Little Known Dog Facts

Doggies sneeze wike this: "hmmfff." Doggies say "wife, wife." Don't believe me? Ask the expert:

Time for a Laugh

So, I have these funny people who live at my house. My very own jesters. Yesterday, the kids were helping me clean the house for my book club. Christian was dusting a dish and vase. This is the conversation I heard:
Ashton: Christian, that is Depression glass.
Christian: What is that?
Ashton: That means it came from the Depression.
Christian: Is that old?
Ashton: Yeah, the Depression was more than 70 years ago.
Christian: Wow. Is that even older than Mom?
Ashton: Yeah, way older.
Christian: Whoa...

Thanks, Bud. Good thing you've got that face on you.

Plus, someone I know won't take naps anymore. Here is a semi-common scene at dinner:


Also, ever since the tragedies of the balloon, the paci, and the Target potty (see past posts, if you're lost at this point), she has a nervous thing. I don't know what to call it. She holds her hair. Every time we go outside or she sits on the potty, she holds her hair. I asked her if she was becoming OCD. She said, "yep." Christian said to me one day, "Mom, do we need to take her to therapy?" Maybe so. P.S. Thank you for all the comments about her jacket. It has been such a huge success that I put it on her her for all her pictures. Even potty pictures. :)

Harley-Davidson

We went on a field trip today to the Harley-Davidson shop. It was amazing. 80% of the building was made from recycled materials. They also make custom wheelchairs for kids. Way to go Harley-Davidson! So very cool.

My kids thought the whole thing was fantastic. Roxie kept pointing and saying, "Look, Mom, motorcycles!" The big kids wanted to take pictures of cool motorcycles.
Christian's pic: And Ashton's pic:

Plus, there is a little restaurant there. We got some delicious fries.It was a lovely time. Who knew I could become so smitten with Harleys?

Pink pancakes

For all my growing up years, my cute mama made us pink heart shaped pancakes for breakfast on Valentine's day. So, I have carried on the tradition. Except this year I decided that I am done with artificial food coloring, so I used pureed strawberries. They didn't make the pancakes very pink. Next year I will use raspberries. If that doesn't work, I will juice a beet. That will work. But, since I put berries in them anyway, I thought berry coloring would be easier. Plus, I'm not sure beet pancakes would be delicious.
Ashton set the table and Christian made Valentines for everyone and left them on our plates. He is trying to escape my camera, but I caught a glimpse of him as he ran in his huge nightshirt...
Doug had to work, so the kids and I went to his office and heart-attacked his car. I forgot my camera. We ended the day with a family candle light dinner. My kids think Valentine's Day is a family holiday, not a sweetheart holiday. I'm OK with that. It's more fun for everyone that way. Doug and I can have a sweetheart day another day.

Valentine party

Today, we went to a homeschool Valentine party. It was lovely. We began preparing for it on Sunday by making our Valentine boxes:
Then, today, we went to the party. It was a skating party. The kids think skating is the coolest thing. Especially Roxie. There were well over 200 homeschoolers there. I love it. (No, we didn't have to bring Valentines for all 200+ kids. They had a very tricky method of exchange. I was impressed.)
It wore the Rox out, though, and she had a HUGE temper tantrum in the car on the way home. (Yeah, I know I sang her praises yesterday, and I still would. No kid is perfect. Especially a two year old kid.) So, when we came in, I put her in a chair in the kitchen for time out. This is what happens when you put an extremely tired toddler in time out:
Ahhh... what a day...

Funny tiny girl

I think "terrible twos" is a bunch of hooey. Two year olds are hilarious. (I am fully aware that not all two year olds are peaches, and that my current two year old is particularly wonderful. BELIEVE ME. I KNOW. I have had the other kind, too. But, really, it is a fun age.) I love this age when they start talking and you get to know what is going on in their tiny brains. Just at this very moment, Ashton has been playing the piano and Roxie has been begging her to play "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam," but Ashton has been busy playing other things. (I shall post another video of her playing soon.) Finally, Roxie gave up and came in to whine to me about it. After a minute or two, we heard Sunbeam coming from the piano. Roxie jumped up and RAN into the living room and was laughing so hard from excitement that she couldn't even sing along. That laughter is contageous, I tell you.

Here are a few other funny things she has said lately:

I was on the phone and when I hung up, Roxie asked me, "Who was it, Mom?" (She always asks even if she knows who it is.)
"Namma."
"Name is Kaye, Mama."
What the heck? How did she know her Namma's name is Kaye?

We were reading a book about Leonardo Da Vinci. He spent some time in Milan. We were discussing where Milan is and Christian decided to get the globe. We found Milan on the globe and Roxie climbed up on my lap and said, "Want to see MULAN!"

Happy Birthday, Elasta Girl

About 12 years ago, when I was in cosmetology school, I met a girl whom I immediately loved. I called (and still call) her Hillyerie. She calls me Little Jessica. After we had been friends for a few years, we both became pregnant, within a few months of each other, with our first babies. We told each other by mailing each other pictures of stick figures with bellies and tiny stick figures inside the big bellies. Aren't we just the funniest?

Well, my first baby turned 9 in November. Hillyerie's turned 9 yesterday. (Hillyerie's daughter's blog-superhero name is Elasta Girl, so I will call her that.) Ashton and Elasta Girl have been friends since Elasta Girl was born. I have been thinking about how grateful I am for such a wonderful girl for Ashton to have as a friend. As every mother does, I want wonderful friends for my children. Elasta Girl is just that. And although they don't live close enough anymore for the girls to get together terribly often, when they do, they are so happy and so cute together. It does a mother's heart good.

So, I put together a few pictures of them together through the years. Somehow, I don't have recent pictures of them together, so you'll just have to enjoy the tiny Ashton and Elasta Girl.This was taken when Hillyerie and her girls visited me in the hospital to meet tiny Roxie:
So, Happy Birthday to Elasta Girl and thank you for being Ashton's friend. And thank you Hillyerie for being my friend and having such wonderful daughters.

Valentine thoughts

I was feeling a little Valentiney today. I don't know why. I thought I would put a Valentine background on my blog and a cute little picture of some lovey-dovey people I knew a little over 12 years ago. Aren't they cute? And romantic?

Sometimes I miss those young, care-free, lovey-dovey people. But, we're much smarter now. And a tiny bit older. We have three little ones who call us "Mom" and "Dad." Are there two more beautiful words? (OK, I admit, after I have heard MOM 2000 times in 1 minute, I forget how much I love it!) Life, in so many ways is better now with a little age and wisdom. So, here's to the next 12 years of growth, but maybe we can recapture that lovey-dovey, too.

A homeschooling day in the life

I decided to document our somewhat typical day...
I put our daily schedule on our door along with some quotations and scripture. We begin by saying the Pledge of Allegiance. Even Roxie says it. How cute is that?
Then, we work on a new hymn every week. This week, we are working on Glory to God on High. Then, we say an opening prayer. Next, we repeat the scripture of the week:
Then, I read some cool stuff while Roxie does my hair. Really, she does it nearly every day. We learned about The Birth of Venus painting by Botticelli and the Three-Fifths Compromise in the Constitution and its contribution to the Civil War. Then, we read a couple chapters of Isle of Fire, a very cool pirate book we have been reading. I still have a few hairs left, but just barely.
Christian decided to try reading the dictionary...?
Ashton does her math, copywork (which said, "A room without books is like a body without a soul." ~Cicero), and some Groundhog Day activities...
Christian needed a little moral support during math time...
Apparently, the book I was reading to Roxie needs a little something extra...
Ashton is forever eating fruit while reading. Two of her favorite things to do. If only she could play the piano while reading and eating, then she would be perfectly happy. This is when the kids get their science, social studies, more literature, art, etc. It is different every day. They also do some sort of grammar or phonics, reading and history daily.
Then, we have reading time with Mom. Christian and I are reading Pinnochio. Christian kept saying, "Oooh. This is getting good. Read more." We read TEN chapters yesterday (they are short chapters, but still)! BTW, Disney did Pinnochio no justice. And it pains me to say it.
Then, Ashton and I read. We are reading Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm. (Oh, in the picture we are finishing up Candy Shop War.) We have run into a problem with Roxie. You see, we didn't realize that the paci had been serving a very important purpose: Keeping her mouth busy. Now, she won't stop talking long enough to take a nap, so she often falls asleep later during the day while the other kids and I are reading and she just can't fight it any longer...
And, of course, the day ended with a lovely sunset, which Christian so kindly photographed for us...
The end.

The Teacher's (and Mother's) prayer

Sometimes, when you read a poem or other great work, you find your own feelings written by someone else...

The Teacher

Lord, who am I to teach the way
To little children day by day,
So prone myself to go astray?

I teach them knowledge, but I know
How faint they flicker and how low
The candles of my knowledge glow.

I teach them power to will and do,
But only now to learn anew
My own great weakness thru and thru.

I teach them love for all mankind
And all God’s creatures, but I find
My love comes lagging far behind.

Lord, if their guide I still must be,
Oh, let the little children see
The teacher leaning hard on Thee.

Leslie Pinckney Hill