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Friday, October 31, 2008
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
That's Entertainment
Czarinaisms:
"Look! Daddy shaved the grass!"
"Just a minute. I'm shuffling my tea." (She meant "stirring".)
Looking outside this morning to see frost on the grass: "It's crunchy outside!"
And from Fatso:
Fatso had to draw the Great Seal of the United States for his co-op history class. Fatso has many talents, but drawing is not one of them. Below the seal he wrote, "You go school with the art skills you have, not the art skills you need."
And from a homework assignment turned in by one of my literature students:
"The British soldiers were sharpening their bonnets." ("bayonets")
Who cares if we can't afford Netflix or Cable TV?
"Look! Daddy shaved the grass!"
"Just a minute. I'm shuffling my tea." (She meant "stirring".)
Looking outside this morning to see frost on the grass: "It's crunchy outside!"
And from Fatso:
Fatso had to draw the Great Seal of the United States for his co-op history class. Fatso has many talents, but drawing is not one of them. Below the seal he wrote, "You go school with the art skills you have, not the art skills you need."
And from a homework assignment turned in by one of my literature students:
"The British soldiers were sharpening their bonnets." ("bayonets")
Who cares if we can't afford Netflix or Cable TV?
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Democracy
We participate in a Homeschool co-op that meets all day on Mondays. Yesterday they had elections for Student Council. Fatso was running against one other guy for student council president. (Hey, might as well go for the top, right!) Out of all the different positions, he was one of only two with any kind of prepared speech, and his speech was pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. He lost by a narrow margin, but they gave him the position of “journalist” for the student council. Now he gets to go to the meetings and give his opinions and vote.
Then today Space Cadet and I took advantage of early voting. This was Space Cadet’s first election. We waited 2 hours in the cold and then about 15 minutes in the building before we cast our ballots. I am glad to get it over with. . .
When I got home from voting, there was a message on the phone. . . we missed Fatso’s orthodontist appointment.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
I know how to solve the illegal immigration problem
I just got Hawk Nelson is My Friend in the mail.
I would like to listen to it, but I am having trouble getting it open.
It has occurred to me that if we can get the people who package CD's to seal the border, we will no longer have an illegal immigration problem.
I would like to listen to it, but I am having trouble getting it open.
It has occurred to me that if we can get the people who package CD's to seal the border, we will no longer have an illegal immigration problem.
Monday, October 20, 2008
The Incredible Edible Egg
When Space Cadet was small, she watched Beauty and the Beast roughly 5,000 times. Because of this, I have most of it memorized.
Recently this little verse has been going through my mind:
When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs
Ev'ry morning to help me get large
And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs
So I'm roughly the size of a barge
My family eats a lot of eggs, so I usually buy them in the five dozen packs. (Yes, if you were wondering, there actually are people who buy that many eggs at one time.) We repack them in 18 pack containers.
Last Monday, I bought 5 dozen eggs when I did my weekly grocery shopping. The kids, as usual, carried the groceries in for me. They are great that way.
On Friday, Hoodie Girl wanted to bake cookies for the middle school party. . . problem, there were only 3 eggs left.
Okay, I know certain people in our family really like eggs, but really. . . one dozen eggs a DAY? And I myself had only had TWO eggs in that time period. But that’s one of the things about having teenagers. They fix themselves food whenever they’re hungry. (Which is often). And they love eggs. This is why I have 6 frying pans.
Well, I had a few things I needed to pick up at Kroger, so I added eggs to the list.
The lady bagging my groceries commented on how many eggs I was buying. I told her the above story. (Well, except the lyrics from Beauty and the Beast.) I’m used to comments about my groceries. Particularly about the large amounts of hand soap I buy (thanks to my OCD handwashers. . . ), and the many pounds of bananas.
I paid for my groceries, walked out to my van, and. . . discovered the five dozen eggs I had purchased on Monday were STILL in my van. . .
Can anyone say Salmonella?
Well, Prince Charming thought I should add an egg fight to the list of festivities for the middle schoolers. . . I thought not.
Recently this little verse has been going through my mind:
When I was a lad I ate four dozen eggs
Ev'ry morning to help me get large
And now that I'm grown I eat five dozen eggs
So I'm roughly the size of a barge
My family eats a lot of eggs, so I usually buy them in the five dozen packs. (Yes, if you were wondering, there actually are people who buy that many eggs at one time.) We repack them in 18 pack containers.
Last Monday, I bought 5 dozen eggs when I did my weekly grocery shopping. The kids, as usual, carried the groceries in for me. They are great that way.
On Friday, Hoodie Girl wanted to bake cookies for the middle school party. . . problem, there were only 3 eggs left.
Okay, I know certain people in our family really like eggs, but really. . . one dozen eggs a DAY? And I myself had only had TWO eggs in that time period. But that’s one of the things about having teenagers. They fix themselves food whenever they’re hungry. (Which is often). And they love eggs. This is why I have 6 frying pans.
Well, I had a few things I needed to pick up at Kroger, so I added eggs to the list.
The lady bagging my groceries commented on how many eggs I was buying. I told her the above story. (Well, except the lyrics from Beauty and the Beast.) I’m used to comments about my groceries. Particularly about the large amounts of hand soap I buy (thanks to my OCD handwashers. . . ), and the many pounds of bananas.
I paid for my groceries, walked out to my van, and. . . discovered the five dozen eggs I had purchased on Monday were STILL in my van. . .
Can anyone say Salmonella?
Well, Prince Charming thought I should add an egg fight to the list of festivities for the middle schoolers. . . I thought not.
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Noprah
A web-site I am familiar with sent me this email:
The Oprah Winfrey Show is looking for families willing to discuss how they are handling the financial crisis with their teens. Are you a parent that is having a hard time telling your kids "we can't afford that right now." Do you feel challenged when discussing finances with your teens? Are you looking for simple explanations that can help your family? If you are a parent struggling with the daily challenges of raising money conscious teenagers in a troubled economy- we want to hear from you.
Since this is something we had just been dealing with, I sent out a quick email:
I am happy to reply to this as I have 4 teenagers!
I have 3 bio kids ages 13, 17 & 19, and also a 14 year old we adopted from
We were already pinching pennies because of the high cost of adopting our daughter. I am blessed to have kids who are willing to sacrifice for a good cause! Like, most of our clothes come from Goodwill or clearance racks. (Only stuff in great shape though!)
They all do chores and get allowances, and they use their allowances for things they want, going to the movies, etc. We get them gifts only on holidays (Christmas, birthdays, Valentine's Day, Easter) and the rest of the time if they want something (used to be toys, now DVD's, music, books, video games, etc.) they buy it themselves. Two of them have gotten pretty good at selling the stuff they don't want anymore on eBay.
We have made a few more changes in the last few months.
I told the family I was spending XXX amount of money on food each week. Once I spent that, I was not going to the grocery store again before the next Monday, we could just eat what we had in the house. (We ALWAYS have plenty of food, it's just not always what they want!)
For my two youngest fashion-conscious daughters who want lots and lots and lots of clothes, I have given them a clothing budget. I will buy their shoes, underwear and coats, but everything else has to come from their clothing budget, which has to last them 6 months. They are being a bit more discerning about what they buy. (In the past I have bought clothing items that were worn once or twice and then they didn't want them again.) This is new and neither of them has exhausted their budgets yet, so the jury is still out on how this is going to work.
We COMBINE TRIPS to stores. (None of my kids have their licenses yet.) If one of the kids wants to go to a store or whatever, I tell him/her when I will be going that direction. If the kid JUST CAN'T WAIT, then he or she will have to pay for the gas for the extra trip.
I clicked “send”, and forgot all about this.
Until the next day, when I received this email:
Hello In the World-
Please contact me at [phone number] when you are free to talk.
Thank You,
Leigh Posner
The Oprah Winfrey Show
I went to the Oprah web-site, and saw that they are looking for parents and teens for a show they will be doing on “frugal teens.” Uh-oh. . .
Ha! I can count on one hand how many times I have watch Oprah.
One of my favorite songs has this line:
What if the family turned to Jesus,
Stopped asking Oprah what to do?
Plus, I HATE speaking in front of people.
So unless I get a telegram from God, I am NOT answering the email. (Don’t even think about it, Krispy. Or Rake.)
I thought this was all rather humorous, and I told my kids about it. Here are their replies:
Space Cadet: There is NO WAY I’m going on NATIONAL TV. Who KNOWS what I might do to embarrass myself!!!!
Fatso: Yeah, let’s do it! I’d love a chance to grill Oprah on her support of Obama!
Czarina and Hoodie Girl: Mom, we’ve got to do this! We’ll be famous!!!!
Hoodie Girl: Where do they film Oprah?
Me: I don’t know. Maybe
Czarina and/or Hoodie (can’t remember exactly):
Hoodie Girl: And if we go on Oprah, maybe she’ll give us a new car!
Dream on. . .
Thursday, October 16, 2008
potpourri
Teen Bible Quizzing
Last Saturday our church hosted the second quiz of the year for the northern half of the Georgia District. (The southern half met in Savannah.)
Out of 4 quizzes, Fatso quizzed out 3 times without error, and 1 time with error, for a total score of 350 (the highest possible for 4 quizzes is 360).
Hoodie Girl quizzed out without error the first two quizzes. This is going to sound horrible, but I begged her not to do better than her older brother. . . this is his last year, and she has 4 more years. She says I jinxed her, but she ended up tied for 4th place, a real record for her. (Fatso was in 1st place).
In cumulative scores over the entire district, Fatso is tied for 3rd and Hoodie Girl is in 12th.
Czarina is really hanging in there with the quizzing. She only got to answer one question; she knew the answers to several other questions, but she keeps getting out jumped. I think she is doing great!
College
Yesterday Space Cadet, Fatso and I met with a rep from Patrick Henry College (which is in Virginia). All of this college stuff is a bit overwhelming. We need to be making a decision in the next few months.
Johnny Tremain
Tomorrow night my Middle School Literature Class is coming over to eat pizza and watch Johnny Tremain (which is the book we recently finished). I previewed the movie Tuesday night, and the book is way better.
But here is what is really cool: Our rec room in the basement has been a wreck ever since we got our new washer and dryer (I think it was in August). They brought the appliances in through Gordon’s home office (aka junk storage room) and I had to move stuff. Plus the kids had left big messes down there. I had been thinking I was going to have to get the kids to clean it up, when lo and behold, Hoodie Girl just started cleaning it on her own. And she didn’t stop there. . . she decided it needed to be made “cool”. She enlisted Prince Charming’s help, and . . . they are actually finishing it up tonight. I’ll try to remember to take a few pics.
Old Friends
A couple of weekends ago, Prince Charming and I went to Operation Mobilization’s 50th Anniversary celebration. I saw people I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. I was having a grand time chatting with my old friend and former roommate, Susan, when she made reference to turning 50.
FIFTY? Susan can’t be FIFTY. . . she’s only 2 years older than I am!!!!
Regardless, we had a great time, and I wish we could do it again. . .
Last Saturday our church hosted the second quiz of the year for the northern half of the Georgia District. (The southern half met in Savannah.)
Out of 4 quizzes, Fatso quizzed out 3 times without error, and 1 time with error, for a total score of 350 (the highest possible for 4 quizzes is 360).
Hoodie Girl quizzed out without error the first two quizzes. This is going to sound horrible, but I begged her not to do better than her older brother. . . this is his last year, and she has 4 more years. She says I jinxed her, but she ended up tied for 4th place, a real record for her. (Fatso was in 1st place).
In cumulative scores over the entire district, Fatso is tied for 3rd and Hoodie Girl is in 12th.
Czarina is really hanging in there with the quizzing. She only got to answer one question; she knew the answers to several other questions, but she keeps getting out jumped. I think she is doing great!
College
Yesterday Space Cadet, Fatso and I met with a rep from Patrick Henry College (which is in Virginia). All of this college stuff is a bit overwhelming. We need to be making a decision in the next few months.
Johnny Tremain
Tomorrow night my Middle School Literature Class is coming over to eat pizza and watch Johnny Tremain (which is the book we recently finished). I previewed the movie Tuesday night, and the book is way better.
But here is what is really cool: Our rec room in the basement has been a wreck ever since we got our new washer and dryer (I think it was in August). They brought the appliances in through Gordon’s home office (aka junk storage room) and I had to move stuff. Plus the kids had left big messes down there. I had been thinking I was going to have to get the kids to clean it up, when lo and behold, Hoodie Girl just started cleaning it on her own. And she didn’t stop there. . . she decided it needed to be made “cool”. She enlisted Prince Charming’s help, and . . . they are actually finishing it up tonight. I’ll try to remember to take a few pics.
Old Friends
A couple of weekends ago, Prince Charming and I went to Operation Mobilization’s 50th Anniversary celebration. I saw people I hadn’t seen in over 20 years. I was having a grand time chatting with my old friend and former roommate, Susan, when she made reference to turning 50.
FIFTY? Susan can’t be FIFTY. . . she’s only 2 years older than I am!!!!
Regardless, we had a great time, and I wish we could do it again. . .
Thursday, October 9, 2008
More Etiquette and More Stuff
Tonight was etiquette class, and once again I forgot the camera.
They had several role-playing exercises. For practicing introductions (for example, who do you introduce first), Space Cadet was a princess and Hoodie Girl was a grandmother. Then they role-played job interviews, and I was a bit nervous when they chose Fatso and another young man who, like Fatso, loves to be the class clown. Fatso was happy when the teacher asked him to show us the WRONG way to do a job interview. He got a lot of laughs.
We found out Prince Charming's name. We also found out, much to Czarina's chagrin, that Prince Charming is 18 years old.
Tuesday night Czarina, Hoodie Girl and I went to a local upscale shopping center for a middle school scavenger hunt. Each team was given 25 or so clues of things they needed to get pictures of. The pictures had to be in order. We used digital cameras so the scorekeepers could see them on the display, and we didn't have to print them out. Our team didn't win any prizes, but we sure had fun! I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the evening, though!
In other news, today the treasury department introduced the new one dollar bill:
They had several role-playing exercises. For practicing introductions (for example, who do you introduce first), Space Cadet was a princess and Hoodie Girl was a grandmother. Then they role-played job interviews, and I was a bit nervous when they chose Fatso and another young man who, like Fatso, loves to be the class clown. Fatso was happy when the teacher asked him to show us the WRONG way to do a job interview. He got a lot of laughs.
We found out Prince Charming's name. We also found out, much to Czarina's chagrin, that Prince Charming is 18 years old.
Tuesday night Czarina, Hoodie Girl and I went to a local upscale shopping center for a middle school scavenger hunt. Each team was given 25 or so clues of things they needed to get pictures of. The pictures had to be in order. We used digital cameras so the scorekeepers could see them on the display, and we didn't have to print them out. Our team didn't win any prizes, but we sure had fun! I was EXHAUSTED by the end of the evening, though!
In other news, today the treasury department introduced the new one dollar bill:
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