Local First Day of School

August 31st was the first day of school for many of the children around here. While they were lined up for the bus early in the morning, my son Dusty was walking to the place he has come to love. Hidden Valley Ranch. They raise Paint horses and he goes there two days a week to work in exchange for riding privileges.
His spirit free and happy doing what he enjoys, while the numerous children looked sort of downcast and tired for their first day. I am sure they were wishing that the summer had not ended.
As for Rhett's day, we spent the day in the garden, reading books and playing hide and seek. We caught grasshoppers and looked for a Praying Mantis that had found its way into our yard.
He is asking me to spell everything for him now, so we spend the days spelling out words and of course I must not go fast or he tells me to "do it more slowly..." You can see his little mind working as he tries to picture the letter in his mind as I spell it out.

So while the children were sitting at desks inside a building, my boys were outside enjoying the things they do best...being themselves, learning the way they want and what they want. I feel this is part of raising a holistically healthy child.

Its the end of August already???

We have been here for 2 months. I am sorry to those I promised to drop a line to but haven't yet.

So much has happened. Cody is back home. YaY!!! He is not so happy though. I told him to take this time to solidify his plans for the future. If it means school, then go to school. If he wants to learn a trade, then do so. He has the time right now.

School is starting next week for the locals here. I hear mixed reviews from parents and children alike.
I love the fact that my children will be kept out of the massive crowds at the schools and have the freedom to pursuit their likes. One of the girls who also volunteers at the ranch has to quit even though she homeschools. Dusty said something about her not having time now that school is starting again. So I am thinking virtual school or her parents are pretty strict. Which is ok if that is what fits their family. I think it kind of sad that she loves being around horses and cannot be even though she is homeschooled.

When Dusty is working at the horse ranch, Rhett and I take long walks by the canal. It is supposedly illegal to swim in the canal because of dangerous undercurrents. But there is a place where we can go down to a sandy spot that is pretty level. I let Rhett go up to his knees. The water is still pretty cold. We have been finding all sorts of interesting things in the water from pond skaters to water snails. He loves to throw rocks in the water. Its quite a relaxing way to spend the mornings.

Most of our days are spent playing in the backyard, taking walks and sitting in the garden reading books. We venture out to the library once a week and spend a couple of hours there where he plays with other children and the library's pets. They have such a cute guinea pig named CoCo that Rhett is quite fond of.

Soon we will begin visiting the local flora and fauna. There is a place called Bogus Basin that is supposed to be a great place to go hiking. The downtown parks are supposed to be really nice as well. We still have to visit the nature center and zoo here. Supposedly the first Thursday of the month are free days at the museums and such so we shall see.

We are still adapting and Rhett talks about the "pink" house often. Especially how he had to leave his toys there. I hope to replace them soon, I know he is sad about that. I am sad as well. I had to leave some things that were important to me. I know they can be replaced, but not the sentiment.
Life is full of disappointing things, I just have to adjust and move along.

Our New Library

I really miss the library in Aurora. The Smoky Hill Branch was the most awesome library I've been too. It was mostly due to Woody's Coffee and Smoothie shop within it. He had really tasty strawberry truffle smoothies and on cold days I loved to get a caramel cider.
The library we go to now is pretty small. The fines are outrageous and they have no coffee shop. I know we were spoiled, not every library has a coffee shop in it. But I do miss the smoothies especially on days like today (103 degrees) and I am craving something sweet.

They do have pets in the library though. They have a guinea pig, a dove, two Australian walking stick bugs, fish, a tree frog and a gecko. They are all down in the children's section of the library.
Rhett fell in love with the guinea pig named Coco. He thinks the dove is sad because they keep her in a cage and she cannot find her babies. I wonder where he got that from...
They have a small playroom with couches and a couple of toys and a few puzzles. We are still learning where things are there and of course they don't have as many books on certain subjects although we can request books from other libraries.

I haven't found many homeschoolers so I've been toying with the idea of putting up a notice on the board there. I'm sure there has to be more than I've already found in the area. This is supposed to be an awesome state to homeschool in with very little regulations. So far no one in the new neighbourhood homeschools their children and the school is a little ways away. There is a performing arts school down the street and an elementary school built within a very ritzy hoa neighbourhood that I think is only for the kids who live in that area. I think I like to keep my children with me so we can explore and have fun rather than have them sit in a classroom getting in trouble for wistfully looking outside and thinking what might have been.

Sad...

A good friend of my mother's died yesterday morning. She and her daughter always had encouraging words for me and mine when my mother died.
We knew she was dying, but it is never easy. I cannot make it out there for the memorial talk and it makes me sad. They were there for my mom's.

Getting Settled

We are finally getting settled in the new house. It isn't home yet. I don't know if it will ever feel like it. We are renting so there is only so much we can do and I keep telling the kids what they can and cannot do...
I can't wait til we can buy another house. We are still waiting for the one in Aurora to sell. I hope its soon as we cannot afford two places.

The house here in Boise has three bedrooms and one bathroom. We are trying to make it work. The house's saving grace is that it has a really huge backyard that the kids and pups can play in. The front yard is fenced as well. We have been keeping the kitties inside since they do not know the neighbourhood (and its filled with dogs) and might get lost. Oh! Did I mention that hawks carry off kitties around here???
The backyard also has fruit trees, raspberry canes, lemon balm, mint, sage, rosemary and blackberries. Someone started an herb wheel but never planted the herbs. There are also three raised garden beds one of which I've already planted some things in.


We are on the outskirts (unincorporated) part of Boise. It takes 20 minutes to get to downtown. People in the neighbourhood are pretty friendly here. We had chocolate chip cookies waiting for us on the counter the morning we got here. The neighbour lady across the street from us has a bobcat for a pet. There are backyard horses here as well as chickens. Down the road from us is a huge corn field...

I will have pictures later. Some photographer I am...always forgetting my camera.

On hiatus

Since I am in the middle of packing and trying to sell the house, I am taking a temporary hiatus. Hopefully when I get settled in Boise, this blog will be more active with some more interesting stuff.

Did you ever...

Did you ever think that you could accomplish anything only to find out that you can't? Did you ever feel that you are on top of the world only to find out that you are at the bottom of the pile? I think that is where I am now. I know...you are thinking "Oh no. Not another pity party for her." Actually its not a pity party. I'm done with the pity. I know it doesn't get me anywhere and I know people don't want to hear it.

Anyway...

I was working on the basement getting it all packed but I have to do it in spurts. I don't know what it is, but something is setting off my allergies really bad. So it has set me back a couple of days. I don't know whether to finish the rest of the house on schedule and come back to the basement or to just finish the basement and let it take longer to pack the rest of the house.
On top of that, Dusty is getting sick. I think it is his allergies compounded by whatever is in the basement and is now having a hard time breathing.
Off to the doctor's on Monday to get that taken care of. Right now I have him in the shower with some eucalyptus oil to help clear up some of the breathing problems. I am going to make him a little pillow with flax seed mixed with eucalyptus and peppermint. If it gets worse then I will have him inhale some smoke from a lung cleanse herb.

I found some papers that my mom had stashed away. I have someone coming to translate them for me. I think one is an official marriage license from Japan as well as one in English. The others I am not sure. I think one may have something to do with her brother whom I have spent the last 10 years looking for. I really want to just go to Japan and search for him. I think that it would be much easier than putting ads in newspapers or online sites.
It has been seven months since the accident. I still miss her terribly.

The house goes on the market on June 1st. We don't really expect it to sell. The market is horrible here.
Too bad it tanked.

So that is where I am at now.
I have most of the basement done, part of my bedroom done, all of the books done. (That was a chore in itself. We can open a small library.) Oh and the garage is mostly done.
This weekend we are removing the wallpaper and painting. I wonder how many coats of primer is it going to take to cover a dark blue wall?