, let me please assure you that those margaritas were prepared sans tequila! (Though I really would have loved some.) My kids thought these were the best drinks ever. Dylan was a little suspicious when he saw the icy beverages, though, having recognized them as an "adults only drink" which had, in the past, been strictly off limits. We assured him that these drinks contained none of "the bad stuff". :)