The Things We Put Up With

Here is a conversation that just transpired:

As Ella is switching Hattie's outfit and redoing her hair for her pretend photo shoot...

Me: "Hattie, you sure do put up with a lot from your big sister."

Ella: "MOM, she likes it. Don't you Hattie!!"

Hattie: "Not really...

Then after a long pause...

But I love you, Ella."

I couldn't help but laugh.

Caught!

I see someone has been on my phone playing again...

And if you get on there without my permission, I will post it.

Preschool Days with Ella

Another happy customer as Ella taught Hattie how to make valentine's day cards for her friends.

I love that she is learning how to be creative and how to show love to others. It's so easy to get lost in this "me" culture...and I want to instill in all my kids a love for showing kindness to others.

Hattie had a blast and her cards turned out really cute.

Proud of both my "babies"...the first and the last.

Valentine's Day 2017

Valentine's Day was pretty low key around Hubler Planet this year. And when I say "low key"...I really mean it.

Last year Jason and I really put forth a lot of effort. (No blog post since I was on a hiatus...you'll just have to take my word for it.) We had a scavenger hunt, board games, word finds, crossword puzzles, and all sorts of treats and special food. Then there was Valentine's Day 2015 and that was pretty fun too. So the kids were expecting big things from me this year.

But this year...well, this year was a flop. Jason worked late as he had a big project due at the office, in fact, he didn't get home until we were completely finished with our supper.

What I did manage to do was make a Korean meal...it's called Korean Royal Rice Cakes. Back in the Joseon Dynasty it was a meal prepared only for royalty...so my kids ate like kings and queens. ;)

Jason also picked up marble soda at the Korean Mart earlier in the week. Every one got their own flavor. It's named "marble soda" because there is a glass marble that seals the soda inside the bottle. You pop down the marble and it's ready to go.

I realized that I have 4 of the five kids pictured. In the interest of being transparent and showing off real life, Cora was busy throwing a fit so I didn't take her picture. She informed me that she didn't like the rice cakes, that they were too chewy, and she wanted to know exactly how much she had to eat.

You can't win them all.

Brother and Sister Love (ie Wrestling)

Someone is feeling a little better around these parts again. It's good to have Ella acting like her silly self even if it means listening to these two pick on each other. :)

Over the past few years I've seen these two (who used to be so close) start to grow up in and go their own ways. Ella is interested in reading all. the. time. as well as hanging with me more and more. Doesn't matter if we are in the kitchen, sitting on the couch to snuggle, or her following me around like a puppy dog. :)

Ben on the other hand likes to spend his time outdoors, playing sports with the neighbor boys, or wrestling and pinning someone to the ground. (Not me).

And while their interests and likes have started to change, it's amazing to me how much they miss each other with Ben at school during the day. After a long week, this boy will come with nothing but mischief on his mind and will find any way he can to get his big sister's attention. Ella will usually give in, put her book down, and before long this is the scene one happens upon. Both of them on the ground....wrestling...and giggling their heads off.

I hope these two will always keep their special bond.

Sick of Being Sick

It's Thursday already and I feel like I am about 10 days behind in life. Ella got the flu this past weekend...the one with aches and chills, fever, headache, and cough. The "real: flu...not the "I just barfed" kind of flu.

Poor thing was quarantined in her room for 3 days straight as I didn't want to take any chances with Hattie getting it. We brought her movies, books, crafts to do, and food. There was also a lot of reading going on in our read-aloud book. We have two rules with our read-alouds: 1. You can't read on your own, you have to read it together and 2. You can't read ON YOUR OWN, you have to read it TOGETHER. Yes, I know they are the same rule and I said there was two, but Ella needs to hear it twice so she makes sure not to pick the book up and read it without me. She's sneaky that way...and since she can devour a book in less time it takes me to brush my teeth, I can't take any chances. Needless to say, it was a bright spot in her very long and cloudy weekend.

She seemed to turn the corner on Monday morning as her fever broke overnight sometime. She was able to come back downstairs and sit at a real table for meals. Hattie was so excited to see her and had missed her terribly.

By Monday afternoon, Ella was wiping her nose every two seconds and complaining of feeling like a cold was coming on. And she was right. I guess her immune system was so overtaxed from the flu, that she caught something else right on top of it. I'm not exactly sure how this happened since she was forced to stay in her room for days on end, but it did.

Why am I rambling on so? I guess I should get to the point. Ella's not a good sick person. There are some people who just sort of take it as it comes and deal with it. That's not her. She's a bit melancholy and well frankly, a lot a bit whiny. She moans and groans and whines and well...whines some more. She hates being sick and she's not a good patient. Honestly, she's a lot like her mother. Poor thing.

All of this to say, it's been a long week around here and I haven't gotten hardly anything done that I have needed to...and that includes keeping up on this little ol' blog. I'm a trillion steps behind on getting things squared away for vacation and my house is a disaster. I have a bathroom closet that is overflowing with laundry that needs to be attended to. BUT...those are all just things and my baby comes first. So...I'm off to go comfort my baby...

Family Pictures 2017

A picture parade of my brood...I love them so much! And I'm so glad they indulge there mother some time behind the camera lens to capture them.

These pics make me sing.

This one is currently printed out as a 16 x 20...but I am really, really tempted to put it on a 20 x 30 canvas instead.

Hattie, 3 years old

Cora, 6 years old.

Lily, 8 years old

Ben, 10 years old

Ella, 12 years old.

The 5 that give me purpose in life.

Swan Lake Field Trip

After a busy week off which included Hattie's appointment with the Specialist that we have been waiting 7 months for,  a birthday party, dinner out with friends, and a host of other things, I am back to blogging and will update Hubler Planet over the next few days.

To start it off, Grammie planned a field trip for us! (Can I just say how much fun it was?!? Planning field trips is not my strength.) Swan Lake in Monticello is a place where trumpeter swans come to grab a bite to eat while they winter in MN. We watched as they were fed corn by the man who lives right along the river. It was really fun to see...and hear.

We returned back to Grammie's for lunch and art projects. Hattie made a few trumpeter swans out of construction paper, while the bigger kids made drawings of them.

This is the man who faithfully feeds the swans every day during the winter.

This little one got cold so we went back to the van where it was warm.

Wordless Wednesday

Here are a few more pics from our time at The Works Museum.

Sister Slumber Party

It was dark so please forgive the photography skills at work.

The girls have been asking begging Ella to let them have a slumber party in her room for a while now. Once she realized that the question wasn't going to go away anytime soon, she conceded.

Jason hauled in both Lily and Cora's mattresses from their beds and arranged them on the floor. Hattie slept up in the bed with Ella (which is one of her favorite places to sleep in all the world).

The girls were giddy and so excited. We said prayers and sang lullabies and then I kissed each head. They wanted me to vamoose out of there so they could have some good girl time before lights out.

About 25 minutes later I heard crying. About 10 minutes after that Ella and Hattie both appeared on the stairs. According to the eye-witnesses, Cora was upset and crying because she wanted Hattie to sleep down on the floor with her. Lily wasn't crying, but was near tears and upset because Hattie wasn't going to be sleeping next to her on the floor.

I know, right? Problems of the younger crowd.

I sighed and hauled myself off the sofa. I took a deep breath and entered the room. Cora was a disaster of tears and just couldn't calm herself down so I sent her to her room to take a breather until she was ready to talk. Hattie then started crying because she wanted Cora to be a part of the sleepover.

Honestly. I just scratched my head.

I was finally able to calm them all down and make them realize that if things didn't start to shape up there would be no sleepover at all. End of discussion.

I left the room and things seemed to turn around. When morning came, each one said the sleepover was a success, that they had so much fun, and that they can't wait to do it again.

I think I'm gonna need some time.

Preschool Days with Ella

Another school day for Hattie. Today she was learning about the letter "I"...so Ella made some gloop...because it felt "icky". I'm not sure Hattie agrees as I think she thinks it's great now that she's gotten to play around with it. :)

At least Ella had the idea of using a plastic "glove" so it wouldn't turn her hand purple. :)

"Ick"

I can see we have a little work to do on how she holds that marker.

Preschool Days with Ella

A few more pics of things that Ella has done with Hattie.

I'm thinking that next year she can teach her baby sister to read. ;)

 Practicing her letters

Book making (She loves making books!!) 

Learning about the Pioneers

Learning how big the world is.