We had a full, full week and weekend! There was too much going on to put into one post, so here are a few highlights from the week.
The boys are studying astronomy this year for science, and this week we learned about Venus. We made a volcano of butter and flour to show how lava melts, then cools. I love easy science experiments that require very little work but are fun for the kids.
And for P.E. we bought a volleyball/badminton/pickle ball set and put up the net in our back pasture. I left the rackets and balls on the deck, and the kids have gone out all week and played. It's a little hard to play badminton with three players, so I ended up playing with them a lot. They think I'm extremely athletic and good (I'm not), so it's very gratifying :-) Addie is actually pretty good at sports, so she and Caiden played lots and lots of pickle ball.
One of the things we really loved about our house when we first looked at it, is that it's fully fenced and gated, with cross fencing for the pastures and paddock. So the kids can go outside and play, and I don't have to worry about them getting into the street--or into the land behind us, which has a large den of coyotes! The freedom means they spend a lot of play time outside, now that it's finally cooling down.
On Wednesday, we had a little family party to celebrate our Texas Rangers appearing in the World Series! I taught the kids "Take Me Out to the Ballgame," which required looking up the lyrics on the phone. I'm famous for messing up lyrics, so I figured I'd rather be safe than sorry.
Then we made nachos and a plate of cookies. I got the idea from Erin, who made hers several years ago. I bought Nutter Butters to be the peanuts and then dipped Oreos in white candy coating, let them harden, and used an icing writer to draw on the threads for the baseballs. Can you guess what was the kids' favorite part?
They turned out cute (and delicious!)--thanks Erin!
On Thursday we had a wedding rehearsal to go to and had to miss some of the game, but even our babysitter Kristina and her precious baby Abby (The kids call her "The Evil Dr. Abby" because she chases the cat, but fortunately Kristina thinks it's funny!) got into the spirit!
I have tons more pictures from Grayson's birthday party and the wedding he and Chris were in this weekend that I'll post next time. It was a full, full week, and although it was all really fun, I'm very glad to see a quiet, foggy Monday here today! And that is good, because the second half of this week and the weekend are going to be really full, too! Today I'm savoring doing not much else besides school, sipping chai tea lattes, and heating up chili for tonight's game--go Rangers!!
How adorable are those cookies? Love that you are looking up the lyrics; it is a joke around here for the girls to have me guess the lyrics to songs, I am always wrong and just make them up!
Posted by: kelly | 10/25/2011 at 08:29 AM
Are you using Apologia science? B/c we're doing that same experiment next week. Our first year using that curriculum, and I LOVE it - and that's saying a lot about science. :)
Posted by: renee | 10/24/2011 at 10:18 PM
PS You look SO pretty in that photo!
Posted by: Bev | 10/24/2011 at 02:18 PM
Dad loves badmitton! Maybe there's a game Caiden and Papa can have fun with? The cookies are adorable, super cute idea. We missed seeing you guys this weekend but knew you had a cram-packed weekend; we did too! xoox
Posted by: Bev | 10/24/2011 at 02:17 PM
We love badminton. It's a little frustrating since only 1 of my girls is old enough to actually hit is over the net, but we still try it often.
Love the cookies!!
Posted by: Deidre | 10/24/2011 at 11:51 AM