Cake and Jam

At the beginning of the week, Caroline earned a new stripe in jiu-jitsu.  She likes to not tell us when she's getting one so when her name is called, it's a surprise (to all but her).  She decided to defer her reward until next week because she wasn't crazy about the Crumbl selection this past week.  After the pictures were taken, I always zoom in on them to see which has the best smile.  First, I noticed that Caroline was flanked by her brothers.  That was pretty cool.  And then I zoomed in on her brothers - Henry was flexing his stripes and Josiah was doing the bug-eye.  Thanks, guys...  The next day, Henry went to the adult class.  All the classes stand in belt rank order at the beginning (and end).  Because there were some adult white belts, Henry stood further up in line than them.  Adult-adult-adult-adult-adult-Henry-Henry's friend-adult-adult-adult.  His friend is his size, so it made the class go easier. The kids are in a tough spot because all three are some of the tallest in the kids' class, but they're the shortest in the adult class.

The kids did their church activities mid-week.  When we were in the car on the drive home, Caroline told us that she was talking to her friend about Camp 345 since her friend had never been.  She warned, "I told her not to go in the pool because it was full of dead bugs and bandaids."  She later added that some kids probably use it for a bathroom, too.  With a camp full of 3rd, 4th, & 5th graders, she probably isn't wrong.  

At CC this week, Caroline gave her presentation on corgis.  Her presentation served double duty.  They started their last quarter of fine arts - orchestra.  They get to bring in a pillow to rest their heads while they listen to the composers.  Caroline chose to bring in her corgi Squishmallow.  And, since she hadn't figured out a presentation yet, talking about corgis worked out well.

Caroline loves her dogs.  This weekend she tried to get a picture of Benson within heart-shaped fingers.  Benson did not understand the assignment.  

In Henry's class at CC, they made models of the skin.  Since I have only seen the final cross-section in picture form, I can only assume he ate the whole thing.  

Josiah, ever the celebrator, decorated for my birthday.  He likes to blow balloons to their full capacity.  His gift was a picture of me with each of the presidents that I've lived through.  He's doing economics, so he has learned a little about the stock market during some of the presidencies.  In the background of each president, he had the stock market activity for each four-year term.  All three kids gave me nice cards - Henry's was intricately cut out and decorated, Caroline's was full of kind words, and Josiah's was the Whopperios celebrating.  We all enjoyed some Angel Food Cake.  Since it is so light and fluffy, the kids suggested I just cut the cake into four equal pieces.  I did not.  Even still, it did not last long.

Henry had his monthly movie night.  This time around, instead of a movie, the boys had planned an elaborate heist.  One friend was out of town, so they made it a 2-on-2 battle.  Henry described their heist plans.  One team would be upstairs, one down.  They would have Nerf guns and other 'soft' weapons.  As I listened, I internally questioned whether the parents would really let this happen inside their house.  Not surprisingly, the heist idea was nixed by the parental units hours before the get-together.  Instead, they played a lot of basketball outside, which Henry thoroughly enjoyed.  Then they played Monopoly.  Henry enjoyed seeing how everyone has their own rules with Free Parking and getting out of jail.  It was a great night.  They enjoy the outdoor play way more than watching a movie.  

Josiah did make it to two out of three of his friends' basketball playoff games.  I have now sat in many different middle school parking lots waiting for their hour-long games.  Their final game was this weekend and they ended up winning the whole championship.  Afterwards, we drove home quickly so that we could get things ready for Josiah's Monthly Beatles Jam Session.  This time, five kids came over.  We had two on the keyboard, a trumpet, a clarinet (with a broken reed), drums, and they were finally able to land a guitarist.  There was less music being played this round, and when I asked Josiah why, he said the guitarist spent a lot of time getting it in tune.  But they had fun together.  It was more of a hangout than a jam session.  

One of Josiah's friends had the whole family stay over.  It worked out for us, because Caroline had a friend and I got to chat with the mom for a long time.  

All the partying was great, but an after-church nap was on the books for today.  Those are the best ones.  We have one more week of school until spring break.  We need time to slow down!