She is Posted!

This type of stuff never gets old for a kid!  

Sahara walked around the corner with her face covered in post-it flags.  

Sometimes you just have to wonder what they are thinking... 

I should have asked.  Now, I sit here wondering why.  Hmmmm....  Like, did she think she was putting whiskers on like a cat or what?  Kids can be so funny... And slightly weird.  :)

Caden / Coldness & Procrastination / Colorado Dreaming

 Caden, 7, sweet little man... the only boy in this house.  He is by far the easiest of my kids in many ways other than being heavy as lead.  He is thick and stocky and has been breaking my back since he was a baby.  Well, not really... I haven't carried him for a long time.  He is simply too heavy and has been since he was probably about three years old.  

This is how he dresses EVERY.DAY.OF.HIS.LIFE... no joking... minus the hat.  If he could get away with wearing a three piece suit and tie everyday, he would... even Summer.  I don't let him.  It's either this or his red bandana cowboy shirt and boots.. or his pirate clothes... or his knight costume.  He likes to look good and many things about him remind me of my daddy.  He looks like him and makes many of the same expressions... rough skin... thick as leather fingernails... and a little bit vain.  It makes me laugh a bit.  

He is tenderhearted and quite wimpy.  If he thinks he is going to have to take a spanking for punishment you can bet he is going to work himself into such a fit that most of the time we can't bear to spank him.  The girls are not this way.  He nearly hyperventilates.  He cries when someone else gets in trouble and he is seriously afraid of any pain.  Trying to get a sticker out of his foot is like holding down an octopus.  Just yesterday he swallowed one of his own teethe because we could not get him to pull it and it finally fell out while he was easting.  We are still begging him to pull the other tooth that is barely dangly in his mouth (Wimp!)  When he was about two he had to have a particle removed from his eye and it took five adults to hold him down.  He's incredibly strong like his daddy.  

With four sisters he has spent many days in princess clothes and getting his nails done (Daddy put an end to that.), but he is all boy.  One minute he is a ninja or has one of his sisters in a headlock or wrestling on the trampoline.  He is drawn to all things boyish.  The very first time he went outside with his B.B. Gun he came back with a dead bird.  I was horrified, yet had to tell him awesome it was.  He shot that thing out of a tree!!  At 7 years old he did that without ever having practice.  

He is a charmer, too.  He has all the ladies and girls "oooo"-ing and "ahhh"-ing at him since birth.  He is a hunk of cuteness!

~~~~~~~~~~~

Coldness and procrastination... these are the two things on my mind.  I have so much to do, but it is so cold I just want to sit here near the fire and chill out.  I should be organizing and cleaning while I can... or, at the very least, cooking for dinner.  

In Texas we just don't do cold well.  It is very humid, so the cold here is bitterly wet.  And today it is raining and cold.  It has been a drizzle of rain all day.  I wish the temp would just drop another 10-15 degrees and it would snow, but alas... this is Texas... Southeast Texas.  It is not likely we will get snow.  One can dream.  And I have been dreaming....

This time of year I always get a little fever... not a temperature fever, but "Colorado Dreaming" fever.  I want to go to Colorado so bad this year I, but it just can't be done.  I want to feel the snow, see my kids amazement of it all, sled down a hill, drink hot chocolate with frozen fingers, and all that fun stuff.  I am dealing with it, though.  In fact, I am loaning out our snow stuff at Christmastime.  At least, someone will get to go to snow and that family has never been... ever.  That brings me joy!  

~~~~~~~~~~~

So, I guess I can't procrastinate for too long.  We have family coming in this week and I have dinner to cook for tonight.  I am thinking of a soup of some sort, but I have chicken breast out and thawed.  Usually, I would go in the direction of gumbo, but I think I will make a chicken and rice soup with fresh bread.  If I am going to cook dinner and do some more cleaning/organizing I better get on it.  So, here I go.....

Dinner and Silly Kids and Tricky Parents

While we were outside yesterday I asked Caden what he wanted for dinner.  He said, "Cookies!"

Later when I was in the house, Caden came running in the kitchen and saw spaghetti pasta boiling in a pot and said, "Spaghetti!!! We're having spaghetti for dinner?!!  You're the best momma ever!!" 

That boy cracks me up!  And he is ALWAYS hungry... and my least picky child as long as you don't try to make him eat potatoes.  I can get him to eat mashed potatoes if I put food coloring in them.... and yeah, I'm tricky like that.  Ha!  Give a kid a toothpick to stir in some food coloring and you will be surprised what they will eat.  I have always been amazed that you can get them to eat by putting a few toothpicks on the edge of their plate and letting them eat dinner with toothpicks.  Weird... but it works.  And one evening my older ones were eating with chopsticks and Sahara noticed she had none.  I got her a set of "special little chopsticks"... TOOTHPICKS!!  Yes, it worked like magic.  She got busy right away eating with her "chopsticks" and it was one of those times when Cody and I looked at each other across the table in amazement that it actually worked.  Silly kids!!

This little thing saves a lot of crazy moments at dinner.

A Boring Life

Please keep in mind this post is intended to be comical...to some degree.  ;)

I was just thinking yesterday that I would really like for life to be a little more on the boring side.  Lately, it has just been a little too exciting around here.  Now, of course, some of the exciting things like our precious little baby girl have been wonderful.  Other things have been a little exasperating.  In the first five weeks of that little baby girl's life we had three viruses run through this house and I got all of them, also.  As if it was not difficult enough to heal from a c-section... and the infection I had at the incision site... and the anemia that I developed.  And there are those moments like when I was in the hospital and my husband tells me he is going out of town in three weeks for the whole weekend.... and it so happens that that is when one of the viruses hit our home.  The night before he left Sahara was throwing up all night.  I was planning to do as little as possible and had set a very low expectation as not to become overwhelmed.  I was just going to do the basics and leave all the major chores until after the weekend, but all that throwing up left me with several loads of laundry that just would not wait.  Then, there were the twenty plus baby rabbits that had to be sold.  As we are trying to form a routine with the new baby and continuing schooling the phone was constantly ringing and people coming over to buy rabbits.  Oh it was pretty exciting!  It was fun, though!  And my older two girls really handled the rabbit sales and did a great job caring for the rabbits.  And they learned a lot about money management and commerce. 

Well, I could go on..... and on... and on.  I'll just end with a couple more, though.  Three mornings ago I was lying in bed and heard Caden crying out.  I thought he was having a bad dream and I did not run to him right away.  Within moments Sahara began screaming.  By this time they were both screaming and came running into my bedroom.... Caden was covered in blood!  A nosebleed.... a really bad nosebleed!  Imagine he wakes up bleeding and starts screaming, which awakens Sahara.  That poor baby awakened to the sight of her brother screaming and covered in blood.  It is quite funny looking back, but at the time we were all horrified.... and it made for another load of laundry, also! 

Yesterday, we had a busy day taking Sienna to the doctor and we had a homeschool co-op field trip to Gator Country (popular for the Gator 911 TV show).  We had a great time and returned home.  Savannah ran out to the back of our house to the rabbits and chickens.  She came running in the house very quickly with blood pouring from her foot!  She said she stepped on a stick and sure enough she held out her sandal and there was a stick still stuck up through the bottom!  That stick had punctured right into her foot.  Ouch!  It was in that moment that I looked at them all and thought, "I am ready for some boredom!"  After bandaging her up and cleaning up the blood, she hobbled around on crutches the rest of the day.  I am hoping she can get around today without those today. 

And that doctor's appointment for Sienna was to check some knots that I found on the back of her head.  I thought they were some sort of cysts.  We have been very concerned about those over the last week or so.  I am very happy to say that the doctor said they were just swollen lymph nodes.  I had no idea that there were lymph in the back of the head.  Even after having five children it seems there is always much more to learn.  And I am thankful for all my "reasons" to not have a boring life!  It would be nice if there was a little less bleeding around here, though...

What I Did This Morning!

I have been getting a lot done.  Most people would not want to post about the disaster around their house, but it is part of my "real" life.  Since we started our homeschooling journey a couple of years ago maintaining the clutter and cleaning has taken a backseat on the journey.  We still try not to be too terribly awful, but with six people in the house it does not take much for the disaster to take over.  And so it is a gradual process to find the house underneath it all.  ;) 

It is those little things... you know the mail is delivered and you stick it in a pile.  As the month goes you realize you have a three inch pile and at our house payday is once a month, so I handle that area of life only once a month.  That means that all the junk mail is there in that stack, if I have not removed it as the mail comes in.  Don't get me wrong... I skim through the mail to see if there is anything important in there that I need to see immediately and deal with.  If time permits I weed out the junk mail and trash it, but everything else stays in the pile.  And so it is with many things that come into the home.  There are the Sunday School papers and Wednesday church class papers.  Of course, the kids come home with many works of art and you just can't chunk them in the garbage as your child is handing them over to you.  You have to hang on to it awhile, then slip it into "file 13" (a.k.a. garbage can).  There are the special projects we start that simple take up room like the Pioneer wagon we are building.... verrryyyyy sloooooowwwlly.... over the course of the last three months.  There's the stack of coupons that get accumulated by the bread basket.  And some how there is all the stuff that ends up in the bread basket that is not in anyway related to bread.  Clutter!  It just accumulates.  Awww.... and I have to mention the refrigerator.  It is the place the kids want to display their artwork even though we have other designated places in the house.  And it is the place that a new snapshot of photo from a friend lands.  Every so often I ambush it and wipe it out and discover there is in fact a refrigerator underneath it all.  Today was that day.  Now I have to clean the outer surface because you really just do not realize how grimey it gets even under the pretty little photos. 

So, this is how our "relaxing" Spring Break has gone so far....

• Saturday I spent the day cleaning CONSTANTLY, but I will say this.  That is the only day I am going to spend like that.  It was ultraproductive; however, with less than two weeks until my due date I just think it is not the way I should spend my days.  It was an extreme day of THIRTEEN HOURS of straight cleaning.  I only stopped to eat meals and it is the first time in weeks that I have not gone outside to even check on the bunnies (the kids and hubby did, though).  And being that I have had some sinus issues you would think it would have been way too hard on me, but fortunately this pregnancy has been kind to my energy level.  Still I do not want to spend all my time cleaning and not enjoying.  Note:  This was our one hour focus day for the three bathrooms... we went over that time because let's just say an adult male member of the family is very slow at cleaning and became quite obsessive.
• Sunday... ahhhhh, a day of rest.  Not completely, but I did only do a small amount of projects and our one hour focus day room was the living room.  I purposely assigned this one to Sunday because we had little to do in there and I thought we could do it in half the time allotted.  But did I mention that adult member of the family that is very slow at cleaning?  Well, let's just say in my preggo state I can work circles around "someone" and I had most of it done in 30 minutes while he was dusting approximately eight shelves.... I think he finished in about an hour and a half.  And so, later that evening I decided to go ahead and do the dining room by myself even though it was the one hour focus room assigned for Monday.
• With Mondays focus room done that means that today I can busy myself with various little projects adn trust me there are plenty of those around here to keep a girl busy. 

But what I really want to tell that I did today was...... drumroll, please..... SLEEP !!!  I do not sleep well in all my roundness and this baby is all in my pelvis, so I have a lot of hip pain when I sleep.  About every hour I awake hurting on one side and roll very awkwardly to the other side heaving my body/belly with all my might.  ;)  And then there is my squished bladder.  It seems this little miss is only requiring it to fill to one ounce or so at a time, so that keeps me up even if the hip pain does not.  As of last Wednesday I had a sinus/head cold set in that makes it impossible to breath... as if my lungs were not already restricted.  :)  Truly I awaken about every hour, but generally I am fortunate that I fall back to sleep quickly.  So, I am missing out on sleep, but still getting enough overall.  This sinus thing had my throat sore last night, so around 3:AM I got up and had some hot chocolate and did some reading for about and hour.  I went back to bed and sleep until daylight o'clock (whatever time that was) and got up.  I went to lay on the couch and read another birth book ("Silent Knife").  After awhile everyone in the house was awake and migrated to that very room to watch some cartoons.  As I lay there I started to doze off, so I looked around and all were entertained and Daddy was there... soooooo... I WENT BACK TO BED !!!  I still awoke periodically and did my whole flipping thing, but would doze back off and I did this until..... drumroll, please..... about 10:AM !!!!  This is huge because I am one of those "get up with the sunshine" kind of people and our whole household is that way.  My husband was not, but he has had to adjust due to little faces coming in the room and putting their little faces in his and saying, "It's morning time Daddy!" or "Wake up Daddy!" (in ultra cheerful little morning people voices).  Sleep... it really is great! 

Is It Crowded?

Imagine this picture in a couple of months with one more little one on Daddy's lap. 

I wonder if he can hold a baby and and iPad?  ;)

I wonder how Princess Goo-Goo (Sahara, 2) is going to react to sharing her space.

I wonder where they will all find a place to fit on the couch to get a view of the iPad.

I wonder how safe it is for them to be sitting on the chair arms and back of the sofa.  ;)

I wonder if Daddy's arms are going to be overwhelmed.

Time will tell very soon!

Just A Few Pictures So You Know What These Kiddos Look Like

I thought I would share a few photos, since I am so bad about not doing that. Those little faces on my sidebar have aged by about a year and a half! Maybe some day I will update those! ;) For now I will just share a few snap shots that kind of reflect normal life around here.

This is Sierra doing a little of her math.... outside. We have been trying to get outside and enjoy the fabulous whether we have been having this fall. I wish it was like this most of the year! I could really get use to temps ranging in the 70s and mid-80s for the highs. Check out Sierra's giant marker she created while we were sitting here. She was quite proud of herself. I want to note that this year when I bought the new Crayola Washable Markers I was a little surprise by the solid black tube. I am quite impressed that Crayola made this switch for environmental reasons. The only down side that I have found is that when the cap is not on the marker you don't know what color you have. Or if your six year old mixes up her marker caps and you decide to borrow one you might want to read the tube BEFORE writing. Twice I have been surprised by the color that comes out on my paper. ;) This problem could easily be solved for pre-readers by putting a color dot or sticker on the side of the tube.

This is Savannah looking at her math book. She does a lot of "looking at it" as this is the first year we have used a textbook. She has had a hard time with this switch, but the math, Rod & Staff, is a great book. I am very pleased with the layout of the book. I do sometimes wish it was a workbook, though.

This pic is of Savannah, Sierra, and Caden.
They were ready to play cowboys and indians with another homeschool family. All those things are homemade stick horses. That mischevious grin that Sierra has is because she is pointing a toy gun at the camera. Caden is pretty excited, too. Can you tell?! Savannah is looking very tall and grown up in the pic with exception to riding her zebra stick horse. She will be ten next month and Caden will be four this week! Time is flying by!

I caught Caden "reading" to Sahara while we were doing some school work. This was a sweet moment. He was telling her about all the pictures of our family at the zoo in this little scrapbook. I love sweet moments like this because usually when they disappear for a couple of minutes around the corner it looks more like this.....

Ooooooh! That was bad day when Daddy got home.... we were very busy with schooling that day and time got away from me and we did not get it cleaned up before Daddy got home. We meant to. In fact, that is the only reason I took a pic. I thought I would show Cody what the missed out on.... but he got to see it himself. Not a good moment!

But you can't stay mad at this face long! Even with snack crumbs on his face he is pretty cute. All boy... All mischief... all mess maker and he is pretty good at recruiting Sahara to be his "partner in crime". They do get in a lot of trouble on a daily basis!

Morning Sicknes Is SO GROSS !

.... But I am glad it is NOT me!! I am starting to think that Caden is having morning sickness for me! Yes, my three year old! I know it seems crazy, but when we were on vacation around the time that morning sickness normally starts (approximately 4 weeks gestation) Caden started having an extremely sensitive gag reflex. It was quite funny to laugh about! Here was this little three year old boy that would smell something foul smelling along with the rest of us, yet he would begin gagging over it while we all watched in horror at the possibility of him puking. Today he ate his lunch... watermelon... a half P, B, & J... and one apple wedge. He asked me for another apple, so I cut it up for him and called him back to the table. He walked up with a scrunched up nose and said, "Ugh! What's that awful smell?!" Then, he started gagging as I laughed, but tried to calm him. Then, he puked up ALL his lunch to my horror! GROSS! So, what do you you think?????? Can a three year old take on Momma's morning sickness? I have had NONE!!!! NONE!!!

Pondedering Thoughts About My Blog

I have a lot of posts in my "Drafts" and for some reason they never make it out of there. Some are long. Some are short. Some just need a photo added to it. Some have a photo, but need some detail added. Some chronicle our homeschool weeks or days. Some are about my flowers or thoughts that run through my head. One thing is the same throughout all of them. They feel incomplete. And I think God is trying to tell me something through this and I am just not getting it, yet. I know part of is that I need to limit my computer time and I have done that. I still need to do that some more, but I am getting much, much, much better. I do not feel that God is wanting me to stop blogging altogether. A lot has changed for me in the time that I started blogging. I began blogging for two reasons. The first was to reach other homeschoolers. The other was to make money. The first I have pursued. The latter I have not.... and do not care to anymore unless that just happens. When I look back it is amazing the changes that have happened in my life since my bloggy beginning. I had been homeschooling for mere weeks. I was homeschooling for totally different reasons than I am now (I just wanted to be with my kids and have quality time.... now it is a God thing. It is a conviction!). I was just homeschooling and not really loving it, but trying to. Now we are getting into a groove and I am starting to love it. Still we have struggles, but we are getting there. In the beginning I was all academically driven and trying to do the drudgery of school at home. Now my desire is to have our way of life become our way of school and our focus be on honoring God with it. I began this blog thinking that our school time could be totally seperate from our God time (prayer/church/etc.) and it was not necessary to teach about God as part of school. BUT when God puts you in a trial where do you turn?! Yes, when you have exhausted all other options (sadly) you will then, turn to God... ahem... yes, the place you should start with to begin with.... yes, God! And I have to say that for a while I was turning to blogging and my bloggy pals instead of turning to God for the answers I was searching for.

BUT GUESS WHAT?

GOD USED THAT!!!

... and He used all of you that I have come in contact with to help me sort through this time in my life. He used MY WEAKNESS to do a work in me.

I just had an epiphany moment for real!! ... and I am going to share that moment with you right now while it is fresh in my mind. Just last week, the day after Mother's Day, we had two ladies come to our church and speak for a women's event called Legacy of Love. These ladies are a mother and daughter team that formed a family ministry after a traumatic event in their lives only a few years ago. Knowing Jesus Ministries is the ministry that formed out of their trajedy. They were hit by a drunk driver on their way home from church one night... head on... all four were sent to seperate hospitals with severe injuries and the daughter, Jen Barrick (15 at the time), was not expected to live through the night. She did, but she had severe brain damage. Amazingly, she did not know who she was or that she even had a brother, but she woke up from a comma praising God and singing praise songs and qouting scripture. There were many things they shared with our group at the Legacy of Love event, but the thing that stuck in my mind was this:

God wants to use our weaknesses!

The following day I was asked how God spoke to me at the banquet and this is the reply I wrote back:

"He wants to use our "weaknesses". I fall into the trap of thinking that myweaknesses are a waste, instead of letting God use those weaknesses.

I confirmed that we need to raise up a better generation... seeking
Godliness as our way to measure their/our success. And we have to model that.
.... I got way more out of this experience than I can put into words..."

Okay, so I am sharing this at this moment because God is speaking it to me at this moment. What an amazing thing that is when that happens and our ears are open and we catch it happening!! That is new for me, also. It is more clear after I took a Bible Study class called "Discerning the Voice of God" that is taught using the DVDs and study guide by Priscilla Shirer. I highly recommend reading this book and doing the Bible Study even if you can NOT attend it somewhere and see the DVDs. It is wonderful! Anyway, I am recommending to all of you do the Bible Study ... and also order the DVD or CD that the Barrick family has to hear their story.

... But back to what I was saying before I started "chasing these [wonderful] rabbit trails".... I do not think that God is wanting me to stop blogging. God has used it too much to grow my Christian walk for it to be something He would have me eliminate completely. As with all things I have to learn self-control and I have to set limits. And when I spend 40 minutes typing up a post and hear His voice gently saying that I am spending too much time and that is not what He wants me to do with this blog I have to learn to listen ... and OBEY.... and leave those posts in the Drafts stage. And maybe He will guide me in finishing those posts when the time is right and it is not taking away from my life. For now.... they will sit their as long as they need to until I am clear with God that it is time to finish them. In the meantime I am once again going to try something new here. Something quick.. less time consuming.... I will do a bit of journaling here... It will be very random and just whatever is on my mind at the time. That might be some of our MFW studies or thoughts about my day, pictures, whatever.... unless God puts the brakes on that. We'll see. ALL OF THAT being said I think I will share some thoughts.....
WARNING: It's gonna get very RANDOM!


That beautiful baby at the top of that page is getting so big now. Just a few days ago she was mothering her FOUR babies and telling them, "No, no, no... ooooh baby... wait" and rocking them and cuddling them and disciplining them. That tiny little thing is turning into a big girl! And on that note... Sahara has been my largest baby at birth weighing in at 8 pounds 6 ounces, but now she is the tiniest of my children! It amazes me. Seriously, she had a well check-up this week adn my mouth dropped open when they weighed her. Only 23 pounds! Seriously! She is 21 months old! Two of my other children weighed that much by the time they were six months old and the other probably by nine months. It occurred to me that she could still meet the weight restrictions for an infant carrier car seat.... HELLO! She is my runt and I love every ounce of that spunky little thing. And on that note... she is spunky and tempermental and I am just saying that I think... no, I know that dynamite comes in small packages (from my own experience). Yes, I was the tiny one. I was always the smallest child in my class at school, but I thought I could take on the world. I was bossy and was usually the one in control amongst my playmates. I think Sahara is going to be that way... poor child. There is going to be a lot of personality molding with that one. For now cute takes her a long way, though. ;) I wish I had a picture of her face covered in black berries yesterday, too. That should be my new blog header! So cute in all her messiness.

I have had a long day, so off I go to bed for preparation for another busy day tomorrow.

MFW Insects (Update) -- Ants!

When I was writing my post about the Insect Week we did not have our ants, yet. As I was blog reading tonight I realized I never posted about the ant farm. The ant farm is truly wonderful. I had no idea we would love it so much. I mean, who LIKES ants?! Many times we look at them as just a nuisance.... especially when they are biting on our precious little babies. Those naughty ants are really quite fascinating. We were all glued to the ant farm.... we could not walk past it without checking to see what they were up to. It was really fascinating to see how they climb around in their tunnels. I thought they would simple walk on their little legs, but it is more like a gymanstics move. It is as if they are doing the splits while crawling through their tunnels. The tunnels are truly amazing to watch them build. And sometimes they try to do the impossible.... and achieve it!!! And they are funny.... like you will have this one ant lifting a fragment that is larger than him and obviously struggling under the weight of it.... stumbling and falling backwards.... getting back up to continue his impossible goal.... when along comes his buddy ant that just crawls right over his head without assisting or showing any concern for the struggling ant. ;) They seem to be on a schedule and most all will rest at once. And they seem to clean one another. They are very odd, fascinating creatures. And if you want to see a picture of an ant farm click here. Ours looked just like that... except with different children in a different house. I really can't post my own pics because it seems that one year olds like to throw cameras across the room and I am not saying she broke the shutter button off my camera, but I am saying that the shutter button was gone after the toss across the room. I did not notice for a few days, so it is possible that was a coincidence, but..... Hmmmmm.... my bet is that my camera flying through the room was a big factor in the missing button. And I am filing this under "Funny Things Kids Do", although I have to say that I do not quite think it is funny right now.... I do know that one day it will be funny... maybe. ;) On another note I do need to take more pics. I seem to lacking in that area these days. I am just trying to live life without necessarily documenting every moment.

{Thanks for reminding me aboout the ants Isabel} Everyone should go check out her fabulous blog!

A Glimpse At My Day

What is with some days that you just feel unaccomplished. No worries, though... I am calm about it. I am trying to be the calm person that is so hard for my character. I am doing well lately, I think (pat my ownself on the back). It really is that I am not trying to "handle" every situation. I am trying to listen to what God would have me do. I am learning. Today was definitely a test of that. I am not going to say that I handled it all well, but better than usual. I just do not know what was going on with Savannah today... and yesterday, but more so today. No focus... none. She manged to turn an hour and a half of schoolwork into an all day thing. She spent the morning playing and doing some things I thought were worthy of doing... somewhat... so I let her go through most of the morning. Around 11:30 I had her do some Bible study that should have lasted 15 minutes at most. At noon as I was working on lunch she was still not done because she kept wanting to eat the apples, strawberries, etc. that I was preparing for lunch. I kept telling to just focus and we could have lunch as soon as she was done. She would not, so at 12:09 I started feeding the others and told her she could not come to lunch until she completed the study page. Miraculously, she was at the table within a couple of minutes. Completely focused and got it done in mere minutes after wasting over 30 minutes loofing about and driving me crazy. !!! That is just one example of the day....

After lunch I decided to do school outside. I know there are a lot of distractions outside, but my thinking is that my two little ones would be easier to occupy. That turned out to be partly true, but I sensed Caden was wanting a playmate. Sahara was clinging to me and sleepy, so she was not the entertainment for him that I thought she would be. He was fine, but used to having the older girls to run around with him. Savannah started with her math, but was so unfocused. She kept watching me and Sierra and listening to everything we were doing. Frustrating because I HAVE to speak to Sierra to teach her. It's not like we can be quiet completely. An hour later Savannah is still doing her math. !!! It should take no more than 30 minutes to do. She moved quicker through Spelling and her activity, then took F~O~R~E~V~E~R on her handwriting which correlates with Spelling. I finally had to change the assignment! Then, her daddy got home and I tend to lose her even more when he is home. I told them both that she would be having schooling the rest of the evening. And for the most part we did, except life happens and we have to have dinner. We had a special project for her to work on that, of course, the printer ran out of ink in the middle of. My teacher husband took her to his school to print there... had to go black and white. !!! Let's just say that Mexico is too colorful of a country to be printing out in black and white! You have to go with what you have got, though. They ran to the store to attempt to find a Mexican snack of some sort to provide for her co-op project. They did... it was not quite what I had in mind, though. Time was not on my side here, so it is what it is and it will have to do. So, the evening carries on and finally the kids get in bed by 10:PM... PM!!!! 10!!! TEN!!!! OH my GOSH!!! That is going to make tomorrow a bit harder... We have Co-op... I forgot nursery snacks... I need to pull off something more for Mexican snacks and things... We will need to be prepared for lunch at the park afterwards... looks like pizza pick-up.... and we are having a meeting while at the park... uh... who can watch four kids with a park that has a pond and participate in a "meeting"???????!! I want to say I am looking forward to tomorrow, but today was .... frustrating. And this is just a glimpse. I am leaving out some substantial drama... a foot injury for Sierra... some potty training failures for Caden... some messes in abundance for Sahara.... an incredibly WINDY outdoor school time with papers being chased across the deck... Caden doing his "art" and losing his stickers through the deckboards (after putting some of the stickers all over the deck chairs)... oh, and the earring thing (more drama... don't allow ear piercings!!! Such a pain!)... All in all it was a BEAUTIFUL, GOOD DAY... really....just now I am reflecting and looking back at all the things that feel through the cracks today... Whew!

On the upside.... Sierra is learning so much and amazingly I am the one teaching her!!! That is exciting. I must admit we are not doing a lot of crafty things, but we are driving the learning home in other ways. She wants to paint everyday and I want to let her, but I just can not bring myself to deal with paint times four. Thank God for Summer and waterhoses. They can paint when I can spray them down with a waterhose! I want to be more fun... really, I do... I try to use construction paper and markers... other ways to have some fun. I am really starting to figure out how to get all her schooling done. I know Kinder is not a lot, but we have a lot of distraction and Savannah is usually interrupting or I am having to redirect her back to her schooling. And yes, I have tried doing it all seperate and having Savannah also do Sierra's K work with her. We still pause Savannah's independent work, so she can participate in a lot of Sierra's K lessons. Everyday is a learning process for me, too.

And Caden... wow he is so cute. He makes the cutest animal sounds I think I have ever heard. He can really neigh like a horse! We are all impressed. He showed Cody today and it was quite impressive. Cody got a huge grin on his face over that one. And Sahara... our little "Goo-Goo" wants to be a student already. That girl is on a daily mission to get the markers! Sometimes she just writes and scribbles on and appropriate page... other times you turn around and her body is covered in marker... that seems to happen on Wednesday nights lately... just before we leave for church... and amazingly, Caden gets involved and it is like a marker bomb went off on their whole bodies. Seriously, last week they used the blue marker and after we quickly tried wiping it away they looked like they had bruises all over their bodies. Yikes! Not a lot we want to go for at church. Yesterday, their color of choice was green.... At least, that one did not look like bruises. ;)

Okay, now I have unwound enough to get some rest... off to bed! [This is the part where the baby will wake up wanting me... Hahaha....!!!!.. usually... maybe not tonight...please God let her sleep.] Goodnight all!

Booty Stew

Why doesn't this girl understand?....

If you've got booty stew,
don't touch the booty stew!!!!

Look at her digging in that tiny little booty!!! Ewww!
(Disclaimer: I don't think she actually had a booty stew in this pic, but she likes to dig anyway. And for the record it is one soft little booty, so I can see why she would want to touch it. I love those sweet booty cheeks myself!!)

Special note: I figured you would appreciate a laugh, Tara.

,

Can I Make You Laugh?...

You know we all need a good laugh sometimes! So, do you ever catch yourself saying something that you just realize you have to share.... even though you might should keep it to yourself. ;o

You know you have kids when you hear yourself say, "If you make booty stew, don't touch the booty stew!" Yeah... Sahara thought it would be interesting make booty stew (poop in her diaper) and then reach in and pull some out! Eeeeeewwwww! She actually thought so, too. She stood there bewildered at the funk on her tiny little fingers and all the other kids starting yelling for help right along with her.

Sahara's Blog Entry

Sahara is becoming found of my computer:
cvbb bvgf vtrfvtrc
..... I mean, Sahara

MFW Adventures and K: Week 2

I am going to leave out the major details and just hit the highlights or what I most think others would want to see ... or what I think I will want to have captured in a few years. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask. Also, if I "add" to a project and you want the file just leave a comment and I will be happy to email you the file.

MFW Kindergarten: Week 2

We did the Creation Numbers a bit different because I wanted to be able to add it to their notebooks rather than have a poster on the wall. I will insert this in a pocket (page protector) in their notebooks. It is four sheets of paper folded in half and taped together. When it folds up it closes like a book; however, this left a blank page at the end and a blank green cover. We just can't have that, so I created a cover page for the kids to color. Also, I added a final page that says, "God Made Me!" and an empty square for the to draw a picture of themselves.

We also stapled our Creation Art Pages to make another book which I titled, "Creation: The First Seven Days, My Artistic Creation by: ______".

This is a sampling of our art for day 1 and day 2... I started to post them all, but you get the point.

MFW Adventures: Week 2

Ooooppss!! I added this photo sideways! I just wanted to show that it is easier for the little ones to form their boat over some sort of mold..... ahem, translation = old bowl, etc.. Some kids may find it frustrating to form a boat without a mold and I suspected that with my oldest (the perfectionist) and ran to find a "mold". It worked so well. We just turned it upside down and pushed the aluminum foil down to take the form. When you remove the bowl you can press the edges inside.

This is Savannah holding an empty bottle under the water to demonstrate that the bottle is not empty as it might appear. It is full of AIR! This experiment is in the Science With Air book.

The Santa Maria, The Nina, and The Pinta successfully sailed the Atlantic Ocean (bathtub) and we continued our Science With Air experiment by blowing our ships around the bathtub to make the AIR move them. I also demonstrated that fanning a sheet of paper with a book will make the paper race across the floor (mentioned in the book). The girls designed the sails all by themselves. I was just about to do that while they formed their aluminum foil boats when I decided that it would be best if I let them have a chance to "design" their sails... and I almost drew the shape of a sail for them, too... but then, I decided that it would be best if I let them have a chance to "design" their sails.... Guess what!! They did a great job with a ALL the details on their own and with me sitting back and saying to just do it how THEY wanted to. Sierra designed the one for the The Santa Maria and Savannah designed the ones for The Nina and The Pinta.

Sahara had a great time watching the ships sail across our ocean!! She got so excited. Poor Caden slept through it all,.... but awoke, found it in the bathtub and played "destroy the ships". He disassembled the sails and stuck them to the floor and continued floating the boats. ???

I had my girls do this part TOGETHER... on the one paper. I think it is great to get them to work together to create even a simple coloring page sometimes. They have to learn to take turns and wait on the other one or move over, etc.. They also learn to share in the design process rather than it all being "their way" only. I highly encourage having siblings do a "Togetherness Project" whether it is big or small.

In my post for the week 1 I mentioned my Posty Note Cheat Sheets that have been so helpful to me. Like I said... nothing fancy... and not totally necessary, but it is extremely helpful too me. Also, I make a copy of the current week's plan page and mark off the things we have accomplished. I am thinking that I will eventually start to make a copy of the current week's plan page and make my notes on that in colored ink or pencil and then, marked that off as we do it. Both systems would work .... anyway, that is my tip of the week. Make it work for you. You have to find those tricks that make things work for you. When I was a secretary (many moons ago) I would place outgoing mail on the floor by my seat. When I would get up to do something I would grab my pile of outgoing mail and take it to the mail room. Those type of things really help me remember to do things. I love to put posty notes on my steering wheel when I am doing errands... Those are the little things that help me survive the chaos! :)

I'm Still Around

Really, I am still around. I have been reading A LOT this week... reading the Manager's of Their Schools book by the Maxwell's... tending to two sick babies... fevers go crazy high here... (103.3 while maxed out on Motrin and Tylenol 8( ... sleepless nights.... laying low on school.... making pizza.... and muffins... bagging up clutter... bye-bye toys :) ... organizing leftover clutter ;) ...setting up a school area for my littles... yes, a one year old and two year old... watching them and marveling at them... You know you are doing something right when your 13 month old is rocking and singing to her baby doll and tops that all off with a kiss! Preciousness! (sssshhhhh!... but you should see the tantrums she throws.... nasty little temper this little angel has!)... this week I witnessed Caden (2)"rejecting" and invitation to participate in craft making... it was eye-opening because I knew why... it is the way we have "rejected" letting him participate in the past... shame... hence, the need to set up his own desk with Sahara in an attempt to undo the damage we so carelessly did... I actually haved started a library listing of puzzles, books, and manipulatives... I have so much that I forget and am not utilizing it... boring worksheets can easily come alive in another way... Yesterday, I realized I have two 0-9 puzzles and pulled them out for Sierra (5) who quickly stated it was "too easy"... until I dumped both in the floor at the same time and tossed the puzzle base to the side... tested numbers 1-20... and could go up to 99 for the future... great find amongst my clutter!... Anyway, about that pizza.....

I have made a lot of pizza at home... some good... some bad.... I'm not saying this is the best ever, but it is quick and everyone here likes it... through a lot of trial and error....

The secret is the simple crust.... in a quest to copy Pizza Hut I found something that said to add onion powder into your crust.... and I tried their recipe, but I came back to something simpler... my roll recipe (or rather, Cody's aunts' roll recipe).... so, I want to share this simple meal with you, so when you are out of bread like I was today and need to pull something together quick you will have this as a back-up option.

My Pizza Quickly
2 cups flour
2 T Shortening
3/4 cup warm water
1 T Yeast

2 T Sugar

1 T Onion Powder

Sprinklings of Garlic Powder

Ready Made Sauce (I used Hunt's Traditional today)

1 lb. block of Monterey Jack Cheese (weird, huh... you can use another if you have a fav... this is creamier than Mozz. and the flavor is better)

Toppings of Choice

So, I am going to tell this how I make it and skip all that "let rise, punch down, knead this... blah, blah, blah...:

Turn the oven on 400'. I put the dough hook on my mixer. Into the mixing bowl I put in the flour and shortening AND ONION POWDER. I put 3/4 cup of water in the microwave for 10-15 SECONDS (water should be warm, NOT hot). I add the yeast to the water and then, I add the sugar (to feed the yeast). I stir this to dissolve the yeast. You can let this sit for a few minutes for the yeast to proof, but I did not today. I turn on the mixer on LOW and pour this yeast water mixture into the bowl. Let the mixer run for a few minutes and do all the work for you. :) Meanwhile, spray some non-stick cooking spray on a large cookie sheet (or divide amongst smaller pans... or if you a really good Momma let your kids make their own little mini-pizzas... I was not that good of a Momma today... LOL!). During the mixing I grabbed a block of cheese and a grater and grated my cheese. Stop the mixer and remove the dough. Hand knead it a couple times and start ot shape it into a round flat circle (or whatever). Lay it on the baking sheet and carefully spread it out (1/4" thick). Now it is time to make it "your creation". Before I added anything I sprinkled garlic powder all over our crust very lightly. I also, took this moment to sneak in finely chopped pepperoni and roast chicken, then spread sauce over that and the cheese. On 1/4 of the top I added chunks of chicken. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees.

Sahara is rocking and singing to her baby... I think she is breastfeeding, too! LOL!
Okay, maybe not, but she could be. She is still looking a bit puney from being sick, but she is on the mend!!


I am one brave Momma to give these two little ones an area of their own. They can sit here and color and look out the window to their hearts content! Caden is so cheesy!! They are going to be so cute learning together at their little desk. I was just thinking today that it is very likely that I will teach them together at a similar level for much of their learning, because it will make it so much easier when the time comes..... what's a "grade" anyway!! They will be Pre-K and K at the same time!!! Whooo hooo!! That will be much easier to combine than K and 3rd like I attempt to do with Sierra and Savannah.

Another Rocking Update!!

And a little while later today.....
We were in our school area and Sierra was walking Sahara around the room. I turned my back to talk to Savannah about cursive writing and suddenly Sahara started screaming. I guess that rocker that Savannah drug in her yesterday looked inviting to Sierra and she was trying to rock her baby, too! They are a hoot!!!

And one more funny thing kids say...
Caden: trianga-dul (trinagle)

Rocking Update!

Yesterday I about Savannah wanting to rock her baby. Sahara likes for us to hold her hands while we stand behind her and let her walk all of the house. So, today Savannah was walking her around the house and I heard Sahara screaming and I ran to check on her. I thought she got hurt, but it was just Savannah trying one more time to rock her! I told Savannah to stop torturing our baby. Does anyone out there have a baby we can borrow? :) Savannah would greatly appreciate it!

Flashback Fun Photos!

Yep, that is Savannah's finger poked in the mouth of her NEWBORN baby sister! (gasp!) But isn't it just so precious. Now when they are fighting we remind Savannah that she prayed to have this little baby sister. She prayed relentlessly that God would send her a baby sister... not a brother at that point in her life, but only a sister would do. We had many talks about how God would send us what we need and we would love it no matter what, but she was quite pleased to get her pick.

My kids never seem to get enough of babies and they always want another one.... although we are not planning to fulfill their requests ... hehehe! Tonight Savannah wanted so badly to rock Sahara, but Sahara was having nothing of it. She wanted her momma only and none of that rocking stuff from her sister. Savannah had even brought her little rocker in here and a pillow to prop "her baby" on. Savannah was so desperate to rock a baby that she tried to capture and force Caden to let her rock him, but he wasn't going for it either. I told her she needed to just get a baby doll and be done with it and she said, "I don't want a baby doll. I want a real live baby to rock!" It was so sweet and cute! So, I was looking through old photos and how appropriate that I would come across this one of Savannah and her baby Sierra. I LOVE it!

Fun Pics!

Just a couple pics to show their bandana clothes we made together. You can't really see Caden's or Sahara's in the "concert" pic. I added these to give you a glimpse. I always have to take an idea and change it up and make it my own... translation = complicate it. ;)

This is my birthday performance. What a wild "group" they were singing for my special concert! They're all wearing their bandanas we made for them. Sahara's is a dress (2). Savannah's is a long skirt (2). Sierra's is a knee-length skirt (1). Caden's is shorts (2) and a guitar strap (scraps). Look at Caden rockin' out at two years old! Not quite sure where they learn that stuff.

(X) shows the number of bandanas used.

Sierra and Sahara taking a bath together. Sahara was loving her big sissy's face... slapping it, poking her eyelashes and eyes, gigglung uncontrollably! So sweet and funny!!!