Ronnie (Jeff's dad) found his outdoor cat playing with this injured moth. It was HUGE! (Unfortunately, these pictures don't accurately reflect its size.) Since he was coming up today for a visit, he thought Rachael would enjoy seeing it and trying to identify it. She took these pictures and started researching. From the information she retrieved, our best guess is that it's a Polyphemus moth.
Since Jeff was working again yesterday, Rachael, Nick, & I got up bright & early (well, early for us, anyway!) and headed out to several yard sales with Darla & Gracie. After lunch at King Gyros, Darla had to run to Josh's baseball game, so I picked up Thomas & took all the kids to see the Hannah Montana movie. It was actually better than I thought it would be. When we pulled up to the theater, there were several fire trucks in the parking lot and all of the patrons were standing in the parking lot. After several minutes, they let us in. I never did find out what caused all of the commotion...
After schoolwork & before piano lessons on Friday, we met some of our homeschool friends at the park. Rachael brought her new kite for its maiden voyage and took a hike through the woods with her friends. Nick spent his time swinging, playing with the multitude of caterpillars he found crawling around, and finding those elusive THREE-leaf clovers. (He was beside himself with joy that he found a WHOLE PATCH of those rare finds! LOL!) What a beautiful day to spend exploring the Great Outdoors!
Typically, Rachael has her geography co-op on Thursdays, but it was canceled this week. It was so beautiful outside, that we took the day off. Rachael is currently reading 'The Bridge to Terabithia' and hasn't been able to put it down, so I just let her read all morning. Around 2pm, Darla & Diana came over and brought the kids. Josh, Gage, Ross & Nick had fun running around pretending to shoot/stab/slice each other up (or whatever it is that boys that age do!) Thomas, Rachael, & Gracie painted some wooden bird houses that my mom had sent home. Then around 7:30pm, Lori brought Sara, Joe, & Jesse over while she and Curt went to a Dave Ramsey talk at their church. The kids had so much fun! We are used to having older kids over all the time, but Nick rarely gets the chance to have the younger kids stay over. He & Sara were particularly fun to watch. They're only a month apart in age, and have been in co-op together since they were babies. It's fun watching them grow up together!
I didn't get home until late Saturday evening, but Jeff had let the kids stay up and had bought cake & ice cream to celebrate my birthday! Rachael even convinced him to let her put all 35 candles on the cake (can you say FIRE HAZARD?!?!?!)
I'm so thankful for such an amazing husband & two awesome kids!
Also, here's Rachael's new haircut. My mom took her to the mall to get it cut. It took two hours to complete and probably cost WAY more money than I would have spent, but THANKS MOM!!!!! It looks really cute! (My mom also watched my kids while I went to the convention, which meant that Jeff & I even got a couple of nights to ourselves before I left! WOOHOO!!!!)
It just so happened that my 35th birthday fell on the same weekend as the Cincinnati Homeschool Convention. This has been our co-op's annual "Mom's Weekend" for the past few years. They all took me out to dinner on Friday, which was a GREAT time! I was also able to hear my 3 favorite speakers: Jay Wile, John Stonestreet, & Susan Wise Bauer all in one weekend! I always learn so much and get so much encouragement every year. It's exactly what I need when spring fever hits!
We went to Stoll's Amish Buffet for an early dinner, followed by cake and ice cream back at the house. We managed to snap a 4-generation photo in the process!
After a night of food, crafts, and fun at Darla's house, we had to get up bright and early for church. Rachael is on the "sticks" team, and they were performing during Resurrection Sunday (aka Easter). All of the kids did an amazing job!
Darla, Diana, & I organized a Passover Seder for the kids. While none of us are Jewish, we all hold a special place in our hearts for God's chosen people. It's amazing how much of the Old Testament points directly to the saving grace of Christ. We discussed each of these items as we proceeded through our Seder. The kids had a lot of fun tasting the different foods and listening to the Hebrew blessings & music on cd. They liked a lot of the upbeat music so much that they even requested that I blast it when we were all driving around in the van. I'm fairly certain that the people around us thought we were absolutely crazy! Six kids signing, dancing, & clapping their loudest to Hebrew songs that they couldn't translate if their lives depended on it!
During this class, the kids learned about the different areas of the tongue registering different tastes (ie: sweet, bitter, salty, etc.) and about the role that smell plays in your sense of taste...
At Gracie's 11th birthday party, Darla snapped this picture of the girls displaying their decorated mini cakes. The photo also highlights the fact that my daughter is a GIANT!!!!
It was "Crazy Hair Night" at AWANAs recently. Rachael wore her wig, but refused to be photographed. Ross & Josh were more than happy to have their pictures taken!
Since Rachael started the co-op writing class, I decided to put Nick in the science class. This is the first 'real' co-op class (as opposed to preschool or play time) for the next generation of our co-op kids. I can't believe that Nick is old enough to start classes! It seems like only yesterday that Rachael started her first co-op science class. I have so many wonderful memories of those first co-op years. I still remember the first time we met and began planning classes and am in awe of how close our kids have grown over the years.
On this particular day, the kids watched a video about sound waves and pitch, and made their own Pan flutes out of drinking straws...
Name: Amy Home: Indiana, United States About Me: I am a Homeschool Mom of 2 awesome children. This is my attempt at Project 365 - to chronicle our world through daily photos... See my complete profile
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