History -- Shakespeare

We studied a bit about Shakespeare for our history study tonight. Here are the kids staging a sword fight. We later moved on to yard sticks (and, thankfully, nobody was hurt)!!

Ouch

Benny took a tumble this past Friday that resulted in a visit to the clinic -- and glue!! After science the kids were trying to flee the water drips coming from the deck (I was on the deck with a container of water and they were below trying to run away from or run into the water) and Benny tripped and fell into a plastic see-saw (yep -- I was feeling mommy guilt). After wiping away all of the blood I realized that his tooth had bitten down through the inside lip and came out right below his lip on the outside of his face. The doctor recommended glue instead of stitches to keep the wound closed. So, here's a picture of Benny with his glued wound !!

Egypt

On Monday, April 13th, we went to Egypt. Well, not really, but we had a great time studying it!! We met with our friends and built pyramids using small cubes, made Egyptian collars, and played games (leap frog and tug of war). We focused on Ancient Egypt and had a great time!!

Happy Easter

The Lord is Risen-- Hallelujah!!! We went to church on Saturday night and sang songs of celebration. Then on Sunday we woke up, ate some cinnamon buns and set out for a hike at Harper's Ferry. What a great way to celebrate Easter -- enjoy God's BEAUTIFUL creation!!!

We took about a 5 to 6 mile hike up to Maryland Heights. The overlook (pictured below) shows the confluence of the Potomac River and the Shenandoah River. In the middle is the picturesque town of Harper's Ferry. Not only did we enjoy the view of the rivers, we were also able to see 3 states from up there -- Virginia, Maryland, and West Virginia. This was our first BIG family hike -- it was great to see the kids kick it into gear (sometimes with alot of encouragement) and make this an Easter to remember :)

They found any and all dirt/rock mounds to climb. In one breath they were sooo tired of hiking up hill and the next minute there running up mounds or climbing rocks (kids, they make you scratch your head sometimes...).

This tree picture (kinda looks like they are holding up the tree) is for my dad. I remember him taking pictures of us as kids "holding up a tree"!!!

Science -- Caution Flammable

Our favorite experiment this week was .... the fire!! Our key word this week was DENSITY. Lighting the tissue paper tubes -- warm air is less dense than cool air. The veggie creatures -- salt water is more dense than regular water (we watched our creatures float atop the brine). And the color designs on paper -- food coloring mixes with regular water (less dense) but will float on top on brine water (salt water is very dense -- think of the Dead Sea) long enough to create colorful designs on paper. Class dismissed :)

Patch Art

Benny has been letting the girls decorate his patches prior to wearing them. The sports theme is Taylor's creation and the plaid is Abby's. I ask him if he wants to decorate his own patches, but alas he wants the girls to create the designs for him!!

Easter party

We had a great Easter celebration at our friends house today (thanks Lynnea). Easter story, decorating egg cookies, and a hunt for Easter eggs.

What a Monday...

What a day! School in the morning, walk with Greg and the kids (shortened by a loose bicycle seat and rain clouds), outside playtime (the kids spent a ton of time outdoors together -- wow, I was able to mark off items on my "to do" list), and top it off with supper prepared by the kids. The only downside was the 50 degree temps and the wind. But after adding a coat and pulling on a stocking cap, we had a fine meal out on the deck (way to go kids)!!

History

Thursday we learned about England's greatest queen -- Queen Elizabeth. We learned a bit about her sister (Bloody Mary) and her brother (Edward -- very sickly). When Edward became sick he was given every cure known to the physicians. In the spirit of learning about Renaissance cures we mixed one up that evening! We chose the "Cow Manure Poultice to Draw Out Poison from Inflamed Limbs"! Of course we do not have cow manure so they suggested making refrigerator cookies (oatmeal, peanut butter, butter and cocoa). After mixing our concoction we had to apply it on our arms to draw out the poison :) Eating it was the best part!

A Really Big Show

What do you get when you take a girl dressed up like a Native American (but with an African drum and African headdress) and put her in the same room with a boy wearing an African mask? The answer: A Really Big Show! Taylor is shown here starting a fire by rubbing two rocks (all the way from AZ) together -- and presto she has a red flaming fire! And Ben seen here with an African mask that he make at TnT! There was lots of dancing, drumming and all around silliness in this show :)

Balloon fest

Who knew that a bag of water balloons would bring countless hours of enjoyment. Here are a few examples of their creativity!!

Arizona -- Tuesday

Here we are in front of Tom and Susan's on our last day in AZ :( We had such a great time on our vacation -- we still miss everyone.

I wish that I could say that the trip home was uneventful. But alas, just as we were about to get off the airplane in Baltimore Taylor threw up! Ughhh. The airlines graciously gave us a blanket, we wrapped her up and drove home. The clock read 4:00 am by the time we were all in bed. Needless to say we all slept in!!!

Arizona -- Monday

Another memory maker today -- Uncle Jeff pulled a cholla cactus out of Taylor's head!!! Too bad I wasn't there with my camera:)


We set out for our last AZ adventure. We packed our water and snacks and headed out to Sabino Canyon. We rode the tram to the last stop and ventured down to the water. This happened to be the coolest day of our trip -- still a beautiful day. We had to dig out our long pants and sweatshirts!! Still, it was a lot warmer than VA!!