A trip down memory lane....

I just found this old video on our camera today and I had to laugh and laugh... boy, this is a great trip down memory lane!  Enjoy!

and another...

and one final one....

Just a little trim….

I knew Caleb’s hair was getting a little long… then one day I looked… really looked… and he had a mullet!  I knew then that it was time to give him his first official hair cut…. just a little trim! 

This is the before… notice the long hair in the back!

It was a little long in the front too… so I had to cut those strangling hairs! Some of the pieces were getting close to his eyes when they weren’t swept to the sides!

Here are the afters… there isn’t much of a difference, but it is different enough for me.  I am glad to have him looking less homely and more trimmed.  :)

When he bent over, it gave me a great chance to show the back… thanks, Caleb!

The cutie pie!

He was clapping for himself….

The first of many, many haircuts, Buster!

ALL IN!

When my kids get into something.. they are ALL IN!  Like when they get a new toy, they play with it over and over again until it is almost worn out!  They like playing the same games over and over until they eventually get tired of it.  The same has been true of our study about Little House on the Prairie… except they have NOT gotten sick of it – yet!  We have been playing, pretending, coloring, crafting, cooking, reading, and studying Laura and her family!  We just can’t get enough of it… and in time I am sure we will even watch a little of the show that goes along with the books as well!

To feed their obsession, my aunt sent us 2 wonderful gifts – the Little House Cookbook and Little House Paper dolls!  They are both treasured in this house!  We haven’t made anything out of the cookbook, but I know we will VERY soon!  The dolls on the other hand were a hit!  As soon as Grace saw them she was begging for me to cut out the pieces so she could play with them. I made her wait 18 hours so I could cut them out, laminate them and then cut them out again.  I know what you are thinking… why go through all that work?  Well, you have to know these obsessed girls and their reckless brother and teething brother.  I knew these girls would play with the dolls from morning until night and their curious brothers would beg to play or chew on them as well.  I wanted them to last more than a week… and they have with great success!  You might think that was a little weird, but for me it was a necessity!  ;)

Here are the little girls… with their new prized possessions!

Thanks, Auntie!

Can it be?

Can it be that my little peanut is a month away from being one?  Can it be that I was in the hospital delivering this baby about one year ago? Can it be that he is really close to walking?  Can it be that I am almost done nursing another baby? Can it be that he is eating just about everything that the rest of us do? Can it be that this little one can bring me some much joy? (And some of you would say… can it be that Sarah is NOT pregnant? I AM NOT PREGNANT, BTW!)

As I took these simple pictures today for his 11 month shoot, I decided to keep most of the pictures in this post so you can see the funny things and the funny expressions that my little boy – Caleb Andrew – makes!  He truly is a little special boy.  He doesn’t say much – he doesn’t have to around this crazy house – but he is growing and learning and is so special to all of us!

Caleb Andrew… 11 months and counting!  :)

The Value of money.. literally!

Grace has been learning about money lately and value of each coin.  She thinks all are pretty cool – from pennies to quarters – she loves them all!  She does really well at counting coins, but to make it all become real and to show her the value of her money – literally – I set up a store for her to buy things from the toy room.  Each thing had a price and she could choose to buy 1 or 2 or 3 of each item.  Then she had to count out her money for each purchase.  She loved pulling out the coins and spending her money.  She used quarters, dimes, nickels and pennies for her purchases and did a great job giving me the exact change!

She loved that activity so much that later in the morning I set up a store for her to go shopping for snack.  She took her kids (Hannah and Josiah) shopping separately to purchase a snack for them.  They could pick any item they wanted (brownie, cookie, fruit snacks, lollipop or banana) and Grace had to pay for them.  Don’t worry… I gave her back all her money and didn’t keep it!  Then Grace got to buy something for herself as well!  That was her favorite part!

Grace and Hannah had fun seeing the prices and deciding what to pick! I love the purse on her shoulder!

I KNEW he would pick the Superman fruit snacks!

A cookie… the one with the most chocolate chips!  She was just trying to get the most for her money!  That’s my girl!  I am surprised that she didn’t try to use coupons… then she would TRULY be my girl!  :)

These pictures were from yesterday but since then we have set up a few more stores.  I even made her go to the “bank” (her savings jar) to get money to buy some more expensive items in the store.  She loved this EVEN MORE and had to set up a store for daddy this afternoon.  She even made his golf clubs $100!  He had to go to the “bank” (mommy) to get money to buy them!  Are we teaching Dave Ramsey’s principles or what?!  They can only purchase IN CASH for what they HAVE already – NO CREDIT IN THIS HOUSE!! 

Learning can be SO MUCH FUN!!

Spelling…

At times I think that Grace may have a photographic memory… like her Uncle Adam.  If she doesn’t then she definitely is a VISUAL learner which makes her really good at spelling.  She often says, “Hmmmm… that word doesn’t look right.”  One of the activities that she likes to do with her spelling words is to get out the Scrabble board and make her words.  This week’s list was a little challenging because they all ended in ED and we didn’t have that many E’s and D’s, but we were able to pretend that a few of the tiles were “blanks” to complete the list! 

 

PS  I need to point out that “Thornsley” the dinosaur is helping her do her school work today!  :)

 

Mom, it’s my “churn”!

Yup… I AM that corny! 

Grace finished her Language Arts Curriculum a few weeks ago and as we are getting to the end of the official school year, we started a unit on Little House on the Prairie which will carry us into summer… and maybe fall!  We have been reading “Big Woods” and doing a few activities to go with it… including churning cream to make butter!  How fun… and tasty! It was a lot easier than I thought it would be and the kids loved making it, kind of like Laura did!

First, we put heavy whipping cream into a jar and put the lid on tightly! (Notice how the girls are wearing their aprons… they have been wearing them since the start of this unit… they want to be like Laura!)

Nothing but the best… AE heavy whipping cream!!!

Then we shook it and shook it.  Each of us took turns to shake it until we didn’t hear it sloshing around any more.  This is what it looked like when we opened the lid. The kids were surprised to see what it made!

Next, we put it into a bowl to mix it a little. 

Then I ran it under cold water to rinse away the buttermilk.  I read that it preserves it a little more than if you don’t – not that I think it will last that long in this house!

Then I made some refrigerator biscuits to eat with our butter for lunch…. yummy biscuits with melting butter on them!!!!  I should have made more! What a fun activity and a learning experience all at the same time!!