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.