A New Discovery!

Facebook has been around for a long time. However, it is a new discovery for me. What a discovery!


I have been able to reconnect with old friends as well as keep in touch with my older children. Plus, it has a lot of fun educational games that both Alex and I enjoy playing.


It has memory games . . .

. . . geography games . . .

. . . and several vocabulary building games.

It even has several groups for homeschoolers. For anyone who hasn't signed up yet, I would highly recommend it.

What's on the Nightstand?

Alex was beginning to read less so we put Free Reading back into our daily schedule. Right now he has chosen to read books from the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books.


He just finished A Day No Pigs Would Die and he has begun Fallen Angels.


He likes reading these books and I enjoy discussing them with him.

You can find the list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books at the following link: http://www.ala.org/ala/aboutala/offices/oif/bannedbooksweek/bbwlinks/100mostfrequently.cfm

Springtime in Lomas

Normally when you think of Spring, you think of tulips . . .


. . . and ladybugs. . .



and butterflies.


In Mexico, we have scorpians . . .


. . . and chinches . . .

. . . and God only knows what.

It is not as warm and fuzzy. Although, I guess it would serve for an entomology study.

A Little Help From My Friends

Yesterday, Alex was doing an experiment on erosion for his general science class.

Julie decided that he needed her help.

She is an expert at digging holes in the yard, but I don't think that she was really helpful this time.

Praise for the Makers of Wii

Alex has entered some kind of growth spurt. He has a voracious appetite. Unfortunately, he is growing out more than he is growing up. We both were chastised at his last visit to the pediatrician. At 72 kilos (158 lbs) he is now officially obese. We made a plan and we are working on reducing his weight through diet (no more soda or junk food as well as portion control) and exercise. One of the things that he loves is his Wii Fit. Not only are the games fun, but he really likes how it keeps track of everything. I am just surprised at how much a computer game can make him sweat.

A Day at the Beach

We were invited to a wedding in Acapulco this weekend and we decided to take advantage of the trip and take the boys along for a little family excursion.


This is the first time that Josh's body has seen the light of day in some time. I was glad to see him get some color and now I won't have to worry about him developing rickets.

Alex has a blast whenever we go to the beach. He spends the entire day in the ocean.

Josh even decided to get a massage. He has such a rough life!

Of course it wouldn't be a trip to the beach without burying Alex in the sand.

Even Alejandro enjoyed himself.

I think we wore the boys out.

Shaving for the 1st Time

I have noticed that all of my children have been growing up lately as they tend to do. I miss the simplicity of the younger years. I was complaining one morning to Alex and asked him if he would please stay young for me for one more year. He said that he would and went to take his shower. When he gets out of the shower he tells me that he has shaved so that he will look younger for me. He saw my disappointment and told me, "Don't worry Mom. I didn't want to cut myself so I didn't press very hard. I really just cut the hairs in half. " I asked for it. This weekend, his Dad showed him how to shave properly.


The half hairs are gone . . .

. . . and he looks great, older, but great!

Get Out the Vote

This is a very exciting election for many reasons, but especially because this is Tiffany's FIRST time to vote.


I voted early so that I could go with Tiffany today. Her grandmother and I ceremoniously took her to the designated polling place and I embarressed her to death by taking pictures nonstop.

She went over the sample ballot and she got in line.

Why does Tiffany look so sad?

The machine broke. We waited over an hour while a new machine was procured and installed.

It looked a little iffy for awhile. I think that there were just too many cooks in the kitchen.

In the end, it all worked out.

Tiffany got her ballot and headed for the booth.

I have never been so proud.

Good job, baby!

Halloween

A big perk of being in the U.S. in October is Halloween. We have a pseudo Halloween where we live in Mexico, but it is just not the same. So this year, we did it up right. We carved pumpkins.


We put on costumes.

We went to parties to see old friends.

We rang a lot of doorbells and got a lot of candy.

We had a great time.

Haunted Corn Maze

Although we lived in Maryville for a long time, I never got to go to the haunted corn maze at Maple Farms. I really wanted to go this year. So, my parents, my brother, my neice, Alex and I headed out for a spooky time. Below is the design that was cut into the cornfields. We entered at the bottom left-hand corner went all through the maze and exited again at the bottom left-hand corner. We had a blast.



It takes a very secure man to get behind a tractor cut-out and stick his face through the hole . This is why we love you brother.


Alex wasn't too sure of things once we entered the maze.

He had good reason to be concerned.

Kayla, however, wasn't bothered by a thing.

Toward the end of the maze some masked man with a chainsaw surprised us. I went to hug Alex to assure him that everything was alright only to find that Alex was no longer with us. He ran out of the maze and dove under the ticket table as if he was sliding into home. People applauded. I unfortunately will never get that red clay out of those khaki pants.

College Visits

Tiffany's college search continues. She is considering approximately 30 colleges and universities. To help her narrow her list down. We decided to go on a road trip. We wanted to Lorelai and Rory it, but we really didn't have time. We visited 4 schools in 3 days: Appalachian State University, University of North Carolina, James Madison University, and University of Virginia.


We only got lost once . . . well, maybe twice . . . we certainly did not get lost more than three times.


We also got to see some friends along the way who were able to give us a realistic picture of their schools.


It was a whirlwind trip, but it really helped Tiffany discover what she wants from a school.