A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...Sunday night, May 31, 2009
Outside my window...it's dark and warm--summer is here!
I am thinking...about my to do list, company arrives on Tuesday and more on Thursday! I will not be able to get the house as clean as I would have liked, I'm on to the modified list--toilets and the "guest" room (we don't have a guest room but Hannah's giving up her room for two weeks).
I am thankful...that we are on summer break from school. It will be so nice to wake up in the morning without a big agenda.
From the kitchen...more normal fare for the week for our guests. Lots of chicken though--chicken taco salad, BBQ chicken sandwiches, baked chicken and macaroni and cheese for the unadventurous and dal and fish curry for the adventurous. I also have to do lots of baking--lemon bars and chocolate chip cookie bars for the theatre concession stand.
From the learning rooms...things will be quiet this week, just reading. Actually, Hannah still has some work to do on her project for the Homeschool Exhibition. She is doing a display and presentation titled, "Wedding Dresses from Around the World." I personally do not have to do any more work though.
I am creating...kids who enjoy reading.
I am wearing...pjs.
I am reading...Redemption Street by Reed Farrel Coleman, Ollie recommended this book and I'm really enjoying it. I am finally able to focus on a book again after a few weeks of serious ADD when it came to reading. I am reading "Summer of the Monkeys" to the kids.
I am hoping...that all my arthritis issues will disappear as I avoid all dairy products. And that Tofu ice cream is good.
I am hearing...Grace and Joe's book on CD and the fan.
Around the house...it is mostly picked up, dishes are done, laundry sorted and ready to be washed in the morning, a few more things on my list to get done before Tuesday afternoon.
One of my favorite things...iced peppermint tea, this is one of my new favorite drinks, it's so refreshing.
I am going...to bed very soon.
A few plans for the rest of the week....it's a busy one--set up chairs for theatre, pick up Kayla from the airport, go swimming, 4 performances of High School Musical 2, used book sale, homeschool exhibition, and the beach.
A few picture thoughts...


Ever since I started the Reading Bingo (see previous post) this has become a common sight. It just thrills me to see them all piled up on the couch reading. They have all gotten to pull one prize slip from the jar. Grace and Joe for getting bingo, Hannah for finishing a book. Joe got to go to the dollar store and spend $2, Grace picked milkshakes for dessert, and Hannah's prize will have to wait--play games at a local cafe.
Grace also enjoys reading upside down. Maybe the blood flow to the brain helps her read better.Joe starting to read Cat in the Hat. That's a LONG one!
If you want to participate in the daybook, see Peggy here.

Reading Bingo

So, this is our "summer reading program."  I read a comment on someone else's blog that they did something like this but I couldn't find the details so I had to think for myself.  I hate when I have to do that.  I am the queen of stolen ideas.  Anyway, back to reading bingo.  Each child has a bingo card and they are all different based on their abilities.  Hannah's only has 9 squares, Grace's 36, and Joe's 25.  Each square represents one book that they have read.  On each of their cards I have filled in some of the squares with books I want them to read and they get to choose the books for the empty squares.  When they get "bingo" by finishing a line across, down, or diagonally they get to pick a prize out of the jar.  Prizes are written on little pieces of paper and mostly include free things although there are some cheap things in there too.  

Here's a list of what I can remember that I put in there:

• bake cookies
• choose dinner
• milkshakes after dinner
• bowling
• pick a DVD from the red box at Wal-mart
• game time with Mom
• $2 and a trip to the dollar store
• a pack of gum
• pedicure by mom
• go to a local hang out and have lemonade and play games (bring our own)
• swim at a friend's
• help mom with dinner
• do a science experiment
• go skating

I could use some more ideas if you have any.  One fun thing will be that the other kids have the possibility to benefit from one getting bingo.  Like if Hannah gets bingo and chooses bowling then we will all go bowling.  Once everyone completely fills their card we will all go to Friendly's for lunch and ice cream.  So far this has really motivated my kids to read like crazy.  Joe has read "Green Eggs and Ham," "Go, Dog, Go," and 2 of his easy readers.  After all of my struggles with Grace I am just blown away with how easily Joe is able to read.  Grace is doing great too.  It has totally "clicked" for her and she is reading and enjoying it and is so excited that she can do it.  She has read "Mouse Tales," and is on her second "Little Bear" story.  It is still not easy for her, she doesn't fly through these books but works her way through the stories and hardly gets stuck on a word anymore.  I am soooo thankful and thrilled!  Hannah is more than halfway through "A Little Princess" and still tells me she doesn't like it.  She doesn't like stories about kids who are perfect all the time she says.  Oh well, I'm hoping that in the end she will love the book just like practically every young girl and be thankful that I made her read it.  We'll see... 

Next week things get busy and stay busy for a while so the reading may taper off but they are getting a good start on their bingo cards.  My intent is for this to last all summer and I'm hoping the kids will stay motivated.  

Summer School

Well, we are very close to wrapping up school for now.  We are not "done" with everything but we are taking a necessary break.  I know, I have blogged about how we are schooling all summer no matter what and all that jazz BUT--plans change.  I felt like we needed to school all summer because I thought we were behind.  However, once I looked at my calendar for the month of June and the first half of July I knew that trying to fit school in would likely make us all nuts.  So, I planned to take a 6-7 week break.  I was thrilled about a break (I can be a bit obsessive and I definitely get obsessive about school so when we are "on" I am a taskmaster and have a hard time relaxing) but still was uneasy about what we hadn't done.  So, the other day I took a few minutes to make a list for each child of all they had done this year.  I do that every year and include it in their box for that school year along with all of their papers, projects, etc.  Anyway, as I made the list I realized we were nowhere near behind.  Everyone had done more than enough and and made so much progress in so many areas that I had nothing to worry about.  I was basing my "we're behind" thoughts on the fact that Hannah had so much more left to do in My Father's World.  Then I remembered that that was because we didn't even start MFW until October.  She was supposed to be behind in that.  In the core subjects each of my children did a normal school year's worth of work.  Because of so many interruptions to our schedule it became a habit early in the school year to double up on math and language arts lessons at least a few times a week.  That has paid off and now we can fully enjoy our time off.  

I don't know how well I'd do schooling in the summer anyway.  I'm very easily distracted and don't do well if my whole focus is not school.  I'm one of those people who likes to start things at the beginning of a week or a month and if my week starts off bad it's very hard for me to get going.  When the kids were younger and I was only schooling Hannah we would take whole weeks off of school just because Monday didn't go well.  Really.  Thankfully I'm better now but I don't think I could do school in the afternoon after my kids had spent the morning at VBS.  Or school them when we have a guest for two weeks.  Or school them for two days in a week knowing we are going on a trip at the end of the week.  If our next 7 weeks were not so busy I would probably continue to school because I think it's good for the kids to have continuity.  I know they will forget things because they are taking so much time off and it will be hard to get a routine going again.  But, we'll work it out.  I'm really looking forward to time to read to them more and play some games.  Just because we aren't schooling doesn't mean we aren't learning.  We've got some great educational games that I will be pulling out.  I see lots of "Sight Word Bingo" in my future.  Our first read aloud will be "Summer of the Monkeys" by Wilson Rawls.  I love that book and can't wait to share it with my kids.  We have been reading only the YWAM Christian Heroes biographies the last few months so I am really looking forward to some mindless fiction.  I'd also like to read "Follow My Leader."  We'll see.  Okay, considering that it's noon, I think I should go get dressed now.  I just had to get these thoughts out of my head, they've been brewing for days.

A Really Funny Picture

You should probably click on this picture to get the full effect of how funny it is.  I had these girls here for maybe 20 minutes the other day between the park and theatre and they dressed up like this and wanted me to say who was the funniest.  I truly couldn't say.  Madi (far left) in the receiving blanket skirt and shin guard on her arm?  Or Abby (next to Madi) with the wig and graduation hat on top of the wig? Or Hannah with the soccer ball stuck to her chest and Wonder Woman  leg thing on one leg? Or the other Hannah with a nightgown, vest, and insect antennae?  Who do you think should win for craziest outfit?

Wordful and Pictureful Wednesday

Wednesdays are the only day of the week that we have absolutely no commitments. I guess that's why my Wednesdays are "Wordful" because I have time to think and time to blog. This one is bound to be a really long post, I just went through my recent photos and found a lot that I hadn't shared yet. Of course, I have to share everything whether I think you want to hear it or not. So, first of all, below is the fabulous patch skirt I made. I absolutely love it, just one problem...I got a little overambitious with how much I cut out and now it doesn't fit. I probably have to lose about 5-10 more pounds just to fit my fat butt in it. I am terribly disappointed but I can't think of any way to fix it so I guess there is some motivation to lose 10 more pounds. I don't know if I can do it though. If, in a year, I still can't fit into this skirt I'll give it to one of you skinny people. I would imagine it's about a size 8.
I love this picture of Joe and some friends--they chose to play in the rain instead of staying dry inside. We don't get to play in the rain much in FL because our rain is usually accompanied by lightning so this was a special treat.
Remember this little girl? After 5 months in Cincinatti for a cord blood transplant Bella is finally home! Praise God! He has brought her through some tough times.
We had a BIG SCARE with these sweet rabbits yesterday morning. Hannah went out to feed them and ran in screaming that the cage was open and the bunnies were gone. We seriously panicked, then prayed, and started scouring the yard. I really figured they were long gone or possibly been killed by some wild animal. We have owls, hawks, dogs, etc. Hannah found Chloe first right by the front door and in the bushes. I looked through the rest of the front bushes and didn't see Rosie but a few minutes later Hannah found Rosie a little further down in those same bushes. It was such a blessing for my kids to see their prayers answered and to give God the glory. I think that the door of the cage didn't get latched even though it looked closed. That door (there are three) had swelled during all the rain last week and had been hard to open.
I know this looks like your average bookcase but you know what it really is? Grace and Joe's science and history curriculum for next year. I had planned to do My Father's World Adventures with them but then decided that might be too much and Joe is a little young for it. It hit me while looking for something on this shelf that if we spent the whole year working our way through all of these books they would learn a ton! And, if one of the topics really strikes their interest we can sit on it for a while and do a lapbook or something. I also have quite a few science kits that we will work through as well as a few more Evan Moor science unit studies. There are TONS of good history picture books that we can read. I'm excited about their eclectic school year. I know they will really enjoy it and learn a lot. I am thinking that after next year I can start schooling them all together in My Father's World. Maybe adding them in with Hannah or maybe starting them in ECC. We'll see.
During our week of rain my kids went fort building crazy. Have you ever noticed that with forts the fun is all in the building. Once it's built it's not nearly as exciting.
Here's Hannah's costume for her High School Musical 2 show next week. She is playing Kelsey--the artsy music girl. I love her costume.

Congratulations to Jayce and Matt! Here's the happy couple.

I took Hannah with me to the wedding and she and Hannah S. had so much fun together.
They danced all night long! I love this action shot. I have some great video too, I'll get to that eventually.
Here is Joe's picture for his and Grace's presentation at our Homeschool Exhibition next weekend. He had so much fun making this and is very proud of himself. He wanted to take it to the park yesterday. Gracie made one too but I haven't taken a picture of it yet. We wrap up their study of Invertebrates on Friday. They have really learned a lot and have gotten really interested in animals without backbones. They both love this kind of thing and it makes it fun to teach them.

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...May 25, 2009
Outside my window...it's starting to get cloudy, I think we might get some rain this evening. I'm doing this daybook a lot later than I usually do.
I am thinking...about the history of fashion. Grace and Joe and I were working on their "Life in a Tidepool" project that they are presenting at our annual Homeschool Exhibition and Hannah decided that she wanted to have a special project of her own to present. Her original plan was to give a short talk about Norway using her display board--easy since it's already done! But now she has changed her mind and I am trying to be supportive and help her out since she rarely shows initiative in stuff like this. I've put some books on hold at the library and that's as far as we've gotten but my brain is in fashion world and trying to help her think of something doable that she can finish this week.
I am thankful for...the men and women who have willingly gone to war and risked and lost their lives for the sake of our country.
From the kitchen...I made a great salad for lunch--chicken cooked with taco seasoning on a bed of romaine lettuce with black beans and corn and oil and vinegar dressing. It was really good. The girls are making pancakes for dinner. As far as the rest of the week goes...um, my focus is completely on homeschooling this week. Do you think we can skip dinners for the week?
From the learning rooms...we are wrapping up various things this week before we take a 6 week break. I had fully intended to school all summer until I looked at our calendar. So, the decision was made a week ago to put the pedal to the medal and fly through some things. My goals...Grace and Joe to finish their math workbooks, Hannah to plow through another two weeks of My Father's World (China) and two lessons of Wordly Wise, finish our study of invertebrates with Grace and Joe, finish reading the biography of Amy Carmichael, and that's about it I think. Oh yeah and help Hannah with her fashion project.
I'm creating...patch shorts and a patch skirt (see previous blog post)
I am wearing...my new favorite denim shorts and my favorite t-shirt--it's brown with the Trix rabbit on it.
I am reading...In the Beginning by Chaim Potok (it's slow but I'm enjoying it), Teach Your Child to Read Using Children's Books, and Nourishing Traditions. I'm not super into any of the three which is why it is taking me forever. I need a good Jodi Picoult book! Too bad I've read them all.
I am hoping...for continued healing for my arthritis and for wisdom as to what foods I may be allergic to. I'm strongly suspecting but in denial that I may have become allergic to dairy. My hands had been feeling better until I got some raw milk last week and have been drinking it a lot. I'm cutting dairy out again and seeing if my hands start feeling better.
I am hearing...a computer game that Joe is playing.
Around the house...it's so-so. Not as bad as it could be but not as good as it could be either. It looks lived in by a creative, busy family. That's not all bad is it?
One of my favorite things...chocolate--haven't had any for almost a month. I was seriously craving it yesterday!
I am going...to be making Hannah a pair of patch shorts here shortly. She probably will decide she doesn't like them and will never wear them but thankfully she and Grace are the same size and I can always count on Grace to wear whatever.
A few plans for the rest of the week...stay close to home and school like crazy except for tomorrow when we go to the park and to theatre. I'm also hoping to get the house cleaned up pretty well since we have a guest arriving a week from tomorrow.
A picture thought I'm sharing...I love this picture of Grace at a splash park at Citywalk in Orlando! She was soaked and then got to ride all the way home wet.
If you want to participate in the daybook...see Peggy, here.

Patch Shorts Tutorial

It's ten til' one in the morning--told you I'd be burning the midnight oil. I am just starting to get tired but I don't think I could sleep yet so I may as well blog right? I have had plans to make these patch shorts for two weeks now and at 10:45 tonight I decided to tackle them. I also decided to take pictures along the way so that I could do a tutorial here on the blog. Aren't you happy? I must give a disclaimer here--I am NOT a perfectionist. Not even close. I will not be able to give exact measurements in this tutorial because I didn't do much measuring. This is one of those sewing crafts that you just fudge your way through.
This is what you need--an old pair of jeans or shorts--too small or too big is best. These cheapo jeans from Target work great since I've bought multiple pairs the last two years and EVERY pair has a big hole in the knee or knees. You also need some fabric scraps and it helps to have a rotary cutter but not necessary.
First of all decide how big you want your fabric pieces. You are going to make strips that you will then put in the seams of your shorts. For the first pair that I did I made 2 in. by 2 in. blocks. They were pretty small but I thought that would give the best look in the end. For the patch shorts I made for myself last year I think my blocks were 3 by 3. For the pair I made after this pair I made 2 by 4 rectangles. You decide what you want here. Cut out your pieces and then sew them into strips. Again I didn't measure but made them to be a little longer than the shorts they were going into. You'll need two strips of approximately equal length. Iron them when you are done sewing them.

Now it's time to disassemble your shorts. Cut right up the seam on the side and right back down and take out that whole seam. About an inch's worth of the denim. If you are making a pair of shorts that are too small for you bigger, don't cut as much out of the waistline, if you are trying to make a pair that are too big for you smaller, cut more--make sense? When you are done with both sides your shorts (or jeans) will be connected only through the crotch.

Now we sew. Take your strip and line it up right sides together and sew. Then turn the shorts inside out and sew down the other side. If your strip is too short, trim the shorts, if your strip is too long, trim the strip. Simple as that! Then do the other side and wala--you have a pair of patch shorts. I fringed the bottoms on these two pair. I had thought about doing some sort of ruffle but didn't feel like dealing with it.

And here are the two pair I made in about an hour and a half. The second pair was faster because I had longer fabric pieces so I didn't have to do much sewing on that part. I love both pairs! I love the batiked circles and the other one is frogs. I can't wait for Gracie to wake up and see them (and try them on...). My next project will be revamping my favorite denim skirt that is now too big. It was actually a little big on me when I bought it but I've since lost 20 pounds. I hate to give it up so I'm going to fix it I hope. I've got some great tan, brown, and navy blue corduroy. I'll post pics when I get it done. I'm not putting my sewing machine away until I do!

Sunday night

This weekend has flown by in a blur. I spent most of yesterday in St. Pete at a friend's wedding (Marissa's sister). Since it was so far away and Marissa and family were going back to VA today (big boohoo) I decided to go early so we got there at about noon and the wedding wasn't until 4:30. We hung around the hotel with them helping where we could until time to go to the church. The wedding was beautiful, Jayce was beautiful, the kids were adorable, the ceremony was very sweet, the reception fun, a good day overall. I drove home pretty late for me which made me nervous. I was on the road by 9:30 and was home by 11:30. I passed the time listening to speaker's from past homeschool conventions. I learned about seeing my difficult child as the gift he truly is and how to motivate my children beyond obedience to also love others and put others' needs above their own. I tried it out today in the grocery store when H and G had a squabble about throwing something away. I asked Hannah to serve her sister by throwing both of their little cups away. Hannah promptly turned and bumped Grace as she walked by huffing. Not a lot of love....we'll have to try again. Isn't raising little sinners fun??? Anyway, I got home about 11:30 but was too wound up to sleep (caffeine maybe?) for another hour so it was 12:30 before I got to bed. I was up by 7 to go to church and work in the nursery. I went to the grocery store on the way home while tired and starving with three little sinners. Not a good combo. I couldn't wait to get home, put groceries away, eat lunch and go take a nap. When I got home Ollie had parked the van on the street, a sure sign that he wanted to clean out the garage. Truly my least favorite chore. I was mad just thinking about it but wanted to have a good attitude--prayed for a good attitude (we have had MANY fights over cleaning out the garage due to my bad attitude). I went in, cleaned the kitchen, and when Ollie came in a bit later I calmly asked him if we were cleaning out the garage today. Now folks, this is truly an answer to prayer, here was his reply to me--"No (woohoo!), I need to hose off the driveway. After your nap (I hadn't even told him I was planning for one, I think he knows me well) we will clean or maybe during your nap. You must be really exhausted, go get some sleep. I'm cooking dinner too." That didn't make it hard to keep a good attitude!! So, I went and napped and I didn't look at the clock but I do believe that I slept for 3 hours. Guess who will be burning the midnight oil tonight? I'm going to try not to waste these couple of hours. I made myself clean the bathroom after putting kids to bed and before getting on the computer. Ollie is still hanging out with Hannah so I have some time alone. I have been terrible lately about wasting time on the computer. I will check blogs, check them again, check e-mail, check FB, check it all again, etc. It's really becoming ridiculous and life around me is suffering. Specifically, my house. I used to have a great system for keeping it clean that I stuck to for years. It helped that our church met in our house every Thursday night so it was always cleaned for then. Now though I just let things get way out of hand. I am continually putting out fires with no system or plan in place. My goal during this 6 weeks or so off of school is to get some sort of system in place that includes the kids doing regular jobs so that the house stays a little cleaner. I know this comes so easy to some people but NOT TO ME! I am not a schedule person nor do I ever do anything in a systematic manner. What I am good at is flying by the seat of my pants. So, any advice is welcomed as I set out to come up with a plan that will work for me.

A Couple of Indian Recipes

Here are a couple of recipes that I have talked about.  

Spicy Lentils (dal)

1 cup whole brown lentils

4 cups water

salt, to taste

1/2 tsp. ground turmeric

2 medium onions

2 cloves garlic

2 Tbsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper (optional--I leave it out b/c it makes it too spicy for my kids)

1 large tomato or a can of diced tomatoes

Wash the lentils, plance them and the water in a large pot.  Let them soak for an hour.  Add salt and turmeric, cook covered over low heat until tender 30 minutes to an hour.

Meanwhile, chop the onions and garlic finely.  In a small skillet over medium heat, warm the oil.  Add the cumin and once the spices darken add chopped onions and garlic and cook until browned.  Add the coriander, cayenne, tomato; cook until the tomato is soft (about 5 minutes).  When the lentils are cooked, add the tomato-onion  mixture, stir, and cook for another 5 minutes.

Green Curry Fish

1 tsp. green curry paste (more or less depending on how spicy you want it)--this can be found in the ethnic section at the grocery store, it's a tiny little jar

about 2 Tbsp. oil (the recipe calls for sesame but I use coconut or vegetable)

2 red onions, finely chopped

2 pounds of any kind of white fish, cut into small cubes-- We've made it with whiting and with Hoki (sold in Wal-mart in the frozen section)

1 2/3 c. coconut milk

3 Tbsp. fish sauce

2 oz. cilantro, fresh mint, and fresh basil

Heat the oil and stir in the curry paste, add the onions and saute until soft.  Add coconut milk and fish sauce and fish and simmer until the fish is done, about 5-7 minutes.  Add the fresh herbs and serve.  

Wordful Wednesday

I have lots and lots to say so if you don't feel like reading a book today you might want to visit a different blog. Trust me, you won't miss much. No deep thoughts happening here. I am actually still schooling. Grace is finishing up the work she does with me. I have my laptop in the Florida room so I can multitask. First thing I want to say is that I am about sick of sitting in Joe's pee every time I go to the bathroom. Could someone please teach this boy to lift the lid or at least, "be a sweetie and wipe the seatie"? Today is my partial fast day and all I've had to drink today is a juice I made this morning out of carrots, beets, celery, apple, blueberry, spinach, and parsley. That juice has me full of energy and in a great mood. You would think I would be feeling tired because I haven't had many calories. I'm also in a good mood because I had a great school day with the kids. We are getting a ton done and I am not stressed at all about taking 6 weeks off. I have a really good dinner planned tonight--some sort of indian cabbage, spicy mung beans (like lentils), perch cooked in coconut oil, cooked carrots, and chapatis (Indian flatbread) for Ollie and the kids. Poor Joe is so tired of eating fish. He doesn't love fish but tolerates it in small quantities. We've been eating fish just about every other day and the other night he didn't finish his dinner so didn't get a dessert. At bedtime, in tears he told Ollie, "everytime I look at my plate there is fish!" Poor kid. I know we eat a lot of weird food but I always try to include at least one thing that I know they really like and give them a break from weird food a couple of times a week.
The picture at the top of this (for some reason on my laptop I can't seem to type above the first picture) is from "Annie" last Thursday. It was the first time my kids were in a real school. A little weird for them but interesting.

Grace read like crazy last week to finish the Abeka reader, "Open Windows." She read 5 stories in one night! Just a mere two months ago it would take her half an hour or more to read 1 story. Her motivation was that I had bought her two books and she wasn't allowed to see them until she had finished "Open Windows." It was a big accomplishment for her and she deserved a reward. Now she and I are reading her new books, both of them from the "Puppy Place" series. They are a challenge for her but she is doing it and I am so proud!

I love this picture of Hannah and our little friend, Nate. I took it sometime last week but it hadn't made it to the blog yet. He's a cutie isn't he?

Another pic from last week--Tyler and Levi. We have had such a good time playing with our old friends, it's so sad to say goodbye again!
You can't really tell in this picture but that is our rain gauge showing about 6.2 inches of rain. Since then we've had at least 3 more inches and it is pouring down rain again right now. I LOVE it! It started Sunday night and didn't stop raining until sometime overnight last night. Then has started back up again today. I could totally live in Washington. I love the rain, it puts me in a good mood and makes me feel relaxed.
Here are my kale chips baking. They were pretty good. Unfortunately, I made more than we could eat at one time and the leftovers are soggy and gross. I may try rebaking them tonight or tomorrow and see if they get crispy again.
I have finally updated my other blog, "Cleansing my Temple." For those of you interested in what I have been eating (I've been asked that a lot), I did a whole post on that on the other blog. Here's the link-Cleansing My Temple.

A Simple Woman's Daybook

A Simple Woman's Daybook for today...May 18, 2009
Outside my window...looks like it's going to be my kind of day--overcast and rainy! I love it! We had a big storm last night, the rain gauge showed 2.8 inches of rain.
I am thinking...about getting off the computer and making breakfast, tidying up the house and starting a productive day of school!
I am thankful...for the rain, we need it bad! Also, for a blessed week with friends.
From the kitchen...I'm finally going to make those kale chips today, the kale is washed and dry. I really can't wait! Dinner will be fish and veggies, maybe pasta for the kids. The rest of the week--nothing special--just fish or chicken and assorted vegetables probably. That seems to be the order of the day. I did make an awesome fish curry the other night for Ollie and I and will probably make that again this week. It was ridiculously good. I made it with my new favorite fish--Hoki.
From the learning rooms...I have a lot of school planned for the next two weeks because although we are schooling through the summer, the month of June will be very busy and I'm pretty sure we won't be getting much done. Depending on how the next two weeks go, we may take a summer break after all--at least for 6 weeks. It's either that or fit school in with a two week visit from a teenage friend, and two back to back weeks of VBS, a weekend trip to Nebraska, and a week in GA. All that starts in two weeks.
I am creating...I've left my sewing machine out because I have this great idea for some fun patch shorts for Grace. I'm hoping to get to them later on this evening.
I am wearing...pjs
I am reading...Nourishing Traditions--my new cookbook that I'm thrilled about. It has good, old-fashioned non-processed food recipes as well as recipes for yogurt, kefir, sprouting, etc. Goes along well with my new way of eating. Believe it or not I have been completely unable to get into a fiction book for about two weeks. I read part of The Host by Stephenie Meyer and completely lost interest. This is soooo unlike me but I think I am just too busy right now. Sad.
I am hoping...to see some signs that I am getting better, less pain in my hands for one...
I am hearing...Joe's computer game and rain, glorious, thrilling rain!
Around the house...it's a little messy but not bad. With some help from the mess makers we can have it picked up within 15 minutes.
One of my favorite things...have I mentioned rain? Especially rainy mornings.
I am going...to make my bed, eat breakfast, and get the kiddies moving!
A few plans for the rest of the week...park tomorrow, homeschool convention on Thursday night, Tampa for a wedding on Saturday, dress rehearsal for High School Musical 2, American Idol finale!!! I will be thrilled with whoever wins, I love both of the finalists.
A picture thought...

We had a chicken at the park on Tuesday...yes, a chicken. Two of my fellow homeschoolies are chicken ladies and they were trading a chicken, the kids had great fun playing with the chicken!

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

Weekend Wrap-Up

We have had a crazy busy--make my head spin weekend. It's all been so fun though that I cannot complain, I'm exhausted but it's a good exhaustion. These pictures go in backwards order so I guess I will too. After church we went to a local park for a picnic and some time to visit with our VA friends. The men were not content to just hang out and talk. Ollie brought his bathing suit because he wanted to swim in the lake--just a reminder--we live in FL and we don't swim in lakes here because the alligators own the lake. That wasn't stopping Ollie though and he bet Ben $5 that Ben wouldn't swim across the lake (not a big lake). Ben wasn't playing but Ollie decided to swim across anyway. He went about halfway and was tired so headed back. When he started there was a gator pretty far from him but as he swam back the gator steadily made its way toward Ollie. Thankfully it didn't seem out to catch up with him and Ollie made it back safely. After being called a chicken, Ben decided that he was up to the challenge so he swam across the lake and Ollie picked him up on the other side. While Ben swam no one knew where the gator was. Just another confirmation that men are just not normal.
Here are the boys watching as their daddies talked about wrastlin' with gators and swimming out in the gator water.
Since we were already out that way, we decided to go blueberry picking after we left the park. I was planning to go at some point this week so today seemed to make sense. The blueberry fields that we went to are a good 25 minutes away from our house and the park is about halfway there so even though I was tired we did it. We got two buckets, half for my aunt and uncle and 1 1/2 for us. That's a lot of berries but we will eat plenty of them and freeze the rest. They are great in a smoothie with a frozen banana or in pancakes.
Now back to yesterday--we went to Downtown Disney for dinner and then to Cirque de Soleil. That show was absolutely amazing! Those acrobats can do the craziest things. The music was beautiful and the show was hilarious and amazing. We had dinner at Bongo's--a cuban restaurant. I was a bit of a cheater pants as far as my diet goes. I had black beans and rice and sweet plantains. I'm not allowed to have the rice or plantains at this stage of my diet but it was a special occasion and I wasn't going to miss out on those. They are classic cuban food.
And, before we went to Disney--we had a shower for Marissa. We had lots of ladies there and I think everyone had a great time. It was fun to get to visit and bless Marissa with lots of baby boy stuff.
I was also out Friday night way too late so I started the weekend with a bit of sleep deprivation. Needless to say that at this point I am about ready for bed and it's only 7:30. I'm going to try to hold out until 8. I have to make something to eat first. Should I have scrambled eggs or a spinach smoothie? So, my goal for the week is to mostly stay at home and be productive on the homefront. Think I can do it? If you know me at all you know that this is the area I struggle with most. It is very hard for me to not want to be at everything and be involved in everything. I have two weeks that are my calm before the storm of summer. I am hoping to get through 4 weeks of My Father's World and just plug away at all the other subjects as well. We are not taking a full summer break but we will be doing a lot less schooling each week than what is normal for us.
I'm off to eat, shower, and go to bed. I think I've decided on eggs with spinach and goat cheese. Amy--should I save you a plate?

Beach Day

Marissa, Amy, Julie, and I and our 13 kids (one was missing or there would have been 14) loaded up and headed to the beach this morning. We couldn't have asked for a better day. It wasn't terribly hot but it was nice and sunny. The kids had sooo much fun, no one was ready to go. I don't know why it took Marissa moving hundreds of miles away and then coming to visit to get us to go to the beach together. Now that all of our kids are a little older (no diapers!) it really wasn't hard at all. Above is a shot of the kids from tallest to shortest, the hole is where Jacob should be, we couldn't forget him!