My idol pick this week...

Yet another mystery...

The case of "loving Jordan too much" becomes increasingly odd, psychotic and/or weird. We have discovered that someone has cut a 15 inch long section of Jordan's hair leaving a 2 inch long chunk sticking straight up alfalfa style.

Images of a stalker with a Jordan shrine adorned with her hair have entered my mind. I've looked for evidence all over the house, but have yet to find any.
Other options we are considering are: a witches brew which required the hair of a genius, some kind of Barbie wig or perhaps a lesson to teach her to not fall asleep in class.

We may never solve this mystery. I am hoping that there is no direct link between the mirror and the hair... Jordan may have a stalker living right here in this house.

An Ellerbee Who Dun It?

Jordan came to me this afternnoon and said, "Mom, you've got to come downstairs to see this."

"Is it going to make me mad?"

Jordan, "I don't think so..."

So she leads me into the bathroom, where I find the words "I Love Jordan" scrawled on the mirror in sharpie marker.

Jordan says, "Wow, they're defacing property in my name. Cool."

And so the process begins.

Handwriting Analysis.

Questioning.

I'm considering waterboarding.

"Did you write on the mirror?"

"What? I do not understand..."

"Did you write on the mirror?"

"What? I do not understand..."

Justine was ruled out because her J's are still backwards.

Jack was ruled out because he wouldn't go to any extra effort to write ANYTHING he didn't have to.

Jordan was ruled out... well that's obvious.

Josh was ruled out... because he said he didn't do it, and he's never proved to lie to me, nor does it seem like a boy thing to do (there I am being stereotypical again)

So it comes down to the two 8 year olds...

Jaiden: "I swear I didn't do it."

Jameson: "What? I do not understand..."

You be the judge! I won't tell you who I think did it.

Well, at least it was a nice thing to write... it could have been worse.

First Day of School

Joshua and Jameson started school this week. This has been a whole new experience for me. I'm sure many people are probably wondering why a homeschooling family would put their new kids in public school.

Allow me to shed some light on that... it's wasn't what we had originally thought we would do. I assumed I would homeschool for the rest of this year, and then put them in Gloria Deo. Public school came into thought after they'd been home for a few weeks. I had absolutely no idea where to start with them, and I was having a hard time keeping them motivated and focused. They seemed to be much more into the school of Television than in the school of mom. Their English is so spotty, as is spelling, math and everything else.

Everything I tried to start with them seemed to be so over their heads. Josh could read an entire book and then not be able to tell me one thing it was about. And so we sent them to public school. In typical Gina style, now that they're coming home with counting money worksheets and telling time (two things they have NEVER seen), I'm beginning to see things that we could do at home that would be better... I'm never happy am I? So we will continue to keep them in public school for the rest of the year. I see another year of 3rd and 5th grade in their future, but we will do whatever works for them. That's the beauty of this family. We are non-traditional. We do what works for us at the time.

What We Love

We have quickly found that what our new kids really love is playing outside. They are good at it and are really used to it. This is what they know.

Jameson likes baseball! That girl's got quite a swing.

She looks good, don't you think?

We're still working on don't hit your brothers and sisters with the bat, but they're all playing together... that's pretty good.

Boy meets Bike

The title says it all.

Adoption Article

Click here to read the New York Times article featuring a family whose blog I adore.

Happy Birthday Joshua

Well, since no one cared about my Idol predictions, I have crawled out of my sick bed to put on some new pictures.

Joshua's first birthday (#11) in America. Where else would you want to go for that ?
Chuckee Cheese!

Madison and Jameson riding the roller coaster.

Joshua was really good at the Safari Driving Game.

What do you get when you mix too much Coca-Cola, pizza, a lot of kids and way too much noise?
See above!

Give me more money!

Joshua had a great birthday. Thanks to all of you who sent cards - Jaclyn and Lisa. Thank you to everyone who came to the party - too many to name. We had a great time at Chuckee Cheese, and the kids had a blast. While watching Joshua open his presents, I was moved to tears. I don't even know what the emotion was, but it was definitely overwhelming. To know that he's here, he's loved, and he has a family is absolutely awesome.