Thanksgiving Day

Joshua and I had one last activity to do before we finished up our Thanksgiving unit for school. We made a bread cornucopia Wednesday night in preparation for the big dinner Thursday.

Thursday we headed down to No. Virginia to the home of some of our dearest, oldest Army friends. (They're not our "oldest" friends--just some we've had the longest....) We've had the tradition of spending Thanksgiving with them since we came back from Germany several years ago. Our families have sort of "grown up" together--when we met Jarrett and Michael were in the 1st grade! It's fun spending the holiday with them-everyone has their "jobs." The men fry a turkey (just part of the over-abundance we indulge in), the kids decorate the tables and put the colored sugar on the edges of the glasses for the sparkling cider, and the moms cook and cook. There are usually a few twists thrown in just to keep things fresh. One year Joe was deployed and Dave and the boys fried the turkey themselves. Then after dinner they hung the Christmas lights. This year Joe's parents were visiting from Minnesota and Jan's mother and aunt were with us as well. And unfortunately this year we were missing Jarrett. Thankfully the family of one of his friends was sweet enough to have him and some other stranded kids over for dinner and he thoroughly enjoyed himself. Thanksgiving is always a fun time to look forward to and such a reminder of the many blessings we have...

Love Languages

**********c'mon and vote, people!! It's just one click!********************


Do you know what your Love Language is?

I read this book several years ago but it has been on my mind lately-particularly with the holidays coming up. I used to think that my love language was one thing, but I realize now it's something else. Perhaps I changed as I grew older, or perhaps I just know myself better. It's interesting for me to try to figure out what the Love Languages of people I know are.

I know for certain that the Love Language of one of my children is Gift Giving. This one is so delighted when he/she find the perfect gift and can hardly wait to give it! The little one is definitely Physical Touch, although that might change as he grows up. :) Another one is definitely NOT physical touch!

Here is a quick rundown of how to express the 5 Love Languages, relating to the marriage relationship, as described by Gary Chapman in the book:

#1-Words of Affirmation-involve the verbal reinforcement of your love for someone. Whether you express how great they look, how fantastic the dinner tasted, how much you appreciate an act they performed, or even your appreciation for your presence, words of affirmation are designed to both build your mate's self-image and personal confidence. Most importantly, words of affirmation reaffirm your partner's confidence in the love you feel for them.

#2-Quality Time-is catagorzied as the undivided attention that you and your loved one spend with one another. Turn off the television and find a babysitter; your mate should be the only focus if you truly wish to spend quality time together.

#3-Receiving Gifts-there's nothing wrong with enjoying gifts-a universal practice in every culture is the practice of gift-giving and the relationship it entails. Gifts are more than material objects, as they symbolize care and forethought that reminds your mate that you are thinking of him/her.

#4-Acts of Service-can be anything from cleaning the house, mowing the lawn, cooking the night's dinner, or finally getting around to that errand your partner has been asking about for ages. Similar to the other languages, creating a list of activities to complete can go a long way to acheiving results!

#5-Physical Touch-holding your partner's hand, giving him/her a massage, etc. are forms of physical touch. Feeling your partner's warmth may be all it takes to remind you just why it is that you love him/her so much.

Obviously these "languages" can all be applied to the other relationships in our lives. Being a good friend, sister, daughter, son, etc. can be so much easier if we understand the love languages of those around us. Often we naturally pick what OUR love language is when we want to express our feelings to others around us. Knowing what that person's language is, though, can make our sentiments more meaningful.

How can you figure out what your love language is? Begin by asking yourself these questions:

• How do I express love to others?
• What do I complain about the most?
• What do I request most often?

I am starting a poll on the sidebar. Share what your love language is-it'll be interesting to see which one has the most "takers!" You can answer anonymously, but if you are on my Christmas list, you may want to add a comment afterwards..... >wink<

Oh, what's mine?

Acts of Service. Ask my children how loved I feel when I come home to a clean kitchen and folded laundry! :) This weekend my dear husband showed his love for me by taking care of a mess in the lizard tank. THAT is true love!!

Reptile Update

Because I've been told some of you rely on me for 1) science lessons, 2) interesting anecdotes, and/or 3) comedic relief, here is the latest in our reptile adventure:

Quick recap-

--the two lizards who had lived together for 4 years and "never" mated, decided that their new home, aka the "No-tell Motel" was just what they were waiting for.

--the beginning of November, Buttercup began to look quite lumpy in the middle regions...

--We researched and prepared a "laying box," complete with topsoil, sand from a friend's sandbox, and privacy. Buttercup would have nothing to do with it. Wesley, on the other hand, thought it was way cool and could be found hanging out in the box whenever we left it in the tank.

--Buttercup began frantically digging in the tank. Unfortunately, there is only about an inch of sand in the bottom so she was frequently frustrated.

--November 13th we awoke to a super-skinny Buttercup, a half-buried and very shell-shocked Wesley ("what on earth just happened here???"), and 24 eggs laying around the tank-some buried, some stacked, some just laying out.

Unfortunately because the eggs were laid in the night, the temperature was too cool for them and the majority of them were already dimpled and yellowed.

**scientific fact alert**

Reptile eggs are soft and grow with the embryo. The outside temperature and humidity levels are crucial to their development.

We didn't have (or want to buy) an incubator so we are trying to make do with our own design. We read that vermiculite (a soil additive) is particularly healthy for the growing eggs so we did as recommended-we removed the eggs and placed them into a thumb-depression in the vermiculite which was in a tupperware. You can see in this picture which eggs look fairly good. I think we have 1 or 2, possibly 3, eggs that look semi-viable. Not a good percentage out of 24, but I've read that breeding bearded dragons is not easy.

If you look closely, you can see that I marked a line on the tops of a couple of the eggs-those are the ones that looked good. I marked them when I picked them up so I would be sure to bury them the same way they were laid. Otherwise the embryo could drown in the yolk sack. Now, I am a little worried that I should have performed a "light check" on them before I moved them, to make sure they were oriented the correct way, but I forgot.

You can see how the other eggs are shrunken and kind of yellow. The eggs have to kept at a constant temperature of 81.5 degrees. That requires us checking on them, oh, about a thousand times a day, to move them closer to or farther from the heat lamp. This morning we took some of them out and cut them open to see if we could find the embryo. We were able to see it in two of the eggs-mostly just a little reddish-pinkish lump at the bottom of the shell. It was our science experiment for the day.

Here is where we stand as of this morning:

Buttercup has been forcibly separated from Wesley. As much as I am enjoying trying to raise baby dragons, cleaning up after, feeding, and learning everything there is to know about this reptile so I can teach it to my son, I have decided that there will be no more mating going on in that tank. On Sunday he moved to his new home.

**scientific fact alert**

did you know that female reptiles can store sperm--resulting in laying multiple egg clutches up to a year after the initial mating?

Anyone want a cute girl dragon??

Thanksgiving school

Joshua and I are having such fun with his unit study this month! We are studying the Pilgrims--from their time in Holland, back to England, then on the Mayflower and over to the New World. We're using several resources to combine writing, spelling, vocabulary, reading, history, geography, art, social studies, and even math, as well as focusing our Bible time on giving thanks.

One thing that we are LOVING is the History Pocket curriculum from evan-moor. We are using both the Life in Plymouth Colony pocket for 1st-3rd grade and the Colonial America pocket for 4th-6th grade. Joshua loves to do crafts so building these pockets is right up his alley. One fun activity was making a model of the Mayflower. We learned all about the ship itself then turned the model into a journal. Each day he adds a new entry--he's writing as if he were a pilgrim boy on the Mayflower. When each unit is finished, he'll have a completed folder with 8 separate pockets filled with all the different things he learned about the pilgrims, Indians, and the first Thanksgiving.

Yesterday was fun having Joshua's friend Meara over to play. They made Pilgrim puppets and cooked up some hasty pudding. The pudding received mixed reviews from the cooks, but Nick was a big fan! :)

Next week we'll complete a pocket on the Wampanoags.

We will move into studying Colonial America and the Revolution after Thanksgiving and I'm excited to incorporate some more of the History Pockets then. And just wait till we get to the Wild West!!

Catching Up...

We had a very busy week last week! Here are a couple of pictures for those of you who like that sort of thing:

Tuesday was my birthday. We are very busy on Tuesdays, but my family still managed to make my day special. Here's a picture of flowers from Jarrett, spice cake (w/ buttercream frosting) from Alyson, and a clean kitchen and house courtesy of Nick. Joshua drew me pictures and wrote me a note that says, "I wish for you to have a very happy birthday." I got sweet cards from the kids and thoughtful gifts from my extended family as well. And all the pictures you are about to see were taken on my brand-spanking-new Sony Cyber-shot camera! No more borrowing from Alyson! :)

Friday night was the first "real" PowWow for Joshua's new Cub Scout Pack. He and all his den-mates were a little in awe of the proceedings. A cafeteria filled with 112 1st-5th graders and their parents can be a bit overwhelming!! His den leader (aka "Dad") kept them all settled, though, and they had a great time.

Can you see those eyelashes??

shopping savings

Today I had a chance to get down to Shoppers to try to snag some deals. I had a pretty good experience shopping--it's not a store I am very familiar with and they didn't have some of the things I was hoping to get for free. I also found out that they don't give overage. :( So my savings weren't as big as they would have been. For instance, the two ramen noodles would have MADE me a dollar if there was overage. But free is still good. :)

And there was one extra bonus: I got to meet a world record holder!! Apparently the SLOWEST CASHIER IN THE HISTORY OF THE WORLD works at that very store!! (note to those of you who are local: avoid Carol's check out line...)

All of the items above cost me a grand total of $24.79!! The total, before my coupons, was $71.26
Here are some of the particularly good deals:
2 ramen noodles-FREE
1 Sunkist tuna salad pack-FREE
1 Betty Crocker frosting-FREE
2 boxes Krusteaz honey corn bread mix-FREE
1 Krusteaz pancake mix- .79
2 Carnation evaporated milk-.06 ea.
2 pkgs Ortega seasonings-FREE
1 Betty Crocker pouch potatoes-FREE
1 Mr. Clean Magic Eraser-.53
1 Mr. Clean Multi-Surface spray-.73

I also bought, because the picture doesn't show it very well:
1 Nature Valley granola bars
1 Ziplock extra small containers
3 cans Progresso soup
2 boxes Progresso chicken broth
2 pkgs. Blue Diamond 100 calorie pack almonds
1 Domino powdered sugar-2 lbs
1 Marzetti light caesar dressing
1 Eggo buttermilk waffles
2 pkgs. Fresh Express salad blends
1 Dole frozen mango chunks
1 Welch's juice

24 bucks for 30 items-not a bad average.

Little blessings

Things I am thankful for today:

the spring birds that have stopped off on their way north and are singing a good morning song

seeing the sun already up when I took Alyson to the bus

my new daily homeschool/family/meal planner

Shopper's Food Warehouse is tripling coupons this week!

I think I'm over my sugar cravings and am beginning to see results

Auto Maintenance

I have, inadvertently, been enabling my children to get some much-needed auto maintenance instruction and mechanic practice the last few weeks.

For SOME REASON, I have left the dome light on in the van 3 times in 2 weeks. All night long. Or all day.... (I think I've only turned on that dome light 3 times in the 2 years we've had the van!)
Of course, we don't find it out until we are all getting ready to pile in and head off on an adventure.

Thankfully, my dear husband has not held a grudge against me and has used this opportunity to instruct the kids on how to jump-start a vehicle. While they're under the hood, he usually performs some other routine maintenance training.

So....all things work together for good, right? I'm going with that.....

Blurry trick or treat

I am soooo bummed about these pictures from Saturday night. Even though they are blurry I'm putting them on here so you can have an idea of how adorable everyone looked.We had lots of fun, going to a little parade in our neighborhood, then trick-or-treating. The weather was warm and the rain held off until after we got home-it was fun walking around with all the neighbors.

Alyson, Nick, and their friend Kelley went as the Cat in the Hat and Thing 1 and Thing 2. They looked adorable! Nick even won a Target gift card for his costume. Joshua went as Link from the Legend of Zelda. He is very proud to say that that is his own real bow and arrow and he can shoot it clear across our yard into the woods!

Anyway, I have just GOT to read the manual on this camera. :(