Cat's in the Cradle and a silver spoon...

I'm going to skip on by the fact that we've spent the last three weeks in and out of the hospital with Caleb and Anna. They both seem to be on the mend. We're all still sleeping kind of poorly at night, and I haven't recovered the sleep lost to the midnight ER runs. However, we've also had fun stuff going on over here between all the yuck.

1. Emily moved into a big girl bed.
2. Emily got her first haircut ever (at Doolittle's).
3. Anna turned 4 July the 8th. Ben turned 5 July 18th. Caleb turned 1 July 30th.

Home Improvements

In anticipation for the coming school year, we have done some more organizing of toys and books. Since cousin Aiden will now be staying with us during the day, we are having a sort of preschool experience right here at home. The laundry room desk area is ready for Ben's kindergarten work, craft supplies are sorted, and toys and puzzles are all in their proper places. The children even have nifty circles of colored carpet to sit on during story time. And, as an improvement for Mommy and Daddy, we bought a new kitchen table and highchair. IKEA is to thank for these purchases (and probably the organizing revolution that is going through our house).

Kindergarten

Well folks, it's been a long journey, but I have come 180 degrees from saying, "I did just fine in public school," to "I think I'm going to homeschool." That's right. Home. School. School at home. I just officially took Ben's name off the TK waiting list at Carmel Baptist Wee School this morning. My dear son will not be doing TK next year. He will be doing Kindergarten at home with me. I don't think I have time to go into WHY we are homeschooling. The list of reasons is very long. I just think it will be a good fit for our family. I know my children. I love my children. I can work with them to bring out their God given potential in a way that a teacher of 30 students can not. Besides, we can be done with book work by lunch and have the rest of the day to do other stuff. Think about getting the 1:00pm piano lesson time slot. All the other kids are still in school. You can go on a field trip to the zoo in the middle of the week. You can do real life stuff like cooking and gardening. And best of all, we can have a routine without being a slave to the bell. Some of my worst interactions with my children are when I am trying to get them out of bed, dressed, and fed before the school bell rings. With homeschool, if they take a couple minutes to decide between cereal and eggs, no big deal. Same thing goes for night time activities. We'd love to fully participate in children's programming on Wednesday nights at church, but it ends way after they need to be in bed to get a decent amount of sleep for school. This being said, Anna will probably still be at Porter Ridge in the EC program. If she qualifies for next year, we may as well take advantage of these services. But for Ben, we're going to start Kindergarten, and the rest of the children will be doing preschool material. If any of you are familiar with the world of homeschool, we are using Saxon Math K, Phono-Graphix reading, and Five In A Row unit studies. Plus, I printed out the NC State requirements for Kindergarten to make sure we cover all our bases. I am looking forward to it. This should be an adventure.

Cousin Aiden Comes To Visit

Wanda is watching Aiden while Monique and Samuel go on their honeymoon. Since the children love having him around so much, we ended up having him just sleep over here tonight. This video will show you why Ben wants more children at our house. The more the merrier, apparently.

The Next One's A Boy

Not that there will be a next one... but Caleb has submitted his prediction. Apparently whatever gender your baby's first word is will be the gender of your next child. Caleb is now saying "Dada," so there you have it. Baby number five will be a boy. In a make believe world. Where Ben has his way.

Wanted: One wife- willing to have lots of children

Our eldest son has been on a quest recently. A quest that, I hope, will take him about 20 years to complete. Benjamin Heath Donahue is looking for a wife. I'm afraid this may be partially my fault. Ben loves children, and has informed me several times recently that we need more babies in this house. The other day at dinner, I quite firmly informed him (for the last time) that as of right now, we had no plans to add any more children to our family. Brad seconded the motion, and that was that. Or so I thought. Ben's internal wheels turned for a moment. "I'll just have to find a wife."

Ben's wife application consists of one question. "Will you grow babies in your tummy?" He has so far proposed to me, his sister, and his preschool teacher. Once he understood that you have to find someone OUTSIDE of your own family that is approximately your own age, he started targeting his little friends at school. I told him that I really thought that he should wait and marry someone from maybe his college class as opposed to his preschool class. Ben will not be deterred. He now has his sights set on his friend Molly (sorry Melissa).

All this is stemming from the desire to have more children. I wonder if I can just convince him to start babysitting. We may even make some money that way. Yeah. Good idea. All he needs is a little CPR training and he'll be set.

More About the Guinea Pigs

So, I know that you all come here to see pictures of the children. However, the guinea pigs are being featured today.

As good pet owners, Brad and I researched the most humane living space for the guinea pigs. We also looked for bedding alternatives- something that could be reused and didn't make a mess. What we found was a design for a nifty open top pen/cage with bedding made of towels wrapped in fleece. Brad went to the store and bought the materials to construct this ideal living space and he made it himself. The cage is probably about 6 feet long. The pigs are much more enjoyable now because they have plenty of room to play and race each other. They also do something called "popcorn" where they jump straight up in the air. For ease of cleaning, I add an extra layer (old cloth diapers) under the food, which I switch out every day. The fleece wicks any moisture down into the towels, so you can sweep up the poo daily with a whisk. This keeps the cage much cleaner, as you can see. We've also had fun finding new fruits and vegetables to supplement their diet. The children have had fun sharing new foods with the guinea pigs- and have eaten a few new veggies themselves!