Wednesday, November 24, 2010

The drive to Arizona

Our drive from Odessa to Phoenix took about 11 1/2 hours. The kids did great overall. We watched some movies and listened to the 2nd Fablehaven book on CD. We rotated who sat next to Landon to help break up some of the fighting and crankiness.
Savannah was definitely the most tired and cranky.
This little guy did awesome for how young he is. We pulled over occasionally to burp him and he took 2 long naps. He got a little fussy for the last hour or so, but that's understandable.
We're staying with my parents in Phoenix but will be spending most of this week with the Strongs. The kids are so excited to see cousins!!!




Odessa

We started our trip to Arizona! Our first stop was to visit my brother Steven, Sarah, and Max in Odessa, TX. This is our first chance to visit them there since they moved to Texas almost a year ago. It was nice to break up the drive too. It was about 6 hours and we got there at lunchtime, so we were able to spend the whole afternoon and evening. When we got there the kids immediately went outside to play. Max is such a friendly little guy and loved having them around.We went to a huge playground for a while too. The kids got to burn off all their energy from being trapped in the car all morning.
Max loved Savannah and was always trying to climb all over her. It was good practice for when Landon starts crawling.
Steven is a police officer for the city of Odessa. The kids thought it was so cool to see him all dressed up in his uniform. He is on the graveyard shift right now, so he left while we were all eating dinner and came home when we woke up.
Max gives the cutest kisses and is so friendly. This video was taken right when we got to their house.

Friday, November 19, 2010

Jacob's Museum Field Trip

Yesterday was Jacob's 4th Grade Field Trip. We went to the Texas State History Museum. For Social Studies this year they are learning all about Texas history, so the kids really enjoyed the field trip. They thought it was really cool to see some of the artifacts and movies about stuff they've been learning.Another mom and I had a group of 5 boys. We weren't allowed to take pictures in the exhibits, only in the lobby. This was taken from the 3rd floor. Jacob is the one standing with his arms wide open.
They were supposed to see a little educational movie about Texas, but that theater was broken. So instead the museum let them see the space movie about the Hubble telescope in 3-D. Jacob LOVED it.
Everything is bigger in Texas. Jacob is sitting on the left side in the blue jacket.
I'm glad that I've been able to go on these field trips this year, and so thankful for the friends who have watched my kids to make it possible. It has been nice to have a little one-on-one time with my older kids.

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Mr. Social

This little guy thinks he needs constant attention lately. Too bad that with 4 other siblings that's just not quite how life works...

Zach's Zoo Field Trip

Yesterday I went with Zach on his field trip to the Austin Zoo. My friend Betsy watched the little boys all day for me (thanks!). It was a little windy, but otherwise really nice weather. I had this group of 4 kids to take all around the zoo...Zach, Major, Brianna and Kristine. They had a fun time and were worn out by the end. Here they are with the lemurs (just above Major's head).We had never been to this zoo before. It is a rescue zoo, so the animals and set-up are somewhat different than what you'd see at a regular zoo. This was a male lion that had been shaved.
Zach is terrified of any animal or insect that flies, flutters or hops. There were a ton of bees at lunch and he was not happy about that. But he loved the many animals that you could actually pet. For the sake of the other kids in our group I had to constantly pull him away from the "petting zoo."
They all had fun with this turkey. It kept strutting and gobbling at them.
We took this picture for Connor. This is Zach with a Carpet Python.
The favorite attraction for most of the kids was the one-eyed cat. I guess they rescue house cats too. That poor cat got a lot of "loving" yesterday.
Last we went on a little train ride. Zach really enjoyed that and wants to bring his siblings back here sometime.
This is unrelated, but here is the lone surviving pumpkin from our backyard. A rabbit lives in the neighbor's bushes just behind our back fence. It has a nice hole right next to our pumpkin plant. We're pretty sure that he is the reason that only one pumpkin survived. Oh well.

Thursday, November 11, 2010

Veteran's Day 2010

Every year at the kids' school they do a Veteran's Day Program. One of the music teachers was in the army for 12 years and makes sure this gets done. They invite any relative of the kids who is a veteran. The veterans sit on the stage and get to introduce themselves and tell when they served. They also recognize the kids whose parents are currently serving (which I think is really neat). After that the kids sing patriotic songs to the veterans. It is a fun program and the kids learn those songs really well since they do them every year.

Savannah was so excited to participate this year, after watching this program for the last 3 years. They divide into 2 or 3 performances in order to let all the kids do it. The past 2 years I've had to stay for 2 different programs. This year by some miracle they had the Kindergarten, 2nd graders, and 4th graders all perform together. I was very thankful for that!Zach and Jacob were completely across the room from where I was sitting, but I ran over to take a quick picture of them before it started.
Savannah was also on the front row! But she was so intent on following her music teacher that she never looked over at me.
I can't believe that in 2 short years Connor will be doing the same thing!!!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Preppy

Friday, November 5, 2010

Chunker

I weighed Landon today. He is 17lbs. 14 oz. (as approximate as you can get on a digital scale at home). We love our little chunker. And Savannah loves to read to him, because he doesn't interrupt or try to turn the pages like Connor does. Not for long though!