Monday, March 30, 2009

Lots of suds

Katey decided to be helpful and put soap in the dishwasher for me. Unaware of her "prewash" I started the dishwasher late last night and was greeted by a kitchen floor filling with suds about 30 minutes later. Unfortunately the soap she chose was the dishwashing liquid, not the dishwasher detergent. A few rinse cycles, several towels, and a very late night brought everything back to normal. They say curiosity kills the cat, I think it might kill the MOM!

Saturday, March 28, 2009

Carter starts Kindergarten

We have a new Kindy kid here. Carter started Kindergarten today. He was so eager to get going we decided to let him start early (our year normally runs from mid-June-early May). He had a lot of fun and wants to have school tomorrow despite the older kids telling him repeatedly that it is NOT a school day. They fear if Carter has school on Saturday then Mom might make them follow suit. He called his Daddy after he finished his school work to report he was officially a "school kid." Tim asked him how he liked his teacher and he replied "Dad, my teacher is Mom." It was a fun day.

Monday, March 23, 2009

Bible Bowl Presentation

Today Roy and Angie presented the kids with their certificates for their participation in Bible Bowl. Laurel and Matthew both did very well. Laurel won two awards - 2nd place in the 2nd grade group and 3rd place in the 2nd and 3rd grade division. She worked hard and did a lot of reading over the chapters in Luke. Both kids are looking forward to next year. Here they are with Angie who was their coach and worked so hard to help them learn the material and do well.

An unplanned haircut

Katey decided to play with the scissors while I was helping Carter out of the tub last night. I snapped a picture of her new "bangs" as she ate dinner tonight. Yes, just last month we celebrated the milestone of her baby locks having grown out long enough to tuck behind her ear. We are back to barrettes.


Saturday, March 21, 2009

Yard Work

Today we worked cleaning up storm debris in the yard as well as trying to do some clearing work on our property. We have a corner in the back of our lot that we want to clear out and perhaps use as garden space. Right now it is fully of prickly vines and small trees- overgrown and wild. We cleared a small area and began burning small limbs from the storm while continuing to cut away more vines and thorny bushes and adding them to the fire as well. We worked for almost three hours, the only real evidence of our efforts- a smoldering fire and many scrapes on Tim's arms. It is such a big job that the small amount we cleared today is noticeable only to us. We know there is a better way, unfortunately it involves heavy equipment and costs money. Right now we are going with the blood, sweat, and free approach. We'll see if we can stick it out.

The funny event of the day was when Carter stepped out on the back deck and saw the fire and said "Fire! I love camping!" He was deeply disappointed when he found out what we were actually doing, but recovered and worked hard helping us pick up the branches from the backyard.

Tuesday, March 17, 2009

Spring Break

Thank goodness our break was only one day. We spent today in Paducah as a family. We saw the Class Acts presentation of Magic Tree House, went to lunch, shopped, went to the library, and ate dinner. We were there for 12 hours and spent too much money to post here-lets just say we could have gone away for the weekend. However, we all enjoyed ourselves, have some clothes for the summer, and new library cards for the library there. While we have been looking forward to the play for months and the kids loved it, the highlight of the day may be the library. They have an entire floor for kids!!! The books are so well organized, there are dvds you can check out for three weeks and renew, computers for the kids to play on, and video games. It was a homeschoolers paradise- we were there for two hours and we still had to drag them out. We brought home enough dvds to make it for weeks and books I have been wanting for several months. It was a good day and we are all exhausted!!

Friday, March 13, 2009

Diagramming Sentences

Laurel is unhappy with the grammar materials we are using in school. I have spent the past few days planning out curriculum for next year and she has made it clear she wants to change that aspect of our school. Last night as we came in from church I asked her what she wants to change and tried to get a feel for what she doesn't like about what we are doing. Her answer was in the form of a question: "Why do I need to know how to diagram a sentence? When in my life am I going to use that skill?" Sounded sort of familiar. No fear, I had an appropriate response. It is just funny to remember when I was on the other side of the school table.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Happy Day

We are not McDonald's fans. There is a list of reasons that I won't go into here. The point is that a happy meal for our kids is a rarity. Usually we are on vacation or someone else decides to treat them. On Thursday night Tim was out of town so I planned to eat out with the kids to make life easier. The kids found out on Wednesday that the current happy meal toys were pretty cool. They begged to go. I had a weak moment when they pleaded their case and said they would use their own money. You see they are saving up for something big. Every penny is precious to them right now. Clearly they really wanted to go. I called Tim, and he agreed to let them visit the golden arches after piano lessons. They bought their happy meals, came home and played on the computer with the new happy meal virtual world, and went to bed happy. I was torn. Part of me was happy that it was such a treat to them, but part of me was sad that the marketing clearly got their attention and so strongly that they parted with some of their precious savings. Clearly this confirms one of our reasons not to patronize the place. Regardless of my misgivings, such a good time was had that this was the sight I found when checking on the boys before I headed off to bed:



Yes, he slept with the box.

Thursday, March 5, 2009

My frugal limit

I am all for a good deal. I use a few coupons (those I can find online), I buy the store brands, and I wait for things to go on sale. I always comparison shop. I find getting a good deal rewarding. I am not as frugal as some I know and I could do better. Therefore, I am always interested to hear someone doing something different and saving money in the process. This week I have been reading the posts of a group I am a part of as people have shared how they got rid of things they thought were "must have" items. I have read with great interest about living without paper towels, more than a few clothing items (3 outfits per family member only), television, and even living totally off "the grid". I would love to try a lot of these. However, today I found my frugal, simple life limit. Most of the time when I pass on a chance to be more frugal minded it is just a personal preference for the moment-often I keep the ideas in the back of my mind to revisit later. I can (with all my being) promise you I will never attempt the idea that came across my email today. The suggestion was that one can save money in a large family by not using toilet paper. Instead, one uses "family cloth wipes." No way, never. Recall my dislike for potty training because of the cleaning??!! There is no part of me that will ever be tempted to save a buck by cleaning cloth rags filled with the toileting remains of 6 people. Recall the favor gained by Sears and their catalog?? There was a reason for the delight of their patrons and it wasn't just the access to more goods. Even those who lived much more simply than me valued disposal in some cases. Some will disagree and I am happy for them to save in this way, but I won't be joining in. EVER.

Monday, March 2, 2009

Science Olympiad

Laurel and Matthew participated in our homeschool science fair last Friday night.
Here are pictures of Laurel and Matthew and their science project: