Sophie and Laura at the bottom of the snowtube run! Sophie always said "do it again" when we would get to the bottom!











Hannah, Brett and Sarah at the top of the snowtubing run!

Our family is growing!


OK, before you all completely FREAK OUT and think I have lost my mind and gone and gotten myself PREGNANT, take a deep breath! The newest addition to our family will walk on all fours and may or may not have a tail! As part of Hannah's birthday present we decided to cave into her desire for a dog! Yes, a dog!

We have applied through the greater Ohio Boxer Rescue (www.goboxerrescue.com) to have an adorable boxer boy (or girl) join our family! Our friend Julieanne and hours of internet research led us to the conclusion that a boxer would be the prefect dog for our energetic family!

Now mind you, as I spend over an hour filling out the application to adopt this dog, I began to wonder....heck I had managed to have 8 kids and no one ever asked me how I planned to feed them or discipline them, no one asked if I was financially stable, no one asked where they were going to sleep and no one EVER asked for any references (eek...I can only imagine what kind of reference my mother would have given..ROFL!). Jay said you could probably adopt a kid with a less detailed questionaire!

So if things go well and they "approve" our application, Hannah should be getting her boxer soon! Of course I also realize that Emily will probably be clamouring for her own dog come her birthday..and I can tell she is already working on her arguments to defend her plea....what kind of can of worms have I opened?????

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HANNAH!

My firstborn daughter is 14 today, where has the time gone? I can't believe that it has been 14 years since she hurried into this world (my shortest of all labors at 55 minutes!). She gets more beautiful by the day! I guess I could get all sappy and sentimental here, but I plan to just enjoy this very special day!

I love you baby girl!

Are the Fates conspiring against me?

We woke up this morning to SNOW and according to the tv traffic is at a standstill....so how does this impact someone who typically has nothing to do on a Saturday morning? Well, Hannah and I were supposed to be meeting my mom to go shopping for Hannah's birthday......but because of the weather we are now stuck at home at least for a few more hours!

Why is this noteworthy? Well this is the THIRD time we have tried to make this shopping trip. Time #1 my father's dialysis machine broke down and my mom had to go pick him up, time #2 Grant had a basketball game that I forgot about and now #3 the weather is conspiring against us! It is so hard to find a time we could go out, since my mom refuses to leave my dad at home alone, the only real time she wants to go is on Saturdays from 9 AM to noon.....

Hopefully the traffic on the expressway will start moving and we will get to go! Hannah is eager to spend her grandmother's money (my mom tends to express love in $$ rather then spending time with her grandkids) and I was kind of hoping that mom might take pity on me and buy me a couple of treats too!

Valentine's Day Party
Tuesday, February 14
1 PM to 3 PM

Julieanne wrote:
Laura and I were talking about it - and we were thinking that the kids can make valentines at gym on Monday or at home, and bring them to the party on Tuesday - and we'll have the kids make mailboxes for their valentines at the party. So we're counting rsvps - and it looks like if we bring 24 valentines for each child to give out, that'll be enough for everyone. Dollar store works, or hand making them.. whatever works for you.For example - since I have two kids, we'll bring 48 valentines - so True and Liam would each give 24 out... Make sense? If you have valentines stickers or something to contribute, the kids would love to use them, I'm sure. Does anyone have empty cereal boxes? If so, please bring them with you.If everyone brings a snack to share, and a drink - like a 2 liter or water - then everyone will have something there you know your kid(s) will like - and no single family has to provide everything for the party.So... 1:00 on Tuesday, Feb. 14.... Melodie's house. : ) And just so we all know, Bret's birthday is two days after this party... : )Don't hesitate to ask if you have any questions...

Shanda added:
I have a plastic container that has 5 drawers in it that I keep filled with creative things for the kids to use while we're at Museum center meetings. It has watercolor markers, regular sized crayons for the older crowd, larger (but not jumbo) crayons for smaller hands, a drawer of various and sundry stickers, heart doilies and glue sticks. If there aren't going to be enough boxes to go around to make valentines mailboxes, we decorated paper bags one year for valentine collecting. I can bring some of those just in case. It would be great if a few families could bring a few more stickers.
If anyone has purchased valentine's paper products, return them if you're able (except maybe a few plates). Here's what I have: 72 cups, a BAZILLION napkins, about 35 plates.
Heart-themed bowls to put snacks (or whatever) in.
A HUGE container of foam shapes (including hearts!)
A HUGE pack of construction paper
Pink and/or red plastic, DISPOSABLE tablecloths. I would just need to know how many to bring.
Supplies to make foam, star balls. I don't know what the attraction is, but kids LOVE these things. Put 9 pieces of sponge together with a zip tie and you have hours of entertainment!

After getting my dad from dialysis, Emily, Grant, Jacob, Cade, Sophie, Will and I headed to the Valentine's day party. The kids were excited and made valentine's to exchange with all their friends. Sophie got a present together for Bret (a dance costume, tiara, play jewelry, tights, a dance skirt and a bag to put everything in) and the two of them happliy played dress-up the entire time we were there. Emily managed to snag baby Marly and happily cuddled and held her (I think she has the "we need a baby" feeling more than I do!). The kids ATE and made crafts and exchanged cards. There was a nice mix of kids in attendance and even though there were over 20 kids there, there was no crying or whining! The kids played well and the adults managed to socialize. I couldn't believe that my little man decided to "play" rather than hang out with me! He is growing up!

The adults managed to get a tour of the "house in progress" ! The work that is finished is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and the spaces they still need to tranform are HUGE! I am so JEALOUS of all the space and of the beautiful decorating touches they have put on the place. It is going to be great to have this space to use for homeschooling gatherings (She has a whole auditorium on her 2nd floor).

Brett hung out with his pal Christopher when we were at the party. Christopher had surgery on his knee a little less than a week ago and was in need of some cheering up and hanging out! Hannah ended up babysitting so that the mom she babysat for could go to her daughter's Valentine's party at school. It was great that they both had something to do so that the littler kids could enjoy a party just geared for them!

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Pioneer Program

I was so excited to find this in my inbox this morning. I have emailed Shelley to try to work out a date that will work for our homeschooling group. We had fun in the past when we visited Caesar's Creek and the new location should add a new twist to the program. I wonder if the same re-enactors will be present at the new location?

Dear Educator,

Every culture in the world requires that young people learn their own history. History provides answers for the future by examining the problems of the past. In essence, it is the study of the problems of human life. Our challenge is to get our youth interested in history at all. When competing with electronic games and television, stories of the past can seem dry, at best.
For several years Frontier Resources has offered a school program designed to capture the interest of the student of Ohio history. The program makes maximum use of Hands-On and interactive learning. We have designed our ‘School Days’ to interest students in early Ohio history to reinforce your classroom efforts.

Frontier Resources is an organization that designs and presents programs to students all over the country. Our specialty is “hands-on history”. Our programs are designed to give your students a taste of the activities, both work and play, of children of early Ohio. These include, but are not limited to:

OXEN- An explanation of the importance of oxen to early America and how children were involved with them is followed by an opportunity for students to try their hand at driving oxen.

SPINNING- An introduction to the problem of cloth supply for the Ohio frontier family involves a chance for students to try to make a piece of yarn.

CHILDREN’S WORK- A view of the importance of children on the frontier while they work to shape a grindstone.

ONE ROOM SCHOOL- An introduction to early nineteenth century learning.

TOWN MEETING- Students experience frontier democracy by taking part in a town meeting and wrestling with a vital issue of the day.

CHILDREN’S GAMES- A look at entertainment on the frontier while students try an outdoor game of the 1800s.

INDENTURED SERVITUDE- Forty percent of the population of Colonial America arrived under terms of indenture. This station examines the lives of the children who found themselves so situated.

This year the program is moving from Caesar’s Creek Pioneer Village, Waynesville, Ohio to Quaker Knoll Campground, Wilmington, Ohio. We also now provide a program that will come to your school.

Our 2006 Spring program runs May 8-12, 15-19 and 22-25, 2006. The 2006 Autumn program is October 3-6, 9-13 and 16-17, 2006. The program takes about 4 hours, running from 9:30 a.m. until 2:00 P.M, or as your busing schedule permits. Cost is $5.00 per student, there is no cost for teachers and chaperones.

Please contact me for more information, or to make your reservation.

Sincerely,
Shelley McClanahan
shelley.mcclanahan@gmail.com
School Days Coordinator

Sewing fun!

By default, I ended up teaching a sewing class today! Our pal Melodie (who taught us to quilt last year) was supposed to help a group of kids work on one of their 4-H sewing projects, but she couldn't make it at the last minute. Out of the 3 adults there, I was the only one who knew how to "sew" (I use this term loosely as I am completely self taught and not very good!). Luckily I brought my serger and the 4-H book and we worked through the first steps of the project as a group. It was hard because each person didn't have their own machine and then one of the machines we did have, didn't want to work (or should I rephrase it, it wouldn't work when Julieanne used it, it only wanted to sew for me!). If we had given any thought beforehand, we would have tried to coordinate fabric/tread so that each person didn't need a different color (it is so hard to change a machine back and forth in the middle of a project)

The girls were so cute, listening to the directions and trying their best to do what they were told. Most of the girls got about 1/2 way through making their environmental tote. The Ridimans had to leave to get to gymnastics, we stayed and Emily managed to finish hers. She was so proud of how it turned out, she used it to carry her clothes to dance class! We plan to have everyone else finish up the next time we get together!

Sophie wants me to finish her bag so she can put her "stuff" in it! Once you know what you are doing, you can make the tote in about 30 minutes. They are fairly cost efficient (I got the supplies to make 2 bags for less than $5...but don't as Kas how much she spent on fabric!). I think that Emily might end up making some and trying to sell them at a craft show next winter...by then she should be able to perfect the technique!

Hopefully the next time we sew, we have enough machines for all the girls...and hopefully Meolodie is there to lead the charge!

Wednesday, February 8; 3:00 PM
Tour of Donato's
Cost: $1.85/child
Max: 20 kids
Where: Donatos on Montgomery Road in Symmes Township. Their # is 489-4500 It's in the same plaza as TJ Max across from Harpers Point.
RSVP: Deanne

The kids were excited about getting to tour Donato's and make their own pizzas. Unfortunately the manager seemed extrememly uncomfortable giving the tour and really didn't do much more than show the kids around. He didn't really talk about the running of the pizzeria or the ingredients. About the only thing he said was that the phones ring off the hook on Fridays and Saturdays. Each of the kids made their own pizza and since they had extra shells, the 4 adults also made pizzas.

Obviously a product of the school system, the manager wasn't smart enough to figure out 15 people at $1.85 each (I had already figured that the 10 of us...Jay had joined us.... would be $18.50...not bad for 10 indivual pizzas and 10 pops) and ended up charging us only $18 for all 15 of us! I guess I shouldn't complain since it made it about 8 dollars cheaper for my family!

After the tour we dropped the girls at dance and then went to Grant's basketball game. His team won 26-21 and is now in the championship game on Saturday at 3 PM.

I began rousing the crew right before 9 AM. We are gotten "getting out of the house" to a science. Everyone can be dressed and ready to leave in less than 30 minutes, given everyone has bathed the night before and that only the teens need to shower. Today was no exception. Everyone was ready to head out by 9:30 AM. I tossed in a load of laundry before heading out the door. We needed to make 2 stops before heading to the 11 AM park program. Brett stayed home and worked on his geometry and physics homework from the co-op.

First stop was at the grocery store to grab items for lunch. On today's menu was pepperoni, cheese, crackers, bananas, grapes and cookies. Then we headed out to the 4-H office to order the rest of the books we needed. Good thing we made the stop because we found out that the shooting sports club that we were interested in attending was meeting today and that if you didn't have a representative at tonight's meeting you wouldn't be able to participate. Hannah, Emily and Grant are all interested in learning about gun safety and target shooting.

We got to the park about 10 minutes early. We were excited that Dennis and Sheila were doing the program. They are both very hands on and prefer to engage the kids in activities rather than lecture to them. The program was about animals and their habitats and they played games with kids for over an hour. The kids had a BLAST.

I had to leave 50 minutes into the program to go grab my dad. My friend Deanne had agreed to stay with my kids until I could get back. They would eat lunch once the program was over to kill time. Dad of course was his piddly needy self and insisted that I stop and get him lunch and then started to pout when I said I had to leave. He suckered me into staying with him for almost an hour. I know it is hard for him, that he wants company, but just for once I would like him to understand that I have other commitments. He is so self absorbed right now that he didn't even think about his grandkids being "alone" at a park.

Anyhow, got back to the park around 1:15 PM and talked with Deanne and the naturalists for a bit, then I headed back towards Eastgate to drop Hannah off at the Middle School for talent show practce. Then the rest of the gang and I stopped to pick up stuff for dinner (chicken, bbq sauce, cole slaw and buns...I had the baked beans and mac and cheese at home). Dropped Emily off at the dance studio and then headed home.

Once we got here I made the boys CLEAN OUT the van, it was just trashed....it looks great now, just needs to be vaccuumed. I ran down to the bank to pay the electric bill. Came home and spent a little "quality" time with Jay while the boys played basketball in the driveway and Sophie rode her bike!

Sophie came in and helped me make dinner. She loves pouring the sauce in the pan and dumping the cans into the pots. While dinner cooks she and Will read books. Jacob sits on the living room floor and uses the calcultor to add up the value of his baseball cards. For the game he plays with his brothers, his team can only have a value of 5000, so he arranges and rearranges his cards until this team comes in right at 5000.

After we eat dinner, Grant and I head out to the Shooting Sports meeting. Deanne, Julieanne and I all though that this was an INFORMATIONAL meeting and were quite shocked when the man in charge walked up to the kids and asked it they wanted to do archery, shoot rifles or shoot pistols. They all chose rifles and he sent them over to the range they had set up. Within minutes, no waifer signed, no gun safety riot act preached at them, the kids were FIRING RIFLES (OK they were shooting pellets, but they were SHOOTING!!!!). Grant hit the target 3 times (out of 5) on his first try! He hit the target 4 times the second try. There are 4 more sessions set up, plus we were told they would also have additional opportunities that would come up periodically. Although Grant had a GREAT time, it is frustrating as a parent how hard it is to get ALL the information about anything invovled with 4-H. It is such an "old boys club" that eveyone just assumes you know what is going on. Not the case for this frazzled, busy mom!

Hannah and Emily were dropped off from dance shortly after Grant and I got home. We are fortunate that one of the instructors from the studio lives less than a mile from us and has to drive by our house to get to work. She brings the girls home on Tuesday nights and drives them to the studio on Thursday mornings. I told the girls about the shooting sports and Hannah was THRILLED to learn that there are a BUNCH of boys and only a couple girls in the club. Fortunately she will be able to make all the rest of the scheduled club meetings. I think it is vital that my daughters know how to handle a gun, it isn't just a boy thing!

Cade brought me a book to read him and babbled on about the park program. He is such a bright kid, he remembers just about anything you tell him. He was going on about what animals need to leave and about playing the predator/prey game. The rest of the evening was fairly quiet. Hannah taught Sophie a cute cheer and she "performed" for us! I ended up laying down with Will around 11 PM and he finally fell alseep just as the news went off....

I got up to brush my teeth and sneak some computer time...thus this post.....

Another "normal" day here!

Our day today:

I have been asked to sit on a discussion panel in a couple of weeks to explore different methods of homeschooling. So I thought I might journal here a bit about what our days are like, so that I can have something concrete to look back at before the meeting.....so here it goes...

Brett got up early this morning and woke me up to find out what time I would be picking him up for the co-op he attends every Monday. I mumbled "3:45" and fell back asleep. I stayed in bed until almost 10 AM (OK, I had been up until about 2 AM with Will). When I got up I found Cade in the living room, getting his shoes on. He said "today is gym day right". We go to the gym every Monday from 12-3 PM and he counts the days......

Everyone else woke up over the next 30 minutes and started getting ready to go to the gym. We finally piled into the car about 11:30 AM and stopped by the bank to deposit money so I could make the phone payment. We grabbed lunch at Taco Bell and then went to the gym to eat it and play with our friends. 5 other families showed up! The boys play basketball while the girls sit and make collages out of a stack of magazines I drug along with me.

Right before 2 PM, I left the gym with Hannah to run her over to Glen Este Middle School so that she could practice for their talent show. Each year, she goes and participates in the talent show with her friend Chrishauna (who is a student there). Chrishauna's mom has gone to extraodinary lengths to get permission for Hannah to participate in this school sponsored event. She and Chrishauna are doing their hip-hop rountine from this year in the talent show. They have practice 3 times this week and the show is Friday night. Luckily the trip from the gym to the middle school is only a 5 minute round trip drive. I return to the gym to enjoy another hour of adult company.

At 3 PM, we leave the gym, I stop and run a couple errands and then pick Brett up at 3:45 PM. From there I head to the dance studio to drop Emily off for her Monday classes (Leaps and Turns, Ballet Technique and Jazz), Hannah will be joining her at the studio after talent show practice. We leave the dance studio and head to the house, where Brett deposits William in the crib for his nap and Jay quickly walks out the door with Brett, Grant and Cade in tow for Grant's basketball practice.

I manage to snag some computer time while they are gone since Will is napping and Sophie is happily playing Polly Pockets.

The boys get home and the house gets loud. They play a game of basketball in the playroom (we have 2 of those small indoor hoops and they play "full court"). After they finish Cade brings me a shark book to read him. Sophie joins us for the reading. She picks a storybook for us to read next.

Jepordy comes on and Jay, Brett and I play. Since it is teen week, we actually manage to answer just about every question but one or two. Jay leaves to pick up the girls from dance. The boys and I watch "wife swap"....I find the show hilarious and the episode is of particular interest as one of the families was a homeschooling family with 8 kids who lived on a very tight budget and clothed the kids in hand me downs......but that would be were the similiarities to our family ended. They homeschooled to shelter their kids, only having them leave the house for church and 2 other times a month for social activities....my social butterflies would never stand for that! But the show was good for a few chuckles and sparked some interesting conversations between Brett, Grant and myself.

Once the girls were home we had dinner, frozen pizzas and salad, and the boys watched WWE wrestling. I read a couple more books to the little ones.

Around 9:30 PM I FINALLY got in touch with our friend Amber who is in charge of the Junior Greenthumb program. The kids keep bugging me to find out when we get to start our containers for the local garden show. Spent quite some time talkign with her about the garden program and also 4-H (she is a 4-H advisor and was giving me the scoop on some of what is going on). She said that the kids can start their seeds and plan their containers. They are really excited.

The house begins to quiet as the midnight hour nears.....

Fun site

This link came through on a list that I am on, I couldn't help but share it: http://www.paulsadowski.com/birthday.asp. The funny thing is that I have always thought of "13" as my lucky number...an ironic point, according to this is that I was concieved on the day Hannah was born (I doubt it is right since I was about 3 weeks early, but I found it ironic).......

Here is what it said about me:
You entered: 11/13/1969

Your date of conception was on or about 20 February 1969 which was a Thursday.

You were born on a Thursday under the astrological sign Scorpio.
Your Life path number is 4.
The Julian calendar date of your birth is 2440538.5.
The golden number for 1969 is 13.
The epact number for 1969 is 11.
The year 1969 was not a leap year.

Your birthday falls into the Chinese year beginning 2/17/1969 and ending 2/5/1970.You were born in the Chinese year of the Rooster.

The date of Easter on your birth year was Sunday, 6 April 1969.
The date of Ash Wednesday (the first day of Lent) on your birth year was Wednesday 19 February 1969.
The date of Whitsun (Pentecost Sunday) in the year of your birth was Sunday 25 May 1969.
The date of Whisuntide in the year of your birth was Sunday 1 June 1969.
The date of Rosh Hashanah in the year of your birth was Saturday, 13 September 1969.
The date of Passover in the year of your birth was Thursday, 3 April 1969.
The date of Mardi Gras on your birth year was Tuesday 18 February 1969.

As of 2/5/2006 9:56:05 AM EST
You are 36 years old.
You are 435 months old.
You are 1,891 weeks old.
You are 13,233 days old.You are 317,601 hours old.
You are 19,056,116 minutes old.
You are 1,143,366,965 seconds old.

Your age is the equivalent of a dog that is 5.17925636007828 years old. (You're still chasing cats!)
There are 281 days till your next birthdayon which your cake will have 37 candles.
Those 37 candles produce 37 BTUs,or 9,324 calories of heat (that's only 9.3240 food Calories!) .
You can boil 4.23 US ounces of water with that many candles.

In 1969 there were approximately 3.7 million births in the US.
In 1969 the US population was approximately 179,323,175 people, 50.6 persons per square mile.
In 1969 in the US there were approximately 1,800,000 marriages (9.3%) and 479,000 divorces (2.5%)
In 1969 in the US there were approximately 1,712,000 deaths (9.5 per 1000)
In the US a new person is born approximately every 8 seconds.
In the US one person dies approximately every 12 seconds.

Your birthstone is Citrine
The Mystical properties of Citrine:Citrine is said to help one connect with Spirit.
Some lists consider these stones to be your birthstone. (Birthstone lists come from Jewelers, Tibet, Ayurvedic Indian medicine, and other sources): Yellow Topaz, Pearl, Diamond

Your birth tree is Chestnut Tree, the Honesty
Of unusual beauty, does not want to impress, well-developed sense of justice, vivacious, interested, a born diplomat, but irritable and sensitive in company, often due to a lack of self-confidence, acts sometimes superior, feels not understood, loves only once, has difficulties in finding a partner.

There are 323 days till Christmas 2006!
There are 336 days till Orthodox Christmas!

The moon's phase on the day you wereborn was waxing crescent.

Cool Virtual Owl Pellet Disection site:

http://www.kidwings.com/owlpellets/index2.htm this site is VERY COOL, you can disect owl pellets online. Someone sent it to me prior to our owl hike and I lost the link. I found it today when cleaning out my mailbox! Check it out!

Another great owl study site: http://www.carolina.com/owls/index.asp

Now if we can just spot or at least HEAR an owl on our next hike!

Ronald McDonald House

I went down to RMH with Hannah and her friend Sarah for our monthly volunteer time. Although I usually resent the idea of giving up what little free time I have, I always enjoy myself once we get down to the house. Helping someone purely because you can and expecting nothing in return is such a wonderful feeling.

When we walked in I was surprised to see one of the families that had been there back in December. When I had talked with the mom in December they had thought they would be going home anyday and now 2 months later they are still sitting there. Her daughter Bailey had a bone marrow transplant and had some setbacks, but things now look up, they may be heading home on February 20th (my Hannah's 14th birthday!). Bailey was so surprised we remembered her (she has this infectious voice and is so talkative, she would be impossible to forget). Bailey mentioned that it was her sister's 13th birthday and I could just see the pain in her mom's eyes. For just a minute I allowed myself to imagine the hell of being torn between your sick child and the rest of your family, it was more than I could bear. The family lives in Minnesota. She and her daughter had been in Cincinnati since August, she had missed her other 3 children returning to school, halloween, thanksgiving, more sports events, school events, just everyday things than I could even count. Her family came down for Christmas but could only stay for a week and now a month later she is still looking at another 3 weeks before their reunion.

Through thick and thin, the thing I always know I can count on is having my family to cuddle up with, to lean on each day. Because I have them I know I can get through anything. I can't imagine not being able to touch or hold my children for 1/2 of a year, I have a hard enough time when I am away from any of them even for a couple of days. As much as I rsent the time it takes each week to deal with my dad and the dialysis, I am close enough (only 20 minutes away) that I can help out. I can't imagine having the closest member of my family 10 hours away.

So I came home with a renewed sense of how important having my family around me really is to me! OK so Will still annoyed the heck out of me when I was trying to check email last night and he kept crawling into my lap and pulling up my shirt. But I wouldn't trade it for the world....and I PRAY that I never have to!

Chinese New Year Celebration

Wednesday, February 1; 1pm
Chinese New Year Celebration!!!
Chinatown Buffet 1015 U.S. State Rt. 28, Milford
Organizer: Kathy Ridiman
Cost: $5.79 for adults, cheaper for children 4-12, children under 3 free.
Join us at one of the largest buffets around!! The food is hot and wonderful! Large variety of choices! We plan to have lunch and do some crafts to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Please RSVP to Kas so that we have enough supplies for all of the kids.

RSVP: Ridiman, Riesenberg, Day, Webel, Leland, Malott, Richmond, Hensley, Star, Kennedy

Directions: Take I-275 to the Milford/ Rt. 28 exit (#57). If coming from points east, turn right onto Rt. 28/if coming from points west, turn left onto Rt. 28 (you will pass a Lowes on your right)...at the traffic light that would let you into Lowes, turn LEFT onto Rt. 28......you will pass a KMart, Ameristop, Swifty Gas Station...the Chinatown Buffet is located across the street from the Ford Dealership. If you get to Gold Star you have gone too far!

What a wonderfully fun way to learn about another culture. Kas came up with the idea and I helped with securing the restaraunt. There were crafts for the kids, a game for the teens (where they tried to guess who was what zodiac sign) and it seemed fun by all. The group was LARGE but it was amazing how quiet they were while they ate! Grant was really protective of his red envolope, hoping his money will multiply so that he can buy the gayboy advance game he has been wanting!

Next year we have to remember to have someone show us how to use chopsticks and we must have Julieanne teach us some chinese.

Tuesday, January 24; 6pm
What: Owl Night Hike
Where: Sycamore Park/Batavia.
Organizer: Laura Riesenberg
Dress for the weather (low of 43 if you can believe the extended forcast) and if you have a flashlight, you may want to bring it (please don't feel you need to go buy one, we may not even use them!).

Ironically the kids received this month's copy of Your Big Backyard yesterday in the mail and it has a couple things on owls in it as well as a beautiful picture of the great horned owl. The book of the month is called OWL MOON by Jane Yolen about a young girl who gets to go owling with her dad for the first time. It also gives tips on going owling and recommends the website Journey North's Owl Listening Guide: Who Gives a Hoot? at http://www.learner.org/jnorth/tm/spring/OwlDictionary.html to hear the call of 4 owl species and a mourning dove, which can sound similiar to an owl.

Owl coloring page link: http://www.kidwings.com/teacher/coloringpages/main.htm

Please contact Laura at theriesenbergs@cinci.rr.com if you would like to attend! Also, feel free to come out even if you decide at the last minute, just be on time since I won't know to be waiting on you!

Directions: Take I-275 to the Batavia/Rt 32 exit (#63) and exit towards Batavia....follow out to the Main St. Batavia exit (you will pass all the stuff in Eastgate and then a Speedway and then a Salvation Army, just keep going and head down the hill)....follow Main St. to Foundry (this is either the first or second light) and turn right onto Foundry....follow it about a mile or so and you will see the sign for Sycamore Park on your left hand side.... We usually meet at the shelter that is straight ahead as you pull in.

The weather was perfect (a bit windy, but warm for January) and we had a GREAT time hiking in the dark and calling for owls! It was unbelievable how QUIET so many small children could be. Unfortunately we didn't get any owls to call back, but it was a fun time and we know how to "call" for the owls if we happen to be out on a dark winter night! Cade wants to go and try again, he was really disappointed he tried to hard to be perfectly quiet, he had spent the whole week reading his owl books! They are having a public program again in a few weeks, maybe we will go and try again!

Absolutely Awesome Activity!

Our friend Julieanne set up a tour of James Coffey's house for us. Her husband George maintains aquatic tanks for people and James is one of his clients. This man's basement is a reptile lovers DREAM! When you walk in there is a tank with a crocodile (about 4 ft), alligator (maybe 3 1/2 feet) and a caimen (the smallest, maybe 3 feet), it is so weird to walk in and be greeted by such fierce predators! James showed us a bunch of animal skins, pelts and skeltons, the kids were really fascinated! We headed into the next room where there were boas, an albino python, a huge fishtank, and a huge tank full of lizards. He had done an amazing job of building enclosures for all of his creatures. There were also display cases full of embolmed animals and more skeltons. He uses the animals to make replicas for display, teaching purposed and movies. We watched as he fed crickets to the lizards! He answered all the kids questions.

Next we headed into the back room. A HUGE tortoise was happily munching on an apple. Our attention was soon drawn to the 4 tanks FULL of mice, dinner for the snakes! Emily and Hannah both commented that it was a good thing our friends the Ridimans weren't with us because they would have wanted to rescue the very cute little mice! Kas has many a story of her girls "saving" rodents from being fed to larger predators at the pet store and I doubt yesterday would have been any different, I know Tabby would have charmed the grandfatherly James out of at least the cutest of the bunch! Besides the tortoise, the room held numerous snakes (probably close to 20) and box after box of tarantulas! James had just recently finished working on a book on tarantulas and shared some of his knowledge with the kids. There were also some more reptiles (a blue tongued skink and a leopard gecko are the only two whose names I can remember!). We saw numerous skins and sheds from his assorted "zoo"!

Like I said, an absolutely awesome outing! Cade was in heaven and I could see the wheels in Miss Emily's head just a turning (she wants to do animal rescue when she is older). From the outside of the house you would have never guessed the treasures that it held!

Once we were finished we headed up to pick up my dad from dialysis. It was the first time I had more than two of the kids with me and I could tell it was overwhelming for my dad! Unfortunately our schedule is starting to fill up on Tuesday mornings, so it is likely it will happen again soon. I will have to figure out a way to "bribe" the little ones into being quiet at dad's! Guess I could always threaten to go back and feed them to the alligator, crocodile and caimen!

On an amusing sidenote, James is missing his one thumb. Of course we all "assumed" it must have been lunch for one of his many "pets" but when one of the kids asked he said he lost the thumb to a punch press when he was younger and working!

Santa Baby!
Here are some of William's 18 month photo shoot. I didn't realize that I hadn't posted any of his pictures!

It is so hard to believe that it has been a year and a half since this wonderful little man entered out world.

Will RUN and CLIMBS like a pro. He amazes me constantly with his speed and fearlessness!

Although he will drink from a juice cup, he

prefers to nurse. He feeds himself with a fork and spoon. His favorite foods are grapes, yogurt and "candy"!

We are still really stuggling with his allergies. Red food dye really seems to make him react the most behaviorally, but his skin and digestive track seem more sensitive to apples, tomatoes and citrus. The poor guy's little bottom gets red and blistered if someone makes a mistake (or misjudges ingredients). I am so grateful though that he isn't in daycare so I don't have to constantly deal with

worrying about if someone else will forget and feed him something that will set him off!

Will has an impressive vocabulary. He can say all his siblings names, words for most foods and even says some sentences. His favorite sentence is "Mom boob boob now". Have to love a little man who knows what he wants!
He still LOVES to be carried, and luckily he isn't too heavy (most 18 months old we meet are far bigger than he is). Most of the time I can't say I mind it, it is nice to still have a "baby" to cuddle and snuggle with!

Scrapbooking!

I feel like a kid in a candy store! Last night I attended the montly scrapbooking gathering hosted by the church we just recently joined! It was so much fun to be in a room full of women who shared my passion for scrapbooking and to glean inspiration and share stories with other women.

I actually managed to get 4 layouts finished and another one started. I stayed the entire time (from 7 PM to midnight) and spent way more time talking than actually working but it felt so good to nuture myself and my interests! It has been hard as of late with taking care of my dad and just our daily lives to find time for myself! I am counting the days until next months gathering!

So grown up!

When I look at Sophie I still see her as a toddler. But today during a visit to Boonshoft Museum in Dayton it was revealed to me just how grown up she is.

The kids had all scattered to play in the exhibits. Sophie had followed Emily and Grant and I sat and mingled with some of the moms, talking about nothing and everything at the same time. Suddenly, over the speaker an announcement was made. "Sophia would like Laura to meet her at the front desk". Emily and Grant came running up to me saying they couldn't find Sophie but that they thought she was at the front desk. They scurried off to claim her as I followed. Sophie was standing there waiting for us with her hands on her hips. The woman asked how old she was and I responded "three". She then told me that Sophie had come up to the desk and got her attention and said "My name is Sophia and I am lost. My mom's name is LAR-LA." She said she didn't even cry or anything!

I can't believe that my 3 year old is that capable of taking care of herself! I half joked that Brett at 15 wouldn't have even paged me, he would have just sat down and "pouted" and waited for me to show up (OK probably not, but he took my ribbing well!).

I told Sophie over and over again how proud I was of her! OK so your thinking none of this would have happened if I had just kept better track of her and you are probably right, but it is good to know she is slightly self reliant...well at least in a three year old way!

Architecture By Children

The kids are somewhat excited about an architecture program I signed them up to participate in. Each child (or team) is responsible for coming up with a design for a museum. Today we met with our architech for the first time and he spent a lot of time going over the ins and outs of the projects. In November we went on a behind the scenes tour of a local museum (the tour really sucked!) also as part of the program. I was surprised at today's meeting how many families with younger kids had signed up to participate and how few teens were doing projects!

Emily is leaning towards a dance or pet museum. Hannah hasn't decided yet (she and Em may work together). The boys are all thinking sports or video games and I am hoping Brett will be inspired to follow through on a forensics museum (we even have a "catchy" design in mind). The projects have to be finished by April, which means they have to start working on them pretty soon (of course we have the geography fair coming up beforehand!). I love to sneak all this learning in with engaging fun projects!

Now if we can just figure out how to make our model out of toilet paper tubes, cereal boxes and foam board we will be SET!