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!