Oh, how my heart aches every time I hear it.
Mom.
I gave them permission to use the new name. Last week I noticed the kids getting some funny looks from their peers (and even adults) when they called me Momma. I told them I will always be their Momma, but it was okay for them to call me Mom. "And while we're at it," I said, "we really should say, 'I need to go to the bathroom,' rather than, 'I need to go potty.'"
Ryne was not happy with either of the changes, so I think he'll be calling me Momma and excusing himself to go potty when he's in his twenties. I think Grace will catch on eventually, but she's still young enough that she can get away with it. But Anna, my dear daughter who has aged six years in the last six weeks, has fully embraced the name change (she has not used the word potty for many years, thankfully).
I feel like I'm being punched in the gut every time she calls me mom.
She's also switched from Daddy to Dad, and it hurts just as much. Isn't she supposed to always be Daddy's little girl?
Would anyone like to join me in my pity party? {Sniff}
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And now I am going to admit one of my many weaknesses as a homeschool mom.
I cannot identify clouds.
I must have learned about the different cloud types a dozen times as a kid. And last fall we studied them for our weather unit. We labeled charts of different cloud types. We read library books. We looked online. We looked at real clouds. By the way, have you seen NASA's great cloud tutorial and printable poster?
Neat stuff, but apparently no amount of great resources will enable me to overcome my cloud-labeling-deficiency. I don't know why, but in real life they just never seem to look like the pictures. So I just say to my kids intelligent things like, "Look at the pretty clouds!" Last night was one of those times. We were right on the edge of a massive cloud system as the sun set, and it gave the entire outdoors a purplish cast. The clouds had these amazing streaks at the edges. You really need a wide angle shot to do the scene justice, but hopefully these straight out of the camera shots will give you a little glimpse of what we saw.
So do I have any cloud enthusiasts out there who want to tell us what clouds these are? I was smart enough to rule out nimbus (no rain). Something stratus (layers) seems to make sense, or is that just from the wind since the streaks were only on the edges? Naming the contrail doesn't count. 
