Texas, Part I

I had the opportunity to travel to Texas in March to visit some of my loves from NC--Sarah and David (and their two boys) and Amy (and Maddy and JT).  I ditched the kids with Russ and Bubba and boarded the plane.  Although airports are nerve-wracking for me, I was amazed at how much easier it is to fly ALONE.  I only took one book with me for heavens sake, and I had it finished before I was halfway there!

Anyway, Amy and her kids had been there for a day already, so Sarah picked me up at the airport and we came home to this...

 

It's a shame that no one had any fun...

Maddy, Dawson and I did some lovely artwork on the sidewalk.

Owen, wanting to rip that camera right off my face.

Sweet Heilo.

Sarah and Maddy getting some girl time. 
(Note: Sarah is preggo with boy #3...she loves her some girl time. :) )
(Another Note:  Brook and Maddy were bestest friends in NC and were even in the same class at school.  It was fun talking to her again and seeing her take on life.)

Dawson was DETERMINED to get a photo of Amy acting scared/surprised about there...being a fire??  I can't remember, but it was quite comical...

...especially when HE took over the camera and took about 50 more photos, requesting the same scared/surprised look.

Showing off some art to Mommy.

Madison took this.  I like the angle!

Dawson took this one.

"Can I help you wash the dishes??"  Hmm, let me think about it...YES.  Here's the soap and rag, say "cheese!"

I loved our dinners.  This was the definition of "organized chaos".

Dawson took this one too.  <3 <3 <3

"But it's MY TUUUUUURNNNNN!!!!!"  And again, Owie demands his turn with the camera.  Fortunately for him, he's too cute to say no to!

JT, the oh-so-talented motorcyclist...picking something out of his toes??

I love my second family!!

Best buddies!

I wanted to limit these posts to ~20 pics each sooooo...Part II coming right up!

Adventures in Homeschooling - March

Due to being out of town for so long, having a malfunctioning camera, having my computer replaced (and my editing software...), I'm back to playing the good ol' game of Catch Up.  So here are some of the adventures we went on in March.

The Lindsay Wildlife Museum.

 

What's the first thing Sam does??  Try to rob the donations bank...
 

 They had a bunch of the birds that live there permanently on display, plus all of their information like how they came to the hospital and why they now live there.

This was by far my favorite part--they do several surgeries each day that visitors can watch!  This was a pocket gopher who's front teeth had gotten too long and had to be cut.  Yes, I said CUT HIS TEETH.  Ouch.

There was also a flight simulator.

And a pretend eagle's nest.

Russ had to try out the simulator as well, of course.

A wingspan estimator.

A kid area with lots of interesting things to look at, play with, and touch.

Sam loves these penny-pressing machines and is starting a collection.

And better yet, it was literally right next to a park.

Before we left, the kids discovered this nifty trick--sliding down the stairs by their armpits! HA!

Sam testing out his eagle skills at home.

 Invitation for making clay dinos.

They turned out great!  ...they didn't last very long, but the kids loved them!

I found Brooklyn in the bathroom one afternoon, conducting an experiment.  It looked on the verge of becoming a giant mess, so decided to grab her a towel.

Was really glad I got that towel, especially after she grabbed the food coloring!

Pattern blocks invitation!

 Got these nifty worksheet things from a homeschooling friend.  I thought they were super cute!  My kids didn't, lol.

Here's Sam's artwork:
 

 

And Brooklyn's.  It's a fox.  And he's using his sense of smell to smell the worksheet and his sense of hearing to hear the butterfly.

For weeks, the kids' favorite thing was to decimate my bed in order to make a fort.  Not just any fort--one that you can slide down in laundry baskets and run into the wall with!  Good times.

 Roller-blading with Starbursts.

Our first attempt at ice blocking...I judged poorly at the angle of this hill.  Next time, we'll head to The Big Hill.

A chilly day at the park.

After that chilly day at the park, lol.

Mid-March I headed to visit my girlfriends in Texas (stay tuned!), but Russ documented for me while I was gone.

I've been keeping my eyes out for a good deal on CitiBlocs or Kappa Blocks, and boy did Russ find one!!  1000 CitiBlocs for $170!  He called to talk to me about it when he saw the deal, and I was so excited to come home to play with them!!

They get played with literally every day.

Also while I was gone, someone took off her training wheels!!  PROUD MAMA!

Sorry for the brevity, but I have another month to catch up on!! :)