Fun Days at the Weatherston Home School...

How quickly they forget! Wasn't it just a couple months ago the kids were DYING because they were so sick of homeschool?? *smile* Now they are loving it again! We have been busy as always doing fun stuff! Here are a couple projects...

Stevie has a great art program this year. He had to create an art museum. He chose to make a modern art museum with abstract pictures on the wall. What a cute clay man he made to put in it too!

The finished museum!

I guess this one really wasn't homeschool--but still fun! Missy had to make a binder for Achievement Days at a mother-n-me party--but it was while I was SOOOO sick--so Kimmy stepped in as "mom". They finished it up at home--it turned out SOOOO pretty!

Stevie had to do a science experiment with his dad on Desertification. He built a town in the box--then blew the sands on the town. He had to measure how much sand hit the town in a time frame. Next he built different ways to protect the town and did the experiment again. I think he just had fun blowing the sand *grin*

Playing at the Georgetown Playground

More Fun in Austin Pictures!

Sorry I am late getting the rest of these posted...it's been a busy week! I took SO many pictures this day in Austin--it's hard to choose what to share LOL It DEFINATELY was a fun day!

As we were walking down the street after the Children's Museum...I was SO excited to see that one of my FAVORITE restaurants from back home was a chain! We LOVED going to "The Pita Pit"! Of course that's where we had to have lunch!

Next up on our tour day was the state capital! We walked through the whole thing and ended up underground--we're still not quite sure how we ended up where we did--but it was fun! We took a lot of pictures of "Texas Stars". We are going to do a scrapbook JUST with Texas Stars that I have taken pictures of wherever we find them (kind of like "Hidden Mickeys" in Disneyworld) We are getting quite a few pictures now! The kids loved the capital and want to visit it again soon too!

This is the dome in the state capital--I kept getting dizzy trying to look up and take a picture--then height-phobic Heidi had the HARDEST time being on the upper level looking down trying to take a picture LOL!

One of the kids favorite museums was "The Blanton" art museum that we didn't plan on going to--but when Steven decided to go get the car because his wife was fading fast--we needed somwhere out of the sun. The kids LOVED this museum--especially this exhibit. That shining gold is ALL PENNIES--about 600,000 of them the guide said. Missy collects pennies and her eyes about popped out of her head. They were in a giant pit and people could play with them. There was a big sign about the meaning of the exhibit--but Missy could have cared less--she just loved the PENNIES!!

Here is another picture of Missy with the pennies--I think she would have taken them all home if she could *smile*

Outside of the Blanton Museum they have this giant spaghetti statue. They are surgical tubing that is hooked at the top--kids can swing and play in them. It was AWESOME!! The kids were kind of unsure in the beginning--but got the hang of it quickly and hated to leave!!

Missy is tying a chair to swing on. A lot of kids were doing Tarzan impressions--swinging through the spaghetti.

Here is a better picture of the exhibit--pretty wild huh?

This is our biggest Texas star we found--it was outside one of the Texas History Museums we went to. Mom was too tired to take many more pictures of that museum--plus so many places didn't allow pictures--gasp--how can I live without pictures of my kids??

One of our favorite things to do while in Austin is to stop at Krispy Kreme. We never seem to hit it when the "Hot" sign is lit and you get free donuts--but we did TODAY!! The kids each got 2 hot donuts right off the line AND we bought a dozen for the car too! Plus it is just SO FUN to watch the donuts on the assembly line!

We had supper at another favorite restaurant. Steven and I usually eat at Chipotle when we go to Austin--but had never taken the kids. This time we splurged and took them! They thought it was GREAT and even Stevie got full with his HUGE burrito! (That says a LOT with a teenage boy!) Kimmy got hers with HOT meat and HOT sauce and was breathing fire all night! They were very excited to hear that there is a Chipotle being built much closer!

It was a FUN day...one more fun day for the memory banks while Daddy is gone...these are the days that will get us through the lonely days of the upcoming deployment!

A Fun Weekend at the Austin's Children Museum

What a FUN weekend we had! This weekend Austin had "Museum Day" where all the museums were FREE!! We had a blast "museum-hopping" but BOY WERE WE TIRED by the end of the day!! I took over 100 pictures LOL so I think this blog entry will be in installments *smile* The first museum we went to was the "Austin Children's Museum". It was PACKED so I think another trip will be in order before Steven deploys *grin* The kids loved what they saw though! Even with 3 million little ones running all around!!

Stevie MIGHT be getting a little big for the slide--what do you think?

Waiting for the slowpokes upstairs to fill his hardware order--you would "order" the parts you need through a speaker--and kids upstairs would drop them down the chutes.

Missy and mom playing with the sound machine

Dr. Suess style ears for the kids--maybe we need these at home so they can hear when mom calls them to do chores??

Stevie playing with another sound machine

This was a cool machine--there was a piano-style keyboard and when you pushed the keys--the slinky's would vibrate --I think Stevie was in awe--by looking at his face *smile*

A GIANT Lite-Brite!

A "Gears-go-Round" toy always has intrigued my mechanically-minded boy!

Missy learns how to milk a cow *grin*

Missy tries out the slide!

There aren't any pictures in this museum of Kimmy--since she was running the camera for me--but don't worry--I got her later *grin* It was SUCH A FUN DAY!! A "Mom-Mis-Adventure" that actually turned out okay! I'll post more fun pics over the next couple days as time permits!

Found a Fun Website Today!

I love to surf and find MORE STUFF for my files...I'm telling you...I am obsessed! Anyways, I came upon a really awesome site! This lady has taken all the flannel board stories out of the Children's Friend magazine and colored them on her computer! They are BEAUTIFUL! All you have to do is print them off!

http://chocolateonmycranium.blogspot.com/2007/11/flannel-board-stories.html

And while I am sharing...I want to share a few of my other absolute favorite sites!

http://www.sugardoodle.net/

http://www.jennysmith.net/

http://www.theideadoor.com/

I could go on and on and on LOL!

Dryer 1...Heidi 0

Okay...I admit it...Suzy Homemaker I am not...I HATE doing laundry! Well, hate may be pretty strong...I extrememly dislike doing laundry--especially the lights load with ALL THOSE SOCKS to match! I thought when I moved to a warm state that would exempt me from sock duty--everyone could wear sandals! Nope...Steven still wears socks--and Stevie has to be like his dad in all things...so he wears socks. Now the girls I have convinced to wear sandals *grin* but still...that is a lot of socks to match up!

So...what does this all mean? I threw in a load of a white a couple days ago...then promptly chose to forget about them...thinking they were in the dryer, I ran the dryer last night to "fluff" the load before folding--but then Steven and I had an errand to do and the dryer still didn't get folded. So this morning, dutiful wife that I am...ran ANOTHER fluffing cycle to get the clothes less wrinkled--and when it shut off--begrudgingly went into fold it--when I realized that after 2 fluff cycles--plus the regular drying cycle--the clothes were still in the washer to begin with SIGH!!

They're in the dryer now...maybe I will get them folded...

Just Reminiscing...

...I am still working on my computer transfer! I cannot believe how MUCH stuff I had stored on my old computer--I guess it's a REALLY good thing it never crashed! I am transferring all my kodak photos over to a memory stick today. I came across a folder filled with Kimmy's drama photos from the play she had the lead in. It was so much fun to look through--thought I would share a few--since my family has never seen them! And people thought my daughter was quiet LOL She is NOT! And she has a wicked sense of humor!! You just have to get to know her!!!

Let's Go Fly a Kite...

...Got Mary Poppins songs in your head now? LOL! One of our favorite pastimes is to fly kites. I guess it started when we lived in Maryland and would watch all the kite flyers on the beach. I always thought it would be fun to have lots of kites so we tend to buy them everytime we see a fun new one! I think we are up to 10-12 kites already. Some...have not been as fun as they looked and have gone away...but others are awesome! The kids really like the box kite in the pictures below--it rises really easy and goes high without a lot of wind!

Steven took the girls up to the soccer field to fly kites this weekend while I was still sick. Stevie was too absorbed in his new gameboy game to care *smile* so he stayed home with me. Missy and Kimmy had a blast flying kites with their dad!

Handsome's OOPS is a New Family Hit!

First of all...can I just say what a HUNK I married? For those that don't know...we celebrate our 20th anniversary next Tuesday and I think he just gets more and more handsome EVERY year! I sure do love that guy! And someday...maybe I will tell the story of how we met...let's just say he was dating my best friend and I HATED him! LOL!! Glad I got over that real quick! Grow old with me handsome...the best is yet to be!! Each day just gets better and better *grin*

Anyways...over the weekend he made supper for us--I HATE to make pancakes--and he is SOOOO good at it--I will really miss them while he is gone! He was making pancakes making his normal jokes about "Flippendo" (a take on a Harry Potter spell--used for flipping foods at our house way too often!) and flipped his sausage right into the cooking pancakes! *grin* It was so funny because he rarely makes a mistake when cooking! I had to document it for all posterity LOL! Stevie was first in line to eat the mistake! (and about 6 pancakes after that too! Man that boy can eat!)

DEATH BY POWERPOINT!!

UGH!! Tonight was our mandatory pre-deployment briefing...can I say "YAWWWWWWN"??? Good grief--a zillion different speakers all talking very fast--flipping through powerpoint presentations as fast as they can--so you really can't write anything down anyways. After the first 5 or 6 you watch people starting to zone. The lady next to us was flipping her starbucks cup in the air and trying to catch it :) All that was said probably could have been summed up in a couple handouts and a short meeting. The ones that really want the information will find it--the ones that don't probably were the ones playing on their cellphones and sneaking the ipods in. Me??? I picked up the information off the tables--most of which I had already from ordering it on onesource or looking at the websites available. I wrote down a few dates and spent time designing new cards in my notebook. *smile* Steven??? Well, he spent time resting his eyes *grin* What a LOOOOOONG night! At least I got supper out of it--Steven took me to Wendy's after (YEAH!!) You would think with having the meeting at 6:00 we could have at least had snack foods *grin* That's where our church has them beat--we can't have a meeting without at least having refreshments of some kind! They could learn a few things from us! Check on one another through visiting teaching, offer activities for the families, newsletters and calendars are a great idea, and feed people if they come out!

The End of the TOY!!

Well, we knew it's days were limited! Everytime my kids tried to use it--it tore in a new spot until we just gave up! I am SOOOOO grateful that Steven bought the insurance on it--or I would have just been out that $500!! We finally took it completely down last week before trash day and bid a fond farewell! We did have fun meeting lots of new people and playing with friends this summer at the Weatherston Wednesday Barbecues! Now we will have to think of something fun to do this fall and winter.

We let the kids do LOTS of tearing and ripping on it--the fabric had absolutely dry-rotted in the Texas heat and it would just turn to dust when you picked up two sides and pulled. I tried to take a video--but not sure how load it *smile* I am having a hard time learning things with my new computer still! Maybe you can't teach this old dog new tricks LOL

I'll Take One of Each Please...

...I am SUCH a hoarder of ideas! I cannot believe how many things I have filed away over the years--I think we moved 5000 lbs of paper! This realization started this week as I have been trying to transfer files off the old computer. I went to do something with the new computer--and realized I don't have a floppy drive!

How far we have come...my first computer I had to program forever just to make a ball bounce around the screen. It was a VIC 20 that I bought from someone--I think it was a sister. All I could do with it was make noises, color changes on the screen, etc. Shortly after that was the TRS 80 (I think that's what it was) I remember calling it the trash 80 in school. I wrote for the school newspaper and I did a lot of my articles on it--I was always being angry when I couldn't find them when it decided to eat them!

We got the interent in 1995--right after Stevie was born. HOW AWESOME WAS THAT? Then my obsession for my files could grow rampant--right there in the security of my own living room. Newsgroups and mailing lists?...check! Surfing web pages for new ideas and things for my files?...check! I filled disk after disk of stories, poems, activity ideas for YW, primary, RS, scouts and more. Family home evening packets GALORE! My two file cabinets exploded, my disk collection grew HUGE!

Which brings us back to now...now I don't have a floppy drive! Now I sit going through each disk one by one choose what to keep and discard. A disk a day is my goal...it will be a project for a LONG time I fear! It is amazing to me what people share on the internet! I love finding new things for my files. As we all know...you just rotate church callings--I keep everything because eventually I will be back there again *smile*

So one of each? Yes, even as I sit sorting through my disks, my papers, and my piles...I sat this morning surfing through websites and mailing lists, saving even more to my files and piles *sigh* It is a never-ending obsession LOL! But if you EVER need an idea--Feel free to give me a call--I probably have it in my files SOMEWHERE!

I Wish That I Had an "OFF" Button...

...I wish sometimes I could just turn emotions off. Maybe be like Data on Star Trek? You would think that after 20 years in the Army, I could handle anything. Maybe it's because I am sick? I don't know...but I find myself tonight so emotional.

Steven picked up his gear and uniforms for his deployment today. My car is filled with things he will be taking with him when he leaves in about 2 months. That isn't very long from now. Sometimes life just isn't fair. When he went to Korea, the assignments person told him we would be in California--not Fort Hood. Within 360 hours of being home, they cancelled his orders and gave him Fort Hood. Is there some divine purpose in all of this? I haven't found it yet. I cannot understand why we are here. I miss my family, I miss our "dreams and goals" we had planned for this year...and I guess I miss my husband already. I don't fit in here--I don't volunteer much anymore and my kids are all older than everyone else's. It is going to be a very long year I am afraid.

Afraid...yes...that word comes up a lot lately too. I suffered with nightmares almost weekly of Steven dying last year while he was gone. For a person who quite often has her dreams come true--this is a terrifying prospect of going through all that again. I have held children as they have had nightmares, calmed rages from an autistic child who can't deal with stress, and cried myself to sleep many nights.

I wish...I wish sometimes the army would have just let us retire. He will fly out within 5 days of his 20 year mark. Ironic isn't it? We will be there for him...letters...packages...waiting for that phone call...because that is what we do...but I don't have to like it...and somedays...I just want to be angry at it all! And why write about it? I don't know...maybe sometimes I just have to let it out...not always be "happy heidi"...

...unless someone has a spare emotion chip I can borrow?

My Funeral Will Be Friday...

Yes...I am STILL not feeling good. I am sure if I just took a couple days off and went to bed--I could sleep this off...or at least make a dent in it...but being a mom just doesn't always allow for that! I woke up yesterday and told my kids to plan the funeral for Friday! Blech! I am not even going to Missy's mommy/daughter achievement day party tonight--I had to ask Kimberly if she would be mom tonight for me. This nasty bug has taken me for a loop! So...if I am quiet--it's not that I don't care--it's that I may not have a voice LOL! I told my family--look at all the ab workout I am getting from coughing! You would think I could at least lose a few pounds from all the extra workout??? And my decluttering goals?? I am getting rid of stuff like crazy...I have a whole garbage bag of used kleenex *grin* Doesn't that count?? Anyways...Funeral on friday...I told Stevie he gets to give the eulogy because he hates to talk in public--and mom's can force kids to do things they hate *smile* I told Kimberly we can all sing that silly song about "put the lime in the coconut" just because that was the first song that came to mind--don't ask--taken too many cold medicines lately I think. Other than that--it should be a rockin' party *grin*