It was a fairly calm week. We got our first three books out and immediately got to work on more. The kids played at home all week. Even though we are on school break, we have been pushing language lessons a lot, so the kids have spent a lot of time on Spanish and Japanese.
The little kids have been arguing and antagonizing each other too much, so John has stepped in and talked to them a bunch.
We have been singing Christmas
Carols around the tree most nights. Some of the kids really like that and some of them don't. Rachel is awesome at hitting the high notes. But is she starts us, she is the only one who can sing as high as needed. Rachel is definitely a soprano. Rachel's favorite songs are Rudolf the red nose reindeer and O Holy Night. Susan loves Rudolf and Arwen always wants to sing We Wish you a Merry Christmas. Josh likes We Three Kings and Away in a Manger. Sam always asks for Jingle Bells. Anya does not have a Christmas carol she likes and sings in a whisper unless she is sure that no one is listening. That is when I know that Anya actually has a nice little singing voice. Joseph has taught himself how to play Hark the Harold Angels Sing. Adam plays Hark How the Bells and many others. He is definitely our most talented on the piano.
Ruth just realized that she is home and it is Christmas and she has no gifts to give. She is getting to work on that tonight. I have some ideas for Johnny and Adam to construct for the kids for Christmas. I wish I had a sewing machine. There is so much I could and would like to do, but my machine broke in the midst of our poverty and I have not been able to replace it.
Susan requested to play a computer game. Adam asked her how long she could play and she said, "I have sixteen ninety minutes. Adam took that as 1,690 minutes and said she would never end. To our surprise, after about an hour, Susan got off and said, "Okay, my time is up."
Sam has been getting into the tools. I called him a tool monster and he said very loudly, "I am not a Too Mon ter". Johnny said there was no arguing with that.
Arwen has been asking everyday how many days until Christmas and giving me a list. I always stop her and remind her that Christmas will be small. She has now changed her mind from American Girl Doll to a clip board to use for drawing.
Anya is either drawing or learning Japanese. I went to a Japanese grocery store and bought a bad of candy, handed it to Anya and she translated a couple of sentences. Kate and Johnny are the only other kids that know Japanese as well as Anya.
Gideon has been closely observing Sam and doing what Sam does. I first noticed while giving them a bath. Gideon watched Sam closely. Sam cries and immediately grabs a towel to dry his face when his hair is washed. Gideon who never minded getting his face wet or his hair washed, did exactly what Sam did. Another time, Sam was lying on the floor crying because Susan was holding the cat that he wanted to be holding. Gideon looked at him, laid down beside him, and fake cried.
Rachel has been baking a lot more. She made homemade hamburger buns for us twice. They were so good, we will never go back to the store buns. We used them once for hamburgers and once for club sandwiches. Rachel has also been making a really good chocolate cake. And she made a double batch of hershey kiss cookies. Since we have been on vacation Rachel has been sleeping in as late as she can get away with. I guess she can claim the name of teenager for that.
Josh told Adam not to turn off the light or he would fall asleep and wet the bed. Adam turned off the light. In the morning Josh cried out, "Adam you made me wet the bed!" Adam said that was impossible, and asked Josh why he didn't get up to go to the bathroom. Josh cried, "Because I fell asleep."
Joseph has stories to tell. He is always coming to me or John to tell us a story. Since it is Joseph, it always comes out loud and with exuberance.
Johnny is still my repairman and has been helping me get things done in the house still. Johnny and Adam replaced the faucets in my bathroom. We now have two lights to tackle. Kate and Johnny are together a lot. John is teaching them college math, and that takes a lot of time. I am anxious for Johnny to start getting things finished and out for sale.
I have gotten my poems together to
put into a book. I need to categorize them and draw some pictures. I am a little nervous about the art, but I have my good artists already employed on other projects. I never thought I would be doing this, and only got started on this as a long term pursuit in August. I had about 250 poems to choose from, so I think that is good. I have learned a lot and am working with a couple of strangers online to learn more. My next project will be to put out a book of short stories. I am hoping to get Kate and Ruth to write with me on this one.
1 comment:
You have such a busy family and I love reading about what each of the children is doing, saying and accomplishing. I do love that they are learning a language. I think Japanese is a really hard one.
I really like what you are doing also. I think it is important to have your own goals and talents to learn and do. I think it is marvelous that you like to write and that you have so many poems. I liked the books that you put on Amazon. I really think that your children could publish some children's books.
Sending lots of hugs your way!!
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