It's with a really heavy heart that I write this Flashback Friday, for last Friday our family had to say goodbye to our long-lived cat, Baxter.

Baxter, as I've said before, was about 18 years old.  Over the summer Baxter's appetite seemed to decrease some, and he shed a few pounds.  As a neutered male indoor cat that was basically inactive most of the time, he was...well..he was fat.  At his heaviest he weighed around 23 pounds.  The last time I took him to the vet about a year ago, he weighed 17.  I would say that over the summer he'd lost 3-4 pounds, but in the past couple of weeks, he had pretty much stopped eating, and when we took him in last Friday, he weighed a mere 8 pounds and could barely stand.

We're not really sure what was wrong with him beyond just old age, but whatever it was, took over fast.  I mean I just photographed him on a skateboard a couple of weeks ago!  My main goal was to prevent any further suffering because he had been such a good pet for us for so many years, so we made the difficult and tearful decision to have him put to sleep.  About a year or so ago, I blogged about his history (in an embellished sort of way), which you can read about here.

It was just me and Baxter those last few minutes, and honestly I don't know how aware of his surroundings he was by that point, but I am thankful that I was there to stroke him and tell him I loved him as the life breathed out of him.

I know this may seem sappy and emotional and over-the-top to some of you, but I can't think of any better way to spend a Flashback Friday than to look back over the last fifteen years that Baxter was a part of our lives....

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Whoa....it's been a week since I've blogged anything new.  Sorry, but last week was just...well...quite a week.  I meant to post this particular entry last Wednesday.  I'm not sure what I was doing last Wednesday, but it wasn't posting this.  Then last Thursday I was trapped in my van all day, driving all over the place, using lots and lots of very expensive gasoline.  Last Friday was a tragic day for our family, which I'll blog about later this week, but the last thing on my mind was posting about meatballs and cake.  Then for the weekend I was trapped in the van again.  More driving.  More gasoline.  But let's move on shall we, to the next meal that your kids can make with very little assistance from you.  Unless they are under the age of 9 or so.  Then all of this really doesn't apply to you yet, but you still might enjoy the recipes.

First of all, I thought it important that my kids learn to make a version of Swedish meatballs since Big D is Swedish and his blood runs in their veins.  Heritage and all, I guess.  This is an easy recipe for meatballs and could easily be added to all of your Italian recipes as well, if your last name happens to be Scanelly or something like that.

First of all, Annaleigh got the sauce ready, which was a can of cream of mushroom soup, water and sour cream whisked together.  You can just set this aside for a while.

Now for the meatballs!  In a bowl, mix together your ground beef, bread crumbs, finely chopped onion, egg and nutmeg.  Then you will shape the mixture into equal size balls...

This is a good step to get your younger kids involved in, unless your younger kids have a problem with handling raw meat.  If that's the case then he may cry a little and say he doesn't like the feel of this.  Then you may have to tell him it's just too bad because he has to learn to shape meatballs.  It's in his heritage.  He may then tell you he doesn't care.  Then his sister may make fun of him a little, and they may get in a fight over it.  You may have to call in their dad at this point, and he may tell them to get over it.  They are Swedish and have to learn to make this dish....for their heritage and all and for their mother's blog.  Then you may need to remind your son that this is the only picture you have of him helping with this meal, and if he doesn't cooperate that the blog entry will only show his sister cooking.  Then snap the picture fast because you realize that he doesn't really give a flying fig what you blog about, and he really just wants to wash his icky hands and watch football.  None of this may happen at your house at all, but it's only fair to warn you.

Now, for the next step, we bake our meatballs in the oven at 350 for about 20-30 minutes instead of frying them in a pan, but that's completely up to you.  We find it easier and more efficient and less messy, but you may find it weird, and want to do your meatballs the old-fashioned way.  While your meatballs are doing whatever your meatballs do, boil some water and cook some egg noodles according to the package directions.

When the meatballs are done and no longer pink in the middle, add them to the sauce you prepared earlier and heat over med-low heat, until it's heated through, then serve over your warm noodles.  This is what it will look like served with a salad...

...except depending on your region of the country and NFL preferences, you may not be wearing a Tennessee Titans tee shirt.  However, you may want to consider it since they are 5-0, after all.

Ingredients:

(We doubled this recipe so that we would have left-overs and so that Indiana Mimi could join us.  The below amount is for four servings)

1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1/2 c. water, 1/4 c. sour cream, 1 lb. lean ground beef, 1/2 c. soft bread crumbs, 1/4 c. chopped onion, 1 beaten egg, 1/4 c. nutmeg, package of egg noodles

Earlier that day Annaleigh made the chocolate sheet cake  by herself because her brother abandoned her to go see the Titans beat the Vikings with his dad since they received some free tickets.  Boys...

She used the Pioneer Woman's recipe, and here's the link to that recipe.  Basically, she prepared the ingredients for the actual cake...

poured the mixture into a sheet cake pan (we used my Pampered Chef stoneware pan)...

While it baked and cooled, she prepared the ingredients for the icing, and then later poured that on the cake...

It really was that easy.

Then I pulled up a chair and just started forking into it.  Not really, but almost.  It was gooooooood!  It was so good that I had her make another one for our church potluck.  We found that we were out of vanilla, which you need for both the cake and the icing, but we substituted mint extract, which was also really nice, if you want a variation.

Enjoy!

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I'm sick and tired of being pregnant.  I mean really sick and really tired of it.  I'm tired of my back hurting.  I'm sick of the acid reflux.  I'm tired of being tired.  I'm sick of having swollen feet.  I'm tired of and from the sleepless nights.  I'm sick of people telling me how cute I look because I know they mean more of a Weeble Wobble cuteness...

rather than a Cameron Diaz cuteness...

And I'm tired of little old ladies eyeing my belly in public, just itching to pat it, but restraining because they know by the look on my face that they will more than likely get slapped for it.

But none of that is what this post is about.  I'm channeling my inner Norman Vincent Peale and practicing the power of positive thinking.  I'm focusing today on what is GOOD about the last trimester of pregnancy...

1.  I am no longer expected to clean the bathtubs.  Really I can get away with not cleaning pretty much anything, I think.  I also don't have to pick up anything off the floor if I don't want to.  No one thinks ill of me for it, and they're more than happy to do it for me.

2.  I can eat whatever I want and not gain a gluttonous reputation.  So what if I have seconds at dinner?  So what if I ate the largest and last piece of chocolate cake?  I'm eating for two and everyone knows it.

3.  I don't have to walk up and down the stairs to get anything.  If I want a bottled water, the kids run down and get it.  If I need my camera from upstairs, Big D runs up to get it.  This is the closest I will ever get to owning slaves, and it's kinda fun.

4.  People are starting to ask me what I need for the baby, which means they are thinking of buying me something.  That's great!   I love presents.  So far, I don't think that I have convinced anyone that the baby needs a new laptop, but I'm working on it.

5.  Slip-on shoes are fashionable, which is a very good thing, since I no longer can reach to tie my sneakers.

6.  Along that same line of thinking, it is getting cooler here, which means jeans and closed-toe shoes, which means I no longer have to worry about shaving my legs or keeping my toe-nails painted.

7.  Peanut is moving around a lot, which is my favorite part of pregnancy...feeling and seeing the baby move.

That is all I can think of, which is sad, because I'm not sure seven things can get me through the next eight weeks or so.  Ummm...Norman, a little help here?

Oh, and speaking of the last trimester of pregnancy, my good blogging friend, Sandpiper, who is about to give birth any day now...the lucky dog..., passed an award along to me...

...and I just wanted to thank her for that great honor!  I'm not going to be officially passing it on, but if I regularly read and comment on your blog, just know that I *heart* it, okay?

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Behold, my geriatric, decrepit cat Baxter...

Okay, so he's at least eighteen in people years, and yes, that makes him over a hundred in animal years, but obviously he doesn't know this because he's riding a skateboard in our garage.  I promise we didn't put him there for the photo op.  That's how we found him.  I also promise that he mostly just slept on the skateboard because that's what he does everywhere.  At least that's what we think.  We should probably install some hidden cameras....

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Our school year is definitely in full swing here at Hilltop.  You can always tell by the smell of smoke.

Annaleigh is into the 1600s in history, and we have been neck-deep in all the political upheaval in Europe.  She is so sick of hearing about Protestants and Catholics and all their skirmishes.  It seems everyday we open the book someone is getting beheaded.  It seemed a little better when we first began to read about Louis XIV...

...and his grand palace of Versailles, but then we learned that his extravagance was what eventually led to the bloody French Revolution.  So, we decided to blow off a little steam, literally, by lighting a match to a model of London one afternoon, thus recreating the Great Fire....

It was taking a bit longer than we anticipated, and we were growing fearful of the neighbors' stares from their windows.  Eventually all we had was rubble, thank goodness, and we could go inside to escape any further scrutiny and avoid a visit from our fine police station.  I think we really need to live in the country...

Harrison also had his share of violence over the past couple of weeks, as we've been studying the Viking era.  Big D's family is Swedish, so he's known for a while that there is some Viking in his blood and was excited to get to his roots.  One day we were reading about a Viking group that raided and pillaged an Irish monastery (my roots, by the way), and he looked up from the violence-filled pages, and said, "Do you mean the Vikings were bad?"  Well, if you consider murder, stealing, and other unmentionable things bad then, well, yes.  He was shocked, a little disappointed, but not enough so to deter him from building a model of a long ship...

That came in our Viking Treasure Chest.  I was pretty much convinced we would have had an easier time had we traipsed to a forest and felled our own trees about mid-way through this process, but we finally got it together.  I thought we might as well set it on fire too, so great was my frustration, but Harrison vehemently protested.  I think it was the Irish in me that wanted revenge.

On a much calmer note, Harrison is learning a lot in all of his subjects.  Here he's doing a measuring exercise with his worthy computer teacher for Saxon 54...

This has been a big transition year for him in math, and it hasn't been without its bumps, ones that have occasionally brought out the Viking in me.  Oh wait...I'm not Swedish.  Umm, well, it brings out the Irish in me, I guess.  But, I think we are finally getting things figured out and getting into a rhythm with his lessons.

Both kids are doing very well with their writing.  Here is a two-point expository paragraph that Harrison recently wrote about his two favorite colors....

Two Colors

I have two favorite colors.  These colors are blue and red.  My first favorite color is blue.  I like blue because the Titans football jerseys are blue.  My second favorite color is red.  Red reminds me of my guitar.  My two favorite colors remind me of my favorite things, sports and music.

And then here is a poem that Annaleigh wrote as part of her Painless Poetry course...

9/11

I can't quite say I'm glad to remember that miserable day,

That day filled with terror and murder.

Some may not classify it as murder,

But I think it is no doubt!

Some think we shouldn't have gone to war.

Shouldn't we avenge all of the blood and gore

Split on that day?

What a terrible, tragic day.

In my memory, it shall rest

What I remember best---

The courage and bravery shown by our President and warriors,

Still shown today,

Willing to fight to the death.

For science one day, we were learning about the skin.  One little experiment you could do was to draw a caterpillar on the inside of your elbow, which would demonstrate how the skin stretches by watching the caterpillar grow and shrink as you bend it.  Well, while Harrison wanted nothing to do with a caterpillar on his arm, he did allow me to draw a fiercer, sort of, looking snake...

Ta-da!

Annaleigh continues to do very well at her tutorial class of Apologia's general science.  She has a report on a scientist coming up, which I'm a little worried that she's procrastinating on, but I'm trying to bite my tongue.  It's on Ptolemy I, who I think is the one who had it all wrong about the Solar System.  Maybe I'll just do a google search, print some things out and place them strategically on her desk....

Her tutorial drama class is doing a November production of The Secret Garden, and guess who was cast in the main role of Mary and has 200 lines to learn by mid-October?  Just shoot me now, okay?

I've shared a bit about Home Ec endeavors.  Well, I actually have Annaleigh going through a curriculum put out by Christian Light, and last week she had to bake a dessert from scratch.  We chose a recipe for a Swedish Apple cake...

Above, I'm showing her how to chop apples without chopping your fingers.  That went well, as she still had ten appendages on her hands at its completion.  Then here she is with the finished product...

It was VERY sweet, but I still gave her an A.

That's about it for around here.  Tune in soon for a reenactment of the Thirty Years War.  I'm just kidding....my neighbors can't take much more.

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Ah, yes, folks....we have a trilogy here at Hilltop Academy!  Our third generation of banana spider (we think!) has landed, and of course, I have no choice but to chronicle its existence here, even though I've said many times that I will never blog about spiders again.  I don't know why you people ever listen to me.

Look at this....

Behold, our third banana spider to annually build a web on our front porch!  This one is much smaller than the other two have been, thus we think it might be male.  The other two we know were female because after they kicked the bucket, they left us the gift of their egg sacs.  This one also has some different behaviors than the other two.  For one, it has shed its skin twice.  That's what the creepy skeletal thing is below.  Believe it or not, I actually got a picture of it doing this the other day...

Is that not the freakiest?!  Annaleigh was sure it was dead, but after he dangled there for a while, he crawled back up onto his web, located conveniently right outside our living room window, a bigger and better spider.  Since we suspect he's of the male persuasion, the kids have been calling him He-lob.  Our first banana spider we dubbed Shelob (from the Lord of the Rings) due to her gargantuan size.  And speaking of our first arachnid, here she is....

If you like creepy bedtime stories, you can read about her stay with us here and here.

Then the next year, her possible daughter, moved in.  We just called her Spidey...

Her tale is not nearly so interesting, but if you like, you can read about her here.

And then now we have the son/grandson...maybe.  I guess I better get out our nature handbooks and do a google image search, and find out what he is since that's what good home schoolers do.

Have any memories for us this week?  I know I forgot to give you advance notice that I would be "flashing" this week, but if you have something, please share!  Leave us a link, so we can all come read it....

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It dawned on me the other day that I post a lot of pictures and such of my kids doing "stuff" in the kitchen.  For me, especially recently, it's been a practical necessity.  I want my kids to learn to help in the kitchen, to feel comfortable...at home even...in the kitchen, to be safe in the kitchen, to take over the kitchen...okay, not really on the take over, but I think you get the idea.  There's coming a day around here, where I won't be in the kitchen much (because I will be taking care of Peanut and sleeping a lot), and my kids must be able to know their ways around the joint in order for them to be able to eat and live.  But I got to thinking that maybe some of you could benefit from some of our recipes and such, so occasionally I will post about some of our culinary endeavors with recipes and how-to's.  Just recently Pioneer Woman announced that she's doing this too, so you might swing by her cooking site to see what her kids are cooking as well, although the first kid recipe she posted was carrot soup, and that just wouldn't fly around here.

A couple of Fridays ago, Harrison made his first cheesecake.  We happen to adore cheesecake around here, so this was a BIG deal.  This is an easy recipe for kids because it doesn't involve baking, and it's a good recipe for pregnant women who want to lick the bowl because it doesn't include raw eggs.

First, he made the crust...

...which includes graham cracker squares, butter and sugar.  Kids might find it more fun to crush the crackers with a rolling pin, but Harrison happens to be fascinated with sharp-bladed objects, so we used my Kitchen Aid food processor.  I happen to be fascinated with less mess, so it was a win-win situation for us.  After pulverizing the crackers, he mixed them with the sugar and butter and pressed them firmly into the bottom of a spring-form pan.

Now it's time for the good  stuff:  the filling!

This filling consists of only one 8 oz. package of creamed cheese, a cup of whipping cream, sugar and vanilla.  He used my beloved Kitchen Aid stand mixer to blend it all and then spread it evenly onto the crust (which had been in the freezer for about 10 minutes firming up).

Next up was the fruit topping.

We used canned mandarin oranges, but you could really use whatever tickles your fancy.  After arranging the fruit, you make a quick glaze that you pour on top.  Since we used oranges, our glaze was made from orange marmalade, heated on low until it was nice and melty.  If you used strawberries, you'd use some strawberry preserves.  If you used raspberries, you'd melt some raspberry preserves.  If you use watermelon or figs or bananas, you're on your own....

After the glaze, you simply cover the cheesecake with foil and refrigerate it for at least 6 hours.

Later, you have a dessert that any kid would be proud of and make goofy faces over.

Ingredients

crust:  14 square graham crackers, 1/4 c. butter, 1 TBSP sugar

filling:  1  8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened ,  1 c. whipping cream, 1 tsp. vanilla

topping:  2 small cans mandarin oranges, 1/2 c. orange marmalade (or whatever fruit you choose)

That same night, Annaleigh was in charge of the actual meal, although I think all of us were totally willing to just scarf the cheesecake and call it a night.  She made chicken fingers, dipping sauce, fries and a salad.

First, we made the breading for the chicken....

One thing that makes this recipe even more kid-friendly is the breading is made from a combination of Cheez-It crackers and regular bread crumbs.  And, you can see, we chose to break up the crackers in the the food processor and nix the rolling pin again.

Then she began the breading process...

I think anyone who has breaded meat before, probably knows this process.  She dipped the fingers in a little milk, then the crumb mixture, then arranged on a baking pan.  Obviously, you need to stress the thorough washing of hands since they are knuckle-deep in salmonella.  Then you simply bake in 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes or so.

And wa-la...

While the chicken was baking, we also threw in some frozen fries, and she prepared a salad.  She also made some dipping sauce, which consisted of some mayo, Dijon mustard, and honey.

Ingredients

chicken fingers:  about 1.5 lbs. of chicken breasts, cut into strips ,  1 c. of Cheez-Its, 1/4 c. dry bread crumbs, 1/2 c. milk or buttermilk

dipping sauce:  1/2 c. mayo or salad dressing, 4 tsps Dijon mustard, 1 TBSP honey (I melt in the microwave for a few seconds for easier blending)

Oh...and for Pete's sake, make them clean up the kitchen....

...or otherwise, what's the point?!

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...and, oh boy, is it great when they come from behind!  There's nothing more exciting!

Harrison had his first soccer game of the season on Saturday.  And while it delighted me to see him so excited about it, I was just sort of ho-hum about the whole thing.  I'm not a huge soccer fan.  Well, okay, I'm not a soccer fan at all.  I don't really know much about it.  I never watched it on TV.  I only played it in 8th grade PE and was humiliated to be the only goalie in our entire two-week unit to allow the other team to score.  I couldn't help it, but I was checking out a hangnail, and the next thing I knew a ball was kicked into the goal behind me.  It could have happened to anyone....I think.

So, anyway, we get up at the crack of dawn and trek to the field.  We went to the wrong one first, but that's another story.  When we finally got to the right place, we pack up our folding chairs, our cooler, and half us head to the bathroom, that half being myself and Indiana Mimi.  When we finally hike what seemed to be five miles to the correct field, Harrison's game is already underway, and they are losing 2-0.  Great...

(There's Harrison, in black and red, going in for the ball between two green guys.)

I know we as parents encourage our kids that playing sports is not all about winning, but who are we kidding?  We all want to win, and we especially want our kids to do well....and win.  It's just a cold, hard fact.  So we just all set up our folding chairs and settled in for what we thought might be a disappointing morning.  To make things worse the other team scored another goal.

(Harrison's team getting the mid-game pep talk.  Harrison's #5.)

(Three of Harrison's fans at half-time...do you call it half-time in soccer?...smiling, sort of,  through our sweat and tears.)

I love a good comeback, sports story.  I think ever since I was little and allowed to watch The Bad News Bears, I have loved that kind of story line.  (Not that I think that's a good movie for children because Walter Matthau and most of the adolescents cuss like sailors all through it.)  You always know how they are going to end, but you still sit through them anyway because they're fun and totally feel-good. Remember the Titans, Miracle, Facing the Giants, Rudy...I could go on and on.

Well, I'll just  cut through all the details of the second half and get right to the point....HARRISON'S TEAM WON THE GAME 5-3!!!!

The second half of the game it was like another team was playing.  They kept the ball almost exclusively on the other side of the field and scored goal after goal.  It wasn't a one-man show either.  They were passing and blocking and whatever other good things they do in soccer of which I'm clueless, but it was beautiful.  Just beautiful.

Harrison played goalie in the fourth quarter, or whatever they call it, and as you can see, had a pretty boring time of it, as his team kept the ball far away from their goal.  He did get to block once, and never was he caught picking at a hangnail like his mother so many years ago.

(The final "good game" hand shake.)

I guess the moral of this story is, that certainly winning is not everything, but it sure is fun....especially when you're down 3-1 at half-time...or whatever it's called.

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I know that I'm probably in the minority in this, but I really don't like summer all that much.  I don't like extreme heat, and I live in the south.  I don't really care for the beach all that much...or really the pool either.  Bright sunshine isn't my thing.  I prefer sweaters over shorts any day.  And I like school.

Yet here we are mid-September practically, the fall season is knocking on my door, and I find myself already looking back to a really great summer.  A couple of weeks ago I had my kids write in their journals about their summer vacations, so I thought I'd highlight a few of the things they wrote about as a sort-of farewell to the season.

Harrison:  "I went to baseball camp."

Annaleigh:  "I went to drama camp."

"We ate a lot of ice cream."

"We went gem mining when we were on vacation."

"We played on the Wii a lot."

"We spent a week at Ma & Pa's."

"We went fishing."

(Harrison:  "Psst...and mine was a lot bigger than Sis's!")

"We played in the creek with our dad."

"We went to a regional TKD tournament and won a couple of medals."

"We got our new curriculum in the mail."

"We visited Chattanooga."

Harrison:  "I learned to dive and swim more than just the dog-paddle."

Annaleigh:  "I attempted to do a can-opener better than my dad's."

Annaleigh:  "I had some...ahem...new developments.  Ha, ha...just kidding...I just learned how to fill the top of my bathing suit up with air and water."

"We watched our Mom's belly grow larger...

and larger...

and larger...

...and we can't hardly believe it, but it's STILL growing!"

While I can't really say that summer's my favorite time of year, looking back definitely makes me happy for the happy times with my family and the joy on my kids' faces.

Now, let's bring on the fall.  I'm tired of swollen ankles!

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Poor Thumper.  He never knew what hit him.

I think I feel the same way.  When I first heard about twitter I didn't know what it was, and I definitely didn't understand it.  But I kept hearing about it.  It was recommended...especially for active bloggers.  So I checked it out again.  Then I actually saw some people that I "know" using it.  So I signed up.

Basically, it is mini blogging.  Once you set up your account, which took all of about five minutes, you just post little vignettes throughout the day or week or whatever.  You only get 140 characters for each update, and yes, spaces count, so you can just say things like, "I just stubbed my toe on the kitchen table and nearly passed out," or something else riveting like that.  For a verbose blogger like me, it's a practice in self-control and a study of creative abbreviations.

At first I had no idea who in the world would want to know what I just put in my crock pot, but just yesterday I chalked up seven followers.  (Hmmm...followers...sounds like I'm starting a cult doesn't it?)  You can follow others too.  It's easy, as once you're following them, their updates post on your own personal page.

Of course, like anything on the web, there are sickos out there who misuse it, I assume, but you can block anything inappropriate and approve your own followers, etc.  I searched 'home schooling' yesterday, and found dozens of pages of like-minded individuals and some familiar faces whom I'm now following.

Confused yet?  I thought so.  You'll have to just try it out for yourself, I guess.  I'm not very computer-savvy, and I figured it out in less than 30 minutes.  Oh, and then they give you a code, where your updates will post on the sidebar of your blog or homepage.  See mine over there on the left.  It's red, and probably says something boring like, "I just finished going over H's Language Arts lesson," or something like that.  If you sign up and then want to be my follower, my name on that site is kellieara, since kellieann was already taken...the audacity!  And I promise there is no Kool-Aid involved in becoming my follower.

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.....than for my least favorite NFL team...

....to get trounced on their new, shiny home field by my very favorite NFL team.

Highlights included watching my least favorite NFL player....

...pout and act like an infant, while a dazzling new rookie....

...ran all over the field for over 120 yards.

Yes, a very good start to my week and the football season in general. Amen.

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***I apologize for the late hour of this post.  If any of you were thinking of joining in, you have probably by now gone on to blog about bigger and better things.  I got up this morning at 5:30am to post this, only to discover that our internet service was down...again.  I've decided that I really hate Charter.***

Tomorrow is Annaleigh's 12th birthday.  12th?!  Now, c'mon, this is getting ridiculous.  How did that happen?

How does this cute, chubby little infant who is about to chew on my table leg....

...morph, seemingly overnight, into this cute, tall, slender pre-teen who is about to chew on some chicken fingers and fries that she made herself?

Please, someone, help.  If you know the formula for putting time in a bottle and slowing everything down, I need to know....f-a-s-t!  I will pay top-dollar!

I know we're basically half-way through Friday at this point (curses on you, Charter!!!), but if you still have a flashback post lingering around, please post a link below.... 

I also wanted to let you know that I will no longer be posting my Flashbacks every Friday.  I'm not sure if there will be any rhyme or reason to when I actually post them....I guess when the inspiration hits.  I will try to let you know through the week before I post one, so that you can plan to join in if you'd like.

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I've been pretty slack in posting pictures of many of our lapbooks, and recently I've been bombarded with questions in-real-life about them.  It seemed much easier to me to just be more faithful in posting about them than trying to tote the little buggers with me when I'm out and about.

Recently, Harrison started his third grade year of science by studying dinosaurs, mostly from a creation perspective, which was interesting because dinosaurs, in many ways, don't really fit into the scheme of creation science it seems, as resources for that are few and far between.  If you're looking for a way to reconcile that issue, may I suggest this book...

We got it through using Sonlight Science 2, but it can be purchased separately through many different avenues.  It's basically a large (64 pgs.) picture book that you could read aloud in an afternoon or two, depending on how squirmy your rug rats are.  This book does a great job in explaining how dinosaurs fit into the Genesis account of creation, even once and for all settling the matter of whether or not they were on the ark!  It also explains away many myths and much Hollywood hype which have turned dinosaurs into things for the horror movies, instead of the real, magnificent creatures that they really were.  I learned a ton, and I think Harrison did too.

While reading through this book, I had Harrison work on various activities that I found mostly here on www.homeschoolshare.com .  In the end, here's how it all came together....

The cover, which was made from figures that I cut on my Cricut machine, using the paper doll cartridge.....

Harrison added the details with marker and googly eyes, and the title was made with just some scrapbooking stickers that I had on hand.

The inside....

Here's a close-up of the left side....

That type of booklet is called the matchbook, and they fold up with a picture on the front.  Inside he wrote the definitions.

A close-up of the middle panel...

Above is a graph showing the approximate heights of various breeds, and then below is a booklet that Harrison filled out by researching (using www.enchantedlearning.com) four different dinosaurs of his choice.

The right panel...

Above is a little booklet that displays the various characteristics of all reptiles, and then below is a memory game that Harrison made.  We even played it one night as a family...

...and appropriately, Harrison won the first round.  The rest of us were a little stupefied by all the complex names.

Then, finally, here's the back of the lapbook...

Above is a tab booklet that opens to each of the continents.  Harrison stuck small pictures of dinosaurs on the maps where archaeologists found their fossils.  Then below is a wheel that gives possible  reasons for the dinosaurs' eventual extinction.

Other resources that we explored are the following DVDs...

and...

The first is just a fun, computer animated look at dinosaurs.  It was definitely evolutionary in nature, but after reading the book I already mentioned, that didn't scare me.  I definitely want the kids to be knowledgeable about both perspectives.  It's narrated by Ben Stiller, so it was pretty entertaining if you're around the age of eight.  I think he says the word "poop" a lot, which is always good for a laugh around here for some reason.  The second one gives a biblical perspective of creation.  It wasn't as funny, but at least it's true.

Now we've started on birds.  Come back and few weeks to see how that one "flies"!

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Here I am on the threshold of my last trimester, so I thought it would be a good time to fill you in on how things are going with me and Peanut.

Basically, it's great!  I have to admit to you that I was a little intimidated about being pregnant at age 35 and then actually giving birth at age 36.  I know that people are doing this later and later, and I'm really more of an average age nowadays, but for me, I only knew ages 23 and 27, respectively.  But I have to tell you, this, so far, has been my best and easiest pregnancy.  I chalk it up to just being smarter about my health in general, and also being less of a whiner-baby.  But whatever it is, pregnancy in your 30s is just fine, and I highly recommend it!

I had my gestational diabetes test a few weeks ago, and that was fine.  Yay!  I always worry about that a little since I had a diabetic grandmother.  My doctor wants to do another ultrasound at 30 weeks as a precaution.  Apparently, my blood pressure was on the high side of normal at the beginning of my pregnancy, and the tendency would be, with pregnancy, for it to go up towards the end.  I also have a history of toxemia, actually having to be induced a bit early with Annaleigh for blood pressure reasons.  He just wants to check a few things and make sure we won't need to adjust when I'm having my c-section.  Speaking of that, I believe we will schedule that sometime this month, as it's customary to do that around 30-31 weeks.  Wow....I guess things are just moving right along!

When I first found out that I was pregnant, I was buying like crazy.  I think I sort of panicked since I didn't have any baby clothes that I had saved...well, at least not much.  So at Goodwill, at yard sales, on clearance racks, I was really stocking up.  Well, that has come to a screeching halt.  I realized about a month ago, as I was perusing my purchases, that I had all green and yellow things and a bunch of things with ducks on them.  That seems to be the going fashion for gender-neutral items.

Above is a small smattering from our green/yellow/duck menagerie.  So, basically, if you're a family member and thinking of buying something for Peanut, I'm really not picky, but please...no more ducks.  We're pretty ducked-up...er...that doesn't sound right.  I mean ducked out...ummm, well...I think you know what I mean.  And aren't we being presumptuous with the bibs?

I've also purchased a diaper bag....

I got that at a local flea market.  I saw a similar hand-made one on-line for close to $100, and I only paid $28 for this one.  I can go back after Peanut arrives and have a name monogrammed for $8, but I seriously doubt that I'll make the trip...especially with newborn in tow.  The bag can just remain nameless.  The bedding that I want to purchase for the nursery is a similar pattern.

And speaking of the nursery, we've made no progress in there except for removing the congas.  Sometimes I can't sleep at night thinking about how much we have to do in that nursery.  Well, between that and Peanut's healthy kicks to my sides, I'm not getting good quality shut-eye.

Here I am in my third trimester glory...

Oh yuck....I wasn't thinking about the fact that I was wearing my least-favorite maternity shirt for this picture.  Oh well.  Late pregnancy is definitely not the time for a fashion show.  It's all about what's clean and comfortable.

I'm still doing fairly well with my weight.  I had gained a total of 13 pounds at my last visit, which doesn't sound too bad, unless you factor that I had only gained 6 up until then.  So I had doubled my weight gain, plus one for good measure.  I guess the pasta and the avocados that I've been craving are catching up with me.  I'm not too worried though because soon my stomach will be squished to the size of a walnut, and the large portions I've been consuming will be a thing of the past.

So, a little less than three months to go.....Wait!  Only three months?!  I have to get off this computer and do...do....well, something!

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Ummm...basically it was an accident.  I never really intended to home school my children.  I had heard of it.  I had thought about it.  I had even done a little researching on it.  But I wasn't going to actually do it.

You see, both of the kids were born in South Carolina, and home schooling just wasn't done that much there then.  I only knew two home schooling families.  One was Big D's.  When we met, his mom was home schooling his two younger sisters, Rebecca and Susan, and both of them, while spending some time in private Christian schools as well, eventually graduated as home schoolers.  They were (and are!) bright young women and very non-weird, so I was mildly intrigued by their school experience, but at the same time I had no idea how to make it work for me.  Plus I was a college-degreed, state licensed educator, so I didn't believe in home schooling....right?

The other family I knew had a teenage son, who attended the Christian school where I taught for science class.   And he was weird...really weird.  I'm sorry, but he was.  I used to listen to my students berate him and laugh at him all the time.  And while that kid would have probably been just as weird if he had attended public school, I had my fears of the stigma, the wackiness that sort of lingered around home schooling.  And I'll be woman enough to admit that I wondered if my child would miss out on "stuff"...like eating in the school cafeteria, playing sports, going to prom.  I know...I know.  But then they were real fears.

Annaleigh's birthday is on September 6, and in 2001 was in every way bright enough to attend kindergarten.  We had decided that she would attend public school, since we lived in a good school district.  I was still going to remain a stay-at-home mom, so that I could chaperon field trips, bake cupcakes for her class and drive her to school so she wouldn't have to ride the bus.  Well, imagine the frustration when we found out that the cut-off to start school was a birthday before September 1.  She missed it by six days.  I even enquired into some private schools, but most went by the guidelines of whatever school district they happened to be in.

So, she just stayed at home with me, which was fine since I really wasn't trying to get rid of her or anything.  I just thought she was more than ready for school and would genuinely enjoy the experience.

Well, just a few short months later, Big D was laid off from his job, but was consequently offered a job at their corporate offices in Nashville, TN, so in October of 2001 we packed and moved because...well, we like to eat and all.  We weren't here long when I found out that Annaleigh could have started kindergarten here because their cut-off was a birthday of September 30.  Now, I felt like she was just missing out and would be by far the oldest kid in her class the following year.

But soon I started to discover a mighty strange thing....a lot of people home schooled here.  As a matter of fact, about 75% of our church was home schooling, and they were all basically normal.  I went to the library and checked out a bull-honkin' stack of books on the subject, and then I got on the Internet and read into the wee hours of the morning, and pretty much the next day I decided to home school Annaleigh for kindergarten.  Who cares if it was almost November by this point?  Who cares if I didn't know the first thing about purchasing curriculum?  Who cares if I couldn't identify the term umbrella school?  I just jumped in head first and never looked back.

In the state of Tennessee, kindergarten is non-compulsory, so I didn't register her anywhere.  I didn't buy any curriculum.  I just taught her stuff.  And we liked it so much that I kept her home for 1st grade too...and well, here we are seven years later, still home schooling.

I took the following pictures on our first "official" day of kindergarten...

Sorry that those are not the best shots.  I actually had to snap photos from my school scrapbook, and I was too lazy to even take them out of the page protectors.

What I found was that Annaleigh, having been home with me for the past five years, already possessed her basic kindergarten skills, so we just focused on some things that would help her for the next year, like handwriting and letter sounds.  By the end of the year, she was reading and doing simple math.

We also included some fun things, like hands-on history lessons...

Some basic science experiments...

Lots of crafts...

And regular Bible study, which usually included some type of drama.  Here's both of them, reenacting the Holy family at Christmas.  I think Harrison, at age 1 1/2, just thought it was fun to have a blanket wrapped around his head...

Annaleigh even went once a week to a Music Club with other kids...

But mostly, I just tried to encourage a love of learning in both of them.  I really desired for them both to explore and create to their heart's content.  Annaleigh decided that she wanted to be a drummer.  Well, a drum set was not to be at that point in time, so she found what she could in the kitchen and elsewhere and made her own set.  It was moments like this that really sealed the deal for me.

We've come a long way since that first year, when we would simply roll out of bed, and ask, "So, what should we learn today?".  But I hope that we haven't come so far with all of our books and schedules and such that we've lost our focus.  It's still my prayer that my kids will love to learn, that they will have a natural curiosity of God's creation and all that He provides for them, and that they can explore all these things in the safety and the nurture of their own homes and under the careful eyes and tutelage of the ones who know and love them best.  I thank God regularly that I had Annaleigh on September 6, or else our lives might have ended up very differently.

Do you want to flash back with us today?  How did you start home schooling?  Or maybe you'd just rather tells us why you once wore leg warmers over your jeans in 70 degree weather.  It's up to you.  Just come back and leave your link with Mr. Linky below so we can all come visit your blog!

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One of my favorite things to blog about is what we are doing here in our homeschool.  Something about it makes me feel all tingly inside.  I think it may be because on a day-to-day basis it seems like such a mess...like we're not getting anything done...like unproductive is our middle name.  Yet when I sit down at the computer to edit pictures and display for you all what we've been studying, it always looks and feels a lot better, seeing the big picture.

Anyway, last year I came up with the unifying title for these entries of "A Peek into Our Week," and then I would identify them individually with a volume number.  Well, it was cute and catchy, but it was totally inaccurate because I wasn't posting them weekly, and the misnomer was bothering me.  So, I've changed the name.  I'm also not going to number them because that's confusing, and I'm pretty sure I missed some numbers last year.  That's probably more information than you needed, but I just thought I'd start out with some clarification.

We started school a couple of weeks ago, so I think I've now accumulated enough photos and stories to make this interesting.  I hope.

We started slowly, with just math and language arts and a few other minor subjects.  I didn't do this because I'm a nice, considerate mom/teacher.  I did it because I was ill-prepared.  I had forgotten a couple of things in my ordering, so I was waiting for them to arrive, and I also had just spent the last few weeks before school overhauling my entire upstairs, so I was harried and rushed and frantic and desperate and....well, you get it, right?

I did end up doing a review of sorts in history with both kids.  Last year we studied the first half of world history, so I thought we'd have a refresher before we jumped in where we left off.  It also gave me the opportunity to pull out a few things that I had forgotten were on my shelf.  For Harrison, that meant this little gem...

Harrison was elated!  For a boy that loves violence, there's just nothing better that you can study.  His favorite part of this kit was the gladiator figure that you could dress up to be different kinds of fighters.  Please join us for our impromptu gladiatorial fashion show (Warning:  The following photos contain a bare-chested figurine!)....

Behold, the Thracian...

the Secutor...

and the Myrmillo...

Harrison's only complaint was that the kit did not come with two gladiators so they could fight.  I think this poor guy had to go a round with Darth Vader, and let me just tell you, those ancient weapons just don't hold up against a trusty lightsaber.

Both have gotten into their reading times, and we're finding that we're doing just fine without your traditional school room...

Harrison is doing well with his new English program, Shurley English 3.  So far, I really like it.  Here he's already labeling sentences with the parts of speech, and this was only after the first week....

He's also learned the four types of sentences and made three little mini books that he wrote and illustrated himself.  He says he likes it all except the vocabulary, so I think that's  a good sign.

I like for the kids to make notebooks for history.  Story of the World has companion activity guides that come with reproducible maps and coloring sheets and ideas for other hands-on activities.  Annaleigh, in particular, enjoys coloring the pictures for her notebook while I read to her.  These make good visual accompaniments for her chapter summaries that she writes.  She especially likes the scented markers that I bought for her a couple of weeks ago, but it is a little weird to hear your child say, "Mmmm...Mom, come here.  Smell this.  Charles V smells like fruit salad."

Another fun addition to our history program this year is the Geography Songs cd and book.  I used this several years ago with Annaleigh, and now it's Harrison's turn.  I'm always amazed at how quickly they can learn the names and locations of these teeny tiny obscure countries in just days when they are set to clever tunes.  Here's a brief video of Harrison singing the "Continents and Oceans" song in true Harrison-style... 

Annaleigh is using the Usborne Intorduction to Art and then on Fridays completing a project from another Usborne art idea book.  This is what she did last week...

I just love it, but she has vehemently declared that she now hates tissue paper and could care less if she ever sees another sheet of it.  Ever.

Annaleigh is attending a tutorial twice a week where she is taking classes in Logic, General Science and Drama.  On her science days, she's only there for a little over an hour, which is not enough time for Harrison and I to come home and accomplish anything, so we have turned our van into a makeshift classroom for that day.  Harrison isn't in love with this concept, but here he's completing his handwriting sheet without much complaint...

As if we needed one more stinkin' place to be in the afternoons, Harrison has started fall soccer...

So far, he loves it and comes home sweaty and exhausted, which are always good things for an 8 year-old boy to be.  Don't expect a lot of commentary from me on this sport because I basically know absolutely nothing about it.

In order to prepare for the upcoming upheaval of our lives called "The Arrival of Peanut," I have implemented a completely kid-planned-and-cooked meal every other Friday.  They have to be ready for when I am physically unable to hold my eyelids open or actually have the little suckling attached to me.  If they want food, they will need to know how to prepare it.  Last Friday they did a great job...

They made cheese tortelleni alfredo, bread AND dessert.  It was delicious...and they only tried to kill each other once.  Maybe twice.

Things are going surprisingly well, even though sometimes our days seem very long.  So, have you started back yet?  What's going on in your homeschool?  Let me know, okay?  Because basically I'm very nosey.

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Recently, I was tagged by my long-lost blogging friend Prodoceo.  The tag involves posting five quirky things about yourself, which is very, very difficult for me because I am very normal.  I'm talking very normal.  I mean I just don't have many quirks.  I fretted and sweat about this all weekend, but I've finally come up with five things which just might be considered quirky.  Maybe.  Possibly.  But probably not.  I think you will probably find me exceedingly normal after reading this.  I warned you.....

1.  I have double-jointed fingers, hands, wrists and toes.  I can do all sorts of weird things with my joints.  Look at this...

See my thumbs?  All I'm doing is kneading bread dough, and I just naturally turn my thumbs out.  I do the same thing with my wrists all the time, and I don't even think about it being weird until someone says, "Gross!"  I can also bend my thumbs all the way back to touch the back of my wrist.  It's a neat party trick.

2.  I have a thing for dressing up my pets in hats and clothes.

That's just a sampling.  I have many, many shots of each pet in various stage of dress.  It's a hobby of mine.

3.  I take a lot of pictures of my feet in order to record my presence at various places and events.

4.  I have to use a koozie for my canned drinks.  I just don't like holding wet cans, and then they also stay cold for longer.  Please see the exhibit below, to the right of my chair...

Another highly interesting tidbit is that I don't drink much soda.  The above canned drink is a carbonated water...one of my very favorite drinks!

5.  I take pictures of most of the cards that I make and send people because I'm a little afraid that I might make them a similar one in years to come...

Ewww...that last one I got a little sloppy with the glue.  Sorry to whoever received that one!  I guess it might help my system if I noted who the various cards were for....?

I think now I'm supposed to tag five more people or so, but that's yet another quirky thing about me:  I hardly ever follow the rules of these tags.  Sorry!  If you feel like sharing your quirks, by all means do.  I found it very therapeutic.

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As a teenager I think, for the most part, I watched most of the typical teen movies.  I was a follower of the Brat Pack and saw everything that starred Molly Ringwald.  Every now and then I get a craving for one of those movies that I haven't seen for eons.  Most recently it was Sixteen Candles, so over the summer I ordered it from Netflix and watched it alone one night after everyone had gone to bed.  Again, I found that what amused and delighted you when you were 13, does absolutely nothing for you when you're 35.  I didn't laugh, but I did cry....over the hour and half that I wasted.  It won't fail though....in about two years I'll do the same thing with Pretty in Pink or The Breakfast Club.  Some deep-seeded need for nostalgia will rise up, and I won't be able to help myself.

There's one 80s teen movie, however, that is the exception in that it is fairly decent.  I can watch it whenever I want and not feel dumber because of it.  It's this one....

This movie actually may have changed the course of my life.  I saw this movie the summer of 1989, right before my senior year of highschool, with my then-boyfriend of about nine months or so.   I was totally blown away by John Cusack's character of Lloyd Dobler.  He was quirky and believable and smart.  And I kept thinking, "This is the same guy who plays one of Anthony Michael Hall's cohorts in Sixteen Candles?!"  It's no wonder he's one of the few 80s teen actors to go onto have a prolific career.

Anyway, I was sitting there in the theater, beside my boyfriend, when on the screen a couple's love story was playing out that made ours look like plain oatmeal.  I couldn't help it, but I was comparing.  I was measuring.  And I didn't think that so-and-so beside me was making the cut.  In the scene of the movie after the break-up, Lloyd goes to Dianne's house and holds up his boom box while a cultish Peter Gabriel song is playing into her open window.  My heart stopped.  I knew that so-and-so would never do that.  And I knew that whoever I was going to be with for the rest of my life just had to have that in him.  Just to make sure, I eventually broke up to see if he would.  He didn't.  He just kept trying to get back together in other boring ways, which I just found irritating.  This is the song, by the way, with scenes from the movie... 

See what I mean?  Kinda gets under your skin, doesn't it?

Personally, I'm thankful to that movie and to that boom-box-over-the-head song, because a year later I met Big D, who is in every way even better than Lloyd Dobler.  He is quirkier, funnier, smarter and can do the worm.  Thanks Mr. Cusack for opening my eyes to the greener pastures!

Would you like to join us in flashing back to another time, another place?  C'mon....it's fun!  Sign in with the link to your post below, so we can come share!

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No, I am not going to talk about household chores...again.

I have gotten very behind in some things that I've had on my back burner for some time now.  I am very tired, and I needed a short entry for tonight.  Thus, you're getting this hodgepodge of topics all bundled into one.  I'm sorry, but I'm pregnant.  (That is one really good thing about pregnancy.  It is a great excuse for all sorts of slacker-tendencies.)

First of all, I was given the Art de Pico award by two of my blogging friends, natural paths and 4sweetums an embarrassingly long time ago.

It is for "those who nourish and enrich the spirit of creativity" and procrastinate about posting their generously given awards.  Just kidding on that last part, but I do feel very undeserving.  Thank you very much, my fellow bloggers!   It is a very great honor!

Secondly, I have seen two movies in the last month or so that I have failed to review.  Actually, I wrote up a very long-winded double feature on both of them late one night, back before we started school, and I was still staying u