Yummy ..... and FREE

Get a Free Auntie Annie Pretzel on February 2nd:

Enjoy!!

In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr.

This afternoon I was thinking back to the day Fancy came home excited to tell us about a great man she had learned about in Kindergarten.

Here was her explanation:

"He was a really nice guy who made mean people let brown people drink water out of water fountains."

This picture was taken about that time:

Oh, how the time flies.

More Time ..........

After MUCH discussion, contemplation, and prayer, we have decided to stop going to AWANA on Sundays. I won't bore anyone with too many details of our thoughts on the topic. Nonetheless, today has been a great day. I am looking forward to many more of these lazy Sunday afternoons to come.

Clay Fun

Bubby wanted me to post a picture of this giraffe he made from clay.

Not bad, huh?

While I am at it .....

I seem to be on a posting roll today, so I will wrap up with this:

Three weeks late, I am finally posting some Christmas pictures.

We went to the 3 o'clock Christmas Eve service at church and then came home for the traditional Lloyd Family Christmas Eve Fajita dinner. YUMMY!!

We had almost twenty people in our house and it was pretty fabulous. Look at the ridiculous amount of presents under and around that tree. (Sorry the pic turned out a bit blurry).

Here is Fancy carrying around her cousin, my sister's sweet baby girl who just turned a year old. Bubby was busy unwrapping something and that is our nephew in red on the floor tearing into one of his many gifts.
Here is Bubby and his cousin playing together under the coffee table.
Bubby was excited to get a music stand for his beloved Drum Kit while The Husband was trying to remember if he knows how to play chess. (This picture is actually from Christmas morning when it was just us.)
This is my brother in green and my Mother-in-law in the stripes. She was on Gift Card patrol as there is always the fear that a kid will throw one away in the mass of wrapping paper. It hasn't happened yet thanks to her years of diligence. =)
Here is my Father-in-law at the kitchen table and if you look closely, my sister and dad are sitting at the table in the background as well. Fancy is busy helping the baby walk around. Let me just mention that in any situation if you want to find Fancy, find the baby in the room.

This pic is of my favorite gift of all. My parents gave us this entertainment center. It really warms up the living room. I love it!!! Thanks Mom and Dad!!

BEFORE

AFTER

Here is Max, aka "The Beast" trying to look innocent after getting caught with that green gift bag which conveniently contained chocolates. Wonder why he chose to pull that one from beneath the tree.

And last but not least, Pedro (so named because he is part Chihuahua and Fancy knew that was in Mexico). Since he has grown we have decided that the mark on his back looks somewhat like Africa and have since wondered if we chose the wrong geographic area when choosing his name.

Since we are currently studying this continent, would it be wrong to let the kids label countries on him with washable marker? What do you think? =)

Merry Belated Christmas!!

Africam

A friend (Thanks Cyndi!) recommended this site for our Africa studies.

The kids are L-O-V-I-N-G it.

We have yet to see anything at the watering hole, but the anticipation is immense. I can't imagine what they will do if they see an actual animal.

V

The Story of the Orchestra by Robert Levine

We checked out several books about the orchestra last week at the library. Our main curriculum includes music study but it has left me wanting more. I am really a music lover and it just wasn't doing enough for me. Basically, it has had us listening to samples of music from the country we are studying. It has been fun, but at most takes 10 minutes a week.

In the Fall, when I started to feel the need for more, we started learning hymns. I tried to tie it in by choosing a hymn that was connected somehow to the country we were studying. We are learning Amazing Grace now. We write the lyrics out for handwriting practice, listen to different versions of the hymn, and sing along. I can't say I am making them memorize them exactly. Fancy knows them fairly well, Bubby always has to follow along with his paper (and usually has to be encouraged NOT to try to add a drum solo into the hymn), but that's ok.

Anyway, back to the title of this post. We have really been having fun with this book. It comes with a CD with 41 tracks (more than an hour of music). As you read, the book tells you when to play which track. It may be a sample of the composer's music that you are reading about or the sound of a specific instrument you are reading about. It is a great book. I may have to buy this one.

Today we listened to Vivaldi's Four Seasons. Beautiful.

Back to school,
V

Back to School .... Off to Africa

I am spending the better part of today getting ready to start school back up tomorrow. The 7 week break for the holidays was great. I was afraid I would have a hard time getting back into the swing of things but I have been ready to get going since the day after Christmas. Maybe it is because this is my first year. I missed school. The kids are ready too .... not as much as Mom, but that's ok.

We will be studying Africa (with a focus on Kenya) in Geography for the next three weeks. Here are a few of the books we will read this week (we checked out more than 30 books on Kenya and Africa last week at the library). These story books are a bit young for Fancy, but she still gets a lot from them. We have several higher level books that benefit her a bit more.

For You are a Kenyan Child by Kelly Cunnane

When Africa was Home by Karen Lynn Williams

If You Should Hear a Honey Guide by April Pulley Sayre

We will also be reading this biography of David Livingstone:

We have read two others in this series this year and we are looking forward to this one. I'm sure it will be just as good as the others.

Of course we will get right back into Math, Language, Handwriting, Bible, Logic, Art, Music, Spelling, and Science as well. We will do 10 weeks before we enjoy "Spring Break". I have been spending quite a bit of time devoted to trying to decide if we will actually go anywhere this year. Last year, we went skiing in Colorado. It was a nice time.This year though, I think we might actually enjoy some warm weather. We shall see.

Enjoy your week,

V