Spring cleaning...in January

We have had an unusually warm Christmas and New Year. It has been in the 60's here (in St Louis) for the past few days. Today we're taking advantage of the warmth and getting in some early spring cleaning. Mark is tackling the basement and I'm hitting the office (where all of the homeschooling paraphernalia is stored). We moved our office from upstairs to downstairs and I love it. It is so much more convenient for Mark and I to be able to get in there after the kids are in bed without worrying about waking anyone up!

I love ESL

"Mama, mama, Emily put all of the pilgrims in the box!"

Me: "Tangrams. Emily put the tangrams in the box."

At least I know we learned some Thanksgiving vocabulary. ;)

Tim is getting married

The three oldest kids have Bible verses for their handwriting every day. Right now we are going through the Christmas story in Luke. I had the following conversation with Tim.

Tim: "What does 'pledged' mean?"
Me: "Engaged. That they are going to be married but they aren't married yet."
Tim: "When were they going to be married?"
Me: "I don't know."
Tim: "Can people get married in Bethlehem?"
Me: "Yes, people can get married in Bethlehem."
Tim: "I can't get married in Bethlehem, can I?"
Me: "Yes, if you want to get married in Bethlehem I think you could get married there."
Tim: "Maybe I'll get married in Bethlehem. But I'll have to ask my wife."
*pause*
Tim: "I think I'll let her decide."
Me: "That's probably a good plan." (at this point I was trying really hard to contain my laughter)
Tim: "But we can't get married yet. We'll get married when we're older."

He was very serious about all of this. It's a good thing he hasn't found anyone to be his wife yet!

If you know of anyone wanting to buy a house...

...send them our way. ;)




http://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/3129-Oregon-Ave_Saint-Louis_MO_63118_M78873-01944

http://amyp.stlgoldhomes.net/viewhome.asp?HomeID=11054931&MLSArea=StLouis

The dirty house is finally CLEAN!

A busy week

We've had a few of those. :)

Monday was pretty quiet. School and all of that.

Tuesday was speech for Emily, then R came to visit for a few hours. The kids love playing with her and she's 2 now and so much fun to have around. Tim has just recently gotten into the "big brother" groove with her and it's hilarious to listen to him. "No, no, R...don't touch that. Here, play with this."

Wednesday was new ear tubes for Emily. She did great with the surgery but decided she didn't like her doctor AT ALL when she threw up 9 times after anesthesia. Yes, 9. Thankfully they sent us home with a small bucket and I only had to stop three times on the way home to dump it. Ick. ;) She tried to eat when she got home (she was so hungry!) but it didn't work out so well. After a little rest time she was fully recovered and, in true Emily style, decided she had to eat eggs first since she had missed them at breakfast. I did NOT give her eggs first but after I was convinced her stomach had settled she did get her eggs.

Today was shots for Julia and Bianca. Neither one cried and the nurse was so impressed with how the other kids did in the room (I had all 6 of them with me) that she gave all of the kids a pencil.

You could have heard a pin drop in the awed silence when she said they would all get one. Pencils are like gold in our house!

The dirty house is almost done. We have it scheduled to be listed on November 1. We'll see if we can hold to it, but I think we can make it. NOTE: That last "we" should really read "Mark", who is going to nearly kill himself trying to get this house finished alone.

Oh, and did I mention (no, I did not) that he has a new job? Mark is now a therapy manager. YAY for my awesome hubby!!! :)

It's been a little crazy busy around here.

Just the way I like it. :) :)

My favorite quote of the day

I get a lot of great quotes out of the kids, some more publishable than others. ;) Today's was overheard as Alex and Bianca were sitting at the dining room table coloring. I have no idea what the context was (I'm guessing they were talking about what they were drawing) but all of a sudden I hear Alex pipe up, "Yeah, and baby horses eat baby corn."

To which Bianca replied, "Ewww..." (no idea why; she likes baby corn in stir fry!) and Alex's response, "No, really, they do. They like it."

On strength

For Tim's birthday, Grandma and Grandpa O. got him a t-shirt and short set with a dinosaur on it. Tim loves them, and even more since Papa told him that that kind of shirt (without sleeves) is called a "muscle shirt".

Yesterday was Tim's day to help so he got to pick what we had for afternoon snack and then help me make it. He picked some butterscotch brownies from a cookie cookbook that we have. As I added the flour and the dough became more difficult to stir, he turned to me very seriously and said,

"You have to be strong to stir these cookies. It's a good thing I have my muscle shirt on since it makes me stronger."