This Calls for a Wrap Up Post

So I somehow missed blogging throughout this entire month of November.

We were busy?

But I'd like to remember what we did this fall, so here we go, in summary form:

We attended a family reunion on my husband's side. We used to have annual Christmas get-togethers and we haven't in a long time so it was neat to get together.

NASA had a special anniversary day and we went to walk around Johnson Space Center. When my husband and I were little, and we would visit NASA, it was actually a portion of Johnson Space Center that you toured. These days, visitors go to Space Center Houston, which has been adapted for tourists and has lots of fun stuff for kids. So it was a special treat to get to walk around JSC, most of which is not normally open to the public. And it was free!

We got to touch a portion of a real moon rock. 

Met a man who was in the astronaut program in the early 60s while in line to get these pics.  He showed us a pic of himself as an astronaut so I guess he was telling the truth.

We went camping for our 2nd born daughter's birthday. That was what she wanted to do. It was so fun to go, because it had been about 5 years since we had camped (other than our backyard).

We got a little shelter instead of tent camping because a big rain storm was due to come through. We were glad we did.

So when it rained the second night, we were able to just bring our chairs inside and eat around the card table. It was a nice time.

It was expensive, however. We had to get several things we didn't anticipate since it had been so long since we had camped. Whew. Camping is never cheap.













The younger girls and I went to a farm on a field trip with our homeschool group. We had been a few years ago and enjoyed it this time as well. Our youngest didn't really remember so it was all new to her.

Train ride!

See? I was there too!

When you feed goats, sometimes they slime you. 

Whew! We were WORN OUT at the end of the day. 

Then it was time for a certain 15 year old's actual birthday. Since we had gone on the big camping trip, we just had family over for cake. No theme this year: just "blue."

Little sister was super proud to make her gift (she painted and potted a plant for her room). 

Happy Birthday!!

Our youngest has been on the waiting list for awhile to read to the dogs at the library. She finally got to start doing that on Mondays.

Our drama classes at co-op had a little holiday performance. That little pilgrim was one of the emcees--telling corny Thanksgiving jokes in between performances.

We went to my parent's "country home" for Thanksgiving, just like we usually do. I made turkey pancakes for the girls Thanksgiving morning.

But first I had to wake up 3 turkeys.....

That night we had a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving with my sisters and brother-in-law.

And that gets us pretty much caught up to this week, which I'll share about later. Whew!

In summary, we spent a lot of money, I cooked and worked very hard the whole time we were out of town for Thanksgiving and was exhausted when we got back, but we had some fun times and it was a good November.

In Which Sparky Gets Replaced

The girls and I went to a fire prevention class earlier this month. In talking about fire safety before we went, I realized that our 2nd-born daughter was really young last time we had a fire drill or talked about fire safety much. In fact, I think she was 5. And of course the youngest was 1 last time we visited a fire station.

So...it was an overdue trip. The oldest begged to go and I thought "she's just trying to get out of her work" (college work). But she said she really wanted to get out of the house. Fair enough.

Turns out she thought we were only going to a clarinet lesson (which we did before the class) and was as surprised as could be when we pulled up to the fire station. **insert eye roll here**

The fire department was in Santa Fe, the same town that suffered a high school shooting back in May. The girls and I were thinking about that during the class--that these were some of the same EMTs and firefighters that probably responded to that horrible scene just a few months ago. I have all the respect for them.

And why wouldn't you respect them? DJ Blaze put on a great show.

But I felt a wee bit out-dated. Instead of talking about stop-drop-and roll, they talked about never charging your tablet and putting it under your pillow. And about not overloading your plugs with electronics. Okaaayyy...this is a bit more "modernized."

And then--THEN! He pulled a little stuffed Dalmatian out of his pocket and asked us who it was. Oooh! I know this one! I started to holler out, "SPARKY!" just as all the kids yelled out, "MARSHALL!"

Huh?

Oh. It seems poor old Sparky the Fire Dog has taken a backseat to Marshall from Paw Patrol.

But they kids really learned a lot and we got to tour the fire house. Now all that's left is to practice our home fire safety plan. Oh, and to get a new fire extinguisher, because ours expired.

They had to practice rolling out of bed, crawling to the door, feeling it for heat, and escaping through a window. 

Do you have a fire plan? Do your kids know 2 ways out of their room? Do they know 2 ways out of your house? Do you have a meeting place?

October is fire safety month, so get your plan in place!

Signing off, 

The One Room School House

We had a little field trip this week. We went with our homeschool group, although I've mostly edited the other kids out of these pics. You know, I don't have parent permission to put their kids on my blog and all. Just wanted you to know we weren't there alone!

Ready to go!

The dress our 2nd born wore used to be the oldest's. And the dress the youngest wore used to belong to my niece. The bonnets were souvenirs from their big sister this summer when she went to Kansas.

This girl just LOVES dolls. We had to wear white gloves to handle all the items in the museum part of the tour.

After the museum tour, our group got to have some old-fashioned recess. 

Next, we had a real classroom experience--just like in 1898. The school marm made sure everyone sat up perfectly straight, with their feet flat on the floor. They had to raise their hand and stand beside their seat to answer a question. 

Our oldest hasn't started her classes yet, so she was able to join us. This was her 3rd time to come on this field trip.  And that little cutie up there? Last time we came, she looked like this: 

They worked very hard today in "school". 

And we had to use real ink and pen to write with. It was very challenging! Especially for the left-handed among us (me!). 

Afterward, we washed up and joined our friends at the park for lunch and some splash pad fun. 

It was a good day, but a tiring one! And boy the mosquitoes were awful. 

Tomorrow is co-op and then Friday, perhaps we'll have a real, whole day of school? 

Signing off,