I feel like a thief!

...because I got a STEAL! I just bought a bike trailer for $25!!!

We've been looking at/thinking about buying a bike trailer for awhile. We both need exercise and we have these nice bikes we bought in Japan but haven't been able to ride them together in years because we keep having kids.

Soooo I went to Walmart today (I know, UGH, don't usually go there but needed fabric and didn't want to drive the hour to downtown Richmond for Jo Anns) and as I was headed to the fabric department I passed a small section of clearance toys. I was trying to speed past so the kids wouldn't look and thus start the chorus of "I wants" but I happened to glance over and saw a large box with a $25 sticker. Imagine my delight when I took a closer look and realized that it was a BIKE TRAILER! I snatched the box up immediately and then spent a good 2-5 minutes finagling it into the cart trying not to squish Nathan. Fortunately I had decided to use the "Oldest pushes the youngest in umbrella stroller" technique or I would have had a kid in the basket and then I guess I would have strapped the bike trailer to my back because I was NOT leaving without it. Called Jason to get the 'ok' although I'm not sure why, I would have bought it regardless of what he said. I guess because I wanted him to rejoice with me. Of course he said fine anyway.

I was a little worried that it would be missing some pieces, the box was pretty dinged up and it looked like it had been taped closed again several times. I figured I'd do like I always do and call the manufacturer to complain if parts were missing. So I got home and got to putting it together--it was actually quite easy to assemble and ALL THE PARTS WERE THERE! HOORAY!

The boys couldn't WAIT to go for a ride in it so I got to find out real quickly just how out of shape I am. Now hopefully with my new bike trailer my butt will start getting smaller. That would be nice.

Ren Faire Costumes, housework, etc..

Since the goal is to blog once a week I figured I oughta blog today. Is oughta a word because the editor on here doesn't seem to think it is. Oh well, the editor is obviously *not* southern because I believe oughta is in the southern language dictionary. Oughta, coulda, woulda, they're all proper adverbs if you ask me.

So anyway. Last night I finally got around to ironing my muslin to make my blouse for the ren faire. Now I'm actually starting to get excited about making it and going! Hunter was hovering while I was cutting out the pattern pieces and saw another pattern that I have for a kids knight costume and immediately wanted it, of course. But it looks pretty labor intensive plus it requires this metallic fabric that is undoubtedly expensive. So we looked on the internet and settled on an easier McCalls pattern M4400 which is a knight tunic with built in sleeves (as opposed to putting the tunic over a separate shirt) so I guess I'm going to be off to the fabric store sometime, hopefully not TODAY, to buy the pattern and fabric. He will probably bug me about it until I do it. Oh and the pattern is for mens and boys so he wants me to make Daddy one and Nathan one. I don't think I'm going to waste my time making one for Daddy because I'm 95% sure that Daddy would never wear it outside of the house. Heck, he probably won't even wear it INSIDE the house except when Hunter begs him to and then only for a few minutes. Sooo..

Housework. I am so terrible at it. Actually I know what my problem is, and Jason has caught on as well. I get sucked in by the internet vortex. Yes, I'm here now and I shouldn't be but the kids aren't up yet and I NEEDED to blog. I'm not supposed to stay on the computer anymore. It drives Jason batty. Like wants to throw the computer out in the road and run over it a few times batty. I can understand, it drives me nuts that I get sucked in however I would never destroy it. My friends live in it! LOL So anyway. Yesterday I maybe used the computer for an hour at the most. I got a lot more done around the house and the kids were generally happier because I was interacting with them instead of sitting on my butt and giving commands. Hmm.. maybe there is something to this whole 'staying off the internet' thing.

Our budding artist

Hunter lately has picked up drawing and he LOVES to draw. He will go through an entire notebook in one day filling up page after page with depictions of his imagination. Here's one of his most recent pieces, these are Lego Star Wars guys. The guys on the left are shooting the creature on the right and there is even someone in a spaceship giving air support!

A trip to TN

We all took a trip to TN this President's day weekend. Jason's father and his newish wife Donna bought a 50 acre farm in Pikeville last summer and we hadn't been to see their new place yet. So we finally got to go and WOW we were impressed and admittedly, a bit jealous! Their acreage is mainly open farmland with a sizeable river running along one of the property lines. They also have a small manmade pond.

Jason's younger brother Ian and his wife came up to visit. Ian's wife, Amy, is 8 months pregnant with their first child so we were really lucky that she was able to make the trip! Ian brought his 4-wheeler with him and Ian and his wife watched the boys for us so Jason and I could go for a ride on the 4-wheelers and we had a great time. It was the first time in a long time that we'd been able to do anything by ourselves.

After visiting in Pikeville we stopped in Chattanooga for a whirlwind visit to Jason's mother, his oldest brother Scott and his grandfather Papaw. Here is Jason and the boys with Papaw, you can see clearly in this picture how THRILLED they were to get to take a picture with their great-grandfather!

All in all, it was a nice trip. We got to see everyone on our list and got a fair amount of visiting done. We look forward to our next visit when Ian and Amy's daughter will have been born!

Making a card...

Nathan saw these scrap booking embellishments at Target and just *had* to have them. I told him they were for making cards but he insisted.

So we get home and he tells me that he is ready to make a card. Ok, I tell him, I'll get you some paper. NO! he screams. PUT THEM IN THERE!! Where is there? The kitchenaid mixer. He apparently thinks that they are some type of cake mix? So I gave him a bowl and let him have at it. He stirred and stirred, I'm not sure if he ever got the desired result.

West Virginia, here we come..

At least we don't have any relatives there for my kids to form unnatural relations with, right?


<-- Well, I found one thing to be happy about. With any luck we can conduct our winter homeschool sessions on the slopes. Thats science, geography and oh yeah, physics.

Use the force, little one

Jeremy says, "Hey! Thats a baby toy! Gimme, gimme!"

"Yeah, thats right. BACK OFF!"

Hunter got light sabers for his birthday. Really, its the perfect present for a 5 year old and his two younger brothers. Toys that are designed specifically for fighting. As you can see, it truly is what EVERY one year old needs. Run out and buy one for YOUR one year old, I dare ya. And the best part? It was my idea.

I must have missed that day in Parenting 101...

Conversation with Nathan, just turned 3 years old:

[Nathan, playing in bathroom sink using way too much soap]

Me: Nathan, turn the water off and come on out of the bathroom.

[Nathan completely ignoring me]

Me: Come on Nathan, NOW!

[Still ignoring me]

Me: Ok Nathan, one, two...

Nathan: Why are you counting?

Me: Because you aren't listening!

Nathan: What is listening?

GAH! Honestly, I don't even know why I was counting. I guess I learned it from my parents! All I do at the end of three is pick him up and move him. I guess thats why I was counting. Counting the seconds until I go CRAZY! What is listening? Wow, I guess I need to teach him listening before I can count for it huh.

How VERY cool

This is a repost from this blog: http://boysrus.wordpress.com/2008/01/31/nature-is-so-cool/, who reposted it from somewhere else! I just had to share:

A sliced carrot looks like the human eye The pupil, iris and radiating lines look just like the human eye…and YES science now shows that carrots greatly enhance blood flow to and function of the eyes.

A tomato has four chambers and is red. The heart is red and has four chambers. All of the research shows tomatoes are indeed pure heart and blood food.

Grapes hang in a cluster that has the shape of the heart. Each grape looks like a blood cell and all of the research today shows that grapes are also profound heart and blood vitalizing food.

A walnut looks like a little brain, a left and right hemisphere, upper cerebrums and lower cerebellums. Even the wrinkles or folds are on the nut just like the neo-cortex. We now know that walnuts help develop over 3 dozen neuron-transmitters for brain function.
Kidney beans actually heal and help maintain kidney function and yes, they look exactly like the human kidneys.

Celery, bok choy, rhubarb and more look just like bones. These foods specifically target bone strength. Bones are 23% sodium and these foods are 23% sodium. If you don’t have enough sodium in your diet the body pulls it from the bones, making them weak. These foods replenish the skeletal needs of the body.

Eggplant, avocadoes and pears target the health and function of the womb and cervix of the female - they look just like these organs. Today’s research shows that when a woman eats 1 avocado a week, it balances hormones, sheds unwanted birth weight and prevents cervical cancers. And how profound is this? .. It takes exactly 9 months to grow an avocado from blossom to ripened fruit. There are over 14,000 photolytic chemical constituents of nutrition in each one of these foods (modern science has only studied and named about 141 of them).

Figs are full of seeds and hang in twos when they grow. Figs increase the mobility of male sperm and increase the numbers of sperm well to overcome male sterility.

Sweet potatoes look like the pancreas and actually balance the glycemic index of diabetics.

Olives assist the health and function of the ovaries.

Grapefruits, oranges , and other citrus fruits look just like the mammary glands of the female and actually assist the health of the breasts and the movement of lymph in and out of the breasts.

Onions look like body cells. Today’s research shows that onions help clear waste materials from all of the body cells They even produce tears which wash the epithelial layers of the eyes.

What a comedian.

So I'm sitting here at the computer, wasting time. Hunter comes running in, sets up something on the table beside me, starts snickering and runs out. Apparently this is what I look like:

Schooling, unschooling, homeschooling...

Today Hunter and I resumed working on his phonics program. Yeah we've taken a couple month hiatus. I don't know why I get so unmotivated. I guess I"m the only one, because he was SO excited we did THREE lessons in a row! He really wanted to start learning a new letter (the program has you learn one new letter a week) In the meantime he's learned the numbers 1-10 entirely on his own. He is learning how to read a calendar just by asking questions. He looks at a clock (granted it is digital but still..) and knows that the first number means it is X:o-clock, which he picked up on his own as well. I'm starting to give some credence to the whole 'unschooling' thing. He naturally learns things he is interested in. I was going to buy a math curriculum for next year but I think we're going to do more natural things and see where it goes- get a clock for his room and talk about the time, pay more attention to the calendar, discuss the fractions on measuring cups when cooking, etc...

Way cool.

Oh and we made masks to go along with learning the letter 'm' today and used stickers to decorate them. I left the stickers out because he wanted to put stickers on paper and now he is in there using the stickers to make pictures (like putting many stickers together to create stick people) How creative! I'm a proud mama.

No, you're not my father! by Mary :)

Mary is such a Star Wars fan she wanted to star in her own Star Wars clip. Here is Mary as Luke Skywalker, just as Darth Vader tells Luke that he is his father. Hahahahahahahaha

Ugh. Eww. Barf. Ick. I'm sick!

Starting Sunday I was feeling queasy, by Sunday early evening I was puking my guts up. That went on til about midnight, then yesterday I just had a general case of green-ness but everything stayed in. Today, I got it coming out the other end, if you know what I mean. I need to catch a break! My house is in disarray, the kids have been watching WAY too much TV and I'm letting my flying slide! ACK!

On the plus side, Jason really came through for me. He took good care of the kids on Sunday night and went to get me some saltines and ginger ale and then came home early from work yesterday and did EVERYTHING he even made the kids a healthy dinner complete with VEGETABLES! I was so proud. So in spite of whatever negative things I may say about him, he does have some redeeming qualities. <3

Here's hoping the rest of the week I'm on the mend (and that nobody ELSE gets sick! EEK!)