1st and 2nd grader

C says that over the summer he will be a 1st and 2nd grader--since he isn't really in either. Mr. Literal-again.

I am very impressed with what he has learned this year. Have I ever mentioned how much I like the A Beka curriculum? And the DVD program? Love it.

Would you like to see his "report card?" Here are his grades for 1st grade. (very official looking, huh?)

C's trio

C sang in church the Sunday evening of Mother's Day. It was also the start of our revival. The kids group did a whole program (so cute!) and one of the "specials" was a trio that C was in. He did such a good job. I asked him later if he was nervous. He looked at me like I was crazy and said "no" Well OK then.

Here is a link to hear his song. You can purchase the single on iTunes (just kidding!!!)

Good 'ole fashioned field day

Aunt T organized a field day for a bunch of homeschoolers on May 6th. It was a beautiful day! I ended up with burnt nose. C got a nice tan (lucky). K got a little burnt on her shoulders.

It started at 9:30 but we left the house at 8:30 to get ice and drinks. (We didn't get back to the house until 3pm). I think there were 15 kids that participated, 5 little ones, and 6 moms. Here are all the kids, except for the little ones. I think we had a pretty good turn out.

C getting ready for the obstacle course. They had to ride a tricycle, do jumping jacks, do forward rolls, jump over some orange cones, and run to the end.

Here is K's version of jumping jacks. Too funny.

I think the tug of war was the best game of the day. The kids did a really good job at it.

I call this the balloon dance. Each kid had a balloon tied to their foot. The goal was to protect their balloon while trying to pop everyone else's. C was one of the last 3 left standing.

this is K trying the sack race. She had such a hard time. The sack was bigger than her!

And there goes C in the sack race!

This was the water balloon fight (FYI: I filled the water balloons that morning. OMG! They are not easy) C won! He never dropped the balloon! Good hands!

This is K and the little guy I used to babysit doing the 3-legged race. (Funny side note: when Aunt T was setting this up, she kept calling it the one legged race. HUH?)
Aunt T even had medals for each kid. C getting his medal.

K getting her medal

After lunch and all the games, the kids went across the street and played on the playground. It was a very busy playground by that time.

All in all I think it was a very fun day. I was tired. The kids, well, do they every get tired?

AWANA awards 2010

AWANA awards was, well.............. sometime ago. Maybe the 1st Wednesday in May? Yeah pretty sure that was when. I've been so busy lately that I'm so behind in stuff (especially blogging), that I can't remember 'when was what.' I could get up and look at the calendar, but................. Yeah pretty sure it was the 1st Wednesday in May.

This was the best picture of the Cubbies (my group) getting awards. And K girl is on the back row, where you really can't see her. I think we gave out 19 awards that night. K did end up finishing her book. She did so much better than I thought she would.

C and his little friend were having a good time. Not sure what the topic of conversation was but they were having fun. I think the 1st picture is kinda funny. C is all smiles (actually a good smile for him) and his friend looks mad at the world. I don't think that was his intention, but still a funny picture.

Thankfully AWANA is over for the year. Next year I'm thinking of quitting. We are getting 2 sets of twins--not so very obedient twins. But I've been told I'm not alowed to quit. It's nice to feel needed? wanted?

Box Office Scores

Yankees are now 4 and 1.

C has had a hit every time he has been up to bat.


The game that they lost, they lost pretty bad. But they had some really really good plays!


He is supposed to have a game tonight but it has been raining pretty much all day. I'm just waiting for the "game cancelled" phone call.

My forsythias

I've always wanted some forsythia bushes. I think they are so pretty when they flower. They get these bright yellow flowers. I love our house, but there isn't much color to the outside of it. When all the family was here to help with the roof, my mother in law surprised me and bought me two bushes. I'm so excited! They are in the back corners of the fence. They will be so pretty when they blossom (bloom?) next year. I've been really trying to be faithful in watering them. I've only missed one or two days. With the bushes and my garden and the potted flowers we bought Saturday, I have a lot to water.

Happy Birthday!

To my sissy! What a nice sissy she is! Didn't always think that, but age/miles makes you change your mind. Not too much age though. We are still very young!

Hope you have a great day! We love you! BBCK

A Polock (spelling?)

.........made my rug. Compare it to the squares on the floor. So not straight on that one side (the bottom of the picture). I never noticed it until daddy pointed it out. Oh well. I'll just tuck that side up under the sink (in the bathroom) and no one will be the wiser.

Tea for two?

Tea #1:

Every year in AWANA there is a Father/Son night and a Mother/Daughter night. During the Father/Son night all we have over in Cubbies are girls (duh!). The leaders plan a tea party for these little girls as something special. They had little goodies and "tea" and the girls got to decorate hats. Too cute! It's so funny to see the girls personality come in--just in how they decorate their hats!

Tea #2:

The Mother/Daughter part of AWANA is also a tea, but for all the AWANA girls, all ages. Every year they take pictures of the mommies and daughters. Daddy was the photographer. I did NOT send this picture to the AWANA leader. Any guesses why?

Not crazy where her hand ended up. Otherwise I think it was a cute picture.

How does your garden grow?

Crazy me planted a garden this year. Not very big; I think it's 40 inches by 56 inches. And I only planted lettuce, carrots, green onions and tomato plants. 3 different kinds of tomatoes. (I want to see which ones do best and which ones we like best).The kids helped me plant it. I bought 3 bags of top soil specifically for vegetables and mixed it in with the dirt that was already there. Then I measured out spots and marked a straight line. We all made little holes and poured the seeds in. It was very windy that day. VERY WINDY. Each hole got way more seeds than necessary cuz the wind kept blowing them out of our hands.

Can you see the little clump of green? That's many lettuce plants. I'll be thinning them out once they get a little bigger. This picture was taken after only 5 days after being planted.

We shall see how this goes. I'll keep you "posted."

Iron Man watches TV?

Did you know Iron Man watches Tom & Jerry?

BIL paid both of my kids for "helping" with the roof. And of course it was burning a hole in their pockets so we went to Wal Mart to spend it. Quickly, now!

K was able to buy several different things simply because each of her items were not that expensive. These puzzles were in a pack of 3 for $5. They then "go together" to make one picture of all the Princesses.

C on the other hand, was stuck on buying this Iron Man dress up outfit. It came with the mask too. He spent $20 on it! And then wanted to earn more money to buy a battery operated "hand" to go with it. (We let him vacuum both cars for $5. He then had enough money to buy the hand too) Hand--not pictured.

The outfit really is too small for him but that has not stopped him. He has worn it at every chance he gets. Every morning he lays it out nice and neat on his bed. Close enough to see during school. The day he got it, I caught him sitting on the couch watching Tom & Jerry. Made me laugh. That boy does love his dress up.

The Yankees are 2-0

I'm a little behind on C's baseball games. He's had 2 (thus the 2-0) and 1 has been rained out. Thankfully (different from last year) it has already been rescheduled for Thursday of this week. So poor C will have 3 games this week. And Daddy had 2 Monday night. I'll be all "baseballed" out.

Daddy has Tweeted (Tweetering as K calls it) an inning-by-inning play-by-play (wow) for both games. C has been 4 for 4 both games. That's at bat four times and gotten 4 hits for those of you that aren't baseball savvy.

C gets to first base.
And there he goes rounding 3rd.

Happy Birthday, Daddy!

Better late than never. It was the 21st.

But he did get to celebrate with his family. And he got to go to one of his favorite restaurants (Charbonos) and have yummy calamari. And his "little angel" niece made him a mayonaise cake (don't wrinkle your nose; it's yummy).So what did I get him? Did I tell you he got an iPhone? 'Nuf said.

Actually I'm buying him a movie that he wants. Which movie was that again, honey? (I keep forgetting. Star Trek maybe?) And notice "buying" I'm still working on that.

Happy Birthday, dear! I love you! You're AWESOME!

A roof over our heads

Remember I hinted at a 3rd post that was forth-coming? Well it is finally here. My sister commented that she is tired of Legos. All right already! I'm blogging!

Ben's sister and her family (husband and 4 kids) came into town on the April 17th to help replace our roof. We called them our "out-of-town" contractors. Insurance had approved--last year-- for us to get a totally new roof. Because family helped, we were able to #1 upgrade several items for the roof #2 save our deductible and #3 still pay the "contractors." Pays to have family that is Handy and is willing to come help.

Here is a rough time line of our week.

Saturday: they arrived; we didn't do much

Sunday: we went to church in the morning and Red Lobster for lunch. After we got home, the guys started working while the ladies sat and watched. Always the best job.

Later in the afternoon, SIL and I were sitting talking. All of a sudden she got up and went to yell at Daddy, "I need to you to get off the roof now." I thought something was wrong. Once he got down (very rickety very high ladder), she told him to come around front. By this time I was kinda worried. Next thing I know, BIL told me to go around front. There in the driveway were my in-laws--who were NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ABLE TO COME! We begged and begged for them to come and were told NUMEROUS times that they couldn't. Sneaky.

The guys (actually my niece worked too; can't leave her out) worked until about 9pm and got lots done.

Monday: Worked on the roof from 9 til 9--approximately.

Tuesday: Worked from 9 til a afternoon break and then til 8. AND IT WAS DONE!


Both of my kids got up on the roof to help. When K girl got up there the first time, BIL asked her what she was going to do. Her reply "Just sit here and look pretty." Typical.

Wednesday: Daddy's birthday (see next post)

Thursday: Did odd jobs around the house. Our last remembrance of Mugsy is finally gone. We also went swimming at Grandma's hotel pool. Man was that water WARM!

Friday: Daddy's parents left Friday morning and the SIL family left that afternoon. On their "way home" they went to the Creation Museum. One day we will get there. Just not sure when.

And that was our very busy but very productive week. It was so nice to see family and to get a new roof. That's killing two birds with one stone. ("But mommy why would we want to kill birds?" I'll let you guess who said that. And it's not the "looking pretty" one)