Marble Jar 2

So Shane finished his jar up. He was waiting to see a movie, but all that's out is Nanny McPhee and he'd have to wait until Monday. So he chose new shoes. Perfect! Payless is having their BOGO sale and I have a 20% off coupon. So he bought some 'super cool' pirate/skull/flame shoes and cool new socks. He's so proud of his shoes, he put them on in the store, and took them off to play outside. We'll see how long they stay white!

He wanted to make sure I got the flame of his socks. 

Yeah, and his eyes are closed, so much for looking cool LOL!

Marble Jar!

On the day he filled the jar!

We have a marble jar. Each kid has assigned chores that they have to do because they are part of the family. Anything above and beyond that they get marbles. Unkind behavior, they lose marbles. Anyway, over the past three days, we've had two kids fill their jar. There is a reward list to pick from. Jackson was the first to fill up. His pick was to watch a movie at home and have a 'snack of his choice'. His movie? Voltron on Netflix. Some weird 80's He-Man wannabe movie. His snack of choice? Popcorn with M&M's in it and chocolate on the side. Jackson was really sweet and asked if the boys could have some popcorn with a few chocolates. Then he told them to back off and stop begging when they came after his bowl :)

With his snack of choice.

Earlier today, Shane finished his jar. Shane and Jackson have been neck and neck for awhile. Shane picked a movie at the theater with daddy. The ONLY kid movie and either of our theaters is Nanny McPhee. I hoped he would hold out until Despicable Me came to our cheap theater, but he doesn't want to wait. So, Nanny McPhee it is.

Shane, today, with his full jar.

The boys and Little Miss with their treats.

                                       

Upcoming Trips!

One week until Women of Faith in D.C! It's my first big event like this since I started going to church. I am beyond excited!

And then in 3 weeks, the event Brandy and I booked over 8 months ago!!!!! We are flying to Seattle, WA and driving in to Forks for Stephenie Meyer Weekend!

Description

STEPHENIE MEYER WEEKEND SCHEDULE 2010 (4TH ANNUAL)
A Forks Chamber of Commerce Event
Friday, September 10:
TIME EVENT LOCATION
9PM                     Bella's Ball                  Twilight Lounge (sponsored by Dazzled by Twilight)
Saturday, September 11:
8-11am  Bella's Birthday         Congregational Church (across from Forks High School) ($10/person)
9am-1pm Bella Loves Books Book Sale       Forks Memorial Library
10am-6pm Vendors in the park                    Tillicum Park
11am Tour of high school                            Forks High School ($3 fee/person)
12noon Tour of high school                        Forks High School ($3 fee/person)
12:30pm  Music in the park                        Tillicum Park
1pm Tour of high school                            Forks High School ($3 fee/person)
1:30pm  Mayor of Forks Proclamation      Tillicum Park
2pm Group photo                                      Tillicum Park
2:30pm Twilight look-alike contest          Tillicum Park
3:30pm Decorated Twilight car judging    Forks Memorial Library
8:30pm Bonfire/Quileute Storytelling       First Beach at La Push (sponsored by Quileute Tribe)
9pm-11pm  Mitch Hansen Band              Twilight Lounge (Free admission - all ages welcome) Sponsored by Dazzled by Twilight
Sunday, September 12:
10am - 4:30pm  Vendors in the park        Tillicum Park
11am Music in the park                           Tillicum Park
1pm Birthday cake for Bella's Birthday   Tillicum Park
2pm Group photo                                   Tillicum Park
2:30pm   Bella's 1963 Chevy Pick-up drawing   Tillicum Park (donated by Elwha River Casino)
3pm  Twilight Trivia contest (team activity)   Tillicum Park

 And we're staying at the Miller Tree Inn also known as The Cullen House. 3 days in Forks and a day in Seattle playing tourist! So excited!.

Family Reunion Fun

We actually have a very large family. We don't know many of them.  My grandfather was one of 10. There are cousins roaming all over this countryside. You might be one of them. My aunt Kat found Tricia a few years ago. Tricia's mom and my mom are first cousins. Tricia came to our family reunion in PA a few years ago with her little sister Amanda. A series of graduations and a baby boom had closed off the PA reunion for a few year. I invited a few cousins to come to my house for a gathering this summer. I'm so excited that it all worked out. It wasn't very long, but we got to see each other. We did go to a playground for a bit, but it was mostly just sitting and talking. Amanda has had three kids and gotten married since the last time I saw her, so it was great to meet her babies. And now for pictures: (which are not in any order, posting is being weird)

S'more goodness!

Row of ducks at the lake.

Baby girl pigtails!

Jackson with s'more leftovers.

Getting ready for s'mores

Kiddos waiting for s'mores

Our S'more platter.

two year old hand and the giant marshmallows.

Butterflies at the lake.

Gathering.

Yummy!

Giant S'more

Fun!

She ate that thing for like 30 minutes.

Cereal Fun!

We recently painted our kitchen a burnt red color. I love it! My mom found this great cereal dispenser at a yard sale that matches perfectly. She had not seen the kitchen when she bought it. Mother/daughter bonding???

The kids really like them. "You twist to get your cereal". Anyway, these fun little guys reminded me of my friends blog over at A Perfect Pairs Collection. She collects pictures of great ideas. Take a peek. Okay that's all from here :)

New Blog for homeschooling.

Hey, pop over to Anderson Academy Adventures to follow my new homeschool blog. I'm going to blog our way through the school year and then print the blog out as a book at the end of the year for a great "year book".
Thanks!

Way Back When..

So after nearly 8 years of living here, I decided to play tourist in my own town. We're studying Jamestown for history right now. I plan on actually taking the kids to Jamestown and Williamsburg, but I'm waiting until public school is back in session so the lines won't be long. (perk #235 of homeschooling)

We started off at the Gloucester History Museum. The building was originally a tavern, then a B&B, the office buildings, and finally the museum. It's cute, very small, but lots and lots crammed into it. Most of the items have been donated from the community. My favorite item was a doll that was over 100 years old. Someone found it in between the walls of a house while doing renovations to it.

Lots of sketching going on. Once, I thought Jackson was sketching the milk crate, but instead he was drawing the phone jack on the floor.





We then walked into the courthouse circle and looked at the old buildings. There was a Confederate monument. There was a picture from 1893 of Confederate Veterans in front of it. In the background of the picture was the building that now houses the  museum. The kids thought it was really cool to see what it looked like in 1983. Honestly, I thought it was really cool too.

We went into the old courthouse. (which is used for modern county meetings). There was no one there so we were discussing what was modern and what was older. I let the kids sit in the county seats with the gavel. They kept giggling like we were doing something wrong. :)

Sam was the only one who scared me, he looked like he was really about to bang the gavel! :)

We then went into the visitor's center and talked to another gentleman for a bit, about the other buildings in the circle. The gift shop now has steel doors because of fire. They lost records, not once, but twice. We were also told the story of the brick wall around the circle. It was just a fence to keep out livestock. Then they added the brick wall. It humored the kids to think of cows and chickens wandering down Main St. and into the circle. :) Also there were lots of 1920's pictures of the town. It was so much fun to point out the buildings to them.