The key to happiness

 is a new stripey shirt, sesame chicken and a blue slushie. At least for Leah it is! An evening alone with Mama might also have something to do with it.

$68.72

Sixty eight dollars and seventy two cents. That's what I spent today on.......socks. Seriously, is that a lot? It seems like a lot to me. I really didn't have a choice though, somehow over the summer most of our socks have mysteriously disappeared. And now that the temperature has dropped from about 90 to 60 in a week we had a lot of complaining going on over cold toes.

                                                          

Happy Feet!

She talks!

Well sort of.

 Rosie had speech therapy today. While we were at the grocery store before her session she said "catch me". That's her first ever sentence!  While her therapist was here Rosie said water (wa-wa) for the first time. She also signed "more please". That's really great because even if she can't say a word or (just refuses to) we can still make her sign to get something she wants. It's supposed to help her understand that she has to ask for things and can't just scream and point. The problem is she will sign for the therapist and even for her sisters but not for me. Apparently I'm just supposed to obey all of her unspoken commands. ( I get that a lot around here, sigh...)

Rosie, 18 months

Fall Treats

Today I sent the kids out to gather up the last of our apples. Our poor trees didn't do so great this year. Maybe they're getting old, how long do apple trees live anyway?

 Then we made these. Caramel apples and pecan brittle. Yum!

Sounds lovely doesn't it. Unless you know that  1) hot caramel really, really burns.  2) I cannot control my language when I've been burned by hot caramel  3) pecan brittle really, really sticks to the pan.



Yes, this is me. With a spatula, a knife and a hammer (no kidding, it really really sticks).



Got Sippies?

Well we do. Lots and lots and lots of sippy cups. Why do we have so many? I don't know. I think my sippy obsession started when we were trying to get Rosie to drink from a cup. Because of her cleft she didn't have any suction so I tried lots of different cups to find one she could drink from. And then after her surgery I was trying to get her to learn to use a straw so I started buying lots of cups with straws. Now I can't seem to stop, whenever I see a cute sippy I just want to buy it. Is that strange? Of course my husband has an addiction to office supplies and stationary so maybe I'm not the oddest one in this family.

  

Saturday

 Busy day today. Jamie had bowling (very early in the morning). He bowled 210. Not bad for a kid just starting. And he got two strikes. Way to go Jamie! Leah and Beth had back to back soccer games. Both teams won. Yay girls!

 In the evening I took my poor sister to the ER. She had a terrible headache and really high blood pressure. They say she has a post Lumbar Puncture headache but there wasn't really anything they could do to stop it.
We hope you feel better soon Aunt Kim.

Leah's really going after the ball. GO LEAH!

Betsy's excited before the game even starts!

Soccer is exhausting. Whew......

                                                     

                                                          Betsy's getting the hang of it.

Library Day

Today we went to the library and then picked up the kids free pizzas and took them to the park. Note to homeschooling moms, if you go to the book it program they will send you a reading incentive kit with free personal pan pizza coupons! It was a great day to be at the park, cool, sunny, breezy. I love, love, love fall weather. The last time we went it was so hot that all of the equipment was scorching and after the kids stood around looking longingly at the slides for awhile we went home. But today was fantastic, great books, great pizza, ice cream from the ice-cream truck, lots of playtime. Doesn't it sound like the perfect homeschooling day? I will say though that we have a love-hate relationship with the library. We love them they hate us. We're loud, we take up all of the computer stations, we always need help finding the books we need even when they are right there on the shelf, we put books on hold and then never ever pick them up, we neglect to bring back books that other people have put on hold. As a matter of fact our books are always late despite the librarian (god bless her patient soul) printing out a list of our due back books and highlighting the due date. We put it on our calender but never quite seem to make it in on that day or the next or the next. You get the idea. I half expect to find a photo of myself at the checkout desk, WARNING DO NOT LET THIS WOMAN CHECK OUT ANY MORE BOOKS. For months after I read the story of a woman who was arrested for not returning a book  I tensed up every time a police car drove past our house. We are trying to do better but I'm still waiting impatiently for amnesty day. That's a day when you can erase fines by bringing in canned food or toys to donate. It's amazing what a guilty library patron will do to get back in her librarian's good graces.

 On a sadder note our little dog Freddie was killed. We think he got hit by a car or by a mowing machine working in our area. Freddie was a member of our family for 8 years, we're gonna miss you little guy.

 I'll leave you with a funny Cute Kid Saying:  Betsy was talking about the "bugs" in her mouth. Mahaley explained that they are called taste BUDS not bugs. Betsy thought about it for a minute and then  "Oh, I know why they're called buds, because they always hang out together and they like the same stuff !"

Books we're reading:

   Mom-  Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams 
               Watership Down - Richard Adams
               The Dome - Stephen King
                Being - -Kevin Brooks 
( I like to start more than one book at a time)

Mahaley-  Liar - Justine Larbalestier

Jamie-  Animorph series - Katherine Applegate
            
Emma- Daniel  X series - James Patterson

Leah- The Young Soccer Player - Gary Lineker
            Dexters Lab-Magnets - Anna Capeci

Betsy- Two way To Count To Ten - Ruby Dee
            What Can It Be - Stephen White