School in the Sun

New Blog

2011-11-25T17:44:00.002-05:00

Just wanted to let all who land here that I've started a new blog.

You can find me over at Following Yonder Star, where I plan to be better at posting than I have been in the last couple of years (last year especially).

Thanks for following me!!!

Milestones

2010-09-23T14:56:00.003-04:00

We've had a couple of weeks FULL of milestones.

This...

And this...

And this... (that's a tooth- bottom left- if you can't see it :)

AND she's pulling up to standing, but I don't have a photo of that ready to post yet. The first year goes so fast!!!

Back Online

2010-07-15T13:25:00.001-04:00

Kevin had my computer fixed :) (thanks honey!) so I'm back and ready to post again. Look for some photos to be up soon.

ACHOOO!

2010-06-14T22:02:00.002-04:00

My computer is sick :(
I'm posting from Kevin's computer right now and will get back to posting as soon as I can fix the problem with my computer. (also... if anyone has tried to contact me via e-mail in the past few weeks and found me MIA, this is why)
Other than an annoying computer bug, we are all doing great. I hope the same can be said for you :)

Happy Mother's Day

2010-05-09T10:53:00.001-04:00

Because I'm a slacker this year... or can I still blame it on Emily?... our Mother's Day wish to two awesome grandmothers is going out as a blog post.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY, Grandma and Grandma Kate!!!!!

Call Time

2010-05-08T22:28:00.004-04:00

Having kids participate in the performing arts has added to my vocabulary terms previously unused... call time being one of them. It's an important one for me to know since that's when the performers need to show up especially since I'm the one who usually makes sure they make their call time.

We've had several call times over the past two weeks- all our activities seem to wind down at once, which would be the exact opposite of calm before a storm. Sully's last chorus concert of the season was tonight and last weekend was a flurry with two plays AND a concert, not to mention rehearsals. Last weeks concert's venue was "The Art of Sand" show, which really deserves it's own post. As for the play, both boys had pretty big parts- this being Nathan's first really big part and he did a fabulous job... he even had a singing solo!

I know the photos of Nathan are super blurry but you can tell by his body language that he was really in character (he played an old sheep, thus the cane).

And Sully was the shepherd.

Three Months Already

2010-05-08T22:27:00.001-04:00

And enjoying every minute!

Feast or Famine

2010-05-08T22:22:00.001-04:00

I've got a few minutes and several photos to post tonight... sorry for everything at once, but it's better than not getting them out at all :)

Emily According to Nathan

2010-05-08T21:59:00.005-04:00

Nathan is a budding photographer and has captured some pretty good images. I especially like these two of Emily. You can really see her personality coming out in the second photo.

He takes pictures of Duke, Sully and Emily and most of them are actually pretty good... of course, he's just started making Lego videos and then there are the numerous "self portraits"- and no worries about wasting film... gotta love digital cameras!

Planning to Post

2010-04-16T15:32:00.002-04:00

I have several posts floating around in my mind and a few photos to share but for now here's a quick post, list style, about the goings on of the past few weeks.

Easter- Emily got her first Easter basket and Nathan initially wanted to know why *I* had a Raggedy Ann from the Easter Bunny. It quickly dawned on him that was Emily's basket.

Same day as Easter this year- SULLY'S 15th Birthday- How can he be 15 already??? Amazing really! We had cake and presents (he actually got his parent present the day before). A record player- or as he likes to call it a record "machine". He loves that old fashioned thing :) He'll have a paintball party in the next week or so.

Visit from Grandma Kate and Wally- they came the weekend before Easter and took us all out to dinner to celebrate Uncle Chris' birthday and Sully's. We had a ball at the Melting Pot... definitely an awesome place to go!

A visit TO Grandma Kate and Wally's- the boys spent part of the week after Easter being spoiled by grandparents... they have been asking and asking to be allowed to go to "Wally School" and we were finally able to coordinate schedules. They had a ball!!!

Other things- Emily had a doctor's appointment and weighed in at almost eleven pounds. Sully has several upcoming chorus concerts and Nathan's play is right around the corner. We're hoping to plan a trip north in a couple of months- wonder how this baby will travel? I've been fortunate so far to have kids who are very good travelers... hope our luck holds!

In between- we've been trying to get used to our new normal... catching housework and schoolwork at different times than we are used to but LOVING the distraction all the same.

Fifteen for a Moment

2010-04-04T18:55:00.003-04:00

Happy birthday Sully!!! He's gearing up to get his learner's permit... where did the time go?

This year his gift was a "record machine"... known to us old fogies as a record player or turntable... in addition to BIG speakers, a receiver and a box full of 10,000 albums give or take.

The 9 year old in the house was very excited that his brother's birthday was on Easter because that meant we would have candy AND cake!!! And we did.

Changing My Perspective

2010-04-04T13:49:00.003-04:00

Looking through Sully's treasure trove of 10,000 albums, Kevin asked if I remember "The Big Chill" (the soundtrack was included in the lot) and I said that of course I remember it...then I said , and I quote, "It was that movie with those old people who had some kind of reunion." He agreed, they WERE old people... then he laughed and showed me the album cover. Oh gracious, when did that happen... those OLD people look to be about MY age!!! LOL!!!

The Measure of a Man

2010-03-25T22:08:00.001-04:00

Should be determined by his patience while holding a screaming infant and singing Steve Miller songs to her until she falls asleep. Boy, am I grateful tonight!

All Thumbs

2010-03-25T21:13:00.001-04:00

Emily found her thumb the day she was born. Here she is on another such happy occasion.

ARG!! Camera is Down

2010-03-16T18:47:00.002-04:00

Well, it's not actually the camera but the charge cord, without which the camera is worthless. Could it break (or get broken) at a worse time? Don't the camera gods know we have a cute baby in the house??

And on that note, she is starting to smile in response to us and there have even been some "gee"s and "a-gah"s coming from her. We're all waiting eagerly for her to laugh. She'll be 6 weeks old tomorrow.

Asking for Help

2010-03-05T15:54:00.005-05:00

One normal ankle...

I was so happy on Tuesday. My debut drive... the first solo outing since surgery!!! I'd driven the boys to Kids Klub. The drive went really well and I was sure to be running around in days. Things were finally starting to get back to normal... I'd even scrubbed the WHOLE bathroom earlier that day. (Some women may bounce back from a c-section faster, but I was really pleased at my less than 4 week progress)

Here's where it gets interesting... It was time to get the boys from Kids Klub so I put the baby in the car and walked around to get in the van myself. I took a wrong step and ended up sprawled on the driveway where I realized several things.
I couldn't walk.
The baby was in the car.
I couldn't get her out, much less carry her into the house.
I couldn't even crawl because I'd landed hard on one knee.
My boys needed a ride home.
If I couldn't walk, I couldn't drive either.
Concrete is hard.

While not completely helpless, I surely needed help. After catching my breath, I got up and hopped into the house, grabbed the phone and stood (on one foot) at the door while calling my neighbor to come get Emily out of the car. Thank goodness for good neighbors!!! As soon as she was on her way, I called about a ride for the boys. My neighbor helped me settle on the couch with a bag of frozen veggies on my ankle and the boys arrived home safely.

So, for the past couple of days, I've been parked on the couch again. I've been going up and down the stairs on my bottom and have had to ask for things like lunch. Fortunately, I heal pretty quickly and today I've even walked to the bathroom sans crutches (thanks Uncle Chris for lending them). I believe that a quick recovery will be greatly influenced by staying off of my feet, so I have ended up sprawled on the couch where I have realized several things.
I don't like to ask for help.
I'd much rather do it myself.
There are some cases where I can't do it myself.
I am very fortunate to have people in my life who are willing and able to help.
I am thankful for them.
I can fall down and hurt myself on flat concrete... who needs skis?
It's hard to photograph your own ankles.
I am also glad that this is temporary.

One not so normal ankle...

Mrs. Darling's Kiss

2010-03-05T15:36:00.006-05:00

"...and her sweet mocking mouth had one kiss on it that Wendy could never get, though there it was, perfectly conspicuous in the right-hand corner." J.M. Barrie, Peter Pan

A perfect description of how I feel about Emily's smile.

And here she is peacefully sleeping... 4 weeks old on Wednesday.

What Do the Boys Think?

2010-03-01T16:51:00.006-05:00

For Nathan, a picture speaks a thousand words (he'd like the idiom too)

Of course I'll add a few words of my own... He asks to hold her and says how much he likes being an older brother. He also says how he can't wait until she's up, moving around and crawling... I just think to myself, "I hope you remember saying that when she's after your toys."

Sully's answer is a bit more complicated. He's in the "I'm a way too cool teenager" stage so when asked how he feels about his cute little sister is he usually says, "Whatever."
But this photo says otherwise...

Don't pay attention to all the junk on the tables and floor :)

He'll sit with her and talk to her and bop this little bear around and watch her wiggle her arms and he laughs at the funny things she does... so when he answers with his "too cool" answer, I just think... "Whatever"!! ;-)

Self-Esteem

2010-02-26T18:41:00.003-05:00

Kevin believes in instilling self-esteem early... that's why he's already telling Emily that she eats ALL the time and has ENORMOUS (speedboat) feet :)

Fortunately we are also already teaching her to pray.

Of course, I'm kidding... and it hasn't bothered her in the least. Isn't she cute???

Two Weeks

2010-02-17T11:52:00.002-05:00

is enough time to watch a baby grow and change and is more than enough time to fall head over heels.

Emily is 2 weeks old today.

New Addition

2010-02-11T17:11:00.003-05:00

We have been a busy bunch and I have neglected posting for a while. Can you tell from this photo what we've been waiting for?

How about this one???

Most of you already knew that we were expecting a new addition... so the news is that she has arrived.

Here's a photo from the hospital:

And another at one week old:

For now, we are all settling in and getting used to a new routine. I'm recovering well and we are all enjoying the newness of life.

We Have Liftoff!!!!

2009-11-16T17:28:00.007-05:00

What an amazing day!! We were thrilled to hear these words as we sat on the bleachers, just across the river from the launching Shuttle (STS-129).

Slightly concerned about the mission being scrubbed due to weather, here is a visual of our excitement when we heard the words, "It's a go!"

Our morning started with a phone call from a wonderful friend with "connections". Her husband is the head guy for the company responsible for the Shuttle engines. Their company runs a bus to the VIP site for every launch. I was privileged to be able to attend once with Colleen last year... I called it a once in a lifetime opportunity. What a surprise to have the opportunity twice and to be able to take the boys! We were so lucky that there were cancellations this morning which left 3 empty seats!!! It was well worth rescheduling our day.

A cool thing about living where we do is being able to see the launches from our front yard, but that doesn't come close to this. The rumble from the launch is indescribable... it vibrates to your core and the excitement is palpable.

Heaven in the Freezer

2009-11-15T18:29:00.002-05:00

Just discovered... the best ice cream ever!! My favorite dessert in the whole world has got to be Creme Brulee and the geniuses over at Ben and Jerry's have made it into an ice cream for an absolutely heavenly flavor. Love it so much, I just had to share.

God Bless the USA

2009-11-11T18:02:00.004-05:00

The Brevard Children's Chorus Ensemble performed today at the Annual Massing of the Colors at BCC. There was a certain soloist whose performance I'd especially like to share.

The shaky camera in the beginning is because as soon as he stood up to sing a woman in our row decided she needed out... oh well! He did a great job and I'm really proud of him!!

You can see the grin during the last part of the song, he's proud too- or maybe relieved!

Reading Incentive

2009-11-11T17:35:00.000-05:00

Wordless Wednesday Post

Taking Advantage of Free

2009-11-10T11:34:00.000-05:00

We are fortunate to live in a community with parks, museums, a zoo, the beach and loads of other places to visit. We are also fortunate that most of the area museums that charge admission have occasional free days for residents and some, like Ft. Christmas, are free all the time. The past few weeks have been so full of free activities that we couldn't fit them all into our schedule. I posted a few weeks ago about Ft. Christmas and the Civil War reenactment but I don't think I posted any photos from inside the Brevard Museum of History and Natural Science where the reenactment was held. So here's a photo left over from that trip...

This past weekend we took advantage of free admission to the Warbird Museum and were pleasantly surprised to find that we made it in time to see a couple of planes land.

Trick-or-Treat 2009

2009-10-31T19:57:00.007-04:00

We'll start with the last photo of the night ...two tired Beatles.

Here's a shot of a neighbor's house... these are windows- cool, huh? You can see the pumpkin on the porch and the lights line the walk.

We had two friends join us for treats before trick-or-treat and a neighbor Ninja join us for the photo. Then the boys hit the neighborhood.

Jack-O-Lanterns and Kevin's creations- great decorating honey!!!

The ghost to usher you up the walk.

The boys' pumpkins.

The headless greeter.

Jack Skellington- this is Kevin's pumpkin... freehand no less. I'm impressed!

We'll close with our traditional shot of the boys in front of Uncle Chris' house

Spooktacular Spread

2009-10-31T19:41:00.005-04:00

Witches' fingers

Eyeballs

Mummy dogs

Slime and worms

Spiderweb cupcakes

YUM!!!!

Happy Halloween 2009

2009-10-31T15:26:00.003-04:00

Hope everyone has a safe and

Happy Halloween

We'll be having some friends over for a SMALL "party" and trick-or-treat. The boys are going as Beatles... from the band, not the kingdom Animalia. (of course I hope the spelling gave that away) I'll post costume photos later tonight.

For now here's a picture of the bigger boys scooping the guts from our soon to be Jack-O-Lanterns.
Notice Duke is VERY interested... we have to make sure to pick up all pumpkin pieces or we will find them later buried in the couches.

Weekend Wanderings

2009-10-18T18:08:00.005-04:00

We had a busy weekend- or at least a weekend filled with lots of fun family outings. Friday evening we started the weekend off right with a trip to the church's annual fair.
Rummage sale, a few rides (bumper cars and the big slide), some games and the cake walk where I won a cake!!! The boys and Uncle Chris raced down the slide- Uncle Chris was the clear winner.

Saturday we went to a local library garage and bake sale then headed out to a local museum where we enjoyed free admission and a civil was reenactment- then we headed back to the fair for lunch. Both boys got to shoot the rifle, but wouldn't you know it- the camera battery died right as it was Sully's turn!

Since the weather finally turned cool we were able to comfortably don jeans and long sleeves. We slept in today- a rarity around here, but with the fall feel coming through the windows, it was just too easy not to be early risers today. After lunch we headed out to Ft. Christmas to see the "new" buildings they've opened. I think they've actually been open for about a year but it's been a while since we've been out there.

The schoolhouse really neat. And it was interesting to find out that it was open until 1969!

The other building was a home built in the 1950's- some of it was very like Grandma K's up in NY. I also noticed similarities to my own grandparents' home. Check out that knotty pine!

Look at the ice bucket in the lower left corner... anyone recognize it? We have one just like it that we found at an estate sale several years ago.

We're closing the weekend with dinner in the family room, a fire (yes a fire) in the fireplace while watching Charlie Chaplin. Kevin found the Collector's Edition 10 volume VHS set at the library sale and then bought a VCR at the church rummage sale so we could watch them.

Finally!!

2009-10-17T21:47:00.002-04:00

We're enjoying some cool weather. It seems like a long time coming this year but I'm sure grateful for it. Today is the first day we've been able to turn off the ac and open our windows.
We've been having a great weekend too- would have even enjoyed it in the heat but this weather makes it that much nicer.
After my unplanned blogging sabbatical, I think I'm finally ready to get back to the blog sphere... guess I just needed a break but I finally have some photos floating around in a camera that needs charging and some posts floating around in my head again... hopefully it won't take another month for me to post them.

It was lost but now it's found...

2009-08-27T11:11:00.003-04:00

Whoo-hoo!! We found our long lost camera cord, which is significant for two reasons. One, we can finally get all the photos on the computer; and two, the batteries can be charged again so we'll be able to actually use the camera again.

Look for some photos in the near future.

Almost the Liberty Bell

2009-08-20T23:26:00.002-04:00

The boys and I went on a field trip today to the Liberty Bell Memorial Museum where there is an authentic full-sized replica of the Liberty Bell- sans crack. Sorry, no photos, as the camera cord is still in hiding and I've yet to buy another. The museum is located in an old water tank, which is pretty neat in itself. There were some neat military artifacts throughout the museum, but my favorite was the journal of a chaplain from WWII. I didn't know but it was illegal for those deployed to keep journals in case they were intercepted with important information. We weren't able to touch the original journal but it had been typed out and placed in a notebook that was on display and available to read. His entry for their arrival at Omaha Beach was chilling.
The boys enjoyed all of the military uniforms and especially getting to lift a very heavy flint-lock gun that was a copy of those used in the Civil War. Of course, the highlight was being able to ring the bell with a rubber mallet -we have all been officially inducted into the "Ding-Dong" club. And here I thought we'd been members all along.

The Royal "We" and My New Favorite Pen

2009-08-20T23:11:00.002-04:00

I love the new Sharpie pen!! They offered one as a bonus in a package of Sharpie markers that we recently found on sale at Target. Nathan was asking why we were buying so many markers and I told him it was because we use them all the time. He then informed me that "he" didn't really use them that much... which is true- it is a special day indeed when they are allowed to use "our" Sharpies. I suppose I must have been speaking of "we" in the royal sense, because "I" use them almost daily.

This reminded me of a quote recently in a newsletter I received from Sonlight...

My son told me that there are three uses for the word "we."

In normal usage, we means you and I. Then there's the royal we which kings use to mean I. Last is the maternal we which means you, as in "We need to clean your room."

LOL! The maternal "we" is my favorite one.

Cookies

2009-08-19T10:26:00.002-04:00

These just might be my new favorite cookies. I first made them last Christmas and decided that we needed to have them again- just to make sure they were as good as I remembered. The boys and I made a batch yesterday and boy does this recipe make a BATCH. We baked a couple of pans and portioned the rest into cookie sizes for the freezer- now we can have cookies whenever we'd like... well, maybe not whenever, but they are there when we have a sweet-tooth that only a cookie could cure.

Not-Back-to-School 2009

2009-08-10T19:14:00.002-04:00

Public schools in our county started today so we, as the homeschool rebels we are, decided to celebrate with a Not-back-to-school breakfast and party. While kids around the county were packing lunches and backpacks and heading into classrooms for a days worth of introductions, new teachers, new books, new classmates... our kids were having a tremendous potluck breakfast in their pajamas, watching a few cartoons followed by slip-and-slide water fun outside.
While parents all over the county were sloughing their kids off to school, rushing them out of the house, sitting in carpool lines, possibly even fretting over forgotten lunches... we were chatting over coffee with the sound of happy kids in the background, taking our time with nowhere to rush off to. It was great fun and a couple of moms even donned pajamas to join in the festivities. I'd suggest though that if you are one of those kind of moms, before you head out in curlers, you check the car for gas the night before lest you find yourself half way to your destination pumping gas in jammies and fuzzy pink slippers... don't ask where this advice comes from, but trust me, it's good advice.

Thrifty Summer Fun

2009-07-01T14:38:00.002-04:00

VBS is over and I think we've finally recovered... it was fun but we were TIRED! Today we headed out to a free summer movie and then met Kevin for lunch (that would have been thriftier if we'd packed a picnic... but next time). After leaving him at work, the boys and I stopped by a local thrift store. I love thrift stores! And I especially love them when I find something great. Today's bargain was a set of 6 La Rochere tumblers for a total of $2! I had no idea what they were when I purchased them but just liked them... I noticed the marking and had to look it up. I also found one art book that I'd been eyeing for our homeschool and another one that looked fun. I topped off the purchase with a puppet for Nathan and a Pappagallo shirt for me. By far, the tumblers were the best deal, but with a total of $5 spent, I'm happy.

One Hundred and Five!

2009-06-22T16:41:00.002-04:00

...was the reading on our van's thermometer while riding around today. Baby, it's hot outside!

We're still here... I've just been living and not blogging. We're all participating in VBS this week- Nathan as a participant, Sully as a youth helper and I'm covering snacks. I should even have about an hour each day to slip home for some solo housework- the boys will still be occupied and I'll have finished my job at church.

This week is one of our official weeks off this summer. We hit the library after VBS and checked out several movies... I was hoping to hit the beach or zoo during some of our vacation time but not this week- it's just too hot! Maybe I should plan an iceskating day instead.

Home Again

2009-06-05T09:03:00.005-04:00

The boys and I just returned from a trip to Virginia. As always, we had a great time. Among the highlights, we visited my parents, went to Busch Gardens, Colonial Williamsburg, met my mom's new chickens and went to lunch with my uncle. My mom also hosted a BBQ to which I invited several friends whom I hadn't seen in many years. Unfortunately, Nathan got sick and didn't participate in the fun on that day.

Today I'm concentrating on unpacking and getting the house back in order. It was a nice trip, but I am glad to be home.

Adding Homeschool Credits

2009-05-19T09:12:00.002-04:00

As I was cleaning up my breakfast dishes this rainy morning (the boys had already eaten and put their dishes away), I heard noises from the other room that didn't sound like books being readied for the day ahead, but more like a furious game of Foosball.

Me: What are you guys doing?
Two very innocent voices from the family room: PE

So this morning we've added a 15 minute PE credit to our day.

I've now been informed that it's time for recess... that's one they aren't going to get away with this early!

Modern Boyhood

2009-05-08T21:07:00.002-04:00

In a restaurant with a straw and the damp straw wrapper after performing the "snake trick"

Nathan: How do you make a spitball?
Me: I'm not sure I should share that with you right now.
Nathan: (with hands up like he is typing) That's okay, I'll go home and Google "how to make a spitball"

Weekly Wrap-up

2009-05-08T20:50:00.002-04:00

We have had a very busy week. Rehearsals, performances, book sales, visits and the beginning of our summer term.

I decided last year to break our year into 3 terms of 17 weeks each- 12 working weeks and 5 vacation weeks each term. It seemed to work out okay and would have worked out even better if I had been more organized and diligent about keeping our schedule.
I hadn't realized how disorganized we've been the past few months until Monday when Nathan asked a question and made a comment. "Why are we so organized today? This is weird!" Now, before anyone thinks I let the boys loll around and neglect schoolwork, they have been doing work but we have lagged behind on read alouds and projects (the fun part of school), which we started again in earnest this past Monday.
Our project this week and next is a mini book about Mexico, which will include the Mexican flag, a map of Mexico and several pages about Mexican holidays. Why Mexico, you ask? We've joined a geography club! The best part (to me) isn't studying the countries or the culture... it's the pending potluck. We get to find a regional recipe to make and share at the monthly meeting- YUM!

I'm not going to say that I plan to post photos and hopefully a video of Nathan's performance (even though I do) because every time those words go into print, I neglect to post for weeks on end.

My hope for next week? That we have another "weird" one!

Ovenbird

2009-04-24T09:05:00.004-04:00

This morning a frantic call from the backyard had me running out to see what Duke was after. A small bird was sitting on the ground near our garden. We're pretty sure he's an ovenbird. What do you think?

He was so stunned and I was able to pick him up. As soon as he heard his friends in the distance he fluttered out of my hand, into the garden, and finally out of the yard.

The Key to More Consistent Posting

2009-04-23T19:45:00.001-04:00

... is to avoid posts saying that I'll be posting soon. Inevitably life gets in the way.

Living on the Space Coast

2009-04-18T21:42:00.005-04:00

... has some advantages.

Can you guess where we're going?

How about now?

This is the Vertical Assembly Building... see the stars on the flag? I've been told each one is the size of a car. REALLY, a car! This building is HUGE! The roof covers 8 acres and it's 525 feet tall. Amazing!

Inside the VAB- so big that I couldn't get it all in one photo.

We have some lovely friends who invited us to Family Day at the Kennedy Space Center. It was a terrific morning, a once in a lifetime opportunity and I have a TON of photos to share. I'm going to be posting several installments of the tour in the next few days so check back soon.

Proud Mama

2009-04-18T20:14:00.004-04:00

I'm going to try to import the video of Sully singing with his chorus.

It worked!!! It took forever, but it worked... now to post.

Sully is the only boy in the ensemble, so he's carrying the baritone (or is is bass?) all on his own. He sang with the full chorus last year as an alto but since his voice changed, he's moved up to the ensemble. This was his first performance and first time carrying the entire part on his own. The title of the post says it all. I think he did a great job!

Creative Definitions

2009-04-15T08:23:00.003-04:00

Buddhist Farmer: One who sits on a horse doing reputation.

Reputation: (this one is visual) Sit cross-legged with arms out and bent up at elbows, fingers and thumb touching ... it looks like someone who is meditating

Don't even ask how we got on that conversation!

**To clarify- These were Nathan's definitions and he had the word 'reputation' confused with 'meditation'. I'm not sure if anyone could really take up that kind of meditative pose while riding a horse, but he imagined it that way. This from a child who generally has a really good vocabulary... I suppose it's time to do a little more study about world religions.

Weather and Eggplant Parmesan

2009-04-14T17:53:00.009-04:00

Not that one has anything to do with the other but, boy, did we have some weather today! Tornado watches and everything! It seems a little early for such wild weather, and hurricane season is still over a month away.

We also had Eggplant Parmesan for dinner, homemade, a first for me. We've been ordering organic veggie boxes for the past few weeks, and last week's box included an eggplant. The vegetables have been lovely and we get some things that I wouldn't normally pick up on my own, which means I'm being forced to be more creative with cooking... it also means we are all eating more vegetables.

I used this recipe with this tomato sauce. It was really good! Rave reviews from Kevin and both boys.

The sauce was so good and so easy, I won't ever use pre-made sauce ever again... well, that's probably rash, but it was easy and good; I'll definitely make it again.

And look at the beautiful way we like to end our daylight hours here.

The pictures hardly do it justice.
Hope everyone has a good night!

Bird Watching on a Sick Day

2009-04-13T16:42:00.003-04:00

Nathan started with stomach issues yesterday afternoon- we thought it was caused by too much candy. Nope! He's been on the sofa almost all day but just wandered in to ask for something to eat- a good sign!

We took a respite from "couch rest" to sit outside for a while and look who came to visit.

I think he's a red-shouldered hawk (the Florida pale form).

He waited patiently for me to find my camera and posed beautifully. He was way up in the tree. While I'm THRILLED to have a working camera, I REALLY miss having a camera with an eye piece- I have a hard time focusing and holding it still trying to look at the screen.

Happy Easter 2009

2009-04-13T16:37:00.002-04:00

Look at the cake Cori made for our Easter dinner.

SO cute!!

We had a nice time with Grandma Kate, Wally, Uncle Chris and Cori. Hope everyone else had a nice Easter too.

Remember

2009-04-11T23:39:00.002-04:00

... in the last post when I said there was no question who'd get the buns? Well, guess who got them!

NINE of them.
From the top of the stove.
Tucked away in zip-lock bags.

Hot Cross Buns! Hot Cross Buns!

2009-04-10T18:27:00.005-04:00

One a penny, two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns.
If you have no daughters,
Give them to your sons.
One a penny, two a penny,
Hot Cross Buns!

A Good Friday tradition, but a first for us.

Fortunately for the sons in our house, we haven't any daughters, so there's no question as to who will get them.

Spring

2009-04-07T13:03:00.003-04:00

...has come to Florida. We're having some cool (for us) weather this week- it feels like spring... not summer... spring! And just in time for Easter!

The Negotiator

2009-04-05T21:55:00.002-04:00

Kevin took the boys to our favorite hot dog stand last week but with only 2 refill cups in the car, the boys were sharing a drink.

Scenario while driving home-

From the backseat: Arguing voices

Kevin: What's going on?

Sully: Nothing, Sir.

Nathan: Don't worry, Dad. We are negotiating the Coke, and we've got it handled.

Birthday Blast

2009-04-04T19:16:00.003-04:00

Was a paintball blast!

Very manly, no moms, perfect for ushering in his 14th.

Happy Birthday Sully!!!

Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss

2009-03-02T20:26:00.003-05:00

Since today was Dr. Seuss' birthday, we celebrated with cupcakes.

We read some books...

by Dr. Seuss of course!

We even drew Seuss-like birds and wrote Seuss-like stories.

We're putting the finishing touches on stories and drawings, so stay tuned for a post on the finished products.

Around America with the Blue and Gold

2009-02-22T20:05:00.003-05:00

Nathan's cub scout pack had it's annual Blue and Gold banquet on Friday. This year's theme was Cities around America and our den's city was New Orleans. We chose a Mardi Gras theme so beads ...

...and masks abound.

In the annual Mother and Son Cake Contest, Nathan's cake won for the best birthday cake...

we were going for most regional but the King Kong cake was a shoo-in for that category.

The face in this blurry photos says it all... he was THRILLED to win.

We're a Talented Bunch

2009-02-22T19:44:00.004-05:00

At least the men in the family are! And they were able to show off all that talent tonight at the church talent show. We've been attending the talent show for the past few years and the boys have participated every year but this was the first year Kevin got in on the act.

This is the only picture I took. Sully was "Luke" who had just wrecked the Land Rover and worried that his dad was coming to holler at him. Darth Vader is Nathan, newspaper, fuzzy slippers and all. Sully's other number was a ventriloquist act... he doesn't do ventriloquism... it was funny! Kevin did three great impressions while reading from Goodnight Moon... gonged (by request) each time, to the chagrin of a few audience members.

We enjoyed both dinner and the show. The youth group uses this as one of their major fundraisers for a summer trip to Montreat.

BBQ Dog

2009-02-21T19:23:00.003-05:00

Some of you may remember this post of Duke ON the grill. I'm happy to report that he hasn't been up there since we got rid of the picnic table. He did find another grill inspired spot.

And for anyone who has missed reading about the antics of Duke, he's still a ball of laughs... or a large pain in the rear, depending on if you're a glass half full or glass half empty type of person.
For starters, his foot has almost healed from the when he was stuck on the fence but I did have to call the vet last week when he decided to help himself to a plate of chocolate chip cookies... and I mean the ENTIRE plate... made for a lot of people... there were A LOT of cookies! I now know that he'd have to eat 2o ounces of chocolate to be in the danger zone. 20 ounces is A LOT of chocolate. Unless of course he decided to eat bakers chocolate- then he'd only have to eat around 12 ounces- YUCK!
He whined and cried when he was under the BBQ and acted like he was stuck. The largest way in or out is shown in the last photo, and he's a pretty big dog! Fortunately ,with a little coaxing, he crawled out- unscathed.

Let's Party... and Skate

2009-02-21T18:36:00.005-05:00

Nathan had an ice skating party this year and what a blast that was!!! Several of the kids had never been on ice skates- not a surprising thing for Florida kids, but they had a ball. The adults had a pretty good time too! We were fortunate to have Grandma Kate and Wally drive out for the party and boy, is Grandma Kate good on skates! Nathan explained to me that Grandma's prowess on skates was due to her growing up in a cold state.

And FINALLY some photos!!!! Sorry for the blurriness- We are still getting used to the new camera and many of the "action shots" were taken by Kevin, while he was skating backwards... a feat in itself!

This was how Kevin and I spent much of our time... pushing kids around.

Since Nathan is officially a "pro", this being his third time on skates and all... he was all over the rink. And Sully? Well, he's a hot-dog on skates... that's what impresses the ladies, ya know?

Nathan didn't care about impressing the ladies!

We had a great time and I can't wait to go back when we aren't hosting a party.

I thought "winter" was over

2009-02-21T18:17:00.002-05:00

We even turned our ac on last week but this week we're looking forward to some chilly nights ... and beautiful days (high 60's to low 70's). I LOVE winter in Florida! Summer? Now that's another matter entirely.

Still no Pictures but a Quick Update

2009-02-07T22:48:00.002-05:00

We've been really lazy about getting the memory card for our camera so I don't have any photos to share but wanted to get a quick post out about our week. The boys both had football games today and as I was sitting out on the field, I noticed what a great view of the cruise ships we had. (not that the boys would notice as their focus was on the ball... or should have been) They have really enjoyed playing flag football. It's very low key and the boys all get to play. I'm planning to have a memory card for the next game so I can take photos of the boys before the season is over.

Duke added some interest to last week by getting his back paw stuck on the fence top while trying to jump over. Dorky dog will sometimes jump the back fence in hot pursuit of a cat or squirrel. He then gets stuck in the field behind our house and has to be lifted back over into our yard. You'd think if he made it over one way, he could figure out how to get back, but we haven't been that lucky. Anyhow, this time his paw got stuck and when he freed himself, he got a pretty nasty cut. We've been drugging him with Benadryl and doggie aspirin so he'll stay doped up and off of his foot. His bandages have been removed and he's licking his paw like crazy but so far it looks OK and we haven't had to make a visit to the vet.

On Monday, the boys went to see a show called Black Violin, a group of guys playing kind of a hip-hop on violins- they really liked it. This was the day of Duke's injury and fortunately a friend offered to go in my stead. This meant that the boys were able to go hang out with their friend Gabe after the show... needless to say, they were thrilled.

Other than Duke's foot issue, we've had a pretty low key week. We are having some uncommonly low temperatures this year, but today warmed up to almost 70, so "spring" should be around the corner.

We'll go to a Valentine's Day party on Friday the 13th with a group from our defunct homeschool co-op, and then we have all of our normal activities... scouts, Kids Klub and football practice. We're studying simple machines in science so if I can coordinate photos with our projects, I'll post those soon.

Hurrah! New Computer

2009-02-02T21:24:00.002-05:00

Kevin came home with a new computer today- what a great guy!!! And none too soon either. Although I'd figured out how to charge my laptop without any sparks shooting from it, today was the day it decided to completely shut down. I'm hoping we can still get info from the hard drive but if not, I did back it up pretty recently- live and learn.

So, this hopefully means back to some more regularly scheduled posts.

Still Dealing with a Flaky Computer

2009-02-01T16:43:00.003-05:00

But life goes on.

Last week Nathan turned 8. We haven't had his party yet but we did eat cupcakes on his official birthday. We also attended a juggling show, football practice, scout meeting and Kids Klub. The coming week holds much of the same except that we may add in a trip to the zoo and have no juggling show to attend.

I look forward to getting the computer back to normal in the near future and posting (with photos) more of our comings and goings.

Unplanned Blogging Break

2009-01-23T21:23:00.002-05:00

My computer has been working off and on so I've been off and online for the past several weeks. A quick update to let you know what we've been up to is in order. I'm not sure how consistent I'll be during the next few weeks while we work out the bugs but I'll be back as soon as I can.

So here's what we've been up to:

Nathan had a pinewood derby race with scouts. His car wasn't the fastest but he had a great time making it and it looks really cool. He'll be able to enter it in the "best of show" contest at the next pack meeting.

Both boys have started flag football and they both love it! I haven't seen Sully this excited about an activity, ever. They've had several practices and a couple of games each. This means that our next two months of Saturdays will include running between games. Totally worth it!

Kids Klub has started again and this semester's play is called Simon Says and is about Simon Peter and becoming "fishers of men". Nathan will be in the play and Sully is a teen helper.

We're getting back into the swing of school. Not too exciting but always nice to regain a routine after the hubbub of the holidays.

We have experienced the coldest winter since I've lived in Florida. There was actually FROST on the lawn this morning!!! I love it!!!

Kevin and I were able to attend his office party, which included a one night stay in a hotel!!! The boys thoroughly enjoyed this, as they spent the weekend with Grandma Kate and Wally. We had a nice time at his party and the following day we visited a local winery. The boys had a blast visiting the aquarium, the candy store and walking to the diner... they came home with so much to tell me about that I can't remember it all. Thanks Grandma Kate and Wally!!! They so enjoyed themselves.

Because of the extra cold weather, we've been putting our fireplace to good use. I think we've set more fires this year than all the years we've lived here put together. Again, I love it!!!

AND, someone turned 35!!! Yes, I'm married to a younger man!! That was earlier this month. We celebrated Kevin's birthday with cake on the day with the boys and Uncle Chris and then dinner for two at the Melting Pot on the Friday after.

So, that covers most of the high points and I'll be back on soon... We still haven't gotten a memory card for our new camera so the photos are few but hopefully we'll get around to that soon as well.

We're looking forward to Nathan's birthday during the coming week and to a future party... ice skating anyone?

Epiphany

2009-01-06T16:17:00.002-05:00

Don't know if anyone noticed the original post title was missing "pi" and had an extra "in"... no message there, just typing faster than I can think- LOL!

This picture was taken during our "trip through Bethlehem" before Christmas but I just received it today and thought it was appropriate.

And Happy Birthday Wally!!!

Provision

2008-12-31T12:19:00.002-05:00

We've been in need of coffee maker... well as much as anyone can really need a coffee maker. Our current coffee maker, while still working, is well used with a flaking element and is on it's last leg. We even browsed the coffee maker aisle while Christmas shopping but decided to put off the purchase- partially because we couldn't agree on what type to buy and partially because we wanted to concentrate on buying gifts. I REALLY like the pot-less style coffee maker and would have loved to buy one, but at $40 or $50 for an inexpensive version that would be a hard purchase to justify when I would have been happy with just a cheap coffee pot that worked well.

You see where this is going don't you?... Well, this morning my neighbor knocked on the door and was getting rid of this. They had no idea of our coffee maker situation. Answer to prayer? Maybe, but I can't really say I prayed for a coffee maker. I can't even call it a need, however, I wanted one and one was provided for me- free and unexpected... one that exceeds what I would have or could have purchased for myself. Whenever I doubt God's provision, I need only to look at instances such as these when we have been greatly provided for, provision that not only meets but exceeds our needs.

Life lesson this morning- trust. Teacher- a coffee pot!

1 Timothy 6:17

Charge the rich of this world not to be highminded, nor to trust in the uncertainty of riches, but in the living God, who gives us abundantly all things to enjoy

Jesse Tree

2008-12-28T22:18:00.005-05:00

One of the devices we used to count down Advent this year was a Jesse Tree. I researched and found several opinions on how to make the tree, ornaments and what symbols to use but in short, a Jesse Tree is some kind of tree or branch with some kind of ornaments that symbolize history before and up to Jesus. We started with creation and ended with names for Jesus as stated in the O Antiphons and paraphrased in the hymn O Come, O Come Emmanuel. The boys and I made ornaments out of Sculpey and read selections of scripture each day when they took turns hanging an ornament on the tree. Nathan wanted to know if we could make ornaments again next year.

You can see both sides of the tree here.

This was a really fun project and an excellent way to bring in Christmas.

The pictures aren't the best but I'm still figuring out the new camera. It doesn't have an eye hole (I'm sure that's not the technical name) but only a screen and I'm one of those old fashioned people who likes to look through the viewer so I'm not used to the screen. I'll learn!

Our Camera-less Days are Over

2008-12-28T17:39:00.003-05:00

Boy, that was quick! During a trip to Office Depot for printer ink today, we browsed the camera aisle... well, Kevin browsed and I co-browsed. He found a great deal on a Kodak Easy Share and wallah! We have a working camera!! I'm still getting used to it, kind of like driving a new car- it just doesn't feel like the old one but does what it's supposed to. You can see some of the photos in the next post.

Christmas and December Update... Sans Photos

2008-12-27T20:14:00.003-05:00

There will be no posts with photos for a while because our camera died halfway through dinner at Medieval Times last week. What a bummer! We did get a few pics of the kids and the show but can't get them off the camera without a trip to CVS to burn a disc from the memory card. Fortunately, Grandma Kate left her camera on Christmas Eve so we got some shots of Christmas morning and Kevin was able to borrow his brother's video camera. Those shots are still in their respective cameras though and may or may not make it onto the blog.

Dinner as lords and ladies (actually lords and one lady) was fun. Kevin received tickets from his former employer last year and we waited until they were about to expire before using them... nothing like sliding in last minute! Funny because that seems to be the theme for me this holiday. It didn't seem to matter how disorganized I felt, however, because Christmas Eve dinner and Christmas morning were really very nice. We had both Grandmas with spouses, Uncle Chris and Cori. The best of Christmas is having the family together.

The boys, as always, were the recipients of a lot of great stuff! We'll be lucky if nothing gets broken this year- bones or valuables. Between flying monkeys, a pogo stick, stilts, golf clubs and rip-sticks the boys will certainly be active. Sully has almost mastered the rip-stick and as of last report, Nathan bounced 68 bounces on his pogo stick. Not only did the boys enjoy their gifts but almost every adult had a go. I found that I was not meant to be a stilt walker but I can almost pogo stick and Kevin hasn't hurt himself on the rip-stick yet.

Hopefully our camera-less days are limited and I'll be back to posting pictures sometime soon but for now, you'll just have to suffer through some ?short? written updates.

Merry Christmas to All

2008-12-25T20:08:00.001-05:00

... and to all a goodnight.

God bless us all this Christmas night.

Busy About Christmas

2008-12-21T21:41:00.002-05:00

We've been doing a lot, some with the camera and some without but this will be a photo-free post- mainly so I can be sure to get at least one post out before Christmas.

Here's a list of the highlights:

-Ice skating (twice with two different homeschool groups)

-Gingerbread houses (or more accurately, graham cracker houses)

-December visit to the nursing home (we've actually been 3 times this month- scouts, Kids Klub and our regular visit)

-Nathan had his first singing solo in the play Angels Aware. Sully's first show doing lights and sound.

-Cookie decorating party with our homeschool group (which has sadly decided to close)

-We saw this play

-We've been making some neat Christmas gifts... can't tell you what yet

-Nathan started flag football and Sully will start soon... it's the first sport for Nathan and the first for Sully in a long time

-Scout meetings

-Shopping (this is not a normal pastime for us but I usually enjoy doing some Christmas shopping)

-A visit to Santa

-And we just returned from walking through Bethlehem (of course this was one of the events sans camera). You may remember this Vacation Bible School. "Walk through Bethlehem" was similar to the marketplace. Nathan made a menorah, an oil lamp, a basket, learned Hebrew letters and was able to weave on a fancy loom. Sully disappeared only to be found in the kitchen, baking bread and flirting with the girls... not necessarily in that order.

Boy, it sure does seem like a busy month and Christmas is still a few days away. In addition to all the out of house highlights we've been busy cleaning, baking, and decorating at home. We, as usual, have pulled out our advent wreath and calendars... the chocolate calendars from Wally and Grandma Kate have become a much loved tradition... and this year we've been working on ornaments for a Jesse Tree. (I was going to add a link but I think I will do a separate post complete with photos- but I can't promise it up before Christmas)

We'll be doing some last minute prep over the next couple of days and hope to make it to one last outing before we are blessed with grandparents here.

If I don't make it back to post before Christmas, have a happy, safe and joyous holiday!!!

Merry Christmas to all!

First Day of Winter

2008-12-21T21:32:00.003-05:00

And here was our forecast....

Sun

76°F | 49°F

... but the thermometer in the car read 82!!

More Air Pressure

2008-12-04T16:34:00.006-05:00

We're on a roll... with science!

Here are two more experiments with air pressure- both from the book seen in the previous post.
What happens when a piece of cardboard is placed on a full cup, which is then flipped?

Do you dare to hold it over your head?

It didn't quite make it.

We discovered that this paper air plane has wing foil like real planes so there is a low pressure area on the top of the wing.

Duke wanted to test it too so we had to race him to the landing.

And this is the face one makes after whacking his camera wielding mom in the face with the airplane

Corn Maze

2008-12-04T15:08:00.008-05:00

This is what we did this past weekend. We had been scheduled to go with our homeschool group but that trip came during the midst of our battle with the flu so we missed it.
The entrance to the maze area... a giant slide.

We were supposed to find 5 open spaces with clues... here we are at the ONE clue station we found.

It was a 6 acre maze- we spent a couple of hours wandering and only covered about 1/4 of it before we found our way out. The flag Nathan is carrying was insurance that we wouldn't be lost forever- we would only have to raise the flag and holler... Nathan was dying to raise the flag but fortunately we found the exit on our own.

Science Today and a Little Bit of Sad

2008-12-04T14:23:00.006-05:00

Well, we are all feeling much better but that was one whopper of a cold! As the title suggests, we're having some science fun around here today. We've been studying weather- check out our experiment dealing with air pressure.

Here's the book, (published in 1957)

the execution,

the waiting,

and the result.

Any experiment that involves fire or matches is a good one! Last week they concentrated sunlight with a magnifying glass and burnt a bunch of newspaper. Fortunately, they don't do this kind of experimenting without permission.

On a sad note, our guinea pig died last night. We were anticipating (0r at least everyone but Nathan was anticipating) his death. He was pretty old for a guinea pig and he'd been sick. We've said "no more small pets", but Nathan is already angling for another pocket pet. Kevin likes to call these types of pets small tragedies but I still think he may cave on the "no more small pets" decree before I do.

The last small animal that we were really attached to was Harry the Hamster. Santa brought Harry the Christmas that Sully decided to wake up and open all of his presents in the middle of the night. I'm laughing now, but I wasn't then! Kevin and I were sleeping, and had been for a whole couple of hours when a frantic 7 year old woke us up because his brand new hamster was loose in his bedroom. Hooray for Daddy who found the little bugger! That taste of freedom started Harry's career as an escape artist. Over the almost 3 years that Harry lived with us, we searched for him many a day and night and always found him, eventually. I blamed Sully for not closing the cage correctly until one night when Harry was seen scurrying into our linen closet. I picked him up, put him back into his cage and stood aside to watch him throw all his weight, claws and teeth, into opening the door. Success! After that revelation, his cage was turned with the door wedged against the wall.

Guinea came to us from a friend as "Napoleon" but we usually just called him Guinea. He certainly wasn't as adventurous as Harry, but he was sweet and we enjoyed him.

Sick

2008-11-20T01:01:00.003-05:00

The flu became an uninvited guest at our house last week and has decided to stay for a while longer. I was the first to fall victim and just as I finally got up and started moving around, Sully was taken ill. Last weekend we canceled some exciting plans and it seems as if we'll have to put this off for another week. Here's to hoping the rest of the family either misses out completely or gets over this bug before Thanksgiving. Really hoping they miss out completely!

Colonial Williamsburg: part 1

2008-11-01T19:02:00.009-04:00

Our first stop was Great Hope Plantation, a hands-on, living exhibit. The foundation started this project around 5 years ago to show a typical Virginia farm being built from the ground up. Currently there is a kitchen, tobacco barn, slave house, some animals, kitchen gardens and crops.

What I thought would be a quick stop on the way to see the "real" Colonial Williamsburg turned out to be a really neat learning opportunity.

First we visited the oxen being yoked to till the field. We found that these oxen are a mix between a modern breed and the breed that would have come from Europe during Colonial times. These oxen were bred for hard work and compliance.

Then we made a stop to see some colonial construction. These men are working on rafters for a coffee house in the city that will replicate a building found in an archaeological dig. They order machine-cut lumber larger than what's needed in order to put on an authentic, hand-hewn finish. Sully got to help with the chalk line. They used a mixture of coal and water because they needed a dark line on the light wood. The amazing thing to me is that this technology- plumb and chalk lines- were used in Ancient Egypt, Colonial America and today.

Our trip to the slave quarters was very informative. We saw what a weeks worth of rations looked like- not much! Chickens were kept behind the slave homes and both master and slave ate the eggs. We also learned the origin of "hoe cakes". The gardens of slave and master were quite different. The master's garden held more European plants such as lavender and herbs and the slave's garden tended more toward African vegetables like okra, black-eyed peas and sweet potatoes.

We learned that on a farm such as this everyone of age would have worked, slave, master and child. Here is Nathan learning the most efficient way to grind corn.

Bricks and rock were expensive and hard to come by so the houses were built of wood and a stone or brick hearth was added. Since a masonry chimney was too costly, a wooden chimney was built because wood was abundant. The chimney was built off the house at an angle so if it were to catch fire, it could be pushed away from the house saving the dwelling.

Shown is the slave house, the master's house is the next to be built. We saw the posts set up and it is not much bigger than the slave house. Great Hopes Plantation shows a middle class plantation- a working farm with no luxuries.

We didn't make it back for the candle dipping but we did see the big kettle of melted wax over a constantly tended fire- it needed to stay lit but not too hot.

Check back for other posts on our trip. I decided to break them up since we did and saw so much.

Cozy

2008-11-01T18:48:00.003-04:00

This is what we did on the coldest night of the week last week.

After spending the day at a fun petting farm not terribly far out of town, we ended the day feeling very fallish. Our friends and family up north may think us a little nutty for having a fire but we have to take advantage of all the cold we can. We open the windows when the temperature dips below 60 and enjoy the fire. I think it might have even dropped into the 40's that night! The only thing we were missing was hot chocolate.

And to add to the holiday feel, look what was on TV!

Trick or Treat '08

2008-10-31T20:40:00.004-04:00

Sully's pumpkin

Nathan's pumpkin

Trick-or-treat at Uncle Chris and Cori's (a Halloween tradition)

Are they really going to eat all this???

Happy Halloween 2008

2008-10-31T18:20:00.003-04:00

Nathan's Scout Pumpkin

2008-10-31T18:18:00.000-04:00

Based on the book My Father's Dragon by Ruth Stiles Gannett...

My Favorite Theme Park

2008-10-31T17:46:00.004-04:00

Even though we love Disney, Bush Gardens is tops in my book. Maybe it's due to great childhood memories or the lovely setting or even the awesome rides. No matter, to me it's the best.

This is the newest roller coaster... The Griffon. It's a lot of fun!! Check out that 90degree drop!

And because it was Hallo-Scream, they were all decked out with pumpkins, coffins, werewolves and such.

And we ALL had to get a picture taken while standing in the coffin.

Who Says There's Nothing to do in the Country?

2008-10-31T17:40:00.002-04:00

Fun with the backhoe.

But it does take some concentration!

What a Lovely Family

2008-10-22T20:29:00.003-04:00

Instead of downloading the Colonial Williamsburg photos, we've been entertaining ourselves with this site. I might be the one who is most entertained- I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!! (oh, the weird horns on Kevin are actually a stick that got in the way of the photo but the effect is funny)

Home Again

2008-10-20T21:34:00.002-04:00

We just returned from our bi-annual trip up north. This is my favorite time of year to go and we were rewarded with awesome fall weather and one day that felt more like an Indian Summer. As soon as the pictures make it on the computer, I'll post again. The highlight of our trip this time was visiting Colonial Williamsburg. Fun and educational!!

Book Hop

2008-10-05T14:32:00.003-04:00

Last month we participated in a 50's theme "Book Hop" with our homeschool group to celebrate a summer of reading. We did edible book reports. Sully's was "Choke Cherry Crumble" from Hatchet by Gary Paulsen- it tasted better than it looked so no picture. Nathan's report was on Where is Green Sheep? by Mem Fox. This one was cute!

Here are some photos of my 50's style kids- one cool and one not.

The cool kid is thinking of his next dance move.

Nathan is just dancing.

Seaworld

2008-10-05T14:13:00.002-04:00

If you hadn't guessed by the last two posts, we spent a day at Seaworld. What fun!!! We were fortunate to be able to meet Uncle Chris and Cori there AND the boys got to trick-or-treat!!!
Since no Seaworld post would be complete without a picture of Shamu, I won't disappoint. And yes, we WERE this close... this trip we had ponchos all around! (Last time, I was the only one with a poncho and everyone else got wet!)

Lunch?

2008-10-05T13:41:00.004-04:00

These were as smelly as they looked!

Good thing that top fish wasn't drippy- that would have been a nasty surprise!

Nathan to Kevin when offered a really squishy fish: Give that one to Sully. Apparently he knows that his brother isn't as squeemish as he is. On a side note, I didn't touch them at all!!!

These were the guys we were trying to feed. Cute, huh?

These were the guys we were trying to avoid feeding. Not so cute.

And possibly even dangerous??!!??

After which we made a beeline for to the hand-washing station.

Journey to Atlantis

2008-10-05T13:34:00.003-04:00

A ride in pictures:

Jack Frost?

2008-09-24T20:54:00.004-04:00

It sure felt like it today when we visited the ice skating rink. It was field trip day with our home school group and boy was that fun! I can't remember the last time I was on the ice- I'm not an accomplished or experienced skater by any means, but I didn't fall. Sully skated like an old pro and found one of his teen aged friends to hang with, so Nathan and I saw him mostly while he was passing us by. He did slow down a couple of times to check on us. This was Nathan's first trip ice skating and by the end of our session he was doing quite well. We rented an ice walker/slider for him and when he first stepped on the ice he reminded me of Bambi from the Disney cartoon- legs sprawling, but before we left he'd place himself between the wall and the walker, which I was holding, and skate without holding on to anything.
And wouldn't you know I left my camera at home??!!?? I suppose we'll just have to go back!

Interesting Choice of Words

2008-09-12T23:04:00.002-04:00

Sully was dancing in the kitchen today with a dish towel... just being silly. Nathan was egging him on by telling him he was a dancer, a good dancer... an exotic dancer. And no, he didn't know what it meant, Lord only knows where he's heard that one before! But, I don't think he'll be using that description again any time soon.

Keeping Dry

2008-08-23T14:59:00.006-04:00

Just a quick post to let everyone know that we are safe and dry. We even spent the last two nights of the storm in Boca where we were able to enjoy both pool and beach instead of all the rain. Getting out of town on Wednesday was a challenge! Today is the first day that I've actually seen the footage of the damage Fay has caused to surrounding communities- no wonder we've had so many calls!! We do appreciate the concern of friends and family. Fortunately, the only thing we had to deal with was ball moss and branches in our yard and a couple of hours without power. The neighbors had a small sinkhole develop between their yards and Kevin helped fill that in this morning. This week should be "back to normal".

In other news, Sully did a voice test with his chorus this morning (for those haven't heard him in a while- you wouldn't recognize him either). His voice is a lovely baritone and he will be placed in the ensemble as baritone is too deep for a children's chorus. The director is hoping that she'll have enough students for the ensemble to come together- so are we!

School routines will start up again after labor day. Here's to hoping we've seen the last of the bad weather in our area this year but we're still watching "the skies".

I've Searched the World Over...

2008-08-13T21:19:00.004-04:00

or at least the internet and look what comes up!

It's fun to look at the searches that bring up my blog, but I can't help but to think that some folks are sorely disappointed.

Some questions that I'm pretty sure my blog doesn't answer:
How to look like a teenager
How Powhatans made their yehakin
Why do we get tired so fast when we're in the sun?
How to keep a camera lens from fogging over (I should Google that!)

Nor is there much information on:
Narcoossee community school uniforms
Indian first birthday party
"St Augustine""turning red" grass lawn-centipede (this sounds like someone had trouble with their lawn- no answers here!)

These folks were certainly looking for something that they won't find here:
shirtless boys
cream movie free (don't Google that one!)

Then there are some that make me wonder exactly what they were looking for:
School Cone head
katsup sun
Sun noises

and some that just make me smile:
Unruly dog (I can feel their pain!)
Virus that mimics the flu (with that one too)
Wiley Coyote, super genius
'Cause I'm a winner
Armpit noises (no mom-of-boys-blog is complete without at least one reference to this)

Hope you enjoyed the search engine tour!

Opening New Doors

2008-08-13T20:02:00.004-04:00

One new door to be precise. Here's the progression from old to none to new then new and improved.

Old door

No door

New door- no paint

New door- painted

If you are observant, you'll notice that I'm not finished painting and if you are extra observant, you'll notice the new flower bed. (What I hope you don't notice is that our gutters need cleaning and painting- you're looking now, aren't you?)
While I like the door from the outside and for the reasons that the daylight coming is is supposed to come in and we aren't losing any air through cracks, I LOVE this door for what it's done to my living room and dining room. The light that comes in during the day is awesome!!!

A Tasty Snack

2008-08-13T19:28:00.003-04:00

With all the rain, we've had many mushrooms coming up in our neighborhood. I'm glad they aren't going to waste!

Thread Snake

2008-08-13T19:21:00.004-04:00

We found one of these on the floor of our living room. Initially I thought it was some gross intestinal worm belonging to the dog and that a trip to the vet might be in order. (Not that our dog has worms but we blame him for many gross things, odd smells etc...) Imagine my relief when I discovered the cool little thread snake... also known as a blind snake.
The photo on the link is much better than mine but here's our little guy just before we released him into the garden.

Clean Slate

2008-08-10T20:06:00.003-04:00

I'm typing from my very own *fixed* computer. Yea!!! Next on the "list" is to get my camera hooked up to download photos... AND also high priority is a trip to purchase one of those little USB things to back my files into. Lesson learned- Back up files, lest your computer breaks and they cannot be recovered. But the computer is now so much less cluttered and it's like starting anew, which, with the right attitude can be fun.

Do They Really Come in Threes?

2008-08-07T15:34:00.003-04:00

I sure hope not because that would mean we're two down with electronic things leaving one to take a dive. This time it's our AC... not a pleasant season for that not to be working. Our forecast today is only 90, so I suppose it could be worse.
After a visit from the ac guy, the house is actually cooling down right now- we had it up to 86 in here! The cool may or may not last, but I'm hoping for the best.

So that's what wives are for

2008-08-05T11:30:00.002-04:00

Me: Tomorrow I will teach you both how to clean your bathroom.
Nathan: Well, I already know how to wipe out the sink.
Me: Good, then I can teach you how to clean the rest of it... like the toilet.
Nathan: Oh, I won't be cleaning any toilets. Sully can do that.
Me: Well, you need to know how to clean it so when you grow up and live on your own, you won't have a nasty toilet.
Nathan: I'll just have my wife clean it.