As most of you know, my family is embarking on a new adventure: homeschooling. My last day at my job was yesterday, and my role in our home changes. Change is difficult. Even a change that you wanted, even a change you knew was coming, even a change you're sure will be a good one. I've been, well.... freaking out! Is homeschooling crazy!? Will my kids be happy!? Will they learn what they're supposed to!? Will I be able to handle it?! Will we be able to get by on our newer, tighter budget?!
I'm feeling nervous but excited. I'm not sure the kids know what they're in for. Addison is thrilled by the idea of being with her mom all day, Pearson is more skeptical. We'll see.
We won't begin in earnest until the new year. I'll use this time to finalize plans and learn ever more about this homeschooling thing.
Wish us luck. We're gonna need it!
Also, we had the BEST time at our Disneyworld family reunion!! We so need to do that more often, family!
Now that it's officially private, let me know if you're using Google Reader and want to add my feed! I will email you instructions! Testing, 123. Testing....
I was making one my favorite go-to meals, which by now I know like the back of my hand. The noodles were done, while I still had a minute or two on the sausage and cauliflower in the oven. So, I did like I always do, and drained them in the sink, then rested the colander over the pot I’d cooked them in.
As I got the baking sheet of meat and veggies out of the oven, I smelled something funny… aaaaand promptly ignored it. I needed to give the sausage another couple minutes to cool so I could chop it up before combining everything with parmesan cheese, olive oil, and parsley. La la la.
Cut to a couple minutes later: I hear a weird sizzle in the noodle pot. Not like water, it was more hissy and bubbly. And now, the smell is DEFINITELY burning plastic. As I lift the colander off the rim, I can see green columns dripping from the bottom, into the pot, where gooey plastic sat gurgling angrily.
Yeah, the burner and pan had been left on HIGH HEAT that whole time. Doh!
My kids will never let me live this down. “Mommy, that was AWFUL!” and “Mom, you ruined that green thing forever!” and “DAD! MOM MELTED DINNER!” Saddest of all, I think my pan might be ruined:
So, I've wanted to make my blog private for a while, but didn't think it was worth it since most Readers don't support authenticated feeds (translation: people who use Google Reader and the like would not be able to get my site on their readers). I know that I can't remember to manually check particular blogs, so didn't want to make that the only way to see mine.
HOWEVER, I seem to have found a work around. Essentially, I would provide you a different feed to plug into your reader. The feed itself isn't technically protected, but it would be impossible to guess it, so it accomplishes the same thing. If you already manually check my blog, meaning that the way you view my updates is directly from my blog, and not through a reader, nothing will change for you except that you will have to be logged into your Google account to view my blog.
SO, I need to send invites to invite people who want to continue to read my blog. Just send an email to me (if you don't have it, it's just my first name @ gmail.com), and give me the email address that you use to log into Google (it's usually but not always a Gmail account). Also (IMPORTANT) let me know whether or not you use a reader. If you don't use one, again, nothing really changes except that you have to be logged into Google. If you DO use a reader, I will send you instructions on how to get my feed in your reader.
So there. Privacy AND convenience.
I'll leave it public for a couple weeks to make sure I get everyone. I hope everyone makes it through the transition! Don't forget! Send me an email!!
I've noticed that this guy hasn't gotten much blog love lately. He's not doing any sports right now, his birthday was ages ago, and he's less likely to humor my desire to film pointless interviews than his sister... sooooo... yeah.
I decided to dedicate this post to my absolute most favorite 5 year old in the UNIVERSE! Facts:
1. Pearson is really good at math. He can do multiple digit addition with carrying, and has been working on multiplication. I was really good at math when I was a kid, but I never LIKED math, so I stopped taking it as soon as possible. I'm hoping he does not follow in my footsteps.
2. Pearson's reading progress skipped from like a 2 or 3 to like an 8 or 9 overnight! It was so crazy. He'd been doing basic reading, sounding some stuff out, but not really reading on his own, and then BAM! He's reading EVERYTHING. I don't remember when it happened, but it really did seem like he wasn't reading and then the next day he was!
3. Pearson is asserting his independence all over the place. He knows EVERYTHING and I am wrong ALL THE TIME. I have no idea where he got it from. I hear I was an easy going, never arguing kind of child, just like I am as an adult, so it's baffling.
4. Pearson has a great name. I love it.
5. Pearson is REALLY good about doing "chores." Granted, his chores consist of keeping his room clean, making his bed, and letting the dog out to pee, but he's GREAT about doing those things (his sister is NOT!!!). I think it's about time to start adding things to that list! Honestly, I think he could handle a lot more responsibility than I give him.
6. Pearson grinds his teeth really, really bad. Like you can hear it from across the room when he's doing it, it's so loud. His dentist doesn't seem worried, so I guess I shouldn't be...
7. Pearson's favorite food is boxed macaroni and cheese. Much to my dismay.
8. Pearson is VERY complimentary. He loves to tell people what they're good at and what he likes about them.
9. Pearson sometimes mouths his words after he says them out loud. For instance he might say, "I can't find my shirt" and then he will immediately mouth those same words without saying anything...
10. Pearson's bottom front tooth is EVER SO SLIGHTLY loose. The dentist pointed it out when he went this week. It's very slight, I wouldn't have noticed if he hadn't showed me. He is very excited about this milestone, although I am sure it'll be months before he actually loses the tooth.
BONUS: Pearson finally learned all the words to his favorite songs on the Nightmare Before Christmas soundtrack. It's not at ALL annoying that he sings them almost compulsively! ;)
It's probably a good thing that I couldn't get to all my photos, because "culling down" is apparently not in my vocabulary. Between pictures I got on my phone, pictures my aunt AD emailed me, and pictures I'd already uploaded to the web before I started the OS upgrade, I think these 957 pictures are sufficient...
Without further ado, testing my BlogPress iPhone app:
Addison the "baby panda"!
Pearson looking rather creepy as a mummy!
Addison and Gillie in costume!
The decorations! Ugh, I love Halloween!!!!
Mmmmmmm! Vanilla vanilla cupcakes!
Goodies for the party-goers. These were pajama pants I made.
The paper mâché bat piñata.
Addison taking a whack!
Dainty Dorothy taking her turn.
Miss birthday girl pretending to be shy!
Party people!
Addison and her school buddies!
4 generations in one photo. We were so glad my mom came! Pearson and Addison are delighted by "sleepovers".
Saying goodbye to Aunt AD, we had SO MUCH FUN with her!!
Addison was disappointed when her birthday WEEK was over, but she's adjusting well back into a world that doesn't revolve around her...
I know I'm 2 weeks behind my weekly goal of blogging, but I swear I have EXCUSES!!! You see, my aunt visited, my daughter had a birthday party, my mom was in town, we're upgrading our computer operating system with a clean install, I got sick, I had a deadline at work, and my house burned down!
Ok, ok, my house didn't burn down, but I was on a roll, and I went for it... what can I say? I'll catch you up on all of the above as soon as my computer at home is updated! PICTURES GALORE!
So in between answering life's greatest unanswered questions ("Why is a button on your shirt and a button that you push called the same thing?", "Why does alcohol hurt a boo-boo?"), here is some of the other stuff I've been up to:
First of all, I've been LOOOOVING this whole Nikki-not-working-while-she's-on-maternity-leave thing.
We've been able to go to the park:
And to the zoo:
The highlight of which was this sea lion being every bit as enamored with the children as they were with him:
The kids LOOOOOVE the Halloween Store. Check out that creepy baby prop! The head rotates and everything!
And yeah, I totally let them do things that probably make the sales people twitch, but hey, I've bought gumballs from the little machine, so we're even, right?
We actually let the kids take an impromptu swim the other day in like 70 degree water. I thought they were INSANE, but they were having a blast so who was I to argue?
And of course, I've gotten lots of hands -on time with this guy, who is impossibly cute:
And can I just tell you how excited I am about it being Halloween season?! The clothes the kids wear, the decorations, the pumpkins, the crisp weather... it's all marvelous! Why can't it be October all year long!?
And last night I became positively OBSESSED with home movies of my kids. Seriously, it's bordering on unhealthy. I can't help it! The videos catch so much that photos never could. They way they used to talk, and walk, and move. Ugh, it's killing me! I was tempted to post like 50 of the old ones here, but that would be boring and weird, so I decided to compromise and show some RECENT video of the kids to show the stuff the pictures can't. These are actually from the same day, a few weeks ago, as I was getting ready to drop them off at school.
First up, we have the kids headbanging to Marilyn Manson's version of This is Halloween. I warn you to turn DOWN your speakers before pushing play! By the way, the headbanging and the dance moves were complete improvised. These kids are nuts:
Next up, we have a quick interview with Addison. I had to get on camera what she currently wants to be when she grows up. It's... unique.
Isn't it romantic what she wants to be?! A princess mom, with a beautiful dress, who dances with her husband. She also wants 8 (!!!!) kids -- 4 boys and 4 girls, natch -- and a brown and pink and yellow princess dog. She's given this much thought, and reminds me ALL THE TIME that this is her life's plan. Completely cute, and also kinda scary...
Ok, this is old at this point, but I wanted to share anyway, because it was so sweet!
After some questions and not-so-subtle hinting from Addison about her silver tea set, Grandma offered to throw Addison a little tea party with silver and china and EVERYTHING! Addison was delighted! She had pink lemonade in her tea cup and we were served lovely cookies (100 Calorie packs of chocolate something-or-others) and fresh cucumber sandwiches.
And her Gi-Gi (my mom) was even there to join in. Thanks, Grandma, for being the only person I know who would break out her fine china and real silver for a private tea party for a 3 year old! And that's why we love you so much!
Well, not exactly, but still. Addison and Gillian have started their soccer season, and if they're not the best players out there, I'll be darned if they're not the cutest! Precious, I tell you.
Here we are, mid-run, looking quite serious about what we're doing:
Here is Addison, famous for running down the field while intently watching the cheering section:
Which invariably leads to one of her dozen or so falls throughout the game:
She's a tough cookie, though, so it's ok.
By the way, I am making a goal of blogging once a week for two months. I figure if we suffer through the lame for a while, it's bound to get interesting again eventually, right!? Let's hope!
