Homeschool Club

The kids and I are part of a Homeschool Club here in North Pole. They meet twice a month - once for a field trip and once for a "club" day. This past Friday, we had Theater Club and all of the kids broke into their different age groups and got to do skits for everyone. Lexie's group did "No more monkeys jumping on the bed", Kate did 2 - "Caps for Sale" and "The Three Little Pigs" and Ellie did a skit where she was an adventurer (or maybe a miner?) who had fallen and needed medical attention. The other kids dragged her around and she had to be "worked on" They all did such a great job! Here are some pictures from their afternoon of fun :)

Morphing Snowman

After a number of days near 40 degrees, our poor snowman has melted into this very strange looking being. He has lost everything but his carrot nose - and he is soon to lose his entire head :) Of course it has cooled down and has been snowing again, so he may have another transformation coming! (Yes this is the same snowman we made in November that I posted a picture of in November and January)

Our Trip to Delta Junction

We've been cooped up for months, unable to leave town. Andy had a Friday off and the weather has been in the low 40s (which seems incredibly warm to us now) so we decided to take a drive out of town and head down to Delta Junction (south of us). Well, there isn't much there :) We took the kids to eat at a little diner. They just loved it, because there was a toy train circling around near the ceiling. It kept Nick busy (he's definitely into all modes of transportation right now - especially trains and helicopters!) This first picture is of Quartz Lake (on the way back). Notice that there is a truck parked ON the lake next to the ice fishing hut. I for one wouldn't want to be the one to test that out :) Here is Lexie making another one of her weird "my picture is being taken" faces.

This is the Alaska Pipeline - crossing one of the rivers. The kids thought it looked like a very strange bridge.

Here are the girls in front of the "Knotty Shop". We stopped there on the way back to get some lollipops and souvenirs (it's only about 20 minutes from our house). The front of the building is decorated in knotty burlwood and here are the animals of wood out front :)

Here is Kate, busy listening to her MP3 player on the way.

Poor Nick, Part 2

Ok, so Nick is having a really rough week. His toenail fell out today while he was playing in the playroom. We couldn't find it either. I'm just waiting for someone to bring it to me and say "Mom, what is this?" It looks really gross too - like there is a hole on the top of his toe. I'm hoping that it grows in quickly.
His toe hurts, something is chewing up his guts, and he has a really bad diaper rash (he's SCREAMING when I change him). I'm hoping that he starts feeling better soon - although I have to say that he's taking it all pretty well.

More birthday pics

Here are some more...

Lexie is 4!!

We celebrated Lexie's birthday tonight, since Andy will be in the field checking on some soldiers on Sunday. She can't seem to look normally at the camera. She thinks she needs to make a very strange face when her picture is about to be taken :) She was very happy to get some Littlest Pet Shop pets, a Barbie Mariposa doll, and a new pink robe.

Congratulations Andrea!!

My sister, Andrea took 2nd place in the World Highland Games Championships in Phoenix last weekend. Good job Andrea!! I wish we could have been there to watch - and had Ellie Highland dancing on the sidelines :) My parents flew down and spent the weekend (and my dad's birthday) there. I have to admit that Arizona sounds pretty nice right now, looking out the window at all of the snow still on the ground here.

Andrea's boyfriend, Dan, put together a cool video of her throwing. If you'd like to watch it, check her blog at : http://andreanoellethornton.blogspot.com/ and scroll halfway down the page.

Poor Nick

Last night, Nick got into the cupboard and pulled out a can of corn - which he dropped on his bare foot. It landed right on his big toenail and man did he scream! He wasn't able to sleep very well last night (so of course I wasn't either). He woke up every time he bumped in on something. He has been in my arms all morning long and cries whenever I set him down. I don't know how I'm going to get socks and shoes on him later when we leave the house.

Poor Nick :(

Thinking Day

Last night, Andy got to take the kids to Girl Scout "Thinking Day" while I was enjoying myself at Bunco down the street. Each troop made a display/presentation on a different country to show everyone else. Kate's Daisy troop had Ireland :)

Question from Lexie

The question of the day from Lexie (of course one of many - but it's been the funniest so far) was "When babies come out, do they have clothes on?"

Haircuts

Ok, so I still don't have a picture of my new haircut - I promise to post that this weekend :) Here are some pics of the girls and their new dos. (Yes, I realize Ellie's looks the same. She did get it trimmed though - and has finally decided not to part it straight down the middle).

Civil War

We are now studying the Civil War in our homeschool. I am of course looking at it from a genealogical point of view - because I can't help myself :) We have lots of ancestors who fought on both sides of the war. I have pension packets full of medical examinations, letters, etc. on so many of our ancestors that I'm hoping to use in our studies to make things more "real". It has really made me think about what a hard time that must have been to live through. Here are some of our ancestors:

My ancestors:

Hugh Robertson (my great-great-great grandfather's brother). Union. He was killed in action at Jackson, Mississippi in 1863.

Adam Potter Cavit (my great-great-great grandmother's brother). Union.

George Turner Cavit (her other brother) Union. Died of pneumonia in Louisiana in 1863.

John Henry Becker (my great-great-great grandfather). Union. He fought from Missouri.

John Edwards (my great-great-great grandfather) Union. He was born in Canada fought from Michigan.

Austin Agee (my great-great-great grandfather) Confederacy. He was from Virginia.

Samuel Edward Lee (my great-great-great grandfather) Confederacy. He also fought from VA. He was wounded in TN in the arm and couldn't use it much for the rest of his life.

Jacob Frederick Sanchez-Tereso (my great-great grandfather). He fought for the Union from IA.

Andy's ancestors:

Ward Pierce (Andy's great-great grandfather) Union. from NJ. He was wounded by a shell in the thigh at Cold Harbor.

Hedger Pierce (Andy's great-great-great grandfather) Union from NJ.

Peter Henry Weeks (Andy's great-great grandfather) Union fought from MO.

James Baker (Andy's graet-great-great grandfather). He fought for the Union from PA) He suffered from consumption (tuberculosis) until his death.

How well do you know your geography?

Here is a fun game to test your geography skills : http://www.travelpod.com/traveler-iq/game1?e31f=e7b6

I got to level 10 on the first try, but after playing several times, I didn't get past 11 - those darn African countries/cities get me every time :)

Birthday Pics

Kate's birthday is this Monday, but since Andy is going to be working, we decided to celebrate today. Here are some pictures :)

Kate's new haircut

I went to get a haircut today (and cut it pretty short I might add!). It feels so good!

I took Kate along with me and she decided to go for a change too. The stylist curled Kate's hair after her cut (Kate specified that she wanted it wavy). Here is a picture of her new hairdo :) I'll post one of mine later.

Happy Valentine's Day! from Kate

Rock Climber!

Kate's Girl Scout troop went rock climbing today and she had an absolute blast. She made it to the top twice - and in much less time than the other girls, who only made it 1/3 the way up. She's a natural :) I wish I had taken a video instead of pictures!! The top one shows just how high it was.

Tired

None of the kids have been sleeping well these past few days - which translates to Andy and I haven't been sleeping well either.... I'm not sure what the problem is, although I think Lexie is coming down with something. I am hoping to get some good sleep this weekend - we have no parties or functions to go to. The girls just have swimming class tomorrow which should be fun.
I just got home from taking all 4 of them (by myself) to Sam's Club, Fred Meyer, and the Commissary. Then of course I had to unload and put away all of the groceries (which took over an hour). I decided that I need to sit down and put my feet up for a minute or two :) I am finding that we have all but run out of room in our truck. An Expedition might seem big to some people, but it feels tiny to me. I am worried that we're going to be even more packed in there after the new baby is born. I am starting to think that I need a 15-passenger van!!! Not too stylish, but oh so roomy :)

Jennifer

Nick's checkup

I don't know what on earth I was thinking when I made Nick's checkup at 0820 in the morning. We had to get up pretty early to get them all dressed and fed and get to the appointment 15 minutes early. Nick was a trooper though. He got two shots and didn't even flinch :) He weighed 31 pounds and was 33 1/4 inches tall.
Now that we're back home and working on schoolwork, the kids are having a hard time staying awake and focusing. All three girls have dance class tonight. I'm thinking that by the time we get home at 8, they will all be ready to crash. I sure hope so. They have been staying up late and sleeping in way too late for the past month or two. I'm hoping that we'll be able to make the switch to an earlier schedule now - so that Andy and I can actually have a moment of peace in the evening before going to bed.
Well, I need to go help Kate with her math ...

My new best friend

So, I got myself a treadmill. It is too cold for walks here during the winter and it's just too hard to take all of the kids very far from the house during the summer. Now I don't have an excuse - and I can even use it while I'm pregnant. I used to have a comfy chair in front of the TV. That was moved to Ellie's room and my new treadmill has taken its place :)

Isn't he cute?

What a difference wind makes!

Today it was only 3 degrees out - which normally doesn't feel too cold. I wouldn't even bother put a coat on if I was only outside for a couple of minutes. Something was different though. There was actually a wind blowing. What a difference that makes. It felt SO cold out to me today as we were trying to get from the car to the store. I was wishing that I had put my mittens and hat on :)
The warm weather we had this past week made the roads especially icy today. I thought I was driving on an ice skating rink. I must have passed 5 people in the ditch on the way home from dance. We were taking it very slowly on the highway and I still could feel myself slipping around. I think tomorrow I will cut through post (which is longer, but the traffic is slower going and safer in my opinion).

Lexie, our little ballerina

Lexie started dance class and a yoga/gymnastics class this past week. She just loves them both!! No shyness there - she jumps right in and joins the class. Here is a picture of her before dance class this week. Today was her first "Happy Frog Yoga" class. When I picked her up after the class, the teacher asked "she's been in gymnastics classes before, right?". I told her no, but that she has older sisters and she must have picked something up along the way :)

Bad Guy Car

Ellie giving Nick a piggyback

Lexie, the big helper

Lexie was a big helper yesterday and was shoveling off the deck with Daddy. Something was going seriously crazy with my camera though - notice that their legs and bodies don't match up!!!

Our Poor Old Snowman

Our snowman has taken it pretty hard. He's still standing, but he's aged quite a bit with the extra snowfall and being weathered outside :) He even looks hobbled over! We may have to build him a newer, younger friend. The problem is that the snow that fell just doesn't stick together - you can't even make a snowball out of it :(

A Day Spent Outside :)

It is 30 degrees out today (ABOVE zero) and so we skipped church and played out in the snow with our new sled instead. It's amazing how warm 30 degrees can feel when you've been at at least 40-50 degrees lower than that for so long. Everyone has had hot cocoa and marshmallows and is now playing inside. Andy is busy making an apple pie :) Here are some pictures from today's adventures....

Blanket of Snow

We are now under a thick blanket of snow. We woke up to about 10 inches of new snow a couple of days ago and it's snowing again now. Our poor snowman that we made a couple of months ago is starting to look very distorted and the trees are drooping low with the weight of the new snow. The weather here has been warm (above 0) and I think we might actually be able to take the kids out in the yard to play this weekend :)

Queen Lexie

Busy

I know I haven't posted in a while. We've been pretty busy. Andy just got back last night from a TDY to Ft Lewis (he was only gone a few days). The kids were so jealous that he got to visit Grandma and Papa Thornton. He was about 6 hours delayed on his way back (he was stuck in Juneau). But, he made it home by about 11:00 and was up by 5 to go to work in the morning :( So, we haven't really gotten a chance to see him much yet.
It looks like we are going to be busy with all sorts of classes for the next few months. I figure we'll take some time off from everything during the summer so we can enjoy the sunlight and good weather, the new baby, and Andy before he deploys.
Ellie is going to be doing swimming, gymnastics, ballet, highland dance, acting, violin lessons, and maybe jazz.
Kate will be in pre-ballet, swimming, gymnastics, and Girl Scouts.
Lexie will be in dance class and yoga.
We're also doing a homeschool PE class twice a week and a homeschool club twice a month.
Add in doing schoolwork for 4 hours every morning and trying to keep track of Nick and Lexie during the day and I have absolutely no time left :) I did get myself a treadmill though - which I will be picking up from Sears today or tomorrow. I'm hoping to find some time in the mornings to start walking.....
I am definitely starting to feel pregnant now. I can feel the baby moving around all over the place. I'm in that really frustrating middle stage right now. My regular pants are too tight, but the maternity pants are falling down on me. I'm stuck in sweat pants for the next month until my belly pops out some more :)
Well, I need to go and help the kids out with their math. I will post some pictures later today.