Orange in a Sea of Red

Today was the UT, Texas Tech game. Of course UT won 52 to 17. Ouch! We were proudly sporting our burnt orange t-shirts while everyone else in town was wearing red. Neal invited Robert Bishop over to watch the game. (He is another visiting prof at Tech who was a UT grad.) He and Neal are debating on whether or not they should wear their UT shirts to school on Monday. It was nice to have another fan with us. The kids just thought it was great to have a lot of food in the living room!

Apples!

We went to the apple orchard today. Unfortunatley, we were between picking dates. So we did not get the best apples, but the kids did not mind and we had fun. Neal was able to join us on this outing - we were so excited to have him with us! All of the children found a few apples to take home. Evelyn, just repeated the word "apples" the entire time we were there. After running through the orchard and picking a few decent apples, we went back to the cafe/bakery and had a snack. Madeline chose an apple brownie which was very good. On the way home, we went to McDonald's. The kids are now all napping after their fun family day. I think that I will join them!

What's goin' on

So, the new JFP (Jobs for Philosophers) came out yesterday. That means that the job search for next year is officially on. Neal has already dog-eared several listings that look interesting. There are a couple in Denver that would be nice! So far, Tech is the only Texas option available to him, and we don’t know if he will be getting that. There will be a lot of competition for that position including another visiting guy that Neal is working with this year. (We like him, so there are no hard feelings.) Anyway, pray for Neal as he looks for a job and seeks guidance and wisdom on how to provide for his family.

Madeline and I are officially 1 week behind in school due to all the gallivanting we have done around Lubbock. Yes, there is enough to do here to be considered gallivanting! However, Madeline has finished the first 26 lessons in the phonics book, therefore knowing her short-vowel sounds and beginning consonants. This week we are focusing on reading CVC (consonant-vowel-consonant) words. In handwriting and math, she has practiced writing all upper and lowercase letters and numbers 0 to 9. So, we are ready to move on to bigger and better things in both of these subjects. (That is the plan anyway.) I am so glad that we are able to be flexible with our schedule and allow for fun things. This week we have the park play date, we are going to an apple orchard (weather permitting), and we have MOPS.

Aidan and Evelyn are doing well. Aidan is coming right along with the toilet training. He is still not telling me when he needs to go, but he is having fewer accidents because I take him regularly and he is learning to wait until I take him! (I know you are all very interested in those types of details!) Evelyn has learned several new words including the word “NO”! She is our first child to tell us “no”. We were spoiled with Madeline who never wanted to defy us and Aidan who just does not say a whole lot. So, she has been learning what happens when you tell Mommy and Daddy “no”. She has also been learning her colors, which is a much more pleasant experience for her!

I am finally getting my Homemade Gourmet business going again. I have an open house next Thursday, an all day demo at my Curves in early November, and I am going to participate in a bazaar in mid November. So, I hope to drum up some business and do some home shows pretty soon.

That is the latest on us; I will be posting more news and pictures as we get some!

Providence

This is First Presbyterian Church. It is located in the bustling metropolis of downtown Lubbock. Our Church, Providence Presbyterian (PCA) meets here. The building is up for sale and we are renting it for now. There has been talk of us buying it, but that is in the works. It was built in the early 1900's, has a bell tower in the steeple, beautiful stained glass windows and a pipe organ! It is a really neat building and we enjoy worshipping here.

You cannot really make it out from the pictures, but on each side of the steeple, there is a carving of a lion and the name of each of the four gospels. Also, (Neal wants me to mention this) above the doors there is a carved Latin phrase "Lux Lucet in tenebris", which means "the light shines in the darkness" (from the prologue to John's gospel). The complete thought is that "the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it (or comprehended it)."

Just thought you would all like to see where we worship! (FYI, the Wells Fargo building is not part of the church!)

The Maze

I took the kids to the cornfield maze yesterday. We had a blast! It was homeschool days at the maze, so the cost was greatly discounted and we ended up being completely free! We went with a small group that I got together, some from our church and some of our park friends. To the left is an ariel veiw of our maze. The family that operates it did a really great job with making everything look well kept and seasonal.












Here are the kids in one of the two mini mazes. This one is the "no left turn maze". They did not follow the rules, but they still managed to get out!









Here they are in the actual maze. We went half-way through. The wagon was great in there. It was well maintained and I could have used the stroller.









This is a view of the maze from the bridge. Our group can be seen if you look closely. I just thought that this was really pretty!








We went on a hayride which brought us to the pumpkin patch. It was amazing! I have never seen so many varieties growing in one spot. There were several varieties of orange pumpkins, white pumpkins, gourds of every color and many types of squash. They varied in size and ranged in price from $0.25 to $6.00. The kids were allowed to get out of the trailer and choose as many as their parents would let them pick. Madeline chose a "baby orange pumpkin" for $1.00. She is very proud of this pumpkin and (after convincing her that she could not sleep with it), has found a special spot for it in the kitchen to add to our fall decor!

I encourage all of you to check out the cornfield mazes this year. You can find one near you at http://www.cornfieldmaze.com .

The Park

Every Thursday, I take the kids to legacy play village. We meet some other homeschoolers there and have a picnic. You may think that we are all playing "hookie", but I like to call it "group recess". It is a lot of fun.

This park is really neat. It is made up of several wooden structures. The coolest being the big house. You can see it in the background of this first picture. We were the first to arrive this past Thursday when I took the pictures, so it kind of looks like a ghost town! Another fun thing about this park is that there are dozens of brown bunnies hopping around. (If you look closely, you can see one by the ramp.) The kids love to chase them! (Aidan is attempting to sneak up on one of them.) Finally, this past Thursday was especially exciting because it was 55 degrees! We were actually chilly!