Interesting Thinks - 8/25/2013

Make Ahead Cold Lunches {A Weeks Worth of Cold Lunches in a day!} @ Happy Money Saver 

Google Science Fair

Higher Education Wasted on Stay-at-Home Mom? Hardly @ The Sutherland Institute and then O, Alma Mater @ Verily Magazine

Pieces of Autism Puzzle Slowly Coming Together @ Psychiatric News

Schools Put Child in Special Ed, Tell Mom He Can't Learn. Now He's Free, and On Track to Win a Nobel Prize @ The Libertarian Republic

Have you seen this? Love song of all love songs @ KSL

You Do Matter @{In the Head of Al Fox}

Fire

I guess it wouldn't really be summer around here unless there is a fire. 

A small grass fire about a mile southeast of us. Fortunately, due to the quick response of our local fire authority and the help of a helicopter dipping into our local reservoir, it was quickly under control.

Salt Lake NF Walk 2013

An early start to the morning - crammed in a small car with Austin & Nyah and 40 balloons. 

Finding places for all the balloons with one of my helpers

All set up & time to get started!

A little face paint

A little walking

A few princesses

  

A little building

A little family

It was a fabulous NF walk!

A BIG THANK YOU to everyone who made a donation to support Olivia's Team and the Children's Tumor Foundation. 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! 

And a very special thank you to my sister, Keshia, and her husband, Trevor, and Kurt's assistant Christine, her husband, Mark, and their kids, Anna, Ava, & Oscar, for walking with us! 

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Dance Party

A neighbor held a dance party at our community park - in the rain - and my girls had a great time even though they didn't really dance much. 

Next, please!

We've been making the rounds to the allergist and dentist the last week. 

Jolie has been so miserable and now we have a regimen that somewhat keeps her allergies at bay - zyrtec, flo-nase, eye drops, and ibuprofen for sinus pressure headaches. In the chaos of our weekend, I forgot to give it to her yesterday and she had another night of tossing and turning, sniffling and sneezing - right next to me in my bed, of course. That'll teach me not to miss it!

Doesn't this look delicious? 

No cavitites amongst the 6 of us who went to the dentist. A family record for sure!

 Something to read:

Early mornings

Full moon on one of my morning runs

Early morning dash to the store because we were out of milk

Much Ado About Nothing

We loved Utah Children's Theatre's Much Ado About Nothing. So fabulous!

Cake Boss

Kurt sent us a surprise while he was in Canada last week. 

Delicious!

Two Darling Girls

Jolie's Discovery

What happens when you microwave a small bean bag at a large bean bag time?

Our house stinks.

Hummingbird Wars

We've enjoyed watching our hummingbird feeders the last couple weeks. A male black-chinned hummingbird has claimed them as his territory and he allows his mate to drink from them, but angrily chirps as he chases all the other hummingbirds away. Then he buzzes back to sit in the tree, waiting for them to come back so he can chase them off again. Or they sneak up and take a sip before he notices. 

We've also watched a couple battle between hummingbird and wasp. Highly entertaining :)

In other-sad-to-some-but-I-don't-mind-not-having-to-protect-every-single-spider-in-the-backyard-because-it-could-be-one-of-Charlotte's-babies news, our deck spider Charlotte has disappeared. There have been a couple super windy days and now she's missing.

Flirting

You can't see Jolie's face very well, but this girl was leading Olivia & Sophie back and forth in front of the Sunny Sno boy, smiling and giggling and being adorably silly.  

 

 

We're in so much trouble :)

Interesting Thinks 8-18-2013

I've been busy this last week:

Last weekend was Mom's Retreat which was fabulous - Carol Tuttle, Kenneth Cope, and more! Then yesterday, I attended a parenting seminar by Nicholeen Peck on Teaching Self-Government - all the new information is still simmering in my mind, but I think it's going to bring great things to our family. 

I've also been reading:

Love Your Work, Love Your Kids @ Tricia Goyer

The argument against raising well-rounded kids @ Penelope Trunk

Beware the "Expert" @ HEDUA

Feeling overwhelmed? How to turn it around @ Simple Homeschool

Shakespeare and Wordsworth boost the brain, new research reveals @ The Telegraph

What Kids Are Reading, In School and Out @ NPR MonkeySee

The Ultimate Backseat Bookshelf: 100 Must-Reads for Kids 9-14 @ NPR Books

Courts Quietly Confirm MMR Vaccine causes Autism @ True Activist

I'm looking forward to reading:

Things I Wish I'd Known Sooner: Personal Discoveries of a Mother of Twelve by Jaroldeen Edwards

Parenting A House United by Nocholeen Peck

We go back to school tomorrow - wish us luck!!

Having Fun

Ouch!

Last week:

Olivia fell off her bike - head first into the sidewalk.

Jolie banged into the corner of the banister.

Interesting Thinks

A Nation of Wimps @ Psychology Today

When You Think Your Love Story is Boring @ HuffPost Parents 

Kate Middleton and the Mom in the Mirror @ HuffPost Parents 

Simplify Simplify - If Only It Were That Simple @ SPD Blogger Network

11 Things I wish Every Parent Knew @ MindBodyGreen

To Moms of One or Two Children @ Short Stop Blog

Saturday Adventure

Austin & Nyah were created things with some beads which they had poured into a large bowl. Sophie was putting her face into the beads. Can you guess where this is going?

I look over and Sophie's nose is bleeding and she's crying and I realize instantly that she must have a bead up her nose. And she did- a purple one up the right nostril and a green one up the left nostril. 

Kurt grabbed some long tweezers and after much exasperation on our part and nose blowing by Sophie, he managed to pull the beads out.

Oh my goodness. 

Rescue

When my family was visiting, my sister Amelia came in from the backyard and said, "Can I get someone to come kill a giant spider for me?" (or something like that) Someone teased her about it and we all laughed and somebody was going out to help her and it suddenly dawned on me . . . . . NO! Stop! You can't! 

I jumped up and raced outside. Yep, it was Charlotte, my children's adopted spider. Sorry, Charlotte gets to stay.