They lost the battle but won the war - bedtime battles at Abarba-house

Sam & Matt had done something wrong the other night. Ron punished them by saying they wouldn't get any bedtime songs from Mom. They cried, they charmed, they pleaded, they made excuses. But we didn't give in. They said they couldn't go to sleep without their songs. But we didn't give in. Around 4 they both wandered into our room. They snuggled in beside us, elbows in our ribs. Sam said, "I told you we couldn't get to sleep without our songs."

Newbery

I am going (and have already started) to read all the Newbery award winning books from bottom to top and I plan on doing it in a year or two. Although there are some really bad books on this list, I am determined to read them all. Every single one. I have already read The Story of Manking, The Voyages of Doctor Doolittle and The Dark Frigate and I am reading Tales from Silver Lands. I really can't wait to read Dhan Gopal Mukerji's book, Gay-Neck: The Story of a Pigeon. It does sound like a weird name for a book but it is supposed to be pretty good. It's about a pigeon (well knock me over the head with a feather duster!). It will keep me busy in terms of literature for the next year, so that makes me pretty happy.

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Well hello. Dan here is calmly looking over my shoulder, waiting for me to give him the computer. He just told me to talk about my wrist, not him. When I was writing today my wrist started hurting. The last time this happened mom told me to stop crocheting. It worked but then I started writing cards and its back. It comes in flashes, sort of. They really hurt. Maybe their just growing pains but I doubt it. There has not been a lot of blogger activity (I.E comments, us doing blogs), so if you would please comment just to show that you are there, it would be very nice.

Sarah

Mabel, Bottom, Nancy and Eugene

I was working on a video on this computer and Sarah and Sam were having a giant argument over something or the other. I don't know how it happened but Sarah started to call Sam Mabel. I thought it was pretty funny and I started to call Sam Mabel as well. This went on for a day or so before Mabel consulted Dad about this. Dad told Mabel to counter-attack. Matt suggested calling me Bottom. For those of you who don't know who Bottom is, he is a peasant with the head of a donkey and appears in Shakespeare's play, A Midsummer's Night Dream. Of course, Sarah was part responsible for this so Mabel started calling her Eugene. Finally Matt needed a demeaning name so we started calling him Nancy. It lasted a while before we were al getting so annoyed at each other that Baldy had to stop us. But it was still pretty funny.

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His Dark Materials

Hi guys. I am reading the His Dark Materials series by Philip Pullman. (The Golden Compass, The Subtle Knife, The Amber Spy Glass.) I am enjoying them quite a bit. They are about a girl named Lyra. In her world every one has a spirit that is outside their body. The spirit always takes the form of an animal. If that spirit is taken away then you will die soon. But, if that spirit is killed, then you will be die too. It sounds gory, but it's a good book.

Sarah

Katelyn and Dan - Twins

Hey guys. The other day Katelyn and Dan were discussing if they should pretend to be twins. Then Katelyn could say that she goes to high school. Then Dan could pipe up and say, "I have a learning disorder, so mommy teaches me at home". Katelyn and I have found out why people say we look alike - it's our.............. cheekbones! Yes, after a careful look in the mirror, we can safely say our cheek bones are what makes us look alike. Dad is going to take me on a date for lunch and Dan will babysit. I feel very special.

Sarah

Rainbow Valley

In the tiny province of PEI there stands an amusement park. It's name is Sandspit. Two years ago Sandspit had a neighbor. The neighbor was another amusement park called Rainbow Valley. It has since gone out of business but there were some interesting memories I am here to share one with you all.

Today, Mom was reading a book about aeroplanes. Apparently she didn't exactly know how the planes lifted off the ground. In a nutshell, the wing is build in such a way that when it is propelled forward, more air travels underneath the wing then on top. The stronger air pressure underneath lifts the wings which in turn lifts the plane. The jet engines are used just to propel the plane forward so that the air pressure stays consistent. Anyway, Mom didn't know this. The idea that I just explained is called an aerofoil. Professional skiers when going off ramps assume aerofoil shapes so they can maximise their distance.

The book said that too much weight would cause the plane to malfunction. Mom asked me how it would malfunction.

We interrupt this story to go back to the story of Rainbow valley. So there is this ride for kids that involves 4 fake airplanes with iron crosses on them that are attached to a giant motor in the middle. The fake planes are elevated by giant metal poles attached to the motor. Sam and Matt wanted to ride the planes but wanted Mom to ride as well. Mom asked the ride operator and the guy said, "yeah, but don't expect to get very high". We had lots of fun watching Mom trying to get some lift in her German Messerschmidt but to no avail.

We last left the other story when Mom was asking how an overweight plane would malfunction.
I answered, "one of three things could happen. One, the wings would snap off and the passengers would plummet to their deaths below. Two, the plane might get a little bit of lift but not enough to travel. And three, the plane might not lift at all. I findan overweight plane does not go up a this the most likely because if you recall from Rainbow Valley, your plane didn't go up at all.. Mom started laughing. She was laughing so hard that I could only just hear myself saying, "I'll bet that there were some statisticians in Rainbow Valley recording what happens when the weight limit is too high for a plane. Then they came and wrote the book that Mom was reading right now!"

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You get what you DON'T pay for

Sam declared that he was not going to have any children. Thinking this a bit odd I asked him why. His answer: they cost too much! I followed up with, "Who will you have to love then?" His answer: My wife! "Then what if your wife wants to have kids, what will you do then?" To this Sam shrugged his shoulders and replied, "If my wife wants to have kids she can have them!" By which I assume he also meant, she can pay for them.

As we were getting ready to leave Sam came down the stairs and continuing to justify his decision said, "And kids are hyper"!

I love these thought processes. I guess I better stop complaining about how much they cost and just pay the stupid bills. These interactions are more than worth it.

Oh, and yes, I am still alive, but just barely, I have too many kids!

View From My Window

It is just past noon & the day has been so interesting!

1. I hung out the laundry this morning off our back deck & turned on the heat. I came into the kitchen feeling like Ma in Little House in the Prairie. Yes, it is cold outside, but I have the laundry drying & it is warm near the stove. (Well, really it is a small heater, but the kids do bring their chairs up to it in the morning & sit there reading their books). Imagine my shock to see a mar on this idyllic scene. Someone had left the back door open - so all that warm air was rushing out the door. This is such a typical Abarba-house kind of thing to happen.

2. Sam came to me with his "learn to read" book. He was learning that when there is "ea" or "ee" together, the "e" says its name & the second vowel stays quiet. He was asking for clarification about the rule on a single "e" ... would it be a long or a short vowel? I said, "well, think about a word that has an "e" in it. He said, "like edible?" I was thinking "bell". This doesn't seem as funny as when it happened. It struck my funny bone that he would think of a 3 syllable word.

3. I have gotten in trouble from my kids about facebook. "Mom! Did you add the Top Friends application?" Yes, I had. "Mom! We hate that application. It is like saying some of your friends are better than other friends. Why did you add it?" I explained that Telle had invited me. I thought whenever someone invited you to anything on Facebook you are obligated to say yes. "Mom! No. You just decline if you don't UNDERSTAND it. We are going to have to talk to Telle."

So this morning when I checked Facebook I had the following message:

Marsha's Ensign Zombie Newbie was attacked by Telle's Undead Hunter, but Marsha drop kicked Telle's Undead Hunter in the teeth! Marsha won an additional 3 Zombie points. Oh the humanity!

I did WHAT? Are my kids hacking into my account? I didn't drop kick any one's undead hunter & kick them in the teeth. I wouldn't do that. I know how much teeth repairs cost.

I fear my kids are going to take my Facebook account away from me altogether.

As you now our good Friend Kat came over the other day. She came with head dresses(ba-boosh-ka) for me and Katelyn. A Honey pot for mom. Pickles for dad and chocolate for the boys. So after that we played van tag. A game were every one gets in the van when the person in the driver's seat screams GO we all hop out of the van and run around the back yard, under a fort and back into the van. The person who comes last must stay out side the van on the next turn. After a lovely game of that we had a wonderful supper of cranberry chicken. Then Kat -dad and Dan played poker until it was time for the boy's to go to bed. Then Kat lay down on the sofa with a pillow and a blanket. Mom started messaging her feet and I put on the face mask and played with her hair (yes we do this to all the girl students that come to our house no really.) Then dad came down and talked to us a bit about the bible and what people viewed christianity as then of came the face mask and on went the moisturizer. I painted her nail's purple with sparkles thus finishing Kat's super night with the abarbanel's

Sarah

Common Belief

See this picture? I'm sure that you have learned all of this about the earth's core and what it is made of. Apparently the earth's crust is floating on a ocean of magma which is floating on more magma which is floating on a mass on iron and nickel. But you need to ask yourself if this is true. What if the core is a mass of ice 8,000,000,000,000,000,000 degress below zero?

We don't know. Volcanos tell us that there is magma underneath the crust in some places, but that doesn't make it homogeneous does it? Anyway, I'm wondering if there really is solid proof out there.

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Mohammed Chang

Statistics show that Chang is the most common legitimate last name existing. Statistics also show that Mohammed is the most common legitimate first name existing. So, by the process of logical reasoning we can safely confirm that Mohammed Chang is the most common name on the planet we humans call earth.

Now, of course the theory in the previous paragraph was a load of dried orangutan droppings but me and Katelyn though it was pretty funny so we have decided to make a Facebook profile of this Mohammed Chang. He will drive a Toyota and will speak Mandarin Chinese and English and will live in the Royal Chinese Embassy located in Tokyo. He will only fly in a Continental Boeing 747-200 (economy class) and will only take off or land at Heathrow airport and Chicago Airport. He lives in a hut. His favorite book is the Bible and Harry Potter. His favorite website is Google.

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Bunk beds

It all starts with Dad saying, "Who wants to sleep in the top bunk?". "I do, I do!". So you get to have the top bunk. You are high up there and then you all of a sudden feel endangered because when you fall asleep you might fall off. Then all of a sudden you don't want to have it anymore. You become afraid. You willingly give it away to the kid underneath you. The other kid falls underneath the same experience and you are begging each other to take the top bunk. Then Dad comes upstairs with a guardrail. The dilemma is reversed and fingernails meet soft flesh.
I have the top bunk currently. Sam is very happy with the bottom bunk right now because he loves his mattress. I love my mattress too. He has a Double spring mattress. I have two futons stacked on top of each other. Matt has a single bed all to himself and he loves it. Usually when there is a bunk bed only one person is satisfied and the rest are weeping. But the Abarbaboys are happy right where they are. Sharing a master bedroom. One double bunk bed and a single crammed in with a dresser. And yet there is more than enough room to just chill.

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Bop-It! Revenge

I'm sure you remember the posts about Bop-It! We had originally been passed a Bop-It! by our friend Mary. She was sick & tired of hearing its annoying voice. After about a week WE got sick & tired of hearing its annoying voice. So we sought revenge. We snuck it out of the house & gave it BACK to her kids. This wasn't boring old Bop-It! This was EXTREME Bop-It! Fast forward a week & we are at Mary's house trick or treating. Sam FINDS the Bop-It! & Mary says, "Oh Sam! You can have that. It is a new and improved Bop-It!". Sam was thrilled. Dan's eyes narrowed. He said, "did my Dad bring Bop-It to your house?" Mary said, "I dunno. Maybe." So the kids & I decided to play a little trick on Ron. We didn't bring Bop-It! into the house on Wednesday night. We waited until Saturday morning when Ron was finally able to sleep in. Then Matt crawled into bed beside him & started playing Bop-It!

But more sweet revenge is coming. We are going to leave Bop-It! in the mail box of the friend that originally gave Bop-It! to Mary's family. We thought about writing, "ashes to ashes, dust to dust ... Bop-It! returns to its roots." But instead we are going to write a little note that says, "thought your kids would like this new Extreme Bop-It!" Luv Mary.

Hurricane Season is Here!

We want to let all our Blog readers know that we are OK. We have weathered Hurricane Noel & didn't even lose our electricity. Others did - about 150,000 homes in Nova Scotia, including the street behind us. But we've learned our lessons - our neighbour immediately rang our door bell & asked if she could use our electricity to power her fridge. Of course! Last time we used hers.

In other news I saved Matt from a terrible fate. He got a boil on his thigh. Ron wanted to wait until he fell asleep & then lance it. But thanks to the trusty internet I read that you are supposed to soak boils 3X per day & they will eventually go away. Lancing them makes the infection spread - plus I think it might have woken him up.