Levi is 10 Today

Todd at 42

Poor Todd. His 42nd birthday and we were all sick. Natalie made him cinnamon rolls which were delicious but we did not get the usual birthday streamers hung.

Some of our reading for the week...

Natalie is finishing up Lord of the Flies. She thinks it is creepy.
Ethan just started To Kill a Mockingbird.
Levi began Kavik The Wolf Dog today. He has been asking for a dog (which he will not get) and this will probably fuel his fire.

Cute Girl Nice Car

Nan's Haircut

I cut Natalie's hair tonight. It was very long and beautiful but she was concerned about looking "homeschooled" which is also the reason she won't wear denim skirts (and the reason neither of us will wear jumpers). She looks beautiful.

Free Stuff

Cente enjoyed his freebies from the Portland Home and Garden Show.

Natalie, Cente, and I went to the Spring Home and Garden Show today while Todd and Ethan stayed home wrapped in blankets sick with colds and fever. Todd had to cancel his class today. It is the first time that has happened in the 5 years he has been teaching.

This Friday's Fieldtrip

We will take a little trip down to Beaver Land to see a lovely antique Chrysler. I rode it in when I was my kids age (can you guess which one is me?)... only it was a little beat up. It has just been restored.

Todd

Todd and Ethan have the cold and fever bug. At least it is better than the throwing-up stomach flu. Levi has recovered and is being spoiled at his Grandparents. Nan is wishing she was a little bit sick... just enough to warrant some special attention.

My Project - Proofreading Todd's Book

Todd's Project

Todd is working on the last chapter of his book. We will all be very delighted when it is finished.

I found several quotes about writing books with which we identify:

There's nothing to writing. All you do is sit down at a typewriter and open a vein.
Walter Wellesley "Red" Smith

I love being a writer. What I can't stand is the paperwork.
Peter de Vries

Books are never finished, They are merely abandoned.
Oscar Wilde

Our Evening's Entertainment

Natalie's Project

Natalie planted basil, oregano, and parsley today which she will transplant into the Herb Garden she will be creating when the weather warms up.

Valentine's Day

My Valentine's Day gift from Todd.

In spite of Levi's stomach flu and canceled travel plans, we enjoyed the day. We started off with pancakes and raspberry syrup for the well family members and Sprite for the sick one. Grandpa and Grandma sent a package full of goodies for Valentine's Day which were a big hit at the breakfast table.

Levi

Levi is sick. 101.3 degree temperature. Continuous nausea and vomiting. Moaning and misery. Our weekend plans have changed.

My New Indulgence

I have decided to go off sugar for a while. But I still want to enjoy my coffee and I cannot drink it bitter so I have decided to indulge in Stumptown Coffee beans. Stumptown Coffee is so smooth and delicious. Mmmmmmm. It does not need sugar. Now I also need a Coffee Press so I can make it truly excellent coffee.

I wonder if my children will be coffee drinkers. It is part of my home schooling routine to teach with a mug in one hand and a book or white board pen in the other. Will they pick up my habit?

Ethan's Fieldtrip with His Dad

Ethan got his math and piano practice done early this morning so that he can go to the Portland Golf Show with Todd at the Convention Center this afternoon. It is nice to be home schooled.

The Hobbit

Todd is reading The Hobbit aloud to the kids. He read it to them a number of years ago and decided it was time to revisit it. Here are the boys in Kentucky dressed as hobbits...hairy feet included.

The Boys' Favorite Past-Time

Finding Natalie's camera and taking their pictures with it.

Natalie's Favorite Past -Time

Self Portraits

Doing whatever the big kids do...

Rolling out cookie dough.

Valentine Cookies

Here is our project for the day.
Can you guess which ones were decorated by Nan and which were decorated by the boys?

Todd's Summer Trip

Todd was invited to go on a week long raft trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon this summer. He will be going sometime in July and I am sure it will be amazing. It is sponsored by Canyon Ministries. http://www.canyonministries.com/

Included in Canyon Ministries statement of faith is this: The great flood of Genesis was an actual historic event and was global in its extent and catastrophic in its effect. It is this flood (and its after-effects) that is responsible for the formation and subsequent sculpturing of much of the earth as we know it today, including the Grand Canyon.

The trip is designed to "to strengthen people's faith in the Word of God and provide them with some of the scientific evidence that supports a young earth interpretation of the Grand Canyon."

Making Valentine's Day Cards

We are making Valentine cards today and I had the kids sit down and write out some of their own rhymes for their cards... which was not successful. The writing exercise deteriorated into giggles and silly put-down poems which I will not allow them to use especially since the cards are meant for grandparents, aunts, and sweet friends from church. I told one of the boys he could send one of the ruder rhymes to his cousin who would appreciate it but I was informed that boys don't send other boys Valentines. (To which my other son said "I don't send girls Valentines either!")

Here is one written to me by one of my sons (Levi):

Mom is drinking coffee in a big, ugly mug.
Every second, you hear another big chug.
She always has bad breath,
It almost brings me to my death.
Though her breath is really bugly,
She is always quite the opposite of ugly.
Happy Valentine's Day Mom.

Lovely, huh?

Here is one by Ethan:

They give you roses...I give you thorns.
They give you cheers...I give you scorn.
They give you ice cream...I give you cones.
They give you chocolates...I give you poems.
Happy Valentine's Day

I don't think they will ever be hired by Hallmark.

That time of year...

Levi had baseball tryouts on Saturday. It is hard to believe it is that time of year again. Practice will not start until towards the end of March. It is a good thing too. Snow is predicted for tomorrow and it is still wintery wet outside. (Doesn't he look cute in his uniform? This photo is from last summer.)

Delicious Ice Cream

I bought this ice cream a couple days ago. It is delicious...with huckleberries and hazelnuts. I felt it was appropriate to consume as we celebrate Oregon's 150th anniversary Saturday. We will use any excuse to eat ice cream.

Our Favorite Detective

Our family thoroughly enjoys watching BBC Hercule Poirot Mysteries. We watched one checked out from the library this evening: The Missing Will.

Fun Books We Checked Out From the Library

Going on a Walk

Natalie, Cente, and I go for a walk while the boys take their piano lessons.

Haircuts

Levi's book

While the Almanac was an appropriate Christmas gift for Ethan, we thought that a joke book suited Levi. After the holidays, he placed it on his shelf and I thought he was not interested. But recently, I heard laughter coming from the boys' room after they were tucked in for the night and found them sitting on Levi's bed singing songs from the joke book such as "Everyone's doing it...doing it...doing it...Picking their nose and chewing it...chewing it..."

Then they discovered the pages with ways to describe a not-so-smart person such as:

• "not the sharpest knife in the drawer."
• "the wheel is spinning, but the hamster's dead."
• "one fry short of a happy meal."
• or the favorite "the antenna isn't picking up all the channels" which my boys understand since we do use an antenna on our TV.

I have had to set parameters for the use of these phrases. They were slinging them around a little too liberally. I don't know if the boys understood my restrictions though... since with boys and humor sometimes the elevator doesn't go all the way to the top. Ha.

Rethinking my gift giving

I bought Ethan a 2009 Almanac for Christmas. He enjoys statistics and trivia and so I was pretty sure he would eat it up. What I did not count on was his sitting next to me in the car with it open in his lap, peppering me with questions.

"Mom, can you name 5 people in the baseball hall of fame?"

"Mom, guess how many marriages there are per thousand people compared to divorces?"

"Mom,...Mom... are you listening to me? Mom, can you name common infectious diseases?"

I think he likes hearing me say "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

I finally had to tell him to quit phrasing his conversation in the form of a question. "If you find something interesting, just say 'Listen to this interesting fact, Mom...not do you know.'"

Cente Plays Hide and Seek

MonaEthan and MonaLevi

We went to OMSI today to see the Leonardo da Vinci exhibit. We learned about the mystery of Mona Lisa's missing eyebrows and eyelashes.

Cente's First Haircut

Memories

Levi at his friend's (Corey) birthday party in Kentucky.