Bloggables

The other night Bry was singing one of the songs from The Lion King.
I completed the verse by surprising him and saying:
"Quick before the hyenas come!"
Bryant's response: "Actually, it's hyen-a, Mom."
Caleb confirmed: "He's right there's no s to make it plural."
(Kind of like quail, moose or cactus).
With my feathers ruffled, I said, "Oh yeah, how do you know?"
Caleb: "Jaime, I was a school teacher for 4 years. I know lots of things."
Me: "So what, I AM a school teacher!"
We laughed and I told him that was a bloggable moment.

Then, determined to prove his intelligence on trivial matters, he went on to ask if I knew where the word "blog" came from. He informed me that it came from the term "web log". If you say it fast, you'll hear the word "blog". Good to know in case you're ever on some silly game show like "Are You Smarter Than an Ex-Fifth Grade Teacher".

When I grow up...

A few day's ago I was helping DJ with some preschool work and she said,
"You're a good colorer, Mommy! When you grow up you should be an artist!" Glad to know I still have some marketable skills.

Tonight she was in her room pretending with a mask over her mouth and she said,
"I'm a doctor!".
I happily said, "Yes, you are. You could be a doctor someday, if you wanted to."
Appalled at the belittling thought, she declared,
"No way! When I grow up I'm going to be a ballerina and a superhero."
What was I thinking? Why settle for helping the sick when you can grace the world with your dancing and stun everyone with your heroic powers???

As for home school... Wow! What a blast we're having. Don't get me wrong, it's hard work, but it is so good and so worth it. I'm learning more than I ever dreamed... hopefully the kids are learning some too- ha ha! We're studying Native American Indians right now, which we are all loving. Also, we just read today about the Orphan Trains that were headed up by Charles Brace starting back in the 1850's. What a great idea on his part and such a great true story. Also, we're learning about 4 Spaniards who came to the "new world" to teach the gospel to the Natives and how these Christians healed them of many illnesses. That story is told in the book, " Walk the World's Rim" by Betty Baker. I feel like I'm absorbing so much history and I'm loving it. I think Bry is equally loving it.

We're using a curriculum called "Sonlight" and their motto is The way you wish you were taught, guaranteed. Now that we're doing this thing, I can honestly say, this is definitely the way I wish I were taught. It is simply amazing.

We're also doing phonics with DJ and of course Elle is tagging right along and repeating everything, even though she doesn't really understand it at all. The book, "A Well Trained Mind" by Jessie Wise totally inspired me to get her reading at age 4. It is so completely possible with only about 15 to 20 minutes of instruction time a day. She is ready and willing, so why not?

So, I've been thinking a lot these days about what I want to be when I grow up... definitely a mommy because in my mind that's the best job in the whole wide world. For now I guess I'll just keep playing school and then I'll decide where to go from there.

Big kid, big fun

Update on Bry... Bryant had a really great summer and now it's back to early bedtimes and more structure. He is growing into such a fun, smart, and kind young man. I can't believe he's half way to driving and almost half way finished with elementary school! He has become a serious book-worm this summer. It's really fun to see him get so excited about his book series. He is a joy in so many ways.

Here are a few pictures of our handsome 3rd grader and some various pics around here.

Fitting both legs into one of Dad's pant legs:








"How come Delainey got the last bagel???"


Everyone is going out and giving Mom some house cleaning time
"Peace out." -Bry

Change My Name to Nancy

For DJ's birthday back in June, one of our good friends bought her the book, "Fancy Nancy". It has become one of our favorites since then. Recently I went into DJ's room to find her kitchen all "fancied up".

Here's the book, which I HIGHLY recommend for anyone with girls or if you just like being fancy:


Here's her kitchen with beads and necklaces strung all over it:


Here's our fancy girl herself(one of them):

From Elle to Papa

Dad, this post is for you. Elle has just started making the frown/smile face and I had to capture it on video. I don't know where she learned this from, I know I didn't teach it to her. I don't know if you taught her when we were in AZ or if she came up with it on her own, but she does it all the time lately. Too funny. Hope you enjoy it!

Funny Girl

Elle is showing her personality so much these days. What a crack up she is! So much fun! Here are a few pictures of our soon to be 2 year old. Can you believe that?

"Doesn't everyone put on their winter hat to color in August?"


"Well they should!"


"This is my second favorite froggy"


"No time for pictures, Mommy. I'm playing!"


I found Elle in her room lining up her "dress up shoes" in pairs...


I thank God continually that we decided to have a third!

BEFORE and AFTER

For those of you who didn't see our kitchen before, this post won't mean much but I wanted to show some of the work we've done in the last 6 months on our place. This is mostly for our friends and family out of state who have asked how it all turned out and probably won't get to see it finished. We (mostly Caleb) have been BUSY people! Yard work, house work, garage work... you name it, we've done it in the last 6 months!

Unfortunately, we forgot to take a good "before" picture but here's a small idea of how our kitchen used to look. Mint green paint, ivy wall paper, wood cabinets... The back splash was a white ceramic tile with an ivy print every 5th tile or so. The counter tops were a fake wood laminate (gross). Who does that?? I wish I would have gotten a good BEFORE picture- darn! Oh well, here's a little peak:

BEFORE:
Check out that ivy wallpaper...


And of course matching ivy tiles...


This one was taken after we started painting the cabinets so believe it or not this wasn't when it was at it's worst. You can kind of see the fake wood laminate countertops (this was HIDEODOROUS!):




It's not huge or fancy but it's a lot better than before! New tile, new hardware on the cabinets, new light fixtures, new paint and a whole lot of work later...

AFTER:
Here is the new improved shot of our kitchen:





We've also been planting shrubs, a little herb garden and just trying to tidy up the place so it will show well on the market. Here is snapshot of our herb garden (which has more than paid for itself in how much I use the herbs for recipes)




Kudos to Caleb for taking on the kitchen project which was completely out of his comfort zone. For learning to lay tile so beautifully and for staying up late so many nights to get it all done! It was well worth it!