Thoughts on learning, living, breathing

I'm liking the title of our post more and more. After a rough start to my day and a grouchy end (all due to a misbehaving Westie). I realized that I need to take moments to BREATHE. It's amazing what a half hour on the couch can do for a momma. Often, I don't slow myself down just to do that and I try to barrel my way through the moments of insanity. I then find myself exhausted by 5:00 and truth be told, a grouch. Today, the title of the blog feels like it applies to me-I'm learning (slowly but surely) to live (be in the moment) and to breathe. Aaaaahhhh. Tip: Big deep breaths really do help.

Thursday

After a crazy morning involving a dog emergency (everything's fine). We began a sweet homeschool morning. Here's the list:
-Bagels and OJ at Noah's Bagels with the girls.
-Started off at the Library where I gave the girls a 3 book limit.
-Came home and G read library books to E.
-Made needle felted pumpkins (pictured). So much fun and such a sweet result.
-Did a little pumpkin math involving addition, subtraction, multiplication.
-Outdoor time raking leaves, gathering eggs, and checking their garden of chard, spinach, arugula, lettuce, and Kale.
-Finished up the time with (not so) Big T bringing me a lunch of Pok Pok. YUM! Thanks T!
-Admittedly, I got a little grouchy when they left because our dog (as mentioned earlier) had a close call with a car. After my grump fest, I suggested that the girls and I lay on the couch and listen to Henry Huggins by Beverly Cleary (momma fell asleep).

Zoo

The morning was cool with a threat of rain, but we decided to pack the umbrella and go anyway. It turned out to be a perfect morning at the Oregon Zoo. There were few people there and the kids had fun running from exhibit to exhibit. The girls made a list of the animals they wanted to see. The sea otter and lorikeets seemed to be the big hit. They did a great job at reading the map and leading the way. And they learned the meaning of "extinct" in regards to the beautiful Amur leopard.