matching tracksuits

fun in threes, sometimes fours

Walking the Dog

The Girl went to Asheville to spend the weekend with T and C, cousins for all intents and purposes. While K went to retrieve her this afternoon, the Boy and I headed to a scout meeting and then to our favorite park to walk Clover. With all the upheaval in our lives lately, we really neglected the dog. Our nightly jogs/walks have all but ceased: with K taking care of Nana and Papa until the renovation is done, and we move them in, I’m reticent to leave the kids in the house alone. They’d do fine, I’m sure: L stays alone regularly without any problem, but if the Boy were to wake while I were out, it might be problematic. Plus, I’ve been going to bed at 9:30 on a regular basis. So today we decided that we had to get Clover out and about.

We met a few dogs along the way. It’s always a little stressful for me when that happens while the Boy is leading the dog. Clover gets so very excited so very quickly, and her excitement becomes manic and borderline aggressive, so I always tell him “Choke up” as we approach.

Today we also encountered a group out for a photo shoot. The photographer sat on one railing of the bridge, with two cameras worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $5000 I would guess based on the peek I took as we passed; the subject sat on the other; we walked in between them, at their behest.

“That’s not smart, sitting like that,” I said to the Boy.

“I know,” he said in utmost seriousness.

Monday Afternoon with the Kids and Dog Down at the Trampoline

Cool Spring Sunday

From Ten Years Ago

Friday Exploring

Flip

0-0 Tie

Three Photos from School

The Books

I am fortunate to teach three honors classes. This means I work with kids who, by and large, do everything I ask of them. So when I said, “As you read the chapter on Tom Robinson’s testimony, you need to note passages of importance,” this young lady took it seriously. Plus, she has her own personal reading she’s keeping up with.

Spring

The cherry trees outside my classroom are starting to blossom. Everyone is taking note.

Notes

Once we’re done with To Kill a Mockingbird, I have a special lesson for the kids: a local trial lawyer comes in and discusses the case from the point of view of an attorney who has himself defended individuals against rape and murder charges. How would an actual lawyer with such experience view the case? It’s always eye-opening to the kids.

To prepare for it, I have the kids make detailed notes about the case from the testimony of Heck Tate, Bob Ewell, Mayella Ewell, and Tom Robinson. “Make schematics of all the movements,” I say. “Make sketches of anything described in detail. Make sure you note what you know explicitly from the text and what is inference. Also make sure you note what things are less than clear.”

Where We Do Our Adventuring

Story

His homework: write a realistic story.

“What does that mean?”

“No dragons and such.”

He wrote a story about a little boy who eats cereal for breakfast and watches Tom and Jerry as he eats.

Where do you think he got that idea?