Shrieking Li'l

Do you know what that sound is, highness? That is the Shrieking Li'l. If you don't believe me, just wait. It always grows louder.

*You Princess Bride fans will no doubt pick up on the spoof from the movie. Our youngest child is a shrieker, and we have now given him a new nickname. And when the shrieking begins, someone will undoubtedly be found reciting this modified line from the Princess Bride. I wanted to include an audio clip, but it sounded too much like torture, and I thought it might upset the grandparents. The child is fine, of course. He just wants what he wants, and he wants it right now--and he has a voice with which to demand it.

Do I seem more insane than usual to you?

If I do, it's because both of my boys have refused to take their afternoon naps this week. I'm really hoping this is just a fluke and that things will go back to normal any day now. But, I must confess, I'm a bit worried. I'm definitely not ready to give up the naps, even if they are. That's my moment of sanity and productivity, after all. What will I do without it?! I already feel myself becoming more panicky and less coherent. Think happy (sleepy) thoughts for us...

Go Gators!

For those of you don't already know, Ruth is a full-fledged member of our neighborhood swim team. From the very first meeting, we understood this group is pretty hard-core. But, at today's first regular practice of the year, we realized that we take our swimming pretty serious around these parts.

When we left the house for practice, it was lightly raining, and I prepared Ruth for the certain fate of practice being cancelled. But, she insisted we drive over to the pool, just in case. Well, it wasn't raining too hard when we arrived at the pool, and parents and children were disembarking from their vehicles and entering and exiting the pool area with a flourish, so it seemed to still be game on. Most of the parents, I might add, had monstrous umbrellas with them, which seemed to be a little in the overkill department to me. For about 5 minutes.

Just as Ruth stepped nervously into her place in line in lane 1, the bottom fell out of the sky. And I began to wish that I had a humongous umbrella of my own, or at least that I had already made friends with one of the other mothers with a giant umbrella. I thought certainly they would send the kids back to their now-soaking parents--(even those with umbrellas couldn't avoid the deluge). But the next thing I knew, the coach was sending the first group of kids plunging into the frigid pool. That's when I learned that you don't call off practice just for rain. There must be lightning.

Then, the phone rang. It was Jeff, asking if practice was still on. He was slightly concerned, since the power had just gone off at our house, less than a mile away. Still, the kids made their way, as best they could, from one end of that never-ending pool to the other.

And then, someone found a snake in the baby pool. And still, the show went on. Until finally, there was undeniable rumbling in the sky and the threat of lightning was firmly upon us. Only then, did the drenched parents gather up their shivering children and call it a day. It's no wonder the Gators are the reigning swimming champs in this area.

*Really, we were only there about 20 minutes and truly it didn't seem dangerous--and no practice is required, so we never have to go if we don't want to-- but I was surprised to see how "all in" these people are.

Long Overdue School Update

It's been a long time since I've reported on Ruth's school work. Here is some of what she's been up to:

• In-depth study of Ancient Rome, which will continue through the remainder of 1st grade.
• Brief study of Ancient India
• Brief study of Ancient China
• Learned how to make paper
• Took a break from the Spelling and Vocabulary classes to focus on handwriting
• More study of the human body: brain, reflexes, learning/memory, the five senses, heart/blood, lungs/breathing
• Transitioned to a new art book--focusing on drawing animals
• memorized the poem "All Things Beautiful"
• Illustrated a book for "All Things Beautiful"
• Learned squares of numbers 1-10
• Worked on fractions
• Perfected many multiplication facts
• Made a goal to finish second grade Math before her birthday
• Will finish second grade Grammar next week
  

Pictures from our trip

Spring Break #2

We are off to the Davis Mountains for the next few days to work on our cabin and hang out with family and generally just have a good time. We'll see you all next week.

Which of these things is not like the others? Which of these things just doesn't belong?

Though it seems like laundry would be among the more mundane tasks one could engage in, sometimes you find a prize in the laundry basket. And, sometimes--on a really good day--you find two.

Fifteen Months

Who says there's no such thing as a free lunch?!

I went into the grocery store just before noon today, with a "rumbly in my tumbly" (the inspired words of Winnie the Pooh) and the thought of grabbing some lunch when I finished my shopping. Before I could even get in the door, a nice man beckoned me over for a sample of some sweet watermelon. Once inside, I found sample stations set up every few feet--chicken salad, lasagna, hummus, mac and cheese, California rolls, trail mix, yogurt, etc., etc. I must confess, I did not turn any of the samples down. And I only purchased one of the products being offered. And when I was checking out, I realized that I wouldn't need to stop for lunch after all.

Is this as completely pathetic as it seems?! Or is it possibly the most brilliant scheme in all of lunch history?

A Day in the Life

• Woke up early and actually had some quiet time to myself to pray and read the Bible before everything got crazy.
• Attempted to remove the sticky "essence of movie theater" off of my kitchen floor.
• Noticed that each of my children seemed taller when they got up this morning.
• Worked my way through the utility room, clearing out things that didn't belong and organizing all the cleaning supplies.
• Removed an inconvenient shelf from the wall in the utility room.
• Changed the light bulb in the utility room...standing on tip-toe on a short bar stool, which was perched on a bar-height chair, while my height-fearing husband gripped my legs for dear life and kept me from falling to my death.
• Ate chocolate chip cookie dough like it was going out of style.
• Made homemade paper with Ruth.
• Cleaned debris and misplaced items off the back porch.
• Became outraged when I read of Plano ISD's scheme to dumb-down future generations.
• Understood several of the "words" Max said.
• Unpacked and enjoyed framed pictures and albums of days gone by.
• Reveled in Max's 3-hour and Weston's 2-hour naps.
• Pulled a shard of glass out of my finger.
• Made a mad dash to the library before it closed, when Ruth announced she was out of books.
• Bought a birthday present at Walgreens.
• Bought two gallons of milk...for the second time this week.
• Laughed genuinely and hysterically as Weston told "Knock-Knock" jokes.
• Had breakfast for dinner.
• Bought a dining room table and chairs to use in the homeschool room.
• Sang "Amazing Grace" with my family, along with a few other old hymns, before reading the story of David and Goliath and watching the children's faces light up with joy and wonder.

A Walk In The Park

There are miles and miles of greenbelts and walking trails here in "The Livable Forest," and we have slowly been taking advantage of them as we explore our new surroundings, and as the weather permits. The largest park in Kingwood is just around the corner from us, and I swear, you would think you walked into another world. It fronts the lake on one side and has an extraordinary amount of beautiful trails. I told Jeff I felt like I was on vacation somewhere instead of just a short distance from the house. It's amazing, and is something we will take every opportunity to enjoy it.

Mattress Mess

We had our first overnight house guests on Friday night. To prepare, we blew up our tried and true queen-size inflatable mattress--which we already knew had a leak, but which we hoped to fix before my in-laws arrived. No such luck. The air leaked out, and we couldn't figure out from where, so we went to Plan B. We decided to buy another queen-size inflatable mattress to replace the leaky one. I bought a relatively cheap one, which was labeled as a queen and had the dimensions on the package. When I blew it up, I found it barely bigger than a twin-size mattress. I had Jeff look at, and he, too, thought it was awfully small. We then looked up mattress dimensions online and found that the dimensions on the package were actually full-size dimensions. But, when we got out our handy-dandy tape measure, we found that it didn't even meet those standards. I grumpily deflated the mattress and returned it to the store. I then went to a different store and bought a more expensive, name-brand, queen-size inflatable mattress, with actual queen-size dimensions printed on the box. When I blew it up, I also found it lacking. And the tape measure test confirmed: a full-size bed masquerading as a queen. I was outraged at the blatant false-advertising and the attempt of the inflatable mattress people to so badly rip off the faithful consumers--namely me! Jeff felt the same way. So, we deflated and packaged up yet another inflatable mattress and determined that we were getting out of the inflatable mattress business altogether. Instead, we instituted Plan D, which was to go out and buy ourselves a new king-size mattress and move our old one up to the guest room. A bit extreme, I know, but it was the ultimate plan anyway, and it was worth it not to have to deal with anymore crummy inflatables.

The morals of the story are these: Don't believe everything you see in print. Do not trust inflatable mattress people under any circumstances. And, we have a super-comfy guest bed, so don't hesitate to come visit!

All Dressed Up

Mommy Quiz (Ruth)

This seems to be the going thing in Blogland right now, so I'll jump on the bandwagon. You're probably all tired of hearing about moving and the house anyway. Weston's answers follow in a separate post.

Ask your child(ren) the questions and type in their answers as they say them. Tag other folks with older kids who might have fun with this. :)

1. What is something Mommy always says to you? I love you

2. What makes Mommy happy? Hugs and Kisses

3. What makes Mommy sad? When I get hurt

4. How does your Mommy make you laugh? By tickling me

5. What was your Mommy like as a child? I don't know

6. How old is your Mommy? 31

7. How tall is your Mommy? Kind of in the middle of me and Daddy--maybe 5 feet

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Eat at Chuy's

9. What does your Mommy do when you're not around? Plays on the computer

10. If your Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? For cooking

11. What is your Mommy really good at? Cooking

12. What is your Mommy not very good at? Picking me up

13. What does your Mommy do for her job? Stays at home with us

14. What is your Mommy's favorite food? Mexican food

15. What makes you proud of your Mommy? When someone tells her that she is a good Mom

16. If your Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? Alice (from Alice in Wonderland)

17. What do you and your Mommy do together? Grammar class

18. How are you and your Mommy the same? We almost have the same length of hair

19. How are you and your Mommy different? Mommy has green eyes, and I have brown eyes

20. How do you know your Mommy loves you? Because she always says "I love you."

21. Where is your Mommy's favorite place to go? Chuy's

Mommy Quiz (Weston)

Ask your child(ren) the questions and type in their answers as they say them. Tag other folks with older kids who might have fun with this. :)

1. What is something Mommy always says to you? I love you

2. What makes Mommy happy? Your eyes

3. What makes Mommy sad? Your mouth

4. How does your Mommy make you laugh? You just do

5. What was your Mommy like as a child? Daddy

6. How old is your Mommy? 21

7. How tall is your Mommy? About shorter than me

8. What is her favorite thing to do? Eat breakfast

9. What does your Mommy do when you're not around? Go to the library

10. If your Mommy becomes famous, what will it be for? For moving out of the house

11. What is your Mommy really good at? Pianos

12. What is your Mommy not very good at? Reaching without a stool

13. What does your Mommy do for her job? Work

14. What is your Mommy's favorite food? Granola and Roast and Potatoes

15. What makes you proud of your Mommy? I don't know

16. If your Mommy were a cartoon character, who would she be? I don't know

17. What do you and your Mommy do together? Work

18. How are you and your Mommy the same? We just are

19. How are you and your Mommy different? I don't know

20. How do you know your Mommy loves you? I just do

21. Where is your Mommy's favorite place to go? Library