Beginning of the school year, planting seeds, and a belly pic

The first week of school has arrived!

Now, I know you are scratching your head and looking at the calendar. To answer the unspoken (technically unheard) question, yes, it is indeed May and yes, we are starting school. The beauty of homeschooling is that I can do whatever I want :)

Let me explain my reasoning.

We live in WI, the frigid North. When the lucky, toasty kids down South get to learn about insects and flowers and actually see and touch them, we have snow. No bugs. No flowers. Not even a blade of grass to study. Just cold, ice, snow, and barren trees. So, I am doing some science and our nature study at a time of year when my kids can learn about nature by seeing and touching it, not just reading about it from a boring old textbook. While I am at it, we are doing math, reading, and some other fun Summer-y projects.

This week's big project is planting seeds and watching them grow. Now, learning about flowers and plants is actually part of W's curriculum but I added the planting seeds part. Ulterior motives. All his books have him do is read about seeds but my garden needs to be started and my beloved children need to learn how to help me so I don't have to work as much (like I said, ulterior motives - child labor, bwahahahahahaa!!!!).

How To Plant A Garden, Step 1: Eat Pop Ice. Ok, not exactly but the boys didn't complain.

They took turns putting in the potting soil. Most of it actually went into the egg cartons. W was a little concerned that some got on the ground until I explained that it was just plain old dirt and some getting on the ground wouldn't hurt anything.

Smoothing out the soil and making it even.

Planting seeds! We planted watermelon, summer squash, peas, and beans. The boys like the beans the best. Why, I have no idea.

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Watering the planted seeds. You can see my ice water melting in the sun in the background. I was rather disappointed when I went to take a sip later.

Mission accomplished! The little seedlings should be ready to plant in the actual garden in a couple of weeks. More, um, school work. Tee hee hee.

Enjoying a bounce or two after their 'strenuous' work.

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I asked him to smile for the camera. This is what I got.

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This is what Missy was up to while the boys and I were hard at work in the heat of the day. Sleeping in front of a fan. Life is rough for the baby of the family.

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Post bath, watching Veggie Tales. The boys were, of course, filthy and Missy joined them in the dirt shortly after we finished the planting. She missed all the real work. Little slacker.

As promised, a belly pic. Ok, not a real one but I thought it was cool. 36 weeks 5 days! According to my pregnancy app, I have 22 days before my EDD. I am so glad the weather has been on the cooler side so that I am more comfortable. Pregnancy and heat do not mix well! Next time I will post a real belly pic. Promise.

Review: Tide Free & Gentle

A couple of months ago I received some Tide Free & Gentle to review for a website. I decided to write a review here as well.

I have a child with sensitive skin (W) who will get irritated using many of the regular detergents. Whether it is the dye, the perfume, some weird ingredient, or a combination of the three, I have no idea. Up to this point, I had not used one of the dye and perfume free detergents on the market, opting instead to make my own laundry detergent. Since I am über cheap (haha), I wasn't all that interested in trying a product that would cost more for the same result as my own detergent. However, when the opportunity to test some out for free came along, I took it.

I was very impressed.

Although I had low expectations in the beginning, Tide Free & Gentle lived up to its claim of getting clothes clean and taking out the stains (see claim here). Not only did W do just fine, but our clothes came out nice and clean. No irritation, no nasty skin breakouts, nothing. In fact, you couldn't tell the difference between the two detergents. The only down side is that this detergent does have a chemical-ly (is that even a word? No? Oh well.) smell to it. That I didn't really like but the results were great.

Now, the big question here is, will I switch? The answer is no. I would recommend this detergent to anyone who needed a good, dye free detergent for sensitive skin or a new baby and has no desire to make their own. Since it works just as well as my own, homemade detergent, I will keep using mine since it is more cost effective. I would gladly use Tide Free & Gentle if I could not make my detergent for some reason. It is a great back up and I am glad I know what to use if necessary!

The 12 Days of Sickness

*Set to the tune of The 12 Days of Christmas*

On the first day of sickness, the beginning of it all, my daughter wouldn't stop throwing up...

Ok, never mind. A poet I am not. Anyway, Little Miss started the whole thing. 5 days of a nasty GI bug, one trip to the urgent care, and some Zofran later my gorgeous little gal shared it with me. The good news was I got it on a weekend when Hubby was here and could take care of the kids while I slept it away. That was followed by both of her brothers getting it. B was sick the longest - 6 days - for a total of 12 days of loveliness. I say loveliness but it was anything but lovely. I am really hoping this is the end of sickness in our house for many months to come! This Winter has been really rough on us. The kids have never been so sick. Maybe it is because there are three of them? If so, I dread next year when there are four...

In other news, today is my baby appointment!! I get to hear baby again, which is always exciting. Due to all the illness around here I haven't had one in almost 5 weeks. This will be my 34/35 week appointment and first appointment since my 30 week one. This pregnancy is flying by! Just a few weeks left before Squishy Bug makes his appearance. I am trying not to think about my To Do list since it got put on the back burner for the last couple of weeks. Somewhere on that list is taking another picture. Maybe, just maybe, I will get one done before labor. For some reason, this is not a priority....

32 Weeks and a Birthday

Well, Squishy Bug is having a blast, flipping around and stretching. I am not. The last couple of days I have been feeling REALLY pregnant! Insomnia has also kicked in...just as Little Miss started sleeping through the night consistently. How is that fair, exactly??? It's not. Believe me, it's not.  However, I am glad that baby #4 is doing well and is a healthy little boy.

On to other news...W is now 5! I cannot believe how fast time flies. My mom always told me time would speed up faster and faster the older I got and she was right! I remember the day he was born...it was snowing and that trip to the hospital was one of the most uncomfortable car rides I have ever had.

Here is my birthday boy, holding his new beanbag. He was so excited to get a beanbag! He had been drooling over them at the store for awhile now so he was thrilled to finally own one. His siblings are also excited and they have all been taking turns rolling it over each other. Yeah, I have weird children.

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Update on Weekly Challenges

The first week went really well (you can find the post here). All my clothes now not only fit me but fit in my closet and dresser. Putting clothes away is so easy now! Before, I dreaded trying to squeeze everything in and hated putting away my own clothes (how sad is that???). Now I don't mind it at all. Such a refreshing change!

I was going to do the same for the littles (especially A, her dresser is crammed with more clothes than the child could possibly wear) last week but we had a little problem. Ok, not little. Huge. There was a blockage in the sewer on our street and the sewer backed up into our basement. It was a disgusting mess! I went down to do a load of laundry Monday morning only to find about 3 inches of standing yuckage (probably not a real word but it fits the situation perfectly so I am going with it. Besides, if Shakespeare can make up his own words, then I can too) covering the entire basement. The unfinished basement, not the finished one. I make this distinction because we have two basements. Odd, yes, but for some reason someone thought this would be a good idea. I now know why.

The good great news is that our insurance agent took care of everything. EVERYTHING. He called the clean up crew and filed the claim with the insurance company and with the city. We are hoping that the city will pay for the clean up since it was not on our property nor was it our fault.

The greatest news is we didn't lose a thing. Well, we lost some plastic bags and the gift bags. Nothing of value and nothing that couldn't easily be replaced. We have been through two floods now in less than 5 years and the only thing of value that we lost was Hubby's truck and that was on its last leg, barely hanging onto life. The insurance company covered it completely and we probably got more than we would have if we had tried to trade it in so that was actually a good thing in the end. God is so good!!

But I digress...

I didn't do a weekly challenge this week. I did finish getting the boys' clothes pared down and they are now each in half a dresser. Miss A will share with W and newbie will share one with B. Next week my challenge will be to get A's clothes under control...gulp. I have been saving her wardrobe for last because out of all of them, hers will be the hardest. I love all her cutsie clothes! Even the ones she has never worn or has only worn once. Yet, it must be done. Next week.

My Weekly Challenge - Less Is More

I have decided to do a weekly challenge for myself. My goal is to become more organized before Baby Boy makes his appearance in June. With 4 kids ages 5 and under, I am going to need to be more organized than I am now. I am not an overly organized person so I am not expecting any miracles but it would be nice to be rid of some of the junk that is cluttering up my house and find a place for everything.

Week 1: The Wardrobe

My new motto is Less Is More. Putting this into practice, my challenge this week is to clear out my closet and dresser. Both are full to the max and I don't even wear half the clothes. Some do not fit any more, others I am just holding on to just because I can't seem to let go. I will keep 3-5 articles of each type of clothing (dresses, pants, t-shirts, etc,) and donate the rest. Not an easy task but I am determined to do it!

Bring on Week 1!

Updates :)

So it has been while. Life has been wonderfully busy. I thought it was time for a few updates:

Earlier this week, the first real snowfall!! 14 inches of white fluffy stuff. The kids were fascinated and excited. Hubby, who had to shovel all 14 inches, was not quite as thrilled. Hopefully Hubby will be able to take them all (minus the baby) out sledding next weekend.

Today, I am 14 weeks 5 days pregnant! This pregnancy is going by very quickly. I was supposed to have an appointment today but it had to be rescheduled due to the doctor calling in sick. Now it is next week instead. Phooey.

Right now, I am supervising two little boys while they pick raisins out of the carpet. Why are there raisins in the carpet, you ask? Good question. Here's how it happened.

For lunch I served leftover chicken dumpling soup. The boys were not happy and decided not to eat. They are allowed to say no but they are not allowed to have any other food to eat until they eat the 'offensive' food. They went off to play, hungry, while I did some laundry. While I was distracted from doing the laundry, a certain little boy (I can guess who it was *coughBcough* but I don't know for sure) pulled the step stool to the counter and found the 2 pound bag of raisins that I had opened that morning. I had not put it back in the pantry yet but it was sealed and ready to go. He then snuck it to the living room where the two boys ate some and then shared with their sister. Now, by sharing I mean they gave her the whole bag. She, being a normal 14 month old child, proceeded to dump and fling the entire bag of raisins around the living room. She was dumping it out and dancing in the mess when I came across the scene. I was not happy, to say the least. And so, two little boys spent (they just finished as I am typing this) the better part of an hour cleaning up a 2 pound bag of raisins. Ah, fun times. At least they didn't squish the raisins in or anything. Although, I am not sure how good the raisins will be after this. There is fuzzy stuff sticking to the raisins. Yuck. I'll figure something out I'm sure!! Not going to let an entire 2 pound bag go to waste!