Polaris Press and Garage Sales

Wow, I haven't done a school post in a long time! We have been doing a lot of time4learning.com (LOVE IT!) and reading. Today, we also did a science-y project. Levi scored this Hot Wheels car maker at a garage sale for $2 and we used it for science. It demonstrated how, when we apply heat to a solid, it changes states. And we melted plastic into Hot Wheels cars. Cool. We also combined baking soda and vinegar to blow up a balloon and cooked eggs for our snack. It was fun for the kids and I was glad that our morning spent garage sale-ing turned educational!

Speaking of garage sales, I do believe that I am addicted. If I see a sign, I have to turn in! What I really want to do is get a babysitter for my kids so I can go for a few hours alone. Paying a babysitter would kind of cancel out the savings by going to garage sales...but I would be happy:) Plus, I probably would save money. It's amazing what I will buy to keep the kids happy so we can hit one more sale. But it's only $.25! I also keep thinking to myself, "Our house is on the market, I can't be bringing stuff home" but yet, it comes. I can't help it!!! I need to do another toy weed out as the kids spend their money at garage sales. So, any moms want to swap babysitting on Friday mornings with me? :)

Guitar

George here. I know you're all wondering, "while Anna was gone on her trip, what ever did George do to occupy his evenings?" Well, allow me to satisfy your politely silent curiosity. I worked up an arrangement of Bach's Toccata and Fugue in D Minor on the guitar and recorded it on my PC. Here it is:



Such a thing could be done in about 5 minutes by a virtuoso guitarist. Considering that it took me 10 hours gives you an idea how far away from virtuoso I am currently.

My Surprise Trip to Seattle!

Gotta have a Space Needle picture:)

Sometime in January, I was feeling the winter blahs and got this great idea that me and my siblings should fly out and surprise my parents while they were visiting my brother in Seattle. I called my sister and she thought it maybe could work and then called my SIL (with whom we would be staying) and she was super excited. My younger brother got on board and we all started looking at flights and planning the dates.

I was really worried about getting it all together because Mom and Dad would be just getting off of their mission on Temple Square and in January, they weren't wanting to nail down dates when they would be visiting in Seattle. Luckily, it all worked out and they still didn't know a thing!

The whole Lyon family at Gasworks looking over Union Lake at the Seattle skyline

Liz and I met in Cincinnati and flew to Seattle on Thursday night. I loved being able to spend more time with Liz (though I know it cost her a bit...thanks Calvin!) I also LOVED being able to help with her adorable and angelic 4 month old, Eli. My wonderful SIL, Shanon came to pick us up. When we first saw my parents, they didn't recognize me! I have lost 30 pounds and my hair is quite a bit darker than it used to be. The looks on their faces were priceless! I was so glad that we were all able to keep this trip a secret for so long. I wished I had thought to have a camera:)

Eli, an unbelievably good baby

We spent the first day outside in the beautiful sunshine. We ate fish and chips and walked down to the Locks and watched boats and looked for fish in the Fish Ladder. That thing is pretty cool:) It would have made a great biology lesson for the kids. Matt came in late Friday night, so we all stayed up late talking.

Here's the family at Pike Place Market

On Saturday, we went down to Pike Place Market. So interesting! So many neat things to see and taste. Lots of street performers, tons of trinkets to buy, fish being thrown around, wedding parties walking through the rain, etc... It was really amazing and packed! My personal favorite, the hoola-hooping guitar player/singer. We had lots of fun looking around and seeing everything.

This group was called Slimpickins and they were VERY good

Sunday, we went to church and then to Gasworks park to see the skyline. It was a really nice afternoon. Throughout the weekend, we spent lots of time eating, talking, playing games, talking music and movies, playing with Eli and even watched "What's Up, Doc?" an old family favorite.

I really enjoyed this whole trip. It was relaxing and easy (which was really good for my back that I hurt a week before I left) . I do wish I had left the conjunctivitis in Indiana and pray that no one else gets it! It was fun to have no responsibility. To be able to be the one sleeping on the couch because I didn't need to share a room with any of my babies behind a closed door. I could get up to go potty and not worrying about waking up any little kids. It just was nice. Now, don't get me wrong, I missed George and the kids A LOT!! But I am just saying, it was nice to not have to be responsible for anyone else for 4.5 days.

When I flew in Monday night, I expected Becca to come get me and was so excited when George walked out from behind a post with a rose. What a cutie! It was so nice to see him. He would have had a lot of fun in Seattle. Next time, we will all take our spouses:) And I LOVED on Tuesday morning that the kids all came in and laid next to my bed while I was sleeping (jet lag:) It brought me so much joy to see them all!

It was an awesome trip and so much fun to surprise my parents. I hope they adjust back to normal life well and come visit us as much as they can stand:) And I hope that if George ever has to look for a new job out of this state, he might think of doing it in Seattle.

Hi Grandma and Grandpa Lyon!!!!

Back pain and perhaps a midlife crisis?

It's been an interesting week. I hurt my back last Thursday and have been thrown off this week. Also, I have something big happening this week and have been prepping for it, so the back pain has not helped.

When I hit 30, my body began to break down. Or maybe it started with the 4 pregnancies in 5 years? Yeah, that must have done it! I also started to notice gray hairs, wrinkles, saggy parts, etc. I grew up not really caring much about my appearance. I was perfectly happy with my own "style" and really haven't cared much. But now, something has changed. I am not sure why. Maybe the weight loss has triggered it? 6 months of intense "image" change?

Anyway, yesterday, I went shopping for a few new things for the "something big" (shhh, it's a surprise!) and bought things that I thought weren't me...definitely not my age and I LOVED them. I think I am in the midst of a midlife crisis. I also bought TWO new pairs of shoes, which is surprising for me. And I spent A LOT of money on my hair...that I don't love:( And I got a massage (that was due to the back pain, not the midlife crisis:) Oh, AND I had the Amish cleaning fairies come to my house in the morning:) Yeah, my life is good! Except for the hair...

When I made the hair appt, I said, "I would like to also get highlights with my hair cut" but I guess I never told the stylist that I wanted highlights, I used the word "color". So, I walked out with a head of really dark brown hair (black to anybody that saw me). I guess I wasn't paying enough attention...like none:) It was too dark...especially going into spring and summer. Since I wasn't happy, they did highlights for free, and I am liking it much better now. Putting color on hair is so expensive and superfluous, and it makes me happy. What is up with me??

This post is very "wander-y". Sorry. I will have my brain back sometime next week, or not:)

A Cutie Hair Blog

I found a little girl hair blog that is so fun. It is here. I only wish Natalie would sit still long enough for me to try something like this. I am a bit obsessed with hair today. I am getting mine cut and hopefully colored tomorrow. Fun!! Always love that me time. I just wish George would appreciate a dramatic change...sigh. It's just hair!