Clark's REALLY Good Memory!!

Wow! Clark must have a really good memory. 

Today for snack I served him a heart shaped cake.  He proceeded to tell me that he remembers that I (Mommy) ate these when he was a baby in my tummy.  I don't remember eating these then, but who knows :)

He was very excited to have one of these for snack because he said he had never tried one of these before.

(The photo-bombers were completely not planned, I had a picture without them, but thought this one was more interesting.)

34 Weeks of Clean - Week 11: Hall Closet

Last week we cleaned the entryway and since I've been wanting to get the closet under our stairs cleaned out for a while I worked on that the next day.  I know I was supposed to work on the bathrooms, but I'll get to that, maybe the week we are supposed to work on the Hall Closet.

Giveaway

Katy was my delegated helper and of course Clark helped too.  He likes to be involved in whatever is going on.

     We pulled everything out from the closet floor and I went through a couple of boxes of kitchen stuff that had been opened and dug through a few times to find things since we moved a few years ago.  The other things I just didn't use on a regular basis and hadn't ever found a good home for them in my kitchen.  I decided since they had been there for so long without being used that they probably didn't need to stay in our home anymore.  I found a few things that I moved to my kitchen, but the rest went in the giveaway pile.  I contacted a couple people I knew and asked them if they wanted any of the items I wanted to re-home.  They each took a few items and the rest is going in the donate box.  After throwing out the trash from the closet, Katy vacuumed it and then we put the items we wanted to keep in there back where they belonged. 

     The winter clothes all gets washed and placed in a plastic tub in the back of the closet for the next year.  We're not quite ready to put everything up yet, so I will do that in a few weeks when I am sure we are done with them.

Before

After

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34 Weeks of Clean - Week 10: Entryway

Entry Before

This week was cleaning the entryway.  After having a little snow on a couple occasions the entry had gotten pretty dirty from the snow and grass that had been tracked in from the front yard.  We had used towels as rugs and they helped to keep the mess to a minimum. 

Entry Before

Kent and Clark helped me in the entryway.  They started to put things that didn't belong away, Kent hung up coats and put the dirty laundry where it could be washed.  I put the rest of the activity boxes from upstairs inside the buffet cabinets.  The red basket in the picture above still held the books to donate to our library.  I put the books into a box and we took them to the library later that day.  The youngest three have backpacks that we keep ready to take with us to church or on outings when they need to take something with them.  The backpacks used to be the only thing that went in the cabinets, but they didn't fit there with the activity boxes, so I put them in the blue basket on top of the buffet.  Then I found a crate and repurposed it to go where we keep our library books.  We don't have many checked out right now.  I'm not sure that crate is the best for keeping books in, but it will work until I come up with something else.  Kent and I swept the dirt from the tile and then he and Clark washed the baseboards and tile, while I dusted the picture frames.

When we were finished, Kent also vaccumed the carpet in the dining room and around the entryway.

Entryway after

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CSB Shape 'n' Race

This past weekend was Kent's Christian Service shape and race event. 

Kent did almost all of the work and assembly on his car, waiting until the last minute and putting it all together and painting it the afternoon it was due.  He named it "The Green Toothy Monster."  Jeff helped the girls build a race car for the Powder Puff run.  Katy worked on the design and painting and Kaomi helped with the wheels.  Katy painted it red and blue with white stars.  Felicity didn't like it, so she didn't want to participate.  Jeff designed and built a Ford Bronco for Clark and Quinn to enter in the open class event.  He spray painted it yellow and I added the detail work with sharpie markers and Clark's input. 

They all worked hard.  Kent's race had many entries and his car struggled to make it down the track.  Jeff thought he had some glue on the wheels.  Katy's and Kaomi's car did well, she came home with 2 red ribbons.  Clark's and Quinn's had only three entries in their race and they got three blue ribbons and the trophy.  Clark was beaming with excitement.

I guess I only got a picture of Clark and his car and ribbons this year.

Reading Together

I caught Clark and Quinn "reading" airplane books together during school time.

2-23 to 2-25 Sleet/Snow Pictures

2/23 - Freezing Rain and Sleet

Sledding down a neighbors driveway with friends

2-24  Day after freezing rain/Sleet

Kent and his small fort

 2/25 - Snow

Kent was out in it too, but he came in before I took the picture.

From July 7th

Yesterday we worked on school, but took a break to go to the summer library program.  The library program was about colors.  The kids got to pick two colors of paint to mix in a ziplock bag and make a butterfly.  They came out really fun looking.  I hung them up in the window where the sun shines through in the late afternoon and evening and they looked really neat.

 

Before we went to the library Lissie and Clark were learning about Joshua fighting the Battle of Jericho.  We built the "city of Jericho" and they got to march around and knock the walls down.

 

Jeff thinks its crazy of me to keep a 2 ft. + stack of open egg cartons in the closet upstairs, but they are just perfect for building things for school.

Clark's 3rd Birthday

We celebrated Clark's birthday on Monday.  He wanted a "cars" birthday.

He was a little excited about his birthday this year.  He's been eagerly anticipating its arrival since February.  When he came out of his room first thing and he saw the balloon and his special place setting I heard him whisper, "It's my birthday!"  He was excited to have a bagel for breakfast.

After breakfast he played outside for a little while and then watched an episode of "Chuck and Friends"  Then we loaded up the van and picked up Aunt Cathy and the cousins and headed to a local park to play.

After we went to the park we came home and fixed lunch.  Clark wanted leftover mac and cheese and everyone else had ham sandwiches.  After lunch they made scenes with stickers from the movie Cars.  Then I read a couple books to Clark and everyone went to their rooms for quiet time.  During quiet time I decorated Clark's cookie cake.  After quiet time Clark wanted to watch the movie Cars.  Daddy and Clark went to get pizza for supper and then we had cake and presents.  Clark was so excited about all of his gifts.  I really enjoy this age when the anticipation for a present is high and the excitement is catching and the joy upon the gift received is fun to watch.  Grammy came over with Riley (dog) and brought Clark a present too.  After her visit, when she was leaving he told her thank you for the present all by himself.

Family Picture - 2014

Jeff, Quinn, and I found a beautiful patch of firewheels in a state park.  We went back the next day to get a family picture.

School's Out

We are done with school for the year.  Everyone passed their work and gets to move on to the next level.  Silly Katy told us after only one day of no school that she was bored without school and wanted someone to print some math worksheets for her.  I made a deal with the older kids.  If they do a good job on their responsibilities and chores they will have more time to play.  If they do a bad job, waste too much time, or complain too much they will get to work for me.  If they owe me work it gets completed at 9:00 in the morning or 4:00 in the afternoon unless I tell them otherwise.  So far I've gotten some doors, window sills and floors washed.  I had some help on a short cleaning project I was tackling and the bookshelf upstairs is on its way to having the books look like they belong on it again.  This morning Clark and Felicity were in the backyard at 7:30 picking yellow flowers for me.  They are so sweet.  Quinn has been up since sometime after 5 am and he even convinced me to give him some breakfast at 6:30.  He'll be ready for a nap soon.

Behind the Scenes During School

I heard lots of playing and giggling from Lissie and Clark one morning, but they weren't fighting, so it was a little while before I checked on them.  They were "going camping".

 While I was teaching math to one child, Kaomi who was waiting her turn with me styled my hair.  I guess that is how to do two things at the same time.

More of Clark's and Quinn's Fun Stuff

Clark told me he was getting a hair cut.

Quinn thinks its fun to play in this car.  He can get in and out all by himself.

Late night giggles and snuggles are worth it.  Even if the baby gets wound up and doesn't want to go to sleep until after Mommy's normal bedtime.

Clark was practicing his name.  I told him to put the letters in order and this is what he did ALL BY HIMSELF.  He didn't even look at the placemat on which he usually matches up his letters.

Yesterday, Clark was playing with this wrench and then he told me, "I have a holly-lop."

Other happenings:
Quinn is taking more steps and realizing it is kind of fun.  It is fun to hear all the kids exclamations of "Quinn just walked!".

Clark put a sticker on his "eyeball" this morning.  It was really on his elbow.