Thursday, November 13, 2008

A Little Bit of Grossology


On a whim, I decided to pack up the kids, pack some lunches, grab the camera and head to Palm Beach to the South Florida Science Museum.




We have been learning about ancient Egypt from this book and also this book, and we've been studying the human body for science this year with Classical Conversations. So... knowing that this particular museum not only has an exhibit on Egypt which includes a real mummy, but also has a new exhibit called grossology, I declared that it meant if was time for a field trip. Grossology explains everything gross about the human body that you ever cared to know about. Seriously. Gross is putting it mildly. In one "game" you had to take a nice big sniff inside tubes, and choose whether it had the lovely scent of a) armpit, b) morning breath, c) feet or (brace yourself for this one) d) anus. I absolutely kid you not. And let me tell you, I cannot explain why fell for it, but I smelled them. And their scents smelled more than real. Grossology? I think more like Pukeology!


{climbing a skin wall filled with warts, pimples and moles}

Anyhow, once we got over that one, we continued our journey through the museum. We did have fun playing a huge game of operation where the kids got to put the organs and bones in all the right places. This was right up their alley as we've been focusing on the organs for the past several weeks.



In "Egypt" the kids got to stamp their names in Hieroglyphs and truly marveled at the sight of the mummy.


It was a 5 year old child who suffered a cracked cranium and broken leg and was believed to be from sometime in 300BC. Wow, that's mind blowing!


Note to self: take more pictures without the flash. They're just too cool not to!

Outside we took a little nature hike and followed this beauty around for awhile.


And back inside we made some new friends.



We even got to explore space for a bit and see a real piece of Mars!



{hey mom, can astronauts do this?}

If we're going to "be" astronauts, then we have to eat like them too.




{Mmm, astronaut ice cream! Not such a big hit in our house. We'll stick to our Blue Bell}

Yes, it was another beautiful day and I must admit to feeling a tad bit proud for tackling such a "huge" task on my own. I'm finally feeling some relief from the whole baby stage and am gaining much more confidence in my ability to handle all three kids in an environment such as a museum. Typically I'd be with other homeschoolers so I didn't feel all alone and I'd always have a helping hand if need be, but I'm finally feeling able to venture out on little "road trips" alone with my little students. Finally, the big brother is growing up and is becoming so very helpful and knows not to wander too far away from me and the little brother is beginning to understand the whole process of outings and what's expected of his behavior. The middle one just bounces between her two brothers but has always been on her very best behavior on outings.



This last picture shows Gracie, Colton and I having a groovy time at the museum!

Halloween Party


As I was going through my pictures today, I realized how very behind I am on my blog! Not that it truly matters one way or another, but for my own sake, to make myself feel better about not scrapbooking like I'd like to, I like to stay up to date with this.

On Nov. 1st we had a Halloween party at our neighbors house just across the street from us. We had a great turnout and had so much fun! It seemed weird to be at a party with no little ones to tend to but it also felt so nice for a change! It was a blast to be able to converse with adults only and the variety of costumes where a riot! I didn't take nearly enough pictures of everyone but I did pick up my camera for one round of pictures at some point in the night.

And without further ado...

Me and my... safari hunter?
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I was a mermaid which is kind of hard to tell unless you saw the bottom of my dress.
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Me, my bro, and buddy Ken
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We were all so excited to see the magnificant Sarah Palin and her famous side kick Joe the Plumber arrive at OUR party!!!
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OH NO!!! Good thing "Joe" was in the house!!!
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Our oh so groovy friend Ken. And yes, that is his real hair!
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And lastly, the very lame non dresser-uppers, Katie and Austina

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Just a Temp

Until I can take the time to reconfigure my blog, I've slapped a new and very temporary background on here. Although it's very cute, it is so hard to read so it won't be staying around here for long.

So what have we been up to?

Well, we've been very busy and focused on schooling with the hope that we'll be able to really slow w..a..y.. down throughout the month of December and truly focus and enjoy the reason for the season. From what I've experienced in the past, the holidays tend to be so hectic and with all the running around and busyness, it seems like it's over in a flash and I'm left wondering if we really enjoyed the season like we should have or could have. And did we focus on the meaning of Christmas enough?

So I'm planning on taking full advantage of homeschooling and we are going to fill our December days in our own way. Doi
ng things that will allow us to truly enjoy it and hopefully make many wonderful memories.

Here is just a glimpse of what I'm looking forward to...


Lots of Holiday baking. Time to pull out the kids aweso
me Christmas aprons that their Grandma made for them. (And by the way Grandma, just in case you're reading this, there's a new chef in town who doesn't have his apron yet ; )

I can't wait for the Christmas crafts galore that we'll do together. Oh I can see the gold and silver glitter all over my house now!

Making homemade Christmas cards for all our loved ones and others who could use some love and encouragement.


Singing Christmas carols and sipping on eggnog while still in our jammies (even though it's the middle of the day. we can so we do.). Oh and I can see us sliding around our wood floors with our comfy socks on dan
cing to our favorite holiday tunes!

Taking our yearly middle of the week, first thing in the morning trip to the Gardens Mall where we'll have nearly no
waiting to see Santa, then heading to Pottery Barn Kids to play with all the latest Christmas toys just waiting to be bought.

Our very favorite thing and also of utmost importance, reading (and sometimes acting out) the Christmas story (over and over and over, so by Chris
tmas day it's embedded in our brains) and also making a Jesse Tree. We didn't make a Jesse Tree last year but I truly missed it and will definitely be doing it again this year. God willing! Since we love this so much I wanted to add a link to the Jesse Tree book that we have, but I couldn't find it online anywhere but here is a website that talks more about it. Also Amazon has several books available. I think it's such a great tradition for the advent season. We read a new story each day then make an ornament (as simple or elaborate as you want to be) to go along with the story to hang on our special Jesse Tree that we display in our school room. Love it!

Oh and I almost forgot! Our yearly field trip to see the Nutcracker at the Lyric Theatre. Oh how we love this day! This may be Gracie's last year of not being in it since it's her dance school that puts it on a
nd the students begin appearing in the show at age 6. Will my baby girl truly be 6 by next Christmas! My oh my!

And I also look forward to making new traditions with my little elves. Each year I try and think of how I can make this Christmas more special and meaningful to us while keeping the focus on Christ.

I guess the fact that I told the kids tonight that if they put their freshly washed jumbo piles of clean clothes on hangers then they cou
ld write letters to Santa asking him for all the toys that they just HAVE to have, was not a great start to the reason for the season, huh? IT'S NOT ABOUT SANTA KIDS!!! I know, it was bribery but it worked and the clothes are all hung and I have two hand written letters to Santa filled out front to back with must have Christmas items. Must I remind them again that Santa brings three items to each child and no, Santa absolutely does not bring ginnie (Guinea) pigs as Colton asked for!

Okay, I truly don't know what led me write all about Christmas but I guess I'm getting a little excited. Can you tell? ; )

I was more so going to write in this post about our recent trip but now that it's way past my bedtime, I'll have to save that for another day.


Here's a sneak peak from our trip...




I'll be back with more about it soon!

Wednesday, November 5, 2008

Makeover in Process

I'm in the process of giving my blog a "makeover". Until it's completed it will be this basic layout. Wish me luck! Or help. Or something! ; )

Saturday, November 1, 2008

Happy Halloween

We had such a fun Halloween night. Josh's parents John and Suzanne and his sister Katie and brother in law Austin joined us for some trick or treating. We can't believe how many houses we made it to and even braved a very scary haunted trail that some of our friends put together. It was awesome! Here are some pictures of my little pumpkins...



{Josh's mom, aka Grandma, made the boys adorable clown costumes. She did an amazing job as always!}
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{I love this picture! In full size you can see the red dot on Gracie's nose from being kissed by a clown!}
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{I was so pleased with how Gracie's mermaid costume turned out. When I first started making it, I thought, "oh no! what did I get myself into!" But once I finished it, I realized how much I love it! But most importantly, just how much my little girl loves it and just how special it makes her feel.}
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{Okay, I had to show this picture to prove that I have a little pumpkin eater. The kids and I carved two more pumpkins yesterday and I handed a sliver (not so small either) to Fletch and jokingly said "here, want some pumpkin?". Well not only did he eat it, but he came back for more! I guess it's safe right?}
Hope you all had a super fun and safe Halloween!
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