living.loving.laughing.learning.

Lots of changes...

2012-01-20T18:24:00.002-06:00

WOW! So much has happened since October! Of course, there was the holiday season to celebrate, but our family also made a big move....from San Antonio to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. I'll give a quick recap of the past few months!

Here is Emma's last Open Curtain at the Performing Arts School of Classical Ballet. We are still searching for a new ballet school.

We celebrated Halloween by Trick-or-Treating with friends. Olivia was an owl this year. Mary Grace and Emma were Prom Queens, and Bailey was Flashback, a superhero he created for a film class last year.

Just before Thanksgiving, Dwayne got a call asking him to consider a position in Mississippi. It was a completely unexpected offer, and one we put to the test before Dwayne agreed to an interview. We spent the next couple of weeks really praying and analyzing whether a move would be feasible for us.

Olivia celebrated her 8th Birthday on Thanksgiving. We worked with two families (friends) at the Ronald McDonald House for Thanksgiving. That is always such a huge blessing for us.

Olivia's friend, Sabrina, has a birthday just two days later, so the girls celebrated with each other.

Emma's choir, Encore Youth Chorus, performed their Christmas concert. They did an incredible job!

During this time, Dwayne flew to Mississippi to interview for the new position. He called early into the interview process to let us know that he really wanted the job. The process of relocating officially began.

Santa came to visit on Christmas Eve!

Olivia was pleased with her Lalaloopsy doll.

Emma, Mary Grace, and Bailey were happy with their gifts.

Dwayne and Bailey in a family game of Headbandz:

Christmas night with our friends, the Batohie's:

The day after Christmas brought the final rush of packing to move and saying good-bye to friends we came to love dearly during our time in San Antonio. Four years ago, we drove into San Antonio knowing nothing about the city. On January 5, we left the city that had become our home and later that evening, drove into the city that will become our new home. Though it doesn't feel like home to us just yet, we know that God brought us here and has incredible things in store for us.

We're excited about being much closer to our friends and family in Tennessee. We are very excited about living just miles from the beach. You Texas friends will have to visit soon!

Traveling through the USA and Mexico

2011-10-19T09:16:00.003-05:00

We've completed six weeks of school already. Time is flying this year! We've traveled (in geography) through the USA learning to identify all 50 states and important US landmarks.

We've been having lots of fun with art this year. While traveling through the USA, we created sand art (from Global Art) like the Native American tribes.

We spent two weeks studying Mexico. The girls made a pinata as well as tissue paper flowers. The flowers were by far the favorite art project (from A Trip Around the World) to date.

I have made a few changes to MFW with Olivia. She's much more hands-on than the other girls. Sitting quietly isn't her way of learning, as you can see from her hanging up-side down pose.

So, we've gone back to lapbooking for her. She still follows MFW, but lapbooks the countries rather than just listening to read-alouds or reading herself and filling out worksheets. It seems to be working well, but we are still tweaking as we go.

Bailey is doing really well this year. He has really become more self-motivated and is moving through the year well. He loves his co-op and is doing great in the Spanish class there. He's joined the student council at co-op and is helping plan up-coming service projects.

We're off to Canada next!

Lessons Learned

2011-09-29T20:30:00.000-05:00

The first month of school is almost over. So far, we are loving our curriculum choice for this year, My Father's World: Exploring Countries and Cultures. The living book selections are so much more appealing to us, and having lessons planned out for me makes this mom very happy!

We've had lots of hands-on projects that make learning much more fun. We are learning about ecosystems, so we created an earthworm niche to observe. Emma had to be bribed with a Sonic slush to get her to touch a worm.

At first, Olivia wasn't too excited about picking up a worm, but decided to give it a try. Bailey, being a great big brother, helped her out with the first one. This was Olivia's reaction after the first touch. She did decide it wasn't so bad after all and filled the jar. I wasn't successful in getting Mary Grace to help out with adding worms. She was content to layer the soil, sand, and oats.

Here are our finished niches. We observed and recorded for a week and then let our worms go.

We've also done some art projects. One of the favorites was sand art. Olivia is busy sketching her design.

Emma works on perfecting her sketch.

Mary Grace applies glue and sand to her design.

We are still in North America in our studies. We leave the USA and begin Mexico studies next week. We've learned lots of geography already!

First Days of School

2011-09-07T15:54:00.006-05:00

Our school year started yesterday. Here are the annual First Day of School pictures:

Olivia-2nd grade

Emma-5th grader

Mary Grace-7th grader

Bailey-10th grader

The girls are using My Father's World: Exploring Countries and Cultures this year, and we are really excited about it. It seems to fit our style yet has all the lesson plans included.

Here is a glimpse of one of our first projects. Using an orange (with no-so-good drawings of the continents on it) to show the difference between maps and globes.

Mary Grace and Olivia worked together to put together this globe puzzle.

We have our passports ready and are ready to travel the world soon!

Bailey is studying Literature (through a homeschool book club), Spanish (co-op class), Algebra 2, US History, Geography, Forensic Science, and Driver's Ed. He will continue learning play his acoustic and bass guitars.

Another year is under way!

Summer's End

2011-09-03T18:02:00.000-05:00

Though we have not yet started our 2011-2012 school year, activities are beginning to resume. The end of summer is near, though the 100+ temps make that hard to believe!

This year Emma is adding a new adventure- Encore Youth Chorus. The choir is for students in fifth though twelfth grades and focuses not only on singing but music education. Here she is on the first day of Chorus:

Emma loved the first rehearsal and talked non-stop about it afterwards. I think it's going to be a great thing for her!

Swim practices resumed this week, too. Mary Grace and Olivia moved teams (again) to be much closer to home. So far, it seems like a good fit for both girls.

All other activities as well as our school work will begin next week. The girls will be traveling the world with My Father's World's Exploring Countries and Cultures. It's going to be exciting!

Summer Fun: Sea World

2011-08-22T09:09:00.003-05:00

We have season passes to Sea World, but haven't used them much this summer. We decided a Sunday afternoon at Sea World as just what we needed.

Olivia loves all rides. Here she is anticipating the waterfall on the Rio Loco.Emma and Bailey prepare to get wet!Mary Grace and Olivia (with an incredibly goofy look on her face!) relax on the lazy river.

Emma catches a ride with Daddy down the lazy river.

As we left the park, a church marquee posted the temperature as 107 degrees. I'd say the water park was the perfect way to spend the day!

Summer Fun: Goal Accomplished!

2011-08-08T16:05:00.004-05:00

One of Mary Grace's swim goals for the upcoming short course season was to break the 30 second mark in her 50 yard freestyle. This weekend was a pre-short-course-season short course meet. Take notice of lane two--GOAL ACHIEVED!!

Summer Fun: Sweet 13 Celebration

2011-07-20T20:25:00.004-05:00

Mary Grace just celebrated her 13th birthday. It's a birthday that she has looked forward to since her 12th birthday! Thirteen meant a party and more importantly, a Facebook page. (I realize that many kids under 13 have Facebook pages, but we believe that teaching our kids to be honest is more important than keep up with what others are doing!)

The celebration began a few days early with mini golf, water wars, dinner out, and Starbucks for Mary Grace and three of her friends.

The birthday began bright and early before swim practice with gifts to be opened. Mary Grace's "big" gift was a waterproof digital camera. She also got the "sweet 13" charm for her charm bracelet, camera accessories, earrings and an anklet.

The afternoon was spent at the pool trying out the new camera.

The dinner of choice was IHOP for pancakes. Our friends the Vega's went with us, and the kids had a blast. We finished the night off with a birthday cheesecake.

We've been blessed with 13 sweet years and look forward to seeing Mary Grace grow more beautiful each day!

Summer Fun: Summer League Champs and Banquet

2011-07-15T22:56:00.012-05:00

Summer League Divisionals and the end of season banquet are over. Another great season is behind us, and planning has already begun for next year!

Mary Grace practices a dive during warm-ups.

Coach Heather talks to Olivia about the meet.

Olivia waits for her turn to race.
Emma tests the water before her backstroke race.

Olivia is all smiles. She loves swimming!

All three girls did a fabulous job in their races and were rewarded at the banquet. Mary Grace got 1st place medal for both of her individual races (butterfly and IM) and 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place relay ribbons. She also got the High Point Award for 11-12 year old girls and a Most Laps Swam Award for the Dolphin Dive.

Emma placed 1st in her backstroke race and 2nd in freestyle (missed 1st by a split second!) and was awarded medals for those events. All three of her relays won 1st place. Emma also scored the High Point Award for 9-10 year old girls. Emma is our least enthusiastic swimmer, though she does an exceptional job with little effort. Both Mary Grace and Emma earned a spot on the extra stairstep relay, since they were the fastest freestylers on our team in their age groups.

Olivia won two 1st place medals (breaststoke and butterfly), as well as 1st place ribbons for both of her relays.

Even Bailey got in on the action at the banquet. He served as a lifeguard. He should have received an award for putting up with the craziness!! Doesn't he look excited?

Summer Fun: Fourth of July

2011-07-11T20:15:00.005-05:00

We celebrated the Fourth of July with a Bike Parade through our neighborhood. Emma and Olivia spent lots of time taping ribbons, bows, and stars to their bikes. Red, white, and blue accessories completed their looks!

Due to a strict burn ban, no fireworks were allowed at all this year. Instead of our usual trip to Woodlawn Lake to see the fireworks show, we invited friends over for a cook out and games and lots of fun!

Summer Fun: Dolphin Summer League

2011-06-30T08:41:00.004-05:00

Our summer league season is winding down with only divisional championships to go. The girls have had a blast spending their days with neighborhood friends.

Olivia has been one of the 7-8 year old butterfliers. She's done very well, despite competing against older, more experienced swimmers.

Emma is a great swimmer, though swimming is definitely not her first love. See the enthusiasium after winning first place in the 9-10 year old freestyle race?

For Mary Grace, summer league is all about fun and friends. This year was a little less fun for her, because a younger (jealous) swimmer began the season bullying her and spreading untrue rumors. The truth came out, and many kids went out of their way to tell Mary Grace that they supported her. Towards the end of season, she made a new friend, who is new to our neighborhood. I hope it's the beginning of a great friendship!

Here is Mary Grace prepared to go off the block. It's hard to get pics of her swimming summer league due to the short distances swam.

Swim fast, girlies!

Summer Fun: Padre Island

2011-06-29T08:33:00.008-05:00

We recently headed to Corpus Christi for Mary Grace and Olivia to compete in a swim meet. We snuck in a side trip to the beach at Padre Island for little extra fun!

Everybody headed right out into the waves!

Olivia held tight to somone's hand. The waves were great this weekend!

Bailey battled the waves and came in for a rest.

Eventually, Olivia decided that an intertube was a better choice than holding on to someone else. She also got a mouth full of salt water.

Emma enjoyed every single minute of the beach. Pools are OK, but give this girl a beach anytime!

Let the sandcastle building begin! Unfortunately, the tide was coming in and it washed away the castle before it was completed.

Olivia searched for shells. All the ones she found held living creatures, so we had to let them stay on the beach.

Mary Grace enjoyed time in the sun after jumping waves.

Of the three times we've made it to the Texas coast, this was the best day at the beach. The beaches were clean, not covered in seaweed. It wasn't too crowded, and the ocean breezes made the heat bearable. This little respite from our busy summer schedules was just what we needed!

Summer Fun 2011: Slip 'n Slide

2011-06-05T12:16:00.010-05:00

Summer officially starts tomorrow for public and private school kids. For us, we will continue math and a few other projects over the summer. We have a busy summer as usual, but we're also going to have some fun!

The Dolphin Swim Team (HOA summer league) is in full swing with the first meet being this week. All three girls are on the team and love the time with neighborhood friends.

Bailey is working Cedar Badge (youth leadership training) and will be gone for the week. Mary Grace spent the last couple of days hanging out with friends. Being the only kids at home, Emma and Olivia drug out the Rip Curve Slide and had a blast.

A Birthday and a Ballet

2011-05-31T22:41:00.011-05:00

Emma celebrated her "Double Digits" birthday! Turning ten meant a birthday party held at out HOA pool. Emma's still our sweetie. She's grown a ton this year and is often mistaken for being older. My petite little girl- the one who was smaller than everyone else in her activities- is gone, and she has been replaced with a girl who is taller than most her age.

Another year of ballet as come to an end. This year, Emma was in a homeschool ballet class. Her teacher was more intense than those she has had in the past, and Emma learned and improved so much. Her class was definitely one of the best in recital, Treasures of India.

Here is Emma with Mrs. Sandra, her ballet teacher.

Warming up before dress rehearsal...

Emma (on the left) during the recital...

I can't wait to see next year's dance!

Cinco de Mayo International Meet

2011-05-04T20:14:00.011-05:00

My swimming girls, Mary Grace and Olivia, swam in the Cinco de Mayo International Swim Meet this weekend. It was the first long course meet of the season.

Mary Grace had a great weekend. She's preparing to end the season as a 13 year old and is striving for new 13-14 year old time standards.

The star of the weekend was Olivia. She has only swum in a 50 meter pool once, but was determined to swim all four strokes. She did such a great job, even placing 7th in the 8 and under age group in 50m freestyle.

Here she is going off the block:

50 meter breastroke

50 meter backstroke

50 meter freestyle

Olivia also swam the 50 meter butterfly and the 100 meter freestyle races. She worked hard this weekend to prove her skills. Way to go Olivia!

Easter 2011

2011-04-25T09:55:00.004-05:00

The Resurrection... that's what Easter is about. Though we do allow egg hunts and Easter baskets, we strive to teach our children the meaning of Easter.

For the first time ever, we attended a Good Friday service. No other church that we've attended has ever has a service on Good Friday. Why not? Without Friday and the crucifixion, there would have been no resurrection on Sunday. We rejoice in a risen Savior, but before the resurrection was a Friday. A Friday in which Jesus endured the torure of being beaten, broken, and nailed to a cross. A Friday in which Jesus took my sins and yours upon Himself. A Friday in which the Father turned His back on His son--for me and you.

Then came Sunday. On Sunday, the tomb was empty. On Sunday, Jesus was alive!

The candy and eggs will soon be gone, but Jesus is for eternity. I hope you know Him and His joy.

"Jesus answered, I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."

John 14:6

A New Direction?

2011-04-21T09:31:00.005-05:00

For most homeschool families, it's the time of year when we scour curriculum magazines, search for reveiws, and pray for the ability to find great deals on curriculum for next year. It's time to throw out what isn't working and tweak what is.

Our lives have changed much over the last two years, and we are going away from our eclectic, made-by-mom plans. Since I have taken on a part-time job, I simply need help with planning.

We are not a school-at-home family. Because many curriculums are designed to be just that, the search has been harder than what I imagined. I love Charlotte Mason . We've also thrown in some of the classical approach and even a bit of unschooling at times. We've lapbooked, and we've done workbooks. My desire is to keep school fun while choosing a curriclum that is planned for me.

In my research, I have found these options My Father's World, Heart of Dakota, Winter Promise, and Epi Kardia.

These are curricula I am currently considering. I'm leaning towards MFW, simply because I can use one program for my 2nd, 5th , and 7th graders next year. It's going to be a change, but I think it will be a better fit for the circumstances we are now in.

Moving back...

2011-04-01T21:54:00.002-05:00

I'm moving my blog back, simply because this is an easier site to use. Unfortunately, not everything transferred over well, and I simply don't have time to fix all the weirdness. So, we'll just start with what we've got!

Short Course Swimming Season 2010-11

2011-04-01T09:50:00.003-05:00

Our first complete Short Course swimming season is over. Mary Grace improved her times and technique so much this year. She ended this year with at least a B time (national time standard) in every stroke and event except the 100 yard breaststroke. She achieved a BB standard in all events except 50 yard breaststroke, 200 yard backstroke, and 100 IM. She came VERY close (less than a second in 3 events and under 2 seconds in 2 others) close to qualifying for the A Championships. Her hard work and determination were rewarded with 7 medals (4 gold, 2 silver, 1 bronze) between two championship meets. Here are a few pictures, courtesy of another swim mom:

Olivia has learned all four competitive strokes and completed a 100 IM. At seven, she's got lots to work on still, but we are very proud of her and her accomplishments this year!! Here's a couple of pictures of her last meet.

This is a video of Mary Grace's favorite event and one she will soon age out of. She's the one in the hot pink swim cap.

I should probably give up!

2011-04-01T04:50:00.001-05:00

On blogging that is! I just can't seem to keep up, but I'm not yet ready to let blogging go completely.

We recently made a spring break trip to visit friends and family in Tennessee. It's always great to spend time with those we dearly miss. Here is a glimpse at the few days with my parents:

We enjoyed our time with you. Now it's your turn to visit!

Is it fall yet?

2010-10-26T16:02:00.000-05:00

It sure doesn't seem like fall though it's already the end of October. I got a small glimpse of changing leaves and cool days a couple of weeks ago in Tennessee. I went home for a short visit to say good-bye to my sweet Granddaddy James. He has joined his beloved and is praising Jesus now.

October has been a busy month for us. We've had two swim meets, the first of which I missed while I was in Tennessee. Mary Grace recorded a couple of Olivia's races, so I could at least have a glimpse of her first year-round meet. She did great- placing 2nd in 25 yd breaststroke, 4th in 50 yd freestyle, and 7th in 25 yd freestyle and 25 yd freestyle and 25 yd backstroke. Mary Grace placed in all ten of her events (1- first, 1-second, 4-third, 2-fourth, 2-fifth). The very next weekend we traveled to Austin for another meet. It was a long, expensive weekend! The girls didn't place in this meet, but there were almost 500 swimmers in this meet with some events having close to 100 swimmers. Both improved their times in some events, and Mary Grace earned a new time standard that will allow her to swim a higher level meet.

Bailey has now completed all merit badges needed to begin his Eagle project. He plans to build and put up a sign for our church for his project. We're hoping to have an Eagle Scout soon!

A New School Year

2010-09-19T10:20:00.005-05:00

The summer is officially behind us, and we are once again diving into a new school year. Here are pics from our first day of school:

The First Grader

The Fourth Grader

The Sixth Grader

The Freshman

( Everyone is looking a little sweaty in their first day of school pics. Our A/C has been out, and rather than go into debt to fix it, we are going to tough it out until spring. )

We've already gotten one fun project underway. Flat Olivia is traveling the USA (maybe a foreign country, too). She's already been to Kentucky. Here are pictures of some things she did while there:

We are also hosting a Flat from Georgia. We've kept our Flat a little longer than we should've. There is so much to do, and I just can't seem to get in all the places we want our visiting Flat to see! So far, Flat Malachi has been on adventures to the zoo and the Riverwalk, and he's been to swim practice and art class with Olivia.

The school year is going well so far. We are having to adjust to new activities and schedules. Emma's joined a homeschool ballet class and now goes to class twice a week rather than once. Olivia has joined Mary Grace in swimming, and both girls are swimming for a new team that they love. Bailey has joined a teen book club and is enjoying that. We had hoped to get him involved in a co-op, but the one we enrolled him in fell through at the last minute. We're going to have a great year!!

Summer Fun

2010-08-26T17:48:00.001-05:00

We've had one fun-filled, busy summer! Here are some of the highlights:

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Emma finished year six as a dancer. Her class performed two dances in this year's recital, King Author's Faire.

The Ribbon Dancers

Emma & Miss Katie

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All three girls were on our HOA swim team. Emma started out as a reluctant participant, but ended up loving it.

Emma's 1st backstroke race

Swimming was instant love for Olivia. She has been anxiously awaiting to be able to swim on the summer swim team since this time last year. She had a really good season, and was able to age up to the 8 and under (7-8 year olds) group for several races. Olivia in a freestle race

Championship Meet:

Olivia waits for her fist Championship Race.

Emma was our only casualty of the summer. She swam her freestyle race and hit her head on the block when climbing out of the pool. It looked worse than it was with blood running down her face. After a quick trip to First Aid, a band-aid, and some ice, Emma was back on the ready bench and ready for her freestyle relay. She was awesome!

What happens when your head meets the diving block...

I managed to go the entire season with no pictures of Mary Grace swimming. Of course, I saw very few races, as I was a parent volunteer through all of most meets. (Got to love those parents who feel the need to do nothing!)

The Dolphin Team Banquet:

Olivia with her trophy and ribbons

Emma receiving her trophy and ribbons

Mary Grace received medals for first place in butterfly and 100 IM in the Championship meet. She also got ribbons for her relays, she earned the High Point Award (scored the most points for her team) in the 11-12 year old girls group.

High Point Award Winner

At the end of Summer League, we had three Division 2 All-Star Swimmers-one who continues to love swimming, one who is content to return to ballet, and another who is ready to swim year-round with her big sister.

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We took a trip to Paradise Canyon for a lazy Sunday afternoon at the river with our church family.

Can she be any sillier?

Bailey relaxing by the river

(Bailey was one busy guy this summer- Cedar Badge training and camp as well as church camp kept him away from home several weeks.)

Mary Grace floating on theriver

Emma and Olivia

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We spent a weekend in Corpus Christi for one of Mary Grace's swim meets. Though the trip was filled with hours in a natatorium, we managed some fun!

Olivia & Mary Grace- North Padre Island

Bailey-North Padre

Playing in the waves More Olivia goofiness

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The 4th of July was spent at Woodlawn Lake with the Batohie girls-fun, food, and fireworks!

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Then came Mary Grace's 12th birthday!

The Birthday Girl

We're now enjoying our last couple of weeks of summer vacation before we start our school year in September. Summer's been great, and we're looking forward to a fabulous fall!

It's been a while...

2010-03-01T09:43:00.000-06:00

No updates in three months...This blogging thing hasn't been going so well! Of course, the holiday season was busy for us. We made the trip to Tennessee to visit family just after Christmas. It was certainly great to see our family and friends again. We even saw a little snow, which made Olivia very happy.

January found us trying to get back into our normal routine with school and other activities, and we seem to have found a better schedule since Christmas. We did away with our Story of the World history, as it just wasn't enjoyable for any of us. The first book (ancients) was fabulous, but it seems to have gone downhill from there. We decided to finish off the year with unit studies, and we will be completing one on the American Revolution this week. Olivia is beginning to read more, and she likes to pick out books and read to me. She and Emma still love to be read to and are currently enjoying an American Girl book. We've been going through the Little House series, but took a short break from them.

Bailey spent the weekend going through Ordeals for Order of the Arrow. He has been looking forward to it and dreading it all at the same time, so he's glad to have it over and done with. He has only 3 merit badges left before being able to plan an Eagle Project. Dwayne wants him to finish those by this summer.

Mary Grace has been working hard at improving her swimming times. She attended a Josh Davis Swim Clinic at the end of January, where she learned some great tips and got to meet Josh Davis (1996 Olympic Gold medalist) and Ryan Lochte (2004/2008 Gold Medalist). Yesterday was a championship meet, and she really did well. She took seconds off all her events (TWELVE seconds off her 100 Yard Individual Medley!!!) except backstroke, which she had never swam in a meet and had no previous time for. Junior Olympics are this weekend. She's looking forward to it, though it will be a long weekend!

[caption id="attachment_472" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Ryan Lochte, Mary Grace, & Josh Davis"][/caption]

Emma's perfecting her ballet skills and preparing for her upcoming recital. Her teacher recently praised her for being a leader in her class. Of course, that makes Mom and Dad proud! (sorry about the poor quality pic!)

Olivia is learning so much this year! She's the resident hula hoop champ and is looking forward to being able to swim on our HOA swim team this year. We'll see how that goes. Goofiness is her trademark, so it may be a hysterical year for the Dolphins!

She's SIX!!

2009-11-24T16:09:00.000-06:00

Our baby is six. That seems like such a big girl, yet she's still my little one. We started the day with some gifts. Olivia was surprised with a Hullabaloo game, a Littlest Pet Shop wii game, and a Littlest Pet Shop dog. Hullabaloo seems to be the hit of the day.

After the gifts were opened, Olivia, Mary Grace, and Mom headed out to get our nails done. I received a gift certificate for a pedicure for my birthday earlier this month. I decided to use it today and let the girls have their fingernails done. Emma decided not to join us for that adventure. Olivia chose pink polish with a daisy on each thumbnail.

Lunch was at Chick-fil-a. It's always a good choice, but it was insanely crazy since it's a school holiday. We saved the cake and ice cream for this evening and had our neighbors over to share with them. I decided to try my hand at a cake with fondant icing as practice for Saturday's Pink Party. It was good, though I need to be a little neater on Saturday's version. For my first attempt, I thought it was OK.

It was a great day for the birthday girl! Happy Birthday, my sweet Olivia!

2009-11-02T12:16:00.000-06:00

So...blogging hasn't been happening too much lately. It seems that the busyness of life becomes so routine and well, BUSY, that there seems to be nothing exciting to blog about or time to blog it. In this post, I'll give you a glimpse of the past month or so.

In September, Dwayne had a day off, so we took a family field trip to the San Antonio Botanical Garden. The current exhibit is BIG BUGS. And boy were they BIG!

: in the Rose Garden

The ducks are so accustomed to visitors that they stand and wait for people to get food from the machines.

: one smart duck

This is one of the eight BIG BUG sculptures on display. Really, this should be its own blog post.

: BIG spider

Olivia is working through Five in a Row, vol 1. One week's focus was on The Rag Coat, a story about Appalachian culture. Olivia made her own rag coat (and a big mess!) from paper scraps.

: Olivia making a rag coat

During the weekend before Halloween, our homeowner's association had a Halloween party. Emma and Olivia dressed up as witches. Mary Grace wanted to help out with games instead of dressing up for this event. Bailey was camping with his Boy Scout troop, so he wasn't able to attend.

: NWC Halloween party

Last week, we attended SPLASH Amazing Water Adventures, a water festival for homeschoolers. We are blessed with a city that takes homeschooling families seriously. It was a fun-filled, educational day!

: How many drops of water can you fit on a penny?

: Emma checking out critters found in water

: Mary Grace having some fun

...then came Halloween. We spent part of the evening at a nearby church festival playing games and winning prizes. Then we headed home to don costumes for a night of trick-or-treating. Bailey had a friend over, and they gave out candy to our visitors. ( The red spots on Mary Grace's face & neck are from having to scrub off the black hair dye we made a mess with!)

: trick-or-treat

That sums up most of the big events of late. Emma is still pursuing a career as a ballerina (as much as an 8-year-old can), and Mary Grace is training for future Olympics as a swimmer (or maybe just regional meets). She has moved swim teams, as her previous team's pool is closed indefinitely due to maintenance issues. Her new team is much closer to us. Mary Grace has also begun 5am swim classes twice a week. That comes very early for us, but the coach says he sees some real talent in her. Bailey is concentrating on some Eagle required merit badges that he needs in order to begin his Eagle Project. Olivia just continues to amaze us with her wit and charm. We love it all!

Life Scout

2009-09-04T13:04:00.000-05:00

Bailey has achieved one more milestone in his Scouting career. He recently earned the rank of Life Scout.

Bailey was also presented with merit badges that he earned at summer camp- lifesaving, chemistry, small boat sailing, and metal works. He's already looking to the future and planning out the next step- Eagle Scout!

First Day of School 09-10

2009-08-24T11:36:00.000-05:00

I am blessed to be able to homeschool my children. Rather than sending them away for most of the day's waking hours, I have the priviledge of watching them grow and learn right before my eyes. Today began another official year of learning with Bailey in 8th grade, Mary Grace in 5th , Emma in 3rd, and Olivia in kindergarten. It will be our most challenging year by far, as this is my first year with four offical students. It's a challenge I look forward to.

[caption id="attachment_438" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="checking out the new supplies"][/caption]

Field Trip

2009-08-24T10:17:00.000-05:00

On Friday, we took a field trip to Body Lingo, a screen-printting business. We joined forces with our friends, the Beck's, and each child created a design for the shirt. Brad, from BL, took all nine designs and created one cool T-shirt. We got a walk-through of how the screen printing process works and at the end of the tour, each child had his/her own shirt.

[caption id="attachment_423" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Bailey & Emma voting on the print color"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_426" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Olivia & Luke watch the drying machine"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_427" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mary Grace printing her shirt"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_428" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="the finished shirt"][/caption]

Swim Championships and Banquet

2009-07-02T17:05:00.000-05:00

Our swim season is officially over. Divisional Championships were Sunday, and it was a great experience. The meet was held at the local school district's natatorium. It was HOT (no A/C) and LONG (6 hours), but an exciting time. There were six teams competing for Divisional Champs as well as places in the All-Star meet. Mary Grace performed well in her individual events -19 of 39 in freestyle and 7th of 23 in butterfly. Her relay teams placed 4th (freestyle) and 7th (medley). She received ribbons three of her events. She didn't make All-Stars, but we knew that would be a long-shot, as All Stars is made up of the fastest 6 times in all three divisions, not just our division. Our team did win Divisional Champs!

[caption id="attachment_415" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ready to race"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_416" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="waiting anxiously for a teammate in a relay"][/caption]

Tonight's banquet officially ended our swim season. Each child received a participation trophy. Mary Grace also received a medal for Hardest Worker among the girls on the team. We are very proud of her for working so hard and surpassing the times of some girls who have been swimming for years.

[caption id="attachment_417" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Hardest Worker Medal"][/caption]

Swim Team

2009-06-21T06:58:00.000-05:00

We have embarked on a new adventure this summer. The adventure began when Olivia decided she wanted to swim on the swim team. Unfortunately, her usual goofiness overcame her at tryouts, and she decided to swim one-handed while never letting go of the coach. Needless to say, she didn't make the team (and she could have). Maybe next year...

But, after watching the others try out, Mary Grace decided it looked like great fun. So, after a quick trip home to grab a swimsuit, Mary Grace tried out for the team. It's been a new experience for her, and she loves it. Being that she's starting the team at 10, she has an age disadvantage. (Many of the girls have been swimming competitively since 5.) But, she's held her own and even moved up in the practice ranks to practice with the more experienced kids. She's scored a few ribbons and is working VERY hard at becoming great at butterfly. Here's a glimpse of a few meets:

[caption id="attachment_409" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="individual freestyle"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_406" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="getting ready to "FLY" in the medley relay"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_410" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="diving in for the medley relay"][/caption]

I'm hoping for better pictures of other meets, but it's difficult to capture a moving target on top of the fact that each lane has 3 timers/scorekeepers as well as swim officials all around the pool.

ATLANTIS

2009-06-03T04:58:00.000-05:00

Once in a while, we are afforded a rare opportunity. Yesterday was one of those days for us. The space shuttle Atlantis was rerouted to San Antonio to refuel due to bad weather in Ft. Worth (the original destination). When the Atlantis (piggyback a NASA plane) landed at Lackland AFB, we loaded up and headed out. (Oh, the joys of homeschooling... other kids were still at school!) We made it to the base, along with friends, with just minutes before the shuttle lined up for takeoff to Columbus AFB in Mississippi.

First we saw a NASA plane take off. Our GUESS is that it held crew members.

: NASA plane

Next, we saw the Atlantis come into view.

Then, the shuttle rounded the end of the runway to prepare for takeoff.

It lined up for takeoff.

[caption id="attachment_396" align="aligncenter" width="403" caption="ATLANTIS"][/caption]

And the Atlantis was off!

Since our shuttle program is ending, (Atlantis may make one more trip to space), this was certainly a one-time opportunity!

Impressions Recital

2009-06-03T04:32:00.000-05:00

We have finished yet another year of ballet and yet another recital. This year Emma was my only dancer (though Mary Grace has suddenly regained interest). We have been very pleased with The Performing Arts School of Classical Ballet. The recital was so well planned, and the dancers seemed to be having a great time on stage.

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Ready to perform!"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_385" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="on stage"][/caption]

Emma's 8th Birthday

2009-06-03T04:15:00.000-05:00

[caption id="attachment_380" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="The Birthday Girl!"][/caption]

My sweet Emma turned eight years old on May 26. What a difference a year makes! My once tiny girl has grown so tall. She fills her days with babies, Barbies, ballet, and bedtime stories with Mom. Her sweet laugh is infectious and never fails to make us smile. What a joyous blessing from God she is!

[caption id="attachment_378" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Blowing out the candles!"][/caption]

(If you are wondering who all those people are... Our Homeowners' Association was having a Seniors' BBQ on Emma's birthday. Since Dwayne and I are the Recreation Directors, we had to be there. So, Emma shared her cake with the Seniors.)

Busy, busy, busy

2009-05-18T04:41:00.000-05:00

Busyness- that's what it seems like our lives are full of. Summer is fast approaching and we are trying to get our school year finished. We are going to try a modified summer school schedule this year. It's a trial, so we'll see how it goes. The days here in Texas have been very warm (OK...HOT!) lately, so there has been some water play going on.

: Neighborhood kids

Our neighborhood pool opened last weekend, so we've enjoyed some time in the pool. Mary Grace has joined the swim team in our HOA, and daily swim practices have added to our already full schedule.

We ended our Awana year last week with Awards night. I was so proud of all my girls! Olivia received her Book Award for Cubbies.

Emma recieved many awards this year. After sitting out of Awana last year, Emma finished two complete books, to receive her Book Two Award and the Sparky Award (completing Book Three). She also received an achievement award for completing 81-100 sections and a special trophy for completing over 100 sections throughout the year.

Mary Grace received her Book One Award for T&T and an achievement award for completing 87 sections this year!

Bailey served in Awana as a Leader in Training (LIT) with Recreation. He was our photographer for the night, so he's not in any pictures. That also explains why we have no up close pics of two of the girls.

Last week my younger sister and her family came to visit. Her husband was being sent to the area for training, so they decided to visit with us for the week. We had a good time, though it was a busy week for us. We did manage to sneak in a trip downtown to the Alamo and the Riverwalk as well as dinner at The Alamo Cafe.

: the Davis' at the Alamo

: Harrison going for a ride

We hope they can return to visit when all of our schedules are a little less crazy!

Last night was our end-of-year preschool and childrens' choirs program. Olivia is in the Preschool Choir. There are usually two more kids in the choir, but one wouldn't get on the stage and one didn't show.

The Children's Choir had a great time and have been invited to sing/sign in the morning worship service at a later date.

Emma's ballet recital is next week. She's worked hard all year, and we are looking forward to seeing her perform. We are also looking forward to a summer that's at least a little more relaxing!

Homeschool Share Contest

2009-04-30T08:15:00.000-05:00

For all of you who love lapbooking and/or unit studies, Homeschool Share is having a contest. Create a lapbook, unit study or workbox, and submit it to Homeschool Share. Your work will be shared with others and you could win great prizes. Since I use the site SO much, I'm submitting some of my own work this year.

It's finished!!

2009-04-10T13:32:00.000-05:00

Finally...the floors are in. The walls are repaired. The furniture and books (as well as assorted other stuff) have all been returned to their rightful places. I ended up choosing a different color than the dried tobacco that I loved. It's the same style flooring, just a shade lighter - toasted umber. These floors look so much prettier than our old floors. So... something good came from something bad.

Now, if we can just get the outside finished....

Thirteen

2009-03-30T16:49:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that my baby boy is 13 . It's even harder to believe that in five short years, he'll be an adult and getting ready to head out into the world himself.

For his birthday, Bailey got a guitar and accessories (for starting guitar lessons soon) and a Risk game. He's awaiting next weekend when he and a couple of friends are going to the movies to celebrate.

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

Still waiting...

2009-02-25T11:21:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately, we are still waiting on estimates and information from our insurance company about our flooding incident. We've discovered that our house was not dried properly, and now we have more damaged flooring. The entire floor was to be replaced anyway, but now we have to face the possibility of mold in the walls.

The restoration company kept pushing themselves on us. The insurance company keeps pushing us to use the restoration company for the repairs. It ain't gonna happen folks. Do we really want the same people who screwed up the dry-out to do the repairs? I think not!

We've had four companies come out and do their own estimates. The only one we've received so far was for inside damages only (not the siding repair and painting outside). It also does not include moving furniture, which we intend to do ourselves to work off some of the deductible. It's $4450. Just for fun, we got an estimate on continuing the laminate up the stairs. Just the stairs.... are you ready? $2155. I don't think I hate the carpet that much just yet.

Although, I've been doing some wishful thinking, I haven't been able to pick out the exact flooring yet. I need numbers to do that. This is what I'm dreaming of:

Time Crafted Maple
Dried Tobacco

Do you like it?

Water

2009-02-20T09:13:00.000-06:00

Water...that's what we woke up to in our family room yesterday morning. Lots of it. Seeping through the floors. Up the walls. The entertainment center and bookscases were sitting in it. It wasn't a welcome sight.

After shutting off the water and contacting a plumber and the homeowner's insurance, we have the pipe fixed and the floors ripped up. We also have four VERY loud fans running to dry the floors and walls. The smell is awful. Here's a glimpse:

Furniture has been shoved wherever it will fit or in the garage. I'm afraid it will get worse before it gets better. Our entire downstairs has to be re-floored, since all of the floors are connected. We have to have new sheetrock and new baseboards. Then there will be paint. The siding that was cut to access the leaking pipe has to be replaced and repainted.

I'm feeling overwhelmed. But, I'm thankful for insurance that will cover most of the cost. And in the end, I'm sure I'll love my new floors.

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T07:15:00.000-06:00

I hope you are surrounded by those you love today! Here is a glimpse of our Valentine's gift:Her name is Sophie. We've had the stray schnauzer for about a month now, but he was just too much for us, and he hated our cat. We found him a nice home with no other pets. The kids have been asking for a dog, so we searched Craigslist and found this little girl. Isn't she a cutie? The rawhide cigar gives her a sophisticated look, don't you think?

Oops...

2009-02-09T10:49:00.000-06:00

Once again, I've neglected this blog. I'll try to do a fast recap of our last six weeks or so.

After Christmas, we traveled to Tennessee to visit with friends and family. We began our visits in Jackson where we stayed a couple of days with our dear friends Kim and Seth. We always have such a great time with them and really feel that they have become so much like our own family. New Year's Eve was spent with these friends and filled with yummy snacks and an evening of games.

This trip also allowed us a visit with friends from long ago- Chris and Leslie and their girls. Dwayne and Chris were college roommates and have been great friends since. Although we've managed to keep in touch, many miles have separated us for the last 11 years. We have not been able to visit in person since Nov. 2000, when we were passing through the city they were living in. A fantastic new job at our alma mater has put Chris and Leslie back in a place where our paths will occasionally cross again. We enjoyed lunch and conversation with them and look forward to being able to see them again before another 8 years has passed.

After leaving our friends, we traveled on to my parents', where I was able to meet my not-so-new nephew, Harrison, for the first time. What a cutie he is!! We enjoyed a late Christmas celebration with my sisters and got to be with my dad on his birthday. We also spent time with Dwayne's grandmother, mom, and brother and with some of my aunts, an uncle and cousins.

We returned home after two weeks, ready to get back to the daily grind. The kids and I are moving right along with school and beginning to make some plans for the next school year.

Emma had a great eye check-up in January. Her "lazy" eye has improved to 20/40. Dr. Claire is confident that she will get to 20/20. We are hopeful!

February is now here, and we are enjoying some warmer weather. We've been able to get outside more, and we've been on one letterboxing trip.

We've also recently acquired a new pet and lost an old one. Our beloved Jinxy, the ball-of-fluff-Persian that we adopted shortly after moving here, died at the end of last week. We'll miss him, since he was the most loveable of our pets.

Barkley is our new addition. He was found wandering by a neighbor, and we agreed to give him a home until his owners could be found. Three weeks, a trip to the vet for a microchip check, a newspaper ad, and a couple of Craigslist ads later...the dog is still here. I think he's ours now. Here he is:

[caption id="attachment_318" align="aligncenter" width="448" caption="Barkley"][/caption]

Merry Christmas- a little late!

2008-12-27T05:10:00.000-06:00

We had a great Christmas! On Christmas Eve, we had dinner with our neighbors and went to the Christmas Eve service at church. After church we allowed the kids to open two gifts- one from Granddaddy James (always new pj's) and one from each other. (They draw names to keep that cost down.) The kids were in bed in record time! New pj's were on, and lights were out at 9pm. Also a new record- "Santa" was done by 10:30. Usually, Santa's putting the finishing touches on after midnight. It helped that Santa left a family gift this year, rather than individual gifts.

Christmas morning arrived very early when the kids ran into our room yelling for us to get up at 5am! Down the stairs we ran to see what Santa left. The kids were surprised to find a Wii and accessories and a couple of family board games! We had really downplayed getting a Wii hoping that the kids would be really surprised. They were!

We moved on to other gifts. Bailey got new hiking/climbing boots, a book about the secrets of Harry Potter, and a Mad Scientist game. Mary Grace's loot included boots, a couple of books (Frecklejuice and a Boxcar Children book), and a set of smelly girl stuff. Emma received a Barbie airplane, new ballerina books, and a make-up set.Olivia is now the proud new owner of a Leap Frog Word Launch game, a black-line The Very Hungry Caterpillar book that she can color herself, and a Five Little Monkeys game. All four kids got Wii games from my mom and dad.

Dwayne and I don't usually do big gifts for each other but just fill each other's stockings. However, this year Dwayne REALLY needed a new Bible, so I got him one for Christmas. I also came across a great deal on a netbook just before Christmas Day. Both of our laptops crashed this year, so I bought it as a gift to both of us from the kids.

In my stocking, I got Dove chocolates (YUM!), Burt Bees chapstick (great stuff!), a new Michael W. Smith CD, a new Francine Rivers book, 3 beaded necklaces and a watch. The necklaces and watch were hand made by ladies that Dwayne works with. He bought the beads and had the ladies design the necklaces and watch for him.

When the gift-giving was over, this is what we were left with....

....Olivia popping bubble wrap....

....and....

....lots and lots of paper, boxes, plastic bags, and twist ties.

We are blessed to have had such a great Christmas, and it's not quite over yet. Next week, we'll head to Tennessee to visit with friends and family there. There will be more gifts to be exchanged and more fun to be had. We're looking forward to it!

A visit with Santa

2008-12-22T17:21:00.000-06:00

We have a family in our neighborhood who's yard rivals the Griswold's. It's complete with Santa ready to hear your little ones' Christmas wishes. As we took a tour through the neighborhood looking at lights, we stopped to tell Santa our last minute Christmas wishes.

Here's Olivia. She wasn't too thrilled about actually talking to Santa, but he convinced her to at least pose for a picture.

: Olivia with Santa

Emma was next. She couldn't come up with anything to ask for, so she asked to be surprised.

: Emma and Santa

Mary Grace and Bailey took a turn for pics. They humored me, though Bailey did NOT want to have his picture taken with Santa.

: Mary Grace and Santa

: Bailey and Santa

Only two more days 'til Christmas!

Most recent lapbooks

2008-12-07T18:21:00.000-06:00

[gallery]

I realized that I haven't posted about any of our latest school projects, so here are Emma's latest three lapbooks- The Glorious Flight by Alice and Martin Provenson, The Clown of God by Tomie dePaola, and Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley. All of the lapbook components were taken from the resources at Homeschool Share.

The Glorious Flight contained activities on airplane vocabulary, parts of an airplane, ways to travel, Roman numerals, ordinal numbers, titles, onomatopoeia, The English Channel, Louis Bleriot, and a flight time line.

The Clown of God included activities on Italy, basic Italian words, legends, sequencing, life in the Renaissance, blessings, helping the elderly, monks, orphans, and gravity.

The Papa Piccolo lapbook contains activities on Italy and the Italian flag, the color wheel, drawing live eyes, fables, Venice, lullabies, kittens, and more Italian words.

A new tradition

2008-11-28T15:10:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, we began a new Thanksgiving tradition. Since we are now so far from our families, it seemed silly to make a huge meal for just us. We decided that we, as a family, wanted to do something to give to those in need. We researched several options, but needed to keep whatever we decided on kid-friendly. After talking to a neighbor, we decided that the Ronald McDonald House would be a great match for us.

It was such a blessing! We met some wonderful people, who we worked side-by-side with to prepare a fabulous meal. We saw grateful families, who were thankful to have a true Thanksgiving meal at their home-away-from home. We saw a beautiful little boy, who has lost an eye, giggling and laughing. It made me so thankful for the health of my children, but also for a place so giving to those in need.

I'm not sure many people really know how the houses work. We're probably all aware that sick children and their families are allowed to stay at the houses free-of-charge during medical treatment. What you may not be aware of is that these families sometimes arrive through completely unexpected circumstances -some with only the clothes on their backs. Ronald McDonald Houses need donations of toiletries, personal items, and clothing. They use everything a normal household would use- sheets, towels, cleaners, kitchen items, etc. All of these things are donated.

We've made a commitment to ourselves to do more for this wonderful place. We plan to take fresh-baked treats once a month, and we plan to donate items as our funds allow. We plan to make Thanksgiving dinner at the House a tradition. You never know when you may be forced to use such a facility, and we want to do our part to ensure we make these children and their families as comfortable as possible.

My baby is five!

2008-11-24T15:46:00.000-06:00

It's Olivia's birthday. She's five years old today. Once again, it seems as if the time has flown by. It really can't be possible that my baby is five.

Olivia.... A more fearless child, you've never met. I don't believe she's ever been afraid to try anything. She's a clown. We honestly never know what she will say or where she'll say it. Olivia's always willing to share a hug, a kiss, and an "I love you!". She makes each day full of joy.

My little surprise... Oh, how I thank God that He blessed us with you. Our family certainly wouldn't have been complete without you. Happy Birthday, sweetie!

Choatic times!

2008-11-13T05:35:00.000-06:00

It's been one of those weeks. Actually, it's been one of those months! Back in mid-October, our 18-month-old washing machine broke. Almost $300 later, we still had a broken washing machine. (HINT-If you have a front-loading machine, make SURE the repair guys know how to fix them.  They will lie!) We finally broke down and bought a new washer- standard, top-loader, no-frills, on-clearance washing machine. I'm hoping my water bill doesn't sky-rocket.

Moving right along... Over the next couple of weeks, the stomach virus hit. Now those of you with large families know that this is not a short-lived thing!   It makes round to each and every member of the family. And it comes back for another round. To make matters worse, the brilliant designers of this house put no bathrooms on the first floor. Imagine.... four puking kids, one puking husband, and two bathrooms upstairs. It's not a pretty sight. I, thankfully, was not affected this time. After a week and a half, the bug had finally passed on through.

Somewhere in there, we were hit from behind at a stoplight. Some teenager without a license, decided to plow into the folks behind us, who then hit us. Our van survived intact. (Too bad they couldn't have hit the right fender, where there is minor damage from the tire blow-out on our trip home from TN.)

Tuesday, Emma had a check-up with a pediatric ophthalmologist. It took four months (after finding a new pediatrician, scheduling a well visit, and getting a referral) to get an appointment with a specialist. I looked up the office online and arrived 15 minutes early, only to find a sign saying the office had moved. I arrived at the new office with one minute to spare, where I was informed that the pediatrician never sent the referral. A call to that office got that taken care of.   The visit itself was a good one. Emma's left eye has not worsened. We are trying a new approach. Rather than patching for hours a day, we will now put drops into her right eye each morning to blur it. The left eye will be forced to work, which will hopefully improve her vision in that eye. Right now, she is seeing 20/60 with glasses and the doctor seems confident that we can improve that.

I awoke this morning to find a clogged kitchen drain. I took the pipes apart myself and drained all the water out. Unfortunately, I could not find the source of the clog. I'm hoping the Drano Dwayne brings home will take care of it. I really don't want to call a plumber. And, I hope this is the end of the bad luck for a while....

What too much Halloween candy will do for you...

2008-11-05T10:51:00.000-06:00

Some how we always end up with some of these crazy teeth, and I don't buy them!

Trick-or-Treat

2008-10-31T17:34:00.000-05:00

Whew! I'm exhausted! Halloween is such a frenzied time. You have to get everyone in costume, locate a loot bag for everyone, stop and give out candy to a neighbor or two, herd everyone out the door, and walk for miles around the neighborhood.

But, it's so much fun! I love watching all the kids (not just mine) run from door to door in eagerness. I love the folks who go above and beyond to make trick-or-treating fun. We even came across a house this year that turned their garage into a mini haunted house.

Halloween is pretty much over for another year. The candy has been dumped and sorted. The kids are washing off the face paint and hair color. They'll be snuggled in bed soon, and by next week, I'll hear, "I know what I want to be next year for Halloween."

The kids in costume:

A cool neighbor's house (with an extra neighbor kid in the pic):

: a cool neighbor

The haunted house:

: haunted house

Pumpkin lapbook

2008-10-29T19:12:00.000-05:00

Since pumpkins are all around us during this fall season, what better topic to choose for a lapbook? This was Olivia's largest project ever, as there is an abundance of pumpkin activites out there in cyber-land. Here is a glimpse of the lapbook.

The cover is decorated with pumpkins made from Olivia's knuckle prints.

The first pages include following directions, a Five Little Pumpkins mini-book, "Peter Pumpkin Eater" rhyme, and how pumpkins grow mini-book.

The next pages are filled with a pumpkin puzzle, a counting mini-book, and a My Pumpkin mini-book (about shapes), and some pumpkin coloring.

Next Olivia did some color mixing. The pumpkin came from a pattern book that I have, but pumpkin patterns are plentiful online. The poem came from here. The right page includes the pumpkin life cycle, a matching emotions game, and a Shine for Jesus mini-book (goes great with The Pumpkin Patch Parable!).

Next, Olivia practiced P's (found here and here), practiced scissor skills (I can't locate this link.) and patterns.

The last pages consist of Jack-O'Lantern matching, pumpkin puzzles (numbers), and an alphabet dot-to-dot. Olivia also included a project on what's inside of a pumpkin. I found the patterns here. The insides are pumpkin seeds and orange yarn.

On the back cover, Olivia completed another alphabet dot-to-dot with lower case letters.

This was a huge project for Olivia, and it took three weeks to complete. She did have lots of fun with it!

Jack-o-lantern

2008-10-29T06:28:00.000-05:00

Last night, we continued our annual tradition of pumpkin carving. The kids picked out the biggest pumpkin they could find at Walmart. That's really lame, I know, but San Antonio is blessed with pumpkin patches of the church parking lot variety. Might as well pick one up at Walmart; so we did.

We always read the book, The Pumpkin Patch Parable, along with our pumpkin carving. It's a sweet, simple story that shares God's grace and love for us. After reading the book, we got down to serious business - removing the pumpkin's insides. This is actually the kids favorite part. That's probably because I refuse to let them have a carving knife yet! Olivia was the only one with a distaste for pumpkin guts. One handful was enough for her.

: Bailey and Emma

[caption id="attachment_230" align="alignnone" width="225" caption="Olivia"][/caption]

: Emma and Mary Grace

This year's jack-o-lantern was to have evil eyes and fangs (according to my children). And the result was this:

Howl 'O Scream

2008-10-26T12:43:00.000-05:00

After hearing how great the Howl 'O Scream at Sea World is, we decided to check it out for ourselves yesterday afternoon. Upon arrival, we spent a while in the kids' area. We needed to get that out of the way so we could do the fun stuff after dark.

Bailey and I took a trek through the Frightmare Forest. It wasn't really so frightful, but it was a fun!

We met up with Dwayne and the other kids just in time to see the Halloween Shamu show. It's very hard to take pictures of moving whales with a slow digital camera! (And it doesn't help when the folks in front of you feel the need to stand up frequently!) Here's a glimpse.

Our last stop was the Halloween Bash at the front gate. It was a short-lived party, since it was very crowded, we couldn't see anything. Here's Olivia giving it a try.

How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World Lapbook

2008-10-22T08:20:00.000-05:00

After completing the unit on How To Make an Apple Pie..., Emma put together a lapbook. The cover is covered with apple stamping.

Inside the lapbook, she included facts about Sri Lanka, England, France, and Vermont. She also did an experiment with salt and learned the life cycle of an apple. Emma worked on some subtraction and fractions through measurements. On the inside of the lapbook, Emma wrote how to make and apple pie and included picture of her making the pie and the finished product.

This week Emma is taking a break from FIAR and doing a unit study on ballet. Mary Grace has begun her next BFIAR unit on Thomas Edison. Both Bailey and Mary Grace finished one session of their book club and will start another in two weeks. They are looking forward to the next book, Charlotte's Web. (Well, Mary Grace is looking forward to it more than Bailey, but he'll survive!)

A Visit With Friends

2008-10-18T06:54:00.000-05:00

On Monday afternoon, our friends, Karsyn and Lisa, arrived from Tennessee. We hit the ground running with a trip downtown to the Riverwalk on Monday evening. We walked along the river and dined riverside at Casa Mia. Once we were back at home, we spent the evening catching up on all of our friends from church in TN.

Tuesday, we spent the morning at the zoo and picnicked in the park afterwards. Since Emma had an afternoon ballet class, we stayed at home for the evening and roasted hot dogs over the fire pit. We ended the evening with yummy smores and toasted marshmallows.

Wednesday, we headed back downtown to tour the Alamo. We were caught in a brief rainstorm and decided to make a dash over to the Rivercenter to wait out the storm over lunch. After a riverside lunch of pizza, we took a river cruise on the San Antonio River.

Thursday was a lazy day for us. We stayed at home and let the kids play in the sprinkler. We took a walk to the park in the afternoon and rested well for our big day on Friday.

Friday was the climax of the week--- a trip to Sea World. There have been several posts about our family trips to Sea World, but this was the first ever Sea World adventure for Lisa and Karsyn. We fed the dolphins, saw Shamu, watched the sea lion and acrobat shows, and rode the Atlantis three times in a row. We took a walk through the Frightmare Forest (We must go back for the more frightening night version!), and watched the Haunted Lighthouse 4D movie. After a full day of fun, we came home exhausted!

[caption id="attachment_213" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Cloar kids and Karsyn"][/caption]

Lisa and Karsyn are now on their way home. We hope they had as much fun as we did!

How to Make an Apple Pie

2008-10-12T17:34:00.000-05:00

and See the World. That's the book Emma read last week. So, of course, we had to make an apple pie! Unfortunately, we did not get to see Italy, France, Sri Lanka, England, Jamaica, or Vermont while making our pie. (Well, we visited on a map.) Apple pie making was an experience for both Emma and me, since I have never made an apple pie -unless of course you count a Mrs. Smith's. Here is Emma mixing up the crust.

When the pie was done, it looked like this:

It was really yummy, although a little on the runny side. It certainly wasn't bad for a first attempt for both of us.

Over the next week, friends from TN will be visiting with. We'll be touring the city with them and catching up on many of you back home.

All By Myself

2008-10-10T04:59:00.000-05:00

Last night, Olivia couldn't convince anyone to play Battleship with her. I found her playing anyway-by herself. With four children, it's rare that you see someone in our house playing alone. Actually, it's rare to see my children playing with just each other. There always seems to be one, or two, or three, or four extra kids in the yard or house. I hope Olivia knows to treasure these moments of alone time!

Grandfather's Journey and Caps for Sale lapbooks

2008-09-28T14:43:00.000-05:00

This week Emma completed a lapbook for the book Grandfather's Journey. We weren't very creative with the cover of this one.

[caption id="attachment_191" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="cover of lapbook"][/caption]

Inside of the lapbook, Emma has the a flapbook of continents, a recycling center, a pocket for Japanese traditions, and a pocket for her origami project (a boat).

[caption id="attachment_192" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="inside of lapbook"][/caption]

With the flap up, Emma has maps identifying California and Japan, a map of the oceans, a minit book about land forms, and ways we can cut down on pollution.

[caption id="attachment_193" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="inside of lapbook with flap up"][/caption]

Emma also learned some about World War II. That wasn't included in the lapbook.

Olivia completed a lapbook on the book, Caps for Sale. She absolutely loved this book, and could frequently be heard saying, "You monkeys give me back my caps!" Here is a look at her lapbook.

The cover includes a picture in which Olivia stacked the hats on the peddler's head.

[caption id="attachment_194" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Olivia"][/caption]

The inside includes a picture of a monkey and "Mm" practice, a cap Olivia designed, a chart of the peddler's hats, a community helpers hat book, and the names of types of money.

[caption id="attachment_195" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="inside Olivia"][/caption]

The back cover is a tree full of monkeys, similar to the one in the book. The monkeys are Olivia's fingerprints. Olivia made some of the monkeys, and when she got tired, I finished them up. She loves any artwork involving paint.

[caption id="attachment_196" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="back of Olivia"][/caption]

Mary Grace is finishing up The Boxcar Children. This week, she learned about the Great Potato famine in Ireland, the Industrial Revolution, and marathons. One of this week's activities was making a sock bear, similar to the one Jesse made for Benny. Mary Grace's is a primitive bear, but she had a good time making it. She will finish The Boxcar Children this week and move on to Thomas Edison, Young Inventor.

[caption id="attachment_197" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Mary Grace"][/caption]

Bailey is enjoying his book club and reading Indian Captive. All of the kids are enjoying our Zoology class and art class. We're getting more settled into a routine of school and all the extra activities.

Strawberry Shortcake

2008-09-20T06:22:00.000-05:00

[caption id="attachment_187" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Strawberry Shortcake"][/caption]

Looks yummy, doesn't it? Mary Grace is using the Beyond Five in a Row curriculum this year. Her first book to read is The Boxcar Children. She (and I!) have learned much about the Great Depression, The Dust Bowl, the transcontinental railroad, how soap works, and many other things. Yesterday's fun activity was baking a strawberry shortcake from scratch. (There was a hidden math lessson in there!) We fudged a little on the strawberries. We were supposed to use fresh strawberries, but the cost was not practical. So, we used some fresh strawberries, and Mary Grace got to smash those to make the topping. It wasn't quite enough, so we added some frozen strawberries (thawed, of course) to the mix. We also decided the cake would be prettier baked in a bundt pan and with powdered sugar sprinkled on top. The result was a very simple biscuit-like cake. It was delicious!

Here's a picture of Mary Grace with her creation:

[caption id="attachment_188" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Mary Grace and her strawberry shortcake"][/caption]

The busyness resumes

2008-09-08T17:58:00.000-05:00

Our school year is well under way now. Last week we began our Apologia Science class (Zoology I). The kids had a great time and are looking forward to the next class. First in the class is the study of birds. We have to bring in 3 pictures of birds each for next week (9 total for us!!), so we decided the zoo would be the best place to knock out getting those pictures. The plan would have worked better had I remembered to put the memory card in the camera. We managed to get six pictures on the internal memory, so at least we accomplished something. Of course, we always enjoy trips to the zoo!

The girls also started dance classes last week. All three girls are participating in Ballet Gloria at Oak Hills Church. Both Emma and Olivia have basic ballet classes, and Mary Grace and Emma have a class focusing on ballet, lyrical, and choreography. The classes also emphasize scripture memory and modesty. Because Emma is more interested in ballet that the other girls, she is also taking a class at The Performing Arts School of Classical Ballet. Here's a picture of her on her first day.

[caption id="attachment_184" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="Emma"][/caption]

Bailey has resumed Boy Scout meetings. He has achieved the rank of Star Scout and was voted Senior Patrol Leader at tonight's meeting. His troop has its first camp out of the season this weekend. (That means a girl weekend here at home!)

The book club for Bailey and Mary Grace starts this week as does a young elementary science class for the two younger girls. Luckily for me, these activities meet at the library at the same time! This year certainly promises to be full and exciting.

Goodnight Moon and The Story of Ping lapbooks

2008-08-26T08:02:00.000-05:00

Here are the pictures of our lapbooks completed last week. The first is Olivia's lapbook based on Goodnight Moon. With this lapbook, Olivia focused on the letter "M", practiced her phone number, memorized "Hey Diddle Diddle", learned left and right, worked on number and circle recognition, and learned that the moon changes. We also worked some on rhyming words.

[caption id="attachment_176" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Olivia"][/caption]

Emma's lapbook was based on The Story of Ping. She learned to identify the Chinese flag and China on a map. She learned about the Yangtze River and the Great Wall of China. Emma identified objects that sink and float and learned about the sun. She also learned some information about ducks. Emma practiced drawing pictures with water and reflections.

[caption id="attachment_177" align="alignnone" width="300" caption="Emma"][/caption]

Most of the resources for these lapbooks came from Homeschool Share and are listed under FIAR resources.

The first week of school

2008-08-25T06:52:00.000-05:00

[gallery]

We finished up our first week of school. I'd say it was pretty successful, as we managed to get back into our routine easily. This year we have Bailey in 7th grade, Mary Grace in 4th, and Emma in 2nd. Olivia is joining us this year as a kindergartner (K4). By public school standards, she isn't quite old enough to start since she has a late birthday, but we're going to give this year a try. We may do K5 next year!

Emma and Olivia created lapbooks this week. Emma's was based on The Story About Ping, and Olivia's was created using Goodnight Moon. This week we are moving on to Madeline (Emma) and The Runaway Bunny (Olivia). I try to get pictures of those posted later.

Next week, all of our extracurricular activities start up, so we will begin our hectic year in earnest. We have ballet classes, Boy Scouts, Awana, a book club, a science class, and an art class to fit into our days. WHEW!

It's been too long

2008-08-18T03:40:00.000-05:00

It's been a summer full of activities, and I have sadly neglected this blog. We've had swimming lessons, dance camps, VBS, and numerous trips to the pool and Sea World to keep us busy this summer. It's the first summer in 4 years that we have had Dwayne (and the rest of us, too!) at home all summer. We enjoyed it thoroughly.

We spent the first two weeks of August with our families and friends in TN. It was a bittersweet time for us. We traveled home two days earlier than planned to attend the funeral of Dwayne's grandfather. We had hoped to see him alive one last time during this trip, but God was ready to take him home. We know that God's timing is perfect, and we rejoice that Granddad is with Jesus now.

The kids and I spent several days with my family while Dwayne was attending a conference in Nashville. We had time to relax and catch our breath from the whirlwind of days surrounding our travel to TN and the funeral. We took a short letterboxing trip and planted a box in the area, but mostly we just did nothing. And ...it was great.

We met up with Dwayne after the conference and visited with his grandmother for a few more days. We did catch up with a few friends on this trip, and we really enjoyed our time with all of you. We wish we could have seen more friends. We miss you all!

Our trip home to TX was an adventure... We had a tire blow out in Austin, just over an hour from home. We made it home Tuesday morning after spending Monday night in Austin and having a new tire put on Tuesday morning.

Last week was spent getting ready for our new school year, which starts today. I'll give you an update later on the first day of school.

Ballet Gloria Dance Camp

2008-07-12T10:50:00.000-05:00

[caption id="attachment_158" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Emma's class at Ballet Gloria"][/caption]

The girls have had a busy week at dance camp. We recently found out about a great ministry at Oak Hills Church called Ballet Gloria. Two sisters feel that God has called them to minister through dance and created Ballet Gloria to teach the basics of dance, modesty, and Bible study. The girls attended their summer dance camp last week. Emma and Olivia had one hour classes where they learned the basics of ballet and memorized a Psalm. Mary Grace was involved in an all-day camp, where the older girls learned ballet, jazz, lyrical, and Hebrew dancing. Mary Grace's favorite of the week was the Hebrew dancing. It did look like fun!

Last night, the dancers held a demonstration of what they have learned throughout the week. The younger girls were in one dance each and Mary Grace was in four dances. I am including photos, but the set up was not great for pictures. There are lots of heads and chairs in the way! The ones of Emma's class didn't turn out at all.

[caption id="attachment_162" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Olivia's Ballet Gloria class demonstraion"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_163" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Mary Grace's Ballet Gloria class demonstration"][/caption]

The girls has such a great time that we plan to participate in the Ballet Gloria school year program, too.

Our holiday weekend

2008-07-07T09:24:00.000-05:00

[wp_caption id="attachment_150" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="4th of July Parade"][/wp_caption]

On Friday, July 4th, we celebrated our great nation with a neighborhood parade. Kids decorated wagons and bikes, and trikes, and whatever else they could think of. Mary Grace and Emma decorated their bikes with many stars, and we decorated our wagon for Olivia to ride in. We made patriotic T-shirts to wear in the parade. The kids had a great time, and Olivia won 1st place in the 6 and under decorating contest. She was very proud!!

[wp_caption id="attachment_152" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="1st place winner!!"][/wp_caption]

After the parade, we spent the afternoon at the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. It was the first time our children had seen a BIG circus. (They've seen a Shiner's Circus, but it's not the same!) Everyone was impressed with the show. Olivia loved the "ballerinas" (acrobats). Considering her career goal is to be in the acrobat show at Sea World, I guess that would be her favorite. The dancing dogs and Bello (the Head clown) were favorites, too. Other than spending a small fortune on 2 Cokes and a bag of popcorn and standing in the rain to redeem our tickets, it was pleasurable day.

[wp_caption id="attachment_153" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Circus Acrobats"][/wp_caption]

[wp_caption id="attachment_154" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Circus Elephants"][/wp_caption]

[wp_caption id="attachment_155" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Circus Tigers"][/wp_caption]

Exciting news!

2008-06-15T16:36:00.000-05:00

About a week and a half ago Mary Grace came to me and said she wanted to ask Jesus into her heart. We talked, she answered all the right questions correctly, and she prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. We were a little concerned that she had been pressured by some of her friends, so we continued to talk to her over the last week and came to the conclusion that she was sincere. Today, Mary Grace joined our church and will be baptized next Sunday. It is truly a joy to lead one of your own children to the Lord. I am excited to know that my little girl is also my sister in Christ. What a blessing!

Block Party

2008-06-09T07:14:00.000-05:00

This weekend our church had a community wide Block Party. There was free food and games, bouncers, and a dunking booth. It was a great time of outreach in our community and a blast for the kids. Bailey was our photographer, as Dwayne and I were running a game the entire evening. Here is a glimpse of the afternoon.

Braces

2008-06-04T05:19:00.000-05:00

It's time for braces at our house. We've known that Bailey would need braces for a long time. He simply has more space than he has teeth. Because space is the only issue, braces weren't necessary until all of his permanent teeth were in. Now they are. And we had an orthodontic consultation yesterday. And I am still in shock. We have no orthodontic insurance. We may not eat for the next two years. We have three younger children, two of whom will also likely need braces. We may be homeless in a few years, but our kids will have perfect teeth!

New life

2008-06-03T09:33:00.000-05:00

Yesterday, Dwayne called to tell us of a baby deer that had been spotted at the Boy Scout park behind his office. The fawn was hidden in a garage on the property, and the mother had not been seen. My kids, of course, wanted to bring this animal home, but I'm certain there are laws against keeping wildlife in the city limits. Luckily, the ranger checked on the little guy later and the mom had returned for it!

2008 Dance Recital

2008-05-31T17:36:00.000-05:00

Today was the girls' dance recital. The recital took place at the beautiful Lila Cockrell theater downtown on the River Walk.

Mary Grace took the stage for the 7th year, but this time only performing in one number, a jazz routine. As always, Mary Grace shines on stage! She loves all that comes with dance recitals. (She's on the far right in the 2nd picture.)

Emma danced her 4th recital-her first as an official ballet student. She had such a good time on stage, and she loved her beautiful costume. It made her feel like a real ballerina. (Emma's on the right in the 2nd pic.)

Olivia danced on stage for the very first time. She was a bit nervous and really didn't get into it until the second half of the dance. (Olivia's on the left in the 2nd pic.)

We haven't been pleased with the dance school itself (We loved, loved, loved our dance school back in TN!!), and are planning to enroll elsewhere in the fall. But, the girls had a good time at the recital and were able to show what they have learned this year. The leotards, tights, and dance shoes are being put away for the summer, and we are looking forward to several weeks of freedom from the dance studio.

Happy Birthday, Emma!

2008-05-26T17:03:00.000-05:00

[gallery]Emma. My sweetheart. My drama queen. And now, my 7 year old girl. Today, we celebrated Emma's birthday as well as Memorial Day.

We spent the morning at home, where Emma opened a few gifts. Dwayne is out-of-town this week, so we gave her some of her gifts last Thursday before he left. She received a Cabbage Patch Kid with accessories and a Princess Monopoly game on Thursday. Today she was presented with a bike basket and license plate, a Polly Pocket set, and new fingernail polish. We allow our children to pick the place to eat for their birthdays, and Emma chose Chuck E. Cheese. For 3 hours, we nibbled on pizza and cake, played games, and collected tickets. Her cake was, appropriately, a flag made of cupcakes. Our neighbors joined us for the celebration, making Emma's day even more special.

Happy Birthday, Princess! You make every day a joy!

New babies

2008-05-24T12:51:00.000-05:00

[gallery]Did that get your attention? We did get two new babies, just not human babies (not that I'd mind a couple more kids around here). I went to sign Emma and Olivia up for swimming lessons this morning and came home with two baby kittens. They are tiny kittens, not yet old enough to be away from their mama. Someone had dumped them off at the pool, and I brought them home, much to the delight of my children. We took a trip to Petco for kitten formula and bottles, but so far we've had little luck getting them to eat much. I am hoping that we can keep them healthy until they are old enough to give away. Since my kids have already named them (Harley and Spurs), that may be more difficult than I think.

Tourists in our own city

2008-05-21T12:14:00.000-05:00

[gallery]Dwayne is on vacation this week, and we have been playing tourists in our own city. With extra dance practices for our recitals next week, we couldn't leave town for a vacation, so we decided to take advantage of the city we live in. Yesterday, we went downtown to for a River Cruise. It's a great way to find out some of the city's history. After the cruise, we headed over to Hemisfair Park. There, we toured the Instituto de Mexico (art museum). My favorite piece was a sculpture of a woman hanging clothes (and people) out to dry.

It's time to swim!

2008-05-13T07:11:00.000-05:00

[gallery]Our neighborhood pools opened this weekend. The kids are so excited about having unlimited swimming opportunities this summer. Most of Saturday and a bit of Sunday was spent at the pool. It was a great time of relaxing and playing!

Freebies for you homeschoolers!

2008-05-12T04:28:00.000-05:00

This is from CurrClick. Everyone loves freebies!

Welcome to our 3rd Annual Mother's Day Freebie Event!

We can't make every day Mother's Day, but we can give you a reason to keep celebrating Mother's Day for the rest of the year:

From May 12th through May 14th, download up to 20 FREE Homeschool titles from our generous publishers, worth over $100.00 in value!

http://www.currclick.com/cclick_mothersday.php?affiliate_id=1106

Plus, earn a 10% account credit on every purchase you make during the week of May 12th-16th!

Happy Extra-Long Mother's Day to you, from CurrClick and its publishers!

Our latest lapbooks

2008-05-06T13:11:00.000-05:00

[gallery]We have been working on several lapbooks. Bailey and Mary Grace recently completed lapbooks on the water cycle. I don't have pictures of those to post, but we used the study from Homeschool Helper. Emma has finished two lapbooks. One is based on Frog Went A-Courtin by John Langstaff. This lapbook can be found at Homeschool Share. Emma learned where in the world Scotland and France are and what continent the countries are on. The color wheel, contractions, pronouns, and the life cycle of a frog were all part of the lapbook.

Emma also completed a lapbook based on The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I put this lapbook together myself using activities from several sources. We learned about the life cycle of a butterfly (from Enchanted Learning and Bry-back Manor). I found some really neat activities for the book at Making Learning Fun. There is a great emergent reader on the site that Emma made, but did not include in the lapbook. DLTK's site was also a great source. The painted butterfly on the back was an art lesson in symmetry. What better way to teach symmetry than a butterfly?

Bailey, Mary Grace, and Emma are now working on a weather lapbook, and Emma is beginning one on the Flat Stanley series. Some of the flats we sent out are beginning to arrive home, so now is a great time to work on the lapbook.

Scenes from nature

2008-05-06T12:31:00.000-05:00

[gallery] Spring is here, and we are seeing signs of new life in the nature around us. I wanted to share some of the things we have seen lately. The cactus plants are blooming, and despite the prickly thorns they bear, the flowers are lovely.

Squirrels are in abundance in our yard. We see them running along the tops of our fence all throughout the day. The one pictured here flattened itself against the tree limb when we got close.

The bird pictured has a nest at the top of our porch column. It's too high up to see in it, but we are pretty sure it has eggs in it. The bird stays in the nest most of the day. We hope to hear the sounds of baby birds soon.

Court of Honor

2008-04-29T08:26:00.000-05:00

Last night was Bailey's first Court of Honor since our move to Texas. He earned the Railroading and the Hunting and Fishing merit badges. Bailey is only a few service hours from being a Star Scout. He was very close when we moved here, but due to it taking so long to find a troop, is just now getting to work on those hours. The next Court of Honor should include a rank advancement for him.

Wipeout!

2008-04-27T05:23:00.000-05:00

OUCH! Mary Grace had a wipeout on her bike today. Unfortunately for her, she decided to crash right in into a cactus plant. She acquired quite a few cactus needles in her arms, legs, back, bottom, and belly. We spent the good part of an hour picking them out one by one. I don't even know what to do with her clothes. I'm thinking duct tape. I just need to locate it. We have another new Texas experience under our belts.

Moving....

2008-04-26T18:58:00.002-05:00

this blog that is! I am moving this blog here. I'll most likely leave this one up for a while longer. I've already imported all the posts, but am still working on all the links and such. I have gotten all of my blog friends added. See you over there!

Dirt!

2008-04-25T22:56:00.006-05:00

My girls have become very good friends with a couple of girls down the street. They spend any free afternoons riding bikes or playing in our yards until we drag them in for supper. They then go back out until we drag them in again for baths and bedtime. I love they fact that they are making friends and spending time outside being kids. This is what Olivia looked like when I made her come in tonight. (The neighbor girls put her hair up.) The back side was covered in even more dirt and sidewalk chalk. I should have taken a close-up picture of her feet. Nothing says good clean fun, like dirt!

Dirt!

2008-04-25T22:56:00.005-05:00

Fiesta!

2008-04-25T20:34:00.004-05:00

It's Fiesta time in San Antonio. Unfortunately, most of the events aren't kid-friendly, and the parades are costly, so we aren't participating in much. Bailey was able to be in the largest of the parades, The Battle of Flowers. The parade is second in size nationally to the Tournament of Roses Parade. The tradition of Fiesta started in 1891 with the Battle of Flowers parade, which was to honor heroes of the Alamo and the Battle of San Jacinto. Bailey and several other Boy Scouts carried a huge American flag during the parade. I wish I cold have seen him, but the cost for our entire family was just too much. Dwayne was able to go with the scouts and took a few pictures for me.

Fiesta!

2008-04-25T20:34:00.003-05:00

Animal Adventures

2008-04-20T18:29:00.003-05:00

This was a week of field trips. On Monday, Dwayne was still off work, so we spent the day at the zoo. The zoo is always a fun trip, and on this day we saw a baby monkey. If you look closely in the picture of the monkey, you can see the baby's head through the caging. We also saw the Africa! exhibit for the first time. The hippos are in a great habitat that allows visitors to see them through the side of their pool. It was the closest we have ever been to hippos. The new frog exhibit, Toadally, was also open, and the kids enjoyed all the frogs. We fed the lorikeets, and Bailey had several land on his head and shoulders. Of course, we made stops at the favorites in the kids' area, the goats and the River Bank play area.

On Friday, we finished up school work early and went to Sea World. We planned to take advantage of Lost Lagoon (the water park) being open, but I didn't pay enough attention to the schedule. It seems the water park is only open on Saturdays and Sundays right now. But, we still enjoyed the day. We were early enough to feed the dolphins, but when the girls found out the food was fish, they wanted no part of it. Bailey thought it was great! We watched the Wake Riders show, which we haven't seen before, and spent some time getting drenched while watching the Atlantis riders. We saw a new addition the the sea lion show- a walrus. The kids thought he was really funny, especially when he did sit ups!

The weather here has been beautiful, and the kids have enjoyed being outside all weekend. They've become friends with some kids across the street, and all of them have been back and forth between houses for the last two days. I'm happy to see that they are making some new friends. With the summer months ahead, friends will keep them busy!

Animal Adventures

2008-04-20T18:29:00.002-05:00

A weekend getaway

2008-04-13T20:48:00.003-05:00

Dwayne had a couple of days off work, so we decided to take a last-minute, mini-vacation to Corpus Christi. We missed our annual beach vacation last year and were anxious for sand and salt water! Corpus Christi is only a short two and a half hour drive, so we headed out on Friday for some fun in the sun. We checked into our hotel, donned swimsuits, and walked to McGee Beach in Corpus Christi. The water was warm, but the beach itself left something to be desired. As for the kids, as long as there was water, it was all good!

After a few hours in the water, we headed back to the hotel to clean up for supper. We decided to just walk next door to Whataburger on the Bay. Texans love Whataburger, but it's a taste we haven't acquired just yet. It's OK, just not as great as many Texans think it is.

After supper, we attempted a family walk along the sea wall. Emma has a huge fear of water where she can't touch bottom, so she didn't make it very far before tears began to fall. Emma, Olivia, and I returned to the beach to search for shells while Dwayne, Bailey, and Mary Grace walked as far as they could go along the wall.

Saturday morning, we decided that we really wanted to investigate some of the other beaches in the area. We decided to go north to Aransas Pass and take the ferry across to Port Aransas. We made a quick stop just before the ferry to find a letterbox at a small park, then went to wait for the ferry. None of us had ever been on a ferry before, so that in itself was an adventure -driving up on the big boat and cruising across the water. Port Aransas is a barrier island and it truly has a beach-town feel. We found the public beach there (MacGee Beach) to be much better than the one in Corpus Christi. It was a really windy day, so the waves were great, and the kids had lots of fun.

Texas beaches are much different than the beaches we are used to. There was no beautiful white sand. The sand was much darker, and there was lots of seaweed. Unfortunately, the coastal bend of Texas also acquires most of the trash thrown into the Gulf of Mexico, so we did see debris washed up on the shore. Texas also considers beaches to be public highways. You just drive right up on the beach and park.

After our fill of the beach, we dined at Moby Dick's for supper. It has a unique atmosphere, though the food was typical beach town fare. Supper ended our getaway, and we headed back home with tummies full and too much sun on our faces and shoulders. All-in-all, we had a good time and plan to vacation a little longer in Port Aransas in May.

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Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

A weekend getaway

2008-04-13T20:48:00.002-05:00

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Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

Insect lapbooks

2008-04-09T23:11:00.009-05:00

We completed insect lapbooks today. We used the lapbook from Homeschool Helper and added in some things from Learning Page. We also used this site, which included a video about insects, an insect log sheet, and the opportunity to create and name your own bug (online, of course!). We added a pocket to the back of the lapbook to hold all the extra activities. We scoured our back yard to record the insects found there. Ants, honey bees, wood bees, wasps, flies, gnats, and pill bugs (or roly polies as they are called at our house) were sighted in the yard.

Insect lapbooks

2008-04-09T23:11:00.008-05:00

What we've been working on

2008-04-08T23:19:00.004-05:00

Since it's Home Education week, I thought I'd give you a glimpse of some of the projects we've been working on. Mary Grace and Emma completed Easter lapbooks based on The Legend of the Easter Egg. (Emma's is pictured.) We learned about Faberge eggs and Russia. We also did several egg experiments and dyed eggs with natural dyes (carrot tops and onion skins). The girls also completed a very simple lapbook on plants. (Mary Grace's is pictured.) We learned the parts of a plant, the plant life cycle, and what kinds of things plants are used for. We've planted some flowers in the back yard and are watching for their growth.

In History, we are studying the Middle Ages this year. We've recently been learning about Christianity in Europe. The kids designed their own shields and created a Rose window like those found in churches of the Middle Ages.

Every day is something new, and I'm learning right along with the kids.

What we've been working on

2008-04-08T23:19:00.003-05:00

Home Education Week

2008-04-07T11:43:00.003-05:00

I had no idea that there was a Home Education Week, but I found this on another blog. So to all you homeschoolers, have a great week of learning and enjoying your kids!

Home Education Week

2008-04-07T11:43:00.002-05:00

I had no idea that there was a Home Education Week, but I found this on another blog. So to all you homeschoolers, have a great week of learning and enjoying your kids!

Weekend Update

2008-04-06T20:53:00.005-05:00

This weekend included planting flowers and more letterboxing. Dwayne had to work all day Saturday, so the kids and I went to pick out the flowers. We picked begonias and gazanias to plant in big pots. We placed those by our front door. We also picked up two kinds of zinnia seeds to plant in the back yard. The girls had a great time digging up a spot in the corner of the yard. Now we are waiting to see if they grow.

After church today, we went out for another round of letterboxing. Our destination was Eisenhower Park, where we hoped to find six boxes. We were looking for two different series of three boxes. We had no luck with the first series. The directions were vague, and the hiding spots weren't easily distinguishable. "The cedar tree with one branch growing sideways" describes most of the trees in the park! We thought we found the first two hiding places, but did not find boxes there. We gave up on that series and went on to the other. We found all three of those boxes and a hitchhiker (a stamp and journal placed in another person's box). We ended up with four new stamps in our journal.

It was a rather warm day, and after hiking almost 2.5 miles, we wished we had brought water with us. That's a lesson for the next time! We ended our adventure with a trip to Sonic for slushes.

Weekend Update

2008-04-06T20:53:00.004-05:00

Tag!

2008-04-03T20:42:00.003-05:00

A while back I was tagged by Tiffany. I am to tell eight weird things about myself. Here goes:

1. I love banana and mayo sandwiches.

2. I like tomato and butter sandwhiches.

3. I like boiled (slimy) okra.

(OK, so I like weird foods.)

4. I have to have all towels and washcloths folded the same way and facing the same direction in the cabinet.

5. I usually sleep with one foot out from under the covers.

6. I am a fraternal twin. My sister and I look absolutely nothing alike.

7. I cannot touch newspaper with wet hands. It's like fingernails on a chalkboard.

8. I hate to wear perfume.

I'm tagging Jenni, Christie, and Diana. What's weird about you girls? (By the way, I miss you HEART ladies!!)

Tag!

2008-04-03T20:42:00.002-05:00

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

2008-04-01T09:21:00.006-05:00

This post is little late. It's been a crazy weekend. Bailey's birthday (#12) was Saturday. His Boy Scout Troop was camping this weekend, so we celebrated on Friday and Sunday instead of Saturday. He opened his gifts on Friday, but had cake (actually, a big cookie) on Sunday. His troop provided a cake on Saturday, so Bailey did have a celebration on his actual birthday. He seemed to be pleased with his gifts, which included a new PlayStation game and camping equipment.

We worked on a couple of projects this weekend. We bought an old cabinet on Craigslist for $8 and spent Saturday sanding, painting and distressing it. We think it turned out pretty well, and are using it in our room to hold books and quilts.

On Sunday, after church, we switched the girls' rooms. We had given the two younger girls the larger room, but their full sized bed took up so much space that there was no room to play. We moved Mary Grace to their room, and put Olivia and Emma in the day bed/trundle. The only furniture that had to be moved was a dresser, but we had to move all the clothes and toys from both rooms. It's all finished now, except for a few pictures on the walls. Everyone seems pleased with the new arrangement.

One last thing... Misty has given me an award, the You Cheer Me Up Award. Thanks, Misty. You are a great encouragement, too!

I'm going to pass the award along to my great friend Robin. She is truly a Proverbs 31 woman (and a gifted photographer).

Happy Birthday, Bailey!

2008-04-01T09:21:00.005-05:00

I'm going to pass the award along to my great friend Robin. She is truly a Proverbs 31 woman (and a gifted photographer).