Decking the Halls

On the 6th of December, I had told the kids that we would put the Christmas tree up- a lot better than last year when I got it up on Christmas Eve. Heh. As it turned out, I didn't have quite enough lights to go around the tree, so I told the kids I would go to the store and get more lights, and we would decorate the next day. On Saturdays, I usually do the Wal-Mart shopping and then go scrapbook at a friend's house. I arrived home late that night to find a note on the table:


I put the lights on before going to bed, and tried my hand at taking pictures in the dark. Results:



Have I mentioned that I am a big fan of Christmas lights?

Anyway, at church the next day, Kyrie is occupying herself during the message by writing a card for Daddy. It says,"I love you Daddy. Tell Mommy to decorate the tree today!"

So we didn't have much of a choice, but to decorate the tree when we got home that day.


Tada!

Christmas Photo Shoot Favorites

So today, I decided it was about time I take some pictures for Christmas. I don't think I'll get them in a Christmas card this year. Well, I'm not sure I'll really get any Christmas cards out this year, but anyway...

The only picture I could get of Jayden. The boy will not sit still for a picture. I would have liked to get one of him and his brother in their coordinated outfits, but no deal. I haven't been able to get a picture of the three kids altogether in quite a while:


Nice one of the older two together:


And, of course, one of the many silly ones of them:


I can rarely get Isaiah to give me a nice smile. It either turns out with his eyes half closed, or looking like a deer caught in the headlights with cheesy grin:


I like this picture a lot:


And my princess:


Merry Christmas, everyone! If you want a Christmas card from us this year, print this page out and put it on your mantle, or your door, or wherever you hang your Christmas cards. ;)

Ice Skating and Gingerbread Houses

Washington Virtual Academy holds an annual event with free ice-skating and a gingerbread house-making contest. We decided to make the drive to Spokane to participate.

Kyrie and Isaiah had a blast making their gingerbread house.







Then it was time to pack it up carefully for the 1 1/2 hour drive to Spokane. The kids got to try ice skating for the first time. Since I had Jayden with me, I wasn't about to get out on the ice. I was carrying him around in the J-pack, but I was concerned about what would happen if I fell. I've been ice skating before, but even the Pros can fall. Fortunately, Kyrie's teacher* was there. He was a great help at getting Isaiah around the rink a few times.


Kyrie was immediately adopted by two older girls who helped her around with the bar at first, and then decided that she had "graduated" to go around with their sole help. She did fairly well, and was really good at getting up when she fell to try again(I get knocked down, but I get up again!). She was really proud of herself! Another cool thing was that they played her song-"Kyrie Eleison" by Mr. Mister.










After skating, we decorated cookies, and collected our $10 Wal-Mart gift card that we won in the drawing for entering our gingerbread house!







*In WAVA, the teachers are the people who oversee the students' progress. The parents are called "Learning Coaches."

Thanksgiving Dinner

Menu:

• turkey
• mashed potatoes and gravy
• green beans and corn
• potato rolls
• sparkling cider
• cranberry sauce
• cheesecake and apple pie

Friends:

Sherley
This picture didn't turn out too bad for being one where I am holding the camera!

Ike watching the movie

Entertainment:

Wall-E

Other pictures:



Yes, we had a kids' table this year. They seemed to enjoy it, though.

Too much tryptophan:




Even Padme was out:


Jayden was both entertained and entertaining:



All-in-all, a pretty good Thanksgiving in our humble abode

I'm Thankful

There are many things that I have to be thankful for this year- a roof over my head(giving a lot less grief than it did last year), my wonderful children, friends (who are actually more like family), the people who visit my blog(I'd be really thankful for a comment every now and then ;)), the opportunity to stay home with my kids and be their teacher...

But I have to mention that I'm really thankful for this:
Then

Now

It's so much nicer to kiss this face than the scratchy, prickly one that I've put up with for over a year now. ;)

Twins

I don't have twins, but I often like to dress my kids in matching outfits. I was enthusiastic to find some matching pajamas for my boys- not easy to do when they are 3 years apart!

Smashing Pumpkins

We attended the 5th annual Pumpkin Drop put on by the WSU Physics and Astronomy departments early this month. The kids enjoyed watching the pumpkins fall from the 12th floor of the tallest building in Pullman. They didn't enjoy the rain so much, though.

Galileo is said to have dropped a 10-pound weight and a one-pound weight off the Leaning Tower of Pisa in 1621 to prove that objects fall at the same speed, regardless of weight. In truth, Galileo probably never dropped anything off the tower. He did use pen, paper and logic to disprove a belief held since the time of Aristotle. It was commonly believed in the 17th century that heavier objects fell faster than lighter ones, but Galileo devised a simple mathematical equation to refute that: d=1/2gt2. Sir Isaac Newton refined the idea into the law of gravity.

Galileo made a special a special appearance on the WSU campus to explain his theory to the crowd. A hunchbacked assistant came along to help and entertain. They had witty dialog, but the kids weren't really into that. They just wanted to see a pumpkin drop and splatter on the sidewalk- and so did Mommy. It was quite frigid that day!





They dropped one pumpkin with dry ice inside, which made for a pretty impressive splat at the bottom. The final pumpkin was filled with candy, and the kids got to go down and gather up the candy. Unfortunately, much of the candy ends up with a bit of a pumpkin aftertaste, and it's kind of a chore going through to find the decent pieces that haven't been ripped apart by the impact. But fun for the kids, anyway.

Homeschool Progress

Kyrie is breezing through her 1st grade Math. She is at 63% completion. The norm is about 30% this time of year. Her teacher will be ordering the 2nd grade Math book when we reach 90% completion. In a couple of years, we'll be enrolling her at Princeton. ;)

I'm surprised at all the things they are teaching in 1st grade Math- fractions, geometry, some Algebraic-type stuff, Word Problems... Next thing I know, she'll be learning Differential Equations. Maybe we learned that in 1st grade. I don't remember, though.

The hard part of homeschooling Kyrie is getting started on each lesson every day. I keep telling her how fortunate she is that she gets lots more breaks and freedom than her non-home schooled peers, but she grumbles every time I tell her that we need to get started, or if I decide to do two lessons before lunch instead of just one. She has it so hard, I tell ya! I try to explain that next year she'll have more classes and less free time.

What I've Done

I stole this from a friend of a friend's blog. If you are reading this, consider yourself tagged! Everything I've done is in bold.

1. Started your own blog
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band
4. Visited Hawaii
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud
54. Gone to a drive-in theater
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book- well, my husband did
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating
88. Had chickenpox
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury
91. Met someone famous
92. Joined a book club
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee
100. Totally copied a post from someone else's blog to your own

43 out of 100? I need to get out more!

Dancing With the Stars

One of my favorite shows to watch. My favorite dancer this season is Brooke. My favorite dance is the Paso Doble. And I love this song that they used- the first movement in Karl Jenkins' Palladio

Some of My Firsts

1. Who was your FIRST prom date?
Never went to Prom. The first dance I went to was with a guy named Claire.

2. Do you still talk to your FIRST love?
Nope. He turned out to be a loser jerk anyway. No loss there.

3. What was your FIRST alcoholic drink?
Some kind of fruity drink. I don't even remember what it's called. It was back when my college roommate graduated. I have had about 4 alcoholic drinks since then. I don't like the taste of alcohol much- even when it's mixed with fruit.

4. What was your FIRST job?
Delivering newspapers.

5. What was your FIRST car?
A silver Toyota Tercel. And it only became mine when I got married.


6. Who was the FIRST person to text you today?
One of my sisters IM'd me this morning. My friend, Belynda, sent me a text message tonight to tell me something funny her daughter said.

7. Who is the FIRST person you thought of this morning?
A combination of all three of my kids. The oldest two were making lots of racket, and I didn't want them to wake up Jayden.

8. Who was your FIRST grade teacher?
Mrs. Rash. The only reason I remember her is because of her funny name. I do remember that she used to play an electric harpsichord for music class. I did have a different teacher the week before, but she was mean and nasty, and I'm so glad I was moved to a new class! I also had a different teacher for reading because I went to the 2nd grade class since I was an advanced reader.

9. Where did you go on your FIRST ride on an airplane?
I'm not sure. I was fairly young. It was probably from Pocatello or Salt Lake to San Francisco to visit my dad.

10. Who was your FIRST best friend and are you still friends with them?
Belynda. We were best friends in 2nd grade, and yes, we are still best friends- 26 years later.

11. What was your FIRST sport played?
5th grade girls' basketball. My 1st school team sport was 9th grade Football.

12. Where was your FIRST sleep over?
I don't remember. They all kind of blend together.

13. Who was the FIRST person you talked to today?
Isaiah- telling him not to be so loud!

14. Whose wedding were you in the FIRST time?
My aunt Karen's. I think I was 4 or 5. I was a flower girl, of course. As an adult, the only wedding I've stood in has been my friend, Jeanette's. I was the only one in her line.

15. What was the FIRST thing you did this morning?
Changed Jayden's diaper.

16. What was the FIRST concert you ever went to?
Michael McLain? He was big in the Mormon arena. I liked other 80's secular artists, but never made it to an actual rock concert.

17. FIRST tattoo or piercing?
Ears pierced when I was a teenager(don't remember what age). They closed up less than a year after I had them pierced. And then I got them pierced again when I was in college. I still have the holes in my ears.

18. FIRST foreign country you went to?
Canada. That's the only one I've been to.

19. What was your FIRST run in with the law?
I got my first ticket(and it's been my only) about two years ago. The day before my birthday. I was getting coffee at a drive-up coffee stand and the cop behind me noticed my tabs were expired. I blame that one on my spouse. ;)

20. When was your FIRST detention?
With my 1st best friend :). We were in 4th grade. We were sitting together, talking. The teacher moved us apart and put our names on the board. I moved my desk back by hers and started talking again. She kept us after school. We were supposed to walk to her house together that day. Her father was worried when we didn't make it home. She wouldn't let us call and tell our parents that we had detention after school! He was pretty upset with the teacher, and had to hide his laughter when he found out what we had done.

21. What was the FIRST state you lived in?
California

22. Who was the FIRST person to break your heart?
My dad- when he and my mom divorced. I was 5.

23. Who was your FIRST roommate?
Unless you count my sister, Kaylene(who shared a room with me for a few years in our home), Julie was my college roommate my freshman year. I just found her on Facebook recently!

24. Where did you go on your FIRST limo ride?
I've never been in a limo.

And I now tag anyone who wants to fill it out! Leave me a comment so I can see your answers too!

Oh, What a Night!

My first post on my new Blogger blog! I've been blogging for a while at Livejournal, but I've decided that I like the ability to personalize my blog a little more here. What better time to start a new post than at 3:30 in the morning!

Well, thanks to a fight with a friend, changing a poopy diaper on a sleeping toddler at midnight, and (excuse me while I go put said toddler back to sleep). Where was I? Oh yeah, my six year old woke up about an hour or so ago with a stuffy nose. I give her some children's night-time cold medicine, send her off to dreamland, only to have her come back and tell me that she can't sleep because of a scary dog shadow on her ceiling. I go crawl in bed with her, and I don't see a shadow, but I suggest that it might be a dog like Padme getting ready to lick her. "Or like Wolfy!" she theorizes. Wolfy is her favorite stuffed animal. I think it's a husky.

So she's back to sleep(I think), but youngest child is still playing around in his crib. Husband is snoring away next to me. Man's best friend is chasing something in her sleep and knocking against the dresser. I hope to eventually go to sleep tonight. Sometime. Soon.

Alright, so my first post here may be incoherent and a little weird. I was trying to think of a cool name for the title of my blog, but nothing really came to mind. I decided to go with "Nothing to Write Home About" because 1)(actually, I was thinking "Strawberry Fields, but that's "Nothing to get hung about,"which doesn't make sense to me, so if someone cares to elaborate), and 2) I'm not as gifted in the writing department as some of my blogging friends are. My blog's purpose is to help me stay in touch with family and friends and if you find it witty and entertaining in any way- bonus!

It has been an hour, and it looks like everyone is finally asleep-except me, but I hope to head there soon!

Ciao for now!