Band Concert

Last Wednesday was our kids' Christmas band concert.  It's amazing how much they've improved from when they started!

Faith is in advanced band and has been playing the flute since September 2007.  She also can play the clarinet and piano, but not as well as flute.  She even played the flute for a wine and art night where she participated with her ballet studio.

Jared and Cody are in intermediate band and have been playing since September 2009.  Jared plays the trombone and Cody plays the saxophone.

All the kids started out with instruments that their grandparents had....Thank You Grandma's and Grandpa's!!  Faith now has a new flute, and Cody was given a saxophone.

Noah and Alex can hardly wait to join band when they get to fifth grade.  I am so thankful for a school system that offers band.  There is no way we could afford lessons for five kids!  The school is great about letting the kids participate, even though they are home schooled for the rest of their classes.

The rest of the Elk

Finally, Friday night we got the rest of the elk packaged.  About 150 pounds all together.  Cut up the last leg on Friday morning and then Tom took the scraps to be ground into hamburger (is it still called hamburger if it's not beef?  Or should I just call it ground elk?)

What do you call a cow that's missing it's two front legs?
Lean Ground Beef!
HaHaHa....sorry I got sidetracked.  We can do these jokes forever around here....even though we all know the answers to them!

Anyway, he came back with 88 pounds of ground elk.....or elk burger.....elk hamburger????
We set up an assembly line of wrapping.

Tom cut the paper (and ran up to the store twice for more), Jared weighed out one pound piles and pressed them into a rectangle container to make bricks and I wrapped.  Then whoever was free, labeled and stuck them in the freezer.

During this process, I had to remind Jared a time or two that the burger bricks needed to be somewhat level so the packages stacked nicely.  He was worried about it being a race and trying to keep me from catching up.  I told him that he had to do it my way because I was the wrapping boss.  Then I asked him what he would do if he was the boss (great conversations happen when you are working at mindless jobs!).  His first thought was that he would remove the time limits on video game playing (30 minutes per day is our rule).  Then he thought for a minute and decided that he had a better thing to do as boss......he would like to change football to be a year round sport.  Then he could play all the time and get really good to make it to the pro's!  Guess his life must be pretty good if those are the only things he can think of to change!

We cooked up some elk stew for dinner on Friday night and then elk steaks for dinner tonight.....mmmmm.....and still over 100 pounds left to enjoy! 

Elk Update

Yesterday, the boys helped Tom get the elk cleaned up and hung.  We got some pictures of Cody and Jared sawing off the feet....Cody said that was his favorite part!  Alex was delighted to watch and occasionally helped to hold the leg still.  Jared was very interested in the head.  He told me "I think she needed to spend more time brushing her teeth!"  He was also very interested in the Ivory teeth that are supposed to be sent in from any elk that you get.  I'd never heard of such a thing, but I've never been a hunter, so I guess I've never needed to know!  They also enjoyed playing with the tongue and spraying the eyeballs.....yes, they are definitely boys!  I heard all about where the head was attached and why the guts got left in the woods and the elk didn't come home whole.  We didn't get a lot of book school work done yesterday, but they learned about hunting, butchering, anatomy, and hard work....I'm glad they are home during the day and can take advantage of unexpected opportunities like this.  Faith didn't get as interested in the process as the boys.  Thursday we are going to cut up the meat and wrap it for the freezer....My funny husbands says "I don't do roasts, because inside every roast is a lot of little steaks just waiting to get out!"

Sawing off the feet

Hung and Waiting to be cut up

Jared and Cody

Noah and Alex

New Discovery!

Downloading my pictures from my camera can be a little bit of a chore.  I have to get out the external hard drive, find the cords, get it all arranged on my counter, and by that time I've usually used up all of my free time and don't have time to blog about whatever picture it was that I was trying to get.  But this morning, I made a discovery....I was hoping it would work, and it did!  Got out only my camera cord and was able to access the picture I wanted without downloading them to my hard drive!  Quick and easy and don't have to waste all that effort when there is only a couple of pictures in my camera.

Here is the picture I took this morning--the sight I awoke to:

For some reason I found dead elk feet to be strangely amusing.  Tom got his elk yesterday at about 10 am.  He made a quick trip home to get the wheelbarrows and his Dad to help and headed back out.  He finally got home with it at about 6:30....he was exhausted, but then had to stay up late to take care of it.  From what it looks like this morning, he had to put it to bed.  LOL  I have to admit this is the first time I've ever woken up to an elk sleeping on a table in my back yard!  The boys are going to help him wash and hang it today and later this week we'll cut it up and freeze it.  Mmmmm think of all the yummy meals waiting on that table! 

Small Victories on Three Hours Sleep

I couldn't sleep last night....finally fell asleep some time after 1:30am....up at 5am.....night was not long enough.  I could list all the things that don't happen when Mom doesn't sleep, but instead today I'll celebrate what did happen. 
*Three different sets of kids to school on time-with all their stuff. 
*Healthy meals prepared and served on time-even cooked up the turkey carcass for lunch time turkey noodles. 
*Diapers changed, naps and bottles given. 
*School work corrected. 
*History read aloud.
*Didn't loose my temper.
*Hand wash dishes washed.
*One load of laundry done.
*Bed made.
*Check deposited.
*Traded hand massages with Alex.
*USDA paper work done.
*Counter mess straightened.
*345 questions answered (approximate #)

And now I think I'll go to bed.

Snake Tongues

Me:  Jared, get me out the bread knife....that's the really long bumpy one...

Jared:  You mean the one with the snake tongue?

Yep, that's the one.....
Funny how kids see things differently than adults!

Concerts

With his room nice and clean, Noah has had time for his musical activities.

This week he has practiced keyboard, guitar and trumpet in his "bandroom".

With Tom off to McMinnville for the evening to take the big kids to activities,

I was treated to concerts by Noah.



First try at posting videos.....

If you were able to view these, you should be impressed with my computer skills.

If you couldn't see them, I'll have to try again another time!

Toys and the Great Room Cleanout

Friday, when we had no school and only one daycare extra, the kids and I held a special event that I dubbed "THE GREAT ROOM CLEAN OUT".  The kids were not as excited as I was to get this job out of the way, but now that it is done, they are enjoying their clear, clean rooms.  We ended up having to take a truck load of garbage to the dump....I couldn't believe how much trash was hidden in their rooms!  We also took a load to Goodwill, and I have another load in the back of the van ready to go. 

Part of the reason they were willing to get rid of so much stuff is that we are mean parents.  We told them before we cleaned that they have way too much stuff, and we won't be buying any toys for Christmas -because they already have enough-and instead we are just getting them canned food.  That might be a small stretch of the truth....we really aren't buying toys, but we have stayed away from the grocery store for our shopping.

But who needs toys anyway....they hardly use the toys in their rooms anyway, mostly playing Foosball, riding bikes or playing with our kitten....I think the kitten is the favorite toy right now, which works out well because the kitten's favorite toys are the round foods that the kids spill on the floor.  She loves when they drop Kix or Grapes!

Notice to my children:

I am not your brain.

If you have not yet read the problem, don't ask me for help.

If I have walked you through 27 identical problems (and you have shown me that you understand), I will no longer answer how to do it.

Do not insist, "but this HAS to be the right answer!"  I have the answer key and I know how to do the problem.  I also have a calculator that will back me up.

Do not expect me to tell you the answer.

I expect you to use YOUR brain to figure things out....do not rely on me to solve every problem.

If I give you an assignment, I trust that you will schedule your time wisely...do not expect minute by minute reminders to get it done on time.

Help involves more than one person working together.  If your brain is not turned on, I cannot help; I can only do it for you.  This option is not available at this time.

When I am giving you directions, and you are not listening, it is not my problem that you don't know what to do.  I do not talk because I enjoy the sound of my voice....the words are actually coming out of my mouth for a reason.

You have a chore list....it is your reminder, not me.

Contrary to popular belief, I do not read minds.  Don't stand there looking at me blankly and assume that I should be telling you what to do.  I don't know why you are there!

Any single sentence containing the words it, stuff, that, and thing, cannot be answered intelligently....I do not know what you are talking about.

God gave YOU a perfectly good brain of your own.  Use it!

Mondays

Someday, I might miss our crazy Mondays....but it might be a while before I get to that point.  Rush, rush, rush is what we do....although, football is now over, so it slowed down a smidgen.  It seems like everything we do happens on Mondays.  We start off the morning with getting my overnight daycare kids dressed and off to school by 8:00 (although the last two Mondays they haven't been here).  Then most Mondays I take and pick up another daycare child from preschool at 9:00 and 11:30.  Faith has to be at band by 11:10, so some time before that we have to get all of our together school work done.  Faith then gets picked up at 12:00.  Then all the kids have to leave by 3:30 for McMinnville--boys to karate lesson and Faith dropped off at Grandma's who will drop her off at ballet at 6:00.   The boys are back at 5:00 in time to eat dinner, then off to Cub Scouts by 6:00 with Noah--along with Cody and Jared who are den chiefs....then run them home at 7:00 so Cody and Jared can go across the street to Boy Scouts, and I can then take Alex to Cub Scouts.....Come back with Alex at 8:00, in time to go pick up Faith from ballet in McMinnville.  Did I mention that in the mix of all that there is always between 2 and 6 daycare kids here as well?  And if we have any appointments to make, we try to schedule them on Mondays because it's Tom's day off.  Luckily Tom has Mondays off, so we can split up all that running around....and luckily the rest of the week isn't as crazy! 

Gizmo

 This is the cute new addition to our house.  She is so far the best cat we have ever gotten.  She is just the right balance of playful and cuddly, puts up with
kids hauling her around, remembers to use the litter box, and rewards petting with purrs.  The kids have been building Gizmo all sorts of Duplo cat houses/playgrounds.  They started out building cat jails, but I vetoed that plan.  The one in the picture here, has a door at the bottom--which she goes in willingly.  Then the kids hold a wiggling string over the top and she pops up to grab it, "Just like Santa popping up out of a chimney!"  It never gets old....they do it over and over and over until they get called away to do something else.

The Cutest Trick-or-Treaters in Sheridan

As usual, we headed to Goodwill at the beginning of October to find our costumes.

Faith the Witch....but she kept smiling and couldn't give a scary face

Jared the Skeleton

Cody Uncle Sam....

which very few people identified....most guessed Abraham Lincoln or George Washington....

come on people really?

Alex the Deviled Egg....

most people had a hard time figuring out this costume as well, but laughed when they did get it....

thanks to Family Fun magazine for this idea

Noah the Ultimate Super Hero....

Superman costume, Iron Man mask, and (not pictured) Batman cape....

A little odd, but he was delighted with it

What we are learning.

I planned this post weeks ago, and even took the pictures for it, but then the whole dead computer thing happened and well, you know.....

History:
Oregon History....we are reading lots of library books for this study.  I do have a text book, but I'm mostly using it as the framework and checking out books to read about the subjects.  So far we've read about the geological features of Oregon, early Native Americans, and are beginning explorers.

World History.....we are studying our way through history from the beginning using the same series as last year.  Right now we are reading about Ancient Israel and Greece.  The kids really like the Greek god stories.

Geography: 
We are doing a trip around the world with daily geography trails questions for the kids to look up in their atlas and weekly mapping activities.

Math: 
The three big kids are using Life of Fred....which is the funniest math series ever written.  It is about a 5 year old who teaches college math, and all the problems he encounters while being 5 in a grown up world.  Along the way the kids learn math concepts with real life examples.  Faith is also doing a geometry course in which she draws patterns with geometric formulas.  The boys are all working their way through the Primary Math series and all the kids do IXL on the computer for math review.

Science:
The boys are studying Botany...yesterday we dissected tulips.  Faith is doing general science.  She was a little bummed to outgrow our together science, but needed something that would stretch her thinking a little more.

English:
All of the kids have their own grammar workbook.  Alex and Noah are learning cursive and the four oldest are studying Greek and Latin root words.  Roots is probably their favorite subject.  We only work on it a few minutes, three times a week, and they always want more.  The boys all have spelling as well, but it seems like either you are born able to spell or not.  I have two that can and three that can't....they can pass the spelling tests, but it doesn't carry over to other writing.  Hopefully with repetition at least some spelling will stick.  If not there is always spell check for those of us born without the spelling gene!  Faith, Cody and Jared are also doing a writing program.  It is hard for them for different reasons: Faith because she tries to put too much description into each sentence and loses the reader.  Cody because he hates the physical act of writing, although it is getting slowly easier for him.  Jared because he wants to describe every thing with about ten adjectives (nice, good, really, fine.....) and I make him come up with more interesting ones.

Spanish:
They are all working their way through Rosetta Stone as I am definitely unable to teach this subject.

Literature:
They each have to read at least 15 minutes each day from a classic book.  Right now the list is: Faith-Little Women, Jared-The Black Stallion, Cody-Gone Away Lake, Alex-Greek Gods and Myths, and Noah-Five Children and It.  Noah is by far the most voracious reader.  I cannot keep up with him.  I have to order the books several at a time from the library to keep him supplied.  And, he remembers what he reads.  We were in a store and we saw a book that neither of us had heard of, and Noah says "I think I've read a book by that same author before."  And he had!

Typing:
The three big kids are doing a typing course on the computer.  Jared and Faith are getting quite good at it.

Music:
We try to sing either an old hymn or classic patriotic song each day, and three of the kids take band up at the school.  Faith plays the flute, and dabbles at the clarinet.  Jared plays the trombone and last night was elected as his boy scout troop's bugler, so wants to learn some bugle calls.  Cody plays the saxophone.  Jared and Cody started band last year under duress by parental proclamation, but by the end of the first week they loved it and wanted to continue this year.

Faith is also choosing a few activities from a unit study called "Far Above Rubies" based on Proverbs 31.  She is currently making a booklet about different gems.

Cody is studying the periodic table....for fun.....and is sharing all sorts of interesting facts about it with me.  He wanted to do that as our science for the year, but none of the others are interested, so he is doing it on his own. 

And of course they all are learning life skills.....cooking, cleaning, yard maintenance etc.....

Infomercials

Alex believes everything he sees on TV.  Especially the commercials.  He wishes we owned Aqua Globes.  He wants a Gravity Ball (or whatever they are called).  Every commercial his eyes are glued to the television. 

This morning he asked me, "What kind of insurance do we have?" 

I replied, "Home, flood, car, medical..."

"No, Mom, What kiiinnnd of insurance?"

"You mean what brand?"

"Yes!"

"For our house and car, we have State Farm..."

"Yes!!! That's the kind I'm going to get when I grow up, because you can get up to 80% off for it!"

State Farm should be happy to know that their advertising is working (at least on Alex!)

Day 19

Cody is also going for a record.  Also probably not destined for the Guinness World Record book.  He is on day nineteen of wearing a green shirt and jeans each day.  Amazingly enough he owns enough green shirts that through no effort on my part, he has had a clean one to wear each day.



You also might notice from this picture that Cody does not like when one of his siblings tries to take his picture.  Although he will usually let me take one, as he knows I will insist and he will be in trouble for refusing.

Guiness World Records

My kids are enthralled by Guinness.  Especially Alex.  He is all about the competition, so things that are the biggest or best or weirdest are right up his alley.  One of his life goals is to get a record into Guinness.

Right now, he is trying for the worlds shortest pencil.  I did mention that I thought that was not one of the categories they keep track of, but he's trying anyway.  I've had to limit his pencil sharpening privileges to three times each day....it was cutting into his school work time. 

I unlocked my pictures!

They are stored in a little black box....and I got it attached to my laptop this morning....now I can see them!

Now I just need to try downloading pictures from my camera to my laptop, and I'll be set!

This is just a fun picture from vacation that I was playing with getting out of my box (the box probably has a fancy name-but black box works for me!)

Computers

I've got a laptop! I got a purple mouse to go with it...and I found out that purple mice make me happy (but not quite as happy as red toenails or tulips!)  Oddly, I don't think a red mouse would make me happy at all.

I haven't been able to blog because our desktop died.....actually it is just quite sick and might make a recovery if we get it fixed, but at the moment it will only stay on 5-10 minutes at a time.  I still don't have access to my pictures from here, but my husband assures me that the external hard drive that I store them in can be plugged into my laptop.  I find it oddly ironic that I can plug a bunch of things into my laptop, including a mouse, monitor and keyboard....which would allow me to use the laptop closed, on my desk, with all the old parts plugged into it....which kinda defeats the purpose of it being a "laptop".  But it would allow me to let the kids use it for school work without them actually touching the new laptop!

I've learned a lot about computers the past several weeks.  I made a blog and can add pictures to it.  I learned what the numbers mean about storage and speed on new computers (but don't ask me to explain it to you, because I didn't learn it that well!)  I learned that there is a little square to click on to open a new window without shutting down the current window.....apparently that square is also on the old computer, I just didn't know about it!  And last but not least, I learned what the little globe symbol with a number next to it means on facebook.....my number was really big, since I'd never clicked on it before! 

Tom suggested I take a computer class when I found out about the button to open a new page.....he didn't know I was THAT computer illiterate! LOL!  But I think I do okay for what I know.....I'll just have to keep him around to help me when the computer flashes odd messages at me!

Bob 2

Tom brought Bob2 (see yesterday's post if you don't yet know about Bob) home from work today....it was on the van waiting for him.  Alex was thrilled, so he has now relocated two bugs to our apple tree.  I thought it would be better if the new one was Bobette, so next year we"d have baby Bobs, but Alex insisted it was Bob 2.

Angiosperms and Gymnosperms

Today in science, we read about Angiosperms (which is Latin for seed container) and Gymnosperms (which is Latin for uncovered seed). 

My kids love to know Latin root words....we collect the ones we've studied, and I've even caught Cody carrying his collection around. 

They were thrilled to find out that all fruits were Angiosperms or Seed Containers.....so instead of grapes, plums, and nectarines for lunch, we ate SEED CONTAINERS....which they thought was funny!

Bob

Meet Bob

This is Alex's new pet.  He came home with it this morning and asked if he could keep it.  Of course I had to ask if he meant inside or outside.  We agreed on outside where Bob is currently residing in a paper cup.

Alex looked up what Bob should eat. 

Alex played with Bob. 

 Alex jumped and dropped Bob when he almost crawled onto his arm. 

 Alex tried to feed Bob an ant.

Bob wasn't interested. 

Alex decided that tomorrow he would release Bob, because as he seriously told me,

"It's the right thing to do, Mom." 

So tomorrow, Bob will take up residence in our apple tree, where I assured Alex that Bob would happily eat the bugs that want to hurt our apples.

Noah's Soup

Noah's favorite food is fruit (any and all kinds).  But when he gets to pick a main dish he always asks for "Cars Soup". 

Because Noah lives for Cars. 

He usually gets told "No".  Because I'm not paying $1.50 a can for icky canned soup for everyone.  It's just the principle of the thing....I can make a whole batch of yummy healthier homemade chicken noodle soup for much less than I can buy soup for everyone.  But I can't make it with Cars noodles.

So, today while Noah was an only child for a few hours, and we were grocery shopping, and it was on sale for $1, I bought him some.

Made his day! (maybe even week!)

I don't think he even cares what it tastes like.  But it has Cars noodles, so it is GOOD!  Personally I can't even tell what the shapes of the noodles are supposed to be, but the can says Cars, so they must be Lightening McQueen and Mater shaped.

Once I found Cars shaped pasta on clearance (a whole box of pasta for less than a can of soup!) and bought all the boxes they had.  And for a couple of months I was able to make homemade Cars soup.  And Cars Mac-and-Cheese.  Noah thought it was great (the other kids thought he was silly!).  But alas the pasta ran out and he is back to only getting a can of Cars soup once a year or so.

Hike

Thursday we took a hike up to glacier rock.  The kids thought it was great that we were going on a "field trip".  I liked that it was close and made them very happy for very little effort!  We've been studying Oregon history, starting with the geological features of the land, so seeing a glacier rock fit right it.  The trail is about a ten minute drive from our house.  Is only a quarter of a mile long.  And it has a paved path.  Oh, and the most important feature of the hike....I brought a snack to eat at the rock.

We stayed at the top for a while and the kids played "stay off the grass".  Which includes being allowed to only touch the rock, and path, and yelling at each other if they think you are cheating.....I didn't want to listen to the argument, so we left.

My favorite part of the hike was the fresh wild blackberries lining the path....mmmmm!  They were good!  When we got back to the bottom, Alex realized that he'd left his water bottle at the top.  So he, Faith, and Noah ran back to the top to retrieve it.

And in case you are wondering....you should all be very impressed by my ability in figuring out how to get more than one picture on here in one post....last time I wanted to do that, I didn't have time to figure it out....But now I did it!!  Hurray for me!  Maybe next time, I'll even be able get them to line up the way I want them!

Spider

So, I really don't like spiders, but this one was on the outside of our kitchen window screen this morning.  We watched it spin it's web which was pretty neat.  But, I could only live with it in my dish washing view for so long.  So my boys caught it's web string and played spider pinata until it fell off and then played spider hockey on the patio until it died.  If you look really closely in the picture you can see the web lines in front of the window screen lines.

Joshua 8:10

As we are reading along in Joshua we came to chapter 8, verse 10:

Early the next morning Joshua mustered his men.....

That was as far as we got and Alex exploded into laugher.

I knew imediatly what the picture in his head was.....Joshua spraying down his men with a giant bottle of mustard.....

Through my laughter I was able to explain to him what MUSTERED was and how it was spelled different than MUSTARD.

We all had a good laugh.  When the giggling finally calmed down, I started to read again, Alex's eyes met mine, and it was all over.  We both burst back in to laughter....tears running down our cheeks....it took a good five minutes before we could continue the lesson.

Don't cry over spilled milk

                                          But it's ok to laugh when it gets all over Alex!
                         Maybe next time he'll take things out of the fridge more carefully!

The Pink Goo in My Day

I want to take more pictures.  I like pictures.  My kids like pictures (usually).  So why don't I take more everyday pictures?

Because Life Happens.

Today for instance, I started out with good intentions of taking pictures of all the kids busy with their school work.  Good intentions which quickly went out the window.  I got distracted by three trips to the school.  A two year old with a serious case of temper tanturms.  Another child (who shall remain nameless) who told me he "didn't want to obey" and "was wasting time listening to me talk about school work".  Fights started because certain big brothers like to pester a certain little brother.  Teaching (again to the same child) the difference between proper and common nouns (and I don't think it stuck).  Timing math drills.  Cooking breakfast.  And lunch.  And dinner.  Wiping snotty noses.  Three loads of laundry.  The list could continue....

AND THEN CAME THE PINK GOO

The house was finally quiet...three little kids napping, two big kids at band, and three other big kids quietly working independently....I snuck out of the living room where the kids were sleeping and noticed a pink puddle of goo oozing out from under the closet door.....GREAT.....Just What I Needed, Another Mess!
A bottle of dog shampoo had tipped over and lost it's lid....and dumped it's entire contents onto the closet floor.  Did I mention it was goo?  Actually more the consistancy of snot.  While trying to scoop it up with handfulls of paper towels, it would stretch and snap back to the floor.  Half a roll of paper towels and a garbage bag later, the floor had lost it's sheen.....and I was out of energy to even think about pictures.

Maybe tomorrow......

Excited about Milk

I'm thinking that I'm a little bit weird for being so extraordinarily excited about finding milk on sale.  But I did refrain from cheering in the aisle of Safeway.  (The kids would have been embarrassed) I could of cheered though....it was half off....with a sell by date eight whole days away. 

EIGHT DAYS!!!! 

HALF OFF!!!!

I paid just $1.19 per gallon.

$1.19!!!!!

I don't think I've paid that little for milk in the past 10 years.  (that makes me feel old to think I've been buying milk for over 10 years....)  I bought seven gallons.....they had a few more, but they wouldn't have fit in my second fridge.  But this will last us a week.  That's only a little over $8.00 for a whole weeks worth of milk for two adults, five kids, plus day care kids!  Okay, time to calm down and get back to my "to do" list.....just had to share my deal of the day!

It's Not My Fault

I try my best to be polite.

I know what's wrong and what is right.

But sometimes little parts of me

act up and bug my family.



My tongue sticks out.

My knuckles crunch.

My lips make smacking sounds at lunch.

My fingers poke and pinch and pick.

My feet jump out and trip or kick.

My mouth says words that aren't nice--

Today it spit... and tattled-- twice!



So don't blame me for what they did.

It's not my fault!

I'm just a kid!



by

Babs Bell Hajdusiewicz
 
 
I saw this poem and thought it was hilarious.....I don't completely agree with it's message, because I do think kids should be accountable for their actions, but it is a good reminder that kids will be kids!

Slugs

Last week, Faith came running in from the back yard asking, "Did anyone take a picture of the slug?"

"Ummmm....what slug?" I asked.

"The one by the play area."

"Were we supposed to?"  (I didn't even know there was one.)  But told her she was welcome to take a picture if she wanted.

Personally I was rather disgusted by it, but I am now the proud owner of slug pictures.

And in the end it all worked out for good.  Today while we were labeling a map of the Middle East, and Alex couldn't find the correct area on the globe, I pointed to the Red Sea on his map and told him to look for the water on the globe that was long and skinny with two finger shapes at the top.

"Oh!" he says, "the one shapped like a slug!"

Yep, that's the one....the slug-sea!

Yesterday was one of THOSE days....

Half done chores, attitudes about everything, children who only obey while they're being watched, bad choices, complaining.....I was sooo ready for 8:00 and room time!  Days like that make me wonder what I'm doing wrong.

Then today, they woke up helpful, courteous, and sweet.

When we picked up the Azure order, Noah and Cody offered to help load the boxes.  Cody was a gentleman and picked up the heaviest bag for me.  I only had to make a couple of reminders for them all to stay on task with their school work, and it was completed quickly and correctly.  Faith boned all the chicken for dinner with no complaints about the ickyness of it and did a great job, which allowed me to get the rest of the meal ready.  We walked to the bank and there was no pushing or shoving along the way.  Then they were calm and quiet while I did my banking.  I only made minimal reminders about getting chores done and they were all completed on time.

My only complaint is that they don't wake up like that every day!

Kids or Monkeys?

Thank You Jacob....for giving my children instructions on how to get higher in our tree.  Now I can REALLY be concerned with them falling out.  Faith can get the highest....from her vantage point she says she can see over our two story house.  I think she's spent more free time in the tree this week, than on the ground.

Taking these pictures was confirmation that I do need to take more everyday pictures.  When I went out to take them, Faith asked, "What did you come out here for?"  When I answered, "To take pictures of you in the tree."  She said, "You came out here just for that?  Thank You!"

"I will take more pictures" is my new mantra.....even if they don't all make it into scrapbooks....

Noah's joke (made up by himself):

If you are having a fit and get sent to bed, what kind of mattress do you need?

A Temper-pedic!

I thought that was pretty good from an eight year old.  As I was once told by a six year old "There are two kinds of jokes.  The kind that make sense and the kind that don't."  Usually from kids under 10 I get ones made up that fall into the second category!

First Day of School 2010

Some people have a "phone" voice.  I have a "teacher" voice.  Apparently, when I am trying to get a point across, my voice goes into lecture mode.  I don't do it intentionally, but it sneaks up on me, and I catch myself talking in a voice that isn't my own.  Today Cody said "Mom! You're talking really loud!"  And I was.  I guess "teacher" voice is louder than "mom" voice.

We started out our day with a hymn.  I want my kids to have at least some knowledge of the old hymns, and since we don't sing them at church, we are learning them at home.  I can see you cringing at the thought of me leading anyone in song, but lucky for me, at least none of the boys can tell the difference.  Faith on the other hand can tell that I'm off key.  She can sing quite well, but has to sing with the boys and I who really can't.  Jared picked the hymn for today "Christ the Lord is Risen Today".  The kids like the Alleluia parts of it.  I really think it's sad that hymns aren't sung much anymore.  Most have such meaningful words that really make you think.  We sing all the verses.  None of the 1, 2 and 4 stuff that I grew up with!

For our "together stuff" we got ourselves organized and talked about what we would be studying this year.  I plan on adding a little more actual work each day until we have our full schedule going.  Everyone got their assigned work done today, so I deem it as a successful day.