Really cool Math website

I've been to this site before- but was just reminded of it- http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html There are TONS of math manipulative type games- Tangrams, pattern blocks, lots of activities to do with adding, patterns, ones, tens and hunderds, and even algebra tile activities that my oldest is using to help with his algebra problems.

What makes our house run smoother?

I'm always looking for ways to make the home run more smoothly. Here's three of them that are working now.

#1- Freezer meals -- Oh I LOVE our freezer meals group. Once a month we make a bunch of a meal and have an exchange. And I always have some meals ready to pull out and make on those busy days. My boys think that the ladies in the group are the best cooks ever. "Who made this dinner?" me "Sister N." "Oh, she's the best cook ever" is heard quite often around here. :D Unfortunately- our group has dwindled, and we're looking for a few more people (hint hint- all you who are close by!)

#2- Morning routine- We have a pretty good routine going in the mornings. First kids make beds then we meet in the living room for morning prayers and devotional. We read a story from The Friend magazine, and sing a Primary Song and read 1 page from the Book of Mormon. One thing I've learned about scripture time- KEEP IT SHORT. It may take us 2 years to get through the Book of Mormon at a page a day- but I can have their full attention (most mornings) for a page. If we tried to read more, I'd lose them.

After Devotional the kids get going on their chores. We have a rotating schedule- it's posted on the fridge so everyone knows what jobs they have. The orage cards need to be done before breakfast, and the older boys need to take care of the animals before breakfast (Bug feeds and waters the dogs, pheasants and chickens, Doodle takes care of the Cockatiels)

The Purple jobs at the bottom are the room each boy is in charge of keeping clean for the week. It's usually done in the afternoons after quiet time.

The boy in charge of the Kitchen is responsible for helping with ALL dishes during the week, emptying the dishwasher, setting the table, helping to rinse or load dishes after meals. Here's Bug on Kitchen DutyThe boy in charge of the Laundry Room is responsible for getting everyone's clothes washed.(with mom's help as needed) Mondays are mom and dad's clothes, Tuesdays are Bug and Roo's clothes, Wednesdays are Doodle's clothes and a batch of kids whites, and Thursdays and Fridays are for towels, and sheets as needed. Yes- even 4 yr old Roo can help with Laundry.The Bathroom Boy is responsible for Cleaning the outside of the Toilet each day, cleaning the sink each day, then Monday is Mirrors, Tue- Inside of toilet, Wed- walls, lightswitches doorknobs, etc. Thur- Trash and Tub, Fri is Floors. Here's Doodle taking care of the birds.

#3- Workbox Drawers. I can't say enough for how well the drawers are working for schoolwork. The drawers 1,2,4,6,8,&9 pretty much stay the same each day-(with math, grammar, phonics, copywork, our Unit Study and all the other daily stuff) and 3,5&7 are rotated through with games, science and other fun stuff. On the chart- you'll notice that one boy in in charge of the "school room" Their responsibility is to fill drawers 3,5 and 7. :D This frees me up, I can give them ideas what I want in the drawers.So that's what's helping our house run more smoothly. What helps your house run smoothly?!

Cross Country Skiing-

I guess we've had a boring life lately- nothing blog-worthy anyhow. For Family Night last night we went out for a ski. It was a great night for a ski- not too cold, the wind wasn't blowing. As we were driving up to the park- we could see some deer down in the valley under a tree- but of course- they were long gone by the time we walked down the hill.

Bug on his skis The speed demons- Ben and the older 2 boys were so fast! Roo and I couldn't keep up with them. "Hurry- move- Mom has the camera out!" Roo- He's a good little skiier- slow, but he just keeps on chugging along.

Where does the time go!?

Bug is 11 years old today. It's hard to believe that it was 11 years ago that I became a mother. On a rainy morning 11 years ago we were headed to the hospital to have a baby. I had no idea how much my life would change. Motherhood is amazing. I have loved watching him grow and change. I loved seeing him for the first time-watching him take his first steps, first birthday, learn to ride a bike, be baptized and all the other firsts. Bug is such an awesome big brother. He looks out for his little brothers Doodleand Roo.Bug is so sweet and helpful. He's always willing to help Roo find his pants that are lost, or play with Doodle, and help with the laundry. He's becoming quite responsible, and we love him.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY BUG!!!

Random workbox fun

School is back and in session around here. The Workbox drawers are working SO well. I love that the kids know when their schoolwork is done- when the last drawer is done- so are they. I LOVE that it gives my "mover and shaker" Doodle a chance to get up in between each subject (as he has to walk into the other room, and return 1 drawer and get the next one) Ok- walk isn't the correct word there---- he usually sommersaults, cartwheels, runs, jumps, skips, and does all sorts of tricks on his way in there. Anyhow- here's a few fun things we've had in the school drawers lately.

First off- Doodle got this awesome Chemistry kit from my grandma for Christmas (Thanks grandma- he loves it!) And so we've done lots of Chemistry lately. Lots of solids, liquids and gas experiments. One of them that he was especially excited about was making candles. We melted the wax and turned a solid into a liquid, then made a candle out of it- making it a solid again, then burned the candle.

One of Roo's favorite school things is pattern blocks- he likes to make "bridges" across the cookie sheet with them.

For math last week- Doodle was learning all about graphs and reading graphs. So we learned about Venn diagrams and pulled out the animals to play games with the graph. This graph was 4 legs and eats meat.

Doodle and Roo both love the geomags. They are such fun to build with!- and they love to take pictures of their creations afterwards.

Mini-Vacation Fun

We HAD planned on going up the the cabin the whole week between Christmas and New Years- but unfortunately there isn't much snow up there. Only about a foot. (Considering usually they get between 4-5 feet of snow- a foot isn't much!) So instead we decided to take a little mini-vacation to Salt Lake City. Pam, the boys and I headed out Wednesday morning- YES- in the snowstorm! Our first stop was the Planetarium. We loved the exhibits, and watched a dome movie about the Universe. Roo and his "lellow scarf"- he got this for Christmas from Aunt Trish- and LOVES it and wears it everywhere. He forgets his shoes, and coat- but he remembers his scarf!

Then we ran a few errands and made our way to the Hotel. A while back when we were driving through SLC, we saw this cool hotel that had a water slide that came out the side of the building and went back in. So we searched online and Found it! I only got a couple of pics at the pool- I need to get the rest from Pam. I wasn't so sure about taking my camera by the swimming pool. Roo loved the little water park, and the big boys loved the slide. It was crowded, and a bit more expensive, but we loved it.
Thursday morning we got up and headed for the Aquarium. It was fun. We especially loved the octopus, electric eels, and the caiman.

Christmas Traditions- Christmas Eve

One tradition that we look forward to all year long is our Formal Christmas Eve Dinner. We had a 7 course meal this year. It was such fun, and a great way to teach manners and how to behave in various situations. I tried to keep it simple and nothing that required too much prep. time.

Course 1- Appetizers- we had crackers and cheese in the Parlor (ok- so really it was in the "toy room") and worked on small talk, and how to carry on conversations with others.
Course 2- Shrimp cocktail (and cocktail dogs, for my non-shrimp eating boys)

Course 3- Salad- we had a delicious Spinach salad with pomegranites and shredded carrots.

Course 4- Soup- I made this delicious Onion soup in the crockpot

Course 5- Sorbet (pineapple sherbet around here)

Course 6- The Main dish- we had Roast Beef and Broccoli.

Course 7- Dessert! Pumpkin PieAfter our Formal Dinner- we open 1 present on Christmas Eve- and yes....it's ALWAYS pajamas and a book. (though I'm not sure any of the boys have made this connection except Bug)