To Scout!

We are all signed up!! Tuesdays will be very busy this year!

Lizzie will be a Brownie at the Middle School on Tuesday afternoons! I think she will have lots of fun! Her leader seems very nice! I'm excited for her!

The boys will also have meetings on Tuesdays! Thankfully, it's the evening and our times don't criss-cross! Tanner will be a Tiger and Hunter a Webelos! Should be interesting - I have to be at Tanner's meetings....not sure what to do with Lizzie yet. She may have to just go with us...we shall see!

I really think that we're going to have a great year!!!

To Scout or not to Scout...

That is the question.

I had hoped to get the kids in scouting groups with other homeschoolers, but unfortunately that is not going to work out. The meetings are either too far away - or are on the wrong night. So, we'll be looking at local groups through the school district.

Tonight we check out the Cub/Boy Scouts. Found out by accident that there is a meeting at Stony Point (kids' old school) tonight! Looking forward to seeing if we can get the boys involved. Tomorrow night is the Girl Scouts meeting!!

We shall see!!

Figured it Out!!

Ok, I have been trying to update this blog all summer long and have had some trouble. A couple of months ago, I got a nasty virus on my computer and nearly lost it! Jeremy managed to save it for me, but not without a few weird quirks. One: I can create a post, edit a post, add pics to a post, but can't publish a post from the main screen. I just now figured out how to get a post published, so hopefully I'll be more regular with updates!!!

And that's my update for today - as I'm dealing with an allergy/sinus issue - coupled with quitting pop and it's not going well!!

Happy Stinkin' Tuesday.

Testing...

Not even sure this will post....

Summer!!.....????

I am not sure that Mother Nature has made up her mind about the weather...

Maybe I should have titled this post: School's almost out!!!! YAY!!!

The kids have 6 more school days left - I think I'm as excited as they are!! I think....anyway! This is going to be a busy summer - and while I am looking forward to many things...I am most looking forward to it being over. Not sure why....maybe because of our trip next February! But SHHHH!!! That's a secret for now!

The kids have had a good school year, for the most part!
Tanner: This kid has improved by leaps and bounds! I am so pleased! He is reading now!! He isn't super fluent - but he can read! And I'm not worried! He's only just finishing K! We are actually going to do a Learning to Read curriculum over the summer - just to reinforce and build on what he has already learned! I'm excited to get started! He's had a fun year - I think going to K has been a good experience for him! But I am glad he actually WANTS to homeschool!

Lizzie: Lizzie has had a FANTASTIC year of school! She really enjoys it! She's made some friends (tho', the "girl" thing has definitely started in 2nd grade - they are BFFs one day and hate each other the next and then back to BFFs!!!) She's done excellent in her work - and even qualified to test for the gifted program. If she was going to return next year, she'd do more testing to see! Quite honestly, tho', I believe she'll excel further at home than school. I'm excited to get her started on CLE and let her run! I think she's going to do excellent!
****Tomorrow is her birthday!!! So, she's ready to PARTAY!*****

Hunter: Hunter has had a good year - and he's enjoyed school. He's done very well with his grades! We are very proud! I do have regrets about putting Hunter back in, tho'. He's been exposed to WAY more than necessary - and learned ALOT more than necessary. Some say, "You can't shelter them forever" - and that is very true. Some of this exposure has led to good conversations and I'm thankful for that! And while it's true, we can't live in a bubble (as much as I'd like to!), I am thankful that next year at home they will be protected from those kinds of things! There's NO NEED for a fourth grader to learn about *bases* - if you get my drift!

Summer plans: Church Camp, Tennessee, maybe fit in a trip to Branson? It's going to be a busy, but fun one!

And our surprise trip end of February?? We're taking the kids to DISNEY!! We'll probably end up telling them before long, but it's still a secret as of now. I'm hoping we don't have to tell them until on the way to the airport!!!, but we'll see!! ;) so - SHHHHH!!!!! if you see my kiddos between now and Feb - MUM'S the word!!!!

Homeschool is a GO for next year! I'm excited to get back to it! I've missed having them home with me this year! I'm also very excited about the curriculum we'll be using! Christian Light Education looks like a wonderful - challenging - curriculum! I know that the kids will do well and learn alot! We'll also supplement some with more history - (looking at History Revealed by Diane Waring) and science - (continue with Apologia! - the kids really liked this science program.) We'll probably only read these two extras - but that's what the kids loved the most about them - just listening.

Well - that about sums it up for now. And, if you are on FB, here's your announcement that I won't be back (again!) Got a killer virus from FB (we think FB!) and it's just not working out for me to be active there! So - you can get family updates here!!

Happy Summer!!

The Curse of FB

Ok - so I got back on FB and my blog posts became....lacking, nil, zip, nada. SORRY!!!

Anyway - here's a quick update on the family!!


School:
The kids are doing great! They are learning tons and enjoying friends. Stay tuned for a post on public vs. homeschool. Nothing too controversial.....just stay tuned!


Church:
We FINALLY made it back to church - after a 3 week break! Our first two weeks gone were due to illness - and week three was due to weather! It was SO NICE to be back! And our monthly social Saturday night was a success! I'm glad that so many people are attending!! It's so important to be active in all aspects of your church!!

Kids:
The kids have been doing pretty well - we've been through the winter illnesses. We've ALL had the stomach bug, we've ALL had strep throat (Lizzie's had it TWICE!). Seems Lizzie has a cold of some sort every other week - and sometimes Tanner joins her. Hunter is our healthiest one, but when he does get sick it hits him pretty hard. With the exception of Lizzie's earache and Tanner's runny nose, we're healthy today....which doesn't really sound all that healthy. Sigh....

I have started a weekly Bible Study through Bible Study Fellowship - and I'm very excited to be participating. Last week was my intro class and hopefully, if they have a spot for me, my first class is this Wednesday! I'm still waiting to hear if there is a spot and which small goup I will be in!
Jeremy is working hard as always! We're looking forward to his being home more - hopefully by next fall! We're also looking forward to him getting us our microscope *hint hint, honey!*.

Well - that's what the Scotts have been up to lately! We're headed to OK this next weekend...it will be nice to see the family!!

Happy Monday!

Game Night

My task was to find two things: something heavier than my shoe and something that would FIT IN my shoe. So I grabbed Tanner and one of our game pieces. :)

Hunter's task was to get two things: something see-through and something with batteries. He brought back the see-through battery package. LOL

Tonight was Game Night in the Scott Household. We played Cadoo - which is the kid version of Cranium. Really cute and fun game!

Pizza Parties and Woodshop

Saturday night, Jeremy and I had a "double date" with our pastor and his wife. The kids spent the evening with Grandma and Grandpa. They made pizzas and had a wrestling match with Grandpa.

I think this picture (above) was during a wrestling match...Grandpa was winning.

Sunday found Jeremy and the kiddos making a "cubby" for the kids winter gear...

SERIOUSLY!!!!!!!!

Update - after I cleared the mailbox, BEFORE the mail came - snow plow came and finally did his job. Of course.

Shoveling......Mailbox.....Reprimand (in form of postcard)......More shoveling.....Letter of complaint to the city because they apparently don't know how to plow a road properly.....

Who would have thought we would have a REAL need for a snow blower here?

Exhaustion....and might not be able to move tomorrow.

OH - the ice melt worked, wish I had enough to cover the ENTIRE drive.

I'm so OVER it!

Snow, that is.

Sure, it's pretty. Sure, it's fun. Most of all, it can be a symbol of forgiveness. Wiping the slate clean. Cleansing.

Today - it's just a nuisance. How does someone *coughsputtercough...me* get stuck in her OWN driveway in extremely POWDERY snow? le sigh.... At least it was AFTER taking the kids to school....they got there, now how to get them home? LOL I'm letting some ice melt do it's job and hopefully that will work. I've shoveled, shoveled and shoveled some more. I've pushed, pushed and pushed some more (NOT the van, the push broom!). We'll see if the ice melt will help!

Seriously, didn't I live in NEW ENGLAND for three years? I guess it's the whole: you can take the girl out of the south, but not the south out of the girl! And yes, I did this last year too! HAHAHA

Today's Lesson:

It's ok to laugh at yourself...LAUGH at YOURSELF! Because you know the whole block is laughing at you - you may as well join the fun!

2nd hat attempt

I tried the hat again - and while I didn't pull off the actual pattern again, it turned out pretty cute. And it's a stocking cap! Well, it comes over her ears, anyway! LOL

The Obsession Continues

So - I had to try something new! Here's my very first stocking cap attempt. As a stocking cap, I FAILED! I was using a pattern for a baby and revising it to make it big enough for Lizzie. Well, as a stocking cap, it was not big enough. It ended up being just a cute "fashion piece" for her.

As a fashion piece, it was actually too big. So, I cinched it in the back and put the little flowers to camouflage where I tied it!

This flower actually didn't come from the pattern. I was having trouble figuring it out, so I found this pattern on a blog somewhere.

Sunday was a basement-overhauling, Monopoly-playing, family-togetherness kind of day....

Jeremy's been trying to get me to clean up the basement ever since we stopped homeschooling. Just walking in to that room overwhelms me to the point of the room spinning and me throwing up my hands and walking out. A few weeks ago, we did manage to get most of "my stuff" (homeschooling materials) over to the other side of the basement and set up a playroom of sorts for the kids. Anyway - we all traipsed down Sunday and did some clutter-kickin'. Looks GREAT! The kids have their playroom and on the other side, I have a space for scrap booking! YAY!! I may have pictures added later....and I might not.

Then there was MONOPOLY! Game night!! We ALL had a blast playing Monopoly with Daddy! Daddy lost....badly. Tanner was a real estate mogul (I think I'm using that word right). He secured Park Place and Boardwalk...and had houses on them. Got some fun pics....

Lizzie likes to collect the Railroads...if those are the only ones she gets, she's happy!!! Although, you should ask her how much she likes New York Avenue!!

Hunter likes to play sans shirt. It must work for him, he did pretty well for himself this game!

Tanner was kicking our booties in real estate! He was our big winner and he's 5!

And, unfortunately, Daddy was our big loser. The game ended when he landed on Tanner's Boardwalk w/ a house!

It's a Sickness...

I don't have a lot of hobbies...and the ones I have "come and go". This isn't necessarily a good thing. I'm thinking that it would be better for me to do a little of each hobby all the time.

Instead, I put something down - for example: crocheting - and won't touch it for 6 months or more. I finish a book and don't pick up another for a couple of months. I scrapbook for a month and then everything will sit there for weeks.... UNTIL:

I pick one of these hobbies up again and CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!!! Current obsession: crochet.

Sigh....

I am crocheting a baby blanket for my cousin Angie. She and my cousin Jordan are expecting their first child after MANY YEARS of infertility. I am SO THRILLED for them and am excited to get this blanket finished. I chose a multi-colored yarn that I knew had other colors easy to match so that she could choose a color. She chose the multi-colored yarn. This is great!!! I love making blankets like these. So, after agonizing (seriously, it took me forever) on a pattern/stitch, I got started. I quickly went through that skein of yarn....and remembered I only bought one skein so she could choose a color...and I've not been back to the store since. ONE SKEIN. Seriously....I have about 1/12th of the blanket done and we've been practically snowed in and I've not been able to work on it any more. I needed a crochet fix...fast.

So, I dug through my left over yarn. I found some yarn left from another baby blanket project (that one for my handsome nephew Caleb) and just.couldn't.stop.myself. Now this yarn doesn't at all match Angie's blanket, so I just started a whole new project.

Here's a pic of what I've done on Angie & Jordan's blanket for Brynlee -

One skein....this one's gonna take a lot of yarn!!

Here's my "obsession" project:

I'm just started a green row - will do that a few rows, the back to blue and follow that pattern for a while. I don't have enough of the multi-colored yarn to use that much in the pattern. It will be the widest at the top of the blanket, I will throw in a few single or double rows through out and then end with it.

I am really loving this stitch...I tried out a ton of fancy stitches that I found on the internet and just couldn't pull them off...I found this on a website somewhere - it seemed that someone had just made it up as they went along. Very simple, yet different from my usual double/triple crochet.

Anyway - I'm going to watch something on Netflix whilst I continue with my obsessi....er...project. Tomorrow is a NO CROCHET day as I recover the house from three snow days. It was more fun to play with the kiddos than to keep it up much...so tomorrow it's full speed ahead!

Happy Wednesday night!

What A Week!!!!...

So far!!!!

Well, We're on Snow Day #3. I have enjoyed having my kids home! It's been fun to stay up a little late and sleep in a little late. The kids are enjoying the time home - and playing in the snow when it's warm enough (so far, thats only been Monday!) It's been like old times (well, except we've not had to school on these snow days, which has been nice!)....

But - it sure has wreaked havoc on my new found routine!!!! Ehh....who needs routine?? or a clean house!!??

I do have to say that I'm surprised they cancelled school today. I can definitely tell that the midwest is not equipped to "quickly" handle the clean-up. I guess that's ok - things just slow down around here and there's nothing wrong with that!

Happy Wednesday!

Our weekend...

in tidbits:

^^Hunter and Tanner sang at church on Sabbath - they did a FANTASTIC job of singing with the Newsboys to He Reigns. This has been in the works for a few months now. They totally nailed it.

^^Had a delicious meal and GREAT visiting with family. Jeremy's mom fixed us such a YUMMY lunch of roast and "the fixin's". Such a relaxing afternoon!

^^Watched the Chiefs get beat at the ILs....fixed a toilet....(oh wait, I actually did NONE of that, I went to a baby shower! Jeremy and the kiddos did that!

BEST TWO MOMENTS OF WEEKEND:

^^Watched Jeremy help Hunter with his homework. He doesn't get to do that normally. It was wonderful to see!

^^Had a family "dance party" after we finished the new Karate Kid. We ALL got into it. Yes, Jeremy and I looked like fools. It was SOOO fun....and Tanner can bust a move!

TGIF!!! For shore!!!!

Ahhh....it's Friday. I have a love/hate relationship with Fridays.

I 75% LOVE them. For several reasons:

~ Jeremy comes home!

~ The kids are home for two days!

~ The next day is Sabbath and I NEED THAT DAY! (First: it's a day to worship our Lord, Second: it's a day that I can sit around and do nothing, but NOT feel guilty about it! LOL)

I 25% HATE them!

~ The rushing around preparing for the Sabbath

~ The rushing around preparing for Jeremy's return - I have to actually be SERIOUS about cleaning the house! Have to actually do something with the piles.

~ ....ok, that's all, but those still equal 25%!

Anyway - overall, Friday is a GOOD day!!

Some side notes:

* Change is a'comin'. Good change.

....eh, that's all I got.

And now you can go back to your lives, knowing that you just read a bunch of nothing (and experienced first hand what I do when I'm procrastinating!).

Happy Friday!

My children...

are wonderful, perfect little human beings. They never argue with me or each other. They are always polite to each other and so very thoughtful when they spend time together. They always want what is best for each other and never tattle on each other. They eat their vegetables and never ask for dessert. They listen the very first time. They ask to exercise daily. They do their homework as soon as they walk in from school and ALWAYS hang up their coats/jackets right away.

They have an immaculate bathroom. Their rooms are spotless.

OUCH! oh...sorry, just pinched myself awake. Beautiful dream is over.

I need a vacation.

This made me smile..

Just Dance! Don't just read the blog post - watch the video!

Now, what are WE doing to put a smile on peoples' faces?

I pulled my first tooth!!!

Tanner lost his second tooth today - and I finally pulled my first! Of course, he had wiggled it until it was hanging...so I barely had to tug on it!

Yay Tan Tan!

it's back to real life...in 2011!!

Well, Winter Break is over....therefore life can now resume.

We have enjoyed having Jeremy home so much, but now it's back to work for him and school for the kiddies. We did manage to have some good fun these past few weeks...four wheeling, wand-wielding treasure hunts, family visits, New Years party with good friends...

A few things I've learned over these past couple of weeks:

~ Heating elements in stoves are a MUST to make cookies

~ Yeast that expired in May '09 will not cause cinnamon rolls to rise, however, Cinnabon-style icing makes this fact a non-issue.

~ Kids can get water in their eyes in the shower and FREAK out, but get muddy water in eyes while 4-wheeling?, THAT is something to be proud of! ;)

~ 60 flour tortillas, 30 corn tortillas, 18 crunchy taco shells and 30 tostada shells is MORE than enough to feed 7 adults, 4 big kids and smattering of littles. We're gonna have tex mex for the next 3 months!

~ If you can't dig a hole to escape from "life" (from a previous post!), make a decision...so we did!

Happy New Year!!

Let's Get Dirty

Yesterday, after Jeremy got home from Delaware, we took the kiddos to Clinton, MO to ride their 4-wheeler. It turned out to be a GORGEOUS day! A beautiful sunny 56 degrees!

And here's the beautiful mess Jeremy and I got to see!!

Hunter*

Tanner

Lizzie*

*I think....it's hard to distinguish between Lizzie and Hunter!!

And here's what they looked like after:

We had such a great time! Can't wait to do it again when it's warmer. A breezy 56 degrees feels awesome until you're soaking wet!!