Halloween 2010

We went with a Star Wars theme again this year! Tanner was the bravest X-wing Pilot you'll ever meet and Hunter was the cutest Ewok you will find on Endor! At our church Halloween party Ladd wore a shirt with a picture of Darth Vader saying "Soy tu padre mijo" and I was a generic Jedi Knight. So, in our simple way, even we fit the theme! My camera somehow did not make it to the church that night-so no pictures of the Star Wars family :(

Thanks to a super creative Grandma, Hunter looked like a perfect Ewok. People who know about Star Wars knew right away that he was an Ewok and people who are not familiar with the late 70's trilogy would say, "He is so cute, What is he?" Here is our little Ewok with his cute Preschool teacher and friends:
Of all the Star Wars characters, I am not sure why Tanner wanted to be a X-wing Pilot, but he loved it and all of his 7 year old friends thought it was "so cool".

The Hoyal's Hope you had a Happy Halloween!

Curse of the Pharaohs

We have been learning about Ancient Egypt recently for school, so we decided to do a "Curse of the Pharaoh" themed Halloween party for school this year.

We ate mummy dogs, pyramid quesadillas, and intestine jell-o-straight from a Canopic jar (Yuck!).

We decorated super cute Mummy cookies...


The kids got to make Amulets to ward off any evil spirits...

and "Walk Like an Egyptian" while playing musical chairs!
We also played the Mummy wrap game. Can you guess who this cute Mummy is?

It was a fun way to celebrate Halloween with friends and celebrate some of the mystique of Ancient Egypt!

School Picture Day

Just because we homeschool, doesn't mean we can't have school picture day! Suzanne is great with a camera and took these super cute shots...

Hunter Bear

Tanner Man

The Time Detectives 2010-2011

Proof

A conversation I overheard today as we were getting ready to go to the store so Tanner could use his money to buy some Legos:
Tanner to Hunter: "Aren't you excited! We get to the store and actually buy something. That is rare."
This is proof that I do not over indulge my kids!

Pure Joy

I love that Hunter is filled with absolute joy every time he gets in the water! I had to get it on video...

I also happened to have my video camera out to catch him swimming all by himself. It is such a weird feeling to see your little one just floating through the water on his own!

And, of course, we can't leave our level three swimmer out of this video post. Here is Tanner doing the back stroke...

I love that it is the middle of October and it is still warm enough for my kids to be swimming! I also love how swim lessons work up a great appetite in my boys and wear them out so they always go to bed early on swim lesson nights!

P is for Pumpkin...

Hunter goes to preschool two days a week and today was their first field trip! The Pumpkin Patch! Tanner and I tagged along on the fun. Tanner didn't seem to mind one bit that he was the oldest by a good three years. We went to the Live Oak Pumpkin Patch in Yucaipa. That is a great one!

Waiting for the tractor and playing Simon Says...
still waiting and learning about sunflowers...
And finally, the tractor!

Feeding the hungry goats...
Feeding the little humans (Lunchtime!)...
It was a fun filled day with a bunch of cute kiddos!

Boys Book Club

We decided to start a Boys Book Club! Each month the boys are given a book to read and at the end of the month, we meet and celebrate the book that we read. There are 5 boys in our club and they were all so excited to read Detective Camp: An A to Z Mystery. Everything we did had something to do with the book. It is a fun way to keep boys excited about reading!

Here's how we celebrated Detective Camp:

The boys were given clue cards that led them to puzzle pieces. They had to work together to put the pieces together which relayed a special message: They would be making S'MORES!


Then we got some good discussion going by using a beach ball labeled with questions. One boy would throw the ball and the catcher would answer the question that his thumb was on. The reward for answering the question thoughtfully was a piece of chocolate that they could use for their S'mores. It was so fun to see these boys getting excited to discuss the book.

I decided to incorporate a little science by making chromatographs and discussing how Detectives use this to solve crimes. They loved it and would have kept doing it if we hadn't had run out of filter paper.

Then, the highlight, making S'mores! We are not overly advanced here, so I just turned on the stove burners and they roasted away!

It was great fun and we are looking forward to next months book: Chocolate Fever!!

LA County Fair

We went to the Fair with our school group a few weeks ago-I am just getting around to blogging about it. It was a perfect day-the only cool day that week. I love how we get in for free, free parking, and get in three hours before it opens to the public because we are a school group. Really, it's the only way to go to the LA Fair! If anyone wants to be part of our school group for one day next fall, you can join us at the Fair!

We ate like Medieval Kings...

Protected castles like Brave Knights...

Worked as hard as farmers...

Listened to a real Paleontologist (and then climbed all over a fake dinosaur!)...
And bummed around on a Pirate playground (we also watched a Pirate stunt show which the boys thought was amazing, and it made me a little jittery)...

Can't wait til next year!

Birthday Bash

We celebrated Hunter, Ladd, and Grandpa Hoyal's Birthday last night.

It was a simple family party at Heidi's house. I love having parties at her house because kids are instantly entertained with the pool, trampoline, and dirt to romp around in. When I asked Hunter what kind of a party he wanted he said "crowded". When I asked what he wanted for his birthday he said "Legos". Both of these goals were accomplished, so he was a very happy kid!

Here are a few of our partiers who helped to make for a "crowded" and fun evening:

I LOVE that my mom is creative and patient enough to make cute cakes for my kids birthdays. They are always the highlight of the party!

Happy Birthday Hunter, Ladd, and Mike!

By the way, Chelsea is due any day now so next year this party will be for Four Hoyal boys! Can't wait to meet baby Michael!