Happy New Year to Luci!

Luci found some of her birthday decorations last night and got so excited, and then this morning woke up yelling, "Happy New Year to Me!" But her birthday is a week from Friday! So, what do we do? Have her birthday today, of course! Here is her cake with naturally colored icing. JT baked the cake and I decorated it with India Tree food coloring.
On top, on the boo-boos that happen when I ice a cake, I put some of Luci's birthday presents. I washed and dried them, and stuck them in the icing. It was a big hit--Luci got up from her nap an hour earlier than usual! and begged for some cake. She was so upset that she had to wait for Daddy (what does he mean by going to work on my pseudo-birthday?) that I gave her a piece from the back of the cake--it does not show from the front.

You can still see one of her chicken monx/box/pots/pox spots on her cheek.
Bryan decorated the dining room with crepe paper streamers, and balloons. More pcitures and celebration to follow in another post.

M.O.T.H. Update--The Rebellion

(Managers of Their Homes) Well, the schedule is not going as planned. I am pretty sure it's my fault, and I'm working to correct that. We have spent the last 10 years of schooling flying by the seat of our pants as far as a schedule goes (flying by the seats of our pants? not sure if that is plural or not; Mom, let me know). It was easier to do with just 2 kids. It was easier when we didn't have a high-schooler, because now everything counts more.

So now we are learning to work with a schedule. Getting up earlier is hard for all of us. Luci is the only one who is getting up at her usual time; I am getting up earlier for Bible reading and a cup of coffee in peace. The boys now have alarm clocks that go off at 7 am and I hear the clocks through their whole alarm cycle--I am hoping the boys will learn to hear and respond nicely to the sound.

The idea of a schedule is a very good one, and so far I think it is a good schedule that is up on our cabinets. The boys both fight it (and try to argue with me) about everything on it until they have finished their particular chores and lessons for the day, then they are as sweet as pie and play nicely with each other (a minor miracle!). We have even gotten to do a science experiment, much to JT's delight (our science experiments this year come from a book, Science Experiments You Can Eat by Vicki Cobb and David Cain, so you can imagine that they are fun).

We are also reclaiming supper time two nights a week by moving Tang Soo Do (karate at the YMCA) to mornings again. We moved it to the evenings because we were missing out on too much learning time for Bryan's high school studies. That is all scheduled in now, so he's actually having more time for study even though we are using up 2 mornings at the Y. He did not study well on his own when we went to the Y--there are more exciting things to do, like sleep. So now he goes with us and things are scheduled better. I really hated that we were missing suppers together as a family because of two nights with karate and one with soccer each week. This way, we have only one night where we are not really eating together because of soccer practice.

Sorry this is so boring for most of you--there are a couple of homeschoolers who are following our trial with M.O.T.H. to see how it might help with them.

The Happy Bride

Luci's all ready to get married. She loves playing "get married." When asked, she says she is going to marry Daddy. Here she is modeling the Lady Godiva line of wedding gear. I know those are poinsettias, but what can you expect when I go shopping for nuptial stuff at The Dollar Tree? Did you notice her fashionable ankle bracelet on her left leg? It's a rubber band. Dressed head-to-toe with nothing in-between.

Luci started saying Chicken Box, then Pots, then started saying Pox correctly. So no more baby talk about that. Rats. I like the baby talk. It doesn't last forever, and is so cute while it's here. She has some spots around her shoulders, a few at her waist and on her legs, and only two on her face. I guess the chicken pox vaccine did some good after all.

Headline: Saving Water Makes Tomatoes Grow

We stopped watering our garden sometime in August, realizing that the $50 water bill just wasn't worth the 3 tomatoes, 2 miniature squash and 2 little peppers. This morning we worked in the front flower garden and I asked JT to go check on his tomato plant (and I wondered why, in this drought, hasn't it died?). He called back to me that there were 13 tomatoes on it now! Thirteen! We should have stopped watering it earlier. Now there are 12 growing, since Luci found a green tomato just her size ("It's teeny, Mommy").

Living Room Forts and Chicken Monx

Bryan built a fort in the living room for Luci. She didn't like it much--she wanted to climb on TOP instead of climbing INSIDE. Luci has chicken pox. She will tell you it's chicken monx. What does a girl do to feel better? Lay around in her princess dress, and make big brother watch tv with her. She had the vaccination for chicken pox but got a light case anyway. She gets absolutely everything.

My Profile

I finally edited my profile so that others could click on my blog name (LucisMomma) and get to our blog. Not that I am so eager to share my words...just that I've seen others respond to blogs of a mutual friend and I've wanted to view their blogs but couldn't get to them because the profiles were private. My own profile wouldn't let me add this blog address for some unknown cyber-reason, so I listed it in my "interests" section. Which is true; besides reading, blogging is what I like to do.

I also checked off that I am in "Human Resources." Pretty true for a homeschool mom. I spend most of each day trying to make our humans here positive resources for our planet. I almost put down that my job is in "Transportation," which is also true since we are always in the minivan going somewhere. (For instance: John asked me if the kids kept up with their studies today, and I had to say no because we were gone most of the day with flu shots and getting Luci's portrait made.)

My Humans:

I Been Shot!

The Kids got flu shots today. Luci had fun telling everyone we saw, "I been shot!"

The First Day

First day of M.O.T.H. schedule. Don't they look happy? Don't you wish you were part of my morning today? Actually, after breakfast, things went very well with the schedule, and JT cheered up considerably. There was no fighting at all today (well, there were a few pokes between brothers, but nothing major), really a wonderful accomplishment.

Doggone It!

In that last post, MOTH Update, I really did put breaks between paragraphs. I am sorry that it is so hard to read. I even edited it to have extra space between paragraphs, but it still won't fix itself. Sorry.

I tried to fix it my own way, with different colors and bold type; I hope it's clearer to you now.

M.O.T.H. Update

M.O.T.H. stands for Mangers of Their Homes, the book I've been reading. It took a while, but I finally got a schedule figured out for us.

The book comes with a lot of scheduling how-tos and encouragement. Good thing, because it is quite a daunting task. I am happy that we only have three kids to schedule. There is room on this chart for seven kids! One column is for Mom. I ended up using the extra columns to line out what we do on Mondays and Wednesdays (JT's karate at YMCA, which makes those days completely different from 8:30 am to 3:30 pm). So those extra columns are handy.

Everyone has a different color--that makes it easy to see what you are supposed to be doing now and what's up next. Very handy when there are chores to be done, and school work to do, and Mom doesn't have to constantly remind or fuss. The kids liked what they saw--JT is thrilled to have Bryan to play with for 30 minutes every day and Bryan is relieved JT has a limit on his time. Both boys liked that they each have a 15 minute time for teaching games with Luci. Luci even got tickled that her columns are pink (so she's tickled pink?).

Bryan commented, "Wow, it's like a Rubik's cube." When my column says, "shower," Bryan's says, "watch Luci so Mom can take a shower, JT's says, "computer time" and Luci's says, "Play with Bryan so Mommy can shower." Everything meshes. As for me, I am thrilled to bits that every single day I will get to shower! (Hey, is that the neighbors I hear cheering?!)

Right now the charts are huge and the pieces are stuck on with sticky-tac. That's so we can see it well and move things around as needed to make the schedule serve us, not us serve the schedule. When we decide we like how it's going (or rather, when I decide it's working well--the boys are sure to balk at chores and lessons!), I can put in on a Word spreadsheet, colors and everything, and print off a copy for each of us. Then, next year, it will be a matter of cutting and pasting on the computer to tweak it for the new set of classes.

These two charts cover 2/3 of the day--there is another cabinet door with the last 1/3, and another with lists of daily and weekly chores for the kids and myself (yes, even Luci has chores to do). I didn't schedule John except for playing with Luci and doing her bath time. He has been warned, however, that when he retires in a couple of years, that he will get his own color and column on the chart--when he's home we don't get much done school-wise: the kids think Daddy being home is a grand excuse for playing. Just wait, kids...Dad's going to be scheduled to teach all the higher maths! I'll have my revenge yet...and I'm not telling if it's the boys or John I'm paying back. :)

Cool. Just did spell-check, and no errors! I hope the grammar was correct, it won't account for that.

Homeschooling

You can put almost anything in your lesson plans and grade book, if you can come up with the right label!

If You Had Five Million Dollars...

Tonight our church began the process of deciding what to do since we are already bursting at the seams of our new building. We have lots of room to build on, but what to do that would please the Lord?

The last question on our simple, 5-question questionnaire to begin the whole process was,

"If God gave you 5 million dollars to spend on His kingdom, knowing that you would stand accountable for your decision, how would you spend it to point more people to Jesus?"

My immediate answer was, "Missions." Spend the whole ball of wax on missions. And so it has stayed. On foreign missions: Randy English's radio project for the South Pacific The Smelser's mission work/hospital in Tanzania The current projects we work on on the Mexican border All the missionaries we now support and others we could add to work overseas--maybe send some families who want to serve, from within our own church family Enough money for those who want to go on short-term trips, like the ones John goes on to the South Pacific, and Ken's group to Zimbabwe And local missions: The current work at our church--like our Harvest Festival, and other programs Maybe add a doctors' clinic on our property, free to those in the area Enlarge our current outreach with Upward Soccer Do more with our "Friendship building--whatever those who work there are dreaming about Local work like the work that Baxter is so involved in, and the prison ministry, too Stateside missionaries like the Kashoreks in NY Missions that are both local and foreign: Funds for foreign adoptions

We Have a New Kitty!

Her name is Luci This photo does not do the kitty justice. I asked Luci to show me her kitty tail and she wagged it in such a cute way. Wish this were a little video! Luci really wanted a white kitty cat costume like Marie in The Aristocats movie, but when we saw this, she was really happy with it. I'm glad. It was at Target for $14.99...worth the cost, especially since I don't really have time to make a costume this year. Maybe I'll add a big, pink bow like Marie's. If this little kitty will let me, that is.
Today John took the day off and we went out to breakfast, then to Lowe's to get some plants for the front garden area around the new walk. John and Bryan then spent the day putting in duct work so the "Man Cave" would get some ventilation (post on that later). JT, Luci and I worked putting in the flowers--lots of mums, four gardenia bushes and two azaleas. John so graciously took this photo of us after we finished. We were soaked, and so hot. Isn't October supposed to be cool? 88* and high humidity today. When we get the rest of the weeding done in the garden and add some bark, I'll get a picture of that, too. John thought I looked so funny. Ha ha, John. I'll get you back later....

I Want to Be a Good Manager of My Home

Life as I know it nowHow I would like it to feel


Managers of Their Homes by Teri Maxwell is the latest thing I'm reading. She is a homeschool mom who has helped others conquer the teaching, cleaning and cooking that homeschool moms do every day. I have been in such a funk lately because I just can't seem to "get it together" this year. Luci tearing things apart as fast as we get things put together while the boys and I deal with school work is getting old. Flylady just wasn't cutting it anymore with her Super Fling Boogies (for those of you with boys, that has nothing to do with boogers).



How on Earth did my Mom manage to do everything so well (and she still does)? Oh yeah--she was B.O. (Don't get offended Mom, that stands for "Born Organized." It must have skipped a generation, because I am in C.H.A.O.S.--"Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome." Those terms are from Flylady.)





I needed something more, something that has a Bible-based approach to how we mothers should take care of our homes--and one with a homeschool twist, please. Is that asking too much? Apparently not, since Teri Maxwell has a pretty good book out about just those things.



I'll let you know how things progress...unless I really mess it up, then I won't tell much.

Another Day in the Life...

A few things that happened to us during the last four days:
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Can you say red? Today Luci discovered the red fingernail polish (I thought I had it where she couldn't get to it) and dumped about half of it on our WHITE poured marble bathroom counter. YIKES! I was in a position to not get up, if you know what I mean, and I hear her saying, "Mommy, my fingers red." Our master bath is positioned such that, when on the toilet, you can't see the bathroom counters. I just about died. Thank goodness, it all came up with baby wipes, and then with polish remover. I hope the remover didn't damage the marble; it may be a few hours before that is obvious. I also hope the remover didn't damage Luci's skin--the polish was all over her hands.

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Yesterday I spent 2 1/2 hours at the doctor with Luci. She had an odd bug bite. Turns out it was "just" a virulent reaction to a mosquito bite. (Doc says: "Use steroid cream and Benadryl cream since Luci won't take liquid meds.") There was a red ring forming around the bite, and it looked peculiar, so in we went. We spent so much time in the waiting room that 1) we learned the names of nearly every kid, and those we didn't learn, Luci made up (somewhere in town there is a kid named "Churkey" and one named "Ten"). 2) Luci used up 25 tissues just to watch the trash can lid flip around. 3) Luci sat in every (I mean EVERY) empty chair. 4) Luci knows where the light switch is for the waiting room. Imagine how much more she could have done if she had had her nap! whew.

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Also, the kids are helping with some yard work. John has been putting in our front walk. No more visitors coming in through the garage and laundry room! Hooray! I can shut the door and no one will see. (And John thought it was just to improve the value of our home. Ha!) The kids did some of the groundwork for the walkway, and we all are digging and removing the extra dirt and rocks to the hillside. That is part of our morning work this week. Yesterday and today it was actually cool enough for us to wear light jackets.

Here is picture of my "pilots"--you know, pile it here, pile it there. The boys loved how Luci joined right in with the work.

John did a good job, didn't he? Now to pick out the plants to put in the garden area, and spiffy up that grass.
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Saturday JT took part in his first Tang Soo Do tournament. He did well, but did not place. He got a participation medal , and JT knows he is my favorite Karate Kid!

JT also got to meet Grand Master Shin, who started Tang Soo Do in Korea. A good day!

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Sunday we had "Church in the Park." It is fun, and different. I like going to this because it reminds me a little of going ot Ivydale Camp in the Idaho mountains. Singing among the trees, seeing God's handiwork, is pretty special.

Auburn whooped up on Florida the day before, so Luci and John wore their Auburn clothes to the park. One family (the Wilsons, whose team didn't do so well Saturday) taught Luci to say "Roll Tide," which was a dirty trick to play on John!

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Sunday morning started out beautifully, as Luci shows off her new dress from Kathy and Kalyn--but we couldn't find the patent leather shoes to wear with it! Correction--we could only find one of them...so Luci wore something that matched her Tinkerbell sandals. Oh, well. We'll try again. Another day in the life....

William Tell Overture for Moms

This is hilarious!

I have said all of these things (with the exception of "the bus is here") -- guess where I learned it? At my mother's knee!

What's In A Name?

Luci: Where's my husband?

Me: Who are you married to?

Luci: My Daddy.

Me: Oh. In that case, he's outside.

Luci's had lots of fun in the last week, figuring out new labels for us. She has finally understood that she is "Sister" to her "Brothers." She is not just "Luci." But the husband thing threw me.

Look At This Baby!

I found this on the web last night. I am always looking for something about the Bouyei people of China--Luci's orphanage director was pretty sure Luci is of the Bouyei people. I figure he must have a good reason for saying that, since it is not a big nationality. The Bouyei are not very well known outside of their own area (in Guizhou Province). Whenever I stumble upon a site, I look for people who look like Luci--I guess because she has no one in this house who looks like her, and I want to have some sense of a family history just for her, and I have not met any other Bouyei children here in the USA.

Anyways, look at this photo I found among these Bouyei photos--the woman has a baby on her back that looks astonishingly like Luci did when we got her. This baby cannot be Luci, since she was found within 2 days after her birth, and this baby is obviously older than 2 days. An interesting side note (interesting to me, anyway): while in China, I carried Luci in a Mei Tai baby carrier similar to what this woman is wearing!

I am not nuts or being fanciful for thinking the baby looks like Luci--I showed John this picture today, and he thought so, too!

What Is A Middle Schooler?

What is a middle Schooler?

I was asked one day.

I know what he was.

But what should I say?




He is noise and confusion.

He is silence that is deep.

He is sunshine and laughter

or a cloud that will weep.


He is swift as an arrow.

He is a waster of time.

He wants to be rich

But cannot save a dime.

He is rude and nasty.

He is polite as can be.

He wants parental guidance

But fights to be free.

He is aggressive and bossy

He is timid and shy.

He knows all the answers

But still will ask why.

He is awkward and clumsy.

He is graceful and poised.

He is ever changing

But do not be annoyed.

What is a middle schooler?

I was asked one day.

He is the future unfolding

So do not stand in his way.

author unknown

Moon Festival

The moon is pretty special to Luci and me (and I hope to John, Bryan and JT). Every time we see the moon, Luci and I blow kisses to it, knowing her China momma will see the same moon we see. We say:

Thank you, China...

...for giving us Luci!

Thank you, China-Momma...

...for giving Luci life!

...for giving her a happy personality!

...for giving her beauty!

September 25th is the date for the 2007 celebration of the Chinese Moon Festival. The Chinese celebrate their harvest with food and the usual item is a moon cake.
You can get these filled with lotus bean--red bean paste or green bean paste, and other fillings. Last year we tried the traditional red bean paste and then went straight for the good stuff--Moon Pies! And that's what I have on hand for Tuesday's celebration.
Did you know there was a Moon Pie celebration, as well? The 13th Annual RC Cola and Moon Pie Festival was held on June 16, 2007 in Bell Buckle, Tennessee. Hey! It's only 98 miles from our house. Maybe we'll get there next year.

Sometimes, One Sticker Just Won't Do

Crib Recall

Just in case you have one of these cribs. Luci's wasn't one of these, but the mechanism on hers was the same, so check your hardware out. The boys put our crib together after this last move; putting it together wrong is pretty easy to do. Y'all be safe!

About 1 Million Cribs Recalled Due to Failures Resulting in Infant Deaths


The recalled Simplicity crib models include: Aspen 3 in 1, Aspen 4 in 1, Nursery-in-a-Box, Crib N Changer Combo, Chelsea and Pooh 4 in 1. The recall also involves the following Simplicity cribs that used the Graco logo: Aspen 3 in 1, Ultra 3 in 1, Ultra 4 in1, Ultra 5 in 1, Whitney and the Trio.

The recalled cribs have one of the following model numbers, which can be found on the envelope attached to the mattress support and on the label attached to the headboard: 4600, 4605, 4705, 5000, 8000, 8324, 8800, 8740, 8910, 8994, 8050, 8750, 8760, and 8996.

The cribs, which were made in China, were sold in department stores, children’s stores and mass merchandisers nationwide from January 1998 through May 2007 for between $100 and $300.


Close-up of a Correctly Installed Drop-side

Close-up of an Incorrectly Installed Drop-side

Photo of Older Style Hardware

Photo of Newer Style Hardware

Check Out the Kids' Blog!

The kids started a blog. They couldn't decide what to call it, so each put in part of the title:

The ManCave or Sports.com or Pretty Princess

I hope you check it out!

Be sure to take their poll!

To the Park with Kalyn!

Here is Kalyn, a little friend of ours...she came home last Thanksgiving (can you think of a more appropriate day?) with her mom and dad, Kathy and Greg. She is 11 months younger than Luci, but when they are running around together you would never think that. Kalyn is one of the tall Northern girls, and Luci is one of the small Southern girls.
Kathy and her mother, Millie, took pictures of the kids, and graciously emailed these to me since I forgot my camera. Thank you! and Thank you for including the boys in them. Isn't that little top cute on Luci? Millie made it, and it has some capri pants that go along with it, but it was just too hot that day to wear them. Following are some other pictures of the day (September 6):

Cook's Natural History Museum

Who would'a thunk that Cook's Pest Control had a great little museum? And that it had other stuff, not just a bunch of cockroaches?? As a matter of fact, I didn't see any cockroaches. We saw quite a few insects and bugs, but more minerals and animals and birds than anything else. I've heard of this museum for quite a while but never made it over to Decatur to visit. Worth the trip. This was a free museum, not even a jar out for "donations." (The spell-checker didn't high-light "thunk" so it must be a word!) Here are all the kids that were on the field trip today--Cindy, Nikki and Susan's kids. Luci couldn't figure out which way to look.
JT posing with some Angel Quartz. It was lacy--really unusual.
JT and Bryan with a gorilla bust. Can you pick out the gorilla? JT makes a cute one, don't you think?
Here we are at McDonalds on the Beltline in Decatur. I think the kids liked this nearly as much as the museum. This McD's has lots of memorabilia from the 50's on through the 90's, and some of it is from big movies. I think Marty would like this place.
What a surprise! We met Julie (Xian Li, who is from Wuhan in Hubei Province) and her friend from Guangdong Province. I didn't catch the friend's name. I went up to them and said, "Ni hao," which means hello. Immediately they started speaking Mandarin to me--whoa! It was such a nice surprise to meet up with some charming young ladies from Luci's part of the world, in that little museum in Decatur, of all places. I got Julie's email and have already sent her this photo. Julie speaks Mandarin and the friend speaks Cantonese, so even between themselves they had to translate some.

Some Homeschooling Truths

Parents' Night is every night, around the supper table.

Sometimes I wish for the school bus to stop in front of our house.

If you see me talking to myself as I'm walking around Wal-Mart, don't interrupt--I'm having a Parent-Teacher conference.

I'm in love with the Principal.

Teaching for 7 years in Texas public schools did not prepare me in any way for homeschooling--tutoring your own kids is totally different.

My kids never lose their lunch money.

Arts and Crafts can take place before breakfast.

If your kids blog, it is considered part of Language Arts.

China To Have No Car Day

Here's an article about China having its first no-car day ever. They are choosing this Saturday to do it: "It did not say why the Ministry of Construction, the sponsor of the activity, chose a Saturday to hold the event." Because, even on Saturday, there are tons of cars!! That's why.

One of the strong memories we have of China is the absolutely enormous number of cars and pedestrians competing for the same road space. Half the population is in cars, the other half is trying to keep from getting run over as they cross the street.