March is Most Welcome

Oh, February. 

The month when all homeschooling parents simultaneously let out a giant, collective sigh.

Short dreary days, restless children cooped up in the house, mud stains all over the floor.  Discarded gloves, hats, and coats by wet boots on the porch.  We're lethargic and sluggish, somewhat suffering from Seasonal Affective Disorder, and craving some sunlight on our skin.

Trudging through math lessons and flashcards, wondering if we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel soon.  Are we halfway through with the book yet?

We're craving something delightful, but even tea and poetry doesn't feel the same when it's raining outside.

Catalogs of new materials promising a better school year and happy students start arriving in the mail.  I can't look at these yet as we still have three solid months left of this school year.

Three. Solid. Months.

By the end of February, I'm feeling a little hopeful.  The sun is out more frequently now, and the coats are stuffed back into the closet.  While I'm dreading allergy season, it's a welcome relief to see eager leaf buds, azaleas in bloom, and tiny lettuces popping up through the dirt in my garden.  There are even some fragrant orange blossoms on the tree that lived through the freeze.

We've past the halfway mark of the math book.  We have only 12 history lessons left!

I find relief in a new mug filled with hot tea and a good book that promises peace in my heart by trusting in God's plan for our family.  The day stays busy and loud but we take time to pray and eat, gather and separate, work and play.

Lent is beginning only today, but is welcome because we must fast before we can feast.

February is the Lent of my school year.  It's the fast, the dark night when I'm blinded to the progress of my students.  We're naturally all a little more solemn, a little less celebratory.  Some days we trudge along to the routine, happy to have something to cling to when otherwise we might just stay in bed all day.  But we are learning; there is inner growth.

I've learned that February comes, but it also goes.  Knowing that certain phases in life are just that- a phase- can sometimes be the only consolation during those dark nights.  Sometimes there's no lesson other than just to be still and wait.

They're doing their lessons, practicing their piano, and reading their books.  They can't see the little bits of growth that happen every day, but I pray they will recognize it in May.  When they check 8 month's worth of progress pages of their handwriting books, or when they go back into their drawing notebooks and laugh at how they drew a knight last summer.  When they see a workbook filled with completed math tests, or a notebook with sketches and writings about their favorite saints.

Or when he can read an entire book outloud to me.

As much as I pray to enjoy the moments placed before me every day, in February I look ahead.  I practice patience and contentment and beg God to get me through.

Welcome, March 1.  You're so very welcomed in my home!

Mid- January

Well, we are back into the swing of life around here.  We had an unplanned "soft start" to school last week but it was definitely for the best for everyone!  I wasn't entirely organized with my spring semester planning and we had a couple of kinks thrown into the plan (of course).  A giant storm a week or so ago killed my printer!  At first it wouldn't even come on, but after some encouragement, it turned on.  But it won't print wirelessly now, only if I plug it in.  So... not messed up enough to warrant a new purchase but just messed up to be incredibly annoying!  At least my new computer is lightweight and has holds enough battery power for me to haul it upstairs EVERY TIME I need to print something.  I know, poor me!

Once I finally got the printer to work, something else spazzed out, but I can't even remember what it was now.  I find many of my days are like that- if it's not one thing, it's something else.  I get really frustrated if I can't make it work out, but I've learned that in the moment I have to stop and recognize that I'm losing my temper at the lifeless printer (or whatever it is at that moment), and recognize that the feelings will pass.  It took  only10 years of preaching it to my kids for me to sort of pick up on it; maybe now I can actually begin embody the virtue of temperance!

We've spent our days reading along on our 31-Day Challenge, practicing piano (because Luke and Jack are playing now), doing our usual school work, enjoying the freezing cold weather one day and the spring-like weather the next (because Texas), and adoring baby Theo.  He's 3 months old now, smiling at everyone, trying to roll over, and cooing up a storm. He is adorable.

I was considering taking up my doula work again.  I thought God was calling me to it through a series of random occurrences, but I never felt completely at peace once I made the decision to accept a repeat client in March.  I would like to "work" again in some capacity though, and I am praying for clarity about that.  God has placed in me a great desire to serve, and it benefits me and my family so much when I can take the opportunity to serve outside of our home. Ironically, it helps me find balance within our home.  In the mean time, I've accepted some volunteer work at our parish and am hoping that I can serve God and others through my talents in that way.  I also would love the opportunity to mentor young moms somehow, but I'm not quite sure how that would play out. 

I am just really happy right now.

Thursday

Math patterns. 

This is why I don't enjoy reading aloud.  Everyone want to next to me.  Not on me, but next to me, and they don't understand that I have only two sides.  So they argue and kick, someone pouts, and someone is unhappy.  Guess who that one is in this photo...

Waiting for Luke to finish up his ukulele lesson.  Beth usually has her piano lesson at the same time but today her teacher was out of town.  We walked around the parking lot checking puddles for interesting things.  Jack rescued a lady bug from drowning and nearly caught a lizard.  Beth squashed some crawfish chimneys and found the "back door" to a couple of them.  Caeli mostly held my hand and copied what everyone else was doing.

Tonight we went for a walk after dinner.  Beth has a new-to-her bike and Ryan and I discovered that walks are much more pleasant now that we can trust the three big kids to not ride away, fall in a ditch, or get hit by a car!  It's been raining so much that plenty of ditches were full of running water, so of course we let them climb down and check it out.

We also foraged for wild blackberries, brought them home, washed, and ate.  They were tart!

January (and February 2nd!) photos

An epiphany party which included a procession of canned goods to a nativity scene, indoor candles (because it was raining outside), a gift exchange, a cookie contest (we won second place!), and the revealing of our "advent angel"- our secret friend who had prayed for us during advent!

A drawer full of eraser-less pencils, because of an orally-fixated 5-year-old. 

Brothers learning to read together.

Our new "morning time" allows for some free-play with clay while I read shared lessons to everyone. 

A Christmas present from MawMaw and PawPaw that has already given us hours upon hours of use and fun.

Late night smores with old friends.

Regular library and park afternoons, taking advantage of a beautiful Texas "winter."

A gift basket I assembled with donations from two friends.  I crocheted the mustard and gray blanket, purchased the basket and a handful of "tried and true" mommy and baby items, which raised $200 at a silent auction for our co-op.

Impromptu soccer practice during music lessons at our new music studio.  Beth and Luke attend weekly lessons (piano and ukulele, respectively) while Jack, Caeli, and I play soccer in the parking lot.

"Mommy, take a picture of the puzzle.  It's not coming apart when I pick it up!"

The ordination mass of our new Bishop Steven Lopes at our diocesan co-cathedral.  After a day of celebration, the 7 pm mass went beautifully with our worn-out crew!

Remarks from Bishop Lopes at the end of mass, not aired on EWTN due to timing.   I have no doubt he will bring beloved Roman tradition and structure into our beautiful, young ordinariate! 

The End of the Time Known as Rest Time

We've entered a new phase in our lives.  The phase where not only do the big ones not sleep, but apparently no longer need rest either.  The beautiful quiet time that has kept me sane over the past 9 years has come to an end, and I've tried with all my might to keep it going but I can see there's no fighting it any longer.

Rest time is over.

It started with Beth last year.  She didn't need to rest, so she would sometimes do some quiet school work on her own.  She took a lot of initiative and picked up books or work that she knew she'd need to do and she'd try to get ahead.  I'd have been a fool to not allow that!  So I allowed her to have quiet time in the school room while her brothers had to stay in their room.

But they weren't really quiet either.  They like their radio on, and despite my pleas to keep it down, it would slowly get louder and louder.  And if I was in the kitchen or living room, I could hear it through the ceiling.  Or I could hear them jumping off beds, thudding the floor with such force that the chandelier in the dining room would sway.  But, it was rest time- and even though they weren't resting much, I was.  And I didn't want to (or couldn't!) get up from whatever it is I was doing, so I let it go.  Because who is going to get out of bed when napping with a sweet warm baby?

Fast forward to now.  Caeli takes a predictable nap around 12:30 pm, and I try to coordinate her nap with their "rest time."  (It's in quotes now because you can clearly see there isn't much resting going on upstairs, even less now than last year.)  But sometimes she naps earlier, and she winds up accompanying me while the three big kids go upstairs.  So no more sewing during rest time.  No more blogging or writing.  And no more time-consuming tasks that, to me, just aren't worth even getting started with such generous help.  And definitely no more napping.

Now with a three students, one with whom I truly try to stay on-schedule, there's more lessons to be done.  Sometimes we have to school during rest time, which is always disappointing to me but it's a good time to work on something intensive if Caeli is napping.

And finally, we have places to go.  The library, lessons, play times, and errands.  We can't do those things in the morning anymore, and I truly detest running errands after 4 pm.  So that leaves 1-3 pm.  Rest time.

I'm sad to see it go!  Truly sad!  But in some ways, it's exciting because I feel like it's the next step in our lives.  Rest time has served me well over the years, but I accept that it's time to move on to the next phase!

Back to school

We started back to school on January 4, so on the 3rd we headed out for some fun family time at the park by Grandma and Grandpa's new house.  It has an awesome zip-line thingie that the kids loved!  And Caeli is a little too brave at the top of these playsets designed for big kids!

August

Sunday was my 33rd birthday.  And on my birthday, I always get very sentimental and resolute.  I think part of it is the time of year when a new school year is approaching (or, in our case, has already begun) and shiny new notebooks and fresh pencils always make me feel like I'm about to start something over again.

Having my birthday at this time of year has always been a way to make a "fresh start" for me.  I was always (always!) super excited about going to school on the first day and meeting the new kids- hoping to finally find a best girl friend or find the "right" boy who could be my highschool sweetheart (thankfully God had other plans for me!).  I loved shopping for new clothes, the hot pavement during summer band, and getting back into a routine again.

As an adult, I've had to make my own "fresh start" days throughout the year, and up until now the only times that really made sense were new years and lent.  But now that we have school-aged children, August has jumped out at me as, once again, a time for me to sort of start over.  Check on former resolutions and make new ones that are applicable to my life now.  God has ordered my life so that our "busy season" starts October, so August is a good time to form new habits before life gets crazy.

As my birthday passes and school days resume, the pools close down and extracurricular activities begin again, it's time to get back into the months of "normal" life.  As a creature that loves rhythm and predictability, this makes me SO happy.  My days are a little ordered right now: wake-eat-school-lunch-rest-free time-chores-dinner.  But as a gift to myself this year, I hope to add some self-care in this year.  Early morning workouts, leisurely rest with my sister-friends, and hobbies that unite me to the creative nature of our Lord.  These things will, hopefully and ideally, bring me peace and therefore help me to be a more attentive wife, mother, and teacher.

I just finished plowing through Teaching From Rest, and it was probably the best thing I've done for myself lately.  I enjoy reading Mackenzie's colloquial writing; it's easy to push through it when there's lots of noise and distractions around me. ;-)  It was so encouraging to me, in so many ways, and yesterday might have been our best morning of homeschooling yet because I was able to re-focus on my true goal of our schoolwork: virtue.  I remembered, what good am I doing if I yell at them for dawdling when I could probably just as easily make it memorable teaching moment if I went up to them and gently whispered in their ear?  How is me YELLING at them setting the example of VIRTUE when it's the exact opposite of how I want them to treat each other?  And ironically, Beth read about being a hypocrite in bible history... 

For so long, I feel like I've shunned being good to myself.  I've been a martyr of sorts, thinking that being scrupulous is a "better" sin.  It's not.  It's still a sin. 

So I hope to take better care of myself now.  To honor my body as a temple of the Holy Spirit by taking care of it, including gently telling my kids no when they want to eat my food (because I need nourishment too). To not feel bad about myself when I feel left out of friendships or conversations, but instead to leave my comfort zone and jump in.  To forgive myself when I fail to live up to my high standards.  To leave room in our schedule for peace and quiet instead of being rushed and frantic, and to not feel guilty for taking some personal time off.


I know, it seems like I'm always making resolutions.  At least, it always feels that way to me!  But I love the challenge, and I love that it gives me a new chance to reconnect with the Lord using knowledge that is new to me.  I do see personal growth in myself- at least I see the opportunity for growth!  I just hope that when it's all said and done, and God asks me what I did with my life, I can at least tell him I tried my absolute best.

7 Quick Takes: Our 2015-2016 School Year

It's Friday!  We start our 2015-2016 school year in three days!  Aside from not quite having all of my books here yet (at least they're ordered!), I feel pretty ready thanks to our new schedule!

---1---

New schedule?  Well, after hearing Sarah MacKenzie and Pam Barnhill's webinar about block scheduling, I made up my own schedules on Word and decided to go for it in my own way.  What does this mean for us?

It means instead of doing a little bit of every subject each day, we are doing a lot of only several non-core subjects for about six weeks at a time.  Math, handwriting, and English will have daily lessons all year!  This is very different from my previous years of planning, in which I planned only three large terms, and worked on the same books for most of the year.  I found that Beth would lose steam when we did it the proper Charlotte Mason way of consuming only tiny chunks of information at a time.  And I'm a total believer in doing what works best, so we are moving away from that idea and we will see how this one goes!

We have also developed some good morning habits, and I hope we can maintain those for awhile.  After breakfast- we clean up, say morning prayers at our family altar, read a story from the children's bible, have quiet individual prayer for a couple of minutes, and then listen to and sing a hymn (I use The Cathedral Singers "Catholic Latin Classics," a free album on Amazon Prime, it's much less awkward  to me than singing alone unaccompanied).  Then they will get a small break while I pull myself together (read that as I will talk myself into tackling another day with a cheerful heart), and then we will start school.  This is my plan.  Will it happen like this every day?  Absolutely not, I know that.  But we will strive for the ideal.

---2---

I'm also pulling back a little more from Mater Amabilis, the free online Catholic Charlotte Mason-inspired curriculum we have mostly used in the past.  I just needed to streamline a few things, like combining grammar/phonics/copywork into one neat little book from Catholic Heritage Curricula (CHC for short).  All three kids will be using CHC phonics programs, including Little Stories for Little Folks (to learn how to read since 100 Easy Lessons isn't working well for Luke).  I'm looking forward to seeing how it works in our family, and I'm praying it makes our day a little smoother.  Beth will also be using CHC geography since she loved it so much at co-op last year, and we do our own history lessons with A Child's History of the World- which will alternate terms with Apologia's science.  I think everything else is taken from Mater Amabilis for Beth, and while the boys are in younger grades, I'm sure they will listen on and participate with some of Beth's lessons to a certain extent.

---3---

We share several subjects as a family: history, science, poetry, music and artist study, and some religion.  The boys are sharing family geography and literature (though I'm sure they'll listen on to Beth's literature as well).  Each child is using Faith and Life for catechism at their own level (well, Beth is doing 4th grade in that), and Luke will be preparing for his First Holy Communion next spring!  Both boys will hopefully learn to read at their own pace, and we will all share saint stories and advent/lent preparations.  Since we pretty naturally live a rich liturgical year at home, and since our parish hosts many amazing liturgical feasts throughout the years, I don't feel the need to hyper-focus on that for "school" time.  It will continue to be part of our daily life!

---4---

We will be participating in our beloved co-op again this year!  The kids are already super-excited about seeing their friends soon.  This year, Beth will have Bible History (which I'm terribly excited about because she's very passionate about reading the bible!), Art/Music, Ballet, and Junior Master Gardening.  Luke's class will be using Classically Catholic Memory (Beta Year), and Jack will be reading Tomie dePaola books, learning geography and math from me, religion studies, and play time/nature walks.  I'm so very nervous about Caeli being in the nursery for an hour- especially now that she's usually napping at 10 am every day.  I will probably try to have her nap on my back in the Ergo, but I suppose we will have to wait and see what actually happens in six weeks!

---5---

Caeli.  What am I going to do?  What are your best tips for teaching three children WHILE keeping a toddler alive and entertained?  I thought to pull out our old high chair.  She loves sitting in it and it might actually contain her for 30 minutes while I do reading lessons?  We are also utilizing more audiobooks this year, for history and some of Beth's geography, because I don't see how else I can do this!

---6---

We haven't decided what extracurricular activities we will do yet.  Ryan and I are very tempted to take a semester off from soccer (shhh, don't tell Luke- we're undecided!) because we will be traveling most weekends in September, and Ryan would actually like to go to an Aggie tailgate this year!  I think we're burned out from spending our Saturdays at the soccer field, and the fall semester is always SO hot...

Beth and Luke have been taking piano lessons all summer, and we will continue those.  I'd love to get Beth back into an art class of some sort, and Jack is begging to take gymnastics.  Maybe we can find an (air-conditioned) homeschool gymnastics class?  Air-conditioned soccer?! All three will also participate in their girls and boys clubs again this year, and we will most likely join 4H so we can start earning some college scholarship money!

---7---

Am I exhausted yet?  Not really.  Planning their schedules this way (instead of mapping out a day-to-day lesson plan) has been a cinch.  I still have to plan my co-op class and still have to figure out exactly how to use the LSFLF CHC readers, but I'm cautiously optimistic about everything.  I also know enough now that the fall semester is easier to tackle than the long, dark, rainy spring semester.  But I've planned my days of rest throughout the school year, and intend to use each of them in a truly meaningful way.  In fact, I plan to convince Ryan that I will need at least one night alone at the beach in February or March. ;-)

(Please don't feel behind in your own planning because I've posted this and have this part figured out.  I've learned that my planning doesn't have to be perfect- only that I have to participate in God's plan for our family, show up for the job, but then leave room for the Holy Spirit to guide us and inspire us.  It's very possible all of this will be thrown out the window sooner than later!  We are starting school early this year because we plan to take a two-week road trip in the fall, and I wanted to complete some school work before we left.  So I beg you, don't feel behind or bad, but I hope my resources and planning ideas might inspire you in your home school!)

7 Quick Takes: All About Rest

1. Two more weeks of summertime for us.  It's flown by, but luckily this week has been the first week with nothing big on my "to-do" list and we've been able to just chill at the pool, run errands at our leisure, watch movies in a cool darkened living room, casually read, and go to bed pretty much whenever we're tired.  It's awesome.

2. I've been in a bit of a funk this week.  I think it's hormonal (isn't it always?) but I'm always attacked with the same feeling that I'm only worth what I can do.  That I'm only liked because of what I offer, and when I step back and stop offering then I stop being worthwhile.  And even though I'm assured otherwise, and even though I know it's just Satan whispering lies and twisting reality into something horrible, it's a few days in the month when I just sort of have to pull back from everything and shut down.  I hate it but I also know that it's my reality and this is how I have to cope. 

3. The good thing about "shutting down" everything is that we can just do whatever we want and need to do.  Hence, spending those last few "leisurely summer days" in the truest sense of the words. 

4. I've been exploring the idea of "leisure" as I read Souls at Rest by Charlotte Ostermann.  She explains that the only way we will achieve true leisure as God intended is by honoring the Sabbath.

"Sabbath is the cure for the ills caused by neglect of God, by distracting busyness, by impatient haste, by the assault of noise and by running away from who we truly are."

Distracting busyness?  Assault of noise?  Didn't I recently complain of noise and being too busy?  Clearly I need me some Sabbath.

"God created this day of rest for you, for human beings, so to find out what makes it holy, we must look at what makes people whole."

What makes me whole?  Who am I, truly?  God knows my life, my virtue, my vices.  He already knows.  Yet I still find it hard to feel loved and accepted for me, just the way I am. 

Maybe through reading this book I'll have a better understanding of Sabbath rest, and I'll be able to come to know rest the way God intends for me.  Maybe that will help.  I know that I don't keep the Sabbath holy in the way that I probably should, because honestly it would add more work to the other days of the week, and that is daunting to me.

5. One thing I do know is that I am loved unconditionally by this man.  And through his love I know that God loves me.  I posted on Instagram, " I am much loved by God through my husband.  Our marriage has helped me understand just how much our Heavenly Father loves me, and Ryan reflects His love to me and our children daily." 

6. I'm wrapping up my lesson planning (more like "rough outline") of our 2015-2016, and I hope to do a more thorough post on it later.  Books, papers, calendars and schedules have been littering my desk for a week now.  With wisdom gleaned from podcasts, books, and blogs, I have scheduled six terms using a block schedule.  Not very Charlotte Mason of me, but I'm having to adapt to three school-aged children and one very busy toddler!  I have great hopes that this year will go well with the new schedule in place; it will allow us to do less subjects daily but cover more material through the year.  Multum non multa, right?

7. I've pre-ordered Sarah Mackenzie's Teaching From Rest and can't wait to read it, as I just adore her and everything she does.  She always breathes new life into my day and her podcasts are always so inspiring!  I know she will have many new thoughts and ideas for me to ponder!  Preemeptively, I'm also building in a time of rest for me, too, to re-evaluate life and plans as needed and bring it all together.  A "teacher work day," of sorts- but hopefully at a coffee shop with my laptop and some encouraging books. This idea was from an amazing podcast, but I have no idea when I listened to it and can't figure out which podcast it was from!  Sorry!  It's not a new idea but it will be new for me.

School's Out!

I battled an illness for about three weeks in May, but when I finally felt better I kicked it into high gear so we could finish up school!  It provides great relief to me to "officially" end school and declare that we are DONE!  Even though we will be continuing with math for probably most of the summer, I feel like I can close that folder in my head and move on to thinking about the pool, summer drinks, and next year's plan (which I actually enjoy!).

I asked Beth a few questions to gauge how the year went in her mind and I wanted to share some of her answers!

1. What was your favorite subject? Math
2. What was your favorite part of ancient history?  The stone age people
3. What was your favorite field trip?  The aquarium
4. What are you most proud of learning? Multiplication, 10 x 5= 50
5. What are you most excited about for summer time?  Swimming!

Luke's year was pretty tame for a kindergartener.  He's very close to reading, and can sound out a few words but he's lacking confidence to just sort of take it over.  But boy, this kid is also an artist.  And a mathematician!  We will work on building confidence over the summer and I think he needs some new building sets!  (I'm considering venturing into the world of Legos...)

Jack will be in kindergarten next year and I'll admit I'm a little nervous about teaching three in the fall!  But for both of the boys, at this age I am just not concerned with having them sit and "do school" for three hours a day.  It's much more important to me to instill in them a love of reading (by reading to them!), an inquiring mind, appropriate social skills, and most importantly- virtue.

I hope to take a slightly different approach to our lessons in the fall.  I'm hoping that Caeli will be a little more compliant in letting me sit down to read to everyone (now she immediately climbs into my lap, kicks everyone else away, and wants to nurse), and I hope to put together some toddler busy bags for her to play with when I need her to play alone.  (Realistically I know this probably will rarely happen.  #fourthtimemomwisdom)  Beth will be doing some more work on the computer, we will be adding Shakespeare to our literature (!), and I want to plan out more official field trips and community service.  I'm considering joing 4H, we will stay in our co-op, and Beth and Luke are also starting piano lessons, finally!  I'm so excited to start planning our fall!

A Trip to the Aquarium

I organized a field trip for our homeschool group to visit the local aquarium.  I didn't think it would be that big of an endeavor but it sort of was!  We went a couple of years ago and I really wanted to go again- and no one else wanted to organize it- so I volunteered!  The aquarium gave us a great rate for an all-day pass that gave us unlimited access to the rides and aquarium so it was hard to pass up this opportunity.  We had over 50 kids and their parents attend!

 

Before we started exploring, the kids had a little class prepared for them by some of the aquarium workers.  Their class was jungle-themed.  Basically they got to get close to a parrot!

 We explored the museum and saw one of their resident white tigers.  Ryan noticed that every time an aquarium employee walked by, the tiger got up and started pacing at the window.

 

Next we visited the sting rays, where we could stick our hands in and "pet" them.  Everyone was pretty timid at first but I think Luke was able to put his hands on one!  (A couple of months ago they also got to pet a shark at one of our museum field trip days- even Jack stuck his hand in and touched it!)

 

We went to lunch upstairs at the restaurant, where the kids sat a table with friends and the adults sat at a table alone.  We were right next to the ceiling-high aquarium, and we all enjoyed watching the fish and learning about them from our waitress.

Finally we went outside for the train, carousel, and this thing that took them up in the air and dropped them gradually, bit by bit, back down again.  It wasn't one huge drop which is what I initially was worried about!  Since we had unlimited passes they went on it a couple of times.  Jack even went!

The weather was cold, gray, and dreary, so we didn't stay outside as long as we did a few years ago, but the kids still had a great time.  I know they had a great time when they look like this on the ride home. :-)

Renaissance Festival

The local Renaissance Festival hosts "school days" during the week during which they tame down the bawdy acts and make the whole thing a little more kid-friendly.  We heard it was a fun family activity, so Ryan took a day off and we all went together!

One rainy, cold day while we were dating, Ryan and I went together.  I don't remember why we decided to go, but it was our first time and we were poor college students, so I remember not having a lot of fun!  Upon walking in, a man with an accent called out to Ryan (who was wearing a visor), "Did you pay full price for that half cap?!"  Ryan still says that anytime I put on a visor.  That's my biggest memory from that day, probably 11 or 12 years ago!

I think it's fun that over a decade later, we went back with four children and a little money in our pocket this time.  I think we made up for not spending any before!  The first thing we all did when we walked in was all got our faces painted!

After that we walked around a bit while we made a plan.  We knew we had to see the joust, and we wanted to hit up a few booths for demonstrations.  The first thing we saw was a blacksmith.  The kids were pretty interested in watching him make a tool for turning steaks on a grill.

Almost right after that was the joust.  We wanted to get there early enough to get a seat in the front. 

Jack chose to have a dolphin painted on his face!

Luke kept asking if they were really hurting each other.  As you can imagine, this was his favorite part of the day!

Luke was enamored with all of the knights he kept seeing.  Statues, men dressed as knights, swords and chainmaille in the shops.  He kept asking if everything was real.  We stopped to take lots of pictures.

In this shop, the man demonstrated how sharp his sword was- he said it could cut a person in half! (I don't think the kids picked up on that delightful tidbit.)  Yet it was very light-weight- he let Luke "hold" it!

They started begging to play games so we found some bows and arrows to shoot.  The kids had practiced with the bows and arrows that PawPaw had made for them over the summer, so they looked like professionals in my opinion.

The second show we saw was a man who showcased his skills with a whip, then because that wasn't impressive enough he also lit it on fire!  We didn't get an up-front seat for this act... Which, halfway into the show, I realized I was completely okay with that!

At this point we stopped to have lunch.  We had packed a lunch and left it in the car, so Ryan went to grab it while the rest of us slowly meandered to a table.  Everyone was getting pretty tired but we hadn't accomplished nearly everything yet!  But after lunch it started to rain!  Luckily we had our umbrella and stood in a covered area for about 15 minutes until it passed.  While it got everything muddy, I think a lot of people left at this time because the place seemed to clear out after the rain.  We found some more games for the kids, shopped around for cheap souvenirs, then left for home around 3:00.

Everyone really enjoyed themselves!  I am sure we'll go back next year.  Ryan really wants to dress up, too, so if you see any Robin Hood men's costumes on sale, let me know!