Not everyone is thrilled about having a picture taken. Not sure how the lens got so dirty!

Remembered my camera yesterday, so here's a beginning of the year picture. The boys were teasing Samuel about being handsome, which helped me get a good smile out of him. Notice Caleb with his lunch box. Notice, also the chopped bangs Hannah has. I was fixing my cutting job, since I don't usually cut bangs, and had to leave to ref the older ones. When I came back, Caleb informed me he had cut her hair. Oh, dear! At least it doesn't have that far to grow to match the rest of her bangs.

I keep forgetting how the time has gone by since Hannah came home. 6 weeks ago was the 1st breakfast together. I will stop saying that eventually. ;)

We had a great day in school yesterday. I was able to sit in Samuel's class, happily knitting, while seeing what we need to be working on at home. C and H went to their little play place after lunch and did well without me. I'm sure music was great, and when I asked H about it later, she said, "alligator." That helps them remember 4 quarter notes. She showed me how they did "fast" and "slow" with the plates they fan themselves with to the beat of the music. (That's a lot of prepositional phrases!) One thing I'm dealing with is that I can tell when H has an attitude, but no one else hears it. So while I'm trying to teach, she wants things and I tell her to be quiet or that she can't have it, she lets me know she doesn't appreciate what I've told her. Once I tell her to stop it, she smiles her little smile- I know there are people around and I just want to see what I can get away with. Doesn't really bother anyone else, but I think she's doing well enough to pursue getting her into the nursery/preschool area in a few weeks where she can be playing and moving around instead of sitting in her stroller at the table.

Mom came for lunch, actually to pick up her chicken order, and told me how good H looks, how much healthier. I'm so glad to hear that. You know when you see it every day, it's harder to notice the changes. I really need to go back to look at pictures from the first days. Anyway, H walked all over when the chapel was mostly empty and walked to her class. She is very capable, but I think she waits for the permission as well as the requirement to do more.

They all did much better on the fighting/whining front last night, praise the Lord!

Buddy took S to scouts last night, and the little ones were in bed by 6:30, so Catherine and I had a great time playing with the sidewalk chalk (made the solar system somewhat to scale) and some card games. It was very nice to relax with each other.

Buddy took the suburban to work, since he has some things that need to be done on his truck. So, we're homebound today, which is just fine with me. I think it sounds like a good day for reading and playing educational games. After we get some work done! Speaking of which, it's time to do some educating!

Found:

the missing walkie talkie that everyone was sure they put right where they were supposed to. And while we were finding that, we found the remote and another library book!
Sadly, also found is a fascination with dumping out soap bottles and unrolling toilet paper/putting the whole roll in the toilet.

It's quiet here- Buddy went to work for a bit, Catherine is at a sleepover from last night and so is Samuel. Caleb went to bed at 7 and slept until 8:40!

Buddy and I went on a date last night while mom watched the little ones. We tried a little Thai place in town that has really good spring rolls, and then went to a new frozen yogurt shop. It was so nice outside and so nice to spend a little time together without anyone demanding anything of us! The yogurt shop was crowded, so we walked around and tried some chairs Pier 1 had sitting outside their store before we went shopping inside. We only lasted 2 hours and came home. Sad, I know. But I hadn't talked to mom for a while, and Buddy wanted to watch our usual Friday night church service online.

Fun things about C and H. Yesterday, C pulled his chair at the table over beside H's. I had been in between so I could help them both when they needed it. However, he wanted to be by his buddy. This morning while H was eating (C was still sleeping), she had a little teddy bear she'd been given when we 1st got home on the floor by her chair. She told me her bear was crying. She's been carrying it around the last day or 2, which is really amazing, considering she didn't hold anything when she 1st came home. She's been getting on the potty all by herself, with no crying, not even needing me to be in there with her until she's done. It's really cute to hear her say, "Good job, Mommy!" after she's gotten on the potty. Then I wait for the "Mow dah" to tell me she's finished. I wipe and she gets down and tells me, "Good job, Mommy" again. C has picked up on her grunting for communication, which I'm not appreciating very much, so we're trying to teach her a better way to get her point across. One thing we're teaching her is, "May I have it, please?" Which comes out "maya maya pcheese." Cracks the kids up, and C does a funny job immitating her. Yesterday when it was time for C to play in his room, he wanted H in there with him. I usually put the gate up so I can keep him there while I do school with the big kids. However, I didn't so H would feel ok. But, they asked for it to be up. They did well. I'm so glad to hear them playing more than fighting now.

Buddy and S are really enjoying karate! They've done 2 nights and are excited about going back. Buddy is feeling the pain, and Samuel is just enjoying the whole process. Good for them to have time together in such a manly way.

Time to go collect big kids and get on with our day. I'm hoping to hit the farmers' market this morning, then a fishing party with the scouts this afternoon. I'm sure we'll call it a day a little earlier, since I'm sure both big ones didn't get much sleep!

Found the camera!

This is how Catherine did some of her school work today. I think she had 3 dress up outfits on before I called an end to it. Yes, that is Caleb. Girl dress up clothes are just more fun, or maybe we need to go find some better boy dress up stuff.

C was leading the races between the boys. Little C's lead kept getting bigger and bigger, but S could always beat him. They had a blast! There he is, all serious about his racing. He's growing into a man!

After a bit of squabbling when we got home on Monday, this is what Caleb did with Hannah.

It's fun to see them playing together more and more in nice ways. Caleb shows her how to do things and she helps him when she can. A friend gave this salon to us for the girls way back when. So glad we didn't get rid of it while we waited. It was a great source of entertainment while we cleaned the car on Sunday. Hannah thought she was something with Catherine's sunglasses and Caleb's hat. (We were cleaning the car to get it ready to be sold, so those yucky mats HAD to get cleaned.)

Caleb was so excited to have his lunch box! He hardly could leave it alone on Sunday. I'll remember next week to keep it out of sight! I forgot to have a show and tell item for his class, but he was fine because he got to show what was inside the lunch box.

In true form, I forgot to bring my camera to the first day of CC, which stands for Classical Conversations. It's not a drop off and it has a "community" feel. I tutor for the 5-7 year old girls, who are amazingly sweet. 2 of the girls never gave a presentation last year. (Every week they have a topic they are given the option of talking about in front of the class for 2 minutes.) This week, they both did. One was really short, but the fact she was brave enough to do it was really big. Hannah did well while she was with us. She wanted to be a part of everything the rest of the girls did, even though she had no idea what it was all about. We do science experiments every week and a fine arts project. This week, we had to go outside for science, which meant a trip on the elevator! Of course, everyone wants to push the buttons, so we now have to go with an alphabetical order system so everyone gets her turn. Our class is on the 2nd floor, so going to class, coming down for lunch, and science that's outside and occasionally art as well, will now mean using the elevator. Lots of oportunities for good times. When we were done with our work, we had some time before lunch. We sat around and the girls asked questions about Hannah- why her hands are like that, why her mom didn't take care of her, and the amazement that she walks on her ankles! She showed them how we sign Jesus Loves Me, and really enjoyed the attention!
After lunch, I was in charge of 8 little ones for 2 hours while their moms got to go into the Essentials class. There was another mom, whose children are taking art and music, who stayed with me for part of it, then after a while another mom popped in for a bit. Nice not to be alone with all of them in a small nursery room!
All in all, it was a good day, but I did miss sitting with my friends in EEL and our time after when the older kids had art. However, it's our new normal and it will be great.
Everyone was tired and a little touchy for a bit when we got home, so we sat down and read about Charlemagne and Henry VIII to allow for a little down time. So nice not to have dance and scouts on Mondays. This year, it's just scouts. Samuel has 3 badges to complete until he's earned every badge possible for Webelos! He only has a few things to do on each, so it should be a pretty quick process. Then, it's meeting new troops to decide where to go as a Boy Scout. After February, when he is a Boy Scout and we can drop him off!
Buddy and I made a deal that since he and Samuel are doing Karate on Thursdays, I'd take Samuel to Scouts. That way, each of us have an evening with Catherine. So far, so good.
Yesterday was a beautiful homeschooling Tuesday, compared to some in the past. Maybe the Omega 3's are kicking in and helping things be more peaceful...
As we were eating dinner, Catherine had to tell Buddy how she hadn't chewed her fingernails and only popped her knuckle once that day. Samuel said he hadn't picked his nose all day, and Caleb said, "I didn't eat any bergers today." Samuel piped up, "It's true! He did pick his nose, but he wiped it on a kleenex."
Today, I'm trying to get back into the swing of butter making, bread baking, yard work and laundry. While doing homeschool and my version of PT with Hannah. Think I'm taking on too much? It's after 4 and I'm just now done with a shower and feel like I could hit the hay. That may have something to do with staying up to watch Pride and Prejudice and get to the next part of my knitting directions...
I do have some pictures, but the camera is ...

Back packs packed, teeth brushed, lunches made, all my stuff together (I think) and we're off to CC! "Is it time to see my friend Joe?" This makes Caleb very happy. Hannah just wonders why she was rushed through breakfast.
Just think, 5 weeks ago, the big adventure for Hannah was riding on the plane and meeting her new family. Now, she's getting ready to have a new adventure with a bunch of people, learning to sit quietly while I tutor, and making new friends.
I'll post pictures when I get home.

So, yesterday started with music class, proceeded to a very ugly melt down by one, followed by a chiming in just because, and a 3rd feeling the need to make his voice heard. Thankfully, the eldest held it together for me. The first mentioned child and I had some quality come to Jesus moments that really helped shift the day into much better directions. During nap time, Caleb decided to eat the toothpaste instead of sleeping. Thankfully, it's totally herbal and wouldn't hurt anything except the bacteria in our mouths. It sure was strong, and he didn't like the taste at all. I thought he was going to toss his lunch. Made me wonder how well he chews.... Anyway, it never happend, PTL.

Mom gave us a picture book for Hannah, and I was using it to teach her some signs. Caleb and she sat on the couch after "naps" were finished. It was so sweet to hear him telling her what the pictures were and doing signs for them. After their reading time was up, they each took turns sitting in a little chair. Samuel really wanted a hair cut before CC starts (and before karate class, I think) so I took our stool out onto the back porch, since I'd just scrubbed floors. It sounded like a great idea, but turned out to be really warm! Caleb jumped on the trampoline while Hannah played in the sand table. "Short, mom." That's S's favorite request. Lately, it's all about whether his hair is sticking up, and taking scissors himself to remedy the situation. Then Caleb wanted his cut. Then Catherine wanted hers cut short. Hannah watched all this and soon she was asking for her turn, too. Look back at that 2nd picture of her and you can see what had to happen. It looks better when it's combed, I promise. Everyone was pleased with the results. Caleb was a little clown, as usual, and it took quite a few shots to get this one.

All that before we were to leave for my mtg and the boys' karate class. Pizza to the rescue! Bad mom, I know, but you gotta do what you gotta do.

I had a great time being with my friends again. So thankful to feel the love and support again. Funny how I missed it over the summer! Thanks for the offer of chocolate, Leslie, but I'll have to decline. You do want P to learn something, don't you?

The boys had a blast, and Samuel got to see several people he didn't expect to see also in the class. He was a little nervous about going, but it turned out really well. They were both sore today, but Samuel was pumped about it all. I don't recall it ever being that way in TKD, so this is a good sign. I was thankful mom could watch the younger ones so I could stay a little longer and chat.

Another day today with all the colors of the rainbow in our day, so we'll be doing some school work tomorrow. We ended by watching some Drive Thru History and putting the little ones to bed. After that, Catherine put together an obstacle course and we timed each other while we ran the race. I won. By 25 seconds. Good way to end the day.

Looking forward to a nice weekend. No plans, just time together, which is just fine with me.