Horseback vandals.

Last night at sometime way-past-Gabe's-bedtime I heard a loud, extended crashing sound accompanied by a long, pressurized stream of cursing from Dan.  I rushed to the bedroom and found the flat screen TV lying on its side on the floor (still playing his movie), the video game system also down, along with a bunch of stuff from the shelf.  Gabe had gotten out of bed to wash his hands and tripped over a cord, ripping the earphones off Dan's head and nearly taking down this entire shelf!

As anger finally turned to humor Gabe said, "Dad, I know it's not funny.  But my brain keeps telling me to laugh."  

Last night somebody egged Brian's car.  This morning the kids went to the stake picnic at Brian's church (which I missed because of Max's nap).  When they got home we found out that Granny and Gramps' house had also been vandalized.  So we went to check it out ...

The boys were excited to try to solve this crime!

Gramps had cleaned up most of it by the time we got there but you can still see some t.p. dangling from the trees.  Apparently this is the second time someone has wrapped the house, recently!  (The last time they smeared pudding on the windows too.)  Granny was watching TV at 11 p.m. and heard something hit the window.   Susie next door drove by at midnight and said the house was already wrapped.  Apparently judging from the tracks in the area last time, our vandals may be coming on horseback!  (You'd think that would narrow down the list of suspects considerably ...)

The victims discuss the crime ...

Max provided entertainment by trying to eat the grass and being generally cute.

While digging his garden, Mark discovered the burial site of this action figure from Dan's childhood.  Here's Gabe holding up the grisly remains of the unknown headless figure.  (Apparent cause of death was a bb gun.)

Some of the kids have colds today.  Gabe is sniffling.  Nathan has a fever.  Max is still okay.

Today we went to Target to buy new jeans for Gabe.  He decided to buy a Venom toy this week instead of the Spider-man pictured yesterday.  Because, ya know, he has plenty of Spidey toys.  And he needed another Venom ...

Whose kid is this?

Whose kid is this, that's been following me around all day?

When I asked him to do things, he said, "Sure!"  He told me that my french toast is "Heaven on Earth."  

He did his homeschool slowly, but without griping!  He looks like my kid but I swear I've never met him before.  Hmmm ... I know!  This must be the kid who wants two toys this week instead of one!

The Hulk ...

... and Spidey.  Now don't get me wrong, this child has probably ten other Hulks and ten Spider-men.  (But these are different somehow!)  Daddy said he could have them if he was really cooperative for the next two days.

  

We had an early start to our day when Max awoke screaming and crying about his teeth.  Can't wait for those little daggers to break the surface of the gumline.  Poor Maxie!

Gabe drew pictures of Thoth and Osiris today.  He mentioned that he was disappointed that our studying Ancient Greece now has taken up all our time for studying Egypt!  (Guess maybe it wasn't time to move on yet.)

He says that this is an especially big marshmallow man, because below him is the Empire State Building.  Except Gabe has always pronounced it the "Ant-pire" State Building ... sounds like "ant pile."  I told him a few days ago to say "M," as in the letter M.  "EM-pire State Building."  Now whenever he says it he pauses before he produces the word, trying to say it right.

Daddy likes to play with Max.  Except when he looks like this!!

"Aren't I being good today, Mom?  Do I get my toy?"

No-talent Day at Gabe's school.

I had Gabe fairly excited about the talent show his school was supposed to have today!  Mom volunteered at the school today, and I thought she might get to watch it too!  But it didn't happen.  Why not?  Because ... no one had a talent.   I guess everyone wanted to watch, but no one had anything to perform.  (sigh)

Gabe and Max playing after school.  When I make he makes his poster about the human brain and brings it to school next Thursday, we will also bring our special brain gelatin!  The brain jello mold is on the chair here.

This is the pop-up book about the human body Gabe brought for show and tell today.  The front cover has a brain that lights up.  The first page opens a rib-cage and emits a heartbeat sound.  Here's the digestive system.  (I think the raisins in the background add something.)

The puppy is nearly bigger than Fidget now.

Joe, scaling the fence to come play with Gabe.

Nathan is usually in a better mood than Brian.

Maya, playing dolls with Mom.  Mom is always asked to play the "bad guy" character.  (Poor Maya is up on the table because she's terrified of Fidget.)

Late for his nap by "outside fun" time, Max was in danger of falling asleep at the wheel.

Maya, Joe and Gabe enjoying popsicles even after it got cold outside!

Daddy's work-from-home day.

We love having Daddy's work-from-home day on Wednesdays! 

He puts in four hours of work from home while Gabe does homeschool, and when Gabe is (almost) finished, we can go out!

So we went to use up the second of two Applebee's gift cards we got for Christmas.  We didn't even realize it was Kids Eat Free day!

Max does pretty well at restaurants ... Such a refreshing change because we couldn't take Gabe anywhere!

Gabe said, "I'm going to get Max to smile and take a picture of him."  And he did!  Max's teeth are still bugging him but he's quiet about it until he gets sleepy.

Weekly trip to the library.  The self-checker machine wasn't working and the lady at the desk looked irritated with me.  I guess they don't appreciate it when you check out more books than you can carry and keep your request lists maxed out?  Also, when you have memorized the 14-digit library card numbers of three people and use them to check out overflowing crate-fuls of books?  I told Dan, "I don't want them to be mad about it.  I don't want to be that lady."  He said, "Oh, I'm sure you're that lady."

We found deer tracks in our backyard.

Enjoying the sunny day!

Dan has to commute to Rice every other weekday, so we love our Wednesdays!

Sneaky baby.

Pssst ... shhhhh!  This is Max, typing my Advice Column for Babies while Mom isn't looking.  

QUESTION:  What do you do when you know your mom made you a vaccine appointment in the morning?  

ANSWER:  First, wait till about 11:30 p.m. the night before, and then start hollering and screaming like a banshee.  It's important to keep it up and not be consoled by nursing, holding, dancing, or a warm bath.  (Important note:  When you hear your mom mention going to the ER, it's time to take it down a notch.  That would defeat your purpose.)  If you're lucky, in the morning she's still going to be worried that you're ill and hopefully cancel your appointment altogether.

Here is the sneaky schemer.  No shots today.

I think he's teething again.  He has six teeth, and I think I see where some more might be trying to come in on the bottom.

I made blackened fish leather and steamed cauliflower for dinner.  (Okay, I burned the fish.)  Burnt fish does not make your house smell good.  Nor does steamed cauliflower, even if you cook it right.

Gabe came home and said two of the boys at school were playing "keep away" from him.  Bullies at a Christian homeschool school?

We got the official e-mail that his school is closing after this year today.  They're going to complete the year as planned until May.

Right now in Gabe's class they're studying the human body.  Today he was assigned to make an informational poster about the body part of his choice.

So tomorrow we'll be looking for books at the library about the brain!

Barn Fun:  Lounging around with Buddy and watching The Simpsons.

Hey!  My teeth are still hurting.

Wonder what I'll do tonight ...

On the horizon.

We started out the day doing multiplication again.  

Here are the finished products for Osiris and Isis, the Egyptian god of the land of the dead and his sister/wife (that part is always difficult to explain).  I tried to sculpt them to be sturdy and stand up.  (Okay, so Osiris still falls over.)  Before I baked Isis I thought she looked like a mole.  Gabe said she looked like a troll.  Genuinely trying to be sweet last night he says to me, "Mom, I'm sorry you're doing such a terrible job with Isis.  I like her anyway.  But you can make another one, if you want to."

Next we took a field trip to visit a homeschooling enrichment center where Gabe will probably attend weekly classes next year.  They teach geography, sign language, science with lab, drama, and P.E.  Seemed pretty nice, and we were looking for an alternative since The Light House will probably go out of business next year!

Coming up soon we will be starting our study of Ancient Greece!

Here is the good stuff we'll use to start our unit and try to spark Gabe's interest in Greek mythology.