Overheard in my kitchen...

Gabe walked into the kitchen yesterday while I was fixing breakfast.
Gabe: Mommy, do you want to shoot the possum?
Me: Why, yes, Gabe, I do want to shoot it.
Gabe: I have some yellow BBs for you, Mommy, so you can shoot the possum.
Me: Where did you get them?(thinking he swiped them from Clint's dresser)
Gabe: At the store with the fish on the wall.(then he starts walking away)
Me: Where are you going, Gabe?
Gabe: To get the yellow BB's for you. Come on, Mommy.(then, he leads me to the tree, and I start cracking up. He hands me a bag, and the older boys run in, yelling GABE! NO!)
Clint: Next time, Gabe is going Christmas shopping with the GIRLS.

So, am I getting a gun, too?
P.S. My neighbor who is a hunter has informed me that our airsoft gun will only make the opossum laugh at me, so I need to explore my options.

A boy take on cake

So, Katie said at dinner that for her 14th birthday, she'd like a traditional Danish "person" cake. They eat these birthday cakes shaped like people, and the birthday person usually requests the head, and everyone says "aaaaaaauughhh" when they cut the head off, it's all very cute. Philip said that this cake should be white filled with red "barbarian cream."

My water almost came out my nose.

I love Philip.

Just a few more days

By this time in Advent in previous years, I have hated Christmas. Not really the birth of Christ, but just the overwhelming feeling of how much there was left to do, even at this late date. With the help of Clint & my friends, I don't hate it this year(well, they nipped my hate in the bud). Today, I still have quite a bit to do, but I have the sense that what must be done, can, and that I'm not stuck doing it alone.

How do you put more Merry into YOUR Christmas?

facebook

This was supposed to be fun. But every time I log on I'm bombarded with the latest liberal-leaning blathering and vilification of all opposing views from a male relative. I'm really thinking about closing my account, but for now I've "hidden" his comments from my page. That should make checking in with my other relatives more fun, and make it easier to stick to my 5 minute rule.

Spring

Spring has sprung with all it's unpredictability. We've already had a big hailstorm, a slightly typical light dusting of snow, and some days roaring into the high 70's & 80's, then dipping down into the 40's & 30's.
This spring we've added something new to our little home & school, a plot at the community garden. We're beginning the planning, and planting will be sure to follow! A concentration on veggies with some flowers for Katie for the Fair are what we know so far. More to come.

Pest Control

Okay, I'll say it. I'm arachnaphobic. It's a fairly recent development, and sometimes I've had to wear dirty jeans because I couldn't face five more minutes in my spider-infested laundry room. We've moved, so that's not a problem anymore.
But the schoolroom is another story. I've already ordered hits on more wolf spiders in my new basement in six months than in my old laundry room in nine years. When I'm really desperate, I have to off them myself. Here's how it's done:
Step one: I shoot it with wasp killer, it's provides great accuracy at a safe-feeling distance(there's no REAL safe distance for an arachnaphobe).
Step two: If the wasp killer didn't drown the target, wait for it to succumb to the paralyzing effects of the spray and slow down. Then, beat it to death with a hard shoe(Birkenstocks are nice) or that old classic, a rolled-up newspaper. You'll know it's dead when legs start flying off and it assumes the "dead spider" position.
Step three: Climb two flights of stairs to retrieve the vacuum from the kids' room. Attach ALL the extensions to the vacuum(safe-feeling distance again) and suck up the carcass. Listen for the loud thumping noise as it passes through the attachments into the vault portion of the vacuum.
Step four: Avoid returning to the scene of the crime until your breathing and heart rate return to normal. A stiff drink may be necessary, but try to wait till after lunch.

Finished Projects

As incentive to use up as much of my SABLE as I can, I'm going to start posting photos of my finished projects. This first one used up a TON of my flannel stash, and went to Shellie to pay for hair services. She loves it, and has ordered a more masculine one for Jack, her older son. So, here's Shellie's blanket!

Ask me about my SABLE!

Clint learned a new favorite acronym the other night from one of the mom's who came for the 4-H knitting meeting: SABLE.
It stands for: Stash Acquired Beyond Life Expectancy.
Guess who's NOT getting any handknits for awhile.

Small successes this week

I really need to remind myself when something in my week goes well, here goes:
1. I finished the lesson plans before Monday morning(a miracle, since I usually finish them sometime after lunch on Mondays.)
2. I baked fresh bread for the kids two days this week.
3. Today, I mailed a birthday present to my nephew, and his birthday isn't for two more days yet.

There we go.

Birthday Weirdity

I've been wanting to make this list for awhile. First, it's important to note that in my immediate family, none of us share a birthday month, let alone a birthday. Once we started making friends and getting married things started to get weird.
I share a birthday(year and all!) with my friend, Ann.
Katie was born on my grandfather's birthday.
My husband, stepdad, and brother-in-law share a birthday.
My brother's wife and my husband's brother share a birthday.
My other sister-in-law's birthday is my anniversary(which is both Kent State day and Rhode Island independence day).
My friend Marcia's first boy was born on my first boy's 2nd birthday.
Philip's godmother had a baby boy on Philip's first birthday.
Two of my friends had their baby girls on Gabe's first birthday.
My best friend from high school and my best friend from Jr. High have the same birthday.
The Jr. high friend's sister has the same birthday as my other grandfather.
My mom and stepbrother have the same birthday.
My father-in-law shares his birthday with Philip's best friend.
I think there might be more, but these are what I have for now.
I think my sister and her niece(husband's side) share a birthday, and I think my dad shares a birthday with my mom's mother-in-law.

Waiting for the Sun

It's cold here! It's 8 degrees, and it really wasn't much warmer today. It's hard to send your kids outside when there's a wind chill. I usually insist on at least 2o degrees before letting them head outdoors. That sounds pretty strange considering I grew up in California, and not the snowy, mountainous region, either! We're all staying warm, though, and very thankful that our furnace is working!

The longest shortest month

February is a looooooong months for homeschoolers. It doesn't help that this one opened with a blizzard that stranded my darling Clint multiple states away. But, we persevere, trusting that if God called us to do this, he will help us find a way.