Thanksgiving 2015

Well, it was a great Thanksgiving as usual.  We have so much to be grateful for and not just 1 time a year. 

Brother B, Brother C and hubby spent some time in Alabama with his parents.  They enjoyed their visit while getting to fish and hunt for a few days.  I stayed behind to dog sit a friend's furbaby. 

We traveled to my grandmother's and spent the day with my mom's family.  There were 31 of us total with 5 not able to make it.  It's always great to see everyone. 

My sister and her family were in town from GA and spent Thanksgiving Day until the Sunday after with us.  We enjoyed watching football on Saturday while feasting on our annual Thanksgiving tacos. 

We didn't get any pictures of the humans but I did get a picture of the sweet furbaby I kept. 

It's all Fun and Games Until...

That moment you try to be the fun, flirty wife. You leave a surprise note in his car at the location of his meeting:

"Come join me for a Shipley's donut
And so I can see your cute butt"

It's all fun and cute until you notice him drive by with his coworker in the seat you left the note.

Boys and Toilet Paper

I bought this toilet paper holder bc of the ease it provides when replacing. All that is required is to simply slip the roll onto the arm. It takes all of one step to complete such a task...1.simple.step!

Condiments

The boys playing around with the ketchup during lunch...

"Boys, stop playing with the condiments."

Brother B to Brother C: "What are condiments?"

 Brother C: "I think it's something Daddy uses."

Me: "What???!!!!???? What do you mean it's something Daddy uses?"

"Well, doesn't he like ketchup on everything?"

"Yes, yes he does."

Veterans Day 2015

Over the past several months through various activities, Brother B has become buddies with a WW II veteran, Mr. Mooney, who lives at local retirement home.

This past Saturday, Mr. Mooney hosted a Veterans Day event at the home in honor of the Vets, specifically WW II vets, who live at the home. Brother B was invited as his special guest to interview them and listen to their stories.  We enjoyed lunch with Mr. Mooney, also. 

I had my mom bring my grandmother to be a part of this as she is a WW II wife who supported my grandfather the 3 years he served in WW II. 

We all went to support Brother B, Mr. Mooney and the other Vets. We all left with a deeper ...appreciation for this generation.

Both my grandfathers served in WW II. And I am honored to keep their stories alive to Brother B.
Mr. Mooney and his fellow Vets consider it an honor to be remembered and they long for their stories to be remembered and retold. They fear that future generations will not remember the cause of WW II and the resolve this nation had in fighting this war. And, sadly, his worries and fear are well founded.

So today, I remember my grandfathers, the WW II wives, Mr. Mooney, his fellow WW II Vets and the many others who have served our nation with a resolve and a resilience that has made America the greatest nation to live.

Below, you will see Brother B with the WW II Vets and Mr. Mooney from Saturday's program.

 

Hark, the Herald Angel

Listening to Christmas music...

Brother C: "Momma, I like this song. It talks about, Hark, one of the angels at Jesus' birth."

"Who?"

"Hark. He sang at Jesus' birth."

"Son, there wasn't an angel named Hark. Hark means, to 'pay attention or listen'...so when it says 'Hark, the herald angels sing'...it means to listen, they are announcing his birth."

"Are you sure, his name wasn't Hark? This song says it was."

"No, baby, his name wasn't Hark...it was Gabrielle."

"Then why doesn't it say Gabrielle."

"I.Do.Not.Know."

The Science of Shells

The past few weeks our science chapter has been about mollusks. When finishing the chapter, we organized the shells we have collected from our past beach vacations.  It was fun going through our collection understanding what kind of shell it is and what kind of sea animal used to live in it. 

This wasn't a project suggested by the author of the book so I can kind of had to create this myself.  I had our boys take one of their shoe boxes and make small compartments to organize the shells within each compartment.  I intentionally didn't participate too much allowing them to use their own skills to create the actual box. 

It's always fun to see their finished products.  It is usually a direct reflection of each of their personalities.  Brother B is typically detailed and more analytical in his approach.  Brother C is typically a little more whimsical finding details to be overwhelming and restricting.  You will see the difference below in their final creation.  It makes me smile each time I look at it because I love each of their personalities. 

When we do these types of projects, I do not grade them and I usually do not make them redo them unless I know they intentionally didn't do their best.  But each of these boxes were done with intent, pride and care.  While the project was to reinforce the lessons we had just learned, it was also intended to reinforce creativity, problem solving and start till finish. 

It's assignments, projects and lessons like this, that make me enjoy homeschooling!


Brother B...organized and exact with details

 

 

 

 

Brother C...a little more 'whimsical' with less details