Happy Thanksgiving!

Today was Thanksgiving and it was a blessed day. This is our Thanksgiving table, ready for dinner.
The "kid" table. This is the first year we needed a kid table and the boys thought it was really cool that they had their own table! We had Mamo and one of Savannah's friends, Alex, join us for Thanksgiving, thus, the need for the kid table. We made it special for them, though. They got their own "centerpiece" decoration and fancy silverware and even glass glasses to drink from.

Getting ready to eat...

This is a close-up of our fabulous bread basket, made by Ashton in her cooking class. It made a great addition to our table. Wish we could have one every year!

Typically after dinner, though this year before dinner, the kids work on gingerbread houses. Here Savannah helps the boys make a big one, instead of the individuals we usually have. They still had fun and did a marvelous job!

The finished gingerbread house. Looks yummy!

Baseball...Orioles!

These are some misc. pictures of Indy's baseball season for Fall, 09. He was on the Orioles in the 6 and under league. Even though he was already 7, they let him slip in because of how his birthday falls. It's good because he was one of the older players (read: Top Dog).

This was at the end of the season party at a nearby park. They just love the sand, don't they??

Levi at the party.

Indy and his Coach Kevin. Great coach, great season!

The Orioles with coaches.

As of November 20, we're still in the playoffs. We play on the 21st, so we'll see what happens. It's getting tougher.

Searching for Sea Critters

These are some more of our environmental class activities. On the last day of the marine animals unit, we went out to the beach to look for critters. First we went into a classroom in the nature center at the beach. They got to handle some animals and skeletons in here.

Here's Levi holding a type of sea star.

Mrs. Yoelly shows Levi some critters.

Mr. Elias helps Indy hold a critter.

Walking out to the beach with nets in hand, ready to search for critters. Can you tell where the water ends and the sky begins?? Beautiful day!

Levi following Mr. Elias, as usual.

Indy digs with his net for something. What is it??

Hey, look what I found! It was a sponge!

This is what our box looked like when it was all over. Our whole class worked on this and this is everyone's collections. Pretty cool, huh?

This is a pipe fish that Indy caught. He was so proud!

The next session is about Archeology. Savannah went with us that day and we began the four week process of mummifying a chicken. No, not a live chicken; one I bought from Publix. But, let me just say: It takes a LOT of salt to complete the embalming process of the days of old. Thank goodness salt is pretty cheap! lol

This should be interesting! lol We'll see if we make it all 4 weeks!

Happy Halloween, 2009!

I know this one is kinda old, but hey, better late than never, right?? lol So, here's Halloween, 2009.

I took the boys to our local zoo for their Halloween special day. It's called MetroBoo. Indy dressed up as a soldier and Levi dressed up as Iron Man. They "trick or treated" to the booths set up around the zoo and got candy then played in the activity area. This was at the entrance.

Here's Iron Man at the entrance area.

Silly boys!

Indy attempted to climb the rock wall. He did pretty good for his first time. Of course, he did have a little help! lol

Indy also got his face painted....in camo, naturally. De ja vu. He was a soldier at this zoo day when he was about 3 and had his face painted in camo then, too! lol I think I see a reoccuring theme here. Hmmmm....

The Soldier.

We also went on a little hay ride through a natural wooded area. It was so nice except for the smell of the tractor engine right in front of us. Ugh. But, the boys got a kick out of the ride.

They played lots of games in the activity area, including this hockey booth where you could hit a puck into the holes and win a prize. Indy did pretty well, but they really got a kick out of Levi. He kept hitting it like a golf ball! Big surprise there, eh? lol Anyway, they had no idea that he played golf, but the guy said, "Hey, at least you know he could have a career in golf." I think he thought he was being funny, but when I said, "He does play golf," the guy balked. He couldn't believe it. He even called over the lady who was with him. She asked his name so that when he was famous someday, she could say that she had met him when he was little. I thought it was kinda funny.

So, the next day was actually Halloween, so here are some pix from that day. This is Savannah when we dropped her off at her friend's house for a party.

This is at the Western Fiesta at our church that evening. Levi played lots of games and won lots of candy...oh boy, just what he needs! Argh.

Both childrens' choirs sang a couple songs. Here, Levi's preschool choir sings. He did a great job on the motions....not so good on the actual singing! lol It's hard to believe he's one of the older ones now. Man, do they grow up fast!

Here's Indy's choir. He's the last one on the far right. He did his motions great, too, along with the singing.

Ashton's friend, Abbey, came over and went trick or treating with us. They both dressed up as cowgirls....sort of.

Levi wore this dinosaur (pterydactyl) outfit he got from his cousin. It fit him perfectly and was sooo cute! It was a little warm, though, after awhile.

When he put out his arms, you could see the "wings" for the pterydactyl. Too funny!

Indy was the Silver Surfer. He wanted to be this last year, but at the last minute, changed his mind. So, this year, he stuck with it. We covered his skateboard with foil, found a silver mask, and bought some gray (silver) clothes. It came out pretty good, but unfortunately, not so many people recognized his character. Oh well.

This is at a house in our neighborhood. These people are older, but go all out every year for Christmas. We call them "The Decoration Man". But, they did set this up for Halloween night. Cute picture.

Well, that's it. It was a busy, but fun day. Sadly, Nicky was already on night shift, so he missed all the costumes and fun. Hopefully next year, he'll be around. Happy Halloween! :-)

"Undersea" Adventure!

This week was one of our last environmental classes. It was a fun day. We went on an "undersea" treasure hunt adventure. They split the class up into groups and each group was given a GPS with previously input coordinates. These coordinates led to an undersea "dive" location of a treasure. The kids had to follow the GPS instructions to their "dive site" where they were to log their finds along with measurments on how far the items were from the "shipwreck" and anything else they could find out about the site. And, since they were "underwater", the kids had to be silent. This was probably the most difficult task of the whole assignment!! lol

Here's Levi in his "dive" outfit. Too cute!

And, here's Indy in his dive outfit along with the giant tape measure, which it was his job to carry.

Indy, Levi, and teammate Jacob (who had the GPS), go in search of their "dive site". Funny enough, our local PBS station was doing a special on the environmental classes we were taking and the location that was offering them. Here, the guy films our team on it's dive adventure. Pretty cool, huh?? BTW, notice Levi's outfit is gone? After about 2 minutes, he decided he was absolutely NOT wearing it any longer. Not sure why, but it was off in about 30 seconds! Oh well, easy come, easy go.

Getting closer to the treasure site.

Mr. Elias helps our team log their finds.

One of our items was a piece of metal, which we logged and measured the distance from the "shipwreck" (which was an upside down canoe).

Overall, it was a lot of fun and the kids did actually learn about treasure finding in the ocean. Earlier we had talked about pirates and sunken treasure and how we can use them to find out about life in the past. Pretty interesting...and fun...stuff! :-) We'll sure miss this class!

You Might Be a Redneck....

So our kitchen light and fan don't work. Nicky says it's something with the connections, but since he's working so much overtime right now, he doesn't have time to fix it. That means my kitchen is really dark, really early (since the time change). Well, I fixed that! I rigged this up.

You might be a redneck if you use a portable light, plugged into an outlet in the next room, for your kitchen light.