Easter Break

Our last break before the end of the year is over. It was one of the busiest I can recall this year. Whatever the weather - whether it was cold or warm - we were outside most of the time. But there were enough activities to keep us occupied even when we found ourselves between four walls. 
And this is what we did:

Being active. We did not spend as much time in the park this week as we wanted to. The wind was bitterly cold and was biting our noses off. But the half an hour of park time that we had was thoroughly enjoyable. Also, Andrew was busy practicing his throwing and catching at home. He had a practice and a very good game during our break. Saara, also, had one game. Andrew also brought out his bow and arrow, but baseball seems to fill his mind these days more than anything else.

Being crafty. I managed to do only one Easter craft with the kids this time. I found it on the Oriental Trading Co. website and it called for jelly beans, elastic cord, needle, and a printout on their website. I skipped the printout part and just asked the kids to poke the needle with the cord through the beans and make a bracelet. Well, I was not prepared the craft to be as sticky as it was. I ended up beading all the beans the kids had arranged in a color pattern. Although I scratched the craft off as a 'no-gooder', the kids loved it! Of course, they got to eat their bracelets after dinner. ;o)

Being caring. One thing Andrew and Saara care about is the children who do not have safe families to live in. One summer, they learned quite a bit about the Tupelo Children's Mansion in Tupelo, MS and ever since this children's home pops up in their conversations. During the Easter break both Andrew and Saara chose a new child they would like us to support and whom they would like to be friends with. This gave me an opportunity to teach Andrew a bit about how to handle internet for searching information. Also, the kids gave a big portion of their savings for their new friend. This meant a trip to the bank.

Being sweet. During the break Andrew and Saara had many opportunities to help me out in the kitchen. Like, we baked Lemon Cupcakes that the kids decorated with jelly beans. We did the 'grand tasting' while we were waiting for our freshly dyed eggs to dry. The other fun new recipe that we followed came from the Highlights magazine and involved a banana on a stick rolled in vanilla yogurt and Cheerios and left in the freezer overnight. A healthy breakfast that the kids actually liked.

Being pretty and handsome. Last but not least, Andrew and Saara are loaded with all sorts of sweets for the whole year now. They enjoyed the church's egg hunt with probably the largest number of kids we have had. That made the hunt go by really fast. 

Happy times!

Saara's Second Game: Volcanoes vs Express

I wish, I could keep Saara in T-ball forever - those little helmets running the bases are just way too cute. If/when they find the base. The right one. :o)

Staying focused on the game seems to be the hardest challenge.

:o)

Saara running 'home'.

Baby Chicks

Our neighbors down the road invited Andrew and Saara over to see some baby chicks and baby turkey chicks. Neither of my kids had ever seen a real chick before, so I was so thankful to Ms Marie for letting Andrew and Saara come and even hold the chicks. And not only that - they saw the chicken coop and the nests and even eggs in the nests, plus the incubator that Andrew sounded very fascinated about. Both kids were so excited. Truth be told, so was I.

Little League Opening Ceremony and First Games

This past Saturday reminded us that sometimes it is better to trust the thermometer outside your window than the weatherman on TV. The promised 80 F never arrived. Despite the 'Mom-I-can-see-my-breath' temperatures at the baseball field in the morning, the team pictures were taken with big smiles on the kids' faces. We did run back home quickly before the opening ceremony and threw on a few more layers of clothing. 
The ceremony itself was a rather fast affair. Sweet, but short. It was neat to see all the teams lined up.  I thought some of the teams had the coolest names. I would rather fancy wearing a cap with the "Iron Pigs" logo, for instance. But I am very happy with the 'Volcanoes' for Saara and 'Durham Bulls' for Andrew.

Saara's T-ball game was precious. I loved how one family had made posters supporting their little guy. I bet, he could not even read yet, but just the gesture itself was awesome. Saara did well. She managed all her equipment by herself, paid attention, handled being in the 'boring actionless'  outfield pretty well, and even showed good sportsmanship in a sweet gesture toward her teammate. Main thing - she enjoyed the game immensely!

Andrew's game lasted much longer and was much more serious. He is the smallest guy in his team, but does pretty well athletics wise. His batting brought home the only point Bulls got in their first game. 

We also received the games schedule for the whole season and it is going to be a very busy spring for us. Good busy. Fun busy.

The morning photo session.

The Opening Ceremony

Saara's First Game: Volcanoes vs Thunder

Andrew's First Game: Durham Bulls vs. Express

 

Andrew's Minor League Practice 4 and Saara's T-ball Practice 5

We had our last practices before the opening ceremony tomorrow. The kids are excited. We arrived to the fields early. Saara and I watched Andrew and Coach Dad as they got their field ready. Playing in the team with all the boys is a good experience for Andrew. Like his soccer team in Upward Sports last year, Minor League is teaching him teamwork and good sportsmanship. 
And Saara, too. She needs to learn focusing on the game and stop talking (and thumb-wrestling) with her teammates. :o)

Now, when the train passes, nobody can hear anybody. I do not think the Bombers could hear each other either.

Andrew helping Coach Dad set up the field.

First base? Over there.

Saara ready at the first base.

'12/13 Week 28 Day 4

At the end of the day I realized that today was our last day before Easter break. Sort of, I should say. Because of myriad of baseball practices, we have fallen behind with our Read Aloud books and I owe the kids a few science activities. We will be using the break to catch up on these.

Our day itself was active and short. We managed to finish our Bible reading and Reading Practice before the scheduled pest control showed up. We spent the next hour outside while the inside got prayed and dry out.  We played some baseball and then decided to take a walk to the meadow. The hour was up before we knew it.

Back inside, I found a couple of documentaries about the formation of the Paricutin volcano in Mexico. Andrew's Reading Practice book told the story of how the volcano was born. Rather interesting. 

The other captivating program Andrew and I watched was on TV and it was called "Egypt: What Lies Beneath". Can you imagine an archeologist looking up into the space instead of digging to find the treasures of time? Amazing how nowadays one can use satellites to find the lost (and forgotten) pyramids and even cities.  

And, here we go now. A week without lessons before the final leg. 10 more weeks.

Skirts, boots, and T-ball

Bubbles in the bluebonnets. Taking a break from studies and waiting for the pest control to get done.

'12/13 Week 28 Day 3

As we have loads of driving to do and places to go in coming days, I decided to skip the story time at the library and focus on school work. The more that tomorrow morning we will be ousted by pest-control for an hour or two. 
We did loads of math today - new things and old. We looked at the 'dozen', counted money, learned about the pyramid among other things. 
In History, we finally got to Alexander the Great. After reading about his father Philip and Macedonia, we watched a scene from Oliver Stone's 2004 movie "Alexander". 
And, yes, as soon as the school part of the day was over, we ran outside!

Easter comes by the DOZEN.

So, what do you do when one of the numbers is missing?

Comparing.