VBS

Another productive day while the kids were at VBS today. I got this layout done.


The kids really like VBS. Today they made sun visors. Yesterday they painted shirts. They get to wear the shirts tomorrow.

--------------------

Then the kids had swimming lessons in the evening. They were so excited they couldn't stand still. Aussie was all over the place. Ashley listened intently and Mason was a little scared to get his face in the water. Then we went to Chick-Fil-A for our $.99 meals. (Don't you think that there should be a cent sign on a keyboard?)

---------------------------------

As I was cuddling with Austin tonight, he asked what is a period. OH no I thought, he must have heard me say something (being my cycle time). Of course I'm thinking all these things in my head and trying to answer. I started out saying... "Weeeelll it could mean a couple of things. He said, "Tell me all of what you know." I said, "It could mean what you put at the end of a sentence." He said, "yes it's a full stop at the end of a sentence." I said, "That's right." Then I got smart and said, "Where did you hear the word so I can tell you the meaning.?" I just knew he was going to say he heard it from me. But he said, "It was on Between the Lions". PHEW!!!!

OK- phew the barking has stopped and I think I can actually go to sleep now!

Today I actually got to scrapbook a little bit. Here is the layout I did.

OK- goodnight!

freakin' dogs!

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG!

It's nights like these where I wish I had enough guts to call the police on my neighbors STUPID dogs!!!! I HATE THEM!!!

My head is hurting tonight and the dogs are barking non-stop!

I don't understand why some people own animals and leave them tied up or in a small fenced in area day and night. Why even own a pet if you are going to do that? I like dogs (preferably small indoor dogs). But those dogs next door really are making me go pysch0!!

What's bad is that my next door neighbors are friends. They are very sweet people. I don't talk to them often, but I'm tempted to call them tonight and tell them to get their dogs inside. And yet I want to keep peace and not upset anyone! UGH! What do I do?

It's a HOT day!

Wow! What a day! It is HOT!

Today started with me introducing a contest to the kids. I told them that they had to read 20 books this week. We would put a sticker on the chart after each book that was read. When everyone has read the 20 books we would have a party. And I said whoever reads all of them firsts gets to pick what kind of cake we have. I actually expected moans and groans about reading. But the one who usually groans the loudest, piddles and fiddles his thumbs the most is the one who was MOST determined to win. SO what I thought would take a week...Austin finished in 1 day!!! He was so excited he was bouncing off the walls!AND they were actually fighting over who would read next.

We went to the park today. This is one of their favorite things to play on. Aussie zipped across it quickly! Apparantly, he was timed last time he was there, so he was telling me he could get across in 9 seconds. He is so competitive and really needs affirmation.

Ashley sports her new "style". You know she used to be really good about picking out her clothes. She is VERY confident in what she puts together and she won't let anyone tell her differently!

They found a rock to climb on and called it castle rock.

Aussie liked the zip line!

On our way out a special guest showed up at the park (for a birthday party). So we were very excited to see Spiderman before we left.

After the park we went to a friend's graduation party. The kids just LOVE her! So Aussie drew a special picture and message for her.

It says, "Can you come to my birthday?" and then it is decorated with the flags he made up for each country in Catland, a world that he made up. But what everyone is impressed with, including myself, is that he writes in block letters.

So today he was impressing everyone with his letters, speaking Chinese, and his conversations he had with adults. (sometimes he is so grown up)

And after Aussie climbed up in the window the other two had to climb up there too. And of course what a perfect picture opportunity!

Now we are home with the air conditioner NOT working. I'm sweating! The guy will come and fix it on Monday. I'm not looking forward to the next 2 nights.

I've got to remember....I must I must re-charge the batteries in my camera. I better go do that now.

Math videos below

Check out these Math tricks in the videos below. I've gotten so excited about them that I went ahead and bought the program for all 30 tips. It's only $25 and you get it here.

I found out about them from my friend SHEZ. She is a pretty amazing homeschool Mom. You can check out some of the other amazing things she does here.

______________________
Anyway on another note- Today I had my skin tags and moles removed. Thank goodness it wasn't as bad as I expected. And now it is all taken care of! I had 2 moles removed last week and they are still hurting a bit. I asked today when the pain would go away and she said it usually took around 2 weeks. At least it is not terrible, just annoying.

My kids want lunch and I have been obssessed with this Math thing. So I better get off the computer and go feed them.

Talk to you soon!

Fast Math Trick

Fast Maths Trick of Calculation

Guess what today is?

Guess what today is? (Well OK, yes it is Memorial Day-but guess what else.)

Today was Ashley and Mason's last day of homework. They both wanted to do tomorrow's work so they could be finished today. Aussie was very jealous, but he would not do the work. Mason and Ashley ran around the house saying, "We are in First Grade NOW". They were so excited!!! But technically we have 2 more days we legally have to do for school. So the next 2 days will be field trip days.

Kiki found herself a new bed.

On Sunday the kids wanted to race Greg at church.

When Ashley got behind she just stopped and cried and sulked all the way back. She was so sad that she couldn't keep up.

Mason finds a new seat?

And so does Ashley!

Parents visited

My parents came to visit on Thursday night, Friday and Sunday morning. They came here for a

wedding on Sunday afternoon. So of course they came to see us. We went to the Discovery Center in Murfreesboro. I tell you I just LOVE this place! This time we took a walk around the grounds. It was such a beautiful day!!! And it is such a pretty place to walk.

We got to see a chinchilla. Did you know it has the softest fur than any animal in the world? It is SO soft. I just wanted to cuddle up with it.

Dad and I made this train in the construction area.

And then on Sunday, Ashley wore a dress that use to be mine. My Mom says she has pictures of me in this dress. I can't wait to see them and see how close we look. I'll post them here when I get them.

Saturday was a BIG day for me. I went to the curriculum fair. Today as I finished ordering all the different things I'll need for next year, I got a little nervous. Oh I sure hope I picked the right curriculum(s) for my kids. It is so nerve wracking and expensive.

I'm trying out some new things. For reading I got Rocket Phonics. It has a lot of games with it. For Math I'm staying with A Beka. For History and Geography I'm using Sonlight.

They will get Science and Gym in Co-op. Austin will continue to take Chinese. Mason will start Spanish. They all will have art. Ashley and Austin will continue taking Ballet/Modern dance. Mason and Aussie will contine to take Drama, but Ashley will be in Dasies.

All of this is exciting and scary at the same time! Please pray that they like school next year and that I do a good job teaching them.

Ahoy!

LOL! She is so stinkin' cute!

cookies

Today- Austin begged for the chocolate chip cookies that he gave me for Mother's Day. So he helped me bake them and then said, "You can have 3 since they are your Mother's Day gift."

Oh Thanks Aussie!

Today's tidbit

The other day I took dinner to a friend who just had a baby. When I came home I was telling Greg how pretty the baby is. We were saying how she looked like Wes (her dad). And Ashley was asked what she thought of the baby. Ashley said she looked like Greg. Greg said, "WHAT! Why do you think she looks like me?"
Her answer.....



Because she doesn't have any hair.

(out of the mouth of BABES) We just laughed and laughed!

Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day!!!
It has been a wonderful day!



I love when the kids pick out what they think I would like. I get the sweetest presents and their eyes just fill up with joy.
Aussie got me a purple lei and a box of chocolate chip cookie mix.

Mason got me a purple bear and sugar wafer cookies.

And Ashley got me flip

flops and a cloth napkin (She thought I could put it on my floor?).

Can you tell by this picture where we went to lunch today?

And they all got me a pitch pipe- which I really wanted! YAY!

To honor my children I wore all my gifts to church this morning.

In church they each made big tissue paper flowers and bracelets for me.

After church, we went to Logans Steakhouse. Did you guess by the picture with all the peanuts on the floor? They overcooked my steak. It was still good, but they gave it to me for 1/2 price. So that's a good deal.

Then Greg and I went to see 12 Angry Men. We really enjoyed it! It kept me engaged the entire time.

So now after a day of luxery...I think it's time for me to go to bed and get prepared to get back to school tomorrow.

(Unfortuantely my C-PAP machine broke last night. So I have a feeling I won't be sleeping well tonight. Hopefully, I'll be able to pick up another mask tomorrow.)

Chinese School Performance Saturday

Then on Saturday, Ashley and Aussie had their Chinese performance.

These are all the students in their CSL (Chinese as Second Language) class.

They said their names, how old they were and what they like to eat in Chinese.

Then they sang 3 songs.

They got graduation certificates for completing this school year.

Ashley doesn't want to continue in Chinese next year. She has fabulous pronunciation, but she just doesn't care about it. But Aussie on the other hand says he wants to take Chinese for the rest of his life.

Well I attempted to share a little video with you, of a song you might recognize that they sang in Chinese. But for some unknown reason I am not able to upload it.