a place for everything....................

Last night when Jeremy came home he said he needed to send some important information to our new insurance company to make sure our coverage starts on time. He asked me to gather everyone's social security numbers, everyone's birth certificates, and our marriage certificate.

social security numbers.........check! I know exactly where those are at all times

birth certificates.........check! I have those handy right over there

marriage certificate............................. marriage certificate ............................. um.......


I tore the house apart last night looking for it. I know I have it and I have a photo copy for when I need to send it with Jeremy for something. It wasn't with the birth certificates, not with any wedding stuff, not with scrap books, not with photo albums, not in the filing cabinet, not tucked in with important school papers, not tucked into Jeremy's brief case, not in any folder containing any even mildly important information....................................

Oh yes, there it is! In the back pocket of a random notebook in the school shelves that has a bunch of ocean coloring pages! Exactly where it should be! Right?

my mother in law reminded me of this one

I try to teach the kids the difference between tattling, needing conflict resolution, and safety reporting, but they haven't quite gotten the hang of it yet.

tattling- telling me something that I don't need to know or that you have not tried to work out on your own. For example: "MOOOM, Elijah is eating cereal with a fork" Do I really need to know that? No, I don't. I don't care.

Conflict resolution- you have tried to come to an agreement or compromise, but one or all parties is not willing to budge. For example: It's movie time and Genna wants to watch Eloise and Elijah wants to watch Monsters Inc. They have tried to convince the other to agree to their movie, tried to remember who picked the last movie, and tried to find a different movie they both like. They can't come up with a solution, so they ask mom. If the process of coming to a compromise escalates to an argument, the person not involved automatically get to choose by default. (that's the prize for not getting into silly fights) If they did their best to work it out though, mom can usually figure out an arrangement that makes all happy.

Safety reporting- when someone is doing something that could hurt themselves, someone else, or cause damage to the house. For example: If the kids are playing in the other room and Isaac gets a wild hair up his rear and starts trying to bite Bella, that is the time to come get mom and let her deal with the little chomper.

Now, here are a couple examples of how the kids don't get it:

1. I don't know exactly what was going on but Genna comes to me and in a rather distressed voice says "Mom I know we're not supposed to tattle, but..... Bella is trying to kill me!"

2. Genna and Elijah get in a little tiff, Elijah decides he's going to tattle, so Genna runs ahead of him and comes to me and says "Elijah's going to tattle on me but I told him we're not supposed to tattle and that you don't like it when we tattle so I think you should take away his privileges for tattling"

3. Anyone that starts out with the words "I know I'm not supposed to tattle and I'm not tattling but..........."

Got this in an email too

Deck of Cards

It was quiet that day, the guns and the mortars, and land mines for some reason hadn't been heard.

The young soldier knew it was Sunday, the holiest day of the week.

As he was sitting there, he got out an old deck of cards and laid them out across his bunk.

Just then an army sergeant came in and said, 'Why aren't you with the rest of the platoon?' T

he soldier replied, 'I thought I would stay behind and spend some time with the Lord.'

The sergeant said, 'Looks to me like you're going to play cards.'

The soldier said, 'No, sir. You see, since we are not allowed to have Bibles or other spiritual books in this country, I've decided to talk to the Lord by studying this deck of cards.'

The sergeant asked in disbelief, 'How will you do that?'

'You see the Ace, Sergeant? It reminds me that there is only one God.

The Two represents the two parts of the Bible, Old and New Testaments

The Three represents the Father, Son, and the Holy Ghost.

The Four stands for the Four Gospels: Matthew, Mark, Luke and John .

The Five is for the five virgins there were ten but only five of them were glorified.

The Six is for the six days it took God to create the Heavens and Earth.

The Seven is for the day God rested after making His Creation.

The Eight is for the family of Noah and his wife, their three sons and their wives -- the eight people God spared from the flood that destroyed the Earth.

The Nine is for the lepers that Jesus cleansed of leprosy He cleansed ten, but nine never thanked Him.

The Ten represents the Ten Commandments that God handed down to Moses on tablets made of stone.

The Jack is a reminder of Satan, one of God's first angels, but he got kicked out of heaven for his sly and wicked ways and is now the joker of eternal hell.

The Queen stands for the Virgin Mary.

The King stands for Jesus, for he is the King of all kings.

When I count the dots on all the cards, I come up with 365 total, one for every day of the year.

There are a total of 52 cards in a deck; each is a week - 52 weeks in a year.

The four suits represent the four seasons: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter.

Each suit has thirteen cards -- there are exactly thirteen weeks in a quarter.

So when I want to talk to God and thank Him, I just pull out this old deck of cards and they remind me of all that I have to be thankful for.'

The sergeant just stood there. After a minute, with tears in his eyes and pain in his heart, he said, 'Soldier, can I borrow that deck of cards?'

Please let this be a reminder and take time to pray for all of our soldiers who are being sent away, putting their lives on the line fighting

Goodbye...........again

Tonight we had Greg, Ann (my mother-in-law), and Kim (a good friend of Greg's) over for a birthday celebration for Elijah and Greg and also to say goodbye to Greg again. He's headed down to SOI, but will be back at Christmas time for a bit. Jeremy is spending the night at his mom's house tonight so he can get some extra time in with his brother before he has to report back, and may even take time off of work tomorrow to drive him to the airport. I think he really misses having his brother around. At least at SOI he can have his computer and cell phone, so it will be much easier for us to keep in touch.

Take care Greg! We will be thinking about you and praying for you often! We'll miss you!

another oldie but goodie

Jeremy and I were on our way somewhere with the kids, and we stopped to get them burgers for lunch at a drive-through. Elijah had finished his food quickly so Genna kindly offered him a bite of her burger. She had about half left when she handed it over to him. He took one bite, looked at her, and then shoved the entire thing in his mouth at once! He looked like a chipmunk trying to chew that much burger at once, and Genna was MAD. It was just too funny though because I think he was only about 3 years old at the time! Gotta love brothers!

Make up your mind already!!!

Before Jeremy and I started dating he was going to UW. He was a physics and philosophy major. He got bored and decided to stop going, as he has never felt that a college education is really necessary. (he managed to complete three years worth of courses in only two years!) Right after we got married he decided to re-apply to UW, was accepted, but then decided not to go. He talked about going to college every now and then. Sometimes it was medical school, sometimes computer programming, sometimes teaching, the list goes on. A while back he decided to sign up at Everett Community College, and then again decided not to go. Then today we were chatting about these news sites he likes to read and he said maybe he would go to school and get a degree in business or economics. I would love for him to have a degree as I don't share his views about the importance of a college education, but goodness either go already or don't!!!

My aunt sent this to me in an email

The Invisible Mother

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?' Obviously, not. No one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this? Can you tie this? & Can you open this? Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?'; I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.' One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe . I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte , with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.' In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything. A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof? No one will ever see it.' And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.' I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte . I see the sacrifices y ou make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become.' At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride. I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree. When I really think about it, I don't want my daughter to tell the friend she's bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, 'My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.' That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want her to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to her friend, to add, 'you're gonna love it there.' As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot see if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Read this twice, so I thought it was time to post it

“You should live each day as if it is your last, which is why I don’t have any clean laundry, because, come on, who wants to wash clothes on the last day of their life?” -Anonymous

Noooo!

We have these large floor cushions that the kids sit on when we work at the white board. Last night Genna and Elijah were playing around with them. One would hold one while the other used it as a punching bag. I was sitting on the couch reading with Bella and kind of watching them out of the corner of my eye. Before I could process what was happening, Elijah had moved across the room and Genna was standing in the middle holding up a cushion. I knew what was about to go down, but the words couldn't travel to my mouth fast enough. I watched in nervous anticipation as Elijah darted across the room, smacked right into Genna, Genna then went airborne flying across the room, turned over mid-air, and landed face down in the floor!!!!!! Thank goodness she wasn't hurt, but I think she was pretty stunned. She looked up from the floor and did a mix of whimpering and laughing. Elijah then innocently said "Oh, I guess I shouldn't do that" Elijah is very very strong, but almost never uses his full strength so I think he was just as surprised at what happened!

too soon, too soon

We just got word that Greg will be deployed to the East by spring. (I'm not sure if I'm allowed to say exactly when and where.......especially on a public blog) We thought he wouldn't be going for about a year. He's ready to go to work, but the rest of us are a bit thrown by the new news. I guess that's why they say Semper Gumby!

Isaac counts

Isaac has started trying to count, and it goes something like this:

1, 2, 3, 7, 8, 9, 20!

Obama against homeschooling

I wasn't going to vote for him anyway because he supports things I am morally opposed to, but this just makes me angry.

http://f2a.org/coast2coast/voterguides/F2A-Presidential-2008.pdf

school

I'm tossing around the idea of going back to school soon. Jeremy said he thinks by fall it would be pretty easy for me to start back. I'm kind of wanting to pick up an on-line course for winter quarter. I'm one of those people that really enjoys learning, so I'm getting a bit antsy to go back. What to do......what to do........

Thanks Captain Obvious!

We have a package of brown paper lunch sacks that the kids use to make puppets. This morning Bella comes to me with one of the bags and a piece of ribbon and says "look what I can do with the puppet" She sets the ribbon down and opens the bag and says "TA-DA!" I said "wow Bella, what it is?" "It's a bag mom" she said (in a tone that suggested I was rather stupid for even asking). Ok.........

my sister

This is my sister Austyn. I love this girl! We share the same biological father. He is a man I've never met, and a man it seems she doesn't wish to know. Austyn and I found out about each other about 3 years ago. Somehow her (our) aunt found me on the internet and sent me an email. Her aunt then told her about me and gave her my email address and the rest is history! We've only been able to meet up once, which is sad because she only lives a couple hours away. She's 13 and she reminds me so much of myself when I was younger. Despite not being raised together, we really have a lot in common. I have to say, the part that Jeremy and I find most funny, is that she gives "the look". If you know me well, you know exactly what I'm talking about! Growing up I always wished for a sibling (as did she), and I love that her and I connected so well and so quickly. We definitely share a sister bond, and I think we will only grow closer as we grow older. Love ya sis!

How do you do it?

As a mother of many, I get asked this question a LOT. So, I thought I'd take a shot at giving an answer for once. (normally I just smile and don't say anything)

First, I pray often. I pray that God turns me into the mother that my children need me to be. There is no sense in trying to turn myself into what I might think the ideal mother is if it is not what is best for my kids. I pray often for patience, guidance, and understanding of my children. So far, God hasn't let me down! (and I believe he never will)

Second, I have a GREAT partner in life. Jeremy truly is my partner. He picks up the slack when I need it, he picks me up when I'm down, he celebrates my accomplishments, and always forgets my shortcomings. We don't always see eye to eye on everything, but for the most part I think we compliment each other well and make a good team. We also team up with the kids and our family motto is "we are all in this together." It just makes life easier if everyone works together for our family.

I also prioritize what's important. Will my kids remember that all of their clothes were washed in a timely manner and folded neatly in their drawers or will they remember working together in the garden or playing marcco polo in the living room on rainy days. Of course I don't know the answer for sure at this early stage in life, but so far signs point to them caring more about quality time with a mom than a perfectly picked up house. One of my favorite poems by Harland E. Fitch:

When I think of the fish

that have waited for me,

That have waited for me

in the depths of the sea,

In the turbulent streams

and the rollicking brooks,

While I slaved at my work

and toiled over my books,

And never took time

for a season of play

Where the finny sports-master

drive trouble away,

I'm sorry I've been

such a diligent cuss

And let the fish wait

while I worry and fuss

And grow old too soon,

with no time but to wish;

Now I'll let the work wait

while I play with the fish.

There will be as much work

when my work days are done;

If I can't do it all,

then why live on the run?

Let me live while I live

ere my limit is past

If I miss all the bliss

what is left at the last?

I have learned it pays well

if I slacken my gait,

Take time out for pleasure

and let the work wait.

Having a lot of kids really isn't as chaotic as a lot of people think it is. When a new person joins the family there is a period of adjustment, but then the new amount of kids just becomes the new reality and you forget all about what life was like just a few months earlier. For us, having 5 isn't any different than having 2, just more little socks to match up.

I do have to say I find it very important to have good friends and family around because sometimes we all just need a break!

But really it all comes down to the kids. They are wonderful people. I think I learn from them just as much as they learn from me. I have found they each have traits that I have come to admire and really respect them for. I love the way they love each other, and it is my sincere hope that they will remain the best of friends in life. Of course they are not perfect people, and I'm not a perfect mother, so we teach each other about forgiveness and grace.

We all are just doing the best we can, and hopefully we'll all come out OK in the end.

here we go AGAIN!

Isaac is sick, sick, sick. This is awful! He woke up around 2:30am with breathing trouble, and has been moaning and going in and out of consciousness since then. (it's now 11:35pm) He won't eat, but we managed to get two Popsicles down him today. Currently he's sleeping on the floor under the computer table. I figure if he's comfortable enough to sleep, I'm not going to bother to move him. I'm sure he'll wake up sooner than later. My poor poor baby. I just hope and pray that all he is going through this year will help strengthen his immune system and make his body stronger.

graduation

Today Greg graduates from boot camp. He will be graduating as Private First Class, which means he is graduating with honors. Greg is also in for a big treat today as his best friend Trevor is flying down to surprise him at graduation. Trevor's father unexpectedly died right after Greg left for boot camp, and Trevor ended up not writing to Greg while he was away. I imagine Trevor did not want to share bad news with Greg, as we were all told to only send positive letters that would motivate and encourage the recruits. I know Greg would have wanted to be there for his friend, but it would have been impossible for him to focus all his energy and attention at boot camp where it is much needed if he was concerned about his friend. Greg and Ann (my mother-in-law) will fly home tomorrow, and he gets 10 days of leave before he has to report back for school of infantry. We are so proud of him, and can't wait to see him again and see what kind of man he has become after this amazing experience.

DEBATE #3 and financial crisis

Genna has been very interested in the presidential race this year, and I think she has a pretty good grasp on what's going on in the world today for her young age of 7. She's been watching a lot of news programs, reading some stuff with me on the Drudge Report, and has been asking LOTS of questions. She watched the last debate with me, and watched again with me tonight. It's really interesting to watch the debates with her because I love seeing what she understands and how she perceives the candidates. What's even more fun is that we support different candidates so we are able to have our own debates at home! Despite our different support, she said a couple things tonight that I really liked. First, she asked why the men kept interrupting each other. She said it makes them look rude, impatient, and doesn't make them seem like they would be responsible presidents. After the debate she had something to say about the analyzers. I believe her exact words were "why in the world do we need these people to tell us what the men said? We heard them already, they told us their stuff themselves! We're smart Americans, we don't need these people to tell us this stuff" HAHAHA! I love it! I 100% agree that we don't need analyzers to tell us this person looked this direction, that person kept saying a certain phrase, blah blah blah....... I do like the fact checkers though to make sure the candidates are being honest.

Additionally, she has been pretty interested in the financial crisis going on. Over the summer we read the American Girl Kit series and talked a LOT (I mean a LOT) about the depression, so she already had that knowledge base when asking about the current financial situation of our country. When I explained about AIG to her, her response was "What a bunch of greedy booger-butts. If I wasted all my money and had to beg for more, I wouldn't blow any of it on a vacation! I'd save it and spend it responsibly and work hard to pay back the money to the person that gave it to me" Love it, love it, love it!

history fun

Here are some facts about the 1500s':

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water..

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor.

The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance way. Hence the saying a thresh hold.(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock a person out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started runn ing out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer..

And that's the truth.

Book review #2

I have not read this book to the kids, but I have read it myself. It is a really sweet book about a grandmother telling stories about her childhood to her granddaughter. While I don't think it's extremely well written, I do think it's a very charming book and I like the messages in the stories. I really think though that this would be more special if read by a grandmother to her granddaughters, so rather than read this book myself I'm going to send it over to my mom's house for her to enjoy with Genna and Bella when the girls spend the night with her.

I told you he was a genius!

In case you missed the first signs, you can scroll down for a post titled "extra extra", but it seems Nahshon has unleashed his genius abilities again. I did not hear any of this take place, but Genna swears it's all true. Genna was playing with Nahshon and was trying to decide which toy he liked best. She held up a block and said "are you interested in this one?" Nahshon then replied in a very cute, teeny tiny baby voice "I in-tres-ted" The only thing I've heard him say is hi and some cute baby gargles, I just wish once I could see him in all his genius glory. When Jeremy asked him to say it again he just stuck out his tongue and drooled. I guess for now he is only comfortable letting his sisters see his amazing talents and I'll just have to continue on thinking he's just a normal baby...............

WooHoo!!!

After using Greg's phone for over a month, Jeremy finally replaced my phone last night! (My mother-in-law flew down to San Diego today for Greg's graduation and he requested that she bring his phone......nothing like a little procrastination right?) The even better news is that Jeremy's phone had a cracked screen, and the girl he bought my phone from had another phone for super cheap so he replaced his phone too! (he found the phones on Craigslist for a great price.) Now, Jeremy has broken about 7 or 8 phones since we've been married, so would anyone like to place a bet as to how long it will be until he breaks this new one? I'm going to guess 3 months.

don't steal, it's not nice

In case anyone reading this was considering stealing something, please don't, it's just not nice. Someone stole our debit/credit card number and went shopping in Woodinville. The bank cancelled our card and should be refunding our money this week. Even though it's getting resolved, we still have to wait up to 10 days to get our new card, and it's just an unnecessary inconvenience because some person wants to be selfish and greedy and thinks they deserve our hard earned money for free. Honestly, people over the age of two should know better than to take things that do not belong to them!!!

Have I ever said no?

During weekdays, breakfast is kind of a free for all around here. The children all wake up at different times and all prefer to eat different things for breakfast, so it just works out for the best that everyone gets their own. Genna usually has a bowl of cereal or oatmeal and some yogurt, Elijah nearly always starts the day with a fresh apple and then has some toast and jam a bit later, Bella likes toaster waffles, and Isaac eats whatever he is handed. Almost every single morning though, each child comes to me after they wake up to ask if they can eat breakfast. Really, almost EVERY SINGLE MORNING! Even if I'm in the shower they will pound on the door and ask if they can eat! I have never told these children that they weren't allowed to eat breakfast, and I rarely say no to them if they ask to eat at any time of the day. (the only times I do say no is if dinner is almost ready or we are about to go out to eat) I do appreciate that they are trying to use their manners and are asking before getting into stuff, but it still strikes me as odd that they continue to ask even when I tell them they don't have too. Kids are so funny sometimes.

good grief!!!

After the farm today Isaac's face was a bit rashy, which I think was a result of playing in hay, petting animals, and everything else that goes along with a visit to the farm. Tonight he lifted up his shirt and I saw a bunch of red nickle-sized dots all over him. I immediately stripped him down and put him in the tub to figure out what was going on. Genna came in and saw me examining his body and casually said "oh, I did that." Ok, why Genna? "You know those yellow people I'm not allowed to watch...." (she's talking about The Simpsons) "Well, I saw them on a commercial and the baby had tattoos all over and I thought it was really funny so I decided to paint Isaac." AHHHHH! Ok Isaac, sorry about the strip search, as you were.

The Farm

Today our homeschool group had a field trip to The Farm in Snohomish. It was a beautiful day, I could not have picked a more perfect day. The kids had so much fun. We started with a hay ride to the pumpkin patch and everyone picked out a pumpkin. This was our first time going to the pumpkin patch without Jeremy, so I was very glad to have some friendly faces around to help. (thanks Stephanie for getting Isaac's pumpkin! And thanks Amara for holding Nahshon for a few minutes!) After the pumpkin patch we went over to the big barn and the kids went through a little hay maze up to the top of the barn and then got to slide down. After the barn we got to visit the animals (and pet some too!), and then had ice cream with our friends. (why oh why do they serve ice cream at an outside event in October??? It was about 45 degrees today! How about popcorn or hot chocolate?) What a perfect way to spend an autumn day!

always in the right place

Elijah may be a bit slower than other kids, but one thing is for certain, he has a good heart. He's always been a "you get what you get" kind of guy. He doesn't know how to hide or fake emotions. When he's happy, you know it. When he's sad or angry, it's pretty easy to tell that too. It's a quality that I've really come to admire in him. Today I told him that next Saturday we were going to have a family dinner party to celebrate his birthday and Aunt Julie's birthday. (my mom's sister) Elijah got so excited and said "I get a party with my best friend Aunt Julie!?!?!!!" It's funny because Julie lives in Oregon so we only get to see her a few times a year, but in Elijah's world once you are his friend, you are automatically upgraded to best friend, and he will be your friend for life.

It's over

Right about now Greg should be sitting down to his warrior's breakfast. The crucible is over. He's a Marine. His graduation ceremony is next Friday, then he will come home for about a week before having to report back to Camp Pendleton for school of infantry. I can't even imagine what he's done over the past 12 weeks, we are so proud of him.

what? WHAT? Are you kidding?

Last night after the presidential debate I remembered that I wanted to find Jeremy information on changing his voter registration. He did not vote in the election 4 years ago, and after giving him an earful about it, I told him he needed to change his registration to absentee ballot so that he will ALWAYS have the chance to vote. Of course he didn't get around to doing it himself anytime in the past 4 years, so I wanted to find out for him what he needed to do. I go online, type in his information, and get a message saying there is no information on this voter. Puzzled and thinking I must have put some information in wrong, I called Jeremy to figure it out. Much to my shock and astonishment, Jeremy says he's pretty sure he's actually NEVER REGISTERED TO VOTE!!! In regards to Jeremy, this is completely unacceptable!!! This is a man that LOVES politics, will get in heated debates with strangers, and constantly complains about our government and the people running it. Um, sorry hun, but NO VOTE = NO COMPLAINING. My government teacher in high school actually personally checked all of his students records for their age to make sure that anyone who was of legal voting age before the 2000 Gore/Bush knew how to get registered to vote. If anyone reading this is not registered or needs to change some registration information, go to your local auditors office within 15 days of an election. This is so important, PLEASE VOTE!!!!!

almost done

At 3am on October 7th, Greg's company will head out for the crucible. This will be his final test in becoming a Marine. The crucible will last until 9am October 9th. He will have to start each day by hiking 20 miles, will only be allowed two meal packs during the entire 54 hours, and a grand total of 8 hours of sleep. Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers during this final phase of boot camp.

Sometimes a girl just needs her space

Genna made herself a fort on the couch to sleep in the other night, and made it very clear in case anyone was wondering, that this was a fort for her alone! (she taped the sign on her blanket)

Finally someone put words to my thoughts

I got an email this morning with a link to this article and I was so please to finally read that someone thinks the same that I do about Sarah Palin. While I don't think any of the candidates on the ticket this year deserve a gold star, I am appalled at how Palin has been attacked. (I would be equally appalled if these same type of attacks were done on ANY of the candidates. Could you even imagine the uproar if someone joked about Obama having a "relationship" with his daughters the way SNL did about Todd Palin?) One thing the article does not mention is how Sandra Bernhard said Palin would get gang r*ped if she ever came to her neighborhood in NY. Nice. Really classy Sandra. Here is the article if anyone is interested:

http://www.onenewsnow.com/Perspectives/Default.aspx?id=274656


I've never liked the nastiness in politics, but people really crossed the line this year.

Nahsh Man

Just some pics of my little Nahshy and his crazy hair

homeschool joys

This morning Elijah had to go to speech and by the time we picked him up the sky was pretty dark and the rain was falling. I figured it was the perfect time to do something fun! We started off our morning with hot chocolate and marshmallow math, yum! We added and subtracted marshmallows, divided them, grouped them, and even added a little science to the mix by watching what happened when they were dropped into the hot chocolate. It was absolutely one of those mornings that reminds me why I love having them home so much.