Family Trip to the Wild Animal Park

The trip that the girls and I took last month to the San Diego Wild Animal Park really left a lasting impression on the girls. They've talked about going back ever since. Because of that trip, and how impressed Hannah was with the lions, she has chosen the lion as her research project for school. She will also briefly talk about them in the class' upcoming performance in April. We went today as a family so more 'research' could be gathered. But once we were there, Hannah told us she already knew everything about lions. LOL. We rode the tram that takes you to the level of the animals. And just like last time, spring was in the air and some antelopes provided the guests on the tram with a brief show. This time Hannah asked no questions.When we were here a month ago, this baby giraffe's mama was pregnant and due any day. She had her baby a day or two after our visit and here is the month old baby. The baby giraffe was so cute and it would have been neat to see it actually standing, because when he stands, he is over 6 feet tall and will grow to stand over 10 feet in it's first year!It was a beautiful day, great for being outside. We saw a lot of animals and walked long distances to see animal exhibits off the beaten path. We saw the tiger, and made our way up to Condor Ridge, and visited an up close viewing of the elephants. We finished off our trip with seeing the gorillas, waiting in line to see the butterfly exhibit currently on tour, and a few other fun stops along the way out. Before hitting the freeway home, we stopped for dinner and the girls had walked so much and worked up such an appetite that both ate their entire dinners without a problem. Hannah even asked for more after hers was gone. Hannah attempted to stay awake for the entire ride home, but didn't make it, she fell asleep half way home. And it's no wonder, being out in the fresh air and walking as much as we did, can wear one out, in a good way.

Our Ceramic Eggs

Our ceramic eggs that we painted last week were ready for pick up today! They turned out even prettier than I had anticipated. A springtime treasure to display for years to come!

This is before the glazing and kilning.
This is after.

Testing a New Template

Bear with me as I'm trying out a template that I pieced together. I'm still trying to figure out if I like this or not. So if you see the new template today, and it's gone and back to the old tomorrow, you know why. :)

Easter Sunday

I don't think we could has asked for a more beautiful day for celebrating Easter Sunday, maybe just a little bit cooler, as it was in the 90's, but we had sun and beautiful blue skies and it was a beautiful day.

Our day started off with going to the 7 am church service. Following church there were donuts and muffins and fresh fruit being served, which was nice. We sat for a while and fellow-shipped with friends and then it was time to get home to get just a few more things done for the Easter gathering at our house. Hannah was such a huge help this morning. She washed the mirrors in hers and Rachel bathroom. I think it might be time to teach her a few more household chores around the house to help Mom out. The girls each got a little bucket from us with a new jar of bubbles, some sunglasses, a pretty cookie and just a handful of candy. They'd already gotten enough candy from the egg hunt yesterday and I knew there'd be more candy on its way with our egg hunt with McKenzie and Haylee. After our very delicious dinner, Uncle Bart hid 92 eggs in our backyard. All four of the girls had so much fun, but Hannah, she was on a mission to collect a ton of eggs! After all the eggs had been found and accounted for, the girls sat and opened the eggs to discover what they'd found. Hannah found 31 eggs and loves to open the eggs to see what she found, which I think is pretty funny considering she really isn't a big candy eater...unlike her mother.We had a really nice Easter, spending time with friends and family, and remembering what this day is really about.

An Amazing Easter Party

This afternoon we went to the most amazing Easter party. Our entire family was invited to attend by the family of a little boy in Rachel's preschool class. You can read ALL the details of the party on Rachel's blog. But here are pictures and some details of how Hannah enjoyed the day.

The Easter Bunny isn't anything special in my kids eyes, to them, it's just a character like at Disneyland. But he made for a great group shot with all the kids. Hannah loves to have her face painted. I think she was more excited to have her face painted than Rachel and her preschool friends. LOL. She was sad when the butterfly had to be washed off in the bath tonight. The egg hunt was a massive one to say the least. Hannah collected 28 eggs, a few even had some silver coins inside. I think she scored just over a dollar.After the face painted, after the egg hunt, after all the bouncing in the bounce house, it was time to settle down and pay attention to the gift raffle. Hannah so desperately wanted to win something. And win something she did!!! She won $20.00!!! We kept joking with her about how she could buy dinner on the way home, but I think I've got her talked into saving it until after birthday in a few weeks to buy what she didn't get for her birthday. Hannah had a lot of fun today. She spent the majority of time in the bounce houses. We were all pretty impressed with the party and very thankful we'd been invited.

Fun with the Juicer

This evening, I needed to juice lemons in preparation for making lemon meringue pies for Easter on Sunday. Apparently it looked like a lot of fun because it ended up turning into a family event. And thanks to a big bag of oranges we were recently given (thanks Lauren!), we squeezed some fresh orange juice, which the girls LOVED!

Painting Easter Eggs

The local Color Me Mine studio currently has a special for Easter, painting ceramic Easter eggs. While the eggs won't be back to display this Easter, I will have them to display for years to come. So this afternoon, after Hannah was picked up from school, and we went and rescued Gramma, we went and painted eggs. They will be ready for pick up next Tuesday.

Six of our eight eggs.

Wednesday Afternoon Entertainment...

...rescuing Gramma from being stranded.

Home from Slumber Party

Hannah had a great time at the slumber birthday party. She talked nonstop all the way home about all the fun they had and silliness. Low and behold, she won the award for "Best PJ's"!!

Slumber Birthday Party

Hannah went to her first slumber party tonight for her friend Emma's birthday! The invitation said to wear your favorite pajamas and bring your sleeping bag and pillow. Which pajamas she was going to wear has been a subject of a lot of discussion the past couple of weeks. She finally decided on her silk sock monkey jammies, which are absolutely adorable!Arriving to Emma's house, there were lots of snacks out and she discovered they were going to decorate their very own pillow covers! With a total of six little girls, it was going to be a fun (and loud) night!We'll pick Hannah up tomorrow morning around 10:00, and then head to our next birthday party for cousin Haylee!

Astronomy on the Playground

Hannah's school did something fun this evening, partnered with the local Astronomy Club, they hosted an Astronomy on the Playground Evening. I had Bible Study, but Steven and the girls went and it sounds like they had a fun time! There were about ten different sized telescopes set up on the playground to see the moon and Saturn. They got to see the rings around Saturn and the craters on the moon. And Hannah got to see several of her friends, which made the evening even more fun.

Evening Walk

Enjoying it staying lighter after dinner by taking a walk around the block.

Narnia Drink

Last summer, or maybe it was the summer before that, Hannah and Emily came up with the weirdest concoction for a drink. They call it 'The Narnia Drink', and the ingredients are milk, maple syrup, and cinnamon sugar. I told you it was weird. Every now and then Hannah asks for a Narnia Drink, and that is what she had for a snack tonight!

Homeschooling in California

"On February 28, 2008, the California Court of Appeals issued a ruling in a juvenile court proceeding that declared that almost all forms of homeschooling in California are in violation of state law. (Private tutoring by certified teachers remains an option.) Moreover, the court ruled that parents possess no constitutional right to homeschool their children. "

...from Homeschool Legal Defense Association's website.

It’s no secret, I don’t homeschool, but I do have family and friends who homeschool. And whether or not you approve or disapprove of homeschooling, I think it can be agreed upon that us as parents know what’s best for our children.

With such a ruling, the government is attacking our rights as parents to choose what is best for our children. If we allow this ruling and don’t fight it, it could be the beginning of more government rulings that will tell us how or what we can do in our homes.

Please, if you support the rights of parents, and believe no one should tell you how to raise or even school your children, would you please sign the petition in support of homeschool freedom in California. You do not have to be homeschooling to sign this petition.

End of the Week

The first week of being back in school and back into the routine of getting up and getting out the door before 8:00 everyday has come and gone and it was a pretty good week in terms of Hannah getting up and having a good attitude and getting the things done that she needs to get done (making bed, brushing teeth) before leaving for school.

Hannah is especially excited because they began talking and planning out their upcoming performance. Each student had to pick an animal and is researching the animal they wish to be. When they visited the library on Friday, they even checked out a book about their animal they are researching. Hannah has chosen lions, as she is still very much fascinated about lions from our recent trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park.

This morning we went to the movies and saw The Spiderwick Chronicles, which Hannah really liked. She liked so much that she is currently outside with her plastic sword fighting off the goblins threatening to come into the yard. How's that for imagination!?!?!?

Spring Pictures

Hannah came home from school today with her pictures that were taken just prior to going off track.

She's looking waaay too grown up these days and it's hard to believe our baby is going to be 8 next month!!!

It's a love/hate relationship when the pictures come out so good! Love that she turned out so stinkin cute, hate the fact the pictures are so expensive!

Back to School

After having the entire month of February off, Hannah went back to school this morning. Back to getting up early. Back to leaving the house everyday early. Back to homework, and reading, and routine! Thankfully the morning went really, really well. I know she was excited to get back and see her friends.

We did a lot while she was off track. And yet, there were still things I had hoped to do.

Now, comes the long stretch of school. She'll go the next 12 weeks with no holidays or breaks. That will bring us to the week before Memorial Day Weekend. It'll be at that time, her 2nd grade school year will be behind her and we'll have a 3rd grader on our hands!!!

But until then, there is a performance to be planned, a field trip to be taken, and still lots more learning to be done!

Making Memories

Last week on our Wild Animal Park adventure, the girls of course wanted a souvenir or keepsake from our trip. Trying to keep that expense to a minimum, I was thrilled when Hannah picked two postcards of a lion. Rachel chose postcards of an elephant and a gorilla.

A few days ago, I noticed Hannah writing on the back of her postcards, now sitting displayed atop of her dresser. I looked at what she had written on her postcards, and the one that touched me the most was this:

"I will never forget the time I went to the Wild Animal Park
and saw the lions!"

By taking the girls to the Wild Animal Park, I helped make a memory for my daughter, one that she'll never forget.