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.