Where to start?

I guess I'll just go in chronological order.

October 21:

The children and I went to the Creation museum with two other homeschool families from our church.

Little Bear and Kitty Kat

Puppy Dog

Birdie

Kitty Kat, Monkey, Froggie, and Puppy Dog

October 30:

Our Mountain Dew can coupons for Young's Jersey Dairy were getting ready to expire, so we played miniature golf at Udders and Putters and got ice cream.

October 31:

Jon participated in a forklift rodeo and we finished using our cans at Young's Jersey Dairy. This time, Jon's sister and her family joined us for golf and ice cream.

November 1:

THREE OF OUR CHILDREN GOT BAPTIZED! Jon had the honor of baptizing them.

Froggie with Jon

Monkey with Jon

Puppy Dog with Jon

November 2:

In the evening, the girls and I had Sonflower Scouts. By the time scouts was over, Monkey really wasn't feeling well. She had a high fever, but I don't think it's the flu. By bedtime, Birdie was also feeling bad and running a fever.

November 3:

Both girls are still feeling dizzy and feverish. Birdie got sick some. It may be the flu, or it might just be that her empty stomach couldn't handle cranberry juice during a fever. Ibuprofen takes care of the fevers and the girls feel better with the fevers under control. Today became a p.j. day for the kids.

Jon and I voted.

Various days:

We painted our living room. We made and exploded a volcano. Actually, the kids made the volcano while Jon and I painted. They had to work together to make the dough and build the volcano. I used red food coloring when I made it erupt. Another Weaver mom had mentioned using a water bottle to build the volcano around. We did that and the eruption was wonderful, because the pressure built up causing the "lava" to shoot up a bit.

Our washer gave out (a repairman Jon talked to thought it was probably the transmission), so we had to get a new one. We somehow missed that the one we picked out was HE. I can't use my homemade detergent in it, but we needed the extra load space. Hopefully, we'll save enough on water and electricity to make up for the high detergent cost. It's a lot easier to get the laundry done now. Of course, laundry is never actually done...

Jon planed a door down and installed it in our bathroom doorway. We no longer have a curtain for a bathroom door!

Jon changed the dryer duct.

Hard at Work

Froggie, Monkey, and Puppy Dog copy their Spelling lists.

Some of What We've Been Up To

We've been a little busy, lately.

Birdie, Monkey, and Puppy Dog were in our church's children's choir. This year they went by the name, Inside Out. Froggie and Kitty Kat didn't sign up for the Jr. High choir in time, so they didn't participate (on stage) in the Night of Worship this year.

Birdie and Monkey

Puppy Dog


all six children after the Night of Worship





We watched two of Jon's nieces last Saturday. While they were here, the children discovered some strange fungi (?). The children have been been observing the fungi each day. It dies off each day and then a new fungus is in the same area the next morning. Does anyone know what it is?





Birdie, Monkey, and Puppy Dog after their Inside Out award ceremony.

Kitty Kat, me, Froggie, Monkey, and Birdie after the Sonflower Scout badge ceremony

This is what our living room ceiling looks like right now. Little Bear says we made it naked. Actually, it's not even there. The old plaster ceiling was falling down, so we had to take it down. We're hoping to have the new ceiling up this weekend and get the living room repainted next week. We still haven't decided what color of paint to use. We have some ideas, though.

An Angel with a Flaming Sword

Aren't four year olds interesting? Little Bear just told me, "Mom, when I grow up I'm going to be an angel, but I'm going to have a flaming sword. Do you want to know where I got that from? I got that from my Adam book." LOL My son is not going to be a doctor, a lawyer, a street sweeper, or any other normal profession. No, my son is aspiring to be an angel with a flaming sword. I wonder what he'll want to be tomorrow?

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I didn't get to the store on Thursday which is our normal day to shop. The kids and I went on Saturday. The kids were not in the best of moods. I started out by telling the kids I was going to take a picture of them to put on the blog anytime I caught them misbehaving. It didn't take me long to realize my mistake. I switched to taking pictures of the kids when I caught them behaving.

Birdie helps by getting beans to put in the cart while we were at Wal-mart.

I caught Monkey with her hands in her pockets while several children behind her were handling the items on the shelves. Her siblings saw this take place and the next thing I knew, several others had their hands in their pockets. (Pay no attention to the green coat sleeves. Ugh! They are the stained sleeves of Froggie's old coat. I told her I would not put a picture of her in the blog if she had the coat on, but she refused to take it off. She was caught being good a couple times, but I can't post her picture since I told her I wouldn't.

Puppy Dog stands by the cart with his hands in his pockets.

Birdie poses with her hands in her pockets. Monkey is in the background looking at a movie display with her hands still in her pockets. Another sister is looking with her hands. Ahem!

Little Bear tries to hide behind his arm as I take this picture. It took me several tries!

What a great older sister! Kitty Kat helps out by taking the boys to the restroom at Kroger.

Our total for food at Wal-mart was $21.56 .

Our total for food at Kroger was $77.75 .

Jon spent about $40 while I was at a friend's Friday.

weekly total = $139.31

total for two weeks = $277.00

average weekly spending = $138.50 .

I haven't been stressing out about food prices as much these last two weeks. Most likely, this is due to the fact that we have had more money available for food. It's looking like our average for food may be higher than it was previously. Due to the rising cost of food, we may have to increase our food budget. Then again, I usually will have a week here or there where I don't do the regular food shopping. That would really drop the average.

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While I was typing this, Little Bear brought me the book he previously referred to, and showed me the picture of the angel with the flaming sword. The book is CREATION MY FATHER LOVES ME by J.D. Wise.

Today Was Better Than Yesterday

I think a big part of today being better than yesterday was that I started my day out with God. The pets woke me and I had to take care of them, but none of the kids bothered me until I was done with my devotions. I take that back. I sent two girls back to bed. Puppy Dog came to our room while I was praying and laid down beside Jon. P.D. was quiet though and let me do my devos. without interruption. I went back to sleep after my devos. LOL

When the kids all started to congregate in the dining room, I told them that we were having cold cereal for breakfast. Some time went by and they started fussing about really being hungry. Apparently, I have catered to them too much this past winter. It only took a small verbal nudge to convince them to fix their own cereal though. I came out while they were fixing theirs, fixed mine, and added some banana slices to everyone's bowls.

Lunch was Sloppy Joes, baby carrots, applesauce, and milk. We used Manwich, because it was a good price this week and Jon wanted it. I used two pounds of ground beef and two cans of sauce. We had enough left over for Jon to have enough for a sandwich at work later this week. The buns were also storebought. They were on sale and I had a coupon.

Jon took the rest of our leftover chili, a yogurt, and some pop for his work lunch. He usually drinks water and eats some of the fruit that his workplace keeps out for employees as well.

The kids and I had yogurt for an afternoon snack while we waited for our bread to cool for supper. I also made rolls for tomorrow.

Tonight's supper was egg salad (homemade) sandwiches (homemade bread), baby carrots, cottage cheese with pineapple rings, and water. We had enough egg salad for Jon to have a sandwich later.

This is Little Bear's plate from supper. As the youngest, he got the priveledge of having the heals of the bread. The younger three children tend to take turns eating the heals. If they fight, then I get them.

I assigned How-to reports to three of the children this week. Kitty Kat decided on "How to Make Old Fashioned Sugar Cookies", Froggie chose "How to Make Meatloaf", Monkey chose "How to Make Chocolate Tea Bread", Puppy Dog chose "How to Make Chocolate Chip Cookies", Birdie wants help deciding, and I haven't heard from Little Bear yet. Did you catch that five children are planning their reports when I only assigned reports to three?

Kitty Kat decided to use the recipe on the back of a sugar package. I tried to dissuade her, but she wouldn't budge. I let her try the recipe without interference at first. She would ask my opinion from time to time.

One of those times was when the "dough" was supposed to be ready to go in the fridge to chill. It looked like quick bread batter. I went through the ingredients with her and double checked the measurements she used. It turns out that she measured the milk before adding the lemon juice to it (as a replacement for buttermilk). I had told her a day or two ago to first put the lemon juice in and then to finish measuring the milk. Apparently, she forgot. She also confessed to having the milk a little over the mark on the measuring cup. Add that to the fact that the eggs we have right now are extra large and there was definitely too much moisture. I had her add a little extra flour a 1/4 cup at a time to get a better consistency. She added 1/2 cup and we decided to try it.

I let her work on the cookies alone after the "dough" chilled. I came to help her check on them when the first set was ready to come out of the oven. The cookies were a little burnt. I helped her get them off the pans quickly and then the kids and I ate those cookies as a bedtime snack. The oven temp. was at 400 degrees and she baked the cookies for 7 minutes. I checked and she had followed the directions. I then proceded to help her by getting the rest of the cookie "dough" onto the pans and she added the cinnamon sugar. I made the cookies bigger than the recipe called for, left the temp. the same, and had her time them for 5 minutes and then reset the timer as needed. She ended up with enough nice cookies that she can take them to her small group at church tomorrow evening and leave a couple for Jon to have later. She will be trying a different recipe before writing her report though. I tasted the raw batter and it tasted just like the batter minus the bananas of a banana bread recipe that I once made from a recipe on the back of the same brand of sugar. I have never made that recipe again because the banana bread turned out bland.

The kids were in bed before 10pm tonight. I actually sent them to bed before 9:30 but I had to fuss with the boys to get them to stay in bed. Once the boys were in bed, they fell right to sleep. I did have to go upstairs to send the girls back to bed a little while ago, but I think they have settled down. Hopefully, they will get enough sleep, because we are going to be at church a lot tomorrow.

Thursday at the Owings Cafe

Today was Monkey's turn in the kitchen. She helped make stir fry veggies (we also added a bag of broccoli so we would have enough to go around) with chicken and teriyaki sauce, rice, and fruit cocktail. She also helped make mandarin orange spice tea.

Monkey cuts up chicken (precooked with yesterday's lunch).

Monkey stirs the chicken and veggies.

Monkey adds teriyaki sauce.

Monkey shows off her plate.

Last Weekend

Friday, March 6, 2009

Jon's workplace had their award's banquet. The theme this year was Prom. Jon received a trophy for competing in a forklift rodeo. My parents watched the kids overnight. One of Jon's coworkers surprised his girlfriend and married her at the banquet. Yeah, I'll just say, that was different. We didn't stay for the whole thing. They always have a Monte Carlo time when you win raffle tickets. They always have a lot of raffle prizes at these functions, but we left without getting our starting tickets and didn't go back. Instead, we went home, changed, played board games, etc. Etc. in this case means I forgot what all we did. We enjoyed the time without kids. Thanks Dad and Mom!

Do you know how difficult it is to find a modest Prom worthy dress for someone my size? We got the most modest one we could find. We had to wait until Friday to get a dress. We didn't have the funds before that. Jon and the girls had gone dress hunting earlier in the week, so Jon knew what our options were. We found a dress and the additions items I needed. It didn't seem like a good idea to wear hiking boots with the dress. LOL (We also found a coat for Froggie. It was a $350.00 genuine lambskin leather coat and we got it for about $45.00 after taxes!)

We were running late getting ready so Mom met me between our house and hers to get the kids. I got back home with just enough time for us to get ready and get to banquet right on time. Jon was nearly ready when I got back. He had shaved! The last time he shaved was for our anniversary back in August '08. He was helping me get ready. He started to hand me the dress and found out the cashier hadn't removed the security tag! We had to go back to the store before going to the banquet. I got dressed as best as I could and wore jeans and a t-shirt to the store . The cashier was the same one and didn't recognize Jon all dressed up and clean shaven. LOL I changed into the dress in the dressing room and then we went straight to the banquet.

I was fine in the dim lighting around people I didn't know well (most of whom were at least a little or a lot drunk). However, much to my embarrassment, a lady in the restroom recognized me from church. Jon had me put the picture of us on Facebook so I might as well post it here as well. I think my cheeks are turning a shade of red similar to the shirt I am wearing as I post this.

Wasn't Jon handsome!

Saturday, March 7, 2009

The girls are in Sonflower Scouts at church. Last Saturday was their annual Father/Daughter Banquet. This year's the was Masquerade. I help lead the K and1st grade group, so I had to be there to help. Mom kept the boys and Dad came to the banquet so that Jon wouldn't be as outnumbered. I'll have to see if Jon will post more about the banquet. In the meantime, here are some pictures.

Froggie twirling with Jon

Froggie dancing

Jon dancing with Froggie

Kitty Kat dancing with Papaw

Kitty Kat and Jon

Birdie dancing with a friend

Jon and Monkey

Papaw (Brandi's dad), Birdie, Kitty Kat, Froggie, Monkey, and Jon

They make a beautiful group, don't they!?

Update 3/15/09: Today, when Birdie went to put on her dress for church, we discovered that the top skirt seam had come out for a length of about five inches. She had to wear a different dress.

After church, when Froggie was changing, the straps on one side of her dress pulled out.

Below is a picture our Sonflower Scouts Events coordinator gave me at church today.

Papaw (Brandi's Dad), Kitty Kat, and Froggie in their masks

Nine Years of Monkey Business

Nine years ago today our fourth daughter crawled up over my shoulder in the hospital and earned her nickname, Monkey. Yes, today is Monkey's birthday.

It has been and will be crazy today.

Jon took a personal day yesterday, because he couldn't sleep Saturday night and Monkey wanted to sleep in for her birthday, so we let the kids stay up a little later than usual. The kids slept in some and that let Jon get more sleep without all the noise. We let the kids have the day off from school on birthdays, so we were just lazing into our day (Jon and Monkey were still asleep) when a friend dropped by for an unexpected visit. Our dogs tried to get out to lick her to death. Her jaw dropped in surprise when she saw me in my bathrobe. LOL She didn't end up staying.

We made a quick cake to eat with lunch. Monkey frosted it herself and put the candles in. Jon ate a piece right before running out the door to work.

The girls and I have Sonflower Scouts tonight. Mom just picked up the boys so she could watch them overnight for me. They normally have father son time on S.S. nights, but Jon's new schedule doesn't allow that. The boys aren't sad at all though. They get to play with their cousin and spend the night with their grandparents.

I have to get parent letters ready with petal point information (for Sonflower Scout badges), so I better go.

Who Me? Procrastinate?

Last year at our Owings family Christmas/New Year's get together, my mother-in-law assigned the moms with making a scrapbook page for each of their children. She even gave us a scrapbook ideas book for our Christmas present. The problem is that I don't scrapbook. I don't even get pictures developed.

Back in November Jon's mom had some of us get together at her place to work on our pages. It's probably a good thing too. One of my sisters-in-law gave me some sheets of scrapbook page paper (or whatever it is called). I had asked previously what size page. The answer I got was, "The regular size." To me regular size paper is 8.5 X 11. The pages my sil supplied me with are about 11 and 15/16" X 11 and 15/16". Like I said before, I DON'T SCRAPBOOK! This was one case in which procrastinating was a good thing.

I had some of the pages done yesterday. The rest I finished today. Keep in mind the following:

1. I DON'T SCRAPBOOK!
2. Since I don't scrapbook, I don't have very many scrapbook supplies.
3. Since I don't have very many scrapbook supplies, I had to make do with what I did have.
4. It's a good thing Jon let me keep a few of my BHG magazines "just in case the kids need to cut something out for school".
   
5. No one else in my family seemed too interested in helping me.
6. Due to number 3, I only have school glue. You know, the stuff that isn't supposed to be used with pictures and makes paper warp.
7. That's alright. I don't have "real" pictures anyway. Remember, I don't get pictures developed. I printed the pictures out on regular printer paper and cut them out.

So, without further ado, here are the pages I came up with.

This is the page for Froggie. I didn't have any good pics of just her.

I could probably do an entire scrapbook of Kitty Kat reading.

Birdie

Monkey

Puppy Dog

Little Bear (He was still Baby Bear at the time of the pics.)

Jon took the kids to Young's Jersey Dairy a while back while I was needed elsewhere. The clip-art images on this one are from
http://etc.usf.edu/clipart/index.htm .

These will have to do. I'm out of time. We have to be at the get together at 6pm today.

Busy Times

I haven't been posting much. I've just had too much on my plate. Here's a little of what we have been up to.

Birdie, Monkey, and Puppy Dog sung in the children's choir with the adult choir the Sunday before Christmas. They did a wonderful job, but we forgot to take our camera.

Christmas day we did our Christmas first thing in the morning; Christmas and a niece's birthday at my parents' house; Christmas with extended family on my mom's side in Lynchburg, Ohio; and then we came home and had to settle the kids down so we could all sleep. Jon and I made the decision not to use credit for Christmas this year, or use credit for other things either. Aside from a few small items that we had picked up here and there through the year, all the gifts we gave this year were homemade. Jon and I did not exchange gifts. We didn't have enough time without the kids around so we didn't get to finish our main gift to the kids. It's just as well though. The gift has become a project for our family to work on together and the kids are excited. Jon is even taking a few days off work at the beginning of the year so we can work on it. I'll try to do a post about it after we finish.

This week, we're working on our projects for Jon's side of the family and the kids are spending time sleeping over at my sister's and parents' houses. Tonight we will all meet up at Mom and Dad's house for a New Year's party. Tomorrow we have our Christmas/New Year's celebration with Jon's side of the family. I guess I better get back to work on those projects.

Merry Christmas! and Happy New Year!

I about forgot to mention that our kitties were spayed/neutered and declawed Monday. Normally they are good about taking medicine, but not this time. They have a combination of an antibiotic and pain killer to take and they fight it tooth and back claws and writhing even though we scruff them or wrap them in a towel and scruff them. It takes both Jon and me working together to get their medicine in them. They foam at the mouth and try to spit out the medicine after I give it to them. The stuff must taste nasty. The poor pathetic things just lay around and want to be cuddled now and then. Does anybody know how to make a collar to keep them from licking their incisions? I was told to make them if they start licking themselves, but not exactly how to make them. So far, they aren't licking the incisions. I have to take them back to the vet to get their mittens off Friday.

The Play Went Well

Last Sunday was the church play, SCROOGE REVISITED, that Jon, Kitty Kat, and Monkey were in. I figured that I better get it posted before tomorrow.

The first two pictures are of Kitty Kat and Monkey in the opening street scene.

Here "Scrooge" is studying his books. "Bob Crachit" was off to Jon's right at his own desk.

"Scrooge" and his "old dead partner Marley"

"Amy" a.k.a. Kitty Kat and "Jenny" a.k.a. Monkey
"Mark Scroggins", "Jenny's" and "Amy's" dad; "Spirit 1"; and "Scrooge" in the background

The actors and actresses really got into their characters. Can you see "Jenny" cowering as "dad" got angry with "Amy"? "Mark S." was a modern day "Scrooge".

"Scrooge" and "Spirit 2"

"Scrooge" observes at the "Crachit" house.

"Spirit 3" tells "Scrooge" the good news about Jesus.

"Scrooge" kneeling at the manger scene

The church choir and praise band performed the music for the production behind the stage. They had a curtainless curtain call, and the choir and band members joined the cast on the stage. The choir and band members came out wearing Santa hats (don't ask why, I don't know). Here is a picture of Jon's mom. She is in the choir.