01-31 Science Experiment

Gabe had to set up a science experiment today.  He's growing bacteria.

01-30 Potato Night

Every Monday night for the past many years, not sure exactly how long, Monday night has been potato night.  I love Monday night because I don't have to fret over the big question, "What's for supper?"  Gabriel's favorite food is potatoes. Mic...not so much.  On Monday nights she eats chicken or hot dogs.  I tried to get her to eat them at the age of 2 but she wasn't having any of it.  So, on Monday nights I fix baked potatoes in the oven or, to get them done faster, I cook them in my Pampered Chef Baker in the microwave.  The boys add cheese, sour cream, and ham to the top of their potato. Sometimes I do the same but other times I'll do chili and cheese instead.  Tonight I added a can of  Campbell's Fiesta Nacho Cheese to the chili. Yum!

01-29 Mom & Daughter

Just me and Mic today. =)

01-28 Josey

Walked on the Brushy Creek Trail today.  Stopped by the big water fall.  The kids like it over there. Here is Josey.

01-27 Lego Construction

Brian is working on two Lego models of his grandparents businesses from the 50s & 60s.  He's having "fun" working off of black and white photos to make colorful models. =)
He did make a lime green grocery store model but he thought he heard his Grandpa groaning from the grave, so he is making another in more "appropriate colors".

01-26 Preschool Hoodies

The preschoolers fad, wearing your hoodie during lunch.

01-25 Computer Troubles

Sadly, this is where I spent my day. I did get away to do some school work with Michaela but here is where I sat.  I can't network the computers so everyone can use the printer. Internet Explorer began to crash while Google Chrome worked fine.  Then on top of it all Avast! security wouldn't work either.  It is now bed time. Avast! works. Internet Explorer seems to be working at the moment. And the network will have to wait for another day. Very tempted to hire a geek. Wonder how much they cost. Unless some kind soul out of the kindness of their heart would like to come help. ;-)

01-24 Mic's Homemade Belt

Mic was being her crafty self again today. She made a belt out of pipe cleaners.  Do you notice her smile?  Her mouth is not closed! I made her laugh. =)

01-23 Mic's Lego House

More Lego's!  Only this time Mic is getting her hand in it.  She takes after her dad when it comes to building things without instructions.  And as always she is right in the middle of the walkway. AND of course she is working with pink Lego's. She had enough pink Lego's to make it all pink but she said she didn't want it to be all pink.

01-22 Another Walk

Today was supposed to be windy and warm however, the front that was going to bring the wind didn't make it down this far.  So we had a calm hot day. And yes we took Jo to the park for a walk.  A different park this time.  Williamson County Regional Park.  They have two nice walking and biking trails that are 2 miles each.  We took the less traveled trail and even let Josey off the leash for the first time ever on a walk.  Gabe took today's photo, a little out of focus but at least it's a frontal shot this time (Angy).  Hehe.

P.S. If it looks like Mic wasn't smiling, she wasn't.  She was pretty much a teenager for the whole walk.

01-21 Walking Arm in Arm

Yep, another walk. This time in our neighborhood. Don't they look so cozy and lovey? Reality is, Mic is being forced into this position and is far from smiling.  Gabe and Brian on the other hand are wearing huge smiles.  Insert evil laugh here. =D

01-20 Eagles Teen Disc Golf

Photos for today are from our Eagles teen event.  We went to Brushy Creek Park and played frisbee golf. 

Here are the girls.

The boys trying to get a disc out of a tree.

Everyone trying to find a disc that sunk to the bottom of this water hole. Yes, the disc was found.

It was a lovely course with lots of trees and water hazards. =)

We had a great time playing and then went to CiCi's for pizza.

01-19 Eagles Basketball

Eagles homeschool basketball.  They play every Thursday night in Jonestown at a church.  It's an outdoor court and they do play when it's cold.  They play a few games and afterward one of the boys will do a short devotional and then there is a prayer.  The coach chooses a player that does really well each week. This player is called  Ice Man.  Tonight Gabe was the Ice Man for getting a lot of steels in the first round.

I took a picture of Gabe making a shot on the left and on the right Coach is going over a play with them.

01-18 Popcornopolis

Yes we did make a 1 1/2 hour trip for this popcorn.  Okay, we did some other things too but I made sure to get more of this yummy caramel popcorn!  Brian's favorite is cheese.  The closest Popcornopolis store is at Barton Creek Mall on the other side of Austin from us.  It took about 30 min. to get there and a little over and hour to get home during rush hour. SO worth it. =D

01-17 Gamer Gabe

Here we have Gabe gaming as usual.  He got out an old playstation game.

"Respect the classics man." -Gabe age 13

01-16 Lego BBQ

Happy Birthday to my dad!! I won't mention the awesome age you are. ;-)

Today I took a picture of one of Brian's Lego creations.  It started out as just the camp fire and just got bigger as the day went on.  His imagination is unstoppable. You'll notice Brian shows up several times (all the guys in Hawaiian shirts are Brian's Lego alter ego).  I think he is dreaming (surfing, off roading, grilling stuff, and chillin' with a bunch of babes) and we have a dog roasting a cat.

01-15 Lake View

Another walk day at Brushy Creek Lake Park.  This is one of our quick breaks. Yep, this is the extent of the excitement in our lives, going on walks away from the neighborhood.  I imagine there will be lots of photos like this one throughout the year.

01-14 Westside Juvenile Hall

Yes it's a day late but Gabe and I had a late night at County.  Gabe was booked, and fingerprinted.

Even had a mug shot taken.

His crime?  Caught out after curfew searching for the Round Rock.  For those who don't know, there is a decent sized round rock in Brushy Creek and that is how Round Rock Texas got it's name.

Ok, really, Westside Church of Christ middle school were treated to a crazy dinner. =D  All got booked, ate bread (calzones) and water (lemonade).  All had a great time.  I did take a video of Gabe's hearing but for some reason it didn't save on my phone.

01-13 Zoo Man

Friday the 13th!!!

But lets go back in time to yesterday.....

(This is my photo blog, I can do what I want)

Thursday The Zoo Man came to Westover Christian Preschool.  We love The Zoo Man!  He usually brings a nice BIG cockroach but, this year he did not. So my idea to creep you out has failed.  

This is Tucker, the umbrella cockatoo.  Zoo Man said that this bird was rescued from the Bastrop fire and was never claimed so the Austin Zoo took him in. After doing an internet search I'm not sure how true that story is. I saw that Tucker's owner had posted him up for sale in November. Tucker is a very beautiful bird and was so funny and cute. He could talk, sing, cuddle, and he put on quite a show flapping his wings.  The kids loved him.

01-12 Dublin Dr. Pepper

In memorial of the Dublin Dr. Pepper plant being forced out of the Dr. Pepper business by Snapple DP, here is the “Dublin part of my DP collection”. The full bottle may be over 5 years old so don’t drink it!! The clear old DP “Good For Life” bottle is from1940’s Dublin. -Brian

01-11 Making Fire

It was another beautiful day here in Central Texas.  High of 77.  What did we do?  Built a fire!  We climbed over the fence in our backyard to find sticks, twigs, and bark.  "Someone needs to fill the bark bag." said Michaela.  Once we had all our goodies we went back over the fence (climbing up and down ladders) and began stacking what we needed for the fire.  Just kindling, sticks, and twigs.  NO paper. NO matches.  We only used a spark stick to get the fire started. It took several tries but eventually we had fire.  Did I mention it was 77 degrees?  We kept it small and only let it burn long enough for Mic and Gabe to burn a few small marshmallows.  Yes. I said burn. There was no roasting to it.  See what you get to do when you homeschool?

01-10 Crabby Patties

First, Happy 10th birthday to my nephew Jesse. Love ya!

Today's picture is of our "different" supper.  We tried crabby patties (crab cakes), and veggie burgers.  I have to admit that I was NOT wanting to try to crab cakes but, they weren't as fishy tasting as I expected. Mic said they tasted like stuffing.  Gabe did not like the veggie burgers.  Mic kept saying "Kids just don't like vegetables no matter how you make 'em."  And then the homemade fries. Those were a little more crispy than usual. Oops.

01-09 McIlroy Memories

Brian is going through some of his aunt & grandfathers 'newly found' papers.  He has been looking forward to this for years. Thankfully the boxes with a few of Jessie & Gerald McIlroy's memories, photos, and geneology where recently re-discovered.

01-08 Mic's Paint Brush Art

We had a mega relaxing Sunday.  We got home from church, I ate my lunch on the couch while watching something with Brian and then I never moved from the couch until I had to take Gabe to an activity at church. That's right. I slept all. after. noon. Winning!!  And this post is so late because I taught at the prison in Burnet.  Lovely group of girls this round. Several going home soon and are afraid of relapsing. Praying for them.  Can't take pictures up at the prison or I would have posted one from there. ;-)  Good night! God Bless.

This is one of Mic's random drawings.  She loves to do anime but I liked this one cause it's different from her other drawings.

01-07 Bike Ride

Another beautiful January day in Texas.  Took a short 6 mile ride around the neighborhood.  Some people are getting tired of me stopping to take pictures.

01-06 Dinosaurs on Fun Friday

Another day at school.  This was Fun Friday!  (More like, crazy out of our minds Friday) I teach the 3 year old's on Friday's and boy have they been a hand full this year. 10 of them.  We plan fun projects and do lots of playing. Ms. Lia  (my helper) and I do a lot of refereeing.  Today we talked about dinosaurs so this art project is gluing pasta on to a dinosaur to kinda make a skeleton.

01-05 Back to Work

Today was the first day back at Westover Christian Preschool. This photo was taken just after our surprise fire drill.  Everyone made it outside in a timely and orderly fashion.  The highlight of the morning was getting to see the fire truck!  Had I thought to bring my phone out I would have taken a picture of all the kids lined up and the fire truck but, it seems I do occasionally put my phone down.

01-04 Shadows

School was finished before 3 today so we all loaded up and took Josey for a walk on the Brushy Creek trail. Today 's high was about 70.

01-03 Lego Robot

Here are the boys working on a robot.  I imagine there will be a battle at some point.

Finished!

The following video is a video of Gabe's robot fighting another robot made in his Lego Robotics class.  He had a blast there!  Thanks Cindy for letting him in. =)  If you are in the Cedar Park area here is more info. 

Rubato Learning

01-02 Homeschool

Our first day back to school.

  No one really wanted to get up early so we slept in, 8am wake up call instead of 7am. ;-)  We also did just half a day of work.  I let the kids pick out 4 subjects to get done today and they have to finish up work not done, on Friday.  Friday's are usually free days unless there is makeup work.  A plus to homeschooling. =D

Yes, I did two photo's again.  The kids were doing their electives.  Gabe is practicing guitar.

And Mic is learning Japanese.

Brian has been taking down the outside Christmas decorations, and watched some Ohio State football, and I did a little house work and graded the kids school work.  Now I'm off for some more fun with Mic and her History. :-/

01-01 Church & Cupcakes

Happy New Year!!

Ok, so I said a photo-a-day but I had to do two for today because I couldn't pick just one.  

We started the first day of the year at Westside Church of Christ where we attend regularly.  Usually there are two services, last Sunday and today there was just one service.  We got there late and had to sit so far in the back we were past the kitchen area. Brian said, "This is where you have to sit when you have two girls who can't get up and get ready on time."  We could never do the 8:30 service.

This afternoon Michaela finally got to make her cupcakes.  She has been asking me for a while to make a recipe that she got out of one of her books. She made vanilla cupcakes with vanilla buttercream frosting.  The book is called Mia in the Mix, from the Cupcake Diaries by Coco Simon.  We were all surprised that she didn't make pink frosting.  She said she wanted them to be likable by everyone.