Matthew had to do a mini science experiment for school.
Instead of the traditional one they suggested, where you submerge gummy bears in water and weigh them to see how much liquid they absorbed, he asked if he could submerge gummy bears in different liquids to see how rapidly they deteriorated, or were eaten away by the acidity of the chosen liquids. Of course. :oO
So yeah, death to the gummy bears!
He was very excited about it all. And quite serious. ;o)
I've joined up with the local Navy Wives Club, and they run a Thrift Shop on the base 3 days a week to raise funds to support local service projects. I help out there from time to time, and the kids went with me one Saturday.
They all had fun, and Evelyn even earned some community service hours.
Oh yeah - so here in South Carolina, kids make their Confirmation in 8th grade - so both Joshua and Evelyn are in Confirmation classes and they will both be confirmed sometime this summer - cool! No date yet though... there's only one Bishop in the whole state, so he's got a lot of kids to confirm. I'll let you know something as soon as I do. Anyhow, they each have to earn 30 community service hours before they can be confirmed, so Evie's help that day earned her some time. :o)
And here are the after pics of Matthew's gummy bears.
He was pleasantly surprised that they all didn't die disintegrate. :o)
Matthew found this at the Thrift Shop while helping out and my lovely new friends said he could have it for all his hard work.
He was sooo happy, and I only agreed because it only has 1 bullet. ;oD
Another tooth out! That boy's getting rich off the tooth fairy. :oP
Joshua's hair started curling.
Yes! Actual curls! Haha!
Oh look, their twinsies!
Silly nerds.
What a cutie. :o)
Alright, so Hurricane Matthew...
So we knew it might be heading our way. I gassed up the vehicles and made sure we had lots of water and fresh batteries, etc. Well, if Chris was home, we could stay here with the kids. You know hunker down and ride it out (with the help of a little wine perhaps...) But, Chris' ship was down south, very near to the actual hurricane! So my sister forced encouraged me to make a hotel reservation in Georgia, a safe distance from the coast, just in case I decided to run away.
And well...
Ha! Yes, we ran. Of course we ran. :oP
Actually, the kids' school announced that it was closing for the rest of the week in preparation of the hurricane, and then the local Coast Guard Command issued an evacuation order for families... So since we had nothing to stick around for, we hit the road early on the morning of Wednesday, October 5th.
Even the cats got to come along. ;o)
We drove to Dalton, Georgia, stopping in Atlanta to pick up Liz to keep us company. She was supposed to come visit us in South Carolina, but had to change her plans because we weren't going to be there!
The kids enjoyed the road trip, and getting to eat out. :o)
Our family had a lot of fun with Matthew's namesake.
Ahahahaha!
And we had our own little adventure for the next few days.
Matthew was seriously impressed with this tub of peanut butter and wanted a picture with it. :oD
We watched the news a lot.
It says "Go Away Matthew". Matt says #StopTheHate!
Haha!
On the 7th, we decided to drive up to Chattanooga.
We've never been there before!
Following are TONS of pictures from our day there.
The kids had a really wonderful time at the Creative Discovery Museum.
Even though a few of the exhibits were a little small for some of them.
Lol!
And just the right size for others.
:o)
They had centers for Science, Art, Music, History, so much stuff to do!
Haha!
:o)
Lol!
This was an incredible museum. I'm so glad we got to visit.
We had a Singin' in the Rain moment.
:oD
That's the Tennessee River, and the waterfront was just beautiful.
:o)
What a good boy. :o)
After all that walking and sightseeing, we took it easy the next day.
Lunch at Chick-Fil-A - Emily's favorite place on earth.
And then Matthew didn't get stuck behind the couch...
Oh my, watch the video!
Ahahaha!
Board games and Uno saved us many times.
:o)
And later, we took the kids to a Krispy Kreme, because they've never been to one!
They loved it. Of course. :o)
We headed back home on Monday, October 10th. There were a lot of people on the road, but we made it safely. The power was back on, and besides a bunch of downed trees and the yard covered in branches, we had no damage. Yay! Man, what an adventure! (That I hope we never have to repeat). It's all good. ;o)
Matthew was chosen to be an Oakbrook Eagle Student Liason to the Superintendent! That means he will attend meetings with the principal and superintendent to discuss school issues and solutions. 2 students per grade level were chosen - wow! I guess Matthew and his "opinions" have made quite an impression. Ha! ;o) Nah, we're very happy that he was chosen to represent. He'll do a great job. Go Matt-dog!
We decorated for Halloween.
Someone was really excited about it.
So creepy!
"Mom, I'm gonna lay down right here and hide my arm, and you take my picture, it'll look like that dead arm is my real arm."
Haha!
My little helper.
Who loves Tony Romo.
:o)
Joshua's school had a Spirit Week, so he dressed up a few days.
"Are you Country or Country Club?"
Joshua was definitely Country Club. :oD
Emily had her first real eye exam.
And she's good! No glasses! (For now.) Woohoo! :oD
Tacky Tourist Day.
Fanny pack included. ;o)
Emily was the Artist of the Week in her Art Enrichment class - woohoo!
Pick your favorite decade.
Joshua picked 90's Grunge!
(Guess he's mine after all). ;oD
Hat Day at school.
"I like to eat chikfulaey."
Translation: Chick-Fil-A
Haha!
Oh look - it's my dead bride with her dead flower girl!
That girl couldn't wait for Halloween to come.
Another home game for Joshua.
Are you cold Matthew??
Haha!
Yes, it's a Little Golden Book about Grumpy Cat.
She LOVES it.
Emily's school had a Hippie Day!
Far out dude!
And that afternoon, we got all dressed up for the Trunk-or-Treat at her school.
Oh my - such a creepy dead bride!
Did I mention how much she wanted to be something completely scary?? Well, she nailed it!
Matthew and Evelyn were both Pokemon!
Evelyn was Squirtle and Matthew was Pikachu.
"Emily, do the dead face."
Lol!
(PS - Joshua, aka Kylo Ren, was at a band event, so he didn't go.)
Another visit to the library.
Emily read a book to the kids.
:o)
Super Hero Day at school!
She's Batman!
And Evelyn's school had a few Spirit Days too.
This was Dress your Favorite Decade Day.
She went with late 60's/early 70's mod.
And my personal favorite...
Nerd Day!
She wore her contacts (which she usually only wears for gymnastics) and some old sunglasses frames with the lenses popped out. And she had a really great day. :o)
Emily had her first Kindergarten field trip.
They went to the West Farm Corn Maze in Moncks Corner.
(and I chaperoned!)
Fun on the hay ride.
And pumpkin decorating.
Feed the goats!
Ew. ;oP
What a great day!
That evening, we went to another one of Joshua's games.
He's so cool. :o)
So are we.
Yep, sleepy Emmy never gets to see the final score.
:o)
On the 29th, our church had a Trunk-or-Treat and Halloween party.
My Pikachu and dead bride had fun.
While Evelyn and Joshua, as Confirmation candidates, helped out with the party.
She ran the Duck Pond.
:o)
Bobbing for donuts?? How funny.
The next day was a game day.
Obviously. ;o)
And we carved pumpkins at the neighbor's house.
Well, they carved pumpkins, I watched.
(I am not a fan of pumpkin guts - blech!)
We've realized that a lot of our neighbors are military. Seriously. At an event at the middle school, they asked all the students who had a parent or sibling in the military, or former military, to stand up and more than half of those kids stood up! Almost feels like living back on base again. :o) Almost. ;o)
Not bad kids! :o)
Chris' ship requested family pictures for a surprise slideshow, so we took one to send.
:oD
And the it was finally Halloween!
But where's the dead bride??
Ha - it was dress as your favorite storybook character at school that day.
So of course, she's a cat. :o)
But she came home lookin' like Cheech.
Lol!
And she was picked as the Student of the Quarter for her PE class!
Go Emily!
Spooky breakfast. :o)
Time for trick-or-treating!
And look - Booger came to visit and be Emily's dead flower girl!
:oD
Our new neighborhood was awesome.
What a great Halloween!
And here's a little throwback pic for ya.
:o)
And that was October... Laters!
