Here's what's on my mind at the moment...
-I was just checking the school calendar and marking everything down on my own calendar, when I noticed something: the kids and I have a week-long "Mid-winter break"!!! We just had a week off for Christmas, and I did a double check about Spring Break- yep, we still have a week off in the Spring. What's with the Mid-Winter break? We didn't have that growing up!!! I don't know why this is such a big deal for me- it doesn't exactly bother me, but I'm realizing that the kids are not actually in school THAT MUCH! And when they're home, we do some school-y things. So, in all actuality, I think we are half homeschooling and half real-schooling.
-Our house is so much cozier with a fire. And we have had a fire going for the majority of the time since mid-December I think. Our wood pile is almost gone...
-I took Lucy to a birthday party at Chuck-E-Cheese today. Way overrated, I've gotta say. She had fun, at least she would say she had fun, but mostly because she got a lot of stuff at the end. She spent the time wandering around with me, putting tokens in random machines that played mediocre games, and hoping they would spit out tickets. She didn't even get what the tickets were for- but she was glad to accumulate them. She ran into kids from her class (it was a whole-class party) occasionally, but no one stuck together. Some of the games she wanted to do were out of order, or too hard for her. Not a single one was really interesting or challenging. The only one I liked was skee-ball, but she couldn't even get the ball up into the first little hole. They did have pizza and cake, and Chuck E. Cheese himself came out to dance and sing with the kids. That was somewhat entertaining. On the way home, she was glowing over her balloon and goody bag, and insisted she wanted to have her next birthday party there. We'll see...:)
That's all for now. Consider this blog "posted"!
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Monday, January 10, 2011
Kid Quotes
And another update of random quotes...no pictures this time:)
Lucy and I had just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...a couple days later at breakfast, "Mama, wouldn't you like to have chocolate dishes? So when you were finished with your food, you could just eat them!"
Lucy, randomly one day, "Jane, you're in the middle of the terrible twos!" Jane looked up from what she was doing..."What am I in?" "Nothing," said Lucy.
Gene spent a long time trying to tell us the name of a game he had played that day at recess. "It was called Sussie...Su-ssie...Su-u-ss-sie...he couldn't quite pronounce it. When we tried to help him out by just asking him how they had played it, he said, "How should I know- it's Portuguese!!"
Jane came running barenaked downstairs one day, with not a stitch of clothing on, when she was supposed to be getting dressed. When I asked her why she was downstairs, she exclaimed, "I have no socks!"
Jane likes wet washcloths. She likes to spread them out, roll them up, do all sorts of things with them, usually instead of just wiping her hands and face and getting down from the dinner table. Case in point: One evening she spread a wet cloth on the seat of her chair, and stood on it, with her bare feet. When I asked her to bring it to the sink, she said, "Well Mama, my feet are wet." And she handing it to me. When I asked her to walk upstairs and get some socks on, she thought about her wet feet and said, "I'll just walk on my heels." And she did.
Gene woke up at 6 am on a non-school day, which is even earlier than usual wake-up call on a school day. I asked him Why??? and he said, "Well, I don't know. It's just one of my hobbies."
Gene, one afternoon, was enjoying his spelling assignment- "Homework is AWESOME!"
Jane had hated pears for a long time, and had disliked them even when she was a baby. We usually have her eat a couple bites, and then she can pass on the rest. However, because pears are a common fruit in our house (and the rest of us love them) we made sure to talk up the fact that SOMEDAY she will learn to like them. One recent morning I gave her one slice, and said she could have a different fruit if she ate the pear first. She took it with little hesitation. After eating it fairly quickly, she looked at me and said, "Mama, I'll just take one more small one."
Jane and Lucy have really enjoyed using our wooden nutcracker to crack pistachios this winter. One night Jane asked what I was making for dinner, and the nutcracker must have either been in sight or just on her mind. Dinner was chicken nuggets, and she stated with gusto, "Mama, I want to try and nutcrack my chicken nuggets!"
Gene and Lucy were hiding upstairs from Brendan, and he knew it. He asked Jane if she wanted to help find them. She replied, "Yes! I have wonderful eyes!"
Gene, Lucy and Brendan came home from a local, routine errand. Jane hadn't really noticed they were gone, and was too little to care where they were. But she was obviously thinking about them at the moment Gene walked in, "I'm so glad you didn't get lost!"
Jane, covering one eye, "I look like a pirate...one eye off and one eye on!"
All the kids were eating breakfast one morning when Gene found a sticker on his banana showing a picture of a man with a banana for a bicep. He found it funny, and Brendan jokingly said that Gene should eat the whole banana so he would have "banana muscles" too. A few days later Jane went upstairs to get more toilet paper for the bathroom. She came down carrying two rolls, one in each hand, balancing them on her biceps. She proudly proclaimed, "I have toilet paper muscles!"
Gene and Lucy were getting lectured by Brendan for harassing Jane. Jane observed the whole thing. Afterward she came over and briefed me in, "We were just having a thinking...but I was all right."
Lucy and I had just finished reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory...a couple days later at breakfast, "Mama, wouldn't you like to have chocolate dishes? So when you were finished with your food, you could just eat them!"
Lucy, randomly one day, "Jane, you're in the middle of the terrible twos!" Jane looked up from what she was doing..."What am I in?" "Nothing," said Lucy.
Gene spent a long time trying to tell us the name of a game he had played that day at recess. "It was called Sussie...Su-ssie...Su-u-ss-sie...he couldn't quite pronounce it. When we tried to help him out by just asking him how they had played it, he said, "How should I know- it's Portuguese!!"
Jane came running barenaked downstairs one day, with not a stitch of clothing on, when she was supposed to be getting dressed. When I asked her why she was downstairs, she exclaimed, "I have no socks!"
Jane likes wet washcloths. She likes to spread them out, roll them up, do all sorts of things with them, usually instead of just wiping her hands and face and getting down from the dinner table. Case in point: One evening she spread a wet cloth on the seat of her chair, and stood on it, with her bare feet. When I asked her to bring it to the sink, she said, "Well Mama, my feet are wet." And she handing it to me. When I asked her to walk upstairs and get some socks on, she thought about her wet feet and said, "I'll just walk on my heels." And she did.
Gene woke up at 6 am on a non-school day, which is even earlier than usual wake-up call on a school day. I asked him Why??? and he said, "Well, I don't know. It's just one of my hobbies."
Gene, one afternoon, was enjoying his spelling assignment- "Homework is AWESOME!"
Jane had hated pears for a long time, and had disliked them even when she was a baby. We usually have her eat a couple bites, and then she can pass on the rest. However, because pears are a common fruit in our house (and the rest of us love them) we made sure to talk up the fact that SOMEDAY she will learn to like them. One recent morning I gave her one slice, and said she could have a different fruit if she ate the pear first. She took it with little hesitation. After eating it fairly quickly, she looked at me and said, "Mama, I'll just take one more small one."
Jane and Lucy have really enjoyed using our wooden nutcracker to crack pistachios this winter. One night Jane asked what I was making for dinner, and the nutcracker must have either been in sight or just on her mind. Dinner was chicken nuggets, and she stated with gusto, "Mama, I want to try and nutcrack my chicken nuggets!"
Gene and Lucy were hiding upstairs from Brendan, and he knew it. He asked Jane if she wanted to help find them. She replied, "Yes! I have wonderful eyes!"
Gene, Lucy and Brendan came home from a local, routine errand. Jane hadn't really noticed they were gone, and was too little to care where they were. But she was obviously thinking about them at the moment Gene walked in, "I'm so glad you didn't get lost!"
Jane, covering one eye, "I look like a pirate...one eye off and one eye on!"
All the kids were eating breakfast one morning when Gene found a sticker on his banana showing a picture of a man with a banana for a bicep. He found it funny, and Brendan jokingly said that Gene should eat the whole banana so he would have "banana muscles" too. A few days later Jane went upstairs to get more toilet paper for the bathroom. She came down carrying two rolls, one in each hand, balancing them on her biceps. She proudly proclaimed, "I have toilet paper muscles!"
Gene and Lucy were getting lectured by Brendan for harassing Jane. Jane observed the whole thing. Afterward she came over and briefed me in, "We were just having a thinking...but I was all right."
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Pre-Christmas and Christmas Week
Gene and Lucy performed in their "Winter Songfest" which was actually quite entertaining. The younger grades (both my children included) put on a modified version of The Nutcracker. Gene had a solo (only 8 words long, but it was a pretty slow song so it was actually a rather long solo, if that makes sense.). He received many accolades for his effort. His teacher informed me afterward that he had volunteered to NOT have a major role...but he still somehow ended up with that solo:) Lucy was a mouse, along with all the other kindergarteners. They all just danced and sang a bit, and were fun to watch.
Meanwhile, our house was decorated for Christmas, and our child-friendly Nativity set was put out on the living room ledge. It got a lot of use this year, especially when the blocks and various other animals started moving in. The angel supervised...
The wise men were plotting their course...
Everyone decided they wanted their own room in the stable...
One day Brendan decided to do a project, and Gene of course wanted to help. He was also convinced that his overalls (new since Halloween) were perfectly suited for the job. They would hold ALL his tools:)
The days leading up to Christmas were kind of busy and blurry (meaning they went by in a blur)...but we bought and wrapped everything, made a bunch of pound cake to bring to various parties and give to various people, made our lists and packed our bags to spend the night at Grandma H's on Christmas eve. We went to the Vigil Mass at church, and the kids stayed awake, and enjoyed all the Christmas songs they knew. Christmas Day at Grandma H's in the morning, and Grandma P's in the afternoon.
The next day, we had our own little family Christmas...gifts from Brendan and I, and a few stocking stuffers. The kids are really confused this year about Santa...I think they are starting to believe in him, but since they receive so many presents from so many different parties, which are from him gets a bit hard to decipher. So, we kind of told them the presents at our house were from us, but we didn't go into great detail... Gene received a Michigan snuggie from his godmother, and he immediately put it on. Just. Loved. It.
Lucy and Gene painted with little paint sets they received in their stockings.
Brendan read their new Calvin and Hobbes books.
We also managed to snag a dart gun from a family white elephant party, and that was a hit for B and the kids. He hunted them down all over the house, and they loved it:)
Meanwhile, our house was decorated for Christmas, and our child-friendly Nativity set was put out on the living room ledge. It got a lot of use this year, especially when the blocks and various other animals started moving in. The angel supervised...
The wise men were plotting their course...
Everyone decided they wanted their own room in the stable...
One day Brendan decided to do a project, and Gene of course wanted to help. He was also convinced that his overalls (new since Halloween) were perfectly suited for the job. They would hold ALL his tools:)
The days leading up to Christmas were kind of busy and blurry (meaning they went by in a blur)...but we bought and wrapped everything, made a bunch of pound cake to bring to various parties and give to various people, made our lists and packed our bags to spend the night at Grandma H's on Christmas eve. We went to the Vigil Mass at church, and the kids stayed awake, and enjoyed all the Christmas songs they knew. Christmas Day at Grandma H's in the morning, and Grandma P's in the afternoon.
The next day, we had our own little family Christmas...gifts from Brendan and I, and a few stocking stuffers. The kids are really confused this year about Santa...I think they are starting to believe in him, but since they receive so many presents from so many different parties, which are from him gets a bit hard to decipher. So, we kind of told them the presents at our house were from us, but we didn't go into great detail... Gene received a Michigan snuggie from his godmother, and he immediately put it on. Just. Loved. It.
Lucy and Gene painted with little paint sets they received in their stockings.
Brendan read their new Calvin and Hobbes books.
We also managed to snag a dart gun from a family white elephant party, and that was a hit for B and the kids. He hunted them down all over the house, and they loved it:)
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