Skiing!!!!!!!!!

On Tuesday, we went to Wilmot Mountain, for skiing and snowboarding! Jake, Mandie, Geneva, James, and Marie snowboarded, and Mrs. C, Ahna, Sarah, Joe, Mr. S, Matthew and I did skiing! :) The weather was beautiful, too! It was perfect temperature and almost no wind, and it was snowing lightly!!! It made skiing all the more enjoyable :)

Wilmot ...



Mandie and Jake trying out the snowboards on Turtle Hill ... it was Jake's first time ever trying it and he found it a lot easier than he thought it would be :)



Jacob coming up the rope pull (the way to get back up Turtle Hill). It's too small to have a chair lift ...



I believe the main attraction to Mom was the big fire in the lodge ;) She wants one of these at home (quote ;).



Because it was my first time skiing, I took the lesson (I am glad that the instructor was good, because without the lesson I would have been lost :)!



Mrs. C had fun braving the hills :)



After the instructor taught us how to turn, he made us go down Turtle Hill. It was scary at first ;), but after I got the hang of it I practiced on it and then went down Broadway a few times :)



Practicing turns :) I am glad skiing is easier than it looks (and it's a lot of fun, too! :) ...



Anna didn't ski because Mom wasn't, but she had fun watching :)



Jake, Mandie and Geneva, taking the lesson for snowboarding ;)


Broadway is the hill behind them and it looks like it's straight down. Well, I thought it was so I went up the ski lift and found out it was a lot harder than it looked :) But it was really fun, too! :)

Mom forgot to leave the camera with me when she left, so I didn't get a picture of Wilmot after dark. It was very pretty! The snow was glittering, with the flood lights shining off of it and you could see all the little hills that you couldn't see in day time :)

Tea Time ...

For our history day this month we had a colonial tea :)

Anna helped Mom make Shortbread Cookies to bring :)



Cookies, cookies, cookies :)



Trina got to wear the dress that she made to a history day for the first time! It was very pretty!



Kate and Susan also had made their dresses, and this time they had their cloaks to go with :)



Matthew and Robby ...



Jason made the fire ...



Trina reading her report on Frances Marion, the Swamp Fox (if any of you have seen the Patriot, that's who Frances Marion is, only he was called the ghost in the movie) ...



Mrs. W. reading the rules that children had to follow, while having tea:
1. You had to stand at the table while you ate ... 2. You weren't allowed to speak, unless spoken to ... 3. You weren't allowed to ask for anything ... 4. No staring at anyone earnestly ... and one out of George Washington's rule book: you weren't allowed to clean your teeth with the tablecloth, the knife or spoon (they didn't have forks ;)!!!



Time for tea! Snacks :)



At the table, we tried to follow the rules, but I don't think it really worked ;)



When you are done with drinking the tea, you are supposed to put your cup upside down and put your spoon on top. "There was once a French man who didn't know this rule, and they kept filling his cup up with tea, finally becoming desperate, he took the cup and stuffed in his shirt." :)



After tea, we tried quilling (paper curling). It was a lot of fun! Thanks, Haley, for showing us how to do it :)

Both sides of the table ...





Doing it :)



Kate's flower ...



The tea was a lot of fun, and we can't wait for the next history day! :)

Helping :)

On Wednesday last week, we helped some friends move. I didn't get any pictures of any one working, but I got some of the kids after we were done :)

Charlotte was funny, she asked me if "I wanted to take a picture of her, so I wouldn't forget her when she moves to Tennessee." :)



When I was chasing Charlotte around and telling her I was going to get her, Jimmy would watch me very closely. Finely, I turned to him and told him I was going to get him. He would tell, me "no, no." ;)



Suzie



All the girls :)
Mia, Katie, Suzie, Anna and Charlotte ...



Tommy wouldn't hold still, so I have to put up one of him running from me :)



The latest addition: Benjamin

Midwinter Renewal ....

This year ICHE did a Midwinter Renewal for moms :) About 19 young ladies came and helped set up and other things that needed to be done for prep on Friday. On Saturday we helped serve, wash dishes and other "fun" stuff :) The Renewal was held at Christ Church of Oak Brook.

Friday: 10 AM

We were given a tour of the church before we were put to work :) We were disappointed that we couldn't go play in this nursery :(



The Garden Chapel was where Marilyn Boyer spoke ... Mrs. Boyer is a homeschool veteran of 14 children and is very experienced with raising kids :)





Plants in the Garden Chapel ...



Kayla and Mrs. C setting the tables ...



Geneva, Me, Anna and Katie putting together folders ...



On Friday some of the moms of the helpers came and helped set up ...









Decorating the candle holders ...



This is what it looked like :)



Mrs. P, the kitchen co-ordinator of CCOB and Mrs. G ...



Wacky Trina :)



Kelle ...



Haley, Kate and Mandie



Katrina and Ahna ...



Tables :)



Fanfold napkins :)



Lunch ...
Sub sandwiches



Toppings for the sub sandwiches :)



Chips



Dessert (yum, yum ... the brownies are the best ;)



Making Hot Chicken Salad for the moms ...



Anna helping Kim wash dishes (that is like the best job EVER!)



Kayla ...



Pictures of friends old and new :)







This picture has to be my favorite (if you notice the cleaning rag and spray :) ...



Mother, daughter, daughter, mother :)



Mrs. Boyer's book table ...



Saturday:

Kelle and I ...



I did almost all the dishes. It was a TON of fun, because the church has a 1 minute cycle dishwasher :) They claim I did like 1000 dishes, but I didn't count ...
This is about 1/6th of the plates and then there were bowls, cups, silverware and other misc stuff ...



Mom took all the pictures on Saturday since I was busy and didn't have any pockets ...
The babies were SO cute :)





Happy Little Kitchen Helpers :)





Kim at registration ...





"Smile"



Over all we had a great time helping and I'm sure the moms all enjoyed the speaker and lunch :)