Monday, December 31, 2007

Happy Birthday Daddy!

Justin turned the big 30! Faith and I made him a cake and threw a little party. We are enjoying our time off from school we will be back to work on Monday the 7th.

Baking in style!


all 30 candles way too bright and hot!!!LOL

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Don't say your bored!

The kids have many toys to keep them busy during Christmas break thanks to all the toys they received for Christmas. One of Austin's favorite gifts was the K'nex serpents spiral coaster with over 1,114 pieces. It has kept him busy for hours! He wouln't stop till it was done. He built it up to 5ft tall all by himself! What determination he has.






Sunday, December 23, 2007

PJ Day


What a healthy breakfast! syrup, lollipop's and whipped cream! Hey it's Christmas!

I'm surprised I even have the energy to write this post. This pregnancy is taking everything out of me! I am beginning to think I can't nurse a baby and grow a baby at the same time. Friday was our last day of school till after New Years. We ended it with PJ day! One of our favorite restaurants had a week of "Night before Christmas" you wear your PJ's and get free hot chocolate and apple crisp yum! We woke up and off we went to breakfast...me in slow motion! The kids had a blast and yes, I admit it I stayed im my PJ's all day!

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Deceptively Delicious (A must have)

My friend got me the Deceptively Delicious cookbook for Christmas by Jessica Seinfeld. It has recipes that get your kids to eat their vegetables without them knowing! Recipes include cauliflower in mac and cheese and spinach brownies...yes spinach brownies! They will never know! This book is a godsend for mommies who want their kids or (husband) to eat healthy. Now if I can just trick my husband!

Christmas Fun!

Today we finished our Christmas lapbooks. We studied Christmas symbols and what they mean. Then I got to watch my niece and nephew for a few hours. What's two more kids? I need to get use to it right? I thought it would be fun to let the kids make a gingerbread house. I set everything out and said, "Go for it!" This is what they made all by themselves!





Faith's lapbook



Austin's lapbook





Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Snowball Fight

I should of been doing something more productive after we finished school, but the kids and I were having fun making this video
enjoy! Makes me wish we had snow here in California to have a snow ball fight with the kids:)

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Monday, December 17, 2007

Saturday Night Fun

Boy has Saturday night's changed now that we have kids. We spend our time thinking of ways to pull out loose teeth. Last Saturday Faith's first baby tooth was loose and so dad got the fishing wire and I grabbed the camera.



Dad tying the knot around Faith's tooth.


Landen grabs string and takes off running...


TAKE 2



Landen grabs string again, Faith looks the other way (she can't watch) he takes off and yanks the string...




He loosened the tooth but it didn't come out


Landen hug's sis. He feels bad when he see's Faith bleeding



TAKE 3

Daddy is determined to get this tooth out!


Without Faith even being ready Justin gave a quick tug and the tooth went flying across the room


Faith puts hand over mouth, not sure yet if the tooth is out!



She realizes it's out and starts crying... we couldn't stop laughing



DRAMA!


Searhing for the lost baby tooth


Moving all the furniture


After 45minutes of looking I finally gave up... not Daddy, he got out the flashlight


And the broom...still looking


The tooth was found an hour later and Faith was excited to go put her tooth under her pillow

Who would of thought one little baby tooth could equal a night of entertainment for the whole family!

Dealing with Terrible Two's

How to deal with terrible two's during our home school hours. We usually can get all our work done on time if we just stick Landen to the wall!


I'm kidding!

Well a couple of us home school mom's who try to keep our toddlers busy while we home school our older children got together and made activity bags. 12 mom's in all. We each made two different activites 12 times so 24 bags all together and then swapped all of them with eachother. I now have 24 different activities to help me keep Landen busy while I teach the other ones. Everything I need is in a zip lock bag. It's education and fun, plus easy to clean up!

I had fun going through all the bags to see how creative these mom's are and I am excited to have some fun learning time with Landen as well.






Here's a couple activites:
Ring toss
3 water bottles filled with rice and rings made of pipe cleaners. Makes for a fun time of ring toss. aim and accuracy, hand and eye coordination, confidence building, judging distance and counting skills


Let's go Fishing
Foam fish with paperclips attached and a stick (pole) with a magnet at the end. Makes for a fun day of fishing in the livingroom. hand eye coordination, motor skills.



Bean Bag toss
Just a cardstock with a target on it and 5 bean bags.
hand-eye coordination and target practice.



Alpha Spoons
plastic spoons with the alphabet on the them and cardstock with the ABC's on it. upper and lower case letter recognition and ABC order



Painters Match up
a laminated art pallet made from cardstock and clothes pins with matching colors. One side of the pallet has shapes the other has just colors. Match either the color or the shape.
color and shape recognition.

Sunday, December 16, 2007

12 days of Christmas

We just moved and I am getting to know all my neighbors. The neighbor a few houses up from us asked why my children are home everyday and not in school??? I happily told her we home school. oh........and did I open a can of worms. She began asking all kinds of questions.
To the tune of "Twelve Days of Christmas.

On the first day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can you homeschool legally?"

On the second day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the third day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fourth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the fifth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "YOU ARE SO STRANGE! What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the sixth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How long will you homeschool, YOU ARE S0 STRANGE, what about P.E. , do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the seventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the eighth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the ninth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "They'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E. do you give them tests, are they socialized, do you homeschool legally?"

On the tenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "What about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE!, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the eleventh day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, what about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the twelfth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "Can they go to college, I could never do that, what about graduation, they'll miss the prom, why do you do this, look at what they're missing, how long will you homeschool, YOU ARE SO STRANGE, What about P.E., do you give them tests, are they socialized, can you homeschool legally?"

On the thirteenth day of homeschool I thoughtfully replied: "They Can go to college, yes you can do this, they can have graduation, they can have prom, we do it cuz we love it, they are missing nothing, we take one year at a time, WE ARE NOT STRANGE!, We give them P.E., and we give them tests, they are socialized, AND WE HOMESCHOOL LEGALLY!

On the fourteenth day of homeschool my neighbor said to me, "How can I get started, why didn't you tell me, where do I buy curriculum, when is the next conference, WILL PEOPLE THINK WE'RE STRANGE? I think we can do this, if you will help us, can we join P.E. and we'll homeschool legally."

Saturday, December 15, 2007

The Home school Family

This is hilarious!
www.doublesharpevideo.com/HomeSchool2/Homeschool2.html

Large Families FAQ with Come backs

So, today I was at the store with the kids and got asked a couple of times, are they all yours?? You have your hands full...so tired of those comments. Like I said before I don't see the big deal. I don't think four kids is that many but I guess maybe when Landen is drawing attention to all of us by either screaming or fighting with the others. It may look like alot to handel. I was just thinking to myself, if they only knew I'm pregnant again! What will they say when I'm pushing the grocery store cart with a big belly and four kids running around. I feel that when I start showing I should only go to the store with maybe one or two of the kids. After reading the email my sister just sent me I think I will just memorize some of the good comebacks to all the remarks I will get. Instead of letting them bug me I have decided to just have fun with it! Here is a copy of the email my sister sent me. Thanks Brianna!

Large Families FAQ with Come Backs.

1) You have your hands full!

Yes, happily so!
Yes, and my heart too.
Don't say anything, just look puzzled at your hands. (This does obviously
not work if you are carrying a baby :-)
Yes, but I would rather have my hands full than empty!


2) Are they all yours?

No, I just went to Rent-a-Brat.
No, this is not all of them, my oldest is at home with the triplets. HEHE!
No, actually two are the mailman's and I am not sure whose is that one.....
No, I picked up a couple extra in the produce aisle.
Gee, I never heard that question before!
Of course they're all mine. Do you think I take five (or fill in your
number) kids shopping for fun?
No..........I have two more at home! (When it fits)
Yes, and they're such good kids!!!!!!!!!!!!!! (the kids love that one!)
Of course they are..wait..who is that one? Hes not ours.....oh,yeah, 5 , I
forgot I had him.
I don't know. How many do you count?
Yes. But if you have any you don't want, I'll gladly take them, too .
No. I've been an avid collector for years and just picked these up in the
food court!
Yes, at least that's what I tell my husband.
Yes, we just enjoy sex soooooo much!
Why do you want to know?
Well, not today.
We are trying to get into the Guiness Book of World Records of (add whatever
here) most kids, largest family living in one house, etc.
Yes, I always want just one more.
Check back in nine months and you'll see for yourself.


3) Don't you know what causes that?

No, please tell me!
Of course, don't you?
Yes, we do know what causes that and we like it very much, thank you.
Oh yes, we finally figured it out and we now keep the tooth brushes in
seperate glasses!
Oh yes, I now wash my husband's underwear seperately.
Oh yes, having a great sex life!
Water or sex but I don't want to give up either.
Smile brightly and say with enthusiasm "Yes and we like it!"
You bet I do......love, love, love ( & sex, sex, sex.....hehehe.......)
Yes,and as you only have two kids obviously you dont do it much.
Yes, and it is something I am very good at...
Of course, and the Lord has greatly blessed us!
A strong husband/wife relationship, big hearts, and the Lord's blessing.


4) Are you going to get fixed?

Nope, I am not broken!
Why do you want to know?
Huh, we thought everything was working fine for us!?!
We didn't know anything was broken.
Don't you only fix things that aren't working properly?
Well as you can see be the size of OUR family everything is in working
order. :)(You have to say this last one with the kinda "I'm not to bright so
your question seems kinda foolish don't you think?" attitude.


5) I can't believe how you do it, I cannot even handle my two!

Yes, if I had kids like you, I wouldn't have any more either!
Yes, you don't strike me as the type who could handle more kids than that.
I do it like most people, in bed and after the kids are sleeping.
I put knobs on the kids. Makes them easier to handle.
Everyone has 24 hours in a day, it is just how you use it...nt
With lots of patience, patience, patience
go and look at them while they're sleeping. This reminds me of what sweet
children of God they are and keeps me going!
Oh, I just do it. Wake up in the morning, do what you have to do all day, go
to bed when it's done.
Pick your battles carefully. It helps to have selective sight and hearing!
Don't sweat the small stuff.
(this is a good one for chat rooms) Oh, straight jackets and handcuffs!


6) Are you planning to have any more?

I've been wondering about this and maybe you can explain it to me: I always
thought you had to plan NOT to have more.
Before we were married we planned on having 2, but I didn't know that my
husband couldn't count!
We didn't plan the first five, I don't think we'll plan the next five,
either.



7) I hope you aren't planning to have anymore?!?



You mean, I just figured out what I'm really, really good at, and you're
telling me to stop doing it?
Talk to God about it... it's up to Him.
Well, we do have room in our Yukon for 1 more. LOL!!!!!
OK, I won't plan my next one. Surprises can be fun!
Yup we are going to keep going till we get an ugly one.



8) Haven't you heard of birth control?



Yes, and I thank God it doesn't always work!
Yes, I've heard of it, I hope you are using it!
(for dad) Yes, but I just can't find a rubber that will fit me!
Yes, that's great stuff for people with ugly kids!
Oh yes, we do know what birth control is; it's for people who don't want
children.


9) Don't you have a television?

Yes, but we only get X-rated channels
Yes! Did you know there are 28 porn channels in this area?
No, we have much better things to do at night!
Yes 4 of them. Why?



10) How can you afford having so many?

Lifestyles are expensive not kids.
We're not on welfare, in huge amounts of debt, and no, my husband is not a
doctor or lawyer. We just budget well.
I figure you spend what you make, you may as well spend it on more.
" You don't know my financial backer!" (God, of course)
I'm still not sure how we do it...but it works!


11) I am glad it is you and not me!

Yes, me too!
My kids are glad it's me and not you too! ;-)
Oh me too! I love being a mother! and smile real BIG!


12) Do you get any time for yourselves?


Obviously we get a little time to ourselves, or we wouldn't have five kids.


13) Did you give birth to all of them?

Yes, I gave birth to them all. Do you really believe the stork dropped them
off?



14) When people just keep staring at your family....

Yes, they all are mine!
No, we don't try to overpopulate the earth, just to outnumber the idiots!

Friday, December 14, 2007

The days are just a blurr




Dear Lord,
it's such a hectic day
With little time to stop and pray
For life's been anything but calm
Since You called on me to be a mom
Running errands, matching socks
Building dreams with building blocks
Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes
And other stuff that children lose
Fitting lids on bottled bugs
Wiping tears and giving hugs
A stack of lasts weeks mail to read
So where's the quiet time I need?
Yet when I steal a minute, Lord
Just at the sink or ironing board
To ask the blessing of Your grace
I see then, in my small one's face
That you have blessed me
All the while
And to stop to kiss
That precious smile
: Author anonymous

Thank God it's Friday!

What a week! Along with our normal subjects we have added in Christmas projects to our school days.




We made party bags


We decorated cookies




We also got a bunch of 3rd grade boys together for a Christmas party. We had some fun activities planned but all they wanted to do it wrestle with eachother in the bounce house.


Lots of ruff boys but sweet boys too. I am so happy that Austin has friends like these.



We ended the week learning about Pioneers in Michigan and made canoe's to go along with what we learned.



We also have been talking about the Christmas story and since we did not go on a field trip this week we took the kids to the Live Nativity. They had 10 scenes where actors acted out the story of Jesus's birth. Grandma and Grandpa and the cousins even got to join us.








whew..... I am looking forward to the weekend! Have a good weekend everyone!