SANDRA!!!

A dear friend of mine, whose name has been changed to protect the innocent, gently reminded me that it's been nearly a month since I last blogged. I know. I see a possible New Year's resolution brewing... So, Dear Friend of Mine, here's a quick update of the family who loves you:

The past month has been filled with to-dos as the lady of the house said, "Sure, why the heck not?" to a few too many. I am thinking that the correct answer would have been, "Let me talk to my husband about it".

Last week, in a desperate attempt to claim peace in all the above-mentioned hub-bub, I began taking walks with the children before the morning book-learning commenced. One day we did our Bible study here in the great outdoors. It was a beautiful way to put my busy heart at ease and breathe the fresh air and get mild exercise in. So it put the daily routine about an hour and a half "late". We might possibly have to work around that, because I thrived in the journey.

Our Thanksgiving was a good one. I slaved away over a chopped salad and then spent the day with extended family. The day after Thanksgiving we surprised the children with a trip to the movies. We visit the movie theater perhaps once a year due to the exorbitant amount of money it requires to sit on the plush chairs and watch something that will arrive on DVD in about five months.

That morning Alynna confessed that should she change one thing about herself she would take off her head and replace it with a cat's head. While we were at the mall for our movie we window shopped... that is until the the 50%-off-everything signs finally manipulated me in for the hunt and that's when we found a little headband for Alynna to help her in the self-improvement campaign.

We have continued plugging away in the academics. Kaeley is adding fractions, reading about the California gold rush, writing miniature essays, and learning how to choose thankfulness.

Nathan, my sweetest and most challenging student, is reviewing addition before delving into subtraction, has entered the tedious work of reading short paragraphs, and spelling sight words. The way he structures his sentences cracks me up and exhausts me.

Alynna has learned how to skip count by twos (at least, she has on a good day) and is slowly working through a reading/writing workbook.

Simon "studies" daily with tutors such as "Super Why" and Leap Frog. Thanks to his age he is also enrolled in a "Why You Should Obey Mommy and Daddy the First Time" class.

Reading out loud is a huge chunk of our education at this time. We just finished By the Great Horn Spoon and have, in honor of the holidays, moved on to "The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe". Kaeley and I are reading Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry. I must say that I get quite into character as I act out British children and talking animals in one book in the morning and switch to southern mountain folks in the evening. Kaeley and I also finished From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankwieler, which I think I might possibly have enjoyed more than she did. I would often laugh at the characters, attempt to share the heart-felt moment with Kaeley, only to find her seriously taking it all in and finding more humor in my amusement than in the book itself. And that is why I have decided that children's literature is wasted on children and should only be consumed by adults. Winnie the Pooh, for example, should only be read by older children with a sense of humor and a love of British forestry.

Now that Advent is upon us we are also hearing the Gospel story through Jotham's Journey every morning at breakfast. Last year we began the book and a week before Christmas I began "joking" that next year I would begin the book in November, which, of course, I never did. There is just something odd about adding yet another book to our already growing collection in an attempt to contemplate the meaning of Christmas.

Kaeley and I are also reading The Greatest Gift together.

This is where the answer, "Let me talk to my husband about it" comes into play.

Yesterday I finished The Secret Keeper. It only took me six months, so I think reading skill is improving. The book was near genius, in my opinion, and how I wish I had someone with which to discuss all the twists and turns. Dear-Friend-of-Mine, I think that "someone" should be you during Christmas break.

Simon drew me and named it "Mommy Bean". I had green hair and a nose and I was throwing bombs, but not at children. Later that evening I showed Brad the portrait and was told that the little stinker told Brad he had drawn Daddy and the green hair was a beard on top of his head! I still contend that it looks more like me.

And here's the main menace of our family (besides the whole "Sure, why not?"). It's the darn cleaning and stupid dirty dishes. But I suppose I should be thankful as there is clean water, and coffee, and cookies and creamer in all that mess. Really, how bad can life be?

So I might possibly blog again tomorrow on decking the halls with boughs of holly or, hopefully, a successful visit to the Griffith Observatory, but I wouldn't want to shock anyone (including myself) at blogging twice in a row, or twice in a month, so I might pace myself and write next year.