Barbie Goes to the Spa

I am not a huge Barbie fan.  I'm not so anti-Barbie that I would prevent my daughters from ever having them, but I'm certainly not going to use our hard-earned money to buy them!

The other day a very nice person with no daughters gave F a Barbie doll.  She is supposed to share it with her older sister, but that hasn't happened yet.  I don't think E wants to play with her anymore anyway.

See, Barbie spent some time eating some "strawberry cake" that F made in backyard.  Those of us who lack imagination call it mud pie.

I don't know who had more fun: me (laughing so hard I couldn't take pictures), F (who saw nothing funny about her game), or IJ- who unashamedly joined in and encouraged Barbie to binge on "strawberry cake."

Sleepy Baby

...or When Weaning Babies Won't Nap

D has been weaning this week.  Last night was the first night we went without nursing.  He fussed for awhile, but went back to sleep and slept until 9:30 this morning!  Weaning is always bittersweet.  I try to not think about how hard it was to get him nursing right after he was born.  I try to forget the two nursing strikes we went through when he was sick.  Why?  Because then I will want to change my mind.  I will miss that closeness.  And I don't want my baby to grow up and get older!  I know that he will start sleeping through the night soon and he will discover the joy of snuggling.  But until then, there will be wonky days like today!

Homeschool 2011-2012: Timberdoodle's Complete Curriculum

I love Timberdoodle.  As a self-confessed homeschool curriculum junkie, I have been drooling over their catalogs ever since I decided to homeschool six years ago.  I have even done a few reviews for them on this blog (find me at Because Mom Said)!  Last year, Timberdoodle created their own Complete Curriculum Packages, with everything you need for one year of homeschooling.  But by that time, I was pretty much sure of what I was going to use each year, with just tweaks here and there.  Plus, I couldn't use some of their curriculum choices due to the secular nature of the school district program I participate in.

One of the biggest problems I have each year is deciding what should I do with S?  He doesn't fit into any boxes, which is why we chose homeschooling in the first place.  I usually plan my curriculum choices around IJ and E, and then S joins in on whatever level he is capable of.  Which works, and works well for some families.  But I often feel like S falls through the educational cracks...which is what we were trying to avoid by homeschooling.

A few weeks ago, I saw this post about customization on Timberdoodle's blog.  "Well," I thought to myself, "That's cool.  But I dropped out of my program and I'm homeschooling on the shoestring this year."  Remember, I dropped out because I didn't think I could keep up with the reporting.  But now my schedule has opened up, and back in the program we go!  Saturday night, as I was finalizing my shopping lists, I remembered the post about customization, and dropped an email to Timberdoodle about making something work for S.  I assumed I wouldn't hear from them on Sunday, but boy was I surprised when they got back to me today, Monday morning!  S had a perfectly customized curriculum package created, and sent to the school district, within two hours!

This is what S is going to use.  Only he is going to use Teaching Textbooks 5, Story of the World 4, Sequential Spelling 1, and the Italic handwriting program.  We are also substituting a science kit about the human body for the creation-based science. The process of substituting and eliminating things I already own or are not secular was so fast and so easy.  And the fact that I had to send it on to my school district for purchase order payment was no problem for Timberdoodle.  The people at Timberdoodle are so easy to work with.

And just for the record, I was not compensated in anyway for this review.  This was just such a great experience that I wanted to share.

Record Breaking Weather!

Today was the hottest day this summer (so far) at a whopping 85 degrees!  And what better way to spend the day than chopping firewood for the winter?

 D watches closely... (in his one purple boot)...

...and then imitates him.  He whacked that piece of firewood many times while we cheered him on.

M decided that IJ was old enough to try out the splitting maul.  After a few lessons, he was up and running...kinda.  But after several tries, and no injuries, IJ finally splits the log!

And that was no easy log to split!  We are so proud...and M is happy that he will finally have some good help around here.

Yolk's On Me!

Ha, ha, ha!

 We found this cute teeny tiny egg the other day and I promised E she could be the one to eat it.

No Yolk!

We've reached the end of summer where normal people are getting ready to dispatch their children off to sit in a classroom for the next ten months.  I'm in the middle of last minute curriculum switches and gleefully awaiting the beginning of school too!  I'm planning another homeschool curriculum post (and some reviews) with back-to-school pictures...

Family Gathering

We miss Grandad terribly; he was such a huge part of our day-to-day life.  I find myself stopping outside his door to tell him about the latest cute thing that D can do (he is picking up sign language so fast!) or, when the cousins were here, how much fun the kids just had doing... well, I can just show you ten days worth of pictures.  That will tell you the story of our vacation!

The Pond

The afternoon of August 8, I took the kids down to the pond.  Grandad's passing didn't effect the kids as heavily as it effected the adults.  I felt like I was in some surreal world sitting down there at the pond, watching the kids splash around like nothing tragic had happened that morning.

Cousins M and K, my 13 and 11 year old nieces, got to swing off the rope swing, paddle on the boards, and spend time hanging out with the cousins they haven't seen since 2008!

Isn't this strange how this picture turned out?  IJ was the most impacted, although he keeps reminding us that Grandad has been freed from his body's prison and has been reunited with his wife.  He tells me he feels their spirits.

Time With Uncle Opie

 Uncle Opie and I took the seven kids to the beach while M and his sister took care of business.

IJ was missing his dad, but he found great company with his uncle.  Here they are watching deer in the pasture with binoculars!

 One of the greatest things he did while visiting, was take care of a little over-population problem I have...

 He taught IJ how to hypnotize a chicken so she will stay still...

 ...long enough to chop her head... Grandad always stressed the importance of teaching the kids how to kill and butcher a chicken.

 IJ said, "I don't really like killing chickens.  I did it for Grandad.  I don't mind butchering though."  I'm sure Grandad watched from heaven and was proud of him. 

And I hope he was proud of me!  I killed and butchered this turkey (almost) all by myself!  It weighed out at 30 pounds, dressed!  The males were so large I would never be able to fit them in the oven!  So, into the freezer quartered they went.

General Fun

 How can you have summer visitors without a campfire and marshmallows?  You can't!

 Lovely Cousin K had a great time being the older sister, for once. 

 And my little girls absolutely loved their cousins too!  They already miss them!  M and K were so patient with the little girls, who often forgot their bedroom wasn't theirs anymore.

Mealtimes were a blast with seven kids wrapped around the counter (in age order-to keep things simple).  The only problem?  We were one chair short, so whoever was last to the counter had to stand.

The Service

 At one time, Grandad was the last D family member...and now look at his descendents!

 His nine grandchildren.  

It was strange to be taking pictures at the service.  I recorded the military honors, but I also tried to capture some tender moments between family members.  Can you imagine if I would have missed capturing...

  ...these sweet moments between people who love each other dearly?

Grandad

1931-2011

Grandad passed away this morning after spending four days in intensive care.  He was able to visit with his daughter and her family and his two oldest granddaughters before slipping away.  I was also able to spend time with him.  M was there for his dad through the end.  It was a privilege and an honor to know and care for this great man. 

D

This morning, we found D like this:

Purple boot, pink stroller

Later, he helped me do some laundry:

Check the dryer before adding clothes!

Do I worry about his masculinity?  Never!  Because this was D last night:

Looking for Airplanes

Signing "Airplane"

 Have you ever seen such a dirty face?  Where is that poor child's mother? And his diaper is sagging to his knees!

Approaching a Full Moon

At least he is healthy and happy....

Sun Tea

If my feelings turn to blue,

I toss some happy in my stew,

And slurp it up without a spoon,

And gaze out at the milky moon.

~ Baby Einstein: Baby Van Gogh

Grandad is really sick today.  His congestive heart failure is beating the cancer.  Did you know it is possible to be dehydrated and be so filled with fluid that you can drown, all at the same time?  And did you know it is very hard to get a person to drink when they are suffering the psychological effects of drowning?  He is very weak and we are anxious to get him back in the hospital to drain the fluid from where it's not supposed to be and put some good hydration where he needs it.  Tomorrow morning can't come fast enough.

I wanted some sun tea, but my closed up little mind couldn't think past the fact that my sun tea container's spigot leaks.  And I don't want tea leaking all over the place.  In one tiny little flash, I realized duh... I don't need a special sun tea jar from WalMart.  I can use my canning jars.  They are the perfect size for a single serving.

I once told A, my grown-up daughter, that if she ever caught me using jars for drinking glasses she can haul me out to the pasture and shoot me (and for the record, I typed the word "catched" instead of "caught" and wondered why I spelled it wrong.  Yep, I have a tiny little brain today.  Or I spend a lot of time talking to a three year old).  I told her this when I was recycling the glass jar collection that had accumulated over the years... you know... because the jars might be useful for something...

...so don't tell her that I'm using my jars for sun tea, okay?

Summer Memories

Pitting 55 pounds of cherries...

...and the boys are old enough to help!

Many cherries were eaten instead of frozen

D discovers bikes...

...and E rides without training wheels for the first time!

Chocolate covered frozen bananas...

...one of my favorite childhood memories!

Five kids in the pond...yep, no one's missing!

BB Gun practice

Eating lots and lots of eggs.  Thank you chickens!

Getting dressed up for church (little girls are so much fun)!

"No one will swing me!"

Climbing the rope

Playing with Sibs (I never hear, "Mom, I'm bored!")

Loving the swing!

E joins The Rope Swing Gang!

M, with E on his board, wins the paddle board race!