Independence Day

The kids really wanted to go to the local parade this year for the 4th of July. But Matthew and I vetoed the idea since it's a steam engine parade and 4/5 of children scream when they hear loud noises. So I suggested we have a parade of our own. they weren't thrilled at the idea at first and then Kendall confessed that what they really wanted was to catch candy. Once I guaranteed them candy to throw they were all for it. They spent the day decorating their bikes. And then that evening our good friends the Hatches came for a cook out.





After the parade we headed over to one of the parks on Lake Lanier just down the street. As we got their Kendall lost another tooth. Rebecca joked that Kendall's tooth had declared it's independence from her mouth.



At the Lake we let the kids play in the sand and water until it was dark and then we had an excellent view of the Lake Lanier Islands' fireworks. And the nice thing was that we were far enough away that no one screamed when they went off.

The Cherries Did it Again

Dakotta was telling me the other day that the cherries painted her nails red. The next day she ran into the room and yelled. "Mom the cherries did it again." Those mischievous little cherries. No wonder Dakotta loves them so much.



Apparently they got her face too.

After 2 magic erasers we were finally able to find Dakotta under all that cherry juice. (Not really)

Soap Cheese

Some of my friends have been raving about this homemade laundry detergent so I thought I would give it a try. The ingredients are Borox, Washing Soda and a bar of washing soap (after I finally located the one that was recommended to me I found out a bar of Ivory would have work as well). I spent about $5 on ingredients and only used a small portion of that to make a 2 gallon batch of laundry detergent. So it probably comes to about 50 cents per batch compared to about $8 normally. And anyone who know me, knows I love a bargain. It's also environmentally friendly so I figured it was worth a try.

Here's some pictures of the kids helping me make the detergent.



Elliott helping to grate the soap.



Corinna helping. (Please don't call the fashion police. Didn't you know tights on top of leotards are all the rage with 4 year olds this summer? )


We got down to the last little sliver to grate so I took over. Unfortunately he was a little too eager to help and got this for it.


Grated soap. Corinna said she wanted to put the cheese in and I explained it wasn't cheese. She said, "But it looks like cheese." I agreed that it was shaped like cheese and the color of cheese but it was really soap. Not willing to admit she might be wrong she declared it "SOAP CHEESE"


Adding more ingredients.


Yum.

Other people have told me this recipe takes 10 minutes. I don't think they had as many helpers I did so it took me about 45. I have washed my first load of laundry in it and so far I'm pleased.

Kid's Answers

1. What is something mom always says to you?
Rebecca (9): Go. (go brush your teeth, go do your homework, go get your shoes and socks on)
Kendall: (6): "Kendall!"
Corinna (3): I don't know.
Dakotta (3): I don't know.
Elliott (23 months): Mama.

2. What makes mom happy?
R: A day off.
K: Hugs & kisses.
C: Saying, "Please."
D: Love on sumpfing.
E: Mama

3. What makes mom sad?
R: When Kids destroy things/
K: Hitting and kicking her.
C: Yelling.
D: When her eyes get red.
E: Mama

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
R: Her jokes.
K: Tickling.
C: Silly
D: Being silly.
E: Mama

5. What was your mom like as a child?
R: A ballerina/granola girl.
K: A ballerina.
C: family.
D: FAMILY!!!
E: Mama

6. How old is your mom?
R: 35
K: 34/35
D: 3
C: 6
D: No 8
E: Mama

7. How tall is your mom?
R: 5 or 6 feet
K: 8 feet
C: Big as a giant.
D: This tall (reaches her hands way over her head).
E: Mama

8. What is her favorite thing to watch on TV?
R: LOST
C: Mickey Mouse Clubhouse
D: Princess and the Pauper
E: Mama

9: What does your mom do when you're not around?
R: Clean.
K: Be on the computer
C: Stuff up in your room.
D: I will get lost.
E: Mama

10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for?
R: How many kids she can keep track of.
K: Ballerina
C: All the stuff.
E: Mama

11. What is your mom really good at?
R: Reading
K: Taking care of the family
C: Doing all the stuff.
D: Drawing pictures on doodle pads.
E: Mama

12. What is your mom not very good at?
R: Getting Kendall up in the mornings.
C: Not doing stuff.
E: Mama

13: What does your mom do for her job?
R: Take care of everybody.
K: Take care of the family.
C: Make Birthday cakes.
D: Getting everyone milk and stuff.
E: Mama

14. What is your mom's favorite food?
R: Pork and something else.
K: Pizza!
C: Ramen noodles
D: Chicken nuggets.
E: Mama

15: What makes you proud of your mom?
R: She doesn't embarrass me.
K: She takes care of me.
E: Mama

16: If your mom was a cartoon character, who would she be?
R: A MOM
K: hmmmmm
C: Melissa
D: Goofy
E: Mama

17. What do you and your mom do together?
R: Talk
K: Help each other
C: We do stuff we want to do.
D: Go to Disney World.
E: Mama

18: How are you and your mom the same?
R: We both did ballet/
K: We both have brown hair.
D: We're different
C: Dakotta is the same as me.
E: Mama

19: How are you and your mom different?
R: She's older than me.
K: I have brown eyes and she has blue.
E: Mama

20: How do you know your mom loves you?
R: Cuz she tells me all the time.
K: She takes care of me.
E: Mama

21. What does your mom like most about your dad?
R: He's nice.
K: He works.
C: He's handsome as a prince.
D: He's handsome as a Eeyore dad.
E: Mama

22. Where is your mom's favorite place to go?
R: Utah.
K: Kari's house
C: Kari's house
D: Disney World
E: Mama

I asked Kendall and Rebecca separately but the 3 little ones I asked at the same time.

Merry Christmas

When I put my blog address on our Christmas cards 3 weeks ago I had every intention of updating my Blog with a very nice "Christmas Newsletter." However it's been quite a crazy month here at the Hive and not just your normal December crazy. We're in the process of refinancing our house, in the midst of that we found a leak in a pipe above the living room, we got a plumber to fix it but then Matthew had to repair the ceiling, he also discovered a hole in the dryer vent and had to repair that as well. And of course the part of the ceiling that had to be repaired required us taking down our ceiling fan and light fixture, which required the power to be shut down in the living room. And did I mention it was also right by the Christmas tree, the same tree that has a already toppled over more than once. So it's been a rather frustrating month and all the things originally on my to do list have been pushed further and further down the list. In the grand scheme of things really it's just life but with the fact that this year I volunteered to invite my entire family for Christmas day it's been a bit overwhelming, to say the least. We're grateful to friends and family who helped us out, Matthew's friend John and Papa Hardin came to help Matthew install the drywall and Lettitia and Justin were nice enough to let me sic my kids on them for the day so that they could get out of the way of the project.

So now it's 2 days before Christmas, tomorrow we'll be gone most the day, and the next day we're expecting close to 40 people here. So now I'm off to knock out my to do list with hopes that there are no more surprises. Wishing y'all a Joyful Christmas.

Shout Out to Awesome Teachers

As the Thanksgiving season is upon us I have a lot of things for which to be grateful, but one thing that keeps coming back to me is how blessed we have been by our children's teachers since we've moved here. For the girls sake, I don't want to go into too many specifics but they've both had their share of struggles academically. The teacher's have always been very open to communicate with us and to provide whatever resources they could for us.

I keep hearing from other's about "one size fits all" teaching and I can honestly say that has been the furthest from our experience these past 3 years. I know each of these teacher's has gone out of her way to adapt the classroom and teaching to my specific kid and her needs. All of them have communicated with me openly and freely and what I love most is that they always come to me with a solution already in mind. Eveen when they have felt stumped they've mentioned that they would talk to the other teacher's in the grade for helpful ideas. They've been willing to listen to any of my concerns and to act on the things we've discussed quickly.

I can't express enough what a blessing and a relief it is to send my kids to school and know that whatever struggles they have that day they have someone at school who I know is in their corner routing for them. It's made an amazing difference. It fills my heart when Kendall comes home telling me how she did and I know it's a direct result of her teacher showering her with positive reinforcement and encouragement. Or when Rebecca comes home telling me of something she learned or accomplished and I know it's because of a teacher that has repeatedly demonstrated that she knows Rebecca can do it even when she might not be sure of it herself. Not only has it made a world of difference academically but socially and emotionally as well.

So I just want to give a big but inadequate THANK YOU to Mrs. Morea, Mrs. Proctor, Mrs. Jensen, Ms. Buchwald, Ms. Keiffer, Ms. Heard, Ms. Hurst and all the teachers that support them. I couldn't have asked for better teachers for my children if I had hand picked them myself.

My Poor Neglected Blog

Well sometimes something has to give and lately it's been this Blog. Matthew has been hounding me to post something for sometime. I was a little busy getting ready for Disney World and Halloween and then I came home to a broken computer. I have lots I wanted to share but it's just not the same without my pictures which I don't have easy access to at the moment.

The kids have been busy with school and all their other activities. The 3 younger girls are loving their dance classes and thanks to the Lego catalog I can now at least picture what it is that Rebecca does every Friday at Robotics club. We had teacher conferences the week before our trip and both girls are doing well in school. They both struggle with the same concept (spelling/ sight words) which I'm thinking must be a genetic thing. Both teachers are perfect fits for each of the girls and we feel like we've hit the teacher jack pot since we moved to this school district.

Prior to our trip I got the idea to make outfits for the girls to wear to Disney. So, much to Matthew's delight after 2 lonely years I finally pulled out the sewing machine. I've been having lots of fun with it. So far I've made each of the girls a dress for Disney and a Halloween dress and a vampire cape for Elliott. My next project is scrubs for the kids and Christmas gifts.

Papa completed the Play House and the kids are loving. Matthew has decided it's not bright enough in there so has been digging up the yard and laying cable so that it will have electricity.

Our trip to Disney was fun and exhausting. The twins had a hard time sleeping and it made for far more tantrums than we expected. Despite that we had a good time. Some of the highlights were probably getting to see the twins ride their first roller coaster, Rebecca overcoming her fears and being more adventurous in her rides (she actually road Everest), Kendall meeting Tigger and bouncing with him, having dinner with Matthew's friends, and meeting up with some of my online friends. We stayed in the Fort Wilderness cabins and we loved it. I would love to go back there for a week and spend half the time just at the campground and half the time in the parks. In fact someone told me that they've even stayed at the campgrounds and not even gone into the parks. It really was a great place to stay.

A couple of funny things. My brother Benjamin let us borrow his TomTom (GPS) for the trip. Well the kids didn't know what to think of it and Dakotta would start to argue with it. The TomTom would say "Turn Right" and she would retort "We already turned right." Then one day we got of the boat launch at the Magic Kingdom and Corinna says "Turn left and then turn left" just like the TomTom.

Also, the automatic flushers were quite the issue. Corinna and Dakotta caught on quickly that you have to hold your hand over the sensor. So we'd walk into the stall and they'd take turns holding the sensor for each other. Kendall on the other hand didn't trust them with this most important job and insisted that I was the only one responsible enough to cover the sensor for her.

Elliott got to spend the weekend with his cousins and Uncle Stephen and Aunt Shelene. He seemed to have a great time and came home barking whenever he sees a picture of an animal. And he even got to sing in church with them during the Primary program. His sisters were not happy with us for leaving him home but I think he had a great time and am pretty sure Matthew and I couldn't have handled all 5 of them without some help. I'm sure they will be sure to let Elliott know that they all begged mom and dad to take them but we were the mean ogres that didn't bring him to Disney.

Well maybe someday I'll have my computer working and will be able to update with some of the hundreds of pictures I've taken this month.