Hannah's song

Hannah has written quite a few songs. This is the only one she's agreed to let me share on my blog. I'm going to type the words below in case you can't hear or understand her. I think it's a wonderful song and very insightful for an 8 year old. Of course, being her mother I think she's amazing and wonderful so I'm certainly biased.

You look at yourself in the mirror, you don't think you fit in shape. It's okay. Don't take what you see in the mirror seriously. But look within yourself. Don't take what you see in the mirror seriously. But look in deep down you've gotta look within. Don't take what you see in the mirror seriously. Just look inside and you will see the real you. MMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMMMMMMMMM the real you.

Ice Skating video

The girls actually made great progress thanks to Amy!

Nature Study?

I found the following quote on another blog today:

“So here is another way of viewing the challenge: Nature as antidote. Stress reduction, greater physical health, a deeper sense of spirit, more creativity, a sense of play, even a safer life-these are the rewards that await a family when it invites more nature into children’s lives.”
-Last Child in the Woods, Richard Louv

I have really been wanting to include nature study in our homeschool.  I have nature backpacks packed with sketchpads, magnifying glass, bug jar, field guides, and binoculars.  I have very nice nature notebooks.  I have the "Handbook of Nature Study" by Anna Botsford Comstock (I think that's right).  I have had all of this for more than a year.  Guess how many times we have gone out and done nature study?  NONE!  Not even once.  We have used the nature backpacks a few times and we've done some sketching in the nature notebooks but we haven't used the book at all.  We haven't really gone out and studied anything.  It has been a goal of mine for two years to do weekly nature study.  Maybe I should change that goal to monthly.  Or how about once a school year?  

A couple of pictures from Saturday night--thanks Amy!

Suspended...

for potentially bad behavior.  I have suspended myself (with pay of course) for the day.  I'm afraid that if I tried to do school today it might not go too well.  I have hardly been home since 11:30 Saturday morning and I have a lot to catch up on.  So--with so much to do I'm procrastinating by blogging.  I've actually already done a couple of loads of laundry, cleaned the kitchen, and had a quiet time.  Next up--menu planning and grocery list.  

We had a great weekend.  I hope to have pictures and video to post later.  My camera didn't hold up so I have no pictures of my own on my computer right now.  I did take some using my video camera but need assistance from Ollie to get them onto the computer.  Same with the video.  Anyway, Saturday the girls went to an ice-skating birthday party.  They started out glued to the wall for the first 45 minutes but later ventured a little farther.  Thank you to Amy for giving lessons!  The different personalities really showed on the ice.  Hannah was very worried, almost panicked at first and stayed pretty cautious the whole time.  She went very slow and only fell a few times.  Grace on the other hand threw caution to the wind took off and only fell a few times every minute.  She was hilarious!  She would fall and come up with a huge smile on her face and she was off again.  I have great video--hopefully you will get to see it eventually.  

After ice skating and some dinner we went to the theatre for a Cabaret performance.  This was a fundraiser for the theatre.  A bunch of different people--adults and kids--sang songs from the last three years of shows.  It was very entertaining, the emcees were hilarious.  The performers were pretty funny too.  Hannah was in a few numbers and did a great job.  It was a really fun evening.  

Yesterday after church our ladies group went to Ikea for some shopping and dinner.  It's a huge store with lots of interesting things.  I bought a couple of storage things.  Three little pop up basket things to hold small things.  Namely, Joe's Star Wars guys.  Grace stepped on his box and broke it.  I also got another box thingy that folds up to store and I can take places when I have things to take with me.  

Stay tuned for pics and video...

The one picture I got this week...

before the battery died.  Here are the girls making bird's nests out of chow mein noodles, shredded wheat, and melted chocolate.  Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the final products because--see previous post.  BTW--making a bird's nest is really hard!

Pictures

I am a picture addict.  I like to take pictures of EVERYTHING we do.  At any event I am always the one with a camera.  I like to scrapbook everything and have multiple scrapbooks going.  I have a family scrapbook that includes everything.  I have a school scrapbook for each child.  At the beginning of the school year I take a picture of them and that is the first page of that school year.  I then add pictures of field trips and any projects we do, art, activities, etc.  Each child also has a baby book that records their lives from birth to age 1.  Then last year I started a book for each child that is their "childhood."  The first page is any pictures I could find of me pregnant or ultrasound.  Then the first spread is their first year, next spread is the year they are one, and then two, and so on.  The girls books are caught up but I haven't started Joe's yet.  That's my next scrapbook project.  I only start a new project when I am caught up.  As of two days ago I am officially, completely caught up.  So, in my next picture ordering  I will order my favorite pictures of Joe from the last 5 (yes, he will be 5! at the end of February) years.  Woo-hoo for digital pictures--I have a whole CD case full of them.  Someday, I would love to do a scrapbook of our wedding.  I have the pictures but not in a special book.  

So--I am having camera troubles.  Not good for a picture addict.  Thankfully, we have had nothing special going on that I really want pictures of.  We do today though...  So, my camera is working but I'm having battery trouble.  I have a great Kodak Easy Share with a docking station (thank you H and B).  For the last year and a half or more I have enjoyed a camera that the batteries never die on me.  It has been great.  I can take pictures all day and video as well.  Well, for some reason this docking station isn't working.  I have tried everything I know how to do and it just won't "light up" for me.  I am thankful that the camera works on rechargeable batteries and I seem to have found some that gives me a decent charge that lasts a little while.  Today will be the true test.  We have a birthday party to go to and then Hannah is in a show tonight.  HOPEFULLY, I will have pictures to post tomorrow.  If I don't I am hoping that a couple of trusty friends who will be around with digital cameras will return the favor and take pictures and e-mail them to me.  

Something to think about from George MacDonald

I have a book that is a collection of essays and excerpts from books by George MacDonald.  Here is a quote that I have had on an index card on my kitchen cabinet for a couple of years.  

"Have you today dismissed even once, an anxious thought for tomorrow because Jesus told us to?  Have you ministered to any needy soul or body, and kept your right hand from knowing what your left hand did, telling no one of your action?
Have you, this day, begun to leave all and follow Him?
Did you set yourself not to criticize, talk against or judge others?
Did you bring fair and righteous judgement to your decisions?
Are you wary of covetousness?
Did you forgive your enemy and do him good or show him kindness?
Are you seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness before all other things?  
Are you hungering and thirsting after righteousness?
Have you this day given, of money, of time, of possessions, of skill, or of compassion, to someone who asked of you?
Have you shown consideration, done good, returned kindness fora  wrong done you, extended patience, been a servant, rejoiced in adversity, taken the role of humility before others, prayed for someone you don't like, trusted God to supply a pressing need?
Have you done any of these things, suppressing your natural tendency, and done them with rejoicing?

So much for the revolution!

This is what Hannah told me tonight after we had a little issue.  She was in her bed and we were talking and she said,
"So much for the revolution!"  
I, of course, said "what?"
And she said, "You know that thing I made at the beginning of the year about being a better person?"
This lead to a good talk about reSolutions and also about leaning on God to help us be better people.  I told her that when we pray for something like patience or controlling our tongue that God gives us opportunities to practice these things.  When we fail we can be thankful for a God who loves us and forgives us.  Then forgetting what is behind we press on and start fresh.  It was a great conversation.  Thank you God for wisdom!

Feeling much better...

I got busy yesterday afternoon and I feel much better.  The bathrooms are clean which in and of itself makes me feel good.  The kids and I have been listening to Focus on the Family's radio drama of the Chronicles of Narnia.  We just finished The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe yesterday so I let them watch the movie yesterday afternoon.  I got the living room decluttered, kitchen and bathroom cleaned and that was good enough for me.  I also managed to finish school after the movie.  So, the day wasn't too bad.  I had to tutor last night and then spent a long time putting kids to bed.  We had gotten a lot of books at the library so I read some of those.  By the time I was done I wasn't up for dealing with dinner dishes.  I did take the time to clear the table though and soak the dishes.  It won't be as bad as it could be this morning.  I also got up at 6 am this morning so I feel much more ready to jump into my day!  I have had a quiet time and read some great verses this morning in Psalm 119.  I have been reading the New Living Translation and I absolutely love it.  I have a list a mile long but I've prayed that God would direct my day.  I am really hoping for some rain.  I love rain and it just makes me giddy.  I know I am weird.  I should have included that in my quirky post.  I am EXCITED about church tonight.  We are learning about 
worry--sounds like a message I need to hear.  I hope your day is blessed.

Major Unmotivation here...

I've lost control....
My house is a mess...
There is mold growing in my tub...
Dishes all over the counter from last night...
Haven't finished school...
Scrapbooking stuff spread from a to izzard but still not done!...
Dirty kids...
Laundry dry but not folded...
I actually never had control but sometimes like to feel like I do/did...
Haven't had a quiet time in days because I've struggled with  getting my lazy butt up...
Kids watching a movie...
Going to make myself a cup of coffee and have a quiet time first...
Then I am going to:  Get busy!!!!

God Story About Joe

A long time ago I posted a God story and had planned to post one here and there.  I haven't done that as much as I would like but here's another one.  When Joe was about 7 months old he choked on the pit of a pluot (a plum/apricot sometimes called a dinosaur egg in the store).  I had been eating one and let him suck on the pit and he immediately sucked it down his throat.  I did exactly what you are not supposed to do and reached my finger in to get it out and pushed it in further.  He pretty quickly turned blue (I am feeling panicky as I write this--it was awful!) and I called 911.  I tried the Heimlich but it wasn't coming out.  I had him upside down beating on him.  I put my finger back into his mouth and could feel it and I very gently and carefully tried to pry it out.  After a minute or more of doing this I got it out.  He was passed out at this point and did not start to breathe right away so I laid him on the floor and did mouth to mouth resuscitation.  I did that wrong too--didn't put my mouth over his mouth and nose.  But it worked and he started breathing.  About that time the paramedics walked in and were incredibly relieved to hear a baby crying.  They gave him oxygen and we went in an ambulance to the hospital.  Hannah was at a friend's house and Grace was napping (amazingly she didn't wake up--I was screaming hysterically and she slept through it) so our neighbor came to stay with her.  Ollie was on his way home and got here before we went to the hospital.  Joe fell asleep in the ambulance and I didn't know if he would have brain damage or not.  He was without air at least 4 minutes I think.  Thankfully, when he woke up he was fine.  They did an x-ray to check his trachea and that was okay too.  Amazingly, he was completely fine.  Me?  I was a complete mess.  It was traumatizing.  For a week I would just cry for no reason.  I couldn't look at him asleep unless he had his pacifier in his mouth because I would have a flashback of him not breathing before I did mouth to mouth.  I couldn't lay him down in the same spot that I laid him down on to change him or get him dressed.  I had to keep reminding myself that he was okay.   A week later I went to a friend's wedding (Lynne's).  It was in Winter Haven and I took Joe because he was still nursing at the time.  I cried the whole way there.  In the middle of the wedding Joe decided to try out his voice box.  Until this point he was not a babbler but he started that day and so I walked out in the foyer of this church.  While out there I could hear the service perfectly.  A man read a letter that he felt like God had given him for Lynne and her husband.   The letter spoke right to my heart.  I can't remember much of it now but it may as well have been written to me.  It was like a balm to my wounded spirit.  I cried a lot more just listening.  The next thing to happen was that her daughters signed to a song and to hear I had to press my ear up to the door.  It was then that I realized that I could hear everything the man had read while sitting across the room yet I had to put my ear to the door to hear this song.  God had a message for me that day and I was a different person after it.  He continued healing me the next day in church where I guess you would say I had a vision.  I could picture me leaning over Joe giving him mouth to mouth and Jesus kneeling right next to me.  I knew that He was with me through the whole thing.  Joe came out of it healthy and fine but even if he hadn't, even if my worst fear had happened, Jesus was right there next to me.  Through these two things I was healed.  It took about a year before I stopped bursting into tears at the sight of an ambulance flying past me.  I still have the outfit Joe wore, the bib he had on, and the pit he choked on.  I just can't throw it away.  It was an awful thing but a huge thing and I can't just throw it away.  On a side note I learned what my body does when I am truly terrified--my left leg shakes uncontrollably.  It did it that day and the week after that when he climbed out of his crib and fell on his head (at 7 months old).  

Saturday

We had a busy but good day.  First, the girls and I worked a bake sale at Publix for the Warren Acting Company.  You can see pictures and a short video at J's blog here.  I don't have pictures because the docking station for my camera is on the fritz.  It did this before and then started working again thanks to Uncle B.  (B--I'll be calling you after church tomorrow to see if you can work your magic again.)  So, no pictures from our day.   We had a quiet afternoon, I even got a much needed nap!  Then we ordered a pizza from Pizzeria Uno and had planned to take it to a nearby lake and have a picnic.  We didn't check the weather first though and we were in a serious downpour so we took our picnic to the mall and ate in the food court.  Then we walked around the mall for a while and headed home.  It was a great night--a little odd (Hannah was embarassed of course) but fun.

Cookies for Breakfast

Joe is out of school today--woohoo!!  I don't have to have everybody up, dressed, and out the door by nine.  I've been on the computer for an hour, I'm still in my jammies, and I just told the kids to eat cookies for breakfast.  We have a bunch of really flat chocolate chip cookies that I can't use for the bake sale on the table.  They were begging me for breakfast and I'm not done so I told them to eat cookies for breakfast.  As bad as this is you can't tell me that they have more sugar than doughnuts or danishes or pancakes and syrup.  They have butter (that's milk right?) and eggs--those are the same ingredients as scrambled eggs.  So, sounds like a healthy well rounded breakfast--:0).  I think I need to go eat breakfast.

Grace's first art class

Grace started art today with Ms. Heather.  She loved it and did a great job as you can see.  She told me, "I love art class, Ms. Heather wants us to use our imagination and you don't have to draw things like they really are so I drew a purple ant."

Reporting back in...

Well, it's 10:10 pm and I've managed to get it all done!  Well, except for a quiet time.  I did have a quiet time on the couch when I took a 30 minute nap this afternoon.  :0)  I will be getting up early tomorrow for my quiet time, morning is best for me anyway.  Then I am not interrupted nor is there any chance of me falling asleep.  I had a productive day--I even had company to help me get through some of my tasks.  It's always easier to work when you are distracted by good conversation.  I have almost made it to the month of December in my scrapbooking backlog of pictures.  Our December was so busy it could easily be a scrapbook in itself.  I'm having fun but eager to wrap this up.  I'm leaving my stuff out which is working well.  I can crop and do pages as I get a chance.  The girls got in on the scrapbooking fun with all my extra pictures.  They had a blast picking out themes for pages.  They really did a good job.  

To Do TODAY!

I have so much to do today and I'm having a hard time getting started.  I thought a list might be just the thing I need--even a public list.  Then I can check back in later and report on how well I did.  So--today I need to

• School the girls
  
• Go to the grocery store
• Take care of two additional children
• laundry
• make my bed
• juice some oranges
• bake lots of cookies--needs to be done by Saturday morning so I'd like to get started
• file paperwork
• clean the bathroom
• break Grace's pastels in half before art class at 3
• have some quiet time with my God
• clean the kitchen
• a little scrapbooking--doesn't have to be done but this is what I WANT to do!

So--I'm off to do these things.  I'll report back later

Our new pets :0)

The Velcro Game Show

Inventor of the Year

Jr. Chefs

The Boat Ride

Epcot

We had a great day at Epcot!  Probably one of our best days there.  We've been there many times-maybe 10 or so?  Anyway, we always seem to find something new and different to do.  We were only there about 3 hours today but we packed in a lot of fun.  First, we went looking for Mr. Joel's (theatre director) show in Innoventions.  We found him, his show, and Ms. Amanda who was there visiting.  We got to see the show he is in but he wasn't in it for that show--it was the other guy's turn.  It is a new show about Velcro and it's pretty funny and interactive as you can see from the pictures.  The girls and I and Aunt Harriet got picked to be in one of the games.  Before the game show part starts they do a little talk about the history of velcro.  Just last week, the girls and I read a book and it mentioned that this man invented velcro after observing burrs on his dog's coat.  That's exactly what they talked about today--neat to have just read that.  After we left there we went over to The Land to get fastpass's to Soarin' then to ride the Figment ride.  In the play area after the ride both girls got a chance to participate in a digital camera demo and they gave us great pictures of them dressed as inventors.  I'll have to scan them in and post them later.  Then back to The Land to use our fastpass's but first--we walked downstairs just as they were selecting kids to be Jr. Chef's and make cookies.  This is a really funny cookie making thing that the girls have done before.  They cut up a lot making cookie dough and then put it in the magic oven and cookies are ready right away.  Then we went on Soarin' --an awesome ride!  After that we went over to the Contemporary Resort to go on our boat ride.  The boat driver took us out early and gave us a really long tour around Bay Lake and the Seven Seas Lagoon.  Then we got to watch the Wishes fireworks show that they do at Magic Kingdom.  The boat ride was great, he even let the kids drive.  They thought that was great.  And they gave us Sprite and Cheetos--I thought that was great.  

Can't even think of a title

because this is one of those random posts with nothing of any real importance.

Joe is having lunch today with his teacher, Ms. Shawnee.  She brings McD's to all the kids who have been Star Student this year.  Joe has been so excited about this.  I hope it is all he's dreamed...

Hannah is writing in cursive.  This may be no big deal to many of you but as a homeschooler I've never been good at "teaching" handwriting.  Her handwriting used to be pretty good but then took a turn for the terrible.  She just did everything so fast.  I tried a little handwriting instruction but she just wasn't into it.  I figured at some point she would WANT to write neatly.  I got her a cursive book this year and she has pretty much taught herself because as I mentioned before I don't really teach handwriting very well.  Well, she has all of a sudden taken off with writing in beautiful cursive.  She is writing all the time and wanting me to write things in cursive for her to copy.  That is a challenge for me to remember how all the letters are supposed to look.  My handwriting is a combo.  I found a piece of paper the other day with "If at first you don't succeed, try, try again."  written about 10 times in cursive.  This is her thing and she is doing a great job.  I was hoping that if I didn't push it this would come and it has.  Woo-hoo!

Grace is doing really well reading.  Teaching a child to read is the most exciting, most frustrating, most rewarding, most frustrating thing you can ever do.  How many times have we looked at the word cat and sounded out c-a-t and then she says--mouse???  AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!  Well, it is starting to click, finally.  We have some flash cards that she is going through to increase her sight vocabulary.  She has her own techniques for remembering the ones that don't really sound out and it's pretty funny.  The word "there" she remembers by thinking "And God said, let THERE..."  That is also helping her remember "said."

I need to wrap this up.  We are off to Epcot after we pick Joe up.  Joe has been begging to go to Epcot so we are finally making it there.  We are finishing our night off with watching the fireworks from a boat.  I'll post pics tonight or tomorrow.

Joe's bedtime talk tonight

Whenever I lay down with Joe at night he always has something he wants to talk about.  This is the time he chooses to ask me things like, "Do babies come out of your belly button?"  "Is Jesus God?"  You get the picture.  Questions that really require an answer and sometimes a long drawn out answer.   Tonight he was a little chatty.  Here are the things he said,

Mom, I just love you so much.

I wish you were a boy.

Can boys marry boys?  (Short answer--no.)

Squishing is the same thing as cuddling.

I'm going to squish you.

So sweet this boy of mine...

Winners are...

The following blogs have been tagged--

1.  Winchester Academy
2.  Mothering Matters
3.  Unoffically Nameless
4.  Life at Smith Schoolhouse
5.  Finding Noah
6.  Aftgog

I've Been Tagged... Quirkiness x 6 = Me, I Guess

Quirkiness x 6 = me, I guess, is the name of the tag. For those that know me, you'll find this a little amusing. I was tagged Lady G.

Ok, in this tag you share 6 quirky or weird things about yourself. Easy as pie. Well, we all know that making a good pie is anything BUT easy. So... good luck coming up with six quirkiness. :o)

The Rules~

1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non important bizarre things/quirk/habits about yourself.
4. Tag six other people, link to their blogs and let them know by posting a comment on their blog.

Here goes...

1.  I ALWAYS make my bed before getting into it.  Even if I make it and then immediately get into it.  I prefer to have it made in the morning.  It makes me happy to see a made bed.

2.  I do not like having my hair down and over my ears.  It is always up or behind my ears.  Having short hair is driving me crazy!!!

3.  I absolutely have to read before going to sleep.  I have a hard time falling asleep if I don't read.

4.  When I am alone in the car I never turn the radio on, I need the quiet.  This is a new quirk of mine since having three children who talk nonstop especially when I am on the computer trying to type.  "Mom, can you do yoga?"  "Mom, I found a soda pop girl."  "Mom, are you almost done I have to do my daily stuff on Webkins."  "Kids, can you SHUT UP?????"  I'm doing good, haven't said it yet. :0)

5.  I always want my girls' hair to look nice and brushed, no matter how late we are.   This has been a humbling and frustrating area for me given that I have a child with very long, curly hair and you can't brush it and it very often looks like she just rolled out of bed.  We are solving this problem though I think...

6.  I am a major list maker.  I love crossing things off a list.  I had a lot to do yesterday and made a fabulous detailed list--lots of stuff to cross off.  As I was working in the kitchen I kept thinking of each thing I could cross off and guess what--I couldn't find my list.  Very disappointing.

I guess I am more verbose tonight than I thought.  Now I have to tag 6 other people--the winners are--listed on the next blog because I am having some problems here.  Ugh!

Weekend Update in list form

I don't feel very verbose tonight but want to post something for all my eager readers :0).  So, here is the weekend update in list form.

1.  Date night Friday night--very short date night due to miscommunication.  We used a gift certificate at a local store and then went to Wal-mart for a headlight replacement, then sat by the lake for a little while.  Although we didn't do anything wonderful it was great to have some alone time.
2.  Caramel Macchiato--yum!
3.  Got out the scrapbook stuff and put it away untouched.  Big plans to get it back out tonight.  Procrastinating.
4.  Ollie's aunt and uncle from New Jersey visited us today.  We had a big mexican meal and then went to the park to show them some Florida nature and then to the Crocs store.
5.  Long Sunday afternoon nap!
6.  Lots of games of Guess Who?  One game of Life.  Can I just say that I am loving the game of Life.  Hannah got it for Christmas and it is really fun.  A little more complicated than I remember it being but it teaches some good lessons.  A college education is helpful, investing is good, gambling is bad, and so on.  
7.  Updating blog and then I really am going to tackle all those pictures that need to be scrapbooked!
8. Read a great book--the novelization of The Ultimate Gift.  I've heard it is a wonderful movie.
Aftgog says so.  I enjoyed the novelization but it was short and left me wanting more details.  Our library doesn't have the real book and I am too cheap to buy it.  Anybody out there own it and willing to loan it to me?
9.  Great message in church this morning--more on that later.

Overheard at Target today...

As I was walking into Target there was a woman in front of me scolding (if you could call it that) her child for hanging on the cart.  First she said--"get your a#$ off of that."  Then--"I'm gonna knock you out."  Then--"Okay, just hold on if you are going to do that."  How's that for discipline?  I almost had to laugh but was concerned she might "knock me out."  Apparently her child is used to be talked to like that and used to not obeying.  She was completely unfazed by the whole thing.  

Margin

I have this little book with short readings called, "A Minute of Margin."  It has been so good.  Basically this book is based on the fact that our lives these days have very little margin.  We have more convenience, computers that work for us, cars to get us places faster, all sorts of stuff that should make us really happy and content.  Instead, we are overworked and exhausted.  We don't get enough sleep, we spend time maintaining all our stuff, we are always busy going here there and everywhere.  We have no margin in our lives.  Our days are so packed that there is no room for plans to go awry.  And so on... you get the picture.  This book has helped me with my problem of filling my life with too much.  Too much stuff, too many plans, too many activities, and so on.  I am working on having margin in my day.  Walking everywhere is a perfect example.  It will take time and energy to walk to our activities.  I won't be able to run that extra, unnecessary errand "while I am out anyway."  If I am in the stores less I will spend less money.  I have been trying to live off whatever is in the cabinets and fridge this week.  I am trying to go as long as I can without going to the store.  Tonight we had cheese and crackers and kale sauteed with garlic for dinner.  We are down to eggs and lima beans so I think I will be coming up with a menu and grocery list tonight.  I have so much to learn yet but I hope I am off to a good start.  

A little bit of this and a little bit of that...

As I am approaching the end of this week I am so thankful!  I have prayed for peace, for wisdom, for patience and God is answering.  We have had a good, productive week.  It's been great getting back into normal life.  Joe has been happy to go to preschool every day.  There have been no stomach aches.  School is going well with the girls.  We've completed our work everyday and we've done it mostly joyfully.  
We are trying to do more walking around here.  All of our activities happen less than a mile from our house.  It's crazy that we drive everywhere so we are trying to change this.  We've walked to pick up Joe 3 days this week and we walked to theatre on Monday and we'll walk tomorrow.  The kids have done their share of complaining but they will get used to it.  As gas prices continue to rise this is becoming a necessity.  Maybe I will finally lose some weight with all this walking.  
I've done two puzzles this week.  I finished the 1000 piece one last week.  I am loving doing puzzles.  My brain goes into puzzle mode--I stop thinking about what I should make for dinner (my family doesn't care for this side effect), who I need to call, how I should handle this relationship, I stop worrying about the teenage years, I stop thinking about eating something, it's great!  I just think about finding the piece with the blue and green knob and a dip of red on the end.  Way fun.  I've needed the break from endless thinking.
I haven't gone to Starbucks yet this week...

Theatre

We fully intended to take a few months off of theatre but that so didn't happen...At the last minute they changed the next show to Schoolhouse Rock Live.  We can't miss that--that's almost like school.  So, the girls are in Schoolhouse Rock.  Joe has joined Little Theatre.  He has begged to do it since it started in August.  We didn't let him because he's so shy and introverted we really didn't think he could possible like it.  Well, after his preschool show where he made the comment that he loved all those people watching him we decided we'd let him do it.  So, he started on Monday and loved it.  His sisters are the helpers and almost every kid in his class goes to his preschool or the primary school associated with the preschool so he felt pretty comfortable.  Ms. Amanda said he did great.  Who would have guessed?

Dinner Under the Lights

Our homeschool group met for our first annual dinner under the lights in our little town.  We all brought dinner and the kids played and we ate and enjoyed the lights.  I think this will become an annual tradition.  Maybe a weekly one until they take down the lights.  They usually leave them up until the latter part of the month.  The kids had a blast even though there was no playground.  There are shuffleboard courts that are fun to run across, a fountain that's fun to play in and around, and a high wall that you just can't help but walk on and even jump off.  Some braver than others for that part.  A great time was had by all!

Strawberry Picking

We spent the afternoon at the strawberry patch yesterday and got ALOT of strawberries.  This place is great, they have a great place to play for the kids and then lots of strawberries as well.  I didn't get any pictures of the kids playing because I was too lazy to get up and go take pictures of them.  Hannah was the big picker of the day--she picked an entire flat.  Now we have to eat all these strawberries.  We had strawberry-banana smoothies last night, strawberry pancakes for breakfast, and I think I'm going to make strawberry shortcake for dessert.  We will also freeze some--they are great to throw into a smoothie.  

My New School Space

Once I got going today--it took awhile--I really got going!  I had a great day.  It felt so great getting back to normal.  We got all our school done and both girls did great.  I don't think they forgot anything during our break.  Can we say woo-hoo???  I was really worried about having to take precious time to reteach.  After we picked up Joe I got busy in the Florida room.  I had a BIG idea.   I got this BIG idea last night.  Before most of my friends had blogs I used to love to go to homeschoolblogger.com and visit random blogs.  I haven't done that in about 6 months or more but I went through a few last night before bed.  Well, on one of them someone had posted pictures of her school room.  She had a table turned a certain way and I just loved it.  I could hardly sleep for all the planning I was doing in my head.  In our Florida room we've had this great corner bench unit thingawhoppy.  It looks great from a distance but not so great when you are trying to sit on it.  It was very uncomfortable and awkward.  I tried to school there but just couldn't stand it so I haul everything to the kitchen table everyday and back again to the Florida room.  Today I decided to say bye-bye to the great corner bench unit thingawhoppy (it's up for grabs if anyone wants it).  That was the best thing I ever did!  It left so much room and I put my table just so and built myself some redneck bookshelves (milk crates and plywood) and we have a workable school space.  I can hardly wait to school there tomorrow.  The girls spent all evening there drawing.  It was a lot of work to disassemble the thingawhoppy--I even had to use multiple tools but I figured it out and was so proud of myself.  

T-shirts and other random thoughts

I was in Wal-mart today and this woman had on this shirt that said, "I'm busy, you're ugly, so shut up."  Isn't that awful???  I love t-shirts and I love the ones that say funny things but this new fad of shirts that insult you as you read them is just too much.  

We start back into "normal" life tomorrow.  Ollie and Joe go back to school and the girls and I jump back into homeschooling.  It's been so long since we cracked a book that I am intimidated.  I've already thought we might kick off our day with a trip to Starbucks to get us going.  That would waste valuable time though so we probably won't do that.  We'll see how the morning goes with Joe.

He says he's sick almost every morning.  I thought it was because he didn't want to go to preschool but his morning sickness has continued over the vacation.  Friday he insisted that he was sick and wanted me to put a movie on for him.  I told him that I'd start a movie as soon as he threw up.  He spent a few minutes in the bathroom trying to throw up and then said, "I'll eat some breakfast and then I'll throw up."  By the time he had eaten breakfast he had forgotten about throwing up.  He wanted chap stick.  I had somewhere I wanted to go Friday morning and he was being grumpy about going out so I told him that we could stay home but that meant I couldn't get him the chap stick he had asked for.  He immediately got ready to go.  And, guess what?  I forgot to get the chap stick and he hasn't mentioned it.  

One more thing--did you know that Starbucks has kid's hot cocoa for a little over a $1 and it is not as hot as their regular coffee?  It's just perfect for kids.  

Pray for us in the morning.  I want to be relaxed and joyful instead of irritable and stressed.  We are also going to start reading through the Bible with the goal of reading it through this year.  I have a Day By Day Kid's Bible and it says we can read through the Bible in a year with just 7 minutes a day.  We'll see...

Guess What Game We Played at the Shower..

We didn't play a game!  There ended up being so many people there wanting to talk, eat, talk some more and then with three ladies to open lots of presents there was no time for games.  Honestly--I am relieved.  My games weren't terribly exciting and I just wasn't up for the whole leading everybody into the game thing.  Especially when they are enjoying talking.  So, it worked out just fine!  

My Blog--A Book??

Many of us who have entered this blogging world have talked about printing it out someday for our kids to read and wondered if we can even do that.  Well, a sweet friend, told me about blurb.com.  Guess what you can do on there?  Have your blog made into a book!  Yes, it's true.  I think the lowest price is $12.95 and that is for a 40 page softcover book.  That is not a bad price at all.  I wonder how many posts that would be?  

Games We Will Not Be Playing at the Baby Shower

I just did a little research and I think I've come up with a game.  But here are a couple I ran across that we WON'T be playing!

Birth the baby--you freeze a bunch of tiny plastic babies in ice cubes and then fill the drinks with them and the first baby to melt out of it's ice (birthed) wins.  How weird is that?  By the end we'd all have floating plastic babies in our cups.  Not right.

Diaper your fellow shower goer--this is really funny.  Everybody breaks into teams of two and one is the mommy and one is the baby and you have to use paper towels to diaper your baby (a grown woman).  Whoever can stand up without their diaper falling off wins.  Scary.

A Wonderful Resolution

On our camping trip we were discussing resolutions.  As a side note, I never make resolutions.  I just did that silly list for humor purposes.  It's not a real list.  In case you didn't realize it.  Anyway, Ollie doesn't make resolutions either but I found out that Hannah did make a resolution.  I guess they talked about it Sunday morning and she and Kiwi's daughter came up with a resolution that we could all adopt.  They are going to try to be better people and then meet back next year and see how much they've improved.  I was very encouraged by this, for some reason I have been battling anxiety about the approaching teen years.  I know, it's ridiculous to borrow trouble from tomorrow but you hear so many awful stories.  I would love to be able to say that I know with certainty that my children will never act like that but I've been humbled too many times.  So, I am leaning on my Lord for wisdom and peace.  I know He will show me how to best love her, train her, respect her and help HIM to mold her into a wonderful godly young woman.  I love that her focus was on growing and trying to be better instead of something more worldly--sing better, dance better, get more stuff, (all important in her life :0)).  It also gave me a great opportunity to talk about what she is going to do to make this happen.  She had a lot of ideas and I got to tell her that the best thing she can do is pray about it everyday.  Pray that God would help her to choose what is best and to show her how she can be a better person.  It was a great conversation.  And on a lighter note, I can now hold this over her head for the next year.  When she is acting not so nice I can just remind her--don't you want to become a better person.... :0)

Random Thoughts for a Saturday

My first random thought is what is up with those letters written all squiggly or blurry or backwards or whatever that you have to type in in order to comment on some blogs?  Do evil computers give you wrong ones?  Or maybe if you are bad or intend harm you can't see them?  I just don't get it and sometimes they are truly hard to make out the letters.  They are stupid.  

I have a baby shower that I'm helping with that is due to start in 6 hours.  I am supposed to do the games.  Guess what?  I only have one and I CANNOT get my brain around another one.  You see, you have to have prizes for the games right?  So, you have to do a game that easily ends in ONE person winning the prize.  Maybe I could borrow S's DDR.  Whoever ends with the highest rating wins.  I know this shouldn't be so hard but my brain just won't go there.

Speaking of DDR--(Dance, Dance Revolution)--I tried it yesterday.  Way fun.  I wasn't very good but had fun.  When I am not very good at something I almost immediately start acting silly and want to "mock" it.  So, when I got lost I had the urge to really dance.  You know, the Running Man, the Worm, just a little jive.  Maybe I'm like that girl on High School Musical who likes to "hip hop" except I'm terrible at dancing.  It is fun though.  I think I want this DDR but you have to have a Playstation 2 and somehow I know that ain't happening in my house.

Speaking of High School Musical--the girls got the CDs for Christmas and I LOVE them.  I am so embarassed to say that I am usually the one singing the loudest.  Especially to "Soarin' Flyin' there's not a star in heaven that we can't reach...." and then  "Fabulous."  It's a terrible song about wanting more and more but the tune is so catchy.

My dream is to learn the dance to that last song in High School Musical.  You know--"Together, together, everyone..."

The Big Freeze is Coming!

For those of you who don't know this interesting fact about my husband--he is a tropical fruit enthusiast.  We have over 30 varieties of tropical and subtropical fruits growing in our yard.  A freeze is a pretty big deal around here.  So, we spent a couple of hours trying to protect the most tropical and most special trees.  Which ones made the cut??  The jackfruit, four lychees, atemoya, and black sapote.  Our methods?  lots of plastic, a space heater, some Christmas lights, and misters.  We'll see how they fare in the morning.  

Camping

Well, we picked the coldest night of the year so far to go camping.  Tonight will beat last night for cold and I will be so thankful for my warm bed.  Anyway, we went camping at Ft. DeSoto State Park.  It's a wonderful place to camp.  We've camped there before and hope to camp there again.  It's right on the Gulf and so far we haven't been there when it's warm enough to swim.  Next time for sure.  One of the neat things you can do there is rent fun, unique bikes.  We are usually too cheap for this but we were going to rent them this time.  Well, because of the wind and cold they weren't renting them.  I was disappointed but it would have been crazy cold so maybe next time.  We got there fairly late and didn't do much beyond setting up the van--no tent this time.  We were too chicken with the cold weather. As it was, even in the van we were cold.  When Ollie checked us in they told us about a whale that had beached itself and then died and told us where we could go to see it.  There was a whole crew there performing a necropsy (autopsy).  The water was red with blood and it was so sad to see this huge whale being dismembered.  Some guy standing there said that he had beached himself (the whale, not the man) and people had helped it back out and it did it two more times.  The third time I guess they realized it had a problem, tried to save it, but were unsuccessful.  It's so amazing to know that these animals are out there swimming in that huge ocean.  The ocean just amazes me, it's so mysterious and teeming with life, a lot of it huge life.  Today at the pier we saw a pod of dolphins.  Amazing!  We had a great trip although it was short and cold.  We made some memories that's for sure.  

Why I Do It

Scrapbook that is.  These pictures say it for me.  When I see my kids poring over the scrapbooks it makes it worth all the work I put into it.  I also do it because I love it.  It's one of the few things I do that doesn't get undone.  You know--I make lunch and we eat it, I do dishes and we dirty them, I make beds and we get in them, I bathe my kids and they get dirty, and the list goes on.  I spend an evening scrapbooking and so far noone has come behind me and messed them up.  I am way behind right now.  I think I'm in August.  I have the pictures, I just need a few hours (or more).