Thanksgiving 2009

Well, I think we’d better update this blog!

We had a lovely Thanksgiving in 2009, with visits from the Bradburys first, then from the Redhages later on Thursday. 

Here’s our first Feast (Dan’s taking the picture)

My old desk from high school is now serving as a buffet in the living/dining room, so it held the rest of the meal:

Notice the traditional scalloped oysters, sweet potatoes, and Mrs. Rickert’s Stuffing (she was our piano teacher in Iowa).  Notice also the mashed potatoes and locally grown sweet corn, so Dan has something to eat!  :)

Halloween 2009

We had a good time going trick-or-treating with our little ones this year.  The weather was nice, and we were able to visit many neighbors as well as David’s teacher and some people from church.  Here you see our Scaredy Cat, Little Pumpkin, and Fairy Princess Ballerina.  Their treat buckets were quite full by the end of the night!

We also enjoyed carving our pumpkins this year.  Sarah was the only one who got to pick a pumpkin right from the local patch this year because of the early freeze.  David did get to choose one that had been in the patch and was for sale at the library.  Michael and Mommy carved some from Grandma and Grandpa’s garden.  David used a pattern for his kitty pumpkin, but the rest were figured out by hand. 

A Poem

 

Tonight, David wanted me to carry him like a baby.  He thought it was pretty funny that I couldn’t do it very well.  He was inspired to write a poem:

I’m so heavy

I’m so tall

I’m so strong

I can break a wall--

of blocks, of blocks,

of blocks today;

of blocks, of blocks,

so you can play!

By David, age 7

(here are his missing front three teeth)

Testing the new tools

We’re just testing to see if a new program will work the way it says.

Maybe this will help with our layout woes

We’ll see!

PS- This is David in July of 2002.

Cabbage Science

All the kids were home sick last week with fever and cough, but weren't feeling bad enough to stay in bed, so we did some fun activities together. This is a red cabbage pH indicator lab that goes along with the story of God giving Moses signs before he goes before Pharaoh. We read about the staff turning into a snake, the water turning into blood, and Moses's hand turning leperous and healthy. Of course, we had to listen to "Go Down, Moses" from Michael's favorite red CD, too. This experiment showed us that both vinegar and lime juice are acids--they turn the cabbage juice pink--while baking soda and ammonia are bases. Ammonia is a strong base and makes a bright green, where baking soda turns the purple cabbage juice a turquoise color. We even saw that you can put ammonia in the pink vinegar spot to turn it back to purple! The morning would not have been complete without Daddy demonstrating what happens when you combine an acid and a base....BAKING SODA VOLCANO!!! The gas that is released from the mixture will even blow out a match. We had a good time learning about pH with things we normally use for salsa, coleslaw, cookies, and cleaning.

Harvest Time

We've had a good harvest this year. One of the first beets we pulled was this amazing Happy Beet face. David calls him The Roomabaga, which is a super-villain that he invented. "Roomabaga" just sounds better than "beet," and rutabagas and beets are both root vegetables, anyway. :) We didn't get the googly eyes glued on for the picture.

The cucumber crop this year--others', not ours--was fantastic! Cucumbers just kept appearing in our car when we went to church, and I just kept canning them! Here's one day's work by the Gretchen and Amy team. The little ones also helped. You can see Sarah checking the Ball Blue Book for us...

Homecoming Parade

We had an unseasonably warm day for the Homecoming parade in September! The kids were roasting as they walked down the street--and David's class was about to melt on the pavement, not in someone's hand! Fortunately, Mrs. Evans had handed out the sun visors that they made on the first day of school, so at least their eyes were shaded. Mommy got to help carry the first grade's sign this year (it's a room mother privilege).
Sarah's class dressed up as stars to represent the Milky Way. Can you tell there was a candy theme? The little ones did get to ride on a hayrack, which was probably good on such a hot day!