Our Saturday

This past Saturday, Daddy's business had a wedding to tape. Since Daddy's partner had plans, I was elected to go help Daddy tape the wedding. It was at a church that we know (the partner goes there), so that helped. But it was extra stress on Daddy, cuz he had to set everything up for me and him and tell me what to do and answer my questions, etc. All in all the wedding went very well. The reception was shorter than what they (as a business) are used to because there was no dancing and drinking. So we got done a little earlier than we had told the babysitters. So we went out to dinner to a BBQ place (Squealers YUM).

Some friends watched the kids (M and Green Socks) and I'm sure spoiled them rotten. Just wait you guys! Your turn will come. It sounds like they all had fun. They went out for dinner to Olive Garden, played PS, watched a movie, played, and who knows what else.

Daddy kept telling me that this would be a working day--but for me it was a nice break away from the children. I'm sure all you moms out there understand that. Yes, we worked and we were on our feet almost the entire time, but there were no kids to tend to at the same time. When we were at Squealers, we just sat at the table-not talking-listening to the silence. But at the end of the night, we were glad to get home to the kiddies. I missed them, even though it was a nice break to be away from them. What an oxymoron.

Voting

Tuesday, at our local library, the kids and I went to a homeschool meeting. I wasn't even aware that they had a sort of homeschool group. The lady in charge homeschools her son. They have a meeting once a month, focusing on a different subject each time. This meeting was about voting. She briefly explained a few facts regarding voting. Then the kids were divided up into "parties." Each party was a snack (pretzels, candy, popcorn, etc). The kids had to design posters, give speeches, debate--all on why they thought their snack was the best. Then they voted. They even got "I voted" stickers. Candy won. Then at the end, they had snacks--according to which one was eaten the best, potato chips won. (I guess that would be the popular vote). It was cute and I think the kids enjoyed it. All of the kids were older than C and a lot less disciplined. I think the leader could have done better at controlling the kids, but all in all, I think they still learned something.

Ever since then, C has wanted to "play" voting. So I got him a cardboard box to set up as the divider to vote behind. He has a shoebox with a hole in the top for the votes and 3x5 cards for the ballots. The other night we voted on what to have for dessert after dinner. He has picked up some facts and some of the lingo through all this (party, ballot, campaign). It's kinda hard to vote when there are only 4 of us, but oh well. It's kinda cute.

The next homeschool meeting is a Christmas party that we won't be able to go to. In January, they will be discussing Benjamin Franklin and his inventions. I think we will try to go to that one. I'm glad I found this group.

Ear infections-again

My K girl has an ear infection-again. This is her first one this season. I hope it is not a sign of things to come. She had tubes put in both ears back in January of 2007 and the right one replaced January of 2008. She has had numerous ear infections! This time, my clue was the red-tinged drainage out of her right ear. I took her to her new pediatrician yesterday. The doctor said the infection and pus was so thick that she couldn't tell if the tube was even still in place. So K is now on antibiotics and ear drops. Hopefully this will help cure some of her extreme grumpiness! That is another clue with my kids--when they are horribly grumpy they probably have an ear infection (C struggled with them when he was young too). I'm just praying that this will make her feel better and that we won't have to deal with this all winter. Poor girl.

Mr. Popper's Penguins

Anyone remember reading this book when you were a kid? We (actually Daddy) just finished reading it to our kids. Awhile ago, we started reading a chapter of a book each night before the kiddies go to bed. This is our 3rd book. The 1st one we read was Charlotte's Web (I cried when we were done). The second was a book about a gorilla named Barnaby. The book was called Who's New at the Zoo? by Janette Oke. We read the last chapter of Mr. Popper tonight and my son cried. He really, really liked this book. He wanted to read it again. Since he is such a good reader, we suggested that he read it again by himself. I'm trying to get him to see the excitement of reading a good book on your own. I can get lost in a good book. I've always loved to read. He's not quite there yet, but he agreed to try to read it on his own. The next book we are going to read is the first in the Little House on the Prairie series-I think it's called Little House in the Big Woods. I'm looking for suggestions for something after that (we are going to break up the Laura Ingalls Wilder books). I have a few on my short list (thanks to a teacher friend), but could always use more. I think we have all enjoyed reading these books, even my K girl. She doesn't sit the stillest, but she does OK. I'll keep you posted on how the next book goes.

The Indiana Jones movie

Daddy and I watched the new Indiana Jones movie the other night. It was good. Not "ranting and raving good" but good. It was long and towards the end, the sci-fi part disinteretested me. It seems like they tried to tell A LOT of story in a short time. But they did a very good job in keeping with the tradition of the old Indiana Jones movies. All in all, a pretty good movie. I would watch it again, but I am glad I didn't pay to see it in the movies.

PS: The James Bond movie comes out next week. We are trying to find babysitters!!!