Math

I asked my first grader today if she could figure out some ways to make 8 expecting the typical answers like 8+0, 7+1, 6+2, 5+3, and 4+4. Well, the first one rattled off was 4+4. She then answered 6+2. I pried out 7+1. Then with a glint in her eyes, she said 20-12. I was surprised by that but even more so when she started rattling off other subtraction ways all the way from the 20-12 up to 200-192.

Spelling

Wow, spelling is going well this year! Tracy tested well on her spelling placement test a couple weeks ago, and Aaron placed well on his today. We are not the best family of spellers in the world--usually getting between 5% and 50% on the standardized tests. That's why I'm so excited. :)

Jason has been plugging away in his 4th grade math book, and Emily's been working on both the 1st and 2nd grade books. Jason and Emily are doing reading together this year, and that seems to be going well. I'll probably get out the phonics lessons after our soccer season is over.

Other than that things are going well; we are getting ready to eat lunch.

Good Morning!

Yesterday my alarm went off. I shut it off and fell asleep again only to be awakened by children. They were excited for breakfast because yesterday was "sugar cereal" day. Today we're having waffles so I'm working on the applesauce for them; it smells so good!

We did some school work after breakfast then ate lunch. Mike and the older three children went out to Jackpine to do some more work out there while the little girls and I played games and cleaned up a bit.

After supper I went to town for a meeting and got to hold a three-week old baby. It was so fun; I just LOVE babies. After the meeting I dropped library books off, filled up with gas, and bought some milk.

This evening we have soccer practice, but I think it will be a relatively calm day. I hope your day goes well.

Water Fun

What would we do on the 90-degree days without a hose??? Here are the girls watering Grandma's grass and driveway. We attempted to write names with the flow of the hose, but it didn't work. They also watered the flowers and the rocks and the sidewalk so if Grandma gets a high electric bill for getting all that water out of the well, she knows where we live. Hee hee hee :)

Sidewalk Chalk

The three little girls and I decorated Grandma's sidewalk for when she came home. Melissa was busy coloring shapes and making a crown, and Emily was writing a sentence of sorts. We listed some of the things we did while we were there. We had daily chores to do which included feeding lots of birds--the wild and the tame. The tame birds were a chicken in the garage, some laying hens, some butcher hens, a duck, and four turkeys. We also took care of the dog and the horses. The dog went for rides and runs and was happy then, but when we were just around the house he really missed his owner.

Up and Down

Laura had her first experience with a hill while we were at my mom's house. She went up saying, "Up. Up. Up." Then she turned around and came down saying something that sounded like down but only to a mom's ears.

Tough Guy Turns Chicken

Some of you may know of our dog and his barking and growling problem. Well, last Tuesday Tracy came home from soccer practice with another family. When I saw the headlights in the driveway, I turned on the light and kicked the dog outside. He, of course, started barking and growling and heading towards the vehicle. I stood in the doorway with it cracked a couple inches. All of a sudden he turned tail and took off running back towards the house, shaking like a leaf. When I saw him coming, I moved over in front of the door so he couldn't get in. It didn't work; he pushed so hard to get in that he knocked me aside and came flying in anyway. After Tracy came in, I heard her side of the story and put two and two together. She had tried to give the family some gas money they wouldn't take. She left it on the seat and ran quickly so they had no choice. So...Aussie got his turn of being tormented by one of us. It doesn't sound as funny writing and reading it, but I was laughing so hard I was crying and couldn't even talk.