Our first field trip, and stuff

Okay, I'll start the week with school stuff, and then move to the other stuff... stuff... my word of the week (or month, or year, I generally just like the word "stuff")...

On Tuesday, we went on our very first field trip of the year at the Pensacola Art Museum.  They had a traveling children's display of Marc Chagall's work!  We met with a homeschooling co-op, so there were lots of kids!

The building the museum is in was in the old prison... so a lot of the barred doors are still in place... the little guys liked playing in them :)

After looking at the artwork, we headed outside to play just a bit... but it was HOT!!!

Wednesday, we headed to a meeting about a PE group that is meeting on base for homeschoolers.  However, we found out (after we got there), that they changed their ages from 5+ to 7+ this year (and failed to update their website)... TW was a little disappointed (although, I was probably more bummed).  I told him, though, that we would find something else (sports related) for him to do... which has been swimming in the past.  However, since we live 30 minutes (one way) from the rec center with the pool programs (and dance programs, etc), we decided it wasn't worth it.  BUT, we found a closer soccer program (like J is complaining, my ex-soccer junkie)  for him, and headed to a sports store for shin guards, socks and shoes on Saturday :)

 Back to normal school :)  We finished chapter 3 in our anatomy book... muscles :)

This is sort of school related.  After nap time, some day this week, Pretty Girl climbed in my bed (I was sewing in the room), pulled down the covers, crawled in and proceeded to "read" her own book :)

During nap on Wednesday, TW built his own Lego robot... which I was instructed to take a picture of, so here it is (it's leaning up against the puzzle box)...

Moving on to other "stuff"... TW is my appointment companion (always has been)... he's too old for the daycare drop in center on base (which is where the kiddos go during my weekly check ups)... as bribery to sit "still" and "quiet (it's all relative with a 5 year old) I give TW a sucker for the visit... he's so cute :)

 Last week, I ordered a new stand for Beau (my cello)... it came in the mail on Friday...

So, now that Beau is not on the floor, we (meaning J) set up the bed for the new baby (which everyone loves, they keep going to the bed and saying "baby, baby").  TW now tells me (daily)... "I hope the new baby comes tomorrow"... well, today he said, "I hope the new baby comes today"... and based on the number of "popped" comments at church, this kid should be here, now...

Speaking of "the kid", I thought I would share the hand full (literally) of medicines I take on a daily basis, which will shrink considerably once the "squirt" shows up (hint hint hint) ;p

So, we have been keeping tabs on our old state Virginia this week, along with all our friends still there... an earthquake, a hurricane, a couple tornadoes... oy.  Saturday morning, I turned on the news to see if we could see anything (no)... the kids all migrated straight to the TV (you'd think they'd never seen one before)... Mr. E left right as I pulled out the camera (of course)!!!

I completed (or almost completed) several projects (but haven't take the pictures yet) this week... including another stroller cover... you might remember the pink one from a "long" time ago... I resurfaced it (that stroller bit the dust ages ago, but I kept the cover)... we'll see how long the strollers and/or covers last :)

Okay, okay, I'm almost done... on Saturday afternoon my grandparents (Gramps and Grammy) came down for a short visit and a game of Dominoes (J won)... all the kids brought them various toys, little show offs :)

And then the small guys took a nap... Berry was so pumped to have company that she talked and laughed forever until the Sandman finally came for her!

And Grammy brought everyone a new outfit... the sizes are perfect Grammy... and TW's shorts fit just fine, I had him put long pants on because he keeps steeling my sweater for his legs during church!  The girls got sooooooo many compliments on their dresses... and Berry would just walk up to people and start pointing at her dress, too cute :)

In Other News:  Guess I shared everything already, so, in the words of Porky "that's all folks" :)

Week 5, etc...

Okay, so Sunday, I dressed the little kids in "water clothes" and let them attack the rain catcher bucket... they drained it.  I wasn't too concerned, after all, we'd been getting enough sporadic rain to keep it full (and my one flower plant fed)... and wouldn't you know it... not a lick of rain all week.  However, it showered for about 3 minutes around lunch time, and since this bucket collects all the roof run off... we're good (and my plant is happy) :)

TW (I've decided typing out Throne Warden takes too long... plus TW is more "manly"... like McClintock going by GW instead of George Washington)... anyway, TW conducted a muscle science project Sunday evening... which involved looking at muscle strands from last weeks hunk of cow!

I must interrupt this post... The small fry are sleeping and TW has these floor mat squares which is creating different shapes with... a rectangle, square, triangle, and trapezoid... too cute!

On Monday, TW gave an official presentation... teaching us what he has been learning about the seasons... he decided to give his post from our very own podium/table...

And of course, the girls had to give their own presentations later (on stuffed animals)...

Friday (I know, you totally did not get to enjoy the other days, which involved general school work, a trip (alone) to the commissary, and a rushed-feeling OB check up) arrived, and we went to the playground (for the first time!).  I decided to put Mr. E in his tennis shoe (which he had forgotten about)... he was newly enamored with his light up Buzz shoes :)

The playground has a mister, which was the favorite hangout place :)

Friday night, our church had a school-kick-off family scavenger hunt!  We were given a list of about 15 things we had to do and take pictures of.  We also inherited a teen who thought we were cooler than her own parents (or maybe our kids are just cooler).  One of the tasks was to find a playground and take a picture of our whole "family" at recess in the shot!

J's favorite job involved teaching the kids (via re-enactment) about George Washington crossing the Delaware (the students are to look disgruntled and uninterested)...

 
Afterwards, there were banana splits, and we looked at everyone else's pictures :)  My little ice cream piglets really enjoyed this... and the fact that they got to stay up an hour late!

Friday, during school, TW made a crown to celebrate the Sentence Kingdom (it's part of our grammer lesson)... we had to let the glue/glitter dry over night, so he tried it on this morning... I love Jo-Jo's face :)

And then the boys watched the washer go round and round (for about 5 minutes)... don't you love train bottoms (Yes, I know Berry is in the shot, but that was pretty much the only 2 seconds she was there)?

In other news:  Mr. E tore poor Jessie's head off, and left her body (disturbingly) in the middle of the floor in front of my bedroom.  Don't worry though, Dr. Daddy reattached her appendage (can you call a head an appendage?) in the evening (after he stumbled across her head, also in the middle of the floor, upon returning home from work)...

Playing, Projects (and more school)

Okay, for some reason, the pictures, when I put them on blogger, came out in their own random order... so the days may be a  little jumbled, but the pictures are categorized :)

So, since J and Little Man (hence forth known as Throne Warden, from our book series... the Wingfeather Saga, which causes a daily run to the mailbox to see if books 2 and 3 have arrived)... we did a lot of playing!

On Tuesday, we went to "town" and Toy's R Us... Throne Warden bought himself an alien Lego thingy, and the girls got some accessories for their doll house... Throne Warden thought it was funny to put the alien in the rocking chair :)

On Wednesday, we went to the Air Museum to look at the upstairs (and the bathrooms)...  on the way there, Throne Warden spied the Pensacola Lighthouse and told us that  he had never seen a lighthouse before in his entire life until we moved here (Pensacola)... J and I chuckled at his astute (though not completely true) observation :)

Pretty Girl tried out a cockpit (I think this one was a helicopter)...

Mr. E posed by the missile/rocket display... and later, J and I both heard it, though we could not get him to repeat it, he pointed at a picture and said "Blue Angel"... that kid :)

Then we managed a group shot in front of a Blue Angel display!

So, back to Tuesday (told you the pictures got confused, and I'm too lazy to re-order them)... after we returned from our Lego expedition... Throne Warden pulled out some of his other Lego's and set up a "battle"... "they're having a battle, Mama"...

 Today, we headed to a farmer's market (nothing, compared to Des Moine's)... and then accidentally found a music store... here is Throne Warden talking to Nana :)

When we got home, J started to read some of his school work information... I'm not sure why this was a comfy spot... but Pretty Girl decided to join him with a Thomas book (and, in case you are wondering, Mr. E does have underwear on!)...

Projects:  So, besides just playing, we started and finished some projects this week!  Like, hanging pictures!!!  Remember that hunk of wood from last weeks post... J made a sling shot out of the extra wood... oi, our poor Army men!

The boys also finished their Mama-given project!

Berry LOVES it!!!

I finally finished sewing the 20 animals for the third character quilt... this one will be Mr. E's... only 2 more to go!!!  And yes, that is my belly in the shot, I just can't get that thing to stay out of the way :)

And, because everyone needs a cool shirt, I put together Big Sister/Brother shirts for the older kids.  The new baby gets a boring white onsie that says "little........"!

And, finally, a project I started as soon as the sewing machine was unearthed, but then got distracted by other sewing projects and never finished the quilting part... but it's done now!!!

Thursday we "headed" back to school.  Throne Warden made a crown to commemorate our latest book, Alfred the King... he threw the sword in for good measure!

In Other News:  Wouldn't you know it, Buzz's hand showed up again this week (it's the white thing in the ice dispenser tray, in case the photo is too small)...

Bones, Bones, Bones

So, in case you couldn't tell, our science chapter last week and this week involved bones (the skeletal system if you want to get technical!)... Sunday morning Little Man pulled out paper and crayons, traced his hand and then drew his bones!  You can't tell from the photo but the finger bones are bone shaped, the green circles in the middle are his interpretation of the carpals and metacarpals... and the labeling off to the left says "phalanges" :)

Odd picture, I know, but this was Sunday evenings dinner... Little Man got to eat his chicken wing, and then save the chickens radius and ulna for a project!  One we put in water and the other we put in vinegar (which will remove calcium from the bone).  On Wednesday we took them both out... and wouldn't you know it, the vinegar bone was a little wobbly!  We decided that next time we do the project, we'll let the bones soak a bit longer.  We also decided that eating calcium rich foods is a really good idea!

Thursday ended our school week, because Daddy finished Introductory Flight School (IFS)!!!  He has a weekish "off" before he starts the next segment, so we are taking a school week off too!  It worked out that we finished our section on bones Thursday too... so here is Little Man with bones in his body!

In reading we (Little Man and I alternate sentences) read the first Curious George book... and then made a little George model!  The tongue shot is all Little Man!

Friday kicked off tax free weekend in Alabama, and since that is where the closest outlet mall is, we headed there!  Little Man has been wanting a pair of Crocs ever since Daddy got his.  They're expensive (in my mind anyway)... but the girls have the cheap version and E has a Sketcher version... so we went ahead and found some cool green shoes for him :)

Saturday, we lined the kids up to head out to the van... and then to Lowe's!

Mama has devised a project to keep the older two boys busy this next week, while I finish up some of my own projects and the small guys play!  Little Man got lost behind the hunk of wood!

The boys got right to work :)

In other news:  I have included a little video of one of the small fries' favorite games.  Normally I do not allow bouncing or standing on the "new" couch... but I really can't resist their cuteness when they do this!!!  Please excuse the loud singing in the background, we were watching So You Think You Can Dance, sort of :)