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