Homeschool Science Club

At the Austin Nature and Science Center they have a really neat program for homeschoolers.  It's the Home School Science Club.  I signed my kids up so that once a month there's a class (broken into different age groups) at the science center on a different science related topic.  It lasts an hour an a half, and is fun and education at the same time.

Today was the first class for my kids.  We arrived early and had a snack while we waited for it to start.  The kids were very patient and stayed right where they should while everyone else arrived.  Very good start.

I stayed with Britta and River's class and Madalyn went with her age group.  We would meet up when the classes were through.  We were taken into a classroom where the day's topic was introduced.  Dinosaurs.  We actually haven't talked much about dinosaurs in our house.  This was a great class for my kids.  Thankfully most of the emphasis was on fossils.  The kids were able to see and touch real fossils.  The two girls that were teaching the kids' class had them guess which dinosaur and what part of that dinosaur the fossil came from.  It was a great little engaging activity for them.

For the second half an hour the kids were taken out to dig up a replica of a dinosaur fossil that was covered in sand.  My kids and I had visited the center once before, and this was the highlight!  They loved "discovering" fossils!  Both Britta and River worked diligently to help uncover the dinosaur that was buried.  It was pretty nice weather outside thankfully, too.

For the grand finale the kids were taken into a classroom where they were able to see more fossils, and were able to make a replica of a real shell fossil in some clay so they could take it home.  It was fun how the kids were allowed to ask questions and experience the fossils first hand.  3, 4, and 5 year olds don't do great when made to sit still and listen for long periods of time, so this was perfect.  They were able to look and touch!  Britta and River loved it!

I am really glad we made the investment to bring the kids out for this program.  It's a half an hour drive each way, and cost a bit of money, but it's been worth it thus far.  Maddy really enjoyed her class and even made a new friend.  We're lucky to have this resource.  I'm looking forward to the rest of the classes for the kids.  I'm sure they will be as enjoyable for them as this first one turned out to be.

Success or Failure?

It is hard for us to make it to the temple regularly.  The nearest Latter Day Saint Temple is in San Antonio, and while that's only about 100 miles away, the traffic is not pretty.  You never really know how long it's going to take you.  It can be anywhere from 1 1/2 to 3+ hours.  I know this very well after today.

My wonderful visiting teacher Andrea offered to let my three kids come and play at her house so Cameron and I could drive down to the temple for our ward temple day.  I was a little bit worried that she wasn't totally aware of what she was getting herself into.  She just has one little baby.  My kids are older and I was nervous they would be more than she'd bargained for.  BUT I really felt like it was important to go to the temple, and this was our opportunity.

Cam and I dropped off the kids with a good 2 hours available for the drive to San Antonio.  It was the middle of the early afternoon.  Our GPS wasn't showing any traffic (and we weren't looking because it wasn't during rush hour or anything).  Our eta was a good half an hour before we even needed to be there.  We were feeling pretty confident.  Life was good.

It's amazing how quickly things can turn around when traffic is involved.  Normally the area we have to worry about is getting past downtown Austin.  In rush hour traffic there's usually about a half an hour delay or so.  We figured, worst case, we did have some padding in our schedule.  We did have a slight delay going through downtown, but nothing major.  We figured we were in the clear.  Then, we stopped on the freeway just past downtown.  We went a few miles an hour for the next hour.  The distance that normally takes us about 10 minutes to drive took us over an hour.  It was insane.  Apparently there was construction.  The GPS doesn't detect traffic on the frontage roads, so when it saw the freeway traffic it just rerouted us onto frontage roads figuring there was no delay.  WRONG.  The frontage roads were as jammed as the freeway.  Lose.

Fortunately we had a bag of Tropical Starbursts (YUM) and Coconut M&Ms to keep us company.  Snacks make things more fun.  We were trying not to get discouraged, figuring we were trying our hardest to get to our destination, and no amount of fretting was going to change our circumstances.  One AWESOME thing that happened is that just south of Austin it began to rain.  A lot.  We REALLY need rain in central Texas right now, so being out in the middle of it was so great.  It actually rained our entire drive to San Antonio.  We loved every second of it.

Our originally 1 1/2 hour drive turned into a solid 3 hour drive.  Instead of arriving at 3:30pm as was originally projected, we pulled up to the temple just after 5pm.  That was an hour late for our 4pm appointment.  There was nothing we could do.  We went into the little distribution center next to the temple and bought the kids some temple pictures we'd been wanting for them.  We then loaded back up in the car, and after pausing in front of the temple (in the rain) to enjoy the peace and comfort we feel while we're there, we headed back to Austin so we could pick up our children in the 7 o'clock hour as promised to our sitter.

We took a different route home this time.  It was a back way we'd never noticed before.  We completely avoided rush hour traffic as a result.  It was a nice drive.  I am glad we were able to keep a positive outlook and enjoy ourselves.  Life is so much better when you focus on the positive.

We arrived on time to pick up the children.  They'd had a great time.  I'm lucky to have such a wonderful friend and visiting teacher.  I had no reason to worry.

So, was this a failure of a trip because we weren't able to go inside the temple as intended?  Or was this a success because we enjoyed ourselves in spite of the circumstances?  I guess the answer to that is in the eye of the beholder.

Maddy Mommy Date

Today we went on a Maddy Mommy date.  I actually had a bit of a time deciding where to take the kid.  At first I was going to take her to get skeleton pjs at gymboree and then go to one of those bulk candy stores.  BUT I couldn't find a bulk candy store (other than a chocolate shop, and I wanted something more like the Sweet Factory).

After some thought I decided to take her to the library.  Maddy LOVES the library and we don't go often (though I'm thinking I need to change that), in fact, it had been MONTHS since the last visit.  When I told her where we were headed her eyes light up.  She was pretty excited.  We spent a bit of time looking around.  She wanted Halloween books.  She found two books and a DVD.

From there we were heading out to get a treat.  We ended up grabbing dinner at IHOP instead.  Kids eat free after 4pm.  It was fun.  We don't often do breakfast for dinner, so Maddy was pretty thrilled.  It was just really nice to sit and chat with her.  We took the time to fill out the cross word puzzle on her place mat.

Overall a very successful evening out.  She was SO excited to go.  It makes me really really glad we are taking this time to do one on one dates.  The time together is already proving to be really valuable.  I'm already starting to plan our next date!

Irrational Fear

I wanted to take the time here on my blog to admit something.  I have a problem.  This problem controls my life -- or at least in part it does.

Bugs.  I am scared of bugs.  Not just bugs, actually.  I am also scared of other creepy crawly things.  We have these miniature gheckos that roam our house.  I bump into them on occasion.  They give me the heebie jeebies.  I'm not even scared of what they might do to me.  I'm just plain creeped out by their mere presence.  It's a curse.

Now, to be fair to myself I'm not scared of all bugs.  Just the scary ones (duh).  Cockroaches wig me out. The ones I've seen here, and the ones I came across in Arizona are HUGE.  We're talking probably 2 inches long and probably more than half an inch wide.  GROSS.  I can not deal.  While Cameron was out of town I found one in the kitchen.  I threw my recipe book at it and it landed on top of the disgusting creature.  Had it not been directly in front of the refrigerator, I would probably have just left it there for Cam to clean up when he got home a day or two later.  As it was I knew the kids would pick it up, or I would accidentally kick the book.  I was very proud of myself when I mustered up the courage to use two pieces of mail to pick it up and throw it in the trash.  I deserved a shiny gold star -- or five.

The place where my fear annoys me the most however is in my bathroom.  I'm pregnant, so I spend quite a bit of time in that room.  Every single time I enter I have to glance around, paranoid that I will find giant bugs.  To be fair, I've come across a cockroach or two, and some little gheckos in there.  Maybe a few silverfish.  No huge infestation.  We have sprayed in there a time or two as well.  I just HATE the feeling that I might come across an unwelcome guest in the middle of the night.  I would scream.  You've got that right.  I would get those weird chills that come with that kind of gross out.  I would run.  I might hurt myself by hitting into something or slipping and falling.

You see the danger here?  I could DIE because of this and I'd look like such a fool!  What would they say at my funeral?  "Pheobe was a great girl.  If only she wasn't scared of tiny creatures, she's still be alive today."  Geez.  So embarrassing.

I guess the only option is for me to live in one of those protective bubbles.  Something that allows me to experience the world to a certain degree, but would in no way allow bugs inside.  I wonder how much one of those things would cost...

What?  You got a better idea?  It's either that or conquering my fear.  And THAT'S not going to happen any time soon.  I'd think I'd better start looking into the bubble.

Six More Kids and Two more Parents

River: Dad can we get a new car when we have six more kids and two more parents?

Cameron: Why would we have two more parents?

River: Because, how else would we have six more kids?

Well put River.  My thoughts exactly.

Yahtze Junior

Having an understanding that every Sunday we WILL do Family Game Night has been fantastic.  The kids especially look forward to it.  We all have a great time, so it's nice to just have an expectation that we WILL do it.  No excuses.

This time we played the Disney Kids version of Yahtze!  It's very simple, and actually really fun!  I also like that it doesn't take much time to play (unlike the regular version of Yahtze).  Plus, I love those Disney Characters.

The younger kids would often get distracted by the Disney faces on the dice.  Who cares if they already have 4 Minnie Mouse faces rolled?  They want MICKEY.  Sigh.  I'm glad they don't care about winning.  

Speaking of winning, I have no idea who won this week at all.  Maddy has a new love for her calculator, so she was our score keeper.  Unfortunately the board got tipped before she could get the last few scores.  She might have been able to figure out what they were, but by that point I was upstairs getting toothbrushes ready.  It obviously mattered little to us.  The fun is in the game.  Winning is beside the point.

For our snack we had some apple crumble.  Cameron made it himself.  Be impressed. I was.  He is quite the baker!  The kids gobbled it up.  I'm excited for more fall desserts!  Pumpkin pie is next on my list!  Makes me think happy thoughts!

Lots of laughs.  Lots of memories made.  Good Sunday.  The family that plays together stays together!

Patience with Yourself

Like most women from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, tonight I spent my evening first chatting and munching with friends, then enjoying the words of some wise leaders from our church.  It was a good evening.

I do have to admit however, I was pretty tired as I sat listening to the broadcast from the Salt Lake city Conference Center.  I'm still in the "tired" time of pregnancy.  I wasn't overwhelmed by nausea at least.  I brought some ice water, and that helped.  I found myself thinking of going home early a few times.  Then President Uchtdorf spoke, and I was very glad I had stayed.

President Dieter F Uchtdorf highlighted 5 things we as women of the church were to never forget.  You can read the whole of the talk here, but I just wanted to mention one particular point that really touched me.

The first point he made was this: "Forget not to be patient with yourself."  I really needed to hear this.  I am so very hard on myself all the time.  It seems as though I'm never doing things well enough for my liking.  My personal standards are SO much higher than my standards for everyone else.  There really is no "perfect" as i can always find something that should have been done better.

There is also the tendency, of course, to compare myself to others.  President Uchtdorf said it best, "... w spend so much time and energy comparing ourselves to others -- usually comparing our weaknesses to their strengths.  This drives us to create expectations for ourselves that are impossible to meet.  As a result, we never celebrate our good efforts because they seem to be less than what someone else does."

I am going to make it my goal to "celebrate [my] good efforts" more often.  There is nothing wrong with wanting to do better.  However, there is something wrong with never recognizing your own good intentions and efforts.

As women, and human beings in general really, we are often far too hard on ourselves.  We need to take the time to love ourselves.  To stop constantly criticizing and begin to celebrate our personal worth.  If we don't love ourselves, we are less able to spread our love to those around us.  We also lack the happiness and joy that is central to our Heavenly Father's plan for us here in this life.


So, next time the dinner you made doesn't taste quite the way you wanted, or that Halloween costume doesn't look exactly like the picture on the pattern, remember your intentions.  Remember your Heavenly Father loves you with all your imperfections.  Therefore, you should love yourself, too.

Mommy Britta Date

For our date this month I took Britta shopping.  She needed a few items of clothing, so I decided to take her to the Tanger Outlets.  She was thrilled.  It was so fun holding her tiny hand while walking around outside.  It's amazing how much easier one child is when you have regular experience with three.

We hit a few children's clothing stores, but unfortunately I was unable to find what we were looking for.  By the time we hit the shoe store Britta was pretty much done.  Fine by me.  We decided to head to the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory for a treat.

I intended to get us each a caramel apple (or just one to share), but Britta's eye was caught by a twirly unicorn sucker.  I couldn't resist.  Every little girl wants a beautiful sucker.  This was her chance!

She was hilarious to watch eating it.  The thing was easily as long as her head.  She had fun with it though.  Everyone around us noticed the adorable curly haired girl with the giant unicorn sucker.  There were many smiles.  I love how Britta can light up a room without even trying.

After a few minutes Britta noticed my caramel apple and decided she wanted to share.  I was fine with that. We put her sucker to the side for a bit and shared my apple.  I love caramel apples.  They make me think of lovely autumn weather -- even amidst the 90 degrees outside.  It somehow makes me feel happier.

Mother daughter dates are really fun.  It was sweet to be able to take an hour to converse with just Britta.  We sat and chatted and laughed.  Just a little time for bonding.  It makes me appreciate her even more.  It makes me feel lucky to have her for my daughter.

Home Schooling at Sea World

About a month ago I became aware of a neat thing that would be happening at Sea World in San Antonio.  They were hosting a day for families that homeschool!  Yay!  For $8 each we could go into the park and enjoy a limited number of exhibits and a couple of shows.  We were all for it!

I was a bit nervous to take the kids by myself while still in the sickies of early pregnancy.  Luckily Cam was able to take the day off and we went as a family.  Everything is better when experienced as a family.

It was a pretty warm day.  We left home at 7am and arrived at Sea World around 9:30am.  The park was open from 9:30am until 1:30pm in various capacities.  We packed our lunch, though I made the mistake of packing a glass jar of jam.  That couldn't go with us into the park.  As it turned out, the natural peanut butter I brought had been sitting in the garage for too long and I could not get it to mix.  SO, we had carrots, string cheese, and peanut butter crackers for lunch.  This would have been less of a big deal if I wasn't pregnant and in need of sustenance every hour or so.  Luckily we made it through okay.

We waited in the insanely long long at the gate for around 15 or 20 minutes.  It was no big deal because it was moving pretty quickly, and I figured we would all make it in eventually.  We did.  We even passed by Shamu swimming in an artificial sea of blue glass on our way in.  That was the only time we saw Shamu though.  He must have been busy with other things.

The kids always love grabbing the park maps whenever we go somewhere that has one.  They spend a lot of time analyzing it.  Eventually Maddy turned hers into a hand fan.  Whatever works.  That's called "recycling" I believe.

We headed first over to the dolphins.  This was the kids' favorite part I think (though you'll get different stories every time you ask).   I saw their eyes light up the moment they saw them.  I'm pretty sure they have never seen one in person before.  People were petting them and feeding them fish.  The kids were enamored.  It was hard to pull them away.

The penguins were pretty.  There were a ton of them.  Their "home" was set up to look a lot like the arctic.  That was neat at least.  It was fun to see them diving into and swimming in the water.  

The kids got a kick out of the sea lions.  They were having a grand ol' time swimming around.  There were even a few babies.  Very cute!  There was one lazy little guy sleeping on a rock that kept getting bothered by the other little pups.  Made us laugh.

There were only a few other habitats open.  The kids were really thorough and I'm sure they looked at each individual fish and mammal on display.  I'm glad they enjoyed themselves.  I'm also glad there were inside displays and quite a bit of shade outside.

There were two shows that we got to see while we were there.  One was with the sea lions, and another was with a beluga whale.  Both were fun and lasted about 15 minutes each.  They were really informational. The trainers talked a lot about how they teach the animals to do things.  Both presentations kept the kids' attention well.  They seemed to really enjoy themselves.

So, overall, I'm glad we went.  However, both Cameron and I realized something (probably not for the first time).  We have conflicting feelings about places like zoos and Sea World.  On the one hand, there's a good chance our children (and ourselves for that matter) would never get to see most of these animals were it not for these places.  

On the other hand, it's so sad to see these animals caged up and taken away from their homes.  Regardless of the intention of the zoologists and biologists, these animals do not belong in tanks and cages.  Yes, some of these are "rescue missions," but not all of them.  Also, I can't ignore the dangers of interacting so closely with wild animals.  During the whole beluga show I could not help but think of this story. Rare, yes.  Freaky?  Heck yeah.  These animals are amazing and beautiful and wonderful.  They do scare me just a little though.  Maybe more than a little.

Shish Kabab Heaven

I have a thing for shish kabab.  When I was little my dad would make us a greek shish kabab with homemade french fries.  It was a special treat, and we usually only had it on someone's birthday.  That's where my love for meat on a stick began.

Now, to be perfectly honest, it's not just the meat that I enjoy.  I happen to LOVE the veggies.  When I cook them just right they are juicy and flavorful and perfectly delicious!  I don't even mind so much when the kids don't eat them because, "More for me!"

Yummy Honey Chicken Kababs is one of very favorite recipes for shish kababs.  I have been using it for probably close to 8 years now.  It's simple and delicious.  I've marinated anywhere from half an hour to a day or so.  It's great regardless.  My favorite thing is to cut onion pieces big enough to thread on the meat skewers and marinate them along with the meat.  Once grilled they are amazingly sweet and scrumptious.

There are a lot of different veggies we like to grill along with these (we have done separate skewers as well as intertwined with the meat, but find we like to be able to control the veggie cook time separately).  Among the favorites are bell peppers (all colors), mushrooms, cherry or grape tomatoes, pineapple, and zucchini.  There are so many delectable combination.

There are a million different marinades and methods for making perfectly wonderful kababs.  From sweet honey to tangy citrus.  It's been hard to go wrong on these.  I highly encourage a kabab night in your near future.  And please invite me over.

I Look like a Million!

After getting out of the tub, Britta wanted to see herself in the mirror.  She stood up on a stool, looked at her wet hair, gasped and said happily, "I look like a million!"

CowParade Austin

The other day when we picked up Cameron from the airport we noticed something peculiar.  Along the pathways from the parking garage to the terminal there were many colorfully decorated cows!  The kids thought they were great.  I wasn't sure what to think!  I had them pose with the first cow we saw.  Appropriately I came to find out the name of the sculpture is "Happy People".  My kids add well to that image.

I took the time to do some research online.  It turns out that Austin is one of the fortunate hosts of something called CowParade.  It's actually really neat!  It's a unique type of public art display.  While the "event" travels, the art pieces are unique in every city.  CowParade began in Chicago in 1999.  It has since traveled to over 75 cities in 30 countries on 6 continents.

Local artists are asked to submit their designs and names for a decorated cow.  Between 50 and 100 designs were chosen for Austin. The artists selected are each given an honorarium of $1000.  Companies or individuals are then asked to "sponsor" a cow or a whole herd.  Once the cows are made they are displayed all over the city.  There are a bunch at the airport, some downtown, and others scattered around Austin.  There's a cow gallery online in case you can't travel to all the different locations to see these delightful creations.

Once the art display period is through (the event lasts three months in Austin), the cows are auctioned off for a charity.  In Austin the beneficiaries are Dell Children's Medical Center and Superhero Kids Fund (which actually serves as the fund raising arm for Dell Children's Medical Center).  All the proceeds of the auction will go to their support.  This should be no small amount since the average winning bid for each cow is nearly $10,000.

The whole thing is a great idea.  Not only does it raise appreciation for art, it raises money for a good cause, too!  It makes me wish that we'd taken the time to see all the cows that are on display at the airport.  After all, they're art to me now, too.

Pass the Pigs

We had another successful Family Game night!  This time we played "Pass the Pigs!"  I hadn't played since I was a kid!  It was great fun for everyone.  It's another chance game where there's no reason to be competitive.  I love that.

The kids were great at rolling the little rubber pigs around.  How many points you score depends upon how they land.  You then get to choose whether you will keep rolling to add to your score, or whether you want to stop and keep the score you have.  If the pigs land a certain way, you get ZERO points for your turn.

I had a spout of bad luck and was only able to score ONCE.  Pathetic.  The thing was, I didn't even take any big risks.  My score only got over 20 once -- which is the time I got points down on the score board.  Otherwise my pigs would zero out early in the game.  Frustrating, but luckily I didn't let it bother me too much.

The kids did great though.  It was hilarious when River would get a good score.  He would laugh ecstatically.  When he got a zero score I was always able to comfort him by reminding him how often my own score was zero.  Sad, but true.

The best part of the evening was when Cameron pulled out the brownies he made from the Williams Sonoma cookbook.  He is great at baking!  I'd been craving brownies (which is odd since I haven't been craving sweets), and these really hit the spot.  We had farm fresh milk to go with them, too.  YUM.

Ending our Sunday nights together as a family playing games has really been perfect.  There's something peaceful and complete about having everyone together enjoying one another's company.  I'm glad we started this tradition now.  I look forward to many many more Family Game Nights in the years to come.