Are we a bad influence?

don't forget to stop the music at the bottom of this page to enjoy the video

Not only is our 2 year old demanding Dr. Pepper, but apparently Dr. Pepper is an official color in our house--why it's not in the crayola box I'm not sure. Certain Lego bricks are Dr. Pepper bricks. Can you tell which ones are red and which are Dr. Pepper?



Today I was helping Mary Beth sort some of the clean laundry. I mentioned to her that the blue, pink and white cloths were washcloths and that the yellow and green ones were kitchen rags. She then informed me that we also had Dr. Pepper wash cloths. Not remembering any cloths with Dr. Pepper on them, I wondered what she was referring to, but then I remembered these.



And if that wasn't proof enough of the influence Dr. Pepper has on our family, we renamed the mud room in our home. Instead, we call it the Dr. Pepper room. If our kids grow up liking any other drink it will be a disgrace.

So, What's It Like?

Many of you are wondering what the homeschooling thing is like for us and how it is going. Here's a glimpse into our lives in photos.

Although we can be seen doing our work in any number of places, we are often in the playroom/schoolroom/guestroom--it's cozy to say the least, but we're doing our best to make it work.


We especially enjoy a great group of other homeschoolers right on our Circle. This affords us a unique opportunity to do "class projects" like these
The papier-mache pumpkins

Freedomville


You've no doubt seen in past posts some of the planned field trips we've taken, but we also get to take some impromptu field trips like this one to watch a house get demolished just down the street from us.

One morning the kids worked together to make ice cream according to the directions in Mary Beth's reading assignment


By far, though, some of the sweetest moments are these:
Riley reading to Cory and Lucy

Cory reading to the ladies--Lucy and her friends

Lucy, still in her pj's, reading

The journey is just beginning.

Hanscom Halloween

It was a windy day today for Halloween. But it was warm, so it made for a great afternoon of hot dogs with our friends in the Circle and trick or treating through the base afterwards. As usual, the kids scored big with the candy--which means Ted's office will score big because I've got to find a way to get it out of my house. All of it, that is, except any Snickers, Butterfingers, Twix, Almond Joys or, my all-time favorite, Take 5s.


We always try to do a family costume theme. Unfortunately, it didn't work this year--Cory would only do a theme if it was a Star Wars theme. So when the family theme broke down, it was easy for Mom and Dad to opt out--we dressed as a happy couple. Riley was a jellyfish, and Mary Beth was a mermaid:



Lucy was a sea turtle:



And Cory was Captain Rex, a Star Wars Clone:



Lucky for Cory, half the Circle liked his theme idea, so he was not alone.

Flashback Friday

Little Bo Peep and Little Miss Muffet--2004. Not pictured is Little Boy Blue. Little Miss Muffet did NOT like the spider who sat down beside her, so after this picture we had to remove the spider from her dress.

Men's Retreat

I have recently taken an active role in the men's ministry of my church. You might have picked up some of my earlier discussion on this. You know the whole Christian Fight club thing. My current focus is something I call "The Challenge" ministry.
In the past we have gathered to Geocache and kayak. The Grace Race was challenge #3 until I broke my ankle. But I digress...

The Church's not so annual men's retreat was just a few weekends ago. I was part of the planning committee. I had a block of time on Saturday morning where it was my job to intro the challenge ministry. I decided to split the guys into 4 man teams and rotate through a series of "challenges." Each event had a scoring system so I could total points and award a coveted prize at the end.

One event was the Egg Drop - each team had 20 min to construct a vessel to hold an egg and keep it secure for an approx 15-20 foot drop.



Another event was a team tightrope crossing. Team-members had to assist each other in navigating from tree to tree on a tightrope (just a few inches from the ground).



A third event was the William Tell bow and arrow competition. Shoot the apple on the head without killing the guy (pumpkin - used for safety).





The fourth event was classic man stuff. Start a fire. I gave them a stick of wood, a hatchet, and three matches. Shortest time to make the water in the can boil - wins.







The coveted prize was straight-up man food - a gift certificate to Moe's (welcome to moe's).



I received lots of good feedback. The guys really seemed to enjoy the various events. It wasn't about who was the biggest or strongest, but a combination of factors that made the team successful.

I had a great time watching them and organizing it all. I spent a few minutes discussing how I work to make the challenge events object lessons, so that you get more than just conquering something, but you get some words and ideas to chew on as you go back to your normal life.



The retreat was a huge success overall. Praise God.

Next up for the challenge ministry - GUNS!

Grace Race - Results

10 Oct the family ran in the Grace Race.  The Grace Race was a 5 mile road race put on by our church to raise money for an orphanage in Kenya.  This year they also had a 5k (3 mile) run/walk.  Kristi and the Kids participated in that one while I cheered on the side.  I had planned to run the 5 mile, but then I broke my ankle.  So I just watched on the side with Lucy. 

Many of you may have received letters from us asking for donations for the orphanage. The fundraising efforts are still on-going, but so far it has been a huge success.  They received over $100,000 dollars.  The orphanage had building plans already drawn up that can now be put into motion.  The end goal is $200,000 so this one year gets them over half way. 

The kids really enjoyed the race.  Here's some pics from the finish line.   Riley and Mary led the team.  Cory and Mom were close behind. 

Many of our neighbors and church family ran.  Here's a pic of the Brooks before the race.  It was a great Saturday morning.  Thanks to all those who helped contribute on our behalf. 

School Pictures

My kids probably thought I was torturing them when we went to the Minuteman Battle Trail and Old North Bridge for some annual photos.  Hmmm...that's probably a misnomer, it's not as if I only take their pictures annually.  This blog alone attests to the fact that we take pictures all-the-bloomin'-time, and my kids will wholeheartedly agree.  Nevertheless, I took them out for some pictures--the ones that I will hang on the wall as their yearly pictures.  I have the added benefit of being able to insure that this year's "school pictures" are neither right after P.E. when their hair is all crazy nor right after lunch when they have food in their teeth and on their faces.  I also get to go on location somewhere fun.  Again, I think all of this might, by my kids, be considered somewhat close to torture.  If nothing else, it's very low on their "ways-I-want-to-spend-my-afternoons" list.  To compensate, I promised them that all who were cooperative would be rewarded.  It was a vague promise, because at the time I hadn't come up with a plan for how exactly I would reward them.  It worked nonetheless, and as proof, here's my reward:

Their reward?  Well here's the best part.  As we're returning home, I'm aware of the fact that I really need to go to the commissary.  Yet another of the many things low on their "how-I-want-to-spend-my-afternoon" list--actually, that's probably on the other list--the "how-I-absolutely-do-NOT-want-to-spend-my-afternoon" (come to think of it, it's on the same list for me).  So, I had to figure out a way to make this work out for all of us.  The conversation went something like this:

Kids:  What's our reward?

Me:  Well, I was thinking that I'd let you pick out any kind of cereal you want at the commissary, but that means we'll have to go to the commissary right now, and I'm thinking you guys would rather just go home.

Kids:  That's okay, we can go now!

Me:  Yeah, but I have a bunch of stuff on my list...we can't just go in and get cereal and then leave, I need to get other stuff too.

Kids:  We don't mind.  That will be okay.

Me:  Are you sure? 

Kids:  Yeah!  Let's go to the commissary!!!

Win-Win.  Not bad, huh?