Candid Shots- family pictures, large-family style :)

For some people, the most cherished family pictures are the ones that show them to advantage...the ones that capture the adorable moments in the lives of their children, and where everybody has a clean face, clean clothes, and everyone's smiling.

But I love to look at the not-so-good pictures and find the funny, large-family moments therein :) I don't recall a single "this is our family" picture that we would dare send anyone who didn't already love us! ;)

A candid picture of my dear Abby with the garden hose in her mouth...and yes...this is an everyday, and usually multiple-times-a-day
happening :)

Gracie in a wild get-up. This too is merely a sampling of her typical dress-up outfit, and her typical face when she wants us to laugh at her....

The cousins provide plenty of funny shots too- Bekah obviously enjoyed her....whatever it was she had been eating! :P

Umm....I'm pretty sure Benj and Abby just got the news that the South lost the War. :P

I don't always have the most well-behaved subjects when I preside over the tea-table ;)

The little ones took their responsibility to bury the poor lame chick rather "gravely" :P Ahem.
So what do you think? Aren't these more fun that the usual family pictures? :)
~Rachel

Further Adventures in Teaching Abby

Yet another story about Abby's schooling, but this time it isn't so much our accent as her rather inventive little mind. :) Sarah had to go with Mama to the dentist the other day to watch the younger ones while Mama went back into the appointments with the child whose turn it was. Abby was getting bored and restless, so Sarah had her pick up a book and try to read words out of it.
We happen to own this particular book, so Abby knew the storyline. When she came to the word "sandwiches" she started to sound it out.

"Sa...and..sand...Sand?"

She appeared puzzled over the mention of sand, since this book has nothing to do with the beach. Sarah reached over and pointed at the word. Now, I must admit here that went we say the word "sandwich" quickly, you don't really hear the "nd" part...it comes out more like "samwich". :P
So Sarah set out to help Abby finish reading the word:

"See, sand....wiches....Sandwiches."

Abby gasped and looked frightened. Her eyes were very wide as she asked, "Sand-Witches? What are those?" :)

As you can see, she's just a teensy bit random at times, but SO adorable! :) It's great fun teaching her to read! ~Rachel

Teaching Abby to Read and Learning I Speak English Wrong

I never thought that I had much of an accent. But apparently I do. And apparently it's a stumbling block for my younger siblings. ;) I never thought that my pronunciation of the "wh" part of words like "where" and "while" and "whale" was abnormal. I never thought that saying "seer-up" instead of "sur-up" was a problem. And I certainly never even noticed I said "ayg" instead of "ehg" for the innocent little word "egg". But I'm telling you it's dangerous, and catching.
Here's a peep into what I mean...

Setting: Me helping to teach Abby with her reading.

Me: Okay, what does this part say? (pointing to "en")
Abby: "in"
Me: No, no read it, don't guess.
Abby: e..e..e...n...n...EN!
Me: Right. Okay now what does this part say? (pointing to "men")
Abby: M...en....MIN!
Me: No Abby, it says M-en. Not min.
Abby: What does men mean?
Me: It's the same word. We just say it funny. Okay, now this one: (pointing to "hen")
Abby: H...en....hin!
Me: No, H-en. Not hin.
Abby: *sigh*
Me: All right. How about this one: (pointing to "Egg")
Abby: e...e...p...p..
Me: Those aren't "p's" dear, those are "g's" they say "guh"
Abby: Oh. e...gg...Egg? What's an "ehg"?
Me: *sighing too* It's an "ayg", Abby. We just say that wrong too.

Haha! :) That made me laugh a lot. :) I guess I need an English tutor! :P ~Rachel