He's back... ...maybe

Remember him? Dudley Monty the praying mantis that never was? This is how he ended up:

Well, we've just been informed that 'due the the failure of becoming what he was supposed to become', the next praying mantis egg shipment is on it's way (and this one is free :).... oh goodie. Does that mean this one will be traveling everywhere once again? But wait! I'm not prepared-- I don't even have a name picked out-- any suggestions?

I have yet to figure out if it's a good thing that we're not like normal families with pets of fish or cats or puppies, or if it just makes us all the more crazy :)

Of course there is always the chance this one will be a dud too.... or will it look like this? (and this one was totally free, sitting on our front porch)~

Just when you thought you were safe, the praying mantis saga continues.... Guess we'll have to order some of those yummy looking vials of fruit flies too... babies are such hard work....

Narnia Wonderland

Another winter wonderland was formed last night. Elizabeth saw the beauty- "Mommy it looks like Narnia!" Still being the winter-wimp that I am, I reluctantly had to agree.

I suppose there is beauty in everything :)

The wise old tree agreed...

And what better way to cap off an afternoon of play? Hot cocoa of course!

Jacob thoroughly agreed :)

Now for a preview of tomorrow's post ....

Monty --the praying mantis that never was-- shall return....

X, Y, N

Couldn't understand why for the past week Lydia kept filling in her review alphabet sheet with an X, Y, then N. Finally I remembered to ask her and she said because Mommy- the song goes like this: .......x, y, n, z.

peaceful morning over

It was a peaceful morning :) Quiet has been replaced with little ones burning off excess energy and using their creative skills-- old laundry baskets make great sleds! .... now if we could just up the temp. about 50 degrees..... sled riding in sand is just as fun, right?

peaceful morning

It's a quiet, peaceful morning. (except "MOOMMMM-- HE has MMMYYYY toy!!"- but we'll overlook that for now)

All is well.

While I long for sun and little ones running in the yard- I have to admit there is something about the still, restfulness of the season. (Let's again overlook the sound of saws, pounding, drilling, and hammering downstairs :)

Time to break for hibernation.

And enjoy time with friends.

As the scripture goes... 'To everything there is a season....'

OK-- I've enjoyed it-- bring on spring :) Wishing you all a restful Sunday!

Homeschoool Helps

For any parents looking for great education material- we just watched the Planet Earth Series (http://tinyurl.com/qhkub) DVD's with the children. The filming is breath-taking and the children LOVED them! They can't wait to get the rest in the series. We watched ours through Netflix (gotta love Netflix), but you can find them on Amazon- http://tinyurl.com/yoqdsx too. We're hoping to someday add them to our video library.

Also for my fellow homeschooling Mom's, this is an excellent site to find free printables for all of your homeschooling needs. From calendars, planners, to math drills and anything else, check out: http://www.donnayoung.org/. Happy weekend!

In a Week

It's been one of those weeks. One of those weeks that 1 thing happens and you may as well call 'snow day' for the rest of the week. For me- a simple 1 day sickness started the derailment. I'm not usually a ponderer of things- but I briefly had this thought. First, look what my guys can finish in a day.... (that's a studded in new bathroom)....

My guys can complete that in a matter of hours. Along those lines- our little ones rarely watch regularly scheduled TV, with the exception of Extreme Makeover Home Edition. On that show they don't just complete a house in a week. They pack an entire household of belongings, demolish a home, build a totally brand new home- usually in 4-5 days, unpack old items, fully furnish with new furniture, totally restock food items, clothes, etc, etc, etc, and move in to a brand new, clean home. In a week. One week.

Now could someone please explain to me why in one week's time, I cannot seem to get a load (just ONE simple load) of laundry fully finished, folded, ironed and put away??? Or finish cleaning my room- just 1 little room. Or get my desk cleaned off?? Just wondering....

Happy Birthdays continued

Greetings faithful readers-- sorry for the delay in posting, but that can easily be summed up in a word - FLU! Mom says it was the chocolate daiquiri I indulged in during dinner, but I don't think so. It was sudden, brief, but seemed to get me REALLY behind, leaving a blog at the bottom of the priority list.

As I sit this evening, I have a perfect view of the lunar eclipse- what an awesome rare sight-- rare that it's not cloudy here, that is :)

And without further delay, here are the rest of Lydia's bday pictures.... The requested cake of the year-- castles and princesses-- thanks Mom-- it just WOULDN'T be the same without a cake from you--- EVER :) They'd hate it if I made it :) And onto the yummy celebration dinner at the hibachi restaurant. The kids had a blast! What a crew~ Jacob couldn't get enough of the soup. Good to the last drop! All eyes were glued on the grill-- oooh aaahhhhhh..... A little of this... A little of that.... YUM~ Jacob never had such a big plate full of goodies! Lots of celebrating, but all good things must come to an end- until next time! Here's to health and many more Happy Birthday's! ... and more lunar eclipses....

Birthday Weekend

We just did this a month ago - it seems like it anyway. But Lydia is another year older and on with the celebrating. For starters: Daddy's bouquet of fresh flowers (that took 3 stores to find because it was the day after VDay) and heart-shaped french toast.

Then off to fulfill the birthday request of 'I'd like my own ragdoll.' What better place to find that, than 'Build-A-Doll.' They really should add the phrase 'empty-your-wallet' to their name.

Let the building begin. First add a heart full of love, health, and best wishes. Wish upon the heart, shake and insert.

Add some stuffing... (note the excitement on Elisha's face-- 3 cheers for build-a-doll!)

... a few stitches later....

...some hairstyling... (note that the little bows here were free-- load up Lydia!) ... a couple outfits... and PRESTO... Rosie the Doll is ready for adoption. A woman and her packages. And WHY is there more than one? Because you MUST purchase all of the doll accessories since it is your girl's birthday wish- right? Especially the horse so she can ride off with her knight-in-shining-armor. Oh- don't forget the pretty pink saddle. Ooooh- maybe she might need an extra outfit and matching shoes in case the first gets dirty?? Don't forget- you can try all of these outfits on in the fitting room to make sure they're just right. These people are brilliant- right up there with Disney as far as marketing goes. But she had a great time and it isn't her fault that ma and pa can't always say no :) On to other news: maybe we don't need Ty after all. The basement is coming right along-- bathroom framing anyone?

Keep on moving with those walls guys :) I'd really make quite a great supervisor :)

More celebrating tomorrow...

Winter Has Arrived

The snow has arrived-- with seemingly decreasing snowfall each year here, winter has returned. The children begged all day to shovel snow- let's hope their shoveling enthusiasm stays with them :)

Little Jacob awoke from a VERY short nap and flew past us headed to the basement- he was on a mission and NO ONE was stopping him. He had heard his brother and sisters outside and wanted in on the fun.

What could be better than snow angels and play time- especially when your favorite neighbor comes to play :) Thanks neighbor!!

average american

A few days ago Elisha and I were learning about technology in America- the week's chapter discussed the invention of the television. It was said that the by the age of 75, the average American will have watched 9 years worth of TV--- yikes!

...I sure hope the watching LOST, Survivor, and an Extreme Makeover Home Ed. here and there don't make me average.... I could do a lot with 9 years... does fast-forwarding through the commercials take off a year??

Renovations Part 3

YAY! No more mud piles in the basement-- but first our little musician who somehow ended up with Elisha's homemade guitar- I'm amazed by the bartering that goes on between them!

Time for concrete!

And voila! A smooth floor ready for finishing and a new corner bathroom ready to be installed!

As always, to be continued...

PS- As per the request of Mark, I told him I would include a little disclaimer to the previous bungee-jumping squirrel feeder blog entry: The deer DID eat the corn, however, we do have proof of the squirrels eating from the upper portion of the feeder. This ups the score to Jen-1, Mark-1. (But the squirrels will NEVER be so silly as to hang around on a bungee cord! :) ) Thankfully the book of bungee-jumping squirrels is now officially closed! Aren't y'all glad??

Renovation part 2

Lots was accomplished today-- along with a deepened appreciation for drain pipes :) It makes for a long day when you can't allow any liquid (or not so liquid if ya know what I mean) down the drains- thankfully we have fully functioning plumbing once more :)

Had to first throw in this pict of Elizabeth- too cute-- and the greenish tint to the side of her right eye is not eyeshadow, but the remnants of little brother whacking her on the head with his metal lunch box. Even though she probably deserved it, he no longer has the lunch box.

Can't have all work and no play- I'd just prefer that playing in the dirt took place in the backyard instead of the basement! Here, Elisha made a mini-fort.

Elisha must have been a little bored- he came up with this guitar today too-- not a bad job- pretty creative.

Lots of dirty work- and Mark had to do it with a pulled neck muscle. He was walking like a robot all day. But ya gotta do what ya gotta do-

Jacob was in the action again- eating a biscotti, just like the guys- well, all the guys except for PapPap- as you can see his hands were in some yucky stuff at the time- eeeewww!!

All in a days work-- YAY for drains!

As for when the rest is finished-- only time will tell. As long as I have drains, we're Aok! I suppose it is pretty neat to have a dirt-box in your basement- maybe??

The Renovation Starts ...Now... ... Again....

And where is Ty Pennington when you need him?? What started out as a little hole...Quickly grew to a load roar...

(Don't worry- No, Jacob was NOT running the jack-hammer- just posing behind it for a picture!) And ended up like this... No sweat-- just the next renovation project before the remodeling can go on. The old terra cotta basement drains had to be dug up and replaced, before the basement can be finished. Never fear-- lots of help was near! Little Jacob was finally old enough to be a part of the action and was going strong all day.

Good thing Elisha made them that table!

This is all just the start--- that was the 'demo'-- tomorrow comes the actual replacement of the pipes- and no water or poopers for a long day! To be continued....

Bungee-jumping squirrel update

Yes, it was a New Year's resolution of sorts-- NOT to talk about any more squirrels. You know about resolutions- rarely do they get carried out :)

The corn hanging from the bungee-squirrel feeder has been consistently disappearing rather quickly- yes the squirrels are enjoying it, you say!

We were coming home last week, and upon pulling into the driveway we saw why the corn cobs were devoid of corn-- 3 deer chomping away quite happily. May you draw your own conclusion, especially anyone living in the middle of the country :)

He really IS learning something!

Just when I was thinking- 'ok-- this really isn't working' and feeling like a homeschool-mom failure, Elisha comes up with this bench/table. He made it the other day while working with Daddy in the basement- he made the ENTIRE thing. The ONLY thing Mark did was cut the legs/braces with the saw for him. Elisha came up with the measurements and the brace system on his own, and assembled the whole thing. He may not know all of his multiplication tables, but there is hope- at least I know he'll be able to sit on something in the real world :)

There's a Lion in Town!

INCREDIBLE!!! The Lion King production was unbelievable and the family had a super-fun evening. I was asked for bunches of pictures, but of course couldn't take any during the show, so the pre-show picts will have to do. On with the evening of the lil' country folk headin' to that ther' big city... Our little man Elisha took this one-

Hi Daddy- Jacob's pants were way too big so he walked around all night holding onto them- it was pretty cute. Almost there And yes, peanut heaven- 2 rows from the back- but it didn't matter because we were there- and affordably :) I tried to get one without her, but the lady in red seemed to be in every picture. She must have been a high-tech grandma because after EVERY sceen she'd open her cell phone which was pretty bright- why? Who knows!? I'll take one of these for my dining room some day. Excited little ones- they actually stayed awake for the whole show- Jacob LOVED every minute. 'MOM, where's Simba? That's not Simba- he doesn't have 4 legs. MOM why doesn't Simba have 4 legs?' Not 5 minutes in the car-- lights out-

I figure this is good blackmail material for his teen years :)

Those of you who know me know I'm a big sucker for productions/plays- especially Disney ones- this was no exception- we wanted to go when they were in town a few years ago, but couldn't make it- it was WELL worth the wait for this year. Took almost the first act to get those little tears of excitement and awe to stop. It's incredible how they can put a show together like that! I don't think I could even begin to describe what they've done- here's just a little clip (Mom- you might need to let this load for a few hours first- snicker snicker):

http://disney.go.com/theatre/thelionking/index.html#video_broadway

I figured everyone would sleep in with the late night- wrong! At least we got some school accomplished. School with Jacob running around all morning singing "I juwst can't wait to kwing" -and Elizabeth correcting him- "NO Jacob, it's I just can't wait to BE king!" Somehow I think he already is.

Until next time...

Hakuna Matata