Christmas Eve and Christmas Day

That much candy makes working together a breeze.

Finished house. Gingerbread man got
stuck on the roof putting up lights.

 Christmas Eve we finished up the Gingerbread house we started the day before and I am happy to say my first adventure in homemade ginger bread houses was very positive... not hard at all and tasted much better.

We had a family friends over and roasted marshmallows, watch movies and ate entirely too much candy.  Getting everyone to bed wasn't too hard though and luckily all the presents were wrapped and ready to go.

The Big Show.

Realizing how cool This gift is...

Really Cool ...

To which he said, "Really guys this is just too much..."

Help with a package...

Snowballs anytime.  Pretty safe in the house unless GMan pegs you... or the dog gets involved.

Christmas is Nearly Here

We would like to wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy Holiday Season. May the light of a thousand cultures shine this winter season and shed light on all our lives.

Little Chefs

Baklava

Fantasy Fudge

Insect Unit And Knitting

If you Give a kid a jar and say go find Bugs they can pretty much nail this lesson.  One wood pile disassembled. One jar full.

Our family is also fast becoming a team of Chess "Experts" and Knitters. 

Whites Move.

Two Sweet Girls Under the Christmas Tree.

Washington, DC

One of the great privileges of having lived near DC and still having family there is the access it gives us to the Metro and the Mall with all the Smithsonian Museums.  This time we tackled the Hirshorn and the Nation Gallery of Art.  Modern and Classical Sculptures and Paintings and the sites and sounds of the Capital building.

Halloween: Oops! Better Late Then Never

  So apparently I didn't make an entry of the kids Halloween costumes though I could have sworn I did. Well here they are... or were.
  GMan's costume, Blastzone from Skylanders: Swap Force was made with a washable paint, and though I covered it with ModPoge we got caught in a heavy down pour and the costume was completely ruined.   He is still sad about that.

CBird was a Moon Princess from the children's book "Zen Ghosts" by John Muth.

Salt Dough Playdate

I'm not afraid of the word "playdate". I welcome it. It is a product of our modern life. If we can break free of our fear of labels, if we break free of ourselves and embrace the internet communities available to us we can break out of our self imposed isolation stemming from late 2001 and on. In our hyper protective, over zealous parenting, let there be big loud playdates in your homes - full of... salt dough and noise and friends.  Whenever you can, however you can , build your community and celebrate it.

My house was trashed and the kids were loud... but all these wonderful homeschooling families embraced an opportunity for community and when it was all said and done the toys were mostly picked up and the dishes mostly done.  I was only out a few peanut butter and honey sandwiches and salt dough.  Many hands make light work and for those who forget to see this.. this is the beauty of our life choices.

C.Bird's Mural

I have successfully bartered with my talented friend Courtney.  I am working on trimming her landscape and in exchange she painted a mural in C Bird's bedroom.  It all started when I saw a branch on her roof and shortly thereafter showed up with a ladder.

The painting is from the inside jacket of the book "A Snowy Day".  Cora and I picked it out together because it was so pretty. It brought all the color of her things together. C.Bird had a special request for silver snowflakes and though you can't see all of them in this shot, she asked for four of them because she is four. My girly girl may have the perfect bedroom now. I know it was a lot of work for my friend but she truly loves to paint so I think it was a win for everyone, though I know she is glad to be done. Check it out!

Taekwondo Tournament at Furnam University.

GMan performs his yellow belt form (on the left) and ultimately won first place in his category. He won his first bout of sparing and then lost his second to finish in second place.  The video on the right is the first bout and you can see the score on the computer screen. He is in the blue hogu.

Early October

Ami and Ella come for a hang out.

Pumpkintown, SC, Pumpkintown festival 2013.  Oolonoy 2 room schoolhouse.  This area was home to the Hendricks family branch.

Masked Bikers

 Tea Parties and tea time are becoming very regular in our household.  Sometimes we must dress up and sometimes we don't.  CBird's new friend Sophia.

Watch out for the "The Masked Bikers".

EnterTRAINment, Cincinatti

A day out in Cinci with Aunt Vicki.  A great time, 3 hrs passed very quickly.

Birthdays 2013

GMan and CBird had their Duel Birthday Pool Party recently. Princess Minecraft! I dressed up the pinata to have two different designs, one on each side.

Because of the gray weather we all had the pool to ourselves. A great                                    mix of family and friends.

Minivan Life

HomeSchooling Accomplishments.

Botany Bay field trip.

Spanish Year Two Graduation.

Jitterbugs/ Ballet for CBird

Model Trains at Citadel Mall.

Getting in som efamily swim lessons.

New Classroom set up