Temple trip

On Friday we visited the Washington DC temple for a "field trip".  Jonas and Leslie did baptisms for the dead while I enjoyed time with Evelyn, Reuben, and Gideon in the visitor's center and the temple grounds.  (Owen, Troy, and Micah were at a friend's birthday party).

I love the cute pictures I took of Evelyn and Reuben...  Here are just two of the two cuties!

Book Reports

The kids dressed up as a character (for the most part) and presented a book they read this past week/month.  

Micah and Evelyn read The Magic Treehouse Tonight on the Titanic.

Here they are as Jack and Annie.

Leslie read One White Dolphin (so did I!)

She dressed up as an older character in the novel and read her favorite part.

Owen packaged himself up and presented the book, Brother from a Box.

Troy read the second Liberty Porter book and dressed up as Sam, the "Secret Agent Man".

Jonas summarized the Count of Monte Cristo (no costume for him, booooo!) 

but his book was long and we also watched the not so true to the book movie.  

Little Bit of Catch Up

This is a bit random, but I am behind on photo uploading and so that makes this blog (and my photos on the computer) a bit of a mess.  Enjoy!

Micah had a birthday party with church friends.  

The kids decided to have a "pin-the-hammer-on-Thor" contest.  

Owen drew Thor on the chalkboard.  

I thought this was creative and fun!

Evelyn made lunch all on her own one day.  

Yes, those are Cheerios on top of lunchmeat filled tortillas.  

She did great and had a lot of fun!

Reuben loves to "steal" my phone and play with it.  

Gideon looks like he might follow this example!

Micah loves being a Cub Scout! 

In this picture he is just trying to look cool and conceal his total excitement...

Don't we all feel like this sometimes... 

"How did I end up like this?"

Poor Gideon.  

The predicaments he gets in...

Random fun picture on my phone.  

Makes me happy...

Fort Washington

We visited Fort Washington with my dad and Jeanene and my niece Riley this week.  We had a great time and enjoyed a beautiful day there.

Football

The community little league football season has consumed us.  Practices during summer were from 6:30-8:30 pm every Monday, Tuesday (they went to cub scouts instead), Wednesday, Thursday, Friday with scrimmages on Saturday.  In September they have only had practices on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday with real games on Saturday.  We show up on Saturday at the practice field about 1.5 hours before game time, collect game jerseys, drive 20 to 30 minutes to the game field, and then wait for game time, which more often than not, starts late!  It really takes up a lot up a lot of time.

Our boys don't get to play very often or for very long in the game and so far their team has lost every game.  What can we say to boost confidence and inspire a love for playing your best?  When they do play, they do well.  We tell them this, but today was disappointing for them.  Today I asked them what their favorite part of the game was, and they responded, "When I played!"  Love these boys.  Here are some fuzzy pictures of them in action (or on the sidelines...)

Troy is #44
Owen is #42
Micah is #58 (When he fell after the last picture, he got up and kept going.  He is the smallest on the team, but definitely the one with the most heart!)

***UPDATE***

We pulled our boys off the team.  After too much foul language TO them and the other children on the team, AND an actual threat against our children, we turned in the equipment and left the situation.  

One point we made sure to teach the children is that we were not quitting because it was too hard.  

We left the team because the environment was far from uplifting!

Hopefully we'll have more luck with a future sporting experience!

Micah's Baptism

It was so sweet to take the time while our family was visiting to have Micah's baptism.  It was an incredibly spiritual service.  Each prayer, song, talk, and ordinance invited the Holy Ghost to be in the room with us.  

After reflecting on the evening, Micah narrated his feelings to me to write down:

"I felt good.  When I got into the bathroom before my baptism I felt the Spirit.  After I got baptized I felt the Spirit when we walked into the room and everyone was singing.  They were singing "Stand for the Right."  I felt the Spirit when Dad said "Receive the Holy Ghost."  I also felt the Spirit when we sang the closing song, "I am a child of God." 

Yay Micah!  We are so proud of you and your excellent choice to follow our Savior and take His name  upon you.  We know you will be blessed as you focus your life on Jesus Christ.

Micah's 8th Birthday

What a cute kid.  Really.  He is awesome.  We had a busy, busy weekend as we celebrated Micah's birthday.  I am so thankful and happy that he is in our family.

Here are some birthday present and cake pictures.  I love his poses!

Grand Prix in Baltimore

We went to the Grand Prix in Baltimore for Micah's birthday.  We had to walk around a lot to find our designated spot and then we waited a lot more for the delayed races to start.  It was hot and very loud, but totally worth it! We enjoyed our alien-looking kids (with purple ear plugs) and the race cars!  We also loved that we could spend time with Grandpa and Grandma Bush, the Isom Family, and Poppa Keith and Jeanene.

School Activities

We are studying chemistry, so we decided to do a fun experiment.  We observed the difference in physical changes to a marshmallow (just adding heat) versus chemical changes to a marshmallow (roasting over a flame).  We all enjoyed the toasted marshmallow the most!

We also studied a bit of the Byzantine Empire last week, and we made edible mosaics.  Just grab a cracker, a sticky paste (we used cream cheese, but you could use frosting or peanut butter), and then I let the kids go wild with toppings and mosaic shapes and colors.

What does this tell you about our homeschool?  I like to have us eat our projects so they don't clutter up space.  We still have tactile learning experiences, and they usually are yummy too!

PS Why can't I comment back in the comments?  Anyone know?

Volcano experiment?  Do the vinegar/baking soda thing, and then eat this chocolate volcanic cake!