Memorial Day

Memorial Day was always a big day growing up. First off there is the story how I was born on Memorial Day. My mom said the drums from the bands marching by put her in to labor. Then I couldn't wait to be in school so I could walk in the parade. All the elementary school children were invited to walk with a bunch of flowers as part of the parade. The parade ended at the National Cemetery in Gettysburg and all of the school aged children would walk around putting flowers on the graves of those unknown soldiers from the Civil War. Later I marched with the band in junior high and high school and I was also part of the ceremonial brass band that would play as part of the ceremony in the cemetery after the parade. I grew up with an appreciation for those that have served our country. Teachers made sure we knew we were walking on hallowed ground as we put the flowers on those graves. I remember the lesson on not talking once we entered the cemetery and the reasons behind that rule. My parents shared stories of ancestors that had served in various wars. I'm grateful for those lessons I learned. I'm grateful for where I grew up and wish I could replicate some of the lessons I learned by growing up in Gettysburg to teach my children. I'm not sure I can without actually being there, because they are that unique.

Here I am in the parade at the end of first grade. I'm the one with the knee socks pulled all the way up:)

Creative Writing Project Week 1

The Mystery of the Dead Fish

(I was out picking up pinecones in our yard when I came across a dead fish, just laying there. I thought it was kind of odd and thus it became the object for the kids first creative writing project of the summer. Here's the deal: each of the 3 older kids writes something, you, the readers, vote on your favorite and the winning kid gets to pick from the list of summer fun rewards for the week.)

Entry #1

The Dead Fish

Once upon a time, a fish named Fally Fish and her friend, Quick Oyster were exploring. Once they were on Stonehenge Way when they saw a large box of sand. They both dove in. After a little while Quick noticed something in his mouth. Fally looked inside and there was a pearl! When they were going home a thing with circles on the bottom blinked red lights. Then it backed up! Quick was fast enough to escape, but Fally got squashed. The End.

Entry #2
Falcon and Fish
One bright day, a falcon known as kaw-epee-aw [translation= Jeremy Botga] was flying over the water plant. He spied a fish in the water below and swooped down, quiet as a mouse, and caught it. As he came up again, he heard a Whirrrr! Smack! Crack! And then a humming noise. Screeching in terror, he pulled away as fast as he could. As he did, the fish went flying away into someplace he could not see. And as he flew away, he said “Dad gum it! Now I have to catch a possum or something.”

Entry #3
The Dead Fish
One fish, two fish,
red fish, blue fish.
Alive fish, dead fish,
fed fish, not in bed fish,
that was not a red fish.

So pick your favorite in comment section and we'll let you know who wins and whose was whose this weekend.

The Busy Month of May

May is a very busy month for us. Not only do we have all of the end of school year stuff, like field days and awards programs, but when you add in Mother's Day and 3 birthdays life gets pretty busy. For the past 3 Sundays, we've had some kind of celebration. Here's Phil with his birthday cake. It turned out funny looking, but tasted yummy. He was off to Africa the next day and would miss the next two birthday celebrations.

Here's Clara with her rainbow cake. She asked for chocolate on top and that's what she got. She was excited for the rainbow too.
Here she is opening presents. She had a lot of helpers. I guess that's what you get when you are the youngest in a family.

Part of her present was a sand box. She loves playing in the sand and even plays with the piles of fine rocks in the road, so I thought it was time to give her a sand box. I made it of the portable kind, since we are moving. She seemed to like it and had fun playing in it tonight.

Happy Mother's Day

Mother's Day Song

by Jakob and Ethan

We'll have Mother's Day; In a special way

We will sing a song; It could take all day long.

We'll try and make it not, so breakfast will be hot

Today is Mother's Day: so here we go.

Ding-a-ling-dang-gong (x2)

Happy Mother's Day; In a very special way.

You are a beastly mom, ever on and on.

We have a lot of fun. That was not a pun.

You do not give lectures. You don't teach us math figures.

You don't teach calculus. You never paddle us.

You are very nice. You're made of sugar and spice.

You don't give us much money, which seems rather funny,

'Cause we took all the time to make all of this rhyme.

We hope you like the song. It isn't very long.

Though we are only halfway done, we are having lots of fun.

You are like golden honey (though we still would like more money).

Yesterday at Costco we picked out flowers for you.

We hope you will enjoy instead of lots of soy.

All you're girls and boys are bored of all their toys.

They're growing up so fast. You can hardly have a blast.

The days will all go by. They really seem to fly.

Then Jakob's driving round Salt Lake City like a big playground.

Sophia's going to the prom, with a boy and that seems wrong.

Ethan is in college, trying to gain more knowledge.

Clara's gotten to middle school. She thinks that's rather cool.

And you are going frantic. You think it's too titanic.

But it is a good while it lasts. It's one big huge mass.

And you're an awesome mom. You are the bomb.

And that was Mother's Day in a very special way!

(Sung to me this morning along with all of their stuffed animals. I was surprised and impressed. It was a fun Mother's Day)

Southern Germany in Northern Georgia

Who knew you could get a taste of Germany in Georgia, but we found out you could in a place called Helen. We took a day trip on this drizzly day and discovered this Bavarian-want-to-be. Not quite authentic and a little kitschish, Helen was built to be a Bavarian town (it sits on the southern end of the Appalachians), not founded by Germans like I was hoping to discover. Still we managed to have fun, buy some German chocolate and have some good wursts for lunch. Phil was also picked to 'try' the Maypole dancing.
The town was basically built to look Bavarian to attract tourists

We also stopped to see nearby Anna Ruby Falls, which was quite a beauty. The hike was easy, necessary after dragging the kids around Helen, and was like walking through a rain forest with the drizzle. Everything was so green and the leaves kept us from getting too wet. The falls itself was impressive, with 2 streams joining to form one at the falls.

Technically 2 falls (and I think why there are two names, but I might be remembering things wrong) are in this picture, but they join to form the Smith Creek that then spills down the mountainside.

The troopers with a smile on their faces

A closer look