Lava!

Today was our "Science experiment" day in Homeschooling. One of my friends, who is also homeschooling all her kids, came over and we did an experiment with all nine of them. We make them go through the process of asking why, making predictions and then testing it out . Today we were creating Lava out in the mud beside our garden. My boys had been working on making volcanic mountains all week so I've had a few extra loads of laundry to do. The ingredient for this concoction of lava is: water, liquid dish soap, vinegar, food coloring and baking soda. So here they are putting it all together.

Next we wet outside to see if their predictions were right. A couple of them thought it would explode and the other thought it would just bubble over.

Just bubbling over won the prediction. Here Andrew is suggesting we add more baking soda to the next one to see if it does something different.

Do you see who all were up for a second round?

THE BOYS!

Now for the second round.

And of course they had to touch it.

Mexico Mission Trip 2009

Mexico Mission Trip

OK, its been a long time in coming ad mist moving and vacations, but I wanted to do this longer post of the mission trip. Last year, Andrew was able to go with Steve and the youth group and this year both Andrew and Tori were able to go. I was a little hesitant to let Tori go, but she did fine. As in every Mexico trip Steve wanted to drive straight through which works out great if there are enough drivers, which again God provided.

The trip down consisted of sleeping and getting to know the others going down. Tori had a blast getting to know some of the youth and making friends.

Tori enjoyed her first meal of fish tacos in Ensenada. I Heard she was impressive in trying anything that was placed in front of her.

The youth ready to leave on their first work day.

The building to the left is the house they built last year. This year they added onto that one. Here they are getting the footing ready for the concrete.

Kind of looks like he's about to get frisked, but Steve is just holding up the wall as they piece the building together.

Mudding the outside.

Taping and mudding the inside. They also did wiring for possible electricity in the future.

Looking good.

Tori made friends quickly with the little girl who will live in the house. They had fun playing despite the language barrier. Tori knows a little Spanish from being in the dual language program at school, so I'm sure she was able to communicate better than most of the students that went.

Playing around.

VBS was in the late afternoon after they worked on the house in the AM and early afternoon. The group of kids was small but they had quite a few by the last day.

The Wallers on KP duty!





This is the family (the daughter is not in the picture) that the house was built for. I heard they were very Thankful for the house and very gracious with their food.




The Family and the Mission team in front of the finished house!



The last day they are there in Ensenada, they always take a trip to La Bufadora to do some touristy shopping. As you can see Andrew was less than trilled to put this hat on and get a picture. He got over it pretty quickly.

Part of the group posing for a picture. Dennis and Debbie Hollenbeck are the missionaries we work with and have worked with ever since Steve first went down back in 1996.

Steve has always enjoyed exposing teens from America to a different culture, they always come back, with a different heart. It is priceless for them to understand that people can live with "little" and survive and not only that they seemed satisfied and have the "joy of the Lord".

HAPPY FATHERS DAY! STEVE

I am so glad we get to spend this day with you. You are the "King for the Day", wait you are always the "King"..oh well. We love you. The kids couldn't have asked for a better Father for them. Thanks for loving us, providing for us, playing with us and teaching us about our Heavenly Father.
You're the Best!!!
Enjoy your day, Mr. King
ESCUCHEMA to you!!!

Happy 5th Birthday Allie!

My newest 5 year old, Alexandria Jane Waller

The Beautiful Sisters!

My first attempt at her 5th Birthday cake. She loved it because it had a crown on it. This was only a glimpse of what was to come for her party on Saturday.

Allie has been really into having tea parties, so we got her her own ceramic lady bug tea set for four.

We left McMinnville on Thursday and returned home. On Friday, my friend Cassie (who loves to create cakes) came to help me put a princess cake together that Allie saw on Cakecentral.com. It looked a little overwhelming, but she showed me how easy it was. It took us all day because I had a funeral to go to in the middle of it and we had 9 kids running underfoot. But this was the final product on Saturday right before the party. I think it turned out well. I could not have done it without Cassie's help. She was patient with me and my perfectionism.

Allie loved her cake and enjoyed her time with her friends and family.

Steve came in and performed cheap entertainment for the attendees.

Allie received cards and Barbie dolls.

In the middle of the festivities (while the kids were playing) we took at least 50 shots of us. I was being really picky. I wanted a new facebook pic and this is the one that was the best. But in the process Steve was getting a little tired and so he posed with his "stupid faces" which I couldn't see. One of the best reasons I married this guy. He makes me laugh and makes life interesting in our house.

Allie posing outside on the swing with her beloved Disney Cinderella Doll.

I love you, Allie. I love your hugs and your kisses. And I love you more than Starbucks Carmel Macchiatos!!

The Last Two Months

Well for the past 2 months we had not been able to find our camera and then Allie comes up with it. She had it conveniently stored in her closet. So that's one reason I haven't posted for awhile. Its so much easier when you have a picture to talk about. So these are our latest photos of Steve's favorite past-time.We (Steve) is/are remodeling our bathroom. If I haven't told you yet that we are moving: We are moving. There are a few things we wanted to get done to make the house more "sell-able" and this is our second of 4 projects. Steve wanted to learn how to tile and found that this would be a good experience and something new to learn. This pic was taken after he put in the tile and the cement was drying.


And here is when it was all done. The tiling, the grout and the new faucet/shower pieces were installed. He did a great job. The next phase is the new sink installed (temporarily, so we can use it until he starts on the floor) then tiling the floor. He's enjoyed this new adventure in remodeling. This is great practice for the 2 story old farmhouse we'll be moving into probably in the next month.

Saying "No" and "Yes" to Yourself

There are a few things we want to teach our kids before they leave our house and become independent adults (OK, more than just a few). But recently we've been discussing in our house "self-control". The first week we were try to say "No" to ourselves in doing things that are not necessarily good for us or its just not the right time (priorities). Just about every day at dinnertime Steve would ask each of us how we said "No" to ourselves that day. Some days were better than other days. Our conclusion is that we say "Yes" to ourselves way more times than "No". In fact some days I couldn't come up with one "No". Our flesh is always looking out for the easy road, so IT is in control. So making the conscience effort to say "No" is hard if you're not used to doing it. This week we are to say "Yes" to ourselves in the same self-controlled way. "Yes, I'm going to get out of bed and workout", "Yes, I will obey right away", "Yes, I will have my quiet time with the Lord", "Yes, I will get my work done before I "play"." So far we are doing better this week, but I'm still trying to incorporate "No's" in my life. With the Holy Spirit in us we can be controlled by the Spirit and not our flesh. I think we'll all look at the list of the Fruits of the Spirit in Galatians a little bit different after this.

Happy Knitting!

Steve's sister, Liane, was able to come and visit us for a few days after Christmas. As you can see in the picture most of them are wearing knitted scarves which she made for them. She even taught Tori and myself how to knit. Tori picked it up quickly and loves doing it. I learned many years ago and she reminded me how to do it once again. Tori and I will be spending some quiet time knitting away, I think. We had a great time with Liane and even played the game "Sorry" quite a bit. Thanks Mom, Dad and Heather!