Hard Tack? What's That?

We got back into the groove of school this week after the move. We left off with Christopher Columbus and decided to do some review and projects this week to kick-off the school week.

We made compasses, are reading Columbus by D'Aulaire and today we made hard tack, what's that? It was a staple on Christopher Columbus' journeys to the New World. Actually, the recipe we made wasn't that bad. Maybe I was just hungry. We decided to make it a science project too. We stuck toothpicks in all of the squares except for one. We wanted to see what would happen. We made some hypothesis as to what we thought would happen. And then we watched. We were right! The reason you poke holes in the squares is to prevent them from rising. Personally, I liked it better risen. I'm not sure why they didn't want it to rise. Caleb had some very descriptive words about his hard tack experience (right side)! I hope the picture is readable. Click on the picture and you can see a larger size of it.

We also learned that the book we're reading is a biography, so the boys' each wrote a biography paragraph. Caleb chose to write one about his mommy. Micah chose to write one about his baby brother, Isaac. Writing is a struggle for my boys, but I think they turned out well.

We also learned that CC's home country is a pennisula. It's also my birth country. And then we searched for other pennisula's on the world map. While we were there, we looked for another landform, the island.

We are moved and back on line!

We are officially moved in to our new home and got back on line this past Monday. We were without internet for 12 days which seemed like an eternity for me and John.

It's been a wild ride filled with much laughter and many tears! I hope you enjoy reading about our journey this past month.

The kids have made a few neighborhood friends. I've found my way to the local Walmart. I got my hair cut locally, and so did Isaac. His first professional hair cut! The other two were by me. He did really well.

We have a Chik-Fil-A next to Walmart. Not good for the budget or the figure, but really exciting. I think I am about 7 minutes from Walmart. Much better than my 25 minutes, especially if you forgot something that was or wasn't on the list.

The school room and the kitchen are fully unpacked, but as for everything else ... well, let's just say everyone has a bed to sleep in and we can find our clothes, at least the ones we packed in the suitcase. But, the garage currently does not have vehicles in it due to the amount of boxes that are still waiting to be unpacked.

At my last count, I have unpacked 102 boxes. Yes, I am counting the boxes. I had plans to do the counting as they went on the truck, but everyone was too quick for me to keep up.

Thanks for your prayers! Keep them coming!

And we miss all of you more than you can imagine!

Isaac Turns 2!

I'm not sure Isaac realized how special his birthday was. But it was very special! It was the first grandchild birthday where ALMOST all of the grandparents were in attendance. Grandma couldn't be there, but she's coming for Thanksgiving!

Isaac loves Thomas the Tank Engine, so that set the theme. I made a triple batch cake with a triple batch of frosting. And there were 3 half gallons of ice cream just to make sure everyone got their favorite.

Isaac made out like a bandit in the present department. I think all the other kids were taking note of how many gifts come when you live near your grandparents. :o)

I can't believe my baby is 2 years old. He still doesn't say anything but momma and "hmm, hmm" which translates to a train sound. He loves books -- all books! And he loves to play "where's Issac?" He'll even cover his eyes right in front of you, as if you can't see his whole body, and wait for you to say "where's Isaac?"