similies

So on Thursdays after our Homeschool Co-Op day, I teach literature to Scott Dubell and my very own Stephen. Jayda weaseled into this picture because she loves to be near "Gotty".

Teach is actually too strong of a verb. I would say that I attempt to lead a discussion that highlights a portion of the book they are reading. Attempt is the key word. These boys love to talk. And talk. And talk.

Last week we discussed the author's usage of similies and how they helped us to better understand the description of something.

For fun and because I need to have something to show for our time together, we came up with a few of our own.

Here's what the boys came up with:

Stephen:

My iMac is as fast as a cheetah.

Scotty:

My compaq is as quick as a turtle.

My dad’s dell is as quick as a snail.

Stephen:

Scott’s socks smell as bad as pancake batter a day old.

Scotty:

The fog was as thick as Texas toast.

Stephen:

Jayda’s diaper was as wet as the Pacific Ocean.

The last was a very true statement. Very true.

I like Scott's use of sarcasm in his first similie. :-)

yeow!

Thanks to Pioneer Woman, I have spread my culinary wings and created some new delicious dinners for my family.

This was a huge hit and is now declared as the #1 Meal.

I must admit, it's pretty amazing. We've had it twice in a week's time and Matt literally moaned and hummed through every other bite.

Yummy Spicy Lemon Garlic Shrimp....here's her recipe.

I served it with whole grain rice with garlic and quinoa (which shockingly Matt ate) and a caesar salad. And of course there was bread. A whole loaf. A whole loaf that my family consumed like a swarm of locusts.

It was all that buttery goodness left in the pan that made the dipping irresistible.

My family was very happy. Very.

In case you were wondering, we DO feed dinner to David (3) and Jayda (2). Just not garlic shrimp. This was a big kids night!

abbie's debut

Last year our family rented a beautiful beach house in Litchfield Beach, which is just South of Myrtle Beach. We love the area and first learned of it through friends who vacation at nearby Pawley's Island.

Each year Dunes Realty runs a photography contest. I love taking pictures and decided to give it a shot. After all, monetary prizes were awarded that could be put toward our next year's rental.

When we got our new Dunes Realty vacation magazine in the mail, Stephen came running in, pages flying open, yelling, "Mom...Abbie's in here...Abbie's in here!"

I have to admit, it was pretty cool.

Before I share the photograph, let me tell you what I was going for. The marketing slogan for Litchfield beach is:

No neon. No noise. No nerve wracking traffic.

What we have is great.

What we don't have is even better.

I wanted to take a photograph that highlighted the stretch of unspoiled beach beside the dunes.

By the way, the prize was a whopping $25 and a Dunes Realty t-shirt. :-)

lights out

So what does a family of 6 plus one cat do when the power is out all day?

When there is no coffee.

When there is no TV.

When there is no internet.

When there is no working appliance.

When there is no light.

When there is no heat.

When there is no coffee. Did I mention that already?

Well. At first it was a challenge...our little household version of Survivor. Our conveniences were removed. We divided into two different tribes and I handed out bandanas. The scheming began.

Yeah, right. Actually, we all complained from time to time. And KC, our cat...she did what she does everyday: she slept.

When the sun went down and the house was pitch dark, the adventure began. So what did we do?

We had a candlelight pizza dinner.

Stephen filled up the dishwasher via flashlight.

Matt told tales of "Crazy Frank" and scared the children.

And we watched the great BGE workers dig a deep hole in our front yard, in search of the damaged cable.

The guys were great, explaining to Stephen and Abbie what they were doing and even showing us the severed cable when they found it. The one guy even gave my kids the "stay in school and learn lots of things so that you don't have to end up doing a back-breaking, dangerous job like this" speech. Bonus!

After scarfing down a few of Matt's precious donuts, the guys were on their way to their next job and we went to bed with heat.

And lights.

And TV.

And internet.