last week

em doesn't want to
smile with her
mouth open

because














she doesn't have
any teeth













mad is
healing












our snowman

















we used blueberries
for the eyes and mouth
and em painted the
snowman with the
berries











backyard
fun








































some hot chocolate
to help warm mad up
after having fun in the snow

thanksgiving from em's perspective

our budding
photographer
took all of these
pictures
over the
holiday weekend


























































































































jessie had very
little to be
thankful for with
the addition of
another tormentor

conversations and one unhappy incident

first for the cute conversation we had the other night with mad.

she wanted a movie night. we told her, "no."
later that evening, she wanders downstairs and said, "God made movie nights to make people happy."
we told her , "no" again.
to which she replied, "you are making God sad."
"go to bed"

now for the not so cute incident involving em: on thursday we went to visit a friend who broke her leg. while driving home i told em, "head straight up stairs and start your history class. it's getting late."
she replied, "no"
not a wise response in our house. so i ammended my instruction to, "go straight to your room and after we're through talking you'll finish school."
she didn't say a word and went straight upstairs when we got home. but before she went upstairs, she locked the door between the house and the garage. did i mention mad and i went to get the mail? did i mention i didn't have my house key? after knocking and ringing the bell for several minutes, i walked to the back door and started pounding. she came running down the stairs laughing. she opened the door and was sent right back up stairs. later i walked past the front door and noticed she blocked it with the piano bench.
to say the least, em has had a very un-fun weekend.

hopi indian village

the hopi indians
would dig a trench
from a main water
source to their
village.










this is our
hopi village













here comes
the water













mad watching
our village take
shape








both girls enjoying
the heritage
studies experiment

monster messes

reading class














mad's school
















em and "choco"
working their spanish













i love our old
oak table.















art class


















body art
















sharing art












i love our
oak chairs too.

if you're wondering,
the girls used the floor
as their canvas as well.









em being hosed
down













bubble face


















i advised the girls they
could have one glass
of water in the sand box
and one glass of ice. - no more
i did not specify that they
couldn't use the hose.
three inches of h2o later...












obeying the law,
but not the
spirit of the law...
















these messes occurred on monday and tuesday. today's mess was minimal. barbie and polly pocket were scalped, but a pile of blonde hair hardly compares to most days...

chalk, curls, cantaloupe, caterpillar and contusion

chalk fun
















chalk art on the
back sliding door

















focussed on
her work


















em wanted
curls!















her hair typically
falls below her
shoulders














our 2nd home
grown "baby"
cantaloupe











eating the fruits
of our labor












yum













our new friend






















mad's
contusion

narnian puppy

as many of you know we are huge cs lewis fans. em's read through and listened to the chronicles countless times. mad only has a few more chapters in the last battle. she's loved every second.
em wanted to play a game after dinner the other night. she wanted to be a puppy, mad the princess, n-the king and me, well, i'm always the witch. (i know type casting, ha ha ha) anyway, the puppy continued talking incessantly , so the king said, " i thought you were a puppy. puppies can't talk." our little thinker piped, "i'm a narnian puppy!"

if you're not familiar with lewis' classic tales of narnia you need to know that the animals in narnia can talk; you also need to read the books.

on our shelf

our school books arrived today!
em wanted to start today, but i told her not until august.
she advised me that she will only like math and science.
shocking...

mad didn't look remotely interested.

any guesses which child is most like which parent?

farm living

mad behind
the farm
house














mad with
gramma's
"kitty"
it really
bothered the
girls that the
cat's name is
kitty










em showing her
cast to kitty

kitty is getting
used to the girls
she only bit mad
once









gramma signing
em's cast













out cold









poor em had a high fever most of our trip. but they both enjoyed running in and out of the house whenever they wanted, mooing at the cows, and searching for kitty.