Top Ten Soccer Kids

It's with mixed feelings that we bid farewell to fall soccer. The games were cold, the practices dark, and it tied up our Saturday mornings. But here are the reasons we enjoyed it...



The song, "Waka, Waka (This Time for Africa)" by Shakira, was the official anthem of the 2010 World Cup, held in South Africa.

Note: There are more clips of Henry than Miriam because
1)Henry played the whole game every game, as Henry's team didn't have any subs
2) Miriam got a spring soccer video
3) Miriam's field is bigger and thus harder to take video of with our little camera

Oct-Snow-Brrrr

We have a good laugh every time we go into a store and see Christmas decorations. It's a slight to both Halloween and Thanksgiving, not to mention Alvin's birthday. Retailers surely never passed the marshmallow test.

Fall has been a little slow in coming here, and most of the leaves on the trees are still green. So boy were we surprised when we saw some fluffy white stuff all day yesterday. Eliza, of course, has had no experience with snow that she remembers, so she was part confused, part giddy with excitement.





Have a very, merry Halloween!

What Marshmallows Tell Us About Henry

If you're not familiar with the marshmallow test, you're not spending enough time on youtube. There are several great examples of this experiment available to watch, but we recommend Elder Uchtdorf's explanation of the experiment and the lessons we can learn from it.



We decided to perform our own marshmallow test on our resident 4 year old, Henry. We substituted 2 mini-marshmallow for 1 big one, and he wasn't in a closed observatory but we hope this doesn't invalidate the results. Here's what happened:



This probably doesn't qualify him for the top 30% cited by Elder Uchtdorf, but at least he didn't eat the marshmallows before we left the room. We think he's still above average.

Pennsylvacation

Miriam had a half day of school on Thursday followed by no school on Friday. We seized the opportunity to take a short family vacation and be "Free" from the worries of daily life. We drove 1.5 hrs north to Hershey/Harrisburg, PA and stayed in a hotel! Our kids would have thought that was cool regardless, but were over the top when they found out that there was indoor miniature golf and an indoor pool with a water slide.





Documented in this video is the fun we had as we toured Hershey's Chocolate World, played at the hotel and a Science Center. (other activities, not documented here, included the beautiful Harrisburg capitol building and a nature center)

You can once again thank Barbie for the music.

Saturdays in the Fall

The last two Saturdays we've found ourselves with some beautiful weather and a little extra time, in part thanks to some canceled soccer games. Both times we quickly improvised and found some close outdoor fun. Two weeks ago, we went to a covered bridge and had a picnic dinner at a park. This week we hiked to Annapolis Rocks, a point on the Appalachian trail.

Here are some children blowin' in the wind...

There's Something in My Ice Cream

It's clear that
1. Our kids are not all that surprised to find things in their food.
2. They've been expecting this announcement for a while.

And we thought this was big news...

The Sound of Miriam

Activities highlighted in this video:

-"The Lonely Goatherd Band"

-Explanation on how the eye works after a science lesson from Aunt Reta

-Indoor Rain Party organized by Miriam after her outdoor rain party got canceled due to lightning. She cut out raindrops and puddles by herself and planned all the activities.

-Slip-n-Slide at Ward Activity

-Lemonade Stand