Fall begins

I'm so happy fall is here. But unhappy that I didn't find time today to put up my decorations. Hopefully I can do that this weekend. I did buy some pretty flowers for the table and picked up some fall-related books from the library to read with the kids.

This was an interesting week, and I'm glad it's over. Scott had to report for jury duty on Monday morning and ended up being picked to serve. So he was there all week long, but found out today that he was the alternate. He was bummed that after all that, he didn't get to be part of the deliberation. By the end of the day, the jury still hadn't reached a decision, so the judge said he'd call him next week to tell him the verdict. I thought that was pretty neat of him.

Conner was at a leader's retreat for our church last weekend and came home with a cold. He felt pretty crummy all week. Thankfully, he was only scheduled for one day at Chick-fil-A so he was able to rest more than usual. Declan was sick with a stomach bug last week, and now Zane seems to have it. We have been really healthy around here for awhile now, so I guess we were due.

In our preschool studies , we continued with Five in a Row. This week's book was Lentil. We talked about our senses, so we did a taste test and sampled things salty, sweet, sour and bitter. In the book, Lentil learns to play the harmonica so I found some at the dollar store for the three younger boys. They were surprised to find out that it's harder to play one than they thought.

For some reason Aiden talked me into buying a coconut while we were out shopping so Chase spent a long time opening it and then they used all parts of it. They drank the water, made coconut milk, ate the meat and even reused the shell as a cup for smoothies.

Liam is turning 4 months next week and I can hardly believe it. The newborn stage seems to disappear faster with each child. He really prefers being upright, so we brought in his activity jumper. He seems to really like it.

He must have worn himself out playing, because when Brenna took him in her room to play with him, he fell fast asleep on her bed. Right in the middle of her schoolwork, stuffed animals and the cat. Haha

I entered a giveaway on a blog a few weeks back and actually won. Today I received in the mail a "busy mom's gift basket" for the car. It's from bp and had a travel mug, insulated tumbler, first aid kit, air freshener, tire gauge, umbrella, and several other items. There were also 2 gas gift cards that I gave to Conner. It was a nice way to end the week.

April field trips

In April, we went on 3 field trips. I already posted pictures from the aquarium and the Denver Mint doesn't allow cameras, so these are from our other field trip, to an ice cream shop in Boulder.

So many choices

Watching them mix the ice cream

Yummy!

Wednesday

I am really going to make an effort to update more often. So here's today:


Scott snapped this picture this m0rning before work, of the moon and Venus:




Look at my cute load of laundry:



After lunch me and the youngest 4 kids met up with one of our homeschool groups at the Denver Aquarium. We arrived early and while waiting, the kids had fun with the bubble machine while I had fun with my camera.








Inside the aquarium:

This is how Declan felt about his first visit to the aquarium:

healthy field trips

Over the last week, we attended two homeschool field trips that centered on healthy eating. One was to Great Harvest Bread Co. in Longmont.

The kids learned the only 5 ingredients they use in their honey wheat bread: honey, wheat, yeast, water and salt.

They showed us how they grind their wheat and make their bread.

They all got to practice making rolls.

And then the best part, taste-testing:

I brought home some freshly baked potato-chive bread. SO yummy -- it's the one that's pictured here:

The other field trip was to Whole Foods. We've done this one a couple times, but it's a favorite. They lead the kids around the store and teach them about natural vs. organic foods and let the kids try all kinds of goodies.

Then the kids each got to make their own granola mixture.

The trip was topped off with a yummy slice of pizza:

These are my favorite kind of field trip; they are free, educational and tasty. LOL

i want candy

Yesterday we visited the Hammond's Candy Factory. It's a short-but-sweet field trip, and one we do at least once a year. I got Aiden and Zane to pose with a couple of the Christmas decorations. My older ones won't do this -- I wonder why? LOL

This is the group watching the candy being made.

Giant candy canes.

Afterward a bunch of us went to Pizza Hut for lunch to use our Book It! coupons. It was a nice day before the bustle of the holidays.

tasty

We went with one of our homeschool groups on a field trip to Whole Foods today. They have such great tours there. Tons of samples, which make the kids happy. It also helps them try new things. My kids especially loved the smoked salmon spread, so after the tour we bought some of that to have on crackers as a snack in the afternoon, as well as some fresh apple cider. Yum!!