Overheard in Math

Reading from the Math book: "Use a unit multiplier to convert 8 inches to centimeters."

"What unit multiplier will you use?"

blank stare

"Do you know how many centimeters are in an inch?"

"No."

"Go get a ruler.  Does it have centimeters?"

"No, it only has inches and millimeters."

"But you can get centimeters if you have millimeters, right?"

"Not on this ruler."

Who was it that said homeschoolers are smarter than public schoolers?  (I kid!  I kid!)

It's That Time of Year Again

 Next school year's books have all arrived.  Well, all the ones I ordered arrived.  I usually end up forgetting at least one book (usually more than one) for somebody.

Ordering in April for the upcoming year has worked well for me.  In years past I'd wait until summer to order, but by then it was a much bigger job to remember what everybody needed.

As the kids progress through the grades, we are able to re-use materials, so I'm kind of surprised that the stack of boxes is this high.  Part of the reason is that splitting the purchase across various suppliers saves money.  Rainbow had the best price I found for Saxon math.  Adoremus was running a promo, Emmanuel had cheaper prices for some things, and so on.  I was thankful for the ability to keep multiple browser windows open during all of this ordering!

Now to unpack and organize them.






 We still have a few weeks left of school.  Recently, Laurel drew these doodles during a science lesson.  We're currently learning about the circulatory and respiratory systems.

red blood cells

blood cells delivering "help" to an exhausted heart

Blood cells responding to the heart's increased activity
One little cell seems to have collapsed under the stress.

White blood cell attacking a pathogen

You're Four!

So big in some ways.  So little in others.  Being four means that you are able to express your thoughts so much better now.  You are starting to ask questions like never before--questions like, "Why is Jesus God?"

Until today, for about the past four months, your daily question was "Is TODAY my birthday?!?"  I'd say that no, it wasn't, but that you only had x-number of months or weeks or days to wait.  The day finally came!  You were so pleased.

You woke to find a blue, helium-filled balloon tied to your chair.  You got to pick your lunch (ham, cheese, mayo and liverwurst--on a bun), and your dinner (rigatoni).  Thanks to your big sister Holly, Team Umi-Zoomi greeted you from the top of your cake.

At four, your version of the ABC-song is terribly cute, but not entirely accurate.  You can spell and write your name, and the names of your siblings (with a little help).  Suddenly, you desperately want to go to (home) school like the big kids.

You remind us sternly that you "are not a baby anymore" if anyone refers to you and your younger brother collectively as "the babies".  Dinosaurs are your favorite thing to talk about, draw and pretend to be.  I am still "Mommy Brachiosaurus" much of the time, and you are "Liam Brachiosaurus".  Sean is "triceratops", and Declan is a "micro raptor".  Not sure what the girls are!

You're a happy, sweet boy with curly blonde hair (hair that you wish was not "yellow and curly") that tells me at least once a day, "Mommy, I love you and my Dad".  Whenever you intercept Daddy's morning phonecall, you assure him that when he gets home you will "give (him) a big hug, and a kiss".

Pure sweetness.  That's what you bring.

Happy Birthday!

On the Making of Birthday Cakes, and the Ticking off of a Baby

I had lots to do today, so Declan had to stay strapped in his high chair while I baked a birthday cake for his big brother.

When he discovered the cake, he began to swing his legs back and forth in concert, enabling him to scoot himself over to the counter.

He is the fifth of my children to use this chair and the first to move it virtually wherever he wants to go.

Getting closer...

So close!

 He was almost quicker than I was.















I had to get the ganache going, so while I did this:
















He did this.

When that got old, I gave him some baking utensils to play with.

I managed to get the crumb-coat on.












Then the final coat.  This was looking even yummier now.  The baby is blurry because he is already racing toward the cake.

 He scooted toward it...

















...and again got almost there...

 but this time, his big brother yanked his high chair back.

 He was not happy,

but the birthday boy was very happy indeed.


They can't all be happy at the same time.  It's a fundamental law of parenting.

Turtle ATCs

No end to the swaps.  Actually, I took a few weeks off from swapping to allow time to get other matters under control.

Here the background is a paint-chip thingy (what are those called?) that I lifted from the hardware store.  The turtle's shell is made from marbled paper that I was given ages and ages ago by a stamping friend who was big into hand-marbling paper for a while.  She made some beautiful papers.  Many of the ones she gave me were used as endpapers for sketchbooks, but I could never throw away the scraps. 

This little sea turtle is one reason why.

PCs from Far Away Places

Two postcards so far this week.  One from the Czech Republic featuring some of the sites of the city of Olomouc.  St. Wenceslas Cathedral is on the right, two views of the town's Upper Square at the bottom, and a view of the Church of the Visitation of the Virgin Mary in the upper left.

The postage that traveled with this card was equally interesting.  This stamp commemorates the 600th anniversary of the astronomical clock in Prague.  You can read more about this amazing clock here.














The peaceful scene depicted below arrived from the Netherlands.
Thankfully, the message on the back is written in English.  I have not a clue what the sentiment on the front says! 

Scenes from the Weekend

A new floor went in, at long last.  There is still a section near the sink and appliances that needs to be replaced, but that will wait until the cabinetry is finished.  Speaking of cabinetry--the first 3 cabinets are visible here.  Pat made these himself from maple lumber that he purchased from a friend-of-a-friend who is in the flooring business.  Please ignore the ugly green counter top.  It is due to be replaced after the rest of the cabinets are built.

Babies and mallets?  hmmmm...


















The boys love shadowing their Dad when he's working with tools.

There was lots of baking.  Muffin recipe here.

Holly baked this cake using Alton Brown's recipe.  It was so, so good. 












Once the kids were in bed, Pat and I assembled the baskets.  I got the idea for the tags from this site. 

The girls got silly socks.  The boys each got a water pistol and a plush finger puppet something like this.  Everyone got a new spring-themed tumbler, filled with layers of candy separated by muffin tin liners.  Each basket had a fluffy baby chick on top. 







I thought we'd just do without the egg-dying this year, but that was not to be the case.  Instead, we waited until after Easter brunch to color the eggs.  Better late than never, I guess.  (Depending on who you ask!)

Thankfully, Aunt Nancy was on hand to supervise this part of the day.  The method we used allows only one person to work at a time, which is probably a very good thing.

Little hands are prone to big messes.  Thankfully, the dye stayed where it was meant to be.

Inspecting the results, almost finished.

This little guy was not involved in any way other than watching from his nearby perch.  Doesn't he look tough with his short-short hair?  My baby!  Where has he gone?















Brunch!  The waffle irons were fired up soon after we arrived home from Mass.

What you don't see are the coconut eggs, the cake, the waffles or the whipped topping.  I was too busy eating to take photos.

Why don't I make deviled eggs more often?  They are so, so yummy.

We were all stuffed to the gills afterward, and retired to the living room to watch Inception (again), and last week's episode of The Amazing Race on DVR.  The little kids watched The Incredibles on the laptop in the room next-door.

Later we met with friends for Sunday outdoor rosary at a nearby church.

It was the perfect ending to a wonderful weekend!