Catch Me if You Can!

Posted on October 13, 2009 by Abbie

So a few Fridays ago, we have a very busy day. Ceili Rain had a doctor’s appointment that lastest awhile which put us with just enough time to grab something to eat and then head to drop Zoe off at art (She’s taking art at a local Christian school.). I got her dropped off and since none of us were done eating, we just stayed put. It was a good thing we did.

About five minutes after Zoe went to class, we heard police sirens. I told the boys to look for the police car and so we waited. But, we didn’t see anything. Then they got louder and sounded like a lot more. All of a sudden we see a blue car, a Yaris, to be exact, fly down the road. I thought that was a little strange to see a small, cheap car driving so fast. Then, quickly, behind it, I saw one, two, three police cars and then two unmarked police cars. Hmmm, there must be a big wreck and that car must have just been trying to get out of the way.

A few more seconds pass and we probably see two or three more police cars go by…lights on, sirens on.

Then nothing.

Then I think that there was probably a really big wreck at the intersection up from the school. That’s a pretty busy intersection, so it was possible.

But about five to ten minutes later we hear the sirens again and the little blue Yaris appears again going a little bit faster (the cops said they didn’t go over 50 but I believe it was more like 60-70 mph)…and it was smoking! I saw the cop cars again. And there were lots more of them than before!

So, by the time I got home that afternoon, we looked it up on the internet, and low and behold, our wonderful Sheriff’s department had to chase down a man in a stolen Yaris.

This is just wrong on so many levels:

First, he stole a Yaris. Mark commented that they are fairly cheap as far as cars go.
Second, he tried to out run a Crown Victoria and other fast police vehicles. In a Yaris. Which probably explains why it was smoking.
Third, and I failed to mention this above, after he was chased for awhile, he decided to stop the car (near where we were) and run away on foot. I don’t think he rationalized (obviously since he stole a Yaris) that there were a lot of policemen pursuing him and they were physically fit…nor did he realize that our K-9 Unit was also out. Yep, the dog got him.
Fourth, can you imagine what it’s going to be like for that poor man in prison? When they discuss why they are in jail…what will the response be when he tells people he stole a Yaris and then tried to outrun police!?

That was pretty exciting for the boys to see. Ace thought it was really cool and talked about it all weekend. It also gave us a chance to talk about our choices and making good choices versus bad and why we need police officers, etc. They really got it too! Now, if they had seen the arrest, I think they would have gotten it even more.

REVIEW: Draw and Write Through History

Posted on October 12, 2009 by Abbie

This is a review for Mama Buzz and the product, Draw, Write Through History, was provided by CPR Publishing.

The book, Draw and Write Through History written by Carylee Gressman and illustrated by Peggy Dick contains many jewels to help teach your child history, review what they are learning in the Bible, or give them a chance to see how far their artistic skills can take them! There are several sections in the book ranging form Creation all the way through Jonah. Each section contains step by step directions both written and illustrated. Illustrations, from my unartistic point of view range from very simple to very complex. So, this gives the young artist a chance to pick and choose what could be simple, challenging or extremely difficult. At the end of each section, there are two paragraphs written in cursive for the artist to copy. These are both historically and Biblically accurate. The writing exercise also provides great practice on handwriting skills. Professor Doodle is a cartoon character who takes the student step by step to draw anything from a pyramid to Moses.

After discussing our family worship time and what we had been studying, I gave Zoe the book and we flipped through and found a section on Joseph and Moses. We began looking at the figures, and Zoe decided she wanted to try her hand at Joseph. Now, Zoe can get pretty aggravated when she can’t do something right. Something we are constantly having to work with her on. So, I carved out an afternoon to sit with her and work with her. She did an amazing job with the drawing (if I do say so myself). I was quite worried that she would just lose it, but she was pretty patient and I did my best to keep the mood light and fun.

The directions are to the point. There even tips on shadowing, reflection, and other artistic techniques. It was a great chance to build confidence in Zoe as she worked on Joseph. I focused on the positive aspects and ignored the things that may have been harder.

The only problem we really ran into the with the book was that Zoe is not writing cursive yet. She can read some cursive but had to have some help with other words. We worked through that and she copied down the sentences in print.

Draw and Write Through History: Creation through Jonah by Carylee GRessman and illustrated by Peggy Dick is a great supplement to history curriculum (if you homeschool) or worship time. It reinforces Biblical truths, handwriting and history. This is a great opportunity for children who enjoy art to learn basic steps to drawing as well as all the other good things mentioned above! This book, along with three other Draw and Write books sales for $12. You can check out their books here. Not sure if your little one would enjoy it. Check out this sample lesson with them!

Yeah, I Make This Look Easy

Posted on October 9, 2009 by Abbie

I do declare that I now have four day-time potty trained children! Wooohoooooooo!

Two weeks ago, I decided to put Josiah in undies when we were home. I knew it was going to be a little work because we go to the gym twice a week and are out and about with other activities but we just had to bite the bullet and do what we could with what we got.

So, a week ago from Tuesday, I stuck Josiah in undies and set the timer for 15 minutes. If he went, he got jelly beans and I set the timer again. If he didn’t go, I gave him one bean and set the timer for 10 minutes. Wednesday we had gym and church so no undies. By Thursday, I had him in undies, didn’t set the timer, and he started telling me he had to go some and I was also taking him a lot. Friday was crazy, so I didn’t fool with undies until that evening after naptime. Still was telling us when he had to go and still taking him some. By Saturday, he was doing really well. Sunday was church so it was back in pull-ups.

And on Monday, he pooped, peed and did all the other things you want your kid to do in the potty so you don’t have to clean up their rears a ton every day! Monday was my official declaration of potty trained…especially when he said he had to go 100 billion times (“go pa pa” is his telling of choice) and only had two accidents.

Today, Thursday, he’s made it through two undies tests…church and gym and stayed dry through both. He has had two accidents today though because he’s in the concentrated play stage…but he has gone a lot. He realized what he was doing, stopped himself and finished in the potty. He’s also decided that he wants to stand up to go. Which is fine but given my incident with Liam earlier this year, I’m anxious to see what the outcome (no pun intended) will be when he does have to do #2 (I’m praying he’ll sit for that one).

Sew Lovely (or how we like to torture our kids)

Posted on October 8, 2009 by Abbie

My friend and I, on our excursion without kids and Mark’s lovely introduction to what it would be like with nine children six and under, found this adorable fabric and grabbed it up to be cheesy and make A-line dresses (not paid to link to them or give free stuff…just a disclaimer) for our girls who are roughly four months (the older ones) and four days apart (the younger ones). The babies were thrilled with this idea and chose to let us know by their cries of sheer ~~anger~~ happiness.

Okay, so they weren’t completely angry with us!

Yep, their best friends!

I used the different animals on the pattern in the girls’ shirts, cut them out, stuck some double sided fusible webbing on them and slapped them on some $3 long sleeve shirts for the boys! They turned out might cute and took about 2 minutes (but if anyone asks, it took forever and I gladly labored over it).
This here is James…he’s into a little bit of everything and is equally adorable…especially since what hair he has sticks straight up on his adorably drooly head.

And what photo shoot is not complete without Ceili Rain and Megan…

Screaming! In case you are wondering, I made Ceili Rain’s shoes too…they look a little better than last time…at least they keep her feet warm!

Daddy In Training or DIT

Posted on October 6, 2009 by Abbie

I think he’s going to make a fine daddy some day.

He even gave his baby a “pappy.”

Yep, adorable DIT! He’s also a pretty awesome big brother and loves to love on his baby sister.

I Get By With a Little Help From My Friends

Posted on October 5, 2009 by Abbie

Obviously, I was not shoveling it in as fast as big brothers wanted. After taking something into the kitchen (which is a couple of steps away) I hear, “fee, CeiRai Mama.” And turn around and see this…
So then everyone else wanted to get on the act but only one other little person wanted their picture taken…

Is that a look of sheer terror on her face???

Ceili Rain’s Six Month!

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Abbie

Well, she’s pushing seven months, but I just took her in today.

Let me start off by saying, last night was a rough night. She woke up four hours into her sleep after fighting to go to sleep in the first place and cried a lot. She finally slept after I nursed her but still not as soundly as she usually does.

So I took her in. Got her stats. And found out she has an ear infection! I’m guessing she’s had it since Wednesday when I noticed she had found her hair on her left side and was tugging at it. We thought it was quite cute but because she has no runny nose, fever, or any other problems, I didn’t think much of it. Then yesterday she was really irritable and started this really loud yell that she held out. I’m guessing, that too, was from the infection. So, now she’s on antibiotics and we’re praying she sleeps better. And, now we’ll know what to look for!

Moving on…stats:
15 lbs. 1 oz (40%)
26 inches length (60%)…although, like I told a friend, I’m guessing that might be a little short, she was wiggling and playing and twisting while the nurse tried to measure her
17 inches head (70%)

She continues to grow…is sitting up and eats twice a day…pretty much anything we shovel in her mouth. Still nursing great and sleeping like a pro (with the exception of last night and then she had a great excuse). Could not ask for a better baby.

Sittin’ Pretty

Posted on October 2, 2009 by Abbie

Last Thursday, I pulled Ceili Rain up on my bed to sit and she stayed. To my utter surprise! By Sunday, this is what she was up to!

Look Ma! No hands!!

And yesterday, she’s still doing so well. She’s working on turning around where she sits. She never really wobbled and bobbled when we sat her up. She can still lose her balance and topple but she catches herself either with her hand or just by sheer balance and manages to make a smooth fall. I think she’s super happy to be up where she can see (and even participate) in some of the action around the house.

I’m not bias, but I think she’s pretty adorable!
And, just between you and me, I think she knows it.

Bamapalooza Wrap Up

Posted on October 1, 2009 by Abbie

And now we’re ending our Gatlinburg vacation with group pictures (wipe those tears away, I’ve got some cute pictures of the kids coming up).

Yep, this is par for a family picture. Someone making silly faces. Check. Ceili Rain screaming because she’s hungry and tired. Check. Josiah with his finger up his nose. Check.

This is all but one of the kids. Zoe is holding A and Ace gets the screaming Ceili Rain…although she kind of looks like she’s smiling. One of the kids, R, decided he didn’t want to get a group picture. It didn’t help that we were all getting ready to leave the kids with the BDs as well. Here, we also have Josiah finishing off what was in his nose in his mouth (ewww, gross).
When we all went out to eat, we attacked found an older couple sitting at the gazebo to get our picture. I must say, if you are ever in Pigeon Forge you must eat at The Pottery House at Old Mill Square. Wonderfully beautiful atmosphere! The food was excellent. My only qualms was that it was raining and we couldn’t eat outside by all the pretty waterfalls!
Group picture! Ten couples and nine children six and under!! What a good time!

Putt Puttin’

Posted on September 30, 2009 by Abbie

On Wednesday of our vacation, all the ladies (including the baby ladies and BDs) headed out to shopping. The boys’ headed out to play putt putt. It was raining but Gatlinburg took care of that with indoor mini-golf. Mark said everyone had fun. Since I wasn’t there, I’ll let the pictures (mostly) speak for themselves.