Route 66 Parade

The kids love the opportunity to join their Grandma in the Route 66 parade each year.  Brielle was sick, so missed the chance this time, but Ethan was very excited about his date with Dad heading out for the day.  Everytime we drive past the spot in the video (which is daily bringing Ellie home from school) he points out where he got to ride in the parade and is very excited about it.


I just noticed what the sign in the back of Ethan says.  Guess it is a good thing he doesn't read yet, and that Brielle wasn't able to ride in the truck.  

Dancing Man

Ethan has had quite the dance moves lately.  He loves music and can't keep his body still any time he hears music playing.  I haven't captured his best dance moves yet, but here is a glimpse...because little kids dancing are always fun to watch.

D is for Dinosaur

I planned the weekly themes based on Elise and Ethan's interests.  We've done dinosaurs a few times already, but Ethan loves them, so we went for it again.


I wrote out the word and then had the kids find the correct letters to match up the stickers.

We have quite a few dinosaur themed file folder games that we did.  For this one we reviewed the letters we've learned so far matching uppercase to lowercase.

We happened to have spare ribs for Sunday dinner the week prior to dinosaur week.  Those are the same kind of bones we used last time we did a dino dig.  I love how they dry out and look old and white.  The kids loved being archeologists and digging them out.

We did a lot with eggs.  We used food markers to decorate hard-boiled eggs to make these dinosaur eggs for lunch.  We also got out Easter eggs to hide letters inside and hunt for the dino eggs.  The kids could have done egg hunts all day long.


I still love using the touchpad for our worksheets.  We can go through them together, it keeps their interest longer, and we don't have to print as much out.  The ones we are doing here were all from learningpage.com

Books

Elise loved Dinosaur vs. The Potty.  It was not one that I liked, but she loved the pictures and kept asking for it.
Ethan loved the I Am a Tyrannosaurus book (his favorite dinosaur.  When we brush his teeth and you need him to keep his mouth open, you ask for him to be a t-rex.   He has a very fierce growl with a WIDE mouth.)
The 3 on the bottom right were all easy-reader books that Brielle was able to read to Ethan and I.  

On Halloween Costumes

A random conversation at our house...


E: I'm going to be spiderman.  For now.

Me: You need to decide soon, because once we start making your costume you can't change your mind.

E: I want to be a goat.

Me: a ghost?

E: No, a goat.

B: You can't be a goat, how would we make the hard horns?

E: I want to be a deer.

B: They have horns too.  You have to be something with no horns.  Like you could be a snake and we'll make you a tail, but you can't use your arms and legs and you'll just have to slither, okay?

E: I'll be a tiger.  For now.

Shuttle Time!

On Friday (September 21, 2012) we were all able to go and see the historic fly over of the Space Shuttle Endeavour (OV-105) at NASA's Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, CA.  This laboratory is responsible for much of the research that got the shuttle up into space in the first place.  Brielle was out of school for having a fever the previous day and James took a little time off work to meet up with everyone.  Brielle was really feeling pretty miserable, bu we explained that this was a once in a lifetime opportunity.  Kudos to her for allowing her 5-year old brain to grasp that concept!  Above is the vantage point from which we watched the shuttle fly over.

Megan packed us a nice little picnic, but we did not have time to eat it before the shuttle arrived.  We had not anticipated such heavy traffic near this fly over site.  There were people just pulled over on the side of the freeway with lawn chairs!  We parked about 1/2 a miles from the look out point and walked over.  It was very crowded, which made it all the more exciting!

The kids enjoyed taking turns looking for the shuttle.  We first saw it in the distance as it made a pass by the Griffth Observatory.  It then made its way over to us.

As the shuttle got closer the crowd of people began to cheer like crazy.  We tried to snap some pictures and take video as best we could, but we wanted to see it with our eyes rather than than through a view finder.  It was just one of those moments were you felt very proud to be an American.  It was also a little sad to know that this was the end of an era, especially since there is not another one on the horizon.

The shuttle had two wingmen that escorted it around the whole day.  Those were Ethan's favorite part as you can hear in the video below.

I had just a second to snap one picture of Megan and Brielle with the shuttle in the background (very far away).  It is just over the top of the man's head.

After the fly over we had a quick lunch overlooking JPL and then headed back to normal life.  It was an exciting site to see.  We are looking forward to seeing the shuttle drive along the streets of Los Angeles in a few weeks as it is moved to its final home at the Science Center.

The Broken Down Bus

A quick story:

We were driving home from school and saw a full size greyhound-type tour bus being towed on a huge tow truck.  We were discussing what could have happened.

Ethan's opinion:
"Maybe there was a boy that threw a rock in the street, and then his Mom said he needed to pick it up, but it was time to go, because his Mom had to go to Young Women's, so they left the rock in the street. And then the bus came and it crashed into the huge rock and broke it all into pieces, and it broke the bus, so now that have to take it to be fixed."

Fly On the Wall---A Sunday

Again, I've realized there is no such thing as typical.  Life just happens.  So here is a glimpse at Sunday life at the Finlay's house.


Sunday, September 23, 2012

5AM-Brielle Crawls in our Bed
Brielle was sick and was sleeping in a bed made up on the floor next to us.  But she wanted to be even closer.

6AM-Playing Musical Beds
Ethan came in about 5:30 also wanting to climb in bed with us.  I decided to go with him to his bed to see if I could get him to sleep longer and left James and Brielle sleeping together.

7AM-Making Breakfast
James is still trying to sleep.  The kids are 'helping' me make Sunday Breakfast.  Ethan loves cracking eggs.

8AM-Eating Breakfast as a Family
Sunday's we switch off between Cinnamon Cake (a breakfast/coffee cake) or Cinnamon Rolls.  This morning was a Cinnamon Cake day.  We have scrambled eggs and strawberries to go with it.

9AM-Going Through my Young Women's Bag
I'm watching kids in the bath.  James is working on his lesson.  I'm going through my bag to pull out old garbage and make sure I have everything organized for the day.

10AM-At Ward Council
James is home with the kids.  They are watching 'Joseph, King of Dreams' (one of our only Sunday movies choices) for what seems like the hundredth time.

11AM-Ward Council is Wrapping Up
Still at church meeting.  Brought YW stuff to leave for my counselor who is teaching and will take charge today while I stay home with Brielle.

12PM-Play Marble Tracks with Kids
James had a meeting before church, so left as soon as I got home from Ward Council.  I found out the nursery leader wasn't going to be there today, so decided I better keep Ethan home with Brielle and I.

1PM-Watching Ethan Dance
Brielle is not feeling good and isn't participating, but Ethan is showing us some GREAT moves!

2PM-Teaching Church Lessons
Went through our Family Home Evening Lesson Box and let the kids choose what they wanted a lesson about today.  We're learning about Ammon and making a sheep out of paper plates and cotton balls.

3PM-Reading Stories
We have gone through a lot of books this weekend with Brielle being sick.  She and I both like to read. Ethan tolerates holding still for story time as long as the book interests him.

4PM-Playing Uno
Brielle wanted to take another bath (feels good when she is sick.) Ethan and I are playing a game of Uno, and James is just walking in the door from church.

5PM-Making Dinner
Most Sundays we have family dinner with the extended Finlay group.  Today is different with Brad and Margaret's neighborhood having their annual block party for dinner.  With Brielle being sick, we've decided to have dinner on our own tonight.

6PM-On Phone with Nurse
I was just thinking Brielle seemed to be acting and looking better and could go to school tomorrow when her eyes started gooping up and running.  Decided to call the nurse and see if others have had this strange cold (sore throat, fever, throwing up, and now the eyes). She said we should see the doctor tomorrow.

7PM-On Way to Fireside
James is staying home with kids to get them in bed so I can go to our adult fireside and the church.

8PM-At the Fireside
It is about music in the home and the influence that music can have on your thoughts and actions.  I got a prize for being able to write down the most hymns in 2 minutes.  Yummy Dove chocolates.

9PM-Writing Family Journal
Every Sunday night I write what our family did that week and send it to my Mom.  She compiles all the siblings and sends it out so we can read what everyone in the family is up to each week.  My Mom has always kept a family journal, but the kids contributing and having it e-mailed back to us started the year I went to college when my 3 older siblings got married 13 years ago.

10PM-Putting Away Kibaki
Just fed Kibaki.  She was hungry tonight and ate all 3 mice I offered her right away.

11PM-In Bed Reading
I keep reading bits and pieces of Daughter in my Kingdom, but am trying to make it cover to cover.  Made it a goal for my Personal Progress.

11PM-Should Be Sleeping
Finished the book!  Going to sleep for a new day to start tomorrow.