A Thought...

My most recent favorite quote, and I wanted to share:

"God didn't create classrooms, He created families."   Mary Hood.

Meal Planning

For those of you that don't know, there are some fun home making posts over at Searching for Simple!  Today is Menu Plan Monday.  Join me!  Also, over at Orgjunkie there are many more! 

I'm so happy, I peeped my pants

What Payge said when we broke down and got out the portable DVD player to keep her and her sister from getting hurt by running into us while doing a workout video.

Someone Will Be Three Soon!!

She's my current make-up thief...following in her sister's footsteps.

Fashionista in every way.

Slide climber...

And slider.

My Littlest Princess!

Has it really been three years since I started counting down to this little girl's birth?  She was due the first week of March, and since her siblings were both early, we were very ready for her to be arriving the last week of February.  She didn't arrive until the second week of March, fashionably late--making her grandmother miss her plane home.  We love you, Payge!!

My baby chicken

This evening, Payge got down from the dinner table claiming she had lost her baby chicken. I assumed it was some toy she had brought to the table. When she got back into her chair she was holding a meatball. "See!! My baby chicken!"

Stop animation

Last week I showed Zachary how to do stop animation, and here are a couple early products.

The Daily Tueller

The first edition.

Our children have recently started their own newspaper, delivered in tied scrolls. Below is a recent issue. The staff writer (Zachary--usually the delivery boy) started a story on his sister, the criminal (see the crossed out text "wanted"). She also happens to be the owner of the news paper, the main writer, as well as a delivery girl.   He had a change of heart and decided to describe her as a hero. Lessons on kindness do get through some times.

C'Mon, Get Hapi!

For those of you that don't already know, I'm a HUGE fan of Hannah Keeley's Total Mom book.  I like to recommend it to people and help others figure out how to put things in order.  It's fun to be able to answer people with a concrete answer when they ask, "How on earth do you homeschool, run a home, and take up running (the running part is harder now that my favorite running companion lives 12 hours away)?!?"  I tell them it was definitely a series of baby steps, especially since I went from a Business graduate to a mom...I mean, really--I went from working with adults that listened to me to taking care of a 4 pound newborn who could have really cared less that I was asking him to sleep longer than 45 minutes.

Hannah has just started advertising her Five Minute Mom program, where she sends you emails with tasks in them which take only 5 MINUTES to complete.  Of course, those five minutes usually get you motivated to do more...but doing more isn't the problem, is it?  It's knowing where to start.  So, check it out.  I did sign up as an affiliate--full disclosure here--but only because I'm referring people to this all of the time anyway.  I think the only time it ever went awry was when a guy friend bought it for his wife's birthday...he thought he was helping, but she definitely took it as a "You need help" sort of gesture.  Keep in mind, it wasn't MY idea that it was to be a gift, I figured she should decide on her own if she wanted to do something like that.  Don't worry, they worked it out.

So, check out her program!  At least listen to what she has to say:    http://iamhapi.com/affiliates/2n9q

Shenanigans

 Chayce told me that her leg had pictures of me on them (a foreshadowing of someone who will someday have "Mother" tattooed in a heart on her arm?  I hope not.).  I'm the green, above the knee.  Below the knee is Tinkerbell...with the words "I'm Loved".  And no, the camera did not make it look backwards...each of her letters really was.  I think it's because she started at the top and felt like she was writing right to left...and yes, she did forget the 'v' on both sides.  Eh, she's 5.

 Miss Payge decided to join in the fun.  She's much more eclectic about the whole thing.  Lately, when the older two are in art class, she and I spend a quiet hour together.  I decided she must really enjoy that time when I heard her yell to her sister (who was in the process of frustrating many folk that day), "Go to ART CLASS!"  It was in a tone you'd use to tell someone that you'd prefer they didn't follow you to heaven.  Assuming, of course, that you overcome the anger issues that cause you to yell such things, so you CAN go...

She's also had a hard time deciding what pronoun to use in many instances.  She wants to call all things "she" but also knows somethings are "it".  So, when looking at a fish (for example), it's a "she-it".  Yes, it sounds as bad as it looks.  Almost as though she has picked up that southern drawl, and calls everything a...yeah, you get the idea.

Then there's my Zac...but you could tell from the photo, right?  ;)  He's in the process of over-coming strep.  Yuck.  So far, no one else has gotten it, and he seems pretty cheerful about the whole ordeal.

Orange Baby