Halloween

Joshua's "mean" Clone Trooper look. He's not doing well at suppressing the smile. He's got to be the cutest Clone Trooper anywhere.

A clone trooper & Sharpay.

Annakin Skywalker & Giselle from Enchanted

The pictures are self explanatory. Their actual Halloween costumes were Annakin & Giselle. Luckily Joshua got that costume for Christmas last year & the Giselle dress is actually Hannah's nightgown which was also a Christmas gift from last year-thanks to both Grandmas! After Halloween we got the other costumes for 75% off. That's were we also got the Narnia costumes for the geography & history fair. $5 a piece and they will be well used.

Geography & History Fair

In early November we participated in a geography & history fair with our homeschool group-I'll probably just start abbreviating our name. Get used to HEoS (Home Educators of Surprise)to start showing up a lot when I mention doing things with that group. We originally picked Egypt to study but since the fair was short notice (about 2 weeks) I decided that was not enough time to properly study Egypt & the people.

We are reading through the 7 Chronicles of Narnia books for the 2nd time this year so we decided to study C.S. Lewis & throw in some fictional geography of Narnia as well as where C.S. Lewis was born & lived. I read the books out loud to both the kids & we can't wait for Prince Caspian to come out on DVD Tuesday even though that will end up being a Christmas present. We had lots of fun thinking up & making the props to go with the display. I say "we" a lot because we try to make these things a family affair. It's not just Hannah's project. If you are familair with the books & the movies maybe you can make out what some of the props are. If you are not familiar with the books then I suggest you read them. We already had a shield & sword for King Peter's gift. Hannah made Susan's arrows with straws & feathers and her horn out of Crayola model magic clay. I filled a small glass bottle with water & food coloring to be Lucy's healing cordial (juice of the fire-flower) & we already had a dagger too. Since Edmund didn't get a gift we made fake Turkish Delight to represent him. I had a hankerchief to represent the hanky Lucy gave Mr. Tumnus. We also used insta-snow (fun stuff) to be under the props. The picture of the Dawn Treader was traced off the book,colored in, & "framed" with popsicle sticks. Read the book if you want to know why. Plus we made 2 yellow & green "rings" out of pipe cleaners. Again-read the books. It was fun to put together. An interesting fact we learned about C.S. Lewis was that he died the same day JFK was shot. I'm sure his death was noted quietly.
We also got to see the Narnia Exhibit at our Science Center in August. It was very cool & we'd would love to see it again. If you get a chance to see it in your city I think you should go!

Here is Queen Lucy & High King Peter.

Stargazing

I realize I'm going backwards with pictures & happenings but I don't care! In October we went stargazing with part of our homeschool group. We saw plenty of stars,constellations, Venus,Jupiter, & of course the moon. The people who bring out their huge & expensive telescopes helped us put our camera up to the lens & we got a picture of Jupiter & the moon. The moon picture here is the best of the bunch. We also learned that every October 20th we pass through the debris of Hailey's Comet so there's meteor showers at that time every year. The best time to see them is between midnight & dawn. So, guess what we did on Hannah's birthday which just happens to fall on October 20th every year as well? Yep, we stayed up to watch. We laid out on our fake grass with blankets watching the skies. We saw quite a few more than I expected & one really good one. I finally called it quits around 1am or so & took Joshua inside. Todd & Hannah stayed up a bit longer.

Here we are with a telescope I wish we could afford. $9-10 grand. Yes, I asked.

The Zoo with Grandpa (aka Todd's Dad)

We went to the zoo a week ago today with Todd's Dad while he visited a couple days. The weather was perfect, the otters were especially playful,the monkeys in monkey village (where you go in and walk amongst them) were crazy, & a zebra smiled for me-see the picture. I'm posting a few pictures not because you have never seen a zebra or monkey before but because I need the practice. I was able to post the soccer picture all by myself!

Hannah & Joshua with a fake giraffe. In case you didn't know it the giraffe is Joshua's favorite animal. Hannah's is the dolphin-FYI.

See-doesn't it look like this zebra is posing for me?

Two kids who love each other (most days anyway).

Soccer Silver

Here is a picture of Hannah & her team after they won 2nd place in their soccer playoff game. Coach Rob in the picture is also her (& Joshua's) coach for P.E. on Mondays. The kids love him. We love a coach who prays with our kids. Anyway, a couple friends from our old church were also on her team even though we don't live near each other at all. I'm pretty sure Joshua will want to play next year. I hope there's a sibling discount!

The Chronicles of the Smith Family

Yes, I have finally decided to do this blog stuff. I have thought about this since we started homeschooling. For the most part this will be written by me-Kathy. I trust you'll be able to tell the difference if Todd decides to post. We want to keep relatives updated on the kids as well as some silly weekly mundane stuff. You have no idea how hard it is to find a blogspot name with the "Smith Family" in it that was not already taken. I finally decided on the "chronicles" name because the kids are really into the Narnia books & movies. Sorry to my spelling challenged friends as chronicles can be a tough word. Disneyfreaks (Hannah's request) was already taken-yes, we checked. I didn't even try Joshua's suggestion of crazyphyschobiscuit as it seemed a bit, well, hard to explain-please don't ask! That kid comes up with some real gems.

We just had a busy week between one Grandma visiting & one Grandpa visiting too. We went to the Zoo & the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert with Todd's Dad. My mom got to see Hannah win a silver medal in soccer & we went to the Science Center. I will post pictures later after I figure it out or I beg Todd to help me.