school for antsy boys

 Every now and then my boys are a bit reluctant to sit down in a chair at a desk with a pencil in hand and workbook in front of them.  And by "every now and then" what I really mean is "nine times out of ten".  When this happens, sometimes I force the issue and other times I switch tactics mid-sentence.  This time I went with the latter.  I colored 12 or so spots in this egg carton with 12 (or so) different crayola markers. 

Then I wrote the color names as well as number names on separate slips of paper.  Boy1's job was to match the words to their color or digit and then help boy2 with his job was to search the house for little objects to match each color.  They both did well and were more than ready to settle down for the rest of our bins by the time all the scavenging was complete.  Bonus: I had a chance to finish the dishes I'd started washing during breakfast.  Boy3 wisely kept himself out of the way, choosing instead to practice his screwdriver and hammer skills on a spare piece of wood.

Thank goodness I have only 3 pupils; I don't know what I'd do with 25 antsy kiddos!

Spiced Pumpkin Waffles

I have a recipe just for you! This is one of our favorite breakfasts, whether fresh from the griddle or toasted straight from the freezer.  The original recipe came from a site called MomAdvice (which I've never been to, but that's what the watermark on the original pic says).  I've modified it enough to feel justified in calling it my own recipe now though, so here you go :)

The night before:
mix together:
1 2/3 c milk +2T orange juice (or substitute kefir or sour milk)
1 1/2 c. whole wheat flour
4T melted coconut oil

*note* you can skip the above step if you want and just start in the morning.  It helps with digestion, but is probably not critical for consumption ;-p  you can also substitute butter for the oil.

In the morning, add:
3t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1 t nutmeg
1 t ginger
1 pinch of salt (1/8 t)
2 eggs
2 t molassas (or brown sugar)
1 c pumpkin puree

Mix together, cook on your waffle iron.  Greasing the griddle not critical if you use coconut oil.  Be careful to let them cook long enough (4-5 minutes) or they will be a gloppy mess and not come off your griddle nicely or be as delicious. 

Best served with coffee in a pretty mug and children just out of camera's eye view

for all the bed stuff.

So our church is having a makeover (new sanctuary!) and part of the project involved removing the old pews to either repurpose or sell.  This past weekend my studly hubby unscrewed a few of the Bible/hymnal racks from the backs of a few pews and handed them to me with a "you had better come up with a use for these fast or they're going back" look on his face.  I'm pretty sure I'm not the only wife in all of creation to ever get that look ;-p  Yesterday I screwed them into the wall next to the bed for 2 of my boys.  I thought perhaps they were for books, but apparently toys also fit quite nicely so there you have it. I love them! There may or may not be 2 more in the basement.  :) 

appreciating the mediocre photos

because right now, they're all I have.  Last week my laptop had a midlife crisis and the hard drive committed suicide, taking with it 3 years worth of bookmarks, downloads, and pictures.  For someone who documents the minutiae of life in an attempt to create a virtual memory bank to draw on in old age (seriously.  almost every memory I have of my own childhood is tied to a photo my mom took of that moment.  If she didn't have a camera back then, my memories would be numbered on one hand.), this is devastating.  I have been telling myself that 100 years ago people didn't even have cameras, but it is not helping.  Knowing what I am losing is hard.

                              (last week we also all had the flu.  talk about adding insult to injury. some of us recovered better than others)

people: back up your computers.  It's easy.  It doesn't take long.  You can do it online, or to a separate hard drive.

(one part of the required outfit for an aspiring astronaut: a shirt with the main constellations on it.  self-satisfied smirk not required)

                      (more astronaut gear:
swim vest temperature controlled underlayer,
snowpants space pants,
camo baby mittens and police helmet super special space gloves and helmet. not shown: the backpack full of
water bottles air tanks.)

anyway, here are a few of the pics taken the last few days that would never have made it onto the blog pre-crash.

                      (this particular morning everyone wanted to work at the school table together)

I will not apologize for blur, lack of artistic positioning, or junk in the background.  I will cherish the little memories that each offers, and share them with you.

                                            (we read a lot of books.  we like most of them)

Because really? I bet about 5 people will read this blog, 1 will comment, and nobody will ever nominate me for popular blogger of the month.  So if all I'm doing here is archiving memories for my own personal enjoyment, so be it =)

                                        (mom and baby giraffe. you can pet them if you want.)

snipping with scissors.

 Some call this kind of thing early Montessori*.  I call it oops-the-baby-found-the-scissors.  And the jar of homemade bookmarks (a.k.a. 1/2" strips of colored paper with a hole punched in the top. a.a.k.a. #1's first moneymaking scheme).

 After working on it for quite awhile on his own I noticed he was becoming a bit frustrated and offered to help.  "No mom I do NOT want help." was his quick reply. So I went back to my work with #1.  About two minutes after that #3 finally relented and asked for help.

 A quick lesson in "thumbs up" for scissors later and he was off and running...er...cutting.  Either way it was a total success. 

#2 offered to help hold the strips and provide moral support.

and now my floor is covered in little pieces of multicolored construction paper. The things I sacrifice to let my littles learn for themselves how to function in this big world...

 Maybe tomorrow I'll set out a blank piece of paper, a brush (with half the handle cut off for ease of use) and a little cup with some watered down elmer's glue. Maybe.

*there are many other blogs I could reference, but this gal has a huge archive and was one of the first places I looked for activities when #1 was almost 2.

a vintage kitchen, one fire hazard at a time.

 Sit right down and I'll tell you a story.  No, not the story of that kid on the tv show in Bel Aire.  This story is much...smokier.  With no rap. You're welcome.

This is the pan of bean enchiladas that my oven baked perfectly. Side note: why does all the tastiest food look so gross?

Right after these came out of the oven, a loaf soaked sourdough whole wheat bread went in. It was nicely risen and smelled like it was going to be great.  WELL.  If you've been following some of my recent fb updates, you will not be surprised to know that at this exact moment my old stove went haywire. again. The temperature sensor quit working, the heating element shot up to 500+ degrees, and the whole thing refused to quit until the bread was burned, the house filled with smoke, and I finally realized we had a problem and I had to go downstairs and flip the breaker switch again. ugh.
Enter my new friend, Ms.  Shaw, and her lovely Bargain Bowl.  New oven: $20. 

I had to laugh when I realized that not only was the "new" oven older than me, it also matched my counters perfectly. 

 And, it turns out, my entire decorating aesthetic for the kitchen.

 About 2 hours after the old lady was properly installed I had a curried lentils and rice dish on top of the stove and a cobbler of some sort in the oven.  I am happy to report that nothing blew up!
the end.

still pinning

Sometimes hanging up the laundry to dry feels like one more chore to add to my busy day. I wonder why I can't bring myself to use the dryer sitting in my back entry like "normal" people. My fingers freeze as October takes hold. I know that inside chaos reigns, schoolwork forgotten the moment that storm door clicked shut. There's rain in the forecast, so I also know this particular load will probably receive a second rinse before I can make it out to the line again. If a certain little boy would finish potty training most of this load wouldn't have needed washing...and on and on I could go.

 Other days I feel deeply appreciative that my father sunk posts for my "new" laundry lines on one of his very first visits to this house. It is a birthday gift that I have used week in and week out in the past year. I have doubtless saved hundreds on my utility bills. It feels good to be outside, all alone with my thoughts for just a few minutes. Schoolchildren need regular breaks; it helps their little brains coalesce information. The leaves are at peak and I would never have noticed the neighbors tree were I not pinning socks just now.  We are blessed with enough clothing that I could go days between loads and still potty train a two year old. There is no smell in the world like clothes fresh off the line and no sound like the snap of a towel in the brisk fall breeze.  I daydream about countless mothers before me doing this very task.  I hang contentedly.

Make Way for Ducklings PreK pack

 Last year I made a bunch of Tot Packs and Preschool Packs for my boys to share. Many of them came from Carisa (links on the sidebar to tot and preschool packs etc) and Jolanthe (look at her PreK and K corner, and then under "printables"), but there are TONS out there on other blogs. It was fun figuring out how many folders to dedicate to each pack and how to arrange them for maximum use.  Every pack I made was a hit, and now as I bring them out again it is fun to see how each boy has progressed both in ability and interest.

This year I have only added one mini "pack" to the collection, and it is one I created myself! I took a few pics in case anyone else wanted them, and also because I am happy with how it turned out.  Let me know if you have ideas for how to expand it...my motivation kind of fizzled there at the end.

This book is pretty readily available at the library, but if you want to buy it, follow Jessica's link to amazon (please and thank you) :)

P(1st) can do these in order without the book as reference, but C(preK) needed the guide.

 how is my puzzle already missing a piece??

 On the left you see how I've glued an envelope to the folder for the puzzle.  On the right I added a bunch of hand drawn ducks to the page and laminated it so my boys can find and circle, and will (eventually) print off and cut out a bunch of duck cards to practice addition, subtraction, more than/less than, patterning, etc.

 the words say, "How did the Mallard family cross the road?" and the object is to trace the lines.

 I wrote one consonant on each page of this flip book and stapled them to the page.  Most of the words are goofy, but it does reinforce the beginning sounds concept, which is what I was going for.

 This is a copywork page.  Note: if you're going to be hole punching and putting pages in a folder, don't start writing at the left margin like I did!

 This is a double sided page (I didn't take a pic of the back though) of measuring questions.  I also included page numbers for where P can find each item to be measured so he can practice that.  I suppose this could have gone in a page protector for multiple use...but I got lazy.  We'll erase.

 This is a coin game.  Heads=go one space, tails=go two spaces. 

so...whaddya think?

Fall in adjectives

 crunchy

 rare*

tenacious

crusty

nourishing

tart

cozy

*October sabbatical

raising the roof

There was a "men's fellowship gathering" at my house yesterday.  The pastor was offering free lessons in how to install steel roofing.  Not many showed up--probably because the weather was awful!--but those that did were treated to donuts, hot cider, hands-on training, and chili and cornbread for lunch.  I was a bad blogger and didn't get pictures of my spotless kitchen and yummy food, but trust me, it was clean we our bellies were full.  Also, as a fun byproduct of said gathering, tin was successfully installed on the back half of our house!  All that remains is the schoolroom (former porch) roof, which should take less than a day, especially if the sun is shining! 

 hooray for no more leaking bedroom ceiling/window! Thanks Jim, Pastor Buck, Dad and Deputy Daddy!

a birthday story

In honor of my third son's second birthday, I thought maybe I'd finally get around to posting his birth story, as typed into blogger draft two years ago.  Better late than never, right?

 Exodus 1:19 The midwives answered Pharaoh, "Hebrew women are not like Egyptian women; they are vigorous and give birth before the midwives arrive."

Ok, here goes. Did y'all know I always dreamed of a homebirth? Yup.  But, we live at least a half hour from the nearest hospital, so it really was a pipe dream and not much more.  Even with 2 spectacular births that could have gone unassisted under my belt, I am not foolish enough to think that guarantees success every single time.  So I saw my midwife throughout my pregnancy and planned to leave for the hospital once I was sure labor was underway.  I am...how shall I put this...confident in my own birthing knowledge and abilities enough that I was pretty sure I could remain in charge no matter the location, and comfortable knowing that if the need arose, I'd already be in the right place for professional help.

Well.  September 24 I woke up around 1:45 a.m. with a contraction. I went to sit on the toilet awhile (sorry guys) because that's where I seem to be the most comfortable during labor. French braided my hair to keep my hands busy.  Funny the things we remember.  Anyway, by the time I figured out this was the real deal, it was just past 2:30. I called my star babysitters and woke Dan up a little while later.  He came into the bathroom to assess the situation and called the midwife, who said that she'd meet us either on the highway or at the hospital. My mother wanted to meet us at our house, and promised to hurry.  By the time D was ready to go, I suggested that maybe it was a little late for car trips, so he called the midwife again.  While they were talking (3:24ish), Benjamin crowned.  D tried to listen to a few directions from Robin, until I informed him that if he was on the phone while I delivered our son I'd never let him live it down.  He hung up quickly and helped me off the toilet to the floor. Just in time too, because when my mom walked in the door at 3:30 a.m. baby was already out and I was once again on my porcelain throne! The babysitters had apparently arrived in time to hear me tell D to hang up, but were polite enough not to barge into an already full bathroom.

Everyone hung out for a few minutes and marveled at what had just happened.  

 My mom snapped a few pics. 

 Eventually we decided to call the ambulance (vs. driving ourselves to the hospital), because I knew that the insurance company would not cover anything that happened to me or the baby if we had planned a homebirth.  

 One benefit of giving birth in the same area you grew up in and having a volunteer fireman as a husband: Our assistant pastor's wife was EMT in charge.  

 Another benefit: I was able to bully convince the crew let us hang out at home for well over half an hour before finally ordering me onto the bus.  

We got to the hospital with no trouble, and once there Benjamin Cole was officially declared healthy and presumably normal.  

 I, on the other hand, bled a bunch and fainted a few times.  

 I think it was from being in the ambulance and then in bed (and therefore not losing blood at a normal rate, but in big gushes.  again, sorry guys) and my midwife said that was very likely.  Whatever the reason, it was convenient to have my midwife and EMT SIL there to obsess over monitor me and hold B!  

 My mother-in-law lives about five minutes from the hospital, so we ended up going to her house about 4 hours after getting to the hospital, where I immediately went to bed for the rest of the morning. phew!  

 By the way, you can thank Granny Boo for the apropos verse up there.  And when the other two boys came for a visit that afternoon, they liked him too. 

The end.