Snow in Kansas!!!

In Kansas, we had about 4 inches of snow! Alexandra's only played in snow a couple of times before, so this was wonderful. (Even though it melted by the end of the day.)

Unfortunately, it was a very dry snow and didn't make a snowman very well, but we tried! Here's a photo of our "snow ghost" being examined by our dog, Pandy.

Snow Much Fun!!!

The snow never stuck at our house yesterday. But, as we were driving south through Houston, we were thrilled to see snow on the ground, the trees, the cars, the buildings...! I saw snow in the field next to a gas station, and had to stop!

We hadn't packed our gloves (when do we ever need gloves???), but I had to play in the snow. I made this tiny snowman. He's maybe 4 or 5 inches tall. At first Alex didn't want to get out and play, but she soon changed her mind.

We started making snowballs and throwing them at a telephone pole... and at the car.

                                              

It was COLD out, and Alex was in her flip flops - her favorite footwear! I think we played for about 10 minutes.

Alex took this photo of me. We had a wonderful time playing and I'm so glad we stopped!

Snow!!!

Here are some photos from when Alexandra played with her Nana and Papa in the Kansas snow on Sunday.
Just getting started... smiling for dear old mom and her camera...

Papa is helping Alexandra to get that beautiful "snow look"

Covered in snow... and red cheeks, too...



A little snow fight with Papa...

SNOW???? in Houston???

We've been hearing it since Monday... we have a good chance of some snow here in Houston TOMORROW!

This photo is from last year. We have lived here a little over 13 years (I got it wrong last year) and we've only seen snow twice. So, you wouldn't believe the excitement. I am really hoping we do see snow. I'll keep you posted!!!

Christmas Day Sledding Fun!!!

We had a wonderful time playing in the snow on Christmas Day.

Alex running up the hill... ready to play!

Alex getting ready to go down the hill in her 'sled' - being pushed by a cousin.

Papa pulling Alex and her aunt on a homemade sled.

My baby in the snow! This was her first day EVER to sled!

Alex sledding... but she forgot the sled!

Alex sledding in the pool sled... it worked much better! I bet we used it 30 times or more!

Making a snow angel.

Me sledding... well, I almost made it to the bottom before flying out of the pool!

Alex and me in the pool/sled.

Yep! We wiped out, too!

Snow, Beautiful SNOW!!!

Yes, complete with palm trees and water in a swimming pool, it is snowing in Houston! And, they actually expect us to get some to accumulation!!! We took a Snow Day and have been doing wintry crafts and games.

Health, Snow, and Bird Identity

lex and I are still both recovering from our health problems of the last few weeks. Alex started a second round of antibiotics tonight for her sinus infection. My back/neck/arm are still getting back to normal after a week and a half of pain. The doctor thinks it was a pulled muscle, though I'm still not sure how I pulled it. Especially as it has hurt so bad for so long.  

Our weather has been crazy. It was 70 degrees on Sunday and today (Tuesday), we are seeing another rare Houston SNOW!!! We've just had some snowflakes mixed with rain here, but other places are getting actual snow!

 

Alex and I went on a nature walk with the Family Nature Explore Club on Saturday. It was also a history field trip and I'll try to post about it in the next few days. I took over 100 photos! But, for now, I'm wondering if anyone can help me identify this cute bird!!! My bird books don't have a good match for him, and I'm hoping someone can help me. So, if you have an idea, please let me know! Thanks!

FIAR-Katy and the Big Snow - Snowman

We started FIAR (Five in a Row) this week covering the book, Katy and the Big Snow. Today, we made a snowman from ice cubes! Yesterday, we filled 3 balloons with water & placed them in the freezer. Today, we sprinkled them with salt to make them melt & then stick together. Then, we decorated them with felt. Alex also added sugar to the snowman for fresh snow. There's nothing like a snowman in August!

Customizing Blogger

I have been busy customizing my blog this afternoon. I wanted my posting area to be wider, and I hope my photos will turn out bigger, too. They seem to look better, but I'm not sure if they actually are or not. I found a post titled "How to change width of blogger blogs" at Beginner Blogger Basics. I created a back up of my blog and went through the steps and got a wider blog!

I've also been meaning to post about how I created a custom header several months ago. I know many of you use blogger and already know how to do this, but I hadn't even realized I COULD customize a header with blogger until recently! So, maybe there are others of you out there who could use a short tutorial.

I asked Alex at Serendipity Homeschool and she advised me to go to picnik.com. At Picnik, I downloaded a photo of Alex making a snow angel in the snow. Then, I edited it by cropping it shorter. Next, I went in to "create" and added the text, "school for us." Finally, I "save"d it and typed the width of 800 (as my header width is 820).

I went into the "Layout" on blogger and clicked on "edit header." I deleted the current image and added my new photo. I clicked on the button to use the photo "instead of title and description." And, I had my new header!

Another thing I've been wanting to do is to add a signature to the bottom of each post. I followed the tips at Moms Who Blog and came up with "my" signature! You use My Live Signature to create this signature. When you get to the end, make sure you say you want to "use this signature" and get an html generated. (Oops! I didn't realize it was in a white box, but I've done enough for one day.)

I hope you enjoy my little changes and maybe it will help if some of you were wanting to try some of these changes!

Huh... Snow??? Here???

Yep! It's been snowing in the Houston area!

We have lived her 13 YEARS and this is the FIRST time I've ever seen it snowing at my house! And, yesterday it was 75 degrees! It's just very crazy. And, Alex had to go play in it... in her SHORTS and FLIPFLOPS. (At least she'd put on a jacket by the time I took this photo.) It snowed heavy for about 15 minutes and then a light snow for about 45 minutes more. Incredible! (I have a video, but I haven't been able to post it)

Dickens on the Strand

Yesterday afternoon, Alex and I drove south through the snow to Galveston. (We stayed at Hilton Galveston Island Resort which we loved!) And, the snow followed us all the way to the island! This photo was taken this morning (Saturday). What a difference a day makes! Last night (Friday), we went out to dinner at Rainforest Cafe and then to Moody Gardens where we visited the aquarium and saw a 4D production of Polar Express. It was a neat show - complete with wind blowing on us, water splashing us, lights flashing, etc. But, we were shocked that they'd condensed the whole movie into about 15 minutes!!!

We spent the night in a wonderful hotel (we'll definitely use it again!) and had lots of fun. We made hot chocolate and watched the DVD of Polar Express on Alex's small TV she'd brought with her. We really had a wonderful evening! This morning, we headed to Dickens on the Strand.

I've wanted to go for years, but this is the first time we've made it. It is a pretty large festival in the historic Strand district of Galveston. There are lots of people dressed in Victorian costumes - including this WONDERFUL Marley's Ghost! A lot of the people who come to see this event dress in costumes, too. And, everyone is so wonderful about having their photos taken.

Some Beefeaters. Did you see the sign above them... "Welcome to the Nut House?" It is really a place where they are selling nuts, but I thought the photo turned out funny. Alex actually bought nuts there. There is LOTS of food for sell!

Alex posing with some constables.

There are lots of singers, and this was our favorite group. They were singing a very silly song. We LOVE their dresses! There are acts like this on stages and street corners every where you go!

And, here comes Queen Victoria! I was thrilled to see her. Unfortunately, I really didn't get a very good photo. She was surrounded by her entourage of Beefeaters wherever she went. The town cryer (I think that is his title) is in the blue and gold.

Alex is watching her favorite performance here.

This was Alex's favorite performer - Mary Merrie. She did all kinds of juggling and strange things. :-) She had broken her wrist 9 weeks ago - just like Alex! (Alex broke hers 3 weeks ago.) Alex laughed & laughed at one of her skits. She really was entertaining.

Alex had her hair done up in a neat hair thing. I don't even know what to call it. She really wanted it, but it was $35! I just couldn't see spending that much.

Mr. and Mrs. Claus.... shopping! I wonder who they're shopping for!

The last thing we did was watch the Queen's parade. We loved these Victorian bicycles. We also saw a lot of the acts we'd already seen - singers, etc. We had a wonderful time and stayed pretty warm, especially in the sun. It was only in the 40's, but we stopped at WalMart and bought some gloves, scarves, and ear covers. I am so glad we went to Dickens on the Strand and plan on going back next year!

Kleb Woods Nature Preserve

Well, we're already in Kansas for the start of our Christmas time with our family. We got her last night and Alexandra got to play in a few inches of snow, which is a rare treat. We will continue to do school this week since we missed a week and a half while on our trip to Hawaii and then "recovering" - unpacking, laundry, jet lag, etc. I'll continue to post from here, but I'm unsure as to whether or not I'll be able to post any photos.


On Friday, our group went on its monthly Nature Day to a place called Kleb Nature Preserve. This was a home of a German farmer, Elmer Kleb, who died in 1996 at the age of 92. We had to wonderful leaders, and I thought I'd just copy and paste the "article" I posted to our group about the trip:

We really had a wonderful time at the Kleb Nature Day Friday. In fact, it was one of the best Nature Days I've attended!


Fred Collins was a great nature guide. We went on a short (in distance) 1 hour walk with him. He was surprised at how little ground we were covering, but we were making so many finds! And, he was so good at letting us take the lead.


He started the afternoon by having the kids fill out a paper listing the current conditions - time, temperature, cloud cover, etc. Then, we went on our walk looking for biodiversity. We were recording each species we saw - whether plant or animal (mainly insects and spiders) - and then we were to count them and compare that count to another count. (We were planning on doing a second walk that day, but the day became long. So, those who went can either do their backyard or some other place to make comparisons. )


We started out mainly noticing plants - trees, weeds, mushrooms. Besides the mushrooms, he knew all of them and could even tell us stories about a lot of them! For example, he told us about Yaupon holly, alix vomitoria. This plant was "discovered" by Ponce de Leon when he went to an Indian ritual. They were brewing this plant into a tea and drinking many cups of it until they were vomiting. According to Wikipedia, it wasn't the tea itself causing the vomiting, but either the large quantities they were drinking or it was a learned behavior. Anyway, that's how the plant got its name. He also identified Yankee Weed for us, which he says got its name because it was "good for nothing." (And, yes, I'm a Yankee.)


Then, we started noticing spiders and insects. Again, he could identify most of them. We had some great finds - daddy longlegs, a sulfur butterfly, a long legged spider who had a fly he was preparing to eat, baby millipedes, a "baby" walking stick (that kept curling its tail like it was a scorpion!), a "baby" praying mantis... Anyway, there were just LOTS of great finds!!! I think it really helped that we were walking very slowly and really searching for insects and plants that we hadn't seen yet.


After the walk, we went inside where one of the moms had printed off coloring sheets of cardinals and roadrunners. We passed around bird books so the kids could see what they looked like. And, the nature center fed us a snack of apple juice, cookies, and muffins!


Then, it was back outside to go on the tour of the homestead. Ms. Linda was another great leader and was full of fun and interesting stories and laughter! She even demonstrated some German to the kids. We got to look at a lot of the old horse-drawn farm equipment that Mr. Kleb used, and hear fascinating stories about this man.


It was a great day and I believe I'll start taking our nature walks slower and carrying a clipboard, as we did, to list all of the species we see. I think this will help us to notice more or God's fascinating creation!

Brainpop

Alexandra "rediscovered" BrainPop today. We don't have a subscription, but they have quite a few FREE videos. And, they're great! They also currently have an entire section of FREE videos and activities about Winter & Snow. What a fun way to learn!

Summer: Week 2

This week isn't turning out at all as we had planned. We were supposed to be enjoying a full day of mother/daughter camp. But, Alexandra is still sick!

We finally went to see the doctor today after Alexandra got laryngitis last night. She's had a sore throat, ear aches, fever for 3 days, and now the laryngitis! Well, the doctor said it's a virus (thankfully, not strep throat!) and she's cleared to go to camp tomorrow. But, we're too far behind in one camp, so we'll just be going until about noon. We're looking forward to it, though! And, I'm really tired of being trapped in the house for 4 days! :-)

While she was feeling better yesterday, we cleaned off our big school book shelf and organized one of our school closets. We've got LOTS of stuff to get rid of now! I did have lots of science & history kits on the shelf that we'd never used. I told her she could pull down 4 of them. The first one she chose was a bag of InstaSnow where you can make your own snow. She made it herself yesterday, and then started playing with it. I do NOT recommend playing with this stuff inside. :-) It was messy, but she enjoyed it. (We haven't gotten to the other 3 kits yet, and she's currently taking a RARE nap. Yeah! She really needs it.)

I also thought we might try (again) to learn how to play chess this summer. We got out the chess board and book (Chess Basics by Schneider) and she is almost begging constantly to play chess! I guess we have a keeper! In the Chess Basics book, there are lots of games to help you learn the strategy. For example, we've played some pawn only games and now are ready for some knight & pawn games. We both enjoy the games, but she really enjoys playing a "real" game of chess.

The photo above is of some peanuts Alexandra is growing. One of the weekly classes she is taking this summer is about botany & gardening. For the first week, she learned about the parts of a plant, the parts of a flower, and about George Washington Carver. She planted a raw peanut in this pail and it is doing really well!

We also have been reading more Polacco books (which we first encountered because of Author Fiesta). We are both LOVING her books! She's amazing and I almost always have to cry during part of it. We read two books that are about Jews during WWII. They are beautiful, sweet, sad stories.

And, lastly, I found another good reason to sign up with Google Reader (or something like it). A friend recently had her blog deleted by the place where she hosts it. I was able to help her recover some of her posts because they had them saved at Google Reader back to January 2007! So, if you ever lost your blog, this would be a good way to recover some of it!

Hope you all are enjoying your summer. I'm off to read now (I have been reading SO MANY books the past few weeks!). I hope to post about some of the books soon, as many of them are about eduation.

We're Home from JAPAN!

Hi, everyone! Alex & I are back from Japan. We spent 4 days in Tokyo and 1 day on a 'day trip' to see the Snow Monkeys. I have so much to share with you all! I will try to get started later today.

(photo in front of a torii gate near the Zojoji Buddhist temple)

We didn't get home until midnight last night and our bodies are having trouble adjusting back to Central Standard Time. It is almost 3 pm on Thursday here. It is 6 am in Tokyo. We left Japan at 7 pm on Wednesday evening and got to Chicago at 3:30 pm on Wednesday afternoon. That's weird, isn't it?

Anyway, it was one of the most amazing trips I've ever been on, though I have loved just about everywhere we've ever went. We are actually headed out of town again tomorrow (yikes! lots of laundry & unpacking to do before then!), but then we'll be home for several weeks. We will be headed to St Louis the 2nd weekend of April for my 2nd half marathon.

I hope you all are well! And, I hope you are enjoying your school year!

-Dana

Baby Ducks in December?

Two days ago, we stopped by a pond full of ducks to feed them some bread. One of our favorites is this type of duck with feathers sticking up in mass on the top of his head. We call him an "Einstein duck." I thought his feathers were that way because someone had been picking on him, but a naturalist told me that there are breeds that look like this. Unfortunately, I can't remember what he called them! (Does anyone know?)

We were also surprised to see this mama duck walking her babies down the street... in the middle of December! We also saw a different mama duck 2 days after our snow a couple of weeks ago. I'm glad these mamas know how to keep their eggs and babies warm!

99 Things on the Wall Meme

I found this meme over on Barb's Harmony Art Mom blog and really enjoyed it. If you decide to use it, please leave a comment so I can read your list!

Items I have completed are in purple.

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars
3. Played in a band (junior high band)
4. Visited Hawaii (Maui - twice)
5. Watched a meteor shower
6. Given more than you can afford to charity
7. Been to Disneyland/world
8. Climbed a mountain
9. Held a praying mantis
10. Sang a solo (part of a duet at a friend's wedding, but part of it was a solo)
11. Bungee jumped
12. Visited Paris
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch
15. Adopted a child
16. Had food poisoning
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty (I've seen it, but haven't been to the top)
18. Grown your own vegetables
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France
20. Slept on an overnight train
21. Had a pillow fight
22. Hitch hiked
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill
24. Built a snow fort (in elementary school at lunch time - well, the "big boys" built it, but I got to go in it - it was kind of like an igloo)
25. Held a lamb
26. Gone skinny dipping
27. Run a Marathon
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice
29. Seen a total eclipse
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset
31. Hit a home run
32. Been on a cruise
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person (as a teenager with my family)
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors
35. Seen an Amish community
36. Taught yourself a new language
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person
39. Gone rock climbing
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David
41. Sung karaoke (only at home!)
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant
44. Visited Africa
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight
46. Been transported in an ambulance
47. Had your portrait painted
48. Gone deep sea fishing
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling (SCUBA diving in Maui last December - one of my greatest thrills!)
52. Kissed in the rain
53. Played in the mud (many times as a child)
54. Gone to a drive-in theater (my husband and I went to these quite a lot when we were dating)
55. Been in a movie
56. Visited the Great Wall of China
57. Started a business
58. Taken a martial arts class
59. Visited Russia
60. Served at a soup kitchen
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies
62. Gone whale watching (off of Cape Cod about 6 years ago - Alex was so small she fell asleep)
63. Got flowers for no reason
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (and then promptly fainted and was out several minutes)
65. Gone sky diving
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp
67. Bounced a check
68. Flown in a helicopter
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial
71. Eaten Caviar
72. Pieced a quilt
73. Stood in Times Square
74. Toured the Everglades
75. Been fired from a job
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London
77. Broken a bone
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person
80. Published a book
81. Visited the Vatican
82. Bought a brand new car
83. Walked in Jerusalem
84. Had your picture in the newspaper (in High School when our academic team went to nationals)
85. Read the entire Bible
86. Visited the White House (I've seen it, but never went in it)
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating (yikes! no thanks!)
88. Had chickenpox (and measles at the SAME TIME - I ended up in the hospital)
89. Saved someone’s life
90. Sat on a jury (I've been rejected for a jury)
91. Met someone famous (Barbara Bush and Alex met her, too)
92. Joined a book club (started one for girls)
93. Lost a loved one
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake
97. Been involved in a law suit
98. Owned a cell phone
99. Been stung by a bee (only when I stepped on one while barefoot!)

Christmas Eve Snow

We spent the week in Oklahoma and were thrilled to see it snowing Christmas Eve!

We ended up getting about 6 inches. It was nice that we were all snug inside!