Fun Week Ahead

The girls and I have spent the last two days doing double school so that we can play the rest of the week.  All they have to do is Math.  I love our curriculum--it's doable to double up when we need to although I wouldn't want to keep up this pace all the time.  Hannah's curriculum is focusing on American history.  This week we made Hasty Pudding as mentioned in the song Yankee Doodle.  The girls loved it and want to have it for breakfast.  We also made ink from blueberries and then used that and a feather to write.  It wasn't as easy as the girls thought it would be.  Grace is plugging away at learning to read and is doing great.  Her curriculum moves pretty quickly with introducing phonograms but she's getting it and retaining it.  So, with school behind us we are on to bigger and better things--
Tomorrow we participate in Joe's school's celebration of the holiday that-must-not-be-named.  They are doing Trunk-n-Treat.  I think the idea is that everyone decorates their trunk with some sort of display and the kids go from trunk to trunk getting lots of sugar.  I am no decorator so I am either not decorating or my friend C may decorate my trunk, we'll see in the morning.  I'm sure there will be people there who have gone over the top but not me!  I hope Joe won't be embarassed.  He's supposed to wear a costume and is not happy about it.  I think he probably won't wear a costume but I hope he doesn't feel self conscious when every other kid is dressed up.  
Thursday we go see a play downtown with our homeschool group.  Friday we go to the Renaissance Faire.  It should be fun.  We go every year and see different things each time.  They always have some sort of "quest" that is really fun.  You have to go around and ask different characters for clues to figure out a murder or something.  It's really a fun event.  

A New Fun Thing at Our House

The library now has these Digital Audio Players.  The girls love them.  They are a whole book on a little thing that will fit in your hand.  You just plug in earphones and hit play.  You can bookmark your spot when you are done.  They listen to them all the time.  They've each already listened to a whole book and now they've switched.  They especially like listening to them in their beds.  Hannah said she woke up this morning with the headphones still on her head.  

Weekend Update

Our weekend was spent mostly at the theatre.  Grace and I worked the box office with Julie and Jake for all four shows this weekend, then watched all four shows and worked the concession stand at intermission.  We had a ball.  I am thankful that I can do these things in exchange for Hannah and Grace getting a scholarship for theatre and getting to attend the shows free of charge.  It's work but it's fun and allows the girls to participate in something they wouldn't get to do otherwise.  For the last night's costume contest Grace made herself a cat costume.  It turned out pretty cute I must say.  
In Joe news--we've had to outlaw his favorite computer game--Lego Star Wars.  He was getting really obsessed with playing it and wanting to play it for hours on end.  He was also fussing about going to preschool because he couldn't play in the mornings on preschool days.  He was spending too much time playing when he could be doing something more educational or just playing with his toys.  As a peace offering we gave him the much coveted Star Wars Galactic Heroes "Hoth Battle Set."  He's been begging for it for months and I bought it yesterday, planning to save it for Christmas.  He was pretty happy and took the news about his game quite well.  He said that we need to concentrate now on getting Jengo Fett.  He loves all these little guys and wants them all so he can act out the movies.  That's pretty much our weekend.  

Into the Woods

Hannah has had her show the last two nights.  She was Rapunzel last night and will be Rapunzel again on Sunday nights.  The other nights she is Princess Jasmine in the ensemble.  The show has been great!  We've really enjoyed it!

Costumes

After no help from any of my blog readers about a costume.  I googled "cheap adult costumes" and found a couple of fun ideas.  The past two nights at the show I've been a Highway.  I sewed yellow lines to a black t-shirt and glued little cars to it.  Hannah is mortified of course.  I am sooooo embarassing!  She says this while grinning so maybe she actually thinks it's fun to have a mom who does goofy things even if it is a little embarassing.  I'll just keep telling myself that.  My costume tonight will be a traffic light.  I have a yellow t-shirt and some red, green, and yellow felt circles to put on it.  Not terribly exciting but different.  Grace has worn her princess dress and Hannah's Wonder Woman costume.  We'll see what she picks tonight.  Hannah's show runs for four nights and Grace and I go to all the shows.  I wouldn't miss a show that my child was in and Grace just loves watching them.  So, here are pictures of our costumes.  

Hair!

While looking at some old pictures this week I came across a picture of myself with much shorter hair--about shoulder length.  At the time I was looking at this picture my hair was fairly long and looking really stringy.  I lived in a ponytail (this was just days ago) day and night.  Yes, I often even slept with my hair up.  Joe is always in our bed and lays on my long, stringy hair.  Soooo, I see this picture and get inspired to cut my hair today.  Forget Locks of Love.  My favorite hair cutter is very busy and I didn't want to burden her with my immediate need to have my hair cut.  Can we say impulsive?  So, I head to Hair Cuttery.  My hair is now shorter than Grace's.  It was very poofy and I hated it, wouldn't even take a picture of it.  Yesterday, Hannah's theatre director came and straightened it for me.  I like it much better although Ollie liked it better poofy.  Not to worry, all I need to do is wash it and the poof will be back.  After straightening my hair, she straightened Hannah's--wow!  It looked really cool and different.  We all like it better curly but it was fun to see it straight.  

Busy and Busier

This week has been so busy and it is just going to get busier.  Monday I had a big sewing day with some friends.  I spent all day working on my Christmas quilt.  I've decided to go ahead and post some pictures on here of what I've been doing.  It's no longer a secret.  For one of the borders on my quilt I've been working on appliques.  They are turning out really cute but are taking a long time.  I've spent spare minutes here and there this week working on the hand work that needs to be done.  It's tedious but I think they will be fun to have in the quilt.  Yesterday was busy doubling up on school, having my house cleaned (that was a lot of work), going to the park, then some running around.  Today the field trip.  Tomorrow evening and the next four evenings is Hannah's show.  If you live in a 40 mile radius and don't come see this show you are in trouble!  It is going to be great, I hope.  Since it's the weekend before the holiday-that-must-not-be-named they are having costume contests.  As a worker at the shows I'm being strongly encouraged to come dressed up.  Help!  The only thing I've come up with is a farmer--I've got overalls, I've got freckles, and I can braid my hair.  I'd like something more creative but considering it's the day before and I really can't just buy a costume I think the farmer it is.  I may hit thrift stores tomorrow morning and see if I can come across something.  That's if I can talk the girls into doing tomorrow's school tonight or just doubling up again on Friday.  Any ideas for a really easy costume???  I'd love something ingenious and really fun and cute.  Help!  I think that's all.  This blog may not get updated for a few days unless I catch  a bit of time here and there.  One problem is that I have to share my computer with my Lego-Star-Wars-obsessed son.  I will be checking for costume ideas though.  

Our House Frog

We have a house frog.  He lives right above our door.  He is pretty much always there.  He occasionally goes away for a few days and I will think he's gone for good but then he comes back.  He's very handsome, he is a green tree frog.  I think we should name him and call him our pet.

Awesome Field Trip!

We went on a wonderful field trip today to a news station.  It was great.  We got to tour the station and learn about how they produce each news show.  Our tour guide did a good job of keeping the kids attention.  I'm sure most of it went over their heads but they got the idea.  Probably the highlight of the trip was getting to "play" with the green screen that they use for weather.  He let each kid take a turn and asked them to point to different things.  They really got a kick out of seeing themselves as weathermen/women.  After that we got to watch the noon news live.  They could watch it being filmed and also see that on the tv in front of us as well.  I never let my kids watch the news and some of the stories today weren't ones I'd like them to hear but it was still neat to see how it was produced.  It was one of those things they will never forget and will see the news (if I ever let them watch) with a different eye.  It was a great field trip!  I don't know how well you will be able to see the photos that I'm posting but I'm posting the pics of them on the tv screen while they were standing in front of the green screen.  

I'm Getting My House Cleaned!

My aunt and uncle have some wonderful people who clean their house.  They do it faithfully every other Tuesday and when my aunt and uncle go away and one of G's Tuesdays roll around I get to have them!!  This is so not a fair trade--my aunt and uncle's house looks perfect all the time and must be a piece of cake to clean.  My house on the other hand...well, let's just say it requires a little more elbow grease.  I love it though!  The woman always really scrubs my kitchen and bathrooms and her husband uses his high powered vacuum to clean in every corner and under stuff and it's just great.  He always leaves me a nice pile of things he's found under stuff.  It's great, it's like old home week--we find all sorts of cool things.  I wish I was a better housekeeper.  I keep things neat and tidy but don't look in my corners or baseboards and please stay away from the microwave!!!  I've actually been doing better the last month.  I've started up with my zone cleaning again.  I have some jobs I do every week--vacuum, bathrooms, and sweep and then each week I focus on a zone.  Bedrooms, living areas, kitchen, garage, outside.  I do as much as I can in that zone that week and when the week's over I move on to the next zone.  It takes a while but after a few months things are getting pretty clean and staying clean.  I feel like I have lost control over my house in the last few years (since Joe was born :0)).  I get things done but not with any consistency.  I might go a month and not change our sheets but then the next month change them once a week.  Since G and her husband are going to do all my cleaning in all zones this week, I may focus on the outside.  It's a mess!  And now with the weather turning a little cooler I'd love for the kids to want to be outside more.  We have a wonderful yard but it gets out of control every summer and we reign it in in the fall.  I'll post some pics after we get it cleaned up a little!

Pictures to Go With My Last Post

Too Much Fall Fun Around Here!

Wow---we've had an eventful couple of days!  Yesterday was breakfast, the Scarecrow Stroll, and a birthday party during the day.  In the evening there was an event downtown and Hannah's theatre troupe performed some songs from their upcoming show.  We passed out lots of flyers and sold some raffle tickets.  It was fun for me to see the dances.  I've seen nothing from this show until then.  Hannah is playing Rapunzel and is very excited.  We finished off the night with ice cream with friends.  Today was a fairly quiet day.  I slept late and then spent the day doing a little cleaning, some laundry, reading to Joe, and playing games with the girls.  Grace beat me at Fairytale Snap, I beat her at Uno and then Hannah beat me at 2 games of Clue Jr. and 2 games of Monopoly Jr.  Hannah is very competitive and ruthless and seldom loses.  She used to try to cheat too but I think we've worked out that little kink in her strategy.  :0)  Ollie had taken Grace and Joe out to a state park while Hannah and I were playing.  They had a great time and came home talking all about nature.  Joe made the comment that he liked to talk about nature.  Pretty cute.  Last year I bought some small backpacks and outfitted them with bug jars, magnifying glasses, small field guides, a sketchpad, crayons, etc.  These are their nature backpacks and they love them.  Ideally, we would be going out and doing nature study once a week but instead we go about once a year.  In our homeschool I try to follow the Charlotte Mason philosophy and she really pushes nature study, sketching what you see, observing, etc.  Someday we'll get to it.  Anyway, this evening the kids and I went to a fall festival that a local church was doing.  It was soooo much fun.  As soon as we got there Joe got in the jumpy thing and didn't get out for about 30 minutes.  They all played games, got candy, rode the hayride, rode the horses, got their faces painted and Grace painted two pumpkins.  This was the best part for me.  She has been asking me when she could paint her pumpkin for the past two weeks.  So, I hope she got it out of her system!  I'll take pictures of her pumpkins later.  It was a great night!  Now the kids are eating themselves into oblivion.  They'll have a sugar high but then they'll have that sugar low and then it's bedtime!  Enjoy the pics!  Actually, enjoy the pic.  I'll have to try the other pics later, I'm having trouble uploading them right now.

Scarecrow Stroll

We had a homeschool outing today where we met for breakfast at that fancy restaurant where I took the kids a few weeks ago.  The one attached to Kmart.  I think we overwhelmed the staff.  There were about 8 adults and what appeared to be about 50 kids.  I think I'll call ahead next time we do this. :0)  In the end we did all get to eat and all got drinks.  I never did get the napkin I needed but that's okay.  After the breakfast of champions we went downtown for the Scarecrow Stroll.  We walked the town and checked out all the scarecrows.  They were fun.  The theme must have been "any character real or imagined that ever was."  We saw Medusa, Marie Antoinette, Jimmy Carter, Henry Ford, King Neptune, Paula Deen, Rapunzel, Tinkerbell, you get the idea.  There is usually more of an obvious theme but not this year.  We had a great time!  Unfortunately, it was hot as blue blazes.  Where is Fall????

Finally!

I remembered something else I could blog about.  I am the queen of grand ideas.  I even get started on a lot of my ideas.  Unfortunately too often I don't see them to the end.  Probably a year ago I got this great idea to record myself reading chapter books to the kids.  They love to listen to books on CD and the library has a lot but not everything.  For example they only have one set of the American Girl books.  So, I was reading the Samantha series to the girls and I recorded it all onto the computer.  It was a pain doing all our reading in the florida room into a mike but it was going to be worth it when they could be made into CDs.   I could also make CDs for all my friends.  It was going to be great.  I did the Samantha series and also another book called "A Hive of Busy Bees"--it's a bunch of great character stories.  Then I realized that these files were MP3s and if I burned them onto a CD they wouldn't play in the average CD player.  I did a little research to try to find out how to make them into files that could be put on a regular CD.  Everything was really confusing so I quit trying and honestly forgot about my great idea.  Well, Ollie just got a new MP3 player and gave Grace his old one.  Since Ollie has MY computer, he ran across the files of me reading.  He has now uploaded those to the MP3 player and so Grace can listen to those Samantha stories.  She listened to a whole book and a half today.  It was great, the girls were so quiet--Hannah reading and Grace listening.  Now, if I can figure out how to record myself reading onto my new computer (Ollie's old one) I just might be inspired to record our next book.  Too bad I haven't been recording Little Women.  It is very limiting though.  Some of our reading takes place in the pick up line at Joe's school and while I'm rocking IzzyB.  Just thought I'd share my excitement.  Also, Ollie says he knows how to make them into regular CDs and he's supposed to try it this weekend.  Even better!

A Joe Story

If you know Joe then you know that he doesn't like having any sort of attention drawn to himself.  Of course, this made no sense when he used to pitch crazy fits in public.  Then everybody was looking at him.  Thankfully he really doesn't do that anymore.  I love the fours!  Everybody talks about how awful the terrible twos are but I say two has nothing on three.  Three has been the hardest age with all my kids.  But four is great--they are mostly obedient and they've learned the important things--don't run out into the road, don't run away from mom, don't hide underneath the clothing racks, don't eat yellow snow, knock before barging in the bathroom (Of course they barge in anyway but at least you get the warning knock), don't talk to me when I'm on the phone--I'll have to take that one back, my oldest still doesn't fully get that one, you will never get anything in the candy aisle at the store, etc., etc.  Anyway, that's not what this post is about.  It's about my private, self-conscious son.  He told me the other day to tell him a secret about God.  So I said, "One day God decided to make a little boy and give him blond hair and brown eyes.  He decided to give this little boy to the Pattersons to be part of their family.  This little boy was a special gift and his name would be Joe."  So, after I tell him this and think I am imparting great spiritual truth to him, that God loved him and created him to be just who he is, etc--he screws up his face and says, "I don't want anybody thinking about me that much!"  

Nothing Special

I still feel like I have very little of interest to blog about but at the same time I can't go for more than a day or two without updating.  So, here goes--
Our Fall Break week has been nice.  We've done lots of reading aloud.  We finished Ben Franklin today and have 4 more chapters of Little Women.  Today while I read the girls sewed.  Grace has now done 8 4-patch blocks.  One more and we will get them all sewn together.  She's decided that she wants to add a border so we'll have to get some more fabric.  She insists on hand sewing it all even though I said she could use the machine for the borders.  Maybe she's scared of the machine or just a purist at heart.  I've considered getting the girls (maybe each) one of those kid sewing machines.  There is one in a catalog we've been getting.  It's made by Singer and it's $45 I think.  Has anyone ever had one of those and do they really work?  I'd love to hear some thoughts on this.  Hannah also did a quilt square today.  I've posted a picture of it.  I haven't added my pictures yet as I type this because I've had picture/typing issues and prefer to do the pictures last.  If I can get it right then you will see a picture of Hannah and her quilt square right below this.  If not, you have already seen it at the top.  I haven't done a bit of sewing this week but I really didn't expect to.  Maybe this weekend.  On Tuesday we ran errands all morning.  One of our errands was to Target--I made it through a whole Target shopping trip and didn't stop at Starbucks!  My last gift card is down to $2.88.  It's very sad.  Christmas is just around the corner though.  Anyway, at Target I got Grace some jeans and a purple jacket that she has been wearing since Tuesday.  A few times the heat has gotten to her enough to shed the jacket.  I didn't think jeans and a jacket could be so exciting.  Hannah bought herself four new books.  She is collecting the new Disney Fairy books and has all but one now.  She spent every spare minute today reading and actually read a whole book.  These are not necessarily my first choice for reading material but they are not that bad and most importantly--she is reading and loving it!  I always think that it just takes a few good books to get someone hooked on reading.  
Joe's preschool has been hit by the stomach bug.  They had a bunch of kids out on Monday and then more on Tuesday and a bunch out today.  Some are sick and some are trying to avoid getting sick.  Amazingly, Joe just had a short bout of it and none of the rest of us have gotten it.   So, he's probably getting more individual attention at school this week.  Tomorrow the firemen are coming to visit, I bet most of the kids will be back for that.  That's about it for our day!  

Monday

Well, Joe's stomach bug was short lived, only a few hours and he's been fine.  So, he is at preschool today.  I've declared this week Fall Break for the girls.  We have a lot of little things to do this week so we are going to play catch up.  We have two books to finish reading--Benjamin Franklin and Little Women.  The Ben Franklin book is a Childhood of Famous Americans book.  I just loved those when I was a kid and read every one the library had at my school.  We also have to do some theatre stuff.  Hannah's next show 
is next weekend and we need 
to put some posters around town.  I also need to go to the bank, the library, and Target of course.  I was in there briefly yesterday and saw that they now have the Ultimate Tee in 3/4 in. sleeves.  They had a fabulous blue that I must have.  They are only $6.99--woohoo!  Of course, it may never get cool enough around here to actually wear it.  I was having a rough afternoon and then I briefly watched the news and found out that it's going to get really hot again this week.  By Friday the high will be 89 and they said that this will probably be an unseasonably warm winter.  Ugh!  I was so not happy to hear that.  I really just love the winters here and really want a reprieve from hot weather.  I'm sure it won't be hot but we may not get much cold either.  I love those cold snaps every once in a while.  My kids have spent the entire afternoon arguing about this, that, and the other.  They watched two movies earlier in the day and I think it just put them in a funk.  That's how they react when I let them watch tv.  BUT--we borrowed some great movies in anticipation of everyone being sick and even though they are not sick we just have to watch them!  Two was one too many though.  
I finished a wonderful book today called "Star of Light" by Patricia St. John.  She also wrote
"Treasures of the Snow."  These books are sooooo good and present the message of salvation in such a clear way.  I can't wait until my kids are old enough to really enjoy them.  Probably by age 10.  She's got about 8 other books that I'd love to read but they aren't just at the library or anything.  They are not well known books.
That's about it, again nothing terribly exciting here.  

Hannah's Picture from Art Class

Pictures From Our Family Day

Preschool Day at the Park

Here are pictures from Joe's preschool day at the park. In one of them you can see his "pretty hands" and mouth stuffed with sandwich!

Being Thankful for the Stomach Bug

Well, I was awoken before dawn to Joe headed to the bathroom to vomit.  Thankfully, he knew to head to the bathroom and didn't throw up in my bed or on anything that needed to be washed.  He is feeling pretty miserable.  I have him parked in front of PBS and I am close by.  He can't seem to throw up without me.  He will come find me, even if his Dad is near.  Consequently, there has been no going back to bed for me.  Maybe later.  I have been reading some blogs that I used to read before so many of my friends started blogs.  One of them lead me to another of a family that just lost their new baby.  She had been born with a heart defect.  So, it brought me some perspective.  I may be tired, I may have a sick kid whose side I cannot leave, but I am so thankful that it is just the stomach bug.  So many are going through and have gone through so much worse.  This will probably be 24 hours of inconvenience, actually more if the girls get it, but at least my kids are usually very healthy.  We are blessed.

Random Thoughts

I haven't posted in days so I guess I have to play catch up.  I am pretty tired so this will probably come across very disconnected.  I also have no pictures to share because I have to have Ollie put them on his computer and send them to me.  Very irritating.  I probably have some good ones too.  Joe's preschool walked to the park on Friday and I drove the lunches down and got some great pictures.  I just love his preschool.  This field trip was totally cute.  They walked down to the park then sat  down and had snack first thing.  This was good because Joe forgot to eat breakfast and I forgot to make sure he ate breakfast.   I fixed him a bowl of oatmeal but it was hot and he got busy with something else and then it was time to go and I rushed him out the door.  Anyway, they all sit and have juice boxes and snack and then are free to go play.  There were about ten moms there, maybe more, and we formed a "circle of security" around the park so no child could get lost.  About an hour or so later they were called for lunch and made "pretty hands" and then sang the blessing.  Just before Joe made "pretty hands" he stuffed about half his sandwich in his mouth.  I don't think he was singing the blessing.  :0)  Then they had lunch and then a birthday celebration.  Two kids were having birthdays and there were two kinds of cupcakes.  Just before they passed them out Ms. Shawnee told them to be happy with what they got.  She said, "You get what you get so don't throw a fit."  She also said that if they cried she would have to eat their cupcake.  As far as I could see no one complained about their cupcake.  After all this fun we went to S's house so she could help separate my plantar from my fascia in my foot.  I know, I don't know what she did either but it made my foot feel better than it has in years.  So, we tried it again and my foot is feeling much better.  Thank you S!  Last night we had a ladies night at church and did some sewing.  I got some things done for my Christmas quilt and made Joe a pillow case.  We had some great fellowship and some great ice cream with blueberry sauce!  Today has been busy.  I totally cleaned out the kid's rooms.  We (Ollie and I) also made the executive decision to be completely done with Polly dolls in our house.  The kids love to play them but usually fuss and argue almost the whole time they play, they make a huge mess, and then there is always drama at clean up time.  I feel so good having decided to get rid of them completely.  We have been storing them in the garage and only getting them out very occasionally but completely gone is even better.  The girls were initially sad but then wanted to know if they could use the money we get for them to buy something else.  Obviously they weren't that attached.  This afternoon we went to a park and rode bikes, played on the playground, played frisbee and played with an air rocket.  It was such a nice day and so nice to do something as a family.  We haven't been doing enough of that lately!  That's all for now.  I'm sure I've totally bored anyone who is reading this.  I have nothing terribly exciting to share tonight.  I probably shouldn't have even posted but since it had been two days I felt the need to post something.  

A Date With My Little Man

I am not referring to Ollie as my little man by the way.  I took Joe out on a date last night.  I have spent next to no time with him this week and I missed him.  So, we went to the library--woohoo!--and then out for ice cream.  He found it so crazy that I would go on a "date" with him.  He was a little disappointed initially that we were just going out for ice cream.  He had thought we were going to Idamere Park.  But, he ended up enjoying himself.  While we sat in Baskin Robbins eating our ice cream he said the he could do this all day.  It was so sweet.  I just love this guy.  He can be so sweet and thoughtful when he wants to be.  On the way home we had the sun roof open and he was pretending that the planets Tatooine and Bespin were out our window and as we drove I had to keep knocking Stormtroopers off the roof.  He thought this was hilarious!  He was major belly giggling everytime I stuck my hand out the sun roof and whacked away invisible Star Wars guys.  We had a great time.  I will definitely have to do it more often.  I get so little alone time with him when we are at home.  He's always busy with the girls.  

Happy Birthday Grammy comments

Okay, the comments on my last post have made me laugh out loud for real.  I know people put "LOL" on lots of things but are they really laughing out loud?  Or what about ROTFL?  Are they really rolling on the floor laughing?  Somehow I doubt it.  I realize that it does convey just how funny they think it is, it's definitely a great visual.  As you remember back in August in my post about my Aunt Lane--she really did roll on the floor laughing and it was too funny.  Anyway, back to the comments.  S's comment about me mildly offending people really cracked me up because it is so true.  I don't think I ever offend enough for somebody to get mad but I have had a friend leave the table I was sitting at because she had had enough of my third grade potty humor.  I also have to regularly apologize for saying inappropriate things (about butts and stuff) to people who aren't used to me.  L's comment about my good genes and my patch jeans also amused me.  I just love my patch jeans and love talking about them, especially since Hannah hates them so much.  I plan to keep them forever and wear them as much as possible when I go places with her.  And then, A's comment about me running over the dress at the wedding really had me LOL.  Such a great visual!  I am responsible for starting the tradition of running over the leftover cake at our Happy Birthday Jesus party to the mortification of Hannah once again.  It wasn't entirely my idea though, I had heard of some other people (not mentioning names Pastor and wife) of doing something similar with gingerbread houses.  And yes, she did think Grammy was hilarious in her dress but would have died if I had tried it on.  Of course, I go a little over the top.  I probably would have tried on the dress, walked out of the dressing room, and checked out how it looked when I did the Macarena in the communal dressing room mirror.  I'm not kidding.
Oh yeah, and Grammy's defense of how she DID NOT wear that dress also made me laugh.  Of 
course I got myself tickled just typing that she had worn it.  I'm easily amused! 

Happy Birthday Grammy

Happy Birthday to my momma!  She's a wonderful woman who loves God and serves her family.  She has been a great example to me of how to be a mom!  I am blessed to call her friend.  Isn't this a great picture of her???  We were shopping for a dress for her to wear to my brother's wedding and as a joke my sister and I brought this one to her in the dressing room.  She bought it and wore it to his wedding.  :0)

Have a Poopin' Christmas!

Last January our neighbor gave us two little candy dispensers that they had gotten as a joke.  One was for Moose Poop--jellybeans that come out of the moose's behiney.  And Penguin Poop.  This one is pretty funny.  You fill up the penguin with little candies and wind him up and he walks around the table "pooping."  I've had these in the cabinet since she gave them to us and Hannah found them the other day.  So, I finally let the kids have them last night.  As I was opening the Moose one, I read on the packaging, "Have a Poopin' Christmas!"  This totally tickled my funny bone since I really get a kick out of third grade potty humor.  I took a picture but of course I can't put it on my computer because..well, I won't go into it again.  I'm trying to be positive.  Picture will come later.
So, ya'll have a poopin' Christmas--from the bottom of my butt (because it's bigger than my heart).

Pumpkin Patch part 2

I have already typed this once and lost it somehow.  I am having such a hard time getting used to this computer.  I just want my computer back!!  That isn't going to happen though so I need to just adjust.  Ollie did get my old e-mail program back and has been very patient with all my computer issues.  One of the most frustrating things is that I can only put pictures onto his (my old computer) and then transfer them to mine.  So, no immediate gratification of taking a pic and immediately putting it on my blog.  I will have to wait until Ollie gets home...  Ok, no more complaining.  I will attempt to RETYPE what I lost--

We made our annual visit to the pumpkin patch yesterday.  This visit is all about pictures, we only get little pumpkins and gourds anyway.  We had fun posing IzzyB and even Joe cooperated in some pictures.  I've posted my favorites.  We came home with 3 little pumpkins and 4 gourds.  Hannah's pumpkin is already split on the bottom because Joe dropped it so I will be cooking it today.  What should I make with all that pumpkin?  Pumpkin cheesecake, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin scones, or maybe pumpkin soup.  There were 5 pumpkin recipes in my Family Fun magazine and one of them was curried pumpkin soup.  I will have to try that.  Maybe this weekend.  It's supposed to get downright cold--lows in the 60s.

Pumpkin Patch

Sunday

So my relaxing weekend hasn't been terribly relaxing or productive but it's been good.  I have done no sewing, only played one game of Skip Bo, haven't taken Grace on a walk, haven't watched Joe play his game, and haven't done even one of the four projects for school.  How is it that the weekend flies by?  You think you have days and days ahead of you and all of a sudden it's Sunday night.   So, what have I done with all my time this weekend?  I have tutored for an hour yesterday and an hour today for a boy that I tutored this summer.  The good thing here was that they paid me double because I agreed to come on the weekend.  Woo-hoo!  That pays for some school stuff I had to buy this past week.  I also spent some time with J at the hospital.  We had lunch in the cafeteria and just visited for a while.  She has had a rough week, keep praying for her to stay strong!  I've been to Wal-mart, Publix, and Joann Fabrics.  I have all the fabric to finish up the top of my quilt (I think).  I couldn't find the Rudolph fabric that I had seen before so I may have to check Joann's one more time.  I went to church and heard a wonderful message and praised my Lord.  I've caught up with my husband after a week of hardly connecting.  I've had a long talk with a friend.  I've gone to a birthday party.  I've read three chapters of Little Women--the book I'm reading to the girls now.  I didn't think they were ready for it but they begged me to read it and they are following the story quite well.  I've read quite a bit in my book--The Poet and the Pauper by George McDonald.   I've even had a short nap today.  So, all in all I can't complain.  I feel refreshed and ready to start another week.  So, how has your Sunday been?

The Office

Last night's episode of The Office was too funny.  My favorite line was when Michael said he was so happy he was "soaring like an eagle's nest."

Backing up a little

I haven't been able to get on the computer much lately.  My kids have discovered all the wonderful things they can do on the computer and so I must wait my turn.  Consequently I have forgotten to blog some things.  This blog is supposed to have everything in it right?  I certainly cannot forget to tell the Thursday story.  J was supposed to take my girls to a play on Thursday but since her hubby was in the hospital that wasn't going to work.  A offered to take IzzyB for the morning so I could take J's kids and mine to the play.  We were supposed to be at the play at 9:45 so we really needed to leave town at about 9, 9:15 at the latest.  Well, by the time I got Joe to school, dropped Izzy off, picked up J's kids, drove 5 minutes before realizing I had a meal for her in my car, turned around to take the meal, and got on our way it was 9:35.  Not good.  The play was supposed to start promptly at 10:15.  I thought we could make it if we hit no traffic.  I wasn't about to speed, I had precious lives in the car.  Well, we didn't hit traffic, instead we hit almost every light on red!  We arrived at the play 1 minute before they started , thankfully they started late.  The play was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.  I enjoyed the play but there seems to be mixed reviews out there.  Anyway, after the play we head home, pick up IzzyB, take J's kids home, and....I ran out of gas!  I couldn't believe it.  At first I actually thought it must be something else.  I knew I was low on gas but I thought I could easily make it to the gas station.  Thankfully, my aunt and uncle rescued me.  As I was sitting on the side of the road not knowing if our van had broken down, I started thinking what in the world we would do with one car.  Then I realized that almost everywhere I have to go--preschool, art class, theatre--is within walking distance of my house.  It's a bit of a long walk for Joe but we could do it.  So, I was comforted but still very glad when the van started right up with a little gas.  My uncle put in about half a gallon and then at the gas station I put in 21 1/2 gallons--it's a 22 gallon tank so I was definitely on empty!  I won't be trusting that gas gauge again.  

I don't know if it takes a village but it's nice to have one

I just wanted to write about how blessed I am to live in this amazing community with such awesome friends.  Many of whom I've known since Hannah was a baby.  There was a crisis in our "village" this week with my sweet friend's husband.  He is doing better but is still in the hospital and has been in Critical Care all week.  The "village" has rallied with prayers, taking her kids to and from all their activities so they didn't have to miss anything, meals, and hospital visits (even one in the middle of the night to keep her company--now that's a friend!).  I feel blessed to be a part of this group of ladies and can't imagine
 life without them all.  
Four of us have kids in the same preschool and the teachers at the preschool are getting used to any of the four of us picking up any or all of the four of our kids.  Today was a perfect example.  Initially, C was going to pick up Olivia, her daughter, and Jake.  At the last minute, it was decided (without my being aware of it) that I would pick up Olivia because I was going to be going to the park where her mommy was also going.  So, I get there and Joe and Olivia come running to the van.  I tell the teacher that I'm not supposed to have Olivia and the teacher just says, "yes you are ."  Okay.  At this point it has just started pouring so I just headed to my house with Olivia.  I made a couple of phone calls confirming that L did know that I had her daughter. She came and got her and we hung out for a bit while the kids played.  Last week, C paid for Joe's hotdog for Cowboy Day since he was absent on the day the hotdog money was due.  It's nice to have friends you can count on and who are looking out for you.  I mean, what if Joe had to eat PB&J while all the other kids had yummy hotdogs, tragedy!  
My kids are growing up with an amazing and diverse group of kids and moms (and dads).  They are getting to spend time with other families and building such lasting relationships.  They are being supported, cheered on, encouraged, and loved by a whole "village"!  

Fun Friday

Today was a crazy day.  I counted up 14 children that passed through the doors of my house today, 22 if I add up for the whole week.  We had a very social week.  Who says homeschoolers are unsocialized???  That is so not a problem around here.  Sometimes our socializing can get in the way of getting our academics done.  My kids sure are stupid but they know how to socialize!!  I am totally kidding--my kids are doing just fine academically.  Today turned out to be a fun day though with lots of traffic through our house.  We got it all cleaned up and the only thing missing so far is a treasured Darth Vader.  I'm sure he'll turn up.  He's probably in the ever present fort that my big butt can't fit into to check.  The fort is also covering up my sewing machine, we'll have to remedy that tomorrow.  I'm hoping for some sewing time this weekend.  We actually have a fairly quiet weekend ahead of us.  I have some tutoring to do tomorrow.  A birthday party in the afternoon and that's it.  It will be so nice to have some down time.  I owe Hannah countless games of Skip-bo and I'm sure Grace would like to have my ear for a while without me asking her to stop talking. Maybe I'll take her for a walk downtown and some ice cream.  Joe would love to have me do puzzles with him or watch him play his computer game.  Of course, I still have those four projects to do with Hannah.  I'm so unmotivated to do them.  If they are not done by Monday we will just have to skip them and move on.  Not the end of the world.  
I haven't heard much about dinosaur day.  Joe is in a silly mood so I'm only getting silly answers.  The answers haven't had any potty mouth talk though so that's good.  Joe is learning to spell and can actually sound out words.  He sounded out "pop" tonight after having help sounding out "hop."  I think he will be my easiest one to teach to read.  He already really gets it.  
I hope all my blog buddies have a great weekend and have some down time with their families as well!

Kid Stuff

On the way to church last night my kids started in on a discussion of what they wanted to be when they grew up.  This started because we passed some baseball fields where kids were practicing.  I said that I'd like them to try softball/baseball some day because I played as a kid and really enjoyed it.  Grace said she didn't want to play but maybe she could sew the "costumes."  I grew up in a very sports oriented family and this family that I'm raising are so not into sports.  Grace didn't know they wore uniforms, not costumes!  Maybe someday we'll get out there in the sporting world and they can be educated about all this.  This discussion of Grace growing up to sew "costumes" prompted Joe to say that he wants to be a dad when he grows up.  He said that he wants to marry one of his sisters when they are all older.  I gently told him that he people didn't usually marry their sisters.  I didn't want to burst his sweet bubble of wanting to marry one of his sisters.  It will be soon enough that he will change his mind on this one.  When I told him that boys don't usually marry their sisters he said, "Well, I have to marry someone in our family because I'm scared to go live in another woman's house."  He is too funny!  
More on Joe--after preschool on Wednesday he came home telling me a "hilarious" story--his word there not mine.  This hilarious story involved him going to the bathroom at school and being encouraged to try wiping himself.  It was funny that he found this so hilarious but whatever.  Yesterday, Thursday, he got up and wanted to play a video game and I said no and he ran to his room.  Assuming he was mad, I gave him a little bit then went to talk to him.  Well, when I went in he was totally dressed--I know this is not unusual for most 4 1/2 year olds but it is for Joe, he never dresses himself.  The only thing is he was wearing his dinosaur shirt.  The first thing he said was, "Is this dinosaur day at school?"  Well, it wasn't that's today (Friday) so I told him not until tomorrow and he asked for privacy and changed his clothes.  Then, I heard the toilet flush.  He came out and as I was commending him on getting himself dressed he also told me that he had pottied and wiped himself!  I know this is more info that you bargained to get when you sat down to read my blog this morning.  But--I was excited!  My little guy is branching out and growing up.  Of course this is bittersweet--I'm happy to see him mature, happy to maybe be free of the job of wiping his little hiny--I think I've wiped a hiny probably every day of the last 8 years.  Pretty scary!  Also, a little sad that my baby is growing up.  I will continue to cheer him on though because  I know that this is what he is supposed to do.  
Today is dinosaur day at preschool and Joe couldn't be more excited, I'm off to get him ready!

E-mail

Ollie switched our computers and he set me up with a new mail system.  I'm still trying to figure it out.  I want my outlook back!!!!  I tried to send a message tonight and it won't let me unless I have a password.  I don't know what my password is and Ollie's asleep.  So, no e-mail today.  If you e-mailed me and are waiting for a response it ain't going to happen today and probably not until tomorrow evening.  I am going to see if Ollie will just give me back my Outlook.  He's got me using Opera now.  I normally find change to be fun but not this kind of change!  

Not a lot going on...

Well, there's not a lot going on this week.  I haven't taken any fun pictures to post.  I did think about it tonight though.  Once again there is a fort in my living room.  Ugh!  I am so tired of the perpetual fort building going on here.  It seems that the moment I fold up the blankets, they are back out again.  I may have to take a picture of this one though.  It is pretty cool.  Now if the kids would just get in it and stay in it awhile.  And be really quiet.  That would be something to write about.  If anyone is reading this that might be buying my kids a Christmas present (grandmas, aunts, uncles, sisters, etc.) --apparently there is some really wonderful fort building kit at Wal-mart and maybe Target.  It's put out by Cranium and comes with poles and stuff.  
We got school done today for the most part.  I skipped yesterday and tomorrow we spend half the day at a play so we were playing catch up and get ahead today.  Hannah's curriculum has 4 "projects" in it this week.  I am hoping to get them all done this weekend.  We are supposed to make play dough, make bread and share it with someone and tell them that Jesus is the Bread of Life, make a canoe, and a napkin holder that looks like two pieces of bread and says-- you guessed it--Jesus is the Bread of Life.  Guess what our memory verse is?  We'll see.  The napkin holder is pretty low on the list.  Or maybe I can make it and give it to someone for Christmas.  Oooh, what a good idea.  I can just see the look of surprise and glee on the recipient's face.  Gracie is still sewing away quite diligently on her quilt squares.  She has 5 now.  She said today that when she grows up she's going to be a     sewer (that would be someone who sews, not a sewer like where are the waste water goes).   Not for money, she will just make stuff and then see if anybody wants it and she'll donate it.  Joe is learning about dinosaurs at school this week.  Meat eating dinosaurs have sharp teeth and the ones that eat plants have short teeth.  He can't wait for Friday, it's dinosaur day.  They are going on a dinosaur dig and doing the dinosaur stomp.  
TTFN!

Breakfast in a Fancy Restaurant

The girls and I went out to breakfast this morning. We had somewhere we had to be just a half hour after taking Joe so why not go to breakfast! I had heard that The Eatery that is attached to KMart served a great breakfast for really cheap so we headed there. Grace was so excited. I think I need to take Grace out more. The first thing she did when we sat down was grab the salt shaker and pour salt in her hand. Hello??? Then she said in utter glee, "I'm going to tell all my friends that we took Izzy to a fancy restaurant." A fancy restaurant?? We were in the restaurant that opens up into KMart. She is too funny. It doesn't take much to thrill her. We had a wonderful, cheap breakfast and entertainment. The place had quite a few regulars who talked as though they were sitting at their kitchen table. Since they weren't all at the same table there was a little shouting. It was such a fun place to have breakfast and it was good. I highly recommend it.
We are having movie day at our house. What better way to spend a rainy day? Hannah has made lunch, a beef pie. It doesn't look all that great but I'm hoping somebody likes it because there is a lot of it! Just one more recipe in the Home Ec for Homeschoolers! Today the skill was learning to brown ground beef. She did a good job.

God Story

I was recently reading something that talked about how storytelling is a lost art now that we have tv, radio, movies, etc. It went on to talk about how families passed along stories of things God had done in the life of their family. I decided that I wanted to start sharing my God stories with my kids and with others. So, here's one:
Way back a million years ago when Ollie proposed to me, he brought me a very simple ring. I had told him that I didn't want an engagement ring, I wasn't into jewelry then and I'm still not. He wasn't so sure I really meant it though and he had no idea even what size ring to get me so he brought this simple ring that his sister had found on a street in Italy to get an idea of a ring size if I decided I did want a ring. Well, I still didn't want an engagement ring but I did want this simple ring because it was a sweet gesture on his part, so I got to keep it. Well, about 3 months later I was helping my next door neighbors (actually I lived behind them, I rented a little apartment) sand some cabinets and I put the ring in my pocket. I didn't want to scratch it. Did I mention it was found on a street in Italy? It had already been scratched but I still wanted to protect it. Well, sadly I lost it. I looked all through the house and even the yard and never found it. I was sad but eventually got over it. Well, a few months after that on our honeymoon I thought of the ring and said a very quick prayer--"Lord, I wish I had that ring." When we got back Ollie went to work as a night security guy in the dorms and when he came home the next morning he had my ring in his hand! He had found it right out front on the ground! It was such an awesome answer to prayer. I still wear it and it is such a symbol to me that God cares about the little things in our lives as well as the big things.

Scary Scarecrow

So remember the Scarecrow Stroll I mentioned yesterday. Well, a lot of scarecrows were up when I drove through town this morning. One was really disturbing. It was a guillotine with a headless scarecrow and the head in a bucket below. Ugh! These are usually so cute and family friendly. That one definitely is not and it's in one of the prime locations. Not good. I'll post a gruesome picture when I get one for all of you curious people out there.

Pumpkin Scones and Pumpkin Muffins

Okay, here are two of my favorite pumpkin recipes:

Pumpkin Muffins with Chocolate Chips

2/3 cup vegetable oil
2 cups sugar
4 eggs
2 cups cooked, mashed pumpkin or one can of pumpkin
2/3 cup water
3 1/3 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 tsp. soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. cloves
chocolate chips

Mix it all together and put it in muffin pans. Bake at 375 for about 10 minutes for mini muffins and about 20 minutes for regular size muffins. This batter can also be baked in a 13 by 9 pan and made into pumpkin bars.


Pumpkin Scones

Mix together:
2 cups flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp. ginger
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt

Cut in:
1/2 cup butter

Add:
1/2 cup pumpkin
1 tsp. vanilla extract

Drop by spoonfuls or 1/4 cupfuls depending on how big you want them onto a baking stone or cookie sheet. Melt some butter and drizzle over the top and add a little sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes.