OurPlace

Christmas 2009

2009-12-29T19:30:00.059-06:00

Here some of the treats that we made during the Christmas holiday this year. We made our own gingerbread for the first time, but it was so hard to work with...so sticky! Then, we bought a kit with the gingerbread men already made. We had so much fun decorating them!!

I made some spice tea and put some in little jars for Jeff to take to work as gifts. Madison made the white pretzels, and the other snacks were for our Frostie night.

Jeff's dad introduced us to a new snack....one that turned out much better than I expected...deep fried Twinkies!! They tasted like jacked up funnel cakes :)! They were so good, and all of them got eaten.

Christmas cookies....we put some of these out for Santa!!!
We also had Jeff's birthday and our anniversary (17 years) during the holidays. Last year we bought Jeff a cookie cake...this year we decided to make one ourselves. I think it turned out good...and very big!!!

We made two sets of ornaments this year. We had Christmas with Jeff's family at our house this year.

We spent Christmas Eve at my Dad's with the family.

Like always, we spent Christmas Day at home.

Happy 11th Birthday Carter!

2009-12-07T14:13:00.044-06:00

We took off of school on Carter's birthday and went to play putt putt golf. It was way too cold to be out there, but we still had fun. Carter got the Wii Mario Cart for his birthday, so he had fun playing that all morning. My friend, Chelita, and her boys went with us to play golf. We had cake and pizza when we got home. It was a fun day. I started getting reading for Carter's birthday party on Friday...the day before his party. I got a late start making the cake and setting everything up because we had a rare event....snow in December. It didn't stick, but the kids so enjoyed playing in it while it lasted! Afterwards, Madison and I got as much ready for the party as we could. The party was on Saturday....a medieval theme. It was a fun party to do. I was sick all weekend, so I really had to dig deep to do this party, as well as decorating for Christmas on Sunday. Somehow, I was able to do it all and was very happy to finally make it to the dr. on Monday morning. I don't regret any of it...just wish that I could have felt better. It did all turn out great...even though!!!

Thanksgiving 2009 and Hot Springs, Ark. Trip

2009-12-02T00:27:00.044-06:00

It isn't very often that my dad is home for Thanksgiving, so it was a blessing to be able to celebrate this year with my entire family. Everyone but Vicki's husband, Jose', was able to be there. I can't believe how big our family is getting and how big all of our children have gotten.

When we left my dad's, we headed straight to Hot Springs, Ark. for the weekend. Jeff's parents have a condo that they invited us to use. We took the kids to the Science museum and spent time just touring Hot Springs. The kids, especially Patrick, were excited to see the natural hot springs in the town. They were surprised by how hot the water was. We toured an old bathhouse and visited a wax museum. We also took the kids up the observation tower to get a beautiful view of Hot Springs. It was great to get away...thanks to Jeff's parents for letting us use their condo!!

"12"

2009-12-01T20:13:00.023-06:00

It's that time of the year. No, I'm not talking about Christmas....not yet. First, we have birthdays and birthday parties. Patrick turned 12 two weeks ago. He got a new PS3 game that morning, so he wanted to stay home during the day to play that. We all went to the movies together after Jeff got home from work. We had his birthday party with friends the following weekend. We invited three of Patrick's friends to go with us to Chuck E Cheese. We took our "singing bus" so the kids could watch movies and play games on the trip there and back. Before our trip back home, Patrick opened his gifts and we had cake on the bus. I think the boys enjoyed the bus as much as they did Chuck E Cheese.

It felt so strange to me to do Patrick's birthday party without Carter. Other than Carter's first birthday party, this is the first one that was not celebrated together since Carter was born. I have always done them together since they are so close in age and their birthdays are only 2 weeks apart, but I have always said that as soon as one of them wanted them separate that I would do it This year, Carter asked for his own party. It surprised me how upset Patrick was about it....he is still hoping that Carter will decide to do them together again after this year. We'll see!

Happy 12th birthday Patrick. We love you!!

Tailgating...Military Day

2009-11-17T11:30:00.018-06:00

My kids love tailgating with Jeff's parents and the rest of the family. They especially love it when there's something special going on, like military day. They got to climb on all of the military vehicles and see the inside of them.

Carter was the only one who wanted to do the rock climbing wall. He isn't going to turn down a chance to do rock climbing!Of course, the boys' favorite part of tailgating is eating the yummy chicken-on-a-stick that Jeff's dad makes for them! Patrick's friend, Tristin, enjoyed them as well. Madison's friend, Kaitlyn, also went with us.This was our last tailgating for the year. We have one more home game, but we will be out of town and won't be able to go to it. Thanks Mimi and PawPaw for a fun day.

School Stuff

2009-11-12T15:21:00.031-06:00

Yes, we are still doing school :)!! I realized as I was posting yesterday that I haven't posted an update on any of our schooling since we started our school year. We started back about 2 weeks before going to Disney. It was hard to concentrate on school while planning our trip, but I knew that we had to. The kids are now in 5th, 6th, and 8th grades. Wow, that's so hard to believe.

Jeff was so sweet and had a basket full of goodies sent to us on our first day back to school.

We are continuing with Life Science this year. We have studied ecosystems, food chains, and pollution. Now, we have started studying the human body.

We tested rain water to see if it was acidic. I was surprised at how clean it was.

Then, we tested our tap water and found it high in chlorine but not overly acidic. Here is the comparison of the two of them together.

To demonstrate the food chain, we cut into an owl pellet and found bones and fur from the animals that it had eaten before it died. This was a gross, but fun activity. We are sure we found remains from two different animals...a shrew and a bird.
During our study of skin, we made a kit to take our fingerprints. It was interesting to see the different patterns on each of our prints. While studying transportation and assembly lines in Social Studies, we made an assembly line to build cars out of candy pieces. The kids learned how much faster it was to learn just one specific task to do over and over instead of making an entire car each time. The kids are all doing well with their book work. They are becoming more and more independent with their learning. I find that they retain things longer if they attempt to understand it by themselves first. I've been working towards this since I started homeschooling but have really seen it kick in this year for them all.

Art Lessons

2009-11-12T00:59:00.010-06:00

Madison enjoyed her summer art lessons so much that we put her in a weekly class this school year. She is taking it with her friend, Emily. The great thing is that as she learns, she is teaching Carter. He loves his art lessons too :). Madison is excited about the possibility of putting her work in a gallery at some point through her art studio. Madison's workCarter's work

First Camping Trip In The New Pop-up Camper

2009-11-11T19:05:00.013-06:00

Jeff surprised us last week by bringing home the pop-up camper that we've been thinking about buying. We love camping so much, but it's so much work with the tent. Also, we could only go in the spring and fall because of the heat and cold. Now, with the new camper, we can go year round. We were so excited that we spent the night in it the night Jeff brought it home...and the next night :). We took it to the state park last weekend for two nights. The weather could not have been more perfect. We enjoyed the camper so much and can't wait to take it again!

Halloween 2009

2009-11-02T18:12:00.029-06:00

I loved Halloween falling on Saturday because we were able to have lots of friends over for the day. We made pumpkin shaped biscuits and orange cinnamon rolls for breakfast. Then, Madison and her cousin, Bailee, made orange jello and poured it into skeleton head molds. After lunch, I gave them all stencils and stickers to decorate cards with. Afterwards, Madison helped them all carve our pumpkin. This year, we trick or treated with Bailee and Caiden in their neighborhood. After we trick or treated, we had frito pies with them. Jeff wasn't able to go with us because he had a fever and a sore throat. At least he was able to be home during the day when we did all of our other Halloween things. It was a very busy, fun day!80's Girl

I made a wizard costume for Carter.

DISNEY WORLD Day 6

2009-10-06T16:45:00.012-05:00

Our flight home wasn't until 4:30, so we had time to go back to a park before heading home. One thing that we hadn't done at Hollywood Studios that Carter wanted to do was the Jedi Training Academy. Neither one of them got picked to go upon the stage, but they enjoyed watching and learning. Afterwards, Carter got to build his own double light saber. Patrick didn't want one. We did a few more things in the park then went back to the resort to have lunch before catching the shuttle to the airport.Carter got into a light saber fight with one of the green plastic Toy Story men.Waiting for the shuttle to the airport.Carter practicing some new moves with his light saber.It was sad to leave, but we were all very tired! I was so glad to be flying home and not facing that long drive. Even the drive from the airport home was hard!

Even though this was our third time at Disney with the kids, every time seems like a new experience. As the kids get older, the experience changes. I'm already looking forward to taking them back again.....I'll NEVER get tired of it!!!

DISNEY WORLD Day 5

2009-10-05T18:32:00.024-05:00

We went to our first Disney waterpark with the kids on day 5. Jeff and I had been to Pirate's Cove before, but none of us had ever been to Blizzard Beach. It was so much fun to be in swimsuits surrounded by "snow". Carter and Patrick loved this thing. Carter had to do it until he could go across without touching the net.The ski lift was so much fun to ride....it took you to the top of the slides.

A very fun family ride!! I rode it with them then decided to get a shot of them coming down it!

More treats...we had the Disney Dining plan this year and ate so much while we were there!! I think Jeff and I gained about 13 pounds between the two of us even with all of the walking we did. I lost that and more after my surgery when I got home!!My new Tinkerbell backpack Jeff bought for me....I got so tired of carrying my heavy black one around!! Only at Disney could I carry a Tinkerbell backpack!!This is a sure sign that you have had a fun day!!! After going back to the room to change and rest, we went back to Hollywood studios....again! We watched another American Idol show....the finale of the day. Our pick won again :).Jeff bought Patrick another snack while Madison, Carter, and I rode the Tower of Terror.Then it was back to our favorite ride.....Rockin Rollercoaster!! We just couldn't get enough of it! We ended the day with one more snack. At this time, we were trying to use all of our meals and snacks since it was the last day we could use them. I didn't think I would want to eat again for a week!!!This was our last full day at Disney. We thought it was only right to end it in our favorite park.

DISNEY WORLD Day 4

2009-10-03T09:48:00.045-05:00

I started day 4 with a classic Disney waffle...yummy! We started back at Hollywood Studios. There were still so many things we wanted to do and redo there.

Here's the Tower of Terror. I rode it for the first time....so cool!

When Jeff and I went to Disney the year after we got married, I got chosen to be part of the Backlot show. Well, I got chosen again this time :). I assumed with all of that gear that I had to put on that I would stay dry.....I was wrong!

One thing we love about Hollywood Studios are the little shows on the street...this one was so much fun.We LOVED the American Idol experience. We felt like were at the real one! It was fun to watch the singers...they had been through auditions all day long to get to this point. At the end, we got to vote for the winner. Our pick won :).I thought the Sci-Fi Theater was the funnest place we ate. We were in little cars like at a drive-in movie. They played little snippets of old horror films...not very scary....and had all of the lights out with stars on the ceiling. It felt like we were outside. It was so fun. Toy Story Mania was so cool. The ride was fun, but it wasn't all that it was built up to be. I did, however, love how the entire building was decorated with all of the old toys that I remember growing up with. Jeff beat us all in the game....well, for that matter....everyone beat me!!!Our favorite ride at Disney this year....ROCK AND ROLLERCOASTER!! We went back to Magic Kingdom in the afternoon to do some of the things we didn't get around to on the first day. Every time we go to Disney, there is one moment that I look back on over and over. This time it was riding splash mountain at night during the firework show. It was the magical moment of the trip for me. I love all of the parks at night anyway. That night we made it back to Hollywood Studios for the Fantasmic Show. We have seen it before, but the kids were very little and did not remember much about it. It's an amazing show. I think day 4 was all of our favorite. When I look at these pictures and all of the fun we had, it makes me want to go back NOW!!!

DISNEY WORLD Day 3

2009-10-02T09:42:00.026-05:00

Animal Kingdom was the only park that we went to on day 3. We had planned to end up at Magic Kingdom for our dinner reservations in the evening but decided to spend some time at the resort and eat there. The kids haven't been to Animal Kingdom since they were 2, 3, and 5, so it was almost like their first time there. We had so much fun, especially on the new Mt. Everest ride!!

Before heading to the park, we ran into the Turners, friends of our from home, at the resort gift store. They were on their way home after a 7 night stay at the same resort that we were in. We had planned to meet up with them the two days that we were there together, but it just didn't happen. I was glad that we got to go see them before they left!
Madison and Carter are near the back of the ride. Madison is on the left with a maroon shirt, and Carter is beside her in a blue shirt. Jeff is right behind Madison with his arms up. This was the Mt. Everest ride....so much fun!!The Lion King show was amazing...everything I had heard it was. We missed it last time we were at Animal Kingdom. I knew that I wasn't going to leave without seeing it this time!!Carter...after the rapids ride. We were all as wet as he was. After we left Animal Kingdom, the kids enjoyed a swim in the resort pool. Then we ate at the restaurant there at the resort. It was one of the best meals of the trip.

DISNEY WORLD Day 2

2009-10-01T20:59:00.040-05:00

We started day 2 at Epcot. It's my least favorite park, but I love Mission Space, Test Track, and Soarin. We also wanted to do the World Showcase during the day because we went through it at night last time we were there. Norway

Mexico

China AmericaWe ate at the Coral Reef. We enjoyed it so much more than Chef Mickey's. The food was good and so much fun!Mushroom lasagna

We love the free samples of soda from different countries. It's a great place too cool off on a hot day!In the afternoon, we went to Hollywood Studios. This was our first year to do the hopper passes with the kids, and we loved being able to hop to different parks during the day. Hollywood Studios was our favorite park....we spent most of our time there.We went back to Epcot in the evening. Just like the castle, the Epcot ball changes colors at night...so pretty!!

We were so tired by the end of this day. We fit so much into it, but it was one of the funnest days to me!

DISNEY WORLD 2009 Day 1

2009-10-01T09:35:00.031-05:00

We had an amazing time on our Disney trip in September. I don't know if the kids were more excited about Disney or flying for the first time. It was so fun to experience that with them! Madison took so many pictures from the plane. She loved it!!When we made it to Orlando, we took the Disney shuttle to our hotel. We stayed in the same hotel as last time we went....Port Orleans. We rested a little and then headed to Magic Kingdom. I wanted to start our trip out with the fireworks over the castle...one of my favorite things at Disney. We love watching the castle change colors at night.We had reservations that night at Crystal Palace. The wait was very long, even with reservations, and the food wasn't very good. It wasn't the best place to eat, but hey, we were at Disney!! At least it was a character meal. After our meal, we watched the Spectromagic Parade and then the fireworks over the castle. It was a great way to start out!

One

2009-08-22T00:14:00.011-05:00

What is a new day but the continuation of the preceding one, separated by a moment of darkness. Like the ever seeing eye that for a second is obscured by darkness, hidden behind a heavy lid that yearns for, yet hurries through, the blink. Vision does not cease to exist or become something new behind the darkness, yet it is renewed by it. Time, that invisible yet crucial element that defines a day, does not stop and restart as darkness falls upon it but continues with a fresh breath as the weary eye when it succumbs to a blink. By putting time into neat little boxes called days, we put too much emphasis on ever changing numbers and lose site of the only number that really matters...one! Though a person may leave this life with hair that has yet to gray while another leaves in a body lined with age, they were both given the same thing...one life. It wasn't a life to be counted, compared, and measured beside that of another but to live as if there were no such thing as tomorrows or yesterdays, only todays.....one day....one lifetime.

Family Reunion At The Lake

2009-08-04T18:45:00.018-05:00

We had Jeff's mom's family reunion last weekend at the lake. It's always so much fun to get away for the weekend and spend time with each other and extended family. The kids all did the knee board again...we didn't even take the tube this year. Our cabin was right over the water, so Jeff could pull the boat right up to it. It was so nice.

Art Camp

2009-07-24T10:24:00.010-05:00

Madison participated in an art camp with her friend, Kaitlyn, last week. I was so happy that it concentrated completely on drawing/painting since that's what Madison is so interested in. She got to do her first canvas painting and enjoyed it so much! I was really proud of the finished project. I'm going to sign her up to continue lessons with this instructor during the school year. I'm so excited to buy her some canvas and art supplies and just watch what she does with them!

Supply And Demand

2009-07-17T09:34:00.007-05:00

As long as they have more lemonade to make, the demand for it will be there! It has been so hot here...no one can pass up a cold cup of lemonade. Even the ice cream lady stopped for some...of course, she made money off of the kids too :).

Tennis Lessons

2009-07-10T08:37:00.006-05:00

Madison started tennis lessons with her friend, Kaitlyn, this week. They are having private lessons at the college two days a week for the month of July. They have it in the afternoon, so it's VERY hot out there. I was worried about the heat taking the fun out of it, but they are both enjoying it very much. I'm happy to see her doing this. She was very receptive to what Jeff taught her last summer, but I didn't know if she would want to take lessons from anyone else. I think having Kaitlyn there with her helps :).

4th of July

2009-07-08T21:05:00.021-05:00

We went to a family reunion....Jeff's dad's side of the family.....on the 4th. It's always a big party when we get together with this part of the family because there are so many of us. Jeff's aunt and uncle who host the party always rent a great water slide for the kids. They also had a pinata for the younger kids. Carter was sad that he was one year over the age to hit the pinata, but they still let the bigger kids run in to get the candy once the pinata was broken.

I took the stuff to make homemade ice cream in Ziploc bags. I put the basic ingredients in each child's bag then gave the a choice of chocolate, vanilla, strawberry, or peanut butter to flavor it with. They just couldn't understand HOW they were going to get that milk to turn into ice cream in those bags. We put the ice and rock salt in the big bags and sealed the little bags inside of them. Then came the fun part...shaking the bags until the ingredients turned into ice cream! They were so excited to watch it happen and more excited to eat it! It was the perfect treat for such a HOT day. We almost didn't do fireworks at all since everything is so dry but decided to stop and get some small ones that the kids could light on the driveway. They missed the big ones but loved lighting all of the ones we got on their own. Afterwards, we took a blanket to the back yard and lay there watching the neighbors pop their big fireworks....I guess they weren't worried about the dry grass. We had fun watching until the mosquitoes got the best of us! Of course, the holiday wouldn't be complete without crafts and cookies! We are so fortunate to be a part of such a big, close family. At the end of this month, we will gather with Jeff's mom's side of the family, which is also very big and growing more every year. I love spending time with just Jeff and the kids, but I am appreciating more and more the joy of finding time to surround ourselves with the amazing family that we have been blessed with!

Our Answer

2009-07-02T08:26:00.016-05:00

Yesterday, I called the wildlife rehab. man, David, and was told to take the baby bird to the zoo. He wanted to identify the bird then keep it there. It was sad to see him go, but we knew it was the best thing. I knew that I didn't know enough about a bird of prey to raise one.

As soon as David saw the bird, he identified it as a Mississippi Kite. He was very excited about it and said it was a better find than a hawk. He already had one that was a little younger than ours, so he was able to put them in a box together. He said that our bird, Pete, was dehydrated and not doing so well. We had him on the wrong diet....they don't eat worms. We got to watch David feed Pete and Darryl, their bird, a rat while teaching us all about kites and what he does there at the rehabilitation association. Afterwards, we got to go outside and see the older animals that have been saved. It was so much fun and such a great learning experience. We were also shocked to find out that we could have been fined $5,000 if we had kept the kite and been caught!!! David told us that we could come back and see Pete again once he has been moved outside with the older animals.

When David was finished, he invited us to stay at the zoo for as long as we wanted. I wouldn't have chosen to go to the zoo in this heat, but I certainly wasn't going to turn down an invitation to go for free :).

You can look at Carter's face and see how hot it was out there. We reached triple digits again yesterday!

Here is the cutest monkey I saw in the entire zoo!!!

Someone hasn't been taught not to give the monkeys food, much less gum!! This monkey knew exactly what to do with this piece that he found!!!

We had the best time with the birds. There was one little white one that would dance every time we gave it a beat...humming or clapping our hands. A beautiful red one kept telling us "hello", and I was able to tape him doing it!

We woke up yesterday morning with no plans for the day and ended up having a very busy, fun day. Like I've said before, the greatest times are those that we don't plan for!!

Beautiful!!!

2009-07-01T07:55:00.004-05:00

Our neighbors found this amazing baby bird yesterday. We think it is a hawk, but we aren't sure. It has a huge wing span and stands pretty tall already. We know it is very young because it has just started getting its feathers. The kids loved feeding it worms and holding it. So, do you think it is a hawk?I'm going to call our Wildlife Rehabilitators Association today to see what they think needs to be done with it. It's such an amazing bird....what a find!!!

Baseball Party/Campout

2009-06-23T10:16:00.019-05:00

I can't express how proud I am of Jeff and the job he did coaching Carter's baseball team this year. He was so patient with the boys and always looked for the best in what they did. They won three games and lost more than that, but everyone had a good time. When Jeff told me that he would like to have a campout with his team, I was more than happy to make it happen! The boys may not remember much about the games this season, but they will remember this campout. I know we will!

The Best Parties....

2009-06-20T21:27:00.009-05:00

...are the unplanned ones!Thanks, Chelita, for calling to ask if I would "babysit" you and the boys...haha!! It was a great day! I think we did a good job cooking outside!!
Oh yeah.....I better not see any strange videos of me on utube!!