Super-Soaker Birthday

We couldn't have ordered up a more perfect day for a water themed birthday party!  Ally was "super-dooper" excited to get to celebrate her 7th birthday with her cousins and so many of her good friends.

The party was at Settler's Park so that the kids could run around in the splash pad.  We had water guns instead of goody bags for everyone.  Marc also filled at least 200 water balloons for a water balloon toss...and for an all-out water war at the end.

 I kept my promise and Sophie had as much watermelon as her little tummy could handle.

We played a boys-against-girls sponge relay to fill a cup with water.  I love how I captured Carson's excitement in mid-jump.  And don't be fooled by Garrett's expression - the boys won every round!

Long straws and blue cupcakes made for quite a mess at the tables!

Two birthdays, one anniversary, Mother's Day and Father's Day down ... just one more birthday to go!  Next week we are having a pARTy for Sierra.  Get it?!  :)

Payette River: Open for Business

 "One"

"Two"

 "Three"

"Four"

 
Ally must have repeated that sequence about 50 times on Monday afternoon.  These girls don't know the meaning of cold water.  They played for hours, giving each other river tours in the kayak and swimming over to the rock.  They are little fish!

Valerie, on the other hand, didn't care for the cold water all that much and opted for a trip to the "candy store" (the lovely new Garden Valley Market) with Grandpa instead.  She brought back loot for the rest of us.

 

Grandma took the girls and me on a couple of bushwhacking adventures...and we have the scars to prove it.  Somehow the trail never seemed to stay where we left it!  I don't know if Ally will ever agree to "go for a little walk" with us again.

40 Years

My parents celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary this weekend.

 June 1, 1973

We had a little cake reception for them at church this morning.

I am so blessed to call these two godly people my parents.  I can't think of any greater treasure than the heritage that they have passed on to our family.  We praise God for the 40 years that He has granted them together.  We love you, Mom and Dad!

School's Out!

We did it.  First grade and third grade are officially in the books.  The girls are bursting with excitement and I am so proud of them.  We finished EVERYTHING that we set out to accomplish this year:

Saxon Math - CHECK

Language Lessons for the Well Trained Mind - CHECK

Horizons Spelling & Vocabulary - CHECK

MCP Phonics - CHECK

Life of Christ (God's Great Covenant) - CHECK

Earth & Space (Christian Kids Explore) - CHECK

Story of the World:  The Middle Ages - CHECK

Woot!  Woot! Woot!

Don't tell the girls, but I am even more excited about summer break than they are.  No more late nights getting everything in order for the next day's lessons. No more weekends full of lesson planning.   No more making supplemental worksheets so that I can teach Sierra and Ally the same material in Bible, History and Science.  No more last minute trips to the library for inter-library loan materials about to expire.  (At least not until August when we will start this crazy home school business all over again.)

 I love having all their work organized into binders that we can admire for a while.  Sure, they take up way to much space and I will one day have to get rid of them...but for now they are proof of all our hard work.

 (This is what Sierra did to her "Friday Folder" the minute that she finished her last assignment for the year.)

15 Layers On the Onion

During our wedding ceremony I remember thinking, "Really, Dad?!  Onions?!?!?"  He was talking about how love grows in layers like an onion.  You may think it's good now, but then you add another layer and it just gets even better.*  It's been 15 "layers" now - and I get it.  And lest you think that I'm bashing my dad, I'm not.  He gave us good advice on our wedding day that I haven't forgotten:

1.  Put down roots.

(Establish some solid relationships/traditions with Christ as the center.)

2.  Send out shoots.

(Invest in people/things outside of yourself...have a ministry.)

3.  Keep having hoots!

(Make your marriage fun.)

 And for your entertainment, I dug these gems out of the pre-marriage archives and sent them through the scanner:

 Our DTR (define the relationship) Date:

Drive-in movie, borrowed truck, couch stolen from dorm lounge... awesome!

 Santa Barbara:

Whenever we had enough money for gas, we used to drive to Santa Barbara and spend Saturdays at Ruby's Diner and on the beach.

Best Date Ever!

The night before I left for my semester in Israel, Marc planned an elaborate date on the beach.  We had a private dinner served by friends and live saxophone music right on the shore.

(*Wink to Melissa who hates onions.)

Homeschool Field Trips

Homeschooling isn't for everyone - but it certainly has some wonderful advantages.  For example, two field trips in one month with no "budget cuts" to worry about!  We recently visited the KTVB Channel 7 studio and the Botanical Gardens in Boise.  (We also had a wonderful farm day with the Rhoms back in the fall, a Thanksgiving feast and a Valentine's Day party at Bounce this year.  Not too shabby.) 

My "little brother" has been working for Channel 7 for ten years now.  (I'm not sure how that's possible, since he's still only in Jr. High in my mind.  Anyway...)  He took some time to show us around his workplace and to introduce us to some celebrities such as Larry Gebbert and Carolyn Holly.    We started the tour outside at the big satellite dishes and the live report vans.

 Then we moved inside and saw the main studio, weather center, kitchen set, and news desks.

Chuck showed us the script for the noon report and we made sure that none of the kiddos went back to shuffle through the papers.  Yes!  Even with teleprompters, scripts are still printed for each show.

The green screen was probably the biggest hit as each kid got to try their hand at pointing in the right direction.

 Sierra was wearing a green shirt that day, so her body completely disappeared!

Then it was into the master control room where the directors and producers work their magic.  This is the hole where Chuck spends most of his hours.  It looks very intimidating to me.  All the kids found America's Funniest Home Videos on one of the screens and were completely distracted.

May is also a perfect time for a botany lesson here in Idaho.  Everything is beginning to bloom!  Our family is studying earth science this year, but a trip to the Botanical Gardens was a great way to review what we learned at the end of last year.

(Why do I see many more such bus rides in the future for these two?!) 

 Do not disturb! Pollination in progress.

 

After each child planted their own flowers they also got a daffodil to dissect.

Nothing left but the pistil!

I love that we get to hang our with this great group of homeschool nerds kids!