Tooth Troubles

Not from Micah, for a change, though! Anna and Faith had dentist appointments Monday morning. Anna had a small cavity on one of her molars where she went for her cleaning a few weeks ago, so she was getting that filled. Faith had never had a dental cleaning. To be perfectly honest, I don't usually start taking my kids until they are at least 3, if not 4. (Bad mom! And I actually have gotten better about this--Nathan and Luke were the latest to go for the first time!) But Faith has been eagerly awaiting her first visit, since Anna and Grace love the dentist and are always talking about how they can't wait to go back again. So I decided to make an appointment for her while Anna was getting her cavity filled.

Faith did really great! Anna was called back first, and when the lady came for Faith, she walked back there like a big girl, holding the lady's hand! I brought all those leaves to cut out, so I worked on those out in the waiting room while I waited. When the lady brought Faith back out, she was singing her praises about how she was so obedient and quiet (?!?). I was glad to see that Faith has this other side, LOL. But anyhow, the hygenist said the dentist needed to see me, so I went on back. It turns out Faith has a cavity between her 2 front teeth. Ack! You know, the boys have never had a cavity, none of them, and now Anna and Faith have each had one?! Hmmm. Ironically, Grace didn't have a cavity in her check-up, so she was entered into the "No Cavity Club" drawing, along with the names of al the boys--and she won! She won a ticket to a movie. Ha! I guess we'll just drop her off someday so she can use it. Kidding! Not sure what exactly we'll do with one ticket though. I guess Bob and I could go on a date and just buy one ticket, but I think the last time I actually sat in a movie theater was when "Jonah:A VeggieTales Movie" came out. I think I was chasing a toddling Caleb up and down the aisle, LOL. Meh . . . movies . . . they don't do it for me. Anyhow, I thought it was funny that Grace won.

So the dentist told me that usually they want patients under 3 to get oral sedation for fillings. That costs a TON, if you can imagine--like $300 extra, and insurance doesn't pay for it. BUT since Faith was so amazingly quiet and cooperative (?!?), they felt like they could try the laughing gas, which is only an extra $50. None of my kids have ever had laughing gas, so I have no experience with that at all. I guess she has to keep a mask on the whole time? So now my fervent prayer is that this obedient, cooperative Faith will again be the one who shows up at the dentist's office on Oct. 20! And believe me, toothbrushing and flossing supervision for the girls has taken on a much higher priority!

Teaching Update

My first week of teaching at the elementary co-op went well. I think the kids enjoyed making the leaf identification books, and I think they liked that I had brought so many leaves to show them. Most of them had never really thought about what kinds of trees were in their yards or wherever, and they enjoyed learning something new. Now we just have to pray for good weather next Tuesday so we can go on our hike. The 5th and 6th graders were going on a field trip today, and they ended up postponing it because it looked so threatening all morning long. It never did rain.

I came home with all the co-op kids, and we had Rivendell at our house, since our pastor was having a luncheon at our church, where we usually have Rivendell. This was actually a blessing from the Lord! I put an exhausted Micah down in his own bed right after we got home, and Faith went down about 3:00. Normally Faith doesn't take a nap on Rivendell days, and Micah doesn't sleep as well. They were both so tired from their stimulating morning! Fortunately Micah was very co-operative, and he was ready to nurse at 11:00, which is when the 3rd and 4th graders switch classes. So the floater came and watched the 3rd graders for a few minutes while they packed up, and stayed with the 4th graders for a few minutes after they came in. It worked so well! That was a real answer to prayer!

After I ate a quick bite back at home(after 1:00-I couldn't get out of there because a bunch of people needed to talk to me!), I taught memory work, and then science. Whew! I pretty much talked from 9:30 until 4:40. I don't know how teachers do it, day in and day out! So exhausting! I think being a full-time teacher is definitely a calling from the Lord. And those women, like my friend Marianne's mom, who retired this summer after teaching 30-some years? Wonder woman! They have all my respect!

Busy Time

These next few weeks are shaping up to be totally crazy! The main source of extra stress is that it is my turn to teach for 2 weeks at our elementary co-op, so I'm busy preparing for that on top of my physical science and Latin classes (and of course all the regular homeschooling teaching and grading for 5 people, LOL). And next Saturday is a consignment sale, and the following weekend I have a ladies retreat with my church Friday and Saturday, and then we head up to PA to celebrate Bob's mom's 85th birthday Sunday and Monday! And of course football takes up every evening, plus 2 games on the weekends. I figure if I can just make it through Oct. 11--then things will settle down a little bit.


So I'm teaching 2 lessons on trees for the elementary co-op. I really like trees, and I taught a chapter on them last year in life science, so I already had some ideas. Unfortunately I did not use my summer time wisely and plan everything out then, however, so I've been busy the past week. Tuesday we're going to touch briefly on the different parts of trees, and I'll bring in my tree cross-section slice that Ed L. graciously cut for me last summer. I've gotten quite a bit of use out of that thing! Then we're going to talk about the basics of tree identification using leaves--simple, compound, opposite, alternate, pinnate, palmate, serrated margin, complete margin, lobed, --those sorts of term. I drew 14 leaves (that is what took so much time, LOL) that illustrate those terms, got them copied on to green cardstock, and now I am cutting them all out (for 26 students!) so they can glue them in the appropriate places next to descriptions on white pieces of cardstock, so they have a little tree guide for themselves.

Then, Lord willing, we will take a little field trip the next Tuesday to a local park, where we can hike around and see those 14 leaves on actual trees. Well, only 13--I used the buckeye to illustrate palmately compound leaves, and I haven't seen a buckeye anywhere around here yet! Oh well. This is actually a big prayre request because we have been having quite a bit of rain, especially on Tuesdays of late! The boys and I were laughing ont he way to Rivendell last Tuesday (in the rain). Last year we primarily had nice, sunny days on Tuesdays. The only thing that has changed is that the C family moved to Hawaii, so clearly they took the sun with them. Come back!! LOL!

Back before the co-ops started up, the kids and I went on a hike at this park so I could find a good trail and make sure I knew what trees were on it. It was hot, the girls were whiny, as were some of the boys, and somehow I lost my notes once we got home. Story of my summer! So I knew I needed to go back to make sure of my plan!

This time I was smart, and just Luke and I went on Wednesday! We had a really nice time, and it was great to spend some time with just him. He didn't whine or complain once! We headed up the trail we went on last time, and as we got to the highest point of it, right in the middle of a nice oak/hickory forest, there were several wasps flying around the trail. After evaluating the situation, we decided to turn around and go on a different trail, LOL. No need to be a hero! Luke was understandably skittish because as it turns out, when he was at WSS this summer, as he and the rest of the campers were coming back from rapelling, he stepped onto a yellow jackets' nest, and he got stung several times. The poor kid behind him got stung even more times though. So yeah . . . no need to repeat any stinging opportunities!

We identified all the trees we needed to, but the real stars were the amazing fungi fruiting bodies that had popped up all over the forest with all the rain we've had lately! So big! So many colors! So cool! Here are a couple of examples, but I'm not going to identify them because, well . . . I'm just not that into fungi. And I don't have time to look them up, LOL.

Early Teething is a Real Pain

Micah has been a real pill lately with this teething thing. He was so crabby for most of August, which was bad enough, but then he started biting me while nursing. Ouch. I flicked the cheek, pushed his face into me, etc., both of which would stop the biting, but he wasn't really learning any lessons, as far as not biting me the next time! Then early this week he bit me so hard on my right side, and I've really been struggling to nurse these past few days (although not anywhere near the struggle my friend Beverly is having with her newborn (6th child)--while her husband is deployed!). I have been in so much pain!! Wednesday and Thursday I actually stopped nursing him on the right side most of the day. I did pump a time or 2, but mainly I just gave it a rest, hopefully to heal. I also took a ton of motrin! That all has been helping, as it is a little less painful today. I still didn't nurse him all the time on that side though. Gah.

It makes me all stressed and tense to even think about nursing because it hurts so badly (and this is coming from someone who delivered a 10 1/2 pound baby naturally, LOL). Caleb was my other big biter, and he bit me so hard he drew blood a few times. Coincidentally, he was also my other early teether. Hmmmm. Anyhow, in Caleb's case, he tested positive for all these allergies when he was 7 months old (wheat, milk, eggs, peanuts). I continued nursing him for 2 more months, with me cutting out all those things from my diet as well, but I gave up the good fight then. I think the allergies were sort of a good excuse for me, since the whole nursing experience with him had been more stressed because of all the biting. I really don't want to duplicate those feelings with Micah, but it is really hard to be excited about the thought of nursing him for 14 or 16 months, that is for sure.

I am hopeful that he will settle down and learn some nursing boundaries soon--and that maybe we'll have some sort of a break from all the teething! He is so young that a lot of the tricks I usually use for teething just don't work for him. For example, I let my babies chew on frozen bagels, or suck on frozen peaches in one of those little net things with a handle. They love those things! Micah has only started rice cereal on Tuesday, and he still has trouble holding onto things really well, and actually getting them into his mouth! Poor guy! I have noticed that he seems to be nippier in the football hold, so I'm only nursing in the cradle hold, especially on the bad side. And no one can be around me, because he's nippier when he's distracted. You can imagine how easy it is to keep everyone away and quiet! Ha!

So this week has been discouraging for me. I'm hoping next week will be better.

Red Cabbage with Bacon

For physical science lab last Tuesday, I needed some red cabbage indicator, so I had to boil a cabbage. I remembered having this yummy red cabbage dish at our friends' house, so I thought that would be a good way to use the cabbage! I called Ania to find out exactly how to make it, since it had been awhile., and she gave me the scoop--just like her Polish mom makes it!

Red Cabbage with Bacon

Chop a small red cabbage finely (if you have a smaller family than ours, you could probably just chop half a cabbage--it makes a ton!). Put in water, and boil until tender, between 5 and 10 minutes. (I brought the water to a boil after I put the cabbage in, and that worked fine.) Drain in a colander, and then immediately put back in pan. Put a few tablespoons of vinegar in, to make the pink color stay. (You can always add more vinegar later if you don't get enough in for flavor.) Add a teaspoon of chicken bouillion, and a teaspoon or 2 of sugar, as well as some salt and pepper. Chop and fry 6-7 pieces of bacon. Stir the cabbage into the grease. (Or I guess if you use a small skillet, then stir the grease and bacon pieces into the cabbage! I just fried whole pieces and crumbled them after I was done, because I don't like chopping bacon.) Then taste, and if there's not enough flavor, add a little more vinegar and sugar. So delicious!

I've never made cabbage because I've always heard how terrible cabbage smells when boiling. I didn't think this smelled very bad, though, so maybe green cabbage is worse, or this just doesn't cook that long . . . or maybe my nose is going in my old age, LOL. Anyhow, it was good and easy. We were having a roast and rice with gravy, and this was a good side for that!

5 Months Already?!

Micah turned 5 months old today--and his 5th tooth also poked through today! So now he has 3 on top and 2 on bottom. Crazy! In the picture, Micah is holding court as king of the table at WSS in his bumbo. He likes to be in on all the action!

And here is a picture of Micah with his Grandma and Grandpa! It was so great to spend time with them this weekend, and Micah enjoyed it too, even though he looks a bit scowly here!

The New Hotel

This past year White Sulphur Springs built a brand new hotel in a big meadow up the hill from the old building. Now I absolutely love the old building. It has so much character, plus so many wonderful memories for me! But I must say that as a busy mom of many, I LOVED the new hotel. It was so. very. nice. A lot of the rooms connect. We had two rooms, each with a double bed, 2 twin beds, and a (twin) fold-out love seat. Can you imagine?! Beds for 10!! There was so much SPACE! Here's a picture of the room where Micah, the girls, and Bob and I all slept. Faith got the pull-out couch, and Micah was in a pack-n-play. The furniture was beautiful and so well-made--and all donated by a company in Denver! The whole hotel's worth of furniture, plus linens! Now THERE is a business man who can really say he supports the military. Everything was SO comfortable too. The mattress was really nice!
Here's a another view of our room from by the window. You can see the counter for the sink--the toilet and tub are in a little room by themselves. In the old hotel, the bathrooms were so tiny, and I always worried that a toothbrush or something was going to fall fromt he sink into the toilet! No worries here!

Here is the room where the older boys all slept. It was a little more narrow, but still very roomy.

This is a nice lounge/gathering area in the middle of the second floor. There's another area like it on the third floor. It was nice for reading or talking or playing cards. On the walls were beautiful pictures of the WSS property taken in different seasons and matted and framed beautifully. I really enjoyed looking at all the pictures. Down the hallways there were old black and white photographs of the old hotel on the walls. I love old pictures!

And finally here is a picture of the lobby area from the railing in the second floor lounge area. It's a really nice place to have conversations with friends as well! It looks out to the big porch, which stretches across the entire back of the hotel, and then out to the hills beyond the meadow. Beautiful view!

So while the old hotel had character, the new hotel feels very . . . luxurious, I guess. I really felt pampered, and it was easy to relax there! It is rare to feel like there is room enough for our family at a hotel, but here there was plenty of room! I really hope we can do a week of family camp next summer, maybe while Nathan is on staff and Caleb and Jonathan are at Camp Caleb or something. I'm looking forward to it already!!

Catching Up--First Day of Co-ops

Okay, whew! I am back in contact with the rest of the civilized world! I didn't realize how completely cut off I would feel without email. I think maybe we are thinking about getting at least one smart phone whenever we actually replace our dinosaur phones (got when I was pregnant with Faith--and they were the free ones then!). We actually got our brand-spankin'-new router delivered Wednesday afternoon, and Nathan set it all up after football practice. Bob was TDY, though, and I just haven't had time to do any blogging until now. I want to have a separate post about our weekend at White Sulphur Springs because it was so great--the new hotel is SO nice (and I took some pictures!), and I had some free time so not only was I able to finish science preparations and get a little ahead in Latin, I was also able to read the second Harry Potter book! Anyhow--another post for all that.

We started both co-ops Tuesday morning, and I don't think there could have been a gloomier day to start! It rained continuously, as it has pretty much the entire time since Tuesday. Yesterday had to have been the worst though. I had to drive to Walmart to get stuff for next week's science lab (denatured alcohol, ammonia, a fire extinguisher--that sort of stuff, LOL), and I also had to drive to my friend Kimberly's house for our weekly Bible study. I thought the car was going to float off the road! These past few days have been much more impressive than Hurricane Irene, I have to say. Finally the sun has peeked out a bit this afternoon, which is a welcome sight. Football practice was cancelled the past few nights (well, Nathan had practice Wednesday night), but that was actually a nice break for me, since Bob was gone. The kids need to be able to get outside and run around though.

So, back to the co-op . . . Rivendell went very well. Again the skype connections were great, so it wasn't a problem at all to have one student be represented by a computer screen in science class! At one point in the afternoon Nathan came down to the basement, where I was doing memory work with the little guys, to tell me that I had neglected to tell him about some literature reading he was supposed to have done, as well as some terms he was supposed to have defined. Whoops! I later found the assignment sheet in the school room (Jenny gave it to us at a meeting AT MY HOUSE!), and then as I was going through some papers piled up on the kitchen counter this afternoon, I found an envelope from Jenny that had the reading enclosed for Nathan. So (*cough*) now you know that I am really not organized at all, and things are indeed slipping! I need a better system for mail. Someday I'll organize that . . . I just need some extra time . . .

I think we are getting back into a good school routine for the other days of the week as well. We've been getting a lot done each morning, especially with Caleb, Jonathan, Anna, and Grace, so I've been very happy with that. Anna is really coming along with her blending, but she's still not really reading. I think she will benefit with more consistent work! Caleb and Jonathan are both (finally) finishing up their math books from last year. Now they'll be able to skip the first 30 or 40 lessons (well, I have them do the tests every 10 lessons), since everything is still so fresh! This summer I started them doing this Xtra Math website each day to help with their math facts. It's like doing flashcards, but since it is on the computer, it is infinitely more exciting than doing flashcards with mom, LOL. And it takes none of my time!! So they are definitely going to continue that.

Christine also sent me these lovely assignment sheets that she had made up for all her boys. I changed the categories to exactly what we needed and printed off several weeks' worth for the boys. Caleb and Jonathan just check off what they have done, but it is helpful for Nathan and Luke to be able to map out what all they need to accomplish each day to be ready for Rivendell on Tuesday and Latin on Wednesday, as well as making sure they finish their regular math and grammar. I think it's good preparation for college to be able to do that.

Off the Radar

This is a quick post to let everyone we are still around! We had a great weekend at White Sulphur Springs, but when we got back home, our internet stopped working after about an hour. After a long conversation with Verizon, it was determined that our router had failed, so they are supposed to be sending us a new one. In the meantime, we are without internet access! I checked email briefly at Rivendell, and now Nathan and I are at the library to pick up a video we had requested. But for the next few days, you had better call if you want to get in touch with us--we're back in the 90's, communication-wise, LOL.

Almost Ready

We're almost ready for co-ops to start up again on Tuesday. We did school last week, but I ran around like a crazy woman in the afternoons to finish up last-minute errands. I was able to get my 2 posterboard maps of Europe laminated (although the teacher shop moved--without consulting me, if you can imagine--and so it took much longer than I had planned), and I got Nathan and Luke's Spanish books spiral bound at Staples. It cost $9 per book, but they cut the binding off and put the spiral thing on. The books look great, and hopefully they won't fall apart like Nathan's book did last year. I got my Home Science Tools order, so we're set for labs. Christine sent me some nifty assignment sheets she made for her boys, and I changed them to fit our subjects and printed them off for my boys. Hopefully this will help keep everyone organized!

We also set up the girls' new bunk beds. I had hoped to post a picture, but I haven't gotten around to taking one yet. We still haven't completed all the furniture switching-around that will take place once we take down Faith's crib, though, so maybe I'll wait to take pictures until after that. Faith is sleeping on the trundle bed though. The first night she was up and down so many times, Bob finally put her back in the crib. The second night she was up and down again, but not as much. The third day I stopped letting her take a nap in the afternoon! She has still been up and down some (mainly to go potty), but it has definitely been greatly reduced!

Micah has not been as fussy this week, which was such a blessing. His third tooth came in last Saturday, and he worked hard for it, based on how fussy he was the week before! Now the other top tooth is SO close to poking through. You can see white, but there is still a tiny bit of gum over it. I thought we'd get a break after this tooth comes through, but there's another tooth on top the is really close as well! He's going to have a mouthful of teeth by Christmas--just in time for a big turkey dinner with us, LOL.

But first we have one last weekend, and we're spending it at White Sulphur Springs! I hope it is really relaxing and refreshing--I'm a bit nervous about the start of a new school year! I had a disturbing dream last night, where we were going to move in 24 hours, so I was trying to sort through all our clutter. But I knew it just wasn't enough time, and I woke up very flustered! I think I still feel like I'm not ready to start, and there's more to do to be ready, and so that's why I had that dream. But as my friend Kimberly said, the co-ops are starting on Tuesday, no matter how ready I am!

4 Month Well-Baby

Micah had his 4 month well-baby appointment this afternoon. At least I squeezed it in before he turned 5 months in about 2 weeks!

He weighed 17 lb, 12 oz, and was 26 1/2 inches long. That's a smaller curve than he has been on. as far as the growth chart (80th percentile as opposed to 95th!), but still WAY huge compared to any of our other kids! Micah was smiley and charming for the doctor, obviously a healthy baby. Caleb drew the short straw to be my designated helper for this appointment. It is so nice to have an extra set of arms, even though no one leaps for joy at the prospect of a trip to Bethesda! On a random side note, as we were driving in the parking garage (we had to go all the way up to the 7th floor to find a parking space at 2:00 in the afternoon--crazy!), we drove past a minivan with a Dayton Christian bumper sticker! So cool!

Here is a bonus picture of Micah. Caleb thought he looked like a gym rat/Rambo sort of dude, so he fitted him out with a "sweatband", which is actually a headband of the girls'. I'm sure Micah will be so proud of this picture when he gets older! Be sure to check out the rolls of "muscles" in his arms!

"Twas a Dark Yet Not Too Stormy Night"

Here we are, listening to the rain and wind from the outer bands of Hurricane Irene. Once again Capital Weather Gang called it, as far as how our little area was going to be affected (or not affected) by this storm. They're amazing! Our power went out once, briefly, but other than that burst of excitement, it hasn't even seemed very windy!

I noticed that I have neglected to update my blog all week, which might lead one to believe that we had a relaxed, restful week, but of course that was not really the case! While at home, I've been trying to get ready for school starting next week, as well as the co-ops starting Sept. 6. But we've also been rushing around too, especially in the evenings, when Nathan and Luke both have football practice from 6:00 to 8:00, but not in the same place. Exciting times!

Monday: Nathan mowed my friend Lynnea's lawn. He has been gainfully employed this summer by ,mowing their large lawn once a week! And while he was doing it this week, the girls, Micah, and I visited with Lynnea and her 3 girls (and 2 bunnies). I always enjoy visiting with Lynnea! In the afternoon I had a chiropractor appointment, first one since before we went to Ohio in June. I want to start the school year off properly aligned!

Tuesday: The kids and I went off to a local park to hike on a trail. I am teaching in the "trees" unit for the elementary co-op the end of September, and I am hoping to take my classes over to this park, which is close to the church where we meet, so they can identify some trees. The kids and I walked up an easy trail, but there wasn't a lot of tree variety--mainly oaks and hickories. I think we're going to go with it though. The girls (and Nathan) were very whiny, so I am going to have to go back by myself to really prepare what I am going to say! The weather was gorgeous though--sunny, breezy, and not very humid. A perfect day for a hike!

Wednesday: I taught Latin at 12:45, and then we all headed over to our church so we could do a dry run test for Rivendell. Now that Siri is over in Hawaii, we had to make sure that we could have 2 computers in each location, and both sets of computers skyping each other. I am happy to say it was a great success! Whew! Hopefully things will go that smoothly when we are actually having classes!

Thursday: Luke had an orthodontist appointment, and then he and I went to Walmart to get school supplies. I think we got what we need for the year, and we also went to Sams to stock up before the great storm. A big afternoon of shopping! I am still hoping to make a commissary trip next week before school really gets going.

Friday: Other than taking Caleb to his book club over at the McC's house, we didn't have to go anywhere today. We spent some time putting all our plastic yard toys under the deck and policing up the yard (which should make our neighbors happy, LOL). Then the younger kids and I went to Bible study, while Bob dropped both boys off at their practices, stayed at Nathan's, and went to a parents' meeting when it was done, while one of Luke's coaches dropped him off where Nathan's team meets. Having 2 boys playing on different football teams has been quite a time so far! I don't know how other families do it!

Saturday: This morning Bob and I looked at a set of bunk beds a family on the homeschool email loop was selling. The bunk beds have a trundle bed that rolls out from underneath, and I thought that might work for the girls' room, since that is a small room, and we weren't sure how to fit everyone in once Faith is out of the crib. The set also came with a chest of drawers (we can always use more dresser space!) and 2 desks, one with a hutch. We ended up buying the set for $475, including 3 twin mattresses. It's on the older side, and not really feminine or anything, but it is very sturdy, and it should work just fine. We mde 2 trips to get all the furniture home, and on our way back we ran into Walmart to buy 3 twin sheet sets. Walmart was a zoo, as people were buying bottled water and toilet paper, LOL. We were trying to beat the heavy rain, but since that never really materialized, I guess we could have dilly-dallied a bit more! Luke had a football scrimmage this afternoon (in the rain), but after they came home and ate dinner, the boys helped Bob set everything up. Bob got the bottom bunk set up, but when he went to put the top part on, he realized that part of one post was broken, so he will need to fix that tomorrow. So for tonight, Anna is on what will be the bottom bunk (where Grace will normally sleep), Grace is on the trundle part (where Faith will normally sleep), and Faith is still in her crib. She is VERY excited about sleeping in a big girl bed, however, so hopefully it will be an easy fix tomorrow.

So that's what we've been up to. I've been busy drawing a map of Europe on a piece of posterboard for me to use for mapwork at Rivendell this year. I've finished drawing it, and now I need to outline it all with a sharpie, and draw in the lakes and rivers. Then I'm going to draw a second one for Christine to use for history, and get them both laminated at the teacher store not too far from here. That is a goal for next week!

But now, as I listen to the wind actually pick up a bit, I think it is time to go to bed!

I Can Finally Say . . .

. . . that Faith is potty-trained! Yay! Back down to just one in diapers!! What I can NOT say definitively, however, is that girls are easier to train that boys. And that is a very valid point--if we had stopped having kids after Anna, I would have been certain that girls were a piece of cake (if you did it right, of course--just as I did it, you know . . .). Grace was more difficult than Anna, and Faith was QUITE difficult. Now watch--Micah will be really easy, just to prove some boys are really easy to train (please, please, please, Lord!! LOL).

While we were at the beach, Faith was pretty much dry. She went in every public restroom the girls went in (our first child to not be scared at all of public potties!). Now back at our little bungalow in the evenings, she proceeded to poop in her diaper. Grrr. When we got home, she continued to be dry, but not to poop in the potty, so I left her in the diaper.

Last Saturday Bob took Jonathan, Anna, Grace, and Faith to PA, to the Idlewild amusement park. Each year the company his dad retired from has their annual company picnic at the park, and pretty much all of Bob's family tries to make it. We take up a lot of tickets, so recently Bob has been just bringing a select group of kids, which has worked really well. This particular Saturday Nathan and Luke had football weigh-ins, so it was a good time for them to stay here, and Caleb is a lot like his mother in that amusement park rides just don't do anything for him, so he chose to stay home.

I decided to put Faith in a pull-up for the day, figuring she would want to go potty like Anna and Grace, and it's a real hassle putting a dry diaper back on. I did pack a diaper and an extra set of clothes just in case! But I shouldn't have worried. She was dry the whole day, and when they got back to the hotel, she sat on the potty in the room and pooped! I find it funny that both of her big pottying breakthroughs have involved Bob taking her to PA. (She peed for the first time in the potty at WSS when Bob took Caleb to camp.) Must be something about those PA potties!

So she came home Sunday, and she was accident-free this whole last week. I kept her in a pull-up until Friday, just because she seemed to prefer that, but she was in panties yesterday and did fine. And I know it really has taken because she got out of bed last night to go poop in the potty! So over a month later, Faith is finally potty-trained. Seven down, one more to go . . .

A Blast From the Past

We skipped Bible study this evening, since we are all dealing with some kind of summer cold thing, and we didn't want to share the wealth. I was sitting in my newly created "school room", and I decided it would be a good idea to clear off 2 shelves on the bookshelves in there so I can put all the TOG books for this year on them. As I was moving books around, I discovered some folded papers in my very old black KJV Bible, the one I used for high school, since my parents gave it to me as a gift on my birthday in 1987. I found a veritable treasure trove of notes and pictures that my best friend Amy and I wrote during health class during "J-term" of our sophomore year. ["J-term" is a part of the Dayton Christian school year, in January, as it happens, where you only take 2 classes--one all morning and one all afternoon.)

Health class was, as I still remember to this day, exceedingly boring. My clearest memory is of a poster that we each had to make, illustrating a "safe dating" slogan we had made up. Mine was "Treat your date like a brother, else you'll end up a mother." Very clever, eh? Amy's was more to the point--"Wait 'til you're wed to jump in bed."

I spent a good deal of time in this class writing limericks, and I am sure you all will agree I have missed my true calling in life by not following my poetic muse. Ha! Here are some samples for your reading enjoyment these 22 years later.

There once was a girl named Claire.
She had naturally curly brown hair.
She cheerleaded, ran,
Played the clarinet in band,
But sadly was just second chair.

(I know, you are all wondering why I have been hiding my light under a bushel all these years! Here is another one.)

Once we were all in health class,
Apparently having a blast.
But looks are deceiving,
A lecture we're receiving.
But yay! This day's almost our last.

One last one, this time a rather questionable one about Amy, which I am happy to report did not end up coming true, LOL.

A girl named Amy I knew,
Dozens of orchids she grew.
The flowers were great,
But she couldn't get a date,
So she died in bed with the flu.

??? I don't think Amy ever grew orchids, and she's been married now for 16 years, so I'm sure she is thanking Jason for saving her from this dire fate!

Among other pictures (featuring frogs and butterflies, Amy!!) was a picture not very skillfully drawn of me in a casket (I was the artist, unfortunately) with the inscription, "Here lies Claire, peaceful, undisturbed. It's a sad, sad story--health class killed her". What makes it quite remarkable is that on the lid of my casket Amy wrote "8 kids, lived in Okinawa, Japan". Ha--8 kids!! I'm sure we got a big kick out of that one!! It was obviously one of the most unreasonably ridiculous things we could think of to write, back in our sophomore year of high school! And yet . . . here I am. So I just want to publicly acknowledge Amy as the prophet she obviously always has been! LOL!

Spontaneous, Flexible, Responsive . . .

. . . these are not words that normally describe our family. I would say we're about as maneuverable as an aircraft carrier! But yesterday we were amazingly flexible and spontaneous.

It started around lunchtime, when I decided to sign up to make a meal for our pastor's wife. Our homeschool co-op is making meals for 2 weeks, and no one had signed up, so I jumped right on that! A little before 2:00 (1:47 to be exact), I was puttering around the kitchen, thinking that I should just start making the meal right then, so I could deliver it early for a change, and not be rushing around in the afternoon/evening. At that moment, Nathan came thundering up the stairs from the basement. "MOM, I HAVE A DENTIST APPOINTMENT AT 2:00!!!" Oh yes--the second orthodontic consult. The one that I had gotten an automatic reminder call for on Sunday night, and the one that I had then filled out all the paperwork for, but never thought about one tiny bit all day on Monday! Oops! Well, now my afternoon is filled! We literally leaped into the van and rushed off to the appointment, which fortunately was about 10 minutes away. Whew! Once again I was tremendously thankful to have older boys--I could leave everyone else at home with Luke, including Micah, who I had just put down for a nap. Otherwise, I don't think we could even have found shoes for everyone and gotten out the door in 10 minutes, much less actually arrive anywhere!

So . . . we made it there, had a good appointment (topic for another post!), and came back home so I could put the meal together. Then Bob called. He had a TDY to Quantico Tuesday, and it's a real pain to get down there from here, so he was going to spend Monday night in the TLF. They had given him a 2 room suite with 2 double beds and a pull-out sofa--did we want to go to Quantico that night with him? Yes! I have wanted to go to the Marine Corps Museum since it opened a few years ago, but I've never made the trek down there with the kids. Now we'd already be down there!

Bob delivered the meal and took both boys to football practice while I packed up stuff for everyone for the night. He picked the boys up, we loaded up the big van and the minivan, and we left about 9:15 to drive south. We didn't get in until 10:30, so the kids weren't in bed until 11:00, which made for some crabby girls today, but oh well.

The girls did sleep in a little bit, and once I nursed Micah (a second time, since he was up at 5:15, grrrr), we were ready to go eat around 8:30. I decided to run out to the van to get a stroller for him to sit in , and when I passed the breakfast area, a guy was wiping down the counter and putting the last bagels in a box! Not to worry--I had been afraid there wouldn't be any breakfast at all, so I had packed a cooler with milk, along with cereal, oatmeal, and hard-boiled eggs. So we just ate in the room. Whew! The paper in the room said breakfast was until 9:00, but clearly it was over . . . that's the military way, LOL. As we went out to the van, I eagerly looked forward to the day when we could take a simple overnight trip without requiring a luggage cart to get our suitcase, 2 pack-n-plays, 2 sleeping bags, 4 pillows, toiletries bag, cooler, grocery sack of food, and other random items out to the van!


The National Museum of the Marine Corps is an impressive building that you can see from I-95. We've driven by it several times at night, when it is all lit up. The spires and metal actually reminded us all a little bit of the USAFA Chapel, but it is supposed to invoke the image of the flag-raising on Iwo Jima, with the angle of the pole.
There is an atrium filled with tons of light right when you walk in.

In the atrium were some cut-outs of previous Marine uniforms that you could stand behind. Here Caleb is modeling a uniform from Revolutionary War times. Quite dashing!

The museum was set up really well, with lots of galleries, and many interactive scenes, dioramas, videos, and so on. It was really moving to hear the interviews with Marines, such as from World War II, that were playing. We made it all the way through the World War II gallery, but we didn't get to the "Cold War" gallery, and I believe there might have been another gallery or 2 that we missed. It was really a big place--bigger than it looks on the outside. There were a few interesting-looking movies that were playing in theater-like rooms, but we didn't watch any of those. Faith was being a real stinker, and I knew she wouldn't sit happily through a movie. I had to carry her pretty much the whole time, and I wished I had put Micah in the Ergo and her in the stroller! Of course, then she would have wanted to be out, because what she REALLY wanted was to be contrary, LOL.

The kidi did sit through several of the short little films showing around the exhibits. The one below had several news clips from World War II, as well as some cartoon commercials for war bonds (seeing Bugs Bunny and Daffy Duck was what drew them in!).

I would like to go back to see the rest of the exhibits. It is always moving and humbling to spend time contemplating the tremendous price people have paid for our freedom. We are especially proud of Bob's brother Dennis, who was active duty Marine, and now is in the Army reserve!

The "Bungalow"

Here is the little former base house where we stayed. It had a lovely front porch that I wish our house here had!

And here is a dark shot of the living/dining area from the front door. The bedrooms and bathroom are down the hall on the left.

These were some of the intimidating cleaning instructions. These ones were on the fridge. They also went to the trouble of mailing us a paper with regulations and requirements, but which lacked actual useful info, such as that the pool is always closed Mondays, and the lifeguards don't show up at the beach until 11:00! This sort of info was also not on the website. We decided the people in charge at this place had the attitude that we should be grateful they were allowing us to stay in their place, as we were clearly a bit of an inconvenience to them by making them do work. Definitely not much customer service! But having 3 bedrooms was wonderful, and it was only $120 a night--which Bob's company paid for, since he was working! (Well, not Sunday night, since he was off Monday.) Still, a great deal for us! What's a little cleaning!?!

Beach Pictures!

We took a walk on the beach Sunday night, as soon as we got there. It was a good thing we didn't wait--a storm was coming in, as evidenced by the windiness!

Monday morning, during our long wait for the lifeguard, the kids got more and more in the water. Eventually they were lying in the waves . . . that's not swimming, of course . . .

As we were eating lunch, a guy approached our table, stopped about 10 feet away, pulled out a very small bullhorn, and made an official announcement of a sand-castle building contest and other games, courtesy of the "AZ", which turned out to be the "Adventure Zone". Then he left and went to each of the other groups on the beach, because his bullhorn really could only be heard from no more than 10 feet away. We thought we were in trouble when he first came up though! So anyhow, the kids dutifully built sand castles, since the guy had said everyone would win a prize. Here is Nathan's, which won the prize for "most fortified". Jonathan's won for "most efficiently constructed", as his went up very quickly, once he decided he was actually going to make one, and the judges were already coming around! Caleb's won "best group effort", since the girls and Jonathan all helped. Luke was reading a book and didn't make one. For their efforts, they all got little dollar store trinkets, LOL, but they had fun.

Faith loved the water! And I didn't have to worry about big waves knocking her over! She also loved the sand. Aunt Jane and Uncle Terry had given the girls sand toys when we were at Rose's house back in June, and the girls had been dying to use them. They got their chance! In fact, all the kids enjoyed playing with all the sand toys, so it was really nice to have so many things!

This is the beach. We were almost all the way over at one end of it. This is close to 2:00, and you can see how it has filled up somewhat. It was practically empty until close to lunchtime, and we were the only family there--a private beach! It was nice because there were all these plastic coated tables with benches on the beach. We stuck our beach umbrella through the hole in the middle of the table, and we didn't have to worry about it falling over, plus we had a nice shady place for lunch! We also had a Neat Sheet on the other side of the table, in the shade, where Micah took naps on beach towels or sat in his bumbo like the king of the beach.

Big Day For Anna!

I went to Wegmans, Sams, and Walmart this afternoon, and when I pulled into the driveway and opened the garage door, Anna was right there to welcome me. She was amazingly excited to show me that she had her first loose tooth! And when I looked at it and moved it around, I realized that in fact it was QUITE loose, and would most likely be falling out in the near future! She wriggled the tooth around for a little while, then picked a granola bar to have for a snack. A bite or 2 later, and out came the tooth! Piece of cake!

Anna has been so excited about this tooth--it is practically all she has talked about all evening long! Now Grace is anxiously awaiting her first loose tooth. And maybe I'll actually notice she has a loose tooth more than 30 minutes before it actually falls out!

So Anna's loosing teeth, and Micah's gaining them--his third tooth is just about through! It's a busy tooth time for out family, LOL.

Mini-Vacation

We just got back this afternoon from a little vacation! Bob had a TDY down at Pax River, and there is a little Naval rec center across a bridge from there called Solomons Island. It's where the Patuxant River and the Chesapeake Bay come together. It used to be an actual base, but now it's all just a recreation area, with a little beach, pool, mini-golf course, and several playgrounds. There are also a bunch of different lodging options.

So we all went with Bob after church on Sunday, and we stayed for 3 nights in a "bungalow", which is a fancy name for the former base housing, LOL. It was a 3 bedroom house, with a kitchen, eating area, living area, and bathroom. It was nice, but definitely a base house. I spent some time while trying to fall asleep thinking about how I would manage if I had to live in such a small house with all the kids, how I could efficiently use the very limited amount of storage, etc. I always woke up so glad I don't have to do it, LOL! But for a 3 night vacation it was just perfect--enough rooms that Micah and Faith could both take naps, and all the kids could go to bed, while Bob and I could stay up later! We watched "House Hunters" several times, which we used to do fairly regularly but haven't done in at least a year. I was also able to do a lot of typing, entering in all the memory work stuff for next year, and I did some Latin as well. I also started a Bill Bryson book called At Home, which has been fun and interesting so far. It was so nice to not be at my own (cluttered and messy) house--very relaxing!

Bob's meetings didn't start until Tuesday morning, so we spent Monday at the beach. We got to the beach at 9:30, where all these signs said swimming was prohibited unless a lifeguard was present. So we set up and waited. The kids dug in the sand for awhile, then stuck their toes in, then laid in the water . . . and still we waited. It was boiling hot and humid, and we about gave up hope that a lifeguard was ever going to show up. But eventually, at 11:00, 2 came zipping up in a little vehicle. We were all very glad to be able to swim without feeling guilty. The beach was small, but it wasn't crowded at all. It was very man-made, with big piles of rocks on either end making it crescent-shaped. There were small waves, which were perfect for the girls. They had such a good time in the water! Also, it wasn't as salty as ocean water. Although I reapplied sunscreen to the kids several times, I wasn't as faithful with Bob, and he got a sunburn on his back. We were there until 3:00ish, which was plenty long for us all! We all went back, showered, and then Bob took the kids to play mini golf, which about gave everyone heatstroke.

Tuesday Bob had to work, so he drove the van in, then came back at lunchtime. We then dropped him back off at the base and continued on the a naval aviation museum right outside the gates. It was free, and it was small, both of which were good things with all the little kids, LOL. I thought it was quite interesting, and hey--it was air-conditioned! I had considered taking the kids to a playground, but I decided I just couldn't handle being out in the heat! We went back to pick Bob up, then went swimming. They have a really nice pool complex, with a few pools, water slides, and diving boards. To be able to go on the diving boards and water slides, you have to swim the length of the pool and get a blue wristband. All 4 boys did this, so I was really proud, especially of Caleb and Jonathan! One of the pools was 2 feet deep for a lot of it, and I think it only went to 4 feet at the deepest part. It was perfect for the girls, although Faith did spend some time in the baby pool in the beginning, while I was nursing Micah and Bob was watching the boys swim across the big pool. She did fine in the 2-ft pool, but I wasn't confident enough in her for her to be in there while I was nursing!

After the pool, we went to Ci-Ci's Pizza for dinner. It happened to be a "kids eat free" night, so with our 4 adult buffets, we got 4 kids in free, so we only had to pay for Faith! Woo-hoo!

This morning I took Bob in to work and then rushed back to get ready to leave. We had to be out at 11:00 (and I dropped Bob off before 8:00), so you would think there would be plenty of time! But let me tell you, it was like getting checked out of military housing--I was afriad someone was going to come with a while glove and inspect! There was a long list of cleaning requirements posted on the fridge, and the threat was if you didn't do these things (and do them well, I presume), you would incur a cleaning fee of $50/hour! Yow! So we were stripping beds, wiping counters, sweeping and vacuuming (and picking small rocks out of the carpet by hand because the vacuum provided was really crappy, LOL), and trying to get all our stuff out to the car--in between nursing and trying to keep the girls helping in useful ways, not unhelpful ways, if you know what I mean. I was a ball of sweaty stress by the time we actually handed in the keys (at about 10:59)!

Bob actually didn't come back with us. He finished up meetings there this afternoon, and then he drove with his boss to Reagan National and caught a plane to OH for another TDY. Busy week for him! The kids and I came back here and got ready to take Nathan and Luke to their first football practices. This was a bit of a sore spot, since they actually missed the real first 2 days of practice with this little beach jaunt. And it was stressful, trying to find where the teams were supposed to meet, not having the right equipment with them, etc. Hopefully they will both settle in well and have good seasons. Tomorrow we have another Rivendell meeting here at our house, in between dropping the boys off at practice and picking them up. Then Friday night I'm co-hosting a baby shower for Siri at Christine's house--I'm making chocolate-covered strawberries! There are only going to be about 10 ladies there. Luke thought I should make hundreds, just to be on the safe side, LOL. I'm also in charge of games, so I need to get organized! I have pictures of the trip that I will try to post, if not on here, then on Facebook, but I'm not sure when that will happen!

Physical Science

I have finally made some headway with the physical science for next year. It took me awhile to really get into it because first of all, it's not my favorite of sciences, and second, the lab stuff was just too overwhelming. But I need to order the lab stuff, so I had to jump in.

The thing about the labs for this course is that they all use wildly different components--6 V batteries, density cylinders, hooked weights and a demonstration balance, various metal electrodes, alligator clips, and wires, mini light bulbs and bases, magnets, optic bench, spectroscope, various different chemicals with all the glassware associated, as well as burners . . . and that's just some of the things! When I printed off the order form for BJU physical science from hometrainingtools, it was 7 pages long and cost over $200! That's for one person! The course is an introduction to physics and chemistry, so it hits a ton of different topics. Obviously some trimming had to be done.

I was able to find a used lab demonstration DVD online from BJU, so I have been watching the labs. Wow . . . it is really not too fun to just watch a bunch of labs being done, LOL. I would not want to do all my high school science that way, for sure! But it was very helpful for me in seeing what labs were extra, what things I could substitute, and most importantly, which labs could be done in one big group with only one apparatus, and which ones would be most beneficial for us to do in smaller groups. We'll have a total of 7 students next year, although Eric will be roughing it in Hawaii and will have to watch us. So that leaves 6 students, and I think we'll break them up into 2 groups of 3 for a lot of labs. That will give more hands-on experience, especially for the ones who might be more timid and not naturally just leap in to participate. But that does mean I have to buy enough stuff for 2 groups for those labs. I'm not sure how chemistry (in 2 years) is going to work out! I can see that getting really expensive! Although . . . not as expensive as a class at the community college. And I do want the kids to have good hands-on lab experience in high school, like I did--even if they don't have a super-experienced teacher like Mr. Minor to teach them!