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Thursday, September 30, 2010

YES!! Testing is complete!

I am so happy to tell you that fall testing is over at our house and we can move on to learning! :-)

We did another easy lapbook together so we can really get the purpose of them down and what we can do, etc.  It was on one of my favorite children's books, If You Give a Mouse a Cookie.

When we were done, we baked cookies and had a very nice visit with my dad. He drives truck over the road and has been able to stop and see us a few times since we have been in Arizona. Thanks Dad! :-)

Chocolate Chip LOVES Mini Chips Choo-choo ride on toy. She thinks that if she gives him lessons, she can be on it too! LOL! Here she is attempting to teach our little guy how to hang on to the steering wheel.
Have I ever told you that my baby boy is the spit-up king of the nation!
Well, he is and here is a pic to prove it:
It makes no difference to him if he spits up or not!
He just keeps on smiling! Such a sweet boy!!
He is good in school and is starting to have a schedule.
Well, kind of anyway! LOL!
And at the end of the day...
...the guys are just sooo pooped!
Love and Hugs,
Christina

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Nate's Reggata

Here it is... sorry it took so long.
It was written on Sept. 20 and I added pics today.
(I don't have all of the pictures yet, but I will share what I have for now.)

We left last Thursday morning(Sept. 16) for Parker, AZ, to attend my brother's annual Regatta.
The weather was scorching hot and the scenery was beautiful!
According to Webster's dictionary, a regatta is a rowing, speedboat, or sailing race or a series of such races. In this case, it is a gathering of a bunch of friends and customers at the river for the purpose of boating and racing boats that my brother has worked on.

First things being first and all... we went out on the boat! It is the craziest thing but I have been out in a boat more since moving to the desert than I ever have living in the land of 10,000 lakes!
Mini Chip in his life jacket.
That boy passes out every time we get into a boat! He just sleeps like a baby - Heehee! :-)
We rented a cabin and went boating, tubing, eating, visiting, sitting, laughing, giggling, cheering... and lots of other "ings". LOL!  ;-)  We had a blast!
Mini Chip and Daddy playing and giggling again!
(Makes me giggle remembering...)
I must admit that I felt very proud of my brother for all he has accomplished. I was amazed time and again at how respected and loved he is, especially in the area of his boat knowledge.
This is one of the boats he works on.
One sad and scary thing that happened was this boat tipped upside-down! on the river! I am told that this is a rare occurance and needs just the right circumstances for it to occur... SCARY!! Thankfully, no one was hurt and several thousand dollars later, the boat was again upside-right on it's trailer. It will take several more thousands to fix all that is wrong with it... but never fear!
Nate is always on the job!!
Chocolate Chip was her uncle's helper and gopher.

I was talking with my brother and some others when someone laughed and started taking pictures of our passed out little guy! All that fresh air... CUTE!!
Here the girls are tubing behind that boat out there. The mountains you see on the other side of these pictures are in California. We are staying on the Arizona side of the Colorado River.
Here is a close-up of the girls on the tubes.
The rest of us hung out at Nate's camp on the river bank and cheered them on.
The girls made some friends at the campgrounds.
This is one of Oreo Cookie's friends (Doc's granddaughter).

That is all the pics I have right now. I know that I took some really good ones on Scott's camera but it is on his boat up at Lake Pleasant. He will get it on Saturday, so, hopefully I will have more soon.
Love and Hugs,
Christina

Mini Chips Milestones

HELLO OUT THERE!!
Mini Chip Here!
Mommy said I could tell you about my milestones, so here goes...

I love to chew on all things, especially this bumpy teething ring thing. YUM!

This is me and my Daddy!
We love to smile, laugh, and giggle together!
My Mommy says we are adorable!
My Mommy thinks this picture of me is too cute too!
Just look at those "Sparkling Eyes"!
You may remember my Mommy telling you about me finding my hands,
I DID!!
 And they are really neat things to play with.
She says I often look like I am praying.
Mostly, I think they taste so nummy and they are good for chewing on too!

And then,
GUESS WHAT!

I found these things too!
Mommy says they are my toes!
I LOVE MY TOES!!
I even love playing with them and my sister too!
I really love playing with my toes, they are great fun!
And right when I thought I had everything figured out,
I learned to do this!
I hold on really tight with all four of my parts!
Now Daddy says I'm a baby monkey!
And I look like one too!

I am learning and growing so well!
See you soon,
Mini Chip

Monday, September 27, 2010

Happy Monday!

This week we are doing our CAT testing for Chocolate Chip and Oreo Cookies. By testing now we have a baseline of where they are education-wise for their homeschool time. I will only test in the spring from here on out.
Butterscotch Chip doesn't need to test since she was in homeschool last year too and already did the testing in the fall of 2009 and the spring of 2010.
Session 1 has gone very well, tomorrow will be session 2.
I have been so sore lately (REALLY sore!), with headaches and the whole deal. I wasn't really sure why I hurt so bad, but I tried everything I could think of and it actually made matters worse! So, I went to the chiropractor last Thursday. When Friday came, I didn't think I was going to make it! It was a good but rough weekend, so, today I went to a different chiropractor. I didn't know when I made the appointment that it was a free consultation, x-rays, and 20 minute massage! Wow!  Turns out I had a couple ribs out of place and tightness and knots... extremely painful! I am not fixed yet, I still cannot turn my head to look at something without turning my whole body - I look ridiculous! But I am on the mend, I think. I go back Wednesday to get the results of the x-rays and maybe a treatment plan.

Oh, last Thursday after the chiropractor, I went to this great store, Sprouts. It's a grocery store. It is awesome in that they carry alot of their food in bulk! Bring on the baggies of flour, oatmeal, dried fruit, nuts, spices, and soo much more! LOVE IT!! But the best part is, I met this wonderful gal from Wisconsin. She moved here a couple of days after me. She loves it here because back home she was always cold... I never had that problem... the opposite in fact...
Anyway, she told me about this co-op for fresh produce and I am SOOO excited to try it! I do not get to order until tomorrow and pick-up is not until Saturday, but I cannot wait! Here is the link to the website: www2.bountifulbaskets.org I know it doesn't cover Minnesota, but maybe there is something similar to it there. Check it out, and if you find something up there, let me know!
I know that some of you are waiting for the post about Nate's Reggata from last weekend. I have the post written, but I have to collect pictures from others because our camera was on the fritz that weekend. We are going over for supper tonight where I can get them, so be looking for the post later tonight or tomorrow.

Sunday, September 26, 2010

This week...

I ordered this Ergo baby carrier last week and received it on Monday. It is soo comfy! I was not sore at all after using it.
Look at his cute little hand and foot sticking out during his nap!
We picked this up at a used kids stuff store. Officially it belongs to Chocolate Chip because it is pink with princesses and Daddy doesn't think that is so good for his boy. Unofficially it is Mini Chips favorite place to play during school and any time really. We got it because it is the perfect height for him in his Bumbo chair.
He loves playing in it soo much! Here he got really frustrated and actually screamed for help :.(
Oreo doesn't think I should show you pictures of him like this, but I think he is adorable!
Both here...
And here! He really enjoys his toys!

Here is Butterscotch Chip in her new outfit she picked out at the mall the other day.
See all that stuff in the background... I still have a little more organizing to do... not much though.
Chocolate Chip picked this outfit to wear and then Butterscotch Chip did her hair. She had braids in the night before so it is wavy, then she braided the sides and put them up. It is really pretty. Notice the shoes... Chocolate Chip says that they are teacher shoes and since I won't wear them to school, she did. Well, they are too small for me, but too big for her. My girls sure have a laundry list of ideas about "how real school is". It makes me a little sad that they do not realize that "real learning" takes place regardless of "where" they are and "what" they wear. I am doing my best to get them to understand. They will get it I'm sure! :-)

I was admiring Mini Chips little spiral, so, I thought I would share it with you... :-)
 I read somewhere recently about God's designs being repeated in nature... I could have added this picture to the list of repeats. :-)

Maggie sits at the table so nice! LOL! One of the girls snapped this photo... cute kitty.