Firstborn Boy

Happy birthday, Dave!

With his brothers.

Ah, what to say to the birthday child that hasn't been said in all of these years?  I may not have the coveted "FIRST" spot to wish you a happy birthday today on The Facebook, but no one can ever beat the mama to your first ever happy birthday.

First picture.  First time dressed as an alien.  First apartment.  LOL

You are my son, my friend, my truest first love.  You're funny (though a bit dark).  You're a pretty responsible guy.  There's no one else I would have wanted to "grow up" with.  I am so proud of the man you have become.

Such a little man.  With Loki and Ti.  (Short for Titanic Turbo Killer Kitten.)

You made me a mommy the day before Mother's Day.  The most wonderful Mother's Day gift a girl can receive.

With aunts, uncle, and cousins.  Top right: check out his hair.  Bottom right: not keen on a baby cousin.

I wrote this about you on The Facebook in 2012.

On this day in 1985, at 9:29 PM, I gave birth to my first son. He had tons of black hair. Who knew that 6.5 lb bundle would so completely rock my world? We grew up together, laughed and cried together, played together. I learned about the incredible bond with and love for our children that you don't understand until you have your own child. I experienced his fears and celebrated his achievements. I wished I could be sick in his place when he was ill. I would, and sometimes did, give up anything for him. I dreamed for him. I pray for him. I love him. Happy birthday Dave! Mom

The hair.

 Happy birthday to my number one son.  I love you!

THMJ Week of 5/11/14

    In my life this week…
My oldest baby boy had a birthday this week.  Love you, Dave!
Happy Mother's Day to all the mommy's out there!

    In our homeschool co-op this week... 
 Classes are *done*.  We took our year end, final, big hoopla kind of field trip this week.  There was an overnight in Mendon, Massachusetts where we enjoyed a pool, pizza party, and movie for the kiddos.

The next morning, we headed to the Southwick Zoo.  (I need to get some of these Field Trip Friday posts finished and put up!)

Co-op's closing and graduation ceremony was Friday night.  Xav was croupy, so he and Merrick stayed home with Micah.  Mal and I got to have a date night.  We had a lot of fun.  Micah set up the computer with the funky stuff his class programmed.  It had a temperature sensor and a remote control was rigged up to turn lights on and off and turn an arrow.  All pretty neat and way over my head.  Jasmine graduated from high school and Madeline graduated 8th grade.

    In Rangers this week... 
No Rangers this week - Mother's Day!

    What we're reading... 
Tim, Tobby, and the Train

    Places we’re going and people we’re seeing…
On the way home from our co-op trip, we stopped to visit for a few hours with Micah's college friends, Tom and Regan.  The boys *loved* their ginormous dog.  Even Xav, petted and played with her, and he is normally afraid of dogs.  She was just too sweet not to love on her.  Oh, and it was nice to chat with Tom and Regan as well.

    I’m cooking…
Frog legs with squirrel gravy?  Ummm... probably not.  I'll pick something a bit more mainstream.

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
New math isn't so new.  Abbott and Costello explain it in this video.

    This week's reviews...
Schoolhouse Review Crew Golden Prairie Press (including my own)
http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/golden-prairie-press-review/
Schoolhouse Review Crew Micro Business for Teens
http://schoolhousereviewcrew.com/micro-business-for-teens-review/

THMJ Week of 11/24/13

    In my life this week…
Thanksgiving was great, had all my boys home.  Xav is always super duper excited to see Dave.  He wants him to move back home.  He also wants Christine to come live with us for a year.  I think we'd need another bathroom or two.

    In our homeschool this week…
Another short week with two days off for turkey day.  Mal asked why we don't have school on Saturday and Sunday.  I told him we could if he wanted.  He declined.  We're schooling pretty much year round anyway, why not add more days per week?

    What we're reading this week...
Little Pilgrim's Progress (read-aloud)
*Finally* finished Call to the Heart and Thunder in Paradise: Satan's Last Storm. 
As an aside, why is Christian fiction so painfully mediocre?

    Around the house... 
Merrick has learned to take his clothes off and put them back on, but not that the temperature might warrant *leaving* them on.  His very own Thanksgiving party (video). 

    My favorite thing this week was…
Not getting sick.  Yeah, baby!  I dodged the sick bullet!

    My kiddos favorite thing this week was…
Probably Dave's visit.  Neither of the middles are very into real food, so the Thanksgiving dinner was nothing to them.  Weirdos.

    Things I’m working on…
Picking up the house and cleaning out.  One small fire at a time.  Not sure it will ever be done, but I'm determined to keep making "imperfect progress."

    Things Dad is working on...
Probably working hard to not go crazy since my iDaughter has given up connecting through our internet at home and is always using 4G.  Apparently Facebook uses up a lot of interweb stuff (I believe that is the technical name for it), and we will be charged $20 if I use any more magic, sparkle, interweb stuff before Christmas.  That's right!  FB used up my limit in a flippin' week.  Color me boggled.  Technology and I are not friends.

    I’m cooking…
We had bird and all the usual stuff for dinner.  I baked the rolls from scratch this year.  Sometimes, I use parbaked from the grocery store, but not this time.  I love it when it cools down outside and baking doesn't heat the house up.

    I could not get a decent picture of four boys to save my life!

    Something I am ogling or have my eye on…T25.  I have Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, but she says a few swears AND it ticks me off beyond belief that you can't FF through her intoblahblahblah, so I have to hear it every. single.  day.  I've been using Leslie Sansone's Shortcuts videos and she is sweet as pie and I adore her, but the workout is relatively light.  Anyone know if there are any swears on T25 Alpha?

    A photo, video, link, or quote to share (silly, serious or both!)…
This hilarious Pinterest board.  My imaginary well-dressed toddler daughter.

Sub-zero temps are waaaaaay to cold for November.  That kind of stunt has no business being pulled before January or February!  None. Oh!  And what in the world is "freezing fog?"  Micah supposes it's the kind you drive through and leave a car shaped hole.


Linking up at The Homeschool Mother's Journal!   At least, I will be if there is a linkup this week.

My Boys

I rounded up all the boys while Dave was visiting.

Merrick thinks his brothers' antics are so embarrassing.

When Company Comes to Call

***This entry got lost in the shuffle at some point and never got posted.  So...  a couple of years go by...  I think it's because the pictures aren't on my laptop.  That's my story and I'm sticking to it.***

I had some of my favorite girlies come to visit us for a long weekend recently. We had a blast, quite literally! ;)  OK, we let Dave join us. 

We took a trip to downtown Burlington (sans kiddos) where we wandered Church Street and saw a fun street performance of flaming hoop jumping. We wandered down to the lake and had a yummy lunch. We stopped at the Maple store and hooked Alonnie up with enough maple syrup to last a week or two. :D

Another night we watched the movie New in Town. It was predictable, but fun.

We also had lunch one day at Smuggler's Notch. Chef Boy R Dave prepared some of our food and briefly graced us with his presence.

I finally got to meet Lora's Carolyn.

Micah built us a sweat lodge (an igloo shaped sauna) that was fabulous! He did a great job. And after that, we came out and gorged ourselves on s'mores.

May - Maine and a birthday

Christian Friday School graduation was warm.  It seems like graduations are always hot and sticky.  It's *May*.  It shouldn't be that hot yet.  But it's always a joy to have time together with the Friday School families without worrying about classes and running araound.  I like to "do the chatting" with the other Moms.  This is a Mal's eye view of graduation.

Our Friday School trip this year was to Acadia National Forest in Maine.  We took an extra day to visit with Micah's college friends, Mat and Jen.  Mat wowed the boys with his model steam train.  That train turned out to be their favorite part of the whole trip!

We really enjoyed exploring the mud flats and tidal pools with our ranger guides.  It was a gorgeous day.

Merrick had his first bath in the tub.  He is just too big for the kitchen sink!

We were thinking he might end up being a redhead.

The boys signed a birthday card for Dave and I had to laugh when I saw what they wrote.  Completely unprompted and unassisted, Mal let Dave know that he loves him.  Xavier signed his name in "wizard writing" which just means curly letters.  He picked that up watching Disney's The Sword and the Stone.

Sharing this shot of Xav, just because he is adorable.

Yard clean up is still moving along.  Micah takes such great care of our home and yard.  I am so blessed to have this family.

Band of Brothers

The first time Mal and Xav got to see their new brother.



Can't really spend the whole time looking at a boring baby.

Xav is super excited to be a big brother!

All four of my baby sons. {LOVE}

Lego Maniacs

What do boys do when there are only *two* Lego catalogs?

Catching up November

Gratitude tree.We had lots of company.Thanksgiving dinner.Playing in the snow.

Early Birthday Party

Some of you know my birthday was last Tuesday. Fewer of you know I have a step-daughter. The bigger has an older half-sister. I loved her when she was a baby and a toddler and a preschooler. Then for various reasons she was not a part of our lives. The bigger found her again a few years ago and I saw her briefly shortly after that.

Well, I was so excited to hear she was visiting Dave last weekend. I invited them over and used homemade pizza and decadent birthday cake to lure them away from the sights and delights of Vermont to visit with me.

I face a bit of a conundrum where Big Sis is concerned. I have not been with their father since she and the bigger were much, much smaller. So, the $2M question? Is she still my step-daughter? I don't know if divorce, time, and distance can nullify that kind of relationship, but I never stopped loving my first (and only) little girl. I hope her mom is OK with that.

Anyhoo, here are some pictures. I know she is looking forward to seeing them too.
I don't think anyone was quite prepared for the cold snap! Brrr!Cass is so funny.All "my" kids.And the absolutely delish pizza Micah made. Regular and Buffalo Chicken. That's all that was left after dinner and by the end of the night, they were gone too!