Mikey Socks

It is almost embarrassing to post this on the blog, but Abigail would be disappointed if she didn’t find it here! Abigail has loved Monster’s Inc since before she could walk! She loves all things Mikey and Lil’ Mikey! That includes her Mikey socks. She has had several pairs of these same socks and wears them until they have no toe or heal left. Now that her foot is almost the same size as mine, they don’t make Mikey socks in her size. So I took her size 12 kids socks and cut the toe and heal off, carefully preserving the Mikey face! I then cut apart a new pair of ladies white socks with bright green trim, yielding her a little more wear out of her favorite socks! She was delighted, her prayers at lunch included thanking God for her ‘creative Mom!’ Totally worth it!!!

Frankie Turns 26

Kirkwood family tradition requires that all family members prepare breakfast for the birthday girl. Frankie requested waffles and sausage served with chocolate milk! At about 6:30am we woke her up for breakfast and then we all crawled in her bed while she opened her family gifts! And yes, the dog, Padme', is on the bed along with the food!! Padme' has been trained to be Frankie's Service Dog, she is Frankie's security blanket when we leave the house. Both would be disappointed if she was left out of something as important as Frankie's birthday!!

Frankie's Day Continues

What Frankie didn’t know when she was eating waffles at 6:30 in the morning was that at 9am we were headed to the Terry’s to ‘drop off some things’, but really there was a secret surprise party waiting for her. The Terry’s and Duncan’s were waiting for us with a lovely gourmet breakfast spread and gifts! Afterwards the kids played Clue as the mom’s visited. It was a great surprise for Frankie; the girls even made her a giant cookie!

Frankie's Birthday

One of the great things about birthdays around our house is they tend to be celebrated over several days! Today we met up with my brother Michael and his wife Misty.

We went to Stonebriar to check out the new faith film Suing the Devil. Following the movie we headed to Frankie's favorite restaurant, the Olive Garden for dinner. Of course we made sure they sang happy birthday to her and that she finished off with a layered chocolate cake!!

PEACH Kick-Off 2011

Tonight was our 2011-2012 PEACH (Plano Educational Association of Christian Homeschoolers) Kick-off! Last year we concluded the year with 300+ homeschooling families from Plano and surrounding area. All of our meeting are held at the church of Christ on McDermott Road.

We had a great turn out! Families came to sign up to be a part of PEACH. There were some 45 field trips families can register. There were also homeschool vendors presenting info on sports, art classes, music and more! Abigail decided this would be a great entrepreneurial time for her! She made Lego necklaces and together we made PEACH totes and sold them. She did great business and even had a few orders for additional totes!

Frankie helped me at the membership table and Caleb spent the evening lifting and rearranging tables and chairs and Jon arrived in time for clean up!

Picasso and Braque Exhibit at the Kimbell

Picasso and Braque: The Cubist Experiment, 1910–1912, displays paintings and nearly all of the prints created by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque during these two years of their artistic friendship.

During the years 1910 through 1912, these two great masters invented a new style of art now referred to as the Cubist Experiment.

The two friends would visit eachothers studio and compare work. Many of their pieces are very similar and most include ordinary objects in this new perspective. The exhibition includes paintings from a number of other distinguished collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art in New York, the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Cleveland Museum of Art, the Dallas Museum of Art, the Menil Collection and the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, the Tate in London, the Museo Thyssen-Bornemisza in Madrid, and the Robert B. and Mercedes H. Eichholz Collection.

In an effort to draw a younger audience to this exhibit, curators have included iPads for use during the exhibit that visitors can compare and contract the various artwork. You may zoom in and out of the art work, adjust the lighting to see special details and even an electronic puzzle feature allowing student to re-assemble the artwork. Very Cool!

They exchanged the truth about God for a lie,
and worshiped and served created things
rather than the Creator—who is forever praised.
Romans 1:25

Amon Carter Museum

The Amon Carter Museum was established through the generosity of Amon G. Carter Sr. (1879–1955) to house his collection of paintings and sculpture by Frederic Remington and Charles M. Russell. The museum continues to collect, preserve, and exhibit the finest examples of American art. There are about 600 works of art on view in the Amon Carter’s galleries. The Remington sculptures are my personal favorites. The museum is free and is very kid friendly!

All the silver and gold and
the articles of bronze and iron
are sacred to the LORD and
must go into his treasury
Joshua 6:19

Tin Can Planting at Calloway's

Calloway’s Nursery garden centers offer summer classes for youth 1st to 5th grade. This was our first class; they focused on planting tomatoes using tin cans. The kids were encouraged to recycle, bringing their own tin can, and then planted tomato seeds. It was a pretty basic class but it covered the importance of frost dates in our area, and understanding the germination time. There were a lot of very young children in attendance and Caleb and Abigail were able to help out with the class.

Therefore build houses and settle down;
plant gardens and eat what they produce
Jeremiah 29:28

Six Flags

What to do if you've had 30+ days of one hundred degree weather or hotter, well you go outside and bear it. Caleb and Abigail earned passes to Six Flags with their reading program but the weather has ust been too hot. Today the 4th and 5th graders from church went to Six Flags and the kids joined them. Fortunately Ms. Gungan went with Richard, Ryan an Roy and I got to miss out on the heat!!

Their favorite ride was Tony Hawk's Big Spin! The days of riding the Tea Cups are probably past. They are now into the bigger, faster, and taller rides!

“Come with me and see my zeal for the LORD.”
Then he had him ride along in his chariot.
2 Kings 10:16

How Smurfy!

.

Today I was going to make a new library bag for Frankie. The totes came in a pack of 3, so when it was all said and done, I had painted three Smurf/Harry Potter totes. Why Smurf/Harry Potter, because it made me smile. The kids got a kick out of my creativity. I finished the girls totes with ribbon. I really doubt Caleb will use his, but he found it amusing. And it was a lot more fun than laundry!

But be glad and rejoice
forever in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem
to be a delight and
its people a joy.
Isaiah 65:18

Bright Spots

Today several of the youth Jake, Jackson, Ellery, Hannah and Caleb met over at Blake's house to play Guitar Hero and other games. Before ending their afternoon of fun they went and hung out on the trampoline and had a devotional. This was all on their own doing, no adult coordination or even prompting, it is just their sweet spirits! What an amazing group of kids!! Thanks Eddy for sending the pic!

The father of a righteous child has great joy;
a man who fathers a wise son rejoices in him.
May your father and mother rejoice;
may she who gave you birth be joyful!
Proverbs 23:23-25

Camp Kaboom

Yesterday and today were Camp Kaboom for Elementary age children at church. Camp Kaboom is a Science mini-day camp that uses science experiments to illustrate Bible lessons. The kid enjoyed several Bible lessons illustrated using Science. In the photos above Ms. Jennifer is showing various chemical interaction with the blow torch, very similar to the effects of firecrackers. The Bible Stories included Joseph & His Brothers; Esau Sells His Birthright; Shadrach, Meshach, and Abendego; and Jonah. Some of the experiments included Lifting Fingerprints; Daincing Raisins; Giant Bubbles; Balancing Nails; Egg in a Bottle; and Building a Lemon Juice Rocket.

. . .which flashes and lights up the sky from one end to the other
Luke 17:24