Weekly Wrap-up: January18-24

I don’t know why, but I feel like we have been “doing it big” this January.  Not in terms of big events, or big spending, or big travel…but we’ve just been going.  It hasn’t been hectic or high stress, either, but there just seems to be a big “live life” mentality around here.  Part of it, honestly, is the sunny weather, I think.  And part is the fact that our family is in transition.  In the fall, Greg started to transition out of full-time ministry, something he has been working gradually toward ever since he started going back to grad school.  And this week, he just started his new job!  So I think that part of our activity has to do with a heightened sense of life (and it’s brevity?) that you get during transitional times.

Anyway, I don’t know why I’m rambling on, when I have so many pictures to go through!

On Sunday morning, both Greg and Luke were feeling sufficiently “under the weather” from colds to stay home from church.  We missed them, but I had fun with my girl:

Sweet Anna story:  I reminded her to take some cash if she wanted to put something in the collection plate, and she said, “Should I get $1?”  I said, “Sure.”  A few minutes later, as I did her hair, she asked, “Mom, have you ever noticed how people just give their SPARE money to God?”  Whoa.  We talked about that for a few minutes, and then as we were walking out the door, she told me, “I changed out my $1 for a $5 bill.”  So sweet.

That afternoon, she and I ate a picnic lunch in the church’s green space with our friends Abby, Trevi, and baby Marielle, and then we all headed to the Frist for their Artful Tales program.  There a woman did an amazing job acting out Clown of God and teaching the kids about triptychs.

Then, all the kids went upstairs to make their own triptychs.

It was such a fun program.  Afterward, our friends had to leave, but Anna and I spent a few minutes hunting out triptychs in the exhibit on which the program was based.

We got home just in time to turn around and all go to dinner at some friends’ house.  There we had a lovely evening with a great group of people.

On Monday, it was back to school.  As part of our Science lesson, the kids painted their volcano.

In the afternoon, we went on a family hike:

We got back in time for Gigi and Papa to pick up Anna and take her for her birthday dinner and shopping.

On Tuesday morning, Greg started his new job!  He mentioned that he wanted Clif bars for lunch, so I loaded up on some—and some Coke, which we never typically buy.  I tried and tried to find him a lunch box, but I could not find a good black one, so I had to order it.

We were so excited for him!

It was a beautiful day, so after dad left, we did some school outside:

Then, we erupted our volcano!

After our eruption, I went in to make lunch, letting the kids stay out and play.  Anna had way too much fun sacrificing her doll to the volcano:

That afternoon (once again capitalizing on the bizarrely nice weather), we met our friends to do some geocaching.  First, we did a virtual geocache at this amazing church we had passed the other day.

It’s like a miniature castle right in the middle of downtown.  Charming and very intriguing.  I did some research, found out it was built in 1852, and figured that qualified as history.  I noted the times it was opened, looked up and found there was a virtual geocache featuring the church, and roped invited our friends to join us.

Happy kiddos.

We walked around the church building and finally found an unsuspecting priest to give us a tour.  He let us in and was so nice and accommodating, taking time to answer all of our questions and tell us the church’s history.

The kids were especially intrigued by the altar.

Anna asked the priest where they burned the sacrifices.  Not sure he’s even gotten that question before!  It led to a nice, theological discussion of Jesus being the ultimate sacrifice and ending the tradition of animal sacrifices (hence the picture of the lamb on the altar—not a rabbit, although it’s a common mistake:)).

After our tour, we headed back to the car, pausing to take a picture beside this decorated building.

The kids and I have been studying the make-up of the earth, and plate tectonics and fault lines and such, so I jumped at the chance to show them an actual fault line, which happened to sit right under the science center.  It was an “earthcache” type geocache, and was less than a mile from the church we had just seen.

The fault line is just to the right of the pole.  See the white bands of rock?  They used to be together, but the left portion of the rock has fallen away.  That makes this a “normal fault.”  I could not have told you this on my own, but a friend at church, who saw on Facebook that we had done this geocache, explained it to me.

Courtney had the kids pretend they were in an earthquake.  They were recently terrified by the trailer to San Andreas at the beginning of the latest Hobbit, so they are attuned to the power of earthquakes.  Although that awareness may not be conveyed by this picture:).

After that, we went to the city cemetery, in search of “an anchor” at certain GPS coordinates.

We found the anchor on this grave:

It’s the grave of a captain who saved an island population from illness by relocating them.

Lastly, we stopped by the science center to hunt for our one physical cache:

Then, the kids played a round of football.  Anna and Ty were on a team, and Anna tried her hand at quarterback:

She experienced some success!  This impromptu game was the highlight of the kids’ day.

On Wednesday, we stopped by Brentwood Library, where Anna wanted me to take a picture of her stuffed animal enjoying the décor:

The kids checked out some good books, and then they played on the playground a little while before gymnastics.  We got to gymnastics early, so they sat in the car for a few minutes and read:

I always rejoice when they pick up mysteries—one of my favorite genres as a child.

Thursday was fairly low-key.  We had piano lessons, did school, and in the evening went over to Alan and Wyndee’s house for dinner with Gigi and Papa, Uncle Floyd, and Aunt Linda.

On Friday, I surprised my kids with the news that they were spending the night with Gigi and Papa.  This was a secondary surprise; the primary surprise was for Greg, because I wanted to surprise him with a date to celebrate the end of his first week.  The kids were thrilled.  I sent some goodies with them to make things easier for Gigi and Papa, who were so gracious to take them for the night.

On the way out the door to their first sleepover at Gigi and Papa’s new house!

The weather on Friday night was yucky, and I feared that Greg would be relishing a night at home.  I needn’t have worried; he loves going on dates and was thrilled to come home to no kids, and me dressed up for an evening out.  We went to Longhorn’s for dinner and had a wonderful time.

Late that night, it started snowing.  By the morning, there was a thin layer of snow on the ground.  I knew the kids would be dying to play in it, but I also knew that I hadn’t packed hats or gloves or any type of snow gear.  Greg thought it would melt soon, so I went over to Gigi and Papa’s early to pick the kids up and bring them home to play in the snow.  They were ecstatic:

I will have to do a separate snow post because…well…it’s snow, and I always do posts on snow.

The snow melted by afternoon, and we decided to go for a nature hike.  Before that, though, I was highly gratified to walk into the family room and find the kids reading some of our old schoolbooks:

I keep all of the books from past curriculums on the shelves in hopes that the kids will pick them up and read them.  They rarely do, which is why I was so happy to find them reading them this afternoon.

Later, we went for a walk around Radnor Lake.

We ended up walking about three miles, which gave us time to work up an appetite.  Afterward, we ate dinner at McAlister’s and then, per the kids’ request, hit up Target to let them spend some of their accrued allowance money.  We all came home in high spirits after a day filled with so much activity!

Weekly Wrap-up: January 11-17

Okay, so this was one of those wonderful weeks that reinforced my illusion of control.  I mean, I get, cognitively, that I have so little control over the circumstances of my life, and that everything could change at any time, and that the best laid plans so often fail…I get it.  But oh, how I love the idea that I can control my world.  And this week raised my hopes:  almost everything I planned went smoothly, we got all our schoolwork done, my house stayed straight, laundry stayed caught up, I cooked, I made homemade snacks and breakfasts, we went on field trips and saw friends…seriously, it was awesome.  This is soooo not my typical existence, so just…let me have this moment:).  Let me bask.

Ahhh….

Okay, basking’s over.  Onto pictures.

On Monday, after a good day of school…after even doing SCIENCE like a boss (maybe basking’s not over?), the kids and I headed to the main library to research the 1897 Nashville Centennial Expo for a project for History Club.  They didn’t love the research, but they did think the Nashville Room of the library was fancy.  After all, it had a grandfather clock.

This fascinated them.  Anna is turning her head to better hear the ticking.  They also loved the wooden swivel chairs and swiveled so much while we looked through an 1898 souvenir photo book of the exposition that I had to threaten them with certain death if they did not stop.  They were unfazed.

After getting some inspiration for project topics and making photocopies of the necessary pictures, we stopped by the children’s section, where Luke excitedly snatched up a copy of the one book he still hasn’t read of Nathan Hale’s Hazardous Tales.  (It was on the Donner party, and the whole time he read it back at home, he was gnawing on his fingernails.  At one point, I asked, “So is it completely terrifying?”  And he said, “Kind of.”  At the end, I asked how it was, and he answered, “Gruesome.”  But…now he’s read them all!)  I also found some wonderful books on all our science topics for the next six weeks.  I love the Main library.  Their book selection is unparalleled, at least in my experience.

On the way home from the library, we swung by the Science Center just because.  It’s on the way, and I realized the kids hadn’t been to the Riverworks exhibit that was about to close:

Predictably, Anna spent her whole time playing at the water table, but Luke branched off and explored the rest of the exhibit:

Since we were making a quick visit, we didn’t leave the first floor, but on the way out, we did get distracted by a few other things.

Like this interactive, psychedelic wall…

…and video games and the “lift a car” rope:

Once home, I got some baking done while the kids read.  The kids have recently gotten completely obsessed with Calvin and Hobbes.  Greg has some big books of the comic strip, but at the library, they found some other collections.  I’m sure for Luke they provided some lighter fare than the Donner party!

On Tuesday morning, while I was taking care of Everley, the kids did a little spin art.

And they also took turns taking care of E:

Miraculously, we were able to get in our full slate of school.  Everley napped and allowed me to get all of our reading done; for Science, they watched a video; and whatever written work the kids didn’t finish was completed on the car trip to our friends, the Steeds’ house:

I’m so thankful that Luke has these two boys as friends.  And I’m also thankful that Anna and Josh get along so well.  That gives Courtney and me—the real bff’s—time to chat:).

I held Everley during the visit, and she even got in a good nap.  The kids love her and want to play with her, too.  Once I got her loaded up to go, they snuck in a little extra time with her before she left:

That evening, we had Taco Tuesday at the Peters’ house, where Little Miss Ev was still the star of the show:

Wednesday was arguably my smoothest day.  I can’t even remember that much about it, but it was a blur of awesomeness, basically:).  Oh, I remember now:  Everley just happened to nap perfectly.  She was asleep when she got here, during which time the kids and I did all our reading; she woke up for a delightful play time; the kids moved smoothly through their written work; and when Ev fell asleep again, I successfully put her down on a pallet, which let me actually get some cleaning and laundry done.  Gymnastics went well, and our ladies class at church, led by an older lady for the first time, was amazing.  Then, I took some teens home and had such a fun discussion with them.  It was just a good day. 

Strangely, I didn’t take any pics, besides a few of Everley to send to her mom.

I took some more pictures of her on Thursday morning:

That afternoon, we went to our first Homeschool Day at the Main library (we had heard about it on our Monday visit).  This month, the kids build LEGO creations, and then catapults, and tried to destroy their creation with their catapult.

Anna’s age group:

And Luke’s:

Catapult materials:

Constructing the catapult:

Finished product:

And the test:

The kids loved it.  I am so, so thankful for our wonderful library system.  The kids love library visits…

I’m also thankful for wonderful children who leave me little surprises on my nightstand (Anna’s flower) and in my read-aloud (Luke’s note). 

It’s fun to be their mom.

On Friday, we did Math corrections…

…and spelling tests, Bible and History reading, Science post cards, piano practice…and then we made a volcano!

We just shaped the cone today.  We have to wait for it to dry, and next week we will paint it and then make it explode!

That afternoon, we went on the nature walk that I’ve already blogged about:

After a fun walk, we came home, and the kids read and drew while I tried a recipe for homemade granola:

I’ve heard that granola is super easy to make, and much cheaper than buying the pre-packaged stuff.  We eat yogurt all the time and love to make parfaits, so I figured it was worth a try to make my own, especially since I keep all the necessary ingredients on hand.

I’m proud to report that my granola was a huge hit.  My kids often prefer the store bought stuff to homemade, sadly, but they loved this granola.  Not only did they eat it on their yogurt, they kept “sneaking” little amounts whenever they’d pass the container!

Technically, I had an art lesson on the schedule, but since Luke had already sketched so much that day on our hike, and since Anna had been steadily drawing since we got home…

…I decided to call it a day.  Luke read a little more, and Greg helped Anna google crafts for the five acorns she had brought home…

…and then I turned them over to “screen time” until dinner.

After dinner, Anna volunteered to make brownies for dessert.  Hmmm…looking at the picture below, I wonder if you can see what the appeal is:

She may have thoroughly licked the bowl when she was done…

Today (Saturday), we got to spend some time with Greg’s side of the family.  Chris, Jill, Jack, Tatum, and Hudson were supposed to come down and meet us, Gigi and Papa, and Gramma Dottie.  Unfortunately, Tatum woke up during the night with a stomach virus, so she and Jill couldn’t make the trip.  The poor girl had been so looking forward to seeing Anna (and the rest of us, I’m sure;)) that she wasn’t going to give up easily.  Chris said that after her third time vomiting, she told them, “I’m not really that sick.  I can still go.”  Throughout the day, Jill said that Tatum would announce that she was better and ready to go on her trip.  Poor thing!  Anna took the news tearfully, and Jill and Tatum were very missed, but we did have fun with the family that came!

We opened belated Christmas gifts:

Gramma was so relieved to get her annual calendar from Jill.  She was worried that she wasn’t getting one this year, and she has really come to love them.  Jill does such a good job putting them together.

Anna also got to open her birthday gift.  Jill had told me that her gift was 100% Tatum’s idea.

It was footie pajamas!

Jill said that after seeing Anna’s Christmas footie pajamas at Thanksgiving, Tatum wanted her own pair.  She also insisted that they get one for Anna because Anna needed another pair of footie pajamas.  Anna couldn’t agree more…

In fact, she is sleeping in them right now!

Without Tatum to pal around with, Anna spent some quality time with Hudson:

And she also had fun with Jack.

Of course, Luke and Jack are always big pals:

One of the surprises of the day was how incredibly well Anna, Luke, and Jack played all afternoon.  They spent hours, literally, in the spare room upstairs playing some imaginary game where they were all ninjas with different kinds of superpowers.  At one point, I asked if they wanted me to take them to a nearby park, thinking they would jump at the chance to go play…but as Luke told me, “Mom, we are having amazing fun right now!”  The other two heartily agreed and said that maybe we’d go to the park later.  We never did; instead we went to Alan and Wyndee’s house for dinner.

Before that, though, I got Gramma her second ever coffee from Starbucks, because she was wanting a cappuccino, and Glenda wasn’t available to tell us how she makes them.

Glenda wasn’t around because she was putting Hudson down for a nap.  When he woke up, he wanted to snuggle.  He hadn’t given me a second glance through most of the visit, until I got down and played trains with him.  I was so gratified that when he woke up, he made a beeline for me:

I was glad to get to spend some good time with my youngest nephew.

Our dinner at Alan and Wyndee’s was fun.  I didn’t get any good pictures, but the kids seemed to have a great time, and we adults enjoyed getting caught up.  Again, we hated that Jill and Tatum couldn’t be there, but we were thankful to see everyone else!