FELINES AT THE FALL FESTIVAL

DD and DB LOVE cats, so I made them these cat costumes to wear to the Fall Festival at our church today.

They were mistaken for mice several times. Guess I should’ve chosen the black fabric…Anyway, DD and DB loved their costumes and told each other that they looked really cute. lol

It was actually a “Trunk or Treat” activity where at least 30 families from our church decorated their cars and provided candy and games for the kids. The girls enjoyed getting all the sweet candy, but again this year their favorite activities were...

the inflatable courses and...

the pony rides….totally sugar free.

Just hope all that Fun at the Fall Fest doesn’t lead to more Fillings for the Felines. lol

Gotcha Day 2009-Desheng Darling

HAS IT REALLY BEEN 5 YEARS??????

On October 25, 2004 our lives were forever changed.

Desheng Darling joined our family. We had NO clue what blessings lay in store for us.

Today we happily celebrated our 5 Year Gotcha Day Anniversary!

We traditionally add a charm to her bracelet each year. This year, she wanted two…a violin and a bookworm. These are so fitting for her!

Her next request was to go to Barnes & Noble for a new book. She’s learned that we never say “no” to a new book, so she makes a point to ask for one if we are anywhere near a book store.

She just made herself at home…

Then, she requested a trip to the Disney store. We DO say “no” to toys quite often

…but today we gave in and bought a pair of Cinderella glass slippers that actually light up when she takes a step. Well, you would have thought the shoes were really made of glass by the way the girls were limping. Lol.... Oh, the pain a woman will endure for a pair of pretty shoes…

Then it was off to her favorite restaurant, Moon Wok.

It’s a small Chinese place where she gets lots of attention and great eggdrop soup. She enjoys practicing her Mandarin with the people who work there. It’s really quite humorous to hear her try to speak Chinese with her heavy accent, but the people are kind and really work with her.

We completed the day by baking a chocolate cake  with a pink heart (her request) to commemorate her special day.

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY DD! You are a joy and we love you more than words can say!!!!!!

Pumpkin Patch Pictures 2009

Today our play group met for our annual pumpkin patch pictures.  The plans were to make a few great pictures, buy some pumpkins, and paint them at the park....Well, it didn't really happen that way.  It was much colder than we expected and the kids were obviously not thrilled about having a picture made. DD actually cried and went to the car to read her books. 

Since it was too cold to go to the park, we went to McD's ....Instant happiness!

No more tears!

We saved the pumpkin painting for a little later in the afternoon...

Everything's more fun after a little ice cream. lol

...Artists at work...

PUMPKIN FUN RUN

Sister Darling invited us to join her at the Annual Pumpkin Fun Run on Saturday to help her school win a cash prize for the most participants. I think she also wanted her students to meet her little sisters, DD and DB.

The girls participated in the 1 mile fun run. I’m sure DD covered at least 2 miles with all of the running, jumping, skipping, hopping and back tracking that she did….just her kind of fun!

Doodlebug, on the other hand, really preferred to participate like this! Lol...Just kidding. She actually walked and ran most of the way. Sister Darling only carried her about 20 steps.

The walk was a breeze for PawPaw (almost 83) who walks over two miles every day. He’s amazing!

The girls also enjoyed a little face painting.

Cute little kittens, don't you think????

A nice fireman allowed DD and DB to explore the fire engine. 

Obviously, nothing was "off limits" to DD!

There was even a booth where the girls could sign Christmas cards to send to our troops. 

Of course, DB and DD had to add a few hearts and kitten drawings to theirs.  Maybe some soldier's day will be brightened when s/he receives them.

Thanks Sister Darling for inviting us. The Pumpkin Fun Run was really FUN and we’re glad your school won 2nd place!

This Week in School

We had an interesting study this week beginning with Abraham, Sarah and the birth of Isaac. On the day that we studied about Abraham sending the servant with camels to find a wife for Isaac, the girls enjoyed making camel cookies, reading library books about camels, and studying about how well God physically prepared these animals to live in their environments.  The girls really enjoyed it.

Of course, cookies make everything nice...even camels!

DD loves to work with pattern blocks, so she used them to make this camel.

When we moved on to the study of Esau and Jacob, we made lentil soup, somewhat like the soup that Jacob made and traded Esau for his birthright. The girls loved it and enjoyed sharing a bowl with PawPaw.

In science we continued our study of plants. This week we discussed the structure and function of the different parts of a plant.

In this picture, DB is supposed to be a plant without roots. Notice how DD is able to easily sway her from her position like a strong wind.  I think DD enjoyed this a little too much.

With roots (notice how DD is firmly planted) the wind (DB) is unable to move her from her position.

And finally, this activity is a demonstration of how the stem and roots soak up water and nutrients. The overall focus of the lesson was on how God has given each of us an important part in life. There are times when our part may be to act like a root…to nurture and nourish those around us. At other times we may need to be like a stem…strong and supportive. Our purpose may even be like a leaf… providing shelter and protection. ` We need to pray that God will reveal our purpose and then strive to fulfill it .  Not a bad lesson.

How Big was that Boat Anyway?

Our curriculum this year takes us through the Old and New Testaments. Yesterday we studied about Noah, a somewhat familiar story to the girls. To make it more interesting I took the girls outside to do a little measuring. I wanted them to have a realistic idea of just how big the boat was. It was MUCH bigger than they expected. The girls took turns using a 25 ft. tape measure and chalk to mark off the 450 ft. needed. When we were almost finished, DB suddenly stopped measuring at about 21 ft. rather than taking the tape out 25 ft. I said, “DB, why did you stop before getting to the end of the tape? You still have 4 ft. to go.” Her reply, “It’s in the shade!” lol She obviously places more importance on her comfort than her education.

The girls also did a fun graphing activity with animal crackers as we talked about all of the animals on the ark.

Later, they each made their own boat and tested its buoyancy (displacement) by filling it with pennies until it sank.

Since DD LOVES science, I finally broke down and bought an “all-inclusive” science curriculum. It came with almost everything we needed to perform the experiments making all of those last minute trips to the store for supplies unnecessary. Each lesson is accompanied by a Bible reference.

We ended our school day with a lesson about the basic needs of plants and animals. Philippians 4:19 was the reference. “And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” I think this is going to be a great year for seeing science through the proper perspective.


Later that day DD and DB went to AWANAS at our church. DB was SO EXCITED! She usually stays VERY close to me in public, but this time she actually ran past me to get to the doors of the church.

She just couldn’t wait to recite her memory verse. It was supposed to go like this. “God loved us and sent His son." But for some reason…she kept reciting it like this: “God loved us and sent HER son.” No matter how many times we went over it, she kept reverting back to her way! Lol

Today we learned about the Tower of Babel. We didn’t get to do as many fun things because Doodlebug has to go to speech classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays. We always have to rush to get everything done before speech.

Here they are trying to build their own tower out of clay and toothpicks. They weren’t very successful, (but neither were the people in the Bible) but they had fun!
We did have time, however, to talk about "common nouns."  I explained that the nouns were common because there are many of them...like sisters, brothers, dogs, etc.  DD asked me if there was anything that there was just ONE of.  I said, "Well, there's just one true God."  She replied, "Well, God's a Holy noun, right?" lol 

The best part of the day came once we returned  home from speech class…FedEx delivered Doodlebug’s PINK violin! (Yes, it’s real!)

She’s obviously VERY PLEASED! I only wish the sounds coming from her violin were as pleasant  as her smile! lol