Father/Daughter Sweetheart Dance 2011

Last night Daddy took Miriam to the Father/Daughter Sweetheart Dance put on by Baton Rouge General Foundation. She had been looking forward to the dance since last year. She always asked when she was going to be able to go again.  I tried to get a picture of them before they left but it didn’t turn out too good which is why it’s in black & white.  I would have prefered to take it outside but it was raining.  She was the last one they took in the balloon line and she had to wear a sign on her back.  The person making the balloons said she could have something special since she wore the sign.  All she wanted was the corsage like she got last year.  The person pulled out a list of things she could pick and she picked Arial, the mermaid.  The teddy bear was one of the door prizes.  It was actually one by one of our former children’s choir kids, Whitney who is now 21.  Craig saw her and was talking to her about the door prize and about how excited Miriam was that they were giving away stuffed animals.  She went to her table and brought the teddy bear back to Miriam.  It sounds like they had a great time and hopefully Micah will be able to go with them next year.

Upward Basketball Games #4

This week's theme was Mad Hatter. Thanks to Candy for making hats at short notice for Luke & Cameron to wear. They loved them! Luke's was a bear for the Bearcats and Cameron's was a wolf for the Wolves.
Cameron played well and got the star for best defense.
Luke was a wild man during his game. You should have seen his face. He looked like he was mad. I didn't really get a good shot of it. (I was trying some different settings on my camera this week.) He was much more aggresive and caused 2 jump balls. He also got the star for best defense.

Zoo Day

Friday was a nice day so we decided to go to the zoo since we hadn't been in a while.
One of the reasons we wanted to go was to see the new tiger exhibit. It was really neat because one of the male zookeepers was checking things out. The female tiger that was out doesn't like him so she kept stalking him. She jumped up on the glass and even showed her teeth to him.

Last week we read about Australia in our history curriculum, Tapestry of Grace. One of the suggested activities was to go to a zoo and find any Australian animals that they have. We couldn't find the wallaroo and the emu and red kangaroos weren't very active when we at their area. However, when we rode the train the emus were out close to the fence.

Daddy's favorite zoo animal is the giraffe and one happened to be out close to the fence. It was very cooperative for my photo shoot!

Some of the birds and other animals that we saw.


Afterwards, we rode the train as usual.

I tried to get some group shots...typical. Luke attempted to take a picture of me & Craig. I don't think it was on auto which is why it was blurry.

You can tell it was a good day when they all fall asleep on the way home.

It makes me want to sing this song from the Fresh Beat Band.

Driving me Crazy

Micah is driving me crazy with our barstools. She moves them all around the kitchen so they are always in the way. She also uses them to climb onto the island to get candy out of the candy bowl.   We currently have ones like these.

Maybe if we had one of these adjustable bar stools she wouldn't be able to push them around so much. I'm liking the ones in black since they would match our dining room chairs and benches that we have at our breakfast school table.


What's driving you crazy today?

Upward Basketball Games #3

The theme for this week's game was Mis-match socks...even Daddy participated although I didn't get a picture of his.
Cameron made 2 baskets in his game and got the star for Best Offense.

Luke made 1 basket and also got the Best Offense star.

Miriam’s Haircut

Yesterday Miriam & I got our haircut. We get it cut about once a year. If it would have been just a little longer or if we would have gotten it cut a little shorter, she could have donated to Locks of Love. We'll shoot for that next time.

Fun Friday–Birthday Donuts

In honor of my birthday, we got 3 dozen donuts.
Luke got the candles out for me and took my picture

Can you tell who really enjoyed his donut?

Wordless Wednesday–Chewing on His Word

Gives it a new meaning doesn't it...

Cameron was reading his new Bible to Miriam & Cole. He wanted Cole to have his so he went and got it out of his room. When I asked him why he had Cole's Bible in his room, he told me they were having a Bible fight. Gives a new meaning to "the sword", doesn't it!

Lafayette Science Museum–Star Wars Exhibit

Yesterday, we went to the Lafayette Science Museum to see the Star Wars exhibit with our homeschool group, Bayou Cajun Homeschoolers. Aunt Sara was able to go with us because she was off of work for Martin Luther King day.

The first thing we did was to do the Millenium Falcon experience. All of us and the older Shelbys experienced it together.

Then we checked out the Star Wars exhibit and costumes.
Of course, we attempted some group shots.


Then the kids got to do some hands on activities upstairs.

Afterwards, we ate at a local Mexican restaurant before heading home.
Thank you Lord for an awesome fieldtrip where everything worked out perfect including the weather & traffic. It's great being able to experience these things with best friends!

Upward Basketball Games #2

Shots from Saturday's games

Luke had to play against him friend, Aidan.

Chocolate Friday & Fun Friday–Whole Wheat Chocolate Chocolate Chip Waffles

This morning I had planned to make chocolate chip waffles, but when I went to look for flour we didn't have any. But we did have a bag of whole wheat flour that I've never used. So I googled whole wheat chocolate chip waffles and stumbled across this recipe.

Whole Wheat Double Chocolate Chip Waffles

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons canola oil
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat waffle maker.

Combine all dry ingredients together, then add egg, milk and oil. If batter is too dry, add milk 1 tablespoon at a time, until it is wet but thick. Fold in chocolate chips. Spoon 1/3 cup batter into waffle maker, cooking for 2-3 minutes or until waffle is set.

I doubled the recipe because I wasn't sure how many it was going to make. I wasn't sure if the kids were going to like them or not since it was whole wheat, but I don't think they really noticed especially with the chocolate chips and adding syrup. They were a lot denser so Luke & Cameron didn't eat as much as they normally do.

Wordless Wednesday

Miriam "reading" to Cole

Cinnamon Toast

I knew I was going to make cinnamon toast for breakfast this morning. So as I was drinking my coffee, I googled cinnamon toast just looking for some pointers on the oven temp. It's been a while since I had made cinnamon toast. I came across Pioneer Woman's blog post about cinnamon toast and I decided to try her version. It looked and sounded yummy. I made 2 pieces for each person, but the kids asked for more. Next time, I'll have to make more. Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Toast

1. Smash 2 sticks of softened butter with a fork.
2. Add 1 cup of sugar to the butter.
3. Add 2-3 teaspoons of cinnamon depending on your tastes.
4. Add 2-3 teaspoons of good vanilla (Mexican).
5. Stir it all together until it is creamy. 
6. Spread a good tablespoon of the mixture onto each piece of bread.
7. Put on a cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10 minutes .
8. After the 10 minutes, turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes. Watch carefully b/c you don't want to burn it.

Upward Basketball Games #1

Yesterday Luke & Cameron had their first basketball games of the season. 

Cameron plays for the Wolves. He made the first basket of the game. He did well considering he hasn't played basketball much. However, he kept having to guard the best player on the other team. He just couldn't keep up.

Luke plays for the Bearcats. What's funny is that he made the first basket of his game as well. In Luke's age, they keep score. His team won!
I hate taking pictures in gyms. Do you have any pointers? I think last year I just ended up putting in on auto.