Mardi Gras Fun!

Mardi Gras. Shrove Tuesday. Carnivale. Fat Tuesday. Whatever you want to call it, it's a lot of fun! My friend Jana and her family celebrate Mardi Gras every year, and this year she decided to share the fun with the rest of us. She opened up her home to 9 families in our homeschool group last Friday and shared some of the info about the day.

The kids listened to the history of the day and the current traditions surrounding it. Then it was into the kitchen for some traditional Louisiana fare, like red beans and rice, jambalaya, fried okra, beignets, and king cake. Yummy! Afterwards, the kids headed outside to enjoy the sunshine and dry weather (yay!), before coming in for some crafts.

Here's some of the older boys (mine in the middle) making masks.

Cody and his finished product.

Some of the boys and their bling!



Look! Sasquatch showing his entire face! (Between you and me, I think that all of the food sedated him ;)

Tuesday a bunch of us headed to IHOP for their free Mardi Gras pancakes. We garnered the attention of EVERYONE in the joint, as our group of 15 were the only ones dressed for the occasion.

Guard the pancakes! The locusts have arrived!

After gorging ourselves, we headed for an afternoon of fun at the nearby nickel arcade. After all of the kids headed in, the lady at the counter asked us what school was off for the day. My friend Kala replied: "We homeschool! The public doesn't think we socialize, but here we are!" To which the lady replied: "That is soooo cool!"

Yes, it is ;D

Geeky Blog Friends are AWESOME!!

OK, I had a whole Mardi Gras post nearly finished when I decided to pop on over to my friend Emma's blog. She's a big ol' sci-fi geek like myself, and she's spent the last couple of weeks blogging about her adventures at the Wolf Pegasus 4 convention in London last month. For those of you who aren't geeks (or are only semi-geeky ;) this con is for Stargate-Atlantis, which ended its 5 year run with its 100th episode last month.



So, I popped on over there and read her post entitled "Lost Property". (Please go read it. C'mon - I asked nicely!) I immediately started writing a smart-ass comment about how it's mine - 'cause I wanted it, and that she could just pop it in the mail to me. I then took the time to go back and actually look at the photo. And realized, by God, that the autographs are all TO ME!!! That's right, my bloggy friend across the pond had everyone at the Con sign it for me! And (this is a big "and") she even had them spell my name correctly. Which almost never happens.

Know what happened next? I squealed. Loudly. And woke my poor hubby in a not-very-nice-way as he was snoozing on the couch next to me. And then my kid ran in from the other room to see what all the screaming was about.

After I stopped making noises that were, well, indescribable and ear splitting, I was able to let my guys know who all had signed it. Cody wanted to know how come he didn't get one. I told him that my friends love me more! I know, I sound horrible. Maybe I'll be nice enough to bring him back an autographed photo when *I* go! (snort)

I'm not ignoring you, Jennifer...

but for some reason every time I try to reply to one of your posts, the verification word is never displayed, so it won't actually let me reply! Times like these are when I wish I was a computer geek ;) I'll keep working on it...

Family Fun Night

Periodically, our homeschool group has "Family Fun Nights" in place of our regular monthly parent meetings. This month we held it at a local 50's themed ice cream parlor, complete with build-your-own sundaes.

One of bubba's favorite parts of the night was the limbo. The kids were encouraged to be "original" with how they made it under the pole, and boy did they! There was plenty of rolling, crawling, crab walking, and the like.

This was the best shot I got of hubby. Fortunately, Jaci was distracting him enough that I actually caught part of his face before he could hide behind anything!

One of my favorite things about these events is that most of the dad's are able to come. I love seeing how the whole family interacts together, and honestly, I love seeing the dad's so involved. We're really lucky that hubby works odd hours because he's able to attend events that the other dads miss (like the Valentine's party).

Does your hs group have family get-togethers? How involved are the dads in the group? Or going back to the "olden days" as my son sooo affectionately calls the 80's ;P, how involved was *your* dad, especially as you got older??

Happy (belated) Anniversary to Me!

I had planned on doing a whole cool post when I reached my bloggy anniversary. Guess what? I forgot. Or rather, I missed the date (by about a month). This shouldn't really surprise me, as I can never remember when my wedding anniversary is either. Usually hubby and I will get a "Happy Anniversary" card in the mail and go "Crap! We missed it again." Maybe one of these days we'll put it on the calendar. Then again, it's been 14 years, so I doubt it ;D

Lori, Kerry, and Emma have been with me since nearly the beginning! Kat, Teresa and Stace weren't far behind. Way to stick with me guys. Lesser people have run screaming from me long before a year is out :D

Since all of my peeps have been so good to me, it's my turn to give something back. So here you go, ladies, some love for my girls (if you're listed on the right, that means you!) Take one, take all, whatever you choose. You deserve them!

('cause you know this applies to all of us!)

(This one reminded me of you, Teresa :)

And just for fun for my geeky friends...

Happy Belated Valentine's Day

On Friday we all had our annual homeschool Valentine's party. Since it was Friday the 13th, *I* wanted to have a "My Bloody Valentine" party, but I was outvoted. Spoilsports ;D Little did we know that there would, indeed, be some bloodshed, but fortunately no stitches were involved!

Cody spent the days leading up to the party designing and making his box. Last year he made it out of Legos. This year, he decided on a more "manly" box. And let's face it - nothing says "manly" like camouflage!



After everyone arrived and the kids passed out their valentine's it was off to the craft stations! There were vases decorated with tissue paper squares (the older boys had a race to who could finish first. Cody won - messily ;), painted suncatchers, candy necklaces, paper heart baskets, and Hershey's Kiss rosebud's.

One of the activities had the kids guessing how many candies were in this jar. Leave it to my kid to win! What can I say - he knows his candy ;)



The big hit of the party? The chocolate fountain. (Quit drooling on your keyboard!) We had plenty of goodies for dipping, including bananas, strawberries, marshmallows, graham crackers, and even potato chips!



After plenty of playtime outside (Oregon weather is surprisingly cooperative in February), the teen boys all headed back in for some Wii fun. Hard to imagine them sitting so still and paying such attention after all of the junk food they consumed!



And I know you're all dying to know what hubby and I did. He took me to the movies - to see Taken. Because nothing says "I Love You" like a kick-ass revenge movie ;)


Hope you all had a wonderful holiday!

I'll swing the hammer, you hold the nail...

Over the years we have collected a plethora of kits for "educational" purposes. We've had butterfly kits, anatomy kits, even an owl vomit, er, pellet kit.

We had a rare stay-at-home day, which also happened to be rainy. On days such as these, we usually pop in a movie and snuggle up on the couch, or spend the day baking in the kitchen. This day, Cody pulled one of the kits off the shelf and decided to put it together. A kit that involved using a hammer. And nails.

Such an innocent looking box, right?



We dumped the contents onto the floor and found this:




Do you notice what's missing? Look again. OK, look harder. Still don't notice the very important missing item?? I'll give you a hint: it's the directions! Um, so that was more the answer than a hint, but you get the point.


Now, I know what you're going to say. "FM, it's a few pieces of wood and some nails. How hard could it be?" Hel-lo, are you new here?? (If you are, you're excused). This kinda thing is NOT my forte. And unfortunately Cody takes after me in this department (and the throwing department. Poor guy.)


He was determined, though, so we worked together. He was afraid of smacking his own fingers with the hammer so he suggested that I hold nail.

How freakin' blonde does this kid think I am??

Apparently as blonde as I actually am, because I *did* hold the nail. Until he grazed my thumb. And then I screamed like a girl.






After a good hour of working on it, we managed to get the whole bottom section put together (including the handy-dandy secret compartment), but decided to leave the lid for hubby. He was thrilled ;P

OMSI and the da Vinci exhibit

Cody and I have been learning about Leonardo da Vinci for the last couple of months and as a happy coincidence, we learned that a world renowned exhibit on da Vinci was getting ready to open at OMSI (Oregon Museum of Science and Industry). The cherry on top was when we found out that OMSI was holding 2 Educator Nights - free entrance for educators and their families, which happened to coincide with the opening of the exhibit. And since we went early, we had the place almost to ourselves for the first 2 hours. It was FABULOUS!

I had hoped to snap a ton of photos, only to find that no cameras were allowed in the exhibit, so you'll just have to use your imaginations ;)

They had reproductions of some of his codex's and many of his drawings, and life size reproductions of his art. We all tried our hand at mirror writing, which was how he wrote all of his papers.

One of the coolest parts of the exhibit was the reproductions of actual machines that he invented. There were some smaller scale models, but most were actual size. They were hand built by Italian artisans based on his actual sketches. Included were a wood framed parachute, a wooden tank, and even an all wood bicycle!
(photo courtesy of Photobucket)


But I think my favorite part was the Mona Lisa section. A French photographer invented a special high resolution camera and was allowed to photograph the painting out of its frame. Not only did the photos reveal the original pigment colors (they were much brighter than the current shades), but they also revealed that she did originally have eyebrows and eyelashes.

After we got done with that exhibit, we roamed the other areas of the museum. One of their favorite stops is the rockets. Frankly, they'd probably spend their whole visit happily shooting these off. Boys.

Eventually we wandered over to the earthquake house. In this, you get to experience a simulation of two different earthquakes that struck the pacific northwest - a 5.6 and a 6.8. See hubby's head poking up on the right? That was his idea of letting me take a picture of him!

We finished the exhibits inside a replica of a Gemini space capsule. What Mike should have taken a picture of was me trying to get out of the damned thing! I'm 5'5" (or hobbit size, as my 5'7" kid often tells me ;) and I could hardly get out. I have *no idea* how you'd get out of it in a space suit!

We finished of the evening with the IMAX movie "Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs". Cody learned about mummies, and I learned that 6,532 sq. ft. of screen space is just too much for my little ol' eyes to see without going buggy!

Where the blog have I been??

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks. As some of you know, I have a strained relationship with my mother (though she does provide some humorous blog fodder ;). Show of hands - how many of you know somebody who sucks the life right out of you? Someone who has no understanding of, or respect for, healthy boundaries? I've had several people pop into my life in the last couple of years that fit this bill, and I swear they were the universe's way of letting me get some practice in to deal with my mom. Without boring you with the gory details, the result has been that my family and I decided to take the rest of the year off from my mom. Is she happy? Nope. And we are: relieved. If you are blessed with a wonderful, supportive mom - call her. Thank her. And if your mother wouldn't think twice about sucking every ounce of lifeforce from you, well, I feel for you sister!


OK, on to happier things!

We all went roller skating a few weeks back. Yes, roller skating! As in, get that Farrah flip going, grab your guys hand, it's time for couple's skate! Cody was first out on the floor, and (poor thing) spent the whole time looking like on octopus on skates. Granted, it was his first time, unless you count those plastic ones that he got for his 3rd birthday. Though, come to think of it, he really wasn't any better on those...




This may have been the only smile I saw on his face the whole time we were there, but the first words out of his mouth when we got in the car was: "That was fun! When can we go again?"







Back in the day I spent every Friday night at our local skating rink, Skater's Derby. I figured I'd hop back onto the floor and it would all come back to me.

I was wrong.

Never before have I been so thankful to have a wall to hold onto (or a well padded backside ;) It took me a good 30 minutes before I was sure I wasn't going to fall at any moment. Hubby and I finally got comfortable enough that we could even hold hands while we were skating. There was much giggling from us (and I'm sure an equal amount of gagging from those watching us ;P ). If you want to feel 13 again - in a good way - I highly recommend you grab your skates!


And what post would be complete without pix of hubby dodging the camera?


I give you: Sasquatch on Wheels!

See the crinkles around his eye?? That means he's smiling! Too bad that and his ear are all you can see...