Assyria

Today we talked about Ancient Assyria in history. Then the kids built an Assyrian siege tower out of Legos (complete with a battering ram in the front and a door in the back):


The Assyrians weren't very nice people (they liked to go to war a lot). Here's how Maggie summarized the lesson:
"The Assyrians had a king who was as strong as a lion. He conquered everyone around them and they did everything they could to be mean."

Summertime

And it looks like it's time to start mowing the grass again. . .


We started getting rain again last week and the grass has been loving it. I love seeing green again (see here for what it looked like up until a couple of weeks ago). The kids love being able to hide just by laying down in the grass. My lawnmower/husband will not be loving it when he has to tackle knee-deep grass this weekend.

It looks like it's been a whole month since I last posted. Sigh. All I can say for myself is that I am Ti-i-errd. I just don't feel like doing much of anything other than taking naps these days.

For Memorial Day weekend, we took a quick trip up to SC. It was nice to see family, but the real reason that we went was so that Kevin could drive up to NC and scout out the Appalachian Trail. He will be taking his Varsity Boy Scouts on a High Adventure trip to the Appalachian Trail in July. They will try to hike 45 miles in 5 days. Kevin is practically eating, breathing, and sleeping backpacking plans.



It really does look beautiful up there, though. And I know I will be jealous when he is up in the mountains and I am 8 months pregnant in the middle of a Florida summer. But at least I will get to take naps while he's lugging a 50-lb pack up the side of a mountain.

It's a Girl?

We went in to get our ultrasound a couple of weeks ago and I finally got around to scanning them in today, so I have pictures below. This baby has been very active, just like Maggie was and how the boys were not. Everybody has their hearts set on having a little sister, but I have been trying not to read too much into these kind of things. While we were getting the ultrasound, this baby had her legs sticking straight out and crossed (and hands crossed in front of her face). So we didn't get a really clear view of the gender. But in the absence of any evidence to the contrary, the ultrasound tech declared that we are probably having a girl. How's that for an ambiguous announcement?





If it does turn out to be a boy, poor Maggie will be heartbroken, but at least I already have lots of boy's clothes. I've given away most of Maggie's baby clothes, so this will give me a good excuse to buy more little girl things once I convince myself that I really am going to have another baby.

21 Questions About Me Answered By My Kids.

Me, according to My Two Oldest. My wife interviewed them and wrote down their answers. They were asked at different times so they didn't influence each other
Girl #1 (Seven going on 14)
Boy #1 (Five, trying not to knock anymore of his own teeth out)

1. What is something dad always says to you?!
Girl # 1: He always says, "Eat Your Dinner"
Boy # 1: "Clean Up!"

2. What makes dad happy?
Girl # 1: When I clean up with out being asked
Boy # 1: Ice Cream

3. What makes dad sad?
Girl # 1: When we eat pizza without telling him
Boy # 1: A gorilla

4. How does your dad make you laugh?
Girl # 1: He says, "No! They're all going to laugh at you!"
Boy # 1: By making a face that looks sad

5. What was your dad like as a child?
Girl # 1: I dunno
Boy # 1: Like me

6. How old is your dad?
Girl # 1: Thirty
Boy # 1: Sixteen

7. How tall is your dad?
Girl # 1: Six feet tall. He needs four more feet so he can walk on six feet
Boy # 1: Five feet...I don't know how big he really is.

8. What is his favorite thing to do?
Girl # 1: Ride bikes
Boy # 1: Play Super Mario Galaxy

9. What does your dad do when you're not around?
Girl # 1: I dunno, I'm not around.
Boy # 1: Uh, I think watch TV.

10. If your dad becomes famous, what will it be for?
Girl # 1: Um...Living in Florida? or doing, good on his job.
Boy # 1: I don't know

11. What is your dad really good at?
Girl # 1: Playing Super Mario Galaxy
Boy # 1: He's really good at working

12. What is your dad not very good at?
Girl # 1: Um, I don't know. He's good at, like, everything.
Boy # 1: Uh, I don't know.

13. What does your dad do for his job?
Girl # 1: Plays on the computer
Boy # 1: Uh, work?

14. What is your dad's favorite food?
Girl # 1: Mmm, do you know? I don't know, I think it's hot sauce.
Boy # 1: I don't know.

15. What makes you proud of your dad?
Girl # 1: That he earns a lot of money so we're not poor.
Boy # 1: Going on bike rides with him

16. If your dad were a cartoon character, who would he be?
Girl # 1: Superman.
Boy # 1: I don't know. Maybe Superman.

17. What do you and your dad do together?
Girl # 1: Have daddy time.
Boy # 1: We... uh... we usually go to the store.

18. How are you and your dad the same?
Girl # 1: We have the same eyes and the same hair
Boy # 1: We both like to...ride our bikes.

19. How are you and your dad different?
Girl # 1: He's 30 and I'm 7
Boy # 1: He's bigger and I'm smaller

20. How do you know your dad loves you?
Girl # 1: Because sometimes he does what I want him to do.
Boy # 1: By he's giving me hugs every night.

21. Where is your Dad's favorite place to be?
Girl # 1: Disney World
Boy # 1: I think Boy Scouts