Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious

It's a bigger word than "Consanguinity!" I guess this is the word I will use to describe the time we had in NY City.

We arrived on Sunday evening late, taking a cab in from Liberty Airport in New Jersey. Our hotel was in Soho. It was a nice, 4-star hotel close to the "Spring Street" subway entrance. It also turned out to be close (about 3 blocks) from where the actor Heath Ledger was discovered dead in his apartment on Tuesday. We actually walked down there that evening to watch the news coverage.

On Monday Rebecca and I visited the Museum of Modern Art (referred to as MoMA by everyone in NY). That place is very interesting. They have some really nice art pieces such as Starry Night by Van Gogh. Our favorite in this museum (Rebecca and I actually had the same favorite piece - believe it or not) was one by George Seurat where he even painted the frame! They had some other "art" that was so weird it was entertaining. One display was a fabric igloo on a 20 ' X 20" bed of grapevines with neon numbers in a Fibonacci series running in a path through the igloo. Other interesting displays were a pink fluorescent bulb in a corner (named "pink in corner") and a piece of rope hanging from the ceiling called "piece of rope."

Also on Monday, we also had lunch at Rockefeller Center and went to Sak's 5th Avenue where Rebecca tried on an evening gown that was on sale for $1000. It was amazing to see the prices on some of the designer clothes. Rebecca really doesn't like to spend money - even at Old Navy - so she couldn't really enjoy the shopping. But we had to duck into some of the stores just to keep warm. We also came to the conclusion that it's not much fun to try on clothes when you are wearing long underwear and lots of layers. It's just too much trouble!

On Tuesday, we went to the Metropolitan Museum. It is the biggest museum in the Western Hemisphere and was overwhelming. In contrast to some of the questionable talent on display at MoMA, the art here was fabulous and SO BIG! Some were the size of an entire wall. We saw whole rooms of Monet, Degas, Renoir, etc. Our favorites were the Impressionists but we also loved the European Portraits and American Landscapes. There's also some modern art at this museum, and it provides some contrast. We really could have seen lots more, but after looking at art for 4-5 hours, we were a bit overwhelmed.

So we trekked to the Southside Seaport to try and buy half-price Broadway tickets for a matinee on Wed. We got lost on the subway a few times and hiked about 20 blocks to our destination only to find out that the only half-price tickets were the very expensive ones (in other words, $150 tickets on sale half price). So we stayed at the hotel that night and watched the UT - Kentucky game with Terry.

On Wednesday we had lunch with some missionaries that we support with Jews for Jesus. They live very close to the United Nations. We wish we could have spent more time there, but by that time Rebecca and I had figured out how to get our Broadway tickets and had to rush off to see a matinee of Mary Poppins. Turns out the best way to get cheap Broadway tickets is to walk right up to the box office - go figure. Anyway, Mary Poppins was spectacular! It had some new songs that aren't in the movie, and the set was so impressive. That evening we saw "Spamalot" on Broadway as well. It's a musical based on Monte Python and the Search for the Holy Grail. I thought Terry would like that, and he did. It was very funny.

The next day we only had half a day, but we decided to try to shop at Century 21 near the World Trade Center (our Jewish friends said the best buys were there). It was a real experience. In contrast to the huge dressing rooms at Sak's, the dressing rooms here were sort of a huge shower curtain covering 20 stalls on each side. You could basically see all the other women trying on their clothes. It was a bit much for Rebecca, who is very modest, but she managed and bought a pair of slacks. Our friends were right, it's obviously where all the good deals are. And they have 4 floors of clothing!

So we had a great time seeing art and theatre and many adventures riding the subway and navigating on ground level, too. The main way it could have been better is if it could have been warmer, but we won't complain.

Snow Day!

We finally got some snow! It's not a lot, but it's been at least five years since we've had even this much. So we are taking the day off along with all the city and county schools for miles around!

This means a day of playing for the kids and a day of catching up on housework for Mom!

I Feel Like I Just Won the Lottery!

I got a call while standing in line at Walmart today from our state senator's office. The state is awarding a $10,000 grant to our homeschool group! I filled out the paperwork in August - then some additional paperwork in September - then some more paperwork in November. I pretty much figured the request was bogged down in red tape or they would find some reason not to give it - after all we are a homeschool group, and this is excess state tax money! But the check is now written and on its way!

The main "catch" is that we must spend all the money by the end of this year. We are already brainstorming about Lego mindstorm, microscopes, rhythm instruments, a powerpoint projector, etc. We want to make sure that we spend it in a way that folks can benefit over and over.

Praise the Lord for His goodness!

Start Spreading the News . . .

We're leaving next Sunday for New York City! I'm so excited that Rebecca and I are going to get to accompany Terry on his business trip to NYC. We'll be there Mon.-Thursday and plan to make it an "art field trip." We plan to see the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Museum of Modern Art, and perhaps the Brooklyn Museum and the Guggenheim. We also plan to take in a half-price Broadway play or two and do some shopping (window-shopping at least) on Fifth Avenue. If we are brave and the weather is good, we may also skate a little in Central Park.

A Wood Nymph and and one of Aslan's Animals

These are the parts that Rebecca and Nathan got in the upcoming "Chronicles of Narnia" play at our local theatre. They both really wanted speaking roles, and I thought they did great at tryouts, but over 140 kids tried out for only 16 speaking roles. Caleb and Noah tried out as well but didn't get parts at all. We are learning to be happy with supporting roles. I say "we" because I didn't realize until going through this process that I have a lot of pride wrapped up in my kid's performance and achievements. That's something I need to work through with the Lord.

I'm sure they will both enjoy just being in the production because they like "Narnia" so much.
And Nathan is glad that he gets to fight on stage with the good guys. Rebecca will be able to spend time working on the scenery, program and promotional artwork for the play.

Can't See the Forest for the Trees

In this case, Nathan can't see that he has gotten a bike for Christmas because he is too busy looking in his stocking.

Fleas Navidad!

We hope you and your family will have a wonderful Christmas!

Fail not to call to mind, in the course of the twenty-fifth of this month, that the Divinest Heart that ever walked the earth was born on that day; and then smile and enjoy yourselves for the rest of it; for mirth is also of Heaven's making. ~Leigh Hunt

Our New Family Member

Please welcome our latest family member! Today we adopted this 7-week old beagle/dachsund mix from the local pound. The puppy was an early Christmas gift from Rebecca to her little brothers. They are ecstatic! We're still deciding on a name . . .

Thanksgiving Harmony

Well, we're not the Osmonds or the Lennon Sisters, but we do actually sing together on occasion- just no public performances, please! Here we are singing some Thanksgiving hymns.

We are blessed to have just spent a week with my family in Arkansas. We love to be together and talk, eat, shop, watch football, hike, play games, etc. It is so nice to be in a family that gets along so well that our main argument at Thanksgiving is over what is preferable - white meat or dark meat?

Before and After

Here are before and after pictures! I thought it was very
"sweet" of the orthodontist to give her a stash of the candy
that is normally forbidden to the wearers of braces!

Dudes

Here are Nathan and Caleb getting ready to go foraging the neighborhood for candy.


Yes, Caleb has too much gel in his hair. He was dressed as a spy and wanted me to spike his hair up. Then he changed his mind, but I had already put the gel in, so I had to put more gel in to get it to go back down. It was really nasty.

After getting candy, we settled in to watch the movie "Luther" since October 31st is also Reformation Day even though Halloween gets all the press. We've been doing a little mini-unti on the Reformation, and we really loved this movie. We even ate a whole container of gummi worms to commemorate the Diet of Worms. If you don't know what that is, you need to study some history.

More Pics from Charleston

Surf's up!

On the flight deck of the Yorktown

Our Trip to Charleston

We spent this past week in Charleston while Terry attended a business conference there. We did five field trips in five days: Ft. Sumter, Patriot's Point, Fort Moultrie, Old Exchange Place and the Charleston Fire Museum. We also spent some time in the surf on Isle of Palms!

The last two days of our trip we had rainy weather, so we didn't get to enjoy downtown Charleston as much as we would have liked (we saw a lot of it, though, but have no pictures since we were in a downpour). We'll just have to go back. We also didn't get to see any of the plantations around Charleston.

I think Caleb's favorite part was just hanging out at Embassy Suites. He loved to go to the workout room and go to the lobby during "happy hour." He met businessmen from all over the country. We met the folks staying in the room on either side of us. On one side, there was little girl and her parents who were staying there while their house was repaired from a flood. She and Rebecca spent some time together. On the other side was a woman attending the same conference as Terry. Caleb spent quite a bit of time talking to her, and she made a point of telling us that he was one of the most delightful children she had ever met. That happened on the same day that I was getting ready to revoke every priviledge he has for being so difficult!

I think God sent this lady with her fresh perspective to encourage Terry and me.

Rebecca's favorite part by far was getting to eat pralines! She had never tried them before, and they give out fresh, warm samples downtown.She has already been searching the internet for recipes and is determined to learn how to make them just like they did.

Living Timeline Class

I am teaching a "Living Timeline" class at co-op this year. This past week we did a timeline of Egypt, and this little girl is representing when the Romans took over Egypt. All the kids have outfits or props and then we have fun sending one student out of the room, mixing up the timeline and then letting him/her try to put everyone in the right order. If you'd like to see more pictures from the timelines we've done so far, check out http://www.livingtimelineclass.shutterfly.com/. The password is "timeline".

Happy Birthday, Noah!

Noah turned eight years old on September 21st! He was so excited that his birthday was on a co-op day. After co-op, we brought three little boys home with us to celebrate. They had a treasure hunt, broke a pinata and just spent lots of time playing.

Soccer Season is Here!

All our boys are playing soccer this year. Caleb and Noah are playing for the Lakeridge Tigers (8-9 year olds). Terry is coaching the Lakeridge Warriors (10-11 year olds), and Nathan plays on his team. We have four to five games per week to attend. Both Caleb and Nathan have scored goals for their teams. Nathan's team only has a few subs, so most of the boys have to play the entire game. It's quite a workout.

What's up with the running?

I'm not sure how Caleb got so interested in running recently, but he's been running sometimes 4 or 6 miles a day. The first day he ran in Crocks, but I convinced him to put on some running shoes instead.

Caleb ran in the Eastman Road Race on Friday night and took eighth place.

One side-effect is that he seems to be much better behaved since he started running. Maybe he just really needed to run off some energy instead of focusing all his efforts on getting the best of his brothers.

How do you like my new bathroom?

The mirror is the biggest change. First I painted the room, then Terry bought and installed this new mirror and lighting, changed the hardware to chrome (including the towel bars) and fixed the blinds.

This Week's Science Lesson

We did a unit study on the children's book "Lentil" this week, and for our science lesson we studied how tastebuds work. We built a model of the tongue out of playdough and tested our taste buds with all sorts of sweet, salty, bitter and sour tastes. Sweet is preferred around here as you can tell by the "Koolaid smile" on Noah.

Caleb, the civil engineer

I am preparing to teach a Bridge-Building class this year at our co-op. I imagine there will be a little more interest in bridges due to the collapse of the bridge in Minnesota.

In our family, Caleb is our bridge-builder. This week he built a model of the "Firth of Forth" bridge in Scotland. He likes to pretend he has super human strength.

The canon crew

We had a great time on our trip to the Northeast in June. We had twenty-four days of camping and sightseeing in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and New Hampshire. We saw lots of cool Revolutionary War sites and the boys got to drill as an artillery unit using the canon. We saw a huge re-enactment of the French and Indian War at Fort Ticonderoga.
We also spent time in big cities like Philadelphia, Boston and New York and traveled by train, subway, ferry , tram, sailboat (and conversion van).

The purpose of this trip was to immerse ourselves in early American history. We also threw in a little family fun by visiting the beach, biking on Cape Cod and hiking in New Hampshire.

Our favorites: Once Upon a Nation story stops (Philadelphia), Monmouth Battlefield (because the curator took the time to teach the boys how to use the canon), U.S.S. Constitution Museum and Plimouth Village

Our not-so-favorites: taking the train from Newark to NYC, visiting the observation deck of the Empire State Building (most of the kids were scared of heights and we had to wait in a long line), Cambridge (though we did have some great burgers there)