Science

Today it would seem is a science day at our house. Alex received a few science kits for Christmas and decided that he wanted to work with one today. He picked this one Electronics Lab with Fiber Optics . He worked with Morgan and the two of them set up the transmitter and receiver boxes and then started testing & experimenting. So far all of their experiments have worked...and only one was annoying. LOL! That was the "control sound with light" experiment. The brighter the light the higher pitched sound that came out of it. Omigosh, the dogs and I weren't happy with that one.

During all of this we received our package from PhysicsQuest . This year we will be doing lasers! Last year we did Nicola Tesla and light, magnetism, and electricity.

Mama goes to school

We are adding something new to our typical family day. Mama will be going to school. Well, not registered back at college (yet)...but I will be taking a workshop. I will be attending a Midwife Assistant workshop at The Farm Midwifery Center for 1 week in March. I've done my required reading and am doing some extra reading...all the birth stuff I can get my hands on. :-) Next week I take a CPR class and then I need to make sure I have everything I'm supposed to bring. I will be staying in the dorm for the week with 7 other women taking the workshop. Corey and the kids will be on their own. Registering for this workshop was a big step for me and as it gets closer it has really been making me think. I've wanted to be a midwife for years now and that is what drew me to nursing...it was on the path to becoming a CNM (Certified Nurse-Midwife). I knew the steps to take to become one in FL. Well, many years have passed and things have changed...marriage, kids, moving to a few different states, and homeschooling the kids. My idea of becoming a midwife had gone by the wayside. Not that anyone was stopping me, other than me, but that I didn't feel it would/could happen...not the "right" timing. Soooo...registering for this workshop has got me thinking. I think this is all still possible. I am finding out what all I need to do to become a midwife in TN...and I want to do it. If that means heading back to the classroom than that is what I'll be doing. We will figure out the logistics and make it work. I want the kids to see that Mama has a goal and she's working towards that goal, doing what it takes to make it happen. I want them to see that learning is a life long process. There is ALWAYS something you will want to learn about. And...you are never to old to be what you want to be when you grow up. :-)

Last half of December...last few weeks of 2009

We stayed busy enough for the last bit of the year that I didn't take the time to blog about it. I wish I had and I am aiming to do better in 2010. :-) Here is what went on the last few weeks of December...and 2009.

Morgan performed in a holiday musical at the Maury County Arts Guild. On opening night we came home and decorated our tree.

We didn't do a lot of other decorating because the morning after the final performance we headed to Cleveland, Ohio. Corey had a week of training up there and we decided to all go with him. We got to spend quite a bit of time with Amnon, one of Corey's co-workers from NY. The kids and I haven't seen him since we left NY (in Nov. 2002) so it was wonderful seeing him again. On the first day I took the kids to the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. We had a wonderful time.

On our second day in Cleveland, we did some school work in the hotel room and then went to lunch and then had playtime at Chuck E. Cheese. This isn't normally something we do but it was so cold & wet and I didn't want to do everything in the first day or two. On the third day we headed down by the river to the Great Lakes Science Center. They produce some of their own power with a wind turbine and a bunch of solar panels. Their cafe is very eco-friendly which thrilled us to pieces. We had a great time doing all the hands-on activities as well as watching an IMAX movie, Sea Monsters.

The kids really enjoyed the simulators for landing the lunar module and the space shuttle.

We returned to TN in time to celebrate Yule, the Winter Solstice. The kids each received 2 gifts. It was good to be home again. We took the kids to see Avatar one night. Oh my goodness, it was fabulous!! All four of us loved it. We managed to find time to make my grandmother's oatmeal cookies. Then we started putting together cookie tins and cookie platters. On December 24th we delivered the cookie platters to our local police station and fire station and the cookie tins to friends. We love continuing this tradition that Corey's mom started. It is great getting to take a little time while delivering the cookies to visit with the friends we are giving them to.

Late on Christmas Eve, Corey made a batch of homemade cinnamon rolls to be baked on Christmas morning. Morning came early, as usual. We had told the kids they couldn't wake us before 7am...they woke us at 7:04am. LOL! They dug into their stockings and then started with the presents. We were all very happy with what we received. We saved the best for last and had the kids open their big gift together. They were thrilled! We got them a trampoline. :)

Alex spent some time building the air rocket kit that he received and was very proud that he made the rocket blast off several times.

Early Christmas afternoon we headed over to GC's house to exchange gifts with GC & Uncle Michael and have Christmas dinner.

The day after Christmas we all headed outside to put together the trampoline. It wasn't as difficult as we were expecting (thank the gods) and the kids were able to start jumping on the trampoline before it got dark. Yea! They've been jumping on it several times a day since. However, they were very upset when it rained!

We hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season with their loved ones. We were blessed to be around friends and family the entire season. We are looking forward to 2010.

Vacation & Holiday Prep

Corey has been on vacation for two weeks. The first week he took the time to relax with no obligations to get anything done,etc. He needed it...he works soooo hard to take care of all of us. After Thanksgiving he was ready to make plans and do some things. He started doing the holiday baking. Each day he has made at least one batch of something with the kids. They've made fudge w/pecans, peanut butter fudge, snickerdoodles, m&m cookies, and peanut butter blossoms. We got the tree, lights & ornaments and other decorations down from the attic. The kids and I got the tree up and the lights on. It stayed like that for a day or two. Morgan has been keeping us busy all last week with dance classes and rehearsals for the holiday musical. It opened Friday night and we all went to see it. She did great and the whole show was good. :-) When we got home we decorated the tree in our jammies. It was a really good night. I've been volunteering at the Scholastic book warehouse in Nashville this week. In doing so, I earn credit to use towards book purchases. I will be volunteering 3 more days this coming week. As a book addict raising little book addicts it is a wonderful thing. The kids managed to get their bedrooms cleaned up yesterday so they could have their little personal trees set up. Today, we all went up to Cool Springs and did some shopping. We had an early birthday lunch/dinner at Buca de Beppo for me with my mom and brother. Oh so yummy! Then we wandered around the Cool Springs Galleria, stopped by Krispy Kreme for some delicious, hot doughnuts and followed that up by watching a couple movies when we got home. The first one was Escape to Witch Mountain and we watched it with the kids. Then after getting them tucked into bed, Corey and I watched Spread with Ashton Kutcher. And thus ends Corey's vacation.

Time With Family

We are very blessed to have family close enough to celebrate the holidays. Two of Corey's brothers live about an hour and a half from us and my mom and brother live about 20-25 minutes from us. One of Corey's brothers invited everyone to their house for Thanksgiving. Everyone chips in with the cooking...and thankfully we are all very good cooks! We had a wonderful time and it was great seeing everyone again. Last year one of the boys couldn't make it but he was there this year. My brother brought along his camera & tripod so we were able to get a family picture.

Here we have everyone (l-r, b-f): Marcus, Jon, Jody, Aricka, TJ, Laurie, Patrick, Ryan, Joyce, Beverly, Matthew, Carol, Alex, Corey, Kelly, Morgan, and Michael

Here is my little family of four.

Friday we had my mom over for dinner and Corey taught us (a refresher for me) how to play Queen of Spades, a card game he grew up playing. And this weekend we've just spent lots of time together as a family relaxing, playing games, watching football,etc.

Corey has another week of vacation. So this week we will be putting up Christmas decorations and....wait for it....baking cookies!! I will also be volunteering at the Scholastic book warehouse some. Yea!