A Plate of My Own

About three weeks ago while I was at the store with the kids, we saw some of those character dinner wear sets. You know, the ones with Dora, Disney Princesses, Spider Man, Cars, Toy Story, Hello Kitty, etc. Well, my kids REALLY wanted them. Hmm. I actually had to think about that one.

In the end, I decided to buy the sets-Dora for Bailey, Hello Kitty for Sierra, and Toy Story for Blake. We made the deal, however, that they would have to take care of their own dishes, or I'd take them away. Sierra readily agreed. Bailey was a little more lukewarm to the idea of taking care of her stuff, but if it got her what she wanted. . . Blake, well, I didn't really expect him to wash his own.

Surprisingly, it turned out to be one of the better purchases I've made. In the past three weeks, our dish load has decreased by more then half. My kids, because they now know exactly who's cup is who's, only use one cup a day instead of three. Same goes for bowls and plates. We used to go through all of our cups and bowls in about two days. Now, we still have an almost full cupboard after three days with barely enough dishes to fill the dish washer. Very nice! And if my kids leave their stuff on the table, I know who to make clean it up. Oh, I help out a bit here and there, but even Blake cleans out his dishes as best he can. It's gotten to the point where I've decided to claim a cup, bowl, and plate of my own, and I'm even contemplating getting individual silverware sets for everyone as well (we go through spoons like mad).

I guess there's truth to the saying that sometime more is actually less.

Multiplication Sensation

It's late in coming, but I promised to tell you what I thought about the Multiplication Sensation CD and Book by Kid Clever. I found their Listen In Addition set at our local library and was so impressed that I bought both sets, hoping that the multiplication one would help Sierra in math.

Well, it's helped. A lot! We started listening to the CD in our car about two weeks before Sierra's math program introduced multiplication. I'm so glad we did! Sierra, instead of having a complete mental breakdown on being introduced to something new (her standard reaction), found herself only mildly uncomfortable. That feeling went away quickly, and in the three weeks since, I've yet to hear a complaint out of her as she does multiplication work. It really is amazing.

As a bonus, Bailey's become proficient at counting her nickels and dimes, something she'd been struggling with earlier.

What's even better is that both of my girls like showing off what they know. They can now do skip counting with 2s, 3s, 4s, 5s, 6s, 7s, 9s, 10s, 11s, and 12s, multiply by 0s, 1s, 2s, 5s, 10s, 11s without much thinking, and figure out their other times tables with a little thought. Not bad at all for 5 and 7 year olds.

And only one of the songs drives me crazy. It talks about a dragon dentist who likes to pull teeth. . . squirm.

It's been an absolutely wonderful find. Highly recommended.

Bon Appétit

I was exhausted today. So exhausted, in fact, that I took a long nap on the couch after school and woke up much too late to cook the dinner I had been planning on (stuffed green peppers and rolls). Eesh!!

But what else could I make for dinner? I wracked my brain for something quick and easy. Hamburgers? Sure, but that would still take some work on my part. Spaghetti? No. That didn't appeal to me either. Hmm. OK. Fish sticks. Yes! We had some in the freezer. Oh, and there was also a bag of salad in the fridge too! Sigh. That was easy enough, but I still didn't want to move. My body felt like lead.

Then I had a wonderful idea!

"Sierra," I called from the couch.

"Yes?" She peeked around through the kitchen door at me.

"Do you want to make dinner?"

She got really excited, chittering with her hands up by her face like a squirrel . "Uh huh. What can I make?"

"Fish sticks and salad."

"OK!" Then she stopped and thought for a second, her eyebrows furrowed. "But how do I open the oven?"

So, from my comfortable spot on the couch, I told her how to turn the oven to the right temperature, which she proudly did. Then, on her own, she busied herself getting the fish sticks from the freezer, spraying a pan, and laying them out. I told her that she had to wait for the second light to turn on before putting them in the oven, so while she waited, she set to work on the salad.

Sierra got out a bowl and the bag of salad, pulled down a can of olives, and went down stairs to get a can of mandarin oranges. She needed a little help with the can opener, but other then that, she did it all herself. And during the middle of this, she put the fish sticks in the oven and set the timer.

Well, the food was cooking and the salad was ready, so my almost eight year old then decided to set the table. That's when Bailey came in to help. They chattered away as they got enough plates for everyone.

And there I was still lying on the couch. Pathetic, I know. But the girls were happy. I did eventually get up to pull the pan out of the oven though.

Then, when everything was ready, I had Bailey go and tell her Daddy it was time for dinner. It was a good dinner. Especially when you consider it was made by an almost eight year old.

Oh, but it wasn't over yet. Sierra, elated by her success, decided to put all of the dishes away from the dish washer. Wow! Maybe I should have her cook more often.

Merry Christmas

Oh Christmas Tree

This year, because we were sticking around for the holidays and Blake was supposedly old enough to not nock it over, we decided to get a real Christmas tree. We thought it would be fun to make an event of it, so I started looking around for different options. There were tree farms, tree lots, the over abundant parking lot lots, and even the store lots. Well, OK. Nothing too exciting there. Then I stumbled upon the National Forest Christmas tree cutting program.

Every year, the National Forests give out permits for people to come and cut down their own Christmas trees during the first full week of December.

To do so, you have to have either 4 wheel drive or snow chains, and you can only cut down trees in designated areas with trunks less then 6 inches in diameter. Oh, and chainsaws aren't allowed. But it's quite inexpensive (only $10 per tree), and you can feel good about helping to thin the forests to a healthier level.

I was thrilled. I knew we probably wouldn't get that wonderful of a tree. After all, it would be natural, not pruned to grow a certain way like all of the farmed ones (though I did hope for something better then the Charlie Brown variety). Still, to go into the mountains, cut our own tree, haul it home, and set it up as a reminder of our trip was something that seemed totally worth it. Besides, you couldn't beet the freshness.

So, the first Saturday of December, we all got dressed in thermals, snow pants, snow boots, hats, gloves, and coats, loaded a couple sleds, water bottles, lunch, saw, ax, rope, a book on CD, and ourselves into our SUV, and headed off for the mountains. The site we were going to was north of Fort Collins near the Boy Scout Camp, a good hour and a half drive.

Our kids are good travelers, so there wan't much hassle on the drive. They even let us listen to NPR's Wait Wait Don't Tell Me program for the first half. Then we listened to Listen In Addition until we got there, eating lunch the last ten minutes or so of the drive.

At the "entrance" we were given a map of the cutting site, an activity book for the kids, and a chance to use the johns. Then we headed along the one way, snow packed road to find a likely spot for tree hunting.

There were a lot of people there, taking advantage of the warmer weather break between two ice storms. Site A was really crowded, and so was site B. We kept going to site C, where cars more spread out, found a small shoulder, and parked.

The kids were really excited. Once out of the car, they ran all over the place through the two foot deep snow. Bailey liked to be pulled on the sled I was dragging, but it was hard to maneuver due to all of the fallen logs and brush scattered all over. Eventually I just made her stay off. Blake and SIerra were running all over the place, getting stuck on occasion and having the time of their lives. It quickly became apparent that One of us would have to look for the tree while the other watched the kids. Guess who got which job.

Seth came back ten to fifteen minutes later with a few possible trees in mind, so we gathered up the kids and took a look. Most of the options were very bare on one side or more, or the wrong height. One had two trees growing from one trunk, which I really liked, but the base was too large to fit into our tree stand at home. There was one, however, that, though not perfect, we rather liked. It was about nine feet tall, relatively uniform in shape, and a softer pine variety. The kids were also starting to get tired and whiney, so we decided to claim it.

Seth took the ax to the base, which was only about two inches in diameter, and quickly cut it down while the kids sat close by to watch. Minutes later we were back at the car stripping off boots, coats, hats, and gloves, tying the tree to the the top of the car, and getting everyone situated. Then we followed the road to the exit where we once agin took a pit stop and payed for our tree.

Because it was our drowsy time of day, we put in a book on CD, The Frog Princess by E.D. Baker. Blake fell asleep quickly, but the book kept the rest of us suitably awake for the return drive.

We stopped at the McDonald's drive through in Fort Collins for an early dinner (Blake barely even twitching) and made it home close to 4pm.

We set up our tree soon after. After the lights and string of beads, we hung pine cones on it and simple plastic ornaments (though not too many). It's a bit sparse and has a bit of a figure 8 shape to it, but I like it a lot. I think it's grown on me. Now, if only I can remember to water it every day. . .

Happy 3rd Birthday Blake!

The New, Improved Battle Plans

Things have changed a bit since we started the school year, adding in things like swimming lessons, piano lessons, the Options program, and so forth, so I thought I would give an update on our daily routine. Hope it makes sense.

Mon. Tues. Wed. & Fri.
7:30 am- I go exercise for about 30-45 minutes rotating between swimming, jogging, and biking.

9:30 am-School begins. From here, we just keep going until we're done with the morning work.
Sierra & Bailey Step 1- Clean up time. Bailey usually takes longer on her chores, so they go at their own pace from here.
Sierra Step 2- 15 minutes piano practice, Alfred's Basic Piano Library A-1
Sierra Step 3- Math, Horrizons 2nd grade
Sierra Step 4- Zanner Blosser Handwriting, 2nd grade cursive
Sierra Step 5- Spelling Workout

Bailey Step 2- Math, Horrizons Kindergarden work
Bailey Step 3- Zanner Blosser Handwriting, Kindergarden printing and copy work
Bailey Step 4- Headsprout online reading program

Everyone, next Step:
Monday- Grocery Shopping
Tuesday- Swimming lessons by me at Rec. Center
Wednesday- Library
Friday- Homeschool Playgroup

Lunch

2:00 pm Blake goes to bed
Monday- History
Tuesday- Science
Wednesday- Sierra Piano lessons


Thursday we have Options
8am- take Sierra up to Loveland (School starts at 8:30
10am- Play group with Church

Lunch

2pm- Blake down (unless I have to take him with me at 3)
3pm- Leave to pick up Sierra (School gets out at 3:30)

Sierra and bailey will both be going to the Longmont Options next year, not the Loveland one. I Signed Sierra up too late for Longmont this year. It's a very popular program, and the Longmont one is run very well.