Fun With Friends.

My friend and her two children came over to visit Owen and me. We had lunch, took a walk outside, and had a fun time with toys.

Look What I Found In Our Backyard!

A mama duck got up from her nest of 3 eggs, and moved away when she saw me coming. I had NO idea they were there until she moved. She went off, and hasn't returned yet, so I don't know if they are going to survive. But, I'm keeping Owen away from them, so that they have a chance. What am I going to do with 3 baby ducks? They take up to 28 days to incubate, and then 50 more days to learn how to fly.

Easter Egg Hunt!

Welcome to the Egg Hunt at Calvary Undenominational!

They hid 10,000 plastic eggs filled with candy and stickers.

Holding his bag and getting ready.

It was a little bit cold outside. Can you see his little red nose?

Happy to be here.

Waiting with other children.

On your mark, get set, GO!

Each child was allowed 10 eggs!

Excited to come show me his bag of eggs.

They filled his bag.

Look at the loot, Mom!

Owen also won a Veggie Tale DVD. He was one of four children out of 1,000 who won! (We like what the story is about. lol)

Uncle Charlie's Children's Bible Hour Tour

Today, 40 people in our homeschool group went to tour the radio station for Uncle Charlie's Children's Bible Hour! Uncle Charlie took us around the station, and even let a few children read and be taped. He also had a time to share some "Tricks that Teach," as he put it. He is a ventriloquist and all the kids laughed and laughted as he spoke with his friend, "Samuel." Then he called little old ME up to the stage to do a trick. He was trying to give me instuctions on how to tie a knot, but every time, he could and I couldn't. Finally, he asked me to put my rope in his hands, and it worked for him. The lesson is to leave things in God's hands, especially when they don't work out for us. As we were leaving, he gave each child a packet with the April/May issue of "Keys for Kids." After lunch, I got a call from Uncle Charlie, and he wants Owen to work on a few lines. Then if he can feel comfortable, he wants Owen to actually be on tape for a program. How cool is that????
Uncle Charlie, giving us some history of when he started on the radio at 7 years old.

One of the recording rooms.

"Keys for Kids," devotionals printed to send out.

Splicing room to put tapes together.

Large group of children listening to Uncle Charlie.

Uncle Charlie, the ventriloquist, and his friend, "Samuel."

Owen and his friends, laughing at Samuel.

Me, assisting in the"Tricks that teach."


Some of the older kids showing we should trust that God will work it all out, when we follow his directions.

Uncle Charlie and Owen.

Miss Marsha, who also was in the radio shows with her husband as a child.

The Rest Of The Story....

Isn't this adorable? Owen's friend, Aaron, wrote back. And look at all the train stickers he gave Owen. Upon looking at it, Owen kept saying...."Aaron loves me, mom!"

Making Maple Syrup!

Today, Owen and I were invited to a friend's house, where they were making maple syrup! It was very interesting and fun. Did you know that it takes 40 gallons of sap to make ONE gallon of syrup? And sap is almost clear. It tastes very slightly sweet, like a weak Koolaid. Then much thicker and sweeter by the time it's done. Also, I learned that Grade A is the maple syrup that has been made at the beginning of the season. It is very light in color, and is the best syrup. In a commercial setting, all the trees are linked by lines, so that all the sap comes to one place, easier to harvest. But, also, as the season continues, the sun has a chance to heat up the lines, creating bacteria to build up in them. Thus, it affects the sap, and you get a more bitter flavor, as it is boiled. This is what the other grades are a result of.
Here is a cooler in a wagon, that they used to go from tree to tree, collecting sap.


Owen could only carry the smaller, half full buckets. But, everyone was able to help.


They let us get a taste of the sap before it is cooked down.

Stoaking the fire under the HUGE vat of syrup cooking.

Getting more buckets...

Playing inbetween times.

Boiling sap.

More muddy, boy play! You should have seen his shoes, pants, and socks after we came home. BATHTIME! lol

2010 March Home Depot: Rain Gauge

Another thing Owen did this past Saturday morning, was to go to Home Depot with Daddy. This time the project was a Rain Gauge. Charlie posted it right above our temperature sensor on the deck. Hopefully, we will see warmer temps, and lots of rain for the flowers to grow. :)

2010 Winter Olympics

This past weekend was really busy. One of the things we did was to join 5 other homeschooling families to put on our very own winter olympics. We were responsible to bring a dish from our chosen country,(Spain, in our case), speak a little about our country, and to make a flag also. We had a potluck feast, then, and got our energy for the games.





Playing on the snow hill.


Lighting the torch.

Representatives from Spain.

Canada

Afghanistan

Bahrain (Not pictured were China and USA. My camera kept getting cold, and not functioning all that great.)

Comparing snowballs to use in the Biathlon.

They hit this tree (for the target), and then ran around the house 2 times. Owen won Bronze for this event.

Getting ready for the Slalom, where big kids pulled little ones on their sleds through a maze of trees. Owen didn't place in this event...but he sure did love riding.



Some of the friends, lining up for "Curling"-the snowball throw. Owen threw about half as far as the girls. What does that say? lol

Then they had a race to see who could make the largest snowball in three minutes. Owen show much perseverance, but his ended up not much bigger than when he started.



Hosts of our event...

There was "Snowboarding," and "Ice Hocky" also. The younger kids used their sleds to go down the snow hill. They were given points for style and distance. Owen went the farthest in distance, but without much style. He received the Silver for this event. YAY, Owen!
Here he is receiving his medals.




He was so proud of himself. "Look, mom. I got three medals."