Baking . . . Ninja?

He wasn't sneaking cookies, he was making them! When my brother sent baked goods, he also sent three unopened bags of mint chocolate chips. I decided those chips needed to find their purpose :) When I pulled out the mixer (thanks Sis!), Little G guessed at my intent and was more than happy to help. Good Gravy Marie these cookies are tasty! Dangerously tasty . . . like fudge cake with gooey mint filling . . . drool, drool.

Anyway, my little ninja (though, yes we know that technically ninjas were the lowest class of "warrior" in Japanese society and it was actually the Samurai who were respected; well except for the 100 years the country experienced uninterrupted peace when they were closed off from the rest of the world and mostly just ate cookies and forgot how to use their weapons, until the Western world came knocking at their door, and they were like, "Uh oh! they have things that shoot . . . our swords aren't going to help much anymore" and so G should probably strive more toward pre-peace samurai than post-peace ninja), assisted with the ingredient selection, addition, and even the scoops of dough placement on the pans (though technically he was not yet dressed as a ninja . . . that came later for the eating of the deliciously minty chocolate cookies).

Wow, that might be my longest and most confusing sentence yet! Nephews, I'll give you a quarter if you can read the whole thing out loud without taking a breath OR passing out. Sis, you keep track . . . hee hee :)

Kickin' It

They returned home with their arms filled with weapons, patches, homework, practice charts, and discarded belts . . . it proved quite a night at ATA graduation!

Buck surprised the kids by switching his schedule so he could see them officially enter black belt training as camouflage-belted promotees. We sat with our friends who also have boys who started at the same time as our kids (M commented how nice it is that all the kids in the class who have been promoted together are kind of buddies now and are excited to cheer each other on through their graduation accomplishments each time one of these special nights rolls around :)

Though the folding chairs were metal, and the graduation more than an hour long, we kept the cameras snapping and enjoyed watching the kids show off their skills to the panel of judges. Their Sr. Master makes each accomplishment fun and memorable, he's super awesome at the job he's chosen for himself!

Here are a few pictures from their (late!) night :)

 

 G and his buddy from church, play dates, theater performances, karate . . . we spend quite a bit of time with this family :)

New Skillz

What to do when school work has pushed you to just one half hour to shower and get ready for karate promotion/graduation?! Time to learn a new skill . . . blow drying your hair! I forget they don't know the simple things in life (especially since I bought this hair dryer to weather seal our windows in our old drafty house before we moved, lol :) Pretty low maintenance group of girls around here!

Filing Day

Whew! These kids have been busy! They have a "Mom Check" bucket and a "To File" bucket (once assignments have cleared the "Mom Check"). The "To File" bucket has been getting more and more full, but it wasn't until I laid everything out by subject and accomplisher that I realized how much they've accumulated in the past month! Math worksheets, spelling tests, science tests, English tests for G$, art projects, theater tickets and programs, completed chore charts, karate paperwork, whew! At least I have proof of how much educatin' they're getting :)

LEGO Bucks?

The boys completed these canvas, metal, wood sculptures in art school this week. They are inspired by a woman who sculpted headless statues to remember those who'd died innocently in wartimes. The boys thought this was pretty creepy, but so did their teacher, so it was all good :)

As we were walking out of their classroom, a museum uppity-up in a suit saw me carrying G's sculpture. He declared, "I was just about to buy that for $100."

Immediately, I said, "Sold!"

Ha, the look on his face :) I suppose he thought my child's headless artwork would be priceless to me . . . but I shouted after him as he carried on down the hall, "I have two!!"

The boys were all in, "Yeah! We can buy lots of LEGOS with that!"

(Okay, I didn't actually shout, but the other homeschool moms thought it was pretty funny :) The weather was looking like it might get messy, so the moms all congregated a little earlier than normal in the waiting area. We got to talking and one of them saw me knitting, "Are you making another hat?" she giggled. Now my hat-making is a joke among near-strangers, ha! Yes, I am making another hat, two in fact :) It was a lot of fun sitting there chatting and laughing with four or five other moms (only half of whose names I know); I appreciate those moments!!

Out and About

Our studies swept us away, Around the World in 80 Days, and to peek at the amazing life of Mother Teresa and her work in India. Part of our curriculum is a "Choose your Adventure" ... the kids select an aspect of culture they would like to know more about, and find a way to experience it. It might be music, art, poetry, language . . . all sorts of things!

B selected "cook Indian food." I rounded up some recipe suggestions from a friend whose husband's family is from India, then looked at the ingredient list . . . I would need a thousand dollars and a plane ticket to get the spices and flours required :) Instead we decided to just go eat at an Indian restaurant. Good chance that their knowledge of how things are supposed to turn out will far surpass my efforts!

It turns out there are more than a dozen in the area (who knew?) Neither of us parents are super into curry, so we don't often head into this culinary category. My husband likes off the beaten path type establishments, and that's where we found ourselves . . . in fact, the restaurant seemed perched on the side of the road with barely a sidewalk between us and passing vehicles! (I was the only one alarmed :)

To our surprise, the cover of the menu depicted Mother Teresa holding a baby . . . I like those little connections. Especially since, of all the religious emblems representing faith practices common to India, this one reflected our own belief system; it was just cool :) Sometimes the "feel" of an environment can spoil an otherwise pleasant experience, but we felt totally comfortable here (packed in like sardines with the other brave few who were comfortable crowding into the narrow space).

Our waitress was more than happy to point our tastebuds in a variety of directions. We shared two chicken dishes, one vegetarian dish, a lamb dish, and maybe 5 servings of Naan--oh that bread is good! Saag panir, chicken vindaloo, jasmine-flavored rice . . . Buck was loving it! I was second "on board" and then Caelan. The other three had mixed reviews, (Brennen only liked the rice and bread), but everyone tried everything and that was good enough for us :)

We also took a couple of side trips to the art museum and the airplane museum where the kids could explore art and science with lots of freedom, while we parents tried to stay awake (Buck tried to nap on the metal benches, but that was not a comfortable choice :)

When we got home, we threw some dinner together (burritos, keeping our tastebuds on a world tour :), and then Buck took the boys to karate, while I took the girls to their Bright Lights meeting. I only mention this because I have mentioned before how much I love when people hand me babies. There's a new mom (and leader of the girls' group), who thought she'd try to bring her 3-month-old for the meeting. They made it through til feeding time, and then she came out to sit with me in the lobby. It's so nice to see a young mom with a healthy baby girl doing her best to figure out her new role in the world. And when she needs to go wash her hands, and doesn't want to take the baby into the restroom with her . . . well, that just works out great for me! :)

Cold Comment

So our singingest child has a cold. This cold has caused her singing to sound a *bit* more nasal than her usual musical tones. While putting the finishing touches on some school work, Mr. G looked up and said politely . . . "Could you please sing some place else? Like in your head."

Hee-hee :)

Dog update: his kidney function numbers are still slightly elevated, but they're not concerned. Another re-check in about 3 months; until then carry on, carry on.

Baking Brother

Well, wasn't that a "sweet" surprise? Uncle C sent a box of goodies to our door . . . goodies he'd made himself! Fancy British muffins I can't pronounce and a mint chocolate pretzel recipe that I think he dreamed up on his own. Tasty morsels! Thanks for the treats :)

Doctor, Doctor!

Here's the update on our week of medical mystery . . . G's baby tooth extraction was set for Thursday. I mostly didn't want to leave the house, but also found that his gum blister/blood bump has been gone for more than a week, and felt that pulling the wiggly tooth professionally was an investment we perhaps didn't need to make. I spoke to the dentist on the phone, and she agreed. So, we are back to wiggling it and--barring reappearance of the bump, pain, or further signs of trouble--it's our job to detooth the boy. Dentist $150??? Tooth Fairy $1--I choose option two :)

Buck took Chauncey Friday for his pee test; the vets caught the sample while Buck waited in the exam room . . . this was a much better arrangement. That kind of stuff belongs to the realm of professionals :) Kidney function, etc. all looks fine, so no further concerns there. The blood work is due back today? Monday? That will say if the medication did what it was supposed to do in clearing the infection/bacteria whatever it was, so stay tuned.

Gab and I spent 2.5ish hours together yesterday getting our eyes uber-checked. The doctor spotted a "shimmer" on her optic nerve during the initial exam at Costco. He has more specialized equipment at his office, so he was able to dilate her eyes (the first in the immediate family to experience thus--I told her I would make her a "dilation pioneer" plaque, which she thought was pretty cool, but then I got my eyes dilated about 15 minutes later, so she didn't pioneer for long :), and take pictures. Doctor wanted to rule out a calcium deposit, which can get to be bad business. He is confident that the tilt of her optic nerve (which is unique to her) is causing a reflection and that's the shimmer he saw. However, he does have a new machine he just ordered that takes a more in depth look at the layers of tissue, which will help make certain that everything is okey-dokey.

I will "get to" use the same machine to make sure my optic nerve is cool beans. I also got my eyes dilated (super didn't like waiting the SIX HOURS for them to go back to normal; I could see fine but everything had a haze around it and it made me kind of sea sick, and I don't get sea sick :) I did tell Buck I couldn't make dinner, because they print those recipe instructions so darn little, and with my foggy eyes . . . :) He grilled steak; it worked out great! Oh, and I got some pictures taken of my eye balls too. This was to establish a baseline for the "cupping" of my optic nerve, since my eye pressure levels are at the high, upper end of normal and we have a family history of glaucoma. I am considered a glaucoma suspect, and may remain so for the rest of my life. First time I've been officially suspected of something, ha! Unfortunately he says this rules out my ability to EVER have lasik correction, which thins the cornea and makes it impossible to get an accurate eye pressure reading (vital for keeping watch on glaucoma). So there goes that lifelong dream . . .

What else? Oh, we did a visual field test and were both declared professional-level when it came to our fixation abilities. Both visual fields came back good, so high five on passing that one!

In summary: G's tooth is fine (unless it becomes not fine), Dog is fine (unless his blood work says he's not fine), Gab and my eyes are fine (unless the next test says they're not fine).

This is the picture Buck took of Gabby and me being superheroes . . . The Dilation Duo. But he nearly blinded us by using the flash :) We are easily overcome, we Dilation Duo . . .

Schooled with Timothy

Brennen reading aloud:

2 Timothy 2:23-24Easy-to-Read Version (ERV)

²³ Stay away from foolish and stupid arguments. You know that these arguments grow into bigger arguments. ²⁴ As a servant of the Lord, you must not argue. You must be kind to everyone. You must be a good teacher, and you must be patient.

 

"Oops."

 

LOL

The Sound of Music

A homeschooling mom at art school clued me in to an educational series presented by our somewhat local symphony orchestra. It was a fairly confusing process, filling out info on one website (supposedly waiting a week to see if there were seats when notified by mail), receiving half a message about how we needed to call the truly local venue directly, discovering that every house was a full house, and finally squeezing five seats into the performance we hoped to attend in the first place . . . bonus . . . instead of it costing an already small fee per person, the performance was free!

We snuck in amongst a group of short people (second graders, I'm guessing?) and ended up on the main floor in the front row! Granted that's a little close for getting the scope of things, but the sound quality was magnificent. There is something so soul soothing about strings, winds, drums, brass and the rest right there in the room with you. My heart hasn't felt that settled in a while!

Plus, the educational program that went along with the performance was not only interesting and funny, but pretty interactive. I suppose you have to do quite a bit of song and dance to get hundreds of kids from the TV/Video game age to pay attention and connect with the show (and yes, there was a video screen :), but what fun to see them literally bouncing in their seats, unable to stop from "feeling the groove" of the music. I love that! Of course our own little Mister was right there caught up in the joy of it all; huge smiles on all four faces!

For the last bit, the conductor brought four children on stage to learn to conduct. The first little mite of a girl (she reminded me of niecey G :), he picked up and stood in front of the orchestra. When she began to conduct, that girl beamed rays of sunshine from her eyes! I can only imagine the story she told her mom when she got home; she'll never forget that experience!

One thing I'd mentioned to the kids, since we were first in--we'd be last out. But when the guy in the suit came on stage he said, "We're going to dismiss in an orderly fashion. Could the "blank" school please prepare to go." Well, that was the five of us standing at his shoe tips. He looked a little confused when a huge section of the auditorium did NOT start scrambling for coats and hats :) First in, first out!

Interesting thing about B, while waiting, the din of the voices was driving him crazy! I didn't realize that crush of sound plus waiting was super uncomfortable for him. Duly noted.

I was impressed that our kids recognized so many of the songs that were played . . . and I also liked that the performance included having the kids vote for what emotion the song was evoking. I think it's important to recognize how strongly sound and music can affect your mood. Might as well learn now and try to untangle the emotions that movies and commercials often try to evoke (that aren't always good or necessary).

Wow, I got a little off track there, but back to topic . . . three cheers for the orchestra!! Oh, and the final song was "In the Jungle" or is it "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" ? and all the kids sang "A-weem-oh-way" along with the melody. So.much.fun!

Study Buddies

Yesterday, after a trip to the orchestra and a trip to the library, our living room exploded with books of research for an upcoming paper comparing two of the cultures we've been studying in school. The shafts of sunshine makes this all look so peaceful (when actually we were trying to accomplish as much as we could before going out AGAIN to karate!)

Valentine's Day

For weeks the kids have been scurrying around the house, requesting pink, red, and white construction paper, making "secret" purchases at the grocery store (candy hearts, lace trim), doors have been knocked upon to preserve surprises . . . the day of love is big news around here :)

I was excited that I finally found my "Happy Valentine's Day" sign . . . it's been missing for a couple of Heart Days, and always seems to show up around the 4th of July. This year, I again waited til the last minute to search for it, but this time, (having relocated it when I discovered it off-season) (though it took half a dozen tries) . . . I triumphantly rescued it from a school bin in the garage!

So, Valentine's Day was a Saturday, also a school day, and also a long staff seminar at karate for the kids. This is the first weapon they've received and they have been super excited to learn some of the basics! That was one brave teacher with all those swirling sticks flying through the air! I joked with the kids telling them, I would let their dad know the instructor (one of their favorites) gave them kisses after class (Hershey's Kisses of course :)

I did sneak off for a quick minute to see if I could snag Brennen some pjs and jeans at The Children's Place. They were having all kinds of sales (it was hard to make it a "quick" trip :) But, three pairs of pjs, two pairs of jeans, and a pair of leggings for the girls for $43 and my next $5 free earned. Booya!

Oh, also while they were learning cool things like "the flying eagle" with their long staffs, I knitted on the hat I made Buck for Valentine's Day. He's told me I need to branch out, so it was kind of a joke, since he's the only one in a cold climate who hasn't received one of my original works. It turned out pretty cute actually, I mean manly, in blue, orange, and white. That's my dozenth!

So going back to the morning, Buck made heart-shaped pancakes and then packed off to work. The kids made us cool valentines . . . and Caelan made me this . . . any guesses?

 

It's a cell phone holster! I'm forever saying, "Where's my phone? Have you seen my phone? Somebody find me my phone!" This way she figures I can just wear it all the time :) I stuck my phone inside and started doing other things . . . Buck started laughing when I later asked, "Where's my cell phone holster?!"

 

 

 Thank you Grandma J and Mr. R!!

 

This is the SUPER SIZED valentine the girls made their brothers :) It was so big they couldn't find wall space large enough to display it, so it goes behind the bunk beds :) I'm told that one of the candy hearts . . . though handled, glued, and coated with paper . . . was sampled by the oldest boy (eww!) I told him he better not do it again or green things would grow out of his hair and  his eyebrows would turn moldy . . . sometimes my kids just look at me as if I am from another planet, lol :)

After karate, the kids were eager to practice their new moves . . . this of course requires them to go OUTSIDE! It was COLD outside, but the little neighbor twins were out playing and our crew was thrilled to show off their new moves (and G his new Nerf gun). I talked with the neighbors for awhile and then we came inside to watch Alice in Wonderland (Disney animated, they'd never seen it before, though they've read the book--like, the original book, by the real author :) Brennen is like me and hated it . . . he's still processing the creepy cat and the scary, drug-smoking caterpillar . . . I also let them eat in front of the TV which NEVER happens. Later Buck brought me home Jimmy John's, with a pickle, because it's Valentine's Day.

Though our day wasn't all hearts and happiness (it seems like "special" days with extra activities are emotionally overwhelming to the kids, and they deal with this sometimes by being short with each other and sassy to me . . . not my favorite), I know our kids love us and each other, and I'm so happy that they like to show each other (and us) their love with little creative gifts and cards. They are pretty cool!

Two for Uncle C

He's already seen one of these, but I thought it was funny :) Grandma J sent us all kinds of treats for Valentine's Day . . . among the surprises, a Valentine's Day Game! Inside is a stack of cards with all kinds of Heart Day statistics, gift ideas, game ideas, and a whole bunch of Q and A's.

This one popped up and Graysen's first reaction was, "Uncle C!!!" He knows Uncle C's sweetheart is enjoying a weekend of fun and sun with her girlfriends :) There was another that was something along the lines of, "If you were a character in a romantic movie, which would you be?" Gab said, "Bystander." LOL . . . I'm cool with that :)

I also read this one to the kids . . .

 

I had lots of lovely answers for this one! "Ireland!" "A tour of Italy with Dad!" "I would go to Europe!" Little G says, "[Current Home Town] with you." Oookaaaay. I guess that means he's content and he loves me :) But, in the future, I hope his dreams are a bit bigger than the industrial, railroad city that we currently call home. We may have to pour some romance into that one, hee hee :)



And here are the two puzzles that I found in the closet after we'd finished the other five . . . I think it would be fun to track down all my puzzle pictures (we only take pics the first time the kids assemble, so it wouldn't be a completely accurate count) and stick them in one folder. I dig that they enjoy puzzles! And books. And going to the theater (not just movie :) It's so much easier to spend time with your kids when they like to do what you like to do!

Hats Off to Doodles

She finished her first hat! Pretty cute :)

Quite the Spectacle!

Well, here they are! The glasses have arrived :) They've spent the morning smudging and cleaning them and exclaiming, "Wow! Everything looks so clear!"

 

The man-sized glasses look a little wide on Mr. G, and they keep sliding down his nose because we haven't had them adjusted yet, but he likes them so that's what matters :)

B keeps stroking his chin and saying "Hmmmm" while looking in the mirror, "like a professor" :)

 

Pair one

 

 

 Pair two . . . I said those look the same  to me, and she turned her head and showed me that the sides were different (and the lens edges are a different shape too :)

Fashionable Knits

I'm amazed at how quickly she can knit together an outfit :) Hat, infinity scarf, and skirt . . . all original, patternless designs made with her Christmas rounds! She wore them to a meeting on Tuesday, and took along some red velvet cupcakes she made (and frosted with some help from sis). So much talent :)

Church time!

Getting to church has been a challenge lately! We "skipped" church December 28 to celebrate Christmas with my family. Then we spent January feeling sickly, then better, then sickly again (every Saturday night, what are the odds? :) Gabby's teacher sent a post card mid-January saying, "We miss you . . . are you coming back?"


Last week, we were geared up to go . . . and a blizzard hit! The first time they've cancelled church in known history. This week, we had another "good" excuse NOT to go . . . Buck had inventory, which meant he was scheduled off work at 3 A.M. Me, being a lifelong night owl, could have easily stayed up to wait for him to come home. I find it is very hard to sleep when he's not here. However, knowing the kids have been so excited to get back to church, I sent myself to bed at 12:45 and set the alarm for 8:15.

You should have seen their expectant eyes sparkle when I groggily walked into the living room and muttered something along the lines of, "So yoouguyz wanna goto church?"

They instantly sprang into action, getting all gussied up. G said, "I'm going as a cowboy!" while donning a plaid shirt, jeans, cowboy boots, and his birthday cowboy hat. B decided he would kick it up a notch . . . suit coat, pin-striped dress pants, purple dress shirt, a REAL tie, and his cool guy hat. "Mom, I'm dressing fancy to celebrate church day!" Huge grin :)

I on the other hand, quietly tiptoed back into the room where my exhausted husband was sleeping, took a quick shower, debated the hair dryer and decided it was necessary on a winter morning (sorry sleeping guy!). Because there was no time for my breakfast, I poured some chai in one of Buck's coffee contraptions, grabbed a fig bar from our recent trip to Trader Joe's and off we went into the dazzling, melting world.

I'm not a coffee drinker, so Buck's travel mugs baffle me. I thought I was doing everything right, and still managed to drip chai all over the steering wheel, my chin, my white shirt (I realized later after visiting obliviously with several friends at church . . . polka dots are in right?), there was some in my hair. I don't know where all that errant chai came from, but I know where it ended up :) What a mess!

After church, I picked the kids up from their classes. The three younger kids were still in music-time. One of the teachers, an elderly gentleman walked out and said, "You can sure tell the difference between the girls side and the boys side. The girls dance, but the boys just stand there . . . so inhibited." I looked through the giant glass-paned window wall and see MY boy . . . Graysen . . . in the very back, dancing like he's on a trampoline :) Arms and legs a-flying, cowboy boots a-stompin' . . . no inhibitions there!

Moments later he came bursting out and said, "Mom! I danced my legs off!"

Caelan said in her class they played ninjas with the youth pastor intern and his sweetheart, and Caelan won! This didn't surprise me, since our children regularly play ninjas in our house (lights off, black leggings and shirts on, they even put make-up on their faces and hats on their heads . . . the night before church, they put glow-in-the-dark loom bands on their fingers and toes so they could see each other sneaking around the upstairs :)

ANYWAY, I would say it was a successful day back at church. Oh and I saw Gabby's teacher (who was Caelan's teacher last year) in the hallway. She said, "Oh good! You're back! I just love Gabby; your kids are wonderful!" Who can resist a welcome back like that? :)