Maya sure felt that way!
Misha seems to really resent being left out of homeschooling, so she butts in whenever she gets a chance. She'll stand right on the Bible while I'm reading it, making all the kids laugh, while I shove her off lovingly. Today, Maya was trying to complete her phonics exercises while Misha sat right in front of her, just staring at her while she read. Maya made the mistake of petting her, at which point Misha laid down right on top of her workbook.
Maya was completely hidden under her comforter, so I went to check on Lydia. She's such a floozy when she snores:
We rarely ever go in the boys' room because they'd wake up. They have bunk beds, but we're not sure why. They never sleep in separate beds. Pedro completely burritoes himself in his comforter at night, with mouth wide open, but I can't take a picture of that. He'd be too embarrassed. {{snicker}}
We visited a new church this past Sunday, a small church with a small building. (We like small churches.) Before service started, we went in to grab a seat. I didn't see any free seats on that side of the sanctuary, so we walked out and around to the other side. We walk in and head towards a free row of seats. They all have a purse or bulletin in them, as the lady at the end of the row is saving them for someone. So we stand against the wall, patiently waiting to see if some seats will free up. One man noticed that we weren't sitting down and offered to find us some seats. (I should mention here that Kyle was at home with Chloe and Lydia, who were still a little sick and Pedro was out of town. So it was just me and four kids.) The kind man couldn't find any seats, gave me an "I don't know" look and sat back down with his family. At that point, I took the kids out. An usher saw me in the hallway, and said: "We have a few seats (not five) on the front row, is that ok?" I smiled sweetly and said, "No."
This week, we had two puny kids. Chloe had a stomach ache and Lydia had a hacking cough. 
So off to the herb cabinet I went. Peppermint to soothe Chloe's tummy and Wild Cherry Bark for Lydia's cough.
For Lydia's cough, I take about 1/4 cup of Wild Cherry Bark in a 2 qt. saucepan and simmer it on low for 20 minutes.
Then I strain out the bark and toss that in my flowerbed (free mulch!) I put a bit of honey in the cup before pouring in the hot tea. I then refrigerate it for Lydia since she prefers cold tea.
My good friend, Gretchen, loaned me this book to read to the kids and we all LOVED it!
This morning, we were reading Matthew 5 (The Beattitudes). When I got to this verse:9 Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called sons of God.
Once I saw the fruit of this method, I started adding in all kinds of things, like: change the A/C filter (once a month), clean out the fridge (once a month), find 25 things to toss (once a week- yes, I can definitely find 25 things every week), etc. You get the idea. I LOVE it!
Did you know you can make delicious, healthy yogurt in your crock-pot? I'll never go back to store-bought now that I know how easy and cheap it is. Check it out!
Raising Noble Sons and Victorious Daughters Collection, is a library of six books offers practical advice for equipping boys and girls for the high calling of biblical manhood and womanhood. Topics covered include: how to choose friends: how to guard the tongue: how to act during public worship: how to behave at the table: how to be graceful and feminine: how to keeps one’s mind pure before marriage: how to govern the tongue: how to encourage brothers and sisters to be best friends: and much more.
I LOVE living in the city. I like my neighbors, enjoy talking over the fence with them in the evenings, sharing cookies and lemonade when they're working outside, or "borrowing" an egg when I need one for a recipe. I love that our bank is 5 minutes away, the library is 7 minutes away, and I have my choice of Whole Foods, Sprout's, or WalMart Market all within a 10 minute drive from our front door.
at Target. It's a lot of fun and the kids picked up on it quickly. Then, I hopped on eBayand bought this:
I haven't gotten it yet, so I'll let you know. But I've heard a lot of good things about it already, so I'm confident I won't be disappointed.
This past weekend, I chopped my hair. I mean, literally *I* chopped my hair. And you probably never guessed, but this too boils down to my love of frugality. So, here's the new 'do: (It should last a good long while!)
When Maya joined our family, our hair budget had to be revamped. About 6 months ago, I took Maya to a Loctician to have her hair locked. (These used to be called "dreadlocks", but "dread" gave people a bad impression. Now they're just called locs.) I absolutely love the look and the flexibility this style provides, but I don't want to screw it up by attempting to do it myself.
Someone recently asked me about adopting a teenager. We adopted Pedro when he was 17; he moved in with us just one month after his cousin, Stacey and her baby moved out of our home and broke our hearts.
On the other hand, it's very hard for me to imagine being "done". I really can't handle the thought of never being blessed again with another child. It makes me so sad! When I see pregnant women, I immediately feel a sting of jealousy. Lately, I've been looking back at newborn pictures and birth videos, feeling very nostalgic.
Eventually, you have to quit though, right? Eventually someone will have to be the baby of the family. I don't know if I'm ready for that yet.
Fortunately, God is in control of our family size. He is trustworthy.
If you're like us, you homeschool for hundreds of reasons, but what's your #1 reason for homeschooling? Please share.
The other night, we had a Family Game Night and they all chose:
Kyle would whisper ideas in their ears before they started, then the acting began.
Maya was a bear, but she kept hopping and she wasn't very scary. We had a hard time with this one:
Liddy was playing a harmonica. Obviously. But long after we guessed it correctly, she kept right on playing her harmonica. So we had to pause the game and explain a few things.
Here's the new Clark signal for "You got it!":
Can you guess what Daniel was holding?
After a few seconds of us not guessing what Lydia was doing, she would just up and decide to act out something else. Daniel was trying to keep her on track, by whispering in her ear what she's really supposed to be doing. This happened repeatedly. 
I'm Curious: What family games do you like to play? Played any new ones lately?
