A new start?

Well, here's hoping I get more on this blog this year than the last (shouldn't be too hard, right!?). Oli has joined our family last July, now a cheerful, chubby little man who adores his older siblings. I 'm looking forward to summer when he can spend some time outside without many layers and he can look around a little and see a few things.
Si is blowing me away right now with his capacity to remember and learn. He's very into the letter S right now. He finds them everywhere - on signs, food boxes, books, on tv (even his poops, but I won't write that here!). I guess now we need to move on to other letters, but I'm letting him take the lead on this one, although I'd love for him to know most of the alphabet by the end of this year. We'll see!
Lulu is trying hard not to fail math in school right now. In one of her classes, Planning10, she's creating a brochure on the dangers of working in a retail job. Isn't that something she'll learn when she's on the job? They take a class' worth of hours away from real schooling to teach her something like this? And I'm by no means into the three 'r's being the only thing one learns, but is this really necessary? I'm flabbergasted. I'm trying to persuade her to come home for learning, but no luck so far. Honestly, I'm not sure it would work at this stage in the game, but for the amount I've retained (as an A student none the less!) I don't think it would do her any harm. I tell her she'd have so much more free time, but she simply retorts that none of her friends would, so what would be the point? Ah, me. I've failed this one somewhere lol!
As for me? Despite the fact that I'm a firm believer in enjoying the current season (never complaining it's too hot in July, then whining because it's too cold in January), I'm already imagining summer time's garden. I came across a seed catalog at my mom's today and it really got the gears going. How will I garden with a one year old? I really don't see a positive way to keep him out of the freshly seeded patches. Will I have to ban him from the garden (and his older brother by extension in order to keep an eye on him on the other side of the fence?). This is not how I pictured my garden at all. They offer so much to a child! I'll have to do some searching on this one. As always, when in doubt, check the internet and the library!