The Monopoly Bag

My pal Cindy gifted me with this great bag for my birthday. Our MOPS pal Susan made them this year for our MOPS theme which is MOMSense...with a board game motif. She made lots of these for our MOPS teams. They come in Scrabble and Candyland too. Who can resist?

Makes you just want to play!

Love me a bag with a pocket!

This is a great bag for taking games on the road. We do that a lot around here. My friend Susan has a little sewing business called Sew What Now. Hop on over to make an order or to see what else she has going on.

Riddle...

5 year old + head lamp+ bedtime + Kanoodle = 

Stalling!

Got Dominoes?

J5 wants to share this video with you...I took a bunch of things to the consignment shop the other day and made a bit of cash. When he heard me say I took the Dino Dominoes, he was concerned. He wanted to know if I'd gotten rid of all the Dominoes. Wanna see why?

My kids make a giant mess with dominoes often. They are getting pretty good!

The Aftermath...

Another fun-filled semester of co-op is complete. I taught a JrFLL class and an American Girl class. Dan taught the FLL class. Last night was Co-op Night when everyone is gathered together to show off displays and to perform new skills. More on this later...such a great semester!

For now just know that I had no less than 6 bins of LEGOS in my van along with stacks of American Girl projects and displays. Two of them were large drawers...about 2ft by 3ft...without lids.

I had taken out most of the stuff into the building for classes and to set up, but when I left to get Dan for the second hour I pulled out and heard a spectacular, "Phssshhhhh!"

The drawer was empty when I started my task. Spectacular indeed!

Thinking I had finished the job, I shook out the mats underneath the former mess...and heard, "Tink, Clinkity!" So, that led to this little discovery among others. It was trying its hardest to be stealth. but I found him! And oh yes...he would be missed!

So, now you know what I've been doing today. Now that co-op stuff is out of my van, I have room for a turkey and his friends the side dish ingredients. I'm off to the store!

Summer Livin'

We are just in from another little long weekend trip to the Poconos with Dan's family. There was a lot of fishing going on! We played a lot of games, hit the hot tub, and the row boat was a lot of fun. The kids spent the whole first day fishing over and over again.

J5 with his cousin's Barbie fishing rod...he caught a few blue gills.

I8 had gone out on the pond in the row boat and decided to map his adventure. He's facing east just so you know...the compass never lies. Unless you don't know how to use it!

R10 had fun fishing too, but I have to say she is not at all hardcore. She refused to touch a fish she hooked and when it would wiggle is itself off she would scoot it off the dock back into the water with her foot. A nice way of saying she kicked it back into the water!

Everyone had a fun time with the game room complete with an air hockey table with no.line. Paradise. Just so you know I beat Dan in a game of air hockey. Just sayin'.

How is your summer coming to a close? We may take a day trip to our favorite state park, for Labor Day Weekend. But that totally depends upon the weather.

Tie Dye Fun!

This is the second time this summer we had fun with tie dye. The first time was at R10's birthday party. We decided it might be fun to make new shirts while camping last weekend. I think it would have been more fun had the water at the campground been you know...not brown. Ahem. But we pressed on despite choosing to leave a day early and having to pack out as we did this. Time was a bit short...and we had to bring in water from the camp store. Who wants white turned brown tshirts to dye with?

I8's creation. He wanted vertical stripes and the key is to pleat the shirt opposite what you want the stripes to look like...a lesson we learned in June when he ended up with one very cool horizontal striped shirt?

E11 tried to do a mirror image shirt which worked, but you have to look closely to see it.

R10 did a nice job with lots of knots all over her shirt- she want more than one spiral and we experimented with a color not in our kit.

J5's shirt...he did the spirals and I chose the colors.

This is Dan's shirt- I was running out of dye so it got a big time shortchanged. Bummer.

Once again I did some socks. These are kinda fun. I did one pair random and one pair sort of striped.

And finally my shirt. I chose an older, really thick white Old Navy shirt and I wanted to do horizontal stripes. I did the sleeves separately from the main portion of the shirt. That was a big job! Next time I'll make sure the dye covers more, but this was a crazy bulky shirt.

We did three families worth of shirts that day. All tolled it was 14-16 projects! We had two kits going. This will be fun to add to each summer I think and I'm going to try some different techniques next year. One is pretty subtle. Should be fun. We use the Tie Dye kit from Jacquard which has a great DVD in it. We learned a lot about technique from watching it so it's definitely worth your time.

I think it's interesting how our playroom carpet has so many varieties in this series of pictures. The one just above this text is probably the closest to the real thing. Just so you know.

The Latest...

Since this blog chronicles our homeschooling adventures and apparently my choice of partial highlight....

Here is the latest version. Remember that cool slicing I had done last time? Blond and caramel brown? Well, it turns out that caramel brown turns golden blond when it hits the sun. Yeah...so I was starting to look pretty much blond all over on top.

I decided I'm not really into that so I had her do the blond slices (because I REALLY like those) and then to tone it down in between with my real color (gasp) and she sort insisted on the caramel brown also. I really like being darker again. I am a brunette after all...

But the blond slices are so FUN! Next time I will just go with my color I think and the blond slices. We'll see. I have a couple of months to see what this does.

Ever Have One of These?

The title of the post is a line in the movie...can you name the scene? I had to redeem myself after the first title was a gross mistake in 80s films...gasp.

Another fun find while hoeing out this past week. This little gem was tucked in with the rolls of wrapping paper in our wrapping paper container. Dan got rid of bad paper and asked what he should do with this poster.

So, I thought wait! Let me at least get a picture. Then I thought no! I will put it up.

Nothing like a little Brat Pack in my laundry area. Pretty in Pink is one of my favorites. Wish I could find the clip of Andi making that prom dress. The drawing and the creation. R10 would really dig that. She could do without the rest...

1986...SUCH a great year.

My laundry will never be the same. I'll be humming Psychedelic Furs and OMD, New Order, Echo and the Bunnymen, The Smiths...ever heard the soundtrack from this movie? Excellent 80s alternative...

One might question how it is someone can be married for over 14.5 years and still, somehow be carrying around a movie poster from the mid-80s. It is one of life's mysteries. But I guess it is an illustration in why one needs to hoe out. Every now and then.

My New Spectacles

After two years of wearing glasses, it was time to see the eye doctor again and regardless of the outcome, I was planning to change up my look a bit. Anyone been around long enough to remember the first time I got glasses two years ago? I'd never worn them before and it was a new world to me. Recently, I'd say for the past 3 months, I've been cleaning my glasses constantly. As in, I would have sworn they were just perpetually smudgy. Turns out...that is a SURE sign of needing a new prescription in your lenses.

So, I took my kids with me for my check up and when we went into the room to do the eye test part, my "entourage" sat on the floor facing the monitor. You know...where they could easily read what I was supposed to say each time I was asked for a row. You know how it goes...they flip between 1 and 2 and ask which looks clearer. You know you are in trouble when one is better than the other. My entourage began to snicker as I got answers wrong. My left eye has been rather troublesome and boy did the eye test reveal that one! I kept guessing and trying and not succeeding. My entourage was having great fun at my expense. I now know how it feels to be that kid in class who doesn't know the answers and never raises hand and chooses not to participate. After a while, I wanted out of there! Turns out my eyes are pretty allergic and my left eye is worse than the right one...liquid gold antihistamine is going to help that out. Anyway, at one point I had to shout, "Quiet entourage!"

The technician kept asking, "C'mon which is clearer?" And I would reply, "I don't know anymore!" "I can't be corrected!" After much blinking, I found the clearer lens! Thank goodness. I wasn't really sure I could make it happen for a while there.

So, there it is...I HAD to have new glasses...so much for finally being able to wear sunglasses again. They will have to wait. Again.

Then began the quest for new frames. This time I went alone on a Saturday to pick out the ones I like best. I took a poll among friends and random strangers. I stared at the cell phone pictures all weekend and dashed off on Monday morning to make the final decision and order them. Entourage in tow. I ended up trying on a pair very similar to these only they had squared off frames. Rectangular frames are IT right now and my face does not look so good with a rectangle. But I tried on the ones I figured I was getting and a few other options. One that I sort of liked both of my little boys told me, "You look like an old man." Fabulous. I didn't even make old lady status.

Without further ado, my new glasses:

I'm peering over them so you can see the very cool turquoise on the inside. Yeah...they are that cool. Also, notice my hair...had those awesome streaks put in there and then everything just lightens up. Still the caramel brown color doesn't fade. I told my hairdresser this last Monday when I had it cut that I wanted whiter blond next time. I know...I cannot be stopped. Truth be told, one streak was the super bleached and the other was more golden.

Here is another look. Mom and Dad... I picked one of the ones you didn't like. I hope it'll be ok...

As a side note, these are Op brand. Where are my 80s sisters out there?? Have you noticed the resurgence of the Op branding? Except now you can find Op in walmart. What now? You would never have seen Op in walmart (or kmart back in the day) ever. Dan joked that was the reason I picked them. Because they are Op. While it does fill my 80s sensibilities, I chose them because they were the least offensive to me. Picking glasses is hard. Such a permanent accessory! This same frame comes with a purple "underside", but I liked the turquoise so much better. It pops. I like pop.

Also, I thought I had learned my lesson when my eyes had been really sort of aching at the end of the day two years ago leading up to the first time I got glasses. Then this time I spent several months trying to clean my glasses into submission. So, here is my official advice...when that sort of thing happens, don't wait until your "appointed time". Go early for the check up and deal with it.

One thing I've noticed recently is that I have to take my glasses off to read. I wear my glasses for distance. I'd say this has been happening for about 3 months or so. Need to take them off to see more clearly the words on a page. So, my eye doctor gave me what I call the "old eyes pamphlet". It appears that I am on the slippery slope to reading glasses which will mean bifocals. I'll be on the lookout for fuzzy words. Dr gives me 8 to 10 years before I need them. Really? That's what he said about glasses for my astigmatism. He told me not before 40 and I'm on my second "scrip" before 40. Ahem.

So, the other day I went looking for a strap for my glasses. I'm not sold on it, but this way I won't have to put my glasses down when I take them off to read...so I was discussing this with J5 the other day. He said, "Mommy I have seen people at church with strings on their glasses." Knowing what he was implying I asked, "Are they old ladies?" He confirmed my suspicions.

The moral of the story is...pay attention to your eyes and don't wait to get glasses! I love mine and they sharpened my distance vision immediately!! Amazing how the air is much clearer. I stand by my original observation that maybe we don't have smog...we just need glasses. However, with an astigmatism the closer range vision with new glasses takes some adjustment. Everything within 3ft of me is like the fun house. At least this time it isn't as dramatic and I haven't fallen off any curbs yet! I've been at it since Thursday and everything is less weird so things are looking up.

One last lesson...moms leave your entourage at home. Especially if you suspect your vision has changed. You don't need the extra pressure. Trust me.

Fun Classroom Finds: Part 1

So, as you now know, I've spent this past week embroiled in a massive reorganization effort prompted by Dan...not me this time. One of his tasks for me was to go through my classroom stash again to finally get rid of any or all of it that I did not need for homeschooling. Admittedly, this stash had taken up 3 large shelves in our tiny space (and I've gone through this stuff twice before in the last ten years) and really any spot of storage in 1400 some odd sq ft is prime real estate. It was time.

I got 9+ boxes of science classroom stuff down to about 3 boxes which I can use now (I used to teach 6th grade general science and 7th grade life science) because I have a 5th and 7th grader or I can toss it once and for all. In other words, I'm either using these materials in our homeschool or it has to go now. Fair enough...I hate parting with classroom things though. Sigh. A vestige of an era gone by. I've been home from the classroom for 12 years now. Wow.

Along the way, I found some gems. The one below kept my hair out of my face while I continued to dig through boxes! Behold the "game hat".

Whenever I had a cooperative game planned for the day, I would greet the students at the door this way or I would put it on when I announced the game. Oh look kids, "It's brain teaser time!"

I had other tags too...I learned about the fly swatter game in graduate school. Yes, you read that right. Grad school...and I found the flies. That deserves its own post. So worth it.

So, my kids wanted to know why the students thought this was a big deal. I mean, whenever they saw me with this "hat" on, they got excited because something fun was going to happen. Dan had to explain to them why a kid in a school might find this exciting which made me laugh!

Stay tuned for more classroom funnies!

Possibly a Mid-Life Crisis...

...at 39. But I love it.

A little bolder...

...blond and caramel brown highlights

So I hope I can pull it off.

Look what J5 Can Do!

So, this makes it official... He's big.

I've now made it through several milestones four times.

• birth
• potty training
• two wheel bike riding

And he's well on his way to reading on his own too.

Oh my.

Where does the time go?

And just so you know...this is the kid we'll need the "bmx" stunt bike for. I can tell already. He doesn't cry if he falls and laughs when he does something accidentally cool. And he is always pushing the edge.

What's next? Starting kindergarten? Losing teeth?

Oh I'm in trouble.

15 Years Ago...

Dan asked me to marry him.
At the school where I taught
In front of 170 6th and 7th graders
On a Friday afternoon just before the start of Memorial Day Weekend,
1995

Thanks for asking Dan.
I love you!

Grill Intervention

It was a pleasant, somewhat sunny Sunday afternoon and friends were planning to join us after church for some lunch and hanging out. My friend and I had discussed on a few occasions the day before what the menu would be and the plan for the get together. At one point she had mentioned rotisserie chicken since we couldn't grill. I explained that we had tons of meat, but we could not grill.

After years of using this old green Sunbeam grill, Dan had decided that it might be time to give it up. The grill is 12 years old. We got it just after buying our first house- back in Virginia. Three years ago now I think, the kids and I bought Dan a whole bunch of things to refurbish it- new burner, new grate, a new cover, some tools for the trade.

But still...it was getting bad. Really bad. The front of the grill was no longer attached to the frame so when the wind was blowing Dan had to hold down the front of the grill with his bbq fork while he grilled with the top up. Plus, you had to open it s-l-o-w-l-y. Sometimes flames would shoot out the back when the wind blew. And lately, he had to do a lot of flipping because there was only one tiny place where any flame would cook.

I'd been bugging him for a while to get a new grill, but no. Every year he says, "I'll wait till the sales in the fall." Then he doesn't get one. However, the last time he cooked a steak, he ran out of gas and hasn't replaced it. He finally said, "I think the grill is done." But that didn't mean he was going to buy a new one! FYI- frugality is a recent trait in my husband likely brought on by four kids and one income...he was not at all like this when we got married. Which begs the question why we didn't start with a super stainless steel model in the first place....come to think of it.

So, back to our get together...when Lisa and I settled the final plans for Sunday she said, "Do you mind if we bring the bbq?" Naturally I said no and considered what cooked, bbq-ed meat she might be bringing so I could have the right sides to go with it.

Turns out she meant "bring the bbq"! So, when they drove into our yard with a cart and a grill in it I started laughing! I knew the cart was coming with them because they've been taking some old tree trunks from us, but when I looked up and saw the grill in the back I knew...we were having a bbq!

So...Matt decided to stage a grill intervention on Dan. Since this was their spare grill (for camping only) and it was taking up precious shed space he would insist on leaving it with us and taking our grill away for good. He offered to take our grill with him...something about an upcoming "metal day" at the local dump.

Dan protests- saying good bye is hard.

He commits to letting it go. Ultimately, Dan remembered that the grill wasn't attached to the base and when they braked, it would fly forward so they turned the top on it's side and about 10 pounds of rust fell to the bottom of the cart. It was bad.

The spare grill- Matt will arrive Sunday after church to retrieve it any time they are going camping. The new grill is a loaner...Dan would only take it knowing he was helping a friend with a storage problem.

He made Matt promise to take his grill to a place where there are wide open fields and lots of grilling going on. Matt sent us this photo of our grill upon arrival at the farm. The caption read:

And here my story ends. My troubles are all over, and I am at home; and often before I am quite awake,I fancy I am still on the deck gazing through the window at the family that I loved so.

As for Dan...he told me this morning that he plans to catch some grills on sale this fall. Of course.

Baseball 2010

We have been entirely too busy with baseball over the last four weeks and with only two weeks to go I thought I'd share a few fun shots.

All three boys are playing this year and because of the different leagues they are in and the nights they play, we are at the ball field four nights a week. We were supposed to do some travel games, but most of the Saturday games have been canceled- by the grace of God.

Unfortunately, the season is nearly over and we've missed a lot of games due to snow and rain and general miserableness. It's true. Then most of the other games have been played in 40 degree windy weather which I'm hear to tell you is fine for football, but NOT for baseball!

J4 is playing teeball for the first time. I don't know that he'll be back for more. he's hot and cold with it. They've started batting while being pitched at and he's a hitter. Most of the time.

I7 is playing on the minor leagues after two years at coach pitch. He started teeball at 4yo like J4 has. He's playing catcher here which, as he realized, is not the place for a kid who doesn't like to be aggressive about...catching. Ahem. Also, he had to use his regular mitt since they didn't have a leftie catcher's mitt.

E11 is playing his second season on majors. He's such a good fielder often playing second base and short stop. Here he is this past week in right field.

Reportedly, I7's favorite time of baseball is sitting on the bench. Let that sink in...

E11's batting is really improving. In this game he hit one double and two singles and was completely hosed by the ref on one hit with a bad call. He just needs to work on not hitting the ball down the first base line. One step at a time I guess.

I7 at second base. Let's just say this was not a busy spot that night. Hitters were few and FAR between.

Thankfully, we'll be done with the season in two weeks. Seems quick even though day to day it is NOT at all quick. With games at 6pm, we usually walk down because parking is so bad and that means dinner is early and without Dan. A Total Stink.

So, I'll be glad for some peaceful evenings again, but it's been fun to see the boys enjoy the sport. Well for E11 to enjoy the sport! The other boys not so much.

Family Evenings

So, it's baseball season. This year that means we are at the ball fields 4 nights a week. We have to be at the fields by 5:45pm and we are there until 7 or 8pm. It depends on whether or not it's a teeball or baseball night. J4 plays teeball on Mondays and Wednesdays. Young I know, but he soooo wanted to play the big boys. With it being football weather so far this season, they play a few innings and we all go home.

The older boys are in the minors or majors league and play on Tuesday and Thursday nights. It has been freezing this season so far and we play ball until 8pm! Brrr!! I7 has decided he's through with standing in the field for two hours. E11, on the other hand, LOVES to play ball. His hitting is getting better, but he is an excellent fielder.

Being out almost every weeknight is no fun, but the season is short. It only goes through the first week of June. That will come up quickly. I hope. In addition to the cold, it's been rainy so we lucked out on Wednesday with teeball being rained out. Instead, we had a family evening at home. I thought it would be fun to share our evening.

Dan and E11 played Bananagrams and then they were together on this linear algebra problem. E11 was working on graphing an equation from some college admission statistics- an assignment from MIRL (Math in Real Life). He did great on his own with cell phone plans, but this one gave him a problem to start. Yesterday he finished it up without Dan successfully.

R9 was trying to finish InkSpell.

J4 worked on his castle using castle cards.

I7 and I played the Catan Card Game. He'd been asking all day. Ever played? It plays a lot like regular Catan only you move cards instead of all the little pieces and it's only for two players.

He likes to get knights, but I like victory points so ultimately I won.

It was a lovely evening and I'm glad we had a one night respite. Spending all evening outdoors wouldn't be a drag if it was warm!!! But 45 degrees and wind stinks. For everyone. Looking forward to the end of the season when we can all relax.

Really?

April in upstate NY...

Jumping Rope

So the kids have really been into jump roping lately and I decided I was really tired of the lame ropes we have in the house- the kind you find at walmart are not really great for new learners.

I looked around to see where I could get a decent rope and I ordered some with a reportedly good throw from Rainbow Resource and I am not disappointed!

R9 is a natural. We really enjoyed watching the jumpers in last semester's jump rope class at co-op night. How many of you have a jump roping class at co-op?? They learned all kinds of tricks too. Still at recess every Monday, my kids love to take turns at the rope- all but E11 that is. He usually plays football with the older kids.
E11 managed to get the hang of it after the first few jumps. He's competitive enough that he won't let others do better than he does- not without a fight anyway!
I had to take a turn...who can resist? I turned around and around too. I wonder what else we can try. I think I'll take this picture to my next dr's appt so when he asks what type of exercise I'm doing I can say I'm jumping rope with my kids (also the treadmill but that's not as amusing).
I7 is a super jumper! He even turned around and around! When he jumps a single rope he looks like a boxer- no little jumps in between.
Would you believe J4 can jump a rope?? I was going to start him doing the side to side jump thing and he insisted I just throw it around. He did it! You haven't seen cute until you've seen a 4yo skip rope.

The rope stash- we have two 8' ropes and one 16' rope. We have purple, pink and blue. I avoided the nice green one because I7 is colored blind (definitely green) and I wanted to be sure he could see it well.
I ordered up tons of jump rope books so we could learn some new rhymes and tricks. I'm also excited about this little resource.

The Ultimate Homeschool Physical Education Game Book was written by a phys ed teacher to accommodate the small groups with kids of differing age groups. Does that sound like a homeschool family or what?

This is all in an effort to enjoy our membership to the Y as a family without always using the pool and the cardio room. I found the perfect time to go is early afternoon before the after-school programs begin. This will be great fun on muddy spring days and rainy summer ones.

So, what are you waiting for? Run to get your own fun jump ropes and pick up a new rhyme!