And 1 More Makes 6

Happy Birthday Daddy

2011-08-13T13:05:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Michael's birthday with a traditional red cake and picture with all the kids. One day I will have to be sure to include each of the pictures from the previous years. It's funny to see how they all grow.
I love this man.

Yes he's a Cowboy!

2011-07-30T13:04:00.000-07:00

Even in a pink hat and ladies boots.

VBS

2011-07-23T10:39:00.000-07:00

This summer we all participated in VBS and all the kids had such a great time, although by Friday we were all wiped. A week of early mornings and lots of activities is fun but tiring especially if you are 3 and 4 years old...and somewhere over 40...LOL..

The theme this year was the Big Apple Adventure, so everything was decorated to replicate NYC. My kids having been to NY a million times, since that is where my whole family is, got a kick out of it. There were lots of crafts and activities, I didn't get any pictures of lesson time which I am so disappointed because Sara Jones did such a great job, especially with picking up the trash with the pick up sticks, the NY stock exchange and 5 star hotels - where everyone had to be a bellhop and maid...it was so awesome.

I was what they called a cabbie (group leader) with another Mom and her teenage daughter. We had 9 of the sweetest 5th grade girls you would ever want to meet. They were so great. I loved it, made my life easier.
Every day they had craft time, game time, and lesson time, opening and closing ceremonies.
By the way it was 100 degrees every day...it was the middle of July and middle of the heat wave, so glad we did water games every day. This one was pretty good. They used water balloon launchers to launch water balloons and the cabbies (leaders) had to try to hit them from across the parking lot with a tennis racket. Surprisingly Cathy and I did not get wet.
This was a sponge game with two buckets and the team with the most water, after running with a sponge on your head wins.
This was Eric the break dancer, he performed in Opening Ceremonies and then tried to teach the kids how to break dance, we had some really good kids, but of course some of our girls did not want to try...some of them were too embarrassed (ah the preteen).
It was a great week, the kids had fun, I had fun, we can't wait for next year.

Great Smoky Mountains

2011-07-12T11:43:00.000-07:00

While we were in TN we took the opportunity to drive part of the trail of the Great Smokey Mountains. I have to tell you I thought we would just be driving along the trail maybe see some animals and maybe do one of those stop at the overpass and look at the scenery. And while we did do this and while we did take some spectacular photos (see the first few pictures below) my husband had ideas of hiking to see some of the trails. Now I'm an out doorsey kind of gal, not for spending a week camping or anything, but I do enjoy an occasional hike and definitely some seashores. However I did not come prepared for this particular type of hike......

I love being their mom.

Truly they were some beautiful pictures along the way, and we even stopped at the visitors center to get a map so we could hike this great adventure.....with 4 kids in 98 degree weather with 90% humidity.

So we decided to take the trail to Laurel Falls, it seemed like a relatively short trail compared to the others and the guide said it was fairly easy. I don't know if you can see that sign that says DANGER...if you can click on the picture to make it bigger you will notice that it says bears are active in this area...I of course did not see that little sign on the way, I just noticed the 1.3 miles, one way.

So we began our hike up the hill in 98 degree weather with small children whining and complaining the whole way. Sometimes carrying said whiny children.
We made it an opportunity to see and hear different things...always a chance for learning.
Definitely the hardest part was the narrowness of the trail and keeping the kids to the right so we wouldn't fall off the cliff. It took a good 45 minutes and couple of times we were tempted to go back down the hill....did I mention the bear cub half way up the trail..... People were stopping to take pictures and capture the moment...really my out doorsyness goes out the window when you have a live animal nearby..I would rather he go his way and I go mine. But we decided to trek on as quietly as possible. Of course we were passing the crowd as they were trying to take it's picture, praying that we would just get to the top of falls so we could experience the sense of completion. As I reflect on it it really just reminds me of the trials of life. God allows you to go through some trials, sometimes it feels like it's never going to end and you feel like you are nver going to make it, then it does and you are rewarded in some way. Whether it's physical or emotional or something you just learned. We come through them stronger then when we went in to it.

Still smiling...

This is what we were rewarded with. It was SPECTACULAR. I was in awe of the beauty of it and how amazing it felt to actually stick my feet in this beautiful refreshing place.

Yes I am wearing flip flops...can you tell I did not plan on hiking.

They loved it, had it been any deeper they might have gone swimming in their clothes...
Oh wait I forgot Madison did....when she fell in face first. Of course after some complaining she felt pretty good.

Love his cheesey grin.
After spending some time marveling at God's creation we headed back down the mountain.

A little hot...a little tired...but mostly grateful that we had this experience.....Did I mention the little guy was completely not having it.

Vacation

2011-07-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

We went with Michael's family to Pigeon Forge TN for a few days its an 8 hour car ride for us and a 4 hour car ride for them, so it was a fun place to kind of meet up instead of at the beach this year. Pigeon Forge is nice, very touristy but we had a lot of fun. There is a lot to do there. We didn't get to take picture of the Water Park but it was great, they had something for everyone. If you live less than 10 hours away I would recommend it for a four or five day trip but anymore and it would seem too much.

Click on image to make it bigger and be able to see the pictures better.

Business Trip to Boston

2011-07-06T12:17:00.000-07:00

Michael had a short business trip to Boston (we have been spoiled he hadn't traveled for almost two months...but this was a short one). One of his life long dreams was to sit on the Green Monster at Fenway Park..So I guess it helps to have connections because he flew into Boston at 5:00 and went that night to a baseball game and one of his connections was able to get him on the Green Monster. If he had been a little earlier he might have been able to make it on to the field..but none the less it was awesome for him. The only thing that would have made it better would have been ME with him beside him....Of course I tend to get a little rowdy at sporting events so maybe that might not have been so good with his co-workers.

One happy Man...Oh how I love him.

Fourth of July - Part 2

2011-07-04T11:56:00.000-07:00

So as an early Christmas present from the grandparents was a new swing set for the kids. The old one had some rotted wood and really was way past being safe...but it was free when a family who's children were already grown gave it to us...so it was a huge blessing for the past 5 years and for that we are thankful.

It took Michael only a couple of hours to take down the other one...although the pieces are still in the backyard.
It took another couple of hours to sort through and organize all of the wood into appropriate piles.

And of course a MILLION screws, nuts and bolts.

It has a picnic table that sits underneath like our old one, that was quite a nice bonus.

Rock wall and monkey bars make it all the more fun.

Finally by Monday ....in the sweltering heat and after asking 1000 times is it done yet, they were
ready to play on it and have fun, for about 15 minutes because then it was just too hot.
But they LOVE it.....The fine print wasn't kidding...it took Michael with a very little help from me

all three days to get it together.

After the swing set went up and we went in to cool down and eat...we went to see some fireworks. I forgot to bring my camera for that...I wish I had but I think being out in the heat all weekend fried my brain. The country club up the street from us does them every year so we parked in the parking lot by the supermarket and waited with a couple of thousand other neighborhood folks to watch the fire works.. It was great...everyone except Jordan loved it (she is sensitive to noise...but we had headphones for her and it was fine)...but we could definitely feel it, like we were standing there lighting them ourselves. Jaden kept asking for more.

Fourth of July

2011-07-04T11:47:00.000-07:00

The girls did their dance camp that they absolutely love again this year..It is a worship dance camp and it is a week long, it's only a few hours a day and then they get to march in the 4th of July parade down downtown Fairfax. This year Madison went to the camp but only 6 year olds and older can march in the parade.....which really is OK because she would have complained the whole way. She was much happier sitting on the sides watching with us....although she kept complaining about the heat.

This was the last day of the camp and they were recapping what they had learned.

We arrived what we thought was early enough to find a good seat little did we know that people actually come out the night before to put tarps down to hold the spot they want.
Luckily one of the mom's from camp spotted us and said we could share a spot with them, it was very nice of her and as you can see Madison and Jaden got the best seats.
After we found a spot I walked the girls over to their group where they got to wait for their turn to line up for the parade.

They had some of the best counselors this year...truly great kids.

I thought this float was so cool to try and fit down the narrow streets of downtown Fairfax, which is tree lined...it was quite the site seeing them maneuver this thing.
He was pretty much done by an hour into the parade with the wait from before the parade started.

The first sighting of their group.

I guess Kaleigh's group was a little slower because they had to run to catch up to the big group, but that is her with the pink visor in the middle.

A well deserved drink after their march.

Yes that wild crazy hair is wet with perspiration.

The whole group who marched in the parade. The purple t-shirts are the counselors and the blue t-shirts are the kids.

My fourth of July beauties. Jaden was not co-operating..although I did have him in a red shirt and blue shorts.

My Baby turns 3 on July 1st.

2011-07-02T11:39:00.000-07:00

He's my baby....and I can't believe he's 3. It makes me so sad and so excited at the same time. He's the last baby we will ever have...and yet he still likes to cuddle and is still mommy's little boy. He's finally able to go off on his own in church, not clinging or crying to me or Michael.. His vocabulary is amazing. Not sure how God's going to use that, but I know he will...because Jaden's a talker. He talks to his sisters all day long. Sometimes, but not always he talks to people he doesn't know, he is a little shy, but sometimes he surprises even me. I am glad he is still pretty small because it makes him easier to carry and easier to cuddle. I know it won't always be that way but I will take it as long as I can get it.

We didn't do a big party for him, he doesn't have a lot of his own friends yet, but I know that will change and he will want to have friends at his parties. His sister will make sure of it.

He loves cars and trains and swords and fighting. It's amazing how much of a boy is just DNA.

I know I was worried his sisters would dress him up and try to make him a girl, but truth be told

they are a little afraid of him, because he is very rough and physical...He definitely stands on his

own. So my little man is 3, and he is always going to be my little boy.

Found some pictures from the farm

2011-07-01T19:04:00.000-07:00

Over memorial day weekend we went to the strawberry festival at the farm. I think I mentioned in an earlier post that we became members of the GREAT COUNTRY FARM in Bluemont, VA. Unfortunately we have been so busy that we have not been back since then to pick any of the fresh delicious fruit that has been ripe. So guess what we are doing next week....

We got there at 9 am and it was already packed with pickers and very HOT. The official

beginning of Summer.
Yes we made lots of yummy recipes with this box of strawberries, but mostly strawberry syrup

for our Saturday pancake day.

I love the farm because there are so many things to do after you are done picking your fruits and

vegetables. Including watching this EMU....from a distance.

Love the smile on her face, but love the air Kaleigh got behind her.

They were in love with this cute little baby goat.

Determined to be able to ride this thing, even if her legs weren't long enough.

Gem mining.

It was a great morning out at the farm and the kids had so much fun.

Jordan Turned 10

2011-06-20T17:54:00.000-07:00

It's hard to believe my little girl turned 10, she was so excited. She could hardly contain herself. She literally has been counting down for the past month. She had decided a couple of months ago that she wanted a sleep over party. Especially after the one she did at Awana, that's all she's been talking about. So we sent out handmade invitations...did I mention how much I love Etsy...really I should be banned... but I haven't done anything creative in ages and it was fun.
Michael again made the cake, it's a girl sleeping in a sleeping bag with Clifford her stuffed dog. It was really cute. She loved it.
Here is the banner I made with hours at the scrapbook store and ideas from Etsy...did I mention how much I love Etsy...I may have to invest in a cricut machine and claim it as a necessity for school projects.

We invited 10 girls knowing and hoping not all would sleep over. So they made pizza's.

Painted pillow cases.......

had pillow fights...... and finally opened presents.

When all was said and done after, girls that had to go home for early swim meets and vacations went home, only Emily and Faith stayed the night. Which was really nice. Jordan had the best time and it was a

memory she will always have, and I'm sure the beginning of many, many sleep overs.

She got an i-touch for her birthday it was the big thing she really wanted, we hesitated at first but she has been pretty responsible with mine so we agreed.
This is the personalized letter I made for each of the girls who came to the party again Etsy inspired, along with toothbrushes, the kind you personalize and chalk board wall stickers..the kind you can hang on your wall and leave notes. (I had a lot of fun with the cricut machine) and the frame was 97 cents at Walmart and I spray painted them white...kind of shabby chic kind of look, plus the paper it literally cost $1.15 to make and was a lot of fun for me.

Camping

2011-06-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

Every year our church does a Dad's and Kid's camp out, I asked Michael a couple of times if he would ever be interested in going. This year the kids came home from church one day and told Michael they wanted to go that Mr. Goetz was telling them all how much fun it would be to go, so to go and tell your parents about it. Well they did and after some financial figuring and borrowing a tent they were headed for the camp out. Luckily it was only about 45 minutes away, so in case of anything they could pack up and come home. Jordan had a birthday party that Saturday so she only got to go Friday to Saturday, Madison and Kaleigh stayed until Sunday. They set the tent up and it was literally a heat wave that weekend. It had to be 100 degrees easy with no breeze. Needless to say they had a rough night with little air and little sleep.

After they set up camp.

Madison's favorite part was dragging the wagon around.

Cooking popcorn after a dinner of pasta and cheese.

Of course you can't have a camp out with out marshmallows.

One of Kaleigh's good friends Maggie was there (Kaleigh was so excited, she doesn't get to see Maggie to often) they were catching fireflies. Kaleigh wasn't too sure about that the first night but by the second she was catching them by herself.

Yes that would be dirt, caked on Madison's face.

Saturday Jason had set up water games for the kids before all the kids went to the water park with the dad's.The dad's were catching the water balloon's in those buckets.

That marshmallow is as big as her head.

And yes the after effects of eating too much marshmallows.

Talent show on Saturday Night.

Kaleigh's talent was standing on one leg.

They came home on Sunday morning, filthy, completely exhausted and happy, because they had a great time camping with their Dad. Jaden was disappointed that he couldn't go and asked if he could go next time, maybe if the potty thing is down we can consider it. However we need a bigger tent.

My Niece

2011-06-09T11:26:00.000-07:00

I had to go to a 3 day teacher training for one of our co-ops so my mother-in-law came to help watch the kids and she brought my niece Ally with her, it was so fun for all of us to have her here, we love spending time with her.

Award

2011-06-07T11:20:00.000-07:00

Michael got an award at work, so we were off to our first award banquet. There were over 40 recipients receiving awards out of a company of 13,000 employees. They do theses award ceremonies every quarter and its a pretty big deal. It was held in a museum science center in DC, the food was excellent and they had a bus drive us from Arlington to DC so we didn't have to worry about traffic or parking.

These pictures are pretty blurry, I had my little camera not the Canon but I was hoping his company would have sent us the pictures they took, but alas it hasn't happened yet, but I'm so proud of my hubby, he works so hard for our family, and it was nice to go out just he and I.

The men standing with Michael are the COO, Chairman of the Board and President of the company.

A game of hide and seek

2011-05-23T11:19:00.000-07:00

Spring

2011-05-15T11:06:00.000-07:00

I love spring, not my allergies but Spring.

Kaleigh caught a caterpillar and tried to wait for it to turn into a butterfly (or moth) but he never made is cocoon, she named him Jaden, he lived 2 weeks before he drowned in too much water in his jar. Truthfully she lost interest after the first week.

Love my rose bush, this was small plant I bought from Costco two years ago, a little pruning at the beginning of spring and its still blooming.
These are the Rhododendrons on the side of my house, I love when they bloom, just wish it were longer.

Great Country Farms

2011-05-12T07:33:00.000-07:00

Many of our friends have told us about Great Country Farms, it's a farm about an hour away where you can pick your own fruit, feed the animals, playgrounds, wagon rides, mini golf, rope swings, a track to ride these big tricycle like things and a petting zoo where you can feed the animals. We decided to purchase a season pass since we wanted to come back for the strawberry festival and bring Michael and the entrance fee would cover two visits for 6 people. So glad we did. We have gone back twice and I can't wait to go again, it was so much fun. I did not get pictures of everything, even on all our visits.

Took a while for them to get comfortable to feed the goats but eventually they did and they loved it, Jaden just decided to throw the food at them.
Not sure who liked this playground best, but I'm pretty sure she did since she loves monkey bars.
Big Jumping pillow, everyone loved except Jaden, he's so light he was being bounced off.

Back to Blogging

2011-05-11T07:27:00.000-07:00

So I haven't Blogged in a while mostly because of time, but also because our computer caught a virus and we lost a lot of stuff and Michael had to take time rebuilding it and even once he did he didn't want to put too much on the computer so I waited. We have a little more time now but we are more cautious about what is on our computer. Still trying to figure out where our pictures are and import them into Picasa. So here are some I recovered from Easter.

The last two are from when we colored Easter eggs, they really liked it but they were more interested in taking pictures of each other. Kaleigh took the one of Michael and Jordan and Jordan took the one of him and Kaleigh. They did a pretty good job if I do say so.

Spring Break - Thursday -Disney World

2011-04-21T12:08:00.000-07:00

After we picked up Michael from the airport on Wednesday, which Wed was a very low key day spent by the pool, we had decided early on to take the kids to the Magic Kingdom on Thursday, since we would be driving back Friday and being in Orlando kind of hard to miss Disney, we wanted to do it before we headed home.

We decided to go early and hope for the best (forgoing afternoon naps for our younger ones...always a questionable move) to try and see as much as we could, the kids did great, we stayed until the electric parade at 9:00 at night, although they fell asleep watching the parade in the perspective arms of their carriers.

Taking the monorail to the park, you can see everyone is pretty hot already...the weather was in the 90's.

Always have to have an entrance picture.

Because it was spring break we had to do a lot of waiting in lines..which was fine for some of us
and some of us got to ride and rest..A double stroller is a must if you have little ones, it helps them to last a lot longer. We had some of the kids try to sit in it when the little guys stepped out, which they caught on pretty quick they would lose their seat if they moved.
Character time is a favorite for any Disney trip and they were so excited to see Buzz Lightyear, I know it won't always be the case.
We did some of the rides with my nephew and some of the bigger rides he got to go by himself with Papa. Like Pirates of the Caribbean. My kids would not like that one.
This is the welcome parade which happens early on...thats' Cinderella's float with the Evil's.

Faces while waiting in the dumbo lines.

This was definitely a highlight for all of us. The kids were excited to see Mickey and we were excited to see their reaction.... it was so great.

We had a really great time at Disney, everyone loved it, we got to go on a lot of rides, some we had to save for next time...but I was glad we got to experience this time together. I only wish I got more pictures with the grandparents.

Spring Break Tuesday

2011-04-19T17:49:00.000-07:00

Tuesday was a laid back kind of day, it was actually really good to kind of just lay low and let the kids enjoy their time at the pool. For dinner we went to the Grand Floridian to have dinner with Cinderella. We've had dinner before with Cinderella and it's always a favorite.

Unfortunately the wait is a little long, but at least the grounds are beautiful to visit while we wait. This is one of the pools at the hotel, the kids wanted to see it.

One of the evil step sisters. I think this one is Drizilla

and this one is Anastasia.

Prince Charming of course.

And the beautiful Cinderella.

All these actors really get into character, the kids love it. Jaden refused to take a picture with the evil step mother unless Papa held him, and even then.
While we waited for our cars at the valet service,they have these old fashion carriage and car for people to take pictures with.

The Grand Floridian is a huge wedding place, so everything is made for that purpose.

Spring Break Monday - Epcot

2011-04-18T18:01:00.000-07:00

Went to Epcot on Monday....I was excited to go....the girls have been studying Europe and Asia this year so I wanted to see if they remembered anything....and not that they didn't but with all the people and the stimulation it was hard to even remember my own name...LOL...

Our original plan was that we would go early in the morning...not too early because after all it is hard to get 5 kids and 3 adults out at a reasonable hour...I digress though...our original plan was for us to go early come back to the condo for an afternoon siesta and return after 4 pm for dinner. Well let me tell you that did not happen. We were there the entire day, and the kids did pretty good. There were a few complaints about going back so they could go swimming...it was 90 degrees after all...it was HOT...but it was a nice weather because even though it was hot it wasn't too humid.

We drove over to the Swan and Dolphin hotel and then took a boat ride over.

This is in England where the boat lets you out....

How many kids can you fit in a phone booth...and for those of you who watch Dr. Who...I don't know if that's the phone both.
They had an awesome butterfly habitat on display..beautiful...only 3 of the 5 kids liked it, but it was a neat experience.

To get out of the sun we went to the imagination station and Jaden loves Fire trucks so we had to take pictures of it.
They also got to play this game called the Great Piggy Bank Adventure it teaches them all about setting goals with money and not spending what you don't have.
I thought it was interesting a lot of the techniques they used because Michael and I had just finished our Dave Ramsey Financial Peace University Class and the games used a lot of the same principles...diversifying your money, etc.
This game they really liked it taught them how to save their money but to not keep it all in one place.
Kaleigh and Madison reached their goal and were able to save their money and go on a vacation.

Outside the Nemo Ride.

This is what he did while we waited.

Outside of the Mexico Plaza.

Inside the Mexico water ride, it's kind of like it's a small world decorated with dolls from Mexico.

I like the art work that are all over the walls.

This is the walls from Norway.

Between Norway and Mexico we got to meet Donald... This little boy was so excited..he didn't know what to do with himself.

The girls got to meet Mulan, don't remember if it was in China or Japan.

Walking by the Italy plaza.

The only thing Kaleigh really wanted was the fan waterbottle and a folding fan.It was the garden festival through out Epcot and there were some beautiful designs, this one I actually got to take a picture of the kids in front. Lady and the Tramp.
A dance contest the kids were in.
Kaleigh and Yael...my nephew.. made the last three finalist.
Kaleigh came in first and Yael second...it was so much fun to watch...
Unfortunately they didn't win anything...not even an ice cream but they are all winners in my book.
Love Yael in this hat from China I wish I would have caught him looking.
They were hanging tough by the end of the night, but they had fun...good thing the next day was a resting day.

Spring Break - Sunday

2011-04-17T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sunday we had some time before we had we had to take Michael to the airport so we were able to spend it in the pool. The pool is heated, but really it was unnecessary as the weather was hot and perfect for a cool swim.
Doesn't he look like he is ready to go in. He begged for a pair of goggles like the big kids and then refuse to get in the water.
This is pretty much where he spent his time. We proceeded to drop him in anyway but he screamed his head off. By Wednesday though at the end of the day he was finally enjoying the pool. Oh well I guess we'll have to try again at our pool at home.

These two I couldn't get out of the pool.

After we dropped Michael off at the airport the rest of us went to the Disney Market to visit the Lego store and the Toy Store. Of course there is a large Buzz Light year and Mr. Potato Head outside of the store. Well Jaden kept trying to press all the buttons on the giant statue and was fascinated by it.

Of course trying to get picture with all five kids was down right impossible.

You pick the one that came out the best....LOL..

My nephew is in the back behind Buzz trying to hide.

And the same thing happened with Mr. Potato Head.

I finally just gave up.

While the big kids were in the Lego store I took the little kids to the carousel. They love carousels.
It was a fun start to a good week.

Spring Break - Saturday

2011-04-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

Since we were in GA the week before and my parents had invited us to vacation with them at their time share in FL during spring break, and it's only about 7.5 hours away, we decided to take a trip. Michael unfortunately had to get back to work, his travel schedule is crazy again! However, he was able to enjoy a couple of days with us. We traveled down on Saturday and he left Sunday Night.

We went to dinner at this beautiful hotel called the Gaylord Palms Resort...yes there is a full size boat in the middle of the hotel that serves as part of the restaurant we ate it. It's a fun place to visit. I'm almost interested in seeing the one they have here in DC.
My parents brought my nephew, you can imagine how excited the girls were, two weeks spent with cousins and family. They loved it.
You can see the boat behind the kids, and you can see Madison is not happy, she didn't want anything to do with this picture especially because she didn't want to be near that dead fish.

Also in this hotel they have a live alligator and turtle pond.
Beady eyes floating in the water. Yes those are alligators.

Atlanta Aquarium

2011-04-14T18:17:00.000-07:00

Michael had a business trip to Atlanta so we thought why not tag along and see the family bring school with us and do a field trip. We were able to do some school work in the morning and play in the afternoon. We took the older girls to see Soul Surfer the movie, which one loved and one hated....I'll let you figure out which one...and we loved going to the Aquarium.

The Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta is the largest Aquarium in the world click here if you want to check it out... AT&T built the dolphin exhibit which was not what I expected. Think Disneyesque and you might try to understand what it was like. You don't expect singing, dancing and a light and water show, though it was entertaining, the kids really liked it....it definitely wasn't Disney. But I thoroughly enjoyed myself. This place is huge and so well put together. We had a little trouble with our little guys once they were getting tired, we had some meltdowns....I wasn't too happy about, but all in all it was a great experience, one I highly recommend if you ever head south.

Here is the front of the dolphin exhibit when you walk in, it's hard to appreciate how big it really is unless you are there. The dolphins are from Hawaii...and they show you the whole thing about building the exhibit and bringing the dolphins from Hawaii, it's interesting for grown ups but the kids were ready to move on. The one thing that Kaleigh learned that she can remember well is that the Killer Whale...Orca is a dolphin...did not know this. She was excited to tell everyone.

I think this was his favorite part. The penguin exhibit. He loved it when he tapped on the window and penguin came to the glass. Madison on the other hand would not get anywhere near the glass.
They loved this mermaid. Can't tell you why but it was something to sit on and take a picture.
It's right in front of the gift shop of course to draw the kids in.
This was part of one of those tunnels that is water on all sides except the floor. It is so cool, unfortunately Jordan and Madison wanted nothing to do with it, so I had to be quick with my pictures.
All the fish are swimming above my head that's why you are looking at the bottom of them.
This picture does not do the size of this grouper justice. The thing was the size of a good sized pig.
Don't remember what kind of shark this was, but it was cool looking.
He actually liked the tunnel, and wanted to stay with me in it.
This is part of the whale shark they had at the aquarium. I couldn't get a good picture of him but he was huge.
This gives you a good idea of the scope of the size of the entrance to the tunnel exhibit. The tank is massive.

Sting ray touch pool.

They were curious, and even tried to stick their hand in it but were a little too nervous.
This was close for her....she wasn't getting any closer to it.

Sea horses.

Jellyfish.

No it's not Nemo it's Deepo, the aquarium's mascot. It's what I meant by Disneyesque. We had a great time and one day I hope to go back and take Michael with us. He would really like it.

Magic Tree House Event

2011-04-05T18:31:00.001-07:00

We LOVE...love...love to read books. Some of our favorite kids writers are Cynthia Rylant and Stan and Jan Berenstien and we are really learning about bilingual authors like Diane Gonzales Bertrand she's great. Mary Pope Osborne writes a series of books called the Magic Tree House there are 44 books in the series and we have read or heard a few of them. They are mystery book adventures with an 8 year old boy and his 7 year old sister. The girls love them, they are a pretty easy chapter book read. It was definitely a change after the Rainbow Fairy series that I was tired of reading.. We must have read at least 30 of those..I was glad when they found a new series to read.

Our local Borders was hosting a Magic Tree House event. They promoting literacy. Michael took the girls Saturday evening while I had some special time with the little kids. He told me there were people there two hours before the event. They got there about 45 minutes before the event but at least they were able to get a seat.

They waited in line for 45 minutes before they got to meet the people who were playing Jack and Annie, but they loved it and now want to keep reading more and more books.

Laser Tag

2011-04-05T18:07:00.001-07:00

Over the last couple of years we really tried to be selective about what activities we do, especially because homeschooling does require a lot from us as parents. So we didn't do AWANA, which is a Sunday evening group activity that is social and teaches scripture. Jordan had a hard time doing it in 1st grade so we decided not to add any extra pressure to her. However because we were doing Financial Peace University the church offered the kids to AWANA and we decided we would do it and not put any pressure on the kids. Well Jordan and Kaleigh loved it, we started in January and Jordan went through about 1/3 of the book ...and it's a long book....and because she got as far as she did she was able to go to Laser Tag. She wanted to go so badly, she worked so hard. We were so proud of her. A lot of the kids finished their books and a lot didn't get as far as they needed but they had a turn out of about 50 kids. She was very excited.

These are the kids getting the instructions from TOM the Laser guy, he was a little rough around the edges but he got them started and continued to explain it as they went a long.

Getting their equipment.

They played 4 rounds. Red team against the green team - 2 times and adults vs. kids ... By the way all the adults were trying to get me to get out there and join them....but uh uh this city girl is not going in the woods with deer ticks crouching down climbing limbs etc....it's just not for me.

But I really enjoyed watching them play.

Once they were shot they had to go to the graveyard. I was holding down the fort at the graveyard reminding them they could not talk to their team mates.
She had such a great time! She loved it and now wants to have a laser tag party for her birthday and then a sleep over. She wants to have the laser tag party so she can invite her friends who are boys and a sleep over so her girl friends can sleep over. A tom boy/girly..I love this kid.

Various Pictures

2011-03-29T18:27:00.001-07:00

We had our evaluation for school this past weekend. It really was just a progress report, but we got our letter to submit to the school district so we can continue to homeschool next year.

So these are some of the pictures I found in order to show him a glimpse of what we do.

These were the kids in our CC group (Wed. Co-op) at the beginning of the year, although we grew a little by mid year.
Here is my sweet little class at the beginning of the year. although Stephanie got moved to another class and Anna joined us the others are all the same, and the first science experiment they did was GAK.

They acted out there history sentence and Jordan got to be Eleanore of Aquitaine.

After 6 weeks of the tin whistle Jordan learned to play Mary Had a little lamb, next instrument, the piano.

Of course our Christmas show, she was the Candle of Hope for the Advent Calendar.

Civil War time we had to dress for the time period.

Rockets were a major hit, we still have ours in the garage and the girls can't wait for nicer weather.

Trying to piece together some bones.

Fun with dry ice, Mrs. Sgambatti is the best science teacher.

Geography, and that is Jordan's friend Amy, who taught her how to skateboard.

Bloody hand prints. That's what happened when you spray your hands with a chemical and touch acidic paper. Can you see my daughter in her dangly earings.
Petri dishes, I couldn't believe somethings were actually cleaner than others, the toilet wasn't too bad.

We had to do our performance of the explorers for CC.

The science fair at the beginning of the year.

Gotta Remember this Stuff

2011-03-28T18:15:00.000-07:00

Kaleigh : "Mommy can you take me to see a real ballet one time."
Madison : "Me too!"
Me: "Yes that would be fun."
Jordan: "Can you take me to a skateboard event or maybe gymnastics."
Me: "UUhh ...I guess I can find something like that."

What do I say sure honey we can see a skateboard for gymnastics match...when really I'm like Huh? I don't know where to see any of those things.....but I will find out....They are so polar opposites.

Rough Week and a Flat Stanley

2011-03-11T18:29:00.000-08:00

We had a rough week around here, actually it started last week with Kaleigh getting strep throat and quite possibly the flu before I left for the weekend to attend the womens retreat. I came home full and when I say full I mean full of joy, peace that recharge you get when you are connected with God without all the other distractions. Well it didn't last long and I knew I would be under attack, I just did not know how much I would be under attack. Well while I was gone, Jaden got the flu, he would be the next child by Wed he was starting to feel better and then by Thursday Jordan was complaining about stomach pains and headaches. I didn't take any chances because of all the germs that were going around our house, but good news she didn't have the flue, but she did have strep.....key sign the stomach ache, always happens to us. But guess who woke up this morning with a belly ache....yep child number 3 or should I call her Madison. So not only has every child in my house hold been sick, but Jaden has been extra ordinarily ornery. He can't make up his mind about anything and his temper tantrums are out of control. It's down right sucking the joy out of me. By the way did I mention I came home from the retreat with a bit of a head cold.....yeah, haven't had a good night sleep all week. So glad it's the weekend and so glad the hubby is home. OK going to get off my ranting now.

We had been planning to send Flat Stanley to India about a month ago (we hope it makes it there...I'm a a little concerned), we finally got around to finishing him. He needed to be the right size. We made 2 just in case the first one gets lost. Hoping that my sister will then send Stanley to Rene and Damien in Thailand and they will take pictures of him in Thailand, hopefully before they have to leave the country....but I know they only have to leave for a short time until they are back in Thailand. My sister generously offered to send him to Thailand since it was probably cheaper than sending him back here first and then to Thailand so hopefully this Stanley will make it around the world.

Yes all the kids helped but I let Jordan stuff him in the envelope while the other kids sat on the bench and waited for me to be done, glad the post office was empty, it wasn't a good day for a long wait.

We'll be looking for pictures of Stanley in India sometime in the next month. By the way if you want to track him in India, my sisters blog is Experiencing the World One Country at a Time, check it out she has some really interesting pictures on her blog, wish she could put all her pictures from Facebook on to her blog, it gives India almost two identities.

Birthday Celebration

2011-03-11T18:02:00.000-08:00

For my birthday my parents took the family to the Great Wolf Lodge for a couple of days. This is one of our favorite places and any time the kids get to spend with their grandparents and cousins is just the best as far as their concerned. The only person missing was my sister, we really missed her but we know she was with us in spirit, even if she's on the other side of the world.

Everyone got a french braid, easier to keep your hair out of your face.

Taking a little lunch break from swimming.

I don't know who this girl is she vaguely looks like my 4 year old.

Can you tell we were pooped after a full day of swimming. We had to have some rest before we went out for a yummy dinner.Mima's gotta love on Kaleigh.

Magiquest girl, she can't seem to get enough.

Final shot before we had to go to our last basketball games of the season.

Father Daughter Dance

2011-03-11T10:13:00.001-08:00

I know this post is a little late ( I really hate posting in the past), but a few weeks ago our church held a father/daughter dance for Valentine's day. Our church strongly encouraged the dad's to take their daughters out to a nice restaurant, open doors for them, get dressed in a suite and new dresses and finally give them corsages. Well Michael took the girls to their favorite place The Cheesecake Factory and then took them to the dance, they had Christmas dresses that they wore only once, so they were so excited to be able to wear them again. Fancy and poofy as they would say. They did some crafts and took some pictures, danced and had dessert. By the end of the evening everyone had a great time, I know Madison can't wait until she gets to go once she becomes a kindergartner.

LOVE this picture of the two of them.

Can you tell they are related.....seriously.

Daddy's Little Girls.

2011-03-08T18:48:00.000-08:00

The girls wanted me to blow dry their hair straight for a birthday party they were going to, surprisingly they sat there while I did it. Kaleigh took a little longer than Jordan because her hair is thicker but they both loved it and were so upset when they had to wash it the next day...it was gross when it had throw up in it from being sick. Oh well maybe next time.

New Friends

2011-03-08T18:41:00.001-08:00

Kaleigh has made a new friend in Moira, she is the only other little girl in her co-op class on Tuesdays. Moira is a sweetie and Kaleigh has met her match when it comes to chatter, it was hilarious listening to the two of them all the way home, I couldn't get a word in edgewise and neither could Jordan or her friends.

Been Quiet but had to Post

2011-02-16T18:09:00.000-08:00

Been kind of quiet lately, actually super busy really, I have lots to write about but no time to do it. I came across this on a blog I follow it's excellent and thought I would post it. I have pictures from valentine's day father/daughter dance...apparently this is quite popular as many church's and friends we know went to a father/daughter dance this weekend.

Promise to post soon.

Here is what Erica had from her website (click Today's Challenge to read the whole thing).

Today’s Challenge:

As a minister to your family, what is God’s plan for you as a homeschooler and parent? Take some time today to remind yourself who you are in Christ. (I realize this is geared towards mom’s, but really can be applied to any parent.)

Super Mom	Abiding Mom
Does	Is (Psalm 46:10)
Tries to impress others	Pleases the Lord (Eph. 5:10, Proverbs 29:25)
Is controlled by an agenda (curriculum, schedule, etc)	Is controlled by the Holy Spirit: (Gal. 5:22-26) (Uses curriculum & schedules as tools for orderliness so she's more free to follow the spirit)
Her self worth is found in her accomplishments (clean house, perfect kids, the perfect bulletin boards, etc.)	Her self worth is found in an accurate view of who she is in Christ Jesus (Eph 2:10)
Her peace is found in the “perfect” environment	Her peace is found in Jesus in the midst of any storm (Is 26:3)
She is discouraged by failure	Failure reminds her that God's strength is made perfect in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9-10)
She expects perfection from herself and others	She practices grace with herself and others (Eph 4:32)
She teaches her kids to be good	She teaches her kids to be Godly (Proverbs 22:6)
She is frustrated with her lack of spiritual fruit	She abides in Christ and bears much fruit (John 15:5)
She does things with her children	She builds a relationship with her children (Deut 6:6-7)
Her perspective is based on what is seen	Her perspective is based on what is unseen (Col 3:2)
She chooses quantity of activities	She chooses the most excellent Way (I Cor 13)
Her kids may recall how busy she always is.	Her children rise and call her blessed. (Prov. 31:28)

Snow Bound

2011-01-28T17:10:00.000-08:00

So we have been snowbound for the last few days...like everyone else in the Washington Metro region...actually we could have went out today, but we had a play date with Anna and Sabine. I didn't get any pictures because we were all a little busy, it got a little hairy when the girls decided they were going to play train the dog after playing with dolls for a while, but they had a good time and it was a long time since we have seen them.

After they went home, the girls went out to play with the boys next door and they wound up coming over for a short while and they all helped me make snowcream....thanks everyone for their recipes. We had wanted to make this since my friend Heather suggested it yesterda, and then reading the different versions on Leighann's and Courtney's blog, but I didn't have any real milk or cream, so I couldn't do it before today. So thanks Cindy for stopping at the store for me on your way to pick up the girls.
I thought it was kind of slushy and watery, although the chocolate helped, but all the kids loved it and the boys went home and told Josh and Cara they needed to make snowcream..LOL..
It almost felt like Grand Central station here, with kids in and out all day but I was actually able to clean 3 bathrooms (thanks to my little helpers) another load of laundry, several returned phone calls and some bookkeeping done....Lord knows that's not a favorite activity.
So we have baked muffins, shoveled snow, built trains, puzzles, schooling and tonight we topped off the night with art. We painted today because I promised like a week ago and well I finally had to just say yes instead of we will.....soon...and try to fit it into our crazy schedule. I know it's just paint, but I'm still trying to draw and cut out the right size Flat Stanley's to send to my sister in India...he may even have to go to see Renee and Damien in Thailand....before heading to Hungry to see Zach, Julie and their boys. Hopefully I can get them done this week, the girls will love it if I can pull it off, within a reasonable amount of time.
We are looking forward to getting out of the house this weekend, although we used to look forward to our weekends, now it's a series of go, go, go, with basketball games, tomorrow a birthday party and Awana on Sunday... it will almost be a relief for Monday to come..haha. I for one will be glad that Michael returns tonight, he was even able to get an earlier flight back...YIPPEE...They have continued to plow our streets today trying to widen the streets in our neighborhood and one of the plows blocked my driveway...you can imagine I just about had a fit, but I graciously asked them if they could kindly move the big pile that was now in my driveway to the side so I could get in and out. He obliged but I still had to shovel a little so that it was wide enough for when Michael came home and for me if I needed to get out.
(I love this little man, even if he makes me absolutely crazy with his 2 year old screeching). So that has been our experience the last few days. The weather on line says we are going to get some light snow next week so we'll see...really there are only 51 days till spring. Can't wait.

Snow

2011-01-27T12:05:00.000-08:00

We had our first real snow of the season. We had an ice storm not too long ago but this is the first significant snow...we only got 9 inches which truth be told is not too bad. My parents got 18, plus they have been pounded already a couple of times this winter so I am grateful that we only got 9". The hardest part was that Michael is out of town, he was able to get out yesterday before the storm got bad and he gets back late tomorrow night, we are supposed to have a dusting tomorrow so hopefully that won't let him have any delays.

This is as far as Jaden got for at least an hour. He refused to get off the front porch until there was a clear path, and then and only then did he decide he could safely venture out into the snow and pick up a shovel, but he never actually went in the snow. Just stood next to it. It was pretty hilarious.

Kaleigh attempting to clean off the car until I told her to get off.

Jordan was very eager to help. Too bad the snow was so deep she couldn't get under it.

Jordan had to help Madison who got stuck in the snow with her boots.

Attempting to make snow angels, although it was a little too deep. They kind of just stayed floating on top.

All of these pictures were taken before our neighbor came over with his two sons in tow to help us shovel out our driveway and sidewalks. Their service was a great blessing to our family, thanks guys! Now I can get out of my driveway and Michael even has room to pull in behind me, since he can't park on the street when he gets home, hopefully he can get home tomorrow night!

Happy Birthday Madison

2011-01-19T19:09:00.000-08:00

My sweet baby girl turned 4...Wow I can't believe I just wrote that. I love her smile, I wish she would show it more often. She is one strong willed child, but when she sets her mind to something she will do it. She is funny and sneaky and lovable all at the same time. One minute she's making me crazy and the next, I just want to hold her and squeeze her and love on her all day long. I always said she's the mix child, half of me and half of Michael and every day I see more and more of it in. She has the very best and the not so very best qualities of both of us. Her mannerism, her looks, her size all of it, is the mix, but there is nothing about her personality that is mixed. She is very set in her ways when she wants to be and still a full adventurer. She is the only one of my children who isn't afraid of heights, she loves the roller coaster and the Ferriswheel. She's still more reserved when it comes to people and can be very shy in some ways, some days they ask me if she can even speak yet since she will not say a word. But she is very choosy about who she shares her time with and who she will let in, in that way she is cautious.

I love that her best friend is her brother, they are always looking for each other no matter where they are, they always want to play together.

She wanted a Minnie cake for her birthday so Michael made her a Minnie Mouse cake and she loved it and we love our wonderful 4 year old.

Basektball

2011-01-15T18:44:00.000-08:00

The girls are playing basketball this year, it's the first time they have ever played a team sport and this year they chose basketball. Now we tried soccer once, Jordan hated it and I'm pretty sure Kaleigh wouldn't mind as long as Jordan was doing it to. But this year they wanted to play basketball instead of gymnastics or ballet. So we are trying Upwards. It's a Christian organization league that really advocates encouragement and fair play. No one sits on the bench the whole time while the star player plays, everyone plays equal amount of time and the coaches are extremely encouraging. The girls are learning about playing on a team and not letting each other down and it's still competitive enough to make it exciting. Yes I'm learning to not be one of those parents who cheers too loud, luckily I cheer for everyone, even if they are on the other team. A good shot is a good shot.

Each game starts with a prayer and words for fair play.

Kaleigh is a defensive wiz, she hasn't figured out how to switch from defense to offense, but she'll get there.

She's still learning to dribble the ball, but she gets better every week.

Jordan's game is a little more fast paced so my shots are a little more blurry.

She has a good dribble and we are still figuring out how to play offense and defense.

At the end of the game they go back to the locker rooms discuss some of the key points of the game and then they get stars for whatever the coach thinks they highlighted in the game. It is encouraging in one sense, but can definitely support a boastful attitude if not careful. Luckily my girls seem to be handling it well, they are not all that concerned about the stars, they just like being on a team and having us cheer them on when they play.

Trying out a new look

2011-01-01T18:16:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to update and simplify my blog but I'm having a hard time so pardon the crazy colors while I figure this all out.

Catching up through Christmas

2010-12-31T17:51:00.000-08:00

Trying to catch up through Christmas so I can start blogging for our new year...

If you click on each collage it will open up the picture in a new tab and make the picture bigger.

Had a good Christmas, the kids stayed home the whole day, had Michael's parents Christmas eve and Christmas day. The kids had a great day, they stayed in their pajamas until about 3:00 in the afternoon, to which they changed clothes just for dinner and got in their new American girl pajamas for bed. At least I made them all brush their teeth before they went downstairs to open presents.

Three days before Christmas the kids made the annual Gingerbread house or in this case Gingerbread Village. Everyone had a house to decorate and lots of candy to eat. We almost attempted to make our own gingerbread but we couldn't add another thing to our already packed schedule.
And just for good measure, we went to the Great Wolf Lodge the week before Christmas. They have a homeschool discount that is almost less than half what it would cost per night. They do it a few times a year, Feb, Sept and Dec. So basically for the price of one night at the regular rate, we stayed for two. If you get the chance, take advantage, even if you have to take a day or two off from school. I wish I would have remembered to take a picture of the room, but if you click on the sight, it's the wolf den room, it was perfect for our family of 6.

We all had a great time and we loved it, we're hoping to do it again, but this time we will will know, swimming in the pool all day plus partying at night, does not make for some happy children, even with a mid day rest. Lesson for all.....all fun in moderation.....but I still would do it again.

Christmas Eve

2010-12-24T17:54:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve we went to the 4:00 service at our church which was packed, I'm glad we went early so we had seats. The church sits 900 and there were people standing in aisles and out in the lobby, but it let out at 4:45 so we were able to make our dinner reservations with my-in-laws afterward. It was a nice quiet evening and after we came home the kids got to open the presents they bought for each other. They each picked one name out of a hat and had to buy a present for that child.

Before Church.

Jaden was starving and of course eating goldfish, while trying to smile.

After we got home but before the present mayhem. I don't even remember who got who but they had a great time!

Jaden got trucks, Jordan got Spy Gear (she likes to play spies), Madison got Tinkerbell and Kaleigh got Barbie's her favorite.

Christmas Show

2010-12-17T17:42:00.000-08:00

This year I had the privilege of working on one of our co-op's fine arts unit. They decided to put on a Christmas play. Since I was only working with 3 to 6th graders, I didn't get to work with Kaleigh but her grades K-2 did a great job with Away in a manger. Who knew there were more than 3 stanza's to the song.

Jordan's group both 4th and 6th graders got to do what they called an Adventurous Christmas which was a musical based on the Advent Wreath.

The Gift Wrappers (they had to rap their song..cute).

Jordan was the candle of Love for the Advent Wreath.

She had to recite John 3:16, pretty long, luckily it was a verse she is very familiar with. She did such a good job, it was clear slow and right on, a guy sitting in front of me whispered AAWWW it was great! Poor thing had strep throat too and she still was a trooper and did a fantastic job.
The 3rd and 5th graders did a musical called From Our Herd to Your Herd about cowboys on the night before Christmas, talking about how Jesus was a shepherd.

Loved the cow ears, considering I had to make 17 they didn't take as long as I thought.

All the kids did a great job and I still have candle costumes and cow ears if they ever needed to do it again. Fun stuff.

Ice Skating

2010-12-10T17:21:00.000-08:00

Our Tuesday TNT co-op had its annual Christmas party and apparently they do it every year at the ice skating rink. Since it is only open to us during the day during this time, it was empty, except for the 100 kids of TNT. It was great and the kids loved it, even Jaden got to skate (without skates of course only on the ice in his crocs...of course I didn't get a picture of that), but the girls immediately wanted to know when can we go again. Unfortunately all the open ice skate times are very crowded and would make it a little difficult taking all four kids skating with out some extra help. Oh well there's always next year.

A little anxious before the ice skating.

A little more petrified trying to skate on her own.

Holding both of Madison's hand until she could get used to the ice under her feet.

Helping my friend Heather's son Elijah while she watched Jaden off the ice.

This girl needed practically no help at all. Fifteen minutes into skating she let go of the wall and just started skating on her own and she didn't care if she fell or not ...which she did quite often, but got back up and started doing it again. I wish I had her athleticism.
This is how he spent his time off the ice...pretending to play video games.

Love the smile that was across her face when she finally got the hang of ice skating it was so precious.

Picture with Santa

2010-12-08T16:57:00.000-08:00

We did our annual picture with Santa and although Jaden wasn't afraid, he didn't bother to smile. Oh well. Maybe next year.

Getting Ready for Christmas

2010-12-06T12:05:00.000-08:00

Jaden posing with his Christmas suit and spikey hair!

Thanksgiving

2010-11-28T17:52:00.000-08:00

Went to NY for Thanksgiving this year and had a really great time. We got to see family although I didn't take a lot of pictures, kind of sad, but at least I have my memories.

On the Friday before we left we got to go to the New York Botanical Gardens, there they had this train show that they had artist build buildings entirely out of plant material..ie bark, leaves etc. It was absolutely beautiful and the kids loved looking at all the trains.

Fall Pictures

2010-11-22T17:22:00.000-08:00

I can't even begin to tell you how my heart if feeling these days, it's full, exhausted...and full. I can't really get into it, the exhaustion is taking it's toll but the Lord is really working in my heart, really helping me to see how blessed I really am. I love this time of year but sometimes I miss the little things. Yes my house is a wreck most of the time, yes my social calendar could be a little fuller with adult time and Lord knows I could really get back to some exercise...but I know that this is a season and I pray that I don't miss the little things, because sometimes I do. Especially when I get caught up in being overwhelemed. My life is not easy....it's definitely not for the faint of heart, but God is teaching me to appreciate each and every moment because it won't last.It's hard work and I'm constantly exhausted, but one day I will be too old to change poopy diapers, and my house will be spotless, but there won't be slippers or shoes or toys everywhere and I will be able to hear a pin drop....but I won't be able to hear the noisy chaos that is now. Everyday I thank God for the blessings he gave me, because it is so much better than anything I could have ever wanted.

Just some fun photos as we get ready for our Christmas Cards.

Getting 4 kids or even 6 people to smile all at the same time is next to impossible, but fun trying.

Loving on her every day to help her see that she is an amazing person, praying that she lets go of her anxieties.

She is so tender hearted and growing up too fast. Can I just keep her this way.
Seriously this picture takes my breath away...I am hoping that we can teach her that even though she is beautiful on the outside (anyone can clearly see that...and yes I'm biased) but it's the inside that counts. I hope she lets her light shine in this world.
And I love him, because he always exhorts me, always praises me and gives in to take these pictures...even when he hates it...It's not that he doesn't like to take pictures because he does, it's because he knows I try to be a perfectionist and he just wants me to be happy.
He loves his mommy...I hope he always loves me this way.
This is how he is most of the time, my silly little sweet boy.

One of these will be our Christmas Card, or maybe not, I still can't decide.

Not Slacking

2010-11-17T19:12:00.001-08:00

And just so you know, I'm not slacking on my blogging, here is what has been going on.

Hosted Missionary dinner for 8 families, only the four couple from our group had kids, making civil war skirts, cow ear head bands for 17 kids, 4 candle light headbands and costumes for four advent candles for our Christmas show at TNT (Jordan is one of the candles and has to recite John 3:16...she' so excited and nervous), making posters and craft projects for my Wednesday Co-op of 7 first and second graders, and of course keeping up with the rest of my insane life....teaching my kids, math, English, reading, grammar, journaling and letters of the week. Getting ready to do mini-co-op with some other mom's on a cooking class and incorporating the first Thanksgiving and getting ready to head to NY for Thanksgiving with my parents. I will be glad when the middle of December is here and we can slow down..(both co-ops end for a few weeks before Christmas) and enjoy the holidays...I need to get started on my shopping.

Cow Eye Disection

2010-11-17T19:01:00.001-08:00

So I don't have any pictures of this yet, but the kids have been doing some dissections at our Wednesday Co-op, first they disected a star fish and today a Cow's Eye....All I have to say is the smell is disgusting but I'm glad Mrs. Bolha (she has a PHD in some sort of science with 7 kids and one on the way) is a good woman to teach our kids some of these things, because quite frankly I just don't have the stomach to do it. Thank You Mrs. Bolha.

And just so you know Jordan can't stand the smell of the formaldehyde and Kaleigh thinks it's so cool.

Sick Boy

2010-11-17T18:58:00.000-08:00

This apparently has become his favorite spot. He is not feeling well and is getting a really bad cold. So his sister thought it would be nice to cover him with her Dora robe and he wouldn't let go of his bunny. Incidentally he felt better after he had some supper, but a round of hide and go seek, did him in.

Chocolate Effects

2010-11-16T18:39:00.000-08:00

This is the result of Chocolate M&M's at lunch followed by a chocolate covered Oreo combined with refusal to nap even after being left in his bed for 2 hours, his body finally crashed on the couch at 5:00pm.

Civil War Days

2010-11-16T18:37:00.000-08:00

So the girls have been doing a 5 week unit study on the Civil War in our Tuesday TNT Co-op, and usually the last week they have a 5th week activity. It's usually a pretty big production and it's a culmination of the things they've learned and into a big production. Well apparently the co-op sent out an email at the beginning of the unit study to say during the 5th week activity the kid should dress up in costume. Well I apparently missed that email, until 2 weeks ago. To which I then begin looking for costumes for civil war period and southern belle costumes. Do you know they cost any where from $35 - $65 for a little girls costume. I thought for sure with Halloween just over I could surely get a good deal...uuhhuuhh..I looked everywhere from Craig's List, to ebay to Etsy (I've been banned from Etsy so the temptation to go back was such a rush), but anyone who knows me, knows I'm not against spending money on something if my kids need it, but this was something they were going to where one time. So thanks to my friend Heather who showed me how to use my sewing machine a year ago, the Internet and the stranger I stopped at GStreet Fabrics to ask how exactly do you put a gathering on a skirt. So here is the result of my work. Now so you wouldn't notice how crooked my stitches or seams are I put lace at the bottom and used thread that just blended in well, but don't look to close because those zippers gave me fits.
Of course after I spoke to my fried Heather on the phone like 3 times, she promptly reminded me that they didn't have zippers back then and I really should not be stressing out about this.

However I'm a bit of a Type A personality so it had to be done the way I wanted it or it wasn't going to be right.
They didn't come out too bad, they were kind of upset they didn't have aprons to go with them, but I put these two together in 4 days.

Here are some of the kids at school.

Most of the boys got caps and most of the girls got bonnets.

Of course we got an email that said please do not bring any weapons to school...LOL..

Here is my friend Heather, thanks for your help, it would have been nice had she mentioned she would be wearing this beautiful gown while she was teaching.
Here is Kaleigh with her bonnet, she's worn it for the past two days. Just a side note, I asked Kaleigh to get her journal out so she could draw a picture and write something she did at school during the 5th week activity and to write a sentence about it. This is what she wrote....

I am holding a gun at school. (To which I made her add some more information to this sentence). It was civil war day.

Apparently the kids had to go from room to room and each room was decorated differently and discussed different areas of the civil war. One of the rooms was an artillery room and Kaleigh got to hold an old gun that was apparently bigger than she was...I was a little scared to know my child was holding a gun... but then she told me that the guest speaker to the kids that if they came to Gettysburg they would be able to see a live reenactment...she wants to know when we are going. We love history....but this one may have to wait a bit.

Catching up

2010-11-16T17:24:00.000-08:00

I hate back tracking but unfortunately we have been CRAZY busy lately. I can't get into details but I will post pics of stuff when I can get the chance. Here are some from our school trip to Cox Farm a month ago I just never got to post.

Sweet Helena!

Bouncing on the hay ride.

He didn't like going down the slide alone, but he was liked the some of the slides as long as someone was with him.

Yeah this is what this crazy slide looks like from the back.

I couldn't believe she did this all by herself.

Yes they had a chance to milk the cow, no they decided against it.

Well at least we are all looking.

Halloween

2010-11-01T17:37:00.000-07:00

I think Hannah Montana needs a new wig.

The cutest little monkey you ever did see.

A flower patting the belly of a monkey, if only he had a real belly.

I would eat anything she would make.

Pumpkin

2010-10-25T17:24:00.001-07:00

Happy Halloween.

Science and Engineering Fair

2010-10-24T12:01:00.000-07:00

Took the kids to DC to see the first annual Science and Engineering Fair. I have two girls who LOVE anything to do with experiments and science. It was a beautiful fall day and I convinced Michael to go into DC. He is normally pretty easy about doing things except to take 4 kids into places where there will be large crowds. He is always worried about a child getting lost or taken because we are outnumbered. But I told him if we went early enough and kept Madison and Jaden in the strollers we should be OK. For the most part it was great. Unfortunately we only got to see like 1/8th of what they had to show. The fair spanned all of the mall between the museums and like 5 blocks on Pennsylvania Avenue. It was great and because it was so spread out it didn't feel overly crowded. Now don't get me wrong it was crowded especially trying to get into some of the booths but for the most part things moved pretty well. We went to the PBS section where they had most of the kids stuff, and still some of it was a little above my kids heads but they loved it. We of course brought home bags of stuff.

This little guy loves dinosaurs and he loved this robotic one, it was very cool. He is from the show Dinosaur Train on PBS, it was cute to watch him interact with it.
Making bird feeders with stale bagels, crisco and bird seed. Hung them outside on Sunday
and with the storm one blew away, have to hang the others to see if the birds will want some
food.
They had to guess what the smell was in the cup to get a prize.
This is a huge big deal for a girl who is very sensitive to smell, touch, noise and taste, so proud of her for trying it and guessing correctly.

Unfortunately that's all we could get pictures of especially when you are trying to keep moving so two little ones don't get bored.

Kaleigh turned 7

2010-10-09T18:54:00.000-07:00

My sweet Kaleigh turned 7, it's gone by so fast. She was such an easy baby...once we got past the colic..of all my kids she has the most go with the flow kind of personality. She doesn't wear her heart on her sleeve, but if she is really worried about something she will let you know. She is super smart, I have to really work hard to keep her challenged, she breezes through all the things I give her to do....except chores of course. I love all her questions and once she gets started talking, it's hard for her to stop. She is as tough as nails and yet as delicate as a princess. She loves the color pink and if it is sparkly and shiny, she is all over it...as she says that's her style. If she could figure out how to ride a horse...(she loves that too) in high heals and pink glitter, while belting out a song...she would be in heaven. She is such a joy, she can be stubborn and willful but her heart is so amazing. I just love this little girl. She brings so much joy to our family.

Happy Birthday Kaleigh

2010-10-09T18:25:00.000-07:00

Kaleigh turned 7 we had a Rock Star party. Our family loves music and I guess we play a little too much Guitar Hero on the Wii but it's a video game we can all do together. The girls like the drums and the guitar, but as soon as they get singing the walls start to shake...LOL..

Limo races.

You had to go with a partner in your limo, and race to the balloons. Get a balloon and pop it, any
way you could. The fun thing was the grass was pretty dry and my brother blew them up pretty
full so they burst almost on instant contact with the grass. They loved this game.

Can you tell the little guys just trying to figure it all out.

We of course had a singing game. Everyone had to sing and freeze dance at the same time.

The music was clearly moving him.

This moon bounce has been a life saver, we have been able to use it for almost all the parties we've had since Kaleigh was 4.

'And of course Michael had to make one of his special cakes. Kaleigh really liked her edible guitar.

Country Fair

2010-09-25T17:54:00.000-07:00

My brother had to come to DC to work one weekend and my nephew came to visit with us. So what do you do with 5 kids on a warm fall day.....

You take them to a Country Fair.

There were lots of animals to pet.

Lots of moon bounces.

Snakes....Yikes.

Bungy Jumping.

Something we have never seen before, but was a hoot, was pig races. The caller was hysterical and so fun.

Lastly a train ride. The kids loved it, we definitely go back again next year.

2010-09-22T18:41:00.000-07:00

We learned in our Classical Conversations about pressure and how in can build, we did it in the experiment with mentos and diet coke and Nucleation and how the mentos have pores in them that make the carbonation shoot up.

Then Mrs. Sgambatti made these great PVC pipes and tire plugs to make a home made rocket. She was kind enough to make one for every family tot take home. So Kaleigh got to see the fun we had in school even though she couldn't come to school that day, we got to bring the fun home to her.

One T-Shaped PVC pipe, with tire plug at one end and hole at the bottom and cap on the the other end.

Fill an empty soda bottle about 1/4 filled with water. Attach bottle with water to the end, and attach bicycle pump.
Pump the tire pump until you see the water start to bubble.

This is what happens.

That rocket shot 30 feet up in the air. It was so cool. We had to do it 4 or 5 times.

Showers

2010-09-15T18:20:00.000-07:00

After showering the girls typically wrap their hair in a towel, it works because there hair is long, however he insisted that he get to wrap his hair in a towel as well.

It was all good until Michael saw he had girl high heel shoes on as well, then he wasn't all that thrilled.
Oh well that's the life of a boy with three older sisters.

Found some pictures

2010-09-10T17:48:00.000-07:00

Found these pictures when I was uploading some pictures from my little camera, I hardly ever used it because I really don't like the quality of the pictures but these aren't too bad.

We took the kids to a local water park, that a neighbor of mine told me about back in June. It was really a pool with some water features in it, the kids had all participated in the summer reading program and each completed 15 books for the summer, so they received a coupon book and in it it had free entry to this water park; so we only had to pay for two grown ups.

It was a great pool the water was not deep they had some decent water features and it wasn't crowded considering it was the last week of summer vacation for everyone.

They had a sand area like a beach.

Small water slides in the 18" water.

A water tower thing playground thing, is the best way I can describe it.

They were just doused in like 50 gallons of water from the bucket above, Madison wasn't having it but Jordan and Kaleigh loved it.

Some mid size slides for a little older kids but I didn't get pictures of the really big slides.
Oh well maybe next year, it was a nice park, clean and not too crowded, I think it's a keeper.

My Class

2010-09-08T17:42:00.000-07:00

1st row (Nathan, Kaleigh, Ashlynn, Abby)
2nd row (Annabelle, Stephanie and Rebecca)

These are my sweet little 1st and 2nd graders on the first day of our Classical Conversations Co-op. They were so excited they made slime the first day, unfortunately they used food dye to get it the green color and no my kitchen table has a permanent green stain on it from the kids playing with it when they got home. So glad I did not get a new table like I've wanted.

This is Hilarious

2010-09-08T16:27:00.000-07:00

Click on the video to get it started. Not sure where he got this from but he just came up with this himself.

First Day of School and First CO-OP

2010-09-07T12:38:00.000-07:00

Well this year we are attempting to do two Co-ops. Not sure how we are going to get all of our work done and include extracurricular activities but we will do our best, it's the beauty of homeschooling. The girls had the opportunity to join a second co-op this year and since we know a lot of the families and it's held in our church building we jumped at the opportunity. We still however wanted to do our Classical Conversations Co-op it's really good and totally different than TNT (this co-op). So one co-op meets on Tuesdays and one meets on Wednesday, both are in the morning and both end at 12:00. So I can still do our school work in the afternoon (so we don't get behind).

Everyone got a back pack this year (even if he didn't need one...he had to have one).

Glad it was only $5.

We even got to wear new school clothes. Madison and her cup of Joe.

This is most of the kids that were at the kick off, if I'm not mistaken there are about 20 kids missing...some families are not back from vacation yet, but there are about 50 families involved in this co-op.
I couldn't get a picture of Kaleigh's face but she looked like a little deer in headlights when she had to sit with her class. She was so nervous.

They have to stand for pledge of allegiance.

Each class has between 10 and 15 kids not including the nursery. They begin with K-4 (which is the 4 year olds) and K-5 for Kindergarten and go all the way to 6 grade. The way this co-op works is they do unit studies for 5 weeks, so for 4 weeks they study the subject and then on the 5th week they actually do an activity. So the first unit study is Chemistry and then comes Civil War...I don't know what they are doing for chemistry but I'm involved with the committee for Civil War and we will be teaching the kids songs and they will be putting on a play for the 5th week activity. The rest of the year will be Weather, Australia, Fine Arts, Report Writing and Transportation and the Presidents Physical Fitness Challenge (I think that's what it's called). So it will be a busy year for us. Included with what the unit study they are also doing character training (a lesson from the bible), game time and lunch. So it's a busy morning.

One of the things about this Co-op is that I can drop off the girls on the weeks or the unit study that I am not teaching so that will be an interesting thing for us and a chance to get to spend time with just Madison and Jaden alone doing something with just two kids.

I'll post about our other co-op once I get pictures of that one and then I may not post for while, because I am teaching in our second co-op all year 1st and 2nd graders so I may be busy but I'll do my best to keep things posted.

New Bed

2010-09-06T12:27:00.000-07:00

In one of my previous posts I posted that we had changed some rooms around this summer, splitting up the older girls and putting Madison and Jaden together in a room. Well it has been in our plans to buy the girls new beds although not all at once we didn't want to take that kind of hit, so originally this was going to be Jordan's bed and we were waiting for a while to get it but it went on sale last week and it was like $100 off so we had to buy it.. Well it didn't quite work out for Jordan but it did work out for Kaleigh.

It took Michael hours to put it together, it took so long because it literally had like a million pieces but I kept the kids busy (mostly the little ones) and he was able to put the bed together.

Love that she is going to grow into this bed and will have it for a while, she can't wait to get a chair so she can sit a the desk and work.
For now she pulls the desk out and uses the underneath like a hiding place with her sisters. So glad she likes this bed.

End of Summer

2010-09-06T12:09:00.000-07:00

I supposed I should put up some pictures of a reflection of what we did this summer but the truth is, it's all kind of a blur. I have loved every moment (well almost) and we have had a very fun and busy summer.

Truth is I am looking forward to beginning school, since we home school I am not too sad that school is starting because it means we get to get back to our routine...in case you were wondering I like routine, my family does well in a routine....now don't get me wrong there is a difference between routine and mundane...and I crave our routine. Our family works best when everyone knows what to expect and what's coming next, there is no guess work or lazy days of summer (believe me we enjoy those too...sometimes a little too much), but for us knowing what comes next helps us to do the work that is before us....Sometimes it's school work, sometimes it's housework and sometimes...not too often enough it's God's work.

So what are the things that I will miss about the summer.....

sleeping in....at least for us past 7:00am

swimming at the pool... even with four kids...one of them a little afraid of the water

visiting with friends and family.....(loved our trip to the beach...not the sick part...Chicago, Atlanta and New York)

Loved our families visiting us at different time.....Thanks Guys

fresh fruit from my garden ...it took all summer but we finally got some kind of carrots and just today I noticed a green pepper growing, the first one since we planted back in April...I loved our tomatoes and cucumbers ...we were not successful on zucchini, strawberries or watermelon, but OH Boy did we have a lot of green beans...Yum.

the different camps the girls did that gave me time alone with my little guys (sometimes I feel they get neglected during the school year)

Over all I'll miss the warm summer days, flip flops, shorts and barbecues (although we'll still barbecue until it gets too cold) I won't miss the weather being too hot to walk...I like to sleep in so getting up at 6:00am was not really conducive to my sleep habits...LOL..

Most of all I'll miss the freeness of summer(is freeness a word), not having to worry about curriculum or early bed times and questions of "what are we doing tomorrow?" and the answer being "I don't know let's just see what the day brings."

AAAHHHH the lazy days of summer, we will miss you but we know you will be with us again....now on to some cooler, more colorful fall days.