Saturday

I almost hate to tell you about my day, because it makes me look really lazy.  In my defense, I did a bunch yesterday!  I cleaned and decorated the house, caught up on laundry, and...okay, I guess that's it.  But that was a lot!  And then last night on a whim I bought the kindle edition of Divergent, started reading around 8pm or so, and finished the whole thing at 1 or 2 in the morning.

Today, though, was a different story.  Mike, Baylee, and I went to church mid-morning and decorated for Christmas, along with around ten other people.  I worked hard on this tree in the narthex:

Afterward we had a little potluck with the group, then we went home and I went right to bed for a long nap.  So basically, aside from decorating and potlucking this morning, the nap is all I've accomplished today.  Now my big plan is to read the second book in the series, Insurgent, while simultaneously drinking Mountain Dew.  And by the way, if you've read these books or know anything about them, I think I would've chosen Amity as my group.

Decorating

More pics of Mike and Drew checking to make sure the lights work before putting them on the tree. 

Baylee is being a big absolutely no help.

But she and Rachel did decorate the tree today.  They did a good job, although there was a bit of clumping.  I could tell they sat on the floor chatting for quite awhile, because a lot of the ornaments were along the bottom.  lol  I rearranged after they wandered off. 

The finished product!

Happy Thanksgiving, 2013

We had a really nice Thanksgiving.  The food was delicious and it was nice to spend the day with family.  We also saw Gravity, which is an incredible movie.  I went into it not knowing what it was about at all, except that it had something to do with astronauts, and because of that I feel like I spent most of that movie with my mouth hanging open.  Wow.  I wasn't expecting that level of intensity.  Oh, yeah, and we saw it in 3-D, so when the space debris came through, I flinched to "get away" from it probably about 587 times.  LOL

Baylee went to Patty's a couple days early, so she helped make a lot of the food.  Here's a picture Patty took of Baylee helping with an apple pie.

The fam.

When we got back home that night Mike and Drew set up the tree and strung lights on it.  Baylee (and probably Rachel) will decorate it tomorrow, while I decorate the house.  (I took this when Drew and Mike were testing all the lights.)

Thanksgiving...Almost

Well, I had a different post written, but then I thought better of it.  It's probably a little too unladylike.  (And you know I'm all about the ladylike.)  So instead I'll just say that I'm looking forward to Thanksgiving tomorrow!  Baylee went to Patty's yesterday, and she'll be there until tomorrow, when we'll join her.  We're having Thanksgiving dinner over there, and it's my job to bring sweet potato casserole (because, not to brag, but I make the world's most AWESOME sweet potatoes), rolls, and snack-type food.  Happy Thanksgiving...almost!

Crazy Kid

These were both made by Baylee...

I guess this is what I get for leaving my coat and purse unattended.

"How to Twist Your Hair into a Bun Without Using Your Hands"

Weekend

We had a nice, family-centered weekend.  On Saturday Baylee and Drew went with their friends Grace and Nick to see a movie with no adult.  lol  It was fine, actually.  Nick and Drew are both 15, so that made me feel like the girls were safe.  They all had a good time, and, of course, the girls took pictures and the boys refused to be in any of them.  (Incidentally, if you've ever wondered why I have so many pictures of Baylee, hardly any of Zach, and fewer and fewer of Drew, it's because teen boys mostly just allow pictures over their dead body.) 

Speaking of Drew, he's getting braces right at this very moment.  I can't wait to see what he looks like.  I told him not to choose yellow rubber bands, because that'll make him look like he has plaque build-up.

Edited to Add:  Here's a pic!

It was Round 2 of teaching the 4's and 5's at church yesterday.  (It's a once-a-month gig.)  It went well!  In fact, it went pretty close to perfectly.  Whew!  Two things made all the difference:  I lowered my expectations considerably, both in terms of what I hoped to accomplish and how I hoped they'd behave.  Does that sound terrible?  It really wasn't.  I still told the story and the kids really listened and understood.  It's just that I loosened up a lot on the games and activities.  If something was working, I didn't necessarily force a transition.  Also, I let the kids do their thing, as long as it wasn't too distracting.  For instance, one little girl had a stuffed cat (that she named Meow Tina) wrapped in a blanket, and she refused to put it down even when it was time to go practice the Christmas songs with the children's choir.  I was totally okay with that.  And the second thing that made it work well was Baylee.  She was my helper and she was absolutely wonderful.  She got right in there with the kids and interacted, but in a way that was very calming and loving.  She's a natural.

Oh, Never Mind

Okay, I'm feeling a little sheepish about my rant, so I'll post again and get it off the top spot.  That'll make it less noticeable.  (Then I'll go ahead and just talk about it some more, canceling the whole effect.)  I recognize I was being overly sensitive Still.  I bet that punk doesn't know what an appositive is and I'm moving on now.

In completely different news, Drew asked to keep the two teeth that were pulled out of his head today.  Haha!  What a weirdo.

Little Rant

I can't decide if I'm irritated with the meanness of middle school girls or the misconception some people have about homeschooling...or maybe a combination of the two.  Yeah, I think it's a combo.  Anyway, here's what happened:

Baylee was sitting with a group of girls at church on Wednesday night, and one of them, a public schooler, asked her what she's learning in math. Baylee told her she's doing fractions, and in response this other girl said, "Tsk. Really? I learned that last year. Wow, you're behind. What are you doing in language arts???" The conversation was interrupted then and Baylee never answered.

Argh. The whole thing is so annoying. Yes, I'm taking it personally and, yes, I understand that it's really not a big deal in the grand scheme of things, but the fact is that Baylee is most likely learning circles around that girl (especially since she's only a 6th grader). I want to march up to her and say, "Hey, do you know the eight functions that a noun can have in a sentence?  Because that's what Baylee is learning in English right now. Do you understand the Revolutionary War? Because that's what she's studying in history." Of course, I would never do that.

Awhile back Baylee babysat for a family, and the dad spent the 15 minutes it took for me to pick her up afterward asking her questions about homeschooling.  "Do you ever get to be around other kids?  What subjects do you have?  How long does it take you every day?  Do you have tests?"  Sigh.  He was probably just curious.

I don't know.  Sometimes people's assumptions get old.  And FYI to that girl:  Fractions are studied every year at a deeper level up until algebra.  Sheesh.

Life Lately

Last night at Pioneer Girls everyone had to tell things they're thankful for, and one little girl said, "I'm thankful that my guinea pig is still alive, because I never remember to feed it."

Baylee had a tooth extracted today.  It was a molar that's been bad since...well...prebirth.  It formed wrong in the womb.  We had to find a different dentist just to deal with this particular tooth, because our regular dentist wouldn't touch it.  The problem with it was beyond his ability to fix.  In fact, it took us months to find anyone who would help, and the place we did find is one that specializes in difficult cases. They've been dealing with the tooth for a couple years now, babying it along, waiting to make sure there's a wisdom tooth on that side that will eventually come out and keep things lined up properly, until finally, recently, they saw the beginnings of that wisdom tooth on an x-ray.  That meant it was okay to take the bad tooth out, so that's what they did today.  Anyway, the point of all this is that  1.  Baylee did well and is feeling fine and 2. during my lunch break today I sat down to catch up on FB and stuff, and there was a hunk of wet, bloody gauze on my desk.  Ack.  Not cool, Baylee.  Coincidentally, Drew is having two teeth pulled tomorrow, to prepare for the braces he's getting on Monday.  I guess this is End-with-Fewer-Teeth Week.

The other evening I took a bubble bath, fell asleep in the tub, and dreamed about doing geometry.  Relaxation = Canceled. 

Wednesday

Hey!  I don't have much time today, because, besides all the normal Wednesday stuff, I'm also doing the Bible Exploration part of Pioneer Girls tonight.  Their regular person needed to take the evening off.  I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again.

Let's see...other than that the only news since yesterday is that the SofR handed out parts for 5 more songs, and Drew was given a bass part.  He's always wanted to learn to play bass, so this is his opportunity.  In fact, most (or maybe all) the guitarists were given a bass part in different songs, because they didn't have enough bass players sign up for this show.  The school said not to worry if you don't own a bass guitar, because they have extras.  Cool.  (I said "bass" a lot.)

I took this picture this morning, because the cat is both precariously balancing and sleeping at the same time.  lol

A Couple Little Things

I keep thinking of things I could blog about, but they all seem like too much work.  Maybe it's because I'm getting over a head cold.  All weekend I kept telling Mike that my constant sneezing and overall tired feeling was because I was sick, but he just said I had allergies.  Then in the middle of the night last night he woke me up saying, "Uhhhhhhh.  I have a cold."  My half-asleep response was, "I told you!"  lol

This morning Zach told me a story that he read in his civics textbook about a fist fight that broke out between two representatives (one from Wisconsin and one from Mississippi) over whether to admit Kansas into the Union as a slave state or a free state.  It ended when one of them accidentally yanked the toupee off the other, which kinda diffused the situation.  They both laughed, shook hands, and apologized.  Nowadays debate over a bill is called a "floor fight," but it's limited to words.  Too bad.  Toupee yanking seems a lot more fun.

Baylee got a 100% on a math test.  She likes little messages from "the teacher" on her tests just like any kid.

(If you're wondering why her test starts with 21-23, it's because those were hard problems on proportions, so she decided to do them first.)
  

Brr

It was a cold and rainy day, and now it's a "dark and stormy night."  Well, not really.  It is dark, though.  It gets pitch dark by 4:30.  Is it me or does it seem like I'm living in the Arctic circle?

Drew and Baylee did school right next to each other this morning, so they could share the heater.

A Few Misc. Thoughts

I loved what happened when we came home from church today.  Mike and I prepped Sunday dinner together, and all the kids hung out in our little kitchen with us, chatting.  The two big teenage guys sat on the counter and Baylee sort of flitted in and out.  You know, I've always loved the kids, but I'm finding that as they get older I enjoy them even more.  They're fun and interesting and smart...just good company.

Last night Baylee's friend Molly came over and I took them to see another friend of theirs, Lily, perform in a middle school play.  To be honest, I wasn't sure what to expect, but that play was great!  It was very easy to see that somebody, or a lot of somebodies, put a great deal of time and effort into making sure those kids would shine.  We all loved it!

Then Molly spent the night.

Today at church I was told that a lot of people loved hearing Baylee, Grace, Nick, and Drew do special music in the evening service a few weeks ago; in fact, they enjoyed it so much that they want them to do something in the morning service.  (That's a big honor at our church.  Kids don't typically do music in the morning service.)  What's interesting is that I walked out of church after they did their song that night pretty irritated with Drew.  I didn't take it out on him at all, and actually I didn't even talk to him much about it beyond saying "good job, bud," but secretly I was mad enough that it took me a good half hour to stop inwardly sputtering.  Basically, I thought he was grandstanding up there.  He chose a picking pattern that was showy, and then he dropped his pick halfway through the song and had to search around for it on the stage.  lol  Argh.  Now don't get me wrong; I don't mind mistakes.  At all.  I get that stuff happens.  But leading up to that night I had told him several times to tone it down and that it wasn't about him, it was about 1.  worship and 2. the singers he was accompanying, but ultimately he didn't listen.  Anyway, I guess it was a good lesson for me.  Sometimes things I think are noticeable really aren't, and sometimes things I think are a big deal aren't, either.  (I still think he needs to learn to accompany better, though.)

Blasts from the Past

Recently I came across this post from several years ago.  I'm blessed.

 A Very Present Dad

I also found this.  Both "episodes" made me laugh all over again.  This is still kinda how their relationship is to this day:  part friendship, part teasing to the point of attack.

Screaming Banshee

I'm Thankful...

...for this kid.

Yesterday we went out for coffee together, as we do almost every Thursday afternoon.  She's great company.

And I'm thankful for kids who are grown so that, if I come to the end of the line and just need a nap, I can actually take one.  Mike's second shift schedule is still a little rough for all of us, but we're getting used to it.  Once in awhile, though, I'm just too tired to keep going.  I LOVE that I can rest without worrying the house will burn down.

Pictures and Germs

Zach got the invisalign braces!  They really are invisible.  I have to be looking into his mouth close-up in order to see any hint of them.

I took this, because as Drew was changing his guitar strings the cat was playing with the old ones and it was kinda cute.  You'll just have to trust me, though, because it didn't really translate well in pictures. 

 

And Baylee took this of herself.

Completely off topic, but you know how everyone has that one weird friend?  In fact, they say that if you can't think of who it might be, then chances are you're the weird friend.  Anyway, Baylee has one (you don't know her) who's a very nice girl, but she does some strange stuff.  The latest is that she picked the gunk out of her eye, studied it for a second, then ate it.  After telling us about it Baylee said, "It made me feel light-headed."

Speaking of that sort of thing, when I was in 3rd grade my teacher, Mr. Gole, spent some time one day gravely explaining the dangers of nose picking.  He went on and on about how it's germy and can make you incredibly ill, etc.  I'm not sure how much of that was true* and how much of it was just that he was sick of watching kids eat their boogers.


*After all, he was the same teacher who warned us that when he left the classroom he would sometimes sneak into the ventilation system and listen to us, so we'd better behave while he was gone.  I believed him.  It was years before I realized that, in all likelihood, he didn't actually crawl around in the vents.

Pea?

I know I said I wasn't going to post today, but I just have this one quick thing:

On Saturday Baylee and I are going to see a friend of hers perform in a middle school play.  They're doing Once Upon a Mattress, which is a version of the "Princess and the Pea" story.  Thinking about this today made me remember a post I wrote a few years ago:

The Princess and the Pea

The video in it is one of my favorites to this day.

Consider This Tomorrow's Post

Homeschool Mom Confession:  I just bought Baylee the audio version of Johnny Tremain, her current read-aloud*, because if I have to read that thing out loud one more time I'm gonna jam a pencil in my eye.  It's not that I don't like the story, because I do.  The problem is that I really kinda hate reading aloud.  There.  I said it.  I HATE reading to my kid.  I get bored.  Plus, I don't have time to sit there for, literally, 45 minutes.  So now you know.

Tomorrow Zach gets his braces.


*book that's supposed to be read by and discussed with the parent

Tuesday

Baylee is really sick with the stomach flu today.  I can't say I'm all that surprised.  She came home from spending the afternoon at Rachel's 3 days ago and said, "Chudierre was sick and throwing up the whole time."  (No, it didn't occur to Baylee to come home.)  So now she's having a very rough time of it, poor thing.  She's been vomiting half the night and all morning.  She does look kinda cute, though, with her hair like that.  She reminds me of a Dr. Suess character...a citizen of Whoville!

One thing that's nice about being a husband is that if you're on a diet, especially if you're on a diet along with your wife, she'll figure out stuff like calorie counts for you.  I think wives should get wives...or, well, personal assistants.

And for fun...

Diet

Long story short, I realized that I gotta count stuff.  I tried, oh, how I tried, to find a different way to go about it, but the reality for me right now is that I need structure. To that end I'm counting calories with the MyPlate feature on the LiveStrong website.  I've been doing it for a few days and so far I've lost 5 pounds!  (water weight...shmater weight.  I don't care.)

While I know this is probably true...

...I'm happy about something, so I'll just tell you that one thing and then shut up.  It's this:  Yesterday Drew came home with an entire pizza from youth group.  They had a ton extra from their monthly pizza night, and they were giving them away. And this was good stuff!  It was ham and pineapple.  Anyway, I saw that on the counter and I ate a piece, which put me over the amount of cals I should've had for the day.  But!  Today I took a brisk 3-mile walk and burned that whole piece of pizza off and then some.  I'm weirdly proud.  LOL  What's more, I enjoyed being out in the cool weather and walking around the puddles and through the leaves.  Not to mention, Baylee came along, and it was nice to have that time with her.

Finally, for no reason except that it makes me laugh, I'll leave you with this:

Sorry in Advance...

Stuff

Baylee took this yesterday.  I like it.

Did I mention that both boys are getting braces this month?  Zach is getting the Invisalign kind next week, and Drew is getting the regular kind toward the end of the month.  (By the way, it took me several tries and two trips to Google to learn how to spell "Invisalign.")

Well, Baylee and I are finally all the way through the American Revolution in her history course, and I'm left with the thought that I REALLY didn't pay attention when I went through this the first time when I was a kid.  Here's what struck me this time:  Although I understand why the colonists decided to go to war, there was nothing romantic about it.  In fact, the "Sons of Liberty" could be thug-like.  Interesting stuff.

Speaking of, awhile back I sent my mom this:

 

It's volumes 1 and 2 of a wonderful series of books called The Story of the World.  It's a world history course meant for children, but interesting for all ages.  Not only did I send her the books, but I sent her the matching audio books read by "master storyteller" (that's how he's advertised) Jim Weiss, which we own because Zach listened to them when he was in elementary school.  Anyway!  I thought my mom would enjoy hearing them while she was quilting in the evenings, and I was right.  She loves them.  She said that she's really learning world history for the first time.  In fact, she likes them so much that once she finished she started all over from the beginning.

Today Drew mentioned a time recently that he "got in trouble" at a SofR rehearsal.  He was playing something during some free time, and one of the rehearsal leaders, a compact little guy with really long hair, said, "Are you playing a Greenday song???"

"Uhh...yeah..."

"Well, stop it!  Do you want me to tell your teacher you've been playing Greenday?!"

LOL  That particular guy just doesn't like Greenday, I guess. 

Friday!

A Conversation...

Drew:  Baylee, quit following me.
Baylee:  I'm not following you, you're following me...backwards!

In other news, I'm really glad it's Friday!  Mike worked half of last weekend, so he got today off, making this a 3-day weekend for him.  I love having him here.

Zach and I finished MacBeth, and I thought it would be fun/a good idea to reinforce it by having him watch the actual play.  I went on YouTube and they had several different groups doing it, including a "Fame"-type school in Hollywood.  That one actually looked good to me, but Zach chose the cartoon version, because it only lasts 25 minutes.  lol  If you're interested, here it is!

This Day

Drew [who's in a foul mood this morning and taking it out on the pencil sharpener]:  What's wrong with this stupid thing?!
Zach:  I don't know, but it's a good thing it's jackass-proof.
Drew:  Well...well...that must mean you can use it!

Sigh.  That's been indicative of our morning.  The coffee maker broke and one of the tires on the car was flat.  The day can only go up from here!  Hopefully.

Very Quick Videos

In this first one Baylee recites a couple famous quotes that she had to learn this week in her American history class.  Also this week she learned the Army song, which I think she likes, because I keep catching her singing it to herself.  ("Over hill, over dale, we will hit the dusty trail, as those caissons go rolling along!")  At some point soon she'll learn the Marine and the Navy songs, too.

By the way, as a history project this year she's supposed to memorize either the entire Gettysburg Address or a large chunk of the "I Have a Dream" speech.  Which do you think it should be?  Mike thinks Gettysburg, but I'm partial to "I Have a Dream."

 

And here's a very small snippet of Drew practicing in the living room again.  I was vacuuming in there, making him move and lift his feet,  and all the while he was playing this fun, loud music.  lol  Once I stopped vacuuming around him I decided to video just a little piece of what he was doing.  His fingers are moving so fast they look like a spider crawling  around on the strings.

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Another One for the "Never Speak of This Again" File

(Before you read this you should know that I'm almost positive I shouldn't post it.)

Baylee has a book of poetry that she's going through for school, so every couple days we read a poem or two.  I'll often just read them aloud, and then we'll talk about them.  Yesterday we came to one called "The Lazy Pussy."  It's a cute little poem:

There lives a good-for-nothing cat,

So lazy it appears,

That chirping birds can safely come

And light upon her ears.

And rats and mice can venture out

To nibble at her toes,

Or climb around and pull her tail,

And boldly scratch her nose.

Fine servants brush her silken coat

And give her cream for tea; --

Yet she's a good-for-nothing cat,

As all the world may see.

Palmer Cox

The Oxford Illustrated Book of American Children's Poems, Pg. 27

The only problem is I never got past the title.  Now, under normal circumstances that title would've elicited absolutely no response in either Baylee or me.  She's only 12 and is pretty sheltered, and I'm an adult, and as such am perfectly willing to just read it, think of cats, and move forward.  However, our resident 15-year-old was in the next room.  I got three words into it and he started to gaffaw.  He didn't say anything; he just sat there on the couch, pretending to mind his own business and trying very hard to laugh without making any noise.  Pretty soon Baylee joined him, not even knowing what was funny, and it wasn't long before the situation was completely out of control.  I was standing there going, "Alright, Drew, stop it!  How do you know that word?!  Baylee!  Why are you laughing?!  That's enough, you guys!" until, I'm embarrassed to say, I eventually joined them.  I couldn't help it.  So there we all were, laughing like idiots, with tears streaming down our faces.  It's a wonder the authorities didn't show up and revoke my Homeschool Mom card.


PS:  In my defense, mine was more of a nervous laughter. 

What We Got to Hear...

...during our lunch break today.

He's working hard to learn these songs.  This is part of one called "Battery."

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Random Stuff

Yesterday our dryer broke, so I couldn't do laundry all day.  Of course, it broke while it was full of damp clothes, with more wet clothes in the washing machine.  Sigh.  On the very, very bright side, though, when Mike got home from work last night he took it all apart and figured out the problem!  I think he said something about a thermocouple?  Anyway, he's getting a new part at the store right now, and hopefully it'll be all set to go soon after he returns.  You know how people are listing things they're thankful for, since this is the month of Thanksgiving?  Well, I'm so thankful for a husband who can fix stuff.  He's saved us so much money and time down through the years.

In school recently Baylee and I discussed this piece of art:

It's called Washington Crossing the Delaware, and it's by Emanuel Leutze.  Incidentally, both of the books used as spines for Baylee's American history course are full of wonderful art like this.  This particular piece came from The Children's Encyclopedia of American History.  (We use that and another one called The Landmark History of the American People.  Of the two, we like the Landmark a little bit better.  It's a bit more conversational.)  Anyway, it's a great picture, but the book points out some humorous problems with it:

1. It's the wrong type of boat. 
2. That flag didn't even exist yet.
3. Even if it was a little boat like that, which it wasn't, then Washington probably wouldn't be standing, because who in the world is dumb enough to stand in a rowboat?

On a completely different note, the other day I had a wart-like thing on my knee, and I accidentally shaved it off.  It didn't really hurt that much, but it bled for ages.  As always, we didn't have any band-aids, so I was doing the little-piece-of-toilet-paper-stuck-to-the-cut trick, which didn't work very well.  Finally I thought it was good to go, though, so I put some jeans on and went on with my day, only to look down later to see the knee of my pants all spotted with blood that had soaked through.  That's the end of the story.  There's no real point to it.

To make up for the previous paragraph's complete lack of intellectual content, I'll just close by saying that Zach and I are reading MacBeth for his British Lit class right now.  It's hard, but interesting!   

The Time Drew was Morbidly Obese and Got Laughed at by Some Scottish Kids, and a House Tour

Because my friend Jenny asked...

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Life Around Here

Two things that kinda capture what it's like around here sometimes:

Early this morning I heard Drew say in a very calm, this-isn't-all-that-weird voice, "Alright, who's storing slugs in the fridge?"

 

(After asking around I discovered that they're not slugs, but bananas.  They were in the freezer and now they're thawing in the refrigerator.  They'll become banana bread later.)

And this.   Unfortunately, I started videoing too late and only caught the last few seconds of what was pretty awesome guitaring.  What I think is funny, though, is how used to hearing heavy metal we've become.  Mike is so matter-of-factly going about his business in the midst of all the noise.  LOL

On a totally different note, I went to a meeting for the Sunday school teachers of the 2-3 and 4-5 classes today.  It was really good and I left feeling like I learned a lot, but the best thing I got out of it was what to do when things go south.  (Remember last week?)  I was explaining what happened, and a wise, older couple who teaches together said something like, "If a child is having a hard time transitioning [ie they won't go where you want them to go or do what you want them to do], then just let them do what they want, as long as they're quiet.  You only have the child for an hour and a half a week.  It's not your job to 'fix' behavior issues."  That was so freeing for me!  I don't know why I didn't figure it out myself, but I didn't.

Myths

Okay, there are two myths about me that are just running rampant lately, especially on Facebook, and I'm here today to debunk them.  (Wait...is it "debunk?"  Okay, I looked it up.  Yes.  I'm about ready to debunk up in here.)

1.  People think that I'm REEEEEAAAAALLLLLY into grammar.  I'm not.  I "liked" a page called Grammarly on FB, and sometimes I share funny things they post.  That's it.  I will admit that I probably know more than the average person about grammar rules, but that's just because I homeschool.  I've been forced to teach those rules over and over, so I can't help but have a decent understanding of them.  I'll tell you one thing I don't usually do, though, and that's correct other people's grammar.  Or even always use correct grammar and sentence structure myself.  < -------  See what I did there?  *grin*

2.  People think that I love to clean my house.  I don't.  If you were to ask me, "Hey, are you enjoying scrubbing that toilet right now?" I'd say no.  What I do love is living in a clean, orderly space.  I do what I don't like in order to get what I do.

There.  Sheesh.  Now you know.     

Halloween, 2013

It was a beautiful day!  I snapped this about a half hour before the sun started to go down.

This year I took Baylee and Rachel trick-or-treating around our neighborhood and the boys stayed home to pass out candy.  Baylee was the Queen of Hearts and Rachel was an alien in disguise.

Baylee was so excited about the fact that it was Halloween that she spent part of her day making an ongoing vlog (video blog) of it.  It's a "day in the life."  Disclaimer:  At one point she says that it's not even 11am and she's "almost done with school."  That was wishful thinking.  She still had about 2 hours worth of work to go.

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