Random Stuff

The pole on the right is our new lawn ornament.

The ongoing road construction project in front of our house has brought a few surprises.  The first surprise came when my neighbor called us in Minnesota to tell us that the workers took out 3 of our trees (1 big, 2 decorative) from our front yard.  Then we got another surprise the other day when THIS showed up in the middle of our side/front yard...  a brand new electric pole (the one on the curb will be coming down).  Of course, the whole spectacle was pretty neat so the boys and I sat on the front porch while the power company truck drilled into the ground.  One of the workers came over and apologized for our new middle-of-the-yard lawn ornament, saying that the county evicted them off the curb.  So down the enitre street, new power poles are literally in people's front yards.  

I know the project is far from over, and I know there will be sidewalks and bigger curbs, so I'm hoping this doesn't remain the eyesore that it is right now.  I noticed yesterday that there were tree trimmers lopping down more trees to make room for the wires, and I have a feeling our beautiful oak will have to come down too.  Update... literally in the middle of typing this post, the tree trimmers just rang the doorbell and the oak is coming down today!!  :-(  :-(  We're seriously considering calling the county and asking them to replace at least 1 tree (since they have now taken 4).  One of the reasons we like our subdivision is because it's mature... there are trees here!  I'd love to have at least one back.

Not very far from the house.  The old pole is just out of the
left side of the picture.

Ranting about road construction projects and trees makes me feel really old!!

We did a fun little math lesson yesterday involving stuffed animals.  We had to set up the dining room chairs like a bus, and Ben had to put the friends in and out to identify first, second, third, last, etc., as well as front, middle, back.  These are things he knows pretty well already, but the math book also turned it into very simplified addition and subtraction.  Ben also had his first math "quiz" and he was able to count to 100 without any mistakes.  I knew he could count well but didn't know he could get all the way up to 100!  

And then there's my little Joey.  Andrew and I both feel that he's been falling into the trap of the middle child even though the baby isn't even born yet.  Ben gets lots of my attention because of school, and Baby HoHo gets what's left of my stamina.  So we are both trying to be really mindful of making sure Joe gets quality one-on-one time from each of us.  Some days during school time, Joey does great and will sit at the table with us and scribble away on paper, or like yesterday, squish playdough on the window.  Then there are other times he wants attention and the only way he can get it is to act out.  It's a very hard balance to figure out, but each day I get better and better about making sure he feels included with our activities.  Today Ben had to have a pile of cars to sort and classify, so I made sure to get a pile for Joey to play with, just so he felt like was part of it too.  The lesson went well, and I'm sure it was because I was more prepared for sweet Joe.