Weekend Activities... We had a great weekend here - though it was busy and at times stressful we still managed to enjoy it and spend some good quality family time together. Friday morning we went to our homeschool party - Rhia was Queen Amidala, Ciaran was Bob the Builder and I wore Serona's handmade Jedi costume (the kids were quite disappointed that my lightsaber, which looked real, did not actually light up), Sirah just went. That night we went to our neighborhood party in different attire. Rhiannon was Aurora from Sleeping Beauty (Serona brought this beautiful costume home from DisneyWorld), Ciaran was a bob the builder jester (trading in his hardhat for a fun jester's cap Serona also brought home from DW), I put on my Tenniel Djo costume (also hand made by Serona) and Serona adorned his Jedi getup. Sirah got sick and I stayed home, but the rest of the family had a good time.

Saturday was dance class, dr's appointments and the Children's museum. While I must admit to being less than impressed with many of the museums of the Twin Cities (I believe growing up in NY and then college near Chicago has set my standards quite high) I do find the children's museum to be good fun and entertaining for the kids. Serona walked the museum with Ciaran while I followed Rhiannon around with Sirah in the sling. Both children were most entertained by this simple construction zone activity - placing blocks on conveyor belts. It was manual labor and they both (independently) spent ALOT of time here. Made me wish I could create a conveyor belt at home to get them that interested in working and cleaning up the house! They also enjoyed the water exhibit, Rhia had her hair dyed in rainbow colors and made a craft in the "invention" room, while Ciaran enjoyed the natural habitat exhibit and storytime with Serona. All in all it was a good way to spend the afternoon and as an added bonus for us it was free!

Saturday night was spent catching up and cleaning the house in order to get it back into shape for showings (still on the market - but we are hopeful and know God is faithful) and I actually went to bed early as Sirah is still sick and needed a chest to lie on for sleeping. Today was church, errands, and some family time at the mall this evening. We went to the library and I stocked up on "C" books for the upcoming week. We found a great Mexican restaurant that served healthy, delicious and reasonably priced food. We spent the evening at a mall, letting the kids run out some energy in the indoor park and walking through the mall and picking up our pictures from Serona's recent trip to Disney World. Then as a nightcap we headed over to the bookstore and spent the time in the children's section reading a variety of books to the kids and watching them roam the section and read books themselves as well. I love the fact that my kids love bookstores and the library. Ciaran also tried to play with the train display - but sadly some older boys were there and would not let him play. He ended up taking some trains and sitting on the floor with them. I offered to help but he seemed content on the floor and didn't want to cause problems where there weren't any.

All in all we had a great weekend and just enjoyed some family down time. I especially enjoyed having some time to work with Ciaran on flashcards he enjoys while Serona helped Rhiannon practice writing her letters - she was really struggling with writing lower case e, but he helped her realize she could do it. Everyone seems ready to face the week ahead. We will be centering our activities from this week around the letter C - hope you enjoy reading it as much as we enjoy living it out!

Peace,
Tenn