A Rainbow Birthday Party

Anna Kate spied a rainbow cupcake cake at Walmart

a couple of months ago, and decided that she wanted

a rainbow party.

After watching Noah's Ark the kids came up to eat cupcakes

and tie-dye ice cream

" Pin the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow"

The boys high-tailed it to Ethan's bedroom while the

girls headed to the playroom to enjoy Anna Kate's new

I Want to be a Hula Dancer and Wear a Flower Lei! DVD

Painting watercolor rainbows - they then added foam

flower and animal stickers, several painted arks as well

After opening presents, they all got a pack of glow

necklaces in rainbow colors.

Some friends slept over and the Lucky Charms and

simple version virgin Tequila Sunrise (make your own

by adding some grenadine to your glass of orange juice)
completed the rainbow theme.

Dinner tonight

was yummy. Brian's been watching food network shows and clips on hulu lately and Paula Dean hooked him with this recipe. The red onion mayo was so much better (and milder) than I anticipated.

Anna Kate's Birthday Letter

I've been not getting these done, so it's fifteen minutes to midnight on her birthday, and here it goes:

April 1, 2009

Little Anna bird,

I really can't believe that you're already six! (I bet I say that every year, just with a different number). As usual there have been so many new things and great events and accomplishments. Most recently, you've just finished kindergarten and lost your first tooth, and the second one is loose! So now you're a reader. And you've become a pretty good independent learner too, thanks to my being sick the whole school year.

You had your first meal at KFC and probably your first taste of real fried chicken this year (courtesy of growing up in a gluten-free home), and were spastic about the whole thing. Said it was the best food ever and that you could never get too full there, and that you wished there was no such thing as money so that you could eat there every day. Your a real foodie, and your enthusiasm and brightness infuses our lives with so much joy.

You're still a grits girl, from your love for the actual thing, to your cute Southern pronunciations. You think you're a tomboy, but I think you're just a Southern belle - all girly on the outside and steel on the inside.

You and Ethan and Rose love each other so much. Of course, sometimes you try to kill each other, but usually it's just so fun watching you all troop around together. And I get a kick out of you girls taking turns being Ethan's wife or daughter to play a family. And that you always want to sleep in the same room so that none of you has to be alone.

Barbies have been a staple toy again this year, and your dolls and animals are frequent company, but as usual, your interests are the hardest to peg, because you remain the social butterfly flitting from person to person and eager to just join in on whatever is happening.

The exception to that would be dancing - you love it. You may not always want to be a Miss Louise's, but your theme song could definitely be, "Gotta Dance" because any strain of music sets you in motion. You love hula, tap, ballet, waltzing with Ethan, doing contra dancing at a festival, calypsoeing on a boat at Chingoteague, and just plain jammin'.

And both of you girls love Paula Dean. This cracks me up too, but you are just as thrilled to watch an episode of her show as you are to watch a princess movie (probably more). The lady is funny, though, and you're right, she loves butter. You like Jon and Kate Plus 8 too - you watch it with Gran, but I have to say that here we diverge. Kate really irritates me.

You are kind and stubborn, sassy and sweet, beautiful and bold.

You love to do Bible studies with Daddy, and he loves having you snuggled up next to him. You have such a quick mind and retain information so very well. You are a joy to teach.

Board games have been a hit this year too. Trouble and Monopoly Jr. are at the top of the list right now. Daddy and I have so much fun playing games with you guys, and you're never a sore loser.

And all three of you are artists like your dad. You're a creative soul, and I was so impressed with your school drawings this year.

You're on the brink of more great events. You've been itching to be baptized for at least a couple of years now, and finally it's happening in just a few weeks. The tooth fairy is going to be handing out lots of new charms for that bracelet she gave you. The pink princess room is almost a reality. And I believe that I'm going to watch an independent reader emerge. Just don't grow up too fast.

I bet I'll think of lots more to add, and so will Daddy, but if this is truly the end of the letter, know sweet girl that we love you so much, and more and more every year. You are the spark plug of my life, crazy baby.

Love,

Mommy

Happy Birthday, Anna Kate!

She had her requested cherry poptarts for breakfast, spent the morning playing, then picked out her birthday cake. She's having cupcakes at her Friday night party, so she chose a cheesecake assortment. On to KFC to pick up lunch, then her first visit to Monkey Joe's. They had a blast, but those inflatable play places are SO LOUD! Back at home we had a baked ziti supper with Gran and Pa, gift opening, and the cheesecake finale. Not a bad birthday.

making a wish

Maternity clothes

I have been very blessed in my maternity clothes shopping. Most of the pieces I'm wearing this time around are new for this pregnancy. My maternity clothes from Anna and Ethan were mostly too small :^( and I borrowed most of my clothes for Rose's pregnancy from two friends. One has since gotten rid of all of her maternity clothes and the other is due a month after me.

So I needed to by some new stuff. I found some really nice dresses at a consignment sale for a fraction of their original prices. Most of the rest I found at my favorite thrift store and other consignment stores, usually for $1-5 a piece.

I prefer the underbelly waistlines - so much more comfortable and fewer lines showing - plus they fit sooner and can be worn postpartum, provided one can find long enough tops, however right now fashion is working in my favor. I actually found a number of cute spring skirts and dresses, as well as lots of capri/flood pants.

Also I've tried a new thing - the maternity belly band. I should have bought a stack - it's so handy, especially right now, when my belly keeps wanting to show. But at $20 a pop they rattle by budget sensibilities. I have a black one right now, though, and I'm really considering ordering a lighter color fast because I really think they're going to be very handy for nursing too - that and to hide the fact that I'll probably be wearing maternity pants way longer postpartum than is respectable. :^)

See I've entered the problem weeks. You know, the last several weeks where the tops that were previously unwearable tents are suddenly the only tops that cover your waistband. And all of those really cute tops are way too short. Half the pants no longer go over the belly at all (even the little bit they're supposed too). Then compound that by the fact that all of this much needed rain is making the temperatures much too cool to wear the capris and dresses that were bought to be larger.

So lately I've been frequently begging the dryer to hurry and dry the one pair of pants that are clean and fit so that I can get to my appointments on time.

Hurry warm weather - I want to wear all of those cute spring clothes a few times - but then, if that doesn't work out, maybe no one will notice that they're pregnancy clothes when I'm still wearing them in July!

Weekend Getaway

We've been planning this trip for a while (it was our Christmas/my birthday gift). We'd planned to go in January, but then my grandmother died and we went to PA again, and I was still feeling so lousy that we postponed it. This weekend we finally got away while the getting was good. At nearly 34 weeks I was running out of time. The predicted weather in the area was cooler than ideal and we finally decided on Gatlinburg, TN and made reservations the morning of the day we left. So it was a little crazy.

I don't sleep at night anymore. Reflux/heartburn pretty much makes that a fruitless endeavor until about 4 AM. By then, I've either attempted sleep and thrown up enough to sleep, or my dinner has completely digested. So Friday was a typical day, in that I was exhausted and unintentionally fell back to sleep for a couple of hours around lunch, which puts all the homeschooling behind... Brian was so sweet. He got home by 4PM and was just so happy to be going that he didn't mind that I'd finally gotten the kids packed and off to their Gran's and cheerfully helped me pack. So we left after six, much later than I'd planned.

But the whole drive there is lovely. We stopped about an hour away from our destination at a local seafood place and enjoyed our meal (even if mine did have an incredibly short life span), then wound through the last wooded leg in the dark behind a slow SUV, undoubtedly driven by a woman, as she was very hesitant and spent most of the time straddling the yellow line as she rounded mountain curves. It was only on the trip back that we partially forgave her after seeing the 200 foot drops on the sides of some of those curves that had no guardrails. :^)

We finally arrived at our perfect and lovely motel. We checked in, built a fire in the fireplace, and relaxed.

the buildings to the right are our motel,

our building is the one hidden in the trees

wish I'd gotten a real fire shot - we really enjoyed it -

except the night that it got wayyyy too hot, and we had

to turn on the air conditioner and open the balcony door and

wait an hour until I could stand to be in the room again. :^)

Each morning they delivered delicious homemade donuts to

our door. Breakfast in bed - heaven!


View from the aerial tram we rode up, then back down the mountain
Yep, we're suspended on those cables




balcony view

and view from the balcony

We spent the next day wandering the strip, napping (well, I napped, as my nights were unfortunately following their usual pattern), and generally enjoying each other's company. The weather, felt much warmer than it should have and was really quite perfect for this overheated mama. And we were both so happy to return to our nice crackling fire.

The ride home was beautiful! We followed this stream through

national park for the first leg.

When we left the stream behind, the mountain views were gorgeous.

Scripture and Education

I just got back from a lovely weekend away with my Brian. But I've had a serious shake-up in my world this past week. I've tried to be open-minded concerning educational choices that I consider to be less than ideal, but after hearing a family's testimony that really struck me as wholly wrong, I have been contemplating and researching his even more and I'm just not feeling as open minded. I have no desire to be judgmental, but I am becoming very concerned with what seems to be a lack of biblical dialogue on what Scripture truly does have to say about educational choices. And if those choices are really so open to private opinion. I have a lot that I have sorted through, and I'm not sure how much I want to throw out here, but I'm just going to start with some scripture. I'd love to hear your opinions on how they do or do not apply to the type of education Christian parents can consider for their children. At the very least, they are food for serious thought.

Deuteronomy 11:18 “Therefore you shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in your soul, and bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 19 You shall teach them to your children, speaking of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up (NKJV)

What is the best way to do this?
I recommend this article for some interesting insights and statistics. There are lots of rather consistent statistics out there on varying educational results, but verifying original sources has proven to be obnoxiously difficult.

Luke 6:39 He also told them a parable: "Can a blind man lead a blind man? Will they not both fall into a pit? 40 A disciple is not above his teacher, but everyone when he is fully trained will be like his teacher.

Can a parent reasonably expect to have more influence than another teacher the child listens to for the majority of his day?


2 Corinthians 6:14 Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? 15 And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? 16 And what agreement has the temple of God with idols? For you are the temple of the living God.

I've most often heard this applied to marriage, and then to business partnerships. Only this past week did I see someone apply this to education. Do you think that this is valid? Can you work together with an unbelieving, Christ-denying teacher/institution/system to educate you children? When is this unbiblical?

I have lots of questions, and not as many answers.

Give me some feedback.

St. Patrick's Day Food

Today we're having:

for breakfast: Lucky Charms with the milk the leprechauns turned green

for lunch; something with honeydew

for dinner: corned beef and cabbage - might have to throw it in the slow cooker and lime kool-aid mixed with ginger ale

for dessert: mint chocolate chip ice cream sundaes with St. Patrick's Day sprinkles

I'm keepin' it simple this year.

Here are some good Irish recipes from Betty Crocker:

Peanutty Good Luck Snack

Reuben Casserole

Slow Cooker Old-World Corned Beef and Vegetables

Saint Patrick's Day Activites

1. Draw a face on the leprechaun at Crayola.
2. Try the mazes from beginner to complex at Kid's Domain.
3. Cute printable preschool workbook from Giggly Games.
4. Read about who Patrick really was as well as his actual writings at A Joyful Heart.
5. Make some pot of gold jello and clover cupcakes from Family Fun.
6. Make and hang the shamrock shimmers at Nestle's Very Best Baking.
7. Find a dancing fairy and other lovely paper crafts at the Toymaker.
8. Choose a celtic cross coloring page at Apples4theTeacher.
9. Try pepper painting shamrocks.
10. Print sweet bookmarks at Jen Brett's website.
11. Do your copywork on St. Patty's handwriting paper from BillyBear4Kids.
12. Make a leprechaun friend at Making Friends.
13. Complete the wordsearch from The Family Corner.

Originally published March 11, 2007

John Stossel on the Bailout

ht to Jim Demint

Hello, again

My sister wanted to know where I've been. I've actually been pretty sick. Just a really miserable combo of nausea and heartburn and fatigue. But I had a good weekend and am hoping for a better week. We had snow, now we have beautiful weather - 80 today! We only have a couple weeks of school left - and lots to do to finish that up and get ready for baby. All of which would be much simpler if I felt better more often. This has not been an easy school year and we didn't accomplish a lot of things that I had wanted to, but we have a long spring and summer to do art and read books and catch up some things painlessly.

The girls' room is slowly transforming into a princess room. I still don't know if I'm going to use the real crib or a porta crib or if I'll just put the porta crib in my room. The kids bedrooms are 10x10 - not really made for three kids in one room. My room isn't much bigger at 10x12. So we've got a lot to sort through and rearrange - which is once again difficult to do when this pregnancy will apparently not even leave me one good month to do it in.

I am, however, at 32 weeks now, and am just so glad to see an end in sight. The warmer weather and having out spring and summer maternity clothes makes it seem even closer. We're still working on that name thing too. I'm afraid to even tell people what we're considering anymore, because just about the time I think it's the keeper, it changes again...

And I am so hot! Not in the way I wish either. This girl is like my own personal furnace. I've never been this hot during a pregnancy - even with Rose, who was born in July! I feel like I'm constantly having hot flashes.

The kids are finally over all the colds, I think, and I'm slightly ashamed to admit that we completely skipped out on church yesterday because the flu is going around there like crazy, and that is just not a good idea right now.

Well, enjoy all the pics to catch you up on life around here, and I'll try not to be a stranger.

St. Patrick's Day Festival

We love this annual downtown festival. The kids enjoyed crafts, lots of free bling, and the balloon man, and we all enjoyed the Irish music and dancing. The food smelled wonderful, but we ate before we went.

March Snow

We had a late snowfall last Sunday. A March snowfall after the daffodils and Bradford pears were in bloom. The only other snowfall we had this year was about an inch that lasted about half an hour before melting. The kids were thrilled and Daddy got to stay home from work and play too. The snow wasn't much good for snowballs, snowmen, or snow angels, but they enjoyed sledding at the park right down the street and all of the icicles and ice sheets, and we finally got to make sugar on snow (sorry, I forgot to take pictures of that).

Cub Scouts

Ethan started Cub Scouts a few weeks ago and loves it. He earned his first badge after about two weeks.

Ron Paul on Glenn Beck

February 24, 2009




* ht to http://blog.yaliberty.org/

Lent begins

I've been looking for some good Lenten resources for my family to prepare for Easter. They're not easy to find. Then this morning, Freebie of the Day sent me a link for Lenten Tree ebook : Lent Activities for the Family. It has 49 simple activities and a tree to count down the days of Lent. You can download it for free from the author's blog Sharing the Journey. I also have another book coming through Amazon. I had it shipped expedited, and this is the 7th day of the "1-7 days" that expedited shipping is supposed to take. The post office isn't exactly known for its punctuality any more, but I'm hopeful that it will arrive today.

The Song on the Radio Yesterday...

...that made me cry. :^)

Not Magic

Daddy: "Rosie, did you write on yourself with magic marker?"

Rose: "No, they were real."

Homeschooling Update

For those of you who might be interested in what we're doing this year:

Bible - Brian does this Bible study with Anna Kate and Ethan in the evenings - they love it! Earlier in the evening he reads the corresponding Bible story from Catherine Vos' fantastic The Child's Story Bible to all of the children. Anna and Ethan also use Samaritan's Purse prayer journals that focus on a different country each month of the year and have a Bible verse for the month. I'd like to get back on track with some more substantial Bible memorization for them soon. This has been a rough year for me.

Math - Anna is almost finished with Horizons K-5 math. Ethan is doing Singapore Math this year and has gone from hating math to loving it as a result. I'll be using Singapore for both next year.

Reading- Anna Kate uses ABeka's Handbook for Reading and some old Dick and Jane books, as well as lots of other kinds of readers and books. She reads everyday, but not always the same kind of things. She can read all kinds of Level 1 readers and when I compared them to the last few Bob Jones kindergarten readers she was far more advanced, so I think that she's reading very well. Ethan reads at least a chapter from a book each day. It's not always quality literature, but he's made great strides this year, and I have focused on providing him with materials that encourage him to love reading. Right now he's reading a Star Wars book. He's read some Usborne readers, including Greek myths and the Canterbury ghost, and also enjoyed some Magic Treehouse books, both the fiction stories and the non-fiction books, like Magic Treehouse:Space.

Writing- The year started with alphabets (Anna manuscript and Ethan cursive) and different copywork sheets, but I frequently got behind finding and printing the free resources that I usually use, thanks to being sick all year. So I finally gave up and bought A Reason for Handwriting. Anna Kate is in book A, and Ethan in book C. They enjoy it, and I don't have to think about it, which for this year, is a very good and helpful thing. We also have Draw-Write-Now Book 3, which they thoroughly enjoy and we use topically. They did the Pilgrim section at Thanksgiving and we're using the Native American section now.

Social Studies - This has been primarily topical. Ethan did read the majority (so far) of ABeka's 2nd grade Social Studies book, but mostly we've done topics, including the Inauguration, Abraham Lincoln, the Pilgrims, 50 states, etc. We also use God's World News : Taking Off! editions for current news. Right now we have several books for Black History month. This week and next week, however, are primarily dedicated to the study of Native Americans. I also want to nail down some world geography objectives soon. Ethan also recently began Cub Scouts which provides us with new social studies and science project opportunities.

Science - Also primarily topical. We've done studies on space and the planets, and I frequently get books on science topics to read - animals, atoms, health, etc. I hope to get in some substantial coverage of electricity and magnets and one on water and the ocean before the end of the school year. I'm also ready to send in our coupon for the butterfly eggs to go in our little pavilion that we bought. I think that that will go well with Lent and Easter topics too. :^) I've been able to read the ABeka K5 science book to Anna Kate, I've just saved the ocean chapter, she also just studied animal groups.

The Arts - We're blessed to have many opportunities for student performances of theatre and music productions. We've seen several children's theatre productions and The Nutcracker, among other things. We recently dedicated a couple of weeks to a study of famous composers. Art projects usually go along with topical studies, and I like to throw in books about famous artists or books of fine art too. Anna Kate also takes ballet lessons and Ethan does piano with me (unfortunately sporadically again this year), and also wants to begin lessons on his new guitar.

Best Gluten Free Pizza

This gluten-free pizza crust by Bob's Red Mill is amazing! It is the best crust that I've made so far and got rave reviews from Brian and Ethan, as well as my extended family which has also used and loved it.

It takes about an hour from start to finish, but is very simple, as that includes rise time and baking times, so you're not working most of the time.




I've tried plenty of "from-scratch" recipes without much success. We do like the frozen crusts by Kinnikinnick, and our favorite pre-made frozen crust is from the Whole Foods bakery, but this is a rising crust pizza.

So what are your favorite gluten free pizzas or crusts, brand or recipes?

The 1000 Page Bill That No One Had Time To Read - and the democrats passed it anyway (doesn't that tell you something?)

Our Valentine's Day

I finally got our traditional strawberry pancakes with strawberries and Smuckers Strawberry syrup and whipped cream and colored sugar done. I didn't, however, get the pancakes cut into heart shapes - and I heard about that!

Then they got surprises from us - the girls got their first Barbie Peek-a-boo Petites from the Ballet Bunch - they were thrilled. And Ethan was equally happy with a new Star Wars action figure. Brian got Ghiradelli dark chocolates, cabernet sauvignon, Irish Cream, and a card that plays our song ("You're Still The One").

For lunch, we were invited to Gran and Pa's house (Brian's parents) for a venison roast they'd been saving. I'd picked up some flowers to take to Gran, then I found out that Gran Gran (Brian's grandma) was going to be there, so we stopped on the way for more flowers. Of course, we pulled up to the house to find Aunt Eloise (Brian's great aunt) was joining us as well - so back to the store I went! But the ladies were all equally pleased with their flowers - Gran got a purple African violet in a purple pot because that's her favorite color and the children know it, Gran Gran got a beautiful red miniature rose, and Aunt Eloise three red tulips - all dressed in Valentine finery.




My surprise was waiting there too. I knew that he'd been working on something creative during his lunch breaks. Isn't he the sweetest guy ever???

Click to enlarge

The poem is from Amici Forever's song "Whisper of Angels"

I was yours before the first morn broke

Before the sun that woke the earth

And I was yours before rain kissed the ground

Before the first dawn's sound was heard

I'm the rush-the fire in your veins

Across the desert plains I ride

I'm the ache the sound that midnight makes

A streak of star across the sky

I'll be the whisper of angels

And I'll be the frost on your glass

And I'll be the shadows at twilight

I'll be your first your last

We all got a fantastic dinner, then the children got suprises and treats, including some late Christmas gifts from Aunt Barbara and Uncle Roy that were a real hit. Then the kids settled in to watch Wall-E . And I got to take a nap. :^)

Happy Valentine's Day

make yours here

Gratitude

I'm grateful to Kelly for giving me this award for a good attitude of gratitude.

*

I'm passing it along for great attitude and gratitude to:

*

Ann at A Holy Experience

Kelly at A Spacious Place

Elisabeth at In the Heart of My Home

Now I'm taking up the challenge to live that attitude of gratitude in my home today and every day. Even as the children are currently creating a many challenge as possible to keeping that attitude. :^)

Abraham Lincoln Bicentennial - February 12, 2009

1. Pick up some storybook biographies of Abraham Lincoln at your library, or dig out the stories and books you have at home.
2. I even lucked out with a Lincoln Logs building guide book. We'll be making Lincoln Log cabins for our table centerpiece again.
3. Apples4theteacher has a nice selection of coloring pages.
4. Check out the National Lincoln Bicentennial website. Several states have their own sites. Check the left sidebar for events near you. I like the kids section better than the teacher's section.
5. Four variations on a pretzel log cabin here, here, here, and here.
6. An Abraham Lincoln bank craft for all of those pennies.
7. A Paper Plate Abe Lincoln Hat.
8. An Abe Lincoln maze.
9. Mr. Lincoln's White House is a rather fascinating site.
10. Time for Kids has Lincoln worksheets in PDF files here, here, here, and a cut and paste activity here.

More ideas from last year.

It Might As Well Be Spring

We're having a stint of days in the 70s - heaven! So we spent Sunday at the park and zoo.

The playground has been completely redone and is very cool.

Don't you love the nosedive pic.

But those recycled tires really work - no permanent damage. :^)

Rose wanted to know why the lions didn't have any babies.

I told her that I dodn't know, but that I was sure

the zoo would be happy if they did.

She replied, "Maybe them are not married."

7 months and counting.

Oh, and my first chance to wear my pretty $4 thrift store find.

Wait 'til you see the dress I found this week for $1 -

I'm saving it for Easter.

My favorite tea is in decaf!

Apparently Twinings makes most of their classic teas in a decaf version, but this is the first time that I've seen decaf English Breakfast Tea in the grocery store. It made me happy. And it tastes so good....

CA counties say "we're not gonna take it"

Tax revolts, Boston Tea Parties, yeah, this is starting to get good. Here's to the second American revolution! Tell the out of control government that we're not gonna take this anymore.

http://www.sacbee.com/topstories/story/1600656.html

Glad there are still a few good men in the Senate

I'm Still Here, or I'm Back, or Something Like That

Just a little update before I start throwing out random posts.

My Nanny (paternal grandmother) died two weeks ago and the memorial service was in PA this past weekend. So we drove back up last Thursday and home again Monday. It was a smooth trip and the service turned out very nicely. The children hated the long drive, but were good sports and delighted to be back at Gramma and Pappy's so soon.

They even got to go sledding with Daddy and Pap on Friday morning thanks to a nice Wednesday snow that had stayed nice and frozen for them - wish I had pictures of all that, but I was running errands with my mother and sister and didn't think that Brian would appreciate juggling three kids, toboggans, saucers, and an expensive camera.

I'm still having a typically lousy pregnancy. I came home pretty wiped out again, but not quite as bad as Christmas. I think it might be partly connected to my iron level (or lack thereof). I can't keep vitamins down, so I've been eating Total, but I never think to take it along with me.

The kids started on another round of colds the night before we left. Rose is still pretty sick with it, but the other two seem to be recovered. Brian's pretty much had a cough/throat thing since New Years, but I don't know if it's the same one, or if he just keeps getting the kids colds and that's just how they affect him. I'm doing pretty well with the cold thing. I did catch the first round - my first cold in ten years! - but this round I just had a random cough. It contributed to the pregnancy issues, but wouldn't be worth mentioning otherwise and seems to have gone away.

So I've stocked the fridge with Dole fruit juices and the cabinets with teas, honey, and apple cider vinegar. We also have stockpiles of Delsyn and Sudafed, and boxes of lotion Puffs (my kids think that only Puffs are soft enough for sore noses, so I just go with the flow.)

We're still studying composers and are also doing some other fine arts stuff. This worked out well as we were able to listen to several CDs on our car trip - composer stories, classical CDs, etc. I picked up some books at the library this week to go along with my plans for the 200th anniversary of Lincoln's birthday this month. Also our traditional small stack of African American biographies for black history month and some books on George Washington, so I think we should sail smoothly through February. I'll share more details if I have time.

Well, there's my traditionally random catch-up post. Hopefully I'll be around more often now.

Pause

Inauguration Day for Kids

I'm actually doing a music theme this week. It's crazy being a former music teacher and knowing that your kids are actually getting very little music training. But now that the pregnancy symptoms seem to finally be easing up a bit (hopefully it wasn't just another short stretch of decent days that just get my hopes up before smashing them), I'm hoping to get music lessons back on track. More on the music stuff later...


We're breaking for a bit of Inauguration stuff on Tuesday. Some TV viewing, though I have to admit it's more to watch Yo-Yo Ma and Itzhak Perlman than Mr.Obama - see a music week tie-in!- just kidding. Seriously, he's swearing in on the Lincoln Bible, which my kids will find very cool. Of course, we have the possibility of snow being on the ground in the morning, in which case all bets are off about any viewing or doing of things inaugural. All of you out there that are snowless or sick of snow will have to use these links instead. :^)


Without further ado:

1. Time for Kids is our first stop. They have their teacher guides available online with some great worksheets for younger (K5-1st) and slightly older (2nd-5th grade) students. And another one on the White House here.
2. A linked schedule of Inauguration Day events
3. Scholastic has some really nice worksheets as well as lesson plans.
4. This is a great page of links . I recommend the links to streaming news sites for the inauguration, coloring pages, and a pretty nice powerpoint on the inauguration in lew of a lower elementary book on the topic. And actually the 44 Presidents rap song, while irritating, has really nice portraits of all of the presidents. If you already know their names, maybe you could watch it on mute. :^)
5. This is an interesting Obama Inauguration Q&A page. It includes information about the first daughters that my kids will be interested in.
6. National Geographic Kids has an interactive Inauguration Trivia Quiz. I scored only a 70% - see if you can do better.

Don't forget to let your voice be heard in the fight against the Freedom of Choice Act. Millions of children will thank you.

A New Name

Okay, I couldn't convince him that Jane Claire was perfect, but we had a name pow-wow tonight again, and (can this be real??), he really loves the name I've been hoarding at the top of my list since before I had kids, but we've never used - Maria. What made the difference in changing it from a name he liked to a name we both love? The perfect middle name, of course. Eirinn. The oldest way of spelling Ireland.

So all you who loved (or hated and just didn't comment) Laurie Jane, what do you think of...

Maria Eirinn?

(Write it in script, it's even prettier)

*

I'm grinning from ear to ear. I like it much better than Laurie Jane, Jane Claire, and any other name I've pretty much ever come up with. I mean, you really can't beat a name that comes with a soundtrack.

*

"How do you solve a problem like Maria? How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?"

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"Maria Maria She reminds me of a west side story"

*

"My Maria Don't you know I've come a long, long way I've been longin' to see her when she's around she takes my blues away"

*

and best of all:

*

"The most beautiful sound I ever heard:

Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria.

All the beautiful sounds of the world in a single word:

Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria, Maria.

*

Maria, I've just met a girl named Maria,

and suddenly the name will never be the same to me.

Maria! I've just kissed a girl named Maria..."

*

Yeah, I'm really hoping this one is the keeper.

Does it take a rocket scientist to discount the logic of ethanol?

Nope. Just high schoolers that can do math.

What's Been Up, or Alicia In Real Life

Long time, no write (but I have been reading your blogs!).

We had a very nice Christmas with my family in PA. Our trip was delayed a day by Rosie getting a very high fever and my having some very bad days that made packing impossible. So we missed the family reunion on Saturday, but arrived late Saturday night. I had a kind of average week pregnancy-wise, so I was sick a good bit, and just doing the family stuff pretty much used up whatever energy I had. So I enjoyed my family, but didn't get to see some of you as I had hoped.

The children were so glad to be there (as was my Brian) and they all enjoyed themselves. Grandma's ham was it's usual Christmas wonderfulness, and I got my chocolate chip cookies from Hershey's Chocolate World as I must each trip - they're delish.

Thanks to the size (very small, think hobbit hole) of my parents' home both my parents were very aware of my middle of the night spilling of guts :^) and were very sweet. My daddy, after learning of my need for a simple sugar, like Poptarts for breakfast when I'm having a hard time, presented me with a honeybun from his morning coffee run after hearing me up the night before. He simply said, "I figured you'd need something sweet this morning." It was nice to be taken care of - wish they were closer.

We got home the next Sunday night, and by Monday evening, Rose was burning up with the same fever she'd had before we left, despite the fact that I had stripped beds and sprayed couches. Too weird. This time it lasted three or four days. Then the cold/virus things began to hit. They're almost over them (I don't get colds). Anna got one and recovered after a couple of days, then Brian got it and is still fighting it almost a week later, Rose got a milder version. She had a nighttime cough for about a week and is now showing other symptoms, but they seem to be working their way out rather than worsening.

And I've been about the same as before. A few days that are somewhat normal, most days that are not so great, and a few days of debilitating fatigue and/or nausea and vomiting that make me want to die.

So the suitcases are finally unpacked and my living room is starting to resemble itself again, but the Christmas stuff (what little I got out this year) is still out, though I've finally managed to get the boxes down from the attic to put it away.

School is still starting very late in the day, but we're accomplishing more.

And ya know that girl's name that we liked. Well, it's just not growing on me. I really like Jane, but not the Laurie so much. Laurie was never really I name I'd considered before and I really don't care for the name Lori (no offense to anyone out there :^). So, my husband and I , being equally picky about names are just not having a meeting of minds yet with anything. So the hunt continues. I have several names I love (names being first and middle name combinations), but he's not in love with any of them.

Oh, and Ethan had a birthday. Eight years old. I'll get his birthday letter posted soon. He had a Clone Wars theme, but really more of a sleepover than a party. Three buddies slept over the night before his birthday and we spent his birthday afternoon with them at a children's hands-on museum. They thoroughly enjoyed it.

I think that about sums up this past month. If you made it this far, you must be a true friend or very bored. :^) , but thanks either way. I'll try to resume normal posting. Oh, and my CPU is shot again, it was dead when we got home from PA, so I have to use Brian's laptop. At least my favorites are internet-accessible. :^)

Happy New Year (a couple of weeks late)!

A True Definition of Irony

After informing my children that they are not eating lunch until their rooms are cleaned up, they are, of course, spending far more energy complaining of how hungry they are, then they are cleaning. The climax comes as one stands outside the bathroom door watching me lose everything that I have eaten for breakfast and continues complaining of how hungry she is instead of cleaning up. Was she really anticipating my sympathy??