The Fortune Cookie

Make Funny Fortune Cookies Pictures at Fortune-Cookie-Generator.com

I've been shamelessly neglecting my blog. Our home is filled with constant activity and this blog tends to get neglected. I'll stop by occasionally to make a post, but until things slow down I will try to not feel guilty for not posting more often.

Homeschool

This is one video the kiddos enjoy watching so much that the song is permanantly stuck in my head. And now I'm wondering how closely our family resembles this one.

Excuse me while I go ponder the answer.

It's Apparent You're A Parent

It's apparent you're a parent when you willingly sit out in the yard for an hour on an overturned 5 gallon pail after your have paid your kiddos for a small scrap of paper with the words "Mom pail 1" written on it. Beside you is your husband sitting on another pail holding his scrap of paper that says "Dad pail 2"

It is the annual backyard circus / rodeo. Trust me, it would be a weekly event if it would be up to the kiddos. But once a year is about all we can handle and still stay sweet. They had foot races and bike riding. There were supposed to be acts involving our pets but that didn't work out. Apparently the practice sessions were all they could handle and they very wisely went and hid themselves until the whole thing was over. The kiddos all went looking for them after instructing us to wait until they get back. They finally gave up and the show continued without the dog and cat parts.

They sang a few songs they had written, and had a parade. They all dressed up in old tattered clothes they had hoarded and saved for this event.

Once it was over we clapped politely and went inside heaving a sigh of relief that it will be a year before the next one. It does get a bit better every year so who knows someday we might invite others to see it too.

Playing With Food

I love creating fun things with food, but I am the kind of person that has to have someone else think of it first before I do it too. I found these cute projects that I want to try before long.

Now who says playing with food is a No-No? I am so wishing I could have thought of these cute food characters first!

Who knows, cauliflower and olive sheep might be a way to get my kiddos to eat two foods they detest!

Changing Times

Times are changing here on my side of the mountain. It gives me a bittersweet feeling. You see this particular event started ten years ago when we were blessed with a little baby boy. He made himself right at home in our family from the moment I first held him in my arms. I thought my heart would nearly burst with all the love I felt for the little guy.

For the past ten years I have been the female he showered his love on. Baby smiles and coos turned into hugs and sticky kisses, and kept growing to include dandelion bouquets and rocks and misspelled notes on my pillow. I loved it all.

Today he came with a piece of wood that he carved to look like an oblong package with a ribbon bow on top. Only this time he asked me if it is pretty enough to give to a girl that is coming tomorrow to play with our kiddos. I tousled his hair and told him it's lovely and yes the little girl is sure to like it.

Sigh. My little man is growing up. And already I have to start letting go. Little by little until he tries his wings in a world of his own. Excuse me while I go find a tissue.

Behind Closed Doors

I am the type of person who loves to have a routine. Get up in the morning at a certain time, do my same things, have the house in order by a certain time etc. etc. I also am a firm believer in all play and no work makes Jack a lazy boy.

On the flip side I have no qualms to break out of routine if need requires or I simply feel like doing something different, and I also believe all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. So we try to have a healthy balanced life.

Yesterday was one of the throw routine to the wind type of days. It was raining and I slept an extra sweet thirty minutes, after breakfast we piled the dishes on the sink while I started the kiddos on some fun projects that were waiting on a day like this. I found some good videos on You Tube that had instructions on how to make arrow heads. Our oldest son has been collecting special rocks for this purpose. Everybody watched the video.

Then I had the kiddos stack all our books and toys into the living room with plans to reorganize all of them. The reorganizing fever caught some of us and the kitchen cupboards mysteriously emptied themselves and things were being placed back into the cupboards neatly. The kiddos went into overdrive and emptied all the contents of their dressers on the floor in their rooms and started pawing through their many "treasures." The happy sounds of kiddos thus occupied were filling the house when my phone rang.

I answered it. It was from a fellow homeschooling Mom whom I haven't seen in almost a year. She is in the area and wondered how to get to our house, that she would like to drop by for an hour or so.

I gave her the directions and then called the kiddos and gave them the news. We all looked at each other kind of helplessly. The house hasn't been in such a mess in....... well...... never. I told them to just close the doors to their rooms and then help me transport everything in the kitchen and living room into my bedroom. There was a lot of frantic scurrying, even the dirty breakfast dishes found a place to hide (in the tub in the master bathroom) I locked the bedroom door. Checked every ones faces and wiped down the sink just as they pulled in the driveway.

I welcomed them in. The kiddos decided invite their kids to play in the barn rather than risking opening the doors to their rooms for any reason.

Mrs. T oohed and ahhhed over the view we have from our side of the mountain. And then turned to me and said "Your house is almost as beautiful as the view. I just love seeing other peoples houses" and proceeded to give herself a self guided tour of our house. She exclaimed over our bathroom while I was holding my breath and hoping there are no towels on the floor and the toilet is clean. And then horrors, she went into the kiddos rooms. (Note to self. Buy locking door knobs on next trip to town)

I was sitting calmly on my chair in the living room by the fireplace the whole while she was exploring my home. I could hear her approach our bedroom and rattle the doorknob. I breathed a sigh of relief when it didn't open, she came back to the living room and asked "Why is that door locked?" I smiled at her and said sweetly. "For this very reason." She had enough courtesy to blush a little.

Was I wrong to have the door locked? Is it the accepted thing to give self guided tours of other peoples houses? I never even dreamed to do that, but maybe I'm missing something. It really would be fun to see Mrs. T's dirty corners.

Wrong Number

I think I may qualify for the "Most Addle Brained Woman" award! I sign up for a blog of my own, pick a hard to crack password, and the whole deal. I was smart enough to write all the information down somewhere and addle brained enough to have no idea where I placed it, and so I was locked out of my own blog for a while!

I finally found it this morning, so now I'm back. I'm sure no one else is plagued with problems like that.

I have been busy getting ready for a new school term. Since I create my own science lessons I like to get a head start and have lots of lessons ready and waiting by the time we officially start another year of home schooling next month.

I have tried to use science text books and follow their teachers manuals, but it was so ... blah! So now I take the textbook, study the subject and dig through information on the Internet and library and then create my own workbooks and add a lot of fun hands on options. The kiddos love it, and are learning much more than if I would have doggedly stuck to what is available. Who knows, maybe someday I should get them published for other homeschooling parents to use.

On quite another subject... This morning I was doing my normal routine of getting my house under control and swiping energetically at errant dust bunnies in my bedroom, when my cell phone alerted me that I have a text message. I checked it. A message from a number I didn't recognize asking me what I was doing.

"Strange," I thought "but then since we switched over to all cell phone only, and disconnected our land line a lot of our friends have started calling with their cell phones." I wasn't about to say I'm cleaning the bedroom so I just messaged back. "Working." They then proceeded to text more and I kept answering, I still hadn't figured out who it was and apparently my answers were weird enough the other person finally asked if I am Elmer. I had to giggle, as unbecoming as that is for someone my age I couldn't help it. Instead of Elmer, whoever it was, had spent the last five minutes texting a stay at home mom.

Texting is great sometimes, but a call works much better if you have the wrong number. Much more time efficient. (And less humorous.)