Hello all! This is Stella-here to tell you about our field trip to the planetarium. We went there for a Christmas party. It was really fun! The part was for members! We got a membership there at the planetarium, which we have enjoyed every minute of from the time that we got it. It offers great deals, and they also throw parties sometimes for its members. Anyway, we got an e-mail telling us about the party, and we immediately looked at the calendar to see if we could go. There was an empty space! YAY! On the night of the party, we hopped in the car, and on the way the boys talked all about the constellations, and were sure that they were seeing them. I don't know-maybe... :)
We walked in the building, and then signed in. We went to our first destination- the craft room. In the craftroom they were doing a really cool project. They called it- stained glass stars. There were some sheets of paper on a big table, and they had stars cut out of them. We grabbed a seat, and the lady there explained what to do. With the stars on the table, they were on a rectangular piece of paper, and we took pieces of tissue paper, and put the tissue paper, (which was in thin rectangular strips as well), crisscross, on the piece of paper. We decorated the star this way, putting glue on the edge of the star, so that the pieces of tissue paper would stick! Then, we took the paper, and we folded it in half, once we had decorated with as many pieces of tissue paper as we wanted. It was really neat. Then we cut out the star, and we glued a riboon onto it so that it could hang on the Christmas tree. We really liked that project, and finally ripped Rus away from talking the lady's ear off with all of his 'knowledge' about astronomy. We all had a laugh after that. :)
We then hung up coats, and walked around the Discovery Center while we waited for the 7:00 p.m. show to start. We tried a couple of the exhibits, and then got into line for the show. We waited, and finally the doors opened. We walked in and we were amazed by the stunning show. A couple of times, we got so dizzy that we had to look down, but it was sooooooooo worth it! We had so much fun learning about Mars, Jupiter, and its four moons, stars, constellations, and so much more! We walked out of the planetarium, eagerly awaiting the next field trip at the planetarium...
By: *Stella*
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Friday, December 3, 2010
About Jovian Tales By: Stella
Hello All! Fasten your seatbelts for a wild ride to Jupiter with me, Stella here ready to take you, now grab your copy of Jovian Tales (A Newspaper Article- Jovian is a term used when referring to Jupiter) and let's BLAST OFF!
Stella
Stella
The Jovian Tales Written By: Stella December 2, 2010
Jupiter-a far off planet- our protective mother, with her four moons and gaseous surface. Jupiter is just beyond the asteroid the first of the gas giants. Mysteries lie just beyond the asteroid belt. Luckily part of the curtain of knowledge has been pulled back revealing...
Galileo Returns
Or did it? Well, unfortanately Galileo is crashed somewhere in Jupiter. Luckily we got some cool info. from it, before it blew up. Poor Galileo. It got us lots of pictures in its path from Earth to Venus to the Asteroid Belt to Earthto Jupiter, and to it's unfortunate ending.
Loony Moons
Jupiter's Moons, mysteries in the night sky-but are they? Now that we have information from Galileo-we know a lot! There are many satellites (moons) of Jupiter- 60 to be exact. The four biggest are- Stinky Io, Icy Europa, Giant Ganymede, and Rocky Callisto.
Four Moons-One Tune-LOONY!!!!
Over Protective Mother
Yes-Jupiter! Jupiter blocks out a lot of asteroids from hitting Earth. Whew- I guess sometimes over-protective mothers are good things!
How Old Are You?
Don't want to say? Maybe you do. In Jovian years 12 years equals 1 Earth year! Your second opinion on that?!
Jupiter, it's not so mysterious anymore-is it? How wonderful is the gift of learning!
All Articles Written By: *Stella*
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Plimouth Plantation By: Stella
Hello All! Stella here! Since Leo, Rus, and I are all writing about Plimouth Plantation I won't make you bored with a long summary, because the best part is going yourself and I really suggest going! It is so worth the drive and the money, but back to what I was saying. I am just going to write a little bit on it, but leave some for the boys. Well, here goes-Our Trip to Plimouth Plantation...
Recently we went to Plimouth Plantation. Well, let me tell you a little history fact! You might wonder why Plimouth is spelled with a I in the middle of it instead of a Y. Well, in the majority of the accounts William Bradford wrote-Plimouth was spelled with a I, so let's just stick with the I! We were reading a book written by this same man. It is called Of Plymouth Plantation. interesting book, but we decided to end the book (which had a lot of old fashioned language and it was a little hard to understand,) with a trip to Plimouth Plantation to see it for ourselves. We researched and found some pictures of Plimouth Plantation and were very excited to go! We couldn't wait!
The day finally came. We got up and cleaned up the house so that it would be nice when we came home. We left between 8:30-9:00 and headed out. We drove in a long car ride to Plimouth. We were relieved when we FINALLY stepped out of the car to have a little break when we were about 10 min. away from Plimouth. We got some fresh air and had a snack and then we headed out again. We got back on the highway and we drove on. We came all of the sudden to some signs, which told us how to go to Plimouth and we quickly drove into the dirt road leading up to parking. We got out of the car and got ready to go. We went up the road and we went into the building. We had a pass from the Planetarium in Concord and we got to get into Plimouth Plantation free! We saved money that way. All of November you can get into Plimouth Plantation free. We got into the building and then came into a room where there was a man by a theatre. We watched the movie. It was great. It showed some of the stuff that we would get to see at Plimouth Plantation. We were even more excited now and we walked down the path. Down the path we walked a little ways and then we walked around another path and then it curved. As soon as we got around the turn, we saw...
A model of the real WAMPANOAG Village! This was where the Native Americans had their camp when the English came over the ocean. WE saw all sorts of NEAT things there. We saw a hollowed out canoe. It was made by hollowing out a log. We got to try out standing in it holding paddles.
Stella, Rus, and Leo try out the canoe.
After that we went into the wigwams of the Native Americans. The framework was made of branches carefully bent with bark over it and mats woven by the people themselves. They also had made benches inside the house out of trees with careful notches made in them. They laid hard branches over those and that was their beds! Pretty comfy huh?
Is this suppose to be comfortable?
The Native Americans made fires by taking a stick like the one Leo is holding and twisting it back and forth really fast and they would get a spark and then it would light their fire.
This could take ALL DAY!!!!!!!
I bet I could do it- or maybe not...
Compliments of the house, Duck Stew!?
This man is dressed EXTREMELY warmly for winter!!!!!!! He is demonstrating one of the toys which the Native children used. He also said that since the Native Children didn't have chores (LUCKY!) they had educational toys.
After we left the Village we went on to a place where they make all sorts of things like pottery, clothes, etc. for the different sites such as the Pilgrims' site and the Indian site. There was also a gift shop where we bought a couple things. We spent a lot of time here!
Carpenters' Shop!
Pottery!
After that we went and had a picnic lunch. We wrapped everything up and ran around a bit in the field there. Then we went to what you all have been waiting for- Plimouth Plantation itself!! We walked down to it and we caught our breaths at the beautiful ocean that it opened up to. We saw the beautiful view and walked near it for a little while.
Dad with Tert!
We walked to the village and another beautiful sight met our eyes!
Stella in the 'kitchen'.
Leo takes a turn at the churn.
Here is one of their gardens.
Here is their livestock!
This was a form of what seems like bowling back then!
Strike-almost....
Patting the cow!
This is a fish trap.
Stella and Leo by the wheelbarrow.
After we were satisfied with the Pilgrim village, we walked to the Discovery Center. There was a little play kitchen and a pretend boat, a puppet show place, toys, games, and so much more! We didn't know where to begin. We played all over for a couple minutes and then dressed up as Pilgrims. Here are some pictures...
Tert- the little Pilgrim.
In the boat!
Pilgrims used to dress up with boys over 7 wearing breeches with a undershirt and another shirt, and girls over 7 wore petticoats with a long apron and a undershirt with a overshirt. Children under that age, boys and girls wore long 'dresses' with shirts over them.
Stella!
Tert and Stella with Chicken...
Leo!
Little Pilgrims. Rus says, "Can I get out of this 'dress' soon?"
On the way to the New World!
We ended our awesome trip with a visit to the Nye Barn. It was a barn with some goats in it! There were little babies also which caught our eye immediately!
Baby Goats!
We loved Plimouth Plantation, and are really excited to go again!
By: Stella
Recently we went to Plimouth Plantation. Well, let me tell you a little history fact! You might wonder why Plimouth is spelled with a I in the middle of it instead of a Y. Well, in the majority of the accounts William Bradford wrote-Plimouth was spelled with a I, so let's just stick with the I! We were reading a book written by this same man. It is called Of Plymouth Plantation. interesting book, but we decided to end the book (which had a lot of old fashioned language and it was a little hard to understand,) with a trip to Plimouth Plantation to see it for ourselves. We researched and found some pictures of Plimouth Plantation and were very excited to go! We couldn't wait!
The day finally came. We got up and cleaned up the house so that it would be nice when we came home. We left between 8:30-9:00 and headed out. We drove in a long car ride to Plimouth. We were relieved when we FINALLY stepped out of the car to have a little break when we were about 10 min. away from Plimouth. We got some fresh air and had a snack and then we headed out again. We got back on the highway and we drove on. We came all of the sudden to some signs, which told us how to go to Plimouth and we quickly drove into the dirt road leading up to parking. We got out of the car and got ready to go. We went up the road and we went into the building. We had a pass from the Planetarium in Concord and we got to get into Plimouth Plantation free! We saved money that way. All of November you can get into Plimouth Plantation free. We got into the building and then came into a room where there was a man by a theatre. We watched the movie. It was great. It showed some of the stuff that we would get to see at Plimouth Plantation. We were even more excited now and we walked down the path. Down the path we walked a little ways and then we walked around another path and then it curved. As soon as we got around the turn, we saw...
A model of the real WAMPANOAG Village! This was where the Native Americans had their camp when the English came over the ocean. WE saw all sorts of NEAT things there. We saw a hollowed out canoe. It was made by hollowing out a log. We got to try out standing in it holding paddles.
Stella, Rus, and Leo try out the canoe.
After that we went into the wigwams of the Native Americans. The framework was made of branches carefully bent with bark over it and mats woven by the people themselves. They also had made benches inside the house out of trees with careful notches made in them. They laid hard branches over those and that was their beds! Pretty comfy huh?
Is this suppose to be comfortable?
The Native Americans made fires by taking a stick like the one Leo is holding and twisting it back and forth really fast and they would get a spark and then it would light their fire.
This could take ALL DAY!!!!!!!
I bet I could do it- or maybe not...
Compliments of the house, Duck Stew!?
This man is dressed EXTREMELY warmly for winter!!!!!!! He is demonstrating one of the toys which the Native children used. He also said that since the Native Children didn't have chores (LUCKY!) they had educational toys.
After we left the Village we went on to a place where they make all sorts of things like pottery, clothes, etc. for the different sites such as the Pilgrims' site and the Indian site. There was also a gift shop where we bought a couple things. We spent a lot of time here!
Carpenters' Shop!
Pottery!
After that we went and had a picnic lunch. We wrapped everything up and ran around a bit in the field there. Then we went to what you all have been waiting for- Plimouth Plantation itself!! We walked down to it and we caught our breaths at the beautiful ocean that it opened up to. We saw the beautiful view and walked near it for a little while.
Dad with Tert!
We walked to the village and another beautiful sight met our eyes!
Stella in the 'kitchen'.
Leo takes a turn at the churn.
Here is one of their gardens.
Here is their livestock!
This was a form of what seems like bowling back then!
Strike-almost....
Patting the cow!
This is a fish trap.
Stella and Leo by the wheelbarrow.
After we were satisfied with the Pilgrim village, we walked to the Discovery Center. There was a little play kitchen and a pretend boat, a puppet show place, toys, games, and so much more! We didn't know where to begin. We played all over for a couple minutes and then dressed up as Pilgrims. Here are some pictures...
Tert- the little Pilgrim.
In the boat!
Pilgrims used to dress up with boys over 7 wearing breeches with a undershirt and another shirt, and girls over 7 wore petticoats with a long apron and a undershirt with a overshirt. Children under that age, boys and girls wore long 'dresses' with shirts over them.
Stella!
Tert and Stella with Chicken...
Leo!
Little Pilgrims. Rus says, "Can I get out of this 'dress' soon?"
On the way to the New World!
We ended our awesome trip with a visit to the Nye Barn. It was a barn with some goats in it! There were little babies also which caught our eye immediately!
Baby Goats!
We loved Plimouth Plantation, and are really excited to go again!
By: Stella
Monday, November 22, 2010
The See Science Center By: Leo
A while back we went to the See Science Center. First we had to drive there. When we got there we took a nice walk then we went and took bathroom stops. Next we went to the elevators. We went to the entrance of the science museum. We entered the room we
talked to a man who talked to us about basic rules such as not running. Then we were
surprised when he told us calmly that the one thing that was not to be touched was a
Lego setup that took 3,000,000 Lego pieces and I seem to remember the number of hours as 12,000 hours. Then we looked at three cages with little turtles in them. After doing that we went to different stations. First I went to a smell station then I lost interest in that so I went to a different station. Stella went to a "Think Squarely" station. Then she switched to a different station while I tried out my skills at thinking squarely. The thinking squarely station really wasn't a station at all it was a challenging puzzle where you would put different shapes together to make a square. After succeeding in this I went to a different exhibit. It was a motor that blew out hot air and when you a ball over the machine it blew it high in the air without letting it fall until of course when you did one of these two things turning off the machine or putting your hand between the ball and the blowhole. The next thing we did was we went to an exhibit where you had two hand tracings and you would put your hands in them and then someone else would push a button and as soon as you saw a green light flash you would hit a button and the machine would time you and tell you what job you would be best at in the future. It said according to my reflexes. I am a future gardener. Next we did a few more tests. Then we went to a small door frame. We went through and saw a bunch of different exhibits the first was one where you would put your cheeks to two rubber pieces. There would be a wooden triangle that someone would hold up you would look strait forward toward a spring. Then there would be labels that the other would move the wood triangle across such as 180 degrees, 80 degrees, 40 degrees etc. On the triangle shape there were printings such as squares, circles, triangles etc. Then on another side of the triangle shape there were words printed on such as cat, mat, bat etc. When the other started moving the triangle across you would not move your eyes from the spring as soon as you could see what shape or letter was on the triangular shape you would tell the other what you saw. This is what I call the literal translation of "out of the corner of your eye." Next we went to a few more stations until we got to a station were you would wait for the count down of ten. You would pose in front of a wall then there would be a flash radiation. Then after the flash your shadow would be pasted on the wall! After trying this a few times we went in a room centered on the science of light separation. There would be a machine that separated colors and when you stood in front of it you would have a separated color shadow. Then we went to a bubble box where you could take bubbles out inside a ring. Then we used the technology of pulleys to lift up our own weight. This had been a fun exciting day but most of all it was a day I would not soon forget.
talked to a man who talked to us about basic rules such as not running. Then we were
surprised when he told us calmly that the one thing that was not to be touched was a
Lego setup that took 3,000,000 Lego pieces and I seem to remember the number of hours as 12,000 hours. Then we looked at three cages with little turtles in them. After doing that we went to different stations. First I went to a smell station then I lost interest in that so I went to a different station. Stella went to a "Think Squarely" station. Then she switched to a different station while I tried out my skills at thinking squarely. The thinking squarely station really wasn't a station at all it was a challenging puzzle where you would put different shapes together to make a square. After succeeding in this I went to a different exhibit. It was a motor that blew out hot air and when you a ball over the machine it blew it high in the air without letting it fall until of course when you did one of these two things turning off the machine or putting your hand between the ball and the blowhole. The next thing we did was we went to an exhibit where you had two hand tracings and you would put your hands in them and then someone else would push a button and as soon as you saw a green light flash you would hit a button and the machine would time you and tell you what job you would be best at in the future. It said according to my reflexes. I am a future gardener. Next we did a few more tests. Then we went to a small door frame. We went through and saw a bunch of different exhibits the first was one where you would put your cheeks to two rubber pieces. There would be a wooden triangle that someone would hold up you would look strait forward toward a spring. Then there would be labels that the other would move the wood triangle across such as 180 degrees, 80 degrees, 40 degrees etc. On the triangle shape there were printings such as squares, circles, triangles etc. Then on another side of the triangle shape there were words printed on such as cat, mat, bat etc. When the other started moving the triangle across you would not move your eyes from the spring as soon as you could see what shape or letter was on the triangular shape you would tell the other what you saw. This is what I call the literal translation of "out of the corner of your eye." Next we went to a few more stations until we got to a station were you would wait for the count down of ten. You would pose in front of a wall then there would be a flash radiation. Then after the flash your shadow would be pasted on the wall! After trying this a few times we went in a room centered on the science of light separation. There would be a machine that separated colors and when you stood in front of it you would have a separated color shadow. Then we went to a bubble box where you could take bubbles out inside a ring. Then we used the technology of pulleys to lift up our own weight. This had been a fun exciting day but most of all it was a day I would not soon forget.
Friday, November 19, 2010
A Little Bit More on Planets By: Rus
Um... Pluto is the smallest planet and as usual it is the smallest planet of all. It's really cold there so you would not want to take off your space helmet. And the astronaut has to be a grownup because they have really heavy equipment. And your hands have metal things which is really cool. And the astronaut finds a lot of things on the moon.. There's a lot of stuff there. There is a lot of meteorites on the moon. AND Leo took a picture of the Moon. And Planetarium is really cool. Planetarium is the best place to know about all of the planets. 60,00 things you could know. There was a guy with a red pointer and it would be like we were moving, but we really weren't moving and he could zoom in. And he showed us the HUGE! planets. A half and a crescent. The moon is different shapes. Maybe you could go to the planetarium near you! But it's really cool! Planetarium is not like a planetarium,, and there's a pretend spaceship, but Planetarium was really cool. That's the best place to go,. WE went a LONG time ago. 60,00 planets were talked about, but 100 is the best. (Breaks out in song,)SUN, MERCURY, VENUS, EARTH, MARS , JUPITER, SATURN, URANUS, NEPTUNE, AND PLUTO, ALL NINE PLANETS REVOLVING AROUND THE SUN. And they, it was really cool, but this is half of it. (So you have another half of his speech to go...) :) And this is the bottom. And the bottom says that it is really cool! But this is more! 60,00 planets seem to be what we're talking about, but there are less than that, but Pluto is so small, that you can't even see it when you're far aways. A 100 ft. away would be necessary. Never look at the sun because it is WAY too shiny for your eyes. They can go around the world 6000 times,. The Planetarium is not the normal place to learn about planets. You can learn more at your local library. IF you don't have a library close to your house, just come to our library. But it's really really good. and you;ll learn about everything at your library because it's way too - 1888689 you do that phone number.. IF you don't have that, but write about EVERY thing that you learned because it is WAY TOO GOOD TO MISS! Now THAT'S ALMOST half of my speech, Here's more... 6089 seconds you can call, but call before they close, if they close, you won't learn a lot.. But if you have someone near your house ask them about the planets, but don't ask them all about the planets. Plymouth Plantation is kind of like the Planetarium. Oh- one more thing. WE looked through telescopes. If your an astronaut, then don't go to close to the sun. 60,00 planetariums, well 60,00 would be the right number, but the rest is kind of boring... want me to read it? The sun is the, the rest is kind of boring.... The rest of the letter is that the sun is a HUGE star, but some stars, are bigger than the sun. Some stars are bigger than the sun. So try to find it....
RUS
RUS
Planetarium By: Rus
A little while we went to the Planetarium. And we went in and we sat in some seats and we saw (or were taught about) the Big Dipper, the teapot. (The teapot constellation). The moon goes around and around. All of the planets go around a HUGE star which they call the Sun. Some of the planets are filled with gases and some of them are filled with clouds, and some of them look like veggies, only they are not. If a meteorite hit our planet, I expect bombs would come, I think. This would not happen, it's just about a meteorite hitting earth. (He made this up on his own.) And it was really cool. And we went into a space ship that was pretend and it was cool. There were only two seats, but it showed the same picture, but they were different seats. Oh- and if a meteorite did hit our planet it would made 69,6000,89 bombs. That's the rest of my speech. That's the end.
By: Rus
By: Rus
Plymouth Plantation By: Rus
Hello Everybody! We recently went to Plymouth Plantation. We really enjoyed it. It was really worth the trip. Here is an account of it by Rus:
Hi-Rus here! We went to Plymouth Plantation. At Plmouth Plantation, we saw the Pilgrim Camp. We went up stairs and saw CANNONS! They were really cool. At the Native American camp we saw a real canoe made out of a tree trunk. We also saw the kids' toys. They were cool. We went and had a picnic! We then went to the Discovery Center and dressed up as Pilgrims. That was kind of fun, but I had to wear a DRESS! Then we went to a barn! We saw animals! They were really neat! Then we went home! It was a really fun! I love Plymouth Plantation!
By: Rus Dictated to: Stella
Hi-Rus here! We went to Plymouth Plantation. At Plmouth Plantation, we saw the Pilgrim Camp. We went up stairs and saw CANNONS! They were really cool. At the Native American camp we saw a real canoe made out of a tree trunk. We also saw the kids' toys. They were cool. We went and had a picnic! We then went to the Discovery Center and dressed up as Pilgrims. That was kind of fun, but I had to wear a DRESS! Then we went to a barn! We saw animals! They were really neat! Then we went home! It was a really fun! I love Plymouth Plantation!
By: Rus Dictated to: Stella
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Time to Capture Some Sweet Memories...
To refresh your memory...here are the Latin names/ages of the kids...
Stella (age 10)
Leo (age 9)
Rus (age 5)
Tert (age 2)
Filia (one month)
Rus - "Mom, can we read Adam's Green Gables?" (He meant Aesop's Fables.)
Tert - "Maybe I'll drink wine when I'm Rus' age."
Tert has the cutest way of mixing up his words. He calls apple cider "spider juice," and has started using the word "hiccup" to mean all manner of things. He frequently plays "hiccup truck" (pickup truck) and told me with admiration in his voice that he loves my new hiccup (haircut).
Another sweet compliment came from Rus who was checking out my teeth after this week's trip to the dentist. He said, "Mom! Your teeth look like they have WINDOWS in them!"
We rarely shop at the mall. In fact, when we made a quick stop a few weeks ago, Rus and Tert had almost no recollection of the place. We noticed that Rus was gaping at a scandalous picture outside of the lingerie store. We whisked him away, explaining that the picture was not appropriate to look at. Tert, from the baby backpack, caught a glimpse and piped in, "Wow! That's a CUTE picture!"
Later, we passed the underwear display at Sam's Club, and Rus grabbed his 2 year old brother, yelling, MMMOOOOOM! Tert is looking at those CRUDE pictures!"
Since Filia arrived, I've had more than a few moments where the noise and constant activity level of my five dear children becomes a bit overwhelming. A couple of nights after I came home from the hospital, I was cooking dinner in tears, exhausted and discouraged by the housework I couldn't seem to get to. Stella disappeared for over an hour and came up from the basement, telling me that she had a surprise for me. She had folded and neatly stacked seven huge loads of laundry.
Even Rus has been sensitive toward my need for an occasional break. During an especially hectic time, he suggested, "Mom, we'll go for a bike ride so you can have some peace."
Stephen has been working around the clock to catch up on some projects for his new assignment at BAE. In his "spare" time, he works very hard to keep up with yard work and projects around the house. Recently there hasn't been enough daylight to accomplish all of these jobs. A couple of weeks ago the kids headed out to play and, with absolutely no prompting, decided that they would work on a surprise for their daddy. I looked at the window and saw all of them, down to the 2 year old, stacking our firewood. Nearly 2 hours later, the older ones came inside with rosy cheeks and big grins and pointed out the window to a full cord of firewood they had stacked by themselves!
Stella and Leo have instituted an energy savings plan with report cards for us. Their goal is to save enough on our electric bill so we can replace our finicky refrigerator. Even little Tert has "gone green." The other day he came to me with a bottle, saying, "Mama, we need to 'cycle' (recycle) this!"
The little boys absolutely adore their baby sister. We were worried about Tert feeling displaced when she arrived. When he first met her in the hospital and saw his mom lounging on the hospital bed, he said to me with a little scowl, "She's cute. Can you come home and make dinner?" Since we brought her home, he has been ever attentive to where she is and what she might be needing at any given time. The only time he shows jealousy is when one of his siblings claims her as their little sister. Then he exclaims, "No, baby Filia is MY sisser!!!" He calls her his "chunky little monkey." Every now and then, when it is his turn for a cuddle, he will look me in the eye and say, "You are my mother, and I am your little son..."
Rus is such a doting brother as well. He admires every inch of Filia's soft, newborn body. When he discovered her little feet for the first time, he called all of us over, saying, "Dad! Mom! Come look!! Her toes are just like little pebbles!"
One day when he was kissing her, he said, "Mom, I like how Filia smells. It would hurt my feelings if people said that she smells like tires."
When Filia's due date came and went (without her arrival), we were concerned that she might end up sharing Rus' birthday. She cooperated and came a few days before this; however, Rus still viewed this pink little bundle as his most special birthday gift. After his presents, he said, "Mom, where's Filia? I want to thank her for SUCH a birthday!" He also said, "I dreamed of a baby sister, and my dream came true."
I told the kids that Uncle Adam was coming for dinner. Rus asked, "Is Eve coming too?" Confused, I asked him who he meant. He answered, "You know...Uncle Adam's WIFE!" It occurred to me, during one of our Bible stories, that he might be holding his Uncle Adam personally responsible for original sin, so we cleared up that little detail before moving on to the story of the flood.
Stella (age 10)
Leo (age 9)
Rus (age 5)
Tert (age 2)
Filia (one month)
Rus - "Mom, can we read Adam's Green Gables?" (He meant Aesop's Fables.)
Tert - "Maybe I'll drink wine when I'm Rus' age."
Tert has the cutest way of mixing up his words. He calls apple cider "spider juice," and has started using the word "hiccup" to mean all manner of things. He frequently plays "hiccup truck" (pickup truck) and told me with admiration in his voice that he loves my new hiccup (haircut).
Another sweet compliment came from Rus who was checking out my teeth after this week's trip to the dentist. He said, "Mom! Your teeth look like they have WINDOWS in them!"
We rarely shop at the mall. In fact, when we made a quick stop a few weeks ago, Rus and Tert had almost no recollection of the place. We noticed that Rus was gaping at a scandalous picture outside of the lingerie store. We whisked him away, explaining that the picture was not appropriate to look at. Tert, from the baby backpack, caught a glimpse and piped in, "Wow! That's a CUTE picture!"
Later, we passed the underwear display at Sam's Club, and Rus grabbed his 2 year old brother, yelling, MMMOOOOOM! Tert is looking at those CRUDE pictures!"
Since Filia arrived, I've had more than a few moments where the noise and constant activity level of my five dear children becomes a bit overwhelming. A couple of nights after I came home from the hospital, I was cooking dinner in tears, exhausted and discouraged by the housework I couldn't seem to get to. Stella disappeared for over an hour and came up from the basement, telling me that she had a surprise for me. She had folded and neatly stacked seven huge loads of laundry.
Even Rus has been sensitive toward my need for an occasional break. During an especially hectic time, he suggested, "Mom, we'll go for a bike ride so you can have some peace."
Stephen has been working around the clock to catch up on some projects for his new assignment at BAE. In his "spare" time, he works very hard to keep up with yard work and projects around the house. Recently there hasn't been enough daylight to accomplish all of these jobs. A couple of weeks ago the kids headed out to play and, with absolutely no prompting, decided that they would work on a surprise for their daddy. I looked at the window and saw all of them, down to the 2 year old, stacking our firewood. Nearly 2 hours later, the older ones came inside with rosy cheeks and big grins and pointed out the window to a full cord of firewood they had stacked by themselves!
Stella and Leo have instituted an energy savings plan with report cards for us. Their goal is to save enough on our electric bill so we can replace our finicky refrigerator. Even little Tert has "gone green." The other day he came to me with a bottle, saying, "Mama, we need to 'cycle' (recycle) this!"
The little boys absolutely adore their baby sister. We were worried about Tert feeling displaced when she arrived. When he first met her in the hospital and saw his mom lounging on the hospital bed, he said to me with a little scowl, "She's cute. Can you come home and make dinner?" Since we brought her home, he has been ever attentive to where she is and what she might be needing at any given time. The only time he shows jealousy is when one of his siblings claims her as their little sister. Then he exclaims, "No, baby Filia is MY sisser!!!" He calls her his "chunky little monkey." Every now and then, when it is his turn for a cuddle, he will look me in the eye and say, "You are my mother, and I am your little son..."
Rus is such a doting brother as well. He admires every inch of Filia's soft, newborn body. When he discovered her little feet for the first time, he called all of us over, saying, "Dad! Mom! Come look!! Her toes are just like little pebbles!"
One day when he was kissing her, he said, "Mom, I like how Filia smells. It would hurt my feelings if people said that she smells like tires."
When Filia's due date came and went (without her arrival), we were concerned that she might end up sharing Rus' birthday. She cooperated and came a few days before this; however, Rus still viewed this pink little bundle as his most special birthday gift. After his presents, he said, "Mom, where's Filia? I want to thank her for SUCH a birthday!" He also said, "I dreamed of a baby sister, and my dream came true."
I told the kids that Uncle Adam was coming for dinner. Rus asked, "Is Eve coming too?" Confused, I asked him who he meant. He answered, "You know...Uncle Adam's WIFE!" It occurred to me, during one of our Bible stories, that he might be holding his Uncle Adam personally responsible for original sin, so we cleared up that little detail before moving on to the story of the flood.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
Baby-and other Events! By: Stella
Hello! Stella here, and oh do I have news. I bet that some of you were wondering what we have been up to on our four weeks of vacation. We are starting our second week of getting back to school, but I thought I should write about some of the things that we did before we forget about it... :) But, I have to admit, this vacation is probably going to be unforgettable, just you wait, and hold onto your seats folks, it's gonna be a wild ride :) :) :)
One sunny, yet not so sunny day in October, we were doing school. Mater was very tired after having taught a school day, and just as we were finishing Grandma walked in the door. Dad had just gotten home because it had been a half day for him for work, and he had taken it off to go to an ultrasound with Mater. Both he and Grandma were both thinking Mom should call the doctor, because they saw that Mom was having worse contractions, and we thought that it would be a good idea, but instead, Mom thought we should just wait. We said goodbye and Mom and Dad hopped into the car. We all had a snack, and we decided that we would just hang out for a bit. We played for a bit, anxiously watching the clock and the phone for any news about the ultrasound. This ultrasound was going to be important because it would tell us whether or not Mater was doing alright with Baby and we just wanted to see the progress, because nothing had happened too much as far as the doctor was concerned. Then we were going downstairs to watch a movie when we looked at the answering machine. It said 1 message on it!!!!!!! We listened to the message, and it started, "Hi, this is Dad...." Boy, were we excited and the message went on to say that nothing else had happened yet, but they were monitoring Mom. Mom had called the doctor and she had said to go right to the hospital. We were so excited, but Grandma had us turn the answering machine up so that we could hear the phone next time. We went downstairs, and watched a movie, and then, we hadn't heard anything and it was dinnertime, so we went over to Grandma's house and she gave us mac-n-cheese for supper with some apples and milk. We stayed there until bedtime-STILL NOTHING...WE went back home and we got into bed. I soon drifted off to an uneasy sleep, waiting and waiting...
Next morning I jumped out of bed, and I ran to my door. Dad was out there and I was worried for a moment that nothing had happened and they had sent Mom home. That had not happened though. Apparently, I HAD A SISTER! I was so excited. I ate almost no breakfast and hurried through my chores so that we could go to the hospital to see Mom and BABY! It was all so exciting and it happened so quickly. We all were in a bit of a rush, other than Tert who seemed to take hours on his nap. I ran in as soon as he woke up and dressed him as fast as I could. We got him and Rus in the car and soon we were on our way to the hospital. We walked up to the hospital and rushed to the elevator, and then paused and knocked on Mom's door. Dad opened it and we all walked in breathless over our new little sister...
We meet little baby!
We opened presents there are we were really excited because I got a matching outfit with Baby! I also got books, and the boys got books and cars. We were so excited and stayed at the hospital for hours. Now that I have gone through almost all of the details about her birth, I'll tell you! We have a name for Baby for the blog. It is a Latin name. Filia, which means Daughter.
Two days later Mater came home again. We were really excited, and excited to show her off to a couple other people. We can't wait to show you Filia, those of you who haven't seen her yet.
Now, as I think I have covered that I will begin to tell you about our vacation. The best way I find to do that is through putting on pictures with little quotes under them, so here is our vacation...
Stella holding up Filia's outfit...:)
Filia and I (Stella) got matching outfits as our hospital gifts, and here we are, in them!
Rus's birthday came just after Filia's birth, so here are a couple birthday boy pictures....
Rus got a new helmet. Here is Tert deciding to try it on cardboard and all :) Hmmm... STYLISH ahhhh Tert.....
Roller blades, cool!
Lightning McQueen- AWESOME!
Cake--CAKE-CAKE!!!!
Filia-our Little Princess!
Proud Mama!
Snuggling!
Cozy with Sis...
These are two pumpkins we grew from our garden, can you guess who they look like?!!!
#1
#2
And together...
Get it yet?
YES-
Bob the Tomato
And Larry the Cucumber....
And together...
Leo, proud after completing Bob the Tomato.
Lovin' the Teeth....:) Stella, proud after completing Larry the Cucumber.
A little snuggle with big brother Tert.
Dad and Mom at the White Mountains!
Stella, Leo, and Rus, at the White Mountains!
Our family!
Stella, Pater, Rus, and Leo went bowling!
Up to the line and SCORE!
Leo bowls...
OOH! It's a pumpkin! That's a lot of stuff to scoop out!
All done!
Stella, Leo, Rus, Tert, Filia
We have really had a great vacation!
Post by: Stella
Pictures by: Mater and Stella
One sunny, yet not so sunny day in October, we were doing school. Mater was very tired after having taught a school day, and just as we were finishing Grandma walked in the door. Dad had just gotten home because it had been a half day for him for work, and he had taken it off to go to an ultrasound with Mater. Both he and Grandma were both thinking Mom should call the doctor, because they saw that Mom was having worse contractions, and we thought that it would be a good idea, but instead, Mom thought we should just wait. We said goodbye and Mom and Dad hopped into the car. We all had a snack, and we decided that we would just hang out for a bit. We played for a bit, anxiously watching the clock and the phone for any news about the ultrasound. This ultrasound was going to be important because it would tell us whether or not Mater was doing alright with Baby and we just wanted to see the progress, because nothing had happened too much as far as the doctor was concerned. Then we were going downstairs to watch a movie when we looked at the answering machine. It said 1 message on it!!!!!!! We listened to the message, and it started, "Hi, this is Dad...." Boy, were we excited and the message went on to say that nothing else had happened yet, but they were monitoring Mom. Mom had called the doctor and she had said to go right to the hospital. We were so excited, but Grandma had us turn the answering machine up so that we could hear the phone next time. We went downstairs, and watched a movie, and then, we hadn't heard anything and it was dinnertime, so we went over to Grandma's house and she gave us mac-n-cheese for supper with some apples and milk. We stayed there until bedtime-STILL NOTHING...WE went back home and we got into bed. I soon drifted off to an uneasy sleep, waiting and waiting...
Next morning I jumped out of bed, and I ran to my door. Dad was out there and I was worried for a moment that nothing had happened and they had sent Mom home. That had not happened though. Apparently, I HAD A SISTER! I was so excited. I ate almost no breakfast and hurried through my chores so that we could go to the hospital to see Mom and BABY! It was all so exciting and it happened so quickly. We all were in a bit of a rush, other than Tert who seemed to take hours on his nap. I ran in as soon as he woke up and dressed him as fast as I could. We got him and Rus in the car and soon we were on our way to the hospital. We walked up to the hospital and rushed to the elevator, and then paused and knocked on Mom's door. Dad opened it and we all walked in breathless over our new little sister...
We meet little baby!
We opened presents there are we were really excited because I got a matching outfit with Baby! I also got books, and the boys got books and cars. We were so excited and stayed at the hospital for hours. Now that I have gone through almost all of the details about her birth, I'll tell you! We have a name for Baby for the blog. It is a Latin name. Filia, which means Daughter.
Two days later Mater came home again. We were really excited, and excited to show her off to a couple other people. We can't wait to show you Filia, those of you who haven't seen her yet.
Now, as I think I have covered that I will begin to tell you about our vacation. The best way I find to do that is through putting on pictures with little quotes under them, so here is our vacation...
Stella holding up Filia's outfit...:)
Filia and I (Stella) got matching outfits as our hospital gifts, and here we are, in them!
Rus's birthday came just after Filia's birth, so here are a couple birthday boy pictures....
Rus got a new helmet. Here is Tert deciding to try it on cardboard and all :) Hmmm... STYLISH ahhhh Tert.....
Roller blades, cool!
Lightning McQueen- AWESOME!
Cake--CAKE-CAKE!!!!
Filia-our Little Princess!
Proud Mama!
Snuggling!
Cozy with Sis...
These are two pumpkins we grew from our garden, can you guess who they look like?!!!
#1
#2
And together...
Get it yet?
YES-
Bob the Tomato
And Larry the Cucumber....
And together...
Leo, proud after completing Bob the Tomato.
Lovin' the Teeth....:) Stella, proud after completing Larry the Cucumber.
A little snuggle with big brother Tert.
Dad and Mom at the White Mountains!
Stella, Leo, and Rus, at the White Mountains!
Our family!
Stella, Pater, Rus, and Leo went bowling!
Up to the line and SCORE!
Leo bowls...
OOH! It's a pumpkin! That's a lot of stuff to scoop out!
All done!
Stella, Leo, Rus, Tert, Filia
We have really had a great vacation!
Post by: Stella
Pictures by: Mater and Stella
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