Monthly Archives: August 2007

This week, we have celebrated birthdays for both Sarge and the Imp! My baby isn’t a baby anymore and my oldest is almost able to look eye-to-eye-level with me. Sigh, perhaps I should dye my gray hairs to mark the occasion ……….OR…… maybe we need a puppy to provide the pitter patter of feet and the utter destruction and chewing of all our prized possessions. Hmmm, a puppy may be just the thing we need! Lol

On Monday, we played with a new home school family that just moved to our area. They have boys and a baby girl and share many of the same philosophies in child rearing that we practice. Fun times were had by most. The Gremlin was either too tired, or we’ve just arrived at that “stage” in life where everything spoken by prepubescent boys is taken with the utmost of weight of importance and the ability to totally devastate him, lies not with what he knows to be true…….but by the very words of this single new friend that’s only known him for a total of 8 playing hours….if that! I’m hoping it was a lack of sleep, it’s just not like him to be bothered like that.

Tuesday was the BIG Day for the Sarge. We made special meals and played video games (after school lessons were finished, of course!) Daddy set him up on a new game that he received for his birthday, that night. Reviews of the book, Backyard Ballistics will be coming, shortly.

Wednesday was the Farewell-to-Summer Party at the local public pool, with one of our home school groups. The water slide, water playscape, and the high dive were all made available to our group, very fancy and they even provided a whole staff of life guards! The Gremlin didn’t want to go, because he has decided that ALL people should be avoided so he doesn’t ever get his feelings hurt, AGAIN. (We went through this with the other two already, but he is our late bloomer.) Anyhow, we went, he met with a whole bunch of his friends, had a WONDERFUL time, and it was tough getting him to leave when it was over. Yay! We shall survive yet another, turbulent adolescent drama!

Today is the Imp’s BIG Day. She has requested special meals, a hair cut, video games, nail painting, and possibly a family night-swim. She is convinced that she grew 3 inches in her sleep, just last night, and has been measuring herself against her brothers all day. I was told that by next year, I will be the shortest one in the house! (School has already been finished for the day since she worked ahead, so she would only have her FAVORITE subjects to do today. Off for some girlie time!

The Sarge “accidentally discovered” his birthday book early, so he’s been pouring over it for a couple weeks now. HE.LOVES.THIS.BOOK! Within a couple days, he had figured out all the knots in the book and was tying his sister up with them. (We’ve stopped this practice, by the way.)

His brother is learning the Navajo code-talk with him so that they can send little messages back and forth. They are working on setting a pressure trap to “guard their room” from little sister’s friends. We have located most of the household items necessary to build two homemade flashlights, but in the meantime, they’ve been playing with batteries and making circuits and discussing how they could get more power from them. (It must be a genetic male-thing!) Their paper airplanes are notably improving too!

The book is easy reading and sparks the imaginations of males of all ages. Definitely a “two thumbs up” in our household!

****As usual, supervision is recommended for some of the activities! Be aware of what your boys are working on and offer to help find parts so you can stay (one step ahead with the fire extinguisher) er…I mean, informed.

On Friday, just before the party, the Imp seemed bothered. After hemming and hawing, we got to the bottom of her consternation, she had told two other friends that she would have them to her party, but had forgotten to mention it when the party planning was in the works. She was feeling bad about not keeping her word. Okay ……could we have them over on another day to play……since our other guests would be arriving in an hour?

In true mommy fashion, we didn’t miss a beat. After the 1st party we called the moms of both the girls and invited them over for an impromptu play date for Saturday. One attends public school and would not have been available for our Friday party, AND I didn’t want to mix multiple girls, with the multiple BOYS we were already hosting. Somehow that seemed like a recipe for disaster…. especially where sling shots and water balloons were involved. Now the Imp would be able to keep her word, we’d be celebrating with MORE friends, Hubby would be golfing for a couple hours, and the brothers had been bribed with video game time to NOT ambush the girls. (Yes, I will resort to bribery in dire circumstances!) Life was good, we had covered all the bases.

Friday night rolled around……..I had left over strawberries and grapes, a large amount of cookie-cake, extra bags of candy from the pinata, and a loose plan for the next day. I went to bed confident that we could pull this off. At 1am I awoke in a cold sweat wondering WHAT I had been thinking! The two girls attending were polar opposites. They also had a history for not getting along very well together. Plus, I had forgotten the golden rule of little girl play-dates, “NEVER, EVER, let them play in uneven numbers.” (2 is good, 4 is good…..3 or 5 girls, NOT GOOD! Someone will end up with hurt feelings because little girls have an affinity toward pairing off in two’s!)

The loose plan wasn’t going to cut it. We needed a constant plan of activities that would keep their interest and LOTS of back up ideas! Sleep was no longer an option, the wheels were turning.

By 10am the girls arrived. We painted plastic sun catchers and sprinkled ourselves and our crafts very liberally with pink glitter so we could be fairy princesses. While we were painting, the bread machine was making up a loaf of pizza dough. Painting finished, we washed up and had the girls roll, knead, and toss their own pizza crusts. THAT, was a big hit! Go figure. Those were left to rise as we hopped in the pool for an hour. After about 20 minutes, the girls were starting to get catty with each other. Sensing a certain rift coming, I asked the girls to show me their best jumps, biggest splashes, cutest animal jumps, etc. That kept them busy, BRIEFLY. We declared “one last jump” and had them get out, dry off, and change……back to the kitchen! They chose toppings for the pizzas and made them to their own likings. While the pizzas cooked, we hid their candy bags and played a game of hot and cold hide-and-seek to find them. By the time they found them, the pizzas were done and they ate. Then we pulled out the birthday cake and sang. Then the mom’s arrived to take them home.

Whew! We had a few testy moments, but we made it through with everyone happy and no hurt feelings. The girls really liked the painting and playing with the pizza dough. The Imp liked cooking best. We didn’t even have to resort to “living room dance party” or toenail painting! I’m really glad they all left as friends, but I feel like I pulled off a one-man circus show and need a very long nap!

Today we had the children’s birthday party. After lunch, the boys played with water balloons and a sling shot loaded with acorns for the squirrels. (They shot the water balloons, not the squirrels!) The girls enjoyed a having the pool to themselves during this, then all the kids swam and played together for a couple hours. Thunder storms started rolling in, so we strung up the pinata before it rained. That was fun to watch and nobody was maimed! Cake was served and then the boys played some video games together, while the girls went off and played with their dolls.

The children were having such a good time, we were sad to see them go. What a blessing to celebrate with good friends!

The two littles are finding our schooling niche again. The whining and protests have stopped. The Imp actually jumped out of bed and asked to take her math test BEFORE breakfast. (I wasn’t awake yet, but hey, who am I to stop her…..so she is doing that now.) The boys stumbled out of bed in time to kiss daddy goodbye for work. They are staring at their breakfasts in a sleepy fog. When they’re done eating, they will do math and spelling, then we have an eye appointment this morning, then we’ll finish the rest of our lessons before lunch. After lunch, we’ll make another giant cookie.

Our first attempt at our giant cookie tastes WONDERFUL, but it wouldn’t come out of the pan very well. After much coaxing, I did get it out, but it broke up a bit, so it isn’t pretty. We’re going to attempt a 2nd one today in a different pan. If that one turns out, we’ll make another one for a baby shower this weekend. (Yay! another baby fix!) I’ll call our baking adventures Home-Ec and have all the children help. The Imp is begging to learn how to frost with the fancy frosting tips, so I’ll probably turn her loose on the first cookie we made. (That way she can learn, and not worry if it isn’t perfect….pretty soon she’ll be able to frost like a pro!)

I’ve already done the ironing, re-booted the laundry, made a bed, packed a lunch, and straightened the kitchen. Off to grade papers and workbooks from yesterday!

Woo-hoo! We got a call last night from some of our friends from Michigan. They’re going to come visit us next month! (Their baby is 16 months old, so we will get our baby fix too!) The children are very excited, we haven’t seen them for about 2 years and we’ve only seen the baby through pictures.

This week is a transition week in our home school. We are easing from our lighter summer schedule, back into our full load of courses for the year. So far, there has been much whining and tears on the parts of the 2 little ones. The Gremlin is convinced that he never learned anything that was in the review section of his math lesson today. The Imp is convinced she’ll never learn how to write on paper that does not have a dotted center line, and therefore she will be destined to FAIL school for the REST OF HER LIFE! (We have a bit of a drama-queen tendency lately……any advice would be greatly appreciated!)

We are also preparing for the kids’ birthdays next week. They are requesting a low key party this year. They opted for a combined party, with one friend each, no gifts. Lunch, swimming, and a pinata are a must. Water balloons are being considered. They’re not into a “theme” this year, it’s all about celebrating with some good friends. (Imagine my giddy shock when they chose to forgo the normal kid infested, theme-crazed, madness that they have opted for in the past.) We found a recipe to make one of the giant cookie “cakes,” complete with homemade frosting. Of course, the kids want to give it a trial run before the actual attempt for the party. (Yeah, and TWICE the amount of yummy cookie goodness around the house is a dilemma they are selflessly willing to face! lol) The Imp wants to help make the menu for her guests, so that she can help to prepare everything. I’m actually looking forward to this one!

Today we went to the store to pick up some supplies to make the cookie-cake and fill the pinata. Off to bake with the Imp!

This weekend Hubby and I sat down and figured out what our plan of action is, for this year. (Yes, we home school year round, but we still have to order and plan ahead and somehow it fell to now, when everyone else is losing their mind with choices too! Normally, I am humming along with 2 months in our “new books” already under my belt. This makes activity decisions easier, because I can see our light and busy day patterns already established.) Alas, we don’t have the luxury of foresight this year, so we will scramble and guess with all the traditional schoolers.

Yesterday I spent an hour on line comparing prices and ordering our books for co-op. Yay! I don’t have to do science labs in my kitchen and bath tub this year………the boys will be covered for history……… and the Imp will get an Art class. (Excuse me, while I do the happy-dance through the house! )

We are still gathering information on sports/P.E., for now. I’ve got the Imp signed up for GEMS and Life of Faith book club, while the boys attend their Young Patriots meetings. I’ve got to find out next week if I’m teaching or helping for Co-op……. and what grade I’m working in for Young Patriots. Once that’s worked out, I can sign up for snacks and craft supplies for Gems and Life of Faith.

Today is the last day of tax-free shopping for school supplies and back to school clothing in our state, so we are off to the local Walmart.