Not the Zofran

 Ivey: "These cookies and a science experiment made my tummy feel better! I ate them, and did science, and now I am fine!"

Me: "Could it be the pill I put under your tongue?"

Ivey (smiling like Will Ferrell in Elf): "Nope!"

Polaris Camp

It may have been rainy, and one kid may have been in a cast, but the boys made it to Polaris this year!  They had a great time, and I think getting out of the house right after Christmas was probably a good choice for them.  They needed a little less sister-time and a little more boy time!

From the Heart

During our tree decorating, one of my favorite ornaments fell and shattered. I was pretty sad about it. I held it together pretty well, but it really was one of my very favorites, and I was visibly upset.  On Christmas morning, I unwrapped a gift from Asa. He had gathered the pieces and glued them all back together again!  Sweetest and most thoughtful gift of all time.  I love this ornament more now than I did before!

Happiest Time of the Year

 Ivey (said in a loud song, while doing a little dance):

"It's Christmas time! You can stay all day in your pajamas, or in no pants!!"

Christmas

I tell ya, this was a Christmas to remember.  First off, the rain was relentless.  It came down and would not stop.  Everything was flooded!  The animal areas looked like a solid sheet of standing water.  It was awful!    Because of all this mess, my heat lamp in the chick brooder fell off the top of the box and landed onto a tupperware lid.... which caught fire.  I saw smoke billowing out of the chick brooder and had to open it up, deal with unplugging the light (which was sparking), and not get killed since I was standing in ankle deep water.  Fun times!  At the Christmas Eve Eve party, Asa decided to use Mim's elliptical machine to play "Catapult the Cousins". He hurt his arm pretty badly, but toughed it out until Christmas Eve night when he looked at me and said, "Mommy, I need to go to the Emergency Room."  So, our family had its first cast.  Just a few hours later, on Christmas morning, Addison woke up at 5:00am and puked off the top bunk of his bed... straight down into many different Lego bins.  Nice way to start the day, huh?  Even though I had to wash groups of individually separated Legos in different lingerie bags, it was still a wonderful Christmas!  God is good.  So very good.  I am excited for the changes that 2015 brought (even though our nerves are shot!), and I am ready to see what 2016 holds in store.

Virtuoso Christmas Concert

Addison did an amazing job in his recital!  They played for 2 or 3 but a BUNCH of pieces of music, and they were all challenging!  I am just so very proud of these kids and director who, unlike public or private school, meet only once per week for rehearsals.  I believe there were only 7 practices together before this Christmas concert, and that impresses me very much!

Olive's Prayer Log

 

Star Wars Day!

It's a big day today.  There is a buzz in the air.  It's one of those rare occasions where you want throughout your day and feel in tune with a large number of the people passing you by.  It was a day when your 5 year old marched around everywhere she went in full Princess Leia buns.  It's Star Wars release night... and this momma surprised her family with tickets to the first show on opening night.  Yup.  I rock.

I was so very glad the girls could come and experience the electricity that is in the air at a movie showing like this.  The crowd participated.... they clapped... they laughed... and Ivey and Olive was looking around in wonder. 

It was a great night, and I am glad we made a big deal out of it....
Cause it's kinda a big deal.

Field Trip!

I took all four kids (one of them against his will) to see the shortened, school field trip production of the Nutcracker at the Fox Theater.  We maneuvered our big ol' bus right through the city streets and even managed to park without too much issue.  The kids really enjoyed this special pre-Christmas field trip!

Personal Assistant

 Starting to figure out that this uptight 5 year old who loves organization to a fault could actually turn out to be a pretty darn good personal assistant. She's great with a schedule, doesn't sugarcoat things, and she even takes dictation. I appreciate not only her list for me, but for the little handy check boxes out to the side.

Olivisms

Olive: "I don't like word problems because I think too much about the words and not about the numbers!"

Me: "Well, you need the words to know what to do with the numbers. They are both important. See, I'll tell you a story and you tell me if you need to add or subtract.
'Simon killed 3 squirrels...'"

Olive: "SUBTRACT!"

Me; "Wait! You don't know the rest of the story yet. You can't know it's subtract because I'm not finished!"

Olive falls into stress mode. Shoulders raised. Eye brows furrowed.

Me: "I haven't finished, Olive. What are you subtracting?"

Olive: "The number of squirrels from the whole number of squirrels in the world."


______________________________

Olive: "Ooh! Can we play the video games!?"
Me: "No. I don't have any quarters."
Olive: "Okay."

Olive looks back up at me...
"I sure handled that well."


_______________________________

In response to our getting a livestock guardian dog, which will happen soon....

Olive: "I've never had a dog before. This is a big time in my life."



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Ivey, after trying on some new clothes: "Momma said this makes me look like I'm 8."

Olive, unimpressed: "Well, some people tell me I talk like I'm 8."

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"Momma, where is a clipboard??  Asa says I can have a 'play day' with him!"
(The girl loves to sit beside him and take notes as he plays Minecraft.)

______________________________________

Olive: "I love giving Christmas presents cause even if they don't like what you gave them, they can't say anything about it."

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Olive: "I did all my laundry before church, and now I have my whole day planned out."

 

Pizza Skin

 

Addison: "Ivey, are you going to learn to eat the skin of the pizza one day?"

Ivey (shouting): "No! I'm not going to learn ONE day... I'm gonna learn SOME day... but I might not!!!"

I swear, this child is Buck from Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs

Mulan

So, although Asa really didn't want me to take any pictures, I just had to post some!  Konos Juniors put on the musical Mulan, and Asa and his classmates did an absolutely fabulous job!  Although he didn't want to get up there on stage at first, by the end, Asa actually admitted that he had a great time.  What a production! 

Cutting and clearing and dragging and piling.....

 

The Great Reboot

We have dubbed October 2015 as "The Great Reboot".  Why?  Because our entire house project has taken a very major turn.  The closer we moved toward erecting our home in Senoia, the more I longed to stay right here in Inman.  It is my home. I was born here. I lived here for the first 18 years of my life. I love it here. My heart is here. Not only that, but my education program is here. I was going to have to put ALL that on hold while we were building our house, and have to build a place to use for classes on our property in Senoia. The farm, the classes, everything was on hold (or scaled down) to be considered after the house could be built. Well, we are STAYING and building HERE!!!

Behind my parents' house is a piece of property that I have been in love with since my childhood. I literally remember the first time I ventured through the woods, past the old shack, and found "the meadow". I swore it was magical. Elves and fairies lived there. The sun shone through the trees. It was my fairy-tale location... And now, it is OURS!!! Our animals can now graze in the pasture behind us, and our house will be built behind my parents!!

I know that we already had a foundation somewhere else. We worked HARD on it. The driveway, the clearing, tearing down the shack (Jeff and I have bought A LOT of shacks)... It was so much work. But, that is not a good enough reason to keep moving forward when it doesn't fit. I live a no-regrets life. This is where I belong.... Where my children belong... Where my program belongs.