iPhone: a few happy things

First, there's the kites. I bought my kids real kites a week or so ago, and even though we don't really have wind here, they fly them every day. (Living at the base of 10,000 foot mountains= very large windbreak.) The "flying" involves an awful lot of running to keep them aloft and the kite flying sessions are brief, but it's still cool to see them weaving around out there.

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Lex and I are a bit obsessed with oatmeal these days. I found this giant bag of steal cut oats at Costco last week and I've been making them in the crockpot overnight with apples and cinnamon. I'm not sure if I like this better than oatmeal, but it's sure tasty.  I hate actually cooking breakfast in the morning, but I love having nice, warm food ready to eat when everyone gets up.

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It's a little embarrassing how excited I am by the perfect pen. These are my new favorite:


I love bold colored inks. I usually only like fine point, but these medium ones seem much finer than most .07. Also, they click to write so I don' t lose the lids. They write really smoothly. I am not even going to admit how much time I spent in three different office supply stores examining difference pens last weekend.

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Lex knows how to work pretty much everything on my phone. I don't generally let him use it, because allowing him access becomes increasingly dangerous as he figures out more things since I have so much of my life (including professional work) linked to different programs on it. (At wrestling Saturday he made a zombie photo of himself on Dev's phone and posted it to Dev's facebook wall. Later he asked me, "Did you see that picture of me on facebook? Was it funny?") Also, it's always annoying when he uses it because he plays games and makes videos and looks up things online and completely drains my battery.

But, despite my lack of enthusiasm for sharing with him, I'm also not real great about keeping it away from him. I always find things he's created. Like whole collections of photos for me:



The other night he took 437 pictures of himself.

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My other boy is toothless.




I find it amusing and adorable. (Even though he is seven now and probably wouldn't appreciate being called adorable.)

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Azia continues to leave me crafty presents all around the house.

My nametag at dinner the other night

Left by my computer a couple days ago:
 coffee filter, glue guns & beads

It almost makes up for her trail of messes.

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One of my favorites: notebook graffiti that incorporates class content in new and appropriate contexts.

I found a few different examples while grading final work for the quarter. I also love overheard conversational references like the one student telling another "one always finds one's burden again" when discussing what the next quarter had in store. (We read the Allegory of the Cave and Myth of Sisyphus.)

Evidence of these stories and ideas we discuss working their way into their lives. . . it's a much better affirmation of their understanding the material than them doing well on whatever test I give them.

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Grandma's Christmas cactus is blooming. I have no idea why it decides to bloom when it does (I think last time it was right around Christmas?) but it sure makes me happy.

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My tax help. . . I'm getting so close. Except every time I start I getting distracted by things like teaching Aodhan to stick out his tongue for pictures.

Someday I'll finish those taxes. Hopefully before April 15th.   I really wish I had a secretary. Or the time or inclination to file things throughout the year rather than dumping them into this really large storage tub. 18 gallons of paperwork and receipts is just too overwhelming. 

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Lex types. . .

 He runs out of things to write pretty quickly, but it's a start.