Couponing

I had this brilliant idea this morning and wonder why I hadn't thought about it before! I don't remember what I was dreaming about, but I woke up this morning with a new idea for Jayla. I know she will love it!

I've been saying for a long time now that I want/need to get into couponing because it saves so much money and we'll always have food. One of my good friends IRL has a huge stock and gets much of it for free or very cheap! So my idea that I apparently thought of in my sleep.....I'm going to teach Jayla how to coupon! The whole nine yards!

She is not very good at reading yet, so to start with she will mostly just be clipping the coupons for me. She will have a blast doing that! I can teach her how to organize them pretty easily. (This will help her with reading too!) Then once she gets that down, I'll teach her how to look through all the store ads that come in the paper. Eventually I'll have her check various web sites and blogs. I'm sure her brothers will help some too, but this is something that I can really see her loving and being very good at! She will learn how to manage finances, make menus for the week, all kinds of things!

Anyway, just wanted to share. Why didn't I think of this before, having her do it???

Kittens :)

They will be 4 weeks old next Monday! We are down to 5 now. There were 7 born on May 4th. The kids only knew of 6. I woke up before them the following morning and found a 7th baby that didn't survive. :( Then last night the kids thought they'd try sleeping with the kittens (I was already asleep when they decided this), and one of my kids unknowingly smothered one of them. :'( They were sad, but at least they will listen to me next time when I tell them the kittens are too small and too young for things like that! My kids are very sound sleepers too!

So here they are, 2 girls and 3 boys. Aren't they pretty? The one that is the most colorful (a girl) Jayla has already named Tigerella, and we may end up keeping her (though I am fighting it hard.....I love cats, but I need a break from POOP, for Pete's sake!!!! So we'll see.) The other girl they named Gloria. :)

They are laying boy-girl-boy-girl-boy.....anyone want to claim one?

sleeping HARD after filling up his belly

Jayla's dance studio pictures

These are her professional pictures taken at the dance studio the same day I took my own photos of her. :) This package, 2-5X7's and 1 group picture, was $10. I didn't think that was too bad and was glad they offered something for that little since our money tree is not producing these days! I like them okay and I'm definitely glad for the group picture, but I'm glad I didn't order any more. I kind of like my own shots better! But these are standing up, and with a white background, so that's cool. :)

(The quality of the prints is much better than what you see here because I do not have a scanner!)

Jonathan's tooth!

It FINALLY came out! It was really bugging me! Haha! I actually pulled it out, but I was just trying to see how loose it was. I knew it was loose and has been ready to come out for a while, but it hurt him when he wiggled it. Well, I decided to try something different and I pulled down on it rather than out like he usually did, and it just popped off! We were both shocked!

So now his mouth looks weird because he has this "just-pulled-a-tooth" hole sort of on the front of his gums since his other tooth was pushing it out, and you can already see his new tooth in its proper place. Dangit! I was really wanting to get some professional pictures of him with no front teeth, but I guess it wasn't meant to be. :(

If this kind of thing grosses you out, then don't look at the next pictures, at least not too closely. This was soon after it was pulled, but it has already stopped bleeding. Oh, and he had been swimming, so he's all wet and shiny. :)

Re-homing the pups

Now it's time for the hard part. The puppies have been fairly easy to care for so far, but the challenge is in getting them to their new homes. We already have tears. It looks like Jayla's favorite puppy of them all (the one in the picture) will be the first to go. :'( I had warned her it could happen because she is the only one with a spot on her head, so she is unique.

At least she has the rest of today to play with her! Life can be hard sometimes, and my kids, especially Jayla, get so attached to animals. They usually recover quickly though, but it is still hard to say good-bye. I'm just trying to focus on the positive about how she will have a great home and be very happy. Also, this person is right on the way to my brother's house, so there is a possibility we could stop by sometime to see her! I'm not going to tell her that part though!

Puppies are 6 weeks old today!

We are trying to find new homes for our puppies now, so I've created a new blog just for them! If you know of anyone looking for a Red Heeler / Australian Cattle Dog, send them HERE!

Incredible Pizza with Uncle Craig and Aunt Amy!!!

My little brother Craig and his wife Amy came up last week on Monday. They didn't bring their kids because they were coming for something else that ended up being cancelled, but it was good to see them anyway! I hope to see my niece and nephew soon though!

They took us out to Incredible Pizza and spoiled our kids rotten! It's not a cheap place, so it's just not something we do often. Everyone had such an INCREDIBLE time. :)

The big shoe slide in the toddler play area.

Bumper cars!

Jacob was a hair too short for the bumper cars, so Uncle Craig took him over to play some mini golf. He loved it!

Jonathan won!! I think this was his very first go-kart race!

You had to be here, I'm sure, but this was cute. Jack LOVES music and dancing, so he saw the lights and heard the music on this game and couldn't resist trying it out. It kept him occupied for several minutes!

I failed to get pictures of their prizes they each chose with the 200 tickets each that they had! I also somehow didn't get any pictures of their uncle Craig and Aunt Amy, but you can see them on their own blog. :)

We really did have a great time. It was good to see them again. We're hoping and sort of planning a visit to their house soon, and we're really looking forward to it!

Thanks for the good food, fun and fellowship, Craig and Amy! :)

To do list --

There are several things we've been wanting to make/do, so I'm putting them down here as a reminder and a reference. Please feel free to add other things to it in the comments. Be sure to put a recipe or a link!

1. sidewalk chalk
2. sidewalk paint
3. bubbles
4. play dough, various kinds
   
5. imitation floam
6. several different types of kites
7. more hula hoops
8. bubbles and wands
9. a homemade version of a splash pad
10. several different sewing projects, mostly a quilt and skirts
    
11. tons and tons of scrapbooking
12. various recipes in the kitchen
13. lots of cool science experiments
14. go camping
15. hiking
16. geocaching
17. fishing
18. go to the zoo (maybe 2 or 3 different zoos/rescue places)
19. science museum and other museums
    
20. many other various crafts!
21. I know this one is huge, but I really want to build some kind of cob structure, possibly a doghouse or a stove!
    

There is a lot more I'd like to do. As I was making the list more things kept coming to mind. But these right here are the main things I have been thinking about for a while and just haven't gotten around to it yet (or again).

AWANA -- Pinewood Derby night

The AWANA program the kids have been in for a couple of years now ended two weeks ago. The final event of the year was a pinewood derby and hotdog/nacho dinner!

Since we are vegetarians (and flexitarians), we made our own version of hotdogs. Thanks to my bff Chrysinda for the idea! :)

My flexitarian hotdog lover :)

He was clapping ALL night! He totally loved the atmosphere!

Loving the chips a little too much!

Oops, I guess he wasn't ready for a picture. Sorry, Babe!

Silly goofball! Pull those teeth already!!!

We didn't manage to get a picture of Jacob's race. Everyone was paired up with someone and they only did one heat each, so he was out after the first race since he got 2nd place. :( He had fun though, and he gets to keep his car! That's really all that matters.

Jayla won her first race and moved on to round 2! Fun! :)

Jonathan was out on the first round as well. :( We were hoping at least two of them would make it to round 2 this year. It seems like our kids NEVER win, but that's okay! Really! They have a blast....and they get to keep their cars, and that's all that matters to them! :)

Oh, hey! Look at that! Her 2nd win and on to round THREE! Now it's getting good!

Ouch! It got her knee that time. Oh, well, she won again. On to round 4! The excitement is growing fast!

Woohoo! This is so exciting! She won this one too and is down to the FINAL round, just her and one other car!

And here they go.......

SHE WON FIRST PLACE! WOOOOOHOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

Not that Jayla really had a lot to do with it since they used some precut patterns and the only thing she did was decorated it with markers, but still, it was so fun to see one of my kids win first place for a change! It just usually doesn't happen! This is Jayla's very first trophy EVER, and, in fact, the first trophy among all of our kids! And she had to beat out 25 other racers to get it! The boys weren't really jealous either, so that's great! They got their own little plastic party favor-type trophy, and they got to keep their cars! :) So everyone was happy! Oh, and we got free food (except for the things we brought), so we were all winners!

Jack-Jack kept trying to walk to the mud puddle that was right in front of him. It was too tempting! Jonathan was trying to hold him back and kept laughing at him.

Ideas for challenging Jonathan more!

I've been meaning to get the kids involved in this blog for weeks now, and I think this is one very good idea especially for Jonathan! Each week they list several items to give your kids along with instructions on what to do, and then we get pictures and/or video and send it in. Then they show the pictures and videos a few days later. I have somewhat kept up with it and have shown it to my kids, but we haven't actually done any of the challenges yet. So I am going to make a point to do these each week. Most of the items are things we already have on hand, so it should be cheap or free and tons of fun! I'll try to post their results here each week along with a button to the blog.

Other things I have come up with today (some before) are Legos, Lego Club and possibly a Lego Mindstorms (robotics) club! He is interested in robotics, but I'm not sure if we're ready to fork out $250 that we don't really have, so we'll take it slowly and see how serious he is about it. On a similar note though he is also interested in computer programming and/or making games. He has asked about this before. He wants to make a web site (so he also wants to learn HTML) for his comic characters (he has probably 30 or so now!!!) and make some games for his site. He also is interested in making computer programs for a robot. I can teach him some basic HTML to build a web site, but I don't know very much at all about that other stuff, so I guess we'll learn together! It should be great fun!

He also really likes taking pictures and video and has always been good with a computer, so I would eventually like to get him his own camera and laptop. But Myles wants a laptop for himself first. :)

So we've got so far:

1. Legos and other similar type things (K'nex, various blocks, etc.)
2. Lego Club with the homeschool group
3. Lego Mindstorms Club (possibly)
4. computer programming
5. HTML for his own web site
6. comic books
7. photography/videography
8. Think! blog (and other similar challenges, probably random)
9. Possibly some how-to videos from the library for guitar and piano
10. I want to get him involved in a more challenging homeschool group focusing more on hands-on activities, possibly for gifted (but not necessarily tested) children.
    

So can anyone help me come up with other ideas like these that I have not thought of yet?

I've got ideas for the other kids too, but Jonathan is really needing the extra mental challenge right now, so I need to get him going on some things first. :)

Challenging a gifted child

Okay, now I've never had any of my kids tested, and I hesitate to label my own children for a few reasons, but we've always thought that Jonathan is very intelligent. One of the earliest things I remember him doing was when he was barely a year old he knew his colors before he could say them. You could tell him to get the yellow car and he would get it right every time. Now, I know many kids can do this, but my other children didn't pick it up nearly that quickly. Anyway, that was just the first thing I remember, but there were many more things, like teaching himself how to read when he was three. Then I expected that to happen with all my kids! Hahahahaha!!!! Then he tried to tackle the book Eragon at the age of 6, but after a few pages it was too overwhelming for him and he stopped. It was a great attempt though!

So now he is 9 years old. We completely unschool, which I plan to always do, but up until now we have done very little structured activities. I have NO intentions of ever going to "school-at-home" or even close to it, but I want to find some things that he enjoys that will challenge his bright little mind! Quite honestly he has been annoying the heck out of me lately, and I think it's because he needs more. I think he's easily bored. He needs more to challenge him, not just occupy his time.

He likes playing the piano and wants to learn the guitar, but I'm not sure how he would do with lessons. We did violin when he was 5, and he never wanted to practice, he just enjoyed playing on his own terms (his own time and music). I can't fault him for that, I am the same way, but if he won't practice with very little prodding from me (because I want it to be fun for him), then I don't want to waste our time or money. So does anyone know of other ways besides just traditional lessons that he might enjoy learning?

Another thing he enjoys is Legos! I've already talked to him about this, and he is very excited! I want to buy him a new Lego set every couple of weeks or so and have him keep them somewhere just for him to use, no one else. I'd like for him to practice following directions and putting each set together, and then he can take them apart if he wants and mix all the sets together and make his own creations. He's played with Legos before, but we are never able to keep them around because they don't get put away or get mixed up with all the other toys.....and one by one they get tossed. So this will work, I think, if we can just come up with a place he can store his things for his use only. He's old enough that he needs some things that are just his. It'll be good in several ways. :)

There is also a Lego Club that we are a part of but haven't been to in a while. We'll try to go in June. The kids really enjoy that!

So I've never had a 9-year-old boy before. So far he's pretty typical. He loves super heroes, guns, fighting, Ninjas, etc. He has already written and illustrated his own comic book, so I'm sure he would love to do more of that. I want to challenge him in other areas though and introduce him to things he may not know exist! I think he would LOVE robotics, and I plan to look into that, but it might be too expensive for us to do right now.

So can you all expose me to other ideas that I have not thought of or may not be aware of? Thanks!!!

photo courtesy of superstock.com

Life Moments

I just wanted to capture this "moment". :)

Right now Jonathan is playing a simple song on the piano that I taught him. He is experimenting with the pedals and varying the notes and rhythm. I'm enjoying listening to his creativity!

Jacob is playing with his wooden tracks. He actually hasn't played with them much in a while until this week, now he's getting all the pieces he can find (including buildings) and making really cool tracks! This has always been one of his favorite things to do!

Jayla is playing with the dogs and taking care of the puppies. They are digging now, so she is making sure they are all in the yard and have food and water.

Jack wants to play with Jacob but is hesitant because Jacob doesn't like him to "play" with him (because he often tears up Jacob's creations). He is playing with the Legos some too as well as cleaning up cat food and dancing to Jonathan's music. Wow! All of that as I was typing it! Ha! Busy kid!

Homeschool Olympics

This is our 4th year to participate in the Homeschool Olympics at a nearby park. Jonathan seems to be losing interest as he gets older because it's really not as much fun when you never win. :( But he does enjoy the races that he chooses to participate in, and he's very realistic about the competition.

Jayla is still not convinced that she is not very fast. She is definitely more athletic, but she is small and doesn't race very often, so it is a challenge for her as well. No doubt Jacob and Jack will have the same difficulties. They all love to run, but they are just not fast!

Jonathan had signed up for three races but decided to only do one: the 50-yard hurdles! I don't think either of them got last place this year, but it seemed that 2nd to last was the goal. :) Here is Jonathan, 3rd from the left:

Jayla competed in 5 different things this year (the maximum). Here she is in the 50-yard dash, she is on the far left:

And the sack race....I was GOOD at this when I was a kid! I think Jayla was 4th from the left, almost in the middle.

Third from the right, here she is in the Kangaroo race/hop:

She could have lasted longer in the jump rope marathon if she hadn't started with hot peppers!!! The PE teacher usually uses those as a tie breaker!

This one is everyone's favorite. We made our own hula hoops, and she was allowed to use our own for the hula hoop marathon! She was so excited because she prefers the larger, heavier hoops. (This girl is going to always have killer abs!) She is very good at hula hooping and she knows it! So I am trying to teach her the difference between being confident and being prideful and showing off! Mostly she is just excited about hula hooping. I'm glad she enjoys it so much. It shows in this video. She gave me a thumbs-up at about 10 seconds. Hehe! The marathon was going on and on (last year it went for just 20 seconds or so), so the PE teacher decided to give all three girls 1st place! Yea!!! So it looks like Jayla will have some good competition every year! (Last year she technically wasn't old enough and competed with the kids in the grade ahead of her, but she still won!) Anyway, enjoy the almost two minutes of these girls hooping! :)

If you'd like to learn how to make your own professional style hula hoops, check out my eHow article for directions! You can use them for exercise, hoop tricks or hoop dancing! Fun stuff!

I'll try to post some still shots of that day tomorrow. The races didn't take very long, but we were there at the park for over 6 hours! We were exhausted, but it was a fun day!

Howling puppies

The pups were only about 2 1/2 weeks old here. I'm not sure what got them started howling, but it was cute, so I had to get a video. :)

Jonathan the camera guy

I was giving Jonathan tips on getting different angles and lighting, so he came up with these on his own one day. He loves to take pictures, so there is no way I could show everything he takes! He's getting good! But here are a three that are different than what he normally takes.

The many faces of Jacob

I love Jacob's hair this longer length rather than shorter. It goes so great with his personality and those big, brown puppy dog eyes. I had to get a few pictures of him in case Daddy decides to take the scissors to him soon. Yeah, it's possible. :'( Some of these may be repeats. The ones where he looks sad......he wasn't, he was either tired or posing. Haha!

See what I mean? It's just so.....him! I love my little guy! :)

Fun times with Jack-Jack :)

I know these aren't the greatest pictures, but I thought they were funny. Also, the sun was shining right on us, so the lighting is weird.

Jack was fighting a nap one day, so we just rolled around and played until he got too tired to move anymore. He likes to "honk" my nose and pull my hair. Ouch! We have fun though. When he is sleepy he gets very cuddly. :)

My blueberry lovers

They got into these one morning before I got up. I guess they couldn't wait for breakfast, but this is a very healthy one! Messy though! :) I don't know why Jonathan insists on making such a horrible face all the time, and I wish he would just pull that tooth already!!!!

Catching up on photos -- May

Playing outside

Jayla has recently learned to ride without training wheels!!!!!

bringing the outside IN

Puppies at 2 weeks


Smokie the day before she had her kitties

The kittens are FINALLY born!!! (Don't look too closely at this picture or it might make you sick. I just thought it was funny.)

Jonathan pointed out the one "long" puppy, so I had to get a picture. :)

Ladybugs in the process of transforming....so cool!

Jonathan's first time to mow!!!! He did great but said it was harder than he thought! (Check out his face. He was crying! He actually enjoyed mowing, but when I got these pictures he had just accidentally popped his jaw with the pull when he tried to start the mower. :( He allowed me to get a couple of pics and then stomped inside. LOL!)

First crop of the season! :) Very tasty!

Our two cats

I keep saying I need to weed the garden.....

Several other plants growing. I'm not sure what I planted and what just fell here, so it's ALL staying for a while!

First "swim" of the season.....we had to clean out the pool first. The boys never have enough mud to play in. Seriously! And it's hard to get completely out of there too!

Spidergirl

My new haircut.....it's basically the same on the top but longer in the back since I am growing it out AGAIN. I wish my hair would stay this curly (sides and back) as it grows out, or at least be completely straight!

I made the older two kids a baby sling when I was pregnant with Jack. He quickly got too big for them, so it's nice to know they can still use the slings for live babies! :)

Bath time for puppies

Five weeks old already!!!