Today In Pictures

KKS

Mommy Moment

Love. This. Baby.

I love her sweet breath.  I love it when I kiss her feet and she sticks her toes in my nose.  I love her soft, squooooshey thighs.  I love it when she nurses and I am left with her ear print on my arm.  I love her smile, her tiny toes, her pinky fingernails, her long eye lashes, her giggle and the way she looks at me when she wants to be picked up.  I love her sweet voice and the way she mimics sounds.  I love(d) her fuzzy ears.  Her dimple is delightful and her cheeks are sweet enough to eat.

She likes breast milk, formula, Nuk pacifiers and her head lightly tapped while nursing.  She has the stinkiest farts of any baby I have ever known.  If she is fussy, change her diaper--instant mood change, especially the wiping part.  She loves it!!  She likes to nap in her swing and loves loud music.  Burps bother her-a lot.  She doesn't like perfume or cologne, either.  (Weird, huh?)  She is a light sleeper, even though she lives in a house with (almost) constant chaos.  She could count to two when she was a week old.  She proved this to us by always demanding a second course of the meal after completing the first.  She loves to be outside, or even look outside.  Her nick names are 'Sweet Cakes, Baby Cakes, AudPod and Munchkin."

I can't imagine our life without her.  She is a perfect fit and a joy to have in our home.

KKS

Beautiful Feet

KKS

Somethin' To Blog About

The weather has turned nice, which means, we have moved outside.  We have been enjoying the sunshine.  And....ALL of our snow is gone.  The last little bit of it melted yesterday.  Now we can officially say it's spring. But that's not the only indication.......

Trees are budding, robins have returned, scraped knees are a daily occurrence, toys strewn about the yard, sandals have been dug out of the basement, the water hose has been on, bees are a buzin' and we have even had a few mosquito bites.

Friday was earth day.  We celebrated by taking a walk on the Whistle Stop (an old railroad bed turned walking/snowmobiling/biking/four wheeling haven) trail, leaving it better off than we found it.  We went with another homeschooling family.  Together we were able to make a big difference.

After our walk, we went to the store to get our supplies for our garden.  We took a short cut this year by buying plants instead of seeds.  In years past, the seeds just haven't done well, so we decided to try something different.  We bought four tomato plants, yellow pepper, strawberries, oregano, rosemary, lettuce, parsley, Georgia collards and spearmint.  Another change; we planted them in buckets instead of the ground, as our yard has proven to be infertile.  I didn't buy enough soil to fill the buckets, and if I put them too low, they wouldn't get enough sun because they were too low.  So my solution was to saw off the top half of the buckets and that's what I did.  I felt so powerful with that power saw!!!

The result:

The kids wanted to raise frogs again this year.  During our walk Lundi was on the look out for frog eggs.

She found some!!!!

We took a bowl with us so that we could bring them home.  I couldn't find the kiddie pool that we used last year, so I bought a new one foe $7.00.  We added leaves, dirt, water and frog eggs to create our very own frog habitat.

The end result:

You will notice that the top ring of the pool is deflated.  That happened when Harrison fell on it the other day.  If I would have had my camera, the scene would have won me a million bucks on Americas Funniest Home Videos.  Ya--it was that good.  That story is coming in another post.

KKS

Plein Air

Painting.........

KKS

Things I Don't Get.....

•  Do not eat if seal is missing." -- On the seal of the baby Tylenol
• Do not use in shower." -- On my hair dryer.  (Do people actually do this?)

• This toy may contain small parts."-- On a frisbee.  (I guess there might be someone with a big enough mouth to swallow a frisbee.)

• "Do not use while sleeping." -- On a hair dryer.  (Trying to save time or get more sleep?)
• "Theft of this container is a crime." -- On a milk crate.  (So, who are the reporters?)
  
• "Caution: Remove infant before folding for storage." -- On the stroller.  (Is there any mother this stupid?)
  
• "For indoor or outdoor use only." -- On a string of Christmas lights.  (And the other option is........?)
  
• "Warning: May contain nuts." -- On a package of peanut M&M's. (No, really?)
  
• "You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside." -- On a bag of Chips-A-Hoy cookies. (Does that mean I should open them in the store without buying them?)
  
• "Remove the plastic wrapper." -- The first instruction on a bag of microwave popcorn; to see the instructions, one first has to remove the plastic wrapper and unfold the pouch.  (Wow, I knew BEFORE they told me, I am so smart!)

KKS

iPods

Music?  Yes!  But have you thought of their teaching potential?  We have recently bought iPods for the kids and let me tell you, they can be a great teaching tool.  They are also good for entertaining on long trips.....which for us is almost everywhere we go.  

There are many great websites where one can download educational podcasts....for free! We have subscribed to several, here are a few of our favorites..........

StoryNory

Writers Almanac

Learn Out Loud 

Poem of the Day

Science Show  (FYI....he speaks  about Big Bang and evolution)

 Old Time Radio

Scholastic

If you have iTunes, you can find a whole bunch of good ones in one place just by doing a search.

Enjoy!!

KKS

Right Now

Audrey is cooing and laughing on my bed under an open window.

Lauren is zooming down the hill on her scooter.

Mike is at work, he has the next four days off.  Yea!

Harrison is popping wheelies on his two wheeler. 

Liam is taking a nap.

It's 63 degrees outside.

Gas is $2.01 a gallon.

Our fridge and pantry are full of food.

There is still snow in the yard.

Caleb is writing his version of "2o,ooo Leagues Under the Sea."

Squeals of delight are streaming through my window from outside.

Lundi is working in her favorite math book.

The pine cones still need to be picked up.

I have a broken fingernail.

I need a shower.

The fan is on for white noise when the baby sleeps, she is a light sleeper.

The school kids are walking up the hill.

The grass is brown, soon to be green.

It's 3:27 in the afternoon.

There is a war going on, but we wouldn't know it if nobody told us.

There is an even bigger war going on against evil.

Holy writ sits on my night stand, reminding me that I have not feasted upon it yet this day.

Harrison looks cool with his Boston Red Sox cap and T-shirt and his iPod.  His new favorite song is "Born in the USA."

There is a 30 car pile up in my hallway left there by Liam to go take his n-a-p.

I am thankful that my kids are kind to others.

We are a two car family.

The ladder is leaning against the tree to grant easy access to the lowest branches.

I am nursing Audrey.

We have not been affected by the down turn in the economy, and pray that it stays that way.

There is mail in the mailbox.

I need lotion on my hands, they are dry.

KKS

Monday

This picture was taken by Harrison and added because he wanted it on my blog. This is our "8 seeeeta van."

Liam wakes up with a temp of 103.5. The day carries on (in other words, Mike let me sleep in) until I get up and notice he was burning up. A call to the doctor, quick visit and a diagnosis of an ear infection. The crabbiness makes sense now.

Lauren's computer day. She didn't budge from that spot until lunch was ready. PBS kids was the hot site today. I convinced her to play outside after lunch. It was beautiful today.

Harrison and Lundi were up, had breakfast and outside to play by 8:30. They played in their tree seats, the clubhouse and on the swing set.

Mike got into the cave and dug out his box of scouting stuff because Caleb has been asking him to do it for three days. For the rest of the day he wore Mike's scout shirt and hat. He is so excited about scouts and anxious to earn his badges.

After lunch it was decided that I would stay home with the kids and clean up the yard (which was the planned project for the day, but was interrupted by a fever) and Mike would take Liam to the doctor. AudPod (as we affectionately call her...because our Audrey is the 6th pea in our pod) is too small for the baby backpack, wasn't tolerating the stroller because of the wind, so Mike took her with him to the doctor so I could get the yard work done. I have another UTI. Maybe I should go to the doctor instead of diagnosing myself and taking left over antibiotics. (Don't tell nurse Mike that I did that.)

Mike also made a crokpot meal and washed several loads of laundry today.

We picked up about 2,000 fallen branches, lots of chewed up toys from our-so glad she's gone-Abby, many dump trucks, big wheels, balls, bats and tractors, and a bag of trash. Tomorrow we will get to the 39, 612 (I counted) pine cones in the front yard. Oh, and we might get to the mess in the shed. (See picture above.)

After dinner we went to Gifford's. We took the neighbor girl (which meant taking two cars) with us because she came over after school and helped us in the yard. Then it was home for FHE and bed.

KKS