Skip to My Lou

Back in June, Eric Litwin (Mr. Eric) came to the Jefferson Library again. We have seen him in concert there before and really enjoyed the performance. This time, Katie got to get up 'on stage' with Mr. Eric! He sang "Skip to My Lou" which is on the CD of his that we have, and it's Katie's favorite. He would sing, "Hey, hey. . . " and Katie would come in, ". . . Skip to my Lou!" and then when Mr. Eric said, "Skip to my Lou . . ." Katie would say, as countrified as possible, ". . . My Dar-lin'!" Mr. Eric would feign shock at her calling him "Darlin'" and the kids would all laugh. As you might imagine, Katie really hammed it up!

Funny Joe

Yesterday we heard a noise from outside. Joe said, "Where's my daddy?" (Although he usually asks, "Where's my favver?")

It was too early for Jeff, so I answered, "That's not Daddy, sweetie."

And Joe replied, "Who's arriving at our house?"

I think that's probably the longest word he's ever said! Except for when he talks about the excavator that Jeff operates at work. He calls it a "fex-a-fater".

Tag, You're It!

Apparently there's a game in the blogging world where someone 'tags' you and then you get to play along. My sister-in-law has tagged me to tell five things about myself that not everyone knows. Not deep dark secrets, just little known facts. It's like truth or dare . . .only you're being dared to tell the truth! Now, the only blogger I know who hasn't been tagged is Leah, so Leah, consider yourself tagged.

1. Jeff and I are serious Harry Potter fans. We are actually going on Friday night to see the fifth movie, The Order of the Phoenix. We've preordered the new book and at midnight we're going to go to Barnes and Noble to get the seventh and final book!

2. Despite the fact that I tease my mom about falling asleep during movies, I do it regularly! When I need a nap in the afternoon, I put in an old fave like A&E's Pride and Prejudice, then stretch out on the couch and fall asleep listening.

3. I have two major goals for the next few years. One is to save up enough money to build on to our house and the second is to save up enough money for us all to be able to go to Germany.

4. I don't have very many secrets -- this is hard! Umm. . .My closet is a disaster area. But my recipe collection is all catalogued by date, publication and page number. I have a spreadsheet in progress that will allow me to cross reference by method of cooking, major ingredient, etc.

5. I like my minivan. Wow, did I just say that?! I really do. I'm very satisfied with it. It was truly an answer to prayer and came along at just the right time. The outside color is pretty (even if I really dislike the blue interior!). I love being able to have space, and the ability to take friends with us when we go places.

Aw, Shucks!

So Katie painted this picture for me one day -- I think she was trying to butter me up for something!



In case you can't read it, it says "You are too prety to work". Did you get that, Daddy??

For All the Nerds Out There

This is for those of you who lay awake the night before the first day of school. Who were more excited than your mom about the end of summer. Who love the smell of Scotch tape. Who would be thrilled with a " . . . bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils." (And extra points if you recognize that movie quote!)

We enjoyed last year's schooling so much that we ordered Katie's school curriculum again from Sonlight Curriculum. This company is a wonderful fit for our family. They are evangelical Christians, so all of the teacher guides are written from a Biblical worldview -- that's our favorite part! They also emphasize learning about other cultures and missions. (One of Katie's books this year includes a section on missions in the Central Asian country I've been to the last two years.) Another thing we really like is that there is a lot of reading. Some things I read out loud (Read Alouds) to Katie and some she reads on her own (Readers) and we discuss them.

Some of the Read Alouds I'm excited about are Ginger Pye, A Cricket in Times Square, Tales of Robin Hood, And the Word Came With Power (missionary stories from the Philippines), A Little Princess, and The Twenty-one Balloons.

Katie's Readers include some of my childhood favorites: B is for Betsy, Ralph S. Mouse, Henry and Ribsy, Encyclopedia Brown, Little House on Rocky Ridge, Socks, and More Stories from Grandma's Attic.

Katie will also learn about dinosaurs, electricity, Gladys Aylward, Michelangelo, Peter the Great, Queen Elizabeth, and memorize the countries of the world and the states of America (in theory!). Midway through the year she'll also start cursive writing, which she is very excited about. So that's an overview -- my nerdiness is satisfied!

Summer Days

Requirements for a good summer:

1. Fireworks! We watched them from the back of the truck. To kill time before they started, the kids rode their bikes and then we played Uno until it was too dark to see. Katie didn't like the noise and Joe said, "There's no reason to be scared, 'Datie'."

2. Eat fried chicken. On Independence Day, we had all the fixin's! To go with our chicken, I made potato salad, baked beans, wheat rolls and chocolate cake with chocolate icing. Our guests, Lisa and Doug Westmoreland, brought corn on the cob and wonderful company.

3. Play in the sprinkler. Check!

4. Sidewalk chalk. Check!

5. Vacation Bible School. We had a blast at our Western themed VBS this year. Even Joe goes around saying, "YEE-HA!" Katie's new thing is to play cowboy with her jump rope as lasso, a net (?) and one of daddy's hats.

6. Swimming. My friend Leah was in town with her baby daughter Georgia and we went to visit them at her mom's house. Linda has a pool so we got our swimsuits on and played all afternoon.

7. See a movie. Jeff, the kids and I all went to see "Ratatouille". Katie loved it, but Jeff and I weren't as impressed -- not as good as "Cars" or "The Incredibles". Also, we went yesterday to the free movie at the Mall of Georgia. We met several friends over there to see "Everyone's Hero", a cute baseball CGI cartoon. After the movie we had lunch at the food court and then went outside to play in the fountain. The kids didn't want to leave!

Well, that's it for now -- but summer's not over yet! I haven't yet decided when to start school this year, but it will probably be in mid-August. We've already gotten Katie's books for second grade and we're both excited. More on that later!