Homeschool Co-op

As most of you know, we do homeschool, and we have been involved with our Homeschool Co-op now for about 4 years. It really is an awesome thing! Every Tuesday, we do the co-op, all day long. It is kind of like our day of outside school. We've known many of the families now for years and the kids have developed friendships with many kids. We have about 60 families involved with over 100 kids in our "school", with the kids ranging in age from infants to high schoolers. The classes are all very fun, such as Arts & Crafts, Preschool Community Helpers, Harry Potter class, Science of the Universe, Science Experiments, Science Fair, Waldorf Preschool, Homeschool Gym and I am teaching an Embroidery class this session. I put together a slideshow from our first 3 weeks of homeschool co-op.
Enjoy!

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Ultrasound

Yesterday, I had my first dr appt and ultrasound for Baby T. I am almost 10 weeks along in the pregnancy. Baby T looked great, was kicking and moving wildly and had a strong heartbeat. The 3 boys and Ken came along to see the ultrasound. The boys really enjoyed seeing the baby and said they think the baby is a boy because he was so wild! The baby measured up perfectly and everything seems to be progressing well. My tastes are starting to get normal and better again...most of the nausea is gone, although still a little touchy in the evenings and for some reason, I still have a hard time eating salads (my favorite thing!). Tonight, I forced myself to eat a salad for dinner and I did OK I guess. It's getting better. I will post a photo of the ultrasound, as soon as I scan it in here. Baby T has a big head, cute little wiggly arms and legs and according to the 3 boys, looks like an alien...which of course, at this stage, is very cool.

Dinosaurs!

Last week, the kids and I took off and went to the Cleveland Zoo. They had a great exhibit of mechanical dinosaurs there. We had seen them before a couple years ago, and Isaiah, my dino-lover, wanted to see them again. The exhibit was AWESOME! It was very realistic and I love how they had the dinos in realistic plant settings, sticking their heads out of bushes, hunting in the lake, and even one who spit water out at you. Another thing that made them seem real was that they would mechanically move around, growl and make loud dino-noises. There were speakers all over on the trees, so you could hear the dino roars from a distance away. It was just like Jurassic Park!

The boys loved it all and were in their glory! The girls were mortified, which also lead to the humor of it all. I have to admit, seeing them utterly terrified of these fake dinos was pretty darn funny. I had to tell Kateri they were fake, since at one point, she refused to go any further without screaming. I told Luanna also, but she did not understand me and was sitting in the stroller with her hands over her face and mouth, saying "Scary! Scary!". So then, I told her the dinos were nice and that I was going to kiss the dinosaurs and she screamed "NO MOMMY!!". I think she was afraid for my life. Very cute and funny.

So, we made it through the exhibit, with the girls safely tucked in the double stroller. I just did not push them too close to any of the dinos, or there would have been loud screams of horror. Luanna did allow me to take her out at one point and place her on a fake looking dino statue to take a photo, but she was not happy about it, as she kept looking around the exhibit, thinking a dinosaur would run over and grab her. The girls were much happier after we left the dino exhibit and went to check out the peaceful giraffes, elephants and seals. It was a fun day, the weather was perfect and not too hot, like it usually is at the zoo.

Fun with the girls

This weekend, my parents and a couple of my siblings took the 3 boys camping...all weekend. So, it's been a nice break from them and just having the 2 girls. We are spoiling the girls and went out and got them Chinese food for dinner last night and watched a movie (shhh...don't tell the boys!). I had stopped at the library this week and got this DVD that is all in Chinese...it is a kids DVD with little girls singing and dancing in Chinese. Kateri and Luanna LOVE it! They are busy watching it right now. It's so cute. Kateri keeps telling Luanna..."Look, that's like a whole bunch of Luannas...all little Chinese girls!" And, Luanna is beaming and smiling. She seems to really like seeing all the Chinese girls that look a lot like her. When the 2 of them start imitating the DVD and dancing and singing, it's just too much!

We've been watching our neighbors 2 dogs all week. I can not wait for them to come home tomorrow! It's been such a difficult and crazy week with 8 dogs in the house. And, the 2 we are watching must miss their family because they've been having way too many accidents than I want to deal with! They are very cute dogs...but please...can't wait for them to go home!

The weather has been getting unbelievably "Fall-ish" all of a sudden. We went from shorts and hot weather to pants and jackets almost overnight this week. I hope the boys are OK camping. I packed them with lots of blankets, sleeping bags and winter coats. I can't wait to hear about their fun trip!

Busy Weekends

We had another busy weekend, visiting with my family and volunteering at the Rose's Rescue Reunion/Fundraiser. My brother, Vince, is in town for a few weeks from California. He is a priest/monk in California with the Norbertines. So, it's always a celebration when he comes into town, since we only get to see him once a year. My Mom usually plans a lot of parties and get togethers when he is here. We had a fun cookout last weekend at the park and the kids were able to use the pool for the last time this year :(

The Rose's Rescue party was also a hit. We brought our 3 Rose's Rescue dogs- Morgan, Fatsy and Mia. There were lots of dogs all over. We were at a swim club, so the dogs got to use the pools and go swimming. Fun!

I am still having trouble with food. I am usually fine in the early day, but after 5pm, my stomach is not feeling quite right and I have trouble eating or even feeling good. Of course, knowing me, I would never lose weight over this...in fact, I think I am somehow gaining weight anyways. I can feel my belly starting to grow slightly already. Baby is about 7 weeks old this week.

Early Weeks of Pregnancy

I am actually experiencing slight nausea in the evenings only (after 5pm). Lately, I have not been able to eat dinner much at all. Funny thing is, I never experienced much nausea at all with any of my other 4 pregnancies. Maybe a little nauseaus, but never not being able to eat. This one, well...I guess it's a little different. At least I am not throwing up or anything like that...just feeling ill and horrible at night. I guess I am about 6-7 weeks along now. Although I think doctors always like to add those additional 2 weeks, which would make me 8-9 weeks. I don't know for sure...it's hard to keep track. I made my first appt with my midwife for October 18th, when I should be about 12 weeks along then. With my last pregnancy, I saw my OB/Gyn doctor, as well as my home-birth midwife. I guess I'll do the same thing with this pregnancy. The only reason I like to keep my dr appts is beacause I do love to see those ultrasounds, and my midwife does not do those...so I'll need to see my dr for that. But, the homebirth was the BEST! I would never go back to a hospital (as long as I could help doing that). Birthing at home is just so relaxing and natural and no one is bothering you to shoot you up with needles and drugs.

Ken and I are still thinking about baby names. Girl names are coming more easily to us than boy names. I do think this baby is a girl...no real reason. I guess I just feel it's a girl, but I could be wrong. Well, off to teach homeschool!