By wisdom a house is built, and by understanding it is established; and by knowledge
the rooms are filled with all precious and pleasant riches. ~Proverbs 24:3-4
• Jul. 18, 2009 - Summer time fun!
Our favorite (and only close by) museum is opening a new dinosaur exhibit. This week they had special member's only preview hours, so we went on Friday. We spent most of the day outdoors looking at the animals, sailing boats, and eating lunch. After the pictures, be sure to read my bear story!
Run faster Mark! He is gaining on you!
We love visiting the butterfly house. This guy is on a pitcher plant, native to our state.
The ring-tailed lemurs were out and moving about.
Bring us our food! Mark is also showing us his new glasses. Found out this week that he needs them.
When we moved inside out of the sun and hot, the kids participated in a science lab about color change.
The museum has black bears. This one was up moving about and had recently taken a dip in the pond. The rest were in the back area snoozing in the shade.
So the black bear is native to our state and yes, some do live in our part of the state. Some times they get confused and wander into human areas. Like this summer. About 3 weeks ago, there were some sightings in north part of the city. One near the country club golf course and even one in the parking lot of the hospital. Then there was a report of a bear found dead on the highway about 15 miles west of here. Was he the bear spotted in our city?
Then 2 weeks ago, a bear visited the museum. Did he smell the captive females? Or maybe it was lunch (eerr - the animals) in the Farmyard? It was a Saturday afternoon around 1pm when he climbed the fence near the playground. Staff ran to the farmyard to lock up the goat, turkey, pig, etc. They also got all visitors inside. The bear wandered around for just a bit and then climbed over the fence and took off.
Where did he go? Is he still in the county somewhere? Probably... Better cover your trash and keep the dog inside...
Our most favorite restaurant is Chick-fil-A. Today was Customer Appreciation Day. If you dress like a cow, you get a free meal. So Mei and I downloaded the "costume starter kit" and became cows. We also had tails and spots on our backsides. Mei had a nose but took it off before the picture was taken.
We walked in and the employees all cheered and rang a cowbell. We said Mooooo and they let us have our choice off the meal, except for milkshakes. Love, love their chicken!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
In other news, Mark and James are at Boy Scout camp enjoying themselves. Paul is busy doing Paul things.
• Jun. 18, 2009 - Best of the Totally Random Pictures the Kids Took
Awhile back, my friend Mandy posted some random pictures her kids took. That got me to thinking about all the ones my kid's have taken. So here are the best. And yes, some of these are by the 18yr old...
In case you wondering, here is where they get it from: My toes after Mei painted them for me. At the Girl Scout banquet Mei had to fix my plate. The plate had 2 bites taken from it before I took the picture. Guess she thought I needed to eat less - and drink less too!So not totally random - she insisted I take this one of the round hush puppies stuck together.
So first there was the parent organized "official" graduation open house. This was a joint one for 5 of the graduates. One of the other mom's made the decorations. Posters with their picture for people to sign. Yup - made them tell what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. Not really - just the coming year. We had a couple of other graduates there too, so we made them participate.
Then there was the "whew glad that is over" impromptu pizza dinner after graduation. Yum!
Then there was the "can I have a few guys over to play video games" marathon. Quick, stock up on chips and cokes. At least they were quiet enough that I could sleep. All four of them are new graduates.
One gave up to sleep... This was taken at 9am after playing for 12 hours. The sleeper left shortly thereafter to pick up his sister. Another left at 1pm. Paul fell asleep around 3pm. One is still playing as I type this --19 hours from when they started! He has been up for 30+ hours. This party ends in 2 hours because Paul has Ultimate practice! Yay Graduates!
I had the privilege of reviewing a new product from China. This kit is put together in China by a mom and contains items that would help a child understand more about China. This kit is great for homeschoolers studying China and it's history. It is also wonderful for the adopted Chinese child or any child of Chinese heritage.
The kit arrived in a flat envelope direct from China. Inside were postcards, stamps, a bookmark, money, a red money envelope, a lantern, a red Communist scarf, a Chinese flag, a Chinese knot and old coin, a paper cut heart, and a brochure describing the significance of each item. All for $13, which includes postage!
My daughter Mei has recently been trying to understand her identity and what it means to be Chinese-American. This kit came at a perfect time to reinforce her Chinese heritage. Her favorite parts were the Chinese money and the red envelope it came in.
So run right over to this website and order yours: Or go to http://www.squidoo.com/china-kit
She has only prepared 100 of these kits, so they will sell out fast!
Run faster Mark! He is gaining on you!
We love visiting the butterfly house. This guy is on a pitcher plant, native to our state.
The ring-tailed lemurs were out and moving about.
Bring us our food! Mark is also showing us his new glasses. Found out this week that he needs them.
When we moved inside out of the sun and hot, the kids participated in a science lab about color change.
The museum has black bears. This one was up moving about and had recently taken a dip in the pond. The rest were in the back area snoozing in the shade.
My toes after Mei painted them for me.
At the Girl Scout banquet Mei had to fix my plate. The plate had 2 bites taken from it before I took the picture. Guess she thought I needed to eat less - and drink less too!
So not totally random - she insisted I take this one of the round hush puppies stuck together.
Posters with their picture for people to sign.
Yup - made them tell what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. Not really - just the coming year. We had a couple of other graduates there too, so we made them participate.
