Weekly report

Every week is filled to the brim with learning, errands, adventures and fun. This is mat man from the Handwriting Without Tears PreK book. H made him the other day. She is getting really good at following instructions and drawing things. He's made from the pieces that we usually use to put together letters.

Math:

Z is learning his plus 1 facts, and has really enjoyed his once-a-week Kindergarten class where they were counting apples, putting numbers in order and coloring apples different colors. Poor colorblind kid: the red apples were all colored green and the green apples were all colored yellow.

E is doing great in saxon 3. We have been learning about measuring, telling time, counting coins, adding doubles, double plus 1, and the +3 facts. All in all, math has been pretty easy so far.

Latin:

We've finished the first 5 lessons. yahoo! Lots of vocabulary. Today we played a game with the flashcards, and I was surprised by how many words Z knows.

Language Arts:

Z is making great strides in writing. Today he was so fired up, he did 28 pages in his handwriting book. He learned all the captial letters, all the numbers and lots of the lower case letters. He is also getting good at sounding out 3 and 4 letter words with the short vowels. Teaching reading is so. much. easier. the second time around.

E is learning about adjectives and determiners and how to diagram sentences on paper. I never learned this as a child, and she already knows more grammar than her father :-) Did you know that adjectives tell what kind, how many, which one and whose? :-)
E is also enjoying reading. She is reading quickly and with good comprehension. I'm thrilled! Right now she is reading the 3rd book in the Happy Little Family series. After that, I'm not sure what I'll make her move onto. I'm having her read every afternoon for a good 30-45min from a book of my choosing, and then at bed time she can read whatever she wants. After each book, she does up a page for her reading notebook with a few sentences about the book and a picture, if she wants.

H is starting to learn a little school too! She cries if I don't let her do big girl schoolwork like her siblings, so she is enjoying working through the preK handwriting without tears book. It's a great book for her stage and is learning lots. She can make a big L, and an I. She has also done lots of coloring and counting, and learning her colors.

History:

Ancient Greece is where we're settled for awhile. We've been busy reading Black Ships before Troy, and listening to Story Nory's collection of Greek Myths. We're learning about the Trojan Horse, fair Helen of Troy, and all the crazy adventures of Odysseys. I'm fascinated as I have never heard any of these stories before.

Science:

We learned about the Scientific Method, chemical reactions and what a solution is. We're excited to start all the fun experiments in our new chemistry book Super Science Concoctions.

Piano:

On to a new book! E finished her piano adventures primer and is moving on to Piano Adventures 1. She is doing great and loves to play her songs every day.

Geography:

we learned North, South, East and West and helped Little Bo Peep find her lost sheep while we were at it.

Simple Woman's Daybook

 Monday September 29th 2008

Outside My Window... Kids playing happily in the autumn sun. I'm so happy we live across from a park.

This week... Recovering from the birthday party on the weekend, and trying to catch up on laundry and school work.  The twins have their 2 year checkup at the dr's.

I am thinking... about making a fun dessert for the Feast of the Archangels tonight.

I am thankful for... afternoon naptimes. I'm convinced god created the afternoon nap just for moms who need a break.

From the kitchen... Banana splits with homemade fudge sauce, banana lemon muffins, and tuscan chicken with mozzarella and cherry tomatoes.

From the Learning room... Cyrus the great, sparta and Athens, doubles plus 1, diagramming sentences with two adjectives, DaVinci, North West East and South...

I am wearing... Sweatpants again! LOL.. I suppose that mondays seem to follow the same pattern of 'I"m way to tired to look pretty'.

I am creating... Lots of yummy gluten free meals these days

I am reading... History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer.  

I am hoping... The weather stays cheery.

Around the house... An inventory of our fall clothes, shoes and jackets, and a reorganization of their storage area.  

One of my favorite things... sleepy toddlers with their head snuggling into your neck.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... Feast of St. Therese, Guardian angels and St. Francis.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

 Go seePeggy's blog for all of this weeks entries.

Dinner Table Math

Dinner table Math at our house:

E (7 year old): "What if we had 3 more kids? I've been praying and praying for triplets!!"

Z (5 years old): "No! What if we had 5 more kids, and then 3 more kids after??"

E: "wow! That would be.... ummm... 13 kids!!" She stops to think again, "I would be 11 years old when the last baby was born."

WHO IS TEACHING THESE KIDS MATH?? I think I need to have a chat with their teacher LOL.

Maybe we should stick to something a little less scary, like ancient history discussions. (we're currently reading a children's version of the Illiad where this prince goes and steals the wife of a Greek King and then a huge battle erupts).

Happy Happy Birthday Birthday!!

Can it truly be that two entire years have slipped through my fingers so quickly?  The adorable P and JP who stole our hearts from the beginning with their amazing entrance into the world are turning TWO today!

They add so much to our family, that it's very hard to imagine what life was like before they joined us.  

To their siblings, they have added an endless source of pleasure.  They literally fight over who gets to run to the crying baby's room after their nap and carry them downstairs.  The big kids love to read them stories, laugh hysterically at their antics, play chase, draw, and snuggle with them.  The twins have also given each of the bigger kids the chance to learn selflessness, waiting their turn for mommy, and compassion.  

For their mommy and daddy, we have been given the biggest treasure of all: the gift of love.  Love outpouring from their little hearts: their sticky fingers twirling my hair, their chubby fists entwined around my neck, their sloppy kisses planted on each cheek, their bright smiles early each morning.  And, by the grace of God, we have been given the gift of learning to love in return, even when we are stretched beyond what we thought possible.  Loving others as our single goal in life.  Learning to live love in every breath, day and night.  

What a beautiful journey it has been so far. I still shake my head in wonder at this precious gift we have been given.  It's the stuff of life that you normally read about in those chicken soup books, or a reader's digest.  It's amazing, but it's my life.  And, I love it.

Happy Birthday little Ones.

P, you are a delight to my heart. I pray that in every year you grow older, you never lose that joyful, mischievous twinkle in your eye.  You are curious, full of love, and the best hugger in the family.  Your mommy loves you more than you will ever know. You and your brother have taught me more lessons than many people have learned in their entire lives. Happy Birthday my little man. 

JP, your sweet smile and joyful laugh fill my heart with gladness.  Every morning when you wake me up so early, I love seeing your little arms reaching out to me from your crib.  Snuggling with your warm body in my arms gives me such a feeling of peace.  I can see your mind slowly taking everything in, evaluating what you see, and learning in front of my eyes.  You are a wonder! Thank you for all the fun you bring to our family... for playing so nicely with your brother and your other siblings.  We love you little one.  Happy Birthday!

He might be color blind....

... but he's still color savy. 

As heard by daddy while they were driving home from the Conquest father-son boys club.  

"Dad, is that a taxi?" pointing to the black cab in front of them.

"Yes"

"Dad, did you know taxis are the same color as ear wax?" Z says matter-of-factly. 

"black? uh...."

"NO Dad," Z replies, with a patronizing tone, "Yellow!".

Chemistry

Science was enjoyed by all today as we learned about molecules and atoms. The kids made models of water and carbon dioxide, and then were amazed by the ever-popular science experiment of making CO2 from vinegar and baking soda.

Simple Woman's Daybook

A blogging meme that's been going around for awhile now..  go see Peggy's blog for all of this weeks entries.

FOR TODAY, Monday September 22nd, 2008

Outside My Window... It's a lovely crisp fall afternoon.  Eleven degrees Celsius.  The trees are turning colors, but haven't fallen yet, and their cheery yellows and oranges cause me to catch my breath when I go by them.  I love this time of year.

This week... The first week of fall, and life is settling into a nice routine.  We are in week 4 of schooling, the babies are turning 2 on friday, Zs first day of the new boys club with his dad is this week as well.  

I am thinking... about Thanksgiving this year, and what sort of yummy Gluten Free feast we will make.  I need some beautiful decorations around here too!

I am thankful for... My new menu planning program online.  It plans out 5 gluten free meals a week including a grocery list.  

From the kitchen... Grilled Cheese from freshly baked bread and crisp macintosh apples.  For supper, buttermilk chicken with a green salad.

From the Learning room... Ancient Greek, map keys, verbs, the letter K, the Sanctus in Latin, The Land of Nod by Robert Louis Stevenson, atoms and elements, color names in french, water color washes, counting and writing numbers to 20, reading cat, rat, ran, dad.

I am wearing... sweatpants! horrors... I'm usually dressed up in a nice skirt.  I was woken up far too early this morning by some adventurous twins who were in a bit of a hurry to start the day.

I am creating... nothing!! In my mind, I am knitting beautiful baby blankets and dolls, 5 little pairs of mittens, and a pretty sweater for myself.  

I am reading... Mother Theresa's Come Be My Light.  It's beyond inspiring.  Her simplicity and humility speak quietly to my soul.

I am hoping... My friends and family are as joyful as I am.  

I am hearing... the blessed sound of quiet in my house.  E is reading a book, Z is cutting out a paper airplane, H and the twins are napping.  I love the early afternoon hours around here.  

Around the house... the greenhouse is pretty much finished in the back yard.. we just need to build some benches and beds for planting in the spring.

One of my favorite things...  the smell of the air in the autumn and the chill of the evening that causes you to search out your warm comfy blankets at night time.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... making a nice supper every night for my sweet husband, conquering the laundry foe, and making some sort of yummy dessert.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...

On our vacation... the kids outside in the rain with their newly discovered 'cousin-in-laws-once-removed.

Weekly review

Week 3 is almost done and gone already!! Just 33 more weeks of work to go!

This year has been going very smoothly, and we are all enjoying school.    This week we got many things done, and thanks to our new loop schedule, we aren't even stressed about the things we didn't get done. 

Every day we usually work from about 8:30-12:00 and get through most of:

• Latin (really enjoying prima latina... very gentle introduction)
  
• Math (saxon 3... it's starting off slow and gentle and E think math is easy this year, Math-U-See Primer... Z is doing great learning about addition and writing his numbers properly).
  
• Spelling: We switched to Spelling workout C, and it's going great! I'm still tempted to switch back to SWR but it;s just too teacher intensive for me right now.
• phonics: Z is doing so good! It's so much easier the second time around teaching reading. The stress on me is just so much less.  We skip around between Ordinary Parent's Guide, Bob's books and the Little Angel Readers (I especially love this one)
• Grammar: LOVE LOVE First Language Lessons 3.  
• Writing: Writing with Ease Level 2... this is so gentle and a wonderful easy program to introduce writing to E through copywork, narration and dictation. I really appreciate the framework this book has laid in my head.
• Preschool: Lots of playdough, circle time with action songs, poems and stories
• Religion (every other day): The Treasure of My Catholic Faith... workbooky but very faithful to the church and fun illustrations for E.
• Geography (every other day): some cutesy intro to maps book that I got... it uses fairy tales and nursery rhymes to teach about maps... it's very easy for E but fun for my littles.
• History (every other day): We are zooming through the 2nd half of Story of the World 1.  Before Looping (my new schedule that allows us to actually GET to history), we only got through half of the book in 2 years...  hopefully this will change this year.  We are learning about the Greeks right now, and doing mapwork and narrations as we go.
• Science (every other day): Noeo Chemistry. This is a fun literature based program, and it's so relaxed and fun.  
• French (every other day): This is a favorite in the house. It's powerglide beginner french for grades k-3 and it's an adventure story on a cd that teaches simple vocabulary. (big plus... I got this at an outlet store for $46.. it's on amazon for $140)

Thanks to the invention of playdough and highchairs with seat belts, we are able to get through almost all of that list every day. It's been a joy to work with two students and watch them both grow in independence and love for learning. 

I love homeschooling!!

Blessings to you on this lovely fall day :-)

Art lessons

Due to an increased grocery budget (with Gluten Free foods being the norm now), we were not able to afford art classes this year. We chose to cut out art instead of choir this year, because choir provides a great place for interaction with other children, preformance opportunities and group listening/discipline skills that art does not. Also, we can do art at home. Choir is a lot harder, although I suppose I could start up my own family choir.. but trust me, I'm no Maria.

Anyways, we've been working through Artistic Pursuits again this year and we have a new budding artist in the family... E's brother Z. He's 5 this year and has discovered a new love for drawing and painting. This picture is of Jesus and his sheep... in the fog.

Wordless Wednesday

Three Years ago...

What's Smaller than a pygmy shrew?

A paramecium! And some bacteria.

We've started our science studies this year. We are looking forward to learning all about the tiny things around us through Chemistry.

I've chosen Noeo Science Chemistry 1 to use, since we enjoyed the Biology 1 last year so much. I like this curriculum because it doesn't use a textbook, it uses a literature guide for many varying books aobut science that are at a reading level that E can read. I like to read them outloud first, and she enjoys reading them at bed time. Even Z enjoys science. This is his drawing of what we learned: it's a drop of water with bacteria and protozoa in it.

His drawing skills have increase dramatically since last year. It's just such a joy to watch these tiny little humans grow and develop each day.

Speaking of Z, we have signed up with a homeschooling board here in my city that has a unique kindergarten program for homeschoolers. We will be going once a week for a K program where he can get a bit of socializing and fun in, and we will also have access to a bit of funding to buy some good kindergarten books with. I'm looking forward to seeing him grow more and more this year.

First week of school

Phew! That wasn't so bad afterall... I was worried it would be CRAZY, now that I"m schooling two kids, and they are outnumbered by the pre-schoolers. Turns out, it was crazy afterall, but apparently I'm so used to crazy that it didn't bother me in the least.


The loop schedule idea is working SO WELL! It's allowed me to focus less on getting everything done, and more on just enjoying our learning. I haven't been stressed about leaving out science and art and religion and history. For example, yesterday we didn't get to science and french and geography, so this morning, when we started school, we started with french (we're using powerglide this year and it's SO MUCH FUN!).




We spiced up spelling by playing banannagrams with her spelling words. (you can do this with scrabble tiles too). I just pulled out all the letters she would need for her 15 words, and then she started trying to make words and attach them to each other crossword style. Z helped, and learned his letters and sounds too, by handing each letter to her as she needed them, and saying it's sound.

The babies played with playdough, felt figures, trains, plastic bugs, and pretty much everything they could get their hands into. Heather coordinated their attempts to terrorize the house.

If you live in calgary...

Here are some fun activities that I have come across for homeschoolers.  This is only a partial list that scratches the surface.  I know there are many more activities out there: hockey, music lessons, choirs, girl guides, etc..

THe Flip Factory:  Gymnastics, art, drama, gymtime.... offering homeschooling programs for ages 5-12

 Phoenix Foundation:  Offers many many sessions for homeschool kids that tie into the alberta curriculum. You don't have to be signed up with their board to take the workshops.

Homeschoolers Guide: A quarterly magazine for southern alberta that details many workshops and classes for homeschoolers in the area.

Calgary Homeschooler Resources: A webpage by a calgary hs dad... lots of good info here.

Yahoo groups:  calgary-hs (chat with other calgary homeschoolers online), hs-activities (find out about what good activities there are for calgary homeschoolers), hs-forsale (sell or shop for used curriculum online).

Needleworks - Sewing classes for homeschool kids and others.

North Mount Pleasant Arts Centre & Wildflower Arts Centre -- Calgary parks&rec: they offer many great classes in art, dance, drama.... They also have a specific homeschool art class that covers the alberta ed curriculum.

First Day of School

Yesterday was our first day back at school after a long break through the summer.  The kids were very excited about it.  E can't believe she's old enough for 3rd grade, Z is now in Kindergarten and working with us each morning, and H is now officially a preschooler. 

Since I have so many littles who are old enough to pay attention to me for more than 1 minute, we've started doing a preschool program with them called Little Saints.   We'll see how long this lasts, but for now it is fun! We sang songs, read stories and poems and even did some finger painting.

We have also tried out a new system for scheduling and planning our days called Loop Homeschooling.  This is originally an idea from a lady on the Well Trained Mind web forums.  The idea is you school for a set ammount of time each day (for us, 4 hours).  When time is up you stop and clean up.  The next day, you start where you left off. So if you stopped just before you got to history and science (story of my life.. we never got to the fun subjects last year).... then you start with those first thing the next morning and proceed in a loop or cicrle through your subjects eah day.

Here's what we did:

K:

math, phonics lesson, the letter F in handwriting, latin video lesson 1, history: the Phonecians, veggie tales coloring page, played with a microscope

preK:

Little saints day one:  poem, fingerplay, if you're happy and you know it, video interviews with the kids, finger painting.

3:

math (trying out saxon this year... I found a copy for very cheap.  We'll see how it compares to our other standby Math-U-See), spelling, handwriting, latin, grammar in FLL 3 (i really like this book), Writing with Ease (I also really like this book... we did the mastery test for level 2.. i think we'll start in the last 4 weeks of level 2 and then move onto level 3), Religion, History.

My wonderful 3rd grader made breakfast (fried eggs), and the kids also cleaned their room, had a long play time at the park, read on the couch for 45 min of quiet time, and read the 4th chapter of the Incredible Journey with dad at bedtime.

A fun day. A busy day.... But what else can you expect?

Water babies

Do to the exceptional attention needed to take care of five kids while on vacation, I didn't take very many pictures of what we did... and sean didn't take any (so don't look for pics of me).

We did see the ocean, walk in the sand and laugh as the waves tickled our toes. We looked for seashells and beach glass, climbed on logs washed smooth by the water, and ran down the long beach.

We also played in every hotel swimming pool we visited. The babies getting more brave each time. They progressed from just looking at the water, to evntually letting daddy swim them along the pool chasing a ball.

These pictures are of the kids at a little lake in Deception Pass. It's right beside the ocean, but the water is shallow and there are no waves to worry about. I watched H and the twins play in the water, while Sean took the two older ones on a canoe ride.

Even though I was freezing cold sitting on the beach (the wind was chilly off the ocean), I had a great time watching the twins destroy sandcastles and splash in the water. Heather was so brave that she went in right up to her waist. (this is a girl who has never been swimming before!)

visit to the aquarium

On the way home from Washington, we made a brief detour into Vancouver for some fun 'family time'. We wanted to spend an extra day with just the kids and us, having fun together and enjoying each other's company.... ha! Unfortunately, we got stuck in traffic and rain, and ran out of gluten free food right around supper time, which left us most disagreeable.

No worries.. it all turned around when E started to pray to God that daddy would feed us, and mommy and daddy would stop fighting. Almost immediately (according to her later), the Golden Arches came into view and Sean swerved into the parking lot to make a french fry run for everyone. Thank God McDs has Gluten free fries!!



The aquarium itself was lots of fun. The kids had never really seen any kind of aquatic life, so it was enjoyable for all of us. We saw a baby baluga whale (sp?), seals, dolphins, lots of fish and frogs, jelly fish, and even a sea turtle.



The twins enjoyed themselves more than anyone. They refused to stay in the stroller and were running from exhibit to exhibit squaking in their strange language about everything they saw. It was so sweet to watch them. They loved everything they saw, but their favorite exhibit, by far?

The bubbles.

A great opportunity to get dressed up...

My cousin and her fiance had a lovely wedding this summer in Washington state. We packed up all five kids into the van, along with many many other things (like 2 playpens, 2 highchairs, a double stroller, 5 carseats, 4 suitcases, 2 packs of diapers and wipes, 1 big bin of books, 3 backpacks full of stuffed animals and toys, 2 bins and 1 cooler full of gluten free food...). It was a wild trip across the mountains. We stayed in Kamloops overnight and then arrived in Washington very tired of driving.

The wedding was so beautiful, however. And it was such a nice chance to visit with family that we rarely see. Cousins and second cousins, and great great aunties and various relatives in between. We were, as usual, the spectacle of the week, toting our five kids behind us (or maybe I should say, trying to catch up to our dispersing 5 kids in front of us).

Luckily we had the cute 'twin factor'. And oh, they were cute.

Thanks to a very very kind and generous relative, we had enough money to get formal outfits for each child.

The two girls were flower girls, and Z was also in the procession (carrying flags... a little unorthodox, but very fitting for Jen's wedding).

The twins were these adorable miniature grownups in their 5 piece suits. SO CUTE!

The kids ate and danced and ran around charming everyone. They even had time for a quick movie down in the basement with a hired babysitter.

E was thrilled to make a new friend, and they played with each other for hours and hours. It was a lot of fun, and I"m so glad we made the effort to drive down there.

Now that would really spice up the bible

The kids were talking to their dad in the car about clouds, and he told them that mommy's favorite things were clouds:

E:No Dad, Mom's favorite thing is dad's blackberry!

Mom:Very funny!My favorite thing is Jesus...

E: Jesus isn't a thing! He's a man.

Z:No, Jesus can do anything... He has all the power. He can even turn into a giraffe!

Blackberry Love

Not the fruit... The cool phone my husband has for work. On a recent treip through the mountains I had waaaay too much fun playing with all the features including GPS, interenet access, and games. The kids had to fight me for it the whole trip.
I was able to research homeschooling curriculums, check the weather, talk to the dentist and add an appt to my google calendar, follow our car through the mountains on the screen, and get an estimated time of arrival.

Of course we also had fun laughing, watching the clouds and trees, stopping at a visitor centre and listening to sharon, lois and Braham.

Overall technology can be very useful and entertaining, but the best things in life are the slow, inefficient, and noisy family and friends that
God gave me.
God, grant me the grace to see how wonderful they really are.

Zoo time!

Heather is so much fun to be with when she's not in the big crowd of her siblings, trying to get noticed (poor middle child). Alone, she is a ball of joy.... curious about everything, sweet, kind and delightful.
My sister and I had a free morning last friday and since Z and E were both busy, we decided we could manage a trip to the Zoo. I probably could have managed with all five kids, but it was fun to spend some alone time with my 3 youngest.

The babies had a blast running all over the place, stopping to point at each animal they saw... especially all of the sparrows and the big airplanes that flew over our heads all morning. JP even said his almost first word... "blah blah!" (that means airplane).

The best part of the trip, however, was when we asked Heather what animal she wanted to see first:

"ummmm.. a HORSE!"

(poor child, obviously i haven't taken her to the zoo that often LOL... so I asked her what OTHER animals she would like to see)

"a COW!" she proudly proclaimed.

A sweet prairie girl at heart, I guess.

Thoughtful girl

"Mommy, when grownup and BIG... I can be the mommy!!

And you can be the little girl, OK?"

"no, Heather dear... when you are a mommy, I will be the grandma."

(pauses to think hard).... "But mommy, who will be Heather?"

How did this happen?

She's growing up so fast. In five short years my baby E is going to be almost 13 years old. gasp!!

This week she's in a daycamp from 9-4.  Her first real time away from the family for any extended length of time.   It's the Girl's Choir camp, and they are working hard on a Musical that they will preform in on saturday morning.  I'm so proud of her!!

Yesterday she was ecstatic because they even got to go on a field trip to a local park along the river.  Can you guess her favorite part of the whole day?  ..... the school bus ride LOL.

The second morning she got up and promptly told me that she did NOT want to wear a skirt that day.  (this is the girl who has worn a skirt or a dress every day since she was born.. I think she came out of the womb in a princess dress).  

"but mom! All the other girls are wearing pants!!"

sigh... 'all the other girls' are starting to make an entrance into her thoughts already?  She's really growing up!

Camping fun!!

After a crazy week of VBS at my parish, I decided to relax in the mountains with my five children, and my mom and dad.    OK, maybe relax isn't quite the right word :-) 

Between the 2 grizzly bear warnings, 1 black bear warning, 1 daring coyote warning, 1 furnace that wasn't working, 2 toddlers who weren't sleeping, 1 preschooler who wanted to go pee in the 'stinky potty' every 15 minutes, and six MILLION mosquitos, it was a very exciting trip!!

So exciting, that the day after, I went back out to the mountains with two of my girlfriends for a girls weekend away in a cozy cabin -without- the kids.

Now, to get back into homeschooling mode.  Anyone offering free nanny service is welcome to apply at my house :-)

Belated First Communion Pics

On the Feast of Corpus Christi, E made her first communion.  She was lovely in her white dress, white shoes and my wedding veil.  Thank God for Very-Low-Gluten Communion hosts, because even though my little princess has Celiac Disease, and can't tolerate the regular wheat hosts, she can still have communion!!

Isn't she pretty?

He wants to know everything about everything.

Conversing with my five year old boy:

"mom, where would we live if our house burned down?"

umm... I guess the insurance would give us money and we would buy a new one

"mom, where would we get a new house?"

well, a Real Estate Agent would help us

"like our neighbor? "  thoughtful pause... "where does he keep all those houses that he sells?"

(hiding a laugh) well Z, he doesn't acutally -have- them.  He just helps people sell theirs.

"oh! like in a garage sale. I get it"  and he walks away with a complete sense of understanding....  

he's so sweet at this age. He wants to know everything about everything and somehow his mind thinks that he almost does!!

Suprise! I'm alive!

Oh my poor poor neglected blog... you sad little thing.  How you must have waited for me for days and days to return, looking sadly into the distance hoping I would come back one day.  Don't despair, dear blog. I have returned.  I still love you!  I had to take a break because the babies were destroying my house while I happily typed along.  Although they made great blogging subjects, I couldn't justify the chaos that was created.

Even now as I sit here with you, one baby is trying to spill water on the keyboard, delete the whole page in one fell swoop, and pull all of my papers and pencils on the floor.  The other one is still asleep, so I just knew it was time to chance a venture your way again.  

Life... life with twin toddler boys.   With 5 kids under eight.. it's a joy.  It's a very very full joy. And messy too... and now that I think about it, noisy. very noisy.

But oh the fun we have, and the adventures they get into.

Lets see what have we done?

Camping... we're crazy, but we went camping with all of them to a Family Conference.  A great time of marshmallows, dirt, running, laughing and friends.  (oh, and screaming, overheating during the day and freezing at night).

Vacation Bible School... I've taken on the role as director this year to save it from being cancelled...  lots of work. Lots of helpers, lots of fun.  

Grade 2: We're done!  sort of.  But I'm satisfied anyways.  multiple digit addition, multiple digit subtraction, ancient egypt, biology, spelling, grammar, the western hemisphere... There's always next year to move on... 

Reading: we've conquered that mountain and now E has sprinted on ahead of me, reading hours a day, just about to begin reading the Narnia series.

allright the baby has declared me to be done.

blessings to you all!