My Poor Blog

Neglected....

That's what it is.

My poor blog!

Well, it has been neglected for good reason. Living life is getting in the way of my writing about it :-)
We have been getting through plenty of schoolwork. And I'm not going to bore you with details about math or spelling but I wanted to share some of the fun stuff we have been doing this month.
We have just finished an in depth study of the Vikings. To compliment all we have been reading about them we also...



Made viking bread.
Tasted great straight out of the oven and then quickly turned to concrete!
Those Viking were hardy folk!



We made viking weapons to add to the boys collection of medieval weaponry.



For art Ciara and Max had to design and build a viking longboat out of vegetables....and it had to float.
After a few design modifications both made something pretty cool that worked.



Jack made a viking person that he quickly decided was actually more like Matt than a Viking so it became a portrait of Dad.
Obviously Matt has some kind of vision issue that we need to check up on!



More on the creative front...



we did some painting
and...



We made cookie dough and then everyone got to add their own secret ingredients to see who could make the tastiest cookie.
Jack's had sour patch candy, sprinkles and Hershey's kisses that definitely had an...um...unusual taste to them.
Ciara went for the more conventional choc chip variety and Max created a banana cookie that was surprisingly popular.



We also joined some friends for a field trip to a hands-on kids science exhibition called " Mobius Labs".



So much fun....
and what a great way to see science in action



So I think I have a pretty good excuse as to why I haven't been blogging.
Throw on top of that working, remodelling and exercise and you'll understand why my house looks like a tornado hit it.
Hmmmm...house cleaning. That might have to be this weekends project!

Triathlon Weekend - Part 2

In the spirit of the triathloning frenzy a group of kids in our neighborhood entered the Coeur d'Alene Youth Triathlon that was held on Sunday.
It was broken up into age categories with varying distances depending on the age of the child. But I have to tell you...I think I would have struggled even in the 5 to 6 year old category. These kids REALLY have stamina.


SWIM









TRANSITION







BIKE







RUN







They all did a great job, had lots of fun and made it across the finish line.

Looks like they'll all be signing up for the triathlon again next year.

Sheesh...I really will have to get serious about this training thing!

Triathlon Weekend - Part 1

Let me say at the outset...I did not even break a sweat this weekend. But everyone else around me seemed to.

This weekend was the Coeur d'Alene Triathlon on Saturday and on Sunday was the Youth Triathlon. So much triathloning going on I will have to blog about it in a 2 part series {sigh}


Congratulations firstly go to our neighbor and friend Ken who competed in his first Olympic length triathlon. He was one of 1,500 competitors and we decided to go and cheer him on. So glad we did...it was such a great atmosphere. And he made it to the finish line in one piece. I won't repeat his first words after crossing the finish line. My husband Matt thinks he may have been delirious :-) But suffice it to say Ken has inspired our neighborhood to dust off our running shoes and get out and train for next years triathlon. Well Done Ken! I'm sure Ken's wife Michelle will be blogging some more about the race so head on over to her blog to get the full race rundown.



Part 2 tomorrow - Kids Triathlon

Brotherly Love

These are the things that make parenting SO worthwhile. A spontaneous brother hug. My new favorite photo!

Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to our newest 9 year old!



And before you ask.....yes...that chocolate cake was delish!

Fun Dad

Fun-Dad lives at our house.

My husband works pretty long hours but when he is home he is always doing something fun. If you have a dog you will know how they bound to meet you as you walk in the door, tail wagging. Well when Matt comes home from work the kids are a little bit like excited pups. Bouncing around yelling "Dad's home" bounding out to meet him. That's mostly because he always has something fun to make or do with the kids. The potato canon was last weeks project. On Friday he came home with a paper bag...so cold it had frost on the outside. The children were intrigued.



He had brought a block of dry ice for the kids to play with...and weren't they delighted. They put it in colored water and pretended to make a witches brew



They added it to a variety of different drinks...diet coke certainly produced the best results.





And if you are wondering we were careful not it touch it with our bare hands because it can burn your skin. Dry ice is actually frozen carbon dioxide...( and its freezing point is much lower than that of water (-78 degrees C)so when we put the left over dry ice in the freezer overnight it was gone by the next morning. The ice has melted and turned back into CO2



And then of course with lots of giggling and laughing it was put in the toilet. To bubble and froth and smoke away. Mum would never have come up with these ideas....thank goodness for "Fun-Dad"

Boy Math

Potato + hairspray x contraption =



A Potato Canon.

Slipping n' sliding

Nothing like a slip n'slide...especially when its 95 degrees outside!

More Bravado

After a considerable amount of bravado, they are grateful that God, (and Dad driving the boat) have spared them.

Bravado

Isn't it funny how this can turn to....



This. In a matter of seconds.

More Bravado to come.

Freckles

Kisses from God.

The Mind of a 6 Year Old

I can just imagine what he is thinking.....



Got her wrapped around my little finger!

Schools out for Summer....

Finally after much anticipation....its summer.

On the way to school this morning for the last time the kids were singing that Alice Cooper song....

"School's out for summer;
School's out for-ever"

Oh, Mr Cooper you don't know how true your words are...or the words of whoever actually wrote that song.

This is our last official day of formal school. We have 10 lovely weeks of summer in front of us and then our homeschool adventure begins. So right now we are celebrating....and add to that a birthday. Ciara turns 12 today...on the last day of school. oh...and the picture is the view from her bedroom window this morning. Her friends in the neighborhood left her this lovely birthday surprise.

Happy Birthday Chicky!

Graduation

Well if you didn't know that you can graduate from kindergarten, then I can tell you that indeed you can. Jack graduated today....the class of 2009. Only another 12 years to go!



I have to hand it to them though. They are a LOT braver than I was when I was 6. Getting up in front of everyone to speak into the microphone.



The graduate with his sister



....and his best friend.