Valentine's Party

We had our co-op Valentine's party this week.  It was a little later than usual, because it had to be postponed due to the plague that had settled over our house for a couple of weeks.  Still, with the help of a great influx of sugar, the kids were able to get in the spirit of the holiday.  After decorating heart-shaped cookies, the kids put special Valentines in each others' homemade boxes.  My kids received such gems as "The sky is green and the flowers are blue; I am drunk, and I think I love you!" and "I have known you for 5 years, and you're still weird!"

Lounging

We're so proud

This is the first word that Griffin learned to spell:

Colonial Party

At the end of the semester, we celebrated the end of the colonial period with our history group.  The kids came dressed up and gave a short presentation.  We also had a traditional meal of clam chowder served in trenchers with gingerbread for dessert.

Roger Williams (founder of Rhode Island) with Pocahontas.

Avery reported on music in the Colonial period and played "Greensleeves."

Rhys taught the kids some colonial games.

Snow Day 2011

A couple of weeks ago we had the rare occasion of a snow day in Texas!  We woke up to see a beautiful blanket of snow covering our yard.  The boys threw on coats and mittens as fast as they could to get outside and play in the snow with the neighbor kids, all of them still in their pajamas.  We Texans know that snow is fleeting, and we have to enjoy it when we can!

Unfortunately Avery was sick, but she did come out to enjoy a few minutes of the snow before retreating back to the warmth of the house.

The dogs also went out to experience the snow.  Ollie thought it was big fun, but Piper was less impressed.

Christmas '10

Since we ended up coming home from Galveston late on Christmas Eve, we had a very quiet Christmas day. We woke up and did Santa gifts first thing like we always do, and then we spent the rest of our day playing, reading, and snacking in our pajamas. We missed the loud, family-filled holiday that we usually have, but it was also nice to do something different.

Galveston in December

The week before Christmas, we spent a few days at the beach in Galveston.

We also went on a (very cold) boat ride that toured the harbor.

Twelve!

We celebrated Avery's 12th birthday with a murder mystery sleepover.  She had six girls over, and they had so much fun dressing up Hollywood-style.

After a quick break for cupcakes (and more costume changes)...

...the girls were ready to get down to business.  Each girl drew a slip a paper assigning a role in the mystery.  They read the background on their characters and decided on how they would play their parts.  The girls stayed in character the whole time, but were serious about solving the case.  They took scrupulous notes and had fun accusing each other.

In the end, Avery announced the murderer.

And was as surprised as anyone to find out that she was the villain!

Happy birthday, Avery!