Grandparent Trip

Well, I've been a little scarce! Thanks to those who missed me - it's nice to be missed. :)

The kids and I went on a trip to visit grandparents. I told WeaverDad that I'm not quite sure what it says about my life that it was relaxing to travel 8 days with 2 kids by myself - but it was. The grandparents and cousins absorbed some of their energy, and I didn't have to cook, clean, work or homeschool the entire time we were away. Even with the travel, it was relaxing!

It's been almost a year since we flew back to the South. As hope to those of you with younger kids - wow, does it get easier!! No diapers, no strollers, no car seats on the plane - they traveled liked pros. And, can I just mention that I LOVE Frontier? The little TVs with Direct TV are right up there with Post-it notes in my opinion.

So, here are the pictures:

First, we went to my side of the family, where the kids had fun running with Grandpa and their greyhound, Oreo:And drawing (A LOT!):

And seeing one of my best high school friends and her children. It's pretty amazing to see the next generation together.

It makes a girl sleepy:
And a boy so tuckered out he has to sleep on his shoes with the dog on the dog bed:
Here they are with my Grandma. Doesn't she look great?

Next, we traveled to WeaverDad's side of the family. Both of WeaverDad's sisters have 2 kids, so there are COUSINS. And cousins are SO MUCH FUN! It was a little more active, so I didn't do as well remembering to take pictures, but here are a few:

The Cousin Crew

One of his sisters and his mom arranged for all of us to go to a production of Annie. It was wonderful. I have a drama minor and haven't been to a play in a long time, so it was as much a treat for me as for Punkin. Punkin thought it was great and she wanted to stay and meet the little girl that played Annie, so we did.

Little Man wasn't as thrilled. Thankfully, here he is during the 1st act:
After the final number when the actors came out and took their bows, Little Man said, "Is it over?" I said "yes". He said with a hugh sigh, "I'm SO glad that it's over!"

And, here they are with Gram and Granddaddy!

Update

Gosh, life has gotten away from me! It's been busy! One day this week I had 63 posts in my reader to catch up on!

So, since I use my blog to keep up with family as well as a "history" for myself to look back at - I'll try to hit some highlights of what we've been up to:

Thanksgiving was wonderful! It was just the four of us, but we had a turkey and all the "fixin's" of sweet potatoes, cranberry sauce, stuffing, Sister Schube*rt rolls - um, um, good! I've been watching too much Food Channel again, and tried an Alton Brown recipe that included brining the turkey. I've never done that, but I was really pleased with the results and I'm sure I'll do it again. Yummy! It was a relaxing weekend. WeaverDad and I both took 4 entire days off and we had some great family time.

WeaverDad loves pecan pie - which I evidentially have not made for him since we moved to Colorado 7 years ago!! (I know, what a bad wife I am!) Because... when I made it, it boiled in the oven, bubbled over, and never set. After some internet research (seriously, what DID people do before the internet), I discovered that since the boiling temperature is lower at high-altitude, you cannot add as much sugar to the recipe or you get the results I did. But, there was time to try the new, high-altitude recipe I found online, and my husband loved it! So much, in fact, that he asked me to make it again this Sunday. Ah, success!

Since Thanksgiving, I've gotten 2 new clients. So, I've been running a little crazy!

And Christmas shopping. And making 45 Sand Art Brownie Jars for WeaverDad's co-workers and our neighbors.

And, oh yeah - I'm supposed to be homeschooling!
I agree with so many of the articles I read when investigating the concept of homeschooling. In answer to the "socialization" question, many homeschoolers shared that instead of enough socialization being an issue, the bigger issue for them was the discipline to stop socializing so much and actually get some schooling in! Oh, can I relate.

I'm struggling, but when I added up my days and checked where we are in our curriculum, I was pleased to discover I'm only 3 days behind, and I only need to finish one more chapter before Christmas. So, hopefully we can finish that up and start fresh in the new year with a new determination to be a little more consistent!

We are studying Moses right now. This chapter is about Godly leadership and, in addition to Moses, we are studying the leaders from the beginning of the United States - George Washington, Thomas Edison and Ben Franklin. Punkin is surprising me with a high level of interest in these men and what their lives were like, so I'm hopeful it will be a fun unit.

The last chapter was about inventors. We discussed how all things come from God, and Punkin made a beautiful "flipbook" about The Wright Brothers and their plane. She was fascinated with how they went from bicycles to planes. Did you know the Wright Brothers had a sister? She was part of their original plane company - so involved, in fact, that her signature is on their stock certificates. One of the brothers said that the plane would have never happened without her. The three promised each other as teenagers they would never marry and would always live together. The boys kept their promise, but the sister broke it and did marry and have children. :) These are the things I never learned in school, and I find it so fascinating to learn these things with my Punkin.

Little Man is learning his letters. He has been watching lots of Letter Factory while Punkin and I talk about inventors and George Washington. (He's a little young to care about these things yet!) So, he has now learned to recognize all the letters and knows the sounds as well. He wants to read so badly so he can be like his big sister.

I've decided that the math curriculum we have been using does not have enough structure for me as the teacher. So, I've ordered a new one called Singapore Math, and it should be here soon. I hope it is successful for us and we can get back on track.

So, there's the news. Interesting, huh? ha!

I'm taking another short blogging break until December 12th or 13th - it's just that crazy time of year! Hope all of your Christmas preparations are coming along well!

Ten Things

More tagging! :)
Which is good, because I'm in a little bit of a blogging funk.

Although, I do have to share that I think my little guy needs a new name. He seems to have outgrown SnugBug. So, from now on, SnugBug will be Little Man. It's what we really call him so it only seems fitting.

ANYWAY, Tara tagged me so here's my response to her tag:

TEN THINGS I DID THIS WEEKEND
1. Went to the membership class for my church.
2. Helped with Punkin's Sunday School class.
3. Attended my favorite community event!
4. Worked.
5. Cleaned up.
6. Cooked dinner.
7. Researched math curriculums.
8. Took a nap.
9. Went out to eat! (Yay!)
10. Watched TV.
(Don't you wish you had my weekend? ha ha)

9 things on my agenda this week:
1. Work
2. Clean up
3. Choose new math curriculum.
4. Make Thanksgiving meal.
5. Take Thanksgiving day and Friday OFF - no working allowed.
6. Make a Christmas gift for my grandma.
7. Change out the kid's clothes in their closets.
8. Christmas card pictures.
9. Put up Christmas tree.

8 shows I've watched (last week):
I don't watch enough TV to do last week, so I'll just have to do 8 shows I've watched recently.
1. Corner Gas
2. Good Eats
3. How It's Made
4. Dr. Phil
5. Funniest Home Videos
6. Whatever is on Food Network when I'm getting ready for bed
7. Samantha Who?
8. SuperWHY

7 things I cooked last week:
1. Pork Chops
2. Tacos
3. Tilapia
4. Vegetable broth
5. Chicken Nuggets
6. Oatmeal
7. Beef & Noodle Casserole (well, to be honest, dh cooked that...)


6 things I read this week
1. My bible
2. 31 Days of Praise by Ruth Myers
3. Daniel by Beth Moore
4. Life Management for Busy Women by Elizabeth George
5. Family Circle magazine
6. Family Fun magazine

5 Reasons to be happy today
1. My dh has a 4 day weekend
2. I get some time off this weekend.
3. I have 2 beautiful children
4. My business is going well and I have a fabulous employee
5. I love the internet!

4 things I need to buy:
1. Mayo
2. grape candy or gum
3. gummy fish
4. bread

3 people I saw this weekend:
1. My friend Rebekah's new little boy from China!
2. My pastor
3. Lots of friends at the community event

2 things I am thankful for right now:
1. I'm not traveling for Thanksgiving.
2. My family.

One Final Thought:
This is from one of the prayers in 31 Days of Praise. I have been pondering this sentence for days - I'm both humbled and completely joyous over it.
"Thank You that You will never be disillusioned with me, for You already know all about me: past, present and future."

If you haven't done this yet, consider yourself tagged! (If you do it, please let me know.)

7 Random

I got tagged almost a month ago by Tara to do the 7 Random Things about me meme - better late than never, right?

Here's the deal:
7 Random Facts I must post.So read them, comment on them & if you haven't done this meme and would like to - consider yourself tagged!

1. I really dislike wearing shoes. When I was young, I would say I was going to be president so that I could outlaw them. :)
2. I have always wanted children.
3. I wish I could play the piano.
4. I talk to my mom on the phone almost every day.
5. I'm very sensitive to caffeine - I use it like a drug for road trips, late nights, and events where I need to be very "up", such as parties with lots of people I don't know.
6. When I was college, I slept from from 2-6am and 2-6pm. That is my natural body rhythm and I hope the day comes when I can do that again.
7. My 2 favorite meals are (1) filet mignon and creamy, cheesy mashed potatoes; and (2) peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

Sticks?

As we were driving home from Awana this week, my jokester husband was teasing Punkin (who, by the way, loves it when he is silly with her like this.) The conversation went a little like this:

...
WeaverDad: Do frogs have legs?
Punkin: Yes
WD: Do you have legs?
P: Yes
WD: Then you must be a frog!
P: I am not a frog!
WD: But, you have legs - you must be a frog!
P: I am NOT a frog.
(About here is when I quit wondering why the bible verse says "Fathers, do not exasperate your children.")
WD: Birds have legs - you must be a bird then.
P: Birds don't have legs! They have sticks!

--------------

I might have mentioned that we stay a little busy. One of my strategies for fitting it all in is for SnugBug and I to bring groceries home and put them away while Punkin is at gymnastics class. Punkin has been riding way in the back of the mini-van, and SnugBug rides behind me. This past week, he fell asleep on the way to drop her off for her class, so he slept through us dropping her off and he slept all the way home.

As I was getting the last bag of groceries from the car, he woke up. I told him that I was going to unload the groceries and asked if he would like to get out or just stay put because we had to go back and get sister. He sleepily said that he would just wait in the van.

As I'm putting away groceries, I hear him crying. I went out and asked, "Did you change your mind? Would you like to get out?"

"NO," he screams at me. "I'm mad 'cause Sister is ignoring me. She won't talk to me!"

"Sweetie, she's at gymnastics. She's not back there."

"Oh." *sniff, sniff*

For more funny things kids say, check out Tiny Talk Tuesday at Not Before 7.

Halloween

Through the years:

2007:


2006:
2005:

Halloween is not my favorite holiday. I have some misgiving about it, and I don't care for the constant begging for candy that comes in the days following it.

But, we had so much fun last night. Singer Girl and her dad came over and trick-or-treated with us and the girls had a great time. They were running from house to house. (I loved that the time change had not happened yet and it was still light!)

I have to admit that I do love to hand out candy. I love that everyone is out on the streets and the neighbors come over. Punkin and SnugBug would race to the front door to give out candy. I hadn't planned it this way, but I had gotten 2 types of candy, and Punkin put them in separate baskets. So, they worked it out where they were each in charge of giving out candy from one of the baskets. Note to self: do this again!

WeaverDad thought our little Ariel looked a lot like a character from a movie called Fifth Element. I've never seen it, but here is the proof:

Spooky, isn't it?