The Nibbana Family

This year, we started a vegetable (and fruit) garden.  One of the plants I was most excited about was tomatoes.  I haven’t grown tomatoes since I was very small, but I love to eat them!  We planted two large pots in May, and they are HUGE!  There are many tiny green tomatoes growing.

The tomatoes in the pictures are roma (oblong) and celebrity (round).  Roma tomatoes are good for canning and sauce, but I will attest that they taste great raw!  Celebrity tomatoes are more of an all-purpose hybrid.  They are supposed to be easy to grow, and so far, I would have to say that is true.

One of the best things about having fresh tomatoes is using them in a cold pasta salad.  Tomatoes, pasta, olive oil, garlic, basil, and a bit of parmesan cheese make for a tasty summer dish.  Mmmmmmmm!

I have been reading a whole lot of things about mummies because the first book I read is called Pyramids and Mummies.  I found it really interesting!  Now I will tell you how to make a mummy.

1.  Get a dead man.

2.  Wash him in Nile water.

3.  Wrap him in toilet paper or cloth.

4.  Put him in a rectangular prism box.

5.  Decorate the box.

That is how you make a mummy!

Abby just loves to swing. If you look around and can’t find Abby, chances are she has made her way to the swing set.

Although we have taken lots of still pictures, we haven’t been very diligent about getting the kids on video. It’s quite a process to get the video camera, find a blank tape, set it up, shoot, transfer it to the computer, etc. So last week we bought a new Canon 780 point and shoot camera that also takes high definition video. This little thing makes capturing video much easier.

Here’s Abby going for a swing and then demanding a push at the end.

a story by Ari (age 6)

One day I saw a field. It needed some work. People had littered and it was weedy. I wanted to fix it up. As I started the work, flies surrounded me. “What shall I do?” I asked myself, “Shall I continue or not”? I decided to ignore them. They buzzed around me everywhere I went. I felt like I was a queen fly!

I recycled all of the trash. I sorted it and put it in my recycling bin. I put some things in my compost bin and had only a little trash to throw away. I weeded the field and put the weeds in the compost bin too.

When I got done, everything looked so beautiful that I couldn’t even believe my eyes. There were fields of muliticolored flowers and light green grass. I saw one tree that was so tiny. It had no grass surrounding it because I had just planted it and removed the nearby grass. It was a beautiful miracle.

Now other children can see the fantastic field and play it in. The Earth is happy too because it looks great and it is clean.

It is such a relief to be done for two whole months!

This school year was stressful.  It was my first year teaching with Howard County, so I had to figure out a new curriculum and all of the ways the new school works (each school system has a different way of doing things).  I also had a room that was next to the school computer lab, which was convenient but also presented some unique challenges.  Our school was designed with open spaces and retractable walls which aren’t exactly soundproof, so several months of the year when they conduct testing in the lab I had to vacate my room and teach from a mobile cart.  It’s rougher than it sounds; when you can’t count on a classroom and have to make constant last minute changes and signs to direct your students, it eventually wears on you. Good thing I’m flexible!

Last summer was my first summer off. Previously I taught summer school, which takes at least a month out of the summer and is usually right in the middle of the break.  Last summer we had our condo on the market so we had to keep the place immaculate, which doesn’t lend itself to much relaxation.  When it finally went under contract, we had to continue keeping it clean in case something fell through while also packing up.  In the last few weeks of summer, we moved in with Mom, but then I had to look for a new job.  Basically, last summer was very busy.

This summer is different.  After a new roof derailed our vacation plans, I recently realized I have NO plans this summer!  I will soon start up a summer calandar, so I can keep track of playdates and programs at the library.  We also plan to spend a lot of time at pool.  It’s going to be a great summer!