Friday, April 19, 2013

Destination Imagination 2012-13 Slideshow By: Stella

Click the link to go to a DI slideshow for this year. Go Genie-uses!

http://smilebox.com/playBlog/4d7a597a4d4467794f54673d0d0a&blogview=true

Here are some pictures from Rus's DI:
 ;)
 GO SUPER DUPER LOUDON STARS!
 Rus played the red dinosaur
 Green Grumpy Girls ;)
 ~Here is their cake~
 Here is their Rainbow Room
Way to Go Rus!

Thursday, April 11, 2013

Rus's First Adventure Story

Island Adventures
        A long time ago a ship was sailing on the blue sea, and then crash! The ship was in peaces! They had landed on an island. A man came up to the ship. The man begged for the men from the boat to help them. The men were surprised! Why them? They asked,
       “What’s the matter?
       “A ship came to the island the men in it stole from us! We need you to stop them!”
       “Why us?”
       “Because no one else will!” Just then bang! The man on lookout yelled “a ship is
out at sea they are shooting at us!” The men agreed and went back to their ship
And used the rest of ship to scare away the ship. It worked! The ship sailed away!
The men saved the island! But the men did not know what was going to happen.
Far out at sea men came with a big ship full of men! The men in that ship
Were far braver then the men in the last ship. The man on lookout saw them
And then yelled “a other ship!” the men looked and they new they could not scare them!
But then they saw A ship it came and shot a hole in the ship! The ship was much bigger then the other ship! They were the real heroes!  
the end
This story should remind us of Jesus how we can only do so much on earth
we can spread the word of god we can accomplish a little on earth
like the men in this story but Jesus can accomplish every thing like the
ship that came to the rescue!  

Wednesday, April 10, 2013

Fisher cats Game with Dad and Leo (by Rus, age 7):

we went to the Fisher cats game and their were 8 pounds of french fries and there were chicken fingers there were cups of ice cream and pizza! i got a ball that flew rite next to me!and I got to keep it! it was a really fun time! even though the fisher cats lost. that's all.         

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Happy Easter 2013 From Your Friends at Alma Mater (By: Stella)

 
Happy Easter!
(Sorry these photos are so blurry. My camera wasn't working well that day :-/)
 Time to dye eggs!
 Busy at Work!
 Egg-dying Partners
 I loved how this egg came out (note the green [grass] and the blue [sky] and the cross)
 Rus stuck this egg into every color. Very cool!
 Filia with her new princess set! (Her mouth is pink from her 'lipstick')
 Too cute!
;)

Saturday, April 6, 2013

A Post from the Alma Mater

It feels completely foreign to be writing on my own blog.  Maybe I can blame the awkwardness of typing with an index finger swaddled in bandages (never chop basil chiffonade when you're half asleep), but I'm guessing it's because this just isn't the season of blogging for me. I am so grateful for a daughter who is passionate about photography and writing; otherwise, these brimful days of teaching a houseful of vivacious young ones while plodding through a tiring pregnancy with my 6th would remain undocumented.  I keep thinking I must be extended as far as possible; then God stretches me just a bit more.  My days are challenging right now, but I am determined not to let the hilarious moments get forgotten or to wish away a single hour of this life God has blessed me with.

Recently I was enjoying some of the quotes I kept from my older kids' toddler days and wondering if all I ever did was follow them around with my camera and notebook.  I decided to start another yellow Post-It on my fridge to capture some of the funny things my littlest ones have been coming out with.  Before I knew it, it was full of cuteness I just had to share:


Rus is an analytical sponge for details like his daddy and likes to share his knowledge in painstaking detail.  He was reading the Bible story about Belshazzar and when he got to the part where he served wine in the consecrated goblets, he said to Tert, “Okay, let me go back and explain about the Babylonian Captivity of Judah so this makes more sense to you.”  Tert was wiggling like crazy but humored his big brother until he got to the question and answer part.  Rus asked him what the writing on the wall meant, and he said, “Mene, Mene, Minie, Mo…  Did it mean CATCH THE TIGER BY THE TOE?”  

I couldn't resist showing off a bit during my Latin lesson w/ Rus by rattling off the Lord's Prayer with impeccable pronunciation. When I asked Rus if he was impressed that I still remembered it (having taught it quite a few years ago to the older ones), he shrugged and said, "No, you can say it like that because you know all the dipthongs."

Rus beamed as he showed me his first attempt at caligraphy:  "Mom!  Look at my CHEMISTRY!"

Tert to Rus:  "Hey, can you play with me?"
Rus:  "No, I kind of have a lot on my hands."

Tert:  Came in from playing with his siblings outside and announced, "Mom, I've been keeping the kids contained."

At age 2 1/2, Filia is growing quite articulate.  She makes the most endearing comments about my growing belly and the little "Sisser" she's sure is in there.  She explains in detail how she's going to hold the baby and what she will feed him/her.  The other day she pulled out her old "piece of fire" (her name for the pacifier) to share with the baby.  Although she is a precocious big sister, she still nurses a few times a day and night. In the morning, she knows that she must recite the answers to 13 or so  catechism questions before she can nurse, and she'll sometimes throw in the Lord's Prayer or 23rd Psalm for good measure.  The other day she asked, "Mom, can you nurse me while you're doing Omnibus with Sissy?"

Stella caught Filia writing on my post-it notes and asked her what she was doing.  She answered, "I'm doing my perforations (school preparations)." 

Filia has discovered that our lab, Cora, functions like a vacuum cleaner with dog food and will eat indefinitely.  Occasionally, we'll find her feeding Cora without permission, and she will explain, "I'm being SOOO helpful!  I'm just feeding Cora God's food (dog food)."

Filia was staring at my great big tummy (at her eye level).  She looked up at me with a mixture of curiosity and compassion and said, "Mama, did God give you that belly button?"

Friday, April 5, 2013

Misc. Photos and Stella's Photography

Hello Readers =) I've had a bunch of misc. family pictures and some recent snapshots I've taken piling up, and I thought I'd post them here.  So, sorry about the wide variety, but here they are...
 I don't know what he is doing here...but he looks pretty cute in headphones ;)
I love this picture!
 ~Snuggle Time~
Here is an a-dorable dress from the W family!
Alright, now here are some organized pictures...
 I just loved this window shot!
 Sooo cute!
 
I love Filia's face in the above picture ;)
This is my personal favorite!

LOTW-Letter X with Tert, Stella and Filia

 We're onto X and in the homestretch! Above Tert is working on patterns and Xx tracing.
 Tert and Filia LOVE to do Do A Dot pages together.  I photocopy some of Tert's sheets sometimes for her...
 Lacing Fun and Xx uppercase/lowercase match
 Above are a few workbooks Mom got for Tert on Amazon.  One that he LOVES is called Cutting and Pasting Paper (click the link to go to Amazon where you can purchase it for around $6-7. He also loves My Book of Mazes Around the World. (it is around $6-7 as well.) 
Way to go Tert!

Sushi Making Fun with Mater, Stella, and Leo

Hello Readers! We hadn't done a fun cooking project in a while and decided to try making sushi. We were very happy with the result.  It was very inexpensive to make. It's easier to show you with pictures, so I'll post some below...
 We bought some sushi rice in a large bag, and we barely used any.
We chopped up some avocado and cukes into tiny pieces. The cukes are cut, but you can't really see it in this picture because they aren't broken up.
 Next we cut up some crab meat.
 We laid out a piece of seaweed after we had prepared all our ingredients.
 Next we spooned some sushi rice onto it.
 Then we set the avacado, cukes, and crab meat off-center on the seaweed.
 Next we rolled it up TIGHTLY and cut it with a serrated knife.
 Above is the sushi!
 We bought some sushi soy sauce and wasabi and it was delicious!