Week 4: Meet Washington and Buchanan

Just a quick blog this week, as its only been 5 days since my last blog (a day late last week, and a day early this week), and I've been busy getting things in order- there's just not a lot to report from the Waterstrauts this week. 

The biggest news this week, comes from our two new animal family members. After much research, we determined that are one lone remaining rat, Simpson, needed some new friends after having lost both her sisters. Rats are social animals, and for the most part will adapt to new cage mates (girls especially). After learning this, Peyton REALLY wanted some new rats. Having no remaining Christmas money, however, I told him if he could scrounge up enough change- he could use that money to buy some new ones. I've never seen him on such a mission. He found, sorted, and counted over $14 in change (and one loan dollar bill he found in the laundry room) 

So after he found all that money, he headed out to Pet-Co to get another rat. And what better way to see if Simpson liked the new rats than to take her along! Peyton wanted to rescue some more feeder rats, but since we still have one, and there's no guarantee on if they're boys or girls, we thought it was best to go with the pet rats instead. 

Once in the store, Calib and Peyton picked out two rats to see how they would get along. It was a success! Simpson started licking (cleaning) the smaller rats right away. 

Since there were only two at a time, the boys picked Presidents last names for the new rats. Calib decided on Buchanan. James Buchanan was our 15th President, for those of you who are unaware, serving just before the Civil War, and Abraham Lincoln. He was also the only bachelor President. 

The whitest one, is Peytons rat: Washington. After of course our first President, George Washington. She is a true albino, not like Simpson whose fur is more of the off-white color. Washington is quiet mischievous, 

 They aren't all sharing a cage yet, just to be cautious. But each day the boys get them out for play dates. Simpson gets to be out for a little while longer, since she's much calmer, and tamer. She's being spoiled with Cherrio's lately, her favorite. She seems in good health, so I'm hoping she is around for much longer. (Feeder rats generally only live 1 to 2 years) 

Other than Washington and Buchanan joining the family, we've just been nose to the grind stone with home school. We do have some pen pal letters to catch up on, so if you're waiting for one, I promise we'll get to you soon! There's been lots of park trips as the weather hasn't been too terribly cold, though I hear Wednesday we'll struggle to hit 50. The panhandle is even expecting snow. Part of me thinks we should take a trip to see snow in Florida. The Floridian part of me thinks seeing snow is not worth the 3 hour drive. 

Oh, and we did make the 'kitchen sink' at home, the boys wanted one at Disney, but we didn't end up getting one. I thought I could recreate it at home instead. It was pretty awesome. 

This week we're working on perimeter and area. Hayden had a hard time grasping the difference, so I happily gave him a visual. They're also working on their 'Design a Zoo' project in which they have to determine the area that certain animals need and make pens and such on a blue print. They're all really into this project. 

Meanwhile, I've been working hard on our continent boxes for the Olympics. The two weeks during the Olympics, I plan to take a break from the usual work, and instead mix it up. We'll open one of these boxes everyday, do the activities inside, cook our recipes, and play traditional games from somewhere on the continent. I have plans for the second week of the Olympics too, as we're drawing for countries besides America to root for, give reports on, and learn about. 

Congratulations are also in order for Asa who passed another class. I did take a picture of him with his rootbeer float, but I'm way too lazy at the moment to find my camera. I've taken less pictures this week, because my camera is on the way out, maybe I'll get a new one at tax return/bonus time. 

I will say this week in particular, we've really been enjoying some Little Big Planet, so much fun, but I wish it were five player. We can't all play at the same time and have to rotate out, so that kind of stinks. 

The rest of my week will be some more planning. We have groundhogs day, the Super Bowl, a Disney trip, Hayden's Birthday, and our Olympics Extravaganza coming up. And since we got Simpson on Hayden's birthday last year, the boys have asked if we can throw her a birthday party too. Psh, no problem. I can make a rat party. 

Up Next: Cross your fingers for a Broncos Super Bowl win, or I'm going to have one sad Peyton. 

Week 3: Disney Magic (Bands!)

Trying to keep up with a blog once a week in 2014 is proving to be difficult. But, I'm only a day late- so we'll go ahead and count that as right on time. 

This week we had our once a month buddy day.. where everyone taught their brothers something they were the expert in. Hayden taught his brothers about the states and capitals. While Calib and Peyton have already learned these, it never hurts to have a refresher course. Peyton taught Calib some history (He's way ahead on the timeline! Peyton and I are already up to 1945. My dad made it on the timeline this week!) Calib worked with both his brothers on math. We had mixed reviews, but I think we're going to keep on with it. Watching them teach their brothers lets me know how well they're learning the stuff they are focused on. 

We also started with our body systems unit, but we didn't get very far. I'm sad to report we had a death in our pet family this week (two actually), and because of that we had some shortened days and tried to do some other fun things. Two/Thirds of the Ulysses Simpson Grant trio passed away this week, and while we miss them, they were rescue feeder rats from the pet store who lived a full, happy, healthy life. Simpson is still with us, and appears to be healthy at the moment. The boys have gotten her out a lot to help, because they don't like the idea of her being alone. I told them maybe next time we should get some rats from a breeder because they might live a little longer (good genes, you know), but they've all agreed they want to save some feeder rats again. I mean, we're the people who bought a ghost shrimp for a pet-- that's lasted much longer than any ghost shrimp ever should.  

We did find some time this week to put together our no-sew blankets that grandma had gotten us while she was visiting. I helped Calib and Peyton, while Asa pretty much put together Haydens. He kept joking with Hayden telling him he was really going to enjoy sleeping with his new blanket. 

Still a fun past time in this house: gator golf. Seriously, I can't believe how much the $3 for this game has gone. I figured it'd be popular for like a week. Even then for $3, I didn't mind. 

Oh, and Hayden and I are coming along on all his state flags. This week we hung them at the very tippy top of the kitchen wall, still it nearly touches the floor and we have 15 more to go. I really wanted all 50 to fit in one line, but that's not going to happen. 

Saturday after a trip to Costco, we went down to see Katie and Kevin. They live just down the street from the Manatee Viewing Center, so we thought it'd be a good addition for the trip. This time of year when the gulf gets cold- the manatees flock to the water outside the power plant because it's so much warmer. There were all kinds of them out on Saturday. I caught a couple of pictures with some noses, flippers, and backs. Unfortunately, we got there only about 15 minutes before closing time, so we didn't have a lot of time to take in the whole center. We've decided before it warms up again, we need to take a field trip to check it all out. 

Katie and Kevin were working on re-doing Angelas room, so we helped them finish up, before they went to pick up Angela and Justin showed up.  Peyton spent some time with Eggs the Hedgehog, which cheered him up after his pet-losses. We played some games, and they treated us to dinner. 

We also got some fun mail about our upcoming Disney trip. The boys each had a $25 Disney gift card from Christmas, and they had used it to pool their money to book a room at the All Star Sports Resort. (With $5 to spare!) We were going to be going in early February. I even got online and ordered our Magic Bands (for four of us- you can't register five in a normal room, which stinks)

Sunday was the AFC and NFC Championship. I had found on Pinterest, a site for NFL Pizzas-- something unique to each city with an NFL team. We decided this would be a perfect way to celebrate. 

And so we made all four pizzas. They were all very, very good. 

This is the Seattle pizza. It had grilled shrimp and pears, along with bacon crumbles and Alfredo sauce on it. It was Calib, and Asa's favorite. 

San Francisco's was a dessert pizza. It was a peanut butter based sauce (kind of buckeye like), topped with chocolate and then pretzles and peanuts. It was very good, and Hayden's favorite. Though nobody but Hayden chose this one, it is worth noting it was the first pizza gone. 

Denver's pizza was mine and Peyton's favorite (though the Broncos fan in our house may be a little biased). It was a grilled steak and blue cheese pizza with a pesto sauce.

New England's pizza was a clam bake, though I did add some crab to it. It didn't really have a sauce to it. It was my least favorite (though still pretty tasty). Asa said this was his close second. 

I also had a very happy Broncos fan on my hands. Peyton Manning is heading to the Super Bowl (I sure hope he wins, or my Peyton will be crushed). Due to the emotional investment of certain people in this house in the Super Bowl, though, we won't be having our usual party. Also worth a mention, in August the five of us all wrote down our Super Bowl Predictions. While Peyton was close picking a Broncos 49ers Super Bowl, Calib was spot on with picking a Seattle Denver Super Bowl. For the record, he picked Denver to win. 

Monday we worked on lots of school work. I hear public school was out for MLK day, and sometimes I feel bad making the boys to school work on holidays or weekends. But they don't seem to mind in the least bit. They know it all evens out. 

After dinner on Monday, we were sitting around talking about what to do Tuesday. Because it would mark four years since my dad passed away, everyone decided we needed to do something fun, to make it a less sad day. I jokingly said 'too bad our Disney reservation is in two weeks'. Asa and Calib quickly told me they were sure we could change it. My practical, planning self, tried to talk them out of it. But, Asa called and changed the reservation, penalty free, and then they preceded to pack everything, even making some chili in the slow cooker to take with us for dinner the next night. I live with some pretty awesome boys! 

After an early lunch, we headed out to Disney. The weather was not awesome with really dark skies and some rain. But, by the time we checked in, got all of our stuff to the room and changed into swim suits the sun was back out! 

While it was just above 70 degrees, the pool was heated, so it wasn't too bad (until you got out). 

After dinner (the chili they made was delicious by the way!), we went out to the Animal Kingdom Lodge. I'd heard about these zerba domes and had to try them. People rave about them the way they do the dole whips. I found them to be every bit worth the trip. 

Since we were at the Lodge, we got to check out all the animals too. You can see them from a little outside area by the lobby, and it was feeding time, so there were lots of deer, zebra, giraffe, and wildebeests out. Plus we just hit the timing of it right where they were having a campfire for roasting marshmallows (for free!) 

After we skyped my mom to check in with her, we walked around the lobby a bit, and found some hidden mickeys. 

Then we headed over to the Polynesian to walk around that hotel, and take the boat over to the Magic Kingdom. 

It was crowded, but most people were watching the first electrical light parade so we were able to ride the teacups (I went on them despite my motion sickness problems) with little to no wait. 

Calib and Hayden took one teacup, so they could spin until their little hearts were content. 

And Peyton, Asa, and I went in another one. They did their best to keep the teacup from spinning too much. I snapped this funny picture of Peyton, and it looks like we're really moving, but Asa was actually working against the natural spin and this girl didn't get motion sick at all. Score! 

Since we decided one of the things we wanted to do in 2014 was go on every ride and see every show in the Magic Kingdom, we've been going on things that we haven't been on in awhile, like Winnie the Pooh. 

Another one of our things to do in 2014 is to ride the new Snow White ride on opening day. It's nearing completion, and you can even peek past the wall to see how its coming. 

After a stop at Gaston's for a giant cinnamon roll, we waited less than 5 minutes to ride Under the Sea. 

We did stop by the castle after that to watch the celebrate the magic show on the castle. They project lots of Disney images on the castle, with music and everything. It's very cool. 

Then we skipped wishes, knowing 95 percent of the people were watching the fireworks. This allowed us to get on Space Mountain in under 10 minutes, and we walked right on Space Ranger Spin-- where I even got my highest score to date! 

As we passed the dance party with the Incredibles, I offered an obscene amount of points to anyone who would go up there to dance with them. Peyton and Hayden took me up on the offer, after originally declining. It really was WAY too many points for something like dancing, but Hayden is working on self confidence, and points or not, I was really proud of him for going up there and not being embarrassed. I took video too, I'll have to post sometime. Hayden and Frozone did the robot together. 

We had a little more time before the second electrical light parade, and the crowds were really very thin at this point, so we used a very rare opportunity to hit the Magic Carpets with a five minute wait. 

We made it to the parade route in time to grab some hot chocolate and get a prime spot for some high fives. 

Since we watched the parade in the very back of the park, when the last float was still going by we ran over to Big Thunder Railroad.. with ZERO line for the FRONT CAR! I had to snap a picture of the line, because really, it should be a wall of people on both sides of the cue. This is what you get for going to Disney on a Tuesday night in January, I suppose. 

It also gave us the opportunity to FINALLY take a dip kiss picture with the Tangled scene. This is always crawling with people, but not with five minutes until close apparently. Peter Pan was our last stop. The wait there is ALWAYS ridiculous, but we got on in six minutes. 

We walked leisurely through the park, and stopped at the gift shop to check out Magic Band accessories, and try on some hats. 

When we got back to our hotel, it was 11 pm, but we thought it best to finish the night with some cheese fries and a viewing of Walle. My kids generally stay up pretty late, so even at 11pm they were going pretty strong. 

Fun note: Because I had already ordered our bands online when we changed our date, they had to just give us some at the hotel. However, we'll also be getting the ones we ordered in the mail too (in the right colors) They are linked to our passes, so we're one of the few annual passholders with a magic band. I should have done it right, and we could have had one for Hayden too. 

Thanks to a late check out, we were able to sleep in until 10:30 this morning. We then took the opportunity to go out to the big field and play some football and take some pictures. 

We had sandwiches in our room for lunch that Asa had packed, and then went over to Beaches and Cream for a No Way Jose Peanut Butter and Chocolate Sunday to split. 

Our last stop today was Downtown Disney. Ghirardelli was giving out free samples of my favorite: milk chocolate with caramel!

And I even convinced Calib to put on a Browns hat at the ESPN store so I could take a picture, which is funny-- because he's wearing a Steelers hoodie. 

And then we took the boys to Once Upon a Toy, where we let them get the fun Disney Mr. Potato Head pieces. We use them every Friday for our spelling quizzes, so they were all happy to get some new parts. 

You get a box, and fill it with as much as you can. I packed it in pretty well (for all the weird shaped items), and it wouldn't really close. I thought we'd have to take some out, since there is a sign saying you have to close the box.  The Disney employees let us get it anyway. 

We got home a little before 4 today, and everyone worked together for a good 15 minutes and we were all unpacked. A big thanks to my family for making an otherwise pretty sad day into lots and lots of fun. 

Oh, and thanks to Asa. He took on making dinner tonight so I could finish up my blog. 

Next Up: Actually, I have no idea. We don't have any concrete plans in the next week, crazy! I'm sure we'll find something to occupy our time.