Aloha

Recently my good friend, Juliet, went to Hawaii with her husband, Ole. They were on an extended layover as they journeyed to their new home in Japan.

They sent back a care package to the kidlets that included a grass skirt, bikini top and hair flowers. GooseyGirl thought the outfit was dazzling and the boys decided to get into the act by putting on some of her dresses. They could hardly stand themselves!

I firmly believe laughter soothes the soul and my kidlets got plenty of soothing this day!

In addition, Juliet sent some edible goodies that are common in Japan. Apparently, instead of pretzels, you can go to the vending machine and pick up something yummy like fish snacks. Basically it is crispy sugary small dried fish fillets.

Now don't all bombard me with requests to send you some! RocketMan has discovered that he REALLY likes them.

In fact, and I never thought these words would come out of my mouth, I had to say to him, "That's enough fish snacks for now. No more until after dinner."

Yep, and the dog liked them too.

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Rubbin' elbows with fame!

RocketMan's Flat Stanley in Chicago got to meet Mayor Daley!!! Isn't that incredible? He has been on some grand adventures with his Windy City host family. I think we all want to put in for adoption with this group- they know how to have fun!

Plus, Stanley got some exercise while attending gymnastics class. He found the balance beam to be his best event. He thought the trampoline was a thrill as well.

Mr. and Mrs. Butchko came over and held an impromptu cooking class recently. Now GooseyGirl knows all about sauteing, simmering and can make a killer salad.

She has also taken up BirdMan's habit of raiding the garbage for cereal boxes. Here is the chariot she made for her Groovey Girls that is being used for many, many expeditions around the house.

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Stanley's in Toronto!

GooseyGirl's Flat Stanley is visiting the cutest little peach of a girl in Toronto right now. She made him a welcome sign and a bunk bed for him to catch some zzzz's. It was a long trip after all!

BirdMan's Stanley is in St. Louis right now and got to go to a fancy wedding! No word on whether he got to kiss the bride. He also got to visit a museum with his host family.

Flat Stanley OK and Chicago

The kid's Flat Stanley's are incredibly busy right now. We are getting postcards, letter, emails and photos of his adventures. The kids are learning so much about our country and are using mapping skills to track his travels.

GooseyGirl got some photos from her Oklahoma City Flat Stanley. He is near an Air Force base and has spent time looking at the amazing planes. He even got to meet a pilot!

GooseyGirl was a bit worried that Flat Stanley might encounter a tornado while in Oklahoma but his host family has assured GooseyGirl that they know just what to do to keep Stanley safe.

Flat Stanley has gone hunting for rose rocks. Rumor has it that Flat Stanley might come home with one so that he can show GooseyGirl what they look like.

Flat Stanley is also having fun just hanging out playing video games and riding bikes. Oklahoma looks like a great place to play.



RocketMan's Chicago Stanley visited downtown and was very busy. RocketMan was especially excited when he learned that Stanley got to visit the Sears Tower. RocketMan really loves things that are the tallest, biggest, fastest, etc.

Stanley also went to a Celtic Festival and listened to bagpipers play Irish music. The kids have been studying the Celts during history. Knowing that Stanley got to do this was exciting.

Did you know that the Celts were known to have fought battles naked with their entire bodies painted blue. They'd put gunk in their hair and stick it out in spikes, too. No wonder they'd strike fear in their enemies on the battlefield, they must have looked WILD!

Flat Stanley was worn out after his visit to downtown Chicago but he got a well deserved nap on the train back to his host family's home.










RocketMan's Stanley from Red Wing returned this week. He had a wonderful time with a great family. He even came home with his own left handed guitar! We will post more about his adventurous in a couple of days.

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Portland Stanley!

So far the kids have sent out 9 Flat Stanley's and are stalking the mailbox for news of his adventures. This project has been such a wonderful way for them to effortlessly learn about our world. They are also getting to be experts at addressing envelopes!

We recently got pictures back from BirdMan's Portland, OR Flat Stanley. He's been VERY busy.

First KJ and Bronson, Kathleen's grandkids, took him to their school and donated a Flat Stanley book to their teacher. Stanley enjoyed visiting Chief Joseph School and is going to have fun with the children there

Then he went to Cannon Beach with his new best friend, Kathleen and her DH.

The kidlets were very excited to hear Stanley got to see where the Columbia River empties into the ocean. It is in Astoria, Oregon. The best part about that adventure was that Flat Stanely got to hang out in the Salt Water Taffy Candy shop.



Big hugs and thanks to Kathleen's wonderful family for hosting BirdMan's Stanley!

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Big Hair and Rainbow Rods

I've been trying to expand my musical tastes and I've introduced everything from Andrea Bocelli to Eminem. I swear I can feel my IQ slip when I listen to certain types of music. (I'll leave it to your imagination which musical genres I'm talking about).

Today I discovered that Gooseygirl's IQ can be similarly effected, but not by music.

Her IQ drops according to hairstyle.

Right now she is in the process of growing out her bangs. Her bangs are too long to look normal and too short to tuck behind her ear. As a result, she looks like a sheep dog and apparently her brain functions on the same level when I don't pin up her bangs.

Yesterday she was easily doing column addition with her hair up. Today she couldn't remember her subtraction facts with her bangs down. That's when I figured it out. Her hair forms some sort of electromagnetic brain wave helmet that forces her neurons to misfire due to the brunette interference of the hair follicles. I know it is a very scientific theory and I'm considering writing a unit study around the impact of big hair on intelligence. Of course, I'll have to write a section on the exceptions, Einstein for example. But then again, who knows what he would have been capapble of if he'd just shaved his noggin'.

As a baby she had wispy cutie pie hair that I kept in layers because it was so adorable. She went through a phase where she wouldn't leave the house without a hat on. I love that my only girl is so completely girlie-girl. Her Aunt Cecilia painted her toenails once and Gooseygirl was over the moon with happiness.

I'm thinking that if I shave her head she could become a nuclear physicist. Hmmmmmm......


Flat Stanley Update
The kids have sent out 9 Flat Stanleys so far and are anxiously awaiting their return to learn about his adventures with our friends. Today BirdMan was sending his newest Flat Stanley to St. Louis and he was so excited.

"Ohhhhh! I sure do hope Stanley gets to visit the rainbow rod!", said BirdMan.

"The what?", I asked.

"You know, The Rainbow Rod", he replied.

snort, giggle, giggle

It took me a minute to figure out he was talking about the St. Louis Arch!




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