WHERE'S THE WATER????

*Can't get pictures to upload - will try later

We’ve fallen into a routine of spending the “early” Saturday morning hours cleaning (De’Etta) and working on the “House Repair List” (Mike). We then spend the afternoon doing something “fun”. During the week the sky light cover had fallen out in the big boys’ room. Mike and Josiah are seen peering out of the ceiling…wouldn’t that be a scary sight to awake to? They spent the a.m. discovering that we need to add insulation to the ceiling and rewire some things. UGH.

Saturday, 22 October, we continued our search for water. Earlier in the year, we had driven to the Reservoir with great hopes of finding water. There is a lovely state park that we found on the internet with sites right along the water. Imagine our surprise when we finally made the time to go exploring and discovered that there is very, very little water in the Reservoir. I’m not sure what happened. I’ve heard a couple theories. The most credible is that they had planned to build the dam and so built the state park and homes right where the water was to be….but for some reason the water didn’t arrive. Now we have great camp sites along big canyons but no water in sight. The state park did have some nice hiking trails, buffalos, and a playground. Unfortunately, I saw a rattle snake over 8 feet long crawling across the asphalt and that sort of squelched the excitement of finding the hiking trails. We’ve still not tried them.

We decided, on this Saturday, to go south of town and investigate the other Reservoir on the map. We debated long about taking the canoes. We decided this would be a scouting trip and left them behind. This turned out to be a good decision. It was incredibly disappointing. Here we see a boat ramp but obviously no WATER for your boat to slide into.

We did find some great ATV trails in the basin of the Reservoir and discovered that the new van is not made for 4 wheeling. Yes, the picture is staged. Mike continues to drive our vans through any terrain that takes his fancy and we’ve yet to be stuck. I, however, got stuck quite often trying to get out of our DRIVEWAY in Alaska.

We had been watching fields for the past few months. They had some green plant. To tall for lettuce we thought in July…and as the year went on…YES to tall. Maybe pepper…..but where were the peppers? Finally, this Saturday we saw the fields were “blooming”. We stopped the van so that those who were curious could get out and explore. We found the plants to be drying out but to be full of fluffy, white COTTON! We had studied the Industrial Revolution in September. Being able to see, touch and feel the cotton plants brought home the study of the Cotton Gin like nothing else could. The kids also were able to understand more about how hard it would be to spend hours picking cotton in the hot southern sun. This will be a good connection for them to make later in our studies.

After giving it out best shot we had to admit that we were not finding water. We headed to the base’s Rec Camp on the Lake. We’ve always found water THERE! Mike and the older boys played tennis. Arielle thought it was too hot to play so she, Zander, Nolan, Stacia and I walked through the campgrounds and met people. We plotted a future camping trip. We threw rocks in the lake and we played on the playground. It turned out to be a fun day… not what we’d set out to find….but a fun day nonetheless.

Family Weekly Digest ~ Week of 16 October

“Just the facts” – http://not2many@blogspot.com

Note:*means there is an entry with more details on the blog about this line item
**means there is an entry with photos on the blog about this line item

~*The men in our family ventured forth to “War” this week – a Paint Ball War.

~**The younger set and I gave the older ones a tour of the Concho Riverwalk….we fed and/or observed ducks, geese, muskrats, a water moccasin, fish and fishermen.

~Stacia turned two months old this week. It’s always amazing how quickly a family absorbs and adapts to new members.

~We’ve met *TWO* neighbors this week. One when a nameless male broke a solar light running back to receive a pass and the other when a nameless woman and daughter showed up on our doorstep. The woman did have a name: Kathy. She began by saying “Are you the lady with lots of children who drives a big red van from AK”? She went on to tell us LOTS about us…while we knew nothing about her. She filled us in and we look forward to getting to know her and her family better.

~Football season continues. The TLC Eagles won their game 33-0 this week. The highlight of the night for us was watching Jamin introduce several opponents to the ground, blocking a pass and Zander discovering TX FIRE ANTS! We’ve been warning him since June but now he *KNOWS*. He was indignant “Mom, the FIRE ANTS are BITING ME!”

~**School marches on. We’ve made cookie dough maps, spotted planets and more this week.

~ *A couple of Family Funnies

~* Reading continues to be a favorite family hobby. Check to see what we are reading this week and leave some suggestions of your own.

~By the way, Girls, although you insisted our food consumption would not change when you left home, we need to report that we now need THREE pizzas instead of four and we eat ONE Chicken Pot Pie instead of 1 ¾. It’s also been noted that left-overs are not leaving the fridge at the same rate of consumption. Arielle, Nolan & Zander continue to listen to the story tape you made constantly. Arielle still sleeps with the picture of the three of you.

~Pictures of this & that are uploaded to the blog.

PICTURES OF THIS & THAT

Arielle on KP

Arielle wanted a picture of her

& Stacia to send the girls in

their new clothes - Ah well - every

picture can't be a winner!

Zander

Jamin

Jamin

Football Fans

Stacia - 2 months

Someone make her STOP squirming

Jared & His Halibut

De'Etta & Her Moose

Stacia views ducks

What are THOSE?

Feeding Ducks

School daze ~

 Week of 16 October

This week we continue to study the early 1800’s – with an emphasis on the United States of America. We’ve learned more about Thomas Jefferson, the Supreme Court under John Marshall, and the Lewis and Clark Expedition. Obviously, the high school boys are making many tie ins to current events with a new Supreme Court justice, a nominee on the table, and several federal cases decided this week. It’s fun to watch them connect what TJ did or John Marshall to what is going on in the news. The older boys also completed their TREK through Faust.


The younger set and I decided to make (are you ready?) :::drum roll::: Cookie Dough maps this week. This was a two day project. Thursday consisted of finding maps, making a pattern, and making the dough. Friday we baked the maps and then frosted them during Family Night. We made the maps to show the land that the US held BEFORE the Louisiana Purchase, the lands that were added because of the Purchase and the route of the Lewis & Clark Expedition.

In the process of all this hands on map-making we rewrote history. Josiah (16 yo) came out and caught me eating just a *bit* of cookie dough. "Mom, you've eaten LA," he exclaimed. We laughed and proceeded to make our cookie dough maps of the USA. In the hubbub of shaping, cutting, helping kids roll....it seems that a wild cookie monster ate Zander's (3 yo) original 13 colonies....or maybe it was a gigantic hurricane..... I warned them all that if they get sick - I will not feel bad for them - I warned them not to eat the colonies!!!! Where do these kids get such a warped sense of humor????


We learned several lessons with this project. 1. If you eat a little; your children are sure to eat a lot….watch those “little sins”. 2. Cookie Dough tastes much better than Salt Dough. 3. This could be a disadvantage…on the other hand 4. Cookie Dough maps don’t last forever in a closet…you make them and EAT THEM.

In Science Jamin continues to explore all sorts of flora a fauna under the microscope. He’s now convinced us all that the lid MUST be immediately put back on the milk after each cup is poured so that no bacterium floats into the milk. Jared, Arielle and I got up early to catch a look at Mars in the early a.m. sky. We studied Comets, Meteors and Asteroids this week.

I continue to feel that ALL of life has become school…but that isn’t a bad thing.

Reading List

Here's a list of what we're reading this week. Feel free to leave suggestions of your own for future weeks.

Zander (3) – Read to him:
Dinosaurs by Design by Duane T. Gish
How They Crossed the West: The Adventures of LC – Rosalyn Schanzer

Noaln (6) Curently learning phonics sounds - enjoys the above as well

Arielle (8)
Runaway Pony, Runaway Dog – Ruth & Latrobe Carroll (This book is special as Arielle discovered it on the shelves and it has the CO Springs address in it. She thinks it is way cool that she is reading the very book that her Aunts or Dad read as children.)

The Mud Flat Olympics – Stevenson {?}

Jared (11)
The Young Carthaginian – GA Henty
Streams to the River; River to the Sea – Scott O’Dell

Jamin (14)
Faust – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Men in Black – Mark Levine
Thomas Jefferson: Architect of Democracy – John Severance
The War of the Worlds – H.G. Wells

Josiah (16)
Faust – Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Men in Black - Mark Levine
Thomas Jefferson: Architect of Democracy – John Severance
Various Louis Lamoure (sp?) & Saga of the Sierras

De’Etta (Mom )
The Preacher had 10 kids – Frances Bradsher - OLD
Age of Opportunity – Paul D Tripp
The Grace & Truth Paradox – Randy Alcorn
Lord, Calm My Anxious Heart – Linda Dillow

Mike (Dad)
The Grace & Truth Paradox – Randy Alcorn

We also love the evening hours when Mike reads to us. Of course we also read the Bible each week...but it is really a class above the rest of our reading.

Family Read Aloud
Hobbit – J.R.R. Tolkien
Araminta’s Paint Box – Karen Ackerman
Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales

A Couple of Family Funnies

It became apparent that a summer of shorts with growing kids leads to a fall shopping trip. Arielle and I valiantly headed to out to our own “war” – “The Shopping War”. We were thrilled to find all the right sizes 30 x 32; 32 x 32; 32 X 34; 8 slims….on sales at Ross’s and the other famed battleground – Wal-mart. It appears, however, that one must now watch for the CUT and not just the size. I noticed that the relaxed jeans we bought the older three young men seemed rather baggy. I commented that I seemed to have gotten the wrong size and was assured that I got the right size. I then noted that they didn’t seem very relaxed. Jared (11) solved the mystery of the baggy pants for me, “Mom, I wouldn’t call it relaxed having to jump behind a tree every 5 minutes to pull your pants up!” :::snort::::

Zander continues to give me wonderful advice on parenting and life in general. I’m not sure WHERE he picked it up but he loves to tell me, “MOM!!! RE – LAAAAAX!” He also has begun cocking his head to the left and saying "You talking at me?" and "don't sass me"....sigh. To show him in a brigther l ight I continue to struggle with wrist pain (and feet pain too???). Zander has taken to asking me quite often "Mom, Your wrist hurt?" and giving me a hug. One day last week I asked Zander to help me carry laundry and he said, "Ohhh....my wrist hurts!" He also has a new habit of shaking the computer mouse. I asked what he was doing and he said, “waking UP the mouse”.

CONCHO RIVER

 ~ 15 October 2005

We are discovering that TX and AK are reverse images of each other. In AK it is winter 9 months of the year; in TX it is summer 9 months of the year. What a relief that “cold weather” is finally starting to slowly descend on Western TX. It’s now in the 80*s. I believe our highs are supposed to begin dipping into the high 70*’s next week….and the lows in the 40*s. All that to say this: in AK we didn’t see our neighbors during the winter and they’d all reappear in the summer. HERE we are noting that we see more and more people every week while we are out and about in the parks, on our walks, at the lake and river…



The younger five and I had so much fun on the Concho River last Friday that we INSISTED on taking the older two boys and Mike back for a peek. We left the house loaded with two bags of mostly stale buns for the ducks…and the C*A*M*E*R*A. We were barely at the bank when the ducks began to drift our way. There is *something* about tossing bread to ducks that is very appealing to all ages.

The younger set and I were hoping that the stray muskrat, which had drifted into our duck feeding escapade on our prior adventure, would make reappearance. We hoped our friendly muskrat wasn’t camera shy. In less than 2 minutes of feeding ducks our muskrat showed up ~ with family and friends in tow. We think we found a nest/den/whatever you call muskrat homes….they were swimming under the bank where we were standing. There was even a very tiny baby muskrat brave enough to dart in and out for bread. They certainly could care less about the camera…as long as bread was somewhere in the vicinity of the camera.

Eventually, we had our fill of feeding ducks and muskrats and began a leisurely walk along the river….as leisurely as any walk can be with an energetic Zander in tow. Unlike the San Antonio River Walk, this River Walk is not commercialized. There are no restaurants and shops along the river….just wildlife, nature, fishermen, and skaters across the street. They’ve also built a wonderful park for children, Kids Kingdom, along the river. We’ll have to get pictures of it one of these weeks.

It was fun to see various fishermen and the bait they were using. We have decided that we will not eat anything that we know is caught in this river. It is the slowest moving river any of us have ever seen…more like a lake. We can’t help but wonder what is under the surface besides muskrat and water moccasins (which we also spotted).

We ended the night by snapping the obligatory family picture (seen above) and skipping over a few blocks to Scholtskys for a “serious sandwich with a funny name”.