Homeschoolin'...

Some of you may be wondering how homeschooling is going. Well, here's a quick glimpse at a portion of our day...

First things first, we've got to get the little guy occupied so we can work. Here he is working on a shape & color sorter. He loves his "school toys" and he knows that he can only play with them during school hours.

Next we have Mason surrounded by his school books. I believe he's working on memorizing his list of prepositions here.

Here's Morgan working on his Spanish lesson.

Oh, and look! Maddox is finished! Is that a proud face, or what?!

Well, that about sums up our morning. Time for recess!

Michele

Happy Birthday, Pumpkin!!

My baby boy turned 3 today... and tired as I am, I simply cannot go to bed without posting at least one picture of his day.

...okay, maybe two.

My kids all get to choose their favorite dinner on their birthday... and needless to say, Maddox chose spaghetti! He even picked out his favorite noodles.

I am also happy to report that he went to bed tonight quite easily without his beloved paci. He realized today - just as I've been telling him for the last several months - that he doesn't like his paci anymore now that he's 3. As sad as that was for him (and believe me, it was torture for his mom), he has done very well. This technique truly works... it's been tested three times now here in the Force household.

Today was also our first day of homeschool - it went very well! I have some pictures to share with you, but it's been a long day... so those will have to wait!

Night-night,
Michele

A Day for Maddox...

Maddox turns 3 tomorrow... and he is very excited about it! Since Daddy has to work on his birthday, we decided to take him somewhere fun today. We asked him where he'd like to go and there was only ONE thing on his mind... the Bumper Boats at Heritage Square. When we were there the last time, that's the one thing we didn't get a chance to do and he's been talking about it non-stop ever since. So, off to the Bumper Boats we went!

He had a blast bouncing into Mason & Morgan!

When we were done with that, we had a few tickets left over for some other fun rides. I did ride the little train with him again... mistake. Those things are just not made with adult comfort in mind! (and Michael sure has fun with that camera).

...and then I said that's enough for me! So I coaxed Michael to ride the tea cups with him this time:

And Mason rode some little banana ride with him.

Then we went into a little shop and Maddox found some hats he liked!




And, after another fun afternoon, he fell asleep in the truck on the way home. I guess we done good!

This picture is actually quite special to me... you see, when you turn 3, you no longer like your paci anymore. Ask Mason & Morgan, they'll tell you... for some strange reason *wink wink*, on your 3rd birthday, your paci just doesn't taste as good as it did when you were 2. So, watching him peacefully sleeping here with his beloved paci is a bit of a sad moment for Mom. After tonight, we won't get to see him with that cute plug in his mouth anymore. My baby is officially growing up...

Here's another one we got just a couple days ago...

So precious...

Michele

The Treehouse

This is for you, Sara... and Nick, too, as I'm sure he wishes he could be here helping with it! The boys have been working hard, and here is how the treehouse looks as of today:


And here's a view of the back:

Looks like Michael has made himself comfortable on the front deck... he's lugged up this reclining chair, a table, and look - he even left his cell phone up there! You can also see the new shutters they just put up yesterday.

This is a view of the loft...

Here's the view out the back window:

...and out one side:

...and the other side:

...and finally, the view out the front!

Oh, and here's the way down...

I'm not sure what else they have planned for it, but I'm sure it will continue to be a work in progress!

Michele

My Own Postcard...

It was a GORGEOUS day today for our trip up Mt. Evans - the highest paved road in North America. We couldn't have asked for better. I took this photo on the way down... I thought it was gorgeous, so I turned it into a postcard!

I must tell you that this photo is COMPLETELY unretouched - aside from adding the border and the word. I think it's neat how at first glance, it looks like there's a big cattle skull at the bottom, but it's really just a tree stump. This was taken at Mount Goliath, which has a large collection of Colorado Bristlecone Pine trees... including one that is 1600 years old!

I'll show you more pics soon...
Michele

The Alpine Slide!

While we were at Heritage Square, we also took a trip up the sky lift and did the Alpine Slide a couple of times! What a blast! The boys enjoyed the ride up almost as much as the ride down...

It's hard to take a picture of Maddox while I have a death grip on him!

Michael and I took turns taking Maddox down the slide... I got him first.

Notice the sign behind Michael that says to watch out for critters on the track? They aren't kidding! We saw several squirrels scramble away from us.

Mason & Morgan eager to get started!


Here's a shot of part of the slide... Heritage Square is at the bottom.

And here are some shots of everyone at the bottom... except me, that is. I'm always the one holding the camera!




Maddox really liked the slide! He kept saying, "Let's do it ONE more time," as he held up one little finger. We told him that maybe we'll come back next week when Mamaw & Papaw are here... what d'ya say? Are you two up for it?! :)

Michele

A Day at Heritage Square

We are still finding new places to explore... this particular day, we checked out Heritage Square - a quaint little amusement park that is a paradise for 3 little boys! First up is the little train... Maddox saw it right away and being as I'm the smallest adult in our group, I get the pleasure of accompanying him on most of these rides since they require an adult to ride with the little ones... you'll see more of me later. This one wasn't too bad - he chose the cart in the front of the train which gave me some extra leg room. You should've seen the poor sap that got stuck in the back cart with his little girl!

The big boys chose to take the Tilt-a-Whirl for a spin... made me sick just watching them!

Okay, so it's my turn again... Maddox wanted to ride the hot air balloons. Seems tame enough...

Still doing okay...

Alright, I gotta get OFF this thing NOW!

Just to rub it in, Michael decided to ride the Scrambler with the big boys... Look at him smiling as if it's nothing! The operator kept making it go faster and faster and it didn't phase him one bit!

Fortunately, the Tea Cup operator let Morgan take Maddox on that one... I probably embarrassed them, though, because I was standing at the rail the whole time hollering for Morgan to take it easy... Michael finally told me to let them be. He said that Maddox looked bored and told Morgan, "Go for it!"... that's when Morgan let loose and really started spinning that thing. I cringed, but that's also when Maddox really started smiling. Obviously I know nothing when it comes to boys and their pleasure at feeling dizzy.

Then the big boys took a spin on this... thing. All I know is it went round and round really fast.

I must be getting old when I don't even care to ride the Ferris Wheel!!

The big boys were tall enough to ride the go-karts, but Maddox had to sit that one out.


I promised him one last ride of his choice, though... and he chose this. Once again, he had to be accompanied by an adult... and once again, Michael laughed as I squished myself into the pint-size cart.

Okay, I can do this... it's just a simple little roller coaster, right?!

...well, Good Lord, I had to hang on for all I was worth!

At least Maddox had a soft thing to lean against! He had a blast and wanted to do it, "just one more time!"... but Mama said we're done. Doggone that Mama.

Before we left, however, Mason & Morgan forked over a couple dollars of their own money so they could ride this same little roller coaster... they thought it looked like fun! I don't know how my expressions can be construed as "fun", but who am I to spoil it for them?!

There... at least Morgan is looking a little green!

What a fun, fun day! Tomorrow, I'll show you photos from our adventures on the Alpine Slide!! As for right now, I gotta go lay down... I got dizzy just reliving these photos.

Michele