Happy 6th Birthday

We had Edward's 6th Birthday yesterday at All Star Adventures. He had a blast. We have 10 kids plus him. His party theme was Speed Racer. We had a local private baker do his cake and she rocked. She had never seen Speed Racer before and did the cake off of pictures I sent to her in an email attachment.

Playing Bumper Cars with Friends

Go Speed Racer Go!

Being a Fighter Pilot

Playing Putt Putt Golf with a Friend

Being silly with a good friend

Eds Birthday Cake

BFF's

Here is a new picture of Lollipop Rain (2 months 2 1/2 weeks old) and Edward (will be 6 in 5 days). These two just love each other. I am so glad that they will grow up together.

HEA 2009 Field Day

First let me apologize for the quality of the pictures, they were taken with my cell phone. Every year we (HEA our homeschool co-op group) has a Field Day for the children at the end of the school year. This years was held indoors due to the weather, usually it is held outdoors at the park.

Preparing for the sack race.
Edward with a friend, preparing for the 3-legged race. It was so funny, they took off and the other kid fell down.....Edward kept trying to run, dragging the kid behind him (or at least attempting to do so). We had to stop him. I guess he has a competitive side after all.

Puppy Love

This little gal is Edwards new "girlfriend" (she is 7). I have caught them holding hands a couple of times now. It is cute however Edward, his daddy and I have sat down and had a talk. We want him to know that God has someone already choosen for him (granted it could very well be this young lady), but we want him to know that there are boundaries and limits (especially at this age).

Easter Egg Hunt 2009

It poured down rain on Easter Day, so we had to postpone our Easter Egg Hunt at home until the following Day....it was yucky all morning but luckily for us it got beautiful for a couple of hours after daddy got home from work.

Find where Mommy hid those eggs!

Hunting for the eggs!

Trying to get the high one that Mommy put there!

The Aftermath!

Easter 2009

It poured down rain all day this year on Easter. We ended up having Taco Bell for dinner because what we were cooking got ruined. At least we can say it was dull, boring, or ordinary....right?

Edwards Baskets (Kirk's is the one you can see a tiny bit of)
Checking out the loot!

Easter Outfit

Easter Outfit with the hat!

Local Easter Egg Hunt

We took Edward to the local Easter Egg Hunt....it should have been called Disappointment. We stood in line for over 30 minutes so that Edward could "hunt" eggs for 3 seconds. It was a huge let down, very poorly organized but Edward had fun and that is what counts...right?

Waiting for the Egg Hunt to Begin
The Egg Hunt Field (pitful isn't it???)

Edwards Haul

Introducing........

Kirk brought home a new member for our family today, an early Easter present for Edward....a little girl, Basset Hound (both parents were pure bred Basset Hounds). Edward has named her Lollipop Rain Thompson. We are calling her Lolly for short. She is 8 months old. She was born Feb 12, 2009. Bear and Storm aren't exactly thrilled with her. She is enamored with Edward and he with her. She is a smart little cookie, already has figured out the stairs on the deck for getting to the yard.

Edward on the Resurrection

Yesterday at Sunday School, Edwards class made Resurrection Eggs. In the eggs there was a dime, a leather strip, a cross made of pipe cleaners, a piece of muslin fabric, a stone & a piece of purple ribbon. We went over with Edward what each item stood for in the egg. He told us the dime was for when Judas betrayed Jesus in the Garden, the leather strip was for when the beat Jesus, the cross was for when Jesus hung on it for our sins, the muslin fabric was for when they wrapped Jesus up (after they salt and peppered him (he meant the burial herbs and oils)...we were almost rolling on the floor laughing when he said this portion), the stone was for when it was tomb where Jesus was buried and also for when it was rolled away and he was gone (also the cloth goes here because it was all they found in the tomb after the stone was rolled away 3 days after his death on the cross), and the purple ribbon is royalty and Jesus's Resurrection.

Lapbooks

The Story About Ping

Giraffes

These are pictures of the 2 lapbooks that Edward has done so far this year. This summer we will be doing on Bubbles. It includes making bubbles....how much more fun can that be?

Those Pearly Whites

Yesterday, Edward went to the dentist for the very first time since 2006 when he shoved his tooth up into his gum. Now before you judge and say shame on you for just now taking him...he was very traumatized be the whole gum in the tooth ordeal and the fact that it had to be surgically removed, that we felt it was best to wait until he was old enough to understand that going to the dentist was a good thing. There was also the fact that I do not feel that parents should be made to wait in the waiting room while their children are taken back to a room where you can't see what it happening to them or comfort them if they are scared. We also just had a news story about a dentist for children that was using harnesses to strap the children down to the chairs and doing other scary things to the children...this is a place that made the parents stay in the waiting room. Edward has already been traumatized enough by having to have his tooth surgically removed at 3yrs and 3 months that we just didn't want it to be further compounded by another scary or bad situation with the dentist.
I digress....I had taken Edward to get his hair cut yesterday afternoon (He had cut his bangs, so I needed it corrected) and remembered that I wasn't that far from a Children's Dentistry Office I had since coming home from the movies recently. I decided to go by see if they were taking new patients, if they took our dental insurance and what their policy about parents going in with the children was. Talk about fate....they said they were taking new patients, they took our dental insurance, and their policy was that they encouraged parents to go back with their children and oh! By The Way....we've had 3 cancellations for this time would you like to have him seen today?
Yes, why not....in my mind that way he wouldn't have time to fret about it. So they saw him. They cleaned his teeth, took x-rays, flossed his teeth, counted them and put a fluoride treatment on them (I know I have read all the issues about fluoride treatments....but I grew up taking them and I am fine, I feel people freak out to much about certain things). He was given an A+ report all around. NO CAVITIES!!!!! The teeth in relation of top to bottom line up is excellent. He has 3 of his 6 yr molars about to bust through (1 actually is already poking through)...the 4th one hasn't dropped down yet. We are so pleased with this report.

Edward waiting in the dentist chair!
Edward getting his teeth cleaned by the Hygienist.

Here a Moo! There a Moo! Everywhere a Moo-Moo!

Today we had a field trip with our Homeschool C0-op Group to a Working Dairy Farm, this was a family owned dairy (not a corporate owned one). They were a great family and gave an excellent, very educational tour of their farm. The children got to bottle feed new calfs, feed the cows, see a cow milked, feed other farm animals (sheep, goats, turkeys and chickens)...they also learned how milk is gotten from the cows to the holding tanks, from the holding tanks to the trucks that take it to the processing plants, what is done to it at the processing plant...including how it is bottled. They learned about Pasteurization and Homogenization. They learned that milk is actually taken to the skimmed state at the plant and then the fat is added back in according to the precentage of fat in our milk (1%, 2 % and whole milk). They learned exactly what all the farmers duties are on the farm and how much work it takes to run a farm on a daily basis.

Petting a Milk Cow (Sweet Potatoe)
Mommy hand milking Sweet Potatoe

Checking out the milking machine equipment.

Petting a new baby calf

Bottle Feeding a new baby calf.

Just a cute picture

A bucket full of Corn Silage

Feeding the cows Corn Silage

Whales!

Let's start you out this way, did you know that Killer Whales are actually Dolphins? We went to the Exploration Place in Wichita to see the Whale Exhibit that is there. This exhibit is from museum in New Zealand and the whales in the exhibit are of course also from New Zealand. We were unfortunately not permitted to take pictures in the exhibit. They had a model of a Blue Whales Heart (the Largest Whale (is a Baleen Whale) and Animal in the World), for the kids to climb through. It was the actual size of the Blue Whales Heart. We also learned that Baleen Whales have two blow holes, where Whales with teeth only have one blow hole. It was a fascinating field trip. Edward really seemed to enjoy it.

Pictures from Exploration Place

Below are pictures that were also taken on our Field Trip to the Exploration Place in Wichita

The top of the Tornado Simulator!
Edward trying out the Tornado Simulator. This gives you the feel and sound of a Tornado. Edward said it was very loud and windy. He didn't stay inside of it for the whole time.

This is the cute little, okay not so little, castle that they have in the Children's area.

This is another Tornado (okay learning about Tornadoes is a big thing here in the middle of the USA) Simulator. This was shows how it spins down from the sky.

Edward trying out royalty.

A stone path maze.

All I want is my Front Teeth!

Edward lost his two bottom teeth today! The first one I am not sure where it went...well, actually I am but I don't think we will be able to retrieve it or even want to. I am 90% sure he swallowed it when he was either eating breakfast this morning or lunch this afternoon. I wasn't aware that it was missing until well after lunch was over. He said to me "Mommy look at my mouth!" and when I did I saw that one tooth was missing. I tore apart the beds and the house frantically looking for his tiny little bottom tooth. No success! So I checked the loose one next to it, and saw that it was extremely loose. Not wanting to take a chance of having no tooth, I did what I swore I wouldn't do...I pulled it! It came out with no effort and a little blood. We gargled and all was better. Tooth went into the Tooth Fairy Box and Edward got his present the next day in the form of a set of Morphs (animals with inter-exchangeable parts...we bought the African set). Below is a picture of Edwards newest smile!

Kindermusik Young Child Session 2

Below are pictures of Edward playing his Glockenspiel in his Kindermusik YC session 2 class. The teacher has split the YC session 1 class into 2 groups...it just ended up being all the boys in one class and all the girls in the other. Edward has learned alot this session. He has been writing musical notes on his own. He knows what a staff is and a rest. He has learned to play the following notes on his glockenspiel A C D F. He can now play two songs, Bell Horses and Lucy Locket (the boys in this class have changed this song to Lyle Locket) . The boys get along well but as you can imagine are an active group even though there are just 3 of them. I must say that I am very pleased with Edwards progress and how well he is doing in this class.

Concentrating on playing the Glockenspiel
tee-tee ta ta tee-tee

Edwards Class with his teacher Mrs. Walters.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Our Homeschool Co-op Group had a Valentine's Day Party for the children! The children were asked to make boxes for receive Valentine's from the other children. Edward and I made one out of a plastic shoe box. He had so much fun making it. He gave out Speed Racer and Animal Valentines with Jolly Ranchers and Blow Pop Suckers on them. We had 2 different kinds because the list of participates grew beyond what we had planned for. About 60 kids were signed up to participate.

Look Mom & Dad at my box full of Valentines!
The Box that Edward and Mommy made together for his Valentine's Day Party at Co-op Classes, they had a Pizza & Roller Skating Party!

Happy Birthday Kansas 2009

Today we went the Kauffman Museum here in Newton for the Annual Kansas Day Celebration. It was full of fun things to do like shucking corn with hand shucker, rolling hoops (like school boys did back in the pioneer days), making butter, making tortillas, listening to an Indian Storyteller, seeing a real tee pee (and being able to go in it), watching a black smith, a wood worker, logs being made ready to build log cabins (the way they would have done it in the pioneer days), wood cutting , popcorn being made over an open fire in a caldern, wagon rides and so much more including a lot of hands on activity. We wanted to make a broom but they ran out of the materials before we got through the line. We had fun learning about so much Kansas stuff. It has been a little over a week of learning about Kansas. I still feel like we have so much more to learn. It was a very well put together event.

A Blacksmith making a spoon from a railroad tie
Edward Decorating a Swedish Dala Horse