Sunday, September 28, 2008

Happy Birthday Grace!

Here is my trip down memory lane.  I can't believe my little Gracie is 11. Somethings never change, though.  Those sweet, little cheeks are still there.  And, the great big smile!  


Isn't this the sweetest sleeping baby picture ever?

10 months old

2 years old with her first carved pumpkin!

4 years old- apple picking (and tasting!)

6th Birthday

7 years old next to her favorite rose bush at our house in Maplewood.

10 years old, with Hannah (2nd cousin), at our family reunion in Idyllwild

And, showing off the short, sassy, birthday haircut.
Happy 11th Birthday Grace!!!







Monday, September 22, 2008

Brisingr release party

It seems to have become a tradition for our family to go to the book store's midnight release party when a new book comes out.  This time it was Brisingr - the third book in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini.  Both Grace and Jared have really enjoyed Eragon and Eldest and were eagerly awaiting Brisingr.  Grace had put the book on her birthday wish list (her birthday is next Sunday, the 28th) and requested that we go to the party.  So, despite the long week we had had, it was off to Borders at 10 p.m. on Friday night!  The store had some activities planned to keep all the fans busy during the wait.  The evening started out with a Quest to find clues throughout the store.

Here are Grace and her friend, Kirsten, who teamed up for the quest, trying to make sense of the clues they have found.   And afterward, with there prizes.  They were 2nd place!  Great job, girls!


Grace won the costume contest for her Arya (an elf in the book) costume.  She won a signed book plate for her book!  She was so excited, and it made her birthday gift that much better!  Not only did she get the book, but a copy with a signed book plate!  

All night the kids received raffle tickets for the raffle at the end of the night.  Up for grabs were spots 1-4 in line to buy the book.  We have never gotten one of those spots before... but this time Jared got spot #4.  Here he is with the coveted silver wrist band!

And my happy readers!  They stayed up for a couple hours getting started on the new book before crashing for the night!  


Yawn!  I was sooo tired afterwards, I could hardly keep my eyes open to get the girls settled in the living room for the night.  I must be getting older, because staying out late didn't used to affect me like it does now.  

Field trip Friday!

We just completed Packet 1 (our first 5 weeks of school).  We had our conference on Thursday and Friday was our first field trip of the year.  We visited the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in Balboa Park.  We had a great time at the Tinkering Exhibit and learning about conserving electricity at the So Watt? exhibit.  Some highlights of the day

Justin pedals the rope-spitting bicycle.  Very cool!


Keva blocks... these are amazing.  You can build anything with them.  Precision cut planks, perfectly balanced.  Justin was enthralled.  The boys were very excited to get the tower all the way up to the pipe in the ceiling above.  Justin started this one, but had to enlist Jared's help when it got too tall for him to reach the top.

Grace works on a giant marble run.  It was fun to see how many different sounds you could get the marble to make by using different materials 


Other highlights:  
  • The shadow booth- freeze your shadow on the wall.  Really cool!
  • Paper airplane launcher
  • pin ball machine- you move around the obstacles to make your own pin ball maze.
  • video recorder that plays your actions back in fast and slow-motion, and backwards.  It was really fun to watch
  • And much, much, more... Kids are free till September 26th.

We also had the pleasure of hanging out with one of Grace's friends from TCA C'lectives.  And after they headed off for lunch, The Lopez clan showed up and we had fun with them for a while.   

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

I have always wondered what it would be like to have more children...



Today I got to experience life with 7 children.  We have the Lopez kids staying with us while Faith is off rescuing Roy from El Paso.  So, I had 6 home-schooled children in the house while my eldest was at school today.  It occurred to me, as we all sat around the dining room with school books open, that I had every grade from 3rd thru 8th represented in addition to my 9th grader off at school.  It was quite a lot of fun, and boy, am I tired! (not too tired to blog a bit however).  We successfully completed all our school work.  In record time, I might add.  It is amazing how fast the work can get done when one has the right incentive.  So , just what did the Taylor household look like today?  Here is a peek...

Seth thought it was quite funny to give Lily some "hair" while we were wrapping our Mummy


Here is the finished product!,  complete with caponic jars and mini organs.

after school work and some lunch, it was time for a game of clue

And some x-box


After a rousing game of tag in the yard, it was off to the park to expend some more of that energy (I wish I had a fraction of the combined energy that was in my house today)!


Mikaela took good care of Lily!  Even when she required a little "encouragement" for the walk home.

And, then of course there was dinner!
We all had a great day and I imagine they are all sleeping soundly as I type... Let's hope so, it will be another busy day tomorrow...

Friday, September 5, 2008

Growing up so fast...

I am 2 days late with this post, in honor of Madeline's 14th birthday.  I don't know how the years have passed by so quickly!  It seems as though every time I turn around she is another inch taller, a bit more independent, less a little girl, and more a young lady.  
Since I don't have past years posts to look back on, here is a look at Madeline through the years...


5 months old outside our first apartment

15 months - Christmas

4 years old- 1rst dance recital


7 years old - apple picking at our favorite apple orchard

10 years old- next to our tiger lilies at our house in New Jersey


12th birthday sleepover


8th grade promotion


September 3, 2008 - Happy 14th Birthday!!!