Oh, Ruby.

Ruby fills out a “meeting strip” every day during math. With the day’s date, a pattern to finish, and a coin cup box for the coins I’ve handed her to be counted and recorded, she apparently was getting bored with the routine. This is the one she handed me last week:

I was told to finish the letters to make the date. Each of the letters for October are half there (except the c, since she couldn’t draw only half). Impressive shorthand, dear Ruby. Not quite what I was after, but impressive nonetheless.

Projects while the sickie sleeps.

Pierce has been sick this weekend. It started Friday night. About the time he was sent to bed, he started crying. And crying. And 16 hours later, he finally quit crying and fell into an exhausted sleep. Ibuprofen didn’t even slow him down. Teething tablets did nothing. Discussions were made as to whether to take him to the doctor, not having a clue why he was crying and he refused to talk or point what hurt or anything to indicate what the problem was, but in the end, we stayed home. Hard decisions. He’s recovering, sleeping a ton, mostly on me, and now says his teeth hurt. Hello, am I glad I didn’t take him to Urgent Care over teething. “Yeah, we have a mom of six here who can’t figure out her son is getting a new tooth. You’d think she’d have figured this one out by now.” Nope. Not a clue.

But, on that note, I stayed home from church today. Blaine teaches Sunday school, so there’s not much choice. I’m the dispensable one. So, while Pierce slept, I sewed. Rough morning, to be sure. I made this:

While I had visions of it being, oh, about twice as big, (It’s 8”x10” finished.) I made one true to pattern and now, I’ll attempt to double it, I think. I used fabric leftover from other projects (a few slings contain these fabrics) so it cost me nothing. Kinda fun. I went to a popular bag company party a few weeks ago and found myself looking at the catalog thinking, “I could so make that – and it wouldn’t cost me $65.” I walked away feeling horrible for buying nothing, but inspired to get out my sewing machine. Fun.

Soup Recipe: Zuppa Toscana

This recipe is one of our favorites. We grew kale in the garden this year, just because we liked it so much. Blaine even suggested canning it pre-kale in mass quantity. That has yet to happen… we eat it as fast as I make it. Leftovers are highly sought after – it reheats very well.

Be careful when stowing leftovers. Spilled soup makes you want to cry twice. At the loss, and at the greasy mess left in it’s aftermath. Not that I would know this firsthand or anything.

2 lbs. ground sausage

2 onions, diced

8-10 cloves garlic, minced

12 cups chicken stock

8-9 cups russet potatoes, cubed

2 tsps. salt (to taste)

1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

4-6 cups kale, washed, cut leaves off stems, discard stems and cut leaves into bite size pieces

3 cups heavy whipping cream

Garnish: Parmesan cheese, grated, to taste

Directions:

In stock pot, brown and crumble sausage and onions. During the last couple minutes of cooking, add minced garlic. Once cooked, drain grease.

Pour in chicken stock and add potatoes. Cover and allow potatoes to simmer for about 15-30 minutes, until tender. Once potatoes are tender, pour in heavy cream, season with salt and pepper. Then add kale.

Stir. Bring mixture back up to a simmer and allow the kale to soften and wilt. Serve.

Underthings proclamation and other short stories.

I was in a dressing room, trying on a purple maternity dress. Charlotte tagged along.

“Mom! That dress matches your glasses!”

Yes. Yes it does.

“It matches your…” she searched for the next purple item she could name. “PANTIES, TOO!”

Could you say that a little louder, dear? I’m not quite sure the cashier at the front of the store heard you. From the chuckles outside the dressing room, the other ladies shopping nearby certainly did.

One dear boy helped his big sister lick out her birthday cake batter bowl. I’m pretty sure he got some in his mouth. Wouldn’t know it by looking at him though. I’m going to take heart between the two faces, and remind myself at the difference a year makes.

Today: Three grocery stores, six children and I, 1.5 hours, a week and a half worth of groceries, tp, and cat food, $200. That might be a new record for time. Between that, and Pierce actually holding onto the cart the entire time he was instructed without failing to obey (down to almost walking away to get in the van and remembering, saying “Oops!” and heading back to his post) it was a day for record-breaking. Maybe that’s why we got done so quickly, come to think of it!

One of my dear children, to remain nameless, was questioned this morning regarding MIA daily 100-problem math timed tests that had been assigned. Turns out, this dear child opted not to do them, pulling the perfectionist card out of the repertoire of bad excuses. “I can get a good score, so I didn’t want to do them. So I didn’t.” How didn’t? 14 lessons didn’t. Between those, the extra lesson that had been assigned but not completed, and the four chapter tests also mysteriously opted out of, one dear child has roughly 1,400 math problems to make up. It makes my head hurt just thinking about it. Today: half done. I’m scared to correct them, for fear said child’s brain opted out of complete operation after all that. Sometimes being the parent and the teacher just stinks. It’s stinking hard to leave the frustrations of our school day during school hours and move on in the evening.

Liberty was conjugating verbs. “Have boughtended?” The sad part was, she looked at me, waiting for my nod of approval instead of realizing her error. She realized it shortly after, however - when I snorted.

I told Sterling to grab his math book today. “Why?” he questioned.

“To do your lesson,” I replied.

“I already did it,” I was told.

“Yeah, fine, but we need to do your lesson. You’re learning about measuring today.”

“That math book is weird, Mom. I already know how to measure. They want to teach me things I already know. I did that page too. Why are the people that wrote that book so weird? That stuff is so easy.” And he had done it. All of it. To perfection.

Tomorrow, we work on humility.

TOS Review: Fundanoodle

As we wrap up the Old Schoolhouse Magazine’s Review Crew year, I’ve received some pretty fun stuff to review with Charlotte from Fundanoodle. I received I Can Cut, I Can Do Math Level 1, and Max and Alphie’s Adventure Level 1, all part of the “Orange” level for 3 year olds, or preschool level.

Charlotte turned three last week – partway through the review. While it was obvious she was a beginner learning these skills (and her I Can Cut! Activity Book looks like a slight massacre has maimed it for life) she had a BLAST doing these books. Thrilled with the concept of “doing school” alongside her older siblings, she took her work with an incredibly serious attitude and worked her little heart out on these. She did 1-3 pages per school day in each book, and they took her usually 5-10 minutes per book, depending on how meticulous she decided to be.

The I Can Cut! Activity Book was by far her favorite, complete with the pair of safety all-plastic scissors that came with the book. While I didn’t check to see if they cut hair, I don’t think they will. They’re pretty perfect for a first pair of scissors. She cut up those pages to pieces, sometimes more accurately than others, but her ability to hold and control scissors greatly improved as she went. The other two books I received cover counting, patterns, and looking at pictures to find missing objects. She didn’t get the concept at the beginning. (When told to circle all the houses, she circled ALL of the houses. And everything else on the page – with one GIANT circle. Talk about the letter of the law more than the spirit of it!) Now, several weeks later, she takes to the directions like a pro – and I learned to demonstrate my desires just a little bit more clearly!


The I Can Do Math! Activity Book was a little bit above Charlie’s head. Attributing a number to a single object is something she’s still learning, and despite trying to get her to count objects and give each a number, to find which square had more, etc., she really didn’t get this. She, however, did not realize she wasn’t getting it and had a fabulous time in the meantime. I learned to let it go, give her the instructions, and let her do it wrong. It’ll be okay.

The stickers… oh, the stickers. Charlotte loved finding the “right” sticker for the page and placing it, ever so carefully, exactly in the right spot. There’s nothing wrong with her hand-eye coordination, for certain. Her sticker placement was exact and perfect. She never, ever forgot to grab her sticker to mark the page completed. These were quite possibly her favorite part of the two books (I Can Do Math! and Max and Alphie’s Adventures!) that contained them. Such fun.

When Charlotte saw me working on this review, and saw photos of “her school”, she was concerned she wouldn’t get to keep it. Suffice it to say, she really, really has enjoyed these books and will continue to do them each day.


All three of the books I received are 9” x 12”. I Can Cut! Cutting Activity Book contains 40 worksheets and is $7.99, I Can Do Math! Level 1 contains 40 pages plus sticker sheets containing a sticker reward for each page and is $5.99, and Max and Alphie’s Adventures! Activity book contains 40 pages plus stickers for $5.99.



 To read more reviews of these books, more Orange level books and other levels and books offered by Fundanoodle, visit the Review Crew Blog.

A sight.

There’s a sight I never did want to see.

Ruby’s math papers, tea-drenched. She’s heartbroken to have to wait to finish her math until the papers dry, to be sure.

Happy Friday. I hope yours is going better than mine!

Charlotte Serenity

Charlotte Serenity turned three years old today. A new pair of slipper boots from Grandpa and Grandma (because soft fuzzy things are her favorite – proven when she wore them to bed tonight) and a new dress because Momma can’t seem to let a girl birthday go by without a sewing project were a few of her favorite things.

A new doll that looks remarkably like Charlie herself – who also got a new dress to mark the occasion,

and three candles in a German Chocolate cupcake marked the grander celebrations of the day. She had a fabulous day, and was more excited about the fact that she was three than the cupcakes or the gifts. Being three, she tells me, is a really big deal. She wanted to know if she’d still spill and need a bib when she’s three. With her… the answer is yes. Spills are still gonna happen. Sorry.

Happy birthday, Baby Big Girl.