Apples, apples

This morning I convinced my DH to take us to a local apple orchard I wanted to explore. I've seen their signature variety of apple at the local grocery store for $2.99 a pound (!), so I was hoping we could get them cheaper on site. But, oh. We had so much fun. The owner gave us samples of the different varieties they grow and let us try them again with natural peanut butter they grind themselves! We tried it again with cheese! And then we sampled two blends of their apple cider. We were then invited to go explore their farm; we could go where we wanted! So my DH, DC three, and I hopped into a golf cart and explored the acres of apple trees, the pumpkin patches, and the cows next door. When we got back to the farm store we just had to buy. We bought a 25 pound box of not-so-pretty apples for only $33, two gallons of fresh apple cider, and a caramel apple for my DH, who totally earned it. Child #5 is upstairs right now as I write screaming "Apple! Apple!" at the top of her lungs... proof that we had fun!

Quiet Weekend

My dear husband took the boys and the Pathetic Doberman away for the weekend, leaving me with Child #2 and #5... a girls weekend! I watched so many movies. Rated R movies. And no cartoons (except when my sweet little daughter insisted it was her turn to watch Baby Einstein). I also knitted. And I didn't cook anything. And what I picked up off the floor stayed picked up. I slept in every morning because Child #5 will play on the bed next to me while I sleep and not get into trouble like her brothers did. And I never opened the back door or hollered "OFF!" to the Pathetic Doberman. It has been so quiet around here... I can't wait to get my boys back. No comment on the dog.

My Brain's Full

Today I was informed by Child #3 that he didn't need to do his reading anymore because he was already smart enough to get away from a lion.

He did his reading lesson anyway.

Child #4 stikes again!

This sweet, misunderstood genius of mine is finally using many words to describe his feelings. He has been so frustrating, but now he is so funny! The other day I said to Child #3, "No, you can't get any more games out until you pick up the floor!" Child #4 turns from his coloring and says in his funniest voice, "Pick up the floor? Are you going to carry it around???" and then he laughs madly and turns back to his coloring.

This picture shows Child #4 and a sculpture he created using magnetic letters. Any guesses on what it is? If you guessed "The Digestive System," you are correct. The F is the mouth, the R is the esophagus (with heart next to it), the blue L is the stomach, the red L is the small intestine, the T is the large intestine, and the M is the bottom (it looks like one, upside down, doesn't it?). The upside down seven is the leg. Now, I never would have known what this was if I hadn't overheard him reciting the steps under his breath as he put it together. But how does an almost four year old know such things? Thank The Magic School Bus and Ms. Frizzle. In one episode, the magic school bus shrinks and takes a field trip through Arnold to see what happens to food after one eats it. We love this show. My favorite quote (that Child #3 knows by heart) is "Take chances, make mistakes, and get messy!"



Oh Oh Oh! This is the best news ever!!! Child #5 is POTTY TRAINED! Yes! I did it! I successfully potty trained three children in three consecutive years! I think I deserve a blue ribbon in parenting for that feat!

First Day of School

Yesterday was the first day of school for the local school district. Child #2 hopped on the bus in the morning, ready for her junior year. Her comment was, "It feels like no time has passed." I said, "Time goes faster the older you get. You are starting to get old!"

I also started school at home for the younger group of kids. We did some handwriting, some reading, some geography and history, all in about 45 minutes total (interrupted by potty trips and snacks and play). We learned about China: how they read and write, what and how they eat, some interesting landmarks, what their flag looks like, and found the country on the map. We learned about Egyptian hieroglyphics and papyrus. We learned about scribes in the middle ages. We looked at pictures of printing presses. We have a great child-friendly encyclopedia. I saw the elementary school bus go by around 9:00 am, like it always does. Child #3 read about seeds in his science book. He looked at a sprouting bean, tilted his head, and said, "That's a seed? I thought that that was a organ inside my body that helped me pee!" Any guesses on what kind of bean he was looking at? Yep, a KIDNEY bean. We are planting some tomorrow.

Later in the morning, we headed off to gymnastics and happened to pass the local elementary school. I pointed it out and said, "Those poor little souls, trapped in those little rooms." Child #3 asked, "Are we poor little souls?" "Oh, no! We get to play and go places whenever we want. Aren't we going to gymnastics right now? We are already done with school for the day and those kids have to sit there for the rest of the day!" I replied.

It wasn't until that afternoon that I realized that this was the day my sweet Child #3 would have climbed up on that bus and sat in the elementary school all day for his first day of Kindergarten! His FIRST day of KINDERGARTEN! That's like a huge deal in a child's life. And here was my child, playing outside in the dirt with his brother and sister completely unaware that this day was any different than every other day in his life. So of course I ran outside with the camera and took the obligatory "First Day of Kindergarten" picture. Only instead of a backpack, lunch box, and schoolbus, we had a happy little guy sitting "like a blackbelt" next to the giant squash in the garden.



I have What Your Kindergartener Needs to Know on hold at the library, just to make sure I'm not missing any important knowledge this year. But somehow I don't think I'm going to have any problems.