Little Birrd on the Prairie

If You Think You've Lost Me

2010-03-24T20:22:00.000-07:00

It came to my attention recently that someone wasn't able to easily see and use the link I put in the last post that takes you to my new blog. If this has been a problem for any of the rest of you, I shall spell out the address for you: http://birrdandbadger.blogspot.com

Hope to see you all over there!

Away We Go!

2009-11-02T09:34:00.000-08:00

Here is the Badger loading our moving truck:

We've spent waaaaaay too much time in these yellow Penske trucks (we like Penske because they're always nice and new and have CD players and take diesel fuel which cuts our gas costs in half.)

Goodbye, duplex. Goodbye, wonderful oak trees. Goodbye, new crop of acorns. Goodbye, prairie.

This is it for this blog. I have decided to call my new blog "Birrd and Badger" because, to quote a book I read recently, "all us gots is us." Our life is totally up in the air right now and our posessions are scattered, but we have each other, and that's enough. You can keep following our adventures here. Thanks for reading!

Rabbit Update

2009-10-29T07:22:00.000-07:00

Our little Rabbit has been having the hardest time of any of us dealing with all the change in our lives. She has become very much attached to me lately because of all the anxiety she feels and she has a lot of sad moments, especially in the evening.

However, she has a lot of happy moments during the day, and we think she gets cuter by the minute.

I absolutely love the way she looks in this gorgeous blue sweater with her butterblond hair and her big blue eyes.

She also looks cute in pink.

Especially when she's dancing on the table.

Moving Fun

2009-10-28T18:43:00.000-07:00

Moving is intensely hard and stressful. However, every once in awhile there are moments of pure fun and silliness along the way, such as when I packed up the armoire:

Since You Were Wondering...

2009-10-20T12:09:00.000-07:00

I am in Utah.

It is beautiful. I am very glad to be here. My life at the moment is simultaneously extremely sublime and extremely difficult.

I have been dreadfully ill since I got here, but I'm getting better now. I had the worst ear infection I've had in years and I still can't hear properly. I even had to take antibiotics, which are always a last resort for me. But it was definitely a moment for a last resort-- I was curled up in my sister's guest bed in agony while my Rabbit be-bopped unsupervised around her non-childproof house and broke CD cases and photo frames and ripped keys off her laptop.

Oh, my goodness, there are so many stories I could tell right now! I could tell you about the magic fairyland we drove through on the way out here and the homeschool field trip we went on yesterday and I could also tell you a lot about my experiences with a shedding snake.

However, my internet access will be sporadic until November. I won't be able to do much with my blog, especially with photos.

I am very aware that I am no longer Little Birrd on the prairie. Some are waiting on the edge of their seats to see what I will call my blog now. I do not yet know exactly. I am waiting for inspiration. When my hearing's back and I'm sitting at my own computer and the creative juice starts flowing something wonderful will come into cyberbeing and you will all be dazzled and warm-fuzzied at the same time.

Until then, I remain yours faithfully,

Birrd

Freezer Surprise

2009-10-08T05:41:00.000-07:00

Lately for dinner we've been eating a lot of what I call "Freezer Surprise."

What that means is that I unearth some strange frozen hunk of who-knows-what from my deep freeze and find some way to turn it into dinner.

Most of the time, it turns out really quite tasty. I had all kinds of treasures buried in my deep freeze.

Since the Badger lost his job on Sept. 11th, I have only purchased a couple of gallons of milk and a couple pounds of butter at the store. Everything else we've eaten has come out of our freezer or our canned goods stockpile. And I've baked a lot and ground a lot of wheat. I love my wheat storage!

And we've eaten really really well. I've never felt deprived or like I was "living on food storage."

Now, I must say that the night before this happened I had this unusual and strong prompting to go to Sam's Club and stock up on a few things. I'm very grateful I followed that prompting because those items have made this whole scenario a lot easier.

We've been so blessed. We still have tons of food. I could probably go at least another couple of weeks with only spending $10 or so at the grocery store. I just have to make sure I plan our meals ahead of time so there's time to do the extra prep.

Someone dropped off a bag of groceries, mostly snacks for our drive, on our porch the other night. It was so kind. I'm so glad to have some treats for the kids for the trip-- it's hard to eat out of your food storage, however bountiful it may be, when you're traveling.

I have a testimony that when you are trying your best to live a life of service to the Lord, that He will take care of you. I know that we are in His hands right now and I feel totally at peace.

Prairie Barn

2009-10-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Sorghum

2009-10-02T06:08:00.000-07:00

I think the sorghum is ready to harvest.

Actually, I have no idea if it is or not. I just think it must be because it's turning brown on top. I have no idea what they use it for either (liquor? sweetener? animal fodder?), but they grow a lot of it around here and I think it's pretty.

Badger-Style

2009-10-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

The Badger did my hair yesterday.

Do you like it?

I do.

Developmental Update

2009-10-01T22:30:00.000-07:00

My Rabbit seems so big lately. In so many ways, she's not a baby anymore.

She sings, she jabbers, she puts tray puzzles together.

She likes to put anyone's shoes on and walk around in them.

She loves to color and scribbles on everything.

More and more she shows signs of understanding what's going on around the house and more and more she finds ways of letting us know exactly what she wants. And she definitely knows what she wants. As the Badger and I often say, "The Rabbit has her own agenda."

She's sleeping much better and going to bed at a reasonable hour.

It's so wonderful to see her healthy and normal!

The Secret to Life

2009-09-29T05:18:00.000-07:00

I think I have finally discovered the secret to life:

Go to bed before you want to.
Get up before you want to.
Stop eating before you want to.

Now I've got it figured out I just need to apply it.... :)

Quite the Hike

2009-09-25T20:21:00.000-07:00

The hike to Timpanogos Cave is only a mile and a half long, but it climbs 1,000 feet. That means it's very very steep.

It's worth the climb though, even without the nifty cave at the top. The scenery along the way is stunning. Just ask Fish.

(Here's what he's looking at:)

We had such a happy hiking party when we trekked up there earlier this month with Grandpa Badger.

I'm looking forward to being back in Utah where I can do more stuff like this.

A Day to Remember

2009-09-25T20:10:00.000-07:00

Ten years ago today, the Badger and I hiked up to Timpanogos Cave. I was taking an upper-division Geography class at BYU on landforms and one of the requirements was to tour the cave. I decided since I had to go anyway it would make a romantic date.

It turned out to be very romantic. After the cave tour, as the Badger and I sat on a bench overlooking the canyon, he got down on his knee and asked me to marry him.

I was so surprised that I didn't say anything at first. A panicked look came over his face and he said "please???"

There wasn't anyone around to take a picture of that historic moment. But earlier this month we were at the cave again and we reenacted the scene. This time Grandpa Badger took a picture. Here we are ten years later (with our little pink and purple offspring in the background.)

What an amazing, hard, crazy ten years it's been! We would do it again. Oh, yes, we would do it again.

Here's my Badger ten years ago on the trail down from the cave (so, just minutes after we got engaged).

Here's my Badger in just about the same spot, just about ten years later.

I'm so very glad he asked. It was a good thing we started. And it just keeps getting better.

Switchback

2009-09-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Our life here on the prairie was zooming along at a breathless pace, full of plans and projects and ideas and dreams.

Suddenly it all came to a screeching halt. My Badger lost his job.

We didn't even remotely see it coming. It was like hitting an invisible wall and having the wind knocked out of us. We were totally numb for a couple of days.

Then we asked ourselves, "Now what?"

That is a very hard question to answer. The market for pilot jobs right now is like a large vegetable bin with a handful of small, moldy potatoes in the bottom. The prospect of getting employment that can support a family in another field is even worse, however, so we're probably going for the little potatoes. The bin is so deep that they're going to be hard to reach and it will likely take quite some time.

After much discussion, prayer, and pondering, we have determined that while we wrestle through the job-getting process we need to move back to Utah. We have so much family there to support us. It will be like coming home to recharge.

So suddenly I find myself once again scrounging for boxes and trying to figure out what I can get rid of (sorry, Couch. You're staying in prairie-land.) We're loading up in three weeks-- or sooner, if a job comes up in the mean time. This will be our tenth move in just under ten years of marriage and our fourth interstate move.

My goodness, you feel vulnerable without income.

But I'd rather go through unemployment than a death or a divorce. My children are all healthy and my family is all together. We have plenty of food in the house, thanks to our food storage. And we have enough money, or very nearly so, to get us back home to Utah.

And then we'll go from there.

Even though I have no idea where our next income will come from and how long we will be living on very little, I'm actually excited. I will love living in Utah for as long as we're there. I will love seeing the mountains every time I look out the window. There will still be fall color on their flanks when we get there and then I will get to watch them become covered in their winter coat of snow. I will love getting together with my sisters and my brother and their children. I will love letting my kids play with their cousins. All the precious family closeness that we only ever got a few small rations of on brief vacations will now be dished out in abundance. When I think about these things I am almost grateful that the Badger lost his job.

I can say that because I know that there is a purpose for this. The Badger's entire career looks mortally wounded at the moment, but we will go forward with faith.

After all, switchbacks are the only way to get to the top of the mountain.

Badger Burger

2009-09-19T11:29:00.000-07:00

My Badger is serious about his hamburgers.

Two patties with lots of lettuce, tomato, onion, and grilled mushrooms. The Badger likes mushrooms on everything.

The leaning tower of Burger...

Here he goes! Can he get his mouth around it? He can barely get his hands around it!

Almost in!

Mmm.... yeah.... Good!

South Fork

2009-09-18T23:13:00.000-07:00

While we were in Utah, we had a picnic with the Badger's family up the south fork of Provo Canyon. There is a fairly new park up there that has fast become a favorite place for family gatherings. It's very picturesque.

We all enjoyed marvelous food.

It was nice to meet Aunt Kaa's boyfriend.

And there was lots of sparkling conversation.

Family, good food, and mountains. Does it get any better?

Kids at South Fork

2009-09-17T21:10:00.000-07:00

At our South Fork family picnic, the kids were in Kid Heaven between having cousins to play with and having nature to play in.

The boys climbed trees

and messed around in the stream

while the girls engaged in more genteel pursuits such as wildflower arranging

and worm examining.

How They Sleep

2009-09-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

They do have their own beds, but if you try to make them go to bed by themselves they freak out. Then they end up falling asleep like this.

A Fish First

2009-09-14T09:40:00.000-07:00

He waited a loooooong time for this!

Grandma's Family Room

2009-09-10T20:01:00.000-07:00

So, we just got back from a way-too-quick visit to our families in Utah. It may have been a short trip, but it was packed with fantastic memories. Just look at this picture-- fun cousins and train tracks and Grandma's cozy family room floor. Perfect fodder for a secure, contented childhood.

The Rabbit enjoyed the fake remote control. She's really into technology.

The Rabbit also enjoyed playing with her cousin. They really interacted well with each other. I'm not sure which one can shriek louder. I did predict last year that they would be tearing the place apart before long and it was fun to watch my predictions come true.

On Having a Tall Sister

2009-09-05T19:12:00.000-07:00

As I write this, Roo is having a great time playing with Cousin Fiend. My sister and I dreamed of this day when we were both expecting our little girls. And it's turned out great. They are perfect playmates, being only four months apart.

Yes, I meant four months and not four years. You can now understand why we get all of Cousin Fiend's hand-me-downs even though they are both currently three years old. Look at that darling shirt Cousin Fiend is wearing-- it will look so cute on Roo in two or three years!

Pretty in Pink

2009-08-31T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Rabbit is now old enough wear my absolute favorite pretty pink dress and she's very happy to model it for you.

Babies and Chocolate Ice Cream Cones

2009-08-25T17:35:00.000-07:00

A classic combination.

Scripture Power

2009-08-25T17:13:00.000-07:00

It took me awhile, but I finally came up with the theme scripture for our homeschool this year. We will recite this every morning as a part of our opening exercises:

"Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days."

Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34

My Favorite Way to Spend a Sunday Evening

2009-08-23T19:24:00.000-07:00

Cousin Howell had a friend over this evening and we sat around the piano and sang hymns for quite a long time. Cousin Howell, like his father, has a gorgeous singing voice. His friend had a lovely soprano. I think we sounded quite melodious.

I love reading stories about the old days when instead of getting together and flopping down in front of the TV people would gather around the piano and harmonize. I believe amazing things happen beyond our understanding when we raise our voices together.

The hymn book has been the starting point of many of my most powerful and poignant spiritual experiences through the years. Whenever I spend time with the hymn book something always resonates with my soul, be it a tune or a lyric. These words, by Eliza R. Snow, spoke to me this morning:

With constant faith and fervent prayer,
With deep humility of soul,
With steadfast mind and heart, prepare
To see th’eternal purpose roll.

School Has Started

2009-08-21T08:48:00.000-07:00

And so far it's going great. This is the most organized we've ever been and the kids are responding to that really well. It's so wonderful that Bean is finally mentally developed enough to focus long enough for some school time as well as actually work independently for once. Fish doesn't have the same developmental challenges that Bean does, so he has settled right in and is doing very well. His only issue is that he is a perfectionist and if he can't get something right on the first try or if I have to help him he gets very upset.

Here they are working on their art projects from Artistic Pursuits.

Here's my teacher's desk. I've had this antique desk for years and for the last several years I have only been using the hutch in a decorative manner and the drawers for tablecloth storage. Then I realized that the desk part makes the perfect place for my teacher's supplies since it closes and locks and is right next to the dining table where we work! Hooray! You can also see in this picture that our tree is filling in. They earn the leaves each day by doing their work to the best of their ability.

The hardest part of school this year so far has been keeping the Rabbit occupied. She's been sick this week and has been very fussy. A couple days she really put a wrench in school. Sometimes, though, I can occupy her with a puzzle or some other diversion.

So we're off to a great start!

Bespectacled Badger

2009-08-19T15:03:00.000-07:00

My Badger just got glasses. I think he looks great!

Candy Store in a Box

2009-08-18T16:34:00.000-07:00

Let's see... I better explain how this all got started.

At the homeschool convention I went to this spring one of the displays that most interested me was the Usborne Books booth. I've been familiar with the high quality of Usborne Books for years but I'd never seen so many of them in one place all at once. When I went into this booth I just went bananas. What a resource for building a rich, engaging, and informative home library! I intended to buy a couple of books there but I absolutely could not settle on just one or two. More like one or two hundred!

I quickly realized that if I was going to get what I wanted I needed to host a home show and get the hostess rewards. I asked Bridgette, who was running the booth, if she would do a party for me. It turns out she lives in a city quite a distance from me, so I asked for a local referral and she said there were currently no active Usborne consultants in my town. I couldn't believe it!

At the end of July Bridgette called me and said they were having a low-cost sign-on special for new consultants in August. I was not looking for a business opportunity, but she explained that after meeting the low minimum sales requirement there were no more minimums to meet ever. In other words, signing up as a consultant didn't require turning into a hard-core saleswoman.

What did I have to lose? I signed up.

I just got my consultant kit in the mail. It was full of engaging, high-quality children's books. Beautifully illustrated, full of interesting information-- the kind of books that you know are going to draw your kids in and fuel their lifetime love of learning. A candy store in a box, only better.

I spent some time this evening pouring over the catalog. It was a dangerous endeavor. I made a wish list and while I tried to be conservative, I still ended up completely filling both sides of a piece of paper. It seemed like every page of the catalog had at least one thing on it that made me say "Oh, neat neat neat! My kids would love that!" History books, science books, cookbooks, sticker books, touchy-feely board books, picture dictionaries, fairy tales, activity kits, visual puzzle books, song books.... and on and on and on. Whew!

It became very clear why I need to be affiliated with this company. I want these books in my home library and as a consultant I will be able to get them for a discount (and their prices are already very reasonable). Also, I want to make other people aware of them so that their children can benefit from them as well. They are too good not to share.

If you ever spend any money on children, you really need to take a look at the Usborne Book catalog.

I now have my own Usborne website where you can browse the catalog and where all purchases are credited to me. However, I can't post the link here because as you've noticed I'm quite protective of my privacy on this blog. So if you're interested in seeing it, shoot me an email at either my regular address (for those who know me personally) or at mapletree@moose-mail.com . Or leave a comment with your contact information. I believe you'll be glad you did.

My Love-Hate Relationship with Goo-Gone

2009-08-18T10:03:00.000-07:00

Bean's Cub Scout shirt was a hand-me-down and there were a couple patches on it that needed to be removed. Unfortunately, these patches had been attached with a nasty sticky adhesive. The guy at the scout shop recommended Goo-Gone so I bought some.

On one hand, I don't know how I ever lived without the stuff. It did take the stickiness off the scout shirt as well as the gum out of Bean's Sunday pants. I got the gob of green gum off the carpet that's been there since Christmas. Next I need to work on the gum on the seat of the van (I am NOT fond of gum!)

Today we used it to clean sticky residue off our front window. My creative children stuck a bunch of those sticky foam shapes all over the front window. It looked cute, but after the sun baked it it left the most crusty, sticky mess. It took a long time to clean off but with the boys' help we eventually got it. I hope they learned their lesson.

What I do NOT like about Goo-Gone though is the fumes. It smells like orange, which I have no problem with, but the minute I catch a whiff I get a headache. I feel like I'm being slowly poisoned. Then when you run the rags you used through the wash the smell is supposed to come out. It doesn't. It infects the entire load of laundry. Yuck yuck yuck!

I bet I could probably use something else on a lot of the applications Goo-Gone is typically used for. I may have been able to get the crusties off the window with vegetable oil and a razor blade. So if I save the Goo-Gone for only when we absolutely have to have it, perhaps it won't kill us.

Or I could just make wads of gum and the backs of stickers the theme of my home decor.

Miracle Mower

2009-08-16T05:46:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Heaven sent us a lawnmower. It was one of those incidents that show that God does care about the details of our lives and when we are trying hard to do what He asks us to do He will bless us.

When we left Oregon, we left our lawnmower with our next-door neighbor. He needed it, and we couldn't fit it on the truck. When we got here we figured we'd pick something up at some point. Then our new next-door neighbor, Gary, told us that we were welcome to use his any time we needed. All last summer we used Gary's mower in exchange for filling his gas can. This summer we made the same arrangement. Everything was going along like it always had until Gary redid his dilapidated old fence. The position of the latch on Gary's new gate is such that you can only open it from the inside. Now every time we wanted to use the mower, instead of just slipping over there and grabbing it, we had to knock at the door and ask to be let in. This made the whole situation a little bit uncomfortable, but Gary was still very nice about it. The big problem was that Gary is not home very often. My windows of opportunity to mow the lawn open and close very quickly and too many times I had a chance and no one was home next door to let me in.

All this last week I'd been watching our backyard go from "nicely long" to "ridiculous jungle" but I was never able to hook up with Gary and get the mower. The Badger and I talked about it and considered buying a lawn mower off of Craig's List. We hesitated, however, because we are so very close to paying off some debt that we have been working very hard to get rid of. We've been praying for years for the Lord's help in getting rid of our debt and lately the Badger has had lots of overtime opportunities which have allowed us to just about pay it off by being very careful with our money. Buying even a cheap lawnmower was not in the plan. If we could just get by with Gary's mower for the rest of the season!

Yesterday I woke up bound and determined that by the end of the day the lawn would be mowed somehow, despite the fact that it was raining. Right after breakfast the Badger went off to a service project helping someone in our ward load a dumpster. The whole time he was gone I was scheming how I was going to get ahold of Gary's lawnmower. I had just finished all my morning chores and was about to go next door and try to at least get the mower now for use later when it wasn't raining, when the Badger came home and absolutely floored me by saying, "Guess what? I got a free lawnmower!"

"Does it work?"

"I think so." He then went downstairs and spent half an hour watching "Basic Lawnmower Care" videos online. The Badger is not typically very mechanically inclined, but he was motivated. After he'd watched several tutorials, he went and sharpened the mower blade, cleaned the air filter, changed the oil and put in fresh gas. By then the sun was out and the grass had dried off. And what do you know? The mower worked. And so he gave our shaggy backyard a buzz cut.

I love this man. I love his hard work and desire to serve, but most of all I love his faith. I love my new green lawnmower. And I am grateful to my Heavenly Father for His answers to our prayers, even our prayers about lawnmowers.

Small Scavenger

2009-08-15T20:34:00.000-07:00

Old Treasures

2009-08-15T16:02:00.000-07:00

The Old Schoolhouse homeschooling magazine has a promotion on right now for a bunch of free gifts with purchase of a subscription. I was going to subscribe anyway, so this is just icing on the cake. One of the gifts was a free photo calendar. I decided to use some old photos from our first couple of years of marriage for the calendar, which means I'm doing some scanning.

I was a well-trained and passionate film photographer and I resisted the change to digital. With the advent of digital scrapbooking, digital photography has become one of my great joys in life. I need to work on getting all my beautiful old prints scanned. It'll take awhile, but I did a dozen today and that's a start.

Here is Bean the day he was blessed, eight years ago sometime about now:

Here's me in February of 2000, about two months after we got married. We took a day trip down to Arches National Park (ah, the things you can do for day trips when you live in Utah!)

Here's the Badger on the Oregon coast in August of 2000. That was our first trip to the coast together. First of many.

This is one of my favorite photos I've ever taken. I believe it was the fall of 2001. The location is Kathryn Albertson Park in Boise, Idaho. We used to go on walks there every day that fall with Baby Bean. It's one of my favorite places in the world.

One Way to Get a Workout

2009-08-15T05:09:00.001-07:00

Yesterday I ended up getting a completely unexpected workout. I was grateful for it, since lately I've been leaving myself a lot of mental post-its saying "get more exercise" but I think I must be leaving them in the wrong part of my brain. Or maybe on the wrong color of post-it. Someone's not paying attention.

Anyway, what ended up happening yesterday was that I had to chase down three very wily chickens. Chickens can be hard to catch. They can run faster than me, so the only hope I have is to corner them. I probably could have caught them fairly quickly that way, except that I had to work up to the point where I was no longer too hesitant to grab at a mad ball of frantically flapping wings.

I have a theory that people who are raised around animals are more confident and assertive in their relationships with other people. When dealing with some animals, you have to hold your ground and be firm and decisive. If you hesitate, they take advantage of you. I personally think I would greatly benefit from spending more time with such animals.

So this chicken episode was good for me. Not only did I run around the yard until my heart rate was in the target zone, but I worked on developing some personality traits that I would like to have.

I shall explain how the chickens got loose in the first place. We went down to my friend Shannon's house, out in the country, to pick up some eggs. Shannon had just left on vacation a few minutes before we got there, and the eggs were waiting on the porch for us. While I was loading the eggs in the car I told the boys they could go look in the coop and see if there were any more eggs. They love to hunt for eggs. They found another dozen, but they also let 3 chickens loose. Normally when Shannon is home this isn't a problem because I know her kids can catch them and put them back, but the family was gone and I didn't know how soon the caretaker would be there and whether or not they would take care of the situation. Also knowing that Shannon's neighbor isn't very excited when the chickens come into his yard, I figured it behooved me to leave things just as I'd found them. First I told Bean and Fish to catch them for me but it quickly became apparent that though they weren't lacking in enthusiam they were somewhat lacking in experience. Returning the chickens was definitely going to be my job.

In the end I did leave everything the way it was when we got there. And I got a good aerobic workout in the process!

Sweet Love

2009-08-14T12:04:00.000-07:00

Now that I know how to pick them, eating watermelon has become one of the great joys of our August existence.

See that nice yellow bottom on this melon? That's the key. This melon tastes amazing.

I've also had very good luck with the tip in the same newspaper article about canteloupes and other similar melons. When they start to ripen in the field, the stem starts to detach from the melon. This leaves a crescent-shaped scar on the spot where the stem attached to the melon. I'll take a picture next time I buy one so you can see what I mean. I sometimes look through the melon bin at the store now and don't pick any because there are no crescents, even if they're really cheap. Every time I have found one, however, the melon has been nice and sweet, even if the texture is fairly firm.

Reinforcement

2009-08-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

I read a great article today about the results of a study done comparing the test scores of homeschool students to public schooled ones. You can read it here.

The School Wall

2009-08-12T22:32:00.000-07:00

Okay, remember how gung-ho I was about school at the beginning of June? Didn't want to take a break? Well, mid-June I realized that my kids needed a break. So we took one. It was supposed to just be July, but it's ended up being the first half of August as well since with everything that's been going on I don't have everything ready yet. Now the kids are really anxious to start again and they're acting restless, so I'm trying to get a move on and implement all my fabulous plans.

Last year's plan worked well in some ways and not so well in others, but one thing I learned was that trying to change our one-subject-each-day routine mid-year was not going to happen. Bean does not switch gears easily. I had to stick it out until the end of the year and now I have to be very careful how I plan this year because whatever I do I'm more or less stuck with. It has to be flexible enough to allow adaptation while being structured enough to meet the needs of my particular children.

Bear with me while I review a little bit the pros and cons of last year's system. I had a subject for each day of the week and we did formal sit-down school for an hour each morning. It was supposed to be at the same time every day but the Rabbit had some objections to that. School ended up happening whenever, but we did stick to the basic routine, even if the time was off. The hour was a good idea, but the one-subject-a-day had its challenges. On the plus side, the simplicity and predictability of the system really helped Bean. But honestly, Bean cannot sit still and focus on one subject for an entire hour, especially if it is math. And while he completed and comprehended his first-grade math program, it was not the best to do math only once a week. Or reading, for that matter.

This year we are ready for a slightly more complex schedule with more variety. Most subjects are okay to have only weekly, but I feel that the kids need to do math and reading/writing every single day. However, everything needs to be in small chunks. So what I'm envisioning is this: each school day starts out with some kind of opening exercises-- a song, a prayer, a recitation, the Pledge of Allegiance, etc. Then the kids have a math and a language worksheet to complete on their own. We will then do two additional subjects or activities each day in 15-20 minute chunks. If we stay on task and complete our work in time I will play a game with them at the end. Everything will still only take 1 to 1 1/2 hours. The Rabbit has been doing better lately with her schedule so we should be able to keep to a time schedule this year (if I stop staying up late blogging!) If we stay on schedule, we should be done with our formal stuff in time for field trips, play groups, library story time, or whatever else is going on that day. And as always, the rest of our day is always filled with informal, unstructured learning activities. Learning is a lifestyle around here.

As I've thought about how to create our daily opening exercises, I decided to put together a school wall in the dining room that is similar to a bulletin board in an elementary school classroom. Many of my public school memories are pretty dreadful, but I do have warm fuzzy feelings when I think of the bulletin board displays so I decided to give my kids a taste of that. I went to a teaching supply store and purchased a calendar kit and a giant oak tree kit. This evening after the kiddos were asleep I worked for a couple of hours on my wall. It's not done yet, but here it is so far:

There are still leaves and acorns and animals for the tree. Hopefully the addition of the leaves will make it less noticeable that the owl calendar ended up way too close to the ABC strips (those were a later purchase and I didn't realize how big they were going to be and there was really nowhere else to put them.) With the calendar, every day during opening exercises we can talk about what day of the week and month it is and what the weather is. The tree is going to be used for various activities and incentives.

I went through nearly an entire package of these:

I love them.

I also bought letters to spell out the name of our school up above the tree. But I can't put those up until we make a final decision on what that name actually is. Once we've got a name, I want to pick a mascot and school colors. I'm even thinking of getting us all matching shirts with our school name embroidered on them to wear on field trips.

So I'm excited. I think this year is going to be really fun. That's really important in homeschool-- if the mom isn't enthusiastic about the curricula and methodology then no one's going to get much learning done. The kids are excited too. I can't wait to see their faces tomorrow when they come upstairs and see our school wall. I think it's going to help them feel more connected to their formal school work. I hope it's going to make everything a little bit more fun.

Anticipation

2009-08-11T20:55:00.000-07:00

These days when the mail comes, every one that's home at my house rushes to the mailbox in a frenzy of excitement and anticipation. And I mean everyone, not just the small fry.

I will explain why, but in order to do so I need to back up a little bit.

It's funny how I blog a lot about some aspects of my life and others I haven't talked about yet on here. Like this minor detail: we have someone extra living at our house right now. Cousin Howell has temporarily taken up residence in our basement.

Remember my cousin that got married in June? Cousin Howell is her older brother. He is getting ready to leave on a two year mission for the LDS church and after his sister got married and the family downsized he needed a place to stay until he left. We told him he was welcome to have half of the big downstairs family room that we use as the boys' bedroom, but we rather expected him to run screaming from the house after a few days down there with our noisy, strange-smelling, mess-making offspring. So far, however, everything has been quite fine. No one has run from the house screaming. The kids adore Cousin Howell and he's very good with them. He scrubs the toilet once a week and he's even trying to teach Fish to flush (a Herculean task!) The arrangement has been quite satisfactory.

Now, back to the mail. The way it works is that you fill out a bunch of papers and mail them in to church headquarters in Salt Lake City. Then you wait for them to send you back a letter telling you where in the world you're going on your mission. It typically takes 2 to 3 weeks to get your mission call back. It comes in a big white envelope in your mailbox and opening it is one of the biggest events of the first couple decades of your life.

The most fantastic thing about having Cousin Howell dwelling in our basement is that one of these enigmatical missionary envelopes will be wending its way to OUR mailbox. We feel honored. When it comes we will call over Cousin Howell's assorted family and three best friends and he will open the envelope in front of all of us and read out where and when he's going. Then we will break out the ice cream. It will be quite the event.

Tomorrow will be three weeks since the papers went in. At this point every day the statistical odds of finding that particular piece of paper in the post increase dramatically. So we race each other to the mail box. It's so fun.

I can't wait to find out where he's going, but I'll kind of miss the excitement of waiting for the mail truck. Hmm... maybe I need to spend more time on ebay.

Top Honors

2009-08-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

Dear Mom and Dad,

I hereby bestow upon you the "Exceptional Grandparent" award.

Mom, the stack of stories you so patiently read to the kids while you were here is so large I can't lift it.

Dad, you were so patient with four slippery critters slithering all over you.

Mom, thanks for teaching the kids the "Monster" drawing game. Can you believe I'd forgotten about it? They needed to know.

Mom, I'm sorry if the kids wore you out. It may be some consolation to know that you contributed enormously to the emotional health and happiness of my children, especially my six-year-old.

Please come back again soon!

Love, Birrd

Our Family, By Roo

2009-08-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

I love my children's art work. See if you can figure out who is who.

Cupcakes as Rhythm Instruments

2009-08-08T09:06:00.000-07:00

We had a party over at our house after Bean's baptism. I made cupcakes. Here's what the Rabbit did when no one was looking:

Two cupcakes make a mighty interesting noise when you whack their bottoms together.

Bean's Baptism

2009-08-08T08:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday Bean was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It was a rich, warm, satisfying experience for me. We worked hard to prepare Bean for this. I didn't want him getting baptized just because he thought it was the cool thing to do, but I wanted him to really know what he was doing and willingly take upon him the covenants and obligations that go with membership in the Kingdom of God. As we conversed with him in the weeks prior to his baptism, it was clear that he has a remarkable knowledge of the Gospel for someone his age, as well as a budding testimony of his Savior Jesus Christ. When we gathered at the church last night for the baptismal service, I knew he was ready.

There was such a wonderful, warm feeling surrounding the entire event. The Spirit was poured out upon everyone involved in the program. I gave the opening prayer and as I poured my heart out in gratitude to my Heavenly Father for sending us this wonderful boy I got all choked up (and I don't cry easily.) My mother gave the talk and it was the best baptismal service talk I have ever heard. Her words were on a level that children could understand but she wasn't talking down to Bean-- her words were profound and full of the Spirit. One of the things that she said was that "the Holy Ghost manifests himself through loving relationships." Then our family got up and sang "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus." As we sang, I had this amazing feeling like Heaven was smiling down on our family. Bean was just glowing. After he was baptized by his father and confirmed by his grandfather the Bishop asked him to get up and bear his testimony, which he eagerly did. Then my husband gave some wonderful and heartfelt remarks, followed by our Bishop. It was pretty clear that our Bishop thinks Bean is an exceptional young man. Here is a picture of Bean with our Bishop:

After everything was over, we went outside and took a family picture by the beautiful crape-myrtle bushes that are blooming all around the church. I think it turned out quite nice.

I hope you can see in this picture a little slice of the joy that our family receives from our commitment to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It is the reason we are a strong, happy family. I am so grateful that our journey has brought us to this point with Bean, and yet I also had a strong feeling last night that for him and for all of us, our journey is just beginning.

Ice Princess

2009-08-05T06:33:00.000-07:00

I took the boys ice skating a month ago and left the girls behind. While at the rink, I noticed several very tiny tots darting around on itty bitty skates. "I wonder if Roo is old enough for this," I thought. I asked her about it and she said she wanted to go. So we decided to go again and take her. She loved it!

I'm not sure which she loved most: wearing pink mittens, being the center of Cousin Cynthia's attention, or the actual skating. We never did get her to actually stand on her own, but she did get more and more comfortable with the ice and a little bit better at bearing her own weight. Mostly it was just fun to have her there because she was so cute.

As for my fearless, fantastic boys, they gained a lot of skating skill by going skating twice in within a few weeks instead of our typical once a year. It was fun to watch them go from wobble to whiz within a short space of time. They love ice skating!

I hope we can do it more often. I'm even tempted to sign Roo up for lessons. The Badger and I have been talking about how she doesn't get much exercise. Hmmm... maybe we should all take skating lessons!

Pineapple Bars

2009-08-04T15:35:00.000-07:00

A looseleaf sheet of paper with this recipe on it fell out of my cookbook shelf the other day when I was pulling out a cookbook. I got it from my friend Wendy about five years ago (during my Idaho years.) I remember making it once at the time and thinking it was okay but not loving it. When I saw it again it struck my fancy for some reason and I decided to give it another whirl. I liked it much better this time, maybe because I'm off sugar right now (I keep meaning to blog about this-- remind me!) This is a pretty good treat if you're not eating sugar. Even if you are, this makes a pretty good breakfast on the go if you bake up a pan of it the night before.

Pineapple Bars

1 20 oz can crushed pineapple
2 Cups chopped dates
3 Cups oats
1 Cup wheat germ
1 Cup coconut (possibly the only source of a small amount of sugar if you use sweetened flakes)
1 Cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans)
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/4 Cup orange juice
1/4 Cup oil

Combine pineapple and dates in a saucepan. Cook on medium heat until thickened. Stir frequently. In a large bowl, mix oats, wheat germ, coconut, nuts, and salt. Stir in juice and oil. Press half of the oat mixture into a greased 9x13 pan. Spread the pineapple mixture on top, then sprinkle on the rest of the oat mixture. Press down lightly. Bake at 350 degrees for 30 min or until lightly browned. Cool. Cut into squares.

As is the recipe is vegan, but when I make it again I'm using butter instead of oil. I poured a little bit of real maple syrup on top of mine when I ate it this morning. That was really good, though they were still pretty sweet plain. The Badger poured milk on his and seemed to like that. But really, they're great straight out of the pan!

Baby Acorns

2009-08-03T10:41:00.000-07:00

With great delight, I have been watching this fall's crop of acorns develop.

We keep talking about moving out of this duplex, but somehow it just keeps not happening. I think the oak trees on this property are a huge part of that. I think they like me and they want me to stick around.

It Was a Blast!

2009-08-01T10:30:00.000-07:00

This evening we went out to launch the model rocket Bean got for his birthday. The kids were excited about the concept of model rockets, but they didn't have a clue how totally nifty it was going to be until they saw it go up the first time.

Then they were pretty much hooked.

There was a bit of a wind blowing, and on our third launch the rocket left the park and landed in a tree belonging to a house across the street. We had to go knock on the door and ask for the homeowner's help in extracting our rocket. He got a ladder and we got our rocket back. He said he was always rescuing kites and frisbees and other flying debris out of his trees. (I guess that's something to keep in mind if you ever consider buying a house right next to a park!) Our rocket survived the ordeal, thankfully. These kids can't stop talking about when we're going to go launch it again. (Rocket engines are going in the family store!)

Swimming Lessons

2009-07-31T15:53:00.000-07:00

We just finished a two-week session of swimming lessons for the boys. They really enjoyed it.

Fish passed his Level 1 test. Here he is doing the back crawl.

Bean was in Level 3, where they learn all the different strokes (even Butterfly-- I was surprised!) and learn to dive. He totally ate it up, even though he started out a little behind the other kids. I loved watching him get totally, completely tired out. And he passed his Level 3 test!

This was the last session our city does for the summer. I can't believe they don't have one in August! I wish we'd gotten them in sooner. Next summer we'll have to start earlier. They have a summer swim team and I think I'll put Bean on that next year. It would be worth it to drive to the pool every day all summer just to watch him enjoying himself so much and getting so much good exercise.

Today I also signed them up for fall sports: flag football for Bean and soccer for Fish. I'm always glad when a season ends because I get tired of all the running around, but then when we're not doing anything I realize how much energy sports takes out of my children. They are much less hyper at home during sports season. I can't wait until fall sports practices start!

Whatamelon!

2009-07-31T15:40:00.000-07:00

I'm done thumping watermelons.

It's how I've always picked 'em and it's never been very reliable. So I just figured picking watermelons was hit and miss. Then I read an article in the paper last week that suggested you look at the bottom of the melon, where it was sitting on the ground. If it's yellow, the melon will be a lot riper than if it's white. Last time I was at Aldi and they had $3.99 melons I decided to try it. Most of the melons in the bin had white bottoms, but I found one that was quite yellow. I thumped it just out of habit and I thought it didn't sound at all hollow, but I decided to take a risk and buy it anyway. A $3.99 experiment. I was a bit nervous.

It was the best melon I've ever eaten. Talk about SWEET! It was like candy. It was crisp too. We ate near the entire thing in one sitting.

Yellow bottoms, folks. That's the way to go.

What Happens When I Sleep on My Hair Wet

2009-07-27T09:22:00.000-07:00

Tired and Wired

2009-07-27T08:42:00.000-07:00

As the evening wore on at the ward campout, my boys got more and more wired. This was mostly because as soon as the campfire was built they had access to all the marshmallows they could get their little paws on.

If you enlarge this picture you can see that each of my boys is roasting quite a few 'mallows on their stick. This is only one of many, many trips to the fire pit.

My Roo, on the other hand, quickly started to wind down once it got dark. The Badger really enjoyed snuggling her on the swing.

On the way to the campout, Roo got two big gobs of bubblegum in her hair (I HATE bubblegum-- anyone know how to get it out of Sunday pants?) The first thing we did upon arriving was to procure some margarine and remove the gum. She spent the whole evening running around with oily hair, getting dirtier and dirtier. When we got home late that night (we did not stay overnight!) I thought it was so cute to see how curly her hair was from all the oil.

The Rabbit at Camp

2009-07-26T19:53:00.000-07:00

The Rabbit had a very busy time at the ward campout doing her best to explore as much of the great outdoors as she could...

...before people caught her and put her back in the baby swing.

I was very grateful they had those two baby swings hanging from the pavillion. It was really quite brilliant. Chasing a toddler around a campsite can wear you out very quickly. Having someplace amusing for the toddler to hang out really helps.

Honey Ham

2009-07-26T09:37:00.000-07:00

I asked my sweet little sugarpie Roo to pose for me by the lake at the ward campout. She always poses for me so beautifully. This time she decided to ham it up. I don't know what got into her, but it was hilarious.

I did finally get a fairly normal shot. I love her dirty little face!

Water Creatures

2009-07-26T08:48:00.000-07:00

I married a sea creature and it is becoming more and more apparent that my boys are taking after their father.

Our ward (church congregation) had a campout on Friday night. It was held at a privately-owned lake, which meant we had the swimming dock and the boats all to ourselves. All the kids there had so much fun swimming, boating, and diving. My boys especially loved the kayaks. They paddled them around for hours.

It really struck me how they just looked like they were exactly where they belonged.

And when I say "boys" I mean this one too:

It was especially fun to watch Fish. Just barely six years old and he had total control over his kayak. I was impressed. I also think it did a lot for his confidence and self-esteem. He even took one of the girls in his Primary class for a romantic little cruise:

A Party to Remember

2009-07-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

I suspect that most people have situations which give them irrational anxiety. For me, it's company. When they're actually here I usually really enjoy them, but before they come I always get anxious and after they leave I realize I am emotionally drained. The degree to which this happens depends on the type of company. Family and close friends are fine-- if I have any anxiety it's negligible. Casual friends or acquaintances give me enough anxiety that I don't invite them over very often, but when I decide to do it the anxiety doesn't get in the way. Children, however, send my anxiety levels up to something I have to really struggle to deal with. I've been working on this for the last eight years since I gave birth to a highly social child who craves company. The worst possible situation for me, which sends me into an almost paralyzing state of anxiousness, is hosting a child's birthday party and inviting a group of children over to my house.

It took me three years to get up the nerve to have this party. I tried to put my boys off again, but since Bean was turning eight (a big milestone in our culture) I decided to face my fears. It hung over my head for weeks. Every time I thought about planning it, choosing games, buying favors, or making invitations, I just wanted to go to bed and suck my thumb. But I bravely went forward.

The funny thing is, I'm actually pretty good at throwing a party. I thought I was pretty creative with the party games and everyone had a good time. On one level, I was even having a good time, even though I was counting down the minutes until it ended.

The theme of the party was submarines. Could I possibly be the only person in America who has ever made three submarine cakes in three days for non-commercial purposes?

We started out the party with a craft: decorating their own sailor hats with fabric markers. These also served as name tags, since many of the kids did not know each other. Once everyone had arrived and made a hat, we played "shark tag" in the backyard with a costume shark fin I had bought. Then we had a fish-spearing contest with Swedish fish and toothpicks. After that we played "pin the octopus on the submarine." Finally, I got out my giant parachute and we played parachute games for quite a long time. There's a lot you can do with a parachute to keep a hoard of wiggly boys busy. When I finally ran out of parachute game ideas it was time for cake and ice cream and presents. The boys got lots of really awesome presents.

At the end of the party we gave out favors. The way we did it ended up being one of the highlights of the party. The favors were simply a little squirting shark and some bubblegum gold coins in a cellophane bag. I put them all in a chest I have that looks like a treasure chest. I put this under the parachute. We all stood around the parachute and shook it while the boys, one at a time, put on a diving mask and dived under the parachute to get their treasure out of the chest.

When they were all gone the house was suddenly very quiet. It was also a wreck. The Badger earned my undying gratitude by moving the entire dining set and scrubbing the dining room floor on his hands and knees.

I just went to bed and lay there, wondering when I was going to stop twitching.

The boys are already talking about their next party, and Roo's got hers all planned out. Will these ever get any easier for me? I hope so. I want my children to have as many wonderful childhood memories as possible. It would be somewhat helpful if I didn't end up in the psych ward in the process.

Boys Live Here

2009-07-23T21:03:00.000-07:00

It's obvious everywhere I turn.

Portrait of an Eight-Year-Old Boy

2009-07-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Bean's Big Birthday

2009-07-21T21:02:00.001-07:00

Boy, life is just one big party around here lately!

Here is a picture of Bean's birthday dinner. Lasagne, garlic bread, and corn on the cob. (You can also see that none of us ever got around to fixing the birthday streamers after the Rabbit's escapade.)

He was so excited that he got a model rocket kit. We can't wait to launch it with him!

So, here's the second of my trio of submarine cakes. I drew the submarine and wrote the lettering, then I gave the bag of frosting to Bean and let him doodle all over the cake. Then I let him put a bunch of Swedish fish wherever he wanted. I'm glad in this instance I remembered that letting him help and have fun was more important than having a picture-perfect cake. Maybe next year I'll let him do all the decorating himself.

And here's the whole family, minus the photographer.

(Yes, I know my family collage on the wall behind us is falling apart. I keep thinking about fixing it, but I get distracted and it gets pushed out of my mind. After all, it doesn't scream.)

Anyway, I think Bean had a great day!

I can't believe I've been a mother for eight years!

Life With a Wild Badger

2009-07-20T16:28:00.000-07:00

Wild badgers are very unpredictable. You can never entirely tame one. Every once in awhile their feral side comes out and they do something like start a cake-in-the-face fight.

He is always gentle and loving, but life with this Badger is definitely not tame! And I wouldn't have it any other way!

Why the Birthday Streamers Didn't Stay Up Very Long

2009-07-20T16:19:00.000-07:00

In Which Fish Has a Birthday and Turns Six

2009-07-20T16:14:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that intensely hot, sunny July day in Idaho where I was in labor for 19 very long hours was six years ago. It was an emotionally and physically exhausting day, but at the end of it I held in my arms one of the greatest people I have ever known.

He wanted breakfast for his birthday dinner. Pumpkin waffles, fluff eggs, and tater tots.

(When the Badger called from the store and asked what kind of potatos he should buy I asked Fish if he wanted hash browns or tater tots. "What are tater tots?" he asked. My reply was, "Give me some of your tots, Napoleon." "I want tots!" he proclaimed. So we had tots.)

He was very very happy with his presents. Cousin Howell gave him a Rubix cube and Bean gave him the game Connect Four.

And then there was his present from Mom and Dad. We didn't buy the boys as many birthday presents this year as we did last year because we're putting on a friend birthday party later in the week and those are expensive even when theyr'e cheap, but we made sure to get them each something they would really be excited about. For Fish, it was an archery set. He did his happy Fish dance, which is pretty rare but about the most spontaneously joyful thing I have ever seen.

And then we had cake. He wanted a submarine cake, so I did my best.

This will be the first of three submarine cakes I make this week. Bean wants one too and then they both want one for their friend party. I tried to get them to think of something else besides a submarine, but that was all they wanted. Oh well, at least I'll have two trial runs before the party!

A Berry Adventure

2009-07-17T21:05:00.000-07:00

This week I finally gave in to the kids' pestering and took them back to the pick-your-own farm for some blackberries. The main reason they were dying to go is that they like the dogs and cats at the farm. They are very nice dogs and cats (can you see the cat in this picture?)

Bean is such a dog person. I wish I could get him one. The thought of having a dog right now makes me want to curl up in a cardboard box and suck my thumb. I hope in a few years when the kids are a little older and less chaotic I won't feel that way. I also hope that happens while Bean is still young enough to romp and play with his dog.

Myself, I would like a cat. This one wanted to come home with us. It thought our stroller was just fabulous.

The blackberries were huge, plentiful, and delicious. Oh, and thornless too-- does it get any better than picking and eating thornless blackberries on a warm, cloudy summer day with your entire happy family? The Rabbit doesn't think so. She was constantly trying to snitch.

Roo picked at least a pint, which is pretty good for someone who spent most of the time shrieking in terror because a cat or dog was coming near her.

Fish picked a gallon, Bean picked a gallon, and I picked about a gallon and a half. That's about how many berries I was planning on, but I vastly underestimated the picking power of the Badger. All these dozens of times we've been berry picking over the years he's never gone with us. That's going to change. He caught the berry picking bug big-time. He picked an enormous amount of blackberries and I nearly had to drag him away from the bushes. We ended up with more than 30 pounds of berries. They were $3.25 a pound. You do the math.

I don't care. It was worth it. We could have spent that much easily on a family trip to a theme park, which might have been slightly more exciting but wouldn't have created as much family togetherness as this outing did. Plus we wouldn't have had 30 more pounds of luscious berries to add to our stockpile. Filling our deep freeze with high-quality fruit is a major priority for our family. I haven't bought any popsicles or soda pop this summer, but I have spent probably at least $400 on berries (that includes a shipment of 70 pounds of frozen Oregon blueberries and marionberries that will arrive in August.) What can I say-- we like berries!

The Rabbit's First Ice Cream Cone

2009-07-16T20:45:00.000-07:00

My Squid is a Huggable Dear

2009-07-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

On our last trip to the candy store (aka the library) we picked up a wonderful children's picture book called "I Love My Buzzard" by Tres Seymour. It's a charming account, in rhyme, of a boy who has so many unusual pets that his mother finally flees the house for the sake of her own sanity. (Then of course he realizes he likes his mother more than his pets so he gets rid of them.) It's a darling book, but the line line that totally tickled my funny bone was near the end where he says:

"I love my buzzard, my warthog, and bat.
My squid is a huggable dear.
I prize my iguana and cherish my slugs.
But I wish that my mother were here."

That's how I've always felt about squids-- that they are huggable dears.

We have an unusual number of squids and octopi around our house due to those feelings of mine. Let me introduce you to one of them. This is my Power Squid.

He serves the same purpose as a power strip: many electrical outlets from one. He's fabulously useful and wonderfully squiddy.

Not quite a huggable dear, but pretty close.

Egg Carton Fun

2009-07-14T10:05:00.000-07:00

Fish asked if he could have an egg carton this morning. I said yes. Half an hour later, this is what I saw:

My Sewing Corner

2009-07-13T19:49:00.000-07:00

I haven't sewn much over the last year and a half, but that's going to change.

When my dear friend Julie Schmoo moved far, far away a few weeks ago (waaaaah!) she left her sewing cabinet with me. My machine and all my sewing stuff fit neatly inside it and when it's closed it looks nice enough to be in the living room. Plus, the doors are hard enough to open that the kids can't get into it. So, for the first time in forever, I have a sewing corner!

Having the machine set up in the living room actually works a lot better for me than in some remote corner of the house. It's still tough to sew with a toddler, but it's easier when I'm centrally located and the kids can come and go with their toys. With the cabinet, I can quickly shut things up when I need to, but then it's not a big deal to get them out again. Oh, it's wonderful!

So what did I make, you ask?

I've wanted for a long time to make pioneer costumes for the 24th of July, particularly for myself but also for whichever other members of my family want one. I have long had the pattern and the fabric for mine, and I'll tackle that tomorrow. Today, for a practice run, I made one for Roo. She's madly in love with it and won't take it off.

I hope mine turns out as well as hers did!

One Year Later

2009-07-09T22:20:00.000-07:00

It's been a year, and I'm still crazy about my cloth diapers. Look at this darling Fuzzibunz I recently bought:

Sometimes I think they are a lot of work. Sometimes I think they are kind of yucky. But I love being able to take them out of the wash and use them again. I wouldn't switch back, even for the convenience, because it just seems like such a waste of money. Especially now that I have so many darling pocket diapers in my stash.

They have held up well. The Aplix (velcro) closures are a little worn on some of them, so I try to only buy snap closures. I love it that bumGenius! now has snaps on their organic all-in-ones because I love their colors but I don't like the Aplix. They are some of my favorite diapers. I wouldn't buy Rumparooz again (bad side stretchy tabs, bulky), nor Haute Pockets (my only diaper that is starting to look ratty), nor Rocky Mountain diapers (big-time side leak embarrassment episodes). Fuzzibunz is the latest brand I've tried and I love how "fuzzi" they are inside but I don't like the placement of the snaps. My all-around favorite by far still remains Mommy's Touch and I intend to slowly buy more of them in nice colors and phase out the screaming neon ones.

My philosophy is that if I'm going to diaper the hard way I deserve to have fun with it. However, despite my collection of cute cloth, I still have saved a mountain of money over the last twelve months.

Look Out, Cub Scouts!

2009-07-09T11:52:00.000-07:00

Here comes Bean!

His birthday isn't for another 12 days, but Bean can't wait to be in Cub Scouts. He's been going to pack meetings with me since I got called to be Cub Committee Chair last October and it seemed to him like this day would never arrive. Cub Scouts just seems like it was made for Bean, and Bean just seems like he was made for Cub Scouts.

Someone gave us an old shirt and I need to change some of the insignia on it, but he couldn't stop himself from trying on the whole ensemble anyway (yes, I know his neckerchief still needs to be tucked under his collar). Since I didn't need to fork out for the shirt I bought him a cap and a belt even though they're optional in our pack.

Yep, he's definitely ready to be a Cub Scout!

How Birrd Singleheadedly Ended the Prairie Heatwave

2009-07-07T10:57:00.000-07:00

We had days and days of hot weather during the last part of June. Sitting at baseball games in 100+ degree heat, I was constantly wiping my sweaty hair off my neck. One afternoon, I decided to get my hair trimmed. Just a trim, nothing unusual. So I drove the Badger's car to the local Great Clips. His A/C doesn't work. By the time I got there, I was nearly cooked. They said there would be a 10-minute wait. I started flipping through the hairstyle book. Looking at the really short cuts I thought "Oh, that would be so nice!" So I made an impulsive decision.

Now, you know how whenever you wash your car, it rains? Well, within 2 hours of my Big Hair Chop a nice cool breeze started wafting over the Great Plains. We've had cooler temperatures ever since. Right now it is 80 and cloudy.

And every time I look in the mirror I say "AAAAH!!! WHO IS THAT????"

Fourth Frog

2009-07-06T22:23:00.000-07:00

As if we hadn't had enough fun with the fireworks on the 4th, our evening ended with even more excitement. The Badger was taking some of our firework debris back to the trash can when he found this enormous frog in the backyard. He generated just about as many "ooh"s and "aah"s and dancing, squealing kids as the fireworks had.

Fabulous Firework Fun

2009-07-06T22:14:00.000-07:00

This ended up being one of the funnest years for 4th of July fireworks that I've ever experienced. It was the first time I'd celebrated the 4th on the prairie, since last year we were in Utah during this time. I wasn't sure what to expect.

My cousins came over and we went out to the end of the driveway to light off the fireworks they brought over.

Then we discovered that there was a big fireworks show going on over at the country club, which is less than 1/2 a mile from our house. By moving our chairs over to the neighbors' driveway, we could see the big ones and still do ours at the same time. I had fun playing with the "Fireworks" setting on my sister's camera:

The boys were in boy heaven.

And when I say "boys," I mean the Badger too. Here he is doing his wacky sparkler dance:

But what really made the evening extra fun for me was all the illegal fireworks my neighbors were setting off. There were 4 or 5 people within half a block of us on all sides who were constantly shooting really cool stuff into the air. It would suddenly go off right behind us, right in front of us, or right off to one side or the other. We were right in the middle of it, instead of watching it from a distance. I've never experienced fireworks quite that way before, nor has any other place I've lived done quite the volume of fireworks that I saw and heard in my neighborhood that night. It was really fun.

Happy Fourth from the Birrd's Nest!

2009-07-04T09:22:00.000-07:00

Here is the story behind the flag cake. I'm telling this because it was a huge learning lesson for me and I don't want to forget it.

When I was 14 I saw the idea for this cake in a magazine and decided to make one for the 4th. My parents thought it was great and I think I made a couple more of them during my teenage years. So while not exactly a die-hard tradition, it's nostalgic for me.

I haven't made one since I was married, but for some reason this year I thought I would. It can be a pretty big project depending on how fancy you make it, but I thought out how I could simplify the process into something I could squeeze in to my extremely full schedule. I bought strawberries and blueberries and whipping cream at the store last Wednesday. Then on Friday as we were coming home from somewhere I said to the boys "would you like to help me bake my special 4th of July flag cake?"

I was trying to be a good mommy and involve them.

Bean got all excited. Then he said "I have such a good idea how we can make it. I can just see it in my mind how it's going to be." Then he started going off about scallops on the side and strawberries in the cake and all kinds of complicated things that were definitely not in my plans.

I said "No, I didn't say 'would you like to design a cake for me?' I said 'would you like to help me make my cake?'"

Bean got very distressed. He could not seem to process the concept that this was my project, not his. However, the more we went back and forth about it, the more I felt like a total heel for insisting that it was my way or the highway. I'd just been reading this book about encouraging the creative fire within your children and I felt like I was drenching Bean's inner fire with a high-power hose.

Looking at the time frame of the rest of our day, I realized I had a little more time available than I needed for my cake. So I proposed a solution: I told Bean I was willing to make two cakes. I would do my cake my way and he could do his cake his way. He thought that was great. So I went ahead and baked a buttermilk yellow cake in my 9x13 stoneware pan for my cake.

Then I sat down with Bean and asked him to tell me exactly what he wanted so that I could make it happen. The resulting conversation was pure pandemonium. I would ask him to describe his ideas and when he did I would say "so, what you want is ____" and he would say "no, that's not it!" I couldn't even figure out what kind of cake he wanted me to bake. "A strawberry cake," he said. "Do you mean a cake with smashed up strawberries in the batter?" "No." "Okay, do you mean a cake with a layer of strawberry filling in the middle?" "No." "Well, what do you mean, then?" "A cake with strawberries in it." "But how?" Etc.

We looked at old pictures of cakes in my photo albums and on the computer. We discussed. We debated. We used up all the extra time I had set aside for making his cake just trying to figure out what we were doing. I must admit I got very frustrated. I was open with him about my frustration and that I was trying hard to control my temper and maintain respectful communication. I even got my husband to mediate at one point. The funny thing was, when we finally got our communication ironed out the only difference between what he wanted and what I was already making was that he wanted to be able to frost and decorate the sides of the cake.

I then told him that it didn't make sense to make two cakes, but I was willing to attempt to remove my cake from its pan so he could decorate the sides. I told him it would be difficult, since I hadn't done any of the things you would do if you were intending to remove the cake from the pan, but I would try because I wanted him to have the chance to try out his ideas.

Trying to take the cake out of the pan did not work so well.

Bean and I put the pieces back into the pan and I told him I was sorry but that he could still help me make the flag out of fruit. And at that point, after everything we'd been through, he was okay with that. I was so relieved that he didn't throw a tantrum at that point.

Both the boys helped me slice the strawberries and place the fruit on top of the cake. We had a really fun time doing it and you can see it turned out really cute. A part of me says I should have just stuck to my guns in the beginning and said "No, we're doing this cake my way because I'm an adult and I know more about cake than you do. You will do what I tell you to do and we will have fun making this cake." And we would have had fun.

But a part of me is glad things turned out the way they did. A part of me is glad I attempted to let Bean's creativity take flight. Even though it crashed, it was still a learning experience for him. It was also a huge learning experience for me. Every time Bean and I go head to head about something like this I always learn a lot-- both about how to deal with him better and how to overcome my own weaknesses. I think I modeled appropriate conflict resolution to him also, which is an extremely useful skill.

The cake was delicious and in the end everyone was perhaps a little bit wiser and a little bit fatter.

Gotta Have More

2009-07-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

Two summers ago around a family reunion campfire, my sisters discovered an old Girl Scout song of mine about chocolate chip cookies. The lyrics to the chorus go like this:

"Chocolate chip cookies
Gotta have more
You can bake 'em in the oven
Or buy 'em at the store
But whatever you do
Have them ready at your door
And I'll love you 'til I die"

I was surprised that they'd never heard it before and charmed that they loved it so much. They sang it again and again.

Thanks to my sister Pineapple, I have the recipe for the very best chocolate chip cookies ever. I only make them once or twice a year though because when I do make them I can't stop eating them. The recipe makes six dozen. I could eat them all. In a day.

The other day I made them for a cub scout meeting. I figured I was safe if I had to take most of them to a function. My family still snarfed up 2 dozen in a few short minutes.

That's the nice thing about having a lot of kids. They save you from eating too much of something yourself. I still ate quite a few cookies, but I didn't gain any weight over the whole experience. For someone with my track record, that's an achievement.

"When I die I don't want wings
A golden halo or a harp that sings
Just give me a book, a fire
And someone to bring me
Chocolate chip cookies all day!"

Serious T-Ball Excitement

2009-06-29T21:03:00.000-07:00

Here's Fish, just about to make a line drive out to second base.

Pow! That's what happens when you use a bat with flames on it!

Off and running and being cheered on by a great first-base coach:

I love watching Fish play T-ball.

What a Hit!

2009-06-29T20:57:00.000-07:00

We're playing baseball at the YMCA again this summer. Both the boys have the same coaches they had for soccer.

Despite the roasting heat, we've been having a fabulous time. Bean got three hits off that dratted pitching machine at this evening's game.

Here comes the ball (can you see it?)

Swat! Now it's going the other way! (Can you see it again?)

All his teammates did good too, so he made it all the way around and was safe at home!

Yet Another Budding Musician

2009-06-29T20:35:00.000-07:00

Remember my Rabbit's singing? It wasn't a fluke. She sings a lot and it sounds more and more like real songs. She has also discovered the piano and she is passionate about it.

She adores climbing up on the bench and playing. She seems to feel very strongly that she should be able to play it proficiently.

The other day when we got the violins out (and unfortunately it had been awhile) she clearly let us know that she wanted a turn too. I tried to let her hold our little 1/8 size violin briefly, but as soon as I put it under her chin she immediately began sucking on the chin rest. It was very humorous. I think I'll give her a little while longer before I call the Suzuki school!

So Far, So Good

2009-06-27T08:31:00.000-07:00

My tomato plants are growing!

I also have this little pepper plant, and it's doing well too.

The Costume Box

2009-06-27T05:54:00.000-07:00

During this last week we got out the costume box again. It has been in the storage room for awhile (I rotate my kids' toys so that they appreciate them more). They were very excited to see their costumes again.

They've been putting on plays for me, which is something that they've never done before. For a long time I've hoped that they would, so I'm excited. I want to encourage a lot of theatrical production in our home. I can see it being a huge part of our homeschool. They haven't seemed very interested in the past, so I'm thrilled that they're taking to it now. Bean, of course, is the ringleader, telling the other kids what to say and where to stand, but he's very good at getting everybody involved, even the baby.

Happy!

2009-06-27T05:46:00.000-07:00

I love this kid!!!

Hot!

2009-06-27T05:42:00.000-07:00

It's been just a little bit hot here on the prairie this last week. The kids haven't seemed to care-- they still want to ride their bikes and play in the backyard, but they come in so red and sweaty. Yesterday the Badger went out and bought them a wading pool (and some more squirt guns). They were thrilled!

The boys have been playing with squrt guns constantly lately. I had to confiscate them yesterday evening because they were shooting at each other at the dinner table but I'll give them back to them today if they're polite and help me pick up the living room.

The Badger decided to see how the Rabbit would like the pool.

She preferred sitting next to it and splashing the water with her hands.

Transitions

2009-06-26T14:05:00.000-07:00

This week the Rabbit finally began using walking as her primary mode of transportation. She is 16 months old, which is later than my other kids (but not much later). As I've been watching her stagger around the last few days it has occurred to me that she really is a "toddler" now. Then I realized that she is my only toddler, because in recent weeks Roo has definitely arrived at the linguistic and developmental markers that place her as a "preschooler." And Fish, my former preschooler, has recently been showing a lot of desire to tackle the more rigorous mental exercises of school-aged children. Bean, for his part, just finished his math book that took him through multiplication and division and factoring.

So it seems all my children have moved up the ladder. I shouldn't be surprised, but in a way I am. You know your children are going to grow, but sometimes it seems like they're stuck at a certain place (like my Rabbit crawling for more than 8 months). You get used to things being a certain way and it seems like it will be that way forever, yet you know that eventually they will move on. Then one day you wake up and realize that they have moved on. And you're sad and happy at the same time.

After I first wrote this post I then checked my Google Reader and viewed this post from my friend Janet, which, while not on exactly the same vein, resonated with me stronger than it normally would have if I hadn't just written this. I really enjoyed it, so I'm sharing it here.

Roo's "Haircut"

2009-06-26T13:54:00.000-07:00

When Roo says she wants a "haircut" it means she wants a hairstyle (we're working on the distinction). Her hair is slowly getting easier to work with. She's very good at holding still while I do her hair. She whimpers a little when I put the elastics on, but she won't let me stop. She does a similar thing when I wash her hair: she cries, but she insists that I do it anyway.

We think the end results of all this hair grooming are pretty cute!

Someone Left a Cup of Chocolate Milk on the Table!

2009-06-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

(We can't leave anything on the table these days!)

Photo of the Photograher

2009-06-24T12:03:00.000-07:00

It had been a long day behind the camera. I was running out of steam, but the wedding reception was winding down. Someone came up to me (I can't even remember who!) and said "You've been taking pictures all day. How about a picture of you with your kids?"

What a great idea!

I started trying to round them up and quickly realized they were in full free-radical mode. You know how they get when they're completely exhausted and yet full of sugar? My kids have gotten pretty good at obediently sitting and smiling for pictures with only a little bit of coaxing, but this night they would neither sit still nor smile. Even Roo. Even with strong coaxing.

All I could do was laugh.

And then ask them all to pull faces instead!

My Caboose

2009-06-24T06:08:00.000-07:00

When we left Idaho at the end of 2006 I left my double stroller behind. I've managed to live without one until recently. I was trying to put off buying one but the shenanigans I was pulling off to avoid needing one were getting a bit ridiculous. Finally when I was planning a trip to the Temple with my cousin prior to her wedding and my babysitter wanted to take the kids to the zoo I decided the time had come to take the plunge.

Other than the fact that double strollers are very expensive, the other thing that was holding me off was that I could not decide which stroller to buy. If I was going to shell out big bucks I wanted to have the right stroller.

As I mentioned my dilemma to my friends, everyone told me the same thing: "get a Sit 'n Stand." I didn't think I wanted one, but after hearing that emphatically five times I started to pay attention. I did a little research and settled on the Joovy Caboose. Then I found one on Craig's List in nearly new condition for a lot less.

And I LOVE it! It has been so fabulous. It pushes easily and folds up easily and compactly. I can tell it's quality-built. And Roo loves her little spot in the back. She can get in and out as needed, stand up, or sit down. I can also buckle her in if I want to. It has been perfect for our around-town outings (like the wedding reception, as shown above.)

The one thing that it isn't perfect for is long walks around the neighborhood. Roo likes to put her feet down and drag them on the ground and she gets a little squirmy being rear-facing for so long. I eventually intend to buy a bike trailer that converts to a jogging stroller which will cover all our exercise needs. But I'm so very very glad I bought my Joovy Caboose!

Happy!

2009-06-23T14:51:00.000-07:00

I love this kid!!!

Documentation of Celebration

2009-06-23T14:50:00.000-07:00

I've been spending all this time processing my cousin's wedding photos and I realized today that I never finished blogging Father's Day.

We had a huge breakfast of biscuits and gravy, scrambled eggs, fresh canteloupe, and smoothie.

Then we gave the Badger his Father's Day presents. The Badger and I each sleep with one of those huge body pillows and a few weeks ago I bought a really soft fuzzy cover for mine. The Badger told me at one point that he wished he had a soft fuzzy cover too, so I bought him one. I think he was kind of surprised to unwrap a pillowcase on Father's Day when most men are unwrapping drills and grilling spatulas, but later on when we got it on his big pillow he was most appreciative. After all, he and I both take sleeping very, very seriously.

His other present was the game "Apples to Apples." I actually bought him the Junior version because we've found it's just as fun for the grownups but we can play it with the kids. He was really excited about that. So were the kids. We can't wait to play it together!

The Rabbit at the Luncheon

2009-06-22T22:09:00.000-07:00

The Rabbit was the smallest guest at my cousin's wedding luncheon, held in a private room at a buffet restaurant. There's plenty for everyone at buffets, especially one-year-olds. I made her a nice plate of finger foods.

This was okay until Cousin S sat down next to her with his plate of spaghetti. She attacked it. So much for non-stainables!

She really had a great time.

In the end, she was one sloppy, happy little Rabbit!

What a Father!

2009-06-21T18:04:00.000-07:00

In my book, the Badger is everything a father should be.

In the kids' book, he makes a great cushion.

Dream Job For a Day

2009-06-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was glorious.

I'm still marveling over what happened.

When my cousin Michelle announced her engagement a couple of months ago, we were all thrilled, as is typical when such an event occurs. But something else happened too. Everyone who knows Michelle knows that she is sweet, kind, thoughtful, hard-working, and spiritual, and that it has been hard for her since she lost her dad to cancer six years ago. There are many, many people who love her very deeply and would tie themselves into knots for her. When she announced her engagement, people started volunteering their time and talents to help with the wedding. It was truly heartwarming to see the hours and hours of time people put in to do things like make her dress and her cake and decorate for her reception. There was so much love involved from start to finish.

I volunteered to be her photographer. I've always wanted to be a wedding photographer. I was a little surprised when she actually took me up on it. And then I was a little nervous when the huge responsibility of the assignment hit me. What if I totally messed up and none of the pictures turned out? What if she just didn't like the pictures?

I called my sister Crocodile and arranged to borrow the camera that I used as a back up at Heather's wedding last year. It wasn't the ideal camera for a wedding, but it was good enough. Then I spent quite a bit of time researching wedding photography tips and techniques. It was a little overwhelming as I realized that I didn't have as much skill and practice and good equipment as was optimum. But I bravely went forward, knowing that Michelle was grateful for my willingness to give it my best effort.

Heaven smiled on Michelle yesterday, and some of that radiated over to me and my camera. I got some really nice shots. I haven't had time to look at them all yet, let alone process them, but overall I'm pleased so far. I wasn't the perfect wedding photographer and I didn't take anything like the stunning, clever, artsy example pictures I looked at online, but I think I did a right decent job.

For my first wedding, I was so blessed to have such an easy-going, happy, photogenic couple to work with. They were great. They were patient. They were fun. And so was their family. There was always a willing pair of hands to move my equipment and hold my baby. It was the perfect situation for a greenie.

Thanks, Michelle, for letting me fulfill my dream of being a wedding photographer! It really meant a lot to me. I had a great time!

Wild Thing

2009-06-21T09:37:00.000-07:00

Light Prints

2009-06-19T20:49:00.000-07:00

We really look forward to our monthly trips to the nearby art museum for their children's art program. They really do a wonderful job exposing even very young children to various forms of art. This month, we put cut-out shapes of black card stock on top of a special light-sensitive paper and then processed it outside in the sun to make these neat silhouette images.

I must admit, I helped Roo make hers this time. It was a little beyond her skill level, so I just had her show me what she wanted on it and approximately where she wanted it.

The tall shapes with the windows are grain elevators, because this is the prairie.

I didn't help Bean and Fish at all. They won't even let me sit by them when we go to the museum. But they totally get into it and love it and the woman who runs the program adores them (I love it when other people think my kids are great!)

So here's Bean's, complete with grain elevators, raccoon (on the bottom) and garbage can (on the right):

And here's Fish's-- I like his use of symmetry:

As I've done more and more art with my children I've rekindled the enjoyment I once had in it myself. I'm looking forward to years of doing art projects with them.

Food Friends

2009-06-17T17:17:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I broiled a large slab of salmon, enough for two meals. This afternoon I spent some time on the internet looking for a good salmon pasta recipe. I found several marvelous ones, but I didn't want to have to run to the store in 100-degree heat with four small children just for leeks or heavy cream (call me lazy, I know!), so I went with the one for which I already had all the ingredients on hand.

It was basically a white sauce with pesto, grated parmesan (I used asiago), and salmon, served with penne. It seemed almost too simple, yet I had read online that pesto and salmon are a match made in heaven so I moved boldly forward.

And it was true: pesto and salmon belong together. Let it be written: ketchup and mustard, peanut butter and jelly, pesto and salmon. It was a yummy, easy, fast dinner. The Badger sang my praises. The kids lapped it up.

Salmon is rapidly becoming one of my very most favorite foods.

Hello, Beautiful!

2009-06-17T07:28:00.000-07:00

In Which Birrd Reveals a Marvelous Cleaning Hint

2009-06-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

Recently we decided that Tuesday was cleaning day at our house. Growing up, it was always Saturday, but the Badger does not work M-F. Tuesday is a better fit for us.

I'd been doing pretty well at the basic tidying/sweeping/vacuuming/dishes, but lately the bathrooms had been getting a little scary. Also, I wasn't doing any of the periodic deep cleaning that I used to do back when I only had a couple of kids. So the Tuesday cleaning strategy is that we do all the basic cleaning plus one extra deep clean each week. It's been working pretty well. The first week I attacked my stove and I couldn't believe how long it took me to scrub it clean. Note to self: don't ever let the stove go more than a year without being deep-cleaned again!

Yesterday we decided to thoroughly dust the living room. Which brings me to my marvelous cleaning hint. I have lots of silk plants. I've always hated how dusty they get and how hard they are to get clean. I bought that special silk plant spray once but I didn't love it. Yesterday I decided to try a method that someone mentioned to me once when I was out visiting teaching. It worked fabulously. It was fun and easy and didn't involve an expensive spray.

Put the silk plant in a large plastic bag with a whole bunch of salt and shake shake shake. Voila! Dust-free!

A word of caution: if your silk plants have poky ends, they may poke holes in the bag while you shake. Better shake outside unless you feel like sweeping up salt.

A kitchen-sized trash bag worked well for me. Then afterwards I just took out the kitchen trash and put the salty bag in as the new bag.

Happy dusting!

On Fire

2009-06-08T20:42:00.000-07:00

My dad asked me today if we were going to take a break from homeschooling for the summer.

Well, that was my original plan when I mapped out our year. However, not long ago I attended a homeschool convention and now my mind's so full of all the wonderful things I want to teach them and all the cool projects we can do that I can't bear the thought of stopping for a minute. There's just not enough hours in the day to explore everything we want to learn about. Why should we stop for the summer?

Now, you may think that I sound like just another obnoxiously perky Holly Homeschooler, but I want you to understand something. I haven't always felt like this. Years ago I wasn't interested in sitting down and doing lessons with my kids (in fact, that sounded intolerably tedious to me) and I didn't want to give up any of my time in my own little world in order to work with my kids. My enjoyment of homeschooling has come gradually and has gone hand-in-hand with a real grieving process of giving up my own pursuits in order to give my children this time. But now I am on fire!

A big part of this is that Bean is finally old enough that he is catching fire too. More and more now he really wants to learn and he's a lot easier to teach than he used to be. After everything I've been through with him, that's so exciting that I want to capitalize on every second of it. Fish is now old enough too that they can do stuff together and that makes things much more fun.

And the convention! It was emotionally exhausting because it was so wonderful and stimulating and I got so excited about all the different curricula available but I had to balance that against my budget of both time and money. You would not believe all the awesome, fun, exciting books and CDs and toys and computer software and programs that are available now for homeschooling. I just kept seeing things that looked so fun-- the Badger and I agreed we're going to plan ahead next year and budget a thousand dollars so we can buy everything we want at the convention. I really think a key component of homeschool success is for the parent to have curricula that they're excited about. If the parent is truly enthusiastic, the kids will be too.

I only had a little money to spend, so in the end I went with only one big new thing for now, but I'm very very excited about it. It's the Artistic Pursuits art curriculum and it's really neat. The kids love it and so do I.

So no, we're not going to take a break for the summer. We're having way too much fun.

My Melon Basket

2009-06-07T22:19:00.000-07:00

I was asked to bring a fruit tray to my cousin's bridal shower on Saturday. As I got thinking about what kind of fruit to buy, etc., I got the idea to make one of those melon baskets. It sounded like it would be fun. I was a little concerned that it might end up being a time-consuming pain, but I decided that I would plan on it being difficult and just enjoy it anyway.

There are lots of websites with instructions. They say the best thing to use is your pumpkin carving knives, so I dug mine out of the basement. They worked great. In fact, I was expecting to have to really saw away and so I was surprised at how easy it was to cut the watermelon. Much easier than cutting pumpkin. The cutting part went really fast.

The time-consuming part ended up being scooping out all the flesh and chopping it up. That took the better part of an hour and made a big mess, but it was fun. The kids got a kick out of watching me and eating small scraps.

A "Magic Eraser" took the black Sharpie lines off the basket easily. How did we ever live without those things? And despite the mischievous intentions of my curious children....

...my melon basket made it to the shower intact. I thought it looked pretty cute!

I wouldn't make one every day, but for a really special occasion I would definitely do it again. Plan on a couple of hours, but a fun couple of hours.

After reading a recommendation on one of the websites, I tossed the fruit with a mixture of the juice of one lemon and one lime along with a bit of sugar. I could taste a little extra zing to the fruit and I really liked it.

This Year's Summer Reading Challenge

2009-06-05T21:59:00.000-07:00

We recently signed all the kids up for the library's Summer Reading Program. This year's challenge for me will not be trying to get Bean to read some books on his own. This year he is on fire. He has been so excited for Summer Reading and he is so excited to do it all on his own this year. He's reading like a maniac.

No, my challenge this year will be getting the Rabbit to sit still long enough to be read to so she can reach her goal. For such a highly socially interactive child, she oddly enough does not like being read to. Bean tries. I try. And you can see how she feels about it.

"Get me out of here!"

(She slithered off his lap right after I took that picture.)

She won't sit still even for a short board book. I tried today to read her an abbreviated version of "Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?" (Like just saying, "Look, a blue horse! And a purple cat!") and it ended with her screaming and throwing the book. It was rather comical.

I just get such a kick out of experiencing the different personalities of my children. Just when you think you're an expert on what kids do and don't do at what ages the rules change. My first three kids all sat happily on my lap for stories at a very young age but my fourth one just won't have it. However, she is the first one of my children to sing recognizable tunes at age 15 months. Truly, there is nothing more fascinating than motherhood.

The Mango Adventure

2009-06-03T10:02:00.000-07:00

So, I was at Sam's Club yesterday and they had these gorgeous golden orange mangos. $4.88 for a 5 lb box-- that's cheaper per pound than apples in my part of the world at this time of year. So I bought a box and brought them home.

And we fell in love. Sweet, buttery, delicious. The last few grocery store mangos I had eaten had made me think I didn't really like mangos anymore but with these my faith was restored.

The kids weren't that crazy about them, with the exception of the Rabbit. She thought they were the bomb.

So then, yesterday evening I was gone to a Scout meeting (I'm Cub Committee Chair) and the Badger was watching the kids. He had the Rabbit in the high chair where she was secure and he was working on something in another part of the house. Well, Mr. Initiative (Bean) came along and decided to extract the Rabbit without notifying Dad. The Rabbit then did what she does lately-- she immediately climbed on the table. Where someone had left the box of mangos. And she went to town.

When I walked in the door a few minutes later, Bean came running up to me and said "Mom-- bad news!"

Uh-oh. Don't you hate that when you come home and hear "Bad news!" You've just got to brace yourself.

"The Rabbit took bites out of the mangos!"

I couldn't help it. I busted up laughing.

Then I looked at the mangos. I'd imagined a couple of small bites in two or three mangos. No, the Rabbit took HUGE chomps out of five of them.

I apologize I didn't get a picture of the carnage. I didn't get to the camera until the Badger had already peeled them and put them in a bowl. You can't really even see the bites she took, but they're still very pretty mangos (I ate the one on the far right after I took this picture because it was the ripest and it was sooooo good!)

Anyway, I thought the whole thing was absolutely hilarious.

So go to Sam's Club and get you some mangos! Just keep them away from your table-climbing baby.

Cloud Coverage

2009-06-02T12:21:00.000-07:00

I have in my possession right now a camera that belongs to my sister and is much better than my own camera. This is because I am borrowing it to shoot a wedding. This means I have to fiddle with it a lot and really learn to use it during the next couple of weeks before said wedding so that the bride will still like me after she sees her wedding photos.

So I took some pictures of the sky the other night. I was impressed. With my old film cameras and with my digital, pictures of the sky usually turn out pretty flat and dull. The sunset has to be really intense before it makes for a good picture.

I looked at the sky the other night and thought, "wow, lovely!" but also "can't get that on camera." However, I decided to try, and I was very excited about the results.

Crocodile, you don't really need this camera back, do you? :)

Finger Painting

2009-05-30T17:20:00.000-07:00

It occurred to me the other day that it had been forever since we finger painted. So that's just what we did yesterday for Making Day. Despite the smocks and the outside location, I still had paint all over clothes and toes and noses and carpets, but I guess that's part of the fun. It was very washable paint, so in the end everyone was happy.

Note how Bean has one color on each finger. Roo made a big mix-y mess and Fish as usual tried to duplicate exactly what I did.

Hot or Cold?

2009-05-30T17:14:00.000-07:00

I can't decide which way I like it best.