Sweet, Sweet Picasso

Ha! Even my mom thought the frog - and yes, it really is a urinal! - was in our house. This frog isn't in our house, but Handy Man did help design it. It was created by an artist in New Mexico and is in a house Handy Man designed that sits on a bluff high above the Mississippi River. So, if you had an extra $14 grand laying around, is that what you'd buy?

Me either.

So, we took the boys to see Wall-E. Einstein had been looking forward to this for weeks. Months maybe. He devoured the book and has since read it at least a dozen times. Picasso memorized the day it was coming to theaters and was doing a mental countdown since March. Trouble just wanted Skittles.

So - (Spoiler alert!) with only about 5 minutes left in the movie, our little robot hero malfunctions. Sitting next to me, I see my tender-hearted 6 year old curl up into the fetal position and start sobbing. He cried. And cried. He cried so hard he missed the (happy!) ending and never did see what happens. We had to carry him out of the theater, his little shoulders heaving, chest bouncing, eyes clamped shut, and big, wet tears running down his cheeks.

My obviously-much-more-boybaric 8- and 5-year-old beasts skip happily out of the theater. They watched Wall-E come "back to life" and now have happy, junk-filled bellies. They are happy as clams.

Picasso sobs all the way to the car. He won't open his eyes. He sobs as Handy Man drives out of the parking lot and he sobs all the way to the restaurant, where we spend 5 mintues debating on taking him home or trying to cheer him up. He was inconsolable. Handy Man carried him into the restaurant where 15 minutes later he finally opens a single eye to peek at the menu.

He still won't talk about the movie. If you ask him about it, he folds his arms across his chest, looks away and marches out of the room. I really think it was just too much for his little heart to bear.

So, to warn those of you with very tender-hearted children - for about 3 minutes in the movie, it looks like the old chap isn't going to make it. I really wish I would have known that before spending $60 to carry a devastated 6 year old out of the theaters.

Have you seen anything worthwhile at the theaters lately?

What We Did On Our Summer Vacation

What do you do when the museum is closed, the zoo is wet, the parks are soggy and it's your summer vacation?

Of Rainbows and Robots, Legos and Pirates

Einstein came running in to find me. "I made a prism outside," he shouts. "Come look!" Only in the name of homeschool can you count both making prisms and landscaping chores as science. We've been doing a lot of "science" lately.




Can you believe all that green? Just when I thought the color would never return to the Arctic Tundra. It's baaaacccck! And so beautiful!

These are some of my favorite pics of the week. This is what boybarians do with Legos and extra boxes. I present... my robots and pirates.








And last but not least... this. This makes my heart pitter patter. It took every drop of will power not to scoop him up and love on him.

Interview with a Boybarian

Q: What do you want to be when you grow up?

Einstein: I really don't know. I mean, there are a LOT of choices, Mom. And I'm seven. Seven! How in the world is a seven-year old supposed to know what he wants to do for-EVER?! Well, I am almost eight. Perhaps an astronaut like Mars Mission? Maybe I could build houses like Dad. I just really don't know... (he keeps talking and talking and talking... so I go on to the next kid.)

Picasso: I like farms, Mom. I think I'll be a farmer! (as he stares longingly out the window at a HUGE tractor in a field.)

Me: That's great, Picasso. Farmers are out-standing in their field. Get it? Outstanding? Out standing?

He doesn't get it.

Einstein is still rambling on about the 33rd career choice he is considering, and is oblivious that everyone else has stopped listening somewhere around his 9th consideration.

Me: Trouble? What about you? What do you want to be when you grow up?

Trouble: Indiana Jones!

Animated LWM3B Button

By request! I made an animated blinkie button that links back here. Want to keep up with the boybarians' crazy antics? One click and you can transport yourself right back here to the craziness. Just copy and paste the code below the button and paste it into an html/java element in your sidebar.

<center><a href="http://www.lifewithmy3boybarians.com"><img src="http://i237.photobucket.com/albums/ff293/my3boybarians/animLWM3B175.gif"></a></center>

Six More Weeks of School!

I find this almost impossible to believe since it feels like we are just overcoming winter. Spring has sprung! I couldn't be more excited about the upcoming promise of warm weather... just could. not. be.

We are scheduled to finish our school year at the end of May. I can't believe that's so soon! We school mostly year round so we can take off for unexpected hospital visits, fighting burn out, days of nice weather, etc. We get so few warm outside months here in the Arctic Tundra Iowa, that we really need to enjoy those days when we get them. Either that or convince Handy Man to move us to North Carolina or Texas. ;)

So what have we accomplished in school this year?

Math: Einstein finished 2a, 2b and most of 3a. He also did Horizons Grade 2. He may even finish 3a yet this year. He is still just 7, so I'm not terribly excited about him starting 4th grade math while still 8 years old. I am so afraid of what will happen if he is ready for algebra in 5th grade. We took 8 weeks off doing his books (facts only) and he is still plowing through. Picasso dilly-dallied his way through 1a and most of 1b. He may or may not finish 1b by the end of May. I'm not terribly concerned, because if he were in public school he'd be a kindergartner. Again, I don't see any benefit of my 6 yo doing 2nd grade math. We will continue at his pace and pick up where we left off in 1b in July. I do not add Horizons for him because it takes him a long time just to complete his Singapore books. He is still working on pencil skills.

History: Gracious. The theme of history this year is TANGENT. We love love love Story of the World. It is a great launching pad into a billion other subjects. We are still in the times of knights and castles. But the boys are absolutely loving it! I won't hurry them along while they are still soaking and learning. I've abandoned the idea with will finish these books in a year. There's just too much and I'm not in a hurry. I love that they want to talk about catapults and defense systems, chivalry and feudalism. I asked them if they wanted to eat like a medieval family, then horrified them with what exactly that meant. We talked about the plague and rats. This led to talk about blood, DNA, dinosaurs, if Jurassic Park could really happen, and how diseases are spread. Again, tangent. We will pick up SOTW 2 where we left off and just plan to lolly-gag our way through next year, too. I don't see SOTW 3 getting any less interesting... so I plan for that to be 1.5-2 years, too. Fun!

Reading: I've been terrible about updating my sidebars, but we have really enjoyed our read alouds this year. The boys look forward to it as their favorite thing. Einstein has also taken a big leap this year in independent reading, doing Ralph Mouse series, the Hardy Boys (thanks Nanie!) and even few of the Narnia chapters. Picasso is also progressing well, preferring anything about Star Wars, or the Narnia readers. He is well beyond Dick & Jane and Nate the Great but not quite ready for bigger chapter books. That'll be the goal for the 2008-2009 school year.

Writing: *sigh* I think I mostly dropped the ball on this one. We were great about copywork until about February. And just when we should be upping the game, we abandoned it completely. I suppose I ought to use the last 6 weeks to reign in the last of it. Einstein is much more willing to take risks than he once was. He has also finished many of the Explode the Code books. We will pick up with ETC 7 and 8 after summer break. Picasso finished ETC 1 and 2. We will see how far he gets in ETC 3 before summer break. We'll continue the series. Explode the Code has been excellent for them. I can't remember why I ever stopped this series to begin with.

Science: Science started off as a trimester on birds, and then we mostly explored topics as they came up. We use Discovery Streaming Education. We've watched educational videos about habitats, animals, environments, animals, Australia, Oceans, the Polar regions, and the African Savannah. We also have several books they've read - of their own choosing - that definitely fall in the science category. Einstein made a book with bird illustrations, too. I can't wait to get it bound. He really wants a new digital camera for his birthday... so if he gets one... I'll let him add bird photos to his book before we bind it.

Preschool: Trouble, Trouble, Trouble. He is just his own little creature. I wish I had known about the Handwriting Without Tears preschool program when my other guys were little. It's so much more than writing. It's been a huge success for him. Through this I have learned that music gets through to him! I can get him to remember anything if we put it to song. I am now picturing him at 35 singing his phone number and social security number (eek!) but whatever works, right? He has taken great leaps and bounds. And while he cannot name any letters yet, he can match them 100% accurate, which proves he is paying attention to their details. He can also count/add with manipulatives, and repeat a 6-8 bead sequence. He still won't have anything to do with the playdough for the roll-a-dough letters... but slow and steady wins the race.

All in all it's been a great year. We've plowed through burn out, survived a week with Trouble in the hospital, and spent the entire month of March passing around germs. But regardless, we've grown up, explored great topics, made great strides and survived another long, cold winter inside. RSV season is over and it's time for the Boybarians to come out of hibernation and finish the rest of the school year with a bang. I love home education!

Another Round of "Ask LWM3B"

It's been awhile since I've answered some of the reader emails. I guess if I don't ever answer them, people are going to stop asking. So here are some I found while cleaning out my inbox yesterday...

(1.) You travel a lot. Where ya' goin' all these places, girlfriend?

Well, I don't know if I travel extensively, but I do a bit of business here and there. I am a telecommuter. My office is in White Plains, NY (home of the March of Dimes' National Office). So, I head out there quarterly. I also do a few conferences with some of our amazing volunteers and some for speaking or learning opportunities. So when I'm off hopping tarmacs, it's usually all in my quest to support NICU families, either learning more about it or helping others learn more about it.

This year, though, I will also be traveling to BlogHer in San Fran and to my sister MOBS's wedding in Mexico. Are any of you heading to BlogHer???

(2.) Tell me how to make that grilled peanut butter thing, please?

Ohh... do try this. Really. It's so super easy. Make yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Now, just like a grilled cheese, generously butter the outside and grill on your stovetop. Be careful because PB tends to melt - you need just enough to give the bread a crunch! I eat it with a fork, because it's just too messy to pick up. It's dessert! Next time, I'll tackle the peanut butter and cereal combo.

(3.) How did you meet that Handy Man of yours? Do tell.

Oh my. I'll give the abbreviated version. I was teaching Italian at a big university near Handy Man's hometown. I was a young thing. For whatever reason, Handy Man decided he wanted to learn Italian with the plans of taking a trip over to Europe for their amazing food. (On a side note, only a man plans his vacations following his stomach!). So he went about finding a local tutor, and I was who he found. He was my student. And I almost didn't take him - all my other students were college-age preparing for exams or in my classes at the U. I couldn't figure out why "some old guy" wanted lessons. But serendipitously, I was so broke that I had to take any $$$ opportunity I could find. So, that's how it started. And he was a GREAT student. ;)

(4.) How long do you plan to homeschool?

For however long it continues to be successful. :)

(5.) Think you'll stay in that house forever?

Most days I'd like to. But if our state ever changed the homeschool laws, we'd pack up the boybarians in a nanosecond and head to Illinois or Texas - or wherever we could maintain our schooling status quo. If Handy Man decided to take his business elsewhere, we'd go. I am lucky enough to be able to do my jobs wherever the wind blows us. This house is special to us, but ultimately, it's just a house. Now, if Handy Man decided to build again in our local area, I'd kill him.

(6.) How did you get started with design. How can I get started?

I still wake up some days in complete disbelief that people ask me to design their blogs. Boy that was a crazy path. I guess it all boils down to: see a need, fill a need. (Name that movie!) There is a huge need to be filled. And moms especially seem to appreciate working with other mom-treprenuers. I absolutely love everything about it, but other than an affinity for design, I have no educational background in this field. My majors were in language (both pathology of and foreign) and it turns out that coding is really just another language. It was pretty easy to pick up.

So you think you want to learn? I first suggest in investing in a good graphic program: I use Adobe CS3, but even Photoshop Elements is a great starter program. You can find CS2 for pretty cheap now that the next thing is out, and CS2 can do nearly everything CS3 can do. Then... well... some people buy books. I don't own a single CSS or html book. Some people swear by it, but I really need something more hands on. So I started a test blog and just started playing with the code and watching what happened. If you think a book would help you - there are hundreds. But sometimes trial and error is simply the best teacher. I will be starting to post TIPS for Bloggers over at my other blog: Graphically Designing.

I was going to post the search options again - some of those are too too funny - but there have been some creepy ones lately. I need to follow those and change those posts. I'm getting some weirdo traffic. So those of you looking for anything above rated PG - you're barking up the wrong tree.

Weekly Silly Report

Trouble's preK stuff arrived in record time. I placed the order late on a Monday night (after hours) and it was on my doorstep on Thursday morning. I love speedy shipping. It makes me wonder why anyone bothers to go to brick'n'mortars anymore. ;)

We've been working on Same or Different, puzzles, fine motor things like stringing beads and Cheerios, following sequencing patterns, and memorizing preK songs and rhymes: Baa Baa Black Sheep, Jack and Jill, Humpty Dumpty, etc





I sooo tried to get a video to show his progress but he couldn't get over the sillies. He kept stopping mid-song to say things like "stinky socks!" or "underpants!" then break into hysterical laughter. He is such a performer. This is what he did when I asked him to show everyone what he can do... he mysteriously fell fast asleep...

The other boys are hanging at status quo. Long division is finally clicking and happily so - we've been doing problems on the dry erase board. We haven't transitioned to paper yet. Picasso is relectuantly moving through his school work, preferring to play at every moment. If I turn my eyes, he is instantly off track. I think we're ready for a break soon.

Now if only we could lose these barking coughs...

"A Person's a Person, No Matter How Small!"

Like so many families, our has been fighting germs. It's super boring to read a blog about germs though, so I'll just suffice to say I *heart* Mucinex and we are back to nebulizers every 4 hours for Trouble's wheezing and stridor, thanks to the flu.

We surfaced and joined the land of the living after 2 weeks of not doing anything. While we still have a few residual coughs, we have no fevers, no snotty grossness, and no more general blahness that the flu tends to gift to its victims. Today is St. Patrick's Day. We woke up to find that those silly Leprachauns had played some tricks on us. All our PB Loco was stacked in a ginormo stack in our kitchen, and the whole gallon of milk had turned GREEN!

Then, to prove that commercials marketed at children work, my kids begged me to go to IHOP for the Horton Hears a Who meal - consisting of a stack of "who-cakes" with rainbow chocolate chips, and neon pink and blue "berry" sauce, and green eggs and ham. I wanted Red Robin (Yummmmm!). I ended up with eggs and hash browns, so you can guess who won.

After, we snuck in an early matinee. I've never gone to a movie in the middle of the day on a weekday. I couldn't believe how many people were there! Do you all watch movies during the day? Absurd! Anyway, we saw... aw c'mon... you can guess...



I thought the art was brilliantly designed in a Suessical sort of way. How they managed to drag the book on for 90 minutes is beyond me, but it is Hollywood. There is a line in the movie which will steam some homeschoolers, but really... if you think about it (even homeschoolers) we all know someone like that. I hope most people don't really think of homeschoolers like that (so unflattering!) but like any sub-cult, we have our share of undesirables, too.

All in all, not something I'd ever buy on DVD, but a nice way to spend a St. Patrick's Day afternoon. The IHOP meal, by the way, gets an D- for all around yuckiness. I'd give it an F, except it comes with a lollipop that looks like Horton's clover and it was edible. The moral gets an A: A person's a person, no matter how small.

ps - I'm a moron. When I told Handy Man about the crowds today, he replied with, "Duh, Darcy. It's Spring Break." Ohhhhh yeah. ;)

"Boybarians" is not JUST a Moniker

I'm not sure why Handy Man wanted to photograph the boys while they were eating, but I saw this one and thought it captured their 3 little personalities so well.
Einstein sits, as the oldest boybarian, smiling obediently into the camera. On his plate sits only plain "chicken", cooked seperately from the other food (it's really pork, shhhh!). He takes a bite and drinks as quickly as he can. Such a picky eater.

Picasso, clueless that he's getting his picture taken, sits in the clothes he put on before bed so he'd be "ready in the morning." Not sure for what. He insists on wearing a polo shirt buttoned to the top. He's got Gap khakis on, too. He never looks at the camera. His "chicken" is really just a vehicle for all the BBQ sauce.

Trouble. Our little ham. In front of him is: a bowl of fruit loops from his afternoon snack, his second serving of rice, two different drinks, a cherry pie and a small pile of Legos. As soon as the camera comes out, he starts working for that Oscar. His tongue goes out, fingers go up, and out comes every goofy face the kid knows. He cracks himself up... see?


He cracks me up, too. 'Cept when he does this:

I Crashed My Own Blog!

I'm sure that gives those of you who are in my design queue tons of confidence, but it's true. Some of you may have happened upon my blog and gotten a message that Life With My 3 Boybarians was inaccessible with an error code. I was freaking out! I admittedly use my blog for record keeping. Those links over there to our curriculum, but especially to our custom-made history schedule is accessed by me at least weekly.

How did it happen? So I discovered in my nosing around that Blogger has a whole draft platform where they have lots of cool widgets available that are still in beta. And I think to myself, "Ohhh... I really need that one!"

Lesson learned. Don't hack Blogger while Blogger's widgets are still in beta. It does unrecoverable damage to your blog. I couldn't access anything. So, I go to the the (un)Help(ful) Group. I was so afraid all was lost... all the hours here... all the videos... gone.

I got absolutely no reply from Blogger. So then, I thought to myself... if I could just remove the line of code for that troublesome widget maybe I could fix my blog. Makes sense, right? But I couldn't access this blog at all. So... (and I hope this restores any lost confidence from my design queue members...)

I went to my other blog over at Graphically Designing, and clicked Dashboard. From there I was able to see both this and that blog. Rather than trying to open up LWM3B I clicked Edit Layout then Edit html. It opened! From there I was able to find the code for the new, hacked, beta widget and delete it. I clicked save... and...

it fixed! Yippee! Never have I been so glad to be a nerd!

And since 80% of my readership is now drooling on themselves from lack-of-interest or left my blog completely, never to return again... if you're still here this is for you!

Friday night we had a family game night. We bought Yahtzee and Apples to Apples Junior. ( If you're a homeschooler those would also be known as math and language!). It was so much fun! I remember Yahtzee from when I was a kid. But even little Picasso was able to play... not only that but he won. You know it's a great game when the six year old can beat Daddy. But the most hilarious was Apples to Apples. If you have a child between the ages of 6-10 this is a must-have! You get 5 cards... they say things like Washing the Dishes, Charlotte's Web, Power Rangers, George Washington, or Science Tests. Then in the middle is thrown an adjective card, like... Cuddly, Fragile, Smelly, Powerful. And you have to choose a card in your hand that you feel fits the adjective. What ends up happening is things like... Smelly Science tests.... cuddly George Washington... or Powerful Washing the Dishes. The boys were erupting in peels of laughter. We had a ton of fun! I highly recommend it.

Just Like Daddy

For those who have asked about Wordless Wednesday,

No, the Ghostbusters shirt is no longer in my possession.
The year was 1985. I was 9. June-Bug was 8.
I think we were on vacation, and I have no idea what our parents were thinking.
And no. June-Bug doesn't know I posted the picture. Maybe I'll post a recent one soon, so I can redeem myself and show how cute she really turned out to be. And she no longer lets her belly show. She's decent like that.

So! Onward!

I really love when the boys dive right in and get involved with Daddy. Since Handy Man works uber-hours, we only see him in the evenings and weekends. A few years ago, we adjusted bedtimes back an hour when we realized bedtime was only 1 1/2 hours after his usual arrival home. This barely left time for hello, eating and running off to bed. The boys needed more daddy time.

Handy Man is a real hands-on daddy. He changed diapers. When most daddies would stutter and wage guesses, Handy Man knows what sizes his boys wear and about how much they weigh. He knows their diagnoses, what they're working on in school and when they have a bad day. He spends lazy Sunday afternoons putting together complicated Star Wars Legos. When I took on part-time employment, he took over the bedtime ritual. He reads the stories, puts boys in pjs, and tucks them in to sleep.

But nothing warms my heart more than when my beloved Handy Man tries to teach the boys the ropes at work.

So, Handy Man... is this how it's done?

You All Crack Me Up

So I have one of those nifty stat counters that tell me things like who you people are who drop in on the boybarians, if you use Internet Explorer, Firefox or Safari (why do people really care about that?), your IP etc. But it also tells me the interesting stuff you all type into Google to find me. Most of you crack up me. I have spent many good minutes in resounding giggles about the kind of stuff y'all are looking for here. 'Cept for the creepy person who is looking for b0y$ in und3rw3@r. You are not funny. You give me the heebie jeebies and the urge to run you over with my soccer-mom mini van. (Sorry to have to code it... I don't need to be attracting more of those.)

Anyway, tangent. Most of you are pretty funny. Many of you are looking for free stuff. But the majority of you come here looking for homeschool curriculum stuff. And don't get me wrong... I'm flattered. But sometimes that causes the heartiest guffaw laughs. I mean, I don't know anything about curriculum. My oldest student is 7, fergoodnesssakes. I'm still glad my older two can read. I still spend some days thanking my lucky stars they can.

So while I'll continue to share our homeschooling trials and triumphs, I hope all you Googlers (did I just make up another word? I love that!) don't come expecting expert advice. But that, I suppose, is the beauty in homeschooling. It's a journey. I've learned so much since starting this. I tell Handy Man all the time how smart I am now that I've finished 1st grade. And it's true.

So, whatever query brought you here to Life With My 3 Boybarians... thanks for dropping in. You keep me accountable. Even if it's just to my mom. (Hi Mom.) And one of these days, Handy Man will get his hot bootie back in gear and make you all a Weekly Report.

SO, for my amusement, here are some of the most recent Google searches landing people on Life With My 3 Boybarians:
*3rd grade language arts
*free iTunes (keep on walkin' buddy. None of that here.)
*2nd grade language arts
*singapore + horizons
*lovely locks
*pretty girl hair cuts (hahehhaeah HOH HE EHAHEHA ahhhh ahehee. oh my. funny stuff)
*mill creek academy (in many variations of the spelling)
*boybarians (mine are *The Boybarians* not just any ol' boybarians!)
*peanut butter (I'm with whoever Googled this. Email me. We can be cyber BFFs)
*mmm mmm mmm (seriously?! ahehahehehaha funny! what were they looking for?!)
*star wars saga (I don't think Ive ever used the word 'saga' in my whole life. There. Now I've used it twice)

and here's my favorite:
*hot handy man (You found 'em girls!)

hhoohehahhheahehaheheheahehahehheeaaaaaha. Hot Handy Man. I think they were looking for a calendar man. But they got this instead!

I love Google!

Appyhay Ewnay Earyay

This weekend was supposed to be a trip down south - well more south than Iowa. In Kansas City, it's predictably 10-20 degrees warmer than the arctic tundra we call Iowa. But our friend Princess Leia got sick, and the boybarians were sooo bummed! So, we're rough tough Boybarians! We're not going to sit around and be sad. No way!

We're goin' north.

Wait. North??? Now c'mon. Really?! Who does that at the end of December? Who goes *more* north than they already are?!

Apparently we do.

But look at this face...


It was so worth it for that face. And the fact that my nephew, Baby J, is the most laid back, best baby in the world.

To help console Einstein's broken heart about missing a weekend with Princess Leia and her family, we took the boys to the second best place in the world for a boybarian... Legoland at the Mall of America.

OMgoodness. It was like little boy heaven there. They didn't want to leave. "Can we seep here, peez?" asked Trouble. "Yeah!" chime in the others.

We ate at the Rainforest Cafe, caught some of the great sales, basked in all the glory that is Ikea, and went back (over and over!) to the Legos. The boys didn't even mind that the hotel was renovating and except for the room, which was fantastic, the hotel was a dump. And smelly. And right by the noisy airport.

Apparently, Legos are enough to keep the boys happy, and the 1-2 punch of Baby J and Ikea are enough to keep me happy. Handy Man mostly just tolerated us. What a great guy.

All four boybarians:


It's almost too good to be true:


Little boy heaven:


It takes all 45 Einstein pounds to make these Legos stick.


Jango Fett - It's a better combo than chocolate and peanut butter. It's Star Wars and Legos.


Life With My 3 Bionicles:


What a view. Don'tcha love how he hovers protectively over his boys?


Today, the boybarians did their yearly purging. It felt so good to see Handy Man drive off with 5 huge contractor bags full of donations. The boys were so grateful for their new Star Wars legos and figures, they were surprisingly generous with their donations this year. I think my boys are growing up! All the "baby toys" are off to find new homes.

*sigh*

I think I need to go back to Minnesota and go cuddle Baby J some more.

---

My wish for you all is a happy, healthy, prosperous, full-of-learning and adventure, wonderful 2008. Happy New Year!

We're stuck and we can't get out!

The news warned of snow... wind... blustery winter weather. We left early and braved the trip. We made it safe and sound - warm and comfy. We spent the holiday playing dodge ball, basketball, swimming and hanging out at the rec center. And by 'we' I mean the boys. ;) I honed my Christmas treat eating skills. Fudge... mmmm mm fudge!

But then it was time to head home. And it was nnnaaaaasty out there! There was no way we'd make the 2.5 hours back home.

So here we are, camping out in a hotel about 1 mile away from the rec center; it took about 15 minutes to get here. It was a crazy, nearly-blind drive even to get here. I was so relieved to find a place so close. Phew!

Hope all the mid-westerners out there are safe and sound this weekend, too. Here are a few pics from my laptop cam of us amusing ourselves in the hotel room. The weekly report is delayed - coming as soon as we can get home. Handy Man has something up his sleeve.

GO BEARS!







And now we are like BFFs, dear readers, since you've now seen my family in pjs and me with no make up 3 times on my blog. Sayonara to whatever vanity I once had. :P

Warriors

Inspired by the Aborigenes and the Maori tribes from our Australia and New Zealand studies, the Men of Mill Creek Academy proudly present a series we'll call "Warriors." Brace yourselves.























After all this fun, maybe we can now catch up with History. After all, Clovis can't be this fun.

Wordless Wednesday at LWM3B

Do Girls Do This?!

Boy moms unite! Do little girls do stuff like this? It sure hampers the "fun project" motivation factor.