A Non-Traditional Week :)

I had the lessons all laid out ... umm, in the planner;) When my dad asked that we come to visit with him the beginning of this week last weekend, I gave him "the speech"...

"We homeschool... which includes LOTS of schooling, books, lessons...." and so on...

Regardless.... I told him I'd get back to him :) Taking off of school sooo early in our year... a year we will be moving! And then having all 4 kids and my dad by myself at my parents' house didn't sound a "do-able" plan:(

But then I got to thinking....  we were all healthy, the weather looked gorgeous, Dad was having really good days!!, we thought we'd go to the aquarium..... it sounded like a good opportunity to spend time with Pey!  
So WHY not???

Thankfully it worked out very well;) The kids did awesome! Dad had some more good days and we all enjoyed visiting with him in a very relaxing environment! I love that the kids have some more memories of spending time with him:)

Here are some aquarium pics;)



So Monday was the aquarium:) I'm totally calling it a science field trip:) Especially since we waited around with a staff member, bombarding her with questions as we waited for the alligators to be fed! Where they live, what they eat, when they mate.... LOL! Very educational and I was super thankful for the glass, especially during feeding time ;)

The male going after each bite!

The female eating very gently;)

their vitamin:)

then Uncle Eric came over and we decided to play a game with the kids. Brian had attempted to teach them poker a while back (while I was at Bible study... LOL!). But we found some poker chips... and really got to play... totally educational;)

Tuesday was the park, swimming in the pool, packing and returning home:(

This warm in the sun... in September!

Wednesday we spent a few minutes in the morning doing some schooling and kiddo maintenance before heading off to meet friends roller skating!! I've blogged about going to the Homeschool Skate before;) I just LOVE the women from my homeschooling group and was soo excited to see 2 (and met a new gal!) there... there are not words to describe what these ladies are to me... just wished they were closer and I could see them more often... even better that our kids all really like playing with each other;)  I called that day... gym and socialization and some home care as we went grocery shopping after, of course:)

Thursday and Friday we got to WORK!! These kids have worked soo hard these last 2 days of the week. I know it's because we got the mini-break!

• Anna and Lydia somehow completed 3 math lessons a piece this week, Chris did 2 plus some worksheets from last week!
• Anna did 3 Grammar lessons and Spelling 3 days
• Chris completed another set of spelling words

• Chris and Lydia finished memorizing their first poem and did 1 Grammar lesson
• We started memorizing 1 Corinthians 13... just the 1st verse this week and read 3 chapters in Psalms
• Everyone did a little reading... yikes! We also are stilling working through Walk the World's Rim... we like it;)
• One whole chapter from SOTW talking about early exploration of Canada.... narrations, maps, reading, coloring, stories from Indians native to those areas:)
• One very simple science experiment
• Started our rock candy... both part of history since it's similar looking to quartz and Science since it's molecules moving and forming something new;)

So it's been another full and super fun week! I was very thankful we made the trip to see Pey... the kids have already thanked me for letting us go.... thankfully one of the benefits of homeschooling is having a flexible schedule:) And getting to see my dad, especially on some good days was priceless!

And another great thing from this week... the kids chose some of the meals, nice to have someone else planning and kids excited at the table. And great real-world practice picking different foods from each of the food groups;)

Lydia and Chris helping with pigs-in-a-blanket... perfect for our chilly Friday:)

Linking up to Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers' Weekly Wrap up!

No Empty Arms

A truly rich man is one whose children
run into his arms when his hands are empty.
~Author Unknown

(Brian pulling double duty with Chris and Lydia... Jan 2010)

(Granddaddy holding Nate... March 2011)

(Pey holding a little Lydia.... Jan 2009)

(My Dad Kevin holding me.... 1980???)

Happy Father's Day!!

We are thankful to the Lord for the dads (and now grand dads)
that have loved and carried us (all of us) at one point.

We love you and look forward to the times we get to spend with you.
And the sweet memories we have together;)

Day With Grammie and Pey

We spent the day with Grammie and Pey!! The weather was MUCH cooler than yesterday, but we "braved" the 50's and went to the park. The kids (and the adults) had a blast:) And the camera was out:) Here are a few of my favorites:)

The TIRE Swing Spin - Mommy camera in hand spining with them:)



















My sweet Little timid Lydia-bug. While she immediately warmed up to Grammie and Pey, she took a while to get used to some of the playground equipment, especially the slides!

After a quick "quiet time" (no napping today).... we spent time with Aunt Jac, Uncle Carson and Uncle Eric. We ate dinner, and then layered again to brave the chilly wind to the park until dark!! Here's Christopher enjoying a little time "hanging around" with Uncle Eric!

I laid down the kids for bed at 8pm. And they were all asleep by 8:20ish!! ZONKED!! And I'm right there with them.... I'll be sharing a bed with both girls... who I was informed by Eric SNORE... maybe I'm soo sleepy that it won't matter:)

Foreign Clothes & My Cute Kids

Since my dad started working overseas, my parents have been quite the world travelers.... And Grammie, being a grandmother, always wants to pick up cute clothes and little gifts for the kids!!

So this afternoon the kids decided to have a foreign clothes "fashion show" and their MOmmy (me) brought them outside in the middle of winter to get a cute pic or two:)


BTW.. I really don't think Grammie intended for the girls to wear the sweaters and skirts together. But being the good little self-dressers they are, the girls found them in the same bag and figured they went together:)

Here is Chris in his little Nepali hat trying to take a pic of ME!! Or so he thinks:)

Aquarium Friends, family and Video

Here are some of the pictures that we took while we were there!! The kids had a blast and enjoyed all the animals and fish!!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Finally.... Our Trip Pics

Well I finally just put the pictures in a montage:) Better than just doing picture posts until Christmas!!

All of the pictures are from our afternoon together at the park.... the weather after than afternoon got too cold and windy for us to enjoy anymore time outside!

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I also had a few swimming pics but they weren't too exciting:) The kids all still like to swim. Lydia was too tired to swim Monday night at 9pm!!! LOL But on Tuesday morning the kids were back in the pool by 9:15am!! They love the pool (and Anna loves the hot tub):)

Enjoy your last weekend before Christmas:) We're having my parents come down tomorrow. And during our PM service we are having our Christmas contata and hopefully the kids will sing.... hopefully they'll gte up there and do it:) I also plan to sing with the choir... so we have a busy Sunday PM:)

Windy and COLD

Well we headed to see Grammie and Pey. We fist met them at a community/county park!! We are soo glad we did!! The weather was very mild but the wind was WILD.... we could definetly feel the cold front coming into the area... so we were glad we had those first few hours of "vacation" enjoying the outdoors and letting the kids be kids!!

I have some fun pics to share from our trip... so they will be coming in the next few days (or when I get to them)... there are a few I can't wait to post:)

Here's a set that SHOW how windy it was:)


And here is Christopher cropped out of the above pic:)


Do you see his hair???? That was how strong the wind was!! LOL

OOOOOhhh ... I'd love to sit here all day and share some more of these pics... but Anna is telling me that I have to go decorate out in front of the house..... LOL...

Maybe later:)

We did have a good visit. We got to see both of my parents and my sister and her hubby! My younger brother was MIA?? On Tuesday it was wet and cold, so I got a lot of little things done in a BIG city:) Wish we could have had more beach time... but the kids got to see the beach and swim in the pool.... so that was good:)

Happy Birthday Pey!!!

Happy Birthday Pey!!!

We might be a little late because of how different our time zones are!! I hope you and Mom were able to do something special!!!

We miss you but look forward to seeing you next month:) You all need to get high-speed so the kids can talk to you over the computer... they're a hoot:)

Collage of our Wednesday Adventures

Wednesday we spent most of the day with Grammie and Pey. We decided to take the ferry to the Children's Museum.....what fun!

I thought Anna would be a little hesitant, but she didn't have any concerns:)And the children's museum was PACKED b/c of a couple different schools visiting the museum (year-round school). But we had plenty to do and the kids really liked it and got to explore new things.....

I thought it was funny that during the Planterium show we all fell asleep...I must have been tired falling asleep during a show with TWO kiddies on my lap:) But it gave us all a little cat nap which kept us, especially the kids, from getting too grumpy.

My parents tried to convince me to stay the night and help send off Pey this afternoon.....but I had woken with a sore throat and was starting to feel a cold coming on.... after a runny nose

night and having a "head" cold this morning....it was a good decision to have already made the short trip home.

But Pey will leave today and my mom will be leaving Sunday.... we won't see them again until early December :( But at least they're connected with the Internet. And when Mom visits she can stay for a couple weeks at a time (Dad's schedule isn't as flexible).

We were worried that the kids wouldn't get to know Pey. But with pictures and talking about Grammie and Pey, they do pretty well with only seeing him 2x a year!! Anna was Pey's shadow yesterday afternoon :)

Day with Grammie, Pey and Uncle Eric

We spent much of Wednesday with Grammie, Pey and Uncle Eric. Pey called Grammie last week and told her that he would be "in the country" this week and part of next for some business. Anyway, Uncle Eric was told and "secret" plans were made for him to surprise Pey on Tuesday night (my brother hadn't seen his Dad since Christmas)!!!

Anyway, the kids were soo excited to spend the day at Grammie's with Grammie, Pey and Uncle Eric and the pool:) My little fishes were a little slow to warm up to the water and even Pey and Eric... but they did and we had a great day:)



Uncle Eric wasn't feeling well.... kind of stinks that you only see your Dad for a few hours and your feeling sick and exhausted most of the time.... all those slave hours at camp:)So, we're hoping Uncle Eric is feeling better, especially since he is probably already back in the kitchen at camp!!!! Hang in there.... just one more month, or so:)