My silly date

Hammin' it up while drinking his strawberry shake

After church

It would have perfect if drew had been willing to join in.

My handsome date

Chickfila mommy son date "knight"

Mommy son date night at Chick Fil A.

Happy birthday Gram!

Surprise!

Paragraphs about their favorite memories from school this year

For our homeschool group yearbook, each child must write a paragraph
about their favorite memory of this school year. Here is what each of
them wrote:

My favorite memory was going to Corn Dogs. At Corn Dogs, there were
slides that were really fast. After that, we bounced on a bouncy and
jumped really high. Then we rode the cow train and I loved it because
I like riding in things. I loved the flying swings because they went
so fast. Then we played in pieces of corn and it was really fun
because I got covered in them. Last of all, we got to do the maze and
it was fun because I like puzzles.

- Kate Phelan

My favorite time of the school year was when Kate, Drew, and me kept a
secret present from my Aunt, AKA the teacher. I directed a Christmas
play and it unbelievably worked but we had a few bits of trouble with
our lines. We had mastered the acting even in the songs. Our songs
were Jingle Bells, a made up song, and Oh Christmas Tree. The play
had videos and tons of pictures, so it was a paparazzi and we are on
Facebook.

- Dylan Bazzell

My favorite was when we made that volcano. I liked it when we got to
have turns pouring in that stuff that made the bubbles - the vinegar.
My favorite was when I got to build a train track all the way around
the house with my cousin, Dylan, and my sister, Kate. I remember when
I did my first page of my handwriting and it was super good. I'm very
glad that I read Danny and the Dinosaur all by myself without even
getting help on a word.

-Drew Phelan

Drew did it!

His first trip on sky hike

Drew's new look

He came up with this after his bath.

All the Sickness

I am in no way writing this to feel sorry for us (though I admittedly
do want to have an occasional pity party). I'm so thankful for how
healthy our family has been all year. Until last week, everyone
(including Dylan) was so healthy that we hadn't missed a single day of
school due to illness. The past few weeks have been rough and I
mainly wanted to briefly chronicle them so that we could look back and
see how crazy a bit of sickness can make things when there are several
kids involved.

It all started Wednesday, March 28th, when Ben came in and laid down
in my lap mid-morning. A fever ensued and that little man was quick
sick for several days with strep. The following Tuesday evening, I
was counting my blessings that nobody else had caught it when Kate
said, "I'm really cold." Thankfully, the doctor had given us
prescriptions for Kate and Drew just in case they caught Ben's strep,
so she started her antibiotic 1 hour after developing clear symptoms.
Her fever lasted from Tuesday night until Sunday morning. Thursday
night, though, Dylan came down with a fever and couldn't come for
school. Strep was ruled out for his sickness, but he was with us all
week, so that made for sickness #2 running through our house. Kate
finally woke up feeling well today on Easter morning, but Drew didn't
want to get out of bed and Chris wasn't feeling well. Both had a
temperature, so they headed back to bed and I took a fully recovered
Ben and a still weakened but recovered Kate to church for Easter
alone. I called Grandmama to tell her that Easter lunch attendance
would be down and she said that Dylan and Avalyn were both running a
fever. So, after a wonderful worship service this morning (where Kate
got to sit by herself during the second service while the choir sang
because there was nobody left to sit with her), I dropped the two well
children (out of 5) off at Grandmama and Granddad's house while I went
home to check on the boys.

The boys actually had a good day together. There was some fever here
and there, but they hung out and watched movies. Meanwhile, the well
ones and myself hung out all day eating, Easter egg hunting, and
playing Uno/Scrabble. We were joined for part of the day by Gram,
MaMa, Grandmother, and Aunt Carol. When I arrived back home, Drew
almost vomited at the thought of taking the ibuprofin, but we
eventually got it in him. I finally got everyone in bed, Chris was
asleep on the couch, and then I noticed two piles of dog vomit in the
upstairs hallway waiting for me to clean up.

Did I mention Ben peed on me this morning?

Again, I would like to say that while this wasn't the most ideal
Easter ever, we were able to worship, remember what Jesus did for us,
and make some great and funny memories. I love my family!

Look! It's Cornholio!

Ha ha ha.  Did it all on his own.

Sick Kate

Fever came back again tonight.  The sweet thing read until she fell asleep.

We haven't given Ben enough credit...

Early this afternoon, I heard a scuffle in the foyer and turned the
corner to see Ben on top of Drew trying to take a ball away from him
and Drew struggling and snatching back. Seeing that nobody was
getting hurt, I stopped to watch a moment to make sure that both of
them were equally involved in the scuffle. I sent them both to time
out in separate places to calm down and then I called them together.
When we have fighting siblings in our house, the punishment usually
involves "hug therapy" where they must prove that they know how to
show love. As I was talking to them about being kind to one another,
Drew suggested 2 minutes or hugging (he has learned from experience).
Usually, when Drew participates in hug therapy with Kate, he is super
reluctant to hug her and she keeps asking him to start hugging so that
the timer can start. This time, Drew got to experience the other side
of things. Drew reached out his arms to hug Ben and Ben refused. We
sat there for a few minutes and I told him that he could either choose
to show love to Drew or to sit in time out until he was ready to show
love to Drew. He chose time out. During the time that he was in time
out (I'm guessing about 30 minutes), I kept asking him, "Ben, are you
ready to give Drew a hug?" and the prompt reply would be "NO!". I
would remind him that we need to show love and that he could leave
time out when he was ready to hug Drew. Finally, after a while, I
went in and sat down with him and talked to him more about why we
don't fight and why we show love. I called Drew in so he could be
ready for a hug from Ben. It took at least 10 more minutes in time
out before Ben relented and that was only because Drew reached around
him.

I say we haven't given Ben enough credit because we've billed him as
the easy going one, but today, he proved that he could be just as
stubborn as the others.

Long nap today

Going on 3 hours for Mr Ben

Drew the Dropout

Drew got in trouble today for not obeying and not doing his
schoolwork. I told him that he was a very smart boy and he needed to
do his schoolwork so that his brain could keep growing. I also told
him that if we would focus and do his school, he would probably be
done in about an hour, but next year, when he's in kindergarten, he
will have to do more schoolwork. He said, "Well, I'm quitting school
when I get to kindergarten." I asked him how he would get a job when
he got older if he didn't get a job and he said, "I'm not getting a
job." I asked him how he would get food or clothes or a place to live
if he didn't have any money from a job. He said he was just going to
find somewhere to play Wii all day. I explained that the Wii required
electricity and shelter and he said, "Ok. You're right. Can I just
go do my school now?"

Super Ben

He went over and did this and I thought it would be great to show him how small he once was.