Busy couple of weeks

Last Wednesday we went into the city to see a musical production of Sleeping Beauty (not the ballet). It was really good, but I was mightly annoyed by the large contingency of middle school students who made up the bulk of the audience. The rudeness and coarseness knew no bounds, and no amount of glaring would still them. We have always enjoyed attending these school-manitee's, but before I purchase tickets next time, I will be inquiring about whom we will be sharing the audience with. Ugh.

Then that Friday we went with some friends to the premiere showing of Prince Caspian. We really liked it, despite the alterations from the book.

The following Wednesday was our support group's science fair. We had a record number of entries this year, and I was impressed by the amount of work put into them. Oh, they weren't as polished as I suppose they could be, but I think it really proved who did the work. No Mommy-finished projects here!

Finally, we finished this week up by taking in a performance by Do Jump! Fabulous, breath-taking, amazing! Yeah. :)

Chores on a Saturday morning:

1) Make your bed.
2) Brush your teeth.
3) Give the elephant a bath.

Youngest Daughter is the blonde in blue.

Eldest daughter is away at college

Well, she's staying at Corbin College for a weekend getaway with her middle school youth group. This is my "I don't want to grow up" girl. It will be interesting to see what she thinks of a college campus.

Meanwhile, the house is quiet with her!

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Update!

She had a great time! She loved staying in the dorm and eating in the cafeteria. One complaint was the long walks between activities around campus. Other than that, she is looking forward to attending there some day. Uh, well, that's a long way off, dearie!

And she is finished

Tonight was our AWANA Awards Program, and Eldest Daughter 'graduated' from TNT. She received her Timothy Award, and was the only clubber to have completed all the books from all three clubs (Cubbies, Sparks, TNT).

Memorization does not come easily to this girl. She (and I) put in many long hours going over and over the verses. I am so proud that she had the will to stick with it, and do the hard work. Afterwards, she told me she felt like she could take on the world after crossing this big hurdle.

Our church does not continue with Trek, but we might consider sending her to a friends church to continue. I'm going to leave the decision up to her, as she is already going to be quite busy this fall.

It will be strange starting a new year in September without her. Youngest Daughter will start her third year of TNT, and I will be directing Cubbies for the seventh year. Youngest Daughter has that photographic memory, so her workload is much easier. Perhaps Eldest Daughter will be an LIT and assist next year.

Waaaah! The years truly go by too quickly!

Did you get yours?

We just returned from Baskin Robbin's 31-cent scoop night. How many scoops did your family get? We chose to plead the fifth.

Back to the country

We recovered from yesterday's 5k and met my folks in Salem to go to Ag Fest, a celebration of agriculture in Oregon. The girls hadn't been to this event in several years, and were not too old to coo over the baby chicks and marvel at the sheep shearing demonstration. Maybe we are just simple folks, but my pre-teens still enjoy hanging out with their parents and grandparents. So there! :)

5k for kids

Wake-up call: We need to work some physical activity into our day! Today our kids participated in a 5k relay, and it was tough! This was just "for fun"; no clock or prizes. But it is obvious we have been a little lax in this area. No surprise really, as neither dh or I make exercise a priority, and the girls are not the least bit competitive. Hmh, need to make some changes here.

Monkeying around

Today our support group had an interesting visit at a regional primate research center. We sat through a presentation about the how's and why's of animal research, genetics, stem cell research, and the like, then visited the monkey housing facilities. I had no idea there lives thousands of monkeys within a mile of my home!

After the tour, most of us gathered for lunch. As the parents grouped together to discuss the mornings events, the kids socialized. And it was....well, it was just nice. Nice to be able to spend a school day going someplace with friends and learning something new and not having to worry about counting hours or filling out worksheets.

Often the greatest joys I get from homeschooling are the little moments. Sleeping in, snuggling under the covers to read aloud, the freedom to lunch with friends during the middle of the day. Small stuff, but golden.

Ballet: Alice in Wonderland

We saw this production a few years ago, but who can resist $6 tickets?! The girls and I headed into the city today for the Metro Dancers production of Alice in Wonderland. Traffic and parking was a bear as usual, but when the lights dim and the curtain rises, frustrations are forgotten as we are swept away.

Book vs Movie: Nim's Island

Over our vacation, our copy of Nim's Island was passed around the van. We all fell in love with the resourceful and brave heroine, and looked forward to seeing the movie adaptation.


Today we girls discovered that the film makers did not fail to delight. Yes, there are some differences from the film, but they didn't 'waterhorse' it. Abigail Breslin makes a wonderful Nim, and Jodie Foster as Alex Rover was on the mark. And Gerard Butler? ***love sigh***

Been doing a little shopping lately

Just a few things to get us geared up for the coming school year:
The Well-Educated Mind (Bauer)
The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens (Covey)
what Smart Students Know
Deconstructing Penguins
A Poetry Handbook (Oliver)
Stories from Shakespeare
Invitation to the Classics
The Periodic Table (Dingle)
The 100 Most Important Events in Christian History
Castle Diary: The Journal Of Tobias Burgess
A Writer's Notebook

And a few good reads:
The Mayor of Central Park (Avi)
Ella Enchanted
The Great Little Madison (Fritz)
Poppy and Rye (Avi)
Redwall (Jacques)
All Creatures Great and Small
Hadassah (The Girl Who Became Queen Esther)
Ah, Music!
......and some Mad Libs :D

No foolin'

Yes, we are the type of people who go on a road trip just as gas prices are hitting their peak.

First stop: Anaheim. Yes, we are also the type of people who love this place. It was a little crowded due to spring break, but the weather was lovely (translation [in case you are not a native of western Oregon]: it was overcast and cool)

Then onward to Yuma and Phoenix to visit extended family. Now I understand what they mean by a 'dry heat'. But hot is hot to this red-head. The Easter eggs would have baked in the grass.

From here we left the interstate freeway system and, map and GPS in hand, we wended our way to the Grand Canyon. This stop was not part of our original plan, and we had no where near enough time to explore the area. Maybe a return trip next year?

The next day found us crossing the Hoover Dam, then driving down the Vegas strip. Not seeing anything there to entice us, we headed toward Reno.

Thus followed 7 hours of driving through barren and desolate country....

Seeing that we had not yet killed each other after 13 days on the road, we made a stop at dh and my university alma mater. It was spring break there too, and also quite desolate. Nothing much had changed in the past 18 years, at least at our cursory glance. The girls were amused by our reminicing.

At last we steeled ourselves for the final leg of the trip, from the southern to northern borders of Oregon, east of the Cascades. Yes, we went from sunburn to frostbite in a matter of 2 days.

Final numbers:
3600 miles on the van
14 nights in hotels/motels/gramma's floor
4 states visited
5 'school days' missed
5 pounds gained (by me)
3 books on CD listened too
2 new Build a Bear friends made
and $0 credit card bills to face (thanks Dave Ramsey!)

Family vacations? Priceless

One week and counting.......

It is one week until we leave on our highly anticipate four state road trip. (We live in Oregon, so hitting four states takes some serious mileage). I have a million things to do to get ready, and things to finish up before we leave, not limited to but including getting $600+ of repairs done to our traveling van, helping Youngest Daughter prepare for AWANA Quizzing, working 8 hours, sending Eldest Daughter out on another bowl night, and taking in an opening day viewing of Horton Hears a Who.

I'm looking forward to this vacation!

Happy Gerbilversary to us!

We adopted our little critters one year ago. I can't find my camera to post an updated picture, but suffice it to say they have doubled in size. And chewed up that green little house. These little guys are great; they do not smell at all, only need infrequent changes of bedding, and are very entertaining.

Shostakovich and Ice Cream

Youngest Daughter and I took in Shostakovich's Fifth Symphony today.

It isn't the musical experience that keeps me coming back for these; it is the time spent together, one on one with my kids; the drive into the city, finding that parking garage in the maze of one-way city streets and road construction; the walk through the park blocks, past the statues, over the cobblestone courtyard; the climb to our familiar seats, marvelling at the architecture. It's exchanging pleased smiles during the music, while daughter hugs her stuffed frog. It's walking back to the car after the concert, discussing the music. It's our post-concert ice cream treat.

It's that this is a normal thing to do in our family, not a forced yearly field trip.

It's cool. :)

Yes, we know how to socialize

Usually we work right through things such as President's Day, but who can resist hanging out with friends at the bowling alley? The girls' AWANA TNT club held their annual bowling day this morning. Eldest Daughter doesn't have great aim, but she has quite the powerful arm! Time to sign her up for lessons.

Fine Art Friday

~Edgar Degas, Dancer on Pointe

Yesterday the girls and I went into the city to take in The Dancer: Degas, Forain, and Toulouse-Lautrec.

Behind the Scenes

We got to spend a couple hours today prowling around one of our favorite city haunts, our symphony's concert hall. A couple dozen friends joined us for a look in to the inner workings of the orchestra and where they practice and perform. We sat in on a working rehearsal, and got to chat with one of the musicians. Our kids, ages 5 to 13, were beautifully behaved and attentive, and I was delighted to spend the morning with them.

Inside the Score: Hayden, Prokofiev

Eldest Daughter and I went into the city today to take in a concert by our local symphony.

Sometimes I sit there in the darkened concert hall, marveling that my budding teenager still enjoys listening to Hayden and Prokofiev with her mom. How long will this last? I don't know, but I treasure every moment.

It's February???

See what happens when you catch a rotten cold from your husband and spend a week in bed? It's February already?

Thanks, hon. Now pass the vitamin C.

Mercifully, the girls did not get sick. Hubby and I sequestered ourselves upstairs, giving the girls the run of the house downstairs. Starvation was held at bay by copious servings of mac and cheese and pb&j.

Note to self: Need to give the girls more cooking lessons.

Ahh, it is good to be amongst the living once again.