San Jacinto Monument Field Trip

We have School Field Trips at the end of the school year every year. This year they bused the 4th graders out to San Jacinto Monument.
And we didn't have to wait till we got there to have something to look at. At many of the refineries they had these awesome paintings of the San Jacinto Battle. Pretty cool.

So here's the Monument. It stands 15 ft higher than Washington DC Memorial. Very impressive.

And VERY BIG!

Here are all the crazy 4th graders. I can't believe they got them all to stay put for this shot.

This picture's for Uncle Ryan. There was quite a cool museum inside, with originals of everything. So here's your original Confederate Flag. Not quite as bright as the ones you see today, but still impressive.

Swords, guns, knifes...they had about 50 of everything, so all the boys were in Heaven. Just the kind of stuff a 9 year old wants to look at at the museum.

And yes, it was hot outside, this is TX after all. We discovered the AC vent was pretty good at cooling you off and buffing you up. This is Cody, our back fence neighbor.

London and a couple of friends. I'll catch their names later.

So you can ride the elevator up to the observation deck and look across that pond to this Battleship. Next time we come to the monument we're heading over here to have a walk around on this. Notice the tiny buses, that'll give you an idea of how big that ship is.

And then this is what else surrounds the monument. Swamps and water.

More artifacts in the Museum part. This is an actual letter signed by Santa Anna. I could sit here and tell you all about the San Jacinto Battle, but it'd take an awfully long time. I'll give you the basics that this is were Texas earned their Independence from Mexico. This battle happened after the battle of the Alamo. But for more details I'm gonna say Goggle it, then you'll know everything else. :)

And Santa Anna's glove. I thought it was pretty cool that they had something like this.

So then you have the actual battleground. Complete swampy area. I really don't know how they fought out there.

And the monument from the Battlefield perspective. The star on top weighs something like 20 tons.

How would you like to fight out here? It's too pretty to think of what really happened here.

So on the drive home I passed this church with the hugest cross I've ever seen. I thought it was a nice way to end this Post, seeing as how many men died during this Battle.

Space Derby

Cub Scouts is not just about the Pine Wood Derby, there's also the Space Derby. And that's what we did this week. Check out all these crazy boys! And they really do act like this all the time.

Time for the Wind Up. They got 1 min to wind it as many times as they could. They had to tape their fingers because frequently that blade flips back and it WILL cut you (got me 3 times last year).

But in the end the Dad's got to mount them on the track. Our little ship definitely looked the coolest, but we had issues with the rubber bands inside and unfortunately it never made it off the mounting block.
But as you can see we all still had a good time. Crazy Sicily, cheering on her London.

Pre-School Graduation

He did it!! He's done!!
These kids were the funnest group ever to teach. We had a blast every time they came to my house. And we covered just about every subject under the sun, loving every minute of it. Thank you all you Moms for teaching my Phoenix, and thank you for letting me teach your adorable children.

Now onto the Graduation Party.

A little sun, a little water, throw in some snow cones and you have to best Pre-School Graduation Party ever.

But everyone does need a little break every now and again.

Awards Assembly

Awards Assembly was at school today. Aspen at 10:00, London at 1:30. Somehow I made it to both, with the help of a neighbor who came over during the little ones naps, thanks Sonja.

London got lots of awards this year, but the best was his Commended for the TAKS (Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills). He got 100% on Reading and Math, and only missed 1 on Writing. These tests are a big deal, kind of like ACT for 4th Grade. Way to go London!! We're so proud of you.

Here's his class with our teacher Mrs. Jacobs. They all did so good.
And 2 good friends from class, L-R, Star, London and Jacob. Gotta love cheesy boys.
Aspen's in 1st Grade, so her Awards Assembly was held in her class room with cookies at the end. Much to Phoenix and Sicily's pleasure. She was "last the best" with Walker for a last name, and knew it was her turn so she stood up before her name was even called.

Aspen was Awarded for EVERYTHING a 1st grader can be awarded for. Way to go Aspen!

This is Mrs. Hobbs our teacher. She just loves Aspen and gave her a special "Lifesaver" candy Award for always helping everyone in need, especially Mrs. Hobbs. Aspen frequently helped her fellow classmates with their work when she had finished her own, or read to the class while Mrs. Hobbs finished her work. Good Job Aspen!

Memorial Day

When you live rather close to the coast and it's been in the 90's all week, the best thing to do on Memorial Day is go to the Beach. Wooooo Hooooo! We were there from 8:00-3:00. We are all burnt, but not too bad, since this year we remembered to reapply the sunblock.

We brought Charlie along for the ride. We had to physically lift him into the truck, lazy bum. But he had the time of his life for his first water experience.
Phoenix with the wake board. He did good and even caught a few waves.

Phoenix and Addison's feet (our friend) on the blow up floaty mattress. They had a blast pushing each other over.

Jared/Sicily, with Aspen/Julie. Love the floaties.

For an example of the wonderfulness of things that float, enjoy the video.

So when things finally calmed down, we made some new friends and castles to go with 'em.

Those boys tried really hard to beat the girls, but they were just too slow. And built a bit to close to the water. Didn't you ever hear of the "wise man" and the "foolish man?" I mean, come on boys.

Time for some cool down, and what better place to eat some watermelon. Cause when you're all done you just jump back in the water and wash off. Gotta love the beach.

Back to Charlie. He loves the water.

But mostly I couldn't get him off my tail. He was about 2 ft behind me all day.

Shake, shake, shake! I think he shook on everyone at least once.

POOF!

Give you 2 guesses what she's doing.

Don't forget to wash your hands.

And let's not forget all the creatures we found on the beach. No we didn't catch these, but some nice people let us take pictures with their Sea Trout.

They also caught this Hammer Head.

And this Jelly Fish with their casting net. But we did catch this little guy.

And all his friends.

Hope you all enjoyed your Memorial Day, and didn't get as Sunburned as us. By the way Phoenix says his skin is red because he ate so many Hot Cheetos.

Calvin & Hobbs Dinner Time

I grew up in a family that was devoted to the Comics. That was the only thing I ever read out of the Newspaper. And one of my all time favorites was Calvin & Hobbs. This story may remind you of one of his.

Phoenix has taken to not wanting to eat ANYTHING ever placed in front of him. Unless, of course, it's Mac & Cheese and Hot Dogs. So we have a struggle every night to get him to stop whining and start eating. This was the latest conversation to convince him to eat:

Mom: Eat your soup!
Phoenix: What is it?
M: It's Sticky Green Soup (Cream of Broccoli for all you non-Walkers)
P: What's in it?
M: Cow Eye Balls.
P: What? ... Really?
M: Yes, but I had to chop them up because they gross me out when I see them. So they're the little white chunks in there. (onions)
P: Why's it green then?
M: Oh! That's the caterpillars (broccoli). When you cook them up they turn soupy.
So he finally tries it.
P: It's pretty good. (another spoonful) Those chunkeys are the eyeballs?
M: Yes!

He ate the whole bowl.

Mind this was a family dinner. Trying to convince Phoenix of all this while getting London and Aspen to keep quiet and get Jared to stop laughing was a major feat.

1st Grade Class Party

Our wonderful 1st Grade teacher invited her entire class to her home for an end of the year Class Party. It was so fun to meet all the parents, see the kids interact and really get to know Aspen's teacher.

Our mascot is the Navigators, nick-named The Gators. So this cute cake was made in honor of that, it even has all the kids names written on his scales.

And what good is a party with out a crazy slide bouncy castle. She even had a slushy machine, which was good seeing as it was 95 degrees at least, with 90% humidity. Those kids faces were bright shiny red the entire time. Why don't kids feel heat?

That's Mrs. Hobbs cutting the cake, and of course there's Aspen sitting on the counter, you'll even notice Sicily there in the background. Aspen just loves Mrs. Hobbs, and I know the feeling's mutual. Aspen's a bit of a teachers pet.

Thanks Mrs. Hobbs for a wonderful school year, and an excellent party.

FHE Twister Night

Aspen was in charge of our Family Home Evening Activity. And she chose the best game in the world, Twister. It was hilarious to watch, especially when they don't exactly know their Lefts and Rights all that well.
I must admit it's easy to forget where your right and left are when your twisted all together. And sometimes it's a bit hard to not squish your own kid. Especially the one not playing that just wants to play Army.

And just so you know, Twister is the best form of Yoga there is.

Aspen at Swim Team

We're only a few weeks into it, but we are loving Swim Team. Here's a few shots of Aspen getting ready to show her stuff.
Dripping wet, she just finished her lap. They go strong for 45 mins 4 days a week. Back and Forth laps the entire time. Go Aspen!

Morning Walk

Since it's no longer freezing in the mornings and also not too hot we've started our Morning Walks again. We saw quite a few fun things and had a lot of good Science lessons.

Though Phoenix was riding his bike, he was quick to spot this fuzzy caterpillar amongst some flowers.

Yes, Sicily is wearing a bib, she tends to sleep-in in the mornings so she had her breakfast while we walked. She had a tough time of keeping Charlie away from her bagel and boiled egg.
I do have an alarm that wakes me in the mornings but this is what I typically wake up to. RIGHT OUTSIDE MY WINDOW! Pretty sure it's a Mocking Bird. Yes, it's pretty cool, but I am not a fan when I'm in bed, though I did enjoy making this video. It amazes me how many sounds one bird can make.

And Phoenix's favorite, the Worm Tree. I loved these when I was a kid.

Spring Cleaning

Most people this time of year start to empty out the closets and cabinets in order to make more room for more things. Well for a rather long time Jared has been in denial about his hat collection. As you can see there are 14 hats that were found all over the house now gathered in one area as PROOF that he needs to get rid of some of his hats. By the way, this does not count the 15th hat that was on his head at work today.
Aspen was kind enough to inform her dad that, "He does have a pretty fat head, so maybe he does need a lot of hats." Funny enough, Jared just laughed this off, almost in agreement. I think that's a pretty lame excuse to keep 15 hats.

Laundry Day

It is a common past time of my children to pile the laundry on top of each other. After a good 20 mins of this this morning I was sick of waiting to be allowed to actually wash the laundry. So after Phoenix was kind enough to put it all in the basket, I picked it up and did my laundry.

As you can see it wasn't all just clothes, and Phoenix was non too happy to part with his game.

The Joy of 2 Year Olds

Sometimes I wonder where my kids come up with the things that they say. But when I really sit down and think about it I know they get most of it from me. So here's the latests:

Phoenix, "I don't want to take a bath"
Sicily, "Tooooo Baaaaad!"

Mommy, "K, guys we're at Daddy's office so we need to be nice and quiet."
Sicily, "Someone seeping?"
Daddy, "Sometimes"

Mommy, "1....2...."
Sicily, "3 - Timeout"

After dropping her sunglasses on the floor, Sicily, "Cwap!" I've since tried to correct her and I on this word to saying "Nuts!" But 2 days later she dropped her fork at dinner and "Cwap!" came out again. CRAP! I mean, NUTS!

And last but cutest:
Mommy, "Let's go on the Elevator"
Sicily, "Yeah, de alligator!"

It's Raining It's Pouring

She's learning new songs everyday and this was just too cute to pass up.

More Yucky Bugs

This is one of the first bugs I've even bothered to catch and add to our bug collection since we left Australia. He's HUGE! And I have no idea what it is.

Phoenix and Sicily actually discovered him on the trampoline while they were jumping. They panicked and said there was a bug, so I told them to spray it with the hose. Well, 2 mins later Sicily was screaming for help to get down so I finally went to see "the bug." HOLY COW!! No wonder she was freaking out. I was actually a bit nervous to capture him, not sure if he could fly. And those big, creepy, wiggly antenna were not my favorite.

Just a side note, I put him in the freezer for 12 hours before we put him in the bug collection.

Mix and Match

For one of the few times in their lives I let the kids dress themselves for school today. As you can see, they did a very fine job of it.

But just so you know they were supposed to dress like this today. No matching! Aren't they cute. I love when they get to do fun things at school.

Crazy Girls

Aspens nick name has always been "Little Monkey." She's always been one crazy little girl, and her baby sister is following right in her footsteps. I'm just glad they get along so well even though there's a 5 year gap. It's always great to have an older/baby sister.

This is the Sicily Sumo Stance. She'll strike this pose any random time of the day. The best part is when she then walks around in this squat position. She just thinks she is just the funniest thing. Which I have to admit, we all crack up when she does this.
Not sure what was going on here. Random blank stares do occur every now and again. But it's rare to catch it on film. I just thought this shot was hilarious.