normality

Is that even a word? Things here have been pretty routine and normal for us lately. Which is a great thing and I'm certainly not complaining. But what's normal, really?  Here's what my kids were doing today:

Just a few notes:
1) Yes, they are playing in the garage. It's fun evidently.
2) No, I don't know what Jacob is doing. Some new sport he made up.
3) Yes, Noah is playing with pool noodles.
4) Yes, Ellie is in her pjs. She changed into them after school.
5) Yes, Lucas has grown about 2 feet in the past month. (he's on a bug hunt, by the way).

What do you get when you give a think-outside-of-the-box child the assignment to describe the three branches of government? (click on pic for larger view)

 

Chalkboard Revolution

Today we finished our study on the American Revolution.  I told the boys to draw a scene (or scenes) on the chalk wall - here are their masterpieces.

A few notes:
1) Lucas explained to me that the guns shooting down from the sky were "not reality."
2) Evidently Noah was posing as a redcoat soldier.
3) Despite the quotes in Jacob's drawing, I think he did absorb a little bit of info in the past few weeks.
4) I really need a lesson on how not to take blurry pics with Kyle's camera.

 

 

  

  

  

 

Yesterday was the 100th day of school at Ellie's preschool. They celebrated the number 100 by making "100" hats (not 100 hats, but hats that looked like the number 100), reading about 100, making a snack of 100 pieces, talking about 100, singing about 100 - you get the picture.

So when I picked Ellie up yesterday, she was quite excited. Here was our conversation.

Me: What number did you talk about at school today?
Ellie: I don't remember.
Me: You talked about a big number - what was it?
Ellie: Ummmmmm..........2?

It's been a strange couple of months around here. In everything that's been going on, I've been thinking a lot about why I blog. I read several blogs regularly. Blogs that are about something specific. Bloggers that are actually making money just from writing. Bloggers who get free stuff for their opinions and a few paragraphs about what they thought.  That's not why I started blogging.  But should that be my goal?

The answer I've come to is no. At this time in my life, I don't have the time or desire to turn my blog into something bigger. I started the blog to document our life. So that one day my kids have something to read and remember. And for now, that's good enough for me.

It's my party

conversation between Ellie and I:
Ellie: I was thinking I clean my room after rest time.
Me: I told you to clean your room now.
Ellie: YOU'RE NOT COMING TO MY PARTY!!!

Christmas photos

This year for our Christmas pictures, Kyle set up his lights & backdrops. It's been a while since we had "formal" pictures of the kids. It's just so much easier to get great pics outside of them acting natural. Grandparents don't get the non-traditional pictures, though, and have been begging for "real pictures" of the kids they can put in their wallets.

It's always so stressful, but I think Kyle managed to get some of their personalities even with the backdrops and posing.