No internet and Funny kids and school update

We went over 2 weeks without internet as we tried to find someone who could get a signal with all of the trees that surround our house. We ended up with DSL and wires. It was amazing in some ways how peaceful and how inconvenient it was. When my only option for checking email was an unsecured connection while the kids did track, and I had no printer, people just had to wait. There were lots of things that got put on hold, some of which probably won't make it back off hold. :) It was interesting how often at first, I would think, oh, I'll just go check that, look up that recipe, whatever, and not be able to. But usually I could find a similar recipe in a cookbook or find the number in the phone books that rarely get used. After the first week, it actually started to feel kind of nice. :) We've had internet for about a week now and I'm still working on getting all caught up. I didn't realize how much I relied on the internet for things like paying bills and school. It's so easy to just print off a worksheet on a topic that needs more review, but it's also easy to waste a lot of time browsing.

During that time, the kids made a couple of funny comments that I jotted down to record.

I was making peanut butter and honey sandwiches for lunch, and Adam pipes up, "I know where honey comes from." Me: "Really, where?" Adam: "Bees." Me: "And how do the bees get it?" Adam: "From the store."

Another day, Tyler had been outside working on sanding his pinewood derby car. He came into the kitchen where I was grinding wheat, making bread, and making pizza dough while spelling words for Jeanisha, helping Eli with math, answering Melynda's questions, and trying to keep Adam and Lincoln out of trouble as they "helped." He stood there watching for a minute or two and then he said, "Mom, since you are not doing anything right now, do you want a turn sanding my car." I can't imagine what my day would be like I was "doing something."

I also wanted to copy some of Jeanisha's kindergarten writing. I love when they are at the stage where they write with the phonetic spelling. Especially Jeanisha who writes much more than the boys did at her age. Today she was supposed to describe what she could see from the desk she was sitting in. She chose to describe the window.

it has scwirs. it is sefoor. it is rit in frunt of mi sid uv the desk.

Translated: It has squares. It is see through. It is right in front of my side of the desk.

She is still my workbook loving child and is determined that she will catch up to Tyler by the end of summer on math and writing. She sits and listens when I am teaching him and often surprises me by what she picks up. She's figured out multiplication and is starting to catch on to the two digit multiplication that Tyler is learning. It's nice to have one kid who is so easy to teach! She often has to be told to put the school books away on Sunday!

Ryan finishes 5th grade in public school on Wed. and is very excited to start homeschooling again. I was planning to let him start again after Memorial Day (we do light school all summer), but he was insistent that he should get to start on Thursday, the day after he gets out. He's been so excited about his algebra book that he's already done the first 10-15 lessons, for fun. (We use Life of Fred, and it really is a fun way to learn math.)He's enjoyed public school, but has missed being challenged and is excited to "learn something new again." He's helped pick out the books and topics for next year and is excited about being home. I think the main thing he will miss is choir and I'll be checking with the middle school about dual enrollment options for that for next year. Hopefully his enthusiasm will last for awhile!

Tyler is finishing 3rd grade and finally reached the point where he doesn't hate writing. It's still not his favorite, but it's not the battle it was. He is enjoying math for the most part, but generally just wants to get it done so he can go play outside or dig in the hole. Over spring break the kids dug a 6 foot deep hole what has continued to grow and get filled in and grow again. We've decided to bury the trampoline, so now they have a much bigger hole marked out and permission to expand their hole. Right now, it's about 8 feet in diameter, 4-6 feet deep. And if it takes all summer, that's fine. It is such a good project for them to learn to work together and to stick with it and just have fun. Every time friends come over, they go straight to the hole and spend a good bit of time digging.

Eli (1st grade) has made huge progress with school. In the fall, he didn't know all his letter sounds and couldn't count to 15. He's now up to grade level on math and reading phonics readers pretty well. He struggles with fluency and sight words and is still well below grade level with that, but his progress is really amazing. He's working on an animal book where he draws a picture of the animal, colors it, then copies 4-5 sentences below the picture. He is very proud of his book and how many pages he is getting in it.

Melynda is finishing up her junior year and has also done well. It's been a hard year for her academically as she's worked to fill in gaps from the past, especially with math. She is also learning to have higher expectations for herself and learning that she is smart enough to get good grades. She, like most high schoolers, is ready for a break and the fun activities coming this summer.

You either have to laugh or cry

Today I was at ShopKo with the 4 younger kids, basically killing time for 1 1/2 hours while the others were doing the testing for school. They had been mostly good, but Lincoln was a typical 2 year old pulling things off shelves into the cart anytime he could reach something. At one point, right near the end of our shopping trip, he grabbed a spatula set out of a bin. I pulled it out of his hands and tossed it back and said "No." Not a mad no, but a "I've had enough and you better knock it off" no. He knew he was in trouble and started to cry/throw a fit. I moved up to push the front cart with Adam in it, Jeanisha was pushing Lincoln right behind me, and Eli was walking right behind her. My cell phone rang. It was my friend who was just picking up her son from testing and I knew she would be updating me about whether my kids were done. As I'm talking to her, this really rude, obnoxious man, a total stranger, walks up to me and says (insert snappy tone), "Lady, don't you think you should stop yapping on your phone and take care of your kids. One of them is crying, in case you didn't notice."

I responded that he was throwing a fit because I had just taken something away from him. He responded, "I know, I saw that too, and you didn't handle that very well either. The way you took it away was unacceptable."

I was speechless. As he walked off, he muttered, loudly, "Some people just don't know how to be parents."


I just wanted to scream or at least think of a smart aleck comeback!!!! But now, a few hours later, it's quite funny. I'd love to trade him places for an hour or two (at the store) and see how he handles it!

Ultrasound Today

I had my 22 week ultrasound today and everything looks good with our little GIRL!!!!! She's due August 11th. We will probably name her Cumorah.

Highlights

So much has happened lately that I am just going to post some pictures and highlights. They will probably not be in any real order, just however I find them on the memory card. :) And each picture should probably have it's own post, but I just don't have time.


The kids have been in 2 plays with Missoula Children's Theatre. This picture shows Melynda as an Icicle marker and Jeanisha as a Dust Bunny in the Princess and the Pea. Then Eli was a bat in Snow White and the other kids were in the Pre-Show. Melynda as the wicked queen, Ryan and Tyler as dwarfs, and Jeanisha as Squeaker the mouse. They did great and had lots of fun. Missoula Children's Theatre comes to town with all the costumes and props and the kids try out on Monday, practice all week, and perform on the weekend. It's busy and crazy, but fun.



Then we went to McCall for the Winter Carnival. They make wonderful ice sculptures and we love to go see them. We found a fun hotel room with enough beds for the whole family in one room and had a blast!














Next came Adam's 4th Birthday with a party at Chuck E Cheese. He is such a great kid and so fun to be around. He's small for his age, and Lincoln is big, so we are asked CONSTANTLY if they are twins. He loves to play outside and with his brothers and to go feed the ducks at the Greenbelt. One of his favorite presents was 2 bags of stale hamburger buns and the promise to go feed ducks. He even wanted the greenbelt and ducks on his cake.


The next picture is one of many that Tyler set up to make a wonderful powerpoint book report on Charlotte's Web. I had originally asked him to set up one scene, but he was having so much fun it quickly evolved into about 20 scenes covering all the main points in the book.


Then came Melynda's first big day when the adoption was finalized and her name was legally changed forever. We went to court and the three of us were sworn in along with the caseworker and the judge made everything official. One of her favorite perks of being adopted is that now she can ride with someone under 18 (like home from mutual) and I don't have to get a copy of everyone's driver's license. Another important "perk" was that she could finally be baptized. She had taken the discussions from 3 awesome missionaries, Elder Blair from Arizona, Elder Itche-a-Ramon (from France and spelled totally wrong), and Elder Tomaz from Utah. We loved having them in our home every Sunday afternoon for about 6 weeks before her baptism and the spirit they brought. Elder Itche-at-Ramon left to go home right before she was baptized and Elder Blair was also on his way home and came with his parents.

The baptism itself was wonderful. I think the fact that she had wanted it so long made it extra meaningful. There was a huge turnout of friends, family, and ward members there to support her. (Thank you!) One of the most memorable things about the day was the squeal of excitement she gave as she came up out of the water. She was so excited, she just couldn't hold it in.

Eli's birthday fell that same weekend and for his party he wanted to go play at a McDonald's playland. Easy enough request! I think he's had withdrawals from McDonald's since coming to leave with us. He also wanted a pink snowman and flowers on his birthday cake. I had fun being creative and think it turned out great!



Since then, Melynda had a piano recital, of which I have no pictures, only a video that won't load, but she did great. Then Ryan had a choir concert (he also had a solo on the CD the school made and was very proud of that.)


Tyler and Stephen ran in the Mad Hatter relay. Each person runs 2 legs, 2 miles each. Tyler was the youngest racer, but they had lots of fun and took 3rd in the Men's division. As soon as they finished Tyler asked when they could race again. He loves running and is really good at it, especially long distances. 3-4 miles is easy and after a sip or two of gatorade, he's ready to go again. He's way faster than I am and keeps up pretty good with Stephen pacing him. Pretty good, especially when you figure he legs are half the length Stephen's are. Next is a Beat Coach Pete (from Boise State) 5K in April, and then either a 10K or Half Marathon in May. Stephen's planning to do the Half, but we'll see how Tyler does with training to see which he wants to do.



I think that about catches up the last couple months. At least the things I have pictures of. :) The kids are currently involved in lots of activities, (gymnastics, PE, track, karate, scouts. . . . ) and keeping me busy. We are also doing lots of yard work to tackle the overgrown yard-- but I have hundreds of bulbs coming up, so it should be pretty in spite of the neglect here soon. Eli's adoption should be finalized in April, we're just waiting for some last paperwork. Then he and Melynda will be able to get sealed to us in the temple. So, I'm sure the next few months with be just as busy, but I will try to post a little more often to record all the fun memories. :)

Homemade Macaroni and Cheese

One of my friends was blogging about how unhealthy the fake mac and cheese is, so I wanted to share my homemade macaroni and cheese recipe. We love it and it's super easy to make. Use whole wheat macaroni noodles. For my family I quadruple it.

1 1/4 cups macaroni
2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp mustard
1/8 tsp pepper
1 cup milk
2 c. cheese, divided
1/4 cup cracker crumbs

Cook macaroni according to package. While it's cooking, melt butter in large bowl in the microwave. Stir in flour, salt, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, and pepper. Heat milk in microwave for 1 minute. Stir into flour mixture and heat for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir and heat for 1 1/2 more minutes. Stir and heat for 1 minute more. (With a quadruple batch, I do 3-5 minutes between stirring.) You'll know it's ready when it starts to thicken up. Add 1 1/2 cups of cheese into the white sauce. Stir until melted. Add in drained macaroni and mix. Top with cracker crumbs and sprinkle with remaining cheese.


This also reheats really good!

Upcoming Big days

We have some fun days coming up in the next little bit with birthdays and the adoptions.
Adam's birthday is Feb 28, Melynda's adoption will be finalized Mar 3, Eli's birthday is March 12 (but we'll celebrate on the 11th) because Melynda's baptism will be on March 12th at 1:00. (I would love to have a good turnout for her, so if you want directions, leave a comment or email me.)
Then Jeanisha's birthday is March 29, and Eli's adoption will be finalized the first week or so of April. Then mid-April, Melynda and Eli will get sealed to us in the temple.

It's amazing to think that this process has taken a little over 2 years from when we started our homestudy. 2 1/2 if you start when we decided now was the time to adopt. There are hard days, but overall it's been mostly good. Stephen is still a little overwhelmed by teenage drama some days, and the testing phase leaves me exhausted some days, but when I look at how far Melynda and Eli have come, it's a miracle.

Groceries Galore

I am amazed at the amount of food that gets consumed around here! Maybe it's because we added two older mouths instead of having it sneak up gradually, but my grocery bill has doubled over the past year. Last night for dinner I made a quadruple batch of German pancakes. That is 24 eggs, plus flour, milk, and butter. It makes 4 9*13 pans. Melynda was babysitting and Stephen got stuck late at jury duty, so it was just me and the 6 younger kids. I thought at first there would be leftovers, but it ended up that I only got one piece. They ate all 4 pans as fast as I could serve it, cut it up, and add syrup. Lincoln alone ate almost 1/2 a pan.

For breakfast, Ryan and Stephen are not here, but if I do fried eggs, they will eat 18-20. If I make something like Enchiladas, it takes at least two pans, plus whatever vegetables or side dishes. When Stephen made pancakes awhile back, he made over 50, and we each got 2. I realize there are 9 people eating, but it still amazes me HOW much food that is. Peanut butter sandwiches for lunch uses 1 1/2- 2 loaves of bread, depending on the size loaf and if Stephen is home.

The other thing that gets devoured are bananas. The rule is that anytime you are still hungry, or want a snack between meals, you can have a banana (or peanut butter sandwich). Bananas are filling and cheap, easy to eat without making a big mess, and good for you. Plus kids eat them for breakfast or with lunch sometimes. I bought 26 lbs. of bananas thinking I would have enough left over for banana bread. Nope, they were gone in under a week.

Just thinking about my food bill when these kids are all teenagers is scary. :) I remember my mother-in-law saying that when her 3 boys left on missions, they saved enough on food to pay for one mission. I believe it!