I’m still trying to fathom how this happened so quickly, but none the less, Destiny has reached double digits this past week. Maybe she’s not really a diva, but she sure enjoyed her diva treatment for her birthday. On the actual day, she picked the meals for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Her brother’s excitedly gave her their gifts–10 cars for her 10th birthday and her very own Hotwheels set. She was sooooo happy to have her own cars to play with. I know, not what you expected a 10 year old girl to want, but she was so pleased with their gift and could wait to put it together and try it out. The boys were just as excited in hopes that she’d let them play, too. She also made her own cake mostly by herself. This is the first time she was able to do most of the icing all on her own, even writing on the cake herself. She had such a nice day probably except for me reminding her that now she was a “mature, responsible 10 year old.” That would be followed by a request like, so you’ll clean up your room even on your birthday without any complaints or get all of your homework done without being told. LOL!

For a special gift from Scott and me, we decided I could take her by herself on a trip to Sandy’s–a weekend with no brothers with whom to compete for attention nor to pester her. On top of that, Sandy planned to take her out to shop for a birthday present, and then to return for some homemade stuffed grape leaves, one of her favorite meals. While they were shopping, I took a little hike by myself at Chittenango Falls, and then prepared the mix for the grape leaves. I also got supplies for some fried ice cream, a rare treat. Sandy bought her an adorable dress with a denim vest as well as some cute t-shirts. Destiny was sure that the boys would appreciate the one that said, “Brothers Make Great Pets!” They weren’t as amused by it as much as she was, but it was definitely a sisterly gesture. Anyway, we enjoyed all of the treats at Sandy’s, especially the fact that it was our first visit in a while with no snow. Of course, Destiny also made sure to spend time in the barn helping with and visiting the horses!

On Sunday, we decided to take our weekly distance run around Green Lakes State Park which has such a pretty, well maintained trail going around the lakes. The running kept us from feeling the chill of the morning. However, when we walked after our run, we definitely were reminded that they are a few weeks behind us on this spring thing…brrrr! On run we enjoyed the scenery and spongey trail, but on our walk we could really observe and enjoy the natural wonders around us. We found a snake, some ferns just unrolling, minnows, a red fish of some sort, a bird hopping close to us, the beautiful blue-green water, and some really neat trees. We had such a nice and peaceful morning just exploring the park together.

After that we headed to the Warsaws home to play and meet their newest family member, a Pug puppy named Lola. Destiny loves animals, but she gets a little apprehensive around puppies because they love to nip a little. She still had so much fun playing with the kids and was happy to meet the new pup! The kids got a good game of dodgeball going in the garage. Soon though, we had to end our visit and hit the road for the drive home. We had a nice visit.

Destiny enjoyed all of her birthday treats, the trip, the gifts, and all of the special treatment! Happy 10th Birthday my MATURE and RESPONSIBLE daughter! I love you and am glad we could make this a special birthday for you!

Pictures

Last week we took a day away from the books in order to support our cyber charter school at the state capitol in Harrisburg. We enjoyed a pizza lunch with other PA Cyber families and staff, and then took a walk around the capitol before meeting on the front steps for the awards ceremony. The charter school coalitions take this time to thank and award legislators for their support of charter schools. We happily cheered them on appreciating that we have this choice. Destiny was excited to meet one of her virtual classmates and teachers in person. All the kids were happy to see Erica, their IS! There were about 2,500 people there, which I believe is the most there has been in the last three years that we attended.

Destiny got all dolled up with her floppy hat from last year in hopes that she would get her picture taken again this year. The photo from last year was on the front of the school’s “The Link” newsletter, and my kids were front and center. While I’m sure she did have her picture taken a lot while holding the sign behind the speakers, she was a bit jealous to see a picture of Derek, Dakota, and me in the Patriot news on Wednesday. We were amused by the whole thing, and danced around her singing, “We’re cuter than Destiny!” As you may have guessed, that doesn’t happen so much for the rest of us. LOL!

We took advantage of the nice weather and free parking, and walked across the bridge to the event after parking in Lemoyne. On the way back we stopped to visit the “man” reading the newspaper on the park bench. The kids had so much fun!

Pictures from the rally
Patriot News Article

This year I decided that I wanted to take a family hike at Richard B. Nixon County Park in York, and the weather was kind enough to cooperate. Of course my day didn’t start there. It started as usual with a delicious breakfast prepared by Scott. It’s one of the two times each year that I can get him to actually cook bacon since he can’t stand it himself. Breakfast was delicious! The kids worked hard on creating a “Mother’s Day Presentation,” and then then took turns talking for each of the slides. It was adorable!

After all of this, we packed a picnic lunch and some geocaching necessities before heading to the park. I just think this is such a beautiful park with so many nice hiking trails. I wish we had more of these a little closer to home. Anyway, we visited in the nature center first which has one of the biggest real “stuffed” animal displays I have ever seen and some incredible bug collections. They also have an active bee hive that you can observe up close through the glass. The kids liked looking at different things under the microscopes, too.

Soon though, we hit the trail and found a cache the boys and I had found before. The kids exchanged trinkets, and we signed the log. Then we had a little picnic in the woods prior to seeking the next cache a little outside the park boundaries. Realizing that one was not really a safe walk, we decided to change course to search for another that we had found before. For some reason we couldn’t find that one this time even though it had been fairly easy before. Oh well! We decided to skip rocks in the nearby creek instead which was just as much fun as caching. Then we headed back up to the county park and finished our trail hike.

We were warm and a little tired after hiking for a couple of hours, so we agreed to stop at a nearby dairy for some ice cream and really fresh, creamy milk. Scott wasn’t too pleased with his sugar free selection, but the rest of us enjoyed ours.

Apparently we had picked up some critters on our hike and found ourselves searching the van for the little parasites that Destiny and Dakota had flicked off of themselves with far more drama than I’m giving here. We had already pulled one off of Derek on the trail. One we found on the back of my seat on the way down the highway, and another I pulled out of Dakota’s hair after a shower back at the house. We couldn’t help feeling a little itchy after that, so we checked everyone very close for any more and were a little paranoid about how many more might be in the van. Thankfully that one we pulled off of Dakota was the last we saw.

We had the best kind of dinner, one that I didn’t have to cook–take out. We also stopped by the stream near our house to visit the new mother duck and her little ducklings. With that fabulous hike and all of that special treatment, I couldn’t help but feel like a spoiled mom for the day. I hope all of you other moms had a wonderful Mother’s Day, too!

Our hike

Once again the kids took part in an art class at the Art Center. Did I mention they LOVE art? Anyway, this time it was a drawing class, and the teacher really stepped up the difficulty while still keeping it possible. The kids spent the first two classes learning drawing techniques. Then the biggest project was four classes dedicated to drawing a still life. The kids were seated each in a different position to the still life. Destiny had it directly in front of her, so she could clearly see all of the items. Derek had a different perspective on the little bird statue being directly to the right of the display which he captured really well in his drawing. Dakota was on the opposite side of Derek but still more to the center where he could see the bird from a similar view as Destiny. I thought it was neat to see how they did this from different perspectives. I thought they all did such a great job, but Destiny’s maturity and patience really showed in her picture. She enjoyed this project so much that she set up her own still life at home to draw for her Uncle Tom’s birthday present. For the last two classes, the kids worked on self-portraits. This was very challenging for them, but they still did their best and had fun!

On the way out of one of the classes the sunset was so beautiful that I did a little art of my own–took a photo of it. Hee hee, a little less patience required for that than a self-portrait!

Pictures

I just realized that I forgot to blog about our spring basket and to share some Easter photos. Oops! Well, we decided to do a joint basket for the kids this year to replenish a bunch of their outside toys that were completely worn out. We recycled the giant eggs from Aunt Krissy last year for some individual sweet treats. Of course, we decorated eggs as is tradition, and the kids enjoyed some for breakfast. Then they spent much of the morning playing with their new toys. Dakota was very enthusiastic about the golf set and spent most of his time with that. Destiny and Derek seemed most excited about the new soccer balls and basketballs.

After breaking in their new toys, we had an Easter Egg Hunt with our neighbors again. We prefer this to the big park hunts because the kids actually have a chance to get a full basket of eggs. I filled them with different candies, stickers, and money to keep it interesting. They always enjoy this activity, but it seems to go faster and faster every year. I think next year, we’ll try seriously hiding them and giving the kids each a list of coordinates to try to find them. That would definitely make it more interesting for Scott and I to watch with a bowl of popcorn as we observe from the porch. LOL!

In the evening we visited Pap and Grandma at their house for dinner. Of course, like any good spoiling grandparents, they had their own baskets for the kids. We had a wonderful time with a family game of baseball (all plastic to spare the windows) in the backyard. Echo, Tori’s and Frank’s puppy, certainly made the game more interesting. How can it not be interesting when you’re chasing down a dog and picking the dog up to tag people out. Don’t worry, no animals were injured during our game.

Pictures

I too was amazed just recently on a family geocaching outing at a local park. After no success on a cache near the frog pond, we instead took some pictures of the bull frogs. Then we got our second wind and decided not to go home on a loss. We logged in another cache and followed the GPS across the park on this hot, humid day in April. As if the weather alone wasn’t surprising enough, just wait until you hear about this feat. We finally arrive within a few feet of our cache and start searching around. Soon enough Destiny spots what could only be the cache located in a miniature log cabin high up in a tree. First Scott and I, knowing our ages, decide it’s better to risk a child falling out of the tree than us. Unfortunately Derek’s arms did not match his determination coming a few inches short of reaching the treasure. With no other choice in front of him with the other two children unwilling to be sacrificed to the tree or dirt below, Scott concedes to the obvious. If we are to end on a win, he must scale the tree himself. That’s right, Scott can still climb trees! I know, try to contain your shock, but he successfully retrieved and replaced the cache after we signed its log book. He even escaped the task uninjured except for some sore, old muscles the next day to remind him of his age. In case you can’t believe it either, take a look for yourself.

Destiny and Derek yet again enhanced and exercised their theatrical skills in classes this fall and spring through their school. They both love acting and even managed to bond a bit over this similarity during classes. Dakota didn’t want to do it this year, but maybe he’ll even give the theater a try later. We all know he can be VERY dramatic to get what he wants. Anyway, at the end of their classes they put on a big performance. Destiny played an old woman, and Derek was a skilled builder working on bridge for the town. They did a wonderful job! We are still waiting to get a hold of a video from another parent, but until then, here are some pictures.

Recently Scott very eagerly purchased his first iphone. I was fine with the idea of him rewarding himself for all of his hours of hard work with this nifty device. After all, his other phone was beginning to have problems, so he might as well get something he likes. Right? Immediately after the purchase, I lost him for a couple of days. How do I tell him that I’m not as enthused about every little applet he downloads? He was like a little kid with this thing. Just when I thought the newness of all of this had passed, I was reminded just how intertwined this has become in his daily activities.

We were sleeping, or at least Scott was. I had just gotten up for some water at around 3 AM, and was just settling back into bed. Suddenly, I hear Scott breathing heavy, like he was scared. Next thing I know, he sits up in panic and begins rambling about the ceiling pointing at us. If that’s not enough, he actually reaches over and grabs the iphone to get a better look at the oh so frightening ceiling. Mind you, he can’t see without his glasses even with his iphone flashlight, but he never grabbed his glasses. I guess he was happy with what he thought he saw because he puts the phone down and is out again. The next morning he didn’t remember any of it. Yep, even in the middle of some sort of nightmare, he was able to make use one of those little apps on his iphone. I think it has become an extended arm for him or something. Somehow after only about a month he can recognize it and all of its functions even with his subconscious mind, yet he couldn’t recognize my voice after 17 years together telling him, “Wake up, it’s just a dream!” LOL!

He has been sharing his phone with everyone! OK, so maybe even I have been lured in by a game or two, and maybe I steal it in the morning when he’s still sleeping to check the weather. Still, I wonder, if there were a fire, who would he save first, the iphone or me?

A while back Scott came up with a cool short project for the kids. He had them each build a boat out of some packing materials. Their objective was to have it float while holding this heavy rock, and to be able to move by wind. They had so much fun with this little experiment. All of them succeeded, but if we were giving out awards…

Destiny - Most Creative
Derek — Most Stable
Dakota — Fastest

Pictures of their designs.

Well, we spent last week talking about the Civil War. On Monday we took a time out to discuss Dr. Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. and to connect the dots between the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement. Then today we connected the dots further to explain why this inauguration was considered to be historic. We were so happy to take a break from our normal schedule to experience history in the making. Although a chilly day, nothing could have kept us from this one. The kids, of course, didn’t pay attention to the whole thing. Who would expect them to hang on every word? Despite that, we just felt it was important for them to be there for the swearing in ceremony and the speech. I think they’ll look back and at least slightly remember our efforts and this important event. For those who did not get to watch, here are some pictures that I took from the ceremony! We had great seats!