I could be tidying...but...

As the title suggests, I could be tidying up the office.  I also could be putting away some things in our bedroom that have been there since we moved in two months ago.  I also could be cleaning a couple of bathrooms or even folding some towels...But, instead, I will regale you with the goings on from the last several days:

 A couple of weeks ago, we celebrated our eldest's 9th Birthday.  Our celebration started by all  sleeping in a bit and going to 10:30 Mass preceded by 8:45 Sunday School.  Eric took the older three and John and I stayed home to prepare a bit more for the day.  This preparation entailed showing John the Disney version of Winnie-the-Pooh.  It was a simple coincidence the John was wearing an outfit that made him resemble the loveable old bear. 

 After Mass, we returned home to a simple lunch and commencement of gift opening (though the first gift of the day was the CD Eric had made for Dom.  A tradition he started 4 years ago and every child looks forward to).  I really like how we do birthdays.  They are super low key.  I always worry that the kids will want more or feel deprived, but they really don't.  I asked Dom a few weeks ago if there was anything he really wanted and after a prolonged silence I prompted him with: Do you just want to be surprised?  And he almost seemed relieved when he agreed that was what he wanted.  As a result, he got a hodgepodge of gifts.

His Aunt and Uncle gave him a Knock Em Sock Em set.  We have quickly discovered the red fighter has the weaker neck, therefore the blue is nearly assured victory.  I have a tendency to always give educational gifts (or underwear).  But, luckily, I am raising children that love to learn, so they are actually excited to open Human Anatomy puzzles, books, and Division placemats.  Or maybe I'm just raising very polite children.  Either way, win for me!  Eric had the idea to give Dom some 'Choose Your Own Adventure' books.  These were not met with the same excitement as the Star Wars themed books...until Eric explained how they worked to Will.  Then Will was missing the rest of the day.  I found him trying to read an adventure to his neighbor friend.  Who was less than thrilled; however, the reading caught Dom's attention and he was hooked.  They each tried to one up each other on how they met untimely demises in Ancient Greece, or turned into Robots at some time in the future.  Crazy stuff.

Along with the low key theme, Dom is perfectly happy with brownies with peanut butter chips: #nailedit.  I splurged and got the number 9 and Happy Birthday toppers at the Dollar Tree (I love that Store!).  I know, I know, I surpassed even my own expectations with this one.

We broke out Dom's Birthday candle and discovered we were behind a few years.  We are nearly caught up now.  I think we are down to 8.  From 5.

The next morning, Eric treated everyone to a pancake breakfast.  Notice the glasses?  Nana came through again!  We now have Planet Glasses to match our Planet Plates!!!  Get out!  To be honest, when Nana initially told me about these my first thought was:  We have too many glasses already #Mitziproblems.  My second thought was:  Where are we going to put them #smallhouseproblems.  But, never fear, I figured out how to fit an entire Solar System in our dining room (the set includes the Sun (which is a big glass) and Pluto (which is a small glass and happens to be Molly's favorite.).:

A note about this display, I attempted to re-organize the glasses so that the blues and yellows were more or less equally spaced.  Dom did not approve.  He informed me I was doing it all wrong and rearranged them in the order they are in space.  He did not care about the shot glasses which are from Paris, Dublin, Somewhere in Germany, Lawrence, KS, Amsterdam, Jamaica, and Cozumel, Mexico.  Maybe someday a grandchild or great-grandchild will add a planet shot glass to the collection?

After the high of Dom's weekend, one would think the rest of the week would pale in comparison.  Not so.  A benefit of homeschool is one can take a spelling test on magic paper!  100%!

Molly and John relaxing in the tub.  This really helps rinse the sand out of the hair. #protip

Speaking of hair, John is still sporting all of his hair with the curls.  Not sure when we will finally cut it.  The others had all had multiple trims by this point, but John's continues to have an adorable curl in the back.  It will be a sad day when that goes.

For about a week, Molly and Will played a very intricate game in the office.  They used screws from our drill toys as characters and had them set up in particular ways as they worked through several chapters in their imaginations.  To the adults in the household, it just looked like a big mess, but they were adamant that the positions were essential to the game.  So, we left them there all week.  Luckily, they've since moved on to the marble run which is a little more contained.  

Megan posted a picture to my timeline on facebook of an immaculate homeschool setting.  I laughed out loud when I saw it.  Our day is actually very organized, but it would not look like it to the untrained eye.  There are books and paper strewn across the table (and, honestly, the rest of the house and back deck) from 9:05 to 3 or 4 in the afternoon. (it isn't strewn across at 9 when I initially lay everything out for them).  In the above picture, Dom and Will are working on a history test.  I let them use the book to look up answers if they want, but they take it as a matter of pride to not use the book. (That pride took a bit of a hit on a recent test...tsk, tsk) It's taken them a few weeks to remember that they are supposed to work together and not just split the tests 50/50.  Now it is fun to hear them argue about what answer is correct.

For a time (+/- 10 minutes), John and Molly will keep themselves occupied by reading quietly.  John has recently added 'book' to his unprompted vocabulary.  He loves to sit and listen to book after book after book.  I haven't had a child do this since Dom would empty out the contents of his book basket every morning and we would read for 45 minutes.  John does not have the luxury of 45 uninterrupted minutes of my time, but between me, Eric, Will, and Dom...he probably comes close to that much reading.

And the kids all worked together to put together the internal organs of a human.  Surgery was a success!  Bonus:  the other side of the puzzle is the skeletal system!  I know, I give the best gifts!

Special shout out to Grandma and Grandpa for the basketball book and Star Wars tales and Hershey Bar!  The Smores were delicious!  And the flannel Jayhawk pants and socks arrived just in time for the cold snap.  I mean, it was only 80 last week.  We were freezing!  Um...not joking.

Ok, time to tidy.  Or get another cup of coffee...