Garden Update

Cabbage, lettuce and spinach are growing!

I bought some hyacinths to add to the flower garden.  All the bulbs my friend gave me last year are coming up, so hopefully they'll do well.

Broccoli, snap peas, and carrots.

Yea!!

Schoolroom

We officially started preschool yesterday.  I'm sure everyday will be just as easy as yesterday, right?  

Here's a couple of pictures of our schoolroom:

We're using the Answers in Genesis Preschool curriculum and so far I really like it.  So does Silas.  

Tradition

"Here at Anatevka, we have traditions for everything.  How to sleep, how to eat, how to work, how to wear clothes.  For instance, we always keep our heads covered and always wear a little prayer shawl.  This shows our constant devotion to God.  You may ask, how did this tradition get started?  I'll tell you:  I don't know.  But it's a tradition, and because of our traditions, everyone of us knows who he is and what God expects him to do."

Enough Fiddler on the Roof quotes.  Sorry, I love that movie.

Here's Silas after another year.  Do you remember last year? 

This was the best we could get of both boys.  Eli wasn't too happy.

Silas Picture Assignment

I gave Silas the camera and told him to think of interesting things to take pictures of.  The following photos are from his perspective.

Happy face.

Pirate face.

Astronaut face?

The peach trees.

Larry.

Our Trip To Texas: The Downtown Aquarium

My camera card ran out of space, so I have no pictures of the Houston Zoo or Surfside Beach and only a couple from the aquarium.

I think that this photo takes the cake, though.

For some odd reason the aquarium had two white tigers.

Eli and Silas at the front fountain.  Eli, typically, liked the water.

Okay, so this picture is from the train tour at NASA, but I thought I'd sneak it in anyways.

Two tired little boys in the car.

Our Trip To Texas: The USS Cavalla and USS Stewart

Silas and I got to tour a destroyer and a submarine, both from WWII, while in Texas.

 

The USS Stewart.

Silas liked the size of these "bullets."

On the bridge, being a tough captain. 

At the prow of the ship. 

  

Sighting in the guns.  It still had the seat and foot pedals on it and he was able to get up into the gun.  We pretended to blow up the ferry going to the Bolivar Peninsula.

  

We counted all the big guns like this.  There were eight still on the ship, and two on the ground next to it.

The USS Cavalla with a torpedo coming out!

  

Where the crew slept that manned the torpedoes in the stern.  He couldn't believe how big those missiles were.

Discussing our battle tactics at the officer's table.

By the torpedo tubes.  I offered to stick him in one, but he declined.

Captain's quarters.  Quite roomy, huh?

Trying on old army hats at the army surplus store in Galveston later on in the day.

I could file this trip under "education" because we had a very long conversation about what it meant to protect and defend.  He's only four, playing soldiers and battles is always just pretend.  The little green plastic men always get back up again when they get shot.  The reality of soldiers and sailors defending our country, and dying for it, was a deeper concept that took some time to explain. 

 I also was prepping him for our trip to England next month, when we'll get to see the famous "red coats."  We read a book from the library, "Red Coats and Petticoats," about the Revolutionary War several months ago and the idea that the red coats were bad stuck pretty hard in his head.  I explained that at one point, England and America didn't like each other and so they fought, but now they're really great friends that are on the same team.

Blue Hair, Forsythias, Swings, and Crying Babies

The forsythias are blooming like crazy this year!

The daffodils are doing well, too!

Despite the look on his face, he does really enjoy the out doors.

Silas showing off his mad skills:  making the seat swing by himself. 

His cousins have also helped him learn how to swing in a regular swing, as well.  And again, notice the forsythias in the background.  So full of color this year.

"Mommy's such a sucker.  I didn't have to cry all that long this time before she picked me up."

The blue hair is already beginning to fade.

Our Trip To Texas: NASA Space Center

We took a trip to Texas recently in order to visit my mother and some close friends.  One of our first stops was the NASA Space Center.

Silas goofing in the parking lot.  We enjoyed being able to wear shorts and t-shirts after our cold winter.

Eli enjoying his stroller ride (for a few minutes, at least).

Silas enduring one of many requests by his mother for a photo.

The Apollo 18 rocket that never made it to space.  When I was growing up, this rocket could be seen from the road as you passed by the Space Center.  After years of the salty open air, they had to enclose it to prevent further corrosion.

Silas, Grammy, and Eli on the train tour.  Silas thought it was a little boring.  He didn't care too much about how Building #30 housed the engineers working on the new Orion project...

In front of a mock Space Shuttle.  Overall, I think Silas was a little too young to appreciate the Space Center.  He likes space and spaceships, but I don't think he could grasp the concept and gravity of flying to the moon.  He kept asking questions about Buzz and aliens, too.  He did, however, like finding out that astronauts ate macaroni and cheese while in space.