Jonas' turn

It is field trip season.  I have worked like the dickens arranging babysitting for Elijah and Ryah while I go one field trips with everyone. This week was Jonas'. The "theme" of Jonas' field trip was whether or not Capital Lake (reservoir) should be turned drained back into an estuary.  Apparently this debate/discussion/argument has been going on for a while.  However nothing is being done either way for lack of funds.

We got to glance (literally, we only had 15 minutes) around the Capital building and then around the campus.  I never tire of that place.  So many interesting things to see and take pictures of (because apparently, I'm getting a couple free brain cells to get back into taking pictures).

These "grains" represent the people who died at Pearl Harbor.  Someone had put the flag there for Memorial Day.

Boys being boys.

I had a good group of kids that I was in charge of. They were very active but I didn't have to chase any down.  They pretty much did what I said and made sure they stayed close by me.

I didn't have time here to take the picture I wanted to here. I really want to go back and take more pictures. (Like I haven't been there a million times and taken a BILLION pictures.)

Then we walked around Capital Lake to the dam and listened to the operator talk.  Of course he told his opinion about the lake/estuary thing.  He thinks that it should be left a lake as it is a habitat for all kinds of creatures that wouldn't be there.  It brings tourists in (which helps downtown economy) and is home to the Olympic Harbor Yacht Group (a revenue source).  It also provides a reflecting pool for the Capital.

I guess if you stick out of the landscape like a sore thumb you beg people to take pictures.  I found a few angles that I haven't taken pictures from before.

The kids had fun sitting "behind" the dam house trying to get the cars to honk.  They were pretty successful and even claimed to have gotten the train (which was waaaaayyyy behind them LOL) to honk. 

Then we walked the rest of the way around the lake and down the pier.  I have never seen so many jellyfish there.  You have to look really closely to see the one in the picture (near the top right).  There was even a big red one about 12 inches across. 

We were also able to see a couple otters (too far away for picture) and this egret fishing.  The children would cheer when it caught a fish.

We were supposed to hear from someone from the Harbor Yacht Club about the lake/estuary issue but that fell through.  Apparently, there is also a big issue of silt from the Deschutes River (that feeds Capital Lake).  But apparently that is an issue either way.  I haven't really paid much attention to it as we have no voting rights over there and it is a ways away.

We walked about 5 miles total so everyone was grateful to ride the bus to Tumwater Falls park, eat and just play for an hour.  It was a fun field trip and we couldn't have asked for better weather... especially since it has been raining all week.

One tired Momma (though I'm not sure if it was from the walking, the sun, the wind or chasing boys) came home and crashed trying to make Elijah sleep.

Jonas has had a busy week.  He also had an orchestra concert.  The first song was awful, there was 4 different tempos going on and you couldn't even tell what the tune was.  The conductor (who is fabulous, by the way) stopped them and re-did the song.  After that they played wonderfully!  It never ceases to amaze me how they go from not even knowing how to hold an instrument to playing 2 and 3 part harmonies. 

Glasses- a new look

It is a major sore spot, this whole glasses thing.
Alina is a constant battle to wear her glasses.  All day every day she is losing them, setting them down in a dangerous place or breaking them. (that is only a slight exageration-- maybe it isn't ALL day, just MOST of the day). And finally, finally she lost them for good.  She was spinning on the spika at school and they flew off (no big surprise, I'm surprised that they stay on at all).  But instead of looking for her glasses she goes in to class because the bell rang.  Hello?  So she has been without for about a month.
Anastasia usually does pretty well wearing her glasses if you can get her to remember in the morning.  However, Anastasia's glasses have been broken so many times that the ladies and Pearle Vision cringe when we come into the store.  The ear pieces have been replaced 2 times each.  The piece that holds the ear piece now can't hold the earpiece on anymore. Now she only has one earpiece. So as a result they don't stay on her nose, so (understandably) she hates to wear them.
Miriam does really well with her glasses if, like Anastasia, you remind her in the morning to put them on.  She only once in a while puts them in unsafe places.  However, about 2 weeks ago she came into show me that the bar that holds the top on the lense on was broken and her lense was missing.
Caleb always remembers to wear his glasses (maybe becasue he literally can't see a thing without them).  I've never see him put them in dangerous places.  However, he sometimes sleeps in them.  But the hinges that are so popular for kids the ones that bend both ways so they don't get broken, if they get broken they can't be fixed.  And for some reason this happens with Caleb A LOT.  Currently both are broken, we have taped them sooo many times that they are both really sticky from the tape.  (oh, and for the record, there isn't a tape made that will hold broken hinges together for longer than a day).
And to top it all off none of them are due for frames or lenses on our insurance.
So, we took them to Walmart. 
Love that place.  Where else can you get frames for $10?  Where else can you get a whole set for $38?
The nice man found Anastasia some frames which will hold her lenses perfectly.  For $9.99.  Wahooo.  I'll take it!

He also found ones that would fit Caleb's lenses but they were going to be $95. Better to go with the $38 special. We picked out frames for he and Miriam and have them on order. (pictures to come)
And Alina?  Well, for Alina we bought some "Training Glasses."  Training glasses are glasses that don't break the bank (or the sanity) if they get lost or broken.  Training glasses even come wtih their own lenses.  And you know what?  Alina has remembered to have her glasses on every day since then.  Maybe soon she'll be big enough to get some real ones.

Admittedly, all these glasses are all probably... shall we say, less than high quality.  But the goal here is to keep everyone in glasses until they are allowed by our insurance to get real ones.

Random pictures

Little Tessa is growing but still only a pound and a half.  She fits in my hand easily and often falls asleep there.  She is loved on by all the kids.  Miriam and Elijah especially.  Miriam, every chance she gets, asks if she can hold her and will hold her for as long as I'll let her (much to the chagrin of the other girls).  Elijah is learning how to be soft with her.  His hugs get a little overzealous.

One of the things Jonas had to do as a part of this program is to do a Science-type-display of something about Australia.  He chose to do a display of the animals of the Great Barrier Reef.  This is what he came up with.  The animals are made out of sculpy clay or salt dough.  He worked hard on it.  And it was the best, most in-depth display of all the Ambassadors.

When he was tilling the garden, Keith ran over a ground nest.  (He still feels really bad about that).  There were four baby birds in the nest.  One of them died immediately.  Another died within an hour.  These two were left.  The man at the pet store was very discouraging.  "They won't live," he kept saying.  But then proceeded to sell me some wax worms to feed them.  Luckily, feeding these chicks isn't like feeding baby lovebirds.  I only had to feed them about every 6 hours.  But I did have to pull the heads off the wax worms or they would eat through the crop of the chicks. Blech!

These two eventually died too.  But the kids enjoyed watching them and we had to do what we could to try to save them.

Our home teachers are the best.  Brother Von Forell in particular has been with us for a while (through 3 other companions)  He always has a kid-level lesson prepared and he is very patient with this crazy, talkative bunch. Everyone enjoys having them come.  Here he is making brownies (even though each ingredient alone might be different if you mix them all together they become better, so it is with members of a family)  .  Here he even let them lick the bowl.

And lastly, not a picture, I found this recipe on the internet for garlic bread that is to die for.  I even cut off a few leaves of oregano and cinnamon basil out of my garden.

Italian Style Garlic Bread Spread

1/2 c butter

1/4 c mayonnaise or salad dressing (I didn't add this)

2 tbl grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp basil

1/2 tsp oregano

1tsp garlic, minced

Beat together all ingredients with mixer.  Spread on french or BBQ bread.  Broil until golden on an ungreased baking sheet. May be stored in covered container up to 1 month.  Make 3/4 cup.

It is all about Perspective

 I was helping Miriam write her talk for Primay on Sunday.  We were writing about how Ordinances and Prinicples of the Gospel bring us to Jesus Christ.  I made a path.  On one end I put a person, on the other we were going to have a picture of Jesus.  I made a gate, representing baptism.  Miriam said she thinks she has it down but "can I please draw the picture?"

Sure, no problem.  She had me draw the path.  Then she drew the gate and the people.  Notice how her gate is the perspective of the path.  Mine isn't.  Maybe that is why I never became an artist.

Come to think of it.... I was helping in Miriam's classroom and her teacher wanted her to show me something she had been working on.  She showed me a map of the United States she had "copied" from a smaller version.  The smaller version was about 4"x6", while the larger was about 18" x 20".  I hope I don't sound like I'm bragging when I say it was perfect.  It really was.  All the states were exactly the right shape and size.  The western half wasn't much bigger than the eastern half like usually happens when I do that.  I couldn't have done as nice a job if I had blown it up and traced over it.  I guess she has great perspective.
Oh, and she overheard when I showed both of our gates to Keith and asked what I meant.  I spent some time trying to explain to her why her gate looked better.  She didn't get it.  She had no clue what I was talking about.  So, she understands 2 dimensional/ 3 dimensional perspective on a subconscious level.
Hmmm Do I encourage her passion for the body and things medical toward being a doctor or do I encourage the natural ability toward being an artist?