Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Only One More Day...

*Sigh*

Only. One. More. Day....



Until all of my sweet babies are under the same roof!

Not looking forward to the long drive to go fetch my kiddos...but the pay-off....now that will be huge!

If you were here in on my porch right now with me, you would be witnessing a very big smile.

I'm getting very excited to see Ella and Ben.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Down On The Farm

Changin' it up here on Hubler Planet this week.

Not the ordinary, things are different.


Ella and Ben...they took a road trip.

Over the river and through the woods...to Grandma's House we go.



They have been begging for a chance to stay with Grammie and Papa all by themselves.

So...we packed them up and made the trip up north.



They've called each day telling me about all the fun they are having.

Doesn't seem to be a shortage of it down on the farm.



And is it just my imagination or has my little boy grown some while he's been away?

I'm not sure I'm liking this growing up business.



Maybe it's all the veggies they are scoring from the greenhouse.



Homeschooling? Well, I've just reaped the first benefits of being a homeschool family.

Pack up the books, share lessons plans with Grammie, and viola...school is taken care of.



I love that my parents invest their time into my kids.

Some of my most special memories are the times that I spent as a little girl with my own Grams and Gramps. Memories that I hold very dear to my heart.



And here she is...Grams...reading to my kids...still investing her time into children. My kids love their Great-Grandma. And I love her for making memories with them.

Warms my heart. Truly, it does.



A trip up north wouldn't be a success without a campfire!

Grillin' up supper...yum.



I'm guessing smores followed.



Aaahhhh....Grandma's House.

Thursday, September 23, 2010

Happy 2nd Birthday, Lily Jeeah!!


Happy  Birthday, Sweetheart!!!

A post to come tomorrow....once I get my emotional marbles all together. 

Tuesday, September 21, 2010

Hearts and Lungs and Livers...Oh My!

We were invited over to our neighbor's house the other day to learn about our bodies. Melanie and I had each cut out 7 different organs for the kids to learn about and paste on their "bodies" that were traced on giant pieces of paper.



After Ella's turn to be traced...came Ben's turn...



We learned a lot about each organ, one by one...



The heart, lungs, large intestine, small intenstine, liver, and the brain.



This wasn't all sitting around and glueing though...we were up and jumping around. Gettin' the ol' heart rate up.



Jump, jump, jump...faster, faster, faster...



NOW feel that heartbeat!



We had such a fun day! The kids sat so intently and they were hanging on every word Melanie had to say. What a great project and what great information. Our bodies truly are amazing!

Saturday, September 18, 2010

Salamander

A real science lesson right in our front yard.

The kids had a great time meeting our new little friend.

He's kinda cute, right?

We learned a lot about these little guys...and the most interesting? If they lose a leg due to a predator, they will just grow another one!

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Science Day with Daddy

Every Thursday is an exciting day here on Hubler Planet. It's the day that Daddy does science experiements with the kids.

This week's experiment was learning about rice, water, and sand. All about their commonalities and all about their differences.



Water. What's not to like about a bucket full of water when you are a boy? The kids learned about it's properties...hmmm, it's wet, it's clear, and it makes your hands clean and feel smooth.



Rice...not just for eating! They loved to feel the difference of textures between all three. Ella says "rice is bumpy."



Sand...Ella is filling it up to get it ready for it's turn on the scale...gotta see how much each weighs. Each was weighed in the same container and filled to the top to try to ensure accuracy.



Even Lily got in on the action! I'm thinking she likes science too...at least if it involves running your fingers through a big bucket of rice!



Taking it all in...listening intentely to Dad. He's a good teacher.



Rice's turn to hop on the scale...



Just cause science is more fun if you don't have to worry about a few little spills.



Hmmm....if you start with a wet finger, sand definitely sticks.



Rice too.



And all the findings. The kids loved it and I think Jason did just as much too.

Wednesday, September 8, 2010

First Day of School

Gulp.

Tell me it isn't so...tell me I don't have a child old enough to start school! How can this be? Where has the time gone?

We officially have completed our first day of school here on Hubler Planet. That's correct...right here...on Hubler Planet. Jason and I have prayed long and hard about this decision and we have decided to dive head first into the adventure that is homeschooling. Ella and Ben couldn't be happier about this idea and are so excited about it that I'm wondering how I will ever keep up with their curiousity and thirst for knowledge right now.

Our day started early. Very. Early.

Lily decided it wasn't a proper start if it wasn't at 5:40am. Yep. Early.

I tried to wipe the sand from my eyes and get them to stay open without the aid of toothpicks while I waited for the other two rabble-rousers to get up.

Ben sauntered downstairs around 7:15am and immediately asked "when do we start school, Mama?" It wasn't easy for this boy to wait for another hour and a half for his big sister to wake up.



In the meantime, Lily decided it was a perfect morning to get in a little whistling action. I love that noise sweet sound any time of the day...but in the wee hours of the morning...well, it's just that much more enjoyable.

Thank you sweet baby. Mama loves you.



Aahhh, finally Ella came down and much to Ben's delight, the day could begin. Of course everyone knows the best way to start off a good day is by having a good breakfast.



I'm such a super mom that I let them pick out whatever cold cereal they wanted. Just like Every. Other. Day. here on Hubler Planet.

I know, I should have made bacon and pancakes, waffles and sausage, something special, something memorable. But need I remind you that I was up at 5:40am?

I don't want anyone to forget that.



Not even a bowl of mini wheats could damper this boy's spirit.



Once everyone's tummies were nice and full, it was time to get out our school crates. The kids got to go shopping for pencils, markers, glue, etc a few weeks back and haven't been allowed to mess with it until the official start of school. Needless to say, Ben and Ella were riffling through their shiny new things with gusto.

Who knew a $3.99 crate could bring so much joy.



Ella wasn't quite sure why we were working on writing...she assured me she already knew all of her letters.

But when I told her we were going to learn how to write them "pretty"...well, she was inspired to get busy.

That and being able to use a new pencil.



I couldn't have asked for more concentration! Ben gave me 100% all day long. Seriously...who knew this boy could buckle down and work so diligently?

It surprised the socks off of me.



He was just as proud of himself.



He rocked it when it came to reading. I wasn't even planning on starting Ben this year in school...afterall, he's only 4 years old.

But this boy...this smarty-pants boy...has been paying a lot of attention when Ella was playing school with him. He knows all his letters and their sounds.

I wish I could take credit for this.

He begged me to teach him how to read. How could a mama say no to that sweet face?

PS. Ella has been hired as the new photographer in the house.



Although Ben is a rock star at reading...he's not so much in the photography department.

Try Again, Honey.



Third times a charm, trust me.



At'a boy.

We learned about alligators during science. You know...alligators...the ones that can grow to be up to 16 feet long, live to be 56 years old, eat bottles, rocks, pigs, turtles, and wood (amongst other things), have babies that are 8" long even though their eggs are only a mere 3" in height, and whose new teeth grow back in once the old ones fall out. Yeah. Those beasts.

In honor of such fine animals, we decided we should make some alligator bread.



I know, he's too cute for words.

How 'bout a close-up?



Gotta love those eyes. He was mightly tasty.

And for a little artwork to keep things fancy...we made some puppies.



Heeheee, they make me laugh just looking at them.



And lots of books from the library about pets. Even Lily loved getting in on the reading action. She took her seat on my lap and snuggled in for the stories.

That girl loves books. I'm afraid it won't be long until she'll be wanting me to teach her how to read.

Seriously, earlier this week she sat in my lap for 45 minutes while I read to her. "Ree...Ree" (Translation, in case you didn't get that: Read...Read) And we stopped because was really tired of reading...she outlasted me. True story.

And how did our first day of school end, you ask?



With one very sad boy. He was not happy what-so-ever that school was done for the day.

I think that means it was a success overall. Don't ya think?

Thursday, September 2, 2010

Dear Toothfairy

What's a sure fire way to know that your little ones are indeed getting bigger? Losing their first tooth will do it.

How is my baby old enough to lose a tooth yet? I'm pretty sure it wasn't long ago that I was pregnant and pushing that horrible life-saving IV cart around my house. Was it really that long ago that I was walking that crying and screaming sweet-as-honey baby up and down the hallway trying to get her to sleep? I'm sure it was a just a few months ago that I was watching her learn how to take her first steps!

Hmmm...I really must be getting old, my memory is failing me.

Ella has assured me that she is indeed old enough to lose her very first tooth.



It all happened while we were on vacation up at Kabetogama. Ella woke up that morning and said that she could hardly eat her breakfast because her tooth was hurting so much. Upon investigating, I told her that it was going to be coming out today "for sure" because it was just that wiggly. I followed her around like a hawk the whole day. That evening, I asked Nana if she could watch Ella for 20 minutes so I could run to our cabin and get Ben ready for bed. When she brought Ella back to our cabin, she held a baggie out to me and said "Oh...she lost her tooth on a strawberry that she had for bedtime snack". Ugh. After all that work of tracking my daughter all day, she went and lost the thing without me being present. Once Nana left, we jumped and squealed with glee that her first tooth had fallen out...and then once she went to bed and was fast asleep, I cried that I had missed the whole thing.

I know...I'm a sap. An emotional girl who wears her heart on her sleeve.

Once we got home, we got out her tooth container that she had gotten from her G. Auntie Mimi. She has been waiting years to use it. Ella carefully wrote her letter to the tooth fairy...



She really, really wanted to keep her first tooth. It was a pretty cute one, after all. I was kind of hoping the toothfairy would leave it too...since I missed seeing it fall out in the first place and all.
 



Ella had a million questions that night......"How will she know to come to my house?"..."How will she get inside?"..."How will she know which room is mine?"...  I'll spare you the other 999,997 of them. Truly, I never thought she would stop. 



I wasn't even sure that girl would even fall asleep that night...so much excitement pounding through her veins...you could feel the energy in her room.



Ella woke up at the crack of dawn and came bounding in my room. She could barely contain herself. The toothfairy...well, as it turns out, is pretty cool. Not only did she leave Ella a present, but she left her the very fairy that she had been wanting for months. And a personal letter to top it off.

All I could think of was what a mess of fairy dust that little thing had left behind. Ella, however, wouldn't allow me to clean any of it up.