Five again

1.  We've had unseasonably beautiful weather!
It's nice not to be too hot and humid.  We enjoyed a trip to the park this week.  T climbed up several slides all by himself, and I enjoyed watching him try to prance around the sidewalk.  He is getting stronger on his feet.  He's been walking for several months now, but he can't step up and down very much yet.  So watching him do that little skip-step was fun for me.  In the last picture, he had crawled into a little tunnel that has circular windows.  Then I played peek-a-boo-you-got-me with him.  :)

2.  Bubble Mania
This was a fun event that we attended.  The Bubble Mania"c" was a really good entertainer - he interacted with the audience and had the stage presence of a circus performer.  He manipulated bubbles, put bubbles inside bubbles, put bubbles outside bubbles, made a square bubble, put fog inside bubbles, and ... put on a good show.  We arrived 30 minutes early, and the line was already out the door and up the stairs (the auditorium is on a lower level).  The show actually started 10 minutes early, because we were seated to capacity by then, and they were turning people away.

3.  Piano Practice
I love to hear/watch my daughter practice piano.  I have given her the "first" piano lesson several times - trying when she was 4, 5, 6. This year, she has shown ready understanding, everything is "clicking" for her, and it has been easy to get her going and watch her take off.  She is at the end of her first book and will start the next level this week.

4.  My eye
I didn't take a lot of pictures this week, and in part, it's because I've been sick!  My eye got an infection - I think related to a headache and congestion (and some vertigo) I also experienced during the timeframe.  It made me a little bit nervous to see my eye swollen half-shut and red, and to wonder if I'd still be able to see well.  I consider my eyesight to be one of the hugest blessings in my life, since I am the only one of my immediate family without glasses.  The jury is still out on the kids.  On Thursday, I decided I was ready to be all better, and by Saturday I didn't have to have tissues on hand.

5.  Homeschooling Workshop
I attended a homeschooling workshop on Saturday to make sure I understand all the laws of Alabama and to meet other homeschooling families and such.  It was good.  I heard some interesting homeschooling stories, and decided which church school we will join.  In Alabama, it's not exactly considered homeschooling - that is there is no offical legislation on homeschooling.  What you do is join a cover school or umbrella school - in particular a church school - because church schools are exempt from having to have their teachers state-certified and lesson plans approved, etc.  This take on things allows a lot of liberty, although with continued increase interest in homeschooling, it will be interesting to watch if new legislation comes out.  This year, in fact, a new law was passed on how to become your own private school - but again it's just a lot of hoops, so most homeschooling families will use a church school.  The workshop also gave me some time to reflect on the reasons we homeschool.  When you know your "why," everything else falls into place.

Five on Sunday

1.  Cousins
We had so much fun with cousins K & E!  They stopped for the night on a road trip.  These cousins love playing with each other.  We made some double chocolate chip cookies knowing they were coming, and they ate them for breakfast!

2.  Petting Farm
We also went to a petting farm with our cousins.  They had a lot of fun - the male peacock displayed his beautiful feathers.  E enjoyed feeding the animals - "especially those poor goats," she said.  Yes, Honey, I'm sure they were starving.  ;)

3.  Dress Like a Cow Day
The kids had Chick-Fil-A free ice dream coupons ... but we happened to pick the day to go that was also Dress up like a Cow day for a free entree.  It was a little more crowded than we anticipated, but at least we got a picture with a cow!  :)  A good photo op makes everything worth it, right?  :)

4.  Petting a yellow-footed tortoise
We attended a fun event about reptiles - the children got to view up close several reptiles, including an African bullfrog, a boa constrictor, a legless lizard, and an Argentinian lizard (Tegu, perhaps? it was big), and some others I'm probably forgetting.

5.  More Cousins Pics
Because they're cute.  But don't tell them I said so; it might go to their heads.

5 for the Fourth of July

1.  First, Buying the Fireworks
Benji had a lot of fun picking out fireworks to shoot off for the 4th.

2.  More Birthday Celebrating
We got an ice cream cake to celebrate T a second time, with Grandma & Grandpa.  T is our only summer baby, after all!

3.  Playing Together
It is always special to me to see these brothers playing together.  I can't say it happens often, but I know it will happen more and more often as T gets older.  T got the vehicle on the right for a birthday present from Grandma & Grandpa.  All the kids enjoy playing with it.  The main floor of our house is like a square with a room in each corner, with the stairs in the center.  J goes around and around the loop as fast as he can!

4.  Hair chalk
E begged and begged for some hair chalk one day.  When she offered her own money, I agreed to pay an additional $3 to cover it.  Then once home, she and I were both a bit disappointed in the chalk.  It is not very easy to apply, and it is very subtle, unless you spend a long time putting a ton of chalk on your hair.  She was sick last Sunday, and the above is one of things she did while I was at church.  She did it all herself, too.  She was ready to wash it off almost immediately, so I snapped a quick picture, first.

5.  Sparkler Fun
My phone doesn't take great pictures in the dark, so this will have to do.  We picnicked with Grandma & Grandpa then visited until dark.  The sparklers were fun, and then when it got darker, Benji directed the fireworks display.  No hazards, even though one strand of firecrackers fizzled out before it was done, and Benji lit it again with very little fuse.  T watched the festivities, but was pretty sleepy by this point.