St. Augustine

Last week, we went to St. Augustine for the Old Florida Museum's annual Homeschool Day. We went with another family and actually ran into a couple more families from our own homeschool group. That was pretty cool. We went up on Sunday, the 20th, to our friend's property west of Gainesville, then on Monday morning, we drove over to St. Augustine. We had a great time! It was a really fast trip because we left St. Augustine about 4 pm and drove home that afternoon. Whew! (It's nice having a relief driver now....even if she only has her restricted!!)

So here are some pictures of things we did. Today I'm going to show you pictures of what we did at the Old Florida Museum. They had 4 stations set up for us to do a bunch of hands-on things....and I mean a bunch. The first station was an Indian village. First, we were in the village yard where there was a hut with hunting tools and weapons (You know the boys love that!) and a fire pit with a shelf built above it for roasting meat. In another area of the yard was a garden area where the kids could use Indian tools to dig a hole and plant some corn...and they actually had some already growing. Pretty cool. And, in another area, they had a lot of Indian games. There was a really cool game that we want to make. It was corn cobs that had been dried and stripped of corn with 2 feathers stuffed into the ends and then you threw them through a grapevine wreath that was hanging for an aiming game. It was really fun and the kids didn't want to leave it! There was also a place to "grind" corn with a stick. They tried all the things.

This is Levi trying the throwing game.
This is a close up of a corn cob with the feathers. Indy looks really authentic with his mohawk, doesn't he?? lol Except for the blonde hair, of course.

Here's Indy grinding some corn.

Another thing to do in the Indian village was to "dig out" a canoe. It was an old log and they used stones to dig out the insides, which must have been hit by lightning, because it was black. This, of course, means Levi's hands were black, too. Ugh. And, the day had just begun.

After the Indian yard, we moved into the "chief's house", which was a huge tent type building with a bunch of animal skins inside, along with musical instruments, misc. tools and weapons, the chief's "throne" (a big chair) and a little fire pit (with no actual fire) with food around it, like corn and beans. It looked really authentic and the kids loved it. Plus, they got to make a shell necklace. That was fun.

The third station (we'll get back to the second station) was an early pioneer home and yard. The house was very big and we all went inside while the guide (who was in costume) talked to us. Some of the kids got to hold spears and some got to lay on the "beds" and some got to sit on the potty. They were all amazed that the potty was right there in the house, with nothing to separate it from the rest of the living area. They also learned about sweeping the floors and how the youngest child in the family had to empty the potty. We teased Levi about that and he kept saying, "No way." lol Then we stepped outside the house into the yard where there were all sorts of typical games for that time period, including pick-up sticks and a little bowling game. It was really cool. Savannah found this weaving thing on the wall and started weaving on it. She liked that.

The kids also learned about how they made candles with a cotton strip for the wick and then dipped it in tallow (animal fat) repeatedly to make the candles. All the kids got to dip the candles a few times and when we left that area, we each got to take a candle home. That was neat. Here's Savannah and Levi dipping candles (yes, Levi has a mohawk, too). See the candles in the back hanging to dry?

The second station was an archiological dig area. They had buried actual findings that belonged to the Museum in boxes of dirt for the kids to find. First, they noted their "location" (see the "D 14" in the back?) then they filled their buckets about half full and emptied it into a sieve where they shook and shook until they found their treasures. Once that was done, they took their finds over to a table with a toothbrush to dust it off really well and then classify it by looking at the samples on the display wall. This part was a little bit over Levi's head, but Indy really liked this part. One neat thing even I learned was the difference between and artifact and an ecofact. I had never even heard the term "ecofact", but it's obviously pretty self-explanitory. I described it to the boys as this: "An artifact is something that's man-made. An ecofact is something that's God-made." For example, a pot or arrow head is an artifact and a turtle shell or bone is an ecofact. Pretty cool, huh? I thought so! :-)

The final area we went to was a more "modern" pioneer area (more like the mid-1800's). This area had a school house with old desks, slate boards (though they actually used little chalkboards) and ink and ink wells with feathers for writing. Levi liked the little chalk boards, but Savannah and Indy really liked writing with the ink. Outside the school house, they had a yard with a lasso to throw at a fake bull, a water pump and wash tub with washboard and some clothes to try washing. They also had some games, another weaving thing on the wall, and a plow for the kids to try pushing and plowing. It was a really neat area and the kids all had fun, even Savannah.

Here's Indy trying to roll this thing with a stick.

Here's Levi trying to plow with one of the little girls we went with.

Here's Savannah trying to lasso the bull. She got it more than once and decided that she now wants a lasso. lol Hmmm.... a rope for Christmas. I might be able to handle that. lol

Here she's trying to teach Levi how to use the lasso. I'm not sure he really ever got the hang of it, but he sure had fun! lol

Well, that was the first 2 hours!! :-) Stay tuned tomorrow for the next couple hours! lol It was a really neat experience, though, and I'm really glad we went. :-)

Oh, wait....I forgot this. This was a corn stripper thing. It was neat how it just stripped all the corn right off it. The kids all got to try it and really liked it. Oh, one funny thing was that they told us that people used these corn husks for toilet paper. The kids all got a kick out of that. :-)

Happy Birthday, Pastor!

Last week was our Pastor's birthday. My friend, Kelly, who is great about secretly decorating people's cars for their birthdays called me to see if we wanted to go on a decorating run with her and some of her kids (She has 9!!). Of course I said YES! And, we had a blast!! We stopped by Party City and got some cheap helium balloons and we had a bunch of curly ribbon to put on, too. The kids had a great time decorating his car while I took pictures and Kelly stood guard. Here's Indy working on his part.


And, the finished product. Savannah made that big sign and wrote Happy Birthday Pastor in graffiti writing and we all signed it.

Finally, we sent someone in to get him and he came out to see who had been "loitering" around his car. He was very surprised!

And the kids were so proud of all their hard work. :-)

Usually Kelly does all the decorating and then they run and let the person find it later and wonder who did this. But, this time, we decided that the kids really wanted to see his face when he found the car. They all hid behind the car so when he walked up and was really close, they all jumped out and yelled Surprise! Boy, was he surprised. lol And, he was a great sport. We got a really cute group shot by the finished car, but I didn't want to put it on here. Sorry. But, it was a fun time.

Menu Plan Monday

Here's this week's menu....enjoy!

Sunday - Baked Shrimp Scampi

Monday - Pork Chops

Tuesday - BBQ Chicken

Wednesday - French Onion Pot Roast

Thursday - Skillet Sausage & Peppers

Friday - Pesto Chicken & Pasta

Saturday - Order Pizza!!

Pesto Chicken & Pasta

1 - 16 oz. corkscrew pasta (or bowtie)

3/4 c. prepared pesto

1/2 c. chicken broth

3 c. cubed cooked chicken

1 c. chopped roasted red peppers

1/4 c. Parmesan cheese

1 Tbsp. chopped basil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly coat a 13x9 pan with Pam. Cook & drain pasta. Combine pesto & chicken broth in a large bowl; mix well. Add pasta, coat well. Stir chicken & roasted red pepper into pasta mixture until combined. Spoon mixture into prepared pan; top with Parmesan cheese. Bake casserole until thoroughly heated & cheese begins to melt, 20-30 minutes. Sprinkle with basil.

French Onion Pot Roast

1 1/2 c. frozen pearl onions

1 boneless beef chuck roast (2-3 lbs.)

1 c. beef broth

1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. fresh chopped parsley

1 pkg. french onion soup mix

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place onions in oval roasting pan. Place beef on top of onions. Combine beef broth, flour, parsley, & soup mix in small bowl; mix well. Pour over beef in pan. Cover pan & bake until beef is fork tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove beef from pan. Slice into 8 portions. Place on serving plate & spoon juices & onions over each serving.

BBQ Chicken

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3-4 lb.), cut up

1 med. onion, thinly sliced

1 med. lemon, thinly sliced

1 - 18 oz. bottle BBQ sauce

3/4 c. regular Coca-Cola

Place chicken in crock pot. Top with onion & lemon slices. Combine BBQ sauce & cola ; pour over all. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or til chicken juices run clear.

Baseball again...

Well, we're back in baseball. Whoo hoo! I really like watching baseball and I'm sooo happy Indy likes baseball so much. He tried soccer last season, which was ok, but he wasn't thrilled. I want him to try basketball next year, too, but for right now, he's back in baseball and is really enjoying it. This time around, he's on the Orioles. And, since he's one of the older, more experienced players in his age group, he's been playing a lot of the infield, which is great, because next season, he'll move up to the next division and he'll be at the bottom of the totem pole again...ugh. That means he'll be out in the field mostly, I'm sure. So, I'm happy that he's been playing a lot in the infield this season. It's a good experience for him. And, he's had such a good attitude this season, even when he gets out. He just says, "Oh well, it happens like that sometimes." And, he's encouraging his teammates who get out, too. I'm very proud of him.

Go Orioles!!

Recently Overheard...

Tuesday, while driving, I heard a local radio personality say this: "Well, we started Fall just about half an hour ago, at 5:19 pm and there is a chill in the air. It's only about 90 degrees today." I thought this was so funny! And, sadly, so true. lol

Wigwams and Tee Pees

A couple weeks ago, Indy and I were talking about Pilgrims and Indians in his schoolwork. One of the projects they had him do was to make a wigwam and tee pee. The wigwam was definitely more complex and the tee pee was definitely easier and more fun. But, he did enjoy making the wigwam, too.

When he was working on it, I was in the kitchen working on something when I thought of taking a picture, so I sent Levi to get the camera and take pictures. Here's the pictures Levi took of Indy making his wigwam. Not bad for the 5 year old. lol

We poured a bunch of glue over it all to paste down the sticking-up parts and by the next day it was all dry and rounded. Pretty cool project and Indy got a good idea of Indian homes. :-)

Bad Mom Award? Maybe....

...or maybe not. It just depends on who you are. ;-)

This year, I've told the girls that on certain days, like when I have park with the boys or golf at 3pm with Levi, they will have to ride the bus home. They've never ridden a school bus before. So, before they actually HAD to ride the bus, we decided to try it. One Thursday a couple weeks back, Levi had golf at 3, but Nicky was home that day, so I told them to ride the bus. They knew Nicky was home so they could call him if they missed the bus. Unfortunately, that day the bottom fell out of the sky and there was a huge thunder and lightning storm and Levi's golf was cancelled. I didn't find this out until 2:45, by which time the girls were on the bus. So, I went back home and got the camera and decided to wait for them at the bus stop to get a picture of their first time on the bus. (Are you getting the picture?? lol)

As the bus came down the street, I snapped a picture through the windshield. The bus driver must have seen me because as she went by the car, she smiled a big "cheesy" smile at me. It was funny. Then, since I was facing the wrong way, I had to roll the window down and turn backwards to get the shot. The girls saw me as they passed in front of the bus and had a "You've got to be kidding" face on. lol Then some kid rolled his bus window down and hollered at me. The girls got in, and as it typical for them, Savannah didn't really care, but Ashton was mortified. She said, "Would you please roll the window up??" I acted very innocent, but funny enough, they weren't even mad. I think they're so used to me taking pictures of them and all they do that it didn't really even phase them. lol

So, do I get the Bad Mom Award? I don't think so. They weren't mad....not even surprised really, and I got some pix of their first time on the school bus. lol

Menu Plan Monday

Hi Everybody! I know it's been awhile, but I'm going to try to post a little more faithfully. In the meantime, here's this week's menu. Hope you enjoy it and try some of the recipes.


Sunday - Taco Salad Bowls

Monday - Easy Pepper Steak

Tuesday - Tater Tot Casserole

Wednesday - Hamburger & Noodles

Thursday - Lasagna

Friday - Hot Dogs

Saturday - Creamy Chicken Alfredo



Taco Salad Bowls

4-8" flour tortillas
1 Tbsp. chili powder, divided
3/4 lb. ground beef
1 c. match-like carrot sticks
1/2 c. + 2 Tbsp. salsa, divided
2 Tbsp. mayo
4 c. torn salad greens
1 lg. tomato chopped
1/2 c. shredded mexican cheese


Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Crumple 4 sheets of foil to make four 3" balls. Place on baking sheet. Place 1 tortilla on top of each ball. Spray tortilla with Pam. Sprinkle evenly with chili powder. Bake 6-8 min. or til tortillas are golden brown. (Tortillas will drape over balls.) Brown meat with carrots & chili powder in large skillet. Add 1/2 cup salsa; cook 2 minutes or til heated through. Mix mayo and 2 Tbsp. salsa in large bowl. Add salad greens and tomatoes; toss to coat. Spoon into tortilla shells; top with meat mixture and cheese. Makes 4.

**This is a fun recipe to make and build. We don't make it too often, but when I do I really like it. We do multiply it by a couple times so there's enough for all of us. Plus, I add sour cream and other "taco" toppings, including salsa, so people can build their own taco salad as they like it. One word of caution, these are a little bit difficult to eat. We still can't figure out if we should eat them with forks or our hands. The hands seem to work best, but if you try this recipe, LMK how you eat them. Hope you enjoy it!! :-)

I thought this was such a funny picture! Indy has this violin (Thanks, Lori and Daniel!) and since Nicky played violin in school, he's going to teach Indy how to play. This weekend, Nicky fixed it all up by replacing the strings, tuning it and replacing a missing part. Then, he rosened the bow and strings and let Indy have at it. He taught Indy how to hold the bow and violin and how to only play one string at a time, but otherwise, let him just play with it. Indy loved it! But, notice the baseball hat and batting glove. He was ready to go to baseball. I just thought it was so cute with him playing the violin in all his baseball gear! Two different worlds collide! lol

Sea Turtle Release

Last Thursday night, we had our first real field trip for our homeschool group. It was to a local nature center/beach where they have sea turtle release programs. We've done this before, but we really enjoy it and this was the first time Levi and Nicky went. They both had a lot of fun. Before the actual presentation, they let us hang out in the nature center area where they have lots of sea creatures. We really liked that area!

Here's Nicky showing some fish and giant hermit crabs to the boys. (There's a blowfish hiding in the sand right where Nicky's pointing.)
Ashton checks out the touch tank (where there was a sign saying "Please don't put hands in the touch tank." We thought that was pretty funny.)

Indy, Levi, and friend, John checking out the stuff in the non-touchable touch tank. lol

This was pretty cool. This starfish was sucked up against the glass so we could see all his suckers on the bottom. It was so tempting to reach in and touch him, but we were good and didn't. lol Then we kidded that it was Patrick, from Spongebob. The kids got a kick out of that! lol

Indy is listening to the ocean.

Once we left the nature area, we went into a room where they had a power point presentation about sea turtles. Then, they brought out some of the turtles that would be released later. Here's Levi and Nicky checking out the baby turtle. Levi kept saying how cute they were. They were really cute. It was just there flapping all around.

Here's a good close up of the baby. These were loggerhead babies that were released.

As the group headed outside to go down to the beach, we lagged behind to check out all the neat stuff on display. Here, Indy and Levi are next to a sea turtle nest. It shows the shape of the nest and how the eggs are inside. Pretty cool.

And, here's the girls next to a really big sea turtle shell.

And, of course, Nicky had to check it out up close and personal. He's such a turtle guy!! lol In case you didn't know, we have several tortoises and a couple water turtles. He loves turtles of any kind! I think he had as much fun as the kids! lol

This was a fun trip. We probably won't do it again for several years, but it was fun to go this time. And, it was really great to take the whole family. There's so many things that Nicky can't go to with us because he's working, so this was a treat to have him with us.

Back to School Beach Bash

Last Thursday, our homeschool group had it's Back to School Beach Bash at a local beach. We went, mostly because I know how much the kids love the beach, and we did have fun. There were a bunch of families there and loads of kids. It was great! It was kind of weird having Savannah with me and the boys, instead of Ashton, but she had fun, too. Some of her longtime friends were there, so she was glad she went. Unfortunately, the tops of my feet got sunburned, even thought I put sunscreen on them! Bummer. Here's some cute pix of the kids playing.

This is Levi pushing around the aluminum foil "ship" Indy made in school the day before. I don't know if it was the Nina, Pinta, or Santa Maria. Yes, he's studying about Christopher Columbus! lol Either way, I thought it was funny that my kids had little foil ships to play with while the other kids had all these plastic toys around!! lol Hey, I let them pick 3 toys each to take with them and that's what they picked. Funny, huh? Looks like this ship has seen better days!! They did take a couple other toys, too.

Indy and his castle/moat/hole in the ground thing he built. He worked on this for almost an hour! And, boy, was it deep! He was so proud. :-)

Savannah and friends, Austin and Cole.

Overall, it was not too bad of a day...just exhausting. That sun kills me! But, I know it will probably be our last beach day until next spring, so it was nice to go. Even though I'm not a big fan of the beach, I'm glad we live near it so we can go whenever we want. I think my childhood beach memories are some of my fondest. I hope my kids' are, too.