We Got To See The Holly-Copter!

I’ve mentioned previously that Juju is obsessed with helicopters. One evening when we went to pick his Daddy up from work, we heard the Medflight helicopter taking off. Juju got so excited! We couldn’t see it,—we just heard it--but that was what Juju talked about all the way home.
It occurred to me that maybe we should go see that helicopter. A friend of mine works in the ER; I gave her a call, and she gave me a number. 
I probably never would have thought of that if we weren’t homeschooling. But since we are homeschooling, everything that interests us is a potential field trip!

Our Catholic homeschool group and some other local homeschooling friends joined us, so we had a group of close to fifty.


Half of us toured the dispatch station…

 
…while the other half toured the helicopter.

  
 
The Medflight crew were great! I so appreciate them taking the time from their day to show us around.

Afterward, we went to the park for a picnic.

Morning Coffee

I enjoy my morning coffee on the front porch with my Lovie.
(And Spock and Jim.)

I’m Gonna Tell Y’all a Secret

Some of my friends already know this secret, but now I’m going to blab it to the world.

When I was about to give birth to my first child, I asked my OB for a tubal ligation. My first pregnancy was a surprise; I hadn’t planned on having any children. Ever. So now I was going to have a child, but I was certain that I did not want any more. How certain was I? Absolutely 100%.

Dr. C. refused. “No, you are too young,” he said in his endearing Vietnamese accent. “You’ll change your mind someday!” 
Oh, I was peeved. Who did he think he was? It was MY body. I should have the right to choose whether or not to permanently prevent children. Right?

Now…
 

I just want to say…

THANK YOU, DR. C…     

…for not “fixing” me.

The County Fair 2011

Gigi’s first parade…
 

Juju enjoying the candy he caught…


Standing beside our friends…


Everyone won blue ribbons for their artwork. Sunshine, once again, won a grand champion ribbon.

St. Padre Pio and the First Day of Fall

This is such a fun time of year to be homeschooling!

Today is the feast day of one of our favorite saints…

It appears we are in good company. The internet abounds with Catholic mamas sharing their ideas to celebrate St. Padre Pio’s feast day. Here are some of my favorites:
Padre Pio Coloring Pages (These are beautifully done!)
Cappuccino Mousse
Stigmata Rice Crispy Treats
Look to the right of our page, and click on Caveman’s drawing of St. Pio to learn more about  his life.

In addition to St. Pio’s feast day, we are celebrating the first day of fall and our county fair. The fair coincides with Gem’s preschool letter of the week theme—sheep. Our Friday will be spent visiting the fair,  writing in our journals, drawing and coloring pictures about our favorite fall things, making treats, and making animal puppets, which we will use to sing nursery rhymes and tell stories.

    

Who Needs Dolls?

When you have a real, live baby in the house?
One of kids’ favorite games is “fashion show.” They will keep themselves occupied for hours dressing the baby in different outfits, shoes, and bows. And sometimes, they get out the camera and props and take pictures.
     

 

“The best gift you can give your children is another sibling.”

  

Which Ones Should We Keep?

It was just one of those days. 
DaddyBear was home from work and was helping me juggle housework, homeschooling, meals, a cranky teething baby, a tantrum-throwing toddler, and bickering siblings. At one point he looked at me and remarked, "We have too many kids!"
I agreed. "So, which ones do you want to send back?"
His immediate reply was "The boys. They are too rowdy."
"The boys? Really? I thought you wanted to carry on your family name. And one of these days when they are older, they can help with heavy lifting and stuff."
"Hm. I guess so." After thinking a moment, he continued, "And if we kept the boys, we wouldn't have weddings to pay for. And if they went into the military, we wouldn't have to pay for college."
"Besides,” I pointed out, “if we got rid of the girls instead, the boys would have nobody to pester. Then we wouldn't have to listen to so much screaming."
"But the girls are so much help around the house and with the baby."
"We could get rid of the baby. She's where most of the work comes from."
"No way! She's too cute!" 

We thought about it some more.
"What if we just kept one of each?"
"Well, we’d have to keep Mojo because she's such a big help. She's the dependable one. She'll probably be the one taking care of us when we get old."  
"We’d have to keep Caveman because he's the generous one; he always shares with his siblings. Besides, I still think he's going to be a priest someday."

"Gem is such an affectionate cuddlebug. We can’t do without her hugs and kisses!"

"And Juju is just so funny. He keeps us laughing."

(“I not naked…see?”)

(“I in my cage!”)

And the oldest…well, she’s a senior this year. She’ll be leaving soon whether we like it or not.

So I guess we’ll just hang on to all of them. For as long as we can.