Board Breaking

Jason is a quick learner! (Also, watch Mark's reactions to the kids' breaks)

Genna's up and down kick...

... and side kick.

Shane's punch:

Genna's punch:

Fiona!  She is actually quite good at sparring, especially when she goes up against Daniel:

Genna's roundhouse.  She breaks the board with the TOP of her foot, which hurts!

And I do have to say, this is my favorite video.

And Fiona does it again!

December

I almost went an entire month without blogging.  In fact, I had to go back and look at my pictures just so I could do a quick update: quick, before someone interrupts me!

We studied Russia before we went on Christmas break.  I found blank Matryoshka dolls at the second hand store and made them the center of our study.

December is the best month to learn about Russia.  We watched my favorite version of Peter and the Wolf.  I read all about the Russian revolution and watched Fiddler on the Roof.  No one was required to watch the movie with me, but everyone did. Inspire, not require.

Then we said goodbye to our couch.  Remember Ode to My Couch?  The time had come to send it to the dump; it was just too dangerous to sit on with all the broken boards sticking out.  We got our money's worth out of it.

The couch belonged to a friend of mine who has seven kids, so I knew it was sturdy.  The couch is all attached now, but you can see it has two recliners and it fits us all.  It even has a hide-a-bed!  And because we are a bit weird, I saved the couch cushions of the old couches.  They are so comfortable and perfect for building forts in the kids' rooms.

Then we had a few hours of snow.  My little kids have no memory of snow, so our pathetic dusting was so exciting!

Always up for some fun!

Just WATCH OUT: He has a NAUGHTY sense of humor (that would be a shot put in his hand)

 Then we started our series of Christmas crafts and parties...

The dolls and aprons came from Ian's friend's mom who hosts a Christmas party every year.  She sewed all the aprons.

Mark headed up to his Master's dojang to help out with a black belt test.  This is always fun for us because Mark brings home the boards that were broken during the test.  We use the boards for kindling all year, but they need to be broken into smaller pieces.  I could probably dedicate a whole post to the videos I took. Maybe someday I will get good at video editing so I can string them into one video with Fiona's unsuccessful attempts nestled between Genna's perfect breaks.  (Fiona does eventually break her boards)

Here is a link to the board breaking. 

At this point in the Christmas season I get a bit Grinchy.  And Scroogey.  It all started with the trip to the local Santa Event.  We got our free picture with Santa and they handed out gifts that were prewrapped and sorted by age and gender.  Half my kids were either puzzled or disappointed, so we had to spend some time talking about the meaning of Christmas.  Genna fell into the 11 years and older group, so her surprise gift was a hair dryer.  That would have been a great gift for a 13 year old, but she is still a little girl. For now.  Heidi got this crazy androgynous Barbie doll named Prince.  I have a hard time believing that a person would think that was an appropriate gift for a three year old girl.  That doll went straight into the trash when we got home.

But never fear! We got a proper visit from Santa when he visited on his sleigh with the local fire fighters! They came on a Monday night, which is the same night as Cub Scouts, but they were here in time for Daniel to see Santa too.  Heidi was crashed out on the couch and Ian was more or less happy to be the person in charge.

Waiting in the scary dark!

Here he comes! Sirens, lights, and carols played over loud speakers!

Mark and Daniel scooted off to the Cub Scout Christmas (dessert potluck) party where they learned a little more about each other.  Mark and Daniel I mean.  They learned that when Daniel takes two cookies off one plate and Mark says only take one off each plate, Mark doesn't mean take one cookie off EACH PLATE on the table and then eat them.  He meant just take one of the kind you want to eat.  They also (re)learned that Daniel is so sensitive to sugar consumption and motion, that if he plays cakewalk after eating one of each cookie, he will literally toss his cookies.  Luckily, Daniel knows when he needs to barf, so they made it to the bathroom in time and then came home.

One thing I absolutely love about Ian is his Christmas spirit.  Every year (since last year) he runs a sibling gift exchange that he calls a Red Elephant.  The gifts must be home made and thoughtful.  I provide assistance and supplies if needed.  This year, Genna made a writing box for Fiona since they are still writing letters back and forth on the pulley they rigged in their rooms.  I purchased a box, scrapbook paper, and stickers.  We cut the paper into smaller pieces and folded them into letters.  They are so pretty!

Ian carved or wove gifts for everyone; he is pretty talented with wood and paracord.  Shane made a candle and an oil lamp of Ian's video game characters, Glom and a Lavalcano.  Fiona made a snake for Daniel out of finger knitting.  And Daniel made a board game for Genevieve (with lots of help from me) called Prancing Ponies.

The kids had LOTS of playtime while I got ready for Christmas and just freaked out in general.  I'm not good at Christmas.

Fiona is Santa, Genna is an elf, and Daniel is a reindeer...in a lion costume.

My older sister and her family came down from Alaska for Christmas this year!  We had lots of fun and I really enjoyed their visit.  Christmas Eve is when I finally chill out and really start enjoying the holiday.

We also got to visit with Laura and her family and Ami would have come down too if her kids hadn't been sick.  As the kids get older, we see them less and less.  It makes me hold on to my littles that much tighter.  We've had a very full, very happy Christmas and we are currently celebrating New Year's Eve.

Goodbye 2016!

Genna Turns 11!

Genna's birthday always sneaks up on me, no matter how many times she reminds me and tells me what kind of party she wants.  Her birthday falls on Thanksgiving weekend, when friends are gone.  This year she had a friend over on the Sunday before her birthday, she brought cupcakes to vaulting on Monday, and had a friend over on her actual birthday, which was Tuesday. 

Sunday Present

Tuesday Cake: Don't ever buy the tie-dye cake mix!

This amazing young lady understands that we are investing much of our resources into vaulting, so she is content with her small parties and new vaulting shoes and socks as her gift from us.  As long as she can keep participating in competitions, she is good to go.  I just love this girl!

Heidi Turns 3!

I love this girl. She is so crazy, wild, and fun.  She is loud, sensitive, and bossy.  She doesn't like dresses, but she does love pink and purple and sparkly shoes. 

And she screams. Oh man, can she scream.  She absolutely cannot stand having the dogs downstairs by the fire, so she screams at them to get upstairs.  Sometimes she just tosses them out the front door.  When I tell her to leave the dogs in, she cries that they're stinky.  I wonder where she picked that up from?

Heidi: First thing in the morning: Crazy Hair!

I am just as thankful that Heidi is #7 just as Daniel is #5.  There is just something about these Longbranch babies that make us go hmmmm....

I cannot WAIT to see if she stops cutting her hair this year.

So Happiest of Birthdays to my Super Spunky Little Girl!

Everyone's Favorite Trick Monkey

Jason is so teachable right now.  And so cute.  He is going to be dreadfully spoiled (if he isn't already) by his mama and sisters.  He doesn't call me mama though.  He calls me, "MOM!" because that is how everyone else says it.  He just turned 16 months old.  It's hard to believe both Ian and Lula already had a baby sibling at this age.

Just in case you wondered how the corn got in the peanut butter...

I love the little dimple on his right cheek. His sister has the same one.

We love his curls too!

This is his vaulting move that he learned from his Sissy

And his other vaulting move.

He has a way of looking at us with his big, brown eyes that makes our hearts melt.  He is such a naughty boy though!  He hits, he bites, and he throws heavy things at us.  He laughs when we say, "Ouch!"  Such a sweet naughty monster.  And forever the baby of the family.

TJed Day

I'm only writing this out so when I come back and read old posts for fun, I have a record of a normal day. Not super great or fun. Not super stressful that I need to laugh about. Just normal.

On Monday (today is Wednesday), I was able to get "it all" done.  I worked for a few hours on my dad's business after I started the laundry.  I did some science with my anatomy and physiology class (subject: teeth).  We talked about why it is important to clean our teeth, made a decision to dissolve Daniel's next baby tooth in soda, and talked about the upcoming dentist appointments starting next week.  We reviewed the digestive system (we know everything we need to know thanks to The Magic Schoolbus, thank you) and learned about the renal system.  The fun never ends around here!

After we did the group work, I sent everyone off to do their individual subjects.  I manage chaos while those who are independent enough to learn alone do so.

Fiona is finally thriving in a math program.  She is (mostly) enjoying Math U See Beta.  She watches the DVD on my computer and then completes how ever many pages we can complete in a day (it all depends on what else we have going on).  She is reading like crazy whenever she can, so I do not even assign books.  She asked for suggestions, so I gave her a stack of books from my stash.

Daniel is so non-traditional.  His math sheets often look like this:

Praise the Lord for him being #5 and not #1.  I never would have survived if he were.  I have learned so much about kids and the amazing way they function in the last few years.  One thing I've really had slap me in the face is being purposeful about building transitions into my day.  This means I don't accomplish much in the way of number of subjects, but the quality of what we do cover is much better.  This includes eating peanut butter sandwiches, I kid you not.  I really do need to stand over them (all) and make sure every task, whether it be eating, tidying, or learning, is finished to completion.

Tuesday morning ran much like Monday, only I pulled out my indestructible world map and outlined China and the Koreas with the wet erase marker.  We reviewed the definition of a peninsula and how it is different from an island, which led us to Japan.  At that moment, Shane came around, saw that we were talking about the Koreas, and added his two cents about their history and politics.  Another light bulb moment for me!  Always keep my younger class a few weeks behind Shane so when he notices what we are doing, he can be the guy who already knows everything.  I was free to read on in my Eastern Hemisphere book, so I can teach from conversation instead of reading straight from the book. 

Miles of stockinet stitch, courtesy of Nana's knitting machine

I am trying to be "done" with "school" by afternoon so we can be more "flexible" with "learning."  Yes, all those quotes were necessary.  Afternoons are for me and my learning if I am to follow the TJed methodology.  Monday afternoon I blogged.  I set the example that writing (spelling, grammar, recording my thoughts and feelings, communicating with others through the written word) is something that is fun and necessary. Tuesday we had to work, so we were on the road all afternoon.  Wednesday afternoons, Shane and Genevieve have a science class taught by a local (Washington State certified) teacher and homeschool mom.  They are taking my favorite class to teach (that isn't preschool): chemistry.  They get to do real experiments with real chemicals and real glassware!  Of course I own all that stuff too, but there are no toddlers at their teacher's house.  Only other middle schoolers.  Shane and Genna are perfect study partners.  Genna is a perfectionist and makes Shane quiz her over and over, which means Shane gets plenty of practice in too.

Ian is home after school every afternoon now that football is over.  All the little kids are happy to see him.  I am too.  Although I miss him, I'm glad that someone else had to grade his schoolwork and tell him to answer in complete sentences.   He is a decent student and has shown that although I felt like I didn't do enough for him, the combination of what we did do and his natural talent is enough to get by.  The biggest thing he has to work on are character based.

Next blog post will be Jason milestones!

Daniel

He settled down. He is teachable.  He learns.

Playing Corners (a math game)

Daniel can read. He can swim. He has memorized the white belt poomse at Taekwondo and the Scout Law for Cub Scouts.  He can add ones, tens, and hundreds.  He can spell words that aren't butt or poop.

I'm not saying he's perfect, because he isn't.  He still has his moments where he can't get out of other people's spaces and can't stop giggling about silly things. He also gets upset and is immovable about something he sets his heart on (like being the pancake flipper).  Aaaaannnnd he still gets carsick (and only in Mark's car).  But he is nothing like he used to be.

There is something to be said about letting these little boys grow and learn on their own timeline.  Last year, I pulled waaaaay back on how hard I pushed this precious boy and I am SO GLAD that I did.  When I stopped TEACHING him and focused on just LOVING him, he responded.

Today, he sat down and read a real book to me.  I haven't been able to find Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons for two weeks, so he hasn't been getting his reading lessons when he asks.  (Note the when he asks part).  Lula handed me a Little Critter book, and I asked Daniel how much of it he could read.  Hey, the whole thing! No Pat the Rat or Bob Books for this guy. He is ready for Dr. Seuss!

Little Preschool

My Little Tornadoes drive me crazy, but gosh, I sure love doing the preschool thing with them.  Having them underfoot during homeschool hours is nothing like having Daniel underfoot and you all remember what he was like, don't you???

I don't think I've pulled Mighty Mind out of my school cupboard for years and years... Most of the magnets have fallen off, but all the pieces are there.  Lula was able to complete about half the cards before the shapes got too hard and Heidi did about ten of them.  I was mostly working on politely-waiting and asking-for-help-without-shouting skills with the girls and teaching Jason to not touch (and stay off the table).... like that will ever happen.

Recess is essential.  Can you believe this mild weather? I have kids running around in SHORTS with the windows open.  We are halfway through November and have only had three fires in the wood stove- and they were mostly for ambience. My big plan to keep my sanity is to take the kids outside more this winter.  I'm shedding the coats and boots that don't meet the rainy day requirements for our family and hopefully replacing them with USEFUL rain gear for their Christmas present (shhhhh! Don't tell!)  I'm tired of being home; I want adventure!

How do you know your preschooler is ready for fun hands-on crafts?  When they sneak off with scissors and do this:

Own it, mamas.  I hear the snip snip, thank God it's not their hair (again), and get going with the printer.  I used to try not to print because it uses so much ink, but  you should see how much Lula loves her binder of schoolwork!  She pulls it off the shelf several times a day to look at the pages she created.  She is writing the words Lula, Mom, Dad, and Cat.

I love Lula's intense concentration!

This project was perfect for her.  She knows the numbers from 1 to 10, so she was just working on her cutting skills and her asking-nicely-for-a-turn-with-the-glue-stick skills.  Heidi needed more help with the numbers and cutting, but she was thrilled to glue all by herself!

Nice haircut, Heidi

An Early Halloween

For years and years we've gone to the church's Candy Carnival.  This year, Halloween is on a Monday.  Ian has his last game, Genna has vaulting, and I absolutely refuse to take Things 1, 2, and 3 to the church alone.  The entry free to the Candy Carnival is one bag of candy plus a food donation to Backpacks 4 Kids per kid.  Seven bags of candy PLUS canned food? No thank you! Lucky for me, my kids are easy to work with.  I offered to buy large amounts of candy for our own consumption if we could stay home tomorrow night. Deal.

The fun started last night with the older four staying up with me to watch the old Ghostbuster's movie.  I figured that since I couldn't remember any risque parts of the movie, my younger kids wouldn't understand nor remember any of them either.  They were there all right.

"I picked this one just for you!"

 Lula's pumpkin is Pinocchio.  She has been caught three times sneaking candy.  She slipped out of the house and was found eating candy in the van.  She got in her sister's candy bag and helped herself for awhile.  And then she was caught getting into the decoy bag that the same older sister left as a trap.  She lied each time.

 I made some monster food for dinner tonight.  Snotty boogers pretzel dip...

...and mummified hot dogs...

We lit the pumpkins...

Daniel's

Ian and Shane's

Genna's and Fiona's (I bet you can't tell which is which)

 The meanest thing I did was make them play games to win all the candy I bought.  I thought about just setting the bowl of candy out and letting them eat it Hunger Games style.  But I figured Ian would dominate.

Catching chopsticks (and someone thought I couldn't possibly find a use for 100 pairs of chopsticks!)

 Jason had some M&Ms earlier today and I tell you, this boys gets CRAZY on sugar.  He was crawling all over me, biting and licking me! I have never ever seen him so insanely crazy.  He got some more candy during our little party and he got a little crazy again.

(I included this picture only because Ian is scaring Lula in the background)

 We played lots of quick short games that I found online today, plus a few more the kids made up on the spot.  Once, Genna noticed that her bag of candy corn was missing.  I showed her the picture I had just taken of Jason and asked if that was her bag of candy:

He is a bit of a squirrel and likes to hide things in various places around the house.  His favorite hiding places are the garbage can (I have to pull all sorts of non-garbage out all day and I'm pretty sure he threw away the DVD remote), the middle drawer on the blue desk, and the heat vent hole in the school room.

And that is where we found the candy!  Did you notice a lack of Heidi pictures? Oh, she was there all right and she was the loudest person in the room!  But for some reason, I didn't get anything but a blurry picture of her trying to steal Ian's candy with Jason...