Posted in Flashback Fridays
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Isn't it funny that leading up to and during a Presidential election that the actual sitting President is almost forgotten? I think it would make a funny interview-on-the-street sort of thing to find out how many uninformed people think that Mr. Obama has already moved into the White House. However, I will say that the Democratic campaign mentioned President Bush more than I've ever heard during a campaign....but they were usually referring to Senator McCain. I think it was a nickname. Well, while this election has evoked many emotions on my part, the one I'm focusing on today is nostalgia. You see, while our current President's approval ratings plummeted over the past couple of years, he still had a soft spot in our hearts here at Hilltop Academy. Did we agree with everything he ever did or said? Of course not. Yet we admired the man that, from almost the get-go, was faced with unique and extremely difficult circumstances and held his ground...not to mention his faith. Back when W. was just the governor of Texas and vying for the Republican nomination in early 2000, we got the chance to meet him. We were living in South Carolina at the time and heard that he would be speaking at a location not far from our house. We were on our way out of town that day, so we hemmed and hawed whether we should take the time to go hear him. We finally decided that it was once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to meet and show support for a potential future President, so we went. After he spoke, there was a chance to shake his hand and get pictures. Again, we wondered if it was worthwhile to stand in line and fight the crowd. Oh, and have I mentioned yet that I was almost eight months pregnant at the time with Harrison? Standing in line was not necessarily an attractive option for me. What sealed the deal was that three year-old Annaleigh was wearing a tee-shirt that Big D just got for her on a business trip to Washington that said, "Future President," and the scrapbooker in me could not pass up the poignant photo op. We made it through the line, and here was the result of our efforts....
Our only regret looking back is that we didn't have a better camera at the time. It was a 35 mm point-and-shoot, and unfortunately the focus was more on the man over W's shoulder. After we took our shot, as W was shaking Big D's hand, we pointed out Annaleigh's shirt to him. Then several from the media began shooting pictures as well. Mr. Bush laughed, and as some music came on from the background, he danced around a little with her. As he handed her back to me, he whispered in my ear, "The Lord only knows where these pictures will end up." He also signed a copy of his campaign book and gave one to us that said, "To Annaleigh--Another Future Pres! ~George W. Bush" So, Mr. President, if you ever stumble upon this blog in your free time, just know that we loved ya', and remember...even Abraham Lincoln's approval rating had bottomed out. Only time can tell how you will ultimately be remembered. Do you have a flashback for us this weekend? Leave a link below and share it with us....
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Posted in home schooling
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Before I get into posting a million and one pictures of our schooling update, I just thought I'd casually mention the election, since it IS Election Day and all. I haven't said one word about politics up to this point. Not a word. Mainly because that's not really what this blog is for, but also because I don't think anyone really listens to me in that arena. However, it is now 1:18pm Central time on election day, and I'd like to make the suggestion that if you haven't already voted, and actually visited my blog today for electoral advice....which would be ridiculous, but it could happen....then I'd like to tell you to vote for the McCain/Palin ticket. That's how I voted. I voted this way because the Republican party traditionally upholds my moral and economical beliefs. I also like Sarah Palin's hair. Obama also scares the bee-jeebers out of me. He ranks right up there with Freddy Kruger, and the Burger King guy, Michael Jackson, and even Tom Cruise. So there. I said it. If you wanted my advice, which I doubt, you have it.
Now, what's up at Hilltop, our home school.... As I began to start uploading my pictures of what we've been doing over the last month or so, I realized I had a lot of project pictures. I have pics of two lapbooks that Harrison has recently completed and Annaleigh's science project that she did for her tutorial science class...and that's it. So that's what I have to show you. For those of you who don't lapbook with your kids and have no desire to, you might as well log off now because this is going to be boring. Nonetheless.... Harrison's BIRD lapbook for science...
For the cover he colored, cut out and labeled several of the birds that we studied. Here's the inside all spread out...
Most of the stuff I got from the Considering God's Creation curriculum that Annaleigh used several years ago. I've decided to stick with Sonlight for Harrison, but the latter still has some great resources in their workbook. I also got a few of the activities from an Evan-Moor book on general science. The pictures of the birds came from various Internet sources where I basically just googled the various bird names and chose the picture that I liked best. A labeled bird with all of its birdy parts...
Two booklets and an unfortunate photo of my hangnail...
Another booklet focusing on flight...
A couple of lift-the-flap activities on bird growth in and out of the egg...
(Sorry...didn't realize that one was blurry until it uploaded, and I was too lazy to go re-take the shot.)
What's inside a bird? C'mon...you know you've always wondered...
And then the back cover, simply decorated with even more bird pictures...
And now for the lapbook on VIKINGS... The cover...
Harrison colored the picture for the cover at the beginning of our studies, so he was unaware of yet that most Vikings were blond and fair, so thus we have our Latino or African-American viking. Oh well. Here's the inside view...
His labeled Viking, ready for battle...
A fold-out of traditional Viking weapons (and, yes, I do know that he misspelled ax)...
A run-down of where Vikings lived, including a map and then an illustration of a Viking village. The Viking village picture lifts up to display his report, but that didn't photograph well.
Here's an explanation of runes and a message that he wrote...
Here's the interpretation of it...
Awwwww...that almost makes me forget the fact that at this very moment he's supposed to be vacuuming the living room, but is instead sorting his Halloween candy. Almost. On the back cover, we made a pocket for his Viking family paper dolls, and then we pasted a Viking board game on the pocket...
Annaleigh completed her tutorial science project in great style and flourish. Never mind that we were down to the last eight hours before it was due.
Her project was on Ptolemy I, the early scientist who basically got the Solar System in the wrong order. He thought everything revolved around the Earth, which was a nice idea and all, but of course was false. She made her faulty Solar System from halved Styrofoam balls, and as you can see, he also had the sizes pretty mixed up too. See the big smears all over the board? Well, that's what you get when glue everything the night before. During her presentation at school, rivers of Elmer's glue were running down the board. Speaking of her presentation, if you have an extra five minutes and want to learn a little about Ptolemy, we went to the tutorial and taped it....
Just so you won't think all we've done since September is glue stuff onto a couple of file folders and procrastinate on science projects, I did find two more photos of school work. See, here's Harrison, hard at work reading and chewing on a mouth piece...
And then Annaleigh's bed...
I know she's not physically there at the moment, but just the mere fact that it is littered with books and papers, both up top and below should prove something....besides the fact that she is organizationally challenged. Well, that's about it. The next few weeks are going to be a crazy time as we are in crunch mode before the baby arrives. I may not get to another update until close to Christmas...or maybe even...gulp...January. |
Posted in family
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This is my last Halloween post. I promise. But I also promised to post some pictures of how we dressed up, and I'm a woman of my word. Harrison's costume has already been posted on another entry, but here's the little Indiana Jones again...
Almost everyone knew who he was. Two people thought he was a cowboy, but I think they were at least 80 years old. One person even identified him as Harrison Ford, which my Harrison was proud to point out was, in fact his name. Indiana Mimi went as Brian Urlacher, linebacker for the Chicago Bears...
I tried to tell her she'd be more convincing if she shaved her head. She never listens to me. Big D...
I think I took this exact same shot last year of him making our annual Halloween chicken wings. He and a fellow co-worker had to move some files from one of their clinics that day, so they dressed as redneck movers. Peanut's first costume...
Have you ever seen anyone look more like a pumpkin? Don't answer that. And then we have Annaleigh as Prom Queen 1987, aka Molly Ringwald...
Here's a shot that I'm calling, "Molly Ringwald meets Harrison Ford"....
I think that would be a fun addition to any movie....to have Indiana Jones sweep in and choke, with his handy whip, any over-rated actor who is making too much money for their poor thespian skills. Lastly, we have a little video clip from Saturday's TaeKwonDo class, where Molly...er, I mean, Annaleigh, tries to do her form in that ridiculous dress...
Let me know if you have costume pics on your blog. I'd love to see them! |
Posted in family
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I thought on this fine Halloween day that I would share with you our pre-celebration that we had last week at Big D's work-sponsored event....
Every year the head partner at Big D's company hosts a Fall Festival at his beautiful farm in the middle TN countryside. It is just a lot of old-fashioned fun, and the kids look forward to it every year. There was a petting zoo...
(This little donkey was named TJ. He's 26 years-old, which is old for a donkey. His only jobs are petting zoos and manger scenes. I know all of this because while my children enjoyed the animals, their 88 year-old owner told me everything...and I do mean EVERYTHING!...there was to know about them. He was a cutie.) And pony rides...
(Every one of the twenty times that Harrison rode by, he tipped his Indiana Jones fedora. Every time. He may be crazy, but at least he's gentlemanly.) There were plenty of hay bales for pregnant women to sit on...
(As you can see, I went as a ghost. This photo proves that I do not know how to use PhotoShop Elements. If I did, I would have given myself a tan.) And, of course, there were s'mores...
When you look at enough pictures of your kids, you start to realize the differences in their personalities. This is how my non-cautious child eats a gooey s'more...
He just digs in, not caring at all that a sticky marshmallow glob is about to fall on his Indiana Jones jacket that we searched for for weeks at all the local Goodwill stores. And this is how my cautious child eats one...
"Is there marshmallow sticking on my lip? Mom, please! Don't take that picture! I have marshmallow on me! Don't put this on your blog, ok? Please, Mooooomm!" OK, I won't. (Had my fingers crossed!) Then there was the hay maze.... How the cautious child plays...
How the non-cautious child plays...
Now, get back in that hay, non-cautious child, and find that fedora!!! As you can see, Harrison wore his Indiana Jones costume and spent a good deal of his time doing Indiana Jones-ish things, like swinging on ropes...
and cracking his whip...
The scariest part of the whole evening was when I happened to glance over to the fields and see this sneaky-looking cow eyeing us...
"Go ahead. Just you wait. I know what that whip is made out of, and your day is coming, little boy." We ended the day with a time of trunk-or-treating...
Annaleigh decided not to don her costume, because it was a bit impractical for this event, but I'll post pictures of it later this weekend. It's a hoot! Enjoy your day, however you celebrate or not celebrate! Oh, and one more thing...
Welcome, Great Pumpkin!!!! |
Posted in humor
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We're not supremely huge into the whole Halloween scene, yet we do go trick-or-treating, and my children are allowed to dress up in something non-scary. I usually like to throw something on for fun too. Two years ago was my very favorite costume...
This year, however, I am stumped. What does one dress up as with an extra twenty pounds of girth strapped to your mid-section? Hmmmm.....Let us google, shall we?.... I typed in "maternity halloween", and this is what I found...
Well, that's not bad. A pregnant female pirate. I believe it was Anne Bonny, the historical female pirate, who claimed a pregnancy to get out of a hanging. But for me? Naaaah....that's so two years ago. Then how 'bout this?
Hmmm...a nurse. Pregnant women know nurses. Nurses know pregnant women. I'm sorry though, but if any nurse of mine came in wearing those shoes I'd laugh my head off. Plus I'm not sure I want to be reminded of nurses right now. Nurses make me think of catheters and medicine drips and pain. No, a nurse isn't right. This one looks promising...
On second thought, maybe not. Since when are halos furry? And it seems she has borrowed the nurse's shoes. Here's a cute one...
A pregnant Raggedy Ann! Cute wig and hat. I like the big buttons. Sensible shoes. Stylish tights. Tights? Wait a minute....I can't even slip on my own socks these days. I can't wear tights. And I wouldn't want to be responsible for ruining Andy's reputation. Now, this one is just too much...
Dorothy?! Wasn't she like 12 years old? And wasn't her dress a little longer than this number? I know it wasn't shiny. No, I could not ruin the integrity of classic literature or a beloved movie. Besides Bridget would never fit in that basket. I'm sorry....
...I...ahem..I....just...well, I...have no words. And it takes a lot to render me speechless. Well, I do have one thing to say: Either she is not really pregnant or they photo-shopped her ankles. Period. *sigh* I guess it's back to the drawing board. I'll let you know what I come up with... |
Posted in family
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OK...so I turned 36 yesterday. But I don't really want to talk about that. What I do want to talk about is how great my family is and how they made my day so nice. First, Big D, even though it was a Sunday, and we're always rushed on Sundays because Big D makes coffee for the whole church,...don't worry, it's a small church....made me a special breakfast omelet. It was yummy! He then arranged for someone to arrive at our youth Sunday school class that we teach (well, this was our last Sunday...but that's another story) with two dozen Krispy Kreme doughnuts. Double yummy! Then they took me to a Mexican restaurant for lunch...not that I was hungry or anything. But here's the best part! We went to Costco to get this....
Does that totally ROCK or what?!? (Sorry...couldn't help the bad pun.) Seriously, I am soooo excited about this because I realized several weeks ago that we were fresh out of rocking chairs around here, and with a newborn on the way, that just won't do. While we were at Costco, we also picked up one of their amazing pumpkin cheesecakes for dessert that night.
Oh, good grief. How I wish we had just photographed the cake. What in the world is a majorly pregnant woman doing wearing a tee-shirt emblazoned with a slogan for an Irish pub? Why in the world is my kinky, curly hair piled in a mess on top of my head? And why in the world is my sunglasses tan line so visible? Why in the world??? One last thing... Halloween, in case you didn't know, is just around the corner, and Harrison came up with a good idea for a last minute costume while eating in the Mexican restaurant...
It kind of reminds me of Jason from the Friday the 13th franchise. It also reminds me a little of this guy from the "Fat Albert" cartoons...
Or you could just call yourself Tortilla Man and call it a day. Either way, here are Harrison's 30 second instructions on how to make your own mask...
You might want to be careful of large flocks of hungry birds. I think pigeons could be a particular problem. That could get really ugly. |
Posted in Flashback Fridays
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Pet-wise we are having a rough month. As I've already shared, on October 3, we had to have our 18 year-old cat, Baxter, put to sleep. That was a very difficult thing to do, and I still get choked up when I think about him. Literally the day of that fateful vet visit, I noticed that our dog Bridget was sort of winking one of her eyes (see above pic). I hoped that she had just scratched it or something and went on dealing with our dying cat predicament. Well, it didn't get better. It just kept getting worse, and then to make matters worse, we came home from church about a week later to find her limping badly and unable to put any weight on one of her back legs. Lord only knows what she was doing while we were in church to injure her leg in such a way! For a leggy, lanky boxer, it was awkward at best trying to get her outside to potty and drink and eat from her food bowls. Well, we have now been to the vet twice, trying to find out what's wrong. So far, they are treating it as a soft tissue injury, and we're on our second anti-inflammatory to try to give her some relief. So far, she's still hobbling. Her eye, which was scratched and infected, is, thankfully, better (thanks to me wrestling her to the ground three times a day and squeezing some ointment into it....sorry no pictures of 8-month pregnant me rolling on the ground with my 65 pound dog in a headlock).
Things are different around here. Bridget has been lying almost constantly on her bed. Usually she follows us around wherever we go. She always meets us at the door with a toy dangling from her mouth. She excitedly twists herself into a crescent when we have guests. Now she simply stays on the bed, perks her ears up a bit, and thumps her little stub tail just as fast as she can. I guess it's the best she can do. The place where I find her absence the strangest is in the bathroom. For the first time in over a decade, I can actually relieve myself in total and complete privacy. The kids stopped following me into the bathroom years ago....but not Bridget. She would follow me in and sit not too very far from the potty. Every. Single. Time. The bathroom has been a cold, lonely place the past couple of weeks. The kids have been helpful. They faithfully give her water from a little medicine dropper (please ignore the mess in the background...we were painting our bathroom that weekend and had some miscellaneous things stacked in the living room)....
and they are even willing to share their dessert with the invalid.
Bridget's injury has made me think of her more active days, especially of the days she first came to us....
Annaleigh was only 18 months old when we got her, and Harrison didn't exist yet. It was interesting having two babies at the same time...
Although Bridget has been a great dog for us, she was a H-A-R-D puppy....and she was a puppy for exactly two years. I've never come so close to killing a living thing (besides bugs). Once when she was about a year old, she nearly killed me. We used to keep our kennel in our bedroom. We had had guests over, and she knew it. When I went to let her out, she thought the people were still there and was in a hurry to go see them. I had slipped my hand under her collar, trying to get her under control when she took off. I lost my balance and fell, but she kept going and drug me clear into our living room....after violently smashing my face into the door frame. I didn't speak to her for two weeks. As a matter of fact, I think my blood pressure is rising just thinking about it. Excuse me a minute, while I go kick her right now.....just kidding. I'll just flick her nose or something. Bridget has never been much of a chewer thankfully, but one thing she can't resist is soap. It's a really weird thing. As a puppy, she once consumed half a bottle of pink Barbie bubblebath. Once at Ma and Pa's house, she ate an entire box of dryer sheets....and left the box basically unharmed. She will stand and jump for the bubbles that the kids blow in the backyard for hours. Another thing she can't resist is a full trashcan. Even as an old gal, if the trash is full, she won't knock it over, but she will inspect the top for any little morsels. She once swallowed an entire corncob. We only know she did this because she threw it up several days later...still nearly whole. Well, if you are of the bent to pray for animals now and then, we'd appreciate one for our Bridget. This is a hard time for us to be dealing with this as we're trying our best to get ready for Peanut's arrival. I've had some depressing flashbacks of late. Sorry. I'll try to come up with something a little cheerier next time. Or perhaps you have something happy to share with us....? Sign in below with the link, and let us all in on it!
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Posted in family
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Remember this song from 1986, "The Final Countdown" by Europe? Well, that's how I feel about right now...
I finally have a date for my c-section...November 19! Less than a month away, and we can meet Peanut face-to-face. And, yes, by the way...I do believe that I could somehow summarize my life by using all titles of 80s hairband anthems. "Livin' on a Prayer" could cover any number of incidents. "Welcome to the Jungle" would be about all of our crazy pet stories. "Pour Some Sugar on Me" could be about my Little Debbie Swiss cake roll addiction during all my pregnancies. "Back in Black" (although really a 70s song) would document my decision to start coloring my hair. "Rock You Like a Hurricane" would cover my survival of Hurricane Hugo in 1989. "Burnin' Down the House" could serve double duty for Indiani Mimi catching my hair on fire with a blow dryer and the time I melted my plastic lamp shade in the wee hours of the morning. What do you think? They could be chapter titles in my autobiography. ***crickets chirping*** OK, never mind...moving on. Anyway, things still continue to go pretty well. At this point, I don't know of a single person who is still having fun being this pregnant, and I'm no exception. But I'm healthy. Peanut's healthy. So I really can't complain. Well, I can....but I shouldn't. My doctor has decided to monitor my blood pressure closely, so I'm having to have ultra/sounds every week now. That's not so bad really, but I have been seeing him in my own town, like five minutes from my house. Unfortunately, they don't have the right equipment in this office, so I have to drive all the way to the "real" office once a week....which is about 40 minutes away. Bummer. I have accused him of being in league with the gas companies, but apparently that's not the case. He's just concerned about fluid levels and baby growth and whatknot. So far, my blood pressure has stayed within safe limits, and Peanut looks picture perfect every time. I forgot to scan a picture, but it pretty much still looks like the crystal skull from Indiana Jones' latest flick. Still no nursery pictures, but we have paint picked out and furniture ordered. One of these remaining weekends will have a very frantic Big D getting everything painted and in place. We do have Peanut's temporary sleeping quarters ready in the master bedroom...
Those new Pack-n-Play's are so snazzy. (Thanks Pa & Ma!!) This one came with a bassinet area, complete with a 5-song music player, comfort vibration option, mobile, changing pad, night light and storage organizer. Last weekend, Big D and I were enjoying one of our last date nights for a while, and we picked out and purchased coming home outfits for either a Madelynn or a William...
I have them hanging on my shoe organizer, and they make me smile every time I walk past them. I even made them hold hands for the picture. I agree with Indiana Mimi, who thinks it's kind of sad that only one of the outfits will get to be worn. Since we don't know the gender and we've talked extensively about the possiblities with both, it sort of seems like both exist in some way. It almost makes me wish I was having twins. Almost. Speaking of names, it seems, so far, that we're sticking with the above choices. Both other times, we changed the names pretty late in the game. I've been throwing others out randomly, but so far, none have been stickers. We'll see, I guess. And here I am...
First of all, those streaks are something with the camera. My mirror is not that dirty. Secondly, aren't I getting BIG? People always tell me that I'm not, but I know they are lying. I see their eyes twitching and the playing nervously with their split ends. They know I'm a walking gigantosaurus. Part of me wishes someone would just lay it on me, and say, "Man, you are HUGE!", and then part of me doesn't wish that at all. Part of me still pretends that I'm 20 pounds lighter and a size 10. Part of me pretends that I'll be right back to that size on November 20. Part of me is delusional. That's about it. I'm not sure if this is the last update I'll do or not. I may try to squeeze in one more in early November. We shall see.... |
Posted in humor
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I obviously have very little understanding of the male gender. I've known this for years. I grew up in an almost all chick household, with just myself, Debbles, Indiana Mimi and Gigi. I had guy friends, but I didn't understand them. I had a few male teachers, but I didn't understand them either. I've read male authors, whom I've enjoyed, but have not completely understood. I met and married Big D. I love him, but often he's beyond my comprehension. Harrison regularly completely boggles my mind. Recently he's been reading the above book that he received last year for Christmas. I'm all about encouraging kids to embrace their genderness, you know, boys will be boys and all of that kind of stuff. Now, while I'm generally not in favor of banning books, this one may be banned from our personal library. Harrison has been harassing me for the last few days...and yes, I did say harassing...over this particular page...
First, he wanted to know what 'essential' meant. I, not having a clue why he was asking, told him that it meant necessary. So now he has been doing an inventory of what he has and doesn't have. Thus far he has assessed that he's fairly well equipped to be a dangerous boy, with the exception of a Swiss army knife and a box of matches. He actually once possessed a small pocketknife, but we eventually had to confiscate it due to the dangerous activities (that involved blood and guts) with it. I've never even considered handing him over a box of matches. I like my house too much to do that. And may I take the moment to applaud the Igguldens for having the foresight to include band-aids on their list, since they are requiring young boys to carry around knives and fishhooks and needles. Harrison's also been pretty obsessed with this page...
But don't worry, the Igguldens shortly follow these instructions with this...
I now feel much, much better that my son has the desire to construct lethal weapons. The other day Harrison was playing innocently outside with a very blunt-edged football, so I sat down with this dangerous book to find out what else my son would be learning as he continued with this reading material.
Girls?!?! He's eight years-old for Pete's sake! Does he really need advice on picking out the perfect bouquet of flowers or on not signing his handmade Valentines because girls like the mystery? Well, I did find this section useful...
Oh, Mr. and Mr. Iggulden, just visit our home any time, and you can witness all kinds of these sorts of vulgar acts that are not endearing to girls. You could leave armed with enough research to write your future bestseller, The Vulgar Book for Boys.
Then there was this page...
Do the authors realize they have just endangered every cat, dog, squirrel and child under the age of two within 100 yards of our home? And then there was this...
I can't tell you how relieved I am to know that his allowance will be well spent! At this point, I had had enough, and was searching for my own box of matches, to rid our home of this dangerous book, when I happened to spy this page...
Ah, well, that's nice. The English teacher in me is a little slower in her bent on destroying the offending book. Then I saw this..
It seems that the Igguldens are fans of classic poetry, including such writers as Robert Frost, Walt Whitman, and Shelley. Hmmm...impressive. Lastly, I saw this...
Okay, Igguldens, your book is spared. I guess there is enough worthwhile and safe and interesting within these pages to make up for the few really dangerous things that you encourage. However, I would like to point out that I believe my son was already dangerous enough before your book came along...
And so with that, I go to put my matches....what's this?....wait a minute...no, it can't be....
*sigh* |
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Several days ago, Carpebanana had an interesting post on her blog about the Big Read. I had never heard of it, so I did what all curious people with a computer do: I googled it. You can read about the project here. Basically it is a push from the NEA to get adults to read. No harm in that. In 2003, the BBC jumped on the bandwagon and came up with a top 100 books which came from a poll of readers, I believe. Anyway, I thought it was an interesting list, and I thought, like Carpebanana, I would analyze how many I've read or plan to read. Here's how I did that... 1) Look at the list and bold those you have read. and this one is all my own... 4) Put a % by those that you've only seen the movie....then kick yourself. 1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen 5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee 10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens Twenty-eight of them. A little more than 25%. Well, the good news is that I'm doing better than the average person, who has only read about six of them. So, how about you....how many of these have you read? |
Posted in family
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The day a ballerina gets her first pair of pointe shoes is a big deal. I guess. I really don't know personally, never having been a ballerina. But my daughter Annaleigh who is in her eighth year of ballet, has been talking about this day for a loooooooong time. And this past Saturday, it finally arrived...
She brought home a note from her teacher several weeks ago, which stated that three of the girls in the Ballet II class were ready to go on pointe and that a fitting had been scheduled at this exclusive dance supply store. All we had to do was show up and the store clerks and the instructor would take care of the rest....
...well, except, of course, for the bill. That's why I sent Big D. He's so much better at paying for things than I am. I would have been asking about the availability of used pointe shoes. I would have encouraged Annaleigh to try to make the most economical pair in the store to work. Not Big D. Annaleigh now can proudly boast that she has the most expensive pair of pointe shoes in her class because Big D doesn't question girl stuff....and he was surrounded by girls that day, who were apparently all telling him that Annaleigh needed this particular pair of shoes. Not that she didn't try on every pair in the store...
Not that her instructor didn't carefully assess her fit...
Not that she didn't thoroughly try them out...
But when it was all said and done, there was the perfect shoe...
...and well, one just has to justify the expense of the perfect pointe shoe. I break it down like this... Gas to the exclusive dance supply store: oh, probably about $7 nowadays The actual shoes, elastic, ribbon and a wool toe thingy +tax: about $108 {grimace!} Eight years of lessons to get to this point: Good grief...I don't EVEN want to know. The look of pride and joy on your 12 year-old daughter's face:
priceless. |
Posted in Flashback Fridays
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It's with a really heavy heart that I write this Flashback Friday, for last Friday our family had to say goodbye to our long-lived cat, Baxter.
Baxter, as I've said before, was about 18 years old. Over the summer Baxter's appetite seemed to decrease some, and he shed a few pounds. As a neutered male indoor cat that was basically inactive most of the time, he was...well..he was fat. At his heaviest he weighed around 23 pounds. The last time I took him to the vet about a year ago, he weighed 17. I would say that over the summer he'd lost 3-4 pounds, but in the past couple of weeks, he had pretty much stopped eating, and when we took him in last Friday, he weighed a mere 8 pounds and could barely stand. We're not really sure what was wrong with him beyond just old age, but whatever it was, took over fast. I mean I just photographed him on a skateboard a couple of weeks ago! My main goal was to prevent any further suffering because he had been such a good pet for us for so many years, so we made the difficult and tearful decision to have him put to sleep. About a year or so ago, I blogged about his history (in an embellished sort of way), which you can read about here. It was just me and Baxter those last few minutes, and honestly I don't know how aware of his surroundings he was by that point, but I am thankful that I was there to stroke him and tell him I loved him as the life breathed out of him. I know this may seem sappy and emotional and over-the-top to some of you, but I can't think of any better way to spend a Flashback Friday than to look back over the last fifteen years that Baxter was a part of our lives....
  So long, old friend. We will miss you.
Perhaps you have a more cheerful memory for us today...? Sign in below so we can come get happy again. I need to see a mullet or parachute pants or something....c'mon...make me smile!
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Posted in Kids in the Kitchen
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Whoa....it's been a week since I've blogged anything new. Sorry, but last week was just...well...quite a week. I meant to post this particular entry last Wednesday. I'm not sure what I was doing last Wednesday, but it wasn't posting this. Then last Thursday I was trapped in my van all day, driving all over the place, using lots and lots of very expensive gasoline. Last Friday was a tragic day for our family, which I'll blog about later this week, but the last thing on my mind was posting about meatballs and cake. Then for the weekend I was trapped in the van again. More driving. More gasoline. But let's move on shall we, to the next meal that your kids can make with very little assistance from you. Unless they are under the age of 9 or so. Then all of this really doesn't apply to you yet, but you still might enjoy the recipes. First of all, I thought it important that my kids learn to make a version of Swedish meatballs since Big D is Swedish and his blood runs in their veins. Heritage and all, I guess. This is an easy recipe for meatballs and could easily be added to all of your Italian recipes as well, if your last name happens to be Scanelly or something like that. First of all, Annaleigh got the sauce ready, which was a can of cream of mushroom soup, water and sour cream whisked together. You can just set this aside for a while.
Now for the meatballs! In a bowl, mix together your ground beef, bread crumbs, finely chopped onion, egg and nutmeg. Then you will shape the mixture into equal size balls...
This is a good step to get your younger kids involved in, unless your younger kids have a problem with handling raw meat. If that's the case then he may cry a little and say he doesn't like the feel of this. Then you may have to tell him it's just too bad because he has to learn to shape meatballs. It's in his heritage. He may then tell you he doesn't care. Then his sister may make fun of him a little, and they may get in a fight over it. You may have to call in their dad at this point, and he may tell them to get over it. They are Swedish and have to learn to make this dish....for their heritage and all and for their mother's blog. Then you may need to remind your son that this is the only picture you have of him helping with this meal, and if he doesn't cooperate that the blog entry will only show his sister cooking. Then snap the picture fast because you realize that he doesn't really give a flying fig what you blog about, and he really just wants to wash his icky hands and watch football. None of this may happen at your house at all, but it's only fair to warn you. Now, for the next step, we bake our meatballs in the oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes instead of frying them in a pan, but that's completely up to you. We find it easier and more efficient and less messy, but you may find it weird, and want to do your meatballs the old-fashioned way. While your meatballs are doing whatever your meatballs do, boil some water and cook some egg noodles according to the package directions. When the meatballs are done and no longer pink in the middle, add them to the sauce you prepared earlier and heat over med-low heat, until it's heated through, then serve over your warm noodles. This is what it will look like served with a salad...
...except depending on your region of the country and NFL preferences, you may not be wearing a Tennessee Titans tee shirt. However, you may want to consider it since they are 5-0, after all. Ingredients: (We doubled this recipe so that we would have left-overs and so that Indiana Mimi could join us. The below amount is for four servings) 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 c. water, 1/4 c. sour cream, 1 lb. lean ground beef, 1/2 c. soft bread crumbs, 1/4 c. chopped onion, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 c. nutmeg, package of egg noodles Earlier that day Annaleigh made the chocolate sheet cake by herself because her brother abandoned her to go see the Titans beat the Vikings with his dad since they received some free tickets. Boys... She used the Pioneer Woman's recipe, and here's the link to that recipe. Basically, she prepared the ingredients for the actual cake...
poured the mixture into a sheet cake pan (we used my Pampered Chef stoneware pan)...
While it baked and cooled, she prepared the ingredients for the icing, and then later poured that on the cake...
It really was that easy.
Then I pulled up a chair and just started forking into it. Not really, but almost. It was gooooooood! It was so good that I had her make another one for our church potluck. We found that we were out of vanilla, which you need for both the cake and the icing, but we substituted mint extract, which was also really nice, if you want a variation. Enjoy! |
Posted in humor
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I'm sick and tired of being pregnant. I mean really sick and really tired of it. I'm tired of my back hurting. I'm sick of the acid reflux. I'm tired of being tired. I'm sick of having swollen feet. I'm tired of and from the sleepless nights. I'm sick of people telling me how cute I look because I know they mean more of a Weeble Wobble cuteness...
rather than a Cameron Diaz cuteness...
And I'm tired of little old ladies eyeing my belly in public, just itching to pat it, but restraining because they know by the look on my face that they will more than likely get slapped for it. But none of that is what this post is about. I'm channeling my inner Norman Vincent Peale and practicing the power of positive thinking. I'm focusing today on what is GOOD about the last trimester of pregnancy... 1. I am no longer expected to clean the bathtubs. Really I can get away with not cleaning pretty much anything, I think. I also don't have to pick up anything off the floor if I don't want to. No one thinks ill of me for it, and they're more than happy to do it for me. 2. I can eat whatever I want and not gain a gluttonous reputation. So what if I have seconds at dinner? So what if I ate the largest and last piece of chocolate cake? I'm eating for two and everyone knows it. 3. I don't have to walk up and down the stairs to get anything. If I want a bottled water, the kids run down and get it. If I need my camera from upstairs, Big D runs up to get it. This is the closest I will ever get to owning slaves, and it's kinda fun. 4. People are starting to ask me what I need for the baby, which means they are thinking of buying me something. That's great! I love presents. So far, I don't think that I have convinced anyone that the baby needs a new laptop, but I'm working on it. 5. Slip-on shoes are fashionable, which is a very good thing, since I no longer can reach to tie my sneakers. 6. Along that same line of thinking, it is getting cooler here, which means jeans and closed-toe shoes, which means I no longer have to worry about shaving my legs or keeping my toe-nails painted. 7. Peanut is moving around a lot, which is my favorite part of pregnancy...feeling and seeing the baby move. That is all I can think of, which is sad, because I'm not sure seven things can get me through the next eight weeks or so. Ummm...Norman, a little help here? Oh, and speaking of the last trimester of pregnancy, my good blogging friend, Sandpiper, who is about to give birth any day now...the lucky dog..., passed an award along to me...
...and I just wanted to thank her for that great honor! I'm not going to be officially passing it on, but if I regularly read and comment on your blog, just know that I *heart* it, okay? |
Posted in humor
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Behold, my geriatric, decrepit cat Baxter...
Okay, so he's at least eighteen in people years, and yes, that makes him over a hundred in animal years, but obviously he doesn't know this because he's riding a skateboard in our garage. I promise we didn't put him there for the photo op. That's how we found him. I also promise that he mostly just slept on the skateboard because that's what he does everywhere. At least that's what we think. We should probably install some hidden cameras.... |
Posted in home schooling
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Our school year is definitely in full swing here at Hilltop. You can always tell by the smell of smoke. Annaleigh is into the 1600s in history, and we have been neck-deep in all the political upheaval in Europe. She is so sick of hearing about Protestants and Catholics and all their skirmishes. It seems everyday we open the book someone is getting beheaded. It seemed a little better when we first began to read about Louis XIV...
...and his grand palace of Versailles, but then we learned that his extravagance was what eventually led to the bloody French Revolution. So, we decided to blow off a little steam, literally, by lighting a match to a model of London one afternoon, thus recreating the Great Fire....
It was taking a bit longer than we anticipated, and we were growing fearful of the neighbors' stares from their windows. Eventually all we had was rubble, thank goodness, and we could go inside to escape any further scrutiny and avoid a visit from our fine police station. I think we really need to live in the country...
Harrison also had his share of violence over the past couple of weeks, as we've been studying the Viking era. Big D's family is Swedish, so he's known for a while that there is some Viking in his blood and was excited to get to his roots. One day we were reading about a Viking group that raided and pillaged an Irish monastery (my roots, by the way), and he looked up from the violence-filled pages, and said, "Do you mean the Vikings were bad?" Well, if you consider murder, stealing, and other unmentionable things bad then, well, yes. He was shocked, a little disappointed, but not enough so to deter him from building a model of a long ship...
That came in our Viking Treasure Chest. I was pretty much convinced we would have had an easier time had we traipsed to a forest and felled our own trees about mid-way through this process, but we finally got it together. I thought we might as well set it on fire too, so great was my frustration, but Harrison vehemently protested. I think it was the Irish in me that wanted revenge. On a much calmer note, Harrison is learning a lot in all of his subjects. Here he's doing a measuring exercise with his worthy computer teacher for Saxon 54...
This has been a big transition year for him in math, and it hasn't been without its bumps, ones that have occasionally brought out the Viking in me. Oh wait...I'm not Swedish. Umm, well, it brings out the Irish in me, I guess. But, I think we are finally getting things figured out and getting into a rhythm with his lessons. Both kids are doing very well with their writing. Here is a two-point expository paragraph that Harrison recently wrote about his two favorite colors.... Two Colors
And then here is a poem that Annaleigh wrote as part of her Painless Poetry course...
For science one day, we were learning about the skin. One little experiment you could do was to draw a caterpillar on the inside of your elbow, which would demonstrate how the skin stretches by watching the caterpillar grow and shrink as you bend it. Well, while Harrison wanted nothing to do with a caterpillar on his arm, he did allow me to draw a fiercer, sort of, looking snake...
Ta-da! Annaleigh continues to do very well at her tutorial class of Apologia's general science. She has a report on a scientist coming up, which I'm a little worried that she's procrastinating on, but I'm trying to bite my tongue. It's on Ptolemy I, who I think is the one who had it all wrong about the Solar System. Maybe I'll just do a google search, print some things out and place them strategically on her desk.... Her tutorial drama class is doing a November production of The Secret Garden, and guess who was cast in the main role of Mary and has 200 lines to learn by mid-October? Just shoot me now, okay? I've shared a bit about Home Ec endeavors. Well, I actually have Annaleigh going through a curriculum put out by Christian Light, and last week she had to bake a dessert from scratch. We chose a recipe for a Swedish Apple cake...
Above, I'm showing her how to chop apples without chopping your fingers. That went well, as she still had ten appendages on her hands at its completion. Then here she is with the finished product...
It was VERY sweet, but I still gave her an A. That's about it for around here. Tune in soon for a reenactment of the Thirty Years War. I'm just kidding....my neighbors can't take much more. |
Posted in Flashback Fridays
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Ah, yes, folks....we have a trilogy here at Hilltop Academy! Our third generation of banana spider (we think!) has landed, and of course, I have no choice but to chronicle its existence here, even though I've said many times that I will never blog about spiders again. I don't know why you people ever listen to me. Look at this....
Behold, our third banana spider to annually build a web on our front porch! This one is much smaller than the other two have been, thus we think it might be male. The other two we know were female because after they kicked the bucket, they left us the gift of their egg sacs. This one also has some different behaviors than the other two. For one, it has shed its skin twice. That's what the creepy skeletal thing is below. Believe it or not, I actually got a picture of it doing this the other day...
Is that not the freakiest?! Annaleigh was sure it was dead, but after he dangled there for a while, he crawled back up onto his web, located conveniently right outside our living room window, a bigger and better spider. Since we suspect he's of the male persuasion, the kids have been calling him He-lob. Our first banana spider we dubbed Shelob (from the Lord of the Rings) due to her gargantuan size. And speaking of our first arachnid, here she is....
If you like creepy bedtime stories, you can read about her stay with us here and here. Then the next year, her possible daughter, moved in. We just called her Spidey...
Her tale is not nearly so interesting, but if you like, you can read about her here. And then now we have the son/grandson...maybe. I guess I better get out our nature handbooks and do a google image search, and find out what he is since that's what good home schoolers do. Have any memories for us this week? I know I forgot to give you advance notice that I would be "flashing" this week, but if you have something, please share! Leave us a link, so we can all come read it....
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Posted in Kids in the Kitchen
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It dawned on me the other day that I post a lot of pictures and such of my kids doing "stuff" in the kitchen. For me, especially recently, it's been a practical necessity. I want my kids to learn to help in the kitchen, to feel comfortable...at home even...in the kitchen, to be safe in the kitchen, to take over the kitchen...okay, not really on the take over, but I think you get the idea. There's coming a day around here, where I won't be in the kitchen much (because I will be taking care of Peanut and sleeping a lot), and my kids must be able to know their ways around the joint in order for them to be able to eat and live. But I got to thinking that maybe some of you could benefit from some of our recipes and such, so occasionally I will post about some of our culinary endeavors with recipes and how-to's. Just recently Pioneer Woman announced that she's doing this too, so you might swing by her cooking site to see what her kids are cooking as well, although the first kid recipe she posted was carrot soup, and that just wouldn't fly around here. A couple of Fridays ago, Harrison made his first cheesecake. We happen to adore cheesecake around here, so this was a BIG deal. This is an easy recipe for kids because it doesn't involve baking, and it's a good recipe for pregnant women who want to lick the bowl because it doesn't include raw eggs. First, he made the crust...
...which includes graham cracker squares, butter and sugar. Kids might find it more fun to crush the crackers with a rolling pin, but Harrison happens to be fascinated with sharp-bladed objects, so we used my Kitchen Aid food processor. I happen to be fascinated with less mess, so it was a win-win situation for us. After pulverizing the crackers, he mixed them with the sugar and butter and pressed them firmly into the bottom of a spring-form pan. Now it's time for the good stuff: the filling!
This filling consists of only one 8 oz. package of creamed cheese, a cup of whipping cream, sugar and vanilla. He used my beloved Kitchen Aid stand mixer to blend it all and then spread it evenly onto the crust (which had been in the freezer for about 10 minutes firming up). Next up was the fruit topping.
We used canned mandarin oranges, but you could really use whatever tickles your fancy. After arranging the fruit, you make a quick glaze that you pour on top. Since we used oranges, our glaze was made from orange marmalade, heated on low until it was nice and melty. If you used strawberries, you'd use some strawberry preserves. If you used raspberries, you'd melt some raspberry preserves. If you use watermelon or figs or bananas, you're on your own.... After the glaze, you simply cover the cheesecake with foil and refrigerate it for at least 6 hours.
Later, you have a dessert that any kid would be proud of and make goofy faces over. Ingredients crust: 14 square graham crackers, 1/4 c. butter, 1 TBSP sugar filling: 1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened , 1 c. whipping cream, 1 tsp. vanilla topping: 2 small cans mandarin oranges, 1/2 c. orange marmalade (or whatever fruit you choose) That same night, Annaleigh was in charge of the actual meal, although I think all of us were totally willing to just scarf the cheesecake and call it a night. She made chicken fingers, dipping sauce, fries and a salad. First, we made the breading for the chicken....
One thing that makes this recipe even more kid-friendly is the breading is made from a combination of Cheez-It crackers and regular bread crumbs. And, you can see, we chose to break up the crackers in the the food processor and nix the rolling pin again. Then she began the breading process...
I think anyone who has breaded meat before, probably knows this process. She dipped the fingers in a little milk, then the crumb mixture, then arranged on a baking pan. Obviously, you need to stress the thorough washing of hands since they are knuckle-deep in salmonella. Then you simply bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or so. And wa-la...
While the chicken was baking, we also threw in some frozen fries, and she prepared a salad. She also made some dipping sauce, which consisted of some mayo, Dijon mustard, and honey. Ingredients chicken fingers: about 1.5 lbs. of chicken breasts, cut into strips , 1 c. of Cheez-Its, 1/4 c. dry bread crumbs, 1/2 c. milk or buttermilk dipping sauce: 1/2 c. mayo or salad dressing, 4 tsps Dijon mustard, 1 TBSP honey (I melt in the microwave for a few seconds for easier blending) Oh...and for Pete's sake, make them clean up the kitchen....
...or otherwise, what's the point?! |
Posted in family
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...and, oh boy, is it great when they come from behind! There's nothing more exciting! Harrison had his first soccer game of the season on Saturday. And while it delighted me to see him so excited about it, I was just sort of ho-hum about the whole thing. I'm not a huge soccer fan. Well, okay, I'm not a soccer fan at all. I don't really know much about it. I never watched it on TV. I only played it in 8th grade PE and was humiliated to be the only goalie in our entire two-week unit to allow the other team to score. I couldn't help it, but I was checking out a hangnail, and the next thing I knew a ball was kicked into the goal behind me. It could have happened to anyone....I think. So, anyway, we get up at the crack of dawn and trek to the field. We went to the wrong one first, but that's another story. When we finally got to the right place, we pack up our folding chairs, our cooler, and half us head to the bathroom, that half being myself and Indiana Mimi. When we finally hike what seemed to be five miles to the correct field, Harrison's game is already underway, and they are losing 2-0. Great...
(There's Harrison, in black and red, going in for the ball between two green guys.) I know we as parents encourage our kids that playing sports is not all about winning, but who are we kidding? We all want to win, and we especially want our kids to do well....and win. It's just a cold, hard fact. So we just all set up our folding chairs and settled in for what we thought might be a disappointing morning. To make things worse the other team scored another goal.
(Harrison's team getting the mid-game pep talk. Harrison's #5.)
(Three of Harrison's fans at half-time...do you call it half-time in soccer?...smiling, sort of, through our sweat and tears.) I love a good comeback, sports story. I think ever since I was little and allowed to watch The Bad News Bears, I have loved that kind of story line. (Not that I think that's a good movie for children because Walter Matthau and most of the adolescents cuss like sailors all through it.) You always know how they are going to end, but you still sit through them anyway because they're fun and totally feel-good. Remember the Titans, Miracle, Facing the Giants, Rudy...I could go on and on. Well, I'll just cut through all the details of the second half and get right to the point....HARRISON'S TEAM WON THE GAME 5-3!!!! The second half of the game it was like another team was playing. They kept the ball almost exclusively on the other side of the field and scored goal after goal. It wasn't a one-man show either. They were passing and blocking and whatever other good things they do in soccer of which I'm clueless, but it was beautiful. Just beautiful.
Harrison played goalie in the fourth quarter, or whatever they call it, and as you can see, had a pretty boring time of it, as his team kept the ball far away from their goal. He did get to block once, and never was he caught picking at a hangnail like his mother so many years ago.
(The final "good game" hand shake.)
I guess the moral of this story is, that certainly winning is not everything, but it sure is fun....especially when you're down 3-1 at half-time...or whatever it's called. |
Posted in family
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I know that I'm probably in the minority in this, but I really don't like summer all that much. I don't like extreme heat, and I live in the south. I don't really care for the beach all that much...or really the pool either. Bright sunshine isn't my thing. I prefer sweaters over shorts any day. And I like school. Yet here we are mid-September practically, the fall season is knocking on my door, and I find myself already looking back to a really great summer. A couple of weeks ago I had my kids write in their journals about their summer vacations, so I thought I'd highlight a few of the things they wrote about as a sort-of farewell to the season. Harrison: "I went to baseball camp."
Annaleigh: "I went to drama camp."
"We ate a lot of ice cream."
"We went gem mining when we were on vacation."
"We played on the Wii a lot."
"We spent a week at Ma & Pa's."
"We went fishing."
(Harrison: "Psst...and mine was a lot bigger than Sis's!") "We played in the creek with our dad."
"We went to a regional TKD tournament and won a couple of medals."
"We got our new curriculum in the mail."
"We visited Chattanooga."
Harrison: "I learned to dive and swim more than just the dog-paddle." Annaleigh: "I attempted to do a can-opener better than my dad's."
Annaleigh: "I had some...ahem...new developments. Ha, ha...just kidding...I just learned how to fill the top of my bathing suit up with air and water."
"We watched our Mom's belly grow larger...
and larger...
and larger...
...and we can't hardly believe it, but it's STILL growing!" While I can't really say that summer's my favorite time of year, looking back definitely makes me happy for the happy times with my family and the joy on my kids' faces. Now, let's bring on the fall. I'm tired of swollen ankles! |
