Happy Birthday Dad!

My dad turns ... today! I guess I won't say how old he is! I love my dad and there isn't much I wouldn't do for him, and I know he feels the same way about me and my family. He's a great Papa and the kids love him to death, they always have a great time with him! :) Without him we wouldn't be able to homeschool our kids because he pays for our curriculum. I know that's really important to him. He really supports our decision to keep the kids at home and for me to stay home with them and for that we are very grateful.

We love you dad! Thanks for everything!!!

Wh*tie Tigh*ies!

This is how most of Luke's pants fit him. I had to post this picture because it makes me laugh every time I see the poor kid without his belt!

Christmas Highlights

We had a rather uneventful and relaxing day. We called all of our out of town relatives and chatted with them, wishing Christmas cheer. Bob had to work from 7:00am to 5:00pm so the kids not so patiently waited for Daddy to get home to open their gifts. In the mean time we also watched the Christmas Parade and some movies - I spent half the day on the couch in my pajamas! It was actually quiet nice, I don't get to do that often enough! :) The kids had fun with their stocking stuffers and ate their candy while we watched tv. At least most of it is gone now and I don't have to be constantly badgered with "can we have our candy, mom?" questions!

We didn't fuss with a big dinner, just some hot turkey sandwiches and veggies and dip. It was nice to not have to have a big mess to clean up! :)

The kids highlight gifts were their Doodle bear and Doodle Monster ($10 at WalMart day after thanksgiving sale!) and Jozie loves her Cabbage Patch doll and Luke wants to take his new Globe with him everywhere! Don't ask me where he gets his likes and dislikes from. I just knew he liked this little globe I got from the Target Dollar Spot so I found him a big one at a garage sale and got it for him for Christmas. I know, garage sale items are strange for Christmas but the kid loves globes and I didn't want to get him a new big one just to play with and eventually either break or end up collecting dust on a shelf. I decided that I might as well get one that had someone elses dust already accumulated on it! He pointed to Porto Rico and said he wanted to live there someday! What a kid!

My Grandma made them homemade gifts for Christmas. Jozie got a blanket for her babies and Luke got a sack for his matchbox cars. Last year they used the pillow cases that she made them for those purposes and she laughed and said she would make them those things this year. Luke said, "She is one cool grandma!"

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

Jesus is the reason for the Season!

Finished Baking....Well Almost...:-)

Today I spent the day in the kitchen! I made Fudge, Luke's Brownies (dairy free brownies!), Peppermint Bark, and did I say Fudge? - Yes, I made 2 batches of it because my husband loves it and so does John. I also have to send some to my dad so I think I will have to package that up tomorrow before it's all gone! I have never made it before so I used the recipe on the back of the Marshmallow Cream jar. I don't think it was exactly what they were looking for, I didn't even get a comment on it so I think that was just a polite way of saying that it wasn't that great...though it must have been edible because they ate quite a bit! It wasn't quite as dense as regular fudge, almost airy, probably because of the Marshmallow.

So now all I have to bake is my traditional Spice cookies, my grandmas recipe with a Risa twist, of course! :) I just don't squash the balls with a fork like she does, I leave them to spared on their own and they come out pretty much perfectly round and uniform size if the balls are all the same. Jamie will know the cookies that I am talking about! :) Grandma makes them every year too! Since I have been gone - and a couple of years before I moved - I have been making them on my own because my kids and my husband can't seem to get enough.

Oh, and I am going to make dipped pretzels and dipped Ritz crackers with peanut butter between them. Well, that's the plan anyway... :)

I am also almost done with my shopping. I am going to make a trip to the Family Christian Store - the only Christian books store around here, it's very disappointing! - to get the kids the Bibles they have been asking for. I am just going to get them cheap ones for now until they are reading better on their own and really wanting to get into the Word. Right now they really want them just to take to church because they get points for Sunday School and Children's Church when they bring them.

I don't see a white Christmas for us this year either. Very disappointing, it is hard to see Christmas without snow. We thought it was going to be green last year though and it snowed Christmas Day. It was very pretty - hopefully that will happen again this year but so far we've only gotten rain :P

First Baking!

Well, among all the cleaning and plumber repairs today, the kids did get a batch of cookies baked with my mom. Here is their result...


The frosting was made with Soy Milk so Luke can eat them. He's pretty excited and can't wait to eat them all!

Merry Christmas?

Why do major home emergency repairs ALWAYS have to happen around the time of a major holiday? Well, thanks Jodie, for your little story about your first toilet mishap with the kids...Now that I can speak from experience...DON"T LET IT HAPPEN AGAIN! :)

We had a problem with the pump on the toilet in the basement last night. We don't know what exactly caused it but it kept tripping the circuit breaker so this morning, after Jozie had her morning bowel movement, she found that the toilet wouldn't flush. I plunged and plunged and flushed and plunged...nothing worked. It did eventually get pushed through by my plunging but it ended up backing up into the shower! It was SICK! We called the plumber and he came and confirmed that the pump was overrun with TP that never broke up in the toilet. We have been told we should only use Scotts, "Macho Wipe" as Bob calls it, and no more flushable wipes. There was also a pen floating in the hole. He said he didn't know how it could have gotten through the pipe in the toilet and figured that it must have been dropped in there the last time someone worked in there. There is a cover on the hole so my kids couldn't have thrown it in there. It cost $400 + to get it fixed.

I guess that's what I get for saying that we haven't had any toilet problems yet!

Hair and Hot Air

Some of you have probably been wondering what is going through my head letting my kid grow his hair so long...well, he has a friend at church that is in the youth group who has long hair. Not really long, just longish, and Luke has been wanting his hair to be like Richie's so we have been letting him try it out. I haven't really liked the look too much but we decided to let him try it, it is, after all, just hair and can be easily cut at any time. It never really looked like Richie's. Luke's hair is just too fine and he has two swirls right on the top of his head - both going in opposite directions right next to each other. It's cute, but his hair never really layed right. So we decided this week that something had to be done...we made him cut his hair. To be honest with you, I think he was some what relieved after it was all over. He was tired of it being long and I don't think he will ever want to try it again. He likes it short so he can spike it and give himself a "mohog" as he calls it. :) What a kid!

I decided to post a before and after shot so you all can see that I haven't neglected my son's hair and it is indeed short! :)

Shaggy Do...

New Do!
There's my Boy!
(He had to demonstrate his quarter balancing abilities on the tip of his finger too!)

Oh, yeah, we had our annual Christmas Cantata last Sunday at church and it seems that I told Bob that there wasn't going to be enough light to get any good pictures but he had to try anyway. Here we are. You sorta get the effect with the lighting and all. It was very pretty and I thought we did a pretty good job for being such a small group this year. I guess most people just didn't have time for it this year. We did "Sing Joy". It was more of a Black Gospel program - and we only had 4 black people in it! :) But we pulled it off and it was a lot of fun. I'm just glad it's over! I only joined because I wanted Kristin to get more involved and I figured I would be happily moved into my own house - or AT LEST an apartment - by now and I wouldn't be there to sing. Well, I was wrong. I had to sing. It wasn't bad except we had to stand the whole time - it was almost 2 hours! And I had on shoes that were a size too small! (I gave them to Kristin after it was over because she has smaller feet than me. I loved them, they were cute and made my feet looks small but I guess we just weren't meant to be together!)

I told him "too dark for good pictures" but do you think he would listen to me? I am on the right hand side 4th from the end - actually I think that's Kimmy, I believe I am behind her and you can't even SEE me! :)

Here I am! I am half covered by Kimmy here and next to the guy in the tux. The men all wore tux's or black suits with a faux tux shirt under it and the ladies all wore black long skirts and red tops.

Parades and Festivals

Here are some pictures from the Winter Wonder Fest and from the Christmas Parade. The kids had a great time ice skating, this was their first time. Luke was going pretty good by the end of the hour and a half but Jozie held fast to the side of the rink with her friend Hannah! We left early because most of the "rides" were for littler kids and they got tired of waiting in line just to go down a big slide filled with air. So we didn't end up going to the Children's Museum after all but I figured they didn't miss out on much because it isn't half as good as the Indy Children's Museum and they were there twice this fall.

I - unlike some of you! - haven't gotten any of my Christmas baking done! I made Bob the cherry mash bars that he likes but I really don't count that as baking because it doesn't have to go in the oven. As soon as I am done here I am going to go up and see if the kitchen is free to make some fudge - another that's not exactly baking but Bob requested it and who can resist satisfying their husband? :)

I have no idea why my whole thing here is underlined but I guess that's the way it is going to be today because I'm not bothering to figure out why. Who knows! Who has time to care at a time like this with presents to wrap, shopping to finish, and baking to do?!!!? :)

Luke passing Hannah as she holds the wall! :)
(They were at an indoor rink, isn't is strange to see them skating in t-shirts?!)

Jozie, just the way she was the whole hour and a half! :)

Bein' goofy!

The Little Drummer Boy

Ready for the Christmas Parade!

A Christmas Letter to Homeschooling Moms

I found this letter last year and I found it encouraging so I decided to post it this year.

From Julee Huy

A Christmas Letter to Homeschooling Moms

Do you know how you plan to perform this amazing feat that you are going to attempt this month? In this month, you are planning on performing your regular duties of keeping the home, teaching your children, ministering to your family and all of your other regular responsibilities you always do. But that’s not all, oh no, not even close. This month you also plan to add some, if not all of the following: shopping, (meaning toy stores, clothes stores, electronic stores, malls and any other place that is generally filled with frantic people) baking, visiting, decorating, hosting and/or attending large family gatherings, church activities and potlucks and so much more. Do you know, dear mother, how you plan to not only survive, but also make it a joy filled time for you and your family?

As we begin this busy holiday season I thought it would be nice to send out a hello, some resources and an encouraging word to you.

We are in the beginning days of this month, and already I have begun to feel like it is going to be over before I blink. My biggest fear is that I’ll get to December 26^th and have nothing but torn up wrapping paper to show for it. The question is how do we do it? How can we, as mothers, ensure that we will experience all that we can this season?

Make A Plan

If you’re going to get something done correctly, you need a plan. Now, before you rush to get your pens and papers, index cards, calendars and other such planning paraphernalia, STOP! Yes, I said stop even though you have a lot to do. Stop and breathe. Take some time for yourself (even just 15 minutes) and relax. What is it that you desire for yourself and your family this month? Think about the things that are most important to you. Sit for a moment and consider the days ahead. When you’re finished, do it again tomorrow and the next day and the next day until you find yourself resting in your plans and goals for each day.

Simplify

I love the Christmas season, with the lights, parties, cold nights and even the shopping. There is just something fun about going shopping in stores decorated sometimes to the max with Christmas decorations. What I love the most though, is the special memories I have of time spent with family during this season. So, before you rush off to attend every social gathering you feel obligated to go to, stop (yes, I did say stop again) and think. Think about your kids and your family, what is going to be the most meaningful to them, what will your kids remember when they have their own families? Am I suggesting that we live up to our cliché reputation of being anti-social and socially unfit homeschoolers? No, but for the sake of your families, please do take the time to prioritize your holidays.

Incorporate

Make this an extra special month. Incorporate “Christmas” into your everyday activities. Sing Christmas carols in the car, then turn down the music and discuss the meanings and stories behind the songs. Surprise the kids with a small candy or ornament or Christmas worksheet during school. At our house, we are having what we call “Christmas Class” everyday at 2:30. The kids and I sing songs, do crafts, have hot chocolate, read books and for about 30 minutes a day generally have a small Christmas party together. It’s my hope that as I do these small things for my kids, they will have special memories of Christmas time. Time spent together as a family and time spent with the Lord.

Now I know that you are all special gifted women and nothing I’ve said here is new to you. I only hope that if you needed a special smile or even just an excuse to slow things down that you found it here. I will be praying for us all as we endeavor to serve our families this Christmas season. May you and your family receive an extra blessing this month as you celebrate together.

Merry Christmas,
Julee Huy

One.

• One night of silence while the kids were at a sleep over at church - their first with friends without mom!
• One gift left to get for each person left on my Christmas list.
• One Aikido lesson left for the year 2007 that we won't be at because we are going to WinterWonderFest at Navy Pier and the Chicago Children's Museum that day
• One practice left for the Christmas Concert at church that I won't be at because I will be at the above named event! :)
• One Christmas parade that we were in this year - probably the only one ever! Jozie was an angel with another little boy and held a banner and Luke was the Little Drummer Boy...I think he tried to catch more candy than any of the kids that were watching the parade and not in the parade!
  
• One week and a half left until we take Christmas break!
• One more Christmas Card to do to finish them off and send them!
• One more day of work until Bob's "weekend" which he has to go to training on one day and then we are going to Chicago the next day!
• One Christmas Party this week that I don't think I am going to be able to attend because my mom now says she has something else to do AFTER she said she would watch my kids that night...arg...
• One minute...about the average time that most people spend on my blog.
• One set of "school pictures" of the kids that I will have left after finishing my Christmas cards.
• One day until my 17 or so books from the library are overdue! (guess I better get them back or that fine will pile up fast!)
• One more night at least for the kids to recover from their one night at the sleep over - Luke said he "stayed up all night with his boys" and Jozie said she slept but for how long nobody really knows - except she slept for about 3 hours on the couch the next day!
• One half more hour before I wake them from the naps that they didn't need because they were fighting and whining ALL DAY!
• One more straw could break this camels back! :)
  

Just a fun quiz...

I always thought I had a bit of an accent but apparently I don't have one at all! So much for my Northern MN or Yooper heritage! :)

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Philadelphia
The South
The Inland North
Boston
North Central
The Northeast
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

How?

I have been blogging for almost 2 years now and I still have very few people who read my blog. With a pitiful lot of friends - not that YOU are pitiful, my short list is! And my few comments are even more pitiful...just a few from my 3 faithful readers and an occasional jerk that only wants to advertise on my blog.

So my question is, how do I get more people to read my blog?

I have it in my signature, big and bold and bright so anyone I email can check it out...sometimes I wonder if my efforts are even worth it, except to keep my three friends up to date without having to send them individual emails on a regular basis! I guess you guys should feel special - I keep my blog running just for you! And I spend a lot of time on it! :)

Something Fun to See

Check out this video that the Church of God International did with some of the kids from the youth group at our church. It will be shown Internationally (duh) and the kids are pretty excited about it. Kristin is in it too, can you spot her? There is also a fellow homeschooled child, could you pick her out?

To see it you have to click on the link above then scroll down to YWEA DVD RESOURCES and then click on the Youth link. It says (WMV) next to it and also Direct Download.

Where did the tooth fairy go?

Yesterday morning Luke lost another tooth. He was pretty excited and of course had to tell everyone in the house several times each. He now has a pretty big hole right in the middle on the bottom of his mouth and keeps singing "All I Want for Christmas is my Two Front Teeth".

This morning when we got up he went straight for his tooth money and it was empty. He cried and was pretty upset because the tooth fairy forgot him. I had to pull a quick switch-a-roo and the tooth fairy ended up giving him over $5 out of guilt, and a big marble just because I felt so bad! Everything turned out ok. He checked it again later and found it and was thrilled...so that, Jodie, is why the price of a tooth is so high in my house!

I Never Imagined

I always thought that Dr. Phil would be a homeschool supporter. I believe from what I have been reading in some of my email groups that I was sorely mistaken. According to this most recent Dr. Phil show homeschool is not only a poor choice for your children, it can "ruin" them. It seems like he took a small sample of the homeschool community and highlighted the overprotective, bad, and the ugly and didn't even bother finding out why homeschooling has worked and will continue to work for some many other families.

Anyway, THERE IS A POLL! They want to know what people thought was the best type of schooling for kids. The last time I checked, it was a landslide for homeschool by 80% and unschooling with 11%. Public school and private school made up the other only 9%! So, if you are in support of homeschooling please take the time to go to the website and vote. Lets show them that we are not some quite group of people afraid to stand up for that we believe in but we are serous parents concerned about the futures and well being of our children.

Winter Has Arrived!

Today was a good start for the month of December. We had our first snow fall! Of course there wasn't much and it was pretty much gone by noon but none the less, it was there. It doesn't feel much like the UP but at least we are finally getting a little of the white stuff!