Bowling

Carson has been bowling with our homeschool group. I think he really likes the interaction with his friends more than the bowling. The first picture is Carson bowling with Ms. Jenny's help. I spend most of my time chasing Cameron and trying to make sure he doesn't run down the lane. The older kids love to hold him and play with him while we are there.

Music composing

Carson loves to compose music on the Classic For Kids website. Lately, he has decided to compose music in his own hand. When he was finished, we played the notes on the keyboard. He loved that he could write eighth notes since the website doesn't have that option. I was very surprised with the time and effort that he put into this. My only contribution was printing the paper for him.

A giving brother

Carson took some of the organic tomatoes from his garden to the homeschool park day. He sold all that he took for $.25/each and ended up with over $2.00.
He asked me to take him to the dollar store to buy a toy this afternoon. He bought a night light shaped like a football and then he turned to his brother and bought a stick horse with the other dollar. There were plenty of toys that he wanted, but instead he decided to get Cameron a present. It was so sweet.
I feel that sibling love is so under-rated. It is a beautiful thing.

The amazing balloon show

Today we went to the Allen Library to see a balloon show. It was really entertaining with a little magic, a few jokes and cute performance. We sat in the balcony seats and I blocked Cameron in with the chairs so he was free to get down and walk around a little which made him happy. Although, he spent most of his time signing to me that a lightbulb was out in the auditorium and crying when the crowd was too loud. Carson loved when the balloon artist blew up a human size balloon with a leaf blower and squeezed inside!
We saw some friends there and spent some time playing with them and checking some books out. Carson was thrilled since we haven't seen them in awhile and has missed them.

Amazing Jake's

We went to Amazing Jake's this weekend. It was really fun! Carson was tall enough to drive the bumper cars all by himself although he barely reached the controls. The laser tag was really cool - Mark and I had never done it before. We bought unlimited tickets which allow you to ride and play all you want for 3 hours. We stayed the entire 3hours which was just about our limit. The time went by really fast.

Early morning noise

Early Saturday morning, Cameron pushed some buttons on our house alarm keypad and made a light come on. Mark tried to turn it off and when he pushed some buttons, the loud alarm went off (continuosly) and he couldn't get it off. He finally turned it off in the main box. It was really funny!

Parade

We went to the Plano Independence day parade. I wasn't sure if it would be too crowded or not. We loved it. We sat under the shade of a tree and Carson made a tent with our umbrella. It wasn't too busy and parking was a breeze. We left early since Cameron was ready for a nap. I think we'll try to make this parade every year.
Later that day, I made ribs, corn on the cob and a flag cake. Carson couldn't wait to cut the flag and eat a piece.
We've been reading a little about the Revolutionary war and Carson created a battle in the sand. If you look closely, you can see the American Flag.

Fireworks and Warbird Flyover

Most nights, Cameron is very tired by 8pm and wants to be in bed. We were lucky that he had a long late nap which allowed all of us to go to Kaboom Town. We really enjoyed watching the old military planes. The boys liked the fireworks which they began by having the planes shoot sparks (A biplane is shooting sparks in the first picture). They made a few friends sitting near us and played with them. However, we left before the fireworks were finished since Cameron had gotten very tired and was miserable.

My knight in shining armour

Carson and I made a castle with his megafort building system. Then he dressed up as a prince. He was so adorable. Notice my old costume jewelry necklace that made up his crown?

Cornstarch play

As you probably know, my husband is a Drilling Engineer. So, it is only natural to put something on my blog about drilling fluids...
In Drilling Fluid: The Lifeblood of the Well you can read about Visplex*, a substance used in the drilling fluid that transports cuttings from the bottom of a borehole to the surface. Visplex has the unusual property of being able to change form. When it is at rest it is a gel. When it is in motion it becomes a free-flowing liquid. A mixture of cornstarch and water also changes viscosity depending on whether or not it is agitated, but in a different way. When it is under pressure, it becomes a solid.
The other day, we spent the entire afternoon playing with the properties of this mixture. Carson loved to ooz his hand slowly into the liquid and then try to pull it out quickly only to have it trapped.

Stuck on Peas

At the park last week, Cameron was eating some of the freeze-dried peas that I brought to snack on. He put his face in a bunch of them and when he looked up, this it what I saw.

So much to do, so little time

This afternoon after playing hide and seek, a bowling game, going to a balloon magic show, reading stories, doing a craft, riding his bike and many more fun things, Carson layed down on the floor and took a big breath. I asked him if he was tired and he angrily said, "YES!". I asked him why he was angry and he replied, "Mom, there is SO much to still play and do and if I rest I won't have time to do it all!!"

Oh Noooooooooooooo!

We went to my brother-in-law's home for dinner recently. As the dinner table was finally set, and all the food was on the table, I reached up to turn on the light. I pulled the light chain on the ceiling fan and the glass globe fell right on all the food. OH Nooooooooooo! I felt so bad and poor Cameron was scared and crying.
We finally were able to clean it up and instead of a big spread, we had brisket and a lovely green salad. Thank goodness that my sister-in-law's homemade pie was still in the kitchen!!
Check out some of our glass filled food in the photo :(

Child-led reading

Carson loves for me to read to him. He loves short stories and long chapter books such as "Magic Tree House series", "Black Beauty", "Little House books", and the latest, "Chronicles of Narnia".
I know that he knows his letter sounds and some sound combinations, but until now had no interest in reading a book himself.
Well, a couple of days ago he dug out some phonics books that I had put away (for lack of interest). They are books 1 - 14 from the hooked on phonics series. Anyway, to my amazement he immediately read books 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5! He loved them and understood the silly jokes that he read. The next day, he picked them up and read books 6 -14. He asked a couple times about certain words, but otherwise read and understood what he read quite well. He has such pride in knowing that he read them all by himself.
This sums up my teaching style of child-led learning. Many times I see myself as a facilitator of his learning rather than a teacher to him. He chose to read without any influence from me. This is what I want for him, to have interest in things and not lose interest because it has been forced upon him.

First Lollipop

First, let me preface this by saying that we don't eat chemical food additives, colors or preservatives. Carson knows and accepts this happily as we have educated him that these additives are not actually food. Think about that...m&ms, chicken nuggets, most candy, prepackaged food.
Carson received a lollipop in his gift bag at Gavin's party. He kind of knew what a lollipop was and whispered to me what was in the giftbag and was a little disappointed because he couldn't enjoy his entire giftbag. I told him that Whole foods sells lollipops without colors and he was so excited that he convinced me to drive to the store straight from the party. He was thrilled! He chose mango and was so excited. He said, "Mom, I can even eat the lollipop without holding on!!".

Gavin turns 3!

Carson's friend, Gavin just turned 3 and had a petting zoo at the party. Carson rode the pony twice and loved every minute of it. They had the softest bunnies to pet and it was hilarious when the goat decided to hang out on top of the turtle for awhile. It was a large party with a lot of fun. It was so hot, but they had an ice-cream cake to help cool off - Yummy!

Cameron Walking!

Cameron started walking the day after he turned one. He has total confidence while he goes about the house. His ability to balance in the most precarious positions amazes me. He walks so fast and can be out of sight in just a second. My days of sitting on the sidelines at the homeschool park days are over. He wants to be on the playground with the big kids and climb the play structures.

Still fits in the spoon!

Carson loves to go to the play area at Willow Bend mall. This is one of the first places that we went to play after we moved here when Carson was 17months old. Since it is a great place for babies to play and explore, we have made a few trips recently for a place for Cameron to enjoy too.
Take a look at the two pictures below and notice that they are both Carson! One from 3 years ago and one recently taken. He is still fits in the spoon :)

Cousin Jessica

My sister's family came to DFW to visit from North Carolina. She spent the majority of the time in Fort Worth at my parent's home, however they came to Cameron's party and stayed one night with us. It was really nice having them over and look forward to their next trip!

Cameron's 1st Birthday party

I postponed Cameron's birthday party so my sister's family could be here. We had family over, ate fajitas and the cake that I made. The boys had so much fun wrestling with their uncle and their cousin.