Loving Lately

I have two apologies to make, before we begin:

1) I'm sorry, dear readers, that my blog is a bit boring lately with only meal plans and running recaps. To be honest, a lot of that is for the benefit of my husband (who may be one of my only blog readers these days??), because he likes to be kept aware of "what's for dinner", as well as my workout plans for the day.  So thanks for your patience, readers.  Time has been short (as it always is, eh?) with the winding down of a busy summer and the preparing to homeschool for the first time, as well as my preparing to teach again soon.  A few of you have asked about our homeschool schedule, what curriculum we're using, etc. so my hope is to do a day-in-the-life post on some of those subjects soon.  It's on the horizon.

2) There is some blogger out there who does "loving lately" posts, and so I'm copying somebody.  Sorry that I can't remember who you are, blogger, but if I ever do I'll be sure to come back here and give you credit.

And now.......... here's what I'm loving lately.

~Here Comes Science~

Some of you who are my age may remember They Might Be Giants from their 1990's mainstream album (Particle Man, anyone?)  I had heard that they were making music for kids now, but we had never really checked them out.  Well, we recently checked Here Comes Science out of our library and it has been a major hit with the girls.

If your kids like "rockin' music" (as the girls put it) and have any interest at all in science, this is the album for them.  As a musician mommy, it is nice to find something that is not just educational for the kids but also enjoyable for me to listen to as well.  The songs are all musically and stylistically inventive, and just plain catchy.

Inadvertently, several of the songs have been a great introduction for the girls to the three main science topics we'll be covering in homeschool this year-- the human body:

the solar system:

...and the scientific process:

I will say that there is some hinting within some of the songs (like "Science is Real") at the philosophical idea that science and faith are mutually exclusive, so if you're worried about that you may want to chat with your kids about it.  But overall, a great album!  We will definitely check out some of their other stuff... no better way to teach children than with a song, I say.

~My new Asics Gel Extreme 33's~

Can you believe I haven't replaced my running shoes since I got free ones from a friend nearly two years ago?  I had no idea it had been quite that long until I searched for the post where I blogged about them.  No wonder I've been having some heel pain.  According to the "replace your shoes every 300-400 miles" rule, I should have done this... oh, a year ago.  Tsk, tsk.

I never realized how lucky I was that our friend gave me those particular shoes, because after much research, I have now realized that the Asics Gel Extreme 33 is so perfect for my foot and running gait, it's not even funny.  Lots of support for my high arches but not at all a bulky shoe.  They feel light and fast and awesome.

This post brought to you by Asics.  (JK!)

Too bad they were discontinued, I believe.  I found one of the last pairs in stock on Amazon.  I've thought about buying up the rest of the pairs before they are gone for good, but I don't have that much money right now.  Sniff, sniff :(  Any other runners have shoe recommendations for people with high arches?

~The weather~

{Except for today's weather.  It's super hot and muggy today.  Blech.}

For almost the whole month of August, the weather has been crisp and fall-ish.  Still warm enough to be enjoying the outdoors-- mid-70s during the day-- but deliciously cool and comfortable for sleeping.  And for running.  Mid-50s is my jam for running weather.  Morning runs have been glorious, and I have been coming back refreshed and excited for fall.  I just have not been enjoying running in the heat at all.  Some folks around these parts have been complaining that fall seems to be coming early, but I really like it.  For running, anyway.  Not for the beach.

~The cuteness~

C's sweet little voice and squishy, kissable cheeks get me every time.  Despite the fact that she is asserting her will quite firmly these days.


 (Nice balloon rocket launch in the background, don't you think?)

~The Homeschool Den~

This is my favorite homeschool blog so far.  The author shares pretty much all the material and curriculum she creates for her own kids, and it's all printable and completely free.  I'm using tons of her stuff (thank you!)... so many great ideas!  As a complete novice, I really appreciated her series on getting started with homeschooling, and as I was freaking out about how to keep my younger kiddos occupied, I really loved her huge list of things to do with your preschooler.  It seems like every post she writes answers a question on my mind.

This morning, as the school buses are roaring by our house for the first time, and the other kids in our neighborhood start "real" school, it was good for me to read this post.  These words especially rang out to me:

"...This is a transitional time for everyone.

If your children are old enough, you can also explain to them that this new journey is beginning with a lot of transitions. Everyone will need to be patient (with themselves and with others), and everyone is going to need to show a lot of compassion...

...it might just happen that one day early on, you will get so stressed that as soon as your husband walks in the door, you will stomp out saying that you’re done with this. You may take a long walk around your neighborhood, only to come home to find your children in tears and your husband saying that the kids have agreed to go back to school, if Mom really wants them to do so.

You might feel like a big jerk. You know, theoretically, if all that happened to you.

Plan with your spouse how you will get some downtime. In particular, you will need this while you transition to this new lifestyle."

It was good for me to read that, despite the fact that our whole family feels pretty confident that homeschooling is right for us, it may not be all rainbows and butterflies... and that's okay.  That's normal.  And it's even okay for me to be having some of the same pit-in-my-stomach feelings that I had last year when I put N on the bus for the first time.  It is a new beginning... a little freaking out is normal, right?

~Pilates~

On a completely different subject....... I love pilates.

Especially when I'm doing a lot of running.

It feels soooooo amazing to stretch out all of those weary muscles when I'm logging a lot of miles.  Spending enough time stretching after my running workouts is not something I do well, probably because I usually have a child run up and hang off me as soon as I walk in the door from a run.  So pilates works well because it stretches me out, as well as building my core strength which is great for increasing running speed and improving form.  I highly recommend it :)

Thus ends this long list of my loves.  What are you loving lately?