Henry Turns Ten

Henry turned 10! He told everyone the night before his birthday that he wanted us all up at 6:00 a.m. to open presents.  Caroline was the lone rebel.  I went in her room at 6:15 a.m. to sort of nudge her, but she was sound asleep.  I went back at 6:20 a.m. because Henry was getting really impatient.  I got her up, but told him that if she was in a bad mood all day it was because we woke her up.  He got so many nice gifts from grandparents and cousins and siblings and friends.  He was a happy boy.  

Before we ate breakfast, he wanted to put the Lego kits together.  He was in an extra generous mood because he let Josiah and Caroline help.  All three got their own kit to assemble.  (Henry did supervise their building though.)  

For breakfast, Henry wanted Chick-fil-a mini biscuits.  He got the idea from Caroline who had already announced her plans for her birthday breakfast - breakfast tacos from Taco Cabana.  That gave Henry the idea to go out and forgo the usual sugary cereal or doughnuts.  So chicken biscuits we had.  We were fortunate they were open - his birthday was the first full day they were in operation since the winter storm.  

For lunch, Henry chose the very classic sub sandwich.  He picked out ham, cheese, sub rolls, and tomatoes.   We had brownies as a special dessert then because the boys' friend was over to spend the afternoon with us.   Henry's one 'wish' for his birthday was to have the boys' friend, Bobby, come over and spend the day.  Sadly, Bobby unexpectedly lost a grandma just a few days before Henry's birthday, so we weren't sure if it would happen.  The day before his birthday, Bobby's mom texted me that he could come on Henry's actual birthday.  Henry said that he had prayed to God for four nights straight that Bobby would be able to make it.  Bobby is a really amazing kid.  He is the nicest kid in the world.  We love it when he comes over because he is so pleasant to be around and so kind to all three kids.  Even after he leaves, the kids will always randomly comment, "Bobby's so nice."  Needless to say, they had a great afternoon doing Legos, playing video games, and having light saber battles.

And then there was dinner.  Dinner was a trip around the world.  His main food was Mandarin orange chicken from Asia.  Traveling west, the chicken was served beside Israeli pearl cous cous (much better than regular cous cous and much harder to find in the stores!).  Continuing in a southwesterly direction, we had a side of Mexican Street Corn along with the southern U.S. favorite, fried okra.  I am not sure there is another kid who has ever put those four foods together for a birthday meal, but Henry was a happy boy.  

He wanted a Minecraft themed cake.  The issue we came to was that none of the stores had Minecraft themed cake decorations or party favors or plates or anything.  (I swear they did just a few months ago.)  So we improvised.  He wanted a chocolate cake with white icing.  He wanted me to write, "Happy Birthday Hankster" on it (something we very, very rarely call him).  And then we tried our hand at a little Minecraft artwork with frosting.  It did not go well, so Josiah and Caroline made little Minecraft figures out of Legos and we put those on as cake toppers.

Henry lit his own candles and then sliced the cake.  Into eight slices.  Below shows the actual sizes he passed out.  The kids thought they had hit the jackpot with those giant slices.  They were happy until 1:00 a.m. when Henry came and got me because Josiah was feeling sick.  I got Josiah down from top bunk, walked him to the bathroom, and he proceeded to get sick.  Too much birthday.  He had a rough go for about 20 minutes, but then settled back to sleep on the couch and he was really fine the next day (except angry that I wouldn't give him any cake).  

  

 We did do school this week.  We have been learning about the circulatory system in science.  We did a very cool experiment to 'see' our pulse.  We found our pulse on our wrists.  Then we took a little bit of playdoh, stuck it on our pulse, stuck a toothpick in it and watched the toothpick move.  It was the tiniest movement but clearly our pulse's constant flow.  

 

At CC we learned about Andrew Wyeth and used watercolors to paint in the style of his landscapes.  Our pictures have dots on them that we were able to remove after they dried so it looked like the first autumn snowfall (he painted mostly scenes from Pennsylvania and Maine).  

Caroline's Wyeth

Caroline's gi came finally.  The storm had delayed it's arrival by a week, so there was a lot of anticipation to get it.  She really likes it and has practiced tying her belt in a way that it doesn't come undone.  It's the 'super-lock' knot.  When she does the fighting portion of the jiu-jitsu, she gets the most intense expression on her face.  She also keeps her lips tightly closed.  

We had a theme night at Awana this week.  Go Texan Night.  It should coincide with the Houston Rodeo, but that was postponed to May this year.  The kids had fun dressing up.  Caroline was gifted her jean dress just a few weeks ago and it was a great cowgirl do.  She asked for braids and fell in love with that hair style.  It's been all braids, all the time since that night.  And since we only had one plaid shirt for the boys, we gave everyone a handkerchief to perfect their cowboy look.  (And for the record, they came up with all these poses.)

Saturday morning we took Benson outside for his normal morning constitutional.  Usually he walks around the whole backyard and is pretty consistent with where he goes.  But we couldn't see him.  Anywhere.  I got my shoes on to explore and he was by our fence gate, sniffing at something on the other side of the fence.  I couldn't see what was on the other side, but we did hear a squirrel very loudly chittering at us from a nearby tree.  The squirrel's yells were so intense that I was scared the squirrel might jump at us.  I pulled Benson inside, but then he spent the remainder of the morning whining at the back door.  Todd took him out another time and discovered two baby squirrels in our yard.  They were hiding behind the wheel of our trash can.  Todd shook the trash can hoping they'd run away (up the tree), but they weren't big enough.  One tried to run up the fence, but only made it 1/3 of the way up before falling.  Another went and hid in a bush, which wasn't good because Benson could totally get him.  We took him out on a leash for the remainder of the morning, until it was clear that they were on the other side of the fence again (more chittering).  Poor little guys.  I hope they learn to avoid our backyard from now on. 

We have one more birthday to celebrate here before our birthday bonanza is over.  Caroline is excitedly awaiting her birthday next week.  She is, however, disappointed that it falls on a Sunday because that means she does not get the day off of school.  Tough break. 

Winter Storm

What a week!  Monday morning the kids were ecstatic because there was snow (mostly ice) outside.  It was a beautiful scene to see with the fresh white snow covering everything.  It may have been about an inch and it was mostly ice with a small layer of snow on top.  The kids were so excited we had to force them to eat breakfast before heading outside.  It took a long time to get them properly bundled up.  They didn't believe me when I said that temperatures in the teens felt really, really cold and they really, really needed to wear more layers.  Frustrations mounted when they were relegated to go back upstairs for additional layers.  Josiah wanted to wear two short sleeve t-shirts under his winter coat.  But I'm wearing two shirts.  Caroline was the same, but with pants. Henry and Caroline chose to wear face masks to keep their faces warm.  We had to go old-school and do grocery bags between layers of socks to waterproof.  The boys' only shoes are sneakers and flip flops, but Caroline had rain boots.  I asked them to play in the backyard first because Benson was so eager to go outside with them.  All four of them loved the snow.  Benson was bouncing all over the place, sticking his face in it, licking it, and trying to eat it.  They had a lot of fun.  After a while, the neighbor kid knocked so they moved to the front.  They attempted a snow ball fight, but it wasn't the right kind of snow - it was very powdery and mostly ice.  

In the early afternoon I took a walk with the kids and the neighbor boy.  We walked up by the baseball field where they attempted to run the bases.  We stopped at the swings.  Then we looped back around to go home.  It was bitterly cold, slightly windy, and very slippery with the ice.  After that we had to stay in because all the winter gear was soaked and needed to dry.  

They still had a good afternoon and we had a family movie night.  The worst we experienced that day was that it was hard to maintain heat in the house.  The downstairs was significantly colder than the upstairs.  We put Benson's crate upstairs for the night so he wouldn't get too cold.  Though we were doing well, by Monday night almost half the people we knew from our homeschool group and church had been without power for 24 hours.  A few lost water.  

Tuesday things got a bit worse.  It was even colder.  Everyone we knew who had lost power still had no power and even more families we knew were added to the no-power list.  Our house, though we had power, was quite cold because it couldn't retain the heat well.  Things here are not properly insulated for the cold.  We also had turned our heat much lower to conserve energy.  We were told to expect rolling blackouts, but they hadn't come.  Instead it seemed that those who had lost power just continued to be without.  There was no rolling.  Tuesday we also started to lose water pressure.  That seemed more worrisome than losing power because we had been dripping our faucets to save our pipes.  The water stopped altogether for a time, but then trickled back.  The authorities said that everyone dripping their faucets was causing the water pressure to drop.  The city of Houston told people to stop dripping their faucets so that the pressure would come back.  But then plumbers commented that the city of Houston wouldn't be paying for people's busted pipes when they stopped dripping them.  So, we continued to drip our faucets.  Tuesday was really cold.  We wore a lot of layers, stayed inside all day, but we were still quite cold.  Then Tuesday at 10:14 p.m., the power went out.  The kids were already asleep and there was nothing to do but sleep at that point.  

Attempting school.

Wednesday we had no power all day.  It was incredibly cold.  There was a cold rain all day long.  We are not used to these cold temperatures, so it just felt intensely cold.  We did school because at least it gave us something to do.  We huddled in our playroom with lots of blankets.  The kids were kind of crazy all day.  Incredibly loud.  Completely unfocused.  But we attempted to get everything done.  At lunch time we were able to light our gas stovetop which put a huge smile on my face to see the fire.  We made a big pot of chicken noodle soup (lots of cans!).  It tasted amazing to have something hot.  In the afternoon we walked around the house with 'high knees' to get our blood pumping.  We needed to warm up and we needed to discourage the kids from wrestling.  Do you know we can't go to the hospital?!  We lit the stove for dinner and had another warm meal.  We had to eat fast, though, because the food got cold quickly in the cool air.  At 6 p.m. it was dark outside and we didn't have a lot of mojo left.  We tried to play Uno but for whatever reason, it was very chaotic.  Earlier, Caroline had helped me make all the beds up with 4-5 blankets each.  So we decided to just hunker down for the night.  Todd and I were still awake at 9 pm. when the lights came on.  Most people we knew had lost power for 2 full days, so we had expected the same.  We were so surprised and happy when it came back.  The upstairs of our house showed 53°.  We don't know what it was downstairs, but it was a lot cooler.  

Candlelight dinner.

Our happiness with the power being restored was soon changed to curiosity by the very loud noises coming from downstairs.  At first it sounded like someone was trying to break in the house, because the sound was a very loud tapping/hitting noise.  But then we noticed the tapping was too consistent to be an intruder.  We walked down to find our refrigerator going crazy.  All the lights in front were blinking on and off very quickly.  The ice maker was going berserk with the loud tapping noise.  Nothing we did stopped it except unplugging it.  Todd messed with it for a while and noticed that even with the refrigerator plugged in, it wasn't cooling while it was making all that noise.  We left it unplugged for the night and Todd googled it in the morning.  From everything he read, it sounded like the motherboard/control panel in the back was fried from the power outage.  That wasn't good.  

On Thursday Todd went to order a new refrigerator.  He said the line at the store was like a Disney World line.  He had to enter the store through the garden center, then it wound up and down all the lawn equipment aisles before he could actually walk through the store.  There were workers walking around the line of people announcing there was no more PVC or copper piping in stock.  Most everyone was there because they had busted pipes.  

It was hard to remember what day it was as the week went on.  Everything was cancelled - we had no CC, no Awana, no jiu-jitsu.  Todd was home all week as his university was closed.  The passage of time was noted by how much we were getting on each other's nerves.  Being cooped up inside was wearing on us.  

We were incredibly blessed that our pipes did not burst.  We are on the hook for a new refrigerator, but Todd's always good at planning for these types of things, so we're okay.  Right now we are still having to boil our water, which isn't fun, but it is do-able.  The list for MUDs (water districts) still under a boil water notice is quite long, so we're not sure when it will be safe to use again.  I cannot wait until it is.  Trying to do dishes and brush teeth with boiled water is a bit more complicated and tiresome. 

This weekend was a lifesaver.  The temperatures got up in the 60s and the kids were happy to get outside and play.  And concert season has begun again.

Josiah performing KISS.

A few of my favorite memes from this time: 

This one was the most relevant.  With the boil water notice, dysentery is a real possibility:

Take Downs

Early in the week we spent an afternoon at a playground with Henry's friend and younger sister.  It was the zipline playground, which we hadn't been to in about a year because of COVID.  They had a great time and played hide-and-seek tag for a long time.  They ran so much that by the time we got to the car they collapsed from exhaustion.  That's a good park-date.  

Caroline has observed many of Henry's jiu jitsu classes lately.  After each one she has said she wanted to do it, so we signed her up for a trial class to see how she liked it.  She made it through the warm-up which was no joke.  It was a very intense warm-up.  She did a good job trying all the skills, but she was definitely hesitant during parts of class, especially practicing take-downs with some of the more seasoned kids.  After we got home, Caroline walked in the door and immediately told Josiah, "I took two people down."  A bit later, she relayed this story to us: 

        <    "I was partnered with that girl, Annie. She asked me, 'How new are you?'  I told her, 'Well, this is my first class, but my brother does it, so I know some things.'  Then I took her down."    >

That right there is why Caroline is in jiu jitsu and not dance.  The following day, Todd took her back and signed her up for classes and ordered her bright pink gi (her choice).  Now she can practice at home with Henry and they can work on their take-down skills.  

Henry earned his first stripe in jiu jitsu this weekend.  He gets a new stripe every twelve classes.  After four stripes, he can move up to the next belt.  

Henry submitting another kid.

It has been a cold week.  Really cold.  We have felt bad for Benson since he destroyed his softer, warmer bed.  We gave him a blanket for his hammock bed and he has loved it.  He snuggles with it all day.  I got a picture of him sleeping on his blanket with his paw holding his favorite ball.  

We currently have freezing rain outside and the temperatures are supposed to drop to the teens.  The kids are really hoping for snow, but most of the weather reports are talking about ice.  Either way it is crazy cold.  I read that this will be the third time in 25 years that we have temperatures in the teens.  Pipes are not insulated here like they are in colder climates, so we've had to wrap blankets around all our outside pipes.  In looking at the comments section on the weather reports, some have declared next week Plumber's Appreciation Week because of all the work they'll get from busted pipes.  (That happened to us several years ago.)  Henry was supposed to have a winter retreat tomorrow at church, but that has been cancelled, roads are already closed due to ice, and Todd has been told to work from home on Monday.  

Benson's Birthday Hat

 Monday evening the kids surprised us with another music concert.  They called downstairs and told us to wear masks when we came up and to space ourselves one seat apart.  When we entered the playroom, it was dark except for flashlights they had put under the couch cushions which were aimed at their stage.  They also had the pocket lights on from the entertainment center.  It was a true concert experience.  They had Todd do the introductions for the band members.  He started with Caroline, "Cat Girl" (Catman was the real musician).  Henry, "Star Child."  And Josiah, "The Demon."  (lovely...)  They were KISS.  Complete with markered on chest hair and face makeup.  They lip synced to I Want to Rock and Roll All Night and Party Every Day.  It was one of their funnier concerts and we had a good time watching it.  Cat Girl kept getting mad at The Demon because he continually stepped in front of her, not giving her enough of the spotlight.  The Demon told her she should have played air guitar if she wanted to be in front, but she's an air drummer through and through.  

Wednesday morning we were finishing up breakfast and getting ready to start our school day.  Henry and Caroline were talking at the table and then they asked if Todd had gone to work that day or to his other wife's house.  Hmmmm.  We texted him and asked.  He texted back a picture of himself at work, but since it didn't have a date stamp who knows if he just keeps it at the ready.  

In CC this week we learned about chemical reactions.  We saw how vinegar mixed with baking soda reacted to make three different things, one of which was carbon dioxide which blew up their balloons.  That's always a fun experiment.  The kids in Caroline's class were in awe watching their balloons inflate.  

Since we do not have CC next week, we exchanged Valentines this week.  Caroline had a big debate at the store about which ones to buy.  This is the first year she has had boys in her class so she did not feel like she could get the princess Valentines anymore.  She looked at every box the store had and settled on pizza Valentines.  It was a box of 32 and she only has 8 kids in her class, so she's got enough to last for several years.  Josiah wanted Harry Potter Valentines, but he didn't want to offend one boy in his class who didn't like Harry Potter, so he got Spongebob instead.  And Henry took the longest of all to look at the Valentines.  Nothing seemed just right, but he found some avocado Valentines on the bottom shelf and thought they were perfect.  They came with avocado pencils.  He did a lot of calculations in the store to ensure there were enough in the box that he got a pencil, too.  

Todd and Caroline spent Saturday morning together.  They went through a carwash  - colored lights inside the wash made the experience all the better.  They walked through Target and she found many doll outfits that she really, really wanted.  And they got ingredients for Benson's birthday cupcakes.  Today they made them.  They consisted of egg, pumpkin, peanut butter, oat flour, and honey.  

Since we wanted Benson to eat them fresh, we celebrated his birthday a day early.  First came the birthday hat.  He did try to get it off initially, but then he settled into it and didn't seem to mind the hat as long as it was right on top.  He was very serious about the whole thing.  We sang while he sniffed the plate.  Then, instead of eating off of the plate, he took them, one at a time, to eat on the carpet.  It was a mess, but he licked up every crumb.  Tomorrow he turns one.  

And the squirrel in the backyard is getting even more daring.  He is now in the yard, digging and eating.  Benson will go out, stand at alert, give the squirrel a stare down for what feels like minutes, and then with no warning take off after it.  The squirrel squeals really loudly all the while running up the wooden post and all around the top of the fence to safety.  This is several times a day now.  I am guessing at this point that it's a friendly game of 'try to catch me.'  

That was our week.