As a Mother of Nine.....

...there are a few things I know for sure.

When you see something like this, investigate quickly.

Oh....oh....

When you see the above and hear your 3 yo say, "I cut my hair," you are in trouble.






Hmmm.....Thursdays are my puzzle piece days....but this child needs more help than I can give her....this is NOT simply going to be evening up her bangs or trimming the back. ::sigh::

::snort:: Now wasn't it nice of Stacia to provide a blog entry when I was fresh out of inspiration?

©2008 D.R.G.

Help - Breakfast Ideas

I need your ideas. The PWOC annually serves breakfast during our ecumenical chapel clean up day. That is this Saturday. Due to all sorts of things it looks like we'll have a small volunteer staff.....and Friday night is PWOC project night so I would like to go in, set up, and do some pre-baking Friday night.

I usually make quiches and we have a few breakfast casseroles and muffins. This year I have a volunteer to make muffins. I am going to order a fruit tray from the commissary. That leaves other dishes for me to make. I could do quiches again - they're good...but am wanting to try something different.

Ideas? Deb made a french toast casserole at Leadership Weekend. Send your ideas...

©2008 D.R.G.

Achieving Normalcy

Whew! It feels so good to be achieving normalcy. We finished a lot of school today...both independent and couch school. I am making a significant dent in Mt. Neverrest (the laundry pile).

We did a science experiment. We've not typed up the sheet....but this is what we did. We are monitoring a cup of fresh water and cup with 2 T of Real Salt in water to see which freezes first.


Into the freezer


Checked hourly - At this point we have one solid ice chunk and one salt slushy. The kids want to see if the salt water will freeze solid over night. This ties in with our study of Beluga whales in icy waters up in Alaska.

Arielle & I cut out leaves. We opted to make a Thankful Tree and leaves this year...wasn't hard but it WAS hard to find the time to DO it. LOL Doesn't Arielle look like she's turned into a young lady overnight?


Yeah - it's staged. We made the tree out of butcher paper...then twisted paper for branches.


Sparse for this time of the year


Filling up throughout the afternoon


Not bad for one day...I'll need to cut some more leaves

Tonight was PWOC Bible Study. I love having a Bible Study group to hold me accountable and encourage me in my walk with the Lord.

When I got home THIS was going on....The balloon seems to have reached natural buoyancy.

I'm home from picking Jamin up. Time to call it a night.


©2008 D.R.G.

Giving Thanks ~ Day 18!

~I'm thankful for family, friends (Internet and real life) who miss me when I don't blog.

~I'm thankful to the Z family who set up a business account so I can buy my organic groceries at wholesale (not co-op) prices.

~I'm thankful to Roy, who had to inventory our order two months in a row. I am not planning a single trip in December. ::snort::

~I'm thankful for Tim O - the owner of the Chick-fil-A where both our older sons have worked. He's a great mentor for them.

~I'm thankful that Jared and Arielle so graciously watch little ones when I have to run here and there; specifically to PWOC on Tuesday night and the Thursday mania.

~Darshia, dear sister in the Lord, you bless me. Cherish and nurture....the very words to describe what I was feeling during my brief visit with BreAnne. I'll email you more.

©2008 D.R.G.

SHAMELESS BRAGGING ON MY YOUNG MEN

We woke up Monday morning, Mike's birthday, to discover JAMIN'S FIRST ARTICLE ON THE FRONT PAGE OF OUR LOCAL PAPER! He'd written an article about Operation Christmas Child. He's an intern for them writing about community and church events....but we were totally "tickled" to find his name on the front page yesterday. You can read the article here. I can't seem to remember my username and password to comment on the article. ::snort::

While we were gone it appears that the local homeschool basketball team stomped on a local private school. It was a 42-7 win.

©2008 D.R.G.

Good News/ Bad News

In an effort to prepare the children that BreAnne would be leaving now that Mike and I had returned, I said, "The bad news is that BreAnne is flying back to WA tomorrow." I was planning to follow with, "The good news is that she'll be back for Christmas."

Zander followed with, "The good news is that tomorrow night is Co-op!" ::snort:: I suppose he enjoys co-op days.

Here are some photos of our day.

The obligatory child leaving home photo...


BreAnne and Mike


Jamin and BreAnne (not sure where Jared went)


Sisters...


Zander, as always, chose to go off in a corner with his books and ignore the impending farewell...


Until the last moment!


Ah, this is a good photo...Me & Bre


I told Bre that I didn't want any more back shots as she goes through security. I asked her to turn and give a princess wave right before she walked through. LOL


Mike chose Joe's for his birthday lunch. We'll do this again. YUM.


Look at the size of that Calzone.

Other events today: Speech, Met United Truck, Sorted and delivered United stuff, Basketball practice for Jared, P/U Jared from Basketball, got milk, moved fridges...

©2008 D.R.G.

Giving Thanks ~ Day 17!

~I'm thankful for a husband who was born 48 years ago, TODAY!

~I'm thankful for the evening and a.m. we were able to spend with BreAnne.

~I'm thankful that United co-op went well tonight.

~I'm thankful for Deja and Heather - local friends who know where I need help (sorting, rides to practice) BEFORE I realize I NEED help! Y'all rock! Shoot....I'm going to miss you!

~I'm thankful for this....

©2008 D.R.G.