Coplings Hobbit Hole

Wednesday in the tomb

2012-01-18T22:44:00.004-06:00

National Geographic's King Tut exhibit was in town, so we went. This might qualify as a dirty little homeschool mom secret, I was bored. I knew it was something I should appreciate, but the reality was "oh look, its an urn.... and another urn....some pottery....yawn". The kids agreed. John and Grandpa made sure the benches didn't jump up and reanimate. To be fair, Egyptology has never been our thing.

Everyone was expecting to watch a King Tut documentary later at home. I decided they had suffered enough and switched it out for The Mummy movie with Brendan Fraiser. Now that is how to make Egyptology fun!
We headed out to Chili's for dinner. When you have three kids, and it is "free kid's meal night", This is a very good thing.

Happy New Year 2012!!!!

2012-01-01T20:24:00.004-06:00

You will never guess what one of my new year's resolutions is... blogging again. It used to be so easy, but over the past year it has been more difficult. But I really do love jotting down all these memories, hoping that in the future they will be a kind of inheritance for my children. To remember their childhoods and how much they are loved.

We rang in the new year with sparkling pear cider, a bazillion poppers, and a marathon of favorite shows. Emma and Chloe tried out new knock knock jokes on Brian and I. The kids stayed awake to see the ball drop over New York City. We had so much fun, I like this new trend lately of discovering our own family traditions.

Merry Christmas 2011!!!

2012-01-01T20:14:00.007-06:00

We had a great Christmas this year. More than anything, I think we had such fun spending time together. We made batches of playdough for our friends, had hot chocolate while watching every holiday movie known to man. We painted ornaments at the local pottery shop and discovered how much we loved making them at home with sculpy. Even John, who is usually craft phobic, loved the sculpy.

On Christmas day Grandma even managed to steal a rare christmas kiss from the elusive John.

Field Trip to Museum of Natural Science

2011-10-04T20:45:00.009-05:00

We had a blast on our field trip to the Museum of Natural Science.

We started out the day with our good friends riding with us to the museum, and that always makes the day feel even more like an adventure.

We saw the most amazing IMAX movie about baby chimpanzees and elephants. I am a silly sap who cries at anything remotely sentimental, I cried twice. Then we headed into the butterfly exhibit. John was really excited about the scavenger hunt. They gave each of the kids a chart with all the butterflies listed on it and John loved identifying each one of them.

After we finished with the exhibits we stopped by Herman park for a picnic. At the end of the day, we had so much fun it was hard for everyone to decide which was the best part.

Weekly Wrap up: the one with no school pics

2011-09-05T12:03:00.008-05:00

This week we finished up our unit on Charlemagne. At our house along with the clicks of a computer mouse, and the turning of pages you usually hear the snoring of a pug. And not always soft snoring, sometimes I think we need a tiny CPAP machine for her. Petunia loves to join us for school, mostly because there is always a lap open for her to snuggle up in. This week was so much fun, but I didn't get many pics of our actual school work. But I have plenty of random pics of fun!

Wednesday, after a hard day of work, we had the most awesome recess ever at the splash pad!!!

This is a pic of the cart one of my children got stuck in at Academy Thursday. I can't name names, because I promised I wouldn't. Brian bought the kids a .22 Winchester 73 reproduction for them to practice their marksmanship with and we had to to grab eye and ear protection for them. Someone who is far to old for a cart ride got tired and climbed in the cart when no one was looking. Then couldn't get out. So there we are in academy overturning a cart so gravity will work with us and dragging a child out. Yeah, we are THAT family. I couldn't get the victim to pose with the cart. :) But had to snap a pic for posterity's sake, because one day this will crack them up :).

After Our Music Co-op (Band/Choir) on Friday morning we moseyed down to the waterfront to price the fish markets. Clearly, my girls can accessorize anywhere. They found these awesome fans at one of the fish mongers. Not only did it keep them cool, it wafted all the fish market stench from them.

The one thing I DID get a picture of from this week's school is our new "News Board". I think sometimes that my children have short term memory loss. If they have slept since I mentioned something, it is forgotten. This is our solution, and so far it is working beautifully. We have the mini snap shot of our week calendar at the top (I hadn't filled it in yet in this pic). Over to the left I tell them what our unit of study is for the week. They get the info on where Daddy is, and how they can contact him (he travels all over). What to expect for school, and reminders for work in their outside classes. The preparing for tomorrow section helps us get everything ready to walk out the door for the next day. This really simple idea has solved a BIG communication gap in our house. I think because the kids can see it all through the day, it helps them to know what to expect.

Weekly Wrap up: The one where mama got her groove back....

2011-08-13T18:53:00.010-05:00

We are having so much fun with Tapestry of Grace. Last week we had a field trip to the museum of fine art to look at all the Byzantine art. Then we chose a picture to sketch and we glued a foil halo on it. This required me smuggling in tin foil and scissors. I tried very hard not to flash my scissors around. Those docents are old, and probably don't need to be startled.

We crushed up chalk to make our own tempera paints. I recommend going one aisle over and picking up some earplugs when you are shopping for chalk. The racket is unbelievable! But so is the fun. Everyone practiced their calligraphy and pretended to be a monk. But that is not the most exciting news. The most exciting news is:

Its official, we are in fact on a schedule.

It only took five years to get one :). I know, ridiculous right? Strangely, it had nothing to do with the kids. The kids are always going to be just kids, and they are notoriously unreliable when it comes to chores and schedules. Also, it doesn't have much to do with the schedule I choose. I had spent a whole lot of time trying to find the "perfect" schedule. I think I can safely say that holy homeschooling grail doesn't exist.

Nope, the two things that make or break it: Managing social commitments and Mommy. No schedule can be successful unless I have managed our social commitments and not allowed them to overwhelm us. I learned that lesson last year and it has stuck with us. But I had neglected the other key part of scheduling..... Me.

The reason our schedule works this year is because my nutrition, exercise and health is working for the first time in a very long time. Getting this worked out meant doing things I never thought I would. We have gone about 60 percent raw. Over half our diet is raw fruits and veggies. We also became mostly vegan (except I allow fish) which is startling when you know I really loved meat and anything that remotely resembled a simple carbohydrate.

But the payoff has been amazing. Because I paid attention to my nutrition: I reliably wake up on time with energy to get the day started (before I wasn't completely awake until about 11am), I sleep well without any medication, most of my health concerns and immune issues have vanished, we aren't rushed or late everywhere. But the absolute defining development is that I have extra patience and emotional reserves for when things go wrong. If you have more than one child, things will always go wrong. It has to be a written law somewhere. Nothing else has changed, but I have. I am more flexible. Even though I miss eating whatever I want, I wouldn't trade what I have gotten in return. It was my Mount Everest, and I conquered it (five years later, but I am still counting it as a win)!

Fiesta Texas 2011 season

2011-08-04T20:53:00.009-05:00

2011-2012 Curriculum

2011-08-01T09:17:00.002-05:00

I am so excited about this coming school year. We began our school year last week. Last year was really quite difficult for us with an illness in the family. We are looking forward including all the extra hands on activities this year, instead of trying to get the minimum done.

We are using

Tapestry of Grace Vol 2: The Middle Ages as the spine of our school year. This will encompass our history, geography, literature, art, and philosophy. I can't even tell you how excited I am about this. I go all nerdy when I start to talk about it. I love literature, so I had to pick a literature based curriculum. I LOVE love love love all of the hands on activities. When I imagine my perfect curriculum, this is what I imagine. I don't love how it is laid out and planned, but I can get around that easily enough.
Math U See is what we are going to use for our math program. Up until now we had been using Singapore Math. I like Singapore Math, and was happy up until now. I noticed this past year (which would have been third grade for us) the tempo picked up. The lack of review became a problem for us. I started having to supplement our math with lots of visual representation of the problems in Singapore, and since that is the cornerstone of the Math U See program; I am hoping this will be an improvement.
Rod and Staff is still our pick for Grammar and Spelling. I like the plain, simple, "let's just get this done" nature of it. Grammar is tedious, and I think maybe it is just the nature of the beast. So, at least this is short and sweet.
Real Science 4 Kids: Chemistry is new for us this year. But the kids are excited about it. It seems to heavily lean toward a little learning and then an experiment to test the knowledge. The kids favorite part is the experiments, so they gave this curriculum their stamp of approval.

The kids are up and ready to start school, so now I had better get all these books off the bookshelf and get started!

Weekly Wrap Up: the first week of school...

2011-07-29T14:59:00.013-05:00

Ordinarily we school year round, but this year we quit at the end of May for a summer break. About two weeks ago my kiddos started complaining that they were "bored" and didn't have anything to do. Thankfully the new curriculum (Tapestry of Grace) came and I was excited, so we started early.

Folks have mentioned it seems odd to start in July, but I have become something of a homeschooling snob. I like it when the museums are empty during the school year, and the weather is cooler for the parks. In the summer everything is just so crowded. We live in Texas and it is just Africa hot right now. I would rather start early, and have no guilt taking off school for more field trips. Plus, we have a major trip to Disney planned and hopefully we will be ahead of the game by the time that rolls around.

I purchased a tablet PC and I LOVE IT! So does John. I have to wrestle him to use it. I had no idea how many educational apps there are. We found one that will allow him to do phonics on there... well, phonics and "angry birds".

Sine it was our first week, a Roman dinner to kick off our study seemed appropriate. I made roasted dormice (chicken thighs) for dinner. This was so much fun, and pretty easy to throw together. I think we might try to have a theme dinner one night each week. Next week we are studying Islam, and I am thinking of doing fallafel, or at least attempting it.

On Wednesday, we had "widdershins" day. The concept is much like opposite day for Druids. John wore his clothes backwards. But then, he does that most days. Emma's favorite part was having breakfast for Dinner. She loves waffles, and these days they are a rare treat.

We were supposed to make a salt dough map of a mythical country with geographical features. I don't like salt dough, and I didn't want to run out to the store to get all the ingredients. So we made our map edible, out of rice crispy treats. We used blue frosting for the rivers, yellow frosting with brown sugar sprinkled on top for the deserts (and the dessert :), and chocolate chips for mountain ranges. Chloe's country is quite mountainous. She loves her chocolate chips. Not surprisingly, this was everyone's favorite activity for the week.

Daddy was a substitute Teacher/engineer this week. He helped the kids assemble the catapult kit. I was so glad he was home sick, I can't even manage to assemble IKEA furniture, and those direction have pictures. This looked much more complicated! We had so much fun on our first week, I am really looking forward to next week.

Homeschooling with a Chronically ill Child

2011-07-20T15:13:00.004-05:00

Our family is emerging from a year of homeschooling with a chronically ill child. Our oldest, Emma, was eventually diagnosed with Menagerie's Disease (although we had a few red herrings). She had chronic dizziness every single day severe enough that she couldn't function and often it led to vomiting. The medications used to treat it would leave her so tired some days she spent all day in bed. We were housebound much of the time because any kind of travel made her condition so much worse. Right now she is feeling much better, and the symptoms have receded and seem to be in remission. I am not an expert, but these are the things I would tell anyone in my situation.

being ill is isolating. The reality of our circumstances was we couldn't get out of the house with any reliability. No one wants to drag a sick, miserable child all over the city and goodness knows all the sick child wants is to relax and be still. My advice: stock up on board games, and even on video games. This is the perfect time to start a tradition of reading a book aloud as a family. During this time where your social circle is narrowed, use it as a chance for your family to draw closer together. Every cloud has a silver lining. We have come out of this season of our lives with even stronger bonds between us as a family.
Your friends still care, even when you feel isolated. We live in a super busy society, people struggle to find the time for their own families. Our current way of life just isn't conducive to the challenges a chronic illness brings, because it is so different than just having the flu. Also remember that your schedule is now full of doctor visits, and has an inflexibility of its own. Sometimes you are just too tired to hold a great phone conversation. My advice: lean hard on extended family and on friends who have the flexibility to come and visit. Stay in touch with friends who don't have flexibility in their schedules through social media like facebook, message boards, and email.
Your academic school year is going to look different than you expected for your ill child. It's okay, give yourself a break. Homeschooling with perfectly healthy children is challenging. If your daughter doesn't learn Latin this year, it will be okay. You have enough stress and pressure already, you don't need to add any more guilt or stress at this point. You may have to look at what you consider "learning", or "schooling" to be defined as. This is most definitely not the time to lean heavily on a workbook based curriculum. You would be surprised how much everyone in the family is learning through this process.
Pare down your academic expectations to the "bare necessities". It is important for the ill child to be able to rest and focus much of their energy toward healing. We also had doctor appointments to juggle, and other health professionals to see. I found myself with much less time, a child who needed more time to recover, and I still had my household schedule to run and other siblings to maintain normalcy for. I decided that I was comfortable if Emma was only progressing in Math, and reading (or being read too). We saved everything else for days when things were going well.
Anytime is a good time to do school. In past years our family had a pretty structured homeschool schedule. This past year, that was not true. We did school whenever Emma felt like it, even if that was 10pm.
Be willing to use alternative media instead of textbooks. If you planned your academic year heavy on textbooks and workbooks, be willing to chuck that out the window. Most libraries have audio books and e-reader books available to loan. Be willing to switch over to a year that just includes reading, or hearing good books. If you have a Wii, or your child has a Nintendo DS, both offer educational games that teach foreign languages or challenge problem solving skills with puzzle oriented games.
Try to reduce the impact on siblings where you can. When one member of the family gets chronically ill, the whole family experiences it. There really isn't any way to avoid that. But when you can, make sure that siblings are able to make their classes, or continue with events that are important to them.

The most important thing I can offer is be patient with yourself and your situation.

Chloe's Ballet Recital 2011

2011-06-26T11:27:00.006-05:00

Our newest addition

2011-06-08T23:00:00.001-05:00

She is a sweety. We named her petunia. She is now terrorizing the whole house. Good thing she is so cute with all that pug-ness

On the school front

2011-06-06T22:13:00.004-05:00

How to make spelling fun? Let the kids squirt shaving cream all over the dining room table and trace their words in the foam. They had a BLAST :). Especially my very hands-on man-cub. I couldn't persuade a single one of them to break concentration and smile at the camera.

This was such a normal day for us. I have missed normal. Emma has struggled with vertigo since November. As you can imagine, reading and doing schoolwork while the room is spinning is pretty intense. But today it wasn't an issue, and I couldn't be more thankful. We played, all of us together, at the same time. All of my baby chicks in a clutch. It was peaceful, and we took total advantage of it. I can only hope it is a sign of things to come.

Down the Rabbit Hole....

2011-06-06T20:59:00.005-05:00

The girls were in a production of Alice in Wonderland. They did terrific. Emma was the Cheshire cat and Chloe was the Dodo Bird. I was so proud of both of them.

They were both so very nervous going in. But they studied hard and learned all their lines. I couldn't have been more proud.

Especially for Emma. She is recently diagnosed with Meniere's disease. It makes her dizzy with vertigo and nausea. She had to give up dance because of it, and I know that made this play all the more important for her.

John's Pet Store

2011-01-21T15:36:00.016-06:00

We have been studying domestic pets in school. The kids have learned all about their care, what the animals need, habitats and anatomy. John decided to open up his own pet store, and the girls thought that was an awesome idea too! I could not resist the chance to take pics of this. I think he chose to wear his glasses because it makes him look more trustworthy.

He also made sure to demonstrate for us how a snake would strangle a rat, or a boy.

Chloe put most of her faith in flashy signage. :)

Changes, Changes.....

2011-01-17T20:58:00.006-06:00

So we have changed, or maybe change is too radical a word. What we are doing would probably be better described as "tweaking". I noticed at the end of last year/beginning of this school year that we were getting a little too wrapped up in worksheets, curriculum, activities, field trips and outside classes. This just wasn't working for any of us. Maybe we are just a family of wanna be hermits.

I think the only way to evaluate a curriculum or routine is based on how it fits in to my reasons for homeschooling. I also expect that as our circumstances change from year to year, what fits best into our lives will likewise change. Obviously, what we were doing was a square peg in a round hole.

I don't want to be rushed running from class or activity to activity and neither do the kids. We need the slower pace of life. Natural learning is the type that engages my children the best. Especially because both of my girls are "think outside the box" girls. Natural learning is what happens when I set up a learning center and they are able to use their natural curiosity to explore in depth, probe an idea and to ask questions. This requires more time from me as the teacher than cracking open a book and we need long periods of time without a bunch of activities breathing down our neck to allow the kids to relax and explore.

Another huge plus to homeschooling is the opportunity for a "whole" education. One that involves life skills and critical thinking. I didn't want anyone taking my children and "standardizing" them. Maintaining the closeness of our family, respecting the unique individual each child is, and deepening our family bond is probably my most important goal. None of the jives with a "go-go" lifestyle. It just isn't us.

I realized that I was potentially squandering an opportunity. During these elementary years I have the opportunity to do more child-led learning. We aren't in the high stakes game of high school. We don't have children with jobs, and college prep classes, volunteer work, etc. those things that come with young adulthood. All of that will come in time, I probably can't fight it off even if I wanted to (and I don't). So there is no sense in squandering this opportunity I have now. For now, I can watch the wonder, have the family meals every night, jump on every opportunity to chatter aimlessly with my babies while they are still all mine. Because soon enough they will be young adults with their own lives.

So we have embraced KONOS curriculum again. It has a unit study approach and we move through it at our own pace. If the kids want to linger on a topic, we linger. If they want to move on, we move through it. What I once found overwhelming, is a blessing now. Maybe it is because our house is stocked with more craft goods than an entire preschool could burn through in a year. Or it might be the dynamic of having three children to homeschool instead of just one. Either way, it seems to be the perfect fit for us right now. The kids are having a BALL.

Happy Halloween 2010

2010-11-07T22:36:00.002-06:00

Renfaire October 2010 - Day 2

2010-10-31T10:10:00.014-05:00

We slowed down a bit for day two. This was the day Emma found her love of rocks, she has decided to be a geologist. We visited the crystal mine in Sherwood forest. John found a snail to befriend, he dragged him through the faire.

Renfaire October 2010 - Day 1

2010-10-31T09:22:00.010-05:00

Yar mateys!!! We love the Renfaire, so this year we decided to spend the night down near it and go both days. Unfortunately, we made that decision when we were well and perky. When the big day swung around, we were in the middle of bronchitis, asthma, sinus infection land. But we decided to go anyway, and glad we did. We all had a great time in spite of it :).

Chloe was pulled into a fairy circle by some lovely fairies. Both girls learned how to shove their hands in a gentleman's face to have it kissed. Some random wench got her hands on Brian and kissed him.

Our friends the Howard's met up with us. A nice shop owner outfitted the kids in chain mail and let us take a picture. In hindsight, I should send him this picture as an advertisement. We should have bought the chain mail. About 30 minutes after this picture a wooden sword connected with a naked head. We really should have purchased the chain mail :).

Pumpkin Patch 2010

2010-10-24T23:00:00.008-05:00

Here they are in 2009

Here they are in 2008

Ballet Academy Field Trip

2010-10-03T21:53:00.011-05:00

John might be all full up on culture for now, he would argue for the rest of his life. After our trip to the Grand Opera on Thursday, Friday we headed out to the Ballet Academy for a performance. Do you see him laying across Emma's lap? The most pathetic. thing. ever. All in all, he was very patient, I was quite proud of that boy.

Afterwards, we had another of those crazy days. We grabbed some lunch with our friends, had to run a few errands, get new tires for the van... We looked at the clock and realized it was dinnertime. It wasn't hard for the kids to talk me into our favorite "healthier" fast food option, pei wei. Chloe put her "wings" on just as soon as she could. We were all so glad to fall into the house at the end of the day.

It seems like we are having so many more of these days. We are getting it all done, but by the skin of our teeth. I am feeling the need to slow down a little more. To have more pajama days (because those are my favorite). Lazy days with more time for talking. Its always a balancing act. On the one hand, we have all these awesome opportunities for fun and education. On the other hand, I am halfway to being a hermit, and need down time. When I have too much activity, without enough down time it jostles me and I lose my sense of center.

Grand Opera: The Magic Flute

2010-10-01T21:09:00.006-05:00

I love this time of year, there are so many opportunities for fun field trips. We went to see a production of the Magic Flute put on by our local Grand Opera.

They slightly tweaked the opera to make it child friendly. Instead of the opera highlighting enlightenment, as in the original; this production highlighted green living. Which is somewhat ironic, since it was sponsored by Exxon Mobile.

While the girls found the opera beautiful and funny, John's favorite part was running away from the opera down the awesomely huge hill. He's a boy, I am content with him just being willing to sit through it... most of the time.

No trip to the outdoor theater is complete without a ride on the train through the park!!

A Very Merry Half Birthday to YOU!

2010-09-30T23:19:00.007-05:00

We surprised Chloe with an impromptu Half Birthday celebration. She is so observant, it is hard to surprise her! She is now "officially" six and a half, a fact that she has been explaining to anyone who will listen.

What you need for a half birthday celebration:

a half birthday girl
something sweet (besides the sweet bday girl)
tickles
family

Sous Chef

2010-09-29T21:03:00.004-05:00

I have hired three of the very cutest sous chefs ever!!! They make dinner so much more fun to make.

Children's Museum Summer 2010

2010-09-29T20:52:00.012-05:00

Museum of Fine Art - Hands on Art Day

2010-09-29T20:39:00.007-05:00

We went for a field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts. They do such a nice job of creating a comfortable atmosphere for the kids. We went on a storybook tour this day. The docent led the kids around the museum stopping at these top two pictures. Then she passed around fabrics that were very much like the ones the man in the painting is wearing to allow the kids to handle them. She discussed with them the painting techniques used in the painting. I brought along watercolor pencils and pastels for the kids to try to recreate what they saw.

When we arrived back home, the kids wanted to make their own art museum. They drew a ton of pictures and then we taped them up in the hallway.

A break in our regularly scheduled programming

2010-09-28T19:36:00.002-05:00

I was looking back over the blog and noticing the lack of posts lately. Usually I don't worry about posting every day, but what a gap! I used to post every evening, it was an important ritual to me. A nice way of sewing up the day and preserving our memories. The blog was automatically emailed to my husband (who travels internationally) and it gave him a peek into our lives. Then a few months ago, life caught up to me.

I found myself taking the pictures and framing the blog post in my head, but never finding the time to actually sit down at the computer to write it. I haven't been able to even sit down much!

My husband has always worked out of town, but back in February there was a dramatic change in his work demands that just hasn't gotten any better. I think our crazy life took me over, I have so much less time. But I am not willing to let this blog go. This is where I store our family memories, that is the primary reason for our blog. Over the next couple of days I am going to be doing a massive blog update, just a heads up if I am spamming your reader or inbox.

The first "official" week: Rome

2010-08-25T22:40:00.006-05:00

Our first week is off to a great start. We are finishing up Rome before we start the Middle Ages. Today we learned about the rise of Christianity in Rome. The kids drew some pictures of the nativity on the glass of the backdoor with Dry Erase markers. Thankfully, no painted surfaces were harmed during this craft activity.

For a snack, Chloe wanted to make snow cones with a nostalgic Snoopy Hand crank I got at a resale shop. I love it because I had one just like it as a kid. it took them about an hour to come up with three tablespoons of "snow". Eventually I had pity on them and broke out the blender.

We ended the day creating some mosaics with dried beans. This was not our most popular activity. The glue gets on your hands, then the beans stick to your hands. Everyone got frustrated halfway through so we scrapped the activity.

John is lobbying pretty hard to include Super Mario as part of his kindergarten curricula. He has made some persuasive arguments for how it would improve his hand eye coordination. Couldn't we count it as P.E.? But I have a suspicion that a certain sister is coaching him.

It has been so nice to be back into our usual routine. Everyone is happier over here!

Curriculum plan for 2010-2011

2010-08-13T14:37:00.002-05:00

Here is our plan for homeschooling this year. For the Most part, we have stayed with the same curriculum we used last year. I am writing our Literature program again, but this time I wanted it to correspond to our History (Story of the World). The more our subjects relate, the smoother it all seems to flow. I included links over to my homeschool planning blog where I am putting it all for now.

History: Story of the World Vol 2 (the middle ages)
Math: Singapore Math/Horizon Math
Science: Apologia Astronomy, The kids are participating in the nature classes at the local arboretum, Study Scientists and discoveries that relate to the middle ages and we are going to add in Magic School Bus Lapbooks and unit studies
Literature: My Own that corresponds to our history.
Phonics for John: Hooked on Phonics
Grammar: First Language Lessons
Penmanship: Handwriting without Tears
Latin: Prima Latina
Fine Art: Artsonia

I am so excited to get started, and so are the kidlets!

Home School Room Makeover

2010-08-10T09:54:00.003-05:00

We started school "officially" this week. Now that we have all three kids "enrolled :)" it was time to get serious about where we were going to hold our school sessions. Previously we were just all over the house, wherever it was convenient. That worked for us, but I realized I had three times the curriculum to house and would need table space for three little bodies :).

Since we have never been formal folk over here, losing our formal dining/living area is no big deal. It works out perfect at our house, because we won't have to move books to eat lunch. Our main dining area is in the kitchen.

I am a big fan of multipurpose rooms/furniture. Our home isn't enourmous, so I wanted to be sure I didn't go too "schooly" where it would be awkward to use the room or table for other purposes.

I painted and treated our dining table with an antiquing paint treatment. It is hard to see in the pics, but it came out really well and I won't mind at all if the table gets a few more scratches and dings.

Sweet Siblings

2010-07-10T23:13:00.013-05:00

My brother and his family came into town and we all gathered at my parent's house. It was fun. There was one moment that was the absolute best for me.

About an hour after we got there, Chloe asked me to keep John entertained because she had a surprise for him. She slipped outside to create a plastic bug scavenger hunt for John. Of course he loved it. Chloe had a Dr Pepper waiting for him as his prize when he was done.

I loved to see the joy Chloe took planning the event, and how special John felt because of it. Sibling moments like these touch me the deepest. Chloe had no coaching from me, she came up with the inspiration to do something so super sweet for her brother on her own. It isn't always this way, we have our moments of competition and jealousy too. But when that sweetness breaks through, it is the very best thing to see.

I think my brother and I had our moments when we were younger, but we had more years between us than my kids. I don't think we played together often, we weren't ever in the same stage at the same time. That is one thing I wish we had, and I am grateful my kids are so close together. (I can say that now that we are through the diaper stage :). They are in the same stages, claim each other as friends, and they will have that shared experience of being in our family. The early years are intense with stair stepped children, but as they get older the blessings outweigh the struggle of those first few years.

Fourth of July 2010

2010-07-08T21:14:00.016-05:00

It had rained the whole week before July 4th and we had a bad case of cabin fever. That is probably why I said "yes" when a friend asked us to the fireworks display. If you know me at all, you know I hate the heat and the mosquitos. The only thing I hate more is port-a-potties. All of which I knew would be present for the festivities.

But the kids wanted to see the fireworks, so mommy had to suck it up :). We had so much fun! I would never have attempted going on my own, and it was so nice of our friends to ask us to join them.

John learned all sorts of fun things you can do with a flashlight, Emma and Chloe were rocking all of their glow bracelets and necklaces, the kettle corn was a big hit. But most importantly the fireworks took their breath away. Seeing the wonder on their faces, I think I would crawl across a desert for that. I still won't use a port-a-potty, but I will crawl across a desert

Preparing Meals in advance

2010-06-29T19:35:00.007-05:00

Today I did our advance meal prep for the week. This system is really working well for us! I started all of this food prep at 4pm, and was done by 6pm.

I bought a big pack of ground meat, two packs of chicken thighs (bone in) and one pack of sirloin tip steak. I have been a little reluctant to stray from white meat, so this week is the big experiment.

The recipes I used follow (If the links don't show up for you, just visit the blog and they will show up). I modified the recipes to be allergen free for us, but I am linking to the original recipes.

Boston Market Meatloaf
Keftedes (greek meatballs) for our greek feast
Greek Chicken Marinade
Chicken Satay Skewers
Teryaki Marinade for beef steak kebobs and chicken

First I prepped the chicken thighs. I removed all the skin and the bones to leave me with boneless, skinless chicken thighs. I tossed all the bones w/ some meat remaining and skin into the stock pot to create Chicken Stock . I divided the chicken pieces and put them in the various marinades. Then you can either freeze them, or leave them to cook in a day or two. I cleaned and sterilized all the equipment, myself and the counters.

As I chopped the veggies for the kebobs, I threw the leftover vegetables and scraps into the stock pot too. I cut the beef into hunks and threaded them onto skewers, then placed them into the teryaki marinade for dinner tonight.

Then I prepped the ground meat and turned it into meatloaf and meatballs. I saved it for last because I really dislike the feel of ground meat, it sorta creeps me out to no end. Then I scrubbed my hands till the skin fell off :).

The nice part about this system is that so many of the recipes call for the same ingredients, so you use it in more than one recipe. Plus, clean up is so much easier each night.

A day in the life of John

2010-06-29T10:37:00.013-05:00

1. Find a dead dragonfly outside and ask Mom if you can keep it. When she looks unsure, mention you want to draw it, cause Mom is a sucker for anything academic.

2. Draw your dragonfly, and blush when Mommy compares you DaVinci. Run when she tries to kiss you.

3. Sneak up on your sister while she is reading with the dead dragonfly. Sisters scream louder when the bugs are real.

4. (Pretend walkie talkie static) "Mommy this is John, come in Mommy" (pretend static) "The computer is broken and won't let me play my game, I pressed all the buttons at once, and it still won't work" (pretend static) "Do you read me Mommy?" (pretend static)

5.When Mom does your sister's nails, convince her to give you a manly "power finger" despite her hesitation.

Summertime, and the living is easy? ...or not

2010-06-27T19:02:00.006-05:00

This summer has been crazy time. Our normal schedule is out the window, all the school year activities have ceased for summer. You would think we would have this slow pace to life, right? No way, this summer has been random, unpredictable and crazy. We had a couple of weeks where every day was packed. Even fun can start to feel like a job. I was having flashbacks to our first year homeschooling, the "year of over-extending".

How did it happen? Each offer, or plan, or trip was a good thing on its own, but put together it leads to absolute chaos. All of it got me thinking about the coming school year. This past school year was everything I wanted from homeschooling with one exception, the girls are getting older. I want to be sure that we are including enough social, outside activities in our plans. The danger is that our school year will start to resemble our summer.

My new mantra: "I do not have unlimited time, money, energy, or emotional reserves. I cannot do it all."

Bulk Meal prep in batches

2010-06-17T21:32:00.002-05:00

I am truly, madly, deeply in love with this little corner of my fridge. Its where all my prepped food is stashed. This week my project was trying to find a hybrid prep ahead/cook ahead meal system. (p.s. if you don't see the links to click, just visit the blog).

I hate eating out. It feels like a waste of money. It stopped being enjoyable about the time I figured out I was allergic to every possible food allergen. Chili's is really awesome, they have this online tool where you input your allergens, and they spit out what you can eat on their menu. When I input all my allergens, the only thing left is Diet Coke... awesome. But when I am pressed for time and dinner doesn't get done, what do we do? We wind up eating out and I hate it.

I tried doing the cook ahead for 30 days thing in 1 day. It just didn't work. I can't get everything that organized, do that much shopping and invest that much time without losing my mind and I kinda need my mind.

So, onto what I am up to. Today I made main dishes for this evening through Sunday evening. Tonight Chicken Satay was on the menu. Normally, I am not a fan of Sandra Lee's Semi Homemade. Mostly because I am already proficient in the fine art of can opening and don't need a show about it. But her new show "Money Saving Meals" is a winner. She gives you a recipe for one night, and then you cook a double batch to use in another recipe another night. So the chicken satay on the lower right will become Spicy and Sweet Chicken Wraps for Saturday night.

Behind the Chicken Satay are the Hamburger patties I made for Saturday's Father's day Lunch. Next to the hamburgers I have pork chops siting in an apple brine waiting to be grilled for tomorrow night. On top of the pork I have Chicken Breasts seasoned and waiting to be thrown in the oven for Sunday night.

Maybe its a symptom of how myopic my world view is as a stay at home mom, but this really excites me. I like having this done, not having to worry about "is it defrosted?" and "what am I going to do with it?" Especially during the summer when we seem to have more activities that bump right up against dinner time.

Changes in time

2010-06-15T08:32:00.003-05:00

This is what happens when I tell the kids to "go and play with your brother while I cook dinner". This poor, poor adorable boy.

I am trying to change our schedule, mostly on my end. But it leaves me exhausted at dinner time. Those senior citizen early bird specials are starting to look appealing.

By nature I'm a total night owl. I function the best mentally between the hours of 7pm - midnight (or later). But this leaves me waking up somewhere near 7:30-8am. It just doesn't work well with trying to run the house.

So I moved my wake up time to 5:30am-6am and its killing me. I love how much I am accomplishing each day, but I am pretty muddle headed all day and I hit a wall of fatigue at about dinner time. I made it stick for about two weeks, and now I can feel myself slowly slipping back into the later bedtime/wake up. Hopefully this isn't genetically hardwired, and it will just require some patience while I shift over. AND my son won't wind up clad in twirly skirts, cause this bleary eyed momma might not notice.

Change your Dinner Routine

2010-06-10T21:39:00.005-05:00

Sometimes, especially when Brian is out of town, by dinner time my brain is a little fuzzy. But sitting down to a family dinner to share that time together is one of my highest priorities. So now, I cheat! While I might not be able to come up with an original thought to save my life, I can read.

I picked up the chat pack at a local homeschool store, but you can find them here. Each card inside contains a quirky question. They have several different versions available.

The Dinner Games I picked up at Borders. The games are easy to play at the table. When I brought it home, Brian was envisioning the children wrestling on the table as our dinner game. Thank goodness it is nothing like that. Our favorite game so far has been the "guess what is missing from the table" game. One person shuts their eyes while everyone conspires and removes one item from the table. Then the laughter ensues.

We use them all the time now. The kids ask us to pack them up and bring them with us when we go out, that is the best ringing endorsement evah!

Wordless Wednesday

2010-06-09T22:16:00.008-05:00

What we were up to today in school

2010-06-09T22:06:00.002-05:00

Come over and visit our homeschooling blog to see what we have been up to today:

Parent Hack: Swimmer's Ear Prevention

2010-06-08T22:55:00.003-05:00

We swim most of the summer and because of that we have endured swimmer's ear more than once. I used to buy all the pricier name brand ear drops at the store to prevent it. But then I ran across a homeade remedy that works equally as well.

Swimmer's ear is an infection of the ear canal. This happens when bacteria grows in the ear canal, which is a passageway to the eardrum. A lot of swimming can wash away that wax protection and lead to these wet conditions in the ear canal. A scratch or other irritation to the ear canal can also lead to swimmer's ear.

Here is a recipe for a preventative concoction

4oz rubbing alcohol

2 tsp. white vinegar

4 drops in each ear after each hour of swimming

The Alcohol and the Acid prevent bacteria growth.

Dance Recitals 2010

2010-06-08T22:27:00.011-05:00

The girls did so well at their dance recitals. They had a blast! I was a little concerned for Emma, she is my shy child. But she did awesome, and has even decided she wants to take theater arts classes.

John found other uses for his sister's lady bug wings, silly, silly boy.

Home Organization: Zone Cleaning

2010-05-20T14:33:00.002-05:00

This is an additional little side note to my Family Manual Post.

Once upon a time, when I first started my career as a stay-at-home mom of just one very calm and predictable baby, I used to wake up and clean everything in the house that needed it. I worked until the house was clean, and then I sat down to relax and have "me time". This worked right up until we had more kids, really chaotic and unpredictable kids that refused to nap on a schedule. Then of course we added homeschooling to the mix, so everyone is home all day. The above system I like to call "ineffective busybodyness".

In our house education has to rank higher than cleaning the house. I could chase my tail all day cleaning, but the house is never going to look like a model home with our current life. Nor should it. I want us to be a house where you can tell as a family we are having a ton of fun. I don't want it to be sterile and look like nobody lives here. Okay, well, that's not true... I really do want it to look sterile and like no one but me lives here. But it just isn't going to happen unless I am willing to send the kids to school and ban playdough, paint, and glitter. So I decided I could settle for a house that was essentially clean, but looked "lived in", maybe even "well lived in".

Enter the Zone cleaning option. I don't know if someone out there has formalized this system, I just kinda grabbed bits and pieces of what I read on blogs and websites to form my system. The whole family pitches in for whatever the zone of the day is. Yes, I really am exactly. that. mean. This is what it looks like in my house......

ZONES
Get as much help from the kids as you can……

Monday: Kitchen/Fridge

Clean out the fridge
Remember to check the door of the fridge and all the bottles of condiments for expiration
Wipe down the inside of the fridge.
Sweep the kitchen floor
Mop the kitchen floor
Wipe down the outside of all the cabinets and appliances
Use Old English lemon oil on all the cabinets
Try to impose some order on the plastics cabinet (good luck!)
Clean the Microwave inside and out and the stove
Scour the sink
Wipe down the backs of all the kitchen chairs and the legs of the table.
Check oven, see if need to clean.

Tuesday: Errands and Shopping Day

Wednesday: Kids Rooms/Hall Bathroom/Master Bedroom/Master

Check the kid’s bedrooms, closets, under chests of drawers, inside of drawers for neat and cleanliness.
Pick up Master Bedroom and Master Bath
Vacuum the kid’s bedrooms
Vacuum Master Bedroom
Dust shelves/windex mirrors
Clean hall and master bath sink and mirror
Deep clean toilets
Scour bathtubs and shower
Check linen closet for neatness
Mop floors in bathrooms
impose some kind of order on hair products

Thursday: Big Laundry day/Playroom

Strip beds of sheets and wash them
Put clean sheets on beds
Move all the remaining laundry through the washer/dryer
Fold all clothes and put clothes away in drawers (all of them, no stragglers)
Pick up playroom
Check under couch in playroom/vacuum
Dust all wooden surfaces
Run damp washcloth over all the window sills and baseboards
Sanitize light switches/door handles/play station controls/remote controls
Vacuum playroom
Clean fireplace surround
Windex TV
Clean entertainment center

Friday: Living room

Windex all glass and screens
Organize entertainment center
Vacuum Living room
Wash table cloths or at least get cat hair off (try to encourage cat to nest somewhere else)
Clear off the hooks near front door and "landing strip"
Organize bookshelfs
Be picky about picking up
Wipe window sills with damp cloth
Sanitize door handles/light switches/keyboards/mousse/wii controls/remote controls
Move furniture to pick up behind
Clean out glut of recorded shows on DVR

Saturday: Outside/Organize Papers

Mac Poop Scoop
Clean Grill/Check gas levels/exchange cylinder
Mow Lawn
Edge lawn
Pull Weeds/Prune Plants
Clean outside furniture
Treat any weeds/ants/bugs
Clean out the garage some
Evaluate need for fertilizing/grass seed/plants to buy
Wash exterior of house: front door, front porch, exterior paneling as needed.Organize the home office
Go through the stacks of mail
Check the calendar for the following week and update.

Sunday: Cars/Lists

Clean out the cars
Wash if needed
Make Menus
Make Lesson Plans
Make Grocery lists
update calendar and sync online, paper, and phone
Pick out clothes with the kids for the following week (using the calendar) and store them in the correct day's slot in closet so everything is ready to go.

Home organization: The Home Manual

2010-05-19T19:36:00.015-05:00

I can't claim to be a home organizing maven. As a matter of fact, I am a flylady drop out. I just couldn't keep up with her. But the one thing that stuck was having a family manual, or a house manual. I adapted it to suit me and it has stuck. You can see how well loved, and colored upon it is.

I recently got to see why it is such a good idea. I had surgery and my husband took off work to "run the house". I had to take pain meds. When you are the woman to whom a baby benadryl is like rohipnol, you just aren't going to be able to communicate and direct the house from the couch. Having a manual of this kind will make it super easy for someone to step in for a day, a week, or just dinner when you are having a rough day. I am going to try to put the text right below the pics, but sometimes blogger doesn't really love me that way, so sorry if its awkward.

I have my coupon book and my zippy pocket at the front of the book. The zippy pocket holds my pens and pencils. I keep all my business cards and little shopping cards I don't use all the time in a baseball card holder.

The next section is my "To Do/ Routine". I typed up what my routine is each day, I have a list of each of the kids chores, and a list of the different zones I tackle on which day. For example, On Mondays I concentrate my cleaning on the Kitchen. I involve the kids in whatever zone I am tackling, we call it our "life skills" class :) Previously I tried to keep the entire house clean all the time. At some point I realized the insanity of trying to do that and homeschool with three kids, so I settle now for cleaning the house in zones. It breaks the job into manageable chunks, which works, because I am probably not going to have three full hours of uninterrupted time to clean the entire house for the next ten years or so.

My Grocery Section has my coupons to be cut out in a sheet protector, my grocery ads, my special offers for restaurants and such. I also have my Menu for the week in a sheet protector. I don't have a good picture, but I also have print outs of the recipes for what is on our menu. That way, if I am having a stressful day and Brian is going to be home, I can pass the torch for dinner onto him. Because I know that I may do that, I make VERY detailed recipes.

At the back of my manual I keep lists of what I need to buy for the next season's clothing, for next years curriculum, a wish list of items for the house and bigger home improvement projects we want to get to "someday".

As a Mom, I have found this whole idea to be super helpful. Instead of all the information about the house being up in my head, it is down on paper. This allows Brian, or anyone else, to jump right in and help out. I think the general idea can be modified to fit each individual family's needs.

She is tall enough!!!!!!!!

2010-05-16T20:45:00.015-05:00

Today Chloe joined the ranks of the "big kids". She was finally tall enough to ride the cliffhanger. Its the white slide in this shot. All last year it rankled Chloe that she was just not quite tall enough. But today she conquered the 81 foot high water slide at 40 mph.

The rest of us had a great time too ;). It was just a perfect day full of sun and chlorine. We wrapped up our day with Brinner (breakfast for dinner).

Signs that you Drink too much Coffee....

2010-05-15T23:10:00.000-05:00

- You answer the door before people knock.
- Juan Valdez named his donkey after you.
- You ski uphill.
- You grind your coffee beans in your mouth.
- You haven't blinked since the last lunar eclipse.
- You lick your coffeepot clean.
- You're the employee of the month at the local coffeehouse and you don't even work there.
- Your eyes stay open when you sneeze.
- You chew on other people's fingernails.
- Your T-shirt says, "Decaffeinated coffee is the devil's blend."
- You can type sixty words per minute ... with your feet.
- You can jump-start your car without cables.
- Cocaine is a downer.
- You don't need a hammer to pound nails.
- Your only source of nutrition comes from "Sweet & Low."
- You don't sweat, you percolate.
- You buy 1/2 & 1/2 by the barrel.
- You've worn out the handle on your favorite mug.
- You go to AA meetings just for the free coffee.
- You walk twenty miles on your treadmill before you realize it's not plugged in.
- You forget to unwrap candy bars before eating them.
- Charles Manson thinks you need to calm down.
- You've built a miniature city out of little plastic stirrers.
- People get dizzy just watching you.
- You've worn the finish off your coffee table.
- The Taster's Choice couple wants to adopt you.
- Starbucks owns the mortgage on your house.
- Your taste buds are so numb you could drink your lava lamp.
- Instant coffee takes too long.
- When someone says. "How are you?", you say, "Good to the last drop."
- You want to be cremated just so you can spend the rest of eternity in a coffee can.
- Your birthday is a national holiday in Brazil.
- You're offended when people use the word "brew" to mean beer.
- You have a picture of your coffee mug on your coffee mug.
- You can thread a sewing machine, while it's running.
- You can outlast the Energizer bunny.
- You short out motion detectors.
- You don't even wait for the water to boil anymore.
- Your nervous twitch registers on the Richter scale.
- You think being called a "drip" is a compliment.
- You don't tan, you roast.
- You can't even remember your second cup.
- You help your dog chase its tail.

Coppock Vacation Scrapbook 2010: Texas State Aquarium

2010-05-11T21:08:00.011-05:00

Coppock Vacation Scrapbook 2010: Padre Island

2010-05-11T20:32:00.012-05:00

Discovery Green: Alice in Wonderland

2010-04-13T21:59:00.017-05:00

We had a BLAST! We went for a field trip. Of course we could not resist the siren song of the splash pad on such a warm, spring day. Much fun was had by all. There is nothing like hanging out on a beautiful day with good friends :).

Do your kids interrupt? I might have a solution

2010-04-12T19:39:00.005-05:00

I don't think that kids grasp easily the idea of interrupting. When they were younger we used the idea of the kids putting their hands on our arm as a signal that they wanted to talk to us. We promised them that we would get to them within a few minutes.

But now they are older, and I think they could wait longer than a few minutes on many things. When I am on the phone, if their Daddy and I are having a talk or if I am helping another sibling with school work and they need me (or Daddy) we can use this system.

I saw a version of this somewhere on a blog, but now can't find it to give credit. I have also used systems like this in the classroom, but never thought of adopting it for the home.

They remove their clip, and come and clip it on my shirt. I explained that I can't forget them, because their clip will remind me. When I have the next free moment, I will come to them and see what they needed. In the meantime, I gave them a list of approved activities to occupy them while they wait.

Slow Parenting

2010-04-08T22:00:00.009-05:00

Have you heard of the slow movement? Slow food, slow travel, a slower pace of life. I have been trying to engage in slow parenting. Since this is where I "think things out" here goes...

Professor Guttorm Fløistad is a major champion of the slow movement and summarizes the philosophy:

"The only thing for certain is that everything changes. The rate of change increases. If you want to hang on you better speed up. That is the message of today. It could however be useful to remind everyone that our basic needs never change. The need to be seen and appreciated! It is the need to belong. The need for nearness and care, and for a little love! This is given only through slowness in human relations. In order to master changes, we have to recover slowness, reflection and togetherness. There we will find real renewal."

It is not possible for my family, or myself to have any peace when we are constantly running to and fro. Often I thought this class, or that activity would be so wonderful for the kids. It is even more tempting if you homeschool. School is flexible, so why not stuff the day with a bazillion learning activities? For me it came from a good place of wanting to enrich my children's lives with every good thing. Every good thing doesn't have to be our thing.

Ultimately, being idle is good for my kids. It brings out their natural sense of play and discovery. We need to rest, reflect and just spend time together chatting and laughing. I don't want our house to be grand central station, where all the members of the family are just "passing through" on their way to other destinations. I want for our family to BE the destination. Far too soon all my little birdies will be itching to leave the nest. While they want to, I want to gather in the nest and make memories. There is much to be said for blowing bubbles out in the backyard.

For the past year or so we have been drop outs from the structured activity scene. I was getting burnt out, and things weren't running smoothly at home. I talked to the kids about it, and they felt the same way. I started being very picky about what events we committed to. When we put things on the schedule we started focusing more on small play dates, more casual venues. I don't want to spend their childhood with my finger on the fast forward button. I think if I did, at the end of it all I would feel robbed. Don't get me wrong, we still have plenty of fun and activities with socialization. We aren't becoming hermits. We are just trying to achieve a kind of balance.

The downside to this is that there are people we used to see at the organized events, classes, park dates that I miss. I might have mentioned this too, I am not a great phone person. I dunno if I am just so completely unable to multitask, but I just suck at it. I think the kids can sense when the phone goes off the cradle and immediately there are three emergencies. There are only so many days in a week, and I don't want to over schedule us, but my new challenge is to find a way to stay connected and in touch with people we love without running us all ragged attending every event in town. :)

Easter 2010

2010-04-06T20:20:00.003-05:00

The Super Saturdays

2010-04-06T20:05:00.008-05:00

Every once in a while we have a small stretch of time where Brian is off on weekends. It almost makes us feel normal.

So this past Saturday we went for breakfast.

Is it just me? or does Brian look like he needs rescuing?

John and Emma are practicing for their technological black out of Mom and Dad once the hit the teenage years.

We ate at Kelly's where all the food is meant to feed giants. Yes, that biscuit is in fact that huge and the pancakes are the size of hubcaps.

We hit the crafts at Lakeshore after visiting the bookstore. I have dreams of living in a bookstore. If I don't start purging some books I might get my wish.

To Emma, on your 8th birthday

2010-04-06T09:09:00.005-05:00

Dear Emma,
How is it even possible that this is your 8th birthday. It seems to me yesterday you were a newborn. The years are flying by far to quickly for me. I was so glad that you weren't yet too old for a visit to the giant rat.

This year you have bloomed into a beautiful young lady right before my eyes. My sweetheart, you are such a gentle and wise soul. I am so lucky God chose me to be your mommy. You are a joy to have as a daughter.

You are such a nurturer with your brother and sister. John worships you. You are always willing to help him, or sit and play with him. You have never wanted the spotlight, and you take joy in helping your brother and sister to shine. Both your brother and your sister look up to you, and that admiration is so clearly deserved. You have a soft heart my darling, and your deep compassion for others is amazing in a girl your age. I have never seen a more helpful young lady.

You are a deep thinker, and you tend to be quiet at times. Sometimes you surprise me with the things you say, because all that time you were mulling something over, and when you talk about it, it's so clear that you have really digested the information and formed your own really well thought out opinions. We are alike in needing our "quiet time". You and I both need time away from people, to just be ourselves and decompress sometimes. If we don't get that, we go on emotional overload.

Right now your favorite color is pink and your all time favorite thing is anything star wars (with Harry Potter as a close second). You like the girls in Star Wars (and who could blame you, you are your mother's daughter). Today I am about to take you to your ballet classes that you love, and you are looking forward to this summer at Schlitterbahn. Really really looking forward to it. We set up a calendar in your room this year so that you could keep track of all the fun events we have planned.

Happy Happy birthday sweet girl.

Strawberry picking 2010

2010-04-01T22:50:00.003-05:00

Book Review: Here burns my candle by Liz Curtis Higgs

2010-03-29T22:02:00.004-05:00

I have been wanting to dip my toes in the historical romance genre. When I was offered a chance to review Here Burns my Candle I snagged it up quickly.

Here Burns my Candle is Christian Historical Fiction. A retelling of the old testament story of Naomi and Ruth, takes place in Edinburgh, 1745 during the Jacobite revolution. It follows a series of events that affect Lady Elisabeth Kerr and the family she married into.

A large part of the plot in the first quarter of the book revolves around Elisabeth's husband, Donald and his inability to be faithful to her. This part of the book tried my patience. I don't have any understanding for that behavior and the book didn't offer any new explanations. This part of the book moves more slowly than the rest of the book. I joked with my husband that this might be the book that finally puts me to sleep instead of keeping me awake.

However, when this book takes off it really takes off. Once the revolution begins the plot really moves quickly. It becomes a fast paced ride through the Jocobit revolution from the perspective of the women in the Kerr family. Higgs is wonderful at creating tension between characters and in the plot. Even though I knew the history involved at this time period, and I could guess what the outcome would be for the family, I found myself on the edge of my seat to find out how this works out.

The author has clearly done her homework for this time period. It was absolutely authentic. I really enjoyed all the details of everyday life in Scotland during the 18th century. The dialogue was authentic, and it included Scottish brogue which made the book all the more authentic. But they managed to do it without it being distracting, or hard to read.

I found the character of Elisabeth to be absolutely fascinating. She was inspiring. Her encounters and interactions with Christianity were absolutely authentic to me. It didn't seem forced or preachy. This was a great read I would recommend if you can see beyond the flaws in Donald's character and hang in until the plot picks up.

disclaimer: I was provided with a free copy of the book to review by the publisher. My opinions however, are completely my own.

Pich Putt and Play

2010-03-28T00:03:00.009-05:00

All of our children's birthdays are in March/April. Because of this, March starts to feel like a month long holiday. We started out thinking we would just do something with the family, and get the kids the gifts they had been wanting. Then we thought, okay we will invite a few friends, keep it small just have a little get together. Which is how we ended up at Pitch Putt and Play.

I am convinced this is the easiest, most stress free get together we have ever been part of. It was awesome. The kids loved the bumper boats. They are electric so no smelly, loud engines AND each of them had their own squirt gun. Somehow Grandma ended up in the one boat with no squirt gun, and all the kids thought she looked a little too dry. There is no proof that anyone cut the line to her squirt gun, but suspicions and rumors abound :).

Happy Birthday Chloe!!

2010-03-07T19:20:00.006-06:00

My dear Chloe,

Here you are six years old, I can hardly believe it. I thought I told you kids that there would be no more growing up and no more birthdays allowed! But here you are, turning six.

Sometimes it is hard for me to remember that you are only six. You are so smart, and so ahead for your age. You are already doing second grade work, and you are only in kindergarten... its really amazing. You always have broken the mold.

You promised me tonight that if Emma and John leave home, you will stay behind. You know, so I won't get bored or lonely. You are such a sweet girl :). You are always so bright and sunny, brimming with enthusiasm.

Even though Daddy was out of town, I took you to Chuck E Cheese for your birthday. Chuck E Cheese himself delivered your birthday cake. I thought you and John were going to fall out of the booth. It's hard for me to believe I gave birth to you rodent lovers.

You LOVE winning tickets. You ignore all the rides, just to do the games that pay tickets. So ambitious and at the same time you always share with your brother and sister. You used some of your tickets tonight to buy your brother a treat too. I was so proud of you, I always am.

Even though we had already gotten you your "official bday gift"(you wanted a nintendo DS). Your brother and sister dragged me to the store during your dance class so they could buy you a gift on your birthday too. You are such a loved little girl. I hope you always keep that tucked in your heart.

The New Rainbow Brite

2010-02-28T19:47:00.005-06:00

Hallmark sent our family a cd-rom introducing us to the new Rainbow Brite. The girls and I have had a blast playing with it. It is always so much fun when I get to introduce the girls to a character from my youth.

Here is the old Rainbow Brite from my childhood.....

And here is the new souped up rainbow brite.....

I am really quite picky about what my girls watch on TV. We do not watch the "tween" shoes that are so popular on the Nickelodeon channel. We don't own the "Bratz" line of dolls. Because of that I wondered how I would feel about the new Rainbow Brite. Would she be too bratty, or sexed up?

I was pleasantly surprised. My girls have outgrown the characters like Dora, and they like that Rainbow Brite seems older than a character like Dora. There is a glut of good shows and good messages for the toddler - preschool set. But there is a shortage of good shows for the girls who are age 7-12. It seems like most companies want to put them in the "tween" category, something I strongly object to. I don't want my girls dealing with teen themes, I want to preserve their childhood for as long as I can.

Rainbow Brite and her friends Moonglow and Tickled Pink are on a mission to spread love and happiness throughout the world. This is a message I can get behind.

Chloe loved the theme song, she has been singing it for weeks now...

For more info about the new Rainbow Brite visit www.rainbowbrite.com

**disclaimer**: I was provided with a free CD-Rom from Hallmark for the purposes of reviewing this product. However, my opinions are my own and I received no compensation for them.

So I go to tuck them in.....

2010-02-18T21:28:00.004-06:00

....and this is what I find... such jokers I have over here.

To sleep, perchance to dream...

2010-02-14T09:14:00.003-06:00

Some people, including the one I married, can miss sleep and just feel a little groggy the next day. I don't do well without sleep. I become a zombie, literally, except I smell better. My eyes are always half closed, and I mumble incoherently. My brain just backfires and sputters.

This past week was not awesome for us. Poor Chloe's asthma started acting up and from Wednesday through Friday I didn't sleep at all. We were up each night trying to get her asthma under control. It has finally resolved itself, and Brian came home so I was able to catch up on some sleep. I feel like a new woman, a very grateful new woman.

We are at an interesting place on our family life right now. Brian's schedule has become much more hardcore for travel. He is flying internationally now, and this limits even our chance to speak with each other when he is gone. Through our new dietary changes I discovered that I am really allergic to wheat and dairy. The changes have to stay, and the process of completely overhauling our menu is turning me inside out in many ways. We had a handle on our schedule and everything was rolling along smoothly. But the changing needs of our family are dictating a tweaking of the schedule both for our home, and our homeschool. This week I am going to focus here at home, and the blog on developing a schedule and some ideas to make our life run more smoothly.

Valentine Boxes

2010-02-09T19:38:00.004-06:00

Ah the holidays, always something for a Mom to do. My kids needed a "mailbox" to have their valentine's dropped into and I happened to be out of shoe boxes that we could cover with wrapping paper. This was a very happy problem, I love how these turned out. After valentine's day we are going to give these boxes a brand new life as our "family love note center".

Okay so first you have to run to your local craft store and purchase an unfinished kleenex holder. In my Hobby Lobby they were all in an aisle with the unfinished wood. I paid about $3.99 each for mine.

Then you just paint them all a solid color. I let the kids do this part. I was very specific for them not to paint the bottom, but I forgot to tell Chloe not to paint the inside. But I figure a little paint won't hurt anything.

Once they are dry, just use a pencil to outline what you want to paint and embellish to your heart's content!

Homeschool day at the Zoo 2010

2010-02-08T22:27:00.015-06:00

Guess who lost her first tooth at the zoo? It was Chloe! I told her she wasn't allowed to lose a tooth at the zoo, but did she listen :)?

We met up with our friends there, and we got to watch so many of the animals being fed. The girls took a bajillion photos of the meerkats eating.

John did his yoda impression with a tiny stick. "Patience young one, Yoda I am..."

I was so excited, in the bear enclosure this cardinal showed up. The girls correctly identified the bird. See, we didn't do eight weeks of a bird unit study for nuthin!!

You might be wondering what is in that cooler. I packed a knife and a cutting board, and lots of fruit. In hindsight, the post 9/11 world isn't very friendly for knife carrying. Thankfully, I have come up with some better ideas since then. We have bought some travel friendly foods. This is the day that I realized that the diet isn't just good for me in theory, but I realized that I am actually allergic to dairy and wheat.

What we ate today

2010-01-27T21:16:00.002-06:00

If you were wondering how this all turned out.... we did really well the past couple of days, and oddly the kids didn't seem to realize anything was all that different. Here is what we ate today. The kids surprised me by LOVING the salmon. If you can't see any of the links, I have published them all over on my recipe blog

Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, steel cut oatmeal (its the chunkier oatmeal) and turkey bacon
snack: banannas
lunch: african peanut butter sweet potato soup, nitrate free hot dogs, cut oranges, a nice garden salad
snack #1: handful of walnuts
snack #2: cut apple w/ TBL natural peanut butter
Dinner: Honey Soy Broiled Salmon, sauteed kale (blech), Black eyed peas, zuchini, and pan fried leftover potatoes (yeah, not the best choice, but we had some left over. We won't be including white potatoes much in the diet)
Dessert: Apples, Pears and coconut stir fry

All in all, it was yummy. Well, except for the kale. But we were adventurous and tried it.

Tomorrow will be our next big challenge. We are heading to the zoo for Homeschool day. This means I have to pack a lunch... a lunch that contains no bread, no crackers, no dairy, no soy, and no sugar. It's a brain bleeder. Hopefully insipiration will strike really really soon.

Daybook Entry

2010-01-26T21:41:00.005-06:00

This is linked to Peggy's Simple Woman's Daybook.

Outside my window...its dark and quiet

I am thinking... sleep is going to be a priority tonight

I am thankful for... a husband who is home with us tonight

I am wearing.. pajamas, I like to think of it as my work uniform

I am remembering... what a nice time we had today

I am going... to have a very busy next three days. I forgot about a few events.

I am currently reading... The well trained mind, again

I am hoping... to get Chloe and John's room primed for painting

On my mind... consistently is adjusting to this nutritional plan for the kids and ourselves

From the kitchen... pan fried apples with coconut and almonds. Everyone loved dessert

Around the house... buying and hanging curtains

One of my favorite things~ quiet

From my picture journal... little girl's braids

Nutritional Update

2010-01-22T22:59:00.003-06:00

So I have been doing research, trying to get a grip on all the new eating plan information. If you didn't already know, I talk about the whys here. I am pretty overwhelmed over here.

When I googled "no soy, no sugar, no sugar substitute, no gluten, no dairy recipes" I half expected my computer to burst into laughter. Instead, the first search result it brought up was for the hypoallergenic food magazine Living Without. Not exactly a message of hope there. Living without .... taste? Living without ...flavor? Gee, we couldn't come up with a more inspiring name?

I talked with the kids about the changes, and the response was unenthusiastic. Yeah, I am glossing over that a bit. Emma was pretty zen with it, she loves fruit and veggies but she will miss dessert. John only had one question, "Can I still have bacon?" and since he can, he was happy.

Chloe though, my darling Chloe is much like her Mama, she loves the breads and the dairy. Once I broke through the shock and disbelief, she laid down on the carpet and cried. Then she got angry. I can't remember what the next stage of grief is, but its probably headed my way. I personally am praying for quiet acceptance. This is hard, even though I know it is for everyone's good, it's hard to temporarily disappoint them.

Anyway we have decided to adopt it as well as we can, focusing on one phase at a time. I have tried to make the menu full of things I know the kids will like, lots of new tastes to try and always a dessert. Our first phase out is going to be bread/crackers/gluten. Ouch. But I have managed to pull a menu together for the next week, which feels epic right now.

We were featured!

2010-01-20T10:10:00.002-06:00

My article on how to manage when your husband works out of town was featured over at Quirky Momma. This is a great resource if you are looking for crafts to do with kiddos, home decor inspiration, family friendly recipes, homeschooling ideas and resources, or home decor tips.

A whole new way of looking at dinner

2010-01-19T19:17:00.003-06:00

We went to the pediatrician today. Hormone disorders run pretty thick on the female side of my family, and they are beginning to show up with the girlies too. Our doctor recommended a nutritional therapy that includes:

no sugars or sweeteners of any kind, absolutely no artificial sweetners.
no dairy at all (nunca, nun, nein. how will I cream my coffee???? And no, I didn't ask her about caffeine, I'm pretty sure I don't wanna know the answer. )
no soy or replacement dairy
no breads or white rice
no flour or wheat products

I KNOW in my heart this is absolutely the way we should go, but implementing it feels overwhelming. I mean, I think we just threw out my entire pantry and all my emergency "feed the kids quick" foods. I don't even wanna think about trying to pack a lunch or snacks. I just kept thinking to myself, "well, at least she say we had to eat everything raw, I can still cook". But I have a feeling baking is out for a bit.

When we first started the Feingold plan, with no additives, artificial colors and flavors that felt overwhelming too, but after a few tears (mostly on my part, in the middle of the grocery store reading food lables) we have been successful and better for it. I am pretty sure we can be sucessful with this as well, but I think I will have to take each bullet point and master it every few weeks.

So, my friends.. If you have any gluten free, dairy free, sweetner free recipes you have been hiding. PLEASE, for the love of everything holy, share them with me.

She wants to look surprised, but she had too much Botox

2010-01-13T21:07:00.000-06:00

You know, once the kids hit four years old they just start to look all wrinkly and aged. That's why in our house we like to start them on Botox at age 5. Ha!

We went to the Dermatologist to get one of Chloe's warts frozen off. She was so very brave that the Doctor wanted to give her a treat. Since she can't have candy with the artificial colors, the doctor gave her this shirt!!! It is her favorite color purple, and its sparkly. What's not to love? Cracked me up! They also gave her a juvederm headband that matches.

Next stop the Preschool pageant Circuit!!!

Tiny Dancers

2010-01-12T21:54:00.003-06:00

The girls started dance this week and I had to take a pick of them in their ballet outfits. Yes, that is my Christmas tree you see in the background. I haven't taken it down yet. I planned to clean out the garage first, before we put it back. But we have had massive sudden appliance failure that has taken up all my time. I am not a believer in evil gnomes who like to break household appliances, but if I were, I would swear we have an infestation!

The second picture just cracks me up! John doesn't want to be in any pictures himself, but he tries to creep into everyone else's. Its like a bizzare form of streaking with your clothes on. He keeps trying to pop up in everyone's photos.

How to thrive when your husband works out of town, part 1

2010-01-12T21:53:00.011-06:00

For the past eight years, my husband has worked out of town most of the week. This presents some unique challenges to maintaining family unity. Life is in a constant state of adjustment. I have read good articles addressing the struggles of military families, but there doesn't seem to be good advice for families in my situation. The struggles we face are different because it is not one long stint in another location and then a homecoming. Each week we say goodbye, and just when we have hit a rhythm solo, it is time for him to be home and for us to readjust again.

In case anyone else is in the same situation, I thought I would write out some ideas and things that have helped us thrive in spite of Brian's schedule. By no means do I have it all figured out, but I have learned a few things along the way. I am going to divide it up into two parts. This first installment will focus on the kids.

Create a Routine: I have a routine for the kids that spells out wake up time, morning chores, snack times, mealtimes, evening chores, and bedtimes. I wrote it down for Brian, when he is home I want him to feel like he is a vital part of our day. Before we had the routine, Brian always had to ask me what we should be doing. Half the time, I would just do it myself because it would take longer to explain it. This allows him to jump right in and help, to be involved in his own way, independent of me.
Stick to the routine: Regardless of who is, or isn't home, stick to a routine. If Brian were coming home from a long deployment, I would declare a national holiday and we wouldn't have bedtimes or chores for weeks. But you can't do that for two days out of the week, and then expect things to run smoothly the other five days of the week. In my experience sticking to the routine every single day is key. If you move bedtimes, you are probably going to have less time as a couple in the evening. Chores that don't get done while Brian is home will pile up and overwhelm me when he is gone.
Be Positive: When Brian is gone, I am the only parent the kids have. If I am grouchy, moody and irritable that is their only experience of a parent for the day. Yuck! Who wants to be trapped with that? Sure, I miss him, but so do they. Wallowing in self pity won't help anyone. The last thing we need is more negative energy to add to the situation. This is the one case where I think faking it till you make it works. If you don't feel it, and you fake it... pretty soon you find yourself genuinely smiling in spite of yourself. Being upbeat and positive will make a huge difference in my day and theirs.
Connection: If I had a number one, this would be it. Make sure the kids stay connected with daddy even when he is gone. When Brian is traveling internationally, we use skype. (Its like a phone on your computer) Its free, and it allows the kids to talk to him, when calling is too expensive. Set up email accounts for the kids, or let them use yours so they can send their own messages.
Information sharing: In our unique situation, one of my biggest jobs is sharing info with Brian about the kids. When they do something random or cute, I try to make sure that I blog about it, put it on facebook, email it to him, or mention it. People probably think I over share really random, boring parts of our lives online. But, I think it's my most important function, to tell him the stories of our day. It gives him common ground with the kids when he talks to them. They are still younger, and this way he knows what they are talking about when they start to tell him a story. He can tell them how cute they looked, or how funny they were. It's almost like he was there.
Consistent discipline: Get together as a parental unit (if you haven't already) and literally spell out the rules of your house and the consequences for breaking them. Write all of those rules down on poster board supernanny style and hang it somewhere in the house where you, the husband when he is home, and all the kids can see it, read it and enforce it. The next big step: make sure you enforce all the rules, all the time. It is hugely confusing and unfair for the kids if there is one set of rules when dad is gone, and a whole new set when dad is home. That is just a recipe for disaster. Having tried it, I can also say, only enforcing your own rules is a pretty great way to make your husband feel irrelevant too.
Responsibilities: Give the kids some responsibilities that will make the house run smoothly. When your husband is gone, you really can't do it all. So often kids feel powerless to change a situation. Explain to the kids how we all need to pull together, and give them responsibilities. Make sure to go back and reinforce how much you appreciate their help. Especially if Daddy lends his thanks, it will give them a sense of pride.
Have Fun: This is the perfect time to let the kids have their say. Let them choose what is on the menu for dinner. Let them pick the family activity for the night, or the movie you watch. Without my kids, I would never have discovered "Star Wars, the Clone Wars". The positive side to Brian being gone so often is that it gives me an opportunity to foster my independent relationship with the kids.

10 for 2010

2010-01-07T23:17:00.003-06:00

Usually I am not one for resolutions, so I have decided to call these "goals". I used to make completely crazy, unattainable goals each year. Now, I try to just take a little chunk that I want to change, something easy and doable. Since its 2010, I decided to set 10 goals. This may come back to bite me when it's 2025 and I have to come up with 25 goals.... so I'm not committing to this system.

Project 52: Each Week of this year I want to prioritize a date night for Brian and I (Please note, this will not always involve babysitters, take a deep breath Mom and Dad. We won't be standing on your front porch each week). Once a week we will have a planned date night, after the kids are asleep, for at least two hours. Nothing electronic (unless it is the blender making my pina colada).
Time for me: I do not want to be the mommy martyr, But I do want to be a good Mommy. I want over this year to continue to carve out time and space for myself, without short changing my family and to make sure I take care of myself. I set a few specific goals. Do my hair and lotiony stuff each day. Even if I am still in pajama pants, smelling good and my hair are the triggers that makes me feel "put together". Basic makeup would be nice, but it might have to wait for 2011. Baby steps, Jenn, baby steps.
More Patience: I think I do fair with this now. But I would greatly like to increase my patience level, especially at about 4:30 in the afternoon. This is ground zero for me. I have used up a good portion of my patience schooling the kids and dealing with the problems of the day by late afternoon. Plus when Brian is out of town, we are about to start the grind of picking up, preparing dinner, baths, story times and bed. I have two ideas for myself so far: take a mandatory break from 4-4:30pm and have a snack for both me and the kids at 3pm to ward off impatience from low blood sugar levels.
Less eating out: We have made huge strides in this department during this year. Over the last year, we have reduced the amount of times that we eat out. January of 2009 our habit was eating out once a week as a family, and probably once or twice a week we drove thru. Now, over the past year we have whittled it down to eating out as a family once every two weeks-month and we drive thru or pick up something quick once a week. I still want to cut this down even more. It's just such a WASTE of money, very poor nutrition and I can usually prepare the same foods better at home. I need to do more prep work and carry snacks for unexpected events . When we decide to eat out, I want it to be a planned event with a purpose. Ideally I would like to NEVER drive thru another restaurant. Since that may not be attainable, I would like to cut it down to every two weeks on average.
Eat Healthier: Which goes hand in hand with the above. About two years ago we focused on cutting out artificial preservatives, colorings and flavorings. This past summer I started focusing on boosting our fiber intake by offering either brussel sprouts, cauliflower, and broccoli at every meal, offering an additional vegetable like carrots and offering a bean dish at every meal. (unintentional side effect: lots more farting at our house). We intend to continue these ideas through this year. But starting Jan 1 we have changed our dessert policy. Previously, I had offered the kids a little dessert after each meal if they successfully ate their protein and vegetable dishes. Even if it was just a handful of chocolate chips, I would give them a little something. Our new policy is that we will eat a sugary dessert when Brian is off work to celebrate that daddy is home. On the other days of the week, we will have a fruit based dessert (think baked apples). Even though some of the nutritional value of the fruit is lost in the cooking process, I at least feel it isn't completely nutritionally devoid of all value.
Be Adventurous with Cooking: 2008 was the year of devising a system for careful meal planning and shopping. 2009 was the year of making everything from scratch (I even make my own cream of chicken soup now). I really enjoyed both years, it stretched me and I learned and grew. Things I really valued became just a part of what I do. For this year, I want to be adventurous in cooking. To make things I have never made, or tasted before. For example, this week I am going to make risotto. Never made it before in my life, and frankly it intimidates me. Next on the list will be pie crust! Even though I made everything from scratch in 2009, I was very careful to never make a single pie. I know it was chicken of me.
Household Management: I have a confession, I am a flylady dropout. It just didn't work for me. At the time I started it all three kids were ages 4 and under. That alone should have warned me it was doomed to fail. However, I have kept with some of her ideas and I have made a few my own. Our house is lived in, but usually clean enough that I won't die if company stops by. My problem now is: with Brian gone as much as he is, and homeschooling the kids, If I devote the time I need to schooling and planning I can't do all the items I need to check off my list each day to keep the home running smoothly. My goal for this year is to find some kind of balance. I have a feeling this will mean involving the kids more in the chores around the house. Thankfully, they don't read my blog and won't have the time to fake illnesses that would relieve them of their duties.
Financial Education: Brian handles our finances. He is so much better at it than I am. I freely acknowledge that I am dysfunctional financially, so I totally listen to him. He tells me what I have to spend, and I stay inside the limit. Instead of making sure I am a part of all the finances and having him educate me, I have chickened out and just hidden from any of the financial decision making. If money were to land in my lap, and Brian wasn't around to direct it, I would have an anxiety attack. I need to grow up a bit. Only God knows what the future might hold, I need to be a financially responsible adult.
Household finances: this is the one area financially that I control. I take out a set amount of money each paycheck and this is the household expense budget. It is a generous amount that covers everything, so I don't need to increase the amount. But I have no freaking idea what it gets spent on. This is appalling because I am the one doing the spending. This year, as a part of growing up financially, I want to track what our household money is spent on exactly. To the penny. If anything were to happen, I want to know what could be cut, what our bare bones amount would be.
Decorating: we have lived in this house for three years now, and its about time I finish decorating. There are walls that still need to be painted, and accent walls I want to paint. Items I need to sew, and craft. I have awesome ideas and poor execution. So for this year, I want to go room by room finishing up the decorating. Focusing only on that room, so I don't get overwhelmed and give up. I have made a good start with the kitchen and the living room. By the end of this year, I want to have each room done.

Wii Game Review: Squeeballs

2010-01-06T23:54:00.004-06:00

Full Disclosure statement: I got nothing from Nintendo for this review (and what's up with that Nintendo?, throw some free games my way!). I schlepped myself to the store and paid with my own cash.

I think this one falls into the category of "party game". (We are new to Wii) This is a series of 150 mini games (see below for the types) that are just addictively fun. These types of games are perfect for our kids (ages 7, 5 and 4). They aren't serious gamers yet, and going from mini game to mini game appeals to their attention spans. We laughed the ENTIRE time we played these games. These squeeballs have personality. This has been one of the games that gets the most play around here.

The inside booklet tells you the story, "Squeeballs are toys made on a secret island somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Before they can be sold, they must be tested: Only the best Squeeballs make it off the island. You are the tester -- slice them, dice them, inflate them! Test them to destruction." Its quirky and cute. The squeeballs are little smarty pants and if you miss then, they laugh at you. Actually they downright heckle you. The only part of the game that approaches disturbing would be when you grind the squeeballs into sausages to feed to El Toro. However, the sense of hilarity won out with us and we remembered them heckling us when we missed them in bowling! Ha-Ha, Karma Squeebals, Karma!

A nice feature is that the game can be played by up to four people, but you only need one wii remote. Its a very affordable title at about 29.00.

The games offered are in the following categories:

10 pin bowling and bowling with twist (over lava, jumping from boulder to boulder).
cannon fodder: you lauch the squeeballs out of a cannon.
Cooking: alot like "cooking mama" you are cooking up the squeeballs for El Toro.
Paint by squeeballs: you launch the squeeballs from a sligshot at the paper.
shocker
stampede
feeding frenzy
pump the squeeball with air
golf
the squeeball testing belt.

Catch up post: Children's Museum Dec 2009

2010-01-06T23:31:00.004-06:00

This is a good lookin' bunch of kiddos. We went with our friends the Ischy's to the Children's Museum for the Holiday exhibit. We had a blast!

Hello, Cupcake

2010-01-06T23:18:00.003-06:00

Chloe was asleep and sick. So Emma and John helped me make cupcakes. When any of the kids are sick, I hover. alot. I needed to spend some one on one time with Emma and John. On the positive side, we had a blast. But, we discovered our oven isn't working properly and our cupcakes came out a bit wonky. John has surprised me, he LOVES to cook! He has commandeered one of my big wooden spoons in the kitchen. He carries it around everywhere and is always willing to give something a stir. I was so proud of Emma. She made her batch of cupcakes almost totally solo. More importantly, she was proud of herself.

Zhu Zhu pet sleeping bags

2010-01-06T23:10:00.003-06:00

This was the kiddos favorite christmas gift. They love the zhu zhu pets, and I added a little home made sleeping bag for the critters to sleep in. I found the pattern at Little Birdie Secrets. I think they turned out super cute.

A great start in 2010

2010-01-01T22:45:00.006-06:00

Dad and John read Dinosaur Books. Then tickled and tickled. We spent time with Daddy's side of the family. Mom knitted alot. We played video games together as a family. We ordered in from our favorite Chinese place and shared all the entrees. We snuggled on the couch and tried out new hairstyles. The girls decided to try dance classes for the spring semster. We laughed at each other alot. John wore blue jeans, and he LIKED them, with a long sleeved shirt, WITH underwear. Mom felt warmer somehow. It was a banner day, and a wonderful start to the year. May all our days be this wonderful.

Merry Christmas 2009

2010-01-01T22:29:00.005-06:00

When Christmas Day rolled around this year we were still sick. I was so glad we had done our big gift opening the week before with Brian. I had saved the kids Zhu Zhu pets for Christmas day. It was all I could do to get them wrapped and their little sleeping bags sewn. Clearly, they were a hit.... with everyone except the cat.

Brian was off working and we missed him. We canceled our original plans with Grandma and Grandpa because we just couldn't muster the energy. But, we got to catch up with them a couple of days later. We spent the 27th with my side of the family for Christmas. Everyone came into town and we got to see all our family. While my brother and his family are working away from Texas, we really look forward for the time we get to spend with them. That was super fun!

Happy Birthnuakkmas

2009-12-17T22:37:00.008-06:00

Tuesday was a big day for us. We had the fifth night of Hanukkah, celebrated my birthday early at Chili's (Brian will be out of town), and we had our family Christmas early (so Brian could be there for it). Very time efficient! I have to say, it is a relief to have the more commercial and time consuming parts of Christmas over with. Now I can just relax and enjoy crafts with the kids and holiday movies....Oh, and finish all the holiday sewing projects.

So we were on our way to Chili's and I see John goofing around in the backseat. He stole Chloe's beret and jammed it on his head. He looks like one of those mushroom babies from Super Mario Bros.

Another funny pic. I think she might pay me good money to burn this one later in life. We bought the kids several dart tag sets so that we could play as a family. Here is Emma in all her "gear". Oh. My. She is adorable. They have commandeered my dining room chairs for days now building bunkers they can defend.

Pet Grooming Misadventures

2009-12-17T22:18:00.004-06:00

Okay so first the good pics. We went to Safari Pets, the groomer's/puppy seller's to drop of Mac for grooming. He was shedding his undercoat horribly, it was coming out in big chunks. The groomer told me she was going to "have to trim his undercoat". I thought that sounded reasonable. Expecting to come back to a dog with slightly less undercoat.

The kids kept themselves entertained begging for a new dog. Ha! No way. So I appeased them by taking pictures of them with the puppies.

So.... Skip down a few pictures. THIS is what I picked up from the groomer. a BALD DOG!!!! And trust me, in this picture the flash is his friend. It bleaches out all the pink skin and the absolute butchery that is the job these folks did. He looks like an underweight piglet, or maybe a grossly overweight rat. My poor. poor. cold. dog. Its bad. Its going to take about a year for his coat to grow back in. Meantime he will have no protection from the cold, or the sun. We are going to have to sunscreen our dog. And we get to moisturize his skin daily. Ugh.

The girls have fussed over him non-stop. Keeping him bundled up. He appreciates the attention. It makes the intense shame he feels abate slightly.

I have just today stopped wincing when I look over at him. The girls and I cried for him when we got him home. Especially when we saw all the wounds the shaver had left behind. Needless to say, we had to go and buy him a small wardrobe of sweaters. That is the bright spot here. The girls are LOVING dressing him up each morning. We got him a dog snuggie so he and Chloe can match!

Space Center

2009-12-17T22:06:00.006-06:00

The Bass Pro Shop Winter Wonderland

2009-12-13T22:21:00.004-06:00

Before today, I had never been to a "wilderness store". Unless you count Academy. I went there to get John a simple slingshot last year when we studied little house on the prarie. Brian was envisioning a simple split stick with a rubber band. Instead, I upgraded it to the super cool "wrist rocket" model with steel ball bearings to shoot. Brian had one of those "have you lost your mind?" discussions with me. Apparently, grown men use those to fell deer.

I guess I am not a wilderness girl. Every time I mention camping Brian starts laughing hysterically and reminds me that: A. there is no climate control in the great outdoors, B. critters live there too, C. they call it indoor plumbing cause there ain't none outdoors. This has effectively ended all camping related discussions. So I haven't ever had the need for the type of things they sell.

But I have to say, their Winter Wonderland they have set up is a little bit of awesome. These pics are the ones I took, but they provide you with a free little snapshot in a cute frame and they did a cute candy cane craft.

The kids had a blast, they have a little nerf archery/gun target practice area and I had no idea they sold toys there. Its a pretty cool store, I think we have been missing out.

And I managed to resist the urge to buy the boy a BB gun. All my neighbor's windows breathed a sigh of relief.

Beckett the Panda party

2009-12-13T22:00:00.004-06:00

We visited Borders books for the Beckett the Panda Party. Chloe had weaseled one out of me when we were there buying school books. I was in the school/adult section when she found me.

Chloe: Mom, can I have this panda? I love him sooooooooo much!!!!

(Chloe jumps up and down frantically)

Me: I don't think so, Christmas is so soon, why don't you put him on your Christmas list?

(Chloe deflates like a sad balloon and does the sad walk back to the kid's area)

About fifteen minutes later I head for the kids section where I find Chloe staging a sit in. Clutching Beckett, rocking herself back and forth, tears streaming down her face. According to the other Mom sitting there, who clearly thought I was abusing the child, she had been in this nearly catatonic state the whole time. (PS, thanks alot ma'am, way to stay strong. Whose side are you on?)

Naturally I caved. By now she had deposited enough body fluids on it we had to buy it.

She has loved this panda to death. So when we found out there was a party for him we HAD to go. Emma brought alexander the horse. They did a great job! They had cake and hot chocolate for the kids and crafts. The girls really enjoyed themselves. John hung near me, unless he was torturing his sisters with his scissor fingers. He would take their crafts and say "snip snip" while doing scissor motions with his fingers. The child has perfected the art of annoying his sisters.

The employees putting on the storytime were super interactive. Apparently, Borders offers storytimes nationwide through the week, if you have one near you, check it out.

Happy Hanukkah or They are a bunch of animals over here

2009-12-13T21:40:00.004-06:00

Over here at our house we celebrate both Hanukkah and Christmas. So this is the third night of Hanukkah for us. The kids have been enjoying Latkes and jelly doughnuts for dinner. Whats not to like?

The kids each got a wild animal print blanket. They look like some kind of crazy zoo all piled up on the couch. Chloe is in lurve with her zebra print fleecy blanket. They are so crazy. I can't figure out if John's is a giraffe or a leopard. I told him it was giraffe to try and get him to eat his "greens" for dinner.

Family Movie Night: The Marshmallow Edition

2009-12-10T22:24:00.003-06:00

Tonight was another cold one. It was in the fifties, I have probably been living down South too long when I define "cold one" as fifty degrees. So we started a fire. For any of you who live in colder climates and are scratching your head now, seriously if I waited for it to be colder our fireplace would never get lit. And by "fire" I mean a lone duralog. We gathered round the fire to roast hot dogs for dinner, and s'mores for dessert. Honestly, this might have had a little something to do with me wanting to have an easy dinner. I mean, how often do my kids cook their own food?
We snuggled under the blankets and vegged out with some holiday movies. Except John, he was in shorts. He and Brian must have sludge for blood it's so thick. They are never cold.

The cat even got in on the snuggling action, and John's foot.

Wordless Wednesday: Festival of Lights

2009-12-09T23:13:00.005-06:00

Snow Day 2009

2009-12-05T22:24:00.003-06:00

I have never been a terribly linear, engineer sort. Really. Ever. But it was so cold outside and I had just bought John this pirate lego set. Thankfully, Lego directions are alot like Ikea furniture assembly, they give pictures. John kept looking at me. When things weren't looking right he would say, "Its okay Mom, we can wait for Dad to get home." When I finally had it all put together right, he beamed at me. He actually beamed. I felt like I had redeemed myself in the boy toy world. I can play Barbie till the cows come home, but I have been informed that I do not make a good dragon, or dinosaur.

The kids LOVED the snow, it didn't stick much to the ground, but the loved catching it in their mouths.

They loved breathing and making "clouds"

The cat was unimpressed.

And this is what a little girl looks like after romping in the snow all day. Red cheeked and exhausted.

No Sew Easy Old Fashioned Shawls

2009-12-05T22:08:00.003-06:00

Since it was so cold down here, when I stumbled onto this tutorial over at wee folk art, I knew I had to make this. We love anything that reeks of little house on the prarie. Plus, I had woven cotton taking up space in my closet. These are so easy, you just cut the fabric into a square, and then fray about 3/4 inch by picking out threads. I made five of them in about an hour real mom time.

The girls were using them as shawls, as lap blankets, and they even wore them as scarves under their jackets. Emma is modeling the sari look. Chloe has gone back to her Polish roots and is wearing it as a head covering!

Ps. Brandy, if you are reading this. Don't make it, I already made one for each of your girls.

Santa's Sweatshop progress so far (and links if you wanna make them)

2009-12-02T23:11:00.006-06:00

For Christmas, I like it when a certain percentage of the gifts are handmade. Trust me when I tell you that there is WAY more thought put into them. Crikey! One of these days I will go back to pure retail and get my evenings back. Just in case you find any of this inspiring, I will put the links where I can.

First I painted some Harry Potter peg people for Chloe. You find the bags of peg people at Hobby Lobby or Micheal's for less than 2 dollars for five of them. I have a tone of acrylic paints lying around, so I didn't need to purchase those. I did however have to purchase the finest paint brush imaginable. These are so tiny to begin with. I should have just borrowed a single strand of the hair from my friends newborn. I had great fun painting them. I know not everyone is into Harry Potter, but you can adapt them for what you like. I want to make Emma a Star Wars set. I have seen People create a little mock up of their own families too.

I made little felt tea bags for Emma's tea set Brian brought back from Holland. I am also midway through a felt set of poptarts and cookies. Here is a tutorial I am using.

The TuTu has been one of the quickest and easiest things I have made so far. I made three of them in under an hour (and that is real mom time=with many interruptions from the kiddies). I used Martha's tutorial here.

Next, my friend Terra and I made glass tile pendants and magnets. I am not sure how many of these will make it out as gifts. I love these SO much. I think we are going to be forced to make another batch just for ourselves. I used the same process for both. The glass makes it hard to photograph, but these turned out really well. Here is a tutorial. I bought all my supplies for these on Etsy very inexpensively. If you head out to a Hobby Store, its really pricey.

The last thing I made was Starbucks cup sleeves from fabric. Here is a link with several different designs.

I am in the middle of about eight knitting and sewing projects. As I get them done, I will update here and post the links just in case you are bored in the evening and need something to do while you watch holiday movies!

Works for me Wednesday: Toeless socks Momjacked

2009-12-02T22:45:00.007-06:00

Chloe had some tissue removed from the top of her foot by the dermatologist, and so the doctor told us to let her wear flip flops. Well, two weeks ago this was fine, but our area just had a cold front. Looking at her bare feet in those flip flops made me freeze. Even though she said she would be okay. So I came up with this idea. I cut the toes off her socks so she would be a bit warmer. Being a huge flip flop fan myself, I am trying to decide if I can get away with this. So far, I don't think so. but I do knit....

The rest of the day we spent cuddled inside. The kids were SO EXCITED. We had a fire. Now I know those of you who live in colder climates don't understand the thrill. But for our kids anytime we have a fire is EPIC!

Is conformity a good idea?

2009-11-29T10:49:00.004-06:00

I am personally mulling over this idea on two fronts.

My middle child, is what many people would call a "strong-willed child". I call it having a strong sense of self. She is louder than some children, has VERY definite opinions on just about everything. If I have said something questionable, I can count on her to repeat it at the worst possible moment. She is most likely to snitch a cookie or push the boundaries. If offered a candy, she will negotiate for more. Chloe tends to want to influence the situation, instead of allowing it to influence her. Her hair is usually wild because she has snatched the pretty things I put right out of her hair as soon as I turn my back. She KNOWS what she wants to wear even if it is leopard print tights with a pink flower skirt. She keeps me on my toes. I have received many opinions that imply that something is wrong with her, that I need to force her into fitting better into the box of what is the norm. But that box doesn't fit her, and I can't figure out why I should change her (short of outright disobedience, that we will force a change on). She is who she is. Who am I to force her to be something is isn't? What a huge message of rejection that would send to my child. I might as well skywrite "YOU AREN"T GOOD ENOUGH". If God creates each of us unique, who am I to try to force everyone to conform to one standard?

If there is a direct opposite to this, it's my oldest daughter. She is an introvert. She is a peacemaker and willing to sacrifice herself for others happiness. A bit more of a thinker. She is quiet, and she likes having time to herself for more introverted endeavors. She is very laid back, able to adjust and be flexible in just about any situation. I have gotten lots of opinions from other people about how I need to force her to be less shy. I need to make her more comfortable in large social groups. I need to push her out of the nest. I feel the pressure this puts on me. But again, I just can't figure out why I need to do that. She is who she is, who am I to reject who she is and try to force my mask onto her? She is beautiful just the way she is. As much as the world needs extroverted movers and shakers, it also needs quiet thinkers.

Conformity is the process by which an individual's attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors are influenced by other people, usually because they want to achieve a sense of security within a group. But that is a false sense of security. That leaves the nagging doubt that if you let the mask slip, if folks get a glimpse of who you really are, they would reject you. Yuck! Why not just BE YOURSELF. We are, who we are. Whether we are an introvert, or extrovert we are who God created us to be. Look at how diverse the entirety of nature is, why do we as a society think there is only one way to be? Why can't we all be daring enough to be a little different? As someone who isn't the best at conforming, all this got me thinking.

This thinking has led me to a conclusion about our family. We are going to reject all the opinions of the well meaning people who think we need to change our children's essential natures. God forgive me for the times I have tried to force conformity on my kids. Our family is a place where you can be yourself, your authentic self, without fearing rejection. We get you, and we accept you EXACTLY as you are. As much as we can, we will help you grow to be whomever you are meant to be. Not carbon copies of us, not replicas of our ideals. But we will try to guide you and help you find your own. If you are creative, we will try to nurture that. If you are concrete and logical (God help your creative mother in this), we will try to nurture that. If you are strong willed, awesome. If you are introverted, awesome. I can't guarantee this anywhere else in the world, because most of the time nonconformity includes a big risk of rejection. But here at home with your family, we love YOU for who you really are, deep down inside when no one else is around. My job as the Mom and parent is to make sure you know that down to your toes.

Coffee Talk

2009-11-28T10:56:00.004-06:00

This is my coffee buddy. We have started a little tradition that I love. Each morning when we get up, I make some coffee for myself and some cocoa for Emma. Then we head out to the porch, or the living room to have our "coffee talk". It is usually very quiet and we chat about whatever is on our mind.

For months I tried to find a way to get some alone time with Emma each day. I tried letting her stay up late. But by that time at night, I am a little burnt out. Since Brian has a whacky schedule, I can't count on being able to take her out by herself.

This was the perfect compromise. Everyone is pretty occupied in the mornings, and we are able to have our time without interruption. I think Coffee time is my favorite time of the day for a whole new reason now.

Passions

2009-11-27T22:47:00.002-06:00

Remember that crazy soap opera? With the dwarf and the witch, and the really really awful story lines? Aren't ya glad that isn't what I am blogging about tonight? Yeah, me too.

I haven't posted to the blog in a week or so. I have a rule that apologizing for not blogging is verboten. Less blogging = more living. Except today, it happens to be relevant to what I am writing. (PS. prepare for the blog spam influx, I plan to catch up tomorrow). I haven't been blogging because I have been crafting, knitting, sewing and painting for Christmas. I open up my own little sweatshop each year. I keep trying to introduce child labor to my little venture, but the kids run too fast and they are on to me. I heard Chloe trying to unionize yesterday.

You would think it would be such a huge pain. For the benefit of my family I do kvetch often at this time of year, but mostly that is just to induce a little appreciation in them. Honestly, I love it. I think maybe I need that creativity too. But I don't often get it.

Its as though I have two women living inside of me. A little schizophrenic, but its a metaphor. One is a Mommy and a wife. Her very heart beats in time to the needs of her family. She is totally willing to sacrifice everything for the sake of her family, including herself. The other woman seeks creativity. Writing, painting, crafting are all her life's blood; but they are also solitary pursuits usually that don't mesh well with screaming children. Over here we have screaming children in spades. They are cute, often funny, but LOUD.

At this time of year the creative part of my whines a bit. "Why can't we take a class here? or join that new writer's group?". I have to break the news to her: Brian is an awesome, supportive husband, with an ungodly random schedule. And unfortunately, the babysitters down here are crack addicts who need to support an expensive habit. It really is the only explanation I can find for the rates they charge.

So we have eeked out an uneasy truce between all of us. Now is the season for growing children, the time passes like sand through my hands. I can't put this on hold, because I would never be able to recapture it. Now I am equipping them to live their dreams, helping them discover themselves (I hope). So creative chick goes on the back burner for now, and she has to take her outlets where she can get them: the blog, sewing, dying parts of her hair purple, evenings of crafting once the hooligans are in bed. And that is good enough for now. She isn't forgotten. Sometime in the future there will be plenty of time for locking myself in the craft room and pulling all nighters.

Craft fail: A for appearance, F for clean up

2009-11-08T23:22:00.007-06:00

I saw this adorable tutorial online for how to make these "cupcake" ornaments, and I thought to myself, "I could totally do that!" and "this would totally be great to do with the kids!". So I promptly conned my friend Terra into doing it with me and the kids. I am sure that right now she is thinking of me as she picks concrete off the pads of her fingers. Don't you love gifts that keep on giving? If you have the same desire to make these, I have one question: "How attached are you to the skin on your fingers, or your kid's fingers?"

The project seemed easy enough as outlined on the website. You spray expandable foam into cupcake liners, cover with glitter, put a bell on top and wahlaa! Cute cupcake ornament. Riiiiigghhhtttt. The crazy tutorial lady left a few things out.

Problem number one, I had never worked with this foam before. Someone should have mentioned gloves. In its liquid state, it resembles liquid marshmallows, once its dries its much more like concrete mixed with super glue. It. will. not. come. off. As I type this, four hours later, I still can't completely bend my index finger. The only chemical that even touches it is pure acetone. Public service announcement: once the foam has taken off your skin, the acetone is really going to burn. Gloves would totally have solved this problem.

Someone also should mention that when you squirt the foam into your cupcake liner, it will not look all puffy and wonderful. As a matter of fact, its going to look like an albino cat used your carefully chosen cupcake liner for a litter box. If you don't know this in advance you will try to "fix" it (and so will your darling children), only exacerbating problem 1.

Poor Chloe, my sensory sensitive child just could not stand to have it on her fingers. We did the best we could to clean it up, but ack!!!! We are going to be picking this stuff off our fingers forever.

Now, just so you know.. the end result is super cute, and the glitter is very fun. Hindsight being 20/20, I am glad to have the cute craft to hang on the tree. However, we will never, ever, do this craft again. But, if I ever run into someone in the witness protection program who needs to get new fingerprints... well, I may have just the craft for them.

A trip to the aquarium... very image heavy

2009-11-06T18:59:00.011-06:00

We went with our homeschool group on a field trip to the aquarium restaurant. It was such a blast! We started with a class on animal training. For me, it was all about the sloth. I love the sloths, ever since I was little and had an animal book with a sloth in it. Apparently that was the start of my OCD because I kept turning the page upside down to make the sloth stand up, I didn't like him hanging from the tree.

The exhibit areas have lots of photo ops. We clearly took advantage of that. Grandma and Grandpa came with us and thankfully decided not to bring the tiger hats (pimp hats) home.

The tigers are HUGE in person. When they are sitting down I was thinking "oh look at the pretty tigers, so majestic and docile". But when one of them paces by the glass some kind of evolutionary warning bell goes off in my head and I start trying to check the thickness of the glass and insure that its secure.

The train ride and carousel rounded out our day. We had a blast and I can only say thank you. We are so grateful that we are a part of a group that plans so much neato stuff!

Halloween Festival... Boo!

2009-11-03T23:12:00.005-06:00

I am late with the photos. But better late than never! The kids and I went to a local Halloween festival. They were so excited to get to wear their costumes early! It felt like cheating. As most of you probably know we can't eat artificial colorings with the asthma in our family, so we used the unacceptable candy for science experiments! I blogged about it here if you want to check it out. We will be doing experiments through the week to try and unload the buckets of candy.

Emma LOVED her costume. At the last minute she switched and wanted to be Padme from Star Wars. Unfortunately, no one was really manufacturing Padme. Stores were thick with Obi Wans, and storm troopers. Heck, they even had BoBo Fet (I might be misspelling that). Emma never really throws fits, but it broke my heart to watch tears stream down her face each time we struck out. We finially found one. We all gave a cheer and she couldn't have been happier!

P.S. I love the pic of john and his friend as vampires. His friend was pretending to "bite" him... You know, just in case you were wondering.

Family Blessings

2009-11-02T23:17:00.006-06:00

You don't choose your family. They are God's gift to you, as you are to them. ~Desmond Tutu

We were blessed to have my brother and his wife in town last week. We will be so glad when they live closer. Our niece really brought out the maternal side of Chloe.

It was so nice to see all the cousins playing together, and to get to visit with family we don't see often enough.