We Are Spoiled

Obvious signs that Grandma Jo is in the house......

We have containers full of cookies!! Which leads to constant snitching.....

but we can't help ourselves.....

great smells in the kitchen.....
steam rising from the pot of chicken dumpling soup cooking on the stove....

chocolate cake cooling on the counter.....

We love the food that Grandma cooks.
Later tonight......

after the basketball games, an aroma will be wafting through the kitchen of something different. A treat we all love. We have bought them and eaten them, and they are very delectable, but NEVER have made them.

It will be an unique experience.
Grandpa's idea......
we'll see if it works.

Should be fun.....and yummy!
Sara

We Have Mentos In The House...

And that....

...can only mean one thing.....

Grandpa and Grandma are at our house!!!!
(Nacho loves Mentos and Grandpa always brings him some)

They will get to see the three older boys play basketball and help the youngest boy celebrate his 4th birthday druing their visit!!

Everyone is doing well and feeling minty fresh around here!
Sara

HairDo'in It Himself

It's great entertainment to watch the facial expressions made by a...

3-year old on a step stool.......

wielding a comb.

Nacho also got his face washed and the teeth brushed, so he was looking pretty spiffy to go read books and retire for the evening!

Sara

School Days

Today was a ordinary, homeschool day. Simple and quiet.......a regular Monday with our regular routine. We worked on assignments as planned and stayed inside and avoided the icy weather.

Moe read and journaled a chapter from "The Long Winter," by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Our winter doesn't seem so long when you compare it to the winter that the Ingalls family experienced that particular year in De Smet, SD!!!

Moe and Rocky made a cloud for science.

Rocky also has been reading excerpts from famous speeches and finding noun clauses in each of the writings.



Ky studied sound wave and frequency today and just finished up a history chapter about the Crusades. He went to a Speed and Agility session tonight for baseball and has been enjoying the work-outs.



Buttercup has been working on fractions in math and enjoyed reading the story of Abraham from her religion book. She was amazed at his faith.....a faith that made Abraham obedient to the point of almost sacrificing his own son. As soon as Mark came home for lunch, she ran up to him right away and repeated the story she had heard that morning. It was fun to witness such excitement.



We had pancakes and bacon for lunch today. A special treat on a weekday. This meal is usually reserved for a week-end treat.


Moe was pushing Coco around on a chair today for her entertainment. I warned him that she could easily fall forward off the chair and get hurt.



A short while later, Moe returned with a home-made seatbelt and the game continued on with Coco safe and secured!!

I love my job!!!
Have a wonderful week!
Sara

Snowmen Come and Snowmen Go

A pat here and a pat there....

and a little while later....

a roll here and a roll there....
and a little while later....

a smile here and a smile there.........

and a little while later.....(the next morning to be precise)......

scattered snowman pieces here......

and scattered snowman pieces there!!!

I guess it's just not cold enough out there.....

and that's ALL RIGHT with me!

Sara

Winter Melt Residue

Winter melt + outside play =

Dirty clothes.....

.....and.....there is proof on how muddy the ball gets. Just look at the bang board...lots of ball prints on the glass.

A little close up of a standard sweat shirt that comes in after shooting hoops.

NOT that I am complaining!!
No way.....it's one step closer to spring!
Sara

Be Mine!

If you give me a day that is centered and focused on love and saying....

......then I'm going to take full advantage of it!!!!

Treats and sweets were the theme of the day.....we loved making Valentine Dots.

Just unwrap Hershey's Kisses and put on top of pretzels...

place on cookie sheet and put in oven until soft....

Place M&M's on top.....and wa--laaa.....

A yummy snack!

For supper, we had our traditional heart-shaped meatloaf....

with a little sparkling red grape juice to top it off....

It was an especially sweet day!!

Sara

Happy Valentine's Day!

We are wearing red...

making Valentine's....

and putting up home-made decorations!!

We will be cooking our traditional heart-shaped meatloaf tonight.....everything is hearts on February 14th!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Sara

Battle of the Bugs Round II

Nacho and Buttercup put their boxing gloves back on this week-end and both re-entered the boxing ring.

They are duking it out again.....

and sleep has been one of their biggest weapons. I thought they were both just resting up from the previous bug, but they each spiked fevers again this week-end.

Today, the weather was in the 40's and enough snow thawed so that we could make our way to the........

.......GRILL!!

Boy, have we missed our burgers!!!

Mmmmmmm, they tasted good tonight!! Most of us are getting our appetites back after being so sick!

Have a great week!

Sara

1st Piggies

Coco's hair is getting long enough to pull back in a barrette......but she always pulls them out.

So, today, I tried little baby rubber bands.

The result stayed in all day.....

Kinda fun to look at.......

Kinda fun to touch.

Big brother liked to flick and twirl them.

When I took them out tonight, her hair stood straight up......all by itself.

Mark returned to work today!

Yeah!

Stay Warm.......can't wait for the 30's this week-end.

Sara

One Tough Bug

It's in the eyes.........

...that's how I know when my kids are sick.........

I can always tell by their eyes. It's foolproof.

There is no doubt about it......we were hit pretty hard. This bug has already overstayed it's unwelcomed visit.

• Mark came home early Friday and didn't work today. He already plans on working from home tomorrow.

• I feel stronger everyday but have kept a low grade temperature.

• Ky spiked a fever 6 nights in a row. That might be a new family record.

• Rocky was EXCITED to go to bed tonight by 8pm. Enough said.

• Moe has been fighting the same fever, aches, chills as the rest of us......but tells me each day that he is "fine." He answers that way in hopes that I will allow him to go to basketball practice. I tried to explain to him that he needs to be fever free so that he won't pass the flu to other kids. His reply was, "Ok, I'm feeling good right now, I'm just not ready to go public yet."

• Buttercup started this whole thing a week ago today. She had a great day today......so, I'm thinking 1 full week is a good time-line to judge how long it takes to feel somewhat back to normal.

• Nacho was very droopy today. Not too much animation coming from him.......unless you count the........HACKING COUGH that seems to be the final stage for ALL of us. I have a feeling that we might be dealing with it for awhile.

• Coco has been wonderful!!! Only a runny nose to date. We are so thankful for the protection she has been given.

These days have been filled with TLC and rest....

• Our routines have been shaken and our outside commitments have had to fall by the wayside.
• At first, it felt like a huge, huge inconvenience.....to be so sick.....and with so many of us sick. Seemed like such a waste of time......there was so much more we could have accomplished had we not been sick.

• Slowly but surely, the pace will start picking up again.
• When I look back at this time, I don't think I'll remember the loads of laundry that didn't get done......or the kitchen with the sticky floor that had constant dishes stacked in it.....or even how awful this flu could make you feel.

• I will remember the small acts of kindness that everyone did to make each day seem less cold. Less achy.
• Whether it be fetching an extra blanket........filling another glass of ice water........getting up from a warm position to turn up the heat......

• I saw glimpes of our family growing in compassion.

Time was not wasted at all.

Sara

Comic Relief To Help The Flu

Our whole family has been sick with the flu this week. Headache, fever, chills, cough.....ALL of us. Buttercup started on Monday, Ky started on Tuesday, I started on Wednesday, Nacho on Thursday, and Moe, Rocky and Mark today. Coco has been lingering with a runny nose.....I pray she doesn't fall like the rest of us.

Meanwhile, a little comic relief to lighten the day. It's been pretty heavy around here.
Sara

Old Man Winter Made It!

Last night, we could feel the excitement rise as we prepared to brace ourselves for a big snowstorm. The snow was falling, the winds were picking up and to top it off, all practices had been canceled for the evening. So, we settled in to see what Old Man Winter could pull out of his magic bag. We knew we were in for a big one.....

we could feel it......

we could taste it....

so we went to bed.....dreaming of the endless possibilities that could be given (dumped) to us through the night.................



Oh, what joy filled the room as we gazed our eyes on the 1St SIGHT that awaited us in the morning. This was FUN, this was EXCITING! I wish I could have photographed Nacho's face as it lit up when he saw the big snow pile

He didn't know where to jump first!

Soon, the digging of the burrows began.

Right up to the patio door.....

Where they found Coco at the end of the tunnel! :)

This was the 2ND SIGHT that awaited us. This was not so fun, this was not so exciting.

But, Mark was a trooper. He donned his trusty coveralls, grabbed his snowblower and attacked. And attacked. And attacked. We knew this would be a big task.......way more duanting than we wanted to admit. He had only cleared a few rows in our driveway just in front of the garage....

and he had way more waiting for him as this is he driveway that leads out
to the road. Oh well, there was no way out but through......

UNTIL....

A friendly neighbor drives by and Mark quickly flags him down.

Suddenly, an all day project (and maybe more) becomes a 15 minute clean-up.

Nacho couldn't take his eyes off such a beautiful piece of machinery. He is a HUGE fan of this yellow loader and received one identical to it for Christmas...... AND.....

Mark couldn't wipe the smile off his face. His hard day of work just got way easier for a mere $50.00

It was fun being "stuck" at home, even if it were for a day!!

Back to routine tomorrow!

Needless to say, we have a HUGE mountain of snow right off the driveway for the kids to play on and sled down.....that should lead to hours of fun!

Gotta love it!

Sara