2008 July

Fun physics

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

July 6, 2008 By kimc

When school isn’t happening, it’s nice to have guilt-free entertainment available. In the past, this has included audio CDs about creation science like the Jonathan Park series, DVDs like the Leap Frog series for little ones, and a good selection of non-fiction books.

We don’t own any video game consoles and we don’t often let the kids play games on the computer, but there is a new obsession in our house: Magic Pen. It’s a game of physics that requires creative thinking and a lot of persistence – not my strong point, but my kids are loving it and learning.

We were fondly referring to them in their new obsession as vidiots, but I’m not sure I can keep saying that now that – ahem – hubby has fallen victim to the game. I’ve hardly seen the front of the man’s head since some time this afternoon.

I added a Magic Pen link to our Fun & Games list in the lower left sidebar. Try it out if you dare. I was intimidated by the fact that I found even the first couple of levels challenging, but my children are doing amazing things in levels that threaten to give me an inferiority complex. Maybe I should practice when they’re not looking.

Filed Under: homeschooling 6 Comments

Baby Bethany status

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

July 4, 2008 By kimc

Don’t hate me. I can hardly believe it myself, but this little child has slept at least 7 hours straight for each of the last 3 nights.

I don’t expect it to continue, and there is payback every day when she nurses doubletime to make up for missed feedings, but it’s been a true blessing. I don’t mean just because I can sleep uninterrupted, but because my poor aching appendages are getting a good chunk of time to heal while she sleeps. Her technique has not improved much, but I’m getting tougher and healing up.

One reader suggested that Bethany might be tongue-tied; my midwife checked and said that she’s not, but the tip of her tongue looks like the top of a heart: it has a cute little indentation rather than being rounded. This doesn’t look unusual at all to me which means several of our babies probably had tongues like this, but my midwife said that it makes her tongue effectively shorter so that she can’t latch on quite as well.

See?

The midwife said that she will outgrow it but this hasn’t been a problem for Bethany anyway. She still looks like a skinny little monkey, but is gaining weight much more quickly than most of our other babies.

Here’s another pic of her little heart-shaped tongue just because it’s so cute:

and now…I have writer’s block. I have been staring at the bottom of this post for half an hour. How to end it? Like a phone call? I’ll talk to you later. Bye.

Filed Under: little bellas, photos 29 Comments

Comments on that newborn baby smell

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

July 4, 2008 By kimc

3yo Rachael: “Awww, Bethany is so cute, Mom…and she smells like inside your tummy!”

Translation by giggling older sisters: “Awww, she smells like GUTS!”

Filed Under: babies, humor 2 Comments

Birthday Boy

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

July 3, 2008 By kimc

Although I didn’t manage to deliver a baby sister for The Boy’s birthday on Saturday, he did have a good day nonetheless. He went out birthday shopping with his dad and older sisters and came home with tons of loot.

The big hit of the day was a pair of soft foam swords and shields. He calls swords, “Cha” because everyone knows that you have to yell, “cha! cha!” as you lunge forward and swing at your opponent. They didn’t last long, but hoo-boy did he and his dad have fun.

Kaitlyn and Lydia made him a birthday cake:

The dog brought a present too. She brought this little guy up on the deck, adding to the excitement. We let him go after a day.

And since he’s a Big Boy now, he even had the privilege of helping with dishes. Not a privilege? Shhh, don’t tell him!

Filed Under: Boys, photos 23 Comments

Her name

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

July 2, 2008 By kimc

You all are great at puzzles! Many people found the answer, but I’ll make it easy for those like me, who don’t want to place undue strain on an already strained brain.

The two final possibilities for a first name were Hannah and Bethany.

The two final possibilities for a middle name were Grace and Joy, though some of us toyed with the idea of Hope as well. Mercy, Peace and Patience were also high on the list, at least for me.

My favorite strictly for sound and rhythm was Hannah Grace, but we ruled it out partly because the meaning was rather redundant. At least one astute reader figured this out too.

The clues to the final choice were found in the pictures tags and titles on this post; several readers caught this as well.

We were so torn between lovely choices that in the end I simply bowed out of the decision; I was delighted with any of the possibilities that remained. The children all clamored for their favorites, and hubby called out to the midwife, who was waiting patiently with her pen poised over the birth certificate form:

Bethany Grace.

Filed Under: little bellas, photos 47 Comments

A name puzzle

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

July 1, 2008 By kimc

Although I was rooting for Patience or Tara as a first name early on, the more we got to know our little girl the less those names seemed to fit. They both sounded dark-haired and dark-eyed (like so many of our daughters, but not like this one). I’m glad we didn’t decide ahead of time.

Thank you for all the suggestions for baby names! I have a feeling we’ll be looking back through the archives someday when the next girl arrives. I can’t believe how close so many of you were to guessing the baby’s name; I think somebody even got it, though it was before we had firmly decided ourselves.

There were a couple of clues here and there: I used the prospective middle names in this post, and a couple of you picked up on another clue which was let out before we had actually decided.

You all picked up well on the Hebrew clue because everybody thought Hannah and Naomi. You almost had us – both names from our final list of choices were guessed in the comments.

Our baby girl has a new name already. However, I thought it would be fun to make a puzzle of it. The two final first names are contained somewhere in this post: For each one, I managed to casually fit a series of words into the post where the first letter of each word spells out the name. At least, they look casual to me. Can you spot them? And can you guess which one we chose?

And one final question: are y’all having fun with this, or are we just driving you nuts? Cuz I could just out with it and end the suspense…

Filed Under: little bellas 59 Comments

Guess what I have…

Current giveaway: Grandpa Jake's Campfire Cooker

July 1, 2008 By Liddybug

A new pet!!

Today Becca (my 6yo sister) came inside and said
“Hey Lydia, do you want a new lizard ?”
I said “Yes! where is it?” and she said “Over here.”
She walked outside and over next to the stairs and then she pointed and said:
“There it is, in that box.” I looked in the box and a Anole lizard went scurrying
under the house.
Becca and I chased it under the house for approx. 3 minutes and then we finally caught it.
It changes color very fast and is a very fast runner.

Readers note: this is not a picture of the one that I have.

Filed Under: Everyday life, kids stuff, pets 4 Comments