The Problem with Phonics

Until today I never really considered the possible downside of teaching a child to interpret the English launguage by using phonics. Now I know!

David sat in Church with me today because he loves to watch the band play. The electric guitar is his new favorite. Anyway, toward the end of the sermon he was getting a bit antsy as most 5 year olds do. He picked up a pen and started writing on my sermon notes. He asked me how to spell "fart". Like any good mother I refused to tell him. So, being the determined little bugger that he is he did it on his own. He went fffffffffffffffffffffff and then wrote F. He proceded to write the whole word and then proudly showed it to me. A couple of minutes later he is tugging on me and says "mom, how do you spell stink." Again I would not tell him as we are in the midst of a sermon. He sounded it all out and came up with S-D-I-N-K. I was quite proud of him but really, couldn't he have picked some more appropriate words...at least for church?

I wanted to take a picture of the paper but I accidentally left it at church when I showed a friend his handy work.

The best toys

After a visit to Uncle Karl and Aunt Steph's house the boys have declared that they would like to move in with them! Apparently Uncle Karl has better "toys" and is WAY more fun than us!

Thank you for a great time as always Uncle Karl and Aunt Steph!

Sunday Bonding?

Is this what Sunday afternoons look like at everyone's house or is it just us?

Poor Kem is trying to teach our boys the fine art of watching football and "resting" after church on Sundays. Clearly, they are not exactly getting the whole concept.

Happy Birthday David!

Okay, so David's birthday was the 13th but I am having a hard time figuring out when to fit blogging into my day.


David wanted Chocolate Cake with Chocolate icing and sprinkles in rows for his celebration at preschool so that was what he got. He also insisted on wearing this shirt because it is green (his most favorite color). It suits him perfectly...it says "been there, wrecked that" and has a wrecking ball on it!

Here is Levi digging into David's cake at preschool

Yep, chocolate cupcakes for his after dinner celebration because the kids ate every last bite of the cake!

David scoped out a marble set at the toy store. He was so excited to see it for his present. Actually he picked out a simpler version but have you ever sent your husband to the store and told him to by the more simple of two items. Obviously he is going to come home with the one with all the bells and whistles instead which was the case here. It took Kem at least an hour to assemble it and he didn't finish until after the kids were asleep.

The boys were so excited about it that they woke up at 5 am the next morning and quietly went downstairs to play with it.

Happy Birthday David...we love you big time!!

We can't wait for Grammie to get here this weekend so we can celebrate some more.

scrapbooking and other exciting things!

I haven't been taking pictures of the kids recently. Do you go ever go through phases like that where you just have so many pictures and you know you'll never get them all organized and in the scrapbook so you just stop for a while? I definitely do. My cropping table became every one's dumping ground so I cleaned it off and set it up so I can actually get something done again. I was so overwhelmed with all the pics and papers I had that I just let them stay neatly stacked on my shelf. Yesterday I was at a crop for most of the day. Although I didn't get any pages done I did get pictures matched with papers so when I have time I can just pull out a folder and go. I did a page once I got home last night which was so fast and easy. I am excited to be scrapbooking again after a lengthy hiatus.

You may think that since I haven't been blogging that my house might be clean but no such luck! I have also been taking care of our new grass that Kem planted. I had to mow to mulch the leaves so they wouldn't kill it. I also had to spread manure compost on it. That was a barrel of fun!!

Now that David and Levi are in preschool on Tuesday and Thursday mornings I have started volunteering in the Library at Eric's school. I LOVE it! Suddenly I want to be a school librarian!

Handy Dandy Husband

...so our well has been acting up for the last couple of weeks. Since there has been a drought some people have wells that are drying up. A friend of mine just had to drill a new well at the everyday low price of $5,000. Ouch! Needless to say we were a bit nervous. Kem being the patient and thorough guy that he is researched and asked people about it. Today he got the parts he thought we needed and headed into the crawlspace under the kitchen. A few hours and one more trip to the store an VIOLA! all is back in working order. It only set us back 100 bucks and now Kem has some cool new pipe wrenches which he is excited about.
The thing I love so much about Kem is his attitude about these things. Sure he's annoyed and frustrated while he's trying to figure it out but when he's done he always says something like "Wow, I'm kinda glad that happened because now I know a little bit more about ________ (whatever the problem was). I'm so incredibly thankful for how he takes care of us and how talented he is at figuring these things out. Sure, I may get a little annoyed in the moment when his drive to conquer the challenge at hand consumes him but it is always for our good and I am always glad in the end! Thank You Babe. You're the best plummer, electrician, daddy, husband, and figure outer of the things life throws at us. You are one handy gadget and I'm proud you're mine!

what we've been up to...

I am turning into quite the infrequent blogger. I decided I was on the computer too much and I was cranky to say the least. I decided to get away from the screen and focus more on my family and friends again. I'm starting to feel better. Anyway, Heres what we've been up to.

1. Eric scored his very first goal in his last soccer game! Unfortunately Kem and I missed it because...

2. We went away to Williamsburg Virginia and left the boys home with Grammie for the weekend! It was wonderful. We walked and talked and just relaxed. We didn't really take too many pictures but here is one of a church in the Jamestown settlement. Not too stunning I know but it proves we were there!

3. Levi and David both started preschool at our highschools vo tech program. I had two hours on both Tuesday and Thursday with no boys!. I think I could get used to this! Here's a picture of Levi. David, once again, refused to get his picture taken. He is such a bugger! Sorry you'll have to turn your head to see it. It shows up right in my photo manager but is being stubborn with me right now!
David and Levi both wiped their toothpaste on their school shirts. After changing their shirts they walked out the front door and went right into the dirt pile. I did not change them again. They went to school with dirty hands and backsides!

Call me twisted...

...but I actually enjoy when my kids have a fever. Yes I do! It honestly is the ONLY time when they STOP and snuggle with me. Sure I feel bad that they are uncomfortable and not feeling well but I love how much more peaceful the house is when even just one of them is down for the count. The fever and headache has made the rounds between the three of them. They each had it one day so I had a day to snuggle with each of them. I thought we were over it and ready to get back to real life when suddenly last night Levi threw up all over the computer with absolutely no warning! Yes, the keyboard I am typing on right now smells very bad! Does anyone know how to clean throw up out of a keyboard? Fortunately there have been no more incidents today but Levi is carrying his "chuck bucket" just in case. I hope you all are more healthy than we are!!

Delinquent Blogger!

I know I know!! I have been a delinquent blogger!
We have had discipline bootcamp at our house for the last two weeks and I am finally starting to feel like I can breathe again.
It was beautiful this weekend so here is what we did...

October 7th and it was about 90 degrees and the water was swimmable. Kem and I were bummed we didn't bring our suits because it was so hot. We hadn't been to the beach in over a month so it was a real treat to go again.

Anniversary Surprise

I know that you were all wondering what my Anniversary gift to Kem was right??

I wish I could say I was a really great gift giver but I am entirely too cheap and too

practical for that sooooo....

Here it is:

It appears as though it is just a kitchen but in fact it is OUR kitchen and dining area...and I painted them while Kem was away! I wish I could convey to you how nasty the walls were prior to the paint job, I thought about taking a picture but I just didn't even want to remember. The walls just had white primer on them and that was all stained from the kids food and smashed bugs and who can even say what else was on those walls that I couldn't get off. I painted the ceiling in both rooms and put primer on to cover the grease and crayon marks then painted the dining area country white and the kitchen red...which I was sooooooo nervous about but I think it turned out pretty good.

In case you are still a little unsure of what exactly the GIFT was here it is two fold:
1. Kem does not need to be involved in the painting in any way shape or form which means not only that he doesn't have to paint but also that he doesn't have to take all the boys out for a long period of time so I can do it.

2. (and this is the biggie) Kem no longer needs to hear me complain about how nasty the walls are!

**When Kem came home he didn't even notice right away. He stood at the table saying "it smells a little funny in here doesn't it? Like ammonia or something?" I said "maybe paint?" And then he looked up and said "oh, yeah like paint!" MEN!