Busy Busy Busy

So what in the world has kept me so very busy lately?

I've been volunteered as the new co-op yearbook person.

When I showed a little interest, it all of a sudden became my responsibility.

Now with that said, I'm enjoying it.

However, I don't like this time crunch.

Thursday after the cooking class, I went to the person's house who has done it for the past several years so she could teach me. Thankfully, I picked up on it fast. And what I thought was that I would be taking over next year, actually I am doing half of the book this year.

So THAT is what has been keeping up later than usual this past week. I need to have my part done by Thursday.

So Saturday, my friend Doris came over with G. The kids played together, while she scrapbooked and I worked on the yearbook. Ashley also invited one of her friends over.

For a little break we went to a nearby park for an hour to play.

The kids had a grand time in the sand.

And then they got to go down to the lake and rinse off their feet.

This picture makes me think of those models coming out of the water.

And this picture makes me laugh.

Then we went back home and the kids were playing a silly game. When one of them said a joke, they would get knocked backwards onto the couch.

And now I'm very tired and need to go to bed. Only 2 more days of school. Someone told the kids tomorrow was a holiday. URRRRR! I'm afraid I won't be able to get them to do school tomorrow, just dragging it out one more day.

2nd Cooking Class

Oh my stars have I been busy!

Thursday the kids had another cooking class. This time I made aprons and chef hats for the boys. I made Ashley's at Christmas. Mason's favorite color is red

and Aussie's favorite color is black.

I want to get them embroidered, but I really don't want to pay the money for it. I got out my sewing machine and tried to learn how to do it on my own machine. But unfortunately, I need a little ring thing to

keep the fabric tight and I didn't have it. So I ventured out to Walmart and they didn't have it either. Maybe I'll be able to get one at JoAnn's tomorrow.

The kids love their aprons and they got matching notebooks and pens so they could play "waiter/waitress".

This time on the menu was:

steak- on the grill

broccoli with cheese and lemon juice

fruit kabobs

homemade oven fries

and

brownies

Aussie was ALL about making the PERFECT fries. He took FOREVER peeling his potatoes and cutting them up. So long that we finally had to put the others in the oven and cook his separately.

Ashley takes the steaks out to the grill.

Ashley and Mason really got into making the fruit kabobs. I'm trying to remember the fruit that Ashley tried for the first time and loved it so much. It's related to the peach.

We made brownies, which was the boys favorite.

And here is our finished product.

I didn't think I would like the lemon on the broccoli, but it was good.

Mmmmm!

Bon Apetit!

And here is my corner slice of the brownie. That's my favorite part of brownies!

It took much much longer than we anticipated. And I ended up being 2 hours late to my next appointment. And I'll write about all that in my next blog post.

Chef Mason

Chef Mason ready for our cooking class tomorrow.

Now I need to make one for Aussie, but I don't have any black fabric. His will have to wait until next week.

I'm hoping to get their names embroidered on the aprons.

Done with English for the Week!

Well today's English assignment was a toughie!
It breaks my heart but Ashley is not very nice to the boys, especially Aussie.

She also has a hard time accepting compliments.

So today's assignment "Three Things I Like About Ashley" did not go so smoothly!

First thing Aussie said to me was, "Should I lie?"

I told him he needed to find something good about her.

He came up with everything he wrote.

(Click here to see Aussie's Blog)

I had to give several ideas to Ashley.

She came up with two and I said, "What about how you love tigers or how you love me?"

"Hmmm..", she said, "I think I'll do tigers because it is shorter."

Um...OK...shorter than Mom.

Whatever!

(Click here to see Ashley's Blog)

Mason gets along with her just fine, but he could not think of anything to say. So I had to give him lots of ideas. Of course as soon as I mentioned anything he said, "Yes, I'll use that!" He did come up with some of his own lines though. You can probably figure out which ones they are. The way he words things sometimes is really cute!

(Click here for Mason's Blog)

And now here is my paragraph about my daughter.

There are 3 things I like about Ashley. These three things are she likes dolls and girly things, she likes to sing and she looks like me. First, Ashley likes dolls and girly things. I love that she has an American Girl doll that I can dress them in matching clothes. Second, she likes to sing. I love to sing and I'm so glad she has an interest in the same thing I like. Third, she looks like me. I always wanted a girl and God blessed me with a beautiful one. All of these things I like about Ashley remind me of myself when I was little.

And tomorrow we are doing Math!

'Nough said!

Three Things I Like About Mason

Please don't grade me on my English. It is not one of my strong points. Turn around is fair play. Aussie asked me to write a paragraph about him and I did. So now it is Mason's turn. Please remember I have to write the paragraph in this repetitive format, in which they are learning.

There are three things I like about Mason. These three things are he is happy, a peacemaker and a great singer. First, Mason is almost always happy. I like that Mason is happy because I love seeing his big smile. Second, I like that Mason is a peacemaker. I like that Mason is a peacemaker because it helps to keep things sane around here. Third, Mason is a great singer I like that Mason is a great singer because I love to hear him belt out songs in church on key. These three things about Mason make me proud to call him my son.

Their first cooking class

On Facebook a week or two ago I asked my friends if anyone knew of a cooking class for children. I knew about Young Chef's Academy, but it was too expensive. So one of my church friends responded to me. She said that she loved to cooked and would love to teach my children one day a week. I was thrilled! She is a nutritionist and a very good cook. Yesterday we had our first class.She was amazing. She went over kitchen safety. And she had the plan written out. She showed the kids the menu.

Menu:

Main Dish-Lasagna

Side-Apple and Carrot Slices

Drink-Milk

Dessert-Chocolate Chip Cookies

Then she showed how we had to think about what takes the longest to make and what we needed to work on first. She showed each step of the way.

Ashley and Mason really wanted to learn, but I wasn't so sure about Aussie. He gave me a hard time in the car. But he stepped up to the plate and enjoyed himself while he was there. Here he is browning the ground beef for the lasagna.

Mason sprays the pan.

Ashley had to have a turn too browning the ground beef.

Ms. Helen also told us that when we start to cook a lot we can learn that we can substitute several things to make them healthier. When we made our cookies we added a 1/2 cup whole wheat flour to them.

Everyone had a turn beating the cookie batter.

Aussie really enjoyed sifting the flour.

working together

They were learning to use the knife. This made them nervous. It also made me nervous. One thing that is really cool is Ms. Helen is also left handed. I'm sure that will help a lot in teaching my left handed children.

Ashley got peeling the carrots down pat.

Lasagna is done and WOW did it taste good. It was actually one of the best tasting lasagnas I've ever had. I'm sure it had something to do with the sauce. One sauce we used was Harris Teeter traditional sauce and the other was Bertolli. When I make this again I need to remember to get those.

Can't believe I missed picturing the cookies.

Anyway, we sat down for lunch and it was delicious.

She asked the kids what they wanted to make next time and Ashley shouted out steak. Aussie said-Can you guess? French Fries and Mason said Brownies.

So we will be making Steak, oven fries and brownies the next time we get together.

This is awesome!

English Assignments

Today in our English class I made the kids write a paragraph with three things they like about Aussie. And if they tried to get someone else in trouble then they had to write four things. Anyway, I don't particuarly care for English (school) and I really don't like the repetitive sentences they have to write. And I feel like it is pulling teeth to get them to write anything. But this assignment went better than I expected. The one who needed to do this assignment (topic)was the first one done.

Aussie asked me to do the assignment too. Whereas, I have many things I love about my son, I hate this style of writing. But I will do it anyway for his sake! I may cheat a little bit and skip some of the repeating when I write mine. You can see what they wrote on their blogs. (Links to their blogs are to the left.)

I have three things I like about my son, Aussie. These three things are having a heart for Jesus, he is a self learner and he loves the Chinese language. First, Aussie has a heart for Jesus. Ever since he was little he asked precious, heavy philosophical questions showing his love for God. Second, he is a self learner. I like that Aussie will try to learn every possible thing he is interested in on his own and will share his knowledge with everyone. Last, Aussie loves the Chinese language. I love that he is learning Chinese so in the future he can take care of his Mom when China owns everything. All these things about Aussie makes me very proud to be his Mom.


Stay tuned, tomorrow we will have a cooking class. Wednesday they will write 3 things they like about Mason. And Thursday they will write 3 things they like about Ashley.

Good Night Nashville

I am so so so so so so so so so very tired!
Why don't you go to bed you ask?
I don't know.

For some reason I really want to fall asleep on the couch.
And yet I know that I can not "sleep" if I try to sleep on the couch.
But yet I sit here with my eyes drooping wanting to try anyway.

Even though I know I can not sleep on the couch, I will still close my eyes and try.
Then in an hour or so when I'm really really hurtin' tired I will try so desperately to get my butt upstairs, take my medicine, put on my CPAP and actually fall asleep.

I could go upstairs now and it wouldn't be so bad.
But why oh why does the couch tempt me so much?

I have no idea. But I'm closing my eyes now and I know the inevitable will come.

Good night Nashville.

Magician's Nephew (another test)

The other day Aussie’s girl friend was in a little play at their church.  So I took the kids to see it.  Kadence was a little squirrel and she had a small part but she stole the show she was so cute.  After she did her little bit she turned to Aussie in the audience and smiled really big at him.  Then when she left the stage she blew him a kiss on her way out.  And I thought it was only Aussie who was smitten.

 

The other girl there is her sister, Melodye.  Melodye had a small part as well but she kept her British accent and she did very well.

 

Then again I am trying to post the cute picture of Mason with his hat.

 

 

Mason Hat

 

I’m testing something out, so if this is emailed to you directly sorry about that.  I will try to make my testing a little interesting anyway. There will probably be 3 emails.

 

  I love this hat on Mason.

 

 

 

Weird Kid

Weird, weird, weird!

Tonight we went to Chick Fil A. Since volleyball is over for the season we went to a CFA that we hadn't been to in a long time. A kid came up to Aussie and said, "Hey you're the kid."

Obviously they had met here several weeks ago. Ashley and Mason told me this is the kid who said the bad word last time we were here. {Great!}

Anyway, this kid is all over the store. He stopped by one table and moves some drinks around. Naturally, I thought that was his table and those were his parents.

Then he pulls up a chair and sits with us while we ate. The kid is a bit over the top to put it lightly. He hit Mason playfully, but it still hurt. So the kids were playing a little pass it on game. Ashley tap kicked Aussie told him to pass it on, Aussie tap kicked this kid told him to pass it on, the kid kicks Mason and tells him to pass it on. And I sitting next to Mason said, "he better not kick me or he will get a spanking and I'll tell him to pass it on." So the kid smiles and he kicks ME! Trying to make it look like Mason did it. I am not too happy about this and wondered why his parents are not even looking over here.

Anyway, Aussie had to go to the bathroom. So this kid gets up and goes to another table where the family at that table had balloons. The kid starts punching the balloon into the man's head over and over again. Now they were laughing about it. And then the kid moves on. So I went up to that table and asked, "I'm just curious, do you know that kid?" And they said, "No." I told them we didn't know him either but he just pulled up a chair and started eating with us. I certainly didn't want anyone to think he was MY child.

So Aussie comes back to the table and so does this kid. And he said, can Aussie come over to my house and play sometime or can I come to your house?

RED FLAG RED FLAG RED FLAG

Ashley and Mason outright said, "NO!"

Aussie and I were trying to be a little nicer about it. Aussie said, "Maybe" I said, "I don't even know your Mom". So he said to come over and meet his Grandma who is in a different part of the restaurant. Next thing I know, he has brought his Grandma to me to introduce us.

UGH! What do I say?

She asked, "Do you go to the same school?"

Aussie said, "No, we don't go to school." {eyeroll}

I said, "Well actually they are homeschooled."

The kid again says, "Can I go to their house or can he come to our house?"

Nervous I said, "Well we don't really know you, I think we need to get to know you a little better first. Volleyball is over and we will probably be here every Tuesday night."

The Grandmother smirked.

Now with that said, it's time to find another Chick-Fil-A far far away from there.