Todd gave the kids the camera and told them to take some pictures of the fall leaves.
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Things You Might See In Leavenworth
I have to say that I love living here.
It is breathtakingly beautiful.
There is always a festival going on.
You never know what you will see when heading into town.
The other day the kids and I decided to list something unusual sightings here:
Here are just a few:
70year old men walking around in lederhosen
Dirty, dingy, stinky, haven't had a bath in a month, khaki shirts and pants wearing people in the grocery store. (Never again will I worry about how I look when going to the store. Compared to these mountain people, I could go to the Ritz.)
Buxom, young girls in their mini dirndl.
Men carrying their alpenhorns through town.
Men wearing viking hats
There are also the horse drawn carriages covered in flowers
Wagons filled with beer barrels
and more
We will have to keep our eyes out for more unusual sightings.
Saturday, October 15, 2011
Watch Out Mozart
Piano lessons have started again with the school year. True to form, Bonnie can't settle with just learning her new lessons, but she is writing her own.
Run, Todd, Run
It's Oktoberfest time in Leavenworth. Actually, for the past three weekends it has been Oktoberfest. Every available space in town is filled up with cars and sound of oompah music fills the air late into the nights.
To conclude this festive time, the city of Leavenworth sponsored a marathon and half-marathon.
The kids and I went into town to see the runners come through. The girls seemed to have the most fun with dressing up for the event.
Quite a few women wore their mini driendels.
Then there were the girls in tutus.
Finally, after several more Bavarian runners, came....
Todd. He has been training for a couple of months. This isn't his first half-marathon, but it has been four years since he last ran in one.
The kids ran with him down the sidewalk. We were so proud of him. Todd did very well. He ran the 13 miles in a little over two hours.
Oompah!
PS - I finally got my batteries for my camera!!
Friday, October 7, 2011
Jury Duty
Today I did my civic duty and went in for jury duty. I have to be honest and tell you that I did try to get out of it. I informed the judge that I am a stay at home mom who homeschools her three children and doesn't know what I am supposed to do with my children, but he said I still had to come in.
I was a bit nervous. Courtrooms do that to me. I guess it is the power of the people that work there. I am scared that they might find something that I am doing wrong. After waiting for an hour, we watched a video on what it means to be a juror and the process you need to go through to get selected. We were then taken to a courtroom to wait for the judge, plaintiff, and defendant to get ready. We were then moved to another courtroom to be questioned. The judge, plaintiff, and the defendant began to ask us questions and asked us to introduce ourselves to make sure we would not be biased and could do our civic duty. It turns out several people knew the defendant and were very aware of the situation he was being charged of. And if I might add, I got the definite impression that they didn't like the guy and if given enough info would have no problem declaring him guilty. They obviously didn't get picked to be on the jury. It turns out they only needed six people and there was twenty-six of us to pick from. I was number sixteen on the list and, fortunately for me, they picked six of the first seven people. After about two and half hours, I was sent home. Whew.... as relieved as I was, my curiosity was peaked and I wonder what the outcome of the trial was. I guess I need to get the paper this week.
I was a bit nervous. Courtrooms do that to me. I guess it is the power of the people that work there. I am scared that they might find something that I am doing wrong. After waiting for an hour, we watched a video on what it means to be a juror and the process you need to go through to get selected. We were then taken to a courtroom to wait for the judge, plaintiff, and defendant to get ready. We were then moved to another courtroom to be questioned. The judge, plaintiff, and the defendant began to ask us questions and asked us to introduce ourselves to make sure we would not be biased and could do our civic duty. It turns out several people knew the defendant and were very aware of the situation he was being charged of. And if I might add, I got the definite impression that they didn't like the guy and if given enough info would have no problem declaring him guilty. They obviously didn't get picked to be on the jury. It turns out they only needed six people and there was twenty-six of us to pick from. I was number sixteen on the list and, fortunately for me, they picked six of the first seven people. After about two and half hours, I was sent home. Whew.... as relieved as I was, my curiosity was peaked and I wonder what the outcome of the trial was. I guess I need to get the paper this week.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Do you ever feel like...?
Do you ever feel like you have wasted a week of school?
With our weekend packed with conferences, gardening, canning, etc; I never got to do the prep work that I needed to get this week off on the right foot. Add to that, loosing a day to take my in-laws to Seattle and then spending the last two mornings at church to oversee things while my mother-in-law is away, I feel like it has been an unproductive week. Don't get me wrong, the kids are doing their work, minus Tuesday; they are doing their math, language, science, and history reading. It is just that for years I have taught them as a group and now they are quietly doing work on their own. Bonnie is now checking her own work so I just have to check in with her and make sure she is doing it properly. Every time I look over Brian's work it is done correctly. The only one who still needs me close by is Bryce. I guess I am scared I am missing something. I like the conversations I would have with the kids during our group study so that I knew they were understanding their history and science. Of course, Brian did inform me today that Bryce had to excuse himself from the room to add to the air some sulfur oxide. I guess he is learning something. lol
Sigh....Tomorrow I have jury duty. What a way to end this week, my friend, Amber, is coming over to sit with the kids so again there won't be any group time. This is where I wish I was in a co-op to help prod me along. Then again, I don't want to push us through the curriculum without understanding it. I would rather be slow and deliberate than fast and "what did we just learn?"
Signing off...got to can more tomatoes, clean house, and get busy.
With our weekend packed with conferences, gardening, canning, etc; I never got to do the prep work that I needed to get this week off on the right foot. Add to that, loosing a day to take my in-laws to Seattle and then spending the last two mornings at church to oversee things while my mother-in-law is away, I feel like it has been an unproductive week. Don't get me wrong, the kids are doing their work, minus Tuesday; they are doing their math, language, science, and history reading. It is just that for years I have taught them as a group and now they are quietly doing work on their own. Bonnie is now checking her own work so I just have to check in with her and make sure she is doing it properly. Every time I look over Brian's work it is done correctly. The only one who still needs me close by is Bryce. I guess I am scared I am missing something. I like the conversations I would have with the kids during our group study so that I knew they were understanding their history and science. Of course, Brian did inform me today that Bryce had to excuse himself from the room to add to the air some sulfur oxide. I guess he is learning something. lol
Sigh....Tomorrow I have jury duty. What a way to end this week, my friend, Amber, is coming over to sit with the kids so again there won't be any group time. This is where I wish I was in a co-op to help prod me along. Then again, I don't want to push us through the curriculum without understanding it. I would rather be slow and deliberate than fast and "what did we just learn?"
Signing off...got to can more tomatoes, clean house, and get busy.
Monday, October 3, 2011
Celebrating Another Birthday
Goodbye to single digits!
Bryce is 10 years old today!
It is so fun to surprise him. He showed me the other day what he wanted for his birthday at the store, but I didn't purchase it then. The next day Todd was in town and I asked him to pick it up for Bryce and hid it. All week Bryce has been trying to figure out when we can get to town to purchase his gift. All week I have been giving him excuses as to why we can't go. Imagine his surprise when he saw his gift at the table this morning.
School is getting off to a late start as Bryce builds his Lego Mine Sweeper.
If you are wondering why there aren't any pictures or haven't been any pictures for awhile; well, it is because my battery pack is dead. Tell me, what is the use of buying rechargeable batteries when they won't recharge? I have ordered some new battery packs, but they have not arrived yet. When they get here I will have to take LOTS of pictures.
Bryce is 10 years old today!
It is so fun to surprise him. He showed me the other day what he wanted for his birthday at the store, but I didn't purchase it then. The next day Todd was in town and I asked him to pick it up for Bryce and hid it. All week Bryce has been trying to figure out when we can get to town to purchase his gift. All week I have been giving him excuses as to why we can't go. Imagine his surprise when he saw his gift at the table this morning.
School is getting off to a late start as Bryce builds his Lego Mine Sweeper.
If you are wondering why there aren't any pictures or haven't been any pictures for awhile; well, it is because my battery pack is dead. Tell me, what is the use of buying rechargeable batteries when they won't recharge? I have ordered some new battery packs, but they have not arrived yet. When they get here I will have to take LOTS of pictures.
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