For family
Btw, the list page is now updated with the current Martin family Christmas wishes.
Feel free to peruse….. or surprise us. We love that!
Original post by Robin
It is NOW Christmas time!
My house has been transformed.
Yesterday, with Red’s help, we got all our Christmas decorating done. Everybody, ‘cept me, went outside to turn our house into the tacky house next door with so many lights that we’ve already blown the circuit breaker twice! But this is my dh’s thing, so I’ll let him work that out.
I stayed inside and put up the tree with, you got it, tons of lights. Hey! I like a lotta lights on a Christmas tree. And it sure did turn out pretty.
We’d already had turkey three times at this point, so for dinner we headed out to our favorite Mom and Pop pizza joint. It was time for pizza. The turkey will keep.
Then we all went to the new James Bond movie, Quantum Solace. At first I was so worried. The very first car chase scene got on my nerves in a major way; speedy camera […]
Original post by Robin
Halloween at the Martinzoo
Halloween is my dh’s birthday.
So his first present was that he got to sleep as late as he wanted. Don’t we all crave that present?
One of the traditions we have for my hubby’s birthday is that he HAS to go to Friendly’s for lunch and a peanut butter cup sundae. It’s tradition. And he really looks forward to it.
This was my post from last year.
And this was the year before.
This year we decided to go to the rock climbing facility for fun. I go every month with the homeschooling moms, but dh hasn’t gotten much practice. And GB goes once a month with his homeschool buddies. So he is getting pretty darned good. At this point he is head and shoulders better than his daddy. (hahahaha) But he’s had way more practice and is not dragging too much weight up the wall.
GB
And my hubby. Happy Birthday honey!!
This is the pumpkin […]
Original post by Robin
Check it out!
My parents have decided to start their own blog!
Woo! Hoo!
I think they do so many cool things in their retirement. So I’ll be glad to read all about their retirement adventures.
Here: (Click on the picture to go there)
Original post by Robin
A Fall Evening
Although it was a perfect evening for this:
56 degrees is a bit too chilly for me to have ice cream…..
……..but not for my dh or GB. They thought it was a perfect night for it. My thoughts: If Bruster’s would just serve coffee, tea, or cocoa I’d be good to go.
I’m not good at night time photography. But I wanted Aquagirl to see what we did to the front porch.
She gets into this kind of thing.
Original post by Robin
The Message is Clear…..
If you want to stay young and have energy………
…….you have to remain active.
This is my Mom! I’m proud of the fact that she’s out kayaking in Vermont.
Isn’t she cool?
Original post by Robin
Monticello
I needed this.
I will admit that I thrive on field trips. I actually need them. They elevate MY mood, never mind GB’s mood. So I suppose that if MY mood is elevated it can only mean good things for GB. We went to the Pauwau on Friday, but this trip to Monticello really made me exhilerated. I loved it. The whole trip was fantastic. It’s not too far from our home, about 1 1/2 hours, and the drive is gorgeous.
Monticello is the home of our third President, Thomas Jefferson. The name ‘Monticello’ is translated from Italian to mean, Little Mountain. In 1787 Thomas Jefferson said, “…….all my wishes end, where I hope my days will end, at Monticello.” He loved his home more than any other place on Earth and his greatest hobby was “putting up, and pulling down” parts of the house to make them more stylish or functional.
This […]
Original post by Robin
Pauwau
Today our homeschooling group went to the Powhatan Indian Pauwau. I find it so interesting to learn about totally foreign cultures. And this culture is right in our own backyard. Today’s Pauwau was to honor Chief Powhatan, who was the supreme ruler of most of the indigenous tribes in the Chesapeake Bay area from north of the Mattaponi River here in Virginia.
The Pauwau is a way to share the culture of their Native Ancestors as well as bring an appreciation and realization to the citizens of Powhatan County of the sacrifice made by Powhatan’s People. The word “pow-wow” comes from the Algonquin word “pau wau” - A gathering in celebration to renew friendships, to exchange knowledge, and to trade skills.
Powhatan County is only about 40 minutes away from our house. Members from various Indian tribes came from all over to show us some Indian traditions, like brain tanning. GB […]
Original post by Robin
A day with Gramma and Grampa
Gramma and Grampa came over yesterday and took advantage of our park day with the homeschoolers. Our group alternates parks every other week. And this particular park is pretty far for us to get to. It takes us about 40 minutes to get there. But that just goes to show how spread out the homeschoolers are around here.
Anyway, we homeschoolers usually meet around 1:30. And Grampa has been bugging GB and I to go letterboxing again soon. So when I went on the letterboxing site I saw that there were several boxes in this particular park. So I fullfilled my haircutting duties and off we went to the park.
Once we got there I discovered I had made a major boo-boo. I had forgotten to bring the clues to the letterbox. I was SO bummed. But Gramma and Grampa were so enchanted with the park that we decided to just do […]
Original post by Robin
Happy Birthday to me!
So today I am a whopping 45! It really does not feel like I’m that old. When my mother was my age her oldest daughter was celebrating her 5th wedding anniversary. Hmmmm……. who could that be? Yep, me! I got married when I was 19, and my mom was 20 when she had me. We start early in my family. But it all seems to work out. So that’s good. My timing has given me many more years of wedded bliss than most folks ever get. And I am forever grateful for that.
Age? Well, if you don’t feel it, you must not be getting old. Right? I mean they do say that age is a mental thing. Mentally, I feel mid-thirties. So that’s good, right? I only feel older when I see how old Aquagirl and Jabem are getting.
We had a pretty good weekend. Friday, GB and I went to […]
Original post by Robin
To the Zoo!
Our second tradition at the beginning of our homeschooling year is to take a trip to the zoo! We, at the Martinzoo, LOVE the zoo. We have such a nice one, too. It began as a tiny little zoo in a local family’s back yard. And it has grown into a fabulous, real zoo with an amazing assortment of cool animals. I didn’t get photos of the bears, the snow leopard, the tigers or the male lion because it was hot and the animals just wanted to sleep and be lazy. Maybe next time.
We went with one of the families from our homeschooling group. We don’t get together with this family very often because they have a brand new baby and have been kind of busy. Plus, they are loaded with girls and, typically, GB doesn’t engage well with girls. But he did this time! L was the kind of […]
Original post by Robin
Labor Day
Well, this is it….
The end of the summer season.
Tomorrow we start back to school, and I am super-excited. I don’t think GB is *as* excited as I am, but he is excited about the school year. We plan to be a little more heavily academic, especially in our science course. And we are going to try to take a few cool trips this year. We’ll be heading for a week at the beach with Gramma and Grampa in November. And in January or February we are planning a whale watching excursion. That will be fun.
Today we had a fun last-day-at-the-pool day. We love spending time at the pool. My hubby got to play lots of sand volleyball, which is a passion of his. And for the first time at our pool, GB joined in. He really enjoyed himself, and was proud of the fact that his serves could make it […]
Original post by Robin
A little cruise left
My sweet hubby had to go back to work this week. This was the first time in our married life that he took a solid two weeks off from work. Well, two weeks for fun: he’s had to take time off to take care of me when I gave birth or had various surgeries. But this time it was all fun. And we had the best vacation ever. And my husband probably enjoyed it the most, which is a good thing. Because he works so hard every day, and I get to stay at home and homeschool GB, which I am so grateful for.
So, I wanted to lighten my dh’s mood each day when he got home by bringing one of the funnier aspects of our cruise into his dull, dreary day. I learned how to fold those cute little towel animals and I left one on his bed for […]
Original post by Robin
Faye
Hopefully Faye can do something good for Virginia. I know she’s caused havoc for my friends down in Florida. But we can sure use this downpour to fill up our dry lakes.
Maybe now my dh can go out again on his jet ski before the season ends for the year.
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Original post by Robin
GB’s first sleepover
GB is now old enough that he understood that Aquagirl and Jabem both brought friends on the cruise. The whole time we were gone he kept making statements to the effect, “I feel so guilty, because MY friends would love this…..” It doesn’t matter to him that Gymbabe and J paid their own way. He just wanted his friends to come on this amazing adventure.
So when we got back it was imperative that GB get to have his friends spend the night at our house. My dh and I are very like-minded. We think that if you keep kids busy, they won’t argue and whine during parties and sleep-overs. So we told GB that he could invite his twin friends, OC and WC. But we were gonna keep those boys busy. Because GB and OC are such good friends, sometimes poor WC gets left out. I feel bad about that […]
Original post by Robin
Were Back!!
Well, it’s Tuesday, August 19th………….. And we’ve been back since REALLY late on Saturday night……..try 1:45 am. Ok, technically that’s Sunday morning, but you knew what I meant. We had a rough car ride back from Florida, so we spent ALL of Sunday vegetating. Is there such a thing as “ship lag”? Well, if there isn’t, there should be. Because we all felt it. In fact, when I went to bed on Saturday night (Sunday morning), I could swear that the bed was slightly rocking me to sleep, just like on the ship. I loved it.
Yesterday was Monday, and we spent all morning and afternoon getting Jabem ready to go back to college. His other room mates moved in at the beginning of August, but Jabem had to wait until yesterday because of the cruise. Awww! Poor baby! We were supposed to move all his stuff in to the house […]
Original post by Robin
Gone, gone, gone!
This week I have not been posting much because we have been getting ready for our BIG vacation. We are taking the whole family on a cruise to the Western Caribbean. I’m extremely excited, but at this point a tiny bit frazzled. I’m sure I’m gonna forget something.
While on board my dh and I will celebrate 25 wonderful years of married life! And since my college-aged kids, their friends, my parents, my brother, his wife, and his kids, AND my aunt and uncle are all going along, we should have plenty of babysitters so that we can have some couple time.
We’ll be seeing some Maya ruins, going cave tubing, horseback riding, snorkeling, beach bumming, and of course, shopping! I can’t wait to see the shows on board the ship and watch GB play on the enormous water slide. My daughter is 21 now, and of legal drinking age, so this […]
Original post by Robin
A GB first
Last night GB went to his first sleep-over.
You will think I’m an over-controlling, compulsive, buttinski but I was terrified all night. I literally couldn’t sleep. Visions kept running through my head all night. I was worried about GB. And I was so concerned for the mom-in-charge. There was a total of seven boys with two other smaller children. And in my book that’s a lot of kids spending the night. It could be a recipe for chaos………. Not that I wanted to jinx the night.
My memories of sleep-overs are that someone always feels alienated, tempers flare, and I was always the last person still awake. It’s scary to be in a strange house and everyone is asleep, and there you lay. But the lasting impression was one of fun. I still wanted to go. I just didn’t want to be alienated, annoyed, or the last person awake. You know?
I was […]
Original post by Robin
CAPS
CAPS stands for Civil Air Patrol…. My oldest has decided he wants to join. So tonight he is supposed to go get all his uniforms and equipment for it. They have also asked my hubby to join so Ill see if he liked it cause he went tonight to check it out. They were making rockets tonight… THey do plane searchs for downed planes and also missing people… It sounds really neat and I figured it would give daddy and son a thing in common to do and spend some quality time together…
Becca
Original post by angeleyes
GB Antics
GB was having a good old time at the pool today. Little did he know that his mom was secretly photographing his daring escapades….. nyea, nyea, nyea!
He got some good height on this one!
A little fuzzy because I’m way across the deck of the pool. But I had to stay incognito. You know how bad his around a camera.
It sure was a good day to be at the pool. Man! It was so hot. It was 96 degrees when I came home from brunch today. So hot that even *I* got in the pool. You know it’s hot when I risk having to blow dry my hair twice in one day!
Original post by Robin
21!
Then:
Now:
Happy Birthday, Aquagirl!
Yikes! I feel old today. Twenty-one years ago today I was giving birth to my first little baby. I was scared. I wasn’t sure how much pain I was going to be able to handle. I mean, really, childbirth? That is always portrayed on tv as hideously painful. And I didn’t know if I’d be able to make it through all that trauma. Plus, my sil had scared me to death with her account of childbirth.
But my little Aquagirl was fairly easy to deliver. She only took two hours and seven minutes to come into this world. I had already been through trauma twice during my pregnancy. During my fourth month, I fell in the snow and started bleeding. Since I had miscarried a child right before Aquagirl, I was sure that I had caused another miscarriage. But I didn’t. She was in there to stay.
Then in my […]
Original post by Robin
Meme: My Life in Six Words
Dana, over at School for Us, tagged me for this meme, and I’ve been grappling all weekend for just the right words. What would summarize my life appropriately? This is what I’ve come up with:
Unexpectedly living with love and comfort
When I was a teenager, the last thing I ever expected was the life I now lead. I never believed that I would have a good looking husband who loves me as much as my dh does. He shows me EVERY day how much he loves me. I truly believed that I was ugly, too shy, too awkward, and unlovable.
But one day, when I was 17, at the skating rink, I looked up and saw the most amazing guy. He was doing the men’s only skate, and the song was “Jump” by the Pointer Sisters. And I kept seeing his head pop up over the crowd. Every time the song […]
Original post by Robin
Bowling with the Masses
Gramma and Grampa took us bowling today. Even Aquagirl came with us. She doesn’t usually like that kind of stuff. But she is very attached to Godzilla Boy, and she is very amused at his bowling techniques. So she deigned to grace us with her presence for the afternoon. I sure do wish Jabem could have gone, but as usual, he was working.
So, off we went, unsuspectingly, to the bowling alley. Us, and all the masses in and around Chester, VA. The place was packed! We had no idea that Thursday was their $1 bowling day. Now that we do, I’d actually be happier going on a less crowded day. During the school year Grampa, GB and I go bowling on the day that I do Grampa’s hair. Now that Gramma is retired she’ll be joining us. Usually when we go we’ve got the place to ourselves. And I like […]
Original post by Robin
4th Celebrations
Fourth of July at our house ALWAYS means a pool day and fireworks.
We love spending the day at our neighborhood pool. And our pool makes it really fun for the kids by having hotdogs, snowcones, and pool races. GB has a blast with the races.
Our town canceled the fireworks for the evening because of a huge thunderstorm that came through around 5:00. But that didn’t stop our usual fireworks display in the cul-de-sac. Between all family member contributions, I’m sure that several hundred dollars are spent on various fountains and things that go snap, bam, and boom. We’ve even gotten neighbors involved now. When you watch the following video, look at all the used up fountains next to the one that’s going off.
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The town fireworks are supposed to be rescheduled for tonight, but it looks pretty rainy, so I am skeptical. We’re going to go out […]
Original post by Robin
Hello to all
Hi all Im new to the site but not new to blogging by any means… I am 36 married to a wonderful man for 14 years. We have 6 wonderful inteligent children. 3 boys Trenton is 13, Jonathan is 9 and Mikkel is 7 months, and 3 girls Christian is 9 almost 10, Makayla is 7 and Juliana is 5. We are very busy in our household. We are a homeschooling family. We have 1 dog 1 cat and 2 ferrets. We are very active in 4-H in which I am the Organizational leader for our group. Hopefully this blog you will eventually learn about me and my family through homeschooling…
Original post by angeleyes