Field Trip

We ended our intense school week with a field trip. Yes, the Pattons and the Alligoods (we sure saw a lot of them this week!) went to Springfield and New Salem, IL to see all of the Lincoln sites. We just made a day trip of it. Unfortunately the weather was ROTTEN!! Yes, cold temps, gusty winds and a pretty constant drizzle all day long . . . big bummer! But in all, we had a good time . . . it was really cool to see all of the places that we've been studying about.

We started out in New Salem. They have the old village reconstructed, complete with the old mill, 2 stores that Abe had part ownership in, and many homes.

Here they are bundled up in front of one of the homes - yes . . . complete with winter coats, hats, and gloves!

Our second stop was at the Lincoln home in Springfield. They have restored the entire neighborhood, including the home that the Lincoln's lived in when Abe was elected president.

The next stop was the Lincoln Tomb. We walked up on the exterior and were nearly blown off with freezing cold winds! : ) Before we went inside their was a sign asking for silence in the tomb, out of respect for the Lincoln Family . . . that was all well and good, except for the fact that everything that was written (on the walls, tomb, etc . . . ) was written in all caps, and Julie kept exclaiming "It's a M! It's a O! It's a G!" Of all the places . . .

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Next we went to the Lincoln-Herndon Law Office (One of the places where Abe practiced law in Springfield.)


This is a statue of Abe, his wife Mary and one of their sons. It's in front of one the law office, and the kids wanted to pose with it!

The Law Offices were the last straw for Julie. With no nap that day, Julie zonked during the tour! Poor kid!

Our last Lincoln Site was the Old Capitol Building. Everyone was exhausted, so we did a cursory "tour." The girls thought this building was really cool. Below is the room where Lincoln's body was laid out for everyone to come and pay their respects after he was returned to Springfield.

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It had a gorgeous staircase (there was even a Bride and Groom there getting pictures taken). Julie was asleep for this one, but here are the rest of them, oldest to youngest. Notice that Ali & Jonah are pretty much the same height here! : ) He'll catch up some day!

Our last Springfield stop was Culver's! After a long day, it was nice to sit in the warmth and enjoy a burger!

Birthday "Party"

This year we told the kids they weren't getting to have birthday parties - and they cried! With the extra expense and time commitment related to moving, I just wasn't up for it, so we made and alternate plan.

I told them that we could invite the Alligoods out for dinner one evening. They got to choose - PlayPlace McDonald's (appealing b/c of the play place), Fortel's (appealing b/c of the arcade), or Ponderosa (appealing b/c they get to choose whatever they want to eat and have a mega dessert collection.) McDonald's won out for Ali - and b/c Julie is 2 days later, we lumped it all into one!

Unfortunately, Mommy was once again "too stupid to be here." Yes, I managed to forget my camera! Mr. Alligood came to the rescue with his phone. The pictures aren't super high quality - but at least it's something!

Our "party" crew
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Birthday Cupcake Cake
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Julie opening her Talking Backpack toy
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I made Ali a Felicity dress for her birthday - she was beaming when she saw it!!

All About Abe Lincoln

This week was pretty intense, academically speaking. The kids have just finished studying Abe Lincoln and the Civil War, and they prepared presentations to share with their families/friends. As part of their history curriculum they memorized the Preamble to the Constitution and the first three verses of America the Beautiful. We incorporated these into their presentation night, and all four kids did an awesome job. I was really shocked with how smoothly everything went!

Emma and Karis memorized an abbreviated version of the Preamble, and recited it together.
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Ali and Jonah memorized the entire Preamble and recited it together . . . they even managed to stay together - something that they failed to achieve during practice! Way to go guys!
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For her presentation, Karis wrote and illustrated a book on Abe Lincoln. Here she is sharing one of her illustrations.

Emma made a timeline of the life of Abe Lincoln. You should hear her say "The Kansas-Nebraska Act" It took all I had not to laugh!

Ali wrote a report on the life of A.L. (which she read aloud) and also made a diorama of the Gettysburg Address.

Jonah wrote a report on A.L. and the Civil War. He also did a PowerPoint presentation to go with it - Amber controlled the power point. Jonah's original instructions to his mom were "When I tap my foot two times, that means go to the next slide." Amber and I looked at each other, and once again had to hold back the laughter. I could just imagine the little guy trying to inconspicuously tap his foot and read at the same time! In the end, he just looked at his mom when he was ready for the next slide.

We finished off with America the Beautiful. The only glitch was the CD skipping once. It threw them off a bit, but they recovered. We wrapped up out night with refreshments and visiting time. It was fun, but exhausting . . . one of those things that we are glad we did, but also glad it's over! : )

Kitty Tales

Our cats make me laugh! Granted, they aren't as funny (or as cute for that matter) as the kids . . . but they seriously crack me up. As of now, Polly and Kelsey are crazy about each other. Most nights they sleep together in one Kitty bed . . . but they also "fight" like sisters! : ) Yes, we hear frequent cries from one or the other of them . . . it usually means that they are in a heated wrestling match and having a grand old time! I'm so glad that Polly has a friend. We are also finding that she has become more social with us since Kelsey came around.

Yes, I have more kitty pictures to share . . . I couldn't help myself!

I love this one! They were cuddled up together and Polly was licking Kelsey's head. Aww . . .

This was should be on a Hallmark card! Yes, this is Kelsey, sleeping in my lap. Those are her hind legs that are sticking up . . . Ahhh . . . to be so flexible!

Clams!

Last week in science it was time to study mollusks. For our hands on time we did a clam dissection . . . we got lots of complaints about stinky clams, but overall they thought it was pretty cool.

Journaling their observations before starting


All four of them thought the shells were pretty cool and were very eager to keep them! Hopefully I can get the stink out and they can have them.

Fun with the EFD

We have had an insanely busy week! Thankfully it has been filled with lots of fun stuff, so it hasn't been as draining as it could . . . but we are wiped! So, now I have some blogging to catch up on . . . Here goes . . .

Early last week the girls looked outside to find a firetruck pulling up in front of our house. The EFD was just checking fire hydrants, but they invited Ali & Emma (the other two were napping) to tour their truck. They thought it was pretty cool.


The last time we went to the fire station was almost 4 years ago, and Ali was afraid to get into any of the trucks. Well, she's grown up quite a bit and really enjoyed herself this time!


Emma was wearing no shoes, which wasn't a problem except that the step up into the truck was very poky . . . she needed a little help there!

Happy Birthday Julie!

My littlest peanut is officially 2 years old! It's hard to believe, yet it really isn't sad to me. I'm thoroughly enjoying her and I tend to enjoy them more the older they get . . . So I'm not mourning the loss of babyhood at all! : ) (Of course that could have something to do with the fact that we've had a baby at some stage for most of 8 years now!!)

Look at that sweet scrawny little thing! Just a few days old!
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Fun in the kitchen sink - 7 mos old!
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And here she is this morning! She's really pretty oblivious. When I said "Happy Birthday" to her this morning she said "Yeah! Happy birthday Ali!" We sung to her twice this morning - both times she laughed and when we finished exclaimed "Good Job!" We had to light her candle 3 times - the first time she blew it out before we could sing; the second time it fell over; and the third time she couldn't manage to blow it out, so Daddy had to help! All presents were done on Friday in a joint Ali/Julie "party" (more to come on that), so birthday festivities are officially over now!

Happy Birthday Ali!

It was officially 8 years ago today that I became a Mama! It's so hard to believe! Yes, 8 years ago my first little peanut was born (actually, to be precise, 8 years ago I was still in a very painful labor, still pre-epidural! It's a good thing she was worth it!)

I looked through old pictures of Ali to post . . . unfortunately, most of her early years were still pre-digital for me, so I would have to go through the hassle of scanning, etc . . . But I did find this one from her 5th birthday. I love it!!

"it is ALis BRttAe" (read: It is Ali's Birthday)

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This was Magna-doodle art that I photographed b/c I loved it so much! For her 5th birthday we did a princess party. All of her little girlfriends came dressed up as princesses, but of course no birthday party could be complete without Jonah in attendance! So we decided that Jonah would still come and dress up as a prince. This is a picture she drew anticipating that - Yes, that's her and Jonah you're seeing! Ahh . . . memories!

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So congrats Ali!! In another 8 years you'll be getting your driver's license!! : )

Butterflies

A few weeks ago we did a unit on insects in science . . . and what unit on insects is complete without growing butterflies! Yes, we ordered our caterpillars and observed . . . the girls journaled about their daily changes, and on Friday they started to emerge from their chrysalises. Yesterday I had them journal their observation for the last time, and since it was such a nice day outside, we let them go. We had 4 butterflies to release (we had 5 to start with, but one of them had to be flushed down the toilet due to a malformed wing - it couldn't break free from it's chrysalis). Our remaining 4 were all named - Butterscotch, Butter, Flutter and Mariposa.

The girls each loved the bit of time that their butterflies sat on their fingers!

Here's Emma taking care of our disabled butterfly. Yes, this one emerged completely, but it's wings had a strange curve to them, so it couldn't fly. Emma took special care of it until I told her it was time to go inside - then she expected it to be where she left it when she went out later! : ) I'm sure some bird had a yummy snack!

Meg enjoyed holding this one on a stick!

Drywall!!

Yes, we actually have walls now . . . very exciting! Also, the house is now completely closed in. All windows and doors (front door, slider and garage door) are in. There is still no door knob in the front, but we're getting there.

Here's that picture I was wanting last time. We still need shutters, lights on the garage, a driveway and the path to the front door, but this is pretty much the finished exterior.


Kitchen and dining room (looking from the living room)


Living room (looking from the kitchen)

Fireplace (obviously, part of the living room)

Master Bedroom

Ali & Emma's Room

Meg & Julie's Room

Laundry Chute! Yes, it's in! We were starting to worry that they had forgotten it. I'm kind of disappointed that it's so close to the floor and so close to the tub (I'm sure I'll find bath toys in the laundry!) but I'll take it! No more piles of laundry upstairs!!

And finally, the pantry. The floor is raised b/c the stairs are underneath it. They raised the whole floor (rather than having it slanted) so we can still put stuff there.

So, yes . . . they are still moving right along, though there's still plenty more to be done. I want so badly to stop everything else and pack, etc . . . but alas, I still have school to think about! I guess that's the downside of homeschooling. BUT - only 5 1/2 weeks to go and we're off for the summer!

A Freaky Little Genius

I know that I've mentioned Julie's love for books many times before. She can literally sit for an hour if she has books available. Personally, I love it! The other day she had a book of mine - It was a Family Fun book (compiled from their magazines). She stood at the couch and flipped through it, page by page many many times throughout the day. It struck me as funny, because it really isn't a kid's book. It does have lots of pictures in it, so I figured she was enjoying them, and I just chuckled to myself. Then the other day I was doing school with the girls. I had put Meg into room time, but somehow just forgot about Julie. Suddenly I realized that I hadn't put her in room time, then realized that I hadn't heard a peep from her in a long time, then thought "Oh glory! What is that child getting into?" It was that "scary silence" that can only mean trouble. Well, I walked into the living room (right around the corner from the kitchen, where I was) and this is what I saw. Yes that is my Bible she is "reading." As you can tell, she is almost to the end of it. I stood there watching her as she flipped page by page, thoroughly enjoying herself. I honestly don't understand this . . . it's all in black and white, and the only pictures are occasional maps. Weird.

I must also mention that this little peanut recognizes all of her capital letters. There was one evening when I picked her up and I was wearing a sweatshirt that said EDDIE BAUER across the front. She started pointing at letters and saying their names. I looked up at Aaron with a shocked look on my face and asked him how she knew that! In one sense that really isn't so shocking, but keep in mind that she is a fourth child. Ali knew her letters by this age, but she was our first. We didn't sit and drill her on them, but we did have lots of educational toys (what happened to all of those?). She would play with letter toys in the bathtub, and we would talk with her about them, etc . . . Julie hasn't had any of that. She has a couple of ABC books that she really likes, and an occasional episode of "Super Why" but that is it. Meg has had all of that as well, and still doesn't know all of her letters.

So, maybe we have a budding academic on our hands. Or maybe I'm just being a silly mommy. Either way, I think she's a bit of a wierdo! : )

Kindred Spirits

I am thrilled to report that Polly and Kelsey are loving each other. It's not uncommon to see them snuggled up together, or to catch Polly licking Kelsey. It's also not uncommon to hear them racing through the house chasing each other. The other night they were racing around our bedroom when we were trying to sleep. I could deal with that so I decided that Kelsey had to go in her room for the night (I can't just close her in the basement unless I close Polly down there also (litter box!) . . . and when Polly gets closed in the basement she'll let you know how she feels about that!) I put Kelsey in the bathroom, and Polly stood at the door, just waiting for me to open it back up. She kept looking from the door to me as if she were saying "C'mon lady, let my little friend out!" So, I did, but I closed them both in the basement, not knowing how Polly would take that. I never heard a sound out of either of them! I am so glad that they are chums now!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

Yes, the flood waters are on the rise, once again! Thankfully, they're no where near affecting us . . . yet! I have a feeling this is going to be one of those years. We are keeping an eye on the NOAA Hydrologic Prediction Chart. The problem is that they keep raising the expected crest levels because it keeps raining. Today was dry, but there's plenty more to come! I'm very ready for warm, dry, sunny days . . . and I'm very thankful that the exterior of our house is already done!

More House Progress

Well, the siding is all done. We're still needing shutters, but other than that the exterior basically looks like it will when it's done. The sad part is that when we pulled up today, all I could think was how irritated I was that that stupid trailer was parked in the driveway! I really wanted a straight on photo of the finished exterior, and I obviously couldn't get it! : ) I'm probably overreacting just a tad. There are also stacks of drywall all throughout the house and garage, so it looks like they're ready to get started on that.

It's hard for me to believe that they have gone from this:

to this:

. . . in just a month and a half!