I started making Medusa's head during Max's nap today. Don't look!!
The next two photos are of my kids, looking like monsters after eating some poorly-chosen, intensely-dyed popsicles.
I hate buying myself work time with a popsicle. But darn, does it work. (This one allowed dinner to get made.)
This poster is for learning Spanish in our co-op. (To be sung to the tune of Frere Jacques.)
Bought the time to make that one with a page of review math for Gabe, and Mom watching Maxie.
After homeschool, Gabe has usually had enough of listening to me. When he doesn't answer, I know it might be because of the headphones (but not necessarily)!
Here's Gabe's latest drawing of Broly (who is a villain, apparently, and not a hero like I thought before).
Every year, right at the beginning of the fall, our yard is graced by yellow daisies growing everywhere!
They appear right after the purple mossy flowers, decorate our yard for about a month, then disappear right before the Halloween party.
So, they are a happy reminder of the change of seasons, and the coming of the BEST time of year!
On the homeschool front, we have just wrapped up our units on weather and Mexico (although I'll keep teaching Spanish at co-ops). Now we are on to learning about the changing seasons, and also ...
Halloween, and ...
Italy!! (I decided on Italy one day when I was craving Italian food, but it can also play into the Renaissance theme our co-op is doing before homeschool day at the Ren Fest.) If anyone has suggestions for Italian books/movies/experiences (or restaurants) I'll take them!
Gabe doesn't care for math or writing, but he does seem to enjoy the unit studies. We're also working on some Spanish and learning a bit of sign language together to go along with what he's learning in classes.
Time for more of Gabe's art! Here's Goku ...
... and Majin-Buu, a couple of favorites from Dragon Ball Z. Gabe plays the video game and watches some of the cartoon saga every night.
Here's the silly way Dan had dressed Max when I got back from my run tonight!
Over the past few days Max has become very good at saying "Buddy." Now it's his favorite word!
Here he is visiting Buddy last night! (The first thing you see him do is hit himself in the head with a little piece of cardboard and say, "Ow!")
He tries to say "Grandma" too, but it always just comes out sounding the same as "Mama." So ... there are three people that Max refers to as "Mama:" me, mom ...
... and Dan! (Although an occasional "Daddy" has passed his lips, Max seems to be calling Dan "Mama" nowadays.)
He can't say "Gabe," but he is quick to point when you ask him where his brother is!
Gabe and Mom had a hectic morning getting to his little class today. I knew something was amiss when I discovered his lunch box still in the fridge ...
They had forgotten his lunch and had to stop to buy him something. As it turned out, he also spilled juice all over his pants on the way to school, and they had to stop at Target and buy him a new pair! Then the pants turned out to be too big for him, so they had to buy a belt ...
Sounds like they had quite a time! Apparently some of his important drawings got food on them and got messed up. Then this afternoon Gabe's video game locked up on him, and he was upset that he didn't get to open a package that had his name on it. I guess it was Gabe's no-good, very bad day. He seems to have a bit of a cold too. Last night in bed he was sniffling so much that I dreamed he was blowing up a raft. Poor Gabe!
Max is at the stage where he appreciates airplanes. He says, "Wow!" every time one goes by.
Here's a great picture Gabe drew of Broly, one of the Dragon Ball heroes.
After our morning lessons today we went to visit another homeschooling family. The mom, Cindy, is teaching an etiquette class! So Gabe spent the afternoon learning about phone etiquette ...
What I didn't realize at first was that Gabe thought this class was punishment for some specific incidence of impoliteness on his part! (When he found out it wasn't just for him, he was a bit happier about going.)
Afterward I taught the kids my (same) Spanish lesson. Here's Max, once we got home, emptying a box of crayons all over the floor.
Oh, and hey! I need more boom boxes for Halloween! I'm going to buy batteries for them and put them in the woods for some awesome sound effects. If you lend me yours, I promise not to leave it outside and let it get messed up. Also, I promise that the above will not happen to your radio ... (The above piece of junk does not work anyway, so it is Max's toy/decoy radio.)
Today Buddy went to Bev's house to pick up Jamey's Halloween witch.
Jamey constructed this lovely lady, named her Hazel, and kept her in their driveway every year for trick-or-treaters! We are happy to have her as an addition to our Halloween decor this year!
Dan got this in the mail today. I thought it was going to be some kind of an exit survey from Rice, since he just quit working there. But instead it is a notification of identity theft. Somehow they let his all of his personal information, including his social security number, slip out of their hands to a third party. Notice how this is marked CONFIDENTIAL. A little late for that gesture, I'd say!
So, they offer some kind of service that checks his credit at intervals to make sure no one is using his identity. Hmmm ... we'll see what happens.
I had actually been dreading today since it's the day Gabe had to write back to his Korean pen pal. Gabe does not like to write at all. I didn't think we'd get through the letter, but we did! (And then he went on to zip through three pages of math, remembering perfectly from last year how to "carry the ones!" Wow!)
Of course, most of the pen pal letter was in my words, not Gabe's. He got the handwriting practice, though. We answered all of the boy's questions. The main thing Gabe wanted to communicate to him was "not to write such a long letter to me next time." This comment, of course, was vetoed!
I took the boys grocery shopping this afternoon!
We always manage to come home with a toy of some kind. This is "Shy Guy." (I'm such a sucker.)
Gabe is moderately helpful when he comes along. He keeps Max entertained!
Even Maya was able to keep him entertained for awhile today!
Max quit having diarrhea last night and quit running fever this afternoon. But he is still not a happy camper!
I'm not sure what is causing him so much discomfort. Guess I won't find out till I come down with it.
We went up to Granny and Gramps' for dinner. The whole time Gabe was obsessing about whether one of the other kids was going to go in our house and take his balloon. (What?!)
Not sure how other families do it, but whenever one of us is whining all day, we all tend to get in a crappy mood.
Granny and Gramps' cat, Stinky.
I'd say it's a pretty safe assumption that my break tonight's gonna be short, so I'll stop right here. Please feel better, little Maxie! We love you so much!
