Whoever loves instruction loves knowledge...Prov. 12:1

If you are a Philomath, you may enjoy the new feature down at the side or very bottom of this page (it can't seem to decide where it will be). A daily word match and hangman game for your learning pleasure.

Be thankful...Psalm 100:4

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving! The Man worked on Thanksgiving so the kids and I just stayed home and prepared food for our feast on Friday. Here is J chopping an onion for our loaf.
Here is the Pilgrim family watching the onions sauté. I'm not sure why the children look so jaundiced.
Here are the Pilgrims feasting with Squanto and other Indians.

In all labor there is profit...Prov. 14:23

Last month I mentioned our chore chart/laundry system. Considering it was used one week, we went on vacation, we used it one or two more weeks, we went on vacation, and we're starting our 2nd uninterrupted week (which includes a holiday), we're still fine-tuning it all. Before I show you the photo I will say that I had an idea in my mind what it would look like. I was wrong. It wasn't until I was taping up the pockets that I realized how h-u-g-e this monstrosity was going to be. And...colorful...blindingly so. I had ordered 4 packages of the library pockets from a homeschool supply company that will here remain nameless since I'm very aggravated at them right now for this and various other reasons. I received 2 packages of one color scheme and 2 packages of a slightly different color scheme.It is in a handy place, on the side of a kitchen cupboard, that is only visible if you're coming from the computer or the utility room. It consists of 4 sets of cards (one for each child) with 3 cards each for Sunday through Friday. The card for Sabbath mornings is something quick such as making sure the previously-cleaned entry or bathroom is straightened before we leave for church.

What I like about it:
1) It is flexible. When vacations are coming up or I can see that the trash will really need to be taken out tomorrow instead of Wednesday, it is easy to switch a laundry or trash card to the day it actually needs to be done instead of what was scheduled on Sunday night.

2) It doesn't get lost. Previous chore charts have been too portable, which meant they were prone to being buried in a pile of paper.

3) It has been helpful to me that the chores (such as laundry) are spread out over the entire week instead of me doing marathon sorting/washing/drying/sorting/ folding/putting away laundry all day on Friday. Each child has his or her own hamper and on his laundry day he removes the sheets from his bed and those along with his clothing make a good-sized load. He adds the clothes to the machine and is able to fill the cup with detergent. I help the younger two turn on the machine, but they stay and enjoy watching the water fill the machine. Mid-morning I'll remind him to switch the laundry to the dryer (I switch A's) and before supper he puts the clean clothes back in his rolling hamper and takes it to his room where he will fold and put away the laundry and make his bed.

I've adjusted some things to make it as easy as possible for the kids to take care of their own laundry. As they were outgrown or got holey I phased out all white socks for the boys. With the way S & J tend to "lose" their boots outside it was impossible, even with bleach, to keep them white. I have bought a bunch of dark colored socks for the boys so we don't deal with bleach. J and M both have a dozen pairs of identical black socks. The most "unmatched" from any load is one sock. It is simply thrown back in the hamper and will hopefully find a mate the next go-around.

The chart is a lot "fuller" now than it was when I first put it up. I purposely didn't fill in every slot because I knew I would think of other jobs that the kids were capable of that needed to be done on a regular basis. Now the dog gets brushed (almost) every day and mouse traps in the garage are checked 2x a week. Before it was just whenever I happened to think about it.

It is hard to see in the photo, but just to the left of each child's set of cards there is a plain 3x5 card taped up with daily morning activities such as get dressed, put away pjs, brush teeth, make bed, etc. Then, each child has up to three jobs that day. There are other things that I'll ask them to do or help me with, but these are things that need to be done on a regular basis and assigning them here just keeps me from having to remember to tell someone to do it later.

We're still working on a regular "chore time," but for now, whenever a child seems to have too much time on their hands they can be reminded to check their chore list for the day and that usually keeps them appropriately occupied.

That's all for now. I may think of more once we've actually had a chance to use it for more that 2 weeks straight...and I just had a shocking thought...could it be that we've never had more than 2 "normal" weeks here? Off to ponder...

Eat...for strength...Eccl. 10:17

I know it has been a while since the blog has been updated when I start getting emails from faithful readers wondering where we are. We are here. However we have been traveling, both near and far.

This morning we went up to the city for the 2nd annual Turkey Trot. One of the clinics that The Man works at started a 3k walk/5k fun-run last year with about 50 participants. This year they didn't advertise as much and only 16 showed up to participate, including the six of us.
Along with the Dog we started and ended the 3k walk together with a time of 29:44. The best part was the surprise that a local grocery store donated 10 $25 gift cards to be raffled off. That's right...sixteen participants and ten gift cards. While walking we discussed the probability of all six of us getting a card vs. none of us getting a card. It was decided that statistically, we probably wouldn't get them all, but we probably wouldn't go home empty-handed either. The Man, S, and I, along with 7 other non-related participants, were the ones who got the cards. We stopped by the store on the way home and allowed the kids to pick out anything they wanted. Mushrooms and fresh pineapple topped the list as well as sundry items such as flour, onions, and yams. It was definitely worth the trip over the mountain for a little morning exercise!

We spent the beginning of the month partying. The Man's birthday came first, mine was the next day, and The Man's grandpa had a birthday the next day. We all went to help him celebrate the big 99! Here's a picture of the 3 birthday boys.
As you can see, we also celebrated S's birthday, which followed 2 days after Great-Grandpa's.

We arrived back home just in time to celebrate S's birthday again. He requested a garter snake and mouse cake, along with green leaves and vines around the edge. I aim to please, although Grandma did think I was crazy (or mean, or both) when she called and I told her the cake was iced and the garter snake and mouse were in the freezer. The silence that followed told me that I needed to explain the mouse and snake were made out of icing that was hardening in the freezer. Whatever would possess a child to ask for a garter snake and mouse on his cake? It must have been J's request 2 years ago for rattlesnake and rat cakes. I aim to please.

...that nothing be lost...John 6:12

We're back! Actually we've been back since last Wednesday night, but I'm just now getting around to updating things here. It was quite a busy week. While unloading the van curbside at the airport we discovered that M's carry-on bag was not in the van. I was sure that I packed the bags and placed them by the door for The Man to carry to the van the night before. The Man was sure that he carried all the bags by the door to van. Fortunately it only contained "stuff to do on the plane" things, so he was able to share with the others. From now on I think he will take care of his own bags.

M was a good sport about it and helped me lug all the bags through the line while The Man went to park the van. We filled out all the little paper luggage tags for our checked and carry-on baggage. We had one left over.

It had been three years since the boys had flown (2 for A), so they spent most of the flight becoming reacquainted with the aircraft. While The Man tried to nap, S studied the plane evacuation procedures. He is now able to explain, in great detail, that in the unlikely event that our plane goes down on water we are not to use the back exits. And, you'll be happy to hear, there ARE flotation devices under the seats. S checked.
They had a wonderful time at Grandma & Grandpa's. While there, we were able to spend a few days at a Restoration International family camp, spend time with cousins, aunts & uncles, and visit a children's science museum. That's J and A exploring the 2-story grapevine. Soon it was time to pack up again and return home. S and A followed the flight attendant's instructions and "flapped their wings" to make the plane go faster. She said they were the only two on the plane that followed through. It was because of them that the plane was only 30 minutes late due to headwinds. Really. An airline employee said so, so it must be true. S was so proud.

We didn't get home until 11:30 that night (that's 2:30 a.m. in the time zone we had left). By 11:35 everyone was in bed and sound asleep.

The next day I set out in search of the missing carry-on baggage. I found it packed, in my walk-in closet. It must have walked in there.

***

Q: What do you call a deer head in a paper sack?

A: Carrion (Carry-on) luggage.

***

The dog missed us while we were gone. At least he sure was excited to see us all when we returned. The critter sitter said he was rather ill the day after we left. I didn't get all the details, but I did use my carpet cleaner when we returned. Maybe it had something to do with the deer head he found and consumed the day before we left. Could be.

How long will your journey be? ...Neh. 2:6

A's dolls are all loaded up and ready to go. I wish I could say the same for the rest of us.

All the laundry was finished yesterday and the science experiments from the refrigerator were given to the chickens. Most of the kids' clothes have been packed. I still need to go to town today and get some food for our journey and make a list for our house/critter-sitter. We're leaving the house at 3:30 in the morning (yawn) to drive to an airport 4 hours away. Eight or nine hours later we (hopefully!) will be at our destination to relax for a week with Grandma & Grandpa. Then we get to do the journey in reverse.

The children are doing all of their own laundry. A needs a bit of help, of course, but the kids' new chore chart was a smashing success last week. They each have a different day to do their own laundry—washing, drying, folding, and putting away. I feel so free!

We took our school pictures on Tuesday. The air has been so bad due to fires, so I hadn't wanted to spend much time outside. Tuesday we finally got outside and spent 1 1/2 hours taking 217 shots of the kids. Only about 20 were worthy of being uploaded. Email me if you would like to see the album.

Until the day dawns...2 Peter 1:19

The hot air balloon fair came to town. In previous years I have found out about it as I see the balloons up in the air, but this year I saw the announcement in the paper a few weeks ahead of time. The kids were excited and wanted to go see the balloons lifting off at dawn. Great. Dawn comes kind of early in the morning.

Since the paper didn't give an exact time and I didn't know how long it would take for the balloons to be set up prior to lift off, we left early last Friday morning. By 4:30 a.m. the kids and I were on our way to the field 40 minutes away. We followed the signs and found the launch site. It seemed rather empty, so I asked the older couple coming out of their RV if I was at the right place. Yes, I was, but they were in charge of parking the cars, and they weren't going to start doing that until 5:30. At 5:30 we parked and walked over to listen in on the pilots' briefing. About 6:30 the crews started laying out the tarps and unrolling the balloons.

It was cold, but exciting as the kids watched the process of the balloons being set up, filled with air (J got to help one of the crews with this), be rolled back up, and put away. Huh? As the sun was coming up the wind picked up, and the mass launch was scratched.

Disappointed, we piled back in the truck and returned home to take care of the critters and have a mandatory nap time since everyone was a bit cold and cranky.

Sunday morning we tried again. This time we dressed in many layers that included winter coats and mittens, opened the chicken coop before we left, fixed some breakfast sandwiches to eat on the way, and didn't pull out of the driveway until 5:40 a.m. Sunday morning was quite a bit more eventful and happy since the launch actually happened and the kids were fed and warm. By 8:00 we were on our way home. The boys spent the rest of the day with plastic groceries bags and hair dryers.

Yesterday morning we again got up early to visit the Sheep Dog Finals. It was fascinating to watch a dog herd four sheep through a series of gates with the master simply blowing on a whistle. We met up with some friends from med school who live in the area and went to their house for lunch. They have 2 little girls, so A was thrilled to play girl stuff for the afternoon. The Dog was also thrilled to have a few doggie playmates for the afternoon. The Dog got to attend the competition with us, leashed, of course. But he was able to run around and play in the afternoon. We decided to make a side trip on the way home to visit Costco and the discount grocery store, so after 13 hours, 298 miles, and half a tank a fuel, we returned home. Whew.

On a sad note, the friend who celebrated her 100th birthday a few weeks ago died this week. S still sleeps with the huge stuffed bear she gave him last year. He was pretty sad about it even though, at 100, it wasn't a huge shock. We are all looking forward to that new day dawning.