Hey all you book clubers!

The month is winding down, and it's time to head over to FightTheMush.blogspot.com and type up your reviews of I Have Lived A Thousand Years and Scary Stories To Tell In The Dark. Soon as you've finished reading them, of course.

Anyone who let me know that they wanted to play along with us is an administrator on the blog and can write posts, etc. Call me or email me if you have any problems or questions.

Up next for November is Ben choosing a book for the kids and Natalie for the adults. I have Heidi in the queue for the adult book choice in December. I'd like to let another family in on the fun for the kids, so if there's anyone with kids , (or without!), who hasn't joined up and would like to, let me know. Otherwise it's back to my kids for December.

A bit more summer art.

Because the kids have been grounded from video games for a few days, we've been busy with art projects. Yesterday we made fireworks. Cameron decided he would rather draw his than use the cupcake liners like Ethan and Drew did, but they all sat and worked for a good ten minutes, so it was a nice reprieve from the other activities they were coming up with to fill their time.





Drew + glue is not a good thing. Glue sticks next time, for sure.

A few days ago we took a walk around the neighborhood and I let the boys take pictures of things they thought were interesting or pretty. We then planned on painting interpretations of those photos later. The boys loved taking the pictures, and I think they did a very nice job with their representations of them in paint. We had a good time!

I should have covered the bench too. Dang.


Cameron and Ethan put a lot of effort into their work. It surprised me a little how long they stuck with this.


Drew is into the abstract art. :)


This is Cameron's painting and the photo he took. There was a fence behind the roses, but you can't see it in the photo.


And Ethan's painting with his inspiration photo. He was very meticulous, and then added me and himself into the depiction. Sweet kid. :) I don't think he meant to have the roof of the school in his piece.

Art

Today the boys and I did our first summer art project. I got the idea from here. Best part was that it required no prep, all I needed was bleach and an old shirt, and the boys could create whatever they wanted with no help from me. They had fun. I helped Drew, (it was bleach after all). Ethan decided that his shirt looks like a man eating plant, and Cameron made a rocket ship blasting into space with his. I love that website. Can't wait to try more of her stuff with Drew. I do need some more big boy projects though.

A Family Update - Hold On, It's Terribly Exciting.

Summer began for us on Monday when the kids were officially out of school. I'm not yet thinking that it's time for them to go back, but I can tell those feelings are not far off.
Ethan seems to feel like summer entitles him to all kinds of freedom. Everything from no bedtime and teeth brushing being optional to following Andrew to all his activities and helping himself to whatever he can find in the kitchen at all hours of the day and night. Each of his actions is rationalized by throwing a "come on, Mom, it's summer" at me. I'm not buying.
Cameron, on the other hand, has become the Super Helper. He lugs grocery bags in from the car, shucks corn, takes out trash... Tonight he admitted that he is only doing it in hopes of being rewarded with computer time. He loves to play some crazy Star Wars game that my dad gave him, but I'm convinced it screws up my computer so I don't often allow it.
Drew is up to his usual stunts. Yesterday he dumped all my laundry detergent onto the kitchen table and was drawing in it with his fingers, and today he was squirting Trent's formula out of his bottle onto the carpet. Small stuff, really. I think he's taking it easy on me until I fully recover from the dryer incident.
Trent is his usual happy self. Cries so quietly that no one hears him, is happy unless he's hungry, and is so tubby that he still hasn't mastered sitting up. He's got a lot of bulk to wrangle.
Andrew spends almost all his time either working or working out. I appreciate both. Supporting a family of six is a big job and keeping his heart healthy so we'll have him around for more than another 25 years is a daunting task that he both acknowledges and carries well.
I am struggling with my summer schedule. Not only are the kids here all day, but Drew has stopped taking naps, (the dreaded day finally arrived when naps meant Drew being wide awake until ten at night, so we had to cut them), and in 20 more days I will be taking care of my 8 month old nephew, Bryan, while his mommy and daddy are at work. I'm insanely looking forward to having Cameron and Ethan plus Drew, Trent and Bryan, because it will force me to run a tight ship around here and hopefully order will equal peace. I already have a schedule hung on the wall in the kitchen so we'll be in gear when Bryan becomes part of our daily lives. Trent can't wait to have someone new to stare at and drool on. Drew can't wait to feed Bryan, steal his toys and try to sit on him when I'm not looking. It's gonna be good.
Goals for the next three months? There's a bunch:
Help Ethan learn to ride his bike without training wheels. This is long overdue.
Try to prevent both Ethan and Cameron from forgetting how to read.
Stop unnatural growth of flab on my stomach; force it into retreat.
Keep from killing Drew.
Keep Drew from killing Bryan. (Kellie, I promise, he'll be protected...)
Have a clean house to wake up to every morning.
Not lose my head due to lack of sleep when we go camping. Last year I failed miserably here.
Remember not to unload on Andrew as soon as he walks in the door.
Have fun!
Wish me luck...I'm gonna need it.

Relief

I finished my grandpa's history just now. Transcribed, edited, put in order and formatted. It was long, but it was awesome, and I am so glad it's finished! Well, except for putting pictures and letters in and then printing and binding it. That will be easy though. So now it's on to cleaning the house and getting everything back to normal. I know that clean is not normal, but striving for it is.