Thanksgiving Week 2012

   I think I was more excited about Thanksgiving than the kids were...though they were quite excited, mind you. Note to self: start my Thanksgiving homeschooling plans at the beginning of October instead of fitting everything in the week of Thanksgiving. I absolutely loved what I found for our school...it was partially totally self serving because I love kid-art and kid's stories...um, especially when they are my own! On the agenda:

For Asa he had some worksheet and craftivies from a few different places including 1+1+1=1 Thanksgiving pack and 2 Teaching Mommies Turkey Pack...and filling our Thankful leaves through out the month.
     ...let me explain day one. I asked Asa what he was thankful for and he said 'God'...oh melt my heart. He asked me to write God's name. I asked him to draw a picture on the other side. He insisted that I draw it as he does if he doesnt think he can make draw it just right...this is the very embarrasing part...I tried to draw a picture of God...that's who that red guy is suppose to be! ha! That's a very daunting task...draw God! There's humility! I was trying to draw Him with open arms, like He was going to give Asa a big hug...that's when Asa took over. He drew a little picture of himself...the little black guy...

then he turned the leave over and asked me to right 'Go' and pointed to one side...and then asked me to right 'stop' pointing to the otherside...I knew he was going somewhere with this, but I didn't immediately know where...looking at both sides...then I realized he drew himself playing 'Red Light, Green Light' with God. HA, I love it!...so my silly looking drawing turned into something adorable.

 

 

 

Gosh, if I knew Asa was going to think of something so cute, I would have tried to draw God a little better...ok, He probably would have ended up looking the same.    {alright, one more adorable story...his teacher in his Sunday school class, Sprouts, said she asked the kids what they were thankful for and Asa raised his hand. He said, "Because I have Jesus in my heart". SO sweet!!!}

 Ok, back to Thanksgiving week.

For Ava's lesson plan we used The First Thanksgiving activities by Carrie's Creations which we absolutely loved!

 

Ava 'packed' her suitcase with what she would have taken on the Mayflower.

Which included toys (like a wined up moneky, snacks (a bag of raisins) board games, gum (both the stick and ball kind) books, and pick up sticks. She was trying to pack it with what she thought they had back then. Ha. she was a little off, but pretty cute.

 

We also use this Thanksgiving How To Writing Pack Freebie which I was so happy for just because I get to see Ava's silliness come out. This just may have to be a new tradition. We have been notebooking, so we got to keep all their treasures in their notebooks.

How to Make a Turkey Bark By Ava

Have a dog come over and pour magic potion on the turkey.

The dog barks to communitcate to the turkey that he poured magic potion to make the turkey bark.

 

The turkey barks back saying that in the next story I'll bring the turkey potion. The End.

First you catch a turkey. Next, you train a turkey to roll over. Last you can keep him as your pet, but be sure to give him a haircut.  The End...ok, ok, I'm SO being a mom...I just think kid art is SO CUTE! sorry...

We also did some other fun crafts like make 'fall leaves'

 

And we did a few sewing projects, such as upcycling a few of my skirts into Ava sized skirts...some reason my children alway look like muppets when they smile in pictures.

 

I did have some help. Asa's job is to 'hold the thread'. My big helper {and trouble maker!}{and no, he really doesn't where clothes...he tells me that he is trying to cut down on water consumption by decreasing our laundry}

I made the kids Native America costume for the kids...don't know how realistic they are, but this is Ava's serious face...

 

 

 

 

Ava has also learned a new skill and has taken up embrodiey. So cute!   

 We had a great Thanksgiving with my sister and a friend who stopped by. We made some Christmas trees as trial for our Craftivity party with Ava's art class buddies to talk about why we have a Christmas tree to celebrate Christ's birth.

I can't forget about the Thanksgiving skit the kids preformed and the turkey trivia Ava wrote based on the Wild Kratts episode about wild turkeys. And the game the kids created...Turkey hunting...they run around and gobble as the adults try to throw balls at them...then they fall down and die...wow...We also played cards with the kids...and by that I mean Adam played cards with the Ava and Asa...that takes some patience. Ava said it was the best Thanksgiving EVER! {as she does with ever holiday...ha}

What to do with this boy...

No, my son is not running around in the backyard in only his underwear and cape in the middle of November. Don't be silly. He doesn't have on his mask and cape right now.  I was looking through our pics over the last few months and found these. I can tell you that I have a few things to learn about boys. I really had no idea how different they are and how foreign the boy/man realm is to me. Trying to teach this boy the same way I taught my daughter at this age just doesn't fly...haha, unintentional pun, but I'll go with it.

I know you are thinking...great instagram pics, huh? you know the intentional out of focused pics with the oh so perfectly placed well-loved stroller in the back...oh no, my camera does that naturally! I'm just cool that way. 

 Anyways, I'm learning. I think. One week I felt like we made great progress in his counting ability...he usually wants to do schoolwork just like Ava. We start and then he remembers he has no interest. But this specific week he made great strides in counting and was showing off to daddy his mad skillz. Uh, then I confessed that I let him have a lot of candy that week, smarties to be exact. If he counted them, he could eat them...haha...ok, don't tell our dentist that. I'm still learning.                                                                            Oh how I wish I would write down what these kiddos say more often! For a while there Asa was asking me if we could go to Africa everyday to get "a real elephant pet" that he would name Cobin. Now he keeps asking for "a real hamster pet" that he would name something like fireman-ice-cream-dog or something...he knows to add the 'real' in there now...substitutes just are flying anymore with him. But after the incident at our friends house where he was spinning the hamster wheel with the hamster in it...faster than the hamster could run...that might now happen too soon...poor hamster. But his sweet pleas might just do me in. 

I just love children's art! Don't you love the little hat. You think my son gave me a Van Gogh when he makes me a picture! 

I haven't taken enough pictures or blogged nearly enough to remember everything I've wanted to this school year! Some days seem magical and some days seem like I just need a nap or a 5th cup of coffee.

I feel like I have grown in the art department myself. I always had the art supplies up where they weren't nearly as accessible but since we made an art desk (not pictured) in the living room and started notebooking for school, the kids have really enjoyed it more and I'm sure we will be thrilled to be able to look back on the year to see all they {we've} learned! I'm still trying to learn what to do with this crazy, snuggley, comedic boy, but its a pretty fun adventure. 

E.C.H.O. 5K and other news

Today we got to participate in the E.C.H.O. 5K and kids fun run...ok, Adam sat on the side lines to take care of the kids while I ran. What a man! Though next time he said he'd run with me! The kids costumes aren't ideal to run in, so they wore other costumes. We borrowed a Cookie Monster costumes from some friends. Last night I realized Asa was dressing as Cookie for the End Childhood Obesity race...haha....ok, So instead we are saying he is Veggie Monster...but he did't want to hold the cloth carrots we brought with us. Oh, well. 

 This is about the only picture Asa would let me get of him as he is on a take-no-pictures-of-me spree. The kids fun run had a false start and Asa was a blue blur. When everyone was calling the kids back to restart, Veggie Monster bursted into tears. I think he thought he did something wrong. He was the cutest crying Cookie, I mean Veggie Monster I'd ever seen. He was so upset he wouldn't run the race. But let me tell you, he would have killed it. Now we tell our kids that its not about winning, but then we whisper about their accomplishments. ha. Ava was very excited when she came in 4th {she was keeping an eye on her 'competitors' all about 4 feet and under}.  Now...if she looks like she is wearing lingerie...my sis and I went to an estate sale with tons of 1950's clothing, where I got Ava clothes that filled her dress up box. She thinks its a fairy costume. :) Her Narnia costume is too long and bulky for her to run in.
Asa still got a medal which helped him recover a little bit. Next was the awards, which included best costume awards. I had no idea that Darth Vader, the Cat in the Hat with Thing 1 and Thing 2, among others were runners.

 

This is my crazy friend chuck....I mean Kris. She dressed up like her running partners husband. I passed by her when we first arrived because I didn't recognize her! She is the reason why I was insane enough to come to the race. I squashed my best time, under 36 minutes, haha..., and that was with hills {not saying too much since I've only ran more than 3 mile a total 3 or 4 times, but still}. My calves were crying up the hills! {uh, I was walking up most of them!} I think I need to start doing some strength training. I was trying to keep up with a speed walker named, Terry. He is quite the popular fellow around here as there were 4 people, I believe, dress like him, which included long white wigs. Speed walkers didn't start passing me up until about the mile marker, which is better than I was expecting. And none the the non-speed walker passed me up which was a very good sign. Ha! 

Chuck & chuck. 

Twins! {Chuck said she could have at least made her mustache black, ha, ha.} Kris was 3rd in her division!!!!!!

 Then we came home to this! Asa was laughing SO hard as Cookie was chasing him around trying to eat him. Adam started off using cookie as a puppet. This is Asa's entire costume on Adam's head. Haha...he doesn't know I'm putting this pic on the blog. {now I can see I need to clean under the couch}

Last night we went to Boo at the Zoo. I was a little scared myself, but the kids loved getting candy...the night before we went to End Childhood Obesity race...haha. The kids got to wear their Narnia inspired costumes. Ava said she was a Medievil princess. She wasn't smiling because she said they didn't smile in olden day pictures. That and the fact the line was about 5 kilometers long! Ava was playing thumb war with herself.

 I wanted Asa to wear his crown, but this is about the only time he did, because he found his helmet and apparently thought it was more cool.

Asa kept poking everyone with his sword! 

We will get some better pictures in the costumes. The kids were quite cute! 

In other news:
Is this not the cutest picture of Larry the Cucumber! Asa drew this. So sweet. I love kids pictures!

We went to the Oglebay Fest, which included a parade. I love parades! Its the truth.

Ok, this not at the Oglebay fest, but isn't he so cute!

Um, on a side note, I've never seen a baby crawling contest before, but I was uh, fortunate? enough to watch one at Oglebay Fest....in the rain. Those poor babies!!! Just say'n...seriously, a baby crawling contest?!? We are in Wheeling, West Virginia...full of runners and baby crawling champs...

One last note from my niece, Gabby:

Only You Can Prevent Forest Fires!

What to do on a rainy afternoon...

Tiny Tot Trot

I love those articles and emails about what you could do with your kids when its raining outside. See, I was born in Florida and though I didn't live there much after I could walk, if you didn't play outside in the rain, then you didn't play outside. Then we moved to Arizona, where kids don't want to play outside until it rains in fear that they might come back inside the house looking like a sweaty tomato.  When it rains and kids flock to the windows, you would think that they were seeing Santa Clause or something!  I can say about the only time the thought, "running might be fun", would cross my mind would be on a rainy afternoon.  It would remind me of all the endings to great sappy movies, where the couple torn by misunderstanding of their love for one another, would run towards each other drench from the rain. Ha. It always has to be raining. Alas, this blog post is not actually about rain. Its about the day I decided to run. Yes. I entered the the insane club. Of course I was/am influenced by some people of questionable sanity, namely Kris and Brooke, but don't tell them that I mentioned their names ;)

Anyways, so it began one rainy afternoon on October 7th, when I thought. I've always wanted to go for a run in the rain. I had bought a wind breaker at Goodwill only to find out it was a kids large and fit a little funny, but hey it worked! Honestly, I didn't even think I could run a mile! I didn't run much more than a mile, but I still did it. I wasn't sold on becoming a runner, but after emailing Kris who is like a cheer leading/ Barnabas running junk or something, she had me interested. If you ask me on a day to day basis why I have kept running these last 3 weeks, I'd say homeschooling and cleaning drove me to it! but Kris' encouragement keeps me going! She's already got me reading a book, blogs, articles...on running...who am I? Thanks, Kris, thanks a lot. What did you do to me?

Tiny Tot Trot....not quite a 5k :)

Off My Rocker

So somehow Kris has convinced me to enter a 5k this coming Saturday only after 3 weeks of running. Until last week I had never ran 3 miles before! I was very much relieved when I actually did run 3 miles {insert screeching record sound} ok, wait up...I can't actually run 3.1 miles. No, not yet I can't. Its more walk/run intervals. Hey, its a thing! I can justify this because people actually train to do this intentionally, even in marathons (I would think especially in marathons!). So, I will be the one in my full speed jog being passed up speed walkers and regular walkers alike! I only get a 2 minute head start before the walkers start and I know that's not enough! But people will be dressed in costumes, the kids get to do a fun run, and it will be family friendly, so its a good one to start with....pray for me, none the less!

Sorry, this was a really long post all about me. and running. but at least I can look back a year from now and see where I am. You know it's tough having a blog. Its me, me, me all day long! {that was suppose to be a quote from Julie and Julia, but I think I messed it up}

I have to go spray Freeze it! all over my body. I'm telling Adam its my new body spray.

all in a days play

A few weeks ago we were blessed with a visit from Mawmaw & Pop for the weekend! We had a weekend of fun...well, Pop may say he had a weekend of work! He hung up several curtain rods, a coat rack, shelves, magnet board, chalk board...the list goes on. He got more done in one day than we would have in a year! Thanks, Pop!!! On Friday we all headed to the Children's Museum of Pittsburgh. We had never been there and had a blast. It would have been very easy to spend all day there, especially in the MakeShop area where they had sewing, book making, woodworking, circuitry, and animation. It really inspired me to start making our house more crafting friendly...you know, actually take some stuff out of the attic so we can have craft supplies ready to use. Anyhow, here is our trip the the museum in pictures...I can't believe I didn't get more of Mawmaw & Pop

Paper making

screen printing

circuitry 101-Asa LOVED this

sewing hair bows

the kids weren't the only one's playing...the tour guy to the guys in suits in the back commented on his wonderful technique 

catching letters...this reminded Ava of the Electric Company

Going to the Children't Museum would be in a day in itself, right? uh, not on this day! We headed to lunch, then to Ikea, then the Sarris Ice Cream and candy shop...whew...crazy!

not a fan of the pictures

sharping his weapons..oh my

Fortunatly our ride was roomy! We rode in Mawmaw & Pop's RV, which the kids LOVED!

holding their breath in the tunnel

Asa LOVES his feather-down pillow...Ava doesn't want it touching her...ever

we had some entertainment...it was not appreciate by all

I would just like to add that we shared that Banana Split. What a fun and tiring day!!! I'm sure we will do it again...uh...just not all in one day, I'm sure!