EPCOT Surprise

While at Epcot for my birthday we got this incredible deal to stay at the Boardwalk Resort, which is on the lake at EPCOT. Actually God worked that all out. We were booked for the cabins at Fort Wilderness and when I got my bill they charged us too much. So when I called they gave us a very discounted rate to stay at a nicer resort. So after we learned about China and Japan and ate dinner we took the boat back to the hotel and got in our jammies and ordered hot chocolate and snacks to the room. An added bonus was when the fireworks started we were able to see them from our balcony. The girls thought that was very special.

Learning about China and Japan

A couple of weeks after my birthday we went to visit Epcot to learn about China and Japan. We had a great day visiting Japan as the girls got to pick out a mollusk and see what kind of cultivated pearl they got to keep. We had them mounted on either a charm or setting for a white gold necklace. For science we have been learning about how pearls are formed. Emma's pearl was pinkish-yellow. Hannah's was white-yellow and Kristen's was blue. Only 10% of all pearls are blue, it is very rare. She was so happy.

Here is some information: A pearl is a hard, roundish object produced within the soft tissue (specifically the mantle) of a living shelled mollusk. Just like the shell of mollusks, a pearl is made up of of calcium carbonate in minute crystalline form, which has been deposited in concentric layers. The ideal pearl is perfectly round and smooth, but many other shapes of pearls (baroque pearls) occur. The finest quality natural pearls have been highly valued as gemstones and objects of beauty for many centuries, and because of this, the word pearl became a metaphor for something very rare, very fine, very admirable and very valuable.
Valuable pearls occur in the wild, but they are very rare. Cultured or farmed pearls make up the majority of those that are currently sold. Pearls from the sea are valued more highly than freshwater pearls. Imitation or fake pearls are also widely sold in inexpensive jewelry, but the quality of the iridescence is usually very poor, and generally speaking, fake pearls are usually quite easy to distinguish from the real thing. Pearls have been harvested, or more recently cultivated, primarily for use in jewelry, but in the past they were also stitched onto lavish clothing, as worn, for example, by royalty. Pearls have also been crushed and used in cosmetics, medicines, or in paint formulations.

While we were waiting for them to mount the pearls the girls tried on kimonos. They loved them so much ever since we got back Kristen has worn a kimono every day, even when we go out. She even greets people in Japanese. Yes, we've been learning Japenese. So far we know how to greet someone, how to say our name and we can count to five.

No More Diapers!!!!

Yes, it finally happened...Kelson is potty trained. Praise God! We started to potty train back on his 3rd birthday and he would go pee, but not consistantly. Actually, I did not have the energy to make it work so he wore a pull up or diaper. After Christmas when he started school his teacher said her son Graham, Kelson's little friend, was potty trained and she did it by making him wear underwear and took away the diapers and pull ups. I remember doing that with the girls and they were basically potty trained with in the week. Later that week Kelson came up to me when he went poo and said, "I have a poopy and I don't like it. I need a new pull up." Well, you don't need to remind me three times. It all came back to me, especially if you can tell me when you need changed. So out went the pull ups and in came the big boy underwear. Ever since then he has been potty trained and that was back in the end of January. The first week he refused to go poop in the potty and saved it for his naps or bed so he could poop in his diaper. I told him if he pooped in the potty he could get a firetruck. They said he did it at school, but he hadn't done it at home. That Friday at coop he told me he had to go and he did. After he pooped he turned to look in the potty and said,"Look Mommy! It's a dolphin." I still laugh when I think of it.

Christmas 2008

Peter said this Christmas was the best Christmas ever! I don't know if it's because no one was sick, or that the kids are getting older, or that we didn't eat MeMe's Mac& Cheese and actually had a "real" Christmas dinner, or because the adult to child ratio was higher. So whatever the reason we had a great day! My mom spent the night and the kids opened stocking then we got coffee and we took turns opening our presents. We have always taken turns opening the gifts so we are able to see what everyone gets and so it's just not a free for all and no one appreciates what they receive. Emma got two dog fur-real pets, a pottery wheel, books and horse things. Hannah had a Barbie Christmas. She got everything from a Barbie car to a swim barbie that goes in the water and changes colors. Kristen had a mouse and science Christmas. She got Mouse and the Motor Cycle book series and Despereaux books and mouse, an archeological dinosaur dig, a glow in the dark bouncy ball making kit, a snap circuit robot base to carry around her robots she builds. And of course Kelson had a car/truck Christmas.

One of the highlights of Christmas has an awesome story to go with it. The girls had been begging me for a Jeep to ride in. I told them it costs to much money. So they began praying for a Jeep. A couple of weeks later, my friend Amy Calfee called me and told me her daughter had outgrown her Jeep and wanted to know if the girls wanted it for Christmas. All it needed was a new battery. The night before Christmas we were in Toys R Us so Emma and Hannah could buy Kelson a present. The girls saw the Jeep again and asked if they could get it. I told them if they gave back all their presents we could get it. Emma said OK but Hannah and Kristen didn't want too. That night Emma prayed again that they would get the Jeep. The next day, Christmas, they opened their presents and played with what they got. In the afternoon after dinner we took the girls outside with their eyes closed and showed them the Jeep. They were so excited. We shared with them how Ms. Amy felt lead to give it to us. It was a great reminder that no matter how great or small that our requests can be brought before the Lord. Sometimes he answers them just as we ask and sometimes he doesn't. But His ways are always the best!

Around the World in 180 Days-Next Stop Africa

This year our theme for homeschooling has been Around the World in 180 Days (like the book Around the World in 80 Days, except you are required to school for 180 in Florida). We have been studying different countries and learning about their culture as well as praying for those who are lost. When learning about the country of Africa we had the privilege of a missionary who was home of furlough to talk to us. Stacey Roberts was a missionary in Cameroon, Africa. She brought a slide show on her computer to share her time in Africa as well as some paintings and art. Her skirt was one of the skirts she would have worn in Africa except she didn't wear the top and head cover she would have worn. She told stories of the mosquitos and having to sleep in houses with thatched roofs that were open to the night air between the house and the roof. How at night they had to put mosquito nets around them or they could get malaria and how the bats would fly in the house at night time. It was often so hot, average temperature 105 degrees, they would sleep outside so they could have some wind. The would sleep on lounge chairs and tuck their nets in around them. Often after they turned off their flashlights they would hear noises. When they turned on their flashlights there were rats all around them. With these living conditions you tend to pray a lot! She told about their religion and how the women dressed. The children were captivated and had lots of questions. At the end she shared with them from the Bible and we prayed for Stacey and another family, the Browns, who were leaving for Africa the next day.