Little Boys

I realistically have about 5 minutes to write this. I currently have a 4 month old baby boy nestled on my bed, he is content for only the moment. I have a 2 1/2 year old enjoying bristle blocks on my floor. This is the first time I've shared these with him, and he is enjoying them. I probably have about 10 minutes with him before he is looking for something else to do. There is a half eaten lollipop and an episode of The Backyardagains with his name on them downstairs. My own baby boy is only days away from "double digits", he is outside with the neighbors, but will need to come in and eat very soon because he is going to an extra theatre rehearsal in a little while. My first baby boy turned 17 last week. As if that weren't enough he took the SATs on Saturday and we went to a college fair on Monday!! How did this happen? One day they are making trains with blocks and pooping in their Mickey pants and the next day they are considering higher education. How did this happen? I'm glad I get to spend time with these little boys have an opportunity to remember what those early physically exausting early days of parenting were like. It gives me a little rest from the mental exhaustion of raising kids that are growing up!

More granola bars

I was just perusing the internet a little while ago and came across these. Within 10 minutes they were cooling on my counter. No-Bake Chocolate Chip Granola Bars yield: 10 bars adapted from a pinterest recipe that was adapted from Rachael Ray Ingredients: 1/4 cup butter 1/4 cup honey 1/3 cup packed brown sugar (I used 1/4 cup) 2 cups quick cooking oats (I used old fashioned) 1 cup crispy rice cereal 1/2 teaspoon vanilla (I forgot the vanilla) 2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (I used regular size choc chips and mixed them in before pressing in the pan) Directions: In a large bowl, stir oats and rice cereal together. Set aside. In a small pot, melt butter, honey and brown sugar together over medium high heat until it comes to a bubble. Reduce the heat and cook 2 minutes. Pour in vanilla and stir. Pour over dry ingredients and mix well to moisten all ingredients. Pour into lightly greased small jelly roll pan {about 12x8x1} and press out to be about 3/4 inch in thickness. {If your pan isn’t small enough, pack the mixture into one side. You really want to press them down so they stick together.} Sprinkle with mini chocolate chips and press down lightly. Cool on a countertop to room temperature for two hours or until the chocolate chips are set before cutting into bars. Wrap in parchment or plastic wrap and store at room temperature. (I put them in an 8x8 pan)

Lots of catch up pics....

...in no particular order with no descriptions.

10 minute post

I'm going to type what ever comes to mind for the next 10 minutes, then I'm walking away from the computer. I just realized that last Wednesday was the day I did the every hour post because I was thinking today might've made a good every hour picture post, and it was completely different from last Wednesday. For one thing Jonathan got a mole removed from his head this morning. As the doctor was carving Jonathan's head, I was thinking "maybe I should take a picture of this for my blog or facebook" (but I didn't). Then we had our first mother-daughter bookclub meeting of the season. This is our 6th year of doing this and Madi and I have never missed a meeting. I was looking at how much the girls have grown up and I wondered if I even have a bookclub picture of every year. Again I thought about taking a picture for posterity and didn't. I of course had to mention that bookclub began five years ago and how vastly different our lives will be five years from now...very depressing!!! Jake had "the best day of his life today", Tiffany took him and her kids to see The Avengers. She completely made his day!! Tiffany probably even has a picture of this. Can you believe I only have 2 minutes left? The kids are back on a Monopoly kick, this seems to be a September thing. Speaking of September, we have a pumkin spice candle burning in our house right now...yum!! The other day when I checked out books from the libary my due date was October 1st and that made me smile. I love October. The funny thing is, I told Mike recently two of the hardest months of my life have been Octobers, but I love it anyway. The lovebugs are plentiful, there are yellow butterflies everywhere and the raintrees are blooming...you have to look carefully for signs of fall in Florida, but it's there! It's here! Time's up!

Homeschooling High School Blog Carnival

http://sevenlittleaustralians.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/the-wide-view-homeschool-high-school.html

I haven't read any of these posts yet, but I'm saving them here so I remember. We've become much more "traditional" in the high school years, but I think a lot of these are more "less traditional".

Every hour Wednesday

I'm pretty good about copying fun ideas, so I'm following Tiffany's lead and posting a picture from every hour of my day.

Today is Mickey's third birthday. Jake and I decided to put a candle in his food bowl and take a picture even before I decided to take pictures of every hour of our day. (this was just before 8:00) In case you were wondering, we didn't light the candle. Besides Mickey's birthday, today is also the 71st Anniversary of my grandparents' (Mugga and Papa) wedding. I wish I could take a picture of them!

At just before 9:00 I was returning from picking Madi up from her class and delivering a homemade loaf of bread to a friend who has five little kids, and we found this on our house.
(somehow after starting out sunny the day turned rainy really quickly and it was an absolute downpour when I went to get Madi)


Speaking of homemade bread and little kids, this little guy helped me make the bread yesterday. He purposely chose not to smile for the picture.

10:00 found me reading to all three kids, we ended up finishing this book today and it is very exciting, though you can't tell that from their lazy positions.

At 11:00 I was trying to order checks (yes we are old fashioned, we still use checks), but they were way too expensive so I ended the phone call with frustration and no checks in the mail, not to mention a trip to the bank on my to do list. I was also returning some texts at the same time.

Mike is going to be away tonight and Jonathan and Madi both have places to be so we had a bigger lunch and we'll have a more lunch-y supper, so 12:00 found me making burgers and reading a really funny story that Madi and a partner had to write for their English class. It was about Freakish Julio Fillipe, his desire to be independent and leave the circus, and his sister Julia who had a third arm coming out of her back. In the end Julio and Julia are united in their love of bacon cheeseburgers and leave the circus ("circus shmircus," they say) to work at Burger King.
It is just a happy coincidence that the story is about burgers and we were having burgers.

At 1:00 I was reviewinng History with Jonathan then he took a quiz.

By 2:00 I was in my room uploading some of this draft so I can just publish the rest tonight.

3:00 I was helping Madi with science.
These kids do an awful lot of reclining don't you think?

At 4:00 I was reclining with this little snuggly guy.

At 5:00 we had to pick of a friend of Madi's from the middle school so we loaded these cuties into the car.

By 6:00 I realized I could get a free photo book from shutterfly, so I frantically started uploading photos.

Around this time, I yelled for the kids to eat something (see what I mean about a lunch-y supper?), then stage manager Jonathan got picked up for his rehearsal, I had to take Madi to her high school religion class, which meant Jake and the two little visitors too. Jake and Landon played on the playground while I fed Dawson, then we met their Mommy so they could go home. Then there was nothing for me and Jake to do but... ...have some ice cream!! It was actually my dinner, and it was just after 7:00.

Then it was time to go pick Madi up, I chatted with my newly moved back to town friend, Pam, her kids came out, Madi came out, we headed home and it was 8:00.


Well my day started before the Mickey picture and it's not completely over yet, but there it is!

Daybook at night

Tiffany and Cindy both did a daybook yesterday and the peer pressure got to me!

For today...Wednesday Sept 5

On My Mind....so much to do, but getting up early is taking a toll on me and I won't be doing any of it tonight!

Outside My window...it is dark, but Jonathan is at a rehearsal for a show he is stage managing and won't be home for hours. Thankfully he is riding home with a trustworthy adult so I can fall asleep anyway.

What We're Reading...I'm reading Homecoming by Cynthia Voight. Interestingly enouh I just finished Come Home by Lisa Scotoline, but they have nothing to do with each other. Jake and I are reading Little Town on the Prairie. All three kids and I are reading Michael Vey the Prisoner of Cell 25 (I read it already). Jonathan is reading/ listening to The Scarlet Letter for both English and History. He's also already done The Great Gatsby and the Cruicible for English. Madi is reading To Kill a Mockingbird (again) with her English class and teen trash (Pretty Little Liars series) for pleasure.

What we're Listening to...I've finally gotten Mike hooked on audiobooks for his commute, he just started The Hunger Games. The kids and I listened to The Watsons go to Birmingham 1963 last week. It is Madi's first bookclub book of the year. Before that I had the kids listen to The Walk by Richard Paul Evans (he also wrote Michael Vey), now we have Miles to Go to start. (I've read all three and am eager for the 4th, but I don't think it comes out until April), Mike listened to all three recently.

What We're Watching...We're trying to control our Seinfeld addiction, I'd especially prefer that we don't keep turning it on during lunch, but Jake's concern was that he might starve if he can't have lunch with Jerry. I love The Big Bang Theory before bed, but Mike prefers the news (which is a terrible thing to fall asleep to!!)

From the kitchen...we had the yummiest meal tonight... boneless pork loin ribs in the crock pot, corn on the cob, watermelon, and crescent rolls!

Around the House...too much mess!!

Praying for... health for a lot of nice people.

Coming Up This Week...Disney's Night of Joy!!!