Wednesday, November 28, 2007

Friends...

We met with our friends today. We won't see them tomorrow at the park for our playgroup because they won't have transportation. So we met earlier! The kids have so much fun together. Today they ran around the playground structures, shared oranges, threw branches in the little stream, played "mommies and babies"...

Tuesday, November 27, 2007

Tiger...

We went to the zoo today. We were treated to a very close view of one of the tigers on tiger river... What a tiger!




OK the video doesn't all come up...I'm trying to get it to upload on another clip spot...

Sunday, November 25, 2007

A hike...

We took the day and went for a hike in the mountains near our home. We figured that everyone in the county was off shopping and we didn't want to go anywhere near the malls or stores so we headed for the dirt paths. It was a beautiful day for a hike. The kids were in a mood to hike so that made it even better! We explored the dam a bit and took some little trails leading to a larger one. We recognized this area to be where we played with leaves some time ago. There were still a bunch of leaves on the ground but they weren't in the mood to toss them in the air today. We continued on our trek while we were all still happy. We climbed up and down steps and the kids took shortcuts using another trail nearby. We headed back to the car and had to stop at the big rocks. We really can't go on a hike here without stopping to climb on the rocks. We had fun. It is all about the fun.




Friday, November 23, 2007

Happy Birthday Ryan!

Today we celebrated cousin Ryan's 2nd birthday. Exactly 1 month after Noah turned 2. It is so neat that they are close in age, I wish we lived a little closer (like within blocks) so that they could grow up and know each other even better, but we will take what we have. Happy Birthday big guy!

Thursday, November 22, 2007

Happy Thanksgiving...

We celebrated with 40 adult family members from in town and out of town and about 10 children. So much to be thankful this year....

Monday, November 19, 2007

Second section....

Over the weekend, Ben took his 2nd section test for karate. His last test was at the end of July. There were so many moves, much longer than for the previous test. We practiced and drilled him to make sure that he knew what he was doing. He didn’t want to practice and show us what he knew, but he did. He was really nervous and kept looking around at the kids next to him to make sure he was doing the right thing. They didn’t like that he kept looking around. It makes him look like he was cheating. They knew that he knew the moves, but still. He will have to work on that for his next test because even with all the look-y-loo's… He passed!!!! Here he is receiving his newly dyed belt from his head instructor.
He is so proud!! Go Ben!!!

Saturday, November 17, 2007

Woodworking....

Every year we go to a nearby neighborhood and walk around the couple of blocks to look at all the Christmas decorations and lights. I am always wishing that we could do something that is half as good as what we see at our house. But we are always broke at this time of year.
So, the time is upon us again, we decided to make some decorations for our house for this Christmas season. We had two pieces of plywood laying around the house, so we drew a snowman on one piece and a Christmas tree on the other. We used the jigsaw to cut the shapes out, then sanded them down. In the next few weeks we will paint them (have to buy paint) and decorate them to put outside. We want to have them last a few years, so we will protect them with some sort of non-toxic varnish. Here is Ben working hard at sanding the snowman down. The Christmas tree is about the same size as the snowman.
This type of activity is great for the kids because they take such pride in what they do. They will choose the paint colors and how they figures will look. Usually they are working together at the project and not bickering about who is doing what to them. Anyway, they have told our neighbors about the project already, we can't wait until they are done and it is time to put them outside. We will wait until December 1st.
Pictures of both (finished) will come soon!

Thursday, November 15, 2007

Fire Station...

We met with some other families and headed to a fire station for a tour today. We went to the Firehouse Museum a few weeks ago so the kids didn’t quite know what the difference was but they understood when we started the tour. The official tour guide assigned to our group was called out to a fire so someone else took over. I’m sure they do tours for young kids all the time, he was so good with them. All of the firefighters were nice to the kids and helpful…part of their job. They got to see all around the firehouse and then all over the trucks, he opened all the doors and compartments so they could see everything. It was great.
After the tour we headed to a nearby park to play. It’s such a nice way to continue the field trip. The kids get to play together and get to know each other a little bit better.





Tuesday, November 13, 2007

Experiments…

We were waiting for Daddy this evening in the front of the house, so the kids got their toys out. They love to wait for him out front because I open the car and they can play with all the toys in the garage. They get bikes out and ride them down the street, they do chalk outlines, they play on our neighbors’ driveway and run around wild. Today was no different. They decided to get the chalk out and destroy it. They chopped it to little bits and then got it all wet with a sprayer. They watched it run green down the driveway. I don’t think they expected it to ‘ooze’ green, they thought it was interesting because they all stopped what they were doing to watch. They were mesmerized.

Monday, November 12, 2007

First haircut…

I got out the shears again today but this time it was for Noah. His hair was getting long and we were a little tired of hearing that ‘she’ is so cute…even when he was wearing his football shirt and cammies. Another reason was that one of his ears was getting real irritated and infected with his hair sticking in it…so we thought it was time. Hopefully this will help it heal.

So, we got all ready with a video on TV that we thought he’d enjoy and all my tools nearby. He sat on the stool and didn’t budge the entire time. I think he was really excited about getting his own haircut. He has watched Hannah and Ben get theirs done all this time, it was finally his turn! So our baby is now a big boy…how grown up he looks!

Hannah giving Noah a before haircut hug

During

After! Not bad...if I do say so myself :-)

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Spider cake...

and the bakers...


Birthdays…

My kids love birthday parties. They don’t have to know the child very well to have fun. We went to a birthday party today and they had a blast. It was themed Star Wars and while my kids don’t know who Darth Vader is and what he did in the movies, they know him by sight from other parties and invitations they’ve received. They also know that he is related to light sabers somehow. The boy who’s party it was had lots of swords and sabers, toys and bikes to ride too. Noah also found a toy chainsaw and kept going after people with it.

Darth Vader favors

Chainsaw boy

Light saber-boys

Wednesday, November 07, 2007

Sea World…

We went to Sea World with a group of homeschoolers today. It was great. The weather was chilly and in my opinion perfect for the trip. We walked around with 3 other Moms and their children. We went to the dolphin show that Sea World offered us as part of our day and cruised around the park together.

Orca tank

Dolphin show


Catching sea stars

Shark teeth

Tuesday, November 06, 2007

New friends…

This morning we met up at a park with some new friends I met online. They are great and just the age of our children. She has an older girl but she was great with the younger kids. It was nice to chit chat with another Mom while the kids played together making cakes with sand and flowers together. No one kid was in charge but they worked cooperatively on their project. Back and forth to the flower bushes, gathering their flower treasures and dumping them onto their cakes. They would occasionally veer away from the cakes to do something else but for the most part they “baked” together. It was a great lesson.





Monday, November 05, 2007

Happy Birthday Ben! …

After opening a few presents from us and a specially made breakfast for Ben, we went to Legoland and our kids had a blast. We signed up with the homeschool days that they offer. Nanny went with us and treated us to the day, what a great present for us! Ben & Hannah loved it. Everything was made of Legos and there were so many rides and things for the kids to do and see, that we could’ve been there for a couple of days and still not done everything. Hannah loved the roller coasters and the twirly boat swing, she giggled and raised her hands with glee. Noah liked riding in the helicopter and going on the rides. Ben loved everything. He loved the roller coasters and the bumper cars, the playground, the water guns, everything. We stopped by the store on our way out of the park and Ben picked up a couple of sets of Legos. Thanks to all the money he got for his birthday he was able to get the ones he really wanted! He can’t wait to go again. We all can’t wait to go again. Thanks Nanny!!
Legoland...brrr...chilly!!
First ride
Making music with water instruments
In the fire truck
Pirates singing
Wishing well Mardi Gras, New Orleans
Treasure Island, Las Vegas, NV
Exploration time with quakes and shakes

Sunday, November 04, 2007

Fire devastation…

We drove up to my parents house today to return some of the things they stored in our garage while they had evacuated from their house. What a sight. It was amazing to see that on one side of the road it was totally scorched and the other side was not.





Saturday, November 03, 2007

Party....

Ben’s official birthday is not until Monday…when he turns the big number 6! We had a little birthday party for him today, inviting our families and their children for some fun over at our house. They all came in costume because it was Halloween-themed. We had activities for the kids to do like apple-bobbing, a ghost hunt and a string of donuts that they had to eat off the string without using their hands. Quite fun for all involved. Some kids were scared of the ghosts (really, they were lollipops dressed in crepe paper) and others not interested in bobbing apples that they would have to eat after they bit into it, but all in all it was a great evening for all. Ben had a great time and loved that all of his family came to celebrate with him. He got some great presents too…and lots of money, most of which is going straight into the bank. He’ll get to spend some of it.

Here are some pictures of all the fun…it’s so hard to decide which to post when I’ve taken so many pictures!