Homeschool Fun

We've been talking about knights and castles recently. Today we talked about the code of chivalry and I knighted Will after making him promise to keep the code. Then I told him we have to call him Sir William, to which he bashfully replied, "no you don't! I'm not a knight." I told him that there was no difference between what we just did and what knights did and he said that I wasn't a knight or the king. I said, "I'm the Queen!" To which he responded, "No you're not, you're the mom." Fine, he doesn't want to play pretend with me. But the code of chivalry is a really good reminder of all the things we've been trying to teach our kids, especially the parts about exhibiting manners! But there's lots of other good stuff about not taking advantage of people, being loyal and honest, and protecting family and church.

Cheese taste test (out of 9 cheeses the only one they didn't like was mozzarella...they even liked the brie!) from when we talked about France, Versailles, and the fate of King Louis and Marie Antoinette verses the fate of the French peasant Joan of Arc. Ruth decided she'd still rather be a queen and just do a better job of it than Marie!

We had just talked about the vikings and their importance in creating the French and British navies...then what happened to pull into our bay, literally a 5 minute walk from our home? Lady Washington and the Hawaiian Chieftain!

Oregon Trip

Birthday

Today is my 29th birthday! And I think this is one of the best birthdays ever, especially in the last 7 years since having children. Brad was home all day and cooked amazing food. I got to sit and watch conference and relax and do exactly what I felt like doing. It was fabulous and I was completely spoiled. 

Breakfast: caramel french toast, sausage patties, fresh berries and custard.

Brunch: lox on a jalapeno bagel and fresh squeezed, icy orange juice

Lunch: 3 cheese grilled cheese and home-made creamy tomato-basil soup with fresh mozzarella balls.

Hail storm

Brad in the kitchen doin' his thing

Bacon wrapped, goat cheese poppers

Ruth wrote a song and then performed a swan dance to Will's drumming. It was very sweet.

We were so full from all the goodies that we skipped dinner (we're saving it for tomorrow) and went right to dessert! Cookie dough ice cream on triple chunk brownies with peanut butter and hot fudge!

Easter Playgroup

I started a weekly playgroup that meets at church every Thursday morning. A friend suggested we do an egg hunt today, which I was a little hesitant about...I'm not really a party thrower. I sent out a text message to everybody to bring eggs, or not, either way we'd have a hunt this week. Caroline hid all the eggs. She brilliantly hid them in two areas. There was a 2 and under area in the flower bushes and a 3+ group in the grass and trees. 

Everybody loved it and no one was run over!

Claire, of course, begged for help to climb the tree after seeing Ruth and Will up there. Once I stuck her up there I couldn't get a smile to save my life. She was convinced she was going to fall off.

Kids

 These are some pictures from recently that I never posted, but really like.

I really like this picture because she looks so thoughtful and calm

I like this picture of Ruth. She looks so grown up for my Ruthie-bear, but still young.

I like this picture of Buddy because it reminds me how strong he's become. He's not a little kid anymore, and he's not as intimidated by things any more.

I love this picture because it shows their personalities: Ruth is very studious and Will is a goof ball who LOVES to goad his sisters.