Several years ago when the King Tut exhibit was touring the U.S. we traveled to Philadelphia to view the artifacts. The boys were studying ancient history at the time and we were glad we made the trip. About eight months ago, we got notice through our homeschool group that the Terra Cotta Warriors were coming to the U.S. and we were able to get reduced tickets for the event through the group. Even though we're studying history surrounding the Civil War right now, we didn't think it would hurt to take a field trip out of chronological order. Besides, we just took a trip that incorporated several sites that tie in with our current history reading.



This horse and soldier were at the entry of the exhibit and I was content just to stand and read the information and look at the details, but there were many behind us that wanted a chance as well. For the most part, one of the boys was with Dean and the other was with me. (We left J with friends for the day.) There was more information than could be absorbed in the time that we spent. Each section of the exhibit was interesting and if we had stopped to read everything, I'm sure it would have taken at least twice as long.

As we drove home in the rain, we commented on how we have now had the privilege to see two great exhibits. Even though it's not necessary to take in such things, it does help to make history more real and engaging.

This afternoon, after school work was complete, I told the boys I was ready to do some cooking and told them they could go outside if they wished. The next thing I knew, they had washed up and were ready to help. They measured,



and dumped,



and stirred,



and dumped,



and stirred some more.



By the time Dean got home from work (and he got home two hours early) we had two sauces complete, three pies cooling on the counter and sweet potato casserole under way.



I know we can't eat everything at one meal, but I'm counting on leftovers for several days and that will be one more thing to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving, my friends.

I suppose I'm not the only mother who finds her children outside wearing socks with no shoes and I'm probably not the only mother who finds stray socks all over the place. As the weather has gotten cooler, this has become a bigger problem. The only carpeted floors in the house are in the boys' bedrooms and after they get up, they often put socks on. Yesterday the older boys told me they could use some socks for Christmas because their sock supply is getting low. I know that if they clean out under their bed and in the van, they will find enough socks for at least three days.

A couple of weeks ago, J got a new pair of jammies since he often wakes up uncovered in the middle of the night and I'm the lucky one who hears him and gets to walk to his room and help him cover up again. As soon as the older boys saw his footed pj's they began to tell me that they really wanted a pair of pj's with feet in them.



While the boys were at their gym class last night, I took J and we went shopping for jammies with feet. I never saw two boys more eager to shower and get ready for bed. As soon as supper was over and the table was cleared off, there was a race for the shower. They were still pleased with their new nightwear this morning and wanted to wear them to school. Personally, I can't stand to have my feet covered when I sleep and sometimes even kick the blankets off my hot feet, but I'm glad that the boys found a way to keep their feet warm without losing another pair of socks.