The OTHER pictures

Lynnette over at Dancing Again is having a fun link-up today. The idea is to make a post using all those less-than-perfect pictures we all have that never seem to make it onto the blog. She says, "Let's show the less than perfect, goofy, strange, odd, and unusual side of the ones we love." Sounds like fun to me!

Apparently Sierra's invisible friend recently had a birthday.

Why my hair is suddenly turning gray...

I promise we feed her.

Cheyenne, why so blue?

 I think they were both really excited to have their picture taken, don't you?

Wonder why no one sat by us...

 Dakota looks a little concerned about her potential sparring partner!

I think he said yes!

You just can't take some people out in public!

Not sure if this is shocked, angry, or mid-sneeze.

Dakota giving a reenactment of how she felt during the 30 Hour Famine.

 This is what she calls a "sassy pose".

So, now that you've had a good laugh at us, go over and check out Lynnette's post. She has some good ones!

WW-Tag! You're It!

Fun-filled weekend

This weekend was a busy one, as usual. When we got home from the Renaissance Fair on Friday, we loaded Sierra and Cheyenne up for their camping trip with Grandpa and Grandma. They headed out for a weekend of playing in the sand dunes at Little Sahara State Park.

 

It was awfully quiet in our house with only 1/2 the kids at home!

 

Friday evening, Dakota and I went into town for her Tae Kwon Do class and to pick up some calizone for dinner. Yum!

 

Saturday morning, we had to get up early (for us) for Landon's 8:45 Tae Kwon Do class. As soon as class was over, we hurried downtown to get a good spot for the Armed Forces Day parade. Grandma Debbie and Dakota met us there. It was fun! There were lots of airplane and helicopter fly-overs, several bands, military vehicles, fire trucks, and more. Landon's favorite part was the candy. He got a ton! 

 

When the parade was over, our group split up again. Grandma Debbie and Landon ventured out to the airport to check out the planes, helicopters, and kids' activities there, while Dakota and I went back to Tae Kwon Do (sometimes I feel like I should just bring my sleeping bag on Friday night and save a trip home. Ha!) Landon got to climb the rock wall for his first time ever. 

 

We met up again for lunch, then Landon and I set out for home. It was Dakota's turn to spend the night with Grandma Debbie, so we were on our own for the rest of the afternoon.

 

I had already been warned by Landon that he didn't want to do any "lame stuff" while the girls were gone. My allergies were going crazy after two days of being outside in the wind, so we were limited to indoor activities. We decided to bake a cake.

 

Landon had so much fun! Usually, he has to take turns putting in ingredients or stirring. Without any sisters here to share with him, he got to do EVERYTHING himself. 

 

 

 Cracking the eggs is a big deal at our house. Usually the cake mix calls for 3 eggs, which is really hard to split between four kids-someone always gets left out. It was a great moment when he realized he got to crack all three eggs! It's all about the little things.

 

 

 His reward for being such a great baker!

 

 

It came out great!

 

 

He even insisted on frosting it all by himself.

 

 

Since we were already in the cooking mode, I also let him help me peel potatoes. My kids LOVE to peel potatoes and I don't take the time to let them do it often enough. It took twice as long and there were peels everywhere when we were finished, but it was worth it. 

While I was finishing up dinner, Landon went out to play and ride the buggy with Daniel. 

Sunday morning, Landon and I went out for breakfast together at McDonald's before church. We had a little extra time, so he played on the playground for a few minutes. There were a couple of little boys around his age to play with and they had so much fun! He doesn't get a chance to play with little boys very often! 

It was a special day at church on Sunday-the new indoor playground was finally open. Landon and I spent about 10 minutes in there after church. It is so cool! 

After church, there was more Tae Kwon Do and then we picked up a couple of tired, dirty little girls from Grandpa and Grandma's house. The kids played outside for a while until it was time for dinner. The camping girls had showers, and then we hung out in the living room eating popcorn and watching The Blind Side until bedtime. Sierra couldn't make it through the movie after so much fun. She fell asleep on the couch.

I love busy, fun weekends! For the past 4 weekends, one or more of the girls have spent at least one night away from home. I'm looking forward to having everyone together under one roof this weekend!

Friday, our homeschool group took a field trip to The Castle at Muskogee for the Renaissance Fair. We had a great time!  We are definitely planning on going again next year!

When we arrived at the gates, we were greeted by members of The Royal Gauntlet and their awesome birds of prey. It was so cool to see these beautiful animals up close.

 

 We walked around and saw lots of cool things. The kids really liked watching this guy on stilts.

 

 Everyone got to help with an oil painting. The artist said by the end of the day over 200 people would have helped with the painting. We looked for him when we were leaving, but he wasn't there. Wish we could've seen how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

They got a lesson on how to use the juggling sticks. Cheyenne was really good at it.

 

Then, we found a "real" knight.

 

 

We went into the castle where the kids sat on the king's throne.

 

 Then, they tried out the guillotine.

 

 

 

 Back outside, we passed by the knights on horseback. They were going to be jousting later in the day. That is on our list of things to do when we come next year! Can't wait!

 

The kids were really interested in watching the potter. They sat and watched her for quite a while.

 

As we were watching the potter, the Royal Family came by leading a parade!

 

We had time for a couple more things before we had to leave. 

Rope making was fun!

 

 

Landon got to try on some chain mail. I think he has a little more growing to do before it will fit!

 

A couple of fun pictures, and it was time to go.

 

 

What a fun day!

 

When we got home, Sierra and Cheyenne loaded up and headed out on their camping adventure with Grandpa and Grandma. I know they're going to have a great time. Sierra's been begging to go camping for months. She was so excited! I can't wait to here all about it when they get home!

  

Mmmmmmoon phases!

In science, we are still learning about the solar system with Apologia Exploring Creation with Astrology. So far, we've learned about the sun, Mercury, Venus, and Earth. Now, we are studying Earth's moon. 

Last week, we did a fun activity to help us remember the phases of the moon. I've seen this many times on Pinterest and couldn't wait to try it out with the kids!

All you need are some paper plates and a bag of chocolate cookies with cream filling. You can print labels for the phases from the computer like I did, or you can use a marker and write them directly on the plate. If I was only doing it with the older kids, I probably would have made them write the words themselves. For the sake of time with the younger ones, I decided to help them out a little.

First, glue the labels around the plate like this:

 

Next, take the cookies apart and shape the cream to look like each phase of the moon (the chocolate part represents the sky, the cream represents the moon). There are two methods of shaping the cream.

You can cut it into the correct shape like this:

 

Or, if you prefer, you can do it like this:

 

But, whatever you do, don't eat the leftover chocolate pieces yet. You might need them later if you break one. (guess I should have said that ahead of time.)

 

 When you get each cookie and cream shaped the way you want it, place it on the plate next to the correct label.

When you get all the phases of the moon done, THEN you can eat them! 

 

Yum!