The Last Time

Over the past few months, NASA has been transporting the 4 remaining shuttles to their final resting place. We took a trip to witness this historic moment. Professor and I grew up with the Space Shuttle Program in full-swing. As a child, I dreamed of going to the NASA Space Camp in Huntsville, Alabama. My Mom and Grandparents took my brother and I to Huntsville once, so we could see the sites there. I still remember that trip. It was also a time in our country's history where women were breaking scientific ground and going where women had rarely been before. It is no wonder that I ended up getting an Aerospace Engineering degree and dear Professor an Engineering Physics degree - which is similar to Astronautical, Space Physics. The kids had no idea the significance of the event - no more space exploration, no more moon landings, with a space vehicle wearing the US flag. My views and priorities on life have changed, and I don't mourn the loss - but it is still a significant event. One day, I hope to fly the still spaces and galaxies, and not with a man made spacecraft! Nevertheless, here are some pictures from that day.

Going on a fly-by of the area first.

A bit eery to see a large aircraft so close to the ground without its landing gear deployed!

As we waited - the times were delayed by several hours, the children found some shade in this tent they popped-up (for the cameras filming). I'm not sure the tape did its job!

Here the shuttle is coming in for its last approach

Do you see the folks on the rooftops? It was amazing to see.

Do you see the folks standing on top of their cars? It looks like the aircraft will land right on the freeway! And it feels that way when you are driving next to the airport. In fact, at some spots, the road goes beneath the runway. That is a weird feeling!

Projects and Crafts

This year, we decided to include a more formal Art program called "Art With A Purpose". It is nice and we all seem to enjoy it. The program introduces concepts like "feathering", "vivid", "3D" and other artistic concepts and words (an area I seem to lack). We have always done projects but this gives us a spot in our weekly curriculum where we have a project already planned out - the children look forward to Wednesday "Art Day" in our school. Here are some of the projects we have done - some are from the art program and some are from other curriculum:

Lil' Farmer's favorite project!

Here Kind Heart is showing his origami "boat". Straight Arrow is a wiz at origami and actually helped out the teacher in a few spots! He has a great mind for construction.

I will explain this picture in a future post!

Feathering - taking an eraser and moving the color from the line into the body.

Our 3-Dimensional assignment. The boys added their features which was not a part of the original assignment. Who says boys don't like to play house?! They added beds, tables, chairs, parking spots, cars, and the ability to tip the house back.

Attack of the Killer Bug!

Tonight, the Professor was nearly attacked by this ginormous insect!

It is so ugly! Is it a large wingless bee? How about an ant on steroids? Well, would you guess that it is called a Jerusalem Cricket? Yeppers! It is 2" in length. We all had a nice look-see. Turns out they can bite, but are not inclined to. I hope I never see another one! And I will be wearing shoes when out of doors.

Blooms to Brighten!

I have owned this African Violet for several years. I purchased it many years ago while the children and I were studying flowers and plants. It was a tiny little plant at that time. With much tender care we watched it grow. But no blooms. I asked anyone that had any green plant living in their house if they knew why my African Violet was not blooming - no answers! One day we were visiting friends and lo - they had a beautiful large African Violet! The answer came - the plant needs to be root bound in order to bloom. After my violet lived with a friend for 5 months, it was returned. Maybe that is why it is finally blooming? Her touch? Well regardless, it is blooming in my presence so that makes me happy! Having never had plants growing up or plants in my own home, I am excited to travel down the path of green in the house. I have 8 plants right now - and I will post on them soon! Happy Planting!

A Beautiful Moment

Since we are a no TV/movie family, this has actually never happened before. The kids were all ready for bed, and had a fantastic day together - so I blessed them with a documentary on the Iditerod - the Alaskan dog-sled competition. They were so cute and cuddly together!

Gummy Days

Kind Heart lost another tooth a few days ago - and it has made him nearly toothless on the top! His front two teeth have been out for some time, and now one of the 2nd front teeth is out. I jokingly tease him as my "Little Gummy Guy". I wish this moment could last a long time - I don't like to see my little ones grow up! I looked at a video a few days ago of Straight Arrow reading his first book, and I was so sad - I wish I could have treasured those moments over and over. I did treasure the moment, which is apparent from my crying in the video, but, how quickly it fades from my memory. I digress. Here's our big little man:

Sew Crazy!

I could either be "so" crazy, or "sew" crazy! I think right now I am so crazy for going sew crazy! Ahh, I crack myself up. Anywho, here is a stash of fabric I just purchased to begin a quilt challenge between my Mother-in-Law and I. Back in June when we were able to visit, we decided to encourage each other to do a bit of sewing every month. We agreed on a wonderful pattern and book that we each liked, Flower Pots, That Patchwork Place, by Cindy Lammon.

I am excited to begin our first block, Flower Basket. Here is a sneak-look at what mine is supposed to look like, with different fabric selection of course.

I am excited and yet nervous to start. I forget sometimes that sewing is supposed to be fun and not a drudgery. I often get "sew" wrapped up in accomplishing x, y, and z, that I forget to just enjoy these moments - especially of sewing little dresses and collared barn shirts for the children. I enjoy having a task list and really don't like to have unfinished projects but often have 3, 4, or 5 projects going on all at once. I forget to breath and not stress over my own expectations. I do want to have fun and have it be a stress relief instead of a stressor! I will post as I complete various blocks. The first month is September and we are doing one block a month. The flower basket block is created 7 times, so it will be fun to make each one look slightly different. Here is a look at my fabric stash! The fabrics are not quilt-shop quality due to my very limited budget, but I think it will look nice anyway.

Loud Noises!

The cost of going green is only temporary, I hope! Yesterday and today we have been overrun with construction workers, as they prepare our house to install solar panels. The children are intrigued with all the work going on and it is a bit hard to focus, even for me! Sweet Sis runs around with her hands over her ears, saying, "Too Loud, Too Loud". It is adorable and annoying! So we will do our best to get some work done. Field Trip, you ask? Well, sometimes Teacher Mom is a bit too tired to adventure out of the normal day! I am normally functioning well beyond the normal energy of one person - but the Lord has had my focus drawn to something else right now, so that means I am down to normal energy levels! :)

Chariot Project

I am in charge of crafts for the Cradle Roll/Kindergarten and Primary classes for church. This week, the children were studying about Philip and the Ethiopian (who was traveling in a chariot). So, we recreated the scene with chariots and pipe cleaner men - gold for the Ethiopian and white for Philip. At church, we just made the chariot and men, but when they got home, the bridled up their horses and hooked them to the chariots! We even have an ox represented! They have enjoyed driving their chariots around for days. Blessings, Country Needles

Science Experiment

Today we took a break from the normal routine, and added a science experiment! This quarter, we are learning about water, while we continue through the Bible. Our nature is always presented together with the Word, as it is His Creation. Today in school we covered the three states of matter: solid, liquid, and gas. Yes, I know there is a fourth, as Professor so astutely pointed out, but a child needs not to know about plasma at 8 years old. Anyway, back to the experiment. We made juice slushies by lowering the temperature of ice. It was quite fun! I used a book called "Science Adventures"

Straight Arrow putting the homemade snow into the ziploc bag.

Measuring the salt into the snow.

Pouring 1/2 C of grape juice into smaller baggie.

Duct-tape over baggie, to ensure it will not bust open!

Kind Heart getting into shaking the bags! This part was very cold, one needed gloves or towels to hold the bag.

And the slushie is made! The first batch took about 2 minutes, the second batch took about 20 seconds.

Delicious!

Happy Customers!

Chores For All

To some, the word chore can invoke fear like no other word, except your full first and middle name called by your Mom. (You do know what I'm talking about!) Well, for our little children, the word chore has always equaled fun! No I am serious! The kids think it is a riot that they actually get to spray something and wipe it. That they can really play with the water to load the dishwasher. Since each of them could toddle along, they have discovered the dryer is just about their size and Mom is much bigger - so they can help to unload it. Besides, when the clothes are so warm and soft, why wouldn't it be fun? Chore time is important in our home, as it keeps order and it helps train the children to take an important role and responsibility for supporting the rest of the family. We each contribute. Recently, since my children are getting older, I decided to start a chore chart. Every task is assigned to each child on a weekly basis. There are 3 categories of chores: daily, weekly, and bi-monthly. The daily chores are reassigned every week, the weekly chores are reassigned every month, and the bi-monthly chores every few months. I created a spreadsheet that lists the chores in one column and the responsible child in the next column. I assigned a color for each child so they can either look at their name or look for their assigned color.

Here Lil' Farmer is cleaning and arranging the shoe closet. He will pull everything out and sweep, then reorganize it.

Straight Arrow is loading the dishwasher. It is not done the way I would always like, but we are learning and teaching. He does a great job and the dishes do get cleaned!

Kind Heart is putting away the clothing that is folded. Everyday we have many loads of laundry, ranging from children clothing to adult, to towels, sheets, and more clothes. This is a big job and they are learning to put them away neatly.

Sweet Sis can do lots of work for a 2 1/2 year old! She is in charge of putting all recycling from the kitchen into the small recycling bin in the garage. One of the older brothers will then empty the small bin into the large bin outside of the house. Ours is the same size as the large trash can. We recycle a great deal so she has quite a bit of work to do!

Crispy "Chikn" Legs

Poor Poor Professor. After 12 years of marriage, one would think a husband would take his wife's advice. Nope. I practically had to tackle my husband on the playing field to get him to paste some natural sunscreen on. I knew that even after a few minutes of being in the sun, he would begin to burn. (We enjoyed a nice picnic with dear friends on Labor Day) Professor did relent, and let me put some on his face and neck, but he neglected his arms and legs. And I had to pay for it! Last night was one of the worst nights for us - it felt like we had a newborn baby! Professor has sun-poisoning! He went to bed 2 hours before we normally do, and had the blankets piled on like it was December! He came down with major chills. This morning he woke up with a massive headache and nausea. I didn't see the extent of his burn until he came home tonight. It usually takes him 24 hours to finish burning after the sun exposure. Professor is all Irish - 100%, and is very fair, as is our daughter. So how do you know if a burn turns to sun-poisoning? Here are some pointers: 1. Skin redness and blistering 2. Pain and tingling 3. Swelling 4. Headache 5. Fever and chills 6. Nausea 7. Dizziness 8. Dehydration I will have him drinking a ton tonight, because I know he probably didn't stop to drink a drop today at work. His water bottle was broke and hasn't replaced it. This might be a good time!

And no, he is not wearing socks.