Sunshine Vitamin

I'm taking this article under advisement. But instead of supplementing we're actually going to go out in the sunshine.

For laughs I'm going to read this.

We're starting our Spring Break tomorrow. I'm gonna lounge around, eat bonbons, read glossy magazines and let my kids run wild. Ok, probably not but since some seem to think that's what I do all the time I thought I'd live up to my image. Actually I'll probably have to hike through the woods, go bowling, laser tagging and I promised someone she could get her ears pierced.

Monday Menu

~potato frittata, have with bread and salad
~mac&cheese w/a tiny bit of ham thrown in, I can really stretch a little meat this way, broccoli, grapes
~beef&bean burritos/tacos, about 1/2 and 1/2, corn, oranges
~corndog casserole, relishes,fruit salad
~ homemade pizza, relishes, sherbet
~swiss steak on rice, carrots, baked apples
~chili soup,relishes, fruit bowl

Nine

You hang out too much with teenagers and so greet everyone with "dude" and report most things are "lame". But you still hug me and tell me I'm the best so you're not all grown up yet.

School Saturday

Went to the school carnival last night. The kids had fun (except F who had a stomach ache). He revived a little when we got home though and stayed up to watch some old cheesy movie with C about Jason and the Argonauts. It was evidently made in 1963 so the special effects were a hoot. E and S were out with the German Club bowling. Today we are celebrating F's birthday. It is really tomorrow but Palm Sunday is not a good day for a birthday party. He will be 9. Shocking to me! He still loves his mom though so it's all right. On to what we got accomplished this week:

F

LA-exclamatory, interrogative and declarative sentences ,reading in his reader .we're reading The Wizard of Oz out loud and another Encyclopedia Brown book ,he practiced LA and handwriting with copy work of how to write dates, months, days, etc and practiced his middle name in cursive, did vocab

Math-fractions, equivalent fractions (worked hard on this), area and kept on practicing the multiplication facts

History-finished the Vikings, he found them pretty interesting

Science-sound and pitch, he still needs to cement some of this so we'll probably do it next week too, he also googled a bunch of sea animals we saw in a documentary about coral reefs and drew them on his own, he doesn't do much creative stuff with drawing so this was good, they watched about three Magic School Bus episodes too

A quiet week for us. No Spanish or Cubs this week. He went to PE and Kid's Klub.



Mel

La-phonics reviewed sounds ar,th,sh,ng and read a decodable reader or two, she reads really well but doesn't seem to like too
of course she had stories read to her too

Math-she's got the 10's addition facts cold so we've moved on to addition up to 10

Science-the coral reef documentary and Magic School Bus, she also watched a video for younger kids about the woods which led to lots of discussion about birds and camouflage

SS-It's hard not to teach a kindergartner about the world. If I just answer all her questions she seems to learn a lot so we didn't do anything formal this week.

Whew

So yesterday was one of those days. The kind where I wish someone would pat me on the back and tell me how efficient I am. That's the problem with the stay at home gig. No one notices unless you don't do something. We did school in the morning and I did some laundry and cleaned up. That seems like enough you say, oh no, then we left at 12:35 for PE. I dropped off the two ( a simple procedure made more difficult by the 2 year old's dislike of her carseat) and ran to the grocery. There I managed to drop $160 in 40 minutes, bag it up and get back in time to pick up the kids....except....they went home with friends so I headed back to our town to unload said groceries while dancing around the 2 year old. I got it all put away and gave Ads a snack. An older kid got home (2 others were elsewhere) and took off for L's basketball game. After that I swung by to let dh off to pick up his car from an oil change. He went to bigger town to pick up S. I threw some supper together, filled out various papers, provided solace to the angry senior and called to see when F and Mel were coming home. At 7:00 I took L and F to a 4-H meeting and dropped of Mel's t-ball forms. No one else is playing baseball this year, which is fine by me. I went back out into the cold drizzle at 8:00 to pick up the kids. Blah! No wonder I go to bed by 10.

Spring Time Past

Nothing Gold Can Stay

Nature's first green is gold
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.

Robert Frost

Imponderable

Why do two year olds feel the need to completely disrobe (even in Walmart) to use the potty but scream if you take off their shirt to eat spaghetti?

Couldn't Last

All good things must come to an end. Today is rainy and 40. We sure loved the good weather while it lasted though.

Menu's this week are:
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Dinners
Mon-chicken&noodles, mashed potatoes, green beans, orange slices
Tue-greek pasta, grapes
Wed-rice w/goodies,frozen berries
Thu-beef&bean tacos, corn, apple slices
Fri-pizza, fruit salad
Sat-potato soup
Sun-shepherd's pie, peas, peaches

Breakfasts
oatmeal
eggs&toast
pancakes
sausage&toast
hash browns & eggs
french toast
cereal

Lunches
english muffin pizza,applesauce
tomato soup&grilled cheese,applesauce
pbj, relishes,bananas
baked potatoes w/broccoli&cheese
hot dog, relishes, pears
ramen noodle soup w/peas, pears
popcorn, apples, peanut butter crackers

What We've Been Doing

First began the great thaw.

Mel acted at drama day. She is a princess of course. You'll notice the prince is a pig however.

Swim season concluded. No track this year, only soccer. Oh, yeah!

Fifty-six degrees right now. Notice how the shoes are gone.

So telling of her personality.

Somewhere to expend that boundless energy.

Today's Quote

"Mom, I'm taking care of my puppy. I'm putting it to sleep." Bwahahaha. Yep, that'll take care of it.

Because I'm Still A Geeky Dietitian

Here's an article in New Scientist about how obesity may be a defense mechanism to protect against a bad diet. It would explain how some heavy people don't become ill and some thin ones do. Ok, now switching back to your regularly scheduled program. And yes, we are geeks who read science magazines and last night I spent the drive home moving from Martin Luther to communism by some weird conversational quirks. With my 16 and 14 yo sons. Weird stuff.

Quote of the Day

From Mel, the 6 year old, in the back of the car as we cross the reservoir.
"If you see a beaver you have to leave it alone, because it's a wild animal and it might eat your face off."

How I Feel

We do stuff, I swear, but when asked my kids say "nothing".

Milestones

Reaching some milestones here. I put Miss Ads in a pull up Friday and by Sunday she was all 'do it myself' and since Monday she's been in cloth panties. How to live without diapers? It's been a looooonnnnggg time. I guess she's not officially a baby anymore (but she's MY baby darn it, even if I see her turn 40). Mel has a loose tooth. She's six so I guess it's later than some but my kids all got their teeth late too. Swim season and basketball roll on. S can take his driver's test anytime I can get him there. Not sure when that will be though. Oh, and Mr. Joy turned 50 on Monday. I don't think he was feeling the Happy Birthday vibe though.

Yes, this

I am excerpting from this post because it says exactly what I've found to be true. My homeschooled kids are just as socialized as my public school kids. They have activities, friends, responsibilities but

If you start talking about economic independence, stable, happy marriages, making responsible choices, being involved in community and church activities, having respect for authority figures, or voting, they will probably look at you like you are speaking Martian.

For them, it has never been about whether or not you will raise well-educated, responsible adults.

It has always been about whether or not your kids will act in the same silly, cliquey, immature way that every other "normal" kid they know acts.

Working

Our noses are to the grindstone here. On the bright side the kids have decided not to play baseball or run track. That leaves only soccer which is plenty since it's 4 kids on 3 teams. And we'll be done by mid-June. Now to keep them from spending the rest of the time glued to X-box. Oh, and got my dd this bag

School Saturday

A relatively quiet weekend here so I have the chance to get this done early. Phil is working evenings this weekend so no big plans. A basketball game today and a Wii party tomorrow. That's it! This week we

F(3rd grade)
LA~We worked on adjectives and he took a quiz on them. He is reading A Knight at Dawn independently with narration and we're reading a bunch of world tales out loud.

Math~worked on multi-digit multiplication and introduced simple division

Science~finished up blood/circulation/respiration

History~Clovis and the Franks and the Islamic empire comes to Spain

Mel(K)
LA~I moved her into the first grade reading program. We're just practicing, practicing and working on some phonics informally.

Math~I think she's finally got the 10's facts. I think this week we'll just play some math games. I don't want her to dislike math.

Science~we studied the weather and what to do in snowstorms, thunderstorms and tornadoes

SS~American symbols

We did Spanish class, library time (F played Oregon Trail while Mel went to story time/craft), Daisy Scouts and Cubs. We also went to a homeschool skating party on Tuesday and Kid's Klub on Wednesday so they're not lacking in social outlets. A pretty quiet week all in all.

Pictures

No pictures lately because I was too lazy to get them from the camera to the computer. I finally did and found Christmas pics still on there. Ooops! We're just not big into saving for posterity I guess.
The carousel from our trip in Jan.

More museum pics

Trying on clothes at the Egyptian exhibit

Displaying their own sense of style

Intact

We went to a skating party last night and I am still here intact. All limbs working. I don't think I'm ready to join the roller derby though.

Test

Next week our elementary and middle school students will be taking the ISTEP (Indiana's standardized test). I've already been receiving the give them a good breakfast/get them to bed early/tell them not to stress reminders. As if the rest of the time I send them to school hungry and exhausted? Anyway

Menu and Almost Monday

So I planned these in my sleep last night, along with weird homeschooling ideas and worried about paying for college. In. My. Sleep. Argh!!!! Of course I also dreamed I made cabbage rolls and the kids ate them all. Proof it was a dream.

I hate to waste all that effort.
Sun~spaghetti, salad, garlic toast
Mon~chicken tenders with rice and broccoli, berries
Tue-going to a Soup Supper
Wed~chicken pasta, carrots, grapes
Thu~meatloaf, mashed pot&gravy, pumpkin pie
Fri~potato or chili soup, sandwiches, fruit salad
Sat~mac&cheese w/ ham bits, cauliflower

School Saturday

So much to chew on this week. Last night I went with C to sign up for his high school classes. He was recommended for Honors Geometry, Honors English and Honors Biology. We skipped the honors English. Have they spoken with my son? He's also got the required PE, World History, German and required computer apps/career exploration. Then today I went with E for her further scholarship interview. We had to be there at 9am and of course she was in the last interview group at 1:30pm. We did get some good info on overseas study (I would so do that) and their fast forward program which is basically 4 years of college in 3 years. She signed up for more info on that and for more info on the honors program. Next week is middle school sign up. Now I just need to decide if I'm going to send Ads to preschool/play time for 1 day/week. I think it might be nice for her and for Mel and Fletch to have a little space where I"m not jumping up to get her while doing school with them. Ok, what did we get done this week?

K
It's kindergarten, so it doesn't look like much. She worked on memorizing all the addition facts for 10, more phonics and reading, science books from the library and our field trip, history was pretty much Abe and George. She also went to story time at two libraries with the attendant crafts.

3rd
Reading aloud from the reader
Verbs- action, linking, helping and verb phrases
Science-field trip and a further study of circulation/heart/respiration
Math-fractions and memorizing the multiplication tables cold and fast
History-rise of the Muslim empire

We also did a study in the mornings of Beatrix Potter and Peter Rabbit which was a hit. We did lots of sledding and went to Spanish. It seemed like a full week. It doesn't look so impressive in print. Tomorrow is an open swim day at the local school so I think we're going to go and let them burn off some energy without me having to get cold.

Another School Cancellation

Urgh! My older kids will never be done with school at this rate. I would say the cancellation was warranted though, as E put her car in a ditch. Gotta love black ice. The boys and I dug and pushed her out but not what I had planned for the day.

Field Trip

We went on a field trip to a science center yesterday. The highlight for F was being chosen to pump the pig lungs. Not something we would likely do here. Where does one buy pig lungs? We had a class in respiration and circulation and one on physics. They spent the rest of the time running around while the 2yo spent every minute at the water table. She was soaked but happy. We had swim practice, late basketball practice and Boy Scouts last night. That led to lots of running around. Now that we've got sport overlap going on it's going to be a little crazy for a month. The kids have decided on their own to just play soccer in the spring and not baseball too. I'm not going to argue. Today is library storytime, Kid's Klub and a meeting with the high school people tonight. It was supposed to be last week but it got cancelled for the snow. It should be beyond boring but since they change the requirements constantly I need to go, even though I've got two in high school already. Now I see we've got a two hour delay of school this morning. I guess I have no reason not to get moving. Blech!

Languishing

So the blog has been languishing because life keeps getting in the way.

Yesterday E and I went to her college of choice for aid day. Surprise, surprise, nothing from the government (well, except loans but we're not going there) but the college did give her $2900 based on needs. That combined with her academic scholarship sure helps. We're hopeful that some of the other scholarships she's applied for will come through. Come on Lilly Scholarship!! Or anything for that matter. After that I had to fly to a Girl Scout meeting. So much for romance on Valentine's Day.


Last week thanks to the snow the older kids were home for three and a half days. They did go to school Friday and then they are off again today for President's Day. The homeschool kids were not enthused that they did not get a snow day. Having the other kids around does make it more difficult to get things done. Not that they did nothing, I have to say that E, S and C all worked ahead for stuff in school and L devoured more books. I think it's just the principal of the thing that irks F and Mel. We did accomplish some things:

We worked on our
Writing with Ease
Spelling a couple days
Lots of reading aloud

F worked on fractions and multiplying 2 digits by 1 digit
We covered proper and common nouns and pronouns

I've gone ahead and moved Mel into first grade T4L.
We worked on her math facts that make 10

We talked about the olympics and President's Day. Truthfully they didn't really care so I just hit the highlights.
Spanish class is this afternoon. I hope to get in LA, Math, Science and History/SS this morning. Wish me luck.

They have both been watching Bill Nye Circulation in preparation for tomorrow's field trip. We're going to Science Central for a class in respiration and circulation. They don't want to go (they are so weird) but I know will have fun once we are there. After the class homeschoolers have run of the place for 2 hours.

C has a swim meet on Thursday and L has her first school basketball game that day too. Of course she plays in Upward BB on Saturday. Kid's Klub starts on Wednesday and Cubs are Friday. Tuesday I have to take the boys to Scouts but at least I don't help with that one.

I haven't stopped making menus. As if you were all waiting with bated breath.

Mon-roast, potatoes, carrots (thank you crock pot)
Tue-chicken alfredo, broccoli, oranges
Wed-beef stew, dumplings, grapes
Thu-spaghetti, salad, berries
Fri-tacos, beans, corn, ice cream
Sat-chili or potato soup, sandwiches, fruit salad

What Freezing Really Means

Not One of My Reasons

This made me chuckle.

Sixteen Years Goes So Fast

Cute

Deranged, and counting the days to his driver's license.

Can I Say It Too?

Yes, I know it's not true. But it enompasses all the things I want to say to say to so many other parents. Especially if I am being accused of being harsh. Like telling them to wear their wet swimsuit for practice if they weren't smart enough to dry it last night. Or when I don't care if the ref made a bad call, that's life, suck it up. Or, or, or....you get the idea.

I Have Lusted In My Heart

'Cause It's Funny

Regretting not labeling the key ring!

see more There I Fixed It

Ode to Imitrex

The wonder drug saved my day again.
How do I love thee?
Let me count the ways.
You keep me from hating my noisy children, you bring me back from the brink, you let me have a life.
Out, out damned migraine.
May you wither in a particularly disagreeable circle of hell.

Free

Went to the Indy Children's Museum for free day today. Free for all is more like it. Whew! Cubs games are much less crowded.

Saturday

Feeling Wistful Friday

Last night I took Mel to bed and amazingly, unbelievably Ads was asleep. This was amazing because this child does not sleep. I put her to bed at 8pm faithfully because I had a notion that routine might make her sleep. She usually is sitting in a pile of clothing she has extracted from the dresser trying to wear three pair of panties on her head. But I digress. She was asleep, hair escaping from the tiny braids she insisted on so she could be like Mel. Rosy complexion, rosebud mouth. And it hit me. She's two!. Soon I won't have any babies (ok toddlers). None of that indescribable sweetness. I felt a hole develop in my chest. It's not that I don't love my older kids. In lots of ways they are so much more interesting than toddlers. But my 14 and 15 yo arguing over Halo do not inspire that warm glow that a sleeping toddler does. I know, seasons change, etc., etc., but I've been doing this so long I'm not sure I can sweep along with the season easily. This does not mean I want my 17yo dd to bring home a baby however. Just saying!

Quote of the Day

"Everything that can be counted does not necessarily count; everything that counts cannot necessarily be counted."

Albert Einstein

Awful Library Books

I'm not sure what my favorite title is. Some of the titles reduced me to tears.
The Best Awful Books of 2009

I'm also still giggling over LaTawnya the Naughty Horse Says No To Drugs

School Saturday

Behind, behind, on blogging anyway. This week back we've done pretty well with getting back into the swing of things.
F
LA
We've started Writing with Ease workbook 1. He hates writing and I'm hoping this will help. On narration days he does his cursive practice. We've also started Sequential Spelling, more for Mel than him but I might as well multi-task. This semester I'm going to focus on grammar with him. Last week he drove me crazy but I think he understands possessive nouns vs. plural nouns. He'll continue reading from his reader. Last week was a story about Archimedes. Our read aloud is The Sword in the Tree and he's independently reading Captain Underpants book 7. He's got refined taste, lol.

Math
Times Tables up to the 7's. We also just did addition and subtraction practice. He's got all the facts, I just want him to get better speed.

History
Finished the fall of Rome. He's really liking barbarian tribes. We also read about the Byzantine Empire. We're using the second Story of the World Book.

Science
We started a unit on the human body. We reviewed how our five senses work. He's been going around asking everyone if they know they have an anvil in their ear. I'm just using library books since this is one area I actually have a degree in. Wait until the poor kids get me started on digestion.

K
LA
Lots of reading, her to me and me to her. She likes phonics workbook pages. Weird. She's also doing WWE and Sequential Spelling. I'm thrilled with how well she sounds things out and spells them.

Math
She can write all her numbers to 100. We're working on all the different ways to add up to five. Also working on money.

History
She's doing T4L social studies and brain pop movies. She's not interested in his world history.

Science
The human body and senses along with F. The senses is a K standard but hopefully she's catching on to some of the more advanced stuff I'm talking about with F.

Art is mostly them drawing whatever they want. Music is singing in the car and dancing in the kitchen. PE this week has been sledding and snow forts. Spanish starts again next week and PE soon after that. Those are mostly for fun though, and not really about learning too much.

Kharma and Divine Justice

E got a presidential honors scholarship to the college she really wants to go to!!! I take back everything I said about OCD, uptight, perfectionist tendencies. Yippee!!!! She's in the running for more but we're not gonna be greedy. Thrilled with what she got.

Check

1) Cabbage eaten
2) Pennies in window sills.

A prosperous, lucky New Year is guaranteed.

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