Aha!


This week, I’ve been busy, as I said before, implementing ChorePacks. I really want to write more about those and how it’s worked (let’s just say lifesaver!) but have to find the time (maybe this weekend) to do so…But, I wanted to share an idea I came up with and implemented as well. Ace is a typical boy/kindergartner and therefore, has trouble focusing on what he is doing. And Zoe, well, Zoe’s a smarty and when I’m working with Ace or a little with Liam, Miss Firstborn just has to chime in with the answer. So, I grabbed these “tri-fold display boards” when I ran to the craft store last weekend and made this:There are five pockets on the boards that hold each days work. That way, if they want to work ahead, they can. The pockets are made of 12X12 scrapbook paper that was folded then taped onto the board. Although Ace’s is having a hard time staying on so we may have glue them on. On Zoe’s, I also laminated paper that I taped to the front of each pocket. That gives my firstborn (overachiever) her “to do” list for each day including her reading lessons.

This has been awesome to say the least. Ace really has benefited from it. Although he can still be distracted, it doesn’t happen quite as much. Now, I need to call these things something…right now, I just say, “Grab your divider, thingy, pocket, holder…” Any suggestions?

Not a bad deal for $4 each!!
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Catch Me if You Can!

So a few Fridays ago, we have a very busy day. Ceili Rain had a doctor’s appointment that lastest awhile which put us with just enough time to grab something to eat and then head to drop Zoe off at art (She’s taking art at a local Christian school.). I got her dropped off and since none of us were done eating, we just stayed put. It was a good thing we did.

About five minutes after Zoe went to class, we heard police sirens. I told the boys to look for the police car and so we waited. But, we didn’t see anything. Then they got louder and sounded like a lot more. All of a sudden we see a blue car, a Yaris, to be exact, fly down the road. I thought that was a little strange to see a small, cheap car driving so fast. Then, quickly, behind it, I saw one, two, three police cars and then two unmarked police cars. Hmmm, there must be a big wreck and that car must have just been trying to get out of the way.

A few more seconds pass and we probably see two or three more police cars go by…lights on, sirens on.

Then nothing.

Then I think that there was probably a really big wreck at the intersection up from the school. That’s a pretty busy intersection, so it was possible.

But about five to ten minutes later we hear the sirens again and the little blue Yaris appears again going a little bit faster (the cops said they didn’t go over 50 but I believe it was more like 60-70 mph)…and it was smoking! I saw the cop cars again. And there were lots more of them than before!

So, by the time I got home that afternoon, we looked it up on the internet, and low and behold, our wonderful Sheriff’s department had to chase down a man in a stolen Yaris.

This is just wrong on so many levels:

First, he stole a Yaris. Mark commented that they are fairly cheap as far as cars go.
Second, he tried to out run a Crown Victoria and other fast police vehicles. In a Yaris. Which probably explains why it was smoking.
Third, and I failed to mention this above, after he was chased for awhile, he decided to stop the car (near where we were) and run away on foot. I don’t think he rationalized (obviously since he stole a Yaris) that there were a lot of policemen pursuing him and they were physically fit…nor did he realize that our K-9 Unit was also out. Yep, the dog got him.
Fourth, can you imagine what it’s going to be like for that poor man in prison? When they discuss why they are in jail…what will the response be when he tells people he stole a Yaris and then tried to outrun police!?

That was pretty exciting for the boys to see. Ace thought it was really cool and talked about it all weekend. It also gave us a chance to talk about our choices and making good choices versus bad and why we need police officers, etc. They really got it too! Now, if they had seen the arrest, I think they would have gotten it even more.

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Sew Lovely (or how we like to torture our kids)

My friend and I, on our excursion without kids and Mark’s lovely introduction to what it would be like with nine children six and under, found this adorable fabric and grabbed it up to be cheesy and make A-line dresses (not paid to link to them or give free stuff…just a disclaimer) for our girls who are roughly four months (the older ones) and four days apart (the younger ones). The babies were thrilled with this idea and chose to let us know by their cries of sheer anger happiness.

Okay, so they weren’t completely angry with us!
Yep, their best friends!

I used the different animals on the pattern in the girls’ shirts, cut them out, stuck some double sided fusible webbing on them and slapped them on some $3 long sleeve shirts for the boys! They turned out might cute and took about 2 minutes (but if anyone asks, it took forever and I gladly labored over it).
This here is James…he’s into a little bit of everything and is equally adorable…especially since what hair he has sticks straight up on his adorably drooly head.

And what photo shoot is not complete without Ceili Rain and Megan…

Screaming! In case you are wondering, I made Ceili Rain’s shoes too…they look a little better than last time…at least they keep her feet warm!

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Bamapalooza Wrap Up

And now we’re ending our Gatlinburg vacation with group pictures (wipe those tears away, I’ve got some cute pictures of the kids coming up).

Yep, this is par for a family picture. Someone making silly faces. Check. Ceili Rain screaming because she’s hungry and tired. Check. Josiah with his finger up his nose. Check.

This is all but one of the kids. Zoe is holding A and Ace gets the screaming Ceili Rain…although she kind of looks like she’s smiling. One of the kids, R, decided he didn’t want to get a group picture. It didn’t help that we were all getting ready to leave the kids with the BDs as well. Here, we also have Josiah finishing off what was in his nose in his mouth (ewww, gross).
When we all went out to eat, we attacked found an older couple sitting at the gazebo to get our picture. I must say, if you are ever in Pigeon Forge you must eat at The Pottery House at Old Mill Square. Wonderfully beautiful atmosphere! The food was excellent. My only qualms was that it was raining and we couldn’t eat outside by all the pretty waterfalls!
Group picture! Ten couples and nine children six and under!! What a good time!

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Putt Puttin’

On Wednesday of our vacation, all the ladies (including the baby ladies and BDs) headed out to shopping. The boys’ headed out to play putt putt. It was raining but Gatlinburg took care of that with indoor mini-golf. Mark said everyone had fun. Since I wasn’t there, I’ll let the pictures (mostly) speak for themselves.


J with his daddy R.

M with R and E.

Uncle E discussing his scorecard with his mummy (I crack myself up!).

No trip is complete without finding something to climb on!
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A Bushel not a Peck


To top off our week, we went to the Apple Barn. It had been raining and we didn’t really want ot push it by trying to go some where outdoorsy only to have to turn around and come back…so we went here instead. It’s an apple orchard/apple cider/yummy apple pies place…with a little bit of a general store thrown in. To top it off, I bought our annual bushel of apples while there. Fresh off the trees and a little cheaper than getting them at the chain stores. While the fried pies and apple cider were awesome…there was not much to do but it was relaxing as is.
What a sweet picture of one of our BDs with Josiah. I wish we could’ve gotten all of Josiah in but you take what you get.

Another BD givin’ some love to the fake birds.

She’s so smart, she can figure out them hard thinkin’ puzzles…I do declare.

See, Cindy, we did have some school!! I actually, I think we bored her to tears with all this shopping.

They had this plastic painted Santa so all the kids just had to sit on him. We humored them, since they’ve never had their picture taken with Santa (gasp all you want to…not a big deal to us, nor them).





In a freaky sort of way, he looks real!

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At the Cabin


Funny, how they kind of have the same look in their eyes. This is Uncle S with Ceili Rain. He was pretty much a baby whisperer and loved getting another baby in the cabin asleep! Practice for later.
Last minute, I told Mark we needed to take some toys, so we loaded up the box of trains. What a hit! Josiah loved sharing them with R and J who are both close to his age.

We forced the BDs to play Horton Hears a Who. Not sure if they enjoyed it but we enjoyed making them act silly!

My kids enjoyed acting silly too.





Our BDs were delighted that the pool table was right outside their door. They played quite a bit and got pretty good at it. Here is the final tournament as Zoe looked on in suspense.

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The Pool

Now we come to the scene of the crime…I was a little late getting to the pool. Basically, all our friends and family went to the pool while Ceili Rain got in a good nap. So, I walked up a hill, down a hill, up a hill to get to the pool. By the time we got there, everyone was getting out of the pool. I was determined, after my workout, to get Ceili Rain in. So, in we went.

Not sure what Uncle R was cheesing it for but he was.

All the kids went on the deck with the BDs and the next thing I knew Zoe was screaming. I turn around and see Liam’s little rear running back and forth on the deck. I about lost it. Mark thought it was quite funny too…but he had more composure and told him to clothe himself.
They sure are cute in their towels!

The next day, we were getting ready to go to an indoor water park and Liam informed me, “Mommy, I’m not going to take my swimsuit off again.”

“Great! Liam that’s a great idea. Why did you do it yesterday at the pool?”

“I just wanted to be naked.”

Lovely!!

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The Great Smokies

Here come our pictures from our vacation. After finishing up a homeschool conference from Titus2.com, I’m refreshed and recharged and focused and ready for the next week. I think.

So, we traveled up to Gatlinburg/Pigeon Forge for our vacation. This vacation is a sequel to a vacation we took two years ago. A sequel in that we met up with Mark’s college roommates and their families for “Bamapalooza 09.” The weather was a little wet, but we all enjoyed our time together and exploring the outdoors and the towns. Not to mention a girls’ shopping trip!

On the way up the mountains, this was a view Mark, the kids and our borrowed daughters (two teens who agreed to come with us and be attacked help out. I, however, was waffling through cigarette smoke and listening to motorcycles roar by while trying to get Ceili Rain to pay attention enough to nurse. We got to spend about 45 minutes in Cherokee in a car, in traffic while looking at every kind of motorcycle known to man (apparently there was some kind of convention going on there).

On Monday, we hiked. You just got to click on the picture to read the sign. It’s enough to make a mama paranoid. Very grateful for our borrowed daughters (oh, we’ll just call them BD for short) then!

I love seeing the sun through the trees and since this was one of the few days we saw the sun, I’m glad I got this picture.
A nice big rock for my boys to climb on!

One of our friends.


Zoe enjoyed the climbing too but was never too involved to not stop and pose for the camera.

The BDs themselves!! Such beautiful and responsible young ladies! Except they hiked in their Converse. Which looked cool but I don’t think was that comfortable.

Sorry, I forgot to turn J rightside up. Not one of mine but he was adorable in his hiking gear.

Made it! To the top of the rock. Not the end of the hike.


A view of on eof the mountains. Some of the leaves are starting to change too…as can be seen by the picture.

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The Great Smokies Part 2

Still hiking, but Liam, being ever so cute, bummed a ride from this beautiful lady (one of the wife friends).


At the falls! This was a fairly moderate hike. And, even though Ace didn’t want to hike, it was a great one to do. I don’t think he complained much on it…which is a surprise. And the reward of a cool breeze and pretty waterfall was great. Josiah kept pointing at it saying, “Wa wa fall”


A man pointed out this salamander before we left. Slimy, no? Thankfully, there was a barrier to keep my little gooey ooey boys (and girl) from touching it.

On the way back down, taking a rest.
Yes, it took two to walk with Liam. I’ll admit that.
Liam kept waffling back and forth trying to decide if was going to marry one or the other.

And the big reward was we got to see a bear when we got back to our car!! One of our friends said she saw two small bears. We were trying to figure out where the mama was as this bear was quite small in black bear standards (I think). At any rate, we had talked about paying about $10 per person to take the kids to see a bear and other animals but free was waaaay better. He was very high up in the tree just chomping at the branches. Very cool!

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