Overheard

Last Friday during movie night Marc paused the movie so he could make popcorn.

Tucker:  Now that the movie is paused, I think I will catch up on a little reading.  :)

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Tucker is back on states this week.  He is talking about states, drawing states, reading about states.  He's also into lakes and rivers- especially the great lakes.  We have discovered that he taught 4-year-old Charlie all the state capitals.  I overheard Charlie drilling Julia-

Charlie:  Julia, what is the capital of Whode Island?
Julia:  Ummmm
Charlie:   PWOVIDENCE!  Okay, I will have to give you an easy one.  What is the capital of Hawaii?
Julia:  Honolulu
Charlie:  Very good, Sissy!  You are learning dem!

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Marky was playing Mad Libs in the car with everyone.

Marc:  Julia, give me a verb.
Julia:  A helping verb, linking verb or an action verb?  :)

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Speaking of Charlie, I forgot to put on here that he completed his reading lesson book earlier this year.  He would have finished it even sooner if I hadn't lost it for two months in the fall.  :)  We are all proud of our little reader.  He has taken off and is reading so well.  Marc took a 17 minute video of him reading every word of Are you My Mother?   I've used this reading book with all four of our children and they all did well with it.   It's kind of sad to think I won't use it again.

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On the fireplace from Mr. T-

Tucker LIVES in the laundry room making crafts.  He is never too tired to make a craft.  He keeps the room trashed, but I just can't get too upset about it.  It's so cute to see what he comes up with.

We have several state faces with legs.

 He made tons of these states with their bordering states labeled-

He went to science last week and learned all about teeth.  And here is his work, which says, "this is me exploding."  :)

He always gives himself curly hair.  :)

Speaking of teeth, he finally lost his other front tooth.  We now have a long gap up top.  He said to Daddy,

Tucker:  Now I only have six incisors.
Daddy:  Are your front teeth incisors?
Tucker:  Yes, Daddy, we all have eight incisors.  (Of course, he was right.)

Also, while wiggling his tooth I heard-

Tucker:  I feel like I'm getting down to the dentin.

Sissy finally recovered from pneumonia, but it took a whole week.  She missed her class' end of the year poem- they had all learned "Casey at the Bat" to say together.  I saw her drama teacher at the park yesterday and she went on an on about how well Julia had done in drama.  She said, "She has emotion when she speaks and projects her voice.  She's naturally theatrical"  I felt like she was talking about a space alien.  Julia is SO QUIET at our house, and we can barely hear her.  I wonder how many other hidden qualities my children have that I will discover.

P.S.  Here is a video of Marc's concert with the Birmingham Boys Choir, Coast Guard Academy Glee Club and the Warblers.  It's gorgeous!



I found a few other videos from this summer's tour.  Here they are in Regensburg, Germany singing at the gorgeous Neidermunster Parish Church.

Enjoying the mild weather and quotes

We have been outside all the time lately.  It's so nice!  A hike to the creek in the woods...

Today I knew it would rain in the afternoon so we headed to the park to enjoy the sunshine while it lasted.

 

Not a staged picture- they were playing red light green light-

 “Time in nature is not leisure time; it's an essential investment in our children's health (and also, by the way, in our own).” 
― Richard Louv, Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder

Here are some quotes from today:

Mommy:  Julia, put your shoes away- I am so tired of stepping over them!

Julia:  I'm sorry Mommy.  Are you tired of stepping over your shoes too?  :) 

I lost Tucker today at the park because I lose him everyday.  This time,

Mommy:  Tucker, where were you?  You have to stay where I can see you!

Tucker:  Mommy, I saw a pipe with water coming out of it so I had to go inspect it.  And as you see I am wearing running pants- so I have to be running!

Tucker:  Marky, chase us like you are a monster.

Marky:  I don't want to- pretend "Mr. Nobody" is a monster.  

Tucker:  Everyone knows "Mr. Nobody" is merely a mischief maker!

Reading history to the older children at the park:

Marky:  You know, when you think about the Trojan War- it went on longer than World War I and yet Menelaus still took her back!  

Reading "The Hero of Bremen" to the children today it mentions the famous hero Roland.  

Marky:  "Ah yes, from the famous Song of Roland."  

All day long as I read to the children they interrupt me with their thoughts, which often surprise me.  I love it and would not miss it for the world.  

This, that and the other

I have realized that all the 'nesting' instincts that kicked in during pregnancy have to have someplace to go so we are getting things fixed up around here.  :)  We got a new comforter set and rug for the master bedroom, and we are organizing the bookshelves and loving the results.  Saturday we spent at Lowe's getting things to fix up the basement patio that we almost never use.  I'm loving the cozy new look.

Sunday the boys wanted to be "wittle match boys" as Charlie calls them.  They love to look alike.

Every Sunday Tucker attempts to climb this tiny tree, gets his foot jammed in the branches, and requires rescuing-

Marc and I taught a lot this weekend.  On Valentine's evening we drove to a convent in Cullman to speak at the Engaged Encounter weekend.  There were about 20 or so couples there, and I really enjoyed talking to them.  Sunday we taught Julia's Sunday School class and were impressed with their knowledge.

The boys love pretending to be Julia's puppies-  "Sparky and Spark Spark".  She ties her hair ribbons to their wrists and they go all through the house.

We have a special treat for the children this week- we are going to DISNEY WORLD!  :)  They older ones haven't been in years and years, and the little ones have never been.  To prove how unfamiliar we are with Disney, I overheard Julia telling someone that we were going to the "Magical Kingdom" and "Epic".  :)  

Mild winter days

I have to say we have really enjoyed these mild winter days.  The children are outside all the time.  And yes, the child most likely to bring me a lizard, worm or frog is the sweet girly girl.

Tucker and Charlie are not the best at throwing and catching the football, but they've got tackling the guy with the ball down.

They have been on many hikes with Daddy to gather kindling wood for the fireplace.  They say, "Daddy, it's time to go exploring!"

Thank you for all your sweet thoughts and prayers.  When we got home last Thursday from the bad news ultrasound I had two full meals already delivered to the house by friends.  I have had meals every day since.   In fact today I received a meal that someone was making for another friend of mine who is sick.  My friend said, "please don't bring it to me- take it to Donna."   I am humbled and grateful for the Body of Christ.

Sunday pics, Veteran's Day concert, and Troops

Every Sunday Tucker is about the cutest thing I've ever seen- I LOVE THIS BOY!  He is as adorable on the inside as he is on the outside-

After his Sunday School class I saw him standing on a brick wall with a crowd of adults and teenagers around him laughing.  They were all quizzing him on countries, states, flags, etc.  He was answering them all, "Bangladesh is in Asia- and its flag has a red dot in a green rectangle".  :)  They all laughed and oohed and aaaaahed.

His Sunday School teacher told me she can't get over his faith and how much he knows about God.  She said, "I think he should be teaching the class."  My precious little sprite- we love you to pieces.

He's also still a mess.  Just last night he called "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!!!!" in the middle of the night.  Marc ran upstairs and he said, "Daddy, some birds have orange beaks, some have yellow- what's that about?"  I heard it on the monitor and cracked up.  Then he said, "before you go- what's the difference between beyond and beneath?"  That little brain is always churning.  :)

And this little girl is as sweet as they come.  This morning she said, "Mommy, I went ahead and dressed Charlie and made his bed, Tucker's bed, Marky's bed and my bed."  She begs us to let her put Charlie to bed at night.   She reads to him, tucks him in, kisses his cheek and turns out the light.  She often puts my jewelry on and high heels and walks around saying, "Come here sweet boy and I will read you a story!" as she reads Charlie a story.  Then she says, "Mommy- I'm practicing for when I am a Mommy."

On Sunday afternoon the BBC sang at Alabama Veterans Memorial Park to a host of veterans assembled.  They had vets there from WWII to present day and you walked along a wooded path and talked to the tables of veterans from each war.  Then we went to the ceremony where our boys sang the National Anthem, My Country 'tis of Thee, and America the Beautiful.  They sang beautifully and then each boy went and shook the hands of the many veterans to thank them for their sacrifice.  It was a beautiful day.

This wall has the name of every Alabamian killed in service since WWI.

Then we got home just in time for our Troops of St. George meeting.  They learned about teamwork, poison ivy, how to hike through woods, use a compass, etc.  They had a great time and a highlight was tug-of-war.  :)

What a great day!