Favorite FaceBook Posts from 2009

Dec 30, 2009 - Anyone counting? Just got another raisin out of Ebug's nose.

Dec 30 - Note to self: that thing you heard somewhere about putting your toothbrushes in the microwave to eliminate germs . . . it only starts them on FIRE and the children FREAK OUT as the microwave emites scary electrical noises and you run for the fire extinguisher cause the flames look kinda big. Now I've got to figure out how to explain this to the Mr.

Dec 22 - and Ed will be starting the new year DEBT FREE!!!!! (You know, except for the house.)

Dec 15 - may have a new shoe-tier in the house!!!!! Wow I never would have figured it would be this difficult to teach.

Nov 18 - extracted a raisin out of Ebug's nose today.

Oct 23 - took the shotgun out back and hit the target 3 times. Oh ya. . .facebragging at it's best. :)

Sept 4 - Ebug just said "Look it mom!" I'm thinking why does he want me to watch him pick his nose? Then he starts to panic as he realizes stuffing a raisin up his nose maybe isn't such a good idea. One good blow and we had it out. I guess he didn't learn as much as we thought from his little Lego insident.

July 10 - As of today, Agent H has joined the crowds of library card bearing folks. One of the books he picked was Getting to Know Your Toilet. Hmmmm, the things I could share with my newfound knowledge!

June 18 - baby hauled the bottle chocolate syrup out of the fridge and realized that he likes what he found to suck on. I really should take it away but it's so darn cute. At least it's organic.

April 15 - extracted a Lego from Ebug's nose. Yep, same kid who recently swallowed the penny!

March 30 - 3 year old just swallowed a penny. As I'm calming him down, his brother frantically wanted to know whose penny it was. So does the penny just "go through the system"? Does anyone know?

To- ; Love-

The gifts that your kids pick out to give are hands-down THE best!

Example (results are from a shopping trip to the Dollar Tree):

Agent H to his papa (AKA: Dad) - denim trivits. He thought they were mouse pads
Agent H to me - a round pizza pan for serving snacks to them

Ebug to his papa - a cowboy gun and spurs
Ebug to me - a ping pong ball game
Ebug to LE Babe - a baby doll

The trivits really got me chuckling! Such sweet kiddos.

Sweet sleep

He was teething, congested, tired.

As I slid him around to my back,

he laid his head down,

and relaxed

into sweet sleep.

Diaper love

Look at that cute baby! He's sporting the new Apple Cheeks diaper I won during 1+1+1=1's 1000 subscribers contest. (I'm a faithful follower and have found so much inspiration from her site) We are veteran cloth diaper users and found this one to be easy to use and liked it so much that I think I'll be picking up another one or two of their packs. Carisa wrote a great review on her site so I'll just say "AMEN" to what she wrote. As you can see, LE Babe seems to be very comfortable getting around in it. Brrrr. . . gotta get some clothes on that baby, that's a little better. Another one of my baby product loves is Baby Legs, oh my!

Why wait till nap time?

This is why it's best to wait until nap time to do school. Notice the glue, the scissors, the sharpie in his hands, and the fact that he's on top of the table . . . all sorts of trouble just waiting to be had.

Music enrichment

Sunday evening was spent at Edinborough Park for a concert by The 1st John Philip Sousa Memorial Band.

The conductor told jokes over the kids' heads but Agent H laughed anyway and gave me a funny quizical look.

We folded and threw paper airplanes from our seats to the stage.

We munched on bags of peanuts.

The band was dressed in black & red and played Christmas music. It was festive and just the right atmosphere for Agent H to observe all the happenings and for his little brothers to be squirrly in the background. Oh, it's free the last Sunday of every month.

EH tells me these photos needed tweeking before they get published, so if you don't think the color is just right, you can blame me cause I don't understand all that nifty computer editing.

Preschool Theme: Horses

Ebug's theme for preschool this week is horses.

We've read books

Reviewed horse anatomy and "clothes"

Told stories of my brother's horse, of me jumping off his horse, of me falling in the mud from a horse. Fun times.

And I even hauled up the bouncy horse. Here are a few shots of the cowboys getting ready for the rodeo (or circus).

Agent H's Lego mosaic

Here's Agent H and his Lego mosaic tank. :)

Gifts we have LOVED!

1.) Lego Mosaics . . .once again I am reminded of how much I love these! Agent H recieved them for Chrismas one year. The idea is that you place one of the picture templates under a clear Lego plate, then you copy the design using mostly tiny single Lego pieces. Usually Agent H has kept to the templates but this week he created his own picture, a tank. This activity made it into his workboxes a couple times this week. Now the school nerd in me is dreaming of this.














2.) Cardboard building blocks . . . I always wanted these as a kid but sadly they never made it under our tree. Sniff, sniff. Love 'em, love 'em love 'em even though they drive me crazy and make a room look messy in 5 seconds.












3.) Tough Stuff Tape Player . . . it has been used and abused and still plays great. I really, really like audio books. A couple of times a week Ebug will get an audio book in one of his workboxes. He plugs in our teddy bear headphones and sits . . . quietly. I'll have to get a picture it is sooo cute!













Well this is all for now. I'd love to post more of our favorites if I get the time.

Sleep tight crunchy style

It's gonna be a crunchy post today. Life is full of humorus kid happenings and homeschool but we still have some wholesome crunchy goodness going on behind the scenes.

As we tuck the little ones in for bed at night, 5 out of 7 of the nights you can be sure you will hear the infamous words "my leg hurts", "my throat hurts", "my tummy hurts", or I have bugs in my leg" (yes you read that right and no we don't have flees, last I checked).

My cure for a leg ache & buggy legs (AKA: dry/itchy skin): Massage said limb with yummy coconut lotion and prop up on stuffed animal.

My cure for hurting throat: It used to be a Ricola throat drop but felt uneasy about putting a kid to bed with something they could choke on SO I was pleased when I discovered Super Kids Throat Spray by Herbs for Kids. It's peppermint flavored throat relief and does the job nicely.

My cure for upset tummy: Minty Ginger by Herbs for Kids. Squeeze a dropper of this tonic into mouth and let the ginger do it's trick.

A little backrub, maybe a small sip of water, a whispered prayer and hopefully they will stay put till the sand man comes. Of course everyone has their own tricks, these are just what happen to work for us.

I'm reading. . . .

I really do plan on posting a nice update on life around here sometime (along with the photos that seem to be so lacking around here). In the mean time I leave you with this comment from Agent H.

"Could you PLEASE be quiet . . . I'm TRYING to read the phone book."

Reflection

LE Babe has found a friend. It is someone he babbles and laughs with, plays peek-a-boo with, and discovers anew in different ways. He has found his reflection.

It had to be lentils

His big brothers stuck to dumping out boxes of cereal. LE Babe, he dumped out the bag of lentils . . . in the living room . . . on the rug.

First snow

The boys loved it, except for LE Babe (as you can see).

Ebug -Words to remember

More words to remember by Ebug (age 3 1/2) . . .

"Mom, you're my friend. Cause you give me time-outs."

"Mom, my tummy doesn't feel good. I think I'm getting a baby."

Just gotta write 'em down so I don't forget AND so they can laugh over them when they are older.

Agent H Stitching

Agent H has been watching me stitch LE Babe's baby blanket and got up the nerve to ask "Mom, can boys stitch?" You bet! I gave him some muslin, a hoop, a threaded needle and he went to work stitching his initials. It made a nice workbox filler.

Ant Math

Our Heart of Dakota curriculum often has a visual activity to supplement the Singapore math. In this activity we drew ant tunnels and used our ants (raisins) to do addition/subtraction stories. The first photo is what I did and the second photo is because Agent H loved it so much he created his own version. To add to the fun we played some Ant Wars.

Blow Money

Agent H said these words while talking about his money: "My money is mostly 'blow' money". Can you tell he's the son of Dave Ramsey/Peace University graduates? Wish I could say the same about our money.

Live like no one else so that you can live like no one else.

Bye bye curls

I took the boys to get their hair cut for the first time in a loooong time. One too many of my masterpieces equals "HELP"!

Agent H went for racing strips on the sides (inspired by his cousin's cool do).

Ebug got a nice clean cut.

LE Babe, well he lost his curly locks. One too many comments about the boys' little sister and EH wanted me to go out and buy him a monster truck shirt.

It's so helpful to have a big six year old along to take the photos!

Which foot?

At bedtime I told Ebug that he must have grown a foot this week. He (laying on his back) raised his feet in the air and said "which foot?"