kids swords

If you have boys, you're going to love this project.  Actually, let me rephrase that.  If you have KIDS, they are going to love this project. 

I really can't take credit for this idea.  This is one of those projects that just kind of happened.  Dev is involved in a Medieval Fair for our homeschool group.  She was assigned to pick an historical character from that time period.  She really didn't want to wear a dress, so she chose Joan of Arc.  (I would like to say that her reasons for choosing Joan of Arc were more valid, but that would be lying.) 

For her costume, Dev wanted to make a sword.  I gave her free reign of the craft room, and she found a stash of old paint stirring sticks. 

She broke one in half, and taped it with painters tape to the bottom of the other one for the handle.  Then she used dad's pocket knife to whittle the end into a point.  Then she painted it.  She also made a sheath out of an old paper towel tube, although I don't have a picture of that.

Once my boys saw what their sister was doing, they all wanted a sword, too.  Luckily, Dad was home to give advice and help.

 This is a great project to work on while listening to an audio book or to keep little hands busy while you work. 

Homemade swords:
1.  Get two paint sticks
2. Cut one in half
3.  tape the broken pieces together with the whole paint stick between them.  (tape them towards the end of the whole paint stick to form the swords handle.) 
4.  Use a pocket knife to whittle a tip on the other end of the whole paint stick. (this step can be omitted for really little ones.  Jelly Bean didn't whittle his, and we was still really happy with it.) 
5.  Let your little one pick the color they want and paint it.  (I didn't offer any direction on how to paint it.  Just let them be creative!) 
6.  If you want, make a sheath by squashing a paper towel tube and cutting (rounded) and taping one end. 

Have fun!  If you try this project, leave me a comment and let me know how it worked! 

strawberry bed

The weather is finally getting warm enough that I can start the work on my yard.  While I was at the store, I found some strawberry roots for sale for a good price, so I bought some.  Now I just need a place to put them.  I already have one strawberry plant that I uprooted and brought with me when we moved to this house.  It has been living happily in a pot through the winter.  (it even gave us a few strawberries!)  But I want a happy strawberry patch.  I have this spot in my backyard: 

 I'm not sure what the previous owners were thinking when they created this spot.  It's next to my patio.  The black iron thing you see is a doorway trellis.  Like, the kind of thing you would see at the entrance to a garden party.  I don't know why they put it right there.  You can't even walk through it at that angle.  Anyway, so I decided that would be a good place for a raised strawberry bed. 

I'm not going to pretend this was easy.  We really had to put in some grunt work to get that trellis thingy out of the way.  And the overgrown bushes and gravel were no picnic either.  But after a couple hours of work, this is what we've got now:

It's flat. 

This is my plan:  Since strawberries can be a little persnickety, I'm going to make a raised bed so that I can control the soil better.  I am going to haunt craigslist for some more cinder blocks or some bricks that I can stack up in a square about three feet high.  Then I'm going to fill it with garden soil (I mean the bags of garden soil from the store), compost, and manure.  I'm also hoping that building it up a little higher will keep the rabbits out. 

Cross your fingers for some strawberry jam this fall!

Fail

One of my hobbies is making word art.  I LOVE making art out of words!  This weekend, while I was listening to General Conference (click here if you don't know what that is), I spent a good 10 hours just sitting and working on this:  

This post was intended to be a tutorial, but I failed.  So now it gets to be a slice of humble pie and a tall glass of lesson learned.  You'll see in a minute why this is a failure.  First, let me walk you through what I'm doing here. 

This is a 16x20 canvas.  You can buy them in a 3 pack at most department stores for 5 bucks or so. I wanted it to say, "God our strength will be, Press Forward ever, called to serve our King."  This is a line from a popular hymn in my church, and the anthem of those who choose to serve missions.  Since my boys are planning on serving missions when they are old enough, I wanted to display these words in a prominent place in our house. 

I am not skilled at free styling my own words yet, so I got on the computer and picked a couple fonts that I liked.  I played around with the sizes a little.  I wanted the "Press Forward" part to be big block letters.  I never really found a font for those words that I liked.  So I finally decided to measure out out the space and draw the block letters myself.  (block letters are easy)

When I finally got the lettering the right size, I printed them out, cut them out and taped them to my canvas.  (pictured above.)

I have to admit that I was so excited to get to the painting of this project, that I didn't take many pictures.  Now I'm kind of glad.  My humble pie is already a big enough slice.  Let's not make it bigger.

Anyway, after I taped the lettering onto my canvas, I just traced around them lightly with a pencil.  Once I could see the basic outline, it was easier to fill in the spaces with the loops and the twirls.  And then once I got it penciled in, I untaped everything, measured off my block letters, and drew them in lightly with the pencil too.

Finally, I could get to the painting, which, we all know, is the best part. Here it is half way done.  (Can you see my major mistake?)

Honestly, there is not much of a tutorial to give from this point on.  I painted it the colors I wanted, following my pencil lines.  I used an extra small brush for the skinny lines and a fat brush for the bigger lines. In the picture below, it's still not quite done.  I still want to paint the bottom line a darker color like maroon.  BUT, this is the point where I realized my major mistake.  Can you see it?  I didn't see it.  Not even the 20 or so times I wondered into my craft room just so I could admire it.  I didn't notice until I got this text from my sister-in-law:  "Ok, I don't get it.  Why did you spell it foward instead of forward?"  (how precious.  She thought I did it on purpose!)

I am cringing.  Can you feel me cringing?  Oh. Holy. Cow.  I totally spelled forward wrong and didn't even notice.  I think what hurts the most about all this is that I pride myself on my correct use of grammar.  I proudly say that I am a student of the English language, that I love grammar and punctuation and reverence it.  I gripe about the grammatical mistakes I find that pass into print, and I roll my eyes and say things like "kids these days" when I see the incorrect use of to, two, or too.  Sigh. 

Humble Pie time.  I feel like an idiot.  But I'm trying not to.  Everyone makes mistakes.  And since my kids have been frustrated about their mistakes in the past, I made sure to call them over and point out my big mistake so they would see that Mom messes up, cleans it up, and moves on. 

I think I can fix this.  I will try.  That will be another post.  Today, I failed.  But I'm going to see it as a beautiful failure. 

Moral of the story:  if you try this project, and I really think you should, make extra sure that everything is right before you start painting.  Painting it is the fun part, but if you are painting on faulty lines, then you're doomed to repeat the process later.  That's where I am.

Fighter

Last week when I planted all my seedlings in their little indoor greenhouse box, I was careful to plant and then label everything in groups so that I would recognize them when they sprouted. 

Every morning when I check on my little garden, I am happy to see the ones that have decided to make an appearance.  I think just about everything I've planted has sprouted.  Except my peppers.  I'm still waiting on those.  I'm trying not to worry since it takes about 2 weeks for them to germinate, but...come on, guys!  Everyone else is already sprouted!  Out of bed, sleepy heads!

Today, I had to do one of the jobs I HATE to do.  I had to thin the seedlings.  In case you're not sure what that is:  I plant several seeds in each pellet to ensure that at least one will grow.  Sometimes nothing grows.  And other times, everything grows.  I have enough pellets that if I just got one plant from each, I would have enough in my garden.  Sometimes 4 or 5 seedlings sprout in one little pellet.  I have to pull out the smaller ones and let just one grow so it's not competing for soil nutrients or sunlight.  It is better for the garden in the long run, but I still hate to do it.  I feel bad pulling out this happy little plant that has only ever done everything I've wanted it to do.  Ugh. 

This year, I tried to approach it more like American Idol.  The short ones just didn't make the final cut.  If I pretend I'm just sending them back home to their families, then it's not so hard.  Luckily, (or unfortunately, you decide) my kids hate thinning day, too.  They usually swoop in and take up some of the discarded seedlings (as many as they can manage) and plant them in anything they can find.  (incidentally, we had a watermelon plant one year that grew up ONTO the front porch [people had to step over it to get into my house] because my daughter "rescued" it as a seedling and planted it there.  Good times)  So 5 tomato plants and 3 cucumber plants were rescued today.  The rest were "sent home." 

Enter Fighter.  

This is Fighter.  He's a cabbage plant. (Yes, I named him.  What's it to you?) I didn't plant Fighter.  I accidentally dropped him in the the tray while I was planting his brothers and sisters.  He fell near the pellet that was growing dill.  He sprouted and put in roots at the bottom of the pellet, and I didn't realize my mistake until he was two inches tall.  It made me happy to see Fighter growing.  He's a reminder to me that nature finds a way.  He makes me think all kinds of courageous thoughts about pushing through adversity and thriving against all odds. 

So today, thinning day, when I had a thumb and forefinger around FIghter's stem, ready to detach him from the dill pellet and toss him in the reject pile, I just couldn't do it.  I couldn't bring myself to deny life to this little living thing that fought so hard to live against all odds.

 I gave him his own pellet instead.  And welcomed him to the team.  I'm not even sorry.  I don't have room for one more cabbage in my garden, but I have a feeling I'll make room for him somewhere.  I can't wait to watch this one grow!

This makes me happy

Look at all my pretty babies!  I'm excited to watch them grow.  It's hard to believe that some of these little guys will be taller than me in few short months.  All living things start out tiny and fragile.  I'm  grateful for the chance to be a nurturer!

My garden in miniature

How to use it all up

I read a few years ago that 40% of the food that comes to us (either through the store or to restaurants or other various places) is thrown away.  Forty percent!!! That means almost half of the useful things God has placed on this earth for our benefit gets thrown away.

The Hubby and I went through a time when attaining those necessary things was extremely difficult.  I mean, really difficult.  For a little while, we could only budget about $50 a month for groceries.  You read that right.  We had only $50 a month to buy enough food to support a family of 4.  In case you are wondering, that's about enough for some vegetables, some chicken, and some milk. How did we do it? (that's another post)

First, I have to acknowledge that it was only through the grace of God that we made ends meet some months.  I remember many times laying in bed puzzling over our financial situation and not sure how we managed to pay everyone that month.

The experience taught me not to waste food.  I HATE to see food wasted!  It didn't grow and I didn't spend money on it just so that I could throw it away!  I've been working on a system of not wasting food for several years now, and I do still have to throw things away here and there.  But for the most part, we don't waste food in our house.  If I had to put a percentage on it, I would estimate that we are able to eat about 98% of the food that comes in the house.  I like those odds much better. Here's what I do:

I kept a food journal:  not for eternity, just for three months.  I wrote down everything we ate and how much.  I had a chart that I just filled out at the end of the day.  The information this gave me was very valuable!  By doing this, I realized that we eat a lot of the same vegetables.  By keeping track of what we ate for three months, I could project about how much of each thing we would need for a month. 

I make a menu:  In case you didn't know, making a menu is hard.  It's hard not to put the same things on there over and over.  It's hard to coordinate with what is in season, what's on sale, and what you already have.  When I kept a food journal, this helped me know what we eat the most of.  (like Spaghetti.  We love Spaghetti.  And Tacos.) When I am getting ready to go grocery shopping, I start by making a menu of dinners for the next two weeks.  (Hint: it's a lot easier to come up with dinner ideas if you're hungry.  Be hungry when you  make the menu, be full when you go to the store.) I also keep each menu I make.  Then it's easier to pull out a new menu every two weeks.  Here is a sample of what my menu looks like:  

I keep track of the variety of meats on the left side.  (we eat mostly chicken and hamburger, and then there are four meals that are "other"  where we eat fish, pork, something new, or even vegetarian.)  On the top, I keep track of the carbs.  We usually have potatoes, rice, pasta, or bread.  This is just to make sure we have variety (and aren't having potatoes every day).  Next to the title of the dinner, I have written the things I need to get that aren't usually on my grocery list.  #4, for example, is fajitas.  I need limes to make the sauce.  So I wrote it down to remind me to put it on my grocery list.  The chicken, peppers, onions, and tortillas are all part of my regular shopping list.  The chart at the bottom is just a calendar that tells me what I am making each night.  L stands for "leftovers."  I want to emphasize that the chart is just a guideline!  I give myself permission to stray from the schedule.  If I've got fajitas scheduled, but I didn't have time to make the sauce, then I choose something else from the list.  It's great to have a plan, though.  Half the battle of making dinner is trying to decide what to make. 

I buy the same produce every trip: There are some things I just know we are going to use because they are part of our diet.  Potatoes, for example, are a big seller at my house.  I buy 20 pounds a month.  Celery, carrots, peppers, apples, bananas...these are all things that are omnipresent in the house.  They have several uses, and I can use them up in different ways to make sure they don't go bad.

We have leftovers for dinner every Thursday:  Any leftovers that are um, leftover (ha ha!) need to also be taken care of.  If there is enough for another full family meal, I freeze it.  Then on those inevitable days that I don't feel like cooking, or we don't have any time, we can thaw something from the freezer instead of heading for McDonalds. If there isn't enough to freeze, then it's time to get creative about using it. ( See my post here for garbage soup) My kids love garbage soup (aptly named because it's basically whatever is left in the fridge thrown into a pot and simmered into a soup.) If there is leftover garbage soup, I freeze it.  (by the way, freezing leftovers is a great way to serve others.  I can't even tell you how many times I've taken dinner to a sick friend just by pulling the soup and some bread out of the freezer.)

The day before I go grocery shopping:  I clean out my fridge and my freezer and my cupboards.  I wipe the fridge out with hot soapy water so everything is clean when I come home with new groceries.  Doing this also forces me to take care of the older things before they go bad. Everything in there is preserved somehow.  This is usually on a Thursday, so leftovers are eaten for dinner.  Here is a sample of this weeks leftover vegetables and fruit:

we've got a couple of pears and some oranges, a bag of carrots (they were on sale, so I bought two.), a couple onions, some spotty bananas, and some celery.  Also, not pictured is a small bunch of cilantro and some green onions.

I am blessed because I have a commercial dehydrator.  I will be blogging about what you can do with each individual thing, but for today, it's just the short version.  I would grate and dehydrate the carrots.  I would chop and dehydrate the onions, and green onions, and celery.  I would dehydrate and then crush the cilantro.  The pears I would probably just feed to my kids for lunch, but if that didn't work, I would either freeze or dehydrate them as well.  (Dehydrated pears taste like fruit snacks!)  The oranges would be a challenge, since they don't dehydrate well.  I could peel them and freeze the slices for smoothies.  Or I could chop them and serve them in a salad for dinner.  Oranges keep for a long time, too, so depending on how they look I might just put them back in the fruit bin for another round.  I might also use the peel to make candied orange peel ( link coming) or pot pourri (link coming).  The bananas I would either make banana bread (link coming) banana pancakes (here) or freeze for smoothies.  (both banana bread and banana pancakes freeze well, too, although they don't last long in my house).

I take a list to the store with me.  I shop the sales.  I buy more of what I know we'll eat.  When I get home, I put the food away right away (including wrapping, labeling, and freezing meat.) and during the two weeks, I keep a close eye on what's in the fridge.  And honestly, I don't keep a lot in the fridge anyway, because I know once I make it, it will need to be used.

Any kitchen scraps (carrot peels, apple cores, orange rinds, onion skins, etc) can be tossed into a compost or a worm bin.

Keep track of what you're eating!  Don't let anything hide in the dark, dank places of the fridge!  The food that comes into your home is a blessing, don't waste it!

If you found this blog helpful, or if you have any questions, please leave a comment.  Maybe your question will inspire another post! 

Use it up! Wear it out!  Make it do! or do without!

It's all alright

I've had a lot of time to think. 
I had already started packing--all the books and the pictures and most of the dishes and some of our clothes. 
People complain about the headache of packing to move.  I know, I'm one of those people, which is why I can say with full confidence that packing to move is not the fullest headache you can have.  Unpacking because the dream evaporated is harder.  Nothing was placed back in its place without a deep sigh from me.  I had to wipe the tears off some things before I could put them away.  It was a long process, and it's still not done.  There are still boxes in my living room and bedroom that I haven't gotten to. 
I spent a good two weeks just feeling sorry for myself.  But things are getting better. 
I've gotten answers in small drops. 
I don't know everything, but I can say with certainty that, much as I loved that house, it was not for us. 
God has a different plan in mind. 
The important thing for me to remember is that He actually has a plan for me.  That means He is aware of me, and of my desires.  That's pretty big, right?  I can't be sad for very long when I remember that He is in charge and He's moving to bring about His will for my life.  When I think about it that way, it's not all that sad. 
A lesson I learned through all this: 
I've been putting my goals on hold until after I got the house.  I realized that I don't have to wait for my dream home to live my life.  I can work to accomplish my goals now. Work with what I have.  Time to pick up those smashed and rotten lemons on the ground and make something out of them.  (It might not be lemonade, but I will make something useful out of them)
So, hard as it might be, I let go of that dream house.  And it's alright. 

When life hands you lemons....

I've never really liked lemonade.  I would maybe drink it if I were lost in a desert for a week or two and had only found a puddle or two to slurp from the entire week, and then suddenly, unexpectedly stumbled upon a group of picnickers who had only brought lemonade--then, I might have some. 
When I was pregnant with Goob, I craved tap water with a slice of lemon in it, but that's the closest I've ever gotten to actually enjoying lemon-ish drinks. 
If someone were to hand me a bunch of lemons, I wouldn't be imagining all the lemonade I could make.  I'd probably use it to make a bunch of cleaners.   Or I would be dehydrating them to make citrus powder.  (I don't even know if that's possible.  But it would be fun to try)

Life has handed us lemons.

I don't like lemons. 

But it's what I have to work with right now, so I have to do something with them. So far all I want to do with these lemons is throw them against the wall and glare at them with an angry scowl.  This is not what I wanted.

Have you ever had a dream you wanted to fulfill Soooooo much?  The hubby and I have.  And we came so close--SO CLOSE!!--to fulfilling a dream, and at the last moment, the dream was snatched from us, and instead...well, we get these stupid lemons. 

We have been house hunting.  But we're not just hunting for a house that'll do.  We're looking for a one of a kind, homestead that will allow us to live our dreams of having a self-sufficient homestead, maybe some animals, a massive garden, and lots of room to roam.  We've been looking for years.  YEARS!! (House Hunters makes it look so easy!)

We found the house of our dreams last month.  It was awesome.  It had everything I've ever wanted in a home.  and I do mean everything.  There was this inlaid mosaic pattern on the front walk way that I adored.  It was absolutely gorgeous.  There was an extra room with built in book shelves that was going to be our library.  There was a place for the table in the kitchen, so the formal dining room was going to be our music room.  I spent hours dreaming about this house--how I was going to fix it up, the paint colors I was going to use, how I was going to landscape, which project I wanted to tackle first, etc.  We spent a grueling month on and off the phone with realtors and bankers, we did everything we could, praying and hoping to be able to make this home our own.  But then, at the last minute, the appraisal value/cost of repairs/lenders didn't match up and the bank wouldn't approve our loan.  Stupid bank.  Stupid appraiser.  We were supposed to close today, but instead of a new house key, I have these awful lemons that I'm not sure what to do with. 

I hate it when people say, "everything happens for a reason" or "everything will work out"  or "someday you will understand why this happened."  I hate it, not because I don't believe it (I know they're right), I hate it because it doens't help me feel better today.  I understand that things will work out and that someday I may even be glad that we didn't get that house.  But right now, all I can think about is MY beautiful house, sitting alone, empty and forgotten; to know that we were this close to making that the staging area for the story of our family just fills me with a loss and a deep ache. 

I don't have answers today.  I don't have a cute little bow to tie this post up with, or even a nice comment to end on a positive note.  I can only say that my lemonade might be made by stomping my lemons into the ground.  Stupid lemons.

Mr. Magooberooski

I searched long and hard for a video of Magoo.  I couldn't find it.  I thought I was pretty tech savvy until we got this new computer.  It seems bent on showing me that I know nothing.  It keeps me humble tho'

Here is the proof you've been waiting for. This is my little Goob. 

I'm sure you'll agree that he is the cutest little guy on the planet.

here he is on his blessing day.  His daddy is holding him (I know because I don't wear a white shirt and tie to church).  I Love how bright his eyes are in this picture.

I don't look good in this picture.  Let me rephrase that:  I was getting ready to go to bed when I took this picture.  I have no makeup on, and my hair's not done, but I love the peace that is exuding off my face.  And little Goob looks content as well.  So I guess that's a pretty darn beautiful picture of us.

his first selfie! (don't you think it looks like he's the one holding the camera? he's a selfie protégée!)

this is the face that greets me every morning.  How could I not count my life blessed?!

Of crawling and resolutions

I'm not sure how to post pics of new little Goob.  The Hubby loves to dink around on his computer, and he recently changed things around to the point that I can't drive it anymore.  The other day, it took me a full ten minutes of hard staring just to figure out how to turn the thing off.  (So either I am that dumb, or it is that complicated.)  I don't know where all my pics went....soooo....sorry.  You don't get to see Goob yet.  (just go back to my earlier posts of The Jelly Bean when he was a baby.  Goob looks a lot like that.)

Goob started crawling on New Year's day.  I remember specifically that that was the day because after a raucous night of our Back to the Future marathon (they travel to the year 2015! It should have been required watching for all people everywhere!)  I stumbled sleepily down the stairs new years morning with Goob in hand to watch cartoons with the kids.  I let the Hubby linger in dream land because he wasn't feeling well (and also because I MADE him take Goob every morning of his Christmas break so I could sleep in--but it's not a sore spot or anything.) For the past week, Goob's been so close to crawling.  SO. Close!  He gets up on his hands and knees, and then chickens out and falls back.  So I set him on the floor and was feeding him little cheerios like a trained monkey when suddenly, it happened!  Goob saw Bogey's breakfast plate on the ground across the way and decided that he MUST have it! He got up and crawled five paces before falling half on top of the plate and licking up the remaining toast crumbs thereon.  I was so proud!  I was so proud that five minutes later when the Hubby sauntered down the stairs, I told him all about it as I was handing Goob over.  Then I went and took a nap.  It was THAT amazing.

The kids and I started back to school again today.  We've had a break since after Halloween, which has been nice, but I'm glad to get back into a routine.  Vacations are nice--Getting back to life is nicer.  Don't get me wrong--I love to lay around for days on end in my pajamas.  But after so long, I start to wish that I was, you know, doing something.

'Tis the season for resolutions.  I am big on resolutions.  Actually, what I think I'm big on is fresh starts.  I love me a fresh start.  And the new year is the perfect time for that.  This year is a little different for me, though.  I am keenly aware this time that I have made many a resolution that has only fallen by the wayside and added to the list of broken hopes and desolate dreams (or something much more dramatic.)  I don't want to keep doing that.  It's not cool to make promises to yourself that you don't keep.  I wouldn't do that to a boss, or a friend.  Why do I get away with doing it to myself?  I want my goals to be feasable.  But I also want them to push me to be better.  (There are SO many ways that I could be better!)   I'm not going to tell you here what they are.  (you're going to have to use your imagination)  Because I don't have them all figured out yet.  But I can tell you what I'm NOT going to resolve to change this year:
1)  I will not resolve to lost any weight! how cliche is that?  did you know that by February, the once packed gyms are now desolate again?  That's only 4 weeks after the new year!  4 weeks!  in fact, 4 weeks is about the average length of time a resolution is kept.  I want to be one of the few...the proud...who keep my promises.  And I KNOW that I am not in any frame of mind to be droppin' pounds.  (I'm still eatin' on my christmas candy.)
2)I will not resolve to be more organized!  Although, I think this is something that could help me out.  And it is something I want to work on this year, I don't know that with Goober being so little and the other kids doing so much that adding organization will benefit my life.  It sounds like an evil plot to get me to drag a bunch of junk out into the middle of my living room, sort it into piles one day and then leave it for month or two until I put it all back.  I don't need that kind of stress.

That's all I can think of.  I'm sure there are more.  like, I resolve not to buy any black leather mini skirts.  or, I resolve not to drink worm smoothies.  or, I resolve not to watch any WWW.  But those are illogical and silly.

Here's to 2015--I think it's going to be a great year!

Back in the saddle

I made an attempt to log back into my blog to check my stats today.

I felt a little like Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle.  You know, the part where he decides to start dating again after his wife has passed.  He sits down at a big desk, pulls out an ancient rolladeck (is that what those things are called?) and starts punching out numbers on a rotary phone.  All the while :Back in the saddle" is playing in the background.  And we all laugh at the archaic way he's going about it.  Can you believe that's how we used to get dates?  I mean, what were we?  Animals?  Clearly not the sophisticated and educated creatures we are now.  

I feel that way because it's been over a year since I posted on my blog.  I got busy (quite literally).

I now have 5 children.  I believe that when you last read of my adventures there were only 4.  You remember Dev, Calvin, Bogey, and The Jelly Bean.  But now we have Mr. Magoo, too.  That's his more formal name--Mr. Magoo--and he is not in the slightest a formal guy (i.e. he likes to stick his little fingers up my nostrils), but I thought I would introduce to you the formal nickname first, so that all the less formal ones to come wouldn't sound so weird.

Mr. Magoo is more often just called Magoo.  Or Magoober.  Or if we're feeling particularly whimsical, he's Magooberooski.  But most days, he's just Goober.   (or Goob, if you've seen Meet The Robinson's and get the reference).  I seriously don't think any of my other kids have so many nicknames.  I don't think any of my other kids combined have as many nicknames as Goob.

But...back to my original thought.  I feel like Tom Hanks in Sleepless in Seattle because I'm back in the saddle.  It took me a full 20 minutes just to figure out how to log in....because the blogging world has up and changed around me while I was dinking around birthing a new baby.  I threw out my rolladeck thingy.  And brushed up on the new etiquette (ever since an aquaintance pronounced that word like eddy-koo-wetty in a speech I say it that way in my mind [and often out loud] and then laugh hysterically and wipe away mirthful tears.  FYI)

Because I'm back in the saddle!  I may be clueless.  And lost.  And maybe a little naive.  and hey, probably no one will read this, but looka here! I made a post!  it took me all night (kids will be up in a few hours) and it may not look like much, but it's a post!

you know you're married to an engineer when . . .

Last night, I had a meeting, and left my kids in the hands of their capable, adoring father. It seemed that all was well when I got home- kids had been bathed and were in bed, dishes were done, the house was in order, the hubby was kicking back with a movie and some popcorn.

The night passed uneventfully.

So imagine my surprise when I woke up in the morning and found THIS:

 What? You may ask.  There is nothing unusual about this kid (except the fact that he is the most adorable toddler on the planet) but let's take a closer look.

 No? Still you see nothing unusual about this cutie patooty?
* Rafeeki voice ( you know, from The Lion King?)*                   Loook haaarder . . . .

There! You see that?! Definitely proof that my kids are being exposed to an engineer's ways of thinking! I don't know whether to laugh or cry. Seems that on the night dad was in charge, at bedtime, there was a sore lack of clean PJ pants. All poor hubby could scrounge up were the old worn out elastic PJ pants that don't stay up. So he improvised:

  

Problem solved! Where's the popcorn?
This is what you get when you marry an engineer.

Discovering a new world

 Recently the kids and I finished reading the chapter in our US history book about Columbus discovering the new world.  I thought of a science experiment to go with it that the kids LOVED! (and that it always a good sign.) 
The Materials: 
Some construction paper, tape, toothpicks, scissors, and a Styrofoam plate (I save the ones that come with the produce I buy--they come in handy in all sorts of projects--painting, making small boats to sail to the new world, etc.)

I am very big on giving my kids materials and basic instructions and then just turning them loose to experiment.  In this case, I told them to make a boat they could blow from Spain to the New World  the fastest.  

 Jelly Bean wasn't interested in making a ship. He was more interested in making waves in the ocean.

I love how my kids take their experimentation so seriously.  They each made several models, with different theories about which ones would go fastest and why. 

 Bogey made a large boat with a tiny sail first.

 But when he tried it out, it didn't sail straight and sank. 

 Back to the drawing board.

 Dev's theory was that if she covered the construction paper in wax (from the crayon) it wouldn't get wet.  She also completely taped the bottom of her boat to make the surface more smooth, theorizing that it would glide over the water more smoothly.  (Also, it looks like there is a fight breaking out in the background that I didn't see)

 Lots of testing.  That was the funnest part!

 They made it!  We did three heats in a double elimination round.  All the boats were great with lots of ingenuity put into them.  But in the end, it was Dev's super slime/ huge sails/smooth bottom boat that cut straight through the water and made the fastest average time.  Yeah, Dev!

And it was a total reward for me to come into the kitchen later that day to find that Dev and Cal experimenting in making a board aerodynamic enough for the army guy to surf over the edge of the sink.  My kids are awesome!

What we do on Sunday afternoon

It started as a series of pictures of Dev's food art work:  you can see below that she made this "bunny sandwich" lunch for Bogey.  nice, eh? 

Then I snapped this beauty. 

The kids thought it was the most hilarious thing they'd ever seen. 

And wanted to give it a try. 

This one is my favorite!  Never a dull moment when you're livin' the blessed life!

You're welcome!

I CANNOT get this song out of my head!  And for some reason, reminds me of my awesome cousin, Ryan.  It's catchy.  I like it.  I want it to be stuck in your head, too. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EQyS4Pbmw8

(This is ok for kids to watch! They'll probably love it!)

You're welcome!

Freezing rain

In my last post, I mentioned that we'd had freezing rain.  I'm still getting used to this state and it's peculiarities.  This was crazy to watch, and beautiful to see in the morning.

This is the tree in my backyard, encased in ice.  

Beautiful, isn't it?  Something about it stirs my heart with spiritual thoughts of God's grandeur. 

I will not apologize!

Well, I think I have effectively eliminated all but the loyal followers.  It was my plan all along.  I just wanted you to show me how badly you wanted to read my blog.  If you're still here and reading, congrats!  You're one of, like, five. maybe.  In the whole world!  (pretty sure my mom doesn't even check my blog anymore.  Sad.  Her loyalties lie with my siblings.  So weak.)
I'm tired of posting these, "Boy, I haven't blogged for a long time.  I'll be better at that"  posts.  So I'm not going to. No apologies. But here's the thing:  (I'm just having this revelation)  I have very low sense of discipline.  (Glad I got that off my chest.)  I have very lofty goals...and very low time management skills....
And also, facebook is distracting.  And I love Survivor.  And the Amazing Race.  And The Biggest Loser.  And the couch and a bowl of popcorn beckons me at the end of the day in a way blogging does not.  However, as I read back on my posts, I am proud of my writing--the way I say things, and the great, funny, happy things my kids do everyday that make me happy.  I don't get that from reality TV. 
*labored sigh* so, again.  Gonna make yet another attempt at being a regular blogger and offering something worthwhile to my loyal half-dozen.
I'm pretty sure that no one in my ward reads this, so I feel fairly safe leaking the news that I am about to be released from my callings and put in a new one.  I have mixed feelings.  I have felt so chicken-with-my-head-cut-off busy for so long that this change feels welcome and refreshing.  On Sunday though as I looked into the eyes of my adorable 7 year old kids in my class, a part of my heart broke.  I had this overwhelming desire to shrink them all down to a quarter-inch (and also give them anti aging potion) and slip them into my pocket and hold onto them forever.  I love those kids.  I was their teacher, but they taught me so much about love and acceptance and zest for life EVERY WEEK!  I was changed and amazed at their examples.  There is a very real part of me that will miss them terribly.  But I am looking forward to the next adventure, too.  My Saturday evenings will hopefully be a little more relaxed and a little less studious.
I didn't get my garden in until the end of June.  The end of June! That's so late!  But this crazy state wouldn't stop frosting and hailing and dumping freezing rain until mid-June.  So things are just now maturing.  I'm hoping I still get something out of it, but I'm not holding my breath on the tomatoes (don't tell them I said that, they'll get discouraged.)
And after a good 6 week break, I am itching to jump back into homeschooling.  The homeschooling schedule is crazy and busy, but I have to admit that I like the structure it gives our days.  When we're on break, the house falls apart--chores aren't done on time or not at all.  With all the free time, the kids tend to fight more. I am more lax with the discipline, too.  Bleh.  I need a vacation from our vacation.  I'm spending some hours this weekend setting up shop.  Yeah!  (anyone else totally LOVE back to school sales?!  ooh, that new pencil smell!  Crisp clean white pages in spiral notebooks!  Gluestick 2 pack are only 20 cents! heaven!!)
I'm afraid to admit, but I must....I've delved back into the world of writing.  I've been batting a story idea around in my head for a long time and I feel driven to write it.  It's exciting and fun!  I love to escape into that world.  I get lost in there sometimes.  Once I was driving and daydreaming, and I turned down the wrong street and I didn't realize it until a tiny voice in the back seat said, "mommy, where are we going?" ha ha ha-- "home, darlin', we're just going the looooong way."
Also, announcement** my sister, creating-sarah , and I are in cahoots to have a joint blog, and am so excited about it!  it's going to pretty much rock.  So if you're interested, stay tuned, and check out her blog, because it's better than mine.  (not hard to do--but I mean that sincerely).
That's my update and I'm sticking with it

snow in April

 It's been rainy and cold most of the week.  I don't mind the rain.  In fact, I really like those cozy, we're-not-going-anywhere days that we just put on slippers and sip hot cocoa while we do our schooling for the day.  We've had a lot of those days lately. 

While Bogey and I were sitting at the kitchen table doing reading, it started raining.  Before we were done, the rain started coming down in HUGE, FAT, FLUFFY snowflakes!  I've seen snow before.  I get it, it's not THAT big of a deal, but I've never seen snow this big.  We're talking full fisted snowball size snowflakes falling out of the sky like little white fluffy bombs.  (ok, exaggeration, but they were big)  Bogey totally lost interest in his reading lessons (he may have even stopped talking mid-sentence), and HAD to go over to the window just to watch the snow fall. 

 I had a small "awesome mom" moment as I realized that it was time to close the textbook and explore something on a whim (oh, HUGE advantage to homeschooling!).  We stood there for a few minutes talking about what snow is, how cold it has to be in order to snow, and how each snowflake is different.

I know you can barely see them in the picture

Trust me.  They were big enough to pull a little boy from his lessons just to stare at them.

 He couldn't look away!  (And, it was very awesome.)

"don't look at me! look at the snow!

He only pulled himself from the window when I handed him black construction paper so he could go catch some snow on it to look at the patterns.  I love spontaneous teaching moments like that!  It's so hard to do!  I am a list person, and when I don't stick to the list, I sometimes am hard on myself for not getting everything done that I need to.  But this time I was so touched that Bogey was so amazed by the world around him (thank you, Bogey, for that lesson!) 

And hopefully, this is the last snow for season.  Great finale, mother nature!

Howdy Partner

The Jelly Bean loves to wear this cowboy hat. 

 

 The problem is

 He thinks the only way to wear it is LOW.  (to keep the sun outta his eyes as he rides his steed into the sunset? maybe?)

He's bumping into things.

howdy ma'am

 Good thing he's so dang cute

"the name's Tex"

 Otherwise this could be a huge problem

Anyone have a two foot tall horse he could borrow?