What Did They Just Say?

Our kids are all totally smart, intelligent, brilliant and creative -- just like your kids.  But sometimes, they are a mystery to me.  Sometimes, they say stuff that is quite hilarious, but then I'm left asking myself, "Did they just forget or did they actually not know that?"

Playing Bible Trivia with the boys in school yesterday (we do like an occasional "game day" in school to break up the monotony), one question was: How many days did it take God to create the earth?

Paleo Update 3

It's been about two-and-a-half weeks since we began Paleo and thankfully, after my little stall, I'm continuing to lose weight.  As of today, I've lost exactly ten pounds (to the tenth of a pound).  Woohoo!

I continue to feel great most of the time.  We even built graham cracker ginger bread houses yesterday and I didn't so much as lick my fingers after handling all that sugary candy.  Christian did equally well holding up against all that temptation.  I'm so proud of him for sticking this out so far with me.

Christmas on TV

I don't know about you, but I love Christmas movies.  We don't get too many gloomy winter days here in New Mexico, but it does get dark early and it's fun to cuddle up on the couch with a kid or five and settle in for a holiday classic.

I was thrilled to find out that ABC Family has posted their Christmas movies for the month in an easy to save or print PDF file so we can be sure to record and watch some of our favorites.

Check it out HERE.

Parental Rights

As homeschoolers, we have decided it is in our best interest to keep ourselves affiliated with some legal representation in case anything ever went awry.  We are members of HSLDA along with many other homeschooling families.

HSLDA not only stands in the wings in case we need legal representation, but they keep us informed about politics and laws that affect us as parents and homeschoolers.  Sometimes, what is going on out there is really astonishing and so I'm glad to have them paying attention when my attention is pulled so many other ways.  I can stay informed and involved by paying attention to the HSLDA updates.

Field Trip: Bosque del Apache

There are several things I've come to love about New Mexico since moving here.  One of my favorite places to visit is the Bosque del Apache Wildlife Refuge down near Socorro.  It takes a couple hours to get there, but most of the time, the drive is completely worth it.

I say most of the time, because the last two times we tried to bring guests with us, our timing was way off and there were no birds there.  We still have yet to top our best visit to the refuge and that was our first late autumn here. 

We moved to NM in August (2008) and we went down there to check it out for the first time in early December, I believe it was.  I was just absolutely blown away by the sheer number of birds in one location.  "So this is where the birds come when they fly south for the winter!"  It was amazing.

House in a Snowglobe

I got this link from a couple different family members and it's a fun thing to do for the holidays...

Click HERE to check it out for yourself.

Paleo Update 2

H and I are still going strong with Paleo.  I feel so much better.  I sleep better.  My mood is better.  I haven't had a major carb craving yet, though I do get a little frowny when I think about ice cream and cheese.  I miss those.  But it's worth the trade to keep feeling stronger and mentally better.

Fun Parent Rap Video

Okay, so I saw this on one of the other blogs I follow, but I just have to put a link to it here so I can reflect back on it repeatedly.  Also, some of my readers might like this video -- whether you are parents or not.

Not every lyric or rhyme fits our family in its current season (like the stuff about toddlers -- though we do have a borrowed one in the house every day), but that time when ours were that age was not so long ago that I've forgotten.  And regardless of the age of our kids, some of this still totally applies.  Ha.

I enjoy this video!  I hope you do as well.

Little Things Missed

We stopped into Walgreen's while C was at his doctor's appointment that he nearly missed while we were out getting Windows 8 for super cheap at Best Buy since apparently this is a big shopping and sale day or something?  I don't know.  But anyway, we'd dropped him at his appointment at the last possible minute and then J and O wanted Starbucks hot cocoas and while they drank those, I wanted to run into Walgreen's.

As a bonus, they had Scotch tape on sale for buy one get TWO for free, which is perfect right before Christmas wrapping time.

As we wandered the aisles, O suddenly said, "Mama, it looks like brushes are on sale.  Do you think I could get a brush and a comb for my hair?"

Thanksgiving Menu

I already gave you a list of things I'm thankful for (yesterday), so today, I'm going to talk about the food!

C and his fabulous cooking talents did not go to waste this year.  He was especially challenged to create some Paleo-friendly foods so H and I could eat.  I will tell you that H splurged and had a couple bites of non-Paleo food for the holiday (but mostly did great!), but I was able to happily stuck to my diet and still felt celebratory all day long!

Six-List: Six Things I'm Thankful For

I could easily make a hundred-list or more, but for your sake, I'm keeping it to my favorite number: six.

I am thankful for so many things, six of which are...

Normal

I just got the call from the doctor's office and H has no fractures!  It's a Thanksgiving miracle.

On a side note...as a Christian, homeschooling, adoptive family of seven, we are often the oddballs in our neighborhood and everywhere we go, so it's kind of strange hearing that the radiologists report that "everything is normal."

Anyway, so his knee and foot are still swollen, so he's to keep that leg elevated -- above his heart -- today.  He should be able to gradually wean off the crutches in the next couple days and if he still can't put pressure on that leg in a week, he needs to be re-x-rayed because apparently some fractures don't show up for days after an accident.  (I'd never heard that.)  But if he's walking on it again, we're good!

I have something extra to be thankful for this year.

Movie Review: Wreck-it Ralph

Yesterday afternoon, C was obligated to go cook a meal for a church event that I was not involved in.  He took S, Z and O with him as "helpers," and so I just had H and J at home with me.  Nice!

While I could have easily just caught up on some emails and blogging and left them to lay around and watch television, I thought we could use our small number in the group to go do something fun that might not be as possible with all the kids.  We decided, among other things, to go see a movie that wasn't playing at the dollar theater.

H and J both chose Disney's Wreck-it Ralph, so I wasn't going to break up the happy agreement between siblings -- even though other movies might have sounded better to me.  I didn't even look to see what else was there because I didn't want to be tempted to sway them into disagreement.

I always try to avoid too many spoilers when I talk about a movie, but for those who like to know nothing, consider this YOUR WARNING.

More X-rays

Disclaimer for the faint of heart:  This post contains photos of x-rays and some commentary about them.

H and Z were outside riding their bikes, jumping them off curbs, doing their usual stuff, when all of a sudden... H landed his bike wrong and crashed.

Paleo Update 1

Hello Friends and Family!  How are you doing as the days go racing towards Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Wow!  This year has really flown by.  Am I the only one thinking that?

Anyway, it's been four days since H and I started doing life Paleo-style or however we're supposed to call it.  I really don't like calling it a diet.  While I don't know if I'll attempt to be this strict forever, I am hoping that this way of eating will help me make better choices as I continue on.  But these first 30 days, I'm trying to be really, really careful.

The most difficult things I've noticed so far, are eating out and my lack of knowledge still about Paleo.

A New Decoration

Life is always one big adventure after another -- especially when we live with three boys.

One of them (we'll keep him nameless), "slipped while walking so, so carefully, Mama," on the stairs and decorated our stairwell wall with a new memory.

Crazy, Maybe? Time Will Tell.

Okay, so I've told you all about my trip(s) to the chiropractor and that is still going well.  I've still not had anything to drink besides water in weeks now.  These are all good things, but there's a lot about my health and body that needs fixing, so when Dr. Brad invited me to his upcoming seminar last night (free), I thought I might as well check it out.

C was planning to come with me, but had a ferocious headache, so I took H, instead.  I told him if he sat through the seminar with me and learned something he could tell me back, I'd let him get out of book basket the next day (today).  Book basket is an assigned daily reading time out of a set basket of books that mostly deal with the topic we're learning in school currently.  The kids think it's my way of torturing them.

Anyway, the seminar was packed.  H and I couldn't even sit together because there were so many people.

Nova is TEN!

Exactly one year after S moved into our home and care, on November 13, 2004, our family adopted Nova from foster care -- both because we wanted a pet to help teach the kids about responsibility and because we thought it was a great way to teach them about what might be in store for them down the road (adoption).  The three kids we had were young and not clear what adoption meant, so for us, welcoming Nova in as part of our family made things a little more clear for them.  She even got a name change, like our kids would (their last name, her first and last).

What we knew about Nova (Cila, as called by her foster mom -- and it was a random name, nothing sentimental, so she didn't mind if we changed it), was that she was living on the streets in South Carolina and captured by a dog catcher.  Before she could be euthanized, she was rescued by pet foster care in New England and sent on a train to live up there till she could be adopted.

Everyday Extremes

In the morning, our oldest sons asked if they could take a walk together before we started school.  Frankly, I was a tad bit suspicious of this question because one of them loathes extra exercise and both of them don't often get along all that well unless they're scheming.

Against my better judgment, I allowed them to take a "quick walk."

Veteran's Day 2012

Before we head out the door to hear our mayor speak at our local Veterans Memorial Park this morning, I wanted to post a thank you to all the men and women and their families who have sacrificed so much to defend our freedoms in this country.

Image courtesy of VintageHolidayCrafts.com

Happy Veterans Day (I realize it was officially yesterday, but it's widely observed today).  Let us pray for the soldiers who are still fighting for freedoms around the globe today.

Eye Rolling in Fun

Our son, Z, is entering a new phase of life.  We noticed the signs with H a couple years back and here we are again with Z.

In our experience, we've seen these changes taking place, result in surges of really aggressive behavior.  They come from seemingly nowhere and it can be really challenging to help them through such outbursts without affecting others too negatively.  They don't mean to do it and they always feel bad afterwards, but they haven't yet learned how to control these surges of aggressive feelings.

I find myself sending Z outside a lot when he gets like that.

Why the Long Lines?

So, I posted the details of my voting experience this election, but the question I have yet to answer is: Why the long lines?

I will share with you here what Election workers told me last night, while I stood in line for 5-1/2 hours -- getting me home around 11:00pm (and when I left there were probably 200 or more other voters still waiting in line).  I did try to confirm the explanations I was given and though more will probably unfold in the coming weeks, here is one article that gives a very high-level explanation for what was going on to back up what I will write about here.

Dinner on the Governor (or) I Voted!

We arrived at the polls about 10:00am yesterday morning (I was thinking it would be calmest after other adults went to work, but before they had lunch breaks or came home for the day).  I had a carload of kids with me and so when they told me the wait was two hours, I realized this wasn't going to be the year to show them democracy in action.  I needed to come back on my own a little later.  I did try the other polling sites and their waits were longer than the first place I went.

After a day of fun with the kids, C came home from work and was able to stay with them while I headed back to the polling location.

How Great

I'm so in love with the World Edition of Chris Tomlin's How Great is Our God.  Watch the video below and tell me it would not be awesome to witness this live.

Anyway, it's a cool way to introduce the kids to some foreign languages to go along with our geography lessons, too.  Find the lyrics in their native languages here.

There's a short article here that explains the languages represented in this edition.

Our Bodies and Other Lessons

Maybe it's ironic that I've chosen to work on writing a multi-disciplinary curriculum about the human body (and humans, in general) now, when our whole year has been overrun with body-related education thanks to a plethora of doctors visits.  But I'd like to think that one inspired the other (so I can see the doctors' visits as more of a blessing than just extra financial burden).

Evening Walk

Some of us took an evening walk in the Bosque while the autumn yellows of the Cottonwoods are still around for another day or two before they all turn brown and fall to the ground.  Here are some of my favorite pictures from our walk...

Chiropractic Follow-up

I've been seeing my chiropractor for just over a week now.  I thought I'd offer a little feedback on how things are going for those who are curious.

First of all, I'm referring everyone I know to this chiropractor ... that probably says a lot.  I'm suddenly a "believer" in chiropractic medicine. 

My horrible back pain is gone already.  Even though we interrupted my early treatment with a long drive to Colorado and not so comfortable hotel beds, the adjustments have already taken care of the pain and discomfort.

Both doctors who work there, have used the phrase, "Your power is on!" with me, at separate visits.  I don't know what they mean by that, but they're very excited.  They also have told me that the movement between joints is doing really well.

Winning for Real

I'm one of those average kind of people who don't usually win prizes when I enter contests.  I remember one time as a child, I won a cake walk at a carnival.  I have won free fries at McDonald's during their Monopoly games.  But other than these random times, I'm just not very prone to winning.

But recently, I was dumbfounded when I found winning a contest I didn't even know about in advance was so simple.  It was so simple, in fact, that I didn't actually believe I won the contest until today when I was finally notified to come claim my prize.