Two Too Long

Today is the last day that Brech is two. Don't let his innocent, catsup covered face fool you. He was FULL of TERRIBLE TWO type energy today. I'm so glad its bedtime here!

He gave me a good farewell dose of his terrible twos. I'm hoping he will wake up tomorrow and forget all about being full of mischief and rottenness. Oh wait - I suppose tomorrow starts the show all over again with a three year old at the helm. Stay tuned for three year old fun in the form of messy faces and fascinating antics.

Mini Office for School

I am making mini offices for Brech, my brother, and some of my nieces. Here's the general idea of a mini office. You take a file folder (or one and a half) and glue different things onto it that will help the child with learning.

The first page (above) has their name, address, and phone number at the very top (covered up on purpose). Then I put the months, days of the week, and seasons. I tried to group things together if possible.
On the second flap I put the letters and blends as well as some blank lines. I covered it in contact paper so that it can be wrote on and erased. On one of my niece's min office I put the sign language letters and numbers. She is learning sign language and I thought that would be nice for her.
There are two pages of math related pictures. The clock hands are moveable and also laminated for durability. The ruler will be useful. I don't know how many times I have sent the kids for a ruler only to find that they have ALL disappeared.
I am finding that my boys need to be reminded daily which hand is right and which hand is left. I can't even use the "You use your right hand to write," since I have two left-handers.
On the page next to the math ones there is an United States map and a globe map as well as handwriting examples. I use Italic for the boys so that is why I use that one.
Here is a picture of it opened and set up. On the other side of the ruler/colors page is their name and months, etc. On the opposite side of the maps is the letters and blends.

I used various websites that already had mini office examples and created a few of my own. Each of my boys have one already, but they were my first attempt so they don't contain as many things as this one does. If we ever move I will probably make them new ones with the new address and phone number.

Slightly Sick

I had a bit of a cold this morning. As the day has gone on it has gotten worse to the point that now I think its a flu of some sort. The boys were super excited this morning when I told them we were having a sick day. I was in no mood to think about anything but coughing and sleeping.

Here's some of the comments I heard:

"Mom, I'm so glad you are sick." Blase

"Cormac you say Hip Hip." Rex - followed quickly by Cormac saying "Hip Hip" and Rex saying "Hooray!"

"Mom, this is the best day of the week." Stephen

Oh boy. Who knew their mother being sick was a cause for celebration with these boys. They have been good about helping out and staying quiet today. They tried to help with Gianna and even watched her for me for a few minutes so I could lay down without her. Such sweet boys even if they were happy I was sick. If I continue to feel this way tomorrow, I'm sure the happiness will continue.

Oconto Fly-In

The four oldest boys, Gianna, and I had a wonderful time at the fly-in on Saturday. You must send a special thank you to the lady in the office that day. I ran out of batteries, so I asked if they had any I could buy off of them. She gave me some for free. Without her generosity you would get to see one picture. Thank you wonderful lady!

The boys were given a tour of the fire engine on display. This is the only picture I got with my batteries. Not even a plane in sight. There again - thank you wonderful lady!

Rex is in the back seat.

Do you want Stephen driving to your fire....

or Cormac who keeps his eyes on the road??

We asked the paramedics if we could just see the inside of the ambulance. They said we could and even let the boys inside. And since that isn't special enough, the boys had their blood pressure taken. Stephen's blood pressure was 103 over 64 I think. Rex said he didn't want to because he didn't like shots and things that hurt your arm.
Cormac's blood pressure was 102 over 50. After his was done the machine said to apply paddles. I got a good laugh out of that one. Cormac told the guy that his arms were just skinny.
There was an encampment set up as an example of military life. They had guns and helmets on display. The boys asked if they could see a grenade. One of the guys was nice enough to give them an explanation of how it worked. He pointed out that someone put the pin in wrong unless they were left-handed. He also said to make sure you only count to TWO because it may go off at three. Good lesson.
Here is the whole reason we came. Some of our friends have a bluegrass band and they were playing at the fly-in. They did great and worth the trip over. I haven't heard an accordion sound so good in a long time.
In one of the hangers they had set up a military museum of sorts. There were a few vehicles on display as well as guns and dress uniforms. They also had a short movie about one of the planes that was manufactured in Kingsford, MI for the Second War War. You can read a brief write up about these gliders on this website. The boys are standing in front of a 1943 BMW R 75 bike with an 8mm machine gun. There were pictures showing that they could carry four people on there. Crazy!
Stephen wanted a picture of him appearing like he was shooting. Tada.

A jeep with a trailer behind it.

The sweetest face of the day!

The boys have been watching Hogan's Heroes recently. They were telling me all about how the Germans must have used this one because of the flag. I guess Hogan's Heroes taught them one thing - what the Nazi flag looks like.

This was the most unusual plane on display. We didn't get to see any old ones. I think this one is from 2003 in Romania someone was telling us. Or at least that's what the manufacturing sticker said.
They had a neat RC plane show. That was pretty much the highlight of the day.

The opening act was impressive. It looks almost life size huh??

This is a life-size plane. Its the one that the boys were standing next to up above. The pilot flew down the runway and did a straight up in the air climb and staled. Oh my - take your breathe away. That was as fancy as the big planes got.
Back to the RC planes - oops not so smooth of a landing for this one.
I didn't know they made planes that looked like me?! Ain't she a beauty?
I have to admit that she looked pretty cool up in the air on her broom. We thought it was neat that she could even fly.
Who forgot to tell us the Blue Angels were in town? They were saying how they used to have 4 people stand out with controllers to make it look like they were actually flying formation.

Limbo anyone??

You can't make it out very well, but this is the only picture I got of Snoopy and the Red Baron dog fighting.

Of course the Red Baron gets shot down.

There is Snoopy on his side. The plane looked like a yellow dog house with a little Snoopy dog attached to the top. Very cute. It was our favorite part of the show.

And the Red Baron, complete with little guns and a Red Baron man.

And last, but not least, you can't have a good day unless you climb in the back of a military truck.

We had a great time. It was a long day. We arrived at 10:15 and left around 4 PM. I'm glad I took the boys, though next time I may take Darren along to help chase. The boys were so very good. I was very proud of them. Stephen even made friends with a Commander. Leave it to Stephen to start talking to someone and then next thing you know they are swapping life stories. I can't wait to see how he is when he's a teenager. Oh my.

We're Going Batty!

On the hunt...

Two down. Anymore??

Two bats made their home behind our sign on the garage.

Ugly little guys if you ask me.

Awww, bats were living there HOW long??

Three Words

I have three words that might change your entire day. I'll get to that in a moment.

Am I correct in assuming you know who Archbishop Fulton Sheen is? If you do not know who he is then you are living in a dark age of ignorance! His wisdom is so simple that anyone can understand it. You really should watch one of his TV shows or read one of his books. Have you ever wanted to meet someone famous? I have always wanted to meet Archbishop Sheen. I was born a few decades too late for that, but I can't wait to meet him in heaven.

Darren and I enjoy listening to his talks and own quite a few of his recordings. We listened to one on our way to the Land of the Trolls last weekend. That is where I heard those three words.

Good

Morning

God

Archbishop Sheen pointed out that you can wake up in the morning and either say "Good morning God!" or say "Good God, morning!" You have no idea how those three words hit me like a board across the face. How many mornings or afternoons or evenings had I said "Good God, afternoon!" (or something similar). How many times had my day continued down the path of frustration because of my choice of words? I really pondered that. I could think of time after time that I had been upset at the boys or at myself and could have changed my whole afternoon by simply rearranging the words to say "Good afternoon God!"

I am a firm believer that God sends your way, just what you need to hear, at just the right time. You probably noticed that we had a busy Saturday. Sunday morning rolled around far earlier than I wanted it to. We had stayed up late, the little ones didn't sleep well, and since we were all tired it took longer for us to wake up. By the time Darren managed to get the boys and I up (which took 10 minutes) we had 15 minutes to get ready and be OUT the door for Mass. We leave about 6:30 AM. I was tired, grumpy, and that annoying headache I've been dealing with was present in full force.

The boys were still in bed when I "fell" out of my own bed. I was frustrated. Am I painting a clear enough picture of the building tension in the house?? Blase grabs Stephen's socks and throws them in the dirty clothes because he thinks they are from the day before. Stephen is upset because Blase took his socks. Blase won't touch the socks because they were in the dirty clothes hamper. I've lost it. I'm yelling at them to get dressed and knock it off. Rex won't get out of bed...I'm yelling at him to go to the bathroom. Cormac is daydreaming and not getting dressed. I'm at a boiling point.

Into the picture walks Darren, who had been lhunting down shoes for everyone. He tells me to just get dressed and worry about Gianna and Brech. I'm clutching my hands, gritting my teeth, boiling, boiling, boiling. Then a voice calls out to me from deep inside.....

Good morning, God.

I'm still boiling. It calls again.

Good morning, God.

YES I HEAR YOU. Boiling, boiling.

Good morning, God.

The voice never sounded harsh. It never got louder. It never ceased. I listened.

Good morning, God. Good morning, God.

Yes, it was a good morning. I calmed down. I listened to my husband and obeyed without a comment back (those of you who REALLY know me know that was a miracle huh?). We finished getting ready and made it out the door on time. When we got to church I went in early to check for a missal that was misplaced.

Good morning, God.

The voice tells me again. I hear it. I know what it means. I found Father and requested to go to confession. It was a good morning. What kind of morning would it have been if I had stubbornly stuck to my selfish "Good God, morning!" attitude??

Next time you have a bad moment think "Good morning, God!" I can guarantee your attitude will change and your day just might get better.

In the Land of the Trolls - Part Two

Although this was considered a living history field trip, we took time to admire God's creatures. This was by far the (start stress) COOLEST (end stress) creature we saw. The boys called it a "bee caterpillar" though we have not looked it up yet.
Would you like to tour the Old Mackinac Point Lighthouse with us?? Come along - that will be $6 for adults, $4 for children 5 and over; payable in cash. Thanks. ha ha If you would like the free tour feel free to visit the link above. You will most likely learn more from them than from us.

This is the lens from the lighthouse before it was retired. The lighthouse flashed a red light. We learned that there were different patterns and colors of lights flashed to distinguish between the different lighthouses in the area.

Stretch those arms!!

This was a next hands on magnetic board that the kids could use the boats to transport material from one "port" to another. Rex was hauling Christmas trees and presents for the little kids.
This was taken at the very TOP of the lighthouse. Yes I know, I'm freaked out by heights and yet I took my children to the top???

Way, way down there we see someone we know. They also saw us way, way up high. The tour guide was nice enough to point out that there was a man with a red hat waving up at someone.

Wasn't the view worth the climb? Beautiful!

Headed back down, one at a time.

There was a room below the room where the lens was kept. This is where the lighthouse keeper or assistant stayed while they were on duty. This was the view from one of the windows.

Cormac taking his sweet ol' time coming down the tower.

Lake Huron in the background.

And home we go...

We got roughly 15 minutes on our side of the bridge before Blase realized that he forgot his cap at the restaurant. So we turn around and pay $3.50 each way to get his cap. What began as a free hat is now worth $7. We figured it was cheaper than buying him a new one. Now I was quite concerned for poor Blase being upset about forgetting his hat. My concern ceased the moment I realized we would have to go back over the bridge and return again. Oh bother.

On the way home we stopped at a roadside park and checked out the Cut River Bridge. What's up with bridges on this trip anyway??
This picture, adorable as it is, was 100% the boys. I told them I'd take their picture and off they ran and posed for me. If only we had thought to put Gianna in the picture. Wouldn't it have made a cute Christmas picture??? I'm still trying to figure out what was with Rex's pose. Pondering that a bit longer....

One side of the bridge....

now the other.

We walked down what seemed to be a never-ending set of steps and landing to the bottom. At the bottom we found a cute little river spilling into Lake Michigan. The boys walked the beach for a bit looking for all kinds of things they were not going to bring home.
They kept walking and turned around and headed back. As it was, they caught up to me in no time. These knees are not the knees of a 32 year old! I am certain they were switched out when I was sleeping. There has to be a 60 year old running around with a younger pair of knees and an energy level to match.

We ended our trip with a stop at Culver's for some yummy custard. After a day like that, bedtime did not come fast enough. This concludes our trip to the Land of the Trolls and home again. I do hope you enjoyed the trip. I also hope your knees are not as worn out as mine.