And that's January

Sweden was in our geography memory work recently and Annie got to thinking about how long it took Kirsten (her American Girl doll) to travel from Sweden to the United States.

 Mollie Grace had a second riding lesson.  I didn't take any pictures of her on a horse.  She rode Valentine again. We took pictures with the owner's dog because we were trying to describe to Ben just how big he is.

 This week was Parent Observation day at Annie's dance.  Her teacher Mrs. Melissa goes to our church and her husband is an elder.  The dance class was a sweet mix of ballet technique and imagination.

 Bottle Organs for science.

 Playing Jenga for review.

 Degas inspired dancers for art.

The girls made bird feeders.  We have so many cardinals.  Mollie Grace and I counted 14 in the tree outside her bedroom window during rest time recently.

Space and Rocket Center

On Saturday we visited the U. S. Space and Rocket Center.

 Riding Hypership.

 Mollie Grace and Ben climbed the Mars Climbing Wall.  Annie did not weigh enough.  You had to be at least 50 pounds.

 Repelling back down.

 ISS potty!

 This is an actual Saturn V rocket.  There are only three remaining in the world and what Ben wanted to see most at the Space Center.  The Saturn V powered the Apollo space missions.

 A Mercury space capsule.  This is what the first men left Earth in.  They didn't go very high compared to the Apollo missions that went to the moon.

 A Lunar Rover -- the type of vehicle they drove on the moon.

This is a replica of a LEM (Lunar Excursion Module). This was attached to the Command Module and is what the two men landed on the moon in.

This is the command module from Apollo XVI.  That's where the astronauts work, sleep, eat, etc. We were all surprised by how small it is for three men!

January Week 3

Mollie Grace is learning to crochet.  Also I finally hung some pictures in the living room. 

 Annie attended a sweet Wizard of Oz birthday party.

 Pepper Run science experiment at CC.

 Mollie Grace brought her knitting for presentation.

 Ben diagramming a sentence in Essentials.

 Baking cookies on a cold rainy evening.

 Sign reads "Little House Open Today"

 And this is Annie's little house.  She worked for days dragging up sticks.

 Mollie's Grace's fort.

 They were having a dance party and Mollie Grace was the boy.

January Week 2

Last week was a big week.  Mama visited for the weekend, Mollie Grace had a horse riding lesson at a different stable, Annie started dance, John and Ben hunted, and we had our first day of CC here.

 Mollie Grace had a lesson at a Saddlebred stable nearby.  The horses are gigantic!  She did a great job though and we're going to try a second lesson at this stable.

 Annie began ballet in First Baptist.  Her teacher goes to our church.

 When Mama headed home Sunday, Ben rode with her as far as Forest where John met them so that Ben could spend a couple of days hunting with John, Jim, and Grandaddy.

 Mollie Grace completed this wooden 3D lion puzzle.  We spent a lot of time doing puzzles and playing games during the weekend with Mama.  There was heavy rain and a tornado watch so we couldn't do much outside the house.

On Tuesday We met John and Ben west of Tuscaloosa to get Ben.  This is what the camp looked like when they left that morning.  John said the water went down quickly, though.

 First day of CC was pajama day.

 Mollie Grace is in my class again this semester.  This is one of our science experiments about sound and vibrations.

 Another science experiment.

 She did her presentation about horses.

This was John's view from the stand on Thursday.

 You've never met anyone so excited to get her own library card.

Ben continues to go to indoor soccer on Friday evening and Saturday afternoon.  That's him on the right. John takes him on Friday and I take him on Saturday.  He played awesome on Saturday.