I can build a tower that's as tall as my pigtail.

Two Thoughts

Today is shaping up to be a right fine day. Jayger called in sick, school was fun and we finished before lunch. The weather is so refreshing so I have all the windows open and the girls have played outside the majority of the morning.

I read these two thoughts this morning. One came from this post on Design Mom, the other in an email from my cousin, Caitlin.

the days are long and the years are short

cultivate the ground you are given

I want to remember these thoughts. I want to dwell on them. I want them to make a difference in my day.

 

You all should go visit my cousin-in-law/friend/birthday buddy's blog. She's taking a personal challenge in wisdom and posting her thoughts, findings and results of these challenges. Her posts have been very thought provoking and will benefit you if you'll take a few minutes to read them.

www.amay-blog.blogspot.com.

Be sure to leave her a comment of encouragement. I know she would appreciate it.

 

 

Another good one

I saw this on Facebook tonight and laughed and laughed. Then I got up and started brushing my teeth, and started laughing some more.

I'm pretty sure I'll be laughing in my sleep tonight.

She

is precious.

ACME Party Box Company

I'm a huge fan of Gabrielle Blaire over on Design Mom. Back in December, Gabby posted about a company called ACME Party Box Company and their very neat craft subscriptions. I signed the girls up for a three month subscription as a Christmas gift and today, January's box came in the mail.
I really tried to just sit back and let the girls do all the work and for the most part, they did. I just had to trim the lining pieces to fit the sides of the box.

Goodies and Instructions

First, we traced the back and the sides and cut those shapes out of some crinkly blue paper that came with the kit.

We took turns tracing and gluing the paper.

Glitter Snow! 

We each dabbed some glue on the back and covered it with sparkly snow.

Mama's Snowflake

Finished background

The next step was to glue moss to the bottom of the box.

Nora entertained herself by eating crackers and yelling, "Cheese!"

Claire placed the mushrooms and the driftwood.

Elaina placed the fawn and Eily placed the pine trees.

The finished product in two different light scenarios.

 

I'd say The Winter Wonderland Diorama was a big success!

ACME Party Box Company has never heard of me. I just wanted to tell you about them because we enjoyed the craft so much. 

Grub

This afternoon was a draggy, lazy one. School was finished, the laundry was finished and the house was picked up enough to satisfy me for the moment. Mom came by with Audrey. We visited and looked at houses in South Carolina.  I had two chicken breasts thawing. I wasn't inspired to do anything with them. I wanted to order pizza. I wanted to continue to be lazy. I decided to just throw together something. Refrigerator clean out. Our pantry was pretty empty. Our fridge was pretty empty. Then I remembered This recipe I saw when I had checked my Pinterest account earlier in the day. I knew I had a sweet potato and a white potato. I knew I had milk. I knew I had spices and herbs.
I found a can of discounted turnip greens in the back of the pantry. I found a package of corn on the cob way in the back of the freezer. I found cornmeal. All of the sudden, I had a meal in front of me. A pretty good meal, actually. Just goes to show that sometimes there's more than meets the eye when it comes to the food in your house.

Our Menu:

Chicken Tetrazzini
Corn on the Cob
Turnip Greens
Sweet Potato Gratin
Cornbread

Pee Wee

I'm allowed to brag on here, right? I thought so. 

Eily's school is really just come-and-go, if she feels like it, etc... except for 

her reading lessons. I use Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons and so it's just one

quick lesson every morning. Y'all, she is so good.  She loves it and

she flies through the lessons. For some reason, I think of her as being a five year old

and so the fact that she's doing so well is nice but not really shocking.

Just this morning, as she was giggling and laughing her way through the

story, not once stopping to actually sound out a word, I realized that she's only four.

Four.

She is constantly amazing me these days.

Also, she's a "real ballerina" now.

And not to leave out the other girls,

Elaina is still loving and absorbing science like a big sponge,

Nora is doing pretty good with her potty training and everyday her speech is improving, 

and Claire is excellent at Math. 

And Be Ye Kind...

Today? Well, today wasn't one of my best days. I didn't feel good to start with and I just seemed to be cranky and mean no matter how hard the girls tried to make my day better. Nora was mean and ornery (but at the same time so loving and affectionate) and draining and constantly wanting me to "tand up!" every time I put her in my lap. My patience and tolerance towards all the girls kept getting thinner and thinner until I finally blew up. I yelled so loudly that my throat hurt. I yelled about the house constantly being a wreck. I yelled about the non-flushing-of-the-toilet that keeps taking place so that the playing-with-used-toilet-paper also keeps taking place. I yelled about the glue stick smeared all over hair and body and inside the mouth. I yelled and yelled and yelled. And then I cried.

And then, after it was all over and a bit of time had past and the girls were back to being busy as little girls ought to be, each of them, at different times, came up to me with a handmade trinket. Elaina had drawn me a picture of my head inside a heart. Claire had drawn a picture of me and Jason inside a heart. Eily had written a note, All By Herself. It went like this:

AM MAEOM RSAMCIT TO ME

She translated it for me.  "Mama, you are so kind to me."

Hopefully, the girls won't remember today. Hopefully, I will.

Anniversary Trip 2013

Jason and I like to do something each year for our anniversary. I think back in 2007 we just went out to eat, but other than that, we've done something. Because we got married in January, we've had a hard time finding just the right location for our anniversary trip, but we've had fun trying new places. We live in a "summer" area, not a "winter area" so most of the time, the places we go are sort of shut up for the season. We have yet to find our perfect spot, but that's ok. We'll stumble upon it eventually.
This year, we went to Hot Springs. To be totally honest, Hot Springs itself seemed a little boring but we had a great time anyway. When we arrived, we went straight to one of the galleries that represent Jason, The Linda Palmer Gallery, so that he could pick up his old paintings and drop off new paintings.  Then we went to a frame store that Jason likes to buy frames from, and I got stranded in the girls' bathroom that had no light and no toilet paper. :)

One thing I will say about Hot Springs is that these people know how to cook. The food at every single place we ate was so delicious.

For lunch, we went to Cafe 1217.

Y'all. This place was so good. Probably one of my top five restaurants ever. And they had whole wheat bread sticks so they get bonus points. 

Jason trying to decide what to order
He wasn't very hungry.

Fancy deli food

We spent the rest of the afternoon waling around downtown Hot Springs, running over to the bed and breakfast to check in, and then watching a movie at one of the local theaters.

We had dinner reservations at 7pm so we left the movie a few minutes before it ended (it wasn't really that good so we didn't mind) and rushed over to Bella Arti.

A friend had told us to reserve table 32 and it was a great suggestion because we had the (only occupied) table upstairs that was directly across (and up) from the piano player. It was a great spot.

Can you find the piano player?

Best. Steak. Ever. Seriously, it was like eating butter. 

Bread and Pesto

Jason's hot date. (jk, jk.)

My hot date. (Not kidding.)

The next morning, we had breakfast delivered right to our door. I am telling you, these people know how to cook. I almost ate the whole thing, Jason's included. That cinnamon roll was filled with pure, untainted cream cheese. I keep thinking about it and salivating.

Then we packed up, stopped by the frame shop again and came home to a house full of squealy little girls. It was a great weekend.

Eight Years

Eight great years with this guy.

Wait, maybe this picture is more accurate.

Post about anniversary trip coming up. There was a lot of yummy food eaten.

Pee Wee

Eily fell out of bed around three last night and woke up looking like this.
Poor wittle Pee Wee.

Home Education Part 5

This chapter was a little hard to write about because it is so long and there is so much good information, but information that was hard for me to put into my own words. I actually meant to post this a month ago but I was quite the procrastinator.

Home Education Part 5

-Lessons as Instruments of Education

"- All the same, whatever be the advantages of kindergarten or other schools for little children, the home schoolroom ought to be the best growing-ground for them." Charlotte talks about the parent, whether teaching herself or having her children taught by another, must have definite views about what she wants her children to learn. "She must ask herself seriously, Why must the children learn at all? What should the learn? And, How should they learn it?"
   This is an area that I really need to work on, personally. We have made wonderful strides in our learning this year compared to last year, but I still feel I need to define the answers to those questions. I feel it will not only better me as a teacher but also help rid our school days of wasted time and effort.  Charlotte then says (and basically reading my mind), "If she takes the trouble to find a definite and thoughtful answer of these quires, she will be in a position to direct her children's studies; and will, at the same time, be surprised ti find that three-fourths of the time and labour ordinarily spent by the child at his lessons is lost time and wasted energy."
   Charlotte also talks about the growth and stimulation of the mind. She says, "People are apt to overlook the fact that mind must have its ailment- we learn that we may know, not that we may grow." To be honest, I'm still try to digest and understand this. I may write more on it at a later date if I feel I have a better grasp on the subject.

Don't forget to read Jamie's posts on Part 5. (It's much better than mine.) Here's her second post on Part 5.

YES

I agree whole-heartedly with this.