Alexander (trying to get onto the computer): “Mom, how do you spell Boba Fett? That’s the password on my settings.”
Mom: “I think it’s B-O-B-A F-E-T-T.”
Alexander: “But I tried that already and it didn’t work.”
Johnathan (who had been standing nearby the entire time): “Alexander, I know how to spell Boba Fett.”
Alexander: “Hey, how do you know my password?”
Straight from his six year old heart!
(Explaination: the figure on the right is me, and the one on the left is himself, and the hearts above his head is his love for me. How sweet!)
The green patrol should give us a conservations award for record low water use per child on bath day!
Rub-a-dub-dub, four men in a tub, and who do you think they be?
It’s been two years since we’ve had a homeschool All Saints Eve party, but this year it was announced on Oct 20 that we were starting up the tradition again. I spent Friday and Saturday sewing costumes, which turned out pretty well. Maria was St. Bernadette, Johnathan was St. Anthony, Alexander was St. Michael, and Joseph was St. Juan Diego. Maria and John slipped out the door before I could get a picture of them, but here are the little boys:
Daniel thought Joseph’s makeup was really interesting. (“What is it with you people in the last week? First Sarah makes her eyes really strange and now you have black on your face!”)
I made my first pleat on Alex’s bottoms, and it turned out pretty well.
Daniel was a lion from Noah’s Ark. This costume I didn’t make.
He found the mane a little annoying.
But that’s OK, because he has a mane of his own!
When we got home, everybody dived into their candy. Maria didn’t like caramel apples, so she gave hers to me.
Chewy pieces of candy are a good way to lose teeth.
"Underneath this adorable face I'm plotting to steal my brother's favorite toy: the video game remote!" (Evil laugh)
"And I'm off to put my plan into action!"
"My scheme has been victorious! Now, how does this thing work? I know that they love to hold this thing all day long. "
"I really don't know what they see in it."
Daniel has just figured out how to click duplos together, and now he will sit for an hour straight all by himself, taking these blocks apart and putting them back together. I”m sure he feels really special and grown-up, as the older boys love to play with them and guard their creations from Daniel, who would love to take them apart. I snapped these pictures when the baby was intent on his work of art.
As Alexander was eating a hard boiled egg a few days ago, he decided that his egg looked a little bit like Baby Jesus. He really wanted me to put it on my blog, so here you go:
I love looking at these beautiful board books that feature paintings by famous artists with Daniel. Aside from being a lesson in art from the impressionist era, the pictures are quiet and relaxing. They are a nice change from the vivid red, yellow, blue and green pictures found in many baby books.
My favorite is the book with paintings by Degas, who was an artist famous for his paintings of ballerinas. Our quiz bowl team wears matching shirts with a nickname for each person on the back, and my nickname is ‘DegasDancer.’
Daniel enjoys an apple from our recent trip to the apple orchard
Alexander (noticing a crescent moon around noon): “Sarah, it’s night and day at the same time!”
J+M+J
St. Philomena is my confirmation saint, so I was very happy to hear that our priest was having a special mass on her feast day, August 11, and that there would be a blessing with a first class relic (part of Philomena’s bone) and the oil that burns before her tomb afterwards. It was in a beautiful little church in the town of Salem about forty minutes away, and our whole family drove out for the mass.
The altar is decked in red and gold in honor of Philomena's martyrdom.
The Carmelite nuns made this special Saint Philomena vestment.
Alexander with a holy card of Philomena.
After mass we were anointed with the oil, and then had a chance to kiss the relic. Alexander was a little confused when it was his turn to kiss the relic, and opened his mouth instead. I think he thought he was about to receive his First Holy Communion. Fortunately, Dad was next to him and he told Alex what he was supposed to do.
The anointing with the oil. (Different than the anointing of the sick)
Daniel waits for his turn.
The end procession, with Landon at the front.
After Mass, I took a close up picture of the pretty statue of St. Philomena and her relic.
A+M+D+G
J+M+J
Sunday after church, Alexander declared he was going to be a priest. When we asked Joseph if he was going to be a priest also, he responded, “No, I’m gonna be the muffin man, remember?”
“Do you like eating muffins, Joseph?” Dad asked.
“Yes, but I even more like making muffins,” he replied.
So, today I made lemon poppy seed muffins with the muffin man.
Tasting the batter
Rewards of Baking
Waiting impatiently
Making the lemon glaze.
A+M+D+G
J+M+J
Our trip went very smoothly, and we had a great time. There was a lot of new things to see, and you almost spent more time looking upwards at the buildings than in front of you.
Downtown Chicago and Lake Michigan
Dad, Landon and I in front of the Willis (used to be Sears) Tower.
While we were there, we went to science, art, and history museums. The neatest thing at the science museum was this German U-boat captured in WWII:
The art institute was really nice also, and 70% of the paintings were religious.
Mary, Jesus, and their court of Virgin saints
The Annunciation
At the history museum, we saw precious stones, a large t-rex skeleton (discovered in South Dakota), and Egyptian mummies:
“Sue”
Carving of a Pharaoh from an Egyptian tomb.
Real Mummy
More pictures coming!
A+M+D+G
