Not Eating at the Outhouse

At the start of our week, we had a crew come out to trim our trees.  For years now, we have tried to take care of the trimming ourselves, but the trees have grown too tall.  We really needed them trimmed away from the house and thinned out especially as we near the summer.  I was expecting it to be thousands of dollars (six trees!), but we got a very reasonable quote.  The crew arrived at lunchtime, having finished a morning project.  They said they would eat lunch and get started afterwards.  They plugged in their microwave, ate, siesta'd and at 1:00p.m. they were up in the trees.  It was a big crew.  Half went to the backyard, half stayed in the front.  They were fascinating to watch.  We kept walking from window to window to see their progress.  The guy in the front yard was climbing around the tree, just one-handing his chainsaw like it was nothing.  They did a great job and were very nice.  They raked up the remnants, blew what was in the street, and used a chipper to take care of all the big pieces.  They even took some old pieces of branches that we've had lying in our backyard for a while now.  When they left, they said we'd be good for several years.  It took them 75 minutes from start to finish.  Crazy!  

Josiah has added to his Rat Town.  He stayed up past 11 p.m. one night working on his Beatles rats.  They were the Sgt. Peppers Lonely Rat Clan.  His mind is always creating.  

This week, Henry and Caroline both finished writing their Faces of History papers.  After it is written, they have to put it into first person so they can BE the person they are presenting on.  (More in an outline format - just key words of what to say.)  This is Henry's third time through, so he knew the drill.  When Caroline and I sat down to put her paper into first person, she paused and asked, "When am I going to read the whole paper?"  

You're not.

Absolutely horrified, "WHAT?!!??  Why did I even write it?!"

So you could learn how to write a research paper.  

"What?!!  How am I supposed to say the whole thing from memory?"

You practice!  That's why you read three books about the person and wrote a big paper, so you would KNOW their story really well.

Sneak Peek of Caroline as...

Not happy!  She was not happy!  However, we ordered her a costume (dress) and wig and they both came this week.  She practiced her presentation (a lot!) and very quickly memorized the first third of it.  She has two weeks until she presents, so it's plenty of time.

Meanwhile, Henry's class presents this week.  His first proof for Memory Master is due this week as well, so it's all coming to a head for him.  

Henry was complimented and commissioned by his tutor at CC this week.  She had a conversation with him at lunch and told him that he was a leader in the class and often sets the tone.  She wanted him to know of his importance both in class and to the class.  We were proud of him and had to pull out a little Spiderman philosophy, With great power comes great responsibility.  You will never regret being kind and respectful.  

At CC this week we made popsicle stick catapults.  We launched pom poms and marshmallows.  This is always a fun one to do.  The launch:

Josiah took over April Fool's Day jokes this year.  The kids (apparently) had a secret meeting and planned on getting up at 4 a.m. to get some tricks ready.  They didn't actually wake up until 6 a.m. so they did not do all that was planned.  I was awakened to the sensation of someone taping my forehead.  Looking in a mirror revealed what I already knew, I love my kids.  

There was Saran Wrap over Caroline's door and the playroom door (at Benson's height).  Rats in the refrigerator.  Mustaches on the mirror.  

Todd and I never did any April-foolin', but we did make cookies the evening of the 1st.  I messed with the kids at bedtime.  How were those cookies?  Did they taste like they normally do?  Were they good?  Always important to keep their suspicions up.  

Henry has been deciding where to go out for his jiu jitsu belt meal for a while now.  His siblings have reminded him repeatedly, offering up suggestions of their own.  Finally this weekend, Henry announced where we would be going, Texas Outhouse.  I told him I was a firm NO for Texas Outhouse.  We did, however, enjoy a meal at Texas Roadhouse.  Ironically, we sat close to the bathrooms which were labeled "Outhouse."  

This weekend, Josiah came up with short games for us to play outside.  The first was how long you could keep the bricks in the air.  The kids pulled in numbers like 30 seconds, 1 minute 20 seconds. It was only two bricks, so it looked fairly simple.  Todd went third and made it to 5 minutes even.  I wasn't going to be defeated, so I held it up for 5 minutes 3 seconds.  Today, the bruise on my shoulder has reminded me of my lack of wisdom.  It was far harder than expected.

The second game was to chase Benson around the backyard.  The kids put in a solid effort, but Benson was not compliant on his end with the running bit.  So we moved onto the third challenge.  Josiah had Henry wrap him around a tree and he had to escape.  Fortunately, the sun was setting so once Josiah made his way out, the games were over.  

At church this morning, Caroline sang with all the WAM kids for the congregation.  WAM = Worship Arts Ministry.  She got her coveted spot - top step, at the end.  She said she really enjoyed singing.  She's not a fan of all the hand motions, but she does like to sing.  

At one point, Henry asked to take a picture of Caroline.  

🠈 It should come as no surprise this was the picture he took.

Also, he wore a white shirt to church today.  He always, always wears a red Izod shirt to church.  Always.  I have thought about purposefully not washing it so he would wear something different.  This morning we convinced him to wear a different color.  He came downstairs wearing white.  As soon as we sat in our seats in church, Henry spotted his friend who immediately gestured that Henry was not wearing a red shirt.  He was not the only one to notice the change.  Henry has informed us he will go back to wearing red next week.  

Not A Dry Week

Caroline had taken it upon herself to clean Josiah's room this week.  She would go in there on her own volition at different times of day and clear spots of carpet.  After she filled up Josiah's tiny trash can, she brought in a trash bag.  When Josiah saw it, he said, "Whoa.  Can I at least go through it first to make sure it's trash?"  Caroline replied with a blunt, "No."  And that was that.  Josiah didn't protest.  Each day she continued to make progress.  More than one trash bag sort of progress.  Henry helped some and they would vacuum the cleaned-out spots as they happened.  Henry went in one evening to clean Josiah's dresser.  Josiah could not understand the desire to clean his room, but he was very appreciative.  Unfortunately I never got a picture of the finished product.  It was clean for Thursday evening when Josiah had a friend sleep over.  After that, Josiah immediately took on a new project which has taken over half the floor again.  We almost had a good 24 hours of clean carpet.  

Josiah's new project is "Rat Town."  We have had a spot on our wall where Benson messed with the drywall years ago.  Josiah drew a picture back then and it covered up the spot.  This week, the tape finally lost its stickiness, so I commissioned Josiah to draw another picture for that spot.  Did he follow through!  He covered the spot:  

Then he got Rat-Town-happy.  He added a bay window, rats sleeping, rats showering, rats drinking coffee.  A sign for Rat Town was made.  He has lots of ideas and plans to cover as much wall space as he can.  

Josiah had a good start to his week, too.  He earned his third red stripe in jiu-jitsu.  Todd joined in our Crumbl Cookie celebration, so we got a box of six this time.  The kids have a very particular way of eating them.  Each of them gets half the cookie they picked out.  The other half is cut into four pieces and then divided up amongst the family.  NO ONE can eat the cookies though.  You have to sit down with a full cup of water.  Caroline is very adamant that they all try the same cookie at the exact same time.  After each flavor, they discuss its taste, presentation, and whether they would get it again.  Water is sipped to cleanse the palate before another cookie is selected.  There was one week that I tried to follow along with them, but I didn't have the patience to go that slow.  Plus, I wanted to eat them in the order that I liked.  Save the best for last!  

We had quite the day at CC this week.  Caroline has science as the last strand in the mornings.  This quarter they have been building a lot - paper airplanes, straw bridges, straw towers, (catapults and egg protectors are coming up).  Her class has continued working on their projects even after they are free to go to lunch.  So at lunch, the other classes have wandered in to check on their progress.  That happened again this week - a child came in to check out their straw towers.  He's the type of child that greets everybody, so when he walked in, he saw me and said, "Hi Mrs. Cocktail."  Well, that's a fun name!  

Later in Caroline's Essentials class, they did something called expanding the sentence.  They start with a short sentence, "The dog barked."  The tutor goes around the room and each child adds to the sentence to make it quite long in the end.  Caroline added first - "The dog barked at the flamingo wearing a sombrero."  When it came to one girl's turn she added, "The dog barked at the flamingo, who was drinking tequila."  Her mother, who adheres to a very strict diet and in no way drinks tequila, was a bit horrified and said, "WHAT!  You don't even know what that is!"  to which her daughter succinctly replied, "Yes I do."  'Non-alcoholic' was added to the tequila to appease the mom.  The final sentence became:

Clearly it is the end of the semester for the kids too...

Josiah's friend spent the night after CC.  They played all sorts of games together including one in which Josiah dressed up like his sock puppet, Socky.  The next day, we had to drop the friend off at work.  He just recently got a job at the store Bricks and Minifigs, which buys, sells, and trades Legos.  The store is not open to the public yet, so Bobby has spent a lot of his time sorting Legos for them.  Josiah has asked many questions about the job and has expressed interest in applying himself.  He thought it sounded great to get paid for sorting Legos.  Henry, Caroline, and I quickly reminded him that he could sort his Legos in his room all day, every day.  Not amused.  He was not amused.  

Todd spent Saturday at a martial arts seminar.  It was at the same dojo where he takes Krav Maga.  He was invited back to his instructor's house for a fajita dinner.  Bring the family!, he was told.  This was the same house that had the crawfish boil a year ago.  We went and the kids ate their weight in fajitas.  They were very good.  They remembered the fun chair outside, too.  Caroline cheated on Benson a little and loved on their dogs with their big long ears.  

Henry was not keen on pictures that evening, but we did find him in his natural habitat drinking the lemon-lime bubbly.  

It was a very full week and weekend.  Henry has some intense weeks coming up as he finishes his end of year faces of history project and works on his memory master.  

A Spring Break Friend Fest

We squeezed in a lot over our spring break.  Monday started off sort of a wash because we were so tired from the time change.  (At least I was.)  Josiah and Caroline set out to make one movie a day over the break.  They do a lot of transitions - they'll snap their fingers and appear in a different room.  It requires a lot of planning as well as a lot of ad libbing, but they love to make them.  Josiah was in charge of the transitions, Caroline was in charge of editing - she adds words and sets it to music.  

Josiah got to help demonstrate the move at jiu-jitsu early in the week.  Sensei Matt demonstrated a trip. 

Monday evening was good for Henry.  He earned his solid grey belt in jiu-jitsu.  It's been a long time coming - 19 months!  He could not receive it the day it was earned because he needed a blackbelt to put it on him.  The next evening, Professor Mike was there and he got it.  A new belt means you get flipped, too.  It also means a meal out, but Henry's still mulling over the restaurant possibilities.  

By mid-week we were in the swing of things.  Wednesday afternoon we went to a new park to play with friends.  This was a very duck and bird-friendly park.  There was an inaccessible island in the water next the park that was filled with fowl.  

Thursday we drove out to Galveston and saw the Gulf of Mexico.  We went to the Galveston Naval Museum with our CC group.  When we arrived, it was a bit chilly and very windy.  We were regretting our clothing choices, but fortunately the sun came out and warmed us up.  The wind stayed strong the whole time, but I suppose that was to be expected.  At the start of our tour, our guide asked if we had anywhere to be later.  We all shook our heads no, and then he proceeded to spend the next three hours with us.  He was a great tour guide and shared a lot of information about the two boats that we saw.  Our tour started on the USS Stewart, the "President's Escort."  In October 1943, this boat escorted FDR to the Tehran Conference with Churchill and Stalin.  We were told that an aircraft carrier would be flanked by 4-5 of these escort ships on each side.  We learned about the depth charges and the gunners.  We saw the sleeping quarters - three high.  They even had an ice cream machine in the mess hall.  It was put there as a replacement for alcohol to keep the men sober.    

From the ship we went to the sub, the USS Cavalla, which was stationed in the Pacific in WWII.  She was known as the Avenger of Pearl Harbor, and became famous for sinking the Japanese Navy Carrier, SHOKAKU, that attacked Pearl Harbor.  We started off in the torpedo room.  It held 8 torpedoes in the bow and 8 in the stern, each one weighing in at 3500 lbs.  He showed us how they would slide them into the tube to be fired.  Interestingly, it had to resurface every 12-48 hours.  During its nightly surfaces, it would run its diesel engines to recharge its batteries.  So, it would go up and down nearly daily.  It could only go 400-450 feet deep, too.  If we thought it was tight to walk around the bowels of the ship, the sub was an incredibly tight squeeze.  Even single file, there were many hallways where your arms easily hit both sides.  And gauges, valves, pipes were everywhere, which we were emphatically warned not to touch.  There were several rooms with bunks three high again, but to accommodate the whole crew, some cots were right next to the torpedoes.  

Tube to launch the torpedo

Not the cot I'd choose.

Todd's favorite part was the symbol used for the USS Cavalla.  It was named for the cavalla fish which is wearing a sombrero and holding a torpedo.  

Immediately after getting home from the Naval Museum, we dropped Josiah off at a Challenge B Game Day at his friend's house.  A few days prior, Josiah mentioned to me that if he lost a game of his choosing, then he would get a hair cut.  I mentioned this to the mom so she could make sure he lost a game and I knew about it.  Later, at pick-up, I learned that all his friends rallied around him and made sure he was on everyone's team so he would never lose.  It was very sweet, but he still needs a trim in the hair department....

The following day, we had friends come over from our CC group.  The mom has a small baking business on the side, so she came to teach us how to make cake pops.  At first taste, they were immensely better than the time we tried to make them on our own.  Learning the proportions made a huge difference.  Caroline and her daughter had a lot of fun decorating them.  They had triangle sprinkles, so there were many cats, dinosaurs, and other triangular-eared animals made.  Josiah made a chicken.  By the end, sprinkles had found their way to all parts of the kitchen.  I also could not find the lollipop sticks to make them cake "pops," so we had cake "balls" which were just as good.  Our cake pop instructor would not like to be shown because our creations were closer to Pollock and Picasso, while her creations are closer to the pretty pastry chef side of things.  They spent the whole afternoon with us, so we had a very full day.  

To close out our break, Henry spent Saturday afternoon at a friend's house.  He likes this friend a lot because they play outside - climbing trees, playing tag, and playing on a tree swing.  Henry would love for his siblings to play outside more.

Sunday afternoon all three kids hung out with their neighborhood friend.    

It's been a friend fest spring break.  

As much as I would love a second spring break to get all the things completed on my to-do list, we have to hit the ground running tomorrow morning.  All three kids have year-end projects that need a lot of attention put towards them.  I've put out my warning that all schedules need to be stuck to and completed.  There are no changes, no substitutions, no compromises.  And definitely no one can get sick.  

Smiles on the surface.  "Henry, stop touching me" under their breath.