Bring on the Janette Oke

I'm exhausted.  I've read the first three Twilight books in the last week and truly I need a break.  They are so good, but so oh-my-goodness-I-can't-put-this-down-no-matter-what-else-I-should-be-doing-including-acknowledging-that-I-have-a-family-just-one-more-page-or-chapter-or-100-pages-I-think-I-can-finish-if-I-just-don't-sleep...I had the fourth book but I went ahead and loaned it to Amy, I am forcing myself to take a break from the vampire world and focus on the real world around me.  There is a lot to do around here before we have family arriving on Saturday.  We have yet to get any good schooling done this week except our lessons in spider capture today.  So, tomorrow we will be hitting the books big time.  I have a new lapbook for Hannah to start on Africa and Joe and Grace start their unit on Night Creatures.  

I spent too much time today trying to help Joe understand what a fake birthday is.  You see, when my children have their birthday party on any day other than their real birthday they call this day their "fake birthday."  Well, Joe just wasn't getting it and when Joe isn't getting it nobody gets a break from the questions until he has a full understanding of whatever the topic is.  After explaining and explaining, he finally got it.  I think the misunderstanding stemmed from him thinking he might be having a fake birthday coming up and might get some more presents.  He was disappointed.  Right on the heels of the fake birthday discussion--Hannah had to start on her little issue.  She just cannot get the whole "Pizza Hut/Wing Street" thing.  Are they two restaurants or one?  Why is it called two things?  Why did they make the sign that way?  And on and on and on.  We've had this discussion multiple times and it never ceases to annoy me that she has such an issue with it.  Today it was brought up because we were driving behind a delivery car.  And, once we settled that, I nearly ran over a woman who was jaywalking and happened to mention that she was jaywalking.  Yes, you guessed it--another LONG discussion about what jaywalking is.  I wish I had more patience for these conversations where I am educating my children on the things they are most interested in.  But, I don't.  

Woohoo for Adam Lambert tonight.  He is my American Idol!  Love him!  I'm thinking Megan or Anoop are going home.  Megan has been my fave but not so much anymore.  

Spider Problem Solved

The spider has been taken care of...thank you to IngleNook and Sarah for the encouragement to just deal with it. So, I opened the closed door with fear and trepidation (I wonder where she gets her spider issues from?? But--I can be in the same room with a spider, I just don't want to kill it) and Grace and Joe and I went in armed with a ruler, a cup, and a piece of paper. The ruler to move the spider, the cup to catch it in, and the paper to serve as a lid. After some chasing, screaming, and general chaos we caught it, Grace took off to throw it outside and somehow dropped it too close to the door so it was back inside. Then we tried to catch it again and I ended up scooping it up with paper and tossing it towards the door until I tossed it out the door. Poor spider. I think he would have rather died. But, he's out in the yard now and Hannah is in her room cleaning and I'm going to go have a grande-frappucino-mochalicious-xanax-vodka-double shot-latte.

Armed and Dangerous

It's hard to see but the spider is there in the sand, Joe's checking it out.

What Would You Do?

Today is our Home Ec day and as I mentioned yesterday Hannah's room is a MESS!!!  Today was the day to get it cleaned up.  She had been in her room maybe 10 minutes and came out freaking out because there was a spider.  I went in and yes, indeed there was a spider and it was quite large.  We do not kill spiders around here and especially not big ones like this one because honestly, I am too scared to get close enough to kill a spider that big.  I just ignore them and let them go about their business.  This spider was under her dresser and not coming out but she was hysterical and wouldn't go back in her room.  So, after wanting to freak out myself because of the hysterics I went to my room to cool down and decided what to do.  I decided that she wouldn't have to clean her room this morning but that it would have to be done before she goes to bed and before she watches American Idol.  She has theatre until 6:30, we aren't home until 7 and she has to eat dinner and her room is a huge mess.  I think there may still be hysterics but Ollie will be home and he deals with the hysterics way better than I do (and the spiders).  So, I'm curious...what would you have done?  Would you have made her stay in there and clean it anyway?  

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...March 30, 2009

Outside my window...the sun is shining as usual. I haven't been keeping up with the weather so I have no idea what is in store for today. I live in central FL and it's spring so my guess is temps in the 80s and dry.
I am thinking...of everything that I lost when my computer crashed last night. I keep remembering things that I've now lost. Like the free Amelia Earhart lapbook that I just downloaded last week. And of course, every picture I've taken since last January. :0( (a lot were on Snapfish but not the last two months)
I am thankful...that it was my computer that crashed and not my car and that only data has been lost, not a life. (Trying to remind myself that in the grand scheme of life, losing your whole computer life isn't reason to mourn.)
From the kitchen...tonight I'll be making Brie toast and Spinach salad. Pesto Ravioli and green beans, Mamba lasagna, fried rice, and leftovers for the rest of the week.
From the learning rooms...Grace and Joe will start their unit on Night Creatures, Hannah travels to Africa, and lots of reading and math.
I am creating...my favorites list, my e-mail address book, ...
I am wearing...pjs
I am reading...Eclipse--the third Twilight book.
I am hoping...to get to the store for more toilet paper before the last half roll is used today. I'd like to do school before we leave the house but half a roll of toilet paper + 4 people...
I am hearing...Curious George on PBS kids
Around the house...Hannah's room is a disaster. I was just recently going to do a post about progress and talk about how each of my kid's have progressed in one area. I was going to talk about how Hannah was finally keeping her room picked up. But--it's out of control again. She will be cleaning it thoroughly tomorrow during Home Ec Tuesday (if not today). The rest of the house is under control--not perfect but under control. I've tried to stay on top of it all weekend.
One of my favorite things...coffee
I am going...to the store for tp
A few plans for the rest of the week...tutoring, schooling, going to the park, going to a play, reading through the rest of the Twilight books, family coming to visit from Chicago on Saturday!, and whatever else comes up and strikes my fancy.
A picture thought I'm sharing....turn on the tears here people. I have NO picture to share.

Norwegian Meatballs

Here's the recipe--
1 lb. ground beef
1/4 lb. ground pork
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup milk (I used buttermilk)
1 egg
2 tsp. sugar
1 1/4 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. allspice
1 tbsp. butter

Gravy--
3 tbsp. flour
1 tsp. sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup water
1 cup heavy cream (I've used half and half)

Mix the meat, bread crumbs, milk, egg, and spices and mix well. Shape into 1 in. balls.
Heat a tbsp. butter in a skillet and cook the meatballs. Turning as necessary to completely cook them. When they are done, take them out and place them on a plate. Mix flour, sugar, and salt and pepper and add to the drippings in the pan. Use a whisk or fork to really mix it up. Add the water to make the gravy. Let it thicken up a little then slowly add the cream. Stir until thick. Do not boil. Add the meatballs to the gravy and keep the heat low. Let them cook about 15 more minutes to allow the flavors to blend. I'm not sure how authentic it is but these are great served over rice!

International Day

International Day went great! It was so neat to see everyone's different projects and to hear all that each child had learned. And the food was great! Especially if you like ethnic food. Hannah's country was Norway and in addition to the project board, she made a Viking lapbook and painted a "chest" in the Rosmaling style. She worked hard and was proud of her display.

There was a stamp or sticker for each country and the kids were given "passports." They traveled around the room answering questions about each country and collecting stamps. It was a great way to get everyone to really check out the projects. The questions were like--what's the capital? Name of the leader? Currency? etc. Interestingly enough, we had pretty much none of that info on our display board. Oops.

The girls traveling to Canada.

Here are Joe and Jake racing to do an Egypt word search. You can only see Jake in the background with his pencil. I know it's kind of a goofy picture but I liked Julie smiling at Jake and Joe's mischievous expression

Here's Hannah giving her talk on Norway. She was nervous but did a good job.

Here's my plate of International food. It was all delish! I also had some really, really good Nepalese tea. Stephanie--I want the recipe!

Another goofy picture but I liked Madi in the background showing her rather empty plate. I would venture to say that Madi doesn't enjoy ethnic foods. And if you look at Grace behind her, she didn't find much she liked either. Grace tolerates ethnic food when it's on her plate at home and she has no choice but clearly doesn't enjoy it.

TV talk and Other Random Thoughts on a Friday Morning

I can tell it's Friday because I don't want to do anything.  Now that we do Home Ec Tuesdays I do not have the freedom to take Fridays off from school.  For our first 4 years of homeschooling we always took Fridays off.  Not anymore...but, we do often get a late start on Fridays.  I've just given the kids an extra half hour to goof off while I pull myself together.  I've got the water boiling for some yummola instant coffee.  It doesn't even compare to Starbucks but it's fast and easy and will do.  

After school I want to head downtown to the Village Antique Fair.  Two years ago there was a trailer there full of Fiestaware.  I'm sure a lot of it is expensive but I'm hoping to find a bowl or two that is not expensive.  I want to start collecting Fiestaware random piece by random piece.  I can't afford a whole place setting but I can start piecing it together.  

My knee is really hurting today, not sure why but that doesn't mesh well with my plans to go walk around the antique fair looking for cheap Fiestaware.  Hoping time and Tylenol will help with that.  Because I'm going, in pain or not.  

The Office was a good one last night but I'm confused.  If anyone can enlighten me that would be great.  Why is Michael leaving?  Did he get fired and why?

I can't believe Matt Giraud was in the bottom three last night!  He's not as charismatic as some of the singers but is really good and should not be in the bottom three.  I loved Michael Sarver and hate to see him go but he was the right one.  He had a fab attitude--excited to be going on tour.  

Hannah and I have to make a BOATLOAD of Norwegian meatballs.  I am extremely intimidated...I think I will have to do that first and get it out of the way.  That's how I always handle things that are intimidating to me--dive right in and get it over with as soon as possible.  After my coffee and our Bible time we are going to be elbow deep in raw meat and egg--fun!

We finished our display yesterday and we are really happy with it.  It turned out great!  We have really had a lot of fun with International Day.  We did a Viking lapbook to go with it and I'm happy with that too.  Doing the research for it got me all excited about lapbooking.  I ordered one for Hannah to do about Africa.  It looked like a lot of fun.  Lapbooking is such a great way to learn!  

The kids just called me out to see a woodpecker.  It was a Pilleated one I think.  Does observing a woodpecker count as school?  Can we be done now?  

Everybody say hi to my friend, Peggy, from New Mexico.  She is my newest "mystery" follower. Peggy and I went to the University of New Mexico together both learning to be math teachers.  Peggy would totally appreciate my math geek shirts! 

I'm dying to do a puzzle, I need some quiet-focused-slowdownthebrain-puzzle time.  Maybe after I finish the second Twilight book.  I'm embarrased to say that I'm hooked.  Although it is about vampires, it is not gory, totally clean (no swearing, no sex) and a very gripping story.  I highly recommend it.  Try it, you'll like it.  C'mon Mikey.  

This and That

Here is another picture from the other day--this girl cracks me up! Her next play is High School Musical 2 and she just found out yesterday that her part is "Kelsi." This is her biggest part yet, lots of lines and a couple of short solo parts. She is beyond thrilled!

We went on a field trip and saw a play on Tuesday and then met some friends for lunch at a beautiful park. Joe and his little friend had a ball light saber fighting and wreaking general havoc with all their running around and hiding in bushes and stuff. It was fun to watch them being little boys. Grace enjoyed the quiet lake and the birds. She hand fed the swans and threw most of her lunch to the pigeons and other ducks.

These rabbits love Joe. He gets them out of their cage first thing in the morning and they hang out together on the couch. Some time after I took this picture Joe fell asleep. I didn't see it but Ollie said Joe was sound asleep and the rabbits were cuddled next to him. They are sweet, friendly little rabbits although you wouldn't guess that by looking at my children's scratches. My kids handle the rabbits so much that they are bound to get scratched here and there. These scratches usually happen when they are getting them in or out of their cage. If they are not being held properly they start to freak out. Grace's arms are all scratched up and Joe and Hannah both have scratches on their faces.

Meet Esmerelda, the art teacher

Hannah came up with this outrageous outfit yesterday and dubbed herself, Esmerelda--the art teacher.

Clean Up, Clean Up, Everybody Everywhere

I couldn't be happier with our new Tuesday Home Ec day. I am finally getting a handle on the constant housework and my kids are learning a lot. Not only how to clean but how to clean joyfully and willingly. We had a little bit of trouble with attitude last week on Hannah's part. Before we started today I told her that she would be sweeping again and if she could do it joyfully (or at least without complaint) then Grace could do that chore next week. I also told them all that if anyone complained they would spend the first half hour at the park sitting with me. So, no complaining and LOTS of work got done! I am thrilled! This is what we accomplished today--

(note that the "kid" calendar is still on February--I meant to remedy that today but didn't get to it yet)

• cleaned out the bunny cage and the outside hutch--Grace and I
  
• vacuumed the whole house--Joe, Hannah, and I


• swept the foyer and Florida room--Hannah


• cleaned both bathrooms--the kids


• washed the cabinets, wall, and the front of the stove in the kitchen--Joe


• mopped the kitchen (wasn't planning on this but Joe spilled so much water that mopping it up turned into mopping the kitchen)--Joe and I


• cleaned the kitchen sink and counters--me


• kid's bedrooms--Hannah and Joe

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...March 23, 2009

Outside my window...it's raining! I haven't woken up to the sound of rain in ages. I LOVE it! I always love rain but we have been in drought conditions so the rain is a special blessing. Unfortunately, I have a picnic planned for today...

I am thinking...about our multi-cultural weekend. We ate breakfast Saturday morning at a German bakery, yesterday we went to an all black Missionary Baptist Church, and then went to an Indian restaurant for lunch. The church was my husband's teaching assistant's church. Even though the service lasted for over two hours we all sat mesmerized. It was not boring! The kids had lots of questions and comments when we got in the car. Overall it was a great learning experience for all of us.

I am thankful for...rain! And that Bella is leaving the hospital today! One step closer to coming home to Florida. God has brought her through some tough times but she is on her way to healing.

From the learning rooms...Hannah will be finishing up her International Day project. She is about 2/3 of the way done. Grace and Joe will be starting their unit on Night Creatures. We head into Africa with Exploring Countries and Cultures. Lots of math, reading, and language arts too of course.

From the kitchen...I cooked a lot last night so I don't have to do a thing today. Pumpkin chocolate-chip bread for breakfast (made a double batch so we'll be eating it for days!), Ritzy chicken and carrots for dinner. I have a recipe I'm excited to try this week. It's from Emeril Lagasse, it's basically a cuban lasagna. You layer black beans and rice, plantains, and pork. Not sure what else is in it but it sounded good to me!

I am wearing...pjs.

I am creating...something special for someone, can't say what or who.

I am going...to a play today, "The Hundred Dresses," running some errands--gotta find a stamp for International Day that represents Norway! Cris--I wish you were here with your carving kit! I have a fab idea but not sure if I can pull it off with just an exacto knife.

I am reading...Twilight, the book everyone has been talking about for months. I always want to read anything that everybody is talking about. I have to say I am enjoying it, vampires and all.

I am hoping...for a pleasant week with my kids, that I can be joyful and not just a taskmaster.

I am hearing...rain, rain, rain. I love it!

Around the house...can't wait for Home Ec day tomorrow! Lots to do, lots to do!

One of my favorite things...a cleared off, ready to eat off of, clean kitchen table!!!

A few plans for the rest of the week...school, tutoring, birthday parties, International Day, theatre

Here is a picture thought I'm sharing...

Joe's new haircut!

If you want to participate in the daybook, see Peggy here.

Annoying

Whenever I read a book I get a pretty vivid picture of all the characters.  Sometimes the characters are people I know in my daily life.  Well, as I'm reading Twilight, the main character, Bella, keeps appearing in my mind as Allison Iraheta from American Idol.  It's driving me crazy!!!  I've tried to change it but my mind won't let me.  Weird and annoying....

Saturday Evening Post

Catchy title, huh?  The whole family is asleep and I'm not.  Maybe because I slept 10 and a half hours last night and then took a two hour nap this afternoon.  Amazingly I do feel tired and feel like I could sleep if I went to bed.  Maybe I've had too much sleep?  I think I feel tired because my eyes are burning.  They are burning because I've been wearing my glasses all afternoon and they always burn when I wear my glasses.  I obviously need a new prescription but I want to wait until I use up all the contacts I already have which is taking forever.  I should probably open a new pair every two weeks like suggested instead of wearing them until they get a tear or become uncomfortable which could be as long as a month or more.  Anyway, I'm wearing my glasses because my contacts were really bothering me today.  I think I will open a new pair tomorrow, that will be one more pair down and that much closer to going to the eye dr. and getting a new prescription.  We had a pretty good day, very relaxing.  We went to a bakery for breakfast, a german bakery with live music.  When we got there it wasn't terribly crowded and we got a table fairly close to the stage--front rowish.  After devouring our pastries (ham and cheese croissant, marble cheesecake, a Josephine which is a strawberry napolean, and a chocolate ganache cake) and a couple of slices of raisin walnut bread, it was only 9:30 and the music wasn't due to start for half an hour.  So, Ollie took the kids on a walk.  From that point on the place starting filling up with people and many inquiring about the extra 4 chairs I had around my table.  The concert started and still no Ollie, he didn't return until about 10:40--a good 40 minutes after the music began.  I have never felt so self conscious--here I am, right up close to the stage, sitting alone with 4 empty, coveted chairs, and a multitude of people behind me.  Not to mention I was the youngest person there by a good 20 years.  Finally Ollie and the kids returned--and I could actually enjoy myself.  As we headed out I got a bratwurst with sauerkraut to eat on the way home.  It was good but not as good as Epcot's.  We stopped at a playground on the way home and the kids played for a bit before we came home.  Then I crashed on the couch for two hours and who knows what everyone else did.  The kids were very involved with some game outside and played together nicely all day.  I love days like that!  Dinner was easy--we cleaned out a cabinet--bread, chips, hummus, crackers, dried fruit, rice cakes and peanut butter.  I made two tapioca desserts and so we feasted all evening then played a bit of Nancy Drew and now everyone is asleep.  Oh yeah and I took Joe to the real barber.  It's the first time he's been since his first haircut when he was one.  Ollie has been his barber and has done a good job but I wanted Joe to have more of a real haircut, not just a buzz.  The barber was about 6 foot or taller, a young man--probably in his 20s, fat, pierced, and his pants were falling down.  I'm not sure what I expected when I walked into the barber shop but it wasn't him.  He proceeded to do a great job.  I'll post a picture when I take one.  Joe likes his hair cut but wishes he hadn't taken so much off above his ears.  I am reading the famed "Twilight," I must say that I am enjoying it.  I see why people like it.  It's a mindless read so far and that's just what I was ready for.  I'm starting to feel myself getting into a cooking mood.  This is good for my family.  We've spent the last few weeks eating a hodgepodge of odd meals as we've tried to declutter our cabinets, fridge, and freezer.  They are about decluttered so I'm ready to clutter them again.  One thing I still haven't found a use for is apricot filling.  I bought it YEARS ago and should probably just throw it away.  I don't know what to do with it.  It's not pie filling, more like some sort of pastry type filling.  I also have poppy seed.  Any ideas???  I also have about 6 cans of pumpkin.  I don't know why I have 6 cans, a little excessive I'd say.  I'll have to make a very big batch of pumpkin muffins this week, twice.  Or maybe three times.  I'm off to go read my book.  Goodnight ya'll!

Space lapbook

Joe and Grace just finished their unit on Space. I used one of the Evan Moor Theme Pockets books for the activities. You are supposed to make a "pocket book" but I made it into a lapbook. I probably will not try this again because the activities don't lend themselves to being put into a lapbook. I made this one work though. I thought they turned out really good.

Teaching Children to Read

I think teaching children to read is one of the most frustrating yet ultimately rewarding things I have ever done.  I have successfully taught one child to read and am in the process of teaching two more to read.  All three have had totally different learning styles and different abilities.  Today as I sat on the couch through two very different reading lessons I was thinking about this process and felt like blogging about it.  First was Joe's lesson.  Joe has been a very good reader for his age but can be frustrating to teach.  He is a sight reader all the way and doesn't like to have to sound anything out.  He would rather me tell him the word--or help him sound it out and then he has a very good memory for that word.  He prides himself on how short of a moment he can spend looking at the word before "reading" it.  If it's a word he's not fully familiar with he will start spouting out random words that it could be based on the millisecond he saw of it.  Can I just say that this is AGGRAVATING!!!!  Right now I am using "The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading," and each lessons introduces some new phonetic rule or letter sound, the child reads a list of words and then reads a short story that includes what they learned that day comboed with what they already know.  So, after we get through the list, he flies through the story without pausing to sound out anything.  He doesn't always remember the words the next day though and we have to review.  Now Grace is the exact opposite but still frustrating sometimes.  She sounds out EVERYTHING!!  Even "is" some days.  Her sight word vocabulary is increasing but she still relies mostly on sounding out.  One of the things she does that I have to remind her not to do is to start by looking at only the first letter, then the second, then the third.  So if she is reading "street" for example.  She will say "s," then "st," then "str" and so on.  I have to remind her to look at the whole word and see if she knows it then look for digraphs (I think that's what they are officially called) and look for silent e's, etc.  When I remind her of this her reading goes much smoother.  We are slowly making progress and I yearn for the day when all my children are good solid readers.  I am always jealous of people who have kids who just taught themselves to read.  I've heard a few of these stories and it always baffles me.  How does that happen?  I have read to my kids since they were babies and they live in a house full of books so it's more than just that.  Anyway, I thought I'd list some of the resources that I have found invaluable as I have taught and continue to teach reading--

• Some sort of guide for how to progress through phonics.  I have used Reading Reflex and now The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading.  
• Explode the Code workbooks--I have always used these at a level just below where they are reading fairly comfortably.  That way it isn't too difficult but reinforces what they have mostly mastered.
• 100 Words Kids Need to Read by First Grade.  This is a Scholastic book and I love it.  It's full of pages and pages of brightly colored, widely varied worksheets that goes through the  main sight words.  I am about to buy it for Joe, I think he's ready for it now.  This book really helped Hannah make the jump from sounding everything out to having a large sight word vocabulary.
• Sight word bingo--love it!  It reinforces those sight words in a fun way.  
• Flash cards--again for building a sight word vocabulary.

Raw Fish...

...that's what I ate tonight.  Raw fish.  Although I enjoy sushi, so far I have only tried things like the California roll that don't have anything raw in it.  Tonight I ate Ceviche.  It is fish "cooked" in lime juice and other spices.  It marinates and sort of gets cooked but not really.  I can't say that I loved it but I didn't hate it either.  Ollie served it with tomatoes and cilantro and those really masked the fishy flavor.  We both agreed that though it wasn't terrible we prefer our fish cooked.  Anyone else ever try Ceviche?  

Thoughts on a Tuesday Evening

It's late and I should go to bed but I thought I'd empty my brain onto my blog first.  Don't you guys love when I do that?  

• I really enjoyed American Idol tonight.  Everyone's performances were good.  Who will be going home?  I really can't say, I liked everybody.  Even Adam's very weird version of "Ring of Fire."
• Yesterday at Publix my cashier was a teen boy, he was probably in high school but might have been a little older.  I was buying beer for Ollie and the boy asked me about it.  I said I had no clue about it because I didn't like beer.  He told me I should start drinking beer and my nights would be better.  I think my nights are just fine and didn't appreciate that sort of nonsense advice from some kid.  I'm sure he was trying to be cool.  Didn't work for him.
• Home Economics Tuesday is working wonderfully.  My kids are learning to clean, not in the most organized fashion--I just dole out jobs and teach as necessary--but they are learning.  Today Hannah was miffed that she had to do the disgusting job of sweeping.  Since she had such an attitude she will definitely be sweeping from now on until she can do it joyfully.  She also got the vacuuming job and said that that was her least favorite job.  Her words, "I want to do something with soap!"  We are not getting anywhere close to really cleaning the whole house on Tuesday mornings but we are making a big dent in the work and at least decluttering.  Someday I will have real, consistent, specific chores.  Someday...
• The bunnies are doing great.  They are getting tamer and tamer.  Joe had Chloe "singing" "Holy, Holy, Holy," yesterday.  It was pretty funny.  They love their outdoor hutch.  We are still bringing them in at night but I think they would probably rather stay out there.  

Well, that's all I can think of to say.  I thought I had more but I can't remember...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Answered by my kids...

This is something going around on Facebook and I decided to put it on my blog too.  It was fun to see the different answers.  Hannah took it very seriously and Joe not so much.  Grace was in the middle.  After they were done (I interviewed them separately so they wouldn't copy answers) Hannah wanted to read them and Joe said, "read mine, they are hysterical."  So, here it is...

Answered by
Hannah--9
Grace--7
Joe--6

1. What is something mom always says to you
Hannah--good morning, sunshine
Grace--I love you
Joe--do school

2. What makes mom happy?
Hannah--when I clean without you knowing and it's a surprise
Grace--chocolate
Joe--me not pitching a fit

3. What makes mom sad?
Hannah--when I disobey
Grace--when I whine
Joe--when I disobey

4. What makes your mom laugh?
Hannah--lots of funny things taht Joe does or when I tickle you
Grace--the bunnies
Joe--when people do funny stuff

5. What was your mom like as a child?
Hannah--playful and independent
Grace--nice
Joe--???

6. How old is your mom?
Hannah--37
Grace--37
Joe--90 (he thinks he's a real riot)

7. How tall is your mom?
Hannah--5 feet
Grace--5 feet
Joe--1 inch

8. What is her favorite thing to do
Hannah--read and eat chocolate
Grace--ride a bike
Joe--plan on the computer and cook

9. What does your mom do when you're not around?
Hannah--clean, eat chocolate, and go out for fast food and to the store
Grace--go shopping
Joe--go shopping

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
Hannah--reading or Best Mom of the Year
Grace--family
Joe--American Idol

11. What is your mom really good at
Hannah--reading
Grace--cooking
Joe--cooking

12. What is your mom not very good at?
Hannah--staying patient when Joe screams
Grace--singing (then she adds--you said that yourself, I think you sing just fine)
Joe--handling kids, you have a temper (not until he came along, just sayin')

13. What does your mom do for her job?
Hannah--tutor
Grace--home mom
Joe--do school

14. What's your mom's favorite food?
Hannah--anything Asian and chocolate
Grace--chinese
Joe--octopus

15. What makes you proud of your mom?
Hannah--that you don't complain all the time when your feet hurt
Grace--how well you do at taking care of us
Joe--he couldn't think of anything

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
Hannah--the guy from "Martha Speaks"
Grace--Mrs. Flintstone
Joe--Elvis (he thought this was hilarious, I didn't have the heart to tell him that Elvis is not a cartoon character, he has no clue who Elvis is but thought his answer was funny)

17. What do you and your mom do together?
Hannah--read aloud and play games
Grace--read books
Joe--play computer games

18. How are you and your mom the same?
Hannah--we look alike, we both like to read, we are good at math, dad says I'm a worrywart just like you, I like to talk, we both like American Idol
Grace--we both have blue eyes
Joe--same color hair (no we don't) and stinky feet (lots more giggles)

19. How are you and your mom different?
Hannah--you get frustrated more easily than I do
Grace--I can't just sit down and be still and you can
Joe--you have blue eyes, I have brown

20. How do you know your mom loves you?
Hannah--you read to me, give me hugs a lot, homeschool me
Grace--you hug me, you pray with me
Joe--cause I'm your kid

21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
Hannah--the library and to places where your friends are
Grace--the library
Joe--Wal Mart (another giggle--I HATE Wal-mart and he knows it)

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...March 16, 2009

Outside my window...the sun has just come up, I think we are in for another exceptionally warm day. I'm not ready for the heat!

I am thinking...that we really need to get moving on our International day project. We've done a few things but need to get a little more organized.

From the learning rooms...just a normal week of school. I think I will add in Writing With Ease this week. Grace and Joe continue their space unit, seeing the shuttle launch was a fun addition to our unit. I think I'll put some of the pictures in their lapbook.

I am thankful for...a fun and relaxing weekend and a great quiet time this morning.

From the kitchen...German food tonight--bratwurst and sauerkraut. I'm thinking of making cottage cheese pancakes for breakfast either today or tomorrow. After that, who knows. Still not in the cooking mood!

I am wearing...pjs of course.

I am reading...Mimosa by Amy Carmichael and Snow Treasure with the kids.

I am hoping...for a productive, low stress week--is that too much to ask?

I am creating...a plan for an International Day project

I am hearing...Martha Speaks and the kids chattering about bunnies.

Around the house...things are pretty neat and that makes me very happy. Tomorrow we will have our second "Home Ec Tuesday," so we'll get the sweeping and bathrooms done then.

One of my favorite things...coffee, planting flowers and having them actually grow and bloom--we just planted sunflower and zinnia seeds and they are sprouting.

A few plans for the rest of the week...getting tires on the car today, school, tutoring, theatre, a wine tasting class with Harriet and Billy, park day, and whatever else comes up!

Here is a picture thought I am sharing...

If you want to participate in the daybook, see Peggy here.

Blast from the Past

Ollie came across this old video that he made from Joe's second birthday party. Fun memories! I love the part where he's throwing a fit at Pop and Pop just throws his hands up.

St. Patrick's Day Dinner and a Shuttle Launch

We had a wonderful St. Patrick's Day dinner at H and B's (a couple of days early)--we had corned beef, green special Irish mashed potatoes, cabbage and carrots, green beans, Irish soda bread, and Pistachio Almond ice cream for dessert. Then off to watch the launch!

Random, random, random

I just got home from the grocery store, Ollie's cooking dinner so I can't put groceries away, I'm needing a break from the kiddos so I'm chillin' on the computer.  Have you ever thought about how much you have to move your groceries to get them into the cabinet?  I never had until Cris pointed it out and it's bugged me ever since.  Thanks Cris.  First, you take them off the shelf and put them into your cart.  Then out of your cart and onto the conveyor belt.  Then the bagger puts them in a bag and than back in your cart.  Then, you take the bags out of your cart and put them in your car.  Then into the house, where you unload and finally put them into the cabinet.  Putting away groceries is the thing I like least about the whole process.  I need to train my kids to do it correctly.  Tomorrow we go will be having our France food day.  We are having crossaints and hot chocolate for breakfast, Quiche Lorraine for lunch, Spinach and Bacon filled crepes for dinner, and crepes with fruit and whipped cream for dessert.  Should be a good food day!  I've also decided to have game day tomorrow as well--educational game day that is.  Grace and Joe will be playing Sight Word Bingo and who knows what else, we have plenty of games to choose from.  Hannah will be playing Professor Noggin's Countries of the World game, Mad Math Fou, and we will all play Top Secret Adventure game.  I have a ton of educational games but seldom take the time to sit down with the kids and play them.  In addition to games we may do an art project and I hope to read some books.  I used to read tons of picture books to the kids but now I don't do that as much as I'd like.  So, tomorrow should be a fun educational day I hope.  Hopefully everyone will cooperate and have good attitudes.  Particularly Joe.  He has had a terrible two days, not sure what his deal is.  Anyway, I'm looking forward to tomorrow and a break from the usual.  I ordered Susan Wise Bauer's "Writing With Ease," and I'm really excited about it.  It's a pretty simple, straightforward writing curriculum that starts with a strong foundation in copywork, dictation, and narration.  She says that until kids can easily do these three things it isn't fair to expect them to write.  It would be like us taking a few months of a conversational french class and then being asked to write a paper in french about the origins of evil.  The book starts with grade 1 and goes through grade 4.  I think I will start Hannah at the second grade level.  

Who needs toys when you have bunnies?

I met a weird homeschooling family at the library today and I left a little disturbed by it.  The dad struck up a conversation with me commenting on the books I was checking out and I said I was a homeschooler and he said they were too.  His wife was extremely meek, wouldn't look me in the eye and seemed almost scared.  He asked what curriculum we use--he had never heard of My Father's World, they use Abeka.  Then he asked what church we went to.  I asked if they knew about the local HUGE homeschool group and his wife very timidly-still no eye contact-shook her head.  It was so weird and akward that I just said, "Nice talking to you," and left.  There were two kids, one older girl and one boy--both saying nothing and looking very odd and out of place.  Everything might have been fine, the woman might have just been painfully shy but I left the library praying for her and her family.  

I bought a fabric shower curtain at a yard sale this weekend that I thought would make a great tablecloth.  I washed it and have it on the table now.  Guess who is repulsed by it?  Yep, you guessed it--Joe.  He says it freaks him out that people have touched it with their naked bodies.  I explained to him what a shower curtain is (we have doors) and how it never touches anybody's bodies.  Then he said, "yeah but people's hands touch it and they've touched their privates in the shower."  The things this kid thinks about...

Grace told me the other day that she is a "loose girl," she likes loose clothes and loose days.  Loose clothes were obvious but loose days?  I asked her what she meant and she said that loose days are days that aren't so busy and that we have time to relax and do what we want.  She also feels "bunchy" when she's dirty and then loose again when she's clean.  We need to come up with a new word to describe her though.  I don't want her telling people that she is a "loose girl."  

Hannah's next show is High School Musical 2.  She's preparing for her audition next week and I've heard the same song a million times....getting sick of it already!  She's really hoping for Kelsi.  I hope she gets it but there are lots of older kids in it this time so who knows.  We'll know next week.  

I think that's about it.  Lots of random in my mind today....

Our New Bunny Hutch

Thank you to Amy W. for the awesomest bunny hutch ever!! We got it all cleaned out and ready for bunnies yesterday. Chloe and Rosie got to spend a little time in there during dinner but today they will probably spend the day in there. We plan for the bunnies to be indoor/outdoor. Probably outdoor during the day and indoor at night for now and we'll reverse it in the summer. We'll see. I think they are going to love it!

A Day at Epcot with Hannah

Hannah and I spent the day at Epcot on Friday. As we've been studying countries and cultures this year I have really missed our Disney passes. With all my feet problems it's just not practical to have them right now but I've been thinking that visiting the countries at Epcot would be such a great supplement to our curriculum. We are really getting into our study of European countries now that we have gotten our homeschool groove on (it's March and we are just now getting our groove!). So, I decided to ask a friend to sign Hannah and I in at Epcot and he obliged. One of the perks of living in Central Florida is that lots of people work at Disney and get the privilege of letting guests in for free. It's great if you know one of these employees! So, Hannah and I set out to reinforce what we had been learning. A bonus was that they are getting ready for the Flower and Garden festival. Here's a picture of Hannah in front of some beautiful flowers.
Of course the real reason we went was to try some authentic food. Our plan was to eat something in Norway, Germany, France, and England. After eating in Norway and Germany though we were full so we didn't eat anything in France and England. In hindsight I can't believe I passed up French pastries!

In Germany we had bratwurst and sauerkraut. It was sooo good! I think we will have that on our German food day next week.In Norway we had Lefse (potato bread with butter and brown sugar all rolled up) and Rice Cream. The Rice Cream was our favorite! The Lefse was okay but too buttery for me. Mom--you would have loved it! We took a few pictures in Norway for our International Display.
Epcot has this new "game" that is sooo fun! It is a Kim Possible thing where you are given a mission to solve in one of the countries. They give you a cell phone that is your "Kimmunicator," and Zack at command center tells you what to do. The first thing it tells you is to go to the country, we started with a mission in China. When you get there you press ok and get your first assignment. The little screen shows a picture of where you need to go and tells you to press okay when you get there. We had to go to a cricket cage in a window and when we got there and pressed "ok," the display in the window reacted by turning the cricket's easel around to show a chinese character. This was our first clue. Zach explained what it was and then instructed us to move away quickly so as not to endanger our witness. Then we went on to the next clue and the next. One of the final clues required us to go into a store and say something specific to the worker at the counter. He then handed us a fortune cookie and in the fortune was a word that we had to type into the "Kimmunicator." That lead us to our next clue where we solved the mystery by standing in a certain place next to a pond and pushing "ok." At that point the missing jade monkey came rising up out of the pond. When you finish your mission you can be done and return you "Kimmunicator," or choose another mission. We did a second mission in Norway that was equally fun. This is definitely a must do next time you are at Epcot. You get a chance to explore the countries in a new way and learn something along the way. I imagine it's even more fun for Kim Possible fans because apparently it's a lot like the show.

Here's Hannah at one of the assignments. She had to type in her birthday and then this Zodiac thing lit up with her symbol--the rabbit.

Hannah with her "Kimmunicator."

This was my favorite topiary--big ostriches. I have my eyes closd in this picture but I'm posting it anyway because it's the only one I have of these ostriches. Aren't they great?