In which Valentine's Day is a nice break from the monotony.

As I made my way up to the register to purchase these friendly barnyard Valentine friends, I came this close to making the trip back to the seasonal aisle in the back of Target to place them back on the shelf. The incessant mooing and oinking from the pair of cows and pair of pigs were drawing stares from my fellow shoppers, and I could only imagine my house with the noise of four children AND four farm animals. But I decided to keep them because I know how my children love annoyingly loud trinkets. And of course the pig and cow poop candy. Another plus.

The smiles the farm animals brought this morning were worth the annoyance, and I will endure the mooing and oinking until I can endure it no further at which point two cows and two pigs will surely mysteriously disappear to find their place in the also mysterious Annoying Toy Heaven.

As I mentioned in my last post, our homeschool year has been quite uneventful. Things are moving along just as they should be. Kids are doing their assigned work. I keep right on assigning. They keep getting it done. I really can't complain. But I'm a little bit bored. I'm sure they are too.

I haven't done much "cutesy" stuff this year. Partly because the older they get, the fewer cutesy options there are. Also, I'm lazy. I need to stop being lazy and start planning and executing more exciting activities. So...I am planning. I have some fun things in store for next week. As for this week, though, I am thankful for the fun little break in monotony Valentine's Day provides.

The kids woke up this morning to some Valentine surprises. Yes, candy. Lots of candy.

I also had good intentions of making heart-shaped pancakes, but the only large heart cookie cutter I have is covered in red paint. As my own Valentine pointed out, it was probably made in China, and the paint is probably full of lead. It didn't seem such a brilliant idea, then, to have it sit on a hot griddle.

So I made chocolate chip pancakes smothered in powdered sugar with a sprinkling of color. So long as it's sweet and unhealthy, the kids really don't care what shape it comes in.

 

During school we learned about the various legends that compose the history of Valentine's Day. We also had a little word fun by seeing who could make the most words in five minutes out of the phrase "Happy Valentine's Day".

After my heart failure at breakfast, I redeemed myself at lunch by creating heart-shaped potatoes to eat with our leftover chicken wings.

And then it was cookie time! Valentine's Day, like Christmas, must include a cookie decorating session.

I did not have the time today to be all fancy with multiple colors and decorating pastry bags, but like I said, if there is sugar and it is unhealthy, they don't care if it's fancy.

And this one? She did enjoy decorating cookies and eating them. It's just that she's a teenager and hates to have her photo taken. You see...this is why I have a completely unbalanced number of photos of the Princess.

I love her anyway. Happy Valentine's Day!

Linking up with Ashley for Photo Scavenger Hunt.

In this post, you will find candy, kisses, pink/red, love, and smiles.

Also linking up with Kris at Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers for her Weekly Wrap-Up.

Hershey

Linking up with You Capture (Black & White Expressions).

While the highlight of our Pennsylvania trip for me was our visit to Amish Country, the kids' favorite was definitely Chocolate World in Hershey. I think I already mentioned we visited Chocolate World two days in a row!


The great thing about Chocolate World is that admission is free. And, really, unless you get sucked in by any of the extras, you can have a great time without dropping much cash. In fact, there is even a ride that is free. The ride takes you through a tunnel of various animated displays that tell the story of chocolate.


Of course, there is also an obnoxious song that plays and gets seared into your brain forever after much like It's a Small World at Disney World. And the fact that the kids want to ride the ride over and over and over doesn't make clearing your head of the song any easier.






We did take advantage of some of the "extras" as well. We took part in a chocolate tasting event. And we saw a 3D movie, which was actually 4D with delightful smells filling the theater, splashing water, and creepy things tickling our feet.



I think perhaps our favorite activity was the creating our own treats.


Alex and Michael each whipped up a wicked cup of chocolatey, creamy, marshmallow-y hot chocolate, which they stirred with a chocolate-covered spoon.



Audrey decorated a giant basketball cookie, and Jacob created a deluxe S'More.




We had an extra fun trip because some friends of ours from Connecticut came along. Matthew also tried his hand at the S'Mores. Here he bit off a bit more marshmallow than his little mouth could chew, but his expression is priceless.



Overall, it was a very fun outing. And, although, we were a little bit weary of chocolate by the time we left, that weariness does not last forever!


Because, really, who could live without chocolate?

Good to Wow: Yellow Edition, SOOC

I mentioned in yesterday's post that we visited Hershey for an unplanned second day during our visit to PA. Both days in Hershey included Chocolate World, a fun attraction that is free of charge to enter. Of course, once inside there are plenty of ways to blow some cash.

One such way is to purchase a candy container and then fill it with a delicious assortment of Hershey brand chocolates. This requires some special machine work. Of course, machine work can't be done without a hard hat,


BUT only one free of charge. We elected the Princess to don the hat. The others were on their own to protect their heads from falling candies.


As the lady filled the machine with the children's choice candies, they did a little practicing.


Once the machine was prepped, the lady told the kids they had to do the hard work in order to make the candy fill the bucket. Something tells me, though, that the bucket would have filled just as quickly without their hard work, but they sure had fun.



And after we filled our container, it was our friends' turn. Audrey helped Matthew get his hat just right.

Photo Scavenger Hunt, Vol. VII

We went on a little field trip this week to Pennsylvania and saw the sights in Hershey and in Amish country...but mostly in Hershey - by the kids' choice, not mine as I would be happy to move to Amish country. I have loads and loads of pictures to go through, but here is a sneak peak.

I guess we have to start at the beginning:

1. Welcome to the Jungle
I can't leave on vacation unless my house is clean because I hate coming home to a messy house, so I did a lot of laundry before our departure. It's my never-ending cycle of Crazy Jungle!


2. Square Crop

The plan was to go to Hershey one day and Gettysburg the next. You know, so we could do something academic. I have never seen such little enthusiasm for an outing as I did for Gettysburg, though, and I guess I can't blame them: except for a crash course on the topic last week, we haven't officially studied Gettysburg yet. So we opted for a second day of Hershey. We did Chocolate World two days and The Hershey Story museum the second. This photo is from the museum.

3. Under
On our way to Day Two in Hershey, we took a brief detour to visit a cave.

The other cute little jacketed boys are friends of ours who traveled with us - made for a much more enjoyable trip.

I also loved this shot of the train going under a walkway:


And, finally, this one just cracked me up. The kids hadn't posed, all 4 of them, for a picture the whole week, so while we were waiting for our buggy ride at the Amish place, I asked them to pose under the covered bridge. This is quite a pose, don't you think?

And, no, I did not tell them to stand equidistance apart with their arms down at their sides!

4. Vanishing Point
It took me a minute to figure out how I wanted this photo to look, what I wanted to capture. But when I got the idea in mind for railroad tracks, I couldn't let it go. I spied some tracks on our trip to PA, but I was caravanning with my friend, and I realize my photo obsession isn't shared by all (ahem - my children!), so I didn't pull us all over at that time. However, when we went to the caves, we crossed some tracks when we came in, so I did stop on the way out...and held up some traffic for a minute, but whatcha gonna do, right?

I love the combination in this photo of the RR tracks and the power lines.

5. Calm
And this is how we all feel. OK, this is how I feel; the kids have been cooped up in a car all day and, while they are supposed to be in bed asleep right now, I still hear them chatting upstairs. Hopefully, soon they will look like this:

Photo Scavenger Hunt, Vol. VI

1. Book

I have mentioned this book, One Thousand Gifts by Ann Voskamp, several times over the last couple weeks. I haven't finished it yet, but it is really making an impact on me. I have begun again with a Blessings List I began a couple years ago. I'm trying to intentionally look for those gifts as I go about my regular routine each day. It really makes a difference!

2 & 3. Diptych & Fill-in-the-Blank


4. Reminders

I love seeing these cute little guys on the store shelves. They always remind me of my childhood.

5. Taste of Italy
Friday night Mark made us a delicious dinner of fresh pasta for spaghetti & meatballs. Sorry, ladies, he's mine, all mine!

Photo Scavenger Hunt, Vol. V

1. Chocolate
WARNING: If you are chocoholic like me, don't read any further and do NOT look at the photo! There. You've been warned.

We were at Sam's the other day, and I come across these chocolates that are shaped like chips. As in potato chips. I like potato chips, and you know the saying: You can't eat just one. Well, you certainly can not eat just one of these either.

They are thin, sweet, chocolatey. Delectable. And the little rice crisps add just the right texture, just the right crunch. They also have a lovely criss cross pattern gently stamped on the back of each chip. Did I mention they are delectable?


2. Music

Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata: one of my favorites. Someday I hope to master it on the piano.

3. Numbers
School tools for math with Audrey:



4. Stack
My current reading list:


5. Canned Goods
Just for fun...