Defying Gravity

The fun thing about school this year is that I get to teach whatever I want for science.  For example, I could take a whole month and teach my kids about the science of glass blowing if I wanted.  But I don't.  We chose space instead.  Nothing warms a homeschooling mama's heart more than seeing her children dress up like Neil Armstrong and crew during their free play.

After we finished our unit, we pulled out the butcher paper, glitter, glue and markers and went to town drawing whatever we could think of.  We thought up a lot of spacy stuff.

And then, coincidence!  We happen to live kinda close to the Kennedy Space Center, so... field trip!

These kids are nerds.  They loved everything about the museum and ran from one exhibit to the next shouting, "Hey!  I know about this!  That's ...."  They sounded so smart they must have a really awesome teacher this year.

This was also the first time I decided to leave the big camera at home and just rely on my little camera phone to capture the memories.  She did a great job and I've grown fond of her since.

Some of our favorite things from the day included the Atlantis Exhibit, the Angry Birds Exhibit (which really had not-so-much to do with space, but had so many ipads and games that the kids could hardly be torn away) and, of course for Carson, food.

The kids even got to meet a real astronaut.  Though, Miles hid behind the safety of Daddy's leg the whole time.  Astronauts are scary.

We learned a bunch more about space.  And entered into massive giggling fits when we read through this exhibit.

Let's just say that there are cameras involved inside the toilet bowl so the astronauts can make sure everything is aligned properly before letting loose.  No one wants poor aim when there's no gravity... I think I want one for my boys.

Everyone was exhausted by the end of the day which, in my opinion, is pretty great.

 And after the day, who knows?  Maybe we'll have an astronaut in the family someday. (But they'll have to work on their aim first.)

Sandy or Snowy... Christmas feels like Christmas

 

I grew up with snowy Christmases.  And still, nothing feels quite as cozy to me as sitting inside a warm house on a comfy couch, dressed in a sweater, wrapped in a favorite fuzzy blanket, and sipping hot cocoa as the snow falls outside.

It doesn't seem like that is going to happen this year.

I'm a rather sentimental soul, so I wondered how I would react to Christmastime when the temperatures stayed in the shorts-and-swimmingsuit numbers.  Especially after I felt Halloween was an imposter plugging itself right into the middle of my summer.

Turns out the spirit of Christmas doesn't really care if it's sandy or snowy.

I love Jesus Christ.  Really, I do.  And the warm testimony I have of him, and the intense gratefulness I have for what he has done for me is, of course, always kindled during Christmastime.  This year almost feels more intense because I'm surrounded by what are, in my opinion, some of the crowning masterpieces of his creations.  

Waves, clouds, filtered sunlight, breezes, salty air, breathtaking sunrises and sunsets, the warm blanket of humidity... all these things are wrapping me in the warmth of this season and touching my heart in that cozy way hot cocoa, sweaters and snow have done in the past. 

It also helps that we have a few tried and true traditions that make it feel familiar.  Christmas music sounds the same no matter where it's played, and the decorated Christmas tree looks the same no matter where it stands.  Also, this group...

Even though we do miss so many wonderful people, I have a feeling this year will go down as one of the best.

And hopefully we'll get enough Christmas cards to fill up our door and make it seem like we're not *quite* so lonely.

Merry Christmas, friends.

On the Move

Oh. My. Heavens.  This little guy is just about the cutest thing in my life right now.  Actually, I take that back.  He certainly is the cutest thing.  He's been changing like crazy over the past couple of months - this phase of life is one of my favorites... learning so many new things in such a short amount of time.  And Timothy is so easy-going and happy that there is almost none of the stress that usually accompanies a baby.

Sweet Timothy... you are certainly a gift to our family.

And in the past couple of months you have become m.o.b.i.l.e.  I sort of preferred you sitting in the same place for hours on end... but this is cute too.  And, bonus, I get to collect a quarter from any of your siblings that leave out small things on the floor!  I think I'm going to get rich off of this arrangement.

It all started with the roll, of course.  You toyed around with the idea of it for a few weeks - rocking from side to side, but too scared to actually toss your head over your shoulder to give you enough momentum.  I was fine with that. 

 But, eventually, you figured it out.

 And I made you do it over, and over and over again.

Mama, you want me to do it again?!

Okay... let's see.  First, I start with my hands over here... like this.

And then... one arm goes up... woah! This is the fun part!

 And I end up like this.

See?  No big deal.

After you mastered the roll, you started planking.

I think the planking phase had something to do with these hard tile floors you're working with.  Sorry about that...

Of course, from here it was only a matter of time before you found your knees and started rocking back and forth.  And then one day you picked up your hand off the floor and that was the end of it!  Off you went after the desire of your heart.  A marker.

After I realized I'd taken all of those pictures with a fuzzy lens (ocean spray is the worst when you're trying to keep your lenses clean!) we took you back out to get you to crawl again.  This time we grabbed a giant blue Lego.  You thought about it...

... geared up for it...

... and after agonizing over it, ultimately decided it wasn't worth the effort and sat back down.

So, we went and found that red marker again.

That got you back up ... you weren't very happy about it, but boy did that little determined face show up!  With every little step I could just hear you cheering yourself on, 'I think I can, I think I can, I think I can...'

Great job, buddy.  You're the cutest little mover around.

Scrambled Thoughts IX

*Sometimes when I ask people to clean the playroom, they hide in giant beanbag covers and play the piano instead.

*Sometimes Carson can't tell the difference between his body and his shadow.

That boy is so connected to his shadow I feel like I need to make an extra plate of food for it.  I think it has something to do with the dream he has of being a robot dancer.  Really.  That's a real dream.  He watches his shadow as he jerks his limbs around in robot-fashion.  He's getting pretty good...

*Sometimes I wish I were a baby again and could get thrown up in the air and kissed and cuddled.

The laughs from TK prove how fun it is.  But then I get my face spit-up on and decide that being a baby wouldn't actually be that fun after all.

Oh, wait.  Does that actually mean that being the mom wouldn't actually be that fun?  Either way.  Spit-up is gross.

*Sometimes I give my kids heavy weights and throw them in the pool.

Now they think that the heavy weights are actual pool toys and are confused when I don't always let them tie the weights around their waists to help them walk along the bottom of the pool.  Also, I guess I'm not quite patient enough to stick with it to get a good picture.  Carson kept dropping his weight, and the other two kept needing to come up for breath.  I told them they didn't really need to breathe, but they didn't listen.  We'll try again another day.

*Sometimes I wonder why I have seven boxes of band-aids in my drawers. 

Then I remember about the magical properties of band-aids and how they can solve almost all of the world's problems.

*Sometimes Timothy fits in a little too well with the other kids.

And Mario doesn't seem to be the best option for the baby... believe me, I've tried.  He just eats the Wii remotes.

*McKenzie makes a creepy ghost.  

Creepy, huh?

*Sometimes when you make a rental car reservation, they forget to make sure a car is there for you when you need it. 

When Brian, TK and I landed in Vegas at 10:45pm (1:45am our time), we shuffled our tired bodies to the car rental place where we soon learned that there was a long line of people who had reserved cars... but there were no actual cars.  After standing in the line waiting for them to 'find' some for over an hour, we decided to cancel that reservation and pay a bit more to get a car from another company. 
"It's like that Seinfield episode where Jerry is in this same situation," Brian joked to the young man behind the counter of the alternate rental company.  "You know the one where Jerry is talking to the reservation desk and says, 'I know you know how to make a reservation.  I just don't think that you know how to keep a reservation.'"  The young man behind the counter smiled a little with confused eyebrows, glanced at Brian's face from the corner of his eye and said,
"How old are you?"
Turns out Seinfield is an older generation thing these days.

*Speaking of Brian.

This photo makes my heart feel warm every time I look at it.  Somehow the camera lens is more than invisible in this photo, it disappears for me, and I just see those tender eyes and that gentle smile looking right into my soul.  I know this look so. so. well.  It's this look I see when I'm feeling insecure or unloved by the world and the people in it.  How I ever got so lucky to have a man look at me like this is beyond me... but he loves me down to the deepest parts of my insecurities.

It's this reassuring look and the meaning behind it that give me wings to fly, "Silly Linds... you don't need to feel insecure.  I love you!  Oh.  So much."

And doesn't every girl need to hear that sometimes?!