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Friday, May 14, 2010

Long spring...

Warning, tremendously long blog ahead with many adorable pictures and exciting event spanning the last 2 months! I can't believe it's been that long but it was fun to reflect and see what fun things we did. Believe it or not, there were actually many many more fun things that I forgot to bring my camera to!

So, going all the way back to April fools day... I actually love April fools day and sometimes I plot and think weeks before. I got Jason that morning with the 'ol tape the sink sprayer on trick. I laughed a lot over that even though I didn't actually get to see it. I, in fact, just laughed about it again just now. I tricked the kids with lunch. They were waiting for me to get them all morning with an April fool and I got them with somethings small so they thought they were in the clear. When I called them in from recess they unsuspectingly sat down to their chicken and biscuits and were shocked to find that instead of savory it was sweet! The peas and carrots were skittles and cut up orange starburst. The cream sauce was vanilla pudding, bananas disguised as chicken and it was over a corn muffin rather than a biscuit. Their faces were priceless. When dessert came out I was very proud of Hannah who said she probably shouldn't have so much sugar. I agreed but told her just to taste my "cupcakes" because they were so delicious. The kids were actually holding the cupcakes in their hands and still had no idea that they were mini meatloaves with pink mashed potatoes on top! They loved them. Isaac wants them for his birthday next year!


Isaac enjoys doing his math work on the white board rather than on paper. I don't mind, I just have to take pictures of his work for his portfolio. He's so cute.

As you know from Ian's birthday blog, my baby is officially 5 years old now. He celebrated his big day with a bowling party at a local candle pin alley. It was a lot of fun.




Since spring has officially sprung, even out in the hill towns, we ventured out to a friends house to get some tadpoles from her vernal pond. We started out with way too many but sent a lot back to nature. In the end we kept about 20 and gave Hannah about 10 to raise at her house. Sadly, all but one of ours recently passed away. I'm not sure what happened, they were doing well for so long. Hannah's are all flourishing still. We have one survivor and are hoping to see him all the way through to froghood.




Took a trip to Balance Rock recently. It is a big rock that balances on a small rock. It defies gravity. Very cool.
Isaac noticed right away that, from this angle, it looks like a giant dinosaur head. Also very cool.
All the kids had a blast running around and climbing on rocks and fallen trees. Spring is such a delightful thing.

Another great thing about spring and summer is ice cream. The kids recently earned a trip to Ben and Jerry's by memorizing all of the books of the Bible. They actually got two trips out of the deal because when they memorized the Old Testament books it was free cone day and I brought them again when they memorized the New Testament books.
The kids have "choice time" most days. It is the time when I work with one or a few children and the others have a list of activities that they can choose to do when I am otherwise occupied. Craft Time is one of the choices and, being that it is getting closer to the end of the year, I am running out of crafts to give them. Then, suddenly, I remembered the box of sock puppet stuff that my sister had given the kids a long time ago and I pulled it out. It made for a great lesson on hot glue gun safety and they had a ridiculous amount of fun with their new sock friends.

Our kids finally got their Christmas present from us! We went to Fenway Park to see a Red Sox game!!! My whole family came too. It was so much fun. The weather was looking awful for days in advance so the kids started praying and, thank you Jesus, there was no rain! Pretty good since the day before there was an 80% chance. We were so happy! The day was wonderful. The kids got to have a great Fenway experience. They got spoiled by their grandparents, got to meet Wally the Green Monster, got tons of souvenirs, ate lots of ball park food...oh and we even watched some baseball. Despite the rally in the 9th, they lost to the Jays 3-2. It didn't make the day any less wonderful for us.
Here we are on Yawkey Way (minus, Kimmy and Joe who came a little later).










Now, for some reason, we have a stack of field trips and activities piling up! Last week we went to a local animal shelter. If I weren't allergic to everything there we definitely would have left with a kitten at the very least. It was a good experienced. The kids learned how to understand what a dog might be saying by how it is positioned etc. We also learned that there are an estimated 10 thousand homeless cats in our area. That's a lot of cats and a good reason to spay and neuter!
The boys started T-ball. Isaac was a little disappointed that he's not on "coaches pitch" because he is more than ready for it but they are still having fun and look so cute in their little uniforms!!!




We had a homeschool kickball game this week. It was SO much fun. The kids did a great job cheering one another on. It's not always easy to play with such a wide age range, especially playing a sport but everyone did a great job getting along and helping each other. Ian was the only one who stormed off the field because his brother showed very little mercy in getting him out every opportunity he got. We even made the paper! Isabella and Lexie are quoted at the end of the article and Hannah, Lexie and Isaac are in the background of the picture. Ian refused to look at, or talk about the paper because he didn't "get famous" like everyone else.


After our kickball game we had a guest speaker come to the TLC Academy. My sister's boyfriend Joe is from England and since that is what we have been studying for the past few weeks he graciously came to talk to the children about growing up in Manchester. He was 12 when he moved to America. The kids had some great questions for him and we learned a lot. We are also reading The Secret Garden and doing a great unit study with it. Last week we had some English foods for lunch, including Welsh Rabbit, which isn't actually rabbit at all. It's cheese broiled on toast. The kids like telling people that they ate Welsh Rabbit though. We will, of course, be topping of our study with a proper English tea time in the next few weeks.

Madilynn came up with Kimmy and Joe. We love having her at TLC!
Wow, this really is the longest blog ever!

One day this week we found ourselves missing Bella and Hannah and wondering what to do with out them. Having such a small, close group of kids, it's strange when some are missing. We decide that we couldn't just have normal boring day with out them and decided to take a spontaneous trip the museum. This idea was met with cheers and excitement and ended with lots of thank you's and requests to go back soon!
My little knights. They could barely hold their heads up with those heavy helmets!

Lexie the Samurai warrior
Fun with camouflage
The Native American room always provides lots of entertainment.
The innovation area is a great place too! Ian loved drawing on the easel. He needs a little bench like that at home.
They created an innovative pillow fort for relaxing.
They also made some innovative creations in the craft area.

This Wednesday I had the honor of joining my parents and Joe for another trip to Boston to see my baby sister receive her masters degree from Lesley University in Expressive Therapy. I am so proud of her!!

I think the cap she wore atop of her sassy new haircut summed up years of hard work for her in a field where she is sure to be a pioneer. I can't wait to see which direction she heads next. Kimmy you are awesome!!! I am so proud to be your big sister and I love you!
School ends in a few weeks and we have lots to do before then!!! I am already thinking about next year too. The fun never really ends :)

1 comments:

Mallory said...

I love the April Fools food you made for the kids! What a wonderful treat!! Looks the your day at Fenway was a great experience as well. Congrats to Kimmy -- what a great achievement!
Mallory