Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Winter Wrap Up

So.....blogging about our Homeschooling adventures has been playing second fiddle to the rest of our activities. Unfortunately for my children, homeschooling itself, has NOT. They are still getting edumicated daily and grumbling about consistently. But here is a Winter Wrap Up of our very busy lives. First and foremost, the above picture took up most of our January. We spent every weekend getting ready to put the house on the market. Why is it that we always wait and do those projects, that you've been meaning to do for years, right before you get ready to sell? Hmmmm....
This Winter we watched Liam crossover from Cub Scouts into Boy Scouts. Boy Scouts will be a great experience for him. He's so excited about his first week long camp out this Summer. This will be his first time away from us without being with other relatives. My biggest fear is the education he'll get from the other campers!! After all...I still remember my camping experience when I was his age.

We also welcomed a new cousin (my great-nephew) into the world. This is Malachi John Petersen. He's perfect! We spent 5 days in Michigan with the Hansen family and had a blast. We went sledding, hiking, Mommy had a day out with sister, watched movies, laughed, played games...tons of fun. I somehow, even snuck in a nap that visit. That is an amazing feat considering how many people live there. Remember, my sister has 9 kids still living at home. Add my brood to the bunch and that's a whole lotta kids.

Quinn lost his first tooth this Winter, much to our amazement. The other boys all waited till they were 7 before they lost a tooth. Quinn, our little early bird, lost his at the age of 5.





Both Simon and Quinn took art classes this Winter at the Delaware Arts Castle. Quinn even had his picture in the Delaware Gazette during one of his art classes. Simon is so into watercolors these days that he is actually watching an instructional video about it right now!!


Whole Foods has been a great distraction this Winter. We've been taking a class there on the first Tuesday of each month. They do a great job. Each class has a different theme and the best part is......IT'S FREE!! This actually works out very well for WF because I always go shopping after the class and spend plenty of money. Maybe the class isn't free after all. In February the boys learned all about Chinese New Year and made yummy dumplings. Mmmmm

For Christmas, Simon received some Kitchen Science kits from his Grandpa and Karen. We've made hard candy, suckers and gum. Before you make gum, give me a call. I would love to help you avoid a few mistakes that just about ruined my Pyrex bowls.


In February, Liam turned 11. We've decided to upgrade all the boys' bikes for their birthdays this year. Liam is quite the stud on his new mountain bike. This is Liam with his Grandma and James.

One very warm (42 degrees) Winter day, we went sledding with some awesome Homeschooling peeps. We had Highbanks all to ourselves until the highschoolers started showing up. Darn schoolies! Just kidding.

This Christmas, my Dad welcomed help from these little hands, as he taught us all how to make Italian cookies. This is definitely an all day affair. We made two batches and used up 2-5 lb bags of flour and I don't even want to think about how much Crisco. I'll just block that part from my mind. Those of you that know me, and my blond hair and pale skin, can you believe I am part Italian? That gray hair you see on my Dad used to be jet black. Not a one of his 4 kids took on those genes. We are all pale and quite lacking in black hair. My Mom had high hopes for me when I came out all nice and olive colored. Turns out I was just jaundice.

We are quite blessed to have some tremendous chefs in the family. This is Liam learning how to make chocolate something-or-other from his Aunt Jen. My brother-in-law met Jen in culinary school (in France, by the way,...ooh, la, la!) so they are our resident cooking experts.


To wrap up our fabulous Winter, we took the boys skiing and snowboarding. And yes, Mom even went snow boarding. Quinn did a great job on skis while Liam and Simon both snowboarded. It was a great day at a not so great ski resort. You can't expect fantastic skiing in Ohio so I shouldn't complain.

Pizza!!! French Fries!!

Every Winter the boys look forward to the Pine Wood Derby race with the Cub Scouts. This was Liam's last year to race but we have many more to look forward to with Simon and Quinn. Here's Simon with his trophy and car.
So that was our Winter in a nutshell. We did many other things that kept the days busy but I can't even remember them all. The boys continue to attend Homeschool gym, have fun play dates with other homeschoolers, play with the neighbors, bake things Mommy shouldn't eat, create fun art work at home, play Play-doh, create Lego designs, and so on and so on and on. Now that it is Spring, let's hope I don't wait another 3 months to log our adventures.

1 comment:

Karen said...

Loved catching up with your winter! Well done, dudes and to your mom, too!