The Kids' New Toy!

Our parents got together to give us a new freezer for Christmas and, in the process, gave the kids a great present, too! They love their new freezer box!

It started out as a neat house, complete with windows, a door with door handle and skylight! They colored the inside and out and had a very fun morning. The next day, it became an Egyptian tomb, and they took turns doing cave paintings on the walls to tell stories from their lives. That evening, it was again a house and maybe a boat (I think that is what Liam was playing at the time). Who needs toys?!

Darsie's cave paintings. It was interesting to see what they included, like a boat ride in Uncle Dan's boat from this summer, doing goofy ballet dancing, the anticipation of opening presents for Christmas, etc.

Her family portrait.

Katy's paintings. Hers were pretty Christmas focused, including excitement about MeeMa and Poppop coming that evening.

Her painting of the girls with MeeMa and PopPop.

Liam in his boat??

A Happy Boy!

. As you can imagine, LIam was quite pleased at being able to do somethign he has only gotten to watch his big sisters do int he past!






LAst Saturday, we trekked to Home Depot for their monthly building project. THis month, it was a fun toy wagon. THe lady there was really nice, and since we got there at the end of the allotted time, she sent one package home with Liam for us to make with him at home. He also was given a new apron

A Happy Boy!

Last Saturday, we trekked to Home Depot for their monthly building project. This month, it was a fun toy wagon. The lady there was really nice, and since we got there at the end of the allotted time, she sent one package home with Liam for us to make with him at home. He also was given a new apron. As you can imagine, Liam was quite pleased at being able to do something he has only gotten to watch his big sisters do in the past (he was also pleased to have a new wheeled toy!)! He wore his apron home and then asked to build it with Daddy as soon as we stepped in the door. Here is his project, from start to finish!

To quote Liam, "Look what I made!"

Here he is modeling his new apron and his new Lightening McQueen slippers from a friend. He is making a funny face because I told him to smile, and somehow he contorted his face into this "smile."

Child Labor

When you get your Christmas letters this year, try to figure out who decorated yours! :)

Egypt!

We have begun our second term of history with a study of Ancient Egypt! First we made a salt-dough map of Egypt so we could look at and feel what it is like while we study it (it's not my creativity, so don't be impressed - it's just our curriculum!). I enlisted Matt to help with the initial shaping of the map, and then we had to wit about a week until it was dry enough to paint. This week, we have added brown for land, green for the fertile areas, and blue for water. Tomorrow, we will label the map and see where everything is. It has been fun, and the girls have really enjoyed creating it!





We have also begun map studies of Africa, listening to our geography songs CD and identifying countries in Africa. So far, we have identified Egypt, Kenya, Uganda and South Africa, as well as the Mediterranean and Red Seas and the Pacific Ocean. Hopefully, we will add a country or two a week, but we'll see. How many do they need to know at this age? I picked the ones we did because Matt has been to Kenya, they saved money for orphans in Uganda, and we have a friend from Soutah Africa. We'll see how many more we get to. The good news is, they can identify the continents and oceans, so that is pretty good for this age, I think!

We have greatly enjoyed reading from our book for the term, Boy of the Pyramids, by Ruth Fosdick Jones. It certainly has brought Egypt to life, and we have learned a lot about this country!

Yesterday, purely for fun, we built sugar cube pyramids (something I read about on another blog). They enjoyed the building, but I suspect that their favorite part was eating a few at the end! I like these food-based crafts! Next week, we are going to try mummy hotdogs! :)

Pre-Wedding Visit to Jacksonville!

We had a slight change of plans before our friend, Lori's wedding, so I called Grandmother the day before we were scheduled to leave and asked her if she might mind having houseguests for the next two nights. She said to come on, so we did! It was a wonderful treat to get to see her and rest at her house before heading up to St. Simons for the wedding weekend!
She took us to really neat place called the National Estuarine Research Reserves, near St. Augustine. They have a museum there where we watched a movie about estuaries, and then each child (even Liam!) was given a scavenger hunt to complete and bring back to the lady in charge. They searched all over the displays, completed and checked over their scavenger hunts, and then the lady gave them each nice prizes, coloring books and posters and stuff! It was a lot of fun, and we definitely want to go back and explore the next time we are down and have more time to play there!

It was funny how the pelicans were all just hanging out here, each in their own little group.

The girls are excited about manatees, but I was excited to see clams! All of those things sticking up out of the ground are clams at low tide! Pretty spiffy!

Cool trees that make you want to draw them. :)

They were fascinated by the sea foam, especially when it would blow and roll around. (And, yes, it was pretty CHILLY that day!)

Afterwards, we took them to ride on the St. Augustine carousel and play on the playground there.

It was Liam's first time on a carousel, and he LOVED it!

This was a really cool slide at the playground - all rollers! They LOVED it!