Didn't cost a dime...

So, or should I say, "sew"? I met Wanda Lynch at the beginning of the summer. She was looking for someone to sew with and I was looking for someone to teach me. It has been "sew" much fun. We've had many late nights, long talks, and laughter that just about split my sides. Most of my time was ripping out seams for the dresses or skirts the girls are wearing in this picture.

Mary's dress has 5 rosettes sewn across a ribbon in front. I had to hand sew the arms and cap sleeves because of the lining. Elie's dress was my most difficult. I learned that organza should be banned from all sewing projects and learned the meaning of "if it's not done right, do it over again and again and again and..." Rebekah's and Rachel's skirts were alot of fun and by far the easiest! I only lost hold of the elastic once--after I decided that Wanda's suggestion was the better way to go.

Scot, thanks for supporting me by watching the kiddos and being sooo complimentary of the finished jobs. I Love you. Thanks for such a nice summer.

Baby-proofing high-water-mark

H'lo all, however few ye may be.

Jona started doing new tricks, so we thought we'd share the joy:



Tune in next time for more death-defying action.

:)

Drawings from the kiddo's science lessons

Rebekah and Elie copied some drawings from one of their science books. They turned out so good that we thought we'd share 'em. :) Michael Faraday was a scientist in the 1800s.

faraday's assistant surprised (by Elie)



Faraday the scientist, getting shocked (by Beka)





'Faraday is an old scientist and he discoverd electricity! But while discovering electricity, he shocked himself badly.'


Love y'all.

Baby Albino

Last night, I hosted book club at our home. We had read Prince Caspian and had an English herbal tea with cakes, tortes, breads and cucumber sandwiches. Most of the women brought a dish to share and it was purely delightful.

I had rearranged our furniture and set out chairs to fit 16 women. Oh, what fun it was! We discussed the book and every scenic route that went with it. Oh, to be woman is grand!

This morning I slept in, fully loving the opportunity. We went to play group and when we arrived home, I began washing dishes, vacuuming and putting furniture back in its place.
I was sitting on the kitchen floor, talking with a dear friend, when I saw Simon enter into the kitchen with cornstarch all over the front of him. As I was telling my friend that I should see where the rest of the box ended up, in came my answer. I just wanted to share....

Well, here it is a month after our Spring break, and I finally set up some of our pictures. I wanted to attach a slideshow, but couldn't figure out how to connect flickr to blogger. Any suggestions would be great.
We had a fantastic time. We had been studying Space and wanted a "hands-on" activity. The Johnson Space Center was only 4 hours away from us (so said mapquest--I think I need to develop a site called "realquest" it took us 8 hours with potty stops, hunger stops and "I left my swimsuit" stop)
The kids spent most of their time at a slide that was about 3 stories high (wouldn't you?) and then tried an anti-gravity chair while working on the ISS. We went to a shuttle simulator, in which we attempted to land, but nose-dived every time. We also tried our hand at building a satellite and it actually worked!
Our time at the beach was soo relaxing (except for when we lost Elisabeth for about an hour--that choked us up a bit) Rachel and I had walked up and down the beach looking for her, Scot was watching all our other ones. We huddled together, said a prayer and then the thoughts of where to find help came. The beach was equipped with officers on ATV's and horseback. Once we contacted them, she was found in minutes. We all were sincerely grateful in our prayers that night.
The Houston Temple was absolutely gorgeous. As I walked around the grounds, I studied their layout and photocopied in my brain how I want to design our landscape once we're in a home to stay. The drive seemed better on the way back--not as many stops. Well, ok, we did get out to play some frisbee and volleyball.
So, some things I learned from our trip were:
1. There's not much difference between Scot and Simon in a KB Toy store.
2. There's alot of "Texas clay" in the waves, so, we'll be visiting the beach at another location
3. Every single child makes a huge difference in our family.
4. The Father doesn't want us to "afflict" ourselves--in our thoughts or words (that might seem to come out of nowhere, but I actually read it on the way down to Houston and it's in Isaiah!)
3.