Baby's First Birthday!

She takes after her sister; she prefers ice cream over cake!

Blanket Dummy

Once upon a time there was a little boy who liked to curl up in blankets and hide. He would pick strange places too... like the middle of the kitchen floor where people liked to walk. One day, his older sister stepped on what she thought was just a blanket on the floor. But her little brother was inside. And she stepped squarely on his stomach. Oh, she felt soooo bad. And one would think that this little brother would learn his lesson about hiding under blankets. But he didn't.

Today I walked across what I thought was an empty blanket. I continued through the kitchen and started making sandwiches. IJ and his snow leopard appeared a few moments later.

"Have you been in that blanket this whole time?"
"Yes."
"Don't you remember when A stepped on your stomach? I could have stepped on you!"
"You did. You stepped right on my arm."
"And you didn't say anything or cry?"
"No! I'm not a crybaby any more!"

Mosaic Monday

Mosaic is defined as an art form which uses small pieces of materials placed together to create a unified whole. Yesterday was filled with pretty little pieces that created a crazy, but completely survivable day. My Mosaic Day (isn't that poetic? haha). The morning started out pretty slow, with IJ and I getting most of our schoolwork out of the way by the time the backyard warmed up. The kids played outside a lot. I'm back into hanging my laundry to dry in the sun; yesterday was perfect for that! Sunny days are when we toss the book learnin' and get down an' dirty with nature studies.

I also decided it was a good day to make some crafts with the kids: mosaics. It tied in with our current study of Ancient Rome. We glued pieces of paper to poster board. I learned that doing mosiacs with kids is not for the faint of heart. Or the perfectionist. Glueing tiny little squares on paper can be very overwhelming for the person who likes things neat and orderly. Even I was overwhelmed and stayed up late working on my piece of art! And look at my table: And this is this morning! The floor is worse. M nearly died last night when he got home and saw the colossal mess.

But back to yesterday. We had Taekwondo, Cub Scouts, the car started acting funny, more Taekwondo, Masons, and my sister had a baby! Look at this gorgeous little girl! She arrived a month early, but she is just fine. She is the real work of art!

Happy Earth Day!

I love bein' green. The real green, not the fake green that is being marketed to everyone (like buying a brand new backpack made from recycled water bottles instead of getting a second hand backpack from Value Village). We celebrated Earth Day by emptying our compost containers into our garden. S and E were facinated with the giant worms that were in our compost bins. Then S, E, and I planted daisy seeds in recycled egg cartons, with recycled food scrap compost mixed in our recycled sandbox with dirt from our garden. We finished off another beautiful afternoon with a visit from L. Isn't it nice when a 20 year old comes home to ask her dad for help with her math? And then does school work at the table with her little brother?

Five Stitches

S, my brave boy, received five whole stitches in his chin last night. He hopped right up onto the table and informed the nurse he "probably only needed a piece of tape or a band aid." I had all four kids with me at our after-hours appointment, none of which had had any dinner, and they all behaved splendidly for hungry kids up past their bedtime. This whole falling and getting stitches is getting old though. I hope I'm not tempting fate with that last thought...

The Big Dent

Today as S was racing to get out of the bath before Taekwondo, he slipped on his still soapy feet and fell. He split his chin. He hit the garbage can so hard he left a BIG DENT! So no Taekwondo today. And since I didn't feel like rushing to the ER to spend $75 waiting to have stitches put in five hours later, I simply made an after hours appointment with my pediatrician. While we wait for our 8:00 pm appointment, we are playing outside in the wonderful Spring evening. A perfect time to capture my backyard dwellers with the digital camera....Isn't this little fairy wearing the cutest hair clip (an earwig)? Or is she a troll with that finger up her nose? I will be using this picture as blackmail when she is 14 years old.

More Baby Signs

This is the new sign for "more."

I made that dress! Its a T-shirt dress! I love sewing! I'm trying to only use recycled materials for my sewing projects so I can stay focused. Right. Did you know that if a fabric is in the remnant bin or on clearance it counts as recycled? I got a whole new stack of fabric today...

The Idiot Box

Yesterday was S's first Taekwondo test as a child instead of a Little Tiger. We were a little nervous because he had to know several techniques and listen for his number to be called, not his name. When his number was called, he didn't respond...but so did a lot of other kids. When he was supposed to stand still, he shifted from side to side and picked his nose...but so did a lot of other kids. When he was asked his question he went on and on and on about why the high block is his favorite block...but some kids couldn't answer their questions at all. So all and all, we were very pleased and proud of our new orange belt!

We were also proud of our new senior blue belt who broke his first board! He told me this morning the school is going to have to get some stronger boards for him to break on his next test. I agree.

I bought a giant box of Mega Blocks for my builders. Most boys this age have moved down to the small scale Legos, but my boys want to build big, big, BIG! The Mega Blocks came in this giant cardboard box, which my dearest S and E dubbed "The Idiot Box" after one of my favorite SpongeBob SquarePants episodes. SpongeBob and Patrick buy a big screen TV (the real idiot box) and throw it away so they can play in the box. Squidward takes the TV from the garbage and calls SpongeBob and Patrick idiots for playing in the box and throwing away the real treasure: the TV. But all day, Squidward hears SpongeBob and Patrick playing in their box and he is driven crazy with the realistic sound effects coming from their imaginations. I will not spoil the ending (but you can read the transcript here). I love this episode. The funny, ironic point of this episode is that the viewers (me and my family) are watching their own idiot boxes to see this episode instead of using their imaginations. But then, this episode inspired my kids to play. So the Idiot Box can have some good imagination sparks inside...

This morning the boys (and M) got right to work building a large castle with their... imaginations!

Thumbs Up to My Big Helper

My boys are focusing on doing one nice thing for their family for Taekwondo this testing period. Every class their instructor asks me if they have done one nice thing without being asked. This is a big deal. Most kids don't do what their asked, let alone what they aren't asked!

Last night I heard suspicious sounds coming from the bathroom. The water had been running too long. I could smell soap in the air. So I checked on S. Much to my dismay (and amusement) I saw the bathroom sink completely flooded to the top with water and all the hand towels, washrags, and clothing that had been left on the floor in the sink. There was water all over the counter and two brand new rolls of toilet paper were soaked. S looked up at me with a huge smile on his face and exclaimed, "Look Mom! I'm cleaning for you! I'm doing something nice without being asked! I'm even washing the dirty clothes!" There was NO WAY I was going to squelch his pride and happiness with remarks about what a huge mess he made or how I was going to have to throw the toilet paper away. I just hugged him and thanked him and helped him drain the sink.When M got home from his class (really, do we do anything but Taekwondo?) I told him the story with tears running down my face and trying not to laugh too loudly. M went straight into the bedroom where S was getting ready for bed and told him he gets THUMBS UP for helping. What a great dad. And what a great kid.

The kids are back to digging themselves a new home in the garden. Home, hole, whatever.

I took F out to experience dirt. Does she fit in with the rest of us? Of course she does, the little Wild Child!

Today our family had a big batch cooking day. M made a huge batch of beef stew for his dad with his new humongous stew pot (20 quarts!). My Big Helpers and I made lasagne! The total cost for three pans of lasagne was about $18. I've seen just the noodles at the grocery store for $3.99 a box, so when I saw a ten pound box of lasagne noodles for $10 (at my new favortive bulk discount store), I just had to buy it. My little helper, E, cracked one egg for me and ate a giant noodle. My Big Helper (and Padawan), L, was my second set of hands for the afternoon. She held F, opened cans, found my cook book for me, made tea, and read the recipe out loud for me. And she took this great picture of me, acting very silly (but excited!) at the size of these huge restaurant-sized noodles. Rock On! My freezers are absolutely packed to the doors with Easter meat sales, batch cooking, and who knows what else.

Fuzzy

We have a tarantula. A big, bird-eating tarantula. M bought it when it was a tiny little spiderling, no bigger than a quarter. Ten years ago. She has been part of our family longer than I have! Now she is as big as a man's hand. At least. This evening, IJ and E were arguing over who owns the tarantula. S said, "What tarantula?"

Easter Jelly Belly Ache

We test the kids orally when we want to make sure they understand a lesson. M spent some time explaining the difference between the commercialized Easter with candy-filled plastic eggs (yuck), the reason why some people celebrate the return of Spring with chicks and egg hunts, and the Christian holiday of Easter. IJ summed it all up with, "People celebrate Spring because the plants come back to life after winter to feed our bodies. And Jesus came back to life too to feed our spirits."

Every year we celebrate a little differently. This year we had our Easter Feast on Saturday night so L and BF could join us. Little E helped me make the dinner rolls. She has become my little helper in the kitchen. I never could trust the boys in the kitchen around hot and sharp things when they were three. But E is different. She even helped me cook and dye the hard boiled eggs without making a mess.

This morning the kids had an indoor egg hunt because of the rain. After all the eggs were found, the boys (especially IJ) were excited to see what kind of candy was inside. Remember how I feel about plastic eggs? Here he is saying, "Hey! These are real eggs!" He let S and E have the rest of the eggs. Good thing we had some jelly beans in reserve!

Diaper Fun

My Savant & Eighteen Years & Baby Signs

"I can spell some words that end with Y. Say...may...nonentity...circuitry..." said S the other day. He looks like he is watching a blank television, but he is really listening to Mozart.
We celebrated M's eighteenth year of sobriety last Friday!

F started signing over the weekend!
She will sign "milk" when she wants to nurse...but she uses two hands instead of one so she really looks like she is milking a cow! This is her sign for "I want up."

Climbing on Up!

Guess who learned how to climb? I spent a glorious day at my dear friend's house yesterday where Baby F got to play with her oldest daughter while we two moms chatted (but of course with 12 kids between the two of us we were interrupted every few seconds). F realized that she could indeed get up stairs all by herself, so when we got home she got right to work. I found her climbing our stairs, stuck on her brothers bed, standing on a child-sized rocking chair, and stuck two inches off the ground because she climbed on to my baby backpack. Now the fun really starts...

IJ the Great Conquers The Magic Tree House

For anyone who doesn't know, The Magic Tree House series is IJ's favorite right now. They are beginner chapter books that takes kids all over the world, all through time. Mary Pope Osborne is one of my favorite children's authors because her stories are well-researched and educational, yet are exciting and easy to read. There are over 40 books in the series so far (not including the research guides). IJ's goal is to read them all. He can read between three to five in one day.

Yesterday IJ received at our most beloved library the Magic Tree House books that he has left to read. He said to me, "Mom, when I finish the last Magic Tree House book, I will weep like Alexander the Great did when he realized there was no more land to conquer!"

How is that for a book-loving homeschooler?

Spring at Twin Firs

Now it is Spring. We spent the weekend at Twin Firs and the sun was out every day! I did some Spring Cleaning, including about ten loads of laundry and line-dried them all! It was nice to air out the winter dust, from more than just the blankets!I have a bijillion great Spring pictures to post. First, music education is never started too early. F is strapped securely in her high chair (which was mine when I was a baby). M planted four blueberry bushes, a plum tree, and this peach tree: Mary, Mary, quite contrary! The daffodils are blooming, and I found this strange invasive species planted right in the middle of them! This rock is named Hairy Scary Rock, after a children's book, and these kids sure are hairy and scary! We spent some time enjoying the sun down at the pond. My Pathetic Doberman plays fetch with emtpy plastic bottles. This one was just a little too far...and she tried to drink up the pond to get it back. Where bald spots come from? And last but not least, the NuWave Oven: As seen on TV! My dearest, most beloved father-in-law has a weakness for infomercials and buys their products without a second thought. I received a battery-operated knife on my front step one time that ended up as a big fat waste of money. We have a rotisserie oven (pictured above right) that has never been used. And now the Nuwave. After hours of chiding, teasing, lecturing, and refusing to unpack the box, M and I finally humored the ol' man and used his Nuwave to cook a roast. It was done in 45 minutes, tasted great, and the cleanup was a breeze. And we tossed the potatoes in with the roast too! Now we will see how long it takes for it to break!