Friday, April 10, 2009 "Hi, My Name is EE and I'm a ______________ Lover"
 You'd look like this too if your mommy and sissy drug
you all over town for seven hours of shopping torture.
Well, to be accurate, the day involved meeting Daddy for lunch, shopping for spring clothes for Boo and Sissy, Krispy Kreme, several errands, and helping Boo pick out his new bike. So we were in town for nine hours altogether.
Yes, EE does sleep with his eyes slightly open, and yes it is creepy especially when you can watch his eyes twitch and roll back in his head.
And yes, he is 4, and yes that is a binky in his mouth. WHY, you ask? Well, because his father keeps giving it to him in the middle of the night even if Mommy has hidden all of the binkies and put them out of both Daddy and EE's reach. Now, Daddy is not the only one to blame as Mommy is the one who keeps answering Daddy's middle of the night question (imagine hushed tones) "Honey, where did you put EE's binkies?" At least Mommy can claim sleep talking, or sleep deprivation. Right? Right! Glad you agree. Hey, many kids still suck their thumbs/fingers at this age. I tell myslef, "how is this any different?" Ok, I know, it is ALOT different, but I don't want to go there. (Imagine my fingers in my ears, my eyes closed, and my voice singing very loudly -- off key, of course). There, I feel better. Do they have a Binky Lovers Anonomyous? Please, sign me up.
Yes, his hand is filthy. That is what happens when you are at the bicycle shop and spin the wheel on the display bicycle for several minutes before your parents notice that you are missing. (The bike was in a repair frame with both wheels elevated off of the ground. The bottom of both wheels were perfectly at EE's eye level -- he coudln't have just walked past if he've tried.)
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Sunday, November 23, 2008 A Perfect Mom
I thought I'd tell you some things a perfect mom would NEVER do.
A perfect mom would NEVER allow a STRAY cat into her house, no matter how cute the cat is, or how miserable it looks sitting outside in the cold rain.
A perfect mom would NEVER allow a stray cat into her kitchen.
A perfect mom would NEVER allow a stray cat anywhere near her sweet baby girl's high chair for fear some of the cat's hair may float up and trigger an allergic reaction for the sweet baby.
A perfect mom would NEVER allow the stray cat to touch her sweet baby girl, and certainly not while the baby is trying to eat.
 Kind of looks like MoMo has sprouted a tail.
A perfect mom would never allow her sweet baby girl to "share" her cheese with a stray cat.
And most importantly: a perfect mom would never take pictures of a stray cat that is in her house, sitting on her sweet baby girl while the sweet baby girl shares her food with the stray cat. Not only would the perfect mom not take pictures of such an ordeal, she would certainly never post said pictures on the family blog in the event that her dermatology trained husband might see them.
Good thing I gave up on the idea of being the perfect mom a long time ago. I gave up on the idea of being the perfect mom about the time we found out we were expecting our first and there was no way I was giving up my Mountain Dew habit just because I was expecting. 
Can we keep this a secret until the social worker has been here and signed off on our one-year post placement visit???????? Please?????? |
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Sunday, November 23, 2008 O'Canada
Hopefully this is the only time the names of my children will appear in newsprint.
This article appeared in the Monday, November 10, 2008 Spokesman-Review. One week earlier columnist Paul Turner asked for submissions of O'Canada to his local interest column "The Slice". As a faithful reader of Mr. Turner's column I enjoy a good laugh or "aaaaawwwwwwwww" as a result of his prose at least twice a week.
Mr. Turner asked readers (who were interested) to leave a voice mail at the Spokesman of their rendition of Canada's national anthem. As always, Mr. Turner said that he would pick the winner and the the winner would win a "coveted reporter's notebook".
While studying Canada earlier this year, we learned their national anthem. As with anything that happens around our house -- if it happens while EE and MoMo are awake, they pay attention (even when it does not look like it) and absorb like sponges which is why the three-year-olds know Canada's national anthem. When I suggested that the children sing for Mr. Turner's voice mail, they were all excited (EE and MoMo didn't know what they were excited about, they were just excited because the older two were excited) and up for the challenge.
When we called Mr. Turner's voice mail to sing for him, EE's voice was by far the loudest and I was certain that the children would be disqualified from the competition. I thought EE's loud addition would cause disqualification because even though he sings with much gusto, he doesn't always know the exact words. If you listen carefully to EE's version, phrases like, "on guard for thee" end up as "it's hard for he". At three years of age, much of the world doesn't make senses, so why should the lyrics of songs be required to make sense? I made the decision NOT to add my voice to the choir as the addition of my voice would have resulted in immediate disqualification.
The children sang on a Thursday and we were told the winners would be announced on Monday. Needless to say, the children anxiously awaited the arrival of Monday's paper. As each one woke up, I read the article to them and they were surprised and excited as none of us thought they would "win". A few days later, an extremely kind Mr. Turner made good on his offer of a reporter's notebook for the winner and didn't mail us just one reporter's notebook, but four. Now that is thoughtful!
We've all decided that MoMo must be entirely confused as she, thus far, has lived most of her life in China, doesn't know the name or national anthem of her forever country, and can sing the national anthem of a country she has no ties to. PLEASE don't let a word of this get to the social worker (at least until after the social worker finishes our one year post-placement visit and signs us off!!!)!!!!!!! |
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Wednesday, October 15, 2008 Why We Homeschool - According to Rosebud and Boo
Each week I get an email newsletter type thing from The Old Schoolhouse Magazine -- the hosts of this blog and the whole homeschoolblogger community. The editors of and regular contributors to The Old Schoolhouse Magazine contribute their ideas on the topic of the week which is then emailed to subscribers.
This week's topic was favorite homeschooling quotes. One of the contributors asked her children why they believed their family homeschooled and then she used their quotes as her favorite homeschooling quotes. Her children's responses were adorable, so I decided I'd ask Rosebud and Boo why they believed we homeschooled. I've never asked them, nor have I, to my knowledge, ever explained to them why we homeschool. Pathetic, I know. Something we spend all day everyday doing, and we've never formally told them why we've made this choice.
Well, here are their answers to "Why do you believe we homeschool?"
Rosebud, Age 10 -- I believe we homeschool because you don’t want us to be in school because you want to be with us. And because you and Daddy don't think it is the right thing to do to send us away for 7 hours a day.
Boo, Age 8 -- Because you don’t want us to be mean to other kids and you don’t want to punish us (??????? where did that come from????) and because you like being with us.
I then asked them what they like about being homeschooled and they both had blank look. Rosebud first said that she doesn't have anything to compare it to -- which is true. Then she said, "I just like being home." Boo said that he likes that he can be with me (oh, he is going to make such a great husband!!) and that he can learn a lot at home.
Although their answers reveal that they may not be able to clearly articulate WHY we homeschool, by God's grace both children understand that we love being with them and can't imagine spending our day any other way. Daddy often tells them that he is jealous (doesn't use that word exactly, but conveys that he misses out by being gone all day) that he does not get to have fun with us during the day. With the insane health issues we've had over the past few years I've often felt like the worse homeschooling mother in the world. I've had down days over the past few years where I feel like the only thing I was teaching the kids was to run out of the room when I said "RUN" so they would not have to witness their own mommy barfing her brains out - several times a day. God has truly taken the bad and made it good -- if the only reason the chidren think we homeschool is becasue we want to be with them, then I am immensley blessed by a loving Father who uses me as a vessel to love His precious children and impart their immense worth to them. We are indeed blessed to be able to have the children HOME -- WHERE THEY BELONG. I'll stop the sap. After a rough couple of weeks, Rosebud and Boo's answers couldn't have come at a better time.
Here are some of the favorite homeschooling related quotes listed in the newsletter:
Education is not filling a pail, but the lighting of a fire. -- William Butler Yeats
Whoever walks with the wise will become wise; whoever walks with fools will suffer harm. -- God (Proverbs 13:20)
Don't let anyone lead you astray with empty philosophy and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the evil powers of this world, and not from Christ. -- God (Colossians 2:8)
I have never let my schooling interfere with my education. -- Mark Twain (1835-1910)
Thank goodness I was never sent to school; it would have rubbed off some of the originality. -- Beatrix Potter (1866-1943) Holy Cow! They had homeschooling back then?? 
Courage is being scared to death and saddling up anyway. -- John Wayne
Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you. -- Dr. Seuss
If it's easy, it ain't good, and if it's good, it ain't easy. -- The Familyman |
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008 Handsome Boo!
Here's Boo with his new specks. Poor kid has been blind for a while now. After we picked up his glasses, we took him to Red Robin for milkshakes to celebrate. As we were waiting for our milkshakes to arrive, Boo rather excitedly explained to Daddy that he could read the little advertisement on the table now that he had his glasses. Daddy told him that was great and all I could think was, terrific, what has this poor kid missed out on by being blind for the past who-knows-how-many-years?
 Mommy's Little Hunk! |
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Tuesday, October 14, 2008 MoMo's Definition of Torture
 Perhaps they should try this form of torture at Guantanamo Bay: Strapped into a chair while someone puts curlers in your hair and someone else decides that it is the perfect time to serenade you because you can't get away! Poor kid. Probably wishing for the orphanage, or at the very least, wondering what on earth she was thinking when she signed her hand print saying she "agreed" to this crazy family adopting her. |
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Monday, October 13, 2008 Brazil
Rosebud and Boo had a great time on our trip to Brazil. Well, our pretend trip, that is.
They stamped their passports with the Brazilian flag and spent three weeks studying the countries and main geographical features of South America as well as the culture and people of Brazil and Ecuador.
Together we read the YWAM biography of Nate Saint which they begged me to read each day and practically chained me to the chair when it was time to stop in hopes that I would keep reading. The book was amazing and I found it extremely difficult to read the last few chapters aloud.
Daddy and I wrestled with whether or not we should tell the children about the sad outcome before we actually got to that point in the book in the hopes of lessening the final blow. There have been several books, Stone Fox being one of them, that our curriculum has recommended as read alouds that we have given the children the choice of hearing. I explain the gist of the story and then let them know that the outcome is sad and ask them if they want me to read the book to them. Each time we've given them the choice, they've decided that they did NOT want to listen to the story. Both Rosebud and Boo are incredibly sensitive and maybe we are foolish to shield them from some of the pain and sorrow of this world -- and yet at the same time, we realize that they are only allowed to be children and maintain relative innocence for such a short period of time. It is not like they won't have enough opportunity to experience pain and sorrow through out the rest of their lives.
The Nate Saint biography was one book we wanted them to hear even though it is tremendously sad. The children actually handled the book better than I did and EE kept telling me to stop crying as my voice would crack while reading. EE's running commentary actually helped lighten the mood and made it possible for me to get through the book.
 Boo and Rosbud with the cardstock models of Nate Saint's airplane.
 Boo working on his paper mache mask for his carnival costume. Because of our less than stellar record in the art department, I warned the children that our paper mache would, most likely, NOT turn out and told them not to get their hopes up. I think I'll give dire warnings for all of our art projects, as this one turned out great. The children did a terrific job and the masks couldn't have turned out better. I'm sure the power company like the project as well as it took the masks two days to dry in a 200 degree oven. Wonder how many kilowatt hours we used?
 A close look will reveal both a nose ring and a lip ring on Boo's mask. He must have an extremely nice sister to allow him to use her ear rings for his mask.
 Rosebud working on her carnival costume. We used fabric paints and some hideously large plastic jewels.
 Rosebud with her paper mache carnival mask.
 Ready to put together their terrariums to help us understand rainforests. Thankfully, one of our local stores had several rainforest type plants that worked perfectly in our terrariums.
 Two of our science activities had us using eggs to help understand the architectural strength of the arch. The first activity had the children attempt to break an uncooked egg while holding it in one hand and trying to squeeze it (none of us were able to break the egg). The next activity took Daddy's help as he removed the whites, yolk, and half of the shells from four eggs which we then stacked books on top of. We had the children estimate how many books they thought the egg shells could hold. The first estimates were two and three. Then they started getting brave. We ended up with 23 books total. Needless to say, we were all impressed. Boo wanted to know why I always tell him to be careful with the eggs when he is carrying them in the house after a Costco trip. Good question!
 Rosebud and Boo rolling our Brazilian chocolate treats called Brigaderiros. They were sooooo good. We ended up making several batches of them and even sent some to work with Daddy for the office ladies to enjoy.
Brigaderiros (A Chocolate Treat)
Ingredients:
2 Tablespoons butter or margarine
1 can sweetened, condensed milk
2 Tablespoons baking cocoa
chocolate sprinkles
Directions: Mix the margarine, condensed milk, and the cocoa together. Cook over low heat, stirring continuously until thick and slightly bubbling. Remove from heat and cool completely. Grease your hands with margarine and roll the chocolate into small balls. Roll the ball in the chocolate sprinkles. Enjoy!
We're off to Norway!
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Monday, September 29, 2008 Oregon Coast Vacation Photos Wednesday, July 16, 2008 Shield's Mommy or Daddy?
Several weeks ago, Boo found a small painted box turtle in the lake that he of course wanted to keep. Although we let him keep it for a few days, the mean mommy that lives at our house, made Boo release his beloved "Shield" so "Shield" could return to his family.
The other day as MoMo and I set off for our evening wog (walk/jog) we spotted this HUGE painted box turtle trying to cross the highway. This must be one lucky turtle because MoMo and I watched two cars speed by it and yet somehow manage to miss (thank goodness because I don't think I could have stomached the popping sound as the tires made contact with the turtle shell).
MoMo and I were about a half mile from home when we saved Box Turtle from the vast and dangerous highway. Actually, it was mere selfishness as I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to bring the thing home to show the kids, and the thing had already used up two of its lives and how many lives can a turtle have anyway?
The half mile mile home seemed to drag on forever as I attempted to run while pushing the jogging stroller with MoMo in it and carrying the clawing, snapping, hissing turtle.
 The jog home either completely stressed out the turtle, or lulled it to sleep. Either way, I was breathing harder than the turtle by the time we made it home.
Boo looked at the turtle in disbelief as he was certain that his beloved Shield was the only turtle in our lake. And now, here was proof that Shield came from something.
 One relaxed turtle.
Rosebud carried the turtle to a shallow spot in the lake to let it go. She set the turtle down so they could watch it walk for awhile and the children thought it was super cool to be able to hear the turtle's shell dragging on the rocks and on the ground. The neighborhood dog, Holly, a chocolate lab that is ALWAYS wet, even stopped by long enough to scare the turtle into its shell and the children got to see how quickly the turtle could hide. Thankfully, Holly lost interest quickly and did not try to follow the turtle into the lake.
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Tuesday, July 15, 2008 A Fine Test Drive Indeed
No complaints regarding our test drive of summer. We've left the test drive course and are enjoying the summer drive.
Here's some of what we've been up to:
 Boo giving the "speed up" signal as he and Rosebud take a spin on the Bonzai tube.
 Rosebud doing one of her favorite things. We just found out that her skis are several inches too small for her so Daddy just bought his girl a nice long set that should have her able to slalom ski in no time.
 This has me a little concerned. EE had no intention of leaving his "phone" on the dock and insisted that he need to talk to Papa while we were on the boat ride. When Boo was EE's age, Boo had claimed the front passenger seat of the boat as his seat and wouldn't sit anywhere else. EE, on the other hand, has decided that the bow of the boat gives him the best cell reception and the best view of the action.
 MoMo doesn't care where she sits as long as someone is sitting there with her. She may have been born in China, but you can't get more American than this little river rat. She spends hours "swimming" with the big kids. MoMo's version of swimming is floating on her back in her life jacket, while she announces things like, "OOOHHHHH cold!", "MoMo 'wimming", "Oh, 'dis silly", and several other things we're attempting to decipher.
 Rosebud with her Crapie that measured 14 inches long and 6.5 inches high. Now that is one big Crapie (especially for this early in the season).
 Boo with one of his many small mouth bass friends. The other day I was attempting to print some black and white photos to hang in the house and it was nearly impossible to find a photo of Boo without a fish also being in the picture. Boo kept trying to reassure me that he didn't mind having his photo taken with fish (not that I thought any different as EVERY TIME he catches a fish, he runs to the back door for a photo session). The point I was trying to make to Boo was that someday he may want a few photos of himself without fish in them. I don't know why I even brought it up as I was the only one who could identify cause for concern. Evidently we are going to chronicle Boo's development while simultaneously chronicling the development of the fish population.
So that is about all we've been up to for the past several weeks. After an exceptionally late start to the summer -- it didn't warm up until the third week of June, we are thoroughly enjoying the heat and not a single one of us has said, "It's too hot!" I think Daddy has thought about saying it as I've decided that 79 is the perfect indoor temperature for this time of year (and think of the money we must be saving being at 79 instead of 72!). As Daddy spends his day in a 68 to 70 degree office, the 79 degrees at home feels like a heat wave.
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About Me
We are a homeschooling family of 6 living in beautiful rural America (population 33 including the local cats and dogs). Rosebud, Boo, EE, and MoMo (with Mommy's help) created this blog so Daddy can keep up with our learning during his workdays away from home.
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