Our Trip

Finally! I can now 'talk' about our trip to Florida!! We have been planning a trip back to Florida for several weeks now; however, it was to be a surprise for my mother-in-law as well as our kids. You just don't know how many times Karl and I mentioned something and had to back-pedal to cover it up and keep the kids from finding out...

Karl had a business trip scheduled to Florida. It just so happened that it was going to fall on the day of his mom's birthday, so he was planning to stay an extra day to surprise her with a visit. But, when we talked about it, he realized I would really love to go too, and the sweetie that he is, he got tickets for all of us. Thank you, darlin'! We decided to keep it a secret...only Karl's Dad knew, or so we thought. It turns our that Karl's brother and many of Pearl and Ron's friends knew too, but we were amazingly ALL able to keep it under our hats. :) So, I packed secretly..the kids hadn't a clue. We woke the kids up Tuesday morning at 3:30 and told them to get dressed. They wanted to know why we were getting up early, but there was no crying and whining like I thought we might get. We fed them breakfast, and were able to hold off until we were right at the airport; at that point Logan guessed we may be going to Florida. Karl and I did not answer, however, so he thought he was wrong. It was not until we were in the line for security that we actually said to them, "Yes, we are going to Florida." To say the least, they were very excited! I had already emailed some of our friends there, and we had a dinner planned for that night, and a beach day on Wednesday.

Tuesday, we just had lunch once we got there, and headed to the hotel. We decided we all needed a bit of rest before our planned late night. Corbin and Hailey ended up sleeping 1.5 to 2 hours respectively; Karl dozed for a bit too. Logan and I are perpetually unable to sleep when we need to, so we just kind of hung out and read a while! After naps, we went out on the beach. It was about 55 degrees, so kind of chilly, but we enjoyed it so much! We found lots of shells and examined jellyfish; the kids had a great time running on the beach in the wind, and into the waves, and Karl took advantage of many photo opportunities. I forgot to mention...when we stepped off the plane the first thing I did was take in a large breath of air to see if I could get a good whiff of the ocean. I was so happy to be back; growing up in the south that smell has been a mainstay, and I have to say I've really missed it! Anyway, we soon headed out to meet our friends at Jason's Deli for dinner. It was so nice to see their faces again and talk about what we've all been up to. The kids and adults all had a wonderful time.

Wednesday morning, Karl had a presentation to do at work, and then lunch with some colleagues. The kids and I met another family at the beach and spent a wonderful two hours catching up and playing. I'm so thankful for the Christian women in my life; it's always a pleasure to chat and see how God is working in others' lives! And watching the kids play together is always a joy....

Wednesday afternoon, Karl met us at the hotel and we loaded up to drive down to Vero Beach, where Karl's parents live. We had collaborated with Karl's dad and decided to pick up a cake for Pearl on the way to their house. When we arrived, alerting Karl's dad just minutes before, we called Pearl and sang 'Happy Birthday' to her over the phone. She still thought we were in New York. Then, we sent the kids to the front door, not ringing the door bell, to sing again. However, she did not hear them, so we rang the doorbell after some confused pointing by Ron and looking by all of us! :p All I can say is that the people in Florida have probably never heard such whooping and hollering in their lives! Pearl was so surprised and very happy to see us and "my babies" as she calls her grandchildren! We spent the night with them, enjoying pizza together, and homemade waffles the next morning.

Karl had some more business at work on Thursday, so we headed back to Palm Bay. I took the kids by the school they used to attend, which is located at the church we used to attend there. We got to see a few past teachers, as well as a close friend that I previously worked with at the school. We again met some friends for lunch at Chic Filet, an old favorite hang out for us. I've missed their Cookies-n-Cream milkshakes, but it's probably best that I can't get them here! We had a nice time talking and eating (and the kids playing on the playground). After that, we traveled to the church, where a Webkinz party was in session. The homeschool ladies there were very gracious in inviting us, even though we are no longer members of that homeschool group. Thank you! It was awesome to see all the familiar faces, as well as the unfamiliar ones that indicate growth in the group. The kids had a super time, and I'm so glad they had the opportunity to attend.

Thursday evening Karl spent some time with some more friends from work, while I had dinner with my former colleague and friend, Stephanie, and her kids. We had some yummy pizza from Bizarro Pizza, then went back to walk on the beach for a while. Again, it was so nice to catch up, and I miss her already! Hailey had stayed for a sleep over with a friend, so the boys and I just spent the rest of the evening on the beach and at the hotel.

Friday morning we had breakfast at IHOP, then headed back to Vero Beach for a little more time with Karl's parents before leaving Friday evening. The kids enjoyed walking in the neighborhood with Grandma, and playing with the Wii that their grandparents own...I think Ron is as much into it as they are! We had some burgers with them for lunch and some leftover birthday cake before driving back to Melbourne for our flight.

Now, I don't know about all of you, but we've been hearing of all of the flight delays and cancellations with Southwest in the past weeks. Well, Thursday night I saw on the news that Delta (who we were flying with) had some problems with that on Thursday. So, I told Karl, and he set up his phone so we would get notifications of any changes right up to our flight's departure. We received a couple on the way to Melbourne, just changing it by about 20 minutes. By the time we got there, the flight was scheduled to leave at 7:20 instead of 6:30, with a connection leaving Atlanta at 9:21. For some reason the flights from there to Atlanta are longer than the ones from Atlanta to Melbourne...? Anyway, by the time our flight arrived in Atlanta and we got off the plane, it was about 9:15. We had to catch the train from our terminal to three terminals over, then run all the way to our gate (which of course was at the last gate in that terminal!). I ended up running ahead with the tickets to see if the plane was still there; the board had said the flight was closed when we got there. Karl was carrying both our carry-on bags and Corbin, and trying to run....we were too late, :( and watched our plane pull away from the gate. Karl then led us all through the airport to a customer service desk where he arranged for tickets leaving at 8:00 the next morning and for a hotel that night. I sat with the kids trying to keep them busy; I have to say they did great, not really any whining. We all read books. By the time he finished (many people missed their flights, so he had been about 30 or so in line) it was nearing 11:00 p.m. We grabbed some food from Atlanta Bread in the airport, then made our way to the shuttle, which took us to our hotel. We go to the hotel, ate our dinner at about 12:00 a.m., and were all in bed by 1:00a.m. We then awoke at 5:00 a.m., caught the shuttle at 5:30 a.m. for an 8:00 a.m. flight. We had enough time after getting through security to eat a leisurely breakfast; on Delta's dollar. Leaving the restaurant at 7:00 a.m. we made our way to our gate. Upon arriving there at about 7:15 a.m. we were told our gate had been moved. WHAT!!! So, we then caught the train and went to the new gate....it was okay, the plane was still there this time. Actually, after sitting for a few minutes wondering why they weren't boarding yet, we soon heard an announcement that the plane was late. (Oh no, not again!?) It was re-scheduled to leave at 8:30 a.m., and fortunately, this was the actual departure time. Yeah! We arrived two hours later in Rochester, to a sunny 26 degrees. It was 84 degrees when we left Florida the day before....what a HUGE difference. But, today it got up to 52 degrees; very odd. :) We got our bags, grabbed some sandwiches from Subway (again on Delta's dollar), and drove home to enjoy our lunch in the quiet of our own home. Aaaaaahh....

So, that was our trip. We had such a great time, even with all the trouble with our return flight, etc. The kids traveled so well, and Karl and I were even able to sit next to each other some of the time to talk. All of the flight attendants were very accommodating, so that's a plus for Delta. I do have to say though, their agents at the customer service desk were less than the best. At least the first one we dealt with...she left in the middle of rescheduling tickets for us when a fight broke out at another gate. I made the assumption that she was going to help break it up...not so. She left us at the desk to go watch a fight! I couldn't believe it...apparently a customer hit an agent (over a delay, I'm sure) and of course went off to jail. We were irritated about the delays and such, but it's just not worth all that, is it? Still, their customer service agents leave a lot to be desired.

I miss the sea air already, and the warm weather, and all of our friends and family. You all mean so much to us; thank you for being a part of our lives. We love you very much!

Lego Logistics

I believe I've mentioned before how into Legos both Logan and Corbin are. Logan has been a member of the Lego Club, he participated in a Lego League here in New York in the fall, and he now receives the Lego Magazine. He received his magazine for March sometime last week. As he was reading through it, he discovered that Lego is having a contest. He has to build 'something' with Legos, take a picture to send in, and also write an essay about what his 'thing' does, etc. This is right up his alley! So, he built this large, detailed ship on Friday and it looks great. Friday evening after Karl had returned home from work and we had already eaten dinner, I asked Logan if he had showed Dad his ship. He had, but this got he and Corbin back on the Lego topic. Logan began to discuss his essay and what he is going to write. I was in the kitchen washing dishes, and Karl was drying; Corbin comes to me with a sheet of paper talking of how he wants to write an essay too, and I can help him. I begin to explain to him that he's really not old enough to write an essay yet and that it has to be something he has written...when he comes out with, "Yes I can. I can write an 'S' and a 'A'." He was so serious and very, very cute. I just love those little moments!

We had to take a picture of Corbin's Lego ship, too!

A 'Buzz' About Bees

A couple of months ago, I bought a new game for the kids. I was thinking mainly of Corbin and Hailey when I got it, but knew we could all play it. It's called Spelling Beez. It is a board game, where you are moving pawns (bees) around the board and reading fact cards each time. You have to draw a card to tell you how many spaces to move or to which letter to move. The object of the game is to collect letters (found on each space) that match the letters in your game word (found on the game word honeycomb each player has). As you 'collect' your letter, you color it in on the honeycomb; the game is over when everyone has colored in their word. This is the easy version so Corbin could play; there is another version we have not played yet, that I will not explain here. The game is meant to help younger students learn to spell common words such as car, peach, boy, game, etc. We decided to play this morning for the first time. Each player also has to chose 2 'fact' cards to read during his/her turn. We learned many interesting things about bees, and I'm going to share some of that here. It is funny how it worked out; we've been studying plant life and pollination, etc. in school for Hailey and Logan. Read these facts to see what you know!

1. Mead is a wine made from honey.
2. Drone (male) bees do not have stingers.
3. The queen bee has a stinger but she does not lose her stinger when she stings. She uses it to sting rival queens that may develop!
4. Honeybees have 4 wings and 6 legs.
5.The worker bees are only female! :)

Handwriting Practice and Reading

I began working more with Corbin a couple of weeks ago; on handwriting, numbers, a Phonics program called Reading Made Easy.

We've done four lessons in RME and he's become familiar with the aaaa (short a) sound, and the p and mmm sounds. So, with help, he can 'read' the sounds am and ap. We will continue to work with these sounds in future lessons. We've also played some listening games where he tells me which word has the aaa sound. And of course, we like to read books together.

For Handwriting we are using a curriculum called A Reason For Handwriting, which is the same we are using with Logan and Hailey, just different levels. He has been working on tracing/writing circles (o's) properly, and today he worked on those, as well as straight and slanted lines. He already knows how to spell and write his name, so I always have him print his name on his paper. He will also sometimes, on his own, try to copy things I've written on the board for the others. I just let him do that; it keeps him busy! We won't start formal copy work until 1st grade I don't think.

In Math, we are learning to count to twenty; he can already count to ten and part-way to twenty but doesn't get the second half all correct. He is able to write numbers 1-5, and understands the relationship between each number and that number of objects. The curriculum we are using for this subject is Earlybird Kindergarten Mathematics.

We have some books for History and Science, too. However, I'm sure he will not retain as much of those things. We do discuss, with all of the kids, locations of places. We have a world map, a map of the U.S., and a map of North America on our walls in the dining room. Often, after dinner, one of the kids will ask a question about some state or country, so we will point out where it is or talk about who lives there, etc. Last night we did this; Corbin was asking me about various states and he wanted to know the names. As he was pointing to two and telling me the colors so I would know which ones he meant, he said, "What are the brown and green ones up there by Canada?" No joke, my 4 year old asked me this! (he meant North and South Dakota) So, he is remembering some of these things we talk about. I'm so pleased that he is learning, actually, that they all are learning so much. And Geography (and math) has always been a weakness with me, so I'm especially glad that my kids seem to have a good grasp on it for their ages. Of course, I'm learning too, and I love that!

St. Patrick

Today, since it's St. Patrick's Day, I had saved a biography about him we were scheduled to read...just for today. While studying the Medieval Times, we have been learning that Christianity really became prominent during that time. The Roman Catholic Church had a big role in society. The monks and nuns working in the monasteries and convents helped people who had the plague, provided food and shelter for weary travelers, and as we're learning in The Door in the Wall, may have provided homes for orphaned children. St. Patrick was just one of the recommended people we should read about, but I thought it might be fun to do this on the holiday...

While reading this story today we learned several things: (1) St. Patrick was not from Ireland, he was from Britain. His ministry was in Ireland, and he played a major part in converting that country to Christianity. (2) St. Patrick was 16 when he was captured and enslaved. He worked on a 'farm' of sorts, in Ireland, tending sheep for 6 years. It was hard work but he was not treated badly. While there, he prayed many times each day and became closer to God. When he felt God was telling him he should leave, he escaped to the seashore where a ship was waiting for him (God told him it would be there). The captain at first would not let him travel with him, but after Patrick prayed, he changed his mind and returned Patrick to his home. (3) Patrick's family did not want him to travel to Ireland, even though he felt it was God's call on his life. Patrick decided to do what he felt God was telling him to do; he spent several years in Gaul (now France) studying and preparing for his work. Even though he missed his family, he set out to spread the 'good news'. He faced many dangerous situations, was threatened, imprisoned, and enslaved again. However, he always trusted God for his protection. After 14 days, he was set free. (4) St. Patrick died on March 17, 461 (approx). He became Ireland's patron saint. The work he did continued through the monks, nuns, and priests he left behind.

A quote by St. Patrick:

"We ought to fish well and diligently as the Lord teaches, saying,'I will make you fishers of men.' We should spread our nets to take a great throng for God. Everywhere there should be clergy to baptize and exhort the poverty-stricken and needy folk."

I found this in the book Saint Patrick, written by Ann Tompert.

The story we read got its facts from Confession, a letter that St. Patrick wrote in his later years. You can read it at http://www.whatsaiththescripture.com/Stories/St.Patrick.Confession.html. Though we do not make a practice of studying 'saints' I thought this was a very interesting story, and learned some things I never learned in school, or elsewhere. I plan to go back and read The Confession in its entirety, simply because I'm interested. You should read it too, when you have the time.