Back to work

After 2 months of forgotten orders, then back orders and hard to find matching brick, the men are back in business to finish the outside of the driveway project- yay!! Well- the brick layer is in business, with just some minor prep work from the men :) Hopefully there will be new picts to show of a finished outside wall next week!

Didn't look too good when he was swinging the brick around- I told him he'd better watch the car or I'd be in BIG ---trouble!

Blue Belt

Congrats Elisha! He passed his blue belt test- YAY! His comment: "Mom, I REALLY like this blue color!" And yes- little Jacob is chomping away on a KUDOs bar- that was all he was interested in. Forget a smile for the camera :)

And We're Off ... Again

Finally, the site is back-- with a new url. Check it out at http://www.home-and-family-values.com. Hopefully it will be updated daily, but the past week has been SUPER crazy, not allowing much time to get to it in the evenings. Keep checking- and did I mention we LOVE comments???? :)

Child Interpretation

Miss Lydia and Miss Elizabeth had a Little Dragon Karate Mat Chat about seat belt safety. Coming home from running errands, I neglected to buckle up, and was promptly informed that I needed to buckle up because that's what they said at karate. I quickly obeyed, wanting to set a good example :). On down the road, I overhear Elizabeth telling Lydia why Mommy needs to buckle up. "You always have to buckle up because when you buckle up it keeps you safe from bad guys and no monsters can get you!"

Season's Change

Even though we're enjoying temps in the high 80's, it was time to take things in for the winter season. What a pitiful garden! It looked SO good at the beginning of the year- and as the saying goes (as it has for 4 years) "there's always next year" -right??

And it was time to retire the tent- too many leaks to keep it for another year- made for a fun afternoon of play in the dirt- typical kids :)Once they tired of the dirt, on to the play set- and homemade ramps. Good ole fearless Jacob who...

Came running inside saying "boo boo hurt!"

He had quite a splinter- and Daddy saved the day~

I've never seen a child so 'grown-up'-- no tears, he just waited patiently (with adorable little faces) until Daddy fixed it. It's really not as bad as it looks~ Like it or not- it's the end of September. I love fall, but the inevitable is coming~ some day I will have a house in the tropics to escape to :)

Row Row Row Your Boat

What an 'adventurous' day on the Ohio River. The Ohio River Watershed had a 3 hour cruise -all free- on the Gateway Clipper to raise awareness for environmental issues, a good portion devoted to Global Warming. It you look at the scientific evidence- it doesn't look pretty. As always, there are many views on the subject- just like every thing else, and they did a good job with their presentations. We were even able to go through the locks- something I've always wanted to do- not all that exciting, but a nice experience. An extra treat was meeting up with some old friends, an added surprise.

Little Jacob spent his cruise with his head out the balcony hole so he could see on his level. The Braddock Locks

The return back was filled with a Celtic music band- I was just telling Mark I felt like I was on board the Titanic, and a minute later they started playing music from the Titanic movie. The children had a blast dancing away. Elisha and Lydia were chosen to draw the door prize tickets. No extra luck in them drawing our names. :) Caught ya!!! Must admit, that while the day was really enjoyable, the last 1/2 hour got to be a bit long for a boat ride with 4 tired little ones. When you're done, you're done- I can relate! Happy sailing!~

The sun shall rise again........

I know I posted a picture of this a few weeks ago, but had to do it again- it was just too beautiful and too fitting. Just a nice reminder of the freshness of a new day....... even though life throws you curves- and plenty of them- there's always hope!!

GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRR!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Been a day of set-back. Disregard the previous blog of the 'site up and running'. While it is still live, we've been notified by another party we cannot continue using it because the content is too close to another similar site (the whole thing gets WAY too complicated for me!), so we'll have to find a new domain name............ So, stay tuned. It could be a long road, as I basically have to start over, once I find a new name that fits with the proper 'key words' to convey the site. Gotta love trade marks- or LACK of, and the reading in between the lines of legal jargon-- live and learn- isn't it great :)

Finally up and running!

FINALLY! It's 'live!' Our values driven family website. This will be a basic 'summary' of what's important to us, what works in our family, what didn't work, and how we are able to get our days completed with homeschool, martial arts, music lessons, and FUN :) Please note- the site is under construction, links are not completed yet, and new material will be added weekly (hopefully- haha), so stop by often! We LOVE comments!!! Check us out at www.values-driven-family.com. Come grow with us~ Did I mention that we LOVE comments???? Let us know you're out there!

Burnt Chocolate and America Spirit

The children were playing outside yesterday when Elizabeth comes running in scared and crying because her chocolate piece has flames coming from it. That's what you get when Mr. Scientist Elisha grab's PapPap's magnifying glass because he wants warm s'mores to accompany their 'camp fire'. (Soooo glad I taught him about 'concentrating' the rays of the sun last year, via a magnifying glass experiment) Note that the 'fire pit' consisted of leftovers from Mom's dead garden.

Actually pretty creative I thought. :) The things they think of~

It was a field trip day for Elisha- he was able to go with Daddy and PapPap to see the Spirit of America- a free show put on by various performing groups of the US Military. They were all quite impressed, said it was an incredible show, and one they'd go back to see.

I love the flexibility of homeschooling- it's so nice to take advantage of things like that~ and all the while your children are still learning.

what's worse??

OK- you have a song in your head you've heard on the radio 2 days ago, and STILL can't get it out of your mind. That's not a good thing- at least for me. What's worse? Your children have heard a 'catchy' commercial on the radio and have been saying IT around the house now for DAYS. It goes something like this- and is 'voiced' to the rhyme of Dr. Seuss's The Cat in the Hat:

I will not pass gas in my house

I will not pass gas near my spouse

I will not pass gas in your face.......

and ON and ON- you get the point. Now- with all due respect to the American Lung Association ( I think that's the sponsor) on a 'Don't Pass Gas' drive for the risks of second-hand smoke, the children seem to find this EXTREMELY funny and just can't stop giggling as they all chime in. I try to gently quiet them throughout the day in this matter, but even as I'm writing now, can't help but to laugh as I see them singing it over and over.... :)

Yummy!

We had 'green' smoothies today (one of the children's favorites- it's loaded with pineapple, mango, almond butter, bananas, coconut oil, and spirulina to make it green)- as you can see Jacob thoroughly enjoyed it. He had quite a fun time playing with me as I was trying to take his picture to show just what a neat eater/drinker he can be. :) What fun to watch little ones' personalities develop- and what a personality Jacob's forming- he's going to be a fun one- ha ha!

My little board breaker

It was board breaking class this morning~ Elisha was really excited about it, so we signed him up- I decided to pass on it~ Going to regular class is enough of a challenge for me -ha ha! Elisha did really well- broke his board with a stomp kick on the first try. Had trouble with the side kick, but finally did it, and wasn't able to do a hand break yet- we told him he'll get it the next time.

He looked like a scared little rabbit standing in line.

Positioning time~

KIA!

It is so neat to see the look of achievement on little one's faces!

Pinata Time-better than Christmas morning!

We bought this pinata for Elisha 3 years ago. Finally, after some prodding from Elisha, Mark purchased some goodies, and made today pinata day. They had so much fun- they were almost more excited than they are on Christmas Eve.

Little Jacob only had eyes for his Subway sandwich- the children had to eat before the 'event' could take place.

COME ON DAD!! Swing batter batter~ must say I was quite impressed with Jacob's clubbing ability- must have learned that from 'survival mode' with his siblings~ Graceful Elizabeth~ Proper Lydia~ And 'I'm going to beat the stuff out of this thing RIGHT now!' Elisha. And that he did!

Since this was technically Elisha's pinata- the children had to wait patiently until he broke it open~

Goody time! (I NEVER had a pinata filled with goodies like this Daddy! -money, candy, toys, cars, frogs, pencils- you name it, it was in there)

Little Jacob's loot- I think he's trying to make a quick getaway before someone takes some of his stuff :)

They had so much fun, we decided we need to make a homemade one soon- we'll keep ya posted! (Have to let the budget build up before we can fill another one like this- ha ha!)

Finally

After begging for years to 'do 'paano' too, finally little Miss Elizabeth was able to start lessons. She was quite excited and can't wait to practice- now, if we can just keep it that way, and have it rub off on her brother and sister.... :)

Labor Day Weekend

Had a busy extended weekend. What a great way to end a fun-filled summer- they go so quickly. When I was younger, adults always told me the older you are, the quicker they go- I always thought they were full of it, but am realizing now how true it is~

Had an adventurous weekend at Grandma and 'Mr.' Tony's house~ full of rowing, quads, picnics and SHOPPING with Mom-- YAY!! (Why is it so much fun to spend money???) Even breakfast was special with treats brought from Daddy on his way back from work. Say Cheese!! (Still have to figure out how to change to the anti-red-eye flash) OK-- So we didn't have the healthiest of foods- moderation, moderation :) Back to better eating today- (except for that handful of dark M&M's I just scarfed down- didn't have any 'healthy' chocolate made up yet)

Now for the back-to-the-grind chores~ and school routines~ piano lessons, swim and gym, voice lessons, karate~ YIKES! When's that next vacation?? :)