Searching for Leonoid Meteors

Katherine and I read about the yearly event of the Leonoid Meteor Shower that was to be entertaining us on the night of Nov 17th. We looked before we went to bed, but the moon was bright and we saw nothing.

Katherine set her alarm for early in the morning. I heard the back door open ay 5:30. She was out with the dogs and a flash light looking for stray meteorites. When I joined her we saw two more, bringing her grand total to 4.

It was cold and windy. We left the driveway and came back in...me to get back under the covers and she to get the dog brush and she finished the early morning hours brushing Yetti and feeding Chance dog treats.

This picture is a borrowed one. "Our" metoers were more like small shooting stars!

Veteran's Day TV Star

Big D was awarded to Good Neighbor Award in North Richland Hills on Veteran's Day. Here is a picture of two special people taken in DFW at the beginning of October.

If you would like to see the TV short clip of Big D and the babies he rocks...click on the link below.


http://www.wfaa.com/video?id=10724388&sec553117

Love Carol

Katherine meets Alanna

It was a wonderful day. Katherine and I did some school both at home and in the car on the way to Meagan and Michael's. School goes well and quickly when there is motivation to be done.

We arrived just in time to be able to hold her and rock her to sleep. She sleeps much easier and better than her mother did when she was that age. Katherine sat on the couch and held her, worrying each time she had a little wiggle or squirm. "What does she want? What does that mean?" Hard for a 12 year old to understand some things don't MEAN anything.

Katherine was wide-eyed over several things: poop, umbilical cord and crying. SHe wanted to distract Alanna with a toy. Alanna would have none of it.

We all ate lunch, wioth Alanna in her car seat in a chair by her Daddy. Then it was time to feed. Meagan is supposed to really push the feedings because baby is a little jaundiced and they need the milk to clear the system of "jaundice yellow color" or whatever that billirubin stuff is.

I got to feed her the bottle. She was hungry, hungry. So nice to have a contented baby. She drank 2 ounces like it was nothing. Burped right on cue.

Then...the highlight. I got to bathe her for the first time. Meagan just wanted to watch and assist, to get the idea of things. Alanna doesn't like being open and un-swaddled. Cried hard for a short while as we dressed her again. But cuddled right back down happily.

As we left she was happily sleeping in her bassinet, play yard thing. Daddy was sacked out on the bed and Mommy was going to fill a few more bottles with breat milk. Contented family.

Katherine and Grace to Dewberry Farms

On Nov 8th, the entire KACH group was invited to go to the local Farm Amusement Park. Animals to touch and feed, zip lines, go carts, jump houses and mounds, a dark barn with 500 carved pumpkin heads to view. Goats climbed the high wires, geese demanded to be fed, a cow was there from a local commercial dairyman who had a mini milking station set up. (All the kids wanted to pet the cow). The corn maze was a highlight. Thankfully no one got lost!

We were there from 9am till 2pm, each of us getting one degree or another of sunburn. Tired and weary we were driving home and in the back seat the discussion turned to Adam/Atom and the difference between the two:

Grace: A friend of my Dad's is named Adam.

Katherine: No Not Adam, atom!

G: I said Adam.

K: No. Adam is made of atoms. Atom cannot be made of Adams.

G:
What are atoms made of anyway?

K: Hesitatingly, molecules, I think.

G: Well....what are molecules made of?

K: Ummmm (with help from mom) Protons, nuetrons and electrons

G; I like croutons.

With this string of conversation you can see where we adults struggle a bit to keep up. They are darling girls and do so well together as friends.

Nov 5 Alanna Elizabeth Davenport born

Is there anything more precious than a newborn baby? Don't think so. Alannaz arrived at 6:30pm on Nov 5th, weighing in at 7 lbs, 8 oz and 21 in. long.

She is a long anticipated miracle baby and went home with her Momma and Daddy on Monday the 8th. The new little family is doing well. Michael was able to take off time to be home with his wife and daughter to help with the settling in of a new routine.

She nurses well and sleeps well. Both Mom and Dad are tired, but catching up with cat naps.

Day two of her life she was a little jaundiced and had to go under the lights for a while. We think technology is wonderful. They have a blanket with the light built in.

Uncle Ross asks, "Why doesn't a little yellow skin and a blue light create a "green" baby?" Don't know the answer to that one Uncle Ross.

Grama is proud of Alanna and her Momma. Can you tell?

Science Lab AKA Kitchen

Science projects are a fun thing this year. Right now we are studying geology and the two different views of how the world began: Catastrophism and Uniformitarianism. Both are Christian...both have support from the scientific and Christian worlds. Interesting. This Chapter has a lot of experiments.

The picture on the right are alum crystals Katherine reformed in our kitchen. Pretty cool. Studying minerals. On the left, complete with safety glasses, is the young scientist at work learning about sedimentary rocks. (I promise to wash the jar thoroughly before using it to can next summer. Ha)

More Halloween pictures

These are some more Halloween images. Grace was dressed up as Taylkor Swift, a popular country singer. Both girls took another set of clothes to wear after the initial "walk-around" at the carnival, to be more comfortable. Dave and I ended up carrying the extra things around. Dave looked good with a pink guitar.

Notice the henna tatoos on Katherine's hands. The were just fake, but have stayed on for several days. Quite intricate.

We thought the huge spider was ultra creative. He was set up at the local pumpkin patch.

The camel rides are beoming quite the tradition at the grade school carnival. How appropriate for Cleo to ride a camel.

Halloween Festivities

This is Cleopatra of the Nile, AKA Katherine Kelley for two separate halloween festivites. We purchased the costume, but her coloring and long dark hair made her look like a natyural Egyptian.

Holocaust Museum

Katherine and 15 other Home Schoolers from the KACH group attended the Holocaust Museum of Houston on Oct 20th. The museum if one of a kind for our area and the docent who was our guide was wonderful, knowledgeable and knew how to speak to kids.

This is Katherine standing in the front of the building. The inscriptions on these cement blocks were family groups that were completely wiped out through the extermination by Hiltler. There are 6 pillars, like the one behind Katherine, each representing one million people.

The field trip lasted 2.5 hours and there was not a single "I'm bored. When can we eat? Do we have to stay here?" heard among the kids. How refreshing.

The main message of the museum is to reminding us all to be UPSTANDERS! People who stand up and speak when they see injustice being done. Katherine and I have had several good discussions stemming from this trip.