Praying Mantis

Apparently our praying mantis died and was eaten by the crickets. When we looked in his cage this morning he was gone and there was no possible way he escaped. Alex said, “He didn’t die. He escaped to find a female.” Frank asked him why. “To help the female lay eggs and be eaten by her”, was his reply.

(We caught two more to replace that one.)

Lego Power Miners Fire Blaster

Alex received the 67 piece Lego Power Miners Fire Blaster set as his kindergarten graduation present. It took him no time to put it together.

Marie-Anne

Kindergarten Graduation

Alex has graduated kindergarten and is now a first grader. We had a ceremony for him and took him to Chuck E Cheese to celebrate. Afterwards we had cupcakes and played in the courtyard. It was a wonderful day.







He has been doing a combination of kindergarten and first grade for a while. If Alex was going to public school he’d be starting kindergarten. One thing I love about homeschool is that we can go at his pace.

Marie-Anne

HEB Buddy Summer Reading Club

Alex received his certificate, t-shirt, bookmark, pencil, and sticker for reading 10 books for the HEB Buddy Summer Reading Club. This promotion is going on until October 1 and it doesn’t matter if you live in an area with no HEB. Parents can read to children too young to read, so I’ll get this for Sabrina too.

http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/readingclub.pdf

Marie-Anne

Pahranagat National wildlife refuge

We also stopped at Pahranagat National wildlife refuge on the way back. It is so beautiful and peaceful. Sabrina kept yelling, “Water! Water!” We hiked around and really enjoyed the scenery.





I’d love to go back for a picnic and a much longer stay.

Marie-Anne

Humboldt National Forest

On the way home from Idaho we stopped at Humboldt National Forest. It is very pretty. We did a short hike and took lots of pictures. We had a long way to go so we didn’t stay long, but it was fun.








Marie-Anne

Grandma Donna’s funeral

We went to Idaho this week for Grandma Donna’s funeral. I am so very glad we visited her last month! She will be greatly missed. Frank’s parents, sisters, nieces, uncles, aunts, and cousins were all there. I also met some family members I’d never met before. We had a good time visiting with family.

Marie-Anne

Ethel M Chocolate Factory tour

Today we went to Ethel M for a tour and a walk through the cactus garden with my friend Kelly and her daughter Hannah. Afterwards we stopped at Learning is Fun. The kids played with the train set while we browsed.

We ended our field trip at McDonalds. Sabrina amazed us by climbing all the way to the top of the play place. I didn’t think she could because of the way this one was set up.

Marie-Anne

Sock Game

I bought a three pack of colorful socks for Sabrina to help her learn matching. She loves them! When I first put the ones in the picture on her she walked around for about five minutes staring at her feet the entire time.

She’ll wear a pair for about two minutes then want me to take them off. She chooses her next pair. I have all six socks in a pile and she chooses. So far she has chosen the right match every time. I’ll have to go back to Dollar Tree and get another set.

Marie-Anne

Student of the Month

Alex’s hard work paid off- he got student of the month at church. He was so excited that he was literally on the edge of his seat and asking the teacher if he got it while she was passing out awards.

Marie-Anne

Alex’s first sleepover/Family Movie Night

Tonight is Alex’s first sleepover. His best friend Jacob is spending the night and they are super-excited!





It is also our first family story time and movie night. For tonight’s movie we chose Cars and I also got books about the movie from the library. I wanted to do a themed dinner, but I couldn’t find wheel shaped mac and cheese. We did have a leaning tower of tires aka chocolate covered donuts.



For the craft the boys each painted two Cars posters. I bought two sets complete with paint for a dollar each.

We are extremely picky about the cartoons our children watch and we will only have pre-approved cartoons for family movie night. We plan on doing family story time and movie night once a month.

Marie-Anne

Boulder City Hoover Dam Museum

We went to Boulder City to go to the Boulder City Hoover Dam Museum.



Afterwards we stopped at McDonald’s.

Library’s Summer Reading Program

Alex has completed the library’s summer reading program.



He is quite proud of his gold medal!

Marie-Anne

Meadows Mall

Yesterday we went to Meadows Mall to walk and let the kids play. I had fun playing with the settings on my phone’s camera.

Marie-Anne

Children’s Museum

This afternoon we took advantage of the Target Arts & Wonder Free Family Event to go to the Children’s Museum. We took Tamie and Jacob with us. It was very, very, very crowded, but the kids had a lot of fun.



Target Arts & Wonder Free Family Event also has free museums tomorrow. To find the free museum in your area check out the website below:

http://sites.target.com/site/en/company/page.jsp?contentId=WCMP04-031764

Marie-Anne

H-E-Buddy Summer Reading Program

Here's another Summer Reading Program:

http://www.hebuddy.com/content/pdf/readingclub.pdf

Marie-Anne

Twin Falls, Idaho

Mon.

We left home at 2 am on a road trip to Twin Falls. Both kids stayed up late and slept almost the entire trip!



We stopped at a rest stop that had info about the Pony Express, Sabrina and I walked around while Frank and Alex napped.



Later we stopped at another rest stop next to a creek where we all stretched and walked along the creek.



We arrived about lunchtime. After visiting with Uncle Robin and Aunt Vivian in their orchard we went to Grandma Donna’s house to rest up. Then we had dinner with Grandma Donna and Aunt Vivian. We enjoyed looking at family photos. Aunt Vivian is the family historian and she has lots of great stories to tell.

Tues.

We went to have lunch with Grandma Donna. We enjoyed a very good meal, but the kids were getting restless so I took them in the courtyard.



I let Sabrina play in the sprinkler, but not so much that her clothes were too wet.



Aunt Vivian took us to the Twin Falls, which the town is named after. It was absolutely beautiful!





Shoshone Falls was even more impressive! We spent a little more time here.

Sabrina fell asleep on the way to Centennial Park under the Pillar Bridge. Alex was the only one to get out at the play ground; we adults were tired so we did not mind at all.

The evening was spent at Uncle Robin’s and Aunt Vivian’s. Both kids loved the attention they got. Alex told me, “Aunt Vivian is great. Uncle Robin is great. Grandma Donna is great.”

Wed.

We had brunch with Aunt Vivian and Grandma Donna at IHOP. After that we started the long trip back.



We stopped at Humboldt National Forest to stretch and for a quick photo op, (plan on going back sometime). The scenery changed so many times during our trip-it was all so beautiful! It was a great trip. I’m glad we went.

Marie-Anne

Family Day at Lake Mead

We spent family day at Lake Mead. The tide was in and the rocks were sharp so we didn’t stay at the beach for very long.





The kids have beach shoes, but we adults do not.



Then we had a picnic. It was fun.

Marie-Anne

Border's Summer Reading Program

Alex read his 10 books for Borders’ Summer Reading Program! Yesterday we took him to get his free book. He chose Johnny Tremain, which is over 300 pages. You should have seen the look on the clerk’s face as he rang us up. I just shrugged and told him there were no beginner readers to choose from. While I’m thankful for the free book, I wonder why the reading levels of the books don’t correlate with the ages of the participants.

Marie-Anne

Barnes and Nobles Summer Reading

Alex read his 8 books for Barnes and Nobles’ Summer reading program. He chose Gorillas Gentle Giants of the Forest as his free book. The lady asked if he wanted another reading passport- I didn’t know he could get more than one free book!

Marie-Anne