Tuesday, September 27, 2011

What am I? Chopped liver?

Picture this: I'm snuggling with Chandler. Nuzzling his sweet, soft hair. I sigh contentedly, "I love you Chandler."

And his reply? "Yeah, Daddy loves me."

Umm, what?! Can we say Daddy's boy??

Friday, September 23, 2011

What a crazy week!

We were without internet for 3 days. Horrors!

One of the kittens got very sick. We were seriously worried about him. He didn't eat for at least 2 days. We got him to the vet and they diagnosed him with a serious upper respiratory infection and inner ear infection. He got a major dose of antibiotic and fluids due to dehydration this morning. We're hoping he will start perking up soon.

Oh, and we had homeschool co-op, ballet and several family dinners. Busy week! Here's hoping for a relaxing weekend ...

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Dinner 9-17-11

On the menu: Tacos

Soundtrack for cooking (I just have to have music while cooking): Spamalot soundtrack

Thursday, September 15, 2011

I must be crazy

So, on Tuesday we had dinner at my mother-in-laws house. They had a new kitten and the kids had a wonderful time playing with it. My mother-in-law told us it was from a litter of kittens that was now at the Animal Control Center and that the next day was their last chance to be adopted or they would be put down. :( Daddy is such a softy when it comes to animals even if he tries not to be. He grabbed me and told me to check it out and bring home no more then two if it was true.

WHAT?! Weren't we just saying we had too many cats and we were glad when we got back down to two?? But we couldn't just let little baby kittens die.

So, yesterday morning we went down there to see what was going on. Turns out there were 5 kittens/young cats that would be put down that afternoon if no one adopted them. We got there at 11:30 so it really was a last minute stay of execution. I wish I could have taken them all home, but two really was our max. After snuggling with several of them and debating for a few minutes (my mom came to help make a decision) we ended up with the youngest two, 10 week old brothers. They are practically twins as you can see:

The only difference is the one in the back has a stubby, crooked tail. Not really sure how that happens ... The one in the front has been christened "Mal" after Captain Malcolm Reynolds and stubby tailed one is "Han" after Han Solo. Yes, we are nerds! ;) Mal climbed in bed with Daddy and I this morning and snuggled and purred. He's a real sweetie and very affectionate. Han is quieter, but he loves to snuggle. They've been stuffing their faces and seem very happy. I'm so glad we were able to give them a chance!

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Second Hiccup

My daughter says she doesn't like Math. :(

We got RightStart Mathematics Level A for her. I thought something very manipulative heavy would be good for my active, intense daughter. RightStart wants the child to try and visualize things and do numbers in your head. They start off very slowly, but she gets so frustrated when I ask her to "imagine" it. I was stumped.

Then I was discussing both problems with my mother (a former homeschool mom) and I had a mini ephinay. Problem #1 (going too quickly through handwriting) answers problem #2! Claire loves worksheets! RightStart has no worksheets ... hmm. So as an experiment I picked up a $3 Math Workbook from Walmart on Tuesday. It's a Math Readiness book geared for Kindergarten and 1st grade. She loves it.

Now my problem - I spent a good amount of money on her math curriculum and I can't return it now. So I guess I'm going to have to do a modified version of RightStart with worksheets mixed in. It's going to be more work for me because I can't follow the easy, set out in front of you lesson plan that RightStart gives, but I want my daughter to enjoy math and I will do everything in my power to help her. Now I just need to figure out next year ... has anyone used Horizons Math? Did you like it? Any suggestions?