Mondays

Well, I was going to illustrate this post with a bunch of pictures. Apparently, I won't be doing that, because my pictures won't load to the blog. Anyway . . .

Jon has Mondays off work, so for now, Mondays are our field trip and special classes days. This past Monday, we packed our lunches and walked downtown. We ate at a picnic table in the shade of the Town Hall building. After lunch, we had the kids spread out over the courtyard to draw/sketch. The directions I gave the kids were:

1. You can go anywhere in the courtyard.
2. You can lay on your belly, lay on your back, sit, stand, or whatever you want to do.
3. Choose something you like and draw it.

Some chose to draw a fountain or fountains, one included a sibling in her drawing, some chose to draw plants, one drew a horse she saw in the clouds, and one drew three pictures. Most sat up to draw, but one drew while laying on her back. They were all intense. We are getting ready to start an art class together. Our plans are to return to the same place in the Spring and see how much their drawing improves.

We stopped by the library on our way home and checked out and reserved some books we needed for school.

Next Monday we will head to my sister's home for her annual Labor Day cookout.

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.

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.

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

Fourteen Years of Keeping Us Hopping

Our Froggie turns fourteen today! She wanted to sleep in for her birthday, and she got to.

Since the boys were still with my mom, Froggie decided she wanted to paint her tea set today. She has had this set for at least a year. It was just never a good time when she wanted to paint it. So, Froggie painted her tea set and the other girls painted with water colors. The boys came home before the girls were finished, so the boys got to paint with water colors, too.

I figure we'll probably make a cake for Froggie later tonight or maybe tomorrow. We still have some of Monkey's cake.

The kids are all just grumpy and out of sorts today. I let them put in a movie to rest to hoping they would quit fighting and tearing each other down. It seems to be helping some.

Friday, we are going to have a birthday dinner for both girls at my mom's house. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Five Kernels of Corn

I got this idea to do a silly post tonight. I asked Jon if he knew five corny jokes. He just looked at me and said, "You are so odd." So . . . here's one corny joke he has been telling the kids lately:

Two men walked into a bar. Which is funny, because you would think the second guy would have seen the first one do it.

There's one joke. I need four more. What's you favorite corny joke? Leave a comment to let me know. The corniest joke wins bragging rights. *


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

Please remember to make the jokes clean ones. Children read this blog.

Creative Writing

Yesterday, I had the children do some creative writing. I won't grade their creative writing. Later, I will start having them circle the words they think may be misspelled. As they learn about different things in their other classes, I will start having them edit and rewrite their entries. For now, creative writing is just a time for them to have fun writing and drawing. Obviously, they all have areas they need to work on. I am pleased though. They all put forth more effort than they had at the end of last year.



Birdie, Puppy Dog, and Baby Bear were to draw a picture of a newborn baby:

Birdie says hers "looks like a baby in the manger with grass".


Puppy Dog's:

Baby Bear's is one of two things. Yesterday, he said it was baby Jesus's blanket. Today, he says it is baby Jesus's bed.

Monkey was to pretend she was a newborn baby and write about a day in her life:

"Waaaa! Waaaaaa!

I wos cold.

Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!

waaa! ssssssssssssss.

SSssszssssss.

I was sleqing Then I waokuq.

I was waringy A rose pink Dres!

Froggie and Kitty Kat were to suppose they were able to visit the time and place of Jesus's birthday and write a letter to their parents describing the events:

Froggie first wrote from a calf's perspective and then from Mary's perspective:

Imoo

I am a cafe

who is happy

That I am

olade

That I can

see the newbo Baby

goodbye


I will love to be happy to be marry

I will be expeting NewBorne
Baby And he will bwe Name

a Baby god's son And she will call him
Boy
Jesus When Jesus Was 30
year's old He cam to the that

god hade made then

When he was kind and then

he went Away Far away From

his diciples houses

and then Santan is so mean
that he wed didnotnouticthat

termping him

and then he died on the crose


I think Kitty Kat was trying to write a book:

11/10/08

Dear Mom and Dad,

my work is going very well. Yesterday something happened. I was sweeping in the inn, like I always do at high noon. The inn was as full as a basket filled to the very top. I was sweeping the dust out into the street, when I saw two peaple and a donkey coming down the road. They stopped in front of the inn, and a man helped a woman of the donkey. They went inside the inn, and I followed them in. As I was putting the broom away, I heard the inn keeper tell them, "Sorry, We do not have a room you can use, but you can use the cave we use as a stable, but you will have to sleep with the animals." Then the innkeeper called me and said, "Take this couple's donkey and lead them to the stable, but let the woman ride the donkey, she is pregnant." Then we went outside, and the man lifted his wife onto the donkey, and we headed for the stable. Once we got there, the man helped his wife inside, and I followed, still leading the donkey. When the donkey was in a stall, and had water and food, I said, "I will be out here later today to take care of the animals. I will also bring some food and water with me for your dinner. But, do you need some right now?" I asked. The man said, "Yes, we would like some food, as soon as you can, please." I went back to the inn. When I found the innkeeper, I said, "Master, the couple asked me for some food and water. I sit all right if I get food and water and take it to them?" The innkeeper said, "Yes, but run back as soon as youcan. You need to finish your chores befor you have to go feed the animals." I said, "When I go to feed the animals, I need to take the couple some dinner. Is that all right?" He said, "Yes." So I got the food and water, took it to the couple, and then I ran back so that I could finish my chores. When I got done, the innkeeper gave me my dinner, and while I was eating, he said, "Take an extra lamp with you tonight, so that the couple does not have to sit in the dark, and take the lamp as soon as you are done eating. If they need anything, get it for them befor you come back to get the feed from the storage room. And don't forget their dinner." As soon as I got done, I grabed the food, the lamps, and a bucket to carry the things to the stable. When I got there, I got the unlit lamp, lit it with the other lamp, and set it on a shelf, then I gave the couple the food and then I walked to the spring, filled the bucket with water, went back to the stable, and gave them two cups so that they could get their own water. Then I ran back to the inn, grabed the feed and another bucket, and went back to the stable to feed the animals. I fed the animals, then I went to the stream. On the way, I figuered out how many trips it would take me to do it with one bucket. When I came back with my tenth bucket, I heard cries of pain coming from the stable. Then I heard silence. Suddenly, I a new born baby's cries. I walked as fast as I could back to the stable. When I got there, in the manger was a baby boy. I very, very slowly walked closer. When I got a cubit away from the happy couple, I said, "What is the baby's name?" They looked at me, and the woman said, "His name is Jesus, Son of the living God." Right as she said this, the inn keeper walked in. When he saw me standing by the happy couple, looking with love at the manger, he looked at the manger to. When he saw the baby, the woman said again, "His name is Jesus." Then the Inn keeper and I went back to the inn.

With Love,

Your Datter

Maybe that explains it!

There is a post at Happy to be @ Home that says that there is a saying that moms lose 25% of their sanity for each child they have. If each 25% is deducted from the already lowered percent of sanity then I am left with only 17.8% of the sanity I had before motherhood. If each 25% is taken from the original 100%, then I am left 50% in the hole when it comes to sanity.

There is an upside! Being insane means I can be more creative! After all, I'm sure not every child gets to eat leftover meatloaf pizza.

Speaking of pizza, Jon thought his workplace was providing lunch today so he didn't take a lunch. He'll be coming in the door HUNGRY. I plan to make a chicken bar-b-que pizza for us to eat when he gets home. I better go get it started!

Have a great day!

7 Things About You Meme

I was tagged by Jennifer at Getting Ahead for this "7 Things About You Meme". So, hear goes . . .

1. For about thirteen to fourteen months when I was in the end of fifth and beginning of sixth grade, my family lived in Kentucky. One day after we had lived there for a while, our neighbors saw us kids outside playing. They asked my mom who that other girl was. My mom asked who they were talking about and they pointed me out. I spent so much time in my room reading the neighbors didn't even know I existed. LOL * My mom could probably elaborate or correct if needed. My memories of that time period are a little foggy.

2. I love baking and cooking, but I really don't like cleaning up afterward.

3. If I have to wait for a child to do part of an assignment, I have to have something else to do. If not, I tend to get drowsy. I give the children stretching and moving breaks in between subjects. The children benefit from this and so do I.

4. I am one of those people that could read a newspaper with a red pen in hand. Every little typo, spelling, and grammatical error jumps out at me. I used to correct the letters I received as a child. When my older two girls were in public school I cringed whenever I got a poorly written note from their teachers. While I'm blogging and commenting on other blogs, I don't always proofread before I publish. When I see my own errors, it drives my crazy.

5. I have about a hundred things/projects I would like to do but don't have time to do.

6. If it were up to me, then I would probably never get new clothes. My husband usually buys clothes for me or drags me to the stores. My parents tend to give me clothes or a gift card to a clothing store for Christmas.

7. I like liver and pork brains. I can remember eating pork brains with my grandparents, but I'm not even sure a person can get them anymore. I sometimes tease the children about having pork brains, liver, Brussels sprouts, spinach, and other "yucky" foods for a meal.

That's done. Now to choose seven people to tag . . .

TMBMT at TMBMT's Ramblings Hey, Sis!
Teri the "Ohio State Nut" at Go Buckeyes!
Lisa at Green From Blue
Damama T at Damama's at it again!
mykidsmom
Lucille at Who's Going to Tell You?
Tara at Tara's Ramblings

Here are the rules if you got tagged or just want to play along:

1. Post the rules on your blog
2. Write 7 random things about yourself
3. Tag 7 people at the end of your post
4. If you're tagged, DO IT and pass on the tag

A Much Better "Pow Wow"

The girls and I went to our Sunflower Scouts kickoff party yesterday. The first half of our year we will be studying Native American Indians, so the party was a "pow wow". We all had a great time. The girls had a lot of activities to participate in: face painting (or "free face painting!" as some of the girls called it), playing in what I'll call a clubhouse, painting pumpkins, making Indian corn door hangings, making "turtle shell" rattles, making hair clips, roasting hot dogs, eating, watching a smoke signal demonstration, and dancing around a fire to a drum beat and then picking up candy when the drum stopped. A couple of our girls still have signs of the face paint. lol My camera ran out of power, so I didn't get very many pictures. None of the pictures are ones I could post here. Monkey was excited because a girl told her that they were friends now. Yay!

On another topic . . . Jon and I had a good time on our date. We went to the mall and Jon got a shirt. Then, we went to eat at a steakhouse and everything was just as we ordered it. I think we went to another store and then went home. Jon had to work the next morning so we couldn't stay out too late.

Just for Fun

This 'N That

Here's the picture Damama T referred to in the comments section of the last post.

__________________________________________________________

We did go back to the zoo Monday. Here's a picture of Jon and the kids:

The sun was in their eyes. That explains Birdie covering her face and Baby Bear squinting. You'll also notice the absence of coats and jackets. It was very warm that day. We also made sure we took and used sunscreen. No one got sunburned Monday, but everyone was sunburned last Wednesday.

____________________________________________________________________

My time for blogging has been decreased lately for several reasons:

1. Mrs. Darling introduced me to
Spark People. I finally checked it out and began counting my calories. I was just eating six small regular meals and being careful not to let my blood sugars get too low. It's amazing how many calories I must have actually been eating. According to the Spark People site, I need to eat between 1250 and 1500 calories a day. My doctor had previously told me to aim for 1800. I am now starting my fifth day using Spark People and I have lost four pounds already. I have allowed myself to eat more than the 1500, but I have kept my calories close to or under 1800. I've had headaches, hunger pangs, and my blood sugars feel constantly on the low end. I'm encouraged by the weight loss though. Right now this is taking up a good bit of time to record my foods and exercise. I'm going to stick with it and see if I can get everything evened out.

2. We switched around the chore assignments, so I am spending a lot of time overseeing chores.

3. We have been doing a lot of family activities in the evening.

4. The kids have Y' KNOW practices. Since Kitty Kat just reminded me that they have practice today, I'd better get off the computer and get everyone ready to go.

Lions? and Tigers? and Bears!

Jon got a call from work on Wednesday asking if he wanted cut for the day. He decided to take the cut. Because of our new schedule, everyone was almost ready for the day when the call came. We were able to make an impulse trip to the Columbus Zoo. We took our time getting ready, ran some errands, and made it to the zoo by 11:00 AM. We got through one-half of the zoo, and made plans to return to go through the other half next week (weather permitting). Jon is on call next week and I saw a forecast for rain, so we may need to reschedule.


If you're wondering about the ?s in the title, the
lions and tigers were not in their habitats. The
zoo was doing some work on those areas. We did
get to see quite a few bears. One pair of bear brothers even gave us a show. Wow, they fight nicer than my children do!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I decided to make today a fun day for the kids. During several of our class times, I let them play with homemade, green playdough. We made shamrock badges and necklaces out of green construction paper and yarn. Then for supper, we had a green meal.


green milk, kiwi, green "shamrock" rolls in two sizes (homemade), and green tuna casserole with peas (made with homemade green noodles)


green cake with green frosting