Dwell together in unity...Psalm 133:1

Goldilocks turned 2 on Saturday. 

In the few weeks leading up to her birthday she has been gearing up for what many call the "Terrible Twos." She is a wonderful, sweet child, but she does have her moments of testing her independence and limits. Fortunately for her, we won't have any of it. She has tried, without success, to share her obstinate attitude with everyone. She is learning that it is much more fun to sit pleasantly in her highchair and eat than to sit on her bed during suppertime. The consequences for hitting, biting, and (a new one this week) pinching aren't fun either. G was having a hard time with her pinching the other night and I had to explain to him that even when Goldilocks chooses not to be nice to him, he still needs to be nice to her.
 
Home/office schooling is going.  I'm not sure how well, but we're plugging along. Even though The Man wasn't in the office here in town today, the rest of us went in so I could take care of some things. Before lunch a child wandered into the office area quite offended. Someone had not been nice to the child. Poor child. G overheard the lamenting and went over to the child.

"I want to tell you something," said G. "Mommy said when Goldilocks is not nice to me, I can still be nice to her. I think you should be nice to ____________." Offended child and I tried hard to keep our faces straight while offended child nodded and agreed with G.  

G will turn 4 at the end of this month. I am so happy that he was not only listening to me, but he remembered and was able to apply the principle to another situation!

Teach them diligently...Deuteronomy 6:7

I'm borrowing my first day of school blog title from a few years. We DID start school on Tuesday.  Here are the kids in their little room at the mercantile building.  This is the "delighted" version.  I'll post the version with the flash over on facebook.

I could try to come up with a creative explanation for the tilted picture.  I think it is easiest just to say that I took a bad picture and I don't feel like straightening it right now.  So sorry.

The kids worked for a while, then I started hearing suspicious sounds.  A quick peak out the back office door revealed they were playing learning about the principles of aerodynamics. I told J to measure first to make sure he wouldn't get scalped while zooming under the table.

It would have been terrible to have a first day of school made up of injuries, staples, and stitches.  Even Goldilocks joined in on the fun.

The two little ones were sick yesterday.  Since S wasn't feeling so great either, he took yesterday morning off to stay home with them. J stayed home in the afternoon so S could do some school.

Today we will get ready for our backpack trip we are leaving on tomorrow.  Tomorrow we will be backpacking.  Back to school on Monday!

I might learn...Psalm 119:71

I've said we're going to start school "after Labor Day." Now I'm contemplating WHICH day after Labor Day we are starting...today? tomorrow? next week? I'm not feeling very motivated today, but I don't foresee that changing with the calendar pages.

I need to go back in to the office today, so I think we will do a dry run with our new school room with no patients in the building. I am not sure how we are going to do and balance everything, but we can all learn together.

Bring forth frogs abundantly...Exodus 8:3

Now for an update on the next son! J will be in 10th grade this year. He will be taking Algebra II, Chemistry Botany/Zoology (I knew that, but was confused when writing this post), History (medieval), English, music lessons (most likely trumpet this year), foreign language TBD, p.e., and other various activities. It will be after Labor Day before we start our school year, so we still have time to figure out a few things. I think he will be interested in starting driver training, but that will probably be in January or later.

J rolled his eyes when I asked him to go weigh himself and measure his height. Hey, I need this information for the baby book, right? His height measures 67 3/4", which is about 5 inches taller than my height. His weight is 118 pounds (he hasn't passed me up there :P ). With a shoe size of 10 or 11, he passed up M's shoe size.

He has grown a lot this year and is dealing with the problems that can come with that, including, but not limited to, knee joints locking at inopportune times and pants that resemble tattered capris. I'm only sort of kidding about that last part.  We do have him properly clothed most of the time. He is just about at the point that he can no longer receive M's other hand-me-downs, and he does like to wear his familiar, comfortable clothes no matter how small or worn out they get. I usually don't mind what he wears here around the ranch, as long as he is presentable when we "go to town." 

The Man told J to just be careful how he bends and twists his knees since his problems usually occur when he is kneeling on the couch and shifts around. Yesterday he came in the living room to sit down on the couch beside me and I told him to be careful with his legs. "I should probably just cut them off," he said. I raised my eyebrows in surprise at that declaration. Then he realized that I was more concerned about his knees than the gaping holes in the knees of his pants!

We have so many tree frogs this year. In the evenings we can sit on the front step and watch the frogs hopping all over the yard. We've even had quite a few make their way into the house (ick!) which we've never had issues with before. 

I'll end this post with a picture I took in our front yard this past week. I'm sure the tree frog was very thankful for his long legs as he was able to escape the jaws of baby garter snake. 

As I said on facebook, maybe the snake will have better success next time. If you only go after the ones you're sure you can get, you'll never know your potential!

End of the year...Exodus 23:15

No more apologies for not writing more here. When I'm at the computer I usually only have one free hand to type, which doesn't make for effective blogging. The Man has taken Baby S to be changed and put to bed. As soon as she's asleep, I'll put myself to bed, so hopefully this will be a short post!

I suppose it is trite to say that I don't know where this past year has gone...but I'm not even sure what happened to yesterday. Twenty-ten has been a very eventful year for our family. I hope that 2011 brings more time to enjoy the everyday pleasures.

I'll try to give an update since my last post. All of these items are very deserving of their own separate posts, but that's not going to happen...

M: Got the results for the PSAT he took in November.
> > BRAG ALERT < <
He scored in the 99th percentile of juniors who took the test. That was his very first standardized, non-mommy given test. I've always known he was a smart kid, but it is nice to get some valid confirmation of that. I was quite relieved that I haven't totally ruined him academically by homeschooling him.

J: Almost as tall as me now. He's been told he can no longer wear my garden shoes to make quick runs outside since he's been stretching them out.

S: Backyard Ballistics was finally available to be checked out from the library. There are PVC weapons in the entryway and I found two potatoes under his bed when I vacuumed today.

A: The Man made her a loom for Christmas so she's learning the fine art of weaving. She LOVES singing and rocking her baby sister to sleep.

G: Cute, cute, cute. And he knows it. Very smart kid, but he still isn't talking. He got a Candy Land game for Christmas so we could "teach" him his colors. He beat me yesterday. I guess he already knew his colors! He absolutely adores his baby sister. Unfortunately he hasn't learned the difference between sharing a doll with her and whacking her on the head with a doll. "Gentle!"

Baby S: Smiling, giggling, cooing, and sleeping well through the night. She is a very sweet and happy baby. I can't believe that she is quickly outgrowing clothes that were swallowing her up a few short weeks ago. She had her first bite of real food yesterday. She was sitting on my lap next to G's high chair. While my head was turned G stuck his spoon into her mouth. Wild rice soup seems to agree with her!

The Man: Over the course of a few weeks, he replaced some rotten boards on our bridge so we had to drive through our pasture to get to the road. He still has a bit more to do, but it is functional.

The creek started flowing again on Christmas. It has been rather wet the past month. A bit of snow is still on the ground outside and it has been getting down into the teens the past few nights. Brrrr.

I still hear Baby S, but I'm yawning and ready to go to bed anyway. May you have a blessed and happy new year!

Waiting...Proverbs 8:34

I was hoping all the posting I did during the month of July would give me the momentum to keep blogging. Oh, well...I had good intentions!

Baby is growing just fine. Hopefully we will get to meet baby soon. The doctor says any day (hour?) now.

The kids are all doing ok. J and S had sore throats and fevers last week, but seem to be all better now. The Man came down with the sore throat and fever within the past few days and even stayed home from work today (rare occurrence). Tonight he did a strep test which was positive. I'm praying the rest of us stay well.

M is now a few weeks into his junior year of high school. Pre-calculus and Chemistry are the new courses for the year in addition to the standard English, History, PE, Music, and Spanish. He spent a few hours this week with a missionary from Costa Rica to practice his Spanish dialogue and vocabulary. We need to get him over to the local high school soon to sign up for the PSAT coming up next month.

We are still easing into all the subjects for the 3 middle kids. We are trying to work on a routine that enables all the kids to get the varied help from me, the very pregnant mama, while keeping G out of all the "fun" stuff the older kids get to do.

J is in eighth grade this year. S is in fifth grade and claims he loves school more than any of the other kids do. Sacagawea is in 3rd grade and doing very well despite the fact that she has so much more work this year than in years past.

G has tins of cars, animals, blocks, and puzzles that had been in storage. These "new" toys are keeping him quite occupied while the others do their school work.This is the first time we have had a single toddler while trying to full-time homeschool everyone else. It is a new learning adventure for all of us.

Given my most recent blogging history, this is likely to be my last post as a mother of 5! I will try to get pictures up of #6 as soon as possible. They will probably appear over on facebook before here, and we've already promised grandparents that they get a call before info goes on facebook!

I'm trying to decide whether to go to bed now or stay up timing contractions...how's that for a cliff-hanger?

Deliver me out of the mire...Psalm 69:14

The county fair started last Wednesday and ended yesterday. For the fifth year in a row, our church staffed a booth at the fair. I always look forward to the fair starting, praying that we won't have the VeggieTales nearby. By Sunday, I'm glad it is almost over! So, that's where I've been the past week. As in the past few years, Grandma came to stay with kids while The Man and I were busy with the fair.

Yesterday morning after breakfast it was discovered the kitchen sink was clogged. Despite using drain opener, many tools, and a plumber's snake, it is still clogged. This morning The Man crawled under the house and discovered the clean-out pipe. He said he should be able to clean that out tonight.

While The Man was under the house I was in the bathroom with some improvised dishpans in the bathtub washing up all the dishes from yesterday. Those were put away right after breakfast and another load was washed (yes, we're using paper plates, but we still generate lots of dishes!). Then I tackled the stove top, kitchen counters, and sink. When those were clean (no easy feat without running water in the kitchen), I boxed up all the stuff from under the sink that was scattered on the floor and put that on the counter. Then, I mopped the floor in front of the sink so the kitchen looks a lot less scary and actually resembles a kitchen!

A sign is on the bathroom door reminding the children to use one of the other toilets in the house since I have a slight issue with them using a toilet with dishes drying a few feet away. Hopefully the kitchen will be put back together within the next day or so. I AM thankful that this happened on the last day of the fair instead of the first!

For school, M is finishing up a few things from last year. What needs to be ordered for this next school year has been decided and the orders will actually be placed in the next week or so. I'm tentatively planning on starting after Labor Day weekend.

J almost has the entryway back in order, Sacagawea is cleaning out the toy box in the living room, and I'm ready to go rescue some laundry from the dryer. The schoolroom was in the midst of a major overhaul when the fair started and it really needs to be finished this week. I have some green beans and peaches begging to be frozen, but I think I'll wait until tomorrow in hopes of having running water in the kitchen. Ahhh...don't be shocked if you don't see another update soon!

Flower of the field...Psalm 103:15

Here is what M has been working on for his botany project. There are a lot of blank spaces that he'll come back later and fill in, but for now, it is just an online place to store pictures of the flowers and other plants he identifies. He has several more that he just hasn't added to the blog yet, so keep checking back!

It was infinite...Nahum 3:9

It has been a few years since we began celebrating Pi Day...hey, any reason to celebrate is good!

This morning got off to a slow start due to the dreaded springing forward of the time (Boo! Hiss!). Since I didn't have to endure it growing up in Indiana, I grudgingly reset the clocks two times a year now. Please, someone, make it stop!

After lunch, some friends came over and took all the boys up on the hill across from our house to do a bit of rock climbing while Sacagawea and I went up to the city to attend a school play. When we got home, the climbers still hadn't returned, so we quickly made a blackberry pi/e. It was done by the time we all finished supper. It was yummy with some homemade coconut milk ice cream!

We ended Pi Day by singing hymns 314, 159, and 265 for our evening worship. Yes, we are geeks!

Faith comes by hearing...Romans 10:17

Just a quick post to let you know about a fun resource we came across. Faith Comes by Hearing has hundreds of audio Bibles for free download or online listening. They have several English versions from KJV to dramatized versions (and M did laugh quite a bit at the wise men's accents). Almost any language we could think of was there. Russian? Yes. Burmese? Yes. Especially for the Dr. Rabbit fans, there is also Karen. If you are interested in developing an ear for a certain language, this is great since you can easily follow along in English.

*****
Since today marks not only G's 16th month, but also my nephew O's 4th birthday, I'll take this opportunity to say Happy Birthday to the boys! They both keep getting more and more handsome.

Give thanks...Psalm 92:1

"Mommy, is there a way I can cool this up?" inquired Sacagawea last Friday. Apparently the just-made almond milk was too warm for her. I told her that things are cooled down and warmed up.

"But it can be cool up in the mountains," explained M.

"And it can be warm down in the valley, " added J.

I have such helpful boys! They are such quick thinkers...someday I may appreciate it more!

Speaking of appreciation, Sacagawea handed me this note last Friday...

"You aer the best mommy teacher. I Love you."

We will work on spelling later.

Poison (again)...James 3:8

I've started posts a few times to update y'all on school, but something always interrupts before I hit "Publish." The kids are all tucked in bed now and The Man is on his way home from the hospital with more meds for the Dog, so I have a few minutes now. What? More meds for the Dog? Yes. Again. Grrrr. Of course the vet is out of town, but we still know people. Hopefully the meds he brings home in addition to the stuff we've already given him that was left over from last year will fix him up soon.

School is going okay, I think. M is busy from the time he gets up in the morning until he goes to bed at night. At least it should keep him out of trouble. Those of you that know M personally know that he is the one least likely to get into trouble in the first place. He is doing a lot more this year and we're still not quite sure how all the classes will work out, but we'll keep going a week or two at a time.

J is in 7th this year. He decided he wanted to switch back to Saxon Math this year (from Teaching Textbooks) and is in Algebra 1/2 (pre-algebra). So far he is doing well, although the novelty of the new school year has definitely worn off now. You may read into that statement what you will, but that's all I'm saying about that.

S is in 4th grade. Fortunately he is still an eager learner and can pretty much direct himself with his work.

Sacagawea is enjoying 2nd grade, although she is realizing that it isn't as easy as 1st grade! She still has plenty of time to play with G.

G is into and onto everything. Crawling is still quicker than walking, but he loves to climb! We have to be careful to push the kitchen chairs back under the table all the way, or he climbs right on up.

I hear The Man driving back in, so I need to go help administer more meds!

Wild by nature...Romans 11:24

Hi! Did you miss us? The past few weeks have been very full. Last weekend we were backpacking (I'm uploading pictures to Facebook right now). G turned 10 months old last week. Yesterday G decided to do more than move one foot and took an actual step. Today I noticed that his first top tooth is starting to push through to join the 2 he has on the bottom. There. Now G's babyblog has been updated!

Our summer is winding to a close. Tomorrow we are starting school! It was supposed to happen last Monday, but life wouldn't allow it. We're still waiting for some books to arrive, but we have enough to start.

We've spent the last two weeks sorting out a schedule for M (10th grade). We've settled on a tentative schedule that we'll try for 2 weeks. After that, parents and student may feel the need to adjust some things.

I spent 2 hours this afternoon making sure everything was in order for the other 3 school-aged children. It wasn't, but a quick on-line order took care of that. If only all our problems could be solved so easily.

We're praying for a very non-eventful first day of school. I'm sure you'll hear about it if it's not.

Just a few pictures of our summer...

This is The Man helping me remove a garter snake from a canning jar. I happened to be carrying the empty jar into the house when the snake was discovered in the grass. I caught it myself. Yes, I did. I really did. I even held it. I don't know why I did such a thing, but I think that I might have enjoyed it.
Sacagawea picked up this preying mantis while she was playing outside.
The Man and J built this raft while they were on a special father-son backpacking trip in July.
G loves books just as much as his siblings. This is M reading G one of M's very favorite books (ok, it was his favorite a dozen years ago)...

"No more pictures, Mom! I want to go to bed!"
Good night!

News...Proverbs 25:25

We are doing fine, but we all haven't quite mastered the art of multitasking. Between feedings, diaper changes, and much needed rest periods, blogging hasn't been a priority.

At one week, G's weight was back up to 7 lbs., 8 ozs. At two weeks he was 7 lbs., 14 ozs., and last Saturday he weighed 8 lbs. 4 ozs. We did take him to the hospital a week ago on Sunday to have his bilirubin checked. It was over 15 with the scan and blood test. Very high, but not high enough to start treatment. His color has improved tremendously. I may stop by and have him scanned again today while we are up in the city just to see how far it has come down. (The preceding paragraph is more for my own information than yours...this may the closest thing G will have for a baby book!)

Night times are pretty good with G usually going down between 10-11 and waking up at 2-3 a.m. and again at 5-6. Last night he went down at about 11 and didn't wake up until 5:30.

This is a photo I took this morning of S and G. Obviously some of us are learning to multitask...
G is awake again and wanting to eat. Hope you all have a Merry Christmas (just in case I don't get back here before then!) and a Happy New Year!

Could not sleep...Esther 6:1

I went to bed at about 9:00 last night. I slept well until about 11:30 when I woke up with an intermittent backache. I stayed in bed for a half hour, then I got up and took a hot shower. That seemed to help some, but I still couldn't get to sleep. After tossing and turning for over an hour, I moved to the couch. I've been here for over an hour. I'm a bit more comfortable, but I don't think sleep will come anytime soon, so I thought I might as well update the blog!

The baby seems to be fine. He or she (I'm trying to quit referring to the baby as "It") is still very active. Sometimes the head is down, sometimes up, sometimes the baby is sideways. Hopefully a favorable position will be settled on soon. We have less than a month to go as long as this baby is as prompt as the siblings were! We are still working on names.

On Tuesday there was a surprise party for The Man's assistant. He became a US citizen last week! We had a lot of fun and about 100 people from the valley showed up to congratulate him. It was quite a feat to have a surprise party when nearly the whole town knew about it!

The Man has changed his work schedule so he is off on Wednesdays when we drive up north for M's music lessons. M has his piano lessons in the morning, then we go to the library, eat lunch, and M's violin lesson is in the early afternoon. Once or twice I've ventured on up to the big city to do some shopping either before or after the lessons, but I've decided that it makes for too hectic of a day while I'm pregnant. Now that The Man is going with us (or I can stay at home), I can fit a nap in the schedule. It is a lot easier to nap when I'm not the one driving ;) !

Last week was the first time The Man was able to go to the library up there with us. We were able to get a card because of the reciprocal arrangement they have with neighboring counties. That is pretty cool considering it is in the next state! The library is a lot bigger than our local county library, and I'm excited that they actually have most of the books that I search for.

The kids get quite a bit of their schooling done on the drive up the lessons (one hour from our house to the piano studio) and I'm able to help the younger kids with most of the rest of it during M's 1-hour piano lesson. Anything they don't complete is worked on instead of playing in the park after lunch. That's been incentive enough for them to complete all of their work promptly! They look at their library books during M's violin lesson.

Yesterday was busy with a lot of cooking and cleaning. I tried doing mostly supervising, but sometimes if I want something done a certain way, I just have to do it myself. I think the vacuuming I did is why my back is bothering me this morning.

I'm going to try to go back to bed now. It is only 2 1/2 hours until I'm supposed to get up!

All pleasant pictures...Isaiah 2:16

Update at bottom!

Two weeks since my last post? No wonder folks are calling to see if I'm ok. We're just fine. Busy. Tired. Fine.
We did our school pictures last Tuesday. We made it to the top of the hill behind the house, down in the dry creek bed, and several places in between. I took just under 300 pictures. About 50 of my favorites (nice, silly, and a few Sacagawea may be embarrassed about in a few years) have been uploaded online (quite a feat, since it took nearly all day on Friday with our dial-up). Click on the link above on the right to send me an email if you would like to see them.

UPDATE: It seems the email with the link is ending up in some junk email folders. Try this: http://tinyurl.com/treeriversmith EXCEPT, take "smith" out of that url and enter our real last name!

Teach them diligently...Deuteronomy 6:7

Warning:
This post contains photos that may not
be suitable for squeamish visitors.
Viewer discretion is advised.

Last week we "officially" started our school year. The kids have all been doing some school since the new books started arriving in the mail. M couldn't wait to get started on his Spanish, J was eager (yes, eager!) to do his new math program, and Sacagawea begged to start reading. S was the only one who wasn't keen on starting school...until I told him that if Sacagawea kept up at the pace she was going, she would pass him up by the end of the year. That got him started!

Our school day started promptly at 8:30 as The Man was leaving for work. He gave a health & safety lecture/demonstration as he removed the stitches from S's leg. One of them out... Then the next one... Then the third... All done... There! I certainly hope S learned that lesson!

The Man gave M his assignments and then went to the office. I decided we (the three younger children and I) were going to ease into the school year by just doing science on Monday. I really like the Apologia Zoology book we are using this year. After I read the first part of the chapter, J and S got started on an experiment related to why birds are able to fly. It involved experimenting with water and air currents. Once they got the table (and each other) nice and wet, I had them dry off the table (and the floor) and take their water outside where they could experiment to their hearts' content. Then, Sacagawea and I sat down at the table and got started on her bird lapbook. It was loads of fun, involving lots of paper, glue, and staples.

Just before 1:00, I called a certain child to clear the table for lunch. I heard a scream. Apparently the child decided to play with an item instead of putting it away.

"Take me to Daddy's clinic, NOW!" the child wailed.

I tried to hold in my giggles at the predicament in which the child had placed himself. It was NOT funny. The child was in pain. "There's no reason to go to the clinic, Daddy is on his way home for lunch." I did attempt to call The Man on his cell phone, but he didn't have it on yet, so I called the office. He had just left, but I was transferred to The Man's assistant. I explained the predicament, and after he asked a few questions about the situation, I was given permission to deal with it on my own.

I went back inside (I had gone outside to place the call since the child was crying too loudly) and explained that The Man was on his way home, but I could take care of it...right after I took a picture (to show The Man, of course).

"NO! YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BLOG THIS!" *

Yes, the staple went in all the way. After I took the picture and retrieved the pliers, the child refused to let me touch it, but preferred to wait for The Man. Fine. I did give him some OTC pain reliever, not that I thought it would do any good, but I wanted him to think I was trying to help.

We went into the living room and I read him a book to calm him down while everyone else started eating. He was afraid he was going to lose the finger until I told him that people go to the ER all the time to have The Man put staples INTO them. He was going to be just fine.

I tried calling The Man again, and was able to get through. I told him not to stop anywhere, including the post office, on the way home, but just come home. He arrived a few minutes later. The child still did not want it removed. He insisted on a shot of Lidocaine until The Man explained that the type he had would hurt worse than the removal. After about 10 minutes, he finally consented to The Man pulling it out of his finger. Less than a second later, it was out and the child was on the mend.

Whew! We made it through the first day of school...barely! Fortunately the rest of the week involved more academics and less drama and trauma.

Over in the sidebar to the right I have included some of the books the children are using this year. Those are not complete lists (I haven't included the Bible/character resources...we use so many and they vary from day to day), nor do we do every item every single day. They may or may not be the exact edition we are using, and they may or may not be linked to the exact place we bought them from, but I tried to include links to all of our favorite homeschool suppliers. Please let me know if you find any broken/wrong links. I put those lists together rather quickly.

Some of the items are things we have used in the past, such as the Story of the World history series. I really like the activity books and CDs. I can do one or two other things while they are listening to the chapter being read to them, then they can go outside to work on the activity. This week they gathered sticks to build nomadic shelters. "We're HAPPY! We're No-mad!" they declared to The Man when he arrived home for lunch on Tuesday. They pulled him outside after lunch to inspect the structures.

Other items, such as Rod and Staff English, are new for our homeschool. The reading program that M used through his elementary years had quite a bit of English built into it, but the reading program the other two boys are using isn't quite as extensive. Since J has never done "English" before, I started him with S at level 3. J is breezing through it, and I'll probably have him skip the next book or two if he continues doing well.

M thrived with Saxon math up through Algebra last year. J was doing ok with Saxon, but when I saw the Teaching Textbook program, I thought it might suit him better. I was right. I'm glad we made the switch. Math is far less stressful for both of us. I'll probably use Saxon to supplement some of the lessons, but the computer/audio format works for J.

S's favorite subject is definitely Art! He is loving that this year. I'm loving the art because it is a perfect activity for the children to quietly work on while I take my afternoon nap! S is hovering between 2nd & 3rd grade level work, depending on the subject.

Sacagawea's list seems pretty intensive for a first grader, but she loves doing school. She can get through the entire list of subjects in less than an hour. She plays while I get the boys started, then we work together in between the boys needing help.

The Man and M designed M's freshman year courses. I told The Man that he had to put time limits on how long M could spend on each subject...he was spending so much time in his room studying that J was complaining that he didn't get to see him anymore! He's only been working on 3-4 subjects a day. So far, he seems to be enjoying it all. He's anxious to learn Spanish well before the mission trip to Chile next February!

M did tell me that he needed a graphing calculator for his Algebra (he's finishing up the last few chapters from Algebra I before he starts on the Algebra & Trigonometry). I pulled out mine that I used in high school and college. After we get new batteries for it, it should be suitable at least for this year. I told him that it a piece of history!

*The child later gave complete permission to blog about the incident IF I would finally post the child's birthday post first.

Many books there is no end...Ecclesiastes 12:12

Books, books, books. Anyone that has been in our house knows that we have a lot of books, and that is an understatement. Last month we boxed up nine boxes of books and relocated them to the garage in anticipation of the new school books that had been ordered. Unfortunately, within a few days the empty space had been filled by books from other places around the house. Where were we going to put the new books?

Sew Crafty Friday to the rescue! We measured the other homemade shelves in the same room and figured what dimensions we would need to fit the best space we could come up with for new shelves. The kids and I went up to the big city and bought the lumber (not for the back, The Man said we had plenty of scraps in the shop for the back).

The Man and boys carefully cut, measured, and drilled last Sunday to get the shelves complete. On Monday M stained them (with my supervision). On Monday evening we brought them into the house and started loading them up with books!

Here are the new shelves that The Man and boys put together:


Here is the top:

Here is the bottom:
Once they are filled with books nobody will notice that the grain on the back is horizontal on one shelf and vertical on the other. But I'm NOT complaining. I'm just glad they are DONE and I can fill them. They are almost full already...

Sorry I've been MIA in the blogging realm. Too much to do, and not enough energy to do it all. I have two or three other posts started. I hope to have y'all caught up on our fairly non-eventful (HA!) lives before the baby comes. Speaking of the fair...it is coming up next week.

Oh, I did finally update this post with a picture of The Man's beard. Enjoy.

A great feast...Genesis 21:8

I spent last week recovering from the previous weekend, gutting the younger boys' room of all things that didn't belong in preparation for the seasonal clothing changeover, and getting ready for the end-of-year homeschool potluck/party which was supposed to be held at the local park last Friday. The clothing changeover is on hold since the weather turned very cool last week. And it rained. At 3:00 on Friday afternoon I finally called the other person that was helping with the homeschool party and we agreed that the weather didn't look promising for an outdoor party. I offered the use of our home.

This is where everyone that knows me can dissolve into a puddle of hysterical laughter.

I don't handle surprises or spur-of-the-moment events very well. "Are you sure you want to do that?" asked The Man. He knew better than to call me crazy, but it was not something I would normally do. I had already cleaned the bathrooms Friday morning, the living room and hallway had been vacuumed, Sacagawea vacuumed the bathroom and kitchen floors and J mopped. Sure! Invite dozens of people over! Why not?

The other lady that was helping asked if there was anything I needed. Well, yes, I had just put my last roll of toilet paper in the holder...She laughed and said she would be more than happy to accommodate my just-in-case very reasonable request. She also promised that everyone knew I was pregnant and no one would do a white-glove test on top of my door jams. Phew!

There were 26 children (counting our own) in attendance, ranging in ages from 6 months to 15 years old. Those children were representing 6 families, and with all 12 parents in attendance that brought the grand total of people to 38. The official kid-count by families: 9, 5, 5 (only 3 in attendance), 4+, 3, & 2.
Look! TWO white 15-passenger vans in our driveway, along with the blue 12-passenger and other vehicles. We were definitely having a party! Fortunately the weather was cooperative enough that most of the folks stayed outside on the porch and lawn. When everyone was gone, all I had to do was run a damp mop over the floor to wipe up the spilled lemonade. I didn't even have to haul all of my food around. That wasn't bad for a huge party, and I didn't have to stress about it all week!

Yesterday the younger three kids and I went up to big city and did the shopping. We did remember to buy more tissue. A few more rolls need to be taken out of that package then the remainder will fit nicely in the vanity of the 1/2 bath.
I walked in the bathroom this morning and saw the wrapped tissue on the holder. I laughed, grabbed the camera, and took some more pictures...
Does that wrapper look like someone tampered with it?
Hmmm...hanging against the wall...I just asked the three younger kids who are at home if anyone knew who hung up the roll of tissue in the 1/2 bath. The oldest of the three younger (who wishes to remain anonymous, but I won't let him) admitted to it. He said he put the roll on the holder, used it, then replaced the paper covering as a joke.

Do you put your tissue on the holder with it hanging down in front or against the wall? I hang it in front, but I'm not the type that will go to the trouble of changing it if I happen upon a roll that is hanging against the wall.

War...Revelation 11:7

Last Thursday afternoon as we were on our way back from music lessons we pulled off the freeway and the kids noticed that something being pulled by the vehicle in front of us was pointed right at us. A cannon! A cannon? We quickly figured out that the Civil War reenactment was happening this past weekend and not next weekend like I thought. Hmmm.

The internet confirmed that it was indeed time for the Civil War, which meant that the School Day was last Friday. I had a lot of stuff planned for Friday morning, and I really didn't want to go, but we did.

A "Civil War surgeon" shows us his tools of the trade. There was a "blood" covered rubber foot in the bucket next to him. It must have been a recent amputation.
One of the "nurses" with her medicinal collection...

Some of the essential tools from the 1800s...She claimed this one was great for shooting squirrels!
Here's Sacagawea holding hands with one of B girls...
Learning about some of the latest fashions...
"Clara Barton" tells the children about her life...
This soldier from Texas presented J with a prize because he was the first one to correctly identify the president he was fighting under...Jefferson Davis. The prize? A genuine fake confederate $10 bill!
The cannon...

Sacagawea didn't care for the loud artillery, so while the boys watched the cannon demonstration, she and I strolled down the road to a Union camp. The officer offered her some of his peanuts. My hands were full with the water bottles and cameras so he had to show her how to open up the shells of the goober peas.