Planting Bulbs

I finally got around to planting bulbs. I hope it's not too late. I figured if I could still dig in the ground I was okay. We put in some tulips, daffodils and crocuses. My girls love flowers and I thought this would be a fun project for them.

Duchess told Maiden, "We are going to plant them, then it will snow. After the snow melts we can see our flowers come up. Isn't that exciting?"

I put the crocus bulbs in random places in the yard. I can't wait to see if they come up or not. this is my first bulb experience, so I'll let you know in the spring.

Blessings my friends,

Little Turkey Times Two

Look at this Little Turkey:

So proud that he was able to make his cold cut slice of turkey stick to the window.

I love my Little Turkey.

Blessings,

Family Fun

Some of the perks of homeschooling include following The King around to his conferences. Last month he had one at the Kalahari Resort in the Wisconsin Dells. He was able to join us in the water park for the first two hours of the three day trip and then spent the rest of his time working. I called it school. The Kalahari is an African themed resort, so we learned a little about Africa and it's Geography, animals of Africa which counted as Science, Health (why we shower before and after and don't pick up used bandages) and the rest of the time I penned in as Phy Ed (great exercise). Yes, as a homeschool parent I have the freedom to decide things like that!

I didn't think it would be a problem for me to have five kids in the water park alone, but I was sorely mistaken. First of all, the three little ones were too small to go on most of the water slides without me (or one of the older boys) and on most slides there was a two or three person limit. The math doesn't add up for me plus three. Secondly, Prince Charming didn't really like climbing the 90+ stairs to the tops of the slides, so I had to carry him. (Good exercise for mom.)

Keeping track of the three littles ones was a tad bit hard in a 125,000 square foot water park. I lost maiden four times. Once I had to call a code Adam. (Don't worry, I found her every time...she said she was never lost, but I was certainly panicked.)

A few times I forced talked the middle boys into taking the girls around the park so I could play with Prince Charming. His favorite place to be was anywhere water would shoot up out of the floor. He also liked floating down the lazy river with me. (I liked it too.)

This is where the boys took the girls when they were in charge. Yes, I freaked out when I saw my five year old on this. Then I got over it and pulled out the camera to document the fearlessness of my sweet little girl. I could not believe my little Maiden got on this ride.

And Duchess, well I had no doubt she would try it. She thought it was 'the best ride ever'!

Apparently Scribe is now an expert boogie boarder. I lost the pictures of Squire on this ride, so I'll share this one:

This was one of the times he was in charge of his little sister. I was thankful the middle boys were with me to help out with the girls. I don't think they were as thrilled as I.

Oh, and did I mention we had not one, not two, but three, TV's in our suite. Our kids were in TV heaven! Here they are enjoying cartoons by the fire in the living room area. Don't you love how all their necks are cranked up?

We upgraded to a Combination Suite so I would have a kitchen. This was taken our last morning there...yes, I was EXHAUSTED! (I don't like to post morning jammie photos of me--it's a pride thing--but I wanted you to see the kitchen.) I made breakfast burritos so the children would have full bellies for our last day of water park fun. I know, ideally we should have eaten out the entire trip, but it is really not fun for me to take five kids to a restaurant alone. This was so much more convenient. I had prepped most of the meals so I only had to pop them in the oven and serve in the room. Way easier than trying to keep the little ones contained at a restaurant.

Oh, and if you've followed my blog, you know my kids love arcades so they can redeem their coupons for cheap plastic junk. Maiden got purple (her favorite color) vampire teeth. (Don't tell her, but they have since disappeared from our home.) Scribe got these great sunglasses. I think they only cost him about $15.00, but who's counting? Can you really put a price tag on fun?

Have a blessed day my friends!

Pet Peeves

Disclaimer: Sorry for the lame topic, but it's a new blog post! Hopefully once I get back into the swing of blogging I can get back on track with some really good stuff. Until then...my apologies.

Just call me the Queen of Pet Peeves. I was laying in bed the other morning and was thinking, "Boy I really have a lot of pet peeves. I wonder if my blog readers would like to know what my top five are?" So, if you want to know, read on. If not, check back at a later date for something a bit more (or less) interesting.

1. Sticky spots on my floors. My main floor is mostly wood and my pet peeve is to step in something sticky. I grumble a lot when I see the spots, but grumble even more when they go unnoticed until my socks get stuck in them. If you've ever stepped in honey with your socks, you can understand.

2. Toilet seats that are left up. Isn't this a pet peeve of every woman? Yes, the good ol' up or down debate. Because I am a woman, I prefer it left down. Sadly, I have experienced (on more than one occasion) the uncomfortable nature of not looking before sitting in the middle of the night. Without going into too much detail, I'll share my dialogue. First I say, "Ouch." Secondly, "Burr, that water is cold." And finally, "GRRRR!!!" (Okay, truthfully, I probably say something worse than "GRRRR"--only because it can be a very rude awakening.)

3. People who stop my DVR recordings. I know. A very minor detail. But picture this: My husband is travelling (for days at a time) and the house is noisy, really noisy, for about 15.5 hours. I cook, clean, homeschool, break up fights, drive kids, fix ouchies, give kisses, etc. etc, and so on, all by my lonesome. I look forward to to getting the kids to bed, and enjoying a quiet house. I get extremely excited just thinking about watching the newest episode of my favorite TV show and am utterly disappointed when I see my 1 hour show was stopped at 38 minutes.

4. When someone puts a milk carton in the fridge with about a tablespoon of milk left in it. Please, just use it up, dispose of the carton properly, and replace it with a new jug from the basement refrigerator. That's not too much to ask, is it?

5. When there are dirty dishes on the counter above an empty dishwasher. Why not check? What are you afraid of? Finding a dishwasher full of clean dishes and then feeling guilty because you don't really want to put them away?

6. Oops, I was going to stop at five. But now that I've held your attention this long, I'll share one more. Finding dirty socks in the cushions of the sofa. It doesn't stop with just finding them. The more irritating part comes later when I have to listen to the Royal Offspring complain because they have no clean socks in their drawers.

There you have it. Not just five, but six of my top pet peeves. Do any of them surprise you? Do we share any pet peeves? I'd love to hear yours!

A New Blog Post

Okay, it's been 15 days since my last post. I have been informed by friends and family they are not impressed with my inability to keep up with my blog. No excuses. I just got out of the groove. I didn't think it was that important to people, but now that I've been informed it is, I promise to try harder.

My camera is acting up so I don't have any updated photos to share. I am a strange blogger. I have a phobia about posting without photos, so here is one for you:

This is when we were infected with H1N1 (we were some of those 'unconfirmed' cases because I don't believe in running to the doctor for every fever, cough, and body ache). All but two members of our family came down with the bug, and we all survived. I have never slept for so many consecutive hours in my life, and we were all pretty miserable.

I know. Random photo. Random info. But I am being pressured for an update, and this is all I can think of right now. A new blog post, hooray! Like I said, I promise to try harder in the future.

Have a blessed day!

XC Girls

My middle boys have been running Cross Country (XC) this fall. Even though we homeschool, they are able to participate in school sports. It has been a great activity for both of them.

On Saturday they had a meet in Willmar. There was a special category at the end of the day for elementary aged kids. I thought it would be fun for the girls to run.

The morning of the race, the girls were very concerned about what they should wear. They wanted to look good, but still be comfortable. They didn't want to be too cold, yet they knew they'd get hot while running. They finally decided on these matching outfits--because all the teams wear matching clothes. Oh, and we had to fix their hair 'just so'.

Here they are before the race. I hope you can see Maiden's lips in this photo. When she heard the announcement that it was time for the Mighty Mites Race, she pulled her lipstick out of her purse and quickly applied it. Priorities, you know. A girl must always be prepared!

All the elementary aged kids ran together. The Willmar XC team ran along side the children in the 800 meter race. Here they are at the starting line.

Maiden toward the end of the race.

Duchess heading toward the finish line.

Everyone who finished the race received a participation ribbon. Duchess was a little disappointed that they were both given the same ribbon, since she finished far ahead of her sister. It really wasn't fair. She would have like to have been given a special award for her outstanding running skills.

On the way home Maiden complained of her legs hurting, but quickly forgot the pain when she realized her lipstick had worn off. Duchess was disappointed she got mud on her new running shoes and was trying to figure out how to get the stains out of them. I just sat back enjoying their conversation. After four boys, it is such a delight to be able to experience little girls. They are definitely different than boys!

My Children

Here is the most recent photo I have of all of my children. It was taken on Jouster's 19th birthday in July. I can't believe I have a 19 year old son. It makes it harder for people to believe I am only 29 years old when they see him by my side. There may come a day I will have to admit my real age.

Let me update you on what is going on with each of them.

Jouster: He is now 19 and swore he'd never step foot into a college. However, he is now a college student. He has worked out his schedule so he can be a full time student and still work his job at the hog farm 3 days per week. He still struggles from time to time with demons from his past but is really doing well. I am proud of the wonderful young man he has become.

Jester: We struggled with him over the summer. He left home two weeks ago and we haven't heard from him. He has stayed in contact with Jouster so we know he is safe. We will keep our distance and allow him the space he feels he needs from us. He is a senior in high school this year and will turn 18 in a few weeks. I am sad that our relationship has come to this point, but all I can do now is pray for him. The little kids miss him. Maiden said last night, "I hope he comes home so he can sit in his spot again." (Meaning at the dinner table.) It broke my heart.

Squire: Is in 7th grade this year and is taking his homeschool studies very seriously. He started playing piano again which makes me extremely happy! He is in cross country and is begging to join the Civil Air Patrol.

Scribe: Not so serious about school. He's in 6th grade and hides from me a lot. We are working on him staying on task with getting his work done. He's also in piano again...much to his chagrin and is running cross country. He's a pretty good little runner.

Duchess: She has taken over the role of first born. She likes to "mother" the younger two around and keep them in line. She is a second grader this year and is still working on learning to read. She is now in charge of egg collecting and loves her new chore!

Maiden: My little Kindergartner. Her goal for this school year, "To finish Kindergarten." She only thinks she's doing school if she's working in workbooks. Me reading aloud to her is not considered school to her. She gets frustrated when I won't let her work ahead in her books. I need some of her enthusiasm to wear off on Scribe!

Prince Charming: My little boy is three--and--IS POTTY TRAINED!!!! He is my little snuggler and is never far from my side. The most common words out of his mouth are, "I want my mama," or "I need you mama." I love it. Hopefully his need for me follows him all the way through his teen years.