A Pig and No Wife, Makes For a Happy Life

The kids spent some time at lunch talking about their futures.  Caroline said she was going to have 24 kids and name them all Caroline.  Henry told her that wasn't a good idea, so she started naming her kids, not a one of them normal (Hello, this is my grandchild, Tambergrade.)  Henry's going to have 100 pets.  After a lengthy discussion from all of them with many scenarios played out, Josiah came to this conclusion, "I'll be a man that doesn't have a wife.  I'll buy a pig and have a happy life."  OK, then.  He has actually mentioned not getting married more often than getting married, so we shall see.

The boys have said they are going to live together or at least on the same street when they get older.  Henry is determined to do whatever Josiah chooses for a living.  They may be going for full Socialist lifestyle.  This past week, they dressed exactly alike every day.  If Josiah wanted a peanut butter sandwich, Henry wanted peanut butter as well.  Then they put their money together to purchase a Lego Ninjago kit.  The package was set to arrive on Friday.  At 7:00 a.m. Friday morning, the boys had already done their math, spelling, and handwriting work for school in anticipation of it's arrival.  They were disappointed to learn that UPS doesn't deliver at 7:15 a.m.  Needless to say, they finished the rest of school quite early and were bored for much of the morning.  They couldn't read or play because they were too focused on the package that "would never arrive."  Henry kept first watch at the front door.

It finally came and they were able to get some of it done before karate and the rest after.  There was quite a bit negotiation as to who would do which part.  But they worked it all out amongst themselves, so yay for problem-solving.  The finished product, 1093 Lego pieces later:

Caroline had a good day at karate that day, too.  Her instructor told her that because she was doing so well in class and participating in all the activities, he promoted her to white-green belt.  She was beaming.  She really has been doing well in class.


Josiah has learned how to make paper airplanes from his Boys of Iron group at church.  He can now make "The Standard" quite well so that it really flies fairly far and straight.  He practices with just about every kind of paper he can find.  Math drill sheets, tiny post-it notes, freshly designed planes for his siblings, and the partly completed math lesson.  He said it was my fault he didn't finish the math because I should have undone the airplane and noticed.  Right...

The boys got a package from their friends back in Virginia and included in it were two pictures.  They taped them up in their room soon after they got them.  Fortunately, they used enough tape that they should remain hung for the next 10-15 years should their friends come and visit.

They also got some Madlibs in the package, so Josiah has been wanting to do those a lot.  It is good grammar practice.  Despite the fact that we say the definition of nouns, verbs, adverbs, and adjectives all the time (and give examples), he is forever asking me, "What's an adjective?"  when we do Madlibs.  It should be good for the grammar.

We finished our week by doing a little tree trimming.  It wasn't until all the branches were on the ground, that they kids came outside to join Todd and I.  They thought it was a playground.  Henry was jumping in branches like they were autumn leaf piles (with a much harder landing).  I think we heard, "Can I keep this stick?" a hundred times.  A few good ones remained, but the rest were bundled up and put on the curb.

And that was our week.  It is hard to believe May begins tomorrow.

Racing Swatson

For our week off, Caroline went on a hunger strike most likely to protest school being out.  We do not know what came over her, except that she refused to eat anything that was not bread, pasta, toast, crackers, or jelly bars (more carbs).  It seriously drove us crazy because it went on all week long.  She went to bed without dinner for two nights in a row because she refused to eat the food.  (Not that she wasn't given food, she just refused to eat it.)  The strike ended Saturday evening when she ate a plateful of broccoli and some leftover chicken noodle soup (though she left the chicken in the bowl).  We thought she was going to give us trouble again today but instead found a new favorite - liverwurst.  Of all the foods...

And just as a side note, hunger strikes in 4-year-olds make for very pleasant attitudes.

Josiah started the week off crushing me in board games.  He beat me in Catan and followed that up with crushing me in Yahtzee (312 to 167).  He couldn't even remember how to play Yahtzee when he got out the board, but he's a typical kid in that he went for a Yahtzee every roll and it just so happened to work out fairly well for him.

The boys spent a long time decorating our driveway with chalk while we put some mulch out under our trees.

They pushed and pulled eachother around.

The kids had their last day of Awana.  They have their award ceremony in a few weeks, so they have that on their minds still.  For the last night it was Awana Store which meant they could use the points they earned all semester on little plastic trinkets.  Not too surprisingly, we're 48 hours out from the Awana Store and we've already had a few broken casualties find their fate in the trash can.  I had several people tell me that Caroline had really come out of her shell at Awana.  I was in her room and the little girl she calls her best friend and Caroline had to be told to quiet down multiple, multiple times.  They were a giggle fest.  (But I am very happy that she has a friend that seems to enjoy Caroline as much as Caroline enjoys her.)

We ended our week going to a Skeeter's game.  A cold front had blown through that day, so Saturday evening was actually quite windy and chilly.  Todd and I failed to bring a jacket and we were paying for it.  I kept trying to hold Caroline for warmth.  We got there early because it was free hat night and we wanted to ensure we got our free hats.

Plus we wanted to walk around and see the stadium.  It was a very small, family friendly place.  Right after we made it to our seats, a Skeeter's employee came by and asked if any of our kids wanted to race the mascot, Swatson, after the first inning.  Only one could do it, but she let them decide.  They were all unsure what it meant, but Josiah finally said he'd do it.  After she left, and he had a chance to sit and think about it, he tried to back out, but I told him it would be fun and he'd have a good time.  All he had to do was run, he could do that.  So, after the National Anthem, she came and got Josiah and they sat on the front row for the whole first inning.  Then they got on the field.  Swatson started at second base, Josiah at first.  They started running, and Josiah was running fast.  He didn't know that Swatson would get distracted after touching third base and walk towards the stands, so Josiah won the race.

And and this is how the rest of the evening went.
Josiah said (a thousand times), "I can't believe I beat Swatson!"  and "Where's Swatson?"  and "I can't believe I beat Swatson!"
Henry said (a thousand and one times), "I can't see."  (whine, whine, whine)  "I can't see." (slumps in chair) [Let me tell you, it was delightful.]
Caroline said (a never ending number of times), "I'm hungry."  and "I'm thirsty." and "Can we go for a walk?"

I ended up taking the kids all on their own walks and then walks together.  On one such walk, Josiah and Caroline got to meet up with Swatson.


And this team has got to have the best name ever.  There is nothing like a South Texas team named after mosquitoes.  Sugar Land Skeeters and Swatson.

What we learned was that Josiah, age 8, did great.  Todd's looking forward to going back with him on free jersey night.

Henry in a happy moment with popcorn.

And we are back in school this week.  We'll be working until the end of May.  We are finally in the home stretch.

CC Ends and Easter

CC ended this week.  This was reckoning day for our science projects.  For two weeks we had worked on making a bridge out of straws, rubber bands, and playdoh.  In Henry's class, most of the boys were making straw swords, wands, or whatever else they could think of, so us moms were working on the bridge.  We were under the impression that we were putting a red Solo cup on the bridge and filling it with pennies to see how much weight it could hold.  Under that assumption, we were confident in our bridge.  Then testing day came and they were using hymnals from the church.  Ours held a whopping one hymnal before collapsing when the second was placed on it.

Henry's class bridge

Josiah's class fared better and got 5 hymnals.  The best class got 12 hymnals before the hymnals actually got off balance and fell.

Then for another two weeks our classes had worked on making an egg protector out of 50 popsicle sticks, 9 paper towels, and rubber bands.  Again, the kids in Henry's class helped for a time, before they were distracted with sword making, so us moms worked out how best to protect the egg.  Testing day came and when that egg dropped, everyone said, "Ohhhhhhh."  We all heard the egg go splat.  It most definitely did not survive.

Josiah's class added a parachute to their structure, and although the parachute egg protectors worked better in general, theirs still cracked open.

Kids with closed fists were voting that the egg would survive.

We'll be ready for next year.  It was a good lesson in learning from our failures.

Not only was there excitement for CC finishing, but the kids also went crazy to have two packages arrive.  They made glitter glue pictures, painted ceramic eggs/bunnies/ducks, and decorated our mini tree with Easter balloons.  Caroline screamed when she got her princess shirt.  For someone who hasn't watched many princess movies, she sure loves princesses.

They proudly wore their new shirts.

Jump ropes were part of one package, so we tried our hand at it.  Trying to teach our overeager kids how to jump rope was quite an experience.  They all kept trying to jump backwards, with the rope going behind them instead of in front.  At the end of the first day, Henry jumped 4 times in a row which was miraculous up to that point.  By the end of the second day, Josiah made it to 12, so they were picking it up.

This kid can get some air.

Henry had another karate belt test this week, too.  We weren't sure he was going to make it to the test.  At class in the afternoon he was just falling apart left and right.  We knew he probably wasn't happy because he got called out on being silly with Josiah, but it still didn't account for his continuing to fall apart.  At dinner afterwards, he told Todd he doesn't like sparring because he's always the last one to get his gear on.  I think it's because he spends so much time watching the others get theirs on instead of just concentrating on his gear.  But he managed to pull it together that evening and Todd said he did very well on his test.  Even the instructor noted his change in disposition, which further encouraged Henry.

He broke both the skinny and the fat board on his first try.

In years past, on important holidays, we've always tried to rush and take pictures before getting to church on time.  So, we've learned to take pictures just a few days prior in a more relaxed environment.  That's what we did on Thursday.  Easter pictures.  The kids did great.

We even got a few good ones at church when we went Saturday afternoon.

We thought a Saturday afternoon service would be nice and relaxed instead of cramming in with 1000 other people on Sunday morning.  It was.  The church was half empty, it was far more relaxed.  Caroline had a whole row of seats in front of us to dance as the music moved her.  Apparently, worship music led her to move from headbanging to ballet twirls to what some might call organic free expression.  When she wasn't dancing she was downing half a pound of Cheerios.  The boys did slightly better, except we sat near a railing and they tended to look over the railing for most of the service.  That and Josiah got my attention to tell me he was going to take a nap.  Uh, no sir.

Easter morning was nice and relaxed.  The kids were pretending to be Cockrell Agents all morning, so Todd sat them down to give the agents instructions for the egg hunt.

We made Resurrection rolls again.


We played outside and watched too much television.  We're taking next week off from school and I think we're all looking forward to a nice breather.

Cotton Gins and Fun Runs

Our week began on a sad note as we drove Todd to the airport for his annual conference (which met at Disney World this year).  Caroline had tears coming down her cheeks as he left the car.  The boys were sad all day and kept saying how much they missed him.  Henry would cry at random times during the day when he thought of Todd.  Josiah did take a moment out of his sadness to tell me that he wanted McDonald's, pizza, and Chick-fil-a.  They took to texting him and among the "I love you." and "I miss you." texts, there were the "I want Nemo, Dory, Kermit, Olaf, and Donald." texts.  Before he left, Caroline told him she wanted "ALL the princesses."  They were looking forward to their soubenirs (as they called them).

The anticipation was built up the whole time he was gone as to what he would bring back for them.  They were happy with his choices (as if they didn't give him many clues as to their desires) and have been sleeping with them ever since.

Our CC year is coming to a close and so we have been working on thank you cards to the kid's tutors.  Josiah wanted to write his on his truck stationary.  Before he wrote anything, I asked him what he wanted to say.  He said, "This year was a dump."
Me - "Well, that doesn't sound very nice even if it was intended to be nice.  How about something nicer sounding?"
Josiah - "This year was a dump of fun."
Me - "Let's work on this together..."
He ended up doing an explosive theme and "This year was a blast."


For CC, the boys were allowed to do a Subject proof.  Typically they have Memory Master at CC in which the kids memorize everything from every subject for all 24 weeks.  I'm going to have Josiah try that next year, but this year, their tutors were allowing them to (unofficially) do a subject proof for practice.  Both boys picked science, which meant they had to answer all 24 questions from the year.  Example: Tutor: What is Newton's first law of motion?
Student: "Newton's first law of motion states an object at rest tends to remain at rest, and an object in motion tends to continue moving in a straight line at constant speed unless an outside force acts upon it."
This years questions were from Ecology, Astronomy, & Physics.  Both boys did really well and passed their proofs.  As a reward we went to the grocery store for ice cream sundae fixings.  They were happy with the treat.

And just because CC is coming to an end, we're still not done with school for the year.  In science we've been learning about the ocean and the weather.  We did a cool experiment where we learned that warm water stays towards the top and colder water stays towards the bottom.  The food coloring really helped us watch the warm water rise/cool water sink.


Then we did it between salt vs. fresh water and watched the salt water sink due to being more dense.  It was cool to see it actually happen.  Apparently the Mediterranean Sea is saltier than the Atlantic so where they meet, the Mediterranean Sea goes under the Atlantic so to speak.  (Blue - salt water sinks; Red - fresh water rises)


We made it to the Cotton Gin Museum this week.  At first glance, we weren't sure how they could pack an hour tour into such a tiny building, but we had a great tour guide.  He gave us some information about cotton gins and how they were invented and how that affected life once it was invented.  Caroline was always right in front listening to this man speak.  Everywhere we went, she was always right on his heels.

Then he gave us a tour of their real cotton gin.  It stopped running in 1974, but they still run it once a year at the Cotton Gin Festival.  It was quite cool to walk around the 100-year old building and for him to show step by step how it all worked.  The farmer would bring in 1500 pounds of cotton and hope to get a 500 lb bale of cotton and 1000 lbs of seeds left.  The size of the bale had to be the same so that it could be stacked easily in trains, but the weight of each bale was different.

 
I made it through my first WAM concert this week as well.  Because I was hiding on stage with the kids (which was slightly against what we were assigned to do, but we knew our kids most definitely needed supervision), I could not hear most of the performance.  We did have to keep telling them to turn around because all the kids wanted to see themselves on the big TV screens behind them.  Henry and Caroline looked cute, though.  We'll have to wait for the video to see how it all turned out.  I did confirm I'm not a music teacher.  I'm crossing off all sorts of things that I am not.  :)

We finished our week up with the Family Run Run as Caroline dubbed it.  Of course, the bus ride was one of the biggest highlights.  Josiah even wanted to leave the fun bouncy house area earlier than we expected so he could have another bus ride.  It was like a regular roller coaster to them.

At the starting line of the race they had all the Houston mascots milling about.  We tried to get pictures of the kids with Toro the Texans mascot and Orbit the Astro's.  The problem was, we were lined up, so room was tight and I couldn't get very far back to take the picture.  Also, there was a glare, so I was just clicking and taking pictures without getting to see everything on the screen.

Josiah and Orbit and half of Henry (not too bad)

And a not so good picture with Orbit.

Henry giving Toro a high five, except that we can't see Henry and was can barely see Toro.

And a bit better.  

Once the race began, Caroline took off.  She just kept running and running with the boys on her tail.  We clearly failed to teach our kids about pacing themselves.  I watched her run and tried to catch up, but quickly realized I hadn't run since last year's race and just hoped she'd tire out.  (She did, eventually.)

She was so happy to see Olaf at the end of the race.

The bouncy house things were always a hit.  It was a fun morning.

The business of this week caught up with Caroline who took a four hour nap after church today.  This is her freshly awake this evening.  She had such a pretty dress on today.  It was a hand-me-down, but it looks like a flower girl dress.

One more week of school and then we're taking a week break again.  We're trying to finish it well.