Below is a picture of Hunter with his certificate showing he completed "All About Spelling - Level 3",  Terry and I are very proud of him. We will begin level 4 next week.

 Hunter had two of his friends, Matthew and Kolton, spend the night Friday. They were up until well after 11 and woke up at 6am. The spent Saturday at NASA with Matthew's parents celebrating Matthew's birthday. Terry and I missed having Hunter around for the day, but we got to hang out with each other for the day which was very fun. When Hunter got back home I was telling him how much I missed him and he said, "I forgot I even had a mom while I was gone today." What?

Today we are hoping the rain holds off. Hunter recently started participating in a tennis camp at Cinco Ranch High School every Sunday from 6-8pm. The last two weeks the camp has been canceled due to rain. This week Hunter upgraded his racket and is excited to try it out. Not sure- the skies are looking pretty gray! Hunter and I went out on Monday over lunch to hit some balls. He is starting to work on his serve with Coach Justin. It is nice to have him at a level where we can go out and hit balls around.

This week is another busy week for us with school. Last week we started division. We also learned how to multiply a one digit number for multi-digit numbers  (5 x 3158). From now until the end of his 3rd grade math book, there is a ton a material to cover. In grammar we are working on proof-reading. This isn't as difficult for Hunter as he has been doing it since 1st grade. I know he is appreciating some easy material in grammar right now - so far the year has been one new topic after another. In science we are studying rocks. History the Constitution, and we are also continuing our geography. For writing we are finishing up learning how to write fiction stories and then we move on to how to write reports.

Hunter recently posted the below signs on his door. The first one prompts you to enter in the pass code in order to access his room. I told him I didn't have a pass code - he looked at me, raised his eyebrows and promptly closed the door on me. I told him I would put a pass code on the pantry door if he didn't let me in. He then opened the door.

The second sign says "Danger. poison and toxic gases that may cause severe or fatal injuries. Do not enter."

The other day Hunter was bemoaning that fact that adults could use the "s" word - in our house that is stupid - and kids could not. Terry and I explained that even adults should not use this word. We then made a deal with him that if he heard Terry or I use that word, we would have to pay him a quarter. He said, "This is so easy. I'll just hang out with Dad when he watches a Kentucky game. I'll be rich."

For the record, he has not collected any money from Terry. I got caught twice. Once I said stupid. The other time I was in the game room doing my Wii Active workout and said, "Oh God!" while I was doing my flutter kicks. Hunter heard me from across the house. I think I could have argued that I was legitimately calling out to God for help and therefore it was a prayer. But instead I just paid the quarter.

A day camping with friends.

Yesterday all the kids had off school so I took Hunter and his friends Judd, Wesley, Matthew and Tanner to spend the day at Brazos Bend State Park. We rented a camp site for the day and roasted hot dogs and smores. The boys ran around the woods and spent time on the playground. After one of their wild adventures in the woods, they boys came out thinking they were all tough having "ruffed it" in the wilderness. One of them said, "We are men now!" Very cute.

Hunter fell into a HUGE puddle while playing tag with the boys. Thankfully I brought an extra pair of clothes for him. All the boys went home covered in mud as it had rained for two days.

After letting our campfire go out, we went to the Nature Center in the park and looked at the snakes and alligators. The boys were able to pet a baby alligator.

 After the Nature Center, we did a hike around to the back side of Elm Lake. We were able to see a 13 foot alligator on the shore. It was really a big deal because we learned the alligators are not really active right now.

We went back to camp and played some more and packed up the car. We took our final hike around 40 Acre Lake. There we saw one more alligator in the water. 

My fire - a labor of love.

 On our way home we stopped at Chik-Fil-A for dinner. The boys were all exhausted - but they had a great time. They could have stayed for days.

Just a note on my fire. I underestimated the amount of newspaper I would need to actually start the fire - remember it had been raining for two days. In an act of desperation, I had to burn our five paper plates to help stoke the fire so it wouldn't burn out- the kids had to eat off napkins. You have to be able to make sacrifices to survive. In the end, I created a roaring fire which I sat by for a couple hours and enjoyed!!!

Back in the Saddle Again.

Now that Beth and Ryan are back in Colorado, today was the first day for our "normal" home school routine. We started with piano lessons this morning. Today Hunter started using the piano petal when he plays - very cool. It takes some coordination - a little more entailed than I thought.

Today we were able to get through cursive, math (happy days are back with Math), history, phonics and grammar. We had Science Lab at 2:00pm.We were able to throw in a bunch of snuggle time too. Not bad for our first day back.

At about 6:00pm I realized Beth was not here to cook us dinner. Not sure how I overlooked that. Hmmmm ...I really didn't have anything planned. Hunter and I sat down to watched a video on Great Depression Cooking . It is a series of videos featuring a woman who is over 90 years old who lived through the depression. She shares recipes that were made in during the depression as she shares stories from her childhood. Very interesting. She mentions a bag of potatoes cost $1.00 back then - someone estimated it would be about $24 in today's money. When the video was over, and still no one showed up to cook dinner, I decided we would just go to Buffalo Wild Wings for tonight. I will hit the grocery store tomorrow and be on my game for dinner then.

Remember the Alamo!!! We'll never forget.

Beth and I took the kids to San Antonio to visit the Alamo and learn a little Texas history. What a great time! We stayed at the Hyatt that overlooked The Alamo on one side and the Riverwalk on the other. The hotel was nice enough to give us a room overlooking The Alamo. We went to the IMAX movie about the Alamo on Sunday night.The movie was very informative - we learned some great things about Texas history.

Hunter and Ryan at The Alamo

 After the movie, we went to a Mexican restaurant on the Riverwalk. We then headed back to the hotel and went to the rooftop pool and hot tub. The pool water was very cold - but it did not stop Ryan from swimming. Hunter and I stayed in the hot tub. Hunter was fighting a little bit of a cold.

A dip in the hot tub on the roof of the Hyatt

 On Monday our intention was to take a boat tour of the Riverwalk. However, upon arriving we learned that Monday was the day the city drained the Riverwalk in order to do some annual maintenance. We thought it would take at least two days to drain the water, but when we walked outside on Monday morning - the Riverwalk was already drained!! After doing the Alamo tour, we had fun watching the workers clean the Riverwalk. Hunter, Ryan and I were interviewed by a local TV station regarding our visit.

Our interview with San Antonio News 12.

We weren't able to see our interview on T.V. but we did find an article online regarding our chat. If you visit http://www.ksat.com/video/26357783/index.html you can see our appearance. Hunter and Ryan do not show up until the end of the segment, so keep watching! What a fun experience for them.

Beth and Ryan's trip here is flying by!

Brazos Bend State Park - snake on a tree stump.

 I wanted to get some pictures up for everyone. We took the kids to the Houston Museum of Natural Science this week - WOW! was it ever busy!!! Lots of people. We stayed for about 4 hours and then headed home.  We haven't knocked out as many outings as we had hoped. We have spent several days at home which gave Hunter and Ryan a chance to play with the neighbor kids.

Last night for the New Year celebration, we went over to the neighbor's house until about 11:30pm. Both Hunter and Ryan made it to midnight. We were all very tired today - none of us are used to staying up so late! Despite being tired, we took the kids to Brazos Bend State Park to show Ryan the alligators. We only saw two gators today - usually we will see at least 5. We tried our luck with fishing, but it was so windy - no luck! We did see a snake coiled up on a tree stump; something Hunter and I had never seen there before.

Hunter, Wesley, Judd and Tanner

 Tomorrow Beth and I head to San Antonio to take the kids to The Alamo. We are only staying for one night. Ryan and Beth are heading back to Colorado on Wed, Jan. 5th. Their trip went by so fast!  Before you know it Matt will be heading back home from Iraq. He is about 60-90 days out from his return. Beth and Ryan are getting excited.

Hunter opening his pogo stick

 Hunter finished his Pilgrim's Progress book this week. He will start the A Beka 4th grade reading level next week. He is eagerly anticipating his new book. We've also started using some of the Singapore and Horizon worksheets to supplement our Saxon Math. Hunter really enjoys both so far. He was ready for a break from Saxon.