Our summer is coming along quite nicely, plans wise.  We've been active with weekly park days, free concerts, free movies, and library programs.  We'll also be busy hosting some company during the months of July and August!

Do you remember Hanna?  For those who have not been reading long, Hanna was a German exchange student that we hosted for an academic year two years ago.  It was an awesome experience!  We were able to visit her and her family in Germany once, and she's been back to visit several times.  Last summer she was even here when we moved into our apartment!  She and her boyfriend are coming to visit at the end of July, and will be staying with us.  We're all excited about meeting Soren and finding some fun things to do while they're here.

Shortly after they leave, we'll be hosting another exchange student!  This is only a short term program, and our French student will be with us for three weeks.  The local coordinator was over yesterday, and we were able to choose the student that we wanted.  I think it will be a great experience for all of us!

Once our French student leaves, it will be time to start our curriculum for the year once again.  I still need to make my final decisions about what I'd like to purchase, which is a project in itself!  I know that we'll use Miquon for math, and we have the KONOS for unit study things.  R needs to finish her "learn to read" curriculum.  J is reading very well, and I think I'd like to find some kind of comprehensive language arts program for him. 

I'm also writing as much as possible, because we're planning a trip to Niagara Falls in the fall, and I'd like to be able to pay for it with the money that I make.  It's such a blessing to have that income to pay for pesky things like medical and dental copays as well as fun things like day trips and vacations!  We're thinking about staying on the Canada side, and have found a hotel package that includes passes to a few area attractions, as well as a dinner and breakfast each morning.  More about that later, though!

Have a great week!

Last night was R's dance recital!  She (and the rest of her class) was so, so cute!  She had thrown a fit on Wednesday, saying that she was not going to dance, and that she was not going to the recital at all, but she quickly changed her mind before the dress rehearsal when she realized that she'd get to wear MAKE UP!!  Blue eye shadow and blush went a long way in fueling her excitement about dancing.  I also "happened" to mention that little girls who dance get their very own flowers.  She stopped mid-tirade and said "you mean red roses?"  Uhhh, yes, red roses!  (Thankfully they were on sale at the grocery store this week!)  We now have red roses as well as miniature pink and white roses in the kitchen, and a mixed bouquet in her bedroom. 

Here are some pictures (in both group shots, R is third from the left):

We have a busy day planned today, and I'll have more on that later!  Have a great Sunday!

Is it just me, or is anyone else wondering where the month of June went?  Maybe it's because it's been cool and rainy all month, or maybe it's that we've been quite busy, but I can't believe that next week will be July!  I'm still patiently waiting for summer to start, and hoping that spring won't turn into fall without any summer at all!

We've been keeping ourselves fairly busy.  We have been blessed with non-rainy Tuesdays, which is when our park day is scheduled, so that's been nice.  We've also been participating in the Family Film Festival hosted by Regal Cinemas.  They show a family or children's movie for free on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings at select cinemas. 

Despite my good intentions, we've stopped doing school for the summer.  I do this every year!  I mean to continue through the summer, and then we just don't.  Maybe today will be the day that is different, LOL.  We have been taking art books out of the library, though... yesterday we took out a book about different things to do with paint, and then we tried one of the projects. 

I've been doing some reading, which is one thing I looove about summer!  When the kids play outside, I can sit on the step and read to my heart's content.  I just finished The Five People You Meet in Heaven.  I'm also currently reading through The Power of a Praying Wife.  I read Amish Women  last week, and I'm considering starting the Little House on the Prairie series again.  I usually read through it every couple of years, and I think it's been that long, at least!  Our library has cut its hours, so there are fewer evening and Saturday hours for me to go to the library myself, but I'm going to try to get there this weekend to browse.

Yesterday was R's last ballet class, and her recital is this weekend.  I'll be sure to post pics!  Dad and J went last night to see Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen.  That was exciting!

The kids are starting to stir in their beds, and I've already enjoyed over an hour of pure blissful silence, so it's time for me to get started on my day.  Enjoy the rest of your week!

This week I branched out a bit and decided to include lunches in my menu plan.  Here ya go:

Monday:  Lunch  Chicken soup, peppers, grapes, pretzels. 

                Dinner  Chili, cornbread, raw veggies

Tuesday:  Lunch  PBJ sandwiches, chips, cherries (picnic if weather cooperates!)

                  Dinner  Baked potatoes with fried eggs, broccoli, and cheese

Wednesday: Lunch  Leftover chili, crackers, peaches

                       Dinner  Pot roast in the crockpot with potatoes and carrots

Thursday:  Lunch  Tuna sandwiches, pretzels, sliced peppers

                    Dinner  Chicken quarters, mashed potatoes, green beans

Friday:  Lunch  Quiche, leftovers

             Dinner: Snack tray of cheese and crackers, veggies with dip, and assorted fruit (ballet dress rehearsal; we'll have snacks before we go and something when we get home.)

I didn't plan for the weekend yet... Saturday is R's ballet recital, so we'll probably grab something quick, and Sunday we'll eat whatever meat is on sale at the grocery store on Saturday.  :)

Happy menu planning!

R's ballet recital is next weekend.  If you are in the local area and would like to go (and I know you), let me know!  Tickets are $13 in advance (Wednesday is the last day I can get tickets in advance) or $15 at the door, as long as they're not sold out.  Email me for more information if you are interested!

We have a nice, busy week ahead of us!  I am hoping that the sun manages to come out at least a few of the days!  Friends from Florida are up, so we'll be visiting with them.  We have a park day scheduled for this week, and a homeschool picnic scheduled for the weekend.  R has ballet picture day.  There is a free concert on the town green, and the free movies for the summer start this week.  I'm also hoping to squeeze in a playdate with friends who we haven't seen in several weeks.  Yippee, summer is here (though you wouldn't know it by looking out the window or at the weather forecast)!

Here's my  menu plan for the week:

Monday:  Whole chicken, mashed potatoes, green beans.

Tuesday:  Chicken sandwiches, pretzels, fruit (picnic on Town Green before the concert)

Wednesday:  Spaghetti and sausage, salad.

Thursday:  Steak, baked potatoes, broccoli.

Friday:  Eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit.

Saturday:  Picnic with homeschool group.

Sunday:  Dinner at relative's house, we have to bring something with potatoes.

Have a great week!  :)

The kids and I went up to Maine to visit some friends this weekend.  It was fun, but next time we'll have to stay longer than two nights... I'm utterly exhausted after driving for eight hours out of 48.  The drive was fine, just boring.  There was no traffic.  We listened to Ramona's World on CD in the car, and that was funny and made the time go by faster.  The kids watched a Magic Schoolbus DVD about bugs, which was good, because I think we're going to do a unit on that topic this month.

While in Maine, we went to the beach one of the days.  It was pretty windy and chilly, and thankfully I had a garbage bag full of clothes waiting to be donated to Goodwill.  Miraculously, there was a sweatshirt to fit each child!  The kids had a great time playing with my friend's four children.  We also went to see UP, which was a really cute movie.  It was actually a little bit sad, which is not something I expected from a Pixar movie, but it was good nonetheless.

We have a busy week ahead... R has a follow up with the opthamologist (she had a severe pinkeye infection, but is all better now), I have a dentist appointment, we have a playdate scheduled, a library program that we're participating in, and R has ballet.  Oh!  R's recital tickets are on sale now.  Email me for more info on that.

I think that's about it.  Have a great week!

My brother Andy recently wrote to tell me about an experience that he had recently.  I asked him if I could share his story.  It is one of a shocking discovery and the resulting painful decision that he was forced to make.  This is his testimony, in his own words:

.

A few days ago I saw an ant in my house. 

It was scurrying across the floor.  I assumed that the ant got in when I accidentally left the door between the garage and the house open for a few hours.  I further assumed that it was looking for breadcrumbs, or some other small piece of sustenance to feed its growing family.  Being the kind and thoughtful man that I am, I captured the ant and carried it out to the playground behind my house.  Why should this ant die because of a mistake I made?  Besides, it was living out its own American dream; it was just like me!  I went about my life and bid the ant a happy adieu.

The next day I saw two ants in my kitchen - one on the floor and another on the kitchen counter.  Again, I gave these ants the benefit of the doubt and transported them to greener pastures, as it were.  Once again, they went their way and I went mine.

Last night I saw four ants in my kitchen -- three on the kitchen counter and one on the floor.  With my extensive background in mathematics, I was able to deduce that the number of ants was increasing on the order of 2ⁿ.  This, I figured, was unacceptable.  If such a trend continued, I'd be looking at over a billion ants per day by the end of the month.  Just like in the financial crisis, something had to be done.

I took a good look at the ants.  They all looked the same: black, between 1/4 and 1/2 inch long, a few hairs on their back segment.  Then I saw it... the definitive proof.  In the corner of my kitchen there was a small, triangular hole that the previous owner never sealed when he or she installed the kitchen cabinets.  I saw an ant come out of that hole -- there must have been a nest. 

How dare they?  Didn't they know that I was lovingly transporting their stray brethren to the playground?  I had their best interests in mind, and they decided to ignore that fact and deliberately put me into an ethical dilemma!  Then I realized it; those weren't stray brethren I transported -- they were agents of an ant army whose sole mission was to destroy me.

I did some research: carpenter ants, and I knew where their nest was.  It's ideal when one knows where the nest is, because then there's an easy solution: buy some poisonous dust, spray up their nest, and the problem is over with.  But there's something you may not know about me -- I don't like killing things.  Some people take pleasure in the killing of animals that are supposedly inferior.  I say live and let live.  Furthermore, I have a healthy respect for ants -- they have a social structure that comes straight out of a sci-fi movie.  They're good team players.  They are completely unselfish.  How could I possibly actively commit genocide on a creature that has all the qualities I am lacking?  Besides, I read The Metamorphosis and I felt Gregor's pain.  He was no ant, but a beetle is close enough in my book.

So with this in mind, I opted for the more diabolical approach.  If the colony could survive what was in store, they deserved my house more than I did.  I took a page from the old school and sent in a Trojan horse.  I went to Home Deport and picked up some ant bait.

Ant bait is a substance that looks like food to an ant, but has a slow-acting poison in it.  Ants try it, and if they like it, they take it back to the base to share with their chums.  Since the poison takes time to work its magic, the ants can share to their hearts desire.  I placed a volume equivalent to a one inch diameter sphere near their known nest.  After about two minutes, an ant stopped to check out the new attraction.  The ant took a sample for herself, then brought a little clump back home.  I wondered if the other ants would fall for it.  Certainly if a giant ball of food landed outside of my newly-formed city, I'd be a little apprehensive about having this food become the standard diet for my kingdom.  The ants felt differently.

Within ten minutes, ants were literally streaming out from behind my cabinet to take some of this stuff back home to momma.  The ants were marching one by one, and this was important business, so none of them was willing to stop to suck a thumb.  I was both appalled and impressed.  These ants were incredibly organized.  They would put the soldiers on display at the Beijing Olympics to shame.  At the same time, I was disgusted by their foolishness.  The queen saw a fragile little basket and put all of her eggs in it.  I watched them stream back and forth for a while.  I was getting sick pleasure from watching their actions lead to their own demise.

The ants probably thought it was a blessing!  Now that they had this huge supply of food, they'd be able to branch out, create more colonies, breed a new race of ants.  Satisfied, I went back to bed.

When I woke up, all of the bait was gone.  Today, I didn't see any ants.  Tomorrow, I will seal up that hole.

Thank you, Andy, for sharing your story. 

If anyone is interested in reading my own testimony of how I dealt with a six-legged critter, please read The Bug, The Broom, and Me.

As you probably already know, we are currently renting an apartment.  We'll be here for at least another 2 years, unless we win the lotto or something (and you can't win if you don't play, LOL).  So while this is a temporary home for us, we will still be here for a while.

I've been hesitant to really do any decorating or to make the apartment too "homey," because is IS temporary.  I have realized recently, though, that this is not the right attitude to have.  Regardless of how temporary it is, or how much I want to buy a house NOW, it's still home for the present time.  So I've decided to try to make things a bit more home-like.  This weekend, for example, we're going to actually hang some of the pictures that we have stored in my mother-in-law's basement.  No sense letting them gather dust down there, when they could be gathering dust on our walls, right?

I don't want to spend a lot of money in decorating an apartment, of course.  Our windows were looking kind of bare and institutional-looking with only miniblinds, but I didn't want to fork over big bucks for curtains that likely wouldn't go with our future house.  I looked through my fabric stash, and found a couple of flannel prints that I had bought for 99 cents per yard on Black Friday at Joann's.  I made very simple valances to go over the miniblinds.  I think they came out pretty cute! 

Here's the one in the kitchen (excuse the streaky window... apparently I need to clean it!)

And here's the one in the living room:

They were very easy to make, and I think that next time I see flannel on sale, I'll make some for the bedrooms and bathroom as well!  I could actually make one for the bathroom out of the frog fabric.  We'll see.

In other news, J has just gotten over pinkeye, and R is in the throes of it.  There was a little girl at the ER the other day who had it, and I can only assume that's where they got it from.  Rebecca is perfectly fine now.  We have an allergist appointment in August (that's the first time they could get her in), and her pediatrician gave me an EpiPen for her, just in case she has another reaction, as subsequent reactions can be worse than first-time reactions. 

I think that's it for today!  Have a great weekend.

We had some excitement this weekend.  As you know, if you are a regular reader of my blog, we eat quite a bit of shrimp and other shellfish.  On Friday evening, John brought home lobsters for dinner.  Yay!

We were eating them, and suddenly R said "my tongue feels burny and itchy."  A couple of minutes passed, and she was pulling at and scratching her tongue.  I took the lobster away and gave her Benadryl.  She seemed okay, but I thought I should call the pediatrician to see what he said.  It was after hours, so he had to call me back, and when he did, he said "take her, right now, to the ER!  And if she starts wheezing, call 911."  Yikes!  Off we went.

After waiting for two hours in the waiting room (and let me tell you that the Emergency Room waiting room is a very interesting place to people-watch...), the doctor finally saw her and said that she sounded and looked okay.  She recommended avoiding shellfish, giving her Benadryl for a few days, and getting her into an allergist ASAP. 

We had shrimp along with our other food yesterday at our Memorial Day cookout, and I made sure that they stayed on the opposite side of the grill... I also nagged asked everyone to wash their hands after eating.  My poor R!  I'm not quite sure what happened, if it was really an allergic reaction, or something else.  Hopefully we'll be able to get her into the allergist sometime soon and will have some answers.

The rest of the weekend went fine!  The kids played outside a lot, we had a cookout yesterday, and we're ready to get back to our normal routine today.

Have a good week!

Well, I did my menu plan, which worked out well this week.  It was so nice to come home after a long day yesterday and smell my Nacho Pumpkin Soup cooking away in the crock pot! 

I did not get anything accomplished in the winter clothing area, unfortunately.  We were so busy this week, which was a wonderful blessing:  it's great to be out and about with friends, enjoying the warm weather!  Yesterday was in the 80s, and we got our math and grammar lessons done early so as to enjoy the afternoon at a fun birthday party!  This time of year, I'm so thankful that we homeschool, and that we are free to do these things.

If you need the inspiration that my own blog is woefully lacking this week, you can visit the other participants of Restoring Order.  Hopefully  many of them had more success with their order-restoring than I did!  :)

Monica, from The Homespun Heart and Rebecca from That's What It's All About are hosting Restoring Order for fellow bloggers.  This week, I decided to join in, because I desperately need to get our winter clothing situation under control.  In previous years, I did not have to worry about storing our winter clothes, because we had so little that it all fit into a large Rubbermaid container.  I think we each had a couple of sweaters or sweatshirts each, real shoes (as opposed to flipflops), and some long pants.  Since we've been in Connecticut for a year though (yes, it has been a full year!), we have accumulated quite a bit of heavy clothing that we won't need again for another 5 or 6 months.  Right now it's all sitting in several baskets in my bedroom, but I'm ready to find a better solution.  I'm thinking Rubbermaid containers stacked in our closet (whoops, that means I'll need to clean that out too, I suppose....), but if anyone has better solutions in mind, please share them!  When we lived in CT before, we had a large attic, but we don't have much storage space here.

Another thing I need to go back to doing to restore order is to write out my menu plan.  I did it every Monday without fail until a few months ago, and we've been relying on quick dinners and takeout too often.  This is hosted at Organizing Junkie.

Here is our menu for the week:

Monday  Spaghetti with sausage, broiled zucchini

Tuesday  Garlic shrimp over rice, corn on the cob

Wednesday  Whole chicken, baked potatoes, frozen Italian vegetables

Thursday  Tacos and nacho-pumpkin soup

Friday  Leftover chicken and gravy over mashed potatoes, frozen corn

Saturday  Breakfast for dinner:  egss, pancakes, bacon, fruit

Sunday  Corned beef, cabbage, boiled potatoes (This is for John and the kids; I'll eat something else!)

Have a great week!

For the past 6 weeks, J has been taking a Civil War class at a the Litchfield Historical Society.  It was geared toward homeschoolers aged 6-12, and he loved it!  They did all kinds of projects relating to Civil War times, including making pinhole cameras, making a telegraph and learning the Morse Code, and cooking up some hardtack and corn dodgers.  On the last day, they had a reenactment of one of the battles of the Civil War.  J played a soldier named Kendall.  Here are some pics:

All of the union soldiers:

Soldiers marching (J is the one in the camo outfit and blue crocs):

J and another boy reading their lines:

Unfortunately, Mr. Kendall succumbed to an early, but giggly, demise:

The kids had a lot of fun, and he met some homeschoolers from the northwest part of the state.  The Historical Society sponsors a lot of classes for homeschoolers, so even though it's kind of a trek, we might join next year to get the reduced member fees on all of the programs. 

Have a great week!

Yesterday I wore my "Homeschool Mom" t-shirt.  I've worn it out and about before, but mostly only to homeschool gatherings, Bible study, and the like, so I hadn't gotten any comments other than "I like your shirt."  I had a few errands to run yesterday, visited my grandmother, went to the library, and took R to ballet class all wearing the shirt, and the reactions I got were interesting (to me, at least).

Let me preface this by saying that when we were homeschooling in Florida, when I was asked why my children were not in school and I said "we homeschool," I received only positive feedback.  Everyone I encountered said "Oh!  My niece/sister/best friend's cousin homeschools, and I think it's wonderful!"  Many older adults said things like, "If I had to raise my children today, I'd homeschool too."  I was asked fairly often, I guess, and maybe a few times I got The Look or a noncommital "Hm."

Since coming back to Connecticut, I've noticed that most people don't ask questions.  J's karate teacher asked once, because we'd stopped in to fill out paperwork in the middle of the day, and he looked surprised, but said "that's great."  I volunteered the information to the children's daytime librarian, and she was very nice and accepting.  Our upstairs neighbors think we're strange, but that's fine by me.  Other than those instances, I don't think it's really come up. 

Then I wore the shirt.

The people at the dentist's office know I homeschool and did not say anything about my shirt.  My grandmother also knows that we homeschool, and said "I like your shirt."  The man at Burger King didn't say anything, and the woman at the gas station was busy asking R to share her Snapple with her (which was a bit disturbing in itself), and did not notice, I don't think.  I stopped to see my father, who also did not comment.  At this point, I had completely forgotten that I was even wearing the shirt.

Fast forward to the library.  I ran down to the children's department to drop off some books, and the nighttime children's librarian was there.  She said, "you do'nt even look old enough to be someone's mother, much less a homeschooling mom!"  Um, okay.  I smiled and said "ok, thanks!" and went upstairs to the adult section.  (I didn't have the kids with me, as J was home with  John, and R was already at ballet.)

I went to check out my books upstairs, and one of the adult librarians came over and asked if I homeschooled.  I smiled and said yes.  She proceeded to ask me all about the law in Connecticut.  Since I was under the assumption that she was simply curious and was not intending to homeschool her own children, I gave a pleasant and non-specific response, something like "oh, Connecticut is an easy state to homeschool in."  She then went on for a bit about how the laws must be in place for the State to evaluate the children, how did I prove to people that I was doing what I was supposed to be doing, and why do homeschoolers not have to take standardized tests?  I mostly smiled and nodded at her, as I really did not feel obligated or inclined to answer her line of interrogation. 

Finally, I went to pick up R at ballet.  The moms there said "Oh, you homeschool?  I didn't know that!"  and went on to tell me that they thought homeschooling was great, but could never do it themselves, as they were not organized.  I could have told them the ugly truth and said, "neither am I!" but I did some more smiling and nodding. 

To be honest, I was very surprised that anyone said anything at all about my shirt!  I read EVERYTHING, and I typically don't read, and I almost never comment on other people's tshirts.  It makes me want to run out and get advocacy t-shirts for all sorts of things, just to gauge people's reactions.  What a sociological project that would be! 

Moral of the story:  Don't grab the first clean thing you see out of the basket of clean laundry.  Check to see what the shirt is advocating and decide if you would like to participate in discussions with acquaintances and strangers about your cause. 

Have a nice Thursday!

Tonight was our homeschool group's science fair!  We did the senses of sight and hearing for J and R's project.  We procrastinated a bit, but ended up pleased with the final result.  Here are some pics:

Their display:

The eggs in the basket are filled with salt, rice krispies cereal, and dry rice.  The object was to shake the eggs and match them by sound, putting the like ones together.  The flashlight in the front was to shine in your eyes to make your pupils constrict.  There was also a hand mirror for checking that out!

Here they are accepting their participation medals:

And modeling them in front of their project:

Such a fun time!  And so many wonderful projects... it was just great!  The kids all put a lot of work into the fair to make it a success.

It is SO NICE to walk and drive around town and see green:  green grass, green leaves, green plants.  Yay!  This weekend was so beautiful, and I'm looking forward to the next few days of highs near 90.  The winter was entirely too long, and I am so thankful that summer weather is here (for now, anyway... I realize that if it snowed next week, it would not be unheard of)!

On Friday, we did a short hike in the woods at a park in the next town.  The leaves on the trees hadn't really gotten past the bud stage, though, so even though it was warmish, it still felt wintery.  In the past two days, the trees have burst to life with light green leaves.  On Saturday, we walked downtown (about a mile walk, down hill).  There was a family fun day going on at the town green, so we did that for a little bit, and then read some stories at the library before walking home.  It would have been easier if the uphill part of the walk was on the way to our destination instead of on the way home, but we made it.  The kids spent the rest of the weekend outside most of the time.  We had lunch at my father-in-law's house, complete with birthday cake for R. 

This week's agenda:

*Clean out the car.  It's beyond disgusting.  It's so bad that I won't even post "before" pictures.  Ugh!

*Work on our science fair project.  This is taking priority over all other "school" other than math, grammar, and reading.  Our science fair is on Friday, and, well, we've hardly started.

*Clean out the closets.  We still have some clothing and other things packed from when we moved from my mother-in-law's house to this apartment last July.  I think I'm ready to finally get that unpacked, especially considering that my rule has traditionally been "use it in a year's time or toss it."  July is coming quickly, and I want to see what I might be throwing away!

*Our regular activities: Bible study, library, ballet, Civil War class.

*Carvel on Thursday for their 75th anniversary celebration!

*Keeping an eye on this swine flu.  I'm not typically one to panic over proclamations about the possibility of global pandemics, but I'm a little bit nervous about this one.

I think that's about it! 

I do not want to be neglecting this blog as I have been, but I have a little Facebook addiction that is getting in the way of regular blogging.  If you are on Facebook and can't stand having to wait for my sporadic updates, then by all means, look me up! 

First, a huge Happy Birthday to my Pumpkinhead!

She turned 6 on Saturday.  Such a big girl!  We had cupcakes at the park, and a birthday dinner at Friendly's.  Yesterday, we celebrated her and my mother-in-law's birthday with a joint family dinner.  My sister-in-law Heather's birthday was also this past weekend.  So happy birthday to everyone!  April is a good month for a birthday... no snow!  (Well, most of the time.)

Secondly, we are observing TV Turn-Off Week.  It's only Monday morning, and we typically don't turn on the TV until lunchtime or so, so it's not a problem at all right now.  J is running around with a Darth Vader costume on, and R is currently supposed to be making her bed, but I hear a lot of singing and giggling going on in her room.  Today is supposed to rain, so we'll be dragging out some art supplies this afternoon!  If you'd like to do TV Turn-off Week, here's an article I wrote with some tips for surviving it.

One other thing that's going on is that we're starting our KONOS curriculum that I found at a used curriculum fair.  The first unit is about attentiveness and hearing.  We'll be reading The Miracle Worker by Annie Sullivan (Helen Keller's teacher), acting out the story in the Bible about Samuel and his excellent hearing (and doing), playing some memory and concentration games, learning some sign language, learning about how the ear works... oh yes, this is going to be fun!

I didn't do my whole menu plan yet... tonight we're having sausage and broccoli over pasta, and tomorrow we're having pork chops, but that's as far as I've gotten.  I'll work on it more later.

Here is a pic of the kids on Easter morning.  We had a nice Easter... church in the morning, an egg hunt and dinner with my in-laws, and relaxation in the afternoon.

Oh, I'm reading the Twilight books!  I wasn't eager to jump on the bandwagon, but John's aunt talked about how good the books were... anyway, I have one or two chapters left in the last book!  They're very good.  The vampires in the book are "vegetarians," so as far as vampires go, they're very mild.  There are some good messages in the books.  I don't want to give too much away, but I do recommend them!

I think those are the highlights of the past few days and this week.  I'll try to rip myself away from Facebook and update more often. Have a good week!

We had a great Easter.  I hope yours was wonderful too!

John took the kids shopping and out to run errands on Saturday  morning.  It was nice to be home in the peace and quiet.  When they came home, I noticed something a little bit different about R.  She had gotten her ears pierced!  We have been talking about it for months now, and she has been asking to get it done.  Every time we were in the vicinity of an ear-piercing store, though, she changed her mind, saying, "maybe when I'm a little bit bigger."  Saturday, though, she apparently decided that she was big enough, because she agreed to go in!

She said that she was a little bit scared, but that she didn't cry.  She was very proud to show me her beautiful earrings that she picked out by herself. 

I can't believe what a big girl she is turning into!  She will be six on Saturday... how did the time go by so fast?  *sigh*

We are in the midst of a busy week... the public schools are out this week, so we're getting together with friends and cousins who are enjoying their April vacation.  J has his Civil War class this week, and on Friday we're meeting with some friends at the park to have cupcakes to celebrate R's birthday. 

Have a good week!

He is Risen, Indeed!

Happy Easter from our home to yours, as we joyfully celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ! 

As you probably already know, I've been writing as a freelancer since we came back to Connecticut.  I recently joined ehow.com, which is a revenue-sharing website for anyone who wants to write how-to articles.  What that means is that you get paid each time someone clicks on the links affiliated with the articles that you write!  I've been writing for less than a week, and spending a lot of time learning about search engine optimization and keyword choices, and have made a whopping 68 cents.  Okay, so it's not a way to get rich overnight... but from what I hear, the income can be generated for months and years to come.

If you want to read my articles, you can see them here.  If you sign up, or if you're already a contributing member, leave me a comment with your profile information and I'll go check it out!  :)

In other news, I got some awesome deals at a used curriculum fair that we decided to go to on the spur of the moment.  Three years worth of a spelling curriculum for $2.  KONOS Volume 1 along with the Konos Compass for $5.  Several books for free.  The kids each picked out several things too.  I'm so glad we decided to go!

Hope you're having a great weekend!