I'm one of THOSE people

I wore the dorky sticker today.

To clarify, I don't think voting is dorky. Quite the opposite. I've just never understood the need to wear the sticker. I'm ashamed to admit it, but I've secretly always wanted to say to sticker wearers: "Good for you...want a lollipop?" It makes me think of the Smiley Face stickers that Wal-Mart gives to your children when you enter the store. Who wants a sticker that shouts "I've been to Wal-Mart?" Why don't you just wear a sticker shouting "I want 5 year old Indonesian girls to take your dad's pension" while you're at it?

But they're kids. And it's sticky. So it's cool. I have one that wears the sticker on the forehead. Can you guess which one? The NINE year old! He loved stickers until he was about 4 and then he was suddenly too cool for stickers. Now, at NINE, stickers on the face are suddenly cool.

Anyway, back to my sticker. I really did my research this time. My naivete was shattered (this has been a trend this year) where politics are concerned. Reading Amendment 2 sounds so simple and clear, almost like a good thing. But digging deeper, I realized it was not a good thing. I wouldn't have noticed if it had not been pointed out to me. So I began to wonder...what else might be worded deceptively? What else should I question? Cigarette tax? Well, cigarettes are bad so who cares if smokers have to pay a little extra tax...wait, where is that money going? Where has the money gone in the past? Did it go where they said it was going to go? no. Any guarantee it will go where they say it's going this time? no. Tax breaks for veteran organizations? That sounds very reasonable. Wait...isn't the bar over there a veteran organization? Wait! Aren't all the bars in town considered veteran organizations?? hmmmm.

I was purty proud of myself for trying to make a difference. I wanted a sticker, cuz I earned a sticker. But mostly because I wanted to wear a good reminder for anyone who might have forgotten that today was Tuesday. So I voted. And they didn't give me a sticker. The stupid sticker that I've always thought was silly....I had to go ask for one. The little old lady looked at me funny, and I could hear her thinking "You need a sticker for affirmation? Good for you...want a lollipop, too?" But she gave it to me and I wore it proudly.

Summer Lovin'....Extras

Summer is a great time to fall in love with books all over again. The hope is that the love will grow into a life-long education. Today I'm sharing some small steps towards jump-starting that love of reading. Here are the steps that my family has used in the past.

Incentives
Library Reading Programs are wonderful. Be sure to visit your library to see what's available. If your library doesn't have a program, you can easily create your own. My teen boys still remember their reading charts from when they were 5 and 7. I  made a basic chart with a dog in one corner and a doghouse in another corner with empty boxes meandering along a path over the page. They filled the boxes in with paw print stickers each time they read a book. Another chart had an ant in one corner and a picnic basket in antoher. They filled in ant stickers each time they read a book. Once their boxes were full, they earned a trip. Once to an indoor bouncy house. Once to a Chucky-Cheese-type play-place.

Eventually, the boys forgot to put stickers on and they knew we'd make those trips eventually anyway because their parents enjoyed the bounce house as much as they did. They just enjoyed reading and stopped caring about charts. The girls have never seen a chart. The truth is, the fun of reading is plenty of incentive all on its own. But what if they don't love reading?

Loving Reading
Most kids go through a point where they don't enjoy reading. It's work. There is a stage when you're a young reader when the books that you CAN read seem baby-ish and the books you might want to read are too hard so you decide you don't really want to read them anyway. There's a hump to overcome and it usually involves making the transition into chapter books.

For my boys, we made it a really big deal to turn 7 because it meant you were ready to be a real reader and get a book lamp for your bed. Bedtime went from 8:30 to 9:00 to allow you time to read in bed. My boys were very excited about this, but still had a hard time embracing those intimidating BIG books. And then I found some old cartoon books at a yardsale. They were thick like grown-up chapter books, but were right at their level. They stayed up chuckling over Family Circus, Dennis the Menace, and Garfield. Somehow, this got them over the hump. Next came The Littles.  Every one of my children has loved The Littles.




And then they all fell in love with Cul-De-Sac Kids.

And then, though I'm not proud of this, they fell in love with Boba Fett. It was a series they found at the library and they loved it. From there, they were on their way with real books.

If you have a young one resisting reading, my best advice, born from lots of experience and LOTS of observation, is to back off. Don't push. Yes, have a required amount of time they need to spend reading with you each day. But don't push them (or yourself) to tears. Provide plenty of interesting books that are a step under their reading level for them to pick up and enjoy. Read plenty of books that are above their reading level. Books with rich vocabularies are not too hard for them. It's how they will develop rich vocabularies themselves. And on that note....

Bribery

Once they discovered a love of reading, my boys would take off and not come up for air. Often, they ran across words they didn't understand, but they didn't want to pause from their story to figure it out. I don't know that it's the best option for everyone, but I....paid them to figure out what words meant. Every time they ran across a word they didn't understand, I paid them a dime to stop and look it up. They kept dictionaries next to their beds at night and their bookmarks were the lists of words they wanted paid for. Don't look at it as bribery. Look at it as an investment in their education.

Unit Studies
There are lots of fun studies to do with books, but they tend to work best when the family is all participating in some of the decisions. If you'd like to dig deeper into some books using lapbooking, notebooking, or unit studies, you might want to begin with having the kids pick a book they want to dig more deeply into. The Little House books, Narnia books, and classics such as A Little Princess or The Secret Garden are ideal for this. Currclick.com and Homeschool Share are some great websites to check out for more ideas on this.

What traditions are a part of your family's reading? Any other tips or tricks to make reading more rewarding?

Oh, have we been having fun!

We received a package from Timberdoodle and everyone in the family has been enjoying it in a big way. We've received packages from Timberdoodle before and they are always a hit. Even if it is a "boring" homeschool text, the kids are thrilled because Timberdoodle sends stickers with every order. Who doesn't love stickers?

This package was different from any package we've received from them before. Our Timberdoodle box contained a bucket of.......Bubber. Have you heard of Bubber yet? This was new to me. The bucket felt as if it could be empty, but upon opening, we discovered a modelling compound that is nearly indescribable.

Originating from Sweden, it is called the lightest modelling compound on earth, and I believe it. Yet as light as it is, it can hold it's shape in an amazing way. It is soft and silky, yet crumbly and dry. It isn't cold and clammy like play-dough, rather, it is warm and nearly feels like it is melting in your hands....but it's not. My four year old described it well. She said it feels "like warm snow."

We were also given several great accessories to go with our new Bubber:

The Castle Mold Set, which would also work great with Moonsand. The Spoon KnifeAnd my favorite, the Mirette. This little tool is very inexpensive, at only $2.25, but it is so perfect for any clay, play-dough, or bubber type activities.

We all played with it for hours the first day. The kids have asked to play with it again every day. My BIG kids have asked daily! And the biggest kids in the house (my husband and myself) have enjoyed it right along with them.

It forms well, but doesn't work in more detailed molds because it just isn't heavy enough to come out well. But when compressed into a simple mold, it comes out looking like a foam noodle and feels just as firm! There is something so tactile-pleasing about squeezing this stuff, cutting it, and shaving slivers off of bubber-towers with the mirette. I was not surprised then to read that Timberdoodle describes it as being "an excellent source for tactile stimulation, improving gross- and fine-motor skills in a satisfyingly gentle way."

So now the really important parts: Cost & Clean-up

Cost is $10.50 for a 4 oz bucket of Bubber. One 4-oz bucket kept all four of my children playing contentedly without argument...and even sharing some with mom and dad. Ours was white, but you can also order it in 5 other colors. Keep in mind, Bubber never dries out. So when you sweep under the table the next day and find a piece of bubber....it's not trash! Big plus.

It is an easily crumbled product and it is sooooo fun to crumble, however, the pieces don't smear into the carpet and they vacuum very easily. We use a large cookie sheet with raised edges to keep most of it contained. I don't do it because I'm worried about clean-up, I just want to keep every crumb of this amazing stuff so we can keep playing with it for a long, long time.

If you are somehow able to resist the allure of Bubber, I highly encourage you to still check out the website. Tiberdoodle is a family company that I am happy to give my business. The Deffinbaugh's and their five children (now grown and working in the company, too) make every order a personal experience. Competitive pricing, Painless return policy, Extremely fast shipping every time I've done business with them....And don't forget the stickers.

For other reviews on this product, check out Mamabuzz.

This product was provided to me by Timberdoodle in return for agreeing to share my honest opinion in this blog review. Trust me, you'd know if I didn't like it.

Money Management

*disclaimer* Yes, it's another review. I love this Homeschool Crew experience and I wish I had budgeted my time better. I could have posted this much sooner and spread them throughout the month instead of cramming them all to the deadline.....but then I wouldn't be ME, would I? Please read 'em anyway...I cram plenty of personal stuff in there, too, and you might miss something really embarrassing if you skip these. You never know.



Chris and I recently went through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University. We learned a lot and were determined to prevent the kids ever needing to take such a class. It was in the midst of this that our KidsWealth kits came. I am a firm believer in educating our kids and giving them the opportunity to make their own mistakes within controlled situations so that they can learn to make better choices. Helping them walk through a budget can provide this opportunity.

However, I'm not sure this is the budget for us. Fundamentally, it's about our beliefs about money. I believe that my money is God's. Anything I have, I have because God gave it to me. Second, I want to use that money in obedience to God. It's a tool, a resource. One way we acknowledge this is to give 10% of our first fruits as a tithe to the church. The Kidswealth Money Kit comes with 5 different envelopes for the child to sort their money, but a tithe envelope isn't one of them. I feel pretty strongly about this spiritual attitude toward money, so it was hard to embrace a budget system that didn't acknowledge what God has to say about money. The book instead emphasizes paying yourself first and brings their focus more toward spending on their wants, which is a new concept to my kids. Still, there is plenty to be gleaned from it and the kids love it, even though we didn't follow it exactly as it recommends.
The book recommends paying the child, each month, half of the amount you usually spend on the child's "wants". The reason for this is that it will not affect your budget, since you already spend this money on them already. Also, you still have half of the amount you usually spend on their wants so that you are still able to treat them occasionally throughout the month. This sounds really good, but I don't spend enough on their 'wants' to add up to any measurable amount. And second, we've never given an allowance before. We have all, as a family, pitched in and worked to get chores finished. No one pays me to wash those clothes and I don't plan to pay them to fold them, if that is their assigned chore. I knew though, that the boys needed some experience with an income of some sort if they were to learn how to handle money. So, on top of their regular chores, which qualify as basic courtesy more than anything else, we listed some chores as possible income earning jobs. With this method, it is possible for the boys to each earn $2.50 per week, if they so choose. The money is then divided up into it's different categories.

The Kit comes with five plastic envelopes: Wealth, Fun, Learn, Angel, and Plan. Wealth receives 30% of the child's monthly income and is set aside for future investments. Fun receives 20% and is, obviously, for the stuff they want to buy for fun. Learn receives 20% and is for books, museum trips, etc. to encourage the child to take a more active part in their education. I like this idea. Angel is to encourage helping others in need. I really like this idea....on top of our tithes, I want my children to learn to love giving an offering. The Angel envelope receives 10% of their income, but I don't want the boys to confuse it for a tithe as they are very different things. "Plan" is for long-term planning purchases and it receives 20%.

Instead of using the system as designed, we used Wealth, Plan, and Angel....but using them as Savings, Spending, and Tithe. I wanted to see what the boys would choose to spend their money on. It was interesting to watch. We let them know that they would need to watch their spending money because they would be required to replace things they were irresponsible with....such as brand new clothing that they wore hiking. They never had to replace anything, the warning was enough, but it was nice to see them think about their clothing with a little more respect for the cost.

So what DID they spend their money on? Gifts. They bought birthday presents for friends and Christmas gifts for each other. Ethan begged for extra jobs and earned extra money doing dishes and folding clothes for $1.00 per job. Since this was right before Christmas and life was hectic, this was a huge blessing to me! Ethan bought Joel some action figures. This was hard though, because it took the last of his money and Ethan had really been wanting to buy me an oil burner for $3.00 at Wal-Mart. This really was a dilemma for him. But instead of asking his dad for help with the cost, Ethan found a way to make mom a homemade oil burner. He used a mini-tart pan of mine and, to it, duct taped legs that he'd fashioned out of foil so that it could stand over a tea-light candle. Boy that thing was ugly. But it was so absolutely beautiful to me. One, because of his beautiful, giving heart. Two, because my baby is learning about choices with money....a lesson I waited far too long to learn.

The kit comes with much more than just envelopes. It comes with a Kid's Guide, a Parent's Guide, a Calendar (October's calendar picture is, unfortunately of trick-or-treating), pencils, a calculator, stickers, and a Money Tracker. The Money Tracker is impressive. They have them for different age-groups. Ethan's is for 10-12 year olds and it asks them serious questions about money. It teaches them how to figure percentages, it walks them through spending choices, and it even discusses investing. Honor's kit is for 4-6 year olds and isn't nearly so educational, but she's still enjoying it. All of these items come in a large plastic binder/envelope.


Financial Peace, Jr. is a similar kit, but with a Christian emphasis and half the price. But I'm not sure that it is half as appealing visually. Aesthetic appeal is important sometimes. All four of my children are excited about the KidsWealth books. Each 'category' is represented by a character and my kids know each character by name. The Kidswealth Kit is colorful and "cool"...even to my tween son. The Money Tracker workbooks are fun and my boys don't realize they are doing homeschooling assignments at all....they take them on trips for fun. (Don't tell them and ruin this for me.)

With lots of tweaking, I do appreciate the help in making this budget adventure a fun one. And it comes with a money back guarantee. For other thoughts on this product, be sure to check out the TOS Crew.

Tomorrow! Tomorrow! I'll love ya tomorrow!

 Want a real procrastination distraction? Google the word "Annie". I did a quick search for an image to match the song stuck in my head. This started with a search for Annie the Musical and led to Annie Oakley, Annie Hall, and Annie the Movie. This led to IMDB to find out who that adorable actress was in the movie and what ever happened to her?!? Her name is Aileen Quinn and she really hasn't been in much else, movie wise, though she has been in several Broadway shows. She's also the lead singer of an L.A. based Rockabilly band called....wait for it....."The Leapin' Lizards."  If you didn't spend your childhood watching Annie, that might not mean much to you, but trust me, it's awesome. 

But that has nothing to do with the topic at hand. However, the concept of distraction has quite a bit to do with it. Often, we don't intend to get side-tracked, but our attention is grabbed. That article, game, song, etc. is small and inconsequential. It won't take very long. I'll get right back to my task as soon as I finish this. Of course, one distraction can easily lead to another. Even if it does not, we could be just 5 minutes away from a brand new distraction. Before we know what's happened, the one hour project has grown into a four hour project and we have to scurry for the last half hour to finish it.

One definition listed under the word distraction is "that which distracts, divides the attention, or prevents concentration."

Now, that just hurts for me to read. It immediately calls to mind Jesus' reminders that a house divided against itself cannot stand. When my attention is divided, I cannot give the focus needed to truly do my best.  But we live in an age of distraction; It is impossible to not notice them. What can you do? 

Lists are a helpful tool to keep me on target. I stock up on index cards and post-its when back to school sales start. Now, I have to be careful not to spend an hour making elaborate lists with pretty fonts and different color coding, stickers in the corners or charts on the computer. Yes, lists can be distractions in themselves. You're talking to a professional, remember? Keep the lists reasonable and brief. List only the imperatives. These help because you can glance and see a limited number of items that must be finished today. There is also an extreme satisfaction in drawing that line through each item you've finished. I'm one of those gals who will add a finished item to my list so that I can strike it out. You are too, right?

"...anyone can do any amount of work, provided it isn't the work he is supposed to be doing at that moment." - Robert Benchley, Chips Off the Old Benchley, 1949 

 Lists don't work for everyone, of course. Sometimes you have to eliminate the distraction. If you have a list of things that don't leave any time for internet activity but you can't resist the temptation, send your power cord to work with your husband. Make an announcement that you will be off of facebook between the hours of such-and-such. Sure, you are still able to hop on there, but it's kind of embarrassing to go against your own word in front of witnesses. Humility is a great motivator. Also, keep in mind the other witnesses you have around your house. Your children see you work and they see you not work. Being raised with your habits, they may learn to justify behaviours if you are justifying your own in front of them. Do you want them to emulate your habits? I haven't had to resort to giving up my power cord....yet. Lists and reminders really do help me.  I keep them with me and tacked up beside my bathroom mirror, computer monitor, inside my coffee cabinet. I make lists of what  needs done. I make reminders. One of those reminders is a bible verse that I keep tacked up next to my mirror:

Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. - 1 Peter 5:8

I need reminded to stay alert. The enemy would love to see me fall into apathy, enjoying my comforts and distractions and never fulfilling God's call on my life. And, as you know, it's a hard-knock life.

 

Tools that help me:

1. Index Cards and Post-Its

2. Motivated Moms.  I'm a true rebel at heart and I'm amazed that I was able to accept someone else's housekeeping list since I tend to try rewriting everything I find, but I haven't changed a thing with this list. It's one that my kids can look at and mark off with me. It breaks everything down nice and easy. It's cheap at $8 and I've been using them for several years now. I do receive a 12% commission on purchases. 

3.Google Calendar. I have several different email addresses for different things. I have all of them imported into one gmail account (very easy to set up.) This gives me access to Google Calendar, which lets me instantly add events and reminders and alarms (I often set up as many as 6 different reminders for each event) every time I read an email giving me a deadline. It also allows me to import calendars from other people. I can add my husband's, my church's, and that of any one else who makes theirs public (not that I necessarily want to.) 

And, completely off topic, Carol Burnett is brilliant. It would be wrong of me to offer you a distraction now, wouldn't it? 

Be sure to check out more amazing topics being discussed by members of the 5 day blog hop!

Poop goes in the Potty *UPDATED*

One of my beautiful sisters is visiting this week. And so is my beautiful niece and my ultra-cool nephew. Yes, the pic includes Honor, not my niece. I'm still digging for a picture and can't take a current one since she's napping at the moment. While sis and nephew are taking a mini-vacation with the boys for the next 2 days, I get a girls day/night/day here at home. Included with our girlie time is potty training 101. In exchange for my sis buying Honor 4 very pink dresses, I volunteered to try the one-week one-day potty training with Lyssa.

I didn't blog much about it when I tried it with Sarah, since I was deep in the trenches and in foreign terrain at the time. Now, I'm strung out on m&m's a bit more relaxed and wanted to try sharing more details. Hopefully, it will be more helpful for anyone googling 'one day potty training' since I've actually tried and survived it with a kid this time around. You really must follow those links. Ah, the memories.


Tips and Tricks:

Bananas are your friend. We're going for concentration, not surprises in the poo-department. No grapes or grapejuice thank you very much.

The day before the party begins, make a trip to the $ store and stock up on crap delightful trinkets to entertain during toilet time. Books, stickers, nail polish, anything.

Feed the kid bananas.

Let them pick out big-girl panties. But WAIT! Give them options. You do not want to deal with bikini-cut Bratz emblazoned underwear. Pick up a couple packages of what you can stand and say "You want flowers or stripes?" Be sure to get lots. No really. Lots. And the same for M&M's. No they aren't for potty-rewards. They are for you. And you're gonna need them.

Start your day with panties. Make a big deal of saying goodbye to pull-ups (they are not fooling your child, kids know they're just fancy diapers) and putting on the big-girl panties. Throw out the pull-up and say goodbye to diapers. Potty seats really work best for this method because the kid needs to sit there for a while. You don't want them falling in or anything. Well, you might by the end of the day, but it would be counter-productive.

Start your day with a washing machine full of hot, soapy water. Be prepared to toss soiled toddler-clothes in there repeatedly.

Don't give up! We haven't even started yet!

With the actual method, you are supposed to feed them salty snacks and lots of fluids and stay right beside them all day long, taking them to the potty every 15 minutes.

I'm lazy. Every 20-30 minutes is more my style. Say "Time to go potty....here we go to the potty....potty, potty, potty....let's go potty....big girl's goin' potty....did I mention the word potty?" And say it a lot. Yes, you'll feel like an idiot. Do it anyway.

Sit 'em down and entertain them. Try to keep them there 10 minutes. Yup. 10 minutes every 30 minutes. This is your world for the next day or two. If they do their business, you get to do the happy dance and shout "What a big girl! Good job going potty! Are you all done going potty?"

Again, Don't give up! Naps and all, keep the panties coming.


Accidents

There will be many. More than many. Chances are, you will fill the washing machine and have to wash a load during naptime so that you can have more panties for the afternoon. When there is an accident, just say "Uh-oh! Potty doesn't go in panties, potty goes in the toilet. Let's go to the potty." And yeah, even though they've already gone, take them there anyway just to associate the words with the location. Even if they are 3 years old and know exactly where the words belong, take them anyway. If nothing else, you'll be proving to them that you aren't giving up on this whole toilet business. That's right, wear them down.


Poo

Not the funnest part of this party, but it's temporary. You can do it! Just do the whole Uh-Oh! routine for it too, but you don't have to make clean-up overly comfortable. I've always just turned on the tub faucets (cool, not cold water) and held their little hinies in it. They don't generally like this, but it is NOT punishment. It's just a matter-of-fact necessity. They have poo on their behinds. It needs cleaned off. There we go, all done, back in the big girl panties. Let's sing a song:

Overall, this is supposed to be a celebration. You don't have to let on that you're exhausted and just want a hot bath. Your toddler should be having fun having all of this extra time with Mommy. She's conquering a new skill and has a great cheerleader supporting her. Save your bitter frustration for blogging after they are in bed. You can smile through it. I know you can!

It ended up taking about a week with Sarah. Not a week full of 30 minute sessions, but it was not a one-day success. It was a one-day goodbye to diapers though. Totally worth it.

*UPDATE*

Apparently my niece is a lot smarter than my kids. By 2:00 she was totally trained. Woke up from her nap dry and hasn't had an accident since. She slept from 8:00pm to 8:00am and woke up dry. It's just after lunchtime now and time for a nap. I forgot to mention that by the 2nd day, you shouldn't remind them to go potty. At this point, they should be asking you. If they have accidents, go through the original routine. They'll catch on very, very soon.

Hands That Serve

My day today included a band concert, a soccer game, and the decorating of a birthday cake. In the middle of all of this, overlapping and in between, I made a huge pot of chili, made apple crisp, and attended a retreat for little girls that taught about True Beauty. I'm worn out, BUT! it was absolutely amazing. We had lots of little girls, aged 4 to 12, learning how to take care of themselves and learning about God's definition of beauty. These girls walked away feeling beautiful and pampered. Several of them came over from the local children's home and it was amazing getting to be a part of taking their hands and helping them see their own beauty.

My table was all about the hands. Our class was called "Hands That Serve" and I read an excerpt from this old book, Beautiful Girlhood. It is an amazing book and is old enough to be open source. If you're a girl, read this. If you have a girl, read this. My section told the story of classmates talking about how to have pretty hands, comparing stories and tips that included keeping hands out of the wind, not washing dishes, and applying the best lotions. Their teacher, overhearing them, announced that she thought Jennie had the prettiest hands in the whole school. The girls thought this sounded ridiculous since Jennie's hands were rough and chapped and red. The teacher explained that she had seen Jennie's hands taking food to sick neighbors, helping her younger siblings, and helping her widowed mother in housekeeping, firewood, and milking. Her hands were hands that served and this teacher felt they were the most beautiful hands in the world.

The girls that came through discussed ways that they could serve others. Each group was of a different age range and their answers varied greatly, but all of them were excellent. One answer that was given by each age range was so simple yet so very effective: giving hugs. It was beautiful watching them looking for ideas. It was fun watching them choose their fingernail polish colors and stickers. They felt beautiful. And they are. God says so.

Now we're off! Time to deliver a birthday cake and then eat chili and apple crisp with a great group of friends.

And then sleep.

I am sooooo sleeping well tonight.

We have a new game!

We are huge fans of games in our house. The boys are at such a great age for really getting in and understanding more challenging games. Though this new game is simple enough for anyone to play, as long as they are able to read. It's called Brain Box and it was sent to us from Timberdoodle to share our thoughts on. Our thoughts are: It's FUN!

There are several different brain boxes available, including Brainbox Animals, Brainbox US Presidents, Brainbox USA, Brainbox World, and for non-readers: My First Brainbox

For each game, the rules are basically the same: One player draws a card and has 10 seconds to examine it. They immediately roll the die and another player asks a question corresponding to the die number cast. The player is not allowed to look at the card and has to rely on memory. If the player gives the correct answer, he gets to keep the card. If not, it returns to the back of the deck. There are 8 different questions with our kit, guaranteeing a long time before anyone gets tired of the game here at our house.

We received Brainbox World to review. Questions can be as basic as "What color is the cross on this country's flag?" or as random as "How many olives are on the branch shown?"

I love that they are getting great geography lessons in while having fun. I'm even learning with them! Last night, I had the question, "What is the smallest country bordering Switzerland?" I said Austria, because..you know, it's small. However, there was a tiny dot of a country that I hadn't even noticed. And now I know. The smallest country bordering Switzerland is Liechtenstein. And Joel knows too, because he got to look it up and check my answer. There is no answer key. The player checking you has to look at the front of the card to find the answer for themselves.

I also love that the game is quick! We play after supper before dishes are even cleared. Since each player is timed, there is no waiting on anyone to pay attention or hurry-up-and-finish-your-turn-already!

There is no game board, so the game takes up hardly any space and can be played anywhere. We are definitely taking this with us on road trips!

Another fun addition to our package was the Hot Rocket. It's like a Nerf rocket with a thick rubber band threaded through it. It can fly up to 100 feet! Fun for boys of any age.



If you place any order by 12/21/09, you can receive a free Hot Rocket if you use coupon code "WFREEROCKET"

The "W" is to mark that you were referred by my blog. I don't receive any compensation for reviews, so rest assured my opinions on Timberdoodle products are quite sincere. But I would love for them to know that their blog campaign is working, so be sure to toss a hot rocket into your cart and use the code. Even if you don't think you need a hot rocket, I promise you have a neighbor that would love one.

Timberdoodle has guaranteed Christmas arrival shipping available and even has a great gift guide video to show you things you might not have thought of before.


And don't forget....they send stickers.

Your mom

While working away at creating an adorable owl craft, Sarah dropped one of her owl's googly-eye stickers.

Sarah: "Oh, no! Now my owl is a cyclops!"
Me: "Your mom's a cyclops." (it's a reflex)
Sarah: (giggle) "You're not a cyclops!"
Me: "Well, actually...."

The sweetie knew when she was younger, but had forgotten in her big girl years. Kind of awkward re-explaining to her that her mom, indeed, was a cyclops, but she was great about it. I love the innocence of a childhood shrug. I found the whole thing hysterical, but again, my boys just shake their heads in exasperation.

It's the little things

The picture has nothing to do with my whiny post. She's just adorable. And is still losing that tooth - any time now. Pay no attention to my elderly looking thumb. My veins flow with Dr. Pepper and coffee and I don't know why I bother with moisturizer if I'm going to turn myself into a prune from the inside out. Switch to water or start moisturizing my hands? Neither. You see my thumb. It's too late to bother now.

Anyhow....I just felt like whining a little this morning. So before anyone else wakes up, I'll sit down and whine to you and God. I'm tiiiiiiiiired. We're having Honor's birthday party after church today and I have no pep in me to decorate a cake or supervise the application of sequins and stickers to craft projects. My alarm went off at midnight last night. Only, I didn't look to see that I had turned on the wrong alarm....the UNset alarm that automatically sets to 12:00 am....No, I hit snooze. I try not to hit snooze too often, but I was so very tired at midnight that I just couldn't help hitting it repeatedly and willing myself to move in between beeps. I did eventually figure it out and set a different alarm.

The other thing that kept me up was asthma.....we haven't found it yet, but I'm pretty sure there's more mold. It could just be allergies. We'll see.

And finally, the last thing that kept me awake, and nervous, was Honor. She woke up itching and wanted bug bite medicine. I pulled back her pajamas to see hives. The child had hives! I have no idea what could have caused them, but they're an allergic reaction to something, aren't they? We gave her knock-off benadryl and she was fine. Generally, benadryl has her bouncing off the walls for hours, but this one didn't. Thank you, Lord, for those little things.

This morning, even though I am QUITE certain I did no invite her, Aunt Irma arrived early to help me prepare for the birthday party. *insert groan* I now have to hunt for something other than those light khaki pants I was originally going to wear.

While hunting for, ahem, supplies, I ran across a Nestle's Treasure Dark Chocolate. I stash those there, where I know I'll need them most. But I always forget until I start digging in the basket. Thank you, Lord, for those little things.

The other alarm is now announcing that it's time to wake everyone up. Now that the whole house will be awake, I can relax and enjoy my family all together, as we prepare to visit the church and worship our Saviour.

I'm totally lying. It's the entire family, together, getting ready for 8:000 service on a Sunday morning. There will be tears from someone this morning, I guarantee it.

BUT, the ring tone going off to wake everyone up, is Business Time. And who can help but smile with a little thing like that?

Zoology 3 Review

The girls and I were happily working through chemistry last semester and had planned to continue...but then came an opportunity to review Apologia's Zoology 3, and I couldn't resist jumping on it. My family has LOVED the Apologia Exploring Creation series and the girls were excited to read another. We've reviewed Apologia products before and we have never been disappointed. This time was no exception.

Day 2 at the Alamo

Actually, this one is still Day 1, but I had to share it. Doesn't Ike have the worst shoes you've ever seen? He loves them because they look like Spider Man. And for the record, no one waited until Honor was asleep to put those stickers on her face. She did that herself.

The Fam at the Alamo.

Giant Alamo fish that scared the crap out of Sarah.

I have no idea what I'm pointing out to Sarah here, but it was a beautiful place and you couldn't help but think about the holy men who walked there and the soldiers who later died there. It felt as if you'd see it play out before you if you turned the corners fast enough.