Disneyland

Oh My Goodness!!!!

My husband and I feel our age right now.  We have just returned from a wonderful trip to Disneyland where we spent at least 10 hours a day.  We had to get our moneys worth, you know.  By Saturday evening we were completely toast, and I was ready to push people down as we were trying to exit the park.  We somehow got caught in the fire work exit crowd, and I simply do not do well with feeling like cattle! 

We had a great time, so let's get to the pictures.  I do have to tell you, we took the old camera, thinking it would be better because it was smaller.  But it stopped working on the second day.  Oh well, we have our memories!

Most of the pictures are from the beach.  Middle Bit desperately wanted to go since he is still deciding on what he wants to be when he grows up: a surfer or a priest.  I think surfer is in the lead after this visit!

As you can tell, the pictures become really blurry towards the end.  Oh well.

We had a blast!  The kids rode their first roller coaster rides and were champs at walking around and not whining!  This was a great trip, and I loved every second of it, but I am glad it is done and we have survived Disneyland.  I love it, but I do not want to return any time soon!

Have a great day everyone!
Love,
Suzy

School Days

Well, if you were wondering what we have been doing in school lately, I will tell you.

We have been learning about seed, flowers and how things grow in science.  What a perfect time to learn about this subject.  Everything is sprouting up, we are planting seeds in our garden and planting flowers.  The kids have been loving the hands on experience and discovery.

An experiment that we did was called scattering seeds.  I used to do this experiment in my classroom for older kids, so I made it suitable for three different age groups.  We took three different sizes of seeds, a fan, a long piece of butcher paper, tape measure and pen and paper.  We did this more systematically than what I am about to tell you.  We did write out the steps to the scientific method and work through it, but I do not want to go through all of the details.  Basically we threw the seeds in front of the fan and watched the wind scatter them.  We found that how they were scattered was affected by their weight, shape and how strong the wind was.  Pretty cool way for them to see how the seeds can be scattered by elements.

We also did the old put white flower in food coloring and watch it change colors. Another great visual for the kids to see how the water goes up the stem and is distributed throughout the entire flower.

We took those flowers and dissected them.  This was really cool to watch how each one did it.  Little Bit watched me and then she drew a picture of a flower.

She was more concerned with drawing than seeing all the parts.  But art is her thing.

Middle Bit Took his time!! He is definitely one who likes to look closely and discover everything he can.  He separated all the parts, put them in viles, and wanted to see it all under the microscope. 

He kept wanting to call the parts the thingy.  So I had him practice looking at his diagram, and calling what he found by name.  It was cool to watch him learn.

Oldest Bit, got it, understood it, then finished as quickly as possible because I had an assignment that would interest him much more.

The assignments that was more intriguing? 

As a family we are going to write a monthly newsletter and send it out to our subscribers!

Who are our subscribers?  Anyone who emails me at bitsofthepast@hotmail.com or my other one if you know what it is!

How much? Free for now, but we may start incorporating math into it.  The funds would strictly go to distribution, but I think it would be great for them to learn how to manage funds, send out the newsletter, address letters, write articles in a fun educational way.

How does our newsletter work?

I will be working with Little Bit to write her articles.

The boys will each have two articles, take pictures etc.

Oldest Bit will design the newsletter.

Mr. Bits and I will edit and make sure it is all ready to send out.

The jobs are almost entirely done by the kids, and as they get older, the newsletter will get more involved.  Are you interested or know someone who is, but does not have access to a computer?  Email me at the address above.

They have already brainstormed and are ready to start! 

More details to come later.


Oh and finally, tomorrow we leave for the Happiest Place on Earth.



The excitement in the house is unbelievable!


Talk to you all soon!
Suzy

Let's Play Cach Up

Since it has been a while, I thought I would post some pics to catch you up on our lives.

Here we go.

Easter was a busy time with the Baptism and making all the food.  But we did have time to decorate eggs!  First my kids used crayons, then stuck them in the dye.  I used food coloring for the dye by the way.  Way easier and less expensive.  I have seen some of the most beautifully decorated eggs on blogs and pinterest, but I must admit, I prefer these eggs.  Truly, creative.

Our Little Bit was baptized, which was such a joyful time. 

Oldest Bit did some extensive research on creating dioramas.  He created this one with napkins, modge podge, paint, Brillo pads and who knows what else.  He made this into a scene from WWII.  Creative?  I think so.

We learned about static electricity.  I used to teach this unit in middle school, and always had fun watching the students work with balloons!  I thought I would try it with my kids, and I was entertained!

We made a collage about who we are.  Middle Bits made me laugh.  He filled both sides!  One side has a cat needed to go to the bathroom and a kangaroo family.  I still do not know what this has to do with who he is!  This boy is just plain imaginative!

Flowers in food coloring!  Great lesson for plant unit, and a great way to prepare for flower dissection!

We got a ton of work done on our patio!

And enjoyed watching our dog Happy chase sparks flying out of the fire.  She was even foaming at the mouth for them!  Strangest thing I ever saw!

Well, that brings us up to date on all of our adventures!

have a great day everyone!
Love,
Suzy

Welcome!

Hi and welcome to our new blog layout! 

Some things have changed.  First, the header you see above.  I absolutely loved the sunflower picture I took, but I adore this drawing even more.  Oldest bit drew this picture which is the inspiration for the redesign.  We are an adventurous family, but this picture makes us look like we are the ultimate.  We have never been rock climbing as a family, and I surely would not trust my children on a rock like that.  I am the only one who has climbed, and I have never been on a rock like that.  I do like how he has little rocks falling off onto the people below.  If you look closely, the people below are shooting.  Mr. Bit does take the boys shooting out in the desert, and they have so much fun.  If you are reading this and you are against guns, I am sorry.  Mr. Bit teaches them safety, and takes them as far away from people as possible!  It is fun for them to spend time together.  I also like the kids running down the trail to the rock.  That is definitely something we do.  We go hiking as much as we can, and the kids run.  Where we live, rocks are a natural playground, and we love looking at all the different formations.

Next, I will no longer be using our names.  I am Mrs. Bits, the husband is Mr. Bits, then in order Oldest Bit, Middle Bit and Little Bit.  If you want to find out more about us, look at the pages above.  Our Journey page talks about our adoption and struggles as a family since the adoption.  Little Bit has been through a great deal and was diagnosed with PTSD.  I think it is important to be honest about our struggles, but i assure you that she is the reason for our family becoming more unified.  We also discuss the reason for our decision to home school our kids.  I will never pressure anyone into home schooling.  It is a personal decision, and we have been blessed through it, but I firmly believe it is not for every family.  We just did what was best for ours. 

Third change, all of the old posts are gone.  The only ones remaining are the posts that did not use our names. 

Finally, the content on this blog will not change very much.  It is still family focused, and will highlight all of our daily adventures.  I will not sugar coat our days, I will be honest, and I will tell some funny stories about our kids.  I will discuss the joys and sorrows of adoption, and I will not hold back.  I will try to focus as much as I can on the happy parts of our lives, but lets face it, not every day is roses.

With that being said, I will start sharing pictures and stories tomorrow!  Thank you so much for stopping by!
Love,
Mrs. Bits, or sometimes Suzy

Don't Leave!

If you are wondering what is going on with Suzy Q Chronicles, we are shaking things up a bit!
I am not done revamping the blog, but soon, all old posts will have been deleted (don't worry, I am saving them) and none of our real names will be used any more.  A little more online safety.  It will still be our daily adventures.  If you will look at the pages above, you can see the changes and who we are. 
As for the header, My oldest did the drawing!

Consider this blog under construction, and I will "see" you all real soon!

Easter Baptism

It was a very busy weekend.  Not only was it the standard Easter chaos, but it was also my daughter's baptism. 

The menu for the baptism party at church was extensive.  I went a little over board, as usual.  But I wanted to make this day as special as possible.

Wacky cake with butter cream frosting
Shortbread Cookies with butter cream frosting
Chocolate covered strawberries
Cream Puffs
Deviled eggs
salami and cream cheese wrapped green onions
salami with cream cheese
meat tray
cheese tray
crackers
crab dip
tempinade
(this two were made by my mother in law, thankfully)

And I am positive I am missing something.

I spent all day in the kitchen on Saturday, but it was worth it!  Anything for my little girls big day! I do not have a picture of my table, someone at church took a picture and will be sending it to me.  So I will post it as soon as I get it.  Basically, we catered and decorated for over a hundred people.  If I were smarter, I would have starter earlier than Saturday.  But I was not, and it worked out fine!

What I wanted to show you today are the pictures from the baptism.  So bear with me as I am going to be the proud mama.

 We will first start with Middle Bit.  He was an acolyte for the service.  He absolutely loves this job.  I think it is cute because when he lights the candles, you can barely see his head.

 Our priest called all children to the front to explain baptism an why it is important on Easter.  Little Bit stood bravely at the front.  Please notice the dress!  My mother made this beautiful white dress for Little Bit.  It was absolutely the most beautiful dress, and Little Bit was gorgeous.

 We are standing next to Little Bit, with the Godparents and all the kids in the service.

The Baptism and the oil.  I love the last picture!

Finally, the priest gave all the children rosemary sprigs, and had them dip them in holy water.  Then, the kids baptized the congregation by flinging water on everyone!  Needless to say, we were all pretty drenched!

Little Bit was so excited about this day.  When asked what made her most excited she exclaimed, "I got to wear my new dress!"

I hope you all had a very Happy Easter!

Love,

Suzy