Advent

One of my older daughters and I came up with an idea for an advent project, while looking through a magazine on Christmas crafts. We used green and red bags numbered with gold numbers cut from my Crickut and then put a ribbon through a whole punched in the folded over top. I tied them to the garland on the banister. In them we put little things for Ryan and 3 of his cousins to open everyday before school. So far, the gifts have been as follows: Day 1-- a cute deck of cards that they could play with together; Day 2--A box of jelly beans. They each got 5; Day 3--little erasers in the shape of soccer balls, happy faces, etc.-enough for 2 each. I guess I shouldn't be surprised that it hasn't really been received with much excitement. The jellybeans were ok, but besides that...not so much. I guess if they were toddlers they might find it fun. Thinking of putting only Bible verses in the rest of them! :) A friend of mine told me that's why she doesn't try to be a fun mom. No disappointments! haha. (btw...there will be candy in the rest of the bags.)

It's Decorating Time!

S'MORES!

The "fixin's".


The fire. Plenty of boys to keep wood on the pile.

Perfect! :)

Nice job.

Kaitlin posing.


Ryan trying not to get too close and still cook his marshmallow.

Wednesday Night Youth

Wednesday night at the ROC where the youth hang out. The band is practicing a little before the service starts while others are playing ping-pong or facebooking and of course, eating.

I don't know why Kaitlin is hiding her face.

Kaitlin

Jonathan playing ping pong

Kimberly and Timothy Sudolcan

Before the Sudolcans left for the Philippines, Kim came home from Tarlton and sang one more time with Tim.
http://www.tangle.com/view_video.php?viewkey=bcb092b3d6f3826190bd&sp=1

Burn Day!

Yes, Ryan is as thrilled as he looks about coming back outside and picking up MORE branches to burn. :)

His cousin Craig on the other hand is HAPPY to help!

I love it when it's all mowed and cleared. Maybe we'll have a bon fire Thanksgiving night. Bring on the s'mores!

The Classic Egg Drop Project

Jonathan and 3 classmates had to design and build a structure to keep an egg from breaking from a drop. Assignment was given Monday and due today, Friday. They spent Monday, Tuesday and Thursday from after school to around 8:00 pm planning, failing, and trying again to finally come up with a design that would meet all the qualifications. They decided on plastic hangers, straws and rubber bands all put together with duct tape. The egg will be placed within a box constructed of straws and duct tape. More straws will be added on top, weaving in and out of the sides in all directions. The straw box is suspended by rubber bands to the plastic hanger/duct tape frame.

The teacher dropped it from the top of the football stadium and it PASSED THE DROP TEST!

Project: Mom's Score Scrap Book

by Allison Clements, Christie Davis and Kelly Parker
Currently looking for a printer and then....!

Football/Marching Band 2009

The football season has come to an end; and so, marching band. Watching the ball game with a son playing is totally different and I enjoy the half time show so much better with my daughter and nephew in the band. It's been a fun season, even though we didn't win many games.

JONATHAN

They had a great start winning at the ALAMO DOME! Jonathan played very well at corner and wide receiver. He had 3 interceptions, caught about 7 passes and ran one in for a touchdown last week. They still lost but it was a great game; they will only improve next year.

KAILTLIN

MARK

Kaitlin plays the clarinet and ending up loving marching; she had her doubts. Mark plays the bass drum. Their show was my favorite of all the ones we saw. Yes, I'm biased, but they were really good! :)

GO TIGERS!

"Red on Yellow Kills a Fellow, Red on Black, Venom Lack"

Coral snake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Behavior:

Like all elapid snakes, coral snakes use a pair of small fangs, which are fixed in the front of their top jaw, to deliver their venom. Due to the time it takes for the venom to take effect, coral snakes have a tendency to hold on to a victim when biting, unlike vipers which have retractable fangs and tend to prefer to strike and let go immediately. Coral snakes are not aggressive or prone to biting however, and account for less than one percent of the number of snake bites each year in the United States. Most coral snake bites occur because of accidental handling of the snake while engaged in an activity like gardening.

Danger to humans:
New World coral snakes possess the second most potent venom of any North American snake, behind some rattlesnake species. However, few bites are recorded due to their reclusive nature and the fact they generally inhabit sparsely populated areas. When confronted by humans, coral snakes will almost always attempt to flee, and bite only as a last resort. In addition, coral snakes have short fangs (proteroglyph dentition) that cannot penetrate thick leather clothing. Any skin penetration, however, is a medical emergency that requires immediate attention. Coral snakes have a powerful neurotoxin that paralyzes the breathing muscles; mechanical or artificial respiration, along with large doses of antivenom, are often required to save a victim's life. There is usually only mild pain associated with a bite, but breathing difficulties and ptosis can occur within hours.

It's all about the Break and Snack time!

On the days we have Gunter at our house , the 2 boys bug me about every 10 minutes about the time. (The schedule says 10:30-Break) Maybe I need a clock on the wall...anyway.

They were very excited today when they came inside from playing with Ryan's cousins (who also homeschool) and we had a snack on the table for them.

Who knew a bunch of boys would get so excited about animal cookies, frosting and some left over sprinkles from last Easter? The creative juices started flowing as they each designed their own individual little animal cookies. It was a challenge to get a picture of the finished project before they popped it into their mouths.

I thought about making it a math story problem, as we homeschool moms often do. After considering it would have to be addition for some, multiplication or fractions for others and probably some Algebra for one, I re-considered and just let them enjoy!

We did work on manners...OK not really but we did make them say "please" and "thank you" to each other. Licking the knives and fingers were allowed today.

"Home's-Cool"

I have been homeschooling since 1997. Jamie was in 7th, Robin 5th, Kimberly 1st, Jonathan P-K. Kaitlin was just 2. Now Ryan, who is 8 (6 years younger than Kaitlin) is the only one left still homeschooling. The older three started going to either private or public school as Freshmen. Jonathan went to public school as an 8th grader (football); Kaitlin went to public school as a 7th grader (band). I hope to hang on to Ryan until 8th grade. Sometimes I substitute at the middle and high school and my friend also works occasionally. So we switch back and forth. We are both using mostly ABeka so we have planned our lesson plans to coordinate with each other, so the boys can work on history, science, language and spelling together.

Baby Jackson

Jackson is the first grandchild in our family and in his Daddy's family. It is very different having a grandbaby. Spending a week with him at his house, I don't have all the busyness of my normal life, so I can devote most of my time to him. Since it really hasn't been that long since I had a baby (Uncle Ryan just turned 8), it seems to be very easy to get in the taking care of baby mode. Maybe it's like riding a bike.... I'm glad he's such an easy baby and has adjusted so easily to Grammy taking care of him. Jack is 11 months old and they seem to do something new everyday at this age. This week, we saw him take his first steps to his daddy. He said "book" and Ryan taught him how to shake his head "no" even when it doesn't mean "no". Jackson loves to play with his Uncle Ryan. I wish we could live closer to each other, but God has other plans right now for their lives. Jackson has a mommy and daddy who both spend as much time with him as possible and love him very much. It's a blessing to see your children raising children of their own! (Pictures taken by Crosswhite Photography. See crosswhitephotography.com )