Family Jeopardy

Todd had another procedure to start his week.  They tried to break up his big kidney stone with shock waves this time around.  He was told to rest when he got home, so we confined him to all the soft furniture - couches, beds.  Since he wasn't allowed to do much, the kids came up with Family Jeopardy.  They wrote all the clues themselves and created the game board.  Josiah was the host of Jeopardy.  Caroline was videographer and her medium of choice was close-up shots for nearly the entire 11 minute video.  Henry and I were neck-and-neck for most of it.  Then came Final Jeopardy.  Clue:  How many Beatles were alive when Great Grandpa came to America?  Todd lost all his money with his guess of Three.  Henry and I got it correct - Zero, and although we both bet it all, Henry beat me by $100.  

Mid-week, Josiah got another stripe on his jiu-jitsu belt.  We usually know when these occur because the kids keep track.  This one took us all by surprise.  I was outside on a phone call and missed the official picture, so we improvised.  We think it might be a mistake, though, that they gave it to him early.  Since it took him by surprise as well, he didn't know how to celebrate.  His choice was a donut Friday morning.  Caroline was only interested in one type of donut which they did not have.  So she chose a kolache instead.  Sausage and cheese encased in a roll.  

The evening Josiah got his stripe, Henry tried out the adult class for the first time.  I asked Todd to subtly take a few photos.  He took a picture of every opponent.  The adult class was nothing like the kid class.  They did a warm-up and then spent 45 minutes doing 4-minute rounds.  Just one after another.  Henry came home with the sweatiest gi, completely exhausted.  The adults treated him well, teaching and helping, but they also worked him hard.  Henry enjoyed it and wants to go back.  

CC went well this week.  For Josiah's science experiment they were studying density.  They had beakers of water, isopropyl alcohol, corn syrup, and vegetable oil.  After dropping many objects in each to see if they would sink, float, or suspend, they combined the liquids.  Then they dropped one of each item in again.  Towards the end, Josiah swirled his together to look like the Adult McDonald's Grimace shake (because of the rubbing alcohol...).  

Caroline got to spend the night at a friend's house this weekend.  This was her friend way out in the country.  They have 9 dogs, many goats, a number of cats, and chickens (so it wasn't surprising we met them at Tractor Supply to pick Caroline up the next day).  They had a lot of fun on the trampoline and in the pool.  When she came home we inquired about the amount of sleep she got.  She proudly said she got seven hours.  3 a.m. to 10 a.m.  That was Friday night.  She's been recovering ever since.  This was the photo she sent me during her evening there.

Before we dropped her off, we tried out a new Tex-Mex restaurant, Gringo's.  It was really good and we were a little sad that we've missed out going to it more often these past 9 years.  

We're still waiting for rain around here.  On Monday we had clouds all day and it was glorious.  Shade!  We even had a brief rainfall, but that was it.  The rest of the week has been an oven again.  Today when I went to the store, my car said it was 108°.  Typically, the temperature will got down a few degrees as I drive, but it never did today.  108°.  So, so hot.  The literal dog days of summer.

CC For All Three

The boys both earned stripes over the past few weeks.  Josiah chose Baskin Robbins since we'd never been there before.  Henry opted for Smoothie King.  The cool treats were very nice considering the oven we are currently living in.  It has been so hot.  The temperature has stayed a constant 103-104° with no cloud cover, 1% chance of rain every day for weeks now.  The last rain we had was during the 4th of July week.  We water our yard mostly to help our foundation.  Even the roadways have started buckling because of the heat.  They rise up like a mountain and act as very jagged speed bumps as we travel down the road.  The neighboring city has been hit with water restrictions - they can only water their yards twice a week based upon the last digit of their house number.  We need rain.  When we walk outside it literally feels like walking into an oven.  The only saving grace for the lack of rain is that it keeps the mosquito population way down.  

Monday morning, Henry was dead set on trying out the new griddle.  It did not go exactly as planned - the ones in the middle of the griddle cooked so fast that it left the inside still raw.  Meanwhile, the pancakes on either edge took forever to cook.  We decided we needed to read our manual before trying that again.  

Josiah, however, has been thoroughly enjoying the new oven's air fryer setting.  He air fries his taquitos nearly every day for lunch.

CC started up for Caroline this week.  She was quite happy to get back into the swing of things.  She enjoyed seeing her friends again as well as her new tutors.  You can tell it's going to be a fun class this year.  

In Josiah's class, he had to recite part of the Declaration of Independence.  "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."  He did really well even when the original language got all wonky a few sentences later.  Next up is the Preamble to the Constitution, but we have a song for that, so it should be easier.  
In Henry's class, they've moved on from Canada and have added the United States for Cartography.  He has to draw each individual state (and label), but he's been doing well.  For Henry's science, they had to do a report on geology.  It could be anything from geology, so he chose amethyst.  He chose amethyst because he likes how it looks in Minecraft.  Then he got into a conversation with his Latin partner and Minecraft seems to be a big influencer for a number of students doing this particular report.  Josiah, too, picked obsidian when he did the same report two years ago. Why?  Obsidian was cool in Minecraft.  See.  Video games do help us learn.  

The kids had a good weekend.  All three kids got to spend time with different friends.  At church, we had Promotion Sunday where all the kids moved up to the next class.  Caroline moved up to her 5th grade class and discovered she had Henry's old teacher, Mr. Gil.  Now, when Henry had Mr. Gil, they went to the game room nearly every week.  But when Caroline got to Mr. Gil's class, he said that they were going to move up to 6th grade soon enough and that they would need to learn a lot before then.  So, for Caroline, he's what she dubbed 'a teacher-teacher.'  As we walked to the car afterwards, Henry said it was his class that ruined going to the game room every week.  Thanks, big brother.  

For the boys, their promotion involves moving from one table to another, but all the tables are in the same room, so it's much less of an event.  

We're now in full-swing with school around here.  The days are very full.  This cutie just goes along with it.

Stock Photo Style

The schools here started on Wednesday, so our neighbor friend wanted to hang out at the community pool the day before to enjoy one last hurrah.  We did our school in the morning and took a lunch break at the pool.  They enjoyed their time and we got some fun shots of them jumping in.  Then there was a bit more school for the boys in the afternoon, which went as smoothly as could be expected after a few hours at the pool.  Focus.  Hey. Focus. FOCUS.  Can we please just finish this?!!

And to celebrate the end of his first half week at school, Henry and Caroline swam in his pool this weekend.  

Caroline had a very good week because she finally got to find out who her new tutors would be for the year.  She was ecstatic that she got the tutor she was hoping for and a class full of her favorite friends.  Her group of 10-year old's is pretty large, so we were unsure how they would divide them up.  Her classes start this coming week. She has her outfit ready and her excitement is palpable.  

Henry's been working on drawing Canada for cartography all week.  With practice, he's learned it isn't as hard as he thought.  

Henry also got his creative juices flowing when I brought home a container of cherries.  He took so many photos.  Sometimes a group of cherries, sometimes a duo.  There were cherries with stems and those without.  Some singlets.  He was pretty proud that he created Stock Photo quality material.  

Todd spent his weekend checking out the Texas health care system.  He spent Thursday progressively feeling more and more sick.  It felt very similar to his last kidney stone, so in the evening we made our way to the ER to confirm that was indeed what it was, as well as get the proper medicines.  But instead of a "quick" ER trip, he ended up getting admitted because there were also signs of infection.  On Friday afternoon, the doctor was able to remove two stones and insert a stent.  By the time he was able to eat after the procedure, he had been fasting for around 36 hours.  That hospital tray with shrimp scampi and veggies was quite good to his parched palate.  The hospital menu had typical American fair - burgers, spaghetti, & sandwiches, but then it had a Tex-Mex section with tacos and quesadillas, which sounded good on the surface, but the more I thought about it, the less I would want to order hospital tacos.  On Saturday, he was grateful to get his marching orders.  What he didn't realize was that it was quieter at the hospital than at home.  No photos were approved for this story...

This weekend we were happy our new oven was delivered.  We took a picture of the inside.  This'll be our "before."  As soon as we opened it, Caroline said she knew it was blue.  We've had it 24 hours and have already baked taquitos, cookies, pizza, and biscuits.  No more experimenting with broiled food around here, although Henry was getting good at broiling open-face bread pizzas.  

The kids have big plans to cook pancakes on the griddle tomorrow morning. 

At church this weekend, they had hung up pictures all the children had drawn of their families.  I searched them all until I found Caroline's.  A couple weeks ago she mentioned that she didn't know how to include Benson because dogs are hard to draw.  It was suggested she draw his tail on the side of the picture, so he made it in.  I like her detailed attention to our hair.  She loves hair!     

Benson is still the cutest.  He loves snuggling with his blanket.  

Caroline made a Benson-stache, too. 

Caroline has the most excitement for the week ahead.  For the boys, it's Week 3 of CC.  

Starting High School

This week the boys started school full-time.  We did not get a picture Monday morning, but later in the week we got pictures at CC.  Henry has started 7th grade/Challenge A.  This is the year he'll learn how to draw the world through Cartography.  He started Latin and Analogies/Fallacies. Then there is the normal math, science, and writing as well.  He even started attending his own Latin tutoring earlier in the week.  One of Josiah's classmates is very good at Latin and started tutoring the younger levels.  Henry enjoyed his first class.  Hopefully he learn a lot of good study tips and be motivated to keep it up.  

Josiah started high school - 9th grade/Challenge 1!  This year he has Debate/American Government, Physical Science, Logic 1, and then the usual Latin, writing, and math.  He's continuing with his Latin tutoring as well.  

While I was at CC with the boys, Todd hung out with Caroline.  They tried out a new restaurant and enjoyed a burger.  Caroline was most impressed that they cut her burger in half.  She happily took half home for later.  Of course, when the boys spotted her half-hamburger in the fridge, they knew she got something they didn't.  So a bit of a two-edged sword.    

Josiah felt he has missed out on many of the eating out occasions, so Todd took him out this weekend to another new restaurant.  It wasn't a pub crawl, but they did hit up a pub for brunch.  Josiah, of course, ordered chicken (tenders) and waffles.  Todd wants to go back for their more traditional fish and chips and shepherd's pie another time.  

Our meals at home have been somewhat altered.  Our oven stopped working and we think this time it is for good.  We have another one ordered, but it'll be a week before it arrives.  The stovetop still works and the broiler works, so one evening the kids broiled pizza bread.  

It's fun when the kids ask what's for dinner now.  I have no idea.  Cold cuts?  Those sound great to me.  Unfortunately, we somehow did not raise sandwich lovers.  

Josiah spent some time drawing the Beatles.  He did a young/old(er) cross picture.  According to him, Ringo always stays the same give or take the mustache.  

Henry finished the week out with a pool party with his LifeGroup friends.  They enjoyed a cookout and some swimming.  He's really found a great group of church friends.  LifeGroups don't start up until September, so he's enjoying all the time spent with them.   

Caroline is very much looking forward to this coming week because she has a Meet the Tutor day.  She is ready to get back to CC, to finding out who her tutor is, and all her CC friends.