Maker's Space

At the Children's Museum there is a Maker's Space for children 8 years old and older.  Now that Glen is old enough, Grace, Glen and I went to the maker's space.

 I sat in the corner and read my book while Glen and Grace made stop motion movies in their movie light boxes.  Glen made a great movie about a car crash.

 Then both Grace and Glen were trained on the sewing machine.  Grace made a zipper pouch while Glen made a pocket.  They were so proud of their accomplishments.

I can not wait to go there more often.  This is a great place for the kids to explore different skills.

Glen is 8

Glen, my sweet, contemplative, cuddly boy is now 8 years old!

He wanted a brownie for his cake.  So he got a brownie with chocolate cool whip on top.

Not much happened as far as a celebration.  We had a meal of your choice with a desert of your choice.  And of course you got the special red plate because it was your birthday.

 Glen is in 2nd grade.  He is in Cub scouts.  He is also taking his first year of piano lessons.  He loves Minecraft, Zelda, and many other games.

Carol and Amy's present for Glen was a golden ticket to go see Charlie and the Chocolate Factory at Broadway High School.  They also got him the book and a chocolate bar.  We read the book before we went to the musical.  Then we enjoyed the musical.

 Glen had many of the characters sign his book after the play.  Glen was star struck with all of the actors.

 And they got a picture with Veruca Salt.

It was a really great time.

1. How old are you? 8

2. Who is your best friend?  Adam and Dean

3. What is your favorite thing to do?  Play in my room

4. What is your favorite color?  Red

5. What is your favorite food? Pizza

6. What do you like to do with your family?  Play outside with Grace 

7. What is your favorite toy? Legos

8. What do you want to be when you grow up? A builder

9. What makes you happy? His stuffed cat 

10.  What makes you sad?  Having to leave his toys for the day

11.  What is your favorite show to watch? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

12.  What is your favorite book? Minecraft

13.  What do you love to learn about? Math

14.  What is the best part of your birthday? Cake

15.  Where do you like to go?  Arkansas

16.  Who was your teacher?  Mrs. Clanton and Mrs. Ours

17.  What is your favorite treat? Rice cakes

18.  What do you think about right before you fall asleep? Reading  

19.  If you could meet anyone famous, who would it be?  George Washington

20.  What was your favorite birthday present?  Harry Potter Legos

Christmas in Arkansas

We had the joy of spending Christmas 2019 in West Memphis, Arkansas with Matt's family.  There are so many things that we love to do when we visit there.  One of those things is to see the Peabody Ducks at the Peabody Hotel.  This year when we went, we took along Ellie.

  The kids love the decorations.  They also love seeing the ducks come from the elevator, down the red carpet, and into the fountain.

  I made sure to read John Philip Duck to the kids while we were on vacation since it is all about the Peabody Ducks at the Peabody Hotel.

 After seeing the ducks we had a great time seeing all of the duck items that you can get from the gift shop.  They have everything that you can imagine, and it all has ducks on it!

 There are even duck prints all up and down the sidewalk outside of the hotel.  Each has a name of an actor or actress.  This was one name that I recognized so the kids compared their feet to the duck feet.  They are not smiling well because the sun was bright and in their eyes.

 Once we got home, the kids all decorated a part of a gingerbread village.  Glen made the gingerbread house.  Grace made a gingerbread train, and Ellie made a gingerbread dog house.  They were all so unique and each had fun working on their own project.

 This year we had the joy to also go to the zoo lights in West Memphis.  The local zoo puts up a great lighting display throughout the zoo.  Then they open up the zoo in the evening to see the display and maybe even some animals!

 When we walked into the zoo they even had fake snow blowing on us as we entered.  There was also a laser light show being played on the walls of the buildings in the entry way.

 So many fun lights to see like castles, gingerbread houses, and many other things.

 We also got to go into some of the buildings to do experiments.  Here Grace is a walrus and Glen is an explorer.

 Here Grace is the explorer and Glen is the walrus.

  At the reptile house, Grace fell in love with the biggest snake that they had in the building.  It was decided quickly that animal would NOT become a pet in our house...EVER!  We did see some great lizards, snakes, bats, and many other animals.

 The three older grandkids (Jackson did not join us on this adventure)

These three had so much fun together.  They even pulled out a board game or two.  I am so glad that they have so much fun together during holidays.

With Peabody Hotel, Zoo lights, and visiting and playing it was a great trip.  Grace and Glen did end up with fevers and did not feel well at the end but we still enjoyed time together.

Kids Christmas Party

 Every year we go to Matt's work place, S&P Global, and there is a Christmas party for the kids.

 They have snacks, and the kids run around a play with each other.  That is, until Santa comes.  When Santa comes all the kids sit and are anxiously awaiting the calling of their names.

 When their name is called, the kids go up and get their presents.  The parents get a nice photo with Santa.

Then the kids go back to their seats and tear into the gifts.  This year Glen got a robot that can record his voice and change how it sounds.  Grace got a bath and body beauty set (bath bombs, body gel, glitter, etc.)

Thank you S&P for thinking of the kids and making Christmas time special for them in this way.

Kitty

Glen's new favorite stuffed animal is this grey kitty that he got from church.  He named the cat Grissom because it reminds him of the cat that Grandma and Grandpa Daniels have that is also grey and named Grissom.  That cat has been slept with, loved on, and been to Arkansas with us already.  I think that it is already much loved.

Glen is an Angel

Our first Christmas at our new church and in the children's program Glen was able to be an angel.  He did such a great job.  Grace was a shepherd, but I did not get a picture of her.

Grace is 10

We have double digits in the family!  Grace is 10 years old now.

She is a sweet, smart, helpful girl who is always wanting to be on the move at all times.

 She is in violin, and piano, and learning the recorder at school.

Here Grace and Glen are putting together the Harry Potter Lego set.

 She is in Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and church club.

The first two scrunchies from the sewing machine she got from Amy and Carol.

Not to mention she loves playing with her friends and learning new skills like cooking, sewing, and crafting.

For birthday this year she got a Harry Potter Lego set, money, and a sewing machine which she has already started making many scrunchies.

1. How old are you? 10

2. Who is your best friend?  Andrew

3. What is your favorite thing to do?  Ride my bike

4. What is your favorite color?  Gold

5. What is your favorite food? Carbonarra

6. What do you like to do with your family?  Play games 

7. What is your favorite toy? Legos

8. What do you want to be when you grow up? An art teacher

9. What makes you happy? Looking at old photos

10.  What makes you sad?  When someone moves away

11.  What is your favorite show to watch? Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

12.  What is your favorite book? Harry Potter

13.  What do you love to learn about? Math

14.  What is the best part of your birthday? Getting presents

15.  Where do you like to go?  The children's museum

16.  Who was your teacher?  Mrs. Van Nortwick and Mrs. Rodriguez

17.  What is your favorite treat? Gummies

18.  What do you think about right before you fall asleep? What the next day will be like  

19.  If you could meet anyone famous, who would it be?  The characters from Frozen

20.  What was your favorite birthday present?  Sewing Machine

Holiday Parade

The holiday parade is always a fun time and this time it was not too cold.  It was not warm, but it was not freezing like it has been in the past years, so it was not bad to be with both of our children who were in it.

 Grace rode in the float for Smithland Sound (the morning choir at her school)  They sang a song and she played the drums in the float.

 Glen walked with his cub scout troop.  Matt walked with him as he gave out candy.

 Here are the guys at the end of the parade.

Suddenly Grace hopped off the float at the end so she could join the guys.
Holiday parades are so nice because we get to see so many people from our town that we do not see on a regular basis.  I hope that we can continue to be involved in this parade for many years to come.

Christmas Time

The tree is decorated, and the kids are happily playing Othello.  A great start to the Christmas season.

Turkey Trot

This year, three out of the four of us ran in the turkey trot.  Glen ran the gobble gobble kids dash around the court square.  Grace ran the 4 miler.  I walked the 4 miler with Amy.

 Grace did a fantastic job.  She was kind of scared to run on her own so we gave her a walkie talkie and she was able to tell us where she was and how she was doing during the race.

 Glen ran as fast as he could then sat with Matt and waited for Grace and I to finish the 4 miler.

 He looks so proud of himself, and she should be!

A picture of the three racers.

Night Time

Last Christmas Grace and Glen got a set of flashlights as a present.  One of them was a headlamp.  I did not know how it would be used at the time.  Grace and Glen each came up with the idea that it is perfect for bed time.  Then they can use both hands to hold the book and turn the pages as they read late at night.

Fire Safety Art Contest

In October there is always an art contest held by the Harrisonburg Fire Department where they choose a theme and kids can draw a poster on that theme.  This year's theme was "Not every hero wears a cape, plan and practice your escape."

 For the first year, Glen decided that he wanted to draw and participate in this contest.  He won second place for his age group.

 There were many gifts given and certificates.

 Grace also won for her age group.  She won first place.

In addition to the ribbons and prizes, we got a meal in the fire house with the fire fighters.  This is the third time that Grace has participated in this contest.  It is a wonderful event that helps teach the kids a little about fire safety.

Fall Pictures

If was a nice afternoon so we decided to enjoy our bench swing, 

 And have a fire in our fire pit.  Which meant we also needed to have smores.

 Another fall day Glen had just gotten this pink bear blanket to snuggle up with during the day.  He loved it so much that he went to bed with it on.  I thought it was so cute, I just needed a picture.  Then I took off the blanket while he was sleeping so that he would not get too warm.  But I still have the cute picture.

 Grace found this wall while we were going to Girl Scouts one day.  She stopped and said "mom, I match the wall!  Take a picture."  So I did.

Apple Orchard

Every year we also try to go to Winchester to meet up with some of our friends who live in Northern Virginia to pick apples and catch up, since we do not get to see them as often as we would wish.

 And each year I try to get a picture of the kids in this window.  I think the pictures turned out pretty well.

 This year the apple pickers were Vitaly, Violetta, Danny (their son), Matt, Grace, Glen and I.

 And to the shock of us all, the apple eaters were ALL of us!

 Glen, who does not like fruit.  Tried an apple and declared it good.

 Did he eat any more after that day?  Nope!  But he did eat that one and he said he liked it.  That was enough for me.

 It was not a long walk, but Grace still got a ride.

Glen was just happy to walk with his stick (sword) and fight off all villains along the way.  What would I do without him keeping me safe?