Know the most fun you can have on a Sunday? Waiting in the packed emergency room with your 10 yo. Once they decide it is her appendix things move along nicely though. She had her surgery at 7pm and we got home last evening. I'm glad she's fine but whew. Figuring out who will pick up other kids and watch the littles is as exhausting as being with L was. At least they can only have appendicitis once, right. Our menu this week
Sun-dd ordered pizza
Mon-a friend brought over potatoes & noodles
Tue-country fried steak, mashed potatoes, carrots
Wed-shepherd's pie
Thu-spaghettt, broccoli, garlic bread
Fri-pizza, ice cream
Sat-turkey tacos, corn
Sun-steaks, baked potatoes, salad
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Happy Birthday F
I was going to post a baby picture of F but he vehemently objected. "I'm not a baby mom, duh." So here is something he finds hilarious. I can't hear a thing. He assures me it's like fingernails on a chalkboard.
This explained sound waves better than anything I could say.
Created by Train Horns
This explained sound waves better than anything I could say.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Family Friday
What's going on around here? A long week. Dh has a nine day stretch of work ending next Wednesday and featuring two ten hour days this weekend. Mayhap's he'll be a little crabby? The teens are running around doing teenish things, movies, staying at friends, track, soccer. Grade cards came last week. Straight A's across the board. I'm not sure if that really says anything about my kids or about the system. Home schooly boy? Here he is displaying his play-doh solar system.
The tangled up rabbit dropping thing is the asteroid belt (which twisted in the picture) which he insisted must be included. He learned that anyway. Tomorrow is his birthday. Eight!!! My sweet little boy is turning all mannish, eschewing things that are sissy, pink, lame or stupid. We are having a non-party birthday party which means about six of his friends are coming for cake, video games, movies, trampoline jumping and general mayhem with no real planning from me.
What else? I've been doing some hit or miss first grade stuff with Mel as she feels like it. She would be a dream to homeschool since she doesn't know she's not supposed to be interested. She wants to go to Kindergarten though. She, quite frankly, is the little queen bee of pre-school and likes having minions. We'll see.
The tangled up rabbit dropping thing is the asteroid belt (which twisted in the picture) which he insisted must be included. He learned that anyway. Tomorrow is his birthday. Eight!!! My sweet little boy is turning all mannish, eschewing things that are sissy, pink, lame or stupid. We are having a non-party birthday party which means about six of his friends are coming for cake, video games, movies, trampoline jumping and general mayhem with no real planning from me.
What else? I've been doing some hit or miss first grade stuff with Mel as she feels like it. She would be a dream to homeschool since she doesn't know she's not supposed to be interested. She wants to go to Kindergarten though. She, quite frankly, is the little queen bee of pre-school and likes having minions. We'll see.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Wacky Wednesday
From L, while sitting on Ad's tiny trike.
"Look mom, I didn't get a scholarship so I'm going to clown school."
"Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do."
Steve Jobs
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Tightwad Tuesday
It's time for Tightwad Tuesday with Canadagirl. I've still got 5 hours of Tuesday left. My tip for this week is so boring but....stay home. Really, people spend so much time chasing around to keep their kids or themselves entertained, enriched, enlivened. Not that some of that isn't fun, heaven knows I get crazy busy, but if you just slow down and stay home...how can you spend any $$$. Here's what my littlest two found to do for free today.
It's not just my little kids. Two of my teens are reading, three are watching Animal Planet, one is studying and one is sleeping. No cash involved. Many people spend mega bucks on cable, computers, movies, music, books, hobbies, toys for the kids and still run around 'looking for something to do'. Try staying home for one week and use the stuff you've got, and enjoy the moment.
Monday, March 23, 2009
Monday Again
This week the good eats include
Mon-turkey, dressing, broccoli, biscuits
Tue-mac&cheese 2/ham, carrots
Wed-turkey&noodles, mashed potatoes, corn
Thu-grilled burgers, fries, relishes
Fri-pizza
Sat-burritos
Sun-soup&sandwiches
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
An Irish Blessing for You (and Tightwad Tuesday)
May those that love us, love us.
And those that don't love us,
May God turn their hearts.
And if He doesn't turn their hearts,
May He turn their ankles
So we will know them by their limping.
This week (as my garbage disposal died quite loudly in the middle of the Sunday morning chaos) I learned the value of registering your appliances so the warranty is in effect. The grinding and choking of the disposal was followed by the reset button falling out. Hmmmm. I detect a problem. Luckily(get that St. Pat's tie in?) I had sent in the registration and will be getting a new one installed this week at no cost to me. I always feel like it's such a pain to send in those little cards or go on line, I don't know why I feel that way, but I'm sure glad I did.
Monday, March 16, 2009
Menu Plan Monday
This week
Mon-spaghetti, salad, garlic bread
Tue-salsbury steak, mashed potatoes, carrots
Wed-chicken alfredo, green beans, rolls
Thu-macaroni&cheese, sausages, broccoli
Fri-tacos, corn
Sat-pizza, ice cream
Sun-chicken&dumplings, carrots
Friday, March 13, 2009
Family Friday
A full week this week. I took F and the little girlies to the Botanical Conservatory, I taught at Kid's Klub, C had two swim meets, Cub Scouts, figuring out Girl Scout cookie money. mud-rain-muck, repeat. So I guess that's a usual week. No more basketball this weekend so if I can pick up the boys' glasses and some groceries, go to a church dinner Saturday night, church Sunday and a Girl Scout meeting Sunday I'm home free to start again.
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Breathe
Another day skipped. Argh! Good intentions and all but I got way laid with teen temperament, pre-teen meltdown, kids' klub, mother's meeting, teaching and volcano creation. Yes, my dd volunteered to make the volcano demonstration for science class. The volcano wasn't bad, it was all the 'help' that slowed us down. I also need to be thinking about an 8th birthday party. And of course I'm endlessly befuddled about the 7 and 8 yo love of using the words poop, pee, stinky, fart, etc.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
I'm Late, I'm Late
Ok, by passing Menu Monday and moving on to
I'm here to sing the praises of the drying rack.
It's easy to dry your clothes on the line in nice weather, but what about in the winter? The drying rack is my answer. It takes awhile but they do dry and I'm probably humidifying the air too. Jeans and towels get hung over night and finished lightly in the dryer ( 10min maybe). Dh's dress shirts get hung to dry on hangers. It works for us, uses less electricity, saves wear and tear on the dryer and will hopefully make my rather elderly dryer last longer too.
I'm here to sing the praises of the drying rack.
It's easy to dry your clothes on the line in nice weather, but what about in the winter? The drying rack is my answer. It takes awhile but they do dry and I'm probably humidifying the air too. Jeans and towels get hung over night and finished lightly in the dryer ( 10min maybe). Dh's dress shirts get hung to dry on hangers. It works for us, uses less electricity, saves wear and tear on the dryer and will hopefully make my rather elderly dryer last longer too.
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Wacky Wednesday
So I never gave much thought to homeschooling until I started this with F. Heck, the questions and comments are nearly as bad as the large family ones. Evidently this has been all over the web, but I came late to the party.
The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
by Deborah Markus, from Secular Homeschooling, Issue #1, Fall 2007
1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.
3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.
9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.
10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.
12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.
14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.
18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.
22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.
23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.
24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!
The Bitter Homeschooler's Wish List
by Deborah Markus, from Secular Homeschooling, Issue #1, Fall 2007
1 Please stop asking us if it's legal. If it is — and it is — it's insulting to imply that we're criminals. And if we were criminals, would we admit it?
2 Learn what the words "socialize" and "socialization" mean, and use the one you really mean instead of mixing them up the way you do now. Socializing means hanging out with other people for fun. Socialization means having acquired the skills necessary to do so successfully and pleasantly. If you're talking to me and my kids, that means that we do in fact go outside now and then to visit the other human beings on the planet, and you can safely assume that we've got a decent grasp of both concepts.
3 Quit interrupting my kid at her dance lesson, scout meeting, choir practice, baseball game, art class, field trip, park day, music class, 4H club, or soccer lesson to ask her if as a homeschooler she ever gets to socialize.
4 Don't assume that every homeschooler you meet is homeschooling for the same reasons and in the same way as that one homeschooler you know.
5 If that homeschooler you know is actually someone you saw on TV, either on the news or on a "reality" show, the above goes double.
6 Please stop telling us horror stories about the homeschoolers you know, know of, or think you might know who ruined their lives by homeschooling. You're probably the same little bluebird of happiness whose hobby is running up to pregnant women and inducing premature labor by telling them every ghastly birth story you've ever heard. We all hate you, so please go away.
7 We don't look horrified and start quizzing your kids when we hear they're in public school. Please stop drilling our children like potential oil fields to see if we're doing what you consider an adequate job of homeschooling.
8 Stop assuming all homeschoolers are religious.
9 Stop assuming that if we're religious, we must be homeschooling for religious reasons.
10 We didn't go through all the reading, learning, thinking, weighing of options, experimenting, and worrying that goes into homeschooling just to annoy you. Really. This was a deeply personal decision, tailored to the specifics of our family. Stop taking the bare fact of our being homeschoolers as either an affront or a judgment about your own educational decisions.
11 Please stop questioning my competency and demanding to see my credentials. I didn't have to complete a course in catering to successfully cook dinner for my family; I don't need a degree in teaching to educate my children. If spending at least twelve years in the kind of chew-it-up-and-spit-it-out educational facility we call public school left me with so little information in my memory banks that I can't teach the basics of an elementary education to my nearest and dearest, maybe there's a reason I'm so reluctant to send my child to school.
12 If my kid's only six and you ask me with a straight face how I can possibly teach him what he'd learn in school, please understand that you're calling me an idiot. Don't act shocked if I decide to respond in kind.
13 Stop assuming that because the word "home" is right there in "homeschool," we never leave the house. We're the ones who go to the amusement parks, museums, and zoos in the middle of the week and in the off-season and laugh at you because you have to go on weekends and holidays when it's crowded and icky.
14 Stop assuming that because the word "school" is right there in homeschool, we must sit around at a desk for six or eight hours every day, just like your kid does. Even if we're into the "school" side of education — and many of us prefer a more organic approach — we can burn through a lot of material a lot more efficiently, because we don't have to gear our lessons to the lowest common denominator.
15 Stop asking, "But what about the Prom?" Even if the idea that my kid might not be able to indulge in a night of over-hyped, over-priced revelry was enough to break my heart, plenty of kids who do go to school don't get to go to the Prom. For all you know, I'm one of them. I might still be bitter about it. So go be shallow somewhere else.
16 Don't ask my kid if she wouldn't rather go to school unless you don't mind if I ask your kid if he wouldn't rather stay home and get some sleep now and then.
17 Stop saying, "Oh, I could never homeschool!" Even if you think it's some kind of compliment, it sounds more like you're horrified. One of these days, I won't bother disagreeing with you any more.
18 If you can remember anything from chemistry or calculus class, you're allowed to ask how we'll teach these subjects to our kids. If you can't, thank you for the reassurance that we couldn't possibly do a worse job than your teachers did, and might even do a better one.
19 Stop asking about how hard it must be to be my child's teacher as well as her parent. I don't see much difference between bossing my kid around academically and bossing him around the way I do about everything else.
20 Stop saying that my kid is shy, outgoing, aggressive, anxious, quiet, boisterous, argumentative, pouty, fidgety, chatty, whiny, or loud because he's homeschooled. It's not fair that all the kids who go to school can be as annoying as they want to without being branded as representative of anything but childhood.
21 Quit assuming that my kid must be some kind of prodigy because she's homeschooled.
22 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of prodigy because I homeschool my kids.
23 Quit assuming that I must be some kind of saint because I homeschool my kids.
24 Stop talking about all the great childhood memories my kids won't get because they don't go to school, unless you want me to start asking about all the not-so-great childhood memories you have because you went to school.
25 Here's a thought: If you can't say something nice about homeschooling, shut up!
Tuesday, March 03, 2009
Tightwad Tuesday
I was trying to think of a topic for this week's Tightwad Tuesday and settled on TV via Internet. I was probably one of the first people to watch Hulu. Way back when it didn't have alot of choice. It did have old shows I remembered from my childhood which hooked me . Does anybody else remember Alias Smith and Jones? Anyway, the point is, between Hulu, Spreety, Joost and the network sites I hardly turn on the TV. Frankly the shows I like usually aren't on at a convenient time anyway. Is television a great way to spend your time? Probably not, but you know, after you've reread War and Peace and brushed up on your Calculus skills you need to kill some time, right?
Monday, March 02, 2009
MPM
This week
Mon-roast, carrots, potatoes
Tue-lasagna, broccoli, garlic bread (using 1 hr french bread)
Wed-stew, biscuits
Thu-chicken alfredo, green beans, oranges
Fri-hot dogs, french fries, grapes
Sat-tacos, corn, apples
Sun-broccoli, ham&cheese baked potatoes
Tonight is L's last basketball practice and there are two more weeks of swim team. Of course I have soccer, baseball and track forms on the fridge. ~sigh~
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