Friday bullets, Sept. 8, 2017

I don't know about you, but I felt as though this week zipped by, but was also fantastically long, all at the same time.

  • A. took a video of Kenzie and Olive playing. They do this all the time. All. The. Time. 


  • Carpet ball. Do you know the game carpet ball? It's the single most popular game at church camp. It's hard to explain, so if you don't know it, just do a quick internet search. My children love carpet ball, and I guess they all played it a lot at camp. The current obsession this week is to build carpet ball games with the blocks in the toy loft. They have truly played this for hours this past week. They are trying to convince their father that what they really, really need is a real carpet ball game in the back yard. I think if we did that, we'd also have to invest heavily in catcher's masks.
  • G. has created a new imaginary character. His name is Dr. Hawk, and he is a mad scientist who creates creatures. We have had drawings about Dr. Hawk, stories about Dr. Hawk, games which involve Dr. Hawk. I have no idea where he came from, but I don't see him leaving any time soon.
  • The second day of school yesterday, was a little bit better than the first. The more uncooperative children were a bit more rational and cooperative. The schedule still works, even when I have to leave briefly to drive P. somewhere. So far, so good.
  • We had a sort of fusion dinner last night. That sounds better than throwing random things together because I didn't have the right ingredients to make what I had planned, right? The crazy thing was everyone loved it. First we cooked some cubed chicken in a little oil, and set it asside. Then we sauteed some sliced onions and diced potato (because we had three lone potatoes kicking about), until they were starting to get brown, then added in a can of diced green chilies. At the end put the chicken back in and let it cook a little longer. This was served on either corn tortillas if people wanted to go for a more Mexican type of meal, or on rice paper wrappers for a more Asian taste. For toppings, I roasted, seeded, and sliced some poblano peppers, put out salsa, and had sliced limes for the tortillas. For the rice paper wrappers there was shredded carrots, hoisin sauce, and black vinegar. Shredded lettuce went with everything. It turned out to be pretty good, and far, far less expensive than take-out. 
  • I have been a little bit obsessively checking the news on the various natural disasters taking place around the country and world. It is so easy to take our homes and communities for granted when everything is safe and fine. Please be careful and safe, everyone living in the paths of hurricanes and forest fires.
  • Tomorrow I have five students starting piano. Of course, they are five of my own children, but still... It counts, right? That is also five children who will all be using different method books because they will all be in approximately the same place, and this way no one can compare themselves with their siblings. Some of the methods I have never taught from, but come highly recommended. It could be a steep learning curve for me.
  • I have been informed that the stable next door has kittens. I have also been informed that said kittens are very cute. If said informants were paid in kittens for mucking stalls, I don't think they would turn them down. Thankfully they are paid in money.
  • Last night G. announced to J. and I that we were to call her Sara from now on. No, we don't know why. Later she relented and told us that we could keep calling her G., but that all the younger people had to call her Sara. K. then piped up and announced that his new name was Drake. Drake?
  • I am afraid that nearly every child in this household is in desperate need of new clothes. They are all either too small, too short, or look as though someone mistook the rag basket for their dresser, but got dressed anyway. We seem to have reached the age with the younger half where hand-me-downs just are not effective anymore. I am not looking forward to the necessary shopping. Plus, how on earth am I supposed to find clothes for children who are nearly a size 10 in length, but a size 4-6 in the waist? 
  • Finally, the younger ones and I went to a homeschool game afternoon at our local library. The library has a good collection of games which can be checked out, and we were able to play with some of them. One of the games which was new to me was called Robot Face Race. It struck me as one of those great games to play with older adopted children who are still learning their new language. Uno is great, but really, how many times can you play it in a row? In this game, there is a board with a lot of different robot heads on it. They all have different attributes... different colored heads, eyes, mouths, and noses. There is a handy little shaker which slots a different colored balls into the four categories. For instance, a blue ball lands in the eye slot, a red in the mouth, a yellow in the head, and green for the nose. Everyone then pours over the board trying to be the first to find the robot with those exact attributes. You win a chip for each find, and the first one to get five wins. I wish I would have had it when we traveled to adopt Y. She liked playing games, and I didn't bring nearly enough variety to keep her interest. It would also be good for a younger child who is slightly passed Candy Land and wants to play 'big kid' games, but can't manage too much reading.

Comments

Evie said…
That game sounds great. I'd like to get it and use your affiliate link, but the link in your post is broken. I can wait to buy it till you fix it, if you can!
Carla said…
That game sounds similar to the Spot It" games. I have only the original "Spot It" game and really enjoy it. The down side is that I am of the age where I can see the match, but I can't think of the name of the object in time to win the point. I can imagine someone learning the language would also struggle. My 5 year old often just points if he doesn't know the name.
thecurryseven said…
Evie,

I have fixed the affiliate link. Thank you!!

e

Popular posts from this blog

Making bias tape... otherwise known as the Sew, Mama, Sew! Giveaway

Kenzie on the beach

Apple picking in the rain