Geronimo Stilton - Editor of 'The Rodent's Gazette'

Micah and Kevin (neighbor friend) were talking one day.  Kevin was telling about some books he was reading.  Micah was talking about his study on newspapers.  Kevin had just finished a book within the Geronimo Stilton series entitled "The Phantom of the Subway".  Geronimo Stilton is a mouse, he is the editor of 'The Rodent's Gazette'.  We borrowed the book and really enjoyed it.  The boys got to talk about it several days when they got together to play.  It is a fun series and was just up our alley with our newspaper study.

12.12.12

Today is a unique day.  The past twelve years have each had one month where the date was the same number for the month, day, and year.  (01.01.01; 02.02.02; 03.03.03; ...)  I asked the kids "when will be the next time a year does that?"  Wow, not for 88 years and 19 days.  The next questions we wanted to answer was how old would each of us be and is it possible we'd be around for it.  Jodie - I won't be around; I'd be 130 years old.  Micah - Might be around; he'd be 97 years old.  Lilly - might be around; she'd be 93 years old.  They thought it was neat that they've both experienced a 'unique date' for each year of their lives so far.  Then Micah said "We'll still have cool dates.  Next year there's an 11/12/13."

Ollie The Trolley

On Saturday night, while the boys were performing, Lilly and I attended our Eastside Explorers' Christmas Party.  It was hosted at one of the local assisted living homes, owned by one of the EE families.  Throughout the evening there were two shifts of two trolleys that took us around town to see Christmas lights.  We had lots of hot chocolate, cookies, and fun!  Learn more about: Ollie the Trolley.

SBC's "Winter Wonder"

This past weekend was our church's "Winter Wonder" Christmas Program.  Matt and Micah were both part of the action.  Matt was a shepherd in the nativity scene.  Micah was in - the large children's choir, a small group of children who did hand motions to a song, the 'hot chocolate' dance crew on the '11th day of Christmas', and a robe carrier for one of the Wise Men in the nativity scene.  There were a lot of practices, so the boys were out quite a bit and Lilly and I had several 'girls nights'.  Lilly and I went to watch the program on Thursday night (family night performance) and took Dave, our neighbor, with us.  The boys had five performances all together.  It was really neat for several of our family members (IL, OH, FL, and IN) to watch the program 'live' online - thanks to our tech crew.  Great job everyone!

Advent Jesse Tree

It's December and time to begin our Advent Jesse Tree.  We have a devotion each day from December 1st through Christmas that takes us from the time of creation through Jesus' birth.  Each devotion has an ornament that coincides and we put it on the tree.  This is our 'big' tree this year.

Genre: Newspapers

A major form of communication in our society is through the newspaper.  Our verse to go along with this study is:  "All scripture inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness" 2 Timothy 3:16
Let us compare that to how our media uses the paper to teach, reproof, correct and train us and all generations.  Since we just finished learning about Comic Books I introduced newspapers doing a Venn Diagram of "The Daily Bugle" and "The Daily Planet" (Spiderman & Superman). We used our story elements to help us fill in parts of the diagram (who; what; where; etc.)

On The Edge Gallery

Micah's Saturday acrylic art teacher, Mrs. Amy Whitehouse, is part of a new gallery that had their grand opening today (11/1/12).  She invited us down to visit and so we took a roadtrip this afternoon to Old Town Scottsdale. 

All of us (Micah, Lilly & I) were interested in the entire gallery.  It was neat to walk around (from beginning to end) and read the names of the artists, talk about the materials & mediums they use, and see the detail so close-up.  It was a most terrific lesson!!!

More information:  www.ontheedgegallery.com
40 artists from the Phoenix Metropolitan area and 15 artists from the Fountain Hills Artists' Gallery are represented.

Predictions

I Love teaching, but it's moments like this that make me laugh so hard and appreciate the differences between my kids.  It is such a priviledge to be their teacher, to watch their lightbulbs go off, to reach milestones ... and to hear comments like these come out of their mouths.
In Language Arts, Micah and I have been working on the main idea and details.  Today we did an activity with 'prediction'.
Here is the lesson:  Read the following part of a story, think about what might happen next, draw a picture of what you think will happen next, and write about what you think will happen next.
Here is the story:  The puppy knows he should not sit on the new chair.  He has been told many times.  But one day the puppy is home alone.  He wants to take a nap.  The chair looks so soft.

While Micah is working on that, I go over to do an activity with Lilly.  I come back over and look at Micah's responses.

Micah's drawing.

He wrote:  but sidny sits on the floor.

So, knowing their personalities (Micah respects 'the line', Lilly tests 'the line') I had Lilly come over.  I read her the story and then asked "What do you think will happen next?"
Lilly immediately responded (with a look of 'of course') "the puppy's going to jump up on the chair and take a nap."

Candy Math

November 1st, the day after Halloween, is our traditional "Candy Math" day.  Today was no different.  It is fun to me when the kids work on one project continuously for hours.  There are no breaks, no interruptions, no asking for snacks - it's full on concentration.  My favorite kind of learning - when they don't realize the extent of their "fun inquiring" as one task leads to another question and digging for an answer.
They each dumped out their bags of candy and sorted them out in bowls.  Then they compared what each other had - same, different.  Of course they have to know 'who had the most' and 'how many total pieces of candy' were collected.  As they sorted, counted, calculated, and categorized they also read, alphabetized, recognized letters (Lilly), multiplied (Micah) and divided (Micah).  Their teamwork got them to the grand prize answer:  131 total pieces of candy!
Then they each got 10 for their special bowls.

My favorite activity:  They alphetbetized the 'candy bar' category.  Then Micah divided the white board into 10 equal sections and then wrote the names that Lilly spelled out (Lilly ready the letters of all 10 types of candy bars).

Halloween Night

We had our traditional trick-or-treating around the neighborhood with the Meigh’s and Kaplan’s – Kevin, Kaitlyn (Scott Meigh) and Aaron, Ben (Jessica & Joel Kaplan).  Afterward we had pizza and playing at our house until 9pm.

Costumes this year:  Matt – Spiderman; Jodie – Dorothy; Micah – coffin; Lilly – Tooth Fairy

P.E. class begins

Micah did a trial Physical Education class in the spring and really enjoyed the structured games.  So, we signed up and began today through the SportsKidsAZ program with Coach Jonathan.  There were over 40 Eastside Explorer kids involved.  Class will be on Wednesday's from 1-2pm.  (Lilly & I will be having some play time on the playground.)

Piano Lessons begin

 Micah's piano lessons will be on Tuesday at 12:30pm.  We go to Mrs. Amy Cline's house for his 1/2 hour lesson.  Today Mrs. Cline introduced the eras of music - Baroque, Classical, Romantic, and 20th Century.  Micah will be memorizing some of the artists of those time periods.  He will also be memorizing all of the scales: beginning with C Major and G Major.  This is the beginning of his 3rd year.

SCHOOL'S IN!

Today was the first day of school - Micah (9 years old) 3rd grade; Lilly (4 years old) preschool.  Lilly was telling everyone she could last night that she was starting school.  She had such a big grin on her face and her eyes lit up!  At the beginning of summer she was asking to start and talking about it often.  We re-arranged the 'school room', organized her desk, purchased new school supplies for both of them and today it became official.
Micah & Lilly's teacher asked them to bring two of their stuffed animals with them to their first day of school.  Micah selected:  Baxter (pillow pet) and Sydney.  Lilly selected:  Ladybug "Sunshine" (pillow pet) and Sparkly Bear.  During circle time they both introduced their animals and told why they selected them.
We had our 'first day of school' pictures, Jesus Calling & prayer journal, calendar, emptied backpacks (that were full of new school supplies), drew self-portraits, wrote a summer entry in their journals, read books, and they each had some one-on-one instruction time.
Micah had an orthodontist appointment and his first piano lesson with Mrs. Cline.  We celebrated with lunch (and ice cream) at Chick-Fil-A.  We watched one episode of 'Little House on the Prairie' for our quiet time and then they played with Kevin & Kaitlyn Meigh for a while.
Tonight we'll "show off" to dad!

Labor Day - flying high!

Matt & I had a 'date morning' today.  For our 40th birthdays, my mom & dad got us each a hot-air balloon ride.  It's taken us almost 2 years to complete this activity, but we did.  We drove to Chandler, AZ at 4:30am this morning and lifted off the ground, in our balloon, a few minutes after 6am.  It wasn't a very windy day so in 1-hour we only traveled a distance of 3 miles.  (You can see Matt's Google Map of our route.)  We reached a height of 1 mile.  The most interesting fact to me was that when we did the math (adding up the weight of the balloon items, the people, and the air) we were equivalent to a mac truck flying in the air.  It was a gentle, beautiful, and amazing experience!  Thanks mom & dad.

Basketball Season Begins

Micah's basketball team, the GOLDEN SCORPIONS, had their first basketball practice this weekend.  His team is through the Foothills YMCA (where we have been going before) but this year he is involved in the 3/4 Competitive League.  There are 8 kids on the team and their head coach is ... Matt Rich.  They will be having practices on Sunday afternoon from 3-4pm (at the YMCA).  Games will be either Friday evening or Saturday.
Before practice Micah and Matt went basketball shoe shopping.  Micah came home with a size 6 shoe.  They look huge!

Summer Finale Week

This is our last week of summer.  We are home!  Our time is being spent organizing & cleaning the house, preparing our classroom, and taking some swimming breaks at the neighbors' pool (Thanks Scott!).  We will begin 3rd grade (Micah) and pre-school (Lilly) next Tuesday September 4, 2012.

Gymnastics - Lilly

The first event of the fall season has begun.  Lilly's gymnastics begins in September, but since Monday is Labor Day, her first day began today.  She is beginning this semester in the 'Jumpers Class' with Coach Susan.  She will be in class on Mondays from 10:30am-11:30am.  She was so happy to be back!

Micah's 9th birthday party

 Wow, ... Micah desperately wanted to have a "Baseball Game" birthday party this year.  He's briefly mentioned it for a couple of years, but always came up with something else by the time July rolled around.  This time is was the perfect year - 9 years old and 9 players on a team.  Even though our parties only consist of approximately 20 minutes outdoors (due to the extreme heat of July/August) and the rest of the time in our home ... it was worth the risk.  We were all very excited to see this happen and we just 'trusted' that it would all work out.  IT DID!!  It was such a GREAT birthday party - we had a BALL!!!
Micah invited 30 boys - his day-in/day-out friends and his Rockies baseball team buddies.  We needed 18 to make 2 full teams.  There were 22 boys thrilled and able to come.  We put a roster sheet table in the driveway as they arrived.  They set down their baseball equipment, picked up their personalized baseball trading cards and began trading with one another.  Once everyone arrived (all on-time) by 9:15am, we walked over to the baseball field across the street.  Matt & I had set up a "Concession Stand" canopy (licorice, water, popcorn, sunflower seeds, pretzel sticks) and a "porta-potty tent" (yes, we did).  The teams were:  DIAMONDBACKS vs. ROCKIES.
After playing 7 innings, we sang "Happy Birthday", ate lunch (hot dogs, chips, & Gatorade) and cut into the cake.  The weather was marvelous, the boys were well-behaved and played well, and Micah LOVED it!
Here are the two teams:
DIAMONDBACKS (Coach: Bubar & Rich) and ROCKIES (Coach: Beynon & Kroening)

Flagstaff - Wyndham

A relaxing week in Flagstaff was perfect before beginning our new school year.  Aunt Alice & Uncle Charlie invited us to their timeshare in Flagstaff for the 3rd summer in a row.  The kids have their favorite things they like to do and were so thrilled to go!  Matt was able to join us Friday through Sunday (the initial weekend) and my cousin, Ty Rice, and his wife, Dawn, were with us from Friday through Monday.  It was a nice opportunity to get to know them better.
Highlights:  *miniature golf; *ice cream; *swimming; *pool table & ping pong table; *movie theatre and movies to borrow; *the loft; *hiking; *biking; *homemade meals; *fireplace; *rainy afternoons; *games
THANKS ALICE & CHARLIE!!!
See more pictures by clicking here.

Birthday camping - Whitehorse Lake

Our annual camping trip - to celebrate Micah's birthday, with the Gravel family was at Whitehorse Lake this year.  We went August 10-12, 2012.  Highlights:  *pellet gun shooting, tons of frogs, kayaking, watching the stars at night (rain fly off), hiking, and biking around the camp site.  Click here to see more pictures.

Our last day of the conference

Boo Hoo!  My throat is swelling with tears and my heart is heavy.  What makes my heart feel better? I am not saying "good-bye" ... I am saying "I'll see you in 18 months."  The team of TEAM voted on moving the time of the year for their conference to January.  Due to finances they will push ahead to the following year, which means their next annual conference will be January 2014.  Yes, it's a lofty goal, but my family wants to return and it's a great opportunity to support, and thank, the missionaries that are here year-round.

Here is our group picture (minus Sam Gatto - who wasn't feeling well today) and a picture of the volunteers getting their 'thank you' gifts.

Other MK groups

I've shared a lot, obviously, of my preschoolers.  There were two other groups of MK's (Missionary Kids) - the elementary group (k-6th grade) and the youth group (ages 12-22).  Here are pictures of them with their teachers. (Not pictured:  Sam Gatto - youth group)

Talent Night

Tonight was our "Talent Show".  There was a mixture of singing, dancing, learning songs & movements, magic tricks, brass instruments, a monologue, and a puppet show.  Tonya and I sang "Daniel in the Lions Den" to the music of "Call Me Maybe" (a popular song in the USA that is being spoofed by all kinds of groups).  Tonya scripted it out and it was fun doing it - even though we hadn't practiced it together.  We enjoyed the variety and the fact that the evening was based around Bible stories, hymns, and testimonies.  There were acts everywhere between serious and, downright tears rolling down the face, funny.

Yummy Thursday

Day 4 is all about LOVE.  "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God." 1 John 4:7
God is everything.  God is independent.  Acts 17:24-25
The kids thought craft time and snack time were quite 'yummy' today.  We used Froot Loops for our craft and Ms. Susan had USA Goldfish for snack.  Special treats!  In the afternoon we made 'fruit bowls' out of modeling clay.
Our book, The Berenstein Bears Love Their Neighbors, was quite well timed.  While driving to the festival Papa Bear's car began to sputter and within minutes the radiator burst.  Yes, the radiator!  I shared that one with Martin.