I love participating in 10 on the 10th which is hosted by Once Upon a Time Happily Ever After and Marsha in the Middle! 

This month pays homage to that most sparkly of birthstones, diamonds!

1. Diamond’s are April’s birthstone. What is your birthstone? What do you like or dislike about it?

My birthstone is the topaz, November! From the Greek Topazios, a small island in the Red Sea. According to Era Gem, the topaz is symbolic of harmony and hospitality, is a gem for the artist, inspiring creativity and living life according to your own values. I love that, all of those things are qualities I wish to embody. I love its warm yellow color (although they can come in many colors). My mom bought me a topaz ring for my 16th birthday. I wasn’t sure how I felt about a topaz until then honestly, it seemed so boring compared to a diamond or an emerald. Then my mom bought me that ring and I loved it. I loved its individuality, which was something I very much valued then and now. And of course, that my mom bought me such a beautiful piece of “adult” jewelry, my birthstone from the woman who birthed me (and my mom’s birthstone is a diamond!)

2. Diamonds are the hardest naturally occurring substance found on Earth. What is something hard you have dealt with in the past year or so?

The past year or so has thrown lots at our family. It’s been crazy. Some of the issues are not mine to share, but one I can is Wyatt’s shunt revisions in September and October of 2020. We went six years without Wyatt needing his VP shunt revised and then boom boom, two in a row during the first six months of the pandemic. It was scary, it was hard. But we made it through – my kid is so tough and brave and strong.

3. Diamonds are also known as a girl’s best friend. Tell us a bit about your bestie!

I have three! Chrissy, who is also my sister-in-law, Kelly, and Jill. Chrissy I met when my brother started dating her a million years ago, and we hit it off immediately, despite a nine year age difference. (I am older) She is very logical, empathetic, and caring. She has a fantastic smile, a wry sense of humor, and is a fantastic mother. Chrissy can be very reserved but when she is comfortable she can bubble right over with happiness. She has a huge heart and the thought of anything and anyone being hurt, hurts her. I have seen her care to insects that other people wouldn’t even glance at – all life has meaning and is sacred to her, and I love that about her.

Kelly and I have been friends for…hmm. Almost 30 years? Yikes! I just did the math on that and phew. We were in each other’s weddings, and have passed from our 20s to our 30s to our 40s, through buying houses and miscarriages and having children and the loss of family members. We keep each other sane on a daily basis. She is super practical, where I am not as much. She keeps me grounded and I have the opposite effect on her sometimes. She’s the Grace to my Frankie. She is always super put together, where I am not. I don’t mind a mess, she can’t stand one. We have been there for each other through thick and thin.

Jill rounds out our group of four. Jill is a real nurturer, and seriously one of the hardest working people I know. She is a respiratory therapist and worked tirelessly during the first months of the pandemic, (and all the rest as well) at one of the first hot spots in Michigan. She worked extra hours and despite being in danger herself, she didn’t miss a beat. That’s just Jill. She will bend over backwards to help people. She also can get a wild hare and do something totally crazy, like fly to London to stay with a friend she had only met online, all by herself. She is so independent and brave.

All of these women are strong, have beautiful spirits, are independent, and just pretty all around amazing. They can make me laugh like only friends can. We have weathered many storms and rainbows together and I love them all so much.

4. Marilyn Monroe is synonymous with that saying. Do you have a favorite Marilyn Monroe, saying, or picture?

Not really. So I looked up some photos for this post and found this photo gallery of candids, and I love them so much! This is my favorite.

5. The Queen’s Jubilee was in 2012. What were you doing in 2012 and would actually confess to?

I jumped back to my old blog to see! And well, I wasn’t doing too much. Reading, hanging out with friends, working at the library, hiking with Billy. I guess not too different from these days?

6. Name a song with diamond in the title and tell us why you picked that one.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is the first to come to mind. I remember thinking it was such a crazy song as a kid! I also want to give a shout to Neil Diamond, and Forever in Blue Jeans, which is a song I love.

7. Would you splurge on a large diamond, a grand experience, or a new car? Why?

Definitely the grand experience! Memories you have forever, to live and experience and see new things are so valued by our family!

8. Do you have a sentimental diamond gift or bequest?

I have a few! My own claddagh engagement/wedding ring, my grandmother’s engagement ring, and a ring my mom had made for me from the diamonds in her wedding ring that she got from my dad.

9. Why do you think diamonds have become such a desired gemstone? Do you like diamonds?

This is going to sound cynical, sorry. My answer is they have become so desired because of marketing to the public. Through successful marketing the world views them as symbols of wealth, happiness, and even love. As for if I like them, I do! I love the ones that I have but are they something I would ever ask for or covet? No, not really. I do appreciate their beauty though, and I completely understand why others do want them! We like what we like!

10. Are you a traditionalist when it comes to diamonds, or do you like the colored stones? Why?

I am not. I recently discovered salt and pepper diamonds and prefer them! They are imperfect, unique, beautiful, conflict free. My husband bought me a salt and pepper diamond ring last year, and I love it. I think it is wonderfully symbolic of this time in our lives, these “salt and pepper” years, our midlife. We are imperfect and unique, and I think it represents us and our relationship.

And that is it! I had a great time doing this! Be sure to pop by Marsha and Lesley’s blogs to read all the others, if you enjoyed mine!

I love to read other people’s stories, about their lives, what they do, their routines, their day to day. Triumphs and sorrows. What people like, read, do, wear.. I am sure maybe a lot of bloggers are like this. A curious lot.

I get a lot of questions when I tell people we homeschool, or when people learn Wyatt has cerebral palsy. Maybe people in general are just a curious bunch. Inquisitive. Our lifestyle is a bit untraditional, but Wyatt has grown by leaps and bounds these past two years in many ways. In some ways, we have lost some ground due to the pandemic, but we will get there again and regain those triumphs. My biggest concern right now for Wyatt is having friends – and I am hoping this summer I can find some social interactions for him.

These things look different for us. Things people don’t think about or consider because, why would they? How can they understand our life unless they are in it, or experience similar situations? I am constantly learning and watching and evolving, trying to understand better the experiences of others, as they are all different.

Pre-pandemic, Wyatt went to preschool 4 days a week, half days, and therapy three times a week. It was a pretty grueling schedule for a three year old, in my opinion. Then in March 2020, things changed. I started homeschooling Wyatt myself, and have watched him thrive. He is talking non-stop, where before we were lucky if he said two words all day. Some of this is age and development, but I also think it is in part to being in an environment where he is able to express himself. I listen to him. He has a voice and is able to make us hear it here at home.

Wyatt is also doing things that we were told he probably wasn’t capable of. And I don’t blame the teachers – it was one teacher and one para for a classroom of fifteen kids all needing special help and attention. There was no way again, that they could do it all or fully understand Wyatt. They did the best they could, I believe that 100%. I come from a family of teachers and school administrators – I worked in a school for 15 years before Wyatt. I know just how hard teachers work, how much they care. Homeschooling just works for us right now. It might not be what we do forever, but now, it is perfect. I can focus on Wyatt’s strengths and particular learning styles. We can spend time on areas where he needs extra attention, and not stick to a schedule of how many days he needs to learn it within before we move on. I can work around his medicine that he takes for his epilepsy, that makes him a little tired mid-day. I can schedule his numerous specialist appointments without disrupting his schedule, and our open schedule allows us to get in places easier, like therapy, as we are not bound by certain times.

And we have so much fun, honestly. I know that we are making memories everyday, and I want them to be full of good moments, art and music and nature and just hanging out, feeling loved. I know we are lucky that we are able to do this. We sacrifice for this opportunity – we live on one income and feel blessed that we are able to do what we can with it. But we don’t have a ton of disposable income, which is ok. As long as we have money for food and books and the occasional treat, that we can pay our bills. Take a trip here and there, visit new places and have more experiences. That is more than a lot of people have, so I don’t worry about what other people are doing. I am happy and content in our quiet little life. (Except I do wish we had more trees in our yard. I will say that. And maybe some chickens and ducks and a goat.)

I guess I am just feeling..grateful today. Grateful for all that I have. Love for my family and friends.

What are you feeling grateful for today? No matter how big or small! It can be just a warm cup of tea, a ray of sunshine streaming through the window, anything at all. I would love to hear what you are feeling today!

April! The month of the Full Pink Moon, Easter, my mom’s birthday. Also, hopefully a month of sunshine and breezes and warmer weather.

Last year was another Easter that we spent just the three of us – this year, I think we will be able to get together with family. Finally! I missed everyone, the crazy talking all at once, the kids being silly together, the sharing of food and stories. We never do a big Easter basket for Wyatt, we usually give him a book and some fun outside things, like sidewalk chalk or a bug catcher to observe insects in, before releasing them back to where they belong. Art supplies, candy, and that is usually about it. This year I am making little peg dolls as well, to match the book we are giving him, since he likes to act out the stories with toys. So far, so good on that project!

I also very ambitiously decided to begin a sewing project, a pretty big one. I am not the greatest at this sort of thing but I will finish it, by hook or by crook, even if it takes me a year! Which it might judging by just how long it takes me to even cut the pattern and pieces out.

This is what I am making:

A Hendrick’s Scrappy Hare. I joined a Slow Stitch group on Facebook and someone made this dapper fellow and I fell in love with him. If you check it out on Etsy, there are so many different ways you can do this, unique to you, since you use scrap materials to finish him up. This one reminds me of an eccentric professor and I am going to use him as my own inspiration. Maybe I will be done by fall! I just love rabbits and hares so much! (Next week I start my yearly reread of Watership Down, if anyone wants to join me! I’m not sure what people do in read alongs but just throwing it out there)

Thankfully, there is also a series of YouTube videos that detail what to do, step by step. I am going slow but I am enjoying the process which is what it is all about. And hopefully by the end I have something somewhat resembling a rabbit.

It’s also Earth month! I try to do what I can, but I like to use April as a good time to see what we could be doing better to help our world and environment, so I am going to be looking at a few areas this month and trying to make improvements.

I’m also hoping for some picnics this month! More outside time would be fantastic. I am so so done with winter. Can I say that one more time? Probably. Wyatt and I are also starting a four week or longer pond unit study this month and it would be nice to actually see a springtime pond, rather than a frozen one. A friend of mine has the most beautiful backyard, just brimming and overflowing with plants and a greenhouse, and a pond! Her pond has frogs and turtles and birds and it is a wild oasis right in the middle of our suburban city. I lined up a “field trip” of sorts to her pond for one day this month – I am hoping to see tadpoles after our fruitless efforts last year. And hopefully we can get our garden started this month as well – I started a few seeds the other day and plan on starting a few more soon.

I’m excited for April and all the things we have lined up! Do you have anything in the works?

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Phew last week was a doozy! I had a family member going through a rough patch and when I wasn’t homeschooling, Wyatt and I were over at this person’s house helping them out. Things seem to be looking up so that is good. I didn’t have anytime to read or really do much else, but family first.

So. That being said.

What I am Reading This Week:

I need some gardening in my life! The closest I can come right now though is reading about it. Wild is the Witch also sounds really good!

Posted Last Week:

Just one lonely post A Look at Last Week

Watching:

We are still watching Murdoch Mysteries – it’s a lighthearted show to wind down with at night, which is what we need these days.

Updated to Add: Saturday night movie night! I posted early last night before we had picked our movie, and we stepped away from Studio Ghibli to watch Death on the Nile. I LOVED it. It was so visually stunning, and I am a sucker for the way a movie looks. It was gorgeous. And the music! I loved that as well! I haven’t read the books at all (sorry Agatha) and I was unprepared for such an emotional Poirot.

And gosh, that is about it! Slow news week around here! I hope all is well with all of you!

Our house loves snails! It had been a few years since we participated in the Exploring Nature with Children, and when I saw that last week was snail week, I jumped in. We had such a great time revisiting these tiny little creatures as part of our science and nature studies! I loved so many of the books that we read – I mentioned in my post the other day that Wyatt loved Snail Brings the Mail, and we always love Escargot. The Snail with the Right Heart was a new addition to our reading, and I really enjoyed it. It’s about a snail (true story) that was born with his shell spiraling to the left rather than the right, which is a rarity.

Escar-dough, anyone?

Friday was Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day! We wore green in support, and read a few books, including This Girls Got Grit by Felicia Flewelling. I met Felicia on a mom’s retreat in Texas a few years ago, and she was delightful. She was working on her book when we met, and I was happy to be able to buy it this year for CP Awareness Day! We kind of spent the day doing all of Wyatt’s favorite things.

Saturday was so cold. I had wanted to pond exploring but we are going to have to wait a bit longer! We start a month long or so pond study so I wanted to kick off strong but .. we went for a drive in Detroit and walked around Belle Isle instead. And really, took a five minute walk around the garden. It was just so cold!

And that is about it! I’m looking forward to warmer weather and new adventures!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Last week was so cold..again! This weekend we have even had snow. I am so over it – I am ready for springtime! We didn’t get out as much as we wanted to, and we are all feeling restless. Wyatt and I did have a fun week revisiting snails in our Exploring Nature With Children snail week studies. Snails are always a favorite around here. I am behind on posting but I hope to get a homeschool post up this week! We did get out for a little bit yesterday – we took a little ride around Detroit, including Belle Isle. I took a stroll around the waiting garden, which is just starting to wake up. I can’t wait to see it in a few weeks, in its springtime glory!

Read Last Week:

This book was a crazy ride y’all. I liked it but it also sort of hurt my brain.

Reading This Week:

I didn’t intend to read two witchy witch books back to back, but here we are. I kind of love this cover. I loved the Nature of Witches so I am looking forward to this one.

Posted Last Week:

What Wyatt’s Reading – March Edition

Tigers and Lizards and Wolves, Oh My!

Watching:

We have been pretty dedicated Murdoch Mysteries watchers again this week. Billy had some late night with work and it is an easy show to wind down with.

Last night for our movie night we watched Nausicaa, another Studio Ghibli. This one is Billy’s favorite and he warned me ahead of time that this one was different from the others that we have watched, more serious than cute and whimsical. I am glad I knew that going in because it was darker. Billy loves a dystopian story and Nausicaa takes place in a world that has turned toxic due to over pollution, where toxic spores infect the air, and kill you if you breathe them in. Nausicaa lives in the Valley of the Wind, where a constant breeze keeps the spores at bay. There are enormous insects that seem to want to just attack humans, humans that attack humans, and there is Nausicaa, who is about peace and love to all creatures. She has a connection to the world that others don’t; she communicates with the insects, she is kindly and good in a world that is pretty darn ugly. Overall it was a fantastic message but definitely did not embody the cozy cuteness of the other Studio Ghibli movies we have watched. (also I 100% thought she was not wearing pants but they are just flesh toned apparently) The music will also totally transport you directly back to the 80s – along with the use of quicksand…

And that is it from my cold corner of the Mitten state! What has been going on in your world?

Sunday was a gorgeous day! The first day of spring, our first outing in months, and world frog day! Our zoo was having some kid friendly activities surrounding frog day so of course we went. We got there early though, and had the zoo to ourselves for the most part. We had about an hour to explore before the frog day activities were to begin, so we headed immediately to the otters. Which isn’t too hard since they are among the first of the animals you encounter when walking through the Detroit Zoo. They are one of my favorites, with their little land gallop and ease in the water. And seriously they are just super cute too.

After squealing in glee (me) over their antics, we headed into the reptile house, where we were all super excited over the animals we saw in there. Usually it is jam packed and you can’t get close to the exhibits to really see anything, but we were the only ones in there for a while which was nice. We really were able to take our time.

That Green Ball Python is stunning! His color is gorgeous. And doesn’t he look just a little bit goofy?

We tried to see the tigers but there was only one out and she was off sunning herself in a distant corner. Billy and Wyatt still had fun though.

We had time for one more animal exhibit before we needed to head to Amphibiville. Wyatt chose the wolves – no surprise there! They have a really large enclosure and a lot of the time they are not visible but today they were fairly close. They are so big!! They were also catching some morning sun and it was hard to take a picture with my phone but I tried.

And then it was time! I’m going to be a little critical here and I apologize because I think what they did was an honest effort – but the activities were a bit lackluster and not well designed for families passing through. Two of them were math based and there would be one kid at a time able to participate, while no one else could approach the tables. And the poor kid had to do math under pressure! The best was the volunteer playing the different sounds that frogs make. I think I was hoping for more frog-centric science/nature activities. They tried but it needed a little honing. Maybe next year. We ended up skipping the activities to just look at the different frogs.

It was really cool, although it was funny since we have two very different frogs at our house (a Tiger Leg Monkey Tree Frog and a Pac-Man) and my friends also have interesting amphibians – bullfrogs, toads, axolotl. Apparently we could open our own reptile and amphibian houses! Lol.

And then it was time to go home! I am sure we will be back there soon though!

My Sunday Post is hosted by Kimba the Caffeinated Book Reviewer
Sunday Salon is hosted by Deb at Readerbuzz
It’s Monday! What Are You Reading? is hosted by Kathryn at Book Date

Hey all! Happy Spring!! We spent the first day of spring outside as much as possible yesterday, and it was so good for our spirits! We went to the zoo, worked outside in the yard doing some after winter cleanup, then had a simple dinner with my mom. It was a wonderful day and we were all tuckered out by 9 pm.

The first snowdrops of the season.

Read Last Week:

I have read four out of six of the Trespass Collection. These are so good! I plan to finish the last two this week and post reviews. They are a collection of short stories, all around forty pages each. They are wild!

Reading This Week:

I grabbed this from the library the other day and read a few pages on Saturday. I am already sucked in after the twenty pages or so that I read.

Posted Last Week:

Just Taking My Time..

Watching/Listening:

So, we are still watching Murdoch Mysteries. I can’t say that it is in the same league as other mystery type shows we have watched, but the episodes are easy to watch at the end of long days. They are…I can’t explain it really, but they entertain us and are amusing and Murdoch is not hard on the eyes either. (See Season 3 episode 1 for references..)

We didn’t have movie night Saturday. We played too hard this weekend and by evenings we were wiped. But the next movie planned is Nausicaa by Studio Ghibli, which is Billy’s favorite. He has watched most of these movies already while they are all new to me.

Our wake up songs last week! Soak up the Sun by Sheryl Crow, Walking on Sunshine by Katrina and the Waves, All the Single Ladies by Beyonce, Can’t Stop the Feeling by Justin Timberlake.. we needed lots of good vibes last week.

And that is it from here at our little refuge!

So the previous few weeks have been rough. Just a lot of unexpected things have happened, lots of worrying, it’s just been a lot. So this week I have been taking it a little slow. Slow mornings, homeschooling, setting things back to right, unrushed as much as I can. I mean, things have upset the proverbial apple cart this week, things that had me sitting in the middle of my hallway crying while my cat Maggie sat next to me with feline concern. But 24 hours later, things were already starting to turn around.

But these small blips were just that – blips. The weather has been nicer, and Wyatt and I have been able to get outside this week during the day, which has been so good, just to feel the warm sun on our faces again. I saw an early butterfly flying about yesterday, and I have heard the red-winged blackbirds singing in the reeds along the river, a sure sign of spring.

I haven’t read much, blogged much, even taken many photos. I’ve been soaking up the time with my family this week, processing. I needed some time away from extras this week, and it was just what I needed.

Last night I even got together with two of my friends for a ladies night wine night catch up. I sent out the bat signal and they responded. My friend Kelly’s husband is sick, he has an upper respiratory something or other (he’s had a few COVID tests and all have been negative) so we sat outside, in the early spring cold. We were all shivering, hiding our hands inside our sleeves, putting up our hoods, drinking our wine, sharing our stories. It seems like we have all been having a time of it, with really hard things happening, and we needed that time together. We started off commiserating and encouraging each other, and by the end of the evening despite being pretty darn cold we were laughing. It has been too long since we have hung out and been together in person and I needed my friends, and they apparently needed it too.

When I got home, I felt refreshed, finally. My guys were watching tv in bed together, and I joined them, getting under the covers to try to warm up. And today is St. Patrick’s Day! Later I am picking up a corned beef shepherds pie from a local restaurant, which comes with an apple salad, Irish Soda Bread, and Guinness Chocolate cake. It feeds four so we will share dinner tonight with my mom and I am looking forward to it. I don’t know what else Wyatt and I will do with our day, as I didn’t prepare much for the holiday as I was in a quiet place this week, but I will think of something fun.

And here is an oft-repeated Irish blessing for you today ~

“May the road rise up to meet you. May the wind always be at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face, and rains fall soft upon your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the palm of His hand.”