Obligatory New Year's Post

So lets be honest, I ain't gonna do all this stuff. This is more like a wish list. But, meh, gotta start somewhere.

1) I will be more patient with easybake oven, chutes&ladders, pokemon stories and doll baby diapering, etc. I tend to say I'm too busy. Bad mommy.

2) I will plan ahead a bit more, consult my calendar on which I've actually written our appointments a bit more and follow through a bit more.

3) I will not roll my eyes and tap my foot as dh tells me how bad his day was. I will not burst forth with exclamations that I myself, have been watching soap operas and eating bon bons all day.

Way Too Sweet For Me

I took Mel to Build-A-Bear at her request. I had avoided that until now but she has been saving $$ since her birthday in October and really wanted to go. Surprise, surprise, overpriced junk. And lots of sequins. And feathers. Oh well, she's happy and I made it. I'm hoping for some award from Cranky, Nerdy Mother's of America for making it through. And I took no pictures. I was too bogged down in sensory overload from a trip to the mall. Have I mentioned I loathe malls.

First Sunday after Christmas

Hang On

"Next to a circus there ain't nothing that packs up and tears out faster than the Christmas spirit." ~Kin Hubbard




May your Christmas spirit hang around all year.

My Favorite Christmas Song

Linky Love

We spent yesterday after school sledding. Let's just say I was very, very tired.




Here's an article that talks about what we discovered when I became a stay at home parenthas actually put us money ahead. Counter intuitive, but there ya' go.


I enjoy this blog because I'm a word geek. It shows how we are separated by a common language.

You can waste time here making snowflakes. Or for possibly the coolest snowflakes you'll ever actually cut from paper try these patterns.

Need a last minute, do it yourself Christmas present because who knew Aunt Hepzibah was coming to dinner? Try here for great ideas.

Have a Merry Christmas!

Christmas With The Family

Note the sibling love in the background.

Studying, even at a gathering. That's my dd for ya'.

Exhausted from all the joviality.

A Christmas Angel

Snowy Saturday

Grinchy Claus, Why?

Must....Finish....... Christmas......Gifts.....
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Las Posadas

Yesterday was the spanish class' holiday party. It was timed nicely with the start of Las Posadas. The kids generally acted stupid in the gym and whacked a pinata, though the organizers tried to add some cultural content. It was all foreign to me as I'm as german and Angela Merkel, though I hope my ankles are better. Generally that was all I got done yesterday though. I did mop the kitchen and bathrooms but who can tell this morning. I need to get off of here, do school and wrap presents so I can figure out if I need anything else.

Ooops!

I had an unanticipated break there. It was pointed out to me that there is a holiday coming and we, our family, was the only one who seemed unaware of it. No treats, no cookies, no nativity, no tree (and though some don't know it, no presents either). I was forced to actually participate in life. Blah! I claimed that we are going for a 'minimalist' Christmas this year but I did put a string of lights and santa on the porch.

I got out one nativity. I usually put out six or seven but an inquisitive two year old and breakables in reach don't seem to be a congruent state of affairs.

I went and bought a tree. It is currently residing in the pick up in the garage but we will bring it in right after I saw off some of the bottom.

I've baked 4 huge batches of cookies and made candy/treats.

Phil was off yesterday so I went to the stores. One of the problems was that I so seldom go to stores, especially toy stores or departments, that I was flumoxed by the prices and choices. Woe to the parent looking for simple, non-battery powered toys. The second problem was that the low oil light came on. I got pulled over and tended to the problem once I figured out where dh had hidden the oil and pliers (used to open hood).

Now I just need to wrap, set up tree, bake, buy food for the actual dinner, cook said dinner and go to all functions noted on my calendar. I'm feeling very Sheldon.

A Week In The Life Of Me~Friday

Coming into the homestretch of the week except of course life doesn't really slow down on the weekends. I guess I'm just programmed from years of school and work to think it's relief day. I got up with Phil and made breakfast for everyone. Ok, microwave bacon and pancakes isn't really cooking, but it counts at 6am I think. The older kids got ready for school, I yelled at everyone to do their chores and the day started. Friday's we try to keep more 'fun'. I played multiplication War (card game) with F to cement the times tables he knows. Mel played Starfall. We did our read aloud. I baked cupcakes and Mel measured and ssssllllooowwwwlllly read the directions. I dictated a grocery list for them to spell. I had F check my balancing of the checkbook. He is the kind of kid who is much more likely to do that than a worksheet. F watched more of BBC Julius Caesar and they both watched Bill Nye. After lunch we got groceries. This is a two cart, two hour event. Yuck! we got home as the older boys got back from school so I let them drag it in. Pizza again requested for dinner (they're pizzatarians I tell ya') so I got busy with that. I assigned some cleaning jobs so the place would look good. I spent quite a bit of time this week decluttering and getting rid of things so it wasn't too difficult for them. After supper I took everyone (except E and Ads) to the Boy Scout Christmas swim party. Bad mommy admission. I chatted with the other parents for the prescribed amount of time, then I took a glorious hour to listen to podcasts without anyone criticizing my choices (Stuff You Missed in History Class thankyouverymuch) and leafing through some magazines from the library. It was almost like visiting a spa.

A Week In The Life Of Me~Wednesday

Um, coffee, cook, coffee, listen to Mel read, coffee, tell kids to do their chores, coffee, shower, coffee, start laundry,...
A good school morning. We reviewed more grammar, worked on the 7's time tables, finished our read aloud, read history and looked at vertebrates. We grabbed a lunch of leftover spaghetti and I got a meatloaf ready for dinner so I could throw it in the oven later. All three got showered/bathed and we went to Spanish class. After that they ran around in the howling wind for what seemed like a long time to me, then we picked up a prescription and drove to Walmart (ick) to find C a belt. The kids dropped some money in the Salvation Army kettle and thus were sticky from the candy cane they got, so we washed up while there too. We made it home through the blizzard winds. Thank goodness we only got the wind and our precipitation was in the form of rain vs. the snow west of us. C and S had a dentist appointment so I dropped them off and told them to call me when they were done. I started the meatloaf, finally dug up some Christmas decorations (because I'm all Scroogy this year). I put up the socks (by the chimney with care I might add) and a nativity. That may be it along with the tree if I ever get one. I picked up the boys, we ate dinner, I read to the kids and then Mythbusters came on. I fell asleep snuggled in the recliner with L. I'm not sure how that happened because at 5ft and 85 pounds she's not exactly cuddly. I came to and went to bed. I told the kids to just turn off the tv and sleep where they were if they wanted. Shhh, don't tell the good mommy police.

A Week In The Life Of Me~Tuesday

I got up and got everyone breakfast and grabbed a shower. It was a lighter school day. We worked in our Critical Thinking Books, worked on timelines for history, grammar and science along with reading. I rescheduled a dentist appointment for myself, requested a new prescription for Phil, called the high school about flu shots and called the insurance agent to get some things faxed. A storm was predicted so I renewed some library books on line in case I opted not to drive to Boy Scouts tonight. In the afternoon I whipped up some spaghetti for supper, another loaf of bread and some cookies. I swept and picked up the downstairs. This is a little difficult since the death of the vacuum but the broom works because only one room has carpet. In between I answered questions about Dodo birds, the La Brea Tar Pits and Lauren Bacall. Does that make Looney Tunes a learning tool? The weather didn't look too bad so we headed out at 6:00 for BS. I dropped the boys and ran over to the library to get some more school and enjoyment material. At 7:10 I looked out and it was sleeting. I checked out and by the time I got back to the boys' meeting it was snowing and blowing. Of course they were still at it and I ended up sitting on a board of review before we got out of there. It turned out not to be too bad for driving and by this morning it had all turned to rain. Blech!

This tired elf couldn't quite make it until I got home. Oh, she's gonna hate this one when she's all goth in 10 years.

A Week In The Life Of Me~Monday

The morning started with snow. I'm not ready. I did school with the kids. It went well and we were done at 11:30. I was about to make lunch when the phone rang. The upshot was I needed to plan and conduct a Cub Scout Christmas party by myself at 6:30 tonight. Deep breath~ OK. I finished some laundry and did some quick game and craft research. I made supper and cleaned the kitchen and we were out of the house by 2:00 to get S from school for an orthodontist appointment. I was a horrible mom and let F and Mel play DS and Leapster while they sat in the car after his appointment. S stayed in the car with them while I flew through Dollar General to get my supplies. We came home and I made breadsticks and coffee cake and still got dinner on the table by 5:30. I left the dishes to Phil and left at 6:00 to get the cabin set up for the party. I took C with me to help referee. It went well but they were definitely, um, exuberant. I got home at 8:00 after cleaning the cabin. I brought in the dog and crashed on the couch to watch a biography of Andrew Jackson on PBS because I'm weird. At 9:30 we watched Big Bang and then to bed. It felt like much more than it sounds like.

A Week In The Life Of Me

Yeah, I know, less than riveting but that seems to be the story of my blog lately. I got the idea from An Organized Mess. That's right, not one original thought left in my head. So....starting with the past weekend since I haven't done today yet.

Saturday~Up and at em'. S had to be at the high school at 6:30am to catch the bus to Chicago with German Club. ( I ran back home and got C up. He was to help another scout with his Eagle project. I dropped him off and swung by the library and picked up a book I had on hold. I let Ads play with the puzzles and such for awhile and then went to Walmart. I was looking for Christmas presents but was sadly disappointed. No deals and it pretty much all looked like junk. I eventually went back to pick up C and drove home. The problem with these trips is that it takes an hour round trip so I put 64 miles on the car and wasted 2 hours of my life. I fed the kids and Phil and I decided to walk over to the local Bargain Basement at the old school. Yippee! We hit the jackpot. They actually had a stuffed unicorn which was Mel's sole Christmas request. What are the odds? I picked up a few other things but for $10 I had two sacks full of things. Score! We came home and F had some friends over. This did not end well. They were rowdy and not listening. I sent them home at 3:30 and ordered the kids OUT of the house. Of course Ads wanted to play too. Phil and I went outside with them and her for about 1/2 hour. It was 20 degrees so it seemed longer. We also discovered the boys had pulled the trampoline under the basketball goal and nearly pulled down the backboard. We moved the trampoline so they won't brain themselves and may I say this added to my irritation with F and his friends. We came in and I started homemade pizza. Eventually we ate and I got the two littles bathed and did the hair washing/combing/screaming thing. F and L showered. I made a gingerbread house with L, F and Mel. Ad's helped. At that point mom's nerves were stretched a bit. I took them upstairs. I read a couple picture books to the girlies and then F and I read some more of his Alec Flint book. Lights out by 8:30. It was noted I'm a really mean mom. I came back down stairs and flipped through the tv channels while Phil snored. I read until 11:00 when S called and I made the hour round trip again to pick him up. At that point I crashed. I was trying to read more, because it's a good book, but the sound of it dropping out of my hand and hitting the floor indicated to me I should call it a night.

Sunday~ I took the youngest four to Sunday School and church. Dh took C to Fort Wayne for birthday shopping. I came home and made lunch. S and E were working on homework. I watched some of the Colts game and then it was time to go to Girl Scouts with L. We had a little Christmas party and I tried to teach them to crochet. I came home and Phil had made the kids milkshakes for dinner. No cooking for me. Phil and I braved the cold for a little walk about 6pm. We came home and had frozen pizza and the kids ate again. Because we are geeks we watched Clash of the Dinosaurs and went to bed. Try not to be jealous of all that fun this weekend, lol.

School Saturday

F accomplished
Math:6's, started 7's and review mental math

LA:Fairy Tales-rewrote his paper on Beauty and the Beast, Read Nyasha and Mynyara (African Cinderella), worked on question,command,statement and exclamation, worked with a thesaurus, readings in reader (inventors chapter)

History-Punic Wars and started Julius Caesar

Science-biodiversity

He's also reading Alec Flint, Super Sleuth for fun

It seems like we should be working harder but when I write it down we're accomplishing things. I'm starting to think about next 'semester' and what I'd like to add or change. Gotta think about that more

She Gave Me The World

And spelled it right too!

Services Pending

Today, when I attempted to sweep my dining room, screws and pieces of plastic shot out. It emitted a death bellow and smoked. It was exciting in a strange sick way. Time to look for another used vac.

*note~ I bought my Hoover 6 years ago as a stop gap for $20. I was told it would last a month. Think I can luck into such a good deal twice?

Tightwad Tuesday ~Christmas Plans

Last year we tried an experiment where I made sure I had lots of fun low cost options planned. This saved spending a lot on entertainment and made our scaled back Christmas seem merry anyway. This year I'm planning

Dec. 3-library party and pet a reindeer (for youngest 4)
Dec. 4-A Visit to Bethelehem
Dec. 5-make gingerbread house
Dec. 9-Spanish class Mexican Christmas Party
Dec. 10-live nativity and village
Dec. 11-Boy Scout Swim Party for Family
Dec. 12-C's birthday

Dec. 18-buy tree
Dec 19-decorate tree
Dec 20- Cub Scout party for whole family, meal and gifts
Dec 21-band concert
Dec 23-everyone can have a friend over to play
Dec 24-free ice skating and church
Dec 25-Phil is working but I'm still thinking we'll have fun

Dec 28-trip to IN state museum
Dec 30-maybe tobogganing or laser tag (both will be Christmas coupons)
Dec 31-teens will go out, the rest of us will stay home and play games
Jan 6 - Twelfth Night~ we have cake and open one more present (small) and chalk the door

Menu Monday Again

Hmm, what can I make. We just had an orgy of food so nothing sounds especially wonderful. Looking through the cupboards and freezer I'm thinking

Sun-lasagna, salad, orange
Mon-beef stew w/dumplings, grapes
Tue-mac&cheese w/ham, broccoli, applesauce
Wed-baked potato soup, relishes, kiwi&strawberries
Thu-tacos, corn, apple slices
Fri-leftover buffet
Sat-pizza

Just a usual week this week, Daisies, Cubs, Boy Scouts, Spanish, Girl Scouts. The Christmas craziness will start soon. I'm going to enjoy normal.

School Saturday

Ok, first I have to get this off my chest. I made Thanksgiving dinner with all the trimmings. I received polite thanks.

I made nachos for dinner and got raves,thanks,kisses and hugs. Next year, it's pizza, tacos and nachos baby.

Ok, school. Only a three day week really.

We focused on the true story of the first Thanksgiving. We read You Wouldn't Want to Sail on the Mayflower and used a unit study from the net. F declared Wednesday Wopanoag Wednesday and we looked at things from the Native American view point. We also worked on the 4's. He now knows the 1,2,3,4,5,10 and 11 tables. We wrote about our trip to the musical and worked on commas and punctuation some more.

Mel got all the Thanksgiving stuff, continued to work on reading and letter sounds and basic math facts.

A pretty nice week. Now I have to gear myself up for the next four weeks until Christmas. I'm planning a couple field trips for 'break' so it won't be a wasteland. Children's Museum is free from 10-2 Christmas Eve and we'll probably go back to Indy for a trip to the State Museum. We might go tobogganing too. Or skating. Have to play that by ear.

From The Way Back Machine

It's Not Keats But We Like It




The Turkey
Shot Out of the Oven
by Jack Prelutsky


The turkey shot out of the oven
and rocketed into the air.
It knocked every plate off the table
and partly demolished a chair.

It ricocheted into a corner
and burst with a deafening boom,
then splattered all over the kitchen,
completely obscuring the room.

It stuck to the walls and the windows.
It totally coated the floor.
There was turkey attached to the ceiling
where there'd never been turkey before.

It blanketed every appliance.
It smeared every saucer and bowl.
There wasn't a way I could stop it.
That turkey was out of control.

I scraped and I scrubbed with displeasure
and thought with chagrin as I mopped
that I'd never again stuff a turkey
with popcorn that hadn't been popped.

Tired Tuesday

I feel the approaching holiday and pretty much want to make it a week off. I think the gray weather isn't helping. I can stand the cold but some sunshine would really help. We're just doing Thanksgiving here with just us this year. My kids are totally bummed out about not going to their grandpa's. His wife is not feeling well this year though, and they don't want to come over. Too many bugs around they say. My brother, SIL and nephew will go to her sister's so....it's just us. I have to agree with the kids it doesn't feel very festive. To add to that, my kids aren't really into traditional Thanksgiving fare. Except pumpkin pie. If I served only that and some cheese and crackers they'd be happy. I'm making a turkey though for dh and I at least, maybe some sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, rolls and broccoli ought to do it. Maybe the problem is that if you substituted chicken for turkey we eat like that about once a month. As for that other holiday, I'm firmly ignoring it.

Monday Again

Redneck, Monster Truck Barbie



Menus?
Sun-breakfast for dinner
Mon-cheese enchiladas, spanish rice, oranges
Tue-mac&cheese w/ham, broccoli, grapes
Wed-stew, biscuits, applesauce
Thu-You know
Fri-More of You Know
Sat-spinach&cheese pasta, bread, fruit salad

School Saturday

So a naturally organized person would keep all these posts on the same day, so they could be found. Since I don't fit that description I had to wait until the big light bulb went off over my head and I said "Doh!". Why not put all those posts on Saturday. Oooh, I am quick. So here's the review

Mel
SHE CAN READ. She decoded that classic "The Cat Sat on the Mat". It's not Shakespeare but you've got to start somewhere. She also goes around informing us of addition facts so I'm not worried about her. She also spent tons of time painting and creating some sort of 'gun' out of empty pop cans and cardboard with her brother.

F
LA-Worked on capitalization and punctuation. He can spot it in other's work but forgets it in his own. We also worked on those pesky commas. He read from his reader about Galileo & Copernicus, The Phases of the Moon, Neil Armstrong and The Nine Planets. Ooops that's the only problem with using a reader from 1975. We then watched Bill Nye tell us why Pluto doesn't make the cut anymore. Read alouds Has been The Sword in the Tree. He's also been reading MTH about Pompei whose title escapes me.

Math-Two part story problems. He got better as the week progressed. Still working on completely memorizing the times tables too.

Science-Not a great week and it was my fault. We did a little astronomy and health. He complained about how they used to get to watch a movie about teeth in school. What a weird thing to miss. Anyway, I found some neat games on the ADA website and let him do that one day.

History-Still progressing through Rome. I hope to finish that the end of semester at the beginning of January and finish up to the Renaissance by May. Then we can go to American history next year and throw world exploration in there.

Friday we went to Beauty and the Beast. Since it was 2 1/2 hours and there was an hour travel time, etc. I called that the day.

Beauty Eh

We went to see Beauty and the Beast today. A student performance so ticket were $2!. F didn't want to go, as it's "about princesses". For the record, I am to note here, he is not a wuss. We're going to be doing fairy tales in LA though, and the production at the college would be pretty good quality so we went along with Mel and Ads. I was nervous about taking a 2 year old. Even though the show was 2 1/2 hours long we made it. He decided after he saw some of his buds there that it was ok and there was enough music and lights and pageant to keep Ads occupied. A good day!

Rain, Rain, Go Away

Is forcing your children out into the near freezing rain abuse. Or saving them from abuse? Why don't I have lethargic, couch potato children? The couch cushion, card table, lincoln log labyrinth in my living room is disturbing.

The Rest of the Time

So, I hear all my relatives saying, "Then what are they doing the rest of the time?
Yesterday this

and this

and this

"

Schedule?

I was trolling around listlessly surfing when I cam on this aritcle about homeschool schedules. Some people have none, some people are ruthlessly organized. I'm somewhere in the middle I guess. I only have some framework because otherwise we'd do nothing. F would be happy playing x-box all day and living on Mt. Dew and doritos. So we've worked our way to this

5:00-I'm up, coffee, make breakfast for dh
6:00-teens up, talk, more coffee
7:00-get F and Ads out of bed, F lays on couch, get baby (she is too) dressed, pottied, fed, more coffee
8:00-middle school and 5th grader to school, get F fed (maybe), have him do his chores, pry him off games
All school times are approximate, I don't obsessively watch the clock
8:30-Mickey Mouse for Miss Ads and our read aloud time snuggled in my bedroom, we read until we hit a good stopping point, some days are longer than others
9-9:30-math, critical thinking puzzles
break
9:50-language arts, grammar
10:15-independent reading (me shower)
10:30-handwriting
10:40-history
11:00-science
11:15-LUNCH

He manages to play a little Wii in there or go outside if it's nice and finally eat something. I look at some people's schedules and I feel like we are so lazy. Other people make me feel like I push too hard. I know it's an individual thing but I'm a comparer. Always have been. On the bright side, I'm still probably hitting more content that the PS and I tallied up our projected school days and since we worked through the summer 4 days/week we'll be at 214 days which is over the 180 needed. And yes, I know they learn stuff all the time but I'm not sure I want to count watching Mythbusters and reading Magic Tree House books as school, even though they are valuable, KWIM? Oh, and I reserve the right to throw all this out the window if something more interesting comes up!

Menu Monday

All the chicks made it back to the nest by 8:30 last night so a good weekend for all. The weather for the food drive was fabulous and since walking for 3 hours didn't tire out the 6 and 8 yo we went to the park that evening. Why was I the only one tired?
What's cooking this week? Um, let me go through this in my head right now. I spent plenty at the grocery so there should be something.

Sun-we had breadsticks and cheese
Mon-chicken&noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans
Tue-tater tot casserole (they like this, they are Philistines), broccoli, applesauce
Wed-spaghetti, salad, oranges
Thu-roast, potatoes, carrots, grapes
Fri-hot dogs, mac&cheese, relishes
Sat-beef pot pie, fruit salad

Well, off to do a hundred things including deliver more *#&$^ popcorn.

Funducational Friday

We shook things up today. We are about 20 days ahead of the public school on days attended so I've decided twice a month we're going to try One-Hour A Day Homeschool. Basically I'll give history and science 20 minutes/ 20 minutes to reading and LA/ and 20 minutes to math. We got a surprising amount done. The rest of the day is for puzzles, educational videos, playing outside, reading, exploring, educational games, etc. That's pretty much what gets done anyway but lessons usually last more like 3 hours total. Since F was excited about having a 'short day' we got started at 7am. We're up anyway so why not. He watched Bill Nye on states of matter and the beginning of a documentary on Rome and Julius Caesar. We did a math review, worked on proper capitalization and punctuation in correspondence and he read to me from the ancient readers we like. We've been zooming along. We finally finished the Greeks and a bit of ancient China . Science has been states of matter, the concepts of atoms and molecules and metric vs customary measurement. Math has been a big review or all our topics up to this point. His retention is not good, even if he has passed a test with flying colors earlier. It seems every 6 weeks or so it pays to review all the big topics. LA was a study of community to tie into our Spanish classes. Capitalization, punctuation and double negatives were also tied into LA.

In more interesting life, the older two boys are going with their scout troop to Marengo Caves for the weekend. Oldest dd will be going to a friends orchestra performance on Friday and shopping with another friend on Saturday. Saturday is the Cub Scout Food Drive so I'll be shepherding
far too many 6-11 year old boys around town. We're having the Girl Scouts chip in to help this year so L and Mel will go too. Ad's is just along for the ride providing she'll stay in the stroller. I'm seriously considering lacing her juice with benadryl. (Before you call CPS, yes I'm joking.)

Remember

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- Lt. Col. John McCrae

Remember

In Flanders Fields
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
- Lt. Col. John McCrae

Daybook

FOR TODAY... from thejoyofsix Daybook

Outside my window...it's dark. Come on sunrise

I am thinking... I need more coffee

I am thankful for... the relative peace while kids eat and shower.

I am wearing... plaid lounge pants, a green t-shirt and a red sweater. Yea, that's right, not exactly lingerie.

I am remembering... how much I like summer days when all that time stretches in front of me.

I am going... to deliver Cub Scout popcorn.

I am reading... Murder at Longbourn

I am hoping... to mop my kitchen. Ah, the glamor

On my mind... whether I should have lent my new camera to my son.

From the learning rooms... we need to work on writing.

Noticing that... I feel better when I give up and go to bed at 9pm.

Pondering these words... "Every man is surrounded by a neighborhood of voluntary spies." Jane Austen

From the kitchen...Need to look at what I planned, I can't remember.

Around the house... Too many little jobs which I hate.

One of my favorite things~ Playing outside with my kids in the Fall. There are so many uses for dead leaves.


For more visit The Simple Woman's Daybook

Rolling On

The weather was unusually pleasant this weekend so the kids were out, out, out! This has the added benefit of making them fall asleep. Oh yeah! I'm not sure what the picnic table has to do with this but it seemed integral to whatever they were playing.

We didn't run much now that soccer is over and it wasn't a holiday weekend. I feel about 100 times better even if no one else does. The Colts managed to pull it out yesterday and I made milkshakes and passed it off as supper. That's really all it takes to make my weekend good.
Menus this week:
Mon-Calzones, relishes, oranges
Tue-Pierogi casserole, cole slaw, applesauce
Wed-Bean & cheese burritos, corn, kiwi
Thu-Ravioli and broccoli dish, strawberries
Fri-Shipwreck casserole, fruit salad
Sat-Burgers, fries, relishes

Rules of Engagement

Sometimes you just have to sit and listen to your kids and be amused. Yesterday in the car Mel was bemoaning the fact that she didn't know how to get married. F explained it to her.
"First you go to high school and date someone you like maybe two times. Then you get engaged. Dad walks you to church and leaves you with the guy up front. The engager makes you promise stuff. Then you're married. Then he has to get a job." This was followed by the pronouncement "I'm staying single. I don't want a job." I was laughing by then. I think we need to study ceremony, mating rituals and gender roles. Then again, as I pointed out to them, they are 6 and 8 and have a little time to work all that out.

Halloween

I'm still working with the broken camera. I also missed getting a pick of E dressed as a greek goddess. Flowing white garb, crown of flowers and gold glitter skin. Quite lovely actually. She was aiming for Persephone but said no one knew who that was so switched to telling them a goddess half way through the evening. The teen boys went to a horror movie with friends and I still got to take the above crew trick or treating.

Catch Up

Sill feeling kind of wonky. Headache from hell? Swine flu without the flu? Dh suggested brain tumor. Always a bright spot my husband. I haven't caught up the school front lately so here goes:

*note-This sounds impressive when you put it in one place but much of this was accompanied by whining and complaining and sheer cussedness. I think the only topic he really likes is history

LA-Lots and lots of books, some even had little medals on the front in the hopes I won't pass on my dreadful literary tastes. We've also studied, pronouns, analogies, similies, characterization, inferences, vocab and spelling words

Math-Rightstart-money including how to make change, because I hate it when people cannot make change. Just count folks. This led us to some discussion of decimal points. We also worked on doing addition in his head and subtraction and some more multiplication. He was glad to learn the trick to multiplying by 10, 100, 1000, etc.

Science-We finished a sort of ecology unit covering biomes, habitat, balance of nature with some migration, hibernation and metamorphosis thrown in and a detour into sleep states

History-We will NEVER be done with the Greeks. He got all involved in the Peloponesian Wars. Hiss Xerxes, yeah Leonidas. We explored some History channel stuff but the BBC's seemed better researched. We will move on to Alexander next week or else. I'm glad he has enjoyed this but enough already. There's lots more blood and guts to be had in the coming history.

Everything else-Cursive crawls on. I get the feeling if disgraphia exists he's got it. We studied a smattering of autumn topics from a unit study and did a chromatography experiment with leaves, watched a video of popcorn popping, learned about pumpkins and Samhain and Celts. Spanish class and PE crawled on. Tomorrow we're visiting a pumpkin patch. The public school kids have a day off so we're just going to do the field trip and call it good.

Kindergarten-
She's content to color, paint, read, do connect the dots and mazes, write numbers and count and do simple addition. That's enough for me.

Out of Commission

I had a migraine. The meds didn't do much, thus the lack of a Monday post. Not that it matters but I feel guilty when I let this blog lapse too long. We made it through the weekend with lots of fun had by all. At least until Sunday night for me, lol. I did recover in time to make it to the Cub Scout cookout last night. It's kind of scary when I think of how many of those I've been to. S started in first grade and that was 9 years ago. Oh well, two more years and F will age out and then I'll look back fondly. Someday. A long time from now.
Friday is a day off from public school for my older kids. The littlest three and I are going on a homeschool field trip to the pumpkin patch. I've got F doing research on pumpkins, etc to make it somewhat more educational for him. I figure the trip alone is enough for a kindergartner. The two year old is just along for the ride. It should be fun, and if they were to stay lost for a longish time in the straw maze, well, that would be ok.
As for the rest of the week, Boy Scouts tonight, Wednesday is spanish and Kids' Klub, Thursday is homeschool PE. Friday is also the local Scarecrow Festival which consists of all the small town stuff-chili cook off, hayride, apple bobbing, donut eating and little carnival games put on by local businesses. The little kids will like it and it will give the teen boys a chance to scope out girls.

The Weekend

Another one of those weekends where we're running too many directions
Mel is going to her first birthday party for someone not in the family. The excitement is almost too much. E is going to a psychiatric disfunction benefit concert and out with friends. The joke material in that one has given her brothers hours of mirth. Our last three soccer games are Saturday morning. In the predicted rain. S is playing the grim reaper in the elementary school fundraiser Woods Spooktacular. In the afore mentioned rain on Friday and Saturday night. Sunday is a girl scout Halloween party and the soccer end of year bash. I'm tired just writing it all down. Oh, and Phil will probably work since one of his co-workers who was supposed to work is ill. Of course the chance for extra money has me pushing him out the door. Nicely of course.

What's Really The Problem?

Odd conversation the other day. I was doing the Daisy girl scout thing (because myself and 10 other parents seem to do everything in this town) and my fellow leaders were discussing the state's new must pass algebra test. No pass= no diploma. It seems that the failure rate is huge. I hadn't paid much attention because 1) my kids got algebra and 2) my oldest two got grandfathered in. My now 8th grader will take it but he's a math whiz. Anyway, much complaining about the test ensued, which may be valid, but my thought was what about the teaching. Surely there must be something wrong with math education if that many kids are failing. And not just algebra but way back in grade school. I am familiar with our high school's plan to fix the problem. All the honor society kids are required to do peer tutoring. You can read that as my kids. Yes, a giant unpaid labor force. So which is it the test, the teaching or both? I refer you to the great blog Kitchen Table Math the sequel for some food for thought.

Six

Miss Mel turned six yesterday. This morning she announced she is almost seven. Slow down already why doncha! I wish I could take credit for the cake, but an eighth grade friend of hers made it. She's the type of six year old who has eighth grade friends. But she is so sweet she makes your teeth hurt.


One of her favorite expressions. "Well, you don't see that everyday." It cracks me up coming out in that little voice every time.
Another Melism. When told she looked like a princess her response was "I am not a princess, I am the queen!

Three Year Degree

Someone, somewhere is thinking. Some colleges and universities are offering three year degrees. It caught my attention because my Alma Mater good ol' Ball State is mentioned as being one of those with the offering. Our minds are on all things college as E graduates in May. She has 3 AP credits to date and has yet to take two more AP tests as she is still in the class. She is third in a class of 500 so she has worked hard. It's a matter of how to best manage the costs, not a matter of if she will be accepted. She has figured out the three year idea herself, planning on taking summer classes and completing as quickly as possible. Of course her next planned step is joining the Peace Corp so not racking up debt is important. Her career plans are not going to lead to 'big money'.

Better Be The Truth

The sun is scheduled to shine today. That better be the truth. If it is we are so declaring Fall Break and going outside!

Menus this week

Mon-hamburger stroganoff on noodles,green beans, apple crisp
Tue-milkshakes, peanut butter sandwiches (dd's birthday meal pick), cake
Wed-spaghetti&turkey meatballs, salad, garlic toast
Thu-shepherd's pie, carrots, oranges
Fri-bean burritos, corn, fruit salad
Sat-calzones, relishes, cookies

Gloomy

I am officially sick of rainy autumn days. One or two are great for snuggling down with a book but enough already. Fall in Indiana is supposed to be full of warm, sunny days and golden leaves. Most of the leaves are residing in my front yard, knocked down by all the water. Where is global warming? The summer never really got started and now I'm being deprived of autumn too. Mel said yesterday that she wants to move where it's always warm. I guess I know who I'll visit often in my dotage (which contrary to some snarky teens opinion, is NOT YET).

Repeat

It seems like every post is a repeat. I used to have more wit than this. Busy, busy, busy. I'm counting the weeks left in soccer and firmly ignoring how much scouts and church Kids' Klub are left. Add in trying to keep track or the teens' schedules, the upcoming Halloween/Autumn parties for all and trying to stay ahead of the housework (it's gaining on me) and I don't have anything good or interesting to right. And I still haven't replaced the broken camera so no pictures. This post is enough to put me in a funk. I'm not down, really, just so taken up with the mundane things that must be done. And I wish for the sun would shine for Pete's sake. I'm tired of sitting huddled under a blanket already.

Week In Review (If I Can Remember It All)

Busy at the homestead this week. We had something to do every stinking night. Ah well, can't complain about being bored.
School wise (which sounds like Samwise) we got quite a bit accomplished.

LA
For reasons unknown to me he has taken a shine to Jabberwocky so we read that a million times. I explained who Lewis Carroll was and Alice in Wonderland (which I loathe), etc.
Inferences at T4L, pronoun agreement, F read A Halloween Mystery and did a book report. We started The Boxcar Children as a read-aloud. He's on lesson 13 in his vocab book. I'm looking at getting something that uses Latin word roots for his next book since we'll be done with this one in 10 weeks.
Math
He's got the 1,2,3,5,10,11 multiplication facts memorized. We also continued to work on 2 digit addition in his head. He did a page of story problems and a couple Rightstart lessons on time which were mostly review. Oh, and he did T4L multiplication too.
Science
We've been working on what I'm terming ecology. We worked on biomes, food chains, the (Disney sounding) circle or life ie. producers/consumers/decomposers. We also talked a lot about photosynthesis and the changing color of the leaves.
History
He loves those Greeks. He thought he'd rather live in Athens but read about the Spartans. We also looked at Cyrus and those wacky Persians.

We struggled through cursive though he hates putting pen, pencil or crayon for that matter to paper. We also attended homeschool PE and Spanish. I can now not only ask for the bathroom and order a beer but identify numerous body part.

He also somewhere picked up Moby Dick info and had a ton of questions about that story? I think it came from a Timmy Turner episode on Nickelodeon. There was also a ton of Animal Planet watching and today he got hooked on a history channel show on Hannibal (the general, not the cannibal).

Kindergarten
All the above science, though she doesn't retain everything. Lots, lots, lots of reading. Especially Fancy Nancy (whom I also loathe). Just saying. She's got quite a few dolce sight words down and is slowly sounding stuff out with help. Math is still simple addition and subtraction. She hates all the patterns and sorting stuff. She gets it so we're done with that.

Oh and let's not forget that I made a hobbit cloak for my 15yo for a book report presentation for his honors English class! What happened to writing a perfectly good report and moving on. What's with the poster and presentation? Seems like we could use that time to read the next book. He re-read Lord of the Rings (Shhh) because they had to read something by an English author written after 1890. Sure, wouldn't want them to pick Shakespeare or something.

Can't See

My 17yo borrowed my camera. Now it takes pictures but you can't see through the view finder. It makes taking photos hit or miss. I did get these two.
What good are wind chimes if you can't clink them?

After the 5th grade country cross country championship. She doesn't even look winded. My cold, dead body would still be laying on the course.

Gathering Leaves

Too busy for more than this today.

Gathering Leaves

by Robert Frost

Spades take up leaves
No better than spoons,
And bags full of leaves
Are light as balloons.
I make a great noise
Of rustling all day
Like rabbit and deer
Running away.
But the mountains I raise
Elude my embrace,
Flowing over my arms
And into my face.
I may load and unload
Again and again
Till I fill the whole shed,
And what have I then?
Next to nothing for weight,
And since they grew duller
From contact with earth,
Next to nothing for color.
Next to nothing for use.
But a crop is a crop,
And who's to say where
The harvest shall stop?

Funducational Friday

Hmm, this week. Well for fun we had Spanish Class and Homeschool PE. I don't think the kids care about the subjects but love the before and after when 20 kids run wild. Little anarchists my kids. Today we're going here Mississinewa 1812

F covered:
Finished reading Jake Drake, Class Clown~still working on his report
LA-lots of vocab, practice test taking in Spectrum workbook, punctuation&capitalization (again), author's purpose and comprehension tactics
Math-learning multiplication tables, he's got 1,2,3,5,10,11 down, also worked on telling time to the minute with an actual clock. I had to go buy one. Digital are all that's in the house.
Science-plants, specifically the process of photosynthesis. We also got library books about slime, fungus, and killer plants.
History-Greeks, watched some videos too and he is obsessed with The Odyssey. Putting out a cyclops' eye, sea monsters and whirlpools, people being turned into pigs. He loves the story. We read a child's version and he watched an old movie of it (Ulysses) with Kirk Douglas. Homer's got a hit on his hands.
He also worked on cursive. He hates having to write anything so this is slow going.

Mel:
K is so easy
LA-reading simple words with phonics and learning sight words, trying to label drawings
Math-sorting, writing numbers to 100, counting by 10s
Science-plants and autumn leaves
History-she was there but not interested, she mostly played pet shop

High Praise

This morning, Mel announced that Ad had taken off her diaper and peed on the floor. (Congratulate self for choosing vinyl in kids' rooms). I handed her a stack of diapers to go clean it up. She said "You're great. You always have the right thing mom." So glad I can still solve the little problems with panache. Of course, she's only 5 so what does she have to compare me against ;-)

This Just In

I love overhearing what my kids come up with. Evidently it's a version of pokemon. Except Mel is working with Chicky Kit and F's is named MonkeyPooper. Lots of dark magic, bomb attacks, blaster shields, star raiders, etc. Weird, yet imaginative.

Reading Favorites

Because I'm anxiously waiting for the next C.S. Harris novel in November


I'm reading old favorites. Summer of the Dragon is light and fluffy and has a heroine who is very like myself. Lots of fun if a teensy bit dated. I also reread Weep and Know Why. It has another actually believable heroine. In the they are nothing like me category I'm working my way through Will Thomas' Barker and Llewelyn mysteries.

This doesn't count that I've secretly reread F's Encylcopedia Brown books. I loved those as a kid. I can't believe how many I remember. Which says something about my trivial state of mind no doubt.

Fly By Post

The menus
Mon-beef veggie soup (raided the freezer leftover bucket), biscuits
Tue-cheeseburger macaroni, green beans, applesauce
Wed-baked chicken, corn, mashed potato & gravy, grapes from yard
Thu-cheese&bean quesadillas, salsa, canned oranges
Fri-breakfast for dinner~eggs/pancakes/hash browns, OJ
Sat-pizza breadsticks, relishes, ice cream
Sun-spaghetti&meatballs, broccoli, garlic breadsticks

Yep, it's the same old same old. I keep asking if they want something new. If I actually left it to them we would eat corn dogs, tacos and pizza in an endless cycle.

I spent most of last week and the weekend either attending soccer or working the parking lot with my boys for scouts. They hopefully earned enough to pay for summer camp. That's the goal anyway. This week is busy too. Soccer practice/scouts/cubs/girl scouts/Kid's Klub/5th grade cross country county meet/spanish and PE.

Last week was gray but pretty warm. Today is blustery (sounds very Pooh-ish) and downright chilly at 60 degrees. I'm not ready for summer to be over..... wah.........

Autumn

Autumn Fires

IN the other gardens
And all up the vale,
From the autumn bonfires
See the smoke trail!

Pleasant summer over
And all the summer flowers,
The red fire blazes,
The gray smoke towers.

Sing a song of seasons!
Something bright in all!
Flowers in the summer,
Fires in the fall!

R.L. Stevenson
A Child's Garden of Verses

School Sunday

What we did last week? Um, let's test mom's recall. The end of the week got away from me but that happens sometimes.
Math-finished Rightstart B. It only took a month. He knew this stuff but not as well as I wanted. He took the end test and got 100% A+. That matters to him. We played math games on Thursday and Friday. Timezattack and cosmic math. We'll start C tomorrow
LA-We finished mind mapping, venn diagrams and book reports. He is reading Jake Drake, Class Clown on his own and we're reading Mr. Popper's Penguin's together. It'll be done mid week and I'm thinking of reading some Lois Lowry (Gooney Bird Greene or The Willoughby's). He also did a chapter of vocab on homographs and a couple pages of a spectrum workbook to practice bubble tests.
History-we worked through ancient India, China, Africa and some early western world stuff. He likes me to read while he's on the trampoline. I worried about his long term retention but he spent a long car trip on Saturday explaining Gilgamesh and early rice farming to his sisters so he's retaining something, lol. For the record, Gilgamesh is wicked cool. The labryinth and the minotaur are good too. Next week on to the Greeks. That should take some time.
Science-Still working on weather. Worked our way through atmosphere, clouds, storm formation, lighting, thunder, etc. I think we'll continue this week. I'd really like him to understand fronts and weather formation.

Funducational Friday

Funny for me. Education for Jon Stewart. !!!!Warning!!!!-a couple of bleeped obscenities and some use of body parts. Maybe you don't want to explain it to your pre-schooler.

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
The Audacity of Hos
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Political Humor Healthcare Protests

Wedding Wednesday

So, it occurred to me last night that we have to go a wedding Saturday (Hi Shannon!). I have done nothing for this. I'm not sure my boys own anything but jeans and sneakers. I'm pretty sure a trip to K-Mart for polo shirts will be happening. Then there's me. Hmmm, I'm pretty much a jeans and sneakers girl too. I just don't have any reason to get 'all purdied up' so anything I do have is sorely out of date. Perhaps I can just hold Miss Ads and have the other girls stand in front of me and no one will notice?

Menu Monday and Plans for the Week

Ok, maybe I need to title this Mundane Monday, but here again are the menu plans for the week, because we have to eat for Pete's sake.

Mon-chicken&noodles, mashed potato, grapes (in thermos' at the soccer field)

Tue-spaghetti&meatballs, salad, strawberries

Wed-ham, rice&broccoli casserole, oranges

Thu-cheese quesadillas w/toppings, corn, kiwi

Fri-hamburgers, fries & s'mores (cooking out)

Sat-veggie soup, bread, leftover fruit w/chocolate dipping sauce

Sun-cube steaks, baked potatoes, carrots, pie?

On tap for this week:

soccer practice

library club

kids' club

homeschool spanish class

high school homecoming parade (some marching, some in the band, and the rest watching)

cross country practice

travel to MI Saturday for wedding

Hopefully we'll:

finish logical patterns this week (well not finish, since you use them daily, but you know what I mean)

do 5 Rightstart lessons

work on story mapping

continue weather study

finish an overview of ancient history up to the Greeks

read another Encylopedia Brown book

Miss Mel

fill in the 100 chart

letter of the week

read, read, read

field trip to Safety Village (referred to by older brothers as Be Careful Burg)

Not Like Other Families

Heard from the living room with dripping sarcasm. "Ooooh, herbivores, I'm sooo scared."

Saturday School Report

So, as we all know I'm the poster child for ADD so.... to keep me reminded of what we did get done and to satisfy all the family and friends who wonder just what are you teaching them:

The year up to now

all summer we reviewed math and language arts and studied some American history

Since beginning in earnest for the fall we've studied

LA-comprehension skills, reading cues, reference book use, alphabetizing and the dewey decimal system and sequencing skills, we've done vocabulary skills (synonyms, homonyms, etc), reading aloud processing skills and more work on reading comprehension

Math-number theory and systems (place value, expanded form), addition up to 5 digits and an extensive review of math facts using Rightstart, also story problems and patterns

History-ancient history from the nomads through mesopotamia, Egypt and Assyrians and Phoenicians

Science-in depth study of earth science, began weather this week

Vocabulary -lists done weekly

Cursive

Read Alouds-Detectives in Togas, Red Sails to Capri, Magic School Bus and Magic Tree House books , A Cricket in Times Square and numerous Greek Myths and Aesop's Fables

For my step-mom who worries they are being kept away from the world he has soccer on Monday and Saturday, Kid's Klub on Wed, homeschool Spanish class on Wed and homeschool PE on Thurs and of course every kid in the neighborhood is here to play with Mr. Popularity after school.

Miss Mel-

Letter of the Week ~A, M, S, F

Read Aloud~Dr. Suess, Amelia Bedelia, Beatrix Potter, Fairytales and anything else that catches her eye at the library

Science-Bearanstain Bears Big Book of Science, Usborne Beginner Science Books

Social Studies-Books about different people and places and children around the world

Her social schedule is the same as ds's.

Remember

Post Labor Day Haze

We had a good weekend here. Saturday had the best weather and luckily that day we went to the Toledo Zoo. Lots of fun. Sunday we went to a cookout and Monday we just kind of hung out. The kids are all feeling better. S quit his job so he can work on his Eagle project and attend some other clubs he's had to do without. It's clean out the freezer week so...

Menus this week:

Mon-stew (leftover meat and carrots) w/dumplings, leftover fruit tray

Tue-macaroni&cheese w/ham, broccoli, grapes

Wed-spaghetti &meatballs, salad, strawberries

Thu-baked chicken thighs, green beans, salad,pudding

Fri-rice/ham/cheese casserole, peas, fruit salad

Sat- hamburgers, relishes, ice cream w/raspberries (providing they're ripe)

Sun-leftover clean out or pbj

I Love Buzzkill

Yikes

Kinda creepy.

"When an opponent declares, 'I will not come over to your side,' I say calmly, 'Your child belongs to us already...Let me control the textbooks and I will control the state. The state will take youth and give to youth its own education and its own upbringing. Your child belongs to us already….What are you? You will pass on. Your descendants, however, now stand in the new camp. In a short time they will know nothing but this new community'." Adolf Hitler

And for the record, I don't trust any of them.

Menu Monday and the Coming School Week

First, the food (because with me that always comes first)

Mon-relishes, ham cubes, cheese cubes, grapes, crackers ~all in a cooler at soccer practice

older kids will FFYS, plenty to eat if they make it

Tue-pork chops, scalloped potatoes, salad, strawberries

Wed-greek chicken, rice, green beans, lemon sorbet

Thu-spaghetti, salad, oranges

Fri-tacos, corn, apple slices& caramel dip

Sat-veggie soup, 1 hr french bread, ice cream

Sun-corn dog casserole, relishes, grapes

The school week plan

Greek Myths~reading aloud

Math~adding in your head

Vocab~homophones

Handwriting~ letters i,u,w,t

LA~Fact vs. Opinion, Story Maps, KISS grammar

History~ Babylon, Assyria, Early Jewish History

Science~ Erosion&Weathering, Recycling, Start Weather

We're finishing an Encylopedia Brown book at bedtime and maybe we'll move on to Ginger Pye next

Two

Baby girl turned two today. Birthday celebrations were cancelled however since she was felled last night with Dengue Fever or whatever mystery virus is still winding its way through the house. She, fortunately, is clueless. Her five year old sister voted for having the party anyway and keeping the birthday girl quarantined to her room until it was over. She explained that she could have cake that way and no one would get sick. Ah, sisterly concern. No two year photos or cake shots so I'll pull up some from two years ago.

Number 4 Falls

My fourth child has begun run the 'mysterious fever' . It is sweeping the house. It's the new rage. Ok, maybe not. Of course she had people coming over tonight and is invited to a big party tomorrow. She will be crushed if she can't go to 'the biggest sleepover ever' tomorrow. I shall ply her with motrin. My experience with the brothers though is she ain't gonna be better. And no,(I say this because people have been on my back) I didn't take them to the doctor to see if it's Swine Flu . Ooops, H1N1 (IN is a pork producing state after all, gotta be politically correct). If they had been truly ill of course I'd take them but this seems to be some 2 or 3 day fever/virus. Now if they start to oink or develop and aversion to bacon I'm gonna call

Stuff I Like

Don't Mess with Her

No Fake Crap, LOL

Eleven Years Ago

She has gone from this small (and evidently electrocuted, if the hair is an indicator) baby

To this vivacious, tough, smart young lady. Happy Birthday Honey. Love ya' more than chocolate!

Funducational Friday

Our first Friday after a full week. I'm opting to mix things up a couple Fridays a month. For all our sanities. Today we read Egyptian myths as part of our Egypt study and wrote our names in Heiroglyphs. We played online dinosaur games http://funschool.kaboose.com/time-warp/dinosaurs/ and did some dinosaur graphing from Enchanted Learning. We also did an addition quiz (horrors) and wrote three whole sentences about Egypt (double horrors) but it was mostly a good day and week. We got lots done in school. I've been using a bastardized workbox system so that at least one of us is in on the plan. I've decided (like nap time) it's not for them, it's for me.

Filling in One of the Little Sisters