January 8, 2016

A little science experiment!

(click here for today's pictures)

• Around 8 this morning, our breakfast came out of the oven (yes, I used the real oven this time-not just Robby's toaster oven-probably the first time we have turned it on since Christmas)  I had made muffins and even though one of my resolutions was to involve the kids more in cooking (Have you ever seen the show Chopped when they have the kids on their?  8 year old chefs cooking better than I ever could even with a recipe so how in the world can I teach my kids?) Sorry, back on track...even though my resolutions was to involve the kids more in cooking, I mixed those muffins up like a mad woman trying to get them in the oven before anyone came downstairs.
• They ate the muffins and Anderson said he was still hungry.  So I am trying to be a bit healthier (baby steps) and offered a banana (no was his response), cutie (no), peaches (no), applesauce (no) but I did finally offer up yogurt to which he halfheartedly accepted.
• This past week, despite being out first week back, has been almost serene.  Of course there have been some crazy moments but they were fleeting and I would finish our homeschool day with a feeling of contentment and almost joy at what we had accomplished and how bright and attentive my kids were....but not today!  Today was crazy from the moment we started.
• The craziness might have been caused by Whitman since he played trains for less than usual after breakfast today or maybe because he now knows where the puzzles are and dumps them all out trying to get them out to work.  
• The craziness might have been caused by Keaton who helped Whitman play with the playdoh and then his new sand or because she raced through every room that someone was working in with her stroller, dolls and bags on her shoulder looking like bag lady.  
• The craziness might have been cause by Campbell who had the attention span of a squirrel and couldn't concentrate on anything or because more than anything she just wanted to go and play with her sister and brother which I happily let her do. 
• The craziness might have been caused by Graham who does not want to be the last one working on his school work and will fall apart if he feels like he is behind at all or because at every break he had, he would ask me about going to pack his bag for his night at Grannymom's house.  
• The craziness might have been caused by Anderson who quickly noticed I was frazzled and tried to help everyone else instead of doing his work which actually frazzled me more or because he also finds the sand and playdoh more entertaining than school work.  
• Or finally, the craziness might have been caused by Reagan who despite being given all of her work at the beginning of the week never works ahead and was left with a full days load on this crazy, dreary Friday or because she also became flustered with the craziness happening in the house and could no longer work herself.
• Crazy or not, we still finished a bit after 11 and did all of our together work before lunch (accomplishing that is like winning the lottery to me-which is a good thing because we sure didn't win it the other night but might just on Saturday night!) 
• We had lunch and then worked on some chores-I decided today that I need to try to deep clean a room once a week but then I figured up that if you count closets and bathrooms and the garage into the count then it would take quite a few months to finish so I decided that it probably wasn't worth it anyway if it would take that long!
• The boys did a quick science experiment and soon afterwards Grannymom and Grandpa came to pick up Graham for his evening at their house.  Keaton was so excited to have someone that she could show her new boots off to.  Whitman also showed off his big boy underwear that he was wearing today-and yes, the pottying is going no where at all.  He now fights me when I put on his undies but will wear them briefly-until they get wet.  At least he knows when they are wet...but I am beginning to doubt whether he will learn this by preschool time...college, yes but maybe not preschool.
• Anderson and I are on a mission to rework all of our lego sets.  We picked a small car to work on today and it took quite a while to find all of the pieces but when we had found them, Anderson worked the car in mere seconds.  I guess the more things we build the easier it will be to find the needed pieces.
• When Robby made it home today, I was on the treadmill and afterwards we headed out to eat.  We ate at a BBQ place and yes, we fed our 5 kids, ourselves and even had a doggie bag for Graham-and we only bought 2 sandwiches! Yep, 7 meals with 2 sandwiches...wonder how we did that?  Well, I may or may not have smuggled in 5 hamburger buns in my diaper bag!
• But then we walked next door for some dessert and spent a zillion dollars on that ice cream.  It was worth it though because just about everyone finished their bowls-unfortunately, once the kids mix a few flavors and add in some toppings their created mixture is nothing that I would ever want to eat at all.  
• Once at home, the kids put on their pjs and then played on their kindles until bedtime.  At bedtime, Reagan begged to sleep in Graham's bed-she thinks her room is noisy (can't be any more noisy than it was with the boys in it) but instead we offered to let Anderson sleep in their room.  He jumped on that opportunity and is snuggled up by the doll house.  Hopefully they all sleep well and hopefully sleeping well includes sleeping until 10:30.