We hope to share bits of our family life with you, to keep in touch and to encourage you to walk with God. http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:54:00 -0500 Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:54:00 -0500 Hey, family and friends, I'm moving this blog over to http://anneelliott.com/blog/ Come check it out and subscribe to my RSS feeder (or email me and I'll just let you know when I post something new). I probably won't be posting here again. Love, ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/608087/ Tue, 21 Oct 2008 18:54:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/608087/ Kacey is so cute.  Whenever she wants comfort, she sticks her finger in her mouth and then... grabs my hair!  Ouch!  So I'm trying to teach her to grab her OWN hair, lol.  She does like her own hair, but there just isn't as much of it, I guess.  What a kid... ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/552950/ Thu, 26 Jun 2008 11:57:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/552950/ Hi, everyone, For those of you who couldn't see Arik's robot, try now.  The settings were set so only I could view it.  :-)  It should work now. Our kitty died late Wednesday night.  She was just too dehydrated.  Our close friends (and our church's associate pastor), the Thompson family, moved away yesterday.  Conrad is taking a senior pastorate in Andrews, Indiana.  We will miss ALL of them.  Kaitlyn was best friends with Olivia, Caleb was a year younger than Arik, and their little Claire was the same age as Kandice.  Stef was one of the closest friends I've had in a long time.  The youth group had a farewell party last night, and at the end, they drove out and headed on their way.  They were hoping to make it to at least Peoria, IL, last night.  Ug!  Their kids spent a lot of time at our house this weekend, so it would be easier to pack the truck.  So yesterday was full of tears.  We will sure miss them!  It leaves such a hole to have friends go.  Well, this is our last week of school.  Kraig finishes on Wednesday.  Yippee... summer! Hugs to all, ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/541700/ Mon, 2 Jun 2008 10:01:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/541700/ It was a big day at the Elliott house.  Kacey has had a good few days, getting good sleep and being sweet.  She started sitting up all by herself on the floor a few days ago, and she's been crawling like crazy a few days before Mother's Day.  She's learned how to push the buttons on my computer and pull out cords.  (Ohhhh... some parts of babyhood I wish we could just skip!) But today she was so fussy!  I figured it was because no one in our house was really feeling so great today.  Maybe that was it, but tonight, as we were cuddling before bed, I heard a grinding noise coming from her little mouth.  Sure enough, she has a new tooth!  It's her third, and it's her top right middle tooth.  But that's not all that happened today!  We have a new cat!  Actually, she's approximately 8-10 weeks old.  We saw her for the first time almost a week ago.  She was in our yard the day we mowed the lawn.  But she was very afraid, and she finally escaped back into the weeds.  We decided she must have returned to her mother.  But we've been watching for her.  Our neighbor mowed today, and in the freshly clipped grass, there was a tiny kitten again.  She's much weaker today and not nearly as spunky.  So we've assumed that she's been on her own and has no mother.  She's very, very tiny... very, very hungry... very, very sleepy.  Kraig brought her inside.  She was shivering, so after we cuddled awhile and warmed her up, we gave her some warm milk.  She's already learning to use the litter box, but she spent most of the day sleeping on my tummy.  (Since I wasn't feeling so hot today, that was just fine with me!)  Yes, that's where she is right now, too.  The kids and Daddy have been having a "name-the-kitty" conference.  I'll have to tell you later what they decide.  Do you think this many people can ever agree on a kitty name?  I have my doubts... Hugs, ~Anne P.S.  Kitty is yellow with white patches all over, plus white rings on her tail.  If you have an opinion on an appropriate name, leave it in the comments.  But knowing Kraig, he'll make an "executive decision" soon.  After he chooses between one of the thirteen names already listed on the white board.  Seriously... http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/538966/ Tue, 27 May 2008 21:31:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/538966/ Well, Arik has entered a contest with Lego Mindstorm, where he had to make a robot of the future.  We had a lot of fun doing it!  He has mounted his picture and essay, and they are inside a cool-looking folder from Wal-mart.  They're going into the mailbox!  This really made a good school project.  I know he learned a lot. Here are pictures so you can see.  The text of his essay is below, in case it's hard to read: Robo Rescue is a robot prototype that enters buildings, locates people, and evacuates them.  It enters and moves around buildings with claw fire extinguishers, four magnetic treads, each with independent steering, state-of-the-art programming, and a size of only 1.5 feet high, 3 feet long, and 1.5 feet wide, making it very maneuverable.  It locates people with ten types of scanners.  It evacuates people with a radar beacon and can carry them out because it can lift twenty tons.  Considering the technology, I think it could be made by the year 2040. In August, we all need to go to www.LegoMindstorms.com and see if he is a winner!  The prize is a Mindstorm NXT set.  He would love that! Love, ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/537305/ Sat, 24 May 2008 09:24:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/537305/ Well, here I sit at my computer.  It's been such a nice day!  The first three days of this week, I was tired, but I seem to have caught a second wind.  Today, I've been decluttering an office that has been sorely abused the past few weeks, and it feels... oh, so good!  I'm eating a bowl of soup left over from lunch.  Penny Dog is outside barking at nothing.  Kraig is enjoying some video games, er, quiet time.  The kids are all tucked into bed, and it's quiet so they might be sleeping!  We had a little celebration for his birthday today, even though we're officially celebrating at his mom's house this weekend.  The kids surprised him by hanging streamers around the dining room and decorating the house with football stuff.  (Surprised, aren't you?)  Arik made him a batch of Tollhouse cookies.  (He's getting to be pretty good at those!)  We took the pan of cookies outside and put candles in them and sang out there as the sun was setting.  Penny howled as usual.  It was fun. Now my soup is gone and I'm getting sleeeeeeepy.  I'll write again in a few months soon! Love to all, ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/529429/ Thu, 8 May 2008 21:56:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/529429/ I can't believe it!  I had a feeling some weeks would be like this.  It's been a GOOD week... just a little busier than normal.  We went down to Missouri on Wednesday to see my friend Jo.  She is expecting another baby any day now.  We had such a great time visiting!  Her other four are getting SO tall.  Her sister Shela (and kids) came over.  She's expecting Baby #7 any day now, too.  We're wondering which sister will have her baby first!  We all had lunch together -- have you ever prepared sandwiches for 20 people?!  It was so much fun.  The time went too fast, and then we were having to say goodbye again. I joined our church's bell choir in January, with the idea that I could teach Arik how to do it so he'd be ready when he's old enough to join in the fall.  Ha!  It's harder to play those bells than I thought!  We perform for the first time this weekend, and I'm so nervous!    I even had a dream about it the other night... whoo, boy! Well, tonight Kraig is taking me to the high school play... "Death by Chocolate," I think it's called.  It's a dinner theater, and the actors will be serving us during the play.  Sounds like so much fun! May you have a restful and peaceful weekend, too! Hugs, ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/498352/ Fri, 14 Mar 2008 08:59:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/498352/ Ug... Good morning?! Is anyone else here messed up by Daylight Savings Time?  It's 8:33, and I could swear that my kids are acting like it's really 7:33.  Small wonder...  our bodies are designed by God to adjust to the sunlight in the sky in the morning, and our cortisol levels respond accordingly.  "Changing times and seasons" isn't healthy for our bodies.  I have proof! Check out this amazing article from Biology New Net! So does this mean we should throw out the whole DST thing?  Well, I guess I can't do that and still live in society.  But... as a homeschooling mom, I'm going to try to come up with some solutions.  Stay tuned!  Maybe I'll win the Nobel Peace Prize some day for keeping humanity sane. Or at least I can keep the Elliott house sane. ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/495813/ Mon, 10 Mar 2008 08:33:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/495813/ Don't faint!  I've uploaded lots of pictures online... pictures from Kandice's, Arik's, and Kaitlyn's birthdays, Christmas, Baby Kacey, and even our muddy roads!  You can see them all online at http://picasaweb.google.com/123456elliott Enjoy! ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/493737/ Thu, 6 Mar 2008 14:54:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/493737/ Okay, Grandmothers, I know you're dying for a picture of Kacey.  I've been playing with my digital camera this morning.  It's a little Zina Mini Cam, small enough to put on my keychain.  (My kids know how to use it better than I do!  But I'm learning.) Here is a picture I took of Kacey.  I think it came out pretty good, for it being such a tiny little camera. I found out I can do live webcam stuff, too.  No idea what I'm doing!  But if I learn, wouldn't it be fun to use? Stay tuned.... ~Anne http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/492819/ Wed, 5 Mar 2008 08:35:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/anneelliott/492819/