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Poetry
January 25, 2010 19:59
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Tags: adam kid quotes homeschooling

Adam had to write some poems as part of his schoolwork today. They were too funny not to share.

Prompt: Write a two-line free verse poem about a feeling. Compare it to some kind of food. For example, anger could be a tangle of spaghetti. Give your poem a title.

Happiness & Pastry

Happiness is like a cake,
Short, sweet and over too soon.

Prompt: Think of how someone you know is like a color, happy like yellow, for example. Write a two-line free verse poem on this topic without naming the person. Don’t forget a title.

Kayla

She is like pink,
Irritating to me but not many others.

Prompt: Write a four-line free verse poem, like “My Old Cat,” that creates a word picture of a day at school.

Homeschool

I am homeschooled,
It has its ups and downs,
I get ...
Papa's Passing and Trip to Texas
November 30, 2009 07:06
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Tags: kid quotes food adam

If you keep up with Mike’s journal then you already know my grandfather died. It happened last Wednesday, November 30th. He was 82. It was either a heart attack or a stroke; they don’t know for sure, and because of his age no autopsy was ordered. Adam and I went back to Texas for the funeral. We left Thursday at 9:30AM. We flew from Spokane to Pasco to Salt Lake City to Dallas. The getting there was pretty uneventful. Adam cried some along the way, but for the most part he was content to play or sleep or nurse. I only changed planes once, in Salt Lake City where I also had a 2-hour layover. On the first plane, we were seated next to a nice woman named Judy who helped me with Adam. She held him and played with him and talked to me. We exchanged phone numbers, as she has an antique quilt her grandmother started that she’d like to have finished and I told her I’d talk to some people I know who do quilting and piecing by hand (it was all started by hand).
<...
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Mike Is Sick
November 13, 2009 16:30
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Tags: marriage mike thomas adam

Mike has a herniated disk. He’s discussed it here and here. He’s talked about what the injury has done to his body, but not the impact it’s had on the family.

There was a time when I would have dumped my every thought out on the Internet. It was freeing and cleansing. Like Mike, writing about things helps me to cope with them. But I’m not so reckless anymore. Once you put it on the Internet, it’s forever, and some of my thoughts are not really helpful right now.

Suffice to say, what we’re going through is in the top 2 most challenging times our family has ever had. I expect that, in time, we will recover and heal from this – our bodies, and our relationships – but it will take time.

In addition to Mike’s injury and all of the fallout from that, our children have been passing around various ...
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Sloppy Joes
December 01, 2006 02:13
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Adam: “Not even an entire world made out of sloppy joes would be loved by me more than you are loved by me.”
Cooking With What?
November 01, 2006 02:15
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Adam: Mama, when I grow up, I’m gonna have a cooking show called “Cooking at Cafe Adam.” All you need is a few ingredients, and a TV!
Mom: That sounds great! And I have a few ingredients, and a TV.
Adam: Yes. But it’s sad that people who live in boxes won’t be able to watch it.
Mom: Yes, that is sad.
Adam: Are there any people who live in boxes that have radios?
Mom: Yes, I think so.
Adam: Well, there will be a radio version of “Cooking at Cafe Adam”, called “Cooking With Trash Food.” (We’ve been doing some talking lately about gratitude and consequences and how much worse life could be than having to do schoolwork and have a bedtime.)
When Moms and Kids Get Silly
October 10, 2006 04:26
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Mom: Run, run, run, as fast as a deer. You can’t catch me…
Adam:… cuz I’m drinking root beer!

Mom: Run, run, run, as swift as a cheetah. You can’t catch me…
Adam:… cuz I’m not good to eat-a!

Mom: Run, run, run, as fast as light. You can’t catch me…
Adam:… cuz I’ve got much might!

Mom: Run, run, run, like a pair of pantyhose. You can’t catch me…
Adam:… cuz I’m standing on my toes!
Quote of the Day
September 17, 2006 04:33
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“Mama, if you were the first Dragon Master, you would be able to communicate with the Griffins, thereby understanding their needs!” – Adam, age 6

What, did you know how to use the word “thereby” appropriately when you were six? I damn sure didn’t!

(This concludes another Mommy Brag Session, brought to you today by the coefficient of N, and the letter Mu.)
Anatomy
September 08, 2006 04:56
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Tags: kid quotes adam kayla

Adam: Kayla, how can you tell if a dolphin is a Daddy dolphin or a Mommy dolphin?
Kayla: Well, Daddies are a little bit short.
Update on Everyone
August 07, 2006 05:19
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Tags: farming diet and exercise web development quilting scrapbooking mike lindsey thomas kayla adam homeschooling

Life continues to busily march on and on. Today was the last weigh-in before my birthday. I had hoped to get my weight down to 220 before my birthday on Thursday. I fell 5 pounds short of that, but I’m still down 24 pounds, which I figure is still nothing to sneeze at. And I’ll get there… hopefully before the end of the month. My exercise lately has consisted mostly of working on the chicken coop, since we’re losing more and more of them to predators who are finding the holes in the coop’s roof and sagging doors. I’m building new doors for both entrances into the coop, as well as new half-doors that let the chickens out to their pen. Next will be to fix the fence in the big scratch pen and build a new gate, then tramp down all of the brush that’s accumulated this year while that area was vacant.

None of this is helped by my back twinging today. Dammit.

I’m still learning more C# and ASP
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Independent Learning
June 07, 2006 01:49
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Today, Adam finished his lunch, went to the bathroom, then started the free reading portion of his schoolwork all on his own. (He finished his second Wizard of Oz book.) I didn’t have to nag him to get started; by the time I had finished my own lunch he was already engrossed in the story of Dorothy, Toto, and the other characters. I was so proud of him, and proud of us for sticking to this homeschooling thing. Adam is comfortable with our routine, and he rarely balks at it (though he does still pronounce some schoolwork “boring”). He’s leaps and bounds ahead of the curriculum he would be doing in a public school and showing no signs of slowing down.

Most importantly, he is an avid reader. He does more challenging reading in the mornings with Dad, to help stretch his vocabulary. In the afternoons, he reads silently on his own, under my supervision. He can choose virtually anything he wants, and he’s now choosing chapter books meant for child...
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Big Brudder
May 08, 2006 15:44
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Stretching His Wings
April 18, 2006 18:03
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Tags: adam parenting

Tonight I gave the older three kids a round of baths. This is always a fairly major undertaking – three squirming, hollering, shampoo-phobes; all that hunching over the bathtub; teeth-brushing. It’s enough to wear a person out, not to mention leave you dripping wet, yourself.

I got Kayla and Thomas through their bath (they shared the tub), then got Adam into fresh water. I washed his hair, then told him he could have some playtime and I’d be back to check on him. Five or ten minutes later, just as I was about to check on him, he came out the door, announcing he’d dried off “all by myself.” Before I could tell him to, he headed for his room to pick out some clothes and get dressed.

Yesterday, I sent him to the deep freeze to get a loaf of bread, and he obliged. He even got his bedroom door closed again (the door to the garage, where the deep freeze is, lies in his room), though I found out later he’d forgotten to clo...
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Things to Come?
April 01, 2006 18:11
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I took Adam to the Palouse Discovery Science Center today since his soccer practice got rained out (again!), and at one point we wandered over to their dinosaur toy area – Adam calls it “Dinosaur City.” I laid Lindsey on the carpet mat to watch him while he played (I was right next to them), and she just cooed and gurgled and talked and ate it up. A few minutes later, two little boys – about 3 or 4 years old – joined Adam and played with him, all noisy and rowdy, the way boys play. Well, that little girl was in Hog Heaven! She was as bright-eyed and alert and happy as I’ve ever seen her. She almost twisted herself in pretzels trying to follow them around the room with her eyes. At one point, I picked her up to get her out of the way of the predator-ing, and she had a little hissy fit. She did NOT want to be away from those boys! So I laid her back down nearer to them, and she w...
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Just Barely Coping
March 30, 2006 18:39
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Tags: web development adam parenting scrapbooking

Some days, I have to really, really force myself to slow down and think about only one task at a time, because if I really let my mind consider all the things that are undone, half-done, or that need to be done, I start to panic. Like, serious anxiety attacks, the kind that make you just shut down and do nothing at all but just whimper. I’m trying really hard to keep that tendency to panic under control, but it’s not easy. So I’m trying a different approach – spewing it all here, to see how that helps me, if at all.

So here’s what I need to do, and the deadline (if any) by which each needs to be done:

* Configure the new forums for Scrap-Poodle: end of today
* Write monthly newsletters for SP and QI: end of tomorrow
* Write the last two sections of next week’s curriculum: end of Saturday
* Take kids to library for storytime: tomorrow at 10
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Healthy Baby
March 06, 2006 20:18
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Tags: lindsey adam mike kayla thomas food movies parenting pregnancy

I neglected to mention that Linny-Bug had her first well-baby checkup on Thursday. Aside from her brothers and sister acting like heathen devil children in the waiting room, all was well. She weighed in at a hefty 9 pounds, 8 ounces, her length is up an inch to 22.5", and she’s healthy as a horse. The doctor pronounced her “perfect.” The nursing staff had somehow misplaced her hearing test, so we took her over to have that redone. Lindsey loudly objected, however, so they finally gave up – they’re essentially going to fake a new card. After that, it was over to the lab for her follow-up PKU. I hate that part of having a new baby, so Mike takes the baby in and I wait out in the hallway with the boobies. Doesn’t mean I don’t have to hear it, but at least I don’t have to be RIGHT THERE, barely restraining my impulse to murder the technician.

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Adam's Song
February 16, 2006 20:49
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I was singing lullabies to Thomas, and Adam decided to help by making up his own. Here’s what he came up with:

Twinkle, twinkle, little dinosaur,
How I wonder if you’re a minosaur.
Down in the middle of the jungle so deep,
Like an anaconda that won’t sleep.
Twinkle, twinkle, little dinosaur,
How I wonder if you’re a minosaur.

Clever boy. :)

Oh, and.. yes. I’m STILL pregnant.
Big Families
January 25, 2006 00:23
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Tags: mike adam pregnancy kid quotes

Mike is teaching Adam about frogs this week in his science class. Yesterday, they were reading a story about the life cycle of a frog, and Mike mentioned that frogs typically lay 40,000 eggs.

Mike: How would you like to have 40,000 brothers and sisters? That would be a very big family, wouldn’t it? You’d probably always have someone to play with.
Adam: Yes, but I think I would get pestered a lot.

Heh.

Incidentally, I’m 37 weeks pregnant today, and so officially “term.” There’s nothing at all to report (OB appointment tomorrow morning), and I don’t think we’ll have the baby any time soon. So. Yeah. No news is good news.
A Couple of Days Out
January 14, 2006 00:41
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Tags: scrapbooking food shopping lindsey pregnancy mike kayla thomas adam lindsey

Thursday I took Mary up to her first class at Picture Pages. The original plan had been to have her class at another store, but they canceled on her at the last minute because she was the only enrollee. Grrrr. Anyway, along the way we stopped for dinner at The Golden Corral and for a tiny bit of shopping at Wal-Mart.

It’s always a lot of fun to hang out with Mary. She’s funny and smart, and we share absolutely NO similarity in our choice of eye candy, so we’re always watching different people. Still, I can tell we’re getting close to “go” time with this baby, because ten minutes of walking in Wal-Mart about wore my ass out. Were those aisles always so LONG??

Mary seemed to enjoy her class, even if some of the people involved (including the teacher) were a little too serious about scrapbooking for her taste. She finished with a really cute layout, though...
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Preschool Grammar
January 13, 2006 01:14
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Adam: (after reviewing a picture drawn for him by Mary) So, let me get this straight… he’s going to take over the world with his skeletorial powers, right?
Independent Girl
January 01, 2006 01:20
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Tags: adam kayla mike kid quotes

We have a rule here that you aren’t allowed to go into anyone else’s bedroom without their permission. Adam is forever trying to get into Kayla’s room to play with her stuff. This conversation just took place:

Adam: Kayla, can I go play in your room?
Kayla: Yes, you can.
Mike: No, Adam, you can’t just go into your sister’s room and play while she’s doing her reading.
Kayla: But I said he can! You shouldn’t change my mind for me, Daddy.

Oh. My. Gawd. I thought I was going to inhale my tongue, trying not to laugh out loud. She’s growing up. Just what the world needs: another generation of independent-thinking Gunderloys.
Utero Personalities
January 01, 2006 01:18
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Tags: pregnancy lindsey adam kayla thomas mike

I have been blessed with this pregnancy (major knocking on solid wood) – we’ve had no complications to speak of, Lindsey is still fine as wine with lots of room to wiggle around in, a nice healthy heartrate, and plenty of amniotic fluid. My weight gain has been surprisingly low (at my OB appointment on Thursday it was up 3 pounds for the last 2 weeks), blood pressure is well in hand (132/72, at last count), no edema or cramping or spotting. I’m still usually pretty comfortable in this body, even though it’s kind of a duplex situation right now. Of course, the worst is before me in that regard. Still, I have been a very, very lucky pregnant woman this go-round. Thank the good Lord.

The fact that this is probably our last baby has made me a little more philosophical than usual. I continue to marvel at the fact that each of my babies is so very different, even while inside. Adam moved some, but was reasonably placid while in utero. He’s still ...
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Quote of the Day
December 01, 2005 17:00
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“Behold, the fortress of doom! I disguised it, so no one would be able to recognize its doomness.” – Adam
Life Update
November 28, 2005 16:57
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Tags: food adam kayla movies pregnancy lindsey shopping

Well, the Mall Crawl’s almost at a close – two more days until it’s all done, then the REAL fun (yes, that’s sarcasm) begins. It’ll be as if I’ve crawled under a rock and no one will ever find me again. The truth will be that I’m copying and pasting my poor fingers to the bone. I hate the two weeks immediately following EVERY Mall Crawl, so it’s not like this will be at all unusual.

We had a great Thanksgiving with our friends. It was nice to have a big Thanksgiving dinner, without suffering through two weeks of leftovers. We had a wonderful visit, with lots of time for games and chatting and just hanging out. They left the day after Thanksgiving, and are sorely missed!

Last night, I took Adam and Kayla out to see Zathura. They both pronounced it “a little bit scary”, but both also enjoyed it. Adam complained later in the day of a sore tummy, prob...
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Visiting With Friends
November 15, 2005 17:02
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Tags: adam kayla thomas mike food shopping scrapbooking pregnancy music

We’ve had some friends visiting with us for the last few days – Terry and her children, David and Mary. We’ve had lots of fun, playing lots of card games, and Boggle, and Candyland, and computer games. Adam, Kayla, and Thomas have really enjoyed having all of the extra adults and near-adults around to get attention from. I don’t really remember the last time I saw Mike laugh so much (or cook so much!). I took the teenagers out last night to visit the mall and a couple of other places. The “mommy” in me sort of choked when I sent them off to the mall on their own, with plans to meet up later, but it’s rather refreshing to be around kids and not having to constantly be asking them if they need to “go potty.”

And Mary has gotten into scrapbooking! She finished putting together a whole pre-cut album kit, and is now working on pages of her own design in a new 12×12 book. It’s really a lot of fun to see her sens...
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Halloween
October 31, 2005 22:11
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Tags: adam kayla mike thomas

Happy Halloween, from our family to yours!



Quote of the Day
October 23, 2005 22:22
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Tags: adam kid quotes

While I was doing more painting in Kayla’s room, Adam wandered in and pronounced: “See? The thing on each bear’s tummy gives it its name. For example, the cloud and hearts on Grumpy Bear’s belly stand for the power of love and grumpiness.”
Buried
October 13, 2005 19:32
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Tags: web development mike adam

The server that runs Scrap-Poodle and Larkware (among other sites) blew up yesterday. Mike had to drive to and from Kennewick – 5 hours of driving, round-trip – to pick up the carcass. Then he spent this morning playing Dr. Frankenstein to build a replacement machine from spare parts, and this afternoon and evening taking the new creature BACK to Kennewick, with Adam in tow. In his absence, I was single mom to 2 (today) and 3 (yesterday) kids.

Needless to say, this has put an unbelievable dent in our working schedules, which were already crazy and over-filled. We are utterly, totally, irrevocably buried in deadlines, tasks, email, challenges, requirements, and expectations. I’m feeling QUITE overwhelmed by it all, but there isn’t much to be done except to muddle through.

Basically, if I owe you something in the next week or so, expect it to be later...
Streetwalker
August 18, 2005 16:12
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Kayla was playing dress-up this evening. She got as far as two mis-matched glittery shoes, a purse with a too-long string slung around her neck, and a glittery skirt around her waist.

Me: Daddy, look! Kayla’s playing dress up! She looks a little like a streetwalker.
Kayla: Yeah! I look like a streetwalker!
Adam: I want to dress up like a streetwalker, too!
Kayla: You can’t, cuz there aren’t any more streetwalker clothes.
Mike: Thanks, Mom.
Bigger...
July 31, 2005 19:02
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Yesterday, my beautiful girl had her 3rd birthday party, at Ye Olde Chuck E Cheese. I haven’t been to a Chuck E Cheese since my nephews were having their birthday parties there (the youngest is almost 13 now). They’re still just as garish and gaudy as ever, God bless them. All of the kids seemed to have a great time, each in their own ways, until they started getting overtired and fussy.

I couldn’t help crying when they got to the Happy Birthday song. I know she’s only three, but my God! She’s already blossoming into this…. person! How in the hell did this happen? Isn’t she still this baby?

Or maybe this one-year-old?

Or at least this two-year-old?
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Princess Waterfall
May 23, 2005 14:53
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Tags: mike adam kid quotes

Today is our sixth anniversary. Our anniversary tradition is to take the day off from work, and just relax with our family. We’ve spent the day reading, eating, playing games, having baths, taking naps, watching movies, and otherwise lazing around. Mike was trying to explain “anniversary” to Adam, and he showed him my bridal picture, taken in front of a little tiny waterfall in a park near our photographer’s house. Being (almost) five, Adam’s comment was, “Well, it looks kind of like Mama, but she was dressed up like Princess Waterfall.”
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