the hurricane ranch

that again!?

2012-01-20T21:03:00.000-06:00

Bedtime was swiftly approaching and Hobie's diapers were still cycling through the dryer. After quite the week with serious school struggles between myself and a certain Ibis, and a Monday holiday and Tuesday spent mostly away from home, I was running a little behind on the laundry. So Hobie was running around in the nude (like you've never had nude toddlers in your house) and I was enjoying a few minutes with facebook, reading all the happy success stories of my friends' kids doing happy successful things in their potties. I turned around and there was Hobie, standing over a suspicious brown lump on the rug, completely mortified. Of course he had no clue that said brown lump had been deposited there by he himself. Ten minutes later the initial spot on the rug, the other spot on the rug that occurred as he plopped down [ahem] still a mess to play while I was doing my best impression of a panicked octopus (the 8 legs part, not the ink part), Hobie, the changing table, and I were once again cleaned up and ready for take two. No pun intended.

let's pretend these are his Thomas jammies

His special night time diapers were finally dry and available for application. I ran the little streaker down and enticed him with the Thomas the Train pajamas that we bought several months ago, before he'd ever heard of trains. "Choo choo?" he asked tentatively. "Yep, choo choos!" Once wrangled on, he was again on the move. "Choo choo! Choo choo! CHOO CHOO!" Pointing right at the tv. No doubts on what he wanted. Thanks to Ibis and Coral he now knew that this amazing miraculous choo choo lived in the tv. Thank goodness it happened to be the ten minutes allotted on Sprout for Thomas. This is his first-ever request to watch tv; it was cute for about two seconds because I know this is only the beginning.

I am so not ready for another Thomas lover. Really I'm not.

Alexei, circa 2005

The best part of the night? Hobie was sitting on the couch fully absorbed in the tv when Ibis came out of her room, wanting to know what all the fuss was about. He looked right at her and yelled, "Iba! Bed!"

I guess Thomas is best watched solo.

where are you Christmas?

2012-01-10T15:50:00.000-06:00

If you've spent 5 seconds with Coral, then you know all about her fondness for the Grinch. It began innocently enough in December of 2010 at the age of three, when she caught sight of Ron Howard's How the Grinch Stole Christmas on tv. She watched it quietly, soaking it all in. The movie was stored in our DVR as we enjoyed a myriad of other shows leading up to the big day. Then Santa came, Christmas was packed away, and the rest of us moved along with the new year.

But not Coral. Oh, no. Some certain quality of this particular movie caught her attention, and it became her goal in life to soak up the wisdoms it had to offer.

First she wanted her hair up in braids like a Who.

Then in February, she turned four. In keeping with her stubborn, funny, spunky born-at-thirty-weeks-with-two-holes-in-her-heart-because-she-couldn't-be-just-anybody birth day way, she didn't want a Strawberry Shortcake party. She didn't want the previous year's Pooh Bear party. Not Barbie, not Sesame Street, not anything that could be had easily. Nope, she wanted a Grinch party. So we dragged the Christmas decorations back out of the garage; I drew a paper Grinch for pin-the-heart-on-the-Grinch and baked a (hideously ugly) Mt. Crumpit cake. She dressed in Cindy Lou Who fashion with her hair up and the house strewn with kooky musical toys. We even played Grinch the Donut because it seemed like something the Whos would do.

The months rolled by and the interest continued. By June we'd all watched the movie a hundred times. She had learned every song by heart, sworn she was growing her hair long so it could be styled like Cindy's, and let everyone within earshot know the true meaning of Christmas was love. She not only memorized practically every word from the movie, but she studied all of the behind the scenes footage, storing it away for her future career as a Who. And her Grinch collection started growing.

The beloved stuffed Grinchy, for whom I had to purchase a Santa suit (thank you craigslist):

the Cindy Lou Who necklace to match her Christmas bow and "candy cane" dress (in August):

a Grinch backpack from an Old Biddy at a yard sale (perhaps not one of *the* Old Biddies but maybe!):

and even a Cindy Lou Christmas cape, which she styled at co-op:

Whos go to school too, you know.

Early on she knew what she wanted to be for Halloween: Cindy Lou Who. The dress underneath was as close as we could get to looking like a Who dress without contacting Hollywood. As an added bonus, I discovered Etsy.

Unlike typical four-year-olds, she never once changed her mind. I was even roped into making a Max the dog costume for her little brother. She oversaw every minute detail from the eggnog hat to the fuzzy black shoes.

Soon the Fizz pheasant....err, I mean turkey leftovers were making their rounds, and Christmas merriment was here once again. Her grandparents brought her a tabletop Christmas tree for her room, and we found Grinch-themed ornaments for it. We surrounded the tree and held hands while singing Fahoo fores, Dahoo dores like the Whos. I'm not sure if anyone's heart grew three sizes that day.

She also represented our 4-H club in the Christmas parade. Bet you'll never guess what she wore!

A small problem arose: all she wanted from Santa was the real, live Cindy Lou Who. Unlike the other kids, she would glance at toy catalogs and smile and tell us, "No, nothing!" when we asked if she saw anything she wanted. We had several long discussions on how Cindy would miss her family terribly (her countering: bring them along too!) and she finally, finally agreed that it just wasn't practical to invite Lou, Betty Lou, Drew, Stu, and Cindy into a house already crammed with the six of us. So she set her heart on the Whoville snowflake instead. That was a seriously tall order for Central Florida.

Christmas morning came and Coral was beyond excited. Not only did we get her two Grinch play sets, but there was a very special copy of the How the Grinch Stole Christmas book from not just Santa but the Grinch, too! We'd scarcely finished opening gifts when she curled up happily with her book.

I don't know everything that will happen in 2012, but I'm pretty sure Coral's love of all things Grinch will continue. Her room still contains a Christmas tree, and a Cindy Lou stocking, and she sleeps with two Grinches, a Cindy Lou doll, a stuffed Max, and her real dog she named Max all cuddled together under her Christmas blanket. Cindy Lou is still her idol and she plans to move to California when she's grown up because she heard the Grinch lives there. I'm hoping he moves to Florida before she's eighteen.

Where are you Christmas? Right here in Coral's heart.

photos from a new perspective

2012-01-08T19:19:00.000-06:00

I came to the conclusion recently that I have a bit of an obsession with taking photos of the kids looking up. Not just any photo pose, mind you, but one where I am underneath and taking a shot straight up the nostrils.

It's probably not a "proper" pose, but it intrigues me. There's something about little kids and their fascination with anything up high: trees, planes, clouds. They look up all the time! Call me weird but I love it. I probably have three dozen photos just like these.

It's okay, I know I'm weird. Now when you see me worming around on the ground with a camera, at least you'll know why I'm down there!

play-doh redeems itself

2012-01-07T21:32:00.002-06:00

If you're like me and have ever thought you loved Play-Doh and then experienced the joys of a child smearing Play-Doh all over the carpet and it never coming off again, you're probably already suspicious. We were in Target last weekend looking for something.... now I can't even remember what. You know how that memory just melts away with each kid you have, and I've got four. Anyhow, of course we wound up in the toy section and of course a bunch of stuff was on clearance and of course the kids all had money left over after Christmas because they were smart and spent *our* money on gifts and saved theirs. Because they really needed new toys a week after getting like a zillion of them. Two years later they'd finally picked out the toys they were going to buy, when I spotted something that gave me pause.

Yes, it was the dreaded Play-Doh. Play-Doh like I have cleaned up a million times and swore we were finished with. But this Play-Doh came with letter stampers! This elevated it out of toy status and into the realms of school necessity. Plus it was on clearance at 50% off and you know what a cheapskate...err, bargain hunter I am. The Play-Doh came home with us under strict admonishments that it would live in the school closet and only be used by Coral for letter practice. I figured we had about a 10% chance of abiding by those rules for more than a day.

School was back in session on Tuesday and after forging through the kids' PE classes and other bookwork, we finally got to open the Play-Doh and try it out. I figured it would be best utilized for spelling out key sight words in Coral's kindergarten readers. The set is actually called Cookie Monster's Letter Lunch, and I envisioned her stamping out the letters to create the words, and then feeding them to Cookie Monster. The added bonus that he "poops" them out the back of his body would leave her in sheer delight; what is a four-year-old's obsession with poop, anyway?

I was right, she loves it. Every day this week she made "school soup" or "I have soup" to go along with her readers, and every day she was in hysterics feeding the words to Cookie Monster and watching them tumble out the other end. She's practicing letter recognition, sight reading, and spelling along with developing her fine motor skills. I may have new respect for Play-Doh.

Now if it winds up ground into the rug we can call it art.

out with the old, in with the new (sort of)

2012-01-06T22:35:00.000-06:00

The blog header is new, although Hurricane Ranch has been around for 12 years. You know, back when I still had 3 seconds to draw stuff. The kids aren't new, although they seem to keep multiplying as the years go by.

They also keep getting bigger in spite of my protests. I keep swearing we're going to stop buying groceries because all they do is eat them. Hard to believe Ibis is actually two years younger than Alexei; pretty soon those two will be taller than me.

Now that I think about it, that may come in handy. Here's to a new year full of adventures!

baby it's cold outside!

2012-01-03T21:55:00.000-06:00

Notice how I always perk up and come blog when it's cold out? Well, it's cold out. Hasn't been cold in a good....[checking blog list and seeing when I was last active] 10 months or so. This is cold for real, people! Like the new little dog was shivering. Inside. In our house where we're living. In it! Shivering from the cold! Granted it's half chihuahua and Mexico isn't known for its snow, but come on! The dog is now wearing a sweater. I can't decide if he looks hilarious or ridiculous, but more importantly I'm wondering why I don't own a sweater.

Wow Mommy, this is awesome!

It was back to the old school grindstone this morning, complicated by the blustery cold and the fact that not only had we not worn jackets in the past 10 months, but that a couple of kids had grown so much in the past 10 months that said jackets, procured through a fifteen-minute search laced with colorful muttered-under-the-breath words, no longer fit. I was feeling rather resourceful and smug when I finally found a jacket (wait, or is it coat? Am I qualified to know the difference?) left over from the days of Alexei's toddlerhood years ago. I'm pretty sure he wore it exactly never because he, too, lived in Florida at the time and it was one of those ten months out of the year where we sweat to death instead of blog about how cold we are.

Tuesdays mean Creative Corner (aka toddler and preschool P.E.) at 10am, a mad dash home to squeeze in an hour of school and a quick lunch, and another sprint back to catch homeschool P.E. at 1pm. In other words, sheer mayhem. This was the first time this school year that the madness was encumbered by cold. Do you have any idea how long it takes to wrangle a two and four-year-old into warm clothes? Or how much Florida-bred grade schoolers whine and complain at the thought of donning long sleeves and socks? Apparently neither do I. I am chronically early to everything we do, but not today! We were *almost* late.

Anyway, back to the special jacket I had lovingly, caringly saved for years so Hobie could be warm and snug on this momentous day. We forged on to the Creative Corner class in the morning and I got the kids all unraveled and settled in the gym for playtime. Hobie ran off to play with blocks before I had a chance to remove his jacket, but came back in time for the class to begin. I nabbed a sleeve and pulled and off came the jacket, along with a hailstorm of black vinyl. It would seem that years of baking in the garage during Florida summers had turned the jacket's innards to flakes. We only managed to shed a few handfuls on the gym floor right there in front of everybody. I think I had a flashback to being laughed at in 7th grade in my brother's old worn out leather jacket. Alas, the jacket had to be reapplied after class and we made the trudge of shame back to the car, a trail of vinyl confetti following in our wake.

Wait, is this a hand-me-down??

Fast forward past Creative Corner, past school and lunch and almost being late for homeschool PE with Hobie now sporting last year's fleece pullover. We're finally home and in for the day and I get the brilliant idea to throw the jacket in the washing machine to see if the vinyl liner won't just come right off. I'm an awesome, frugal mom and this hand-me-down won't get the best of me. As a matter of fact, it worked like a charm! Might need a new washing machine now, and for a few minutes I thought the hubby might stop speaking to me, but the jacket's inside was stripped completely clean.

So stripped, in fact, that getting the now-vinyl-less jacket on and off would be physically impossible on a two-year-old. Guess who's getting a new jacket tomorrow!

Portrait of a Homeschool Kid

2011-10-29T15:22:00.000-05:00

Many misconceptions abound regarding homeschool kids. As a homeschool family we have heard them all : the kids aren't socialized. They aren't educated enough. They aren't exposed to the real world. They miss out on the opportunities to x, y, and z. All negative opinions from those who have never been there and have no idea what being a homeschool kid actually means. Most of us weren't homeschooled as kids (I wasn't) so our "reliable" source of information on the topic hails from television news stories notorious for sensationalism and one-sidedness. Six years ago we decided to use our own brains and parental intuition to decide what was right for our children, and we've never regretted it!

What biggest thing does homeschooling offer that traditional schooling does not? Time. Plain and simple, it offers us the time we need to pursue whatever the kids want. There is no hour wasted on the school bus or in the lunch line. No time spent sitting in a classroom twiddling thumbs or getting into mischief as a math lesson is taught five different ways to ensure the lowest common denominator stands a chance of passing a state-mandated test at the end of the year. No time wasted on politics, on procedure, on disruptions.

There is no substitute for one-on-one teaching. Knowledge is transferred directly from teacher to student with no interference, in whatever means best suits that student. A homeschool parent quickly figures out what style of learner they have on their hands and can make a lesson meaningful and impressionable the first time around. This means the core curriculum of math, reading, science, and social studies can quickly be pursued and conquered, leaving time for art, music, a foreign language, or diving in depth into anything the child desires.

A traditionally schooled student spends at least eight hours a day at school or on the way to and from it, and then has an hour or more of homework every night. Suddenly it's dinnertime, and bath time, and the half hour of reading hasn't been completed and bedtime is swiftly approaching. Yes, there is time for the basic math-reading-science-social-studies education, but there's not time for anything else. No time for playing with friends, no time for trips to the park. No time for the exploratory pursuits essential for a child's development.

Another thing homeschooling offers is opportunity. I'd like you to meet my oldest son, Alexei. He's ten years old and in the fifth grade, and since preschool he's been lucky enough to be schooled at home. That's right, I said lucky. During a typical school week, Alexei is a self-starting learner and completes his four main school subjects. Then he attends two homeschool PE classes a week with twenty to twenty-five other students in or near his age range. After PE he gets to play with his friends and torture his sisters at the park. On Wednesdays he attends a co-op class with a dozen other kids, learning about science (a six-week study of the classes of mammals), art (learning pointillism, cubism, and more), and culture (an upcoming class).

Since he is afforded time, Alexei can fully involve himself in the 4-H program. He is the elected chairman of his club's historian committee and is responsible for photographing and documenting club events. He raises and shows rabbits, has qualified for the 4-H state team in rifle marksmanship, and loves honing his photography skills. The three project record books that go along with his 4-H interests keep him educated and financially sound with regards to his activities. This year he also attends the 4-H county council meetings and hopes to one day be a county officer. A valuable education in leadership, citizenship, and perseverance is his for the taking.

This past February Alexei earned nine blue ribbons and four red ribbons at the county fair for his whopping thirteen entries, along with $90 in premiums, two medallions, a Best in Show trophy, and the advancement of his photography entry to the state competition. He chose to take on all of his own projects and put effort into many different areas. Next year he already has big plans to increase the project load and earn all blues. Since he is homeschooled, he is able to complete his schoolwork and still have the time and, perhaps even more importantly, the unbridled enthusiasm to undertake so much extra work. He doesn't compete in 4-H out of any obligation; he does it because he loves learning and working hard towards his goals and eventual successes.

Recently we've signed the paperwork to lease a horse from a lovely woman who wants to enrich the lives of a 4-H family. Alexei has ridden and shown a little bit in the past and would like to ride well enough to one day show in 4-H. Like the rest of the family he understands the responsibility that comes along with such a huge animal, and that the hard work of cleaning a stable always comes before riding. Since he is homeschooled, he has time to learn not only the finer points of riding but also what it means to have patience, and humility, and the benefits of hard work.

Like all typical fifth grade students, Alexei can read, write, solve math problems, and regurgitate facts from his textbooks. He has a good, solid foundation laid down by a teacher who knows his learning style best, and then he has the time and innocence available to want to keep learning about the things in the real world that interest him. He can take the lead and determine his interests, and run with them while we encourage from the background. He will continue to be a success in school and in life because he has the time and the opportunity to explore, and that's something homeschooling is in a unique position to afford.

ramblings of a former NICU mom

2011-09-23T22:59:00.001-05:00

It's amazing how some experiences just seem to stick with you forever. I was thinking about my new niece who will be born later this year, and that got me to thinking about Coral, who was born ten weeks prematurely. It's like this emotional force you never truly escape; some days you don't feel it at all anymore and other days it feels like you're privately obsessing about it.

After Coral was born, I went through some mild post traumatic stress. I kept flashing back to sitting in the OB's office, and his last words were, "You need to go to the hospital, right now." I was 29 weeks, 5 days pregnant. Then we had the six week NICU stay, which was absolutely agonizing with two young children at home. Finally she came home, on prescription caffeine and wearing an apnea monitor 24/7, just a hair over 4 pounds. Her second night sleeping safe and sound in her crib just inches from me, she aspirated reflux and stopped breathing. I still remember that night like it just happened; groggy, confused, apnea alarm screaming, taking her into the kitchen thinking the stupid machine must be broken. Seeing her pale, limp body and screaming over and over, "She's not breathing!" Laying her on the coffee table and ripping open her sleeper, the CPR video looping through my head, my heart racing under my pajamas. She wasn't making a sound, her eyes were closed, she was lifeless. I gave her breaths and began CPR. Finally, finally, she let out a tiny little sound and took a breath. I held her in my arms for hours as the junk in her lungs worked its way out bit by tiny bit, scared to ever let her go.

The post traumatic stress escalated from mild to barely held together. I would have flashbacks constantly of her lifeless body. I would wake in the night, Coral in my arms, thinking she wasn't breathing. We'd go through a toll booth and the beep of our Sunpass would make me jump. It took well over two years for the nightmares to die down, but every once in awhile I still wake up thinking she's not breathing.

At some point shortly after she turned two, we decided to have another baby. Although it wasn't the main reason, in the back of my mind I kept thinking, having a "do-over" pregnancy will make everything right again. And it went much, much better this time. I was freaked out pretty much the entire 37 weeks, but in good spirits heading to the hospital knowing I had made it and everything looked good. Six hours later and Hobie was born via emergency c-section, after an extremely painful and frightening placental abruption that could well have taken him away from us. Suddenly I went from feeling scared and stressed to just plain broken.

Coral is four and a half now and I still find myself waiting for that "do-over." It's occurred to me that maybe it's not a new pregnancy I'm ruminating over, but all the problems with the old one. As if I could change anything about five years ago. Yes, I have a happy, healthy, wonderful child and I am eternally grateful for that. Yes, I know we were so lucky that she was merely ten weeks early, with only a couple of minor, minor heart issues that are slowly resolving. But it still doesn't feel right. I want to go back in time and ask, why didn't this go better? Why wasn't I more proactive about how badly I was feeling? Why didn't I do x, y, and z? Why did the doctors not know what was going on? Why, why, why? How do you ever get past the whys?

baby bunnies!

2011-09-01T17:42:00.000-05:00

I'll be posting about our science co-op shortly but while I was gathering up all the info, our fuzzy lop doe surprised us today and kindled her first litter! We were literally standing right there next to the cage wondering what she was doing; she hopped out of the nest and there were three squirming little pink blobs laying in the hay. The kids got a quick and thorough education on afterbirths and what most animals do with them, and that was about it for the fanfare! So far the babies are sightless little blobs. They all appear to be healthy but since Wuzzy is a first-timer, I'm a little nervous about her mothering capabilities. Only time will tell!

One of the babies has definite pink skin and the other two have gray skin. It will be interesting seeing what colors they grow out!

cave art and toddler lapbooks

2011-08-26T12:45:00.001-05:00

We've made it through the first week of school; this used to be a big deal but this year for the first time there wasn't a whole lot of, "Oh crud, what was I thinking?!?" going on. I guess it only took six years to get here! I've set our days up to have Friday be more of a relaxed, fun subjects kind of day. I do sneak in writing but so far they're pacified; that may change when they're writing rough drafts. Soon Friday will mean 4-H activities, but until our books come in, the major subject of the day is art.

Today we made our own cave paintings, to help understand lines and form. I cut up paper grocery sacks and wrinkled them for a realistic textured effect, and the kids were told to use a black crayon for outlining their main elements in their drawings. Suggestions were horses, mammoths, simple people, plants, and so on. After outlining they could use pastel chalks to add colors to their cave wall.

Hobie sat and ate Goldfish crackers and watched his siblings intently. He's at the age where eating directly from the bag is the only acceptable mode. I had to cut the top off the bag so his little T-rex arms could reach the bottom (he fed the dog the majority of the bag's contents yesterday). He also unfolded all those placemats in the background. I love toddlers.

I also whipped up an Ocean Animals Lapbook from one of my favorite pre-school sites, 1+1+1=1. I didn't glue the pieces in even remotely the correct order and we didn't have any file folders so I used an old paper folder - thus the kooky spacing. Do yourself a favor and do it the right way! Thankfully Hobie didn't care about the layout and he thoroughly enjoyed coloring his very own special new book, just for Hobie. This weekend I need to find/make some more just for Hobie activities, or he's going to drive us all insane!

He looks so innocent, doesn't he?

my take on handwriting without tears

2011-08-24T14:57:00.002-05:00

Let me preface this by saying we've been using the program for a grand total of two days now, so I am subject to change my mind on this at a later time. But I don't think I will : everything I've seen thus far with our new Handwriting Without Tears workbooks has me excited. I did some research over the summer (but mostly I lounged around the house in the a/c) and I knew this particular line of books existed, but had never paid much attention. Everything I'd heard from friends touted its greatness, but I personally like to see and feel my books in a store before making a purchase, so if Wal-Mart or Books A Million didn't carry it, I didn't own it.

I was thoroughly impressed with the HWT website; they seem to have included just about everything. Samples, PDFs of actual pages, research, lots of reasons to use their curriculum because of their unique approach, and even access to free online tools. If nothing else they have a slick marketing team. I bit the bullet and purchased two of the Printing Power workbooks suggested for grade 2 and one copy of Letters and Numbers for Me suggested for the kindergarten set. My older kids need serious work on their neatness skills, especially Alexei, and HWT's 3rd grade book is in cursive; I chose the print version to get back to the basics, and since the HWT approach uses an entirely different line setup than they're used to. I was extremely pleased that the Printing Power books do not state a grade level anywhere on them; no 5th grader wants to think he's working in a 2nd grade book.

The books themselves are very clean and uncluttered. The pages have simple, attractive black and white illustrations and the Printing Power books work in a lot of practical grammar without being obvious about it. There are even games and puzzles within the book, not something you typically find in a handwriting series. Alexei absolutely despises handwriting practice and has always put forth as little effort as humanly possible into it, but this book even has him making an attempt at neatness. There is hope for him yet! The price is also very reasonable, it does run higher than the handwriting books readily available at the store, but at $7.50 each it feels like a worthwhile splurge.

The kindergarten book Letters and Numbers for Me has a really unique approach to learning the formation of letters with a method they label, "Wet, dry, try." On the advice of another homeschool friend (hi Tami!) we went ahead and purchased the small slate board and it is a great size for little hands. In addition to writing the letters in the book, children are encouraged to trace a chalked letter on their board (written first by the adult) with a small wet sponge or towel. Then they trace the wet line with a dry towel. Finally, they trace the dried outline of the letter with a piece of chalk. For something so seemingly simple, this is a pretty amazing approach to building confidence in a beginning writer. Coral tried the "wet, dry, try" method for the first time today and was smitten.

My only real complaint is that it's a little tricky trying to introduce this concept of line spacing that HWT utilizes. I think it will be a real asset for Coral, who will know this method from the get-go, but for Alexei and Ibis who have used the traditional three-lined handwriting paper or regular notebook paper for several years, this may take awhile to grow accustomed to. Ibis especially seems to think that she needs to write between the sets of guidelines in her new science journal. I'm sure this is something that will be mastered over time.

Two days and nary a tear shed over handwriting - if you've ever had a reluctant writer you know this in itself is an accomplishment!

And yes, in this house toddlers in pajamas routinely plot sneak attacks to try to sit on the dog. And the dog wised up long ago. But that doesn't stop him from trying.

back to school

2011-08-22T13:48:00.001-05:00

Today was our first day back to school after a leisurely summer break. A first day of school juggling three elementary students in different grades and a rambunctious toddler goes something like this:

I kick everyone out of bed and make them get dressed and assembled for school pictures. An opportunity to torture children with the camera would be a pity to pass up.

Alexei is in 5th this year and has an attitude to match.

Ibis is in 3rd and has mixed feelings about the whole thing.

Coral is starting kindergarten a year early and is an eager beaver.

Hobie is 20 months old and enjoys dumping toys on the floor and getting into the trashcan.

I have the brilliant idea of staggering the start times for each kid; in my mind I was envisioning kindergarten opening for business at 8:30, followed by 5th grade at 9:00 and 3rd grade at 9:15. It goes well for the first 5 or 6 seconds, until Hobie realizes there's no 20-month-old class.

I set him up with some crayons and paper for a brief respite from his screams while Coral works on her very first official math page.

She breezes through phonics and I get the big kids started on their math lessons; the new Go Math books are really awesome. Then Hobie decides that a brand new box of crayons is way better than a few stinky old half-chewed toddler crayons, and he almost has them. So close!

After a snack break, Ibis finishes math and science, Alexei enters plant and animal cell diagrams into his science journal, and Coral creates her very first self-portrait journal entry.

While Hobie raids the garbage can and finds a pudding cup tossed in at snack time. Mmmm, garbage....

Then the big kids try out their new Handwriting Without Tears books (liking it so far) while I chase Hobie around as he gleefully unfolds all of my freshly stacked laundry.

We are officially back in business.

a back to school project

2011-08-21T10:07:00.000-05:00

Yesterday the big kids had their 4-H awards ceremony, where they got certificates, pins, and ribbons for the project books completed earlier in the year. When I have more than one free hand I will find the photos and give you all the juicy details. Having a toddler along for the ride magically made two hours of festivities seem like an all-day torture.

Back to the reason for the occupied hand : yesterday evening the kids came in, clamoring about a kitten lying in the road. I went out and didn't see anything, and then a little black shape slipped under a fence into someone's backyard. Alexei wanted me to toss him over the fence so he could get the kitten and was rather upset when I told him that A) there was no way on earth I was throwing him into a backyard of people who weren't home, and B) we'd probably never catch it. End of story.

That would be too easy, right? An hour later I went back out by myself on a whim, and the kitten was lying on the sidewalk, face planted on the ground. It hopped into some bushes flanking a house, and I gave chase and reached down to nab it. The poor, pitiful thing rolled on its back, mouth open and claws bared in a feeble attempt to save itself. I brought it home to a chorus of, "Awwwwww!" and now we have another baby in the house. This skinny little kitty gives new meaning to pathetic. I think it's a girl, probably 6-8 weeks old. It loves turkey baby food (ew!) and can manage wet kitten chow. However, it wants to be held and gives you big, sad green eyes if you set it down. I've contemplated strapping it in the Ergo baby-style but that might be too crazy cat lady-ish.

I'm wondering what subject malnourished kitten raising can apply towards : science? The humanities? Community service?

shotgun schooling

2011-08-18T09:55:00.000-05:00

I've been gathering up all the goodies to begin our school year next week, and balance the needs of a self-starting (if grouchy) 5th grader, an ADD 3rd grader, a year-ahead-of-schedule kindergartener, and a crazy into-everything 20-monther. Exciting stuff. But you know what has come to me? In all of this curriculum wrestling, I've realized that public schooling is like shooting a shotgun. A teacher aims and shoots a bunch of tidbits of information at the class and hopes that some of it hits each student.

I'm not playing blame-the-teacher. I think about some of the genuine in-the-schools kindergarten books we've used in the past, which are nothing but activities showing children how to wash their hands, brush their teeth, stop at a stop sign, recognize safety officers, etc., etc. These are all things that a five-year-old should already know. So much of what is being taught in school to children in all elementary levels is stuff that they should already have been taught at home. But a lot of kids don't know. Their parents don't teach them basic hygiene, or safety rules. They never get to play outside. They don't come to school understanding concepts like sharing, listening, or showing compassion, because those examples don't exist at home.

You also have classrooms that have been integrated. There's no money for kids of different levels and abilities to work at their own pace, so they're grouped together and that shotgun is fired in the hopes that the students who are behind or have a hard time working any way but one-on-one (like my 3rd grader) are hopefully pegged by a few bits of the blast. Conversely, the kids who are motivated learners may be hit by even less, because there's simply not enough time to aim in their direction. Each lesson has to be taught three or four different ways to explain the same concept, because we all learn best in different ways. That's why kids can spend 8 hours a day in school and come home with an hour or more of homework when they're in the first grade.

There are also children for whom English is not the language spoken at home. These kids, too, are now integrated into a classroom where they may have a hard time understanding the teacher speak, much less learn to their full potential. A teacher has to balance the needs of all of these children because a public education is just that : an education that applies to everyone. Our public is filled with such a variety of learners from so many different backgrounds and cultures; could you imagine entering a room full of adults taken at random from your neighborhood and trying to teach them all, in an hour spent writing on a board and looking at pictures in a book, how to change the brakes on a car? I bet not too many would be able to step outside and do it.

The moral of the story for homeschoolers is this : don't let the approach of public school intimidate you. You don't need 8 hours a day to instruct your student because you are instructing your student. Not the mass public. Not the greater good. Your student. If it takes 5 minutes to understand a concept, you don't need to approach the concept three other ways to get the point across. Books are important tools, but they are just that : tools. Real life experience is a bigger tool and as homeschoolers we're often afraid to think outside the public school box for fear we "aren't doing enough" with our kids. We purchase extensive, mind-numbing curriculum in the hopes that we're duplicating a public education, when in fact we should be diverging from it.

mmm, chocolate!

2011-05-04T21:15:00.001-05:00

I've been hanging on to a certain chocolate bunny lollipop since it made its way home with us on Easter; well, actually it made its way home with us times four. The other kids' lollis were in various states of decrepitude but there was one pristine bunny remaining. I missed out on playing with the studio setup with any Easter props, so today was my chance. The subject was very willing!

To say he liked it would be putting it mildly. This was a definite first for him. He was feeling very protective of his treat!

Then he was feeling rather thankful and amazed at this gift from the chocolate gods. Who knew the day would be so amazing? Who knew such things existed?

Finally, he was rather contemplative. Why have I never had this before? he wondered. Who's been holding out on me?

He has no idea of the plans I have in store for him.

the S. family photos

2011-05-02T21:19:00.001-05:00

On Saturday I had the honor of taking photos for Miss E's upcoming second birthday. I'll admit I'm a little bit biased about E's family, because this is our third time taking photos together and they are always SO much fun! This time they wanted to have photos of E riding on the ponies at Disney's Fort Wilderness. It was a real challenge with the varied lighting conditions and very bright sun but the weather could not have been nicer and she was just darling! I got so many great photos that we all love. Here she was in her beautiful dress made by her mama:

Then her mama wanted to take some fun, footsie photos on the beach at the Fort Wilderness lakefront. I'm not sure how Miss E felt about it!

Finally we captured some sweet, happy family moments of the three of them. They are all such naturals!

I can't wait for our next session!

incentives

2011-03-09T21:28:00.000-06:00

It finally happened : 15 puzzle pieces came together and were glued on a piece of cardstock to form a photo of a much-wanted Leapster Explorer game. The completed puzzle was handed over and the family made the trek to the store, where the game was signed, sealed, and delivered into the hands of the hard-working student. A small miracle happened today. Ibis followed through on a goal to fruition. May it last!

Sometimes the rewards have to be tangible. There's schoolwork out there that some kids are just going to have to get through even when it's not fluffy and fun. But then there's another incentive we've recently stumbled upon that is its own reward : postcards and the pen pal. The postcards are part of our state project and the kids have gotten their feet wet learning to send little notes and write addresses. The pen pals are brand new. For the first time ever today, Alexei sat down to write a letter not only without complaint, but without even being asked. And not only is he interested in talking back and forth with another homeschooled kid his age, but he's trying to improve his handwriting (aka chicken scratch) and spelling to impress his new pen pal. Sometimes peer pressure is awesome.

Ten weeks of school left in this year!

finding your way

2011-03-05T21:23:00.000-06:00

There's a lot out there about the myriad ways to keep your homeschooled kids happy and socialized - basically, as with anything else in life, the amount of effort you put into it relates directly to the amount of satisfaction they get out of it : in other words, it is what you make of it. I have zero doubts about my kids' opportunities and quality of social time. Something you never seem to read about is where you as the parent fit into the grand scheme of things.

Sometimes it's hard to feel like you fit in when you're a homeschool mom, especially if you have a large family that spans a substantial age range. I'm not just a toddler and preschooler mommy since my older kids don't go off to school each day; nix the preschool set of friends. Many baby/toddler groups these days absolutely forbid older kids attending. On that same axis, since I have a preschooler and toddler to keep up with, I'm not just a homeschool mom. Field trips that require concentration, quiet, and two hands? Forget it.

I used to have hobbies. Once upon a time there was the opportunity to train and show horses. I could sit down and draw. I really enjoyed taking photographs, not just of my kids but for other people as a budding profession. If I felt like it, I could even sit down and read a book.

You give up a lot as a homeschooling mom. There's the time and the effort that go into the planning and the doing, but mostly you give up being normal. You give up fitting in with the moms you used to hang out with, because their kids went off to school and yours didn't. You give up on society thinking you're a sane person who knows what you're doing with your kids.

Even after almost six years, I feel a little lost sometimes.

But I don't think society ever thought I was a sane person.

four years ago....

2011-02-23T21:20:00.000-06:00

There's just something about the kid that enters life in an eventful way - I once ran into a lady who must have had a premature baby at some point, because she was so right. It's not that they're your favorite, or more loved, but the fight they went through to get here always holds a special place in your heart.

She was a month old and three pounds in this photo.

Coral is four years old today. Four years ago my May baby became my February baby. We did six weeks' hard time in the NICU, holding her tiny hand through all the ups and downs of preemiedom. We brought home a tiny, four pound infant who decided to stop breathing after two nights home. Then there were the countless appointments with her pediatrician, cardiologist, opthalmologist; the prescription caffeine we swore would make her addicted to coffee in her later years; and the much-hated apnea monitor we lugged around for six months. We worried about her learning to eat, learning to sit up, learning to walk - she finally met that milestone at eighteen months. There were times we thought she'd be tiny forever.

And now we have a smart, sassy, funny, sweet spitfire in this tall, lanky kid that you'd never recognize as the preemie she was.

She definitely has a special place in our hearts.

all's fair that ends fair

2011-02-22T21:26:00.000-06:00

Finally, the photos from the last weekend of the fair are upon us! In addition to Alexei's rabbit activities mentioned in the last post, Ibis had her shoebox float parade and the kids had to work for an hour in the 4-H strawberry shortcake booth as community service to help raise money for our county's clubs. The last big thing was the awards ceremony.

Ibis loved the parade again this year; it's almost too bad she won't be a Cloverbud next year!

The strawberry shortcake booth was a lot of fun; they even roped Coral into some free advertising.

Alexei's head was almost too big to fit through the door when we got home after winning his best in class medal and best in show trophy and ribbon for his photo story.

The fair was amazing, but it was so nice not to have to drive out to the fairgrounds this evening!

rabbit show success!

2011-02-21T21:31:00.000-06:00

Here it is, the moment you've been waiting for: photos and a recap of the kids' rabbit shows. Ta da! It only took me a week to get to this point - did I mention that the fair is now officially over and we got all our stuff back today?

No?

Well, the fair is officially over and we got all our stuff back today. I'm pretty sure I gained five pounds in fair food and I feel like I can safely wait a year before wanting to commit two weeks of our lives to the fairgrounds again. It was an amazing, wonderful, fun, rewarding experience, but it was also exhausting! Go away tourists!

Wait, we live in Orlando. That's not going to happen.

Anyhow, on to the rabbits. Alexei had his show on Saturday, presided over by an official ARBA judge (I can tell you're impressed.) He presented his rabbit to the judge who proclaimed Fuzzy to be a "nice little rabbit," and he received a blue award and Best in Class American fuzzy lop bucks. He got beat out for Best in Show by a really nice mini rex but we were all thrilled with his first try.

Then Alexei went on to compete in showmanship, which involves taking your rabbit to the judge and answering questions about rabbit judging and proving that you know what makes a good show rabbit. He was terrified over this class and actually had the opportunity to drop out, but stuck it out and went on to win second place in junior showmanship. Not too shabby!

The following Saturday, Alexei took a written test on rabbit breeds, digestion, nutrition, and basics and wound up getting third place in the rabbit skillathon at the junior level out of the six kids participating. See, homeschoolers can take tests too!

Ibis showed her rabbit in the Cloverbud show the day after Alexei, and in spite of him giving her a nice nip on the hand during the show (which she thoroughly deserved), she did great with him. She answered questions about her rabbit and her 4-H club and was adorned with a Cloverbud medal for participating. I liked how she was about a foot and a half taller than any of the other Cloverbuds.

In other rabbit news, Alexei opted to use his fair winnings to purchase another fuzzy lop show rabbit, a promising young doe who should make a great future Mrs. Fuzzy. He's decided to call her Wuzzy. I think she may be the cutest thing ever.

Guess you can call us the crazy rabbit people now.

is it Friday yet?

2011-02-18T21:02:00.000-06:00

It's Friday. Not just any Friday, but Rodeo Day. Our county still upholds its long-standing tradition of closing schools one Friday a year while the fair and rodeo are in town. History has it this was done because the cattle for the rodeo had to be driven across the main thoroughfare through town, making the road impassable for school buses and traffic. Of course these days I think all the cattle is trailered in, and it's just a good excuse to lure patrons into the fair. We made the mistake of heading out to the fairgrounds to feed the rabbits - it only took twenty minutes to park and a half hour to exit the parking lot after we spent the three minutes required to feed the rabbits. Thank you Rodeo Day.

That sort of set the tone for our day. I was helping Alexei study for his upcoming Rabbit Skillathon, and Coral and Hobie were playing nearby. I'm drawing a chart of the rabbit digestive tract (cecum, anyone?) and notice that the house has gone quiet.

Coral left the pantry door ajar, and Hobie snagged the two boxes of Cheerios. Thankfully he only managed to open one before I caught him, but he had a grand time shaking the bag upside down and covering the entire kitchen with oaty circles. There are still Cheerios under the fridge and behind the trash can.

While I was cleaning the Cheerios mess up, Hobie followed Coral into the bathroom and proceeded to unravel the roll of toilet paper and then start splashing in the toilet. If you're going to wreak havoc, go big. Thankfully the roll was almost empty and the toilet was recently cleaned.

TGIF.

fair updates, weekend one

2011-02-16T19:50:00.000-06:00

The fair has taken over our lives for the past week, but it's been a worthwhile endeavor. Before you know it it will be time for weekend two and then I'd be really behind on updating you, so let's get this show on the road!

First, Alexei's exhibits and placements. He had twelve entries in the Exhibit Hall, and the Best in Show Jr. Photo Story was definitely his crowning achievement. We'll find out on Sunday what exactly the prize will be (medal? trophy? money?) but we know for sure that his photo story now moves on to the state competition. When and where that is, I couldn't tell you. I'm guessing someplace on the exact opposite end of the state. Tallahassee, anyone?

The kid's earned at least $70 in fair premiums. I need to take out a loan.

His single photos earned him three blue and one red award.

His drawing earned a red award.

His Lego model earned a blue award.

His baked goods earned two blue and one red award.

His toy car earned a red award.

His tabletop earned a red award. This was the only placing I disagreed with - I really think it deserved a blue. It was an improvement over last year's white award and he was happy with that, but this mama is still grumbling internally. I need lessons on parental showmanship here!

Ibis had four entries in the Exhibit Hall. This is her last year as a Cloverbud so her entries were limited to five (including her rabbit) and all of her work earned automatic purple awards (a medallion and $3 each).

Her crazy cat drawing.

Her photograph.

Her shoebox float.

Her baked good.

I will update on the rabbit shows asap. I can think of so many puns right now but I'll spare you. I'm nice like that.

No I'm not.

Tomorrow I'll tell you all about the weekend's hoppenings.

*A note about 4-H show placements, in case you were wondering. The classes are all divided by age into junior (8-10), intermediate (11-14), and senior (15-18). Each show entry is judged on its own merit and receives a white, red, or blue ribbon based on how it meets the class's criteria. Then all of the blue award winners in a class go on to compete against each other for a double blue, which becomes Best in Class. Then all the class winners compete against each other for a Best in Show.*

Thursday's haul

2011-02-11T08:28:00.000-06:00

Yesterday afternoon, we took the last of the kids' entries over to the fairgrounds. All of Ibis's entries were due, Alexei's baked goods had to be submitted, and the rabbit check-in time was upon us.

Ibis is in her last year as a Cloverbud (for children ages 5-7 by Sept. 1st of the start of the 4-H year) so she was limited to five entries in a smaller selection of categories. She had such fun with her projects!

Her shoebox float was just adorable this year. We told her to think of something she loved, and she chose to make an ice cream truck. A lot of glue and glitter later, we had a finished product. The school room floor may never be sparkle-free again. Next Saturday she'll get to parade her shoebox float across the Exhibition Hall stage at the fair with the other Cloverbuds, and she'll receive a medal for her efforts.

She also made banana oatmeal cookies, drew a colorful and crazy rainbow cat, and took this cool photograph of Coral.

Alexei's baked goods were wrapped up and submitted; he has high hopes for these.

Lastly, the rabbits were packed up and carted off. They'll remain for the duration of the fair and come home next Sunday. It's amazing how much I miss seeing the little fellas around the school room!

This afternoon the fair officially opens, and the real fun begins.

kid cooks : double brownies

2011-02-08T21:34:00.000-06:00

Today the cooking rolled right along with the kids' fair entries for 4-H. Alexei had to make his bar cookie entry, double brownies. I've made these many times and they are always a hit : a blondie, stacked with a chocolate brownie, topped with a caramel frosting. What's not to love? In spite of the multiple steps this is a fairly easy recipe to make and very impressive looking. Let the kid(s) in your life have a go at it!

He started by washing his hands, checking over the recipe, and preheating the oven. This recipe also hails from our Taste of Home's Best of Baking cookbook. You can find the entire recipe for double brownies online here. We omitted the walnuts - I like to add chocolate chips to the middle layer but he chose to follow the recipe.

Grease a 9" x 13" pan with shortening on the bottom and sides. Don't skimp on this step, you do not want your brownies to stick to the pan!

Assemble your ingredients. This is for both layers; that's brown sugar hiding in the back there. Brownies are really pretty simple.

First, add your butter and packed brown sugar to your mixing bowl, and cream (mix until fluffy).

Add in your eggs and vanilla. It's a good idea to crack the eggs in a separate bowl in case you drop any bits of shell! Mix completely.

Measure and add your flour, and mix in.

Spread the bottom layer evenly in the pan and set aside.

For the second layer, cream your butter and sugar.

Then add the eggs and mix away!

In another bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa powder, and salt. Dump this in with your butter mixture and stir or mix until smooth.

Spread the second layer evenly over the bottom layer, being careful to not dig up the bottom layer.

Torture your baby brother by turning on the oven light and baking for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

When the brownies are almost cool, assemble the ingredients for the frosting (that's powdered sugar in the bowl).

Melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat.

Stir in brown sugar and milk and keep stirring until it comes to a boil. Make sure you stay with it or it could burn! Remove from heat and let cool for twenty minutes.

Stir in the powdered sugar until the frosting is smooth and creamy.

Spread the frosting on the brownies and wait patiently for thirty minutes so the frosting can set (firm up) a little.

Cut into squares with a butter knife, and enjoy!

Tomorrow, he tackles yeast rolls and orange almond drop cookies. I'm salivating already.

And he does dishes!

kid cooks : banana oatmeal cookies

2011-02-07T20:47:00.002-06:00

First on our list : banana oatmeal cookies. Ibis had been eyeing these in the cookbook several weeks ago; as a banana lover, they were right up her alley. She chose to enter this batch into the 4-H Cloverbuds baking exhibition. Six of her cookies will be turned in on Thursday to a panel of judges at the fair - I imagine it takes a brave judge to sample the wares of kids ages five to eight, but these cookies are actually quite delicious. This is a great recipe to share with the kids in your life. Let them develop a love for baking!

First, give your hands a good scrub. In spite of what she originally thought, yes, soap is required.

Check over the recipe for any special requirements : oven temperature to preheat, special ingredients, etc. This recipe is from Taste of Home's Best of Baking cookbook. You can find the recipe online here. We love Taste of Home!

Assemble the cast of characters. Don't forget the kid power.

Mash the bananas. Somehow we don't own a potato masher, but a fork will do nicely.

Measure and add the shortening and sugar to your mixing bowl, and cream mixture (let all the sugar mix into the shortening until it's nice and smooth).

Add in eggs and vanilla, and mix until combined.

Now measure out the flour, baking soda, and cinnamon, and stir them together in another bowl. Ours is a lovely blue plastic.

Add the flour mixture to your mixing bowl. Mix on low at first to avoid a huge mess!

Now let the bananas join the party.

Measure and add the oats and chocolate chips - try not to eat all of the chocolate chips! Mix completely.

Use a cookie scoop to measure the cookies evenly, and squeeze onto greased cookie sheets.

The first pan is ready for the oven!

Torture your baby brother by turning on the oven light. Bake for 8 minutes or until golden on the bottom edges.

Remove cookies to cooling racks. Be careful, the pan is still hot!

The cooled, finished cookies ready for eating. They taste a lot like banana bread with a hint of chocolate.

Kid made, baby brother approved!

all's fair

2011-02-06T19:18:00.001-06:00

Today, we poked, prodded, dragged, hauled, and otherwise stuffed the bulk of our fair entries into the car and traipsed off to the fairgrounds to be left at the mercy of the harried 4-H staff. And a bunch of sweet old ladies on the creative arts side of things. Gotta love the sweet old ladies.

As a recap, Alexei signed up to enter thirteen classes this year; today was the day to fork over everything but his baked goods and rabbit (the live kind, not fricasee). I showcased the rabbit tabletop in Friday's post. This was also the day for Coral to submit her drawing to the creative arts ladies, and myself a baked good, four professional photographs, and a drawing. I was feeling ambitious this year, too.

Alexei's entry for the Models class - this is a free-for-all, anything goes class. He loves Legos and builds the craziest creations from them. I love that he doesn't use a kit, but rather his imagination. Even the garage door opens! When I was a kid, my Lego houses were just big ugly squares.

The model car he made with his Grandpa for the Woodworking : Toys division. It warms my heart to see him have the opportunity to make something with my dad. Plus Grandpa clearly has the best tools around!

His entry for the Photo Story class. Kids use three to five photos to show something being built or telling a story. These show a Lego car being constructed; the hardest part about this project was setting up the cantankerous old tripod!

Four photos for People, Animals, Scenic, and Architecture categories. He'd have done more if 4-H would let him.

Alexei's drawing for the....well, the Drawing category. Pretty self-explanatory. I was surprised he wanted to enter a drawing, because I know he feels like it's not his best subject. I think seeing my artwork is an inspiration but also a confidence trasher for him, even though that's ridiculous.

Now on to Coral's entry. She's still too young for 4-H but there was no lower age limit on the creative arts list, so she put her heart into this cute little rainbow flower. I think for three years old, it's pretty darned adorable!

I entered four photographs into the professional category. Not that I make a fortune (or even pocket change lately) from taking photos, but it just felt right. Awful photo - they look gorgeous in person. My hubby mounted them to foamboard for me and even gave them beveled edges.

The drawing I picked this year, kind of old and boring but seems like most of my framed artwork has had the glass busted out of it over the past few years; the hazards of moving. One of these days maybe I'll pick up a pencil and draw something new.

Cinnamon rolls for the anything-goes baked goods category. Mostly a good excuse to make cinnamon rolls again.

All of Ibis's entries, Alexei's baked goods, and the rabbits make the trip on Thursday. That should be interesting! Busy week ahead with the kids baking up a storm, rabbits being brushed, showmanship practiced, outfits adjusted, a 4-H meeting, and school in there somewhere. I can't wait!

snapshot Saturday

2011-02-05T18:12:00.000-06:00

I was sitting here on the computer this afternoon, hard at work while the baby was napping. Actually I was goofing off on facebook, but I figure that's a given. Suddenly from outside I heard the sound that parents everywhere quickly learn to dread : the ice cream truck jingle. Now the song may vary, but the sound is so distinct as to draw kids from every corner of the neighborhood with just one chime - it's like a dog whistle for anyone under age twelve. I had never heard an ice cream truck drive around our new locale, and until this moment had been thanking my lucky stars.

The jingle continued to crank out as the truck wound its way around the outer circle of houses, before swooping into our little cove. Then the music stopped traveling as it lured in some unsuspecting adult. I walked to the window to see what poor schmuck had been hounded into patronizing the ice cream man, prepared to have a good snicker at their unfortunate fate.

Too bad it was my husband.

Yes, it is February. Yes, we live in Florida. Yes, she's in a swimsuit.

I don't know what this one's story is.

I hope he knows the ice cream man is like a seagull : feed him once and he'll keep coming back.

the finished product

2011-02-04T19:18:00.000-06:00

I'm proud of him - he worked his tail off on this tabletop display and I think it deserves a blue at the fair. We'll know in a week!

text me

2011-02-03T14:06:00.000-06:00

As we enter the final countdown for the fair, Alexei is getting busy finishing up his myriad of projects - if you recall, he decided to enter thirteen categories this year. Nothing like ambition. On Sunday he has to turn in his photographs, his tabletop, his drawing, his woodwork, and his model. Thankfully we have a few days to recoup from the weekend and bake a boatload of goodies to be turned in for next Thursday's judging. Next week is going to be crazy! Well, every week here is crazy, but next week is going to be crazy and gooey. I can't wait.

This week, however, he's been putting together all the components of his rabbit tabletop. His next step was to add the various photos to his rabbit project chart, since we went out and bought a new ink cartridge for the printer. Yay! I let him pull the photos from Google images, and then showed him how to take the first photo, drag it into Photoshop, and resize the canvas, crop to the dimensions he needed, type text onto the photo, flatten the image, and drag it onto a new file so we could print 8 photos on one piece of paper instead of using 16 pieces of paper (because while we remembered to buy ink, we forgot to buy paper. Boo!)

One of my favorite aspects of homeschooling is teaching my kids skills using programs that are useful and relevant. And I find Photoshop to be both useful and relevant. Using layers? Totally useful. Practicing spelling and typing with text? Completely relevant. Duplicating layer effects? You betcha.

You get to a point in school, or when creating projects, that it would be a thousand times easier to simply do the computer work yourself, and let your child simply cut out and paste. You know, the old-fashioned way, with scissors and glue. It can be tedious letting them take the reins and complete a complex task on the computer, but it leaves them with a sense of accomplishment and real skills that they can build on. Plus I haven't met a kid yet that wasn't instantly in love with a computer.

Here was one of the sheets he created, ready to cut apart.

The finished product, awaiting the glue to affix it to the tabletop tri-fold board.

Only a week left until the fair starts!

seriously

2011-02-02T19:34:00.001-06:00

He's so serious lately. Every move is met with pursed lips and a look of concentration.

Playing house.

Climbing the little slide.

Okay, technically those were feet. But they were serious feet.

"Hiding" in the slide, watching the big kids.

Watching the big kids again from atop his perch.

So serious all the time!

But every once in awhile, I catch him off guard.

And yes, it is February 2nd in Florida, and it is 80 degrees outside and the grass is growing.

Life is good.

hippity hoppity

2011-02-01T19:00:00.000-06:00

Hard to believe he's ten, and about to embark on his first rabbit show adventure.

Also hard to believe that's a rabbit.

The Mouse

2011-01-31T19:27:00.000-06:00

On Saturday, we played tourist and went to Disney World. It'd been a couple of years since we last did this; Hobie had never been and Coral had no memory of the last time we went. Of course since we have four young kids, the Magic Kingdom was the only park to go with. The night prior, I packed a diaper bag, a snack bag, a camera bag, a we'll-stuff-jackets-in-here-after-it-warms-up bag, the Ergo carrier, and the stroller for our big trip the next morning. Since we rarely get to go, we were determined to get our fill and stay there from opening until closing. I'm not sure what we were thinking.

After lots of hemming and hawing, I decided to do cloth diapers at Disney. The only real difference in convenience was that I'd have to pack home the dirty diapers instead of tossing them, but some scented baggies would do the trick there. I envisioned Hobie used to his fat, plushy butt, being subjected to a stiff, scratchy disposable diaper all day long and I just couldn't do it to him. I wanted him to be happy and comfortable. Well, as happy as he could be at a place like Disney.

The drive over was uneventful - we're only about twenty miles from The Happiest Place on Earth. We were thinking Saturday at 7:30am would make for a speedy entry - wrong! I believe we encountered every bit of traffic and every red light between our house and Disney. We finally met my sister, twenty minutes behind schedule, and made our way to the Magic Kingdom lot. Everyone was happy and smiling, ready to start the day. The car was unloaded, I was preparing to pull Hobie from his carseat and plop him in the Ergo, and that's when it hit me. I thought that Thursday was the day for Hobie to surprise me - apparently Saturday is a contender. He had pooped on the ride over, and it was a new personal best for him. Even his carefully-chosen outfit was a loss. There he was, naked in the front seat, a flurry of baby wipes, diapers, and poop, as the rest of the family and my sister's gang stood around wondering what was going on. Flustered, I dropped the load on the front floorboard to enjoy a good bake in the sun. Nothing like a pleasant ride home!

Baby refreshed and hopefully thoroughly emptied out, we hopped aboard the tram, and after a few minutes' wait, our monorail arrived to cart us off to Disney. Coral was so excited! Her face was glowing when she spied the castle. A great day was imminent.

Main Street, the obligatory photos in front of Cinderella's Castle, and the excitement of entering Disney World. Even when you live here, it's magical. You can't help yourself.

Coral's cousin knew of Coral's obsession, so we first headed to the Pooh Bear ride. At this point the park was quiet - we made it through the line in minutes. Coral was giddy over Pooh Bear's house!

Next were the Tomorrowland race cars. Hobie and I took photos as the kids prepared to steer (thank goodness for that rail down the middle of the race track!)

Then everyone hopped aboard Astro Orbiter, a flying rocket ride set atop a building. Well, everyone except myself and the baby. I consider three feet to be high in the air; you could not have paid me to go on that ride! I thoroughly enjoyed sitting on the ground, readying snacks for the kids and taking photos of Hobie, thank you very much.

The Carousel of Progress, the People Movers, and the Buzz Lightyear ride later, we were more than ready for lunch. By this time the crowd had picked up as the weather settled on a gorgeous eighty degrees with blue skies. Hobie decided to take a nap on my chest and the kids wolfed down their food. Coral begged and pleaded and we agreed to move on to Snow White's Scary Adventure after lunch.

Then, it was inevitable - it's a small world beckoned (and it's a small world really, truly is written in all lowercase letters). Alexei wanted to be anywhere else, but we braved the long line and made it all the way down to the boats, when the ride broke down. Twenty minutes and a hike back up the line later, we were handed Fast Passes good for any ride in the park - this was the golden ticket. We could choose any ride in Disney and go directly up and get on, no waiting. The Haunted Mansion was practically next door, and we wasted no time. The line was all the way out and around the building, but not for us! We were escorted through the exit, and immediately led onto the ride. Even better, the ride attendants didn't take our Fast Passes. Golden tickets!

However, a ghost on the ride snatched one of Hobie's shoes. It was there when we got on, and not there when we got off. I guess you can't have your cake and eat it too.

Still blessed with the golden tickets, everyone made a beeline for Big Thunder Railway. I stayed off with Hobie but I hear Coral loved her first real roller coaster ride. I still can't believe she was tall enough to go on - my baby's getting so big! Sniff sniff. Alas, the Big Thunder attendants took care of our golden tickets. No more line freebies.

We took a break for the ever-necessary Mickey ice cream bars. Six-and-a-half years later, Coral was finished with hers and it was time for Pirates of the Caribbean. Followed by the Jungle Cruise. Followed by Peter Pan. Followed by another, much more successful attempt at it's a small world.

Pizza for dinner, and then it was time for the Main Street Electrical Parade. By this time the crowd was quite apparent. Hobie was bored, tired, and teething. After the parade ended we were headed in front of the castle to find a spot for the fireworks, when the lights suddenly turned off and the castle lit up for a new Disney show called Memories. Very cool, but not so cool when you realized that you were surrounded by thousands of people and suddenly found yourself unable to move. There was simply nowhere to go. It was wall-to-wall people, and no one could budge. We were stuck there through the fireworks, and then it was a solid mass between us and the exits. And Coral had to pee.

Much pushing, shoving, and rudeness later, and we made it across the traffic and into Tomorrowland. No point in trying to leave the park with the thousands of others who would want to use the same monorail and tram as us. So we did what any good tourist would do - we went shopping. Ibis chose a Tinkerbell toy, Coral a pink princess Minnie Mouse. Alexei went with a Star Wars action figure, and after much debating and a dash over to the Pooh store before the 9pm closing, Hobie got a super-soft stuffed Eeyore to commemorate his first Disney trip.

Fast forward an hour, a screaming baby, a sleeping Coral, a decision to try for the ferry after seeing the line for the monorail, an endless wait for the ferry, more baby screaming, a ferry ride, a tram ride, and a walk across the parking lot later, and we made it back to the car. The car that had been baking its toxic contents all day long.

It was a memorable ride home.

a dream state

2011-01-28T20:06:00.000-06:00

Last night, I had a really strange dream. Actually between bouts of Hobie screaming in my ear, I had lots of strange dreams. I could only hang on to the one, which was the first in the series. I can only presume they got stranger as the night waned. Kind of like Alexei without a mop of hair.

In the dream, we were living in a mobile home on horse property. I don't recall the kids being around, but hubby was there. Somehow we were given four pet rats. I loved the rats and spent lots of time playing with them, but they kept biting me. A rat would be cuddling up to my cheek and suddenly grab on, and then hang on for dear life, pinching me with its teeth but not breaking skin. The final straw was the rat that bit my neck and had to be pried off.

The best course of action seemed to be setting the rats loose in the yard in the hopes that they would scurry off and leave us alone. Initially they scattered, but soon they were clawing at the front door, desperate to come back in. I wound up using my old BB gun from childhood to shoot the rats. I made it through three of them before rat number four.....err, I mean Hobie woke me up from the dream.

I'm really not seeing the symbolism here.

Just because we jokingly refer to our children as rats really has nothing to do with it.

I think it's because we're getting ready to spend the day at Disney World.

Daddy's boy

2011-01-27T19:13:00.000-06:00

He's a mama's boy. There's really no convincing him otherwise.

Unless you have a bowl of chocolate ice cream. Then all bets are off.

striking gold (or green!)

2011-01-26T14:49:00.000-06:00

You can teach kids long division, and you can drill them in handwriting. You can ask them to write a description, learn to spell, or even read a science chapter about animals. Chances are none of that will be too exciting for them, and if any of it sticks around you should consider yourself lucky. Do you remember half of the stuff you learned in school?

I've found a curriculum for teaching my oldest (age ten, grade four) that is engaging, hands-on, of interest to him personally, and ripe with social activities and tangible rewards. I used to label it as "just extracurricular" until I realized it already contains practically every skill my kids will need in life and it comes in a form that they want to embrace. This is the good stuff, and it's called 4-H.

Don't brush off 4-H as "just about raising animals," or "only for farm kids." 4-H offers a tremendous range of project areas including photography, bicycles, art and drama, sewing, baking, model rocketry, small engines, ecology, all sorts of sciences, and of course animals. You can go here to check out all of the projects for ages 8-18 (there is also a level for ages 5-7 with a smaller but very relevant and fun curriculum).

This is our second year in the program. Kids get to select whatever project area(s) interests them, and with an adult's help, they complete project book activities throughout the year. They also maintain financial records for their project books to keep track of how much is being spent, and they must write a project story at the end of the year. At 4-H meetings the kids get a chance to demonstrate their projects in front of the group, learn leadership, and also to perform acts of community service.

In our county, we have a 4-H show at the county fair every February. This of course involves live animal shows, but it goes so far above and beyond that. For example, my son is showing his rabbit but he will also be judged on baking, drawing, photography, woodworking, model building, and a tabletop display (think science fair project board). He has the opportunity to earn a white, red, or blue ribbon and premium for each of his entries based solely on the amount of work he puts into them. Then, any entry that earns a blue ribbon goes on to be judged against the other kids' entries for a potential Best in Show. This gives every kid a chance to do well based on their own abilities.

For one of his entries this year, he chose to create a tabletop that tied into one of his project books : rabbits. Several weeks ago he made a 3-D, touchable display from a photograph of his rabbit and some fake fur. He then took this to the 4-H club meeting and demonstrated the finer points of showing a rabbit, and shared his display.

He knew he wanted to add this to his tabletop for the fair. He knew he wanted to also add a rabbit parts chart and a 3-D water bottle and crock, but he wasn't certain what else should go on the board, or how it would be arranged. Last year was his first year in 4-H and he made a tabletop exhibit on bicycles and received a white award; this year he was determined to put a lot more effort into his board and hopefully win a blue award. It amazes me to see him so engaged.

That brings me to today (you knew I'd get here eventually, right?) Today, we were working on his tabletop exhibit. Together we measured the tabletop, and wrote down the dimensions. We talked about what he wanted to cover on his board. He wanted to include basic information about owning a rabbit, personal information about his own rabbit, and information on showing a rabbit. He decided which part of the tri-fold board would hold which topic, and we discussed how it would fit. In just a few minutes of sketching on scratch paper, he had to measure, multiply, divide, estimate, and add. Rockin' the math skills.

First, he tackled the rabbit parts chart. Using the 4-H project book as a guide, I helped him sketch a copy of the rabbit's outline, after which he went over with a pencil to add the details. He then was able to use a ruler and write out all of the rabbit's parts, using the research we had already accumulated in his project book. Finally, after double-checking his spelling, he traced over the rabbit and the words with markers. In just that simple chart, he utilized skills in spelling, handwriting, art, science, and research.

Next, he wanted to create a list of items needed to own a rabbit. I asked him how we could add to a basic list to make it more interesting; I was thinking photographs. He surprised me by suggesting we add the approximate prices of items needed and include a total amount, so someone looking at his tabletop at the fair could view his list and know how much it would cost to start their own rabbit project. He went through his project book and selected basic items needed (a pedigreed rabbit, a cage, a feeder and water bottle, and rabbit food) and wrote a mock-up of the list and how to arrange the photos and words. I then helped him mark out measurements on his final list, and he added all of the written list points and went over them with marker. (He would have added the photos today, but the poor printer cartridge ran dry. That's what having a recently coupon-crazy mom does for you.) In creating this list, he embraced dynamic thinking, writing, spelling, handwriting, research, measurement, division, computer skills, and design.

Tomorrow, he will continue adding to his project board, with the kind of excitement he never brings to "regular" homeschool. I am grateful for the learning opportunities 4-H provides us, and the chance to work with my son to strengthen his interests.

winter wonderland

2011-01-25T20:12:00.000-06:00

In Florida in January, we wrestle gators. Then we go home and sit in front of the tv as the rain pounds down, and watch the weather man go giddy with excitement as the screen lights up with hours of tornado warnings.

And we do laundry, because recycled tires may make for great playground shock absorbency, but they also make for filthy children. I'd have more to show you on this subject but I was too busy chasing down said children. The end.

pot luck??

2011-01-24T15:35:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I potluck. That is to say, the baby and I are hitchhiking with a friend to a mid-year planning meeting and potluck hosted by our local homeschool group.

Why's it called a potluck, anyway? Pot luck? Apparently because you'll be eating whatever the luck of the pot brings your way. I made cinnamon rolls. I would have made baked spaghetti, but have you ever had my baked spaghetti? Me neither.

As the minutes crawled ever closer to this evening and the baby decided to take a long nap, Ibis and I headed outside so she could capture the perfect photo for her upcoming fair entry. She took eighty pictures, half of which featured my rear end walking around the yard, at which she laughed maniacally as she scrolled through on the computer and reenacted my jiggly walk from behind. Typical eight-year-old humor.

She also paused to snag some dandelions growing at the edge of the yard, and had a field day blowing them into the wind. Almost as much fun as she had taking 45 photos of my butt.

What else are daughters for?

sweet things

2011-01-23T20:05:00.001-06:00

And that is what Sundays are all about.

a very green post

2011-01-22T18:12:00.000-06:00

The morning started with yard sales. Hubby and Alexei moseyed off to a neighboring sale while I supervised the girls' choosing of fifty cent baby dolls from a very girly offering. Because we so needed two more baby dolls in this house. I casually asked the lady how much she wanted for the little blue Cozy Coupe police car sitting at the end of her driveway. She responded, "Five dollars." I stood for a moment, pondering. "Three dollars?" she asked. Sold. Because we so needed another ride-on toy in our lives.

That's Officer Hobie to you.

"Slow down!"

Believe it or not, we've managed to make it through four kids without ever owning one of these. I have to say, we missed out! The little guys tried it outside first, and then I did the only sensible thing one can do with giant plastic toys, and brought it indoors. Tile floors rock.

Coral and Hobie were taking turns, but it was soon apparent that what we *really* needed was another Cozy Coupe. A few minutes on craigslist, and we had located another one five minutes and five dollars down the road.

And then there were two Cozy Coupes.

Hey, when did Coral get one?

Hey, this is pretty neat.

Forget the police car, I want this one!

Busted!

Eight dollars well spent.

when you hear hooves...

2011-01-21T19:11:00.000-06:00

I was sitting here tonight feeling rather lackluster; a long, rain-filled day left me with no energy and even fewer photos. Bored, I picked up my camera and took a picture of my hand. That's me : crooked pinky finger lady. I get that from my dad's side of the family, and I've passed it on to half my brood. If you look online there are lots of theories. Seems like those similarly blessed associate it with being geniuses. Others suppose it's passed down from a certain Native American line. Personally I like the genius theory.

Okay, so I don't know if anyone has ever actually said crooked pinkies = big brains. But I had you there for a minute!

While I was snapping away, Hobie moseyed into the room, fussing. That's his typical M.O. He walks around and screams like most of us walk around and breathe. Which is not to say that we let him cry much, but that there are a few minutes in a twenty-four hour period that aren't 100% dedicated to Hobie.

He spends a lot of time in my lap.

Tonight he found a toy to amuse himself, and moseyed back out into the living room with his conquest. Walking around with things in your hands is a big deal when you're thirteen months old. Makes you feel manly.

Then I was looking at my camera display at photos of Hobie, and caught sight of our new rug.

It was seven dollars. I think we got the raw end of the deal.

finishing up those handmade chaps

2011-01-20T19:25:00.001-06:00

I posted the big how-to for this project here; if you like sewing and creating and being crafty, that's wonderful! I'm about as crafty as a toad and I'm not much of a seamstress, but I do enjoy making cute, different things for my kids and not spending a fortune doing it. This project cost me less than $10. Today I finished up the little pink synthetic leather chaps I made for my younger daughter. Just a few little touches made them extra cute!

I had a little bit of microsuede in a darker pink, and I decided to add some flower accents with some type of eye-catching sparkle. Searching around online produced a simple flower pattern that I printed out (at 120% for the larger flower, 70% for the smaller flower, and 40% for the very small flowers on the chap yoke) and then cut out. I traced the shapes onto the back of my fabric and got my 2 large microsuede flowers, and then used scraps from the chap material for the smaller, contrasting flowers. I happened to have a bag of silver barrel beads sitting in my craft box for who knows how many years now, and decided to sew those on to the flower centers.

Barrel beads to little flower, little flower to big flower, big flower to chaps. Lather, rinse, repeat.

The look of the flowers was sweet, but I wanted a little more. So I looked around at chap photos online, specifically at chap yokes. That's the scalloped piece of tooled leather sometimes added at the top of the chaps. I decided on a simple pattern, draped the chaps over a piece of paper and traced around to get the outside edge of my yoke, and then made a basic bottom edge. I cut the yoke pattern out, traced it onto my microsuede, and then repeated in reverse for the other leg. I also sewed on a small flower made from leftover material and a few beads for added sparkle.

And that's it! My model was highly uncooperative, in the spirit of typical three-almost-four-year-olds.

I hear she gets this look from me.

I'd contest that, but it's probably true.

Public School for a Day Day

2011-01-19T18:32:00.002-06:00

Today, my kids headed off to public school. Well, sort of. I've been hearing a lot of complaints lately from the peanut gallery of how "exhausting" and "hard" our daily lessons can be, and since many of the kids' friends are in public school, they love to compare notes. Except they really can't compare notes because none of them has ever been in their counterparts' shoes. So today, I had the grand idea to let my kids experience public school - we followed our local school's hours, and recess and lunch times, and dress code as much as we could. They even ate packed lunches. It made for quite the experiment.

We were all up at 7:30, got dressed, ate breakfast, and packed our bags.

Some of us took longer to dine than others, and threatened to make us late for school.

The kids boarded the "bus" and took a ten-minute trip to school, where they sat at their desks to begin their school day.

They even had to wear shoes and socks. You don't know what a hardship this was for my son. When a homeschooled kid grows up in Florida, shoes with laces are an abstract idea.

We tackled an hour of math - Alexei completed his long lesson of long division in the nick of time, and avoided having homework. Ibis got through two second grade math lessons.

We got through their next state on the map, lucky number thirteen : Rhode Island.

Ibis then plowed through six reading workbook pages (an entire week's worth), her big textbook story, and an art assignment tying in to her story. She even volunteered to do a Show and Tell and had time to read a story from the book closet...err, I mean "library." This from the kid I typically have to sit on to finish a half a page of spelling. Apparently Mrs. Mattson is more persuasive than plain old mommy.

Alexei finished up his reading and somewhere in there we took a fifteen minute recess out on the swingset. Too many kids + not enough hands = no photos of recess.

By the time lunch rolled around at 12:00, I was fresh out of ideas for things for Ibis to complete. The kids ate their bagged lunches in the "cafeteria" and had to remain seated at the table for twenty-five minutes while I brainstormed extra work.

Meals finished, we returned and I assigned writing prompts for both kids. After completing them, they got to read their works out loud to the class. Ibis went on to complete the next day's science lesson, and read another book, and finally spent forty-five minutes playing educational computer games. I dismissed her a half-hour early for free time since I had nothing else prepared for her to do.

Alexei had an extra hour and a half on his hands as well, so he completed his drawing for the fair, we finished a project from his 4-H rabbit book, and he spent a half hour practicing his times tables on freerice.com.

At 2:15 (because Wednesday is early release day in Florida - kids get out of school an hour early, it's Florida's crazy way of allotting for hurricanes) they boarded the "bus" and headed home to snacks, flip-flops, and freedom.

The school janitor was then free to perform his duties.

hair of the dog

2011-01-18T18:21:00.000-06:00

We have this dog - his name is Louie. He's been ours for two-and-a-half years now. As far as dogs go he's a pretty good one. He's loyal, lets the kids climb all over him, stays out of the garbage, and cleans up after the baby or any other kid's food that falls from the dining room table.

He also eats any leftovers that we inadvertently leave on the counter, jumps on the futon the second my back is turned, and I'm pretty sure he sleeps on my bed when we're not home. He's smart enough to not get caught, but he leaves the comforter wrinkled and hairy.

And speaking of hair, brushing the dog is a family affair around here. For that matter, everything is a family affair. You can start out performing a task by yourself, and suddenly you have a kid pop up.

And another.

Pretty soon, the whole family is with you, like it or not.

Welcome to Dog Brushing 101.

make your own baby or child-sized chaps

2011-01-17T21:08:00.001-06:00

Many years ago, I had the idea of dressing our then-only-child up as a cowboy. Ahhh, I have vague, happy memories of life with just one kid. He was about 20 months old and we had quarter horses at the time, so this seemed like a natural theme. Not satisfied with the selection of reasonably priced kids' chaps (is there even such a thing?), I decided to make my own. After much consideration, I went with a soft, very lightweight microsuede and made a pattern along the lines of rodeo chaps, so there wasn't a lot of excess fabric behind an early walker's knee. I always got a lot of compliments on his outfit, and with our three-year-old daughter set to enter a western-themed pageant next month, I thought it would be fun to make a pair for her, too. She of course wants her chaps to be pink and sparkly. I wanted to share the step-by-step process with you here - if I can make these, anyone can! These are look-alike enough that you could use them in a leadline or pony class, but they only cost me $8 to make. I sewed these by hand in about four hours, but if you're unlike me and brave and competent with a sewing machine, you could make these in no time.

Start by taking a few measurements. You'll need the child's outseam (waist to floor), inseam (crotch to floor), waist, and thigh circumference. Make sure you take measurements over boots and jeans, just like you would with real chaps. Figure out how much fabric you'll need - I got away with half a yard because I opted to make both ends of the back panels (the part that wraps around in back above the knee) snap on and off rather than leaving it as a solid piece.

Mostly because I forgot about that part and bought fabric before I measured, and my fabric wasn't big enough to fit the back panels on in one big piece. Oops! Master seamstress I am not. Our fabric store had both pleather (leather-like vinyl) and microsuede - of course real leather would be wonderful but pleather is $8.99 a yard and you can actually sew through it with a regular needle. I also bought sew-on snaps (size 2) but velcro would be a good choice too. If you use snaps you'll need ten to sixteen snaps depending on how you add the back panels. Ignore my crazy notes on the right.

Cut out a piece of fabric large enough to fit one half of your chaps (one leg piece). You can choose to keep the inside (opposite the fringe) of the back panel attached to the chap leg if you have enough fabric - you'll save yourself having to sew on six snaps. And you'll thank me for that later. I didn't have enough but it was an easy fix making separate panels. Draw the shape of the chap leg onto the back side of your fabric - I used a stick of pastel chalk since I had it on hand. Remember to make your pattern a little larger than your measurements, because you'll be hemming the edges under around the chaps. Make sure you include the fringe - that starts out as part of the solid panel. (My photos don't include the back leg panel - the small, perpendicular piece in the sketch - but if you have the fabric for it, draw it right onto your main panel and hem it along with everything else.)

Cut out the basic shape, and then lay the chap leg right side up on your other piece of measured fabric. Trace around the cut out leg onto the back side of the fabric to replicate the shape in a mirror image. Cut out your second, reversed leg.

Pin back the outside edge along the back belt of the chap, and down the inside of the leg. Sew this in place, and then hem and sew the bottom of the chap up to the line of uncut fringe. And don't mind my ugly hemming job - I always figure no one's going to see the back side. Except now you have - just pretend that's nice and even, okay?

Cut off the small overhanging piece of uncut fringe on the bottom of the chap, then cut the fringe about 1/4 inch wide along the length of the chap. Repeat these steps with the other chap leg.

If you're doing the back leg panels separately, now's the time to make these. Cut out the size needed and hem the long ends. Then hem the short ends and sew three snaps on each of the ends (mine only show snaps on one end because I wanted to remeasure before I committed to a second set of snaps, but I added them right after). If the panels are already attached to your main chap leg, you were very smart. You only need to add a set of snaps to the one unattached end. I'm still lamenting my decisions a day later.

Go ahead and snap on the opposite sides of your snaps onto the snaps you already sewed on.

Make sense of that one, I dare you!

Basically, snap the two sides of your snaps together just like they'd be if both sides were sewn onto fabric. Then rub chalk over the protruding nubs of the backs of the snaps, and press them down onto your fabric where you'd like the back panels to sit. I found that placing the back panels about halfway between the child's knee and crotch is best, so as not to interfere with movement. An easy way to measure this height is to simply hold the chap panel up against the child's jean-clad legs and place a pin in the chaps at the appropriate height. Then you can sew the backs of your snaps onto both sides of the chap legs, snap the back panels in place, and you're finished!

Well, with that part anyway. But the end is near!

The final piece we need to make is the front belt. Take a strip of fabric about an inch and a half wide and hem the long sides (or you can also fold it in thirds with a slight overlap along the center, and sew a line down the middle to save yourself a step. I was feeling lazy and went with this method.) Hem and sew the ends, and then sew a snap to both ends (note : these two snaps do not snap to each other, be sure to use two different sets of snaps!) Then add the other side of the snap to each of the chap legs up near the top curve of the chaps - you'll want this to sit a couple of inches lower than a belt would. I'm talking about the single snap along the upper left edge in the photo.

Finally, sew two snaps onto the back belts of the chaps so that they snap together to fit your child's waist. I had to fiddle with mine a bit to get a good fit - there's quite a bit of overlap so I added a second snap. Alternately you could add two snaps together at the end if your chaps fit more snugly.

Here is the finished product, unadorned. I actually went back and sewed in a second, tighter snap on the front belt because as you can see, these were a little large - my model was highly uncooperative during the measuring process. I had to bribe her with candy to take these photos. I am not above bribery. With the front belt adjusted, the gap at the top should be gone and the legs will face forward a bit more.

I'll be adding some suede flowers and silver beads to make these stand out - that post will come later! My fingers have taken enough needle stabbings for one day. I think these will be darling over a pair of pink jeans and with her soon-to-arrive pink belt and shirt.

I'm going to have to stock up on candy before trying for those photos.

he's a Wrangler man

2011-01-16T19:01:00.001-06:00

Next month, we will be participating in the fair. For ten days, we will be making the daily trek out to the fairgrounds to see our 4-H displays, show our animals, show off our little guys, eat ourselves sick on cotton candy and funnel cake, and bankrupt ourselves to the carnies. One of the highlights of this year is the so-called Baby Show, a long-standing tradition in our county. This will be our first year cajoling a one and three-year-old up on stage in western duds to be adorable amongst other young competitors ages one to three. I'm pretty sure every kid gets a prize; this is the county fair, after all.

Hobie is officially ready to go. He has his hat, his Wrangler shirt, his jeans, his boots, his big shiny belt buckle, his real spurs, and the chaps I made for Alexei eons ago.

I think he's pretty darned adorable. I love that he loves the hat at thirteen months old. I'm hoping this is the one who decides being a cowboy is the way to go. You can't tell me he doesn't look like a natural!

I'm working on Coral's chaps; this version is hot pink and I'm thinking of adding some cute suede flowers and rhinestones and such. We're also waiting on her shirt and belt to come in the mail, but I think that will complete her ensemble. I've been taking step-by-step photos as I make her chaps, and I will share that with you as soon as they're finished! It's an easy, inexpensive project that you could replicate for a leadline class, a Halloween costume, or just because. I can't wait for you to see!

snapshot Saturday

2011-01-15T20:23:00.000-06:00

Because there's not much out there cuter than this.

couponing for the rest of us

2011-01-14T22:40:00.002-06:00

This is what happens when it gets cold in Florida and you have time to spend indoors. And this is much, much different from all eight months of summer when it's 150 degrees outside and you're inside all day lounging in the a/c, because in the summer you want to be inside. Suddenly you realize it's freezing out, you don't have the clothing, the blood, or the desire to step foot outside, and your house starts feeling claustrophobic. Everyone goes a little crazy.

Hey, hold on a second. Do you think claustrophobic has the word "claus" in it for a reason? Like as in Santa Claus? Bringer of new, house-cluttering toys? That is a heavy, heavy thought. I'll give you a moment to ponder.

Now, where were we. Oh yes - so it's cold here, we're suffering through our three weeks of what we refer to as winter but northerners probably call "shorts weather," and I have been bitten by the let's save money bug.

There's a scary thing about having a bunch of kids : they eat a lot. I did the math. From just the kids alone, we burn through 120 breakfasts, 120 lunches, 120 dinner servings, and 240 snacks in a month. I don't know who coined the phrase, "having a baby is expensive," because babies are a drop in the bucket. Maybe it would be different if I didn't breastfeed and cloth diaper, but the baby is the least expensive member of our household by a mile. It's when they grow up and start eating everything in sight that the little buggers get expensive. Two hundred and forty snacks a month! That sounds like inventory at a daycare center. I challenged myself this month to only purchase snacks costing 25 cents or less per serving, and to track all of our food and household expenses to see exactly where our money is going. I think it may be surprising. Perhaps terrifying.

The tracking began yesterday, the day the new grocery sale ads hit the internet. I like coupons well enough and scope out the deals that pertain to us (I'll never be a let's-eat-what's-on-sale-this-week kind of shopper), but then I stumbled upon Southern Savers. And I bookmarked their site. And I liked their facebook page. And I signed up for their coupon alert e-mails. Today alone, I gleaned a $3 off Glad trash bags coupon and a $1 off Hillshire Farms meat coupon, both items listed on their facebook page and on my list of things I needed. If you haven't checked it out, it is a must!

I'm amazed at some of the deals out there - yes, I have friends who do all the "extreme couponing" and I think that's wonderful, but it's not really for me. Mostly because I'm just not a Walgreens shopper. I'm barely a shopper at all. If eating wasn't a function necessary for life, I'd likely never set foot in a store. But when I can go to the Mueller's website and print $1 off pasta coupons and then go to Winn Dixie where the Mueller's currently costs $1 a box, that's free pasta. FREE food. Now you have my attention! If I can get what I already need from a store I'm already going to, you've won me over.

Here were a few of my favorite deals this week that we personally purchased. All the coupons should be on Southern Savers or in the Sunday paper :

Quaker Oats, the big fat can with the happy guy on the front. I use these for baking - I rarely buy the big can because even at Wal-Mart, the stupid thing costs like $4.79. Winn-Dixie had these on sale for $2.50, and I had a $1 off any Quaker Oats coupon. Giant can of oats for $1.50. Heck yeah! We're eating oatmeal cookies for the next month. Gotta do something with all those raisins left over from that Christmas strudel.

Mueller's pasta, almost any of their regular varieties in the one pound box. I think we stocked up on spaghetti and linguine. Winn-Dixie had these at their "locked in low price" of $1 a box. The Mueller's website had $1 off one box of pasta, and if you're on a Mac you could theoretically print a few of these out *cough cough* Free food = good.

Yoplait Simply Gogurts. I caved and bought the Gogurts. This was a first for our family - you'd have thought we were bringing home a box of adorable puppies. It kills me to pay fifty to sixty cents a carton for Yoplait yogurt that the kids frequently let rot in the refrigerator. Gogurt was on sale at Winn-Dixie, two packs for $4. I also had a $1 off two packs coupon, so I spent $3. There are 16 tubes in the two boxes, so that's less than 19 cents a serving. For 19 cents, the kids can have their yogurt and drink it too.

Jell-O pudding cups, my own personal treat. The kids are not allowed - mommy needs her chocolate fix. (Well, except when Coral gives me the puppy face. That gets me every time). These are usually close to $3.50 for one 6-pack. Highway robbery. Publix had them on sale at $2, and I had a $1 off two 6-packs coupon. That made them $1.50, or 25 cents a cup. Twenty-five smooth, delicious, chocolaty cents a cup.

They're mine, go get your own!

I don't know what bit me

2011-01-14T20:30:00.000-06:00

I have become the supercharged, money saving, coupon clipping, deal seeking, house organizing crazy lady this past week. I don't know what happened to me. I have to say it's a little scary - I've been going shopping and liking it. This weekend I'll have to share some of my deals with you. I know there are a million other blogs out there sharing deals and helping you organize your home, but they don't have my style and flair.

*Jazz hands*

I know you're impressed. I'd do a cartwheel right now if I knew how to do one. I failed that particular childhood right of passage.

But at least he's cute.

smells like a Thursday

2011-01-13T19:43:00.001-06:00

You can tell it's Thursday because my posts always get a little excited. Thursday = homeschool PE = guaranteed mayhem. Something about one mom, five kids, a long drive, and physical activity. Today, it was certifiably chilly out. Not "Florida cold," but actual, honest cold. For the first time this winter we could see our breath pluming in the air. When I started the car up the thermometer read 36 degrees. Of course it also said "ICE" in big warning letters, and I'm pretty sure we were safe in that aspect. The kids were bundled in jackets, socks, and shoes, and we picked up my niece and headed off to PE.

Many miles and ten degrees later, we made it to the park. My kids had their fingers crossed in the hopes that PE would once again be moved indoors, in part to avoid the cold and in part to avoid running laps. As luck would have it, the activities were in fact moved inside. The big kids ran off into the building, and I reached in to unbuckle the baby. The suddenly very, very stinky baby. The baby who decided to forgo his typical first-thing-in-the-morning routine and instead relieve himself at a most inopportune moment.

We made the trudge of shame to the public restroom, Hobie on my hip and Coral dragging on my pant leg. Luckily the building had a changing station, and I quickly had the plastic contraption open and hogging up three-fourths of the small women's bathroom. Hobie had never before been changed in such a location (I usually take care of the dirty deed right on the front seat of the car), and he wasn't thrilled at the prospect of lying on his back like a wounded turtle on this giant hard table hanging from the wall. Can't say I blame him.

I unsnapped his Fuzzibunz and did a double take. I'm not one to be squeamish, but this was the diaper to end all diapers. This was by far the nastiest, smelliest, biggest poop he had ever had in his little life. Poop was spread from one corner of the diaper to the other, front to back. He may be thirteen months old, but he's also still mostly breastfed, so there wasn't a whole lot of form to his function, if you get my drift. That it was all contained instead of covering his clothes and car seat is a sheer testament to cloth diapers.

However, since it was a cloth diaper, there was no tossing it in the garbage can. I didn't have a wetbag or a grocery bag or a Ziploc bag or an anything with me. I could vividly picture where my stash of scented plastic baggies was sitting all cozy at home, but I had nowhere to put this oozing stink bomb. I pushed the diaper down the table by his feet, and tried vainly to keep his appendages out of the mess with one hand as the other was struggling to open a travel wipe case. After much tug of war the case popped open and baby wipes rained all over the baby and the bathroom floor. I grabbed for wipes with my two free fingers and scrubbed the mess from his behind as he did his best impression of an alligator death roll. In moments he was snapped into a new diaper and his clothes were readjusted. He sat up and sat still. Crisis averted.

But I still had the diaper to end all diapers in my hands, and stood for a moment, a deer in headlights. Did I walk back through the reception area and front desk of the building with my load? Did I cram it in the diaper bag along with all of the baby's snacks and hope for the best? I frantically riffled through the bag, praying for Ziploc. Surely something in the diaper bag was plastic and capable of containment. That's when my fingers settled on a bucket hat. Desperate times call for desperate measures. Someone else was opening the door into the bathroom, and I crammed the diaper into the hat and velcroed the chin strap right around its foul contents. Then we strolled casually out to the lobby, the parking lot, and the car, and deposited our camouflaged load onto the passenger seat. Take that, carjackers.

The rest of PE was a flurry of chasing a fresh-smelling baby around a small room as he explored every shiny silver electrical outlet, unidentified floor fodder, and anything else he wasn't supposed to have. The big kids did their thing, the hour was over, and after a brief and chilly foray onto the playground outside, it was time to head home.

That's when the screaming began. "Mommy! Mommmmm-mmeeeeee! What is this on my seat? WHAT is in this hat?! Is that what I think it is?!"

have a Hobie day

2011-01-13T00:25:00.001-06:00

It all began one warm morning in December. Well, really I guess it started some time in the spring of that same year, but I'll save that part for a juicier novel. I was thirty-seven weeks pregnant with baby number four, as big as a house, limping from a pulled groin, and more than ready to pop out a baby. With Christmas looming ever closer and baby due the twenty-fifth, I was growing nervous about spending the holidays in the hospital and missing all the action at home. I got my wish, but the delivery of our second son was nothing like I ever would have imagined.

The day I saw those two pink lines show up, I was a disaster. We were planning on adding to our family, but the reality of that positive pregnancy test left my knees shaking. My last pregnancy had been the poster child for "When Pregnancies Attack" - basically, everything that could go wrong, did. The placenta was five times larger than it should have been. I was severely ill and my liver, kidneys, and platelets shut down. In spite of the best medical and prenatal care, our daughter was born ten weeks prematurely. She spent six weeks in the NICU and came home at just a hair over four pounds. Thankfully after a few rocky weeks at home where we almost lost her, she thrived. However, that sort of traumatic experience leaves a mark on you. It's not something you can fully grasp unless you've been there, but the fear, the flashbacks, the panic attacks, the guilt, the worry, and the protectiveness don't just go away. Talk to a mother of a preemie born twenty-five years ago, and you can see in her face that it takes her right back to that day in the delivery room. It never goes away.

I wasn't sure what to expect. I was monitored more closely given the prior issues, but no big problems came up on the radar. Yes, once again I had an enlarged placenta, but it was only twenty percent larger than expected. Much better than five hundred percent. There were lots of headaches, but I was also nervous and stressed. I was incredibly apprehensive in the weeks right before that thirty week milestone at which I had delivered in my previous pregnancy. Many of my fears abated when we reached that magic number, but I was still nervous. I dreaded bed rest. I dreaded the thought of another NICU baby. I dreaded bringing home an infant that might stop breathing at two in the morning and require resuscitation.

Thirty-five weeks passed without incident. Then at my weekly visit, my blood pressure was high and I had the omnipresent headache. My doctor sent me to the hospital immediately. The fears came right back - here we go again. I was certain I wouldn't be leaving there until I had delivered, whether that meant bed rest or immediate induction. Much to my surprise, my blood pressure was normal at the hospital's triage unit, and I was sent home with nothing more than a prescription for headache medicine and an order for twice weekly ultrasounds.

December tenth, the day before my birthday, fifteen days before the baby and Santa were due, I left my doctor's office with orders to head to the hospital. Upon routine exam I was found to be four centimeters dilated, and given my history of fast labors and this being baby number four, I didn't argue. The older kids were dropped off with my best friend, and we headed off to the hospital to meet our impending arrival.

Having had three vaginal deliveries free of pain medications, I wasn't prepared to let number four do me in. I sat around in the uncomfortable delivery room bed, bored, watching my husband aimlessly change channels on the tv as nurses meandered in and out. I was ready for this baby to come along like any of my others, fast and furious. Finally, sitting through some inane midday television comedy rerun, I thought I felt my water break. A nurse came in to check, and suddenly there were two more. Yes, I was gushing fluid. No, it was not of the clear amniotic origin. I was bleeding, and it wasn't stopping.

The bleeding continued. I could tell it wasn't stopping in part by the constant in and out of nurses, and in part because I could feel it seeping out of me. Then the bleeding escalated to blood clots, first small, and then bigger than a fist. Everyone's faces around me were looking more and more concerned. Then nurses were coming in to the room and asking me to lie on my side. They were jamming towels under my back to try to keep me tilted to the left, because the baby was showing a lot of heart decelerations.

I was suddenly in severe pain. My lower abdomen was burning with a furious, constant, white-hot fierceness. I was crying from the pain. I knew I was having a placental abruption. I knew what was about to happen. Suddenly doctors were running into the room. I was being stripped of my clothes, eased into a surgical gown, and my doctor was on the phone. "Can I get your verbal consent to perform a c-section?" he asked me, as my hand trembled and I tried not to drop the receiver. Moments later, I felt hands all around me as I was lifted onto a gurney.

The short ride down the hallway to the operating room was surreal. I was in agonizing pain, bleeding, terrified. I stared up at the acoustic tiles, my mind numb. The doors banged open on the surgical suite, and I'd never seen lights so blindingly bright. The room was filled with people - surgeons, nurses, technicians, anesthesiologists, pediatricians. They sat me up on my gurney and quickly went to work administering a spinal block. I hunched into the nurse in front of me, tears pouring out, nose dripping snot, naked, groaning in misery and terror. Another nurse held a stethescope on my abdomen, searching for the baby's heartbeat. Then I was shifted onto the operating table, and a welcome numbness overcame me.

Minutes later, husband by my side, Hobie McGee was born. Hearing his cry was a tremendously welcome gift. I got to see him for a few moments, kissing his sweet little face as a nurse held him next to me. Then he was rushed off to the special care nursery to monitor his abnormal breathing, and my husband was sent with him. I had indeed sustained a large placental abruption - fifty percent of abruption babies don't make it. The operating team finished up with me, and I was transferred to a small, curtained recovery unit just outside the surgical suites. I sat there for over four hours, waiting for the numbness of the spinal block to wear off. My husband came and went, and I saw many moms and their newborns united all around me. All I could do was sit there, staring at my name up on the surgical board hanging at the nurse's station in front of me, and will my uncooperative butt to move. Finally, my body cooperated and I was sprung to a regular room. By this time it was almost midnight and I was alone - my husband had gone home to be with our other children.

The next day was a blur. It was my birthday, I had a new baby, and I was eating Italian ice and drinking apple juice - no cake for me. The pain from the c-section was surprisingly minimal. Being in the hospital was incredibly boring, but friends and family came by and my children got to meet their new baby brother. Then night rolled around, and I fell apart. I think the hospital does that to me. Combine exhaustion with a nonstop-screaming newborn, virtual helplessness immediately following abdominal surgery, another night alone, and you get one big fat sobbing mess : me. I broke down in hysterics at about 1am, and a nurse finally wised up and slipped me a couple of potent painkillers and took Hobie to the nursery while I briefly went comatose in my rock-hard hospital bed. Two hours later and I had my wailing infant back, but I was refreshed and ready for another round.

My saint of a doctor checked over my incision and then let me check out that day, a day and a half after delivery. No four-day-stay for this woman! I think the hospital employees probably all feared another night of Sobzilla and her screaming offspring, and pleaded my case to go home. I was more than happy to oblige. It was a wonderful feeling being wheeled down to the lobby with a baby in my arms. I had spent six weeks watching countless other lucky women engage in this normal process just a few years prior, as my own tiny fighter incubated upstairs. It was a huge victory to be leaving with Hobie right then, all together. It felt like a big, scary hole was closing in our lives.

I bounced back quickly from the c-section. The pain from the incision wasn't terrible, although my abdominal muscles were incredibly sore, which I had never known about prior to surgery. The hardest part was connecting with the new baby on a primal level. Of course I knew clearly he was mine, and as a breastfeeding, co-sleeping mom we were immediately physically attached, but on some subconscious level my mind wanted to believe that this baby was actually Coral, baby number three. I would frequently refer to Hobie as "her" whenever I was tired. I felt like I missed out on actually birthing a baby from my body. Since he was surgically removed from me and then rushed away, it was on some level almost like he hadn't been born. It took a couple of months to dispel the feeling completely.

I learned a few things from his birth : one, that yes, even the fourth baby can be the c-section baby. Just leave it to me. I learned that my body has a propensity for attack, but also an ability to grow and hang on. I learned that being naked and having snot pouring from my nose in a brightly lit operating room is kind of embarrassing, but only kind of since the pain and fear were of much more importance at the time. I learned that I'm a terrible patient, and I hate being alone. I learned that the love for Hobie is just as strong as the love I have for my other children. I learned that natural childbirth occasionally does not have its place.

Hobie just reached thirteen months. Two days ago, he started walking. Last month, he ate his first cake and made a terrific mess. He terrorized the Christmas tree. And he constantly reminds me of just how lucky I am.

project 365 and Pioneer Woman

2011-01-12T13:36:00.000-06:00

This is my first year doing a Project 365, and I have to say it's a lot of fun! Today's photo was a direct response to the Pioneer Woman's newest photo challenge - food photography. If you like taking photos and haven't checked it out, you should. PW posts a new challenge frequently, they're always fun and great practice, and very easy to enter!

This was the culmination of baking a batch of chocolate chocolate chip cookies today. Mmmmmm!

on staying organized

2011-01-12T09:56:00.003-06:00

Yesterday I had had enough. The school room chairs were butting up against my computer chair; toys and crafts were spread over every horizontal surface; the book closet was in shambles. I didn't want to do school in there - I can only imagine how the kids felt about it. Probably claustrophobic. Having a real, dedicated school room is great, but not if it becomes the catch-all for everyone's odds and ends.

Since I had a budget of about fifty-seven cents to work with, I decided to see what furniture and storage we had on hand. We needed more shelf space (read : more shelf space beyond the reach of certain little destructive hands), so I relocated my personal book collection to a low table with a long drawer in our living room.

We needed more breathing room so we dragged Ibis's dressing table out. The tables were moved around until we found the most space-maximizing location.

I commandeered a storage cube from the girls' closet for additional storage in the school room. Then it was just a matter of cleaning out and reorganizing, and presto! Total room makeover. I can't believe how much better this arrangement is for all of us.

Everyone has his/her own space for their belongings, and the baby has toys on both sides of the room, stored neatly in a toy basket and on the low shelves. In theory this means he'll stay out of trouble.

I even cleaned out the book closet.

I think I deserve an award for that task.

Now the kids can tackle their lessons and not bump elbows.

Well, unless they do it on purpose. Then all bets are off.

What do you do to stay organized?

we have liftoff

2011-01-11T19:54:00.000-06:00

Remember these?

She could live on these. If she didn't keep breaking the rubber bands.

In other news, I got a wild hair and totally rearranged the school room. Photos to come later. May it bring peace and harmony to our lives.

Okay, maybe that's too much to ask.

May it keep us from strangling each other during the day.

the stroll to toll house

2011-01-10T14:33:00.000-06:00

I was sitting here happily editing and posting the single photo I managed to snap of Hobie taking his first real, honest amble across the house, and then it hit me. I have become my mother. I'm sitting here editing and I have found myself eating Toll House morsels straight from the bag. How did this happen? Where did I go wrong?

In my defense, at least they're butterscotch. I don't think I have it in me to eat the chocolate ones like my mom. At least I have some standards, right?

Right?

Oh yeah, back to Manlet and his first time walking. He was pretty proud of himself until I started up with the camera. I managed to take a single photo, and then he was done with that whole walking nonsense. Now he's taking a nap. Why can't I take a nap?

Uh oh, Coral just saw me eating morsels straight from the bag. Nothing like passing down a family tradition.

snapshot Sunday

2011-01-09T15:03:00.000-06:00

Just sharing a few of my favorite photos from today. We took the kids over to the lakefront for a walk and to expend some energy on the playground - living in Florida, this is the time of year to do these sorts of things.

The city added a canal and fountains along the lakefront a few years ago. At the time I was rather ambiguous about the whole thing, but I've come to appreciate it.

Amazingly, all four kids were smiling and looking in the general direction of the camera at one time. Miracles do happen.

While the big kids ran around, Bearby (aka Hobie) tasted the playground for the first time. He was really excited!

Wish I could do a pull-up.

something's fishy

2011-01-08T18:15:00.002-06:00

Register for the fair : check.

Sand and paint kids' toybox : check. (Well, sort of. The can of paint totally lies. "Covers in just one coat!" my rear. Three white coats later and I'm still seeing red and green.)

Make peanut butter cookies with Coral : check.

Coral? Where did you go? And what on earth are you wearing?

Okay. I suppose the tutu complements the boots and spurs. This looks like an entry for Trish's new Tutus and Sneakers blog contest for sure.

Now, without further ado, my sneak photo attack on our new fish tank. So far we've only managed to kill one fish.

Thinking that looks familiar?

How about this?

It's all starting to make sense now. Who lives in a pineapple under the sea?

Yep, and there are fish in there, too. Four of them, in fact. Every time I tried to photograph the other two, they darted over to the other end of the tank.

See? They're those red and blue blurs to the left.

Because we needed more living creatures in this house. And a Spongebob fish tank.

my fair lady

2011-01-07T15:18:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow is the big day : fair registration. The day the kids and I commit ourselves to what we're entering, dragging along, piecing together, slaving over, and lugging to the fair next month. I admit I'm giddy over this - we had so much fun last year, our first year in 4-H. We were absolutely clueless, and it was mayhem trying to get stuff done last-minute, but it marked the first time the kids had ever exhibited anything, and what a great experience. We have our work cut out for us this year!

Alexei has decided that he's going to enter thirteen classes this year (nothing like a lucky number, eh?) One of his classes is the rabbit show, which is a live class, and the other twelve will simply display his entries at the fairgrounds with all the other 4-H happenings. He's decided to enter a drawing, a model, a wooden toy car he built with his grandpa, four photographs, a photo story, a tabletop display, and three different baked goods. I know he's hoping for lots of blue ribbons and premiums, and I hope his hard work pays off for him!

The boy is certainly ambitious.

I especially like that he had to write down the ingredients and steps for all three of his recipes. Any time I can get handwriting practice in, I feel all sneaky!

Ibis just missed the age cutoff to become a junior member this year, so her entries are limited to a special Cloverbud selection and she can choose to enter up to five categories. Cloverbuds can only display their projects instead of truly compete, but they receive a special medallion and a small premium for each of their efforts. She is showing her rabbit, entering the shoebox float parade, and will be displaying a photo, a drawing, and baking cookies. I'm actually glad she's limited again this year, or I'm not sure we ever could have decided on what to enter!

The fair also has a creative arts side for any county resident. Coral's too young yet for 4-H, but creative arts has no age limit so she will be entering a drawing for display. I can't wait to see her face when she spots her artwork hung up at the fair! Creative arts is also for adults, and I'll be entering a baked good (cinnamon rolls maybe?), a drawing, and four photographs.

For an extra special treat this year, we also enrolled Coral and Hobie in the Baby Show. Basically kids ages 1, 2, and 3 dress up in cute cowboy/cowgirl duds and earn little prizes. I think I might be looking forward to this baby torture most of all!

As an aside, the kids have been working on perfecting their drawings for the fair. Grandma bought them new art sets for Christmas and they've just been itching to break them open - homeschool art Fridays and fair projects combined for the perfect excuse.

It amazes me how the bigger their workspace gets, the bigger their mess gets. Are they like those fish that grow to fill the tank?

nourishing creativity

2011-01-06T14:22:00.000-06:00

Sometimes I'm a little lenient when the kids want a snack. Other times, I rule with an iron fist. No, you're not having a cookie! Step away from the candy jar! Those Pop Tarts are mine!

Whew, sorry about that. I get a little passionate when it comes to my Pop Tarts. Anyhow, as I was saying, I try to let the kids have some choices when it comes to eating during the day, especially with snacks. Frequently they want fruit, which is great, or both of my girls would just about live on carrots with a little ranch dressing. Coral, however, can also be the queen of gross.

After homeschool PE, everyone was ready to eat. Some of us wanted sensible foods. One of us wanted Pringles dipped in vanilla pudding.

She ate this like there was no tomorrow.

I couldn't even look at her while she was eating this. It makes me gag just typing it out.

At least there wasn't any ketchup involved.

**This post is dedicated to that little shiny gold Christmas ball, who smashed to the floor minutes after this photo was taken. You were not meant to see another tree, little shiny gold ball.**

crybaby

2011-01-05T20:10:00.000-06:00

Today was one of those days. He cried all night long, or at least whenever he wasn't busy nursing. This morning, he started his day via the standard baby to toddler initiation of rolling off the bed. The rest of the day, he cried if I so much as adjusted his weight and he felt as though I might be preparing to put him down. How anything at all got accomplished today is a testament to the hour-long nap he graced us with.

I'm not sure if I created this crybaby, or if I'm merely coping with the situation. May tomorrow be a better day. Or at least a quieter one.

"Enjoying the Park"

2011-01-04T15:26:00.001-06:00

Today, we had a bright idea. Ibis was reading about people from long ago and today, and this particular page caught our fancy. Seeing as we're in Florida and January is the good time to be outside, I figured why not?

Since we were headed to a scenic location, I suggested Alexei bring along my backup camera to practice taking photos. He's enrolled in his first year with the 4-H photography project, and he's planning to enter four photos and a photo story into our county fair next month. I'm sincerely hoping that one day he doesn't drop my camera into a lake. Or himself, seeing as we have gators.

Please don't fall in. I really don't want to go in there after you.

This was my favorite scenic photo that he took of our local East Lake Tohopekaliga (pronounce that!)

I also sat with him and showed him how to adjust the camera's focal points. The beauty of an LCD screen is he can see his work on the spot, we can critique and adjust, and he can recompose his photos all in a matter of seconds. How did we live before digital photography?

I think he did a decent job.

Of course I brought my camera along, too. I never seem to get my fill, and find that I am always learning something. Frequently, that something is that I need lots more practice.

Sometimes, it's that taking photos with 4 kids tagging along is a colorful experience.

Occasionally, I have a sense of deja vu.

Or I take a photo just because it looks kind of neat. How would that look hanging over the sofa?

And then one reminds me of the tasks I have waiting once we're home.

Time to go, kids!

back to school

2011-01-03T12:49:00.000-06:00

We are officially back to school! After Christmas, various birthdays, and a December that I can only call "the month of eternal sickness," pencils and crayons have been picked up once again.

Ahhh, school, the perfect excuse for my Project 365, aka photo harassment.

Alexei started the day by tackling the next state on our map : South Carolina. My favorite part of the whole 50 states project is seeing the kids develop lifelong computer skills. What ten-year-old doesn't need to learn Photoshop?

I love seeing Ibis take a real interest in this project. Being in second grade, her main tasks are to color our lead scrapbook page and to color the wall map. Today she surprised me by knowing several of the blank states on our map - she got a cool wooden state puzzle for her birthday from her Grandpa and Nana, and I'm pretty sure she puts it together at least once a day! For a visual learner like her, this project couldn't be better.

Here are the states we've covered so far! Eight down, forty-two to go. We'd better get busy!

And then we have Coral. Today she was learning all about the letter M. And still in her new Cat in the Hat pajamas at noon. I'm not sure we're ever going to get her out of her Cat in the Hat pajamas.

The school day comes to a close, Christmas has come and gone. Not a trace remains. The house has returned to normal. Well, our normal.

For crying out loud, will somebody please eat these things??

p365 - day 2

2011-01-02T15:36:00.000-06:00

I don't know how they wound up in matching shirts, but they sure love being together. A friend gave us this little toy chest yesterday - it needs to be sanded down and repainted but it's already their favorite seat in the house. Little guys need little seats.

And yes, the "shorts" came along later. The joys of being three.

project 365

2011-01-01T12:27:00.000-06:00

This year, I resolve to participate in Project 365. I already take a photo every day anyway (ahem....hundreds of photos...) and I *know* everyone wants to see them. Aren't you lucky! So, without further ado, here is January 1st in all its photographic glory.

Yes, he has frogs on his shoes. Hobie has until this point only tried on one pair of shoes I nabbed at a yard sale, a heavy pair of Timberlands. It's gone something like this : I've put the shoes on him, he's plopped down on the floor, and the screaming has commenced. The end.

Yesterday, we went to Babies R Us because I had an extra 40% off clearance clothing coupon. Hobie needed a pair of jeans that were the correct length, and I always love a bargain. That's when we found these shoes. They weren't on clearance, but at $12.99 the price was right. I love that they're completely flexible, and thin and soft. They're also very light. For the first time I've put shoes on him and he's been able to cruise around without throwing a fit. These are similar to Stride Rite's Soft Motion shoes for early walkers. Hobie just took his first (teensy, tiny) step a few nights ago, so this was good timing!

And could they be any cuter? I don't think so.

nature vs. nurture

2010-12-29T21:47:00.001-06:00

I've noticed a few things in the days leading up to and immediately following Christmas. Some of them have been a bit surprising.

First, Santa brought Coral (age 3) a really adorable dollhouse for Christmas, complete with a mom, dad, and cute little twin babies. And she got the world's cutest dress from my dad and stepmom.

So I go in to play house with her, and then we get a knock on the dollhouse door. "Can Ahsoka come visit?" she asks me. Ahsoka is a girl character from Star Wars : The Clone Wars and hubby got Coral this little action figure for Christmas since she's forever sneaking into her big brother's room to play with his multitude of Star Wars stuff. Here I am, dancing around the mom and dad dolls, bathing the babies, rocking them to sleep, and Coral walks her Ahsoka up the stairs and into the living room for a visit.

Then Ahsoka's "baby" needed changing. Apparently she guards Rotta the Huttlet, Jaba the Hutt's creepy little son - the action figure has a backpack that Rotta rides around in. It looks like a freaky, demented baby slug circa Tremors. Coral absolutely loves this thing. Rotta must be cared for and tended to. Pink room, pink dollhouse, pink shirt, and Rotta.

Another observation? Our rabbits are funny. Snowball is about as fat as he can get without exploding, and I'm not sure Fuzzy ever sleeps with his eyes closed.

But I wouldn't in this house, either.

Christmas, the Recovery

2010-12-29T10:49:00.000-06:00

Thank goodness Christmas comes but once a year. I'm still crawling into bed at 10pm in an effort to recover from the mayhem. I feel like I'm a hundred and eighty.

On a different note, I'm entering this Christmasy photo into a Christmas photo contest on a friend of mine's blog. I have a chance to win some photo actions from My Four Hens Photography- I LOVE me some good photo actions!

Here's my photo. I should have lots (read : overkill) of Christmas photos up here shortly, but this is one of my all-time favorites. This was our tree a couple of years ago, in our old house. I loved how pretty it looked from our hallway!

cookies! the final chapter

2010-12-23T14:20:00.000-06:00

Today is my oldest son's birthday - ten years ago we were brand new parents, oh so unaware of how our lives were going to change. Today, instead of baking him a birthday cake, I made yet more spritz cookies, an apple strudel for tomorrow's Christmas Eve melee at my sister's, yeast rolls for Christmas dinner (how those are fitting in the freezer is beyond me), and I still have to make a special something for a family member. But don't feel sorry for the kid - last week I made him his favorite peanut butter pie, and on Monday chocolate cupcakes. And today hubby took the big kids to Dairy Queen and my son got the most obscenely huge Blizzard I've ever seen. There's a certain advantage to being born two days before Christmas.

I wanted to share with you the final two cookies in my Twelve Days of Christmas spread. I actually only made eleven kinds, but I'm also giving out homemade cinnamon rolls (tomorrow's project) so I am counting that as number twelve. And I just didn't have it in me to think of another kind of cookie. And there's not an inch of space remaining in the freezer.

These are Spumoni cookies! They're a little bit tricky to make, but as long as you roll each dough out between layers of wax paper and leave them together in the fridge overnight, you'll do great. I love these because they're really pretty but they also taste good. Chocolate, pecan, and cherry all come together so well!

The final thing I made was these mint brownie cups. I wanted something mint, but not just another cookie with mint chips in it, and I've had mixed results making things using candy canes (seems like I can never get them crushed finely enough!) I just dropped a small scoop of my favorite brownie recipe into a miniature baking cup, and sprinkled on Andes mint baking chips. I bought foil baking cups since I don't own a mini muffin pan, and they stood up just fine for baking. After they were done, I added a few more chips to each brownie cup. I think they're cute, and definitely tasty!

Thanks for letting me share my holiday baking tradition with you!

cookies! numbers eight and nine

2010-12-17T22:51:00.000-06:00

It's 11:24 p.m. and the rest of the family is sleeping. I can hear hubby snoring over the baby monitor. Actually I can hear him snoring quite well even without the baby monitor. (He'll love me in the morning for this shout out.) I've gotten to the point that I pretty much dread bedtime. There's just not a lot of comfort and joy to be had in knowing that the moment my head hits the pillow, I turn on some sort of invisible switch that screams, "Wake up and scream, baby!" Instead, I give you cookies.

And our pretty Christmas tree.

Yesterday went by in a flash - we seem to have that moment every year where we make a sudden discovery : it's 10:30pm, tomorrow is the last day of work before hubby's Christmas vacation, and he has to take in cookie gifts for his co-workers. And I rush around the kitchen like a madwoman, finishing up the last of the cookies and packaging them for the next day. For some reason only the Christmas cookie gods must know, I always, always, always end up having to ice spritz cookies on this frantic last-evening-before-Christmas-vacation melee. I don't think I can recall a time where this hasn't been the case : even last year, post emergency c-section and with a week-old newborn clinging to my breast, I still had to ice spritz cookies. To be fair, hubby helped, but I think these cookies have it in for me. I always envision the kids handling this part of the cookie festivities, and fate always decides that this is going to be my special joy.

Next year I'm not making spritz cookies.

Okay, I take that back. I LOVE spritz cookies.

This is my scary old cookie gun, courtesy of 1962. We bought it off ebay several years ago, because the new plastic cookie guns are pathetic. Sorry Kitchen Aid lovers, but not everything gets better with time. The neat thing about this old cookie gun is it has a great old recipe for spritz cookies very unlike anything you see today. These cookies are really, really good baked up and then dipped in a bit of powdered sugar icing and a few sprinkles. They have a hint of lemon in them, and you won't be able to stop eating them!

Oh, and I also made those Soft Lemonade Cookies I mentioned yesterday. Those turned out surprisingly yummy, and oh so soft and moist. Very good sweet yet tart lemon flavor! I was even a complete goofball and I skimmed over the whole "divided" part with the lemonade concentrate, and wound up adding quite a bit more to the cookies than I was supposed to. They still turned out well! The only thing I found was the oven was a bit hot for my liking; I turned it down 25 degrees. Of course that may have had something to do with all the extra liquid in my dough, too. Oops!

Tomorrow I'm baking up adorable Spumoni cookies and some mini mint brownie cups. Stay tuned!

Oh, and I'm going Christmas shopping with my mom tomorrow, just us girls. Well, and the baby too. Wish me luck.

cookies! number seven

2010-12-15T11:08:00.000-06:00

Yesterday was a slow day in the field; after an eternally long night of fractured sleep pieced together with long, loud screaming sessions courtesy of Hobie, I wasn't quite sure any of us would even make it to morning. Alas, saved by Pop Tarts and Coke and a healthy dose of ibuprofen, onward I baked.

First, I have to get this off my chest. I use the fresh butter wrappers from each recipe as a spatula/beater rest. Call me crazy. Oh, and I couldn't live without my cookie scoop. Unless a cookie calls for being rolled into a ball or rolled out, I use the scoop. Mostly because I'm lazy. You should get one - I think I paid like $8 for mine at Target a few years ago.

Yesterday's cookie is one of my all-time favorites. Orange Almond Drops are some of the sweetest, moistest, most cake-like cookies I've ever tasted, and such a great citrusy addition to a typically chocolate-heavy cookie tray (not that I'm complaining about chocolate, mind you). In previous years I could go right out in our backyard and pick fresh oranges for this recipe; I'm not sure anything is as good as orange juice just minutes apart from its tree. Since we moved to our new place we no longer have that advantage, although we do have a lemon tree that drops fruit bigger than cantaloupes. I'm not kidding. I'd take a picture to show you but it's freezing outside.

Back to the cookie. The cookie gets frosted with a thick, creamy, dreamy mild orange frosting that is so delicious there will be fights over who gets to lick the beater. And spatula. And bowl. I'm pretty sure everything would taste better frosted with this creamy orange frosting. Don't skimp on the frosting! And if you like to freeze your cookies like I do, just freeze these in a single layer for 30 minutes before you stack them in a storage container, and you won't have any worries about how to keep all that frosting from making a huge mess.

If I can peel myself away from the baby later, I'll be making a new recipe that calls for frozen lemonade in the dough. It sounds different and promising! Or very, very disastrous.

cookies! two more

2010-12-13T20:56:00.000-06:00

If ever a day in Florida were made for baking, today was the day. Did you know we can have days in December with a windchill factor of 32 degrees? No? Well, I'm glad to see I'm not alone here. That kind of cold is typically reserved for our annual three-day-long "winter" in late January, and then we pack away our pants and closed-toe shoes and welcome summer. But not this year, apparently. This year, tonight, mid-December, we're going to be getting down into the TWENTIES. Did you know the baby doesn't even own a pair of feetie pajamas, and my older kids don't have any matching socks? So cranking up the oven was a welcome sight.

Today I only plowed through 2 of my recipes (both double batches), but the cookies were tasty! And I rarely have an excuse to dance around the kitchen, singing along to Christmas tunes (well, plod clumsily. And my singing is more like humming). My day was cut short by Hobie's twelve-month checkup - you mean we have to go outside in this weather? - and the ministrating of several sickies. I missed this evening's 4-H meeting but in this cold I'm not so sure I didn't get the better end of the deal.

Enough yammering. The first cookie I whipped up was the White Chocolate Cranberry Cookies. I omit a lot of the ingredients (coconut, apricots, macadamia nuts) but the white chocolate combined with my secret weapon (aka Craisins) is so good you don't need the extra confusion. I bet these would be wonderful with a little dark chocolate tossed in! Of course that probably holds true for most things.

I also trudged through the Turtle Cookies. I absolutely loathe making these cookies, I won't lie. The dough has to refrigerate, they have to be rolled, dipped in egg, dipped in pecans, flattened, baked, they stick to the pan, I always have to re-flatten the thumbprint while they're hot (a rubber baby spoon works great for this!), and then they have to be filled with caramel and finally drizzled with chocolate. And if you aren't drooling by now, there's something wrong with you. This is why I make them every year, even though they are a tremendous pain.

As I make my Christmas cookies, I take a photo of one of each variety on a white napkin, which makes it easy to drag into an editing program like Photoshop later on. Then it's a quick cutout and I can add tiny photos of my cookies to a cute little cookie card that I print out and attach to each gift tin or box we hand out. This was the card page ready for printing out, from a few years back. Cookie names are subject to change depending on my whims.

Stay tuned for more! And if you're looking for the recipes from yesterday's post, I went back and added the links for you.

cookies! the first four

2010-12-12T22:09:00.001-06:00

Christmas would not be Christmas without cookies. This year, I'm busy baking up The Twelve Days of Christmas Cookies to give as gifts to family and friends. Not that it has anything at all to do with the twelve days of Christmas, or the song, but there will be a dozen kinds of cookies and it does sound rather festive.

I got a late start this year; last year I managed to finish up the final batch the day before Hobie was born. Our freezer literally did not have another inch of room to spare. We had to forego our storage drawer, our frozen vegetables, and our Eggo's for a few weeks. The kids muddled through the sacrifice.

Today, I spent 7 hours in the kitchen whipping up the first four recipes on my list, in six batches. You should have smelled my kitchen.

First, there were the Chocolate Bliss Cookies. Chewy middles, crunchy edges, rich, crackly goodness. These cookies are basically chocolate chips swimming in melted chocolate, with just enough egg and flour to hold the things together. I like to make mine sans nuts, because I already have enough of those to go around. In a word, heavenly.

Next we had Almond Sweets. I make these every year; they're so pretty and festive, and just look like they belong on a cookie tray. In spite of the name the don't contain almonds; the cookie is like a little shortbread with an almond extract-flavored icing sprinkled with red and green sugar.

Then, there are the Oatmeal Twinkles. Basically they're just peanut butter oatmeal cookies with chopped pecans and M & M's, but these are a real kid-pleaser. They remind me of that scene in The Parent Trap Two (remember that movie?) where the kids are making cookies and add various candies to the dough (marshmallows, gum drops, M & M's). I like how colorful they are!

Finally, today I made Peanut Butter Madness. These cookies are soft, almost cakelike peanut butter mounds stuffed with chocolate chips, honey roasted peanuts, and chopped peanut butter cups. Yes, they are delicious.

The best part of cookie baking days are the plates of rejects. Runaway icing, bottom-of-the-bowl dregs, and cookies that spread too far do not go to waste in this house!

Four down, eight to go!

Manlet turns one

2010-12-10T21:06:00.001-06:00

A year ago, he came into this world.

A day from now, he'll be eating this.

I fear for all of us.

Happy birthday Hobie!

Christmas in Florida

2010-12-08T20:24:00.001-06:00

While I enjoy being sick, you can enjoy these photos from our weekend. And for the record, it was about 65 degrees. And that's really, really cold for us this time of year. I swear the gloves aren't ours.

it's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

2010-12-02T12:32:00.000-06:00

Some days, it would be nice to just stay in, wrapped in a soft sweater, sitting cozy by the fireplace.

But we live in Florida. In Florida, a sweater is a person who has constant pit stains. And the only fireplace I've seen around these parts is at Cracker Barrel. And they don't even have a fire in it, just some decorative logs.

So, yes, two days ago we were all sweating to death. It was 90 degrees. We were in shorts and flip flops, the state shoe. Most of our kids can't tie shoes at age ten. I kid you not. What's a shoelace?

And then today, today, this morning, it was an ugly fifty degrees with a stiff breeze. Socks had to be procured. Shoes were dug out of closets. Pants were tried on and found to be too short, leftovers from last February. They would have to do. Jackets were hunted down and rounded up. The kids really wanted snow hats and mittens, and down parkas, but we didn't seem to have any of those. Onward we struggled, into the nippy morning chill. I'm pretty sure some tears were shed in honor of the bitter, arctic cold.

Being Thursday, we had to pick up my niece and head up to Orlando and the kids' homeschool PE class. Me, five kids, long drive, lots of red lights. We finally make it over to the park, my attention straying between the gas gauge doing its best impersonation of empty, and a sheriff's helicopter circling overhead. The park where we attend PE is hidden behind a high school, and we ran into the school's security patrol blocking the access road.

"The school's on lockdown. You can get back to the park but just drive slow - my people are everywhere."

My people. Yeah. I've seen Mall Cop.

"Is there anything we should be worried about?" I asked, mesmerized by the police chopper pounding above our heads.

"No, it's fine."

Okay then. We made our way back to the park, exceedingly, painfully early. As usual. We were, of course, the only ones there. No one else was dumb enough to drag five kids out into the freezing cold with a police helicopter watching our every move. I thought to call my husband, and he checked out the news online. Yes, the school was in lockdown, along with other schools in the area. Something about armed robbers on the loose, fleeing the scene. Police were out in force. Great.

Some friendly parks and recreation fellows pulled up alongside us, and echoed the news. Armed robber, suspected to be in the woods, maybe we shouldn't be there, yada yada. Those would be the woods directly flanking the park. Nice.

I herded the kids together and, per the parks guys' suggestion, we walked over to the recreation complex building, intent on getting inside. The doors were locked and no one answered our knocks. They probably thought we were armed robbers.

Just then, my brother-in-law called to let us know PE had been cancelled; they'd just called him. It was dawning on me that everyone else seemed to have fled the area, and no one was coming in. We hightailed it back to the car, the police chopper now seeming just feet above our heads. I maintained the calm, steady force holding the wee ones in check and preventing panic.

Actually, I think I stepped on one of them in my haste to get back in the car. I know it wasn't the little ones because I had one dangling from me and the other held in a death grip by the arm. My voice may have been a teensy bit higher than usual.

Doors slam, seatbelts click. The engine revs.

"I have to go to the bathroom."

I was gracious and didn't flatten the police officer now guarding the exit. Where were you ten minutes ago, buddy?

Fast forward to Seven Eleven. I managed to squeeze about 3 and a half gallons of gas out of the lone ten dollar bill in my wallet, bladders were emptied, and only once did I hear the plea for Slurpees. I piled a mountain of Cheerios on the car seat between the baby's legs, hoping if he couldn't reach them he might at least stop screaming long enough to try to get them. No such luck.

The drive to park number two went something like this :

"Feliz navidad! (ba da ba da ba da da) Feliz navidad! (ba da ba da baaaa)"

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Waaaaaahhhhh! Waaaahhhhh!"

"I wanna wish you a merry Christmas!"

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"I wanna wish you a merry Christmas!"

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhh!"

"I wanna wish you a merry Christmas, from the bottom of my heaaaaaart!"

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Waaaaaahhhhh! Waaaahhhhh!"

The boy is a natural singer.

And I am a natural attractor of red lights. I'm pretty sure we hit every single red light between Orlando and the new park. And slow tourists. And several patches of closed road. Apparently December 2nd is Annual Road Sodding Project Day. Who knew.

An hour at the park, a dropoff to four children, and a scream-filled drive home later, I needed a nap.

"What's for lunch?"

"Can you help me with my English lesson?"

"I want to watch Strawberry Shortcake!"

"Waaaaaaaahhhhhhhh! Waaaaaahhhhh! Waaaahhhhh!"

Check please.

I've become one of those people

2010-12-01T20:50:00.000-06:00

I never imagined it, but it somehow has happened : I've become one of "those" people. The people who cause massive eye-rolling in the checkout line as they sift through a coupon holder. The people who scour online deals and combine manufacturers' coupons and store coupons. The people who actually buy a newspaper. Did you know they still print newspapers?

So yes, I'm resigned to being one of those people. But it's strangely addicting - I was previously enjoying saving about $40 a month with grocery coupons (plus hitting up all the BOGO deals at the local grocery stores) and I figured it wouldn't go past there. We're not really the kind of family that tailors our purchases to what's on sale; we find coupons for the things we're already buying. It's fun - sort of like a treasure hunt. A really, really boring, routine, danger-free treasure hunt.

And then Christmas started creeping ever closer, and nothing we wanted was showing up in the Black Friday ads. That's when we discovered the power of the toy coupon. Santa would have been pleased to discover the $49.99 GoGo My Walking Pup could be had at Target in the week before Thanksgiving for $29.99 ($5 off sale price + $10 off Target coupon + $5 off Hasbro coupon). Certain games went from $14 to $2, no mail-in rebates required. Right now we're sitting on $20 in coupons for a particular toy that starts with an L and ends with an eapster and is followed by a word that rhymes with dexplorer, and with any luck it will be had for $39.99.

If we can find the stupid thing locally because everyone else and his brother is now one of those people, too.

It's strangely addicting. It makes me want to go to Vegas or something.

Pie Day

2010-11-24T17:51:00.000-06:00

Some of you may celebrate Thanksgiving Eve with family, or on the road to visit relatives. Some may watch football or go shopping. Here, the day before Thanksgiving is officially known as Pie Day.

It started out innocently enough; the day prior to the big turkey feast, I'd make a couple of from-scratch pies suitable to the occasion, and they'd join whoever was hosting Thanksgiving's dessert table. Three years ago, we decided to make the meal at our house, and we've stuck with that philosophy ever since. Now, on the day before Thanksgiving, I make five pies.

Do we really need five pies? This year five pies will be topping off the meal for six adults and five kids (I don't count the baby. Love him, but he's not getting his own pie.) I suppose we could get away with just two pies, but how do you choose?

Thanksgiving isn't Thanksgiving without classic pumpkin. I don't even like pumpkin pie, but others do and the meal would be a wash without it.

Then there's apple. You have to have apple pie on Thanksgiving. I'm pretty sure it's a law.

And you can't forget cherry. Having apple pie without cherry pie is like separating twins at birth. It's cruel and unusual.

Now that you've committed yourself to making three pies, you may as well make something creamy and delicious to complement the fruit pies - this is where peanut butter pie comes in. I like to make mine in a peanut butter cookie crust.

At this point you have a nice variety on the dessert table, but no chocolate. What's dessert without chocolate? Chocolate caramel pie rounds the day out so nicely.

Somehow, this year I also made a pumpkin gingersnap cheesecake. Because five pies wasn't enough.

holiday deals

2010-11-23T13:41:00.000-06:00

It's that time of year again : the dreaded shopping season. Duhn duhn duhn. You know that's my favorite activity to pursue with 4 kids in tow.

We've started being especially creative this year. With 3 of our 4 kids' birthdays crammed in a six-week timespan right before Christmas, and with nine nieces and a nephew to shop for, deals are a must. I will admit that we usually have the best intentions to "shop early" but this is the first year we've actually managed to get our acts together and start shopping before Thanksgiving. Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.

Today on BzzAgent I got the chance to join this new campaign for a website called What's Cheap Today.

I wish I had seen this before we started shopping! I'm not normally a fan of any of the new Web 2.0 sites that phish links from other sites, and that's what I was expecting. I was pleasantly surprised by this site! You truly can go here and see, quickly and prettily, which stores both online and locally have the best deals of the day. I thought I had found all of the deals out there on toys, so I was impressed to see a $10 off $100 or more K-Mart toy purchase listed on the What's Cheap Today site. Of course all of the deals that I had spent several hours researching were there too - but readily available without having to look all over the internet.

I look forward to using What's Cheap Today to finish the remainder of my Christmas shopping!

halfway to sixteen

2010-11-17T11:08:00.000-06:00

Half asleep and holding a squirming baby while being toed in the face by an upside-down-sleeping preschooler, I was greeted this morning by my husband who reminded me that it's our older daughter's birthday. "Just think," he said, "she's halfway to sixteen."

The bed never seemed so inviting. I never, ever wanted to leave it.

Alas, the morning started whether I was ready for it or not, and the statement is true : today, Ibis is eight. Our blonde-haired, blue-eyed, havoc-wreaking little girl is eight years old. Eight. That's like officially not a baby anymore. Not a little kid. Eight is halfway to sixteen.

I can still recall when Ibis was a tiny baby. Okay, so tiny is a relative term. She was almost 9 and a half pounds and a natural delivery. I really never envisioned myself being the mother of anyone with blue eyes (and that's actually happened twice now) and find it pretty funny that we named her after a blue-eyed bird.

Today, we will have cake and gifts. She ordered a buttermilk cake with raspberry frosting. Well, first she ordered an apple pie but decided last minute to go with cake. And I say ordered as though we drove to some bakery somewhere - the only person she ordered around was me. And I'm happy to oblige. Cake photos to come later. We'll have a special dinner with family, and on Saturday she'll have a party with a few friends.

I'm still not ready for that one.

new and improved!

2010-11-13T13:26:00.000-06:00

Have you ever tried cramming two kids who couldn't be more different, one of whom has serious sensory issues, into one small space to try to create something like an art project? And had a third kid set up inches away at a desk with no extra space for art supplies, while yet another kid circles below, grabbing whatever falls within his reach?

No?

Well, that won't be me anymore either. Today, I had an epiphany. And the sudden, unexpected gain of our dining room table.

This nifty new setup forms a space-maximizing T shape, which allows plenty of room for multiple personalities to work and create without driving each other crazy.

Well, with less craziness anyway. One can dream. And now no one is left down within a certain little someone's destructive reach. Ahem.

So innocent-looking.

But what's that you're asking? What about our dining room?

That is a gorgeous Ethan Allen dining room set that hubby spied at a yard sale this morning, and we snagged for $100. It also has a leaf to make it Thanksgiving-dinner-sized. The table alone sells new on Ethan Allen's website for $1000. I do wish they'd had 6 chairs instead of 4, but I'm not complaining!

And that is why we love yard sales.

WYSIWYG

2010-11-10T21:47:00.000-06:00

Sometimes the learning just seems to script itself. It's funny how that works : we're conditioned to believe that "school" is a place and a time, a set of books and a lesson plan. But learning is taking place ALL the time. Kids are absorbing ideas and values from everything they're seeing and hearing. How we as parents choose to use this truth determines what our children ultimately get out of their education.

Take, for example, our morning trip to the grocery store. Wednesday is our night to plan and cook dinner (Yes, I have a husband who cooks very well. Better than me. And he likes to cook. Be jealous.) So the kids and I had to reach an agreement on what to make. We all voted for homemade pizza, salad, and cinnamon rolls. Staple ingredients were checked, a list was created, our coupons were sifted through, and we perused the 2 local grocery sale ads online to see who had the better deal on bagged lettuce and mozzarella.

At the store, Coral and Hobie rode in one of those ridiculous, impossible-to-steer shopping carts where the front half is a big plastic race car. Lesson in physics right there! As we gathered our purchases, the kids spotted the signs over the aisles and could pick out where our groceries would be. We compared prices per ounce and decided what was the better deal. In line, Alexei estimated our total cost and Ibis was in charge of handing the coupons to the cashier and getting the change. Then we practiced bargaining skills deciding to whom the change belonged.

Once home, Alexei did the bulk of the work starting the dough for the cinnamon rolls - nothing gets a boy motivated like the promise of sweets, and the thought that yeast makes dough rise because of gas. I swear the mere mention of a possible potty joke is enough to keep an almost-ten-year-old boy going for days. No pun intended. Who says a boy's place isn't in the kitchen?

Better make that a boys' place.

While the dough was rising, we plowed through math lessons and had lunch. Then the kids moved on to their big map project and learned all about Connecticut - but that's another post. Mostly because I forgot to take pictures. They also began their postcard project and penned several cards to other homeschool families willing to trade cards from Maryland and Arizona.

I think both kids will understand postcards a little more when they start rolling in. Right now it's this pleasant-sounding, rather foreign concept, where we actually get mail in the mailbox that we want, which isn't a bill or advertisement. Actually this is a pleasant-sounding, rather foreign concept to me, too.

The remainder of the afternoon was spent rolling dough, baking cinnamon rolls, proofing pizza dough, and a flurry of pushing kids on swings, entertaining neighborhood kids, and finishing up dinner. Coral sneaked in under the radar of the big kids and got some cooking time in, too. Give the child a rolling pin and she could be happy for hours.

The kids lost interest in what I was doing when their public-schooled comrades came home, but that's okay. Being a kid is about far more than sitting at a desk with a worksheet; play and friendship are the real teachers.

New Jersey

2010-11-09T20:28:00.000-06:00

Today the Garden State, tomorrow the world!

Okay, so maybe that's an exaggeration. Tomorrow is actually Connecticut. But today, we forged on through our third state, New Jersey, capital Trenton, home to the infamous Atlantic City. Hubby spent a large chunk of his childhood in south Jersey, so this particular state had greater meaning to our family.

We also lucked out and got our New Jersey tourism guide in the mail on the same day we were working on the state. Two down, forty-eight to go! I owe the mailman a Christmas gift.

Interesting fact : New Jersey is one of the premier glass-manufacturing capitals in the world.

Over the weekend we picked up a fun assortment of postcards to exchange with other kids around the U.S.

We also bought stamps for the first time in.....uhhh.....whenever stamps last cost 39 cents. Eons ago.

fun free downloadable game for pre-K

2010-11-08T14:07:00.000-06:00

If your kids are anything like mine, they are suckers for anything that involves the computer. Of course they all love the online toy-oriented games like the Lego website. My oldest even has some sort of crazy "business" on his Lego account where he trades X amount of apples for an apple pie. Or something.

But what about the pre-K set? If you have a child ages 2-4 who has never really done anything on a computer, letting them play games online can be a challenge. You will invariably have to help them every step of the way or they will accidentally click on the advertisements, other page links, your bookmarks, and before you know it, they've added Likes to your facebook account (true story!)

There's a better way. If you live in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, or Tennessee (home to Publix grocery stores), or can borrow a friend or relative's address from those states, you can register online for a free Publix Preschool Pals account. In addition to coupons and newsletters, you can download their Preschool Pals game! This used to be available on CD back when my oldest was a preschooler; we had given up the idea of playing it since it required ancient Mac (or PC) platforms for it to work, and our new Intel Mac didn't support the software. Happily, Publix has recently updated the game and the new download is the same great game but works on newer computers!

So what do you get for your download? Most importantly, a game that occupies your entire screen and doesn't allow little hands to stray onto other web pages. The game includes seven fun zones and introduces preschool concepts like early counting, listening skills, the alphabet, food groups, and art to your child with surprisingly good graphics and sound for a freebie. Children play three levels of each game and earn coins every time they complete a level. The levels are a short three-question set to keep even the shortest attention spans engaged. This is definitely worth the effort to have on your computer.

And you'll probably start having the urge to pick up something from the deli at Publix.