The New Katherine

Katherine finally consented to a haircut last week.  So, we marched straight in to Great Clips and got one.  Drumroll please….

My cute little 2nd grader hard at work!

She loves it, and I am thrilled.  That hair was a pain to keep up!  I have a few more pics….here we have Ben and Katherine’s latest amusement…   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Today

Today was a great day.  I finally managed to get our sheets washed….I love fresh sheets.  We managed to get some good school in today.  I am very happy with where we are at right now.  We will still have some school to do through the summer here and there….mainly Katherine.  I was able to make some bread today.  Yum.  I also made some chicken pot pie.  It tasted super good to me tonight.  That alone would make this a good day, but there’s more…we went with some friends to a local farm.  The lady who owns the farm was so kind.  She showed us her pigs, horses, chickens, turkeys, alpacas, swans, ducks, and donkeys.  It was fabulous.  The kids loved the farm and all the animals.  I did too!

Tonight has been good, too.  Katherine finished her book in Awanas.  YAY!  She was so proud.  She has learned so much scripture.  I’m glad she loves it so much.  Jenny Lynn finished her book as well.  Those two are adorable together.

Sooo, it has been a full day and night…a full week really.  Ben’s last day at CC is Monday.  He is taking all his final exams, so this week is a lot of year-end stuff.  I’ll be glad for a little more relaxed schedule.  We have some things to work on until the end of May, then things will really slow down for Ben. 

I think I will wrap up with a picture.  We are trying our hand at a small garden this year.  We have a little overgrown spot out back that we have tried to clean up.  Here is a  before picture of the spot we hope will yield many a tomato this year…

I’ll keep you posted on our progress.

Katherine

Katherine turned 8 earlier this month….she is such a big girl!  She is growing up sooo fast these days.

Katherine- 8 yrs. old

I snapped a few pics in the front yard.  She didn’t enjoy the photo shoot, but I got a couple of good pictures.  Katherine prefers riding her bike to posing for a photo.  

I took this picture a few weeks back.  Ben was trying to put a flower in Katherine’s hair.

   

Katherine has a sweet friend named Marina.  For her birthday, Marina took her to a friend’s ranch to ride horses.  She had the time of her life.  

As you can see, she is on cloud nine!

Rakketty

Early in January we had an addition to our family….

Rakketty

 

He is the perfect pet for our family.  He is very low maintenance and he does not bark.  The kids adore him.  Katherine will hold him like a baby.  It is so funny to see.  He will lick her forehead when she puts her face close to him. 

Check out that little cotton tail!

He has full run of our back porch.  He seems to like it out there.  I’ll try to post some more pics of Rakketty with the kids later, but I just wanted to post a couple of pics of our new little guy.  Just for the record, I would never have believed you if you told me one day I would have a pet bunny.  Never say never.

What is the Quadrivium?

What is the Quadrivium?

Just thought I would share a cool article.  This is my favorite sentence from this article…

“Arithmetic is synonymous with number; geometry is defined as number in space; harmony is understood as number in time; astronomy encompasses number in both space and time.”

 

I Had to Draw the Line

I was sorting dirty clothes last week in preparation for a massive laundry day when I came across an outfit that I simply had to refuse to wash.  I usually don’t question it.  If it is in the basket, I sort it and wash it…no big deal.  BUT when I came across American Girl doll clothes in the hamper to be laundered, I had to draw the line.  I do not wash baby doll clothes.  Period.  I think this is a clear indication that Katherine is ready to start learning how to do laundry!

The Power of the Beret

Katherine got a new coat, scarf and gloves for Christmas.  She loves them and I had to snap a few pics…

This all started with the beret.

Katherine bought the beret at the American Girl store which was totally overpriced, but her doll has the matching beret.  She loves the beret and wanted red or pink gloves along with a scarf to match the beret.  Then I found this super cute little jacket to complete the whole ensemble.  The last time I was with someone wearing a beret was about 20 years ago when my brother got one at Epcot and insisted on wearing it nonstop the rest of our trip.  He had a black beret and thought he looked so tough.  He walked around Disney like he would beat you up if you so much as looked at his beret.  So funny to remember!  Sorry, Matt.  Katherine’s pink beret has created an attitude on the opposite end of the spectrum…she thinks she looks so beautiful.  Here is a close-up…

What a sweetie!

and I had to snap a pic of Ben while I was at it…

...no beret, black or pink, for him

Who knew a beret had the power to inspire such a wide range of attitude!

 

 

Christmas Tunes

I almost didn’t make it this year, but here we go…our favorite Christmas tunes for this year…in no particular order…

John-

1. Christmas Canon- Trans-Siberian Orchestra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cP26ndrmtg&ob=av2e

2. Up On The Housetop- Katherine

3. Hark The Herald- Ben

Ben-

1. Christmas Canon- Trans- Siberian Orchestra http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cP26ndrmtg&ob=av2e

2. All I Want For Christmas Is You- Mariah Carey http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bn67I6L6sfY

3. Sleigh Ride- Boston Pops http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OATi34PKNPw

Katherine-

1. Canon in D Major http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NlprozGcs80

2. Sleigh Ride http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OATi34PKNPw

3. Christmas Shoes- NewSong http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MpkI7GW2V34

4. Mary Did You Know?

Me-

1.Don’t Save It All For Christmas Day- Celine Dion http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7t2jOlyxrVQ

2.O holy Night- Josh Groban http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zQWXfHzOKUU

3. O Come All Ye faithful…I just love the “O come let us adore him part”

Here is a bonus that we like to watch….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmgf60CI_ks

Well, Merry Christmas….kids are still awake…

Rainy Tuesday

Today was a good day.  It was rainy out, and we were able to stay in all day.  So, today officially marked the beginning of our holiday baking!  We had peanut butter balls, caramel for turtles, and peanut butter fudge on the list.  Well, we can mark the peanut butter balls off the list…all 124 of them!  We won’t eat all 124…I mean we definitely could eat 124, but we won’t.  I will send some in to work with John and give many away as gifts.  The kids had such a good time, and they are at the place where their “helping” actually helps!  I was even able to snap a few pics!

My helpers

 

Katherine

 

 

Ben

 

 

Workin' hard

 

Ta-dah!

 

Tomorrow we will hopefully finish up some turtles and maybe some fudge…we’ll see.  Happy rainy Tuesday!

Happy Holidays

This new blog layout looks like I am skipping right over Thanksgiving, but I thought I better make the change while it is on my mind!  I hope it is still not a Christmas theme blog come March!  In spite of the trees, let me wish everyone a heartfelt, “Happy Thanksgiving!”  I have so much for which I am thankful!!!  People come to mind first…my family and friends.  I also tend to think of the Giver of all good things…Jesus.  I try to start each morning with a thankful heart and my list often includes obscure things as well as the obvious.  I find the more I focus on all the Lord has given me, the more good I see in general.  It is a very uplifting routine that I would encourage anyone to start.  I hope you all have your own list a mile long of all you are thankful for.  Chances are, if you are reading this blog, you are on my list!

Look Rock October 2011