Our Great Adventure

Homeschooling

2011-06-14T09:17:00.007-05:00

If you had asked me 2 years ago about homeschooling, I would have told you NEVER! So what changed my mind and why do we home school..

I get a lot of funny looks from people when we say we homeschool and then ATD gets a few "do you like it" questions. The last one bothers me because he would still choose to go to school to play :) which is one of the reasons we are homeschooling....so we started homeschooling for a few reasons. The first being that he figured out he did not have to do the work in order to get to go play. All he had to do was fill in some answers...right or wrong...turn it in and then he could go play. So towards the middle of the 3rd grade he started bringing home pages and pages of work that was mostly wrong. Being the good (or he would say mean) mom that I am, I made him redo the work at home. He didn't need any help to do the work and would get most of it right on the first try. After about a week of this I asked him why he could not do this at school and he told me he just had to turn it in and then he could go play. What a smart boy :) About the same time this was going on, they were talking about taking his class from 3 teachers down to 2 teachers for the next school year. At that point we started talking about homeschooling. After much prayer and me going back and forth we decided to give it a try. We have several families in our church that home school and were more than willing to help us out and answer questions. We joined a very large CO-OP that keeps track of hours, does yearly testing and has lots of sports he could do when he gets older. I do not think we will join it again next year but will when he is old enough to play sports with them. I also found a CO-OP closer to home that meets once a week and has classes kids do together. This year they did history, science, sign language, PE, and art. OTD also goes to a pre K class during this time. We also found a history class he could take once a week. We are still working out the kinks, but we will do it again next year and I plan to start Pre K stuff with OTD next year. I think ATD will always choose to go back to public school because of the fun factor, but i think he is getting a better one on one education. Don't get me wrong, he gets PLENTY of social time...but never enough for him :)

This past year i used several different home school curricula- Bob Jones for reading/LA, Math U See, and Life Pacs for science and history and Shirley English for grammar. I liked the Bob Jones. After reading the stories, it makes the kids go pretty deep into the story for the questions. It also included Bible lessons. For math, I did not feel he had a good handle on multiplication, so we basically redid 3rd grade math before we started 4th grade. He did an awesome job. Finished all but 5 lessons for the 4th grade math and we will do those as a review before we start 5th grade...so 2 years of math in one year...pretty good :) I was not impressed with the Life Pacs. I'm sure they would work for some kids, but not for him. As far as testing went this year, he did a great job. There are a few areas to work on and then in other areas he tested out at a 9th grade level... Next year we are going to try a computer based program and cont with the Math U See.

Barn Fire

2011-06-13T10:20:00.003-05:00

A Year in review.

2011-06-13T09:40:00.004-05:00

So what have we been up to? A LOT!! There is never a dull moment or a spare moment around here. In the last year or year and a half, we have started and finished a kitchen remodel, had the barn hit by lightning and burn to the ground, started homeschooling, and raised and butchered chickens. I am still working at least one day a week at the hospital and picked up a job at Kohls working a few hours a week. We both read the book "The Radical" by David Platt and had our eyes open to why we are really here as Christians. We hope to one day be on the mission field...where ever that may be...here are some pictures of what has been happening around here

We started the remodel in July and finished in October. That means there was no kitchen sink or stove that whole time. I was SO happy to get a kitchen sink and counters back! We moved the fridge and table and food into the living room and ate off a lot of paper plates in those months. I learned to cook a lot out of a microwave and crock pot :) In the end it was all worth it. The kitchen is double in size and more than 3 people can fit in it at a time...and it isn't blue!

My dad came and helped lay tile and Tom's parents came and helped paint and hang cabinets.

I will add more pictures in the next post...enjoy

Taking the Challenge

2009-06-02T07:38:00.004-05:00

We have finally found a church that we both like that is close to the house. It isn't like GA here where you have a church on every corner and there are plenty to choose from). We have been the last 3 weekends and I have really enjoyed the preacher. This past week he preached on how we spend our time...at work, with our kids, or in worship. Well, now that I am home most of the time with the kids, he gave me a little wake up call. So I am taking the challenge of turning off the TV and not having it for our main entertainment. I'm not saying they will not watch it at all, I just want to cut out the pointless cartoons. I'm fine with OTD watching PBS shows and ATD watching animal planet and things like that where he can learn something. However, I hope the days are over where the TV gets turned on at 6:30 or 7 in the morning and not turn it off until 10 pm (kids are in bed at 7pm, but after that it was mommies turn to watch). With this time, I want to teach the kids some bible stories and teach them about God and Jesus. The last 2 mornings, we have read several bible stories from a kids bible and ATD and I have played some games.

So this is all good stuff, but my problem is the kids are up at 6:30-7am and by 8am the kids are bored. I need some ideas of things we can do. The afternoons aren't too bad because we can go to the pool or park.

Anyways, if you have any ideas let me know....and wish me luck!

OTD

2009-05-30T21:31:00.002-05:00

i love this look...i get it often!

So I have posted some pictures of the oldest and the youngest..so it is OTD's turn. This weekend we had highs in the 90's and OTD LOVES to be outside. We started the day at farmers market and then played outside the rest of the day. His kind of day!

Farm time

2009-05-28T08:49:00.003-05:00

We (Tom) is busy getting the garden ready. I can't wait for fresh veggies! Our tiller is not working, so we had a neighbor come a till the garden for us. OTD was a bit scared, but big brother took care of him.

Dinner Time

2009-05-28T08:41:00.004-05:00

This is his stressed look...

i'm full...really full

7 months old

2009-05-25T09:23:00.003-05:00

ATD

2009-05-25T09:10:00.003-05:00

This past week was a busy week for ATD. It was the last week of school and the first baseball game. The last day of school they have an award ceremony. Every kid gets an award for something. He got the math, spelling, reading and attendance awards. Overall i think we had a pretty good year. He still says he doesn't like school, but I hope that will change in the next couple of years.

The same day as the last day of school, he had his first baseball game. The kids played pretty good for their first game even though they lost.

As you can see, OTD had a great time with the other "younger brothers"

Spring has Sprung

2009-05-13T09:12:00.003-05:00

I think we have finally made it to spring. The days are finally getting warm and the nights not as cool. So that means life around here has gotten really busy! Between baseball practice, a 2 year old, a 6 mo old and a puppy, I barely have time to shower! Since it has been a while, I guess I'll do some updates.

ME:
In March I changed positions at work to only work one day a week. It has been wonderful! Even though the days can be really LONG with all the kids and the puppy, I still feel really lucky to only have to work one day a week..thanks honey! your the best :)

Tom

He has been busy doing things around the house and studying for a test. He took and passed his test a couple of weeks ago. I'm very proud of him and am so thankful that he wants to do this so I can be a stay at home mom..for the most part. We had our porch redone and he has been getting it ready to be painted. He is also busy getting the garden ready for the summer..now if it would stop raining so we could plant things...

ATD

He is finishing up the second grade and has spring fever BAD. in fact I got an email from his teacher last week that said he had just stopped doing his work. After loosing the Wii for a week, he seems to have figured that was not an option. He has also started baseball practice. It amazes me how much he has improved since last year. It looks like it will be a good team to play on. He has his first game next Monday. ATD is getting use to the puppy. He seems to get the most agravated with the Bella when she doesn't listen to him. We started Bella with puppy lessions last night and I took ATD with me. When we pulled up to the house, there were 3 grown great danes in a fence. ATD said "wow those dogs are huge" . I told him that was how big Bella was going to get. He looked a little concerned.

OTD

He is at a very fun age. He is my helper with the puppy (really he is my helper in all things). He helps feed her and take her potty..of course he loves to be outside, so I'm sure that is just a good excuse to be outside. OTD still loves his food. Infact this past weekend was my birthday and Tom made me a cake. The cake was cooling on the counter while we were outside planting stuff. After a while of not having a "helper", I went looking for OTD. I found him in the kitchen with about a quarter of the cake gone. When he saw me, he got a big grin on his face and "mommy cake". At least he knew who's cake he was eating! OTD also has a few words I don't want to forget... yuppy= puppy, coocoo= cereal, this= passy lunch= bread. I know there are more, i just can't think of them... OTD has also started going to bed in his own bed. Until about a month ago, he would fall asleep on the sofa and then be put in his bed. It is very nice to have everybody but the baby in bed by 7:30.

ETD

Well, he is just my little guy. He only weighed 12lbs, 10oz at his 6 month appointment. We are now trying to stuff him with cereal and begining foods to get his weight up. I took him back last week and he was up to 13lbs, 5 oz. He is starting to get on his hands and knees..and forehead but he is just content to roll to whatever he needs/wants. He doesn't get much time on the floor with Bella and OTD...but once they are in bed, the livingroom is his. Of all my kids, he is the only one that has slept in his bed for nap time and bedtime. It still amazes me at nap time when I put him in bed awake and he goes to sleep with little fuss. He has also been sleeping great at night..in his own bed!

Well i think that is about it around the farm. I'll leave you with a few pictures of the growing pup...

Easter Weekend

2009-04-24T10:10:00.003-05:00

This year for Easter (other than working) my sister came for a visit. I got to meet her new baby (JL)..who is 8 mo old. It stinks living so far apart. OTD had fun with his new cousin. He tried to play with JL like he plays with his older brother. For example, OTD tried to "ride" on his back like he would on ATD. Nobody was hurt and they all acted like they had fun. Here are some pictures from dying eggs and playing outside.

i love the look on OTD's face

It's a girl!!!

2009-04-15T17:01:00.002-05:00

NO I'm not pregnant :) and from the history of that, it wouldn't be a girl anyways...

This past Sunday we added a puppy to our family. Not just any puppy, but a Great Dane. Her name is Bella. We got to meet the parents of the puppy and the dad came to Tom's arm pit! Austin was a little overwhelmed by the dogs. They didn't even phase Owen. I don't think that kid is afraid of anything. After we got back in the car, Austin said he didn't think he liked big dogs...but then he said he was glad we got a girl because they don't get as big as the boys. I guess we'll see. Anyways, here are some pictures. By the way, do you think i could potty train the puppy and Owen at the same time...outside. We do live in the country. :)

A little fun in the sun...

2009-02-28T20:29:00.002-06:00

OTD

2009-02-25T13:16:00.002-06:00

OTD has really begun to repeat things we say to him...

I'm upstairs, he is at the bottom of the stairs:

OTD: careful mommy
ME: Thanks OTD

when i got to the bottom of the stairs:

OTD: Good job mommy

I guess he hears that alot :)

4 months old

2009-02-19T08:25:00.003-06:00

ETD is now 10lbs. still just a little guy compared to where OTD was at this age. here are some pictures...

Storm season has arrived...

2009-02-10T10:19:00.002-06:00

Good thing we took down the tree. Yesterday morning we had thunderstorms come through with 60+ mph winds. I was watching out the window and it felt like the house was shaking. ATD came home from school and asked if I got in the shelter. I told him no we were not under a tornado warning. He then told me they moved all the kids to the basement of the school during the storms. We found out on the news last night that the roof of the high school gym was peeled back. (The high school is across the street from his school...that is where they all eat lunch.)

And we are already under a sever storm warming for tonight. I was hoping we would have a few more weeks until i had to start worrying about storm weather!

TIMBER!!!

2009-02-09T11:05:00.002-06:00

We have had a huge tree leaning towards the house since we moved in. The last tree that was leaning towards the house came down last year during the tornado. So instead of waiting for nature to handle it, we took it down. Mom and dad were here for a visit and we always have some kind of project to do. Our neighbor came over with his tractor to help us out. Here are some pictures. Everything went fine. I know there were lots of prayers going up from the cheering section!

the house looks a lot different without the tree.

PB

2009-01-22T08:27:00.001-06:00

Isn't it great to have a sick child for a week who only ate peanut butter crackers only to find out they have been recalled!

Sunday Morning Fun

2009-01-18T20:07:00.002-06:00

We are still recovering from our stomach bug. OTD is still sick and Tom came down with it Friday night, soooo no church for us today. Instead we had fun together in the kitchen. We made apple pancakes and they were very yummy. OTD even ate 2 and he hasn't eaten good for days. ATD had fun helping and he has taken all the glory for how good they were. I think they are our new family favorite

3 months

2009-01-18T20:04:00.001-06:00

Poor baby...

2009-01-14T09:50:00.003-06:00

Poor OTD has a stomach bug. i thought we were over it, but it hit again this morning. This is about all he has done for 2 and half days. He really hasn't eaten since Sunday...and if you know him, you know he doesn't miss a meal!

i felt like super mom on Monday...while nursing ETD, OTD started throwing up..so there i was nursing one and holding the throw up bowl for the other. WOW, i have arrived at true motherhood!

Christmas morning

2009-01-02T19:41:00.003-06:00

This year was the first time in my 32 years of life that i did not see my mom for Christmas. We stayed home this year and it was just us for Christmas. Our morning started at 5:30am. This was ATDs third attempt to get up. The first time was at 11:30pm then 3:30am. Santa brought ATD a soft air gun, movies and few games. OTD got an art easel and baby E a music box for his bed. However the favorite gift by far from Santa was the whoopee cushion! The boys have laughed and laughed over that. here are a few pictures of the big day

this was Tom's big surprise.

Christmas Eve

2009-01-02T17:48:00.003-06:00

On Christmas eve we let the kids open one (pre-picked by mom) present. It is funny how every year it is Christmas jammies....After opening one he was ready for the rest...

ETD seemed a little bored with the whole thing...

2008-12-23T07:27:00.000-06:00

2 months old. I still have my blue eyes..maybe i'll keep them

I'm 2!!

2008-12-23T07:16:00.002-06:00

OTD had his birthday on Sunday. He had fun unwrapping presents and the best part was the CAKE!

seconds? please?

Fun in the snow

2008-12-17T08:32:00.004-06:00

Ready....

set.....
GO!!!!

snowy days

2008-12-16T08:18:00.002-06:00

this is what we woke up to this morning..and yes ATD still had school!

Parade

2008-12-15T13:30:00.003-06:00

Saturday morning out little town held its annual Christmas parade and the cub scouts got to be in it. It was in the 40's, so the temp wasn't too bad, but the wind was blowing 35-40 miles per hour. Luckily the parade only lasted 10min or so. I have decided you can't to anything in Kansas without the Wizard of Oz being in it and this includes the Christmas parade.

COLD

2008-12-15T08:20:00.003-06:00

One of the reasons we moved to Kansas was for the 4 seasons and to have a little bit of snow in the winter. Yesterday we got 2 seasons in one day. At 8am it was 58 degrees. Not too bad for December. By 10am it was in the 20's. Yes, it dropped 25 degrees in an hour and a half! By the time I went to bed it was 8 degrees and a windchill of -15. It dropped 50 degrees in one day. All the windows that had condensation on them have iced over. It snowed a little last night and may snow another 2-4 in by Tuesday night. I think it is time to go warm up my coffee cup.

French Kissing

2008-12-06T20:11:00.002-06:00

Today ATD informed me that when you like a girl a whole lot you get married and french kiss. I asked him what "french kissing" was and he said "the boy puts his tongue in the girls mouth." I don't think I knew what french kissing was in 2nd grade! I told him that sounded gross and he should talk to his daddy to see if that is true :) The teen years are going to be fun around here!

3 boys all dressed up...

2008-12-04T07:54:00.002-06:00

I wish we could have gotten a picture. Last night we went to have the boys pictures made. I left very disappointed :( OTD refused to sit or stand still. Terrible two's are so fun! (I keep telling myself that, maybe I'll believe it soon) We left without buying any pictures and now I'm bummed. I don't know why i thought getting 3 boys to sit still and smile (or not cry) was going to be easy. I feel like we wasted the whole night....

Let it snow...

2008-12-01T09:05:00.003-06:00

It has snowed the last 3 mornings! It looks so pretty to wake up and everything be white. We got the boys dressed and out to play in it before it melted. It snowed alot last year, but OTD was too little to remember. He enjoyed it this time...

snowball fights!papa made me a snowman and put it on my table...

that means i should eat it..right?

Fun with nana and papa

2008-12-01T08:55:00.002-06:00

For those who know papa, this is papa without a beard. Good thing he flew with nana because I would not have known him. I have only seen him without a beard one other time and Iwas in high school! Wow I was just trying to figure how many years ago that was. More than I want to count. I can't believe I'm that old!

Christmas came early..part 2

2008-12-01T08:48:00.002-06:00

he got the hang of unwrapping presents!

we have had a lot of concerts since this was opened

both big boys got batman jammies...

Christmas came early..

2008-11-30T19:23:00.002-06:00

After Thanksgiving dinner we put up our Christmas tree and the boys got to open presents from nana and papa. It was great to have some help with the kids while putting the Christmas stuff up. OTD was a great help. He spent the first 3o minutes tiring to blow out the Christmas lights. he has now spent part of each day bringing me ornaments. Pretty soon there will be nothing but lights at the bottom of the tree. ATD had fun hanging his 10 "baby first Christmas" ornaments. ETD slept through the whole thing.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-30T19:08:00.002-06:00

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Kansas. This year Tom's parents game to visit. It was their first trip to Kansas. The weather was great. It was warm enough to play outside the first 2 days and then snowed the last day! We all had fun cooking Thanksgiving dinner together. Tom handled the turkey, stuffing, and eggs. Papa handled the yummy cranberry salad and potatoes. Nana and I handled the other sides. Here are a few pictures...

ultrasound

2008-11-21T21:00:00.002-06:00

ETD's ultrsound was normal. They said everything looks fine and about 1 in 15 babies have a dimple like his. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers.

Weigh in and ultrsound

2008-11-19T08:23:00.002-06:00

ETD had his 4 week appointment yesterday. He is now 7 # 14 oz. and he grew an inch. I guess he is eating enough :)

I noticed a sacral dimple (dimple right above his bottom) a few weeks ago and didn't really think that much about it. I see them all the time in premies and we don't treat them unless they are deep and you can't see if it is closed. ETD's looked closed and nothing was said at either of his 2 other appointments (with Drs) So yesterday i asked the nurse practitioner about it. She had finished her assessment, but took him back from me and took another look. Yes he has a dimple (duh) and now we have to have an ultrasound. She said they ultrasound all babies with sacral dimples to make sure the spinal cord is closed. While i think everything is fine, a little something to worry about until Friday.

ETD is 3 weeks already

2008-11-09T09:08:00.003-06:00

notice OTD's toes

I can not believe he is already 3 weeks old. I had his weight checked on Wed and he is back to his birth weight. I guess he is getting enough. He has been sleeping 4-6 hours at night and eating every 2 1/2 to 3 1/2 hours during the day. Much better then OTD...he ate every 2 1/2 to 3 hours around the clock...for a year! I tired to get some pictures of just the baby, but the older 2 could not stand not being in the pictures. So here is ETD and some of the big boys too...

Halloween 2008

2008-11-09T08:58:00.003-06:00

This year we went to the church for a "Fall Festival". They had games for the kids. ATD got his face painted. We tried to get OTD 's face painted, but he would not sit still. Maybe next year...

Soccer in November in Kansas

2008-11-09T07:19:00.002-06:00

Those words should not go together. Yesterday I went to ATD's last soccer game. (Tom stayed home with the little boys) It was 35 degrees with a windchill in the 20's. It didn't seem to bother the kids at all. ATD wore his big winter coat and complained he didn't need it. All the parents were in winter coats, hats and gloves and then covered in blankets. It took me the rest of the day to warm up!They didn't win there game, but they had fun. I hope he plays next year, but he is already talking about football. YIKES!!

Pictures dad took

2008-10-28T09:39:00.004-05:00

I did it

2008-10-28T09:30:00.002-05:00

I survived my first day at home by myself with the 2 little ones. Mom and dad left on Sunday and Tom went back to work on Monday. I have to say i was a little (maybe a lot) nervous about having the 2 little ones, or the non talkers as Tom says, at home by myself. OTD had a few jealous moments, but overall did very well. He doesn't like the baby to be changed on "his" changing table. Of all the things to be upset about, that was not one I had thought of.

Not only did I survive with the 2 little ones, I did 3 loads of wash, dishes and everybody got dinner. Not too bad if I say so myself....

ETD

2008-10-23T11:37:00.003-05:00

So far the baby has been very laid back. He only cries when it is time to eat. I took him on Tuesday for a weight check and he is 6# 9 oz. We go tomorrow for his first doctors appointment.

OTD is adjusting well to the new baby. Yesterday was the first day he wanted to hold the baby. He gave him lots of hugs and kisses and then he was done.

ETD has arrived!!

2008-10-18T09:47:00.004-05:00

ETD arrived Friday afternoon at 3:17pm. I had a scheduled induction for Friday. Thursday night when i was trying to sleep (what a joke) I had big plans for blogging once we got to the hospital. That didn't really work ..oh well. Overall everything went well. We got to the hospital around 7 am after making a stop for a final meal of just the 2 of us--at 6am.

We were in our assigned room by 8 and I had 'pit' going by 9am. I thought things would progress quickly with being the third baby. I stayed a 3 from this point until around 11am. I got my epidural (2 sticks--not bad considering my sister was stuck 7 times) and the midwife broke my water around noon. At this point I was a 5 and stayed a 5 until 240. My epidural worked great on my bottom and my feet. I could still feel everything above that. So I guess it kinda worked, but I was still in a lot of pain during contractions. At 240 they checked me and I was a 6. I called my mom and dad at 305 and told them not to rush up when ATD got home from school that I was still a 6 and it may be a while. ETD made his debut about 10 minutes later. He surprised all of us by coming so quick. Luckily the midwife made it! I only had to push one contraction and he was here. (with OTD i pushed for 2 1/2 hours) He weighed in at 7#0 oz and 20 1/2 in long. Here are a few pictures. I'm sure we will have more to follow...

Almost baby time...

2008-10-15T16:04:00.003-05:00

Mom and dad have arrived to take care of the boys, so now we can have this baby!! Everything is set for Friday (but now would work for me). we'll keep you updated ...

Wedding

2008-10-02T21:06:00.003-05:00

ATD was in a wedding this past weekend. His babysitter got married and he had a great time. he was a little nervous rehearsal night (a few tears and i can't do its) but he was fine by wedding time. He looked so cute in his tux. After he pulled the wagon down and back out, he went back to the front row to sit. very cute. after the wedding he said he wanted to have him a bride one day...

Haircut

2008-09-22T10:11:00.003-05:00

OTD got his first real hair cut. He had a little trimmed off in Feb, but this was his first real cut. Now maybe people will stop calling him a girl :) Here are some before and after pictures. ignore the wall paper behind him. He has been "helping" me peel it off. One day the ugly wall paper will be gone...

look ho cute I am..and I still have my cheeks...

Soccer days

2008-09-22T09:58:00.003-05:00

ATD is playing soccer again this year. They had there first game on saturday and they won.

YEAH!!

Where does the time go...

2008-09-15T16:33:00.003-05:00

It has been a bit crazy around here. School is going pretty good so far. I've had some cute questions like "mommy what does the middle finger mean?". Second grade is going to be full of fun questions I'm sure! Soccer started last week. ATD talked about playing football but settled on soccer again this year. I have to say I was really happy. It is fun to watch and see how much he has learned over the years ( he started playing when he was 3).

Last week was full of ups and downs. For the good news, ATD got Saved. It still brings tears to my eyes. It is a good feeling to know your child will spend eternity with you..it also makes me feel like we are doing things "right". Before he made his decision, he had LOTS of questions. Tom spent Sunday afternoon answering questions and then I got to answer a lot of the same questions the next day. He would ask me something and then say "that is what daddy said too". After the third question, I was beginning to think I should have talked to Tom to make sure we came up with the same answers! Here are a few things a 7 year old is worried about when it comes to Heaven: "is there more then one way in? Is there a swimming pool? Are there video games? Can God get out of your heart?"

On the down side, one of the babies I have been working with passed away. I had really bonded with the mom over the last several weeks. She was due the week after me and would always want to know how I was doing. I know I work in a field where you never know what will happen, but her death shocked me. I try not to get too attached to the babies and families, but sometimes you can't help it.

On a happier note, I have an induction date of Oct 17th if #3 has not arrived by then. I need to get busy! With the first baby, I was ready at 6 months. With OTD I was ready at about 7 months. This weekend I got in a panic that I have nothing ready. I got out all the little clothes and got them washed and now I'm feeling a little better about things. The baby still needs something to wear home..that is this weeks project!

We have also started putting OTD in the bed with ATD to try and get him out of our bed. This is week 2 and it is going pretty good. The second night we tried, he slept through the night for the first time in his life! I actually had dreams that night. He usually gets up one or two times a night and I have to lay down with him to get him back to sleep, but overall it is going good. Hopefully by the time to baby gets here he will be sleeping through the night...

Baby update

2008-09-03T16:10:00.003-05:00

We had an ultrasound today because at 20 weeks my placenta was "low". Everything looks good now. The placenta has moved up and he is head down. I'm 33 weeks tomorrow and they guessed he weighed around 4lb. You can already see his chubby little cheeks. I think he is going to be a big baby like OTD. And we are now sure he is a boy. He was not shy this time around :)

All the boys are sick

2008-08-26T10:17:00.002-05:00

We are not even one week into school and ATD has manged to get Tom and OTD sick! ATD came home from school on thur. with a runny nose and not really feeling good, but no fever. The same on Friday. I worked this weekend, so i didn't see much of the kids. Tom however was with them all weekend. He came home from work yesturday with 104 temp. I drugged him up, put him in ATD's bed and he has been there since. I don't think he has ever stayed home from work for being sick. He is still running a fever today. OTD is running a low grade fever off and on...he is also teething. I hope i miss out on this round of sickness. 104 temp and 31 weeks pregnant doesn't sound any fun..

OTD and paint

2008-08-25T07:41:00.003-05:00

This youngest, soon to be middle child of mine keeps me on my toes! Yesterday I was trying to paint some outside window frames. I gave OTD his own paint brush and let him walk around with that while i got busy working. I kept the paint held high so he couldn't get into it. I set the paint on the window ledge for just a second to give my hand a rest and the next thing I know he has put his finger in the paint and then into his mouth in one swift move. I wiped his fingers and mouth off and then started putting everything up. Tom comes from the backyard and starts telling me how bad paint is for you...I mean, I know it isn't good for you, but would a little taste really hurt?? I went in got some paper towels and really start "cleaning" the inside of his mouth. OTD thinks this is really fun, by the way.

Anyways, Tom freaks me out a little so I read the back of the can to see what it says about swallowing paint. Sure enough it tells you to call the ER, your doctor, or poison control. So I started with calling work and seeing what Dr was there and if they were busy. Of course they were busy, so i called poison control. I'm sure they keep a record off all the calls they get. I mean do i really have to leave my name! Long story short, latex paint isn't all that bad for you...may have a tummy ache.

Of course the tummy ache came at bedtime...it was a long night!

school update

2008-08-19T20:18:00.001-05:00

ATD came home from school and said he had a great day. He even told me he told his teacher she was the best teacher he has ever had. Maybe it will be a good year after all :)

First Day of School

2008-08-19T09:38:00.003-05:00

Today ATD started 2nd grade. He was not excited about going back to learn, but was looking forward to seeing his friends. The day started off well, he even got up early and we took some pictures. He called and talked to Mimi and told her it was the first day. He was ready and in the car 10 min before it was time to go. Everything was going smoothly until we got to the classroom door. Then the tears came and the "i just want to go home with you". It took 10 min and many tears to get him in the door. His teracher looked a bit worried. I'm sure he will do fine, but i was shocked by the tears. Maybe next year he should ride the bus the first day..he did ask to ride it this morning.

cool new packback...

one last picture before I ran... i mean left...

Happy Birthday ATD

2008-08-19T08:54:00.003-05:00

ATD had his 7th birthday this weekend. I can't believe he is already 7. Where does the time go?
The weekend before his birthday, I had a friend from Ga come for a visit. ATD really enjoys his one on on time with her, so he wanted to do his birthday cake while she was here...i really think he just wanted to open a few presents a week before his birthday

ATD loves to swim. We could spend hours at the pool and we are never there long enough. SO this year we planed a trip to Oceans of Fun in Kansas City. (It is a lot like White Water for the Atlanta folks..but not nearly as big). Tom took friday off and the park was pretty empty. A lot of the schools started back last week, so the "big" boys got to ride everything over and over with no lines. OTD and I hung out in baby land. He went down a few kiddy slides, got his face wet, and decided it was much more fun for toys to go down the slide. Over all it was a great day.

We had decided to spend the night in Kansas City and make a weekend out of his birthday. After finding a hotel we went to a resturant that a train brings your food to the table. The train goes around the ceiling and then lowers your food to the table. Both boys really enjoyed that.

The next day, we went to an awasome farmers market in Kansas City. We planeted beans this year, but we have eaten them as we get them. The goal was to grow enough to eat and freeze, but we didn't have that many. So we bought 4lbs of beans and were able to freeze 7 qts. We also got some peaches that made a very yummy pie.

The other plan for the weekend was to look at mini vans. Ater October, we would not have a car we could all ride in. So after the Farmers Market, off to the car dealerships we went. We were just planning on looking at vans this weekend to see what we liked. After looking at the calander, I noticed we only had one other weekend that i had off before the baby is due, so we needed to get busy decideing what we wanted. We made it to the 3rd car dealership before we bought something..so much for looking. We traded in the truck...Tom only shed a few tears ... and got a Honda Odyssey. So ATD ended up getting a car on his birthday. I told him not to expect that again. I am very excited about my van :)

To finish off the weekend, ATD wanted to go to the "resturant where they cook in front of you on the big grill" and he didn't mean Waffle House! So off to the Japanese resturant we went. He had fun watching them and OTD enjoyed it also.

Over all I think he had a great weekend.

9 Years and Counting

2008-08-14T19:58:00.004-05:00

Today Tom and I have been married for 9 years. We have had a lot of adventures in those years. Actually we have pretty much grown up together. We started dating in high school and then dated for 6 years before we got married. While we were engaged, I started my fist job as a nurse and Tom finished up college. We started building our first house 6 months before our wedding date. The contractor assured me we would be done by the wedding. HA. I should have known better. We moved into our house about 3 weeks after the wedding...i guess that isn't too bad.

After a couple of years, we welcome ATD into our lives. When he was 8 mo old we sold our house and moved to the "country". We lived there for 3 years before we moved to Kansas to start Our Great Adventure.

We moved away from all our family and moved into a 2 bedroom apartment. I got a job right away and Tom stayed home with ATD for 12 weeks. They had a blast together in those 12 weeks.

After 6 months in the apartment, we bought our current house. Right after moving in, we started a major remodle on the upstairs. The 3 of us shared a bedroom on the first floor for almost a year. About the time we finished the upstairs, OTD joined the family.

Currently, we are expecting baby #3 in about 2 months. We are still remodling/updating the house.

We have learned alot about life and each other over the past 9 years. I look forward to what lies ahead for us.....

Garden beauties

2008-08-13T11:59:00.003-05:00

The garden is finally coming in! Here are a few of our garden beauties We tried onion this year. Pretty good for our first try.

It seems like every year something does REALLY good in the garden. This year it is eggplant. I have put up 6 8X8 pans of eggplant parmigiana and made a few pans for dinner. We have fried it, grilled and even tried pickling it...i'll let you know how that taste. Okra is also doing really good. It is the smallest plants I have ever seen, but we could eat it everyday. Cucumbers have been good this year too. Last year they were really bitter, but this year they have been great. The tomatoes are just starting to come in... I can't wait :)

2008-08-13T11:33:00.003-05:00

Where has this month gone!! This is always a busy month for us. Our anniversary and ATD's birthday is this month. On top of that, school starts. This past weekend we had a friend from Georgia come and spend a long weekend. We wanted to show her some of Kansas so we took a drive through the flint hills over to Wamego. It just isn't a trip to Kansas without going to the Wizzard of OZ Musume!

We also took in the park while we were there. OTD has no fear! I was a nervous wreak watching him go up the slide. ATD would have never been so brave at that age.

It was a fun filled weekend. Lenee is great with the boys. She takes ATD on "adventures" and answers all his million of "what if" questions. She gets OTD in the middle of the night and lets us have a full night of sleep. I think i slept for 10 hours the first night!! I felt like a new women the next day! She even gives Tom and I a date night. We went to the movies, dinner and birthday shopping. Like I said, it was a great weekend. I hope she had as much fun as we did.

JellyBean

2008-08-06T08:54:00.002-05:00

Congrats to Pete and Jess (my sister)!!

They had there baby Aug 1st

A bouncing baby boy

Weighing in at 8lb 8 oz

Now the sleepless nights begin...don't worry it improves...even if you never get them out of your bed!

New wheels

2008-07-24T17:04:00.003-05:00

OTD got some new wheels this week. He thinks he's hot stuff now. of course, he only goes in reverse, but i'm sure that will change soon.

Weekend of Fun and Family

2008-07-21T11:36:00.004-05:00

This weekend, my mom and dad brought ATD back from 2 weeks in Georgia. Both sets of grandparents live there, so he was spoiled rotten for the 2 weeks. It may take a month to get him back to normal! He had a blast there and was not ready to come home....well, he was ready to see his little brother, but that was it.

Mom and dad brought back a carry on suit case full of fresh veggies. There garden is several weeks ahead of where we are. I would have taken pictures, but we ate it all too fast! They brought us 2 1/2 dozen ears of corn (we froze 2 qts, and ate the rest), about 1 dozen cucumbers, a bunch of hot peppers, a couple eggplants, some squash and lots of tomatoes. We enjoyed it all..thanks mom and dad.

While mom and dad where here, i wanted to get a family picture. here are some of the attempts. When #3 arrives, i'm not sure there will be a good one for a while!

and for those of you who read Tom's blog entry, I got the canning books out...

Hot, Catching up, and a Retort

2008-07-20T09:11:00.003-05:00

Summer has dropped on us here in Kansas. 97 yesterday, and more of the same today. It was such a wet n' mild spring we hopped maybe the summer would be the same. Although, even with our brief experiences of KS weather we knew we where setting ourselves up for disappointment. Anyone who hasn't lived through the special hell that is the month of august here on the plains is just missing out.

We've been back from our week long vacation for a couple weeks now and I think I'm finally caught up and back in the swing of normal life. Garden veggies are trickling in with regularity now. Sorry I don't have any pics but we're eating everything faster than the camera can focus. The chickens are spending the heat of the day lounging in the tall weeds along the fence. Speaking of chickens, yesterday we went to a sale and came home with 3 new additions. We have added two Indian Runners, and one Hookbill to our farm. More on them later... They deserve their own post.

Now, to set the record straight. The other day my beautiful wife stated that I "accidentally" bought her a pressure canner. And she also may have led you to believe that she had no idea what to do with it... I allege that these statements are untrue! Ever since we decided to take on our great adventure of "homesteading", "living off the land", "being hillbillies" or whatever other name it might be given, we have been very methodical in our approach. In fact when we started talking about pressure canning last summer I went out and bought two books on the subject. Of course if theres one thing I've learned there is a big difference in reading these books and actually doing. But, I know my wife, she can accomplish anything. As long as we don't blow the kitchen up we should get a bunch of jars put up for winter. :)
Besides, what woman wouldn't love to receive a beautiful canner for her wedding anniversary?
love you honey!

Earlier this week one of our favorite blogs gave us an Honorable mention. see here. To say the least, here at the world-headquarters of the GreatAdventureHomestead we are very flattered.

Anniversary Present?

2008-07-17T14:55:00.003-05:00

About a week ago, Tom was sitting at the computer and said "Oops. i think i just got us a pressure cooker/caner." We had talked about getting one, so that was fine. In the past we have frozen garden goodies, but this year we were talking about canning some things. To make a long story short, he was on eBay and saw a pressure cooker/caner with 2 min. left in the bid. He put his bid in thinking somebody would out bid.

So it has been a week and we were wondering when our new "toy" would arrive. Later that day, Tom went to get the mail. He walked in with big box and said "wait, don't open it yet, I need to get the camera." The only thing I knew that was coming in the mail was the pressure cooker, so I was a bit confused. He came back in the room and said Happy Anniversary! Still a little confused (our anniversary is a month away) I opened the box and it was a.....pressure cooker. Boy have presents changed in 9 years of marriage!!

Anyways, I have no idea how to use it and it did not come with a book. Anybody with any tips??

Fun at the Pool

2008-07-10T17:44:00.003-05:00

Tom took some time out from the battles to play at the pool. The boys loved it. You will not find pictures of me 24 weeks pregnant in a bathing suit. Sorry to disappoint, but a girl has her limits!!

2008-07-09T21:13:00.002-05:00

July 1 - July 3, 1863
General Lee has led his Army of Northern Virgina successfully through the Shenandoah valley for a planned assault of the north. We began to collide with union forces around the Pennsylvania town of Gettysburg. By day two of the battle both armies had assembled great forces, we fought at Little Round Top, the Wheatfield, Devil's Den, and the Peach Orchard.

After nearly a full day and night of trying drive the northern army off Cemetery Ridge Major General Pickett lead 12,500 men on an assault of the center of the Union lines. Over half of the men involved in Pickett's Charge were killed. We have retreated with General Robert E. Lee back to Virginia. I fear that our armies spirit is broken, we may never recover.

Today
History shows that the Battle of Gettysburg was the beginning of the end for the confederate revolt. This year marks the 145th anniversary of this 3 day battle that left more Americans dead than any other battle of the Civil War. Around 50,000 total!
We have spent the past week in Gettysburg participating in the reenactment of the battle. We walked the field where so many men gave their lives for what they believe. It is good to remember our darkest hours. Hopefully we as Americans can prevent their repeat.

This monument represents the "High Water Mark" of the Confederate Army

Flight 93 Memorial

2008-07-08T20:38:00.002-05:00

This year for vacation we drove to Gettysburg, PA for the 145th Civil War Reenactment. Before we moved to Kansas we did several reenactments with Tom's parents. Now my idea of a good vacation involves a beach, but this was a way we could visit with Tom's parents. Instead of trying to fly with all the civil war stuff, we decided to drive. It is about an 18 hour drive from here to Gettysburg. On the drive there we broke the drive into 2 days. On day 2, we decided to take the "scenic" route because we would be driving by the Flight 93 memorial. I'm not sure what i was expecting. It was way off the main road in the middle of a mountain like area. Once you turned off the highway, you drive down a dirt road until you think you must have missed a turn when you see it. It is in the middle of a field. You can only see one house and i kept thinking about what those people must have been thinking that day.

As with most people, I remember the day pretty well. ATD was 3 weeks old. It was about 10Am and I was triing to sleep (because ATD was finally asleep). The phone rang and I was praying the phone wouldn't wake the baby. Then the long message began from our friend Tommy (again I'm thinkng please make this short so you don't wake the baby). He was in New York on a busness trip. He called to let us know that a "bomb" had gone off in the World Trade Center but he had left earily and wasn't in the building. He wanted us to know he was OK and would call us later. At the time, all I was thinking was thank goodness he didn't wake the baby!! I had no idea what had really happen until Tom called me from work and told me to turn on the TV.

We did not really prepare ATD for what we were going to look at. It was hard to explain to him what had happend. I didn't want him to be scared to fly since he will be flying home from Ga in a week. I think he is still a little confused, but all the questions ( and he can ask alot) were answered.

There will be more on the vacation in the next couple of days...

OTD and the fish tank...

2008-06-27T18:36:00.003-05:00

OTD, 18 months, is at a very fun age. This is probably my favorite age. With that said, he sure gets into a lot! i have found him 3 shelves up on the book case and last week while i was helping ATD with some summer school work, OTD discovered that the fish tank had a small hole where the filter went into the top. Next thing I knew, he had about 20 toys in the fish tank. I didn't think it was real funny at the time...just more work for mommy. After cleaning out all the toys and empiting the fish tank (the last fish had died eariler in the week), I wish I had taken a picture. I asked Tom why he didn't remind me, and he said there was no talking to me at the time. I think it might be the hormones!!

i think we will wait a while to get more fish.....

Haaaaay!

2008-06-26T22:07:00.003-05:00

Seems that summer has arrived here on the prairie. Our garden is on cruise, we're just watching it grow. Each evening for the last week our family has has marched out back and checked out the baby squash, cucumber and egg plants. We haven't had anything quite mature enough to harvest, yet. We're waiting... not so patiently
The hay in our front field was baled today. All the rain we've had this spring made for some good looking bales.
Now, what am I going to do with several tons of hay? I guess I have plenty of mulch for the next couple years.

Weekend war against weeds

2008-06-15T21:52:00.003-05:00

8am Saturday me and the oldest son drove just up the highway to a chicken swap. Unfortunately we came home empty handed. I was went hoping to find some green egg layers to add to the flock, but no such luck this time. The trip was far from a waste of time. Turkeys and goats were popular items at this particular sale. I hope to get a couple of each in the near future (shhhh! don't tell Jenn), so I was able to talk to several people about the different breeds they raise. Its hard to beat the fun of a good chicken swap.

The weather this weekend was fabulous in our little part of Kansas. So far this spring it has been a rare thing to get two consecutive days without rain. The garden plants seem to be in shock and the weeds were close to taking over. By lunch time on Saturday it was dry enough to break out the heavy artillery. So, with my hoe in hand I went to war, I even enlisted help.
Five hours of chopping and pulling, along with several bales of hay for mulch I think we finally have the upper hand. But if there's one thing I've learned about weeds... they'll be back.

Here's a little surprise we found under one of those bales of mulch hay.
Mommy mouse scurried away and didn't look back. Just so you know, I actually relocated the the nest along with a shovels full of dirt to some tall grass in the general direction that mama ran. Maybe she found them... hopefully a the cat will.

And lets not forget. Today is fathers day. There are traditions to upold.
Ahhh, its a wonderful life.

Our fun last night....

2008-06-13T10:16:00.003-05:00

It has been a crazy spring and beginning of summer. When we told people we were moving to Kansas, there first response was "why? they have tornadoes there." Until this spring, there had been more tornadoes in Georgia then near us in Kansas. Then this spring/summer came and we have been under more tornado warnings then I care to think about. So last night, Tom was working until 11pm and I was here with the boys with tornadoes getting close. I have to admitted I was getting a little freaked out...and it doesn't help that ATD was totally freaked out. ( let me back up a little. when we started looking for house I wanted one with a basement and that was final...I was not carrying kids across the yard to get in a shelter...well guess what, we couldn't find a house we liked with a basement. So the VERY first thing we did when we moved here was put in a tornado shelter.)

So ATD is freaking out and would just get in the shelter as soon as the weather radio goes off. We waited and watched the news and things were getting a lot closer. I emailed a friend and asked her to start praying things would miss us. I started getting things ready..just in case. I got shoes out (we forgot those last time), flashlight ready, my purse (with an extra diaper for OTD) and of course the camra. ATD gathered up a few things to take for him and OTD to play with...and we waited. It looked like things were going to hit just north of us..by about 7 miles. But the weather people said the magic words...they said our little town needed to take cover NOW. So out we went. I got a few pictures before getting in the shelter. By now the sirins were sounding. We stayed in the shelter about 30min...I'm sure longer then we needed, but I wasn't taking any chances with both boys by myself. Thank goodness no damage. It didn't even start raining until we were in the all clear.

Here are a few pictures
After it was all over, the boys slept well....

About the "Great Adventure"

2008-06-08T18:54:00.005-05:00

Welcome to our little piece of the world. Both of us grew up in Atlanta area. About 3 years ago we decided we needed out of the hussel and bussel of a big town...so we up and moved to Kansas...thats right, Kansas. We have been asked MANY times why we choose Kansas. When we started looking at new places to live, we had a list of things we wanted in our new place. We wanted our new place to have seasons other than HOT and chilly, there had to be a NICU for Jenn to work at, and the cost of living had to be cheaper than Atlanta because we knew we wanted to buy some land to settle down on. We also wanted to be able to fly "home" easily..and cheaply.

After looking a few places on line, we took a long weekend trip to Topeka, Ks to scout things out. We loved it the first visit. We came in the spring and everything was in bloom. The temps were in the low 70's...it was just a great first visit. We probably drove 500 miles on that first trip. Jenn got to interview at the hospital and we met with a realtor. It was pretty clear after the first visit that we had found a place that we could call home. On our way back to Atlanta, we decided that if Jenn could get a job at the hospital in the NICU (which they were not hiring in at the time) we would take this as a sign to move forward with our plans to move. A couple of months after our visit, we got the call we had been waiting for. The hospital had opened a brand new 50 bed NICU and was now hiring. Jenn flew out, by herself, interviewed again and looked for apartments. Before Jenn even got on the plane to fly home, the hospital called to offer her a position! At that point, we knew we were going to move.

At the time of our move, ATD was almost 4 years old. To help him understand why we were moving, we called this Our Great Adventure. He loved the idea of going on an adventure. He did really well with the move considering we were taking him away from grandparents that spoiled him rotten! When we got to Topeka, Jenn started working at the hospital right away and Tom got to stay home and play Mr. Mom for 12 weeks. He did a great job. HE and ATD had a great time together. After Jenn was settled into her job, Tom started looking for a job. Once Tom had a job, we started looking for places to live. After a few months of looking, we found the perfect house on 20 acres for us. It is in a little town with then a thousand people. The school is small but has a good reputation.

Our house is 100+ years old. The people we bought if from raised 6 boys and one girl in this house..with only one (extremely small) bathroom! They lived here 50years and we got to meet all the 'kids' at an auction they held before they moved their dad out. The house needed a lot of love, but it had good bones. It had 3 bedrooms upstairs and one bedroom downstairs and the only bathroom was downstairs. Jenn, Tom and ATD shared the bedroom downstairs while the upstairs was being refinished. After moving in, we started remodeling the upstairs right away. That turned out to be a good thing because we had number 2 on the way. Tom did most of the work himself. We added a bathroom, and were still able to keep 3 bedrooms upstairs. Jenn's mom and dad came to help with some projects. After about 8 months...the week OTD came home from the hospital, we started moving things upstairs. After that big remodel we took a break and are about to get started on the downstairs. That brings us up to where we are now....as far as the house goes.
We hope to use this WebLog to chronicle the goings on in our Home / Farm. We may even back track and detail some events from the past just for posterity sake. I wouldn't count on finding anything profound here, but to those who may read, we hope you enjoy.