What have I done with the day?

Sometimes I get to the end of the day and can't figure out what on earth I have done with the last 12 hours--why does my house still look messy and I still have a to do list a mile long? Here is just one reason I can't seem to get much done.
 

This little person has become very mobile.  In this case, someone left the pantry open while preparing lunch, and she decided to go exploring there.  Everything goes straight to her mouth.  She especially likes to crumble, tear, and eat paper.  This afternoon she found some cheese and ham crackers that Anya left on her little chair, and Paisley gagged on them, and threw up all over Ryan's office floor. She pulls up to things, so it's not just ground level that we have to keep an eye on. I'll have to teach the other girls to help me out with Paisley patrol.  She may just be our early walker at the rate she's going.

Look Who's 4!!

On Sunday we celebrated Anya's 4th birthday.  Her actual birthday was on Monday, but Ryan had to leave for a meeting in Chicago on Monday.  As noted in an earlier post, she has been obsessed with the American Girl, Kit, so she was excited to finally get Kit.  She loved her Barbie cake.  It's a good thing 4 year olds aren't too particular about the details-maybe someday I'll take a class and get some pointers on cake decorating.  Sometime around each girl's birthday we take them out for a special dinner date with just mom and dad.  We are looking forward to Burger King play place with Anya.  

Some things that make our 4 year old special--

She loves to color and do workbooks and is very careful with her coloring and crafts.  She amazed us with her skill at drawing a smiley face a few weeks ago in her church class, and can write most of her alphabet letters.

She is a real snuggle bug and loves to have someone snuggle with her at bedtime.

She has a great vocabulary and uses words that aren't common in preschool conversation.  

She likes to help take care of Paisley and brings her toys and gives her treats and picks her up.  

She is quick to forgive parents or siblings or friends who may hurt her feelings.   Everyone is her "best friend."  If you do something nice for Anya, she often says, "You're my best friend, you can come to my birthday."  If she doesn't like something someone says or does, she says, "You can't come to my birthday!"  

She is growing so much.  We love our Anya!

Harvest Season

One of the things I love about this time of year is seeing how our garden has grown. I have to give credit to Ryan for this one. He loves to plant things and watch them grow, and is always anxious to get seeds and seedlings in the ground in the spring. He also makes sure our garden gets watered, and he does most of the harvesting, and even cooks much of what he harvests. I just get to eat the good stuff. This year has been our most successful Idaho garden. We have had more squash and zucchine than we and our neighbors can eat, quite a few tomatoes, some beans and peas, cabbage, lots of herbs, a couple of apples and a couple of nectarines, and we even got a few ears of sweet corn, which we had tonight with dinner and it was delicious. We have several pumpkins growing that may actually be big enough to carve into jack-o-laterns or make into pumpkin pie in another 6 weeks. Very exciting.

I Didn't Plan to Be A Witch . . .

This is the title of another quick book I just finished, and one of my favorite books on motherhood. It's not so much a parenting book as it is a mothering book. It really reinforces our role and our worth as mothers, and reminds me that I'm pretty normal, even in my witchy moments. I laugh and I cry and I come away from each chapter reminding myself that I can be better, or at least pull out my witch hat a little less often. I read this about 5 years ago, and just pulled it off my bookshelf to loan to a friend and flipped through and ended up reading the whole thing again. Completely different things impress me based on my kids ages and stages now, compared to the last time. It's by Linda Eyre, one of my true Mom heros.

Junior High-by Christa

Just as a warning to all of you who are reading this, this is Christa writing this, not Kelli (Mom). 

So, as you may know, I "officially" started junior high this year. I am in 8th grade, but last year I homeschooled and went to the Treasure Valley Math and Science Center (TVMSC), where they teach advanced math and science classes. I am still at the math and science center this year as well. In the morning is when I have TVMSC. I take Accelerated Biology 9, Accelerated Algebra 2, and Statistics there. (For the second semester I will be taking Applied Research 1 instead of Statistics.) After TVMSC, then I go to my fourth period PE class at the junior high. (Second semester I will be taking health instead.) 5th period is lunch, after which I take Accelerated English 8. Then I have chamber choir (Esprit de Corps), which is the school's auditioned choir. Finally, I have world studies for 8th period. I like most of my teachers, especially my world studies teacher because she is really funny. My biology teacher seems to be a little strict and teaches more like a college professor would (at least my friends and I think so), but I think I will get a lot out of that class this year. I have several of my friends in my classes at TVMSC, and a few friends in all my other classes. But because I am taking so many advanced classes, I tend to have a bit more homework than most other students at the junior high.

In terms of extracurricular activities, I was planning on keeping this year a bit less busy, but I ended up with no such luck. I decided to do volleyball this year, and I was not expecting it to be so intense and rigorous. Practice lasts for an hour and a half after school every day unless it's a game day (our first game is on Monday!). I just stay after school working on my homework and practicing piano until volleyball starts. Despite the intensity, I still love the sport and am having tons of fun with it. But that is not all...  I am also involved in the school orchestra. Last year because I was homeschooling, I could come once a week and practice with the orchestra. The director loved having me in the orchestra a lot, but I really didn't want to take orchestra for my elective because I wanted to "expand my horizons". However, I got roped into the orchestra, so my friend and I are coming after school on Thursdays to practice the orchestra material with the conductor. So between orchestra and choir, we have many many performances in the school year. I will have to skip quite a few days of school to be with choir and orchestra at all their rehearsals and performances. In the spring especially, there are several days when I have to stay after school for two or three hours. On top of all this, I still am taking piano and violin lessons, along with attending Mutual every Wednesday and accepting the responsibilities that come with having five younger sisters. I am very grateful for Mom, the chauffeur of most of my crazy activities. I honestly don't know how I have time to even sleep!  I have little time for hanging out with friends, and almost no time to relax, except for on Sunday. Nevertheless, I am starting the school year off well (despite my annoying head cold that came about because of a sudden temperature drop) and I think this will be a great year for me. 

Election '08

We have spent a lot of time this week listening to speeches and to reaction to speeches on talk radio.  We have really been impressed with Sarah Palin as McCain's choice for VP candidate.  First of all, she is from Alaska and you know Ryan immediately loves any connection to his favorite place in the world.  While a Republican, she seems to be first a conservative, and will stand up to the Republican establishment when she needs to.  She has a great grasp on energy policy, which will be a huge issue in the next administration, because Alaska has so many energy resources.  She is the most connected to the real American experience of anyone in the election, or of any recent elections.   She is pro-life and pro-family and believes in less government involvement in our day to day lives.  She has really added some life and energy to McCain's campaign, and has reassured the conservative base that they are being represented.  We also followed the Democratic convention, and I just can't get excited about Obama.  While he is all for change, which would be a good thing, I'm not sure higher taxes and more government programs will solve any of our current problems.  It will be an interesting couple of months.  

John Adams

Our neighborhood book club voted to read David McCullough's biography, John Adams, over the summer.  While by no means a quick or light read, I have really enjoyed this book.  There are no monuments to him, like Washington and Jefferson, who were the President's before and after Adams, but he was one of the most dedicated statesmen of his time.   He was truly committed to the cause of American independence and endured considerable personal hardship in the name of liberty.  I was particularly struck by "The more things change, the more they stay the same"  as I read of the divisions within the country regarding socio-political issues, such as slavery.  We have different issues these days, but the same divisions remain.  Also regarding the role of the media in the political scene-has journalism ever really been unbiased.  It seems from the time of print, newspapers and pamphlets have been published more of a means of furthering one cause or another as opposed to just sharing facts.  The argument continues:  What is the role of government?  What do we as people expect from our government?  Then, as now, we see those who would like to have a larger, central government with more authority, and also those who believe the government should be more minimalist and allow for more individual choices.  One thing that really impressed me about Adams was his absolute integrity.  He always acted consistently with his beliefs, which we do not always find in politicians, then or now.  The book also gives a good view of Abigail, who was an amazing woman in her own right.   She endured years of separation and managed the household without her husband for a good portion of their married life.  Very impressive.  (Another good book I read a few years ago relating to this time period is Founding Mothers, by Cokie Roberts.)  Highly recommended reading for anyone who would like a glimpse into one of our nation's first and dearest champions and the Revolutionary time period.