What is hunkey standing on?

Hunkey is standing on an apple slicer thing. It has blades in a wagon wheel pattern and the kids like it because it helps them cut the apples into nice wedges quickly. (They like to dip the wedges in a cinnamon and sugar mixture.) Sometimes it takes a lot of force to get it through an apple. I guess Maddo and Hunkey got creative when they found they didn't have the arm muscle strength to do it properly. If you'd like to buy one, I can recommend the Pampered Chef brand. We had another one, but it came apart quickly. Obviously, the Pampered Chef brand ones are very sturdy.

www.pamperedchef.biz/kristachadwick?page=home

I'll also mention that after the kids ran out of apple wedges, they continued eating the cinnamon and sugar mixture in a bowl with a spoon.

Hunkey feeds himself.

Hunkey was bothering me. He kept whining that he was hungry. I told him he could have an apple. The next thing I noticed was this. When I uttered a shocked and dismayed explicative, the other kids calmly informed me that that was not unusual. "That is how Maddo always does it when you or Dad are not around to help us." I just want to know: What did I do to deserve this?!

PS. The reason you see the piece of furniture up on the cushions is that I had just finished mopping the floor.

KayBee’s idea of babysitting.

I hope she does not do this at other people's homes!

Maddo -- a picture is worth a thousand words!

But here is one word: AAAARRRRGGGGG!




(Are you asking, "How can that happen without a mother knowing what was going on!?" I will tell you. I was upstairs in the way back of the house trying to have a meaningful "heart-to-heart" talk with Brother. I was totally focused on him. I came downstairs and this is what I found. To Maddo and Hunkey's credit, they did clean it all up afterward. The next day Maddo helped her dad use all the paper in the wood stove. Double fun from a few free newspapers! Hooray!)

PSP and spirituality

Brother has a couple interesting personality traits. He constantly has to have something to be looking forward to. He also feels the need to spend $ as soon as he has collected enough to buy the things vital to his happiness. He has been rotating between about 5 different needs -- depending upon who he has been hanging out with. The list includes: a Specialized (brand) mountain bike, a dog, remote controlled gas powered vehicles, the latest video game systems, and legos. Usually he gets locked onto one, and can't stop thinking about it for a few days. He follows me around the house, telling me about the research he has done: the cost, the features, what he could do with it, and the pros and cons of the coveted item. (This will come in handy if he is a research assistant in college some day!) Then, the novelty dies off and he moves on to a new subject. Usually I can stall and evade his requests to go shopping until the more onerous items have blown over. However, with his last paper route paycheck deposit, he couldn’t stand waiting any longer. The money was burning a hole in his pocket. His current interest was a PSP video game console. It is a small, hand held thing that is all the rage. Last time he wanted one he was dissuaded from buying it because there were no games that met our criteria of no violence, swearing, etc. Unfortunately, now there are some that are acceptable. So Friday, he finally earned the right to buy one. (I had made a huge list of things he had to do before I would drive him to the store.) Anyway. He got it and has been in one of the degrees of boy heaven all weekend. The picture shows him sharing with a neighboor kid on the back porch on Sat. One other boy brought over his PSP and they were having a gaming convention. Today, (Sunday) it was off limits. He thought he’d die, and so began bargaining with me to see how far he had to go in order to get to play it. All the kids know I love a good bartering session – a trait I acquired from my semester in Israel during college. I told him if he’d memorize the first chapter in the Book of Mormon, or the Doctrine and Covenants he could play it. He got me down to a half a chapter, and a 5 item Sabbath type “to do” list. (I didn’t think he’d really do it.) Surprisingly he accepted the deal. Surprisingly he did it. It took him a few hours. He’d do a couple verses, then go do something else on his list, then come back to the scriptures. I figured that all the memorizing would counteract the brain numbing effects of the video games, and that the spiritual boost would offset the light-minded content. Luckily, he only got to play for about an hour before it was time for dinner, scriptures and bed. I’m looking forward to next week when he can memorize the second half of the chapter. I wonder how far he will get before the novelty wears off. The funniest part is that his siblings had to listen to him practicing for the whole time. Peachy and KayBee got to the point where they would correct him when he messed up. So, happily it is stuck in their heads also! This could be the start of a good Sunday activity tradition!

The very good, bad weekend.

Well, this weekend could be rated as a great or a terrible experience -- depending on who is writing this. As seen in the picture above, it was not good for Homie, but the girls had a great time learning about car repairs, and getting out of their normal Saturday jobs. I thought it was quite heart warming to see them having a bonding experience with their dad.

Here is the story:
The minivan has been making strange noises for a while. Finally it got really disturbing and Homie decided to take a look. You have to understand that we have been greatly blessed with this old car. It has not needed any engine type repairs except for a fuel pump about 8 years ago. Anyway, Homie thought it was the spark plugs. 3 were easy to replace and the other 3 were terrible. They had to take 1/2 the engine apart to get to them. Finally at 9:30 PM they had the car put back together and went for a test drive. Around 10 PM I got a phone call, "Mom, can you come get us..." Aparently it was not totally the sparkplugs. It was also the water pump. They managed to get to an ok spot to leave the car, and walked a few blocks home. I'll skip the official details (about steam coming out of the hood, and a large trail of coolant all the way down the street) that were reiterated to me three different times, by each agitated mechanic. Today we towed it home, and the girls are egarly awaiting the next evening that they get to be grease monkeys again.

The Poet Part 2

To those who get these posts via email, sorry about the weird spacing and HTML language that appeared in some places. It was because I copied and pasted from a word document instead of typing everything again.

I forgot to mention about KB reciting her poem. She seems to have a knack for starting things at 9:00 pm the night before something is due. It was at that hour she decided on a poem and began memorizing it. All the memorizing we have been doing in home school, and her years of experience with the forensics competitions in earlier grades came in handy. She had the poem down in just a few readings. When she said it at school, her teacher commented about how she must have gone to a lot of work to memorize something so huge and meaningful. (All the other kids had done things of incredibly short length, and of trivial content.) She was embarrassed, but also pleased. BTW, is there a word for that? I'll have to invent a word meaning "embarrassed but delighted at the same time." We would use it a lot.
Anyway, she was rolling her eyeballs at the comment about a large effort. I wonder what she could do if she ever did do a "large effort"! Currently she is back on the couch reading again. . .

Here is the poem she recited. We thought someone might get a kick out of it, like we did.

Metaphysics

by Oliver Herford

Why and Wherefore set out one day

To hunt for a wild Negation

They agreed to meet at a cool retreat

At the Point of Interrogation

But the night was dark and they missed their mark

And driven well-nigh to distraction

They lost their ways in a murky maze

Of utter abstruse abstraction

Then they took a boat and were soon afloat

On a Sea of Speculation

But the sea grew rough, and their boat, though tough

Was split into an Equation

As they floundered about in the Waves of Doubt

Rose a fearful Hypothesis,

Who gibbered with glee as they sank in the sea,

And the last they saw was this:

On a rock-bound Reef of Unbelief

There sat the wild Negation;

Then they sank once more and were washed ashore

At the Point of Interrogation

KayBee the poet

As the final project in a long and tedious poetry unit, KayBee had a assignment to compile a book of 20 poems. She needed to have 12 from other people and 8 original compositions - using the different styles they had learned about. She also had to recite one from memory. Of course she spent the week reading. Ahhem, "researching." However she did not start compiling until the evening before it was due. It was a late night and an early morning as she scrambled to finish. It became a family project. For those of you who don't know (like me) a Bio-poem follows a specific structure of describing certain aspects about a person. It seems rather dumb to me, but she had to write one. I thought it was cute that she did her brother. You can see that as the time was short, and she was feeling annoyed at the forced creativity, she got a bit tongue-in-cheek with a few of her offerings. The last one she wrote in the car on the way to school!

Here are some of the things she (we) came up with:

Double Sneaking

Once upon a midnight, dreary

I sat up reading

Eyes all bleary.

Mother came and saw the light.

I knew I was in

For a great fight.

“Stop that reading! Stop right now!”

“Ok. Fine Mom,

Don’t have a cow!”

Grouchily, she went back to bed

I just laughed

And shook my head.

Back to the pages I turned with glee.

Lost in a world -

Just the story and me.

But wait, what was that smallish sound?

I rose from my bed,

Looked, and found!

My mother laughing under covers tight

Reading with

Her own flashlight!

Free Verse

I write

Hours on end

Scribbling by candlelight.

I write

Pouring out my soul.

My emotions bleed

Onto the page.

My poems are full

Of deeper meaning,

Theme,

And Literary Tequniqe.

8^th graders

will analyze my works-

awed by such thought provoking

magnificence.

I dream of fame, glory, fortune.

My works will be esteemed

Among the classics.

My poems are priceless -

The manuscripts will be worth

Millions of dollars.

But only my mother

Sees my genius.

The only way

My poems are spread

far and wide

Is if I give them away.

No wonder they call it

Free Verse

Quatrain at 1:00 am

I was going to write an epic,

But having little time,

I decided simple was better

And so I wrote this rhyme

I Hate Haiku

Haiku. Lousy form.

Unnatural and strangely

Exasperating.

Bio-Poem of Brother (blog name used for this publishing purpose)

Brother

Funny, Talkative, Athletic, and Kind

Relative of Flyin’ Tomato

Who loves legos

Who feels annoyed by sisters

Who needs more legos

Who fears slobbery kisses

Who gives white-washes

Who would like to see a mountain of legos, Alaska, and the meaning of grammar class

Resident of the Bonus Room

Tanner

Early Morning Acrostic

Every day my

Alarm clock

Rings.

Leaving my warm covers

Yelling about who took all the hot water

Mush for breakfast

Orange juice

Running out the door

No shoes and coat

Impossible to be on time

Now the car won’t start

Get to school just as the bell rings

A New Favorite Pastime

Since Thursday, My family has been obsessed with the connect 4 game that Maddo got for her b-day. We had an old, broken one that had fallen into disuse. This fancy new model has sparked a resurgence of intense competition. The funniest thing is that Hunkey at age 5 can beat his Dad. One evening they were playing and Hunkey genuinely beat Homie at least 3 times. I thought Homie was just letting the little guy win, but he said no, he was really trying to win. Even though Homie says he trounces everyone, the children are generally able to give him a good work-out. It is fun for the whole family. I am not a strategy fiend, and so I’m not as into it. I was quite dismayed one night at 10:30 pm when Homie, coming from a large tournament downstairs, plunked the thing in bed beside me and said, “Here, let’s play a game. You just have to play a few rounds!” I was trying to sleep, and did not appreciate the challenge. I intentionally lost 3 rounds as fast as I could. Homie was terribly disappointed in my lack of interest and effort. The next morning he got the set off his night stand and reissued the challenge. I did try harder, but still lost. Luckily, a child came along and was eager to take my place. I have learned that if I want some undisturbed time, I just suggest that the children go play connect 4 with their dad. Usually they all will play for at least an hour before a fight starts, or they come to their senses. It is good to know Homie’s weak spots.

Maddo's extended birthday celebration

In typing about her Birthday, I was tempted to title it "A rough birthday" however, I think it all turned out ok. Her B-day was on Wednesday. For a cake, she requested a Mississippi mud cake -- made in the crockpot. (She found the recipe herself, and was intrigued by the crockpot idea.) So, since I was trying so hard to be on top of things, I got the cake into the crockpot right on time. I also started to make the fried shrimp appetizer for the dinner she had requested. Then things went awry. People went off to mutual, we postponed the rest of dinner, and forgot about the cake. About 8:30 pm, I wondered what the burnt smell was. I knew I had turned off the oven after making that part of dinner. It was the cake. We had to chisel it out of the crockpot. I told Maddo we'd try again tomorrow. Thursday we had the dinner she requested, but didn’t get around to making a cake. Friday we finally made another cake, and found the presents that we had forgotten about. Also, her new scriptures arrived in the mail. So, depending on how you look at it -- either she had a lousy B-day, or she had a great 3 day long celebration. Being in this family, I think she knew better than to expect anything different.

Maddo's Baptism

Today was Maddo's day to feel special. She got baptized and everything went well. It was a small, family affair. Brother and Peachy gave talks. KayBee played the piano, her Mom said the prayer and choristered. Her Primary teacher said a prayer and Dad did the priesthood authority parts. A few others came, but they were good friends, so she didn't feel too scared. Homie made cookies and KayBee made a veggie tray to offset the sugary refreshments. I think everything was quite nice.