Why we don't eat out much

This should explain it pretty well.

Duet

Hope you enjoy this little tune from Corban and me. It's called "Happy Farmer." (Thanks to Rho for putting the video together)

Determination

Our children's program at church focuses on a different virtue each month. The virtue of determination was introduced this past Sunday. During class, Karis was asked to draw a picture of something that shows determination. She created this drawing of herself holding our blue dust rag that she uses to dust our stair and loft banister, her Wednesday job. She used to love helping Corban do this job when it is was his responsibility. Now that it's hers, the job is drudgery, and in her mind, takes determination! I got a kick out of her name at the top. Obviously, she doesn't know how to spell her middle name and she chose just to make a green dash mark for "Green!"

Kaela, On Motherhood

Happy Birthday Karis!

Karis's birthday celebration started a day early with a sleepover on Friday night. Her friend Jeri arrived around 4:00 and they enjoyed playing until dinner. After eating, Karis opened presents, including a new bike! The kids all got in their pajamas then and settled in to watch Mariposa. When the ice cream cake was finally ready, we paused the movie to sing "Happy Birthday" and eat a very yummy brownie-filled ice cream cake. The girls woke the next morning, ready to play and ride bikes. Around 10:00, though, Jeri began to feel sick to her stomach and lost her breakfast shortly after. Fortunately, she felt totally fine afterwards, and was ready to play and enjoy the rest of the day. The kids really kept themselves nicely entertained all day and had a good time.

Our Littlest Scholar

Corban and Karis were off at Options school today, so Kaela and I started her homeschooling. She was very excited when I suggested we do school work. She colored, colored, cut, colored, drew pictures, named letters, and colored. She said, "I didn't know school could be so much fun" and "I want to do this every day!" She did 20 some pages out of her little workbook and saved them all in a folder to show them off to Daddy.

Portrait of Karis

No, I'm not going to attempt a drawing of Karis. You're glad to hear that, I know. I've just been wanting to write some things down about Karis, giving a small glimpse into what life with her is like. It's interesting. Her personality confuses me and I still have a lot to learn about how to manage/control/train/mold her. I am open to suggestions. Anyway, here's a brief portrait, in words, of Karis.

I try to work with the kids on polite interaction with adults....stuff like speaking loud enough to be heard and looking at the person speaking to you. Today, an adult spoke to Karis and she messed up both of those goals. I pointed it out to her later and shortly after that, she had the chance to try again. Another adult asked her a question and she spoke loudly enough and looked at the person. Great improvement! When the adult was gone, I complimented Karis and she says, quite sarcastically, "Dooo I geeeet a cerrrrtificaaaate?" Where oh where does she get this attitude?

Karis, lacking any girl friends in our neighborhood, is lucky to have a brother who lets her play with him and his friends. Several evenings ago, Karis comes running into the house and asks, "Can I fight in the street with the boys?" This totally cracked up Rho and me and I wondered how many mothers have to answer a question like that from their daughters! We really need to find some girls around here! (The boys were play fighting, by the way.)

During Corban's last visit to the dentist, we were waiting for the dentist to come in after the hygienist had finished cleaning his teeth. Through a small window, we could see the room next to the one we were in. Karis saw movement through the window and commented, "Here she comes." Karis continued watching the window and says, "Oh, she got stuck." I say, "What do you mean by stuck?" Karis explains, "She got stuck talking just like mommies do. That's why mommies have kids....to help them stop talking so much." That's an interesting viewpoint and may explain why I get interrupted so much! She thinks it's her JOB!

Today, after swimming lessons, I'm combing out Kaela's hair. Karis was waiting for me to comb her hair and says, "It's not all about Kaela, ya know. It's about me too." Middle child syndrome, perhaps?

Karis needed to be disciplined one evening just before dinner. She was off in the other room, crying, when Rho called the kids to the table. He asked if they had all washed their hands and Karis dramatically says, "I washed my hands with my tears."