The Meaning of a Name

While listening to Christmas music in the car the other day, Sophie asked me what Emmanuel means. She had heard the name used several times in different carols and songs we had been singing and listening too. I explained that it was another name for Jesus and we talked about all the different names he has gone by or called in the scriptures. My husband of course knew the exact meaning of the name, which is "God is with us". The kids got all excited about the meaning of names and they each wanted to know the meanings of their names. So we went through each one, explained the meaning and then discussed why we had chosen that name.

Sophia was given two names which belonged to a great grandmother on each of our sides. Her first name means Wisdom and her middle name means Light. We didn't know at the time but we gave very appropriate names to this smart, radiant, energy filled girl.

Ian is a Celtic (Scottish) version of the name John which means "God is Gracious". I always tell Ian that his Dad picked out his names. We had such a hard time finding the right boy name and even in the hospital we couldn't decide so finally I just looked at my husband and told him to choose. Ian was one of the names on our list when Sophie was expected. It isn't exactly a family name but there certainly are a lot of men named John in our family history. My husband also picked a good celtic middle name for Ian too. Ian is a rather new name for both sides of our family which usually stick to what my sister calls "prairie names". This just means we have usually stuck to traditional names and spellings and such.

Henry was a name I choose, but I often say Sophie named Henry. Again we were having a hard time picking out a name for another boy and went back through our family history and baby books to find names we liked. Henry was on my list when we were expecting Ian but my husband kept saying he didn't really like it. He wanted George or Gordon. I wasn't happy with either of those so we left it up to Sophie, who promptly pointed out that all of them on the list were names of Thomas trains (Thomas was on the list too). But Soph decided he was going to be Henry so even when there were months to wait for him to come we were calling him Henry (My husband kept thinking we would change it when the baby actually came). We had a number of people tell us we shouldn't give such an old fashioned name to our new little baby. That he would hate us later in life or that it would somehow traumatize him. Once he was here he certainly has lived up to his name which means "ruler of the home". The name just seems to fit him and his personality.


Molly was never a name on our list until she was on her way. Henry was going to be Evelyn if he had been a girl. We just always new Ian was going to be a boy so never had a girls name picked for him. Sophie was either going to be Ian or Cedric and we had briefly considered the name Anna when she was expected. For some reason, this time around, I really liked the names Mary, Miriam or Margaret. Molly is a nickname for Mary and Miriam. And when I read the book Wives and Daughters, Molly Gibson explains that she was named Mary after her mother but when her mother lived she was always called Molly. I loved the name ever since. Molly or Mary has a disputed meaning but the one I like best is "wished for child". Once we talked about the meaning of her name my older kids have been calling Molly "wished for child". We talked about how after Henry was born we thought we may be done having children. Henry wasn't the easiest of babies and living where we do is so expensive we thought three was all we could afford. Some of the people around us think we were crazy even to have a third. But we still felt like there was supposed to be one more. So we waited for the fourth to come. The others had all come two years or so apart but no new baby was coming. Sophie kept asking and even praying for a sister. As time passed we thought maybe God had other plans, until finally Molly decided to make her appearance. So she truely is a "wished for child".


We had such a great discussion about names and how each of their names was chosen. We have talked about them several times since. We did run into a problem though. Grandma likes to give the kids Christmas ornaments with their names on it. This week when we went to decorate the tree the kids were pulling out their ornaments. They each have a little baby cradle with their name and birth date on it. Then there are several more for Sophia and Ian and even me and my husband. Molly was given her little cradle and one more with her name on it from Grandma today. But for some reason she can never find ornaments with the name Henry on it. It isn't a strange name but I guess in such little use that you can't find it. It is going to be my project in the next few days to see if I can find an ornament with his name on it. He was a little disapointed when the others got to hang up ornament after ornament with their names on it and he didn't. We purposefully made ornaments this year and put our names on them, so at least he has that one.

I am glad my kids are happy with their names. It is hard to pick just the right names for your children. We tried really hard to pick names they would be proud of and it is amazing how each name, even though they are given before you really know them, fit their personalities.



p.s. Close up pictures of ornaments really show off our plastic, fake Christmas tree. It certainly isn't authentic looking or smelling but it has been a great tree. 5 Christmas seasons already and hopefully more to come!

November is over already!?

I can not believe it is the last day of November already. My kids are already asking when we can put up the tree and our many Christmas activities start this weekend. We do have a lot to show for the last 30 days.

We have been learning a lot. And my kids are really enjoying all the science experiments/demonstrations that we have been doing lately as we explore the elements.

Aluminum conducting electricity to light up the flashlight bulb.

Henry has decided he is ready to "do school" so has been playing letter and number games.


We have had a great time outside enjoying the lovely fall weather. Lots of bike riding and lots of playtime at the park.



This little lady has taken up a lot of my time. There are days I think my back is going to break because I have been carrying her around all day. She is certainly growing (16 lbs already) and maturing quickly. My little baby is rolling over and I can already see signs that army crawling isn't too far in the future. That may mean the end of little legos and playmobil guys out in the living room. Lets hope she will still be more or less immobile until after the Christmas tree gets put away.

I am looking forward to the next few weeks. I haven't planned a whole lot but I know we have a number of great Christmas stories to read and a lot of great activities to attend. I will enjoy them a little more this year. I was suffering with "all times of the day sickness" last year.

Hurray for the Christmas Season, I think I am ready!

Fast Forward

Everyday seems to pass as if in fast forward. I keep thinking of things to share in a post but never seem to fit in the time to actually sit and write. Here are a few abreviated things that we have been up to over the past week.

I have been trying to make soup more, especially since the weather is turning colder. So I decided to give butternut squash soup a try. I took some of the squash that my Dad gave me recently and made a huge pot of soup. Cinnamon, nutmeg, apples and carrots along with the squash makes for a very sweet tasting soup.
It was rather labor intensive and I ended up with a burned hand and squash soup splattered all over my kitchen. Evidently my blender doesn't puree soup very well. I actually tried two different blenders and neither did that well. I think I need a square shaped jar rather than round. The soup just sprayed out the top every time I turned it on. I just don't know how to do it, I guess. It went everywhere. And hot soup flying around the kitchen isn't really that fun.

This picture was taken after most of the mess was already cleaned up.
It is now days later and I am still finding squash soup splatters in places. It is tasty and made enough that I put some in the freezer for another time. I just wish my kids would give it a try.

We have had a few rainy days recently. It is rather nice to hear the sound of a storm outside while we are inside, warm, dry and reading a book. But between blustery days we have hit the park a few times. Molly enjoys the swing.In fact all my kids love to swing. Ian and Henry have recently been able to get themselves going and pump themselves. It is so nice not to have to push them on the swings anymore.

Ian and Henry are always trying to show me how high they can climb up poles. I think I have a few monkeys in my house.
It does look a bit scary to see such a little guy dangling from such a high bar but he really does it all the time and is so proud of himself when he gets to the top.
The boys have also really enjoyed their sport classes. Ian is really doing well at Karate and my husband, who takes him each week, says it really is the sport for him. Ian is a very deliberate child. He thinks about things and doesn't want to do something until he can do it well. Karate seems to fit him like a glove.

Henry loves soccer. Ian usually goes along to "watch" his practices but Henry really enjoys getting out there and kicking the ball around. He came home from practice and showed me the right way to kick the ball using the inside of the foot rather than the toes. For a little 4 year old that is progress. I am just glad he is having fun.

Dad has been having a lot of fun tagging along too. He gets to play goalie most of the time.

We sort of took a light school week. I had a book I really needed to finish because it was due back to the library and I had renewed it as many times as they would let me. So I took one day and read it and let the kids play rather than do school. And then on another day I woke up and just didn't feel like pushing school work that day so we enjoyed some games, walks and baking instead. It certainly is nice that I have the option to just do nothing some days. My kids don't seem to mind either.

Monday Musings

I haven't posted much of late. I guess I just don't feel like anything is exciting or interesting enough to post about. But here is a sampling of what I have been up, or thinking about lately.

• I have been reading a lot. I finally got around to reading Ender's Game. It has sat on my shelf for months and months. It was very good and now I need to find the next books in the series.
  I also read Wednesday Wars which was a very fun read. It is interesting to get inside the mind of an 11 year old boy. Ender was also and 11 year old boy... hmm.... I think I need to read something about an 11 year old girl. I guess it is good I picked up Before Green Gables from the library last week.
  I know none of these books is real difficult reading but I need something to read while I sit and nurse or rock the baby. These seem to fit the bill perfectly. Wednesday Wars did get me to read Shakespere's The Tempest since it was the only Shakespeare play mentioned in the book that I hadn't read yet. It was a quick read and now I can really giggle thinking of Ariel wearing yellow tights with feathers on the.... well you know.
  
  
• I have been baking a lot lately. I think it is because the temperature has dropped and turning on the oven actually feels nice now. Or it may have something to do with all the great pumpkin recipes that people keep posting. Sophie actually yold me she was all pumpkined out for awhile. I guess I will have to find other recipes to bake. It has been fun trying out new things.
  
  
• Sophie had ear tubes put back in. This is her third set but fluids behind the ear drum are affecting her hearing so we put them in again. I have to make sure to pick up some new wax ear plugs so she can swim and bathe without water getting in. An inconvenience but I don't want her hearing affected, or worse, her ears damaged.
  
  
• My husband drinks Almond Milk and I think we are all going to switch to drinking it. It is more expensive (If I had that blendtec then I could make my own) but the more I read about cow's milk or even soy milk the less I like them. We are slowly heading toward a vegan diet. I don't see us entirely giving up animal meats but dairy is one we may faze out.
  
  
• My kids aren't that excited about green smoothies anymore. I guess having one everyday got a little old. Ian still drinks his without complaining but Sophie and Henry act like I am torturing them. So I need to get creative again or else cook a plate of spinach and have them try to eat it that way. Then we will see who is torturing who. I personally think the spinach and other veggies go down a lot easier when mixed with the banana, apples, strawberries, pineapple, blueberries or oranges. One small cup a day is all I have been "forcing" them to drink. Is that too much to ask?
  
  
• Christmas is only a short two months and some, away and I haven't done any shopping for it yet. I think I am in trouble. Usually I have a few things stashed away that I had been collecting over the year. This year I have nothing. I guess I need to really start online shopping or something. I don't even know what my kids really need or even if they really need anything. We already have too much stuff in our house. I wonder how upset they would be if there wasn't anything under the tree? Maybe I will just buy next year's school workbooks and such and put them under the tree. That is about all my kids really need. They are spoiled as it is and I hate to buy things just because I know they expect something. I want it to be something they could really use or need. I guess we will see what turns up come Christmas morning, at the moment I am at a loss and funds are tight so it will be a "less is more" kind of year.
  

I guess that is it for now... Molly is getting too fussy to even pretend to ignore.

More Nesting/Prep work - One month to go!

On Saturday we decided to go look at beds. We decided to get a new twin bed for our baby. No she isn't going to be sleeping in it any time soon. Her crib bed is still hanging out in our walk in closet waiting for me to finally get it set up. We just thought it would nice to have an extra bed in the house when the baby comes. We had a free bed when Henry came and it was very nice to have. It is a great place for Grandma to sleep when she comes to help. It is also the place my husband escapes to when baby wakes up several times a night and he needs to get some sleep so he isn't a zombie at work the next day. Well Saturday we went to the bed store and were just going to look but ended up buying one because they are having a great sale and figured why wait.

So the bed is being delivered tomorrow, Monday. In anticipation of its arrival we were clearing out a space in Sophie's room for it. But Sophie has the smaller of the two kid bedrooms and we decided that putting two twin beds in her room wouldn't really work space wise. We thought the two twins should go in the other, bigger, room and the bunk beds should be in the smaller room. So tonight we set to work taking apart the bunk beds and then reassembling them in the other room. The kids are so excited to be switching room! The boys will now share the smaller room and have the bunk beds up (we had them separated in the other room). My poor husband did all the heavy lifting while I just pushed things around a bit and swept all the dust bunnies that we stirred up as we moved everything around. He didn't want to send me into labor, although I feel pretty much ready to have this pregnancy over and done. The magic 37 weeks, full term, isn't until next week, so he had me take things easy.

This ended up being a really long project and we aren't even done yet. The beds are moved but the kids were upset that their stuff was in their old rooms and not the new rooms yet. I told them we would spend all day Monday making the switch but it didn't totally appease them. They kept taking thing back and forth between the room trying to exchange as much as they could. But for now they are put to bed. I hope they stay there and don't have any nightmares because things are a bit chaotic in each of the rooms and they are all sleeping in different rooms then they are used to.

But the new bed arrives tomorrow and that is one less thing on my list that needs to get done before the baby comes. But there is a lot to do in the morning to get the kids rooms all organized again. But it will be good to muck through their stuff and throw out a few things, if they will let me.

My 32 Week Appointment

Today I went in to see the OB for my 32 Week appointment. I am in the home stretch with this pregnancy and feel really grateful for how easy I have it.

Yes, I have my aches and pains in my back and hips, my hands and feet swell up when I haven't rested enough, and the other day I woke up with a few of my fingers tingling like they had fallen asleep, but on the whole my body just seems to have babies in a very ideal way. I have currently put on an average amount of weight, my belly measures exactly what it should at this stage of pregnancy, my blood pressure is in the normal range (toward the bottom of the normal range actually. I chalk that up to my trips to the gym where I make sure I get a good cardio workout a few times a week.) and my baby seems to be cooperating completely. She is head down and even gives the doppler a kick when the doctor tries to hear the heartbeat. I wasn't excessively sick during the early stages and have yet to throw up during any of my pregnancies. I tell you I have it really easy and I am SOOOOOOO thankful that this is the case.

At today's appointment the OB wanted to discuss my birth plan, or what I ideally wanted to have happen during labor and delivery and what pain medications I would be wanting. I told her, my babies have all come a few days early. My last two came very quickly and with little intervention. I have uneventful labor and deliveries. Sophie's delivery wasn't quite as uneventful because of the cleft which surprised us all, but the actual labor and delivery were totally normal. Now, I still go through what my husband calls "the wilderness of pain" which is where I go into some other place in my head to deal with the pain. So, it isn't that I don't have pain but somehow I make it through.

So my body is doing great. I can't say the same for my brain. Being pregnant has done havoc with my memory and mental state. I have missed and just forgot about a number different appointments and meetings recently. They are written down on the calendar but somehow I miss them or forget which day of the week it is or something. But I honestly feel like my brain is just not on top of things like it used to be.

I am just grateful to be healthy, strong, and on the tail end of this pregnancy.

The count down continues but so far so good!

I finally gave Sophie a hair cut.

While getting ready for church on Sunday, Sophie and I had our daily fight about combing through her hair. Every day she screams and throws a fit about having to have her hair brushed. I had had enough fights and had told her over and over again that if she won't let me brush out all the snarls and do something with it I would have to cut it off. She never would let me get out hair cutting supplies and actually do it. But Sunday was the last straw. Her long untidy hair had been dragged through the syrup at breakfast and was beyond difficult to comb through. I told her "tomorrow morning, you are going to have your hair chopped off, you can't have long hair unless you take care of it".

So Monday morning came and after breakfast I sat her down and proceeded to chop. Sophie didn't fight it at all. I was surprised because she has always fervently fought to keep her long hair. She actually sat still and only requested that I not use the clippers, like I do on the boys. It was sort of nice to hold 5 or so inches of her hair in my hand after that first cut. And it even felt better when I was finished with her whole head. She enjoyed standing in front of the mirror and watching it come off. The finished product looks SOOOOO much better and I am happy that it isn't long enough anymore for her to put into her mouth or to drag through her food.

When we were finished and she looked at herself in the mirror she said "I look like Kit". We just started reading the American Girl Kit series as our bedtime read aloud. I just think she actually looks like someone takes care of her. No more ragamuffins at our house.


The boys got their summer haircuts last week. Ian's is a bit choppy. He has very difficult hair to cut in the first place and then he can't sit still. It is really hard to cut hair on a moving target and get it at all even. But his buzz cut should last him through the summer.

Henry's hair turned out very nice. He sat still so much better than Ian did.

We are now all set for summer weather. Over the past week we have all had our hair cut. Mine is a bit too short, but it always is when I finally get around to cutting it. I always go too short and then make do for two weeks before it grows to where I like it. Then I let it grow too long until I can't stand it anymore and chop it short again.

In any case we all have our short summer hair and just in time for the heat to come. This weekend sure showed us what to expect. Thank goodness for air conditioning. And thank goodness it has returned to more Spring like weather for a bit.

Juice

With each of my pregnancies, I have never really noticed a specific craving. Never have wanted Ice Cream with pickles or anything strange like that. Most of the time I just want something to give me some energy or a pick me up when I am tired. This is usually where sweets come in. I need to really lay off the treats for awhile. I have put on enough weight already and don't need more to feel guilty about not loosing after this baby comes. There have been times cheese or protein of some kind just sounded good and often kept me from feeling sick, but nothing specific that I just had to have.

When I was about 2 months pregnant, this go around, I was walking through the grocery store and saw a box of Tropicana orange juice and just felt like I needed it. I could almost taste it while standing there in the store looking at it. I haven't bought juice in a very long time. I don't buy it or serve it because I would rather my kids drink water and get their fruit and such from the actual fruit. So I walked past the box of juice and went on with my shopping but kept thinking about how good it would taste. I ended up buying a can of Orange Juice concentrate, the country style kind with all the pulp (I like my o.j. with all the chunky bits!). I went home and immediately made the juice and drank about two tumblers full. The kids of course wanted some and I saved a little for my husband for when he came home from work. That about wiped out my pitcher of O.J.

This same thing happened the next time I went to the store. I bought two cans this time, so I would have a spare for when I wanted it again. I have tried actual oranges to satisfy this desire for the juice, and they are yummy but for some reason they just don't hit the craving like a nice cold glass of orange juice. Now, I don't have orange juice every day. I don't even crave it everyday. I only buy one or two cans each week and they don't last long once they are made. So I haven't become an Orange Juice junky yet. And the craving hasn't jumped to any other juices. In fact they, the other juices, sort of make me feel sick, they are too sweet or something.

Today I made a pitcher of juice after breakfast while the kids were busy doing something else, so my nice full pitcher stayed full and I just took my small glass and put the rest in the fridge looking forward to taking little sips throughout the day. At some point in the day Sophie realized the orange juice was there and decided she needed some. She got herself a cup and tried to pour herself a cup. The next thing I hear is a big splash and an "Oh no!". I looked up and tried not to get upset. I held my disappointment in as long as I could and just told her to get some towels to clean it up. This is the point where she announces that she really needs to use the bathroom and starts doing "the dance". I tell her to go potty and then come back to clean up the mess. She runs to the bathroom and I just look at all my orange juice, almost the entire pitcher of MY orange juice all over the table and floor. Sophie comes back and begins her half hearted clean up of the big mess. She is mainly just swishing it around and not actually cleaning it up. This is where my anger surfaced and I told her to just leave it and I would clean it up. She whimpered on the couch, and kept telling me it was just an accident and that the pitcher was too full and that she suddenly needed to use the bathroom at that very precise moment and that is why she dropped the orange juice, MY Orange Juice.

I let her have the cup of juice that did make it into the cup she was trying to fill. I had thought to drink it myself. Boy did it look good and there wasn't any more left. But I let her have it and tried not to think about it. But now after walking on my sticky floor the rest of the day and then mopping the floor with the hardwood floor cleaner tonight once dinner was finished. I now really want some orange juice. Just looking for a picture of OJ on google to put with this post makes me salivate.

I guess there are worse things to crave. I just need to keep a better supply around the house maybe. No! because then I really will drink it all the time and become an O.J. junkie. I could just blame it on the baby. She is really the junkie, I am just the facilitator.

Instead of blogging...

I haven't had much to say this week. I have been busy..... along with all the normal school and Mom related things required of me, I have been busy making blankets. A few weeks ago my Dad and Brother came to stay with us one night so that they could get to the airport early the next morning. We were scrambling to find blankets for our guests. We have piled them onto our own beds and didn't have many left for any visitors that may come by. A state I felt we needed to remedy. So I hit a good sale on yarn and started a large crocheted afghan.Ian picked the color and he choose a very nice raspberry red color. It looks very nice with the pattern I decided to do. I have made a number of baby blankets in this stitch but never a full sized, big blanket. But it looks very nice. I am on my last ball of yarn and should be done soon. I have been keeping my hands busy while the kids watch a movie or listen to audio books each afternoon and then again and night when I need something to keep me awake while trying to finish a movie with my husband. Usually I fall asleep 15 minutes into any movie we start unless I have my crochet hook going.

I cleaned out my closet a few weeks ago. I took out all the clothes that I wear regularly but were already starting to feel tight and put them in a box to make room for my maternity clothes which I will be needing shortly. In the process I also made a stack of all the pants, shirts and skirts that I haven't worn in over a year. They are the ones that are either out of style, don't fit or that have some flaw like a zipper that doesn't stay up. I hated to see all those jeans and pants go to goodwill so I came up with a different plan. Since we have a need for more blankets I thought I would use those pants to make a quilt top. I finally got around to cutting them up into squares last week and then this week I have been busy sewing them together.

Since some of the squares still have the pockets on them, it was decided that this quilt would be Ian's. He loves pockets and complains when I lay out a pair of pants for him that don't have pockets. When this happens he feels the need to wear a little pouch from the dress up box to hold his treasures in. So the pocket quilt was for Ian. I took the kids to the fabric store to pick out a fabric for the back. We went to the flannels that were on sale and Ian picked one with neon pink, yellow and orange dolphins on it. It is his quilt and you can't beat 50% off so we bought it and it became the underside of his quilt. I have spent the last few days quilting this blanket. I finally finished the edges today. It is all machine quilted so didn't take too long. Although, I now know why they have denim needles for the sewing machine. I broke about 4 needles while trying to quilt this before finally deciding to head back to the fabric store to buy denim needles for my machine. It went much more smoothly after that!

Here is the finished product. Ian is very happy with it and loves the pockets.
He is thrilled to sleep under his new blanket tonight. I am happy to have that project done. I am not a quilter. I have only made one other quilt on my own. And don't look too close because the square's corners don't all line up and the quilting lines are a bit wavy. It certainly isn't going to win any awards but we now have another blanket.

While at the fabric store, one of the many times we went the last few days, Henry picked out some Halloween fabric that was 75% off. Henry has a thing for skeletons and the color orange. We ended up bringing it home, so I guess I will be making him a quilt next. But I think I will take a break for a little bit and just read a book or something.

Being on Vacation is Wearing me out!

I think there is a reason we have a schedule. It is for my sanity. My kids have been running me ragged all week. There is either an argument that needs to be refereed or a fantastic creation that I just have to see. I have had to watch a number of stick puppet shows. The kids have gotten out every toy we own and scattered them about the house. We have also had every craft supply out on the table. We have painted, done playdoh, made collages and even had sewing projects out. Today they got out the glitter to add to some collage project they had started. Boy, was that fun to clean up!

We are still getting outside for walks and scooter rides. The weather has been great since Christmas so we have no excuse to stay huddled indoors all the time. But we have listened to a few good audio books while we build with legos or k'nex.


On top of all the fun projects and play we have also had so many snacks. It think that is about all my kids eat now. We received a number of plates of cookies and other treats from friends and neighbors. My kids have been sampling the plentiful stash of goodies each day and I worry because they won't touch their sandwiches at lunch or eat more than a bite of whatever I make for dinner.
At least they do get a few cuties in so they are getting at least a little nutrition.

I am looking forward to getting back into our normal swing of things. I know my kids are having a great time but I collapse into bed at the end of each day so tired.
Moms never seem to get a vacation, do they?

Prayer of Thanks

While our kids are little and learning to pray we, my husband and I, take turns "helping" them say prayers. We will whisper phrases in their ear and then they will say it out loud. Ian is almost 5 years old and still requests "help" with his prayers. I am really trying to encourage him to think of his own things to say in a prayer. He has shed a few tears because he just doesn't want to say the prayer. Mostly he just doesn't know what to say. Over the last week or two when it is his time to voice the prayer, we have started taking a moment beforehand to think together of things we want to thank Heavenly Father for and a few things we would like him to bless us with so that Ian has these things in his head when he says the prayer.

Ian often lists things like soccer, the park, his knights and pirates as well as food. But he also almost always says he is thankful for "Henry who plays with me". Henry usually throws in spiderman and his football. Sophie is a little more thoughtful and adds in family, friends, and activities. Sophie often will ask for Heavenly Father to help Ian with his reading and Henry with his potty training. I love to hear them pray for and about each other.

Each time Ian is asked to pray he is getting closer and closer to "doing it on his own". He is a very sweet little guy and has always taken his time doing and learning most things. He didn't walk until he was 15 months old and didn't talk until he was over 3 years old. When he started walking, he was quickly off running. And complete sentences came out of his mouth when he finally started expressing himself with words. He just always waits to do things until he can do it well. But this experience, with him learning to pray, has been good for us as a family, especially at this time of year. It has helped us focus more on what we are grateful for and who gave us all these good things.

We do live a very blessed life. We are truly grateful for it.



For more Wordfull Wednesday posts visit Chocolate on my Cranium.

A (not so) Quick Sum Up

I don't know why I am even bothering to do a report for this week. There hasn't been a whole lot of schooling going on.

Monday we did great. We had the pledge, scripture, language lesson, math, history, science and I even introduced our new artist for the month. We accomplished a lot.

Tuesday was election day and we took the kids with us while my husband and I went to vote. Just a reminder when you are voting you aren't supposed to just circle the yes or no on your ballot you are supposed to fill in the center part of the arrow. I made it about half of the way through and realized that I was doing it wrong. Last year we had touch screen voting which was so easy. At least I caught the mistake and was able to get a new ballot to fill out, this time correctly.

When we got home we did our pledge and then sat down to do our table work, scripture, math and language lessons. The kids did fine. We read some books for science and had lunch. After lunch we went to my book club meeting. The kids always have a good time playing with the other kids while the moms discuss a book. This month's pick was The Last Lecture by Randy Pausch.

We walked home enjoying the crisp air. Ian took a tumble and because his hands were in his jacket pockets they weren't there to brace his fall, instead his face took the brunt of the fall. He must have fallen on a little rock or something because had a good gash on his forehead which was bleeding pretty good. So we rushed home and put him in the bath and gratefully the bleeding stopped and the cut didn't look big enough to need stitches. And it is just about this time that I got a really good look at the rest of his face. One side of his face looks pretty scraped up.
This is what he looks like today. It is healing nicely but he still gets lots of comments and he is rather embarrassed to tell people what happened. He loves his Cars bandage.

Wednesday morning Sophie and I went to the dentist. Sophie did great with the cleaning, x-rays, and exam. She was even well behaved waiting while I had my teeth cleaned. But when she got home she quickly climbed onto my bed and wrapped up in a blanket and told me she wasn't feeling well. I thought it was related to the dentist and the flouride they put on her teeth. I always felt a little sick after going to the dentist when I was a kid. I let her relax for a little while I got going on cleaning up dishes and was about to start laundry she I heard her start to cry and the distinct sound of throwing up. It was all over my bed and even the floor. I guess it was a good thing I hadn't started the laundry yet. She got in the bath and stayed there a long time. The boys were banished to their room so I could get my room cleaned up. We never got to school this day. Sophie slept a lot and we did watch a few movies. I guess you could say we did some history. We watched Cathedral which is based on David Macaulay's book. The boys watched it, Sophie was sort of in and out during it. Ian made the connections between the cathedral we went to a few weeks ago with the one that was being built in the movie. I thought it was very interesting and will be looking for the other videos in this series.

I did read the boys some books and played bit with them. I even took the kids to the park for our normal park day. The boys had a great time but Sophie just curled up in the blanket I brought for her and she slept there at the park.

Thursday was more of the same. Sophie still was running a fever, her throat hurt and she was tired so she slept. I played and read books with the boys, did some more laundry and cleaned the house. When Sophie was awake, I tried to read aloud to her. She enjoyed a few chapters of Our Island Story which corresponded to our chapter in SOTW about Alfred the Great. She also listened to more Classical Kids CD's while moaning and groaning on the couch. We listened to Mr. Bach comes to call and Beethoven Lives Upstairs. We also all looked at a few books of Ansel Adams photographs. My kids especially enjoy looking at his photos of Yosemite. I guess it is a good thing he took so many of them.

I still had to go and coach Ian's soccer team's practice that afternoon. Again I packed sick Sophie along with us wrapped up in a blanket. She just laid there on the grass and slept.

Friday I finally called the doctor. Sophie hadn't been eating or drinking much since she got sick and the fever was still up but not really high. We took her in and I felt foolish because he told me it most likely just the virus that is going around. But he took a throat swab and sent it to the lab. I went to the pharmacy and bought more tylenol. We had gone through two bottles of meltaways and we were out.

We went home and watched Toy Story. I was tired of having a sick complaining, whinny girl and just needed everyone to be happy so they sat in front of the tv for awhile. I went and took a nap on the couch.

Saturday morning we finally got the results of the test, possitive for strep. Let's hope the medicine helps and she is back to normal next week.

While Sophie was sick I did do a little sewing. I made some cloth crowns for each of the kids. Since we are studying so much about kings and queens I thought we needed some crowns to play with. I took my ideas from this tutorial but changed it bit because I wanted gold crowns. And didn't use any ribbon. But the boys really love them. Sophie will too once she is feeling better.
I think I am going to look and see if I can find any jewels to glue or sew onto the crowns to really personalize them for the kids.

That has been our week. We did a bit but not everything that was planned for the week. I am sure we will be back in the swing of things on Monday.