HAPPY 4th EVERYONE!!!

  Yellow and I made the annual 4th of July cake.  We made chocolate this year, and she made the buttercream frosting pretty much by herself!  Yes, it is more offwhite, but that is fine.  I figure linen flags are as well.  We made the start part with blueberries, with approx 50 white parts showing and have exactly 13 stripes, the red ones of strawberries. Always a holiday favorite!

  Red's favorite part of this holiday is the "Twilight Zone" marathon.  I think I asked last year, but what is your favorite episode?  Red's changes a lot, but right now it is between the manikin one and Talking Tina. 

  Hubby went to work around 5, but said he wouldn't be too long.  That was over 6 hours ago, so he should be home before too long.  The kids are really looking forward to spending the day with him.

  This is one of the 3 days a year that the kids are allowed to have soda, so they are really excited.  They watched with big eyes as I got the Root Beer for the floats that they get on this one day.

   We will go watch fireworks tonight and in the meantime I'm not sure what our plans are.  It depends on when Daddy gets home.  Blue is making a documentary about our day.  Red is doing Lego short films in between his scenes.  It is very cool.

  Red is helping make potato salad and Blue is helping grill dogs for dinner and we have watermelon and the cake, so that should be super fun. 

  Hope you are all having a wonderful holiday filled with lots of fun stuff!

QUIZ TIME!

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Weekly world news quiz

It's the end of another week... Just how much do you remember about the headlines from the past seven days? Test your knowledge of world news events in our quiz. When you've got your result, why not e-mail the quiz to your friends to see how they measure up? You got 4 right! Let's party Question 1 A video of President Nicolas Sarkozy getting in a temper prior to a TV interview has become an internet hit. Who annoyed him? A: A make-up artist who overdid it with the face powder B: A technician didn't respond to his greeting C: The interviewer who appeared more interested in talking to his wife Carla   The answer was B   The video shows the employee clipping a microphone to Mr Sarkozy's tie, and not responding to a presidential "hello". "It's a question of manners," Mr Sarkozy is heard muttering. "When you're invited, you're entitled to have people say 'hello' to you." See: Sarkozy TV rebuke becomes web hit Question 2 Who was finally removed from the US terror watch list this week? A: Former South African President Nelson Mandela B: Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams C: Libya's Muammar Gaddafi   The answer was A   The African National Congress (ANC) was put on the US list after it was designated as a terrorist organisation by South Africa's old apartheid regime. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had called the restrictions a "rather embarrassing matter". See: Mandela taken off US terror list Question 3 We learnt this week that Australia's treasury chief is going on "wombat leave". Why? A: He is recovering from an injury inflicted by a wombat he was looking after B: He is taking time out to look after "endangered" wombats C: He has been told to go on a break after he called the opposition leader a wombat in parliament   The answer was B   Ken Henry, treasury secretary and animal conservationist, has warned that hairy-nosed wombats are "on death row". He will be looking after 115 hairy-nosed wombats in an isolated spot in northern Queensland. See: Treasury chief on 'wombat leave' Question 4 American researchers say Denmark is the happiest country in the world. Which other countries complete the top three in the list? A: Canada and Switzerland B: Australia and Germany C: Puerto Rico and Colombia   The answer was C   The survey - directed by a University of Michigan professor - asked people two simple questions about their happiness and their level of satisfaction with life. The United States was found to be the world's 16th happiest country. See: Denmark 'world's happiest nation' Question 5 A smoking ban has come into effect in cafes, bars and restaurants in the Netherlands. Does this ban include the smoking of marijuana? A: Yes B: No   The answer was B   Patrons of cannabis cafes will still be allowed to smoke marijuana as long as it is not mixed with tobacco. See: Dutch smoking ban goes into force Question 6 Fifteen hostages, including the high-profile French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt were rescued from the Colombian Farc rebels this week. How many is it estimated are still being held? A: 7 B: 70 C: 700   The answer was C   The Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, which has been waging a war of independence for the past four decades, still holds more than 40 high-profile hostages, among nearly 700 other captives. See: Betancourt reunited with family Question 7 Why did a Swedish dad lodge a human rights complaint to the country's parliament about his son's school? A: Because teachers confiscated his son's party invitations B: Because items were confiscated from his son's lunchbox C: Because he was put in detention   The answer was A   The boy's school said he violated the rights of two children in his class because he didn't invite them to his birthday party. The boy's father, however, lodged a complaint with the parliamentary ombudsman saying the property should not have been confiscated. See: Birthday party snub sparks debate

Currently Reading Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg (Disney Fairies) By Gail Carson Levine see related

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.....

  I mentioned a couple of weeks ago (or it could have been this morning, I really have no sense of time) that I had redone the kids chores.  They all still have their daily chores of being in charge of an animal or two (Red- boy mice and girl mice, Blue- cat and dog, Yellow- bunnies and g. pig, Mommy hermit crabs and fish), making their beds, everyone setting the table for one meal a day and picking up around the house, but I officially added laundry to the daily chores.  I was making them do it anyway, so might as well be something they can plan for.  They do not actually do the laundry, but they do empty their hampers and then they each help fold one load a day. 

  I also rearranged their weekly chores to include a couple more things, so now there are some days where they have 2 extra chores instead of just one.  These are the chores they each have once a week:

1) Help to plan and make Dinner

2) Take out trash

3) Clean litter box- this is one of the new ones

4) Pick up dog poop- this is not new, but is now being enforced

5) Help dust- another one that they were often helping with, but was not officially on their lists

6) Brush dog

7) Strip own bed down and help put on clean sheets

8) Help with dishes

And then they each have one chore that is just their's to do during the week, picked to help each of them with some character trait they are working on:

Red- watering house plants, which will hopefully help her to remember the things for which she is responsible.

Blue- cutting coupons, which I am counting on to help him pay attention to details and take more time with the little things

Yellow- sweep the porch, which is a good chore for her to do unsupervised to practice doing them independently. 

So you see that I did not really add many new things, I mostly just rearranged the existing chores and am being better about checking to see if they are done and allowing more time for them.  The weird thing is that the kids, especially Blue are being more resistant than ever to most chores, except cooking which they all love doing.  Yet, they are doing the actual work better than ever.  I was trying to talk to Blue about that yesterday after he ranted and stalled for 30 min about having to fold a third of a load of laundry, but then when he actually stopped being a turkey he did the actual folding better than ever!  I think it might have made an impression, because this morning he picked up the dog poop with practically no grumbling!

  I think it helps that they now all have Webkinz and the time allowed on this new obsession of theirs is directly tied to the doing of the chores!

  We had another minimal school day.  We did Math and Penmanship this morning.  They all practiced piano and read for half an hour mid day and now they are going to do a video drawing lesson while I shower.  I worked outside in this heat for 2 1/2 hours, pulling a few weeds knocking down wasp and hornet nests with a broom handle, packaging up out grown outside toys and bikes for Goodwill and cleaning out the trunk of my car, and trust me, a shower CAN NOT wait until tonight!  The kids played the whole time I worked, so don't feel too sorry for them doing school on a hot summer day. 

  I will have them do Latin this afternoon if we have time, but first we have to go to Goodwill drop off, the bank and the library.  I still have to clean the bathrooms and look at the bills for home before the day is over.  I mailed a stack of them for work this morning and scrubbed the kitchen floor, but that is about all I've accomplished so far today.  Hopefully everything will get done so we can go swimming after dinner.  That is what we've been doing all week, once the worst of the heat is over.

HOW TO HANDLE A WOMAN...

  I wonder if husbands know how much women need to feel loved- just loved.  Not loved for.. or loved because ... just loved, unconditionally.  I don't particularly need to feel like you respect me or know how smart I am.  I am already confident that I have a good brain and reasonable problem solving abilities.  And I already know I'm hot, so you don't get points for that either.

  Do men realize that what most wives need to feel happy and secure is not help around the house or with the kids.  It is not stuff, that's for sure, or even date nights or special time together.  We would like it if you pick up your dirty socks and put them into the hamper or wipe your toothpaste off the counter, but that is not it either.  The fantasy, the dream, is to be a team that can not be divided.  To be loved regardless of how well you did on your to do list or how clean the house is or how fancy dinner is. 

  It is not laziness or an unwillingness to be the helper carrying out your plans that makes me sad and overwhelmed, I will do all of that with a willing heart.  Pile it on, my back is strong, just don't make your affection dependant on my ability to do 15,000 tasks a day, well into night, perfectly and while doing 1,600 other things that also need to be done for house, kids, church and school.   And don't say I must not love you if things are not done perfectly.  That may hurt even more than being unloved myself.  To love so much and have it unacknowleged may be failure beyond what I can take.

  And if you do love me, this is not "Fiddler on the Roof", I am not going to assume you love me because you haven't left me.  Please tell me you love me, at least occasionally. 

  I would climb into a live volcano filled with tarantulas, while dressed like a cheerleader and cooking a 5 course meal if you asked me to, but I would do it happily if I knew you loved me.

Currently Reading Anne Frank's Story: Her Life Retold for Children By Carol Ann Lee see related

Summer Time Blues and Reds and Yellows....

  How is it that I manage to be behind even with no set agenda?  I realize it is summer and time to relax (hahaha, obviously a concept made by someone who was not a mom!), but I really expected I would have a bit more accomplished by now. 

  We are only doing a bit of school- mostly Math and History.  The kids still practice their instruments and read each day, but they are spending a lot more time watching movies and just goofing around.  I think that in the last two weeks we watched more movies than in the previous six months put together!  It is actually really fun to watch them after they have seen a movie, because they usually spend the rest of the day (or week) playing that theme.  LAst week they saw "Zoom" and ran around for a couple of days in super hero costumes discussing their powers and making plans for saving the world.  When we watched "The Two Towers" (yes, again), they ran around for a couple of days in cloaks, with sword and bows, discussing their ancestry and making plans for saving the world.  Rereading HArry Potter books or watching Star Wars movies- you guessed it!  Costumes and world Saving!

  The older two loved tennis camp and want to do it again at least once this summer.  Yellow, not so much, but she is very interested in Scout camp, as is Red.

  For my part, I assigned myself a project for each day that they were at tennis camp and spent each morning doing those.  One day I bleached the grout, another I organized the dresser drawers and got rid of a lot of clothes that had been outgrown or worn out, midweek I  redid the kitchen "office space", another day I tried tuning all the guitars (still working on that one).

  I am also using this time of year with no all day outside classes to do those things that I need to be done a couple times a year, but are time consuming so have to wait for Xmas and Summer breaks.  I took the kids all in for their dental checkups, got the carpets cleaned and took the car in for a tune-up/oil change etc.  I also went through all of our school stuff and weeded out some books and ordered more of others.  A huge thing off my list was going through the HUGE piles of papers and workbooks that have grown over the last 6 months and throwing out a lot of it.  so now everything that is not thrown out I know actually needs to be filed or notebooked and I can tackle that a bit at a time.

  I am more behind on reorganizing closets and cupboards, deciding on sports for the coming days and planning for fall than I would like to be.  Some of that is due to the decisions still being made by our charter school/homeschool group.  Other factors are laziness and lack of time management skills, at least that is what my husband tells me. 

  It is time to sign up for soccer again.  Blue can't wait, but neither of the girls want to do it again.  However hubby really wanted them to last year and they survived.  Red even liked it, a little.  I am not sure how he feels about this year.  They all three want to continue in baseball and Blue and Red are crazy for tennis and would like to go back into karate.  Yellow wants to try dance, which she did as a preschooler and liked, but would probably like even more now, that or swimming.  *sigh* I just want more caffeine and to make everyone happy without upsetting anyone else and to learn to keep my temper better.  Any advice on any of those???