Need a Worker?

Hannah's Workhouse

25 cents for easy around the house jobs

50 cents for hard and gross jobs

75 cents for complacaited and hot jobs

75 cents an hour for babysitting, for very short times only 25 cents

$1.oo for hard, long, hot, and complacaited jobs

Please pay a reasonable price

Sunday Night Musings

We just finished a wonderful dinner--Lemon Orzo Pasta. Here's the recipe--

2 zucchini, grated
2 carrots, grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
28 oz. chicken broth
2 cups orzo pasta
1 lemon zested
2 Tbsp. olive oil
thyme
parmesan

Heat the olive oil and add the orzo and cook for 2 minutes. Add zucchini, carrots, and garlic and cook for 2 more minutes. Add the broth and lemon zest and bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and cook for 10 minutes or until the liquid is absorbed. Add thyme and parmesan and serve.
**I did not add thyme or parmesan and thought it was wonderful. Ollie added both and also thought it was wonderful. Also--we didn't have a lemon so we used 4 calomondins (think tiny, very sour orange) from our yard and we just pulverized the whole thing and added it so ours had a very citrusy flavor.
Ollie made this last night and it was so good and easy that I wanted to make it tonight too. The meal plan is down the toilet for a variety of reasons. The main reason though is that I've decided to take all meat including chicken and turkey out of my diet for a month and see if it has any effect on my inflammation. I will cook some meat for the kids but I can't make some of the casseroles I had planned so I'm still doing some of the meals but not all. Another reason that the meal plan is down the toilet is that I do not do well being boxed into a plan for dinner. Tonight was supposed to be a Vegetable Frittata but I wanted Lemon Orzo Pasta. So, tomorrow will probably be Vegetable Frittata unless I change my mind. I got some good vegetarian ideas from some of the parents on Joe's ball team. I was making my grocery list while watching his game and that sparked a good food conversation. The ice has finally broken among the parents on the ball teams. I am feeling more comfortable and so is everyone else. To be honest, the dads are friendlier. The negative woman didn't sit with me at Grace's last game and she wasn't at practice on Saturday. I enjoyed talking to the parents there as we sweltered in the heat but in the shade of a big tent that Taylor's dad had set up. I also got to hold the "new Taylor"'s baby sister and you know I love to hold a baby. The dad was there with the twins and needed an extra pair of arms and I was more than willing to volunteer. I don't know any of the parents names as you can tell. I just know who they belong to. In other ball news--Joe got the game ball at his game on Saturday! That's the big excitement at the end of the game--who gets the game ball. Joe played a great game on Saturday and was deserving of the game ball. He got a great hit and made a couple of outs as well. He is very focused and thinks fast when the ball gets hit to him. I was so proud I almost cried. I have a great picture but I'm not allowed to post it. He allowed me to take his picture only if I would promise not to put it on the internet. He's such a pain sometimes but I do respect his desire not to be displayed on my blog.
This week is going to be crazy. In addition to ball games and practices, Hannah will be in 4 shows this coming weekend and I will be working all four shows. I also need to bake lots of cookies and lemon bars to sell for the concession stand. I should be a real mess by Sunday. Pray for me! After my crazy week I am going on vacation to the lovely state of GA. I'm hoping and praying for some fall weather and some fall leaf viewing. The kids are doing an "Autumn" lapbook and we need a field trip to fully do this. We have to go on a nature scavenger hunt, find fall leaves, observe trees losing their leaves, and do leaf rubbings. Since summer is hanging on here and there is very little fall to be found we are going on a field trip. All in the name of school of course. I can't wait to escape our busy lives for a few days of a different kind of busyness. It is never calm or relaxing when we go to GA but always fun and memorable.
Well, I have more to say (imagine that) and some pictures to share but it's time to sign off and spend time with my family.
Peace out...

I Love It, I Hate It

I was in Target the other night looking for rubber cement and this (above) caught my eye. It's not your average handwriting workbook. This one has indentations for the letters so your child can feel the letters and then as he (or she) writes them can make sure to form them correctly by writing in the indentation. Joe called the indentation cartilage, we've been studying the body and this must have somehow reminded him of cartilage. Anyway, I've been having some issues with Joe and writing and for the moment this little workbook has made us both very happy. He really likes it and it has made handwriting fun and easy for him. I love it!

I decided to try the above book, "Language Smarts" from the Critical Thinking Co. to use with Grace for Language Arts this year. I've been using First Language Lessons but I didn't think she was ready for Level 3 yet and wasn't sure what to do with her. I assumed this book would have more of the traditional language arts--nouns, verbs, punctuation, etc. Well, it doesn't. It's a whole bunch of dumb busy work and I hate it. However, I paid almost $30 for it so we are doing it. Also, the pages are slick and Grace has to do her work with a pen. I do not recommend this book! However, Hannah is doing the "Language Mechanic" from the same company and I love that one. I also love everything else I got from Critical Thinking. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

Better

For some reason no matter what I do I cannot type above my first picture. I'm not sure what the deal is. Oh well. I am not mad anymore. Right after my last post I took the kids to the library for a program and sat in the A/C and talked with friends. Then when I got home Ollie said that the toilet was unclogged and the washer was fine--it just had a build up of suds and that's why it stopped for a time. I did end up cooking dinner but it was just pasta and I was okay with that after my hour in the library relaxing. I am hoping for a better day tomorrow. Grace finally got to play a game in her uniform. Her pants are too big but she's still the cutest girl on the team. :0) I have run into a bit of a problem now that I'm being friendly at the ballfield. This mom on Grace's team has befriended me and sits next to me and proceeds to complain and talk about just about every kid, the coaches, and even one of the parents. It's very uncomfortable for me and annoying. At the game last night I just stopped responding to her completely. It didn't really shut her up but I hope she got the picture that I don't want to hear it. I'm really going to try to distance myself from her for the next game. I think I'll bring a chair so that I'm not in the bleachers. Ugh!



We saw the play "Charlotte's Web" yesterday morning and then had a picnic in the park. Joe climbed up on this statue and had his lunch up there.

I finished the baby quilt I was working on. It's an unusual theme for a baby quilt--skulls and pirates. His mommy and daddy love it though, it's right up their alley!
Here are the girls sitting at Joe's game on Saturday. It was another hot one! And below, Joe playing first base.
Amy took this picture of the girls at the field trip on Friday. This was about 10 minutes before Grace fell out. Her lips look a little pale in this picture but mostly she looks fine. I love the picture--the girls look so much alike. I just wish I could look at it without remembering what came just a few minutes later.
Here's to a better day tomorrow...

The Top Ten Reasons That I am Mad Today

In no particular order...

• I was up until midnight.
• It is hot, like 94 degrees HOT and it "feels like" 102!!!! It's October....Seriously, can we please have some cool weather. I'll even take 85, that felt glorious last week.
• Our toilet clogged and flooded the whole bathroom today.
• Our washer seems to have broken as I tried to wash the towels that I used to clean up the 2 inches of water in the bathroom.
• I'm hot.
  
• Joe gave me a fit about writing the letter "g."
• I'm seriously hormonal.
• My feet hurt.
• I don't have dinner ready nor any desire to make dinner. Maybe, just maybe I can convince Ollie to go out. Probably not but I can probably convince him to cook.
  
• I'm hot.

Emptying My Brain

• I am butt deep (knee deep didn't quite capture it for me) in my "industrious" phase of my month.  I have boundless energy and ideas so I'm taking advantage of that and getting some stuff done.
• On that note, I have been making a baby quilt and I was well on my way to being done earlier this evening and would you believe--I was about 3 inches too short on my satin binding!!  That kind of thing makes me crazy.  I love love to finish stuff especially during my industrious phase.  I have especially wanted to finish this quilt because I can't wait to give it to the expectant momma and I can't wait to scratch it off my "to do" list.  It's been on that list for a very long time!  I will get more binding after church tomorrow and finish it up as soon as I can. 
• I am also planning school studies for the next couple of months.  I think I may be a bit ambitious but this is my tentative plan:  Finish the human body unit with Grace and Joe in the next two weeks, do an Autumn lapbook with all three during the next two weeks, then do the Evan Moor History Pockets "Native Americans" and "Life in Plymouth Colony" study with Grace and Joe.  That should get us through to Thanksgiving and then I plan to start Apologia's "Flying Creatures of the Fifth Day" possibly with all three but definitely with G and J.  Hannah will start My Father's World "Creation to Greeks" on Monday whether I'm ready or not.  
• I'm reading a wonderful book (in all my spare time) called "See You in a Hundred Years" by Logan Ward.  It's about a couple and their toddler who decide to leave city life, buy a farm in VA, and then live as though it were 1900 for one year.  They can't have anything that they couldn't have had in the year 1900.  It's a fun read and makes me think about all that we have now.
• Grace is completely recovered.  Aside from spending most of her day going potty because I am making her drink so much she is back to her normal self.  I am recovering as well but still feel a bit mentally fragile after all the emotional stress yesterday.  I don't do sick kids very well.  
• Hannah told us tonight at dinner that she kind of wants to break her leg just to have the experience.  She also said that she is kind of jealous of Grace for getting so much attention and candy and stuff and fainting doesn't even hurt.  The only bad thing was the "VIP" (she meant IV).  She is one goofy kid.
• Joe can do a flip on the trampoline.
• My feet and ankles are bothering me again because I haven't been diligent about keeping dairy out of my diet.  That is such a weird connection--how could dairy in my diet make my feet hurt???  It happens everytime I get lax though.
• I had more dairy tonight at Target because I did the Starbucks taste test with their new Instant coffee and received a free Tall coffee and then added some half and half and sugar and polluted my body.
• That cup of coffee has a lot to do with me being up and so chatty at 11:30.  

All done.  Peace out!

• 
  

Some Drama for This Momma!

I had an unexpected morning at home because Joe woke up nauseated and vomiting. We had planned to go on a field trip with our homeschool group to a wastewater treatment plant. I decided to send the girls with Amy so they wouldn't miss out. So, while Joe lounged on the couch watching tv I busied myself with all sorts of odds and ends. About the time Joe had been able to keep some Sprite down I get a call from Amy telling me that Grace had either passed out or had a seizure. I pretty much completely freaked out, got Joe's shoes on and rushed out of the house to go get Grace. I took her straight to the ER where we got to see Dr. David (praise God!) and it was determined that she had probably gotten dehydrated and passed out but didn't have a seizure. She hadn't drank anything all morning (my bad!) and then been out in the sun. Hannah later told me that the whole time they were touring the place Grace was complaining of being hot and really thirsty. So, she got a bag of IV fluids and they did some tests and everything came back normal. We were in and out in about 2 hours which is pretty good. Joe got to go home with Uncle Billy, Hannah stayed with Amy, and Aunt Harriet kept Grace and I company in the hospital. It was quite a day and I'm pretty much emotionally and physically exhausted. I just wanted to finish this post and tell the story so now everybody knows it and I won't have to repeat it a million times. :0)