School

We're starting school tomorrow, not only here at Swede Farm, but those in Hempstead as well. :D Mom and dad figured that the day dad had to start getting up to drive the bus would be the perfect day for us to start school as well.

So, last week we bought the school supplies and today I sorted them out between kids, extras, and 'teacher' supplies. :D The kids from Chris down to Judah had fun buying the supplies and the toddlers were way too happy when I told them that they could use their crayons tomorrow during 'school' time. :D

But, for some reason I always seems to forget the amount of work that goes into getting school stuff ready. For the past few years I have been teaching the toddlers and first graders. It's been really easy. We work on numbers, alphabet, a hymn, a fun song (or silly song, all depending on how old you are), I'll read a history book from the time frame that the older children are reading from, and believe it or not we do a wee bit of geography, as there is a song on the continents that they LOVE!

Well, this year I only have Noah and Judah, both of which are already pretty good with their numbers, know all the silly songs I can remember (it amazes me how easily I can forgot those stupid songs!!), and are always chomping at the bit to learn more.

So, I have to mix things up a little bit. Instead of doing the normal point to letters while we sing the alphabet song, chant 1-2-3, and the days of the week. I have decided to do an alphabet, color, shape, and number match. They both love those types of games and I can multi-task while they are working on the 'game'. The only thing is I need to get this all ready and it always seems like I can't find what I need to do it or the time to do it.

Right now it's cutting and pasting things to poster board, making sure I have all the letters, colors, and shapes I'll need, while enjoying the work. I don't need to be burnt out before we even start!

Oh, and my favorite thing to do.....History work. Print, organize, highlight, and pass out history papers for the next week. Get the history books for this week on the reading shelve, and decided what I want to do ''school'' wise this week.

I enjoy school so much! Not only doing it myself but teaching the younger children, it is such a pleasure to teach them and see them do things later on knowing that I was able to help them learn to do that.

Yes there are trying times. Like the time Timothy got tired of doing his math and decided to do an entire page incorrectly. I kid you not, he sat there and just wrote down whatever number he felt like writing down, didn't get a single problem correct. When I asked him about it he replied with "I was bored with it". Or the time Liberty spent singing the alphabet instead of the numbers we were working on. But when those times past and I get past the frustration and have a few minutes to think about it, it is all fun and something I can keep the memories from for a long time. :D

I am very thankful that God has given me these siblings to teach! :-)

Taking In A Baseball Game

For those of you who do not care for baseball, this post is one that you will probably find boring. :D Sorry, but outside of reading baseball is my favorite thing to waste time on. :D

Thanks to Stub Hub, I was able to get some tickets to last night's Astros vs. Marlins game. Only six of us went--Dad, Mom, Grace, Timothy, Noah and myself. For two reasons 1)Dad only wanted to drive in one car and 2)Everyone else doesn't really care baseball and were fine with being left home. :D

We all enjoyed it, the seats were great, the game was well played, in all it was a nice relaxing night out. :D













Train full of oranges----->
















I enjoyed watching the Astros play small ball. I can't remember the last time I saw five bases stolen, and a triple in one game.

<-----Carlos Lee in the 7th Inning. He grounded out to second (I had to cheat by looking at my score card to remember that).









Valverde in the to his last batter----->

The only draw back to the game was the fact that the Astros used 6 pitchers, (Would have love to see that number at least cut in half!) And Jose Valverde ended up throwing over 40 pitches in the ninth, would have loved for that to ba a 1-2-3 inning!

Here were the totals at the end of the game. It was really nice to attend my second game of the season and have them win this one as well. As opposed to the past two years were I went to four games each and they lost all 8 games!!

Now, to watch tonight's rubber game on TV, if I can convince the girls that I don't want to watch National Treasure tonight. lol

Oh, and to let you know...The back seat of a '94 Volvo Station wagon was not meant for a 21 year old, no matter how much they want to sit next to their little brother!! lol

St. Patrick's Day and Tradition

No one is going to believe what I am about to say and everyone will laugh..........But I am going to say it anyways.......We are more Irish then we are Swedish!! Now, why we are named Swede Farm is coming later in another post, because that is not the reason for this post.

Apparently, the fact that we kids have more Irish blood (from both sides of the family) then Swedish blood (from dad's side of the family) has long been some sort of talking point. As long as I can remember we have had both sets of tradition--St. Lucia Day for the Swedish in us and St. Patrick's day for the Irish in us. So, for us kids it has never been a big deal--We are Irish, Swedish, a mix of other things, but in the end we are 100% Americans, 110% Texans.

Mom was really happy when one of my sisters thought it might be a good idea to be born on St. Patrick's Day. But she missed by a day, so does that make us more Swedish?

Ever year at least one of us has been known to say. "I have green eyes, so don't pinch me!!" And for the rest of us who are stuck with blue or gray eyes, we have been known to say, "I'm Irish. that means I don't have to wear green, NO pinching!" (if we are lacking in green clothing) Which then causes the argument, of is that a valid reasoning behind not being pinched. (As I typing, I am praying that it is, since I don't have any green farm cloths to wear).

Along with the rush to get green on before we are spotted by the ever eager younger children, (They think it's payback time!). It is also the day for corned beef and cabbage, yum-o! Most years we have it for dinner, but with half the family going to market right after lunch, we decided to do it for lunch.

We also remember to discuss why we celebrate St. Patrick's day. It's not all about shamrocks as decorations and trying to find leprechauns with pots of gold. It's about the man and what he did. We normally read a book sometime the week before St. Patrick's day, since the book isn't one of those you read in one sitting. And watch a little movie about St. Patrick. Now, the funny part is what the movie is. (Yes, you can laugh all you want! lol ) It's been Veggie Tales for the past few years. Because in "Sumo of the Opera" there is a 5-10 minute clip about St. Patrick and what he did for Ireland. (For a movie aimed at younger children and about history they do a very good job covering his life)

All these things we do are traditions, some are family traditions and some is traditions that everyone does, even if they don't know why.

Tradition, is something that our family has been raised on. From the traditions from the country's that our ancestor came from--St. Patrick's Day, to traditions from our area of the US--Black eye peas on New Year's day, to family traditions--Special coffee for everyone on Christmas day or starbucks for birthday fraps.

It kind of reminds me of the song from Fiddler on the Roof. Where it starts out with singing tradition. In fact when ever someone in our family asks why we do what we do and another family member says "Tradition". At least one person is bound to start singing "tradition".

The truth is tradition is what makes our family, our family and special to each of us. The tradition that our parent's, parent's passed to them and they in turn passed to us. But it's not only the traditions that have been handed down to us, but also the ones we make (like watching veggie tales for St. Patrick's day). Tradition is one thing that makes each family different and special in their own way and days like today with their traditions remind us of who we are.

I'm back!

After having three great days at the show, I am home again! The time there was great, meeting new people, seeing old friends, eating the great food, walking around the animals and shops as I have done since I was a wee tot, seeing great animals, earning money, and having tons of fun.

I will say it is great to be back home! We drove up and I was swarmed by four siblings, while two asked what I got them. We all eat dinner together (at least the ones who are here at home). Then we went out milked, pasteurized, bottled, and crashed. Now we are at it again, making chocolate milk and generally getting ready to go to market tomorrow, with more product then we have ever brought there. (wooohooo!!)

I will post some pictures latter, once I have a few minutes and get them from our friends the Segers. (digital camera had to be left at home).

Off to finish the chocolate milk. :D