Time Out, Time In

These boys are so funny.  After the big Capital City Championship where their JV team lost in the Championship and they only got a few minutes play time, they came home and played a little one-on-one blue-vs-white!  They crack me up!  I got some good pics standing at the front door until Hammond spotted me!!!!

State-by-State: Connecticut

"A is for American Robin,

a lovely little fellow.

He sings a pretty tune,

musical and mellow."

-N is for Nutmeg:  A Connecticut Alphabet

With the state bird being the American Robin, we chose to make "Red Robin" burgers!  We used the Teriyaki Burgers recipe from Bless Us O Lord  tonight.  The girls made the marinade, and I grilled the burgers while they were at dance.  

I also picked up some animal crackers, to go along with our burgers, for Mr. Phineas T. Barnum, of Barnum & Bailey fame, a leading citizen in his hometown of Bridgeport, Connecticut:

"B is for Mister Barnum,

and his animals and clowns.

He started a traveling circus,

for kids in all the towns."

Resources we used for this State Study:

N is for Nutmeg: A Connecticut Alphabet

N is for Nutmeg Teacher's Guide (pdf)

Connecticut's Notebooking Page from United States Maps
United States Coloring Book (Dover)

Gymnastics

Lauren, Lyndsey & Colleen are enjoying going to recreational gymnastics each week.  It is a great way to stretch those muscles!!!

Our little athelete in her perfect handstand!

ECS Warrior Basketball

Corynne played for the ECS Junior Varsity Basketball team this year.  It was an interesting season full of emotions!  Corynne struggled to find her place on the team, and her self-confidence took a horrifying nose dive which set off the Mother-defense mode in me.  It was definitely not my finest moment, but there are times when a mom just cannot sit in the background and watch her kid crumble for nothing she can control on her own.

All-in-all she had a good season, and she made a few good friends.  After so many nights in January of her begging us to let her quit because she HATED basketball; she has grown into a tough, aggressive player.  We are proud of her for sticking the season out, and we were equalled SHOCKED in May when she decided to tryout for the basketball team for next year!!

Awanas, Awanas, Awanas

Lauren and Lyndsey are having a great year in Awanas this year.  They really missed Awanas last year when dance conflicted with Wednesday night Awanas.  Lyndsey is a little fireball for learning verses.  She can memorize them so fast, and she remembers them weeks later.  By the end of December, she had completed the 1st year book and a few sections of the review book.

This year the program put together gift boxes for Operation Shoebox!  The girls had so much fun filling their boxes this year.

While I was gone to visit my friend Robin in Maryland, JM helped the girls assemble their cars for the Awana Grand Prix!  This was the first time we had done the Grand Prix!  I always avoid things like this!!!  Lyndsey was the instigator and kept begging to go.  JM being the crazy dad said he would do it with them!!!

I was a leader in the Sparks, so I have plenty of pictures of Lyndsey this year.  I have very few of Lauren in  T&T.  Here is Lyndsey showing off her Veggie Pet for theme night.

State-by-State: Maryland

"B is for Blue Crabs

that swim in the Chesapeake Bay.

Males are called Jimmys and females Sallys.

That's what the fishermen say."

-B is for Blue Crab:  A Maryland Alphabet

The girls read B is for Blue Crab:  A Maryland Alphabet and completed their scrapbook and lapbook pages.

Lyndsey makes a mini lapbook for each state using this lapbook from Currclick.com .

The girls prepared Crab Cakes for dinner tonight.  Actually, we took the easy route this time and purchased pre-made Crab cakes.

They were definitely not as good as the crab cakes we ate while living in Maryland, but they were decent!

WSFA Field Trip

While I was in Maryland visiting my friend Robin and her new baby Sarah, JM stepped up as the homeschooling dad and took the girls on a field trip for me!  They went to WSFA 12 News to learn about the TV production process!

It was a "busy" weather day, so they got to watch the meterologist go live and report on the conditions around the south.

SHHHHHHHH!!!!!

It is always fun to play on the green screen and see how it shows up on the TV.

They also taught the group about the history of WSFA!