Counting down the days

Who can remember thinking...

By this time next week, I'll be back in school

By this time next week, I'll be out of school

By this time next week, I'll have graduated college

By this time next week, we'll be on vacation

By this time next week, I'll be driving my new car

By this time next week, we'll be married

By this time next week, we'll be in our 1st apartment

By this time next week, I'll have started my new job

By this time next week, the baby will be here

By this time next week, life will never be the same 

By this time next week.......

This week in what we aren't talking about

This is a tree, but we aren't talking about it.

No, I am not in denial,& when I say I have very little idea what is going in on, it is the truth.

I am the one in charge of what we are not talking about, & while I am reassured everyday by the pieces of fancy paper on my walls, saying I am one smart cookie, I don't feel like it.

Why we aren't talking about, what we aren't talking about:

We have been trying for a very long time to not talk about things, & would hate to invite bad energy into things now.

So we aren't talking about it.

We can, however, talk about this window all-the-live-long-day.

If you were hoping to be invited over to gaze longingly at my stained glass, you are just going to have to give up that dream.

Also, our address will not now, or ever, include the words, 'Wank Avenue'. Because there was a serious possibility it might.

I need a wig, bigger trousers & a stiff drink

Rumor has it, we are buying a house.

But we aren't talking about it.

I can't remember the last time I slept more than 4 hours straight.

My hair is falling out.

I am not sure if the night sweats are brought on by anxiety or menopause.

I may be suffering from a perpetual heart attack, brain aneurysm, or early on set dementia.

Please don't ask what my cortisol levels are.

I am living on breakfast cereal, good (birthday) chocolate and Mt. Dew Lemonade.

The plan has been expedited by about 6 months, which means that I am frantically trying to pay off the rest of our credit card debt- and getting really close!

If this works out we will be moving about 10 days before Hanukkah- blessedly not a commercialized, present-y holiday like all Gentiles believe it to be. But that means, that the commercialized, Holiday cousin is right there, too.

Hip, hip, hooray for the inter-faith Family!

Let's hope this doesn't go down in a raging blizzard.  

    

Elsa- Quick, Cheap & easy

The Royal Princess asked to be Elsa for Halloween.

I don't know about you, but I don't have the $$$$$ laying around to outfit my munchkins in store bought costumes.

If I can't make it at home or get it really cheap on Amazon, then there has to be a 2nd choice.

In less than an hour, for less than $10, using only basic sewing skills, this was quick, cheap & easy Elsa dress.

Supplies:

Tank top 1 size too big 

enough material to make a tube skirt

enough material to make the cape/train

glittery ribbon

fray check

Sewing machine & thread to match

Let's Go!

Firstly, get your filmy cape material, & after guessing at the dimensions needed ( leaving extra to gather at the top to make it flowy), douse the edges in fray check (remember to put cardboard under it!)

This will keep your seams from coming unraveled later.

Hang your cape somewhere to dry.

Find a good tutorial explaining how to make a tank top dress- it is almost the exact same thing!

Using the same idea, make a long tube skirt, & attach to your tank.

Remember- right sides together!

When your cape is dry, gather along the top edge & pin to your tank. Eyeball it, just anywhere that looks good to you.

Using a quick needle and thread, hand stitch the cape to the tank.

Cut your glittery ribbon to a length long enough to cover your handy work- leaving enough at the end to tuck under.

Sew.

You are almost there!

If you have ribbon left over, & everyone agrees- add some around the waist.

Ta-Da!

Toss  some white long Johns underneath for a toasty finishing touch!

Milestones

Buying a house is like buying a wedding dress-

regardless of what you or anyone else thinks you should end up with,

you will instantly know it is the one.

Buying a house is also like childbirth- even if I grew that baby for 10 months,

 I still couldn't even fathom it, until they were here.

If I was ever on Jeopardy: Here comes the Bride Finale or how I messed up the Fall holidays, for $600

Well, what we can take away from the last 6 months, is nothing really ever goes according to plan, so when it does, it's a very pleasant surprise.

This is not that kind of story, though, I suppose everything worked out in the end, and so that really qualifies for a happy ending.

The short version- we ended up being unable to travel out of state for our Friends wedding  :(

But, no one died, so win!

Long version- 

The week before we were supposed to leave, our beloved GPH came up lame with some blood clots in his lungs, & our Aunt Lady, preggo with #3, was encouraged to hang out near home due to some health complications (read about it here!)

But it all worked out in the end, & the kids were able to wear their snazzy clothes for 

Erev Rosh Hashanah, when you are supposed to wear fancy new clothes anyway.

That is where it started down the hill.......

What is wrong this picture, you say? Look closely at the water pump with Henry's thumb stuck in it.....

Sorry, going to be late, son is stuck to water pump.

There was a brief parting of the the clouds when these little morsels of yum turned out.....

But, by then I had been cleaning house & children, cooking & running around a-l-l day.

By the time we made it to Temple that evening, the kids were absolutely wired & I was absolutely exhausted.

Somewhere along the way, they all decided they were getting chilly & tired (it was cold & late)

so the obvious answer, was to pile on Mom. 

Later, the Rabbi asked if I had liked her remarks, and while I am sure I heard something, I was busy not dropping sleeping children- who of course woke up for the Oneg.....

By the time we got home it was almost 11.......

Rosh Hashanah morning dawned bright & early!!!!

Husband had work stuff, so he trotted off before I so much as moved, which left me with an entourage & hours of religious service to get through.

So we played a drinking game.

The Temple has a lovely, big pipe organ & choir loft. Since we only use the big sanctuary for the High Holidays, they go all out- everything is spit shined, & a choir is found.

When you only do this once a year, you really make the most of it, & if you pay for a choir, darn it, you want to hear it.

When you are a small person, or the parent of a small person, you really wish that they could speed up all the lovely singing and include a toe tapper.

If you are me & trying to survive, you hand your children a piece of fancy organic Apple Honey candy every time the music starts (bonus for at least keeping with the theme!)

Along about 2 1/2 hours in, I got a little cocky. There were only a few more pages in the Machzor- the finish was in sight.

I had been invited to the Bima to read a prayer for our country & congregation.

I didn't die, throw up, or mess it up too terribly, but this left certain people unattended.

I am pleased to say, no one got up, ran around, or screamed inappropriate things.

Was fairly certain at this point that I was winning.....

George felt otherwise. 

Bubble bursted.....

Moving on, because there are plenty of Fall Holidays to mess up.....

Yom Kippur

While not a horrible blunder, one that would cause the Rabbi to sigh like she does so often when I mess things up-

Mary wore the (formerly catholic) family 1st communion gown.

It worked out nicely, that her bestie was wearing a formerly-also-Christian white dress, though we could never settle on which event.

Also, I finally got my toe tapper in Oseh Shalom, & may or may not have have been excited to hear that big organ rock out (my exact words).

Because there is still more.....

I have never really understood why the Jews felt the need to tack on another holiday, but they have.

Sukkot

something of a harvest festival, requiring you build a three sided tent with an open top, in which you can recline to study Torah, & eat your meals- preferably with people you have invited over.

Someone (me) had the wise idea to get the local Jewish community together for a shin dig, for which we required a Sukkah (tent)

We tried-

Having actually never done one before, for being exhausted & for being out of Jewish Holiday money, it's really not too shabby. Do all of us a favor & don't google the  pretty ones.

But, we all survived. I can't say that anyone has a particularly revived spirit for the New Year, but it's safe to say, that we all have a wonderful sense of accomplishment for having made it.

Matisyahu: We'll take it

My parents have 6 grandbabies, 4 of whom share a birthday week. In the years past, we have tried to separate the birthday celebrations, but with the recent addition of #4 after a dramatic pregnancy, we were either in hospital, just too tired, or both.

This years cake shared by #1, 2 & 4, reads  'Happy Birthdays'.

Lucas (#1) & Henry (#2) celebrated their birthday adventure together by being hip, & young at a Matisyahu concert.

Matisyhau is about Henry's most favorite musical person currently. So we were all really excited!

The concert venue was a really cool city block, with a bar & grill on the North side, the open stage on the South side, and picnic tables spread here & there in the middle.

It was really great to be able to get yummy food (I could swim in the hummus) & have access to a real toilet, on such a nice night.

The downside to being hip & young-

 I saw westboro for the first time in my life. Amazing, considering that I lived in Kansas, where they sadly have originated, for 22 years. It was a great chance to talk to the boys about hate & how much G-d loves you bunches.

There were pot takers. I am proud to say that doing drugs was a deviance that I avoided. Not once had I ever knowingly been around anyone taking pot, or anything else.

Young people in love.....I can remember being that age and totally ambivalent to anything going on around me, but my time was before twerking & gyrating became common place.

The opening band, funnily enough, was called 'Radical Something'. I spent a lot of the evening referring to them as 'Radically Something', as in, I know there was a 2nd word, but I couldn't remember it. If I was less old, and significantly more hip then I ever was, maybe I would have enjoyed their music more. They seemed to be big fans of certain words & certain fingers, that gave my Mommy heart palpitations. I didn't have enough hands to cover 4 eyes or 4 ears at once- thankfully, I think the boys missed most of the words. They were very peppy & energetic performers, specially enjoyed by the drunk Jimmy Buffet Grandpa behind us. 

Then this happened------>

And it was magic!

The music was great, even better when it was a song that we recognized.

As far as performers go, I was surprised by the amount of not talking. There is usually a friendly banter going on between songs.

Having only been to concerts featuring country acts after rodeos, & never having been to a reggae rap show before, maybe that's just how it goes. I don't know.

There was a funny exchange when the drunk guy in the back started yelling for a song that had been done already.

Somehow we made it to the end. Both boys were done in, & it was way past bedtime. Henry's poor feet, even in his new fancy shoes, were pretty achy. 

I kept encouraging them for just 1 more song, just one more. 

& we made it!

Matis finished his song, & walked off stage to wait for the encore. Because of the section we were in, we were able to go around the corner, right where he was- just separated by a chain link fence. I knew we weren't going to hang around by the buses to meet him, so I did the only thing to be done-->

I pushed Henry up to the fence & shouted, 'This is Henry & it's his birthday!'

Then the clouds (of smoke) parted and Matisyahu came up to the fence, & I thought Henry was going to fall over.

& in what seemed like slow motion, he reached over the fence, shook Henry's hand and wished him a happy birthday.

Time stopped.

As the Mom, I would have given my spleen to have Henry's song played, & a picture of them together.  

But, to have those 3 totally engaged seconds, probably could never have been topped, & I don't think anyone who witnessed the interaction will soon forget it.

Thank you to everyone who made this such a special night!

Epic Weekend part the 2nd, section A: Why I mow a lot of grass

For the last, almost 2 years, we have been fortunate enough to live as caretakers at a YouthRanch.

We get to play ponies everyday, and be a part of the lives of the families receiving services here. 

We mow a lot of grass, often.

This past Saturday was the 4th annual charity fundraising horse show for the YouthRanch.

It was a combined show open to any child that wished to participate.

The local 4-H clubs and a group of our kids had a day of fun & games.

It's a super great day!

Anyone who has ever showed any animals knows how long the day can go & usually seems like you spend hours preparing for 5 minutes of actual doing.

This year was extra special-

I have been working most of these kids for the last 2 or 3 years, & to watch them literally grow up & figuratively grow in their skills has been......well, anyone that has ever watched a child grow up knows there isn't really a word for it!

This year was also special, because of our horse, Dash.

I initiated the donation of Dash to the program last fall. He has become a very important part of the program & to see his success this past weekend was pretty cool, too! 

I don't think he has ever been to a horse show before.......

But, he wasn't phased at all.

Our Team 

The weather was great, the horse was great, the kids were great.

Yep, we were all winners that day!

Epic Weekend, part the first- Date night & an Armadillo sighting

A weekend without children.....

I should have jotted some notes down as we went along....

now it is Monday, I have spent MORE time with medical professionals, & picked up MORE prescriptions at Target.

For breakfast I had a large cup of coffee with a lot, a lot, a lot

of sugar.

I survived school today with crabby, out of sorts children.

We wrote Thank You notes.

I had more giant & sugared coffee.

So, here, & mostly in pictures

Epic Weekend- Date night

Because it's better to be early, we celebrated Husbands birthday, almost an entire month early. I tried really hard to be a good sport at the Meat Emporium, but everything was doused in meat, meat bits, meat fragrances or meat juice. If it wasn't, it was smothered under flaming marshmallows & brown sugar (RIP Sweet potato) (Does anyone actually eat that?)

It was a large, expensive piece of cow, but he was happy.

My personal favorite part was sitting, almost near to this....

He was just across the bar from me, & I only had to climb (politely, it is for my blog) over a few people to take his picture. 


Then the fun really started! I am surprise the Law wasn't called....



We went to Target to pick up prescription round #1.

We went to Wal*Mart to buy fun things like------>

 &Raisin Bran.


We ended up coming away with------>

The sparkly shirt in almost the correct color for HRH Princess Elsa's Halloween costume, stay tuned.

& most importantly, delicious cupcakes

 But, by the time we got home, we were both still full & very tired.

Nothing caps off a romantic date night like falling asleep on different couches during the 10 o'clock news. 


Pretty scandalizing. Some seriously good material for a grocery store romance novel right there.

Stay tuned for the other installments, coming some time.....

A tree Grows in Brooklyn, an excerpt

A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, by Betty Smith, features an early 20th century Irish immigrant family, living in Brooklyn. 

Our snippet today, comes after the Father has passed away and the teenage children of the family, a boy & a girl, are having to get work for the summer to help support the family, to include a new baby.

The older sister, Francie, much like her mother, is a do-er, & a dreamer.

The younger brother, Neeley, is only concerned with his immediate place in the world.

It is also a well known fact that their mother, Katie, plays favorite to Neeley.

Francie spoke to Mama about school and Mama said, yes, they'd have to talk about it. They'd talk about it right after supper that night.

     After finishing their supper coffee, Katie announced needlessly that school was opening next week. "I want both of you to go to High School but it's working out that only one of you can start this fall. I'm saving every cent I can out of your pay so that next year, both of you will be back in school."...

          

       francie's lips were stiff as she spoke. So much depended on Mama, and Francie wanted her words to make a good impression. "Yes, Mama. I want to go back to school more'n I'll ever want anything in my life."...

    "Neeley doesn't want to go back to school," said Katie. She spoke to Francie almost pleadingly. "You know what the means, Francie."....."It means," said Mama, "that Neeley has to go back to school."

Discussion......Discussion.....I won't, etc........

"Because if I don't make him, he'll never go back," said Mama, "Where you, Francie, will fight and manage to get back somehow.

Accasius Page School 2014-2015

It's the first day of school!

We are firm believers that children should not go back to school until September, and holiday or not, it's Monday & it's September. 

I figure I have to labor everyday regardless, so might as well get with the program.

Though, we are fans of organic, learn with life as you go people, I suppose everyone could benefit with some book learnin' too!

So, noses in.

It has taken me forever to settle on what I wanted our learning space to be. It has been in almost every room of our house, except the bathroom, we always seemed to gravitate back to the kitchen table. I also had to work out the notion that it needed to resemble a classroom. But, who wants to live in a classroom? 

This is it. All of our official, book learning space.

Our learning board. We have our color words above, our maps, our calendar center

.

I have tried to do the very intricate calendar time previously, but was never a fan. This is simple, to the point. Today is......the end.

Our Eric Carle Alphabet. This is extra special from our Mimi & GPH. 

Some of our books, with room to grow! 

The hole left by the couch that got sold...because who needs to sit down?

We are saving up for a cute bench, in the meantime, the dogs are enjoying the cushion.

Our keys to success.... Our small library box, to hold free reading books. You can move the box & have a seat for someone naughty. But, most importantly, the teachers candy jar, aka the John Deere cookie jar- because I am never below bribing my children!

Our Pinterest maybe fail? The Princess and I made this lamp shade out of torn fabric strips & old ric-rac. It doesn't look too horrible, for where it is.....

Lawn Chairs in the reading nook= Quick, Cheap & Easy

&, most importantly, our new chore chart! 

Made using a cookie sheet, paint chip samples, clipart & some fun magnets- that just happened to be in everyone's assigned colors.

Our Curriculum

I am also super excited for this!

At the end of last year we sampled a literature based program, that they could all learn together, all at once. Which, you better believe made it so much easier! All we needed to add in was a math & reading. Everything else was wrapped up nicely with a bow & a giant price tag. EEEK!

One day, on one of my Facebook groups there were several comments about 

Build Your Library , 

a secular, literature based (almost complete) program that actually encourages teaching them all together, at a reasonable price- I would just have to locate the literature needed for all the topics, &add maths + reading.

I did purchase several (most) of the books, used from amazon. It is after all called BUILD your library! The others we will get at our local library.

Batman will also work independently on his creative writing (no official program), & will use 

Practical Spelling Gr 4, only because I thought we needed more. This is from a Mennonite Publisher, so not secular, but user friendly, & very reasonably priced (cheap&easy!). It also includes little grammar tidbits with each lesson. We do occasionally run into a specifically religious word, or a word that is unfamiliar.

The Littles, will be using Pathway Learning through sounds workbook, for phonics, &

Before we Read workbook , so that we can always finish on a high note, also Mennonite.

Before we read, features easy, student lead pages. There are no directions to overwhelm young learners, the student must decide what the goal is (comprehension).

I have been having the littles read to me at bedtime, after I have read them their bedtime stories. It seems to be working, & I have no plans to fix what isn't broken!

  

For Maths, we will continue with our Hippy-dippy Montessori program presented by Shiller Math . We started it last year & have had good success. The lessons are gentle, & usually include a manipulative or a physical movement to reinforce the idea. It's been a good fit for the boy's learning style and is just right for the young Princess (age5).  

Our Scholars 

A picture for Mommy....

How they really feel!

Happy 1st Day of School!

And, as a happy coincidence, it is also the 1st day back to school in Israel! 

Trying Hard

I'm trying hard, but I have only a vague understanding of what is going on........ &it's scary
I'm the one that is supposed to know what is going on, & I don't.
I just don't.
I don't like not knowing what is happening.
The thought of moving, once a very exciting thought, makes me what to hurl myself into oncoming traffic.
The thought of being responsible for something of that magnitude makes me want to build a pillow fort, survive solely on canned spaghetti products, & pretend I am my shoe size, not my age.

33 Armadillos

In Honor of my very favorite sisters #33rd birthday....... because they are as scary as you think & they are out to get you

1.When you care enough to send the very best, you send the birthday Armadillo

2.Just for you

3. When we were in town last night, I just happened to get this video of their kitten. Just kidding, it's an armadillo.......

.

4.Armadillo corn- here in the heartland, it's what's for dinner!

5. Don't touch your armadillo

My armadillo gave me leprosy

6.Handy how to, for doodling in the margins of TPS reports

7.Happy little trees

8.      Because, some days it's hard to be the mom!

9.The Holiday Armadillo wishes everyone a happy Shabbat!

10.In honor of our childhood friends wedding! Mazel Tov!

11.Gothic armadillos in Ecuador

12.

Scary armadillo puppet? What did I call this???? It seems to have disappeared, which is fine, it gave me nightmares......

13.Welcome Home Lucas!

14. This non-profit organization will ARMOR children against drugs, crime, and violence by presenting programs of excellence while working in partnership with churches, schools, civic organizations, media, corporations, and individuals.

read more here

15.Ruth Herman, naturalist at Prairie Park Nature Center, released an armadillo found in a Lawrence resident's window well near her property in Linwood.

16.Hey, Hey, it's Friday!

17. A Sunday funny 

18.For luck

19.Friends 

20.Keep your Armadillo dry

21.Refreshing on a hot day

22.Sending love 

23.needs no explanation....

24.and the saga continues 

25.Now in techni-color 

26.I'll believe it when armadillos fly

27.This is out there somewhere, & we are going to find it together

28. Suitable for framing 

29. 

TBT, the original choice for Stephanie Tanner's/ Uncle Jesse's room on Full House

30.

If Asher & Cupcake were featured in a storybook

31.

A Saturday Funny....

32.

Apparently, there was a raucous barber shop quartet that used to stroll Disney World, singing inappropriate songs & making comments about Princess'. they would hand out these.....

33. An epic Ending