Nothing in Particular

Can you hear that?  Me neither.  That is the sound of nobody.  Nobody is on the main floor right now (well, except me!).  Aaaahhh, the sound of peace.  On Thursday's, I let the kids play video games in the afternoon.  Usually I make them wait until 3:30 when Marianna's teachers come to work with her.  But it's a little earlier than that today.  You know what?  I don't even care if their brains turn to mush.  I am eating a leftover dessert from our New Year's weekend and trying not to think about the noisy dishwasher (leave that for another post) or what entree I can throw together before Dan gets home from work.  I am savoring the moment and hoping you take time to savor a moment as well.

A day in the life of.....

Tonight Dan asked how our school day went.  Guess I forgot to tell him we weren't starting up until next week.  I put off getting organized for the next stretch of our school year because we still had sick kids up until yesterday.  OK, lie, lie, lie....I've been procrastinating.  So today I bit the bullet and got down to business.  Installed three math programs on laptops, added Joseph as a new student on Rosetta Stone Spanish,  organized our school shelf and  played phone tag with the school counselor to get Stephen signed up for college courses next Fall.  Now just have to find a grammar program for him somewhere on the disaster I call bookshelves in the basement!  Also managed to cart Clare to an orthodontist appt.  Here she is after getting the beloved expander off

OOOOWWWWWW!

Timothy also went to the ortho for the much anticipated laser treatment to his gums.  He thought the novacaine was painful, until it wore off .  Apparantly the laser hurts just a tad more than the pizza burn they described before the procedure.  Still managed to wolf down lunch afterwards, though.

So, what's a guilty homeschool mom to do with all the busy little people who aren't getting any school done?  Get creative!

World geography puzzle counts for something, right?

Matthew informed me that the artwork I posted in December was all done by Andrew, so here's one of Matthew's creations to keep things fair.

And Clare did this totally cool thing to our family picture on Facebook.

Anyone for some petsue?

Therese offered this lovely artwork the other day and asked if I would like some

 Petsue....petsue....hmmm...OK,sure I'm game

Oh, you mean Pizza! (Better get back to the spelling I guess.)

Signs of life outside our home

Rabbit?

I recently sent the small fry out to find adventure in the great outdoors and this is what they discovered.....

Muskrat

A camouflaged rat house

And this poor little fellow on our front step, wrong season dude!

Wait a minute.....who are these people?

Out with the old and in with the new...

Our lovely Christmas tree was painfully removed yesterday.  It seemed such a shame to throw it out since it's one of the few that didn't fall down in the middle of the night (and it wasn't even attached to the wall like last year's tree).  But SOME people really wanted more space for ......

BASKETBALL!!  Gabriel's gift has come in handy since we are having such unusual weather this year.  Check out these totally pitiful snowmen the kids worked on over the weekend

Can you see that sad little fellow?

How about this guy?  He's more leaves and grass than snow.

So instead of being outside, the little's have set up a basketball court spanning the entry and livingroom.

SLAM DUNK!  Courtesy of Johnny.

Now Dan met a guy on retreat who has 13 children and a swing set in his livingroom.  This will happen in my house over my dead.....well, you get the picture.  But our little set-up does have its' advantages.  I can practice my 3-pointer without ever leaving the recliner!  Happy Tuesday!

Me thinks I made him blush.....

Therese received a pack of window crayons from St. Nick this year and the kids have had a blast decorating with them.  This past weekend I had a little fun with them myself.....

on Dan's car window, that is.  When he discovered my creative genius (or lack of it), I'm fairly certain I saw a little color rise to his cheeks.  To think after all these years I finally made HIM blush!

New Year's Weekend

Saturday was a rather dark day filled with promises of snow which never really materialized.  The healthier kids managed a little sledding while Dan and the boys started their latest project in the garage.  My picture taking was limited by a Marianna who was plastered to my body for the day, so if you can't tell ....their project was welding on the docks.  Guess we're ready for summer now!  I regrettably picked this day to make a big turkey dinner so we could munch on it for the rest of the weekend.  My baby girl was less than thrilled. Ugh! Still all-in-all it was a great day (well, maybe not for the sicko's).

Johnny was too sick to go outside, so he was my licker helper in the kitchen!

Gingerbread House Gone Bad!

The little people made this out of foam.

Then used the leftover pieces to decorate their faces.